Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/461

 APPENDIX. 419 ' casioned by the wilful displacement of the buoy by the ' French ' — but the book actually makes light of the delay, saying that there was ' much less delay, and much less con- fusion, than might have been expected ; ' and, far from un- dertaking to assert that the displacement of the buoy was wilful, it goes out of its way to suggest that one of the hypotheses which would account for the displacement was ' sheer mistake.' I cannot doubt that Captain Mends in- tended to quote accurately ; and I account for his mistake by supposing that, instead of copying from the book itself he must have been induced to give what purported to be a quotation, by taking his words from one of those printed representations of the contents of the book which were cur- rent at the time when he wrote his letter to the news- paper. I repeat that I have done nothing towards that collation of passages which is necessary for determining whether any given account of the tenor of the book is an account given in good faith ; but it struck me that the above two in- stances of men who trusted to printed versions of the con- tents of the book, instead of to the book itself, might possibly help the inquiry, and could hardly fail to serve as whole- some examples. In the general controversy which the book has engen- dered I am not taking part ; but having in my hands large means of proof and disproof, I ought, of course, to aid to- wards the attainment of right conclusions upon disputed matters of fact; and it is only with that view that I am now going to speak — not of the nature and spirit, but — of the mere abundance of the scrutiny which the book has undergone. The book treated of such subjects, and of a time so little removed from the present, that there were great numbers of public men — ministers, diplomatists, and military and naval officers — who were not only likely to have strong