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Portsmouth Royal Academy May 9th 1779.
Hond Sir
I am excedingly concerned and not a little surprised to find you so very adverse
to a scheme from which I promised myself many advantages, and which I think cannot
well turn out to my disadvantage. I hope however that when I have explained my
motives to you more fully that your opinion will be changed and that you will be far from
opposing my expedition to Russia
From the whole complexion of your letter I cannot
help suspecting that you were uneasy on some other account at the time you wrote it,
possibly my applying to you for money at a time when you found yourself distressed for want
of it might make you see things in general in a disagreable light.
For some years past I have been used to talk to you and before you of the possibility of
my going to Russia to see what might be done there, in case of my not succeeding at home:
to be sure it was then spoken of only as possible, but I never had reason to think that you
would be averse to it; so far from it that one of your principal objections to my going to the
E Indies was that "I then must give up all my Russian Schemes". But now you seem to think it is not
even my being Surveyor of the Navy at home that would make you happy, it is nothing
but my being settled in a merchant's yard, and a creditable & profitable establishment
of that kind you seem to believe it is in my power to embrace when I please. You have
never, Sir, given me reason to suppose that you could advance me any sum of money
which should enable me to enter into partnership with anybody in that business, and how
without that can you expect me to have any such thoughts. No person established in
business would take me into partnership from any other motive than that of putting the
money I should bring with me into business. Neither I nor you have any connection
with merchants that would bring custom. If they wanted a person to do the drudgery
entirely under them, they would find a hundred much better qualified to drive the men
to their work, to buy the materials & to overreach their employers than I should appear
to be. — However I hope you will be better satisfied when I assure you that I
most firmly intend and have done so for a long time past to be concerned in business
for myself like that of a Merchant's Yard one day or other, and that as soon as
I can be certain of doing it to my advantage. I mean to do it as well if I
should be in the King's service as if I should not. It is only by being concerned
in business for myself that I can turn to any considerable profit any improvements I may
already have made or may make in future. But to be certain of success
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Identifier: | JB/538/322/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 538.
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1779-05-09 |
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538 |
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322 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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