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power is impotent against the obstacles created by its own blunders, and I have absolute confidence in the rigid impar tiality of a general Court Martial, notwithstanding the exalted rank and enormous influence of those who have conspired against me and brought to an end all hope of justice from them.
"Those who know me best can testify before the Court Martial that I have always regarded my simple promise by word of mouth as sacredly as I have ever done my written bond. This being so, I hope allowances will be made for the indignation to which I am moved by a broken promise, following as it did all the rest of the had treatment I have so long endured.
"If ever anger was justifiable, it is certainly so in my case, as I will endeavour to show by recapitulating its particulars point by point, and by showing that after treating me as one of the best officers in our army, and officially stamping me as such, Your Royal Highness sud- denly turned against me and treated me as one of the
worst."
His Royal Highness was afraid to grant the Court Martial (Brochure 13, p. 1) or the Court of Inquiry (Brochure 6, p. 2). After dealing with my letter of the 28th February, 1888, in the way he did, be dare not face any tribunal that would sift the whole matter to the bottom, and so I am left to my last resort--the publication of the correspondence. Still I wait, making every effort for a peaceful settlement, reluctant to take those extreme measures which the case now urgently demands. Lord Salisbury is made a party, and in his opinion the affair must have been grave indeed, for, soon after the Prime Minister had forwarded to the Commander- in-Chief one of my letters to him, His Royal Highness graciously informs me of my appointment as Colonel of a
k
Regiment, thinking thereby to adjust the balance and so get the advantage for his side in the controversy. But I will have no half-measures, no makeshift compensation. My claim is, official retractation of most unfair official censure or its cancellation by a public mark of Royal favour; and restoration to the active list of the army from which I have been unjustly retired.
The above is a brief summary of the correspondence, and will show how consistent has been my attitude through- out, in sharp contrast to the weakness and vacillation of my opponents.
To show how foreign to my nature is the species of controversy in which I have become involved, and to show what is my character in the opinion of those qualified to judge, and as revealed by myself, I quote:
(a) From my letter of the 12th of last July to His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge (at pp. 17 and 18), the following words :-
"I wish here to attach another public proof as to what was thought of my disposition before your Royal Highness drove me into all this self-assertion. It is from the White- hall Review of the 11th May, 1878, and may be all the more highly considered because of the fact that I never knew in my life anyone as a writer for or to that periodical. In the Whitehall, when it was expected that England and Russia would soon be grappling in the throes of war, a list was given on high authority' of general officers who would be employed, whose ability is indisputable," and whose names would all shed instre on the British arms.' Among the Major-Generals was this entry: J. N. Sargent, C.B.-A soldier as unassuming in his demeanour as he would be reliable in the field,'"
(b) The following letter to Sir G. Bowen :--
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