[ Baden-Powell Family; Debutantes 1933 ] Correspondence of Miss Louise Andree Coury, fashion journalist, with Olave Baden-Powell and Heather Baden-Powell, wife and daughter respectively of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting Movement

Author: 
[ Baden-Powell Family; Debutantes 1933 ]
Publication details: 
[Baden-Powell] Pax Hill, Bentley, Hampshire, March and April 1933.
£100.00
SKU: 23133

Fron Coury's archive/files. Seven items (incuding two duplicates), one page each, 4to. 1. Coury's file carbon copy of her original Typed Letter to Heather Baden-Powell (14 March 1933), asking her questions about family connections, hobbies, ambitions etc., information to be used in the 'Who's Who' of 1933 debutantes which I am preparing for the 'Daily Express' and which will appear every day once the series has been started. She also asked for a photograph. 2. Typed Letter Signed by Heather Baden-Powell (21 March 1933) answering Coury's questions meticulously (e.g. My favourite recreations are riding, huntiing, tennis, swimming, and games. 3. Typed Note Signed Olave Baden-Powell about the photograph Coury requested and which Lady Baden-Powell is sending with this note [not present]. 4. Carbon Copy of Coury's Profile of Heather Baden-Powell (charming unaffected etc.). 5. Four Newspaper cuttings, small and very small, laid down on a 4to page, about Heather (Interesting 'Deb', Freckles. Another very pretty [...], and 2[...] considerable public interest), headed, presumably in Coury's hand Miss Heather Baden-Bower [crossed out and replaced with 'Powell'] .~100~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SCOUTING FOR BOYS DEBS DEBUTANTES~ ~0~OL60~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 23132~08/06/2020~False~[ Highclere Castle; Downton Abbey ]~[ Highclere Castle; Downton Abbey; Auction Catalogue ] Heroes at Highclere | Auction Guide inscribed by some of the cast of Downton Abbey.~Highclere Castle, Sunday 16 October 2011.~TWO COPIES, leaflet, auction catalogue, 8pp., 8vo each, very good to fine condition. Illustrated Catalogue including items from Downton House, inc. script from Episode One. COPY ONE: Inscribed front Fiona [Carn?] [Fiona, Lady Carnarvon, Countess of Carnarvon] and Signed on the back page by actors who appeared in Downton Abbey: Jim Carter (also the 'auctioneer'), Phyllis Logan Lesley Nicol, Sophie McShera, Hugh Bonneville, and Allen Leach. COPY TWO: A marked copy, with prices realised. For example £350 was reached for Two different newspapers announcing the sinking of the Titanic used in Series 1 of Downton Abbey AND £450 for the We are at War with Germany telegram [...]. WITH (enclosed) Heroes at Highclere Event Programme/poster, one page including Ten plane 'de Havilland' stream flyover (with pencil directions to Highclere. AND: folding Programme for Heroes at Highclere. AND: a ticket simply saying Reserved.~120~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT PRINTED PROGRAMME AUCTION DOWNTON ABBEY HEROES AT HIGHCLERE~ ~0~OL60~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 23131~08/06/2020~False~B.P. Shillaber [Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814-1890), American printer, editor, and humorist.]~[ B.P. Shillaber; humorist ] Autograph Note Signed B.P. Shillaber to a Walter G. Webster responding to a request for his autograph~Chelsea, Mass., 20 July 1872.~Part of leaf from exercise book (it seems), 12.5 x 11.5cm, laid down on paper slightly larger, good condition. Dear Sir: I comply with your request very willingly, and subscribe myself Yours autographically | and truly | B.P. Chillaber | for sef and | Mrs Partington.~50~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT HUMORIST HUMOURIST MARK TWAIN TOM SAWYER~ ~0~OL60~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 23129~08/06/2020~False~George III (1738-1820), King of England [Sir William Augustus Pitt of Highfield House; Fanny Burney (Madame D'Arblay)]~[George III, King of England.] Four documents by King George III, all in his Autograph, giving detailed instructions (retinue, route, accommodation) for a journey into Hampshire, with reference to Fanny Burney and Sir William Pitt's Highfield House~For a journey taking in Egham, Basingstoke, Salisbury, Andover, and Sir William Pitt's Highfield House in Hampshire. Probably all written around the same time, between around 1786 and 1790.~Four sets of travel instructions by George III, all in his autograph, none dated but seemingly relating to the same journey, taking in the Highfield House estate of General Sir William Augustus Pitt (c. 1728-1809), and also referring to Egham, Basingstoke, Winsdsor, Andover. A referring to the novelist Fanny Burney (1752-1840), narrows the date of at least one of the documents to between 1786 and 1790, the period during which Burney was a Keeper of the Robes. On four leaves, and totalling 5pp, ranging in size from 4to to long narrow 8vo (see descriptions below for dimensions). All four in good condition, neatly mounted on folio sheets of Whatman paper, one mount with watermarked date 1826 and another with cropped date 1827. The four items are from the distinguished autograph collection of Richard Hunter (1923-1981), son of Ida Macalpine, whose library of 7000 books relating to psychiatry is in Cambridge University Library. Macalpine and Hunter had a particular interest in the king's illness, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'. Also included is a long Typed Letter Signed from the eminent English bookseller and bibliophile Alan G. Thomas (1911-1992), offering the four items to Hunter, on his Bournemouth letterhead, 2 July 1965. Thomas's scholarship was exacting, and his description of the items is excellent. He states that they consist of 'Autograph Directions for various royal journeys, chiefly to Weymouth, detailing the servants required for attendance, the relays of horses and the accommodation required for the King and Queen and their suite, giving details of the itineraries, etc. […] The King gives equal care to the allocation of bedchambers, etc. One bedchamber is allocated to Fanny Burney but her name has been crossed through and that of Miss Gomme substituted. The whole gives a most interesting picture of George III's meticulous attention to detail.' As to provenance, Thomas states that all the pieces are from the collections of William Upcott (1779-1845) of the London Institution, and Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) of Middle Hill.' A second piece of paper carries a few unattributed notes, typewritten and in pencil, about whether the documents refer to 'travels from Cheltenham in 1788'. The four items are as follows. ONE: 1p, 4tto. Begins: Mr. Gorton is to order from Reading | 4. Post Horses for the King's Post Chaise | 4. Do Queen's first Post Coach | 4 Do Queen's Second Poast Coach | 4 Do King's Equerries Post Coach | Saddle Horses for footmen and two Hobby Grooms to be at Sir Wm. Pitt's at Highfield at three o'Clock on Friday Augt. 24th. | The same number of Horses at Basingstoke, and Overton. The Queen's 2d. Post Coach and the Equerries Post Coach will remain the Night at Andover, as the Princesses Mary and Amelia will lye there. | The King will sup there at Nine after which proceed to Weymouth the Horses wanted that Night will be 4. Horses for the Kings's Post Chaise | 4 Do Queen's 1st Post Coach | and 6 Saddle Horses; the above number at Salisbury, Woodyeate's Inn, Bloodford and Dorchester, […]'. TWO: 1p, on narrow 8vo leaf, 19 x 8 cm. Begins with numbered list of 21 rooms required by the royal party, beginning with '1. Bedchamber for King and Queen | 2. Dressing Room for King'. Item 10 is '[Bedchamber for] Miss Burney', i.e the novelist Fanny Burney, with her name crossed out and that of 'Miss Gomme inserted instead. Item 20 is 'Miss Burney's Dining Room'. Beneath the list are ten lines of miscellaneous notes, beginning: 'Lodgings as near as possible. | for four Gentlemen. And their Servants.' THREE: 2pp, on narrow 8vo leaf, 20 x 10 cm. In windowpane mount. Annotated in pencil by Upcott: 'Directions for the attendance of Servants upon the King – in his Majesty's handwriting.' Relating to a journey in stages, the first page beginning with a list of four coaches 'to go from Windsor to Bagshot'. Details are then given of 'King's Footmen', 'Hobby Grooms', 'Post Horses' and others required for the journey, with changed arrangements given for stages 'From Bagshot to Hertford Bridge', 'From Hertford Bridge to Basingstoke', 'From Basingstoke to Popham Lane', 'From Popham Lane to Hook', 'From Overton to Andover', 'From Hook to Stockbridge', 'From Andover to Salisbury'. The second page reads: 'Booth, Mackenzie, Opie and Howorth to go on Thursday Augt. 14th. From London to Popham Lane; Johnson, Inman, Mason and his Partner to go from Egham also to Popham Lane.' FOUR: 1p, 4to. In two columns. The body of the text in the king's autograph in ink, but with pencil additions in another hand (that of an equerry?) at the foot of both columns. The first column headed by the king 'At the Commissioners'. Begins with list of four required rooms: '1. A Bedchamber for the King & Queen if with convenienec a small room for the Queen to Dress if not can dress in the Bedchamber | 2. A Bed Chamber for Pss Royal and Pss. Amelia. | 3. A Bed Chamber for Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth | 4. A Bed Chamber for Princesses Mary and Sophia'. A list of retinue and servants follows. The second column begins with a list of seven names, beginning with 'Ly Courstown | Ly. Caroline Waldegrave | Ly. Frances Howard'. It also features details of horses, and ends: 'Prince Ernest – 1 Gentleman and Three Servants'. At the foot of the column are three queries, the second of which reads: 'Has the King decided if His own Saddle Horses are to go to Portsmouth?'~1500~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH MADNESSGEORGE MADNESS OF GEORGE III ROYAL FAMILY ITINERARY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SIR WILLIAM AUGUSTUS PITT FANNY BURNEY MADAME D'ARBLAY ENGLAND UNITED KINGDOM TRAVEL AUTOGRAPHS~ ~0~Blue fdr (Book Trade Matters) (from back). old no #21456~ ~ ~0~ ~ 23127~08/06/2020~False~George III (1738-1820); Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1732-92); George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow (1731-1814); Jeremiah Dyson (1722-76); William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington (1717-93)~[George III, Lord North; Lord Barrington; Earl of Onslow; Jeremiah Dyson; John Lloyd] King's Signature ('George R.'), with those of North, Barrington, Onslow, Dyson and Lloyd, to warrant placing Jacob Carnac of 84 Regiment of Foot on half pay.~'Given at Our Court at St. James's this 27th day of September 1769 in the Ninth Year of Our Reign.~The present document carries the signatures of three central figures on the British side during the American War of Independence: King George III, his Prime Minister Lord North, and Secretary at War Lord Barrington, along with the signatures of the Earl of Onslow, Jeremiah Dyson and John Lloyd, Deputy Auditor of the Imprest. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Thin strip of paper from mount adhering to inner edge on first page. Good firm signature of 'George R.' in customary place at top right, with the king making two small blots of ink by the final flourish of the 'R'. Thirty-one lines of text, signed, 'By His Majesty's Command', by 'Barrington'. Written in a secretarial hand, and addressed 'To Our Right Trusty and Wellbeloved Councillor Henry Lord Holland late Paymaster General of Our Guards, Garrisons and Land Forces, and to the Paymaster for the time being.' The document places 'Ensign Jacob Carnac of Our late 84th. Regiment of Foot' on half pay. Three of the five Lords Commissioners of the Treasury – 'North | Geo Onslow. | J. Dyson' – sign at the foot of the document, beneath the following: 'We have been made acquainted with the aforegoing Warrant, Whitehall, Treasury Chambers the 5th day of September 1770'. Annotated along left-hand margin of first page: 'Entred in the Office of the Right Honble. Lewis Lord Sondes Auditor the 8th. of September 1770 | John Lloyd Dep: Audr.' The following at the food of the second page: 'Jacob Carnac 1s. 10d. a day as a reduced Ensign of his Majs. 84th. Regt. of Foot'. From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.~750~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH KING GEORGE III LORD NORTH PRIME MINISTER AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE BARRINGTON FREDERICK EARL OF ONSLOW GUILFORD JEREMIAH DYSON WILLIAM JOHN LLOYD JACOB CARNAC~ ~0~Hunter Miscellaneous (old #21805)~ ~ ~0~ ~ 23128~08/06/2020~False~George III, King of England; Spencer Perceval, the only Prime Minister to be assassinated; William Eliot (1767-1845, latterly Earl of St Germans) and William Sturges-Bourne, Lords of the Treasury~[George III; Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister.] Royal Signature ('George R') to document directing payment of servants of the younger princes from duties from Barbados and Leeward Islands, countersigned by Perceval and two other Lords of the Treasury~'Given at our Court at St James's the 16th: day of November in the forty ninth Year of our Reign'. [i.e. 1808]~2pp, folio. On a single sheet. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, folded twice into the customary packet. The first page is headed with the king's scrawled signature ('George R.'), he being practically blind with cataracts at the time of signing. The document is countersigned at the end by three Lords of the Treasury: 'Sp Perceval | Wm Eliot | W Sturges Bourne'. The tax stamp is in its customary position in the left-hand margin of the first page. The document ('By His Majesty's Command') is written in a secretarial hand, and addressed 'To the Husband for taking up all Goods consigned from Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands on Account of the Duty of four Pounds and one half Pound per centum.' It is of interest in showing how the Royal Family benefited, albeit indirectly, from the institution of slavery. The king directs, authorises and commands 'that out of the monies in your hands which have arisen of from or by the Revenue duty or Custom of four Pounds and one half Pound per Centum at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands you do pay or cause to be paid unto Andrew Dickie Esqr [Principal Clerk at the royal bankers Coutts and Co.] or to his Assigns the Sum of three hundred and thirty three Pounds nineteen Shillings and eight Pence '. The money is to be paid to 'enable him to pay one Quarters allowance ended the 10th day of October 1808 to the late Servants of our dearly beloeved Sons William Henry Duke of Clarence Edward Duke of Kent Ernest Duke of Cumberland Frederick Augustus Duke of Sussex and Frederick Adolphus Duke of Cambridge in such manner as we may direct', as well as to 'pay the Civil List duties and other Expences'. In another hand, at foot of the second page, 'Andrew Dickie Esqr £333 .. 19 .. 8 – Allowance to the 10 October 1808 to the late Servants of the Younger Princes'. (Dickie was Principal Clerk at the royal bankers Coutts.) From the distinguished autograph collection of the psychiatrist Richard Alfred Hunter (1923-1981), whose collection of 7000 works relating to psychiatry is now in Cambridge University Library. Hunter and his mother Ida Macalpine had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.~750~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH KING GEORGE III OF ENGLAND SPENCER PERCEVAL TORY PRIME MINISTER GEORGIAN HANOVERIAN COUTTS BANK ANDREW DICKIE WILLIAM ELIOT EARL OF ST GERMANS STURGES-BOURNE SLAVERY WEST INDIES~ ~0~Shared file 34 (old no. #21481)~ ~ ~0~ ~ 23130~08/06/2020~False~King George III; Sir Francis Dashwood [Lord le Despencer] of the Hell-fire Club ('Monks of Medmenham'); Lord North, Prime Minister; Charles Townshend; Sir John Turner [Major. General John Barrington]~[American Revolution;George III, Lord North, Chas. Townshend and Sir Francis Dashwood (Hell-Fire Club).] Autograph Signatures ('George R', 'North', 'C Townshend' and 'F Dashwood'), with those of Sir John Turner and Thomas Fisher, on Treasury warramt.~'Given at Our Court at St. James's this 17th. Day of November 1762 In the Third Year of Our Reign.'~2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. The document has three horizontal fold lines, one of which has led to wear at along the foot of Dashwood's signature. An interesting assemblage of individuals. Of the six signatories three played a significant part in the American Revolution: King George III and his Prime Minister Lord North, with Charles Townshend, who was responsible for the unpopular 'Townshend Acts', taxing the colonies and leading to the Boston Massacre. Of the others Sir Francis Dashwood ( a very scarce signature) is notorious as the debauchee who organised 'the Monks of Medmenham Abbey' at the 'Hell-Fire Club'. The subject of the document, as the endorsement at the foot of the verso explains, is a payment for 'Major Genl: Barrington's Regt: of Foot £399 . 1s . 8d for Camp Necessaries'. (Barrington (d.1764) served with distinction in the West Indies.) The text of the document is written in a secretarial hand on the recto, with King George III's signature ('George R'), firm and clear, in the customary position at top left. The Secretary at War, Charles Townshend (1725-1767) signs ('C Townshend') at bottom right. The document instructs 'Henry Fox, Paymaster General of Our Guards, Garrisons and Land Forces' to pay out of the money he holds 'for the Contingent Uses of Our Land Forces' the stated sum to 'Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Major General John Barrington', 'in full satisfaction of the like sum expended by him in providing divers Camp Necessaries for Our Eight Regiment of Foot under his command'. Endorsement on reverse: 'We have been made acquainted with the foregoing Warrant Whitehall Treasury Chambers the 1st. Day of December 1762'. Beneath this are the signatures: 'F Dashwood | North | John Turner | Tho Fisher'. Fisher's signature is set apart. Dashwood, North and Turner sign as Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, Lord North [Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford] (1732-1792) would serve as Prime Minister from 1770-1782. Dashwood (1708-1781) being also Chancellor of the Exchequer, having been appointed to the post by Lord Bute in June 1762. (Dashwood lacked even the rudiments of financial knowledge, and his budget speech was met with derision. He departed with the rest of the Bute ministry in 1763, succeeding to the le Despencer title in the same year.) For Sir John Turner (1712-1780), Member of Parliament for King's Lynn, as for Townshend, see History of Parliament. From the distinguished autograph collection of Richard Hunter, son of Ida Macalpine, whose collection of 7000 books relating to psychiatry is in Cambridge University Library. Macalpine and Hunter had a particular interest in the illness of King George III, and their book 'George III and the Mad Business' (1969) suggested the diagnosis of porphyria popularised by Alan Bennett in his play 'The Madness of George III'.~1500~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH KING GEORGE III LORD NORTH PRIME MINISTER CHARLES TOWNSHEND ACTS AMERICAN REVOLUTION WAR OF INDEPENDENCE TAXATION SIR FRANCIS DASHWOOD HELLFIRE CLUB MEDMENHAM TREASURY BARRINGTON~ ~0~Shared file 34; formerly #21441~ ~ ~0~ ~ 23126~08/06/2020~False~Sir Thomas Wade [Sir Thomas Francis Wade] (1818-1895), diplomat and sinologist; Sir Garnet Wolseley [Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley] (1833-1913), British Army officer~[War with China 1886; Lord Wolseley, as Adjutant-General, enquires and Sir Thomas Wade expounds his views.] Autograph Letter Signed from Wolseley asking for Wade's views on line of conduct to be adopted, and Wade's 27pp of 'observations' in reply.~Wolseley's letter: 2 February 1886. On letterhead of the War Office [Whitehall, London]. Wade's 'observations': 27 April 1886. On letterheads of the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, S.W. [London].~See the entries for Wolseley and Wade in the Oxford DNB. Two interesting items, dating from a period of increased tension between Britain and China over what the learned and well-informed Wade calls - in his long unpublished document - 'the Burmese frontier question'. Having defeated King Mindon of Upper Burma in the two-week Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885, the British had set about incorporating the new colony of Upper Burma into the Burma Province. This would be done on 26 February 1886, a little more than three weeks after the writing of Wolseley's letter. Relations between the two countries would improve later in the year with the signing of the Burmah Convention, by which the Chinese agreed to recognise Britain's occupation of Upper Burmah, as long as Britain continued to pay a tribute to China every ten years. At the time of writing Wolseley was Adjutant-General to the Forces, and Wade was in London, having retired in 1882, after antagonising diplomatic colleagues and foreign counterparts alike. In 1888 he would be made the first professor of Chnese at Cambridge University. The two items offered here are in the remains of an envelope, annotated in an unknown contemporary hand: 'Letter from Ld. Wolseley asking plan of campaign in case of war with China | T. F. W's answer, advocating occupying position on Yang tis Kia[ng]'. Both items are on lightly-aged paper, and both are affected by damp. While Wolseley's letter only has some staining at the head of the gutter; the damage to Wade's document is more serious: each of its seven bifoliums has damp damage and loss along its central horizontal fold. In five of the bifoliums (making up twenty of the total of twenty-seven pages) this has resulted in loss of some words of text. ONE: ALS from Wolseley to Wade. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed 'Wolseley'. The letter begins: 'My dear Wade | I should be very much obliged if you would give me your views on the line of conduct we should adopt if at any time China forced us into a war. I think you told me more than once that in your opinion you could bring the Pekin [sic] Government to reason by occupying some position on the Yangtsi-Kiang. Is this so?' & if so where is the position & how would it's [sic] occupation effect that object? & what do you think should be the force to occupy it'. He hopes that 'like a good fellow' Wade will give him 'the benefit' of his 'long experience in China on this subject', and his 'intimate acquaintance with the geography, people and military resources of that land of flowers'. He ends by noting that he has not seen Wade 'for some long time'. TWO: Wade's 'observations', headed 'China'. Signed and dated 'T. Wade | 27th. April 1886'. 27pp, folio. On seven bifoliums, each with letterhead of the Athenaeum Club, London. The first three pages contain a number of emendations, including an entire paragraph (on the response of 'The Court' to the occupation of 'the Valley' by a 'foreign force') which has been deleted and rewritten in purple pencil. Under the heading 'China' the document begins: 'The following observations have been suggested by a question as to whether I had not once expressed an opinion that [last eight words deleted] in the event of a War between England and China, the Chinese government [could] not in my opn. be most speedily brought to crisis by our occupation of the great River Yang-tzu? | I am not sure that this wd. be so. [replacing 'I do not think so.'] The Valley of the Yang-tzu, it is true, is but another expression for all that is most valuable in the Empire.' He explains that he speaks 'of the Valley dealing somewhat liberally with the geography of the region so described', listing the provinces which it 'traverses or bounds'. The rewritten passage on the reaction of 'The Court' to the occupation of 'the Valley' follows. As the document proceeds there are repeated references to to 'the operations of 1842' and 'our expedition of 1860'. Wade begins his exposition of his position: 'I am assuming that, as usual, we should desire to see our differences ended with the least possible delay. If so, an advance on the capital would be undoubtedly indispensable. But the case might be otherwise. Our decision would depend more or less upon the nature of our quarrel with China, and although more probably we might be in favor of summary reparation for the offence that had provoked us, we might, on the other hand, consider a prolonged occupation of territory advisable.' He suggests a course of action supposing 'the Burmese frontier question' has 'become a bone of contention'. He discusses the 'loss or detention of the Grain supply', contrasting the present situation with that in 1842: 'Except at Canton, where a limited number of native brokers and servant had limited intercourse with the foreigner, no Chinese had ever seen a steamer before the war began; nor even a musket. The small arms of the Chinese soldiery were matchlocks, or guigalls infamously made, and in their batteries they had nothing but rude iron guns. They had still faith in bows and arrows. They are now familiar enough with foreign arms to regard them no longer as the apparatus of the magician; their theory in 1842.' He discourses knowledgeably on the suitability of various Chinese locations for warfare, and states: 'I do not hesitate to say that unless our preparations were such as to ensure success in a coup de main, we should have to abandon the projected campaign altogether. Towards the end he discusses 'The Musketeer Battalions, stationed in and around Tientsin and Ta-ku, numbering some 40 000 men'. These are 'immediately superior to any Chinese force that we have had to deal with in times gone by', although they were, 'when I left China in 1882, utterly inexperienced in field evolutions on a grand scale'. He would expect 'a foreign column of 10 000 men to give a very good account of four or five times that number in the open field', although 'Li Hung-Chang's Musketeers have become excellent marksmen', as have his artillery. He concludes: 'In a word, if, having made up our minds to fight, we set about it with alacrity, I believe in the success of a dash upon Peking. A delay on the other hand, although of no very great duration, might suffice to checkmate us in the [matter?]. Our alternative would then be occupation of the Yang-tzu Valley, which is wealthy enough to stand any [?] requisitions that might be imposed upon its inhabitants, and our occupation would thus be self-supporting. But in addition to the disastrous possibility of a subversion of the reigning family, which I have dwelt upon above, there is also not to be ignored the too great possibility of complications with other Treaty Powers, whose nationals are interested in the commerce of this, the most commercial division of the Empire.'~1600~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH CHINA CHINESE NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITISH EMPIRE BURMA UPPER LORD WOLSELEY SIR GARNET THOMAS FRANCIS WADE SINOLOGIST CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY NINETEENTH CENTURY VICTORIAN MILITARY~ ~0~OL59; chris (as #22947)~ ~ ~0~ ~