the precedent hitherto in this Colony-, and as I held a position in the Police department next in rank to Mr. Mitchell, have held the Commission of the Peace for many years, and more especially during the absence on two periods, of two years leave at a time, of the Assistant - Magistrates, I filled the offices of Assistant Magistrate, Sheriff, and moreover, upon resuming my proper duties, having the honor to receive Her Majesty's Government's approbation of my conduct (Copy inclosed), I respectfully submit that I present a claim to His Excellency's favorable notice which I hope will not be offered fruitlessly.
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I beg to represent further that I have been nearly twenty-one years a servant of Her Majesty, of which nine years were passed in the London Metropolitan Police and the remainder as Superintendent of Police of this Colony. I have in addition, during the past six years, filled the office of Registrar General without increase of pay; the duties of this office taken in conjunction with those of my more immediate department, have made me intimately conversant with the peculiar social habits and customs of the Chinese, which knowledge cannot be other than of the utmost importance in administering.