cruel wrong for us now to hand them back to the care of a race which
is more embittered against them than ever, and who have already
begun to harass them because of their loyalty. These points are
unanswerable, and I do not see how we can reply to them."

CHAPTER IV

THE CONVENTIONS

As may be remembered, Sir Evelyn Wood was ordered to conclude an
armistice, whereby the troops that had garrisoned the Transvaal
might evacuate it. In the case of Potchefstrom, the execution of
this design was treacherously prevented by Commandant Cronje. This
officer, after the armistice had been arranged, withheld the news
from the garrison, and prevented supplies from reaching the fort. As
a natural consequence, he became a national hero, and led the
burghers against Dr. Jameson in 1895 and the forces on the Western
frontier in 1899.

The armistice was concluded in March 1881, and in August the
Convention of Pretoria was signed. Some form of inquiry was held
into the conduct of persons who had been guilty of acts contrary to
the rules of civilised warfare, but the whole thing proved to be a
mere farce; and, as a matter of fact, not one of the perpetrators of
murder and other crimes during the course of the war was brought to
justice. The Commission insisted on a definite agreement for the
purpose of securing British persons from oppressive legislation,
but, as we know, Boer promises were as completely pie-crust as Boer
contracts were mere waste paper.

At the beginning of June Mr. Gladstone wrote a letter in answer to
that received from the loyal inhabitants. In this he said:--

"Her Majesty's Government willingly and thankfully acknowledge the
loyal co-operation which her Majesty's forces received at Pretoria
and elsewhere by the inhabitants, and we sympathise with the
privations and sufferings which they endured. I must, however,
observe that so great was the preponderance of the Boers who rose in
arms against the Queen's authority that the whole country, except
the posts occupied by the British troops, fell at once practically
into their hands. Again, the memorialists themselves only estimate
the proportion of settlers not Transvaal Boers at one-seventh.
Nearly, though not quite, the whole of the Boers have appeared to be
united in sentiment, and her Majesty's Government could not deem it
their duty to set aside the will of so large a majority by the only
possible means, namely, the permanent maintenance of a powerfu