The Washington weekly post., 1900-05-29
The Prospect in South Africa,

Unless the British reports OF discourage
m4nt ana Of a spirit of surrender am9rg
the Beers be truc-and. FOR our part. We
30 not Vet believe them-the British are
now entering upon the most troublesome
ard perilous stage Of Jhelr de;estab:c en-
terprise In South Africa Lord Roberts
army Of 5O.o10 or 6)O)0 men has passed
out Of The Tat and Open country south of
the YaaI River and hae reached one ye-y
much like that IN which Butler has en-
countered such tremendous difficulties and
sustained such crushing disasters.
or course, ,he Beers are outnumbe'ed
at least ten 10 one in the field. BulIer's
force on the east must be az least 5000
,trorg. which, added TO that under Rob
erts immediate command. makes between
10000 and u00)0. while the various
bodies scattered over the Free state and
Natal and in the reighborhood Of
MafekMg, undo, such commanders "a
Eundle, Brabant Chermside, and others
should amount 10 AT least 5000 more And
when We include the vast number OF SOL
6.ers guarding lines Of communication,
holding strategic points, and raiding,
karrying. and otherwise devastating the
occupied territory in the Free State and
the Transvaal II seems safe 10 conclude
that Great Britain cannot have far from
e5000O men IN all operating against the
9Ono0 or $3.50 Beers.
OF course, therefore the latter are ter
rlbly outnumbered, and OF course, hu-
manly speaking. there can be but one
end to the hideOus tragedy. Sooner or
later we shall have once more the spec
tacle Of the British people lashed in-c a
frenzy Of pride and jubilatOn over the
downfall Of the South African republics
We shall see the descendants of Richard
Coeur de Leon and the Black Prince; of
the most splendid chivalry the wOrli has
even known; OF Cromwell, Hampden, and
the great English commOners who have
risen from the multitude TO eminence and
glory; Of the men that fought at Agin-
court and on a thousand fields immortal
lied by English valOr-we shall see them
screaming with delight over the consum-
nation OF the most brutal and sordid con-
spiracy in which civilized nation has
ever yet engaged.
But We do not agree with our British
advices that the end is now in easy view.
Ii may be so; we simply cannot believe IL
These rugged, unkempt, semi-savaSe'
Boers-if we remember Alright, the British
fngoes and their reverent admirers In his
country have called them also dirty
u - q
fighting stock as fine as even Englishmen
can boast, and their performances during
the past six months prove that they have
not degenerated since the days of 1851,
when their forefathers, under the Prince
OF Orange, went willingly 10 martyrdom
for the sake of their faith. their freedom,
and their loyalty. The followers OF Will
lam the Silent were not, then, in any more
desperate plight than their descendants
seem 10 be to-day. They had tough. and
repelled France, and they were next con-
fronted by the most powerful nation In
all the world-Spain-whose Invading
armies were led by one OF the greatest If
most cruel soldiers in all history. They
suffered rapine, pillage, torture. They
saw their homes obliterated. their wives
and children butchered, their towns lev
eled 10 the ground. vet they fought on
and in the end they triumphed. AMI the
Beers of to-day-thus far, AL least-have
shown themselves worthy OF their heroic
sires, four centuries and more ago, while
the British, whatever their purely per
sonal attributes. have disclosed a loss Of
high nobility as indicated In their govern
ment. and have set up in place Of the
Dutchman's simple but magnificent ideals
The sordid standard OF cruelty and snolia-
tion.
TnhappIly, the result, as things now
seem, must he fatal 20 liberty. devotion
and free institutions in South Africa. We
have passed the age-if such an age ever
eNisted-when gods came TO the rescue OF
the righteous and the right. But ii is ouI
belief that these splendid fighting men
these Boers-Jhe sons Of the finest heroes
in all history-the descendants OF thC
martyTed Dutch and the tortured Hugue
uots-it is our belief, We say, that m,
blood OF British pirates will be shed q
while longer ere the English rabble an.
their American sympathizerS eterua
shame 10 them,-unite in brutal jubilstioI
A..