except of one man. Unfortunately for Dr. Leyds, he quarrelled
with his correspondent; and the letter was of such a nature that,
when published, it made extremely unpleasant reading. Generals
Joubert and Smit, who had been described with admirable truth and
candour, were so enraged that they demanded the instant dismissal of
the 'conceited young popinjay' who had dared to criticise his
masters. The President, however, who had been described as an
ignorant, narrow-minded, pig-headed, and irascible old Boer
whom--with the others thrown in--the writer could play with and twist
round his finger as he chose, was not disturbed by the criticism. In
reply to appeals for forgiveness on the score of youth, and in spite
of the opposition of his colleagues, President Kruger agreed to
retain Dr. Leyds in office, remarking that he was a capable young
fellow and would know better in course of time, and explaining to
him personally that he would keep him there just as long as it suited
his (the President's) convenience. The association has lasted for ten
years, so it is to be presumed that Dr. Leyds has changed his opinion
of President Kruger, and frankly realized his position.

During the early part of 1896, when the question of the release on
bail of the reform prisoners seemed to be of some moment, a
well-known Pretoria man, friendly to the Government, called upon
President Kruger and urged the advisability of allowing the prisoners
out on bail, and with considerable lack of tact explained that it was
well known that the President's humane nature inclined him to be
lenient, but that the malign influence of others was believed to be
swaying him in this matter. The old President jumped up in a huff and
said, 'Ja, ja, ja! You always say it is somebody else! First, it was
Jorissen who did everything; then it was Nellmapius; and then it was
Leyds. Well, Jorissen is done for; Nellmapius is dead; Leyds is in
Europe--who is it now?'

The President's opinion of himself may be commended as food for
reflection to those who think they know everything about the inner
workings of the Transvaal.

Dr. Leyds' reputation, unfavourable as it had been, was not improved
by the Selati Railway exposure. Rightly or wrongly, in this matter,
as in the jobs of the Netherlands Railway and several others of
considerable magnitude, he has been held responsible in the public
mind for the financial loss which the Republic sustained. When he
left, ostensibly on