Wrote to Lady Belfast to tell her Mr. Verner had his cadetship. Begged her to make his family and friends understand thoroughly that this was a private favour I had led her to expect long before the discussion of the Catholic question. Wrote to Lord Hertford and enclosed an extract from my letter to Lady Belfast. Read a letter from Sir J. Malcolm, who is again troubled by Sir J. P. Grant. He enclosed a letter of his upon the subject to Lord W. Bentinck. The concluding paragraph of this letter refers to a letter from Lord William of June 18, at which time the spirit of the Bengal army continued bad. Read a letter from Jones, who will set himself to work about the navigation of the Indus. He says a Mr. Walter Hamilton speaks of the river being navigable for vessels of 200 tons to Lahore, and that from Lahore to the mouth of the river, 700 miles, is only a voyage of twelve days. And no British flag has ever floated upon the waters of this river! Please God it shall, and in triumph, to the source of all its tributary streams. _December 11._ Read a letter from Lord Bathurst respecting the recall of Sir J. P. Grant. He had imagined I had said he had resigned. He seems surprised I should have supposed it possible a judge should be recalled without a formal meeting of the Privy Council. I reminded him of Sir T. Claridge's case, not half so strong as that of Sir J. P. Grant. _December 12._ Read Fraser's travels. _December 13._ A letter from Sir J. Malcolm, by which it seems that my letter to him of February 21 has been copied and become public: much to his annoyance. [Footnote: This was the letter with the expression about a wild elephant between two tame ones which afterwards attracted so much criticism. It was intended as a private letter to Sir J. Malcolm, but by a mistake of one of his secretaries was copied as an official communication.] He sends me his letter to Lord W. Bentinck upon the subject. It seems by this letter, which adverts to other topics, that the spirit in Bengal is very bad--that Lord W. has hitherto done nothing to check it, and that with the press in his power he has allowed it to be more licentious than it ever was before. _December 14._ Found at Roehampton a letter from the Duke enclosing one addressed by Mrs. Hastings to the King, applying for a pension. The King recommends it to the consideration of the Court of Directors. I doubt the Court venturing to propose any pension to the Court of Proprietors.