Letter from James Glencairn Burns to Jean Burns, 23 April 1814

Achipur 23rd April 1814

My dearest Mother!

You will probably be surprised
at seeing the date of this, so to clear up all
doubts I will explain. There ^was lately an
order issued for the admission of young
Men into the College, and, as I before
told you, I made an application to be
admitted, which was complied with,
and I came down to Calcutta, when to
my great astonishment, I found that
previous to admission it was necessary
to undergo an examination, and in the event
of not having made considerable prospects
in the Language, they can reject and
send back to the Corps; this put me
in a very unpleasant situation, as I have
never studied much from my inability

on Cadet's allowance to keep a M[?]
and I consequently expect to be rejected, which
I shall be very sorry for, as I shall love
an excellent opportunity of studying, as
the Corps |1st Battn 6th h.J.| to which I
am parted is an immense way up the
Country, and it will be a great inconvenience
and expense to come down again when I am qualified. I arrived
in Calcutta about a fortnight on the 12th [?] and
was advised to study hard until the
1st of May and then be examined, which
advice I followed an am now very
hard at work at Mr Wilson's House,
the Gentleman who was so kind to me
on my arrival, and to whose wife Mrs
Perochon gave me a letter, it is some
distance from Calcutta, and quite

consequently better adapted for study.
My intention was not to have written you
until I knew the result of my examination,
but as there ^are one or two ships
going to England which will have
sailed before that can be ascertained.
I thought I would write you a line
to let you know I was well L I heard
from William some time ago [page torn]
who was quite well. Give my best
regards to [?] Mr Knight, Mr Mrs
Clure and all friends, and believe me
my dear Mother,
ever your affectionate
J G Burns

[?]till o'clock at night
and I am almost blind reading so
excuse this scrawl