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 KEY 
 
 TO THE EXERCISES IN 
 
 THE PBECIS BOOK. 
 
 BY W. COSMO MONKHOUSE 
 
 (Board of Trade). 
 
 London: CEOSBY LOCKWOOD & SON 
 
 7 Stationers'-Hall Court, Ludgate Hill. 
 
PBEFACE. 
 
 THE FIRST AND THIRD PARTS of this book are the first 
 attempts which, as far as the Author is aware, have been 
 made to extend the principles and uses of Precis-writing 
 beyond ' the Office.' 
 
 The primary intention of this book is to provide tho- 
 roughly clear, trustworthy, and exhaustive instructions in 
 writing Precis, for the use of those who are preparing for 
 examinations for the Civil Service, and it is hoped that 
 this intention will be found fulfilled in- Part II. But the 
 Author's experience has taught him that many persons of 
 full age to be candidates for such employment are, by want 
 of natural aptitude or defective education, incapable of 
 making a short and accurate abstract of even a simple 
 correspondence, though they may be fairly ' educated ' in 
 the ordinary sense of the word. It was and is, the Author 
 fears, still a defect in the general system of education in 
 England that boys are not taught to thoroughly under- 
 stand what they read, or to express what they understand. 
 There are still many boys able to construe any passage 
 in the first book of the ^Eneid, and yet unable to write in 
 short, simple English a narrative of the events it contains ; 
 many more who have ' done" a certain number of lines of 
 Cicero every week for months, if not years, who are in- 
 capable of producing accurately one of his arguments in 
 their own language. In many cases the cause of de- 
 ficiency is not so much want of knowledge as want of 
 power to use it, not so much that the boys do not think as 
 that they have never been taught to express their thoughts. 
 For those old enough to be candidates it was evidently 
 
 1C77121 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 useless to endeavour to supply this defect, but it occurred 
 to the Author that it would be a valuable addition to this 
 book if some simple exercises could be devised by which 
 the minds of boys and girls could be trained to habits 
 of order and accuracy in stating the facts of what they 
 know or read, mainly with the view that those who have 
 no natural aptitude for precis- writing may be better able 
 to meet its difficulties when called upon to do so. Hence 
 the origin of Part I., which is designed, as the phrase has 
 it, ' for the use of schools.' 
 
 It also occurred to the Author that it might be still 
 more valuable to add some exercises which should extend 
 the use of precis to general reading, and be available to all, 
 without distinction of sex or age, who, from one cause or 
 another, have not acquired the habit of ' marking, learning, 
 and inwardly digesting ' what they read. 
 
 On page 182 will be found the commencement of a 
 passage from Locke, which, though not in the mind of the 
 Author before he commenced this part of his work, might 
 well have stimulated him to undertake it. ' Those who 
 have read of everything,' he writes, ' are thought to under- 
 stand everything too ; but it is not always so. Reading 
 furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge ; it 
 is thinking makes what we read ours. We are of the 
 ruminating kind, and it is not enough to cram ourselves 
 with a great load of collections ; unless we chew them 
 over again, they will not give us strength and nourish- 
 ment.' Precis-writing, though not identical with 'chewing 
 over again,' not only requires that that process should 
 be gone through, but furnishes the test that it has been 
 gone through, a test quite necessary to those who, not 
 having acquired the habit of thinking, grow soon tired of 
 it, and easily convince themselves that they have extracted 
 the essence when they are still only grazing the outside. 
 Hence the origin of Part III. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE ELEMENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER PAQB 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Meaning of Precis Example of it Its brevity de- 
 pendent upon its object Its three principal require- 
 ments : Accuracy, Clearness, and Brevity The term 
 not generally applied to such short abstracts as in- 
 dices or entries in registers The simplest form an 
 abstract of facts only Importance of care in para- 
 phrasing and omission Its object utility Precis of 
 the chapter 1 
 
 H. ACCURACY. 
 
 Accuracy in facts Numbers, dates, and proper 
 names Exercises (A) 7 
 
 III. CLEARNESS. 
 
 Handwriting Importance of legibility, &c. Foreign 
 and technical words Exercises (B) .... 12 
 Order Exercises (C) 18 
 
 IV. BREVITY. 
 
 Not to be sought at expense of clearness List of 
 common abbreviations Brevity in words Omission 
 and substitution . .26 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 TV. BREVITY continued. 
 
 Exercises (D) Omission ...... 28 
 
 Substitution ..... 30 
 
 Reasons for not giving exercises in abridgment of 
 phrase Easiness of Precis-writing to some Its 
 value as a branch of education defined ... 32 
 
 PART II. 
 
 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 I. LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 
 
 Three kinds of Precis: (1) the Register, Docket, and 
 Index ; (2) General Precis ; (3) Special Precis, with il- 
 lustrations of each Different forms The margin, &c. 35 
 Exercises (E) 39 
 
 IL SERIES OF LETTERS. 
 
 Instructions for writing Precis of series of letters 
 Separate and continuous Precis Examples of both . 49 
 Exercises (F) 
 
 (1) 56 
 
 (2) 66 
 
 (3) 73 
 
 (4). . ; 81 
 
 (5) 94 
 
 IIL PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 
 
 Distinction between foregoing and following exer- 
 cises The latter require more thought, power of 
 arrangement, and skill in expression Importance of 
 mastering subject and the use of fewest and best 
 words, with example . . . . . .119 
 
 Exercises (G) 121 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 PART 
 
 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Distinction between practical and intellectual Precis 
 Value of latter as an aid to composition, reflexion, 
 memory, judgment, conversation, &c. . . .149 
 
 II. NARRATIVE. 
 
 Importance of being sure of main facts of events 
 Value of Precis for confirming memory, utilising 
 knowledge, and training expression Instructions as 
 to Exercises, with example . . . . .152 
 Exercises (H) 155 
 
 HI. THOUGHT. 
 
 Difficulties of understanding books Bad habits of 
 reading Precis-writing a test of understanding 
 Deceptions of style Bad styles Involved style 
 Verbose style Clear style Poetry Importance of 
 correcting first impressions by reason Committal to 
 memory not such a safeguard as Precis-writing 
 Limits of Precis, with illustrations Precis of poetry 
 One difficulty exemplified . . , . .166 
 Exercises (I) . . . . . . . .172 
 
THE PRECIS BOOK. 
 
 PAKT I. 
 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 THE word precis has no exact equivalent in the English 
 language. Abstract and digest conie, perhaps, nearest to 
 it, but there is nothing that expresses that combination 
 of catalogue and abstract of correspondence known in 
 Government Offices as a precis except the word itself. 
 
 The following is a very simple example of a prdcis. 
 "We will suppose that Sir Walter Ellicot has privately 
 asked the Secretary of the Board of Sealing Wax why he 
 has had no answer to his letter recommending his butler 
 as Extra Messenger to the Department, and the Secretary, 
 who is absent from the office, asks for a precis of the cor- 
 respondence to be sent to him in the country. His private 
 secretary would possibly send him something like this : 
 
 Recommends John Thompson, his butler, 
 Sir n alter Ellicot 
 
 to very strongly for the appointment as 
 
 B ar wL SCaling Extra Messenger, which he hears is about 
 Feb. 4, 1872. to be made, and encloses three testi- 
 monials. 
 
 B 
 
THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 Treasury Do not think that the Board have shown 
 
 Board ofSealing * na * necessity exists for an Extra Mes- 
 
 Wax. senger, and decline to sanction the ap- 
 March 4, 1872. ., 
 
 pomtmcnt. 
 
 This precis would enable the Secretary to reply to Sir 
 "Walter Ellicot without referring to the papers themselves. 
 
 In the office of this imaginary Board there would pro- 
 bably exist a still shorter precis of the same letters ; for in 
 a Government Office there is no letter, however trivial, to 
 which it may not be necessary to make reference at some 
 time or other, and therefore a Register is kept of every 
 letter which is received, with a very short abstract, or 
 precis, of the contents. These letters would probably be 
 entered in the Office Register in some such way as this : 
 
 Number 
 
 Date of 
 Receipt 
 
 From 
 whom 
 
 Date of 
 Letter 
 
 Subject 
 
 210 
 
 Feb. 5 
 
 Sir W. 
 
 Feb. 4 
 
 Recommending John 
 
 
 
 Ellicot 
 
 
 Thompson for ap- 
 
 
 
 
 
 pointment as Extra 
 
 
 
 
 
 Messenger. 3 testi- 
 
 
 
 
 
 monials. 
 
 415 
 
 Mar. 5 
 
 Treasury 
 
 Mar. 4 
 
 Declining to sanc- 
 
 
 
 
 
 tion appointment 
 
 
 
 
 
 of Extra Messenger 
 
 It will be seen that the record, or precis, in the Register 
 is even shorter than the precis supposed to be sent to the 
 Secretary, and the reason of this is that the former is 
 required only as a means of reference to the original 
 papers, and not to supply the place of them, as is the case 
 with the latter. 
 
 We will now suppose that, in consequence of further 
 representations from the Board of Sealing Wax, the 
 Treasury at length consent to the appointment of the 
 
iNTRODtTCTOnY. 3 
 
 extra messenger, and the head of the Board of Sealing 
 Wax wishes to have an account of all the applicants for 
 the post, and their testimonials, in order to decide upon 
 whom he shall confer the appointment. 
 
 It now becomes necessary to make a longer precis than 
 either of the two already given, which shall give the con- 
 tents of the testimonials ; this precis, in the case of John 
 Thompson, will, we will say, be as follows : 
 
 Sir Walter Ellicot. Stating that he has known John Thomp- 
 Fcb. 4, 1872. , 
 
 son from a boy, and that he has always 
 
 conducted himself with the greatest pro- 
 priety. J. T. has been in his service as 
 footman, and then as butler, for nine years, 
 and has discharged his duties zealously and 
 honestly. J. T. is clever, intelligent, and 
 exceedingly methodical. Encloses three 
 testimonials from former employers of J. T. 
 
 1. From Lady Harwell. Served as page 
 
 f7-om January 1852 to December 1854. 
 Honest, sober, industrious, and quick. 
 
 2. From Hon. Arthur James. Valet from 
 
 Feb. 1855 to March 1857. Excellent 
 in every respect ; very sorry to part 
 with him. 
 
 3. From Mrs. Bonwett Cross. Steward on 
 
 board her yacht from March 1857 to 
 January 1863. Quite invaluable. 
 
 We have now got three precis of the same letter from 
 Sir Walter Ellicot, viz. (1) the precis for the register; 
 
 (2) the precis necessary for answering the fii-st question ; 
 
 (3) the precis necessary for answering the second question ; 
 and the three will show us that the tirst thing to be con- 
 sidered in writing a precis is the purpose for which it is 
 
 B 2 
 
4 TIIE ELEMENTS. 
 
 required, and that its brevity must be dependent upon the 
 fulfilment of this purpose. 
 
 It may also be gathered from the foregoing illustra- 
 tion that the three principal requirements of precis-writing 
 are the following : 
 
 1. Accuracy. 
 
 2. Clearness. 
 
 3. Brevity. 
 
 1. Accuracy, because everything depends upon its 
 statements. Whether it be meant for reference or to 
 stand by itself as a substitute for the original papers, it is 
 useless if it cannot be trusted. 
 
 2. Clearness, because if there be the slightest ambi- 
 guity which makes a reference to the original papers 
 necessary in order to solve it, it fails in its purpose. 
 
 3. Brevity, because its object is to save time in read- 
 ing. 
 
 The title of ' precis ' is, however, not generally applied 
 to such short abstracts as are only meant to indicate the 
 nature of the contents of papers, such as entries in re- 
 gisters and indices. The following remarks apply only to 
 precis of a fuller kind, the object of which is to make 
 unnecessary any reference to the papers themselves. 
 
 The simplest and most common form of what is usually 
 termed a precis consists of little more than an abstract of 
 facts, in which accuracy is the beginning and end, needing 
 neither choice of expression nor abridgment of phrases. 
 The meaning of ordinary letters of business is so clear, and 
 the language so practical, that it is generally impossible to 
 miss the former or alter the latter with advantage. 
 
 There is, indeed, nothing in which a precis-writer should 
 be more careful than altering language. It is always safer 
 to use the identical words of the writer of the document 
 abstracted. For the object of a precis is not to improve 
 the style of the writer, but to show what he means; nor so 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 much to shorten his expressions, as to express as shortly as 
 possible his intention. If, therefore, there be the slightest 
 ambiguity in his language, it is preferable to quote his 
 words than to choose one or other of the senses which they 
 may convey, even though the writer's phrase be long and 
 clumsy, for it is better to leave a point doubtful than to 
 run the risk of absolute error. For instance, the word 
 ' expectation ' may occur in an important phrase in a letter, 
 and it is nearly three times as long as ' hope,' and is often 
 convertible with it, but if it be not absolutely certain that 
 the writer's meaning would be expressed by ' hope,' the 
 longer word should be used in the precis. 
 
 Similar care should also be taken even about omission 
 of words that seem to be superfluous. Though brevity is 
 of very great importance, a word too many is a less defect 
 than a word too few. One word of importance omitted 
 is like a dropped stitch, and spoils the whole piece of 
 work. For instance, a man applying for an appointment 
 may state that he is ' a fair French scholar, and can speak 
 and write the language fluently,' and it may occur to the 
 precis- writer that ' a fair French scholar ' will be a short 
 and sufficient description of his capacity ; but one man may 
 properly be described as a fair French scholar who can 
 neither speak nor write French fluently, and another may 
 be able to speak and write French fluently without being 
 a scholar, and the capacity of the applicant to hold the 
 appointment may be dependent entirely on his power of 
 writing and speaking, and not at all on his scholarship, or 
 vie", versd, or on both. 
 
 In other kinds of composition elegance of style, orna- 
 ment of diction, strength of expression, beauty of form, 
 aptness of illustration, wit, humour, fancy, and imagina- 
 tion may be qualities not only useful, but objects of am- 
 bition ; but in precis-writing these powers are only useful 
 as aids to understand and interpret the compositions of 
 
6 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 others. Its object is utility ; its most important require- 
 ment, common sense. 
 
 We are writing now, be it understood, of precis- 
 writing pure and simple that is to say, the art of ab- 
 stracting as clearly and shortly as possible the meaning 
 of ordinary correspondence. This is its practical or 
 ' biisiness ' side, and though a precis of this kind should be 
 neat in diction and be written in as good English as pos- 
 sible, yet, as long as the sense is preserved and clearly 
 stated, it is possible for it to be little injured by an oc- 
 casional fault in grammar, or even in spelling, and it will 
 certainly be less injured by defects of this kind than by an 
 inaccuracy in a date, an ambiguity in expression, or the 
 omission of an important word. 
 
 Hereafter we shall endeavour to teach the application 
 of the art to abstracts of a literature of a more thoughtful 
 kind than ordinary correspondence, to make the exercises 
 less and less mechanical until the student learns to ' read, 
 mark, and inwardly digest ' compositions in which all the 
 qualities of the human uaind are exercised, and in the inter- 
 pretation of which power and even grace of style will not 
 be thrown away. 
 
 We must, however, begin at the beginning, and the 
 beginning of the art of precis-writing is the establish- 
 ment of habits of neatness, thoroughness, patience, and 
 accuracy. 
 
 To recapitulate, or, as we may say, to make a pre'cis 
 of this chapter 
 
 1. Precis-writing is the art of abstracting as clearly 
 and shortly as possible the meaning of a composition. 
 
 2. A precis will vary in expression and length ac- 
 cording to the purpose for which it is required. 
 
 3. A pre'cis should be (a) accurate, (6) clear, and 
 (c) brief. 
 
 4. A precis should not sacrifice accuracy or clearness 
 to brevity. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 ACCURACY. 
 
 ACCURACY in precis-writing is primarily requisite in 
 three respects accuracy in facts, accuracy in arrange- 
 ment, and accuracy in sense. In this chapter we shall 
 deal only with the first. 
 
 Particular care should be taken with numbers, dates, 
 and proper names. A mistake in either of these may 
 lead to great confusion. Official letters have generally 
 a reference number, by which the series of correspondence 
 to which they belong is at once identified. If by care- 
 lessness ' 10,010 ' is written instead of, let us say, ' 10,100,' 
 a great deal of trouble may be caused. A mistake in a 
 day may obviously be the cause of similar confusion; and 
 with regard to proper names, especially foreign names, 
 the copying should be especially careful. If ' St. John ' is 
 written instead of ' St. John's,' one place being in New 
 Brunswick, the other in Newfoundland ; if ' Richmond, 
 U.K.,' is written instead of 'Richmond, U.S. ; ' or if the 
 ship ' Mary ' of London is written ' Marie ' and these 
 are only a few out of thousands of similar blunders that 
 may be made the value of a precis in other respects 
 accurate may be greatly injured, because the error may 
 cause loss of time in rectifying, and the object of a precis 
 is to save time. 
 
 This is the reason why the following exercises for 
 accurately writing and transcribing facts are given. 
 
 Exercises (A). 
 
 1. Write a list of the pupils in your class, with their 
 Christian names and surnames in full, their position i 
 
THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 class, the dates of their births (day, month, and year), and 
 the year in which they will become of age. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 John Henry Smith, 5th in the class, born August 12, 18G5, 
 
 will be of age in 1880. 
 James Stejdens, Gth in the class, &c. 
 
 2. Write the names of any twenty- four articles in the 
 room in which you are sitting, the materials of which 
 they are composed, and the purpose for which they are 
 intended. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Pen Steel Writing 
 
 Map Paper Teaching geography 
 
 &c. 
 
 3. Make out a list of your school-books, giving the 
 title, the name of the author, the names of the publishers, 
 the place of publication, the number of volumes, and the 
 number of pages in each volume. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 English History, by Harris, published by Williams & Co., 
 
 at London, in 1872. 3 volumes. Vol. 1 contains 220 
 
 pages ; vol. 2, 230 ; vol. 3, 229. 
 Geography, by Jones, &c. 
 
 4. Take a chapter of English History, give its number, 
 and state the pages on which it begins and ends, the reign 
 or reigns which it includes, and the names of any persons 
 or places which it mentions, with the line and the page 
 on which each such name occurs. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Chapter 4. 
 
 Pages 110 to 116. Henry III. and Henry IV. 
 
 Page 110, line 1. Henry III. 
 
 3. London. 
 
 lll&c. &c. 
 
ACCURACY. 
 
 9 
 
 5. Take any country in your atlas, and write the 
 names of the principal places on the coast, stating whether 
 on the north, west, east, or south coast, and the parallels 
 of latitude between which they come. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 England, West Coast. Between 54 and 55. Man-port, 
 "Workington, "Whitekaven. Between 55 and 50. Liverpool, 
 &c. 
 
 6. Make out a table of the way in which your time 
 is divided at school, showing the hours of lessons, meals, 
 play, rising, and going to be J for each day of the week. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Monday 
 
 Tuesday 
 
 Wednesday 
 
 &c. 
 
 7.30. Rise 
 8.0. Pravers 
 8.30. Breakfast 
 0.0. Arithmetic 
 &c. 
 
 
 
 
 7. Make a table of the months of the year, the number 
 of weeks in each, and the days over, with totals. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Month 
 
 Weeks 
 
 Days Over 
 
 Total Days 
 
 January 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 31 
 
 Totals 
 
 
 
 
10 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 8. Make a table of the number of words and letters 
 in each line of the following sonnet, with totals : 
 
 How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, 
 Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year ! 
 My hasting days fly on with full career, 
 But my late spring no bud or blossom showeth. 
 
 Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth 
 That I to manhood am arrived so near ; 
 And inward ripeness doth much less appear, 
 That some more timely-happy spirits endueth. 
 
 Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow, 
 It shall be still in strictest measure even 
 To that same lot, however mean or high, 
 
 Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven ; 
 All is, if I have grace to use it so, 
 As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye. 
 
 Note. These papers should be kept for after use. 
 
11 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CLEARNESS. 
 
 CLEARNESS of handwriting is of course essential, for a 
 precis is not only meant to be read, but to be read quickly 
 and easily. It is a matter of comparatively little import- 
 ance whether the hand be what is called ' elegant ' or not, 
 but it should be as legible as print. 
 
 Clearness of handwriting should therefore be con- 
 sidered in awarding marks to exercises in precis. 
 
 The following hints may not be useless to students 
 who have not practised handwriting with especial regard 
 to legibility : 
 
 The writing should be of a good size, so as not to 
 strain the sight or to require to be looked at close. There 
 should be a clear space between each word and the next, 
 and at least a third of an inch between the lines. Each 
 letter should be carefully formed, ris distinguished from 
 w's, and Fs from t's ; long tails and loops should be avoided. 
 The general character of the writing should be round and 
 short and upright, and all figures and proper names should 
 be written with the utmost distinctness. 
 
 The lines should be straight horizontally, and all com- 
 mence from exactly the right point. Of course accuracy 
 and clearness in this respect can be ensured by ruling 
 lines down and across the page, but this is an aid which 
 should not be necessary to a neat writer, who should be 
 able to write such a precis as that on p. 3 without any 
 assistance from lines. 
 
 Exercises in writing scenes from Shakespeare, and 
 poetry in different stanzas, will be found very useful 
 
12 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 practice for learning to commence writing a line on the 
 proper spot. 
 
 Another of the difficulties to the beginner in writing 
 precis will be found in his want of familiarity with the 
 subject of the letters or other documents with which he 
 has to deal, and with words foreign or technical which 
 are contained in them. We therefore give a few exercises 
 in simple copying, for the purpose of training his eye and 
 hand to transcribe unfamiliar words accurately, and to 
 commence lines on the proper spot. The matter of the 
 following pieces will be further utilised subsequently, so 
 that the space they occupy will not be lost, if the student 
 be too clever a penman to need such exercises. 
 
 Exercises (B). 
 
 1. Copy the precis on p. 3. 
 
 2. Copy the sonnet on p. 10. 
 
 3. Diaphenia like the daffadowndilly, 
 
 White as the sun, fair as the lily, 
 Heigh ho, how I do love thee ! 
 
 I do love thee as my lambs 
 
 Are beloved of their dams ; 
 How blest were I if thou would'st prove me ! 
 
 Diaphenia like the spreading roses, 
 That in thy sweets all sweets encloses, 
 
 Fair sweet, how I do love thee ! 
 I do love thee as each flower 
 Loves the sun's life-giving power; 
 
 For, dead, thy breath to life might move me, 
 
 Diaphenia like to all things blessed, 
 
 When all thy praises are expressed, 
 Dear joy, how I do love chee ! 
 
 As the birds do love the spring, 
 
 Or the bees their careful king : 
 Then, in requite, sweet virgin, love me ! 
 
 ?. Cotistalk. 
 
CLEARNESS. 13 
 
 4. Under the greenwood tree 
 Who loves to lie with me, 
 And tune the merry note 
 Unto the sweet bird's throat 
 
 Come hither, come hither, come hither I 
 
 Here shall we see 
 
 No enemy 
 But winter and rough weather. 
 
 Who doth ambition shun, 
 And loves to live i' the sun, 
 Seeking the food he eats, 
 And pleased with what he gets 
 Come hither, come hither, come hither I 
 Here shall he see 
 No enemy 
 But winter and rough weather. Shakespeare. 
 
 5. Absence, hear thou my protestation 
 
 Against thy strength, 
 Distance, and length ; 
 Do what thou canst for alteration ! 
 For hearts of truest mettle 
 Absence doth join, and Time doth settle. 
 
 Who loves a mistress of such quality, 
 He soon hath found 
 Affection's ground 
 
 Beyond time, place, and all mortality. 
 To hearts that cannot vary 
 Absence is Presence, Time doth tarry. 
 
 By absence thus good means I gain, 
 That I can catch her, 
 Where none can watch her, 
 In some close corner of my brain : 
 There I embrace and kiss her ; 
 And so I both enjoy and miss her. Anon. 
 
 6. Mr. Owen says, judging from the portion of the 
 skeleton preserved, the Toxodon, as far as dental characters 
 have weight, must bo referred to the Rodent order. But 
 from that order it deviates in the relative position of its 
 
14 TSE ELEMENTS. 
 
 supernumerary incisors, in the number and direction of 
 the curvature of its molars, and in some other respects. 
 It again deviates, in several parts of its structure which 
 Mr. Owen enumerated, both from the Rodentia and the 
 existing Pachydermata, and it manifests an affinity to 
 the Dinotherium and the Cetaceous order. Mr. Owen, 
 however, observed, that the development of the nasal 
 cavity, and the presence of the frontal sinuses, renders it 
 extremely improbable that the habits of the Toxodon 
 were so exclusively aquatic as would result from the total 
 absence of hinder extremities ; and concludes, therefore, 
 that it was a quadruped, and not a Cetacean ; and that it 
 manifested an additional step in the gradation of mam- 
 miferous forms leading from the Rodentia through the 
 Pachydermata to the Cetacea ; a gradation of which the 
 water-hog of South America (Hydrochcerus Capylara) 
 already indicates the commencement amongst existing 
 Rodentia, of which order it is interesting to obsorve this 
 species is the largest, while at the same time it is peculiar 
 to the continent in which the remains of the gigantic 
 Toxodon were discovered. Darwin. 
 
 7. Of birds, two species of the genus Pteroptochos 
 (mcgapodius and albicollis of Kittlitz) are perhaps the 
 most conspicuous. The former, called by the Chilenos 
 ' el Turco,' is as large as a fieldfare, to which bird it 
 has some alliance ; but its legs are much longer, tail 
 shorter, and beak stronger : its colour is a reddish brown. 
 The turco is not uncommon. It lives on the ground, 
 sheltered among the thickets which are scattered over the 
 dry and sterile hills. With its tail erect, and stilt-like 
 legs, it may be seen every now and then popping from 
 one bush to another, with uncommon celerity. It really 
 requires little imagination to believe the bird is ashamed 
 of itself, and is aware of its most ridiculous figure. On 
 first seeing it, one is tempted to exclaim, ' A vilely 
 stuffed specimen has escaped from some museum, and has 
 come to life again ! ' It cannot be made to take flight 
 without the greatest trouble, nor does it run, but only 
 hops. The various loud cries which it utters when con- 
 cealed amongst the bushes, are as strange as its whole 
 
CLEARNESS. 15 
 
 appearance. It is said to biiild its nest in a deep hole 
 beneath the ground. I dissected several specimens : the 
 gizzard, which was very muscular, contained beetles, 
 vegetable fibres, and pebbles. From this character, from 
 the length of legs, scratching feet, membranous covering 
 to the nostrils, short and arched wings, this bird seems to 
 a certain degree to connect the thrushes with the galli- 
 naceous order. Darwin. 
 
 8. Peter Hopkins could erect a scheme either according 
 to the method of Julius Firmicus, or of Aben-Ezra, or of 
 Campanus, Alcabitius, or Porphyrius, ' for so many ways 
 are there of building these nouses in the air ; ' and in 
 that other called the rational way, which in a great 
 degree superseded the rest, and which Johannes M tiller, 
 the great Regiomontanus, gave to the world in his Tables 
 of Directions, drawn up at the Archbishop of Strigonia's 
 request. He could talk of the fiery and the earthly 
 Trigons, the aerial and the watery ; and of that property 
 of a triangle (now no longer regarded at Cambridge) 
 whereby Sol and Jupiter, Luna and Venus, Saturn and 
 Mercury, respectively become joint Trigonocrators, leaving 
 Mars to rule over the watery Trigon alone. He knew 
 the Twelve Houses as familiarly as he knew his own ; the 
 Horoscope, which is the House of Life, or more awfully 
 to unlearned ears, Domus Vitce ; the House of Gain and 
 the House of Fortune ; for Gain and Fortune no more 
 keep house together in heaven than either of them do 
 with Wisdom and Virtue and Happiness on earth ; the 
 Hypogeum, or House of Patrimony, which is at the 
 lowest part of heaven, the Imum Cceli, though it be in 
 many respects a good house to be born in here below ; the 
 Houses of Children, of Sickness, of Marriage, and of 
 Death ; the House of Religion ; the House of Honours, 
 which being the Mesouranema, is also called the Heart of 
 Heaven ; the Agathodemon, or House of Friends, and 
 the Cacodemon, or House of Bondage. 
 
 All these he knew, and their Consignificators, and 
 their Chronocrators or Alfiida-ii, who give to these Con- 
 signincators a septennial dominion in succession. 
 
 Southey. 
 
16 TJIB ELEMENTS. 
 
 9. There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream. 
 The earth, and every common sight 
 
 To me did seem 
 ApparelTd in celestial light, 
 The glory and the freshness of a dream. 
 It is not now as it has been of yore ; 
 Turn where'er I may, 
 By night or day, 
 The things which I have seen I now can see no more. 
 
 The rainbow comes and goes, 
 
 And lovely is the rose ; 
 
 The moon doth with de'ight 
 Look round her when the heavens are bare ; 
 
 Waters on a starry night 
 
 Are beautiful and fair ; 
 The sunshine is a glorious birth ; 
 But yet I know, where'er I go, 
 That there hath passed away a glory from the earth. 
 
 Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song, 
 And while the young larnbs bound 
 
 As to the tabor's sound, 
 To me alone there came a thought of grief : 
 A timely utterance gave that thought relief, 
 
 And I again am strong. 
 
 The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep 
 No more shall grief of mine the season wrong ; 
 I hear the echoes through the mountain throng, 
 The winds come to me from the fields of sleep, 
 And all the earth is gay ; 
 
 Land and sea 
 Give themselves up to jollity, 
 
 And with the heart of May 
 Doth every beast keep holiday ; . 
 
 Thou child of joy 
 
 Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy 
 Shepherd boy ! 
 
 Ye blessed creatures, I have heard the call 
 Ye to each other make ; I see 
 
CLEARNESS. 1 7 
 
 The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee; 
 
 My heart is at your festival, 
 
 My head hath its coronal, 
 The fulness of your bliss, I feel I feel it all. 
 
 evil day ! if I were sullen 
 While Eai-th herself is adorning 
 
 This sweet May morning ; 
 And the children are pulling 
 
 On every side 
 
 In a thousand valleys far and wide 
 Fresh flowers ; while the sun shines warm 
 And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm : 
 
 1 hear, I hear, with joy I hear ! 
 But there's a tree, of many, one, 
 
 A single field which I have look'd upon, 
 
 Both of them speak of something that is gone : 
 The pansy at my feet 
 Doth the same tale repeat : 
 
 Whither is fled the visionary gleam ? 
 
 Where is it now, the glory and the dream ? 
 
 Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ; 
 The Soul that rises with us. our Life's Star, 
 Hath had elsewhere its setting 
 
 And cometh from afar ; 
 Not in entire forgetfulness 
 And not in utter nakedness 
 But trailing clouds of glory do we come 
 
 From God, who is our home : 
 Heaven lies about us in our infancy ! 
 Shades of the prison-house begin to close 
 
 Upon the growing boy, 
 But he beholds the light, and whence it flows, 
 
 He sees it in his joy ; 
 
 The youth, who daily farther from the east 
 Must travel, still is Nature's priest, 
 And by the vision splendid 
 Is on his way attended ; 
 At length the man perceives it die away, 
 And fade into the light of common day. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
18 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 CLEARNESS in arrangement, or ORDER, is the next essen- 
 tial. This, mechanically considered in relation to precis, 
 consists in little more than the arrangement of correspond- 
 ence in order of date. This is only difficult when the 
 letters and their enclosures have been mixed up together 
 and require to be sorted. 
 
 The best exercises in arrangement are with actual 
 letters, bundles of which may be kept for the purpose ; 
 but the following exercises will be of much tise in the 
 practice of order, especially if the same care be taken as to 
 accuracy and writing as in the former exercises. 
 
 Exercises (C). 
 
 [The following exercises, 1, 2, 3, 4, are to be written 
 from the papers in answer to Exercises (A), which should, 
 as directed, have been kept for the purpose.] 
 
 1. Write out tables of the pupils in the class (1) in 
 alphabetical order, (2) arranged according to age. 
 
 2. Write the names of any twenty- four articles in 
 the room, their materials, and the purpose for which 
 they are intended, giving alphabetically (1) the articles, 
 (2) the materials, (3) the purpose for which they are 
 intended. 
 
 3. Make oxit a table of your school-books in alphabeti- 
 cal order, with details in separate columns, in the follow- 
 ing form : 
 
 Title 
 
 Author 
 
 Publisher 
 
 Place 
 
 Date 
 
 No. of Vols. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4. Write in parallel columns, without lines, two alpha- 
 betical lists, one of the substantives and another of the 
 
CLEARNESS. 19 
 
 verbs and participles, in the sonnet given in Exercises (A), 
 taking care to write them evenly, as under : 
 
 Substantives. Verbs and Participles. 
 
 Care Given 
 
 Columns Taking 
 
 Exercises Write 
 
 Lines 
 Lists 
 
 Participles 
 Sonnets 
 Substantives 
 Verbs 
 
 5. Write the three following lists of words in alpha- 
 betical order, the words to be written one under the other, 
 in three parallel columns, one for each set of words, a 
 space being left between words beginning with one letter 
 and those beginning with another : 
 
 (a) Rocket, appearance, government, sixteen, Aden, 
 command, propose, visit, report, harbour, admit, vacation, 
 gigantic, peninsula, signal, block, "Wales, homage, van- 
 quish, moment. 
 
 (ft) Labour, year, five, almost, whose, triumph, 
 straight, possible, explosion, camp, thousand, eight, pro- 
 portion, mine, measures, various, banquet, municipal, 
 Gambetta, monsieur. 
 
 (c) American, chequer, show, dull, school, difficulty, 
 acquisition, upset, previous, fail, attract, congregation, 
 topic, discourse, popular, London, form, discover, response, 
 showy. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 00 (*) 00 
 
 Alfred James Bexley 
 
 Ajax Jerusalem Bounce 
 
 Johnson 
 
 Commerce Candle 
 
20 THE ELEMENTS 
 
 () 0) () 
 
 Conjugal Lamp Debtor 
 
 Long Dunce 
 
 Wexford 
 
 Wigtown Prussian Master 
 
 Wonderful Mistress 
 
 Word Quince 
 
 Worsted Quoit Xanthus 
 
 Woven 
 
 Zeta Yellowhamraer 
 
 Zoroaster Young 
 
 6. Write the following numbers in numerical order : 
 
 111, 202, 101, 1, 7, 57, 6, 25, 1001, 1101, 2021, 2002, 
 30034, 3, 20, 100001, 15167, 153, 122, 20000, 1111, 
 1112, 1212, 1221, 1113, 1376, 75, 4765, 5672, 73461, 8, 
 02, 526721, 2573601, 18, 126. 
 
 7. Do the same with the three following lists in three 
 columns (in the same way as the exercise with words), 
 leaving a space between numbers having a different quan- 
 tity of figures : 
 
 (a) 15, 100001, 1001, 25, 5768, 2, 54, 726, 8341, 
 92873, 10, 9864321, 9, 24017, 873. 
 
 (b) 2400001, 250002, 7643210, 1001, 10, 1, 240, 6759, 
 43215, 52768, 81219, 5375641, 2340, 87610, 654321. 
 
 (c) 570, 7641, 891012, 52, 176, 99, 999, 9999, 7, 77, 
 77777, 771, 774, 7775, 77701, 7777. 
 
 EXAMPLK 
 
 (a) (4) (c) 
 
 14 2 
 
 2 5 1RO 
 
 3 6 18 
 
 10 16 2010 
 
 11 17 
 
 12 18 30000 
 
 130 120 
 
 140 160 156789 
 
 150 170 246820 
 
CLEARNESS. 
 
 21 
 
 8. The following is a precis of the answers received to 
 a plain question addressed to a number of persons : 
 
 Kame. 
 
 Answer. Name. 
 
 Answer. 
 
 Brown, T. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Ormerod, "W. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Johnson, J. 
 
 No 
 
 Camroux, P. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Smith 
 
 Yes 
 
 Brown, S. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Robinson 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Solomon, A. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Camroux, S. 
 
 No 
 
 Quince 
 
 No 
 
 Antrobus 
 
 No 
 
 Ranneger 
 
 No 
 
 Stint 
 
 No 
 
 Brown, W. 
 
 
 
 Plick, J. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Thesiger 
 
 
 
 Williams 
 
 
 
 Lilly 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Richards 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Ormerod, J. 
 
 
 
 Cambridge 
 
 Yes 
 
 Lee, Thos. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Plick, T. 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Lee, Tim. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Macready 
 
 No 
 
 Stuart 
 
 
 
 Joiner, S. 
 
 No 
 
 Cromwell 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Joiner, J. 
 
 No 
 
 Williamson 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Joiner, R. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Strainger 
 
 Yes 
 
 Camroux, \V. 
 
 
 
 Johnson, P. 
 
 Yes 
 
 Alick 
 
 
 
 Solomon, B. 
 
 No 
 
 Thomson 
 
 
 
 Hogg 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Ferguson 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Dent 
 
 
 
 Pressense 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 
 
 (a) Write the names with the answers in alphabetical 
 order. 
 
 (b) Give separate lists (each in alphabetical order) of 
 those who have answered (1) yes, (2) no, (3) doubtful, and 
 (4) not at all. 
 
 (c) Give the number of each in a separate table with 
 a total. 
 
22 
 
 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 9. Write out tlie following precis of correspondence 
 
 in proper order : 
 
 Oct. 10 
 
 Dec. 14 
 
 Dec. 10 
 
 Sep. 10 
 
 Dec. 13 
 
 Oct. 12 
 
 Sep. 15 
 
 Dec. 12 
 
 Mr. John Grant 
 
 to 
 
 Board of Sealing 
 Wax. 
 
 Board of 
 Sealing Wax 
 
 to 
 Mr. John Grant. 
 
 Mr. John Grant 
 
 to 
 
 Board of Sealing 
 Wax. 
 
 Mr. John Grant 
 
 to 
 
 Board of Sealing 
 Wax. 
 
 Mr. John Grant 
 
 to 
 
 Board of Sealing 
 Wax. 
 
 Board of 
 Sealing Wax 
 
 to 
 Mr. John Grant. 
 
 Board of 
 Sealing Wax 
 
 to 
 Mr. John Grant. 
 
 Board of 
 Sealing Wax 
 
 to 
 Mr. John Grant. 
 
 Calling attention to previous 
 letter. 
 
 Returning testimonials (11). 
 
 Sending another testimonial 
 and stating that he has the 
 offer of another appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 A pplying for appointment of 
 Messenger (10 enc.) 
 
 Requesting the return of hi 
 testimonials. 
 
 Stating that application will 
 be considered in due coursr 
 
 Acknowledging receipt of ap- 
 plication. 
 
 Acknowledging additional 
 testimonial and stating 
 that the Board have de- 
 termined to abolish the 
 pott of Messenger. 
 
CLEARNESS. 
 
 23 
 
 10. The following exercise is made up of three sepa- 
 rate series of letters ; write out the precis of each series 
 separately in proper order : 
 
 Mr. Bedford Flood 
 
 to Admiralty. 
 
 April 16, 1871. 
 
 Admiralty to 
 
 Mr. Bedford Flood. 
 
 May 6, 1871. 
 
 Messrs. Anchor & Chain 
 
 to Mr. J. Makepiece. 
 
 Nov. 6, 1865. 
 
 Mr. Henry Harford 
 
 to Mr. Jabez Israel. 
 
 June 25, 1858. 
 
 Messrs. Shackle & Curb 
 
 to Mr. J. Makepiece. 
 
 Nov. 4, 1864. 
 
 Mr. J. Makepiece to 
 
 Messrs. Shackle & Curb. 
 
 Nov. 1, 1864. 
 
 Admiralty to 
 
 Mr. Bedford Flood. 
 
 May 4, 1871. 
 
 Mr. J. Fairfield to 
 
 Mr. Henry Harford. 
 
 June 20, 1858. 
 
 Stating that he would prefer 
 not to commit it to writing, 
 and asking for an appoint- 
 ment with the First Lord. 
 
 Acknowledging receipt of Mr. 
 Bedford Flood's letter of 
 the 5th inst. 
 
 Stating that they have at 
 length obtained payment of 
 the legacy of 100, and for- 
 warding a P.O.O. for Is. 6cZ., 
 balance after deducting their 
 expenses. 
 
 Stating that he must decline 
 to give 500. for the Rem- 
 brandt. 
 
 Stating that Mrs. Almond 
 left him a legacy of 100, 
 but it is doubtful whether 
 the estate will be sufficient 
 to pay it. 
 
 Asking for particulars of Mrs. 
 Almond's will. 
 
 Stating that the First Lord has 
 appointed Admiral Jamie- 
 son to see and confer with 
 him on the 15th inst., at 
 twelve o'clock. 
 
 Has seen the so-called Rem- 
 brandt, and thinks it a bad 
 copy. f 
 
THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 Mr. Bedford Flood 
 to Admiralty. 
 April 4, 1871. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Israel 
 
 to Mr. Henry Harford. 
 
 June 23, 1858. 
 
 Mr. J. Makepiece to 
 
 Messrs. Shackle & Curb. 
 
 Nov. 3, 1864. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Israel 
 
 to Mr. Henry Harford. 
 
 June 26, 1858. 
 
 Admiralty to 
 
 Mr. Bedford Flood. 
 
 April 15, 1871. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Israel 
 
 to Mr. Henry Harford. 
 
 June 5, 1858. 
 
 Mr. J. Makepiece to 
 
 Messrs. Shackle & Curb. 
 
 Nov. 5, 1864. 
 
 Mr. Henry Harford 
 
 to Mr. Jabez Israel. 
 
 June 28, 1858. 
 
 Messrs. Shackle & Curb 
 
 to Mr. J. Makepiece. 
 
 Nov. 2, 1864. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Israel 
 
 to Mr. Henry Harford. 
 
 June 9, 1858. 
 
 Stating that he has discovered 
 a means of making ships 
 impenetrable by shot and 
 shell. 
 
 Stating that they never give 
 a pedigree till the purchase 
 is completed, and that his 
 name is sufficient to guaran- 
 tee the genuineness of any 
 picture. 
 
 Asking whether Mrs. Almond 
 left him a legacy. 
 
 Asking him to name a price 
 for the picture. 
 
 Stating that they will be glad 
 to receive particulars of Mr. 
 Bedford Flood's invention. 
 
 Stating that he has a choice 
 collection of old masters for 
 sale, and requesting inspec- 
 tion. 
 
 Stating that he has placed 
 the matter in the hands of 
 Messrs. Anchor & Chain. 
 
 Stating that he must decline 
 to buy the picture upon any 
 terms. 
 
 Stating that the 
 yet proved. 
 
 will is not 
 
 Stating that the lowest price 
 for the Hembrandt is 500 
 
CLEARNESS. 
 
 25 
 
 Mr. Henry Harford 
 
 to Mr. Jabez Israel. 
 
 June 21, 1858. 
 
 Mr. Bedford Flood 
 to Admiralty. 
 May 5, 1871. 
 
 Mr. Henry Harford 
 
 to Mr. Jabez Israel. 
 
 June 8, 1858. 
 
 Mr. Henry Harford 
 
 to Mr. J. Fail-field. 
 
 June 15, 1858. 
 
 Asking for the pedigree of the 
 picture said to be by Rem- 
 brandt. 
 
 Declining to see Admiral 
 Jamieson, and stating that 
 if the First Lord will not 
 see him he will write to 
 the ' Times.' 
 
 Referring to his visit to Mr. 
 Israel's gallery, and asking 
 the price of a picture by 
 Rembrandt. 
 
 Requesting him to call at 
 Israel's and to give him his 
 opinion about the Rem- 
 brandt. 
 
 11. Write an alphabetical list of all the proper names, 
 and foreign, Latin, or unusual words in Exercises (B), 6, 
 7, and 8. 
 
26 T^lE ELEMENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BREVITY. 
 
 IT cannot be too much enforced on the student that 
 brevity should never be sought at the expense of clear- 
 ness. The prime object of a precis is that it may be 
 read quickly, and not that it may be written quickly. 
 ' Easy writing ' is said to be ' hard reading/ and in the 
 same way it may be said that short writing is very often 
 long reading. For instance, to a person who knows the 
 sequence of months as well as their names it is shorter to 
 write '7/9/75 'than '7 Sep., 75,' but not much shorter, 
 while the person who reads may have to count the 
 months on his fingers before he arrives at the con- 
 clusion that September is the ninth month in the year. 
 
 At the same time it may be very important to econo- 
 mise time in writing a precis, and even space if it has to 
 be sent abroad by post, and some abbreviations are so 
 well understood as to be read as easily as the words in 
 full, and in some cases, as in the case of Christian names, 
 it would be simply waste of time to write the full word. 
 The fact that Zedekiah is the Christian name of a gentle- 
 man is seldom of biiflicient importance to require more 
 than the initial. 'Z. Smith' is in ninety- nine cases out of a 
 hundred as useful as 'Zedekiah Smith.' The following list 
 of some of the best known abbreviations is therefore 
 given : 
 
 f ledge \ 
 
 Acknow j ledging r receipt. Ack. rcc. or A. r. 
 ^ ledges ' 
 
 letter Ire. 
 
 instant List. 
 
B11EY1TY. 
 
 ultimo 
 
 proximo 
 
 ' ed ' at the end of a word 
 
 ' ing' at the end of a word, as 
 
 regarding 
 
 in the matter of 
 
 circumstances 
 
 'ation ' at the end of a 
 
 word like 'administration' 
 
 John 
 
 James 
 
 department 
 
 others 
 
 executors 
 
 administrators 
 
 ult. 
 prox. 
 
 d 
 
 regards. 
 
 in re. 
 
 circes. 
 
 on. 
 
 administron. 
 
 Jn. 
 
 Jits, or Jac. 
 
 dep 1 . 
 
 ors. 
 
 exors. 
 
 admors. 
 
 P- 
 
 pp. 
 
 enc. 
 
 P.O.O. 
 
 H.M. 
 
 page 
 pages 
 enclosures 
 post office order 
 Her Majesty 
 
 The names of Government offices may generally bti 
 represented by their initials as Foreign Office by ' F.O.,' 
 India Office by '1.0.,' Board of Trade by 'B.ofT.,' General 
 Post Office by ' G.P.O.,' and some of the well-known Com- 
 panies in a similar manner, as the Peninsular and Oriental 
 Steam Ship Company by ' P. and O.' 
 
 The above and similar abbreviations may be used in 
 any of the exercises in this book, but it is unnecessary to 
 give special exercises for them. 
 
 Much more important than purely mechanical abbre- 
 viations is brevity in words. Two ways of gaining this, 
 though not purely mechanical, are so elementary that 
 exercises in them may well conclude the preliminary 
 course ; one is the omission of unnecessary words, and 
 the other the employment cf short words for long. 
 
28 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 Exercises (D). 
 
 OMISSION. 
 
 Write the following passages, excluding all words that 
 are not necessary to the sense of the passage, but nob 
 altering any of them or adding to them : 
 
 1. 0, just give me that indiarubber thing, you know 
 there, what baby puts in her mouth, you know baby's 
 ring. It's on the table. 
 
 2. All men and women, wherever they are to be 
 found on the face of the earth, have exactly the same 
 features to wit, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cheeks, and 
 ears. 
 
 3. It is a common remark, and one frequently re- 
 peated, that the more knowledge that a man possesses 
 the more he perceives his ignorance, and that every 
 addition to his information adds to his sense of his own 
 mental poverty. 
 
 4. Whoever sees himself as others see him can never 
 come to a conclusion as to his real appearance, as no two 
 men ever see him alike, and he will therefore be perplexed 
 by continual variations in his countenance. 
 
 5. There is nothing on the earth so thoroughly of this 
 world, worldly, as a woman who, casting aside all higher 
 thoughts, devotes her whole life to raising herself in 
 society. 
 
 6. To spell ' immediate ' with three m's is an obvious 
 error in orthography. 
 
 7. An oak table is a table made out of the wood 
 called oak, and an iron pin is a pin made of the metal 
 called iron ; so that we see that the same word is some- 
 
BREVITY. 29 
 
 times used as a substantive and sometimes as an adjective, 
 though never at one and the same time. 
 
 8. There is there can be no pleasure so great as that 
 which has been earned by self-denial, and the surrender 
 of one's own gratification for the sake of duty. 
 
 9. A Welsh triad says that the three unconcealable 
 traits of a person, by which he shall be known, are the 
 glance of his eye, the pronunciation of his speech, and the 
 mode of his self-motion in briefer English, his look, his 
 voice, and his gait. 
 
 10. The Indians have an invariable custom, which 
 they always observe, of burying with the dead chief his 
 most favourite horse and best-loved dog, together with his 
 bow and arrows, and also so much food as satisfied him 
 for six weeks on earth. 
 
 11. In the very beginning of the year that is, as soon 
 as the sun rose on the morning of the 1st of January 
 the priests assembled together to offer sacrifice for the 
 people. The Temple was always so built that it faced the 
 east, and as soon as the sun's face appeared above the 
 horizon the great brazen doors of the Temple were thrown 
 open with a clang, so that its polished walls and the mag- 
 nificent array of gilded vessels upon the altar might catch 
 the first flash of the sun's glorious beams. 
 
 12. The worst of insincere persons is this, that you 
 cannot depend upon them, neither upon what they say 
 nor upon what they will do ; they are like the chameleon, 
 who is always changing colour, and whom, though you 
 have left him of a bright red, you may find on your 
 return of a dull green but with this difference, that the 
 changes in colour of the chameleon are involuntary, 
 while the changes of the insincere man are conscious. 
 
30 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 SUBSTITUTING SHORT WORDS FOR LONQ. 
 
 Shorten the following passages by omission, or by sub- 
 stituting short words for long, or one word for two, without 
 altering the order or construction of the sentences : 
 
 1 . Every description of article will be discovered in 
 this repository. 
 
 2. The miserable slaves were connected with chains. 
 
 3. The result exceeded our expectations. 
 
 4. He considered that the universe was spherical. 
 
 5. He endeavoured to proceed in the opposite 
 direction. 
 
 6. Security promptly invigorated a mind enfeebled 
 by idle pertiirbations. 
 
 7. Now, wherefore have I entitled this book * Tho 
 Heroes'? Because that was the appellation which the 
 Hellens gave to men who were courageous and skilful, 
 and dare do more than other individuals. At first, I 
 imagine, that was all it meant ; but after a time it came 
 to mean something in addition ; it came to mean men 
 who assisted their country ; men in those ancient times, 
 when the country was half savage, who killed ferocious 
 beasts and evil men, and drained swamps, and established 
 towns, and therefore, after they were defunct, were 
 honoured, because they had left their country better than 
 they found it. And we call a man a hero in English to 
 this day, and call it a ' heroic ' thing to suffer pain and 
 sorrow, that we may obtain advantage for our fellow- 
 mortals. Altered from Kingsley. 
 
 8 Then a mighty awe descended upon Perseus ; and 
 he went out in the morning to the populace, and narrated 
 bis vision, and bade them build altars to Zeus, the Father 
 
BREVITY. 31 
 
 of Divine and human beings, and to Athene, who gives 
 sapience to heroes, and be no more afraid of the earth- 
 quakes and the floods, but sow and build in tranquillity. 
 And they acted in this way for a while, and prospered ; 
 but after Perseus had departed they forgot Zeus and 
 Athene, and worshipped once again Atergatis the Queen, 
 and the never-dying fish of the consecrated lake, where 
 Deucalion's deluge was swallowed up, and they burnt 
 their children before the Fire King, till Zeus was irritated 
 against that foolish people, and brought a strange nation 
 out of Egypt who fought against them and despoiled them 
 altogether, and resided in their cities for a great many 
 hundred years. Altered from Kiwjsley. 
 
 9. The Arabs have a singular manner of displaying 
 their courage in engagements, not unlike the devotement 
 to the infernal gods among the ancients. A soldier willing 
 to signalise his attachment to his master binds up his lef 
 to his thigh, and continues to fire away upon the enemy, 
 till either they be routed, or he himself be slain upon the 
 field of battle. 
 
 10. But if we would construct a judgment of the in- 
 ternal contents of that portentous head which is thus for- 
 midably adumbrated, how could it be done so well as by 
 beholding the Doctor among his books, and there behold- 
 ing the victuals upon which his terrific intellect is sup- 
 ported 1 ? There we should behold the accents, dialects, 
 digammas, and other such small gear as in these days 
 
 constitute the complete armour of a perfect scholar. 
 
 Southey. 
 
 11. In goodness of heart, and in principles of piety, 
 this exemplary couple was bound to each other by the 
 most perfect unison of character, though in their tempers 
 there was a contrast which had scarce the gradation of a 
 single shade to smooth off its abrupt dissimilitude. Mr. 
 Tyrold, gentle with wisdom, and benign in virtue, saw with 
 
32 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 compassion all imperfections but his own. Yet the mild- 
 ness that urged him to pity blinded him not to approve ; his 
 equity was unerring though his judgment was indulgent. 
 His partner had a firmness of mind which nothing could 
 shake : calamity found her resolute ; even prosperity was 
 powerless to lull her duties asleep. The exalted character 
 of her husband was the pride of her existence and 
 the source of her happiness, lie was not merely her 
 standard of excellence, but of endurance, since her sense 
 of his worth was the criterion for her opinion of all others. 
 This instigated a spirit of comparison, which is almost 
 always uncandid, and which here could rarely escape 
 proving injurious. Such at its very best is the unskilful- 
 ness of our fallible nature, that even the noble principle 
 which impels our love of right misleads us but into 
 new deviations, when its ambition presumes to point at 
 perfection. In this instance, however, distinctness of dis- 
 position did not stifle reciprocity of affection that mag- 
 netic concentration of all marriage felicity. Mr. Tyrold 
 revered while he softened the rigid virtues of his wife, 
 who adored while she fortified the melting humanity of 
 her husband. Miss Burney. 
 
 The last piece cannot be abridged as much as it should 
 be without shortening it in other ways than, by the mere 
 omission of words and substitution of long words for 
 short. To do it thoroughly it should be recast, and nearly 
 every sentence remodelled, and abridged by the constant 
 substitution of one word for a good many. It will be a 
 good test of the aptitude of the pupil for precis- writing 
 of the higher kind to try to reproduce the sense of the 
 passage in as few words as possible. 
 
 We might here give some examples and exercises of 
 this more thorough style of abridgment, but we forbear to 
 do so. 1. Because the abridgment of 'phrases of a com- 
 
BREVITY. 33 
 
 plicated kind is seldom required in ordinary precis- writing, 
 official or business documents being rarely verbose or 
 tautological. 2. It will be more in due intellectual order 
 for the student to learn how to make an abstract of facts 
 and the sense of documents before he turns his attention 
 to the concentration of style. 3. Because, though terse 
 writing is the object of precis- writing, it can only be 
 gained by experience, and it will come of itself to those 
 who have the smallest aptitude before they have finished 
 the exercises in this book. 
 
 The art of precis- writing of this higher kind comes, 
 indeed, so easily to those who have a natural aptitude for 
 seizing the sense of what they read and expressing it in a 
 short simple way, and is so difficult of acquirement by 
 others, that at first sight it would seem that to those who 
 have such a natural aptitude instruction is unnecessary, 
 and that to those who have not it is useless. 
 
 And so no doubt it would be if men and women could 
 be divided into two such companies, like sheep and goats, 
 or, in other words, if that aptitude which we have called 
 natural was not as much the result of early training as 
 of innate faculty. There is no doubt that some persons 
 learn how to think and express what they mean much 
 more easily than others, but there is also no doubt that a 
 mind must be exceptionally dull if it cannot be taught to 
 do both, and anyone who has these faculties can also ap- 
 prehend the meaning of what other people write, and re- 
 produce it in another form, if the subject and style be not 
 above their comprehension, and they have a tolerable 
 acquaintance with their language. 
 
 The art of prdcis-writing is not the art of original 
 thought, or even the art of comprehension of others' 
 thoughts, but it is a test of the latter and a valuable aid 
 to the former, for it requires the habit of reflection 
 
 D 
 
34 THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 ' reading, marking, and inwardly digesting,' as the collect 
 has it and also of reproduction. 
 
 To illustrate what we mean, let the reader try to write 
 a precis of the three paragraphs we have already written, 
 and if he thoroughly understands them he will have little 
 difficulty in reproducing their sense in some such form as 
 this : 
 
 Precis-writing comes so easily to some, and so hardly 
 to others, that it would seem as if instruction were un- 
 necessary or useless. 
 
 So it would be if it were an entirely natural gift, but 
 it is not. Some persons can be taught to think and 
 talk more easily than others, but all persons can be taught 
 to think and talk, and those who can do these things can 
 also read and write precis, if they have been educated. 
 
 Precis- writing is a diffeient exercise from that of 
 thinking, or even comprehension, but it shows whether 
 you comprehend and teaches you to think. 
 
35 
 
 PART II. 
 PRACTICAL PRfiCIS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 
 
 IN the Introduction we have given an instance of one 
 letter of which three abstracts were required, each slightly 
 differing from the other in accordance with the purpose 
 for which it was intended, and though the length, form, 
 and character of a precis may vary almost infinitely 
 according to this purpose, it is safe to say that precis may 
 be divided into three kinds 
 
 1. The register, docket, or index, for purposes of 
 reference only, so as to enable a person to discover the 
 letter to which he wishes to refer. 
 
 2. The precis for general purposes, which is intended 
 to be as useful for most purposes as the correspondence 
 itself, and should therefore be as full but as brief as 
 possible. 
 
 3. The precis for a special purpose, from which all 
 matter should be excluded irrelevant to that special 
 purpose. This, it is evident, may vary in length from the 
 briefest to the fullest precis, according to what that pur- 
 pose is. 
 
 It may be objected that the first of these three is not 
 a precis at all, but rather of the nature of an index ; but 
 insomuch as it is more than what is usually termed an 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 PRACTICAL 
 
 index, containing as it does an abstract, though a very 
 brief one, of the contents of a document, it has a claim to 
 be considered as the most elementary form of a precis, 
 and it will, we think, help the student to a clearer view 
 of the object of precis-writing generally if he so consider 
 it. 
 
 The Docket, Register Entry, or Index. 
 
 These three names express three different forms of the 
 same description of elementary precis required for three 
 different purposes. 
 
 1. The Docket, or endorsement of a paper. When 
 papers are kept folded, an abstract of the contents is 
 written on the back of each letter in some such form as 
 this : 
 
 Feb. 3, 1875. 
 Mr. Layard 
 
 Has represented to Senor 
 Canovas the sentiments of H.M. 
 Government on the accession 
 of King Alfonso. 
 
 1 enclosure. 
 
 Received Feb. 14, 1874. 
 
 2. The Eegister Entry. This is a copy of the Docket 
 as entered in the Eegister Book of the Office, in some 
 such form as this : 
 
 Date of 
 Receipt 
 
 Correspondent 
 
 Date of 
 Letter 
 
 Subject 
 
 Feb. 14 
 
 Mr. Layard 
 
 Feb. 3 
 
 Has represented to 
 Senor Canovas, &c. 
 
LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 37 
 
 3. The Index. This is only required when a corre- 
 spondence is published. The letters are then numbered 
 and indexed in this way : 
 
 4 
 
 Mr. Layard to 
 Foreign Office 
 
 Feb. 3, 1874 
 
 Has represented to 
 Senor Canovas, &c. 
 
 The Special and General Precis. 
 
 The forms of these are similar, and the best for both 
 is this : 
 
 Mr. Layard to Has represented to Senor Canovas the 
 C ' sentiments of H - M - Government on the 
 accession of King Alfonso, and given him 
 a memorandum (copy enclosed) of what he 
 said. Senor Canovas replied that the 
 TCing and Government would appreciate the 
 interest shown by H.M. Government in 
 the King and his nation, stated that the 
 friendship of England was dear to Spain, 
 and repeated assurances of his intention to 
 maintain religious freedom. 
 
 This is a general precis of the following extract : 
 
 Mr. Layard to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received February 14.) 
 
 MADEID : February 3, 1875. 
 
 I called upon Senor Canovas del Castillo yesterday, 
 and communicated to his Excellency the substance of your 
 Lordship's despatch of the 26th ultimo. As your Lord- 
 ship had left it to me to convey this expression of the 
 sentiments of Her Majesty's Government to that of the 
 King in the manner which might appear to me most 
 suitable, I thought it best to do so to the President of tho 
 
38 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 Ministry Regent. In order that there should be no mis- 
 interpretation, or misunderstanding, of your Lordship's 
 words, I gave Senor Canovas a memorandum pro memorid 
 (copy enclosed) of what I had said to him. His Excel- 
 lency begged me to assure your Lordship that the warm 
 and friendly interest shown by your Lordship and Her 
 Majesty's Government in His Majesty and the Spanish 
 nation would be greatly appreciated by the King and his 
 Government. He trusted that the time was not far 
 distant when I should be authorised to enter into more 
 intimate and formal relations with the Spanish Ministry. 
 ' The friendship of England,' he said, ' was dear and pre- 
 cious to Spain,' and he cordially assented to your Lord- 
 ship's observation 'that the two nations could never 
 forget the ties which had so long united them in the events 
 of past history ; nor could Spain,' he added, ' be otherwise 
 than ever grateful for the many proofs she had received of 
 that friendship.' His Excellency concluded by repeating 
 to me the assurances that he had previously given me, 
 that it was his firm intention to maintain unimpaired the 
 principles of religious freedom. 
 
 The other forms vary only in the position given to the 
 date, which is sometimes placed in a separate column, 
 either before or after the names of the correspondents, 
 thus : 
 
 Feb. 3, 1874. Mr. Layard to Has represented. &c. 
 Foreign Office. 
 
 Or thus : 
 
 Mr. Layard to Feb. 3, 1874. Has represented, &c. 
 Foreign Office. 
 
 The first form is preferable to the two latter, as it 
 economises space. 
 
 It is not very probable, but it is just possible, that a 
 special precis might be required of even such a letter as 
 this. Supposing, for instance, that a question were raised 
 as to the formalities observed by the different Ministers at 
 
LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 39 
 
 the Court of Madrid in representing the sentiments of 
 their different nations to the Government of Spain, then 
 such a precis as this would be sufficient : 
 
 Mr. Layard to Called upon the President of the Minis- 
 *FeT S 3 ?874? ir ? Ee S ent > expressed the sentiments of 
 H.M. Government, and gave the Presi- 
 dent a memorandum of what he had said. 
 
 In this case the official title of Senor Canovas would 
 be more important than his name, and is therefore used 
 instead of it. 
 
 The student who has well mastered all that has gone 
 before will now be able to write the following exercises. 
 He should bear in mind that it is always better to use the 
 words of the original than his own. 
 
 The precis may be written with what is called tech- 
 nically a half-margin or a quarter-margin i.e. a margin 
 on the left side of either half or a quarter of the width of 
 the paper, in which the name of the correspondent and 
 the date should be written. This will give a blank space, 
 except in the case of very short letters, on which memo- 
 randa can be written if required. 
 
 It is usual in precis to use the name of the Office, 
 Company, or Association instead of the name of the per- 
 sun who signs the letter. In the following exercises 
 ' Foreign Office ' may be substituted for ' Lord Tenterden ' 
 or ' Earl Granville,' ' Board of Trade ' for ' Mr. Farrer/ 
 and ' Salvage Association ' for ' Mr. Harper.' 
 
 Exercises (E). 
 
 1. Make Register Entries, Dockets, or Indices of the 
 following documents, omitting date of receipt except in 
 the cases in which it is given : 
 
40 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 (A)' 
 Lord Tenterden to Mr. Farrer. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: April 24, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to transmit 
 to you a letter from Lloyd's, and I am to request that, in 
 laying it before the Board of Trade, you will state that 
 his Lordship has communicated with Her Majesty's 
 Ambassador at St. Petersburg on that part which relates 
 to the condition of the bar at Kertch ; and that if the 
 Board of Trade think that course advisable, he is prepared 
 to make a further representation in regard to that part 
 which refers to grain cargoes. 
 
 Lord Derby would, however, be glad to receive the 
 opinion of the Lords of Trade as to the precise form in 
 which any representation on this last point should be 
 made ; and I am to observe that this letter from Lloyd's 
 does not contain full information with respect to the regu- 
 lations stated to be in force at Montreal and New York. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
 Lord Tenterden to Mr. Harper. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: February 14, 1873. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by Earl Granville to state to you 
 that his Lordship has had your letter of the 16th ultimo, 
 respecting the case of the ' Turandot,' under his considera- 
 tion in communication with the proper Law Advisers of 
 the Crown, and that Her Majesty's Government cannot 
 take any steps in the matter at present that is to say, 
 until application has been made by the underwriters to, 
 and refused by, the German Government ; nor can Her 
 Majesty's Government take any steps at the instance of 
 the Association for the Protection of Commercial 
 
 1 In making indices of this and the following letters the first 
 columns should contain the letters (A), (B), &c., as the case may bo, 
 instead of numbers. 
 
LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 41 
 
 Interests, or of any persons, except those directly inte- 
 rested as underwriters. 
 
 I am, <fcc., 
 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
 (0) 
 
 Messrs. Vogel, Hagedorn, and Co. to Mr. Austin. 
 
 HONG KONU : February 9, 1874. 
 
 SIR, We beg leave to enquire whether there would 
 be any objection to vessels under the Peruvian or Spanish 
 flags proceeding from this port to California, provided that 
 all the rules and regulations now in force are carefully 
 complied with. 
 
 Soliciting the favour of an early reply, we have, <fec., 
 
 (Signed) VOGEL, HAGEDORN, & Co. 
 
 Minutes of Proceedings at a Meeting between Sir Hercules 
 Robinson, Thakombau, Maafu, and Tui Thakau, held 
 on board Her Majesty's ship ' Pearl,' at Loma-Loma, 
 on tfie 2nd of October, 1874. 
 
 After some informal remarks, Sir Hercules Robinson 
 said that he supposed that the King had explained to 
 Maafu what had taken place at Levuka, and enquired 
 whether he was of the same mind as he was when he gave 
 the Commodore his letter of the 12th of March. 
 
 Maafu replied that he was of the same opinion. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson then enquired whether Tui 
 Thakau understood the state of affairs, and whether he 
 wished to cede Fiji unconditionally to the Queen. 
 
 Tui Thakau replied that he was of the same opinion 
 as the rest of the Chiefs, and that he was thankful for 
 what he had heard. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson then requested Mr. Wilkinson, 
 the interpreter, to read the Fijian translation of the deed 
 of cession. 
 
 Mr. Wilkinson then read the translation of the deed 
 of cession. 
 
42 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 The original instrument of cession was then signed by 
 Maafu and Tui Thakau. 
 
 The conversation then became informal, and the meet- 
 ing shortly afterwards closed. 
 
 (Signed) WALTER HELY-HUTCHINSON. 
 
 (E) 
 
 Mr. Macdonell to Earl Granville. 
 (Received July 16.) 
 
 MADRID: July 4, 1873. 
 
 MY LORD, With reference to your Lordship's de- 
 spatch of the 25th ultimo, enclosing copy of a despatch 
 from Acting Consul Crawford on the subject of the libera- 
 tion of the emancipated slaves in Cuba, I have to inform 
 your Lordship that Sefior Suner y Capdesilla, Minister of 
 Ultramar, stated in the Cortes, on the 28th ultimo, that 
 he purposed presenting to the Chamber a Project of Law 
 for the immediate liberation of the three or four hundred 
 thousand slaves now in that island, adding that it was 
 not possible that he, who had voted the abolition of 
 slavery in Puerto Fdco, should now, as a Minister, re- 
 nounce his former opinion. Furthermore that, as a 
 Federal, he was, so far as it lay in his power, determined 
 that the inhabitants of Cuba shall not only enjoy the 
 liberties which the Eepublic had bestowed on the Span- 
 iards of the Peninsula, but that he hoped ere long to see 
 that island take its place as one of the independent 
 Cantons of the Spanish Federal Republic. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) H. G. MACDONELL. 
 
 (F) 
 Acting Commissary- Judge Crawford to Earl Granville. 
 
 (Received September 29.) 
 (Extract.) HAVANA : September 6, 1873. 
 
 I have the honour of transmitting herewith to your 
 Lordship a translation of a Project of Law, or Bill, drawn 
 
LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 43 
 
 up and proposed to the Spanish Government by the 
 planters here for the emancipation of the negro slaves in 
 the Island of Cuba. 
 
 It is proposed to abolish at once the institution of 
 slavery without indemnity to tho owners, in place of 
 which they ask for a patronage of ten years over their 
 negroes, during which the negroes are to be treated as 
 ' emancipados,' and are to receive a monthly stipend of 
 two dollars for those between the ages of 12 and 18, three 
 dollars for women, and four dollars for men between the 
 ages of 18 and 60. 
 
 All children born since the 17th of September, 1868, 
 and all negroes who have attained or may attain the age 
 of 60 years, ai*e declared free, according to the Law of the 
 4th of July, 1870. 
 
 The patronage is to be transferable, and in cases where 
 there are children under 1 2 years of age they must be 
 included in the transfer. 
 
 The patronage is to cease at the expiry of ten years, 
 by mutual agreement of master and man (which means 
 when the master wishes to give the negro his freedom), 
 by justifiable renunciation of the patron, or through 
 proved abuse, or failure ot the patron to comply with his 
 obligations, which are to feed, clothe, and pay his negro, 
 and to furnish him with medical attendance. 
 
 At the expiry of the ten years the negroes are to be 
 placed under the patronage of the State (which means 
 that they are to become neither more nor less than 'eman- 
 cipados '), to be turned over under contract to new or the 
 same masters, and to be rendered bondmen for life. 
 
 The planters have added the condition that this Law 
 is not to take effect, and is not to be published in the 
 * Havana Gazette,' before six months after the insurrection 
 now going on in the island has been officially declared to 
 have terminated. 
 
 This Additional Article is sufficient to throw discredit 
 upon the whole scheme; for it is very problematical 
 whether the insurrection will ever end. At any rate, it 
 will be the interest of the slaveholders to keep it alive as 
 long as possible. 
 
 The only part of the scheme that really deserves at 
 
44 PRACTICAL PRfiCIS. 
 
 tention is the proposal to substitute a patronage, or term 
 of apprenticeship, for an indemnity. 
 
 I think that upon that basis a feasible plan of eman- 
 cipation might be framed to suit the Spanish Government 
 and the slave-owners. 
 
 Ten years is much too long a period, and the rate of 
 wages is too small. The final emancipation of the negroes 
 should be fixed at a certain date, after which all ' patron- 
 age ' should cease. 
 
 It would be certainly for the interest of all parties to 
 have this question settled as soon as possible. 
 
 (Q) 
 
 The Chi?/ Justice to the Colonial Secretary. 
 In re Gardiner's Petitions for Mitigation. 
 
 SUPREME COUIIT : December 6, 1872. 
 MY DEAR COLONIAL SECRETARY, I have received a 
 letter (one only of several) from one of Gardiner's sisters, 
 which I think ought to accompany the papers, with a copy 
 of my reply. I therefore enclose both, begging you to sub- 
 mit them with the petitions to his Excellency. Or, if the 
 case is already disposed of, I solicit the favour of your 
 directing the present enclosures to be placed with them. 
 
 I have abstained from saying anything about Gardi- 
 ner's career before his bushranging began, but I can add 
 his previous history if desired. If my sentence on him 
 for horse-stealing, passed at Goulburn, had not been inter- 
 fered with, he would have had no opportunity of com- 
 mencing cattle-stealing at Carcoar, or of robbing the gold 
 escort afterwards ; for the latter was committed before 
 that sentence had expired. 
 
 I am, <fcc., 
 
 (Signed) ALFRED STEPHEN. 
 
LEITEKS TAKEN SINGLY. 45 
 
 Enclosures. 
 
 To Ids Honour Sir Alfred Stephen. 
 
 December 4, 1872. 
 
 JiR, Again I place before you the one earnest wish 
 af my anxious heart, in the hope that you will once more 
 extend your mercy to my dear brother, Francis Christie. 
 Oh, forgive him, for the sake of those who so earnestly 
 plead for him ; forgive him, as I hope the Great Judge of 
 ail may forgive you and yours when you plead for it. 
 Mercifully grant him his liberation in the colonies, so 
 that his sisters may draw him nearer them and farther 
 from danger. Could you know how we have waited and 
 watched for your answer to our petition an answer 
 which seems so long delayed you would have spared us, 
 I believe, some of the anxious suspense; but if the answer 
 be what we could wish, how little will the past misery 
 seem compared to the boon ultimately granted. I know, 
 your Honour, that my brother's sins have been many. I 
 do not wish to think his sentence was unjust, but his 
 punishment has been great and his reformation genuine, 
 and may God grant that it may be your will to again 
 restore my dear brother to freedom. With you his libera- 
 tion or endless imprisonment rests, so far as earthly 
 power rules ; therefore, be that answer what it may, to 
 you, Sir Alfred Stephen, I must look. Be merciful when 
 you would look at the darkest side of this man's character, 
 and forgive me taking the liberty of writing to you as I 
 have done. Trusting that you will pardon my presump- 
 tion, 
 
 I remain, &c., 
 
 (Signed) A. GRIFFITHS. 
 
 The Chief Justice has read with deep sympathy the 
 several letters which he has received from Mrs. Griffiths 
 and her sister, and he will forward her letter of yesterday 
 to his Excellency the Governor. The Chief Justice is 
 quite willing to believe all that is represented in Christie's 
 (otherwise Gardiner's) favour; but he feels bound to 
 
46 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 remember the notoriety of the prisoner's bushranging 
 crimes, and their number, and the frightful evils to which 
 they led, including the deaths of many persons, and the 
 execution of two young men for acts in which Gardiner 
 was the ringleader. Nor can it be forgotten that of the 
 thirty-two years of his sentence one-fourth even has not 
 yet elapsed. 
 
 The Chief Justice cannot, therefore, undertake the 
 responsibility of recommending any mitigation in the case. 
 But he does not admit that any such responsibility ought 
 to be cast upon him. It is peculiarly a question for the 
 Governor and Executive Council ; and if they should 
 think it right at some future period to remit any portion 
 of the sentence, Sir Alfred Stephen, as an individual, 
 would, for the sake of the Petitioners, be glad to hear of 
 the decision. 
 
 STJPBEME COURT: December 6, 1872. 
 
 (H) 
 
 Messrs. Frere and Williamson to the Colonial Office. 
 
 November 5, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, In obedience to the gracious commands of 
 Her Majesty the Queen, contained in Her Commission to 
 us of the 17th day of February, 1872, we have completed 
 our Report upon the treatment of immigrants in 
 Mauritius. 
 
 Circumstances with which your Lordship is acquainted 
 have led to unavoidable delay in the completion of the 
 Report ; but we have the honour now respectfully to com- 
 municate to Her Majesty, through your Lordship, the 
 results of our enquiry, as well as such remarks thereon as 
 we have deemed it our duty to make. 
 
 We take this opportunity of expressing through your 
 Lordship our thanks to the Chiefs of the several public 
 Departments in Mauritius, for the assistance and infor- 
 mation which we so frequently received from them when 
 we had occasion to call for such, and we may mention the 
 name of Dr. Reid, Chief Medical Officer, who supplied us 
 with much useful information upon the sanitary state of 
 
LETTERS TAKEN SINGLY. 47 
 
 the Island at the time of, and after, the great epidemic 
 of 1867. 
 
 Captain Blunt, who, at the time of our arrival, and 
 for some months after, was Acting Inspector-General of 
 Police, was able to render us great assistance both from 
 the position he occupied, and from the knowledge he had 
 gained of the grievances complained of by the old immi- 
 grants when serving on the Police Enquiry Commission, 
 which had concluded its labours shortly before our arrival 
 in the Island. 
 
 Of the officers holding subordinate positions, we would 
 favourably mention the names of Mr. Daly, District and 
 Stipendiary Magistrate successively of Savanne and Flacq, 
 who gave us much information respecting the working of 
 the Labour Laws, and who, at our request, drew up a 
 paper containing his views upon the procedure of the Sti- 
 pendiary Courts, of which we have made great use, and 
 which we have appended in full; also of Mr. Robert 
 Mitchell and Mr. W. Seed, who successively filled the 
 post of Assistant-Protector of Immigrants. Of the assist- 
 ance rendered to us by Mr. Mitchell in compiling com- 
 plicated tables relating to the amount of work done on 
 sugar estates, we have made frequent mention in our 
 Report. Mr. Seed, who was appointed to succeed him on 
 his departure from the Colony, was employed by us in 
 making enquiries on many special points, and he always 
 discharged his duties with intelligence and trustworthiness. 
 At our desire he drew up a statement explanatory of the 
 numerous forms in use in the Immigration Office, which 
 proved a great assistance to us in the preparation of our 
 chapter on that office. 
 
 And, lastly, the name of Mr. Huxtable, of the Pro- 
 cureur-General's Office, who was attached to us, shortly 
 after our arrival, as Assistant to our Secretary, and who 
 continued with us until our departure, during which 
 period he ever discharged his duties to our entire satis- 
 faction. 
 
 We have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) W. E. FRERE. 
 
 VICTOR A. WILLIAMSON. 
 
48 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 2. Make general pre'cis of the same letters. 
 
 3. Make special precis of tlie undermentioned with 
 reference to the points named : 
 
 (A) The regulations at Montreal and New York. 
 
 (B) The reason why Lord Derby refused at that time 
 to take any steps. 
 
 (D) The witnesses present at the signatui-e of the 
 deed of cession by Maafu. 
 
 (E) Cuba. 
 
 ( P) The Insurrection in Cuba. 
 
 (G) The description of crimes committed by Gardiner. 
 
 (H) The subordinate officers recommended. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SERIES OF LETTERS. 
 
 HITHERTO we have only dealt with single letters; we shall 
 now give some exercises in making a precis of series of 
 letters. In doing this the same principles should be 
 followed as in the case of single letters ; but the larger and 
 more important the series, the greater care should be taken 
 both as to fulness and brevity. The whole of a corre- 
 spondence should be read through carefully before pen is 
 put to paper, so that the whole subject and the rela- 
 tive importance of the facts may be thoroughly grasped, 
 and the writer may be able to make the precis a terse, 
 continuous, and clear narrative of the whole case, purged 
 of all irrelevant and insignificant matter, without redun- 
 dancy of expression or repetition, a result which it is 
 almost impossible to achieve if an abstract be made of 
 each letter as it is read. If, however, the student find it 
 difficult to retain in his mind the whole of a correspon- 
 dence, he may make notes of each letter as he goes on, 
 and write his precis from his notes, referring whenever 
 necessary to the correspondence. 
 
 There are two forms in which a precis of a series of 
 letters may be made. The contents of each letter may be 
 written separately, or a continuous precis may be made, 
 giving the gist of all the papers in a sequent history, 
 with marginal references to the documents. The follow- 
 ing is an example of a series of letters abstracted accord- 
 ing to the two methods. 
 
50 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 PART OF THE CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE B,OYAL 
 COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY INTO THE CONDITION OF THE 
 INDIAN IMMIRGANTS IN MAURITIUS. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 ^he Earl of Kimberley to Governor the Hon. Sir A. 
 Gordon, K.C.M.G. 
 
 DOWNING STREET: September 11, 1871. 
 SIR, "With reference to my despatch of this clay's 
 date, commenting on the serious state of affairs which has 
 been brought to light by my enquiries as to the existence 
 of suicide amongst the Indian population of Mauritius, I 
 should wish you to report to me confidentially whether, 
 in your opinion, a Commission of Enquiry into the genei-al 
 condition of the coolies, similar to that which has lately 
 visited British Guiana, would be advisable in the case of 
 Mauritius. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) KIMBERLEY. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Governor the Hon. Sir A. Gordon, K.C.M G., to the Earl 
 of Kimberley. 
 
 (Eeceived December 18.) 
 
 MAURITIUS: November 10, 1871. 
 
 MY LORD, In reply to the enquiry contained in 
 your Lordship's despatch of the llth of September, I have 
 no hesitation in expressing my opinion that an enquiry of 
 the nature contemplated by your Lordship would be of 
 the utmost utility, and indeed, without some such investi- 
 gation, it is impossible to speak with any confidence as to 
 tho position or treatment of the immigrants resident in 
 this island. 
 
 2. I have already expressed to your Lordship my 
 belief that, notwithstanding many serious and manifest 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 51 
 
 defects in the Immigration Laws, the treatment of the 
 immigrants upon estates is, ajj^u]e J J^n<l_9n4jiist ; but, 
 in the absence of anything likeetucient inspection or ac- 
 curate returns, this can only be taken as an impression, 
 nor can it be denied that statements to an opposite eflect 
 have been made, not only in the pamphlet recently pub- 
 lished by M. de Plevitz (whose assertions, so far as they 
 are made on his own authority alone, cannot be said to carry 
 much weight), but also by other persons of intelligence 
 and character, and that an opinion most unfavourable to 
 the existing system was about three years since publicly 
 expressed, in his place in the Council of Government, by 
 the Colonial Treasurer, a gentleman whose experience of 
 the island is of long standing, and whose integrity is 
 above suspicion. 
 
 3. The proceedings in the case of M. de Plevitz, re- 
 ported in my despatch of the 17th of November, would, 
 moreover, appear to show that an enquiry conducted hero 
 by persons connected with the island would be made 
 under pressure of an intimidation which would seriously 
 detract from the value of the conclusions at which they 
 might arrive. 
 
 4. It appears to me, therefore, that such a Commission 
 as that which so ably conducted the late enquiry in British 
 Guiana affords the only means of satisfactorily ascertain- 
 ing the true condition of the labouring population, and of 
 securing the provision of efficient remedies for defects in 
 the existing system of immigration, whether those defects 
 are to be found in the law itself or in its practical admi- 
 nistration. 
 
 5. I may add that should such a Commission be ap- 
 pointed, it is, in my opinion, absolutely essential that one 
 at least of its members should be well acquainted with the 
 position and treatment of immigrants in the West Indies 
 a comparison between the two systems being of the 
 utmost importance in arriving at a just impression as 
 to the position of the immigrant here and should the 
 services of any of the gentlemen who were employed in 
 the conduct of the late enquiry in British Guiana be 
 
 E 2 
 
52 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 available, their presence on the Commission would, I have 
 no doubt, be attended with much advantage. 
 
 6. In making, in this confidential form, such a sug- 
 gestion, your Lordship will not, I hope, think that I have 
 gone beyond the bounds of propriety. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) ARTHUR GORDON. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Governor the Hon. Sir A. Gordon, K.C.M.G., to the Earl 
 of Kimberley, 
 
 (Eeceived December 18.) 
 
 MAURITIUS: November 17, 1871. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to enclose copies of a 
 Memorial addressed to me by the Chamber of- Agriculture 
 on the subject of the pamphlet mentioned in my despatch 
 of this day's date, and of my reply. 
 
 2. Your Lordship will observe that, by their second 
 Resolution, the Chamber of Agriculture, in the event of 
 my not adopting a course which, for the reasons given in 
 the speech, enclosed in my despatch of this day's date, I 
 have nob felt myself justified in pursuing, request the ap- 
 pointment of a Commission to investigate the condition of 
 the Indian immigrants in this Colony, and I beg to com- 
 mend this request to the serious attention of Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 3. That the enquiries of such a Commission might be 
 attended with advantage, cannot, I think, be doubted, 
 and the fact that its appointment has been requested by 
 the agricultural body removes the objections which might. 
 have been felt to the adoption of such a measure had it 
 been probable that it would meet with violent opposition 
 or produce general excitement. The only serious objection 
 that can now be urged is the heavy expense which such a 
 measure would undoubtedly entail. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) ARTHUR GORDON. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 53 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 The, Earl of Kimberley to Governor the Hon. Sir A. 
 Gordon, K.C.M.G. 
 
 DOWNING STREET: January 19, 1872. 
 SIR, In my despatch of the 20th of December I ac- 
 knowledged the receipt, with other despatches, of your 
 despatch of the 17th of November, enclosing copies of Reso=- 
 ted by tha-Qhamber^of^gricultui-e of Mauri- 
 
 tius, in the second of which it is prayed (in the event of 
 your not seeing reason to take steps to refute the asser- 
 tions made in a pamphlet published by M. de Plevitz) that 
 ' Her Majesty will name a competent Commission to en- 
 quire fully and fairly into all the circumstances, and 
 report on the condition of the Indian labourers employed 
 in the sugar cultivation of the Colony,' and I informed 
 you that I must reserve my opinion as to the necessity 
 for such a Commission until I should have had time to 
 examine fully the communications which I had received 
 from you in connection with this question. 
 
 2. I should have been glad if I could have satisfied 
 myself that an enquiry not only invoh r ing considerable 
 expense, but tending almost inevitably to arouse feelings 
 of anxiety and excitement, especially among the Indian 
 population, could be dispensed with, and that the amend- 
 ments in law and practice, which, in my despatch of the 
 16th of December, I explained to be necessary, and which I 
 felt confident the Legislative Council would readily adopt, 
 might suffice. But after carefully considering the 
 question in all its aspects, I have come to the conclusion 
 that the prayer of the Chamber of Agriculture must be 
 acceded to, and that nothing short of a searching and 
 impartial enquiry into the allegations which have been 
 made, and into all details connected with Indian immi- 
 gration, would fully answer the twofold purpose of deter- 
 mining what has, in fact, been the condition of the immi- 
 grants in the past, and what should be the policy and 
 legislation of the future. 
 
54 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 I will therefoi'e proceed to select the most competent 
 persons whom I can procure for this purpose, and will 
 provide for the appointment of the Commission and the 
 opening of the enquiry with as little delay as possible. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) KIMBEKLEY. 
 
 Precis (Separate). 
 
 No. 1. The Earl The existence of suicide among the Indian 
 
 of Kimberley to population of Mauritius. As to whether a 
 
 1S M- V V 1101 3 Commission of Enquiry into the general con- 
 
 Spp. 11, 1871. dition of coolies in the Colony would he advis- 
 
 able. 
 
 No.2. TheGover- The enquiry would he of the utmost utility. 
 
 nor of Mauritius Cannot speak confidently as to condition of hu- 
 * Khnbfrle 1 f mi rants without it. Though the Laws relating 
 Nov. 10 1871. to Immigration are seriously defective, his im- 
 pression is that their treatment is, as a rule, good. 
 Opposite statements have, however, heen made 
 hy persons of intelligence and character, includ- 
 ing the Colonial Treasurer, as well as those hy 
 M. de Plevitz in his pamphlet, which are not 
 BO trustworthy. The proceedings in the case 
 of M. de P. show that the value of an En- 
 quiry hy persons connected with the Island 
 would he affected hy intimidation. One of 
 the memhers of the Commission should under- 
 stand the condition of immigrants in the West 
 Indies, and the employment of gentlemen who 
 conducted the Enquiry in British Guiana is 
 advised. 
 
 No.3. The Cover Encloses Memorial of Chamher of Aricul- 
 
 Kimberley. moves the fear of violent opposition in the 
 Nov. 17, 1871. Colony, the only ohjection is the expense. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 55 
 
 No. 4. The Earl Refers to despatch of December 20, and 
 of Kimberley to ac k. rec . o f NO. 3. Regrets but agrees in the 
 f necessit y for the Enquiry, and will appoint the 
 
 , 
 Jan. 19 1872. Commission at once. 
 
 Precis (Continuous), 
 
 Sep. 11, 1871. The Earl of Kimberley, in reference to the 
 existence of suicide among the Indian popula- 
 tion of Mauritius, asked the Governor to report 
 whether a Commission of Enquiry into the 
 condition of the coolies in the Colony were 
 
 Nov. 10, 1871. desirable. The Governor replied that it would 
 be of the utmost utility, that he could not 
 speak confidently as to the condition of the 
 immigrants, but his impression was that they 
 were treated well as a rule, though the Immi- 
 gration Laws were seriously defective, and 
 that besides M. de Plevitz (the statements in 
 whose pamphlet were not so trustworthy) 
 persons of intelligence and character, including 
 the Colonial Secretary, had made opposite 
 statements. He added that the proceedings 
 in the case of M. de P. showed that the 
 value of an enquiry held by persons connected 
 with the Island would be affected by intimi- 
 dation, and suggested that one of the members 
 of the Commission should understand the con- 
 dition of Immigrants in the West Indies, and 
 that the services of gentlemen who conducted 
 the Enquiry in British Guiana would be of 
 
 Nov. 17, 1871. advantage. A week afterwards the Governor 
 in another despatch forwarded a memorial 
 from the Chamber of Agriculture praying for 
 an Enquiry, in which he stated that, as there 
 was now no fear of violent opposition in the 
 Colony, the only objection was the expense. 
 
56 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 Jan. 19 1872. The Earl of Kimberley replied that he would 
 appoint a Commission at once, though he re- 
 gretted the necessity of it. 
 
 Exercises (F). 
 
 Make continuous or separate precis of the following 
 series of letters. 1 
 
 (1.) CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE RECOGNITION OF 
 PRINCE ALFONSO AS KING OF SPAIN. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: January 5, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I have received your telegraphic despatch of 
 the 31st ultimo, reporting the formation of the Alfonsist 
 Ministry, and that you intend to act in your relations 
 with them in accordance with the instructions you received 
 from Earl Granville on the occasion of the abdication of 
 Prince Amadeo. 
 
 In reply I have to acquaint you that Her Majesty's 
 Government approve the course you propose to take. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
 1 Should these exercises be found to take an inconveniently long 
 time, they may, for the younger pupils, be shortened in the following 
 manner : 
 
 (1) By omission of Nos. 10, 12, 14, 15, 16. 
 
 (2) May be divided into two exercises (a) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 
 (J) 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 (3) By omission of No. 5 and enclosure in No. 6. 
 
 (4) May be divided into two exercises (a) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 
 (5) 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. 
 
 (5) May be similarly divided (a) 1, 2, 3, 4, and (6) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 57 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard. 
 (Extract.) FOREIGN OFFICE: January 26, 1875. 
 
 In the instructions with, which you were furnished on 
 the 5th instant, I confined myself to authorising you to 
 enter into officious relations with the newly constituted 
 Government, and I do not yet feel in a position to 
 instruct you to proceed further in the direction of a formal 
 recognition. 
 
 At the same time, while desiring that you should 
 maintain in this respect an attitude of reserve, such as the 
 state of affairs in Spain still requires, Her Majesty's Go- 
 vemment are anxious that His Majesty and the Spanish 
 Government should understand that this country is 
 actuated towards Spain, by the warmest sentiments of 
 goodwill. The ties which united the two nations in the 
 events of past history cannot, Her Majesty's Government 
 feel confident, be forgotten by either. 
 
 It would, therefore, be with unalloyed satisfaction 
 that Her Majesty's Government would welcome the firm 
 establishment of an enlightened, tolerant, and Constitu- 
 tional Monarchy in Spain, and they hope that His 
 Majesty and his advisers may so take advantage of the 
 present occasion as to realise this object, and re-establish 
 civil order and good administration throughout the 
 Kingdom and its Colonial dependencies. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government would wish you to convey 
 this expression of their sentiments to the Government of 
 His Majesty in the manner which may appear to you 
 most suitable. 
 
 The policy of Her Majesty's Government is one of 
 non-interference in the internal affairs of foreign States, 
 and they have no intention of departing from it. They 
 cannot, however, but think that the King and his Govern- 
 ment may derive support from being acquainted with the 
 view taken of the situation in Spain by the Government 
 of a friendly and disinterested country, and they, there- 
 fore, consider that you should lose no fair and becoming 
 
58 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 opportunity of impressing upon the Spanish Government 
 the vital importance to the King and the people of Spain 
 of maintaining unimpaired the principles of religious 
 freedom. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Sir A. Paget to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received January 29.) 1 
 
 EOSIE: January 26, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, On leaving Signer Visconti Yenosta this 
 morning I met in the anteroom Senor Ranees, Marquis of 
 Casa Laiglesias, Minister of the Spanish Republic to this 
 Court, and who has been acting in the same capacity 
 since the proclamation of the Prince of Asturias, who 
 informed me that he had come to announce to Signor 
 Visconti Venosta that, he had this morning received a 
 letter for His Majesty the King of Italy from King 
 Alfonso, notifying His Majesty's accession to the throne 
 of Spain. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) A. PAGET. 
 
 No. L 
 
 Lord A. Loflus to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received February 1.) 
 
 ST. PETERSBUBGH: January 27, 1875. 
 My LORD, Prince Gortchakow informed me yester- 
 day that on the receipt of the official announcement noti- 
 fying the accession of King Alfonso to the throne of Spain 
 (which was on the road, and was daily expected) the 
 recognition by the Emperor would take place. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) AUGUSTUS LOFTUS. 
 
 1 In the precis, the date of receipt, when given, should be written 
 under the date of the letter. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 59 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Lord Odo Russell to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received February 1.) 
 
 BERLIN: January 26, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, The Spanish Minister, Count Rascon, had 
 the honour to deliver to the Emperor this day, at a 
 private audience, a letter from King Alfonso, announcing 
 his accession to the throne of Spain. 
 
 The Emperor was graciously pleased to say that an 
 early acknowledgment would he sent to the King, together 
 with letters of credence to Count Hatzfeldt, accrediting 
 him as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 
 to His Majesty. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) ODO EUSSELL. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Sir A. Buchanan to the Earl of Derby, y 
 (Received February 1.) 
 
 VIENNA : January 28, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, M. de Mazo, lately accredited as Spanish 
 Minister to this Court by the Government of Marshal 
 Serrano, was received yesterday at a private audience by 
 the Emperor, to deliver a letter to His Majesty from 
 King Alfonso, announcing his accession to the throne. 
 
 Letters of credence will, in consequence, be forwarded 
 without further delay to the Austrian Minister at Madrid, 
 accrediting him as the Emperor's Envoy Extraordinary 
 to His Catholic Majesty. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) ANDREW BUCHANAN. 
 
60 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Sir C. Wyke to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Kecoived February 12.) 
 
 COPENHAGEN: February 9, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, Don Alfonso de Bourbon having by an 
 autograph letter announced to the King of Denmark his 
 accession to the Spanish throne, was replied to yesterday 
 in similar form by the King, who, following the example 
 of most of the other European Sovereigns, has thus ac- 
 knowledged and recognised that Prince as the legitimate 
 King of Spain. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) CHARLES LENNOX WYKE. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Mr. Morier to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received February 14.) 
 
 MUNICH: February 4, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, M. Mazo, the Spanish Minister at Vienna, 
 who is also accredited here, has come to Munich, and been 
 received at an audience by the King for the purpose of 
 notifying to His Majesty the accession of King Alfonso 
 to the throne of Spain. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) R B. D. MORIER. 
 
 No. 9. 
 Mr. Layard to the Earl of Derby. 
 
 (Received February 14.) 
 (Extract.) MADRID: February 3, 1875. 
 
 I called upon Senor Canovas del Castillo yesterday, 
 and communicated to his Excellency the substance of 
 your Lordship's despatch of^he 26th ultimo. As your 
 Lordship had left it to me to convey this expression of the 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 61 
 
 sentiments of Her Majesty's Government to that of the 
 King in the manner which might appear to me most suit- 
 able, I thought it best to do so to the President of the 
 Ministry-Regent. In order that there should be no mis- 
 interpretation or misunderstanding of your Lordship's 
 words, I gave Sefior Canovas a Memorandum pro me- 
 rtwrid (copy enclosed) of what I had said to him. His 
 Excellency begged me to assure your Lordship that the 
 warm and friendly interest shown by your Lordship and 
 Her Majesty's Government in His Majesty and the 
 Spanish nation would be greatly appreciated by the 
 King and his Government. He trusted that the time 
 was not far distant when I should be authorised to enter 
 into more intimate and formal relations with the Spanish 
 Ministry. ' The friendship of England,' he said, ' was 
 dear and precious to Spain/ and he cordially assented to 
 your Lordship's observation ' that the two nations could 
 never forget the ties which had so long united them in 
 the events of past history ; nor could Spain,' he added, 
 ' be otherwise than ever grateful for the many proofs she 
 had received of that friendship.' His Excellency con- 
 cluded by repeating to me the assurances that he had 
 previously given me, that it was his firm intention to 
 maintain unimpaired the principles of religious freedom. 
 
 Enclosure in No. 9. 
 Memorandum. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government has instructed me to stat4p 
 to his Excellency Seiior Canovas del Castillo that England 
 is actuated towards Spain by the warmest sentiments of 
 goodwill, and that the ties which united the two nations 
 in the events of past history cannot, Her Majesty's Go- 
 vernment feel confident, be forgotten by either. 
 
 It would, therefore, be with unalloyed satisfaction that 
 Her Majesty's Government would welcome the firm esta- 
 blishment of an enlightened, tolerant, and Constitutional 
 Monarchy in Spain, and they hope that His Majesty the 
 King and his advisers may so take advantage of the 
 present occasion as to realise this object and re-establish 
 
62 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 civil order and good administration throughout the King- 
 dom and its Colonial dependencies. 
 
 The policy of Her Majesty's Government is one of 
 non-interference in the internal affairs of foreign States, 
 and they have no intention of departing from it. But 
 they cannot but consider it entirely consistent with the 
 position of a truly friendly and disinterested Power to 
 im pi-ess upon the Spanish Government the vital impor- 
 tance to the King and the people of Spain of maintaining 
 unimpaired the principles of religious freedom. 
 
 February 2, 1875. 
 
 No. 10. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE : February 15, 1875. 
 SIR, I have received and laid before the Queen your 
 despatch of the 3rd instant, and I have to state to you in 
 reply that Her Majesty's Government approve your 
 having communicated to Senor Canovas del Castillo the 
 substance of my despatch of the 26th ultimo, by which 
 you were informed of the sentiments entertained by Her 
 Majesty's Government towards the Government of Don 
 
 Alfonso. T 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 No. 11. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: February 15, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I transmit to you a letter which the Queen has 
 been pleased to address to the King of Spain accrediting- 
 you to His Majesty in the character of her Envoy Extra- 
 ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, and I am to desire- 
 that you will deliver the same in the usual form accom- 
 panied by suitable compliments in Her Majesty's name 
 upon his accession to the throne. 
 
 A copy of your letter of credence is also enclosed. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) DERET 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 63 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Circular addressed to Her Majesty's Ministers at 
 European Courts. 
 
 FOKEIGN OFFICE: February 15, 1875. 
 MY LORD SIR, I have to inform you that Her Ma- 
 jesty's credentials will this day be forwarded to Mr. Austen 
 Henry Layard, accrediting him Her Majesty's Envoy 
 Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court 
 of His Majesty King Alfonso XII. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
 No. 13. 
 Mr. Fenton to the Earl of Derby. 
 
 (Keceived February 17.) 
 (Extract.) THE HAGUE: February 15, 1875. 
 
 With reference to my despatch of the 3rd instant, I 
 have the honour to inform your Lordship that I learn 
 from the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs that 
 the King of the Netherlands has addressed a letter to 
 King Alfonso, in reply to that lately received from him, 
 acknowledging His Majesty as King of Spain. 
 
 No. 14. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: February 20, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I have received the Queen's commands to desire 
 that, in presenting to the King of Spain the credentials 
 with which you have been furnished, accrediting you to 
 His Majesty, you will offer to him the Queen's sincere 
 congratulations on his accession to the throne of Spain, 
 and Her Majesty's warm wishes for his happiness and 
 prosperity. 
 
 The Queen entertains the earnest hope that His 
 Majesty's reign will be characterised by an enlightened, 
 
64 PEACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 constitutional, and tolerant policy, such as may tend to 
 promote the welfare of the country over which he has 
 been called upon to preside. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 No. 15. 
 
 Mr. Layard to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Keceived March 6.) 
 
 MADRID: February 27, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, Accompanied by the members of Her 
 Majesty's Legation, I had to-day the honour of being 
 received by the King for the purpose of delivering Her 
 Majesty's letter of congratulation on his accession to the 
 throne, and the letter accrediting me as Her Majesty's 
 Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to 
 this Court, and I beg to transmit to your Lordship here- 
 with copy of my address to His Majesty, as well as of his 
 reply, with a translation thereof. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) A. H. LAYARD. 
 
 Enclosure 1 in No. 15. 
 Mr. Layard' s Address to the Kiiig of Spain. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to deliver to your Majesty 
 the answer of the Queen, my gracious Sovereign, to the 
 letter of your Majesty, announcing your Majesty's acces- 
 sion to the throne, and at the same time a letter from Her 
 Majesty, by which she is pleased to accredit me in the 
 character of her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
 Plenipotentiary. 
 
 I am specially commanded by Her Majesty to offer to 
 your Majesty her sincere congratulations and her warm 
 wishes for your Majesty's happiness and prosperity, and 
 to express to your Majesty her hopes that your Majesty's 
 reign will be marked by a constitutional, enlightened, and 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 65 
 
 tolerant policy, such as may tend to promote the welfare 
 of Spain. 
 
 It is the earnest desire of the Queen and her people 
 that the friendly relations which have so long and so 
 happily subsisted between Spain and England should be 
 maintained and improved. I trust that, in my endea- 
 vours to contribute to this object, I shall deserve and 
 obtain your Majesty's confidence and support. 
 
 Enclosure 2 in No. 15. 
 The King of Spain's Reply to Mr. Layard. 
 (Translation.) 
 
 M. LE MINISTRE, I receive with true pleasure the 
 answer of your august Sovereign to the communication of 
 my accession to the throne, and the letter in which she 
 accredits you as her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
 Plenipotentiary. 
 
 The felicitation which you are charged to present to 
 me on the part of Her Britannic Majesty, and her hope 
 that my efforts will be principally directed to promote the 
 well-being of my country by the means best fitted to that 
 end, are of great value to me. 
 
 I beg you, M. le Ministre, to transmit to Her Majesty 
 the Queen my profound gratitude for her benevolent senti- 
 ments, which I have great pleasure in reciprocating by 
 my fervent wishes for her constant happiness and for that 
 of her people, and assure her that my desire and that of 
 Spain to preserve and draw closer the relations of cordial 
 friendship happily and long existing with. England is not 
 less lively. 
 
 I do not doubt that you will contribute to that laud- 
 able object with your zeal and distinguished qualities, and 
 for that purpose you will always find in me the benevo- 
 lent support for which you reasonably (' fundadamente ') 
 hope. 
 
66 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 No. 16. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Layard. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: March 10, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I have received and laid before the Queen your 
 despatch of the 27th ultimo, in which you report your 
 reception by the King of Spain, and your delivery to His 
 Majesty of the Queen's letter of congratulation on his 
 accession to the throne, and of the letter accrediting you 
 as Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
 Plenipotentiary at the Court of Spain. 
 
 I have to state to you that Her Majesty's Government 
 approve your address to His Majesty the King on the 
 occasion in question, copy of which is enclosed in your 
 above-mentioned despatch. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
 (2.) CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE MACAO COOLIE 
 TRADE, 1874-75. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Mr. Herbert to Lord Tenterden. 
 (Received April 20.) 
 
 DOWNING STREET: April 20, 1874. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to trans- 
 mit to you, for the consideration of the Earl of Derby, 
 two despatches lately received from Sir Arthur Kennedy, 
 reporting the refusal of the Governor to allow Peruvian 
 and Spanish vessels to embark free Chinese emigrants at 
 the port of Hong Kong. 
 
 The Governor has full power to grant or withhold his 
 license; and instating this to Lord Derby, I am to request 
 that you will inform his Lordship that, in Lord Carnar- 
 von's opinion, Sir Arthur Kennedy was perfectly right in 
 the policy adopted on the present occasion ; and his Lord- 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 67 
 
 iship proposes, with Lord Derby's concurrence, to approve 
 of the manner in which the Governor has exercised the 
 discretion entrusted to him by the law. 
 
 I am, <tc., 
 (Signed) ROBERT G. W. HERBERT. 
 
 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Lord Tenterden to Mr. Herbert. 
 
 FOBEIGN OFFICE: April 23, 1874. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant in re- 
 gard to the refusal of the Governor of Hong Kong to allow 
 Peruvian and Spanish vessels to embark free Chinese emi- 
 grants, and I am to request that you will state to the 
 Earl of Carnarvon that Lord Derby fully concurs in his 
 Lordship's proposal to approve Sir A. Kennedy's pro- 
 ceedings on the occasion in question. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Lord Odo Russell to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received April 27.) 
 
 BERLIN : April 20, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, In a discussion in the Reichstag on the 
 18th of April on the Supplementary Budget of 1874, 
 Depiity Kapp asked President Delbriick whether he had 
 official intelligence that German citizens and merchants 
 had engaged in the coolie trade between Macao and Callao, 
 under the Peruvian flag, and were still engaged therein, 
 that German captains of ships have forwarded coolies 
 from the eastern coasts of Asia to Peru, and what steps 
 the Imperial Chancery has taken to stop such offences. 
 
 President Delbriick replied, that it had been reported 
 in the newspapers that a ' German firm in Hong Kong 
 had been snipping coolies, and that very sad things had 
 v 2 
 
68 PRACTICAL PRfCIS. 
 
 occurred. This appeared in a Blue Book of the English 
 Parliament. It was found, on further investigation, that 
 if there had been any infraction of the law, it hnci hap- 
 pened under English jurisdiction at Hong Kong, and we 
 promised our co-operation in any proceedings which might 
 be taken. The English lawyers were, however, of opinion 
 that there was no ground for action, so that neither could 
 there be any action on our part. The legal position of 
 the coolie trade is as follows : 
 
 ' The shipment of coolies commenced when the Slave 
 Trade ceased. For a long time the Chinese Government 
 troubled themselves little about the subject. A later at- 
 tempt to mend matters did not succeed ; and the subject 
 was first taken up again in earnest by the Treaties of Peace 
 concluded by Great Britain and France with China in 1860. 
 These recognised the right of emigration to Chinese ; but it 
 was wished to frame regulations for preventing this right 
 from being misused in the engaging, or by the maltreat- 
 ment, of emigrants. In 1866 regulations were agreed upon 
 for emigration from China, which appear to me to be en- 
 tirely suitable. They were communicated to all the Powers, 
 and forthwith published in China as a law of the country. 
 One Article, however, stipulated that a Chinese might 
 not engage himself before emigrating for longer than five 
 years ; besides, the Chinese was to be brought back gratis 
 by the Agent under certain conditions. France and 
 England demanded an alteration of these Articles, but 
 China refused. The Regulations therefore exist, and regu- 
 late the case for the German flag. There is only one 
 omission, which is, that as far as relates to the disposition 
 and maintenance of coolies, they are placed under the 
 rules of the flag under which the ship sails. This is the 
 case with the above-mentioned Articles. Now, as we 
 have no legal regulations in these matters, the German 
 Consulates have published such in order to render pos- 
 sible the transport of coolies on our ships. I can only 
 eay that the Consulates, according to the instructions 
 given to them and the Legation at Peking, will take strict 
 care that the German flag shall not be misused.' 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) ODO RUSSELL. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 69 
 
 No. 4. 
 The Earl of Derby to Sir G. Murray. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: April 30, 1874. 
 
 SIR, I enclose for your information, and for suc\ 
 enquiries as you may be able to make into the matter, an 
 extract from a despatch from Her Majesty's Consul- 
 General in the Havana, mentioning a report that the 
 coolie traffic from. Macao is being resumed under the 
 
 name of free emigration. T 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Sir B. Robertson to Lord Tenterden. 
 (Received May 11.) 
 
 CANTON: March 31, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to enclose a copy of a 
 despatch, and its enclosures I have sent to Her Majesty's 
 Minister at Peking. They enclose a proclamation by the 
 Viceroy and Governor of these Provinces, announcing the 
 extinction of the coolie traffic at Macao. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) B. EOBERTSOX. 
 
 No. 6. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Colloid. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: October 10, 1874. 
 
 SIR, I transmit to you an extract of a despatch 
 from Her Majesty's Consul-General at the Havana, rela- 
 tive to negotiations which he understands are likely to be 
 made at Lisbon with a view to reopening the coolie trade 
 from Macao. 
 
 You will, of course, not fail to report to me anything 
 that may come to your knowledge with regard to the 
 
 alleged negotiations. . 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
TO PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Mr. Cobbold to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Eeceived October 15.) 
 
 LISBON: OctcLer/6, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, I have taken occasion to bring to the 
 notice of the Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs the 
 subject of the Macao Coolie Traffic, more especially that 
 under the denomination of ' free emigration.' I did not 
 fail to point out to his Excellency the deep interest 
 evinced by Her Majesty's Government in the total sup- 
 pression of this traffic, not alone in the cause of humanity, 
 but in the very interests of civilisation; and I clearly 
 stated it as the opinion of my Government that the traffic 
 in question, under whatever head, would never be entirely 
 done away with unless the Portuguese Government were 
 prepared to enforce to its utmost extent their Decree of 
 March 1873. 
 
 Senhor Corvo, in reply, said that he considered this 
 qxiestion as one of the past, as regards Portugal ; he as- 
 sured me that, in March of this year, he even telegraphed 
 to the Governor of Macao not to allow free emigration, as 
 he feared it might serve as a cloak to the old traffic ; and 
 the advices received from that Colony state that all the 
 vessels now leaving Macao do so in ballast. 
 
 The new Governor of Macao is appointed to leave for 
 his post about the middle of this month, and he takes 
 with him positive instructions to carry out all the engage- 
 ments of Portugal with regard to the suppression of the 
 coolie traffic, coupled with the strictest orders not even to 
 allow free emigration. 
 
 His Excellency further stated that a contemplated 
 Treaty between Portugal and Peru has not yet been rati- 
 fied owing to the question of coolie emigration, and that 
 he considers the negotiations at an end, inasmuch as he 
 has written to the Portuguese Consul at Lima that he 
 tnay come home on leave. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) T. CLEMENT 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 71 
 
 No. 8. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Cobbold. 
 
 FOEEIGN OFFICE : October 19, 1874. 
 
 SIR, I have to instruct you to express to the Portu- 
 guese Minister for Foreign Affairs the satisfaction with 
 which Her Majesty's Government have received his Ex- 
 cellency's assurances of the determination of the Portuguese 
 Government not to allow a revival of the Macao Coolie 
 Traffic in any form, as reported in your despatch of the 
 6th instant. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
 No. 9. 
 The Earl of Derby to Mr. Cobbold. 
 
 FOBEIGN OFFICE: March 2, 1875. 
 
 SIR, With reference to my despatch of the 12th of 
 October, I transmit to you copies of despatches from Her 
 Majesty's Consul at Canton, and from the Governor of 
 Hong Kong. 
 
 You will see from these despatches that fears are 
 entertained both by Sir Brooke Robertson and by Sir 
 Arthur Kennedy, that influential persons interested in 
 the coolie traffic may take advantage of the arrival at 
 Macao of the new Governor, Senhor d'Avila, in order to 
 make a strong effort to bring about a revival of that 
 traffic. 
 
 I have to instruct you to communicate the substance 
 of the enclosed despatches to the Portuguese Minister for 
 Foreign Affairs. 
 
 In d oing so you will state that the positive assurances 
 given to you by his Excellency, as reported in your despatch 
 of the 6th of October, have fully satisfied Her Majesty's 
 Government of the sincere des ire of the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment not to allow the coolie traffic from Macao to be re- 
 sumed in any shape ; and Her Majesty's Government. 
 
72 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 therefore, feel sure that the Portuguese Government will 
 be glad to be informed of the efforts that are likely to be 
 made for its renewal, in order that they may take prompt 
 measures to prevent the success of those efforts. 
 
 You will add that, in view of 'the fact stated by Sir 
 Arthur Kennedy, that the suspension of the Regulations 
 for the coolie traffic expires on the 1st of April, Her 
 Majesty's Government urges upon the Government of 
 His Most Faithful Majesty the propriety df sending in- 
 structions upon this subject at once by telegraph to the 
 Government of Macao. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) DERBY. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 Mr. Colfoold to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Received April 22.) 
 
 LISBON: March 22, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, "With reference to your despatch of the 
 2nd instant, I have the honour to enclose to your Lord- 
 ship herewith translation of a note, dated the 19th instant, 
 from the Portugiiese Minister for Foreign Affairs, in 
 which his Excellency states that the new Governor of 
 Macao and Timor has been furnished with instructions to 
 prohibit, until further orders, emigration under contract 
 as well as all free emigration. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) T. CLEMENT COBBOLD. 
 
SUHIES OF LETTEES. 73 
 
 (3.) A COPY OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE BOARD 
 OF TRADE AND FOREIGN OFFICE AND THE COMMITTEE 
 OF LLOYD'S ON THE SUBJECT OF GRAIN CARGOES. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 The Secretary of Lloyd's to Lord Tenterden. 
 (Beceived April 20.) 
 
 LLOYD'S : April 19, 1875. 
 
 SIR, 1 am directed by the Committee of Lloyd's to 
 inform you that it has been reported to the Committee 
 that measures for deepening the bar at Kertch have been 
 instituted by the Government of His Majesty the Emperor 
 of Russia, and that the works proceed only with great 
 delays. 
 
 I am directed further to point out to you that, in con- 
 sequence of want of water on that bar, considerable 
 damage and loss is incurred by both ships and cargoes, 
 and consequently much loss is sustained by merchants 
 and underwriters interested in the trade of the Azov. I 
 am, therefore, to request you to be good enough to bring 
 these matters under the notice of the Earl of Derby, in 
 order that his Lordship may allow such steps to be taken 
 as he may deem advisable to draw the attention of the 
 Russian Government to the necessity for the rapid com- 
 pletion of the works for deepening the bar at Kertch. 
 
 I am further directed by the Committee of Lloyd's to 
 bring under your notice the great saving of life and pro- 
 perty that woiild, without doubt, be effected by an adop- 
 tion at the grain-loading ports in the Black Sea of some 
 regulations with reference to the stowage of grain cargoes^ 
 similar to those now enforced at Montreal and also at 
 New York. From the semi-fluid character of these 
 cargoes great danger is experienced in heavy weather 
 from their constant displacement by the motion of the 
 vessel, if not adequately secured. Even under the most 
 favourable circumstances they always settle into a much 
 smaller space than that which is originally occupied when 
 
74 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 they are first loaded, and this also has a tendency to 
 render useless shifting boards and other safeguards, unless 
 veiy carefully provided. 
 
 No less than five steamers from the Black Sea foun- 
 dered during the Inonths of November, December, and 
 January, while a sixth was abandoned from the same cause, 
 T)ut subsequently recovered. The number of lives lost on 
 board these vessels can hardly be estimated atless than 
 140. It is further to be noted that one of these five, 
 "(luring the winter of 1873, brought a cargo of like quantity 
 across the Atlantic in perfect safety through equally 
 severe weather. Her captain attributed his safety upon 
 this voyage to the fact of one-third of his cargo having 
 been stowed in bags upon the top of the remaining portion 
 in bulk, while, when coming lately from the Black Sea, 
 this precaution was omitted, and the loss of twenty-eight 
 lives would appear to have been the consequence. Even 
 on so short a voyage as from Antwerp to London seven 
 lives, as well as the ship and cargo, were lately lost from 
 the shifting of a cargo of linseed on board a steamer 
 called the ' Princess.' The Committee of Lloyd's believo 
 that enquiries of all who are conversant with this subject 
 will confirm the view they are now taking, and which has 
 been most forcibly brought under their notice by the very 
 marked effect upon the safety of steamers bringing grain 
 from Montreal to New York, owing to the punctual 
 enforcement of the regulations mentioned above since tho 
 disastrous winter of 1872-73. 
 
 In addition to the painful argument furnished by the 
 less of so many lives every winter from this cause, you 
 will observe that the loss of so much property must have 
 a tendency to raise both freights ^am_premiums, and by 
 this increase of the cost of importation tell against the 
 welfare of the great Empire of Russia in competition with 
 otEeTgrain^exporting countries. TfTthus becomes greatly 
 the interest of the Government of that country to enforce 
 rules that have been found in practice so beneficial, even 
 if the lives directly affected thereby should be mainly 
 those of our own countrymen. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) H. M. HOZIEE, Secretary. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 75 
 
 No. 2. 
 Lord Tenterden to Mr. Farrer. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: April 24, 1876. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to trans- 
 mit to you a letter from Lloyd's, and I am to request 
 that, in laying it before the Board of Trade, you will state 
 that his Lordship has communicated with Her Majesty's 
 Ambassador at St. Petersburg on that part which relates 
 to the condition of the bar at Kertch ; and that if the 
 Board of Trade think that course advisable, he is prepared 
 to make a further representation in regard to that part 
 which refers to grain cargoes. 
 
 Lord Derby would, however, be glad to receive the 
 opinion of the Lords of Trade as to the precise form in 
 which any representation on this last point should be 
 made ; and I am to observe that this letter from Lloyd's 
 does not contain full information with respect to the regu- 
 lations stated to be in force at Montreal and New York. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
 No. 3. 
 Lord Tenterden to the Secretary of Lloyd's. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: April 24, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, and I 
 am to state to you in reply, for the information of the 
 Committee of Lloyd's, that the representations therein made 
 relative to the condition of the bar at Kertch and grain 
 cargoes from Russian ports in the Black Sea are receiving 
 his Lordship's attention. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
76 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 No. 4. 
 Mr. Farrer to Lord Tenterden. 
 
 (Received July 13.) 
 BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL GARDENS: July 12, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, I am directed by the Board of Trade to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th of April 
 last, transmitting a letter from Lloyd's relating (1) to the 
 condition of the bar at Kertch, and (2) to the need for 
 some regulations for the stowage of grain cargoes at ports 
 in the Black Sea similar to those that are in force at 
 Montreal and New York. 
 
 The latter of these two subjects is, no doubt, one of 
 very serious importance as regards the safety both of lives 
 and property, but the Board of Trade hesitate to advise 
 his Lordship to make a representation on the subject to 
 the Russian Government for the following reasons : 
 
 1. They have not yet succeeded in obtaining copies of 
 the rules in force at Montreal and New York, and it is 
 very doubtful whether rules made for one port would be 
 applicable or advisable at another. 
 
 2. A dangerous precedent might be established if a 
 foreign Government were invited to legislate or make 
 regulations for British shipping. Such regulations might 
 be injudicious in themselves, whilst their application 
 by the foreign authorities might be unjust; and re- 
 monstrances against their abuse would lack force from 
 their having been made at the request of Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 3. Any general regulations at a foreign port would 
 affect ships of other nations, and any special regulations 
 for British ships might act injuriously to British com- 
 merce. 
 
 4. Underwriters and shipowners might do much to 
 effect the desired object without Government inter- 
 ference. 
 
 Under these circumstances the Board are in commu- 
 nication with Lloyd's to see whether steps cannot be 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 77 
 
 taken to secure the adoption of proper rules without 
 applying for the compulsory interference of the Russian 
 Government. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) T. H. FARRER. 
 
 No. 5. 
 Lord Tenterden to the Secretary of Lloyd 's. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: July 17, 1875. 
 
 SIR, With reference to the letter from this Office of 
 the 24th of April last, I am directed by the Earl of 
 Derby to state to you, for the information of the Com- 
 mittee of Lloyd's, that his Lordship has considered, in con- 
 sultation with the Lords of Trade, the questions adverted 
 to in your letter of the 20th of April, respecting the con- 
 dition of the bar at Kertch, and the need for some regula- 
 tions for the stowage of grain cargoes at ports in the 
 Black Sea similar to those that are in force at Montreal 
 and New York. 
 
 I am now to observe that the latter of these two sub- 
 jects is, no doubt, one of very serious importance as re- 
 gards the safety both of lives and property, but Lord 
 Derby does not deem it advisable to make a representa- 
 tion on the subject to the Russian Government for the 
 following reasons : 
 
 1. This Office is not yet in possession of copies of the 
 rules in force in Montreal and New York, and it is very 
 doubtful whether rules made for one port would be appli- 
 cable or advisable at another. 
 
 2. A dangerous precedent might be established if a 
 foreign Government were invited to legislate or make 
 regulations for British shipping. Such regulations might 
 be injudicious in themselves, whilst their application by 
 the foreign authorities might be unjust, and remon- 
 strances against their abuse would lack force from the 
 regulations having been made at the request of Her 
 Majesty's Government. 
 
 3. Any general regulations at a foreign port would 
 
78 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 affect ships of other nations, and any special regulations 
 for British ships might act injuriously to British com- 
 merce. 
 
 4. It appears to Lord Derby that underwriters and 
 shipowners might do much to effect the desired object 
 without Government interference. 
 
 I ain, in conclusion, to state that Lord Derby under- 
 stands that <the Board of Trade are in communication 
 with the'Committee of Lloyd's, with a view to ascertain 
 whether steps cannot be taken to secure the adoption of 
 proper rules without applying for the compulsory inter- 
 ference of the Russian Government. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) TENTEBDEN. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 The Secretary of Lloyd's to Lord Tenterden. 
 (Keceived July 22.) 
 
 LLOYD'S: July 21, 1875. 
 
 MY LORD, I am directed by the Committee of 
 Lloyd's to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your 
 letter of the 17th instant. 
 
 I have only to remark, in reply, that it was not the 
 intention of the Committee of Lloyd's to suggest a special 
 law for British vessels loading at Rxissian ports that was 
 not applicable to those of other nations, but a universal 
 regulation which might be applicable to vessels of all flags 
 alike. 
 
 The paragraph 4 of your letter is that which the 
 Committee of Lloyd's is most concerned to answer, and 
 perhaps I may possibly place before your Lordship the 
 opinion of the Committee by enclosing a copy of a letter 
 which has been written to the Board of Trade in reply to 
 the communication from that Department upon the same 
 subject, alluded to in your Lordship's letter of the 17th 
 instant. 
 
 I have, &c.,. 
 
 (Signed) H. M. HOZIEE, Secretary. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 
 
 Enclosure in No. 6. 
 
 The Secretary of Lloyd's to the Assistant- Secretary to the 
 Board of Trade. 
 
 LLOYD'S: July 21, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I have to acknowledge your letter of the 10th of 
 July (replying to mine of the 19th of April addressed to the 
 Foreign Office and referred to your Department) suggest- 
 ing that instead of claiming the interference of the Rus- 
 sian Government to control the stowage of grain cargoes 
 shipped from the Black Sea, the owners and underwriters 
 should be the persons by whom a better state of loading 
 should be enforced. 
 
 The Committee would probably not have gone further 
 into this question had it not been for the concluding para- 
 graph of your lettei', desiring their opinion upon the prac- 
 ticability of their action conducing to a better system ; 
 and upon this subject they are glad to have an oppor- 
 tunity of saying a few words, as it seems to them that 
 there is much misconception about it. 
 
 The province of underwriters is not to lead, but to 
 follow, the course of trade ; for the machinery by which 
 commerce is carried on is independent of their control or 
 consent ; nor are the intci'ests represented by the Com- 
 mittee really concerned in the matter, for whatever the 
 risks of any special trade may be, proportionately to those 
 risks is the payment for insurance ultimately regulated. 
 
 It is pospible that the interesting letter from the 
 Consul-General at New York of the 24th of June, 1875, 
 sent here from your Department, may have led to a 
 belief that it is within the power of underwriters to regu- 
 late the loading of cargoes of the same description as 
 those, the subject of this correspondence. But I beg to 
 point out to you that the control the^gwJYork under- 
 writers possess is_JJmitedjto those shipsjthe insurance j 
 whicn is ofJferecTto their particular associated offices >6f the 
 Board~of Underwriters, while at3MonEeiI7 where Gp-gejn- 
 ment interference prevails, the rules, are absolute and 
 general. l urther, what may be possible by association in 
 
80 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 a limited area of business becomes impracticable when 
 that area is greatly extended ; and such a combination in 
 England would simply result in transferring the market 
 forinsurance to other countries. 
 
 The Committee indeed entertain doubts whether such 
 a power of control among underwriters (though appa- 
 rently useful in the present instance) would always be for 
 the advantage of commerce. 
 
 The Committee, fearing to go at greater length into 
 ,. this question at this moment, have intended to show very 
 ' ye. shortly that underwriters do not possess the power 3 and X. 
 then that they havelio direct interest in urging the point 
 referred to in their letter of the 19th of April, and that they 
 were moved only by a desire to bring authority to bear on 
 a custom of trade that led directly to lamentable loss of 
 life and inevitable destruction of property. 
 
 They consider these subjects as directly coming under 
 the legitimate interference of Governments, and that by 
 them alone they can be effectually dealt with ; and the 
 Committee would be glad if you could decide to share 
 these views, and return the letter to the Foreign Office 
 backed with the influence of your opinion. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) HENRY M. HOZIER, Secretary. 
 
 No. 7. 
 Lord Tenterden to the Secretary to Lloyd's. 
 
 FOBEIGN OFFICE: July 23, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st instant, con- 
 taining further observations on the part of the Committee 
 of Lloyd's with respect to the regulations for loading 
 vessels at Russian ports. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
SERIES OP LETTERS. 81 
 
 (4.) CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE GERMAN VESSEL 
 ' TURANDOT,' CAPTURED BY A FRENCH CRUISER DURING 
 THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. 
 
 No. 1. 
 Messrs. Smith, /Sundius, and Co. to Earl Granville. 
 
 (Eeceived March 3.) 
 
 33 GBACECHUBCH STREET, LONDON, E.C : March 1, 1873. 
 MY LORD, We are insurance brokers in this city. 
 During the late war between France and Germany we 
 effected insurances for 6,400. upon the following goods 
 laden on board the German ship ' Turandot,' Captain 
 Meinert, from Hamburg, bound to Hong Kong, viz. : 
 
 E S & C . 25 rolls of wire rope. 
 F P . 500 cases window glass. 
 
 F WE L j 25 steel tubes> 
 E S & C . 50 casks beef. 
 
 1,000 bundles of iron. 
 
 600 ditto. 
 F K . 1 case of matches. 
 
 B F .346 cases ditto. 
 
 E S & C . 81 cases of glassware. 
 
 The said ship was captured and taken to Saigon by 
 the French cruiser ' Segond ; ' the above goods were sold 
 there and realised 104,047/. 15c. 
 
 The account sales and money for the proceeds were 
 received by the Director of Prizes in Paris on or about; 
 the 2nd of January, 1872. 
 
 Our agent, M. A. Chateauneuf Jeune, residing at 8 
 Boulevard Montmartre, Paris, has since made many ap- 
 plications for payment of said sum of 104,047/. 15c. 
 
82 PBACTICAL PRfCTS. 
 
 He was told that owing to various interests being 
 mixed up and accounted for in one sum, the French Court 
 of Prizes had proposed to the Reichskanzler in Berlin to 
 pay over the proceeds to him for distribution among the 
 interested. 
 
 Afterwards he was informed by the Court of Prizes 
 in Paris that the Reichskanzler had declined, or was 
 unable, to make the distribution. 
 
 We have, when in Paris (through the courtesy of 
 M. Bourdin at the Prize Court), seen the account sales, 
 and found the proceeds of sale of our above parcels of 
 goods separately enumerated and distinctly defined. 
 
 Wherefore we pray that your Lordship will be so 
 good as to direct our Ambassador at Paris to see the 
 authorities there and procure a prompt payment of the 
 proceeds of sale to our said agent, M. Chateauneuf, unless, 
 indeed, the French Government prefer to pay the sum to 
 our Ambassador for transmission to your Lordship and 
 for payment by you to the interested. 
 
 We are, &c., 
 (Signed) SMITH, SUNDIUS, & Co. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Viscount Enfield to Messrs. Smith, Sundius, & Co. 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: March 11, 1873. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, In reply to your letter of the 1st in- 
 stant, I am directed by Earl Granville to inform yon that 
 his Lordship has instructed Her Majesty's Ambassador at 
 Paris to make enquiry concerning your claim on the 
 French Prize Court for the proceeds of the sale of certain 
 goods shipped on board the German vessel ' Turandot,' 
 which you had insured before her capture by a French 
 cruiser ; and his Excellency has been instructed to give 
 you such assistance in prosecuting your claim as he can 
 properly afford. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) ENFIELD. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 83 
 
 No. 3. 
 Earl Granville to Lord Lyons. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: March 11, 1873. 
 
 MY LORD, I transmit to your Excellency a copy of 
 a letter from Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co., a firm 
 who claim from the French Prize Court the proceeds of 
 the sale of certain goods stowed on board the German 
 ship ' Turandot ' when she was captured during the late war 
 by a French cruiser, which goods the firm had insured ; 
 and I am to request your Excellency to be so good as to 
 enquire into this matter, and to give to the firm such 
 assistance in pursuing the claim in question as you can 
 properly afford, reporting to me the steps, if any, which 
 your Excellency may feel justified in taking in this 
 matter. 
 
 I am, <fec., 
 
 (Signed) GRANVILLE. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Lord Lyons to Earl Granville. 
 (Received March 19, 1873.) 
 
 PABIS: Mcrch 17, 1873. 
 
 MY LORD, I had yesterday the honour to receive 
 your Lordship's despatch of the llth instant, enclosing a 
 copy of a letter from Messrs. Smith and Sundius praying 
 your Lordship to direct me to see the French authorities 
 here and procure a prompt payment to their agents of a 
 sum of money claimed by them in a Prize Case, unless, 
 indeed, the French Government prefer to pay the sum to 
 me for transmission to your Lordship, and for payment 
 by you to the interested. 
 
 The claim appears to arise from an insurance effected 
 by Messrs. Smith and Sundius on goods on board a Ger- 
 man ship, the ' Turandot,' which was captured and taken 
 into Saigon by a French cruiser ; and it is stated that 
 the goods in question were sold, and the proceeds received 
 2 
 
84 PRACTICAL PEECIS. 
 
 by the Director of Prizes in Paris, on or about the 2nd of 
 January, 1872. 
 
 Payment appeal's to have been delayed ; but Messrs. 
 Smith and Sundius's letter does not show with sufficient 
 precision what, if any, steps they have taken to establish 
 their claim before the Prize Court, and obtain payment 
 for it in the regular course. They merely say that their 
 agent at Paris has made many applications for payment. 
 
 The general instructions given to Her Majesty's Em- 
 bassy are, not to interfere in Prize Cases, and it appears 
 to me that I should not be justified, as at present advised, 
 in departing from those instructions. Your Lordship 
 will probably think that before demanding payment of 
 the money from the French Government, or even so far 
 intervening in the case as to call upon the Government to 
 furnish us with information respecting it, we should be sup- 
 plied by the claimants with primd facie evidence that our 
 interference would be justifiable and necessary. In fact, 
 according to the ordinary principle, the claimants should 
 show that they have exhausted the legal means at their 
 disposal, and that there has been such a delay or denial 
 of justice as would warrant Her Majesty's Government 
 in demanding redress for them, as a question between 
 Government and Government. 
 
 I am far from wishing to act over scrupulously upon 
 this principle, but I do not think Messrs. Smith and 
 Sundius have in their letter made their case sufficiently 
 clear to warrant me in taking any steps concerning it 
 without further information. 
 
 I wait, therefore', for further instructions from your 
 Lordship. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) LYONS. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Mr. Hammond to Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. 
 FOREIGN OFFICE : March 27, 1873. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, With reference to Lord Enfield's letter 
 of the llth instant, respecting your claim against the 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 85 
 
 French Prize Courts, on account of the sale of certain 
 goods forming part of the caigo of the German vessel 
 ' Turandot ' when she was captured by a French cruiser 
 during the late war, I am directed to inform you that a 
 despatch has been received from Her Majesty's Ambas- 
 sador at Paris, in which his Excellency states that your 
 letter does not show with sufficient precision what, if any, 
 steps have been taken to establish yoiir claim before the 
 Prize Court, and obtain judgment of it in the regular 
 course, but that you refer only to your agent at Paris 
 having made many applications for payment. 
 
 It is right that you should be aware that it is no part 
 of the duty of Her Majesty's Embassies or Legations 
 abroad to interfere, under ordinary circumstances, in 
 cases before Prize Courts, and in the present instance Her 
 Majesty's Ambassador would not be justified on the infor- 
 mation you have as yet furnished in regard to your claim 
 in departing from this principle. 
 
 Before, therefore, Lord Granville can instruct Lord 
 Lyons to make any application to the French Government 
 on your behalf, it will be necessary that you should supply 
 primd facie evidence that such interference would be 
 justifiable and necessary, which would not, under ordinary 
 circumstances, be the case, unless you can show that you 
 have exhausted the legal means at your disposal, and that 
 there has been such a delay or denial of justice as would 
 warrant the intervention of Her Majesty's Embassy in 
 your behalf. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) E. HAMMOND. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. to Earl Granville. 
 
 (Received November 12.) 
 
 33 GEACECHUKCH STREET, LONDON, E.G.: November 8, 1873. 
 
 MY LORD, We duly received your Lordship's favour 
 
 of the 27th of March. Since which we have been at Paris, 
 
 and have satisfied ourselves that 242,000/'. have been sent 
 
86 PRACTICAL 
 
 to the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Berlin by the Prize 
 Court at Paris for division among those concerned in the 
 proceeds of the sale of the ship ' Turandot ' and her cargo. 
 "We have therefore sought, through the German Con- 
 sul here, repayment of the sum of 104,047/*., which is 
 shown to be due to the underwriters (whom we represent) 
 in respect of certain items referred to in our letter to your 
 Lordship dated the 1 st of March last, but are informed by 
 him that our application must be addressed to the Im 
 perial German Ministry for Foreign Aifairs, through the 
 medium of your Lordship and Her Majesty's Ambassador 
 at Berlin. We therefore beg leave to avail ourselves of 
 the permission given us in your Lordship's letter of the 27th 
 of March (having exhausted all means at our disposal), 
 to beg the favour of your communicating with Mr. Odo 
 Russell at Berlin, asking him to communicate with the 
 Imperial Foreign Office, and obtain for us the payment 
 of the equivalent of said sum of 104,047/*. 
 
 We are, &c., 
 (Signed) SMITII, SUNDIUS, & Co. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Viscount Enfield to Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. 
 FOREIGN OFFICE : November 21, 1873. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, I am directed by Earl Granville to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, 
 requesting the intervention of Her Majesty's Representa- 
 tive at Berlin in obtaining for you, from the German 
 Government, the payment of a sum which you claim as 
 part of the proceeds of the sale of the ship ' Turandot ' 
 during the late Franco-German war, the proceeds of that 
 sale having, you state, been sent to Berlin by the French 
 Prize Court for division among those concerned. 
 
 I am to state to you, in reply, that Lord Granville 
 does not consider that you have yet established any claim 
 for the formal intervention of Her Majesty's Government. 
 You do not appear to have exhausted all the legal means 
 at your disposal for obtaining payment of your claim from 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 87 
 
 the German Government, nor have you shown that there 
 has been any such delay or denial of justice as would 
 alone warrant the interference of Her Majesty's Ambas- 
 sador. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) ENFIELD. 
 
 No. 8. 
 Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. to the Earl of Derby. 
 
 (Received September 17.) 
 
 33 GRACECHUECH STREET, LONDON: September 16, 1874. 
 MY LORD, We beg your Lordship's reference to your 
 predecessor's letter to us of the 21st of November, 1873, in 
 reference to which we subjoin copy of letter from the 
 Reichskanzler's office to Dr. Albert Wolfison, our soli- 
 citor at Hamburg, proving that we have exhausted all 
 legal means at our disposal for obtaining payment of our 
 claim from the German Government for the handing over 
 to us, on behalf of certain underwriters, on part of the 
 cargo per ship ' Turandot,' the proceeds of sale at Saigon of 
 their interest, and we trust that your Lordship will con- 
 sider that there has been such a denial of justice as your 
 predecessor contemplated would warrant the interference 
 of Her Majesty's Government on our behalf, and that 
 your Lordship will be pleased now to direct Her Majesty's 
 Ambassador at Berlin to interfere and procure us pay- 
 ment of the sum of 104,047/'., which was handed by the 
 French to the German Government, for proceeds of sale 
 at Saigon of the goods, for distribution to the parties en- 
 titled thereto. 
 
 We are, &c., 
 
 (Signed) SMITH, SUNDIUS, & Co. 
 
 (Translation.) BERLIN : May 28, 1874. 
 
 In reply to your letter of the 15th instant, respecting 
 the claim of the underwriters of various goods forming 
 part of the cargo of the ship ' Turandot,' for payment of 
 the proceeds of sale of the same, we have to inform you 
 
88 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 that the Imperial Chancellery, upon re-investigation of 
 the circumstances, is not able to recognise the legal ground 
 for said claim. 
 
 Signed for the Reichskanzlersamt, 
 
 Eos. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Mr. Lister to Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: September 24, 1874. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, In reply to your letter of the 16th in- 
 stant, respecting the case of the ship ' Turandot,' I am 
 directed by the Earl of Derby to inform you that it is 
 the opinion of Her Majesty's Government that the under- 
 writers cannot claim to be in a better position than the 
 owner of the ship, a German subject ; and that as the 
 German Government cannot be called upon under German 
 law to repay the owner, Her Majesty's Government re- 
 gret that they do not feel themselves in a position to 
 support your claim. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) T. V. LISTER. 
 
 No. 10. 
 Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. to the Earl of Derby. 
 
 (Received October 19.) 
 
 33 GRACECHUECH STREET, LONDON : October 19, 1874. 
 MY LORD, We have to acknowledge receipt of youi 
 Lordship'; 3 communication dated the 24th of September, 
 in which we are informed that in the opinion of Hei 
 Majesty's Government the underwriters whom we repre- 
 sent cannot claim to be in a better position than the owner 
 of the ship, a German subject. 
 
 In reply we would first respectfully point out that 
 the interest we represent is not, as your Lordship would 
 appear to understand, in the ship, but in a portion of the 
 cai-go she had on board, as may be seen on reference to 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 89 
 
 our letter to the Foreign Office dated the 1st of March, 
 1873. 
 
 We would next respectfully submit that your Lord- 
 ship's hypothesis that the underwriters cannot claim to be 
 in a better position than the owner of the ship (or goods), 
 a German subject, accords entirely with the view the 
 underwriters themselves take of their position, their 
 opinion being that by reason of their having reimbursed 
 the German shippers of the cargo the amount of loss 
 under the policy of insurance, all interest in the subject- 
 matter of the policy reverts to them, and that said interest 
 is clearly denned by Article No. XIII. of the Treaty 
 made at Frankfort on the 10th of May, 1871, which runs 
 as follows : 
 
 ' Les batiments allemands qui etaicnt condamnes par 
 les conseils de prises avant le 2 mars 1871 seront con- 
 sideres comme condamnes definitivement. Ceux qui 
 n'auraient pas ete condamnes a la date susindiquee seront 
 rendus avec la cargaison en tant qu'elle existe encore. Si 
 la restitution des batiments et de la cargaison n'est plus 
 possible, leur valeur, fixee d'apres le piix de la rente, sera 
 rendue a leurs proprietaires.' 
 
 Your Lordship will, we venture to hope, agree with 
 us that the Article (No. XIII.) here cited is so clearly 
 drawn up as to admit of but one construction, viz. that 
 prizes, whether consisting of ships or cargoes, not con- 
 demned before the 2nd of March, 1871, shall be restored 
 to their owners. 
 
 The following details of the capture and sale of the 
 ' Turandot ' and her cargo will, we would venture to hope, 
 convince your Lordship of the entire justice of our de- 
 mand, that the sale value of that portion of the ' Turandot's ' 
 cargo, the interest in which we, on behalf of our under- 
 writers, represent, should be paid over to them by the 
 German Government, to whom it was handed over by 
 the French Government for that purpose, as can be shown 
 by documents if needful : 
 
 The German ship ' Turandot,' Captain Meinert, left 
 Hamburg on the 10th April, 1870, bound for Hong Kong, 
 having general cargo on board. On the 23rd of August, 
 
90 PRACTICAL 
 
 1870, she was captured by the French war steamer 
 ' Segond,' and was by her captors taken into Snigon, where 
 she arrived on the 7th of September, and where she and 
 her cargo were, without condemnation, sold, the proceeds of 
 sale being remitted by the local authorities to the French 
 Government at Versailles. 
 
 In accordance with Article No. XIII. of the Treaty of 
 Peace before cited, the French Government dealt with 
 the said proceeds (the vessel and cargo never having been 
 condemned) in the manner described for such case by the 
 Treaty ; the proceeds of sale of cargo were at least a letter 
 from Versailles, dated the 3rd of August, 1872, signed by 
 the Minister of Marine, informs us this was then being 
 done apportioned to the various shippers ; the shippers 
 belonging to neutral nationalities received the portions 
 direct from the French Government, but the portions re- 
 sulting from shipments made by German subjects were, 
 for obvious reasons which your Lordship will readily 
 appreciate, handed over by the French to the German 
 Government for distribution to those entitled thereto. 
 
 Our letter to the Foreign Office dated the 1st of March, 
 1873, gives particulars of the goods shipped on board the 
 ' Turaudot ' by Messrs. Schellhaas, Bade, and Co. to the 
 consignment of Messrs. Edward Schellhaas and Co., of 
 Hong Kong, which were insured by us for their value of 
 6,4:001. This amount our underwriters paid to the as- 
 sured, Messrs. Schellhaas, Bade, and Co., thereby acquiring 
 a title to the goods, or to the proceeds of the sale there- 
 of, amounting to 104,047/"., application for which sum 
 has been made to, and rejected by, the Imperial Chan- 
 cellery at Berlin, which continues to retain possession of it, 
 thereby subjecting us to a denial of justice ; and in laying 
 the facts before your Lordship, more fully, perhaps, than 
 heretofore, we respectfully crave your Lordship's earnest 
 consideration of, and assistance in, the matter. 
 
 We are, &c., 
 (Signed) SMITH, SUNDIUS, & Co. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 91 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Lord Tenterden to Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Co. 
 FOREIGN OFFICE : October 26, 1874. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to 
 acknowledge tlie receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, 
 containing further statements relative to the claim of the 
 underwriters against the German Government for the in- 
 surance paid on account of the ' Turandot,' in consequence 
 of her capture during the late Franco-German war, and I 
 am, in reply, to inform you that your representations will 
 receive the attention of Her Majesty's Government. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Lord Tenterden to Messrs. Smith) Sundius, and Co. 
 FOREIGN OFFICE : November 7> 1874. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, The Earl of Derby referred to the Law 
 Advisers of the Crown your further letter of the 17th 
 ultimo, relative to the claim of the underwriters against 
 the German Government, for the insurance paid on ac- 
 count of the German vessel ' Turandot,' in consequence of 
 her capture during the late Franco- German war ; and I 
 am now directed by his Lordship to inform you that he 
 sees no reason to alter the opinion already expressed to 
 you, that the decision of the German authorities in this 
 matter cannot properly be questioned by Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
02 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Go. to the Earl of Derby. 
 (Eeceired December 1.) 
 
 33 GEA.CECHUECH STREET, LONDON: November 26, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, We have to acknowledge receipt of 
 your Lordship's communication, dated the 7th instant, 
 informing us that having submitted this matter to the 
 Law Advisers of the Crown, your Lordship sees no reason 
 to alter the opinion that the decision of the German 
 authorities cannot be questioned by Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 We have, in consequence, been led to review the 
 relative positions of the German Government and the 
 British underwriters in this matter, in order, if possible, 
 to discover wherein lies the justice or legality of the re- 
 tention by the German Government of money so mani- 
 festly belonging to British subjects, viz. ' of money arising 
 from the sale of goods bought and paid for by the British 
 underwriters,' whose right of property therein, or in the 
 proceeds thereof, uninterruptedly continues, the said sale 
 having been so completely acknowledged as wrongful 
 that the proceeds thereof have been by them, as far as 
 practicable, and in the words of the Treaty of Peace, 
 ' rendus a leurs proprietaires,' or to the German Govern- 
 ment as custodians for them. We are forced to confess 
 that we fail to discover the justice or legality of said re- 
 tention, and your Lordship's communication above referred 
 to does not help us in this respect. We would therefore 
 respectfully submit that the legal owners of the goods are 
 alone entitled to the proceeds of their sale j that the 
 underwriters, on paying to the shippers the value of the 
 said goods under the policies, became, in accordance with 
 the laws of all civilised nations, the legal owners thereof , 
 that the capture and sale of the goods never having been 
 confirmed by a ' Cour de Prises,' but on the contrary 
 having been voided by the Treaty of Peace, the under- 
 writers have never ceased to be the legal owners of the 
 same; that the German Government, neither by virtue 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 93 
 
 of the Treaty of Peace nor by International Law, or, we 
 venture to assert, by their own laws, can claim any right 
 of property in the proceeds arising from the sale of the 
 goods ; that the retention of such proceeds by said Govern- 
 ment is therefore unjust and illegal ; and that the under- 
 writers, as sufferers of such illegality and injustice, are 
 not unreasonable in still craving the assistance of Hei 
 Majesty's Government in the matter, and in cherishing 
 the hope that the same help and protection which have 
 lately been so actively extended in favour of a subject of 
 Her Majesty by reason of alleged injustice suffered in a 
 South American Republic, and in favour of another sub- 
 ject of Her Majesty by reason of injustice suffered in a 
 Central A merican Republic, will not on reconsideration be 
 denied to them, to obtain from a more potent power 
 nearer home that justice their right to which obviously 
 needs only to be amicably pointed out in order to be re- 
 cognised and acknowledged. 
 
 We are, &c., 
 
 (Signed) SMITH, SUNDIUS, & Co. 
 
 No. 14. 
 Lord Tenterden to Messrs. Smith, Sundius, and Go. 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE: December 10, 1874. 
 GENTLEMEN, I am directed by the Earl of Derby to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your further letter of the 26th 
 ultimo relative to the case of the ' Turandot,' and I am to 
 state to you in reply that his Lordship sees no new facts 
 in this representation to alter the opinion arrived at in 
 regard to the case in question after consultation with the 
 Law Officers. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) TENTERDEN. 
 
94 PRACTICAL 
 
 (5.) CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE CESSION OP FIJI, 
 AND THE PROVISIONAL ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOR AD- 
 MINISTERING THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Received November 18.) 
 
 PEARL,' ISL.VND OP TAVIUNI, FIJI: Octobers, 1874. 
 MY LORD, As an opportunity occurs to-day for send- 
 ing letters to England by the San Francisco mail steamer, 
 I think it well, although the negotiations have not yet 
 been finally concluded, to acquaint your Lordship with 
 the progress that I have made so far in the mission with 
 which I have been entrusted. 
 
 2. I left Sydney on the evening of the 12th ultimo, 
 and after a passage of eleven days, including a detention 
 of twenty-four hours at Norfolk Island, I arrived in 
 Levuka harbour on the afternoon of the 23rd of Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 3. I at once learnt that the general feeling amongst 
 the white settlers, and also amongst some of the natives, 
 in favour of annexation was less strong than it had been 
 in consequence of the recent debate in the House of Lords 
 upon Fiji, a Report of which had been received at Levuka 
 by the mail which had reached that port a few days before 
 my arrival. Persons whose interests were adverse to the 
 establishment of good government had taken advantage 
 of expressions in your Lordship's speech as to the Crown 
 right of pre-emption in all lands, and as regards the 
 ' severe ' form of government which would have to be 
 adopted in the event of annexation, to excite distrust ia 
 the minds of both Europeans and natives on these subjects. 
 The wildest reports were circulated. All private lands 
 were to be confiscated, and Fiji was to be a penal settle- 
 ment. Already 300 marines had left Portsmouth to 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 95 
 
 garrison the place and coerce the inhabitants ! I merely 
 mention these absiird rumours as their prevalence obliged 
 me, in my subsequent negotiations, to correct as far as I 
 could such mischievous misrepresentations. 
 
 4. Upon the day after my arrival, I paid a formal 
 visit to Thakombau and four other principal ruling Chiefs, 
 who had come to Levuka to meet me. I annex an extract 
 from a local paper giving an account of this interview, 
 during which no business was transacted; but I informed 
 the King that whenever he felt inclined to enter upon 
 business I would explain to him frankly and fully the 
 object of my visit. 
 
 5. Upon the following day (25th of September) Tha- 
 kombau came to see me by appointment on board Her 
 Majesty's ship ' Dido ' (the ' Pearl ' being engaged in coal- 
 ing), and we then discussed unreservedly the question of 
 annexation in all its bearings. I placed clearly before the 
 King the views of Her Majesty's Government. At first 
 Thakombau seemed much depressed and reserved, but 
 before the close of the interview, which lasted for more 
 than two hours, he became cheerful and communicative, 
 illustrating the opinions which he expressed with much 
 force and humour, and in a manner which showed clearly 
 that he perfectly apprehended the points under discussion, 
 At the commencement of the interview he said he would 
 take time to think of his position, and would consult with 
 the other Chiefs as to what was best to be done; but 
 towards the close he expressed himself strongly in favour 
 
 JL O %l 
 
 of an unconditional cession of the Islands to the Queen, 
 observing that ' any Fijian Chief who refuses to cede can- 
 not have much wisdom. ... If matters remain as they 
 are, Fiji will become like a piece of drift-wood on the sea, 
 and be picked up by the first passer-by. . . . By annexa- 
 tion the two races, white and black, will be bound toge- 
 ther, and it will be impossible to sever them. The " inter- 
 lacing " has come. Fijians as a nation are of an unstable 
 character, and a white man who wishes to get anything 
 out of a Fijian, if he does not succeed in his object to-day, 
 will try again to-morrow, until the Fijian is either wearied 
 out or over-persuaded, and gives in. But law will bind 
 
96 PEACTICAL PK^CIS. 
 
 us together, and the stronger nation will lend stability to 
 the weaker.' 
 
 6. The result of the interview was, I think, on the 
 whole entirely satisfactory, and the views expressed by 
 the King displayed so much intelligence and unselfish- 
 ness that I aru sure your Lordship will feel interested in 
 perusing a full report of the conversation. I accordingly 
 enclose a copy of the notes which were taken down at the 
 time by a member of my personal staff, who was present 
 during the interview. 
 
 7. Upon the 28th it was intimated to me by a message 
 from the King that, after two days' discussion in Council, 
 he a.nd the other Chiefs then present in Levuka had agreed 
 to the following resolution : 
 
 ' We give Fiji unreservedly to the Queen of Britain, 
 that she may rule us justly and affectionately, and that 
 we may live in peace and prosperity.' 
 
 8. I then forwarded to the King a draft of a Deed of 
 Cession which I had prepared, and stated that, when it 
 had been interpreted and fully explained to the Chiefs, I 
 would be prepared to accept the signatures of such of them 
 as were in Levuka, and on its execution by the remainder 
 of the ruling authorities I would formally accept the 
 cession, and establish a provisional Government until 
 Her Majesty's pleasure as to the future constitution of 
 the islands could be known. 
 
 9. The following day (the 29th) was devoted by the 
 Chiefs to the consideration of the Deed of Cession, and in 
 the evening it was intimated to me that the King and 
 Chiefs would be prepared to sign at Nasova, the public 
 offices of Levuka, on the morning of the 30th of Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 10. I accordingly proceeded to Nasova at ten o'clock 
 on the morning of the 30th, when the King read and 
 handed to me the formal resolution of the Council giving 
 Fiji unreservedly to the Queen. The Deed of Cession 
 was then read in Fijian, and the instrument executed by 
 the King and the four other ruling Chiefs who were pre- 
 sent. I enclose a minute of the proceedings, with copies 
 attached of the resolution of Council and Deed of Cession. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 97 
 
 11. I then invited Thakombau to accompany me on a 
 tour of the islands to obtain the signatures of Maafu and 
 of the other Chiefs not then in Levuka, whose assent was 
 necessary to the validity of the cession. This he at once 
 cheerfully agreed to, and we left Levuka the same after- 
 noon in Her Majesty's ships ' Pearl ' and ' Dido ' for 
 Loma-Loma, Maafu's capital, at which place we arrived 
 on the morning of the 1st instant. 
 
 12. That day was occupied in receiving and paying 
 visits of ceremony ; and on the morning of the 2nd Tha- 
 kombau brought Maafu, the Chief of Lau, and Tui Thakau, 
 the Chief of Thakaundrov6, on board the ' Pearl,' when 
 the Deed of Cession was fully explained to and executed 
 by them. I enclose a copy of the notes of the meeting. 
 
 13. I am now on my way to Bitova, the Chief of 
 Mathuata in Vanua Levu, and propose, when I have re- 
 ceived his assent to the cession, to return to Levuka, 
 where I hope to find assembled the few remaining Chiefs 
 whose signatures it is desirable to obtain. 
 
 Practically, however, with Thakombau's, Maafu's, and 
 Tui Thakau's unconditional tender of cession, the question 
 may be considered as disposed of. 
 
 14. When the Chiefs have all executed the deed, I 
 shall formally accept the country in the Queen's name, 
 and assume the administration of the Government. 
 
 15. There is one clause in the Deed of Cession upon 
 which I think it as well to make here a few explanatory 
 observations. I refer to clause 4, which deals with the 
 land, a question which has given me much anxious con- 
 sideration. If I had avoided all specific reference to land 
 in the deed, restricting it to a simple unconditional cession 
 of the Sovereignty of Fiji, such a course would, I feel sure, 
 have given rise to future difficulties and complications, and, 
 probably, charges of breach of faith. Considering that all 
 writers upon the land question, from Consul Prichard 
 down to the present time, have agreed that every acre of 
 land in Fiji is private property, it would unquestionably 
 have been contended that a mere cession of sovereignty 
 did not convey the absolute proprietorship of the soil. If, 
 on the other hand, any clause had been inserted transfer- 
 
98 PRACTICAL 
 
 ring to Her Majesty the possession of all lands irrespective 
 of private ownership, and the requirements of various 
 tribes, such a provision would never have been assented 
 to peacefully, and the attempt to insert it would, I think, 
 have fairly lent a colour to the rumours of confiscation 
 and spoliation of private rights which had been so in- 
 dustriously circulated. I accordingly determined, after 
 lengthened conferences with Mr. Innes, the Attorney- 
 General of New South Wales, by whom I am accompanied 
 as legal adviser, to insert the clause 4 in the shape in which 
 it will be fcrand in the accompanying copy of the Instru- 
 ment of Cession. The clause simply vests in Her Majesty 
 the absolute ownership of all lands not shown by those 
 laying claim to them to be bond fide the property of 
 Europeans or other foreigners, or not required for the 
 maintenance and support of Chiefs and tribes, leaving Her 
 Majesty's Government to be the ultimate judge as to what 
 lands have been fairly acquired by Europeans, and what 
 extent is required for the support of the natives. It would 
 have been impossible to have gone further than this with- 
 out injustice, and without giving rise at the outset of 
 British rule to serious disaffection and difiiculties. The 
 clause as it stands is in unison with native feeling and 
 precedent, and is, I think, satisfactory to all except such 
 of the whites as entertain doubts regarding the bond fide 
 character of their titles. As showing how thoroughly the 
 proposal is understood by the native mind, I enclose a 
 copy of a question put in Council by Eatu Savanaca when 
 the Chiefs were discussing clause 4 of the Deed of Cession; 
 he expressed satisfaction at the proposed settlement, but 
 asked how about the disposal of land assigned to the 
 Government for the use of Chiefs and tribes. "Would 
 the parties to whom such lands might be allotted have 
 the right to sell or assign, or would the Crown claim the 
 right of pre-emption? In reply to this enquiry, which 
 was brought to me informally through Mr. Wilkinson the 
 interpreter, I intimated that the consideration of these 
 points would form an important element in the labours 
 of the Commission to be appointed for the purpose of en- 
 quiring into and determining upon the whole land ques- 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 99 
 
 tion, and that these and other points would be settled in 
 the manner which should be shown to be most jnst and 
 advantageous for the interests of the Chiefs and Tribes. 
 It will be a matter for serious consideration whether, 
 having regard to the improvident character of the natives, 
 it will be good policy to confer upon them the right of 
 absolutely disposing of their property. 
 
 16. I shall not fail to advise your Lordship fully by 
 the next opportunity of the further progress of negotia- 
 tions; but I cannot delay this letter longer, as I am 
 obliged to despatch it by special boat for Levuka this 
 morning to catch the mail steamer for San Francisco, 
 which is expected to-morrow. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 The Earl of Carnarvon to Sir Hercules Robinson, 
 K.C.M.G. 
 
 DOWNING STREET: December 10, 1874. 
 SIR, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your Report of the 3rd of October, containing an account 
 of the progress of negotiations since your arrival at Levuka, 
 and transmitting, with other documents, a copy of the In- 
 strument of Cession by which the Fiji Islands were for- 
 mally given over to Her Majesty. 
 
 2. I have laid your despatch before the Queen, who 
 has read it with interest, and Her Majesty commands me 
 to convey to you her approval of the ability, discretion, 
 and energy with which you have conducted this transac- 
 tion to a successful and satisfactory issue. 
 
 3. Writing, as I do at present, without full informa- 
 tion as to the details of your arrangements for the tem- 
 porary administration of the Government, I can, of course, 
 only express in general terms my opinion of their apparent 
 adequacy to meet the requirements of the case; but I 
 feel so much confidence in your judgment, that I am satis- 
 
 u2 
 
100 PRACTICAL PRfCIS. 
 
 fied that the dispositions which you have made will, when 
 explained and laid before me in full, be found calculated 
 to enable the more permanent administration of the Go- 
 vernment to be entered upon with the least possible diffi- 
 culty, and with all reasonable promise of success. 
 
 4. I have already expressed my thanks to your Minis- 
 ters for their ready and valuable co-operation in this im- 
 portant matter, but I must also request you to convey to 
 Mr. Innes, the Attorney-General of New South "Wales, 
 who accompanied you in the capacity of legal adviser, my 
 appreciation of the able assistance which he rendered to 
 you. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) CARNARVON. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Eeceived December 19.) 
 
 PEARL,' LEVUKA, FIJI: October 11, 1874. 
 MY LORD, In continuation of my despatch sent on 
 the 3rd instant from the Island of Taviuni, I have now 
 the honour to report that I went from thence along the 
 north coast of Vanua Levu, touching at Nanduri and 
 Mathuata. Here we found that a tribal war had a few 
 days before broken out between the rival Chiefs Ritova 
 and Katonivere, which had resulted in loss of life and 
 considerable destruction of property. Our arrival at the 
 moment with Thakombau and two ships of war was 
 opportune. Thakombau at once sent for all the parties 
 concerned ; explained to them what had taken place in 
 Levuka and Loma-Loma, and that he was going round 
 the group to make arrangements for the transfer of the 
 government of the country to the Queen. He ordered 
 both contending parties to disperse forthwith to their 
 homes, and to take down the war fences. He also carried 
 away with him, in the ' Dido,' the two Chiefs Ritova and 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 101 
 
 Katonivere, with a view of investigating their conduct in 
 Levuka, with the assistance of the other ruling Chiefs. 
 
 2. Peace having thus been restored on the Mathuata 
 coast, we proceeded round the north-west point of Vanua 
 Levu to Bua, where we landed, inspected a portion of this 
 well-governed native province, and took away with us the 
 Chief Tui Bua, to be present at the proposed gathering of 
 all the Chiefs in Levuka, with a view to the formal transfer 
 of the country to the British Crown. 
 
 3. On the 7th of October I returned to Levuka, and 
 on the 10th I proceeded by appointment to the Govern- 
 ment Buildings at Nasova, where all the Chiefs who had 
 not previously signed the Deed of Cession attached their 
 names and seals to the instrument, which was then exe- 
 cuted by me, and a counterpart handed to Thakombau, 
 to be retained by himself and the other high Chiefs as a 
 record of the transaction. 
 
 4. I then publicly declared Fiji to be from that time 
 forth a Possession and Dependency of the British Crown, 
 and hoisted the British flag with the usual formalities. I 
 enclose a minute of the proceedings, in which will be found 
 a description of an interesting incident which occurred 
 when Thakombau presented to me his favourite war club, 
 for transmission to Her Majesty. 
 
 5. Upon the afternoon of the same day I issued the 
 first ' Government Gazette ' of the Colony of Fiji, copies 
 of which are herewith enclosed. It contains a Proclama- 
 tion declaring Fiji to be a British Dependency, and an- 
 nouncing that I had assumed the temporary administration 
 of the Government of the Islands until Her Majesty's 
 pleasure could be made known as to the constitution of 
 the permanent Government of the Colony. I published 
 in the same Gazette, for general information, in both 
 English and Fijian, copies of the Resolution adopted by 
 the Chiefs assembled in Council, giving Fiji unreservedly 
 to the Queen, and of the Deed of Cession which had that 
 day been executed at Nasova. 
 
 6. In a subsequent despatch I will report to your 
 Lordship the arrangements which I may make for the 
 establishment of a provisional Administration, pending 
 
102 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 the notification of Her Majesty's pleasure as regards the 
 permanent Government of these Islands. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Received December 1 9.) 
 
 'PEAEL,' FIJI: October 11, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to report that, after 
 the formal execution yesterday by all the Chiefs of the 
 Deed of Cession, Thakombau stated that he desired to say 
 a few words to me, and asked that Mr. Thurston, to 
 whom he had that morning explained his wishes, might 
 be allowed to interpret them. Mr. Thurston then 
 said : 
 
 ' Your Excellency, before finally ceding his country 
 to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 the King desires, through your Excellency, to give to 
 Her Majesty the only thing he possesses that may interest 
 her. 
 
 ' The King gives Her Majesty his old and favourite 
 war club, the former and, until lately, the only known 
 law of Fiji. 
 
 ' In abandoning club law, and adopting the forms and 
 principles of civilised societies, he laid by his old weapon, 
 and covered it with the emblems of peace. Many of his 
 people, whole tribes, died and passed away under the old 
 law, but hundreds of thousands still survive to learn and 
 enjoy the newer and better state of things. The King 
 adds only a few words. With this emblem of the past 
 he sends his love to Her Majesty, saying that he fully 
 confides in her and her children, who, succeeding her, shall 
 become Kings of Fiji, to exercise a watchful control over 
 the welfare of his children and people, who, having sur- 
 vived the barbaric law and age, are now submitting them- 
 selves, under Her Majesty's rule, to civilisation.' 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 103 
 
 Thakombau then handed the club to me ; and I in- 
 formed him that I would not fail to transmit it to the 
 Queen, and would at the same time convey to Her 
 Majesty, through your Lordship, the message which he 
 desired should accompany the gift. 
 
 I will forward the box containing the club by the first 
 convenient opportunity. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Sir Hercules fiobinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Received December 19.) 
 'PEARL,' LEVUKA, FIJI: October 16, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, The formalities for the transfer of the 
 sovereignty of these islands to Her Majesty having been 
 completed on the 10th instant, I proceeded at once, as 
 authorised by your Lordship, to authorise a temporary 
 Administration, pending provision being made by Letters 
 Patent or Order in Council for the permanent govern- 
 ment of the Colony. The accompanying ' Fiji Gazettes,' 
 numbered 1 to 6 consecutively, will show fully in detail 
 the various measures adopted by me for this purpose. 
 
 2. The question as to how provision could best be 
 made for supervising the temporary administration of the 
 government gave me much consideration. There was no 
 person in Fiji who had had any experience of a Crown 
 Colony. It was clear to me, too, that much would depend 
 upon the manner in which aifairs were conducted upon 
 the first establishment of British rule, and that it would 
 have been scarcely practicable for your Lordship's Depart- 
 ment to have exercised any effectual control over the 
 Provisional Government if I had placed it in direct com- 
 munication with Downing Street. I therefore determined, 
 as Sydney is now connected by means of regular monthly 
 steamers with Levuka, and is at the same time in tele- 
 graphic communication with London, to retain in my own 
 
104 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 hands, for the present, a general supervision over the 
 temporary administration of the newly-established Colony. 
 
 3. As I had no information whatever respecting the 
 intentions of Her Majesty's Government with regard to 
 the future disposal of the services of Mr. Layard, the 
 Consul for Fiji and Tonga, I requested him to continue to 
 act as Consul for Tonga, and at the same time to accept 
 the unpaid offices of Vice-President of the Executive 
 Council and Administrator of the Government in my 
 absence, drawing, as heretofore, his emoluments from the 
 Foreign Office until your Lordship had had an oppor- 
 tunity of determining upon the permanent establishments 
 for Fiji, and the Foreign Office should decide as to the 
 Tongan Consulship. This Mr. Layard at once acceded 
 to, so that, for the present, as will be seen on a reference 
 to the accompanying papers, the revenues of the Colony 
 are not subjected to any charge for either the Governor or 
 the Administrator of the Government. 
 
 4. In like manner I requested Mr. Innes, the Attorney- 
 General of New South Wales, by whom I am accom- 
 panied, to accept a seat in the Executive Council without 
 office, both for the benefit oi the assistance which he could 
 render me while here, and also to enable me, on my 
 return to New South Wales, to obtain the advantage of 
 his legal knowledge and sound judgment in all Fiji matters 
 which may be transmitted for my decision. 
 
 5. I completed the Executive Council by the appoint- 
 ments, as will be seen from Gazette No. 1, of Mr. Thurs- 
 ton as Colonial Secretary, Mr. Horton as Treasurer, and 
 Mr. Swanston as Secretary for Native Affairs, assigning 
 to each a salary for the present of 4:001. a year. These 
 appointments appear to give general satisfaction. Mr. 
 Thurston is certainly the fittest person in Fiji to act as 
 Colonial Secretary. He is intimately acquainted with 
 the circumstances and requirements of the group ; he is a 
 good Fijian scholar, and he served as Acting Consul here 
 for some years to the entire satisfaction, I understand, of 
 the Foreign Office. Mr. Horton is the Manager of the 
 Fijian Banking Company, and a gentleman upon whose 
 integrity the utmost reliance may be placed. The arrange- 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 105 
 
 ment, too, will effect a considerable saving, as the receipts 
 and disbursements of the Government will be made 
 through the Bank, thus rendering unnecessary the services 
 of more than one subordinate Treasury Officer, an 
 Accountant. Mr. Swanston held the office of Minister 
 for Native Affairs under the Constitutional Government 
 of Fiji, and has the reputation of being an honest, inde- 
 pendent man, sincerely desirous of advancing the interests 
 of the native population of the country. Amongst these 
 three officers I have distributed the supervision of all the 
 administrative and judicial departments of the Govern- 
 ment, dividing the functions in the manner which will be 
 fcmnd specified in a notification published in the Gazette 
 of the 13th instant (No. 2). 
 
 6. In the Judicial Department I have been enabled 
 to make considerable reductions. The office of Chief 
 Justice and Chancellor of the Kingdom has been allowed 
 to lapse ; and I have appointed one officer to discharge 
 the duties of Judge of the Central Court of Fiji and Chief 
 Magistrate of the Colony. All the offices established 
 under this head will be found specified in the Gazette 
 of the 14th instant (No. 5) ; and I need merely remark 
 here that the saving on the Judicial Department amounts 
 to over 800J. a year, as compared with the expenditure 
 under that head during the ad interim arrangement which 
 I found in existence on my arrival. 
 
 7. The native armed constabulary appeared to me to 
 stand in need of immediate reorganisation. Grave state- 
 ments have been publicly urged against the men of this 
 force, charging them with outrages and cruelties perpe- 
 trated upon the helpless population of the country dis- 
 tricts, especially upon women ; and I fear that too many 
 of these charges were well founded. It was clear to me 
 that the force should at once be considerably reduced in 
 numbers, and placed under strict supervision and control. 
 I accordingly determined to reduce the strength to 200 
 picked men a number amply sufficient to maintain order 
 throughout the whole group and to place the force under 
 the superintendence of Lieutenant Olive, of the Royal 
 Marines, whose services were kindly placed at my dis- 
 
106 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 posal by Commodore Goodenough for this purpose. I 
 enclose a copy of the correspondence which I have had 
 with Commodore Goodenough on this subject. I may 
 add that Lieutenant Olive appears to me to combine firm- 
 ness of character with gentleness of disposition to an 
 extent which has already endeared him to the natives, 
 and which renders him peculiarly fitted for the delicate 
 and responsible position in which he is placed. The total 
 cost of police, including rations, clothing, &c., will amount 
 to but little more than 3,000 a year. 
 
 8. The appointments necessary for the efficient admi- 
 nistration of native affairs received my careful considera- 
 tion. Eventually I determined, with the advice of the 
 Executive Council, upon the following departmental ar- 
 rangements : Four European Stipendiary Magistrates 
 have been created for the trial of European and mixed cases 
 throughout the whole group. The districts and places at 
 which Courts are to be held will be found specified in 
 Schedule A, attached to Gazette No. 6, of the 15th instant. 
 The islands were next divided into twelve provinces, over 
 each of which a Provincial Chief styled Roko and a native 
 Stipendiary Magistrate were appointed. These provinces 
 were next subdivided into eighty-two districts in charge 
 of Bui is, each Buli being placed in the first, second, or 
 third class, according to the number of villages under his 
 control. By this machinery it is believed that arrange- 
 ments can be made for the efficient government of the 
 natives, under the general supervision of the Secretary for 
 Native Affairs, without departing in any important 
 particular from their own official customs, traditions, and 
 boundaries. The total cost of the Department, including 
 the salary of the Protector of Imported Polynesian 
 Labourers, amounts to a little more than 5,800. a year. 
 I enclose a map showing the boundaries of the twelve 
 provinces, and Schedules B, C, and D, in the Appendix 
 to the Estimates, will furnish the names of the twelve 
 Rokos, the twelve Native Stipendiary Magistrates, and 
 the eighty -two Bulis, with the name of the province or 
 district in charge of each. 
 
 9. The remaining subordinate provisional appoint- 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 107 
 
 rnents, which will all be found detailed in Gazette No. 5, 
 do not appear to rue to call for any remark. The salaries 
 have in each case been fixed at the lowest practicable 
 amount consistent with the efficiency of the public service. 
 The total cost of all the establishments of the Colony 
 amounts, as will be seen by the return published in 
 Gazette No. 6, to 13,5681. per annum, and the services, 
 exclusive of establishments, to 4,3347., making the total 
 authorised expenditure for Fiji, for the year ending 10th 
 October, 1875, at the rate of 17,902J. per annum. 
 
 10. Gazette No. 2 contains the Customs tariff and 
 other dues and taxes, which, with the advice of the Execu- 
 tive Council, I authorised the Provisional Government to 
 collect. The former tariff was composed almost entirely 
 of ad valorem duties, which here, as elsewhere, have been 
 found to be unequal as well as demoralising in their appli- 
 cation. The total receipts of the Customs duties of Fiji 
 for the year ended the 30th of September, 1 874, amounted to 
 10,254. I determined to substitute for this tariff the 
 tariff lately adopted in New South Wales, and which is 
 composed entirely of specific duties on about forty- five 
 articles of general consumption. It is estimated that this 
 tariff will produce in Fiji a revenue of about 15,000. 
 a year. The tonnage dues have been abolished, and pilot- 
 age rates, light dues, and annual licenses continued at 
 the same rate as heretofore, the only increase being a 
 license fee of 101., instead of 21. 10s., upon Polynesian 
 immigrant vessels for each voyage, it being thought fair 
 to make these vessels contribute to a larger extent than 
 formerly to the expense of the supervision which it is 
 necessary to exercise over the foreign labour traffic. 
 
 11. An entire change has been made in the system of 
 native taxation. Heretofore the amount of the tax was 
 uniform throughout the group, being 20s. for each man 
 and 4:3. for each woman. There being little ready money 
 amongst the natives, payment has been accepted in kind, 
 and the tax collector has been accompanied by a broker 
 whose custom it was to take over at a low valuation the 
 agricultural pT'oduce, fishing-nets, sleeping-mats, axes, &c., 
 and other articles of domestic use and convenience which 
 
108 PRACTICAL PEECIS. 
 
 the people had to part with and sacrifice to meet the 
 demands of the Government. In some districts the 
 people were too poor to be able to satisfy the tax even in 
 this manner ; and painful accounts have recently been 
 published in the newspapers as to the wholesale way in 
 which the entire male population of large districts have 
 been removed from their homes, and their services in 
 effect sold to such of the European planters as were will- 
 ing to pay to the Government the tax, with the costs 
 that had accrued in instituting legal proceedings for its 
 recovery. I enclose some letters extracted from the local 
 press upon this subject, and to which my attention was 
 directed soon after my arrival. I particularly would 
 invite your Lordship's perusal of a letter published in the 
 ' Fiji Times ' of the 7th of October, under the signature of 
 Dr. Langham, the head of the Wesleyan Mission in Fiji. 
 Dr. Langham called upon me and narrated to me atroci- 
 ties and cruelties in connection with the Government 
 system of raising the native taxes for the truth of which 
 be stated that he was prepared to vouch. These repre- 
 sentations convinced me of the necessity of making a 
 change in the amount of the native tax and the mode of 
 enforcing it. I accordingly determined that women 
 should be exempt ; that the tax in kind should not be en- 
 forced ; that every male Fijian between the ages of sixteen 
 and sixty should contribute twenty days' labour upon the 
 public works of his province, being allowed to commute 
 his service for Qd., 4-^c?., or 3d. a day i.e. 10s., 7s. Qd., or 
 5s. according to the local circumstances of the district 
 wherein he may reside. A capitation tax of 10s. on each 
 imported Polynesian labourer is also imposed, such tax to 
 be paid quarterly by the employers. 
 
 12. I directed further that all native taxes in arrear 
 at the date of cession should be remitted, and that all 
 Fijians who as defaulting taxpayers had been removed 
 from their homes and placed in service with European 
 settlers should forthwith be liberated, the planters being 
 compensated for any sum paid on account of the tax due 
 by each labourer less the value of the time actually served. 
 The notifications embodying all these regulations as 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 109 
 
 regards native taxes will be found at p. 9 of Gazette 
 No. 2. 
 
 13. Gazette No. 6 publishes for general information a 
 Return showing the estimated revenue and aiithorised 
 expenditure of the Colony for the year ending the 10th 
 of October, 1875. The revenue is estimated at 23,875, 
 and the authorised expenditure amounts to 17,902?., 
 showing an excess of estimated revenue over authorised 
 expenditure of 5,9 73 I should mention, however, that 
 the expenditure only provides for the payment of Tha- 
 kombau's allowance at the reduced rate of 900, which he 
 received during the ad interim Consular Government, 
 and it makes no provision for a salary for the Governor, 
 upon both of which points I propose to address your 
 Lordship in a subsequent despatch. 
 
 14. Gazette No. 3 contains a Proclamation making 
 provision for the administration of criminal and civil 
 justice in Fiji, pending the signification of Her Majesty's 
 pleasure as regards the permanent laws of the Colony. 
 
 15. Gazette No. 4 provides for the regulation and con- 
 trol of the hiring and service of Polynesian immigrants, 
 and the carrying of such immigrants on board vessels. 
 It also notifies the appointment of twenty gentlemen to 
 be Justices of the Peace for the Colony of Fiji. 
 
 16. With a view to avoid further complications of the 
 land question by persons speculating in doubtful titles of 
 both Europeans and natives, I caused a notification to be 
 inserted in the Gazette intimating that no sale, transfer, 
 or assignment of land, or of any interest therein made 
 subsequent to the date of cession, will be recognised by 
 the Government pending the settlement of existing titles 
 to land. This notification will be found at p. 9 of 
 Gazette No. 2. 
 
 17. Having thus completed all the arrangements neces- 
 sary for the establishment of a Provisional Government, 
 I propose leaving Fiji this afternoon for Sydney, and hope 
 to arrive there nearly a week in advance of the date 
 originally contemplated for my return. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
110 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Received December 19.) 
 
 4 PEARL,' at sea en route to SYDNEY : October 17, 1S74. 
 MY LORD, Before leaving Levuka I paid a farewell 
 visit to Thakombau and the other principal Chiefs who 
 had assembled there from different parts of the group to 
 confer with me upon the business of my mission. 
 
 2. As it may interest your Lordship to peruse the 
 observations made by Thakombau and Maafu at this in- 
 terview, I enclose notes of the conversation which took 
 place on the occasion. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
 Enclosure in No. 6. 
 
 Notes of a Meeting between his Excellency Sir Hercules 
 Robinson and the Vunivalu and Chiefs at Dryimba, on 
 Thursday, October 15, 1874. 
 
 At 3 P.M. his Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson, 
 accompanied by Commodore Goodenough and the Hon- 
 ourable J. G. L. Innes, and by Mr. Wilkinson, the Chief 
 Interpreter of the Government, proceeded by appoint- 
 ment to pay a farewell visit to Thakombau and the other 
 Chiefs. Sir Hercules Robinson was received by the Vu- 
 nivalu, Maafu, and all the other Chiefs who signed the 
 cession, except Ratu Epeli, who had been obliged to leave 
 for Bau, and Ratu Isikeli, who was also absent on duty. 
 Upon being seated, Sir Hercules Robinson said 
 ' "Vunivalu and Chiefs, as I leave to-morrow morning 
 for Sydney, I have come here to-day to bid you all farewell. 
 I have been greatly pleased with my visit to this country. 
 I have been much struck by the beauty and fertility of 
 the islands, and I trust I may have an opportunity of 
 revisiting you on some future occasion- When you 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. Ill 
 
 return to your respective Provinces, I hope you will 
 explain fully to those under you what has taken place 
 between us in Levuka, and that you will both by precept 
 and example impress upon your people the advantages of 
 industry and good order. 
 
 ' Having had experience of native races elsewhere, I 
 know that with them hasty changes are difficult and un- 
 desirable. The people must be led forward step by step ; 
 and, in framing a new system for the government of this 
 country under the Queen, I have accordingly tried to 
 carry out, as far as possible, what I understand to be your 
 wishes, and to adhere at present as closely as practicable 
 to native official customs, boundaries, and traditions. 
 
 ' My object is, that the Provisional British Govern- 
 ment which I have established should gain the respect, 
 the confidence, and the affection of both Chiefs and people; 
 and I trust you will all co-operate with me in giving effect 
 to this policy. 
 
 ' Although I am leaving Fiji I shall continue, until 
 Her Majesty can make some permanent appointment, to 
 watch over the interests of the country. If any Chief or 
 other Fijian should feel that he is aggrieved, he will only 
 have to communicate with me by a petition to insure for 
 his complaint prompt attention and investigation. 
 
 ' I will only, in conclusion, say one word as to the 
 past and the future. As regards the past, I hope that all 
 differences and animosities will now be forgotten and sub- 
 dued. The Vunivalu's ['Root of War'] war club has 
 been sent with a dutiful and loving message to our Queen. 
 I hope all other weapons of strife have in like manner 
 been buried at the foot of the staff upon which we have 
 raised the Union Jack. 
 
 ' As regards the future, it is in your hands. As the 
 Vunivalu said to me the other day, " the future of Fiji 
 is Britain." And you must all remember that whilst 
 British rale is mild it is at the same time firm and all- 
 powerful. You are now servants of the Queen, and if 
 you cannot each of you in your respective provinces 
 govern the people in accordance with what Her Majesty's 
 Government may think just and right, you will have to 
 
112 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 give place to those who can more correctly appreciate the 
 obligations of the position. I trust no such necessity may 
 arise, but in these matters it is true kindness to be frank 
 and explicit. 
 
 ' I have finished. But one word more. Believe me 
 that, in accepting the trouble and responsibility of the 
 government of Fiji, the Queen has but one desire the 
 good government of the country and the contentment 
 and happiness of all classes of the population.' 
 
 After a pause, during which Thakombau signed to 
 Maafu to speak first, but the latter would not do so, 
 Thakombau spoke as follows : 
 
 ' I am glad to hear what the Governor has said on his 
 coming to say good-bye, and I am pleased to be able to 
 say that from the Governor's first arrival up to the present 
 time we have understood all that he has said and desired. 
 I am glad on this occasion to hear such words of counsel, 
 consideration, and goodness ; and I hope that all present 
 will now understand that they are Her Majesty's subjects 
 and servants, and that, as the Governor has said, their 
 future is in their own hands. They will be judged accord- 
 ing to their behaviour and their deserts, and according 
 to such judgment they will stand or fall. 
 
 ' We know that we are not here now simply as an in- 
 dependent body of Fijian Chiefs, but as subordinate agents 
 of the British Crown, and being bound together by 
 strength and power, that strength and power will be able 
 to overcome anything which tends to interfere with or 
 interrupt the present unity. 
 
 ' Any Chief attempting to pursue a course of disloyalty 
 must expect to be dealt with on his own merits, and not 
 to escape by any subterfuge, or by relying upon any Fijian 
 customs or upon his high family connexions.' 
 
 Maafu then said 
 
 * What more can any of us say ? The unity of to-day 
 has been our desire for years. I have now been twenty 
 years in Fiji, and I have never before seen such a sight as 
 I see to-day Fiji actually and truly united. We tried a 
 Government ourselves ; we did not succeed. . That has 
 passed away. Another, and a better and more permanent, 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 113 
 
 state of tilings has been brought into existence. I believe 
 that I speak the mind of all present when I say that we 
 are really and truly united in heart and will, and we are 
 all gratified with what we have heard. We are true men, 
 and will return to our homes knowing that the unity 
 of Fiji is a fact, and that peace and prosperity will 
 follow.' 
 
 The meeting shortly afterwards closed ; and Sir Her- 
 cules Robinson, accompanied by Commodore Goodenough, 
 the Hon. J. G. L. Innes, and Mr. Wilkinson, returned on 
 board Her Majesty's ship ' Pearl.' 
 
 (Signed) J. GEO. LONG INNES. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson, K.C.M.G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Eeceived December 19.) 
 PEARL,' at sea en route to SYDNEY: October 18, 1874. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to forward, for your 
 Lordship's information, a copy of an address which was 
 presented to me before leaving Levuka, on behalf of the 
 Wesleyan Missionaries stationed in Fiji, together with a 
 copy of my reply. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
 Enclosure 1 in No. 7. 
 
 To his Excellency Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson, 
 Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order 
 of St. Michael and St. George, Governor, Commander- 
 in-Chief, and Vice-Admiral of the Colony of New South 
 Wales and its Dependencies, Governor of Norfolk 
 Island, and provisionally Governor of Fiji. 
 
 May it please your Excellency 
 
 On behalf of the Wesleyan Ministers now resident in 
 the Colony of Fiji, we beg to assure your Excellency of 
 
 I 
 
114 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 our intense satisfaction with the cession of the Islands of 
 Fiji to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and 
 Ireland. 
 
 As the Church to which we belong has ever proved 
 itself most loyal to the British Crown, we feel we only 
 act as spokesmen for our absent brethren the Wesleyan 
 Ministers of Fiji, if we beg of your Excellency to receive 
 our assurance of continued loyalty to Her Majesty the 
 Queen. 
 
 Your Excellency will allow us to say that, in our 
 opinion, our work as Christian missionaries would have 
 received seiious injury but for the proclamation of British 
 sovereignty. 
 
 We trust that your Excellency's administration of the 
 government will be the means of preventing evils in con- 
 nection with a form of slavery, of the existence of which 
 your Excellency is doubtless aware. 
 
 We desire to express our gratitude to Her Majesty's 
 Government for your Excellency's appointment as Special 
 Commissioner ; we also wish to convey to your Excellency 
 our appreciation of the services rendered to the cause oi 
 civilisation by Commodore Goodenough and Mr. Consul 
 Layard. 
 
 We venture to remind your Excellency that it is not 
 forty years since missionaries representing the British 
 Wesleyan Churches came to Fiji, then in a state of savage 
 heathenism, and that, but for the blessing of God upon 
 their labours, there would have been no British Fiji at 
 the present day. 
 
 We pray God's continued blessing on your Excellency's 
 administration of the government of Fiji, and trust that 
 your Excellency will ever be vinder Divine guidance. 
 
 Wishing your Excellency a safe voyage, 
 
 (Signed) JOSEPH WATEEHOUSE, 
 SAMUEL W. BUOOKS, 
 D. S. WYLIE. 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 115 
 
 Enclosure 2 in No. 7. 
 
 NASOVA: October 14, 1874. 
 
 EEVEREND GENTLEMEN, I thank you sincerely for the 
 loyal and cordial Address which you have presented to 
 me, and for the congratulations which you have been so 
 good as to offer me upon the annexation of Fiji to the 
 British Crown. 
 
 I entirely concur with you in the appreciation which 
 you are so good as to express of the services rendered to 
 Fiji by Commodore Goodenough and Mr. Consul Layard. 
 The success which has attended my Mission is largely at- 
 tributable to the care and ability with which those 
 gentlemen had previously investigated the circumstances 
 and requirements of the country. 
 
 I fervently trust that a new era has now dawned upon 
 Fiji, and that under British rule the moral as well as the 
 material progress of the New Colony may, by the blessing 
 of Providence, be effectually secured. The great social 
 advances which have already been made within the last 
 forty years from savage heathenism are due to the self- 
 denying and unostentatious labours of the Wesleyan 
 Church ; and I can therefore heartily wish to your 
 missionary enterprise in this country continued vitality 
 and success. 
 
 With renewed thanks for the good wishes which you 
 are pleased to express for myself personally, I have, &c., 
 (Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. 
 
 To the Rev. Joseph Waterhouse, 
 Samuel Brooks, 
 D. S. Wylie. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson, K.C.M,G., to the Earl of 
 Carnarvon. 
 
 (Received December 19.) 
 PEARL,' at sea en route to SYDNEY : October 1 8, 1 874. 
 
 MY LOBD, I enclose for your Lordship's information 
 a copy of the letter of instructions which I addressed to 
 
 i 2 
 
116 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 Mr. Layard before leaving Fiji, pointing out to him the 
 course which I thought it desirable for him to pursue 
 while acting as my deputy in the temporary administra- 
 tion of the Provisional Government. 
 
 I have, &o., 
 (Signed) HECOUT.ES ROBINSON. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 'ffie Earl of Carnarvon to Sir Hercules Robinson, 
 G.C.M.G. 
 
 DOWNING STREET: January 16, 1875. 
 
 SIR, I have deferred any general reply to your 
 despatches (which have been duly acknowledged in the 
 usual manner) giving an account of your proceedings in 
 Fiji, and the steps taken by you for receiving the cession 
 of the islands, and establishing in them a provisional 
 Government, until I should have been made fully ac- 
 quainted, as I am by your later communications, with all 
 details. Those which have now been received by the last 
 mail appear to me to complete, as far as possible, the his- 
 tory of past transactions, and of the arrangements which 
 you think may suffice until a duly constituted Colonial 
 Government can be established. 
 
 2. I have already conveyed to you the Queen's gracious 
 approval of the manner in which you have executed the 
 responsible mission for which you were selected, and I 
 have notified to you by telegraph that Her Majesty has 
 been pleased to mark her sense of the service thus ren- 
 dered by you by promoting you to the Grand Cross of the 
 Order of St. Michael and St. George. 
 
 3. I at the same time acquainted you that Her 
 Majesty had been pleased to recognise the special services 
 of Mr. Innes, the Attorney- General of New South Wales, 
 who accompanied you to Fiji, by conferring upon him a 
 knighthood. 
 
 4. I have on a previous occasion expressed my sense 
 of the readiness with which your Ministers have on all 
 occasions endeavoured to assist you in carrying out your 
 
SERIES OF LETTERS. 11? 
 
 instructions ; and it would not be right for me to omit to 
 refer to the valuable services rendered by Mr. Consul 
 Layard and Commodore Goodenough during the difficult 
 period which intervened between the presentation of their 
 Report and the cession of Fiji. 
 
 5. Your account of your transactions with Thakombau 
 and the other chiefs is very clear and satisfactory, and I 
 fully approve of the explanations afforded by you as to 
 the terms on which only Her Majesty's Government could 
 consent to accept the cession. The Articles, also, of the 
 Instrument of Cession appear fully to meet the require- 
 ments of the case. 
 
 6. The provision which you made for the temporary 
 administration of the Government was doubtless as com- 
 plete as circumstances permitted, and I trust that the 
 provisional establishment may prove adequate to the 
 requirements of the period which must elapse before a 
 more efficient Government can be constituted, but which I 
 am endeavouring to make as short as possible. 
 
 7. I have pleasure in acquainting you that the Queen 
 has been pleased to appoint the Honourable Sir Arthur 
 H. Gordon, K.C.M.G., to be the first Governor of Fiji. 
 Sir Arthur Gordon's ability, and his administrative expe- 
 rience in Colonies in which the coloured inhabitants form 
 a large majority of the population, will, I doubt not, 
 qualify him in a special degree for the work of organising 
 the new Government. He will probably sail for Fiji 
 early in March next. 
 
 8. It is pei'haps possible that on the expiration of his 
 term of government the administration of affairs in Fiji 
 will be found to be so well established as to permit of the 
 Colony being entrusted to a Governor of less high standing, 
 and that some economy in the salary of the Governor may 
 consequently be effected; but I am satisfied that there 
 could be no greater mistake than to commit to weak or 
 inexperienced hands the solution of such difficult ques- 
 tions as those which will have to be met at the outset in 
 taking over the new dependency of Fiji. 
 
 9. For the same reason, while I am obliged to you for 
 the careful estimate which you have made of the probable 
 
118 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 revenue of the Colony, and for your calculations of the 
 administrative staff which may be provided without 
 exceeding that estimate, I do not think that, when once 
 the present provisional Administration is replaced by a 
 permanent one, the salaries which you have mentioned 
 would suffice to secure the services of competent Civil 
 Officers. I am most desirous to ensure all practicable 
 economy, but when I reflect that every Department has 
 to be created and organised on proper principles, and 
 that, in the first instance, if possible, more than ever high 
 character and ability are indispensable in those who are 
 to hold the principal appointments, I cannot but feel that 
 there would be little hope of procuring really effective 
 service from persons receiving much smaller remunera- 
 tions than are given in similar cases in Australia or other 
 Colonies. 
 
 10. I apprehend, therefore, that some increase upon 
 your estimate of the cost of the Civil Establishment is 
 inevitable ; and, indeed, I assume that your calculations 
 have been in a great degree governed by the opinion that 
 the administration of affairs in Fiji might be placed under 
 the surveillance of the Governor of New South Wales, 
 and would in that case be less dependent upon the 
 efficiency of the local staff a course which, as you 
 are now aware, is not contemplated by Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 11. I have, in conclusion, to thank you for your 
 careful examination of the difficult questions connected 
 with the liabilities of Fiji, the titles to land, and other 
 special points which have to be dealt with. These subjects 
 are receiving my careful consideration, and I shall in due 
 course give such instructions to Sir A. Gordon as may be 
 requisite. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) CARNARVON. 
 
119 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 
 
 THE student has now been exercised in giving succinct 
 accounts of the contents of various documents in series. 
 It has been necessary for him, especially in the longer 
 correspondence, to read through and bear in mind the 
 relations of one letter to another, and to acquire an in- 
 telligent view of a long and sometimes complicated case. 
 But his mental work has been principally to sift the 
 correspondence for its facts, and produce them in the 
 order in which they were written. But before he can 
 claim to understand precis-writing in its higher branches 
 he must be able not only to do this, but, in addition to 
 taking to pieces and reconstmcting on a smaller scale, he 
 must learn to compare different statements and to show 
 clearly their points of diversity or agreement, to condense 
 arguments, to construct a clear narrative from disjointed 
 memoranda, to explain shortly the main points of long 
 reports, and generally to reproduce in a new, shorter, and 
 more convenient form the gist of important documents. 
 This will sometimes require much thought, power of ar- 
 rangement, and skill in expression. Brevity will become 
 more and more important, but so also at the same time 
 will clearness and fulness, and above all things the most 
 perfect inward digestion and comprehension of the whole 
 matter. 
 
 With regard to expression, the precept to use as far 
 as possible the original words will still hold good, but not 
 
120 PRACTICAL PEECIS. 
 
 to the same extent. Having satisfied himself that he 
 thoroughly understands what he is to write about, the 
 student should use the words which come to him most 
 simply and naturally, being, however, very careful that he 
 uses the words of the original whenever there is a chance 
 of doubt. As to his composition, it should of course be 
 grammatical and terse, avoiding all repetition and redun- 
 dancy, ornament or rhetoric, long words or involved 
 phrases the plainest, simplest style that the writer can 
 use. We might give the student exercises in terseness 
 of writing and abbreviation of phrase, but, in addi- 
 tion to the reasons against this already given, the art of 
 composition is beside the purpose of this work, which 
 supposes that the student will have other opportunities of 
 learning how to avoid tautology and other vices of style. 
 It will be enough to impress upon him that this class 
 of composition requires two things principally (1) to 
 understand what you are to write; (2) to write it in the 
 fewest and best words. 
 
 It will be as well to begin our exercises in this section 
 with condensed continuous precis of papers which the 
 student has already read, and of which he has already 
 made an ordinary precis. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Give a short account of the negotiations before the 
 recognition of King Alfonso, as shown by the corre- 
 spondence, pp. 5G-72. 
 
 When the Alfonsist Ministry was formed, Mr. Layard, the 
 British Minister at Madrid, telegraphed to Lord Derby on the 
 31st of December, 1874, that he intended to act in his relations 
 with them in accordance with the instructions received from 
 Earl Granville on the abdication of Prince Amadeo. This 
 course was approved by Lord Derby, who on the 26th of January, 
 1875, instructed him to maintain an attitude of reserve, whi'.e 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 121 
 
 assuring the Spanish Government of the warm sentiments of 
 goodwill with which this country was actuated towards 
 Spain. On the 14th of February Lord Derby received a de- 
 spatch from Mr. Layard, reporting his interview with the Presi- 
 dent of the Ministry Regent, in which the President stated that 
 he appreciated the interest of Her Majesty's Government, and 
 hoped Mr. Layard would soon be authorised to enter into more 
 intimate and formal relations with the Spanish Ministry. On 
 the next day Lord Derby, who had already received notice 
 that King Alfonso had been or would be formally recognised 
 by Russia, Germany, Austria, and Denmark, sent Mr. Layard 
 a letter from the Queen to King Alfonso, accrediting him as 
 her Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty. 
 
 Exercises (G). 
 
 1. State, from the correspondence printed on pp. 
 75-80, between the Board of Trade, the Foreign Office, and 
 Lloyd's, the reasons why both the Government and Lloyd's 
 decline to take steps for the regulation of the loading of 
 vessels with grain at ports in the Black Sea. 
 
 2. State shortly the misunderstanding referred to in 
 the second paragraph of letter No 6, p. 78. 
 
 3. State the reasons urged by Messrs. Smith, Sundius, 
 and Co., as given in their correspondence with the Foreign 
 Office, printed on pp. 81-93, why H.M. Government 
 should intervene to obtain from the German Government 
 payment of their claim, and why H.M. Government re- 
 fused to do so. 
 
 4. Give from the correspondence relating to the ces- 
 sion of Fiji, printed on pp. 94-118, an account of the part 
 taken by Thakombau in the cession, and his opinions 
 respecting it. 
 
 5. State shortly the provisions of the following portion 
 of a Canadian Bill : 
 
122 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 Portion of a Reserved Bill of the Canadian Parliament, 
 intituled 'An Act to Regulate the Construction and 
 Maintenance of Marine Electric Telegraphs' 
 
 Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of 
 the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as 
 follows : 
 
 1. This Act shall apply 
 
 (1) To every Company or association of persons here- 
 after authorised by any special or general Act of the 
 Parliament of Canada, or under the provisions of this Act, 
 to construct or maintain telegraphic wires or cables in, 
 upon, under, or across any gulf, bay, or branch of any 
 sea, or any tidal water within the jurisdiction of Canada, 
 or the shore or bed thereof respectively, so as to connect 
 any province with any other province of the Dominion, or 
 to extend beyond the limits of any province. 
 
 (2) To every Company authorised to construct or 
 maintain such telegraphs before the passing of this Act 
 by any such special or general Act of the Parliament of 
 Canada, or by any other special Act or Charter of any of 
 the provinces constituting the Dominion and at the time 
 of the passing of this Act in force in Canada. 
 
 2. The term ' Company ' in this Act shall mean any 
 Company or association of persons in the preceding section 
 mentioned. 
 
 3. The Company shall not place any telegraphic wire, 
 cable, or work connected therewith in, under, xipon, over, 
 along, or across any gulf, bay, or branch of the sea or any 
 tidal water, or the shore or bed thereof respectively, except 
 with the consent of all persons and bodies having any 
 right of property or other right, or any power, jurisdic- 
 tion, or authority, in, over, or relating to the same which 
 may be affected or be liable to be affected by the exercise 
 of the powers of the Company. 
 
 4. Before commencing the construction of any such 
 telegraph or work as last aforesaid, or of any buoy or sea- 
 mark connected therewith, except in cases of emergency 
 for repairs to any work previously constructed or laid, 
 and then as speedily after the commencement of such 
 
PRECIS OP A MOKE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 123 
 
 work as may be, the Company shall deposit in the office 
 of the Department of Marine and Fisheries a plan thereof 
 for the approval of such Department. The work shall 
 not be constructed otherwise than in accordance with such 
 approval. If any work is constructed contrary to this 
 provision, the Department of Marine and Fisheries may, at 
 the expense of the Company, abate and remove it, or any 
 part of it, and restore the site thereof to its former con- 
 dition. 
 
 5. The Company may, in x>r about the construction, 
 maintenance, or repairs of any such work, use on board 
 ship or elsewhere any light or signal allowed by any regu- 
 lation to be made in that behalf by the said Department. 
 
 6. If any such work, buoy, or sea-mark is abandoned 
 or suffered to fall into decay, the said Department may, if 
 and as it thinks fit, at the expense of the Company, abate 
 and remove it, and restore the site thereof to its former 
 condition, and the said Department may at any time, at 
 the expense of the Company, cause to be made a survey 
 and examination of any such work, buoy, or sea-mark, or 
 of the site thereof. 
 
 7. Whenever the said Department, under the authoi'ity 
 of this Act, does in relation to any such work any act or 
 thing which the said Department is, by this Act, authorised 
 to do at the expense of the Company, the amount of such 
 expense shall be a debt due to the Crown from the Com- 
 pany, and shall be recoverable as such with costs, or the 
 same may be recovered with costs as a penalty is or may 
 be recoverable from the Company. 
 
 8. The Company may, with the consent of the Governor 
 in Council, take and appropriate for the use of the Com- 
 pany, for its stations, offices, and works, but not alienate, 
 so much of the land held by the Crown for the Dominion 
 and the shore or bed adjacent to or covered by any gulf, 
 bay, or branch of the sea, or by any tidal water, as is 
 necessary for constructing, completing, and using the tele- 
 graph and works of the Company. 
 
 9. The Company may also acquire from any province 
 of the Dominion any land or other property necessary for 
 the construction, maintenance, accommodation, and use of 
 
124 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 the telegraph and works of the Company, and also alie- 
 nate, sell, and dispose of the same when no longer required 
 for the purpose of the Company. 
 
 10. The Company may also acquire from any person 
 or corporation any land necessary for the construction, 
 maintenance, and use of the telegraphic cable and works 
 of the Company, adjacent to or near the shore end or place 
 of landing of the telegraph. And in case the Company 
 and such person or corporation should fail to agree upon 
 the possession or price of such land, the Company is hereby 
 empowered to enter upon and take such land, limited to 
 an area of five acres, under the powers, authorities, and 
 provisions of ' The Railway Act, 1868,' the sections of 
 which, in respect to compulsory powers for the acquisition 
 of lands, are hereby declared to be applicable to any Com- 
 pany within this Act, and the powers, authorities, and 
 provisions contained in the said sections of the ' Railway 
 Act, 1868,' are hereby declared to be vested in and exer- 
 cisable by any such Company for the purpose aforesaid. 
 
 11. The Company shall not be entitled to exercise any 
 of the powers of this Act until the Company shall have 
 submitted to the Governor in Council a plan and survey 
 of the proposed site and location of such telegraph and its 
 approaches at the shore, and of its stations, offices, and 
 accommodations on land, and of all the intended works 
 thereunto appertaining, nor until such plan, site, and 
 location have been approved by the Governor in Council, 
 and such conditions as he shall have thought fit for the 
 public good to impose touching the said telegraph and 
 works shall have been complied with. 
 
 12. The Company shall transmit all messages in the 
 order in which they are received, and at equal and corre- 
 sponding tariff rates, under the penalty of not less than 50 
 nor exceeding 200 dollars, to be recovered with costs of 
 suit by the person aggrieved ; and the Company shall have 
 full power to charge for the transmission of such messages, 
 and to demand and collect in advance such rates of pay- 
 ment therefor as shall be fixed from time to time as the 
 tariff of rates by the bye-laws of the Company : provided, 
 however, that arrangements may be made with the pro- 
 
tRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 125 
 
 prietors or publishers of newspapers for the transmission 
 for the purpose of publication of intelligence of general 
 and public interest, out of its regular order, and at less 
 rates of charge than the general tariff rates. 
 
 13. Any message in relation to the administration of 
 justice, the arrest of criminals, the discovery or prevention 
 of crime, and Government messages or despatches, shall 
 always be transmitted in preference to any other message 
 or despatch, if required by any person officially charged 
 with the administration of justice, or any person there- 
 unto authorised by the Secretary of State of Canada, or 
 by the Secretary of State for the Colonies on behalf of the 
 Imperial Government. 
 
 No Company or association of persons other than 
 those mentioned in the first section of this Act, or which 
 become incorporated in Canada under the next following 
 section, shall maintain, construct, or use any telegraphic 
 wire or cable connecting two or more Provinces of the 
 Dominion, or extending beyond the limits of any Province 
 in, upon, under, or across any gulf, bay, or branch of any 
 sea or any tidal water within the jurisdiction of Canada 
 or the shore or bed thereof respectively. 
 
 (Signed) ROBERT LE MOINE, C.P. 
 OTTAWA: June 2, 1874. 
 
 6. Give a short narrative of the events detailed in the 
 two following statements. 
 
 Declaration of Vice-Consul Magee. 
 
 That on the morning of the 23rd of April, about ten 
 o'clock, he received a written order from the above-named 
 Commander to appear at his Comandancia, Being unable 
 to walk on account of a swollen foot which he was suffer- 
 ing, ho informed the Commandant of his inability to 
 attend, and requested him to excuse his attendance. The 
 Commandant then requested him to make a statement in 
 writing to the effect that he was physically unable to at- 
 tend, which he did, adding that, as a Consular Represen- 
 tative of Her Britannic Majesty, he believed that any 
 
126 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 declaration that the Commandant might require from him 
 could be made in his (Mr. Magee's) office, and would be 
 considered valid, requesting this as a favour from the 
 Commandant. That nothing more transpired until next 
 day, when one of his clerks informed him that the Com- 
 mandant had threatened on the pier to give him 200 
 lashes. That shortly afterwards M. Bulnes came to the 
 office and stated that he was desirous of stopping the 
 difficulties between the Commandant and Mr. Magee, to 
 which he replied that he knew of no difficulties existing 
 between them ; that he had heard that the Commandant 
 had threatened to lash him, and knew, from what he had 
 seen, that he was a man of very violent temper, and con- 
 sequently that, in future, he should carry a revolver with 
 him in order to protect himself from being attacked. 
 Messrs. Donnelly (British subject) and Villavicencia (Sal- 
 vadorenean) were present during this conversation. About 
 a quarter of an hour afterwards a Lieutenant of the guard 
 with six soldiers, armed with loaded rifles and bayonets, 
 entered the office with orders to take him prisoner. He 
 told the Lieutenant that he was sick and could not go. 
 The officer then begged him not to compromise him, as his 
 instructions were to shoot him should he not comply and 
 to take him dead or alive ; upon which he accompanied 
 the troops to the Comandancia, being carried thither on a 
 car, as he was unable to walk. That, on arriving at the 
 head of the Comandancia stairs, ten bayonets were pre- 
 sented at his breast, and the Commandant, seeing he was 
 unarmed, sprang forward and presented a rifle loaded and 
 cocked at his head, and with most vile, filthy, and insult- 
 ing epithets ordered him to deliver the revolver he had in 
 his possession. That he attempted to speak to him, but 
 was not allowed to do so. He then took his revolver out 
 of his pocket, which was immediately struck out of his 
 hand with a bayonet, and he was dragged to the top of 
 the stairs by violence, where the Commandant, using the 
 foulest language, struck him several times over the head 
 with his hand, whilst the soldiers pushed him into the 
 Comandancia. On arriving in the Comandancia, the 
 abusive language of the Commandant still continuing, a 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 127 
 
 large revolver was twice drawn on him by the Command- 
 ant, who threatened to take his life. That he was then 
 asked by the Commandant why he carried the small 
 revolver, and answered that, knowing the violent temper 
 of the Commandant, and the threats of lashes and personal 
 violence which he had made use of towards him, he had 
 carried it in self-defence, on which he was again violently 
 abused by the Commandant and struck in the face with a 
 revolver, and further threatened with death, a revolver 
 loaded and cocked being put to his head. The Command- 
 ant also spat in his face. That after a short time, the 
 Commandant's excitement having cooled, he was told by 
 him that he (the Commandant) was aware that he (Mr. 
 Magee) had injured him with the Government, and had 
 threatened to assassinate him ; the whole of which was 
 politely but firmly denied, and he (Mr. Magee) begged the 
 Commandant to reflect on the probability that he had 
 been misinformed by persons ill disposed towards him. 
 That the Commandant then stated that, whether he had 
 been so misinformed or no, he had now gone too far to go 
 back ; that he hated him because he had declined to associ- 
 ate with him ; that he intended to give him 500 lashes ; that 
 he intended to close the telegraph office, and that, there- 
 fore, four days would elapse before any interference from 
 the capital could take place ; that he, in that time, would 
 flog him to death and would bury him ; and that, when 
 forces should be sent from the capital against 1dm, he 
 would resist as long as it was in his power to do so, and 
 when nothing more could be done he would set fire to 
 the whole place. 
 
 That he attempted to reason with the Commandant, 
 reminding him that he was the father of a large family, 
 upon whom his conduct would entail ruin and disgrace ; 
 but he answered that it was useless, as he had already 
 ruined them and himself, and that he intended to kill him ; 
 further, that he had given a promise to flog him to death, 
 and that he would fulfil it. That the Commandant then 
 left him, placing sentries over him, and returned at the 
 end of two hours and removed him to an inner and more 
 strongly guarded room, where he was kept in close con- 
 
128 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 finement until about three o'clock, at which time a German 
 gentleman, M. Noltenius, was allowed to come into the 
 room for a moment to speak to him on business, the Com- 
 mandant being present. That the Commandant then 
 told M. Noltenius that if he (Mr. Magee) had any busi- 
 ness matters to arrange he had better settle them at once, 
 as he intended to kill and bury him that same evening, 
 stating further that he intended to begin by the imme- 
 diate application of 500 lashes. That M. Noltenius 
 expostulated against such treatment, but in vain. That 
 shortly afterwards Mr. Edwin James, the American 
 Consular Agent, presented himself before the Command- 
 ant and delivered him an official protest against all these 
 proceedings, which the Commandant received, threw on 
 the ground, and stamped upon, at the same time threaten- 
 ing Mr. James with personal violence, and stating that he 
 respected no foreign Consuls. Mr. James then withdrew 
 after attempting to make a verbal protest, which he was 
 not permitted to do. That shortly afterwards all the 
 entrances to the Comandancia were closed, the troops 
 were called to punishment parade, and he was brought 
 out by an armed force and marched into the common 
 guard-room, where he saw the mats, sticks, and other 
 instruments of torture lying ready, the guard ready 
 formed, and the Commandant at the head with a large 
 loaded revolver in his hand. That by orders of the Com- 
 mandant he was immediately seized and stripped naked, 
 during which time he protested against such treatment as 
 a British subject and British Vice-Consul, reminding the 
 Commandant that he represented Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, to all which the Commandant answered that he 
 might leave the Vice-Consulate to whoever he pleased, as 
 he would leave his bones there in the guard room. That 
 being overpowered by numbers (there being at least fifty 
 soldiers present), he was thrown on the ground, and was 
 held by a number of soldiers about fifteen kneeling on 
 his arms and legs and on his head and shoulders, from 
 the weight of whom he has received injuries in his chest, 
 from which he still suffers great pain, arid which may 
 hereafter cause serious results. That he then received 100 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 129 
 
 lashes with sticks about half an inch in diameter and 
 about four feet long, many of which were broken by the 
 violence of the blows, the soldiers who inflicted the 
 punishment being changed at every ten strokes in order 
 that they might not slacken the force of the blows through 
 fatigue, and several of them being themselves punished 
 with blows for not striking with sufficient force to please 
 the Commandant. That after 100 lashes the Commandant 
 ordered the soldiers to stop for rest, and then sent for two 
 glasses of brandy, one of which he offered to him and 
 which he declined. 
 
 The flogging then continued, and about 110 more 
 lashes were inflicted, after which the Commandant ordered 
 the soldiers to desist, telling them they would continue 
 flogging him in the morning. That he was again placed 
 in close confinement, being suffering from the brutal treat- 
 ment he had received, and being, moreover, covered with 
 blood, and kept until morning without food. The surgeon 
 of the troops applied once water and vinegar to the 
 wounds, no other dressing being allowed. That at nine 
 in the evening the Commandant entered his room and 
 enquired how he felt, on which he answered, ' Very bad.' 
 The Commandant then ridiculed him, telling him that he 
 would feel better in the morning, as he would then receive 
 400 lashes more. The Commandant then called the 
 Lieutenant and ordered him to send the soldiers to cut a 
 fresh supply of mangle sticks for the morning. The Com- 
 mandant then retired, leaving the room door open, and 
 instructing the sentry that, should the prisoner move 
 during the night, he was instantly to shoot him. That 
 during the night the Commandant came twice into his 
 room, once with a loaded revolver, and asked why he 
 should not finish him ; to which he (Mr. Magee) replied 
 that he did not know. That at six o'clock in the morning 
 the Lieutenant came to his room and told him that the 
 Commandant ordered him to get up. Whilst he was 
 dressing the Commandant came in and ordered him to 
 follow him, and that he need not dress. He was again 
 forced into the guard room, where the mats, sticks, and 
 other instruments of torture were again made ready. He 
 
130 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 was again seized by the Commandant's order, but in the 
 moment when the flogging was about to recommence he 
 begged the Commandant to listen to him for a moment, 
 which was acceded to, the Commandant saying at the 
 same time that, as they were the last words he would ever 
 speak, he might speak them. He then led the Command- 
 ant aside, and begged him in the name of his family to 
 accept 2,000 dollars and to allow him to endeavour to 
 escape by running, even though the soldiers should make 
 a target of him and shoot him while running, he being 
 willing to lose his life by that means if by so doing he 
 could escape the fearful torture of the lashes, and he 
 feeling thoroughly convinced of the Commandant's inten- 
 tion to kill him by flogging. To this the Commandant 
 replied by a refusal, stating that he had promised to flog 
 him to death, and that he would keep his word. The 
 Commandant then said that he would show him a tele- 
 gram which he had received from the President of the 
 Republic, and for that reason took him into the office of 
 the Comandancia, where he (Mr. Magee) reasoned with him 
 (the Commandant) and begged of him to release him and 
 spare his life. Perceiving that the Commandant began to 
 yield, and that fear of the consequences of his unauthorised 
 brutality had taken hold of him, he followed up the ad- 
 vantage he had gained, reasoning with him for nearly an 
 hour, at the end of which time the Commandant remarked 
 that he thought he was losing his reason, and that if he 
 (Mr. Magee) did not get out of his sight he believed that 
 he would shoot him. The Commandant then pushed him 
 into another room, telling him to consider over some plan 
 by which he (the Commandant) might escape the conse- 
 quences of his acts, giving him half an hour for reflection, 
 and stating that he would reflect in like manner. In 
 about twenty minutes the Commandant entered the room, 
 and stated that there remained io him a choice of one or 
 two ways, viz. that either Mr. Magee or himself should 
 disappear from the country. That he (Mr. Magee) imme- 
 diately leplied that he would go, which was at once 
 refused on the grounds that he (the Commandant) could 
 rot await the consequences of his past acts. That he 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 131 
 
 (Mr. Magee) next proposed that the Commandant should 
 go, to which he assented, requesting funds for the purpose, 
 and letters of introduction to his (Mr. Magee's) friends on 
 the coast, all of which was agreed to, and by his (Mr. 
 Magee's) request Mr. James, the United States' Consular 
 Agent, was called to get the money referred to, and to 
 conduct the Commandant on board the American steamer 
 ' Arizona,' then lying in the port. That the Commandant 
 then withdrew the sentinel from the door of the room in 
 which Mr. Magee was a prisoner, and informed him that he 
 would remain a prisoner until his own embarkation. 
 That the Commandant then lay for nearly an hour in his 
 hammock reflecting, during which time Mr. James con- 
 stantly urged him to go on boai'd, while M. Bulnes, an 
 official of the Government, urged him not to go but to 
 remain. That finally he resolved to go, and at once began 
 preparations for so doing. In about half an hour, being 
 ready, and before going, he sent for two glasses of brandy 
 and requested him (Mr. Magee) to drink with him, whicti 
 he, fearing to rouse his frenzy again, complied with, and 
 after bidding one another adieu the Commandant started 
 for the steamer, ordering the Lieutenant to set the prisoner 
 at liberty. That being almost naked, he (Mr. Magee) 
 could not leave the Comandancia until he received some 
 clothes, and while waiting for them General Solares 
 arrived, and immediately took command of the troops and 
 possession of the Comandancia, sending at once a file of 
 the guard to take the ex-Commandant prisoner ; but as 
 this latter had escaped on board, the guard returned with- 
 out him. That General Solares then sent a demand to 
 the captain of the steamer to deliver the ex-Commandant 
 Gonzalez to the laws of Guatemala, but meanwhile this 
 latter had arrived alongside the steamer ' Arizona,' where 
 the passengers, infuriated at what had passed, refused to 
 allow him on board, and on his attempting to ascend the 
 ladder had shot at and seriously wounded him. That on 
 his return to shore ex-Commandant Gonzalez was made a 
 prisoner by General Solares. 
 
 I, John Magee, British Vice-Con sul at San Jos6 de 
 Guatemala, having heard the above statement read, do 
 
132 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 hereby declare that the facts and deeds therein related are 
 strictly and implicitly true ; and farther I do hereby 
 solemnly protest against all such brutalities, injuries, 
 insults, imprisonments, outrages, &c., upon myself person- 
 ally, as also upon the persons of any of Her Majesty's 
 loyal subjects whatsoever ; and further, I do hereby hold 
 responsible for all such outrages not only the person afore- 
 named, but also all those who were instigators or partici- 
 pators of the same. In token whereof I have hereby 
 signed the same with my accustomed signature of office 
 
 (Signed) J. MAGEE. 
 GUATEMALA: April 30, 1874. 
 
 Declaration of Alexander Downie Moncrieff. 
 
 That on the morning of the aforesaid day the United 
 States' steam-ship ' Arizona ' anchored in the port, and 
 he (Mr. Moncrieff) went off to visit her in company of an 
 officer from the Comandancia ; that, on the way on board, 
 a boat from the steamer passed the visiting boat, and an 
 officer from the former landed on the pier. In about an 
 hour the officer who had landed returned to the steamer, 
 and stated that he had been detained on shore by a guard 
 of armed soldiers, placed on the pier by the Commandant, 
 who intimated that the officer had contravened the laws 
 and shown disrespect to the Government of the country 
 by landing before the Commandant had completed the 
 official visit. It was only after much trouble and the 
 interference of the United States' Consular Agent that 
 the officer from the steamer was allowed to re-embark. 
 
 Mr. Moncrieff then returned on shore in a boat be- 
 longing to the Honolulu bark ' Chocola,' in company with 
 Captain Rtigg of that vessel. On arriving at the pier, he 
 learned that Commandant Gonzalez had given orders that 
 none of the cargo of the ' Arizona ' should be landed on the 
 pier, and, after leaving the steamer's manifest and bills of 
 lading in his office, he proceeded to the Comandancia to 
 ascertain the reason of such an order. In the Coman- 
 dancia he found Commandant Gonzalez swinging in a 
 hammock, the Administrator Bulnes seated at his side, 
 
PRlSCIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 133 
 
 and Mr. Bromberger, a merchant of San Francisco, seated 
 near the door. Saluting the company, and in reply to 
 the questions of Commandant Gonzalez, he (Mr. Moncrieff) 
 stated that, having been informed by the people on the 
 pier that the Commandant had forbidden any cargo from 
 the steamer to be landed, he had called to learn, and, if 
 possible, to remove, any obstacle to the despatch of the 
 steamer. The Commandant interrupted this statement, 
 and desired M. Bulnes to explain it to him. Turning to 
 M. Bulnes, Mr. Moncrieff proceeded to make the same 
 observation in English, when M. Bulnes started up from 
 his chair, exclaiming, with an obscene oath, that foreigners 
 were not wanted there, nor any language except Spanish. 
 He then went into an adjoining room, from which he 
 brought a chair, and, along with the Commandant, invited 
 Mr. Moncrieff to be seated. He (Mr. Moncrieff) begged 
 to be excused from seating himself on account of the urgent 
 necessity of his business requiring immediate despatch; 
 and turning to Mr. Bromberger, requested him, in Eng- 
 lish, to inform the Commandant of the cause of his having 
 presented himself. The Commandant said he had for- 
 bidden the discharge of the steamer's cargo because there 
 had been no application made to him for permission to 
 proceed with the same. He (Mr. Moncrieff) said that, if 
 that were the only reason, he would at once remedy it by 
 making the application, and was proceeding to state that, 
 by a special agreement between the Government of Gua- 
 temala and the Steamship Company, such application was 
 dispensed with, when Commandant Gonzalez started from, 
 his hammock, and with many obscene and abusive epi- 
 thets, and shaking his fist in Mr. Moncrieff 's face, said 
 that he (Mr. Moncrieff) had for a long time been playing 
 with and humbugging him (the Commandant), but that 
 now it should be seen who had the power, and whether or 
 not he could enforce his will with ' palos ' (lashes) and 
 bullets. He continued, ' As for your friend Magee, I will 
 send for him now and give him five hundred lashes, and 
 we will see if he will interfere with me again.' Mr. Mon- 
 crieff, turning to Mr. Bromberger, requested him in Eng- 
 lish to witness that the Commandant had threatened the 
 
134 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 person and life of the British Vice-Consul. The Com- 
 mandant then went to the door, and calling his Lieutenant 
 ordered him to take a guard and arrest Mr. John Magee, 
 and bring him alive or dead to the Comandancia. ' If 
 he resists, shoot him,' were his words. Turning to Mr. 
 Moncrieff, the Commandant, making use of further obscene 
 language, raised his hand to strike him ; but, changing his 
 mind, ordered him under arrest, and had him put in a 
 room, giving orders to the guard not to allow anyone to 
 communicate with him. Shortly afterwards Mr. Mon- 
 crieff saw a number of soldiers enter the Comandancia 
 with Mr. John Magee in their midst, a prisoner. After 
 an interval of a quarter of an hour Mr. Moncrieff was 
 taken into the Commandant's office, where he found Mr. 
 Magee and the Commandant Gonzalez. On his entry the 
 Commandant took up a Deringer pistol, and holding it to 
 Mr. Magee's head said, with many obscene and disgusting 
 words, ' Magee, I am going to shoot you. I will give you 
 500 lashes and then shoot you. If anyone should be sent 
 to supersede me, I will put a bullet through your head 
 before I give up the command. They may shoot me after- 
 wards, but you will be buried first.' The Commandant, 
 after repeating similar threats to Mr. Moncrieff, left the 
 room, and was absent about half an hour. During this 
 interview Mr. Magee, in talking over the state of affairs, 
 said to Mr. Moncrieff, ' I do not think they will touch 
 you now, but may probably let you out. In that casa 
 try to communicate to Mr. Scholfield at Guatemala an 
 account of these outrages.' Mr. Moncrieff asked, ' In the 
 event of the telegraph office being closed by the Command- 
 ant, do you wish me to go personally to Guatemala 1 ' 
 Mr. Magee replied, ' No ; I should like you to remain in 
 this port. You have seen the beginning ; I should like 
 you to be present at the end.' 
 
 Shortly after this conversation took place the Com- 
 mandant returned, and a young man named Santiago 
 Villavicencia, a clerk of Mr. Magee, was brought into the 
 room, and to him the Commandant made use of much 
 abusive language, accusing him of plotting with Mr. 
 Magee and Mr. Moncrieff to assassinate him (the Com- 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 135 
 
 mandant). Mr. Villavicencia respectfully and decidedly 
 repudiated the charge, when Commandant Gonzalez 
 replied, ' I will allow you to go just now, but hereafter I 
 will have you tip and give you what I am about to give 
 your employer that is, 500 lashes and four bullets.' 
 
 Turning to Mr. Moncrieff, the Commandant said, ' I 
 arrested you because the Company of which you are the 
 Agent showed disrespect to me and to the Supreme 
 Government of this country by sending an officer on shore 
 before the official visit was made this morning.' Mr. 
 Moncrieff defended the Steamship Company, on the ground 
 of their having a special contract with this Company, in 
 regard to holding communication with the shore imme- 
 diately on the arrival of any of their steamers. He de- 
 fended himself on the ground that he had no control over 
 the officers of the Company's steamers ; so that even had 
 they contravened the laws of the Republic he could not 
 bo held responsible for their actions. The Commandant 
 then told Mr. Moncrieff and Mr. Villavicencia that they 
 were at liberty and might go. 
 
 Immediately on being released Mr. Moncrieff endea- 
 voured to communicate with Henry Scholfield, Esq., Her 
 Britannic Majesty's Charg6 d' Affaires in Guatemala, but 
 found that the Comandante had closed the telegraph office 
 and placed a guard at the door. Mr. Moncrieff then sent 
 off Mr. Villavicencia on horseback with instructions to 
 telegraph from Escuintla to Guatemala advices of the 
 outrages being perpetrated in San Jose. Having written 
 a statement for the officer in command of Her Britannic 
 Majesty's ships in Panama, and obtained the steamer's 
 clearance, Mr. Moncrieff went on board the 'Arizona,' 
 where he stayed about two hours, returning on shore 
 about four o'clock. On the pier he met Mr. Edwin James, 
 Consular Agent, United States' Army, who told him that 
 Comandante Gonzalez had inflicted on his prisoner the 
 lashes he had threatened in the morning. Mr. Bromber- 
 ger, who was on the pier, said to Mr. Moncrieff, ' For 
 God's sake return on board the steamer, as Bulnes and 
 the Comandante have sworn that they would give you 
 lashes as well as Magee, and that afterwards they would 
 
136 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 shoot you both.' Mr. Moncrieff went up to his office, and 
 wrote a father statement to Her Britannic Majesty's 
 Naval Authorities at Panama, which was certified by Mr. 
 James and two other gentlemen. He then begged of M. 
 Noltenius, a German gentleman, to go out on the road, 
 and should he meet any officer or force coming to Mr. 
 Magee's relief, to advise great caution, as Comandante 
 Gonza^z had sworn to shoot his prisoner should anyone 
 come to supersede him. Having written to Captain 
 Morse, of the ' Arizona,' requesting him to delay the 
 departure of his ship till the following day, Mr. Moncrieff 
 requested Mr. Donnelly (Mr. Magee's chief clerk) to take 
 the note on board the steamer and to remain there until 
 further advices. Having business of the Steamship Com- 
 pany to attend to, Mr. Moncrieff remained in the office 
 till 11.30 at night, when he received a note from Mr. 
 Magee as follows : ' Solares will be down in the morning 
 at daybreak. Go out on the road and tell him he must be 
 careful how he enters, as this fellow will shoot me as soon 
 as he knows it.' 
 
 Fearing that M. Noltenius might have passed General 
 Solares on the road, Mr. Moncrieff procured a horse and 
 went some miles into the interior, where he waited till 
 half-past six o'clock in the morning, when General Solares 
 came along with M. Noltenius, and all then proceeded to 
 San Jose, where, the General taking charge of the Coman- 
 dancia, all danger of further outrage ceased. 
 
 Mr. Moncrieff here desires to call the attention of Her 
 Majesty's Government to the fact that he had, two weeks 
 previous to the outrages related above, personally warned 
 the Chief Minister of the Government in the capital of 
 the violent and unscrupulous character of Commandant 
 Gonzalez, of his having assaulted a native of one of the 
 neighbouring States (a clerk in Mr. Magee's employ), and 
 of the serious results that would undoubtedly follow 
 should such an outrage be attempted on any of Her 
 Majesty's subjects, and he further holds the Government of 
 Guatemala responsible for all the outrages committed on 
 his person, inasmuch as that they were well aware of the 
 very bad antecedents of the two chief officers viz. Gou- 
 
PKE"CIS OF A M011E ADVANCED CHABAOTER. 137 
 
 zalez and Bulnes whom they had appointed to the mili- 
 tary and civil commands in the port of San Jose. 
 
 And he further declares that, under Divine Provi- 
 dence, he and the other British residents in the port of 
 fe'an Jose owe their lives in the first place to the courage 
 and prudence of Camilio Aceituno, the telegraph operator 
 in the port of San Jose, and, in the second, to the energy 
 and decision of Henry Scholfield, Esq., Her Britannic 
 Majesty's Charg6 d' Affaires for Central America. 
 
 I, Alexander Downie Moncrieff, having carefully read 
 over the above statement, do hereby solemnly declare 
 the same to be a strict and impartial statement of the 
 facts as they occurred; and I do hereby protest against 
 all such imprisonments, insults, outrages, abuses, &c., 
 upon myself personally, as also upon the persons of Her 
 Majesty's loyal subjects whatsoever. In token of which 
 I have hereby signed the same with my accustomed 
 signature. 
 
 (Signed) A. D. MONCRIEFF. 
 
 GUATEMALA: May 2, 1874. 
 
 7. State shortly the condition of the ' libertos ' from, 
 the questions and answers in the following report. 
 
 REPORT BY VICE-CONSUL GIBBONS RESPECTING THE POSI- 
 TION OF ' LIBERTOS' IN THE VICE-CONSULAR DISTRICT 
 OF GUAYAMA, PORTO RlCO. 
 
 Position of ' Libertos ' on Estates. 
 
 1. When contract is made is a certain sum per diem 
 agreed on? Yes. 
 
 2. If current wages become higher do ' libertos ' derive 
 the advantage? Yes. 
 
 3. Are they paid for overtime ? Yes. 
 
 4. Is any difference made between them and other 
 labourers in hours of work and general treatment? 
 None. Hours of work from sunrise to sunset ; no work on 
 Sundays. 
 
1 38 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 5. Are they ever ill-used or beaten or imprisoned by 
 the employers ? No ; the employers can do neither. 
 
 6. In any difference between employers and labourers, 
 are the employers favoured by the authorities, and have 
 the ' libertos ' facilities given them to change their contract 
 for just causes? The employers are not favoured, but 
 rather the ' libertos,' who are protected, and they have 
 every facility to change their contracts for just causes. 
 
 7. Is food and clothing provided by employer com- 
 pulsory on the 'liberto,' and are the deductions made 
 exorbitant, or is the quality or quantity of the food defi- 
 cient 1 No ; one feed per day is generally given, which 
 is both good and sufficient viz. cod fish and corn meal. 
 No clothes are given. The wages are high from 50 to 62 
 cents per day. They invariably get lodging besides on the 
 estates free, and are paid overtime. Many also work by 
 piecework, and can earn a day and a half pay in one day. 
 They are preferred to the native labourers, as they will 
 work on feast days, which the latter will not. Many 
 make five dollars per week with overtime. 
 
 When the emancipation was decreed on the 1st of April, 
 1873, the 'libertos' were allowed to go altogether free ; 
 most of them left off work altogether, and only returned 
 011 the condition of exorbitant wages paid by the planters 
 to get off their crop. 
 
 At first the system of contracting was much abused, 
 unprincipled men without means contracting with a 
 hundred ' libertos ' and then allowing them to get their 
 
 living the best way they could; but at the end of the first 
 year all ' libertos ' had to sign a bond fide contract with a 
 responsible party, who was responsible for their good be- 
 haviour. There was no obligation for them to return to 
 their former masters, neither was there any restriction as 
 to what wages they should receive. Those who could not 
 obtain a contract generally on account of known bad con- 
 duct were obliged to work on the roads, for which they 
 
 ' were paid by the Municipality sufficient for their food viz. 
 twelve cents a day and at night they were locked up. 
 This they were obliged to keep up until they could obtain 
 better work. 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 139 
 
 A contract once made is as binding on the contractor 
 as the ' liber to ; ' in fact, it must be a very good reason on 
 either side for it to be broken, the 'liberto' being 
 favoured. 
 
 Position of ' Liber tos ' who have elected to work in Towns. 
 
 1 . Are they obliged to contract in all cases 1 Yes. 
 
 2. Are they well treated, and do they receive justice 1 
 Yes. 
 
 3. What proportion of number work on estates 1 
 Impossible to say, but very many who formerly worked 
 on estates are now employed as cooks, house servants, &c., 
 at wages from five dollars to eight dollars per month. 
 Many of these, if well conducted, are allowed to have their 
 own houses and sleep there. 
 
 4. Do employers of labour, as a rule, prefer ' libertos ' 
 or other labourers, and why 1 In the towns employers 
 have no preference ; but on estates they prefer the ' liber- 
 tos,' as they are strong and active, and accustomed to work 
 every day, including feast days, which in this country are 
 very numerous. 
 
 General Remarks. 
 
 1. Is there any idea that the contract system may 
 lead to the reintroduction of slavery in fact, if not in 
 name ? Not the least ; it would scarcely be possible ; at 
 the end of a year the ' libertos ' will be as free as anyone 
 here, white or black ; and now, so long as they behave 
 themselves, they are not in any way molested. 
 
 2. When ' libertos ' are fined by the authorities and, 
 in default, punished by being made to work for Govern- 
 ment, is any limit put on their term of imprisonment in 
 proportion to the fine inflicted or the nature of their 
 oil'ences ] Yes, most certainly ; they are generally impri- 
 soned for a certain time and are paid twelve cents a day 
 out of the public funds for their maintenance ; or if they 
 are put to labour their work would cover this amount. 
 They are treated as any free man. 
 
 3. Are proprietors ever fined for transgressing the 
 letter and spirit of the law 1 Yes. 
 
140 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 4. Do ' libertos ' quite understand the terms of the 
 contracts they enter into, or is advantage taken of their 
 ignorance 1 They quite understand the terms of their 
 contract, which is in writing, and read over to them 
 before the ' Alcalde ' or Mayor. There is very little 
 chance for anyone to take advantage of a ' liberto ; ' they 
 know quite well when to claim the protection of the law. 
 
 5. Are ' libertos ' and other labourers subject to 
 private fines by employers, and is this system ever 
 exercised to excess, so as to deprive the labourer of his 
 wages to any extent ? No, but any ' liberto ' coming late 
 to work would not get any that day, and consequently no 
 pay. 
 
 The arrangement of ' libertos ' is good, as without it 
 few of the former slaves would work ; they all prefer to 
 ' squat ' and work one or two days a week to gain suffi- 
 cient for their wants, which may be easily satisfied in this 
 country, and for the remainder of their time sleep and 
 lead a generally vagabond life. 
 
 Since the emancipation property and life are not by 
 any means so safe as formerly, as robbeiies from houses 
 and the person are now by no means uncommon, whilst 
 before the emancipation they were very rare. 
 
 The gainers by the emancipation are, of course, the 
 ' libertos,' but also the Government, who, up to the present 
 time, have paid no indernnisation to the planters or former 
 slave-owners. Government is to pay 75 per cent, of the 
 nominal value of the slaves in a term of years ; but to do 
 this it will take from the planter in taxes 100 per cent, 
 and make 25 per cent, benefit. 
 
 The rates of wages are exorbitantly high, and Go- 
 vernment will not allow foreign labour to be introduced 
 into the island ; in fact, it does all it can to prevent 
 labourers seeking employ from coming to Porto Rico by 
 putting exorbitant charges for passports both on entering 
 and leaving the island. 
 
 (Signed) CHAS. C. GIBBONS. 
 
 ARROYO, POETO Rico: April 30, 1875. 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 141 
 
 8. Give as shortly as possible in parallel columns the 
 remarks of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and 
 those of the Administrator of the Government of New 
 South Wales on the five points specified in the Secretary 
 of State's Circular. 
 
 The Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Officer 
 administering the Government of New South Wales. 
 
 (Circular.) DOWNING STEEET: November 1, 1871. 
 
 MY LORD, Questions having been recently raised in 
 the Colony of New Zealand as to the powers vested in the 
 Governor of a Colony to grant pardons, it became neces- 
 sary for Her Majesty's Government to consider carefully 
 the various bearings of this important subject ; and I have 
 now to transmit to you, for your information and guid- 
 ance, the conclusion at which they have arrived. 
 
 The cases which have to be dealt with may be clashed 
 under the five following heads : 
 
 1. Pardon of convicted offenders. 
 
 2. Pardon or security of immunity to a witness fearing 
 to criminate himself. 
 
 3. Pardon of an accomplice included in a prosecution, 
 and turning Queen's evidence. 
 
 4. Promise of pardon to an unknown person concerned 
 in a crime, but not being the principal offender, in order 
 to obtain such information and evidence as shall lead to 
 the apprehension and conviction of the principal. 
 
 5. Promise of pardon to political offenders or enemies 
 of the State. 
 
 With respect to the pardon of convicted offenders, a 
 Governor has already full powers under the terms of his 
 existing Commission. 
 
 I am not aware whether in the Colony under your 
 government it has been the practice for the Governor to 
 leave signed pardons in blank, to be filled up and used 
 during his temporary absence from the seat of Govern- 
 ment. But as the question has been raised whether this 
 procedure is admissible, I may here observe, for your 
 
142 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 guidance, that such a course would be irregular, and I am 
 not aware of any circumstances which could justify it. 
 The Governor, as invested with a portion of the Queen's 
 prerogative, is bound to examine personally each case in 
 which he is called upon to exercise the power entrusted to 
 him, although, in a Colony under responsible Government, 
 he will of course pay due regard to the advice of his 
 Ministers, who are responsible to the Colony for the 
 proper administration of justice and the prevention of 
 crime, and will not grant any pardon without receiving 
 their advice thereupon. 
 
 When the person whom it is proposed to pardon has 
 been already convicted, there can be no sufficient reason 
 why the case should nob stand over until it can be duly 
 submitted to the Governor. 
 
 With respect to the second head namely, the pardon 
 of a witness fearing to criminate himself it is undoubtedly 
 necessary that means should exist by which the evidence 
 of such a witness may be obtained. This case, however, 
 may be better provided for by local legislation than by 
 the exercise of the Royal prerogative through the Gover- 
 nor. The judge presiding at the trial should be em- 
 powered to give a certificate under his hand, that the 
 evidence of the witness was required for the ends of 
 justice, and was satisfactorily given ; and such certificate 
 should be a bar to all proceedings in respect of the matters 
 touching which the witness has been examined. 
 
 With respect to the third head namely, the pardon of 
 an accomplice included in the prosecution and turning 
 Quean's evidence it appears to Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment that no local legislation nor alteration of the Go- 
 vernor's Commission is needed, and the practice in England 
 upon this point may properly be adopted in the Colony. 
 
 In England a pardon is not granted before the trial, 
 neither has the party admitted as Queen's evidence any 
 legal claim to a pardon, nor has the Magistrate before 
 whom the original examination is taken any power to 
 promise him one on condition of his becoming a witness. 
 
 In such cases where the accomplice's evidence has 
 been obtained (which can be done either by his pleading 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 143 
 
 guilty or by the Crown entering a nolle prosequi against 
 him before calling him as a witness against his accom- 
 plice), and he appears to have acted in good faith, and to 
 have given his evidence truthfully, he is always considered 
 to have an equitable claim to the merciful consideration 
 of the Court, which is usually extended to him by the 
 Judge presiding at the trial, by the infliction of minor, or 
 in some cases of a merely nominal, punishment. 
 
 With respect to the fourth head namely, the promise 
 of pardon in order to discover and convict the principal 
 offender Her Majesty's Government will be prepared, in 
 future Commissions, to vest in the Governors of Colonies 
 the power of granting a pardon to any accomplice, not 
 being the actual perpetrator of the crime, who shall give 
 such infoVmation and evidence as shall lead to the appre- 
 hension and conviction of the principal offender. 
 
 It is not, however, considered necessary to issue at 
 once supplementary Commissions for this purpose, as you 
 (or your Executive Council, if an emergency should com- 
 pel them to take action at a time when you are absent 
 and cannot be immediately communicated with) can issue 
 a notice that the grant of Her Majesty's gracious pardon 
 to any accomplice who shall give such information and 
 evidence will be recommended. Such notice, which is 
 similar to that issued in England in like circumstances, 
 will have the desired effect, and the formal authority to 
 grant the pardon can in due course be transmitted to the 
 Governor by the Secretary of State. 
 
 Lastly, with respect to the fifth head namely, the 
 promise of pardon to political offenders or enemies of the 
 State Her Majesty's Government are of opinion that, for 
 various reasons, it would not be expedient to insert the 
 power of granting such pardons in the Governor's Com- 
 missions ; nor do they consider that there is any practical 
 necessity for a change. 
 
 If a Governor is authorised by Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment to proclaim a pardon to certain political offenders or 
 rebels he can do so. If he is not instructed from home to 
 grant a pardon, he can issue a proclamation, as was done 
 in New Zealand in 1865 by Sir G. Grey, to the effect that 
 
144 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 all who had borne arms against the Queen should never 
 be prosecuted for past offences, except in certain cases 
 of murder. Such a proclamation would practically have 
 the same effect as a pardon. 
 
 The above-mentioned are, I believe, all the cases for 
 which it is necessary to provide, and I trust that this 
 explanation will have the effect of removing, for the future, 
 any doubt as to the exercise of the prerogative of pardon 
 in the Colony under your Government. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) KIMBERLEY. 
 
 The Administrator of the Government to the Secretary of 
 State jor the Colonies. 
 
 GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SIDNEY : May 30, 1872. 
 MY LORD, Your despatch of the 1st of November, 
 1871, marked ' Circular,' respecting the powers of a Colonial 
 Governor to grant pardons, was received by Lord Belmore 
 on the 25th of December, and immediately forwarded by 
 him to the Cabinet. It was not returned here until the 
 18th of April a delay occasioned, I believe, by other en- 
 gagements of the late Attorney-General, whose report was 
 desired as to the practice observed in this Colony. 
 
 2. Your Lordship's despatch appears to have been 
 occasioned by some questions raised, and therefore, I 
 presume, some difficulties felt, in New Zealand. With 
 respect to the Governor's pardoning power, I am able to 
 state that no question has arisen or difficulty been experi- 
 enced in New South Wales ; although, if we construe 
 literally the terms of his Commission, difficulties might 
 easily be made. The only questions which have arisen 
 hei'e relate to a different, although a kindred, point 
 namely, in what cases the Governor ought to consult his 
 Ministers before granting or refusing a pardon, and how 
 far, if at all, he is bound by their opinion. 
 
 3. Those questions have respect to pardons, absolute 
 or conditional, after an offender's conviction, being the 
 
PRECIS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 145 
 
 subject which is classed, in your Lordship's despatch, 
 under the first head or division. 
 
 4. With regard to the second, third, and fourth divi- 
 sions of the subject (so called in the despatch), I have had 
 a large experience in such matters, both as a Law Officer 
 and a Judge ; and I confirm Sir James Martin's state- 
 ment that the English practice respecting pardons, or the 
 promise of pardon prospectively, to witnesses and accom- 
 plices has invariably been adopted in New South Wales, 
 as also, I believe, in the sister Colonies. The legal power 
 of the Governor to pardon in such cases may be doubtful. 
 Practically, however, no inconvenience has arisen, because 
 the power of prosecuting is in all cases vested exclusively 
 in the Attorney-General. Should a person ever happen 
 to be convicted to whom a promise of pardon or protec- 
 tion had been held out by the Governor's authority, the 
 pardoning power could then confessedly be exercised, as of 
 course in such a case it would be. 
 
 5. On the class of cases fifthly spedfied, relating to 
 political offenders and State enemies, no observation seems 
 necessary, as no case of the kind, that I remember, has 
 ever occurred in New South Wales. 
 
 6. I am glad to learn from your Lordship that the 
 Commissions to Governors will in future be amended, by 
 conferring in express terms the power of pardoning parties 
 prospectively. At present (clause 6 in Lord Belmore's 
 Commission) the authority given is restricted to convicted 
 offenders. It will hereafter embrace, I presume, all 
 persons 'guilty or supposed to be guilty ' of any crimes 
 committed in the Colony, after which I would suggest 
 the addition of the words ' or for which the offender may 
 by law be tried therein.' The power will then include 
 cases of kidnapping and other offences in these seas, in 
 which its exercise may be found of service. 
 
 7. By the Governor's instructions (clause 8 in 
 those issued to Lord Belrnore) he is ' in all cases ' to con- 
 sult with the Executive Council, except when material 
 prejudice would be sustained thereby, or the matters shall 
 be too trivial or too urgent to render such consultation 
 advisable. Now, does this instruction apply to cases of 
 petition for pardons or mitigation, where tue sentence is 
 
 I/ 
 
146 PRACTICAL MifCIS. 
 
 not capital? By clause 13 the Governor is specially re- 
 quired to consult his Coiuicil in capital cases, and not to 
 grant or withhold a pardon until after receiving their 
 advice. Nevertheless, he is to act eventually on his own 
 deliberate judgment, whether the Council shall have con- 
 curred with him or not. 
 
 8. What is to be the Governor's course when the 
 sentence was to imprisonment with hard labour (penal 
 servitude) or to a fine and imprisonment, and the prisoner's 
 friends, or sympathisers with his family, think the 
 punishment too severe originally, or that he has after a 
 certain period endured enough, or, perhaps, that the evi- 
 dence was not sufficient, or that circumstances subsequently 
 discovered or arising call for a mitigation ? 
 
 9. The practice hitherto adopted has been, almost as a 
 matter of course, to refer petitions containing any such 
 representations to the sentencing Jtidge. The conse- 
 quence is petitions of one or the other of these classes 
 being numerous that his time is largely occupied, if he 
 does his duty by reporting fully, in (substantially) trying 
 the case over again, and justifying his sentence to the 
 Executive, or explaining why for the sake of the commu- 
 nity it ought to be endured. I have always thought that 
 these references should be exceptional made sparingly and 
 with due discrimination and yet that the Governor ought 
 never (or except under very peculiar circumstances) to miti- 
 gate a criminal's punishment without reference to and report 
 from the Judge. In the majority of cases I am enabled 
 to say, from my long experience, that these petitions 
 require no such reference ; but, notwithstanding the 
 number of signatures generally attached to them, that 
 they may summarily and most justly be rejected. 
 
 10. On this point of the subject I would refer, with 
 approval, to Mr. Secretary Robertson's Minute of July 
 1869, of which a copy was transmitted to Lord Granville 
 in that month by Lord Belmore, when asking for an 
 official instruction whether he was bound, in deciding on 
 such petitions, to act on his own independent judgment. 
 Mr. Robertson suggested that the Colonial Secretary 
 should, in every instance, submit his recommendation or 
 opinion with the case, leaving its decision then to the 
 
KlfdS OF A MORE ADVANCED CHARACTER. 147 
 
 Governor. And Lord Granville, in answer, by his de- 
 spatch of the 4th of October, 1869, seems to have (in effect) 
 adopted the principle, observing that the Governor has 
 undoubtedly a right to act on his own judgment, but that 
 (in all matters at least of purely local concern) he ought 
 to allow great weight to the recommendation of his 
 Ministry. Your Lordship's Circular, the receipt of which 
 I am acknowledging, appears to carry this instruction 
 further, by the opinion, if not positive direction, that the 
 Governor ought not to grant any pardon without receiving 
 their advice. 
 
 11. It is necessary to state, therefore, what is (and, so 
 far as I can learn, what always has been) the course pur- 
 sued in this Colony : in order that, if it shall be thought 
 by your Lordship to be incorrect or undesirable, a different 
 system may be adopted. 
 
 12. The Colonial Secretary, in whose department all 
 correspondence on the subject of crime, after conviction, is 
 carried on, does not in the first instance express any 
 opinion on a petition of pardon or mitigation. He may 
 have done so in a few cases, but as a general rule he 
 certainly does not. The mode of dealing with the petition 
 is determined, and in effect all references concerning it 
 are directed, by the Governor, a very considerable portion 
 of whose time is occupied (I may say in every week) in 
 the investigation of and deliberation upon such cases. 
 Neither does the Governor, in general, confer with any 
 Minister on them, although occasionally he asks thd 
 Colonial Secretary or Attorney-General to advise him. 
 But, as the Governor's decision is always minuted on the 
 papers, with or without his reasons for it, the Colonial 
 Secretary, before acting on or communicating that decision, 
 has the opportunity of forming an opinion for himself, and 
 of submitting the case to the Governor for reconsideration, 
 should he desire to do so. 
 
 13. In this way I submit to your Lordship the views 
 expressed in Mr. Robertson's Minute, and in Lord Gran- 
 ville's despatch, although the order of proceeding is 
 reversed, are practically observed. 
 
 14. It remains only to mention, that no such practice 
 as that of signing pardons in blank, adverted to by your 
 
148 PRACTICAL PRECIS. 
 
 Lordship, has ever (in, I believe, even a single instance) 
 prevailed in the Colony. 
 
 15. Although it is not strictly on the subject of par- 
 dons, I would ask a reconsideration of clause 406 in the 
 Colonial Regulations (edition 1867) respecting the Judges' 
 notes in capital cases. The Eoyal Instructions accom- 
 panying the Governor's Commission require only that the 
 Judge shall make a report of every such case tried by him, 
 and attend the Executive Council when taken into con- 
 sideration there, for the purpose, I presume, of affording 
 further information if desired. The Judge accordingly 
 does always attend, and he brings his note-book with him, 
 reading portions of the evidence from it when explanation 
 is asked by any Member. More than this, I submit, is 
 unnecessary, and may even be embarrassing to the Gover- 
 nor. It is not impossible that the instruction referred to 
 was intended as a substitute for the Regulation, but the 
 latter, if in force, requires a Governor invariably to peruse 
 the notes (necessarily, therefore, the whole) before decision ; 
 unless, indeed, he shall exercise the power of pardon, in 
 which case it seems he need not read them. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) ALFBED STEPI:EN, 
 
149 
 
 PART III. 
 
 PRECIS-WRITING AS 
 AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 THE art of practical precis-writing is to express in as 
 few words as possible the sense of what you read, for 
 the benefit of others; precis- writing as an intellectual 
 exercise is doing the same for your own benefit. This in 
 the case of the practical precis is done principally with 
 the object of saving time, which would otherwise be spent 
 in finding a document, or in reading it, but when done 
 for yourself its use is by no means so limited. Of course 
 what you have already done for others you can do for 
 yourself, and therefore it would be useless to give to any- 
 one who has studied the former parts of this work further 
 instructions in the ordinary precis of correspondence ; but 
 there are many exercises in precis which, though of no 
 direct use to others, may be of great value to yourself. 
 
 It will, in the first place, be of much use as an aid to 
 the study of composition, for all composition is in a large 
 sense prdcis-writing. That is to say, it should contain 
 the fewest and best words for the purpose of the writer. 
 Evon in oratory the most diffuse style of prose composi- 
 
150 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 tion too many words are as vicious as in an Act of 
 Parliament. In the one case the object is not only to 
 express what you mean, but to produce an effect upon 
 your audience, and this cannot be done withot a profuse- 
 ness of words, which would be unnecessary in the other, 
 but speeches as well as Acts of Parliament can be spoilt 
 by too many words. 
 
 Coleridge defines prose as ' words in their best order,' 
 and poetry as ' the best words in their best order ; ' if he 
 had added the epithet ' fewest ' to both definitions, they 
 would have been still finer, for even in poetry, which 
 appeals to the emotions, and not (at least primarily) to 
 the intellect, a word too much is as bad if not worse than 
 a word too few. In letter-writing, again, in which garru- 
 lity is almost a virtue, prolixity and tediousness are vices 
 of which we must all have had or will have some expe- 
 rience. The habit, therefore, of calculating the effect of 
 the quantity of words as well as the quality will not be 
 without its use in composition of any kind. 
 
 As an aid to reflection precis-writing will also be 
 found of great value, for all of us are apt to read without 
 thinking, especially if we read for amusement ; and even 
 if we think of what we read while we are reading we 
 cease to think about it afterwards, and unless its sense is 
 firmly fixed on the memory we lose it altogether. The 
 habit of mentally reviewing what we have read acts as a 
 check on the natural process of forgetfulness, and is the 
 secret of acquiring real knowledge ; nor do we know of 
 any surer aid to this habit than putting down in a few- 
 words the gist of what we read or the impression which 
 it makes upon our minds. 
 
 In this way it will become an aid to memory in the 
 sense of training it to be watchful, and to make indelible 
 mental records of our reading even though we do not 
 have recourse to pen and paper at every stage. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 151 
 
 Such precis-writing as this is also an aid to judgment, 
 especially in regard to composition which, like oratory or 
 poetry, appeals directly to our emotions ; for though a fine 
 poem cannot be submitted to such a process, any more 
 than a bird or a butterfly can be submitted to dissection, 
 without losing all its beauty, it is occasionally useful to 
 test by such means what thoughts lie at the bottom of 
 the beautiful words which have so moved us. In the case 
 of fine poems it will rather confirm than destroy our 
 admiration, and in the case of inferior poetry we shall 
 detect the imposture of empty thoughts under sounding 
 words. 
 
 The constant habit of finding the fittest and fewest 
 words to express our meaning will also be of no little use 
 in conversation, both in gathering the sense of others and 
 giving form to our own, and we have no doubt that those 
 who practise the habit will daily find some new use re- 
 sulting from it, which we have not thought of or have 
 not space to mention 
 
152 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NARBATIVE. 
 
 A PRECIS of a narrative states in proper order the events 
 that happen. 
 
 There is nothing that alters in the telling more than a 
 story. The versions given by half a dozen persons who 
 have read the same short tale in the newspaper of the 
 day will be sure to differ considerably ; and as the correct- 
 ness of our judgment of events depends greatly upon the 
 accuracy with which we remember them, it is of the first 
 importance that we should habituate ourselves to make 
 sure that we are correct both as to what events really 
 happened and the order in which they happened. 
 Whether words that are altered contain a definite pro- 
 mise or not, which of two persons first commenced an 
 attack whether verbal or physical, whether a certain 
 statement was made on the authority of a speaker or of 
 some other person, are common instances of the number- 
 less occasions in which the greatest confusion may ai-ise 
 from carelessness or inattention in reading. To ensure 
 ourselves against such mistakes there is no exercise better 
 than to put down in black and white the important facts 
 vrhieh we read, even though the incidents are so few as to 
 appear easily remembered. 
 
 In reading history and narratives of some length, 
 whether truth or fiction, the habit is still more important. 
 In reading a long story of any kind there are always 
 
NARRATIVE. 153 
 
 many forces at work to make us lose sight of the main 
 points. In history, digressions into minor issues, such as 
 a small insurrection, will often lead us to forget some 
 more important though less interesting event which we 
 have just read, and when it is recalled to our memory we 
 are unable to recollect where or when it occurred. In a story 
 some surprise for which the author has intended to pre- 
 pare us carefully is rendered unmeaning and unintelligible 
 because we have not noted some incident told some 
 chapters before. In all kinds of reading carelessness or 
 defective memory will destroy much of its pleasure and 
 profit, and the liability to both of these causes of error may 
 be diminished, if not destroyed, by the custom of writing 
 down an outline of events. 
 
 The value of this exercise for acquiring knowledge so 
 as to be available when required is specially apparent in 
 the case of students at school or college. Everyone who 
 has tried to pass an examination satisfactorily must feel 
 the importance of not only knowing his subject thoroughly, 
 but also of having it at his fingers' ends, and nothing will 
 supply him with both knowledge and facility to repro- 
 duce it so completely as the habit of precis-writing in this 
 sense, for it is as it were a continuous examination of 
 himself. 
 
 It is impossible within reasonable space to give exer- 
 cises which will test severely the memory as well as 
 quickness of apprehension and facility in composition. We 
 cannot print, for instance, the third book of the ' ^Eneid,' 
 and ask our students to give a succint account of the 
 hero's wanderings, the places at which he touched, and 
 the events that took place there ; nor can we print the his- 
 tory of the reign of Charles I., and ask them to give a 
 short account of the battles in which Cromwell was 
 engaged, and the result of them ; but the exercises which 
 they have already done in Part II. will be a useful 
 
154 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 training for such more severe tasks, which can be easily 
 improvised if required. The following exercises are in- 
 tentionally short ones, and are given to tram the mind 
 to seize the important points of a narrative, to remem- 
 ber them accurately, and to express them clearly and con- 
 cisely. They may also be made valuable aids to the form- 
 ation of style. 
 
 When given for the latter purpose only, the student 
 may be allowed to have the exercises by him for constant 
 reference, but it will be more in accordance with the pur- 
 pose of this book that only a certain time should be 
 allowed for perusal, and that then the book should be shut 
 before pen is put to paper. 
 
 It is also recommended that these or similar pieces 
 should be read to the class once, twice, or more times, and 
 the precis written without sight of the original matter. 
 A day or more may sometimes be allowed to elapse be- 
 tween such reading and the writing of the exercise, which 
 may be permitted to be the subject of discussion mean- 
 while. 
 
 A certain time should be allotted for the performance 
 of these exercises, and the following is an example of the 
 way they should be done. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 David Sands, the Quaker preacher, was exercising his 
 functions in a family at Newcastle, as the Spirit moved, when, 
 at the close of his discourse, he turned to the lady of the house 
 and said, ' The mistress of this family will do well to set her 
 affairs in order, for before twelve months are past the eldest 
 daughter will be called upon to perform the part of a mother 
 to her sisters.' 
 
 The lady was in perfect health, and, though, this greatly 
 distressed and disquieted her through the year, is living still 
 after seven or eight have elapsed ; and the daughter retains so 
 strong and just an abhorrence of this presumptuous and mis- 
 
NARRATIVE. 155 
 
 eliievoua fanatic that she has turned back from tbe meeting- 
 house when she saw that David Sands was there. 
 
 In this piece the story is shortly and plainly told, and 
 cannot be shortened without losing some of its effect on 
 the reader, but at the same time the main facts of it can 
 be stated in much fewer words. 
 
 It is plain, for instance, that the part of the discourse 
 in which the warning was uttered is a fact of minor 
 importance, and the reproduction of the exact words of 
 the preacher, though effective, does not increase their 
 significance. The state of the health of the lady at the 
 time, her distress, and the approximate number of years 
 she lived afterwards are comparatively unimportant in 
 comparison with the fact that the prophecy was not 
 fulfilled. 
 
 The essence of the story may therefore thus shortly be 
 stated : 
 
 David Sands the Quaker, when preaching to a private 
 family at Newcastle, solemnly warned the mistress of the house 
 that she would die before twelve months had past. The lady 
 lived for many years after, and her eldest daughter retained 
 such a disgust at the presumption of the preacher that she has 
 turned back from the meeting-house when she saw that he 
 was there. 
 
 Exercises (H). 
 
 Write in your own words, and as briefly and clearly as 
 possible, the stories contained in the following passages, 
 omitting all circumstances which are not essential. The 
 student has in former exercises been recommended to use 
 the words of the original whenever they will serve his 
 purpose; in future exercises he should never use the 
 original words, unless he cannot find others to serve hia 
 purpose as well, 
 
156 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 1. Battle of Murat. 
 
 Murat. I was told here that the Duke of Burgundy, 
 seeing his army defeated, and himself environed, on one 
 side by the lake here, and on the other side by the enemies' 
 conquering army, chose rather to trust himself to the 
 lake than to his enemies. Whereupon spurring his horse 
 into the lake, one of his pages, to save himself also, leaped 
 up behind him as he took water. The Duke, out of fear, 
 either perceived him not at first or dissembled it till he 
 came to the other side of the lake, which is two miles 
 broad. The stout horse tugged through with them both, and 
 saved them both from drowning, but not both from death; 
 for the Duke, seeing in what danger his page had put 
 him, stabbed the page with his dagger. Poor prince ! 
 thou mightest have given another offering of thanksgiving 
 to God for thy escape than this. 
 
 2. A.D. 1753. Gloucester. 
 
 Here is a modernity (says H. "Walpole Letters, 
 vol. i. p. 313) which beats all antiquities for curiosity. 
 Just by the high altar is a small pew hung with green 
 damask, with curtains of the same ; a small corner-cup- 
 board, painted, carved, and gilt, for books, in one corner ; 
 and two troughs of a bird cage with seeds and water. If 
 any mayoress on earth was small enough to enclose her- 
 self in this tabernacle, or abstemious enough to feed on 
 rape and canary, I should have sworn that it was the 
 shrine of the queen of the aldermen. It belongs to a 
 Mrs. Cotton, who having lost a favourite daughter, is 
 convinced her soul is transmigrated into a robin-red- 
 breast ; for which reason she passes her life in making an 
 aviary of the Cathedral of Gloucester. The chapter in- 
 dulge this whim, as she contributes abundantly to glaze, 
 whitewash, and ornament the church. 
 
 3. Victim to Apollo. 
 
 At Terracina, in Italy, it was an impious and bar- 
 barous custom, on certain very solemn occasions, for a 
 
NARRATIVE. 157 
 
 young man to make himself a voluntary sacrifice to 
 Apollo, the tutelar deity of the city. After having been 
 long caressed aud pampered by the citizens, apparelled in 
 rich gaudy ornaments he offered sacrifice to Apollo, and 
 running full speed from this ceremony, threw himself 
 headlong from a precipice into the sea, and was swallowed 
 up by the waves. Ciesarius, a holy deacon from Africa, 
 happened once to be present at this tragical scene, and, not 
 being able to contain his zeal, spoke openly against so 
 abominable a superstition. The priest of the idol caused 
 him to be apprehended, and accused him before the 
 governor, by whose sentence the holy deacon, together 
 with a Christian priest named Lucian, was put into a sack 
 and cast into the sea, the persecution of Diocletian then 
 raging in 300. 
 
 4. The Effects of Swearing. 
 
 A gentleman had a fair young wife which died, and 
 was also buried. Not long after the gentleman and his 
 servant lying together in one chamber, his dead wife in 
 the night time approached into the chamber, and leaned 
 herself upon the gentleman's bed, like as if shee had been 
 desirous to speak with him. The servant seeing the same 
 two or three nights one after another, asked his master 
 whether he knew that every night a woman in white 
 apparel came xmto his bed. The gentleman said, ' No. I 
 sleep soundly,' said he, ' and see nothing.' 
 
 When night approached the gentleman, considering 
 the same, laie waking in bed. Then the woman appeared 
 unto him and came hard to his bedside. The gentleman, 
 demanded who shee was. Shee answered, ' I am your wife.' 
 Hee said, ' My wife is dead and buried.' Shee said, ' True. 
 By reason of your swearing and sins I died ; but if you 
 would take mee again, and would also abstain from swear- 
 ing one particular oath, which commonly you use, then 
 would 1 bee your wife again.' Hee said, ' I am content to 
 perform what you desire.' Whereupon his dead wife re- 
 mained with him, ruled hishous, ate and drank with him, 
 and they had children together. Now it fell out that on 
 a time the gentleman had guests, and his wife after supper 
 
158 PEE" CIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 was to fetch out of his chest som banquetting stuff. Sheo 
 staying somewhat long, her husband, forgetting himself, 
 was moved thereby to swear his accustomed oath ; where- 
 upon the woman vanished that instant. Now, seeing shee 
 returned not again, they went up into the chamber to see 
 what was becom of her. There they found the gown 
 which shee wore, half lying within the chest and half 
 without. But shee was never seen afterwards. 
 
 5. Lady Grange. 
 
 The true story of this lady, which happened in this 
 century, is as frightfully romantic as if it had been the 
 fiction of a gloomy fancy. She was the wife of one of the 
 Lords of Session in Scotland, a man of the very first blood 
 of his country. For some mysterious reasons, which have 
 never been discovered, she was seized and carried off in 
 the dark, she knew not by whom, and by nightly journeys 
 was conveyed to the Highland shores, from whence she 
 was transported by sea to the remote rock of St. Kilda, 
 where she remained amongst its few wild inhabitants a 
 forlorn prisoner, but had a constant supply of provisions, 
 and a woman to wait on her. No enquiry was made 
 after her till she at last found means to convey a letter to 
 a confidential friend by the daughter of a catechist, who 
 concealed it in a clue of yarn. Information being thus 
 obtained at Edinburgh, a ship was sent to bring her ofi ; 
 but intelligence of this being received, she was conveyed 
 to McLeod's island of Herries, where she died. JBos- 
 wett. 
 
 Lane Buchanan says it was supposed a courier was 
 despatched overland by her enemies, who had arrived at 
 St. Kilda some time before the vessel. When the latter 
 arrived, to their sad disappointment they found the lady 
 in her grave. Whether she died by the visitation of God 
 or the wickedness of man will for ever remain a secret ; 
 as their whole address could not prevail on the minister 
 and his wife, though brought to Edinburgh, to declare 
 how it happened, as both were afraid of offending the 
 great men of that country, among whom they were forced 
 to reside. 
 
NARRATIVE. 159 
 
 ' A poor old woman told me,' he adds, ' that when 
 she served her there, her whole time was devoted to weep- 
 ing and wrapping up letters round pieces of cork, bound 
 up with yarn, and throwing them into the sea, to try if 
 any favourable wave would waft them to some Christian, 
 to inform some humane person where she resided, in 
 expectation of carrying tidings to her friends at Edin- 
 bui'gh.' 
 
 6. Incident in Nelson 1 s Career. 
 
 While the ' Boreas,' after the hurricane months were 
 over, was riding at anchor in Nevis Roads, a French 
 frigate passed to leeward, close along shore. Nelson had 
 obtained information that this ship was sent from Mar- 
 tinico, with two general officers and some engineers on 
 board, to make a survey of our sugar islands. This 
 purpose he was determined to prevent them from execut- 
 ing, and therefore he gave orders to follow them. The 
 next day he came up with them at anchor in the roads of 
 St. Eustatia, and anchored at about two cables' length on 
 the frigate's quarter. Being afterwards invited by the 
 Dutch governor to meet the French officers at dinner, he 
 seized that occasion of assuring the French captain that, 
 understanding it was his intention to honour the British 
 possessions with a visit, he had taken the earliest oppor- 
 tunity in his power to accompany him in his Majesty's 
 ship the ' Boreas,' in order that such attention might be 
 paid to the officers of his Most Christian Majesty as every 
 Englishman in the islands would be proud to show. The 
 French, with equal courtesy, protested against giving him 
 this trouble, especially, they said, as they intended 
 merely to cruise round the islands, without landing on 
 any. But Nelson, with the utmost politeness, insisted 
 upon paying them this compliment, followed them close, 
 in spite of all their attempts to elude his vigilance, and 
 never lost sight of them till, finding it impossible either to 
 deceive or escape him, they gave up their treacherous 
 purpose in despair, and beat up for Martinico. 
 
1 GO PRlSciS-WBITlNG AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 7. Japanese Penitents. 
 
 Certain Japanese penitents make it their duty to pass 
 over several high and almost inaccessible mountains into 
 some of the most solitary deserts, inhabited by an order of 
 anchorites, who, though almost void of humanity, commit 
 them to the care and conduct of such as are more savage 
 than themselves. These latter lead them to the brinks of 
 the most tremendoiis precipices, habituate them to the 
 practice of abstinence and the most shocking austerities, 
 which they are obliged to undergo with patience at any 
 rate, since their lives lie at stake ; for if the pilgrim 
 deviates one step from the directions of his spiritual 
 guides, they fix him by both his hands to the branch of a 
 tree which stands on the brink of a precipice, and there 
 leave him hanging till, through faintncss, he quits his hold 
 of the bongh and drops. This is, however, the introduc- 
 tion only to the discipline they are to undergo ; for in the 
 sequel, after incredible fatigue and a thousand dangers 
 undergone, they arrive at a plain surrounded with lofty 
 mountains, where they spend a whole day and night 
 with their hands across and their face declined upon 
 their knees. This is another act of penance, under which, 
 if they show the least symptoms of pain, or endeavour to 
 shift their uneasy posture, the unmerciful hermits whosa 
 province it is to overlook them never fail with some 
 hearty bastinadoes to reduce them to their appointed 
 situation. In this attitude the pilgrims are to examine 
 their consciences, and recollect the whole catalogue of 
 their sins committed the year past, in order to confess 
 them. After this strict examination they march again 
 till they come to a steep rock, which is the place set apart 
 by these savage monks to take the general confession of 
 their penitents. On the summit of this rock there is a 
 thick iron bar, about three ells in length, which projects 
 over the belly of the rock, but is so contrived as to be 
 drawn back again whenever it is thought convenient. 
 At the end of this bar hangs a large pair of scales, into one 
 of which these monks put the pilgrim, and in the other a 
 
NARRATIVE. 1 61 
 
 counterpoise, which keeps him in equilibrio ; after this, 
 by the help of a spring, they push the scales oil' the rock 
 quite over the precipice. Thus hanging in the air, the 
 pilgrim is obliged to make a full and ample confession of 
 all his sins, which must be spoken so distinctly as to be 
 heard by all the assistants at this ceremony ; and he must 
 take particular care not to omit or conceal one single sin, 
 to be stedfast in his confession, and not to make the least 
 variation in his account ; for the least diminution or con- 
 cealment, though the misfortune should prove more the 
 result of fear than of any evil intention, is sufficient to 
 ruin the penitent to all intents and purposes ; for if these 
 inexorable hermits discern the least prevarication, he who 
 holds the scales gives the bar a sudden jerk, by which per- 
 cussion the scale gives way, and the poor penitent is 
 dashed to pieces at the bottom of the precipice. Such as 
 escape through a sincere confession proceed farther to pay 
 their tribute of divine adoration to the deity of the place. 
 After they have gratified their father confessor's trouble 
 they resort to another pagod, where they complete their 
 devotions and spend several days in public shows and 
 other amusements.' 
 
 8. Robin Hood,'s Death and Burial. 
 
 When Robin Hood and Little John 
 
 Went o'er a bank of broom 
 Said Robin Hood to Little John, 
 
 ' We have shot for many a pound, 
 But I am not able to shoot one shot more ; 
 
 My arrows will not flee. 
 But I have a cousin lives down below; 
 
 Please God, she will bleed me.' 
 But Robin is to fair Kirkley gone 
 
 As fast as he can win ; 
 But before he came there, as we do hear, 
 
 He was taken very ill. 
 And when he came to fair Kirkley Hall 
 
 He knocked all at the ring, 
 But none was so ready as his cousin herself 
 
 For to let bold Robin in. 
 
i62 PKECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 ' Will you please to sit down, Cousin Robin/ she said, 
 
 ' And drink some beer with me ? ' 
 ' No ; I will neilher eat nor drink 
 
 Till I am blooded by thee.' 
 'Well, I have a room, Cousin Robin,' she said, 
 
 ' Which you did never see, 
 And if you please to walk therein 
 
 You blooded by me shall be.' 
 She took him by the lilly-white hand, 
 
 And let him to a private room, 
 And there she blooded bold Robin Hood 
 
 Whilst one drop of blood would run ; 
 She blooded him in the vein of the arm, 
 
 And locked him up in the room ; 
 There did he bleed all the livelong day 
 
 Untill the next day at noon. 
 He then bethought him of a casement door, 
 
 Thinking for to be gone ; 
 He was so weak he could not leap, 
 
 Nor he could not get down. 
 He then bethought him of his bugle-horn, 
 
 Which hung low down to his knee ; 
 He set his horn unto his mouth, 
 
 And blew out weak blasts three. 
 Then Little John, when hearing him, 
 
 As he sat under the tree, 
 ' I fear my master is near dead ; 
 
 He blows so wearily.' 
 Then Little John to fair Kirkley is gone, 
 
 As fast as he can dree ; 
 But when he came to Kirkley Hall 
 
 He broke locks two or three, 
 Until he came bold Robin to; 
 
 Then he fell on his knee. 
 ' A boon, a boon, 1 cries Little John, 
 
 ' Master, I beg of thee.' 
 'What is that boon, quoth Robin Hood, 
 
 ' Little John, thou begs of me 1 ' 
 * It is to burn fair Kirkley Hall 
 And all their nunnery.' 
 
NABEATIVB. 163 
 
 Now nay, now nay,' quoth Robin Hood ; 
 
 ' That boon I'll not grant thee. 
 I never hurt woman in all my life, 
 
 Nor man in woman's company. 
 I never hurt maid in all my time, 
 
 Nor at my end shall it be. 
 But give me my bent bow in my hand, 
 
 And a broad arrow I'll let flee ; 
 And where this arrow is taken up 
 
 There shall my grave digg'd be. 
 Lay me a green sod under my head, 
 
 And another at my feet ; 
 And lay my bent bow at my side, 
 
 Which was my music sweet ; 
 And make my grave of gravel and green, 
 
 Which is most light and meet. 
 Let me have length and breadth enough, 
 
 With a green sod under my head ; 
 That they may say, when I am dead, 
 " There lies bold^Robin Hood." ' 
 These words they readily promis'd him, 
 
 Which did bold Robin please ; 
 And there they buried bold Robin Hood, 
 
 Near to the fair Kirkleys. 
 
 9. PART OF A REPORT OF AN ENQUIRY INTO THE WRECK 
 OF THE 'ANNIE VERDIN.' 
 
 The ' Annie Verdin ' was a foreign-built vessel Ameri- 
 can drawing thirteen feet of water, registered at the port 
 of Philadelphia, official No. 105250, and owned by the 
 following : John W. Hall, ^ ; Harlesan Heekman, % ; H. 
 Verdin, -^ ; H. Verdin, jun., -^ ; George Saulan, -^ ; S. S. G. 
 H. Squire, -^ ; and James H. Hubbard, the master, -j 1 ^. 
 
 The ship was three years old, having been built in 
 June 1873, and registered A 1^ at the American Ship- 
 masters' Association, New York. 
 
 The master has a certificate of competency (No. 6687) 
 from the same Association. 
 
 HI 
 
164 PKfCIS-WRITINGAS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 The vessel carried a crew of eight, all told, including 
 the master, and left the port of Philadelphia on the 9th of 
 October last, with a cargo of coal, bound to Galveston, 
 Texas. 
 
 Soon after leaving the port the weather is described as 
 becoming blustery, with occasional squalls, and continued 
 so for some days. 
 
 On the 1 8th the Abaco Lighthouse is passed, the weather 
 being then fine. At about 10 P.M., however, of the night 
 there was a change of weather, the wind blowing from the 
 east-north-east, strong. Sail was shortened during the 
 night, the vessel steering rather wild. A little while 
 after, however, the weather improved and became again 
 fine. 
 
 From the Abaco Light the course up to 5 P.M. was 
 "W. ^ N., and at 4 A.M. hauled up a half-point to clear the 
 bank at Sturrup's Cay, the Cay bearing S. by E. A 
 course was also shaped to clear the Great Isaac Cay. 
 
 At 2 P.M. on the 19th the weather began to be threaten- 
 ing, the wind being at E.S.E., blowing a fresh gale, Gun 
 Cay bearing north twelve miles. 
 
 It was at this period that the captain decided on run- 
 ning for an anchorage, and making a harbour until the 
 weather moderated. The vessel was consequently veered, 
 and at 7 P.M. the ship was anchored in five fathoms of 
 water, Great Isaac's Light bearing N". by E. ^ E. about 
 four or five miles distant. A strong gale, but steady, was 
 at this time blowing, wind at E. by S. Both anchors 
 were let go, with sixty fathoms of chain on each anchor. 
 
 At 11 P.M. the wind had increased to a hurricane, and 
 the ship began to drag. The kedge anchor was now let 
 go, which had the effect of bringing her up for about an 
 hour. At 12.30 the starboard cable parted, as also the 
 kedge hawser, and the ship dragged off the bank and out 
 to sea. After dragging for an hour and a half she was 
 laid to under a reefed spanker with her head southward. 
 
 Between two and three o'clock the rudder-head was 
 discovered to be wrung off, and to such an extent that the 
 vessel became unmanageable. No land was at this time 
 in sight, nor could the Great Isaac Light be seen. 
 
NABRATIVE. 165 
 
 At 11.30, however, a three-masted schooner was dis- 
 covered ashore, on what turned out afterwards to be 
 Settlement Point, the western end of Grand Bahama. 
 
 The captain's endeavours were now directed to keep 
 his vessel off if possible, and to effect this set reefed main- 
 sail, fore-staysaU, and main-jib, and after shipping the 
 cables tried to fill away. 
 
 The jib, however, was soon blown away; the ship 
 became unmanageable, the rudder being of no service; 
 and the vessel drifted in until she struck on Wood Cay 
 Bar, near Settlement Point. 
 
 The captain in his evidence states : 
 
 ' When I saw there was no possibility of saving the 
 ship, I cut the main and mizen halyards away, and let the 
 sails run down on deck. Just before the ship struck I 
 ordered the men in the rigging, as the best place for saving 
 themselves. The ship rolled very heavily, the sea break- 
 ing completely over her. After being ashore for about 
 seven hours the ship bilged and filled with water. 
 
 'We had one boat a large yawl boat quite large 
 enough to have saved myself and crew.' 
 
 It is much to be regretted that while the men were in 
 the rigging two of them, against the expressed wish of the 
 captain, left their then place of safety, got into the boat, 
 then tied to the stern, cut her away, and rowed off, with the 
 intention, no doubt, of making for the nearest land. Under 
 these circumstances this was a most dangerous proceeding. 
 After a while the boat was out of sight, and fears are now 
 entertained as to their safety. . . . 
 
 At 7 A.M. Captain Hannah boarded the wreck in his 
 boat, he having seen her from the shore, and was some 
 time after followed by his vessel. 
 
 The sails, rigging, and stores were saved by the crew 
 of this vessel. 
 
 The captain and crew speak highly of the assistance 
 rendered them by Captain Hannah and his crew, as well 
 as of their good behaviour. 
 
 On the 22nd the captain and his crew left the wreck 
 in the Bahamain schooner ' Matchless,' and arrived at thia 
 uort on the 24th instant. 
 
166 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THOUGHT. 
 
 A PRECIS of thought states in the fewest possible words 
 what is meant. 
 
 There are many things which make it difficult to be 
 sure that we understand what we read. In the first 
 place, the reasoning may be abstruse and hard to be mas- 
 tered without much private thinking, even though it be 
 expressed in the clearest possible language. In such cases 
 one must either give it up as past our comprehension or 
 persist till we have thought it out, unless we take the third 
 and, more usual course viz. of persuading ourselves that 
 we understand enough of it for our purpose, and passing 
 on to the next passage. This is a habit which should be 
 most resolutely fought against, as it results in no true 
 knowledge and leaves us with a mind stored with ill-defined 
 notions, useless, superficial, and conceited. It would be 
 far better to give up hard reading altogether, and confine 
 attention to subjects and authors which, if intellectually 
 of a lower grade, can be thoroughly mastered and appre- 
 ciated. As long as we do this there is no knowing to 
 what pitch we may in the end attain ; the mind fed upon 
 real knowledge will grow, and soon, it may be, the language 
 which seemed so abstruse and the books which seemed so 
 difficult will be found, to our surprise, to yield up their 
 innermost meaning at the first effort. The boy who has 
 read and persuaded himself that he understands Tennyson 
 before his mind has grown sufficiently to do so thoroughly, 
 
THOUGHT. 167 
 
 will gain by his trouble only an ill-founded contempt for 
 a less difficult poet, like Longfellow, and may possibly 
 end his life without duly appreciating either ; but he who 
 begins with the easier author will be more likely to rise 
 to the other and to end by duly appreciating both. But sup- 
 posing that the difficulty of understanding an author is of 
 this kind viz. that it needs a strain of the mind to master 
 the thought the only infallible test that he has done so 
 is the power to put it into different language. To help 
 him to do this there is no better exercise than this kind 
 of precis- writing i.e. expressing the gist of the argument 
 in a few words of his own. It does not matter whether 
 you call it a paraphrase, or a digest, or an analysis ; it is 
 essentially precis-writing if it sums up in the most useful 
 way the results of reading. We know no more masterly 
 example of this style of composition than the late Rev. 
 Frederick W. Robertson's Analysis of ' In Memoriam,' in 
 which the inner meaning of each section of the poem is con- 
 tained in a short prose sentence sometimes of only two or 
 three words and never exceeding thirty-five. 
 
 Another difficulty in the way of understanding is the 
 style of the author. There is scarcely any style, good or 
 bad, that does not present some such difficulty. Of bad 
 styles it is scarcely necessary to say nuich to prove the 
 point. Some writers tie up really fine thoughts in such 
 knots of words that it requires patience to disentangle 
 the true meaning ; others conceal the poverty of their 
 thoughts under immense heaps of words, and to those 
 who do not trouble themselves to find out what the author 
 means one class of writers will appear as delightful or as 
 stupid as the other. On the other hand, there are writers the 
 very clearness of whose style, if it does not blind you to 
 what they mean, blinds you to the importance or unimport- 
 ance of what they have to say. One is apt not to prize what 
 is very easy of attainment, and to think that there cannot 
 
168 rRE"ciS-TVRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 be much of value in thoughts written in very clear lan- 
 guage ; whereas, on the other hand, unsound thinking 
 may be placed in such neat and pointed words as to put 
 Reason off her guard and make us accept unchallenged 
 an argument which is beneath contempt. These dangers, 
 though they exist in all forms of literature, from the portly 
 history down to little essays with which novels are 
 padded, are still more to be guarded against in works of 
 fancy and imagination, especially poetry, and for that 
 reason many of our exercises will be taken from that 
 branch of literature. Here Reason is naturally and pro- 
 perly off her guard. In reading poetry we place our- 
 selves for the time at the mercy of our emotions, and allow 
 them to be swayed with the music of rhythm, the charm 
 of images, and all the seductive delights which a cunning 
 workman can devise by the deft arrangement of words. 
 So the chances of imposition are even stronger, and so are 
 the chances of misunderstanding; for we read to be 
 charmed ; and the charm effected, the end we seek is 
 attained. But yet, to say nothing of the after-effects of 
 charging the mind with sensations unconnected by reason, 
 we cannot really be charmed as we should be unless we 
 not only feel the power of the artist but also appreciate 
 his motive. And to be sure that we do this there is no 
 infallible test but the power of putting it into words of 
 o\ir own. Committing to memory is an excellent prac- 
 tice, but not for our purpose, and we woiild even say 
 that, unless the process we recommend has been passed 
 through in some way or other i.e. unless the passage is 
 thoroughly understood before it be learnt it will be of 
 little value to the learner, and be soon forgotten. Yet 
 for some passages committal to memory is the best way 
 to preserve them, because it is almost impossible to find 
 words to express the thought so shortly and so beautifully 
 US it is done by the author. Such a passage is the follow- 
 
THOUGHT. 169 
 
 ing, from Bacon's ' Essay on Death :' ' Men fear death as 
 children fear to go into the dark ; and as natural fear in 
 children is increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly, 
 the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin and pas- 
 sage to another world, is holy and religious ; but the fear 
 of it, as a tribute unto nature, is weak.' Even, however, 
 in such cases as these the attempt to express the same 
 thoughts in other language will be a beneficial exercise 
 even though the result be a long and clumsy paraphrase, 
 and we therefore append some exercises of the kind, al- 
 though they cannot be properly called precis-writing, 
 which, as before stated, may include paraphrases, but not 
 if longer than the original. 
 
 "We will now give an example of the opposite difficulty 
 in precis-writing viz. a passage where the author's 
 thought is so poor and so confused that it is almost im- 
 possible to say what his meaning is : 
 
 Of Fame. 
 
 There is a magnanimity in recklessness of fame, so fame 
 
 be well deserving, 
 That rusheth on in fearless might, the conscious sense of 
 
 merit ; 
 And there is a littleness in jealousy of fame, looking as 
 
 aware of weakness, 
 Tjhat creepeth cautiously along, afraid that its title will 
 
 be challenged. 
 The wild boar, full of beechmast, flingeth him down among 
 
 the brambles ; 
 
 Secure in bristly strength, without a watch, he sleepeth; 
 But the hare, afraid to feed, croucheth in its own soft 
 
 form ; 
 Wakefully, with timid eyes and quivering ears, he lis- 
 
 teneth. 
 Even so a giant's might is bound up in the soul of 
 
 Genius ; 
 His neck is strong with confidence, and he goeth tusked 
 
 with power ; 
 
170 PRECIS-TOTTING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 Sturdily he roameth in the forest, or sunneth him in fen 
 and field, 
 
 And scareth from his marshy lair a host of fearful foes. 
 
 But there is a mimic Talent, whose safety lieth in its 
 quickness, 
 
 A timorous thing of doubling guile, that scarce can face a 
 friend ; 
 
 This one is captious of reproof, provident to snatch occa- 
 sion, 
 
 Greedy of applause, and vexed to lose one tittle of the 
 glory. 
 
 He is a poor warder of his fame, who is ever on the watch 
 to keep it spotless ; 
 
 Such care argueth debility, a garrison relying on its sen- 
 tinel. 
 
 Passive strength shall scorn excuses, patiently waiting a 
 reaction ; 
 
 He noteth well that truth is great and must prevail at 
 last, 
 
 But fretful weakness hasteth to explain, anxiously dread- 
 ing prejudice 
 
 And ignorant that perishable falsehood dieth as a branch 
 cut off. 
 
 This appears to be meant for a comparison between 
 genius and talent, or ' a mimic talent,' whatever that 
 may mean. Genius is strong as a giant and confident as 
 a boar. Talent is weak and timorous as a hare. One 
 can afford to sleep without a guard ; the other relies iTpon 
 a sentinel. One knows that truth will prevail, and the 
 other is ignorant that falsehood dieth as a branch cut off. 
 It is quite impossible to make a precis of such a passage, 
 because, despite its flow of words and wealth of metaphor, 
 it is without meaning from beginning to end. 
 
 A frequent difficulty at arriving at the sense of a pas- 
 sage, especially in poetry, is that the words do not narrate 
 the thought or mood of mind intended to be represented, 
 but only indicate it. A poet in pain does not always say, 
 
THOUGHT. 171 
 
 ' I am in pain,' but he will say, perhaps, ' The sun is hate- 
 ful to me,' or state the effects of his pain in some other 
 way more or less indirect. As an instance of this we may 
 quote Tennyson's beautiful song : 
 
 Break, break, break 
 
 On thy cold grey stones, sea ! 
 And I would that my tongue could utter 
 
 The thoughts that arise in me. 
 
 O well for the fisherman's boy 
 
 That he shouts with his sister at play ! 
 
 well for the sailor lad 
 
 That he sings in his boat on the bay 1 
 
 And the stately ships go on 
 
 To their haven under the hill ; 
 But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand 
 
 And the sound of a voice that is still ! 
 
 Break, break, break 
 
 At the foot of thy crags, O sea ! 
 But the tender grace of a day that is dead 
 
 Will never come back to me. 
 
 There is not a statement in the poem which directly 
 states the poet's meaning. He only bids the waves break, 
 and states that boys are happy and ships sail to their 
 haven, and sighs for a vanished hand and the tender grace 
 of a day that is dead ; the meaning which lies beneath and 
 behind the utterance may be imperfectly stated in the fol- 
 lowing words : ' The one whom the poet loved best is dead; 
 joy still lives for others, but is dead for him; the life of 
 the world still goes on, but his part in it is over.' Such 
 exercises as these, though not admissible under the ordi- 
 nary meaning of precis, because the sense has to be sought 
 for apart from the words employed by the author, may 
 properly be included under intellectual precis, and somo 
 are accordingly appended. 
 
172 PRECIS-WETTING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 The following extracts must not be taken as necessarily 
 models of style or examples of just thought. The pieces 
 are intentionally of unequal merit for example, the two 
 sonnets to the redbreast, one of which is an absurd con- 
 ceit, the other a simple and natural poem. 
 
 Exercises (I). 
 
 Write as much as possible in your own words, and as 
 shortly and distinctly as you can, the sense of the fol- 
 lowing passages and poems. 
 
 1. In works of art, think justly : what praise cans't thou 
 
 render unto man ? 
 For he made not his own mind, nor is he the source of 
 
 contrivance. 
 If a cunning workman make an engine that fashioneth 
 
 curious works, 
 "Which hath the praise, the machine or its maker, the 
 
 engine or he that framed it ] 
 And could he frame it so subtly as to give it a will and 
 
 freedom, 
 Endow it with complicated powers and a glorious living 
 
 soul, 
 Who, while he admireth the wondrous understanding 
 
 creature, 
 Will not pay deeper homage to the maker of master 
 
 minds ? 
 Otherwise thou art senseless as the pagan, that adoreth 
 
 his own handiwork ; 
 Yea, while thou boastest of thy wisdom thy mind is as 
 
 the mind of the savage, 
 
 For he boweth down to his idols, and thou art a wor- 
 shipper of self, 
 Giving to the reasoning machine the credit due to its 
 
 creator. 
 
 2. There had been a heavy thunder-storm in the after- 
 noon ; and though the thermometer had fallen from 78 
 
THOUGHT. 173 
 
 to 70, still the atmosphere was charged. If that mys- 
 terious power by which the nerves convey sensation and 
 make their impulses obeyed be (as experiments seem to 
 indicate) identical with the galvanic fluid ; and if the 
 galvanic and electric fluids be the same (as philosophers 
 have more than surmised) ; and if the lungs (according to 
 a happy hypothesis) elaborate for us from the light of 
 heaven this pabulum of the brain and material essence, 
 or essential matter of genius it may be that the ethereal 
 fire which I had inhaled so largely during the day pro- 
 duced the bright conception, or at least impregnated and 
 quickened the latent seed. 
 
 3. He began writing for the stage most probably about 
 1591, and did not cease before 1612 or 1613. Now, one 
 of the most decisive evidences of vigorous vitality is steady 
 and healthy growth. In so opulent a nature as Shake- 
 speare's one would say beforehand there must have been 
 many capacities, comparatively latent at first, which only 
 gradually exhibited their full energy as they found their 
 due nutriment in a larger experience and a fitting sphere 
 for their exercise in the demands of his art. His excel- 
 lence, too, lies so much in the just delineation of the 
 realities of human character and feeling, that without 
 tolerably prolonged observation it could not attain its 
 height. It should seem reasonable, therefore, to assume 
 that his greatest works must have been the product of his 
 mature age. But this conclusion, obvious as it appears, 
 has not been received without question. Howe, his first 
 critical editor, propounded the notion that perhaps we 
 are not to look for his beginnings, like those of other 
 writers, in his least perfect works. ' Art,' he says, ' had so 
 little and nature so large a share in what he did, that, for 
 aught I know, the performances of his youth, as they 
 were the most vigorous, were the best.' This whimsical 
 paradox is part of the general way of thinking, which 
 represents Shakespeare as a sort of lusus naturce, exempt 
 from the ordinary influences which mould and modify 
 genius, and producing his effects by a kind of mysterious 
 instinct, altogether apart from the general energies of a 
 
174 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 powerful and comprehensive intellect. Johnson, with 
 his usual strong sense, saw and exposed the absurdity of 
 Howe's idea. ' The power of nature,' he says, ' is only the 
 power of using to any certain purpose the materials which 
 diligence procures or opportunity supplies. Nature gives 
 no man knowledge; and when images are collected by 
 study and experience can only assist in combining or 
 applying them. Shakespeare, however favoured by 
 nature, could apply only what he had learned ; and as he 
 must increase his ideas, like other mortals, by gradual 
 acquisition, he, like them, grew wiser as he grew older, 
 could display life better as he knew it more, and instruct 
 with more efficacy as he was himself more amply in- 
 structed.' In this passage Johnson, as it seems to me, 
 attends too exclusively to the accumulation of materials, 
 overlooking the spontaneous growth of the shaping and 
 combining power. But, having regard to both considera- 
 tions, we must expect to find the later works of the poet 
 greatly superior, on the whole, to the earlier, in strength 
 and splendour of imagination, in truth and breadth of 
 painting, and in solidity and depth of thought. 
 
 4. The second essay is ' On Decision of Character,' a 
 subject which the writer enters into con amore. He has 
 evidently the highest admiration for this quality, and 
 most forcibly does he set forth its inestimable advantages 
 and the evils of indecision ; so much so that anyone who 
 reads the essay ought to read to the end, where the author 
 shows that firmness, if wrongly directed, is but weakness 
 in the sight of God. I give this caution partly because I 
 know that there was in the world, even if there is not 
 now, a certain school called the spasmodic school, which 
 differed from the Byronian in this respect, that its disciples 
 did not, like those of Byron, make heroes of mere passion- 
 ate weaklings, but selected for the object of their worship 
 one man remarkable for his strength and determination 
 of character ; if also remarkable for his badness, so much 
 the better, because it seemed in their eyes to bring out his 
 strength into fuller relief ; and thus they would deify as 
 a hero a man of whom we should be tempted to say, if we 
 
THOUGHT. 175 
 
 met Mm in real life, that hanging was almost too good 
 for him. But certainly Foster, with all his admiration 
 for decision of character, does not pander to this spirit. 
 He has, however, made one omission ; he has noticed 
 only the peculiar evils of indecision of character, and has 
 failed to point out an opposite class of faults into which 
 men of more resolute disposition are apt to fall. 
 
 Great decision is generally accompanied with a certain 
 amount of doggedness, which will not listen to reason, 
 which often brings its owner into trouble, and which 
 prevents him from learning the lessons which his misfor- 
 tunes ought to teach him. The directions which Foster 
 gives to the undecided are wise and good ; but there is one 
 consideration which he has omitted to suggest which I 
 think is a useful one for those persons to bear in mind 
 whose indecision is connected, as it often is, with the fear 
 of man. Probably one-half of those we meet with in this 
 world are as great cowards as ourselves, and only require 
 that we should make the first move (provided we do so 
 with coolness and good temper) in order to induce them 
 to give way. The very same persons whom it might be 
 safe to oppose are often dangerous to run away from. 
 
 5. Deep is the sea, and deep is hell, but Pride runneth 
 
 deeper ; 
 It is coiled as a poisonous worm about the foundations of 
 
 the soul. 
 If thou expose it in thy motives, and track it in thy 
 
 springs of thought, 
 Complacent in its own detection, it will seem indignant 
 
 virtue ; 
 Smoothly will it gratulate thy skill, subtle anatomist 
 
 of self, 
 And spurn at its very being while it nestleth the deeper 
 
 in thy bosom. 
 Pride is a double traitor, and betrayeth itself to entrap 
 
 thee, 
 Making thee vain of thy self-knowledge, proud of thy 
 
 discoveries of pride. 
 
176 PRE" CIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 Fruitlessly thou strainest for humility, but darkly diving 
 
 into self : 
 Rather look away from innate evil, and gaze upon 
 
 extraneous good : 
 For in sounding the deep things of the heart, thou shalt 
 
 learn to be vain of its capacities ; 
 But in viewing the heights above thee, thou shalt be 
 
 taught thy littleness : 
 Could an emmet pry into itself, it might marvel at its 
 
 own anatomy ; 
 But let it look on eagles, to discern how mean a thing 
 
 it is. 
 And all things hang upon comparison ; to the greatei, 
 
 great is small : 
 Neither is there anything so vile, but somewhat yet is 
 
 viler : 
 On all sides is there an infinity : the culprit at the gallows 
 
 hath his worse, 
 And the virgin martyr at the stake need not look far for 
 
 a better. 
 Therefore see thou that thine aim reacheth unto higher 
 
 than thyself : 
 Beware that the standard of thy soul wave from the 
 
 loftiest battlement : 
 For pride is a pestilent meteor, flitting on the marshes of 
 
 corruption, 
 That will lure thee forward to thy death, if thou seek to 
 
 track it to its source : 
 
 Pride is a gloomy bow, arching the infernal firmament, 
 That will lead thee on, if thou wilt hunt it, even to the 
 
 dwelling of Despair. 
 Deep calleth unto deep, and mountain overtoppeth 
 
 mountain, 
 And still shalt thou fathom to no end the depth and the 
 
 height of pride : 
 For it is the vast ambition of the soul, warped to an idol 
 
 object, 
 And nothing but a Deity in Self can quench its insatiable 
 
 thirst. 
 
THOUGHT. 177 
 
 6. There was a certain Pisander whose name has been 
 preserved in one of the proverbial sayings of the Greeks, 
 because he lived in continual fear of seeing his own ghost. 
 How often have I seen mine while arranging these 
 volumes for publication and carrying them through, the 
 press ! Twenty years have elapsed since the intention of 
 composing them was conceived and the composition com- 
 menced, in what manner and in what mood the reader 
 will presently be made acquainted. The vicissitudes 
 which in the course of those years have befallen every 
 country in Europe are known to everyone ; and the 
 changes which, during such an interval, must have 
 occurred in a private family there are few who may not, 
 from their own sad experience, readily apprehend. 
 
 Circumstances which, when they were touched upon 
 in these volumes, were of present importance, and excited 
 a lively interest, belong now to the history of the past. 
 They who were then the great performers upon the 
 theatre of public life have fretted their hour and dis- 
 appeared from the stage. Many who were living and 
 nourishing when their names were here sportively or 
 severely introduced are gone to their account. The 
 domestic circle which the introduction describes has in 
 the ordinary course of things been broken up ; some of 
 its members are widely separated from others, and some 
 have been laid to rest. The reader may well believe that 
 certain passages which were written with most joyousness 
 of heart have been rendered purely painful to the writer 
 by time and change, and that some of his sweetest 
 thoughts come to him in chewing the cud like wormwood 
 and gall. But it is a wholesome bitterness. 
 
 He has neither expunged nor altered anything on any 
 of these accounts ; it would be weakness to do this on the 
 scoi-e of his own remembrances, and in the case of allu- 
 sions to public affairs and to public men it would be 
 folly. The almanac of the current year will be an old 
 one as soon as next year begins. 
 
 It is the writer's determination to remain unknown ; 
 and they who may suppose that, 
 
 By certain signs here set in sundry place, 
 they have discovered him will deceive themselves. 
 
1 78 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 A Welsh triad says that the three unconcealable traits 
 of a person by which he shall be known are the glance 
 of his eye, the pronunciation of his speech, and the mode 
 of his self-motion in briefer English, his look, his voice, 
 and his gait. There are no such characteristics by which 
 an author can be identified. He must be a desperate 
 mannerist who can be detected by his style, and a poor 
 proficient in his art if he cannot at any time so vary it as 
 to put the critic upon a false scent. Indeed, every day's 
 experience shows that they who assume credit to them- 
 selves, and demand it from others, for their discrimination 
 in such things are continually and ridiculously mis- 
 taken. 
 
 On that side the author is safe : he has a sure reliance 
 upon the honour as well as the discretion of the very few 
 to whom he is naturally or necessarily known ; and if the 
 various authors to whom the book will be ascribed by 
 report should derive any gratification from the perusal, 
 he requests of them in return that they will favour his 
 purpose by allowing such reports to pass uncontradicted 
 
 7. well for him whose will is strong ! 
 He suffers, but he will not suffer long ; 
 He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong : 
 For him nor moves the loud world's random mock, 
 Nor all Calamity's hugest waves confound, 
 Who seems a promontory of rock, 
 That, compassed round with turbulent sound, 
 In middle ocean meets the surging shock, 
 Tempest-buffeted, citadel-crown 'd. 
 
 But ill for him who, bettering not with time, 
 Corrupts the strength of heaven-descended Will, 
 And ever weaker grows thro' acted crime, 
 Or seeming-genial venial fault, 
 Recurring and suggesting still ! 
 He seems as one whose footsteps halt, 
 Toiling in immeasurable sand ; 
 And o'er a weary sultry land, 
 
THOUGHT. 179 
 
 Far beneath a blazing vault, 
 
 Sown in a wrinkle of the monstrous hill, 
 
 The city sparkles like a grain of salt. 
 
 8. After these two noble Fruits of Friendship (Peace in 
 the Affections, and Support of the Judgement) followeth 
 the last Fruit, which is like the Pomegranate, full of many 
 kernels ; I mean Aid and bearing a Part in all Actions and 
 Occasions. Here the best way to represent to life the 
 manifold use of Friendship is to cast and see how many 
 things there are which a Man cannot do himself; and 
 then it will appear that it was a sparing Speech of the 
 Ancients, to say, That a Friend is another himself: for 
 that a Friend is far more than himself. Men have their 
 time, and die many times in desire of some things which 
 they principally take to Heart ; the bestowing of a Child, 
 the finishing of a Work, or the like. If a Man have a 
 true Friend, he may rest almost secure that the Care of 
 those things will continue after him ; so that a man hath, 
 as it were, two Lives in his desires. A Man ha.th a Body, 
 and that Body is confined to a place ; but where Friend- 
 ship is, all Offices of Life are, as it were, granted to him 
 and his deputy ; for he may exercise them by his Friend. 
 How many things are there which a Man cannot, with 
 any face or comeliness, say or do himself ? A Man can 
 scarce allege his own Merits with modesty, much less extol 
 them ; a Man cannot sometimes brook to supplicate, or beg, 
 and a number of the like ; but all these things are grace- 
 ful in a Friend's mouth, which are blushing in a man's 
 own. So again, a Man's person hath many proper Rela- 
 tions which he cannot put off. A Man cannot speak to 
 his Son but as a Father ; to his Wife but as a Husband ; 
 to his Enemy but upon Terms ; whereas a Friend may 
 speak as the case requires, and not as it sorteth with the 
 person. But to enumerate these things were endless : I 
 have given the Rule where a Man cannot fitly play his own 
 Part ; if he have not a Friend he may quit the stage. 
 
 H 2 
 
9. To the Redbreast. 
 
 Sweet, social songster of the dreary hour, 
 
 Whom Spring to flowering fields allur'd away, 
 
 Now frowning Winter strips the fleeting day 
 Of all its blooms, and clouds portentous lour, 
 Retire, as erst, to Delia's sheltering bow'r, 
 
 Humbly again for food to sing thy lay ; 
 
 And while the nymph that makes the moment gay, 
 Shall trill the lute, fraught with sweet music's power, 
 The notes, as to each cadence soft they move, 
 
 With imitative skill sbalt thou retain, 
 Till young Delight sports in the trembling grove, 
 
 And verdure clothes the chequered vales again ; 
 Then gladsome with thy acquisition rove 
 
 And be the unrivalled warbler of the plain. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 When that the fields put on their gay attire, 
 Thou silent sit'st near bi-ake or river's brim, 
 Whilst the gay thrush sings loud from covert dim ; 
 But when pale Winter lights the social fire, 
 
 And meads with slime are sprent, and ways with mire, 
 Thou charm'st us with thy soft and solemn hymn 
 From battlement, or barn, or haystack trim j 
 And now not seldom turn'st, as if for hire, 
 
 Thy trilling pipes to me, waiting to catch 
 The pittance due to thy well-warbled song. 
 Sweet bird, sing on ; for oft near lonely hatch, 
 
 Like thee, myself have pleased the rustic throng, 
 And oft for entrance, 'neath the peaceful thatch, 
 Full many a tale have told and ditty long. 
 
 10. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, 
 Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year ! 
 My hasting days fly on with full career, 
 But my late spring no bud or blossom showeth. 
 Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth 
 That I to manhood am arrived so near ; 
 And inward ripeness doth much less appear, 
 That some more timely-happy spirits endueth.. 
 
THOUGHT. 181 
 
 Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow, 
 It shall be still in strictest measure even 
 To that same lot, however mean or high, 
 
 Towards which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven ; 
 All is, if I have grace to use it so, 
 As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye. 
 
 11. Absence, hear thou my protestation 
 Against thy strength, 
 Distance, and length ; 
 Do what thou canst for alteration 
 For hearts of truest mettle 
 Absence doth join, and Time doth settle. 
 
 Who loves a mistress of such quality, 
 He soon hath found 
 Affection's ground 
 
 Beyond time, place, and all mortality. 
 To hearts that cannot vary 
 Absence is Presence, Time doth tarry. 
 
 By absence thus good means I gain, 
 That I can catch her, 
 Where none doth watch her, 
 In some close corner of my brain : 
 There I embrace and kiss her ; 
 And so I both enjoy and miss her. 
 
 12. DUKE. So then, you hope of pardon from Lord 
 Angelo 1 
 
 CLAUDIO. The miserable have no other medicine, 
 But only hope : 
 I have hope to live, and am prepar'd to die. 
 
 DUKE. Be absolute for death ; either death, or life, 
 Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life : 
 If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing 
 That none but fools would keep : a breath thou art, 
 (Servile to all the skyey influences,) 
 That dost this habitation, where thou keep'st, 
 Hourly afflict. Merely, thou art death's fool ; 
 For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun, 
 
1'82 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 And yet run'st toward him still : thou art not noble ; 
 
 For all the accommodations that thou bear'st 
 
 Are nurs'd by baseness : thou art by no means valiant ; 
 
 For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork 
 
 Of a poor worm : thy best of rest is sleep, 
 
 And that thou oft provok'st, yet grossly fear'st 
 
 Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself; 
 
 For thou exist 'st on many a thousand grains 
 
 That issue out of dust : happy thou art not ; 
 
 For what thou hast not, still thou striv'st to get ; 
 
 And what thou hast forget'st. Thou art not certain ; 
 
 For thy complexion shifts to strange effects, 
 
 After the moon : if thou art rich, thou art poor; 
 
 For, like an ass, whose back with ingots bows, 
 
 Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey, 
 
 And death unloads thee : friend hast thou none. 
 
 Thou hast nor youth, nor age, 
 
 But, as it were, an after-dinner's sleep, 
 
 Dreaming on both ; for all thy blessed youth 
 
 Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms 
 
 Of palsied eld : and when thou art old and rich, 
 
 Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty, 
 
 To make thy riches pleasant. What's yet in this, 
 
 That bears the name of life ? Yet in this life 
 
 Lie hid more thousand deaths, yet death we fear, 
 
 That makes these odds all even. 
 
 CLAUDIO. I humbly thank you. 
 
 To sue to live, I find, I seek to die, 
 And, seeking death, find life : let it come on. 
 
 1 3. This is that which I think readers are apt to be mis- 
 taken in. Those who have read of everything, are thought 
 to understand everything too; but it is not always so. 
 Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of know- 
 ledge : it is thinking makes what we read ours. We are 
 of the ruminating kind, and it is not enough to cram 
 ourselves with a great load of collections ; unless we 
 chew them over again, they will not give us strength and 
 nourishment. There are indeed in some writers visible 
 instances of deep thought, close and acute reasoning, and 
 
THOUGHT. 183 
 
 ideas well pursued. The light these would give, would be 
 of great use, if their readers would observe and imitate 
 them : all the rest at best are but particulars fit to be 
 turned into knowledge ; but that can be done only by 
 our own meditation, and examining the reach, force, and 
 coherence, of what is said. And then, as far as we appre- 
 hend and see the connection of ideas, so far it is ours ; 
 without that, it is but so much loose matter floating in 
 our brain. The memory may be stored, but the judg- 
 ment is little better, and the stock of knowledge not in- 
 creased, by being able to repeat what others have said, or 
 produce the arguments we have found in them. Such a 
 knowledge as this is but a knowledge by hearsay, and the 
 ostentation of it is at best by talking by rote, and very 
 often upon weak and wrong principles ; for all that is to 
 be found in books is not built upon true foundations, nor 
 always rightly deduced from, the principles it is pretended 
 to be built on. Such an examen as is requisite to dis- 
 cover that, every reader's mind is not forward to make ; 
 especially in those who have given themselves up to a 
 party, and only hunt for what they can scrape together 
 that may favour and support the tenets of it. Such men 
 wilfully exclude themselves from truth, and from all true 
 benefit to be received by reading. Others, of more in- 
 differency, often want attention and industry. The mind 
 is backward in itself to be at the pains to trace every 
 argument to its original, and to see upon what basis it 
 stands, and how firmly ; but yet it is this that gives 
 so much the advantage to one man more than another in 
 reading. The mind should, by severe rules, be tied down 
 to this, at first uneasy, task ; use and exercise will give 
 it facility. So that those who are accustomed to it, 
 readily, as it were with one cast of the eye, take a view of 
 the argument, and presently, in most cases, see where it 
 bottoms. Those who have got this faculty, one may say, 
 have got the true key of books, and the clue to lead them 
 through the mizmaze of variety of opinions and authors 
 to truth and certainty. This young beginners should be 
 entered in, and shown the use of, that they might profit 
 by their reading. Those who are strangers to it, wUl be 
 
184 PRfc IS- WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 apt to think it too great a clog in the way of men's 
 studies ; and they will suspect they shall make but small 
 progress, if, in the books they read, they must stand to 
 examine and unravel every argument, and follow it step 
 by step to its original. I answer, this is a good objec- 
 tion, and ought to weigh with those whose reading is 
 designed for much talk and little knowledge, and I have 
 nothing to say to it. But I am here enquiring into the 
 conduct of the understanding in its progress towards 
 knowledge ; and to those who aim at that, I may say, that 
 he who fairly and softly goes steadily forward in a course 
 that points right, will sooner be at his journey's end, than 
 he that runs after everyone he meets, though he gallop 
 all day full speed. 
 
 To which let me add, that this way of thinking on, 
 and profiting by, what we read, will be a clog and rub to 
 anyone only in the beginning ; when custom and exer- 
 cise have made it familiar, it will be despatched, in most 
 occasions, without resting or interruption in the course of 
 our reading. The motions and views of a rnind exercised 
 that way, are wonderfully quick ; and a man used to 
 such sort of reflections, sees as much at one glimpse as 
 would require a long discourse to lay before another, and 
 make out an entire and gradual deduction. Besides that, 
 when the first difficulties are over, the delight and sensible 
 advantage it brings, mightily encourages and enlivens the 
 mind in reading, which, without this, is very improperly 
 called study. 
 
 14. Thei-e was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, 
 The earth, and every common sight 
 
 To me did seem 
 Apparell'd in celestial light, 
 The glory and the freshness of a dream. 
 It is not now as it has been of yore ; 
 Turn wheresoe'er I may, 
 
 By night or day, 
 The things which I have seen I now can see no more ! 
 
 The rainbow conies and goes, 
 And lovely is the roso ; 
 
THOUGHT. 185 
 
 The moon doth with delight 
 Look round her when the heavens are bare ; 
 
 Waters on a starry night 
 
 Are beautiful and fair ; 
 The sunshine is a glorious birth ; 
 But yet I know, where'er I go, 
 That there hath passed away a glory from the earth. 
 
 Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song, 
 And while the young lambs bound 
 
 As to the tabor's sound, 
 To me alone there came a thought of grief : 
 A timely utterance gave that thought relief, 
 
 And I again am strong. 
 
 The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep, 
 No more shall grief of mine the season wrong : 
 I hear the echoes through the mountain throng, 
 The winds come to me from the fields of sleep, 
 And all the earth is gay ; 
 
 Land and sea 
 Give themselves up to jollity, 
 
 And with the heart of May 
 Doth every beast keep holiday ; 
 
 Thou child of joy 
 
 Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy 
 Shepherd boy ! 
 
 Ye blessed creatures, I have heard the call 
 
 Ye to each other make ; I see 
 The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee ; 
 My heart is at your festival, 
 My head hath its coronal, 
 The fulness of your bliss, I feel I feel it all. 
 O evil day ! if I were sullen 
 While Earth herself is adorning 
 
 This sweet May morning j 
 And the children are pulling 
 
 On every side 
 
 In a thousand valleys far and wide 
 Fresh flowers ; while the sun shines warm, 
 And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm : 
 
186 PR^CIS-WRITINa AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 I hoar, I hear, with joy I hear ! 
 But there's a tree, of many, one, 
 A single field which I have look'd upon, 
 Both of them speak of something that is gono : 
 The pansy at my feet 
 Doth the same tale repeat : 
 Whither is fled the visionary gleam 1 
 Where is it now, the glory and the dream 1 
 
 Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ; 
 The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 
 Hath had elsewhere its setting 
 
 And cometh from afar ; 
 Not in entire forgetfulness 
 And not in utter nakedness 
 But trailing clouds of glory do we come 
 
 From God, who is our home I 
 Heaven lies about us in our infancy ! 
 Shades of the prison-house begin to close 
 
 Upon the growing boy, 
 But he beholds the light, and whence it flows, 
 
 He sees it in his joy ; 
 
 The youth, who daily farther from the east 
 Must travel, still is Nature's priest, 
 And by the vision splendia 
 Is on his way attended ; 
 At length the man perceives it die away, 
 And fade into the light of common day. 
 
 Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own j 
 Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind, 
 And, even with something of a mother's mind 
 
 And no unworthy aim, 
 The homely nurse doth all she can 
 To make her foster-child, her inmate, Man, 
 
 Forget the glories he hath known 
 And that imperial palace whence he came. 
 
 Behold the child among his new-born blisses, 
 A six-years' darling of a pigmy size ! 
 See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies, 
 Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses, 
 
THOUGHT. 
 
 With light upon him from his father's eyes ! 
 See, at his feet, some little plan or chart, 
 Some fragment from his dream of human life, 
 Shaped by himself with newly-learned art ; 
 
 A wedding or a festival, 
 
 A mourning or a funeral ; 
 
 And this hath now his heart, 
 
 And unto this he frames his song : 
 
 Then will he fit his tongue 
 To dialogues of business, love, or strife j 
 
 But it will not be long 
 
 Ere this be thrown aside, 
 
 And with new joy and pride 
 The little actor cons another part ; 
 Filling from time to time his ' humorous stage * 
 With all the Persons, down to palsied Age, 
 That life brings with her in her equipage ; 
 
 As if his whole vocation 
 
 Were endless imitation. 
 
 Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie 
 
 Thy soul's immensity ; 
 Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep 
 Thy heritage, thou eye among the blind, 
 That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep, 
 Haunted for ever by the eternal Mind, 
 
 Mighty Prophet ! Seer blest ! 
 
 On whom those truths do rest 
 Which we are toiling all our lives to find ; 
 Thou, over whom thy immortality 
 Broods like the day, a master o'er a slave, 
 A presence which is not to be put by ; 
 Thou little child, yet glorious in the might 
 Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height, 
 Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke 
 The years to bring the inevitable yoke, 
 Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife? 
 Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, 
 And custom lie upon thee with a weight 
 Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life I 
 
188 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 O joy ! that in our embers 
 Is something that doth live, 
 That Nature yet remembers 
 What was so fugitive ! 
 
 The thought of our past years in me doth breed 
 Perpetual benediction ; not indeed 
 For that which is most worthy to be blest, 
 Delight and liberty, the simple creed 
 Of childhood, whether busy or at rest, 
 "With new-pledged hope still fluttering in his breast : 
 Not for these I raise 
 The song of thanks and praise ; 
 
 But for those obstinate questionings 
 
 Of sense and outward things, 
 
 Fallings from us, vanishings, 
 
 Blank misgivings of a creature 
 Moving about in worlds not realised, 
 High instincts, before which our mortal nature 
 Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised : 
 
 But for those first affections, 
 
 Those shadowy recollections, 
 
 Which, be they what they may, 
 Are yet the fountain-light of all our day, 
 Are yet a master-light of all our seeing ; 
 
 Uphold us cherish and have power to make 
 Our noisy years seem moments in the being 
 Of the eternal silence : truths that wake 
 
 To perish never ; 
 Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour 
 
 Nor man nor boy 
 Nor all that is at enmity with joy, 
 Can utterly abolish or destroy ! 
 
 Hence, in a season of calm weather 
 
 Though inland far we be, 
 Our souls have sight of that immortal sea 
 
 Which brought us hither ; 
 
 Can in a moment travel thither 
 And see the children sport upon the shore, 
 And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore 
 
THOUGHT. 189 
 
 Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song J 
 
 And let the young lambs bound 
 
 As to the tabor's sound ! 
 We, in thought, will join your throng 
 
 Ye that pipe and ye that play, 
 
 Ye that through your hearts to-day 
 
 Feel the gladness of the May ! 
 
 What though the radiance which was once so bright 
 Be now for ever taken from my sight, 
 
 Though nothing can bring back the hour 
 Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower ; 
 
 We will grieve not, rather find 
 
 Strength in what remains behind, 
 
 In the primal sympathy 
 
 Which having been must ever be 
 
 In the soothing thoughts that spring 
 
 Out of human suffering, 
 
 In the faith that looks through death, 
 In years that bring the philosophic mind. 
 
 And O, ye fountains, meadows, hills, and groves, 
 
 Forbode not any severing of our loves ! 
 
 Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might ; 
 
 I only have relinquish'd one delight 
 
 To live beneath your more habitual sway ; 
 
 I love the brooks which down their channels fret 
 
 Even more than when I tripp'd lightly as they ; 
 
 The innocent brightness of a new-born day 
 
 Is lovely yet ; 
 
 The clouds that gather round the setting sun 
 Do take a sober colouring from an eye 
 That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality ; 
 Another race hath been, and other palms are won. 
 Thanks to the human heart by which we live, 
 Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears, 
 To me the meanest flower that blows can givo 
 Thoughts that do often Lie too deep for tears. 
 
190 PRECIS-WRITING AS AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. 
 
 15. The general doctrine of religion, that our present, 
 life is a state of probation for a future one, comprehends 
 under it several particular things, distinct from each other. 
 But the first and most common meaning of it seems to be, 
 that our future interest is now depending, and depending 
 upon ourselves ; that we have scope and opportunities 
 here for that good and bad behaviour which God will 
 reward and punish hereafter, together with temptations 
 to one as well as inducements of reason to the other. 
 And this is, in great measure, the same with saying that 
 we are under the moral government of God, and to give 
 an account of our actions to Him. For the notion of a 
 future account and general righteous judgment implies 
 some sort of temptations to what is wrong ; otherwise 
 there would be no moral possibility of doing wrong, nor 
 ground 'for judgment or discrimination. But there is this 
 diffeitmce, that the word 'probation' is more distinctly 
 and particularly expressive of allurements to wrong, or 
 difficulties in adhering uniformly to what is right, and of 
 the danger of miscarrying by such temptations, than the 
 words ' moral government.' A state of probation, then, as 
 thus particularly implying in it trial, difficulties, and 
 danger, may require to be considered distinctly by itself. 
 
 And as the moral government of God, which religion 
 teaches us, implies that we are in a state of tiial with 
 regard to a future world, so also His natural government 
 over us implies that we are in a state of trial, in the 
 like sense, with regard to the present world. Natural 
 government by rewards and punishments as much implies 
 natural trial as moral government does moral trial. The 
 natural government of God, here meant, consists in His 
 annexing pleasure to some actions, and pain to others, 
 which are in our power to do or forbear, and in giving us 
 notice of such appointment beforehand. This necessarily 
 implies that He has made our happiness and misery, or 
 our interest, to depend in part upon ourselves. And so 
 far as men have temptations to any course of action, 
 which will probably occasion them greater temporal in- 
 convenience and uneasiness than satisfaction, so far their 
 temporal interest is in danger from themselves, or they 
 
THOUGHT. 191 
 
 are in a state of trial with respect to it. Now, people 
 often blame others, and even themselves, for their mis- 
 conduct in their temporal concerns. And we find many 
 are greatly wanting to themselvas, and miss of that 
 natural happiness which they might have obtained in the 
 present life ; perhaps everyone does in some degree. 
 But many run themselves into great inconvenience, and 
 into extreme distress and misery, not through incapacity 
 of knowing better and doing better for themselves, which 
 would be nothing to the present purpose, but through 
 their own fault. And these things necessarily imply 
 temptation, and danger of miscarrying, in a greater or less 
 degree, with respect to our worldly interest or happiness. 
 Everyone too, without having religion in his thoughts, 
 speaks of the hazards which young people run upon their 
 setting out in the world hazards from other causes than 
 merely their ignorance and unavoidable accidents. And 
 some courses of vice at least being contrary to men's 
 worldly interest or good, temptations to these must at 
 the same time be temptations to forego our present and 
 our future interest. Thus in our natural or temporal 
 capacity we are in a state of trial i.e. of difficulty and 
 danger analogous cr like to our moral and religious 
 trial. 
 
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