352

period . I beg leave to submit a summary of my Magisterial service in each year and to point attention to the fact that it comprises both branches of the jurisdiction of this Court; Civil and criminal. – I would further impress upon His Excellency, that during the period quoted, the entire duty of daily Magistracy, with its full responsibility, devolved upon me during four days out of seven working days, and that without any exceptional relief I filled the office of Chief Magistrate from July 1852, to February 1853 and during Mr. Hillier's absence in England, sat daily, through a tropical summer, without a single working day's intermission, my sole reward being the consciousness that I tried to do my duty, while the absence of a single appeal against my decisions, pleasingly assured me, that my effort was not without a fair measure of success. During those seven months the whole Magistracy of the colony was discharged by me, and its responsibilities borne by myself alone.

The Attorney General's recent attack upon the capacity of Mr. Hillier and myself, challenges my notice. That Gentleman's impeachment of Mr. Hillier is already before His Excellency, in an official form, though I might safely shelter myself behind the fact that Mr. Anstey's strictures upon my alleged incapacity, fall short of those which he has thought...

Page 360
Page 361

Share This Page