t help seeing that these reckless speculators controlled
public opinion in South Africa, and his political instinct compelled him
to avail himself of their help, as without them he would not have been
able to arrive at a proper understanding of the entanglements and
complications of South African politics.

Previous to Sir Alfred's appointment as Governor of the Cape of Good Hope
the office had been filled by men who, though of undoubted integrity and
high standing, were yet unable to gauge the volume of intrigue with which
they had to cope from those who had already established an iron--or,
rather, golden--rule in South Africa.

Coteries of men whose sole aim was the amassing of quick fortunes were
virtual rulers of Cape Colony, with more power than the Government to whom
they simulated submission. All sorts of weird stories were in circulation.
One popular belief was that the mutiny of the Dutch in Cape Colony just
before the Boer War was at bottom due to the influence of money. This was
followed by a feeling that, but for the aggressive operations of the
outpost agents of certain commercial magnates, it would have been possible
for England to realise the Union of South Africa by peaceful means instead
of the bloody arbitrament of war.

In the minds of many Dutchmen--and Dutchmen who were sincerely patriotic
Transvaalers--the conviction was strong that the natural capabilities of
Boers did not lie in the direction of developing, as they could be, the
amazing wealth-producing resources of the Transvaal and of the Orange Free
State. By British help alone, such men believed, could their country hope
to thrive as it ought.

Here, then, was the nucleus around which the peaceful union of Boer and
English peoples in South Africa could be achieved without bloodshed.
Indeed, had Queen Victoria been represented at the Cape by Sir Alfred
Milner ten years before he was appointed Governor there, many things which
had a disastrous influence on the Dutch elements in South Africa would not
have occurred. The Jameson Raid would certainly not have been planned and
attempted. To this incident can be ascribed much of the strife and
unpleasantness which followed, by which was lost to the British Government
the chance, then fast ripening, of bringing about without difficulty a
reconciliation of Dutch and English all over South Africa. This
reconciliation would have been achieved through Cecil Rhodes, and would
have been a fitting crown