Page:Narrative of the War With China In 1860 - Wolseley - 1862.djvu/15



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following narrative was originally written for my own amusement, and partly in the form of a journal. Upon my return from China I was requested by several friends to have it printed for general circulation, but refused to do so, hoping that others, better qualified for such a task, would undertake to make known their experiences of the late war. I felt reluctant, also, to publish comments upon persons and events, which—dotted down from day to day, currente calamo, whilst the impressions were fresh in my mind—might possibly, I feared, be misunderstood by many, and perhaps offend some. As no account of the campaign has been published, my scruples have been overcome, and I now give the following pages to the public: in doing so, however, I wish it to be understood that all the opinions—whether military or otherwise—expressed therein, are entirely my own, and that no other person is in