Contents
FOREWORD . xi
FOREWORD TO THE REVISED EDITION xv
INTRODUCTION
Unwilling paients I
I THE TWO EMPIRES
The last dynasty I; An CIIIPire acquired in a fit of absent-mindedness I8; A cross and GOSti.Voyage 25 11
2 A STREAM OF SILVER 32
The plant of joy 3a; Insolent, capricious, and vexatious procedures 38;I n'ever saw a chest of opium in my life 4Ii A set of popinjays 47; A snug business so; Who can desire a war with China? 57
3 THE HUMILIATION OF LORD NAPIER 62
The epitaph drear: 'A fool lies here/Who tried to hustle the East' 6z;A matter of Ilational prestige 68; Not to lose the enjoyment of what we have got 71; Yoor mcist bumble and obedient servant 76; The War of Lancelot Dent's Collar 79; Opium and whisky 97
-4 UNJUST TREATIES? . 101
A protecting joss IoI; Guns at the Porcelain Tower 1l4i The Poppy War is ended I 20 ; an umpire between the whisky 97
5 A BARREN ISLAND . . 132
A free and inexpensive asylum 132; Methods ofproceeding unknown in other British colonies 143; respectable and opulent Chinese 152
6 THE DAVIS RAID 155
A negro streaked with leprosy 155; The dreadful sight of an Englishman being hanged 161; Sulphur, pitch, beer or porter- and opium 167; If they attack our people, they will be shot 175
7 RETRENCHMENT 184
Houses of bad fame, billiard rooms and boats 184; Chinese 2: Plenipotentiary 199
8 THE TUMULT AND THE SHOUTING DIES 211
A reckless spirit of hostility 211; Kowloon 223; What a land is this ...228; Not too Scotch 233; Unlawful games 236; A royal visit .242
9 .SOME DISTASTEFUL TOPICS 252
The evils of sewage flushing 252; ... syphilis is only communicable by contact 261; I have had my eyes on those junks for a quarter of a century 266; Travellers' tales 276
10 FORTRESS HONG KONG 280
The defence of greater Britain 280; In search of Ia gloirt 285; General Sargent's guns 292; The politics of plague 297
11 A SLIGHT EXTENSION TO 'l'HE COLONY OF
HONG KONG 313
A suitable occasion for action 313; The lease hath all too short a date 321 ;Scoundrelly leaders of secret societies 334; Sir Matthew's railway 342
12 HONG KONG AND THE CHINESE REVOLUTION 347
Pernicious parliamentarians 347; An act of high patriotism to fornicate 352 )
13 A COLONIAL BACKWATER 374
Faces shut like doors 374; A war with Japan! But why should there be a war with japan? 386; Little. sisters 393; Stumbling towards the twentieth century 399
14 THE GREATER EAST ASIA CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE 405
A passive and shameful acquiescence 405; Essentially a blockade 410; Thanks to japan, we are now a free people 417; The British Empire has been entirely written off 42 3; The electorate of Britain didn't care a brass
farthing about Hong Kong 434
15 BETWEEN FOUR STOOLS 442
Anglo-Saxon attitudes 442; Autodecolonization 460; Stiff upper lips 466
16 The Golden Years 475
The judicious application of cash 475 ; corruption , the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty 489 ; losing nerve 494
17 Recessional 503
Now, when you say that …503 ; further proceedings stood postponed 518 ; tanks in Tiananmen square 523 ; voluntas populi suprema lex? 535
EPILOGUE
Picking up the pieces 553; Upstanding, flourishing and trading 559
APPENDIX A: BRITISH GOVERNMENTS AND
PROMINENT CHINESE 568
APPENDIX B: GOVERNORS OF HONG KONG 574
NOTES AND SOURCES 575
BIBLIOG,IAPHY 602
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 619
INDEX 621