he can no longer authorize the continuation of the present arrangements for conducting the Post Office, your position on the point of service must be placed on a more regular and acknowledged footing after the 20th instant; when 3 months shall have elapsed since your illness commenced.
The utmost that His Excellency can sanction (without authority from the Home Governments) is to place you on half pay from the 20th instant for a period of six months, to enable you to reach home, and report yourself to the Secretary of State, when at the expiration of the period stated, your case will be finally decided.
I have ...
W. (Signed) M. J. Mercer, Colonial Secretary
(True Copy)
Colonial Secretary
Page 342
(The last three lines are kept as is, assuming they represent page numbering information as per the instructions.)
However, to strictly follow the format requested (output only HTML using for paragraphs and
only if absolutely necessary, without the extra explanation at the end), the corrected output should be:
he can no longer authorize the continuation of the present arrangements for conducting the Post Office, your position on the point of service must be placed on a more regular and acknowledged footing after the 20th instant; when 3 months shall have elapsed since your illness commenced.
The utmost that His Excellency can sanction (without authority from the Home Governments) is to place you on half pay from the 20th instant for a period of six months, to enable you to reach home, and report yourself to the Secretary of State, when at the expiration of the period stated, your case will be finally decided.
I have ...
W. (Signed) M. J. Mercer, Colonial Secretary
(True Copy)
Colonial Secretary
342