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have made me aware that it has been looked upon to be. Evidence, May 27, 1850. I had reason to suppose, from the communication I had from Lord Grey, asking me to go to another colony, that he did not consider that I had given my evidence unfairly; but my letters from Ceylon made me aware that every possible effort was to be made to break down what I had said; that gentlemen were going about the island to obtain contradictions to it, and that every sort of abuse was expressed towards me for having given evidence here. I feel that I have done nothing whatever in breach of honour to Lord Torrington, nor to deceive the Com- mittee: therefore it is matter of great anxiety to me to be cleared upon those points. I am ready to be examined upon all points when I am told what it is about.
4601. Up to the period of your leaving Ceylon, you were not on those intimate terms with Lord Torrington which these questions would lead the Committee to sup- pose?—I cannot say that. Lord Torrington before I left Ceylon was very intimate with me, but the questions themselves were all past and gone. It is difficult to ex- plain; but any person who knows Lord Torrington would understand perfectly that there was very little to be gained by raising abstract discussions upon what had passed. 1 have a letter here from Lord Torrington, written imme- diately after I went away, in which he says that errors there may have been, and much of this might have been avoided if I had understood him better; and I have ano- ther letler, in which he says he wishes he had known me better sooner; all of which point to the fact that I had not been in that position of confidential adviser of Lord Torrington throughout these transactions which is sup- posed in those answers, or that I had betrayed him in what I had stated.
4602. Mr. Hume.It is stated that you were not only consulted by him, but that you gave him your advice and opinions upon all questions of policy?—I was not con- sulted upon any of these ordinances at the time they were passed, nor upon any question of policy from the time that martial law was proclaimed, or from the meeting on the 5th of August, till I went to him on the morning of the 6th of November, and told him that he ought to repeal the taxes.
4606. Will the correspondence with Lord Torrington to which you allude, show how far you were consulted in all questions of policy connected with the Government; that you were made aware of Lord Torrington's intentions; and that you gave Lord Torrington your advice and opinion thereon!-No, I will not say anything of the kind.
4607. Will it show the footing of intimacy and confi- dence which existed between you and Lord Torrington ?— It will not show anything more than I have stated. He simply expresses his regret at our not having been on better terms before.
4608. Lord Hotham.-How long after you left the colony were those letters written ?-Less than a month.
The Committee adjourned to the 30th May.
*
Evidence, May 30, 1860.
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4611. Chairman.-I am desired by the Committee to intimate to you, in reference to the answer which you gave to question 4601, that they think you must either withdraw the allusion you there made to certain letters received by you from Lord Torrington, or produce the letters which you refer to ?-I cannot withdraw the letters. When I gave my evidence last year before this Committee, I endeavoured to do it as fairly and impartially as pos- sible, and to divest it as much as possible of everything like personality towards anybody. After Parliament was prorogued, my evidence went to Ceylon; it became the subject of very great discussion and very unpleasant remarks there. Circular letters were written to different Government officers about the country.
4612. Mr. Hawes-Do you allude to the three circular letters already before the Committee?—Yes; circular letters were written to various servants of the Government in Ceylon, giving the substance of what had been stated in evi- dence here; the tenor of the letters was to ask them what they could say in refutation of it. My private letters also informed me that every effort would be made to disprove what I had stated. I believe the Committee are aware that the same tone is maintained throughout the evidence which has been given in the present year. With regard to this particular question, if the Committee will now refer to Question 4598, they will find that Sir Emerson Tennent says he is authorized by Lord Torrington to state one thing, and again he is authorized by Lord Torrington to state another thing; I have therefore not only to meet the expression of his own opinion, but the direct authority of Lord Torrington in support of it, as contradicting what I said last year: therefore, as it has come to a question of comparative credibility, I can have nothing to induce me to give up anything which will support the credibility of the evidence which I gave last year; it is not within my power to do so. I am most reluctant, though not from personal considerations to myself, to produce those letters to which I have alluded here. I alluded to them in the most quiel manner possible, merely as showing that Lord Torrington was aware that at one time we were not upon those confidential terms which it had been intimated we were. I alluded to the letters in the most guarded manner, and it was not my wish to go any further, as it is not my wish to go further now. But as it is stated here, that Sir Emerson Tennent is authorised to make statements which would lead the Committee to believe that I had betrayed Lord Torrington by saying one thing one day and another another, I cannot afford to deprive myself of the benefit of their existence. With that explanation, it is for the Com- mittee to say whether they will require me or not to pro- duce the letters.
4613. Sir R. Peel.-In the latter part of the answer which you gave to Question 4601, you make these re- marks: "I have a letter here from Lord Torrington, written immediately after I went away, in which he says that errors there may have been, and much of this might have been avoided if I had understood him better; and I S