Pacheco and Fernandes,
I knew no more of the case than I could gather from the Governor of Macao's letter. In the morning, I received an official letter from the Colonial Secretary authorizing me to detain the prisoners, and directing me to hand them over to the Harbor Master. Copies of the letters will be found in enclosures 2 and 3. I obeyed these instructions, and the prisoners were subsequently forwarded to Macao in Her Majesty's schooner Young Hebe.
They were convicted in the Macao Criminal Court, but the sentence was reverted by the Supreme Tribunal of Goa, as will be seen by enclosure 4, which contains a copy of a letter from the Governor of Macao, giving particulars. After the reversal of the sentence, they brought an action against me in the Supreme Court of Hongkong, for false imprisonment, laying the damages at twenty-five thousand Dollars.
I placed the case before the Officiating Attorney General, Mr. Campbell, who employed Mr. Parker, a solicitor, to assist him in conducting the defence. Mr. Parker had performed the duty of Criminal Prosecutor during the absence of the Attorney General on two occasions. Mr. Parker then told me that Sir John Davis had acted illegally in ordering the arrest, and that the part I had taken made me responsible for the whole. Mr. Campbell was of a different opinion. Since Mr. Campbell's appointment to the office of Acting Chief Justice, Mr. Parker has had the entire conduct of the defence.
The case was brought on for hearing on the 4th May instant, and the plaintiffs were nonsuited, in consequence of the absence of witnesses, and ordered to pay the costs. The merits of the case are undecided. The costs, however, cannot be recovered, as the plaintiffs reside beyond the jurisdiction of the Court.
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