subjects and the subjects of any foreign Power, and which might be brought before them for settlement; and Her Majesty was further pleased to order that Her Majesty's Consuls and Vice-Consuls in China, or any persons acting provisionally as such Con- suls or Vice-Consuls, should, in the exercise of the jurisdiction so granted to them, be governed by such laws and ordinances in that behalf as might be enacted with the advice of the Legislative Council of the Island of Hongkong, by the Superintendent of the Trade of Her Majesty's subjects in China for the time being, being the Governor of Hongkong; and Her Majesty was further pleased to appoint the Colony of Hong- kong as the British colony, wherein crimes and offences committed by British subjects within the dominions of the Emperor of China, which it might be expedient should be inquired of, tried, determined, and punished within Her Majesty's dominions, should be so inquired of, tried, determined, and punished:
And whereas in virtue of the powers conferred upon Her Majesty by the above- recited Act passed in the 6th and 7th years of Her Majesty's reign, intituled “ An Act for the better government of Her Majesty's subjects resorting to China," divers ordinances have, by authority of Her Majesty, from time to time been enacted by the Superintendent of the Trade of Her Majesty's subjects in China, being the Governor of the Island of Hongkong, with the advice of the Legislative Council of the said island; and whereas it is expedient to consolidate and amend the same:
Repeal of previous Ordinances.
•
I. Now, therefore, in pursuance of the above-recited Act passed in the 3rd and 4th years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled "An Act to regulate the trade to China and India," and in pursuance of the above-recited Act passed in the 6th and 7th years of Her Majesty's reign, intituled "An Act for the better government of Her Majesty's subjects resorting to China," and in execution of the powers thereby in Her Majesty in Council vested, Her Majesty is pleased, with the advice of her Privy Council, to order, and doth hereby order, That from and after the first day of November next ensuing, each and every Ordinance enacted as aforesaid by the Superintendent of the Trade of Her Majesty's subjects in China, being the Governor of the Island of Hong- kong, with the advice of the Legislative Council of the said island, between the 23d day of January, 1844, and the 28th day of January, 1852, shail be and is hereby repealed: Provided always, that anything done by the Chief Superintendent or any Consul or Vice-Consul, or person duly authorized to act as such, in pursuance of any Ordinance so repealed previously to the first day of November next ensuing, shall have the same force and effect as if this present Order had not been passed.
Interpretation of II. And it is further ordered, That the term "Chief Sup- erintendent" in this present Order shall be construed to mean the Superintendent of British Trade in China for the time being, or the
person duly authorized to act as such; and the term "Consul" shall be construed to include all and every officer in Her Majesty's service, whether Consul-General, Consul, Vice- Consul, or Consular Agent, or person duly authorized to act in any of the aforesaid capacities within the dominions of the Emperor of China, and engaged in carrying out the provisions of this Order; and that wherever in this Order, with reference to any person, matter, or thing, any word or words is or are used importing the singular number, or the masculine gender only, yet such word or words shall be understood to include several persons, as one person, females as well as males, and several matters or things, as well as one matter or thing, unless it be otherwise specially pro- vided, or there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction; and that the terms "British ship or vessel," or ship or vessel under the British Flag, shall be taken and held to include any ship or vessel British-registered and navigated according to law, and any ship or vessel owned by a party entitled by law to be an owner of a British-registered vessel, and any ship
terms.
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