His Journal Was Handed Over To Dr. Hawkesworth, A
Gentleman Who Tried To Model His Literary Style On That Of Dr. Johnson,
And Evolved A Pompous, Big-Drum Product In Consequence.
Hawkesworth Garnished The Manly, Straightforward Navigator's Simple And
Direct English With Embellishments Of His Own.
Where Cook was plain
Hawkesworth was ornate; where Cook was sensible Hawkesworth was silly;
where Cook was accurate, Hawkesworth by stuffing in his own precious
observations made the narrative unreliable, and even ridiculous.
In
fact, the gingerbread Johnson simply spoiled Cook.
Dr. Johnson was by no means gratified by the ponderous prancings of his
imitator. We learn from Boswell that when the great man met Captain
Cook at a dinner given by the President of the Royal Society, he said
that he "was much pleased with the conscientious accuracy of that
celebrated circumnavigator, who set me right as to many of the
exaggerated accounts given by Dr. Hawkesworth of his voyages." Cook
himself was annoyed by the decorating of his story, and resented the
treatment strongly.
Laperouse knew this, and was very anxious that nobody in France should
Hawkesworthify him. He did not object to being carefully edited, but he
did not want to be decorated. He wrote excellent French narrative
prose, and his work may be read with delight. Its qualities of clarity,
picturesqueness and smoothness, are quite in accord with the fine
traditions of the language. But, as it was likely that part of the
history of his voyage might be published before his return, he did not
want it to be handed over to anybody who would trick it out in
finery, and he therefore wrote the following letter:
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