The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1879-05-20 00:00:00

THE BOERS AND SIR R THERE.

Sir Battle Freres deleattehes give an outline of the
results el his recast laterview with the Boers outoide
Protons. That interview has been reputedly declared
to hoe° been *l°l°l4l4 eetederten—so often so that
there mensed soon lemon to doubt whether the Been
wens not thenleenell wavering sad considering wheth r
it would not be better to wont the Mutate, as for
them b the act of annexetion. hot Sir Ilartil'.giSete
patch certainly gives no ground for an, such :
bus...ion Q.it. Lth contrary, indeed. Ruch w
made of the fact that the Boers &evened quietly if a.
ee
then interview with Sir Bartle Breen That is true
neoragli ; bat the despatch of it Bartle Breve supping the
explanation. The Bows instated upon his ending
memorial. explaining their demands. to the Hen.
Government for presentation to the queen.
Sir Bartle writes in enalthenosiwith his promise to the
ol Dutch framers of the Tranavaal—" They
rer= that their Independence was unjustly thine
from them by the Act of Annexation. an act which they
alleged Ithe founded on incorrect representations of the
Mate of the Transvaal and of the feebleness of its
Government They desire their Independence to be
(ripely sad unreservedly restored ; they desire aothieg
more is the shape of conceesioe, and cannot be content
with threhine lass. By independence they understand
the same entre freedon from all c intril In chotriiit their
sr. feem of government Led administrative 111•Cbiliary
es wag guaranteed them by the Sand River Couvenuon
of
"In seeking this demand they claim to represent the
,„ ,„r, seat majority of the Hoer population
i•
rsumell They contider that the Bc•rs now
ent the very great majority of thus
repres
hespahlien. god In. proof.. they give me the thong..
that Middle MOM I mor there on the occasion
rtirvt to the camp, and who undoubtedly
there would, had there been
r•Pelmilamegg vaciroll=,lftPdve thousand Burghers of the
halo who they state all ourdielly agree with their
a:premed Mabee and 'lmre and that such number
youth...sway.. ne.d.l majority of the Burghers
the kat ea enthaated by the West ocinl authority.
Ills S
_TOT Along perky that hapt up Gait move-
▪ to SY PIIIMIMI thee owl as of their earnest
seel I may eaallna the fact that y have been in open
tar low weeks walling my snivel And looking to
the end 6Maper of the members of the Committee
whom I seee—alan CI position In the country and
seseted, gad leaders who hay. since the earliest
estabHikie a the Re:Kibbe, taken a prominent part in
the government al the essatry. I think I mar gay that
oar reprieenteMene are worthy of your earned con-
Mtheation
"They =Mathis that they an voluntarily sasambled,
thek Whet thel Gommeltipe *Me is the voice, not of
or ropeolostsflooo, litn of the very great
tbe peeielb
1.41,11 ownier• prey the bee 111408tys Goverareask I
balm was (eels es belredi into comidee-
ado.— talon Shit

In the anxiety of newspaper correspondent, abroad
to tell lintels people all at it, they often jut out
what used to be kept relisionsiy secret. The other day
we had tbe new plan of campaign in Zululand, with
the dispositions al the forces, lust as if "giving infor-
mation to the enetnewers no news). Of coons the infor
=time may get back to the Zulu', and If, a. MIMS to
be suspected, the Boers sympathise with Ketchwayo
we may be sure they manage to turn it to account.
Now we hare Archibald Forbes :
•

- - --
"In s letterlifrom Durban, April2l, Mr. A. Forbes says he
cannot eel away from the ' gloomy fact that between the
Lower Tugela and the Utrecht district in the Transvaal
there Is a stretch of one hundred and thirty mules of
frontier totally unprotected. Says Mr. Forbe-s,' It half
stuns me every time I look at the map.' From the
bottom of hie heart he wishes be could adopt a buoyant
tone, but the strategical blunders daily being committed
before his eyes are too depresaing. '
• •

_
If this is not disheartening our force, and encouraging
the enemy as much as possible without going over to
them, I should like to know what it ie. The Zulu
spies have been so efficient hitherto, and the Dutch so
troublesome, to say nothing of the inlet into the
country &Honied by Deimos Bay, that no doubt
Ketchwayo is kept informed, while, if other nations
are working &mind an, the whole mam of information
may be quickly conveyed, to our hurt. The war itself
we believe unjostifi ible and impolitic, and Biz Bartle
ought to be r.-cal ; but it is simple madness to
encourage Hatchway° to invade the Tranavaal.

" Admiwion 3d., 6a, and la I These words in
• full sounding voice, caught my ears at Weymouth
so late on Saturday night. that I instantly wondered
" Where are the police?" For nothing but a child
lost, or something equally urgent, ought to disturb us
at that hour. Disgusted were we all on

" The day nicAit calm. meet briabt.
The fruit of this, the nee. world's bud,'
To find that the low prices thus untimely shouted
were for entrances to the theatre At an entertainment
tti which the main attractions an: singing anti dancing.
I wonder whether it watt with the approval of our
I Sabbath-keeping Mayor that such perft,rumium were
favoured with the almost " midnight cry."
Wu it money-making rr memoriam that we, the
mainspring of the performance at Aling!on Hall
'• I" said a hot Churchman to me. I've seen
just aa queer things at some revival meetinys of the
e." If this is marine., there', method in it, for
" an evening with Mrs. Girding" is widely placarded,
the manager took care to make a charge, and Mrs.
Girling did not herself dance.

We all congratulate the Mayor of Dorchester on
Itaßanking his name from "Pope" to "Papa," and
it will be a pretty remembrance of the happy event to
give hint a silver cradle. Suppose, however, instead
of a cradle, which is generally in some non-
sensical and useless farm when given to Mayors,
the testimonial is in one or other of the fashionable
shapes. Say now, would it be better to give him a
nautilus shell, as U he were head of a seaport town, or
either an axe or a wreath? The two latter would be
far more fitting, considering the fear and quaking
among the Dryads of beggar's Knap. Should the
Mayor decide eventually to cut down the last beauti-
ful clump on the keep, let him be Gladetonised with a
silver an., or should his Worship listen to" Woodman,
spare the tree," a wreath (in precious metal) of
chestnut leaves would be the very thing, We wait to
learn whether his Worship will merit the Radical or
the Conservative form of " tribute."

The baby le to be lolled with nursery ditties, and
someone who prefers the sight of "vernal bloom" to
that of " vuzz•vaggets," suggests • rhyme ending some-
thing like this :

Tb.
Hadinent Is ender tiliVommina
isoned 01 Camel A.
liorott Conutg expreoo. Major Hoare, of the 39th, is Idiutant them nil"
meant :--Captala Bingham, Captain , „apt.
TUESDAY, MAY 20, 1 Er 79. satintlers, Captain Beresd for Drummond (Capt. Midst
being at the (..$), the command of F. company is
taken by Capt. Harbin, let Somerset L. 1., instructor
of musketry • Captain and lion. Major Dunn, Capt.
Austen. and 'Captain Coombs. 01 12 lieutenants and
sub-lieutenants the following are present :—Liontoaant
Kennard, Brooks, Cutler, Cavendish-Be ntinck,
Oldfield, Btacpuole, and Parke; Surgeon-Major 0.
Corms, Qr.-U. fitickland is there, also Sergt.-Major
O'Meara, Quartermaster-Sergeant Dormor, Drum-
Major Lur-ts, with • drummers; the sergeants number
16, including Colour-Sergeants Legg, Folkes, Macey,
Tit•erington' Foot, Harr* Furman, and Purtill.
The weather won fine, and not much work was done
by the militia the first day, except that the captains
Inspected the kite and accoutrements, and saw every-
thing was in good order. Tne men were then marched
to their several billets, respecting one of which •
dispute arose, and was to be tried before the Borough
Bench this afternoon.
The town of Dorchester was of course unusually
lively; and some, even of the old soldiers, seemed to
have got a little wet in spite of the fine weather, but
these were the exceptions, for the rural force seemed
to be composed of • well-behaved body of men, while
the officers, cone. and non-cow., are of coarse well up
to their work.
We understand that the regiment will be employed
going through a course of musketry for the 20 days,
under Captain Harbin (instructor of musketry.
Somerset
The officers mess at South-street, and it is under-
stood the band, under the leadership of Band Sergeant
J. Steven., will perform several times in the town for
the public amusement.