IsiXhosa Intellectual Traditions (IsiXIT) Digital Archive

MR. BOKWE'S LETTER. To the Editor of Native Opinion. Sir,—I was very sorry to see Mr. Bokwe's letter in your columns. He has imported a great deal of unnecessary heat into the discussion of a subject where calmness and temper were 'especially required, and has managed to prove that a man who has got a classical education in Lovedale may, when he loses his temper display very little common sense and write very faulty English. I must say at once that I am sorry that 'Lovedalian' wrote in such a way as to seem to cast any reflection on Dr. Stewart. I do not think he meant to do so. I am inclined to believe that his meaning was that Dr. Stewart's words were calculated to convey a wrong impression, and therein I agree with him. The fact seems to be that Dr. Stewart was not referring to that part of the subject which 'Lovedalian' took up, and I think it a great pity that such words as Suppressio veri, &c , Should have been used at all. But for all that ' Lovedalian's ' letter is a very important one, and Mr. Bokwe's answer proves the truth of every one of 'Lovedalian's' statements, and the conclusion is inevitable that the number of students who have studied classics at Lovedale is very limited, and that the results of that study have been very satis- factory. In so far Air. Bokwe's letter Native education. He has shown that very few Natives at Lovedale are taught latin and greek and he has admitted that those who have enjoyed that privilege are very respectable people. But Mr Bokwe has also done outsiders a great favour in enabling them to compare the new regulations of Lovedale with the old. He has done this with the view of showing that the new regulations afford greater facilities to Natives who wish to prepare themselves for University examinations than the old ones did, and upon this point I join the issue with him. under old regulations there were classes which Europeans as well as Natives were allowed to join. That's a fact; and these classes were so well conducted that Europeans were glad to join them. I know that two gentleman who now occupy the front rank in one of the most noble of the learned professions studied at Lovedale and it is no secret that the elder of these after being a few months at the South African almost got the Porter, and the younger who waited for the next chance, actually carried it off. Under the old regulations then I hold that any Native of good ability who wished to study, had the opportunity of preparing for University examinations. But let us see now what opportunity they have under new rules. Section V. says. Should a sufficient number of candidates come forward a class will be formed to prepare students for the higher certificates, for matriculation in the Cape university, and for the B.A. and M.A. degrees.' This section reads very well and seems at first sight very favourable to the natives; but the most cursory inspection shows that it is, as the lawyers say, void for uncertainty. Its chief, its all important term, is left unexplained. No explanation is given of 'sufficient number,' and we are not even told who is to decide the question. Under the new regulations then a Native's chance of matriculating depends not on his own ability .or zeal, or even on his power of producing from his pocket what Mr. Bokwe evidently thinks the ' Almighty Dollar'; it does not even depend on the number of Natives like-minded with him, but solely on the meaning attached to the words ' sufficient number ' by some per- son of persons unknown. A miser once defined 'enough ' to be a little more than One has; and a teacher can easily define a 'sufficient number' to be a few more than there are. If ten presented them- selves he might fix his standard at a dozen, and if a dozen came forward, he might raise it to fifteen. And in my opinion there is good reason for thinking that no great encouragement is given at Lovedale to young Natives who wish to matriculate. According to a statement in your Editorial Notes I see that only two Natives have yet matriculated, and, as it happens, I know a little about both. One of them was teacher in Graaff- Reinet in connection with the Rev. Durant Philip's Native congregation. This gentleman, a worthy son of a noble sire, took an interest in the young man, coached him for his examination, and had the satisfaction of seeing him pass it with great credit. I know none of the parties personally; but from an attempt made to ascribe this young man's success to the Graaff-Reinet College he was led to write what was called a 'cheeky' letter to the press, and gave the honour to whom it was due. I am pretty sure that Mr. Philip undertook this task as a labour of love, without fee or reward ; and as I can form some idea of the work he took in hand, I am sure that nothing which the young man could give would be an adequate compensation for his labour. The other young man attempted to study at Lovedale. He had been stationed in a town with Exceptionally good educational advantages, and got some of the teachers to assist him in working for matriculation. On his removal to Lovedale he tried to prosecute his studies in connection with the Institution, but his progress was so slow as to show that the duration of human life had been calculated, not according to the Carlisle or Northampton Tables, but according to statistics compiled from antediluvian annals, and that he could not expect to matriculate until he had reached the age of Henry Jenkins, or at the very least of old Parr. In these circumstances, like a man of sense, he boldly took the bull by the horns, procured extraneous assistance, and passed in two years. Mr. Bokwe seems to see that the new regulations are not so favourable to Natives as the old, for after asserting that they are more so he introduces the judicious caveat 'but under a different system.' What this system is Mr. Bokwe takes half a column to explain, but as he, like a Kafir, uses illustrations that darken the subject, makes confusion worse confounded by a perverse use of italics, and when he tries to be funny becomes absolutely unintelligible, it is scarcely possible to catch a glimpse of his meaning. Money, how- ever, has a good deal to do with the new system, and I am led to conclude that if a Native had extraordinary talents, unconquerable perseverance, was not particular as to time, and had unbounded command of money, he might have some chance of being prepared for matriculation some time or other under the new system. To give your readers some idea of the difficulty of understanding Mr. Bokwe I shall select one sentence which evidently contains the gist of the subject, and to which, by a liberal use of italics, he has called special attention. 'Pay yourself the high price tor it; that is fair isn't it.' It may be fair, but it is certainly far from clear; and the obscurity arises from the singular position of the word 'yourself.'' If Mr. Bokwe meant 'Pay the high price for it yourself' he would certainly have said so, and we are therefore at a loss whether 'yourself' is to be considered a dative or an accusative. If a dative, as in such common sentences as ' Pay yourself and give me the balance ; ' ' He paid him the debt,' we can imagine Mr. Bokwe performing the part of Sir Giles Overreach in ' A new way to pay class fees,' to the surprise and disgust of his teacher. By directing his hands into one pocket by the guidance of ' Permissive Will,' and then in the manner of ' Slippery Sam,' transferring its contents into the other, Mr. Bokwe might raise a laugh on the stage, but he would not settle the fee- paying business to the satisfaction of any- body but himself. But by supposing that Mr. Bokwe meant 'yourself' to be an accusative, we get a much higher view of that gentle- man's character. 'Yourself' then is the high price, and we must conclude that Mr. Bokwe practising what he preaches, sold himself to the Institution to obtain a good education. What a touching picture ! How intense his love for knowledge ! To obtain this priceless boon he became the bond thrall of the Institution, ready to do its dirty work on all occasions. This accounts for his now defending Lovedale and doing it so badly. One volunteer we all know is equal to ten pressed men, and Mr. Bokwe not only leaves Lovedalian's position unassailed, but, by his bad temper, bad taste, and bad English, gives so ow an idea of a Lovedale education, that one is apt to suppose that if Mr. Bokwe sold himself for the education he got, he sold himself for very little, and the pur- chaser had a bad bargain all the same. And. as if to prove that this system of slave dealing was not at all impossible Mr. Bokwe asserts that the slave trade ' wider a different system was practised at the very foundation of the Institution. | The old Pioneers dealt in human flesh. They 'had to buy Natives to come to church, and pay children to come to school.' The antithesis is perfect, but what shall we say of the morality? What rogues these old Pioneers must have been, and what fools at the same time Surely if they were wicked enough to j carry on the slave trade, they might have had sense enough to [carry it on strictly : commercial principles. Why did they not buy the children and let the Natives alone. They would have cost less; by taking advantage of hard times they might have got them for the expense of their education, and being their absolute properties they might have used them for | tilling their churches as well as their schools. This being the conduct of the old Pioneers, we might dread a revival of the ' Domestic Institution' in our midst, were it not that luckily Section V will reduce the number of voluntary thralls to a minimum, and that the sample which Mr. Bokwe has given of their services affords a convincing proof that slavery does not pay. I am, &c.,