h they have since stated that
they meant substantially to accept this proposal, sent a reply whose
treatment of the conditions was understood as a refusal, and which
appeared to raise further questions; and when the Transvaal went back to
a previous offer, which had previously been held to furnish a basis for
agreement, the British Government declined to recur to that basis, as
being no longer tenable after the later offer. The Boers, who had
expected (from informal communications) that the five years offer would
be readily accepted, seem to have thought that there was no longer any
chance of a settlement, because fresh demands would follow each
concession. They ought, however, to have persevered with their five
years offer, which they could the more easily have done because they had
tacitly dropped the unsustainable claim to be a "sovereign and
independent state," and expressed themselves ready to abide by the
Convention of 1884. The British Government, on its part, would seem to
have thought, when the five years offer was withdrawn because the
conditions attached to it were not accepted, that the Boers had been
trifling with them, and resolved to exact all they demanded, even though
less than all would have represented a diplomatic victory. Thus a
conflict was precipitated which a more cautious and tactful policy might
have avoided.

The controversy continued through three months to turn on the question
of the franchise, nor were any demands for the redress of Uitlander
grievances ever formulated and addressed to the Transvaal either under
the Convention of 1884 or in respect of the general rights at
international law which Britain possessed. When the franchise
negotiations came to an _impasse_, the British Government announced
(September 22nd) that their demands and scheme for a "final settlement
of the issues created by the policy of the Republic"--a phrase which
pointed to something more than the redress of grievances--would be
presented to the Republic. These demands, however, never were presented
at all. After an interval of seventeen days from the announcement just
mentioned, the Transvaal declared war (October 9th and 11th). The terms
of their ultimatum were offensive and peremptory, such as no Government
could have been expected to listen to. Apart, however, from the language
of the ultimatum, a declaration of war must have been looked for. From
the middle of July the British Government had been strengthening