_Proceedings at the City of Canton, and the Return of the Centurion to
England._
When the commodore arrived at Canton, he was visited by the principal
Chinese merchants, who affected to appear very much pleased that
he had met with no obstruction in getting thither, and who thence
pretended to conclude that the viceroy was satisfied about the former
mistake, the reality of which they still insisted on; they added, that
as soon as the viceroy should be informed that Mr Anson was at Canton
(which they promised should be done the next morning,) they were
persuaded a day would be immediately appointed for the visit, which
was the principal business that had brought the commodore thither.
The next day the merchants returned to Mr Anson, and told him that
the viceroy was then so fully employed in preparing his dispatches for
Pekin, that there was no getting admittance to him for some days, but
that they had engaged one of the officers of his court to give them
information as soon as he should be at leisure, when they proposed
to notify Mr Anson's arrival, and to endeavour to fix the day of
audience. The commodore was by this time too well acquainted with
their artifices not to perceive that this was a falsehood; and had he
consulted only his own judgment, he would have applied directly to
the viceroy by other hands: But the Chinese merchants had so far
prepossessed the supercargoes of our ships with chimerical fears,
that they were extremely apprehensive of being embroiled with the
government, and of suffering in their interest, if those measures
were taken, which appeared to Mr Anson at that time to be the most
prudential; and, therefore, lest the malice and double-dealing of the
Chinese might have given rise to some sinister incident, which would
be afterwards charged on him, he resolved to continue passive as long
as it should appear that he lost no time by thus suspending his own
opinion. With this view, he promised not to take any immediate step
for getting admittance to the viceroy, provided the Chinese with whom
he contracted for provisions would let him see that his bread was
baked, his meat salted, and his stores prepared with the utmost
dispatch; but if by the time when all was in readiness to be shipped
off (which it was supposed would be in about forty days,) the
merchants should not have procured the viceroy's permission, then, the
commodore proposed to apply for himself. These were the terms Mr Anson
thought proper to offer, to quiet the uneasiness of the supercargoes,
and, notwithstanding the apparent equity of the conditions, many
difficulties and objections were urged; nor would the Chinese agree
to them till the commodore had consented to pay for every article
he bespoke before it was put in hand. However, at last, the contract
being past, it was some satisfaction to the commodore to be certain
that his preparations were now going on, and being himself on the
spot, he took care to hasten them as much as possible.
During this interval, in which the stores and provisions were getting
ready, the merchants continually entertained Mr Anson with accounts of
their various endeavours to get a license from the viceroy, and their
frequent disappointments, which to him was now a matter of amusement,
as he was fully satisfied there was not one word of truth in any thing
they said. But when all was completed, and wanted only to be shipped,
which was about the 24th of November, at which time too the N.E.
monsoon was set in, he then resolved to apply himself to the viceroy
to demand an audience, as he was persuaded that, without this
ceremony, the procuring a permission to send his stores on board would
meet with great difficulty. On the 24th of November, therefore, Mr
Anson sent one of his officers to the Mandarine, who commanded the
guard of the principal gate of the city of Canton, with a letter
directed to the viceroy. When this letter was delivered to the
mandarine, he received the officer who brought it very civilly, and
took down the contents of it in Chinese, and promised that the viceroy
should be immediately acquainted with it; but told the officer it was
not necessary for him to wait for an answer, because a message would
be sent to the commodore himself.
On this occasion Mr Anson had been under great difficulties about a
proper interpreter to send with his officer, as he was well aware that
none of the Chinese, usually employed as linguists, could be relied
on: But he at last prevailed with Mr Flint, an English gentleman
belonging to the factory, who spoke Chinese perfectly well, to
accompany his officer. This person, who upon this occasion and many
others was of singular service to the commodore, had been left at
Canton when a youth, by the late Captain Rigby. The leaving him there
to learn the Chinese language was a step taken by that captain, merely
from his own persuasion of the great advantages which the East-India
company might one day receive from an English interpreter; and though
the utility of this measure has greatly exceeded all that was expected
from it, yet I have not heard that it has been to this day imitated:
But we imprudently choose (except in this single instance) to carry on
the vast transactions of the port of Canton, either by the ridiculous
jargon of broken English, which some few of the Chinese have
learnt, or by the suspected interpretation of the linguists of other
nations.[1]
[Footnote 1: The practice recommended, it is almost unnecessary to
remark, has been adopted since our author's time, but certainly not to
the extent the probable advantages of it would suggest.--E.]
Two days after the sending the above-mentioned letter, a fire broke
out in the suburbs of Canton. On the first alarm, Mr Anson went
thither with his officers, and his boat's crew, to assist the Chinese.
When he came there, he found that it had begun in a sailor's shed, and
that by the slightness of the buildings, and the awkwardness of the
Chinese, it was getting head apace: But he perceived, that by pulling
down some of the adjacent sheds it might easily be extinguished; and
particularly observing that it was running along a wooden cornish,
which would soon communicate it to a great distance, he ordered his
people to begin with tearing away that cornish; this was presently
attempted, and would have been soon executed; but, in the meantime, he
was told, that, as there was no mandarine there to direct what was
to be done, the Chinese would make him, the commodore, answerable
for whatever should be pulled down by his orders. On this his people
desisted; and he sent them to the English factory, to assist in
securing the company's treasure and effects, as it was easy to foresee
that no distance was a protection against the rage of such a fire,
where so little was done to put a stop to it; for all this time the
Chinese contented themselves with viewing it, and now and then holding
one of their idols near it, which they seemed to expect should check
its progress: However, at last, a mandarine came out of the city,
attended by four or five hundred firemen: These made some feeble
efforts to pull down the neighbouring houses; but by this time the
fire had greatly extended itself, and was got amongst the merchants'
warehouses; and the Chinese firemen, wanting both skill and spirit,
were incapable of checking its violence; so that its fury increased
upon them, and it was feared the whole city would be destroyed, in
this general confusion the viceroy himself came thither, and the
commodore was sent to, and was entreated to afford his assistance,
being told that he might take any measures he should think most
prudent in the present emergency. And now he went thither a second
time, carrying with him about forty of his people; who, upon this
occasion, exerted themselves in such a manner, as in that country
was altogether without example: For they were rather animated than
deterred by the flames and falling buildings, amongst which they
wrought; so that it was not uncommon to see the most forward of them
tumble to the ground on the roofs, and amidst the ruins of houses,
which their own efforts brought down with them. By their boldness
and activity the fire was soon extinguished, to the amazement of the
Chinese; and the building being all on one floor, and the materials
slight, the seamen, notwithstanding their daring behaviour, happily
escaped with no other injuries, than some considerable bruises. The
fire, though at last thus luckily extinguished, did great mischief
during the time it continued; for it consumed an hundred shops and
eleven streets full of warehouses, so that the damage amounted to
an immense sum; and one of the Chinese merchants, well known to the
English, whose name was Succoy, was supposed, for his own share, to
have lost near two hundred thousand pounds sterling. It raged indeed
with unusual violence, for in many of the warehouses, there were large
quantities of camphor, which greatly added to its fury, and produced a
column of exceeding white flame, which shot up into the air to such
a prodigious height that it was plainly seen on board the Centurion,
though she was thirty miles distant.
Whilst the commodore and his people were labouring at the fire, and
the terror of its becoming general still possessed the whole city,
several of the most considerable Chinese merchants came to Mr Anson,
to desire that he would let each of them have one of his soldiers (for
such they styled his boat's crew from the uniformity, of their dress)
to guard their warehouses and dwellings-houses, which, from the known
dishonesty of the populace, they feared would be pillaged in the
tumult. Mr Anson granted them this request; and all the men that he
thus furnished to the Chinese behaved greatly to the satisfaction of
their employers, who afterwards highly applauded their great diligence
and fidelity.
By this means, the resolution of the English at the fire, and their
trustiness and punctuality elsewhere, was the general subject of
conversation amongst the Chinese: And, the next morning, many of the
principal inhabitants waited on the commodore to thank him for
his assistance; frankly owning to him, that they could never have
extinguished the fire of themselves, and that he had saved their city
from being totally consumed. And soon after a message came to the
commodore from the viceroy, appointing the 30th of November for his
audience; which sudden resolution of the viceroy, in a matter that had
been so long agitated in vain, was also owing to the signal services
performed by Mr Anson and his people at the fire, of which the viceroy
himself had been in some measure an eye-witness.
The fixing this business of the audience, was, on all accounts, a
circumstance which Mr Anson was much pleased with; as he was satisfied
that the Chinese government would not have determined this point,
without having agreed among themselves to give up their pretensions to
the duties they claimed, and to grant him all he could reasonably ask;
for as they well knew the commodore's sentiments, it would have been
a piece of imprudence, not consistent with the refined cunning of the
Chinese, to have admitted him to an audience, only to have contested
with him. And therefore, being himself perfectly easy about the result
of his visit, he made all necessary preparations against the day.
Mr Flint, whom he engaged to act as interpreter in the conference,
acquitted himself much to the commodore's satisfaction; repeating with
great boldness; and doubtless with exactness, all that was given in
charge, a part which no Chinese linguist would ever have performed
with any tolerable fidelity.
At ten o'clock in the morning, on the day appointed, a mandarine
came to the commodore, to let him know that the viceroy was ready to
receive him; on which the commodore and his retinue immediately set
out: And as soon as he entered the outer gate of the city, he found
a guard of two hundred soldiers drawn up ready to attend him; these
conducted him to the great parade before the emperor's palace, where
the viceroy then resided. In this parade, a body of troops, to the
number of ten thousand, were drawn up under arms, and made a very fine
appearance, being all of them new clothed for this ceremony: And Mr
Anson and his retinue having passed through the middle of them, he
was then conducted to the great hall of audience, where he found the
viceroy seated under a rich canopy in the emperor's chair of state,
with all his council of mandarines attending: Here there was a
vacant seat prepared for the commodore, in which he was placed on
his arrival: He was ranked the third it order from the viceroy, there
being above him only the head of the law, and of the treasury, who in
the Chinese government take place of all military officers. When
the commodore was seated, he addressed himself to the viceroy by
his interpreter, and began with reciting the various methods he had
formerly taken to get an audience; adding, that he imputed the delays
he had met with to the insincerity of those he had employed, and that
he had therefore no other means left, than to send, as he had done,
his own officer with a letter to the gate. On the mention of this the
viceroy stopped the interpreter, and bid him assure Mr Anson, that the
first knowledge they had of his being at Canton, was from that letter.
Mr Anson then proceeded, and told him, that the subjects of the
king of Great Britain trading to China had complained to him, the
commodore, of the vexatious impositions both of the merchants
and inferior custom-house officers, to which they were frequently
necessitated to submit, by reason of the difficulty of getting access
to the mandarines, who alone could grant them redress: That it was
his, Mr Anson's, duty, as an officer of the king of Great Britain, to
lay before the viceroy these grievances of the British subjects, which
he hoped the viceroy would take into consideration, and would give
orders, that for the future there should be no just reason for
complaint. Here Mr Anson paused, and waited some time in expectation
of an answer; but nothing being said, he asked his interpreter if he
was certain the viceroy understood what he had urged; the interpreter
told him, he was certain it was understood, but he believed no reply
would be made to it. Mr Anson then represented to the viceroy the case
of the ship Haslingfield, which, having been dismasted on the coast of
China, had arrived in the river of Canton but a few days before. The
people on board this vessel had been great sufferers by the fire; the
captain in particular had all his goods burnt, and had lost besides,
in the confusion, a chest of treasure of four thousand five hundred
tahel, which was supposed to be stolen by the Chinese boat-men. Mr
Anson therefore desired that the captain might have the assistance
of the government, as it was apprehended the money could never be
recovered without the interposition of the mandarines. And to this
request the viceroy made answer, that in settling the emperor's
customs for that ship, some abatement should be made in consideration
of her losses.
And now the commodore having dispatched the business with which the
officers of the East-India company had entrusted him, he entered on
his own affairs; acquainting the viceroy, that the proper season was
now set in for returning to Europe, and that he waited only for a
licence to ship off his provisions and stores, which were all ready;
and that as soon as this should be granted him, and he should have
gotten his necessaries on board, he intended to leave the river of
Canton, and to make the best of his way for England. The viceroy
replied to this, that the licence should be immediately issued, and
that every thing should be ordered on board the following day. And
finding that Mr Anson had nothing farther to insist on, the viceroy
continued the conversation for some time, acknowledging in very civil
terms how much the Chinese were obliged to him for his signal
services at the fire, and owning that he had saved the city from being
destroyed: And then observing that the Centurion had been a good while
on their coast, he closed his discourse, by wishing the commodore a
good voyage to Europe. After which, the commodore, thanking him for
his civility and assistance, took his leave.
As soon as the commodore was out of the hall of audience, he was
much pressed to go into a neighbouring apartment, where there was
an entertainment provided; but finding, on enquiry, that the viceroy
himself was not to be present, he declined the invitation, and
departed, attended in the same manner as at his arrival; only at his
leaving the city he was saluted by three guns, which are as many as
in that country are ever fired on any ceremony. Thus the commodore,
to his great joy, at last finished this troublesome affair, which, for
the preceding four months, had given him great disquietude. Indeed he
was highly pleased with procuring a licence for the shipping of his
stores and provisions; for thereby he was enabled to return to Great
Britain with the first of the monsoon, and to prevent all intelligence
of his being expected: But this, though a very important point, was
not the circumstance which gave him the greatest satisfaction; for he
was more particularly attentive to the authentic precedent established
on this occasion, by which his majesty's ships of war are for the
future exempted from all demands of duty in any of the ports of China.
In pursuance of the promises of the viceroy, the provisions were begun
to be sent on board the day after the audience; and, four days after,
the commodore embarked at Canton for the Centurion; and on the 7th
of December, the Centurion and her prize unmoored, and stood down
the river, passing through the Bocca Tigris on the 10th. And on this
occasion I must observe, that the Chinese had taken care to man the
two forts, on each side of that passage, with as many men as they
could well contain, the greatest part of them armed with pikes and
match-lock musquets. These garrisons affected to shew themselves as
much as possible to the ships, and were doubtless intended to induce
Mr Anson to think more reverently than he had hitherto done of the
Chinese military power: For this purpose they were equipped with much
parade, having a great number of colours exposed to view; and on
the castle in particular there were laid considerable heaps of large
stones; and a soldier of unusual size, dressed in very sightly
armour, stalked about on the parapet with a battle-axe in his hand,
endeavouring to put on as important and martial an air as possible,
though some of the observers on board the Centurion shrewdly
suspected, from the appearance of his armour, that instead of steel,
it was composed only of a particular kind of glittering paper.
The Centurion and her prize being now without the river of Canton, and
consequently upon the point of leaving the Chinese jurisdiction, I beg
leave, before I quit all mention of the Chinese affairs, to subjoin
a few remarks on the disposition and genius of that extraordinary
people. And though it may be supposed, that observations made at
Canton only, a place situated in the corner of the empire, are very
imperfect materials on which to found any general conclusions, yet as
those who have had opportunities of examining the inner parts of
the country, have been evidently influenced by very ridiculous
prepossessions, and as this transactions of Mr Anson with the regency
of Canton were of an uncommon nature, in which many circumstances
occurred, different perhaps from any which have happened before,
I hope the following reflections, many of them drawn from these
incidents, will not be altogether unacceptable to the reader.
That the Chinese are a very ingenious and industrious people, is
sufficiently evinced, from the great number of curious manufactures
which are established amongst them, and which are eagerly sought for
by the most distant nations; but though skill in the handicraft arts
seems to be the most important qualification of this people, yet
their talents therein are but of a second-rate kind; for they are much
out-done by the Japanese in those manufactures, which are common
to both countries; and they are in numerous instances incapable of
rivalling the mechanic dexterity of the Europeans. Indeed, their
principal excellency seems to be imitation; and they accordingly
labour under that poverty of genius, which constantly attends all
servile imitators. This is most conspicuous in works which require
great truth and accuracy; as in clocks, watches, fire-arms, &c. for in
all these, though they can copy the different parts, and can form
some resemblance of the whole, yet they never could arrive at such
a justness in their fabric, as was necessary to produce the desired
effect. And if we pass from their manufactures to artists of a
superior class, as painters, statuaries, &c., in these matters they
seem to be still more defective, their painters, though very numerous
and in great esteem, rarely succeeding in the drawing or colouring of
human figures; or in the grouping of large compositions; and though in
flowers and birds their, performances are much more admired, yet even
in these, some part of the merit is rather to be imputed to the native
brightness and excellency of the colours, than to the skill of the
painter; since it is very unusual to see the light and shade justly
and naturally handled, or to find that ease and grace in the drawing,
which are to be met with in the works of European artists; In
short, there is a stiffness and minuteness in most of the Chinese
productions, which are extremely displeasing: And it may perhaps
be asserted with great truth, that these defects in their arts are
entirely owing to the peculiar turn of the people, amongst whom
nothing greater spirited is to be met with.
If we next examine the Chinese literature; (taking our accounts from
the writers, who have endeavoured to represent sent it in the most
favourable light) we shall find; that on this head their obstinacy
and absurdity are most wonderful: For though, for many ages, they have
been surrounded by nations, to whom the use of letters was familiar,
yet they, the Chinese alone, have hitherto neglected to avail
themselves of that almost divine invention, and have continued to
adhere to the rude and inartificial method of representing words by
arbitrary marks; a method, which necessarily renders the number of
their character too great for human memory to manage, makes writing
to be an art that requires prodigious application, and in which no
man can be otherwise than partially skilled; whilst all reading, and
understanding of what is written, is attended with infinite obscurity
and confusion; for the connection between these marks, and the words
they represent; cannot be retained in books, but must be delivered
down from age to age by oral tradition: And how uncertain this must
prove in such a complicated subject, is sufficiently obvious to those
who have attended to the variation which all verbal relations undergo,
when they are transmitted through three or four hands only. Hence it
is easy to conclude, that the history and inventions of past
ages, recorded by these perplexed symbols, must frequently prove
unintelligible; and consequently the learning and boasted antiquity of
the nation most, in numerous instances, be extremely problematical.
But we are told by some of the missionaries, that though the skill
of the Chinese in science is indeed much inferior to that of the
Europeans, yet the morality and justice taught and practised by them
are most exemplary. And from the description given by some of these
good fathers, one should be induced to believe that the whole empire
was a well-governed affectionate family, where the only contests were,
who should exert the most humanity and beneficence: But our preceding
relation of the behaviour of the magistrates, merchants, and tradesmen
at Canton, sufficiently refutes these jesuitical fictions. And as
to their theories of morality, if we may judge from the specimens
exhibited in the works of the missionaries, we shall find them solely
employed in recommending ridiculous attachments to certain immaterial
points, instead of discussing the proper criterion of human actions,
and regulating the general conduct of mankind to one another on
reasonable and equitable principles. Indeed, the only pretension
of the Chinese to a more refined morality than their neighbours is
founded, not on their integrity or beneficence, but solely on the
affected evenness of their demeanour, and their constant attention
to suppress all symptoms of passion and violence. But it must be
considered, that hypocrisy and fraud are often not less mischievous to
the general interests of mankind, than, impetuosity and vehemence
of temper, since these, though usually liable to the imputation of
imprudence, do not exclude sincerity, benevolence, resolution,
nor many other laudable qualities. And perhaps if this matter were
examined to the bottom, it would appear that the calm and patient
turn of the Chinese, on which they so much value themselves, and which
distinguishes the nation from all others, is in reality the source of
the most exceptionable part of their character; for it has been often
observed by those who have attended to the nature of mankind, that
it is difficult to curb the more robust and violent passions, without
augmenting at the same time the force of the selfish ones: So that the
timidity, dissimulation, and dishonesty of the Chinese, may, in some
sort, be owing to the composure and external decency so universally
prevailing in that empire.
Thus much for the general disposition of the people: But I cannot
dismiss this subject without adding a few words about the Chinese
government, that too having been the subject of boundless panegyric.
And on this head I must observe, that the favourable accounts often
given of their prudent regulations for the administration of their
domestic affairs, are sufficiently confuted by their transactions with
Mr Anson: For we have seen that their magistrates are corrupt, their
people thievish, and their tribunals crafty and venal. Nor is the
constitution of the empire, or the general orders of the state, less
liable to exception: Since that form of government, which does not
in the first place provide for the security of the public against
the enterprises of foreign powers, is certainly a most defective
institution: And yet this populous, this rich, and extensive country,
so pompously celebrated for its refined wisdom and policy, was
conquered about an age since by an handful of Tartars; and even now,
by the cowardice of the inhabitants, and the want of proper military
regulations, it continues exposed not only to the attempts of any
potent state, but to the ravages of every petty invader. I have
already observed, on occasion of the commodore's disputes with the
Chinese, that the Centurion alone was an overmatch for all the
naval power of that empire: This perhaps may appear an extraordinary
position; but to render it unquestionable, one may refer to vessels
made use of by the Chinese.[2] The first of these is a junk of about
a hundred and twenty tons burden, and was what the Centurion hove down
by; these are most used in the great rivers, though they sometimes
serve for small coasting voyages: The other junk is about two hundred
and eighty tons burden, and is of the same form with those in which
they trade to Cochinchina, Manilla, Batavia, and Japan, though some of
their trading vessels are of a much larger size; its head is perfectly
flat; and when the vessel is deep laden, the second or third plank
of this flat surface is oft-times under water. The masts, sails, and
rigging of these vessels are ruder than their built; for their masts
are made of trees, no otherwise fashioned than by barking them, and
lopping off their branches. Each mast has only two shrouds made of
twisted rattan, which are often both shifted to the weather-side; and
the halyard, when the yard is up, serves instead of a third shroud.
The sails are made of mat, strengthened every thee feet by an
horizontal rib of bamboo; they run upon the mast with hoops, and when
they are lowered down, they fold upon the deck. These merchantmen
carry no cannon; and it appears, from this whole description, that
they are utterly incapable of resisting any European armed, vessel.
Nor is the state provided with ships of considerable force, or of a
better fabric, to protect them: For at Canton, where doubtless their
principal naval power is stationed, we saw no more than four men
of war junks, of about three hundred tons burden, being of the make
already described, and mounted only with eight or ten guns, the
largest of which does not exceed a four-pounder. This may suffice to
give an idea of the defenceless state of the Chinese empire. But it
is time to return to the commodore, whom I left with his two ships
without the Bocca Tigris; and who, on the 12th of December, anchored
before the town of Macao.
[Footnote 2: The plate is necessarily omitted.]
Whilst the ships lay here, the merchants of Macao finished their
agreement for the galleon, for which they had offered 6000 dollars;
this was much short of her value, but the impatience of the commodore
to get to sea, to which the merchants were no strangers, prompted them
to insist on so unequal a bargain. Mr Anson had learnt enough from the
English at Canton, to conjecture that the war betwixt Great Britain
and Spain was still continued; and that probably the French might
engage in the assistance of Spain, before he could arrive in Great
Britain; and therefore knowing, that no intelligence could get to
Europe of the prize he had taken, and the treasure he had on board,
till the return of the merchantmen from Canton, he was resolved to
make all possible expedition in getting back, that he might be himself
the first messenger of his own good fortune, and might thereby prevent
the enemy from forming any projects to intercept him: For these
reasons, he, to avoid all delay, accepted of the sum offered for
the galleon; and she being delivered to the merchants the 15th of
December, 1743, the Centurion the same day got under sail, on her
return to England. And on the 3d of January, she came to an anchor at
Prince's Island, in the straits of Sunda, and continued there wooding
and watering till the 8th, when, she weighed and stood for the Cape of
Good Hope, where, on the eleventh of March she anchored in Table-Bay.
Here the commodore continued till the beginning of April, highly
delighted with the place, which, by its extraordinary accommodations,
the healthiness of its air, and the picturesque appearance of the
country, all enlivened by the addition of a civilized colony, was
not disgraced in an imaginary comparison with the vallies of Juan
Fernandez, and the lawns of Tinian. During his stay he entered about
forty new men; and having by the 3d of April, 1744, completed his
water and provision, he on that day weighed and put to sea; and on
the 19th of the same month they saw the island of St Helena, which,
however, they did not touch at, but stood on their way; and, on the
10th of June, being then in soundings, they spoke with an English ship
from Amsterdam bound for Philadelphia, whence they received the first
intelligence of a French war; the 12th they got sight of the Lizard;
and the 15th, in the evening, to their infinite joy, they came safe to
an anchor at Spithead. But that the signal perils which had so often
threatened them in the preceding part of the enterprise, might pursue
them to the very last, Mr Anson learnt on his arrival, that there
was a French fleet of considerable force cruising in the chops of
the channel, which, by the account of their position, he found the
Centurion had run through, and had been all the time concealed by a
fog. Thus was this expedition finished, when it had lasted three years
and nine months; after having, by its event, strongly evinced this
important truth, that though prudence, intrepidity, and perseverance
united, are not exempted from the blows of adverse fortune; yet in a
long series of transactions, they usually rise superior to its power,
and in the end rarely fail of proving successful.
* * * * *
[In concluding the account of this very interesting circumnavigation,
it is necessary to advert to a question of some importance in
literature, as every question must be that involves the claims of
authors and their respective titles to reputation. Nor is the public
often impatient in listening to evidence on such subjects, if the
merit contended for be sufficiently great to justify solicitude as
to its being rightly conferred. That it is so in the case of the
question, Who was the author of this work? no one can doubt, that is
capable of relishing its excellencies; or is aware of the high rank
it has always held among compositions of the kind--that its first
reception was such as to take off four large impressions within a
twelvemonth--that it has been repeatedly printed since in a variety of
forms--and that it has been translated into most of the languages of
Europe. The claimants are Mr Walter, chaplain of the Centurion, under
whose name (as is mentioned in this volume of the Collection, p. 201,)
it was originally, and, so far as the editor knows, always published;
and Mr Benjamin Robins, an ingenious mathematician, and author of
several works, much esteemed by men of science. A short statement of
such information as the editor has been able to procure, is all that
the limits of this work will permit to be said on the subject of this
question. The public, being interested in what had been generally
reported through the medium of the periodical publications, respecting
the proceedings and fate of the squadron under Commodore Anson,
had eagerly expected some account of this voyage drawn up under his
notice, or authenticated by his approval. This anxiety, it is likely,
was not a little enhanced by the circumstance of several small, but
curious enough, narratives having been published of the distresses
experienced by part of the squadron, especially the Wager; from which
it was naturally enough inferred, that a judicious and minute account
of the whole could not fail to gratify rational curiosity, and the
common disposition to wonder. Mr Walter, accordingly, who had gone in
the Centurion, the commodore's vessel, as chaplain, and who, it seems,
had been in the habit of keeping memorials of the transactions and
occurrences of the squadron, prepared materials for publication, and
actually procured subscriptions for the liquidation of its expense. He
brought down his narrative to the time of his leaving the Centurion at
Macao, when he returned by another conveyance to England. But as the
public expectation had been raised very high, some persons, it would
appear, suggested that the materials intended to be published should
be carefully examined, and, if need be, corrected, by an adequate
judge of literary and scientific composition. Mr Robins, already well
known as an author of both mathematical and political essays, and much
valued by several distinguished characters of the times, was engaged
to undertake this task, whether with or without the desire of Mr
Walter, or under any allegation of that gentleman's known or
reputed incompetency to fulfil the hopes entertained, cannot now
be discovered. On examination, we are told, it was resolved that Mr
Robins should write the whole work anew, and merely use the materials
furnished by Mr Walter, or otherwise, as the particulars of wind,
weather, currents, courses, &c. &c. usually given in a sailor's
journal. The introduction, and several dissertations interspersed
through, the work, are said, moreover, to have been written by Mr
Robins without any such assistance whatever; but to what magnitude his
labours throughout amounted, it is perhaps impossible to ascertain.
That he acquired reputation by it is unquestionable; but that Mr
Walter himself should not have contributed so much as to warrant his
name appearing on the title-page of the book, and at its dedication to
the Duke of Bedford, would require a proof of both want of talents and
meanness of disposition, which no one yet has attempted to adduce. Mr
Walter's character, indeed, seems to have been quite above either such
deficiency; and, in all probability, was, both in point of firmness
and moral and intellectual worth, the very circumstance which obtained
for him the appointment to a responsible office in an expedition,
which, in its origin, progress, and issue, attracted the peculiar
regard of the British government, and the admiration of mankind in
general. Besides this office, it may be mentioned, that in 1745, on
his return from the expedition, he was made chaplain of Portsmouth
dock-yard, in which situation he continued till his death on March
10th, 1785. The first edition of the work appeared in 1748; and a
fifth being required in the following year, Mr Robins, it is said,
revised it, and intended, had he remained in England, to have added a
second volume. This rests on the assertion of Dr Wilson, who published
Mr Robins' works after his death, in 2 vols. 8vo. 1761; and who, in
the account of that gentleman's life prefixed, has been at pains to
claim, in the strongest language, the merit of the Narrative for his
friend. A passage or two from that memoir may satisfy the reader as to
this part of the evidence, and as to the opinion of Dr W. one of the
principal witnesses, respecting the proportional labours of Messrs
Walter and Robins. "Upon a strict perusal of both the performances,"
says he, "I find Mr Robins' to contain about as much matter again as
that of Mr Walter--so this famous Voyage was composed in the person of
the Centurion's chaplain, by Mr Robins in his own style and manner. Of
this Mr Robins' friends, Mr Glover and Mr Ockenden, are witnesses as
well as myself, we having compared the printed book with Mr
Walter's manuscript. And this was at that time no secret, for in
the counterpart of an indenture, now lying before me, made between
Benjamin Robins, Esq. and John and Paul Knapton, booksellers, I find
that those booksellers purchased the copy of this book from Mr Robins,
as the sole proprietor, with no other mention of Mr Walter than a
proviso in relation to the subscriptions he had taken." Dr Wilson
evidently writes under some conviction that his assertions are liable
to scrutiny, and that the matter of his remarks is debatable; hence
his allegation that other _friends_ of Mr Robins are witnesses as well
as himself, and his insinuation that what he testifies was no secret.
But it is obvious, that, were his own assertions of the fact at all
questionable, he would be equally obnoxious to discredit in assigning
these other witnesses; for clearly, the man who could falsify in the
one case, would be capable of doing so in the other. This may be said
without any impeachment whatever of either Dr Wilson or the other
friends of Mr Robins. It is merely a remark on the mode of proof which
the Dr has adopted. As to the insinuation again, of the fact being no
secret, all that it may be requisite to say is simply this, that the
circumstance of the existence of the counterpart of such an indenture
as is mentioned, is a very indifferent proof of publicity; and that
even were it otherwise, were it "confirmation strong," still it might
be readily conceived that Mr Robins should be the sole proprietor of
the work, and yet in no degree the author of it. One may believe, at
least, that Mr Robins, having aided in drawing up the materials for
publication, and having furnished some pieces for it, was entrusted
with the disposal of it to the booksellers; Mr Walter himself, for
value received; or other considerations, abandoning all further
concern. Some importance has been attached to a letter from Lord Anson
to Mr Robins, as preserved by Dr Wilson, and published, as he says, by
his lordship's permission, or, to use his own expression, "Printed
not without the noble lord's consent; who," says the doctor, "being
requested to permit that this testimony might be exhibited to the
world of his lordship's esteem for Mr Robins, replied, in the politest
manner, That every thing in his power was due to the memory of one who
had deserved so well of the public." That Mr Robins deserved well of
the public was unquestionable, though he had not written a line of
the Narrative. He had published several works on subjects of general
utility; and, besides his private instructions in beneficial science,
he had been employed officially in the service of his country: In
short, he needed not any thing of the reputation of the author of
the Narrative, whoever he was, to extend his own. But does the letter
referred to, or the quotation now given respecting Lord Anson's
permission to publish it, in any degree determine the question, or any
thing connected with it? The Editor has a different opinion of it; he
thinks it quite irrelevant--that it does not yield the least shadow
of proof, that Mr Robins had any thing to do with the volume of the
Narrative, already given to the public. All that can be legitimately
inferred from it amounts to this, that Lord Anson, entertaining a
high opinion of Mr Robins, and being much pleased with his works, was
desirous that he should publish a second volume of the Voyage, and
apprehended that he had abandoned the intention of doing so. Of the
fact of Mr Robins being the author of what had appeared, or even of
the existence of materials for a second volume in a state fit for the
public notice--of any thing, in short, but an intention on the part of
Mr Robins to this effect, the letter in question says not a word. Let
the reader judge for himself. The letter is as follows:--
"DEAR SIR,
"When I last saw you in town, I forgot to ask you, whether you
intended to publish the second volume of my "Voyage" before you leave
us; which, I confess, I am very sorry for. If you should have laid
aside all thoughts of favouring the world with more of your works, it
will be much disappointed, and no one in it more than your very much
obliged and humble servant,
_Bath, 22d October, 1749._
"ANSON."
"If you can tell the time of your departure, let me know it."
This letter is also preserved by Mr Nichols in his Literary Anecdotes
of the 18th Century, vol. ii. page 206, where the Narrative is
explicitly ascribed to Mr Robins, but not on, any particular evidence.
The statement indeed that is there given seems founded on Dr Wilson's
account of Mr Robins, without any other source of information having
been consulted. The Encyclopædia Britannica is somewhat more candid,
stating merely what was generally thought as to the Narrative
being the work of Mr Robins, and at the same time pointing, though
indirectly, to the existence of information opposed to that opinion.
"In 1748," says the article Robins, 3d edition, "appeared Lord Anson's
Voyage round the World, which, though Mr Walter's name is in the
title, has been generally thought to be the work of Mr Robins."--"The
5th edition, printed at London, in 1749, was revised and corrected
by Mr Robins himself. It appears, however, from the corrigenda and
addenda to the 1st volume of the Biographia Britannica, printed in
the beginning of the 4th volume of that work, that Mr Robins was only
consulted with respect to the disposition of the drawings, and that
he had left England before the book was printed. Whether this be the
fact, as it is asserted to be by the widow of Mr Walter, it is not for
us to determine." The remark now made seems somewhat ambiguous, and
may refer to either the 5th edition only, or to the work in general.
In referring, however, to the Biog. Brit. as above, the ambiguity is
removed, and a testimony is discovered in opposition to the statement
of Dr Wilson, which the reader cannot fail to consider of very high
import, and as bearing strongly against the claims of Mr Robins. The
writers of the Biog. had spoken, in their account of Lord Anson, of
the history of his voyage having been written by Mr Robins. This they
did on common though uncontradicted report, arising in all probability
from the positive assertions of Dr Wilson, to which, it is certainly
very singular, neither Mr Walter nor any of his friends chose to
object. With the most praise-worthy liberality and candour, however,
these gentlemen, in the corrigenda; &c. referred to, insert the
following notice:--"Thus has the matter hitherto stood. But so late
as the present year (1789) and a few days previously to the writing of
this note, a letter upon the subject has been put into our hands by
Mr John. Walter, bookseller at Charing Cross. It is addressed to that
gentleman by Mrs Walter, the widow of the publisher of that Voyage,
and is as follows:
"SIR,
"I am informed that the Biographia Britannica insinuates that Mr
Robins, and not Mr Walter, was the writer of Lord Anson's Voyage round
the World. I shall therefore take it as a favour, if you will put me
in the way of correcting so great a mistake. During the time of Mr
Walter's writing that Voyage, he visited me almost daily previous to
our marriage, and I have frequently heard him say how closely be had
been engaged in writing for some hours to prepare for his constant
attendance upon Lord Anson at six every morning for his approbation,
as his lordship overlooked every sheet that was written. At some
of those meetings Mr Robins assisted, as he was consulted in the
disposition of the drawings; and I also know that Mr Robins left
England (for he was sent to Bergen-op-Zoom,)[2] some months before the
publication of that book; and I have frequently seen Mr Walter correct
the proof sheets for the printer. You may perhaps wonder that Mr
Walter never took any steps to contradict the assertion; but that
wonder will cease when I tell you that for four years before his
death (which was in 1785) he laboured under very severe and painful
illnesses, and therefore never heard any thing but newspaper squibs,
which he looked upon with contempt. But as it now appears to be
published in a work that will be handed down to-posterity, that Mr
Walter was not the real author, I think it a duty incumbent upon me
to endeavour to clear his memory from any imputation of duplicity.
Nor can it be supposed that any man would write a book for another
to share the greatest part of the advantages. These and many other
reasons make me to apply to you, as I should suppose that, as a
relation to the deceased, you would be anxious for his fame, as well
as,
Sir,
Your most humble servant,
JANE WALTER."
_June 16th, 1789._
[Footnote 2: "Mr Robins," says Dr Wilson, "was invited over to assist
in the defence of Bergen-op-Zoom, then invested by the French; and
he did accordingly set out for that place; but it was entered by the
besiegers September 16, 1747, just after his arrival in the Dutch
army." This corresponds well with Mrs Walter's statement, and must
have its weight in the question.--E.]
"We shall make no other comment on this letter than to observe,
that it is highly worthy of attention. If it shall give such full
satisfaction to our readers as to convince them that Mr Walter was the
writer of the voyage in its present form, we shall rejoice in having
had an opportunity of doing justice to an injured character."
Such is all the information the Editor has been able to procure
on this subject; and he regrets that it is not adequate to what is
desirable for the determining it. He might seem invidiously disposed
were he positively to decide in the claims, the respective evidences
of which, though not logically contradictory, are so much opposed to
each other; but he thinks he can hazard no unfavourable imputation, if
he should merely state his opinion drawn from the consideration of the
testimonies, and the comparison of the style of part of the Narrative,
with that of the works which appeared in Mr Robins' name. He thinks,
then, in few words, that the Narrative is really the production of
Mr Walter, under whose name it appeared, but that it was materially
increased in size, if not in real value, by the contributions of
Mr Robins; and that the species of those contributions may be
condescended on, which of course goes far to determine their amount.]
END OF VOLUME ELEVENTH.
Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne & Co.