By being within the dominions of the Emperor of China, being within any Ship or Vessel at a distance of not more than 100 miles from the coast of China, and to enforce the execution of such Laws & Ordinances, by Penalties & Forfeitures.
By the full Power under the great Seal you are authorized to treat of and arrange with any F. I appointed by the Emperor of China, any matters which may come into discussion between the two forces.
In a section of the Powers thus imparted to you by the Superintendence & Control of specific instruments, the superintendence of all H. M's Consular Servants in China is vested in your hands; and you are authorized under the restrictions & limitations which you will find recorded in various despatches from this Office which will be made over to you by your Predecessor, to exercise a certain degree of control over H. M's Naval & Military Forces in the China Seas.
The several powers which I have enumerated will, I conceive, amply provide for any duties that can be expected to occur in China; and I trust that the confidence which they manifest by conferring upon you a degree of authority more comprehensive in extent and more unusual in character than is ordinarily imparted to any Servant of the Crown, will be an additional inducement to you to prove that confidence has been well bestowed, by the judicious and moderate manner in which that authority is exercised.
On the whole you have had the opportunity of perusing the correspondence which has passed between this Office and your Predecessor during his residence in China, and you have seen both the nature of the questions which have from time to time been submitted by him for their decision, and the answers given. It is therefore only necessary that I should lay down some general principles by which it has been decided that your conduct should, as far as possible, be regulated.
I need scarcely state to you in the outset that the only commerce which H. M's Govt would desire to see maintained with China, and consistent with Treaty engagements subsisting between the two Countries, is that which shall be strictly legal. All other commerce which British Subjects may attempt to carry on with the inhabitants of China, it will be your duty to discountenance to the utmost. With regard however to legal commerce, H. M's Govt would wish you constantly to bear in mind that it is likely to flourish in proportion as it is allowed to develop itself unfettered by minute regulations, and untrammeled by official interference.
It is true that the peculiar character of our intercourse with China calls for a certain degree of supervision on the part of British Authorities, but the principle by which that supervision should be regulated is that of preventing any cause of discussion or dissension between the British Traders and the Chinese Authorities, at the same time that the rights & privileges of the former, by Treaty, are steadily upheld, and secured from disregard or interference on the part of the latter.
I am aware that there has been much in the H. M's Govt commercial intercourse of British Subjects with China, especially of late years, which will require to be amended before it can be expected to assume a sound & healthy aspect, and the apprehension of serious misunderstandings with the Chinese Authorities arising out of attempts to persevere in a vicious system will be laid aside. Much firmness, therefore, will be required on your part not only as regards the Chinese Authorities, but also as regards British Subjects; and to enable you to act with propriety...