Regulations respecting Passports.

1. Applications for Foreign Office Passports must be made in writing, and inclosed in a cover addressed to "The Chief Clerk, Foreign Office, London," with the word "Passport" conspicuously written on the cover.

2. The charge on the issue of a Passport, whatever number of persons may be named in it, is 2s.; and if it is desired that the Passport should be sent by post, that sum must be forwarded with the application for the Passport by a Post Office order, made payable at the Post Office, Charing Cross, London, to the Chief Clerk of the Foreign Office, Francis B. Alston, Esq. Postage stamps will not be received in payment.

3. Foreign Office Passports are granted only to British-born subjects, or to such foreigners as have become naturalized either by Act of Parliament or by a Certificate of Naturalization granted by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. When the party is a "Naturalized British subject," he will be so designated in his Passport, and if his Certificate of Naturalization be dated subsequently to the 24th of August, 1850, and previously to the 1st of August, 1858, his Passport will be marked as good for one year only; or should the Certificate be dated subsequently to the 1st of August, 1858, his Passport will in that case be marked as good for six months only, except in cases where a licence for a longer period of residence abroad has been granted by the Secretary of State for the Home Department; but this regulation will not preclude any person whom it affects from obtaining at the Foreign Office, at any future time, on his producing his old Passport, a fresh Passport in exchange for it for a further limited period, without being required to pay a fresh charge. A Foreign Office Passport granted to a British-born subject or to a "Naturalized British subject" who has been naturalized by Act of Parliament, or whose Certificate of Naturalization is dated previously to the 24th of August, 1850, is not limited in point of time, but is available for any time, or for any number of journeys to the Continent. Aliens naturalized as British subjects under the "Naturalization Act, 1870 ” (33 Vict., c. 14), will also receive Passports unlimited in point of time, but subject to the qualification mentioned in the 7th clause of the Act.

4. Passports are granted to all persons either known to the Secretary of State or recommended to him by some person who is known to him; or upon the application of any Banking Firm established in London or in any part of the United Kingdom; or upon the production of a Certificate of Identity (see subjoined Form) signed by any Mayor, Magistrate, Justice of the Peace, Minister of Religion, Physician, Surgeon, Solicitor or Notary resident in the United Kingdom; in certain cases, the production of a Certificate of Birth may be demanded.

5. If the applicant for a Passport be a Naturalized British subject, his Certificate of Naturalization, with his signature subscribed to the oath printed on the third page of it, must be forwarded to the Foreign Office with the Certificate of Identity granted on his behalf; and his Certificate of Naturalization will be returned with the Passport to the person who may have granted the Certificate of Identity, in order that he may cause such Naturalized British subject to sign the Passport in his presence. Agents at the Outports are not authorised to grant Passports to Naturalized

The

British subjects, and such persons, if resident in London or in the suburbs, must apply personally for their Fassports at the Foreign Office.

6. Passports are issued at the Foreign Office, between the hours of 11 and 4 on the day following that on which the application for the Passport has been received at the Foreign Office.

7. A Passport cannot be issued by the Foreign Office, or by an Agent at an Outport, on behalf of a person already abroad; such person, being a British-born subject, should apply for one to the nearest British Mission or Consulate; a Passport cannot be issued abroad to a Naturalized British subject except for a direct journey to England, or in the case of a Colonial Naturalized subject for a journey back to the Colony where he has been Naturalized; neither can a Passport granted at the Foreign Office to a Naturalized British subject for a limited period be renewed by Her Majesty's Diplomatic or Consular Agents in Foreign countries, but only at the Foreign Office.

8. The bearer of every Passport granted by the Foreign Office should sign his Passport as soon as he receives it; without such signature either the visa may be refused, or the validity of the Passport questioned abroad. Travellers who may have any intention of visiting the Russian Empire at any time in the course of their travels, are particularly and earnestly advised not to quit England without having had their Passports visés at the Russian Consulate in London, 17, Great Winchester Street, E.C. Persons proceeding to Cuba, Portugal or Turkey, should also have their passports visés at the Spanish Consulate, 155, Fenchurch Street; at the Portuguese Consulate, 8. St. Mary Axe; and at the Turkish Embassy, 1, Bryanstone Square, respectively. Travellers about to proceed to any other country need not obtain the visa of the Diplomatic or Consular Agents of such country, resident in the United Kingdom.

N.B.-Although British subjects are now free to enter France and Belgium without Passports, and the rules about Passports have been virtually relaxed in several other countries, nevertheless British subjects about to visit the Continent are recommended not to omit to provide themselves with Passports, for even in those countries where they are no longer obligatory, they are found to be convenient as offering a ready means of identification, and more particularly when letters have to be claimed at a poste restante.

Model Form of Certificate of Identity to be written out on a separate sheet, and Model signed by the Person giving it, as also by the Person in whose behalf it is granted.

(Date of place and day of the month). The undersigned, Mayor of (Magistrate, Justice of the Peace, Minister, Physician, Surgeon, Solicitor or Notary, as the case may be), residing at hereby certifies that A. B.

(Christian and surname to be written at length), whose signature is a British subject,

written at foot, is

a Naturalized British subject,

and requires a Passport

to enable him

to proceed to

to travel on the Continent

(accompanied, as the case may

be, by his wife and children, with their tutor, named C. D. (Christian and a British subject,

surname to be written at length), and a Naturalized British subject, governess, and maid servant (or servants), and man servant (or servants), named E. F., a British subject (or subjects), and a courier, named G. H. (a Naturalized British subject).

(Seal)

(Signed)

(With the usual Signature)

Signature of the above-named

Foreign Office Passport Agents at the Outports,

Bath, Isaac Williams, Esq.; Belfast, John Preston, Esq.; Birmingham, George R. Collis, Esq.; Dover, Samuel Metcalfe Latham, Esq.; Dublin, William D. Handcock, Esq.; Great Grimsby, Charles Bennington, Esq.; Great Yarmouth, F. Danby Palmer, Esq.; Harwich, Oliver John Williams, Esq.; Hull, George C. Roberts, Esq.; Liverpool, J. Henstock, Esq.; Lowestoft, B. M. Bradbeer, Esq.; Manchester, John Sudlow, Esq.; Newcastle-on-Tyne, R. Welford, Esq.; Newhaven, F. G. Turner, Esq.; Queenstown (Cork), William C. Seymour, Esq.; Ramsgate, H. Blyth Hammond, Esq.; Southampton, J. E. Le Feuvre, Esq.; Swansea, George G. Francis, Esq.; Weymouth, Richard Hare, Esq.

Foreign Office, January 1, 1873.

Admiralty Order in Council, 7th August, 1869.-Union Jack. Distinguishing Marks or Badges on Jacks displayed by Military, Diplomatic and Consular Branches, and Governors of Colonies, &c.

The Union Jack having been established by Your Majesty's Regulations for the Naval Service as the distinguishing Flag to be borne by the Admiral of the Fleet, and whereas great inconvenience has at times been experienced by the Union Jack having been carried in boats and other vessels by Governors of Colonies, Military Authorities, Diplomatic Officers, and Consular Agents when embarked, We have deemed it expedient to place ourselves in communication on this subject with the Commander-in-Chief of Your Majesty's Forces, and the Principal Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, for the Colonies, and for War, and, with their concurrence, We most humbly submit that Your Majesty may be graciously pleased, by Your Order in Council, to prescribe and direct that in future the Union Jack to be displayed by the Military Branch of Your Majesty's Service on such occasions, shall bear in the centre thereof, as a distinguishing mark, the Royal Initials surrounded by a garland on a blue shield, and surmounted by a Crown; that the Union Jack to be used by Your Majesty's Diplomatic Servants-Ministers Plenipotentiary, Chargés d'Affaires, &c.-shall bear

the Royal Arms in the centre thereof on a White Shield; whilst Consuls and Consular Agents, &c., shall be limited to the use of the Blue Ensign with the Royal Arms in the fly thereof. We further submit that Governors of Your Majesty's Dominions in foreign parts, and Governors of all ranks and denominations administering the Governments of British Colonies and Dependencies, be authorised to fly the Union Jack with the Arms or Badge of the Colony emblazoned in the centre thereof.

A drawing of the Union Jack, with the proposed distinguishing devices. is transmitted herewith for Your Majesty's approval.

And the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Right Honourable the Earl of Clarendon, the Right Honourable the Earl Granville, the Most Noble the Duke of Argyll, and the Right Honourable Edward Cardwell, are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.

Distinguishing Flags.

Ships employed in the service of a Public Office.

Art. 26, p. 10, of Addenda to Queen's Regulations.

Ships and vessels employed in the service of any public office shall carry a Blue Ensign, and a small Blue Flag with a Union described in a canton at the upper corner thereof, next to the staff, as a Jack; but in the centre of such Ensign and Jack, there shall be described the Seal or Badge of the office to which they belong. Commission Officers serving with the permission of the Admiralty as Mail Agents in Contract Vessels may, when in their boats, wear therein a similar Blue Pendant; but when such Pendant is displayed, the Ensign, with the Seal or Badge of the office to which the vessel belongs, must also be displayed in the boat.

Colonial Colours.

Art. 25, p. 10, of Addenda to Queen's Regulations.

The following are the regulations as to the Flags to be borne by any vessel maintained by any Colony under the clauses of the Colonial Defence Act, 28 Vic., cap. 14:—

1. Any Vessel provided and used under the 3rd Section of the said Act shall wear the Blue Ensign, with the Seal or Badge of the Colony in the fly thereof, and a Blue Pendant.

2. All Vessels belonging to, or permanently in the service of the Colonies, but not commissioned as vessels of war under the Act above referred to, shall wear a similar Blue Ensign, but not the Pendant.

The Blue Ensign. (Naval Reserve Flag.)

Art. 27, p. 11, of Addenda to Queen's Regulations.

British Merchant Ships fulfilling the following conditions will be allowed to wear the Blue Ensign of Her Majesty's Fleet:

Conditions.

1. The Officer Commanding the ship must be an Officer of the Royal Naval Reserve.

2. Ten of the crew must be men belonging to the Royal Naval Reserve.

3. Before hoisting the Blue Ensign the ship must be provided with an Admiralty Warrant.

Note 1.-Ships failing to fulfil the above conditions, unless such failure is caused by death or other circumstances over which the Owners have no control, will no longer be entitled to wear the Blue Ensign.

Note 2.-Officers commanding Her Majesty's Ships meeting with ships carrying the Blue Ensign will be authorised to go on board such ships, at any convenient opportunity, and see that these conditions are strictly carried out, provided that they are superior in rank to the Officer of the Royal Naval Reserve.

Note 3.-Applications for permission to wear the Blue Ensign will be forwarded to the Admiralty from the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, who will issue regulations as to the mode of proceeding. Note 4.-All former instructions respecting the Blue Ensign are hereby cancelled.

Questions having arisen as to the Flags which should be worn by Hired Transports, also by Hired Vessels employed in Surveying Service under command of Officers of Her Majesty's Navy, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are pleased to direct as follows:

2. Hired Transports are to wear the Blue Ensign, with the Yellow Admiralty Anchor in the fly; and when the vessel is in charge of a Commissioned Officer of the Royal Navy, she is to carry in addition a Blue Pendant with the Admiralty Badge at the upper part, next to the mast.

3. Hired Vessels employed in Surveying Service, when commanded by Officers in Her Majesty's Navy, are to wear the Blue Ensign and Pendant. 4. The foregoing directions are to be substituted for the sentence in Art. 26, chap. 3, of the Addenda, beginning "Hired Troop or Store Ships" and ending" Mast."

By Command of their Lordships,

To all Commanders-in-Chief, &c.

VERNON LUSHINGTON.

* See p. 30.