43·
PAPERS OF l\IIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
terview between us"; which you are pleased to say was of the most friendly nature. Sir I have never met you in any other spirit than that of kindness and friendship. All of our intercourse has been of this character. But my friendship for you however sincere could not make me unmindful of my duty; and if you relied upon it for the tol- erance of anything wrong, you acted upon a fallacious hope, which no part of my conduct could have inspired. In the interview you allude to, you did indeed intimate your intention to retire from the Quar- termaster's duties (but not from your Lieutenancy) so soon as you could get funds from Comargo to settle the outstanding debts of the department: (debts the amount of which you have never disclosed) but in giving this intimation ·of your intended retirement, you evinced no disposition whatever to come to a settlement previous to the draw- ing of the money; and you could not without great misapprehension of my principles have supposed that I would be willing for any further sums of the public money to fall into your hands whilst you so ob- stinately refused to exhibit your vouchers for that which you had al- ready disbursed. It was right to account for what had been confided . to your custody before- applying for fresh sums; and it was the neces- sity of doing this that I labored so vainly to impress upon you. You express an apprehension that justice cannot be obtained. Your fears are groundless. We live in a country where the laws are both lenient and just; and who shall interrupt their equitable administra- tion. I am confident that I have no disposition to do it myself. I am on the eve of dispatching my charges against you to head Quarters (where I am ordered to report) and I doubt not that as soon as· they shall be received an investigation into their truth and validity will be ordered, the tribunal to which they will be referred can have no motive to offer wrong; and if after a full development of youi: administration it shall appear, that yo'Q. have faithfully performed the duties of your o'ffice, then the "di.sgrace" which you speak of in your letter as attach- ing to yourself and family will be averted, but on the contrary, if you should not be able to give a satisfactory explanation of your acts and doings, then will you have to encounter the penalties of your imprudence That concious integrity which you rely upon, and which is always a consolation to the just in every trial, I sincerely hope is heartfelt and well founded; although I cannot but think that it should have prompted to an exposure rather than the withholding of your papers. If your papers were any-wise informal, ·or if you had ommitted to take such as might be. deemed necessary to a full and complete re- turn, you should have come forward with what you had, and under my inspection have made out the best returns you could upon the data in your possession, and such as might have been supplied by the acct and recollection of others. The impossibility of prevailing upon you to do this has forced me to the performance of a painful duty, and has placed you in your present position. yours & C [MIRABEAU B. LAMAR]
Powered by FlippingBook