A \ B \ C \ D \ E \ F \ G \ H \ I \ J \ K \ L \ M \ N \ O \ P \ R \ S \ T \ U \ V \ W \Z

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11 by Robert Kerr

R >> Robert Kerr >> A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11




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 Encyclopaedia 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.

Copyright (c) 2007. bestextbooks.com. All rights reserved.

Various - "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine Vol. 56, No. 346, August, 1844"

William Carleton - "The Black Prophet: A Tale Of Irish Famine"

Anne Warner - "Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop"

Thornton W. Burgess - "Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories"