IsiXhosa Intellectual Traditions (IsiXIT) Digital Archive

AMONG the many things to which Fingoland is indebted to Captain Blyth is his practical interest in matters of edu¬cation. Shortly after resuming the duties of his office as Chief Magistrate of Fingo¬land, the Native Teachers sent the gallant gentleman an address of welcome to which the following is a reply in which we, for our part, find the motive power of Captain Blyth's enthusiasm in the weighty remark that 'the old people must sooner or later pass away, and their child¬ren will take their place if now they take advantage of the opportunities for learn¬ing that now exist all will be well, but if they neglect education now, then it will be an evil and bad future and no hope or brightness in it.' This is the whole reply:— Entlambe, Transkei, December 2nd, 1884. To MR. JOEL MADUBELA, MR. M. N. GALELA, MR. DAVID NGINDA, and the other School Teachers, who ad dressed a letter to the Chief Magistrate GREETING I have received your letter and I beg to thankyou much for your kind expressions of good feeling towards myself and the welcome you have given me on my return to the' Transkei to resume my duties as Chief Magistrate. I am most glad to learn that you so fully recognize the great importance of schools, and that all children in this country should be taught those great truths that can alone make them wiser and better men when they grow up. The old people must sooner or later pass away, and their children will take their place, and if now they take advantage of the opportunities for learning that now exist, all will be well. But if they neglect education now, then it will be an evil and bad future and no hope or brightness in it. The Govern¬ment now contribute liberally to schools, and desire much that education should spread, and I can assure you that no effort on my part will be wanting to press upon the people the advantages of schools, and to give them liberal support. For if we all do what we can to advance the cause of Christianity and civilization, then heathenism and evil will diminish and there will be lasting peace. I trust that you will redouble your efforts in the good work in which you are engaged and in which you have my sympathy and sincere good wishes. Believe me to be Yours very faithfully, MATT. BLYTH. Chief Magistrate, Transkei. COMMENTING for the benefit of his readers on the appearance of our Almanack for the present year, the Editor of the Somerset East Advertiser characterizes the Native Opinion as 'the latest Natives' luxury,' It is, we venture to say, this belief that has lowered the tone of journalism in this clime. WE hold that newspapers, English or Kafir, have a much more serious end to serve than that which luxuries are supposed to gratify, viz., that of educating and enlightening the community. THE Alice Times analyses the Registra-Roll recently made up for the last year and finds that there are about 356 English and others on the Roll. 148 Dutch, and 365 Natives. It points out that the safest policy for the whites in future is union against the blacks—a policy the morality of which we gravely doubt. According to our contemporary we are now no more to be divided into political parties by conscience scruples but by colour—a doctrine we did not expect to hear from the peace¬ful Times. No doubt the Natives will not be guided by such counsels but will promote the sending of good sensible men— men who will be a credit to Victoria East— whether they are put forward by English, Dutch, or not. Our Alice contemporary is badly advised in sowing the wild oats of discord among the whites and blacks in Victoria for the 365 Natives are but a drop in the bucket to the number of qualified men who are to be registered next year. We hold that a good feeling should exist between Europeans and Natives in these matters, and all should work for keeping Parliamentary Institutions pure by returning able men. THE Isigidimi (Kafir Express} is a Mis-sionary monthly periodical in Kafir pub¬lished at the Lovedale Missionary Insti¬tution. In its issue of the current month it refers to the Rev. E. Makiwanie's address which appeared in this journal, in the following terms :—' It [the address] was the shooting of verbal cannon-balls and empty aspirations which have risen very high as soap bubbles blown up by boys with bone pipes, or with tubes which, when filled with air, fly into the atmos¬phere as little bright globes, and while you gaze at them apparently satisfied, they burst and vanish into thin air.' We are very sorry the Isigidimi has chosen to deal with so able an address in this carp¬ing, captious and uncatholic spirit. The address is admitted, or all but admitted, as a brilliant and masterly defence of the work of missionaries among the natives against the assaults of enemies, disguised and undisguised of that work ; it was aimed, it seems to us, moreover, at revivi¬fying the hopes of some of the mission¬aries themselves, which had been shattered by the unbecoming behaviour of some of our young men (not the sufficiently edu¬cated, however,) who had been trained by them. It comes with questionable grace from a missionary print to misrepresent the spirit, not to say the letter, of the address by describing it as the very embodiment of ' empty aspirations,' which, whatever else it may have been, it was not.