Dear Sir,
Your letter of 12th instant does not appear to have been sufficiently clear. Anxious days among the sick followed by disturbed and sleepless nights must account for this.
My time is engrossed with the care of those whom I have now 84, including Dr. Marge, in the Hospital, and instead of being allowed necessary recreation and repose, my little leisure is taken up in answering such charges as these.
In my letter of the 19th, I stated that physical inability was the main cause of my failure to meet His Excellency's wishes; I should have said that it was the sole cause, the rest of the letter being merely subsidiary, tending to show that there are many strong reasons why I should not have been asked to do the extra work.
It is possible that the Council have the impression that in my last letter I sought to justify disobedience of orders. Nothing, however, was farther from my intention, and if my letter had that effect, it was not so meant.
I have not been informed that there is anything before the Council opposed to my plea of physical inability or ill health, and well I am aware that if there is the clearest evidence that this plea is baseless and is moreover put forward in bad faith and with fraudulent intent, I have a right to be relieved without delay from the stigma placed upon me and from the threat of penalties referred to in the Government Order of the 20th.
The foregoing remarks meet the additional charge conveyed in the Government Order of 20th, which case could hardly be sustained, as until I received the Government Order of the 20th, I had a right to assume that my explanation was satisfactory.
I shall take the opportunity to appear before the Council at its next meeting, if the state of my health will permit me.
I have to remain,
36. I Wharry, M.D., Superintendent