Page:Europe in China.djvu/367

Rh had considerable effect both in England and on the Continent. In May, 1858, a public subscription was raised in Hongkong to obtain, under the advice of Sir F. G. Ouseley, the Oxford Professor of Music, an organ (to cost £125) and a first-class organist. In result a highly trained and talented musician (C. F. A. Sangster) was sent out (in 1800) and he conducted the Cathedral choir for 35 years with great success.

While the social life of Hongkong continued on the whole to center in Government House, Sir J. Bowring occupied to some extent the position held by his literary confrère and one of his gubernatorial predecessors, Sir J. Davis. Both men were about equal in genius and equally unpopular in Hongkong. It was often remarked that the friends and admirers of Sir J. Bowring—and that he had such, there is ample testimony—were mostly non-English. A correspondent of the New York Times (January 4, 1859) represented in glowing colours Sir John Bowring's sociability and intellectuality, alleging that one secret of Sir John's unpopularity 'in the detestable society of Hongkong' was the democratic simplicity he adhered to in his style of living. Among the occurrences which gave colour to the social life of this period, the following incidents may be enumerated, viz. the arrival (August 1, 1854) of the U.S. store-ship Supply, the officers of which had just surveyed extensive coal beds in Formosa; the arrival (August 14, 1854) of the American ship Lady Pierce with her owner Silas E. Burrows; the strike (September 12, 1854) of local washermen who demanded better pay; the presentation (September 14, 1854) by the American community of Canton and Hongkong of a service of plate to Commodore Perry in command of the U.S. Squadron; the arrival (November 1, 1854) from the Arctic Ocean of the discovery-ship Enterprise; a public farewell dinner given (November 20, 1858) to the officers of the 59th Regiment (2nd Nottinghamshire) which had been nine years in China; the series of theatrical entertainments (since January, 1859) given by the officers of the 1st or Royal Regiment who issued season tickets for the purpose.