Moreover an appeal is happily of rare occurrence, – and I have reason to know that this cheap and speedy settlement of all local questions in the Consular Courts with the assistance of assessors is most satisfactory to the parties concerned. The average number of appeals to Hongkong was not much exceeded one in two years, and in cases where the Court formally declined jurisdiction (and in the only two cases which occurred recently on appeal the decision of the Consular Courts) – those cases growing out of Treaty obligations – the right of jurisdiction has been formally taken away by Her Majesty's Order in Council of 15 June 1853.
Nothing presses upon my mind with a heavier sense of responsibility than the imperfect provision on public education - especially in the adjacency of a country where education is universally an object of attention. The difficulties are great, the appropriate instruments few. For the production of intelligent scholars we require fit masters - and they are indeed difficult of access. The Military School establishments have objects of their own which make them imperfect and inconvenient for the general.