all shades of politics and lost by a narrow majority of twelve
only. A great advantage had been gained which in its results
would prove better than if Government had suffered a defeat by
which the Colony must have been brought into evil odour with
Salaries of
the Colonial Office. The salaries of the Governor at £ 6,000,
Governor,
Chief Justice, the Chief Justice at £ 3,000, the Attorney-General, with private
Attorney-
General, practice, at £ 1,500 , and the Chief Magistrate at £ 900, formed
and Chief the subject of very severe criticisms . It was regretted that it
Magistrate
criticized. did not occur to any of the speakers that the true remedy for
the existing evils was to be found in an entire change in the
* Antè Chap. XI ., p. 255.
GOVERNOR BONHAM INTERFERES WITH C. J. HULME'S SENTENCES . 291
system of Government, not in curtailing the expenses of the Ch. XII § 1.
then existing one. It would have been a breach offaith to reduce 1850.
the salaries of the existing holders of office, and it was not such
parings down as honourable members argued for, that the com-
munity asked for, but some measure of self- government and the
making of their own laws.
A proclamation on the 1st August commuted the sentences Commutation
of death passed upon the nine Chinese at the July Criminal of death
t
Sessions ( Regina v. Chun Ahtsup and others ) , to whom the passed on
Chinese, to
Chief Justice had said he could hold out no hope of mercy, to whom Chief
transportation for life.Surrounded on every side by hordes of Justice
had held
pirates whose very existence was dependent ou robbery ; whose out no hope
hands no law of humanity ever stayed from adding to the of mercy.
crime of robbery, that of atrocity and murder, the advisedness leniency
Misplaced
of the clemency which the Governor had on this occasion put of the
forth was questioned , honourable as it was to His Excellency's Governor,
feelings . It made a precedent which could not readily be broken
through . It is a safe proposition that the punishment of death
is misapplied whenever the general feeling it creates is that of
compassion for the criminal, but what compassion would these
condemned miscreants have received had their sentence been
fully enforced ? -none from the foreign community, and none
from their own countrymen, except from among those whose
lives were like what theirs had been . It may have been that in
the attacks made last year by Her Majesty's vessels on the piratical
fleets, both westward and eastward , many innocent lives were sacri-
ficed. This was not a far- fetched presumption , and , could proof
be adduced that such actually took place, compassion and pity
would not have been wanting ; but in the present case the most
clear and irrefragable evidence was adduced that the men were not
only pirates, but murderers. Moreover, they never denied their
guilt, but, in supposed extenuation, charged the witnesses with
aiding in their cruel deeds, and the mercy shown to them by the
Governor was by them in the last degree undeserved . The first,
and happily until this, the writer is glad to say, the only English Example
man condemned to death by the Criminal Court of this Colony, required prevent to
the unfortunate Ingwood in July, 1845 , was hanged for murder Chinese from
perpetrated in a drunken frolic. Death punishments to be committing
up- piracy
held at all, can only be for the sake of example. No such example and murder.
is required to keep Englishmen from tying together the hands
and legs of a countryman and throwing him into a river ; but
unhappily example is required to prevent Chinese from commit-
ting piracy and perpetrating murder, which they will as readily Comparison
with our
execute on our countrymen as on their own . If an example own country-
was necessary to prevent our fellow-countrymen from commit- men.
See the case of the sailors Gibbons and Jones, Chap. XXVI., infrà.
† Ante Chap. III. § II . p. 84.
292 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Ch. XII § I. ting a crime to which , thank God, they are not habituated , how
1850. much more necessary are examples to restrain Chinamen from
committing crimes to which they are so prone. The Governor
Fresh
probably would find himself hampered when next he was brought
facts
justifying to deal with a case of murder. It may have been that since
clemency. their conviction fresh facts justifying the clemency extended to
the men had come to the knowledge of the authorities, but, in
ignorance of such, the community were not wrong in expressing
their sense of disapproval at the action of the Government.
They were not bloodthirsty, but could not forbear their opinion
Interference that mercy had been misapplied. Men had been sentenced to
with the
Court's death in the Supreme Court on very doubtful evidence, to
decision the say the least, as witness the cases in which the infamous Too
cause of
friction Apo had been concerned . * But in the present case they
with the stood self-convicted. The cook had confessed to the murder of
Executive.
some ten or eleven persons with his own hand. The public
concurred in saying that it was impossible to understand why
these men were not hung. The blood of the murdered men was
still to be seen on the deck of the vessel and cried aloud for
vengeance, and not unnaturally therefore this interference with
the sentences of the Court gave rise to unnecessary friction be-
tween the Bench and the Government, the Chief Justice, at the
February Sessions, 1852 , declining to sentence to death several
prisoners found guilty of murder, owing to the leniency of the
Governor in the present case.
Passage for A passage to Penang for twelve Chinese convicts was ad-
Chinese
convicts vertized for on the 4th September.
to Penang.
During this month a terrible massacre occurred on board the
Massacre
on board French ship Albert, on her passage from Cumsinginoon to Callao.
French
ship Albert This vessel had on board a batch of one hundred and eighty
by Chinese coolies , some or all of whom suddenly rose, killed the captain
coolies.
and threw him overboard, and with him the first and third
mates, a passenger, and the cook. Of the one hundred and eighty
shipped, one hundred and thirty- two decamped from the vessel,
leaving on board forty- eight of the most helpless, who came into the
Arrest of harbour in the vessel. The whole of them were, of course, arrested
the coolies. by the Police, and having been taken before the Chief Magis-
trate, underwent a most lengthy and searching investigation.
The investi- This investigation, which occupied some seven or eight days,
gation. resulted in the committal of all of them to prison to be there de-
tained, under an express order from His Excellency the Governor
to the Chief Magistrate, to await the determination of the French
Lengthy Minister regarding them, and in prison they remained until the
detention
in prison. 1st April, 1851 , when they were duly handed over to the
French authorities on board the French Corvette La Capricieuse.
Having got these unfortunate men off their hands, and the bill
* Antè Chap. IX. , pp. 189-192.
MR. BONHAM MADE A K. C.B. 293
paid for their keep , during their seven months' incarceration, the ch. XII § I.
authorities doubtless felt perfectly satisfied that they had done 1850.
their duty .
Rear - Admiral Charles John Austen , C.B. , who had succeeded Admiral
Austen
the late Admiral Sir Francis Collier as Commander-in - Chief on succeeds
the China Station, arrived in Hongkong for the first time in the Sir F. Collier.
flagship, H. M. S. Hastings, on Thursday, the 10th October.
The October Criminal Sessions opened on the 15th. Two Chi- October
nese convicted of piracy were sentenced to death, while Edward Criminal
Sessions.
Cousens and Edward Neill, of the British ship Kelso, for causing Pirates
sentenced
a revolt on board and running away with the ship, were sen- to death.
tenced, the first, to transportation for life, and the second, to Case of Ed.
Cousens
transportation for fifteen years. and Ed.
Neill, of
Mr. Caldwell sailed on Tuesday, the 29th October, in the Rob the Kelso,
Roy, on three months' leave for the benefit of his health. As aforrevolt
causing
on
Assistant Superintendent of Police he was replaced by Mr.board.
The sentence,
Clifton, a deserving police officer, but in his other duties, as
The
Mr. sen
Caldwell
Chinese Interpreter especially, the want of his services was
takes leave.
Mr. Clifton
much felt. acts as
Assistant
On the 7th November, twenty-four Chinese convicts were sSuperinten-
dent of
shipped on board the Eagle for Penang. Policc.
The London Gazette of the 22nd November , 1850 , announced Chinese con-
victs shipped
that " The Queen had been pleased to give orders for the appoint- to Penang.
ment of Samuel George Bonham, Esquire, Companion of the Governor
most Honourable Order of the Bath , Chief Superintendent of Bonham
knighted.
Trade of Her Majesty's subjects trading to and from the
dominions of the Emperor of China, and Governor and Com-
mander-in- Chief in and over the island of Hongkong and its
dependencies , to be an ordinary member of the civil division of
the second class or Knights Commanders of the said most
Honourable Order." The news was brought to Hongkong on
Monday, the 20th January, 1851 , by the P. & O. Steamer Pekin,
and seems to have given general satisfaction . The investiture The investi-
of the Governor took place at the Government Offices on Satur- ture.
day, the 22nd February, at a quarter to twelve, with all the
usual ceremony, Major - General Staveley, under a warrant from
Prince Albert, the head of the Order, investing Sir George
Bonham with the insignia.
The December Criminal Sessions opened on the 16th of that December
Criminal
month. None of the cases were of great importance, although Sessions.
before the trial of the case of Chum Ayee, charged with wound-
ing, the foreman of the Jury stated to the Court that he objected to The jury
the interpretation of Tong Achik, the Police Court Interpreter , interpreta- object to the
See antè Chap. XI., p. 259.
As regards Mr. Clifton's subsequent carcer, sce Chap. XXXI ., infrà.
294 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Ch. XII I. doing duty in the Supreme Court in the absence of Mr. Cald-
1850 . well. The Chief Justice requested him to state the grounds of his
tion of the
Tong objection , but he declined to do so, fearing to say too much pro-
Achik,
Court Inter- bably, upon which the Chief Justice stated that " the grounds
preter. should be as open as the objection , " at the same time directing
The Chief
Justice says the other Interpreter of the Court to " check any erroneous inter-
'ground pretation ." Thus was repeated a complaint that was formulated
should be as
open as the at the very commencement of the settlement of the island , and
objection.' which has been touched upon frequently in this work, * and Mr.
Interpreta Caldwell's departure had now probably made matters worse.
tion question,
the repetition As regards the interpreter Tong Achik , as events proved
of an old
afterwards, the Jury were not altogether wrong, and probably
complaint.
had just grounds for objecting to him, he being dismissed from
Tong Achik the service in September, 1851 , after a committee of inquiry
afterwards
found unfit. had reported upon certain charges brought against him for
abusing his office , and trafficking with pirates.
Order that It was now reported that an order had been received from
interpreters the Home authorities which rendered interpreters ineligible for
be not eligible
for Consul- appointments to consulships . It seemed a strange circumstance ,
ships.
but still true , that the only interpreter in the Court was a
Scholars person who only understood the language orally- scholars
eschew the
Canton eschew the Canton dialect -and in consequence the proceedings
dialect. in the Supreme Court were lately conducted in the absence of
Mr. Caldwell, as seen above, by a Chinese upon whose inter-
pretation one of the Jurors had determined not to convict, and
luckily the evidence clearly led to an acquittal.
Governor But five Ordinances were passed during the year, still denoting
Bonham's
care as re- Mr. Bonham's care in not passing too hasty and unmatured
gards legis
lation. legislation . Of old the Colony had been inundated with Ordi-
nance after Ordinance. The tone of nearly all those which
were promulgated by Sir John Davis was considered so obnox-
ious, their requirements so exacting, and the fate of so many of
them being unfortunate, when scrutinized by the Home authorities,
that Ordinance- making in Hongkong had come to be looked
upon as farcical . The few which had been promulgated by Sir
George Bonham met with a fair share of criticism , and those
passed during this year could not be said to have been unim-
Ordinance portant or unnecessary, especially Ordinance No. 5 of 1850, re-
No. 5 of 1850. gulating proceedings before Justices of the Peace.
Ch. XII § II.
1851. By the despatch of Earl Grey to Governor Sir George Bon-
Land. ham, dated the 2nd January, 1851 , in reply to the Governor's
Despatch
Earl Greyofin despatch of the 29th August, 1850 ,† Earl Grey stated the con-
reply to Gov. clusions at which he had arrived, after a careful consideration
ernor
Bonham . of the papers before him. As regarded the system of selling
* See antè Chap. XI., p. 223.
† Antè p. 282.
CROWN LEASES . 295
Crown lands to the highest bidder at an annual rent, he was Ch. XII § II.
decidedly of opinion that, in future, biddings for Crown lands 1851.
should not be in the form of an advance of rent, but that any
such property should be offered for lease at a moderate rent to
be determined by the Crown Surveyor, and that the competi-
tion should be in the amount to be paid down as a premium for
the lease at the rent so reserved by parties desiring to obtain
it. And on the question of affording Crown lessees the power
of alienating portions of their lands, Earl Grey stated his opinion
to be that such a measure, if properly guarding against the
inconveniences suggested by Governor Bonham and the At-
torney-General, would be very desirable, and that it was a subject
which he was quite prepared to entrust to the discretion of the
local Government .
An Ordinance for the improvement of the law of evidence at Ordinance
No. 1 of 1851.
the trial of criminal cases before the Supreme Court was passed Depositions
on the 3rd January, 1851. It had been generally apprehended of absent
witnesses
that between the committal for trial of prisoners and before the rend at trial.
time for such trial, witnesses for the Crown had been removed
from the Colony ; in many instances by force or bribery , and ,
in order to counteract such practices, power was now given by
this Ordinance (No. 1 of 1851 ) to the Supreme Court to direct
that in a criminal prosecution the deposition of any Crown
witness absent from the Colony may be read as evidence at the
trial, under certain defined circumstances .
The Justices ofthe Peace, having some months back proposed Proposal of
Justices of
that the Police Force should be placed under the control of a
Municipal Committee, in a mode similar to that obtaining in an that Police
Force be
English borough, the Governor on the 10th January, stated that under con-
he would offer no objection to the measure, provided an as- trol of a
Municipal
sessed tax were raised on real property for the purpose of Committee.
providing for the necessary expenses, as the general revenue of Governor's
the Colony would prove insufficient. This suggestion , how- offer.
ever, was eventually declined by the Justices.
Another of the frequent escapes from the Gaol was reported Escape from
on the 31st January. This was the escape of Tam Achuen , who gol .
had been convicted at the Sessions of December last of forgery,
and who had been sentenced to two years ' imprisonment with
hard labour. Tam Achuen since his imprisonment had been
employed as a servant to one of the turnkeys.
On the 4th February, it was notified that, in consequence of Lieutenant
Departure of
Lieutenant Pedder, the Harbour Master and Marine Magistrate, Pedder on
having obtained leave of absence to proceed to England for the leave.
296 HISTORY OF THE LAWS, ETC. , OF HONGKONG .
Ch. XII § II. recovery of his health , the Governor had directed that the duties
--
1851 . of Marine Magistrate, until further orders, should be performed
The Marine at the Chief or Marine Magistrate's Office by the sitting Magis-
Magistrate's
duties, how trate or Magistrates of the day, and that the duties of Harbour
performed. Master should , as a temporary arrangement, be performed , under
the supervision of Mr. Hillier, by Mr. E. R. Michell , clerk in
the Harbour Master's Office .
Chinese
oaths. According to an affidavit on record in the Supreme Court,
" Cutting off oaths seem still at this period to have been administered accord-
a cock's ing to native fashion . * In one case, entitled " In the cause of
head."
Chung Assing," there appears an affidavit, dated the 14th Febru-
ary, sworn to at Macao before Mr. Patrick Stewart, " a Commis-
sioner for taking affidavits in the Supreme Court of Hongkong,"
The first
formofoath " by cutting off a cock's head." It is recorded that the first form
recorded. of oath practised in Hongkong " was that of cutting off a live
cock's or fowl's head," but, judging from the records, this must
have been in the earlier Police and other Courts, and it is doubt-
ful if it was ever practised in the Supreme Court beyond the
admission in evidence of affidavits which had been declared
before Commissioners to take affidavits , of whom in the early
days there were several besides the officers of the Court.
Cock birds at Cock birds in those days must have been at a premium .
a premium.
Considerable The Court- keepers usually kept the birds after decapitation,
perquisite to and it will also be found recorded hereafter that these Court
Court
keepers. officials , who so unscrupulously devoured the dead birds, were
thus afforded a considerable perquisite through the deplorable
system of swearing then in vogue.
Capture of The H. C. Steamer Phlegethon arrived in Hongkong from Can-
the
Chui Apo, of
murderer ton on the evening of the 16th February, having the atrocious
Captain Da Chui Apo on board - one of the reported murderers of Captain
Costa and
Lieutenant Da Costa, of the Royal Engineers, and Lieutenant Dwyer of
Dwyer. H. M. Ceylon Rifle Regiment, as recorded in February, 1849 †
The atrocity and cold bloodedness of the murder, perpetrated in
open day within a mile or so of Chuk Chu, created intense
excitement at the time . At the Coroner's inquest held on the
body of Captain Da Costa ( Lieutenant Dwyer's not having been
found ) a verdict of wilful murder was returned against Chui Apo,
seven others named , and other parties unknown. The murder was
committed on the 25th February, 1849 , and although it was well
known that Chui Apo had since mostly resided in or near Canton,
he had managed to evade the Chinese authorities, notwithstand-
ing a reward of £ 100 had been offered by the Colonial Govern-
ment for his apprehension, and a formal demand made by the
* For previous reference to this subject, see antè p. 283.
See antè Chap. XI., pp. 228, 229.
THE TRIAL OF CHUI APO. 297
Governor to the Chinese Imperial Commissioner Su for his Ch. XII § II.
delivery. His apprehension was accomplished in the following 1851.
manner. Chui Apo stated that he had made his peace with the effected
How capture
.
Chinese Government somewhat about the time that the celebrated Chui Apo's
Shap Ng Tsai did, ( the pirate whose fleet was destroyed by statement.
the Columbine and Fury) ,† -and , receiving a mandarin's button ,
was appointed to the command of a portion of Shap Ng Tsai's
large pirate fleet ; that he was travelling from Foochow to Canton,
accompanied by one of his wives, when he was attacked by a
gang of desperadoes, who plundered him of all his clothes and
money, beat him severely, gagged him, carried him on board a
boat which conveyed him to the Phlegethon, when he was deli-
vered to the commander. He admitted being implicated in the Admitted
murder of Captain Da Costa and Lieutenant Dwyer, giving his being in
impli
the
own version as to the immediate cause which led to the perpe- murder.
tration of the murder. He asserted that he still held office He held office
under the Canton Government, and that the Chinese officials wereunder the
Canton
not in any way implicated in his position with regard to his Government.
capture. If the assertion that he was an officer of the Canton Doubts as to
legality of
Government was correct, it seemed more than strange when the Chui Apo's
language of Su , in reply to Governor Bonham, ‡ was referred to : capture.
"If he (Chui Apo ) be not yet dead , as soon as he shall be taken
he shall, of course, be punished with the utmost rigour ; there
shall be no possibility of his resuming his evil career [ lit. no
sprout, however small (which might again flourish ), shall be
left. ]" Doubts were at once raised locally as to the legality of
Chui Apo's capture, and this point, as will be seen hereafter, was
carried to the Supreme Court at the hearing of the case, as it
was believed to be in violation of the stipulations of the Treaty
of the Bogue.
A special Sessions of the Criminal Court was held on Mon- Special Ses-
sions for
day, the 10th March, at 11 a.m. , for the trial of Chui Apo, trial of Chui
and by the desire of the Governor, Mr. Gaskell undertook his Apo.
defence . The Court-room was crowded with Europeans and The trial.
Chinese, showing that the excitement was not confined to any
one section of the community. The two indictments were con-
joined, one being for murder by drowning, and the other the same
by stabbing. Mr. Gaskell objected to the trial being gone on Mr. Gaskell's
with . Under a clause in the supplementary treaty between preliminary
objection as
China and Great Britain, Chinese criminals were to be given up to jurisdic
tion.
to their own officers and punished by their own laws, according
to certain correspondence which Mr. Gaskell said he learnt had
never been published . His Lordship held that such a regula-
tion applied solely to offences committed within Chinese terri-
See antè Chap. XI ., p. 260.
† Antè Chap. XI., p. 264.
See antè Chap. XI., p. 260.
298 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG .
Ch. XII § II. tory ; the prisoner was indicted for a heinous crime perpetrated
1851 . upon this island ; and that was altogether a different matter
from its perpetration within Chinese jurisdiction .
Chui Apo had Mr. Gaskell proceeded to observe that the prisoner had been
been kidnap arrested within Chinese territory and, he submitted, unlawfully
ped.
arrested ; he in short had been kidnapped -the method by which
his presence was obtained was in opposition to Treaty provi
sions.
The Chief ' That, ' said His Lordship, is a question for His Excellency
Justice on
the point. the Governor to settle with the Chinese Government. I have
him here, and will try him.'
Mr. Gaskell furthermore raised the point of the informality in
which the prisoner was in custody ; there had been no warrant
issued for his arrest, not even a Coroner's warrant .
'What, ' said His Lordship , has that to do with it ? Here is
the man .'
Plea. Chui Apo, who was represented to be a man of about fifty
Chui Apo years of age, on being asked what he had to say to the indict-
stands mute.
ment, replied, pointing upwards and downwards, that there was
a God above and earth below. Mr. Gaskell stated that it
Provocation. Was his client's intention to stand mute. As the trial proceeded,
it became painfully evident that a certain amount of provocation
had been given by the deceased , and that the only question to
be decided was, whether such provocation was sufficient to con-
The Chief stitute justifiable homicide . The Chief Justice , in his charge to
Justice's
the Jury, specia lly directed their attention to the fact that the
charge to the
jury. deceased officers were the aggressors , and had given the first
provocation, and urged upon them the necessity of divesting
their minds of all preconceived notions or bias against the pri-
Verdict of soner. The Jury then retired and after a few minutes ' delibera-
man-
slaughter. tion returned with a verdict of manslaughter. In this verdict
Transporta- the Chief Justice said he entirely concurred ; he would, upon the
tion for life. evidence adduced , have been very unwilling to have had to sen-
tence the prisoner to be hung. Chui Apo, -one of the most
notorious criminals that had ever stood at the bar of a Court of
After sen-
tence ('hui Justice in Hongkong -was then sentenced to transportation for
Apo incul- life , the trial ending at five o'clock in the afternoon .
pated the
deceased
officers. After sentence, Chui Apo made a statement in gaol which also
He threatens inculpated the two military officers as the other witnesses had
suicide.
Preferred done . He expressed the greatest repugnance to be transported for
death to
transporta- life, saying he would have preferred death to transportation, and
tion. hinted that he might make away with himself. Despite the warn-
Despite
warnings to ing given to the gaol authorities . that the miscreant might com-
Gaol mit suicide, no heed was paid to the warning, and on Wednesday
MAJOR- GENERAL JERVOIS SUCCEEDS MAJOR - GENERAL STAVELEY. 299
morning, the 2nd April, Chui Apo was found dead and hanging Ch. XII § 11 .
----
to the bars of the door of his cell, strangled with a piece of cord 1851.
which held up his fetters. A Coroner's Jury summoned upon authorities
he carries
the inquest, returned the simple verdict of felo de se, without con- out his
veying any censure upon the authorities for neglect of duty, threat.
Found
though the matter was not lost sight of by the press, which did hanging
in his cell.
full justice to the case under the circumstances . Felo de se.
The verdict of the Jury which found Chui Apo only guilty of Verdict
of man-
manslaughter also came in for public opprobium, and was severely slaughter
commented upon in various quarters, especially by the friends ofthe commented
deceased officers both locally and in the press in England , but the and in
locally
concensus ofopinion was, that the Jury had but rightly viewed the England .
circumstances of the whole case, and that both the summing up
of the Chief Justice and the verdict were in accordance with the
facts. * At all events the disappearance of Chui Apo from the
scene, whether by the machinery of the law or by his own act,
must have been an entire relief to all concerned afterwards.
But it was destined that a new complexion was to be put upon
the case .
The relatives of the deceased officers determined to put up a The tablet
in St. John's
tablet to their memory in St. John's Cathedral in Hongkong , Cathedral.
the inscription on which related that the deceased had been
"wantonly attacked and murdered while walking on the sea-
side." Unfavourable comments were not unnaturally passed
in consequence, notwithstanding which, however, the tablet was
duly set up and erected in the south transept of the Cathedral ,
where it is to be seen to this day.
Among the passengers , who left on the 27th February by the Departure
of Lady
P. & O. Co.'s Steamer Malta were Lady Bonham , who was in Bonham
bad health , for England , and Major- General Staveley, for Bom- and Major-
General
bay, he having been appointed to the divisional command of the Staveley.
Bombay army at Guzerat. Before his departure he was pre-
sented with an address from the leading residents . A selected
crew among the officers pulled the General and family off to the
steamer, the General having consented to receive this mark of
their esteem and respect .
The Commission of Major- General Wm. Jervois, K.H. , to be Appointment
Lieutenant- Governor of Hongkong, in succession to General of General
Major-
Staveley, was published on the 15th April, 1851 , and he took Jervois
succeed to
A long letter unfavourable to the deceased officers, headed " Wat Tyler in Hong-
kong," appeared in The London Weekly Dispatch, of the 15th June, 1851 , and was repro-
duced in The China Mail of the 14th August, 1851. The Illustrated London News of
the 14th June, 1851 , also contained an account of the trial of Chui Apo, as well as a
sketch of the notorious miscreant, and which was described as a faithful likeness.
300 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG .
Ch XII― § II. his seat as a member of the Executive Council on the same day.
1851. General Jervois was an old and meritorious officer. His first
Major. commission as Ensign bore date 7th April, 1804 , and he became
General
Staveley. Major- General by the brevet of 1846. In February, the Home
His Se- papers announced the appointment of Captain P. Maclean , 11th
cretary ,
Captain Battalion Royal Artillery, as military secretary to Major- General
Maclean, Jervois,
R.A.
February At the Criminal Sessions of the 15th February, nine cases
Criminal
Sessions. were set down for trial, four of which had been postponed from
former Sessions, but the only one brought forward was that of
The Chief Chun Achee for larceny. The case broke down and the prisoner
Justice
refuses to was discharged. The Attorney- General then stated that, though
allow duly summoned , not a single material witness in any of the other
depositions of
absent cases had appeared , and, as he was assured by the Sheriff that
witnesses there was no probability of their doing so, he asked that the depo-
to be read
under sitions taken before the Magistrate should be received in evidence
Ordinance
No. 1 of under Ordinance No. 1 of 1851 , passed on the 3rd January of
1851. this year. The Chief Justice said he was unwilling to receive
them as such, and would only do so in cases of absolute neces-
sity ; he would much rather postpone the trials to a future day
in order to allow of fresh summonses being issued, at the same
time directing the Sheriff to warn the witnesses that unless they
made their appearance they would be committed for contempt of
The Sessions Court. The Sessions were then adjourned to the 24th February,
adjourned.
the Chief Justice expressing regret to the Jurors for their being
drawn away from business to so little purpose, and discharging
them .
Admission At a sitting of the Court on the 17th March, Mr. Jefferd
of Mr. J.
Tarrant as Tarrant, a brother of Mr. William Tarrant before noticed in this
William Gaskell, Crown
anthe
of Court. work, an articled apprentice to Mr.
attorney
Solicitor and Queen's Proctor, was admitted an attorney of the
Court, the Registrar having previously been directed to report
on his qualifications .
Decision At this sitting also, the Chief Justice remitted a sentence in-
of Her
Majesty's flicted by the Consul at Canton, whereby he had fined the
Consul at master of the steamer Lady Mary Wood $ 200, for the infraction
Canton
against the of some Consular Regulation relative to the entry of some goods
master of in the manifest, the case being in the nature of a civil suit insti-
the Lady
Mary Wood tuted by the Chinese Customs authorities. It is worthy ofremark
upset, that the only two cases of importance which had been appealed
Consular from the Consular Courts in China to the Supreme Court of
decisions
reversed. Hongkong, namely, the one known as the Compton Case pre-
viously commented upon, and the present one, both terminated
* See antè Chap, IV. , p . 115.
ADMISSION OF MR. W. T. BRIDGES TO PRACTISE . 301
by the Consul's decisions being reversed . The conviction in this Ch. XII
- § II.
case was quashed on the ground of the defective constitution of 1851.
the Court, there having been no assessors as required by law.
Under the Consular Ordinance No 3 of 1847 , passed on the Civil
30th September, 1847 , and entitled " An Ordinance to authorize appeals
the Suprtoeme
Her Majesty's Consular Officers to adjudicate in Civil Actions, " Court of
Hongkong
after providing for the mode of trial by Consuls and Assessors from
(section 2 ), an appeal was allowed to the Supreme Court of Consular
decisions.
Hongkong under section 5 in any suit or action exceeding five Consular
hundred dollars, and it was under that section that the case Ordinance
No. 3 of
referred to above was heard . * 1847.
On the 31st March, the Governor proceeded in H. M. S. Governor
Bonham
Reynard to Canton, leaving Hongkong under the customary leaves for
salute. Canton.
On the 1st April, the Barque Lord Stanley left this for Sin- Wreck of
gapore with seven Chinese convicts on board. The ship was the Lord
Stanley with
subsequently wrecked on the Paracels. The convicts con- convicts on
structed a raft and endeavoured to reach the mainland , but in board.
their attempt to do so five were either drowned or starved to
death, two of them - Tung Ashing ( transported for seven years )
and Lee Ayee ( for fifteen years ) -eventually finding their way
back to Hongkong only to be soon after re- arrested by the au-
thorities. Lee Ayee appeared before the Police Court on the
28th July on a charge of cutting and wounding a man with
whom he was gambling in a house in the Taipingshan district.
In the Straits Settlements at this time exception was being objection in
taken to the transportation of convicts to that Colony from the Straits
Settlements
Hongkong, the Grand Jury there in their presentment to the to transporta-
tion thither.
Recorder adverting to the impolicy of making Singapore a
receptacle for Chinese convicts.
On the 5th April , the Legislature passed Ordinance No. 2 of Ordinance
1851 , limiting the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and other No. 2regulat-
of
1851
Courts in civil actions between Chinese subjects when origi- ing the
jurisdiction
nating out of the Colony , to certain cases only. of the
Major- General William Jervois, K.H. , Lieutenant- Governor and Supreme
Court.
Commander of the Forces, arrived in Hongkong by the P. & O. Arrival
Steamer Pekin on the 14th April , in succession to Major -General of Major-
General
Staveley. The next day, as before stated , he was duly sworn in and Jervois.
took his seat as a member ofthe Executive Council of the Colony.f
At the Criminal Sessions held on the 15th April, before the April
commencement ofthe business ofthe Court, the Attorney- General Criminal
Sessions.
moved the Court on behalf of his " friend and fellow-barrister," Mr. W. T.
Mr. William Thomas Bridges, of the Middle Temple, who Bridges admitted
* See further as to Consular Decisions and Jurisdiction , the present Chapter, § III.,
infrà, also Chap. XIV., and Volume 11., Chaps. XXXIX., XLII., and XLIX.
† See antè p. 299.
302 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG .
Ch. XII § II. prayed permission to practise in the Colony. The Chief Jus-
1851. tice was pleased to express his satisfaction at the prospect of the
to the local Colony being favoured with the learned gentleman's services
Bar.
The Chief and duly admitted Mr. Bridges. It will be interesting to watch
Justice's the part which Mr. Bridges afterwards played in connexion with
remarks.
The part the administration of local affairs and the disgrace attaching to
Mr. Bridges it through his own conduct.
afterwards
played
in the At the Sessions mentioned above, six cases were set down for
administra-
tion of local hearing, two of which were postponed . In the other four, not
affairs. a single conviction was obtained.
Animportant At this Sessions also an important point of practice arose affect-
point
affecting ing the two branches ofthe profession . On the third case being
the two called, Mr. Bridges, who had but that morning been admitted on
branches
of the the Rolls as a barrister, called the attention of the Court to the
profession. inadvisability of solicitors being any longer allowed to continue
Mr. Bridges to appear as counsel for prisoners, as they had theretofore done.
loses no
time. He had been informed that Mr. Gaskell, a solicitor of the Court ,
His objec- was about to defend the prisoner without having even attempt-
tion to Mr.
Gaskell ed to retain the services of a barrister ; he begged leave to
appearing as submit that there being now more than one barrister in the
counsel.
Colony, the necessity for employing solicitors as counsel,
which formerly existed . did so no longer, and that, arguing
from the analogy of the English Courts, by the practice of which
he presumed the Courts here were regulated , it was not part of
the functions of a solicitor to appear either in civil or criminal
cases if a barrister could be retained . He did not wish that any
stringent regulation should be laid down on the subject, as the
poverty of parties might prevent them from offering to pay barris-
ters' fees, sufficient to procure their attendance, but submitted
that the rule should be, that in every case the barrister should
have the option of appearing, and that, if he declined to do so,
then solicitors might defend their clients, as heretofore had been
the custom. By his argument Mr. Bridges disclosed the fact
that , up to this period, the profession had, in a way, or at least
as regards the solicitors, been amalgamated .
The Chief
Justice. His Lordship replied that solicitors had been allowed to plead
Practice of from absolute necessity, and , as such necessity no longer existed ,
solicitors of course the ordinary practice of the English Courts would be
appearing
as counsel observed.
stopped.
On the 26th April, there was a large attendance of the mercan-
tile community at the Supreme Court to hear the trial of one of
the most trifling cases ever brought before a special jury. It was
Phillips, that of Phillips, Moore & Co. v. Arnott. The defendant was master
Moore
v. & Co. of the merchant ship Bangalore, and the action charged that, by
Arnott,
his neglect, damage had been done to certain cases whereby their
THE COMPLAINT OF THE PETTY JURORS. 303
contents had been rendered unsaleable. The damages were laid ch. XII § II.
at $ 1,000 . Mr. Sterling , instructed by Mr. Pollard , appeared for 1851.
the plaintiffs, and Mr Bridges, instructed by Mr Gaskell , for
the defendant. The case was one of evidence purely. In the
course of the case a little by-play between counsel occurred, Mr.
Sterling remarking that " it was easier to raise ghosts than to
lay them. " Mr. Bridges before addressing the Court begged to
apologize for any want of respect which he might have exhibited ,
but the case was one that ought never to have been brought
into Court. A verdict for the defendant was returned . This Case exposed
trial, however, had the beneficial effect of opening the eyes of pernicions
system of
the community to the pernicious system that had until then allowing
unqualified
prevailed of permitting unqualified persons to appear and act as persons to
attorneys and solicitors , not only to the serious injury of duly attorneys.
act as
qualified practitioners , but also as affording certain means of
annoyance to merchants and shipmasters . Several of the former,
in this instance, had been brought down from Canton to give
evidence , inflicting upon them, as they alleged , most serious in-
jury at a time when important business was on hand .
On the 10th June, the Royal Asiatic Society held a meeting The Royal
Asiatic
in the room allotted to it on the basement floor of the Supreme Society
Court House, which in those days was the general place of holds
meeting in
meetings for most things. Supreme
Court
Under instructions from the Secretary of State it was notified , building.
on the 25th June, that all Crown lands hereafter to be sold in Land.
Hongkong would be offered to public competition to the highest Secretary
bidder for a capital sum in addition to an annual rent, to be directs
all ('rown
previously determined by the Surveyor - General. lands to be
The draft of an Ordinance amending the Jury Laws in force soldat
public
was published early in July. By publishing this draft, the auction.
Government now revived a custom discontinued from the time The Jury
Ordinance,
when non-official members had been appointed to the Legisla- No. 4 of
tive Council. 1851.
The petty jurors , feeling aggrieved at the provisions of this Jurors
The Petty
Ordinance, whereby they alleged that more labour was thrown memorialize
upon them than on the special jurors, whose duty had, more- the Governor.
over, now been considerably reduced by the abolition of the
Court of Admiralty as a separate jurisdiction , duly addressed a
memorial to the Governor upon the subject. The Ordinance
was eventually passed on the 10th September and numbered
4 of 1851 , most of the objections raised to the draft appear-
ing to have received attention at the hands of the authorities .
In Parliament on the 15th July, upon the vote of £ 15,500 Parlia-
"to defray the expense of Hongkong" being taken, consider- mentary
vote for
* See antè Chap. XI. , p. 233.
304 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG .
Ch. XII § II.able discussion arose, some very strong language being used
1851. against the Colony. One speaker, Mr. Clay, stated that he
Hongkong knew many gentlemen anxious for the judgeship of a County
discussed in
Parliament. Court, but who would nevertheless refuse £ 3,000 a year at
Mr. Clay, Hongkong, which was then the pay of the Chief Justiceship .
M.P.
Chief on the The vote was afterwards carried by a majority of twenty- six in
Justiceship. a house of one hundred and four.
The Governor Immediately after the arrival of the mail from England, the
goes to
Canton Governor proceeded to Canton, in consequence of instructions
under received from the Foreign Office on matters pertaining to the
instructions, department of the Superintendency of Trade. During this
Illness of month, the records show that the Chief Justice laboured under
the Chief
Justice. a severe attack of illness, but that yet, with his usual inimitable
energy and patience . he continued frequently to take the Bench
and hear cases to the end.
Death of Dr. Gutzlaff, Chinese Secretary to the Government, died in
Dr. Gutzlaff.
His career. Hongkong on the 9th August, 1851 , at the age of forty- eight.
This official, who was a Pomeranian by birth, seems to have
occupied himself as a missionary to the Chinese until the break-
ing out of the war, when. his services as interpreter being in
request, he was induced to take office as interpreter under the
British Government, first as interpreter to the Plenipotentiary,
then as Magistrate at Ningpo , and afterwards at Chusan . On
the settlement of the Treaty of Nanking and the establishment of
the British Government at Hongkong, he was made assistant
Chinese Secretary, and , on the death of Mr. J. R. Morrison in
August, 1843, he succeeded him as Secretary. In this position
he continued till his death.
The salary was a considerable one, and enabled Dr. Gutzlaff
by frugality and profitable management, to leave, it is said, a
The fortune fortune of £30,000, as little in accordance with his original
he left.
expectations as with the professions of poverty in which he
was at all times, it is alleged, wont to indulge. He was three
times married , but left no family. Dr. Gutzlaff had only re-
turned from leave of absence in Europe, on the 20th January of
this year .†
Ordinance An amusing incident now occurred in which the Chief Ma-
No 14 of
1845. gistrate, Mr. Hillier, seems to have taken an important part.
Abatement Complaint of the nuisances caused by the unseasonable hours at
of nuisances.
An assault which Chinamen were permitted to carry on their noisy trades
committed had been for some time frequently reiterated , although no
to obtain
a judicial attention had been hitherto paid to them. Owing to the scar-
decision.
city of houses away from the business portion of the town, many
See Introduction, antè p. 29.
For previous reference, see antè Chap. XI., p. 256.
ASSAULT COMMITTED TO OBTAIN A JUDICIAL DECISION. 305
of the principal residents lived in the Queen's Road , and, as was Ch. XII § II .
felt, unless severe and stringent measures were taken to put 1851.
down the tinkering and hammering which the Chinese seemed
to be peculiarly privileged to enjoy, it would certainly become
next to impossible for the Queen's Road people to continue
their residences in this portion of the town much longer. Or-
dinance No. 14 of 1845 undoubtedly was intended to give to
the Police the power of abating all nuisances . There was also Clause in
another way of looking at the matter by the light thrown on it leases
which under
by the leases under which property was , and is still, held in this property
held in the
Colony, one clause of which ran as follows :- Colony.
" And further that the said A. B. C., their executors, administrators, and
assigus, or any other person or persons, shall not, nor will during the conti-
nuance of this demise, use, exercise, or follow, in, or upon the said premises
or any part thereof, the trade or business of a brazier, slaughterman, soap
maker, sugar baker, fellmonger, melter of tallow, oilman, butcher, distiller,
victualler, or tavern-keeper, blacksmith, nightman, scavenger, or any or either
of them, or any other noisy, noisome or offensive trade or business whatever,
without the previous licence of Her said Majesty, her heirs , successors, or
assigns, signified by the Governor of the said Colony of Hongkong, or other
person duly authorized in that behalf."
This was certainly sufficiently stringent to prevent any of Obnoxious
trades.
the many trades mentioned from being carried on to the annoy-
ance of the public, but a strange coincidence now occurred
which enabled the Magistrate to express an opinion upon Mr. Hillier's
the application of clause 12 of section 2 of Ordinance No. 14 opinion
upon applica-
of 1845 , as to the abatement of the nuisance complained of, tion of
though probably if it had been sought to abate it under the clause
section 12 of
2 of
clause of the lease given above, a Qui Tam action by the Attor- Ordinance
No. 14 of
ney- General would probably have been necessary. A resident, 1845 .
Mr. Strachan, on the 12th August, assaulted a Chinese shop- The evidence
man in Queen's Road and alleged that he had done so with of defendant
the
"the express object of obtaining a ruling of the Police Court who com-
upon the powers of Ordinance No. 14 of 1845 , as to the abate- mitted
assault.the
ment of the nuisance caused by the noises in Queen's Road."
This was verily a strange though dangerous mode of " ascer-
taining the law " upon any given point, though the com-
plainant alleged that he was assaulted because he had told the
defendant that " some silverware after which he had inquired '
was not ready. On the 19th August the case came for hearing
before the Police Court, the defendant stating that " the cause
of his beating the man was, that, having very often complained
to the Police for the purpose of obtaining an abatement of the
nuisance made by plaintiff and others who carried on their noisy
trades through the greater part of the night which prevented
him from sleeping, and as the Police had stated they were
powerless to act, he had adopted the plan ofgiving one of them a
thrashing that the nuisance might be brought prominently under the
306 HISTORY OF THE LAWS , ETC. , OF HONGKONG.
Ch. XII
- § II. Chief Magistrate's notice. He thought that under the 12th
1851 . clause of the second section of Ordinance No. 14 of 1845 , it was
the duty of the Police to abate such nuisances ." The clause in
question reads as follows :-
" 12. Every person who in, near, or adjoining any public road or thorough-
fare, shall wantonly or unnecessarily blow any horn, beat any gong or drum ,
or make any other noise calculated to annoy or alarm any person, or to
frighten any horse or other animal : Provided always, that nothing herein
contained shall be construed and extend to any religious procession or festival,
for the due celebration of which the consent of the Chief Magistrate of Police
has been obtained ."
Defendant Mr. Hillier did not agree with Mr. Strachan's reading of the
fined .
clause, and thought that it was a funny way of obtaining justice
by beating an unfortunate shopman who was only obeying his
master's orders ; that the party to have been beaten , if any, was
the master ; and that the prosecutor seemed to have been beaten
because he was a Chinaman Defendant, after a further lectur-
ing by the Magistrate, was fined $ 15 and cautioned as to his
future conduct. It may not be out of place in connexion with
this matter to point out that General D'Aguilar's Ordinance
alluded to in 1844 , * only provided for the suppression of
noises made by watchmen, and had nothing to do with other
nuisances.
Malay and The Coroner held an inquest on the 19th August on the
Javanese
law of body of a Malay woman who met her death at the hands of
homicide .
her husband, a seaman named Selico. According to his state-
Case of
Selico, who ment, it appeared that he and deceased had been married for
murdered nearly a quarter of a century, and that a few days before the
his wife.
murder, he had consented to her leaving him to live with a man
named Kassim, such practices, he alleging, being customary with
people of his country. Hearing that instead of remaining with
Kassim, his wife had been in the habit of rambling from house