He writes of his own distrust of the Mauritians and of his uncertainty over trying to obtain a pledge of support from the government while awaiting replies from Mauritius. He outlines the case for refusing compensation to the plantation owners because they had merely reported their slaveholdings, not registered the enslaved people, and asks to whom compensation was to be paid if this principle were accepted. He offers to provide him with a competence to live on should he decide to turn down the offer of the post in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to stay and help the Mauritian cause as the Anti-Slavery faction wished, provided that others would promise equal contributions to a fund for him. He refuses, however, to ask Jeremie to add to the sacrifices that he and his family had already made.