nally-writing letters, memorials,
statements of facts, and what not, of interminable narratives, to all
our ministers and consuls, invoking their aid, and protesting in the
name of the British nation against the unwarrantable tyranny of my
imprisonment. It is quite true that these lengthy documents of
mine seemed to meet but sorry acceptance. For a length of time no
acknowledgment of their reception ever reached me; but at last the
following dry epistle informed me that my memorials had reached their
destination:--

"Sir,--I am directed by the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs to acknowledge the receipt of your memorials
dated the 9th, 12th, 18th, 23rd, and 25th of last month,
together with various letters bearing on the same subjects
since that time, and to state, in reply, that the matter of
your complaint is at present under investigation with the
authorities of the Spanish Government.

"His Lordship the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
desires me to add his regrets that even in the event of your
liberation he can hold out no prospect whatever that any
compensation will be made to you for the loss of property
you allege to have suffered, and which, of course, was
incurred as one of the many risks natural to the course of
such an expedition as you were engaged in.

"I have the honor to be, sir,

"F. O., London,

"Your most obedient servant,

"Oct. 18--.

"Joseph Backslip.

"To Cornelius Cregan, Esq."

This was a sad damper! To think that I was to lose the immense amount
of property with which I had embarked,--the gems and jewels, the rare
objects of art, the equipages, the beautiful horses of purest Mexican
blood! not to speak of that far greater loss,--the large sum in actual
money! But, then, what a consolation to remember that a Secretary of
State was mingling his sorrows with my own on the subject; that he
actually gave an official character to his grief, by desiring the
Under-Secretary to convey "his regrets" in a despatch! his regrets--to
me, Con Cregan! What inestimable words! That ever I should live to know
that the Right Honorable Lord Puzzleton, the adored cherub of fashion,
the admired of _coteries_, the worshipped of "the Commons," the favored
guest of Windsor, should, under the big seal of his office, assure me of
his heartfelt sympathy!

I closed my eyes as I read the paragraph,