In the mid-1830s, the "Commercial Advertiser", representing the Cape Town liberals, was engaged in a "newspaper war" with the main newspaper of the conservative eastern frontier, Robert Godlonton's "Grahamstown Journal". The country's main Dutch newspaper, "De Zuid Afrikaan" ended up siding with the "Grahamstown Journal". In spite of the pressure, Fairbairn maintained his position of siding with the Xhosa, up until the outbreak of the 7th Frontier War (1846), when the circumstances of its outbreak led him to become disillusioned and pessimistic regarding the entire frontier situation. He even publicly condemned the Xhosa chiefs for their actions.