H
notification dated same day received a such appointment in an Official letter from Mor Mercer, the Colonial Secretary; and
the latter unofficially communicated to the Chief Justice the nomination of Mr Ball on the day it was made.
5
On the morning of the 18th, the usual day for holding the Sessions, the Chief Justice called on Mr Ball for his authority to act, and the latter produced the Official letter from the Colonial Secretary. The Chief Justice, however, expressed himself as much embarrassed by doubts, and I enclose Mr Ball's statement of what had occurred in court on the subject.
Enclosure 2.
111
The Chief Justice, as Your Lordship will perceive, had taken his seat on the Bench with a schedule of his doubts in the form of ten Queries, which I also enclose, with comments made on each by the Colonial Secretary. The Chief Justice appears to have been anxious to argue each of those Queries with Mr Ball, who, on the other hand, had no argument to advance, except that he believed his appointment to be perfectly valid, and if not, that in the opinion of the Chief Justice, he had "locus standi" in the court.
7
The Chief Justice then adjourned the court to a future day, and Mr Ball having subsequently nothing more to advance, he adjourned it again; there being many cases instead of only six cases.