The death of HM Stanley
We regret to announce that Sir HM Stanley died early yesterday. The famous African explorer had been ill for some time, but the first public intimation of his serious condition was only made on Monday night.
Few men commanded a greater share of public attention during some years of the 19th century than Henry Morton Stanley. His name is inseparably connected with the story of the rediscovery of a continent. Africa, the home of one of the oldest civilisations of which we have any knowledge, was until the last generation the least known among the great land masses of the globe, and it was Stanley's good fortune to be one of the most resolute and most widely noticed of the explorers who made possible that "scramble for Africa"! which has so profoundly affected the international politics of Europe in recent years.
Opinions may differ widely as to the balance of advantages or disadvantages, from the European and the African point of view, which have resulted from the irruption of the Great Powers of Europe into the African Continent, but no one can doubt that in shaping events that have so profoundly modified recent history Mr Stanley played a considerable part. That he should by his own unaided efforts and from beginnings so humble, have attained such a commanding position in the eyes of the world is high testimony, at any rate, to the strength of his character and to his determination to succeed.
In person, Mr Stanley was below rather than above the medium height. He had a strong face, and a determination that was the most marked characteristic of the man. As with all strong men, he had the defects of his qualities. He had many devoted friends and admirers. He had just as many bitter critics, and there were some who did not hesitate to describe themselves as enemies alike to his aims and his methods. Perhaps the subject on which his enemies most often and most damagingly attacked him has been his treatment of the natives of the countries through which he has led his expeditions. He has been called "the Napoleon of African travel," and in one respect he deserved the description, for with him the attainment of his object was a devouring passion.
Failure was something he could not brook, and to avoid it he spared neither himself nor his companions, neither his native followers nor the inhabitants of the country through which he had made up his mind to pass. Both as a writer and a talker he was gifted with no inconsiderable share of dramatic power. His books and his conversation alike interested his readers and his auditors, even when it was not always possible to give acquiescence or approval to what he was writing or saying. He was, in short, a man of very strongly marked individuality, of boundless energy and relentless will. The historian of the future cannot write the history of Africa without also mentioning the name of Stanley.
· This article is drawn from the archive at the Newsroom