Pièce 12 - Draft of a letter from W. K. Clifford to W. H. Thompson

1 folded sheet

Trinity College, Cambridge.—Explains remarks he made at the Union on the subject of heads of houses.

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Transcript

Trinity College, Cambridge

Dear Master

It is quite true that I said some words {1} at the Union in last Tuesday’s debate, and that in doing so I charged the Secretary not to write me down as having spoken either for or against the motion. {2} What I said was just these two things. First, that the question was incorrectly worded; {3} the proposer himself wishing only to modify somewhat the office of a Master. Secondly, that in view of the exceptionally praiseworthy action of the more prominent Heads, it was all but impossible to argue this abstract question on its merits at the present time; for which reason I was abstaining from any statement of opinion about it. {4}

I am
Yours most truly
W. K. Clifford.

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Black-edged paper. Cf. CLIF A1/20.

{1} ‘some words’ altered from ‘something’.

{2} ‘I made two remarks’ struck through.

{3} ‘incorrectly worded’ above ‘wrongly put’, struck through.

{4} The following passage has been struck through here: ‘I hope that neither these remarks, nor the act of making them, will [destroy struck through] sap the belief in my good sense and feeling, which you have so kindly entertained and allowed to survive even a newspaper report.’