Tue portrait of the new British Minister to China shows a very intelligent and thoughtful face, the face of a man conscious of a heavy responsibility, perhaps prophetically—for the photograph before us was taken some years ago—conscious of the serious nature of the task that Lord Salisbury has now confided to him. At the same time it is the face of a man who will be found not unequal to the task. Sir Claude has made two more or less public appearances since is appointment; the former at the dinner given mainly in his honour by the China Association in London in February, the proceedings at which, as it was professedly only a social gathering, were not reported, Sir Cecil G. Smith being in the chair und a large number of distinguished men connected with China being present. The latter was at the tiffin given last Saturday by the Hongkong Branch of the China Association. We published on Monday morning a telegraphic summary of Sir Claude's speech at that tiffin. The speech was necessarily non-committal; Sir Claude could not be expected to deliver himself in public in Hongkong on political matters, But general as his deliverance was, his words have in them
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.