Enclosure to
280
Address to His Excellency the Acting Governor and the Executive Council.
I submit to Your Excellency and the Gentlemen of the Executive Council that the position in which I am now placed, I have not chosen for myself, for opportunity has been afforded me of choosing deliberately whether I should stand here to-day under these charges or not.
It is usual, I believe, when an officer is in a doubtful position, to give opportunity to withdraw from it, but this was not done in my case.
When I heard on Saturday night (6th instant) that Your Excellency expected me to do the medico-legal work during the short time that Dr Marques would be absent, I did not look upon it as an order, and there were several reasons which I believed justified me in declining the responsibility on Sunday morning, and therefore