Lord Kimberley has more official nerve than we gave him
credit for. He has received despatches showing the dangerous character of our position on the West Coast of Africa, and has decided, with the approval of the Cabinet, on the only sound policy, the capture of Coomassie and the destruction of the king- dom of Ashantee. Sir Garnet Wolseley, the officer who com- manded the Red River Expedition, has been invested with supreme military, civil, and we hope, naval power ; and Captain Glover. who organised the Fantees before, has been appointed Commis- sioner to all friendly tribes. As soon as a sufficient force can be got together, say, in October, a rapid rush will be made on Coo- massie, the stores accumulated there seized, and we hope a new " King " appointed. The present King must recede with his army to defend his capital, and will, we trust, be defeated, under cir- cumstances which will lead to his own capture and the total dispersion of his army. With 800 West-India men, 1,000 marines or soldiers, a battery of light artillery, and 10,001) Houssas and Fantees armed with Sniders, this -ought to be easy of accom- plishment ; but it is useless to attempt it if we are not prepared to dethrone the King, letting who will succeed. Without this the Ashantees will merely regard their expedition as unlucky, but with it, every tribe subordinate to them will be- come independent, and their own chief will fear to act, lest he should lose his throne. There is no need of butchery, but the new King must—as the whole history of India teaches us—be a vassal, and not a monarch.
