[Matter omitted]
With regard to your letter of the 16th March² and the quotations that you give from the letters of Messrs Mac Neill and Hayes, I would like it to be noted that I did not make a complaint as to the action of these gentlemen. My letter to you was simply a request for information. The quotations you give in this letter do not answer the questions I asked. I take it that both of these gentlemen have by now come to realise the gross breach of étiquette of which they were guilty and are now trying to shift their responsibility.

For the present I add nothing more on this subject, except to say that if I had received your reply earlier, I would have acted differently with regard to relinquishing my post here, especially as I am left to infer that the action of Messrs Mac Neill and Hayes, as well as that of Mr Mac White, is approved of by you.

Mr Chartres has not yet arrived, but will probably arrive to-day. I regret that, owing to this delay, I will not be in a position to be of much help to him, as I cannot postpone my departure beyond Saturday.