, 1881-03-16

warded. Two Populations sent to England
have been we'll received, but the object OF
their mission-the withdrawal of the act
of annexation-was refused, and not even
allowed to be brought before the Queen.
Sir Bartle Frere, when he visited them in
1879, received from their hands a memoir.
al to Her Majesty stating unreservedlY
that they would not be subject to her
government. His Excellency tried on that
occasion to persuade the people to deslss
from their agitation, but in vain !; and he
finally accompanied their memorial with a
despatch declaring that their representations
were worthy OF earnest consideration.
They state, further, that the same day the
High Commissioner wrote privately to the
Secretary of State that he regretted be
had not sufficient artillery to chase the
Camp home" This has reference to Sir
Bartle Frere's despatch from Pretoria of
April, 1879, in which be reported that he
had Informed Lord Chelmsford of the cri-
tical state of affairs in the Transvaal and
asked him to reinforce Colonel Rowland as
speedily as possible with the artillery and
infantry which he considered necessary to
support the civil power and protect the
loyal and peaceably disposed They con-
tinue to say thar, mIsled by the High
Commissioner. Her Majesty's Government
never replied to the memorial of the
people; and that, when Sir Garnet
Wolseley shortly afterwards arrived In the
province. he expressed the general feeling
OF the English Government-who knows
nothing of the state of affairs-iu the
words { az long as the sun shines the
Transvaal shall remain British territory"
The answer of the people to this declaTa-
ton was given by the Boer meetings which
took place between the 10th and 18th Of
December 1879, when it was decided that
as there was no hope of recovering their
independence by peaceful means, the Volk-
raad should be convened to proclaim the
restoration of the Republic, and they
swore to cooperate for that purpose and
to defend the Government till DEATH
Notice OF this intention was given to Sir
G.. WoIseley, and was answered. by an
accusation of "high treason" against their
President and Secretary [Pfetorius and
Bokl which, however, was afterwards
dIOpp6O 6CtlOu was Cll0u ucldy0u vi q
time, as a deputation was sent to the Cape
Colony to avert what they term " the
danger of a Conference, the precursor of .
confederation OF all the colonies in
South Africa where their interests would
tor ever have been neglected.
Meanwhile the peace preserved by the
people had been misrepresented inEngland.
They paid their taxes only under protest
or by force, and the Local Government
represented that the opposition of the
people was abatIng. undesirable was
the anger" says the proclamation, when
they saw hat purp ,sely and wiIfuIly the
truth was obscureI by the authorities.
They gathered together and signed decla-
rations that they should no longer pay
taxes, or, if so, only under protest. The
publication of thesedeclarations led to
'':he Government, pro temp" prosecuting
criminally the editor of the paper in which
they appeared. The unwilIingness of the
people, however, continued aud led to
small collisions, yet everything was done
by the leaders to prevent a public distur-
bance of the peace. Finally, another
peoples meeting was summoned to consi-
der whether a peaceful solution OF these
difficulties could not be effected. The
Government &C Pretoria issued a pro
clamatiou against the same. This left
them they say no choice between being
treated as rebels or exercising their rights
no q free neonle. They accordingly deci