Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1885-04-03
KING NITEsA,S DEATH.

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BILE Native POtentate.
From the London Times.l
The King of Uganda, whose death we an
nounced on Wednesday. was, for Africa, a
remarkable man, probably the most notable
potentate of purely native origin that the
dark continent has produced. According to
the estimate of Col Grant, who, with Spoke,
was his guest twenty-three years ago. Mtesa
was probably not more than forty-eight years
of age at the time of his death, and having
succeeded his father, Suna, in 1857, he has
reigned twenty eight years. The Waganda
have the names of thirty-five kings who have
reigned down to the time of Mtesa in regular
succession, and this, as Col. Grant points
out, may probably account for the "blue
blood" and vanity which certainly ran in the
veins of Mtesa. This vanity comes out in all
the narratives we have from foreign visitors
Spoke and Grant, Stanley and Wilson and
Felkin. 1t was excusable in potentate who
had probably never been a hundred miles
from home, and who had never come into
contact with any greater power that his own,
to send ambassadors to the Queen of Eng
land, and to believe their reports of the in
significance of the British Empire as COM
pared with the Uganda. Probably, however,
no other native African prince, not even the
Muata Janyo himself has been able to organ
ize State SO completely and make SO great
an advance toward civilization as the king
who has just died and his predecessors.
Col. Grant, who knew him WELL speaks of
him proc. R. G. s., vol. v, p. 479) in terms
of real respect and his estimate is essentially
supported by such men as Sir Samuel Baker
and Mr. Stanley. We have all read the lat
ter's long, interesting, and dramatic account
of his many conversations with Mtesa about
civilization and Christianity. As we know,
the result of Mr.. Stanley's visit was that
Protestant missions were established in the
country, and, according to the missionaries
own reports, have had gratifying success.
But Mtesa was much perplexed when he
learned that there are two Christian relig-
ions, the adj ereQts of which are as hostile to
each other both are to Mohammedansm
or heathenism. For time, we believe, the
Roman Catholic emissaries succeeded in
placing their Protestant brethren under the
shadow of Mtesa's neglect, if not absolute
displeasure, and in the end he and his chiefs
abandoned both and reverted to Mohamme-
danism. As might be expected, the mission
aries, from their point of view, do not speak
so favorably of the late king as the explorers
Certainly, from the European point of view,
Mtesa was guilty of great cruelties but, as
Col Grant shows, these apparently indis-
criminate sacrifices of human life were real
ly the recognized and organized modes of
administering justice in Uganda. Mtesa
himself was evidently a man governed large
ly by impulse. 1t was a good point in his
character that, when Col Grant visited him.
he made point of visiting his mother every
two days at least. When Banker, Col.
Grant reminds US, was all but defeated by
the Wanyoro, a force from Uganda arriving
in the distance was the cause of the disper
sion of the enemy. Mtesa forwarded letters
from Baker to Livingstone by his swift-foot-
IL eo11 oaff ,ofR
found the vetern traveller was dead. These
and other facts, which may be read in the
pages of the travellers we have mentioned,
show that Mtesa was capable of taking real
interest in matters far outside the range of
the ordinary savage mind. His army won
derfully organized and disciplined, Mr.. Stan
ley estimates at 125, 900 men, and his fleet at
500 canoes. The population of Uganda prop
is probably about one million, but with
neighhoring territories about three millions.
The capital is finely situated on the slopes of
the north shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza,
from which, as Mr.. Stanley's illustration
shows, broad path leads up to the royal
quarters 1t is gratifying to learn that there
have beeli comparatively little violence and
bloodshed at the change of monarchy. It
used to be the custom at the coronation for
. new king to sacrifice his brothers, custom
which the latter evidently regarded as per-
fectly natural Mtess's brothers. at the
chains, but all the same, and though con-
scious of their fate, 'conversed, and attended
picnics, and boated, aud played musical in
struments with their brother, the king, with
perfect freedom of action and of speech
What all the outside influences have been
that haye had civilizing effect on Uganda
before it was discovered by European, we
do not know; what they have been since we
do know pretty fully, and the results thus
far have been on the whole good. 1t is to be
hoped that under the young prince, who now
succeeds his father, this native State may be
allowed to develop itself along its own lines,
without any undue attempt to force it into
European grooves; above all things both
prince and people pray to be delivered from
European protection"
German PessimIsm.
From the British Quarterly Revew.l
Modern German pessimism is a revival of
the theosophies of the East whose funda-
mental axiom is the evil of life; of Brah-
manism, which represents absorption into
the supreme spirit as the only prospect of
release from consciousness and wretchedness;
or, more exactly, of Buddhism, the great
Oriental heresy which for more than two
thousand years has held forth to suffering
mortals the one only hope of passionless re-