| Description | Letter to James Gordon of Letterfourie from his nephew Patrick Duff, camp near Cawnpore, thanking for letters and help, and particularly for dealing with his late wife’s clothes, payments to Gordon via China, various bills, ‘I now send his second Bill, lest the first might have miscarried, or taken a trip to France’, sending home rupees, dangers to shipping around the Persian Gulf, arrangements for dealing with half-pay certificates, the money is to go to his father, ‘not by any means a good Manager’, along with what is needed to support his mother and sisters, asking that they should be looked after, ‘we are never in a settled state in this country … we have not yet begun to act with vigour in this quarter, which has given our enemies the Morattas [Marattas] great advantages’, William is fighting against them and doing very well, John is now an officer, the Nabob’s troops are now to be known as Company troops and take their tour with the Company’s sepoys, he is now therefore commanding the artillery in the field, which pleases him, and may help him return permanently to Britain, he was ill last rainy season and lost the use of his limbs for six weeks, no good news from Europe: ‘if we could settle matters with America, we would then be a match for both France and Spain by sea’, congratulations on the marriage of Gordon’s brother, looking forward to seeing him in Scotland, 14 September 1780 |