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Messrs. Donaldson & Lamberts Office,
London, 8th Feby 1856

My dear James

I write a few lines merely to say I
am at length back from never ending delays & business
resulting from the Paris Exhibition. I returned on Monday
the 4th Inst. was obliged to lay up two days chiefly on account
of my eyes, which are now quite right again, and have
since been occupied in the city. We have every thing
nearly finished now, and what remains to do consists
principally in writing an account of our stewardship
to the Commission in the Colony. We have still some of
the gold to dispose of which would have been done this
day, only Mrs. Bousfield the wife of the Secretary is in labour
and I do not like to employ him away from her. I have
just delivered over the Exhibition Medals to Messrs. D. & L's
charge. Amongst these is a first class one for Gumbleton
for his wheat. These 1st Class Medals are silver. I wrote to you
before that the Colony had 1 Medal of Honor (gold) eight silver
(1st Class), it now has nine and 11 bronze (2nd Class) and
22 Honble. Mentions. I cannot now explain how the ninth
1st Class Medal turned up but it was owing to my discovering
accidently about the 2nd of Decr. that the French had
made the strange blunder of putting down all the wheats
exhibited to me, and assigning a 1st Class Medal to the best of
it only. I supposed the medal had been awarded to us for
maize as it is in the same class, and no information is afforded in the printed lists