To the Editor of the Nowrn-CHINA DAILY News.
—In reference to your ex. cellent suggestion made in to-day's leader "An Old Contention," that an. authoritative biography of the Into Sir Robert Hart is greatly needed by students of China's nineteenth, may be of the Prefatory Note, pp. v-viti in Dr. H. B. Morse's volume 2, Interna tional Relations of the Chinese Empire on this subject.
Mr. Morse says in parts "In undertaking this work my fire idea was to make my central figures Sir) Robert Hart und the great Cuxtoms Service which he had organized and when I wrote to Sir Robert Hart for: his approval and support, he
in characteristically modest term:
8 approval of the idea, but know that 1 have heer ith "the. taunehing andi fen Sears, and the Hong mgneits(m the hot only" made for continuity, bud his thee me a Snort of ually afanee, whey an matter of fact fear, however" even an advance copy {6f"ine nrooued bosraphy) wit fave fo" be" aidrensed "to.
Hades, to. be talled for!
Peking, Dee. 20th, 1006.)
"He then gave me permission to use hi letters and, despatches,"; feontinues Dr. Morse "his diary (74 volumes) he wished first to. look through, in order that he might) write a memorandum for guidance. In the end Todid not the get the diary, and some important Blocks of letters were not at my) disposal: and without this missing: material it would be out of the ques tion to write the historical biography which T had planned." no reason is. assigned by the author for his failure to receive the material.
Nevertheless Mr. Morse had many personal and other letters from Sir which he made in preparing volumes 2 and 3 of monumental work. The quotation? given above, however, may serve t explain, in part at least, the nonappearance of x definitive biography of the great "I fluence of the News" be powerful in the bringing forth of the much' needed biography which all students Jof the Far Eastern Question greatly nee Tam, ete., Shanghai, Apr. 2.1925.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.