INTELLIGENCE OF THE SUCCESS OF THE “HERALD” ENTERPRISE.
Mr. Stanley’s Despatches to the “Herald” -- They Create a Profound
Sensation -- The Question of Authenticity of his Reports -- Conclusive
Proof Thereof -- Testimony of the English Press, John Livingstone,
Earl Granville, and the Queen of England Herself -- Mr. Stanley’s
Reception in Europe -- At Paris -- In London -- The Brighton Banquet
-- Honors from the Queen.
Mr. Stanley’s despatches to the “Herald” were sent through the London
bureau of that office. The noted telegram printed on the morning of July
2, 1872, announcing his arrival at Zanzibar and the discovery of
Livingstone, created a profound sensation. Followed by other cablegrams
giving reports of his journey towards Europe and of his reception at
Paris and elsewhere, the intelligence was received with almost as much
avidity as the news which came from day to day of the Franco-German war,
or that of the attempted revolution in Paris.
To some, however, the reports of Mr. Stanley’s great success were
incredible. There were those who did not believe he had seen
Livingstone, and who did believe that the story of the meeting--with, of
course, all the correspondence from Zanzibar, Unyanyembe, Ujiji, and
elsewhere--was but an adroitly-devised romance, after the fashion of
that of Ali Moosa, to cover up inglorious failure. It is needless now to
fully state the arguments upon which this incredulity was based.
Perhaps newspaper jealousy had something to do with it. Certainly it was
a matter of deep chagrin to many Englishmen that the British Government,
upon whose soil the sun never sets, should have been totally eclipsed by
the enterprise of private citizens of a rival nationality. Then there
were certain little errors--chiefly misprints and the excusable mistakes
of telegraphing long despatches great distances--which were claimed by
the doubting as showing that the so-called great Special Search
Expedition of the “Herald” was but a magnificent hoax, after all.
Moreover, the universal interest manifested in the subject gave a
splendid opportunity to adventurers, both male and female, to ventilate
themselves and become public characters. Hence, those who had known Mr.
Stanley as a native of Wales, and not of Missouri, or of this, that, or
the other country; who knew that he had not been a correspondent as had
been generally stated; and, in fine, who knew that many assertions in
regard to him were untrue--these adventurers became even more numerous
than the celebrated cow of the crumpled horn which originated the
terrible conflagration of Chicago, and then, with miraculous
self-multiplication, surpassed in number the cattle of a thousand hills,
and, mournfully ruminating over her sad mishap in kicking over the
kerosene lamp, became the observed of all observers in all Christian
lands, and at the same instant of astronomical and clock time.
It were needless to disguise the fact, however, that the statements of
those incredulous of the Search Expedition’s wonderful success, being
for some time constantly iterated and reiterated through the press,
had considerable effect upon the public mind, and actually left it for a
period in a state of painful uncertainty in regard to the fate of the
great explorer, the truth in regard to whom was earnestly desired by all
intelligent persons throughout Christendom. Happily, the authenticity of
Mr. Stanley’s reports were placed beyond reasonable doubt by a mass of
testimony against which no one could dispute.
[Illustration: SLAVE-ROBBERS’ CAMP.]
Much of that testimony has already appeared in this volume, different
portions in their appropriate places. These are:
1.--The letters of Dr. Livingstone to Earl Granville, which were
published by authority of the British Government. In these letters the
African explorer not only gratefully alludes to Mr. Stanley, but
expressly says his despatches are entrusted to his care because of the
great traveller’s belief in Mr. Stanley’s enterprise and capacity to
accomplish whatever he might undertake. In one of these despatches Dr.
Livingstone also states that he had given to the custody of Mr. Stanley
his journal of explorations, sealed, to be delivered to his daughter
when the commander of the Search Expedition of the “Herald” should
arrive in England.
2.--Upon Mr. Stanley’s arrival in England, this journal was promptly
forwarded to Miss Livingstone. Her acknowledgment was published in many
English and American journals. It was as follows:
KELLY WEMYSS BAY, BY GREENOCK,}
August 6th, 1872. }
DEAR SIR.--I write to say that I received last Saturday my father’s
letters and the diary which were entrusted to you by him.
I wish also to express to you my heartfelt gratitude for going in
search of my father, and aiding him so nobly and bringing the
long-looked-for letters safely.
Believe me, yours truly,
AGNES LIVINGSTONE.
HENRY M. STANLEY, Esq.
3.--Dr. Livingstone’s letter of thanks to James Gordon Bennett, Esq.,
Jr., the handwriting of which was published in _fac-simile_ in the
“Herald,” and fully substantiated by Mr. John Livingstone, of Canada,
brother of the explorer, and more familiar with him and his handwriting
than any man living.
4.--The letter of John Livingstone to Mr. Blake, American Consul at
Hamilton, Ontario, in Canada, which was accompanied by a letter from Dr.
Livingstone, proving handwriting, and forwarded to the “Herald” through
the Department of State at Washington. This letter follows:
LISTOWELL, August 24, 1872.
F. N. BLAKE, Esq., United States Consul, Hamilton, Ontario.
DEAR SIR.--Would you kindly oblige me by conveying in your official
capacity to Mr. Bennett, proprietor of the New York “Herald,” and also
to Mr. Stanley, the leader of the “Herald Livingstone Search
Expedition,” my warmest congratulations on the successful issue of
that expedition.
Having noticed a number of articles in the public press reflecting
doubts on the veracity of Mr. Stanley and the “Herald,” I am glad to
be able to say that I place the most implicit confidence in the
statements of Mr. Stanley and the “Herald.”
I can also assure you that Dr. Livingstone holds the American
Government and people in the highest estimation, principally on
account of the late abolition of slavery in the United States, and I
trust that his persistent efforts to check the nefarious traffic in
slaves in Africa will be crowned with success.
I am, yours respectfully,
JOHN LIVINGSTONE.
5.--The Royal Geographical Society of London, fully persuaded of the
authenticity of Mr. Stanley’s reports, tendered him a formal reception
at Brighton. The meeting occurred, and caused a great deal of comment.
6.--The Sovereign of England herself, on more than one occasion,
tendered special honors to Mr. Stanley on account of his success in
finding Dr. Livingstone.
Evidence like this was not to be shaken by the asseverations of
penny-a-liners. It was regarded by the candid as absolutely conclusive.
Such, it is believed, would have been the result had Mr. Stanley been a
British subject instead of an American citizen. As the fact is, the case
for the “Herald” Expedition was almost immeasurably stronger. It was a
matter of profound chagrin to most of the English people that an
American enterprise should be successful in the search for one of the
most illustrious of Englishmen, whilst English expeditions should have
failed. Under such circumstances Mr. Stanley’s proofs had to be
absolutely unassailable and his credentials unanswerably satisfactory,
or they would not have been received at all. Both majesty and ministry
would have given the commander of the American enterprise the coldest
possible shoulder. Instead, they crowned him with laurels. The only
conclusion with reasonable minds could be that the “Herald” expedition
was a splendid success, and further doubt of it would only have been
stupid and cruel skepticism.[3]
[3] It is not believed that anything further is needed to convince the
public of what most of the intelligent public is already convinced;
but it may be well to place on record the statements of a number of
prominent journals of the world, and reference to the action of
certain learned societies.
* * * * *
On July 4th, 1872, the London “Morning Post” said:
“Far surpassing everything of local import in interest just now is the
information afforded by the New York ‘Herald’ to the London press of
the discovery of Dr. Livingstone. Far surpassing everything which has
been hitherto achieved by journalistic enterprise is the discovery of
the great African explorer--concerning whose fate the peoples of every
civilized state in the world have been anxious for many years--by the
special correspondent of a daily newspaper commissioned to find him.
We are accustomed to laugh on this side of the Atlantic at the rage
which prevails for a knowledge of what are classed as ‘big things’
among our American kinsmen; but it is not only with a feeling of
satisfaction, but also of kindred pride, that we express our
admiration of this wonderful undertaking, which was conceived and has
been carried to such a successful issue by the proprietor of our New
York contemporary.”
* * * * *
The London “Telegraph” of the same date says:
“Yesterday we, in company with the whole people of Britain, listened
to the narration of the outlines of a tale describing the
accomplishment of a work as daring in its execution as that of Vasco
de Gama, as solitary in its accompaniment as that of Robinson Crusoe,
and quite as romantic in its progress as that of Marco Polo. The mind
delights to realize, even in imagination, the moment when the gallant
and indefatigable Stanley won his way in front of his little band of
followers--making up in noise what it lacked in numbers--to the
outskirts of Ujiji; and we must, all of us, envy the republic of the
United States the fact that the American flag was carried proudly at
the head of his force in happy agreement, and that under the banner of
the Stars and Stripes he afforded succor to the lonely Briton.”
* * * * *
And thus the London “Daily News”:
“The extraordinary narrative which has just been communicated to the
world by the New York ‘Herald,’ supplies one of the most exciting
stories which civilization has had since the revelation of the
startling truths of Bruce. Mr. Stanley gives to his collation a
somewhat picturesque coloring, but the grand fact remains that he
found Livingstone notwithstanding, and not, as Sir Henry Rawlinson
conjectured lately, that Livingstone found Stanley. It is not easy to
imagine an enterprise more full of toil and peril than this strange
journey of the lonely American, attended, to be sure, by a small but
reluctant escort, in the hitherto trackless wilds of Africa and among
people of native tribes of unknown names. It is wholly impossible not
to admire the daring and perseverance which the American discovery has
crowned with triumph.”
* * * * *
Said the Edinburgh (Scotland) “Courant”:
“It is long since the columns of a newspaper have contained so vividly
romantic and so startlingly wonderful a story as that which has just
been told to us of the fortunes that befell Mr. Stanley in his quest
after Livingstone, and of the most strange circumstances under which
the object of that quest was fulfilled. The whole narrative reads,
indeed, more like a forgotten episode from the travels of some Marco
Polo or Vasco de Gama than, as it is, a truthful and unvarnished
extract from the severe chronicle of nineteenth century fact.”
* * * * *
This brief extract from the London “Globe” of July 9:
“The final discovery of Dr. Livingstone would seem to have been a
bitter disappointment to a large class of his fellow countrymen. The
doubt and mystery which hung around his fate promised to produce a
perennial stream of quasi-scientific gossip, and to yield an endless
crop of letters to the ‘Times.’ As it is, those ‘interested’ in the
matter are reduced to patching the rags of the worn-out controversy.”
* * * * *
The London “Times” of July 15th contained a long letter from Mr.
Charles Beke, in which he fully answers a number of criticisms upon
the Livingstone-Stanley despatches, the said criticisms having
originated in British chagrin, not altogether inexcusable, at the fine
success of the American enterprise. That great journal of July 27th
editorially says:
“To the enterprise of an American newspaper we are indebted for
trustworthy information that Dr. Livingstone still lives and
prosecutes his unexampled researches.”
* * * * *
The London “Advertiser” of the date last mentioned also published a
long leading article upon the subject, beginning:
“In another column we publish the first letter from Dr. Livingstone
which has been received in England. By the energy of the proprietor of
the New York ‘Herald’ the great English traveller has been found and
succored at a moment when he seemed to be upon his ‘last legs.’ In his
own words, when Stanley arrived at Ujiji, ‘he thought he was dying
upon his feet.’”
* * * * *
The London “Standard” of July 26th remarked with emphasis:
“All doubts concerning the _bona fides_ of Mr. Stanley’s narratives of
his adventures in Africa will now be laid at rest by the arrival of
Dr. Livingstone’s letters. We shall, apparently, have to wait a little
for the publication of the geographical despatches, as the report of
an intended meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday for the
purpose of hearing them read is unfounded. But it is satisfactory to
feel that even the very faint suspicions cast on the authenticity of
Mr. Stanley’s story are dissipated, and that we may absolutely rely
upon the information which that gallant and triumphant traveller has
brought home.”
* * * * *
The Manchester (England) “Guardian” of July 29th, in an elaborate
article in criticism of the English authorities because they had not
organized a successful expedition, and had given the great explorer
just cause for complaint, says the subject is one “which can be matter
of no agreeable examination for any Englishman.” And it concludes:
“Our magnificently equipped expedition did simply nothing; and it was
reserved for Mr. Stanley, after his return to the coast, to organize a
caravan with stores for Dr. Livingstone. ‘Before we left Zanzibar,’
says Mr. New, ‘a caravan numbering fifty-seven men was packed, signed,
sealed, addressed, and despatched, like so many packets of useful
commodities, to the service and succor of Dr. Livingstone.’ What says
England to all this?”
* * * * *
The Leeds (England) “Mercury” of the date last mentioned remarks:
“The success of Mr. Stanley in his search for Dr. Livingstone is one
of the most brilliant chapters in the history of newspaper enterprise.
The expedition was an unprecedented one, and when it was first
reported in this country there were few who did not laugh at it as a
Yankee notion, conceived and started for the glorification of the New
York ‘Herald’ and to gratify the vanity of Mr. James Gordon Bennett.
The result has shown not only how little there was to laugh at, but
how much there was to admire in such a project.”
* * * * *
The journals of continental Europe were not less emphatic in awarding
unmixed praise to the successful expedition of the American journal,
and Geographical Societies, from Italy to Russia, awarded gold medals
to Mr. Stanley in recognition of his services in behalf of
geographical knowledge.
* * * * *
Earl Granville, upon the receipt of Dr. Livingstone’s despatches,
forwarded from Paris by Mr. Stanley, directed an official
acknowledgment, which was as follows:
“FOREIGN OFFICE, August 1, 1872.
“SIR--I am directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the receipt of a
package containing letters and despatches from Dr. Livingstone, which
you were good enough to deliver to Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Paris
for transmission to this department, and I am to convey to you His
Lordship’s thanks for taking charge of these interesting documents.
“I am, your most obedient, humble servant,
“ENFIELD.
“HENRY M. STANLEY, ESQ.”
And on the next day Earl Granville himself wrote the following letter.
“AUGUST 2, 1872.
“SIR--I was not aware until you mentioned it that there was any doubt
as to the authenticity of Dr. Livingstone’s despatches, which you
delivered to Lord Lyons on the 31st of July; but, in consequence of
what you have said, I have inquired into the matter, and I find that
Mr. Hammond, the Under Secretary of the Foreign Office, and Mr. Wyld,
the head of the Consular and Slave Trade Department, have not the
slightest doubt as to the genuineness of the papers which have been
received from Lord Lyons, and which are being printed.
“I cannot omit this opportunity of expressing to you my admiration of
the qualities which have enabled you to achieve the object of your
mission, and to attain a result which has been hailed with so much
enthusiasm both in the United States and in this country.
“I am, sir, your obedient,
“GRANVILLE.
“HENRY M. STANLEY, ESQ.”
As if all this were not enough we have the testimony of the Queen’s
speech, delivered for Queen Victoria by commission, on the occasion of
the prorogation of Parliament, on Saturday, August 10, 1872. The Queen
said: “My government has taken steps intended to prepare the way for
dealing more effectually with the slave trade on the east coast of
Africa.” The London “Times” of the following Monday, in commenting on
this portion of Her Majesty’s speech, said:
“This paragraph is the most significant part of the throne speech, and
we suppose it is not an error to connect the announcement which has
just been made by Her Majesty with the recent discovery of Dr.
Livingstone and the despatches to the Foreign Office brought by Mr.
Stanley, of the New York ‘Herald,’ from the great traveler.”
* * * * *
It would be impossible, it is believed, to more completely demonstrate
the hearty acknowledgment of the British Government of the success of
the American enterprise--an acknowledgment which no earthly power but
that of unanswerable truth could have compelled that Government to
make.
From Zanzibar Stanley sailed across the Indian Ocean to Bombay, whence
he transmitted despatches announcing the success which had crowned his
long labors and journeyings. It was this intelligence, transmitted so
fully through the London office of the New York “Herald,” which so
gratifyingly startled the world about the time of the anniversary of
American independence in 1872. From Bombay, Mr. Stanley proceeded to
Europe by way of the Suez canal, reaching Aden, southwestern Arabia,
July 11; Port Said, the head of the Suez canal, on the 18th; and
arrived at Marseilles, in France, on the 24th. Here he was received with
kindest welcome, and to some extent besieged by gentlemen of his own
profession, who transmitted to their journals accounts of his doings.
At Paris a few days afterwards he was received with exhilarating
hospitality by the American residents of the city, and was greatly
lionized generally. Breakfasting with Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, American
Minister, he there met among other distinguished guests, General William
T. Sherman, the commanding officer of the Army of the United States,
about completing a tour of Europe and the Levant. The General occupied
much of the time in examining Mr. Stanley’s maps, and discharging some
of his fund of caustic humor on the prevalence of the East African slave
trade. On July 30th, Minister Washburne and many other Americans in
Paris extended a formal invitation to Mr. Stanley to meet them at a
banquet, where they might in a body testify their “high appreciation of
the indomitable courage, energy, and perseverance which crowned with
such brilliant success your efforts to find Dr. Livingstone, as well as
to express their sense of the enterprise and liberality of the New York
‘Herald’ in sending you forth on such an extraordinary mission.”
Mr. Stanley’s reply to this cordial invitation was so modest, so happily
expressed, that it is worthy of a place here:
HOTEL DU HELDER, PARIS, July 30, 1872.
GENTLEMEN--I have received your letter of this date asking me to
accept the compliment of a dinner from my compatriots and friends now
resident in Paris, to be given in acknowledgment of the “enterprise
and liberality of the New York Herald” in sending out an expedition in
search of Dr. Livingstone, as well as of the extraordinary good
fortune and perfect success which, under Providence, attended the
footsteps of the expedition I had the honor to command. Gentlemen,
believe me, I am deeply conscious of the great honor you would do me,
and through me not only to the journal I have the pleasure of serving,
but to the patient, resolute, brave and Christian gentleman whom I
left in Central Africa. I therefore gladly accept your invitation, and
shall be pleased to meet you July 31 at any house or place that may be
deemed most convenient. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your
obedient and humble servant,
HENRY M. STANLEY.
To His Excellency E. B. Washburne, Minister Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America, and many others.
The meeting was one of great enjoyment. The American Minister, after a
happy speech, richly flavored with American allusions, proposed the
guest of the evening--“Henry M. Stanley, the discoverer of the
discoverer: we honor him for his courage, energy, and fidelity. We
rejoice in the triumphant success of his mission, which has gained him
imperishable renown and conferred additional credit on the American
name.” To this the traveller responded felicitously, and was specially
eloquent when speaking of the great explorer of Africa. A number of
distinguished gentlemen--artists, journalists, public men--addressed the
meeting. The assemblage adjourned at a late hour, Mr. Stanley strongly
impressed with the difference between a Parisian banquet and an African
supper of manioc and hippopotamus. Other like honors flew upon him,
thick and fast. From scientific and literary bodies and from
distinguished persons he received invitations to accept which would have
occupied him a year. These things do not go to the author of a hoax,
however magnificent.
The traveller-correspondent could not long remain at the fashionable
metropolis, and at once departed for England. His reception in England
was most cordial on the part of most intelligent persons, but there was
a feeling of national chagrin, if one may so speak, on account of the
discovery of Dr. Livingstone having been brought about through American
enterprise, which vented itself in no little carping criticism and the
discharge of British atrabilariousness. Hence at once originated
that skepticism in regard to the discovery of the great explorer
which continued to becloud some minds and journals for a number of
weeks. But the publication of Dr. Livingstone’s several official
despatches--already largely quoted from in this work--and the prompt
production of other evidence, heretofore mentioned, brought the English
people quite generally to an acknowledgment of the truth. At the annual
meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which
convened at Brighton, August 14th, W. B. Carpenter, LL.D., in the chair,
Mr. Stanley’s successful mission was handsomely mentioned. He was twice
compelled to rise, in acknowledgment of calls and cheers. Ex-Emperor
Napoleon III. of France, was present and joined in the applause. Here at
another meeting, Mr. Stanley read a paper on Tanganyika Lake, which was
greatly praised. About this time there were many meetings of scientific
associations at Brighton, to all of which Mr. Stanley was invited. On
the occasion of what has been called “the Brighton Banquet,” it being a
dinner given to the British Association by the Brighton and Sussex
Medical Society, Mr. Stanley appeared late in the evening, and, being
soon called out, responded to some remarks of a previous speaker in such
way as to create some feeling. Good nature at last prevailed, and
harmony was restored among the English savants.
But his honors in England did not stop below the recognition of his fine
success by royalty itself. Early in September he was invited to an
interview with Queen Victoria, and afterwards dined with her and the
members of the royal family present at Balmoral. Upon this occasion the
Queen is reported to have expressed to him in the most warm and friendly
terms her congratulations on the successful result of the American
enterprise in furnishing intelligence of the English traveller in
Africa, his condition of health, his discoveries, and his hopes for the
future previous to his return to Great Britain.