“_March 29th._—My correspondence with the Treasury. The printed copies were delivered this morning. By the omission of all the letters urging progress in the plan, Goulburn’s notice of dismissal is brought into juxtaposition with a minute of December 24th, 1841 (of which I never heard till now), confirming the extension of my engagement for one year from September 14th, 1841, and made to appear as the natural sequence of such minute, instead of being, as it was in fact, the answer to my complaints of no progress, and of Post Office interference to prevent my journey to Newcastle. The whole thing is cunningly done, and it shows that the five weeks taken to prepare the correspondence have not been lost. The case is so much damaged, however, that I have determined to give the papers a very limited circulation, and to press on Wilde to consent to the publication of the whole. Sir Robert Peel, in his letter[339] to me, admits that ‘important improvements’ still remain to be effected; but in the printed copy the word ‘important’ is dropped.”[340] To my surprise, the strength of my case, grievously impaired as it was by this maiming of the correspondence, was nevertheless recognised in one of the journals regularly supporting the Government:— “_March 30th._—The _Morning Herald_ gives the correspondence with Sir Robert Peel, and has a leader, sneering, of course, at penny postage, but expressing an opinion that I have been unjustly treated, and ought to have a place or a pension.” This is the last entry in my Journal for the present. On the one hand, I became so engrossed in preparation for the coming conflict—a conflict which seemed to me as one almost of life and death—that I had no time to spare save for pressing demands; while, on the other hand, the motive to record was greatly weakened since my exclusion from the Treasury. For the history of the following three years and a-half, my dependence is on documents, parliamentary or otherwise, produced during the period (all of which I have carefully preserved), and on such recollections as are suggested by their perusal.