ne on the authority of Sir William Butler, the
Commander-in-Chief in South Africa and acting High Commissioner; for
Sir Alfred Milner was at that time in England, as also was Mr.
Conyngham Greene. But the faith was in these men that it could not be
true, that it could not have happened had Sir Alfred Milner not been
absent, and thus came the suggestion to 'explain it away.' On the
following day British subjects on the Rand learned that a breach of
diplomatic etiquette had been committed, that the petition should
never have been published before being formally presented to her
Majesty, and that thus it would be necessary to prepare and present
another in proper form. The petition was redrawn and in the course of
the following weeks upwards of 21,000 signatures were obtained by
that loyal and enthusiastic little band of British subjects who form
the Johannesburg branch of the South African League.

In the meantime other things had been happening. Messrs. Thomas R.
Dodd and Clement Davies Webb had been arrested under the Public
Meetings Act for having organized an illegal meeting in the Market
Square, Johannesburg, for the purpose of presenting the petition to
the British Vice-Consul. They were released upon bail of L1,000
each. Whether this was a fair example of the judicial perspective in
the Transvaal, or whether it was a concession to the feelings of the
Boers it is impossible to say, nor does it much matter. The fact is
that for the crime of killing a British subject the bail was L200;
and for the crime of objecting to it the bail was L1,000. This action
only added fuel to the fire and a public meeting was immediately
convened to be held in a circus building known as the Amphitheatre.
Meetings are permitted under the Act provided they are held in an
enclosed building. The object of the meeting was to record a protest
against the arrest of Messrs. Dodd and Webb. A great many of the more
ardent among the British subjects were of opinion that the time for
protests and petitions was past, and they would not attend the
meeting. A great many others feeling that it was more or less a
formality leading to nothing else, did not trouble to attend. Not one
of those who did attend had the least suspicion of any organized
opposition. The following dispatch from the High Commissioner to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies sufficiently describes the
sequel:--

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CAPE TOWN,
_April 5, 1899_.