eing Mr. Bligh, he was kind enough to say that if I desired it he would
apply officially to the Minister, and exert all his influence in his
official character in order to obtain the accomplishment of my views; but
at the same time suggested that it would, perhaps, be as well at a
private interview to beg it as a personal favour; and to this I instantly
assented. He spoke twice to Mr. Bludoff upon the subject; and I shortly
afterwards received a summons to appear at the Asiatic Department,
whither I went, and found that Mr. Bludoff had been enquiring whether any
person was to be found capable of being employed as Censor over the work,
and that it had been resolved that Mr. Lipoftsoff, who is one of the
clerks of the Asiatic Department, should be appointed Censor, and that I
should be the Editor of the work, provided permission were granted to
print it. I went away, and having received no intelligence during the
space of a fortnight, I waited upon Mr. Bligh and begged that, provided
it were not disagreeable to him, he would make a fresh application to the
Minister. And, singularly enough, Mr. Bludoff was to dine at Mr. Bligh's
that evening, and the latter amiable gentleman assured me that he would
not let so excellent an opportunity slip of saying what was calculated to
bring the matter to a conclusion. That same night I received a message,
whereby I was requested to wait on Mr. Bludoff the next day, at one. I
did so, and he received me in the most polite manner and said that the
matter did not entirely depend upon him, but that it would be necessary
to obtain the permission also of the Director of Worship, that however he
would give me a letter to that Dignitary, which he doubted not would have
some effect. I received the letter, and without losing any time repaired
to the Director's Office and having delivered my letter, after waiting
some time, was told to call at the Asiatic Department on the first day of
the next week (the very day your letter arrived). On calling there _I
found that permission had been granted to print the Mandchou Scripture_.

I hope that the honourable Committee and yourself will feel no
displeasure at my presuming here to make a slight suggestion. We are
under great obligations to Mr. Bligh; and I have certainly taken great
liberties with the friendship with which he has thought proper to favour
me, liberties which I should certainly not have felt myself authorised to
have taken in any aff