to live on in the days which I surely knew must come sooner or
later, if I did my duty, when I would meet with undeserved
censure. And certainly I have had to draw on that account rather
heavily during the last nine months. But there is still a balance
on the right side which, thanks to you and others, is now once
more increasing. So I cannot pose as a martyr, and, what is more
important, I cannot complain of any want of support. No man,
placed as I have been in a position of singular embarrassment,
exposed to bitter attacks to which he could not reply, and unable
to explain his conduct even to his own friends, has ever had more
compensation to be thankful for than I have had in the constant,
devoted, forbearing support and confidence of all those South
Africans, whether in this Colony, in Natal, or in the Republics,
whose sympathy is with the British Empire.

[Sidenote: Never again.]

"In the concluding paragraph of your address you refer in weighty
and well-considered language to the conditions which you deem
necessary for the future peace and prosperity of South Africa,
and for the ultimate harmony and fusion of its white races. I can
only say that I entirely agree with the views expressed in that
paragraph. The longer the struggle lasts, the greater the
sacrifices which it involves, the stronger must surely be the
determination of all of us to achieve a settlement which will
render the repetition of this terrible scourge impossible. 'Never
again,' must be the motto of all thinking, of all humane men. It
is for that reason, not from any lust of conquest, not from any
desire to trample on a gallant, if misguided, enemy, that we
desire that the settlement shall be no patchwork and no
compromise; that it shall leave no room for misunderstanding, no
opportunity for intrigue, for the revival of impossible
ambitions, or the accumulation of enormous armaments. President
Krueger has said that he wants no more Conventions, and I
entirely agree with him. A compromise of that sort is unfair to
everybody. If there is one thing of which, after recent
experiences, I am absolutely convinced, it is that the vital
interests of all those who live in South Africa, of our present
enemies as much as of those who are on our side, demand that
there should not