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been
"myself having been present at the party at Government House on the 13th Instant, we might be called upon to give testimony.. I also concur in the other reasons given now by the Colonial Secretary .. (Contract referred to above)
"I beg most respectfully to remark, that this Council has been placed in a most anomalous and onerous position, for want of definite instructions detailing powers, functions, and responsibilities of this Council, when, as in this instance, points of honour have conflicted with those of Law, as well as others of grave judicial import; and however sensitively desirous of performing the particularly painful duties which have devolved upon us, with justice to the high Officer arraigned, advantage to the service, and satisfaction to ourselves, the absence of all Rules to guide us as a precedent, has filled my mind with doubts relative to the propriety and legality of several questions which have arisen during this investigation - such as swearing the witnesses, closing the Council, and giving individual testimony as Members. – It is desirable that all these Matters of Law should be defined in future, without which I cannot possess
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