Canton at
in
ference to Hongkong or Chinese affairs , had been appointed the place
British Consul at Canton in the place of Mr. McGregor who of Mr.
McGregor.
had left in March , 1848. As Dr. Bowring was well acquainted
with mercantile affairs and had always, in his place in Parlia
ment, taken great interest in Chinese affairs besides being the
advocate of liberal measures, the news of his appointment
was received with satisfaction, As a literary man, Dr. Bowring His previous
held a high rank among what may be termed the useful career.
and practical writers of the day ; his parliamentary career
had been marked by much zeal for the interests of his consti-
tuents and the country at large, and by unceasing assiduity in the
performance of the responsible duties of a legislator. Like all
other prominent public men, Dr. Bowring had his detractors,
and his appointment was commented upon severely in a Home
paper, yclept The Journal of Commerce. It was true that he was
not " versed " in the language of China, but where was the one,
especially in those days, who could be said to be really so in
every sense ? Nor was he practically acquainted with the trade
of the country, but although these were recommendations, they
were by no means absolutely essential, at least until then they
had not been thought so, —as witness all the Consular appoint-
ments, Dr. Bowring was announced to have already left Eng-
land, and his arrival might be looked forward to in March.
He would therefore enter upon office at a time when a man of
good judgment was especially required for the important and
responsible appointment of British Consul at Canton. *
* In the Parliamentary Companion for 1847, the following short biography appears in
reference to Dr. Bowring :--
“John Bowring, LL.D. , (Boltou) , eldest son of Charles Bowring, Esq , of Exeter, whose
family was for many generations connected with the woollen trade of Devonshire, born
1792 ; married in 1816, Maria, daughter of Samuel Lewin, Esq., of Hackney. Has hono-
rary diplomas from the Universities of Holland and Italy ; is a Fellow of the Linnæan
Society of London and Paris, of the Historical Institute of the Scandinavian and Icelandic
Societies, of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, of the Royal Societies of Hungary and
Copenhagen, of the Frisian, Athenian, and various other Societies ; was for many years
editor of The Westminster Review ; has published a number of works on foreign languages
and literature, on politics and political economy, and translations from several languages.
Dr. Bowring was employed by Earl Grey's Government, with Sir Henry Parnell, in the
investigation of public accounts, and served with Mr. Villiers as Commercial Commissioner
in France, to arrange the basis of a treaty of commerce with that country, Has made
several reports on free trade and public accountancy. Is a Radical Reformer. Unsuccess
fully contested Blackburn in 1832 and 1835, but in the latter year was returned for Kil-
marnock ; had no seat in Parliament from 1837 till 1841 , sine , which date he has sat for
Bolton."
228 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Chap . XI. A party of four military officers consisting of Captain Da
1849. Costa of the Royal Engineers , Lieutenants Dwyer and Grant-
Murder of ham , and Dr. Tweddle, of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment, set out
Captain Da
Costa, R.E., from their quarters at Stanley about 4 o'clock in the afternoon
and of of Sunday, the 25th February, on a stroll towards the village of
Lieutenant
Dwyer, Wong-ma-kok, situate on the level of a small and high penin-
Ceylon Rifle sula which divides Tytam Bay from Stanley Bay on the southern
Regiment,
at Wong-ma- side of the island, and distant about ten miles from Victoria.
kok.
The party, after proceeding about half a mile towards this
hamlet, separated, Captain Da Costa and Lieutenant Dwyer
continuing their way to the village, where they met their death .
They had As will hereafter be seen, it would appear that Captain Da
had a
champagne Costa and Lieutenants Dwyer and Grantham had a champagne
tiffin. They met at two o'clock,
tiffin in the quarters of Dr. Tweddle.
and, after spending a couple of hours together, the party
broke up for a walk, Captain Da Costa especially being in high
spirits at the prospect of shortly going Home ; but, according to
the evidence of the survivors, none of them were intoxicated,
although the Chinese witnesses at the inquest upon the body
of Captain Da Costa, probably judging by their frolicsomeness ,
asserted that both Captain Da Costa and Lieutenant Dwyer
were drunk.
The Chinese According to the Chinese evidence adduced at the inquest, it
evidence
as to the would appear that the two officers had entered the village
murder. towards dusk " in a state of intoxication " ; that they proceeded
from house to house inquiring for women until they came to
the house of an old man (the last house in the village ) ; that
when they entered , his wife and daughter- in-law were engaged
in cooking ; that " the shorter and stouter of the two " com-
Taking menced by taking liberties with the young girl, and that on
liberties.
being remonstrated with by the old man and his wife, the latter
officer struck them both with his stick with such severity as to
draw blood ; that upon this the old man rushed to the door of
the house and cried out to the neighbours-" Save our lives !
Save our lives !!" -upon which the villagers came and took hold
of the officers by the hand to pull them out of the house, when
the officers resisted and beat them also with their sticks. Upon
The Chinese this, a Chinese outlaw, named Chui Apo, a pirate by profession
outlaw
and pirate upon whose head the Chinese Government had for years set a
Chui Apo. large reward, with his men , rushed in armed with spears and
The officers attacked the officers in the house. The officers upon retreating
hotly
pressed and were hotly pressed by Chui Apo and his spearsmen, overpower-
overpowered. ed, and struck down. After satisfying themselves that their
victims had been sufficiently butchered , they slung the bodies
upon bamboo poles, and, proceeding to the beach to a precipice
called " Bluff-head," hurled them into the sea which washed
its base.
MURDER OF CAPTAIN DA COSTA AND LIEUT. DWYER. 229
As Captain Da Costa and Lieutenant Dwyer had not re- Chap. XI .
turned at three o'clock the next morning, Lieutenant Mac- 1849.
Donald set out with an armed party in search of them, but hurled
Their bodies
discovered no trace of the missing officers. Information was into the sea.
immediately conveyed to the authorities . Messrs. May and Action
of the
Caldwell, of the Police, proceeded to Tytam to make inqui- authorities.
ries, one hundred of the Ceylon Rifles scouring the island The Police
as well, and on the 27th February, H.M.S. Fury went round scour and military
the
to Chuk-chu ( Stanley ) . * At noon on the 26th, no trace of the island.
officers had been discovered, and the village of Wong - ma- kok was H.M.S. Fury.
found deserted . The body of Captain Da Costa was found in the Body of
water on Tuesday evening, the 27th. Six Chinese were appre- Captain Da
Copa found.
hended on suspicion , but they denied all knowledge of the Arrests.
murder. The rest of the sad tale is soon told. The parties appre- The sad tale.
hended were kept separate from the time of their being brought
to Victoria until they were produced at the inquest, and the old The inquest.
man whose head was broken , and who said " he did not run
away because he had done nothing wrong," and who followed
Lieutenant MacDonald to the Barracks and thus became a pri-
soner of his own accord, whilst the young girl who also came
forward voluntarily on the last day of the inquest and who
fled before the tragedy had taken place, could have had no
communication with the other witnesses in the interim. Under
the circumstances the painful fact is forced on one, that by the
exercise of a little tact and prudence, the officers might have
escaped with their lives if not unscathed, even after they had
annoyed the timid girl and struck her father and mother- in-law ,
--their crowning act being to wrench the spear out of Chui
Apo's hand and break it in the attempt to strike a blow at
him when he and others came to order and, if necessary, to
force them out of the village.
The Jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Chui Verdict of
the Jury.
Apo and several other Chinese . Except Chui Apo, whose wilful
arrest was effected in Canton in February, 1851 , and whose murderagainst
trial will be found reported in March of that year,† no trace was chui Apo
ever found of the others, though it was surmised for a time that and others.
they, as well as Chui Apo himself and his other associates , had
perished in a conflict with one or more of Her Majesty's ships
engaged in attacking a pirate fleet under the command of Chui
Apo. Those arrested on suspicion were discharged . The Suspects
discharged.
Government offered , by a first notification, a reward of £ 100 for Government
the apprehension of any one or more of the parties guilty of the rewards.
murder, and by a subsequent one £ 500, for the apprehension of
So named in 1845 -see antè Chap. 111. § 11., p. 79.
† See Chap. XII. § II., infrà.
230 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Chap. XI. Chui Apo and $ 100 for the apprehension of each and every one
1849. of the others named in the verdict of the Coroner's Jury. The
Body of body of Lieutenant Dwyer was never recovered . The funeral
Lieutenant
Dwyer never of Captain Da Costa took place on Thursday afternoon, the 1st
recovered.
Funeral March, being attended by the Governor, the military and naval
of Captain officers including those of the U. S. Ship Preble, the Chief
Da Costa.
Justice, the American Consul, and a large number of the other
inhabitants. Needless to say, that this sad affair was the
talk of Hongkong for a long while and caused no end of a stir
at the time.
Appoint-
ments of On the 27th February, the Government notified that a Com-
Justices of mission of the Peace had been issued nominating fifteen of the
the l'eace.
leading residents of the Colony to be Magistrates and Justices
of the Peace, in addition to those already in the Commission of
Probable
reason. the Peace. The names included the most influential in the
community, and doubtless this was done in anticipation of the
passing of the new Ordinance extending the summary jurisdic
tion of the Police Court, but in reality encroaching upon the
privileges of the Supreme Court on its criminal side.
Petty The Petty Sessions Ordinance No. 1 of 1849 for " the Estab-
Sessions
Ordinance lishment of a Court of Petty Sessions with jurisdiction to deal
No. 1 of
with certain offences," finally passed the Legislative Council on
1849 passed
by the the 22nd February, and came into operation on the 1st March.
Legislature. The Ordinance had undergone several alterations greatly to its
The
Ordinance amelioration, for which much credit was due to the Governor.
modified
to meet If the same course had been adopted with previous enactments
public there would have been but little ground for complaint of the
wishes.
want of representation in the Legislative Council, so long as the
community had had the opportunity of stating their objections
to measures in contemplation , and a desire had existed on the
part of the Governor to consider and adopt amendments that
were suggested in a fair spirit. Taken altogether, the Ordi-
Calculated nance had not only been greatly improved , but was calculated
to be useful to be very useful, provided the Justices acted , despite of little
difficulties , in consideration of the general good that may be
expected from a respectable portion of the community giving
their time and attention to the administration ofjustice , and
that without the assistance of a lawyer to advise with on points
which it was no great disparagement to be imperfectly acquainted
with.
That a reformation was called for in the Police Court
Presence of was very generally admitted , and so far as the Ordinance pro-
Justices of vided or appeared to provide for the presence of Justices of the
the Peace
provided Peace, it was good. But this concession had been coupled with
for. a dangerous encroachment on the old established Courts of Law;
THE COURT OF PETTY SESSIONS. 231
Courts approved of by experience and usually respected by Chap. - XI.
British Colonial legislators. The evil would counterbalance the 1849.
regular attendance of Justices of the Peace even were they to be
present daily, but provision was only made for their attendance
one day in the week (the day the Petty Sessions was held ) and
then their presence was optional. It appeared, therefore, that Police
the Police Magistrate's Court remained unaltered . Five days Court
in the week the Magistrate was to sit alone, having full power unaltered.
to dispose of all cases coming within the jurisdiction of the
Police Court. On the 6th day, he sat as Judge of the Petty
Sessions, and if any of the gentlemen whose names were on the
Commission , chose to be present, well and good ; but if not,
Mr. Hillier individually as Judge of Petty Sessions had been Mr. Hillier
put in possession of certain duties properly devolving upon the discharging
duties
Chief Justice and a Jury. The community, under the circum- devolving
stances, might well have viewed this new Ordinance calmly and upon
Chiefthe
have inquired in what the public had been benefited ? In the Justiceand a Jury.
first place, the Police Court was left precisely as it was ; in the
second, the Supreme Court had been deprived of part of its
natural rights ; and in the third, an irregular ' little Court ' had
been formed where Mr. Hillier occupied the seat of Chief Justice
Hulme ! and where a Jury was represented by a Justice of the
Peace, if one was present ; and if one was not present, Mr.
Hillier was both Judge and Jury !
The Court was to be held once a week - in the draft two days
had been named . A doubtful point was also cleared up—Jus-
tices of the Peace had an equal voice with the Chief Magistrate
in all proceedings before the new Court.
Simultaneously with the publication of the Ordinance, ap- Justices
More of
peared a notification , as stated before, intimating that fifteen the Pence.
gentlemen had been placed in the Commission of the Peace,
in addition to those already in Commission . There was , there- Justices.
No dearth of
fore, no dearth of Justices, and the only course now was, to
wait patiently to see how the scheme would work. As will be
seen hereafter, the Ordinance remained in force until the 22nd Ordinance
No. 6 of
March, 1862 , on the passing of Ordinance No. 6 of that year. 1862.
By a Rule ofCourt, which passed the Legislative Council on the
1st March, it was ordered that in addition to the sittings of the
Supreme Court already established by Rule of Court of Easter
Term, 1847 , for the trial of civil causes and actions , there should
in every year be sittings at Nisi Prius on the 10th day of July Sittings
and following days, and on the 10th October and following at Prius
Nisi.
days .
Some time since, a memorial was forwarded to the Governor Auction
by the auctioneers of the Colony praying for the abolition of duty
* See Vol. II., Chap. XXXVII.
232 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Chap. XI. the auction duty levied by section 9 of Ordinance No. 5 of 1845.
1849. The document was sent Home to Earl Grey, and an answer
abolished
and licences was now received leaving the matter entirely to the Governor.
granted. Accordingly, on the 1st March , it was notified that the duty
heretofore levied would be abolished, and henceforth auction
licences granted to applicants on an annual fee of £ 150 , payable
quarterly and in advance.
Land. In accordance with Earl Grey's despatch of the 4th Decem-
ber, 1848 , alluded to in the preceding chapter, * it was noti-
fied , on the 3rd March of the present year, that all Crown
leases heretofore granted for a term of 75 years might be
extended for a further term of 924 years . All tenants of
the Crown who were desirous of availing themselves of the
Extension concession, on application at the Surveyor - General's Office ,
of terms of received the directions necessary to enable them to obtain pro-
Crown
Leases. longation of their respective leases in conformity with the above
instructions . This was a measure which had frequently been
advocated in the belief that it would tend to give Hongkong
property an established and substantial value in the estimation
of the Chinese, into whose hands a great portion of it would
ultimately fall, the European inhabitants being considered
mere birds of passage .
First sitting The first sitting of the new Court of Petty Sessions under
of Court
of Petty the new Ordinance, previously commented upon, was held on
Sessions. Monday, the 5th March. The attendance of Justices was very
large, there being present at one time, besides the Chief Magis-
trate, Mr. Archibald Campbell, Mr. Rickett, Mr. Braine, Mr.
Jones , Mr. Scott, and Mr. Carter. Messrs. Mackean and Lyall
also appeared , but as the Bench was full they went away without
taking their seats. The cases , except one in which twelve
Chinese, belonging to the Triad Secret Society, were charged
with assembling for unlawful purposes, were mostly trumpery
and occupied the Court till past six o'clock in the evening.
Several of the Justices, however, had left before that time,
Messrs . Archibald Campbell, Rickett, and Carter only remaining
at the close of the proceedings. The rotation according to
which the Justices of the Peace were expected to attend the
Petty Sessions held every Monday, at 11 o'clock, was published
shortly after the promulgation of the Ordinance, the list being
prepared from April to December inclusive .
Meeting
of China At a general meeting of the China Branch of the Royal
Branch of
Royal Asiatic Society , held on Tuesday evening, the 6th March, the
Asiatic
postponed election of office -bearers for the current year took
Society
in the place, when a list was unanimously approved of. The treasurer,
Supreme Mr. C. J. F. Stuart, reported that the Governor had been asked
Court.
* Antè P. 205.
BILL TO EXTEND SUMMARY JURISDICTION OF SUPREME COURT. 233
that accommodation might be granted for the Society on the Chap. XI.
street floor of the Supreme Court House, now used as a church 1849.
(pending the opening of St. John's Cathedral ) ; and had great Ground
floor of
pleasure in stating that after consulting Mr. Hulme, the Chief Supreme
Justice, a large room, at present used as a vestry, had been set used asalso
Court
a
apart for the Society. The Secretary was instructed to express church.
to His Excellency the cordial thanks of the Society for so Room used
as vestry
essential a favour, and it was resolved to remove into the new set apart
premises as soon as they were vacated by the church, which for the
Society.
was expected to be before the next general meeting.
On the 14th March , the Governor directed that the draft of a Draft of
proposed Ordinance to amend Ordinance No. 9 of 1845 , entitled to
Ordinance
amend
"An Ordinance to invest the Supreme Court of Hongkong with Ordinance
a Summary Jurisdiction in certain cases," should be published for No. 9of
1845,
general information . At the recent public meeting to consider relating to
the Summary
colonial grievances, a proposal had been made, it will be remem- Jurisdiction
bered, to petition for the extension of the Summary Jurisdiction of the
Supreme
of the Supreme Court from $ 100 to $ 500, but the objections Court,
appeared so strong that the proposal was rejected by a con- published,
siderable majority, the mover himself declining to proceed with
it. It was understood that the suggestion was then made for
the
purpose of ascertaining public opinion on the subject ; and
having been so unequivocally expressed, the proposal might
very fairly have been considered as shelved . Nevertheless ,
within two months , it again appeared before the public in the
more formidable shape of a Draft Ordinance which in its main
provisions would shortly become law. The chief objection to Chief
objection
the extension of Summary Jurisdiction in either the Supreme to the
or the Magistrate's Court apparently lay in the danger which, it extension of
Summary
was considered, would exist in absolute power being conferred Jurisdiction.
upon such men as may be and had been heretofore called upon
to exercise it . The career of a former occupant of the Bench, Mr. Camp-
Mr. Campbell, was still so impressed upon the community, that on e
bellthstill
any proposed measure in connexion with the higher administra- public mind.
tion of the law never failed to throw suspicion upon the
intentions of the Government, composed as was then the so-
called Legislative Council , and to impress the community with
a nervous dread of leaving its jurisdiction without check, even
where no better could be found than attorneys and the common
run of juries ; and as regards the Magistrates, their unfitness
and too ready deference to their superiors, that they could
not be safely entrusted with more extensive powers. If
the community could have had the assurance of able, up-
right, active, and independent men to dispense the laws,
there would have been less to apprehend from the total
* Antè p. 222.
234 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Chap.
- XI, abrogation of the existing judicial establishments , with all
1849. their lumbering and expensive machinery, than in such cur-
tailments as were now contemplated . But reform should have
begun at the other end if intended to reach it at all, and, until
it did so, a jealous watch had to be kept on every attempt to
remove such restraints on absolute power as existed .
Mr. Hawes, A member of Parliament, Mr. Hawes, had stated in the House
M.P. ,on
average the of Commons recently, that for ten months the average of Colonial
disallowance Acts disallowed was one in ten , and no one could have questioned
of Colonial
Acts. the correctness of his statement. This , however, included
Canada and all the first class Colonies with elective legislatures
Elected
and the elements of representation in large and diversified
legislatures
and elements populations. Canada, Australia, Jamaica and other Colonial
of represen-
tation. possessions had a landed ' aristocracy, ' a commercial ‘ aristo-
cracy, ' a legalaristocracy " and " other aristocracies," not to
speak of an abundant supply of radical reformers in all ranks
Materials of life. With such materials for popular representation , public
for popular
representa- matters could with great safety be left to an elective legislature ;
tion.
Different but widely different was the condition of affairs in Hongkong,
condition of and it was with extreme anxiety that the community viewed the
affairs in
Hongkong. Ordinances which were rapidly wheeled through the Council
The objec Chamber. Admitting then that it was desirable to extend the
tions to the Summary Jurisdiction of the Court, it was still objected that
extension
of the the extraordinary powers granted to the Judge might be the
Summary
Jurisdiction means of introducing a system of great intolerance, but evidently
of the Court. the community had still in view the man who as a puppet of the
Government had been turned into a vicious tool of the Execu-
tive, and at this distance of time even one may well realize
how well founded their fears were. But even then Judges
were not appointed durante bene placito, as the prompt and
splendid victory of Chief Justice Hulme over Sir John Davis
so clearly proved- " the evil that men do lives after them " -
and this it was that had got imbedded into the people's mind here.
Sir John
Davis and Twelve months ago, it was argued , Sir John Davis was Gov.
Mr. Camp ernor, and Mr. Charles Molloy Campbell, acting Chief Justice .
still.in view•
bell Had a law such as was now proposed then existed , the greatest
iniquities would have been perpetrated in the name of Justice.
It was true that without a jury judgments must have been
limited to five hundred dollars, but they would have been
repeated until the aggregate was considerable. Mr. Campbell
had done one paper, says a report, " the honour of threatening
thirteen prosecutions for thirteen alleged libels. " " Had he
been even a very little of a lawyer," continued the report, " he
would have known that only one libel ever appeared in the
columns of the paper so often threatened, and its truth was so
notorious, it was so damnatory of Sir John Davis ' reputation as
ATTORNEYS AND INTERPRETATION IN THE SUPREME COURT. 235
a man of honour, that even he did not dare to drag it into the Chap. XI.
noon- day light of the Supreme Court and have it scrutinized 1849.
and weighed by a jury of his countrymen . He allowed it to
canker on his jaundiced mind, seeking relief for the burden of
hatred and malice which oppressed him , by carrying the war-
fare into private life, maligning a person whom he had not
dared to meet before a fitting tribunal. But enough of a pair
whose names were now introduced by the subject under con-
sideration, but who had passed away like a hideous dream, that
even their whilome parasites were willing to leave them in an
obscurity from which one would not needlessly take the trouble
of dragging them. " For historical purposes this quotation will
be deemed sufficient . Nous avons changé tout cela.
Section 5 ofthe Draft Ordinance gave the power to either party theSection 5 of
Draft
to employ "any friend or agent " to conduct his suit. This provi- Ordinance.
sion had been, doubtless , introduced with the view, if possible, of ploy
Power to em-
'friend
superseding the attorneys of the Court, leaving it nevertheless or agent ' to
optional to employ them under the restriction that should the conduct a
suit.
Court consider that their assistance was not necessary , their The
costs would be disallowed . Taken in connexion with the Attorneys.
grievances regarding attorneys which was mooted at the public
meeting at the commencement of the year, no doubt some
would have had it believed that the machinery of the Supreme
Court could be worked, especially in those days, without the
aid of attorneys, but with a community of whom eight- tenths
could not and one -tenth would not conduct their own causes , Attorneys
necessary
attorneys, it is to be feared , are necessary evils. It is true, evils.
however, that rules of practice and procedure have now-a-
days been enormously simplified and that with perhaps pract
Rulesice
of and
the introduction of English rules into the Colony, the procedure
necessity for the employment of attorneys in cases, on the simplified.
summary side of the Court at all events, might be dispensed Effect of
possible
reforms.
with to a great extent, especially with the aid of an efficient pos
staff of officials in the Registry who could and would render
assistance to parties of every class , but which at the time under
consideration apparently did not exist .
There was no permanent interpreter attached to the Court, No perma-
nent
another subject, it will be recollected , mooted at the adjourned interpreter
public meeting in January last. * A Chinese suitor then, could attached to
the Court.
not and, in fact, was not allowed to take a single step in a civil The evils of
suit without an interpreter, though the Court officers could have system.
such a
had no difficulty in giving directions as to most of the common
preliminary forms, but apparently, from the complaints made,
they did not consider it their duty , and this was another wheel
* Antè p. 223.
236 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG
Chap.
--- XI. in the judicial machine which required being put in order.
1849. Dr. Bowring, announced in February last, arrived in Hong-
Arrival of
Dr. Bowring, kong on the 19th March, by the P. & O. Steamer Achilles.
Her He thus entered upon the duties of the Consulate at a critical
Majesty's
Consul at time, but he was a man of experience, judgment , and mode-
Canton.
ration which , combined with firmness, were essentials in dealing
with the Chinese. Contrary to expectation , however, he
did not leave immediately for the scenes of his new life, but
remained in Hongkong for three weeks , probably studying
and making himself acquainted with the various and impor-
tant duties he was now called upon to discharge. He proceeded
to Canton in H. M. S. Medea on the 12th April, to assume
charge of the Consulate. Of course, it was quite right that
nothing should be wanting which was calculated to secure respect
to Her Majesty's representative, but it was feared that the moral
effect of a man - of- war upon the Chinese had been impaired by
recent events. The learned gentleman, however, had the satis-
faction of finding matters not quite so bad as they had been
represented, for the commercial guilds, feeling assured from
Governor Bonham's notification published a few days before
Dr. Bowring left, that there was no immediate danger of hostili-
Notification
of his ties , had resolved to resume trade, and on the 16th April the
assumption Government notified that Dr. Bowring had assumed on the
of duty.
13th, the position to which Her Majesty the Queen had been
graciously pleased to appoint him.
Mr. Mercer On the 21st March, the appointment of Mr. Mercer, the
appointed to
a scat on the Treasurer, to a seat in the Legislative Council was duly gazet-
Legislative ted . It will be recollected that , on the suspension of Chief
Council.
Justice Hulme, Mr. Mercer was given his seat in the Legislature *
and not Mr. Campbell, and that, on the reinstatement of the
Chief Justice, Mr. Mercer had to make way for him .†
Accommoda- Complaints were now heard as to the want of proper accommo-
tion in the
Police Court. dation in the Police Court, there being no accommodation at all for
The reporters the reporters. Apart from this, the acoustic arrangements were
and acoustic so bad that it was said " even close to the rails which hedged in
arrange-
ments. Justice," it was impossible to hear distinctly, in consequence of
which the Chief Magistrate was asked not to be alarmed at the
presence of a reporter in his Court, of which, it is said , he went
in dread, for, owing to the great height of the room in propor-
tion to its length and breadth, all sound was lost. It was sug
gested that " a canopy be raised above the Bench, by which
magisterial wisdom would be brought within range of the auri-
cular organs of those who preferred an humble stool on the floor
to an exalted seat above an open sky-light." Unless it was the
* See antè Chap. VIII § I., p. 170.
† Ante Chap. X., p. 199.
SUMMARY JURISDICTION OF THE SUPREME COURT EXTENDED. 237
object of the Government to exclude the public from the Police Chap.
- XI.
Court altogether, it was suggested that the Court should be 1849.
removed to another locality. Apart from its inconvenient Inconvenient
situation , the Court was quite unfit for a public room from its situation
the Policeof
construction . Sir John Davis had purchased a huge stock Court.
of a building ostensibly for the Supreme Court ; more than The
CourtSupreme
one-half of it was unoccupied by that Court. For a moiety Building and
of the purchase money a suitable Court House could have its utilization
as a Police
been built, and some £200 a year ground rent saved to the Court as well.
public purse. However, if Sir John Davis had made a curious
bargain, it was no reason why the most should not have been
made of it, and, as a suitable Police Court was really required,
the dear purchase might have been turned to some account.
The Supreme Court occupied the upper part of the build- The ground
floor
ing ; on the lower floor there were half a dozen fine apart considered fit
ments each fit for a Police Court. One was occupied by for a Police
Court.
the " Asiatic Society " who, it will be remembered , had, at The ground
a meeting held on the 6th March, stated that they had floor of the
Supreme
been granted one of the rooms ; two were occupied as a Court, how
dwelling- house by one of the bailiffs ; one by the coolies at- utilized then.
tached to the Court, and three by the schoolmaster. Such a
building was never intended for such a purpose, and it was
therefore hoped that it would be made available for a Police
Court, where people could hear what was said, and especially
not have to run the risk of a brain fever by toiling up to it
under a tropical sun. " The Police Court, however, was never Police Court
moved from its site, notwithstanding the frequent and just re- wasremoved
ever
presentations made as to its unsuitableness, more especially by from its site.
the deputation of Justices of the l'eace to the Governor as here-
inafter referred to , but remained where it still is, in Wyndham
Street.
At the April Sessions of the Court, held on the 16th April, April
one Hon Arkeun, convicted of burglary and stabbing, was sen- Criminal
Sessions.
tenced to death, but, by proclamation of 3rd May, the sentence One sentence
of death
was commuted to transportation for ten years. commuted.
The Ordinance No. 3 of 1849 , to extend the Summary Juris Ordinance
diction of the Supreme Court, which formed the subject of so No.
1849,3 to
of
* See the speech of acting Chief Justice Snowden, in the Legislative Council on the
13th June, 1881 , upon the subject of the present Supreme Court House, in which he
said, inter alia, that " Sir Thomas Wade had told him that the building was originally
intended for commercial rooms, and that after some time, either the interest in the com-
mercial rooms died out or it was not found suitable, and the Government took over the
building for the purpose." -See Vol. II. of this work, Chap. LXXIII . Further references
as to the Supreme Court House will be found antè Chap. VIII. § II., p. 183, and Chap.
XVII., infrà ; and in Vol. II., Chap. XXXV. (where the thanks of the newly-created Cham-
ber of Commerce are conveyed to the Governor and the Chief Justice for placing a room
in the Court House at the disposal of the Chamber) ; Chap. XXXVI. , XXXVIII ., XXXIX.,
XLV., LII., LXXXIII ., LXXXVII , and LXXXIX.
238 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC., OF HONGKONG.
Chap . XI . much comment when the draft of it was first published ,
1849. passed the Legislative Council on the 19th April, and was ordered
extend the to come into operation on the 1st May. It was only neces-
Summary
Jurisdiction sary to refer to one important amendment and to express satis-
of the faction at the Governor's regard for public opinion in repealing
Supreme
Court, is that obnoxious part of the Ordinance which referred to actions
passed. for damages . These were, as formerly, left to a jury, the only
Governor's
regard for constitutional way of dealing with such cases. The following
public clause had been added to the second section : -
opinion.
Obnoxious
part referring " And that the said Court shall not have cognizance under this Ordinance
to actions for in any case of libel, or slander, or assault, or assault and battery."
damages
repealed.
Actions for All such actions were therefore to be tried by a jury and not
libel, slander, left to the decision of the Judge alone, -a provision the necessity
and assault
left to the for which had become every day more evident. Here a consti-
Jury. tutional protection had been most properly retained ; and in
Constitu
tional its departures from usage in other respects, it was hoped the
protection. Ordinance would be found to work better than was anticipated ,
Simple especially as regards Chinese suitors. In simple questions of
questions of debt, the Ordinance was an acquisition at least to the poorer
debt.
Ordinance an class of suitors. The expenses in the Supreme Court had , it
acquisition. was known, deterred people from suing and defending suits
where the sums in dispute had ranged from one to five hundred
dollars. Law was always uncertain, and prudent men had
abandoned reasonable claims rather than incur the certain ex-
pense of an uncertain verdict. It was hoped that the fears
expressed of further innovations upon the Courts of Justice
would prove groundless .
Governor
Bonham, a Governor Bonham had the reputation of being a good com.
good common mon lawyer, and his attainments were not questioned, but for
lawyer.
his own comfort he was asked to avoid seeking precedents for
Odium at- colonial laws in the territories ofthe East India Company, where
taching to
unconstitu- he had previously served . The odium which attached to uncon
tional
stitutional legislation would rest entirely upon the Governor.
legislation.
Moderate A schedule of fees accompanied the new Ordinance , and
schedule of
Attorneys ' certainly the attorney's fees appeared moderate. Whatever the
fees.
Necessity complaints about attorneys, especially at this time, it is certain
for attorneys. that they could not be dispensed with, and, with that fact
borne in mind, to get respectable men, there must be some
A lawyer's greater inducement than a mere pittance. A lawyer receives
education.
an expensive education , generally many years of manhood are
passed in qualifying him for his profession , and no one with a
knowledge of affairs could appreciate the feeling which would
pare down his remuneration until he could not possibly support
a respectable appearance .
EARL GREY'S REPLY TO MR . TARRANT'S MEMORIAL . 239
99
It is true that attorneys have opportunities of " painting Chap. XI.
their bills of costs, but then the pen of the taxing officer is 1849.
also ever ready to draw harsh lines which destroy the breadth Attorneys'
bills and the
and length of the picture, much to the annoyance of the artist, taxing
and the great relief of the client's cash box, which is not always officer.
over-burdened after litigation . It had not been suggested that
the attorneys in Hongkong were fond of the brush, but only
the check upon such amusements was pointed out, and if people
paid a decorated bill of costs, of course they had but themselves
to blame .
At a Sessions of the Vice- Admiralty Court held on the 25th April
Sessions of
April, the Chief Justice presided , Captain Keppel, of the Maan- the Ad-
der, and Mr. Hillier being also present. The calendar was a miralty
Court.
short one and consisted of the usual cases of robbery and piracy.
Piracies had been very rife again for some time - three Eng- neighbour.
Piracy in
lishmen and one American being murdered on board an English ing waters.
cutter in the Canton river some short time back, whilst a China
cargo boat was boarded and carried off by pirates in the harbour of
Hongkong, and within range of the men-of-war. The neighbour-
ing waters swarmed with pirates, and yet nothing but an occa-
sional and desultory movement was taken to suppress them.
On the 30th April, H.M.S. Inflexible surprised and captured Capture of
pirates by
forty-five pirates at the Great Lema off Tinquæ, several of whom H.M.S.
had taken part in the piracy of a vessel and the murder of the Inflexible.
greater part of the crew, off the Nine Islands on the 19th April.
They were brought in and underwent an examination before the
Magistrate, nine ofthem being eventually committed for trial . The Nine
committed
rest were discharged , it having been found that most of these for trial.
last, so far from belonging to the gang, were prisoners in the hands
of the pirates at the time they were surprised by the Inflexible.
Mr. William Tarrant, whose case has already been referred Earl Grey's
to before, now received an answer to his memorial to Earl Grey. * Tarrant.
Sixteen months had now elapsed since he was virtually declared Poor
innocent by the abandonment of an uncalled -for prosecution , and tion.
compensa.
nearly two years since he was suspended from duty. During
that long term he had been out of employment, with a wife and
family to support. On application to the late Governor, he was Pretext for
told that, on the score of economy, the office of Registrar of Deeds , getting
of him . rid
which he held at the time of his suspension, had been joined to
that of Book-keeper ; but as Mr. Tarrant was the oldest servant
in the Department, he was surely entitled to the joint appoint- Prediction
he would
ment in preference to a comparative stranger. It had been predict- be got rid
ed locally, before Mr. Tarrant's suspension, that for being " more of for
Antè Chap. VIII. § I., p. 170.
† See Chap. VII., p. 143.
240 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG .
Chap.
- XI. honest than politic " he would " probably enough be rewarded
1849. by the loss of his office or by having such indignities or hard-
being 6 more ship heaped upon him as would compel him to resign. " The
honest than
politic.' prediction had been but too well verified by the result, Mr.
His case. Tarrant having been victimized with cool deliberation. The
charge of conspiracy, it was believed, was got up as an apology
for suspension from duty ; the appointment was joined to
another as an apology for refusing to reinstate him ; and the
claims of six years ' service were set at nought, and a faithful ser-
vant cast aside because, as was stated , he was " more honest than
politic. " It will be remembered that it was after the prosecution
had been abandoned at the Criminal Sessions in December, 1847 ,
that Mr. Tarrant laid his case before Earl Grey. In the multi-
plicity of business in the Colonial Office urgently pressing upon
the officials there, it was not until the April mail of this year that
Secretary of Mr. Tarrant got a reply. The Secretary of State ruled that Mr.
State's
decision. Tarrant should receive his pay from the date of his suspension ,
The back until his office was combined with another- in all about two
pay allowed
him. months. After a vexatious delay of nearly a year and a half,
Acknow
ledgment this was but miserable redress in a pecuniary light ; but as an
of injustice. acknowledgment of the injustice with which he had been treated,
Public it was satisfactory. Severe, but well deserved, were now the
indignation. comments passed upon the responsible authorities for the shabby
treatment meted out to this man. The suspicious element
throughout this matter was the disappearance of Major Caine's
*
compradore, showing the evident guilt of the latter and there-
fore that Mr. Tarrant was at least right in his surmise that he
had practised extortion while using his master's name as
a cloak. " Mr. Tarrant," says a local exponent of public opinion
of the time, " was not the first person who had been victimized
for having had the courage to expose corruption in the Colonies,
Opinion as
to the and there was a possibility of this very case being brought for-
Governors ward in illustration of the abuse of power exhibited in the every-
of the
Colonies. day actions of the Governors of our dependencies . Men barely
fitted for the duties of a Police Magistrate, whom nobody ever
heard of in England, flutter for a few years in obscure nooks in
all the counterfeit dignity of Your Excellency ' ; their vanity is
ministered to by the most contemptible of all parasites , and for-
getting that they do represent Royalty, that it is the Royalty of
England and not of Russia, they are, so far as they may
(though fortunately there are legal boundaries which they can-
not cross ) the veriest little despots in existence. Far be it from
us to assert that all or even the bulk of Governors are such as
we describe, but Mr. Tarrant's treatment is sufficient proof that
* Antè Chap. VII. , pp. 144, 150. See also the end of this chapter, where Mr. Tarrant
asks that steps be taken consequent upon the return of Major Caine's compradore to the
Colony.
" He who flees judgment confesses his guilt."- Co. 3 Inst. 14.
CONVICTION AND EXECUTION OF PIRATES . 241
we have had one such worthless creature in this Colony. The Chap. XI.
very combining of the office of Registrar of Deeds with another 1849.
was an act of low cunning more befitting a Yankee Pedler than
an English gentleman . The duties of Registrar are still per-
formed and must be performed as long as this is a Colony,
though by a person now designated Bookkeeper ! The charge
was brought about to insure Mr. Tarrant's ruin , -had the office
not been nominally abolished , he would now have been rein-
stated and received his full arrears of pay."
As will be seen hereafter, not until September, 1859 , when rant
Mr. 's
Tar-
case
the matter will be found fully noticed, were Mr. Tarrant's case fully
and his grievances fully investigated consequent upon an action ininvestigated
Major
for libel brought against him by Major (then Colonel ) Caine, and Caine's
when Mr. Campbell's report upon his investigations of the libel action for
charges brought against Major Caine's compradore, and hereto- against
him.
fore suppressed , was made public.†
On Saturday, the 26th May, a Sessions of the Court of Admi- of
MaytheSessions
ralty was held for the trial of the pirates captured by H.M.S. Admiralty
Inflexible. The Commissioners present were the Chief Justice, Court.
Major- General Staveley, and Captain Keppel, R.N. A Special
Jury having been empanelled, the Chief Justice addressed them
shortly, and after retiring, they returned with a true bill against
the prisoners . Seven prisoners were placed in the dock , and the
Court then proceeded with the examination of the witnesses .
After the evidence against the prisoners had closed , one was
discharged , there being no evidence against him. The Jury,
without retiring, returned a verdict of guilty against the six
others . The Chief Justice, having consulted with the Com-
missioners , remarked that the atrocious crime of which the pri-
soners had been found guilty upon the clearest evidence was of
such common, he might say daily, occurrence, that the Court
was determined to do its duty in attempting to put a stop to it captured
Six pirates
by
by the infliction of the most severe punishment upon the per- H.M.S
petrators . He then proceeded to pass sentence of death upon Inflexible
sentenced
the prisoners , adding that he could hold out to them no hope of to death.
mercy in this world . After their sentence, the prisoners made They
attempt
repeated attempts to strangle themselves in gaol , and the au- suicide in
thorities were under the necessity of depriving them of their gaol,
tails ' are
tails to prevent them from carrying their purpose into effect . 'Their
On Thursday morning, the 7th June, the six pirates were exe- cut off.
cuted at West Point. As there was barely room on the scaf- Dreadful
execution.
The writer evidently forgot in this case that Major Caine was the moving and inte-
rested spirit, and that Sir John Davis must have acted upon his advice apart from that of
Mr. Campbell, as was stated at the time of the withdrawal of the prosecution. - J.W.' N. K.
† See Chap. XXIX, infrà.
242 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Chap. XI. fold for three, the others were taken to the back of the naval
-
1849. stores and kept there till their comrades were cut down, by
which time one fainted , and it was necessary to carry him up to
the hill to the gallows and support him upon it till the bolt was
drawn. During their imprisonment they had been regularly
visited by the Catholic clergy, zealous in the labour of conver-
sion , and they died nominal Christians, and with one exception
as stated above, the criminals showed great firmness on the
An American scaffold . The duty of executioner was entrusted to an American
executioner. whose brother had been killed by pirates some years before.
Complaints Complaints about the Marine Magistracy were now formu
against
Marine lated. It was alleged that while the most frivolous complaints were
Magistrate. listened to, if brought forward by the crew against the masters,
masters could obtain no redress when they complained of riotous
and disorderly seamen. The masters were fined heavily on all
occasions, either for breaches of the harbour regulations or under
the Merchant Shipping Act ; but they were not protected from
the outrages of the men, and consequently discipline was relax-
Port a bad ed and the port had obtained a bad name among shipmasters .
name
among Mr. Pedder acted in a threefold capacity. First, -- he was a
shipmasters, surveyor of shipping ; second, -- Harbour Master : it being his
Mr. Pedder's duty as such to prosecute under the harbour regulations ; and
threefold
duties. third, he was Marine Magistrate, and as such sat as a Judge,
where in his second capacity he was often himself the prosecu-
tor . Any arrangement more objectionable , it was contended,
could not well be imagined . No charges were preferred against
Mr. Pedder particularly, but the system was considered vicious,
though to this day it has undergone but few, if any, changes at
Government all ; it was for Government to satisfy itself where reform could
reform
asked be applied, the whole mercantile community were concerned , and
for. it rested with the Government to do what was needful.
No When Sir John Davis was got rid of, people were sanguine of
improvement
yet visible important changes . As a member of society Mr. Bonham was
in the
administra- vastly superior to his predecessor , and there was consequently a
tion of decided improvement in the social system ; but when this had
justice been said , that was nearly all that could be said , for no im-
in the
Inferior provement or real change was yet visible in the administration
Courts.
of justice in the Inferior Courts. A bonâ fide Police Court
under the control of Justices, the latter having a seat in the
Marine Court as well, and with some control over the Police , was
asked for ; in short until this was allowed , the Justices of the
Peace were not really and truly Justices but mere make-be-
lieves.
Fresh list A fresh list of all the Justices of the Peace in Commission was
of Justices
of the Peace, published on the 16th May. In all they amounted to twenty-
DEPUTATION OF JUSTICES OF THE PEACE TO THE GOVERNOR. 243
five, of which number eight were officials , viz . , the Chief Chap. XI .
Magistrate, the Assistant Magistrate, the Marine Magistrate, 1849.
the Registrar- General, the Superintendent of Police, the Colonial
Secretary, the Colonial Treasurer, and the Secretary to the
Superintendent of Trade. The first two sat on the Bench in
the Police Court three days in the week each ; the third pre-
sided over the Marine Court when a case presented itself, the
fourth, fifth , sixth , seventh, and eighth took no share in the
administration of justice at all , but were only kept in reserve
for emergencies. Of the seventeen non- officials two were in List
England, the others with the Chief Magistrate sat in the Court summarizel ,
of Petty Sessions , but none of them had a voice in the Police Police Court
Court which was really their proper sphere of action . The under
ti
Police Court therefore continued entirely as heretofore, under control of
Executive.
the control of the Executive, the Court of Petty Sessions being Court of
merely an illegal encroachment upon the Supreme Court, and Petty
the prudence of the Justices in sitting in that Court at all was Sessions
encroach-an
seriously questioned ; however, waiving that point, there was ment on the
not a single case brought before the non- official Justices that Supreme
Court.
had not been first heard by the Chief or Assistant Magistrate,
and these gentlemen used their discretion in remitting to the
Petty Sessions or not. Cases which involved inconvenient
inquiries might be disposed of without troubling the Justices.