New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-20
RELIGIOUS WAR IN AFRICA.
HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF AT THE
SOURCE OF THE NILE.

o, british resident in Uganda, recently pupAsheu'
there Is a distant echo OF the religious wars "ni'i
have made the African Nyanza region "o'0'o
Mr. Ashes book takes the reader back 10 'he WAITS
,,.msavss "a their causes and TO the sanguinary
b,,tes TINT remind of the confiicts between
Orthodox ard Arian in the earliest mloole axes VI
rurone The condition Of affairs In tsanda II
nnioue IN modern history. In Asiatc countries
~,-i.,.,. havo hsen persecuted by heather within
,ecent wears But in Uganda they turned ther
hands against each other. This Is the NOR re
rnarkable because the Boganda that Is 'he "
neonle are remarkable for high degree OF o'i''"a
zion for a natural intelligence and miiuness %
,omner exceptional in Africa. Beyond their oo'ue'e
,-ibes wandered Wild and naked: but withih' 'ne
noon,e were clothed long robes from heao 10 ioo
,rhoy had some knowledge OF agriculture an" NV
long succession OF their banana groves Is ie".
=. Tho landscape mentioned by all travellers Inc
ronu,atiou was rlgdly divided into King hooies anu
Deasantry; the country was made up Oh p'oN".
:, ,.btch chjeftains with very definite powers anu
,;,les acknowledged In feudal fashion the o'erol'
snip OF the King The monarch nau MS ,,,.
,,n,ster-two. in fact. ostensioly equal !" 'e
e,,e- the hatred OF Catholic and Protestant "aN.u
- ,a other notshles In his council. statecraft
50. ro.uv a complicated game with the bosanua'
,rhoy roixed II I'D with everything. When Ch'iS
t,o-,.v was introduced among trem thes sum -
methods OF making II factor III p'ii"e a.,
oa,ura, " supposed that other races were ' -.
.hsrsa,ves and So as as they discoVereu '"'
<ba Catholic fathers happened TO be french a' -
contestant missionaries English. and had ieaine'
sone.hrx of the relations OF the two countries '
represeatei 20 them. they formed rie" P
and an English party. Cathohc convert ooo"-'o
. ren,ber O, tie French party. Protestant pe'a'no
an aaherert % the growing English power "h,ie
.,ose who remained heather waverea oe'wee" ''''
..n.- fsc,,ons There was also MahoiieVa"
,.r,v which occasionally became strong enouen II
che roya; council TO threaten the safety OF nS'a'''
es we'll as heathen -, ,.so,,red
7bare have been kings Of Uganda who d'spiaYeu
, car,ain wisdom Of their own Mutesa' !" ""ose
d. ,,iss,orares first entered the country "aS
surprised AZ the fact that the Protestant cereynen
and Catholic priests could not agree. lou i"s'
~ we'll 10 20 back where you came froih' ne '"s-
sas,.d "snd our who has the truth, and then come
% conver, me" The hint was taken TO the eN'e''
,ho. 4, nsrsonsl intercourse thereafter clergymeh
and pr,ests enaeavored TO observe me rules oi po
,.enass Observing the political habits OF the peo
Mo the missionaries fell in with them ana All Ie
hooks on the subject including the one oy MI
Ashs show that great deal Of effort centred upon
,be conversion of the King. King Mwanga' IN
whose time most OF the religious wars nave DC
CURED adheres TO each religion In turn the result
being that the fcke element in the populaoe loi-
lows him and swells with Its numbers the faVorHe
~ y, tho moment The conversion of the King
seems likely TO bs a perennial occupation for the
missionaries His successive changes have fuf-
,ished motive direct indirect for consideraoie
body Of epistolary literature, and have unsettled
sonares take these revolutions in the royal NINA
seriously Their own safety and that OF their con-
verts has often been imperlled by freakish ospo-
etion or the part of the King But to the miii'ary
men and mere civilians Mwanga has always
seemed an absurd person whose religious iancles
xvera 10 he endured only when they could not be re-
strained His predecessor. Mutesa- though chaf-
enthusiastically cruel, was a mucn apier man ne
was SAYS Mr.. Ashe IAN object OF the deepest rev
erence and even superstitious dread, TO his people
fpadh nv he "a
If untempered. unrestrained heathenism he mad
caused the slaughter of thousands or human VIC
Tins in performing the sanguinary rites OF MS re-
lgion. On a single occasion, the dedcauoh OF MS
fathers tomb. 200 persons were sacrihced. IL Is
well 10 remember this fact In connection with all
that has been said about the wars caused by Euro
means in Uganda. II Christianity brought not peace
but sword yet Its victims have hardly numbered
tens where those OF the od-tme superstition were
reckoned by the hundreds or the thousands
Mutesa's boodthirstiness the worse, because
he seems to have been sceptic as TO the existence
OF the native gods. He continued TO worship them
mainly because Of the influence OF his nother bu'
he also knew how to persecute. When the young
men Of his court turned Mahometan ana re-
fused beef from the Kings table because the cattle
were not slain according TO the law OF Islam ne
eause1 200 Of them TO be burned 10 death
Mwanga fell at first under the influence OF the
Arabs and the Christians both Protestant ana
catholic were tortured and put 10 death in ways
Europe. When the Christians became too numerous
20 be easily put down. he adopted the policy OF ad
herring to of the factions into which they
were divided and then 10 the other. To his coward
ace and reschery and 10 the gradual growth OF dis
trust between Protestants and Catholics must be at
sr!buted the which took place later in his
reign In the days when these troubles were gradu-
ally accommodating. English power in the Nyanza
region was represented by the employees of the I'M
yeria East African Company. whose acts were dis
nvowed and yet usually accepted by the British
Government
Native kings and chieftains knew where
they stood in dealing with the company's officers
The French priests jealous Of British move
snents. and the Protestant missionaries and con-
disappointed when they sought for aid
Only the Mahometans profted by the efforts OF
the comIany's officers TO be neutral Soldiers
necessary and the trained Soudanese were the only
efficient fighting men that could be obtained Colonel
Colvile found them satisfactory from a military
point Of view. But 10 Mr. Ashe. who looked at the
matter from the point OF view OF missionary these
Mahometan rfomen were unmixed evil. Accord
ing 10 his narrative they proved dangerous
wants. even TO their secular masters They
useful however. at the outset. for the first advance
OF the East African Company into Uganda was
rho sigma, for a civil war.
II happened that Mwanga was then on the side
pf the French. Catholic party His fear Of the
british LED him to encourage discomfort, which dis
payed Itself not only In parts Of his own realm, but
Also among his neghbors The influence Of the mis-
sionaries on both sides seems TO have been exsrted
10 keep the peace But they could not control the
political disputes in which their adherents became
involved. In the desultory fighting that went In
the provinces the Protestant natives were usually
victorious For this reason. for some reason I'M
known. Mwanga showed a disposition to abandon
the Catholics. That precipitated a conflict in his
capital Of Mengo. But even at the last moment
MI Ashe maintains that, IL the English Govern
ment had declared through the officials the
scene. I'VE will occupy Uganda, and be responsible
Tor good government" or had even said, 1--WE will
guarantee the permanency OF the English occupa ton
by the company and religious federation in Uganda"
The war would have ended without serious fight
ing. The French faction really had only the nat