431
the Office of Colonial Chaplain at Hong Kong, having last year expressed his desire to relinquish his Appointment, was permitted to exchange his situation with the Rev. Mr Baxter, who held the living of Fyfield in Hampshire. Previously to that exchange being sanctioned, this office was informed by the Ecclesiastical authority, supposed to be the most competent to pronounce an opinion on the subject, that the Rev. Mr Baxter was highly respectable and well qualified to perform the duties of a Colonial Chaplain efficiently.
On the strength of this assurance the Secretary of State permitted the exchange to take place, and Mr. Baxter repaired to Hong Kong. Previously, however, to his reaching the Colony, statements were made in Parliament impugning the character of Mr. Baxter, which statements having been substantiated, occasioned his dismissal.