The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-04-04 00:00:00

toit6ribge Obscrber.

SATURDAY, APRIL

THE THANKS OF PARLIAMENT TO
THE BRITISH ARMS.

By a singular coincidence it has fallen to
a Conservative Ministry, twice within six
years, to propose the thanks of Parliament
to a British expeditionary force which has
been engaged in warfare with savage tribes.
Some of the surrounding.s of the Ashantee
War may be usefully compared with those
with which we became familiar in conection
with the chastisement of King Theodore.
This sable monarch, in the month of February
1863, sent a letter to Queen Victoria, desiring
an alliance. Rumour had it that the alliance
so desired was of a matrimonial character ;
but, at all events, no notice was taken of
the communication. and Theodore, in a fit of
mortified pride, seized some of our country-
men travelling within his dominions, and im-
prisoned them in the fortress of Magdala.
Every effort was made by negotiation to pro-
cure their release, but in vain ; and at length,
on the 16th April, 1867, the present Lord
Derby, then as now Foreign Minister, sent
an ultimatum to the barbarian sovereign, de-
manding the liberation of the captives with-
in three months. As this had no effect, pre-
parations for war were made in September;
an advanced brigade, under the command of
Sir Robert Napier, sailed from Bombay in
October; and the British Parliament voted
two millions sterling towards the cost of the
expedition in November. The British force,
as it toiled onwards towards the Abyssinian
capital, presented a curious spectacle. Im-
pressed into the service were 45 elephants,
7,417 camels, 12,920 mules and ponies, 7,053
bullocks, and 827 donkeys. On the 2nd of
April, 1868, Sir Robert Napier arrived before
Magdala; and on Good Friday, the 10th, his
forces were attacked by Theodore's troops,
' who were defeated with great slaughter
Theodore surrendered the Europeans, but did
I not accept the terms offered to him on the
following day; whereupon Magdala was
stormed and taken on Easter Monday, when
the king committed suicide. Magdala was
burnt to the ground on the 17th, and on the
2nd of July Sir Robert Napier landed at
Dover. He was immediately summoned to
the presence of the Queen, was granted a
peerage and a pension of £2,000 a year for
himself and his successor to the title. Mr.
Disraeli, in proposing the thanks of Parlia-
ment to the troops, declared that "they had
planted the banner of St. George upon the
4nountains of Rasselas." Although there are
some points of resemblance between the two
expeditions, there can be little doubt that the
mission to Ashantee was the more difficult
of the two. In Abyssinia the natives were
friendly, aud our men were not harraased on
their march, which took place over well-made
roads, and in a climate which was the reverse
of unhealthy. In Ashantee, on the other
hand, the natives were not only hostile, but
elceedingly clever at artifice, and expert in
ambush fighting. They learned to imitate
our bugle call "cease firing" fso thoroughly,
that they often deceived our own troops; and
there can be little doubt of their valour, for
had they been armed with the rifles of the
English instead of with the old fashioned
muskets with which they were fain to be
content, our expeditionary force would have
suffered much more severely. Even as it
was, the 42nd Highlanders will long have
occasion to remember the skill of the Ashen-
tees in preparing ambuscades. Again, the
p ogress towards Coomassie was very
different from the march in the direction of
Magdala. Instead of a broad, open road,
there was nothing but the close stilling bush,
excluding the light of Heaven, and swarming
with invisible foes. Coomassie shared the
fate of Magdala at last; however, and savage
kings, whether in Asia, Africa, or elsewhere,
are taught that England, although a long
way off, can alike avenge her countrymen, and
protect her allies, and knows, moreover, how
to reward those who imperil their lives
in her service in foreign and unhealthy
climes.