XX 



Preliminary Chapter. 



1»\ innate iiR-au.s ; viz, by your Expe-ditions on the oue baud, aud my 

 Iminble eftoits on the other. 



^\■llat 1 havt' now said about engaging Mr. Hall in a last effort will 

 show hiui that 1 Judge of him as you do yourself; viz, that he is an able, 

 fearless, trustworthy and eonseientious man; Dear Cornelius always 

 maiutained that he was so. It remains to be seen whether in so holy 

 and noble a t-ause as the rescue of those precious documents from eternal 

 sepultiue in oblivion, ^I: Ilall would be willing to forego the chief com- 

 mand, in order to act as a coadjutor with all that natural influence which 

 liis experience and zeal must give him; sharing the dangers of his com- 

 |»anioii and sharing liis glory also. 



Having said this nnieh, 1 nuist add my request that the suggestions 

 1 n()w make through you to Mr Hall he not made public, nor find their 

 way into the ncics2)(i2icrs, as it is a part of the plan here in England to 

 keep the contemplated Expedition a secret until fully determined on and 

 organized, in order to avoid all obstruction, discussions and difl&culty 

 making. 



I am most anxious to see ^Mr. Hall at this moment ; how many diffi- 

 eulties eould be eleared, how niuch increased confidence inspired, if one 

 eould l>ut see and talk to him! — but how is this to be effected, for I siip- 

 l)ose he is too busy with his book to come to England till the publisher's 

 work is done ; — otherwise I would gladly pay all his expenses to and 

 from and during his stay here. 



I am sorry to hear rumors of his having got into some trouble about 

 I lie man wliom he sacrificed. I presume he deemed it necessary, how- 

 ever, for the safety of himself and others. It is an awful thing to take 

 a man's Ufe. but it has been jbniid justifiable upon occasions when the 

 lives of others were endangered. AVitness that act of Sir John Eichard- 

 Mtn's. which is always quoted to his honor, when, without a moment's 

 warning, he shot (h)wn the lialf-breed hunter, who was advancing quickly 

 in his stn*ngth townnl liimselfand Hepburn, both enfeebled by starva- 

 tion, in (»rder to saerilice ami feed upon them. 



Sir Ix»opoId McClintoek is home pre])aring a third edition, (which 

 lias lw<.-n c.-dled U,v l.y his piddisliers) of the Fox Voyage. He thinks 



