Wesleyan Methodists, Humanitarianism and the Zulu Question, 1878–87

Abstract

This article explores Wesleyan Methodists' responses to the Zulu question (a sequence of events from the Anglo-Zulu War through to British annexation of Zululand) in the 1870s and 1880s particularly in relation to their humanitarianism. In doing so, it approaches the question in the imperial context, examining the attitudes of both the Wesleyan missionaries in South Africa and the Wesleyan public in Britain. The way the Wesleyans responded to the Zulu question was highly complex, largely contingent upon specific historical contexts. The local missionaries and Wesleyans at home were sharply divided over the assessment of the Zulu War; but, once the Boers started meddling in the Zulu civil war, they were united in expressing humanitarian concerns and calling for British protection over the Zulu. Sincere as their sympathy might have been, however, the Wesleyans' humanitarianism comprised a number of beliefs and considerations that were secular as well as religious. This article demonstrates that, despite its apparently universalist impulse and language, humanitarianism as it was espoused by the Wesleyans was always deployed contingently in relation to other imperatives, such as proselytism and commerce.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Andrew Porter for his valuable suggestions on an earlier version of this article. I must also express my sincere gratitude to anonymous reviewers for their useful and insightful comments and suggestions. This work was supported by the University of London under its Central Research Fund and by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science under Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) [23720372].

Notes

[1] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, 28 Oct. 1878, 19/718, Incoming Correspondence from South Africa (hereafter IC), WMMS Archives at the School of Oriental and African Studies (hereafter WMMS).

[2] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, private, 10 Feb. 1885, IC 19/744, WMMS.

[3] For example, see Bebbington, Nonconformist Conscience, chs 5–6; Wolffe, God and Greater Britain; Strong, Anglicanism and the British Empire; and Brown, Providence and Empire.

[4] Koss, ‘Wesleyanism and Empire’.

[5] Hempton, Methodism.

[6] Meanwhile, there is a growing literature concerning non-white Methodists and their varied interactions with colonialism. For instance, see, Sundkler, Bantu Prophets; Campbell, Songs of Zion; and Vernal, The Farmerfield Mission.

[7] To name only some of the most important works, Dachs, ‘Missionary Imperialism’; Etherington, Preachers, Peasants and Politics; Comaroff and Comaroff, Of Revelation and Revolution vols 1 and 2; Landau, Realm of the Word; and Elbourne, Blood Ground.

[8] Dachs, ‘Missionary Imperialism’.

[9] Comaroff and Comaroff, Of Revelation and Revolution vols 1 and 2.

[10] Landau, Popular Politics.

[11] Lester, Imperial Networks; and Lester and Lambert, ‘Missionary Politics'.

[12] Cragg, ‘Relations of the Amampondo’.

[13] Porter, ‘Trusteeship, Anti-Slavery, and Humanitarianism’, 198.

[14] Lester and Dussart, Humanitarian Governance.

[15] For example, see Barnett, Empire of Humanity; and Simms and Trim, Humanitarian Intervention.

[16] For instance, see Turley, Culture of English Antislavery; and Hall, Civilising Subjects.

[17] See, for example, Lester, ‘Humanitarians and White Settlers'; and Guy, Heretic.

[18] Laidlaw, ‘Heathens, Slaves and Aborigines'.

[19] Grant, A Civilized Savagery, 50–51.

[20] Porter, Religion versus Empire?, 313.

[21] Etherington, ‘Anglo-Zulu Relations', 21–26; Guest, ‘War, Natal and Confederation', 53–77; and McClendon, White Chief, Black Lords, 94.

[22] Etherington, ‘Anglo-Zulu Relations', 28–30, 37–39, 41–44.

[23] Etherington, Preachers, Peasants and Politics, 75–89.

[24] Petition from missionaries in Zululand, 18 May 1877, enclosed in H. Bulwer to Lord Carnarvon, 31 July 1877 (original in CO179/124 removed), CO879/12/142, the National Archives, Kew (hereafter TNA).

[25] Owen Watkins to John Kilner, 25 Nov. 1878. IC 19/719, WMMS.

[26] Owen Watkins to John Kilner, 17 Feb. 1879, IC 19/722, WMMS.

[27] John Allsopp to John Kilner, 26 Dec. 1878, IC 19/719, WMMS.

[28] Guy, Heretic, ch. 17. The quotation is from 287.

[29] APS to Michael Hicks Beach, 28 May 1879, CO179/132, TNA.

[30] Aborigines' Friend, Dec. 1879, 181.

[31] W. Francis to F. W. Chesson, 22 July 1879, Anti-Slavery Papers, Mss. British Empire, Series 22, G12/6/vol.1/19, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House.

[32] The Times, 13 Feb. 1879.

[33] Daily News, 3 March 1879.

[34] Daily News, 16 April 1879.

[35] Rack, ‘Wesleyan Methodism’, 142–48; and Bebbington, ‘Nonconformity and Electoral Sociology’, 637–40.

[36] The Times, 30 May 1879.

[37] Recorder, 25 March 1880.

[38] Quoted in Fowler, Life, 114.

[39] Shannon, Gladstone and the Bulgarian Agitation, ch. 5.

[40] Recorder, 1 Sept. 1876, 15 Sept. 1876.

[41] Recorder, 29 Sept. 1876.

[42] Recorder, 18 Jan. 1878, 17 Jan. 1879.

[43] Kent, Holding the Fort, chs 4–6.

[44] Watchman, 21 Jan. 1874, 4 Aug. 1875; Recorder, 19 Feb. 1875, 7 Jan. 1876.

[45] For the Keswick Convention's impact on foreign missions, see Porter, ‘Cambridge, Keswick’.

[46] Bebbington, Holiness, 84–87.

[47] Rack, ‘Wesleyan Methodism’, 162–63; and Oldstone-Moore, Hugh Price Hughes, 61–63.

[48] Shannon, Gladstone and the Bulgarian Agitation, 35.

[49] Watchman, 8 Oct. 1879.

[50] Watchman, 29 Jan. 1879.

[51] Guest, ‘War, Natal and Confederation’, 53.

[52] Watchman, 5 Feb. 1879.

[53] George Blencowe to John Kilner, 29 Nov. 1877, IC 19/713, WMMS.

[54] Watchman, 23 April 1879.

[55] Guy, Heretic, chs 18–19; and Guy, View across the River, ch. 4.

[56] Ballard, ‘“Reproach to Civilisation”’.

[57] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, 13 Oct. 1879, IC 19/727–8, WMMS.

[58] Recorder, 14 Nov. 1879.

[59] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, private, 10 Feb. 1885, IC 19/744, WMMS.

[60] Guy, Destruction, 241–42.

[61] Ibid., chs 5–12.

[62] The Times, 21 May 1884.

[63] Guy, Destruction, 232.

[64] United Kingdom. British Parliamentary Papers, C.4274 (1885), 32 (original in CO179 removed).

[65] Guy, View across the River, ch. 9.

[66] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, private, 10 Feb. 1885, IC 19/744, WMMS.

[67] Watchman, 9 June 1884.

[68] Colley, Britons.

[69] Elbourne and Ross, ‘Combating Spiritual and Social Bondage’, 40–42.

[70] Barnabas Shaw to George Marsden, 17 Oct. 1832, IC 7/247, WMMS.

[71] John Ayliff to General Secretaries (Secs), 19 May 1829, IC 2/65, WMMS.

[72] Quoted from Ross, Beyond the Pale, 79.

[73] Elbourne and Ross, ‘Combating Spiritual and Social Bondage’, 35–36.

[74] Keegan, Colonial South Africa, 107–16.

[75] Etherington, Great Treks, 243–53.

[76] William Shepstone to Secs, 16 July 1840, IC 4/117, WMMS.

[77] McClendon, White Chief, Black Lords, 10.

[78] Cragg, ‘Relations of the Amampondo’, 59–61.

[79] William Shaw to H. Hudson, 20 Dec. 1840, enclosed in G. Napier to Lord John Russell, 6 Jan. 1841, CO48/211, TNA.

[80] Watchman, 5 Oct. 1842.

[81] Watchman, 5 Oct. 1842.

[82] James Cameron to Secs, 16 Jun. 1845, IC 4/125, WMMS.

[83] Owen Watkins to John Kilner, 3 Sept. 1877, IC 19/711, WMMS.

[84] George Blencowe to Secs, 30 April 1877, IC 19/709, WMMS.

[85] Watchman, 2 Nov. 1842. It is interesting to note that the quoted part here was apparently taken from pages 77 and 78 of John Barrow's An Account of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa first published in 1801. How the stereotype of Boers presented in this book had been circulated around the missionary circle and recycled in the Watchman in the 1840s might be a fascinating topic to explore. However, because of the limitation of space, this article cannot fully discuss this question. I would like to elaborate on this issue another time. I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this potentially exciting research theme.

[86] Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, Aug. 1881.

[87] Watchman, 16 March 1881.

[88] Of these, as to Wesleyans' response to the Boer expansionism in Bechuanaland, see Osawa, ‘Conviction and Calculation', ch. 6.

[89] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, private, 10 Feb. 1885, IC 19/744, WMMS.

[90] Methodist Times, 5 March 1885.

[91] Watchman, 8 June 1881.

[92] H. Bulwer to Colonial Office, telegram, 4 Feb. 1885, CO179/156, TNA.

[93] S. Evans Rowe to John Kilner, 8 Jan. 1885, IC 19/744, WMMS.

[94] Schreuder, Scramble for Southern Africa, 138–39.

[95] William McArthur to W. E. Gladstone, 22 Nov. 1884, W. E. Gladstone Papers, Add. MSS. 44,488, 125–26, British Library.

[96] Guy, Destruction, 231–39; Guy, View across the River, chs 10–11.

[97] Quoted in Guy, View across the River, 162.

[98] Frederick Mason to John Kilner, private, 10 Feb. 1885, IC 19/744, WMMS.