Samuel Butler - A First Year In Canterbury Settlement

Since Butler's death in 1902 his fame has spread so rapidly and theworld of letters now takes so keen in interest in the man and hiswritings that no apology is necessary for the republication of even hisleast significant works. I had long desired to bring out a new editionof his earliest book A FIRST YEAR IN CANTERBURY SETTLEMENT, togetherwith the other pieces that he wrote during his residence in New Zealand,and, that wish being now realised, I have added a supplementary group ofpieces written during his undergraduate days at Cambridge, so that thepresent volume forms a tolerably complete record of Butler's literaryactivity up to the days of EREWHON, the only omission of any importancebeing that of his pamphlet, published anonymously in 1865, THE EVIDENCEFOR THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST AS CONTAINED IN THE FOUREVANGELISTS CRITICALLY EXAMINED. I have not reprinted this, becausepractically the whole of it was incorporated into THE FAIR HAVEN.

A FIRST YEAR IN CANTERBURY SETTLEMENT has long been out of print, andcopies of the original edition are difficult to procure. Butlerprofessed to think poorly of it. Writing in 1889 to his friend AlfredMarks, who had picked up a second-hand copy and felt some doubt as toits authorship, he said: "I am afraid the little book you have referredto was written by me. My people edited my letters home. I did notwrite freely to them, of course, because they were my people. If I wasat all freer anywhere they cut it out before printing it; besides, I hadnot yet shed my Cambridge skin and its trail is everywhere, I am afraid,perceptible. I have never read the book myself. I dipped into a fewpages when they sent it to me in New Zealand, but saw 'prig' writtenupon them so plainly that I read no more and never have and never meanto. I am told the book sells for 1 pound a copy in New Zealand; infact, last autumn I know Sir Walter Buller gave that for a copy inEngland, so as a speculation it is worth 2s. 6d. or 3s. I stole apassage or two from it for EREWHON, meaning to let it go and never bereprinted during my lifetime."

This must be taken with a grain of salt. It was Butler's habitsometimes to entertain his friends and himself by speaking of his ownworks with studied disrespect, as when, with reference to his own DARWINAND THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, which also is reprinted in this volume, hedescribed philosophical dialogues as "the most offensive form, exceptpoetry and books of travel into supposed unknown countries, that evenliterature can assume." The circumstances which led to A FIRST YEARbeing written have been fully described by Mr. Festing Jones in hissketch of Butler's life prefixed to THE HUMOUR OF HOMER (Fifield,London, 1913, Kennerley, New York), and I will only briefly recapitulatethem. Butler left England for New Zealand in September, 1859, remainingin the colony until 1864. A FIRST YEAR was published in 1863 inButler's name by his father, who contributed a short preface, statingthat the book was compiled from his son's journal and letters, withextracts from two papers contributed to THE EAGLE, the magazine of St.John's College, Cambridge. These two papers had appeared in 1861 in theform of three articles entitled "Our Emigrant" and signed "Cellarius."By comparing these articles with the book as published by Butler'sfather it is possible to arrive at some conclusion as to the amount ofediting to which Butler's prose was submitted. Some passages in thearticles do not appear in the book at all; others appear unaltered;others again have been slightly doctored, apparently with the object ofrobbing them of a certain youthful "cocksureness," which probably gratedupon the paternal nerves, but seems to me to create an atmosphere of anengaging freshness which I miss in the edited version. So much of the"Our Emigrant" articles is repeated in A FIRST YEAR almost if not quiteverbatim that it did not seem worth while to reprint the articles intheir entirety. I have, however, included in this collection oneextract from the latter which was not incorporated into A FIRST YEAR,though it describes at greater length an incident referred to on p. 74.From this extract, which I have called "Crossing the Rangitata," readerswill be able to see for themselves how fresh and spirited Butler'soriginal descriptions of his adventures were, and will probably regretthat he did not take the publication of A FIRST YEAR into his own hands,instead of allowing his father to have a hand in it.

With regard to the other pieces included in this volume I havethought it best to prefix brief notes, when necessary, to each in turnexplaining the circumstances in which they were written and, when it waspossible, giving the date of composition.

In preparing the book for publication I have been materially helped byfriends in both hemispheres. My thanks are specially due to MissColborne-Veel, of Christ-church, N.Z., for copying some of Butler'searly contributions to THE PRESS, and in particular for her kindness inallowing me to make use of her notes on "The English Cricketers"; to Mr.A. T. Bartholomew for his courtesy in allowing me to reprint his articleon "Butler and the Simeonites," which originally appeared in THECAMBRIDGE MAGAZINE of 1 March, 1913, and throws so interesting a lightupon a certain passage in THE WAY OF ALL FLESH. The article is herereprinted by the kind permission of the editor and proprietor of THECAMBRIDGE MAGAZINE; to Mr. J. F. Harris for his generous assistance intracing and copying several of Butler's early contributions to THEEAGLE; to Mr. W. H. Triggs, the editor of THE PRESS, for allowing me tomake use of much interesting matter relating to Butler that has appearedin the columns of that journal; and lastly to Mr. Henry Festing Jones,whose help and counsel have been as invaluable to me in preparing thisvolume for the Press as they have been in past years in the case of theother books by Butler that I have been privileged to edit.

R. A. STREATFEILD.

The writer of the following pages, having resolved on emigrating to NewZealand, took his passage in the ill-fated ship Burmah, which neverreached her destination, and is believed to have perished with all onboard. His berth was chosen, and the passage-money paid, when importantalterations were made in the arrangements of the vessel, in order tomake room for some stock which was being sent out to the CanterburySettlement.

The space left for the accommodation of the passengers being thuscurtailed, and the comforts of the voyage seeming likely to be muchdiminished, the writer was most providentially induced to change hisship, and, a few weeks later, secured a berth in another vessel.

The work is compiled from the actual letters and journal of a youngemigrant, with extracts from two papers contributed by him to the Eagle,a periodical issued by some of the members of St. John's College,Cambridge, at which the writer took his degree. This variety in thesources from which the materials are put together must be the apologyfor some defects in their connection and coherence. It is hoped alsothat the circumstances of bodily fatigue and actual difficulty underwhich they were often written, will excuse many faults of style.