In January, 1859, a public meeting held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the belief that the books of Machow Wong had been burned to screen a public officer from conviction of complicity with pirates, petitioned Parliament to direct such an inquiry as would vindicate the honour of the British Crown and do justice. This example was followed by meetings held at Tynemouth, Macclesfield and Birmingham, and at some other towns public meetings were convened for the same purpose. On March 3rd, 1859, Earl Grey brought the Newcastle petition before the House of Lords, while Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton dealt with the matter before the Commons. The latter stated, that the documents in the case had been referred to a legal and dispassionate adviser of the Crown; that he discovered in them hatred, malice and uncharitableness in every possible variety and aspect; that the documents might consequently be considered a description of official life in Hongkong; that the mode in which the Attorney General had originated and conducted the inquiry, and the breach of official confidence which occurred in the course of the trial, had led the Governor to suspend him; that, after a dispassionate consideration of the papers, he could come to no other conclusion than that the Governor's decision ought to be confirmed; that it was, however, his intention, as soon as possible, to direct a most careful examination into the whole of the facts. Of course the public press treated the whole case in a variety of ways, but the verdict of public opinion in England was, no doubt, that to which the Times gave utterance (March 15, 1859) in a scathing article of which the following is a brief digest.
'Hongkong is always connected with some fatal pestilence, some doubtful war, or some discreditable internal squabble, so much so that, in popular language, the name of this noisy, bustling, quarrelsome, discontented little Island may not inaptly be used as a euphemous synonym for a place not mentionable to ears polite. Every official's hand is there against his neighbour. The Governor has run away to seek health or quiet elsewhere. The Lieutenant-Governor has been accused of having allowed his servant to squeeze. The newspaper proprietors were, of late,
