"Unavoidable circumstances prevent me from giving you ample written instructions. Such however as may be deemed necessary will be prepared and sent to you at the City of Washington in a very few days"
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Bureaucratic regret is doing a lot of work here, and it is doing it on purpose. “Unavoidable circumstances” is a classic statesman’s veil: it sounds like fate, not failure. Jones isn’t just apologizing for a delay; he’s insulating himself from the political risk of being seen as unprepared, indecisive, or out of the loop. The phrase lifts the problem out of the realm of human agency, which is exactly where a politician wants it when plans are fragile and blame is currency.
The second sentence tightens the control. “Such however as may be deemed necessary” signals hierarchy and gatekeeping. The recipient doesn’t get “ample” instructions, not because they’re unnecessary, but because Jones will decide what counts as necessary. It’s an implicit reminder of command: you’ll receive guidance, but only on my terms, when I’m ready to commit it to paper.
The destination matters as much as the delay: “the City of Washington.” For a Texas politician in Jones’s era, Washington is not just an address; it’s the center of gravity. Mailing instructions there frames the relationship as one mediated by the federal capital, with all the leverage, scrutiny, and high-stakes diplomacy that implies. Jones is buying time to calibrate language that may have consequences beyond the immediate recipient.
It works because it’s careful without sounding cowardly: urgency (“a very few days”) paired with deniability (“unavoidable”) and control (“deemed necessary”). The subtext is a leader managing uncertainty while trying to appear steady, not stalled.
The second sentence tightens the control. “Such however as may be deemed necessary” signals hierarchy and gatekeeping. The recipient doesn’t get “ample” instructions, not because they’re unnecessary, but because Jones will decide what counts as necessary. It’s an implicit reminder of command: you’ll receive guidance, but only on my terms, when I’m ready to commit it to paper.
The destination matters as much as the delay: “the City of Washington.” For a Texas politician in Jones’s era, Washington is not just an address; it’s the center of gravity. Mailing instructions there frames the relationship as one mediated by the federal capital, with all the leverage, scrutiny, and high-stakes diplomacy that implies. Jones is buying time to calibrate language that may have consequences beyond the immediate recipient.
It works because it’s careful without sounding cowardly: urgency (“a very few days”) paired with deniability (“unavoidable”) and control (“deemed necessary”). The subtext is a leader managing uncertainty while trying to appear steady, not stalled.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work |
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