of the industry, the research, the correctness of judgment, the accuracy of information, and the readiness in composition with which Mr. Colvin has assisted me. I may add, that in the secondary but important duty of forming a judgment on the character of public men, and in the distribution of patronage, I write with equal satisfaction of the faithful and efficient aid which I have found; and though it could not be but that offence and dissent in this branch of duty should occasionally have been excited, yet I cannot but feel that it is due to the tact and discrimination with which Mr. Colvin has performed his part in this branch of the administration, that so little of discontent has been exhibited upon it, and that its fairness has been pretty generally admitted.'
This Minute discriminates the value of the character of the work done for Lord Auckland by his Private Secretary. It is not the language of a man who, when disaster overtakes him, recognises that he has trusted too much to the subordinate of whom he is writing. There is a measure and a reserve in the phrases used which indicate that the limits, within which Mr. Colvin had served his chief, were marked in the writer's mind with precision. A little later, on reaching England, Lord Auckland wrote again: —
'In the very few instances in which shades of difference have ever occurred between us, I can remember nothing but such a habit of manly frankness as could alone make counsel useful; and I can never forget how hardly, how ably, and how faithfully you have laboured for me. I bear a most grateful recollection of the infinite use which I have derived from these labours.'
