Copy of Letter Robert Tomlinson to Mr. Fern of the Church Missionary Society 16 December 1880
[This is a very interesting copy of the letter Robert sent to the CMS. What makes it so interesting is that apparently he either wrote it in another hand (not the round hand he normally used for letters to the CMS) or had someone else copy the letter at the time it was written before he sent it. The copy has many more short forms and brevigraphs and frequently breaks words at the end of the lines. All of these not seen in the original. To me this makes a fascinating palaeographic specimen.]
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[The first three lines are in the hand that we normally from Robert writing to the CMS]
[1] St James’s Vicarage
[2] Dublin
[3] December 16th /80
[4] My Dear Mr. fern
[5] Allow me to thank you for
[6] yours of the 14th instant. I will take care of
[7] the enclosures for the B[isho]p & Mr. Duncan
[8] & see that they reach their destination
[9] as soon as possible. As I did not receive
[10] the passage money in time, I have been
[11] obliged to postpone my departure for
[12] a week at least.
[13] I have received pressing invitations
[14] (only a few of w[hic]h I have been able
[15] to accept) from several of the clergy
[16] in & around Dublin to address meet-
[17] ings on behalf of the C.M.S., and
[18] an earnest request has been made
[19] that I w[oul]d prolong my stay till
[20] after [Christ]mas.
[21] With regard to the questions ask-
[22] ed “How much land w[oul]d be necessary
[23] & what w[oul]d be the probable cost of
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[1] securing it for the Society?” the an-
[2] swers must depend upon the object
[3] for which the land is to be taken up.
[4] In my letter of Feb. 14th 1878, you
[5] will find it in the proposal
[6] therein contained, reference is
[7] made not only to the taking up
[8] of the land, but to my being
[9] aided by a layman in the pay
[10] of the society. Had that propos-
[11] al been accepted in its entirely
[12] by the Committee it w[oul]d only have
[13] been necessary to have learned
[14] from the committee what amount
[15] they were prepared to be acquire (for
[16] the mission farm & the necessary
[17] mission buildings. When however
[18] through want of funds the Commit-
[19] tee were obliged to defer their sanc-
[20] tion to granting a salary to an
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[1] agricultural assistant I could not
[2] myself undertake such duties with-
[3] out materially interfering with the
[4] higher ones of preaching & teaching
[5] & when moreover my brother in law
[6] unexpectedly proposed to join me &
[7] supply this deficiency it became
[8] necessary to determine on what
[9] conditions such a proposal could be
[10] entertained.
[11] My brother in law came forward
[12] to assist me in my attempt to
[13] introduce agriculture among the
[14] Indians by taking so much of the
[15] work off my hands as w[oul]d be a hindrance
[16] to me in the discharge of my other
[17] duties, while at the same time he
[18] wished to establish a home for
[19] him ^self^ after long & thoughtful
[20] consideration of the matter we decided
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[1] that the way w[hic\h seemed likely to prove
[2] most simple, & at the same time promised
[3] to be most advantageous to the 3 parties
[4] interested, viz. the Society, the Indians
[5] & Mr. Woods w[oul]d be as follows
[6] In conjunction with my brother in
[7] law to take up a tract of land
[8] (by pre-emption). When we had ac-
[9] quired this tract one half of it was to
[10] belong to him. From the other half
[11] a portion on w[hic]h were the mission
[12] buildings, gardens &c. was to be
[13] made over to the Society in fee simple
[14] On the remainder of my half & the
[15] whole of Mr. Woods’ the farming oper-
[16] ations were to be carried on. The
[17] advantages to be secured by this plan
[18] were. The land was acquired in the
[19] cheapest & simplest way. the Society
[20] got the site on w[hic]h were their buildings
[21] &c & also such additional land
[22] around them as secured them
[23] from all molestation. They were
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[1] not involved in the purchase of
[2] land w[hic]h might become a burden
[3] to them in case I had to leave
[4] Ankihtlast & my place were
[5] supplied by one ignorant of, or
[6] unwilling to engage in farming.
[7] They secured in Mr. Woods the
[8] help necessary for carrying out
[9] the scheme free of expense to them.
[10] As well as having in him a
[11] neighbour friendly to, & interested
[12] in the mission. As for the In-
[13] dians, the site of their settlement
[14] was secured; they have advan-
[15] tage of learning farming , & ac-
[16] quiring seed & stock on the
[17] easiest terms, & Mr. Woods while
[18] assisting in the mission, was forming
[19] a home for himself, and gaining
[20] possession of a good farm.
[21] Thus far in explanation
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[1] & to shew that this plan was was not
[2] proposed for personal aggrandize-
[3] ment, for my boast has ever
[4] been to sink private interests
[5] in advancing the welfare of those
[6] among whom I work.
[7] Your rule is, that a missionary
[8] ought not to take onto his own pri-
[9] vate right land in the im-
[10] mediate vicinity of a mission
[11] settlement. I can well see why
[12] you are loath to break through
[13] a rule even in such a case
[14] as this w[hic]h may, as you say,
[15] be one in w[hic]h no injurious con-
[16] sequences w[oul]d follow.
[17] Such being the case what are
[18] the alternatives? First. for the
[19] Society to acquire by purchase
[20] or otherwise, not only the site
[21] on w[hic]h are erected the mission
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[1] buildings, but so much addition-
[2] al land as w[oul]d be necessary for
[3] establishing a mission farm.
[4] This land ought not be
[5] less than ¼ of a square mile
[6] (160 acres) in extent, & could
[7] be obtained in either of two
[8] ways. by special application to
[9] the Lieut[enant] Governor, but whether
[10] a permanent title could be ob-
[11] tained in this way I do not
[12] know, or secondly by purchase.
[13] The upset price for land in
[14] that district is $100 dollar or 4s an
[15] acre, & a further sum for sur-
[16] vey when ever made by the Govern-
[17] ment, also a record of fee of 10s
[18] But how is this farm to be work-
[19] ed? I cannot do it alone, & it is
[20] hardly to be expected that Mr.
[21] Woods will consent to assist
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[1] me when by doing so he cuts him
[2] self off from establishing a
[3] home for himself. If then we
[4] cannot count on Mr. Wood’s assis[-]
[5] tance then we must fall back on
[6] my original proposal for the
[7] committee to empower me to
[8] employ a man to look after the
[9] agricultural interests of this
[10] mission. This w[oul]d involve the
[11] Society in an annual outlay
[12] of £100, as there is no proba-
[13] bility of my being able to get
[14] a suitable person for less
[15] salary. If this approves itself
[16] to the Committee all I stipulate
[17] is that the stocking & suc-
[18] cess of the farm is at my
[19] personal expense & risk, the
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[1] appointment & dismissal of this
[2] person is to be in my hands, while
[3] I on my part engage not to
[4] appoint or retain in the situ-
[5] ation anyone not approved of
[6] by the local conference & the
[7] B[isho]p. A second alternative w[oul]d
[8] be. for the Society only to acquire
[9] the site of the mission premises
[10] & the land immediately surround-
[11] ing (say 50 or 60 acres). That Mr. W.
[12] supposing he is willing, secures
[13] the adjoining land in his own
[14] right & with my assistance
[15] farms the land. In this way
[16] the land w[oul]d be Mr. W’s. I w[oul]d not own
[17] a foot of it; but in farming it
[18] the necessary experiments in the
[19] planting & growing of crops w[oul]d
[20] be carried on with my assis-
[21] tance, & the stock from w[hic]h the
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[1] Indians farms are to be supplied
[2] w[oul]d be raised on it. In this way
[3] the Society w[oul]d only be at the ex-
[4] pense of securing the land im-
[5] mediately required for mission
[6] purposes. The Indians w[oul]d still
[7] have the full benefit of the
[8] agricultural scheme while
[9] no loss w[oul]d occur to the Society
[10] in case anything happened to
[11] me, nor w[oul]d they be saddled with
[12] a large piece of land worthless
[13] to them if at any time the
[14] missionary in charge were un-
[15] able to carry out the farms.
[16] The only other alternative w[oul]d
[17] be for the Society only to se-
[18] cure the site of their buildings
[19] & the ground in the immediate
[20] neighbourhood; & to ignore the
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[1] farming altogether. Such a step
[2] requires one of the chief objects
[3] of our being at Ankihtlast &
[4] indeed w[oul]d open the whole matter
[5] again. It seems a pity after
[6] the long & careful consideration
[7] the committee gave to the subject
[8] that any matter of mere detail
[9] should be allowed to interfere
[10] with a general plan so clearly
[11] approved of by the Committee,
[12] but I wish to prevent the possi-
[13] bility of any misunderstand-
[14] ing & I feel when once I resume
[15] work, if in God‘s good providence
[16] I am spared to do so, that I have
[17] the approval of the Committee
[18] to every step & their earnest
[19] prayers for my success. I w[oul]d
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[1] wish respectfully to press upon
[2] you the need for a final decis-
[3] ion in the land question
[4] before I sail, as it will be nec-
[5] essary for me while, in
[6] Victoria to see the head of
[7] the Land and works department
[8] on the subject.
[9] Enclosed please find the
[10] receipt for the passage
[11] money which I received all
[12] safe.
[13] Copied ( Robert Tomlinson
[14] True copy of the letter
[15] lost in transmission
[16] R Tomlinson June 3/81
[The last three lines are in the hand that we normally from Robert writing to the CMS]
