Sir Henry Blake has had a rather anxious time of it lately. If he has made mistakes I think they were due more to want of Knowledge and appreciation of the Chinese character than from lack of energy. The Governor was up the whole of "Siurday night, and has been hard at work ever since, Whether he has been well advised, time will show; but I am afraid some serious blunders have been committed. Why were not proclamations issued to reassure the people and anticipate the lying slanders which were sure to be propagated! Why were no steps taken to prevent the incursion of rowdies and soldiers from Tungkun? But it is easy to bewise after the event. The main thing now is to avoid making further errors.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.