statement in the naval service by his late Majesty, whose memory I
shall ever cherish for this magnanimous act of justice. The cause, my
lord, has not been from any reluctance on my part, but from a feeling
which, I have no doubt, will appear satisfactory to your lordship, if
you do me the favour to read the enclosed copy of a letter which I have
written this day to the Marquess of Lansdowne as President of the
Council." The letter to Lord Lansdowne referred in great part to Lord
Dundonald's rotary-engine, and to his secret war-plan, which he
expressed his willingness to put in execution if ever it was required.
"Your lordship and the Privy Council, however," it was added, "will not
fail to observe that, if it shall ever be the intention of the
Government, under any circumstances, again to employ me in the naval
service, it would be quite inconsistent with the character of that
service, as well as my own reputation, for me to assume command, unless
the Order of the Bath, gained on the 12th of April, 1809, now thirty
years ago, shall be restored to me."

"I hope it will appear to your lordship," said Lord Dundonald, in a
letter to Lord Melbourne, dated the 11th July, 1839, "that my services
as a naval officer have been useful and honourable to my country; and,
referring to those services and to the peculiar opportunities I have
since had of acquiring further professional knowledge, I may say,
without vanity, that her Majesty has no officer in her navy more
experienced than myself; and yet, from the extraordinary circumstances
of my case, I am the only flag-officer in her Majesty's service who, if
called upon to take a command, could not do so consistently with his own
honour and the respect due to those who might be appointed to serve
under him. For where is the officer who could not conveniently call to
mind, that I, who when only a captain was a Knight of the Bath, was
deprived of that honour, and that now, though a flag-officer, I have not
been deemed worthy of having it restored?" "I am sensible," wrote Lord
Dundonald in another letter to the Premier, written eight days later,
"that the act of justice which I experienced from the late King, under
the ministry of Earl Grey, of which your lordship was a distinguished
member, in restoring me to my naval rank, was a great favour, inasmuch
as it evinced a considerate feeling towards me; and I was then fully
satisfied with it, under the impression that it would be viewed by