| Author: | Sir John Franklin | ISBN: | 1230000192992 |
| Publisher: | WDS Publishing | Publication: | October 29, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Language: | English |
| Author: | Sir John Franklin |
| ISBN: | 1230000192992 |
| Publisher: | WDS Publishing |
| Publication: | October 29, 2013 |
| Imprint: | |
| Language: | English |
The following pages have been written chiefly for my friends in Van
Diemen's Land in order not to leave them in ignorance of the steps which
I have taken to vindicate the honour of my late office, and my character
as their Governor, from ex-parte representations on points on which, so
long as I exercised the functions of government, I was precluded from
offering any explanations.
Misrepresentations therefore long remained to a great degree
uncontradicted by myself and unrefuted by my friends, not from want of
goodwill on their part but from want of a sufficient knowledge of all the
facts.
The especial reference I have made to Van Diemen's Land will account for
much minuteness and many circumstantial details which may seem somewhat
tedious and obscure to those of my readers less informed and less
interested in local matters than my Tasmanian friends. But there is not a
single observation, however trivial, which is not intended to meet some
special point on which studious misrepresentation has either been made or
may be anticipated.
I have ventured on no statements which I cannot prove, though I have
refrained in many instances from bringing the proof forward, either from
consideration to individuals whose interests might be compromised, or
from the regard which I consider due to the confidence of social
intercourse.
A few words may be necessary to account for the delay in the appearance
of the pamphlet. When all hope of any satisfactory adjustment of my
differences with the Colonial Office was at an end, and the only
alternative left me was a resort to the present step, circumstances of
too private a nature to enter into here, unavoidably prevented its
commencement.
The work most reluctantly begun has occupied more time than I had
anticipated. It was very far from being finished when the preparations
for the Arctic expedition called off my thoughts and time to other duties
more congenial to my habits, and still more imperative; and thus it has
happened that, to my extreme vexation and regret, I find the day of my
departure at hand without the satisfaction I had expected of seeing my
pamphlet out of the press. This delay has however given me the advantage
of receiving from Van Diemen's Land the documents contained in the
Postscript. I have had this part of the work printed off and have
enclosed a copy to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
In executing a task which has been exceedingly painful to me and
altogether foreign to my tastes and habits, I trust it will be found that
I have studiously avoided the introduction of matter inculpating others
except where it could not be avoided without destroying the integrity of
my narrative, or where it was required in justice to myself.
The following pages have been written chiefly for my friends in Van
Diemen's Land in order not to leave them in ignorance of the steps which
I have taken to vindicate the honour of my late office, and my character
as their Governor, from ex-parte representations on points on which, so
long as I exercised the functions of government, I was precluded from
offering any explanations.
Misrepresentations therefore long remained to a great degree
uncontradicted by myself and unrefuted by my friends, not from want of
goodwill on their part but from want of a sufficient knowledge of all the
facts.
The especial reference I have made to Van Diemen's Land will account for
much minuteness and many circumstantial details which may seem somewhat
tedious and obscure to those of my readers less informed and less
interested in local matters than my Tasmanian friends. But there is not a
single observation, however trivial, which is not intended to meet some
special point on which studious misrepresentation has either been made or
may be anticipated.
I have ventured on no statements which I cannot prove, though I have
refrained in many instances from bringing the proof forward, either from
consideration to individuals whose interests might be compromised, or
from the regard which I consider due to the confidence of social
intercourse.
A few words may be necessary to account for the delay in the appearance
of the pamphlet. When all hope of any satisfactory adjustment of my
differences with the Colonial Office was at an end, and the only
alternative left me was a resort to the present step, circumstances of
too private a nature to enter into here, unavoidably prevented its
commencement.
The work most reluctantly begun has occupied more time than I had
anticipated. It was very far from being finished when the preparations
for the Arctic expedition called off my thoughts and time to other duties
more congenial to my habits, and still more imperative; and thus it has
happened that, to my extreme vexation and regret, I find the day of my
departure at hand without the satisfaction I had expected of seeing my
pamphlet out of the press. This delay has however given me the advantage
of receiving from Van Diemen's Land the documents contained in the
Postscript. I have had this part of the work printed off and have
enclosed a copy to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
In executing a task which has been exceedingly painful to me and
altogether foreign to my tastes and habits, I trust it will be found that
I have studiously avoided the introduction of matter inculpating others
except where it could not be avoided without destroying the integrity of
my narrative, or where it was required in justice to myself.
