FL4651435

Extract from a letter (dated 13th April, 1898)
from E. J. Phelps (once Minister for the United States
in England) to G. W. Rusden
with regard to the 2nd edition of the History of Australia (1897).
___ ____

"I deferred writing till I should have read the History, since I
might find it the duty of a candid friend to condemn or disparage it.

"I have now read it through with attention and great interest, and
in all sincerity and with no disposition towards flattery I have only
admiration to express. The work is admirable in all respects, and
seems to me to answer all the requisites of a good history -- fulness
and accuracy of facts -- some philosophical deduction -- interest of narr-
tive -- elegance of style.

"I had read the book in the former edition, but more hastily, and
under great pressure of other matters and consequent interruption. This
time it lay at my bedside, and gave me for a long time the hour of
reading after going to bed, in which I nightly indulge, as the best
means of obtaining 'the sweets of forgetfulness' of all 'the cares that
infest the day'

"The story of the rise and progress of a great civilization from
the extraordinary beginning of an enormous convict settlement is, of
course, unique in history, and exceedingly interesting. The lessons it
teaches of the destructive power of King Demos, and the absolute
impracticability of a permanent society to be governed by its worst
elements, make it most instructive. I insist that it is this article in the
creed of really educated and intellectual men that makes them all of one
church. The possibility of such a form of human government has been
the dream of enthusiasts of the past. Its refutation is to the be the great
work of the leading minds of the future. Your book is a valuable
contribution towards it. I wish, before I depart, I could contribute as
much. I particularly congratulate you ont he style in which it is
written, enriched, as it seems to me, by the spirit which is the finis et
fructus of true scholarship.

"But I must say no more, lest you begin to distrust my discrimina-
tion, or my sincerity, on both of which I have the vanity to modestly
pride myself."