England itself; and if so, whether Great Britain would be bound to interfere in the event of a rupture (which was then threatened) between the Chinese and the authorities at Macao.
A Memorandum was accordingly prepared, show- Memorandum;
July 31, 1843. ing the obligations of this country towards Portugal under the ancient Treaties, which was submitted to the Queen's Advocate, and on receipt of his Report To Queen's Advocate; the following reply was returned to the Colonial Office:-
September 4, 1843.
Queen's Advocate:
November 4, 1843.
November 6, 1845.
"Lord Stanley will perceive that the Queen's Advocate is of opinion that the provisions of the Treaty of 1661 between the English and Portuguese Crowns apply to Macao, and that Portugal would be entitled, in pursuance of that Treaty, to call upon this country to assist in the defence of the establishments in that place against Chinese aggression. Lord Aberdeen, however, apprehends that in claiming assistance under a Treaty of Defensive Alliance, it is incumbent on the claiming party to show that the attack which it apprehends, or from which it suffers, has not been provoked by any proceedings of its own; and that, in the specific case of Macao, Portugal would have to show, not only that her authorities at Macao had given no positive provocation to the Government of China, but also that they had not violated any conditions on which that Government had permitted them to occupy that Settlement. Lord Aberdeen is of opinion that Her Majesty's Government could not leave the British authorities in China the power to decide on the validity of the allegations which might be adduced by Portugal in support of a demand for assistance under Treaty, especially when the result of their decision might be to involve their country in hostility with China.
"Lord Aberdeen is also of opinion that all applications for assistance in pursuance of such a compact must be addressed directly by the Portuguese Government to that of Great Britain; and that the local authorities, both British and Portuguese, in China must be considered as invested with no power whatever to act on their own authority, or at their own discretion, in such a matter.
"Further, his Lordship conceives that this opinion and determination of Her Majesty's Government ought to be explicitly made known both to the
Sir H. Pottinger, No. 159;
November 29, 1843.
Mr. Davis, No. 50; July 15, 1844.
Sir H. Pottinger;
Nos. 159 and 174, of 1843; Nos. 12, 74, and 75, of 1844,
British and Portuguese authorities in China. Otherwise, the latter might fall into the error of assuming a tone in their communications with the Chinese authorities which might lead to acts of violence being directed against the Settlement of Macao; while the former might, on their part, consider themselves bound to interpose in the event of such acts of violence being committed, without previously consulting the Government at home.
"Lord Aberdeen would therefore recommend that the Governor of Hong Kong should be instructed in the sense above indicated, and that he should, at the same time, be ordered to take a fitting opportunity of making known the tenor of his instructions to the Portuguese authorities at Macao."
In October following, a British subject (Mr. Campbell) was arrested and imprisoned by the Portuguese authorities at Macao; and, in reporting it home, Sir H. Pottinger alluded to the fact that a Mr. J. Rickett (who, it appears from a despatch from Mr. Davis, was appointed in 1842) was then acting as British Consular Agent at Macao, and that he was in communication with the Portuguese authorities on the subject of Mr. Campbell's imprisonment; but Sir H. Pottinger went on to say:-
"Her Majesty's Government will be the best judges whether the formal approval of the Queen of Portugal to Mr. Rickett's residing as British Consular Agent at Macao is required or not. Should it be thought so, I beg to recommend that early measures may be taken for obtaining it, as the resort of British shipping to those parts of the waters of China, generally known by the appellations of the 'Macao Roads' and the 'Typa' (over neither of which the Macao authorities pretend to exercise the smallest jurisdiction) is very considerable, and I therefore consider the presence of a British Consular officer to be indispensable under our new relations with China."
No steps, however, would appear to have been taken to obtain the formal recognition of Mr. Rickett's appointment by the Portuguese authorities.
1844.
But Sir H. Pottinger, in his despatches of 1843 and 1844 relating to the imprisonment of Mr.
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