Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1867.

Timaru Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 268, 21 December 1867, Page 2

Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1867.

A lecture lately delivered at Auckland by Captain Speedy on Abyssinia has suggested to us that a review of the conduct of Great Britain m respect of the British prisoners m Abyssinia, and towards the tax-burdened British subjects m New Zealand, may not be without its uses. The lecturer, as he stood before his audience m his cloak of camel hair, loose trousers, and sandals, showed by his thorough conversance with the history of the country m which he had resided" for three years, and his familiarity with its language and manners, that he was well qualified to 3 teak authoritatively on the subject, y the special invitations of Sir Robert Napier, the Commander of the expeditionary force about to be sent against King Theodore, he was on the eve of joining that, officer, and we may there- j fore conclude that this selection is an additional attestation to the value of his services. Captain Speedy gives a rapid survey of the history of Abysr sinia, and proves beyond doubt that King Theodore had grievances which,' remaining unredressed, have led to the present painful and humiliating state of things. Just four centuries ago a Christian King and people were found m Abyssinia, where they had preserved their nationality and religion for ten centuries amid the virulent and relentless animosity of the neighboring Mahomedan countries. Moved by so touching a spectacle, England, m the days of chivalry, now past, sought her alliance, m order to throw over her the cegis of her protection. In 1852, England signed a treaty with the King of Abyssinia m order to protect his subjects from Turkish tyranny when they travelled beyond his frontiers. In 1862, England withdrew from the treaty, and 2000 Abyssinian pilgrims were taken captives and enslaved.' Remonstrances were of no avail. Bibles and religious tracts, and fervent sympathies, were abundant, but the grasp of the Mahomedan fanatic held tenaciously to the throats of the 2000 pilgrims. King Theodore, deprived of England's material sympathy, without the exercise on his part of a little similar pressure, adopted the New Zealand system of "utu," and incarcerated 18 British subjects, until, through the effectual intercession of Britain's Queen, his 2000 subjects, who had been forsaken by Great Britain, should be released. Acting on the principle that we hate those most whom we have ill-treated, war is now declared against the King, who rejoices m the title of " The Servant of the Lord, the Son of David, the Son of Solomon, the King of Kings of Ethiopia — Theodoras," and some 10,000 men are to be sent to teach this people that we protect but to betray,; and then to destroy. The fiat has; gone forth — we wait its execution. : \ The country to be invaded is inhabited by seven millions of people, one province of which can turnout 80,000 choice cavalry at a fortnight's notice. The country itself is situated m the torrid zone, amid rugged precipitous mountain ranges, where, though the climate is magnificent, the inhabitants are surrounded by death dealing miasmatic plains. To reach the imprisoned British subjects the force would have to pierce a narrow belt of desert • some 50 miles broad, where " wood, fodder and water might be had "but nothing else," and then they would have to penetrate " amid broken v plateaus, dotted with large boulders, " and volcanic debris, intersected with "deep ravines, and without roads," before they could reach Magdala, 300 miles distant, where, on a basaltic

plateau, guarded by 800 men, our imprisoned countrymen are languishing m chains. The Commissariat would have to provide food, shelter, and amtnunition ; and if m four months from the day of" embarkation the expedition was not successful, " the result would be fearful to .contemplate." Beyond the dark defiles of theKyber Pass England thought fit a few years since to penetrate ' to -dethrone- a King beloved by his subjects, ,. The, plains outside the city or Gaubul/and the thousands of bleaching bones strewn for many a weary mile through mountain, passes to the very walls of Jellalabad, where , one solitary horseman arrived, breathless and woe-stricken, told tire talc -that, a British 'array, with thousands of camp followers, .was no more. England stretched forth her arm to vindicate her tarnished military reputation, — and after spending millions 6l .money, restored the dethroned King to his subjects. He who runs may read the moral of this historic fact, and apply the parallel for himself. , Again ? there is a colony, bedded m the midst of the Pacific; which, m palmy and sentimental days it was the wont of English statesmen to call the "Britain of the South." It had all elements necessary for a Downingstreet colonization experiment. The British subjects were few and scattered ; the aborigines were numerous, concentrated, warlike, interesting, and given to religious fervor; and statesmen of note and sensibility could not withhold the temptation of trying to educate this deeply interesting savage race. A treaty, like that with Abyssinia, was formed with them, — and they were taken m, for it was a sham m its origin and continuance. It lasted as long as it was not expensive, and no longer, for so soon :as this " interesting people" had made themselves acquainted with the Old Testament as well as with the i\ T ew, they began to talk of the " angel Gabriel" and the " sword of Gideon ;" and to dwell over the destruction of the Canaanites ; and to draw conclusions of their own, and to act. What followed? Great Britain acknowledged that she had failed m her education scheme, and finding the cost of teachers, habited m military garb too expensive a method of civilizing the savage, handed over the " interesting race," unmindful of treaties, to the unwilling- colonists who had grown m number and strength, and left these two classes of British subjects to devour each other, after having prostrated the one by starvation and disease, and the other by a paralysing load of debt, unheard of for its pressure, relative to population, m any quarter of the globe. The historical student as he proceeds to read the modern history of Great Britain, with all his recollections of ancient British chivalry fresh about him, will be lost m amazement at the deep shadow which has fallen on that proud banner, which never floated over a country where a British subject had to complain of an unredressed wrong. The history of the invasion of Affghanistan is written m letters of blood ; the history of the guardianship of the New Zealand aboriginal is blurred and blotted with the marks, of shame and disgrace ; but God forbid that we should have to relate that the incapacity of British statesmen had led to the line of country from the coast to Magdala m Abyssinia being marked out for the guidance of future travellers by the bones of a British force. Better renew the treaty, or ransom the captives with a heavy sum, than expend thousands of British subjects and millions of British money m a cause which will do us no honor, and may ; entail an infinity of disgrace. .