ransvaal, and hence went to war." It is necessary it seems, again and
again, to remind those who speak thus that England was not the invader.
Kruger invaded British Territory, being fully prepared for war. England
was not in the least prepared for war. This last fact is itself a
complete answer to those who pretend that she was the aggressor.

In regard to the assertion that "England coveted the gold of the
Transvaal," what is here meant by "England?" Ours is a representative
Government. Are the entire people, with their representatives in
Parliament and the Government included in this assertion, or is it meant
that certain individuals, desiring gold, went to the Transvaal in search
of it? The expression "England" in this relation, is vague and
misleading.

The search for gold is not in itself a legal nor a moral offence. But
the inordinate desire and pursuit of wealth, becoming the absorbing
motive to the exclusion of all nobler aims, is a moral offence and a
source of corruption.

Wherever gold is to be found, there is a rush from all sides; among some
honest explorers with legitimate aims, there are always found, in such a
case, a number of unruly spirits, of scheming, dishonest and careless
persons, the scum of the earth, cheats and vagabonds. The Outlanders who
crowded to the Rand were of different nations, French, Belgians and
others, besides the English who were in a large majority. The presence
and eager rush of this multitude of gold seekers certainly brought into
the country elements which clouded the moral atmosphere, and became the
occasion of deeds which so far from being typical of the spirit of
"England" and the English people at large, were the very reverse, and
have been condemned by public opinion in our country.

But, admitting that unworthy motives and corrupting elements were
introduced into the Transvaal by the influx of strangers urged there by
self-interest, it is strange that any should imagine and assert that the
"corrupting influence of gold," or the lust of gold told upon the
British alone. The disasters brought upon the Transvaal seem to be
largely attributable to the corrupting effect on President Kruger and
his allies in the Government, of the sudden acquisition of enormous
wealth, through the development, by other hands than his own, of the
hidden riches within his country.

What are the facts? In 1885 the revenue of the Transvaal State was a
little over L177,000. This rose, owing to