“The messenger goes only tonight, and as a proof of
what I have said, this morning arrives a letter of
Broughton of which I send you a cutting. You told me
that he had told my father that my pay or rank would date from July last. He
writes to me that my Father had told him that such was the case. He has
probably lied, to one or other of us, but the system of talking to him upon any
such subjects is really a very bad one—the less that pitiful fellow is
named in my concerns the better. Any thing he may promise to my Father will
never be useful as it never has been—the thing will be done according to
the regular rules of the office, and I don’t wish it to be done
otherwise. It will be done in the kindest manner by Castlereagh who has the undivided merit and should have the
whole thanks, but that it shd. go round to him through
Hamilton that an Underling like
Broughton had been told that such and such were the
Regent’s intentions is unpleasant
and beneath our situation. It is nothing to the purpose whether this was really
said to him or no, since something was said which gave him the power of
fancying or imagining it. He is only an agent about money, and should never be
thought of as anything else. I send this privately to you that you may quietly
stop it, for I would rather it shld. happen ten times over than have the
appearance of having an unkind feeling about it. What I want of you is to burn
this letter, and instead of montéing people’s têtes about what
I am doing and getting and where I am going—to preach perfect
indifference and non-interference
| 180 | THE CLOSING DAYS OF |
