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sealed my lips, and on the 17th May, 1887, wrote to the Colonial Office a letter (for extracts see Brochure 3, pp. 6-8) exposing the disgraceful conduct of Sir George Bowen, not so much to attack my bitter enemy as to vindicate myself; and to dispel, if possible, the evil rumours which I felt were circulating to my injury. Is it asked what right I bad to impute to Sir George Bowen hackbiting at my expense? I reply, my knowledge that he had made malicious and underhand attacks on others beside myself; while later my justification was furnished by the Commander-in-Chief bimself in his letter to me of the 15th October, 1888 (of which presently), where he conclusively shows by necessary implication that he had based his censure of me on rumours which contained no particle of truth. Although His Royal Highness corrected his mistake as to the censure after I pointed it out to him, the fact remains that those rumours were current, their very existence being necessary to account for his error.
To my grave charges against Sir George Bowen the Colonial Office paid no heed, professing to regard then as animportant personal matters, whereas I had made perfectly clear that I was well aware of the responsibility which attached to a man in my position who brought forward such serious accusations against a man like Sir George Bowen.
On the 4th June, 1887, I attended the levée of the Cornmander-in-Chief. At this levée His Royal Highness showed his undoubted hostility towards me (Brochure 2, p. 20)-an attitude which, with occasional periods of pre- tended friendliness, be has maintained ever since.
The Commander-in-Chief, without making himself acquainted with the facts of the case, and confounding irre- sponsible rumours with official reports, thought that he had to censure me while I was commanding in Chiua for "dif- ferences" arising between the Governor and myself, whercus
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such was not the case. The Commander-in-Chief censured me ostensibly for my letters to Lord Knutsford after I had made my charges against Sir George Bowen, but in reality for those charges, although he saw in the printed official letters that Sir George Bowen's powerful friends at the Colonial Office were afraid to face my charges, and must have known them to be true (Brochure 1, pp. 20, 21).
Then came my defensive retort of the 28th February, 1888, und His Royal Highness's fears are aroused--he Hence offers of friendship are feels he must dissemble. made, an interview at the Horse Guards, to which I was invited, takes place (Brochure 4, pp. 4-7), and I am pro- mised a K.C.B.ship at the next Birthday Honours. To this promise it was afterwards attempted to attach as a condi- tion the withdrawal of my letters to the Commander-in-Chief --a dishonourable bribe which I naturally rejected, thereby again rousing the resentment of His Royal Highness. But the statement of the facts in my letter of the 17th September, 1888, induced the Duke to again change his attitude to- wards me and to take the matter into his own hands. What shall the Royal Duke do? The bribe of a K.C.B.ship has failed, other measures must be tried, and so the Commander-in-Chief writes an autograph letter, dated 15th October, 1888, showing the confusion of his mind, as before alluded to. This letter and this gross blunder he expected ine to receive in silence; where a bribe had failed the Duke trusted in the condescension of an autograph letter. In vain!
Weak and vacillating, he must retire, baffled before
an unchanging front of scrupulons accuracy, and again his hostility becomes open and undoubted.
At last, having failed to extort justice, I ask to be con- frouted with all that can be urged against me--let a Court
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