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Mr Johnson's letter to you of the 13th instant and of his letter and enclosures addressed to the Secretary of State which you transmit to me for such observations as I may think fit to make, I beg to reply.
To the first part of your letter I venture to observe that Mr. Johnson's letters do not appear to me to bring any charge against me which does not affect His Excellency the Governor as much as myself.
I can therefore well understand that the charges specified in Dr Johnson's letters could not be placed before the Executive Council in the comprehensive form in which he puts them. At the same time it appears to me that, as far as I am concerned, the gravamen of Dr Johnson's charges narrows itself down to the following two questions.
a., whether or not, in making the statements regarding Dr Raylar referred to, I was acting substantially in accordance with His Excellency the Governor's instructions, and
b., whether or not, in writing the letter of 5th November to Dr Johnson and in making the retractions which caused the withdrawal of the case Haydlar v. Extel from the records of the Supreme Court, I was acting throughout under the orders and with the approval of His Excellency the Governor.
Leaving therefore out of question any other bearings which the charges specified in Dr Johnson's letters have, or may not have, I may respectfully submit that the above two questions, affecting my own conduct, might be inquired into by the Executive Council independently of Dr Johnson's action in the matter.