MR. E. N. FOWLERasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether it has been ascertained, when Mr. Downing Bruce was appointed, that he was in such a state of health as would give reasonable assurance of his being able to discharge the duties of a District Judge in Jamaica, in that trying climate; and, whether there is any chance of his being so far recovered as to be able to be transferred, if necessary, from one judicial district to another?
§ MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSENreplied, that Mr. Downing Bruce, before being appointed a district Judge of Jamaica, suffered, and might possibly now suffer, from a local complaint which rendered it desirable that he should not travel more than was absolutely necessary from one place to another. Mr. Bruce was a gentleman of high standing and reputation at the Bar at the time of his appointment, and he was perfectly well qualified to discharge the functions of a Judge. The best proof of this fact was that during the time he was in Jamaica he was only absent from his Court one day, and that there had been no appeal from any of his decisions.