Prophesies

Abstract

The Sotho apparently accepted the new code, as they had the old. At the pitso at which it was read to the nation, no objections were voiced except to the one pound deposit required when lodging an appeal.¹ Yet despite such acquiescence, there were indications that not only the chiefs but the people were deeply disturbed by the changes introduced by the white man. They might swallow their grievances for the other advantages the new order gave them, but in a few years their traditional way of life was being altered before their eyes in ways that were no doubt deeply disturbing. Missionary influence was especially insidious and all-pervasive; in his 1874 report, for example, Griffith could write:

so deeply has the leaven of Christianity penetrated amongst the Basutos that, at least in some of its outward observances, it affects even the raw heathen population to such an extent that none of them are to be found working in their gardens, or travelling the roads, on the sabbath day; a remarkable circumstance, unparalleled (as far as I am aware), amongst the heathen in any other tribe under British rule.²