Incl: 3 in despatch No. 071844.
195
In the matter of Salvador Lacrase a Spanish prisoner charged with the murder of William Hopkins an English Subject on board an English vessel at Hammo in China.
The Order in Council constituting the Admiralty and Criminal Court now existing in the Colony merely gives it Jurisdiction over Her Majesty's Subjects and it will naturally become a matter of inquiry how far Lacrase may come under that designation. Blackstone makes some remarks on the subject which appear to me tolerably conclusive. They are as follows.
"The oath of allegiance