a defensive act on my part, and not one of offence. I have mentioned, in one part of this letter, a beloved child, as almost all that the hand of death had left to me of every thing that was most dear to me on earth. To that child I bequeath this letter, as the rule and guide of his conduct. It will teach him, first, the necessity of being honest to others: and next, to be true to himself. I have been told by some of my well-meaning but cautious friends, that it was "imprudent" in me to publish this letter, for that it would give offence to persons in power. My Lord, if by "persons in power" they meant any of the Members of his Majesty's Government, I tell my friends, that I have too high an opinion of all those distinguished persons, to allow myself to think, that when a gentleman and soldier finds it necessary to come forward and do himself justice, he can thereby give offence to any one; nor will I believe, that to offer truth to the eyes of any one Minister of the present Government, will be construed into a want of due respect on my part. But, my Lord, if even the frown of power had been instant on me, still I would have done what I now have done. I had a duty to perform to myself and to my child; and feeling this, I have not stopped to put my case into the cautious, trembling scale of worldly Prudence. I shall here beg leave, my Lord, to make one concluding observation. I disclaim, in the strongest manner, any thing like animadversion on your Lordship in any way. Anybody who will take the trouble to look over the preceding pages dispassionately, will not only give me credit for patience, but will see that I have been absolutely goaded into the necessity of setting myself right—not by your Lordship-but by him who can set himself right only by making you think me wrong and as to his Majesty's Government at large, I view this question as one entirely Departmental, and as not bearing, in the remotest degree, on the Administration in general; my respect for, and confidence in which, shall be abundantly proved, should I succeed in getting into Parliament, either by petition or otherwise. I have the honour to be, With the greatest respect, Your Lordship's most obedient Humble Servant, R. S. DONKIN. APPENDIX. There is a variety of minor circumstance and of miscellaneous matter which could not with propriety be introduced into a letter addressed to one of the highest Officers of State. These I have thrown here into an Appendix, and they will not be without their use as illustrations to those persons who are not well acquainted with Cape of Good Hope politics, nor with the manner in which the orders of the King are observed, and the interests of his subjects watched over in Southern Africa. They still form, however, but a very small part of an immense accumulation of facts and statements which were sent to me from the Cape, voluntarily, and without any application from me, as soon as it was known that I had offered myself as a candidate for Parliament, and which will now probably see the light-unless indeed this Pamphlet should be stamped by the Public with the "Ohe! jam satis est." The first paper which I shall introduce into this Appendix is my report to Lord Bathurst, when I was relieved by Lord Charles Somerset at the Cape of Good Hope. By publishing this report I betray no trust-I break no confidence-it is a paper wholly personal to myself, and on personal matters. I have, in the preceding letter, admitted the principle that a public servant has no right to make use of the correspondence which he may have held with a Minister of the Crown while in office, and to give it to the world in support of any statement he may think proper to publish; and I here distinctly request it may be observed, that I have not, either in the preceding Letter, or in this Appendix, published a single line of my official correspondence or instructions during the period of my * administration. It is true, I have published some of the official correspondence, &c., of the Commissioners; but all this took place since my departure, and I am as much at liberty to produce it as any other indifferent person; so with some other papers, Mr. D'Escury's for instance, the whole of which he sent to me (weighing probably 20 lbs.); and in a letter accompanying them he earnestly requested me to see Lord Bathurst, (supposing as a matter of course that I must at least be in occasional communication with his Lordship,) and to bear testimony as to his character and his conduct while under my orders, at the same time telling me that he had referred his Lordship to me for full information as to his papers and himself, so that there was nothing clandestine on the part of Mr. D'Escury in this transaction. With this explanation I now give my report to Lord Bathurst. 66 my "I have the honour of reporting to your Lordship that administration of the affairs of this Colony ceased this day, Lord Charles Somerset having arrived from England; "but, I regret to say, with such violent and unaccountable ex"pressions of hostility towards me, accompanied by proceedings "of so unusual a nature between persons in our respective "situations, that I should be almost induced to fear that Lord "Charles Somerset's demeanor was indicative of my having "incurred the displeasure of His Majesty's Government by some "unknown offence, were it not that I am encouraged by the ge"neral tenor of your Lordship's despatches during the last two 66 years, to hope that I have attained, what it has ever been my "endeavour to merit, your Lordship's approbation. "On the Hyperion anchoring yesterday evening, I sent a "staff officer on board to wait on Lord Charles Somerset: to "acquaint him that I had prepared dinner for himself and "family at the Government House, that my carriages were in * I have a large pile of it. "waiting, and to offer those courtesies which are usual on such "occasions. To all this I received, by the return of that "officer, no sort of reply-no communication to myself, private " or official-but, simply, that Lord Charles Somerset had put "off his landing till this morning. He landed accordingly; and "entering the Government House at a very early hour, by one "door, as I was going out at another to the beach to receive "him, he sent me a note, of which I enclose a copy. "On the receipt of such a note I had only one course to "take, that of immediately quitting the Government House, "leaving my breakfast things on the table, and every thing "just as it stood, to be brought away as speedily as possible "by my servants. "In one instant I thus found myself in the street, without "having even seen Lord Charles Somerset, nor have I seen "him since and, thus, in the face of this whole Colony, and "of the army, has a scene of discourtesy and indecorum taken "place, such as, I believe, was never before exhibited towards 66 a person of my rank, (and I hope I may add character,) "after holding one of His Majesty's Governments for two years. "I have been since told, that Lord Charles Somerset had "taken offence at my having lately confined his son, Captain "H. Somerset, to his post at Simons Town, which situation I "conferred upon him last June, at his father's earnest request. "I was obliged to prohibit Captain Somerset from coming to "my head-quarters, in maintenance of military discipline, and, "to avoid the more painful step of bringing that Officer to a "Court Martial, which I should have been obliged to do had "he repeated his most unmilitary and insubordinate conduct "towards me; but I cannot easily allow myself to suppose that any private feelings of Lord Charles Somerset could so far overpower him as to make him forget his public duty in ❝ violating every usual courtesy belonging to his situation and "mine, in the face of this Colony, in which there is a class of people sufficiently disposed to slight public authorities, and "to criticise and censure the conduct of people in office. "For my own part, I am perfectly indifferent as to Lord "Charles Somerset's pleasure or displeasure-to his opinion |