Langford to Newcastle

I beg most respectfully to claim your Grace's attention to the
statement herewith forwarded; a statement containing complaints
of a serious nature against certain Government Officials in
Vancouver's Island.

Statement

At the General Election that took place in Vancouver's Island in
January 1860, I was solicited by numerous Electors of the Town
of Victoria to come forward as a Candidate to represent them in
the Assembly; I acceded to their request and published an
address explanatory of my opinion on the affairs of the Colony,
founded on the experience of nearly nine years residence therein
having been nearly the whole of that time a magistrate and
chairman of the Sessions.

A few days after my address was published, an anonymous libel
(in the shape of a placard) was published and posted in the Town
containing insulting allusions to my family, and also defamatory
of my private character.

The printer of this libel refused on being applied to, to give
[one line cut off microfilm] I then hoping to compel a
disclosure of the names of the authors, brought an action
against the printer, in the supreme Court of Civil Justice.

The proceedings in Court at the trial, were of an improper,
illegal and vexatious character; and on my refusing to answer a
question which was irrelevant to the statement contained in the
declaration, inquisitional and harsh in its tendency, and which
affected the interests of Board of Trade at large, I was removed from
the Court in Custody of the Sheriff, the examination for the
defence was carried on in my absence evidence which I had given
on oath was struck out by direction of the Judge and a nonsuit
recorded; I was then brought into Court, was sentenced to be
imprisoned in the common jail, and to pay a fine of £10. I was
taken to prison and locked up with felons, Indians and maniacs.

A bill of costs was afterwards sent in by the Attorney General,
who acted both as Attorney and Counsel for the defence,
amounting to £90.9s.2d which I declined to pay; judgment was
then entered up for the amount of the Attorney General's bill of
costs, and my furniture and other effects seized under an
execution; when two days prior to the time at which the sale was
advertised to take place I was presented by a Committee of
Gentlemen with the sum of 500 dollars, the amount of a
subscription raised by the Inhabitants of the Island, for the
purpose of enabling me to satisfy the amount of the execution,
which I did on the 14th July 1860.

In October last I accidentally made the discovery that the
Attorney General's bill of costs contained items of payment
which had never in fact been made, and soon after [one line cut
off microfilm] the libel against me, revealed to me the name of
the author of the libel: it was Mr Begbie, Judge of British Columbia, and he further informed me that Mr Good (then, and I
believe now the private Secretary to Governor Douglas) brought
the libel in manuscript to the printing office, and Capt Ring
further told me that Mr Good gave him £20 to pay to the
Attorney General, stating that he was to defend the action.

It is my wish that Your Grace should distinctly understand,
that, in bringing the circumstances above mentioned to your
notice, it is not my object to seek any pecuniary redress
whatever for the ill-treatment that I have received, but that it
is an official enquiry which I ask for, concerning acts which I
believe Colonial Officials have been guilty of, disgraceful to
them in their official capacity: and when your Grace may be
satisfied that my complaints are well grounded, I feel assured
that such acts as my statement contains would not be allowed to
be perpetrated with impunity in any of Her Majesty's Colonies
however distant or insignificant.