The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-09

contains a nObler race of men and women.
The descendants Of the pious HugueDots
who were the victims OF the revocation
of the edict Of Nantes-who were Obliged
10 fee from their country in 1865 in order
that Madame de Maintenoa might become
the wife of a king. The descendants, too,
Of the heroic Netherlands. who. under
William the Silent. wrested the iDdepend-
enoe Of Holland from the hand Of the
Spanish tyrant.
No people in all the worlds h story
have made a more valisnt effort to secure
liberty for future peoples than they. And
no people have endured more hariships
in The cause Of liberty and equality Of
rights than they. Indeed IL was. and is,
their incorquCrable love for liberty taat
has caused all their troubles
'Cf course they are stubbo.n and strong.
Otherwise how could they have done so
much2 giant race OF men and women
accust toned to hardship and toll, q heroic
stature and broad shoulders with clear
ewes. strong brains and noble hearts,
these plain common people Of he moin
tain and veldt have struggled together u
. common cause In the hard school Of
experience they received their only edu-
cation. In the Holy Bible they re eived
that instruction and consolation iTom the
hOu luts luNts AhdA EuiAtA AAHiA ia NA5A
the trials and tribulations OF TIE cen
turtles and that made them courageous
enough to defy the nefarious uisks and
schemes of greedy. selfish sra ping mil
lions of their fellow-men and TO combat
successfully with the wild beasts and fe-
rocious savages. as they tTekked through
the African wilderness hitherto untrocden
by the foot OF white men
The Hocr~' History
In sketching the history OF the Beers
Mr.. Davis said:
1T was many years ago that they settled
IN the valleys of the Cape OF Good Hope.
In spite of the oppressive bonds Of the
East Indian Company, that young settle
ment grew and fourished with such yigor
that when the colony passed into the
hands of England in 1896 a strong na-
tional spirit and local patriotism had
already developed itself II was against
the wish Of the people Of the infant colony
that they passed under the control Of the
English Government, and very soon there
after their Afrikander spirit was seriously
wounded by the British Government TAX
ing sides with the natives as against the
colonists in many ways. The farmers were
deprived of their guns and ammunition,
and. as a result in a short time their
cattle were stolen and their homes de-
stroyed by the savages.
The British Government organized
their police force by the appointment Of
Hojtentots. the most contemplate OF the
natives. to the positions Of policemen.
This action infuriated the Beers. for they
regarded the Hottentots as much lower
than themselves in the social scale As
a result a part of the Beers revolted in
the year 1915 and six Of them were tor
tured in the most horrible manner by the
British at Slaughter's Mex. In the pres
ence OF their wives and children. who
were compelled to be present. the poor IN
fortunate Beers were first inhumanly
half-hanged and when the scafold broke
they were again hoisted in a dying state.
and strangled 10 death. Such was the
conduct then Of the representatives Of that
nation that now boasts Of its humanity
and civilization and which is wont to refer
to the Beers as uncouth savages, feeding
upon mealies and wild bucks, and who are
unfit for the solution OF the great prob
lens OF civilization that belong to the
most refined and esthetic nations.
That tragedy was the first blood beacon
raised to mark the division line between
Boer and Brlton in South Africa, and it
will ever remain q dark spot upon the
pages Of British history-a marker as II
were for cruelty, injustice, and dishonor."
Mr.. Davis addressed himself at length
TO the successive northward trekkings OF
the Beers He said:
The Burgher's Tribulations.
Like the followers OF Abraham and
Moses in the long ago they left everything
behind and went out into the great IN
known. Their history surpasses all fiction
in its vicissitudes. successes. and tragedies.
They fought and worked. starved and
died for the land Of promise-thEt land
where they might hope to live alone, where
they might build homes for their loved
ones. where they might enjoy all the bless
ings Of civil and religious freedom where
the cid mother and father might in after
years. sit on the porch Of the old farm
house and look out over their green fields
blossoming orchards. and herds Of cattle
grazing on the broad veldt. while in the
distance rise the blue mountains, looking
like senunels grim and bold. as behind
them Africa's golden sun sinks peacefully
rest"
Mr.. Davis read from a declaration OF
Pet Retief, assigning the motives which
caused the Beers to move out Of Cape Col
ony into the country beyond the Orange
When the Beers triumphed over the
trescherous natives and founded the Re
public OF Natal. the British Government
annexed it and again the Beers were
driven over the mountains, the Boer
women even declaring that rather than
submit TO British authority they would
walk barefoot over the Drakensberg
Mountains TO freedom or to death.
According to Mr.. Davis. the Eng ish
followed the Beers northward until dia-
monds we're discovered in the Orange Free
State.
In the matter OF the diamond fields Of
Kimberley" Mr.. Davis said, under the
cloak OF hypocricy the plea was resorted to
that the ground belonged to native.
Yet this assertion was proved and
adjudged TO be false even in the British
law courts"
Nr. Davis sketched the history OF tie
South African Republic and reviewed the
sand River Convention OF 1852.
But England's undying love for terri
tory soon brought about the annexation
OF the Transyaal The persecution OF the
81 p ~ ~