Excerpt from History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902, Vol. 2: Compiled by Direction of His of Majesty"s Government
The following circular letter was sent out during the composition of the present volume, and is now published to explain the conditions under which the history has been compiled: -
"In sending round these proofs for comment, I am anxious to appeal to all who can throw light upon any points within their knowledge to do so. Now that the first volume has been published, it must, I think, be clear to all that our only object has been to state the true facts as far as we are able to get at them. This seems to have been generally recognised; but our success entirely depends on our obtaining all the criticism and evidence we can. The first drafts of the first volume were very different from the text as published; but, though this was due to the evidence we subsequently obtained from those to whom they were sent, yet in many instances the corrections were furnished with expressions of great indignation that the account was not in accordance with facts known to the writer, but not previously supplied to us. We cannot make bricks without straw; and though the mass of material to be dealt with is very great, it often fails us at important points. It is to fill in these deficiencies that we submit the story as we have it, to those who can give us better evidence. On one point a fiction has gone abroad which may much interfere with this. It has been freely stated that the volume was much "sub-edited" in the interest of Departments concerned. There is not one word of truth in this. We have held no brief for anyone and no Department or Office has asked us to modify one word in their own interest. The only subject on which any Office asked for change was that mentioned on page I, Volume I., viz., any phrase that might affect our relations with our Boer fellow-subjects. Otherwise the narrative has been written exactly as we should have written it if we had been publishing a volume on our own account, except that under no other circumstances whatever could we have had complete evidence as to the truth."
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