ations which have compulsory military service--the
armed manhood of Europe--will very quickly divide all your other
possessions between them.

"Talk no more of the ignorance of the Boers or Cape Dutch; a few
days more will prove your ignorance of the British position, and in
a short space of time you and your Queen will be imploring the good
offices of the great German Emperor to deliver you from your
disasters, for your humiliations are not yet complete.

"For thirty years the Cape Dutch have been waiting their chance, and
now their day has come; they will throw off their mask and your yoke
at the same instant, and 300,000 Dutch heroes will trample you
underfoot.

"We can afford to tell you the truth now, and in this letter you
have got it.--Yours, &c.,

P. S.

"_October 12._"

This letter, though false in many particulars, certainly pointed out
some "home truths," which it was desirable for the British public to
read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. It also served to cast aside
the thin veil which had covered our political relations with
President Kruger and his party, and to show the firm foundations on
which the hatred of the Boer for the Briton had been built for
years. The question of the franchise was a bagatelle: a soap-bubble
would have been pretext enough for war when the right hour and
moment arrived. As allowed by this candid writer, whose valuable
avowals cannot afford to be ignored, for many years treachery and
disloyalty had existed, and the Boers had only bided their time.
They "desired delay, and had it," playing their cards so skilfully
as to deceive even the British Government, and imply to them and the
world that the franchise question and the discontent of the
Uitlanders was the main cause of the disagreement.

Before passing on to the terrible drama that, owing to the defiance
of Mr. Kruger, was afterwards enacted, we must assure ourselves that
the sad climax was bound to have come sooner or later. If the future
of South Africa is to be saved, the prestige of Great Britain must
be maintained; her citizens must be protected, and the betrayals of
Downing Street of 1881 and 1896 must be atoned for. Though darkness
reigns at the time of writing, the future of the Transvaal is a
bright one. Reactionaries of the Hofmeyer and Kruger stamp will pass
away, and we may look to the twentieth century for a happy
settlement of the te