§ MR. DAVITTI beg to ask Mr. Attorney General whether the Order in Council passed on 9th July, 1864, condoning offences against neutrality on the part of British subjects in China, is still in force; and, if so, whether this ordinance 101 will apply to British subjects who may be engaged in the present rebellion against the Government of China, as it did originally in favour of British subjects who fought on the side of the Imperialists against the Ti-Ping rebels; and whether he can state why the ordinance of 17th January, 1855, known as "Sir John Bowring's Ordinance of Neutrality," was so modified by the Order in Council of July, 1864, as to justify Englishmen who fought for the Emperor of China, and condemned British subjects who took part in the Ti-Ping rebellion?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERALThe Order in Council of July 9th, 1864, is no longer in force; it was repealed by the Order in Council of March, 1865, which at the same time repealed Sir John Bowring's Neutrality Ordinance of January 17th, 1855. The reasons for the modification of Bowring's ordinance will be found fully stated in the speech of Mr. Layard, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in the House of Commons, on April 22nd, 1864. I shall be pleased to give the honourable Member any further information he requires.