doubtless
he omitted to add (having doubtless forgotten) that I looked occasion by to wait on him at the Government Offices in reference to the circular and to say, home officially that the Circular did not and could not apply to me (I think I added or to Dr Murray Colonial Surgeon, who was also a general Practitioner). In reference to myself I gave my reasons and Mr Mercer expressed assent to my statement as to myself. On that occasion he showed me a copy of the Letter of the late Chief Justice Adams to His Grace the Duke of Newcastle which gave rise to the Circular; and the whole matter was the subject of such a Conversation between us as deeply to impress the interview on my memory.
4. I respectfully submit that the Circular could by no possibility apply to me as a practising Barrister, but that it included such persons only as were in the exclusive service of the Government, and who were precluded from serving or acting for other persons, such as the Colonial Secretary in the Colony, - the Judge and the Registrars. At one time the Attorney General was an officer of the Hong Kong Government, his salary being £1500 per annum, and the Circular then in force would have applied to him.
5. Before and at the time I had the honor to be appointed Attorney General the Office in the Colony was assimilated to that of the Attorney General in England, the Salary being reduced to £1000 per annum, whereby the Colony took the benefit of £500 a year, and I as the Attorney General was at liberty and was as free as any other Barrister to practice, and I was bound by my oath as such to act for every client who chose to retain me, subject only to this, that every such client was subject to my first Retainer by the Government, which limited engagement was the result of the terms.