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and the Attorney General strongly recommend that the permanent Superintendent of the Prison at Hongkong should be an Officer of the Army or Navy, of the stamp of the Officers now generally chosen as heads of the county gaols in England. In support of this view it has been pointed out to me that there is always in confinement here, under sentence of courts-martial and otherwise, a considerable number of English soldiers and sailors from the garrison and from the Queen's ships on this station; and that this class of prisoners would naturally be best managed by an Officer who bears, or has held, the Queen's Commission. It has also been submitted to me that the Chinese, who form the great majority of the prisoners, are inclined, like all other Orientals, to respect, in a marked degree, the character and position of an English gentleman.
5. On securing the explanations of Mr. Marsh, and the very strong expression of opinion from the Judges of the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General, which are referred to above, I felt it to be clearly my duty to withhold from Sir Hercules Robinson ...