Mitä lähettiläs raportoi Suomesta?

Ison-Britannian lähettiläs William Campbell antoi Suomesta 31.10.1866 kaupallisiin asioihin keskittyvän raportin, joka julkaistiin opuksessa House of Commons papers, Volume 67. Kotimaassa kiinnosti tietenkin oman maan miesten asiat, joten raportissa todettiin

British industry and enterprize has contributed in no small degree to these results; we find, at Abo, Scotchmen building steam-vessels for the Russian Government; we find, in the interior of Finland, at Tammerfors, large spinning mills employing hundreds of hands, established and conducted by an English firm. We find, at Helsingfors, and Fiscars Englishmen manufacturing cutlery from native iron, which can vie with that of Birmingham and Sheffield: and at the present moment English capitalists are treating for the purchase of one of the largest mining estates in Finland.

Sittemmin Campbell raportoi Suomesta 31.12.1869 maanomistukseen liittyviä asioita (ja tekstit tulivat sitten mukaan koosteeseen Accounts and papers of the House of Commons). Varsinaisen asian ohessa hän totesi

The native cattle of Finland are somewhat similar to those of our Shetland Islands— small, but good, and well adapted for the poor country in which they pasture; but, through the attempts of several breeders to cross them with the Dutch and Ayrshire races, they have got into a class of cattle for which the country cannot supply sufficient nourishment, and the result is, that, in place of seeing the well-fed small cattle of the country, one finds droves of half-starved wretched-looking animals of neither one breed or the other. The cattle are pastured in the rough forests for five months of the year, and during the remaining seven they are fed scantily on hay or straw in stables and sheds.

They reside in log-houses with two or three rooms. Their food is salt fish, sour rye bread as hard as flint, potatoes, milk, and very light beer. They are clad in cloth and linen of their own making, also in sheep-skin. Their general circumstances are very poor.

... the people leading an indolent and slothful life, mechanically turning their penny, and not thinking or troubling themselves about anything beyond the work they may have in hand, and their daily bread. They are averse to all kinds of improvement, and like their old ways the best. Lately, however, through the awaking of the Landtag (Parliament), called into action by the present Emperor after 50 years of political sleep, the people are commencing to look into matters, and a decided public tendency to favour the small proprietor is visible.

Brittidiplomaatista löytyi internetin kautta hämmästyttävän vähän tietoa, liian tavanomainen nimi. Finlands Allmänna Tidning noteerasi hänen tulonsa 22.05.1866, aiempi virkapaikka oli ollut Memel, nykyinen Klaipėda Liettuassa. Asemapaikkojen perusteella Wikipediasta löytynyt William Campbell of Breadalbane on kyseisen diplomaatin poika, joka päätyi saksalaisen armeijan riveihin!