44
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long as such Superintendent should be also the Preamble. Governor of the Island of Hong-Kong) to enact, with the advice of the Legislative Council of the said Island of Hong-Kong, all such Laws and Ordinances as might from time to time be required for the peace, order, and good government of Her Majesty's subjects being within the dominions of the Emperor of China, or being within any ship or vessel at a distance of not more than one hundred miles from the coast of China; and that it should also be lawful for Her Majesty, by any Order or Orders in Council, to ordain, for the government of Her Majesty's subjects, being within the dominions of the Emperor of China, or being within any ship or vessel at a distance of not more than one hun- dred miles from the coast of China, any Law or Ordinance which to Her Majesty in Council might
seem meet:
And whereas by a certain other Act passed in the
6th and 7th years of Her Majesty's reign, inti 6 & 7 Vict. c. 94.
CH
tuled An Act to remove doubts as to the exercise
of power and jurisdiction by Her Majesty within divers countries and places out of Her Majesty's dominions, and to render the same more effectual,” it was among other things enacted, that it should be lawful for Her Majesty to hold, exercise, and enjoy any power or jurisdiction which Her Majesty now hath or may at any time hereafter have within any country or place out of Her Majesty's do- minions, in the same and as ample a manner as if Her Majesty had acquired such jurisdiction by the cession or conquest of territory:
And whereas by Treaty, Grant, Sufferance, or other lawful means, Her Majesty hath power and jurisdiction over British subjects within the do- minions of the Emperor of China, and the same or certain parts thereof have heretofore been exer- cised on behalf of Her Majesty by Her Majesty's Consular officers resident within the said dominions : And whereas in pursuance of the powers vested in Her Majesty by the above-recited Act of the 3rd and 4th years of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, Her Majesty was pleased, by an Order in Council passed on the 24th day of February, 1843, to prohibit her subjects from resorting, for the pur- poses of trade and commerce, to any other ports in the dominions of the Emperor of China than those
Preamble.
3
of Canton, Amoy, Foochowfoo, Ningpo, and Shang- hae, or than might be in the occupation of Her Majesty's forces:
And whereas Her Majesty was pleased, by a certain other Order in Council passed on the 2nd day of October, 1843, to order, that if any law or ordinance made in pursuance of the above-recited Act passed in the 6th and 7th years of Her Majesty's reign, intituled "An Act for the better govern- ment of Her Majesty's subjects resorting to China," should be in anywise repugnant to or at vari- ance with the above-recited Order of Her Majesty in Council of the 24th day of February, 1843, or with certain Orders passed by His late Ma- jesty King William IV, on the 9th of December, 1833, for the government and trade of His Majesty's subjects at Canton in the dominions of the Emperor of China, and for the appointment of a court of justice with criminal and Admiralty jurisdiction for the trial of offences committed by His Majesty's subjects within the said dominions and the ports and havens thereof, or on the high seas within one hundred miles from the coast of China; or with a certain other Order passed by Her Majesty on the 4th day of January, 1843, directing that the said court of justice should be holden in the Island of Hong-Kong, for the purposes aforesaid; then such law or ordinance, so long as the same should be in force, should be obeyed and observed; anything in the said recited Orders in Council contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding:
And whereas Her Majesty was pleased by a certain other Order in Council, passed on the 17th
day of April, 1844, to order that Her Majesty's Consuls and Vice-Consuls resident within the dominions of the Emperor of China, or such other persons as by warrant under the hand and seal of the Chief Superintendent of the Trade of Her Majesty's subjects in China for the time being should be appointed to act provisionally as Consuls or Vice-Consuls, should severally in the districts within which they might respectively be appointed to reside, have and hold all necessary power and autho- rity to exercise jurisdiction over British subjects within such districts as aforesaid, for the repression and punishment of crimes and offences by them com- mitted within the dominions of the Emperor of China,