392 THE DORMANT COMMISSION ENTRUSTED chap. ' Lord Eaglan/ he writes, ' you have known me ' long enough, and I hope well enough, to be- tone b w^h ' ney 6 nie when I say that your communication Srtmrtthe ' this moment received is the most gratifying to umounce- « m y ge if that I could possibly receive, and that ' the Duke of Newcastle does me no more than ' justice in saying that he well recollects the ' obvious reluctance with which I accepted the ' Dormant Commission.* The fact is, I con- ' sidered it a command, and though I did not fail ' to express my adverse opinion, I felt bound to ' submit to H.M. commands and obey them, be ' they what they may. I only now delay placing ' the Commission in your hands for this night ' because I will not trust it to an orderly, but I ' will be the bearer of it myself, to - morrow ' morning, please God, and in the meantime will ' not write further on the subject.' -J* Addressing the Duke of Newcastle on this Lord subject, Lord Eaglan says : ' I am sure you will gratification ' agree with me that Cathcart's conduct through- change. ' out this matter has been exactly what might be ' expected from a man of his high feeling. Your ' decision to annul the Commission is an immense ' relief to me. In my usual intimate relations ' with Brown I have felt ever since I knew what • you had determined a great deal less comfort- ' able than before, and that I was in possession
- In confirmation of what Sir George Cathcart here writes,
see in the Appendix, Note X., an interesting statement made by the late Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable Gilbert Elliot, who was aide-de-camp to Sir George in the Crimea. t Dated, Camp above Sebastopol, 26th October 1854, 8 p.m.
