Cetywayo and his White Neighbours | Page 9

people start at nothing? I
have not yet begun; I have yet to kill; it is the custom of our nation, and
I shall not depart from it. Why does the Governor of Natal speak to me
about my laws? Do I go to Natal and dictate to him about his laws? I
shall not agree to any laws or rules from Natal, and by doing so throw
the large kraal which I govern into the water. My people will not listen
unless they are killed; and while wishing to be friends with the English,
I do not agree to give my people over to be governed by laws sent to
me by them. Have I not asked the English to allow me to wash my
spears since the death of my father 'Umpandi,' and they have kept
playing with me all this time, treating me like a child? Go back and tell
the English that I shall now act on my own account, and if they wish
me to agree to their laws, I shall leave and become a wanderer; but
before I go it will be seen, as I shall not go without having acted. Go
back and tell the white men this, and let them hear it well. The
Governor of Natal and I are equal; he is Governor of Natal, and I am
Governor here."
To admit that the Zulu king has the right to kill as many of his subjects
as he chooses, so long as they will tolerate being killed, is one thing,
but it is certainly surprising to find educated Europeans adopting a line
of defence of these proceedings on his behalf that amounts to a virtual
expression of approval, or at least of easy toleration. Has philanthropy a
deadening effect on the moral sense, that the people who constitute
themselves champions for the unfortunate Zulu king and the oppressed

Boers cannot get on to their hobbies without becoming blind to the
difference between right and wrong? Really an examination of the
utterances of these champions of oppressed innocence would almost
lead one to that conclusion. On the one hand they suppress and explain
away facts, and on the other supply their want of argument by reckless
accusations and vicious attacks on the probity of such of their
fellow-Englishmen, especially if in office, as have had the misfortune
to pursue a course of action or to express opinions not pleasing to them
or their proteges. For instance, an innocent and unenlightened reader of
the very interesting work from which I have just quoted probably lays it
down with the conviction that both Sir Bartle Frere and Sir Theophilus
Shepstone are very wicked men and full of bad motives, and will
wonder how a civilised Government could employ such monsters of
bloodthirsty duplicity. As he proceeds he will also find that there is not
much to be said for the characters of either Sir Garnet Wolseley or Lord
Chelmsford; whilst as regards such small fry as Mr. John Shepstone,
the present Secretary of Native Affairs in Natal, after passing through
Miss Colenso's mill their reputations come out literally in rags and
tatters. He will be shocked to find that not only did one and all of these
gentlemen make gross errors of judgment, but, trusted and
distinguished servants of their country as they are, they were one and
all actuated by dark personal motives that will not bear examination.
Heaven help the members of the Shepstone family when they fall into
the hands of the gentler but more enthusiastic sex, for Miss Colenso is
not their only foe. In a recent publication called a "Defence of Zululand
and its Kings," Lady Florence Dixie gibbets Mr. Henrique Shepstone,
and points him out to be execrated by a Cetywayo- worshipping public,
because the ex-king is to be sent to England in his charge; when,
according to Lady Dixie, he will certainly be scoundrel enough to
misinterpret all that Cetywayo says for his own ends, and will thereby
inflict a "cruel wrong" upon him, and render his visit to England
"perfectly meaningless." Perhaps it has never occurred to Lady Dixie
that this is a very serious charge to bring against an honourable man,
whose reputation is probably as dear to him as the advancement of
Cetywayo's cause is to her. It is all very well to be enthusiastic, but
ladies should remember that there are other people in the world to be
considered beside Cetywayo.

As regards the question of Cetywayo's bloodthirstiness, which is so
strenuously denied by his apologists, I cannot say that a careful study
of the blue books bearing on the subject brings me to the same
conclusion. It is true that there is not much information on the point, for
the obvious reason that the