The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-06 00:00:00

LORD DERBY AND MR. T. DUNCOMBO

We are requested to publish the following coe

respondence :

" Knowsley, Dec. 31, 1858.
"Dear Sir,—ln a correspondence which has been pub'
lished in almost all the papers of yesterday by Lieut.-Cod'
Dickson (with what propriety at the present moment I a
not stop to inquire), I find the following paragraph in a let'
ter from you to him No officer's commission is 09
when, to screen the neglect on the part of others, that car
missionisunscrupulously assailed by the favoured influence'
of Grosvenor and St. James's squares.' May I ask if bi
this last expression it is intended to convey an impressitl
that I had any part in the transactions to which it refers'
I hope that I may receive from you an unequivocal neg'e
tive. Indeed, my only reason for asking the question
that considering my near relationship to Lord Wilton
I can lint no other construction on yeur allusion to t 136
influences of Grosvenor and St. James's squares.' Other;
wise I should have been most unwilling to believe they
your ideas and mine of what is due from one gentleman
another should'be so widely at variance as that you shol°l
feel yourself justified in attributing to me gratuitously, at
without the slightest shadow of evidence, participation
proceedings which, whether rightly or wrongly, you 00
racterise as ' unscrupulous.' Ofthose proceedings the o
information I possess is derived from a 10 minutes' cony'
sation. with General Peel, a few days before the date
your letter, when he felt it to be his duty to communicate
me, as the head of the Government, the decision he
formed and the course he had pursued in reference to a
with regard to which I was in such entire ignorance that
either had never heard or had utterly forgotten that th
was any question pending between Lord Wilton and Col
nal Dickson.

" I can readily imagine that you did not intend your VI
ter to Colonel Dickson to bo made public, but if it cone
the impression to which I have referred I am quite 0111,
that your sense of gentlemanlike feeling will lead you
make the contradiction as public as has been, by no se
yours, the imputation itself.
" I have the honour to be, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
"T. S. Duncombe, Esq., M.P." " DELLO'

" Cambridge-terrace, Jan. 1, 1859'
"Dear Lord Derby,—l have the honour to acknowld
the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, and in repif
your question—whether in the sentence of a letter addregt!
by me to Colonel Dickson on the 11th of last month I
tended to convey an impression that you had any partioil/
tion in the proceedings to which it refers—l can unequi!
cally assure you that I did not, and I think, if you will I!
the paragraph complained of in connection with my preciv
remarks upon the Court of Inquiry, you will at once ac" 11
me of any such intention or desire to give you pain.
"When I alluded to ' Grosvenor and St. James's sqlll'
that I had ' the Prime Minister' in my mind I do not del/
and, therefore, somewhat in my opinion resemble the C°4j
of Inquiry, which, from what I hear from those who 9;
nessed its extraordinary proceedings, led them to suPri
that its object was more to gain the influence and favoni4l
those distinguished localities than to do justice to one vilv,
commission, I still maintain, has been unscrupulously !
sailed and unjustly withdrawn. If, however, I have, in
published letter to Colonel Dickson, expressed myself FA
biguously and given you pain, I much regret it, and
are at perfect libery to make public this correspondence'il
"As to the propriety of the unhappy moment when i
letters in question have appeared in the papers, I must OA/
held responsible for their publication, as I can truly 0;
you that no one more sincerely deplores the loss of 90
lamented relative than I d o, from whom I had through
universally received regard and kindness.
" I have the honour to be, dear Lord Derby, faitlol/
"T. S. DmicogliS,l

yours,

" The Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, &c., Knowsle:

" Knowsley, Jan. 2, 10
"Dear sir,—While I thank you for the friendly too°
your explanatory letter of yesterday, and for your Inv'
vocal assurance that you did not intend to impute t$
any participation in proceedings which you so strongly
ite
demn, I am compelled to say that I cannot look fie
as entirely satisfactory, foryou admit that in the expre-
used you had the Prime Minister' in your mind%
that you meant to convey that 'the object of the COP
Inquiry was more to gain the favour and influence of
distinguished localities, Grosvenor and St. James's sqo
than to do justice.' Surely you cannot fail to perceive
this conveys an impression that I had some personal int,
in the decision of the case of which. I knew nothing, and
my favour and influence, as a Minister, were to be e'
pitiated by taking a particular course, irrespective 0
demands of justice. I feel confident that the Cotr'
Inquiry (I do not even know how it was composed) 0,
allowed such an idea to enter the minds ei its member*
I cannot but think that on reflection you will yo
feel that any allusion to my name and position in refe
to this matter was gratuitous and uncalled-for.
however, I am not fond of referring personal questioP
the newspapers, I shall, while thanking you for the
mission to make our correspondence public, decline to $
myself of it, and shall leave the matter in your hand'
take any step or :none at all, as your own sense of 11°
may dictate to you. I am gratified by the terms in lc'
you refer to Lady Wilton, and youlnre aware that I
acquitted you of any share of responsibility for the
selected for the publication of these papers.
" I have the honour to be, dear sir, yours faithfull9,,,
" T. S. Buncombe, Esq., M.P." "

" Cambridge-terrace, Jan. 3, 1859;
" My dear Lord Derb7,—As I consider (after the 1)1'1
cation of my letter to Colonel Dickson, and the infer
fjl,
that may possibly be drawn from it) your disclaimer v'
knowledge of the composition or proceedings of the Ctli
of Inquiry so honourable to yourself that it would be
just to you in your position to leave the matter in
of doubt, I will, with your leave, by return of post,
upon myself the publication of our entire correspontle"
as, in consideration of Colonel Dickson:a interests, I C°
not with propriety make public my own individual e$
nation of your personal complaint.
~01;
" I have the honour to be, dear Lord Derby,
faithfully, " T. S. DuNcolo",
" To the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, Sco."

" Knowsley, Jan. 4, 10;1

"My dear Sir,—l cannot, of course, object to your
lication of our correspondence, if you think that the
mode of removing the erroneous impression whicll
letter of the llth appeared to me to convey. It must, 1/
ever, be distinctly understood that in disclaiming ant' f
ticipation in the course taken either by Lord Wilton 01:4
Committee of Inquiry I do not adopt your views resl
in; it, nor impute any impropriety to either one °',
other.

" I am dear sir, yours faithfully,
_al
" T. S. Duneombe, Esq., M.P." if Dfi.W.