r absence were the Marquis of Ripon, Lord
Hobhouse, Dr. Spence Watson, Mr. Seale-Hayne, M.P., and Lord
Loreburn.]

A fortnight later a meeting of those who sympathised with the Boer
cause was held in the Queen's Hall, Langham Place. The spirit of this
notorious gathering, presided over by Mr. Labouchere, M.P., and
attended by Mr. Merriman. Mr. Sauer, Mr. Lloyd-George, M.P., and other
Radical members of Parliament, is sufficiently revealed by certain
characteristic incidents which marked the proceedings. The agents of
the meeting wore the Transvaal colours; a member of the audience who
uncovered at the mention of King Edward was ejected; the Union Jack
was hissed and hooted; and, while a printed form was handed round
inviting the signatures of persons prepared to pay eight and-a-half
guineas for a tour in Holland and the privilege of seeing ex-President
Krueger, the name of the British sovereign was received by the audience
with marks of evident disapprobation.

[Sidenote: Agitation for Milner's recall.]

The agitation for Lord Milner's recall was continued throughout the
year. It was accompanied by a repetition, in England and on the
continent of Europe, of the shameless calumnies upon the Imperial
troops, which had marked the "carnival of mendacity" that led to the
second invasion of Cape Colony. The injurious effect produced upon the
Boers in the field by the support thus given by public men in England
to the "continued resistance" policy of the Afrikander nationalists,
has been already noticed, and it is unnecessary, therefore, to say
more on this aspect of the subject. The attempt to discredit Lord
Milner culminated in the declaration made by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman,
then recognised as the official leader of the Liberal party, at
Plymouth, on November 19th, 1901, that, unless the British Government
changed its methods, "the whole of the Dutch population in our colonies,
as well as in the two territories, would in all probability be
permanently and violently alienated from us" when the war was ended. "I
am ready to speak out to-night," he continued, "and to say what I have
never yet said, that for my part I despair of this peril being conjured
away so long as the present Colonial Secretary is in Downing Street and
the present High Commissioner is at Pretoria." When the full report of
this speech had reached the Cape, the Vigilance Committee, a body
representing the loyalists of both national