The next point which I have to remark. What is the provision of the Order, that in the exercise of the Jurisdiction granted to them, the Consuls should be governed by such laws and Ordinances in that behalf as may be enacted by you in pursuance of the powers conferred upon you by Her Majesty, under the China Act of last Session.
I have already stated to you, and you will find a corresponding remark in my Despatch to Sir Henry Pottinger No. 21 of the 8th of September, that it will devolve upon you in your Legislative capacity to enact laws and Ordinances for the Government of British Subjects and for enabling Her Majesty's Consuls in China to give effect to them. But with reference to the present Order it will be requisite that you should pass an enactment by which the degree of power to be vested in the Consuls, should be clearly defined, and the course of Judicial proceeding to be adopted by them, and the manner in which their judgments or sentences are to be carried into execution, be prescribed. It should also be stated in some such Enactment whether the Consul is to be the Sole judge, or whether there is to be any appeal, what the process of compelling appearance and of execution is to be, and what the means of punishing criminal offenders.
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