38
Sir,
Humboldt(?)
10th December 1856:
We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th Instant. You state that the Circular was not stopped by you in any capacity, you distinctly state that you did stop it in your capacity of Political Secretary. You state that the Circular was withdrawn from circulation by E. Anstey, that he forwarded it to you under a sealed Official cover with a complaint against the Acting Chief Magistrate, that the Circular thus became an "official document," which His Excellency directed you to bring to the Magistrate with a demand for explanation. You also express your belief that Mr. Anstey fully furnished you with his reason.
To The Hon. M. J. Mercer
Colonial Secretary
We most respectfully beg to decline recognising Mr. Anstey's intervention in the matter, as no one member of the Bench possesses any right to interfere with the privileges of the whole Bench. The explanation contained in your letter under reply compels us to infer either that the Government acted as a mere instrument of Mr. Anstey's will, or individual opinion, or that, of its own, it considered that further circulation of the document in question ought not to be permitted. The first alternative is too preposterous to be entertained for a moment, nor is it necessary that we should do so, in submitting the Circular in question to the Government. The Justice referred to showed his consciousness that the power to arrest its circulation did not lie in him, and in adopting the course of giving effect to his acts, the Government made these acts their own.