tyled it, 'a
violation of the _status quo_ as it was present to the minds of her
Majesty's Ministers at the time the Convention was negotiated.' But
the Gladstone Ministry, which had paid so heavily to get rid of the
Transvaal question, was certainly not going to re-open it for the
sake of holding the Boers to the spirit of the settlement.

Another precaution was taken to keep all the power in the hands of
the Boers. The various towns which had formerly been entitled to
representation in Parliament were deprived of this right, and have
remained disfranchised ever since. Mr. Kruger feared that the
enlightened thought of the towns would hinder the growth of his
'national policy.'

It was not too late even at this time to have bloodlessly settled the
Transvaal question for ever by a fair but thoroughly firm attitude
towards the restored Republic. No doubt British Ministers, conscious
of an act of supreme self-restraint and magnanimity, believed that
some reciprocal justice would be evoked. At any rate, it is possible
that this was the reason which guided them, and not continued callous
indifference to the fate of British subjects and the future of South
Africa. In such case, however, they must have forgotten 'the fault of
the Dutch'--which Andrew Marvell's couplet has recorded--of 'giving
too little and asking too much.' The Transvaal Boers are very
practical people, and no matter what they may receive or how they get
it, whether by way of diplomacy or barter or the accident of good
luck or deed of gift, they never neglect to press and scheme for
more. It is an unpleasant feature in the Boer character, prominent
alike in personal and general relations, begotten, mayhap, of hard
life, constant struggle, and lack of education and its softening
and elevating influence. It is a feature which is common to all
uneducated peoples who have suffered great hardships, and it will no
doubt disappear in time; but it is one which has to be reckoned with
at the present day, and one which, when recognized at its true value,
sustains the contention that the Boers, in dealing with those whom
they regard as not of them, will recognise no right and do no justice
unless compelled to do so. The considerations of a narrow and selfish
policy are stronger than the sense of right and wrong.

British Ministers and the British people when glowing with a mildly
enthusiastic satisfaction at their tolerant and even generous
attitude towards a weaker