Draft of letter from John Philip Gell to Messrs Rickards, on his decision not to pursue the matter any further Receipt of letter of 11 March; he had always supposed the protrait belonged to Sir John Franklin but could not prove it until he found the cheque a few months earlier; he was refused access to Sir John's papers in 1855 and the pount was not cleared up then; he never really believed Lady Franklin's statement about buying it with her own money; after Miss Cracroft's last letter, it has been drifting into an attack on Lady Jane's veracity and he cannot bring himself to pursue in that way; he was her spiritual comforter in her latter days and chief mourner at her grave. PS: it would be satisfying to know who sold the picture in 1848; it has crossed his mind to warn the National Portraits Trustees to find out who she bought it from, but he will value Rickards' advice on this and other points. 14 Mar 1892