33054-001853-0001

[top right] 43

[top left] 31/3299 - 10 May1831

[diagonally below] Register

[centred]

To the Honorable Alex'r McLeay, Esq.

Colonial Secretary, &c. ... &c. ... &c.

Sir,

With the deepest contrition for my impru-
dence, I throw myself upon the mercy of His
Excellency the Governor and yourself. I have
spent half my life in this Colony, and am now
advanced in years. I hope that my good conduct
during the 10 years I held a Conditional Pardon, my
servitude of 7 years in the Colonial Office, as well as
many previous years in other public departments,
and above all the candid account I am about to give
of my foolish elopement from the Colony, which the
truly good and humane Surgeon of the Waterloo assures
me is the only chance I have of experiencing His
Excellency's lenity, through your recommendation,
will plead in my behalf, in mitigation of the punishment
I so justly merit. Could I obtain one more trial, you
may rest assured, Sir, that I will never again commit
an act deserving of censure - I have abilities which may
yet render me serviceable to the public, and I presume to
remind you Sir, that when confidentially employed in
your Office, I never betrayed the trust reposed in me.
The faithful transcripts I made of the [underlined] ("Indents") from
1788 to 1823 are durable witnesses of my integrity.
In the confusion incidental to my recognition by Mr