"You will therefore lay before him, without reserve, all papers of a public nature; such as relate to individuals, and are not made public, you may not think proper to reveal to any one. There is only one paper which I could not send you, viz. the letter from the Select Committee to the Court of Directors, being bound by oath not to make any of our proceedings public until laid before council, or communicated to the Court of Directors; neither of which being yet done, with respect to the committee's letter, is the reason I cannot send you a copy; but you will, undoubtedly, obtain a sight of it from Scrafton.
"Had I known Mr. Sumner as well as I do at present, I would never have consented to his being appointed my successor, let the consequences be what they would. I did, indeed, entertain hopes, that my example and instructions might furnish that gentleman with a plan of conduct and political knowledge, which would have enabled him to fill the chair with honour, and me to leave it with satisfaction to myself. But I am sorry to inform you, that I had been but a short time on board the Kent, before I discovered him to be a man no ways fit to be my successor. His ideas of government differ widely indeed from mine; add to this, his judgment is weak, timid, and unsound, and resolution he has none.
"Nor was my opinion of him changed on our arrival here; for I was frequently mortified with instances of his conduct, which made me look forward with regret to the day on which he was to be intrusted with the government of Bengal.
"When affairs of the utmost consequence to the Company were transacting by me, at the distance of seven hundred miles from the presidency, Mr. Sumner, governor for the time being, would have yielded up some of the most material privileges of the committee to Mr. Leycester, Gray, and Burdett, the most factious among the counsellors; and, if I had not written to him very severely on the subject, and prevailed on Mr. Verelst to hasten down from Burdwan to remonstrate to him on the weakness of his conduct, I verily believe he would have joined with those gentlemen in endeavouring to abolish the power of the committee.
"Whether his behaviour arose merely from timidity of temper, or from a consideration that his actions formerly, in the Burdwan country, could not bear a scrutiny, if the resentment of those whom he had been obliged to join in condemning should prompt them to retaliate, I cannot say; but it is certain that his attention to those gentlemen, guilty as they had been of the most notorious acts of oppression, was mean and absurd. His conduct, upon the whole, convinces me, that had he been in council during the late transactions he would have stood next to Mr. Johnstone in the donation list, which I almost wish he had, since the Company and I should, by that means, have been freed from the apprehensions we now labour under, on account of his succeeding me in the government.
"Imagine not that I have exceeded the bounds of truth in this description. A due regard to my own honour, as well as to the advantage of the Company, obliges me to be thus plain; but it is not my intention to impress you with ideas so far to the disadvantage of Mr. Sumner, as that he may be set aside from the government. I think I cannot go such lengths without hurting my own reputation. I must make a point of his succeeding me according to his appointment; and I hope affairs will go on very well, as long as he has a good committee or council to watch him.
"If you can prevail upon the Court of Directors to empower me alone, or me in conjunction with the Select Committee, to regulate matters, I will be responsible for his good behavior: if not, I much fear things will fall into the old channel; and to the advantages arising from salt will be added every other that can be grasped at.
"Remember the oath and penalty bond mentioned in my public letter. If by increasing the Governor's salary, or ordering his proportion of salt to be greater, there was a particular oath for the Governor, whereby he should not be allowed the liberty of private trade at all, but obliged to attend to the affairs of the Company only, leaving trade to the second, &c., I think the plan of government would be much more perfect, as it would be less liable to abuses from the head.
"I have hinted to Dudley only my sentiments of Mr. Sumner, and he knows from me that I have explained myself to you. Consult, therefore, together about the matter; settle it, if possible, in such a manner that I may not be taxed with breach of promise to Mr. Sumner, and I may at the same time resign the government without apprehension for the consequences.