REVEREND DAVID COLLIE

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

Reverend David Collie “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

REVEREND DAVID COLLIE REVEREND DAVID COLLIE

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Michael Scott was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

By this year David Collie (Coulie) had been born somewhere in Scotland.

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

1789

Reverend David Collie “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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With the cessation of hostilities and the dismantlement of the British flotilla on the Canadian lakes, Lieutenant Hugh Clapperton was sent home on half-pay.

Walter Oudney was awarded a medical doctorate at Edinburgh, Scotland. After a few years he would be appointed by the British government as consul for promotion of trade to the Kingdom of Bornu in sub-Saharan Africa.

David Collie (Coulie) graduated at King’s College, Aberdeen, Scotland.

LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD?— NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES.

LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.

1817

Reverend David Collie “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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The Reverend David Collie finished his preparatory work for missionary activity at the town of Gosport, in Hampshire on the south coast of England, and was ordained. The London Missionary Society would be packing him and his wife off toward Malacca in India. Although his wife would die at Madras during the journey out, he would become Professor of Chinese at an Anglo-Chinese College that was just in the process of establishing itself in Malacca. His name in Chinese would be .

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

1821

Reverend David Collie “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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The Reverend David Collie became principal of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca in India.

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD.

1827

Reverend David Collie “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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Early in the year: In ill health due to a disease of the liver, the Reverend David Collie boarded a ship at Malacca in India heading back toward England.

February 27, Wednesday: David Collie died at sea at less than 40 years of age. His work on THE CHINESE CLASSICAL WORK COMMONLY CALLED THE FOUR BOOKS; TRANSLATED, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, BY THE LATE REV. DAVID COLLIE, PRINCIPAL OF THE ANGLO-CHINESE COLLEGE, MALACCA would be being printed back at the Mission Press in Malacca.

A copy of this initial translation of THE FOUR BOOKS of Confucianism into English would be in Waldo Emerson’s library and someone (Henry Thoreau, perhaps) would use it as a source for “Chinese Four Books” in THE DIAL’s “Ethnical Scriptures” column, in the October 1843 issue.

1828

DAVID COLLIE’S 4 BOOKS

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October: “A WINTER WALK” in a shortened form, with Henry Thoreau’s “mannerisms” removed, eight of Thoreau’s poems, and “Ethnical Scriptures: Chinese Four Books” (evidently selected by Thoreau out of Waldo Emerson’s copy of THE CHINESE CLASSICAL WORK COMMONLY CALLED THE FOUR BOOKS; TRANSLATED, AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, BY THE LATE REV. DAVID COLLIE, PRINCIPAL OF THE ANGLO-CHINESE COLLEGE, MALACCA), were appearing in this month’s issue of THE DIAL:

1843

THE DIAL, OCTOBER 1843DAVID COLLIE’S 4 BOOKS

THE SCHOLAR.

Teen, son of the king of Tse, asked what the business of thescholar consists in? Mencius replied, In elevating his mind andinclination. What do you mean by elevating the mind? It consistsmerely in being benevolent and just. Where is the scholar’s abode?In benevolence. Where is his road? Justice. To dwell inbenevolence, and walk in justice, is the whole business of a greatman.Benevolence is man’s heart, and justice is man’s path. If a manlose his fowls or his dogs, he knows how to seek them. There arethose who lose their hearts and know not how to seek them. Theduty of the student is no other than to seek his lost heart.He who employs his whole mind, will know his nature. He who knowshis nature, knows heaven.It were better to be without books than to believe all that theyrecord.

A WEEK: Mencius says: “If one loses a fowl or a dog, he knows wellhow to seek them again; if one loses the sentiments of his heart,he does not know how to seek them again.... The duties ofpractical philosophy consist only in seeking after thosesentiments of the heart which we have lost; that is all.”

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Thoreau purchased the current copy of The Democratic Review, containing his essay “The Landlord.” Here is his copy with his autograph:

(By the way, in this year the Anglo-Chinese College that had been established at Malacca in India in 1818 was in the process of relocating to Kowloon, Hong Kong.)

“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING, HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY

Reverend David Collie “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others,such as extensive quotations and reproductions ofimages, this “read-only” computer file contains a greatdeal of special work product of Austin Meredith,copyright 2014. Access to these interim materials willeventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup someof the costs of preparation. My hypercontext buttoninvention which, instead of creating a hypertext leapthrough hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems—allows for an utter alteration of the context withinwhich one is experiencing a specific content alreadybeing viewed, is claimed as proprietary to AustinMeredith — and therefore freely available for use byall. Limited permission to copy such files, or anymaterial from such files, must be obtained in advancein writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo”Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Pleasecontact the project at <Kouroo@kouroo.info>.

Prepared: June 19, 2014

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over untiltomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.”

– Remark by character “Garin Stevens”in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

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ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by ahuman. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested thatwe pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of theshoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What thesechronological lists are: they are research reports compiled byARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term theKouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such arequest for information we merely push a button.

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Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obviousdeficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored inthe contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then weneed to punch that button again and recompile the chronology —but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary“writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of thisoriginating contexture improve, and as the programming improves,and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whateverhas been needed in the creation of this facility, the entireoperation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminishedneed to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expectto achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring roboticresearch librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge.Place requests with <Kouroo@kouroo.info>. Arrgh.