BIB_ID
389364
Accession number
MA 1272.24
Creator
Rutherford, John 1748-1834.
Display Date
1804 Apr. 3
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1899.
Description
1 item (3 p., with address) ; 23.2 cm
Notes
Address panel with fragments of a seal and postmarks to "Sir James Pulteney Bart. / East Bourne / Sussex."
Endorsed.
Volume 15 (MA 1272) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 1272.1-57).
Endorsed.
Volume 15 (MA 1272) of a 33-volume collection of the correspondence of Sir James Pulteney, his family and distinguished contemporaries. (MA 487, MA 297 and MA 1260-1290). The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical by the author of the letter. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection level record for more information (MA 1272.1-57).
Provenance
Purchased from the Ford Collection of Manuscripts.
Summary
Commenting on the Government's "new plan, his dislike for the Volunteer Corps, and the East Indies;" saying "...tho' I doubt of its immediate success - I am however glad to see they are going to attempt something that may be depended upon if successfull - they certainly succeeded in raising Volunteers, & beyond their wish & expectation - but I am & always have been confident, that the longer these Volunteers are tried, the less trust worthy they will be found - Indeed I am of opinion that they were men to be depended upon during the first three months, when warmed with the enthusiasm that brought them out, then now that they have been harrassed & cooled by their monthly & weekly drills - The novelty & enthusiasm are fast loosening their power, & instead of a well drilled obedient soldier, you have an independent, peasant, going to Drill, like schoolboy unwillingly to school. At the same time, having this system, I agree with your sentiments as delivered in the house that we must make the most of it, till something else is substituted in its place. But the sooner that happens the better - What do you think of the East Indies - I am of opinion that if that Country is left for any time under the absolute power of an Irishman - that it will soon be like Ireland, in anarchy & confusion."
Catalog link
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