both
sides. These must be left to some future historian, and they will form
an interesting chapter in his book. He will have proof positive of many
things which can now only be conjectured, and of some things which,
though they may be known to a few, ought not to be stated until proof of
them can be produced.

It is right, however, even while war is raging, to consider the
circumstances that have led to war, so far as these can be discussed
from the information which we all possess, because a fair consideration
of those circumstances ought to influence the view which Englishmen take
of their antagonists, and ought to affect their judgment of the measures
proper to be taken when war comes to its end, and arrangements have to
be made for the resettlement of the country. Those who have read the
historical chapters of this book, and have reflected on the history of
other British colonies, and particularly of Canada, will have drawn the
moral, which I have sought to enforce in the concluding chapter, that
what South Africa most needs is the reconcilement and ultimate fusion of
the two white races. Reconcilement and fusion have now, to all
appearances, been thrown back into a dim and distant future. That man
must be sanguine indeed who expects, as some persons say they do expect,
to see the relations of the two races placed on a better footing by a
bitter war between them, a war which has many of the incidents of a
civil war, and is waged on one side by citizen soldiers. To most
observers it seems more likely to sow a crop of dragon's teeth which
will produce a harvest, if not of armed men, yet of permanent hatred and
disaffection. Nevertheless, even at the darkest moment, men must work
with hope for the future, and strive to apply the principles of policy
which experience has approved. The first principle which governs the
relation of Britain to her self-governing colonies is that she must do
all she can to keep them contented and loyal. She cannot hope
permanently to retain any which have become disloyal, and the defection
of one may be the signal for the loosening of the tie which binds the
others. The gift of self-government practically makes the maintenance of
the Imperial connection dependent on the will of the colony; and where
self-government exists, voting is more powerful than arms. The Transvaal
Republic has been often troublesome, but an unfriendly neighbour is less
dangerous than a disaffected colony. A wise poli