Oliver,
It's true that in previous centuries many people wrote with admirable clarity and fluency. In the course of my work I had to read a great many letters and diaries of early settlers and explorers in Australia and New Zealand. They were galvanising.
My own great-grandfather left one chapter of a memoir. His complete autobiography had been stored in a bank by his friend, the bank manager. The bank burned down and the manuscript was lost. He was old and dying of cancer by that time but he struggled to rewrite it and succeeded in recreating the first chapter. The original is in the library of Otago University in New Zealand and a copy is in the New South Wales Mitchell Library. It is written like a captain's log (he was originally a sea captain). Although his education was modest he was able to express himself more vividly than many now who have greater advantages.
Janet
[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited May 27, 2005).]
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