When Elrond is trying to convince Gandalf that it would be best to send Merry and Pippin back to the Shire, he says "The Shire, I forebode, is not free now from peril; and these two I had thought to send back there as messengers, to do what they could, according to the fashion of the country, to warn the people of their danger." Of course, Merry and Pippin are so fervently opposed to this that Elrond is convinced to let them go, and one forgets his words until about 900 pages later when they come back to the Shire and...well...you know.
Elrond also mentions that his "heart is against [Pippin's] going." Granted, Pippin in the end proved more than worth the trouble (saving Faramir etc) but he certainly let them in for some dreadful dangers along the way, as we all know, and almost did get killed by the troll in the end. Maybe Elrond foresaw that Pippin might be a bit of a liability, at least at first?
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Father, dear Father, if you see fit, We'll send my love to college for one year yet
Tie blue ribbons all about his head, To let the ladies know that he's married.
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