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Forty Years of Official and Unofficial Life in an Oriental Crown Colony
Forty Years of Official and Unofficial Life in an Oriental Crown Colony Author:William Digby Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ENDING OF LEGISLATIVE CAREER. 203 of the Provincial Committee shall be entitled to apply to the Governor for relief at any time within 21 days after such deci... more »sion shall be made known to him.) With the introduction of the Ordinance for the improved Administration of Justice—a measure consisting of several hundred clauses—the Queen's Advocate's career as a legislator was at an end. CHAPTER III. THE SUPREME COURT BENCH; THE HONOUR OF KNIGHTHOOD. On the 1st May 1874, a day already marked with a white stone in the Morgan household as it was the marriage day of the heads of the household, Mr. Richard Francis Morgan reached the highest position which it is possible for a Ceylonese to attain whilst living in his own country and dwelling among his own people. Failing health drove Sir Edward Creasy from the island, and the Queen's Advocate was appointed acting Chief Justice of Ceylon. Before people had done talking about this appointment, the news was telegraphed from England that, in consideration of his long and excellent services, Her Majesty had made the Queen's Advocate of Ceylon a Knight Bachelor of the United Kingdom. To Mr. Morgan the intimation was a great surprise. He, himself, says:—' Graham Perira called to congratulate me. Why ? He pointed to the Ceylon Times which announced that Her Majesty had raised me to the dignity of Knight of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland—a dignity welcome at all times, but doubly so as it came unsolicited and unexpected. Rushed to my dear wife to break the news to her. She values it much because she gets honour through me. We talked of old days when I was a plain Proctor and she an unmarried girl, and remembered how little either expected to be Sir Richard and Lady Morgan. Letters of congratulations poured in, and kind ...« less