467
The Night Honble Sir M. Hicks-Beach, Ward Mh. 1.
South Western Hotel
Southampton
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State
for the Colonies
Mar 30 1880
...
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of Mar 27 1880 conveying to me expressions of displeasure at my having made application to the Admiralty for the appointment of Registrar of the said Admiralty Court of Hong Kong which I understand was without your knowledge.
I beg to express my deep regret at having been the occasion of any such expression on your part and to assure you that nothing was further from my intention than that any application should have been capable of assuming a clandestine character.
Had I been aware of any rule or principle affecting the course I adopted I most assuredly would not have acted as I have done. I believed that the public service would have been advantaged and my own interests served by the course I suggested, which met with the approval of those friends to whom I mentioned the matter, but now I know that it has your disapproval nothing remains for me but to express...