the better regulation of the Consular service, and for other public purposes connected therewith.

A copy of the Act of Parliament above mentioned is annexed; and the Consul will pay strict attention to all the clauses of this Act; and he will not levy, or permit to be levied, in the British Consular offices under his jurisdiction, any other fees than such as are in strict conformity with the existing tariff.

At the expiration of each year, the Consul will transmit to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs a certified statement (according to the enclosed form) of the gross amount of all fees collected at his Consulate within the year, under the Tables before mentioned, together with the equivalent in local currency in pounds sterling, calculated at the average rate of the exchange for the year, which exchange must also be stated.

§ IV. Consular Correspondence. To insure due execution of the details of the Consular system, established under the before-mentioned Act of Parliament, it has been judged expedient that the correspondence of Her Majesty's Consuls should be separated from the diplomatic correspondence of this Office, and placed under the superintendence of one individual on the establishment, designated "The Superintendent of the Consular Service." The Consul will address himself to the Secretary of State in his despatches, but he will transmit these under cover to the Superintendent, carefully observing the form of address given herewith; and he will obey such instructions as shall be conveyed to him by the Superintendent, by direction of the Secretary of State.

Form of an Address of Letters to the Superintendent.

On Her Majesty's Service.

JOHN BIDWELL, ESQ.

Superintendent of the Consular Service.

Consulate of

}

Foreign Office,
LONDON.

§ V. Accounts Current.-Some of the clauses of the before-mentioned Act of Parliament authorise Her Majesty's Consuls to receive and disburse money for various purposes therein described; and as it is desirable that their accounts should be kept and rendered according to one uniform system, the Consul is herewith furnished for his guidance with a printed memorandum (drawn up by the Commissioners for Auditing the Public Accounts, and approved by the Lords Commis

sioners of Her Majesty's Treasury), together with a supplementary circular, dated the 2nd August, 1831, containing full directions upon this subject.

The Consul will pay strict attention to the forms therein prescribed; and, as soon as possible after the termination of each year, he will transmit to this department an account (in duplicate) made up in the prescribed form, with one set of vouchers, to the end that one copy of such account, together with the vouchers, may be forwarded by the Secretary of State to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to be examined by the Commissioners of Audit, and that the other copy may remain in the correspondence of this department. In the despatch transmitting the account, the Consul will insert any explanatory remarks which the nature of the charges therein contained may appear to require.

§ VI. Commercial instructions.—It will be the particular study of the Consul to become conversant with the laws and general principles which relate to the trade of Great Britain with foreign parts; to make himself acquainted with the language and with the municipal laws of the country wherein he resides, and especially with such laws as have any connection with the trade between the two countries.

The Consul is herewith furnished, for his information and for purposes of reference, with "a collection of treaties and conventions at present subsisting between Great Britain and foreign powers, so far as they relate to commerce and navigation, to the repression and abolition of the slave trade, and to the privileges and interests of the subjects of the high contracting parties," consisting of three volumes octavo, which are to be carefully preserved with the official archives of the Consulate.*

Various Acts of Parliament relating to trade and navigation are also annexed; and such further Acts relating to these subjects as may hereafter be passed will be forwarded to the Consul.

He will bear in mind, that it is his principal duty to protect and promote the lawful trade and trading interests of Great Britain, by every fair and proper means, taking care to conform to the laws and regulations in question; and whilst he is supporting the lawful trade of Great Britain, he will take special notice of all prohibitions with respect to the export or import of specified articles, as well on the part of the state in which he resides, as of the Government of Great Britain; so that he may caution all British subjects against carrying on an illicit commerce, to the detriment of the revenue, and in violation of the laws and regulations of either country: and he will not fail to give to this department immediate notice of any attempt to contravene those laws and regulations.

* Vide Preface and Appendix.

+ Vide Consular Instructions, 1855.

D

§ VII. Advice and assistance to be given to British subjects.-The Consul will give his best advice and assistance when called upon, to Her Majesty's trading subjects, quieting their differences, promoting peace, harmony, and good will amongst them, and conciliating, as much as possible, the subjects of the two countries upon all points of difference which may fall under his cognizance. In the event of any attempts being made to injure British subjects, either in their persons or property, he will uphold their rightful interests, and the privileges secured to them by treaty, by due representation in the proper official quarter. He will, at the same time, be careful to conduct himself with mildness and moderation in all his transactions with the public authorities; and he will not upon any account urge claims on behalf of Her Majesty's subjects, to which they are not justly and fairly entitled. If redress cannot be obtained from the local administration, or if the matter of complaint be not within their jurisdiction, the Consul will apply to Her Majesty's Consul-General, or to Her Majesty's Minister, if there be no Consul-General in the country wherein he resides, in order that he may make a representation to the higher authorities, or take such other steps in the case as he may think proper; and the Consul will pay strict attention to the instructions which he may receive from the Minister or Consul-General.

§ VIII. Correspondence, public and private.-The Consul will keep Her Majesty's Minister regularly and fully informed of all occurrences of national interest within his consulate, respecting either the trade of Her Majesty's subjects, or that of other nations at peace or at war with Great Britain. He will likewise not fail to transmit to him such correct intelligence as he can procure, respecting the arming, the equipment, or the sailing of any public or private armed vessels belonging to the enemies of Her Majesty; and whenever it may appear to him essential that Her Majesty's Government should be directly informed of the subject of his communications to Her Majesty's Minister, he will transmit copies of them to this department.

The Consul will not, however, upon any account correspond with private persons on public affairs; neither will he recommend his private friends, abroad or at home, for employment of trust or profit under the government of the country in which he resides; and he will not ask or accept favours of that government for himself.

§ IX. Lloyd's agency.-Such of Her Majesty's Consuls as are agents to Lloyd's are especially directed not to correspond with Lloyd's on the subject of political occurrences. The Consul will not hold any correspondence on such subjects, excepting that which it is his duty to hold with the Secretary and Under Secretary of State, and the Superintendent of the Consular Service, or with Her Majesty's Minister and Consul-General in the country where he resides, or with Consuls and

naval or military officers in Her Majesty's service, who may be employed in his neighbourhood, and to whom it may be necessary to communicate immediately any event of public interest. If the rule which is here prescribed should be inconsistent with what is expected from an agent to Lloyd's, the Consul must understand that he cannot be permitted to undertake any agency which interferes with the due discharge of his Consular duties.

§ X. Protection on board of British ships.-Misconception having arisen with respect to the degree of protection which commanders of British ships may afford to any individuals seeking refuge on board of those ships, the Consul is informed that the commanders of British ships lying in the ports of a foreign country are not authorised to harbour any persons (even if British subjects) who may seek refuge on board of their vessels, in order to evade or resist the due execution of the laws, to which, by reason of their residence in the country, they have rendered themselves amenable; and the Consul will bear in mind, in all applications which may be made to him on behalf of individuals so circumstanced, that such persons are liable to be taken by due process of the laws of the country.

§ XI. Official seal and signature.-The Consul will take an early opportunity of furnishing Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs with impressions, in duplicate, of his seal of office, with his official signature annexed, in order that the same may be deposited at the proper department of Her Majesty's Customs, to prevent frauds upon the revenue.

§ XII. Commercial Report.—The Consul will forward to the Secretary of State, in duplicate, so soon as the information he can collect will enable him so to do; but at any rate within a period of six months from the date of his arrival at his residence, a general report on the trade of the place and district, specifying the commodities, as well of the export as import trade, and the countries which supply the latter, together with the increase or decline in late years, and the probable increase or decline to be expected, and the causes in both cases. He will state the general regulations with respect to trade at the place where he is resident, and their effects. He will give the average market prices within the year of the several articles of export and import. He will particularise what articles, if any, are absolutely prohibited to be imported into the country wherein he resides; what articles are prohibited to be imported from any other place than from the place of their growth or production; whether there be any privileges of importation, and what those privileges are, in favour of ships that are of the build of, or belonging to, the country wherein he resides; whether there be any difference in the duty on goods when

imported into that country in a foreign ship, and if so, whether it be general, or applicable only to particular articles; what are the rates of duty payable on goods imported into the said country; whether there be any tonnage duty or other port dues (and what), payable on shipping entering at, or clearing from, the ports of that country; whether there be any (and if so, what), ports in that country wherein goods may be warehoused on importation, and afterwards exported with or without payment of any duties, and under what regulations.

§ XIII. Annual returns of trade.-The Consul will transmit to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, at the expiration of each year, a return of the trade with the principal ports of his consulate, according to the form inclosed in the circular dated the 15th March, 1833, of which copies are herewith annexed.*

§ XIV. Returns quarterly of corn and grain.—The Consul will send to this department, at the expiration of every quarter, an account of the prices in his district of the several articles of agricultural produce, in each week of the preceding three months, made up according to the form herewith inclosed.

He will also, when practicable, transmit with the returns a memorandum, in duplicate, in which he will state any further information which he may have to communicate respecting the prices free on board of the several sorts of corn and grain; the amount of the charge for freight to England at the period at which the returns are made up; the extent of the stock in granary; every peculiarity respecting the course of exchange; whether any restraint is imposed by law, either upon the exportation or importation of corn and grain, and, if so, the nature and extent of such restraint. The Consul will endeavour to render these reports as accurate as possible, and he will add to them any general remarks upon the subject which may suggest themselves to him as of sufficient importance to be conveyed to Her Majesty's Government.

§ XV. Quarantine.-The Consul is herewith furnished, for his information, with the copy of an Act of Parliament (6 Geo. IV., c. 78), intituled, “An Act to repeal the several Laws relating to the performance of Quarantine, and to make other provisions in lieu thereof;" and also with copies of Orders in Council which His Majesty was pleased to issue in furtherance of this Act of Parliament. The Consul will take measures for making as public as possible this Act of Parliament and the Orders in Council; and he will not neglect to report to this department any appearance of yellow fever, plague, or other contagious or infectious disease, or the establishment of any unusual quarantine at the place of his residence.

* Vide Appendix.