PREFACE
In
arranging for publication portions of Sir Hope Grant’s
voluminous diaries, I have followed the same general
principles as those which I adopted in compiling
‘Incidents in the Sepoy War’ and ‘Incidents in the China
War,’ and which then met with the General’s emphatic
approval.
Sir Hope’s language, though not infrequently graphic and
even characterised by a sort of rough pathos, was
habitually ungrammatical, often to an extent which
obscured the instant appreciation of his meaning.
Therefore I have not only constantly transposed the
paragraphs, but have modified the construction of the
sentences.
I have, however, most carefully retained the full sense
he intended to convey, without suggestions of my own;
and I am confident that were he alive he would approve
the verbal alterations I have effected.
For the further considerations which have prompted me to
publish these diaries, I refer the reader to the
concluding paragraphs of the second volume.
HENRY KNOLLYS,
Colonel, H.P., Royal Artillery.
Arthur’s Club, London, March 15, 1894.