A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xi Part 28

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 a.s.sistance 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 anch.o.r.ed 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 circ.u.mnavigation, 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 t.i.tles 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 circ.u.mstance 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 a.s.sistance 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 t.i.tle-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 circ.u.mstance 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 a.s.sertion 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 pa.s.sage 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 princ.i.p.al 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 ma.n.u.script. 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 a.s.sertions 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 a.s.sertions of the fact at all questionable, he would be equally obnoxious to discredit in a.s.signing 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 circ.u.mstance 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 n.o.ble 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 t.i.tle, 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 a.s.serted 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 a.s.sertions 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 a.s.sisted, 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 a.s.sertion; 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 inc.u.mbent 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 a.s.sist 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.