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 history of slaughters in Zululand in the
vast majority of cases only reached Natal in the form of rumours,
which nobody thought it worth while to report. There were no newspaper
correspondents in Zululand. There is not, however, any doubt that
Cetywayo was in the habit of killing large numbers of people; indeed it
was a matter of the commonest notoriety; nor, as will be seen from the
message I have transcribed, did he himself deny it, when, being angry,
he spoke the truth. At the same time that this message was sent, we
find Mr. Osborn, then res