sident, and retain that title until the time arrived when the
condition of the country should make it possible to hold an election in
conformity with the law.

After the voting had taken place, it was found that the former
President, Marthinus Theunis Steyn, had been unanimously re-elected.

At the burghers' meeting the voting resulted in the same way, except at
a meeting at which Mr. Cecil Rhodes was proposed as a candidate. This
proposal was not seconded!

President Steyn was declared elected. And he was then sworn in.

The executive Raad now consisted of the President, as chairman, with T.
Brain, Secretary of State, W.J.C. Brebner, Secretary of State, A.P.
Cronje, Jan Meijer and myself as members. Mr. Rocco De Villiers was
Secretary of the War Council, and Mr. Gordon Fraser, Private Secretary
to the States President.

No States-Procureur had been appointed since Mr. Jacob De Villiers had
been taken prisoner at Bothaville; but the Council appointed Mr. Hendrik
Potgieter, Landdrost of Kroonstad, as Public Prosecutor.

Various causes had made it impossible for a legally constituted
Volksraad to sit. Some members had, as we called it, "hands-upped";
others had thought that they had done quite enough when they had voted
for the war. I would be the last to assert that they had done wrong in
voting thus. The whole world is convinced that, whatever the Boers might
have done, England was determined to colour the map of South Africa red!
And England succeeded beyond her expectations! For South Africa was
stained with the blood of burghers and defenceless women and children,
and with the blood of English soldiers who had died in a quarrel for
which they were not responsible, and which could have been avoided!

There were other members--and I had no patience with them--who had said:
"We will give our last drop of blood for our country," and then had
taken good care that no one should have a chance of getting even the
first drop! They preferred to remain quietly at home, and wait for the
English to come and make them prisoners of war!

Only a minority of the members had remained faithful to our cause, and
these did not constitute a quorum; and so no sitting could take place.
This small party, as far as I can recollect, consisted of the following
ten members: C.H. Wessels Bishop, Chairman; Wessel Wessels (Vrede); J.B.
Wessels (Winburg); A.P. Cronje (Winburg); Jan Steijl (Bloemfontein); Jan
Meijer (Harrismith); J.J. Van Nie