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498 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.
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Letter Bk. IV
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pains to acquire the Knowledge necessary for a Person in such
an Office I flatter myself he will while he continues give Satis-
faction in it. The Reason Mr Bordley gave me for declining
to accept was that the Business of the Commissary's Office
required such constant Attendance as would endanger his
health & that by the practice of Mr Dulany's Father & himself
it is become a Custom (in my opinion an ill One) for Persons
concerned as Executors Administrators &c to apply to &
expect Advice from the Commissary so that he should be
always lyable to be broke in on, or to be censured for being
less kind & complaisant than his Predecessors, but I am by no
means satisfied that his principal Reason for declining was not
Envy at Mr Dulany's Success, or an Opinion that people
will say he must take & be glad with his Leavings, &
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p. 171
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indeed I don't know but the Other in order to mortify him
might contrive to have such Observations made. All I shall
say farther is that if I could have imagined Mr Bordley
would have hesitated to comply with so reasonable a Re-
quest of mine I should never have thought of recommending
him to succeed Colo Tasker, but as I intimated to him I find
from Experience that if people in this Country are gratified
in a hundred Instances & afterwards refused One Favour
All is forgotten, & well is it if they do not afterwards act more
like Enemies than Friends, that you may be more fully con-
vinced of the Justice of this Observation I must take the
Liberty to go back a little & give you an Account of what
passed here after the Decease of Colo Tasker, at the time of
whose Death Mr D Dulany happened to be at Boston or in
one of the Northern Colonies. Very early the next Morning
I received a Letter from Mr Walter Dulany who lives in Town
desiring he might be appointed to succeed the Colonel, but as
I did not think His Ldp or you would approve of my con-
ferring an Office of such Consequence on a Person so nearly
related to one of whose Behaviour towards you in neglecting
to make the usual Remittance expected from the Commissary
you had very frequently complained,! excused myself as hand-
somely as I could from complying with his Request assuring
him at the same time that whenever it should be in my power
to serve him I would with pleasure embrace the Opportunity,
as I really intended, tho I thought indeed that he might be
satisfied with something less than one of the principal Offices
in the Government, besides I knew that if I had appointed him
& he had not been afterwards confirmed his being superseeded
would have been resented as an Injury done him, & if you
should have confirmed him then he would have immediately
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p. 172
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push't for a Seat in the Council, & had he obtained that like-
wise what Influence could a Governor expect to have at that
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