FIRST VISIT HOME--_continued_.
A.D. 1857-1858.
Livingstone at Dublin, at British Association--Letter to his wife--He
meets the Chamber of Commerce at Manchester--At Glasgow, receives honors
from Corporation, University, Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, United
Presbyterians, Cotton-spinners--His speeches in reply--His brother
Charles joins him--Interesting meeting and speech at Hamilton--Reception
from "Literary and Scientific Institute of Blantyre"--Sympathy with
operatives--Quick apprehension of all public questions--His social views
in advance of the age--He plans a People's Café--Visit to
Edinburgh--More honors--Letter to Mr. Maclear--Interesting visit to
Cambridge--Lectures there--Professor Sedgwick's remarks on his
visit--Livingstone's great satisfaction--Relations to London Missionary
Society--He severs his connection--Proposal of Government expedition--He
accepts consulship and command of expedition--Kindness of Lords
Palmerston and Clarendon--The Portuguese Ambassador--Livingstone
proposes to go to Portugal--Is dissuaded--Lord Clarendon's letter to
Sekelétu--Results of Livingstone's visit to England--Farewell banquet,
Feb., 1858--Interview with the Queen--Valedictory letters--Professor
Sedgwick and Sir Roderick Murchison--Arrangements for expedition--Dr.,
Mrs., and Oswell Livingstone set sail from Liverpool--Letters
to children.
Finding himself, in the autumn, free of the toil of book-making, Dr.
Livingstone moved more freely through the country, attended meetings,
and gave addresses. In August he went to Dublin, to the meeting of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science, and gave an
interesting lecture. Mrs. Livingstone did not accompany him. In a letter
to her we have some pleasant notes of his Dublin visit:
"_Dublin, 29th August_, 1857.--I am very sorry now that I did
not bring you with me, for all inquired after you, and
father's book is better known here than anywhere else I have
been. But it could scarcely have been otherwise. I think the
visit to Dublin will be beneficial to our cause, which, I
think, is the cause of Christ in Africa. Lord Radstock is
much interested in it, and seems willing and anxious to
promote it. He was converted out at the Crimea, whither he
had gone as an amateur. His lady is a beautiful woman, and I
think, what is far better, a good, pious one. The
Archbishop's daughters asked me if they could be of any use
in sending out needles, thread, etc., to your school. I, of
course, said Yes. His daughters are devotedly missionary, and
work hard in ragged schools, etc. One of them nearly remained
in Jerusalem as a missionary, and is the same in spirit here.
It is well to be servants of Christ everywhere, at home or
abroad, wherever He may send us or take us.... I hope I may
be enabled to say a word for Him on Monday. There is to be a
grand dinner and soiree at the Lord-Lieutenant's on Monday,
and I have got an invitation in my pocket, but will have to
meet Admiral Trotter on Tuesday. I go off as soon as my
lecture is over.... Sir Duncan Macgregor is the author of
_The Burning of the Kent East Indiaman_. His son, the only
infant saved, is now a devoted Christian, a barrister[52]."
[Footnote 52: Dr. Livingstone always liked that style of earnest
Christianity which he notices in this letter. In November of the same
year, after he had resigned his connection with the London Missionary
Society, and was preparing to return to Africa as H.M. Consul and head
of the Zambesi Expedition, he writes thus to his friend Mr. James Young:
"I read the life of Hedley Vicars for the first time through, when down
at Rugby. It is really excellent, and makes me ashamed of the coldness
of my services in comparison. That was his sister you saw me walking
with in Dublin at the Gardens (Lady Rayleigh). If you have not read it,
the sooner you dip into it the better. You will thank me for it."]
In September we find him in Manchester, where the Chamber of Commerce
gave him a hearty welcome, and entered cordially into his schemes for
the commercial development of Africa. He was subjected to a close
cross-examination regarding the products of the country, and the
materials it contained for commerce; but here, too, the missionary was
equal to the occasion. He had brought home five or six and twenty
different kinds of fruit; he told them of oils they had never heard
of--dyes that were kept secret by the natives--fibres that might be used
for the manufacture of paper--sheep that had hair instead of
wool--honey, sugar-cane, wheat, millet, cotton, and iron, all abounding
in the country. That all these should abound in what used to be deemed a
sandy desert appeared very strange. A very cordial resolution was
unanimously agreed to, and a strong desire expressed that Her Majesty's
Government would unite with that of Portugal in giving Dr. Livingstone
facilities for further exploration in the interior of Africa, and
especially in the district around the river Zambesi and its tributaries,
which promised to be the most suitable as a basis both for commercial
and missionary settlements.
In the course of the same month his foot was again on his native soil,
and there his reception was remarkably cordial. In Glasgow, the
University, the Corporation, the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, the
United Presbyterians, and the Associated Operative Cotton-spinners of
Scotland came forward to pay him honor. A testimonial of £2000 had been
raised by public subscription. The Corporation presented him with the
freedom of the city in a gold box, in acknowledging which he naturally
dwelt on some of the topics that were interesting to a commercial
community. He gave a somewhat new view of "Protection" when he called it
a remnant of heathenism. The heathen would be dependent on no one; they
would depress all other communities. Christianity taught us to be
friends and brothers, and he was glad that all restrictions on the
freedom of trade were now done away with. He dwelt largely on the
capacity of Africa to furnish us with useful articles of trade, and
especially cotton.
His reception by the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons had a special
interest in relation to his medical labors. For nearly twenty years he
had been a licentiate of this Faculty, one of the oldest medical
institutions of the country, which for two centuries and a half had
exerted a great influence in the west of Scotland. He was now admitted
an honorary Fellow--an honor rarely conferred, and only on pre-eminently
distinguished men. The President referred to the benefit which he had
found from his scientific as well as his more strictly medical studies,
pursued under their auspices, and Livingstone cordially echoed the
remark, saying he often hoped that his sons might follow the same course
of study and devote themselves to the same noble profession:
"In the country to which I went," he continued, "I endeavored
to follow the footsteps of my Lord and Master." Our Saviour
was a physician; but it is not to be expected that his
followers should perform miracles. The nearest approach which
they could expect to make was to become acquainted with
medical science, and endeavor to heal the diseases of man....
One patient expressed his opinion of my religion to the
following effect: "We like you very much; you are the only
white man we have got acquainted with. We like you because
you aid us whilst we are sick, but we don't like your
everlasting preaching and praying. We can't get accustomed to
that!"
To the United Presbyterians of Glasgow he spoke of mission work in
Africa. At one time he had been somewhat disappointed with the Bechuana
Christians, and thought the results of the mission had been exaggerated,
but when he went into the interior and saw heathenism in all its
unmitigated ferocity, he changed his opinion, and had a higher opinion
than ever of what the mission had done. Such gatherings as the present
were very encouraging; but in Africa mission work was hard work without
excitement; and they had just to resolve to do their duty without
expecting to receive gratitude from those whom they labored to serve.
When gratitude came, they were thankful to have it; but when it did not
come they must go on doing their duty, as unto the Lord.
His reply to the cotton-spinners is interesting as showing how fresh his
sympathy still was with the sons of toil, and what respect he had for
their position. He congratulated himself on the Spartan training he had
got at the Blantyre mill, which had really been the foundation of all
the work he had done. Poverty and hard work were often looked down
on,--he did not know why,--for wickedness was the only thing that ought
to be a reproach to any man. Those that looked down on cotton-spinners
with contempt were men who, had they been cotton-spinners at the
beginning, would have been cotton-spinners to the end. The life of toil
was what belonged to the great majority of the race, and to be poor was
no reproach. The Saviour occupied the humble position that they had been
born in, and he looked back on his own past life as having been spent in
the same position in which the Saviour lived.
"My great object," he said, "was to be like Him--to imitate
Him as far as He could be imitated. We have not the power of
working miracles, but we can do a little in the way of
healing the sick, and I sought a medical education in order
that I might be like Him. In Africa I have had hard work. I
don't know that any one in Africa despises a man who works
hard. I find that all eminent men work hard. Eminent
geologists, mineralogists, men of science in every
department, if they attain eminence, work hard, and that both
early and late. That is just what we did. Some of us have
left the cotton-spinning, but I think that all of us who have
been engaged in that occupation look back on it with feelings
of complacency, and feel an interest in the course of our
companions. There is one thing in cotton-spinning that I
always felt to be a privilege. We were confined through the
whole day, but when we got out to the green fields, and could
wander through the shady woods, and rove about the whole
country, we enjoyed it immensely. We were delighted to see
the flowers and the beautiful scenery. We were prepared to
admire. We were taught by our confinement to rejoice in the
beauties of nature, and when we got out we enjoyed ourselves
to the fullest extent."
At Hamilton an interesting meeting took place in the Congregational
Chapel where he had been a worshiper in his youth. Here he was
emphatically at home; and he took the opportunity (as he often did) to
say how little he liked the lionizing he was undergoing, and how
unexpected all the honors were that had been showered upon him. He had
hoped to spend a short and quiet visit, and then return to his African
work. It was his sense of the kindness shown him, and the desire not to
be disobliging, that made him accept the public invitations he was
receiving. But he did not wish to take the honor to himself, as if he
had achieved anything by his own might or wisdom. He thanked God
sincerely for employing him as an instrument in his work. One of the
greatest honors was to be employed in winning souls to Christ, and
proclaiming to the captives of Satan the liberty with which he had come
to make them free. He was thankful that to him, "the least of all
saints," this honor had been given. He then proceeded to notice the
presence of members of various Churches, and to advert to the broadening
process that had been going on in his own mind while in Africa, which
made him feel himself more than ever the brother of all:
"In going about we learn something, and it would be a shame
to us if we did not; and we look back to our own country and
view it as a whole, and many of the little feelings we had
when immersed in our own denominations we lose, and we look
to the whole body of Christians with affection. We rejoice to
see them advancing. I believe that every Scotch Christian
abroad rejoiced in his heart when he saw the Free Church come
boldly out on principle, and I may say we shall rejoice very
much when we see the Free Church and the United Presbyterian
Church one, as they ought to be.... I am sure I look on all
the different denominations in Hamilton and in Britain with
feelings of affection. I cannot say which I love most. I am
quite certain I ought not to dislike any of them. Really,
perhaps I may be considered a little heterodox, if I were
living in this part of the country, I could not pass one
Evangelical Church in order to go to my own denomination
beyond it[53]. I still think that the different
denominational peculiarities have, to a certain degree, a
good effect in this country, but I think we ought to be much
more careful lest we should appear to our fellow-Christians
unchristian, than to appear inconsistent with the
denominational principles we profess.... Let this meeting be
the ratification of the bond of union between my brother[54]
and me, and all the denominations of Hamilton. Remember us in
your prayers. Bear us on your spirits when we are far away,
for when abroad we often feel as if we were forgot by every
one. My entreaty to all the Christians of Hamilton is to pray
that grace may be given to us to be faithful to our Saviour
even unto death."
[Footnote 53: Dr. Livingstone gave practical evidence of his sincerity
in these remarks in the case of his elder daughter, saying, in reply to
one of her guardians with whom she was residing, that he had no
objections to her joining the Church of Scotland. This, however, she did
not do; but afterward, when at Newstead Abbey, she was confirmed by the
Bishop of Lincoln, and received the Communion along with her father, who
helped to prepare her.]
[Footnote 54: Dr. Livingstone had been joined by his brother Charles,
who was present on this occasion.]
At Blantyre, his native village, the Literary and Scientific Institute
gave him a reception, Mr. Hannan, one of the proprietors of the works, a
magistrate of Glasgow, and an old acquaintance of Livingstone's, being
in the chair. The Doctor was laboring under a cold, the first he had had
for sixteen years. He talked to them of his travels, and by particular
request gave an account of his encounter with the Mabotsa lion. He
ridiculed Mrs. Beecher Stowe's notion that factory-workers were slaves.
He counseled them strongly to put more confidence than workmen generally
did in the honest good intentions of their employers, reminding them
that some time ago, when the Blantyre proprietors had wished to let
every workman have a garden, it was said by some that they only wished
to bring the ground into good order, and then they would take the garden
away. That was nasty and suspicious. If masters were more trusted, they
would do more good. Finally, he exhorted them cordially to accept God's
offers of mercy to them in Christ, and give themselves wholly to Him. To
bow down before God was not mean; it was manly. His one wish for them
all was that they might have peace with God, and rejoice in the hope of
the eternal inheritance.
His remarks to the operatives show how sound and sagacious his views
were on social problems; in this sphere, indeed, he was in advance of
the age. The quickness and correctness with which he took up matters of
public interest in Britain, mastered facts, and came to clear,
intelligent conclusions on them, was often the astonishment of his
friends. It was as if, instead of being buried in Africa, he had been
attending the club and reading the daily newspapers for years,--this,
too, while he was at work writing his book, and delivering speeches
almost without end. We find him at this time anticipating the temperance
coffee-house movement, now so popular and successful. On 11th July,
1857, he wrote on this subject to a friend, in reference to a proposal
to deliver a lecture in Glasgow. It should be noticed that he never
lectured for money, though he might have done so with great
pecuniary benefit:
"I am thinking of giving, or trying to give, a lecture by
invitation at the Athenæum. I am offered thirty guineas, and
as my old friends the cotton-spinners have invited me to meet
them, I think of handing the sum, whatever it may be, to
them, or rather letting them take it and fit up a room as a
coffee-room on the plan of the French cafés, where men,
women, and children may go, instead of to whisky-shops. There
are coffee-houses already, but I don't think there are any
where they can laugh and talk and read papers just as they
please. The sort I contemplate would suit poor young fellows
who cannot have a comfortable fire at home. I have seen men
dragged into drinking ways from having no comfort at home,
and women also drawn to the dram-shop from the same cause.
Don't you think something could be done by setting the
persons I mention to do something for themselves?"
Edinburgh conferred on Livingstone the freedom of the city, besides
entertaining him at a public breakfast and hearing him at another
meeting. We are not surprised to find him writing to Sir Roderick
Murchison from Rossie Priory, on the 27th September, that he was about
to proceed to Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham, "and then farewell to
public spouting for ever. I am dead tired of it. The third meeting at
Edinburgh quite knocked me up." It was generally believed that his
appearances at Edinburgh were not equal to some others; and probably
there was truth in the impression, for he must have come to it
exhausted; and besides, at a public breakfast, he was put out by a
proposal of the chairman, that they should try to get him a pension. Yet
some who heard him in Edinburgh received impressions that were never
effaced, and it is probable that seed was silently sown which led
afterward to the Scotch Livingstonia Mission--one of the most hopeful
schemes for carrying out Livingstone's plans that have yet been
organized.
Among the other honors conferred on him during this visit to Britain was
the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. Some time before,
Glasgow had given him the honorary degree of LL.D. In the beginning of
1858, when he was proposed as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the
certificate on his behalf was signed, among others, by the Earl of
Carlisle, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who after his signature added
P.R. (_pro Regina_), a thing that had never been done before[55].
[Footnote 55: For list of Dr. Livingstone's honors, see Appendix No. V.]
The life he was now leading was rather trying. He writes to his friend
Mr. Maclear on the 10th November:
"I finish my public spouting next week at Oxford. It is
really very time-killing, this lionizing, and I am sure you
pity me in it. I hope to leave in January. Wonder if the
Portuguese have fulfilled the intention of their Government
in supporting my men.... I shall rejoice when I see you again
in the quiet of the Observatory. It is more satisfactory to
serve God in peace. May He give his grace and blessing to us
all! I am rather anxious to say something that will benefit
the young men at Oxford. They made me a D.C.L. There!! Wonder
if they would do so to the Editor of the _Grahamstown
Journal?_"
Livingstone was not yet done with "public spouting," even after his trip
to Oxford. Among the visits paid by him toward the end of 1857, none was
more interesting or led to more important results than that to
Cambridge. It was on 3d December he arrived there, becoming the guest of
the Rev. Wm. Monk, of St. John's. Next morning, in the senate-house, he
addressed a very large audience, consisting of graduates and
undergraduates and many visitors from the town and neighborhood. The
Vice-Chancellor presided and introduced the stranger. Dr. Livingstone's
lecture consisted of facts relating to the country and its people,
their habits and religious belief, with some notices of his travels, and
an emphatic statement of his great object--to promote commerce and
Christianity in the country which he had opened. The last part of his
lecture was an earnest appeal for missionaries.
"It is deplorable to think that one of the noblest of our
missionary societies, the Church Missionary Society, is
compelled to send to Germany for missionaries, whilst other
Societies are amply supplied. Let this stain be wiped off.
The sort of men who are wanted for missionaries are such as I
see before me; men of education, standing, enterprise, zeal,
and piety.... I hope that many whom I now address will
embrace that honorable career. Education has been given us
from above for the purpose of bringing to the benighted the
knowledge of a Saviour. If you knew the satisfaction of
performing such a duty, as well as the gratitude to God which
the missionary must always feel, in being chosen for so
noble, so sacred a calling, you would have no hesitation in
embracing it.
"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has
appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice
I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can
that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a
small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can
never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest
reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing
good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny
hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a
thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a
privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and
then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and
charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the
spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be
for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the
glory which shall hereafter be revealed in and for us. I
never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we
remember the great sacrifice which He made who left his
father's throne on high to give himself for us; 'who being
the brightness of that Father's glory, and the express image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high.'...
"I beg to direct your attention to Africa: I know that in a
few years I shall be cut off in that country, which is now
open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try
to make an open path for commerce and Christianity; do you
carry out the work which I have begun, I LEAVE IT WITH YOU!"
In a prefatory letter prefixed to the volume entitled _Dr. Livingstone's
Cambridge Lectures_, the late Professor Sedgwick remarked, in connection
with this event, that in the course of a long academic life he had often
been present in the senate-house on exciting occasions; in the days of
Napoleon he had heard the greetings given to our great military heroes;
he had been present at four installation services, the last of which was
graced by the presence of the Queen, when her youthful husband was
installed as Chancellor, amid the most fervent gratulations that
subjects are permitted to exhibit in the presence of their Sovereign.
But on none of these occasions "were the gratulations of the University
more honest and true-hearted than those which were offered to Dr.
Livingstone. He came among us without any long notes of preparation,
without any pageant or eloquence to charm and captivate our senses. He
stood before us, a plain, single-minded man, somewhat attenuated by
years of toil, and with a face tinged by the sun of Africa.... While we
listened to the tale he had to tell, there arose in the hearts of all
the listeners a fervent hope that the hand of God which had so long
upheld him would uphold him still, and help him to carry out the great
work of Christian love that was still before him."
Next day, December 5th, Dr. Livingstone addressed a very crowded
audience in the Town Hall, the Mayor presiding. Referring to his own
plans, he said:
"I contend that we ought not to be ashamed of our religion,
and had we not kept this so much out of sight in India, we
should not now be in such straits in that country" [referring
to the Indian Mutiny]. "Let us appear just what we are. For
my own part, I intend to go out as a missionary, and hope
boldly, but with civility, to state the truth of
Christianity, and my belief that those who do not possess it
are in error. My object in Africa is not only the elevation
of man, but that the country might be so opened that man
might see the need of his soul's salvation. I propose in my
next expedition to visit the Zambesi, and propitiate the
different chiefs along its banks, endeavoring to induce them
to cultivate cotton, and to abolish the slave-trade: already
they trade in ivory and gold-dust, and are anxious to extend
their commercial operations. There is thus a probability of
their interests being linked with ours, and thus the
elevation of the African would be the result,
"I believe England is alive to her duty of civilizing and
Christianizing the heathen. We cannot all go out as
missionaries, it is true; but we may all do something toward
providing a substitute. Moreover, all may especially do that
which every missionary highly prizes, viz.--COMMEND THE WORK
IN THEIR PRAYERS. I HOPE THAT THOSE WHOM I NOW ADDRESS WILL
BOTH PRAY FOR AND HELP THOSE WHO ARE THEIR SUBSTITUTES."
Dr. Livingstone was thoroughly delighted with his reception at
Cambridge. Writing to a friend, on 6th December 1857, he says:
"Cambridge, as Playfair would say, was grand. It beat Oxford hollow. To
make up my library again they subscribed at least forty volumes at once.
I shall have reason soon to bless the Boers."
Referring to his Cambridge visit a few weeks afterward, in a letter to
Rev. W. Monk, Dr. Livingstone said: "I look back to my visit to
Cambridge as one of the most pleasant episodes of my life. I shall
always revert with feelings of delight to the short intercourse I
enjoyed with such noble Christian men as Sedgwick, Whewell, Selwyn, etc.
etc., as not the least important privilege conferred on me by my visit
to England. It is something inspiriting to remember that the eyes of
such men are upon one's course. May blessings rest upon them all, and on
the seat of learning which they adorn!"
Among the subjects that had occupied Dr. Livingstone's attention most
intensely during the early part of the year 1857 was that of his
relation to the London Missionary Society. The impression caused by Dr.
Tidman's letter received at Quilimane had been quite removed by personal
intercourse with the Directors, who would have been delighted to let
Livingstone work in their service in his own way. But with the very
peculiar work of exploration and inquiry which he felt that his Master
had now placed in his hands, Dr. Livingstone was afraid that his freedom
would be restricted by his continuing in the service of the Society,
while the Society itself would be liable to suffer from the handle that
might be given to contributors to say that it was departing from the
proper objects of a missionary body. That in resigning his official
connection he acted with a full knowledge of the effect which this might
have upon his own character, and his reputation before the Church and
the world, is evident from his correspondence with one of his most
intimate friends and trusted counselors, Mr. J.B. Braithwaite, of
Lincoln's Inn. Though himself a member of the Society of Friends, Mr.
Braithwaite was desirous that Dr. Livingstone should continue to appear
before the public as a Christian minister:
"To dissolve thy connection with the Missionary Society would
at once place thee before the public in an aspect wholly
distinct from that in which thou art at present, and, what is
yet more important, would in a greater or less degree, and,
perhaps, very gradually and almost insensibly to thyself,
turn the current of thy own thoughts and feelings away from
those channels of usefulness and service, as a minister of
the gospel, with which I cannot doubt thy deepest interest
and highest aspirations are inseparably associated."
On Dr. Livingstone explaining that, while he fully appreciated these
views, it did not appear to him consistent with duty to be receiving the
pay of a working missionary while engaged to a considerable extent in
scientific exploration, Mr. Braithwaite expressed anew his sympathy for
his feelings, and respect for his decision, but not as one quite
convinced:
"Thy heart is bound, as I truly believe, in its inmost depths
to the service of Christ. This is the 'one thing' which,
through all, it is thy desire to keep in view. And my fear
has been lest the severing of thy connection with a
recognized religious body should lead any to suppose that thy
Christian interests were in the least weakened; or that thou
wast now going forth with any lower aim than the advancement
of the Redeemer's kingdom. Such a circumstance would be
deeply to be regretted, for thy character is now, if I may so
speak, not thy own, but the common property, in a certain
sense, of British Christianity, and anything which tended to
lower thy high standing would cast a reflection on the
general cause."
The result showed that Mr. Braithwaite was right as to the impression
likely to be made on the public; but the contents of this volume amply
prove that the impression was wrong.
Dr. Livingstone had said at Quilimane that if it were the will of God
that he should do the work of exploration and settlement of stations
which was indispensable to the opening up of Africa, but which the
Directors did not then seem to wish him to undertake, the means would be
provided from some other quarter. At the meeting of the British
Association in Dublin, a movement was begun for getting the Government
to aid him. The proposal was entertained favorably by the Government,
and practically settled before the end of the year. In February, 1858,
Dr. Livingstone received a formal commission, signed by Lord Clarendon,
Foreign Secretary, appointing him Her Majesty's Consul at Quilimane for
the Eastern Coast and the independent districts in the interior, and
commander of an expedition for exploring Eastern and Central Africa. Dr.
Livingstone accepted the appointment, and during the last part of his
stay in England was much engaged in arranging for the expedition. A
paddle steamer of light draught was procured for the navigation of the
Zambesi, and the various members of the expedition received their
appointments. These were--Commander Bedingfield, R.N., Naval Officer;
John Kirk, M.D., Botanist and Physician; Mr. Charles Livingstone,
brother of Dr. Livingstone, General Assistant and Secretary; Mr. Richard
Thornton, Practical Mining Geologist; Mr. Thomas Baines, Artist and
Storekeeper; and Mr. George Rae, Ship Engineer; and whoever afterward
might join the expedition were required to obey Dr. Livingstone's
directions as leader.
"We managed your affair very nicely," Lord Palmerston said to
Livingstone at a reception at Lady Palmerston's on the 12th December.
"Had we waited till the usual time when Parliament should be asked, it
would have been too late." Lord Shaftesbury, at the reception, assured
him that the country would do everything for him, and congratulated him
on going out in the way now settled. So did the Lord Chancellor
(Cranworth), Sir Culling Eardley, and Mr. Calcraft, M.P.
Dr. Livingstone was on the most friendly terms with the Portuguese
Ambassador, the Count de Lavradio, who ever avowed the highest respect
for himself, and a strong desire to help him in his work. To get this
assurance turned into substantial assistance appeared to Livingstone to
be of the very highest importance. Unless strong influence were brought
to bear on the local Portuguese Governors in Africa, his scheme would be
wrecked. The Portuguese Ambassador was then at Lisbon, and Livingstone
had resolved to go there, to secure the influence from headquarters
which was so necessary. The Prince Consort had promised to introduce him
to his cousin, the King of Portugal. There were, however, some obstacles
to his going. Yellow fever was raging at Lisbon, and moreover, time was
precious, and a little delay might lead to the loss of a season on the
Zambesi. At Lady Palmerston's reception, Lord Palmerston had said to him
that Lord Clarendon might manage the Portuguese affair without his going
to Lisbon. A day or two after, Livingstone saw Lord Clarendon, who
confirmed Lord Palmerston's opinion, and assured him that when Lavradio
returned, the affair would be settled. The Lisbon journey was
accordingly given up. The Count returned to London before Livingstone
left, and expressed a wish to send a number of Portuguese agents along
with him. But to this both Lord Clarendon and he had the strongest
objections, as complicating the expedition. Livingstone was furnished
with letters from the Portuguese Government to the local Governors,
instructing them to give him all needful help. But when he returned to
the Zambesi he found that these public instructions were strangely
neutralized and reversed by some unseen process. He himself believed to
the last in the honest purpose of the King of Portugal, but he had not
the same confidence in the Government. From some of the notes written to
him at this time by friends who understood more of diplomacy than he
did, we can see that little actual help was expected from the local
Governors in the Portuguese settlements, one of these friends expressing
the conviction that "the sooner those Portuguese dogs-in-the-manger are
eaten, up, body and bones, by the Zulu Caffres, the better."
The co-operation of Lord Clarendon was very cordial. "He told me to go
to Washington (of the Admiralty) as if all had been arranged, and do
everything necessary, and come to him for everything I needed. He
repeated, 'Just come here and tell me what you want, and I will give it
you.' He was wonderfully kind. I thank God who gives the influence."
Among other things, Lord Clarendon wrote an official letter to the chief
Sekelétu, thanking him, in the name of the Queen, for his kindness and
help to her servant, Dr. Livingstone, explaining the desire of the
British nation, as a commercial and Christian people, to live at peace
with all and to benefit all; telling him, too, what they thought of the
slave-trade; hoping that Sekelétu would help to keep "God's highway,"
the river Zambesi, as a free pathway for all nations; assuring him of
friendship and good-will; and respectfully hinting that, "as we have
derived all our greatness from the divine religion we received from
heaven, it will be well if you consider it carefully when any of our
people talk to you about it[56]."
[Footnote 56: See Appendix No. IV.]
Most men, after receiving such _carte blanche_ as Lord Clarendon had
given to Livingstone, would have been drawing out plans on a large
scale, regardless of expense. Livingstone's ideas were quite in the
opposite direction. Instead of having to press Captain Washington, he
had to restrain him. The expedition as planned by Washington, with
commander and assistant, and a large staff of officers, was too
expensive. All that Livingstone wished was a steam launch, with an
economic botanist, a practical mining geologist, and an assistant. All
was to be plain and practical; nothing was wished for ornament or show.
Before we come to the last adieus, it is well to glance at the
remarkable effect of Dr. Livingstone's short visit, in connection with
his previous labors, on the public opinion of the country in regard to
Africa. In the first place, as we have already remarked, there was quite
a revolution of ideas as to the interior of the country. It astonished
men to find that, instead of a vast sandy desert, it was so rich and
productive a land, and merchants came to see that if only a safe and
wholesome traffic could be introduced, the result would be hardly less
beneficial to them than to the people of Africa. In the second place, a
new idea was given of the African people. Caffre wars and other
mismanaged enterprises had brought out the wildest aspects of the native
character, and had led to the impression that the blacks were just as
brutish and ferocious as the tigers and crocodiles among which they
lived. But Livingstone showed, as Moffat had showed before him, that,
rightly dealt with, they were teachable and companionable, full of
respect for the white man, affectionate toward him when he treated them
well, and eager to have him dwelling among them. On the slave-trade of
the interior he had thrown a ghastly light, although it was reserved to
him in his future journeys to make a full exposure of the devil's work
in that infamous traffic. He had thrown light, too, on the structure of
Africa, shown where healthy localities were to be found, copiously
illustrated its fauna and flora, discovered great rivers and lakes, and
laid them down on its map with the greatest accuracy; and he had shown
how its most virulent disease might be reduced to the category of an
ordinary cold. In conjunction with other great African travelers, he had
contributed not a little to the great increase of popularity which had
been acquired by the Geographical Society. He had shown abundance of
openings for Christian missions from Kuruman to the Zambesi, and from
Loanda to Quilimane. He had excited no little compassion for the negro,
by vivid pictures of his dark and repulsive life, with so much misery in
it and so little joy. In the cause of missions he did not appeal in
vain. At the English Universities, young men of ability and promise got
new light on the purposes of life, and wondered that they had not
thought sooner of offering themselves for such noble work. In Scotland,
men like James Stewart, now of Lovedale, were set thinking whether they
should not give themselves to Africa, and older men, like Mr. R.A.
Macfie and the late Mr. James Cunningham, of Edinburgh, were pondering
in what manner the work could be begun. The London Missionary Society,
catching up Livingstone's watchword "Onward," were planning a mission at
Linyanti, on the banks of the Zambesi. Mr. Moffat was about to pay a
visit to the great Mosilikatse, with a view to the commencement of a
mission to the Matebele. As for Livingstone himself, his heart was
yearning after his friends the Makololo. He had been quite willing to go
and be their missionary, but in the meantime other duty called him. Not
being aware of any purpose to plant a mission among them, he made an
arrangement with his brother-in-law, Mr. John Moffat, to become their
missionary. Out of his private resources he promised him £500, for
outfit, etc., and £150 a year for five years as salary, besides other
sums, amounting in all to £1400. Nearly three years of his own salary as
Consul (£500) were thus pledged and paid. In one word, Africa, which had
long been a symbol of all that is dry and uninviting, suddenly became
the most interesting part of the globe.
As the time of Dr. Livingstone's departure for Africa drew near, a
strong desire arose among many of his friends, chiefly the geographers,
to take leave of him in a way that should emphatically mark the strength
of their admiration and the cordiality of their good wishes. It was
accordingly resolved that he should be invited to a public dinner on the
13th February, 1858, and that Sir Roderick Murchison should occupy the
chair. On the morning of that day he had the honor of an interview with
Her Majesty the Queen. A Scottish correspondent of an American journal,
whose letter at other points shows that he had good information[57],
after referring to the fact that Livingstone was not presented in the
usual way, says:
[Footnote 57: We have ascertained that the correspondent was the late
Mr. Keddie, of the Glasgow Free Church College, who got his information
from Mr. James Young.]
"He was honored by the Queen with a private interview.... She
sent for Livingstone, who attended Her Majesty at the palace,
without ceremony, in his black coat and blue trousers, and
his cap surrounded with a stripe of gold lace. This was his
usual attire, and the cap had now become the appropriate
distinction of one of Her Majesty's consuls, an official
position to which the traveler attaches great importance, as
giving him consequence in the eyes of the natives, and
authority over the members of the expedition.. The Queen
conversed with him affably for half an hour on the subject of
his travels. Dr. Livingstone told Her Majesty that he would
now be able to say to the natives that he had seen his chief,
his not having done so before having been a constant subject
of surprise to the children of the African wilderness. He
mentioned to Her Majesty also that the people were in the
habit of inquiring whether his chief were wealthy; and that
when he assured them she was very wealthy, they would ask how
many cows she had got, a question at which the Queen laughed
heartily."
In the only notice of this interview which we have found in
Livingstone's own writing, he simply says that Her Majesty assured him
of her good wishes in his journeys. It was the only interview with his
Sovereign he ever had. When he returned in 1864 he said that he would
have been pleased to have another, but only if it came naturally, and
without his seeking it. The Queen manifested the greatest interest in
him, and showed great kindness to his family, when the rumor came of
his death.
The banquet in Freemason's Tavern, which it had been intended to limit
to 250 guests, overflowed the allotted bounds, and was attended by
upward of 350, including the Ministers of Sweden and Norway, and of
Denmark; Dukes of Argyll and Wellington; Earl of Shaftesbury and Earl
Grey; Bishops of Oxford and St. David's; and hosts of other celebrities
in almost every department of public life. The feeling was singularly
cordial. Sir Roderick rehearsed the services of Livingstone, crowning
them, as was his wont, with that memorable act--his keeping his promise
to his black servants by returning with them from Loanda to the heart of
Africa, in spite of all the perils of the way, and all the attractions
of England, thereby "leaving for himself in that country a glorious
name, and proving to the people of Africa what an English Christian is."
Still more, perhaps, did Sir Roderick touch the heart of the audience
when he said of Livingstone "that notwithstanding eighteen months of
laudation, so justly bestowed on him by all classes of his countrymen,
and after receiving all the honors which the Universities and cities of
our country could shower upon him, he is still the same honest,
true-hearted David Livingstone as when he issued from the wilds of
Africa." It was natural for the Duke of Argyll to recall the fact that
Livingstone's family was an Argyllshire one, and it was a happy thought
that as Ulva was close to Iona--"that illustrious island," as Dr. Samuel
Johnson called it, "whence roving tribes and rude barbarians derived the
benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion,"--so might the son
of Ulva carry the same blessings to Africa, and be remembered, perhaps,
by millions of the human race as the first pioneer of civilization, and
the first harbinger of the gospel. It was graceful in the Bishop of
Oxford (Samuel Wilberforce) to advert to the debt of unparalleled
magnitude which England, founder of the accursed slave-trade, owed to
Africa, and to urge the immediate prosecution of Livingstone's plans,
inasmuch as the spots in Africa, where the so-called Christian trader
had come, were marked, more than any other, by crime and distrust, and
insecurity of life and property. It was a good opportunity for Professor
Owen to tell the story of the spiral tusk, to rehearse some remarkable
instances of Livingstone's accurate observations and happy conjectures
on the habits of animals, to rate him for destroying the moral character
of the lion, and to claim credit for having discovered, in the bone
caves of England, the remains of an animal of greater bulk than any
living species, that may have possessed all the qualities which the most
ardent admirer of the British lion could desire[58]!
[Footnote 58: Livingstone purposed to bequeath to Professor Owen a
somewhat extraordinary legacy. Writing afterward to his friend Mr.
Young, he said: "If I die at home I would lie beside you. My left arm
goes to Professor Owen, mind. That is the will of David Livingstone."]
On no topic was the applause of the company more enthusiastic than when
mention was made of Mrs. Livingstone, who was then preparing to
accompany her husband on his journey. Livingstone's own words to the
company were simple and hearty, but they were the words of truth and
soberness. He was overwhelmed with the kindness he had experienced. He
did not expect any speedy result from the Expedition, but he was
sanguine as to its ultimate benefit. He thought they would get in the
thin end of the wedge, and that it would be driven home by English
energy and spirit. For himself, with all eyes resting upon him, he felt
under an obligation to do better than he had ever done. And as to Mrs.
Livingstone:
"It is scarcely fair to ask a man to praise his own wife, but
I can only say that when I parted from her at the Cape,
telling her that I should return in two years, and when it
happened that I was absent four years and a half, I supposed
that I should appear before her with a damaged character. I
was, however, forgiven. My wife, who has always been the main
spoke in my wheel, will accompany me in this expedition, and
will be most useful to me. She is familiar with the languages
of South Africa. She is able to work. She is willing to
endure, and she well knows that in that country one must put
one's hand to everything. In the country to which I am about
to proceed she knows that at the missionary's station the
wife must be the maid-of-all-work within, while the husband
must be the jack-of-all-trades without, and glad am I indeed
that I am to be accompanied by my guardian angel."
Of the many letters of adieu he received before setting out we have
space for only two. The first came from the venerable Professor
Sedgwick, of Cambridge, in the form of an apology for inability to
attend the farewell banquet. It is a beautiful unfolding of the head and
heart of the Christian philosopher, and must have been singularly
welcome to Livingstone, whose views on some of the greatest subjects of
thought were in thorough harmony with those of his friend:
"_Cambridge, February_ 10, 1858.--MY DEAR SIR,--Your kind and
very welcome letter came to me yesterday; and I take the
first moment of leisure to thank you for it, and to send you
a few more words of good-will, along with my prayers that God
may, for many years, prolong your life and the lives of those
who are most near and dear to you, and that he may support
you in all coming trials, and crown with a success, far
transcending your own hopes, your endeavors for the good of
our poor humble fellow-creatures in Africa,
"There is but one God, the God who created all worlds and the
natural laws whereby they are governed; and the God of
revealed truth, who tells us of our destinies in an eternal
world to come. All truth of whatever kind has therefore its
creator in the will and essence of that great God who created
all things, moral and natural. Great and good men have long
upheld this grand conclusion. But, alas! such is too often
our bigotry, or ignorance, or selfishness, that we try to
divorce religious and moral from natural truth, as if they
were inconsistent and in positive antagonism one to the
other,--a true catholic spirit (oh that the word 'catholic'
had not been so horribly abused by the foul deeds of men!)
teaching us that all truths are linked together, and that all
art and science, and all material discoveries (each held in
its proper place and subordination), may be used to minister
to the diffusion of Christian truth among men, with all its
blessed fruits of peace and good-will. This is, I believe,
your faith, as I see it shining out in your deeds, and set
forth in the pages of your work on Southern Africa, which I
have studied through from beginning to end with sentiments of
reverence and honor for the past and good hopes for
the future.
"What a glorious prospect is before you! the commencement of
the civilization of Africa, the extension of our knowledge of
all the kingdoms of nature, the production of great material
benefits to the Old World, the gradual healing of that foul
and fetid ulcer, the slave-trade, the one grand disgrace and
weakness of Christendom, and that has defiled the hands of
all those who have had any dealings with it; and last, but
not least--nay, the greatest of all, and the true end of
all--the lifting up of the poor African from the earth, the
turning his face heavenward, and the glory of at length
(after all his sufferings and all our sins) calling him a
Christian brother. May our Lord and Saviour bless your
labors, and may his Holy Spirit be with you to the end of
your life upon this troubled world!
"I am an old man, and I shall (so far as I am permitted to
look at the future) never see your face again. If I live till
the 22d of March I shall have ended my 73d year, and not only
from what we all know from the ordinary course of nature, but
from what I myself know and feel from the experience of the
two past years, I am assured that I have not long to live.
How long, God only knows. It grieves me not to have seen you
again in London, and I did hope that you might yourself
introduce me to your wife and children. I hear that a
farewell dinner is to be given you on Saturday, and greatly
should I rejoice to be present on that occasion, and along
with many other true-hearted friends wish you 'God-speed.'
But it must not be. I am not a close prisoner to my room, as
I was some weeks past, but I am still on the sick list, and
dare not expose myself to any sudden change of temperature,
or to the excitement of a public meeting. This is one of the
frailties of old age and infirm health. I have gone on
writing and writing more than I intended. Once for all, God
bless you! and pray (though I do not personally know them)
give my best and Christian love to your dear wife (Ma-Robert
she was called, I think, in Africa) and children. Ever
gratefully and affectionately yours,
"A. SEDGWICK."
Sir Roderick, too, had a kind parting word for his friend: "Accept my
warmest acknowledgments for your last farewell note. Believe me, my dear
friend, that no transaction in my somewhat long and very active life
has so truly rewarded me as my intercourse with you, for, from the
beginning to the end, it has been one continued bright gleam."
To this note Livingstone, as was his wont, made a hearty and Christian
response: "Many blessings be on you and yours, and if we never meet
again on earth, may we through infinite mercy meet in heaven!"
The last days in England were spent in arrangements for the expedition,
settling family plans, and bidding farewell. Mrs. Livingstone
accompanied her husband, along with Oswell, their youngest child. Dr.
Livingstone's heart was deeply affected in parting with his other
children. Amid all the hurry and bustle of leaving he snatches a few
minutes almost daily for a note to one or more of them:
"_London, 2d February_, 1858.--MY DEAR TOM,--I am soon going
off from this country, and will leave you to the care of Him
who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and never disappointed any
one who put his trust in Him. If you make him your friend He
will be better to you than any companion can be. He is a
friend that sticketh closer than a brother. May He grant you
grace to seek Him and to serve Him. I have nothing better to
say to you than to take God for your Father, Jesus for your
Saviour, and the Holy Spirit for your sanctifier. Do this and
you are safe for ever. No evil can then befall you. Hope you
will learn quickly and well, so as to be fitted for God's
service in the world."
"'_Pearl,' in the Mersey, 10th March_, 1858.--MY DEAR
TOM,--We are off again, and we trust that He who rules the
waves will watch over us and remain with you, to bless us and
make us blessings to our fellow-men. The Lord be with you,
and be very gracious to you! Avoid and hate sin, and cleave
to Jesus as your Saviour from guilt. Tell grandma we are off
again, and Janet will tell all about us."
In his letters to his children from first to last, the counsel most
constantly and most earnestly pressed is to take Jesus for their friend.
The personal Saviour is continually present to his heart, as the one
inestimable treasure which he longs for them to secure. That treasure
had been a source of unspeakable peace and joy to himself amid all the
trials and troubles of his checkered life; if his children were only in
friendship with Him, he could breathe freely in leaving them, and feel
that they would indeed FARE WELL.