Mr. Froude's Negrophobia. 109 
' voluntary industry, and lead them gradually to the 
" adoption of civilised habits. He spoke with reserve, 
"and perhaps I may not have understood him fully, but 
" he did not seem to me to think much of their political 
" capacity" (p. 354). Our Tourist then tried to pump 
Sir Henry for his opinion upon the Local Boards, but 
Sir Henry was not to be pumped. Mr Froude had 
himself heard a very bad character of these Boards. 
Although his few days' visit had been spent in Kingston 
and its neighbourhood, and at the boarding-house in 
Mandeville, he makes the thoroughly Froudacious state- 
ment that " in all parts of the island" the Local Boards 
had been described to him as " inflamed centres of pecu- 
" lation and mismanagement." He inferred, that Sir 
Henry NORMAN had no great belief in a federation of 
the islands, in responsible government and f such like,' 
as within the bounds of present possibilities. Nor, did 
Sir HENRY " think that responsible statesmen at home 
had any such arrangement in view" (p. 354). Much 
as he admired Sir HENRY NORMAN, Mr. FROUDE 
appears to have detected a something unorthodox 
about the Governor's views upon political questions. 
The fa£t was, Mr. FROUDE knew from a sure hand that 
it had been in contemplation, a few years ago, to give 
the West Indies what is known as responsible Govern- 
ment, and so he tells his readers what he did not like to 
break to Sir Henry Norman. His inve6tives against 
such an arrangement, extend to Ireland, Hayti, and Mr. 
GLADSTONE. There must, indeed, have been a smell of 
sulphur at King's House, as Mr. FROUDE explains, " I 
" could not say what I felt completely to Sir HENRY, 
" who, perhaps had been in personal relations with 
