e Colony was their disgust at the
establishment of such equality by the British Government. The Grondwet
(fundamental law) of the Transvaal Republic declared, in 1858, and
declares to-day, that "the people will suffer no equality of whites and
blacks, either in state or in church."[69] Democratic Republics are not
necessarily respectful of what used to be called human rights, and
neither the "principles of 1789" nor those of the American Declaration
of Independence find recognition among the Boers. Both in the Transvaal
and in the Orange Free State a native is forbidden to hold land, and is
not permitted to travel anywhere without a pass, in default of which he
may be detained. (In the Free State, however, the sale of intoxicants to
him is forbidden, and a somewhat similar law, long demanded by the
mine-owners, has very recently been enacted in the Transvaal.) Nor can a
native serve on a jury, whereas in Cape Colony he is legally qualified,
and sometimes is empanelled. The whites may object to his presence, but
a large-minded and strong-minded judge can manage to overcome their
reluctance. For a good while after they settled in the Transvaal the
Boers had a system of apprenticing Kafir children which was with
difficulty distinguishable from predial serfdom: and though they have
constantly denied that they sanctioned either the kidnapping of children
or the treatment of the apprentices as slaves, there is reason to think
that in some parts of the country these abuses did for a time exist. It
seems clear, however, that no such practices are now legal.

Political rights have, of course, never been held by persons of colour
in either of the Dutch Republics, nor has it ever been proposed to grant
them. Boer public opinion would scout such an idea, for it reproaches
the people of Cape Colony now with being "governed by black men,"
because the electoral franchise is there enjoyed by a few persons of
colour. In the two Colonies the history of the matter is as follows.
When representative government was established, and the electoral
franchise conferred upon the colonists in 1853, no colour-line was
drawn; and from that time onward black people have voted, though of
course not very many were qualified under the law to vote. Some years
ago, however, the whites, and the Dutch party in particular, became
uneasy at the strength of the coloured element, though it did not vote
solid, had no coloured leaders, and was important only in a