been arrived at "after a very careful consideration of all the circumstances. His Excellency's reasons for his action are, owing to his reticence on the subject, only matter for conjecture. Whatever they may be, it seems that they ... be hard to believe that they outweigh the following manifest objections to his policy.
In the first place, the course, which had hitherto been adopted by the Government of levying a uniform rate for such licenses, since the Ordinance came into force, and which had been followed by Governor Hennessy himself, in our own case and in that of Mr Jack, led us to infer that the rate, if not finally settled, was certainly not subject to violent or sudden fluctuations. The fact of the amount having been actually placed in print, in the form of license, lent strength to this conclusion, and consequently it never occurred to us, before purchasing the premises, that the Governor had it in contemplation to effect so important a change, else our intention to purchase might have been abandoned. On the other hand, although representations had been made to His Excellency by us,