"Therefore I hereby make known, for the information of Cetywayo and
all the Zulu people, that I have placed the further prosecution of
this and all other demands for redress and reparation in the hands
of his Excellency the Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford, commanding
her Majesty's Forces in South Africa, with the request that he will
take such steps as he may find necessary to protect the British
territory from further aggression, and to compel the Zulu king to
comply with all the demands made on him for satisfaction due to the
British Government, or for the greater security of the British
territory, or for the better and more peaceable government of the
Zulu people. Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford will carefully
notify to all Zulu chiefs and people who may come within his reach
that the commands of the British Government are made on Cetywayo, as
much in the interests of the Zulu people as of the English nation,
and that till the 11th January the Lieut.-General will be willing to
receive and to transmit to me any intimation of the unqualified
acceptance by Cetywayo of all the terms offered to him. If such
intimation of unqualified and complete acceptance be received by the
Lieut.-General before the 11th January no further hostile movement
will be made, unless rendered necessary by the action of the Zulu
forces, and up to the above date Lord Chelmsford will be ready to
consider any steps which the Zulu king may propose for the purpose
of giving real and permanent effect to the demands of the British
Government. But unless all these terms be fully complied with by the
above date, the Lieut.-General will no longer be bound by the terms
of the 11th December, but will take such measures as the forces
under his command will permit for compelling the submission of the
Zulu king; always bearing in mind that the British Government has no
quarrel with the Zulu nation, and that the future good government
and well-being of the Zulus is as much an object of the steps now
taken as the safety and protection of the British territories of
Natal and the Transvaal. And I do hereby warn all residents and
inhabitants of her Majesty's possessions and colonies in South
Africa, of whatever race, to be guided by this, my notification,
and I do strongly charge and command all her Majesty's officers,
ministers, and subjects, and all others whom it may concern, to
govern themselves and to act accordingly, and to take due notice of
and to pay due regard to the tenor thereof.
"H. B. E. FRERE,
High Commissioner.
"Pietermaritzburg, Natal, Jan. 4, 1879."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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