taken from the prosecutor. The prisoner wore the uniform of the Happs at Canton.
I could not accept the end of the statement made by the prisoner. If, however, the prisoner did the act within the jurisdiction, it was proved that he was wearing a uniform under the authority of a jacket tending to deceive the prosecutor into the belief that he was acting under authority, which was a grave aggravation of his offence.
I believed that the prisoner's defence was untrue. I could not, and I did not, without proof, assume that Officers of the Customs of China would be guilty of an act of war against this Colony within this Colony.
Page 335
The second prisoner denied that he was present, but he did not attempt to prove an alibi. His defence tended to the conclusion of a consciousness of guilt and to casting doubt on the value of the defence of the first prisoner. I thought it my duty, without leaving the Prison, to sentence the men. I held that if these prisoners were acting under the orders of a Chinese Mandarin, the fact should have been avowed. If avowed, I hold that it was still my duty to sentence them.