eive a
little more attention, and are superintended with a little more humanity
and intelligence than they are at present, the public will sooner or
later be startled by some fresh catastrophe. Then will follow the usual
outcry, and the disturbance will be attributed to every cause under the
sun except the right one--want of common precautions.

The Zulu question is a very large one, and I only propose discussing
so much of it as necessary to the proper consideration of the proposed
restoration of Cetywayo to his throne.

The king is now coming to England,[*] where he will doubtless make
a very good impression, since his appearance is dignified, and
his manners, as is common among Zulus of high rank, are those of
a gentleman. It is probable that his visit will lead to a popular
agitation in his favour, and very possibly to an attempt on the part
of the English Government to reinstate him in his kingdom. Already Lady
Florence Dixie waves his banner, and informs the public through the
columns of the newspapers how good, how big, and how beautiful he is,
and "F. W. G. X." describes in enthusiastic terms his pearl-like teeth.
But as there are interests involved in the question of his reinstatement
which are, I think, more important than Cetywayo's personal proportions
of mind or body, and as the results of such a step would necessarily be
very marked and far-reaching, it is as well to try and understand the
matter in all its bearing before anything is done.

[*] Since the above was written the Government have at the
last moment decided to postpone Cetywayo's visit to this
country, chiefly on account of the political capital which
was being made out of the event by agitators in Zululand.
The project of bringing the king to England does not,
however, appear to have been abandoned.

There has been a great deal of special pleading about Cetywayo. Some
writers, swayed by sentiment, and that spirit of partisanship that the
sight of royalty in distress always excites, whitewash him in such a
persistent manner that their readers are left under the impression that
the ex-king is a model of injured innocence and virtue. Others again,
for political reasons, paint him very black, and predict that
his restoration would result in the destruction, or at the least,
disorganisation, of our South African empire. The truth in this, as in
the majority of political controversies, lies somewhere between these
t