district within which such Consul shall exercise authority; and in the case of a party so deceased either leaving a will or intestate, it shall be lawful for the Consul, provided that probate of the will or letters of administration to the estate of the party deceased shall not have been applied for within thirty days by any person lawfully entitled thereto, to administer to such estate, and to reserve to himself out of the proceeds of such estate a commission not exceeding two and a-half per centum.
Register of British XL. And it is further ordered, That a register shall be kept Subjects to be kept. by each and every of Her Majesty's Consuls, of all British sub- jects residing within the ports, places, or districts of China within his jurisdiction, and that every British subject now residing within the dominions of the Emperor of China who shall not be already enrolled in any such Consular register, shall within a reasonable time after the promulgation of this Order, to be specified in a notice to be affixed and publicly exhibited in the Consular Office, apply to the Consul of the district to be enrolled in such register; and every British subject who may arrive within the said dominions, save and except any British subject who may be borne on the muster- roll of any British ship arriving in a port of China, shall within a reasonable time after his arrival, to be specified as aforesaid, apply to the Consul of the district to be enrolled in such register; and any British subject who shall refuse or neglect to make application so to be enrolled, and who shall not be able to excuse, to the satisfaction of the said Consul, such his refusal or neglect, shall not be entitled to be recognized or protected as a British subject in any difficulties or suits whatsoever, in which he may have been involved within the dominions of the Emperor of China within the time during which he shall not have been so enrolled.
Consuls may exer-
cise the powers of Justices of the Peace for enforcement of provisions of Acts of
Parliament relating to Seamen and Mer- cantile Marine.
XLI. And it is further ordered, That the Consul within his Consular district may exercise any of the powers which by any Acts of the Imperial Parliament now enacted or hereafter to be enacted for the regulation of merchant seamen, or for the regulation of the mercantile marine, may be exercised by one or more justices of the peace within Her Majesty's dominions.
XLII. And it is further ordered, That nothing in this Or- Consuls in China
der contained shall be taken or construed to preclude a British may perform all acts Consul within the dominions of the Emperor of China from which may be per-performing any act of adininistration, or jurisdiction, or other formed by British act, which British Consuls within other States at amity with Her Majesty are by law, usage, or suffarence enabled to per-
Consuls elsewhere.
form.
Chief Superinten- dent or Consul may exequte Writs issued by Supreme Court of Hongkong.
XLIII. And it is further ordered, That it shall be lawful for the Chief Superintendent or Consul to execute a writ of the Supreme Court of the Colony of Hongkong, and take security from each and every party named in such writ for his appear- ance in person or by his attorney at Hongkong, and in default of such security, to send such party to Hongkong in the manner pointed out in Article XXXI of this Order; Provided always, that the Chief Superintendent or Consul shall not be liable to an action for the escape of any party captured under any such writ.
Limitation of ac-
XLIV. And it is further ordered, That any suit or action brought against the Chief Superintendent or Consul in the Supreme Court of the Colony of Hongkong, by reason of anything done under the authority and in execution of the power or jurisdiction of Her Majesty entrusted to him by this Order, shall be commenced or prosecuted within six months after he shall have been within the jurisdiction of the said Court, and not otherwise, and the defendant in every such action or suit shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions made with respect to defendants in actions or suits, in an Act passed in the 6th and
tions.