1877; a fourth
was the Convention of 1881; a fifth the Convention of 1884. I do not
here speak of the other terms of these Conventions, I only remark that
in each a just treatment of the native races was demanded and agreed to.

The retrocession of the Transvaal in 1881 has been much lauded as an act
of magnanimity and justice. There is no doubt that the motive which
prompted it was a noble and generous one; yet neither is there any
doubt, that in certain respects, the results of that act were unhappy,
and were no doubt unanticipated. It was on the natives, whose interests
appeared to have had no place in the generous impulses of Mr. Gladstone,
that the action of the British Government fell most heavily, most
mournfully. In this matter, it must be confessed that the English
Government broke faith with the unhappy natives, to whom it had promised
protection, and who so much needed it. In this, as in many other
matters, our country, under successive Governments, has greatly erred;
at times neglecting responsibilities to her loyal Colonial subjects, and
at other times interfering unwisely.

In one matter, England has, however, been consistent, namely, in the
repeated proclamations that Slavery should never be permitted under her
rule and authority.

The formal document of agreement between Her Majesty's Government and
the Boer leaders, known as the Convention of 1881, was signed by both
parties at Pretoria on the afternoon of the 3rd August, in the same room
in which, nearly four years before, the Annexation Proclamation was
signed by Sir T. Shepstone.

This formality was followed by a more unpleasant duty for the
Commissioners appointed to settle this business, namely, the necessity
of conveying their message to the natives, and informing them that they
had been handed back by Great Britain, "poor Canaanites," to the tender
mercies of their masters, the "Chosen people," in spite of the
despairing appeals which many of them had made to her.

Some three hundred of the principal native chiefs were called together
in the Square at Pretoria, and there the English Commissioner read to
them the proclamation of Queen Victoria. Sir Hercules Robinson, the
Chief Commissioner, having "introduced the native chiefs to Messrs.
Kruger, Pretorius, and Joubert," having given them good advice as to
indulging in manual labour when asked to do so by the Boers, and having
reminded them that it would be necessary to retain the law relating