ot
consider this then as a Congress in full form, and send here a
person of rank, such as Lord Fitzwilliam, if he would come, so
as to have the whole negotiation in the hands of one person; you
would by that means recover within your compass the essential
part which is now out of it; nor do I see how Lord Shelburne
could object to such an appointment, which would in every
respect very much facilitate the business. Let me press this a
little strongly to you, for another reason: you may depend upon
it, people here have already got an idea of a difference between
the two offices, and consider how much that idea will be
assisted by the embarrassments arising from two people
negotiating to the same purpose, but under different and
differing authorities, concealing and disguising from each other
what with the best intentions they could hardly make known, and
common enough to each. I am almost afraid of pressing this as
strongly as I should, for fear you should think me writing
peevishly; but if I did not state the thing to you in the
situation in which I see it, I should think I was betraying your
interests instead of giving attention to them. I must entreat
you very earnestly to consider this, to see the impossibility of
my assisting you under this contrariety, to see how much the
business itself will suffer if carried on with the jealousy of
these clashing interests, and to see whether it may not all be
prevented by some such single appointment in high rank as that I
mentioned; _au reste_, I cannot but say that I feel much easier
with the hope of making over what remains of this business. I
begin to feel it weighty, and you know how much I dislike the
_publicity_ you packed off to me in that confounded silver box;
I could not bring myself to say anything civil about it in my
last letter, and you ought to give me credit for great
self-denial in not taking this opportunity of telling you my own
story at the Secretary's office, as nothing but the
embarrassment it might give you upon the sudden, prevented me.
Once more, I tell you I cannot fight a daily battle with Mr.
Oswald and _his secretary_; it would be neither for the
advantage of the business, for your interest, or your credit or
mine; and even if it was, I could not do it.

Concluding then the American business as out