unavoidable necessity; he having for the last year been lying
sick in one of the provinces of New Spain. And now, Sir, I will
make bold to inquire whether Lieut. Borrow, the son of an
Officer, who served his country abroad and at home, for upwards
of fifty years, is to lose his commission for being incapable,
from a natural visitation, of attending at the training; if it
be replied in the affirmative, I have only to add that his case
will be a cruelly hard one. But I hope and trust, Sir, that
taking all these circumstances into consideration you will not
_yet_ cause his name to be stricken off the list, and that you
will permit him to retain his commission in the event of his
arriving in England with all the speed which his health of body
will permit, and that to enable him so to do his arrears[21]
you will forthwith give an order for the payment of his
arrears. I have the honor to be, Sir, your very humble servant,

GEORGE BORROW.

IV

To the Rt. Hon. The Secretary at War

NORWICH, _Decr. 13, 1831._

SIR,--I have just received a letter from my brother Lieutenant
J. Borrow, from which it appears he has had leave of absence
from his Colonel, the Earl of Orford, up to the present year.
He says 'in a letter dated Wolterton, 21st June 1828, Lord
Orford writes: "should you want a further leave I will not
object to it." 20th May 1829 says: "I am much obliged to you
for a letter of the 18th March, and shall be glad to allow you
leave of absence for a twelvemonth." I enclose his last letter
from Brussels, August 6, 1829. At the end it gives very evident
proof that my remaining in Mexico _was not only by his
Lordship's permission, but even by his advice_. Sir, if you
should require it I will transmit this last letter of the Earl
of Orford's, which my brother has sent to me, but beg leave to
observe that no blame can be attached to his Lordship in this
case, he having from a multiplicity of important business
doubtless forgotten these minor matters. I hope now, Sir, that
you will have no further objection to issue an order for the
payment of that portion of my brother's arrears specified in
the two affidavits in the possession of the Paymaster General.
By the unnecessary obstacles which have been flung in my
brot