British Minister Entertained Peking, April 20.
His Excellency the British Minister and Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Duff were guests of honour at a dinner given last night in the theatre of the British Legation by the Anglo-Chinese Society. There was an. unusually large attendance. Sir Reginald Gamble presided, and was supported by Sir Francis Aglen, Admiral Tsai Ting-kan, Dr. Wang Chung-hui, Admiral Sir Sah Chen-ping, General Tinge and others.
The Chairman' welcomed Mr. Beilby Alston and expressed the pleasure of the members in having him amongst them again. Mr. Alston was endowed with considerable ability, but he had a great desideratum in a Minister to Peking—he loved China. (Applause). The speaker then announced that Mr. Alston had consented to become honorary vice-president of the Society.
Mr. Alston, who was warmly greeted on rising to reply, in referring to his appointment as vice-president of the Society in success sion to Sir John Jordan, said that it was not usually given to newly-appointed Ministers to have the advantage of the experience gained by long years' residence and knowledge of people and language, possessed by Sir John Jordan, when he became Minister to China, and therefore any one attempting to step into his shoes was severely handicapped from the start. In any capacity, Sir John Jordan was irreplaceable. (Applause).
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.