To sum up, I left England for Canada, in "The Asia," on the 1st
February, 1862, landing at New York, where my son and Messrs. Brydges
and Hickson met me--and after a deal of hard work on the part of every
officer and man on the Grand Trunk, and no small anxiety, labour,
responsibility, and exposure to storms and climate, inflicted upon
myself, Mr. Brydges, Mr. Hickson, and the whole staff, Quartermaster-
General Mackenzie sent us a handsome acknowledgment of our semi-
military services. But the authorities at home did not condescend to
recognize our existence or our labours.
The late Sir Philip Rose gave me the greatest assistance with Mr.
Disraeli, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, and all the great party whose
confidence he possessed. The following letter, addressed to him by Sir
E. Bulwer Lytton, will be read with great interest:--
"BUXTON, DERBYSHIRE,
"_April_ 27, 1862.
"MY DEAR SIR,
"I am much flattered by your wish, and that of our Colonial friends;
but I fear that I must decline the important and honourable task to
which you invite me: partly from a valid personal reason; partly on
political grounds. With regard to the first, I am here for a course of
the Baths, in hopes to get rid of a troublesome lumbago, which has
harassed me all the winter, and appears to have been epidemical from
the number of victims it has cramped and racked this wet season.
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