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THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
ment  to  superintend  Foreign  trade  will  accordingly,
from  time  to  time,  either  himself  visit,  or  will  send
a  deputy  to  visit,  the  different  ports.  The  said  High
Officer  will  be  at  liberty,  of  his  own  choice,  and  independently ­
  of  the  suggestion  or  nomination  of  any
British  authority,  to  select  any  British  subject  he
may  see  fit  to  aid  him  in  the  administration  of  the
Customs  Revenue  ;  in  the  prevention  of  smuggling
in  the  definition  of  port  boundaries  ;  or  in  discharging
the  duties  of  harbour-master  ;  also  in  the  distribution
of  Lights,  Buoys,  Beacons,  and  the  like,  the  maintenance ­
  of  which  shall  be  provided  for  out  of  the
Tonnage  Dues.”
This  article  foreshadowed  the  appointment  of  an  Inspector ­
  General  of  Customs,  and  the  obviously  indicated
person  was  Mr.  Lay.  Under  his  authority  Custom  Houses
had  been  opened  at  seven  ports  when,  in  June  1861,  he  was
granted  leave  of  absence  and  returned  to  England.  He
resumed  duty  as  Inspector  General  on  May  9,  1863,  and
was  relieved  from  duty  on  November  30  of  the  same  year.
A  man  of  marked  ability,  he  conceived  that  he  was  destined
to  be  the  Clive  and  Dupleix,  the  Lally  and  Hastings,  of  a
renovated  China  ;  and  when  he  failed  to  induce  the  Imperial
Government  to  share  this  view,  he  fell.  While  in  England
he  had  been  commissioned  to  procure  a  fleet  of  gunboats
for  the  repression  of  rebellion  and  piracy  ;  and  the  demand
of  Mr.  Lay  and  his  commander,  Captain  Sherard  Osborne,
that  this  fleet  should  be  directly  and  solely  under  their
orders,  was  one  that  could  not  be  acceded  to.  The  fl eet
was  accordingly  paid  off,  the  ships  sold,  and  Mr.  L&amp;y
"  permitted  to  resign.”
Mr.  Robert  Hart,  “  The  I.  G.,”  was  appointed  on
June  30,  1861,  to  exercise  conjointly  with  Mr.  G.  #
Fitz-Roy  the  functions  of  Inspector  General  during
Lay’s  absence  from  China.  The  appointment  by  th®
Prince  Minister  was  communicated  by  a  circular  despatch
signed  by  Mr.  Hart  and  addressed  to  seven  Commissioner 9
of  Customs,  including  Mr.  Fitz-Roy,  viz  :—