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accordingly, in order that no doubt or difficulty may arise in any case in which such professional services may be required by Ordnance Officers, I am directed by the Master General and Board to apprize you of the same, and to communicate to you the following particulars of the arrangement alluded to, that they may guide your proceedings in conformity therewith in obtaining (when necessary) the professional services of the Law Officer of the Crown at Hongkong and in remunerating him for his services.
The Law Officers of the Crown in all the British Colonies are to distinctly understand by the communication made to them by the Secretary of State that it is one of the conditions on which they hold their Offices that they should act as the Legal Advisers to the Board of Ordnance within their respective Colonies: it being reciprocally the engagement of the Board to employ them in preference to any other Legal Agents or Advisers.
2ndly. In any Colony in which the Law Officer of the Crown is paid by a Salary, his remuneration for services rendered to the Board of Ordnance is to be annually settled as nearly as may be in proportion to the demands of the Board of Ordnance on his time and attention during the year, as compared to the demand made during the same period on his time and attention by the Colonial Government.
3rdly. In Colonies where the