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.”