Full text of "The memoirs of Paul Kruger, four times president of the South African republic"

See other formats

THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA
RIVERSIDE

THE MEMOIRS
OF

PAUL KEUGEE

THE MEMOIRS

PAUL KRUGER

FOUR TIMES PRESIDENT OF THE
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC

TOLD BY HIMSELF

NEW YORK

*Ebe Century Co.

1902

Published November, 1902.

Tut DEVlNNE PRE88.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

Mr. Kruger dictated these Memoirs to Mr. H. C.
Bredell, his private secretary, and to Mr. Piet Gro-
bler, the former Under Secretary of State of the
South African Republic. These gentlemen handed
their notes to an editor, the Rev. Dr. A. Schowalter,
who spent several weeks at Utrecht in constant col-
loquy with Mr. Kruger, elucidating various points
with the aid of the President's replies to a list of some
hundred and fifty to two hundred questions which
Dr. Schowalter had drawn up.

The English and American edition has been trans-
lated by Mr. A. Teixeira de Mattos from Dr. Scho-
walter's revised German text, collated line for line
with Mr. Kruger's original Dutch; with this differ-
ence that, in this edition, Mr. Kruger speaks in
the first person throughout, whereas, in the Conti-
nental editions, the narrative is allowed to change
into the third person from the point at which he be-
gins to attain a prominent position in the affairs
of his country. This latter arrangement, which ap-
peared on reconsideration to be an artificial one, has

been altered in this translation, and it has also been
decided that, after Mr. Kruger's death, all subsequent
Continental editions shall be printed in the first per-
son throughout.

In the Appendix have been collected several docu-
ments in the shape of speeches, proclamations and
circular dispatches, including the famous three hours'
speech delivered by Mr. Kruger, after his inaugu-
ration as President for the fourth time, on the 12th of
May 1898.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
Early Days and Private Life

PAGE

Homeless — In the new home — Hunting adventures —
Kruger kills his first lion — The dead lion roars — Fur-
ther lion-hunts — Panther and rhinoceros hunting —
Under a rhinoceros — Buffalo hunting — A fight with a
buffalo-cow — Elephant hunting — Race between Kruger
and an elephant — Canine fidelity — Kruger amputates
his own thumb 1

CHAPTER II

Commencement of Public Activity

Journey to the Sand River in 1852 — The Sand River
Convention — Punitive expedition against the Kaffir
Chief Secheli — Kruger's life in danger — Vindictive
raid on the Kaffir chiefs Makapaan and Mapela —
Kruger alone in the cave among the besieged Kaffirs —
He recovers Potgieter's body — Expedition against
Montsioa — Kruger charges a band of Kaffirs single-
handed 35

CHAPTER III

In a Position of Command

The first Basuto War — Kruger assists the Orange Free
State against the Basutos and negotiates the peace with
Moshesh — Kruger as general in the field against the
Kaffir chief Gasibone 53

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV
The Civil War: 1861-1864

PAGE

Kruger's protest against the violation of the constitution
by Commandant General Schoeman — Assembly of the
people at Pretoria — Kruger's declaration of war — At-
tempts at a settlement and their frustration by Schoe-
man— Kruger is nominated a voting member of the
Reformed Church, in order that he may be qualified to
hold office in the State without opposition — Fresh nego-
tiations— Military preparations on both sides — The
political contest develops into a religious war — Battle
of Potchefstroom — Schoeman's flight — Renewed nego-
tiations— The arbitration award of the Supreme Court
rejected — Kruger insulted — Battle of Zwartkopje —
Fresh negotiations — Mutual amnesty — The new elec-
tions— Kruger again Commandant General .... 67

CHAPTER V

Native Wars

The Transvaalers again come to the Orange Free State's
assistance against the Basutos, under Moshesh, but
break up in discord — Kruger's accident in 1866 —
Fighting in the Zoutpansberg — Lack of ammunition
and support — Kruger alone among the Kaffirs ... 93

CHAPTER VI

President Burgers

Dispute about Kimberley — Kruger's protest against the
court of arbitration to which President Pretorius has
yielded — Pretorius resigns the Presidency — T. F. Bur-
gers elected by a large majority, notwithstanding Kru-
ger's agitation — Explanation between Kruger and Bur-

viii

CONTENTS

PAGE

gers — Burgers's policy — War with Secucuni — Dispute
about the arbitrary war-tax imposed by the President —
Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the British Governor of
Natal, arrives with his plans for annexation — Confer-
ences with Shepstone — Burgers's difference with Kru-
ger and the Volksraad — Kruger elected Vice-president
— The annexation of the Transvaal — Protest of the
Executive Raad against the annexation 103

CHAPTER VII

The Interregnum under the British Flag

Kruger's first visit to London with the deputation sent to
procure the repeal of the annexation — Popular meet-
ings and popular voting in the Transvaal — The second
visit to London — The Kaffir chief Secucuni puts the
English doctrine into practice — The British Governor
seeks Kruger's assistance against Cetewayo, the Zulu
king — Further assemblies of the people and protests
against the annexation — Kruger pacifies the masses —
The High Commissioners, Sir Bartle Frere and Sir
Garnet Wolseley, interfere — The other Afrikanders ask
for the freedom of their Transvaal brothers — Kruger
suspected of treachery — The delegates of the burgher
meetings arrested for high treason — Kruger once more
allays the storm — Plans for confederation opposed by
Kruger — Sir Bartle Frere tries to treat privately with
Kruger — Kruger refuses on the grounds of Frere's
double-dealing — Kruger and Joubert have recourse to
Gladstone by letter — All hopes of a peaceful solution
abandoned 123

CHAPTER VIII

The War of Independence: 1880—1881

The seizure of Bezuidenhout's wagon — Meeting of the
burghers at Potchefstroom — The " Irreconcilables " at

CONTENTS

PAGE

Paader Kraal elect a triumvirate, consisting of Kruger,
Joubert and Pretorius, to carry on the government —
The first shot — Battle of Bronkhorstspruit — Majuba
Hill — Paul Kruger during the war — His negotiations
with the Kaffir chief Magato, whom England was trying
to gain as an ally — Armistice and peace negotiations —
Protests in the Volksraad — " Transvaal " or " South
African Republic " ? 147

CHAPTER IX

Paul Kruger's First Presidency

The election — The war with the Kaffirs in the Lydenburg
district — Kaffir disturbances on the south-western fron-
tiers of the Republic — Boer volunteers, in spite of the
President's proclamation, enlist under the Chiefs Mo-
shette and Mankoroane, for their war against other
Kaffir chiefs, and found the Republics of Stellaland
and Goshenland on the territory awarded them for their
services — The Chiefs Montsioa and Moshette place
themselves under the protection of the Transvaal —
England protests against this arrangement — Nego-
tiations regarding the western borders between Kruger,
Sir Charles Warren and Cecil Rhodes — Kruger's third
visit to London — Sir Hercules Robinson — Repeal of
the suzerainty by the London Convention of 1884 —
Visits to the European Governments — Dr. Leyds
— Internal situation of the Republic in 1885 — The
Delagoa Bay Railway — Unsatisfactory condition of the
finances — Disturbances on the western frontiers — Dis-
covery of the gold-fields — The population of the gold-
fields : the " Uitlanders " — Negotiations with the Free
State for a closer alliance — Incorporation of the " New
Republic" I6i

CONTENTS

CHAPTER X

Paul Kruger's Second Presidency: 1888-1893

PAOE

Dr. Leyds appointed State Secretary — Cecil Rhodes
causes trouble on the northern frontiers of the Repub-
lic: the Chartered Company; Lobengula; Khama —
Treaty of alliance between the Orange Free State and
the South African Republic — Arrangements in favor
of the Uitlanders: the Law Courts at Johannesburg;
the Second Volksraad — Paul Kruger's " hatred of the
Uitlanders " — The Swaziland Agreement — British per-
fidy— the Adendorff trek — Religious differences — Kru-
ger the " autocrat " — The educational question — New
elections 187

CHAPTER XI

Paul Kruger's Third Presidency: 1893—1898

The Transvaal National Union — The second Swaziland
Agreement — Difficulties with the Kaffir tribes in the
Blue Mountains — The English immigrants refuse to
perform military service — Sir Henry Loch at Pretoria
— The President insulted — Annexation of Sambaan-
land and Umbigesaland by England — Solemn opening
of the Delagoa Bay Railway and tariff war with Cape
Colony — The Jameson Raid — Mr. Chamberlain's pol-
icy of provocation — The report of the Mining Com-
mission— The struggle between the Government and
the Supreme Court — Sir Alfred Milner — New elec-
tions— The Queen of England a " kwaaie vrouw " —
Closer alliance with the Orange Free State . . . . 211

CHAPTER XII

Paul Kruger's Fourth Presidency

The Bunu Question — Sir Alfred Milner — F. W. Reitz —
J. C. Smuts — The agitation of the South African

CONTENTS

PAGE

League — The Edgar Case — The Crisis: the suffrage,
the suzerainty — The Ultimatum — The War — President
Kruger during the War — On the way to Europe — On
foreign soil — Homeless — Conclusion 261

APPENDIX

Speeches delivered at the Solemn Inauguration of His
Honor S. J. P. Kruger as State President of the South
African Republic, on Thursday, 12 May 1898 . . . 333

Speech of State President Kruger in the First Volksraad
on Monday, 1 May 1899 368

Two Speeches of President Kruger at the Decisive Sit-
ting of the First and Second Volksraad of 2 October
1899 376

Opening Speech of President Steyn at the Annual Session
of the Volksraad of the Orange Free State at Kroon-
stad, 2 April 1900 381

Opening Speech of President Kruger at the Ordinary
Annual Session of the First and Second Volksraad of
the South African Republic at the Joint Sitting of 7

May 1900 385

xii

CONTENTS

PAGE

Speech delivered on the 7th of May by President Kruger
in explanation of his Opening Speech at the Ordinary
Session of 1900 391

Circular Dispatch from State President Kruger to the
Commandant Generals, Assistant Commandant Gen-
erals and Officers 399

Telegram from the State President to the Commandant
General 403

Circular Dispatch from the State President to the Com-
mandant General, the Assistant Commandants General
and the Officers 405

Proclamation by President Steyn against the Annexation

of the Orange Free State 409

Index 411

CHAPTER I
EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

CHAPTER I

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

Homeless — In the new home — Hunting adventures — Kruger
kills his first lion — The dead lion roars — Further lion-hunts
— Panther and rhinoceros hunting — Under a rhinoceros —
Buffalo hunting — A fight with a buffalo-cow — Elephant
hunting — Race between Kruger and an elephant — Canine
fidelity — Kruger amputates his own thumb.

MY recollections go back to the time when, as
a boy of nine, I left the land of my birth with
my parents and my uncles Gert and Theunis Kruger.
Till then we had lived at Vaalbank Farm, in the
Colesberg district in Cape Colony, where I was born
on the 10th of October 1825 as the third child of
Caspar Jan Hendrik Kruger 2 and Elisa Steyn, his
wife, daughter of Douw Steyn, of Bulhoek Farm,
behind the Zuurberg in Cape Colony. My parents
were simple farmers, and I grew up at the farm like
other farmers' lads, looking after the herds and lend-
ing a hand in the fields. With the exception that an
old woman prophesied to my mother that her son

1 The President declares that his ancestors originally came from Ger-
many, but his family do not know from which town. He only knows
that the founder of the African branch of the family married a French-
woman, and was obliged to fly from the country on account of his religion.
— Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Stephanus Johannes Paulus was destined for a su-
perior position in life, I do not know that any one
could have had the least notion that God would en-
trust me with a special mission.

The first event of importance in my life was our
departure from home, our trek. I was too young
at the time to occupy myself much with the reason
of the great emigration. But I know that my pa-
rents said they emigrated because the English first
sold the slaves and, after they had got the money, set
these slaves free again; and that the money which
had been awarded in compensation was made payable
in England, where it could be received either person-
ally or through an agent. The expenses entailed by
this method of payment in many cases amounted to
more than the capital, so that a great many preferred
to sacrifice what was due to them, rather than be put
to so much trouble and vexation. But they refused
to continue to live under such unjust masters.
Added to this, the Kaffirs repeatedly raided the col-
ony and stole the Boers' cattle, and the English gen-
eral, after the Boers had themselves recovered their
cattle, declared the collective herds to be so much
booty, out of which the British Government must re-
cover their war-costs before the rest could be distrib-
uted among the former proprietors, who had them-
selves joined in the fighting in order to get back their
own. The discontent caused by this unjust proceed-

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

ing took a firm hold of the Boer mind; especially
since each child when quite young receives as his per-
sonal property a couple of sheep, oxen or horses from
his parents, which he tends with special care and
to which his heart becomes attached. Among the
stolen beasts were naturally those belonging to
the children, and when those presents, made sacred
by custom, were detained in such an arbitrary way
and used for the purposes of a war-indemnity, much
bitterness was caused. And so my parents and rela-
tives left house and home for a wild and unknown
country, and set out, about twenty of them, with
nearly thirty thousand African sheep and a few hun-
dred horses and cattle, which they had received
largely in exchange for the goods they left behind.

The exodus over the Orange River commenced in
May 1835. Here my father sold about three thou-
sand wethers, at a dikheton1 (an old coin, worth a
little over two shillings) apiece to a butcher, after
which the expedition proceeded towards the neigh-
borhood of the Caledon River, and there encamped.
My occupation here, as well as on our further
marches, was to drive the cattle and keep them toge-
ther. The children of most of the emigrants had to
do this work, for the black servants had nearly all
remained in the Colony, and, just at that time, when

1 Obviously a corruption of " ducatoon," the old silver ducat of
Venice. — Translator's Note.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

the whole property of the families consisted of herds
of cattle, their services would have proved specially
useful.1

Other burghers left their home at the same time as
my parents and were also encamped near the Cale-
don River. But this was not the Great Trek. That
took place during the following year, 1836, under
Hendrik Potgieter, and was joined by the single
groups of earlier emigrants. Immediately after this
junction, a meeting was held, resolutions were passed
to which all the emigrants had to submit, and a sort
of government was instituted. But God's Word con-
stituted the highest law and rule of conduct. Pot-
gieter was chosen for the first position, that of com-
mandant. The resolutions which came into general
force contained, for example, the decree that it was
unlawful to take away from the natives, by force,
land or any other of their property, and that no sla-

1 1 am on this occasion able to confirm the authenticity of an anecdote
which tells how a gentleman who introduced an English lord to President
Kruger, thinking that the latter did not take sufficient account of his
aristocratic visitor, and hoping to make a greater impression upon him,
began to enumerate the important positions which this nobleman occupied,
and to tell what his ancestors had been. Whereupon the President an-
swered drily :

" Tell the gentleman that I was a cow-herd and my father a farmer."

The gentleman who introduced this nobleman was the proprietor of a
large distillery at Zwartkop in the neighborhood of Pretoria. — Note by
t}i<>. Editor of the German Edition.

The anecdote is quite well known in England, where I have often heard
it told of a certain noble duke who, at that time, had held no particular po-
sition outside the Court, but whose father, who was then living, had filled
more than one important post under Government. — Translator s Note.

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

very would be permitted. They now proceeded
jointly to the Vet River and crossed the whole of the
Free State without depriving the weak native races
which lived there of a single thing. The land be-
tween the Vet and the Vaal Rivers was bartered in
exchange for oxen and cows by the Kaffir chief who
ruled there.

When the first emigrants arrived at the Vaal, and
were encamped both here and on the Rhenoster River
in small scattered parties, they were attacked unex-
pectedly and without having given the least provo-
cation by the Zulu chief Moselikatse. This Mose-
likatse was at that time lord and master of the entire
country west of the Lebombo and Drakensberg
Mountains. All the Makatese tribes in this district
had submitted to his sway. He treated them like
dogs and called them so, and, when vultures passed
over his " town," he gave orders to kill a few poor old
men and women and throw them for food to his
"children," as he called the vultures. The subju-
gated races hid from him in caves and gorges. When
Moselikatse heard that men with white faces had
come from the south, he sent a couple of thousand
warriors with orders to massacre the invaders. The
trekkers who were encamped along the Rhenoster
and Vaal Rivers were divided into small parties,
which was necessary on account of the dimensions of
the herds, so as not to cause quarrels about the graz-

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ing lands. They were surprised by Moselikatse's
robber band, and the greater number of them mur-
dered.

After this massacre the Matabele went back to
their town, taking the cattle with them ; but they re-
turned a fortnight later in great numbers and at-
tacked the emigrants at Vechtkop, in the Orange
Free State. But here Sarel Celliers had built a
strong laager and, with the 33 men whom he had at
his disposal, repelled the impetuous attacks of the
Zulus, from his wagon fortress, causing them heavy
losses. Women and children bravely assisted the de-
fenders of the camp, casting bullets, loading the
rifles and, in some instances, even taking rifle in hand
themselves to shoot down the enemy. On their re-
treat to the Moselikatse Pass, near Pretoria, and to
Marico, two of their principal places, the Kaffirs car-
ried off all the emigrants' cattle, as naturally they
could not be taken into the laager, and so were un-
protected. They also took with them two white chil-
dren and three half-breeds, of whom nothing was
ever heard again.

A small party of burghers, under Potgieter, pur-
sued the enemy as far as the Marico River : God was
with them and gave them the victory at Zeerust.
They continued to pursue the enemy further, and in
the end entered into possession of his territory.

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

They recovered part of their property and, when
Moselikatse had fled, the commando returned.

A small number of the emigrants now proceeded
to Natal. To develop the conquered country and
make it independent, it was necessary to be in
communication with the outer world, and, in Natal,
where already a number of emigrants had settled
and were in treaty for the necessary acquisition of
land, they hoped to obtain the harbor of Durban.
But after the treacherous murder of Piet Retief
and the attack on the settlers by Dingaan's hordes,
most of the emigrants, including my father, returned
to the district which is contained within the Free
State and Transvaal of to-day. My people settled
at Liebenberg Vlei, in what has since become the
Orange Free State ; a tract of country which became
so well known through Kitchener's operations against
De Wet.

A commando again crossed the Vaal, in 1839, to
find and punish Moselikatse, who continued to rob
and plunder, and also to recover the stolen cattle. I
took part in this expedition. Potgieter left the
wagon laager behind at Wonderfontein, in what is
now the Potchef stroom district, and, with a mounted
commando, pursued Moselikatse, who continued to
fall back. The whole country had been devastated
and all the settlers murdered. Potgieter discovered

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

the Chief Magato at Klein Bueff elshoek, near the
well-known Elephant River in the Magaliesberg,
where he was hiding. We shall hear of him again,
for he settled, later, in the neighborhood of Rusten-
burg. He had only a few followers with him and,
when Potgieter asked him where Moselikatse was,
he told him that he had already crossed the Crocodile
River. Asked why he had remained behind and was
in hiding, he said that he had escaped during the
night on the march to the north, and was now hiding
because he stood in fear of Moselikatse's bands which
had been left behind on the Moselikatse Pass. See-
ing that it was impossible to overtake Moselikatse
and that an attack on the entrenched position at
Moselikatse Pass was out of the question, the com-
mando returned to the women's camp on the Rhe-
noster and Vaal Rivers. But as early as the fol-
lowing year, 1840, Potgieter started with another
commando, and this time went direct to Moselikatse
Pass. I took part in this expedition too. Potgieter
there found a large Kaffir town, which he stormed.
When it was in our hands we recovered a number of
things which had formerly belonged to the trekkers
who had been murdered by Moselikatse's orders.

During the pursuit of Moselikatse, the chief Ma-
magali told Potgieter that there was still a force of
Moselikatse's savages at Strijdpoort in the Water-
berg district. Potgieter went there at once and at-

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

tacked the Kaffir camp. But it turned out that we
were fighting the wrong people. They were not
Zulus but Rooi, or red Kaffirs who had been forced
to join Moselikatse's hordes. Directly Potgieter was
informed of this fact he put a stop to the fighting.
Mamagali, who had been the cause of this battle, was
arrested and, after a regular trial by court martial,
was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. He
would not have got off so cheaply had he not been
able to prove that the Rooi Kaffirs had always been
associated with Moselikatse on the war-path, and that
he had taken them for Zulus.

At last the wanderers had found a comparatively
safe home. It is obvious that the disturbed life which
they had led till then must have occasioned great
losses. To institute schools or churches, or a firm and
regular management of external affairs, was out of
the question. But the Boer fathers and mothers, for
all that, looked after the education of their children
to the very best of their ability. They knew that
they lived in a country where anything that was once
neglected was difficult to recover, and that to neglect
the rising generation meant the ruin of their nation-
ality. Therefore every Boer taught his children to
read and write, and, above all, instructed them in
God's Word. At dinner and supper, as the children
sat round the table, they had to read part of the Sa-
cred Scriptures, and to repeat from memory or write

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

down now this and now that text ; and this was done
day by day unless unusual circumstances made it im-
possible. That is how my father taught me the Bible,
and instructed me in its teaching during the even-
ings. My other course of instruction was covered
altogether by a period of about three months, with
frequent interruptions. My master's name was Tiel-
man Roos, who found much difficulty in carrying out
his mission. Whenever the trek came to a resting-
place and we out-spanned, a small hut was built of
grass and reeds, and this became the school-room for
the trekkers' children. This was done during the
whole journey to the Magaliesberg, where my father
settled.

When I was sixteen years old I was entitled to
choose two farms like any other independent member
of our community; one as a grazing-place and the
other for sowing with crops. I lived at Water-
kloof, and, in 1842, fetched Miss Maria du Plessis,
from the country south of the Vaal, to be my
wife.1

1 During a journey which he had undertaken in order to visit his betrothed,
young Kruger found that the torrential waters of the Vaal were so swollen
as to render it impassable. But his ardor was greater than the danger,
and his strength mightier than the force of the stream. He drove his
horses into the water, and, dressed as he was, swam with them across the
river under conditions which threatened almost certain death. The old
ferryman, who had not dared to cross the river that day with his boat,
read him a fine lecture. But it was thrown away. Fortunately the en-
gagement did not last long enough to render a repetition of this hazardous
enterprise necessary. — Note hy the Editor of the German Edition.

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

The wedding took place in the village of Potchef-
stroom, which began to flourish at that time.1

After a period of rest, a new expedition was fitted
out, in 1845, in order to colonize the conquered coun-
try. Every participant received the promise of
another farm in that part of the country. A commis-
sion, to which my father belonged, had gone to Dela-
goa Bay during the previous year in order to come
to an understanding with Portugal regarding the
mutual frontier, and had agreed that the ridge of the
Lebombo Mountains should form the frontier be-
tween Portugal and that part of the country which
the Boer emigrants wished to colonize. I accom-
panied this expedition, as deputy field cornet, with
my father and the other members of our family. We
went as far north as the present Lydenburg district,
and there founded the village of Ohrigstad. But we
found no abiding-place there. Fever, cattle-sickness
and other evils determined us to return to the Maga-
liesberg, where I continued to live and acquired sev-
eral farms by barter. Here, in January 1846, I had
the misfortune to lose my wife and the little baby

1 There was at that time as little opportunity for church weddings as for
school instruction or proper preparation for confirmation. The Boer was
obliged to be, more or less, his own schoolmaster, minister and civil
servant. Even as in the late war, a landdrost had often to appoint him-
self, so as to provide for an official qualified to "legalize" marriages.
Perhaps that accounts for the fact that the otherwise so religious Boers
looked upon civil marriage as a perfectly natural rite for many years
before we began to fight for it as a " necessity of our enlightened times."
— Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

to whom she had given birth. God gave me another
life-companion in Miss Gezina Suzanna Frederika
Wilhelmina du Plessis. From this marriage sprang
nine sons and seven daughters, of whom three sons
and five daughters are still alive.

The first care of the new settlers was to secure re-
liable labor and to induce the black inhabitants of the
country to undertake it. That was not an easy mat-
ter. For, although the Kaffir was willing enough
to work, he was always endeavoring to cheat his mas-
ter in one way or another. And, as soon as he had
learned his work, his arrogance often became unbear-
able. We had constantly to fight this difficulty in
great ways and small, and the contest sometimes had
its humorous side. For instance, one New Year's
Day, I sent a Kaffir from my farm at Waterkloof
to my mother's farm (I had lost my father in 1852)
to fetch some raisins. My mother sent me about five
or six pounds, and said so in a note, which the Kaffir
conscientiously delivered. But the letter was a proof
that the Kaffir had robbed me, for the raisins which
he brought weighed much less than the quantity men-
tioned in the letter. I asked him what he meant by
trying to cheat me and why he had eaten nearly all
the raisins.

" The letter tells me," I said, " that there were a
great many more than you brought me."

" Baas," he replied, " the letter lies, for how could

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

it have seen me eat the raisins? Why, I put it behind
the big rock under a stone and then sat down on the
other side of the rock to eat the raisins."

After I had convinced him that the letter knew
all about it nevertheless, he humbly acknowledged
his fault ; still the thing was not quite clear to him.

I had a very faithful Kaffir, called April, on one
of my other farms at Boekenhoutfontein in the Rus-
tenburg district. During the winter I traveled with
my cattle to Saulspoort, near Pilaansberg. Before
going away I called him aside and said:

" I will teach you how to read a letter."

I then took a piece of paper and drew lines on it.

" The longest lines," I continued, " stand for
melons, the next oranges and the shortest lemons,"
and I added that he was to send me from time to time
just as many of each of these as were indicated by
the number of strokes in the letter which I should
send by a messenger. He was also to send back a
letter by the messenger and inform me, by means of
similar lines, how many he had sent of each sort, and
to close the letter carefully. The Kaffir was im-
mensely proud of his scholarly attainments, and from
that moment considered himself immeasurably above
every other Kaffir. There was really no need to
tell him not to give my secret away; nothing would
have induced him to do so. Later on, I sent two mes-
sengers to him and said simply :

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

" Give this letter to April; he will give you what
I want."

This was done ; and when they returned, bringing
a letter from April, I said:

" Give me the letter which April has written, so
that I may see if you have cheated me or not."

They were simply amazed, and April's scholar-
ship roused their unbounded envy and admiration.
They told everybody about the wise April who had
suddenly learned to read and write.

At that time there were no missionaries in our
country; but a pious Kaffir, called David, went
round among his countrymen in order to teach them
religion. When this David wanted to teach the
Kaffirs in my district the Bible and how to read it,
they refused to learn to read or write.

' Why," they asked, " should we first learn the
* book ' and then bother to learn to write, in order to
be able to read again what we have already learned,
when Paul Kruger's Kaffir reads and writes without
knowing the book and without having learned to
write? "

David came to me and told me his difficulties, and,
in order to break down the resistance of the Kaffirs,
I was obliged to let David into my secret. April
did not forgive me for a long time, for his impor-
tance and the admiration of his comrades were now
things of the past.

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

During the first years of our settlement as well
as during our wanderings it was our task to clear
the recently acquired land of wild animals, which
had hitherto roamed about unrestrained side by
side with the wild races, and thus to protect our
pastures. Every Boer took an active part in this
work, and the rising youth, in whom the love of ad-
venture had turned hunting into a passion, did a
great deal, in this way, to make the country habi-
table.

It is, of course, impossible that I should be able
to tell to-day how many wild beasts I have killed.
It is too much to remember the exact number of
lions, buffaloes, rhinoceroses, giraffes and other big
game; and, besides, it is nearly fifty years since I
was present at a big hunt. Nor can I recall to mind
all the details connected with those hunts. As far
as I know, I must have shot at least thirty to forty
elephants and five hippopotamuses. And I know
that I have killed five lions by myself. When I
went hunting I always took a companion with me,
as well as good horses; and I made it a rule, on
larger hunting expeditions, to allow two or three
wagons of our poor people to accompany us, so that
they might have the game.

I shot my first lion in the year 1839. I was then
14 years of age. A lion had attacked our herds and
robbed us of several head of cattle that were graz-

2 17

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ing by the banks of the Rhenoster River in what has
since become the Orange Free State. Six of us
started (I was the seventh, but did not count) to
find that lion. We were all mounted and rode in
two parties of three, with a good distance between
the parties. The lion sighted us before we were face
to face with him, and came on with a wild rush. The
three adults with whom I had come, my father, my
uncle and my brother, quickly tied the horses to-
gether and then turned them round, with their heads
in the opposite direction to that from which the lion
was bearing down upon us. This is the regular pro-
cedure at a lion hunt; for, if the horses catch sight
of a lion, there is always a danger lest they should
get frightened and bolt.

My relatives placed us. I was told to sit behind
— or, from the lion's point of view, in front of —
the horses, with my rifle covering him. His last
bound brought him close to me; then he crouched,
with the intention, as it seemed to me, of jumping
right over me on the horses. As he rose, I fired, and
was fortunate enough to kill him outright, so that
he nearly fell on top of me. My companions ran to
my assistance; but I needed no help, for the lion
was dead. He was a strong beast.

Hearing the shot, the other three hurried up, and
then we all stood round the lion and talked the ad-
venture over. A certain Hugo knelt down to mea-

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

sure the lion's teeth, which were extraordinarily big.
Thinking no harm, I jumped on the lion's stomach.
As I did so, the air shook with a tremendous roar,
which so frightened Hugo that he forgot his tooth-
measurements and fell down flat upon his back.
The others shook with laughter, for every hunter
knows that, if you tread upon a lion's body within
a short time of his death, he will give a short last
roar as though he were still alive. The breath still
in him, being forced from the stomach through the
throat, produces the roar. Hugo, of course, knew
this, but he had forgotten it, and was greatly
ashamed of his fright. In fact, he was so angry that
he turned on me to give me a good hiding. But the
others stepped good-naturedly between us and made
him see that it was only my ignorance that had given
him so great a fright.

I shot my second lion behind the Magaliesberg on
the Hex River. My uncle Theunis Kruger and I
were after a herd of antelopes when, my horse being
done up, I was left behind, alone. Riding at a foot-
pace, I came upon a herd of lions. Escape on a tired
horse was out of the question. Suddenly one of the
lions left the herd and made a dash for me. I al-
lowed him to come within twenty paces and then
shot him through the head. The bullet passed
through the head into the body. The lion fell, with
his head turned away from me, but jumped up

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

again immediately and returned to his companions,
while I reloaded. The moment he reached the herd,
he fell down dead. Encouraged by my success, I
fired upon the others. But in vain. They escaped
into the nearest mountain, and I was not able to fol-
low them. A few years later, I had another en-
counter, on the same spot, with a herd of lions which
had killed several of our oxen. These also escaped
into the same mountain; but I succeeded in first
shooting two of them. My companions, who were
not so swift of foot, lost their quarry.

I shot my fifth lion in the Lydenburg district,
when on a trek towards the Elephant River. We
were pursuing a brute that had robbed us of several
oxen. I at that time had a good and faithful dog,
which was my constant companion, and which used
to track the lions through the bushes. When he
found the lion, he stood still, loudly giving tongue
till the lion roared angrily back at him. When the
dog saw me coming, he stood aside a little. Now
the lion got ready for me; but, at the moment of
springing, the dog seized him from behind, and a
bullet at close quarters dispatched him quickly.
This made the fifth lion that I killed by myself. In
company with others, I have of course shot a great
many more.

During a march against Moselikatse, who, a short
time previously, had surprised and cut down our

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

people, I was ordered to set out with a strong patrol
from Wonderfontein, where we left our wagons, to
reconnoiter the enemy's position. At Elephant's
Pass, in the neighborhood of Rustenburg, we came
across a big herd of elephants. The pass owes its
name to this encounter. My father went after them,
but Commandant Potgieter stopped him from shoot-
ing, as the enemy might be nearer than we knew.
Those were the first elephants I saw.

My first rhinoceros I encountered during that
same expedition. As I was slightly in advance of
the others, my uncle Theunis Kruger gave me per-
mission to fire, and I was so fortunate as to bring
him down with the first shot. I had an ugly expe-
rience on the next occasion that we — my brother-in-
law and faithful hunting companion, N. Theunissen,
and I — hunted rhinoceros. I must mention that we
had made an agreement by which that one who be-
haved recklessly or, through cowardice, allowed
game which was only wounded to escape should re-
ceive a sound thrashing. There was something
wrong with my rifle on the morning we started, and
I was obliged to take an old two-barreled gun, one
barrel of which was injured; consequently its driv-
ing power was considerably lessened. I knew that
a shot is thrown away on a rhinoceros unless you
manage to send it through the thin part of its skin.
We came across three of them, a bull and two cows.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

They were witharnosters,1 the most dangerous
brutes. I told Theunissen to follow the two cows
and not lose sight of them. It was my intention to
kill the bull, and then join in pursuit of the cows.
My comrade fired from time to time to let me know
where he was, for he was soon out of sight in the
thick undergrowth of the wood. When I had passed
the rhinoceros, I jumped from my horse to shoot
him. I placed myself so that he had to pass me
within ten paces; this would give me a good oppor-
tunity to hit him in a vulnerable place. One bullet
killed him outright. I mounted and rode as fast as
I could go in the direction whence I heard Theunis-
sen's gun, loading my rifle as I galloped. He had
just sent a second bullet into one of the cows as I
came up. The brute stood quite still. I saw that
the animal was trying to get away through the un-
derwood, which was less dense here than anywhere
else, and I went after her. As I rode past my com-
rade, he called out:

"Don't dismount in front of the beast; she's
awfully wild and can run like anything."

I did not pay much attention to the warn-
ing, knowing Theunissen to be over-cautious, but
jumped off my horse and ran obliquely past the
rhinoceros. She had scarcely caught sight of me

1 Rhenoster is the Afrikander for rhinoceros. Withamoster is a white
rhinoceros. — Translator s Note.

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

before she was in hot pursuit. I allowed her to come
within a distance of three or four yards. When I
fired, the percussion-cap refused, and there was no
time for a second shot. The animal was close upon
me, and there was nothing to be done but to turn
round and run for dear life. In attempting to do
so, my foot struck against the thorn roots, and I
came down flat on my face. The beast was upon
me; the dangerous horn just missed my back; she
pinned me to the ground with her nose, intending
to trample me to death. But, at that moment, I
turned under her and got the contents of the second
barrel full under the shoulder-blade, right into her
heart. I owed my life to not letting go my hold on
the gun during this dangerous adventure. The rhi-
noceros sprang away from me, but fell down dead
a few yards away.

My brother-in-law hurried up as fast as he could,
for he thought I had been mortally wounded by my
own gun in this deadly combat. When he saw, how-
ever, that I was standing up safe and sound, he took
his sjambok, and " according to contract " com-
menced to belabor me soundly, because I had, he
said, acted recklessly, in disregarding his warning.
Soft words and attempts to justify my conduct were
thrown away on him; it availed me nothing to point
out to him that the beast had already hurt and
bruised me to such an extent that I might well be let

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

off my hiding. I was eventually obliged to entrench
myself behind the thorn-bushes. But this was the
first and last time that Theunissen had occasion to
thrash me.

I brought down my first buffalo very near the
above spot. A flying herd of buffaloes came up
from the valley by the bank of the stream. We
hunted them, and I led. A buffalo-cow left the
herd and made a rush for me as I jumped from my
horse to shoot. I was ready, however, and, when she
had come very near, shot her through the shoulder.
The impetus of her onset knocked me down, and she
rushed on over my body, fortunately without step-
ping on me. She took refuge on the opposite bank
of the river, where we killed her.

My next adventure with buffaloes took place near
Bierkraalspruit Farm. The underwood was from
four to five feet high, and contained a number of
buffaloes. Six of us came to hunt them. I forced
my way alone through the bushes to see if it was pos-
sible to get a shot there, and passed a herd of buffa-
loes without being aware of them; but before long
I came right upon a second herd of the beasts. A
big buffalo at once turned his attention to me, but
fortunately his horns were so wide apart that, in but-
ting, the trees and bushes got mixed up between
them, which not only broke the force of his attack,
but hid me very effectually, if only for a few mo-

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

merits, from his sight. Trying to get out of the
wood, I found myself suddenly amongst the herd
which I had passed a little while ago, without no-
ticing them at the time. Even now I only realized
the position when I ran right up against a buffalo
that was just getting up from the ground. An-
gered at being disturbed, the beast tore my clothes
from my back with his hoof. My comrades, as they
stood outside the wood, took the buffalo's hoof for
his horns, so high did he raise it in attacking me.
Fortunately I escaped with a fright.

My brother-in-law N. Theunissen and I were
hunting near Vleeschkraal, in the Waterburg dis-
trict, when I had a most unpleasant encounter with
a buffalo. I had hit a buffalo-cow, and she had es-
caped into the dense thorn-bushes. As it was im-
possible to follow on horseback, I gave my horse to
my brother Nicholas, and followed the buffalo on
foot. The great thing was not to lose sight of her
in the thick undergrowth. Believing myself to be
the pursuer, I was unpleasantly startled to find her
suddenly facing and attacking me. I got ready to
shoot, but my flint-lock missed fire, so I had to run
for it. The rains had been heavy, and just behind
me was a big swamp into which I fell as I jumped
out of the enraged animal's way. The buffalo fell
in after me, and stood over me in a threatening atti-
tude before I had time to get up.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

My rifle was in the water and useless; but, for-
tunately for me, as the buffalo butted at me, she
rammed one of her horns fast into the ground of the
swamp, where it stuck. I got hold of the other and
tried with all my strength to force the animal's head
under the water and so suffocate her. It was a diffi-
cult thing to do, for the horn was very slippery on
account of the slimy water, and I needed both hands
and every atom of strength I had to keep her head
under. When I felt it going, I disengaged one of
my hands to get at the hunting-knife, which I car-
ried on my hip, in order to rid myself of my antago-
nist. But, if I could not hold the brute with two
hands, I certainly could not hold her with one, and
she freed herself with a final effort. She was in a
sad plight, however, nearly suffocated and her eyes
so full of slime that she could not see. I jumped out
of the swamp and hid behind the nearest bush, and
the buffalo ran off in the opposite direction. My
appearance was no less disreputable than the buf-
falo's, for I was covered from head to foot with
mud and slime. Theunissen, hearing the row we
made, knew that something was amiss, but he could
not come to my assistance. It was impossible to get
through the undergrowth of thorns on horseback.

When I had cleaned myself down a little, I got
on the track of the rest of the herd, and succeeded
in shooting two.

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

I was never so near losing my life as once during
a race with an elephant. One day, Adrian van Rens-
burg and I were on the veldt looking for elephants.
Van Rensburg was behind me, when the first herd
came in sight. I galloped on to get a good shot at
them. I could not wait for van Rensburg, for the
horse I was riding that day was a particularly spir-
ited animal, and had the habit of running round me
in a circle after I dismounted. This necessitated my
quieting and holding him, and so some time was lost
before I was ready to shoot. As I jumped down,
one of the elephants caught sight of me, and came
through the bushes as fast as she could go. At the
moment of dismounting, I knew nothing of my dan-
ger, and had not the least idea that an elephant was
after me. Van Rensburg, however, saw everything,
and called out as loudly as he could to warn me. I
turned and saw that the elephant was flattening the
bushes behind me with her heavy weight as she broke
though the underwood. I tried to mount, but the
elephant was already upon me, and the weight of
the underwood, trodden down and held together by
the bulk of the elephant, pinned me to the ground.
I found it impossible to mount. I let go of my
horse, freed myself with a tremendous effort, and
sprang right before and past the elephant. She fol-
lowed, trumpeting and screaming, hitting out at me
fiercely with her trunk. Now came a race for life

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

or death. However, I gradually increased the dis-
tance between us; but that was a race I am never
likely to forget.

The Kaffirs who were with us were about a hun-
dred yards away. When they saw what was hap-
pening, they too commenced to run; so there we
were : the Kaffirs first, I after them, and after me the
elephant in furious pursuit. While running, the
idea came to my mind tnat I would catch the Kaffir
who was the poorest runner, and, in case the elephant
bore down on him, step suddenly aside and kill her
at close quarters. I had kept hold of my rifle, a big
four-pounder. But the elephant was so tired out by
this time, that she herself put a stop to the hunt by
standing still. Just then van Rensburg came up,
but his horse stepped into a hole covered with grass,
and both horse and rider came down, for van Rens-
burg's foot had caught in the stirrup. Meanwhile,
the elephant had disappeared. After van Rens-
burg had found his legs again, I said to him:

" Hunt in that direction," pointing with my
finger, " and try to catch my horse! "

The elephant, in making her escape, had turned
first to the north and then to the west, the direction
in which the herd had moved on. I said to van
Rensburg :

' When you have found my horse, bring it after

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

me. Meanwhile, I will follow the herd of elephants,
and not lose sight of them till you join me."

I soon came up with the female elephant that had
pursued me. The calf ran a little way behind her.
I passed it quickly to get near the mother; but it
screamed when it saw me, and the mother, who
turned round quickly at the cry, just caught sight
of me as I jumped into the bushes. I ran as fast as
I could through the underwood, and came suddenly
upon van Rensburg, who had caught my horse.

" There are tse-tse flies here," he said; " we must
turn back."

" Very well," I answered, " you go on, but I must
get a shot first at these elephants which have given
me so much trouble."

The mother and her calf had meanwhile disap-
peared, but, before I made my way back, I was so
lucky as to shoot two of the herd. Unfortunately
my horse, whose name was Tempus, had been stung
by the poisonous flies, and shortly after our return,
at the commencement of the rainy season, it sickened
and died.

When quite a youth I encountered a tiger or pan-
ther. My Uncle Theunis, his son and I were hunt-
ing antelope, or elands, near Tijgerfontein Farm,
in the neighborhood of Ventersdorp, and we soon
found an antelope in the cover. My cousin rode in

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

front and my uncle followed him; there was a dis-
tance of about forty yards between them. Sud-
denly, a panther appeared and made for us at a
furious rate, although we had given him no provoca-
tion whatever. He overtook my uncle; but the lat-
ter's well-aimed shot brought the panther to the
ground at the very moment when he was leaping on
the horse which my uncle was riding.

A big lion-hunt, in which several of us took part,
gave me the opportunity of witnessing a remarkable
instance of canine fidelity. We had a whole pack of
hounds with us. When they had found the herd of
lions, they surrounded it, barking furiously. One of
the hounds would go no further from us than about
twenty paces. There he stood barking; but nothing
could induce him to join the pack: he was too fright-
ened to do that, and too faithful to leave us. One
of the lions made for us and then the poor terrified
hound was the only one that did not run away. He
stuck to his post. He trembled and howled with fear,
to say nothing of more visible signs of distress, and
every second he looked round anxiously at his master
to see if he were still there, hoping, I dare say, that
he would fly, and that the dog might follow at his
heels. But the master stayed and so the dog stayed.
The lion was within ten paces of the dog when we
shot him. And even now the timid dog was the only
one of all the noisy pack that attacked him as he fell

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

under our fire. He nearly died of fear, but remained
at his post for love of his master.

In the year 1845, my two brothers Douvv and
Theunis, Douw's wife, my own wife and I were mak-
ing a halt near Secucuni's town, not far from the
place where the Spekboom River joins the Steen-
poort River, in the north of the Transvaal. We out-
spanned, and I went, in the course of the day, on the
veldt to shoot some game. I was mounted, and carried
my old big four-pounder. After about an hour's
ride, I came across a rhinoceros and shot at it. But
I only succeeded in wounding the animal, and it fled
into the wood. I dismounted quickly, ready to shoot
again, but moved only a few steps away from my
horse, lest the rhinoceros should turn to attack me,
in which case it would be necessary to remount at
once. I succeeded in getting a second shot; but, at
that very moment, my rifle exploded just where I
held it with my left hand, and my left thumb, the
lock and the ramrod lay before me on the ground and
the barrel of the gun behind me. I had no time to
think, for the furious animal was almost upon me;
so I jumped on my horse and galloped away as fast
as I could, with the rhinoceros in fierce pursuit, until
we came to the ford of a little spruit, when my pur-
suer came to the ground and so allowed me to ride
quietly in the direction of our wagons. During the
next day, our people, guided by the track of my

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

horse, went to the spot, and there they found the rhi-
noceros still alive, and, following the trail of blood,
discovered the remains of the rifle and my thumb.

My hand was in a horrible state. The great veins
were torn asunder and the muscles lay exposed. The
flesh was hanging in strips. I bled like a slaughtered
calf. I had succeeded in tying a large pocket-hand-
kerchief round the wound while riding, to save the
horse from being splashed with blood. When I got
to the wagons, my wife and sister-in-law were sit-
ting by the fire, and I went up to them laughing so as
not to frighten them. My sister-in-law pointed to
my hand, which looked like a great piece of raw meat,
the handkerchief being saturated with blood.

" Look what fat game brother Paul has been shoot-
ing! " she said.

I called out to my wife to go to the wagon and
fetch some turpentine, as I had hurt my hand. Then
I asked my sister-in-law to take off my bandolier,
and she saw that my hand was torn and noticed how
white I was, for I had hardly any blood left in my
body. I kept on renewing the turpentine bandages,
for turpentine is a good remedy to " burn the veins
up," as the Boers say, and thus to stop the bleeding.
I sent my youngest brother — he was still really
young at the time — to borrow as much turpentine as
he could get from the nearest farm, which was about
half an hour's ride away. Herman Potgieter, who

EARLY DAYS AND PRIVATE LIFE

was afterwards so cruelly murdered by the Kaffirs,
came over with his brother. The former got into the
wagon and, when he saw the wound, cried out :

" That hand will never heal; it is an awful
wound! "

He had to get down again as quickly as possible,
for he was nigh fainting. But his brother said, pos-
sibly to comfort me:

" Nonsense; I have seen worse wounds than that:
get plenty of turpentine."

We inspanned and drove to the farm. Every one
there advised me to send for a doctor and have the
hand amputated; but I positively refused to allow
myself to be still further mutilated of my own free
will. The two joints of what was once my thumb
had gone, but it appeared that it would still be nec-
essary to remove a piece of bone. I took my knife,
intending to perform the operation, but they took it
away from me. I got hold of another a little later
and cut across the ball of the thumb, removing as
much as was necessary. The worst bleeding was
over, but the operation was a very painful one. I had
no means by me of deadening the pain, so I tried to
persuade m}rself that the hand on which I was per-
forming this surgical operation belonged to some-
body else.

The wound healed very slowly. The women
sprinkled finely-powdered sugar on it, and, from

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

time to time, I had to remove the dead flesh with
my pocket-knife ; but gangrene set in after all. Dif-
ferent remedies were employed, but all seemed use-
less, for the black marks rose as far as the shoulder.
Then they killed a goat, took out the stomach and cut
it open. I put my hand into it while it was still
warm. This Boer remedy succeeded, for when it
came to the turn of the second goat, my hand was
already easier and the danger much less. The wound
took over six months to heal, and, before it was quite
cured, I was out hunting again.

I account for the healing power of this remedy by
the fact that the goats usually graze near the Spek-
boom River, where all sorts of herbs grow in abun-
dance.

CHAPTER II

COMMENCEMENT OF PUBLIC
ACTIVITY

CHAPTER II

COMMENCEMENT OF PUBLIC ACTIVITY

Journey to the Sand River in 1852 — The Sand River Conven-
tion— Punitive expedition against the Kaffir chief Secheli —
Kruger's life in danger — Vindictive raid on the Kaffir chiefs
Makapaan and Mapela — Kruger alone in the cave among the
besieged Kaffirs — He recovers Potgieter's body — Expedition
against Montsioa — Kruger charges a band of Kaffirs single-
handed.

I WAS appointed a deputy field cornet as early
as 1842, but my position was not one of any
importance until 1852, when I was elected a full field
cornet. In this capacity, I accompanied, in that year,
old Commandant General A. W. J. Pretorius ! to
the Sand River, where the famous Sand River Con-
vention was concluded.

In that same year, the expedition against the Be-
chuana chief Secheli took place. I took part in it
as a commandant. This Secheli was protecting an-

1 After Pretorius, who had commanded during the War of Independence
against England in the Free State, came to the Transvaal, the popular
assembly of 1849 elected Potgieter Commandant General for life ; but
eventually, in order to avoid unpleasantness, it became necessary to ap-
point three commandants general all possessing equal powers. Pretorius,
accordingly, became Commandant General of the Potchefstroom and
Rustenburg districts where Kruger lived. — Note by the Editor of the Ger-
man Edition.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

other Kaffir chief, called Moselele, who had com-
mitted several murders in the South African Repub-
lic, and refused to deliver him up. The demand for
Moselele's surrender was received with the insolent
reply :

" Who wants Moselele can come and fetch him out
of my stomach."

Secheli meant to convey that Moselele was as
safely hidden with him as the food which he had eaten.
A commando under Chief Commandant Scholtz,
with myself as deputy-commandant, was sent to pun-
ish him. When the commando arrived before Se-
cheli's town, the Kaffir chief sent a messenger to
Commandant Scholtz to say that he would do no-
thing to him on the morrow, as that was a Sunday,
but that he would duly settle his account on the Mon-
day. At the same time, he very artlessly asked for
some coffee and sugar, probably in return for his
amiability in " letting us off " for Sunday. Com-
mandant Scholtz sent back word to Secheli that he
had coffee and sugar, but none to give away. He
promised, however, to give him pepper on Monday.

On Monday morning the battle began. I was well
in front, and brought down a number of Kaffirs with
my four-pounder, which I had loaded with coarse shot.
When the mountain on which Secheli's town lay was
already partly taken, Louw du Plessis, who was serv-
ing the guns, accidentally hit a large rock, and the

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

ball, rebounding, struck my head with such force that
I fell to the ground unconscious. A certain van
Rooyen had to help me to my feet, and at the same
time bound up my aching head in a cloth. While
I was lying unconscious and van Rooyen was busying
himself about me, a Hottentot servant of my bro-
ther's, thanks to his accurate aim, kept the Kaffirs at
a safe distance. When I came to myself, the first
thing I saw was that the Kaffirs were creeping up
behind rocks and boulders, and I realized the danger
to which my burghers would be exposed if they were
not warned in time. I at once got up to lead the
attack on the dangerous points, although my wound
prevented me from carrying my musket. The Kaf-
firs kept up a hot fire from every cave and gorge, but,
after a sharp fight, the burghers succeeded in driving
them from the mountain.

My lif e was in danger for a second time during
this same battle. One of the enemy's bullets, fired
from a huge rifle, struck me on the chest and tore my
jacket in two. The artful Secheli afterwards said
that he had, up to the last, had it in his power to drive
us back, but that, when I had once laid my hands on
his brandy-bottle, I became invincible. As a matter
of fact, I have never tasted a drop of brandy.

After hostilities were concluded, Commandant
Scholtz sent up to the house of Livingstone, the Eng-
lish missionary, which was not far from the Kaffir

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

town. Here Theunis Pretorius found a complete
workshop for repairing guns, and a quantity of ma-
terials of war which Livingstone was storing for Se-
cheli. This was a breach of the Sand River Con-
vention of 1852, which prescribed that neither arms
nor ammunition should be supplied to the Kaffirs,
and that they should not be permitted to provide
either for themselves. Scholtz accordingly confis-
cated the missionary's arsenal, and in consequence the
'Boers were abused by Livingstone throughout the
length and breadth of England, and slandered in
every possible way as enemies of the missionaries and
cruel persecutors of the blacks.

As a matter of fact, the Boers were neither op-
posed to the mission nor enemies of the natives.
Their principle was to allot a certain district to every
tribe that kept quiet and peaceful and was willing
to accept civilization; such district to be proportion-
ate to the size of the tribe. The missionaries who
wished to labor among the natives also received free
grants of land for the erection of churches and for
private purposes. Even before the arrival of the
missionaries beyond the Vaal, some of the Boers had
instructed their native servants in the Gospel. But
they were often brought into unpleasant contact with
the native tribes owing to the engagement into which
they had entered to deprive the natives of the arms
which the latter were constantly smuggling into the

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

country. This engagement was faithfully kept so
that England might have no opportunity to accuse
them of violating the treaty and, consequently, to
annul the Sand River Convention, which guaranteed
the liberty of the emigrants north of the Vaal.1

1 The missionaries seem often to have failed to understand that, for the
Boers, the native question was, necessarily, not only religious and humani-
tarian, but also political. South Africa has room for only one form of
civilization, and that is the white man's civilization; and, where there was
only a handful of white men to keep hundreds of thousands of black
natives in order, severity was essential. The black man had to be taught
that he came second, that he belonged to the inferior class which must
obey and learn. Lest it should appear as though the friendly and reason-
able position adopted by the Boers in this matter had only developed
gradually in recent years, I may point out that, in 1882, Mr. Kruger
spoke to the following effect in his program issued before his first election
and, afterwards, in the name of his people, as President :

" Native politics in a Republic such as ours, where so many Kaffir
tribes live among us and all around us, offer very exceptional difficulties.
The chief principle that must always be borne in mind is that savages must
be kept within bounds, and always overruled by justice and morality."

And again:

" Much is being said about a universal native policy for the various states
of South Africa. All who know the difficulties of this problem will most
certainly agree with me when I say that the greatest benefactor of South
Africa would be the man who could provide a completely satisfactory
solution to this question. That man is perhaps as yet unborn. Mean-
while, as regards our Republic, her duty, or, rather, her mission is clear
and simple. Every Kaffir tribe within our boundaries must be taught to
respect the authority of our Government, and, in order that the laws, by
which these tribes also benefit, may be equitably administered, they must
bear their share of the public burden. When once the disastrous influence
of foreigners and enemies of the Republic, who now so often try to per-
suade these unfortunate Kaffirs that they need not consider themselves sub-
jects of the Republic, when once this influence has been done away with,
then the time will have come when the native tribes will reap the prosper-
ous fruit of the old principle of the Republic, by which every tribe of any
importance has a fixed territory appointed to it, under the protection of
the Government. For what was determined in the Convention regarding

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

The next war in which I took part under Com-
mandant General Pretorius was that of 1853, against
the Kaffir chiefs Mapela and Makapaan, in the
Waterberg district, near Makapaanspoort. This
was an expedition to avenge the foul murder of Her-
man Potgieter, brother of the late Commandant
General.1 This Potgieter was a splendid shot and
a great elephant-hunter. Mapela had sent for him,
saying that there happened to be an exceptionally
large number of elephants in his territory. More-

this distribution of territory is nothing more than the old law of the Re-
public. As for the future, I cherish the hope that some time, under God's
blessing, it will come to this, that order, industry and the fear of God
will make the Kaffir also a happy and contented subject of the South
African Republic."

At the end of the speech delivered at his inauguration as State Presi-
dent in 1888, in connection with his admonition to the children and
teachers to profit by the advantages of the education provided by the
Republic, he added these words:

"You colored people,

"A short word to you too. You have a right to the protection of the
laws of this Republic. Whether you make use of the opportunities given
you to acquire civilization depends upon yourselves. You are free to
accept civilization or to reject it. For you also I pray for the blessing of
Almighty God."

Kruger was elected President upon the first of these declarations, and
he called down a blessing upon the blacks, on a solemn occasion, in his
official character. This, therefore, permits us to draw definite conclusions
as to the attitude of the people in regard to this question. — Note by the
Editor of the German Edition.

1 Commandant, afterwards Commandant General Hendrik Potgieter,
who is so closely connected with the history of the Kruger family, had, in
the meantime, died, at the beginning of March, 185.5, and his son Piet
had been appointed to succeed him as Commandant General for the
Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg districts. — Note by the Editor of the German
Edition.

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

over, he asked Potgieter to come to see to his cattle,
which were in Mapela's charge, the latter receiving
the milk of the cows in return for his trouble : an ar-
rangement which had been made at Mapela's request.
On receiving this message from Mapela, Potgieter
set out with his son Andries, a few burghers and his
colored groom. When they arrived at Mapela's, the
wagons were, as usual, deposited in the Kaffir town.
At first, the Kaffirs were very friendly in their con-
versation with Potgieter and his companions, and
described to him the place where the elephants were
to be found. Suddenly, however, they fell upon the
whole company, killed Potgieter's son and compan-
ions and dragged Potgieter himself to the top of
a hill, where, shouting and dancing for joy, they
skinned him alive in the presence of his groom. The
poor man was not released from his sufferings until
his murderers had torn the entrails from his body.
The groom, who was allowed to go free, afterwards
showed me the spot where this butchery had taken
place.

While Mapela was engaged in this horrible busi-
ness, Makapaan, in a time of peace, when nobody
suspected any harm or danger, suddenly attacked
a number of women and children who were quietly
traveling from Zoutpansberg to Pretoria. The two
chiefs had arranged that they would between them
murder all the white people in their respective dis-

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

tricts. When these foul deeds became known, it was
decided that the Kaffir chiefs should be punished.

General Piet Potgieter, the nephew of the so
cruelly murdered Herman Potgieter, set out with
100 men from Zoutpansberg to avenge the murder.
At the same time, Commandant General Pretorius
left Pretoria, with 200 men, on the same errand. I
was second in command of the latter' s commando.
Before these two commandos had united, the Kaffirs
made a night attack on Potgieter's laager, but were
fortunately repelled. After the two commandos had
joined forces, the Kaffirs were driven back into their
mountains, where they hid in caves and ravines. The
joint commandos kept them imprisoned in these caves
in order to starve them into surrender.

After the Kaffirs had been besieged for some time
and suffered greatly from famine, without our get-
ting any nearer to effecting our object, I endea-
vored to end the matter and bring about a surrender
by stratagem. With this object in view, I crept in
the dark, unseen, into the cave where the Kaffirs lay
hidden. I sat down among them and began to talk
to them in their own language, as though I were one
of themselves, and suggested that it would surely
be better to surrender than die of hunger. I also said
that I was certain that the white men would not kill
us, and offered myself to go to the white men to

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

treat with them. Suddenly an armed Kaffir ex-
claimed :

"Magoa!" (White man!)

But this dangerous moment also passed, for, when
the Kaffir shouted " Magoal " all the others fled
deeper into the cave, and I jumped up and ran after
them, right into the back of the cave. The Kaffirs
now began to hunt for the white man, looking for
him in every direction, except where he was, in their
very midst. When they had quieted down a little,
I once more addressed them in their own language,
and urged them to surrender. Finally, I succeeded
in bringing 170 or 180 women and children out of
the cave, and it was not until I was outside that they
perceived that it was I and not a Kaffir who had
been talking to them. My intention had really been
to effect a voluntary surrender of the Kaffirs, and
thus to get hold of their guilty captains. But I was
unable to attain this object and we had to continue
the siege.

Commandant General Pretorius was very angry
at my imprudence, punished me severely for ven-
turing to go alone among the Kaffirs in their caves,
and ordered me away from the caves. Before the
siege was over, I had one more narrow escape from
death. In one of the fights, Commandant General
Potgieter was hit by a shot fired from a crevice in the

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

rocks. He was standing close to the edge of a rocky
wall, giving directions to his Kaffir, when the fatal
shot struck him. Potgieter fell down into the midst of
a Kaffir trench. I saw this happen, and rushed down
at once to try at least to save the body. The Kaffirs
aimed a furious fire at me from the loop-holes in their
entrenchments, but the burghers answered the fire
no less heartily ; and I was able to leap over the wall
of the entrenchment, to lift the body over the wall,
leap back, protected by the smoke of the powder,
and bring the body safely back with me. Pot-
gieter was a big, heavy man, and I had to exert
all my strength to carry my dead friend back to
his people.

One of the Kaffirs who had been captured said
that he could show us some hidden caves where ele-
phants' tusks lay in heaps. Pretorius sent me with
this Kaffir to fetch the tusks. While on this expe-
dition, I came upon a number of blood-stained gar-
ments which had belonged to the women and chil-
dren murdered by the Kaffirs, as well as remains of
portions of human bodies which the Kaffirs had
roasted on the spit: roasted shoulders, arms, etc.
The Kaffir who was to show me where the tusks were
hidden also wore clothes which had clearly belonged
to murdered white men. When at last we reached
the cave where the ivory was supposed to be, the
Kaffir tried to escape, and it cost me a great effort

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

to recapture him. The elephants' tusks were a mere
cheat.

Soon after this, the resistance of Makapaan's
men came to an end. It had been found impossible
to induce them to leave their caves, and they had shot
every one who approached. There was therefore
nothing for it but to starve them out. Many hun-
dreds died of hunger. A small portion of them es-
caped through underground passages into the moun-
tains. Several were captured and brought before
the court-martial. I was out hunting at the time,
and before I came back they had all been shot under
martial law. It was absolutely necessary to shoot
these cannibals, especially as none of the culprits
were delivered up and the chief had disappeared.
The children of the tribe, as soon as they fell into
the hands of the Boers, were ingeboekt, that is to
say, portioned out among Boer families and kept
under strict legal supervision until they came of age.

The commando now turned its attention to Ma-
pela, Makapaan's ally. I did not join this expedi-
tion at first. Commandant General Pretorius sent
me with a small commando to Mar aba's town, where
we had heard that a large number of Makapaan's
cattle had been stored. I was to look into this mat-
ter and attack Maraba's town if it offered any re-
sistance. But I met with none. Some of the Kaffirs
fled, and the remainder surrendered. The latter de-

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

clared that they had some of Makapaan's cattle, that
they had never shared in his crimes, and that they
were quite willing to restore such of his stolen cattle
as were in their possession. This was done, but only
a thousand head were discovered. As soon as I had
possession of the cattle, I returned, leaving Maraba's
Kaffirs unharmed. I reached the other commandos
in time to join them on their march against Mapela.
But Mapela's Kaffirs had also fled for the greater
part, so that there was practically nothing to do. A
few wagons, some chests, and other things which had
belonged to the murdered whites were discovered on
a kop near Mapela's town. These goods the com-
mandos carried back with them.

Mapela's punishment was not effected until many
years later, in 1858. Meanwhile, he had committed
several other outrages ; and it had also become neces-
sary to take away the fire-arms which he had man-
aged to obtain. A commando under General Schoe-
man, with myself as assistant general, set out against
him. But Mapela had entrenched himself on the
summit of a high kop, consisting of sheer rocky walls
on every side. I called for volunteers to storm this
fortress, and about 100 men came forward. With
these, I went in the night, unseen, to the foot of the
mountain. The commando now took off their veld-
schocn, so as noiselessly to climb the steep gorge that
formed the only way to the top, and thus surprise

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

the Kaffirs. I went first with a patrol, and had got
half-way up the mountain when we were discovered.
A sentry allowed me to come up quite close to him,
and then fired. Fortunately the gun refused. I
did not notice the man until I heard the click of the
trigger; I aimed and shot him dead at my feet.
Thereupon the Kaffirs who held the gorge began to
fire from every side. My gun-carrier fell. I my-
self ran back as fast as I could to my comrades.

"Forwards!" I shouted. "On with your veld-
schoen, and have at them without mercy ! "

So the pass was seized and we took up our posi-
tions on the top until daybreak. The Kaffirs had
retired still further, but charged when they caught
sight of the first group of burghers, consisting of
about 15 men, preparing for the attack. By the
time, however, that they were still fifty paces off,
this handful of burghers had been reinforced and
now numbered about 100 men. Our fire mowed
down the blacks in rows, and they rushed away in
wild flight. From the rocky plateau, another road,
or rather a ladder of trees, led down to the further
side. Here the fugitives flung themselves down,
and more were killed in this way than fell in the
actual battle. The trees were hung with dead men,
for all was thick forest below. Mapela himself
escaped.

I had hardly returned from the first unsuccess-
* 49

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ful expedition against Mapela when, in December
1853, I had again to go on commando, this time
against the chief Montsioa, who lived on the hooge-
veld between Schoonspruit and Marico, on the
Harts River. This chief had taken advantage of the
very severe weather, accompanied by a heavy fall of
snow, to steal a large number of cattle from the
Roers, and had, at the same time, murdered one of
the cattle-owners and then fled to Setlagoli in Rrit-
ish Rechuanaland. When the Roer commando
which had been sent against him reached the neigh-
borhood of Setlagoli, it suddenly found itself in the
midst of an enormous swarm of locusts. The Kaffirs
had also seen this swarm, and when they saw the dust
raised by the approaching commandos, they thought
it was the locusts, and allowed the enemy to ap-
proach their town without preparing to receive him.
When the commando was close to the town, Com-
mandant General Pretorius sent me * to the captain
to explain why the commando had come, and to de-
mand that Montsioa should come out to justify
himself. The captain, however, was not in the town,
and I had to go on to the capital ; and, before I had
reached it, the Kaffirs suddenly attacked me and my
escort. I was some distance in front of the others,
and my position was most critical. My horse was

1 Krii^cr was a commandant, but, in this case, acted as an adjutant to the
general. — Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

PUBLIC ACTIVITY

quite exhausted. Flight was out of the question.
I rode on at a walking-pace, so as not to attract the
attention of the Kaffirs. When the foremost Kaffirs
were quite close to me, four burghers came hurrying
up, and this first drew the Kaffirs' attention to my
person, and they turned against me. I now forced
my horse into one last gallop and charged the
Kaffirs, to make them think that my horse was still
in good condition. This stratagem succeeded; the
Kaffirs turned and fled, and I and my four com-
panions got safely away. I took my exhausted
horse back to the other cattle belonging to the com-
mando, and proposed to go on foot, with the others,
against the Kaffirs. Commandant Schutte tried to
persuade me to relinquish this plan, as, being on
foot, the Kaffirs might easily take me prisoner; but
I replied:

" Most of the Kaffirs are on foot too, and, if it
comes to running, the Kaffirs will not catch me
easily."

When Schutte saw that I was not to be persuaded,
he told his groom to give me his horse and return to
camp. So I rode on to the battle. The Kaffirs num-
bered about 500, while the burghers who had gone on
ahead to oppose them were only 40 men in all, and
of these a few had remained behind with the wagons
and the cattle. Our small band, however, man-
aged to cause the Kaffirs considerable loss and to

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

put them to flight. Our losses were only a few
wounded.

The commando also succeeded in recapturing the
cattle. With the cattle were several Kaffir boys,
who were sent back to their town by the general that
same evening, under my protection. I was also in-
structed to tell the chief that the Boers had not come
to fight him, but only to fetch the stolen cattle, and
that we would come the next day to negotiate about
this. I went close up to the town, set the boys free
and returned to camp. The released captives deliv-
ered their message correctly, but it never came to
negotiations, for the chief fled that same night. We
did not pursue him, but returned to our farms with
the cattle which we had recovered.

CHAPTER III
IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

CHAPTER III

IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

The first Basuto War — Kruger assists the Orange Free State
against the Basutos and negotiates the peace with Moshesh —
Kruger as general in the field against the Kaffir chief Gasi-
bone.

AFTER our return from the expedition against
^ Montsioa, Commandant General A. W. J.
Pretorius fell seriously ill. When he realized that
the end was at hand, he sent for me, but I had just
gone on a hunting expedition in the Rustenburg dis-
trict, and the messengers, unfortunately, did not
reach me in time, so that, when I returned, I found
that this great leader of the emigrants had passed
away. This was most deplorable, for who knows
what he might still have wished to discuss in his last
moments. On the return journey from Montsioa's
town, he had talked much to me on religious matters,
and he might have had more to say to me on this
subject.

A few days after his death, a letter arrived, ad-
dressed to the deceased, from the British Commis-
sioners, Owen and Hogge,1 in which Pretorius was

1 These were the special commissioners who had been appointed by the
Queen of England to settle relations on the eastern and northeastern

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

requested to take over the Orange Free State from
the British Government on behalf of the emigrants.
But that was now impossible, and the assumption of
the government of the country of the Orange Free
State from the hands of the English was now ef-
fected by Messrs. Venter, BoshofF and a few other
burghers of the Free State. This, afterwards, led to
serious differences between the younger Pretorius
and the Orange Free State, for the communication
was to the effect that the Free State should be trans-
ferred to Commandant General Pretorius and the
emigrants. Young Pretorius, like many other bur-
ghers, was of opinion that the land had been handed
over to his father and therefore to himself as his suc-
cessor. The question led almost to civil war between
the Free State and the South African Republic.

Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, the eldest son of the
deceased Pretorius, was appointed Commandant
General of the South African Republic in his
father's stead, and, after a law had been passed pro-
viding for a president, he was also elected to the office
a few years later. This title, however, did not then
mean that he was president of the Republic, for the
new statute was not universally recognized. He was
merely president of the Government which he repre-

frontiers of the Cape of Good Hope, and who made the agreement with
the Boer emigrants by which both the Free State and the South African
Republic obtained their independence. — Note by the Editor of the German
Edition.

IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

sented. He now began to put forward his pretended
claims on the Free State, and, in 1857, issued a call
to arms, because he was offended that his claims had
been rejected. I was away on business, but was asked
to return at once. I disapproved most strongly of the
conduct of Pretorius, whom I found encamped with
his troops on the Vaal River, and I told him very
plainly what I thought. But, when I heard that the
President of the Free State had made an agreement
with Commandant General Schoeman, in the north
of the Transvaal, which was that part of the country
where the new law was not yet acknowledged, that
the latter should come to the Free State's assistance
I advised prompt action and that we should attack
Boshoff without delay. We crossed the river to meet
BoshofF, who was advancing with a large commando.
When the opponents were close to one another,
Boshoff sent one of his officers with proposals for a
peaceful settlement. Pretorius was much in favor
of this; nor were his men at all in a warlike mood.
When the adversaries' messenger arrived, they were
practising buck- jumping, so that the officer ex-
claimed in astonishment:

" Do they hold us so lightly? "

Pretorius sent me as negotiator ; and I told Boshoff
my opinion just as openly as I had told it to Pre-
torius :

" You are quite as guilty as your adversary," I

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

said. " Why do you take up arms, instead of im-
peaching Pretorius before the Volksraad ? He would
certainly have been punished."

Ivoos Venter, a big, strong man, who was standing
by, began to rage against Pretorius, and kept on
shouting :

" If I only had him here, I would wring his neck
for him like a bird's."

At last my blood was up too, and I said :

" Mr. Boshoff, the matter can easily be settled.
Let Koos take off his coat and I will take off mine,
and we will fight it out. If he is beaten, you must
submit to our conditions, and if he beats me, it will
be the other way about."

But Venter would have none of this; he had no
grudge against me, he argued. But I said :

" That has nothing to do with it. You stand up
for your President and I for mine."

However, there was no duel, but Venter kept quiet
after that, and a commission was appointed to meet
on the Vaal River to settle the difference. Here, al-
though I did not at all approve of it, I was called
upon to defend the action of my President, who was
himself violently attacked. In the end a compro-
mise was arrived at, and Pretorius relinquished his
unjust claims.

It was agreed in the contract that each section of
the Boers should have the right to punish offenders

IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

in its own country. Now, however, two burghers

who had sided with Pretorius in the Free State were
charged with high treason and condemned to die on
the gallows. Once again I had to go to act as me-
diator :

" Why do you again break the compact? " I asked
Boshoff.

" We break the compact? What do you mean? "
he retorted.

" Well, are you not going to hang two of your
people? "

" Yes, we have the right to do so: it says so in the
agreement."

" Nothing of the sort. You have the right to pun-
ish certainly; but 'punish' means to 'chastise,' to
admonish, to warn, and to correct by means of the
chastisement."

And, when Boshoff would not allow this, I fetched
a Bible and showed him that the Holy Writ dis-
tinguished between punishing and chastising. We
may chastise a man with the prospect of death, but
we may not kill him in order to punish him. The
Free Staters gave in after this, and so the matter was
finally settled.

Shortly afterwards, I had the opportunity of ren-
dering the Free State a service. Ever since the De-
claration of Independence, they had had difficulties
with Moshesh, and these difficulties at last led to open

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

war between Moshesh and the Free State. Moshesh
was no contemptible adversary, and he had a large
force at his command. His bands were continually
making plundering inroads into the southern portion
of the Orange Free State, and, when this came to
my knowledge, I decided to go to the Free State and
offer my services to the Government. President
Pretorius accompanied me with about 50 men, under
Field-cornet Bodenstein. At Osspruit, on the Upper
Sand River, we came upon the first camp of the Free
Staters. That same night, the Kaffirs robbed the
herds of this camp. I sent Field-cornet Bodenstein
with his men in pursuit, and they succeeded in regain-
ing the cattle. From here we marched on by Win-
burg to Bloemfontein.

On our arrival, I offered myself to go to Mo-
shesh to negotiate a peace. The Free State Govern-
ment accepted my offer and gave me General Fick
and Marthinus Schoeman as an escort. Moshesh
lived on Thaba Bosigo Mountain. When we came
to the foot of the mountain, I sent up a message to
Moshesh that we had not come to fight him, but that
I wanted to talk to him about peace. Moshesh sent
back word :

" I will come down directly to speak with Mr.
Kruger."

I was not disposed to wait, however, and at once
climbed the mountain so as to go straight to Mo-

IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

shesh's town. When we reached the top, Moshesh was
just coming to meet us. Magato, the Kaffir captain
from the Rustenburg neighborhood, whom we knew
and who happened to be with Moshesh, introduced
me to him, saying :

" This is Paul Kruger."

Moshesh gave me his hand, and said :

" Is that Paul Kruger? How is it possible? I
have heard tell of him for so many years, and
now I am so old. How, then, can he still be so
young? "

He took hold of my arm and led me to his house
and into a room which no black dared enter, but
which was always ready for the reception of white
men.

After taking some refreshments, we at once pro-
ceeded to business. I began:

" Why do you kill one another for such a trifle?
Why not, rather, arrange the matter amicably? You
must surely see that war does you damage and makes
you block the highroads for other nations with whom
you are living at peace."

After much argument on both sides, Moshesh said
at last:

" What you say is true, for everything I want in
this house I have to buy from other nations. And,
when the roads are blocked by war, of course I can
get nothing." Then, changing the subject, " Are

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

you the man," he asked, " who fetched Mapela down
from his mountain? " *

I said:

" Yes."

Then Moshesh proceeded :

" Are you aware that two of my daughters were
married to Mapela? " adding, after a moment's si-
lence, " You need not think that it was your courage
that brought Mapela down from his mountain, but
it was the dispensation of God that punished Mapela
for committing so foul a murder."

Now, as Moshesh was at every moment speaking
of the dispensation of God and using pious words,
I said to him:

" But if you are so devout, how do you come to
have more than one wife? "

Moshesh replied:

"Yes, I have just about two hundred; but that
is not half so many as Solomon had."

To which I made answer :

" Yes, but you surely know that, since Christ's
time and according to the New Testament, a man
may have only one wife."

Moshesh reflected for a moment and then said :

' Well, what shall I say to you . . . it is just
nature."

1 The trial of Mapela had just taken place. — Note by the Editor of the
German Edition.

IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

In the evening, I sent for Moshesh again to come
to me. Moshesh came, but this time dressed like an
ordinary Kaffir, that is, not in European clothes.
When he came in, I called to him:

" Why is Moshesh so long coming? Can't he come
when I send for him? "

Moshesh answered :

" I am Moshesh."

"Oh," said I. "Are you Moshesh? Then why
are you dressed like a woman? "

Moshesh laughed heartily.

That same evening, we made an agreement that
the war was to stop at once. Moshesh agreed to call
in his Kaffirs as soon as he received word that the
Orange Free State had accepted the terms. A peace
document was drawn up, and signed the following
morning.

Moshesh then invited me to stay with him a little
longer, as he wanted to pick me out a fine saddle-
horse. I accepted the invitation, but my companions
Fick and Schoeman did not care to wait any longer
and went back alone. Moshesh then brought me an
excellent saddle-horse as a present. The Govern-
ment of the Orange Free State afterwards accepted
the treaty drafted by Moshesh and myself, and this
brought the first Basuto War to an end.

Before leaving Moshesh's town, I received a mes-
sage from President Pretorius asking me to return

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

at once and set out as general or, rather, assistant
general, with a commando, against Gasibone, a Kaf-
fir chief on the Harts River. This chief had stolen
the white men's cattle, killed some of the men and
carried off an old woman and a girl of eighteen. On
receipt of this message, I at once jumped on my
horse and rode to my home in the Magaliesberg, in
the Rustenburg district. In three days, I spent over
fif ty hours on horseback. The commando had mean-
time assembled and was waiting for me near Klerks-
dorp, where I joined it after spending one day at my
farm. On reaching the meeting-place, I found that
the burghers had hardly any ammunition and no cat-
tle for food. But we set out, nevertheless, in the
hope of being able, on the way, to procure both from
private sources. I also sent a message to the Orange
Free State requesting them to provide us with what
was necessary. But I did not obtain much here, as
I had no money and had to buy on the promise of
future payment. Our shortness of ammunition was
such that we could not shoot any game, but I never-
theless devised a means of providing meat for my
commando, by instructing the burghers to surround
the game, drive it into the bends of the Vaal River
and there kill it by beating it with sticks.

The whole commando was about 200 strong. When
we approached Gasibone's place, Commandant Piet
Venter came to our support from the Orange Free

IN A POSITION OF COMMAND

State with about 100 men, white and colored. It
soon became evident that Gasibone had taken refuge
with one of his subordinates, called Mahura, who
lived in a mountain fastness, filled with ravines, fur-
ther up the Harts River Gorge. I sent word to
Mahura that I was coming in pursuit of Gasibone
and that I should keep to the south side of the Harts
River, also that Mahura was not to interfere with
Gasibone, unless he was prepared to capture him and
deliver him up. On receiving this message, Mahura,
with the assistance of an interpreter, set free the old
woman and the young girl who had been carried off
by Gasibone. When our commando came to within
a few thousand paces of the place where we knew
Gasibone's camp to be, the two chiefs attacked us
with united forces. We defeated them, and they fled
into the caves and rocks with which the place
abounded. The following morning, the commando
attacked them there and hunted them out of their
hiding-places. Gasibone fled in the night in the di-
rection of British Bechuanaland, but, on the follow-
ing day, he was found in the brushwood by a patrol,
and fell after a sharp fight. Part of the men with
him were taken prisoners, but afterwards released.

Meanwhile, the missionary who was with Mahura

wrote to me on his behalf to say that he had done

wrong in helping Gasibone, that he deserved to be

punished, but begged for forgiveness and was willing

5 65

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

to submit. I sent back word that I would gladly for-
give him all, but that he must come to me to receive
instructions as to his subsequent behavior. Mahura,
however, did not come personally, on the pretence
that he was too ill to travel, but sent one of his cap-
tains. I nevertheless appointed him chief of that
particular Kaffir tribe, jn Gasibone's place. The cat-
tle which Gasibone had stolen were restored forth-
with. Then the commando returned home again.
For me it had been a year of hard work.

CHAPTER IV
THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

CHAPTER IV

the civil wae: 1861-1864

Kruger's protest against the violation of the Constitution by
Commandant General Sehoeman — Assembly of the people at
Pretoria — Kruger's declaration of war — Attempts at a settle-
ment and their frustration by Sehoeman — Kruger by an act
of the Reformed Church is qualified to hold office in the
State — Fresh negotiations — Military preparations on both
sides — The political contest develops into a religious var —
Battle of Potchefstroom — Schoeman's flight — Renewed nego-
tiations— The arbitration award of the Supreme Court re-
jected— Kruger insulted — Battle of Zwartkopje — Fresh ne-
gotiations— Mutual amnesty — The new elections — Kruger
again Commandant General.

IN the year 1860, Pretorius visited the Orange
Free State to settle public affairs there. He had
become State President of the Republic two years
previously, after the acceptation of the constitution,
and now, on the retirement of President Boshoff,
was also elected President of the Orange Free State.
He owed his election to the Unionist Party there,
since his chief aim was to amalgamate the two Re-
publics. On attaining the second presidency, he was
granted leave of absence for six months by the Volks-
raad of the South African Republic, of which he was

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

also President, for the purpose of visiting the Free
State. He probably expected to be able, within that
time, to accomplish the union which he so much de-
sired. During the President's absence, in accordance
with an earlier resolution of the Volksraad, the oldest
unofficial * member of the Executive Raad became
Acting President of the South African Republic.
In this case, the office fell to Johannes Grobler. He
was associated, as the law required, with another
member unconnected with the Government, and these
two, together with the Commandant General, com-
posed the Executive Raad. Towards the end of
1860, the Volksraad passed a resolution that the State
President should hold no other office. Therefore
Pretorius, who refused to renounce the Presidency
of the Orange Free State, resigned that of the South
African Republic.

But, when Grobler assumed the office of Acting
President, Schoeman, the Commandant General,2
opposed him, declaring that the post should have been
his. He held public meetings to get this power trans-
ferred to himself and to obtain a vote of censure on
the Volksraad. Finally, he summoned all the mili-
tary officers to Pretoria, and, having assembled them,

1 The official members were the President, the State Secretary and the
Commandant General. The two others were non-official, or auxiliary
members, whose presence was not required at every sitting. — Note by the
Editor of /he German Edition.

2 After the Constitution had been accepted, there was as yet only one
Commandant General. — Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

proposed to abolish the Volksraad and to confer
legislative power on the Executive Raad. I, with
some other officers, protested against this proposal,
on the ground that it ran counter to the constitution,
and eventually won over the majority of the officers
to my view. But this did not in the least disturb
General Schoeman. He went to the Government
Office and demanded of Grobler the papers and
documents belonging to the Government. Grobler
offered strong opposition, but was finally forced to
retire. I now proposed that a general public meet-
ing should be summoned for the purpose of deciding
the matter, and this proposal was also accepted by
Schoeman's party. His supporters, however, came
to the meeting armed, while their leader had, in the
meantime, on his own responsibility, appointed a
certain Johannes Steyn to be Commandant General.
Neither I nor my adherents, of course, carried arms.
I had no idea that the other side intended to bring
weapons, but, even if I had known of their intention,
I should still have gone unarmed with my men, for
party feeling ran so high that a hand-to-hand en-
counter might easily have ensued, which would have
led to civil war.

When I had gone as far as Daspoort, on my way
to Pretoria, I received an order from General Schoe-
man to advance no further, but to remain where I
was. I replied that I would certainly not turn back

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

before reaching Pretoria, having once accepted an
invitation to attend the meeting. As a matter of
fact, I rode into the town and went at once to Schoe-
man's house. I asked him how it was that he wished
to hinder my coming to Pretoria, although he had
himself agreed to the plan of summoning a general
meeting, to which all burghers were invited. I added
that this meeting was the sole object of my visit.
Now, just as I entered, a council of war happened to
be taking place in Schoeman's house, under the pres-
idency of Steyn, whom Schoeman had appointed
Commandant General. As soon as he saw me, Steyn
said:

" You must give in with a good grace. It 's the
best you can do."

I made him no answer, but turned to Schoeman
and reproached him for having come armed to the
meeting with his followers, while the other side had
refrained from doing so. After I had spoken my
mind plainly, I told him that I would inspan at once
and return home with my burghers. But, when I
turned to leave the room, some of Steyn's officers
tried to seize me, while others signified their disap-
proval of such treatment and prevented my arrest.
After I had left the house, Steyn ordered a gun,
loaded with shrapnel, to be pointed at the laager of
the opposition party and threatened to shoot unless
a certain Jeppe were handed over to him. This

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

Jeppe was at that time the only printer in the Repub-
lic. His printing-press was at Potchefstroom, and
Schoeman's party wished to have proclamations
printed so that they might be quickly distributed and
thus influence the burghers. I, of course, refused to
grant this request; but the threat of Steyn's people,
that they would open fire, made such an impression
on Jeppe, who was standing behind me, that he
rushed forward and gave himself up to the other side.
I now inspanned to return to Rustenburg. I cried
out at parting to Schoeman's men :

" Once I have crossed the Magaliesberg, you must
look on me as an enemy."

Just as our wagons were moving away, President
Pretorius arrived at Pretoria on his return journey
from the Orange Free State and at once rode up to
our wagons with a number of Schoeman's men, in
order to speak to me and induce me to go no further.
Schoeman's followers now declared that they would
sooner throw away their guns than allow them to be
a cause of strife. They were also willing that I
should make a proposal to be submitted to the vote
of the Volksraad. I therefore outspanned again and
suggested that Pretorius, Proes the State Attorney,
and myself should elaborate a proposal. This met
with universal assent. At a meeting of us three men,
it was agreed that a commission should be appointed
to summon the Volksraad, which should then decide

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

who had acted rightly and who wrongly. The pub-
lic meeting endorsed this suggestion and at once ap-
pointed a commission with Stephanus Lombard as
president. The commissioners now entrusted three
members of the Volksraad, including the president,
Christian Klopper, with the task of summoning that
assembly. Thus, at length, a properly-convened
Volksraad met, declared, after thorough investiga-
tion, that Schoeman was guilty of breaking the law,
and deposed him from the office of Commandant
General. The Volksraad resolved further that a
special court should settle all the resulting points
of dispute. It nominated W. van Rensburg as act-
ing State President, and Theunis Snyman as Com-
mandant General. When, however, the special court
sat to deal with these matters, Schoeman violently
put an end to its proceedings.

I had returned home after the session of the Volks-
raad and happened to be on a hunting expedition
on the Crocodile River, when the new complications
arose. Messengers were sent to recall me. Now
during the recent disputes many members of the
Hervormde Church had reproached me with having
no right whatever to meddle in public affairs. Ac-
cording to the constitution of the Republic, the Her-
vormde Church was the state church. Its members
alone were entitled to exercise any influence in public
affairs. Whoever was not a member of the Her-

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

vormde Church was not a fully-qualified burgher.
Now I belonged to the Christelijk-Gereformeerde
Church, recently founded, in 18.59, by Dr. Postma,
at Rustenburg. It is generally known in South
Africa as the Dopper, or Canting Church. The ac-
tual derivation of the word Dopper cannot be stated
with certainty. At that time, it was derived from the
word dop, a damper or extinguisher for putting out
candles. The meaning would seem to be that, just
as a dop extinguishes a candle, so the Doppers ex-
tinguished all new thoughts and opposed all progress.
As for the peculiar tenets of the Dopper Church,
they consist in a strict adhesion to the decrees of the
Synod of Dordrecht, of 1618 to 1619, and share the
point of view of the Old Reformed Church. The
service differs from that of the other Evangelical
bodies in this particular, that no hymns except psalms
are sung by the worshipers. The members of this
Church were not recognized by the constitution, for,
when it was drafted, they did not form an indepen-
dent community.

Now when I was asked to give help in these fresh
difficulties, I replied that people must put up with
Schoeman's conduct. At any rate, I could not do or
suggest anything, for I had no political standing.
As a result of this, Acting President van Rensburg,
who had been put in office by my party, caused a
meeting to be called of the Council of the Hervormdc

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Church, which passed a resolution conferring equal
rights on the burghers of all Evangelical churches.
As soon as I heard of this resolution, which was sub-
sequently confirmed by the Volksraad, I rode to Pre-
toria, where I found President van Rensburg with
a portion of his followers and also Schoeman with
a number of his adherents.

The two parties were on hostile terms. I went at
once to Schoeman's people, with the intention of per-
suading them to come to a peaceful understanding.
I suggested that a meeting should be summoned of
burghers from every part of the Republic and that
all should acquiesce in whatever resolution the ma-
jority of the meeting might adopt. Both parties
agreed to this proposal, and a meeting was called at
Pretoria. Hither came a mass of burghers from all
parts of the Republic, and it was resolved, by a large
majority, to carry out the proposal which had been al-
ready accepted by the Volksraad : namely, that a spe-
cial court should settle each separate question. But
Schoeman resisted this proposal and called up all his
men, who were still outside Pretoria, to ralty round
him. Thereupon van Rensburg, in his turn, ordered
Commandant General Snyman to call a comicil of
war and at once posted sentries to prevent Schoe-
man from sending out any more messages.

Pickets were now stationed at various points
around Pretoria — a particularly strong one at

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-186-4

Aapjes River, where the suburb of Arcadia is now
situated. The veteran Jacob Malan was in command
of this post. He notified the Commandant General,
on the following day, that his presence there was su-
perfluous, as Schoeman's messengers easily made
their way through the pickets and rode people down,
if they did not get out of the way. Snyman then
gave orders, that, if one of Schoeman's messengers
should again come and refuse to halt when the chal-
lenge to do so was repeated, the watch must fire at
his horse. Soon after this order was issued, a mes-
senger came riding at full speed and paid no heed
to the injunction to halt. The outpost thereupon
shot the horse with a charge of large shot. The mes-
senger turned, but as he was turning, his horse
dropped. He himself was wounded by a shot in the
arm. Thus was the first shot fired that began the
Civil War.

On the same evening, the Commandant General,
in conjunction with the military officers, issued an
order that all burghers must assemble in the town in
order to surround Schoeman and take him prisoner
on the following day. But, during the night, Schoe-
man found a way of breaking through with his men
as far as Potchefstroom. All who remained behind
were visited with punishment by the Council of War.
Schoeman then mustered a commando at Potchef-
stroom, to which spot General Snyman's commando

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

now hastened. The Acting President and myself
accompanied Snyman.

Schoeman's party now spread a report that I,
Paul Kruger, was out with my men on commando
to compel the recognition of my own church,
the Christelijk-Gereformeerde Church, as the state
church, instead of the Hervormde denomination.
These rumors occasioned many to join Schoeman's
side. Even in the district of Marico, he obtained
adherents, including Jan Viljoen, the commandant
of that district. As soon as the Government's com-
mando, numbering about 500 or 600 men, reached
Potchef stroom, President van Rensburg sent a mes-
sage to Schoeman with a proposal that a joint com-
mission should be appointed from both sides to find
a way out of their difficulties. Schoeman agreed to
this proposal, and appointed, on his side, Jan Kock,
the father of General Kock, who fell in the late war,
together with other burghers, to serve on the com-
mission, while I, together with some others, was en-
trusted with the conduct of the peace negotiations by
the Government party. The delegates met half-way
between the two camps. Scarcely had we met, when
Jan Kock said to me :

" So you want to make your church the state
church? "

I answered quietly :

" Oom Jan, I need not take much trouble to con-

THE CIVIL WAR: 18G1-1864

tradict you. If you think a little, you must see for
yourself that such a statement must be untrue. Here
is the Government's laager. The President and all
the officers belong to the Hervormde Church, and
I scarcely know whether, out of 500 or 600 men,
as many as twenty belong to my church. There-
fore what you say about the churches cannot be
true."

Afterwards I added :

" I have never thought of making the church to
which I belong the state church. Nay, even if you
were to offer to make it so, I should decidedly refuse,
for our principle declares that Christ and no other
must be the Head of the Church."

The commission was, however, unable to come to
a decision, and the members separated without ac-
complishing any result.

On the following day, General Snyman sent me
with a gun and a number of burghers to bombard
the town from the south side. As soon as I arrived,
I at once opened fire with the gun, and succeeded in
disabling one of the enemy's guns with my third shot.
General Schoeman replied from the town with artil-
lery and rifle-fire. This duel of the guns lasted all
day. On the following night, Schoeman, with his
commando, quitted the town for a plateau on the
northern side, in order thence to attack the Govern-
ment party. But I had suspected Schoeman of this

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

intention, and crept alone up the hills in order to ob-
serve the enemy's movements. When, at daybreak,
I saw Schoeman's commando approaching, I has-
tened back to my men and gave them orders to get
ready and follow me to the hills. That no time might
be lost, I led the way with fifteen to twenty men,
while the rest completed their preparations, and
charged with them to within fifty or sixty paces of
Schoeman's followers, who opened fire with shot and
bullets. Of course, I and my men replied, and the
firing grew so fierce that neither party could see the
other for the smoke and we were obliged to take aim
by instinct. I had three wounded, while the other
side had to lament the loss of one killed and about
fifteen wounded. General Schoeman, who was
slightly woimded himself, fled on the same day into
the Orange Free State, but was pursued by us and lost
yet a few more followers, whom we took prisoners.
On his farm in the Orange Free State, his people
rallied once more, and General Snyman took the
necessary steps to have his opponents arrested there.
The Government of the Orange Free State was
asked if it would allow such arrests to take place on
that ground and territory. It replied that it had
no objection, and even sent Landdrost Truter, of
Kroonstad, to assist in making the arrests. But
Schoeman was too quick for them. He retreated in
the night in the direction of Wakkerstroom, and

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

once more rallied his commando on a farm at the
junction of the Klip Stream and Vaal River.

The Government commando, which had at first
withdrawn rather to the north, on the assumption that
Schoeman would make for Pretoria, pursued him
first to the farm I have mentioned, thence to Potchef-
stroom, and fell in with his laager at the Mooi River
between the Loop Stream and Potchefstroom. Just
as fighting was about to begin, a small band of Schoe-
man's people came up, among them being President
Pretorius. He proposed that yet another commission
should be appointed to settle our differences. The
Government party agreed to this and laagered a few
thousand paces above Schoeman's men, opposite
Potchefstroom, on the Mooi River. The Govern-
ment once more sent me with a few other burghers to
serve on the commission, while Schoeman's party
nominated President Pretorius and others. The
place of meeting lay half-way between the laagers.
I proposed that we should now definitely recognize
the resolution of the Volksraad appointing van Rens-
burg Acting President and entrusting the punish-
ment of the guilty to a special tribunal. One of the
most hotly-debated points in our discussion was, who
should sit as judge of this tribunal? But at last this
question, too, was decided, after a debate of many
hours, in accordance with my ideas. I had proposed
to establish the tribunal in exact conformity with the

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

requirements of the constitution. It was further
resolved that President van Rensburg should sum-
mon the special court without delay. The decisions
of the commission were accepted by both commandos ;
the members separated ; the war seemed at an end.

President van Rensburg at once acted on this de-
cision and summoned the special court. But, al-
though the court was composed in equal parts of
members drawn from both factions, the first case,
which happened to be that of Andries du Toit, be-
longing to the Schoeman party, was given against
him. This was enough. The remaining members
of the party rode away. The costs of the court, as
Avell as those of the commando, were given against
Schoeman's party, and a council of war was to be
held, to which his officers were also to be invited. It
so happened that I had meantime been elected Com-
mandant General, and was charged by the Govern-
ment with the task of collecting the costs of the com-
mando from the opposite side and, at the same time,
bringing the officers to the council of war. I sum-
moned a meeting for this purpose in the Heidelberg
district, where I met with a most friendly reception
from the field-cornet of that district, named Roets,
a member of the opposite faction. I also succeeded
in collecting, by peaceful means, a portion of the
fines imposed, and in inducing a number of the offi-
cers opposed to me, including Commandant Jan

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

Marais, to accompany me to Pretoria. On my way
to the meeting at Heidelberg, a young Boer per-
petually rode in front of me and announced that
" Paul Kruger was coming." To this he invariably
added that he would not advise him to come, as it
would go badly with him. Now, since I traveled by
night as well as by day, I overtook this young man
and, on the following morning, turned back from
a farm, which he was just going to visit. The young
man came straight up to me and began to rattle off
his usual speech. I let him finish his say and then
said to him :

" Young man, let me give you some good advice:
do not repeat this foolish stuff any longer! Your
whole party has already been guilty of quite enough
disobedience against the administrative authority."

" Yes; but who are you, Oom? " asked the young
man.

" Paul Kruger," I replied.

To hear these words and lay hold of his horse was
for the young man the work of an instant. He trem-
bled so violently in every limb that he could scarcely
mount his horse. But, once he was in the saddle, he
did not wait a moment. I tried at least to discover
his name but could get no reply save a cry of terror,
and then away he flew !

On my return from Heidelberg to Pretoria, I had
a still more amusing experience. I was traveling

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

with the above-mentioned Jan Marais to the farm of
a certain Strydom in the Pretoria district. Mrs.
Strydom knew Marais very well, and was aware that
he belonged to Schoeman's party. Rut she did not
know me, and thought I was one of his officers. Her
husband had been summoned to serve as a magistrate
in the local court, but had failed to appear, and had
accordingly been condemned to -pay a fine of ,£100,
whereupon he had taken to flight. Mrs. Strydom
told her visitors with complete unconcern that her
husband had been obliged to fly from his house, be-
cause " this Paul Kruger " had condemned him to
pay a fine of £100 on account of his failure to preside
in the local court. Of course this fine was not im-
posed by me, but by the court itself. Yet she directed
all her wrath upon " Kruger," and spoke without re-
straint in a most unpleasant manner about the Gov-
ernment party and specially about myself, who, " so
to speak, was the head of the party." After she had
continued these tirades against myself and my party
for about half an horn*, there arrived from Pretoria
a certain Jan Rantjes, who was attached to the side
of the Government. He saluted me, and, coming
up, said:

' What, you here too, General? Are you taking
Marais as your prisoner? "

" No," I answered, " he is going with me of his
own free will to the council of war."

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1804

A light began to dawn on Mrs. Strydom, and her
tongue was silenced by apprehension. In tones of
earnest entreaty she said to me :

" Oh, General, I did not know who you were. Do
not be angry at what I have said. I am so nervous
by nature that I always talk to people as they talk
to me, to avoid all unpleasantness. I only speak like
that when I think people belong to the other side ; but,
if people of your party come, I speak quite differ-
ently. I have the sum here, which my husband was
fined. I can fetch it you, if the general will only
take it."

To this I, of course, replied that I had nothing to
do with the money; neither could I take it, for the
matter was one which concerned the court. But,
from that moment until the time of my departure,
Mrs. Strydom was more than amiable.

The council of war in Pretoria passed off with-
out any noteworthy results. Shortly afterwards, I
was instructed by President van Rensburg to go to
the Orange Free State to settle the question of de-
termining the boundary between the two States.
When I reached Potchefstroom, I learned that Jan
Viljoen, of Schoeman's party, the Commandant of
Marico, was approaching with a commando to cap-
ture me. I rode to meet him with my small escort
to ask what he wanted. Some of my men, including
Field-cornet Sarel Eloff, dashed forward to seize a

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

kopje, which seemed to be Viljoen's objective, and
succeeded in reaching it before Viljoen. When they
had secured this advantage, they cried out to Vil-
joen's men that they had no hostile intentions, but
only desired a friendly conference. The others rode
continually nearer, until they completely surrounded
ElofF with his small band of comrades, whereupon
they captured the whole company and rode off with
them to their camp. When they were nearly oppo-
site the place where I had remained with the rest of
my men, Field-cornet ElofF suddenly put spurs to
his horse and rode up to me. His guards of course
set after him, as soon as they had recovered from
their surprise, but they could not catch him on his
good horse. The other prisoners were taken to the
enemy's laager and afterwards declared that they
had been threatened with all sorts of punishments,
if I did not yield to the demands of Schoeman's
party. They did not dare to make a prisoner of me,
although I had only a few men with me. My camp
had been surrounded, but it was impossible to sur-
prise me, for I was prepared for everything. How-
ever, considering their overwhelming superiority in
numbers and in order to avoid injuring the prisoners,
I had resolved, if it came to a fight, to avoid an en-
counter. So I and ElofF determined to continue our
journey to the Orange Free State, while the other
burghers might better disperse to their homes. As

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

a matter of fact, we arrived without hindrance at
Biihrmann's farm, in the neighborhood of the Rhe-
noster River, in the Orange Free State, while several
more of our burghers were made prisoners on their
way home by Viljoen's men.

I was continually kept informed of the plans and
intentions of Viljoen's commando by trusty messen-
gers, and I made use of the same messengers to con-
vey to the enemy the following intelligence. I al-
lowed them to suppose that I never intended to return
to the South African Republic, but should settle
down in the Orange Free State, because there were
so many disputes in the Transvaal. I even bought
a farm in the Orange Free State, on condition of
being allowed to give it back again, and sent for a
team of oxen : nay, I even caused my family to pre-
pare themselves for a trek, so as to make the news
seem more probable. I had recourse to this strata-
gem chiefly that I might set free my imprisoned bur-
ghers. Shortly afterwards, I received a message that
a large commando of the Opposition was on the way
to Pretoria for the purpose of attacking a Govern-
ment commando encamped on the Crocodile River.
A small portion of the hostile commando had re-
mained at Potchefstroom to guard the prisoners.
When I learned that the prisoners had been set free
and were dispersed, and when, at the same time, a
messenger from the Government party came to me

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

to ask what my plans were, I resolved to return im-
mediately and join the Government commando on
the Crocodile River. Pretorius, who in the meantime
had resigned the office of President of the Orange
Free State, happened at this moment to be at Pot-
chef stroom. I let him know that I would pay him a
visit, if it were at all possible, but found no time to
do so. I did, however, push on in the night to Stom-
poorfontein Farm, in the Potchefstroom district,
which belonged to Wolmarans, a member of the
party. But I stayed there only about half an hour
and journeyed on again to my farm, called Water-
kloof, in the Rustenburg district, which I reached
in the afternoon of the same day. Field-cornet Sarel
Eloff, who had been with me the whole time, parted
from me on the hoogeveld, and went straight to the
Zwartruggen district to commandeer the burghers
there. He promised to rejoin me in a few days with
his men.

On the day after my arrival at the farm I rested,
as it was Sunday, but the same night I pushed on to
Zwartkopje, where President van Rensburg, with
part of his burghers, was encamped. Here I met
him, having hurried up on the news of the advance of
a strong commando. On the following day, which
was Tuesday, the enemy's commando was sighted. I
had set a good watch and was early informed of their
approach. The enemy seemed intent on occupying

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

Zwartkopje, while my men hurried to outstrip them
and be the first to take up their stand on the kopje.
Now began a race on both sides for the nearest kopje.
Both sides came into collision at the top. I, with a
man named Enslin, was in front. As he got off his
horse, Enslin was already prepared to fire, but some
one from the enemy's ranks called across:

"Don't shoot; let us talk: why need we kill one
another? "

Enslin lowered his gun, but, just as he did so, re-
ceived a bullet and fell dead into my arms. There-
upon a general engagement ensued, but, before it
had lasted half an hour, the enemy made for their
horses and fled in the direction of Pretoria.

My burghers now mounted their horses to pursue
the enemy, but I stopped them by pointing out that
they had not to do with enemies, but with brothers.
Just at that moment, Field-cornet Eloff came up
with 50 men, and wanted to continue the fight. But
I would not let him, and, though dissatisfied at this,
he listened to my arguments. President van Rens-
burg greatly appreciated this conduct on my part.
When the enemy's burghers saw that they were not
being pursued, they turned back to bring their
wagons to a safe place. They encamped on a group
of kopjes a few thousand paces distant from my
men.

In the evening, I sent ElofF with some men to keep

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

watch in the neighborhood of the enemy's laager.
They got so close to the laager that they could hear
the people talking there, and could see how busy they
were in putting their artillery into position by the
light of lanterns. None of them observed that the
enemy was in close proximity.

That night, ex-President Pretorius entered the
enemy's laager, and at once sent a message to me, in
which he asked for a conference to discuss the terms
of peace. As I had entertained the same plan, I
readily agreed to it. Delegates were appointed on
both sides for this conference: Grobler, Prinsloo
and myself for the Government, and ex-President
Pretorius, Menitjes and Fourie for the enemy. As
soon as we met, I again proposed, as at a previous
conference, that the Government elected must, in ac-
cordance with the constitution of the country, be first
recognized as legal by the Volksraad. In proof of
our peaceful intentions, I told the enemy that one of
our pickets, on the previous night, had come so close
to their laager that it might have attacked them quite
unawares, had it wished to do so. This fact did not
fail to make an impression, and after a discussion that
lasted several days, we agreed on the following
points :

1. The Government to be recognized by the

Volksraad.

2. A new presidential election to take place.

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1864

3. The mooted points still existing to be re-
ferred to a court of arbitration composed
of judges of the Free State. With this
object, the Free State should be asked to
assign such judges as were necessary.
The Opposition proposed, moreover, that a commis-
sion should be nominated from their side whose duty
it should be to see that the arrangement was strictly
kept by the Government, and that they must have
free access to President van Rensburg's office. To
this no objection was raised, and ex-President Preto-
rius and another burgher were elected members of
this commission. At the same time, Fourie and my-
self, with Jan Kraep as secretary, were dispatched
to the Orange Free State, in order to ask for judges
from the Government of this State, who, in accor-
dance with the arrangement, might constitute the
court.

The burghers dispersed and went to their homes.
When our deputation reached the Orange Free
State, where President Brand had just taken his oath
of office, the latter advised both parties to settle the
matter amicably rather than bring it before a court.
He pointed out to us that an impartial court of
law would pass sentences on too many burghers,
and that an understanding on both sides would
be much better; finally, he even refused to ap-
point the judges of his country for the purpose. I

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

now sought for a precedent for settling a matter of
this kind, and at last discovered that an old jurist had
laid down the principle that charges of rebellion in
a country torn by civil war could, by general consent,
be dismissed by a general amnesty, so long as the
chief parties concerned were discharged from their
official positions. The Volksraad resolved in this
sense, and peace was thus fully restored. The Volks-
raad also agreed to the proposal that a new presiden-
tial election should be held. At the same time, at my
own instance, as I wished to give the burghers the
opportunity of choosing another commandant gen-
eral if they were dissatisfied with me, a new election
for Commandant General was held, at which I ob-
tained more than two-thirds of the votes.

CHAPTER V
NATIVE WARS

CHAPTER V

NATIVE WARS

The Transvaalers again come to the Orange Free State's assis-
tance against the Basutos, under Moshesh, but break up in
discord — Kruger's accident in 1866 — Fighting in the Zout-
pansberg — Lack of ammunition and support — Kruger alone
among the Kaffirs.

IN 1865, the great Basuto War broke out in the
Free State. Robbing and plundering, the Ba-
sutos penetrated far into Free State territory. They
also murdered some Transvaalers, among others a
certain Pretorius and his family, who was returning
home in his wagons, across the Drakensberg, from a
journey to Natal. As assistance was required in the
Orange Free State, I was dispatched with about 300
men ' supplied by Pretorius. From Malap, that is,
from the settlement of the Chief Malap and his tribe,
near Moshesh's town, I sent a message to the head
chief to deliver up the murderers. Moshesh replied
that he was prepared to do so, but asked for a few
days' delay. Before the short time which was now

1 1 desire here to state that these figures are absolutely correct, not-
withstanding that they differ entirely from those given in the historical
works on South Africa that have so far appeared. — Note by tha Editor of
the German Edition.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

allowed to him had expired, he treacherously fell
upon the Boer camp with 3,000 Kaffirs and about
4,000 Zulus who had come to his assistance. Under
cover of the darkness, aggravated by a continuous
soft rain, and a rising mist, the Kaffirs came right
into the camp and naturally occasioned great con-
sternation. It was not till daybreak that we managed
to drive them from the camp.

I had at that time a certain Nyhoff for my secre-
tary, who had been drunk on the evening before the
fight, and had been tied to a wagon-wheel for a pun-
ishment. He there slept so soundly that he noticed
nothing of the fight, and, the next day, when he at
last awoke, he looked round in astonishment and
asked :

" Have you people been fighting during the
night? "

Our commando pursued the enemy into the moun-
tains in the direction of Malap's town. At the same
time, I dispatched a message to Fick, the Chief Com-
mandant of the Orange Free State, who had about
600 men with him, to ask him also to advance towards
Malap's town, with his commando, and join me there.
This was done, and we held a council of war in which
it was decided that the burghers of the South African
Republic should receive farms in the territory which
was now about to be freed of the enemy and hold
them under the laws of the Orange Free State. The

NATIVE WARS

Government of the Free State was informed of this
resolution. An attack was made on the Malap
Mountains and met with perfect success. The
enemy was driven off, a large number of his men
killed and wounded and a quantity of cattle captured.

From there the commando marched further in the
direction of Moshesh's town. On the way, near the
Katskatsberg, we came upon a strong Kaffir force
of about 20,000 men. The strength of the enemy
may be estimated to some extent from the following
observations. When we Boers first saw the Kaffir
forces, who were all mounted, we noticed some loose
cattle among them, but these seemed so few com-
pared with the number of the Kaffirs that we con-
cluded they were cattle which the Kaffirs had brought
with them for food. But, when we had succeeded in
capturing the cattle, we counted no less than 8,000
head. The Kaffirs made their way back to the town,
pursued by our men, and, after some more fighting,
we managed to capture 30,000 more sheep, 8,000
oxen and a few hundred horses.

Commandant Fick here received word from Presi-
dent Brand of the Free State that he could not con-
sent to the resolution, which had been passed at the
council of war, by which Transvaal burghers were to
obtain grants of ground in the reconquered territory
to be held under the laws of the Free State. In con-
sequence of this the burghers of the South African
7 97

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Republic refused to fight any longer and went
home.

I had hardly reached home, after this expedition,
when I had to go to Potchefstroom to attend the Ses-
sion of 1866 of the Volksraad. On my return jour-
ney after the sitting, I met with a serious accident.
At Schoonkloof Farm, in the Rustenburg district,
just beyond Elephant's Pass, I had to cross a sloot,
or ditch. The ditch was dry, but the road which led
across the ditch was thoroughly soaked and cracked,
so that it was impossible for wagon or horse to get
through. Now, rather than turn back and go a long
way out of my road, I went back a little way with my
two-wheeled cart and then urged the mules to a full
gallop towards the ditch, intending to make them
jump the ditch and drag the cart after them. But the
cart upset and I broke my left leg at the knee. With
my broken leg and assisted only by the small Kaffir
boy whom I had with me, I had to get the cart up
again, lift it on to the wheels, and, without being able
to bind up my leg, drive for an hour and a half to get
home. The jolting of the cart caused me terrible suf-
fering, and my broken leg compelled me to nine
months of inactivity, during which time I only man-
aged to crawl about on crutches. My left leg has
ever since been a little shorter than the other, but it
was hardly noticeable after a time.

Before I had quite recovered, in 1867, I had to

NATIVE WARS

lead a commando against the rebel Kaffirs of the
Zoutpansberg district. But, through lack of am-
munition, this expedition was able to do but little.
President Pretorius had promised to send me am-
munition, but could not keep his word, as the goods
were stopped at the frontier. In the Zoutpansberg
district the village of Schoemansdaal had suffered
especially from the attacks of the Kaffirs. I went
there, and twice attacked the Kaffirs in order to drive
them from that neighborhood. But, in these two
attempts, all my ammunition was exhausted, and,
much against my will, I was obliged to abandon
the village. I offered to remain until help and am-
munition should come from Pretoria, where I had
sent a mounted messenger to inform the President
of our plight. But only one field-cornet with his
men was willing to stay with me, the others refusing
to hear of any further delay. I called the villagers
together, and held a meeting in which I told them
that I would remain with them, but the villagers
declared that they would rather not stay there under
such conditions, but would go back with the com-
mando, as they could then at least take their most
valuable possessions on the wagons of their relations
in the commando, while otherwise, if the Kaffirs were
not driven away, they would have to flee later on,
and then, for want of transport, would have to leave
all their property behind them. So there was nothing

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

for it but to escort the inhabitants of Schoemansdaal
to Marabastad, which place thus, for the time being,
became the chief settlement in the Zoutpansberg
district.

On the return journey across Makapaanspoort,
the inhabitants of that district complained that the
Kaffir captain Machem had stolen much cattle from
them and that he had acted altogether in so aggres-
sive a manner that they lived in constant fear of
attack.

Machem was summoned to appear before me, as
he had changed his quarters, and I could not go to
him to speak with him. His present habitation was a
mere nest of caves, ravines and earth-holes, where
his people lived on stolen cattle and could easily
escape pursuit. Machem answered the summons,
but many of his people would not leave their caves.
I therefore went myself, accompanied by the captain,
to fetch the rebels. On arriving at the kraal, I sent
messengers to announce the object of my visit. But
the Kaffirs refused to listen to the messengers and
attacked them. When I heard the firing, I ran to
the rescue. The Kaffirs fired at me also, but, after a
short fight, we succeeded in capturing those of the
cave-dwellers who had not escaped. This band, to-
gether with the others who had first obeyed the sum-
mons, were then taken to their new home, five or
six miles up the Nile River. At Makapaanspoort,

100

NATIVE WARS

a small guard was also left to protect the inhabi-
tants.

This affair with Machem had caused a great to-do.
While we were besieging the refractory Kaffirs in
their caves, the girls of the tribe brought them water
and food. In order not to harm the women and
yet to prevent them from prolonging the men's
resistance, I had them all captured, as they were
going to the caves, and placed under supervision.
We took them with us to Pretoria, there to be deliv-
ered, and left to the decision of the Executive Raad,
whose confirmation I also had to obtain of my choice
of the place allotted to Machem and his people for
their new settlement (I had full authority and
orders to make him leave his old quarters). If
Machem's tribe should not have submitted and
promised to behave better, the girls, according to
English (and afterwards also Boer) custom, would
have been ingeboekt, that is, portioned out to Boer
families under legal supervision until they came of
age. Machem, however, behaved so well that the
Executive Raad soon after restored all the girls to
him.

In the following year, 1868, I set out again, and,
accompanied by only one burgher, made for the
Waterberg and Zoutpansberg districts, to see how
matters stood there. At Makapaanspoort, I found
all the Kaffir chiefs of the neighborhood assembled.

101

LIBRARY

Mivnsmr of c^f0miA

RIVERSIDE

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

They all seemed greatly surprised at my unexpected
visit. They knew I was to come, but had thought
that I would summon them by messenger to come to
me; and they now consulted as to how they should
act in this case. They had never thought that I
would venture among them alone. Without dis-
playing the least distrust, I dismounted in their
town, and they all kept quiet. They greeted me
with the words:

" When it is peace, it is peace; and when it is war,
it is war," which implied that my arrival without an
escort showed them that my disposition towards them
was friendly, that I expected the same from them,
and that therefore they must keep the peace. From
Makapaansport, I went on to Zoutpansberg, where
one of the captains who had fought against me in
the previous year now offered his submission. The
object of this journey was not merety that I might
see the captains personally and admonish them to
keep the peace, but also, as is the duty of a com-
mandant general, take a census of the Kaffirs, a
valuation necessary for the purpose of taxation.

102

CHAPTER VI
PRESIDENT BURGERS

CHAPTER VI

PRESIDENT BURGERS

Dispute about Kimberley — Kruger's protest against the court
of arbitration to which President Pretorius has yielded — Pre-
torius resigns the Presidency — T. F. Burgers elected by a
large majority, notwithstanding Kruger's agitation — Expla-
nation between Kruger and Burgers — Burgers' policy — War
with Secucuni — Dispute about the arbitrary war-tax imposed
by the President — Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the British
Governor of Natal, arrives with his plans for annexation —
Conferences with Shepstone — Burgers' difference with Kru-
ger and the Volksraad — Kruger elected Vice-President — The
annexation of the Transvaal — Protest of the Executive Raad
against the annexation.

IN 1870 diamond fields were discovered in West
Griqualand, at Kimberley and in the west of the
South African Republic, near Barkly West. I my-
self went to regulate matters in those which lay
within Transvaal territory, but was very uncivilly
received by the English miners who had gathered
there. These people had arbitrarily established a
kind of republic, with a certain Parker as president
and threatened Pretorius with war unless he left
them alone.

Pretorius complained to the British Government
about the behavior of its subjects. He was told that

105

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

the districts in which the diamonds were found did
not belong to the Republic but to the Kaffir chiefs
Montsioa and Gasibone. This was one of those false
statements with which the British Government is
always prepared when it suits its purpose ; for Gasi-
bone had now for some time been deposed by the
Government of the South African Republic and
Mahura put in his place. His district was within the
borders of the South African Republic. About this
there had never been the slightest doubt or dispute.
Waterboer himself only laid claim to the territories
at the instigation of the English. He had no right
to them whatever.

In order to avoid the difficulties, President Pre-
torius agreed to arbitrate with Mahura, Montsioa and
Waterboer. This was a mistake and very much
against my wish, as I maintained that the Republic
did not need and should never accept arbitration re-
garding her own possessions or between herself and
her subjects. President Pretorius asked Keate, the
Governor of Natal, to arbitrate, and the latter de-
cided in favor of the Kaffir chiefs, declaring them to
be the independent proprietors of the disputed
districts.

One of the witnesses in this business was the Kaffir
chief Mobilo. He was asked if he intended to make
any claims, as he had assisted in clearing the district
and making it habitable. He answered :

106

PRESIDENT BURGERS

1 Yes, I did help, but I only followed the white
man like the jackal which follows a herd, to watch if
it can't pick up a lamb here and there."

He was told that he too might have a part of the
district. The Kaffir was lost in thought for a few
moments, and then answered:

"No, baas, I dread Malimo's (God's) anger.
When Moselikatse's Kaffirs were murdering us,
Malimo sent the white men to save us. Shall I now
place my foot upon the neck of my deliverer? "

He spoke some time and reminded them how Mose-
likatse used to put the old people to death, when he
saw the aasvogels hovering over his kraal, and how
he threw them to the aasvogels. He refused to injure
the rights of the white men who had delivered the
Kaffirs from these horrors.

The Government of the South African Republic
had appointed a commission to attend the discussions
of the arbitration court. I was a member of
this commission, which protested against Governor
Keate's judgment and lodged its objections with the
Volksraad against the proceedings of President
Pretorius. The Volksraad joined in the protest and
Pretorius resigned. The protest at least effected
this result, that the Republic retained a small piece
of the territory — that part, namely, which contains
the village of Christiania.

The resignation of President Pretorius necessi-

107

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

tated a new election. A number of burghers asked
me to become a candidate. But I refused and with
my party supported Robinson as our candidate for
the Presidency. The Opposition candidate was
Thomas Francois Burgers. The latter had just
returned from a tour through the country and was
chosen State President by a large majority, although
we made every effort to secure Robinson's election.
The inauguration of the new President took place in
the old Government Buildings at Pretoria.

I was present. After the President had taken the
oath of office, I rose and addressed him in the follow-
ing words :

" Your Honor, I have done my best to prevent
your election, principally, because of your religious
views, which appear to me to be mistaken. But as
you have now been elected by the majority, I submit
as a good republican to this vote of the people, trust-
ing that you are a more earnest believer than I
thought, in which case I will congratulate you with
all my heart."

To this the President answered :

" Burgher, who voted against me for conscience'
sake, you are as dear to me as those who voted for
me."

Many burghers now came up to me to express
their delight at my outspokenness; many had
thought I would keep my own counsel.

108

PRESIDENT BURGERS

President Burgers was without doubt a man of
keen intelligence and of very great gifts. He en-
deavored without delay to improve the government
of the country and to enter into commercial relations
with foreign countries. Another favorite project
of his was the construction of a railway from Lorenzo
Marques to Pretoria, and he personally undertook a
journey to Europe to borrow money for this purpose.
This loan was only partially successful, but he had
the good fortune to discover in Europe a few promi-
nent men whom he brought back with him. One of
them was Dr. Jorissen who afterwards rendered so
many useful services to the country. The only thing
to be said against Burgers' government was, that
his views differed too much from those of the
burghers. And this was the case not only in religious
questions, but also in other matters which he con-
sidered necessary for the development of the Re-
public, whereas his burghers were of a different
opinion. It must be admitted that the Republic of
that day was not ripe for T. F. Burgers' advanced
ideas. Even if, for instance, he had succeeded in col-
lecting the money for the railway from Delagoa Bay
to the Republic, the scheme could not have been
termed a success, for the resources of the Republic
were not yet sufficiently developed to make such a
line a paying concern.

His plans, which were in advance of the times, and

109

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

his liberal views regarding religion soon won him a
host of adversaries. But what cost him nearly all
his influence and made him almost impossible to the
majority of the burghers was the unfortunate Secu-
cuni War of 1876.

This war was brought about in the following way.
The Government had leased a farm in the neighbor-
hood of Secucuni's town to a certain burgher, whose
cattle were seized by one of Secucuni's subordinates.
When the Government sent to make inquiries, Secu-
cuni returned an insolent answer, summoned his
troops and threatened the Lydenburg district. The
Republic was therefore obliged to bring back Se-
cucuni to a sense of his duty. President Burgers
wished personally to accompany the burgher com-
mando. I was very much opposed to this, as I con-
sidered it my duty as Commandant General to lead
the expedition. When Burgers insisted on accom-
panying the commando I refused to go. Burgers
asked the reason of my refusal, and I replied :

" I cannot lead the commando if you come; for
with your merry evenings in laager and your Sunday
dances the enemy will shoot me even behind a wall ;
for God's blessing will not rest on our expedition."

Burgers answered that it was in my power as
Commandant General to forbid anything that I did
not approve of. But I said :

" Do you think that the burghers would listen to

PRESIDENT BURGERS

anything I might say, once you, as President, have
set them the example? "

Then he asked me whom I advised him to take
with him as fighting General. I recommended Nich-
olas Smit, afterwards Vice-President of the South
African Republic, and Ex-President Pretorius. Bur-
gers accepted my recommendations and marched with
a fairly strong force against Secucuni. Before com-
ing to close quarters with him they attacked one of
his subordinates called Magali, who lived in a very
ugly rocky fastness. But the commando succeeded
in driving the Kaffirs out of their caves and gorges,
whereupon Burgers flew into such an ecstasy that he
exclaimed :

" Now, Gibraltar is mine! "

After this attack they advanced against Secucuni.
But in consequence of discords and the absence of
combined efforts, the attack on his entrenchments
failed. A certain number of burghers, under Com-
mandant Joubert, of Pretoria, had already captured
the position, but were obliged to retire for want of
reinforcements. They were attacked from all sides
by between four and five thousand Kaffirs. This
incident, joined to other causes of discontent, exas-
perated the burghers to such a degree that, in the
end, they refused to fight or to remain where they
were. And, although the President employed all
his eloquence to persuade them to stay with him, he

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

did not succeed and was at last obliged to let the com-
mando return home. He left three strong outposts
of volunteers behind, however, under a Boer com-
mandant and a German officer in order to hold Secu-
cuni in check. Later on, the latter sued for peace
and paid a war indemnity of 1,000 oxen.

Meanwhile the President and the burghers had
returned home without bringing the war to a conclu-
sion. The outposts cost money, and the President,
for this purpose, levied a special tax of £5 on every
burgher. This measure brought him into violent con-
flict with myself, for I considered the tax unlawful
as it was imposed without the consent of the Volks-
raad. A considerable number of the burghers re-
fused to pay.

During the session of the Volksraad, after the war,
in 1877, the President made a violent attack on the
burghers who refused to pay the extra tax, and this
in the presence of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the
British Special Commissioner who was already in
Pretoria waiting to see how he could put the Eng-
lish plans for the annexation of the Republic into
execution. I defended the burghers who resisted the
illegal impost. During the adjournment, I was chat-
ting with other members of the Volksraad on the ve-
randa, when President Burgers joined us, slapped
me on the shoulder and said :

" Mr. Kruger, you can't deny that the burghers

112

PRESIDENT BURGERS

who refuse to pay the taxes are in a state of rebellion
against their Government? "

I answered :

" I deny it absolutely, on the grounds which I have
already stated. They don't refuse to pay their taxes ;
but they do refuse to pay a tax which you have added,
without authority, to the already existing taxes. But
even if the fact were as you say, I should like to ask
you a question. Would you consider it a proof of af-
fection to accuse your wife — no matter what her
faults — openly before her bitterest enemy? That is
what you have done to the Republic in the presence
of her enemy, and this is to me a proof that you do
not love but hate the Republic."

The President was silent and left us.

All the difficulties which President Burgers en-
countered, through his own fault, were employed by
the English to bring about and justify annexation.
A large majority of the burghers who lived in the
plains were, as has already been stated, dissatisfied
with the President's government, while the inhabi-
tants of the villages,1 who consisted almost entirely
of foreigners, and of whom a large number were not
even burghers, were contented with Burgers' rule,
above all because they expected great things from
the proposed railway. When they now realized how

1The Boer always speaks of villages, or dorpen, where we should say
towns. He knows the term " Kaffir town," or slad, but to him even the
capital is only a "village," or dorp. — Translator's Note.

8 113

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

strong the opposition was they gradually came to the
conclusion that annexation by the British Crown
would not be at all a bad thing for them. It was
from these men that Shepstone received petitions in
favor of annexation. These petitions were signed
almost entirely by the village populations.

Shepstone, the Governor of Natal, was authorized
by the British Government to discover the best means
for annexing the country. He left Natal for Pre-
toria with an escort of twenty -five men, for the pur-
pose, as he pretended, of discussing the Kaffir diffi-
culties and other questions. He added openly, which
was the case, that the Republic had not defeated Se-
cucuni, and that this fact would be a dangerous in-
citement to rebellion on British territory. I clearly
foresaw Shepstone's intentions, and asked President
Burgers not to permit him to enter the town with his
armed body-guard, except under the escort of an
armed burgher force. President Burgers paid no
attention to my request.

The President's term of office had at this time ex-
pired, and a new election had become necessary. I
was asked by a great number of burghers to present
myself as a candidate, and, although I at first re-
fused, I at last consented in order to put a stop to
the dissatisfaction which the burghers had shown at
my refusal to stand. But I made this condition with
the election committee, that, if Burgers obtained a

114

PRESIDENT BURGERS

majority, they must rest content and obey him, so
as not, through open discords, to give England an
excuse for carrying out her plans of annexation.
Already in the first week in which the votes of the
several parties (not the official election) were re-
corded, it became evident that I should have a large
majority. I went to President Burgers and said to
him:

" President, I promise to bring over the majority
ot the burghers to your side, if you will promise me
to take strong measures against the annexation and
to defend our independence. If this is your inten-
tion, you must make it plain, so that I can emphati-
cally assure the burghers that the independence of
our country will be powerfully guarded. Otherwise
my arguments will, of course, make no impression.
There is my hand on it, that I shall do what I have
offered to do."

Before the election took place, however, the Brit-
ish flag waved over the once free Republic.

Shortly after the above conversation, on the 21st
of January 1877, Shepstone arrived at Pretoria with
his armed body-guard and a few wagons. A num-
ber of " loyal " and excited inhabitants were foolish
enough to take the horses out of his carriage and
draw him to the house where he was to stay. The
population as a whole, on the other hand, took the
matter very quietly. People who were present and,

115

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

therefore, in a position to know, say that there were
not ten burghers at his reception. The first confer-
ence between the President and his Executive Raad
and Shepstone took place on the 26th of January
1877, when Shepstone at once made a great point
of the " inherent " weakness of the Republic and of
the fact that it had been unable to subjugate Secu-
cuni. The weakness displayed towards the Kaffir
chiefs on the part of the white men gave him grave
cause to fear, he said, that difficulties with the Kaffirs
might also arise in Her Majesty's territories. The
Executive Raad appointed a commission to discuss
matters more fully, and chose State Attorney Joris-
sen and myself as members. I absolutely refused,
however, to discuss any questions at this conference
which affected the independence of the Republic ; and
nothing, therefore, came of it. Shepstone had sev-
eral interviews besides with President Burgers, who
finally decided to call an extraordinary meeting of
the Volksraad, which took place in February.

The first subject discussed was Secucuni's petition
for peace. As already mentioned, President Bur-
gers had left several strong volunteer corps behind
when the burgher commandos retired, and these had
harassed Secucuni so closely that he was now suing
for peace. But this did not suit Shepstone's plans;
for, if peace were concluded, the principal argument
in favor of the annexation of the Republic to the

116

PRESIDENT BURGERS

British Crown fell through. There would then be an
end to his talk about the general incapacity of the Re-
public to master the Kaffirs, or, as he phrased it, its
" inherent " weakness. It was against my will that
Burgers now agreed to his proposal to send two en-
voys to Secucuni in order to investigate matters on
the spot. This " duumvirate " commission, which
consisted of Englishmen, of course brought back the
desired answer, namely, that Secucuni had no idea
of making peace. This dishonesty cost the English
dear, as will shortly be seen.

The second matter for discussion was that of a
confederation with the British dominions in South
Africa. An overwhelming majority of the burghers
sent in memorials declaring against the measure. I
myself made a violent speech against any such plan,
in which I said that this confederation would mean
the absolute loss of our independence.

Burgers now resorted to a strong measure. He
pointed out that several of the most violent of the
opposition in the Raad had refused to pay the afore-
said tax of £5 per head, and were consequently de-
barred from taking part in the present discussion,
and requested these members to withdraw from the
Raad as unqualified. Although the State Attorney,
Dr. Jorissen, was on the President's side, the Raad
refused to accede to his request, which was certainly
a great blow to Burgers. It seems that this incident

117

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

confirmed him filially in his opinion that the existing
constitution of the South African Republic did not
give him sufficient power, and that it was therefore
incumbent upon him to draw up another which would
fetter him less. At any rate, he did draw up a new
constitution and submitted it to the Raad. It pro-
vided for the institution of responsible ministers, a
supreme court, and extension of the powers of the
State President. At the same time, an alteration was
made in the arms of the Republic by the addition of a
gnu. Although this measure met with the strongest
opposition in the Volksraad, the proposed constitu-
tion was at last accepted, and before the Raad broke
up I was elected Vice-President. The people, how-
ever, as the highest authority, rejected the new con-
stitution.

The Volksraad did not break up in a very happy
mood. Most of the members feared that the thread
by which the sword of Damocles was suspended over
the head of the Republic would break and end its
independence. Although many hoped that the va-
rious new measures which the Volksraad had passed
in its extraordinary session might avert the danger,
it soon became evident that the pessimists were right.
Shepstone seemed to be only waiting for the arrival
of the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, before
proceeding to the annexation of the South African
Republic. Frere arrived in Cape Town at the be-

118

PRESIDENT BURGERS

ginning of April 1877; and as early as April the 7th,
Shepstone had an interview with the Executive Raad,
in which he openly declared that he had been author-
ized and was prepared to annex the country on behalf
of the British Government. I at once told him that I
would never give my consent to any such step, as I
was bound by my oath to uphold the independence
of the Republic. I must submit if the Volksraad
agreed to the annexation and thus absolved me from
my oath, but not otherwise. Shepstone thereupon
asked me how long it would take to call the Volks-
raad together. I told him that I thought it would
not take long if the President issued the summons
at once. But here President Burgers intervened,
saying that it would not do to try Shepstone's pa-
tience too far ; and so the plan fell through. Burgers
proposed instead, that we should at once draw up a
protest against the annexation whilst the Govern-
ment of the Republic still existed, and appoint a com-
mission to take the protest to England. This was
done ; but Burgers had never expected it to succeed,
nor was he a member of the commission. In the
meanwhile, on the 12th of April 1877, Shepstone
executed his plan and annexed the Republic.

This annexation cannot be too strongly branded as
an entirely iniquitous act on England's part. It was
in flagrant contradiction with the Sand River Con-
vention of 1852, by which England solemnly under-

119

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

took to acknowledge the unrestricted independence
of the South African Republic, and never to en-
croach upon the districts north of the Vaal. But as
soon as it suited her convenience, perfidious Albion
broke her solemn peaceful promise, as she always
has done, and as she will always continue to do when
it serves her purpose. What misery has come upon
South Africa through this breach of treaty! The
late war, which has reduced the whole country to
ruins, — quite apart from costing hundreds of men
and thousands of innocent women and children their
lives, — this war, in which England has behaved in
so uncivilized and base a fashion as to draw down
upon herself the contempt of all civilized nations, had
its origin partly in Shepstone's annexation. I say
partly, for the war had two causes. The first and
principal cause was the wealth of the gold-fields of
the Republic; the second, "revenge for Majuba
Hill." But if it had not been for Shepstone's an-
nexation there would have been no Majuba Hill, and
no " revenge for Majuba Hill " would have been
called for.

The exasperating influence which the annexation
was likely to have upon the relations between the two
nations was foreseen by the Executive Raad of the
South African Republic, which for that reason pub-
lished the following protest against the annexation:

120

PRESIDENT BURGERS

Whereas Her Britannic Majesty's Government, by the Sand
River Convention of 1852, has solemnly pledged the indepen-
dence of the people to the north of the Vaal River, and whereas
the Government of the South African Republic is not aware
of ever having given any reason for hostile action on the part
of Her Majesty's Government, nor any grounds for such an
act of violence;

Whereas this Government has ever shown its readiness and
is still prepared to do all which in justice and equity may be
demanded, and also to remove all causes of dissatisfaction that
may exist;

Whereas, also, the Government has repeatedly expressed
its entire willingness to enter into such treaties or agreements
with Her Majesty's Government as may be considered necessary
for the general protection of the white population of South
Africa, and is prepared punctually to execute such agreements;

And whereas, according to public statements of Her Maj-
esty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Carnarvon,
there exists no desire on the part of the British Government to
force the people of the South African Republic against their
wish under the authority of the British Government;

And whereas, the people, by memorials or otherwise, have,
by a large majority, plainly stated that they are averse to it;

And whereas, this Government is aware that it is not in a
condition to maintain the rights and independence of the people
by the sword against the superior power of Great Britain, and
moreover has no desire in any way to take any steps by which
the white inhabitants of South Africa would be divided in the
face of the common enemy against each other, or might come
in hostile contact with each other, to the great danger of the
entire Christian population of South Africa, without having first
employed all means to secure in a peaceful way and by friendly
mediation the rights of the people:

Therefore the Government protests most strongly against
this act of Her Majesty's Special Commissioner.

It is also further resolved to send, without delay, a Com-

121

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

mission of Delegates to Europe and America, with full power
and instruction to add to their number a third person, if re-
quired, in order to endeavor in the first place to lay before Her
Majesty's Government the desires and wishes of the people, and
in case this might not have the desired effect, which this Gov-
ernment would deeply regret and cannot as yet believe, then to
appeal to the friendly assistance and intercession of other Pow-
ers particularly of those who have acknowledged the indepen-
dence of this State.

As members of this Commission are appointed, the Hon.
the Attorney General, Dr. E. J. P. Jorissen, and S. J. P.
Kruger, Vice-president of the South African Republic.

Dr. Jorissen was appointed by my wish, as he was
a lawyer, and I was anxious to have some one with
me who could speak foreign languages.

After appointing this deputation, the Executive
Raad ceased to exist. President Burgers returned
to his home in Cape Colony, and the Republic was
left without a president. I had to act in his place;
for, as Vice-President, it would have been my duty,
even in other circumstances, to conduct the business
of the state in the absence of the President from the
country.

122

CHAPTER VII

THE INTERREGNUM UNDER THE
BRITISH FLAG

CHAPTER VII

THE INTERREGNUM UNDER THE BRITISH FLAG

Kruger's first visit to London with the deputation sent to pro-
cure the repeal of the annexation — Popular meetings and
popular voting in the Transvaal — The second visit to Lon-
don— The Kaffir chief Secucuni puts the English doctrine
into practice — The British Governor seeks Kruger's assist-
ance against Cetewayo, the Zulu king — Further assemblies
of the people and protests against the annexation — Kruger
pacifies the masses — The High Commissioners, Sir Bartle
Frere and Sir Garnet Wolseley, interfere — The other Afri-
kanders ask for the freedom of their Transvaal brothers —
Kruger suspected of treachery — The delegates of the burgher
meetings arrested for high treason — Kruger once more allays
the storm — Plans for confederation opposed by Kruger —
Sir Bartle Frere tries to treat privately with Kruger — Kruger
refuses on the grounds of Frere's double-dealing — Kruger
and Joubert have recourse to Gladstone by letter — All hopes
of a peaceful solution abandoned.

THE commission appointed to take the protest
to England consisted of Dr. Jorissen and my-
self. We took Mr. W. E. Bok with us as secretary
and left, in May 1877, for Port Elizabeth, thence
to set sail for England. Shortly after our depar-
ture, Shepstone wrote to Lord Carnarvon, the then
Colonial Secretary, stating that I myself had told
him that, if the deputation failed, I would become

125

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

a loyal subject of the new Government, even as I
had been of the old. He also knew that Dr. Joris-
sen had declared that the annexation was inevitable
and that its repeal would be a public misfortune.
As far as I am concerned, I declare this statement
to be absolutely untrue. I never told Shepstone
this nor anything of the kind ; moreover, my further
actions of themselves give the lie to any such asser-
tion.

On arriving in England, we found that the
rumor had been spread, by means of newspapers
and letters, including a letter of Dr. Jooste, of
Potchefstroom, first published in the Zuid Afri-
haan, that only a handful of irreconcilables, with
myself at their head, had declared against the an-
nexation. I denied this report with the greatest
emphasis and said that it was easy to arrive at the
truth by taking a plebiscite of the whole Republic,
which would show for certain whether the majority
were for or against the annexation. I personally
wrote a letter in which I denied the imputation
touching the " handful of irreconcilables " and
suggested a plebiscite of the whole population.
Dr. Jorissen had scruples against signing this let-
ter, and I sent it alone, on my own responsibility.
The British Government rejected the proposal with
the foolish statement that a vote of this kind would
involve too much trouble and expense. This shows

126

THE INTERREGNUM

that England always remains true to herself: she
makes assertions and, as soon as she is given the op-
portunity of convincing herself of their inaccuracy,
resorts to cowardly and insipid evasions, but at the
same time repeats her assertions, until she herself,
and sometimes the world with her, begins to believe
in their truth.

In November 1877, the deputation left England
and, on the homeward journey, visited Holland,
France and Germany, to try to move those Powers
to intervention, but, of course, without result, in
spite of the friendly reception accorded to us.
About the end of December, I reached my home
in the Rustenburg District and, in January of the
following year, went to Pretoria, where some thou-
sand burghers were waiting for my report. The
proceedings at this meeting were not a little
stormy when it became known that we had failed
to receive a satisf actor y reply from the British Gov-
ernment. One of the burghers, M. W. Vorster,
moved a resolution, which was passed unanimously,
that an universal plebiscite should be taken, so that
the burghers might express their general opinion on
the annexation. At a subsequent meeting, at
Nauwpoort, in the Potchefstroom District, this
resolution was again brought forward and passed,
and a committee was appointed to institute the ple-
biscite and to sign an eventual petition. Ex-Presi-

127

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

dent Pretorius was elected chairman of the com-
mittee.

Shepstone was greatly dissatisfied with this reso-
lution, declared that he could not allow the plebis-
cite to be held and demanded that I should give up
this plan. I thereupon rode to Pretoria, accom-
panied by Messrs. Pretorius and Viljoen, and, in
an interview with Shepstone, told him that I could
not interfere with the plebiscite, as I had said, dur-
ing my stay in England, that this measure would
prove that the majority were against the annexation,
and I did not wish to be branded as a liar. I added :

" If you admit that I was right and that the re-
port which you sent to England on the feeling of
the people was untrue, then the vote will be quite
unnecessary."

Shepstone then gave his consent to the holding
of the meetings, provided that the burghers came
unarmed; and the members of the committee were
requested to take strict care that none but burghers
who were really entitled to vote should vote at the
meetings.

Our committee met at Doornpoort in April 1878,
when it appeared that 125 petitions, with 6,591 sig-
natures, had been handed in against the annexation,
and 31 petitions, with 587 signatures, in its favor.
This clearly showed the feeling of the people, the
more so when one remembers that the total male

128

THE INTERREGNUM

white population of the Republic, as given in Shep-
stone's report to the Colonial Secretary, numbered
only about 8,000, and among those who had not been
able to attend the meetings there must have been
many more opponents of the annexation. The com-
mittee now resolved to send a new deputation to
England, with instructions to hand in the proofs of
the objection of the majority of the people to the
annexation of the Republic. Piet Joubert, the fu-
ture general, and myself were chosen to form this
second deputation; and Mr. W. E. Bok again ac-
companied us as secretary. The expenses of the
journey were to be defrayed by a collection among
the burghers, and £1,900 was subscribed for this
purpose before the meeting broke up. The deputa-
tion took with it a petition, addressed to Lord Car-
narvon, declaring that the people of the Republic
were convinced that the British Government was
misinformed as to the real feeling of the Boer popu-
lation, that they could not believe that England
would wish to govern another nation against its
wish, that they had therefore decided to prove to her
that the great majority were opposed with heart and
soul to the annexation, and that they hoped that the
Government, after examining the accompanying
memorials, would repeal the proposed annexation on
the grounds of incorrect information. How little
our people knew England at that time! To-day no
9 129

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL IvRUGER

one would presume to reckon on England's ac-
ceptance of any such argument as that set forth
above.

On our way to England, we asked for an inter-
view with the High Commissioner and Governor
of Cape Colony, Sir Bartle Frere, at Cape Town.
He was very amiable, but absolutely refused in any
way to support us in our endeavors, declaring that
he saw no reason to do so, as the Boers would be very
happy under the British flag.

In July 1878, the deputation landed in England
and found that, in the meanwhile, Lord Carnarvon
had been succeeded as Colonial Secretary by Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach. The change was anything
but favorable to the people of the Republic. More-
over, on our arrival in London, we received a letter
from Sir Theophilus Shepstone in reply to the peti-
tion which we had handed to him personally on our
departure. In this letter, Shepstone made a violent
attack on Joubert and myself and threw it in our
teeth that, if there was any dissatisfaction in the
country, we were the cause of it. In our first inter-
view with Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, he declared that
he would only treat by correspondence, and so a
long and strongly-worded memorial was drawn up,
setting forth the right of the Republic to an inde-
pendent existence and the iniquity of the grounds
on which it had been sought to justify the annexa-

130

THE INTERREGNUM

tion. A protest was also made against the annexa-
tion as a breach of the Sand River Convention,
which the British Government had concluded with
the Boer emigrants in 1852, and, lastly, we expressed
the hope that the sense of justice of the British Na-
tion would no longer oppose the restitution of an
independence which had been recognized by the
great powers. Sir Michael's reply, as was to be ex-
pected, was a complete disappointment to us. The
Colonial Secretary only promised to introduce a
sort of self-government as soon as the condition of
the country permitted, and added that the pursuance
of that policy of reconciliation would depend above
all on the attitude of the delegates. We replied
briefly that we could not believe that a policy such
as that which England was now adopting could
serve to allay the existing dissatisfaction and to
bring about friendly feelings. Later, in a longer
memorandum, we again defended the Republic's
title to its independence; but all to no purpose.
The delegates had to return to South Africa with-
out accomplishing any results.

On the occasion of this second visit to England, I
was presented by an English friend of the Boers
with a gold ring, engraved with the words: " Take
courage, your cause is just and must triumph in the
end." The inside of the ring is engraved with the
figures which represent the result of the plebiscite

131

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

on the acceptance or rejection of the annexation. I
still wear this ring as my only ornament.

On our return journey, in the autumn of 1878,
we again visited the Continent. In Paris the great
International Exhibition was in progress. On this
occasion, I saw my first balloon and took part in an
ascent. High up in mid-air, I jestingly asked the
aeronaut, as we had gone so far, to take me all the
way home. The aeronaut now asked who his pas-
senger was and, when we returned to the earth, pre-
sented me with a medal to remind me of my journey
through the air. Our deputation landed at Durban
in December 1878.

In the meantime, the situation in South Africa had
assumed a very serious aspect. Secucuni, who had
formerly been persuaded by the English, when it
served their turn, to declare that he would not make
peace, had not troubled his head about the change of
government and kept to the lesson under the new
Government which he had learnt under the old.
Whereas formerly he had always been supported in
his refusal to recognize the sovereignty of the South
African Republic over his territory, he was now re-
quired to keep the peace, as his territory belonged
to the Transvaal. At last, an expedition consisting
of volunteers and blacks, under Colonel Rowlands,
was dispatched against him, but without effecting
much. And the worst of all was that the Zulu king,

132

THE INTERREGNUM

Cetewayo, was also in rebellion against the British
Government. England had equally refused to ac-
knowledge the Republic's claim on his territory, but,
immediately after the annexation, herself laid claim
to it as constituting an unquestionable part of the
dominions of the erstwhile Republic. Sir Bartle
Frere asked me, on my arrival at Durban, to assist
the British Commander-in-chief, Lord Chelmsford,
with information as to the best ways and means of
waging war against the Zulus. I gave a ready and
sincere compliance with this request. I advised the
British commander to make every halting-place into
a camp, by collecting the wagons together, as the
Boers had been used to do, and always to be well
provided with good spies and scouts, so as to keep
thoroughly informed of the enemy's movements.
Sir Bartle Frere asked me to accompany one of
the Commander-in-chief's columns as adviser and
leader. I at first refused. But, when he pressed me
and declared that I might name my own reward for
this service, I said:

"Very well, I accept. I will take 500 burghers
and hand Zululand over to you, if you will give me
the reward I want."

Sir Bartle Frere was a little offended when I of-
fered to do with 500 men the work for which the
English had placed so many soldiers in the field, and
asked :

133

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

" Do you mean to say that your people are so
much better than our soldiers? "

" Not that," I replied, " but our method of fight-
ing is better than yours, and we know the country."

Sir Bartle now asked what reward I required. I
said, " The independence of my country and peo-
ple," whereupon the High Commissioner refused to
discuss the subject further. Later, Shepstone also
asked me, by letter, to come to the assistance of the
English with a Boer commando. I replied that the
annexation and the breach which this had caused
between the people of the South African Republic
and the British Government made a friendly co-
operation of the two races impossible. I could not
but refuse my assistance to those who paid no atten-
tion to the urgent entreaty of the people that their
independence should be restored to them.

With their usual arrogance, the English despised
the Zulu impis, and the result was the bloody defeat
of Isandlhana (22 January, 1879), in which about
1,200 English soldiers were cut to pieces. This
taught them wisdom; they went to work more cau-
tiously and, in the Battle of Ulundi (July, 1879),
Lord Chelmsford succeeded in completely defeating
the Zulus. Later, Cetewayo was taken prisoner and
the war brought to an end. It was generally stated
in Africa, at the time, that the English had bribed
Cetewayo's general to surrender his king to them.

134

THE INTERREGNUM

According to this account, the general thereupon
persuaded Cetewayo to go to a certain spot which he
declared to be safer than that in which Cetewayo
then was. Cetewayo listened to this proposal and
was easily surrounded and taken prisoner by the
English. Whether all this, however, happened as
related is not certain.

In the meanwhile, in March 1879, Sir Theophilus
Shepstone had been replaced by Sir Owen Lanyon,
a man absolutely unfitted for this difficult post. As
a soldier, Sir Owen, of course, had no knowledge of
civil administration; and, moreover, he was totally
unacquainted with the manners, language and na-
ture of the Boers.

After our return to the Transvaal, our deputation
called a mass meeting to report on the results of our
mission. This meeting was held on the 10th of
January 1879, at Wonderfontein. About 3,000
Boers assembled and more would undoubtedly have
come, if many had not been prevented from attend-
ing the meeting by the swollen state of the rivers
and by the prevailing horse-sickness, which always
rages at its worst at that season of the year. Mean-
while, Sir Bartle Frere had distributed among the
burghers an open letter to myself and Joubert in
which he said, among other things, that he hoped
that we would make it clear to the people that the
annexation was irrevocable. At the meeting, after

135

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

first thanking the burghers for their numerous at-
tendance and for the welcome which they had given
the deputation, I exhorted them to remain unani-
mous and to allow no discord or differences of any
kind to come between them, as only unanimity, obe-
dience and combined efforts would enable them to
regain their freedom. The meeting passed a resolu-
tion thanking us for the trouble and sacrifices which
we had made, and declaring that the people would
not rest content with the decision of the British
Government.

Some of the burghers thought that the time had
now come to seek to obtain from the British Govern-
ment by force what they were not inclined to give of
their own free will; but I explained to them that
the time had not yet come, and was supported in my
endeavors to maintain peace by Joubert and Prete-
rms. A burgher stepped forward and said:

" Mr. Kruger, we have been talking long enough ;
you must now let us shoot the English."

I asked him, in reply:

" If I say, ' sahy l will you bite? And if I say,
' bite,' will you hold tight? "

The man made no reply.

At the same meeting, it was resolved to send Piet
Joubert to Natal, where Sir Bartle Frere then was,
in order to communicate to him the determination of

l"Sahf" is the ejaculation employed in South Africa in setting
on a dog to bite. — Translator s Note.

136

THE INTERREGNUM

the people not to submit to England. This mission,
however, had not the smallest result, except that Sir
Bartle Frere promised to come to the Transvaal in
order to convince himself in person of the state of
affairs. With this intent, a new meeting was called
at Kleinfontein Farm, and Sir Bartle Frere was in-
vited to attend.

On the appointed day (18 March, 1879) four or
five thousand burghers met at Kleinfontein. Jou-
bert gave an account of his mission and its failure,
and ended with the words:

1 The question which the people has now to put
to itself is, Shall it submit or not? "

I also made a speech in which I impressed upon
my hearers that they must not disturb the peace by
taking imprudent steps, but leave the matter to the
committee which would not fail to let them know
as soon as it thought that all peaceful measures had
been exhausted. This admonition was very neces-
sary, for many of the burghers were greatly excited
and spoke openly of the need for " shooting the
English." More voices were raised at the meeting
proposing that the burghers should help the Zulu
king, Cetewayo, with whom England was then at
war, in order jointly with him to overwhelm the
English. I combated this proposal with all my
might, and said that the thing was not Christian and
that one must never join with savages in war against

137

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

a civilized nation. And thus this plan was stifled
at its birth.

Meantime, Sir Bartle Frere, who had promised
to attend this meeting, had not arrived. He had left
Natal for Kleinfontein, but was traveling very
slowly. Possibly he hoped that the delay would dis-
courage the Boers, or that we would return to our
homes without its being necessary for him to appear.
From Heidelberg he sent word to inform the meet-
ing that he would have no time to stop at the camp
as he had to go to Pretoria. He received an answer,
however, saying that we had long been waiting for
him and relied upon seeing him. He then deter-
mined to come. As he approached the camp, the
leaders of the committee rode out to meet him and
escorted him into the camp. The burghers stood
closely gathered and preserved a deathly silence.
No one saluted him, although at first he bowed to
the burghers to right and left. In the course of a
debate that ensued, it was decided to meet again a
few days later, and then to discuss the several
points at issue. Sir Bartle then went on to Pretoria.

Frere attended the new meeting, escorted by the
Governor, Sir Owen Lanyon, a number of officials
and an armed body-guard. He reproached the com-
mittee with being the cause of the dissatisfaction.
The committee took little notice of this remark and
its only reply was that the people were not content

138

THE INTERREGNUM

to accept the annexation. Finally, the High Com-
missioner struck another note, and said that he must
admit that he had been misinformed, for he now saw
that the opposition to the annexation was a powerful
one and that it proceeded from the best men among
the Transvaal people. The committee suggested to
him that it should again set forth the objections of
the people in a petition to the British Government,
and asked him to forward this petition accompanied
by a report on what he had seen and heard. He de-
clared that he was prepared to recommend the peti-
tion to the earnest consideration of the British Gov-
ernment, although personally he was opposed to the
repeal of the annexation. Shortly after, the meet-
ing broke up. It appeared afterwards, however,
that Sir Bartle Frere wrote to the British Govern-
ment that he regretted he did not have enough guns
to disperse the rebels. How typically English!

After Sir Bartle Frere's visit, the committee sent
letters to the Orange Free State and Cape Colony
asking them to support the request for the repeal of
the annexation. The Volksraad of the Orange Free
State, by a large majority, passed a resolution in
which the hope was expressed that the endeavors of
the burghers to recover their independence might be
crowned with success. In Cape Colony, a deputa-
tion waited on Sir Bartle Frere with the same ob-
ject. Of course, it received, together with many fine

139

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

speeches, the stereotyped reply of the English states-
men, that the thing was past and done with. In the
meanwhile, Sir Garnet Wolseley had been sent to
South Africa with special powers. He was ap-
pointed High Commissioner beside Sir Bartle Frere
with special instructions to settle Zulu and Trans-
vaal matters. This is the man who uttered the
famous phrase:

" So long as the sun shines, the Transvaal will be
British territory ; and the Vaal River shall flow back
to its sources before the Transvaal is again inde-
pendent!"

At about that time, Sir Garnet was engaged in
suppressing Secucuni, an enterprise in which he at
last succeeded with the aid of his greatly superior
force.

After the Kleinfontein meeting, the Committee
announced that a new meeting would be held at
Wonder fontein. This caused Sir Garnet Wolseley
to issue a proclamation in which he pointed to the
danger to which those who attended the meeting
would expose themselves, their families and prop-
erty. He also threatened to punish all such persons
for high treason. This proclamation, however, was
quite ineffective, for five to six thousand persons
attended the meeting, which was held at Wonder-
fontein on the 10th of December. The burghers
were enthusiastic in the highest degree. They

140

THE INTERREGNUM

thought that the time had now certainly come to
begin the war; but, while rejoicing at the unanimity
that prevailed among the burghers, I thought it my
duty to address one more word of warning to them.
I pointed out to them that England was a powerful
nation, and expressed the fear that many of them,
once the war had broken out, would become dis-
couraged and go back to their farms. It was
not safe to decide on war at this moment of ex-
citement.

Late that night, I walked through the camp to
listen to the conversations which the burghers were
holding at their camp-fires. I was anxious to ascer-
tain how my warning had been taken. Many of the
remarks that fell upon my ears were very character-
istic. For instance, I heard one man say:

" I think Kruger is betraying us."

" No," said another, " I will never believe that of
him, for he has done too much for us and he is still
working too hard that he should be accused of such
a thing."

" But," replied the first, " if he doesn't intend to
betray us, why won't he let us shoot the Eng-
lishmen? "

"Ay," said the other, "I think his plans are wrong,
but I won't believe that he 's betraying us."

Very well satisfied with my observations, I re-
turned to my tent and thanked God that my people

141

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

were so firmly determined to recover their indepen-
dence.

At the same meeting, a popular resolution was
passed which declared that the people demanded to
remain free and independent ; that the burghers had
never been subjects of Her Majesty and never
wished to become so; that they asked for the resti-
tution of their independence and the restoration of
the Volksraad; and that the last-named body must
take the necessary measures to ensure that indepen-
dence. Pretorius and Bok were sent as delegates to
acquaint Sir Garnet Wolseley with this resolution.
However, these two gentlemen were arrested on a
charge of high treason, Pretorius at Potchefstroom
and Bok at Pretoria.

It goes without saying that this incident aroused
great dissatisfaction. A large number of burghers
at once determined to set Pretorius free by force.
But the latter wrote a letter in which he begged them
to abandon that intention. In consequence of these
events, I went to Potchefstroom. On my way, I
learnt that, in spite of Pretorius' request, a number
of armed burghers were on their road in front of me,
with the intention of setting Pretorius free. I gal-
loped after them as fast as my horse could carry me
and caught them up close to the village. After
many arguments I at last succeeded in persuading
them to give up their plan.

142

THE INTERREGNUM

That same evening, Pretorius and Bok were re-
leased on bail. But the British authorities now
pressed Pretorius until he at last consented to travel
through the country and read out a proclamation of
the British Government intended to convince the
burghers of the error of their ways. At the same
time they supplied him with horses for his journey.

The burghers whom I had persuaded to turn back
were still gathered in a body at Nauwpoort, not far
from Potchefstroom, and I with them, when Pre-
torius came up and read out the proclamation of the
British Government. The burghers must submit
peacefully, it said, for their freedom had not been
taken from them and the present situation was only
the bridge by which they might attain self-govern-
ment. When Pretorius had finished, I turned to the
burghers.

" Burghers," I asked, " do you understand what
the British Government offers you? I will try to
explain to you what this self-government, in my
opinion, means. They say to you, ' First put your
head quietly in the noose, so that I can hang you up :
then you may kick your legs about as much as you
please!' That is what they call self-government."

The burghers entirely agreed with this view, and,
on the next day, Pretorius wrote to Sir Garnet
Wolseley that he must give up the idea of continu-
ing his journey, since the burghers were firmly de-

143

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

termined to recover their independence, and it was
of no use to try to persuade them to a different way
of thinking.

Shortly after these occurrences, a scheme for the
confederation of South Africa was down for dis-
cussion in the Cape Parliament. The Transvaalers
considered it of the highest importance, in the in-
terest of the freedom of their country, to bring about
the failure of this project for a united South Africa
under the British flag, since, in the event of its ac-
ceptance, there would be no chance left for the repeal
of the annexation. Joubert and I were, therefore,
sent to Cape Town to urge our friends in the Cape
Parliament to oppose this proposition. On our way
to Cape Town, we were received everywhere with
the greatest heartiness. At Cape Town itself we
had an interview with a number of members of Par-
liament, at which I insisted, in the strongest terms,
on the need for rejecting the plan and declared that
the Republic would never accept a federation ar-
rived at in this manner, above all as the burghers
themselves had no voice in the matter and would not
allow foreigners to determine their future for them.

" Do not wash your hands in the blood of your
brothers ! " were the words with which I parted from
the members.

Fortunately the plans for a confederation were
rejected.

During our stay at Cape Town, a member of the

144

THE INTERREGNUM

Upper House came to Joubert and me to invite us
to pay a visit to Sir Bartle Frere. We refused;
but, when the invitation was repeated, and it was
added that Sir Bartle wished to speak to us pri-
vately, I said:

" I will come, if you can tell me which Sir Bartle
Frere it is that wishes to see us; for I know four of
them. The first came to us at Kleinfontein and as-
sured us that he had not come with the sword, but
as a messenger of peace. But, later on, I read in an
English Blue Book that, on the same day, a Sir
Bartle Frere, the second, therefore, had written to
the British Government, ' If only I had had enough
guns and men, I would soon have dispersed the
rebels.' I made the acquaintance of the third Sir
Bartle Frere through his answer to our petition for
the repeal of the annexation: he then said that he
had informed the British Government that he had
met some five thousand of the best Boers at Klein-
fontein and that he recommended their petition to
the Government's earnest consideration. After-
wards, I saw in the English Blue Book that, on the
same day, a Sir Bartle Frere, obviously a fourth,
had informed the British Government that he had
met only a handful of rebels. Now these four can-
not possibly be one and the same man; if, therefore,
you can tell me which of the four Sir Bartles wishes
to see us, we will think about it."

It is needless to add that Sir Bartle Frere's emis-

10 145

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

sary was unable to answer the question and returned
with his mission unfulfilled.

During the stay of our deputation at Cape Town,
the Tory Ministry fell, and Gladstone, who had
often spoken against the annexation, became Pre-
mier of the new Cabinet. Joubert and I now
formed new hopes, and, in May 1880, wrote to Glad-
stone from Cape Town, laying the situation before
him and earnestly requesting him to do justice to the
country, to repeal the annexation and to restore the
Sand River Convention of 1852. We were bitterly
disappointed on receiving an answer from the Lib-
eral statesman informing us that he was unable to
annul the annexation or to advise Her Majesty to
abandon her suzerainty over the Transvaal. We re-
turned to the Transvaal and reported to the com-
mittee on our mission. The general conviction was
now arrived at that further meetings and friendly
protests were useless. The best course appeared to
be to set quietly to work and to prepare for the worst
by the purchase of arms and ammunition. The
greatest prudence and the strictest secrecy had to
be observed in order to avoid suspicion: this was the
only possible way of preparing for the decisive
struggle.

146

CHAPTER VIII

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

1880-1881

CHAPTER VIII

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE I 1880-1881

The seizure of Bezuidenhout's wagon — Meeting of the burghers
at Potchefstroom — The " Irreconcilables " at Paader Kraal
elect a triumvirate, consisting of Kruger, Joubert and Pre-
torius, to carry on the Government — The first shot — Battle
of Bronkhorstspruit — Majuba Hill — Paul Kruger during the
war — His negotiations with the Kaffir Chief Magato, whom
England was trying to gain as an ally — Armistice and peace
negotiations — Protests in the Volksraad — " Transvaal " or
" South African Republic " ?

THE first sign of the approaching storm was
the incident that occurred at the forced sale of
Field-Cornet Bezuidenhout's wagon, on which a
distress had been levied. The British Government
had begun to collect taxes and to take proceedings
against those who refused to pay them. Among
these was Piet Bezuidenhout, who lived in the
Potchefstroom district. This refusal to pay taxes
was one of the methods of passive resistance which
were now employed towards the British Govern-
ment. Hitherto, many of the burghers had paid
their taxes, declaring that they were only yielding
to force. But when this was explained by the Eng-

149

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

lish politicians as though the population were con-
tented and peacefully paying their taxes, some
asked for a receipt showing that they were only pay-
ing under protest and others refused to pay at all.
The Government then levied a distress on Bezui-
denhout's wagon and sent it to public auction at
Potchefstroom. Piet Cronje, who became so well
known in the last war, appeared at the auction with
a number of armed Boers, who flung the bailiff
from the wagon and drew the wagon itself back in
triumph to Bezuidenhout's farm. Bezuidenhout
and another burgher were sent to me at my farm
of Boekenhoutfontein, in the Rustenburg District,
to ask me to come at once to Potchefstroom, as the
burghers were ready to commence the war of inde-
pendence. I obeyed this request and found the
burghers collected not far from Potchefstroom.
The officer in command of the English troops at
Potchefstroom sent to ask if he could speak to me,
and, when I answered in the affirmative, he came
out, described what had happened at the sale of the
wagon and ended with the words:

" You must admit that this is open rebellion."

I answered:

" I should agree with you, if we had acknow-
ledged the annexation; but that is not the case. We
do not look upon ourselves as British subjects, and
the question of the tax is not a private question of

150

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Bezuidenhout's, but a question of principle which
concerns the whole country."

In consequence of these events, I and the other
leaders now held a committee meeting at Kaalfon-
tein, at which the secretary of the former Transvaal
Government was also present, and it was decided
that the mass meeting at Paarde Kraal, which had
been fixed for the 8th of January 1881, should take
place instead as early as the 8th of December 1880,
and that the people should then decide if a peaceful
solution of the difficulties was possible. Two days
before, the meeting was forbidden and those who
were to take part in it were proclaimed rebels. Nev-
ertheless, a mass of burghers met on the appointed
day, and it was unanimously resolved that the Gov-
ernment of the Republic should resume office and
summon the Volksraad. The business of govern-
ment was entrusted to a triumvirate consisting of
myself, as Vice-President, Piet Joubert, as Com-
mandant General,1 and Ex-President M. W. Pre-
torius. The triumvirate thereupon drew up a procla-
mation in which the good right of the Republic was
borne out by historical facts and the restoration of
the Government of the South African Republic
made known to one and all.

The proclamation must now be printed, and

1 Joubert was elected to this post on Kruger's motion, although he long
resisted, declaring that he was no general and that he did not feel suited
to this appointment. — Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

151

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Commandant Piet Cronje was sent for this purpose
to Potchefstroom with about 400 men, while the
Government left for Heidelberg, there temporarily
to fix the seat of government. Heidelberg was
easily occupied, as it contained no English garrison,
and the landdrost handed over his office forthwith,
under protest. In the meanwhile, Cronje had ar-
rived at Potchefstroom and taken measures to have
the proclamation printed. Here the first shot was
fired that opened the war. The English fired on a
burgher watch posted in the street. A bullet struck
Frans Robertse, of Wijsfontein Farm, in the Rus-
tenburg District, and passed through his arm. The
members of the newly-appointed Government sent
one more petition to the representative of the British
Government, the Governor of the Transvaal, and
appealed to the " generosity of the noble British
Nation " in order to recover their country in a
friendly fashion. The answer was that the local
troops were called out to suppress the " revolt."

I do not intend to give here a history of the War
of Independence, which has been described in its
smallest details. It is only necessary to say that, in
view of their very small number — in all about 7,000
men — it was necessary for the Boers to go to work
with the greatest circumspection. The plan was to
cut off all the villages in which the English had a
garrison and to send the rest of the burghers to the

152

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Natal frontier, there to arrest the approaching re-
inforcements of the enemy. Another difficulty was
the scarcity of ammunition. At the beginning of
the war the Boers had only about 15 rounds per man,
so that they had to do precisely as they did in the
later stages of the last war, first capture ammunition
from the enemy and then fight him with his own am-
munition. In these circumstances, our enterprise
would have been madness, the more so as the Kaffirs
had also been called out against us, if God had not
strengthened our hearts, so that we went bravely to
face greatly superior numbers.

Let us linger for a moment on only one fight in
this war, the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit, and that
for certain reasons. This was an engagement with
the 94th Regiment, which was on its way from
Lydenburg to Pretoria. The Boer commanders, who
had received news of its approach, sent Comman-
dant Frans Joubert, with about 150 men, to meet it.
When the two forces came into touch, Joubert sent
a message to the British commander, Colonel An-
struther, asking him to return to Lydenburg, in
which case no fighting need take place. The man
who earned the message was a burgher, called Paul
de Beer, who spoke English well. Anstruther's
answer was brief:

" I am on my way to Pretoria and I am going to
Pretoria."

153

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Joubert and his men, therefore, had no choice but
to attack the English. The field of battle was a bare
hill, on which stood a few hawthorn-trees. The
English took up their position in a sunk road, while
the burghers had to charge across open ground.
The fight lasted only a few minutes. About 230 of
the English were dead or wounded; the rest sur-
rendered. Colonel Anstruther, who himself was
mortally wounded, sent for Commandant Joubert,
told him that he was beaten in fair fight, and asked
him to accept his sword as a present. He died a few
minutes later. It would not have been worth while
to enter into these details, notwithstanding the ear-
lier lying accusations that the English had been
treacherously attacked on this occasion, if Field-
Marshal Earl Roberts of Waterford, Kandahar and
Pretoria had not rescued this contemptible calumny
from oblivion. When, in the course of the last war,
he arrived at Bronkhorstspruit, he telegraphed to
England that he was now at the spot where a British
force had been decimated by treachery in 1881. But
this only shows what a regular genuine Englishman
Lord Roberts is.

The war was continued throughout the territory
of the Republic under the able command of the late
General Joubert, who was then in the full vigor of
his years and displayed his military capacity in a
brilliant fashion that aroused general amazement.

154

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Under Joubert stood other capable men, such as
General Smit and General Piet Cronje, who distin-
guished himself in the last war by his heroic resis-
tance at Paarde Kraal. The campaign reached its
climax in the Battle of Majuba Hill, on the 27th of
February 1881.

During the war, I remained for the most part
with the Government at Heidelberg, but I also
made several journeys to the commandos, for in-
stance to Potchefstroom, in the Drakensberg, and to
Standerton, to exhort and encourage the burghers
in those places. I also went to Rustenburg to ad-
dress the burghers who were besieging the British
garrison. Here I learnt that Magato's Kaffirs, who
lived near Rustenburg, had assumed a threatening
attitude, and I at once proceeded thither, accom-
panied by seven men, including my son, Piet Kru-
ger. On arriving at Magato's town, I found the
Kaffirs gathered to the number of thousands under
arms in their huts, clearly with no good intention.
I went straight to Magato's hut and addressed him
in these words:

''Why did you supply the English in their camp
at Rustenburg with provisions, although I had told
you to observe a strictly neutral attitude in this war,
which is a war between white men? "

Magato replied:

" I received a message from the English saying

155

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

that they had already taken Heidelberg and were
on the way here, and that, if I did not obey their
orders, they would come to punish me."

I retorted:

" If you won't listen to me, I shall have to bring
you before the court-martial," and caught him by
the hand.

While I was speaking to the chief in these threat-
ening terms, the Kaffirs stormed into the hut from
every side, armed with axes, assegais and rifles. But
one of my men, Piet van der Walt, placed himself
with his rifle beside Magato, and threatened to shoot
him down if the least harm came to me. When Ma-
gato saw that his life was at stake, he ordered his
captains to disperse the Kaffirs. The captains had
to beat back the crowd with cudgels and knobkerries
before they succeeded in separating them. When
the riot had subsided, I said to Magato:

" Call in your Kaffirs again ; I want to give them
my orders."

Magato at first refused, saying that I could tell
him, Magato, what I wanted. But I said:

" No, I will speak to your people myself."

Thereupon the Kaffirs were summoned, and ap-
proached unarmed and timidly. I spoke to them,
rebuked them for their bad conduct and warned
them to keep quiet in the future, as " Kaffirs had
nothing to do with this war." After that, I resumed

156

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

my conversation with Magato, told him how repre-
hensible his conduct was, and eventually persuaded
him to promise that he would remain neutral and
neither assist nor oppose the English or the Boers.
As I had to go back to Heidelberg, I asked Magato
for a couple of horses. Magato beckoned me into
his hut and, when we were alone, said:

" I cannot give you any horses, for, if I did, the
English would know it to-morrow. But repeat your
request in the presence of my Kaffirs; then I will
refuse, and then you must say, ' Very well, then I
will take them by force, if you will not give them
to me.' Then I shall say in my heart, ' It is good,'
but I shall refuse with my mouth."

I did so, and took two excellent horses for my
return journey to Heidelberg.

About this time, a messenger came to ask me to
come to the Natal frontier, as the English had re-
quested an armistice in order to negotiate for peace.
I at once hastened to proceed to the appointed spot.
It was a very difficult journey. Thanks to the heavy
rains, the roads were hardly practicable, and a cir-
cuitous route had to be followed in order to avoid
the places occupied by the English. The armistice
was to come to an end on the 14th of March; but
it was impossible for me to reach my destination,
Laing's Nek, in Natal, by that date. In the mean-
while, General Joubert, in view of the delay of the

157

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

journey, obtained a four days' prolongation of the
armistice. Together with my companions, Preto-
rius, Mare and Dr. Jorissen, I was enthusiastically
received by the burghers. Soon after, a conference
was held between the representatives of the Boers
on the one hand and Sir Evelyn Wood, for the Brit-
ish Government, on the other. It took place half-
way between the two camps. During the armistice,
Sir Evelyn had received instructions from the Brit-
ish Colonial Secretary which were to form the basis
of the negotiations. These were:

(1) Amnesty for all the Boer leaders.

(2) The Boers to be entitled to empower persons
to negotiate a peace.

(3) The appointment of a royal commission to
investigate all military questions and to hand over
the country.

(4) Self-government under British suzerainty.

(5) A British resident to be appointed at
Pretoria.

(6) The foreign policy of the South African Re-
public to be placed under British control.

The late President Brand of the Orange Free
State was to be present at the negotiations in order
to facilitate a settlement. The composition of the
so-called royal commission gave rise to many diffi-
culties. The British Government wished it to con-
sist exclusively of British subjects, with the excep-

158

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

tion of President Brand, who was to sit on behalf
of both parties. The Boer leaders, on the other
hand, desired a mixed commission, consisting of rep-
resentatives of both parties. Moreover, the British
Government wished to keep back for themselves a
portion of the Republic, namely, the Utrecht and
Wakkerstroom districts. But this I and the other
leaders refused to hear of in any case. After long
arguments, Sir Evelyn Wood asked:

" Suppose we do not yield on this point, will you
go on fighting? "
I replied:

" That is not a fair question. If we do not yield,
will you go on fighting? "

Sir Evelyn Wood answered, " Yes; " whereupon
I took up my hat, rose and said:

" Then we need not discuss matters further."
Thereupon Sir Evelyn took me by the arm, and
said:

" No, come back, you must not be so hasty."
General Smit went so far as to say:
" The best thing would be to let the sword decide."
Another difficulty was the question of the with-
drawal of Her Majesty's troops from the Republic
and the provisioning of the English garrisons in
the villages during the negotiations. It looked for
one moment as though the negotiations would fall
through, and that was the moment at which Dr.

159

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Jorissen, by my order, drew up his so-called third
proclamation.1 I caused this third proclamation to
be read out to President Brand, who had by that
time arrived and who made every effort to induce
me to refrain from publishing that document and
to continue the negotiations. This was done, at
O'Neill's house. It was a very difficult matter to
agree on the different points. Sir Evelyn Wood
did his very utmost to get off with verbal assurances ;
and, as the armistice had to be prolonged in order
to continue the negotiations, he seized the oppor-
tunity, while I was engaged in conversation with
General Joubert and Dr. Jorissen, to charge an
orderly to take the news of the prolongation of the
armistice to the camp. But I noticed this and asked :

"Where is the man going? "

As soon as I heard the nature of his mission, I
said to one of Wood's aides-de-camp:

" Stop that man! "

I then went in to the tent and said to General
Wood that I asked him, as an honest man, first to
sign the agreement containing the points discussed
between us. The document lay on the table, but Sir
Evelyn refused to sign. It was not until I cried,
" Burghers, saddle! " that Wood, who now saw that
further evasion was impossible, gave in and signed.

1The text of this proclamation will be found in Dr. Jorissen's Trans-
vaalsche Herinmringen, 1897. — Note by the Editor of the GeiTnan Edition.

160

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

The orderly was then allowed to go off with the news
of the prolongation of the armistice.

When the provisional peace protocol was signed,
the English officers tried to disparage the Boer vic-
tory and to make us confess that we had suffered
fearful losses and could, therefore, not have con-
tinued our resistance :

" How many did you have killed on the Nek? "
one of them asked Joubert, confidently.

" I myself had one," answered Joubert, " and one
wounded."

The officer laughed and maintained that he had
seen more of our men killed with his own eyes :

" Very well," said Joubert, very angrily. " Do
you go and dig one of them up and bring him here ;
and I promise you I '11 eat him, skin and all."

A chaplain from Newcastle, on the other hand,
expressed to me his regard for the Boers and his ad-
miration of their courage. The officers standing
near were meantime saying that the English had
fought very bravely and shot down many Boers,
until their ammunition gave out; then, of course,
they had to give up the fight:

" Our fellows would let themselves be shot before
handing over a cartridge."

I made no reply, but again turned to the chaplain
and said:

" When you see Her Majestj^ mind you tell her
11 161

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

that she must give her soldiers a special reward for
the care with which they guarded their ammunition
supply; we found it on the hill, quite safely packed
on the donkeys! "

Wood himself put similar questions. He asked,
among other things:

" What were the 200 men for whom you were
sending to the Biggarsberg? "

" We heard that you were marching there with
12,000."

" And you sent your 200? "

" Yes, we had no more to send ; but I have seen
that they would have been enough."

By this agreement, which was signed by myself
and Joubert in the name of the people of the South
African Republic, the following objects were se-
cured: absolutely free autonomy under British suze-
rainty, with the appointment of a British Resident
at Pretoria, and the return of British property
seized during the war. The point that nearly led to
the breaking-off of the negotiations, namely, the
question of the loss of territory, was left to the de-
cision of the royal commission. Sir Evelyn Wood
bound himself not to occupy the positions on Laing's
Nek, if the Boers abandoned them, nor to send
troops or ammunition to the Transvaal. Moreover,
the royal commission was to settle all undecided mat-
ters within six months, to confirm the treaty of peace
and to restore the country to the Boers. This com-

162

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

mission, which met shortly after, consisted of Sir
Hercules Robinson, the newly-appointed High
Commissioner; Sir Henry de Villiers, Chief Jus-
tice of Cape Colony; and Sir Evelyn Wood. They
effected a draft treaty, which is known by the name
of the Pretoria Convention of 1881. Long and vio-
lent discussions took place in the Volksraad, which
was summoned to approve this convention. Five
months earlier, in an extraordinary session, I had
praised England's magnanimity, expressed my full
confidence in the commission and pointed to a recon-
ciliation with England as the basis of a happy na-
tional existence, in order to appease the burghers.
But I, too, now found myself obliged to protest
against certain articles of the convention, and com-
plained by telegram, but in vain, to Gladstone that
several clauses of the treaty contained the opposite
of what had actually been arranged by word of
mouth. Eventually the treaty was only accepted
with the reservation that we were yielding to force
and that we trusted that, in view of this forced ac-
ceptance, the British Government would see their
way to alter the convention and to remove the points
which made it unacceptable to the Volksraad, nota-
bly the imposition of the suzerainty and the unjust
curtailments of territory.

One of the points which offended the burghers
was that, instead of being called the "South African
Republic," the Republic kept the name of the

163

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

" Transvaal State." The country only recovered
the title of South African Republic by the London
Convention of 1884. But, in the meanwhile, in my
official correspondence with the British Resident, I
was always accustomed to speak of the South Afri-
can Republic. One fine day the latter came to me to
complain about this, saying that the name of the
country was the Transvaal State, and not the South
African Republic.

" How do you prove that? " said I.

" Why," answered Hudson, " by the convention,
which clearly says, ' Transvaal State.' '

" Very well," I rejoined. " If I sell you a farm
and, in the deed of sale, I say, ' I, Paul Kruger,
hereinafter called the Vendor, and so on,' then, in
what follows, I am no longer ' Paul Kruger,' but the
' Vendor.' Even so in this case. In the convention,
just as in drawing up a deed, the Republic is re-
ferred to as the ' Transvaal State ; ' but that does
not make it its real name, but only its specification.
Its real name is and remains the ' South African
Republic' "

Hudson laughed and said:

' Well, call it as you please, only do not mind if
I keep to the name of the Transvaal State."

On the 8th of August, after the Volksraad had
met, the country was restored in due form and the
dear VierJdeur was once more solemnly hoisted.

164

CHAPTER IX

PAUL KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY:

1883-1888

CHAPTER IX

PAUL KKUGER's FIEST PRESIDENCY:
1883-1888

The election — The war with the Kaffirs in the Lydenburg Dis-
trict— Kaffir disturbances on the south-western frontiers of
the Republic — Boer volunteers, in spite of the President's
proclamation, enlist under the chiefs Moshette and Man-
koroane, for their war against other Kaffir chiefs, and found
the republics of Stellaland and Goshenland on the territory
awarded them for their services — The chiefs Montsioa and
Moshette place themselves under the protection of the Trans-
vaal— England protests against this arrangement — Negotia-
tions regarding the western borders between Kruger, Sir
Charles Warren and Cecil Rhodes — Kruger's third visit to
London — Sir Hercules Robinson — Repeal of the suzerainty
by the London Convention of 1884 — Visits to the European
Governments — Dr. Leyds — Internal situation of the Republic
in 1885 — The Delagoa Bay Railway — Unsatisfactory con-
dition of the finances — Disturbances on the western fron-
tiers— Discovery of the gold-fields — The population of the
gold-fields, the " Uitlanders " — Negotiations with the Free
State for a closer alliance — Incorporation of the " New Re-
public."

IN 1882 the Raad, on Joubert's motion, unani-
mously resolved to elect a State President. Jou-
bert and I were asked to stand. We both accepted,
but each of us recommended the other's candidature
to the people. In my answer to the invitation to
stand, I explicitly stated the principles on which

167

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

I intended to govern, should I be elected. God's
Word should be my rule of conduct in politics and
the foundation upon which the state must be estab-
lished. The promotion of agriculture; the opening
up of fresh resources of the country and their ex-
ploitation through the creation of new industries;
railway extension towards the sea; restrictions on
immigration (I apprehended the least danger from
an invasion from Holland), in order to prevent the
Boer nationality from being stifled; a friendly atti-
tude towards England and a closer alliance of the
South African states; the maintenance of the au-
thority of the Government towards the natives and
the friendly treatment of obedient native races in
their appointed districts; the furtherance of all ef-
forts which would bring the life of the people under
the influence of the Gospel, " and above all," the ad-
vancement of instruction for the young : — these were
the questions which I considered of vital importance
to the Republic. I obtained two-thirds of the votes
at the election, and was consequently elected State
President for the next five years.

About the time when a presidential election was
decided on, the Republic became involved in a war
with Mapoch in Secucuniland, in the east of the Re-
public.

Since the restoration of the Republic, Secucuni
had been her loyal friend. Mapoch was now shel-

168

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

tering Mampur, Secucuni's murderer and refused
to give him up. War consequently became inevit-
able. It lasted for nine months, and in order to bring
it to a successful termination, it at length became
necessary to place 4,000 burghers in the field. I my-
self visited the several commandos during the siege
to point out to them the necessity of making every
effort to bring the war to a quick and successful con-
clusion. With the commandos was a foreigner
named Nelmapius, who blew up the caves of the
Kaffirs, in which they had entrenched themselves,
with dynamite. The war did not come to an end
until July 1883. Mapoch gave up Mampur. Mam-
pur was hanged and Mapoch condemned to imprison-
ment for life. But he was liberated shortly before
the commencement of the late war and settled with
some of his dependents in the neighborhood of Pre-
toria. The Republic gained in importance through
this war, for even her enemies had to acknowledge
that she was strong enough to enforce law and order
and need not throw herself upon the protection of
any foreign power, through inherent weakness.

About the same time complications occurred on the
south-western border. Two Kaffir chiefs, Moshette
and Montsioa, were at war with each other. Later,
Mankoroane came to Montsioa's assistance, and
Massouw to Moshette's. Mankoroane was always
very friendly with the English, and tried to induce

169

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

volunteers to join him. Massouw and Moshette fol-
lowed his example, promising each volunteer three
thousand morgen of land. This was, of course, a
very tempting offer. Applicants came not only
from the Transvaal but also from the Orange Free
State and even from Cape Colony. The Govern-
ment of the Transvaal issued a proclamation which
forbade the burghers to join the Kaffirs. But some
of them refused to obey the proclamation, renounced
their burgher rights and reported themselves to the
Kaffir captains. Later, the Government sent Gen-
eral Joubert to the western frontier to demand once
more the return of those burghers who had ignored
the proclamation. The Royal Commission of 1881
had deprived the Republic of the power of direct in-
terference in the quarrels of the Kaffir chiefs. The
volunteers firmly refused to return. Meanwhile, the
chief Calveyn had also rebelled, in the Marico dis-
trict, but submitted immediately upon General Jou-
bert's threatening him with a commando. Massouw
and Moshette, with the assistance of their volunteers,
completely defeated their respective opponents. The
volunteers were not all Boers. There were a good
many Englishmen amongst them. These men chose
the land which had been promised them and, joined
by other emigrants, founded the two small republics
of Stellaland and Goshenland. The administrator
of the first was G. T. van Niekerk and its capital

170

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

Vryburg. Of the second Rooigrond was the capital
and Gey van Pittius the administrator. Both re-
publics, however, were in a constant ferment and
continually quarreling, and had even to fight against
the afore-mentioned Kaffir chiefs. One party in the
republics desired incorporation with Cape Colony,
while the other applied to the South African Re-
public. Cape Colony sent Cecil Rhodes north to set-
tle things. The Transvaal sent General Joubert,
who was at the same time " Commissioner for the
Western Border," for the same purpose. The latter
informed the Rooigronders that the Government of
the Transvaal could do nothing for them, as the
London Convention — we were now in 1884 — had
excluded them from the sphere of influence of the
Republic. Joubert was obliged to make this state-
ment, because the British agent in Pretoria had ac-
cused the Government of the Transvaal of secret
dealings with the Rooigronders, and the Republic
might otherwise have become involved in difficulties
with England. Shortly afterwards, Pastor du Toit,
the Director of Education, succeeded General Jou-
bert as Commissioner of the Western Border. At
the same time, a letter from Montsioa was published
in which the latter asked to be allowed to become a
subject of the South African Republic, in order to
obtain protection, as he was " almost exterminated."
A proclamation was now issued, subject to the condi-

171

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

tions of the convention of 1884, which gave the Re-
public the right to enter into contracts with the
Kaffir chiefs in the east and west of the Republic,
on the condition that such contracts were approved of
by England. This proclamation placed the chiefs
Moshette and Montsioa, with their subjects and their
rights, under the protection of the South African
Republic, in order to put an end to further bloodshed.
The decree closed with these words:

This proclamation is issued provisionally, subject to the con-
ditions and having regard to article 4 of the London Conven-
tion.1

These words left open the door to an eventual re-
call of the proclamation, and showed, at the same
time, that the Government had applied to the British
Government for their consent to the annexation. The
British Government, however, had not the least inten-
tion of granting this, but sent Sir Charles Warren
with a strong force to South Africa to put a stop to
the disturbances on the western border, and Sir Her-
cules Robinson telegraphed to Pretoria that the Re-
public must recall their proclamation, as England

1 Du Toit had meantime hoisted the flag of the Republic over the " pro-
claimed " territory. This act gave rise to lively disputes at the time.
But, as soon as Kruger heard of it, he called du Toit's attention to this,
and asked him how he came to do it. Du Toit answered that he had not
hoisted the flag as a sign that he was taking possession, but only to at-
tract attention to the proclamation, and that he had hauled it down since.
The proclamation was not, as has since been stated, the result of an in-
trigue or of an unreflected act, but of a resolution which President Kru-
ger to this day defends as lawful. — Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

172

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

had already declared the said districts to be under
her sphere of influence. Thereupon the Republic
recalled the proclamation, not being aware at the
time that England was Montsioa's suzerain. I went
with Dr. Leyds, the State Attorney, to the western
frontier in order personally to enforce law and order,
and warned the inhabitants of Goshenland to keep
the peace.

Shortly after, a meeting took place at Fourteen
Streams between Warren, Rhodes and myself. This
conference had no result except an agreement that
each side should nominate commissioners to mark off
the frontier line as fixed by the convention, and that
President Brand of the Orange Free State should
arbitrate in case of disagreements. Rhodes pre-
tended to be on my side in the business. On the other
hand, he tried to abuse Joubert, until I pointed out
to him that he was attacking an absent man. The
Commissioners now finally fixed the western fron-
tier. I myself had proposed to settle the business
once and for all, by ordering the mounted commando,
together with the police and a few burghers who
had accompanied me, to ride round the frontier. The
ground marked by the horses' hoofs would make a
capital " frontier line." Warren, however, refused
his consent to this proposal, giving as excuse his
fears lest it might lead to a hand-to-hand fight be-
tween his force and the burghers.

173

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

I have anticipated the events of nearly two years,
for the above incidents occurred after my return from
my third journey to England. This journey was the
result of a resolution of the Volksraad of 1883, which
had decided to send a deputation to England to en-
deavor to have the convention of 1881 replaced by
one more in harmony with the wishes of the people.
The attempt to settle the western frontier ques-
tion satisfactorily was necessarily bound up with it.
The deputation consisted of myself, General Smit
and Dr. du Toit, at that time Director of Education.
Dr. Jorissen preceded the deputation, and had sent
home a report from England to the effect that she
was willing to receive us and to enter into a discussion
on matters submitted to her.

Dr. du Toit had been the editor of the Patriot
at Paarl, Cape Colony, and had warmly defended
the Afrikander interest during the war. Shortly
after the declaration of peace, he came to the South
African Republic and was appointed Director of
Education. The same sitting which agreed to the
dispatch of a deputation to England deprived Dr.
Jorissen of his position as State Attorney through
the instrumentality of Chief Justice Kotze, with du
Toit's assistance. His dismissal made room for du
Toit as a member of the deputation. It was not only
a discourteous proceeding, but, in the highest sense,
unjust, taking into consideration the important ser-

174

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

vices which Dr. Jorissen had rendered his country.
I protested in vain. It was contended against me
that the secretary of such legation must have special
qualifications which Dr. Jorissen did not possess.

Our commission started on its journey to Eng-
land in August 1883, traveled by Kimberley, Paarl,
and Cape Town, meeting everywhere with a hearty
reception, and landed at its destination on the 28th of
September. The lengthy negotiations with Lord
Derby, the Colonial Secretary of that day, com-
menced at once. We were soon informed that the
British Government was prepared to grant us the
same independence, as regarded internal politics, as
that enjoyed by the Orange Free State. This con-
cession was not obtained by us in return for any
concession nor by means of any diplomacy on our
part. We regarded it as a question of right. We
pointed out that, on the ground of the Convention
of 18*52, the Republic had a right to her indepen-
dence, which had been unjustly taken from her and
which had not been restored to her in 1881 in the
way in which we had been virtually promised that
it would be. Besides this point, modifications re-
garding the western frontier were discussed, and our
deputation succeeded in seeming for the Republic
a considerable tract of land to which we laid claim
and which had been unjustly taken from us in 1881.
During the negotiations Sir Hercules Robinson and

175

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

I had the misfortune to come into collision. I was
pointing out and insisting that certain farms, among
others Polfontein and Rietfontein, should come
within the boundaries of the Republic, especially as
they had formerly belonged to us. When I made
this statement, Sir Hercules Robinson, who was
present at the negotiations, whispered to Lord
Derby :

" It 's a he."

I jumped up, quite prepared to fall upon Sir Her-
cules. Lord Derby and the other gentlemen present
interfered, and Lord Derby said:

" Gentlemen, you are not going to fight? "

I answered that Sir Hercules had insulted me, and
that I did not intend to put up with it. I accepted
his apology, however, and his assurance that " no
offence was meant."

Despite this incident, Sir Hercules and I after-
wards became very good friends and remained so
until his death. He was the only High Commissioner
with whom I exchanged private and confidential let-
ters. He was an honorable man and a gentleman
in the best sense of the word.

The Convention of 1884 was shortly afterwards
signed and the Republic regained her complete inde-
pendence. There was, however, one article which
curtailed her rights, namely, the well-known article 4.
Rut the hateful suzerainty was repealed. The asser-

176

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

tion made by Mr. Chamberlain at a later date that
the British suzerainty was still in force is false, as will
be proved.

After the Convention of 27 February 1884 had
been signed, the deputation started for the Continent,
hoping to raise a loan, especially in Holland, for the
construction of a railway to Delagoa Bay. We were
received on every hand with the greatest heartiness
and enthusiasm. Banquets were given in our honor
and all seemed glad to make the personal acquain-
tance of their kinsmen from South Africa; but the
principal thing, namely, the money to build the rail-
way, we failed to obtain. Our deputation went from
Holland, by Brussels, Paris, and Madrid, to Lisbon :
we were received most cordially on our road by the
French President and the King of Spain. The
Portuguese declared themselves ready to build the
Delagoa Railway, or at least to commence without
delay that part of the line which would run through
Portuguese territory. We could not arrange for
Portugal to take over the whole line, so that it might
all be imder one management. After our return to
Holland, we granted the concession to build on
Transvaal territory to a few private persons, who
laid the foundation of the future Netherlands South
African Railway Company. From there we re-
turned through Germany, where we were most cor-
dially received by Bismarck and the Emperor Wil-
is 177

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

liam I,1 to South Africa. In the next session of the
Volksraad, I was able to state that our independence
had been obtained — that henceforward the Republic
took her place as an equal with other independent
powers, and that the suzerainty had ceased to exist.
It never occurred to England to contradict this state-
ment. I brought back with me from Holland Dr.
W. J. Leyds as State Attorney. The important
part which Dr. Leyds was to play in subsequent
events is known to all. His name will always remain
associated with the history of the Republic.

The Delagoa Railway concession came up for dis-
cussion during the session of the Volksraad of 1884.
Petitions protesting against the scheme had mean-
while accumulated. I defended my plan with all
my might. I pointed out the importance of pos-
sessing a railway of our own. The duties imposed by
Cape Colony were excessive and prevented our find-
ing a market there for our products. Besides, I as-
sured the Raad that the expenditure would not neces-
sitate the levying of fresh taxation, and that it would
be the very means for the exploitation of the new

1 It was on this occasion that Prince Bismarck stumbled on the stairs
of the Royal Palace in Berlin, and the Emperor William jestingly said:

" Prince, you are growing old."

Bismarck replied :

"Yes, Majesty, that 's usually the case, that the horse grows old be-
fore his rider."

The story of Kruger's stay with a large landed proprietor, of which
many versions exist in Germany, is an invention. President Kruger
states that he paid no such visit. — Note by the Editor of the German
Et -it lion.

178

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

resources which were about to be opened up and
added to those already existing in the country. The
Volksraad agreed to the concession.

The election of a new commandant general took
place at the same time. General Joubert was almost
unanimously re-elected.

The year 1885 witnessed another war on the west-
ern frontier. Massouw, whom the Frontier Com-
mission had declared entirely independent, had vol-
untarily enrolled himself as a vassal of the Trans-
vaal, but now refused to pay his taxes and assumed
a very threatening attitude. General Joubert was
obliged to march against him with a commando and
artillery. The well-known general Piet Cronje
stormed Massouw's entrenchments with his accus-
tomed daring and took possession of his town after
a short battle, in which the Kaffir chief was killed.
The Boers lost 14 killed and about 30 wounded.
Among the killed was Schweizer, the commandant
of the artillery. The losses of the Ivor annas were
very heavy, and the whole tribe broke up.

It was a most unfortunate time for the Republic.
The finances were in a sad condition. The credit with
the Standard Bank had become exhausted, and they
refused to advance more money. I had enough to do
to encourage the burghers during my circular jour-
neys and to impress upon them not to lose courage;
for help, I said, would surely come. It did, but in

179

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

a very different way from that which I had antici-
pated. The rich gold-fields of the Witwatersrand
were discovered and brought about a complete revo-
lution in the financial aspect of the affairs of the Re-
public. The history of the Republic entered upon a
new phase with this discovery. Can we possibly look
upon it as fortunate? As I have already said, gold
and the embittered f eelings which were the outcome
of the first annexation are the causes of the present
misery in South Africa. It will presently be seen
that, of the two causes, the gold-fields assumed the
greater importance. It is quite certain that, had no
gold been found in the Transvaal, there would have
been no war. No matter how great the influx of
Englishmen, no matter how varied and manifold
their complaints, the British Government would not
have lifted a finger in their defence, had it not been
tempted by the wealth of the country. The question
of the franchise, which in reality caused no hard-
ships to foreigners, was made use of by intriguers
to further their plans. The words uttered by the
late General Joubert, when a burgher came gleefully
to tell him that a new gold-reef had been discovered,
were prophetic :

" Instead of rejoicing," he said, " you would do
better to weep; for this gold will cause our country
to be soaked in blood."

The quartz-reefs of the Witwatersrand, which

180

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

were discovered in the year 1886, yielded a great
wealth of gold, and so it became necessary for the
Government to proclaim these districts as public
gold-fields which would in consequence come under
the influence of the mining laws. This happened in
the middle of the year 1886 with regard to several
farms, for example, Turffontein, Doornfontein, and
others. Miners, speculators, and adventurers now
arrived at the gold-fields from every part of the
world. It does not need to be specially pointed out
that among these thousands were many suspicious
characters; but, on the other hand, it must also be
acknowledged that the bulk of the population of the
Witwatersrand consisted of law-abiding people, who
looked for no political quarrels, but had come merely
with the object of making their fortimes. Other
gold-fields were discovered : those of Krugersdorp in
the west, Heidelberg and Nigel in the east and, later,
Malmanie and Klerksdorp. The increase in the pop-
ulation and the working of the mines brought in-
creased prosperity in their train. The Boer found
a market for his products and the treasury benefited
by licenses and other sources of income. The first
bezvaarplaatsen of the Witwatersrand were sold, or,
rather, leased during the same year : that is, the gold
district was surveyed and parceled out into fields,
claims or stations of 100 by 50 or 50 by 50 feet, and
leased for 99 years against the payment of monthly

181

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

taxes. At the expiration of the 99 years, they re-
turned to the State. The big town of Johannesburg
had its origin in this parceling-out of the gold-fields,
and in time its trade became the most important of
South Africa; consequently both Natal and Cape
Colony were anxious to have access to it by rail. But
I refused to listen to this, so long as the Delagoa Rail-
way was unfinished. I feared that the independent
trade of the Republic would be injured if other rail-
way connections were opened up with Johannesburg.
That my fears were well-grounded was f ully proved,
later, in the quarrel concerning the drifts, which very
nearly involved the Republic in trouble with Eng-
land.

In order to assist the new population as much as
possible in their difficulties, a new committee was
established, known as the " Delvers " or Mining
Committee, for the purpose of settling differences
among the gold-diggers and negotiating between
them and the Government. Cecil Rhodes was for a
long time a member of this Delvers Committee. In
1887, I visited Johannesburg in order to acquaint
myself personally with the existing conditions. My
reception was a friendly one; but I was presented
with an address containing nothing but complaints
against the Government. I replied that, in the first
place, if grievances existed, they would be a matter
for the decision of the Delvers Committee, and I

182

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDEXCY

hoped that, in this way, a friendly settlement would
be arrived at, and that I should not be compelled to
have recourse to force. Much exception has been
taken to my attitude, and perhaps I should have been
wiser had I shown more consideration for the feel-
ings of the foreigners. But we must not forget the
elements of which the population was composed, nor
the fact that a population of the same class at Kim-
berley had caused a rebellion, which obliged the Brit-
ish Government to send a considerable force to hold
it in check; nor, lastly, that a former accusation of
inherent weakness had cost the Republic dear. I
was determined, therefore, to do all in my power
to avoid a renewal of that accusation. In other re-
spects, the complaints of foreigners always met with
the friendliest consideration ; for instance, when they
complained that the taxation of their bewaarplaatsen
was too heavy, it was soon afterwards considerably
reduced.

The first conference held with a view to a closer
alliance between the Orange Free State and the
South African Republic took place in 1887- But
it led to nothing, partly because I insisted that the
Orange Free State should not permit a railway to
be built through her territory which would connect
the South African Republic with any of the British
colonies in South Africa. I was opposed to a closer
connection with the British South African states so

183

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

long as the independence of the Transvaal was not
guaranteed by the possession of a railway of her own,
and I feared that the construction of the only possible
self-supporting railway for which the Government
had made itself liable would be delayed, or the rail-
way rendered unproductive if other lines were started
in the meantime. The second reason why the confer-
ence failed was that I demanded an offensive and de-
fensive alliance in case the independence of either
was threatened. President Brand could not see his
way to accept this proposal. I need hardly say that
the press of Cape Colony was exceedingly indig-
nant with me on account of my attitude with regard
to the railway question. But I went my own way,
knowing that my first duty concerned the interest of
my country.

The incorporation of the " New Republic " with
the South African Republic took place during the
same year, and it was afterwards formed into the
Vryheid district. This republic owed its existence to a
quarrel between two Zulu chiefs, Dinizulu, the son of
Cetewayo, and Usibepu, who were at war with one
another in 1884. Dinizulu had received assistance
from a number of Boers, subjects both of the South
African Republic and Natal, but without the au-
thority of the Government. Dinizulu defeated Usi-
bepu, and showed his gratitude by giving the Boers
who had helped him a piece of land, on which a new

184

KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY

republic came into existence. Lucas Meyer, who, as
a member of the Executive Raad, took part in the
campaigns of the late war, was elected president of
this republic. But, in 1887, it was incorporated with
the South African Republic, at the request of the
inhabitants, and received the same right as the other
four great districts to send four members to the
Volksraad of the South African Republic.

The period of five years for which I had been
elected President had meanwhile nearly expired, and
it became necessary, in 1887, to give notice, through
the Volksraad, of the election of a new president
to manage the affairs of the country from 1888.

185

CHAPTER X

PAUL KRUGER'S
SECOND PRESIDENCY;

1888-1893

CHAPTER X

PAUL kruger's second presidency: 1888-1893

Dr. Leyds appointed State Secretary — Cecil Rhodes causes
trouble on the northern frontiers of the Republic: the Char-
tered Company, Lobengula, Khama — Treaty of alliance be-
tween the Orange Free State and the South African Republic
— Arrangements in favor of the Uitlanders: the Law Courts
at Johannesburg; the Second Volksraad — Paul Kruger's
" hatred of the Uitlanders " — The Swaziland Agreement —
British perfidy — The Adendorff trek — Religious differences
— Kruger the " autocrat " — The educational question — New
elections.

FOR the new elections writs were issued in my
name and Joubert's. Both of us accepted the
candidature, but I was re-elected by a large ma-
jority and, in May 1888, was sworn in as State
President for the second time. In the session of
the Volksraad of that year, instead of the former
Secretary to the Government, E. Bok, Dr. Leyds
was now elected State Secretary, and the former,
on my motion, was appointed Secretary to the Ex-
ecutive Raad, a post which was created for this
purpose.

In the first year of my new presidency, an event
occurred which might easily have led to the most
serious complications. Cecil Rhodes had at that

189

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

time begun to realize his imperialistic dreams, that
is, his efforts to extend the British authority towards
the north of Africa. At that time, Matabeleland
and Mashonaland, to the north of the Transvaal,
were governed by the Zulu Chief Lobengula, the
son of Moselikatse, who had been driven out by the
earlier settlers. But Moselikatse, the once so hated
and cruel enemy of the Boers, had in later years en-
tered into friendly relations with the Republic, and
this friendship was continued under his son. Lo-
bengula was even on very good terms with the
Boers and often came into contact with the bur-
ghers of the Republic, who hunted in his territories.
In 1887, he sent one of his principal indunas to Pre-
toria with the request that the South African Re-
public would appoint a consul in his domains. This
wish was granted, and Piet Grobler, who was well
acquainted with the Matabele Kaffirs, was sent to
represent the Republic. Before he started, I
drafted a treaty by which Lobengula placed his
country under the protection of the Republic.
Grobler took this document with him and, on his ar-
rival at Bulawayo, read it to Lobengula, who fully
agreed to the treaty, but asked for a few days' delay,
to summon his indunas and hear their opinion before
signing.

Grobler thought he would make use of this delay
to meet his wife, who was on her way to join him,

190

KRUGERS SECOXD PRESIDENCY

and who was at that time on the Crocodile River.
On the road, he came upon an armed detachment of
Khama's Kaffirs, who were at war with Lobengula.
A patrol of these blacks were the first to approach
him: he rode straight up to them, to ask what they
wanted, but they all took to flight. Grobler caught
one of them and told him to go and fetch the captain
or leader of the detachment, so that he might hear
what their object was. He himself went on a few
hundred yards from his wagons to meet the main
body, which immediately opened fire upon him.
While running back to his wagon, he was hit in the
leg and fell. A young Kaffir girl called Lottering
ran up and placed herself between the Kaffirs and
the wounded man, so as to cover him with her own
body. Grobler's companions, consisting of five or
six men, now opened fire and soon drove the enemy
to flight. Grobler was carried to his wagon and was
able to resume his journey towards the Crocodile
River, but died of his wounds a few days after his
arrival.

There is no doubt whatever that this murder was
due to the instigation of Cecil Rhodes and his clique.
It was Rhodes's object to obtain possession of the
South African interior, and he was afraid lest his
plans should be frustrated by Grobler's appoint-
ment. A long correspondence ensued between the
Government of the South African Republic and the

191

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

British High Commissioner concerning this incident,
for Khama was under British protection. In order
to avoid an open conflict, the Government of the
Republic was obliged to content itself with an ar-
rangement by which Khama was to pay Grobler's
widow a pension of .£200 a year.

In order to explain Rhodes's connection with this
matter and with the whole further history of my
own struggles and those of the Republic, I must
here refer to the origin of the Chartered Company
and the aims and efforts of the Rhodes party. Cecil
Rhodes is the man who bore by far the most promi-
nent part in the disaster that struck the country. In
spite of the high eulogiums passed upon him by his
friends, he was one of the most unscrupulous char-
acters that have ever existed. The Jesuitical maxim
that " the end justifies the means " formed his only
political creed. This man was the curse of South
Africa. He had made his fortune by diamond
speculations at Kimberley, and the amalgamation of
the Kimberley diamond-mines put him in possession
of enormous influence in the financial world. Later,
he became a member of the Cape Parliament and,
in 1890, rose to be prime minister of Cape Colony.
But, long before this, he had turned his attention to
Central South Africa; for it was due to him that
Goshenland and Stellaland became incorporated
with Cape Colony. He looked upon these domains

192

KRUGERS SECOND PRESIDENCY

as a thoroughfare, a kind of Suez Canal, to Central
South Africa.1

As early as 1888, he induced Sir Hercules Rob-
inson, the High Commissioner of that time, to enter
into a treaty with Lobengula, the chief of the Mata-
bele. Later, he managed to turn this to his advan-
tage when, through the payment of a large sum of
money, supplemented by a quantity of fire-arms, he
succeeded in obtaining a concession from Lobengula
for himself. This concession merely gave him the
right to search for gold or other metals in the coun-
try; but he used it to obtain a firm footing in Mata-
beleland, with the intention of preventing the exten-
sion of the South African Republic in this direction.
He soon saw that he would not be able to carry out
his plans without protection from England. So he
went to England to obtain a charter giving him the
right to certain monopolies and independent action.
He procured it without much difficulty, for he found

1 In the early days of Kruger's presidency, Rhodes tried to win him
as an ally. On his way from Beira to Cape Town, he called on Kruger
at Pretoria and said :

"We must work together. I know the Republic wants a seaport: you
must have Delagoa Bay."

Kruger replied :

" How can we work together there ? The harbor belongs to the Por-
tuguese, and they won't hand it over."

"Then we must simply take it," said Rhodes.

"I can't take away other people's property," said Kruger. "If the
Portuguese won't sell the harbor, I would n't take it even if you gave it
me ; for ill-gotten goods are accursed."

Rhodes then ceased his endeavors to gain Kruger over. — Note by the
Editor of the German edition.

13 193

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

bribery a useful ally when fine speeches were in-
sufficient for his purpose, and he was not the man
to spare money if some object was to be attained.
It is certain that a number of influential persons
in England received shares in his Chartered Com-
pany. He even tried to win over the Irish faction
in Parliament, which was not at all in harmony
with his plans, by a present of £10,000. Who
knows how many more large sums he spent with the
same object! This will never be revealed. Rhodes
was capital incarnate. No matter how base, no mat-
ter how contemptible, be it lying, bribery or treach-
ery, all and every means were welcome to him, if they
led to the attainment of his objects.

Rhodes obtained his charter, although one might
well ask what rights England possessed over this dis-
trict to enable her to grant a charter ; and a company
was formed with a capital of one million sterling.
Soon afterwards, in 1890, Rhodes fitted out an ex-
pedition to take possession of " his " territory. The
protest of the Matabele king was ignored. Rhodes
took possession of Mashonaland, and built several
forts: Fort Charter, Fort Salisbury and Fort Vic-
toria. It soon became evident, however, that Ma-
shonaland was of little value, either agriculturally
or as a mining district. Under the impression that
Matabeleland possessed valuable gold-fields, he set
about to annex it. In order to do so, he must involve

194.

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

Lobengula in a war, and he succeeded but too well.
It is affirmed in Africa that it was Rhodes, through
his administrator, who informed Lobengula that the
Mashonas had stolen cattle, and that it was his duty
to punish the raiders. Lobengula at once dispatched
a band of his people, as was the custom in such cases,
to revenge the robbery. Rhodes used this fact as an
excuse to demand Lobengula's punishment, on ac-
count of the massacre of the Mashonas. Whether
there be truth in this statement or not, one thing is
certain: Rhodes had his way and his war. A force
under Dr. Jameson quickly dispersed the Mata-
bele; the Maxim guns cut them down by hundreds.
It is said that Lobengula died near the Zambesi dur-
ing his flight. What must have been the thoughts
of the black potentate, during those last few hours
of his life, when they dwelt on the arts of a so-called
Christian nation? Such thoughts never influenced
a man like Rhodes. He forthwith explored Mata-
beleland in all directions in search of gold, but with
poor results. So he deliberately made up his mind
to possess himself of the rich gold-fields of the South
African Republic, the highroad to which was the
possession of South Africa itself. History knows
the successful issue of this base design.

In 1888, President Brand of the Orange Free
State died, after having been President for twenty-
five years. In his stead was elected Francis Wil-

195

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

liam Reitz, who afterwards became State Secretary
of the South African Republic: a man esteemed by
all who know him; one of those men of whom we
often read in books, but whom we seldom meet in
real life; a man of superior and noble character,
whose one aim in life is to serve his country: in a
word, a man whom it is a privilege to know. Shortly
after his inauguration as State President, in 1889,
a second conference took place between the Govern-
ments of the two Republics, with the object of estab-
lishing a closer alliance between the two states. The
conference met at Potchefstroom and had a very
different result from the first. The two Republics
bound themselves to come to each other's assistance
in case the independence of either should be wan-
tonly threatened from without. A commercial
treaty was also concluded, establishing mutual free
trade, with the exception of the products and other
goods on which the South African Republic was
bound to levy import duties in order to protect the
monopolies which she had granted. An arrange-
ment touching the railways, which I had proposed
at the first conference, was now accepted.

In 1888, I again visited Johannesburg, where I
met with a very friendly reception. In the ad-
dresses that were presented to me, I was asked to
establish a municipality and to increase the number
of judicial officers. This last request I at once

196

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

granted by appointing Dr. Jorissen as a special
judge for Johannesburg (the other demands were
fulfilled later). After granting this request, I
never ceased thinking how I could meet the wishes
of the new population for representation, with-
out injuring the Republic or prejudicing the in-
terests of the older burghers. For, although all the
complaints of the Uitlanders always met with a
friendly hearing from the Executive Raad, which
had received full powers from the Volksraad to leg-
islate for the population of the gold-fields, and al-
though as much was granted as possible, neverthe-
less it was evident to me that some means must be
found to give the Uitlanders a voice in the represen-
tation of the country. I believed that I had discov-
ered this means in the institution of a Second
Volksraad, and it was my own idea, for which I
made myself alone responsible, that to this body
might be entrusted the discussion of all questions,
such as, for instance, the gold laws, telegraphs, etc.,
which were mainly of interest to the new arrivals.

In this manner I endeavored to open the way to
the new population for the legal presentation and
remedy of their grievances. Hitherto they had been
prevented by the conditions necessary for obtaining
the franchise. The constitution prescribed that a
foreigner must have been registered for five years
on the field cornets' lists before he could be natural-

197

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ized. My proposal for a Second Volksraad in-
volved this alteration in the law, that only two years'
registration would be necessar}^ for purposes of nat-
uralization and that the naturalized person would
then have the right to vote for members of the
Second Volksraad and for all officials holding
elective posts, with the exception of the State
President, the Commandant General and the mem-
bers of the First Volksraad. Any person en-
joying this right for two years, therefore, in four
years in all after his registration on the field cornets'
lists as an inhabitant of the Republic, would become
entitled to be himself elected a member of the Second
Volksraad. Ten years later, he was to receive full
burgher rights, that is to say, the same civic rights
as those possessed by the old burghers.

This proposal met with lively opposition, as some
members of the Volksraad looked upon it as a piece
of class legislation, as, in a certain measure, it un-
doubtedly was, while others were of the opinion that
it gave too many rights to the foreigners. The mat-
ter was adjourned in order that the opinion of the
people might be taken. The burghers, however, ap-
proved of the proposal, which was a proof of their
confidence in their President; for I feel sure that
such a proposal would never have been carried if it
had been moved by any other than myself. In re-

198

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

sponse to the public wish, the law was now passed,
by a large majority, at the next annual session of
the Raad.

The Uitlanders contended in the English press,
and Mr. Chamberlain made the contention his own,
that the Second Volksraad was of no practical use.
It is only necessary to say that, notwithstanding that
the laws and resolutions of the Second Volksraad
had to be submitted to the ratification of the First
Volksraad, the latter body only once rejected a de-
cision of the Second Volksraad, and that was in the
matter of the dispute about the bewaarplaatsen,
when the Second Volksraad wished to grant the
mining rights of an estate, without more ado, to a
tenant who had leased only the surface rights.

It must not be forgotten either that these altera-
tions of the constitution in favor of the Uitlanders
were introduced by myself and accepted by the
Volksraad in spite of the fact that, only a little ear-
lier, an incident had occurred at Johannesburg of a
character very insulting to me and to the burghers.
I was going to Norval's Point, on the Orange River,
to meet the High Commissioner in the matter of the
Swaziland question. On the road, I stopped at
Johannesburg, where, as usual, a deputation came
to lay its grievances before me. It was quite impos-
sible for me to concede all the wishes of these people

199

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

on the spot. One of the deputation threw the re-
proach in my face that I treated the new popula-
tion with contempt. I angrily answered:

" I have no contempt for the new population, but
only for men like yourself."

In the evening, a riot took place in front of Mr.
van Brandis's house, where I was staying: the flag
of the Republic was pulled down and torn to pieces.
It is easy to see that this provoked the old population
almost beyond endurance, but I quieted them by say-
ing that the inhabitants in general were loyal bur-
ghers and that the scandal must be laid to the charge
of a few rioters. When I met the High Commis-
sioner at Norval's Point, he spoke to me of the riot
at Johannesburg, and I said:

" Yes, Sir Henry; you see, those people remind
me of a baboon I once had, which was so fond of me
that he would not let any one touch me. But one
day we were sitting round the fire, and unfortu-
nately the beast's tail got caught in the fire. He now
flew at me furiously, thinking that I was the cause
of his accident. The Johannesburgers are just like
that. They have burnt their fingers in speculations
and now they want to revenge themselves on Paul
Kruger."

A fresh occasion for provoking foreign hatred
against me presented itself at the time of the sep-
tennial commemoration of the Declaration of Inde-

200

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

pendence at Paarde Kraal. I made a long speech to
some thousands of people in which I set forth how
I viewed the history of my people in the light of
God's Word. I began by addressing my hearers:

" People of the Lord, you old people of the coun-
try, you foreigners, you new-comers, yes, even you
thieves and murderers ! "

The Uitlanders, who were always on the watch
to invent grievances against the President and the
Government, were furious at this address, and de-
clared that I had called them thieves and murderers,
which was, of course, an absolute lie. I merely
wished to say that I called upon everybody, even
thieves and murderers, if there were any such in the
meeting, to humble themselves before God and to
acknowledge the wonders in God's dealings with
the people of the Republic. If any insult was con-
veyed in these words, it applied just as much to the
old as to the new population, as any sensible person,
who took the trouble to follow my train of thought,
would have perceived for himself.

The Swaziland question, in connection with which
I had gone to meet Sir Henry Loch, had given the
Republic great trouble. Swaziland formerly be-
longed to the Republic, but was taken from it b}T the
Royal Commission of 1881. Except on the east, it
is bounded on every side by the South African Re-
public. Some of the burghers had obtained certain

201

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

concessions from the Swazi king, Umbandine.
Other persons, mostly adventurers, demanded simi-
lar concessions, and were so great a nuisance and
annoyance to the King that he asked the British
Government to send him an adviser. No time was
lost in complying with his request, as this would
bring Swaziland within the sphere of British influ-
ence. OfFy Shepstone, son of the Sir Theophilus
Shepstone who annexed the Republic in 1877, was
appointed adviser to Umbandine by the High Com-
missioner. But the confusion in the land grew
worse and worse, till at last the real government of
the country was handed over to a kind of committee
consisting of Boers and Englishmen. It was ob-
vious that such a condition of things could not last,
and Sir Hercules Robinson did not appear at all
averse to the annexation of the country by the Re-
public. Needless to say that this arrangement did
not suit the Jingoes and " humanitarians " in Eng-
land; so the British Government decided to dispatch
Sir Francis de Winton as a special envoy to look
into the affairs of Swaziland.

General Joubert had an interview, on behalf of
the South African Republic, with Sir Francis de
Winton, at which he explained the reason why
the Transvaal Government desired to incorporate
Swaziland with the Republic. After the British
Government had received de Winton's report, they

202

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

commissioned Sir Henry Loch, the new Gov-
ernor of Cape Colony, to communicate with me.
We met in conference at Blignautspont ; and
Rhodes was also present at the meeting. I did
all I could to induce the British Government to
agree to the incorporation of Swaziland, as well
as of Sambaanland and Umbigesaland, with which
the Republic had already come to an understand-
ing. Sir Henry Loch did all in his power to
obtain the consent of the Republic to a scheme for
a railway which Natal desired to build as far
as Johannesburg in order to bring about a gen-
eral South African customs-union. I would not
listen to the proposal of a general customs-union;
not because I was opposed to the scheme, but because
my first condition was always my demand for a port :
port first, customs-union after. I agreed to the rail-
way scheme, not on any special grounds, but because
I desired to meet Natal in the matter. But I de-
clined to treat this railway scheme, as a condition in
entirely different questions; and with regard to
the tariff question, it was necessary that I should
first put myself in communication with the Portu-
guese Government, as there already existed an un-
derstanding between myself and them on the subject.
In fact, the Portuguese Government had only deter-
mined to build the Delagoa Bay Railway on condi-
tion that no new line to Johannesburg should be

203

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

built that would be shorter than the Delagoa
Line. The outcome of the conference was that the
High Commissioner agreed to draft a deed which
he was to submit to me. At the same time he ex-
pressed the wish that Dr. Leyds, who was present
at the negotiations, should remain behind and be
present also at the drafting of the document in order
to explain it, should it be necessary to throw addi-
tional light upon any particular point for my
benefit. He was then to sign a declaration that he
had been present at the drafting of the deed. There-
upon the conference broke up.

Shortly afterwards Sir Henry Loch sent me his
draft proposals, containing the following main
points :

Swaziland to be governed in common; the Re-
public to receive permission to build a railway as far
as Kosi Bay. A strip of land, three miles broad,
was ceded to her for this purpose. Rut the British
Government retained the protectorate over this dis-
trict and over Kosi Bay as well: a condition which
made the acceptance of the offer by the Republic
impossible from the commencement;

The Transvaal, besides, to receive permission to
annex a small piece of land, the so-called Little
Free State, situated between the Republic and
Swaziland.

Sir Henry Loch insisted that this was the under-

204-

KRUGERS SECOND PRESIDENCY

standing at which he had arrived with me at Blig-
nautspont, and that Dr. Leyds, after the closing of
the conference, had expressed himself satisfied with
the conditions and had signed them in proof of his
agreement. Both Dr. Leyds and I disputed this as-
sertion, and I refused to accept the conditions of the
draft. Loch threatened that, unless it was accepted,
the British Government would avail themselves of
their right, under the London Convention, to send
an armed force into Swaziland.

Shortly after, Jan Hofmeyer came to Pretoria,
in order to mediate, and, with his assistance, the first
Swaziland Convention was agreed upon. Needless
to say that the Republic received very little benefit
indeed: nay, she lost; for she was prevented from
making any treaty in future with the natives in the
north and north-west. Further, she had to agree
not to put any difficulties in the way of a railway
connection with Natal and — here we again see Cecil
Rhodes's hand — to assist the Chartered Company
to the best of her ability in the north. This last con-
dition, as we shall see later, gave rise to great diffi-
culties.

The Volksraad accepted the agreement, but ex-
pressed its regret very freely at the absence of
mutual accommodation which the Republic had en-
countered on the part of England. The unsatisfac-
tory state of things resulting from this agreement

205

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

lasted until 1893, when a second Swaziland Conven-
tion was concluded.

Two events occurred during my second presi-
dency which called forth great opposition against
myself. The first of these was the Adendorff trek;
the second a conference on church matters. The
Adendorff trek had its origin in a concession which
a certain Adendorff and Mr. B. Foster, jun., had
obtained in Banjailand and which they vainly en-
deavored to sell to Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes declared
that the concession was illegal, whereupon its own-
ers resolved to trek to the territory which had been
leased to them. The High Commissioner and
Rhodes both opposed this trek, as they considered
that it endangered the interests of the Chartered
Company, and they asked me, in accordance with
the Swaziland Convention, to forbid the trekkers to
carry out their project. I immediately published
a declaration against the trek and issued a procla-
mation in which the burghers throughout the coun-
try were strictly forbidden to take part in it. Any
one disobeying the proclamation was threatened
with the utmost rigors of the law. A section of the
burghers openly protested against this proclama-
tion, and, although I knew that it was likely to cost
me some of my popularity, I was in honor bound
to observe the decisions of the Swaziland Convention,
little though they appealed to me. How dear this

206

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

attitude cost me was shown at the next presidential
election; for, although my opponents brought up
many other grievances against me, the fact that
I had prevented the AdendorfF trek was one of
the chief reasons that caused a number of burghers
to vote for my opponents. This question afterwards
came up for discussion in the Volksraad, and, in the
debate that followed, manv influential members
spoke against the proclamation, including the late
General Joubert and Mr. Schalk Burger, who be-
came Acting President of the Republic during the
late war, after my departure for Europe. Even-
tually, however, the Volksraad accepted the procla-
mation and nothing came of the wThole movement,
this being due, to a great extent, to my endeavors
to see the burghers personally, whenever I could,
and persuade them from joining the trek.

At the same time that the Republic had to en-
counter these difficulties in external politics, quar-
rels arose in regard to church matters.

After the war of 1881, the burghers felt the neces-
sity of consolidation in ecclesiastical matters, and the
result was a union between the Hervormde and the
Nederduitsch-Gereformcerde Churches. The third
evangelical church community, the Christelijk-Gere-
formeerde, or so-called Dopper Church, of which I
was a member, had hesitated to join the union, and
was therefore not directly mixed up in these quar-

207

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

rels. Shortly after the union, fresh differences of
opinion arose, and several burghers, whose leader
was Christian Joubert, wished to have no more to
do with the union and decided to remain in the Her-
vorm.de Church. Others followed later on, and their
leader was A. D. W. Wolmarans, who was at that
time in Europe as a delegate. Difficult questions
naturally arose regarding the right of ownership
to church property, for the members who separated
from the Hervormde Church laid claims to its prop-
erty, as did those who remained faithful to the
union. It is not surprising that this situation gave
rise to bitter disputes and many quarrels.

In order to put a stop to these bickerings, I sent
a circular note to the pastors and elders of the dif-
ferent parties, inviting them to a conference at
which an attempt would be made to remove these
difficulties. It took place, in 1891, in the House of
the Second Volksraad, I myself presiding. All par-
ties were represented. In my opening speech, I
asked them to look upon me, not as the State Presi-
dent, but as a brother and fellow-Christian, anxious
to do my share to put an end to the unhappy state
of things by removing the cause of quarrel. I tried
hard to restore the union, thinking that, by doing
so, I should succeed in healing the breach. But it
soon became obvious that my attempts were doomed
to failure, and I accordingly passed on to the ques-

208

KRUGER'S SECOND PRESIDENCY

tion of the right of property. But here, too, all my
efforts to reconcile their differences proved fruitless.
The conference closed without any satisfactory so-
lution of the vexed question having been arrived at.

Although I really instituted this conference with
the best intentions, it was nevertheless employed as
a weapon against me by my enemies. I was re-
proached at the next presidential election with being
an autocrat and with wishing to interfere in every-
thing, even in church matters.

This new presidential election was due in the fol-
lowing vear. This time, there were three candidates
in the field: myself, Joubert and Chief Justice
Kotze ; and it proved the most violent electoral strug-
gle through which the Republic ever passed. I was
accused by the Opposition of being autocratic, of
squandering the national money, of giving away all
rights and privileges in the form of concessions and
of awarding all the offices of state to the Hollanders.
Reproaches upon reproaches were also hurled
against the Opposition. It is far from pleasant to
carry back one's thoughts to that time, when the two
chief men in the Republic were painted so black
that, if only the tenth part of the accusations flung
at us had been based upon truth, neither of us would
have been worthy to enjoy the confidence of the peo-
ple for another hour.

209

CHAPTER XI

PAUL KRUGER'S
THIRD PRESIDENCY

1893-1898

CHAPTER XI

PAUL kruger's third presidency : 1893-1898

The Transvaal National Union — The second Swaziland Agree-
ment— Difficulties with the Kaffir tribes in the Blue Moun-
tains— The English immigrants refuse to perform military
service — Sir Henry Loch at Pretoria — The President insulted
— Annexation of Sambaanland and Umbigesaland by Eng-
land— Solemn opening of the Delagoa Bay Railway and
tariff war with Cape Colony — The Jameson Raid — Mr.
Chamberlain's policy of provocation — The report of the
Mining Commission — The struggle between the Government
and the Supreme Court — Sir Alfred Milner — New elections —
The Queen of England a "kwaaie vroum" — Closer alliance
with the Oransre Free State.

HE result of the new election was :

Kruger 7,854 votes

Joubert 7,009 „

Chief Justice Kotze ... 81 ,,

Joubert's party was dissatisfied with the result and
entered a protest against my election. When the
Volksraad met, on the 1st of May, a committee of
six, consisting of three of Joubert's followers and
three of mine, was appointed to hold a scrutiny. A
resolution was passed, at the same time, by which
I was to remain in office until the committee had given
its decision, although my term of office nominally

213

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

expired on the 5th of May. The majority of the
committee were of opinion that the election had been
legally conducted. Nevertheless the minority handed
in their own report recommending a new election.
The Volksraad, on the other hand, accepted the re-
port of the majority by 18 votes to 3, with the result
that, on the 12th of May 1893, I was installed as
State President for the third time. After being
sworn in, I once more addressed the people, this time
from the balcony of the new Government Buildings,
while the public stood crowded in large numbers in
the Church Square in front. I exhorted the burghers
to remain unanimous, spoke a word of greeting to
the women of the country and, lastly and particularly,
admonished the children, with whom the future lay,
to continue true to their mother tongue.1 Combined

1 This admonition was uttered especially in connection with the educa-
tional reforms which had been introduced in the previous year and which
were based upon the principle that the Dutch language was to be employed
as the educational medium.

The portion of Kruger's speech to which he refers, ran as follows:

" Dear children, you are the ones upon whom the State President
keeps his eye, for I see our future Church and State in your hands, for
when all the old people are gone, you will be the Church and State; but,
if you depart from the truth and stray, then you will lose your inheri-
tance. Stand firm by God's Word, in which your parents have brought
you up. Love that Word. I shall endeavor with all my might to assist
churches and schools, to let you receive a Christian education, so that
you may both religiously and socially become useful members of Church
and State, and I trust that the teachers and ministers will also do their
best. It is a great privilege that your Government has ordered a Chris-
tian education, and you are greatly privileged in being able to enjoy a
Christian education, and not you alone, for the object is to extend it so
that every one may have the opportunity of receiving it and turning it

214

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

efforts on the part of the burghers were especially
needed that year, as the country had been visited by

to account. . . . It is also a great privilege for you that the Govern-
ment and Volksraad have accepted our language as the State language.
Keep to that, keep to the language in which your forefathers, whom God
led out of the wilderness, struggled and prayed to God, and which be-
came ever dearer and dearer to them: the language in which the Bible
comes to you, and in which your forefathers read the Bible, and which
contains the religion of your forefathers. And, therefore, if you become
indifferent to your language, you also become indifferent to your fore-
fathers and indifferent to the Bible and indifferent to your religion ; and
then you will soon stray away entirely and you will rob posterity of your
Dutch Bible and of your religion, which God confirmed to your forefathers
with wonders and miracles. Stand firm then, so that you shall not be
trusted in vain, and keep to your language, your Bible and your religion.
It is a good thing to learn foreign languages, especially the language of
your neighbors with whom you have most to do; but let any foreign lan-
guage be a second language to you. Pray to God that you may stand firm
on this point and not stray, so that the Lord may remain amongst you,
and then posterity will honor you for your loyalty."

It was just the two points of view touched upon in this speech which
President Burgers had neglected in the educational law which he had
drafted in 1874, and, with the aid of his eloquence, had induced the
Volksraad to pass. He was opposed to the religious convictions of the
nation. He had abolished the religious basis upon which the schools were
founded. And therefore his law, wherever he himself was not able to
plead for it with the power of his rhetoric, remained a dead letter.

After the War of Independence, one of the first cares of the regency,
at whose head Kruger stood as Vice-President, was to obtain an educa-
tional law that should satisfy the real needs and wishes of the nation.
Kruger thought he had found the man who possessed the necessary ex-
perience and who shared the convictions of the Boers in Dr. du Toit,
and appoinbcd him Superintendent of Education. He drafted a law which
was passed by the Volksraad in 1882, but, although his intention was
good, the execution was faulty. Du Toit was more of a politician than a
schoolman, and he resigned his office in 1S89. The development of the
gold-fields and the influx of emigrants at that time made such demands
upon the powers and attention of the Government that it was unable to
devote as much care to the schools as it would have wished. And so the
post of Director of Education remained vacant for some time. After
this, when a new holder of this post was looked for, the division of the
people into different Church parties determined them not again to appoint

215

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

heavy floods. The rivers rose higher than had been
known within human memory and did enormous
damage.

In the year preceding the election of 1893, which

an ecclesiastic. Professor Mansvelt, the Professor of Modern Languages
at Stellenbosch, was therefore approached. He at first refused, but,
when again called upon and after a personal interview with the President,
accepted, at the end of 1891. After he had satisfied himself by a long
journey of inspection as to the condition of the schools throughout the
country, he drafted a new law with the assistance of a committee ap-
pointed by the Volksraad for that purpose. The law was first submitted
to the people and afterwards passed unanimously by the Volksraad.

In the main points, the outlines of the law of 1882 were preserved, but
in certain respects the new law was a great improvement and advance
upon the old. President Kruger took part personally in all the delibera-
tions; most of the sittings were even held in his house. He had origi-
nally entertained misgivings as to three points in particular. The in-
creased state grants caused him to fear lest private initiative should be
relaxed and the duty incumbent upon Christian parents transferred to the
state. He had seen in his own church how the heavy burdens which it
owed towards the state church had strengthened its readiness to perform
acts of self-sacrifice. But he was at last obliged to admit that the per-
ception of the necessity for supplying the best possible education to the
children of a people that was called upon to hold its own in the inheri-
tance of its fathers against a great European influx was not yet suffi-
ciently general to allow him to act in accordance with his idealistic views.
Moreover, model schools were required, and higher schools for the train-
ing of civil servants out of the children of the country, and this necessi-
tated financial sacrifices that could not be borne by private individuals.
And so now, as again later, the President accepted the position, without
in any way surrendering his principle.

He also entertained misgivings regarding the demand of a general
proof of the possession of a certain degree of qualification among the
teachers, for he thought that this showed ingratitude towards the old
teachers, who had given their services almost gratuitously to the land
and people in bad times and who would now have to be dismissed. This
objection was settled by a compromise, by which this class of teachers
was allowed to continue in the " Outer " or " Boer Schools," at least if
they were able to satisfy modest requirements.

The third point against which President Kruger at first raised an ob-
jection was the subsidy to the higher girls' schools. He feared that
this would result in changes and revolutions in the life of the people,

216

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

placed me for the third time at the head of the state,
an association had been formed at Johannesburg
which exercised a most disastrous influence upon the

which had always considered that a woman's place was at home. But he
gave way to his advisers, and, afterwards, it was he himself who recom-
mended to the so-called Progressives the admission of clever girls into
the State Gymnasium. And in 1894 he personally opened the State
Girls' School at Pretoria with prayers and an address. The people was
converted to these reforms at the same time as its President.

Determined to make education as general as possible, he was at once
prepared to agree to the proposals that in districts with a mixed popula-
tion, State subsidies should also be allowed, under certain conditions, to
those schools in which education was not given in Dutch. A law of his
own proposing was passed, with this object, on the 1st of June 189-.?, arid
a few English schools and the flourishing German school developed un-
der his protection at Johannesburg. And when the President saw that
the English population made too little use of the advantages granted them
and the political Opposition established an educational commission with
an educational fund of £100,000 for the maintenance of schools conducted
in an anti-national spirit, despite his objection, on principle, to state
schools, he gave his consent to the erection of Uitlander schools at the
cost of the state, to which the mixed inhabitants of the gold-fields could
send their children either gratuitously or on payment of very small fees.
The only duty prescribed to these schools was to give opportunities for
instruction in the language of the country; and at the expiration of two
years, there were twelve of these schools, with 49 teachers and 1,499
children, each of whom cost the state £20 a year. In this way the Eng-
lish enjoyed advantages superior to those of the whole population. The
fact, moreover, that the President would never give up his principle that
the Dutch language should be maintained as the one and only educational
medium merely shows that he saw, as did others, the necessity of the
preservation of the national tongue for the independent development and
consolidation of a nation, especially such a nation as that of the Boers,
which had to hold its ground in the midst of an overwhelming foreign
population.

Education made such great strides in the course of the next eight years
that, at the Paris Exhibition of 1900, the commission received two grands
pri.c: a distinction which is all the more deserved when one thinks of the
many obstacles with which education in the South African Republic had
to grapple, such as a scattered population, Kaffir wars, dearth of laborers,
continuous droughts, the rinderpest and so on. — Note by the Editor of the
German Edition.

217

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

fate of the Transvaal. This was the so-called
" Transvaal National Union," which made it its
business to keep the Johannesburg population in a
state of constant ferment and to manufacture com-
plaints against the Government. Every method of
agitation was put into force by these gentry for the
furtherance of their intrigues. Apparently they
were agitating for the franchise; but their real ob-
ject was a very different one, as will be seen. That
Rhodes's influence was here, too, paramount was
proved by later events.

The seditious spirit which actuated the National
Union stood clearly and distinctly revealed at the
very first opportunity; and this came during the
Kaffir War in the Blue Mountains. The Republic,
at that time, had to contend against constant diffi-
culties with the Kaffir tribes in the North. To-day
it was this one, to-morrow that other, that assumed
an insolent attitude towards the Government. At
last, one of their chiefs, by name Malapoch, who
lived in the Blue Mountains, behaved so outrageously
that the Government was compelled to send a com-
mando against him. His audacity had gone so far
as to order a number of his subjects, who lived in
the plains round about the Blue Mountains, to be
murdered, because they had paid taxes to the Gov-
ernment of the Republic in accordance with their
lawful obligations.

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

General Joubert collected the young men of Pre-
toria for an expedition against Malapoch. These
young men of course included many subjects of for-
eign Powers, but all obeyed the field-cornet's sum-
mons with the greatest alacrity, with the exception
of the English.

These, as "British subjects," thought themselves
much too grand to fight for the despised Boers. The
English clergy did all they could to stir up the minds
of these young men by public addresses. At last,
the field-cornet found himself compelled, in com-
pliance with Article 5 of the Regulations of War,
to arrest the recalcitrants. These lodged a complaint
with the Chief Justice, and demanded that the field-
cornet be ordered to leave them alone. The court,
however, decided that they were obliged to serve, and
so these fine young gentlemen were sent under a bur-
gher escort to the commando. Meanwhile, the so-
called National Union had not been idle, but made
every possible attempt to harass the Government.
The insolence of these people would be incompre-
hensible, if it had not afterwards appeared who were
behind them. The British Government took official
notice of the occurrence and sent Sir Henry Loch
to Pretoria to discuss the question with the Govern-
ment of the Republic.

In the meantime, the Volksraad had passed a res-
olution by which any person not yet enjoying full

219

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

burgher rights might be released from military ser-
vice on the payment of a certain sum of money.
Shortly afterwards, Sir Henry Loch came to Pre-
toria. On his arrival, the English behaved in the
most disorderly fashion and, as soon as the Governor
and I were seated in the carriage, the Jingoes took
out the horses and drew us to the Transvaal Hotel,
singing the usual English satirical ditties as they did
so. One of the ring-leaders jumped on the box wav-
ing a great Union Jack. On arriving in front of the
Transvaal Hotel, they stopped the carriage and read
an address to Sir Henry Loch. A number of Trans-
vaal burghers, seeing what was going on, drew the
carriage, in which I had remained seated alone, to
the Government Buildings. I need not say that this
incident made a very bad impression on the minds of
the burghers and added new fuel to the already ex-
isting dislike of the English. The Volksraad was
sitting at the time and passed a resolution asking the
Government for an explanation why no measures
were taken to prevent an exhibition so offensive to
the people of the Republic. Soon after, a number
of burghers assembled in the town, having come up
determined to prevent a repetition of these insults.

Meantime, the so-called National Union continued
their work. They invited Sir Henry Loch to visit
Johannesburg; for they were fully aware that it
would be much easier to provoke a riot there than

220

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

at Pretoria. What they were working for was in-
tervention from England. I was fully alive to the
difficulties which must of necessity arise from Sir
Henry Loch's visit to Johannesburg, and advised
him most earnestly not to go. I even went so far
as to say to him, in private conversation, that the re-
sponsibility, should he accept the invitation, must
rest entirely with him. He thereupon abandoned his
proposed visit to Johannesburg. His whole public
attitude was, in fact, perfectly correct. But how did
he act in secret? When the National Union dis-
covered that the visit to Johannesburg was not to
take place, they sent some of their members, includ-
ing Tudhope and Leonard, to Pretoria, with an
address to Sir Henry Loch. The address con-
tained the most insulting accusations against the
Government and the Volksraad. But this caused
no surprise to those who knew its source. In
public, Sir Henry Loch advised the deputation
to carry their complaints quietly before the Volks-
raad. In secret, he asked them how many rifles and
how much ammunition they had at Johannesburg,
and how long they could hold out against the Gov-
ernment, until he was able to come to their assistance
with English troops from outside.

How typically English was this conduct on the
part of a high-placed British official! It is charac-
teristic of the entire English policy in South Africa.

221

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Lies, treachery, intrigues and secret instigations
against the Government of the Republic: these have
always been distinguishing marks of English politics,
which found their final goal in this present cruel war.
If, encouraged by the question, which amounted al-
most to a suggestion, the Johannesburgers did not
rise there and then, this is owing only to the fact that
they were without rifles and ammunition. But it is
not difficult to trace the consequences of this advice
in the events which, soon afterwards, ensued.

I have been obliged to anticipate, in order to give
a connected picture of the nature and aims of the
National Union; but events of great importance in
foreign politics had taken place in the meantime. In
1893, the second Swaziland Convention was con-
cluded. In this connection, a conference was held
at Colesberg between the High Commissioner and
myself: it led to no result, but was followed by a
second conference at Pretoria. Here came Sir
Henry Loch, with his wife, his two daughters and a
numerous staff, and was given a brilliant reception.
Judging by the festivities held in Sir Henry's honor,
an uninitiated observer would have thought that a
solemn welcome was being offered to a true friend
and ally of the Republic. The arrangement which
was soon made was not of a nature to give rise to
much rejoicing; but it was the best we could obtain.
The chief points were:

222

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

The Republic received the right to conclude a
treaty with the Queen of the Swazis by which the su-
zerainty and right of administration passed to the
Republic, while the internal affairs of the Kaffirs
were left to the Queen and her council, so that Swazi-
land could not be considered to form a part of the
Republic.

All the white male inhabitants of the country were
to obtain full burgher rights in the Republic, pro-
vided that they applied for them within six months.

The Dutch and English languages were to enjoy
equal rights in the law-courts.

The South African Republic confirmed her renun-
ciation, already conceded in the first Swaziland Con-
vention, of her claims on certain districts in the north
and north-west of the country.

This arrangement was not to become valid until
the Swazi queen and her council gave their consent.

A strong opposition now sprang up among the
Swazis against our taking possession of their coun-
try, as we were to do in accordance with the conven-
tion. This opposition was provoked and strength-
ened by all sorts of English Jingoes and adventurers,
including a certain Hulett, who had come from
Natal. The latter persuaded the Swazis to send a
deputation to England, to protest against the trans-
fer of their country into the hands of the Republic.
The deputation achieved no result. Since, however,

223

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

nothing but feuds and quarrels arose in Swaziland
and since, under existing conditions, it was impos-
sible for the South African Republic to suppress
them, an unbearable situation arose and a new meet-
ing accordingly took place between Sir Henry Loch
and myself at Volksrust, in 1894, at which a new,
or third, Swaziland Convention was concluded, giv-
ing the Republic the right to take over Swaziland,
without, however, making it an integral portion of
this country. But for this restriction, Swaziland now
practically formed part of the Republic. This con-
vention was accepted by the Volksraad in an extraor-
dinary session, in 1895, and thus this troublesome
matter was settled.

We had hardly time to breathe after these diffi-
culties about the native territories, when England
suddenly annexed Sambaanland and Umbigesaland.
The Republic had long had treaties of friendship
with both these countries and, during the time of the
Swaziland negotiations, it had always been taken for
granted that the Republic would later, as soon as
the Swaziland question was settled, put forward her
claims over the two countries and treat with England
for their annexation. Nevertheless, as soon as the
Volksraad had ratified the Swaziland Convention, in
1895, England suddenly annexed the territories in
question, although she had no more claim upon them
than upon the moon. The object of this proceeding

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

can only have been to vex and harass the Republic;
for, by acting as she did, England cut off the Trans-
vaal's last outlet to the sea, an outlet which England
did not require. It goes without saying that the Re-
public protested against the annexation; but Eng-
land did not trouble herself about that.

In 1895, one of my fondest wishes was at last ef-
fected. The railway to Delagoa Bay was solemnly
opened at Pretoria. After many difficulties, the line
had at last been completed, thanks to the industry of
the Netherlands South African Railway Company.
All the governments of South Africa were repre-
sented at the inauguration, and the Volksraad voted
£20,000 to enable the burghers who cared to avail
themselves of this privilege to travel to Delagoa Bay
and inspect the whole work. Thousands of burghers
were thus enabled to become acquainted with the new
enterprise and to appreciate its value.

This railway changed the whole internal situation
in the Transvaal. Until that time, the Cape Railway
had enjoyed a monopoly, so to speak, of the Johan-
nesburg traffic. This was now altered. In order to
facilitate friendly competition and to secure an ade-
quate proportion of the profits on the railway traffic
to the largest city in the Republic, the Government
proposed that the profits on the joint goods and pas-
senger traffic should be divided in equal shares be-
tween the three States whose railway-lines ran to

15 225

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Pretoria. These three were Cape Colony, Natal, and
the Transvaal. Cecil Rhodes, who was then for the
second time Premier of Cape Colony, and his ad-
visers thought differently. They asked for 50 per
cent, for Cape Colony, leaving the remaining 50 per
cent, to be divided between Natal and the Transvaal.
The Government of the Republic would not hear of
this proposal, and a tariff war ensued.

The Cape Government lowered their tariff as far
as Vereeniging, the frontier station between the
Orange Free State and the Transvaal (the Free
State railways were at that time still under the con-
trol of the Cape Government). The South African
Railway, on the other hand, raised its tariff on its
own portion of the line, running from Vereeniging
to Johannesburg, in order to neutralize the reduction
in prices on the other portion. The Cape Govern-
ment now thought out a new plan. In order to avoid
sending their goods over the expensive stretch of
line, they had them unloaded at Viljoensdrift, in
order to convey them thence to Johannesburg in ox-
wagons. Now the customs laws of the Republic con-
tained a clause by virtue of which the President was
enabled to proclaim certain places on the frontiers
as " import ports " ; while no goods could be imported
except at places thus proclaimed. When, therefore,
the Cape Government caused their goods to be car-
ried in ox-wagons, the Government of the Republic

226

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

(whose interests coincided with those of the Nether-
lands South African Railway Company, as they had
guaranteed the latter's profits) determined to close
the existing " import ports," really fords, or " drifts,"
to goods from over the seas. The Government proc-
lamation was directed only against goods from over
the seas, so as not to injure the home trade of the
Orange Free State and Cape Colony. t

What did Rhodes and his Government now do?
They asserted that the London Convention had been
violated. This Convention contained a clause ac-
cording to which no article coming from any portion
of the British Empire could be excluded, unless the
importation of that same article from any other
country was also forbidden. The Republic, there-
fore, had violated the Convention, inasmuch as she
had favored Cape Colony, a British possession, and
the Orange Free State, her sister state, above the
countries over the seas. She must now either with-
draw her decision, or else resort to the odious measure
of forbidding the entire importation. Rhodes ad-
dressed his complaint to the British Government. A
general election had recently taken place in England,
and the same Government was in power that held
office at the time of the late war. Mr. Chamberlain
was a member of this Government and was, of course,
at once prepared to send the Republic an ultimatum.
He stipulated, however, that, if the ultimatum led

227

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

to a war, Cape Colony should bear half the cost, raise
a force of auxiliaries and lend her railway for the
free carriage of troops. To the shame be it spoken
of the Afrikanders who had seats in the Ministry,
they agreed to this suggestion forthwith. The Re-
public received her ultimatum and was, of course,
obliged to give way and to undertake not to close
the drifts again.

The most striking event during my third presi-
dency was Dr. Jameson's filibustering expedition, an
enterprise of which the responsibility does not rest
with Dr. Jameson. It is true that Mr. Chamberlain,
at the time of the raid, declared that he knew nothing
of the whole conspiracy. Later, however, it was
shown that the British Government, or at least the
Colonial Secretary, was fully informed of Cecil
Rhodes's plans and intrigues, which resulted in Jame-
son's disgraceful raid. Rhodes had long entertained
the project of making himself master of the Repub-
lic in one way or another ; and he devoted his money,
his influence and his position as Premier of Cape
Colony to this object. The National Union, of
which I have already spoken, was employed by him
to keep men's minds at Johannesburg in a constant
state of ferment, and it soon became his chief tool in
the conspiracy against the existence of the country.
Through his instrumentality, arms and ammunition
were secretly smuggled into Johannesburg and con-

228

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

cealed in the Simmer-and-Jack Mine, in which he
was the largest shareholder. Rhodes was aware that
Johannesburg alone was not able to start a revo-
lution with any chance of success. He had therefore
to try to obtain a place of his own, on the frontiers of
the Republic, where he could collect troops in sup-
port of a rising. With this object, with the aid of
his factotum, Dr. Rutherfoord Harris, and a lady
journalist called Flora Shaw, he opened negotiations
with the British Government in order to extend the
territory of the Chartered Company, so as to include
the necessary strategic positions. The telegrams ex-
changed between the above-named persons during
the negotiations with the British Government show
that Mr. Chamberlain knew all about the matter.
One of Miss Shaw's telegrams to Rhodes ended with
the words :

Chamberlain sound in case of interference European Powers,
but have special reasons to believe wishes you must do it im-
mediately.

Add to this the following telegram from Rhodes
to Miss Flora Shaw:

Inform Chamberlain that I shall get through all right, if he
supports me, but he must not send cables like he sent to the
High Commissioner in South Africa. To-day the crux is I
shall win and South Africa will belong to England.

And again:

Unless you can make Chamberlain instruct the High Com-
missioner to proceed at once to Johannesburg, the whole posi-

229

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

tion is lost. High Commissioner would receive splendid re-
ception and still turn position to England's advantage, but must
be instructed by cable immediately. The instructions must be
specific, as he is weak and will take no responsibility.

It must be remembered, moreover, that the British
Government laid only a portion of the telegrams
before the so-called Select Parliamentary Commit-
tee on British South African Affairs, and probably
kept back those which were most compromising.
Why should this be done when an inquiry is insti-
tuted to discover the truth? Is it not the natural con-
clusion that Chamberlain was equally guilty with
Rhodes? However, no one can seriously deny that
the above-mentioned published telegrams clearly
prove Mr. Chamberlain's complicity in the plot.

As soon as Rhodes was sure of obtaining the de-
sired strip of land from the British Government, he
at once began to take measures to collect the troops
of the South African Police at that point and to
equip them with horses and materials of war so that
they might be ready to invade the Republic as soon as
things at Johannesburg were ripe for the attack.
Meanwhile, he had entered into correspondence with
the leaders of the National Union and sent his bro-
ther, Colonel Rhodes, to Johannesburg to work in
his interest and represent him. Colonel Rhodes had
his unlimited authority to spend as much money as
he considered necessary. Mr. Lionel Phillips, one of

230

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

the conspirators, had gone to Cape Town, presum-
ably to discuss the details with Rhodes in person.
He returned suddenly, on the pretext of opening
the new buildings of the Chamber of Mines, of
which he was chairman. The buildings, however,
were not even finished, and the opening was only an
excuse to give Mr. Phillips the opportunity of mak-
ing a political speech. It took place at the end of
November, and Phillips delivered a speech full of
violent attacks upon the Government. Some time
earlier, one or two members of the National Union
had gone to Cape Town to discuss the execution of
the plan. In accordance with what was then ar-
ranged, Dr. Jameson came to Johannesburg at the
end of November to concert the necessary measures
with the leaders of the Union. On this occasion, he
asked them to give him a letter in which they ap-
pealed to him for his assistance and which he could
use at any time as an excuse for an invasion. The
letter contained the statement that a collision was
imminent between the Uitlanders and the Govern-
ment and that the women and children and private
property at Johannesburg were in danger. This
letter, which was signed by Mr. Charles Leonard,
Colonel Frank Rhodes, Messrs. Lionel Phillips, J.
Hays Hammond and Farrar, was left undated, so
that Jameson might be able to make use of it at
any time. In the meanwhile, the inhabitants of Jo-

231

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

hannesburg were incited in every possible manner
by the Rhodes press in order artfully to prepare the
way for an outbreak. Towards the end of Decem-
ber 1895, Leonard, as chairman of the National
Union, issued a long manifesto raising a series of
accusations against the Government. Everything
that could serve to excite men's minds against the Re-
public was dragged in. Of course, the franchise
question was one of the main grievances, although
Lionel Phillips, who was also a leading member of
the Union, had not long before written to his part-
ner in London, a German Jew called Beit, who was
closely connected with Rhodes, that " we do not care
a fig for the franchise."

Just when the ferment at Johannesburg was at
its height, I returned to Pretoria from my usual an-
nual tour of the districts, and it was then that, in
reply to an address in which the burghers pressed
for the punishment of the rebellious element, I used
the words:

" You must give the tortoise time to put out its
head before you can catch hold of it."

An attempt has been made to prove from these
words that I knew of the preparations for the Jame-
son Raid, and that by the tortoise I meant Jameson.
But this statement is quite unfounded. Neither I
nor any of the Transvaal authorities at that time
thought such a deed possible, much less expected it.

232

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

It is true that horses, provisions and fodder were be-
ing bought up by the English even in the Republic ;
but the English stated that the assembling of the
police on the western frontier of the South African
Republic was intended for an expedition against the
Kaffirs, particularly against the Chief Linchwe. And
the burghers, therefore, entertained so little suspi-
cion that they themselves assisted in the purchase of
the military stores and in conveying the goods to all
the places which afterwards represented roadside
stations for Jameson's ride from Kimberley to near
Ivrugersdorp. I myself had, but a short while be-
fore, offered the British High Commissioner, Sir
Hercules Robinson, the assistance of the Republic
for the protection of the women and children against
the Matabele, who were giving trouble to the Eng-
lish, and Sir Hercules had replied thanking me for
my offer, but saying that our assistance would not
be needed for the present. If I had had the smallest
inkling of Jameson's plan, I should assuredly not
have allowed him to push so far into the Republic.
In the days when the troops were being collected for
the Jameson Raid, General Joubert, the Comman-
der-in-chief of the Boer forces, was not even at Pre-
toria, but on his farm in the Wakkerstroom district,
and he did not return to Pretoria until a couple of
days before the raid.

What I meant by the tortoise was the National

233

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Union, which was continually abusing the Govern-
ment and threatening to resort to force in order to
obtain the removal of its grievances. I intended to
convey that we must allow the movement quietly to
take its course, until it revealed its true character and
showed itself so undoubtedly guilty that the Gov-
ernment could punish the leading members, the real
rebels, for high treason. Had those men been ar-
rested earlier, they could still have tried to deny
their misconduct and we should then, perhaps, have
been unable to convince the world of their guilt.

Towards the end of December 1895, the state of
affairs at Johannesburg was such that thousands left
the town and fled for safety to the coast, while the
National Union, which henceforth adopted the name
of the Reform Committee, raised corps of volunteers
to whom it distributed arms and ammunition. In
order to avoid a collision and prevent bloodshed, the
Government resolved to confine the police to bar-
racks. We did not look upon the rebellion as serious,
since it did not originate with the people, but was
artificially manufactured from above by intriguers.
The whole thing would have presented a farcical
spectacle, if the results had been less serious. The
only man among the so-called Reformers who under-
stood his business was Colonel Rhodes. All the
others were theatrical revolutionaries.1

1 It has been related that the President kept his horse saddled in his
stable and his rifle loaded by his bed-side during the time of the Jameson

234

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

I received different deputations from Johannes-
burg which made it clear that a large number of the
inhabitants did not wish to have anything to do with
the insurrection. I promised one of these deputa-
tions that I would meet the Uitlanders in the matter
of certain grievances and propose a general grant
of the franchise, and I also issued a proclamation in
which I declared that the rioters formed only a small
proportion of the population of Johannesburg, and
expressed my confidence that the law-abiding in-
habitants would support the Government in its
endeavors to maintain law and order.

This injunction was issued on the 30th of Decem-
ber 1895. On the same day, however, General Jou-
bert received a telegram from Mr. Marais, Commis-
sioner of Mines at Ottoshoop, informing him that
a commando of 800 of the Chartered Company's
troops, with Maxims and guns, had gone past, at
half -past five that morning, in the direction of Jo-
hannesburg, and that the telegraph wire between
Malmanie, Zeerust, and Lichtenburg had been cut.

General Joubert immediately dispatched telegrams
to the different commandants, and first to those of
Rustenburg, Krugersdorp, and Potchefstroom, ac-
quainting them with these reports and charging them

Raid. Not a word of this is true, except in so far that some friends ad-
vised him to leave Pretoria because of the danger of an attack, whereupon
he replied:

"If it comes to that, I shall take my horse and my gun and join my
commando." — Xute by the Editor of the German Edition.

235

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

at once to summon the burghers and stop the in-
vaders. Meanwhile, the Government had appointed
a committee at Johannesburg to maintain order. It
is certainly due to the tact displayed by this commit-
tee that no bloodshed occurred. The Reformers now
resolved to send a deputation to Pretoria to confer
with the Government. They were received, on be-
half of the Government, by General Kock and
Judges Kotze and Ameshoff , and demanded that Dr.
Jameson should be allowed to enter Johannesburg,
in which case they would make themselves respon-
sible for his peaceful departure from the town and
his return across the frontier. In the meanwhile,
the High Commissioner, Sir Hercules Robinson.,
who had succeeded Sir Henry Loch at the end of
1895, offered his friendly mediation and proposed to
come to Pretoria in order to prevent bloodshed. An
answer was, therefore, given to the deputation to
the effect that, pending the arrival of the High Com-
missioner, the Government would take no measures
against Johannesburg, provided the town conducted
itself quietly.

Meantime, Dr. Jameson had advanced with the
greatest rapidity in the direction of Johannesburg.
The High Commissioner issued a proclamation call-
ing upon Dr. Jameson and all his companions to
withdraw across the frontier (this proclamation was
shortly followed by Cecil Rhodes's resignation of the

226

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

premiership of Cape Colony). The proclamation,
together with a letter from Sir Jacobus De Wet, the
British Agent at Pretoria, was carried to Dr. Jame-
son by Ben Bouwer, a Transvaal burgher. Dr.
Jameson, however, took not the slightest notice of it.
Lieutenant Eloff, of the Krugersdorp police, who
rode out to meet him and to charge him to turn back,
was taken prisoner by his orders. A number of
Transvaal burghers, however, under Commandants
Malan, Potgieter and Cronje had outstripped Jame-
son and taken up their stand on the hills near Kru-
gersdorp. Jameson at once turned the fire of his
guns on the burghers' positions; but, as soon as his
troops attempted a charge, they were driven back
with loss. When Dr. Jameson saw that he could not
get through, he faced about to the right, in order to
try to turn the Boer position. He was stopped,
however, during the night by Field-cornet D. Fou-
che, and the next morning, when he moved still fur-
ther to the right, he came up against Cronje's bur-
ghers, at Doornkop, who compelled him to surrender
after a short engagement.

It has been stated that Dr. Jameson surrendered
on condition that his life and the lives of his men
should be spared. Commandant Cronje had, in fact,
in a note to Sir John Willoughby, the officer in com-
mand of Jameson's troops, informed him that he
would spare their lives on the understanding that they

237

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

surrendered with all that they had with them and
paid the expenses entailed upon the South African
Republic. But, while Commandant Cronje was still
in conversation with Dr. Jameson, Commandant
Malan, of Rustenburg, approached, asked what was
being done and, when he heard the conditions, said
to Cronje:

"We cannot make conditions of any kind; that
is a matter for the Government at Pretoria."

Cronje agreed, and thereupon Commandant Ma-
lan caused Dr. Jameson to be informed, in English,
that he must clearly understand that what Cronje
had said was that the prisoners' lives were only guar-
anteed as far as Pretoria, where they would be
handed over to the Commandant General.

" At this moment," he continued, " we cannot
make any final conditions ; those must be left to the
Government."

Jameson thereupon bowed and said:

" I accept your conditions."

It was not till that moment that the surrender was
completed and Dr. Jameson and his men disarmed
and taken to Pretoria.

In the meantime, the High Commissioner had ar-
rived and at once had an interview with myself and
my advisers. After expressing his regret at what
had happened, he immediately began to speak of the
grievances of the Uitlanders and of other necessary

238

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

reforms. I cut him short at once, however, by point-
ing out to him that this was not the time to speak of
those matters, and that the only questions that could
now be discussed were those of the measures to be
taken in order to avoid further bloodshed,1 and how
Johannesburg should be made give up its arms. The
High Commissioner asked:

" On wrhat conditions is Johannesburg to give up
its arms? "

I replied:

" Unconditionally."

And, when the High Commissioner continued to
hesitate and to raise difficulties against my demand,
I added:

" I will give Johannesburg twenty-four hours in
which to surrender unconditionally. Otherwise, I
shall compel the town to do so by force."

Sir Hercules could obtain no concession. I con-
tinued inexorable, and the interview ended.

The burghers and their commandants were in a
condition of extreme excitement. It is easily under-
stood that, after being plagued and provoked for so

1 Sir Hercules had asked whether he might come to help to bring about
a peaceful settlement of the Jameson business, and he received a reply
saying:

"Yes, come, you can perhaps prevent bloodshed."

He took this to mean that he might do something to prevent the insur-
gents from being shot; but when he was told that he could advise the
Johannesburgers to surrender and thus prevent bloodshed, he was no longer
so assiduous with his offer. — Note by the Editor of the German Edition.

239

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

many years by the National Union, they were not in
the mood to allow Jameson and the Johannesburg
fire-brands to go unpunished. The following will
serve as an instance of the spirit that prevailed among
the burghers:

A commandant and some 400 burghers, who were
on their way to stop Jameson, when the latter had
not yet surrendered, passed through Pretoria and
took the opportunity of calling on me to bid me good-
day. I went out to thank the burghers, when the
commandant addressed me in these words:

" President, we have come to greet you, and at
the same tune to inform you that, when we have cap-
tured Jameson, we intend to march straight on to
Johannesburg and to shoot down that den with
all the rebels in it. They have provoked us long
enough."

I replied:

" No, brother, you must not speak like that. Re-
member, there are thousands of innocent and loyal
people at Johannesburg, and the others have been
for the most part misled. We must not be re-
vengeful; what would be the result of such a
step?"

The commandant answered:

" No, President, you speak in vain. What is the
use of clemency? It is only because we have shown
the rebels clemency too long that they have now gone

240

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

so far. My burghers and I are determined to put
an end to this sedition for good and all."

I thereupon lost my temper, or, at least, pretended
to do so, and said :

" Very well, if you will not listen to me, you can
depose me from the presidency and govern the coun-
try after your own fashion."

The commandant now calmed down and said :

" No, President, I did not mean that ; we are quite
willing to listen to you, but we have been terribly pro-
voked."

I too answered more calmly :

" Well, if you will listen to me, do what I say and
leave the rest to me."

At the meeting of commandants which, together
with the Executive Raad, was to decide Jameson's
fate, I had a hard battle to fight. My inten-
tion, which had already been approved by the Exec-
utive Raad, was to hand over Jameson and his com-
panions to the British Government, in order that the
criminals might be punished by their own Govern-
ment according to their own laws. But the com-
mandants would not hear of this, and it was only
after Messrs. Fischer and Kleynveld, of the Orange
Free State,1 had also advised them to follow my

1 Mr. Fischer is the gentleman who was afterwards dispatched as one of
the delegates to Europe. He and Mr. Kleynveld had been sent by the
Orange Free State to see if it was necessary for that state to come to the
assistance of the Republic in accordance with her obligations. — Note by the
Editor of the German Edition.

16 241

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

wishes that I succeeded in obtaining their consent
to leave this matter to the Government.

When the High Commissioner saw that I insisted
on the unconditional surrender of Johannesburg, he
instructed Sir Jacobus De Wet to telegraph to that
effect to the Reform Committee. It is hardly nec-
essary to say that they complied before the twenty-
four hours had expired, for, with the exception of
Colonel Rhodes and perhaps one or two more, there
was not one among the conspirators but would have
taken to his heels as soon as the first shot was fired.
They had wooed and organized rebellion only in the
hope that England would pull the chestnuts out of
the fire for them. They did not think of endanger-
ing their lives for the sake of a matter for which one
of their principal members had declared, but a little
while before, that he " did not care a fig."

Meanwhile the Government had informed the
High Commissioner that it intended to hand over
Jameson and his men to the British Government so
that they might be brought to justice in England.
Mr. Chamberlain telegraphed to me to thank me,
in the name of Her Majesty, for my magnanimous
act. Subsequent events have shown the depth of
this gratitude and the way in which England has re-
warded my magnanimity.

Johannesburg gave up its arms, but in much
smaller quantities than was expected. Only some

212

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

1800 rifles and three damaged Maxims were handed
in. Soon after, Dr. Jameson and his followers were
delivered to the Governor of Natal, who sent them
to England. The rank and file were at once set at
liberty by the British Government. Jameson and
a few of the other officers received short terms of
imprisonment and were released before the expira-
tion of their sentence.

On the 9th of January, the Reformers were ar-
rested in their homes, or at their clubs, and taken to
Pretoria. On the 10th, I issued a proclamation to
the inhabitants of Johannesburg in which I declared
that I only looked upon a small number of crafty
men within and without Johannesburg as the con-
spirators, and pointed out that the plot might have
led to fearful disasters. I promised to confer a mu-
nicipality upon Johannesburg, and ended by appeal-
ing to the inhabitants to enable me to appear before
the Volksraad with the motto, " Forgive and for-
get."

It is not necessary to enter into details concerning
the trial of the conspirators. The Government ap-
plied to the Orange Free State to allow Judge Gre-
gorowski to preside over the trial. The object of
this request, which was readily granted, was to ob-
tain a judge who was outside the quarrel and who
could not be regarded as in any way prejudiced
against the Reformers. Most of them escaped with

243

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

imprisonment or fines : only the four leaders, Messrs.
Lionel Phillips, Farrar, Hammond, and Colonel
Rhodes, were condemned to death; but this sentence
was commuted by the Executive Raad to a fine of
£25,000 apiece. Thus ended the first act of the
drama of which the last act has just been finished
on the blood-stained plains of South Africa.

Before closing this chapter, mention should be
made of the great calamity with which Johannes-
burg was afflicted, on the 19th of February, 1896, by
the explosion of a number of trucks loaded with dy-
namite. A portion of the suburbs of Jorisburg and
Braamf ontein was destroyed, very many persons were
killed and wounded, and hundreds were rendered
homeless. The Uitlanders showed their sympathy
with the victims by subscribing a sum of about
£70,000 within two days. To this the Government
added a gift of £25,000. I repaired without delay
to Johannesburg, visited the wounded in the hospital
and praised the sympathy displayed in this matter
by the Uitlanders, which it cheered my heart to see.
I reminded them of the words of the Gospel:
" Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy."

And so the attempt upon the independence of the
Republic failed. But now Mr. Chamberlain was to
set to work to try whether he could not be more suc-

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

cessful. With his assistance, Jameson's Raid was to
be replaced by a gigantic British Raid.

His first step was to invite me to come to Eng-
land to confer on Transvaal matters, while he began
by declaring that he was not prepared to discuss Ar-
ticle 4s of the London Convention, the only article
which still in any way restricted the foreign relations
of the South African Republic. One would really
think, to judge from this invitation, that it was the
Republic and not England that had to make amends.

At the same time, Mr. Chamberlain sent off an-
other dispatch, in which he proposed that a sort of
Home Rule should be granted to Johannesburg, and
he published this dispatch in the London official press
before I had received it. When one reflects that it
was the very question of Home Rule for Ireland that
caused Mr. Chamberlain to withdraw from Glad-
stone's party and barter his Radicalism for his pres-
ent Jingoism, one must stand astounded at the
effrontery of his proposal, especially under the exist-
ing circumstances.

The Government of the South African Republic
at first received only a short excerpt from the dis-
patch, embracing the principal points, whereas the
whole text had already been published in the London
official press, and to this it sent the reply, in brief,
that it was undesirable and inadvisable to give pre-

245

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

vious publicity to views which the British Govern-
ment thought fit to adopt towards the Republic,
adding that the Republic could not permit any inter-
ference in her internal affairs. This reply was now
also at once published in the Staatscourant of the
South African Republic. Shortly after its receipt,
Mr. Chamberlain dispatched a telegram in which he
said that, if his proposal was not acceptable to the
parties concerned, he would not insist upon it. There-
upon I telegraphed the conditions upon which I
would be willing to come to England. The chief
point was the substitution of a treaty of peace, com-
merce, and amity for the London Convention. Into
this Mr. Chamberlain refused to enter. He con-
tinued to speak of admitted grievances which must
be removed, as that was a matter of the highest im-
portance to England as the paramount power in
South Africa, stating, furthermore, that, even if the
London Convention was replaced by another, Ar-
ticle 4 of that Convention must, in any case, be in-
cluded in the new agreement. Where, then, would
have been the sense of undertaking that troublesome
journey? And what would have been the use of sub-
stituting a new convention for the old one, if the
only article by which the independence of the Re-
public was in any way restricted was to be included?
Mr. Chamberlain, seeing that he could not induce
me to visit England without giving some guarantee

216

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

that my journey would not be futile, withdrew his
invitation.

Meanwhile, it had become evident to the Govern-
ment that it must prepare for possible events, and
consequently a commencement was made in the pur-
chase of ammunition, rifles, and guns. This was
the more necessary inasmuch as, at the time of the
Jameson Raid, the Republic was practically de-
fenceless. The burghers, at that time, had none but
Martini-Henry rifles and many did not possess a rifle
at all. There was not sufficient ammunition to wage
war for a fortnight. It must be added that, by the
law of the land, every burgher was bound to be
armed ; and, when it appeared, on the occasion of the
Jameson Raid, how sadly this duty had been neg-
lected, the Government took the necessary mea-
sures, but no more, for the proper arming of the
burghers, in order that they might be ready to pro-
tect themselves against further filibustering raids.

Still greater supplies of ammunition, rifles and
guns were ordered after the investigation of the so-
called South African Committee had taken place
in London, because matters then came to light which
showed that Mr. Chamberlain was not so innocent of
the Raid as he represented. This is proved by the
telegrams which I have already quoted and which
were laid before the committee, and still more by
those which were deliberately kept back, while,

247

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

shortly after the investigation, Mr. Chamberlain de-
clared in the House of Commons that Rhodes was
a man of honor, and that there existed nothing which
affected Rhodes's personal position as such. It was
impossible to avoid drawing the conclusion that Mr.
Chamberlain was Rhodes's accomplice, and that he
now publicly defended Rhodes because he feared lest
the latter should make statements which would be
anything but pleasant hearing for the Colonial Secre-
tary. This, at least, was the view taken of the matter
in the Republic; and it was confirmed in this view
by the fact that Dr. Jameson was released from
prison on account of illness and recovered his health
immediately afterwards.

In view of these facts, can the Government of the
South African Republic be blamed for making prep-
arations, so that it might not fall a prey to Eng-
land without striking a blow? Nay, more ; was it not
her bounden duty to take care, as she did, that the
country was placed on a defensive footing? Yet
this is the action which was constantly thrown in my
face, by way of reproach, by the English ministers
and the English press, and which they afterwards
quoted in order to justify their unjust war.

Shortly after the closing of the South African
Committee, Mr. Chamberlain began his uninter-
rupted series of dispatches, which continued until the
war broke out, and which had no other object than to
embitter the British people against the Republic and

21-8

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

to make them believe that it was constantly sinning
against England and systematically violating the
London Convention. Thus, for instance, in the early
part of 1897, he sent a dispatch in which he declared
that the Republic had broken the London Conven-
tion by the following acts: by joining the Geneva
Convention; by the Press Law; the Immigration
Law; the conclusion of an extradition treaty with
Portugal, etc. He based his contentions particularly
on the oft-quoted Article 4 of the Convention,1 which
lays down that no treaty shall be in force until the
same has been approved by the British Govern-
ment.

Mr. Chamberlain now contended that the inten-
tion of this article was that, as soon as a treaty was
drawn up (and therefore before its completion), a
copy must be delivered to Her Majesty's Govern-
ment, whereas the Government of the South African
Republic maintained that this was not to be done
until after the treaty was finally settled, and based
its contention upon the words, " Upon its comple-
tion," which occur in the article. The Government,

1 This article 4 reads as follows :

"The South African Republic will conclude no treaty or engagement
with any State or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any
native tribe to the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same
has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.

"Such approval shall be considered to have been granted if Her Ma-
jesty's Government shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of
such treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon its com-
pletion), have notified that the conclusion of such treaty is in conflict with
the interests of Great Britain or of any of Her Majesty's possessions in
South Africa." — Note by tlie Editor of the German Edition.

249

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

therefore, in its reply, laid stress upon the fact that it
did not agree with Mr. Chamberlain's opinion, and
suggested that, in view of the difference that ex-
isted as to this point, it would be best to submit the
matter to an impartial arbitrator. To this Mr. Cham-
berlain replied that England was the suzerain of the
South African Republic and, in this quality, could
not consent to refer a difference to arbitration.

It is unnecessary to say that this reply of Mr.
Chamberlain's was in the highest degree vexatious
to the Government of the Republic. For what other
purpose than to obtain the abolition of the suzerainty
had we made the journey to London in 1883 and
endeavored to secure a new convention? And, since
the Convention of 1884, no one had entertained the
very slightest doubt but that the suzerainty was an-
nulled. Even Sir Hercules Robinson, who was him-
self one of the authors of the Convention of 1884,
declared in an interview with a journalist 1 that there
was no question but that the suzerainty had been
abolished by the Convention of 1884. In his greatly-
praised reply of the 16th of April, 1898, Dr. Leyds
irrefutably established this fact. He was able, more-
over to quote a dispatch of Lord Derby's, of the 15th
of February, 1884, in which the then Secretary for
the Colonies enclosed a draft of a new convention

1 Mr. Frank Harris, at that time editor of the Saturday Review.
Note by the Editor of the German /Edition.

250

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

intended to replace the Convention of Pretoria.
This draft commences with a reprint of the preamble
of the Convention of 1881, followed by that of the
Convention of 1884 and headed by the following
note :

"The words and paragraphs bracketed or printed in italics
are proposed to be inserted, those within a black line are pro-
posed to be omitted."

And now the whole preamble of 1881 is contained
within a black line; moreover, the words " subject to
the suzerainty of Her Majesty, her Heirs and Suc-
cessors " had been struck out by Lord Derby. It
was especially important to prove that the preamble
of the Convention of 1881, in which the suzerainty
was mentioned, had lapsed, because Mr. Chamberlain
contended that this preamble still existed and con-
tinued in force. In addition to what has been shown
above, that this preamble was contained within brack-
ets and had therefore lapsed, we should, had Mr.
Chamberlain's contention been correct, have had two
conflicting preambles to one and the same conven-
tion. Which would have been absurd.

Now any reasonable person would have thought
that Mr. Chamberlain would see that lie was wrong ;
but no: he simply continued to maintain that the su-
zerainty existed. It will be universally admitted
that it is impossible to come to a logical understand-
ing with a man like that ; and we must blame the well-

251

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

known English insolence, where a small nation is con-
cerned, which alone can have permitted Mr. Cham-
berlain to keep up his nonsensical argument.

The correspondence between the Government and
Mr. Chamberlain was interrupted and accompanied
by two important events in the internal life of the
Republic: the negotiations concerning the work of
the Industrial Commission and the conflict between
the judicial and state authorities.

The Industrial or Mining Commission was ap-
pointed to investigate the complaints of the mining
industry. That there were certain burdens which
pressed too heavily upon that industry and which
must be decreased was an undoubted fact, and was
shown in the report of the committee; but the prin-
cipal reason why some mines gave no profit and
others less profit than the shareholders would have
liked to see was to be found in over-capitalization,
in the floating of companies on worthless properties,
in the reconstruction of companies whose profits went
to the financial houses, and in the speculative fever
which drove up shares to such a height that it be-
came impossible for the purchaser to rely on receiv-
ing a good dividend. The great financial houses had
everything in their hands and caused prices to rise or
fall as they pleased; and the public was the victim
of their manoeuvres.

The commission, which held its sittings at Johan-

252

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

nesburg and heard a crowd of witnesses, made a
series of suggestions in its report as to how the de-
mands of the industry could be met. The principal
suggestions were:

A reduction of the import-duty on food-stuffs.

An agreement with the other States of South Af-
rica to facilitate the engagement and cheapen the
transport of colored laborers.

The appointment of a committee to enquire into
the possibility of abolishing the dynamite monopoly.
Meantime, it was recommended that the Govern-
ment should itself import dynamite and sell it to the
mines at cost price, with the addition of an import
duty of twenty shillings.

A reduction in the railway tariff equal to a de-
crease of .£500,000 in the gross profits of the com-
pany.

These were the principal suggestions ; a few others
of lesser importance may be passed over. The Gov-
ernment submitted the report to the Volksraad,
which appointed a committee to examine the report
and make suggestions. After long debates on the
opinion of the Volksraad committee, it was at last
moved and carried that the railway company should
reduce its charges to the extent of reducing its tak-
ings by £200,000 and that the Government should
endeavor to find means for a cheaper supply of dy-
namite to the mines. The Government succeeded in

253

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

reducing the freights, especially for coal and food-
stuffs, and in diminishing the price of dynamite by
five shillings a case. Moreover, an arrangement was
concluded with Portugal by which large contingents
of Kaffir laborers were obtained from Portuguese
territory. Mr. Chamberlain afterwards accused the
Government of disregarding the suggestions of its
own Industrial Commission.

I have mentioned the conflict between the judicial
and state authorities, in other words, between the
Government and the Volksraad on the one side and a
section of the Supreme Court on the other. The
dispute arose as follows. It was a generally accepted
principle that the resolutions of the Volksraad were
valid in law, even if they conflicted with the consti-
tution. The Supreme Court, particularly Judge
Kotze, with whom the conflict now arose, had, in
former law-suits, as for instance in the " Doms "
case, accepted and acknowledged this principle.
Suddenly, in a subsequent case, it refused to do so.
Certain tracts of land in the Krugersdorp district
had been " proclaimed " as gold-fields, and, on the
day when this proclamation was to come into effect,
thousands of people assembled, each intending, as
the law originally provided, to peg out his claims or
bewaarplaatsen for himself. They who first pegged
out those bewaarplaatsen, to the extent to which each
was entitled in law, became their owners, subject,

254

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

of course, to the payment of the legal dues. The
Government had been informed that there was a
danger of disorders arising out of this manner of
dividing the land, owing to the great rush to the new
gold-fields. They accordingly determined, so as not
to give England a fresh opportunity for an unde-
served attack, to ask the Volksraad to pass a resolu-
tion to the effect that the " proclaimed " places
should not, as the gold-law prescribed, be pegged
out, but drawn by lot. In this way, each applicant
stood the same chance of success, and all disorder
would be avoided. A certain Brown, however, took
no notice of this resolution, but, on the day when
the proclamation (which had meantime been with-
drawn) was to take effect, pegged out a large num-
ber of claims and tendered the legal dues, which were
refused. When Brown's case was brought before
the Supreme Court, which was sitting, Chief Justice
Kotze went back upon his former decisions and de-
clared that the Volksraad had no right to pass resolu-
tions which violated the principles of the constitution.
This decision would have upset the whole country,
for a number of rules concerning the gold-fields, the
franchise and so on depended on resolutions of the
Volksraad. It was therefore impossible for the Gov-
ernment to acquiesce in this decision, which would
have caused unspeakable confusion. In a country
whose conditions undergo such rapid alterations as is

255

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

naturally the case in a gold-producing country, and
which harbors so many speculators and schemers as
were constantly flowing into the South African Re-
public, it was absolutely necessary that, at any given
moment, certain interests could be protected and
dangers averted from the State by decrees of the
Volksraad. To give an instance : in November, 1896,
the revised gold-law, which had been passed in the
former session, was to come into operation. It con-
tained one clause, however, which was not quite clear
and which, unless the point in doubt was elucidated
by force of law, might seriously injure the mining
industry and deliver its rights into the hands of spec-
ulators. What happened? The mining industry
naturally went to the Government and called atten-
tion to the danger. Dr. Leyds thereupon attended
a sitting of the Volksraad, explained the position and
obtained a decree which removed the danger. Every
one looked upon this as the natural course. Now,
suddenly, a different view was taken ; and it was this
that caused the conflict.

Sir Henry de Villiers, the Chief Justice of Cape
Colony, who, by the way, shared the opinion of the
Government, brought about an adjustment: the
judge promised to respect the decrees of the Volks-
raad and I, on my side, promised to move the revision
of the constitution in the Volksraad. Not long be-
fore, a law had been passed by which every judicial

256

KRUGER'S THIRD PRESIDENCY

functionary, on taking his oath of office, was to
promise not to assume the right of toetsing,1 that is
to say, of testing the laws as to their validness. In
February, 1898, however, Chief Justice Kotze wrote
to me saying that I had not effected the revision of
the constitution which I had promised him, that he
therefore considered himself to be released from his
own promise and that he intended in future to test
the validness of all the resolutions of the Volksraad
by the constitution. This was too much: I had had
no opportunity of introducing a bill for the revision
of the constitution, seeing that the Volksraad did
not meet till May. I now gave the Chief Justice
his dismissal. The English press ranted and raged,
and Mr. Chamberlain afterwards turned this incident
into an " Uitlander grievance."

Meanwhile Mr. Chamberlain had found the man
he wanted for his dealings with the South African
Republic. In 1897, Sir Alfred Milner was appointed
Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner
for South Africa. Sir Alfred had formerly served
his country in Egypt, and, if he learned anything
there, it was to look upon the fellahs as creatures of
an inferior species. The ideas which he had imbibed
in Egypt he brought with him to South Africa, so

1 Testing, or criticising. In my translation of President Kruger's
speech, printed in the Appendix, in which he ascribes the invention of
this right to the Devil, I have ventured to employ the phrase, " the right
of criticism," throughout. — Translator's Note.

" 257

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

much so that he forgot that the Afrikander is a dif-
ferent creature from the Egyptian fellah. There is
no doubt that Mr. Chamberlain appointed Sir Al-
fred Milner only with a view of driving matters in
South Africa to extremes. The appointment was
received by the Jingoes with loud jubilation. The
aim and principle of his policy are to be found in the
words which he spoke to a distinguished Afrikander :

" The power of Afrikanderdom must be broken."

This tool of Mr. Chamberlain's has fulfilled his
mission faithfully, and to-day enjoys the satisfaction
of having turned South Africa into a wilderness and
robbed thousands of innocent people of their lives.
Lord Milner is the typical Jingo, autocratic beyond
endurance and filled with contempt for all that is not
English.

When this man assumed office, my term as Presi-
dent had expired and new elections were about to be
held. This time three candidates presented them-
selves : myself, Joubert, and Schalk Burger, a mem-
ber of the Executive Raad and Chairman of the In-
dustrial Commission of 1897. This was the first
election which, according to the new law, was held by
ballot.

Meanwhile, new elections had also taken place in
the Free State, as President Reitz was obliged, ow-
ing to long illness, to resign his office. Judge M. T.
Steyn was elected President in his place. To give

258

KRUGERS THIRD PRESIDENCY

a portrait here of this man would be superfluous.
His heroism, his resolution and his patriotism are
known to all the world; and, write what one may, it
will always remain an impossible task to give a de-
scription of the feelings of attachment, respect and
love that fill the hearts of all true Afrikanders for
President Steyn. He will certainly be handed down
in the memory of his people to the furthest genera-
tion as one of the greatest and noblest men that have
seen the light in South Africa.

Some time after President Steyn's election, a new
conference was held at Bloemfontein with the object
of bringing about a closer alliance between the two
Republics. The impulse towards this closer alliance
was felt on both sides and was due, above all, to the
Jameson Raid. I and some of my councilors went
to Bloemfontein with this object; and it was during
our stay there, on the occasion of a dinner that was
given us, that I made a jest in the course of my
speech by saying that Queen Victoria was a " kicaaie
vrouw." Now, although every one who knows the
Afrikander Taal understands that, by tins, I meant
to convey only that Queen Victoria was a lady witli
whom one must be careful what one does, the Jingo
press tried to make it appear as though I had grossly
insulted the Queen, whereas the opposite, of course,
was true.1

1 The reader may take it that to call a woman a hiraair rroino in the
Taal, or facade vrouic in European Dutch, is equivalent to saying that

259

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

The conference between the two Governments was
eminently successful. It was resolved that burghers
of both States should be treated on an equal footing,
so that, for instance, the rights which a Trans vaaler
enjoyed in the Free State were also granted to a
Free Stater in the Transvaal, only the franchise
being left untouched. Furthermore, a political al-
liance was concluded, which created a council of
delegates, or federal council, which was to sit every
year, alternately at Pretoria and Bloemfontein, and
make recommendations on matters that might lead
to federation as well as suggestions for the assimila-
tion of the laws of the two Republics. The Volks-
raad of each State approved this treaty, and the only
modification introduced was to resolve that a burgher
of either Republic should receive burgher rights in
the sister state so soon as he had taken the oath pre-
scribed.

she is "a bad woman to deal with, to quarrel with, or to trifle with."
The epithet, in short, can be used in Dutch in an objective as well as in
a subjective sense. — Translator s Note.

260

CHAPTER XII

PAUL KRUGER'S FOURTH
PRESIDENCY

CHAPTER XII

PAUL KRUGER's FOURTH PRESIDENCY

The Bunu Question— Sir Alfred Milner— F. W. Reitz— J. C.
Smuts — The agitation of the South African League — The
Edgar Case — The crisis: the suffrage, the suzerainty — The
ultimatum — The war — President Kruger during the war — On
the way to Europe — On foreign soil — Homeless — Conclusion.

THE result of the new election came as a sur-
prise to friends and enemies alike ; for, although
my re-election was certain, no one suspected that I
would obtain such an overwhelming majority. The
official figures were:

Kruger ...... 12,858 votes

Schalk Burger 3,750 "

Joubert 2,001 "

On the 12th of May 1898, I took the oath for the
fourth time as State President. On this occasion I
made a speech which took almost three hours to de-
liver, and in which I set forth my religious and po-
litical views on the actual situation and on the prob-
lems confronting the State.1

1 This speech, by far the longest speech that President Kruger ever de-
livered, is really a series of addresses to the First and Second Volksraad,
the Executive Raad, the representatives of the Orange Free State, the
corps diplomatique, the burghers, the naturalized foreigners, the new im-
migrants, the judges, the clergy, the schoolmasters and mistresses and the
children. It will be found in the Appendix. — Note by the Editor of the
German Ed if inn.

263

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

During the session of the Volksraad of 1898, Dr.
Leyds was almost unanimously re-elected State Sec-
retary, but was shortly afterwards appointed Envoy
Extraordinary of the Republic in Europe. As his
successor, Abraham Fischer was elected, one of the
ablest and most sagacious statesmen in South Africa,
and at that time a member of the Executive Raad
of the Orange Free State. He refused, however,
to accept the proffered appointment, whereupon Mr.
F. W. Reitz, who had recently been promoted to a
judgeship in the South African Republic, was
elected State Secretary, a happy choice, for Mr.
Reitz is looked upon by friend and foe alike as one
of the most honest men that have ever played a part
in politics. Moreover, he possessed an abundant
knowledge of affairs, thanks to his long political
career.

At the same time, J. C. Smuts, a representative of
the younger generation of Afrikanders, was ap-
pointed State Attorney. Smuts is one of the clever-
est lawyers in South Africa and a man of versatile
attainments besides. He is personally a very simple
man, and, to meet him, one would not suspect that he
possesses so firm a will and so determined a charac-
ter as he does. Although scarcely 30 years of age
and without the slightest previous experience of mili-
tary affairs, he developed, in the later phases of the
war, into a most brilliant general, so that he added

264

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

to his position as State Attorney that of an assistant
commandant general of the South African Republic.
Smuts will yet play a great part in the history of
South Africa.

Shortly after the swearing-in of Messrs. Reitz and
Smuts, the Bunu question became urgent, and Sir
Alfred Milner received his first chance to provoke
and thwart the Republic.

The Bunu question was briefly as follows : accord-
ing to the old custom, the Swazi king had the right
to put any of his subjects to death whenever he
pleased. This condition was naturally altered from
the moment when the Republic took over the admin-
istration of Swaziland. In the early part of 1898,
Bunu murdered one of his indunas, named Umbaba,
in addition to some others. It was stated by eye-wit-
nesses that Bunu had killed Umbaba with his own
hand. When Bunu was summoned by the State At-
torney to appear before the court at Bremersdorp,
he at first refused to come, and, when eventually he
did come, arrived accompanied by an armed suite,
and adopted a threatening attitude towards Krogh,
the Special Commissioner for Swaziland. Krogh
was consequently obliged to let the matter drop, and
Bunu returned to his town.

The Government had no choice but to send an
armed force to Swaziland, in order to protect life and
property and to compel Bunu, if necessary by force,

265

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

to appear before the court. Meanwhile, the High
Commissioner deemed it necessary to interfere in the
matter, probably with no other object than to cause
the Republic needless annoyance. Perhaps, also, he
thought that the Bunu question would give him the
occasion to involve the Republic in war with Eng-
land. He contended, namely, that the Government
had not the right to summon Bunu before the Swazi-
land court, notwithstanding that the Swaziland Con-
vention contained an article stipulating that criminal
cases occurring in Swaziland should be tried by the
Supreme Court at Bremersdorp. When Bunu saw
that the Government of the Republic was in earnest,
he fled to Zululand and placed himself under the pro-
tection of the British Government. In order to avoid
getting into difficulties for Bunu's sake, the Govern-
ment was obliged to conclude an agreement with the
High Commissioner which determined that Bunu
should be allowed to return, and that he should only
be punished with a fine. At the same time, a clause
was added to the Swaziland Convention, distinctly
deciding which cases should, in future, be within the
competence of the Supreme Court of that country.

Already at that time, and shortly after the set-
tlement of the Bunu question, the English in and
outside South Africa were adopting a defiant atti-
tude towards the Government of the Republic. At
Johannesburg, a branch of the South African

26.G

KRUGERS FOURTH PRESIDENCY

League had been established, at the undoubted insti-
gation of Cecil Rhodes. This league did its utmost
to involve the Republic in difficulties with England.
No methods were too base or too mean to attain that
end. When the Government arrested some colored
persons, British subjects, because they were without
the passes which they were obliged to carry by the
Pass Law, a great hubbub was raised and the League
leaders called a meeting in the Amphitheater at Jo-
hannesburg to protest against the action of the Re-
public. The burghers' blood boiled at the attitude of
this Rhodes institution : they attended the meeting in
large numbers, with the result that a brawl arose and
the demonstrators were dispersed with sticks by the
burghers. That this brought grist to the mill of the
Jingoes, that it was probably just what they desired,
is easily understood.

Shortly after, another incident occurred which
caused yet more excitement and which was repre-
sented by the English press in a shamefully distorted
fashion. Even Mr. Chamberlain did not blush to
make use of these misrepresentations, although it
would have been easy for him to learn the whole
truth. What was the question? On the night of
the 18th of December 1898, a certain Foster, a Brit-
ish subject, was attacked by another British subject
called Edgar, and so maltreated that he was left
lying for dead. He was taken to the hospital

267

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

and died a few days later in consequence of the
blows which Edgar had given him. Immediately
after the perpetration of his crime, Edgar fled to
his room and soon a few police came upon the scene,
attracted by the screams of the bystanders. Among
the police was one named Jones, a son of a former
coachman to the Queen of England, who had, how-
ever, in his quality as a policeman, become a burgher
of the Republic. This Jones, thinking that Foster
was dead, followed Edgar to his apartment to arrest
him for murder. As Edgar was caught in the very
act, the police had the right, according to the laws,
not only of the Republic, but of the whole of South
Africa and of England herself, to enter his house,
if necessary by force, and arrest the culprit. As
Edgar had locked the door and refused to open it,
Jones broke it open and, while doing so, was struck
a violent blow by Edgar with a bar of iron. There-
upon Jones shot Edgar dead. Although every one
will admit that the policeman only did his duty, he
was nevertheless prosecuted by the State Attorney
for manslaughter, in order to remove any ground for
complaint on the part of England. He was, how-
ever, as was to be expected, acquitted by the court.
But how did Mr. Chamberlain represent this matter?
As follows : that policemen broke into a man's house
at night without a warrant on the mere statement
of one person, which subsequently turned out to be

268

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

untrue, that the man had committed a crime, and
killed him there and then, because, according to their
own account, he hit one of them with a stick! Can
malevolence go further than this? And ought not
a minister to be ashamed thus to violate the truth in
an official dispatch?

We now come to the period immediately preceding
the serious crisis. In the meantime, the English and
the English press, both in South Africa and England,
were agitating and vociferating against the Republic.
An election had taken place, in the previous year, in
Cape Colony, in which the Afrikander party had
gained the victory, a fact which drove Rhodes and
all his Jingo clique to fury. Sir Alfred Milner, in-
stead of confining himself to his role of Governor,
showed himself in his true colors and openly espoused
the side of the Jingoes in Cape Colony. It was evi-
dent to all that a crisis was at hand which, if not
carefully treated, could end only in catastrophe. But
where there are two parties, it avails nothing that one
is yielding and compliant, when the other at all costs
pushes matters to extremes and, as in this case, to
a war. That the Government of the South African
Republic, in the negotiations that preceded the war,
was yielding and compliant is shown by the manner
in which the correspondence with England was con-
ducted at this time.

The question of the franchise was that which Sir

269

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Alfred Milner and Mr. Chamberlain employed as
a pretext to force a war upon the Republic. Before,
therefore, discussing the negotiations concerning the
franchise question, it is well to mention the fact that,
as early as the beginning of 1899, I had held meet-
ings of the burghers at Rustenburg and Heidelberg
in order to obtain their support for my proposal to
reduce the period required for securing the full fran-
chise from fourteen years to nine years. From there
I went to Johannesburg and there declared at a pub-
lic meeting that I hoped later to reduce the period of
nine years' residence to a still shorter period. This
fact deserves special mention, because it was prob-
ably that which startled Mr. Chamberlain and Sir
Alfred Milner and impelled them to hurry on the
crisis. Firmly determined as they were to force a
war upon the Republic, these two men saw that they
must lose no time, since I myself had begun to intro-
duce reforms which might presently deprive them of
their pretext for going to war. Sir Alfred Milner
was in England at that time, and doubtless turned
his stay to account to arrange with Chamberlain how
they must set to work to carry out their imperialist
programme. By the time he returned, the whole
thing was settled and arranged.

The League at Johannesburg began by drawing
up a petition to the Queen in which they enumerated
a mass of grievances which, as British subjects, they

270

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

claimed to have against the Republic, and ended by-
asking for the intervention of the British Govern-
ment. Mr. Fraser, the acting British Agent, refused
to receive the petition. For this he was rapped
over the knuckles by the Colonial Secretary, who was
just seeking an opportunity to meddle with the in-
ternal affairs of the Republic, with the result that,
on a later occasion, Mr. Conyngham Greene, the real
representative of the British Crown at Pretoria, who
had also been to England with Sir Alfred Milner,
knew better what was expected of him. In the mean-
time, Sir Alfred Milner had declared that an anti-
British movement existed among the Afrikander
population throughout South Africa. This, nota
bene, after he had cabled to England in 1897, on the
occasion of the Queen's Jubilee, that the Afrikanders
in Cape Colony were very loyal to England.

A second petition was drawn up by the League
and signed by 21,684 British subjects. The signa-
tures were collected by every kind of fraud. The
Government of the Republic obtained many sworn
declarations which stated that individuals had signed
as many names as came into their heads. In the same
way, the names of deceased and absent persons were
placed on the lists. This is easily understood, when
one realizes that the persons who went round with the
lists were paid according to the number of names
which they obtained. A few days later the Govern-

271

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ment at Pretoria received a petition with nearly
23,000 signatures in which the signers, Uitlanders
of every nationality, declared that they were satis-
fied with the administration of the country. But it
was not Mr. Chamberlain's object to receive a gen-
uine petition, so long as he could obtain a weapon
with which to attack the Republic, and this weapon
was afforded him by the aforesaid petition, which
was speedily dispatched to him by the British Agent,
Mr. Greene.

Meanwhile, at the commencement of May, Sir
Alfred Milner had sent a cablegram to England
which would have done credit to a sensation-monger-
ing journalist. In this dispatch, he declared that Her
Majesty's Government must give some striking
proof of its intention not to be ousted from its po-
sition in South Africa, that thousands of British sub-
jects were kept permanently in the position of helots
and that the case for intervention was overwhelming.
Mr. Chamberlain thereupon sent a dispatch, dated
10 May 1899, in which he acknowledged the receipt
of the petition to the Queen, recapitulated all the
grievances of the Uitlanders and ended by suggest-
ing to Sir Alfred Milner that a conference should
take place between him and myself at Bloemfontein
at which the question would be discussed. In the
meantime, prompted by a sincere desire to put an
end to the prevailing disquiet, President Steyn, be-

272

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

fore the receipt of this dispatch, had made the same
proposal to both myself and Sir Alfred Milner. We
both accepted the invitation and the well-known
Bloemfontein Conference met on the 31st of May
1899, and lasted several days. With me were Schalk
Burger and A. D. Wolmarans, members of the Ex-
ecutive Raad, and J. C. Smuts, the State Attorney.
Mr. Abraham Fischer, a member of the Executive
Raad of the Orange Free State, kindly offered to act
as interpreter.

The conference came to nothing. Sir Alfred Mil-
ner showed from the commencement that he had not
the least desire to come to an agreement. He de-
manded :

1. Franchise after five years' residence.

2. An alteration in the oath of naturalization.

3. Increased representation of the new burghers
in the Volksraad.

After several days' discussion, I offered:

1. Naturalization after two years' residence. Full
franchise after five years more (or seven years in
all, instead of fourteen, as the law then stood) .

2. Increased representation of the Uitlanders in
the Volksraad.

3. An oath of naturalization similar to that in the
Orange Free State.

I demanded, however, that the franchise should
be made to depend on the possession of a certain

18 27g

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

amount of property and naturalization on the pro-
duction of proof that the individual concerned pos-
sessed civic rights in his own country. I also asked
that, as a compensation for the concessions which I
was making, the British Government should accept
the principle of arbitration in the case of differences
between the two States. Sir Alfred Milner, how-
ever, declared that the concessions were quite insuf-
ficient.

During this conference, I pointed out to Sir Al-
fred that a quantity of the signatures appearing on
the petitions to the Queen were spurious, whereupon
the latter answered :

" Very well, we will investigate the matter."

He asked me whether the petition which had been
addressed to the Government of the Republic did not
also contain false signatures. I denied this posi-
tively, and said I was prepared at once to appoint a
committee to inquire into the genuineness of both
petitions. I said I was further prepared to grant the
British Government the right of nominating Eng-
lishmen to act as members of this committee. Only
the committee must not be appointed from England
or acquire an official character, as this might make it
appear as though the Republic were under British
suzerainty. Hereupon Sir Alfred would hear no
more, and said:

" Let us drop the subject."

274

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

For the rest, he continued to insist upon what he
called " his irreducible minimum." He declared that
he had other grievances, which would remain, even
if the franchise question was settled, and refused to
produce them until the franchise question had been
settled in his way.

The same evening, I sent to Sir Alfred asking
him to meet me again the next morning for further
deliberation; but Sir Alfred answered that he " con-
sidered this unnecessary and that the conference was
ended."

As soon as I had returned to Pretoria, the State
Secretary wrote a letter to the British Agent touch-
ing the proposed arbitration tribunal, towards which
proposal Sir Alfred Milner had adopted an appar-
ently friendly attitude. This letter was dated 9 June
1899, and in it the State Secretary made the follow-
ing proposal to the British Government :

(1) All future differences between the two Governments
arising out of varying interpretations of the London Conven-
tion shall, subject to what is set forth under paragraph 3, at
the instance of this Government or of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment, be referred to an arbitration tribunal, on the under-
standing, however, that no matters or differences of trifling
importance shall be submitted to arbitration.

(2) The arbitration tribunal shall consist of an arbitrator
to be nominated by this Government and an arbitrator to
be nominated by Her Majesty's Government (as, for exam-
ple, the Chief Justices respectively of the South African Re-
public and the Cape Colony or Natal). These two must agree
respecting a third person, who shall act as President of the

275

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

arbitration tribunal, this person not to be a subject of one
of the arbitrating jDarties; and failing agreement upon this
point, the two Governments shall together name a President;
the decision in every case to take place by a majority of
votes.

(3) The Act of Submission shall in every case be drawn
up jointly by the two Governments, so that each shall have
the right to reserve and exclude points which appear to it to
be too important to be submitted to arbitration, provided that
thereby the principle itself of arbitration be not frustrated.

(4) The arbitration tribunal shall itself decide the place
of its sittings, and shall deal as it thinks fit with the condem-
nation of parties in the costs, unless special arrangement has
been made concerning these points in the Act of Submission.

(5) The regulations of procedure of this arbitration tri-
bunal can be similar to those agreed to by the Institute of
International Law in the Hague in 1875, in so far as they
do not conflict with the foregoing provisions, and in so far
as they are not amended by both parties in the Act of Sub-
mission.

(6) In order to obtain a test of the suitability of such tri-
bunal, this Government has no objection to its being agreed
that this reference of Conventional differences shall provision-
ally take place for a period of five years.

The letter ended by expressing an earnest hope
that Her Majesty's Government would accept the
proposal, which would put an end to the permanent
feeling of anxiety from which South Africa was suf-
fering.

The proposals were made in the manner set forth
above, with the special purpose of meeting the views
of the British Government, as that Government ob-
jected to an arbitration court composed of foreigners

276

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

and, in any case, declined to submit all questions to
arbitration.

Meanwhile, of my own initiative, I introduced a
draft law into the Volksraad which fixed :

1. A seven years' residence for obtaining the fran-
chise.

2. The immediate grant of the franchise to all who
had lived nine years in the country, while only five
years' residence should be necessary for those who
had been in the country for two years.

3. All adult sons of foreigners, born in the Re-
public, to receive the franchise immediately on at-
taining their majority.

4. An increase in the representation of the gold-
fields in each Raad by four members.

The bill was passed on the 19th of July. In the
meanwhile, the Intelligence Department of the War
Office in England had already issued " military
notes " indicating how war should be waged against
the Republic. At the same time (although this was
not yet known), Lord Wolseley had laid his plans
before the British Government for the conquest and
seizure of the two Republics.

On the 26th of June, the British Agent replied to
the arbitration proposals as set forth in Mr. Reitz's
letter. In this answer he stated that Sir Alfred Mil-
ner could not recommend the acceptance of the pro-
posal to the British Government, as he considered

277

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

that the question of finding a remedy for the griev-
ances of the Uitlanders should first be disposed of.
Furthermore, he intimated that the scheme drawn
up by Mr. Reitz was not acceptable to Her Majesty's
Government, seeing that, to make no mention of
other objections, the president of the court, accord-
ing to that scheme, could not be a subject of either of
the arbitrating parties.

At the beginning of July, the leaders of the Af-
rikander party, Messrs. Hofmeyer and Herholdt,
went from Cape Town to Bloemfontein and thence
to Pretoria to persuade the Government still further
to simplify the new Franchise Law in such a way as
to make the seven years' clause retrospective : so that
every one who had spent seven years or more in the
Republic could obtain the franchise at once; those
who had been six years in the country would have to
wait one year more in order to obtain the franchise;
those ones who had spent three years in the country
must wait four years more, and so on. Their sug-
gestions found a ready hearing among the members
of the Government and the Volksraad, who were in-
clined to make even more concessions for dear peace'
sake.

On the 18th of July, probably after having been
informed by Messrs. Hofmeyer and Herholdt of the
result of their mission, the Cape Ministry issued a
note in which they expressed the conviction that there

278

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

existed not the least occasion for intervention on the
part of England in the internal affairs of the Re-
public.

On the 20th of July, the so-called Uitlanders'
Council telegraphed to England that they were not
satisfied with the Franchise Law which had just been
passed (the law of the 19th of July).

On the 27th of July, Mr. Chamberlain sent a dis-
patch in which he recapitulated the events since the
conference, persisted in his contentions that not only
the letter but the spirit of the London Convention of
1884 had been constantly violated by the Govern-
ment of the Republic, and ended by maintaining his
contention that the preamble to the Convention of
1881 (respecting the Suzerainty) still held good.
He rejected the proposed arbitration court, although
he suggested that certain questions might be sub-
mitted to some judicial authority.

On the 1st of August, Mr. Chamberlain tele-
graphed to the High Commissioner proposing that
England and the Republic should appoint a joint
commission to revise the Franchise Law which had
been passed, and to enquire whether this law would
afford a sufficient representation to the Uitlanders
and, if this were not the case, to see what additions
or alterations might be necessary to attain this object.
This proposal of Mr. Chamberlain's was a direct vio-
lation of the London Convention of 1884, for it is

279

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

hardly possible to imagine a clearer case of inter-
ference with the internal affairs of the Republic.

The State Secretary, accordingly, replied on the
12th of August, calling Mr. Chamberlain's attention
to the fact that, according to the Convention of 1884,
the British Government was not to meddle in the
internal affairs of the Republic, and expressed
the hope that, in making his proposal, Mr. Cham-
berlain did not mean to encroach upon the rights
of the Republic. The State Secretary further gave
expression to the opinion that the object which
Mr. Chamberlain had in view in the appointment of
a joint commission could be as easily attained by ask-
ing questions and obtaining information about the
measure. He also observed to Mr. Chamberlain that
a judgment could only be formed as to whether a
law answered its purpose or not, if it had been in
operation for some time.

On the 15th of August, the State Attorney, Mr.
J. C. Smuts, had an interview with the British Agent,
in which he asked him whether Her Majesty's Gov-
ernment would consider the seven years' retrospec-
tive franchise, with an increase of seats for the Uit-
landers in the Volksraad, to be sufficient and, in that
case, waive the joint commission. Mr. Greene an-
swered that he did not know whether Her Majesty's
Government would consent to abandon their demand,
but that the position was very critical; that Her

280

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

Majesty's Government had made promises to the
Uitlanders, and that they would, therefore, be ob-
liged to insist on their demands and, if necessary,
to employ force. He added that the only chance for
the South African Republic was to comply without
delay with the demands put forward by Sir Alfred
Milner at Bloemfontein.

On the 19th of August, the State Secretary wrote
to the British Agent making the following alterna-
tive proposal to Her Majesty's Government:

(1) The Government are willing to recommend to the Volks-
raad and the people a five years' retrospective franchise as pro-
posed by His Excellency the High Commissioner on June
1st, 1899-

(2) The Government are further willing to recommend to
the Volksraad that eight new seats in the First Volksraad,
and, if necessary, also in the Second Volksraad, be given to
the population of the Witwatersrand, thus, with the two sit-
ting members for the gold-fields, giving to the population
thereof ten representatives in a Raad of twenty-six, and in
future the representation of the gold-fields of this Republic
shall not fall below the proportion of one-fourth of the total.

(3) The new burghers shall equally with the old burghers
be entitled to vote at the election for State President and Com-
mandant General.

(4) This Government will always be prepared to take into
consideration such friendly suggestions regarding the details of
the franchise law as Her Majesty's Government, through the
British Agent, may wish to convey to it.

(5) In putting forward the above proposals to the Govern-
ment of the South African Republic assumes —

(a) That Her British Majesty's Government will agree that
the present intervention shall not form a precedent
281

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

for future similar action, and that, in the future, no
interference in the internal affairs of the Republic
will take place.

(6) That Her Majesty's Government will not further in-
sist on the assertion of the Suzerainty, the contro-
versy on this subject being allowed tacitly to drop.

(c) That arbitration from which foreign element, other than
Orange Free State, is to be excluded, will be conceded
as soon as the franchise scheme has become law.

(6) Immediately on Her British Majesty's Government ac-
cepting this proposal for a settlement, the Government will
ask the Volksraad to adjourn for the purpose of consulting
the people about it, and the whole scheme might become law,
say, within a few weeks.

(7) In the meantime the form and scope of the proposed
tribunal are also to be discussed and provisionally agreed upon,
while the franchise scheme is being referred to the people, so
that no time may be lost in putting an end to the present state
of affairs.

The State Secretary ended by saying " that the
Government trusts that Her Majesty's Government
will clearly understand that in the opinion of this
Government, the existing franchise law of this Re-
public is both fair and liberal to the new population,
and that the consideration that induces them to go
further, as they do in the above proposals, is their
strong desire to get the controversies between the two
Governments settled; and, further, to put an end
to the present strained relations between the two
Governments, and the incalculable harm and loss it
has already occasioned in South Africa, and to pre-
vent a racial war, from the effects of which South

282

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

Africa may not recover for many generations, per-
haps never at all; and, therefore, this Government,
having regard to all these circumstances, would
highly appreciate it, if Her Majesty's Government,
seeing the necessity of preventing the present crisis
from developing still further, and the urgency of
an early termination of the present state of affairs,
would expedite the acceptance or refusal of the set-
tlement here offered."

On the 21st of August, the State Secretary again
wrote to the British Agent to explain and complete
his letter of the 19th of August. In this second let-
ter, he makes it clear that the proposals regarding the
question of franchise and representation in the dis-
patch of the 19th of August must be regarded as
expressly conditional on Her Majesty's Government
consenting to the points set forth in paragraph 5 of
the dispatch, viz. :

(a) In the future no interference in the internal
affairs of the South African Republic.

(b) No further insistence on the assertion of the
existence of the suzerainty.

These proposals were made after the State Attor-
ney had had a new interview with Mr. Greene, the
result of which was to convince him that the British
Government would be prepared to take those pro-

283

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

posals into consideration. This would cause the pro-
posal for a joint commission to lapse.

On the 25th of August the so-called Uitlanders'
Council and the South African League declared that
the franchise reforms were still insufficient, and de-
manded further " reforms," such as the disarming
of the Boers and the demolition of the forts.

On the 26th of August, Mr. Chamberlain made
a speech on the occasion of a garden-party at his
place at Highbury, in which, among other things,
he said:

Mr. Kruger dribbles out reforms like water from a squeezed
sponge, and he either accompanies his offers with conditions
which he knows to be impossible, or he refuses to allow us to
make a satisfactory investigation of the nature of these re-
forms. . . . The sands are running down in the glass.
. . . The knot must be loosened ... or else we shall
have to find other ways of untying it.

On the 30th of August, he sent a dispatch in which
he stated, among other things, that Her Majesty's
Government assumed that the adoption in principle
of the franchise proposals would not be hampered
by any conditions which would impair their effect;
that Her Majesty's Government were unable to ap-
preciate the objections entertained by the Govern-
ment of the South African Republic to a joint com-
mission of inquiry; that Her Majesty's Government,
however, would appoint a commission on their side to
institute an inquiry into the law and to make the nec-

284

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

essary suggestions to the Government of the Repub-
lic, and trusted that different conditions, as to previ-
ous registration, qualification and behavior, would be
omitted from the proposed new law. With regard
to the conditions of the Government of the South
African Republic, Mr. Chamberlain said, as regards
intervention, Her Majesty's Government hoped that
the fulfilment of the promises made and the just
treatment of the Uitlanders in future would render
unnecessary any further interference on their be-
half, but that Her Majesty's Government could not
debar themselves from their rights under the conven-
tions. (N.B. — The convention of 1881 had lapsed,
as is known.) With regard to the suzerainty, Mr.
Chamberlain referred the Government to a former
dispatch, in which he maintained that the suzerainty
still existed. With regard to the proposed tribunal
of arbitration, he agreed to a discussion of the form
and scope of such a tribunal, from which, however,
foreigners and foreign influence were to be excluded.
He moreover proposed that a further conference
should take place between myself and the High Com-
missioner at Cape Town, and ended by reminding the
Government of the South African Republic that
there were other matters of difference which could
not be settled by the grant of political representation
to the Uitlanders and which were not proper subjects
for reference to arbitration.

285

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Mr. Chamberlain afterwards declared that, in this
dispatch, he accepted the proposals of the Govern-
ment of the South African Republic as set forth
above. He is probably the only man in the world
who read his dispatch in this light: every impartial
judge will think the opposite.

On the 31st of August, Sir Alfred Milner tele-
graphed to Mr. Chamberlain:

The purport of all the representations made to me is to urge
prompt and decided action; not to deprecate further inter-
ference on the part of Her Majesty's Government. British
South Africa is prepared for extreme measures. ... I
fear seriously that there will be a strong reaction of feeling
against the policy of Her Majesty's Government if matters
drag.

In reply to Mr. Chamberlain's dispatch of the 30th
of August, the State Secretary, on the 2d of Septem-
ber, wrote to the British Agent at Pretoria that the
Government of the South African Republic had
heard with the deepest regret that Her Majesty's
Government had not seen their way to accept the pro-
posals which were set forth in the notes of the 19th
and 21st of August, under the conditions attached
thereto, the more so as the Government had supposed
from semi-official discussions that it might infer that
its proposal would have been acceptable to Her Ma-
jesty's Government. In consequence, the Govern-
ment of the South African Republic considered that

286

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

its proposal had lapsed. With regard to the uni-
lateral inquiry, the Government was willing, if it
should appear that the existing franchise law might
be made more effective, to lay proposals before the
Volksraad. It appeared, however, to it that the find-
ings of a unilateral commission, especially when
made before the working of the law had been prop-
erly tested, would probably be of little value. Pass-
ing to the remarks made by Mr. Chamberlain in con-
nection with the conditions attached to the proposals
in the note of the 19th of August, the State Secre-
tary observes:

(a) That this Government has never, with reference to the
question of intervention, either asked or intended that Her
Majesty's Government should abandon any right it may have,
as a matter of fact by virtue of either the Convention of Lon-
don of 1884 or of general international law, to take action here
for the protection of British subjects.

(6) That with regard to the alleged existence of suzerainty,
the denial of its existence by this Government according to
its view has already been so clearly explained in its dispatch
of 16th of April, 1898, that it would be superfluous to repeat
the facts, arguments and consequences mentioned therein: it
merely wishes to observe that it adheres to its contentions stated
in that dispatch.

With reference to a tribunal of arbitration the
Government was pleased to see that Her Majesty's
Government were prepared to enter into negotiations
with regard to the form and scope of such tribunal.
It was however not clear to it :

287

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

(a) If Her Majesty's Government consents that burghers
of the Orange Free State may also be appointed as members
of such tribunal.

(6) What subjects shall be submitted to the decision of such
court.

(c) What are the subjects Her Majesty's Government thinks
cannot be laid before such court. Her Majesty's Government
states that there are such points, but does not specify them.

The object contemplated by the Government of
the South African Republic, i.e., the securing of a
final regulation of all points at issue, would, it opined,
be altogether frustrated by these limitations. With
reference to the recommendation of a conference to
be held, the Government would await further com-
munications from Her Majesty's Government. The
State Secretary went on to remark that the proposal
made by his Government with reference to the fran-
chise and representation of the Uitlanders was
extremely liberal, and, as a matter of fact, went fur-
ther than the propositions of the High Commis-
sioner put forward at the Bloemfontein Conference;
that the conditions attached by his Government did
not demand from the side of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment any abandonment of existing rights under the
Convention of London of 1884 ; that the Government
of the South African Republic could never have ex-
pected that the answer of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment to its proposal would be unfavorable; that it
continued to cherish the hope that a solution of exist-

288

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

ing differences might be arrived at; and, in order to
attain this peaceful solution, the State Secretary
ended his letter by accepting the joint commission
formerly proposed by Mr. Chamberlain.

On the 12th of September, Mr. Greene, on behalf
of the British Government, answered Mr. Reitz's
dispatch of the 2d of September, and said that Her
Majesty's Government could not now consent to go
back to its former proposal of a joint commission;
that Her Majesty's Government were still prepared
to accept the proposals, provided that the inquiry
which Her Majesty's Government had proposed,
whether joint or unilateral, showed that the scheme
would not be encumbered by conditions which would
nullify its intentions. His Government assumed
that the new members of the Volksraad would be
permitted to use their own language. He ended his
letter by pressing for an immediate reply, and
stating that, if the reply was negative or inconclu-
sive, Her Majesty's Government reserved to itself
the right to reconsider the situation de novo and to
formulate its own proposals for a final settlement.

To this the State Secretary replied, on the 15th of
September, that his Government learned with deep
regret that Her Majesty's Government withdrew
its invitation and substituted in its place an entirely
new proposal; that the proposal contained in the
notes of the Government of the 19th and 21st of

19 289

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

August was induced by suggestions given by the
British Agent to the State Attorney, and these were
accepted by his Government in good faith, and on
express request, as equivalent to an assurance that
the proposal would be acceptable to the British Gov-
ernment; that his Government could not disguise
from itself that, in making the proposal contained
in its note of the 19th of August, it probably ran
the danger not only of its being disclaimed by the
Volksraad and by the people, but also that its accep-
tance might affect the independence of the state by,
as therein proposed, giving an immediate vote in the
legislature of the state to a large number of inpour-
ing foreigners ; but it set against that the continuous
threatening and undoubted danger to its highly
prized independence arising from the claim of suze-
rainty made by Her Majesty's Government, from
the interference of that Government in the internal
affairs of the Republic and from the want of an au-
tomatically working method of regulating differ-
ences between Her Majesty's Government and the
Government of the Republic, and was in conse-
quence prepared to recommend to the Volksraad
and to the people to run the danger attached to the
offer made in order to avoid the certainty of the
greater danger; inasmuch, however, as the condi-
tions attached to the proposal, the acceptance of

290

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

which constituted the only consideration for its
offer, had been declared unacceptable, it could not
understand on what grounds of justice it could be
expected that it should be bound to grant the rest.
As regards the point that the new members should
speak their own language in the Volksraad, the
Government could not enter into this and denied
having made any such promise. The State Secre-
tary ended his letter by expressing the hope that the
British Government would abide by its own pro-
posal for a joint commission and thus put an end
to the present state of tension.

To this letter of the State Secretary the British
Agent replied, on the 25th of September, that Her
Majesty's Government had on more than one occa-
sion repeated its assurances that it had no desire to
interfere in any way with the independence of the
South African Republic (N.B. — It was always
doing so) ; that it had not asserted any rights of in-
terference in the internal affairs of the Republic
other than those which were derived from the con-
ventions (N.B. — There was only one!) ; and ended
by saying that it was useless to pursue further a dis-
cussion on the lines hitherto followed, and that Her
Majesty's Government was now compelled to con-
sider the situation afresh, and to formulate its own
proposals for a final settlement of the issues which

291

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

had been created in South Africa by the policy con-
stantly followed for so many years by the Govern-
ment of the South African Republic.

On the 17th of September, the State Secretary
asked the High Commissioner for explanations re-
garding the concentration of troops on the frontiers
of the South African Republic. The High Com-
missioner replied that those troops were there to de-
fend British interests and in order to be prepared
for " possibilities."

On the 22d of September, the mobilization of an
army corps for South Africa was announced in
England, and, on the 28th of September, it was an-
nounced that the greater part of that army corps
would leave for South Africa without delay. The
Government thereupon commandeered the greater
part of the burghers to take up their position near
the frontiers of the Republic, in order to be pre-
pared for a sudden attack on the part of England.

On the 30th of September, the State Secretary
informed the British Agent that he would be glad to
know the decision of the British Government (i.e.
with reference to the " own proposals " announced
in the dispatch of 25 September). Mr. Chamber-
lain answered, on the 2d of October, that the dis-
patch of Her Majesty's Government was being pre-
pared, but that it would not be ready for some days.
It is clear that Mr. Chamberlain only desired to gain

292

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

time, in order first to have sufficient troops in South
Africa, before sending his promised dispatch, which
was nothing else than an ultimatum.

Before the final steps were reached, President
Steyn of the Orange Free State had intervened in
order to make every effort, on his side, to avoid war.
On the 19th of September, the High Commissioner
telegraphed to President Steyn that a detachment
of troops, ordinarily stationed at Cape Town, was
being sent to assist in securing the line of communi-
cation between the Colony and the British territo-
ries lying to the north of it; and that, as this force,
or a portion of it, might be stationed near the borders
of the Orange Free State, he, the High Commis-
sioner, thought it desirable to acquaint His Honor
with this movement, and the reasons for it, in order
to prevent any misconception. He added that Her
Majesty's Government was still hopeful of a
friendly settlement of the differences which had
arisen between it and the South African Republic,
but that, should this hope unfortunately be disap-
pointed, the British Government looked to the
Orange Free State to preserve strict neutrality.

President Steyn replied, on the same day, that he
was unable to see that the differences justified the
use of force as their only solution. Seeing the state
of tension in South Africa, he noted with apprehen-
sion and regret the stationing of troops near the bor-

293

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ders of the Orange Free State, since the burghers
would consider this a menace to that state. If, there-
fore, unwished-for developments should arise, the
responsibility would not rest with the Government
of the Orange Free State. His Honor concluded
his telegram by stating that he would view with deep
regret any disturbance of those friendly relations
which hitherto had existed between Great Britain
and the Orange Free State.

On the 27th of September, the Volksraad of the
Orange Free State adopted a resolution in which it
declared that no cause for war existed, that such a
war would be morally a war against the whole white
population of South Africa, but that, come what
might, the Orange Free State would honestly and
faithfully observe its obligations arising from the
political alliance with the South African Republic.
At the same time the Government was instructed to
do everything in its power to contribute by peaceful
efforts towards the solution of the existing differ-
ences.

That same day, the 27th of September, President
Steyn sent a dispatch to the High Commissioner in
which he reminded him of the ties of blood and
friendship by which the Orange Free State was
bound both to Cape Colony and the South African
Republic, and, in addition, of the close political al-
liance between the two Republics. He said that it

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

was this strong feeling of amity towards both Great
Britain and the South African Republic that led
him to bring about the conference between the High
Commissioner and myself ; that it was largely due to
the Orange Free State and other friends of peace
that such radical reforms had been effected by the
South African Republic in so short a time; that the
Orange Free State ever kept in view the spirit in
which it assumed that the British Government was
willing to act, viz., " to adopt an attitude of friendly
suggestion and not of dictation in the internal affairs
of the Republic; " that, while the Government of the
Republic, encouraged thereto by the advice of the
Free State, was busy in meeting the wants of the
Uitlanders, the British Government had departed
from the basis of non-interference in the internal
affairs of the Republic; that the request for the joint
commission of inquiry emphasized that fact beyond
any shadow of doubt; that, notwithstanding this,
the Government of the Orange Free State advised
the South African Republic to accept the invitation
of the British Government, in the hope that an im-
partial investigation might inaugurate a renewal of
the employment of friendly methods of negotiation ;
that great, therefore, was the disappointment of the
Government of the Orange Free State when it tran-
spired that the British Government now rejected its
proposal and that the unfortunate tension seemed

295

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

to be only increasing; that the Government of the
Orange Free State was still prepared to tender its
services to procure a peaceful solution of existing
difficulties, but that it felt itself hampered now as
in the past (a) by a want of knowledge as to the
definite object and extent of the demands of the
British Government, compliance with which that
Government considered itself entitled to insist upon ;
and (b) by the fact that, notwithstanding the re-
peated assurances of the British Government that it
did not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of
the Republic nor to disturb its independence, that
Government had pursued a policy which seemed
to justify a contrary conclusion. As an instance in
support of this contention, His Honor mentioned
the enormous and ever-increasing military prepara-
tions on the part of the British Government, indicat-
ing a policy of force and coercion, notwithstanding
the alleged friendly nature of the negotiations. His
Honor, therefore, trusted that Her Majesty's Gov-
ernment might see its way clear to stop any further
movements or increase of troops on or near the
borders of both States, pending the arrival of the
further dispatch intimated as about to be sent, and
further to give an assurance to that effect ; and added
that his Government would be glad to be favored
with the precise nature and scope of the concessions,
the adoption of which Her Majesty's Government

296

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDEXCY

considered itself entitled to claim, or which it sug-
gested as being necessary or sufficient to ensure a
satisfactory and permanent solution of existing
differences.

On the 2d of October, President Steyn informed
the High Commissioner that, in view of the totally
undefended state of the border, of the prevailing
unrest, and of the continual increase and movement
of troops on two sides of the Orange Free State, he
had deemed it advisable to call up his burghers in
order to satisfy them that due precautions had been
taken to guard their borders, adding that he was
still looking forward to a reply to his dispatch of the
27th of September.

The High Commissioner replied on the same day
regretting that the President had called up the bur-
ghers and declaring that His Honor was aware that
the South African Republic had placed a very con-
siderable army on the borders of Natal.

The President replied, on the 3d of October, that
the concentration of burghers on the Natal frontier
by the South African Republic was only the natural
result of the constant increase of British troops and
their movement in the direction of the Transvaal
border. He did not, however, anticipate any imme-
diate aggressive action on the part of the South
African Republic, unless further forward move-
ments of British troops should indicate an intention of

297

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

attack upon the Transvaal. He went on to press for
an answer to his dispatch of the 27th of September.

The High Commissioner answered, on the same
day, that all the movements of British troops had
been necessitated by the natural alarm of the inhabi-
tants in exposed districts and were not comparable
in magnitude with the massing of armed forces on
the borders of Natal by the Government of the
South African Republic.

The President replied, also on the 3d of October,
that he did not consider that the movements of Brit-
ish troops had been necessitated by the natural alarm
of the inhabitants in exposed districts, nor in fact
had he ever thought that there were any grounds
justifying such movements. On the contrary, the
ever-increasing military preparations, both in Eng-
land and South Africa, had retarded and hampered
the efforts that had been made to effect a fair set-
tlement. He ascribed the failure to arrive at a solu-
tion of existing difficulties to the bitter and hostile
tone of utterances, made both by responsible men
and by the English press in South Africa and Eng-
land, bristling with misrepresentations and menace
to the Transvaal, accompanied by ever-increasing
military preparations, not only in South Africa and
in England, but throughout the British Empire,
which were openly stated to be directed against the
Transvaal. He wished to place on record his earnest

298

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

conviction that on those in authority who introduced
the military element, and who thereby inaugurated
a policy of menace and forcible intervention, would
rest the responsibility, should all efforts fail to secure
peace and an honorable settlement. He could not
but recognize the fact that, in view of the action of
the British authorities already alluded to, the Trans-
vaal Government could not be blamed for acting as
it had done. He was the more confirmed in this view
by the fact that while he was still without any reply
to his telegraphic dispatch of the 27th of September,
the reasonable request therein made that the increase
and further movement of British troops should be
stayed, which if acceded to would probably have pre-
vented the calling out of the burghers both in the
South African Republic and in this State, had not
only been ignored but activity in military prepara-
tions and the dispatch of troops had been going on
more persistently than ever. He was not in a posi-
tion to judge whether the movement of British
troops on the border of the South African Republic
was comparable or not in magnitude with the recent
massing of armed force by the South African Re-
public on the borders, but it must not be forgotten
that on all sides, in the English press and elsewhere,
the assertion constantly found expression that the
British troops already in the country were more than
a match for the undisciplined burgher force of the

299

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Republic. Moreover, troops were being dispatched
almost daily from England, which would justify a
conviction in the minds of the burghers of the South
African Republic that England had abandoned any
idea of attempting to arrive at a solution of differ-
ences except by force.

On the 4th of October, the High Commissioner
replied that there was, he thought, a conclusive reply
to His Honor's accusation against the policy of Her
Majesty's Government, but that no good purpose
would be served by recrimination; that the present
position was that burgher forces were assembled in
very large numbers in immediate proximity to the
frontier of Natal, while the British troops occupied
certain defensive positions well within those borders.
He would not despair of peace and felt sure that any
reasonable proposal, from whatever quarter pro-
ceeding, would be favorably considered by Her
Majesty's Government.

On the 5th of October, the President replied that
he was prepared to make a proposal, but that he con-
sidered it would not be practicable to induce the Gov-
ernment of the South African Republic to make or
entertain proposals or suggestions, unless the troops
menacing their states were withdrawn farther from
their borders, and an assurance were also given by
Her Majesty's Government that all further dispatch
and increase of troops would at once, and during

300

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDEXCY

negotiations, be stopped, and that those now on the
water would either not be landed or at least would
remain as far removed as might be from the scene
of possible hostilities. The President urged upon
His Excellency the urgent necessity of intimating
to him without delay whether His Excellency saw
his way clear to give effect to these his views and
wishes ; and if so he would take steps to obtain an as-
surance from the South African Republic to safe-
guard against any act of invasion or hostility
against any portion of Her Majesty's territories.
He would further support all reasonable proposals
which would possess the element of finality and give
the assurance of a lasting peace.

The High Commissioner replied, on the 6th of
October 1899, that he regretted that the President
should suggest, as a condition precedent to further
negotiations, an assurance from Her Majesty's
Government hampering its freedom of action with
regard to the disposition of British troops in British
territory. Such an assurance it was impossible for
him to ask Her Majesty's Government to give. If,
on the other hand, the President could obtain an as-
surance that, pending negotiations, no act of hos-
tility would be committed, he was prepared to advise
Her Majesty's Government to give an assurance to
the like effect.

Steyn replied, on the same day, that he could not

301

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

be expected to ask the South African Republic to
continue negotiations in the face of the fact that
from all sides of Her Majesty's dominions troops
were being poured into South Africa with the
avowed object of coercing the South African Re-
public into accepting whatever terms Her Majesty's
Government might decide to impose. The Presi-
dent added that he had no doubt that, in so far as
Her Majesty's troops were intended for the defence
of Her Majesty's possessions, the same purpose
could be effected in another way, and he would be
willing to assist in its being effected; but the point
which he thought it fair to urge was that it would
be taken by the South African Republic as virtually
amounting to an act of hostility on the part of Her
Majesty's Government to be continuously increas-
ing their forces during the negotiations.

On the 7th of October, His Honor received a
reply to his dispatch of the 27th of September, in
which the British Government stated that it had re-
peatedly explained its views on the questions at issue
between it and the Government of the South Afri-
can Republic, and did not think its position open
to misunderstanding; but, if the President of the
Orange Free State desired elucidation of any special
point, it was prepared to give it. As regards the
military preparations, they had been necessitated by
the policy of the South African Republic of con-

302

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

verting that country into a permanent armed camp.
In view of the rejection of its last proposals by the
Government of the South African Republic, Her
Majesty's Government was reconsidering the situa-
tion, having regard to the grave fact that both
Republics had now placed themselves on a war
footing.

On the same day, 7 October 1899, a royal procla-
mation appeared in England, summoning Parlia-
ment and calling out the reserves; at the same time
an order was issued for the mobilization of an army
corps for South Africa.

On the 9th of October, President Steyn sent a
telegram to the High Commissioner demurring to
the statement that the military preparations made
by Her Majesty's Government had been necessi-
tated by the action of the South African Republic.
He again urged the withdrawal of forces on both
sides, such withdrawal to include an undertaking by
Her Majesty's Government to stop the further in-
crease of troops.

I have now given the course of negotiations and
described events precisely as they occurred. Any
one who views these matters impartially must admit
that the British Government, and particularly the
High Commissioner and Mr. Chamberlain, did their
utmost to cause the negotiations to fail and to bring
on a war.

303

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

The Government of the South African Republic
clearly saw what the British Government wanted,
that a collision was inevitable, and that the British
Government was only waiting to send its ultima-
tum until sufficient troops had arrived in South
Africa to overwhelm the Republic from every side.
When it realized that a war was inevitable, that to
make concessions availed nothing and that its only
chance lay in compelling the British Government to
display its real intentions before all the British troops
were landed, the Government of the South African
Republic had recourse to extreme measures, and, on
the 9th of October, wrote a letter to the British
Agent, the so-called " Ultimatum." In this docu-
ment the Government once more set forth how Eng-
land had not the slightest right to interfere in the
internal affairs of the Republic; how the Republic
had yet found occasion to discuss in a friendly fash-
ion the franchise and the representation of the peo-
ple with Her Majesty's Government; how on the
part of Her Majesty's Government the friendly na-
ture of those discussions had assumed a more and
more threatening tone; how Her Majesty's Govern-
ment had finally broken off all friendly correspon-
dence on the subject ; how the Republic was still wait-
ing for the proposal which the British Government
had promised to make for a final settlement ; how, in
view of the British military force on the frontiers,

304

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

the Republic had been obliged, as a defensive mea-
sure, to send a portion of the burghers to protect the
frontiers; how the unlawful intervention of Her Maj-
esty's Government in the affairs of the Republic, in
conflict with the London Convention of 1884, had
caused an intolerable condition of affairs to arise to
which the Government felt itself obliged, in the in-
terest not only of the Republic but of all South Af-
rica, to make an end as soon as possible, and there-
fore felt itself called upon and obliged to press
earnestly and with emphasis for an immediate ter-
mination of this state of things, and to request Her
Majesty's Government to give it the assurance:

(a) That all points of mutual difference shall be regu-
lated by the friendly course of arbitration, or by whatever
amicable way may be agreed upon by this Government with Her
Majesty's Government.

(o) That the troops on the borders of this Republic shall
be instantly withdrawn.

(c) That all reinforcements of troops which have arrived
in South Africa since the 1st June 1899 shall be removed
within a reasonable time, to be agreed upon with this Gov-
ernment, and with a mutual assurance and guarantee on the
part of this Government that no attack upon, or hostilities
against, any portion of the possessions of the British Gov-
ernment shall be made by the Republic during further ne-
gotiations, within a period of time to be subsequently agreed
upon between the Governments, and this Government will, on
compliance therewith, be prepared to withdraw the armed
burghers of this Republic from the borders.

(d) That Her Majesty's troops which are now on the high
seas shall not be landed in any port of South Africa.

20 305

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

The dispatch ended by requesting Her Majesty's
Government to return an answer before or upon
Wednesday the 11th of October, not later than 5
o'clock p.m., adding that, in the event of no satisfac-
tory answer being received within that interval, the
Republic would with great regret be compelled to
regard the action of Her Majesty's Government as a
formal declaration of war and would not hold itself
responsible for the consequences thereof, and that,
in the event of any further movements of troops tak-
ing place within the above-mentioned time in the
nearer directions of the borders of the Republic, the
Government would be compelled to regard that also
as a formal declaration of war.

On the 11th of October, Mr. Greene brought the
reply of the British Government to the effect that
the conditions demanded by the Government of the
South African Republic were such as Her Majesty's
Government deemed it impossible to discuss. At
the same time he asked for his passports, in order to
enable him to leave the country. And so, in spite of
all the concessions, all the patience and indulgence
of the Republic, the war broke out. The Volksraad,
which was still sitting, adjourned when it became
evident that hostilities were soon to begin; both our
Volksraad and that of the Orange Free State unani-
mously declared themselves ready to risk their lives

306

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

and property for their rights and for their liberty;
and both repeated this vow in their last session during
the turmoil of war.1

The course and the vicissitudes of the war do not
come within the scope of these Memoirs, since I took
no personal part in the fighting. I had a different
work before me, which kept me employed day and
night. All looked to me for advice, hints and con-
solation. Daily I sent off telegrams to all the com-
mandos, encouraging, advising and exhorting the
burghers. These labors fully occupied the mornings
from eight to twelve and the evenings from two to
four or five o'clock. Not till then did I leave the
Government buildings. I went to bed at eight, only
to get up again at eleven to go through the telegrams
that had come to hand. I rose once more at two, to
inspect any dispatches that had arrived in the mean-
time, and it was often four o'clock before I could seek
my rest again. In the later stage of the war, when
the federal troops were being driven back on every
side, my sleep was interrupted regularly three times
every night, and frequently as often as four times,
in order that I might deal with the telegrams without
delay. I was thankful for every success and did not

1 Official reports of President Kruger's speech at the closing of the
First and Second Volksraad and of the speeches of both Presidents at
the last meetings of the Volksraads of the Transvaal and of the Orange
Free State will be found in the Appendix. — Note by the Editor of the Ger-
man Edition.

307

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

lose courage when reverses were announced, as
many of my telegrams could show, had they not been
scattered to the winds.

After the relief of Ladysmith, I went myself to
Xatal to exhort the burghers to keep courage. At
Glencoe, where the burghers had once more taken up
their position, I addressed them in a long speech,
pointing out the urgency of keeping up the fight.
General Joubert spoke to them to the same effect.

I had scarcely returned to Pretoria, when I went
to Bloemfontein in order to proceed thence, by
wagon, to Poplar Grove, on the Modder River,
where I intended also to address and encourage the
burghers. But I could not come so far, for I had
only just reached General De Wet, when I was
obliged to go back, as French, with his mounted
troops, had effected a turning movement and I was in
danger of being cut off. Heavy fighting took place
on my arrival, for the English general in command
knew of my presence, and I had only just time to re-
tire: I had hardly crossed the Modder River, when
French arrived with his cavalry. Here, however, De
la Rey, who had just arrived with his staff, flung him-
self against him and held him m check until the laager
and guns were safe. As I resumed my homeward
course, the shells were flying all around me, and one
fell just behind the cart in which I was seated. I
was, therefore, obliged to return to Pretoria, but

308

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

went straight on to Kroonstad, there to encourage
the burghers and attend a general council of war.
It was on this occasion that the deeply-lamented Col-
onel de Villebois-Mareuil received his promotion to
General of the Foreign Legion.

Shortly after, I received a heavy blow through the
death of General Joubert, who had worked together
with me for so many years in building up the Repub-
lic. His death was profoundly mourned by the
whole people, and there is no doubt that the decease
of this upright lover of his country exercised a dis-
couraging influence upon his fellow-burghers. For-
tunately he had, before his death, appointed a suc-
cessor in the present Commandant General Louis
Botha, who has shown that the confidence placed in
him by the dying general was well deserved.

Shortly before the capture of Bloemfontein, the
two Governments resolved to send a deputation to
Europe to endeavor to secure intervention. This
deputation consisted of Mr. Abraham Fischer, a
member of the Executive Raad of the Orange Free
State, who had taken a prominent part in the nego-
tiations during the crisis, and who now acted as a
delegate for both states, with Mr. C. H. Wessels,
President of the Volksraad of the Orange Free State,
for his own state, and Mr. A. D. W. Wolmarans, a
member of the Executive Raad of the South African
Republic, for his state. All three were men in whom

309

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

the Government and the people of both Republics
placed the greatest confidence.

A short time before the surrender of Cronje, the
two Governments sent a dispatch to Lord Salisbury,
in which they declared that the Republics were will-
ing to make peace if their independence, the only
thing for which they were fighting, were acknow-
ledged. Lord Salisbury replied that he could not
accept this proposal; for the Republics were not to
be allowed to retain a shred of independence: and
that after he had declared, only three months earlier,
in a public speech, that England sought no gold-
fields and no territory.

Although the preceding days made heavy claims
upon me, those that followed made even more stren-
uous demands. After the relief of Maf eking, when
the British troops began to stream into the Republic
from every side, it became daily more clear that, in
my old age, I should have to leave my wife, my home
and all that was dear to me, in order to seek a refuge
in the east of the Republic, and there begin the
struggle anew. The thought of this departure lay
heavy upon my heart, the more so as my wife was so
old and weak that I could not think of taking
her with me. The doctor had declared that such a
journey as this would mean death to her; and yet
I felt sure that I should never see her again in this
life. The day of our separation after a long and

310

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

happy marriage came ever closer and closer, and an
uncertain future, full of dangers and privations,
faced me. It was with this knowledge that I opened
the Volksraad at the beginning of May.1 Many of
the best-known figures in public life were already at
rest in their graves, and their seats in the Volksraad
stood empty.

Lord Roberts had at last pushed forward to Jo-
hannesburg, and, as we were informed that he in-
tended, with a flying column, to cut the Delagoa
Railway line to the east of Pretoria, it was resolved
that I should leave Pretoria with the Government
and transfer the seat of government to the east of
the Republic. On the afternoon of my last day at
Pretoria, 29 May, 1900, while my things were being
packed, I received the American lad, Jimmy Smith,
who brought me an address, in which thousands of
school-boys in Philadelphia, the children of a city
which was the first to declare its independence of
Great Britain, " sent a message of sympathy to the
leader of the people which was now engaged in de-
fending its independence against the same nation."
He also handed me a Transvaal flag which had been
embroidered in America. I thanked the boy and the
American gentlemen who had accompanied him,
and, one hour later, when it was already dark, I drove

1 For President Kruger's speeches delivered on this occasion, see the Ap-
pendix. They show that he had not lost confidence. — Note by the Editor
of the German Edition.

311

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

with a few faithful friends to Eerste Fabrieken, the
first station on the eastern line. From there I went
by railway, over Middelburg, to Machadodorp, where
the seat of government was provisionally established.
I lived in my saloon-carriage, to which a telegraph
apparatus had been fitted: my work was no less ar-
duous than at Pretoria, and I was constantly sending
telegrams to encourage the burghers in the fight.

The first days of June are among the darkest of
my life. On the 5th of June, Lord Roberts occupied
Pretoria, and many of the burghers, discouraged by
recent events, listened to the tempting proclama-
tions by which that general sought to seduce them
from their allegiance and their duty to the land and
people, laid down their arms and took the oath of
neutrality. I warned and admonished them, for my
faith in the future was still unshaken. On the 7th
of June, I sent the following telegram to all the
officers :

Tell the burghers that it will avail them nothing to lay-
down their arms, as Lord Roberts has issued a proclamation
that in future he will release no more burghers on their oaths,
since he has found that the burghers continue to fight in spite
of their oaths. He has moreover decided to take all male
persons above twelve years of age prisoners, whether they
be armed or not. If they are taken prisoners, they will be
sent to St. Helena. Children also are therefore no longer,
safe. We have resolved to fight to the end. Be faithful and
fight in the name of the Lord, for they who flee and leave
their positions or run away from commando are fleeing straight
to St. Helena.

312

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

And in longer telegrams I set forth the religious
grounds for my hopeful persistency.1

As Machadodorp is one of the coldest places in
the Transvaal, and at that time I was suffering
greatly from my eyes, I yielded to the pressure of the
burghers and moved on to Waterval Onder, which
lies on the Eland River, among high mountains, and
enjoys a very mild climate in winter. Here I oc-
cupied a scantily-furnished little house, where I spent
the happiest two months that I have known since my
departure from Pretoria. The seat of government,
however, remained at Machadodorp ; and the State
Secretary and the members of the Executive Raad
also remained there, but came every morning by train
to Waterval Onder to the sittings of the Executive
Raad, in order to attend to the current business.
From here, too, were issued the decrees and requisi-
tions, the provisos for furlough, the enactments
against dilatory burghers and officials, and the orders
for the reorganization of the army, and the necessary
measures were taken to frustrate the proclamations
of the enemy and their consequences. Towards the
end of August, President Steyn and his escort ar-
rived at Waterval Onder to discuss the position in
the coimtry.

It was at about the same time that Lord Roberts,
acting in conjunction with General Sir Redvers Bul-

1Some of these telegrams will be found in the Appendix.
313

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

ler, delivered his decisive attack on Botha's positions
at Dalmanutha. The result is well known. After the
burghers had fought for eight days like lions and de-
feated every attempt of the enemy to break through,
Buller at last succeeded in capturing a weak post oc-
cupied by 79 men of the Johannesburg police and
in thus forcing his way into our men's positions.
Botha had about 4,000 men and had to defend a line
that extended for over 30 miles. Roberts attacked
him with over 50,000 men and a mass of heavy guns.
The result of this battle made it clear to the Com-
mandant General and the other officers that it was
not possible for that small force of burghers to repel
the enemy or to continue to fight him in the way they
had done hitherto, and that it was better to send the
President away, so as to leave the commandos freer
in their movements. We moved on to Nelspruit, a
station on the Delagoa Railway, about half-way be-
tween Waterval Onder and the Portuguese frontier.
The removal of all the baggage, wagons, carts,
horses, mules and so forth gave great difficulty, but
the excellent manner in which the Netherlands South
African Railway Company had so far satisfied every
demand made upon it was now repeated. On arriv-
ing at the spot which had been selected as the seat
of government, we received Lord Roberts's procla-
mation annexing the South African Republic. I at
once issued a counter-proclamation:

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

Whereas, in the month of October 1899, an unjust war was
forced upon the people of the South African Republic and the
Orange Free State by Great Britain, and those two small Re-
publics have for ten months maintained and are still main-
taining an unequal contest against the mighty British Em-
pire;

Whereas I am informed that a certain proclamation, dated
1 September 1900, has been issued by Lord Roberts, Field-
Marshal, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South
Africa, stating that the South African Republic has been con-
quered by Her Majesty's troops and that the South African
Republic is annexed to the British Empire, while the forces
of the South African Republic are still in the field and the
South African Republic has not been conquered, and the afore-
said proclamation is therefore opposed to international law;

And whereas the independence of the South African Republic
has been recognized by nearly all the civilized Powers;

Whereas I deem it desirable immediately to inform all whom
it may concern that the aforesaid proclamation is not recog-
nized by the Government and people of the South African
Republic:

Now I, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, State Presi-
dent of the South African Republic, by the advice and con-
sent of the Executive Raad, in accordance with Article 147 of
its Minutes of the 3d of September 1900, do hereby pro-
claim, in the name of the independent people of this Re-
public, that the aforesaid annexation is not recognized, but is
by these presents declared null and void.

The people of the South African Republic is and remains a
free and independent people and refuses to submit to British
rule.

Given under my hand at Nelspruit in the South African
Republic on the third day of the month of September 1900.

S. J. P. Kruger.

Meanwhile, it became evident that the hope that
we should be able to arrest the enemy's progress in

315

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

the mountains, was futile, thanks to his overwhelming
superiority of numbers ; and, when the enemy began
to advance from every side on Nelspruit, a decisive
step became necessary. A council was called, con-
sisting of the members of the Transvaal and Orange
Free State Governments and a number of officers,
including the Commandant General, and it resolved
to send me to Europe as a delegate, to endeavor to
promote the cause of the Republics. General and
Vice-President Schalk Burger was to hold office as
Acting State President during my absence. A proc-
lamation was issued, giving notice of this resolution
in the following terms:

Whereas the great age of His Honor the State President
renders it impossible for His Honor to continue to accompany
the commandos;

And whereas the Executive Raad is persuaded that His
Honor's invaluable services can still be profitably employed
in the interests of the land and people:

Now the Executive Raad does hereby resolve to grant His
Honor a six months' furlough in order to proceed to Europe
and there promote our cause. His place will be filled, in ac-
cordance with the law, by Mr. S. W. Burger, Vice-President.

S. W. Burger,

Vice-President.
F. W. Reitz,
State Secretary.

Government Office, Nelspruit, 10 September 1900.

If my departure from Pretoria was a bitter blow
to me, my departure, under such sorrowful circum-

316

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

stances, from the land to which I had devoted my
life was doubly bitter. I saw it swarming with the
enemy, who, in his arrogance, was already declaring
that the war was over and that only guerrilla bands
now infested the country. I had to bid good-by to
the men who had stood beside me for so many years
and to leave my country and my people, my gray-
haired wife, my children, my friends and the little
band of lion-hearted fighters who, surrounded as
they were on every side, had now to make their way
through an uninhabited district to the north of the
Republic, there to reorganize and recommence the
struggle. But I had no choice. I must either sub-
mit to the decision or allow myself to be taken pris-
oner. My age prevented me from riding and it was,
therefore, impossible for me to accompany the com-
mandos further. On the other hand, it was a conso-
lation to leave the Government in the hands of such
true men as Schalk Burger, Reitz, Louis Botha and
De la Rey, and I knew the loyal support which they
would receive from the noble President Steyn. On
the evening of the 10th September we took leave of
one another at Nelspruit and I was left alone with
the escort which the Executive Raad had given me
for my protection.

On the next day, after spending the night at
Crocodile Poort, I began my long pilgrimage to Eu-
rope, a journey the result of which neither had nor

317

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

could have been anticipated. From Crocodile Poort
I traveled in the private railway-carriage of the man-
ager of the Netherlands South African Railway
Company. At Hectorspruit I waited a few hours
for President Steyn and a few other friends, who
had come there to take leave of me, and then con-
tinued my journey to Lorenzo Marques over Komati
Poort, the last station in the Republic, past the fron-
tier station, Resano Garsea, where the director of
the Portuguese railway took charge of the train.
At Lorenzo Marques, the train was not stopped at
the station, but shunted to a siding, so that, as dark-
ness had already set in, I was able to reach Consul
General Pott's house unobserved. It was my inten-
tion to remain there until I could embark for Europe
on board the first outgoing steamer, which would
have been the steamship Herzog, of the German
East African Line. But, on the next day, the Por-
tuguese Governor arrived and said that he had been
instructed to take me to his own house as the guest
of the Portuguese Government. When I showed
some hesitation, the Governor declared that I must
accompany him at once and that, if I refused, he
must employ force. This action on the part of the
Portuguese Government must undoubtedly be as-
cribed to the pressure brought to bear upon it by the
British Government, for the Portuguese Governor
governed only in name: the real governor was the

318

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

British consul at Delagoa Bay. Governor Machado,
who was probably fulfilling a disagreeable task
much against his own wish, treated me with great
kindness, but would not allow me to move without
accompanying me. None of the members of my es-
cort, who were also quartered at the Governor's
house, was allowed to set foot in the town unless ac-
companied by an aide-de-camp; and even then they
were not permitted to enter into conversation with
any one. At first, the two gentlemen who traveled
with me, as well as a few other friends, were at least
allowed to visit me; but this, too, was very soon for-
bidden, on the ground, as we were informed, that
the British consul had complained. This situation
lasted some weeks, during the whole of which time
I was practically a prisoner in the Governor's house,
and it was there that I kept my seventy-fifth birth-
day. I was not allowed to receive the congratula-
tions of the burghers who thronged the town and
who were reduced to shouting good luck to me from
the street outside.

The first ray of light that broke through this night
of affliction was the Queen of Holland's offer to
carry me to Europe on a man-of-war, an act which
was appreciated in the highest degree by the whole
Boer nation. Now at least all uncertainty was re-
moved as to my being able to pursue my journey.
As the ship, however, was still at some distance from

319

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Delagoa Bay, I was not able to embark until the
21st of October, and then the Gelderland, whose cap-
tain and officers received me with every mark of
friendship and loving-kindness, had first to take in
coal. The journey from Delagoa Bay to Dar-es-
Salam, where the Gelderland arrived on the morn-
ing of the fifth day, passed off very well. It is true
that, at first, I suffered a little from sea-sickness, for
the first time in my life ; but I was soon able to light
up my pipe again, a certain proof that the sickness
was past. At Dar-es-Salam, some German officials
came on board and invited me to a dinner which they
wished to give in my honor. I begged, however, to
be excused, in view of the sorrowful circumstances
of my country. The same thing happened at Dji-
bouti, where we arrived on the 2d of November.
From here the journey was continued to Suez.
Every ship that passed the Gelderland saluted, and
I was cheered by the passengers on board those which
came close enough. One French ship even went
out of her course to salute the Gelderland, and the
only exceptions were the majority of the English
ships, of which, at one time, as many as five were in
sight, near Sardinia. From Suez we proceeded to
Port Said, where we stopped to take in coal. The
voyage from here to Marseilles was exceedingly un-
pleasant, quite apart from the number of newspaper
correspondents who made fruitless attempts to in-

320

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

terview me. A storm raged which sent the waves
flying over the ship; and the vessel pitched and
rolled to such an extent that my sickness returned.

At the end of the voyage the captain of the Gel-
derland invited my friends and myself to an official
dinner. The saloon was decorated with the Dutch
colors and with a Transvaal banner, the same flag
which the American school-boys had sent me, with
an address, from Philadelphia. In consequence of
the bad weather we arrived one day late, on the 22d
of November, in the harbor of Marseilles.

A few days before our arrival, the members of
the South African deputation, with the exception
of Wolmarans, who was unwell, had gone to Mar-
seilles, with Dr. Leyds and some other gentlemen,
to receive me. Professor Hamel, of the University
of Groningen, kindly acted as interpreter. From
the deck of the man-of-war, to which the members
of the deputation put out in a long-boat, one saw
nothing but one mass of people, all cheering and
waving their handkerchiefs. Even the steamers
lying at anchor in the harbor swarmed with people.

I went on shore after cordially thanking the cap-
tain of the ship and his officers for the kindness and
consideration which they had shown me. I still re-
tain the pleasantest recollections of my voyage on
the Gelderland. Thousands of people were shout-
ing their greetings with the loudest enthusiasm.

21 321

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

The president of the Committee for the Indepen-
dence of the Boers, which had been lately formed,
" interpreted the feelings of all Marseilles," as he
himself said when he welcomed me and added that
the enthusiasm which I beheld around me would
convey more to me than any words which he could
utter. I declared that I gratefully accepted the wel-
come offered me, although, in view of the sorrow in
which my country was wrapped, I had not come in
order to be festively received.

" The war in South Africa," I continued, " has
exceeded the limits of barbarism. I have fought
against many barbarous Kaffir tribes in the course
of my life ; but they are not so barbarous as the Eng-
lish, who have burnt our farms and driven our
women and children into destitution, without food
or shelter. I hope that God will not abandon the
Boer nation. But if the Transvaal and the Free
State are to lose their independence, it shall only
happen when both nations have been annihilated
with their women and their children."

On the road to the hotel stood thousands of peo-
ple, who cheered me continually as I passed and,
during the afternoon, a number of deputations came
to welcome me.

This splendid reception was a thorn in the side of
the English at Marseilles, and they tried to spoil the
procession by throwing coppers from the windows

322

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

of a hotel among the populace, in order to raise a
tumult. But this proceeding narrowly escaped hav-
ing serious results, for the people, furious at this
behavior, stormed the hotel, so that police protection
had to be sent for.

Immediately after my arrival, I telegraphed to
President Loubet to salute him and to thank him
for the sympathy of his Government and people.
The Prefect of Marseilles called on me on behalf of
the President.

On the 24th of November, I started by special
train for Paris, and was cordially cheered through-
out the journey. The train stopped at one or two
stations, and great crowds had gathered to welcome
me. I stepped out of the train at Lyons, to receive
the welcome of the crowd, and the mayor handed me
a beautiful medal as a souvenir. At Dijon, where
we spent the night, the drive to the hotel was accom-
plished to a salute of guns.

On the next morning, we continued our journey
to Paris, where a solemn reception took place and
several speeches were delivered. In reply to the ad-
dress of the Vice-President of the Municipality of
Paris, I said that, " as soon as I had set foot on Pa-
risian soil, I had acquired fresh confidence, for the
arms of the city, a ship floating on the waves, assured
me that the Republics would not go under."

On the way to the hotel, immense masses of peo-

323

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

pie had gathered, who cried, " Long live Kruger!
Arbitration for ever! " and continually flung nose-
gays into the carriage. The people in front of the
hotel called out for me to appear on the balcony,
and I had to do so three or four times a day, before
the crowds would disperse.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, President Lou-
bet received me at the Elysee, sending me a com-
pany of cuirassiers as an escort, and immediately
afterwards paid me a return visit.

During my stay in Paris, from the 26th of No-
vember till the 1st of December, I visited some of
the sights, including the Eiffel Tower, the Hotel de
Ville, the International Exhibition, at which I was
greatly touched to read the inscriptions on the walls
of the Transvaal pavilion, containing every good
wish for the Boers. In the sessions-hall of the Hotel
de Ville, where the whole Town Council had assem-
bled, the chairman expressed the admiration of the
people for the heroism of the Republics and said
that, " if the Republics were silent, the nations must
speak," and thus bring about arbitration.

The president of the Conseil General also made
a speech. In my reply, I said that, " if the Boers,
who were not yet defeated, but would go on fighting
much longer, could hear of the reception which had
been given me in France, they would be still further
strengthened in their resolve to keep up the strug-

324

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

gle." I also thanked the press for the light which
they had thrown on the English methods of warfare
and added:

* If you were able to send reporters straight to
the seat of war, they would stand astounded at the
atrocities that are being perpetrated by England."

After receiving a series of deputations, I left
Paris on the 1st of December, amid scenes of undi-
minished enthusiasm and escorted by the authorities
and private societies, for Cologne. On the way to
the French frontier, the same scenes were repeated
which had marked the journey from Marseilles to
Paris. At every station where we stopped, I was re-
ceived by great crowds. The same thing happened
in Belgium. The enthusiasm which I witnessed in
France not only delighted me, but confirmed me in
my hope that my journey would not be in vain.

This hope, however, was doomed to be very soon
frustrated. On the evening of the same day, we
reached Cologne, where an enthusiasm reigned such
as Cologne had, perhaps, never beheld before. Un-
fortunately, an accident occurred at the railway sta-
tion which cost one of the spectators his life. The
crowd was such that two people fell through an
opening on to the platform, and one of them broke
his leg and died from the effects of the fall. Owing
to the size of the crowds I had to drive by a circuitous
route to my hotel. Here, shortly after my arrival,

325

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

I received a telegram from the German Emperor,
saying that His Majesty could not receive me at
that time, as he had a hunting engagement. We
then resolved to proceed to the Hague; but, before
leaving Cologne, I received a series of deputations,
who gave me every mark of sympathy. I also re-
ceived the wife of the man who had died of the acci-
dent at the station and assured her of my heartfelt
condolence. I did not miss the opportunity of vis-
iting the famous cathedral.

It is really not necessary for me to say that
throughout my journey through Germany and
Holland I met everywhere with the same sympa-
thy for the cause of the Boers as at Cologne. At
station after station, I was received by the represen-
tatives of the different towns, in addition to corpo-
rations and societies with their banners and badges.
The train drew up at the Hague in the even-
ing, when it was already growing dusk. The
precincts of the railway station and all the streets
leading to the hotel at which I was to stay were
closely packed with an endless crowd of cheering
people. I had telegraphed to the Queen, on reach-
ing the Dutch frontier, to offer her my homage.
Immediately after my arrival at the hotel, Her
Majesty's ministers called upon me, and, on the
next day, I went to the Court, to wait upon the
Queen and to thank her for her great kindness in

326

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

sending a man-of-war to bring me to Europe. I
was afterwards invited to dine with the Queen and
Her Majesty's Consort, the Prince of the Nether-
lands, called on me at the hotel.

After a short delay, I paid a visit to Amsterdam,
where a great reception was held in the Paleis voor
Volksvlyt and a solemn service in the principal
church. On returning to the Hague, where I had
not originally intended to stay, since it was neces-
sary that I should as soon as possible consult a good
physician about the condition of my eyes, I fell seri-
ously ill: I had probably caught a cold, which very
soon developed into inflammation of the lungs. I
recovered, however, and proceeded to Utrecht, where
I stayed for two months and a half; during which
period I underwent a successful operation on both
eyes, effected by Professor Snellen and my own
physician, Dr. Heymans. From there, I moved to
Hilversum, where I lived for eight months, at the
Villa Casa Cara, with my suite. Our stay was inter-
rupted by a visit of some weeks to A. D. W. Wol-
marans at Scheveningen and by a long-promised
visit to some of the other Dutch towns. At Rotter-
dam, I was shown a tree which I had planted in the
Zoological Gardens in 1884, and took a trip up the
Maas, on board the Lehmann, which the Fop Smit
Steamship Company had placed at my disposal. I
was proud, on this occasion, to see the old church at

327

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

Dordrecht where the Synod of 1618 to 1619 was held
which exercised so great an influence upon the
Church to which I belong. I also revisited Kam-
pen, the Mecca of the Protestant Church. In both
towns my reception was of the most cordial nature
imaginable.

Shortly after my return to Hilversum, I received
the heaviest blow of my life. A cablegram informed
me that my wife was dead. In my profound sor-
row I was consoled by the thought that the separa-
tion was only temporary and could not last long;
and my faith gave me the strength to write a letter
of encouraging consolation to my daughter, Mrs.
Malan. Wolmarans invited me to spend another
fortnight with him at Scheveningen, to distract my
thoughts a little. I then went back to Hilversum,
where I lived in absolute retirement, interrupted
only by the necessary conferences, and devoted my-
self entirely to the perusal of my Bible.

At the commencement of the winter, on the 10th
of December 1901, I moved to the Villa Oranjelust,
on the Maliebaan, at Utrecht. Here I received the
news of De la Rey's brilliant victory over Lord
Methuen. I rejoiced exceedingly at the victory, but,
when some one observed, during the reading of the
news, that it was to be hoped that De la Rey would
keep Methuen a prisoner, I said:

' I could not approve of that, and I hope that

328

KRUGER'S FOURTH PRESIDENCY

De la Rey will release him without delay; for we
Boers must behave as Christians to the end, however
uncivilized the way in which the English treat us
may be."

When I learnt that Methuen was released, I ex-
pressed my sincere gratification. A series of fur-
ther favorable tidings arrived from home, so that
the position of things seemed to justify the greatest
hope.

For the rest, I had, throughout the war, replied
to every inquiry from the scene of war that my con-
fidence was still unshaken, but that it must be left
entirely to the generals in the field to decide
whether and how, under the stress of circum-
stances, they wished to alter their previous reso-
lutions. During the peace negotiations, I had only
one answer to all the questions put to me as to
what I thought of peace, namely, that all would hap-
pen as God wished. And, when peace was at last
concluded, I applied to the generals the Bible text
2 Cor. viii. 3:

" For to their power, I bear record, yea, and be-
yond their power they were willing of themselves."

Nor, in so far as I myself am concerned, will I
consent to lose courage because the peace is not such
as the burghers wished. For, quite apart from the
fact that the bloodshed and the fearful sufferings
of the people of the two Republics are now ended,

329

THE MEMOIRS OF PAUL KRUGER

I am convinced that God does not forsake His peo-
ple, even though it may often appear so. Therefore
I resign myself to the will of the Lord. I know that
He will not allow the afflicted people to perish. He
is the Lord and all hearts are in His hand and He
turneth them whithersoever He will.

330

STEPHANUS JOHANNES PATHS KlUliKR

About !*«">

From an old-fashioned silver-plate
photograph, taken by Mr. Jeffreys, of
Cape Town. It was given by Kruger
(who was at the time Field Cornet
of Potchefstroom) to Mr. Jeffreys's
father at Potchefstroom, about the
year 1865. Mr. Jeffreys believes that
the old plate was a positive (instead
of anegative, from which photographs
are printed nowadays), consequently,
the left side conies out as the right.
This photograph is the only one show-
ing the loss of President Kruger's
thumb. In the other photographs
he always seems to hide the bit
hand, and the right thumb comes
out clearly in some. In this print the
right hand seems to be thumbless
owing to the inversion of the plate.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX A

Speeches delivered at the Solemn Inaugura-
tion of His Honor S. J. P. Kruger as State
President of the South African Republic,
on Thursday, 12 May 1898.

Mr. President of the First Volksraad addressed
His Honor the State President in the following;
words :

t->

Mr. State Presddent,

I welcome you in the name of the First and
Second Volksraad on the occasion of this solemnity,
at which you have for the fourth time taken the oath
of office as State President of the South African
Republic.

Already fifteen years have passed since you first
appeared as the head of this state. Nay, what do
I say? — it is not only for fifteen years that you have
served the country; you have also served it in other
capacities, such as that of a member of the Trium-
virate and as Vice-President, to take office later as
State President. As I and many others know, the
task of serving the country was laid upon your
shoulders from your youth ; and while you were still
young it was the Lord's will to place you in a posi-
tion where you could be of political service to this

333

APPENDIX

country. You have served the country for no short
time, and you have naturally encountered many dif-
ficulties and obstacles in your path, because, as we
know, man's path, as God leads him upon earth, is
not one of roses. Many days of adversity came and
many dark and difficult days, as all must admit; but
we, as a Christian people, must ever believe that it
was God's will and guidance.

Your Honor, I feel, and the Raad and all those
who labor in the field of politics feel, that it is no
easy task that to-day has once more been laid upon
your shoulders, that of acting as the head of this
young state, which has always to fight so great a
struggle. I seem, however, to see clearly that our
consolation lies in this, that the people of the South
African Republic remain true to you and cling to
you. It must of course be a great comfort to you
to think of the last elections, which show how the
people remain attached to your person and that they
still place their entire confidence in you, because they
are naturally convinced of the excellence of your
government during the fifteen years that you have
served the country as State President. A great
proof of this is the great interest which the public
shows in seeing you, who are now full of years, once
more invested, by the taking of your oath of office,
as State President.

I sincerely congratulate you, Mr. State President,
in the name of the First and Second Volksraad, and
I would add that, as Christians, we must always fix
our hopes on the Lord, for, if the Lord were to leave
us to ourselves, to rule the country according to our

334

APPENDIX

own wisdom and understanding, we should have to
succumb and to yield up everything, for our own
understanding does not give us the penetration re-
quired to govern the country. But there is one thing
that I know and that I may say, which is that you
know your God and that you daily consult your
Creator, and we, as Christians, are always with you
on this point, to ask the Lord for understanding,
wisdom and strength. We know what it means when
a man is unable to see through a single moment and
often his eye becomes so dimmed that it seems as
though dark clouds were hanging before it ; but God
has always shown us the light again and thus also
shown Himself to be our Counselor, who leads us
according to His counsel. This faith in God and that
proved attachment of the people to your person will,
I think, be your comfort on this day. May God,
while lending you His aid, also vouchsafe you His
grace and His blessing. The people continue to be
faithful to you and to stand by you. Therefore,
in the name of the First and Second Volksraad, I wish
Your Honor God's best blessing, and I hope and
trust that God may spare you in our midst and grant
you the strength that you may require, and that my
prayer may be heard so that, by God's strength, you
may be enabled to fulfil your arduous task.

And we and the people also trust that God will
guide you and that you will, as you always have
done, protect the rights of the people, such as the
independence of the country, that have been placed
in your hands.

I wish Your Honor, in the name of this body,

335

APPENDIX

understanding, wisdom and strength. May God
strengthen you and aid you in your old days
to fulfil your difficult task and may we always
work together in harmony. I venture, in the name
of the Volksraad, to promise you that the Raad will
meet and assist you, in every possible way, to sup-
port you with all its strength, as this body always
does, because we know that we have placed the gov-
ernment of our country in trustworthy hands.
Therefore I promise you the best support of the
Volksraad, and I hope that the good God will grant
that the work of the Volksraad and the Government
may be bound together by fraternal ties, for, so long
as the Executive Raad and the Volksraad act with
wisdom and work together, hand in hand, like
brothers, I do not doubt that the promise will be
fulfilled to us : " Where true love reigns, God gives
His blessing."
I have spoken.

The President of the Volksraad, then turning to
the assembled multitude, spoke as follows:

Inhabitants of the Country, People of the
South African Republic,

I present to you His Honor Stephen John Paul
Kruger, State President of the South African Re-
public, who has once more taken the oath in that
capacity before the First Volksraad (three cheers).
Burghers, I think this is a solemn day for you
and me.

Here stands our State President. For fifteen

336

APPENDIX

years he has served the country in that capacity ; and
this year we have once more seen that the people of
the South African Republic place their confidence in
His Honor, as appears from the last elections (pro-
longed cheers).

Burghers, His Honor has obeyed your summons;
the public has called upon him and, in his old age,
he has listened to your voice, because His Honor
heard in it the voice of God. His Honor has taken
the oath; but what is now our duty as burghers of
the country? We must support His Honor with
strength, obedience, love and harmony (cheers).

When the people remain unanimous and when the
people preserve the ties of affection that bind the
Afrikander Nation, that gives His Honor strength
to perform his duties of office with a more and more
willing and cheerful mind ; but you know that, where
discord reigns, this always makes it difficult and
arduous for the head of a state. Therefore I hope
and trust that every burgher will take this to heart
and aid His Honor not only with worldly assist-
ance but also with his prayers to God.

Let every burgher bow down to God and beseech
the Lord to give strength and force to our State
President, so that His Honor may be fortified
by God's hand. For we know that we owe the
existence of the South African Republic to
the strength of our omniscient Creator, who has
guided us.

I hope, therefore, that you will be obedient and
loyal to His Honor.

I have spoken (prolonged cheers) .

22 337

APPENDIX

His Honor the State President now spoke as
follows :

Mr. President of the First, Mr. President of
the Second, and Honorable Members of both
the First and Second Volksraad,

But first let me ask that the secretary take down
my words, that my speech may not later, for one
reason or another, be misunderstood.

Honorable sirs,

I stand here before you, in obedience to the voice
of the people, in which I believe I recognize God's
voice, in order once more, as State President, to take
upon myself the government of the country.

Honorable sirs, when I look back upon my past
career, knowing, as I do, by experience all the bur-
dens and great difficulties attached to this arduous
post, I cannot but frankly confess that I consider
myself incapable and blind : I repeat, incapable and
blind. When I look back and see how the Lord has
guided the people and that God has set the people
free, then I know, now that I am to govern the
people, what would follow if I were to falter, for I
have not only to give an account to you honorable
gentlemen, but also to God, and my life is short;
I shall have to appear before Him, and when I think
of that, my heart fails me, and I can only pray.1

His promise is that to them who expect aid
and strength from the Lord He will teach the plain
path, and him that feareth the Lord He will guide.

1 President Kruger here quoted a stanza from the Dutch
hymnal. — Translator's Note.

338

APPENDIX

He who acknowledges this in his heart looks to the
Lord, our faithful God of the Covenant, for light,
wisdom and divine strength. He will give us every-
thing out of His infinite wealth of mercy. Yes, I
trust in that faithful God of the Covenant, because
He has so clearly led us along various paths. And
so I accept this post in the fear of God and in all
uprightness; yes, it is my innermost desire and the
wish of my heart to live for Him and to govern the
people according to His will.

My earnest endeavor will be none other than to
keep in view the welfare of the people and the
progress, prosperity and independence of the coun-
try. Honorable sirs, I shall scrupulously watch the
circumstances of the country, in which we have some-
times observed such swift and rapid progress; and
in particular, I shall constantly see to it that in this
inevitable progress, the independence of the country
is not in the smallest degree endangered and also
that not the smallest right is abandoned whose loss
might undermine the independence of the country;
for I should bring down a judgment on myself if
our independence were violated through me. For
God has so clearly led us that the blindest heathen
and the greatest unbeliever must acknowledge that
it was God's hand that gave us our independence.

Honorable sirs, I rely upon you as the embodi-
ment of the legislative power to support me in
these my views and, in your wisdom, to suggest
measures whereby the country may be maintained
in its independence and prosperity in every quarter.
And in particular, I rely upon you to take into

339

APPENDIX

earnest consideration the needs of all the inhabitants
of the country, without distinction of persons or
nationality.

I have learned, with the deepest regret, that very
great depression prevails in the gold-fields, mostly
among the poorer and less well-to-do. I assure you
of my sympathy with their fate, and I trust that
this great depression may soon pass away. The
Government are doing all that they can to assist the
gold-fields, as is shown, first, by the decrease in the
railway tariff by £200,000 ; secondly, by the decrease
of the import duties on food and other articles that
are required for the immediate use of the mines, by
about £700,000; thirdly, by the order that has been
issued to import natives of Mozambique as workmen,
in order to assist the mines; fourthly, by the reduc-
tion in the price of dynamite. You all know that,
in 1893, when the contract was concluded for the
erection of the dynamite factory, dynamite was im-
ported at about £6 per case. The company reduced
this price to £5, which was gradually reduced to
£4 5s. per case and has now again been brought
down to £3 15s., and I hope and trust to be able
to reduce the price still further. I am still engaged
upon this. As I have already said at public meet-
ings, the dynamite factory was not erected to oppress
the mining industry but to support and help it, and
principally the weak mines, and I hope that these
will keep going until I have succeeded, for both the
mining industry and the dynamite factory belong
to the State and must support one another; and you
may be convinced that I shall not swerve from this

340

APPENDIX

determination, but shall succeed in making the dyna-
mite cheap for the mines.

I learn with deep regret that there are banks and
other institutions in the gold-fields which are totally-
ruining the poor and less well-to-do. When, some
years ago, the mines were flourishing, these people
borrowed money and, I am told, on good security
in order to extend their business; and now that a
time of depression has come, the mortgages are being
called in and they have to pay back the money,
although the security is quite as good as before, and
in so doing their property is sold beneath its value.
If this be true, then those banks cannot be regarded
otherwise than as godless and un-Christian ; for they
bring hunger and oppression upon the poor and
force everything into the hands of the rich. Honor-
able sirs, we already have the diamond-fields as a
warning; and, if what I am informed of is true,
the Volksraad will have to take measures to protect
the poor and less well-to-do and the Government will
be obliged to withdraw the licenses of those banks
or to refuse to renew them ; for in this way they serve
rather for the oppression and undermining of the
poor than for their support. God sees all, and the
Lord says: "Deliver the poor from the snare of
the fowler." Such things may not exist among us.

Then it has also come to my ears that contracts
are being made in Europe with poor workmen who
do not know but that the price of food is the same
here as there, so that, when they arrive, they are
caught in a trap, since they are not able to live on
the wages named in the contract. I hope that you

341

APPENDIX

will take measures that no contract made abroad will
be binding here before it has been approved and con-
firmed by an official appointed for the purpose, with
the consent of both parties, the hirer and the hired.
Such fraud and deception must not exist among us,
though I hope that things are not as stated.

Then, again, I am informed, honorable sirs, that
companies are being floated here on properties which
have not even been properly examined to see if they
contain gold. Shares are sold and allotted in Europe
to persons who do not know but that the ground is
good and who do not discover until they come here
that the property is valueless, and then the blame is
cast upon the Government. The shareholders in
Europe are as much entitled to the protection of the
Government as the people here. I hope, therefore,
that such rules will be made that no company can sell
or allot its shares before the State Mineralogist or
the State Engineer has examined the ground and
issued his report; so that the European public may
no longer be deceived and then think that it is the
fault of the Government. That must be prevented.

In conclusion, let me say that there are two mat-
ters which we must keep in view, and the second of
these I mention because of God's Word. The first
is that you must not grant any privileges which
would injure our independence; and the second, that
you must not close your ears to the lamentations of
the poor, whether they are friends or foreigners, but
must try to snatch them from the snare of the fowler.
Then God will be in our midst and bless us. Yes,
gentlemen, if we stand firm, and if you support me

342

APPENDIX

in these matters, it will be found true that " concord
gives strength," and God will be in our midst.

Gentlemen of the Executive Raad,

A word to you too. In the first place, I thank
you sincerely for the support which you have given
me hitherto, — for the support which you have given
me, when necessary, in the discussion of affairs and
for the support which you have given me in their
execution. In the second place, I thank you, right
honorable members, for all that you have done for
the country and for your loyalty and your love of
independence, which is such that you are ready to
sacrifice your lives and properties for the independ-
ence of your country. I thank you again, and I shall
rejoice if you will continue in this course, supporting
me when necessary, and if }tou will continue loyal
to your country, so that we may stand up as one man
for the independence that God has given us and be
ready, all of us, to sacrifice our property with the
burghers who have shown that they too are willing
to sacrifice everything for that object. Let us re-
main loyal and true, and do you pray for me, as I
do for you, so that together we may work as the
executive power.

Right Honorable Sirs, Members of the Ex-
ecutive Raad and Legislative Assembly of
our Sister State,

In the first place, I thank you for the interest
which you have displayed by attending these pro-
ceedings. We are very closely allied, and you agree

343

APPENDIX

with me that there is nothing better than peace and
amity, especially between two sister states ; and when
such co-operation exists, though the whole world
rages God wall bless us, for where love and concord
reign He gives His blessing; we obtain His grace
and He dwells amongst us for ever and ever.

Then, turning to the Corps diplomatique, His
Honor spoke as follows:

Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the
Foreign Powers,

A word to you too. You are well aware, from my
past career, that nothing is dearer to me than to live
in peace and amity with foreign powers, each keep-
ing the others' interests in view and all assisting one
another as far as possible. It is my wish that this
Government may so rule our State that the foreign
powers will never have occasion to urge just griev-
ances against us. I hope to continue in this way and
it will always be my earnest endeavor to do so.
Therefore I trust that I may receive your kind sup-
port, for then the bonds of friendship will be drawn
ever more closely between us; and where this co-
operation, love and friendship prevail, God grants
His blessing, for there He dwells in the midst of
us. I wish you every blessing, each for his own
country. May peace and friendship reign! I shall
not fail, whenever you bring before me the interests
of the State of which you are the diplomatic repre-
sentative or the consul, to support you, so that no
grievances may arise against us.

344

APPENDIX

Now turning to the public, His Honor spoke as
follows :

All of you who stand before me, give me your
attention that you may understand what I wish to
say to you. In the first place, I wish to speak to
the burghers of the country; in the second, to the
new burghers who have been naturalized; in the
third, to the foreigners who do not wish to change
their nationality, but who wish to live among us as
foreigners.

NOW THEN, YOU BURGHERS OF THE COUNTRY!

I have listened to your voices by accepting the
appointment that has fallen to me by your election
and again taking up the government of the country
as State President. In the first place, I thank you
for the confidence which you have placed in me.
When I stand before you like this and look at your
faces, I see many who have struggled, prayed and
fought with me for the land of our abode and of
our independence. Oh, then an array of thoughts
comes up within me, all of which lead to one point,
namely, that we must observe God's ways. To go
over all these with you I have not now the time ; but
I trust that you will recall everything in your own
thoughts and consider those ways, those proofs of
the faith that God has shown us, — that He has res-
cued us from oppression and given us other bless-
ings ; and the ways in which God has punished us and
we have been oppressed by our adversaries. Then
we were weak, but unanimous, striving to obtain

345

APPENDIX

assistance from God. Then we performed mighty
deeds. Let me go back with you in thought to
Paarde Kraal, where we were weak and helpless.
But the people, the Volksraad and the Executive
Raad were unanimous, one in mind and one in heart,
to call on God for help, and then God led us through
wonders and miracles. Burghers, let it be a lesson
to us what concord did, in which God always blessed
us ; let us therefore strive to stamp out discord, where
it exists among us, and let us strive in unison to sup-
press the evil spirit that leads us to opposition. I
say that evil spirit; and mind, I exclude no one, not
even myself, when I speak of the evil spirit that
tempts us to break God's words and His command-
ments. God's ninth commandment says: " Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor;"
and it has truly become a habit among us for one
brother to bear false witness against the other. Let
none point with his finger at the other, but be up-
right: let each place his hand in his own breast, and
he will find that it comes out leprous.

Let us stand in sincerity this day before God's
countenance. We see that God's arm is stretched
out: He is chastising us; and we shall find that
everywhere we are breaking God's commandments.
Let me quote an instance to you. Suppose that a
father is rich and has many goods, and that his child
has nothing and has to live on him; and his father
gives him his goods and says: " Child, take these
goods and use them, and I shall tell you when I want
any of them, but do not abuse them." Then will not
the father be angry when, after the son has gone

346

APPENDIX

away, he sends for some of his own goods, and the
son will not give them up or gives only the worst?
We often ask, Why does the Lord chastise us so?
But is this not in order that we may return to Him?
Yes, we really act towards God like one who makes
a marriage contract. Our worldly goods hold us
back and make us serve the world with them, while
we want God to care for our souls. Let each of us,
brothers, search his heart, so that we may become
convinced of God's pleasure. Behold, God gives us
worldly goods; but for what purpose? That we
may live for the honor of God. Naked we came
out and naked we shall return; we shall take
nothing with us. God, therefore, gives us those
goods, meat and clothes, that we may live; but also
for churches, schools, the poor, etc., etc. What do
we do, brothers and fellow-countrymen, what do we
do? We give of our worst and commonest goods
when there is need ; but see what happens when there
is a circus, a play, a lottery or a race-meeting: then
each encourages the other and even lends the other
money to pursue worldly pleasures; but, when God
calls to us to put something into the poor-box to help
to support the poor, there are many who go to church
but put nothing in the box or select the least they
have. For what do they use their goods, — God's
goods? Is it not true, what God says, that we rob
Him, that we take His goods from Him and give
them to the world and will not serve Him with them?
See, brothers and fellow-countrymen; let every one
who has an immortal soul look to it. See God's hand.
Pestilence holds sway among men and beasts. The

347

APPENDIX

locusts are eating the grass of the veldt and heavy
droughts have prevailed and it grows worse from
year to year and will grow worse from year to year
until we turn back. God will not desert His people.
Read Psalm 89.1 The Lord will not retract that, but
He chastises us to bring us nearer to Him. You
will ask, " How can David say that he kissed the
rod and with his heart? " Yes, if you love your
father, and possess nothing, and have to live on him,
when you have committed a sin and he says, " Leave
my sight," you will go on your knees and say, " No,
strike me but do not send me away." That is why
David was able to say that when he lived in luxury
he strayed from God; but that when He chastised
him he returned to Him. He felt this in his heart.

Let us feel this too, that the Lord rather chastises
us than rejects us. Listen to His voice and, when
you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, but
let yourselves be guided; for why should you wish
to die? Will you continue as you are doing? See
how merciful the great God is. He says, " Return
to me, you rebellious children, and I will heal your
trespasses. Yes, try me," says God, " if you will
not believe, and see if Heaven's windows do not
open and shower down blessings upon you. I shall
upbraid the devourer so that your barns may be filled
and your fields filled with herds ; but turn to Me, you
rebellious children, and I will heal your trespasses."

Brothers and fellow-countrymen, do not think
that I exclude myself. I have also much to do my-

1 President Kruger here quoted two stanzas from the Dutch
metrical psalm-book. — Translator's Note.

348

APPENDIX

self and I too am guilty in this matter; but let us
confess our sins together before it is too late, and God
will help us.

You New Burghers,

This last reminder was also for you and for all
that have an immortal soul ; but still, a brief word to
you separately. I call you new burghers, who have
been naturalized and have given up your nationality.
You have surely understood that God says: " No
one can serve two masters, or else he will hold to the
one and despise the other," and therefore you have
given up the country of your birth, in all honor and
decency, and accepted this country as a new mother-
land. Endeavor now to agree with the old burghers
and to live with them in harmony, for then you also
will be contributing to the progress of the country.
Obey the laws of the land and, if you do so, you
will have contributed greatly not only to the growth
and prosperity of the country but also to your own
interests; and, where harmony and concord reign,
there God bestows His blessing.

You Foreigners,

A word also to you who do not wish to give up
your country and to be naturalized, but prefer to
live among us as foreigners. If you are obedient to
the laws of the land, you are welcome among us.
Seek your profit and endeavor to make your for-
tunes: we shall help you and wish you well. Live
with us, obey the laws and, in so far as possible, I
assure you of my support, to the utmost of my power,

349

APPENDIX

even if you do not wish to become burghers of the
country; and then you will be promoting not only
your interests, but ours as well. If you foreigners
make your fortunes and work with us, you shall enjoy
the same protection of the laws as any others; and,
when you go, I shall be sorry to see such good friends
departing; and, should you return again to make
your fortune, you will be received with open arms;
we shall rejoice that you come back to us, knowing
that you are true friends to us, even if you would
not give up your country. Be assured that all
sensible men will aid and receive you, so that you too
may live in joy and gladness in our midst (cheers).

His Honor then turned to the judges and spoke
as follows:

Right Honorable the Chief Justice, Judges of
the Supreme Court and State Attorney,

You are responsible for a weighty task, for, by
virtue of your office, you represent the solidity of the
State. It depends on you to confirm confidence in
the country, but it also depends on you that con-
fidence in the country should not be shocked. Let
me first, however, stop to consider what concerns the
confirming of confidence in the country; and do all
of you, who stand here, note my words. Our an-
cestors were led hither, clearly seeing that it was
God's hand. All men, in their natural state, when
there is no law, lead a licentious and reckless life.
When, in 1836, the people trekked across the Orange
River, we came together, but it was not permitted

350

APPENDIX

that we should live recklessly. We took God's Word
as our guide on our trek and chose rulers to prevent
crime and to decide all differences. It is evident
that this did not proceed from our nature, but from
God's hand; and so we came to the Vaal River. I
will not now speak of the other trek, for that would
take too long. The people then elected a Volksraad
as the highest authority in the land, as the legislative
power. That body was instructed to make fixed
laws, since we had only the decisions and rules of
the court martial. And so the honorable Volksraad
chose a commission to draw up a constitution, con-
sisting of the late Mr. Lombard, the Landdrost of
Potchefstroom, the late Mr. Boomen, the grand-
father of our Predikant Boomen, and myself. To
our number was added Mr. Stuart, as secretary, to
assist us, and we laid down the constitution: our
names stand at the foot of it.

And what is the principle that it contains? In
framing Article 8 of the Grondwet, we had in mind
how God had led the people and how God's Word
was a guide by which we must act. Article 8 says:
" The people demands the greatest possible social
liberty and expects this, because it has kept its re-
ligious faith and its engagements, and because it
has submitted to law, order and justice and main-
tained the same." Now observe whither this article
points. It points to God's Word. The people de-
mands the greatest possible social liberty: not a
licentious or reckless liberty, but one based upon
God's "Word. That is the principle which this article
contains. The people demands liberty; but it is not

351

APPENDIX

only a free, but also a civilized people, which does
not demand a reckless or licentious liberty, but one
based upon God's Word. And to what does that
point? What I am about to say is important, and
I cannot do better than refer to what God tells us.
Moses led Israel out of Egypt and was the law-
giver and fixed the law by God's command, and
what does the law say? That you shall not do what
seems right in your eyes, but what God orders: that
you shall do and that you shall perform; you shall
do no more nor less than that. Moses selected the
wisest and oldest men out of the people and ap-
pointed them to be officers and judges under him
and laid down rules which could not be departed
from, but left it to the judges to expound and ad-
minister the laws according to their judgment and
conscience; but not to depart from the laws. That
is God's commandment. The New Testament shows
us the Lord and Master; but I will first say that
Moses' subordinate officers were not the law-givers,
and therefore had not to question whether the law
was right, for that the Law-giver had to answer
for. Only the Sovereign Power above Moses could
alter what the Law-giver had laid down, even as God
did at the rock which Moses struck with his staff;
but the judges must deliver justice according to the
law as they receive it, and then act as faithful
servants, by administering the laws to the best of
their knowledge and conscience.

So it is also with you, right honorable judges. The
people by an article in the constitution has appointed
a Volksraad as the highest authority in the land, the

352

APPENDIX

legislative body, which passes laws and resolutions,
and you must administer them to the best of your
knowledge and power. No one can hinder you in
that, and when you administer the laws and resolu-
tions as you receive them from the legislative body,
then you confirm confidence in the country, for then
all those who have received their property by decrees
know that they are safe and that all laws and resolu-
tions bearing thereupon will be maintained. For-
eigners who come here and who know the laws and
resolutions passed by the Volksraad and who are will-
ing to submit to them are able to secure their rights in
this way, by trusting in the court, that it will not
depart therefrom, but that the laws and resolutions
laid down by the highest authority in the land, un-
der which they have obtained their rights, will not
be altered by the court, neither on the left hand nor
on the right hand; and then you, from the highest
to the lowest judge, confirm confidence in the coun-
try. Each must act according to orders, laws and
rules laid down by the legislative body that stands
above him. Even if, now and again, owing to man's
weakness, an article is wrongly applied and a judg-
ment of a lower court appealed against and quashed
by the High Court, no one can be reproached with
this or punished for it, since he has acted to the best
of his knowledge and conscience under his oath.
There is no longer an appeal from the High Court ;
and if you, honorable judges, in your own judgment,
set aside a decree of the Volksraad, you adopt this
right of criticism from the Devil; but if, perhaps,
from human weakness, you pronounce a judgment

23 353

APPENDIX

which is not purely in accordance with the law, but
is pronounced to the best of your knowledge and
conscience, then you are not indictable either before
God or man. From you there is no longer any ap-
peal, and therefore you are called " gods ; " but God
stands in the midst of the council of the gods and
pronounces judgment upon good and evil. If you
act to the best of your knowledge and conscience and
remain within the law, then one day it shall be said
unto you also: " Thou good and faithful servant,
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many things." Then not only shall
confidence in the country be confirmed, but also in
you, who stand by the law, and men will have con-
fidence also in the highest authority in the land and
it shall not be scoffed at. Then also the sovereign
voice of the people will be confirmed, which alone
has the right to condemn laws.

Let us return to the point of how you can shock
confidence, and look back to Moses. Moses gave the
law, yet could not depart from it, but had to pro-
nounce judgment as the law prescribed. Only the
supreme authority, the sovereign God alone could
condemn the law; and not the subordinate. The
Devil instituted the principle of criticism in Para-
dise and criticized God's Word, which said : " Ye
shall not eat of that tree, lest ye die." But then comes
the Devil and criticizes that Word, saying: "Ye
shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil." And that interpretation is over the whole
earth. Thus we see, under Moses, that Korah,

S54>

APPENDIX

Dathan and Abiram assumed to themselves the right
of criticism, on the principle of the Devil, and un-
settled the land. Rebellion and discord arose against
Moses until God destroyed Korah, Dathan and
Abiram. God punished them heavily, because they
had acted against truth, — against God's Word.
The right of criticism is a principle of the Devil.
Listen attentively to what I say and do not under-
rate my words. We shall one day have to appear
before God, and I do not know if I shall again have
the opportunity of speaking to you. It may be the
last time. Let the teachers, too, hear what I say.
You judges shock the whole country if you take
upon yourselves the right of criticism ; for those who
have obtained rights under whatever law or decree
of the Volksraad will then be shocked, for they can-
not tell how things will go when the court has to
decide, and it is able to disregard a law. Then con-
fidence is destroyed in the country, and not only in
the country, but also in the court, and the Volks-
raad will be despised and scoffed at. If you come
to this, then you will be like the steward in the New
Testament, who did not obey the orders of his Lord
and Master, but acted according to his own pleasure ;
and as the Devil says: " Ye shall be as gods and ye
shall not die." But he who arrogates this to him-
self is dismissed from his post. That Christ teaches
us. Then confidence in the country is shocked; and,
if we reflect upon this, we see that God's Word
teaches us that God can dwell in the midst of us only
if every one remains true in his post.

Right honorable sirs, you know that our late Chief

355

APPENDIX

Justice, with some of his colleagues, adopted the
right of criticism and became as wanton as a fish in
the water that is free to swim about as it pleases.
However, he jumped out of the water, that is to
say, out of the law, on to dry land. The Volksraad
then passed a resolution, with reference to the laws
of the land, to the effect that, if a judge refuses
to submit to them, I must dismiss him. I did my
best, but the late Chief Justice was as slippery as
a fish that has just jumped out of the water, so that
I could not master him. Then his colleague, the
Chief Justice of Cape Colony, who knew the ability
of our late Chief Justice, came, of his own accord,
to my assistance, and we got him back into the water,
that is to say, the law. Then I was glad, because I
knew the ability of the late Chief Justice and did
not wish to lose him. After that, the late Chief
Justice again became so wanton that he jumped so
far out of the water that I saw no chance of getting
him back and had to let him go, the more so as he
then roundly declared that he did not wish to go
back to it, because he refused to acknowledge the
law as I understood it. But what does the late Chief
Justice say now ? That it is my fault. He says that
I did not keep my promise; and what I am now
saying I want taken down on paper, that all the
world may read it. He can call it a promise,
but I do not call it a promise; but I kept my word,
when I told him to revise the constitution and that
I would lay it as soon as possible before the Volks-
raad. That was about March, in any case long be-
fore the time when the Volksraad was to sit. But

356

APPENDIX

now I see that, in a speech delivered in Cape Colony,
he has said, if the papers report him correctly, that
" as soon as possible " means " to-day." The man
seems to have lost his senses. How can I bring a
matter before the Volksraad in March when it does
not sit till May? As soon as the Volksraad sat, I
brought the matter before the Raad and that body,
without delay, appointed a committee which asked
the late Chief Justice to help to revise the constitu-
tion, which, however, he refused to do, notwithstand-
ing his promise in writing. I do not take it amiss
of him, however, for in my eyes he seems to have
lost his senses. What does he do next? He says,
in a manifesto, that if the people will not help him,
he will apply to England, — that is, if I understand
properly what he has written. He knows that he
has taken the oath, not only as regards his office,
but that his oath is binding upon him as a burgher
of the country; and he knows that a burgher is not
allowed to appeal to another power: if he does, he is
guilty. Moreover, he himself has repeatedly de-
clared that the suzerainty no longer exists in our
internal government, and yet he flies to that. But
I do not take this amiss of him now, for in my eyes
he seems to have lost his senses. That is not all. He
also drew a comparison saying: " Suppose the
Volksraad passed a resolution depriving the people
of its rights; who would then protect the people? "
The late Chief Justice, however, forgets to say that
what he suggests the Volksraad might do, he himself
has already done. For, at the time of the claim-
lottery on the Rand, he actually took away hundreds

357

APPENDIX

of property-rights from the public and awarded
them to one or two ; and there is no help for it, because
the Supreme Court has the final decision. But, if the
Volksraad were to take such a step, the people would
come with petitions to have that step annulled.
What does the late Chief Justice say further? He
says that his dismissal is a violation of the convention,
because he was appointed by the Interregnum; but
he knows that this is not true. He was a judge in
President Burgers's time, and, when the Interregnum
came, Mr. De Wet was appointed Chief Justice. At
least, so I am told, and I believe that it is true. When
we took over the country again, the late Chief Jus-
tice went away. We sent for him to Kimberley to
take office as Chief Justice, but he was not appointed
as such by the Interregnum. He must have for-
gotten this, or I must have read wrong. What does
he do next? He himself really violates the conven-
tion by the principle which he accepts ; for he refuses
to acknowledge any resolutions of the Volksraad that
are contrary to the convention. By the convention
we obtained land, but also hundreds of places were
cut off by the convention for which deeds of sale had
already been issued and some had even been occu-
pied, and the convention itself lays down that the
Volksraad must decide in the matter of the annul-
ment of conveyances: so that that was against the
constitution. Now, if the principle of the late Chief
Justice had been maintained, then the convention
would have been broken, and that we may not do, for
then we should come into collision with England.
That is where the maintenance of that principle

'358

APPENDIX

would have brought us. Then those places would
have had to fall back into our possession and the con-
veyances be restored, for the decrees of the Volks-
raad concerning them were in conflict with the
constitution, which does not recognize them. If,
therefore, that principle was correct, there would be
nothing for it but for us to take up the sword to go
and fight against England.

Gentlemen, I appreciate the late Chief Justice's
abilities so highly that, if I thought it would do any
good, I would have him confined in a lunatic asylum,
for I liked him greatly, and would wait until he was
cured to employ him again. His abilities were great,
but he went astray when he accepted the Devil's prin-
ciple, the right of criticism. Let me speak my mind
to you, for the late Chief Justice has said that I dis-
missed him illegally. Now the whole world can hear
how the matter really happened.

You other Officers and Officials, from the

HIGHEST TO THE LOWEST,

On you also depends much that concerns the
growth and prosperity of the country, on you who
stand under orders and instructions, both verbal and
written. If you scrupulously and zealously observe
your duty and each of you fulfils it in his place, you
promote the welfare of the country and contribute
much to its progress and prosperity, and not only act
in the interest of the country, but in your own in-
terest so long as you keep to your instructions, verbal
and written, each in his place. Do not undermine
one another!

359

APPENDIX

And you of the Akmy !

To you, right honorable Commandant General
and other officers, a brief word also : from you to the
State President and down to the officer lowest in rank,
who all form part of the defences of our country
against the enemy. If the State President receives
news of a hostile invasion and does not inform you of
it, that will be on the State President's head and the
blood that is shed will be laid to his account and he
will be punished for it; and if you, Commandant
General, receive the news and do not keep watch or
do not post watches, that will be on your head and the
blood that is shed will be laid to your account and you
will be punished. But if you have given your orders
to your subordinates and they do not keep watch then
the bloodshed will be on their heads and they will
have to bear the responsibility and the punishment:
so God's Word teaches us. Let each watch in his
own department. From the Volksraad down to the
lowest official, all form a machine of state with
many wheels, and when each wheel works in its
place with the others, concord reigns, and concord
gives strength, on which God bestows His blessing.
But when a wheel does not fit into the machine it
must be taken out and placed on one side or shifted,
as otherwise the whole machine might go to pieces.
If that wheel does not fit in anywhere else, it must
be placed on one side. If, however, it does fit in some
other place, then, if the smallest wheel works in har-
mony with the largest, the machine of state may be
expected to go well and everything will spread light,
and on such a co-operation God's blessing rests.

360

APPENDIX

His Honor then turned to the clergy:

Reverend Sirs, Servants of God's Word,

When I turn my eyes upon you, a favorite text
rises to my mind : " How beautiful are the feet of
them that publish peace." I say " publish peace; "
I know that that is your task upon earth. The right
of criticism was instituted by the Devil, for he said
to Adam and Eve: " Eat of the fruit of this tree
and ye shall not die and ye shall be like gods ; " and
in this way the Devil has led away thousands upon
earth to build on their own merits and thus to oppose
God's Word and to unsettle all things, so that there
is no foundation ; and if an eye is not kept upon this
preaching, you know what the Christians upon earth,
who stand by God's Word, have to fight against.
I do not speak of minor points, but of the main
point; and he who holds fast to that has to fight
against the spirit of the air. The Devil laid
hold of Cain's soul, and the latter did not accept
the punishment: he placed himself on God's level,
made his sacrifice, and expected God to be con-
tent with what was beautiful in Cain's eyes, and
Cain sang hymns of praise to the Lord which came
from nature, but which he thought were pleasing to
God. But God rejected them, because God found
no religion in Cain. He was outside God's words.
But how beautiful are the feet of them that publish
peace, like Abel. He acknowledged the judgment
that fell in Paradise, that man was condemned —
which the Devil brought about together with the
right of criticism — and took a first-born lamb — and

361

APPENDIX

this refers to Christ — yes, and prayed in the spirit
that the punishment which he had deserved might
fall upon the Lamb, as otherwise he would suffer
eternal death. God accepted the sacrifice and heard
his prayer, and there we have the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost. The severity of the law is not re-
spected by men because of the Devil's right of criti-
cism; and it is even so with Christ's work of redemp-
tion, through the Holy Ghost. Then preach these
words: "How beautiful are the feet of them that
publish peace." Stand firm in the struggle. The
Devil goes further and respects nothing ; for we read :
" I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between her seed and thy seed ; it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." So at last he
comes to the Son of God in the wilderness — and with
the same intention he comes to the whole earth — and
says to Jesus: " If Thou be the Son of God, com-
mand that these stones be made bread." But Christ
says : " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God." Then he sets Christ on the pinnacle of the
Temple, and the Devil says to Him: " If Thou be
the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence: for
it is written, He shall give His angels charge over
Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest
at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone."
But Christ answering says: " It is said, Thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God." Then the Devil takes
Jesus up into an high mountain and shows Him all
the kingdoms of the world, saying: " If Thou wilt
worship me, all this shall be Thine." But Christ

362

APPENDIX

says, " It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and Him only shalt thou serve."

See there your preaching of the Gospel, you ser-
vants of Christ, founded on God's Word, and if you
preach thus, you will be a help to the State, for it
rests upon God's Word, as shown in Article 8 of the
constitution. The people says that it has liberty, and
that is so, but based upon God's Word; and thus
was this land designed by our forefathers, on the
basis of God's Word, for the maintenance of law and
order. That is a thing that does not proceed from
men; for I myself did not understand one of the
depths of that article, how God at that time led us.
Reverend sirs, predikants, stand firm in the faith;
for how beautiful are the feet of them that publish
peace in Jesus Christ; for the Devil's doctrine of
criticism says that man has become as a god and can
secure his own happiness by his own lights and his
own reason and his own merit, and therefore that he
shall not die. No, stand firm, and preach in accor-
dance with God's Word, for then you are truly the
clergy of our people; and lead it in that road and
always keep the fear of the Lord before its eyes,
so that the people may walk in the right paths, botli
socially and religiously, and if your work is earnest
and true and sincere, then will you really be a sup-
port to the state. Then there will be general har-
mony. "Fear God and honor the King." We
shall respect you in your divine profession, in your
precious labors, in your heavenly work, for how
beautiful are the feet of them that publish peace.
We cannot, however, protect you further than our

363

APPENDIX

power allows. We shall respect you and protect you,
yes, even help and assist you to help to build up the
church, but also not further than God's Word com-
mands; and know that, when the earthly judge goes
so far that he begins to meddle with the internal gov-
ernment of the church, he is inspired with the spirit
of Anti-Christ, for then he usurps the place of Christ,
who is the Head of the church. If the worldly power
does this, it adopts the Devil's right of criticism to
get that into its claws and destroy religion. God has
erected this Christian state and a Christian govern-
ment, which will protect the church outside us, and
you too, reverend sirs ; but if you go outside the body
that said, " Feed my lambs, feed my sheep," you
meddle with the body politic and are possessed of the
spirit of the Pope, and your preaching is no longer
a beautiful preaching of the Gospel. So long as
each remains within his own sphere of activity, there
will be a healthy co-operation, and God's spirit will
rest upon us and the Lord will bless us.

Now, dear Children,

A brief word to you. You are the ones upon
whom the State President keeps his eye, for I see
our future church and state in your hands ; for when
all the old people are gone, you will be the church
and state, but if you depart from the truth and stray,
you will lose your inheritance. Stand firm by God's
Word, in which your parents have brought you up.
Love that Word. I shall endeavor with all my
might to assist churches and schools, to let you re-
ceive a Christian education, so that you may both

36i

APPENDIX

religiously and socially become useful members of
church and state, and I trust that the teachers and
ministers will also do their best. It is a great privi-
lege that your Government has ordered a Christian
education, and you are greatly privileged in being
able to enjoy a Christian education, and not you
alone, for the object is to extend it so that all may
have the opportunity of receiving it and turning it
to account. It is a great privilege that the Govern-
ment and the legislative power have thus laid down
the law as to Christian instruction. It is also a great
privilege for you that the Government and Volks-
raad have accepted our language as the state
language. Keep to that, keep to the language
in which your forefathers, whom God led out of
the wilderness, struggled and prayed to God and
which became ever dearer and dearer to them: the
language in which the Bible comes to you and in
which your forefathers read the Bible, and which
contains the religion of your forefathers. And,
therefore, if you become indifferent to your lan-
guage, you also become indifferent to your fore-
fathers and indifferent to the Bible and indifferent
to your religion; and then you will soon stray away
entirely and will rob posterity of your Dutch Bible
and of your religion, which God confirmed to your
forefathers with wonders and miracles. Stand firm
then, so that we may not trust you in vain, and keep
to your language, your Bible and your religion. It
is a good thing to learn foreign languages, especially
the language of your neighbors with whom you have
most to do ; but let any foreign language be a second

365

APPENDIX

language to you. Pray to God that you may stand
firm on this point and not stray, so that the Lord may
remain among you, and posterity will honor you for
your loyalty.

Schoolmasters and Mistresses,

A brief word to you also. You have, as it were,
become the guardians of the children in the place of
the parents who have given their children to God
before the pulpit to be educated for the Lord, in His
service and to His honor. You have taken them over
to feed them, as Christ said, like lambs, to the honor
of God. You know that the New Testament says
that women brought their children to Jesus. They
were healthy and not sick children. The unbelievers
only take them to the doctor ; but none of them will
send their healthy children to the doctor. Here, how-
ever, you see the women coming with healthy children
to Jesus, and the disciples rebuked them, but Jesus
said: " Suffer little children to come unto Me, and
forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven." The mothers brought their children to re-
ceive the heavenly blessing on the inward vocation
and to be healed inwardly. But if you, schoolmasters
and mistresses, do not know the faith, how then will
you bring the children to Christ through the faith?
I trust, however, that you do know it. Therefore,
never forget to bring the children to the Lord
through the faith, and take care that religion is not
left in the background and only educational subjects
taught, for then you are attacking religion and it
will be forgotten. For, when man proceeds only ac-

366

APPENDIX

cording to his nature and his knowledge, he begins
to believe what the Devil has said, that men shall be
as gods ; and then it can be said of such a man : " The
greater the mind, the greater the beast." Then he
rushes from place to place. Therefore let religion
not be neglected, for that is the foundation of church
and state. Stand firm by the Bible and teach the
children who are entrusted to you for that purpose,
and it shall be said to you too: " Thou good and
faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord and sit at My
right hand."
I have spoken.

Certified as a true extract from the original min-
utes of the Honorable First Volksraad of the 12th
of May 1898.

(Signed) W. J. Fockens,

Secretary to the First Volksraad.

I certify that the above is a true and faithful copy.
H. C. de Bruijn Prince.

367

APPENDIX B

Speech of State President Kruger in the First
volksraad on monday, 1 may 1899

To the Right Hon. Mr. President of the First
Volksraad and to the honorable members of the
First and Second Volksraad

Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to me once more cordially to
welcome you in this your house of assembly and to
give my hearty thanks to God, who rules the Uni-
verse and who has spared and saved you all, so that
you may again, with His help, devote all your ener-
gies to the interests of our dear country and people.

1. In those places where different members of
your honorable assembly retired last year in rotation,
I have ordered new elections for members of the
First and Second Volksraad. The result of those
elections will be laid before you.

2. As the vacancy arising through the election
of Mr. A. D. W. Wolmarans to be a member of the
Executive Raad must be filled as soon as possible, I
have issued a writ for the election of a new member
for the village and district of Pretoria. The result
of that election will be communicated to you.

3. The term of office of Mr. S. W. Burger,
member of the Executive Raad, will expire by rota-

368

APPENDIX

tion on the 6th of this month ; I therefore ask you to
provide for the vacancy before that time, and I take
leave to remind you that the present occupant is re-
eligible.

4. I hope in this session to call your attention as
early as possible to certain proposals which I wish to
make to your honorable assembly with regard to the
franchise, the bewaarplaatsen and the dynamite
question.

5. It is a great pleasure to me to be able again to
state that the Republic continues in friendly relations
with foreign powers. The correspondence between
our Government and the British Government, aris-
ing from the difference of opinion regarding the in-
ternational relations of the Republic towards Great
Britain and Ireland, is not yet finished; I trust,
however, that this matter will soon be brought to a
satisfactory conclusion. It is always my endeavor to
do all in my power to confirm those good relations.

6. The Raad of Delegates has this year held its
annual sitting at Bloemfontein. The report, with
the suggestions of that body, shall be laid before
you. Those suggestions, in which the Government
joins, deserve your earnest attention.

7. In accordance with the resolutions of your hon-
orable assembly touching the suggestions of the
Raad of Delegates for 1898, the Governments of the
Republics appointed commissions to try to make the
constitutions of the two states, in so far as possible,
similar. Those commissions met in the month of
February last at Pretoria. The report of their de-
liberations shall be laid before you. A commission

24 369

APPENDIX

consisting of the Chief Justices of the two Repub-
lics has undertaken the duty of making further sug-
gestions for the assimilation of laws in accordance
with the resolutions passed in your session of 1898.
This important work, however, requires long con-
sideration and mature deliberation, and this commis-
sion has not yet quite finished a work which, when
it has once been given force of law by the represen-
tatives of the people of both states, will certainly
promote the welfare and the prosperity of the sister
republics.

8. Negotiations have been entered into with the
Orange Free State touching the payment of regis-
tration fees for goods which, by treaty, are imported
free of duty into the South African Republic, this
in accordance with the resolution of your honorable
assembly, numbered 1,365, of the 4th of October
1898. These negotiations have led to a provisional
agreement between the Governments of the two
states which shall be laid before you for your
approval.

9. In view of the threatening danger that the ter-
rible sickness known as the bubonic plague might
visit South Africa, at the suggestion of our Govern-
ment a conference was held, at the commencement
of the year, at Pretoria, consisting of representatives
of the Orange Free State, Mozambique, Natal and
Cape Colony, in order to frame measures to prevent
the entrance and spread of the Asiatic pestilence in
South Africa. The report of the labors of the con-
ference, which is sure to be read by you with interest,
will be laid before you during this session for your

370

APPENDIX

approval of the suggestions and proposals therein
contained.

10. An invitation has been received from the Im-
perial German Government to dispatch a represen-
tative of the Republic to attend the International
Veterinary Congress which will be held at Baden-
Baden in the month of August of this year. Taking
into consideration that this Congress may be of great
importance to the Republic, the Government has
thought fit to depute the Governmental Veterinary
Surgeon as its representative, which will, I trust,
meet with your approval. He will, at the same time,
make use of this opportunity to study the bubonic
plague and the various remedies.

11. I am able to inform you that earnest endeavors
are being made and that negotiations have already
been entered into for the appointment of an able
financial minister for the South African Republic.

12. I am very much pleased to be able to inform
you that great progress has been made this year in
trade, especially in the first quarter, as appears from
the increased revenue of the state.

13. I call your attention to the resolution of your
honorable assembly, numbered 325 and passed on the
15th of March 1899, in the matter of the grant of a
bonus to the retired member of the Executive Raad,
Mr. J. M. A. Wolmarans. I must express my sin-
cere regret that the honorable gentleman has been
compelled by the state of his health to hand in
his resignation, since he has always been a most
useful member of the Executive Raad, thanks
to his clear insight into affairs, his energy and his

371

APPENDIX

great love for his country, in which he always showed
himself to have at heart the true interests of land
and people ; and I cannot omit to express to him my
thanks for all that he has done, hoping that your as-
sembly will come to a favorable decision on the re-
quest already made by me, as contained in the Gov-
ernment Message of the 10th of March 1899.

14. The Executive Raad has found it necessary
to dispatch a commando against the rebellious na-
tives of the tribe of Ramapulaan, under their leader
M'Pesu, in the Zoutpansberg district. I cannot find
sufficient praise for the courage, the skill and the
sagacious prudence of our Commandant General
and officers, by which they have brought this war to
a satisfactory conclusion, and for the excellent and
gallant behavior of our burghers, and I congratulate
all of us on the rapid and thorough manner in which
this revolt has been suppressed. We mourn the fact
that this commando has claimed some valuable vic-
tims and our sympathy is with the survivors. The
Government has decided to found a village, to be
called Louis Trichardt, on the spot where the laagers
stood, and I am convinced that the action of the Gov-
ernment meets with your approval.

15. Seeing that the Netherlands South African
Railway Company has resolved to repay the sum of
£2,000,000 which it had borrowed from the Govern-
ment, the necessity for the conclusion of a loan on
the part of the Government disappears for the
present.

16. I must express, in my own name and that of
the Executive Raad, our great satisfaction with the

372

APPENDIX

labors and transactions of our Envoy Extraordinary,
Dr. W. J. Leyds, who reported to us on the occasion
of his visit here.

17. It appears from various sources of informa-
tion that the mining industry has made the greatest
progress during the past year. The value of the
gold extracted was .£16,240,630, being an increase
of £4,886,905 over 1897. The total value of the
gold extracted in our country to the end of 1898
amounts to £70,228,603. The results of 1898 place
the South African Republic considerably above any
other gold-producing country, and represent 28 per
cent, of the estimated produce of the whole world.

18. The Government has resolved to give effect
to the former resolutions passed in connection with
the coolie question, with the result that, from the 1st
of July, 1899, coolies will be allowed to reside only
in those streets, quarters and locations of the differ-
ent towns and villages which have been set apart for
their use.

19. There are many plans for public works, prin-
cipally bridges and buildings, which could not be
carried into execution or even discussed, because the
Executive Raad was overwhelmed with so much other
business and also because financial arrangements
must first be made with this object.

20. In obedience to the order of your honorable
assemblies, the Government has published the Draft
Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Law in the
Staatscourant for the approval of the people. Your
earnest attention is invited to those important laws.

21. In obedience to your order, the Government

373

APPENDIX

will again lay a pensions law before your honorable
assembly for discussion. I hope that this law will
enjoy your earnest consideration.

22. It has been my privilege to visit certain dis-
tricts and villages, and to hold meetings at the fol-
lowing places: Heidelberg, Rustenburg and Johan-
nesburg. I hope, in the course of this session, to call
your attention to the demands and wishes of the bur-
ghers, in so far as these have been brought to my
notice.

23. The Government finds, from the various re-
ports, that about 746,500 head of cattle have perished
from the pest. To my great gratitude, however, I
am able to inform you that this so dreaded disease
may now be regarded as suppressed. In January
last, a few cases still occurred, but only at Lyden-
burg, Krugersdorp and Piet Retief ; and, thanks to
the immediate fulfilment of the regulations contained
in the proclamation and to the goodness of Provi-
dence, the disease was confined within those limits
and spread no further.

24. The Government has given orders for the sur-
vey of places for irrigation purposes, and the report
on the subject shall be laid before you.

25. A list of newly-appointed, resigned, suspended
and discharged functionaries shall be submitted for
your approval.

26. The different reports of the heads of depart-
ments shall be laid before you.

27. Different bills and modifications of the laws
shall be submitted for your approval.

28. The Government has given effect, in so far

374

APPENDIX

as possible, to the instructions of your High Assem-
bly, as will appear from the papers and reports that
will be laid before you.

29. The Government proposes, in the course of
this session, to bring before your notice different
matters of greater or lesser importance for your con-
sideration and decision.

And with this, gentlemen, I once more confidently
place the interests of our dear country and people in
your hands. God grant you the necessary strength
and wisdom to settle the matters which you will take
in hand, under His high blessing, for the welfare
and prosperity of land and people.

(Signed) S. J. P. Kruger,

State President.

I certify that the above is a true and faithful copy.
H. C. de Bruijn Prince.

375

APPENDIX C

Two Speeches of President Kruger at the
Decisive Sitting of the First and Second
volksraad of 2 october 1899

Speech delivered at the Commencement of the
Sitting

Honorable Sirs,

To tell you what is in my mind : you know how the
Lord transplanted this people to this country and
led it here amid miracles; so that we should have to
say, " Lord, I no longer believe in Thee," if things
came to such a pass with us that now, when thousands
of enemies are assailing us, we voluntarily surren-
dered the land which He gave us and not we our-
selves. Let us trust in God and together offer up our
prayers to the Lord. He is waiting for our entreaties
and He will be with us. The decision rests with Him,
and He will decide, not on lies, but on the ground
of truth.

You are familiar with the course of events and
know how the Volksraad and the people have yielded
in everything that was demanded. First, it was a
question of the franchise. Three times we yielded
in this matter and I repeat, so that it may appear

376

APPENDIX

upon the minutes, that it is a lie to say that we were
not willing to treat those who came from abroad as
our equals.

When the Convention of 1881 was concluded,
there were only a few English here ; and what was it
that they wanted? They were quite willing to be
treated on an equal footing with our burghers, but
registered themselves as British subjects; they pre-
ferred to remain foreigners rather than become sub-
jects of this state.

You know, moreover, that, under the Convention
of 1884, at the time of the Blue Mountains com-
mando, they refused to take the field with our bur-
ghers, although by so doing they would have at once
received the franchise. I brought the matter three
times before the Raad and begged it to pass a reso-
lution that they must defend the country; and the
Volksraad confirmed that all who took part in the
war should obtain the franchise. Then Loch came
here and complained that the English were not
treated as the most favored nation. I thereupon
again issued another proclamation, because I thought
that there might really be people to be found
who wished to stand on an equal footing with our
burghers; I did this, although the Convention (of
1884) expressly prescribes that they shall possess not
equal political, but equal commercial rights. Now
think — we are standing before the Lord and let each
of us send his prayer on high to the Lord — where can
they say that, with regard to trade, they were less
favored than our own burghers? Nowhere. They
were, in this respect, even more favorably placed than

377

APPENDIX

our burghers. They could take gold and anything
they liked out of the country and they could even
obtain political rights, but they would not have them.
The High Commissioner demanded that we should
extend the franchise and we had already done more ;
we even tried, afterwards, to treat them, the Uit-
landers, on an equal footing with our burghers, but
they declined.

In this respect, therefore, there is no injustice on
our side. We can appear frankly before our Lord.
He will decide and He decides not by virtue of lies,
but according to justice and truth. Let us therefore
send up our prayers to Him on high, that He may
guide us, and then, if thousands come, the Lord will
guide us in right and justice until, perhaps, we shall
be freed once and for all from all these cares. I
place myself wholly in His hands.

I will accuse no one of being a false prophet ; but
read Psalm 108, verse 7, which came to my mind
while I was struggling in prayer. You must not
read it because I say so, but because it is God's Word.
It was no dream that stood before my spirit, for false
dreams mislead us and I do not trouble about them:
I take my stand on God's Word alone. Now read
that psalm attentively and associate your prayers
with that: then will the Lord guide us; and,
when He is with us, who shall be against us?
Therefore I say to you, go among your burghers
and exhort them continually to pray in this
struggle.

We so often forget what the Lord has done. I
will not speak again of the War of Independence,

378

APPENDIX

in which the Lord so visibly and wonderfully aided
us. But was it otherwise in the Jameson Raid?
They aimed thousands of shells and balls at us, while
we shot only with rifles; and how wonderfully was
the course of the bullets ordered! Three of us fell,
while the enemy had hundreds killed and wounded.
And who ordered the flight of the bullets? The
Lord. He spared us then, to prove to us that He
rules all things. The Lord will also protect you now,
even if thousands of bullets fly around you. That is
my faith and also my constant prayer for myself, for
the burghers and for all who fight with us. I will
say once more that the Lord will guide us: He will
decide and show to us that He rules and none other.

The Second Speech delivered at the Sitting of
2 October 1899

The State President spoke a second time, after
the Presidents of the First and Second Volksraad
had supported him in enthusiastic speeches :

It gives me great confidence to see that the Raad
is with me. I know that, like myself, it believes
in God's Word. If you search that Word, you will
find that God, when He punishes and chastises His
people, does not do so in such a way that He delivers
that people wholly into the hands of its enemies. We
too, when we chastise our children, do not allow others
to beat them. When the people, that is, the people
of Israel, fell away from God and committed idola-

379

APPENDIX

try, it was punished and almost fell into slavery.
But you see in the Old Testament how, when thou-
sands of enemies then come to annihilate God's
people, the people trusts to God, its Creator and
Redeemer.

Gentlemen, you have heard how they mock at us
for appealing to the Lord. That is a blasphemy
against God, and we trust therefore that the Lord
will not let it go unpunished. The Lord chastises
us, but He will not suffer Himself to be blas-
phemed.

One brief word more. Moses was a man of God,
and the Lord spoke with him ; but, at a time of great
stress and combat, his friends had to stay up his
hands, for he was but a weak mortal. Aaron had to
support him in the faith. So let us too remember
our generals and fighting-generals in our prayers,
and unceasingly offer our prayers to God. Let us
support them in their faith and let us not forget to
strengthen with our prayers the men who have to
conduct the Government.

sso

APPENDIX D

Opening Speech of President Steyn at the
Annual Session of the Volksraad of the
Orange Free State at Kroonstad, 2 April
1900

Mr. President and Gentlemen,

Although the enemy is in possession of Bloemfon-
tein and I have been obliged temporarily to remove
the seat of government to Kroonstad, I nevertheless
open your usual annual session full of firm con-
fidence in the future, and I heartily bid you welcome.

1. In spite of your efforts and the efforts of both
Governments to preserve peace, a war has been
forced upon the South African Republic by the
British Government. And the Orange Free State
has been true to her obligations, and, in accordance
with your resolution, ranged herself on the side of the
Sister Republic when, on the 13th of October, war
broke out between the South African Republic and
the British Government.

2. The Republics picked up the gauntlet with no
other object than that of defending their indepen-
dence, which cost our forefathers so much blood and
which is so dear to us, to the uttermost. Thanks to
the Almighty, our arms were blessed in a manner
which not only struck the world with amazement,
but far exceeded our own expectations. Although

381

APPENDIX

the capture of General Cronje and his gallant
burghers and the occupation of Bloemfontein were
heavy blows to us, I am nevertheless glad to be able
to say that our burghers are still full of courage and
determined to continue to fight for the preservation
of our dearly-purchased independence, and, if neces-
sary, like so many of our dear ones, to die as brave
and never-to-be-forgotten heroes. With the deepest
regret I have to inform you of the decease of the
Vice-president and Commandant General of our
Sister Republic, Petrus Jacobus Joubert, a man in
whom not only the Sister Republic, but all South
Africa has lost a faithful friend, a true patriot and an
upright Christian, who devoted his best years to the
service of his nation. May his life serve as an ex-
ample to all of us and his death stimulate us, under
God's blessing, to continue the struggle which he had
hitherto led with such ability in the Sister Republic
and to bring it to a happy peace !

3. The enemy, not content with his greatly su-
perior force, has sought to obtain still further ad-
vantages by a constant abuse of the Red Cross and
the white flag, against which abuse I have been
obliged to make a protest to the neutral Powers. Ay,
the mighty British Empire has not disdained, in this
conflict with two small Republics, to make use of
crafty proclamations in order to divide our little
people. I have pointed, in a counter-proclamation
of my own, to the craftiness and danger of this com-
munication, and am glad to be able to say that, so far
as I know, comparatively few have been so cowardly
and faint-hearted as to surrender voluntarily.

382

APPENDIX

4. In order to prevent further bloodshed and to
assure the civilized world once more that it is not our
intention to annex the neighboring colonies, but that
we are pursuing an entirely different object, namely
the defence of our liberty and our rights, His Honor
the State President of the South African Republic
and I have written a letter to His Excellency the
Prime Minister of Great Britain with a view to the
restoration of peace. But, instead of aiding us in
our endeavors, he has sent us a reply which will be
laid before you and which clearly shows that this war
had no other object from the commencement than the
destruction of the two Republics.

5. Even as I, and the Executive Raad with me,
had already attempted everything in order to pre-
serve peace, so we lose sight of nothing to-day that
could serve to restore peace. The Government of
the South African Republic and our own Govern-
ment have therefore decided to send a commission
consisting of Messrs. A. Fischer, member of the Ex-
ecutive Raad, C. H. Wessels, President of the Volks-
raad, and A. D. Wolmarans, member of the Ex-
ecutive Raad of the South African Republic, to
Europe and America to ask the civilized Powers for
their intervention for the prevention of further
bloodshed. That their labors may be blessed with
success is and must be the object of all our prayers.

6. By virtue of the plenary powers that have been
given me, I have concluded a loan with the South
African Republic.

7. It will be impossible for us to proceed to the
usual debates. I would therefore propose to you

383

APPENDIX

to adjourn them to a later date and to discuss only
those questions and decrees that shall be laid before
you.

I conclude with the sincere prayer that, in the
name of the Thrice Holy God, we may all be granted
strength to keep up the sacred struggle for freedom
and justice upon which we entered in all seriousness
and to continue it energetically to the end. For God
forbid that we should lightly surrender the indepen-
dence which we bought with our blood. I have done.

384-

APPENDIX E

Opening Speech of President Kruger at the
Ordinary Annual Session of the First and
Second Volksraad of the South African
Republic at the Joint Sitting of 7 May
1900

Gentlemen,

I once more have great pleasure in cordially wel-
coming you in this house of assembly and in ventur-
ing to give thanks to God, who rules the Universe
and who has protected and preserved you, so that
you can once more, with His help, devote all your
strength to the interests of our dear country and
people.

1. Some members of your Raad have informed me
that, in consequence of the war, which compels their
presence with the commandos, they were unable to
obey the summons to attend this meeting.

2. The war in which our country is engaged with
England has, in addition to the many valuable vic-
tims which it has already exacted from among the
burghers of both States, also demanded its victims
from the legislative and executive bodies, in conse-
quence of which we have to lament the deaths of our
meritorious fellow-members J. H. Barnard, C. J.
Tosen, J. H. Kock, and our beloved Vice-president
and Commandant General P. J. Joubert. One of

25 385

APPENDIX

them died a glorious death at Derdepoort in the de-
fence of his fatherland against wild Kaffir hordes
commanded by British officers; the other from the
woimds which he received at the Battle of Elands-
laagte when leading our burghers; while both Mr.
Tosen and the Vice-president and Commandant
General were taken from us by disease, the result of
privations. A word of deep-felt esteem for those
dead brothers, who were snatched from us in the
midst of their prosperous career, is not, I think, out
of place at this time. Posterity will rate at its right
value the work of our late Commandant General,
whose attitude inspired even the enemy with respect
and whose humane and glorious conduct assured our
state a name of standing among the civilized nations.

3. New elections for the vacant seats in the Volks-
raad could not be held because of the extraordinary
circumstances.

4. I have nominated Mr. S. W. Burger as Vice-
president of the South African Republic: this nom-
ination is provisional until the First Volksraad has
found time to settle the matter.

5. As Commandant General I have appointed
Louis Botha, also provisionally, until an election can
be held. It was the deceased Commandant Gen-
eral's wish that Mr. Botha should succeed him in this
important post. I am convinced that this provisional
appointment has also met with the approval of the
nation.

6. I am deeply touched by the proof of loyalty on
the part of the people of our sister Republic, who
has shown by this act that she was determined to

386

APPENDIX

fulfil the obligations which she had made by treaty
with the people of the South African Republic. In
such a glorious fashion have the old ties been con-
firmed and strengthened which already existed be-
tween the peoples inhabiting either bank of the Vaal
River. The sister Republic clearly saw that united
action was necessary; for an attack on the indepen-
dence of the South African Republic also implies
a threat against the independent existence of the Or-
ange Free State. The energy and the unbounded
faith in the future of the Afrikander Nation which
our sister Republic displayed in her attitude have set
the people and the Government of the South African
Republic a magnificent example, have strengthened
us in the struggle for our existence which has been
forced upon us by the war with Great Britain and
are of even greater moral value for the outer world
and for all who follow the struggle of a small people
for its existence. The least, therefore, in my opin-
ion, that our duty towards our loyal brothers and
fellow-Afrikanders in the Orange Free State de-
mands of us is that I should, at this place of your
assembly, express, as your interpreter, our sincere
and deep-felt sense of gratitude. God bless them
for their devotion to the cause of freedom!

7. It is a satisfaction to me to be again able to
inform you that, with the exception of the Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Republic continues
in friendly relations with foreign Powers.

8. While visiting the various laagers, I was also
at Bloemfontein, where I agreed with His Honor
the State President of the Orange Free State to send

387

APPENDIX

a joint dispatch to the British Government, in which,
after referring to the fact that we had not sought war
and desired no increase of territory, we proposed to
open friendly negotiations on the basis that both Re-
publics should be recognized as sovereign interna-
tional states and receive the assurance that those of
Her Majesty's subjects who had assisted us in this
war should suffer no damage in person or property.
From the reply of the British Government, which
shall be laid before you, you will see that that Gov-
ernment was always and is still determined to destroy
the independent existence of the two Republics.

9. Even if our legislation in past years and our
negotiations with the British Government had not
shown that we were ready to do everything to pre-
serve peace, we are, now that war has broken out in
spite of our efforts to prevent it, prepared to do
everything and to leave nothing untried to restore
peace. With this object, I have agreed with His
Honor the State President of the Orange Free State
to send Mr. A. Fischer, the respected member of the
Executive Raad of the Orange Free State, for both
Republics, Mr. C. H. Wessels, President of the
Volksraad of the Free State, for his State, and Mr.
A. D. W. Wolmarans, member of the Executive
Raad, for our Republic, to Europe and America
with the commission, in the name of the people and
the Governments of the South African Republic and
the Orange Free State, to petition for the restora-
tion of peace on the basis of the independence of the
two Republics.

10. The presence in our fighting lines of attaches

388

APPENDIX

who have been deputed by different states to follow
the progress of the war, points to the great interest
which the Governments of those states take in the
methods of warfare of our Republics. At the same
time I rejoice to find that the sympathy of well-nigh
the whole world is on our side in this struggle for
right and liberty and that different countries have
sent detachments of the Red Cross as ambulances
to the battle-fields to allay the pain and suffering of
our wounded, while at the same time funds are being
collected, not only in Europe, but also in America
and Asia, to help the widows and orphans of the
slain. I am, therefore, but carrying out your wishes
when I here express our gratitude for those self-
sacrificing actions of noble humanity.

11. I have been compelled to make a protest to
the different neutral Powers against various actions
which are in conflict with international law and with
warfare as practised between civilized nations, as,
for instance, against the abuse of the Red Cross and
the white flag, the ill-treatment of the wounded on
the battle-field and of prisoners of war, and the em-
ployment of natives to fight against the Republics.

12. In spite of the difficult circumstances in which
the war has placed the country, I rejoice to find that
the treasury has been able to meet the great expenses
of the war and that the mines are developing pro-
gressively.

13. I have made use of your authorization and
concluded a loan with the Orange Free State.

14. By virtue of your authorization by Resolution
1,416 of the 28th of September 1899, the Govern-

389

APPENDIX

ment has issued and enforced decrees as circum-
stances demanded. The Government trusts that its
action, in so far as it relies upon those plenary pow-
ers, has received your approval, and asks for instruc-
tions that it may continue in the same way.

15. It will not be possible to dispatch the ordi-
nary business of our annual session, and I therefore
suggest to you that you should discuss only those
matters which will be laid before you and adjourn
all others to a later date.

And with this, gentlemen, I conclude. May the
Ruler of Nations vouchsafe to gird us with strength
to bring to a desired end this unequal and violent
strife, upon which we have entered in His name and
for our sacred right. May the burghers and officers,
inspired from on high with strength and with a sense
of duty both towards those brave men who have given
their lives for the preservation of the fatherland and
towards the coming generation that expects to re-
ceive a free fatherland at their hands, feel impelled
to continue the war and to remain steadfast. And
thus may the South African race, whose future was
always hopeful, now at last develop into a mighty
tree and prove by its actions that we are worthy of
taking our place in the ranks of the nations. God
in His Heaven help us to attain that end! I have
done.

390

APPENDIX F

Speech delivered on the 7th of May by Presi-
dent Kruger in explanation of his Open-
ing Speech at the Ordinary Session of 1900

Right Honorable the Presidents and Honor-
able Members of the two Volksraads,

Although it is not my custom, allow me to add a
few words to my speech : the situation of the country
is such that I make this public request to be permitted
to give an explanation of my address.

You know how the franchise was insisted upon
before the war began. You know that the Govern-
ment yielded, after obtaining the consent of the
Raad, although this body saw objections to such a
course, until even the burghers made representations,
as though we were about to surrender almost all our
rights. The Government had in view the prevention
of bloodshed. The Raad then agreed to the seven
years' franchise and also that all persons who had
been here for more than seven years could acquire the
franchise immediately. There were then nearly
30,000 who were able to acquire the franchise at once,
and so much had been yielded that, if all of these had
obtained the franchise, they could have outvoted the
old burghers. It was only to prevent bloodshed that
we yielded so much as this. Nevertheless they were

391

APPENDIX

not contented, and declared that they wanted to have
the franchise after five years.

Our burghers were against this, and there were
also members of the Raad who would not grant it;
but, notwithstanding, the Government made a pro-
posal, because they had perceived that it was not a
question of the franchise, but that this was a pre-
text full of pharisaical hypocrisy ; for documents had
been found showing that, as early as 1896, it had
been decided that the two independent Republics
must cease to exist. I can express myself in no other
terms than by calling it a " devilish fraud." They
talked of peace, while the decision had already been
taken to destroy us. Even, therefore, if we had
yielded more, if we had even said that the franchise
could be acquired after one year's residence, that
would not have been accepted. For it had appeared
from documents that this people should no longer
be a free people. As I stated in my speech, the Gov-
ernment, in order to avoid bloodshed, made a far-
reaching proposal to Chamberlain and Salisbury ; and
what was the answer? You have read that docu-
ment, and, although I cannot repeat the text of the
document word for word, it amounts to this, that they
are angry at ever having recognized us as an inde-
pendent nation, and that, in spite of all the conven-
tions that had been made, they will never acknow-
ledge that this nation is independent.

Honorable sirs, I must speak out and say what
I have in my mind. Psalm 83 speaks of the attacks
of the Evil One on Christ's Kingdom, which must
no longer exist. And now the same words come from

392

APPENDIX

Salisbury, for he too says, " This people must not
exist," and God says, " This people shall exist."
Who will win? Surely, the Lord. You now see the
artifices which already at that time were being em-
ployed ; also how our people was willing to surrender
its rights, and that the Executive Raad went so far
in yielding that we almost lost our country. It was
not, however, their intention to obtain those rights:
they wanted our country, which was no longer to be
independent. All the rest would not have satisfied
them.

Let us take note of this and observe the artful
cunning which this matter implies. They wrote to
the Orange Free State that they had nothing against
that State, but only against this Republic. They
thus hoped to separate the two Republics, whereas
it has appeared from the documents that neither of
the two was to continue to exist. See the deceit con-
tained in this. For the documents show that, as early
as 1896, after the Jameson Raid, this was decided
upon ; and yet they persisted in declaring that, if the
Orange Free State would lay down her arms, that
country would continue to exist. The Orange Free
State then resolved not to lay down her arms, and
together we began.

We were 40,000 men ; but we had to guard against
Kaffirs on every side, and the commandant of Mafe-
king had even written to us that certain Kaffir cap-
tains would assist him, and we know that, altogether,
those numbered 30,000 fighting Kaffirs. That
number of Kaffirs alone was almost as great as the
number of our combatants, while in addition there ar-

393

APPENDIX

rived over 200,000 English troops. And that was
what we had to fight against.

Honorable sirs, mark the dispositions of God. Is
it not wonderful that 40,000 men should have to
fight against hundreds of thousands and, in addition,
against a nation of blacks, and that we should still
be alive? Acknowledge God's hand in this. For
it is remarkable that, where we come in touch with
the enemy, we stand almost in proportion of ten to
a hundred, and yet the Lord has hitherto spared your
lives.

I will not take it upon myself to prophesy, but I
will point out to you the guidance contained in God's
Word. That is extraordinary. This war is a sign
of the times. It amounts to this, that the Beast re-
ceives the power to persecute the Church and will
succeed until the Lord says, " Hitherto, but no fur-
ther." And why? Because the Church must be tried
and purified, for there is much evil among us. That
is why this war is an extraordinary one and a sign
of the times.

And every one must be convinced that God's Word
is evident in this. They say that the people must
not exist, but God says, "It shall exist, but must
be purified." It lies so clear and open in my mind
that the day of Grace is not far off, that the Lord
will show that He is the Ruler and that nothing shall
happen without His consent. When He permits
that punishment descend upon us, we must submit
and humble ourselves, confess our sins and return
unto the Lord. Then, when the whole nation stands
in humility, seeing that it can do nothing, but only

39*

APPENDIX

the Lord, then assuredly we shall at once obtain
peace. But this humility does not yet lie deep
enough in our hearts, and we must do our duty ear-
nestly, as Peter says in I Peter v. verses 7 and 8:
" Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth
for you " ; but in verse 8, however, stands : " Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour." This is the point respecting which we must
watch and, if we fall into unbelief, we shall bring
ourselves into perdition.

I ask you, brothers, is that a right way of acting,
as was done, that Kaffirs should be called up by let-
ter, and that these, as at Derdepoort, should murder
even women and children? The English declared
that no Kaffirs were employed against us, but it is a
fact that Montioa, with his Kaffirs, is in Mafeking
and is being employed to fight against us. More
than half of the people in Maf eking consist of Kaf-
firs, who fight against us.

Honorable sirs, you must not think that all who
fight against us belong to the Beast; there are cer-
tainly hundreds of the children of God among them,
who, however, are forced to act as they do from fear
of the Beast; but God knows all hearts. We did not
seek that the blood that lies on the ground should be
shed, for we had surrendered all our rights ; but when
they wished to murder us, we could yield no more.

How did it go with Ahab? The mighty enemy
came before the walls of the city, and the people had
lost courage. Then came the prophet of God and
said, " Fear not." Then God arose, and in that God

395

APPENDIX

we must place our trust, for He is still the same
God. Let us, therefore, not live as though there
were no God. He rules. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. Take note of his-
tory, which must serve us as an example. It is still
the same God who led Israel from the wilderness
and hardened Pharaoh's heart to the end, until at last
all the first-born of the Egyptians died, whereupon
Pharaoh allowed the Israelites to depart. It is still
the same God who stills the winds and storms upon
the sea, and his arm is not shortened.

Some ask: But does that point only to the Church
in the two Republics? No. See the three youths in
the fiery furnace. Did these rejoice alone? No, but
God's people over the whole earth. Was it only for
Daniel, what happened in the lions' den? No, but
for all Christians over the whole earth. Thus the
Lord often employs a small band, to whom He dis-
plays His miracles as an example for the whole
Christian world.

Look at the blood that has been shed here on earth.
What is the cause of it? We have wanted peace
and our liberty, ever since 1836, and the Lord
has given them to us, and shall the Lord ever lay His
hand to a thing to withdraw it again? No, but let us
humble ourselves before the Lord. There is no doubt
that eventually the Lord will lead us to victory. The
day of grace is not far off for His people. Let
us not doubt, but remain true to God's word and fight
in His name. When the water shall rise to our lips
and we humble ourselves earnestly before the Lord,

396

APPENDIX

then shall the day of Grace have come. Let each then
acknowledge that it is the Lord's hand that sets us
free and none other, so that man may not glorify
himself. The Lord only employs man to carry out
His will.

I have laid my speech before you, and I hope that
the Volksraad will not sit longer upon it than to-
morrow at latest, as many of the members are bur-
ghers in the field or officers. This is not the time
to discuss ordinary business, and let only those mat-
ters be discussed which I submit to you. Then I have
appointed an Acting Commandant General, for I
have lost my right hand, although I do not mean
to imply that I have not more of such men. I have
lost the late Commandant General, Messrs. Kock
and Wolmarans, formerly members of the Executive
Raad. The State Secretary also is a new appoint-
ment, and I alone remain of all the old members
of the Executive Raad; nevertheless I find much
help and support in the present members, and God
too will support us; He will give us strength. Let
us therefore fight in the name of the Lord to the end.
For the Lord is our Commander-in-chief; He gives
orders and He knows when to say, " Hitherto, but
no further."

It is wonderful to see how unanimously the other
Powers are on our side, and how all Europe prays
for us with one voice; and shall the Lord reject those
prayers? Oh no, trust in the Lord and let us perse-
vere under Him, and He will perform miracles.
Even if it goes so far that I am sent to St. Helena.
For then the Lord will bring back the people and

397

APPENDIX

set it free; and the same judgment shall fall upon
Babylon, the cause of all the blood that has been
shed. We are fighting for the liberty that God gave
us. I say again: If brothers from this Raad and
private persons, who fought in the name of the Lord
and believed, should fall by the sword, then — God's
word says it — they are sacrificed on the altar to the
greater glory of His name and of the glorious
Church which is waiting to be revealed in this sign
of the times. The Church must be tried and purified,
and therefore I cannot believe that it will be per-
mitted that we shall be destroyed by this extraor-
dinary war. The war will last until the Lord says,
" Hitherto, but no further." Keep to that and fight
with me! I place myself in the hands of the Lord.
Whatever He may have decided for me, I shall kiss
the rod with which He strikes me, for I too am guilty.
Let each humble himself before the Lord. I have
spoken.

I certify that the above is a true and faithful copy.

H. C. de Bruijn Prince.

398

APPENDIX G

Circular Dispatch from State President Kru-
ger to the Commandant General, Assis-
tant Commandants General and Officers

Machadodorp, 20 June 1900.

Flinch not and fall not into unbelief; for the time
is at hand when God's people shall be tried in the
fire. And the Beast shall have power to persecute
Christ, and those who fall from faith and their
Church will know Him not, nor shall they be allowed
to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who
are true to the faith and fight in the name of the
Lord, wearing their glorious crown of victory, they
shall be received in the church of a thousand years
and enter into glory everlasting. Brothers, I be-
seech you abandon not your faith, but hold fast by it,
and so go forth and fight in the name of the Lord.
Look well into your hearts. If Cowardice hiding
there whispers to you, " Fly," you are blasphemers,
for listening to the Tempter you deny your God,
your faith is dead. Believe as you would be saved
that nothing happens here below without the will of
God. Victory and the sword are in His hands and
He gives both to those who fight in His name. Is
not our God the same God who led Israel under the
power of His miracles out of the land of Pharaoh?
Did He not lead them safely through the Red Sea?

399

APPENDIX

Did He not hide them in the thick cloud which was
darkness to the enemy, but light to His children;
for the column of cloud was built upon the word of
the Lord, and if we trust Him as they trusted Him,
it shall be our guide also through the darkness, lead-
ing our feet safely to the light. But he who ceases
to believe the word of the Lord shall perish in the
dark prison of his unbelief. Is not our God the
same God who made water flow from a rock, refresh-
ing all Israel? Was He not the Father of those
three youths who chose death rather than deny Him?
He is the same God who guarded Daniel in the lions'
den. The lions harmed him not, but when the King
commanded that Daniel's persecutors should be
thrown into the den, the lions devoured them. Is He
not the same God who walked upon the waves of the
sea, and when He commanded Peter to come to Him,
did not Peter, in his faith, obey? But, when the
strength of his faith left him and he became afraid
of the water, he sank, and the Lord took his hand
and saved him and admonished him for his want
of faith. Is He not our Lord to-day, the same Lord
who, when the storm raged, laid silence upon the
waves? Is He not the same Lord who laid His hands
upon the lepers and they were healed? Is He not
the same Lord our Saviour who sard to His chil-
dren: " Fear not, be strong of heart, I will not for-
sake you, for you believe in My Father and in Me."
And He prophesied war and judgments of war that
we might not be affrighted; for these things must
be. Is not our Saviour the same Saviour who took
upon Himself death and who rose the third day, re-

400

APPENDIX

maining for forty days longer among mankind al-
though the world saw Him not? But they saw Him
when He ascended into Heaven before their eyes,
telling them to fight the good fight and He would
come again. And this same God our Lord and Sa-
viour, who has brought us here from our distant
home, and given us our liberty, and performed mira-
cles on our behalf, dare we doubt that He who com-
menced this work will finish it? No, what He has
raised up He will not allow to fall to the ground. I
repeat, He is the same God who helped Gideon and
his three hundred warriors, who led and strengthened
them in battle and in whose hand lies eveiy victory.
Dear brothers, dear brothers, I beseech you, lose not
your faith. Depend each one upon himself and fight
in the name of the Lord. I am told that every one
wishes to go to his own district, in order to fight there.
That will cause confusion, and the result will be bad
or at least without value. Let everybody fight where
he happens to be, under whatever officer he finds him-
self ; be courageous, firm, obedient and loyal, for that
means victory. Observe the reports of our Com-
mission from Europe. Observe the proclamation of
Lord Roberts in the Orange Free State, and you
will see that it is nothing but a decoy-bird. Accord-
ing to Psalm 83 the enemies of old said that the peo-
ple shall not exist in Christ's Kingdom. Salisbury
and Chamberlain stand convicted by their own words :
" They shall not exist." But the Lord says, " This
people shall exist," and Christ is our Commander-
in-chief, who leads us with His Word. Dear bro-
thers, once more I pray you, let us not fall from

26 401

APPENDIX

faith, but follow His commands. He often leads
His children through the barren desert, where it
seems as if they could never get through. But if
we will only trust Him, I assure you He will be our
guide. He who trusts in God's guidance is under
the protection of the King of Kings and safe through
the darkest night. His word is truth everlasting.
See Psalm 92.

Let this be read to all officers and burghers, for
our present sufferings are nothing compared with
everlasting glory. Let us obey our Saviour.

402

APPENDIX H

Telegram from the State President to the
Commandant General

Machadodorp, 7 July, 1900.
Officers and burghers, place all your faith in the
Lord. He is our highest General, who turns all
hearts whithersoever He will, and He says " This
danger is Mine," and the final victory is also in His
hand. Now follow our fight from the beginning
until to-day: see if the Lord does not still stand on
our side with miracles, see how He has blessed our
arms, so that as a rule so few men fall on our side
and so many on the enemy's that, in spite of the great
multitude of troops and guns opposed to us and the
thousands of shots fired at us, the enemy's arms have
not been blessed. Brothers, we must have become
unbelievers and lost sight of God's authority, if we
doubt that He is on our side. The enemy has until
now flooded our country with his vastly superior
forces, which we have not been able to repel on every
side; he has not done so by force of arms, so that
there is no doubt but that an end will come to this
flood and that the victory will be ours. So do not
flinch in the faith and do not be alarmed because some
of us fall away. The Apostle Paul has already said
this before me in 1 Timothy. But I look at the mat-
ter thus: Some of our burghers, who, overpowered

403

APPENDIX

by the enemy, were obliged to lay down their arms,
I excuse, if they join again at the first opportunity,
in order to go on fighting; but, when others go so
far as to lay down their arms and take the oath and
not return, then that, according to the Scriptures, is
a falling away from God, though, to be sure, such
men will say, even as the Beast, that they believe in
the Lord. But the Lord says, " Show Me thy faith
by thy works." And, when they then perform the
works of the Beast, in order to betray their brothers,
then they assume a faith which is dead. See Revela-
tion xiv. 9, 10 : "If any man worship the Beast and
his image, the same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath of God," and so on. Brothers, any of you who
may perhaps have gone so far, turn back and humble
yourselves before the Lord: He will forgive you;
and then fight bravely in His name. Read this tele-
gram to the officers and burghers at every op-
portunity.

404

APPENDIX I

Circular Dispatch from the State President
to the Commandant General, Assistant
Commandants General, and Officers

Machadodorp, 24 July, 1900.
I see by your report and many other reports that
the spirit of unbelief walketh about like a roaring
lion seeking to make our men lose heart. Brothers,
you must understand, when you let the enemy pass
you and you begin to hesitate whether you shall at-
tack him or not, you drive the others who still remain
behind, in the whole country, wherever they hear this,
to hesitate and doubt in their turn; but, when you
do your duty and attack him wherever he shows him-
self, then you inspire our men who have remained on
the farms in the Republic and who hear this with
courage to help in the fighting, though they and we
too be but few. For the victory is not in the hand
of the greater force, but in the hand of the Lord,
and the Lord gives it to them who fight in His name,
however few we may be. Listen to the words of the
Lord: ' When He forsakes the people, He blunts
its sword and does not bless it; " and see, we are con-
vinced of that, that the Lord has not blunted our
sword, but, on the contrary, has blessed it wonder-
fully against the enemy. Wherever the enemy at-
tacks us and fires thousands and thousands of shots

405

APPENDIX

at the few of us, our few shots hit many more of
his men than do his of ours. Is it not the spirit of
unbelief that hovers through the air, to bring us to
doubt and thus to make us guilty before the Lord
and to let us doubt that all is within the power of the
Lord? And has it not yet become evident to you
that, as I said in my former sentence, we live in a
time when we are being tried by faith? He who
stands firm in the Lord can say, with the Apostle
Paul and with Timothy: " Be not discouraged when
you see blasphemers, for some must fall away." And
the Lord Jesus Himself says, in Matthew xxiv., that
there shall be wars and rumors of wars: " But see
that ye be not troubled, for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet." Remember
1 Peter v. verses 7 and 8: " Casting all your care
upon Him; for He careth for you." And verse 8
says: " But be sober, be vigilant against the Devil,
whom resist steadfast in the faith, for he walketh
about like a raging Hon seeking whom he may de-
vour." Then see in Matthew, when the Evil Spirit
took the Lord Jesus into a high mountain and said:
" All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall
down and worship me." Then the Lord Jesus said:
" Get thee hence, Satan; thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Brothers,
mark me, that is the good fight, to win the crown.
And he who cannot fight the good fight shall not
win the crown. For then he falls and is joined with
the evil spirit of the air, who flies with his great force
over the earth. And so he receives the mark of the
Beast in the forehead and will drink with the Beast

406

APPENDIX

of the wine of the wrath of God. Read Revelation
xiv. verses 9, 10, 12, and 13. Note, in particular,
verse 12, which says: " Here is the patience of the
saints; here are they that keep the commandments
of God and the faith of the Lord Jesus." No, no,
my brothers: let him who has grown faint-hearted
fly to the Lord and remain faithful to Him. And
by your faithful acts you will convert thousands
more to the faith, so that they may fight for the
liberty which the Lord has given us. He who says
that he believes in the faith of the Lord Jesus and
His works and goes with the Evil Spirit, that man's
faith is a dead faith, for the Lord says, " Show me
thy faith by thy works." And see the promise of
the Lord in Psalm 108, where He says that they
who fight through God shall do so valiantly, and the
Lord will deliver them and tread down their enemies.
Keep courage therefore, you God-fearing band; the
Lord will display His strength to your weakness.
Also I will call your attention to the history of the
American War of Independence, where they had to
fight against hundreds and thousands, and, although
their number was at length reduced to less than 2,000
men, yet they conquered and the Lord gave them
back their liberty. Now each of you knows as I do
how unjust and godless the war is, as we were will-
ing to yield almost everything, if we could only keep
our liberty and our independence. See Psalm 83,
how the evil spirit of the air said that the valiant
fighter named Israel must not exist, and the Lord
says, " He shall exist." And see in our declaration,
which we sent to Salisbury, that we only wished to

407

APPENDIX

keep our independence. Then the same spirit an-
swered that this nation must not exist, or, to use his
own words: " I will not permit your nation to con-
tinue to be a nation." Dear brothers, through God's
Word I am sure of this, that the victory is ours. But
let us remain true and fight in the name of the Lord,
on the strength of His promise, and I request the
officers often to read and re-read this notice to the
burghers.

408

APPENDIX J

Proclamation by President Steyn against the
Annexation of the Orange Free State

Whereas, in the month of October, 1899, an unjust
war was forced upon the people of the Orange Free
State and the South African Republic by Great
Britain, and those two small Republics have, for
more than eight months, maintained, and are still
maintaining, the unequal contest against the mighty
British Empire;

Whereas a certain proclamation of the 24th of
May, 1900, alleging to be issued by Lord Roberts,
Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief of the
British forces in South Africa, is published to-day
and contains the statement that the Orange Free
State has been conquered by Her Majesty's troops
and is annexed to the British Empire, while the
forces of the Orange Free State are still in the field
and the Orange Free State has not been conquered,
and the aforesaid proclamation is therefore opposed
to international law ;

Whereas it is well known that the British author-
ities themselves have recently admitted that the
Orange Free State was excellently governed, and
it therefore becomes an offence against civilization
as well as an infraction of the fundamental rights

409

APPENDIX

of such a nation to rob it of its liberty under any
pretex whatsoever;

And whereas I deem it desirable immediately to
inform all whom it may concern that the aforesaid
proclamation is not recognized by the Government
and people of the Orange Free State:

Now I, Martinus Theunis Steyn, State President
of the Orange Free State, after deliberation with the
Executive Raad, do hereby proclaim, in the name of
the independent people of the Orange Free State,
that the aforesaid annexation is not recognized and is
null, void and invalid.

Given under my hand at Reitz in the Orange Free
State on the 11th day of the month of July 1900.

M. T. Steyn,
State President.

410

INDEX

Aapjes Biver: First shot of Civil
War fired at, 77

Accidents to President Kruger:
Leg broken at Schoonkloof
Farm, 1866, 98; thumb blown
off by exploding rifle, 31; treat-
ment of wound, 32, 33

Adendorff trek, 206; Kruger 's op-
position to the, and resulting
loss of popularity, 207

Afrikander Party : Anti-British
movement throughout South
Africa — Sir A. Milner's declara-
tion, 306; Cape Election of
1897, victory of the Afrikander
Party, 269

Afrikanderdom, power of, must be
broken: Sir A. Milner's policy,
258

Agriculture : President Kruger 's
advocacy of promotion of, 168

Alliance of the Orange Free State
with the South African Repub-
lic— Negotiations for closer al-
liance: Failure of 1887 nego-
tiations, 172, 173; Potchef-
stroom Conference, 1889 — Terms
of alliance concluded, 196; po-
litical alliance concluded at
Bloemfontein after the Jameson
Eaid, 273, 275

Ancestry of President Kruger, 3
note

Annexation of South African Re-
public by Great Britain in 1877 :
Sir T. Shepstone's mission to
Pretoria, etc., 112; annexation
accomplished, 119; arrival of Sir
T. Shepstone in Pretoria, 115;
Burgers ', President, mistakes
used to justify annexation, 119,
120 ; Carnarvon, Lord, burghers '
petition to, 129; commission ap-
pointed to discuss matters with
Sir T. Shepstone, Mr. Kruger a
member of, 112; confederation

with British Dominions in South
Africa proposed, Mr. Kruger 's
opposition, 113, 119; deputa-
tions to protest against annex-
ation— Commission of delegates
to Europe and America ap-
pointed to appeal for interces-
sion of Foreign Powers, etc.,
125, 130; failure to obtain inter-
vention, 127; second deputation
dispatched to England, Mr.
Kruger a member of, 129; ex-
penses, provisions for, 129;
Frere, Sir Bartle, deputation's
interview with, 130; Hicks-
Beach's, Sir M., attitude— re-
fusal to receive deputation, re-
ply to memorial, etc., 131; mass
meeting at Wonderfontein to re-
port on results, 140; Executive
Raad's protest, 121; " inher-
ent ' ' weakness argument, fail-
ure of Republic to subdue Se-
cucuni used as pretext for an-
nexation, 116 ; Secueuni 's peti-
tion for peace — " Duumvirate "
commission to investigate, Mr.
Kruger 's opposition, etc., 116,
117; Jooste's, Dr., letter on na-
ture of opposition, Mr. Kruger 's
suggestion of a plebiscite re-
jected by British Government,
126; Jorissen's, Dr., opinion as
to the annexation, 126; Kru-
ger 's, President, attitude, Sir T.
Shepstone's misstatement, 126,
128; Kruger 's, President, pre-
vision of Sir T. Shepstone's in-
tentions, President Burgers '
disregard of President Kruger 's
warning, 119; plebiscite resolved
on, 127; result of plebiscite,
131; Shepstone's, Sir T., op-
position, 130; protest to be
taken to England, President
Burgers' proposal, 119; repeal

41S

INDEX

of annexation, Boer endeavor to
obtain — Arrest of Pretorius and
Bok on charge of high treason,
142; Cape Colony, appeal to,
139; Cetewayo, alliance with,
proposed — President Kruger's
opposition, 137; Gladstone, fail-
ure of appeal to, 146; Kleinfon-
tein meetings— Frere, Sir B., re-
ception of, 138; Joubert's
speech, 137; Kruger's, Presi-
dent, speech, 137; last petition
to Governor of the Transvaal,
172; Orange Free State, support
of request for repeal by, 139;
petition to British Government
proposed — Sir B. Frere 's agree-
ment to forward petition, 139;
preparations for war, 146; proc-
lamation of British Government
offering self-government, Mr.
Kruger's opinion on, 143; re-
sort to force proposed, 137, 138;
Kruger 's, President, endeavors
to maintain peace, 137; Kru-
ger's, President, warning, 137;
War of Independence (see that
title) ; Wonderfontein meeting
— Kruger's, Mr., warning to
burghers, 137; popular resolu-
tion against annexation, 139 ;
Sand Biver Convention, annexa-
tion a violation of, 119; Shep-
stone's, Sir T., declaration that
he was authorized and prepared
to annex the South African Be-
public — Mr. Kruger's protest,
119; South African War partly
due to the annexation, 120; vil-
lage population favoring annex-
ation, 114; Volksraad, extraor-
dinary meeting of, 116; Bur-
gers', President, attempt to ex-
clude burghers who refused to
pay the Secucuni war tax, 112

Annexation of the neighboring
colonies on outbreak of the war
of 1899: Mr. Steyn's speech in
the Volksraad, 382

Anstruther, Colonel: Death at bat-
tle of Bronkhorstspruit, 154

Appendices: A, 333; B, 368; C,
376; D, 381; E, 385; F, 391;
G, 399; H, 403; I, 405; J, 409

April (Kaffir servant of President

Kruger), literary attainments
of, 15; Kaffir missionary's diffi-
culties caused by, 16

Arbitration on points in dispute
between Great Britain and the
South African Bepublic — Presi-
dent Kruger 's proposals : Bloem-
fontein conference, 273; Cham-
berlain 's, Mr., rejection of
proposals, 272; dispatch of 27th
July, 1899, 279; foreign element
other than Orange Free State,
exclusion of — Condition laid
down in alternative proposal to
Mr. Chamberlain's joint com-
mission proposal on the fran-
chise question, 282, 283; Cham-
berlain's, Mr., dispatch of 30th
August, 1899, and Mr. Eeitz 's
reply, 284, 286; Eeitz 's, Mr.,
letter of 9th June, 1899, 275; re-
ply, 277; ultimatum of 9th Oc-
tober, 1899, 304, 305

Armaments of the South African
Bepublic — Purchase of arms and
ammunition after the Jameson
Baid: Defenceless condition of
the Bepublic, 265; further pur-
chases on discovery of Mr.
Chamberlain's complicity in the
Baid, 247, 248

Army of the South African Re-
public— Commandant General:
Botha, Mr. Louis, appointment
of, 309, 389; Joubert, General,
death of, 309; Kruger's, Mr.,
address to, on his election as
president (12 May, 1898), 360;
war between Great Britain,
South African Republic, and
Orange Free State (see that
title)

Balloon ascent by President Kru-
ger in Paris, 132

Ballot: First election by ballot
for the presidency of the South
African Bepublic, 258

Bantjes, Jan: President Kruger's
identity discovered to Mrs.
Strigdom by, 85

Barkly West: Diamond-fields dis-
covered in 1870, 105

Basuto War: First Basuto War
—Orange Free State troubles

414

INDEX

with Chief Moshesh, 60; Kru-
ger 's, President, successful
mediation, 61, 63

Basuto War of 1865: Council of
war at Malap 's Town, decision
of, 96; Brand's, President, re-
fusal to endorse— "Withdrawal of
South African Eepublic burgh-
ers, 97; Katskatsberg, fight at,
number of cattle captured, etc.,
97; Kruger, President, sent to
assist the Orange Free Staters,
95; Malap Mountains, attack on,
96; surprise of Boer camp by
Moshesh, 96

Bezuidenhout, Field Cornet: Dis-
tress laid on wagon of, 149 ;
armed resistance to forced sale
of wagon, beginning of the War
of Independence, 149

Big game hunting: President
Kruger 's experience, 17-31

Birth of President Kruger, 3

Bismarck, Prince: Reception of
Boer delegates in 1884, 177

Bloemfontein: Conference be-
tween Sir A. Milner and
President Kruger at Bloem-
fontein, 31st May, 1899: Com-
pliant attitude of the South
African Republic and unyield-
ing attitude of Sir A. Milner,
269-275; Kruger 's, President,
offers and demands, 273; Mil-
ner's, Sir A., demands, 273;
conference between South Af-
rican Republic and Orange Free
State, with the object of bring-
ing about a closer alliance,
259

Blue Mountains, Malapoch puni-
tive expedition to: Efforts of
British subjects to escape mil-
itary service, 218, 219

Bodenstein, Field Cornet: Re-
capture of cattle raided by
Moshesh from Orange Free
Staters, 60

Bok, Mr. W. E. : Arrest on
charge of high treason. 142 ;
commission of delegates to
England and America, secre-
tary to, 129; secretary to
Executive Raad, appointment as,
189; secretary to second depu-

tation of protest against an-
nexation, 129

Boshorf, President of Orange Free
State: Boer representative in
transfer of Orange Free State
from British to Boers, 56; com-
pact between Orange Free State
and South African Republic,
Boshoff's intended violation of,
averted by President Kruger, 56-
59; Pretorius's, M. W., claims
on Orange Free State, alliance
with Commandant General
Schoeman to resist, 57; Kru-
ger's, President, opinion on
Boshoff's action, 58; retire-
ment, 70

Botha, Mr. Louis: Appointment
as commandant general, 309,
389

Boundary between Orange Free
State and South African Repub-
lic: President Kruger appointed
to represent South African Re-
public in deciding question, 85

Brand, President (Orange Free
State) : Basuto War, refusal to
endorse resolution passed by
council of war at Malap 's Town,
97; Civil War, advice as to final
settlement of, 92; death, 195;
offensive and defensive alliance
between Orange Free State and
South African Republic, rejec-
tion of, 196; War of Indepen-
dence, peace negotiations, 159;
third proclamation, opposition
to publication of, 160

British Government : Annexation
of South African Republic in
1877, attitude as to — Lord
Carnarvon 's statements, 126 ;
diamond-fields of South Af-
rica, contention as to owner-
ship (see diamond-fields) ; Jame-
son Raid enquiry, charge against
the Government of withholding
telegrams proving Mr. Chamber-
lain's complicity, 247, 248;
Orange Free State, handing over
to Pretorius on behalf of Boer
emigrants, 56

British policy in South Africa:
Chamberlain's, Mr., policy of
provocation, 267-272 ; character

415

INDEX

of, lies, treachery, intrigue, 112,
222, 236, 242; annexation of
1877 a typical case, 126, 138

British South African Company
(see Chartered Company)

Bronkhorstspruit, battle of, 153;
treachery, charge of, against
Boers, 154

Brown: Bewaarplaatsen allotment
litigation, Chief Justice Kotze
disputing validity of Volksraad
resolutions, 255; dismissal of
the Chief Justice, 257; Kru-
ger's, President, defence, 356

Bubonic plague conference : Presi-
dent Kruger 's announcement in
the Volksraad, 370

Buffalo-hunting : President Kru-
ger 's experiences, 24

Burger, Mr. S. W. : Adendorff
trek, opposition to President
Kruger, 207; appointment as
vice-president of the South Af-
rican Eepublic, nomination, 389;
expiration of term of office,
President Kruger 's announce-
ment in the Volksraad, 368

Burgers, President : Advanced
views of, opposition of burgh-
ers, etc., 109; dissatisfac-
tion among burghers with the
president 's government, 111 ;
Kruger 's, Mr., offer to secure re-
election of, if Burgers would de-
fend independence of the South
African Eepublic, 115; new
constitution drawn up by, 118;
rejection by people, 119; rail-
way from Lorenzo Marques to
Pretoria, project of — journey
to Europe to raise loan, 109 ;
opposition of burghers, 110, 112,
118; religious views, liberality
of — Mr. Kruger 's disapproval,
etc., 110; Secucuni war tax — at-
tempt to exclude from Volksraad
burghers who refused to pay
tax, 112; Secucuni War of 1870
(see that title) ; Shepstone's, Sir
T., mission to Pretoria— presi-
dent's disregard of Mr. Kru-
ger's warning, 119; state presi-
dent, election as, 108; Kruger 's,
Mr., statement at inauguration
of President Burgers, 108

Burgher rights: Conditions upon
which a burgher of either Ee-
public should receive burgher
rights in the sister state, 260;
Swaziland convention, terms of,
223

Caledon Eiver encampment, 6

Calveyn, Chief: Eebellion in
Marico district, 170

Cannibalism among Kaffirs: Evi-
dences discovered by President
Kruger during expedition to
avenge Potgieter's murder, 43

Cape Colony: Annexation of the
South African Eepublic; burgh-
ers' appeal to Cape Colony to
support their request for re-
peal, 144; governor, appoint-
ment of Sir A. Milner, 258;
Kaffir cattle raids — Boers '
cattle impounded for war costs
after recovery by owners, 4;
Moshette — Montsioa War, volun-
teers from the colony, 170;
slave emancipation prior to trek
of 1835, 4; tariff war with the
South African Eepublic (see
tariff war)

Carnarvon, Lord (Secretary of
State for the Colonies) : British
Government 's attitude on the
annexation question, statements
as to, 126; petition against an-
nexation of South African Ee-
public addressed to, 129

Celliers, Sarel: Defeat of Mata-
bele attack on Vechtkop Laager,
8

Cetewayo's rebellion (see Zulu
War of 1879)

Chamberlain, Mr. J. : Arbitra-
tion— rejection of South Af-
rican Eepublic proposals, 279;
dispatches with the object
of embittering the British
people against the Eepublic, al-
leged, 248; franchise question,
stages of (see titles franchise
question and franchise law) ;
home rule for Johannesburg
proposed, 245; publication of
dispatch in the London press
before it had reached the Gov-
ernment of the South African

416

INDEX

Republic, 245; invitation to
President Kruger to come to
England to confer on Transvaal
matters— discussion of Article
4 of the London Convention
precluded, 245, 249; Kruger 's,
President, counter conditions,
246; Jameson Eaid— Chamber-
lain's, Mr., gratitude to the
South African Eepublic for
handing over the culprits to the
British Government, 242; com-
plicity, charge of, 228, 248;
inquiry — charge against the
British Government of withhold-
ing telegrams proving Mr.
Chamberlain 's complicity, 247 ;
telegrams cited in evidence of
the charge, 249; London Con-
vention of 1884 — violation of,
by the Government of the Ee-
public, alleged, 279; " Second
Volksraad of no practical use "
contention, 199 ; suzerainty
question — contention that the
Convention of 1881 held good,
176, 279; tariff war between
Cape Colony and the South
African Eepublic— Mr. Cham-
berlain's ultimatum to the Ee-
public on condition that Cape
Colony bore half the cost of a
war, 228; war between Great
Britain, South African Eepublic
and Orange Free State — reply to
Mr. Kruger 's application for
peace negotiations, President
Kruger 's comments, 392

Chartered Company : Formation
of, 194; shares given to influ-
ential people in England, 193;
strategic positions necessary for
the Jameson Eaid, negotiations
for extension of territory, 249;
Swaziland Convention binding
South African Eepublic to as-
sist the company, 223

Chastisement and punishment, dis-
tinction between, 59

Chelmsford, Lord: Commander-in-
chief in Zulu War of 1879, 133 ;
Ulundi, victory at, 134

Chief Justice disputing validity
of resolutions of the Volksraad
(see Kotze)

Chief Justice and Judges of the
Supreme Court and State At-
torney: President Kruger 's ad-
dress to, on his election as presi-
dent (12 May, 1898), 350

Childhood of President Kruger, 4;
cattle-herding during the trek
of 1835, 5

Children: Boer custom of giving
two animals to each child as his
special property, 5 ; education of
Boer children during Great
Trek, 11 ; education, religion,
etc. — President Kruger 's ad-
dress on his election as presi-
dent (12 May, 1898), 214, 333;
Kruger 's, President, children by
second wife, 14

Christeli jJc-Geref 'or meerde Church :
Kruger 's, President, member-
ship, 75; political disabilities at-
taching to membership, 75; re-
moval of disabilities, 76; union
of churches in 1S81 not joined
by, 207

Christiania, village of: Eemnant
of diamond territory secured by
South African Eepublic, 107

Churches of South African Eepub-
lic: Dopper or Canting Church,
Kruger 's, President, member-
ship in, 75; political disabili-
ties attaching to membership in,
75; removal of disabilities, 76;
State Church: Intention of sub-
stituting Dopper for Hervormde
as State Church attributed to
Mr. Kruger by Schoeman, 78;
union between Hervormde
and Nederduitsch-Gere for meerde
Church in 1881, 207; abandon-
ment of union — church property
dispute, 208; conference in
1891; President Kruger 's at-
tempt to compose quarrel, 2C8,
209 ; Dopper Church remaining
outside the union, 207

Civil War of 1861-1864: Com-
mandant General Schoeman 's
violation of the constitution
— armed opposition to Grobler 's
presidency, etc., 71; Aapjes
Eiver, first shot fired at, 77;
abolition of Volksraad and con-
ferring cf legislative power on

417

INDEX

Executive Eaad — General Schoe- Volksraad's decision — deposition

man's proposal, 71; boundary of Commandant General Schoe-

question— President Kruger ap- man, etc., 73, 74; State Church

pointed to represent the South — President Kruger charged

African Eepublic, 85; council of with intention to compel substi-

war in Pretoria, 82, 85; fight- tution of Dopper for Hervormde

ing north of Potchefstroom — Church as State Church — report

President Kruger 's action, spread by Schoeman, 78; Kru-

flight of General Schoeman, 80 ; ger 's, President, statement to

fines collected by President Jan Kock, 78, 79; Steyn, Jo-

Kruger, 82; fresh complications, hannes, appointment of, by

President Kruger again called Schoeman as commandant gen-

on to interpose, 74; Heidelberg eral, 71; Zwartkopje — defeat of

district meeting, 82; Kruger 's, Schoeman 's party, 88, 89

President, amusing experience on Clergy : President Kruger 's ad-

the way to the meeting, 83-86; dress to, on his election as presi-

Jeppe, Steyn 's demand for sur- dent (12 May, 1898), 361

render of, 72; joint commission Closing the drifts (see Tariff War)

meeting near Potchefstroom, Colesberg: Swaziland Convention,

failure to secure peace, 77, 79: conference between President

Kruger 's, President, action pre- Kruger and Sir H. Loch, 224

vious to outbreak of hostilities, Cologne : President Kruger 's re-

69, 73, 74; Kruger 's, President, ception in 1900, 325

refusal to pursue the enemy Colonizing expedition of 1845,

after Zwartkopje, 89; Kruger 's President Kruger 's share in,

and Fourie's, Messrs., mission etc., 13, 14

to the Orange Free State to Commandant General of the South

carry out terms of peace con- African Eepublic: Botha, Mr.

f erence, 91 ; opposition commis- Louis, appointment of, 309, 389 ;

sion nominated to see that the Joubert, General Piet, election

Government adhered strictly of, 151; re-election in 1884,

to the peace conference deci- 189; Kruger, election of, 82;

sions, 91; peace conference af- re-election after the Civil War,

ter Zwartkopje, constitution and 92; Pretorius, M. W., appoint-

decisions of, 90, 91; Potchef- ment, 56

stroom, fighting at — artillery Communication of the South Afri-

duel, 79; Kruger 's, President, can Eepublic and Orange Free

stratagem to obtain release of State with the outer world:

prisoners taken, etc., 86, 87; Boer attempt to acquire a har-

Pretoria meeting — resolution to bor at Durban, 9; British an-

carry out Volksraad decision, nexation of Sambaanland and

73, 74; second joint commission, Umbigesaland, Transvaal's last

President Kruger 's proposals outlet to the sea cut off by, 224

carried, etc., 81, 82; settlement Company promoting on valueless

— amnesty — President Kruger 's property: Preventive measures,

proposal agreed to by the Volks- President Kruger 's speech in

raad, 90; Brand's, President, the Volksraad (12 May, 1898),

advice, 91; special court ap- 342

pointed by Volksraad to settle Confederation of South Africa

matters in dispute, 73, 74; court under the British flag: Messrs.

summoned — decision in case of Joubert and Kruger deputed to

Andries du Toit, 82; Schoe- urge Cape Parliament to oppo-

man's, Commandant General, sition, 158

action, 72, 74; second joint Constitution of the South African

commission, decisions of, 81; Eepublic: Assimilation of the

418

INDEX

constitution of the Orange Free
State to that of the South Af-
rican Republic, 370; new consti-
tution drawn up by President
Burgers, 118; rejection by the
people, 118; revision of — Presi-
dent Kruger's promise of, 256;
Kotze, Chief Justice, opposition
to President Kruger 's policy —
dismissed from chief justiceship,
257; Kruger's, President, de-
fence of his action in regard
to Chief Justice Kotze, 406;
Schoeman's, Commandant Gen-
eral, violation of (see Civil War)

Convention of 1881 (see Pretoria
Convention)

Convention of 1884 (see London
Convention)

Coolies: Residing only in quarters
set apart for them, Mr. Kru-
ger's announcement in the
Volksraad, 373

Criticism, Eight of: Kotze, Chief
Justice, adopting the " Devil's
Principle " — Dismissed from of-
fice, 257 and note; Kruger's,
President, defence, 359 ; law re-
quiring judicial functionaries
not to assume the right of toet-
sing the validity of the laws, 257

Cronje, General Piet: Bezuiden-
hout 's wagon, forced sale of —
Cronje 's armed resistance to
sale, 149 ; Jameson 's surrender,
237; Massouw's entrenchments,
storming of, 179; triumvirate's
proclamation, printing of — Cron-
je's mission to Potchefstroom,
151, 152

Customs duties dispute (see Tar-
iff War)

Customs union for South Africa :
President Kruger's refusal to
consider, 203

David, Kaffir missionary to Kaf-
firs, 16

Delagoa Bay: President Kruger's
detention at the Portuguese
governor's house on the way to
Europe in 1900, 318

Delagoa Bay Railway: Burgers 's,
President, project, 109; opposi-
tion of burghers, 109, 113;

concession gianted to private
persons — foundation of Nether-
lands South African Railway
< 'ompany, 177; Kruger's, Presi-
dent, defence of concession, 178;
petitions against concession,
178; Volksraad 's agreement to
concession, 179 ; grant voted
by the Volksraad to enable bur-
ghers to inspect the whole rail-
way, 225; loan — failure of at-
tempt to raise loan in Holland,
177; opening, 225; Portuguese
Government, conditions imposed
by, 203, 204; Portuguese offer
to build, 177

Delvers Committee established,
182

Derby, Lord: London Convention
negotiations, 175, 176; dispatch
enclosing draft of the London
Convention, 250

Diamond-fields in South African
Republic territory : Depression
among the poorer classes — Re-
lief measures, etc., President
Kruger's speech in the Volks-
raad (12 May, 1898), 340

Discovery in 1870, 105

Dispute as to ownership of dia-
mond territory : Arbitration
agreed to by President Pre-
torius, President Kruger's dis-
approval, 106; British Govern-
ment contention that the
diamond territory belonged to
native chiefs Montsioa and Gasi-
bone, 106; Christiania, village
of, retained by South African
Republic, 107; commission ap-
pointed by South African Re-
public to attend discussions
of Arbitration Court— protest
against Governor Keate's judg-
ment and Pretorius's action,
107; Keate's, Governor, decision
in favor of chiefs, 106; Mo-
bilo 's, Chief, evidence, 106 ;
Pretorius 's, President, resigna-
tion due to result of arbitration,
107; Kruger's, President, re-
ception by English miners, 105

Diklceton, value of, 5

Dingaan's horde: Attack on Boer
settlers in Natal, 9

419

INDEX

Dinizulu, son of Cetewayo : Land
granted to Boers in return for
assistance against Usibepu, 184

Doornkop: Surrender of Dr.
Jameson to Commandant Cronje,
237

Dopper or Canting Church: Deri-
vation and meaning of dopper,
75, 76; foundation in 1859, 75;
Kruger, President, a member,
75; political disabilities attach-
ing to membership, 75 ; removal
of disabilities, 76; tenets of,
etc., 76; union of churches in
1881, Dopper Church remaining
outside, 207

Dordrecht, Holland : President
Kruger 's visit, 328

Drifts, closing of (see Tariff War)

Durban: Boer attempt to acquire
harbor, 9

Dutch language as the state lan-
guage: Educational medium —
President Kruger 's principle,

214, note; Kruger 's, President,
address to the children on his
election as president (12 May,
1898), 214, 215, 364, note;
Swaziland convention, terms of,
222

Dynamite explosion at Johannes-
burg, 19 February, 1896, 244

Dynamite monopoly: Abolition of
— suggestions in report of the
Industrial Commission, 253; re-
duction in price of dynamite —
President Kruger 's speech (12
May, 1898), 386

Edgar case: Mr. Chamberlain's

misrepresentations, 267
Education: Direction of education,

successive appointment of Dr.

du Toit and Professor Mansvelt,

215, 216, note; grants to schools
in which education was not
given in Dutch — law of 1892,
217, note; Great Trek of 1836,
means taken for education of
children, 11, 12; Kruger 's,
President, education, extent and
nature of, 11, 12; Kruger 's,
President, views on, 168; lan-
guages, study of, President
Kruger 's belief in the Dutch"

language as the one and only
educational medium, 215, note,
217, note; law of 1882, faulty
execution of, 215, note; Paris
Exhibition of 1900, distinctions
won by the South African Be-
public at, 217, note; reform,
President Kruger 's misgivings
as to grants, qualification of
teachers and higher education
of women, 216, note; religious
instruction — education law of
1874, defects of, 215, note';
Kruger 's, President, speech on
installation as president (12
May, 1898), 214, 366, note;
Uitlanders, education of —
erection of schools at the cost
of the state, 217, note

Eloff, Field Cornet Sarel: Cap-
ture by Viljoen at Potchef-
stroom, 86; escape, 86; com-
mandeering burghers of the
Zwartruggen district, 88

Eloff, Lieutenant, taken prisoner
by Dr. Jameson, 237

Elephant hunting: President Kru-
ger's experiences, 21; race with
an elephant, 27

England: Invitation from Mr.
Chamberlain to visit England to
confer on Transvaal matters —
discussion of Article 4 of the
London Convention precluded,
245, 249; Kruger 's, President,
counter conditions, 246; Kru-
ger's, President, visits — first
visit in 1877, 125; second visit,
129-131; third visit as member
of 1884 deputation, 174; rela-
tions with the South African
Bepublic (see titles British Gov-
ernment, British policy, inter-
vention, etc.)

English lord and President Kru-
ger, anecdote of, 6, note

English population of the South
African Bepublic : Educational
advantages at the cost of the
state, 217, note

Enslin: Death by treachery at
Zwartkopje, 89

Envoy extraordinary of the South
African Bepublic in Europe:
Appointment of Dr. Leyds, 264

420

INDEX

Europe: Delegation of President
Kruger during the war of 1899-
1902 — departure from Pretoria,
316; Holland's, Queen of, offer
of a warship, 319; journey to
Europe, 320; proclamation by
the Executive Kaad, 316

Explosion of dynamite at Johan-
nesburg, 19 February, 1896, 244

Earrar, Mr. : Jameson Kaid, sig-
nature of Johannesburg letter of
appeal, 231; sentence for con-
spiracy at Johannesburg and
complicity in the Jameson Kaid,
244

Father of President Kruger, 3;
Portuguese frontier delimitation
commissioner in 1844, 13

Federal Council, constitution of,
for the two Republics, 262

Federation of South Africa under
the British flag: Messrs. Jou-
bert and Kruger deputed to urge
Cape Parliament to opposition,
149, 158, 162

Fick, Chief Commandant of Or-
ange Free State: Basuto war —
attacks on Malap Mountains
and Katskatsberg, 96; Kruger 's,
President, mission to Moshesh —
General Fick serving as escort, 61

Field Cornet, appointment of
President Kruger as, 37

Financial condition of the South
African Kepublic in 1885, 179;
gold-fields discovery, effect of,
180

Fischer, Mr. Abraham: Jameson
Kaid, disposal of culprits — ad-
vice to the commandants, 241;
state secretary of the South Af-
rican Republic — refusal of ap-
pointment, 264; war of 1899-
1902, intervention of foreign
powers — member of deputation
to Europe, 309

Floods in the South African Ke-
public in 1893, 216

Foreign relations of the South
African Republic : Kruger 's,
President, speech in the Volks-
raad, 369; (see also titles in-
tervention and London Conven-
tion)

Foreigners (see Uitlanders)

Forts in Chartered Company's ter-
ritory built by Mr. Rhodes, 194

Foster, Mr. B. : Connection with
Adendorff trek, 206

Foster, murder of, by Edgar in

1898, 267

Fouche, Field Cornet D. : Officer
who prevented Dr. Jameson
from turning the Boer position
near Krugersdorp, 237

Fourie: Mission to the Orange
Free State, 91; peace conference
after Zwrartkopje — delegate for
Schoeman's party, 90

France: Kruger 's, President, visit
in 1877 — failure to obtain inter-
vention of, 125; president's re-
ception of Boer delegates in
1884, 177; press expose of Eng-
lish methods of warfare — Presi-
dent Kruger 's thanks, 325; wel-
come to President Kruger on his
journey through France in 1900,
321-325

Franchise question : Uitlanders '
grievances — Bloemfontein Con-
ference (see that title) ; British
Government decision to formu-
late their own proposals for a
final settlement (25 September,
1899), 291; Reitz's, Mr., in-
quiry as to the promised dis-
patch, and Mr. Chamberlain's
reply, 292; Steyn's, President,
correspondence with Sir A. Mil-
ner, 294, 303; British subjects
refusing to take the field with
the burghers in 1884— President
Kruger on, 377; Chamberlain's,
.Mr., Highbury speech — " The
sands are running down in the
glass," 284; commission, ap-
pointment of, by the British
Government — Mr. Chamberlain's
dispatch (30 August, 1899),
284; Reitz's, Mr., reply, 286;
conference between President
Kruger and Sir A. Milner — Mr.
Chamberlain's proposal (30 Au-
gust, 1899), 285, 286; Reitz's,
Mr., reply, 288; Draft Law of

1899, provisions of, 277 ; failure
of negotiations, causes of— Pres-
ident Steyn 's correspondence

421

INDEX

with Sir A. Milner, 298; gokl-
fields representation in the
Volksraad, proposed increase in,
281; Great Britain's demands —
" Devilish fraud "—President
Kruger's protest against British
Pharisaical hypocrisy, 395; Kru-
ger's, President, speech in the
Volksraad, 388; inadequacy of
reforms — further demands by
the Uitlanders' Council and the
South African League, 284; in-
tervention by Great Britain (see
that title) ; joint commission
for revision of law of 1899 —
Mr. Chamberlain 's proposal
(1 August, 1899), 279; ac-
ceptance by Government of
South African Bepublic (2
September, 1899), 289; alter-
native proposal by Government
of South Africa, 281, 283, 290;
Chamberlain's, Mr., reply of
30th August— Mr. Chamberlain's
contention that he had accepted
proposal, 285, 286; lapsing of
proposal— Mr. Eeitz's letter of
2d September, 286; Eeitz's, Mr.,
reply of 12th August, 280 ; Lon-
don Convention, violation of —
charge against Mr. Chamberlain,
279; Smuts 's, Mr., interviews
with Mr. Greene, 280, 283 ; with-
drawal of proposal by the Brit-
ish Government— Greene's, Mr.,
letter and Mr. Eeitz's reply,
289; Steyn's, President, dis-
patch of 27th September, 294;
Kruger 's, President, proposals
— ei'fect on plans of Mr. Cham-
berlain and Sir A. Milner, 270;
Phillips's, Mr., statement that
" We do not care a fig for the
franchise," 232; Second Volks-
raad, institution of, 197; bur-
ghers' approval, 198; Kruger's,
President, responsibility, 197,
199; opposition to, 198; powers
of Second Volksraad, 199; Uit-
landers' dissatisfaction, 199;
vote for, etc., conditions of ob-
taining, 197, 198; seven years'
franchise — retrospective fran-
chise— Afrikander leaders' pro-

posal, 278; Smuts 's, Mr., inter-
view with Mr. Greene on 15th
August, 1899, 280, 283; yielded
by the Bepublic— President Kru-
ger's speech in the Volksraad,
388; Steyn's, President, media-
tion— correspondence between
Sir A. Milner and President
Steyn, 293-303 ; negotiations —
removal of British troops from
borders of South African Bepub-
lic stipulated for, 300; Uitland-
ers' council, dissatisfaction of,
279 ; Volksraad — new members
— permission to speak their own
language, Mr. Greene's letter of
12th September, 1899, and Mr.
Eeitz's reply, 289, 291; opening
— announcement in the presi-
dent 's speech, 369 ; war of 1899-
1902 forced on the Bepublic,
franchise question used as a pre-
text, 269, 270, 272

Fraser, Mr., acting British agent
in Pretoria: Eefusal to receive
petition on Uitlander grievances,
271

Frere, Sir Bartle: Annexation of
1877— deputation of protest
against annexation, interview
with Sir B. Frere, 130; Klein-
fontein meetings — dishonest con-
duct of Sir B. Frere in the mat-
ter of the burghers' petition
against annexation, 138, 145; re-
ception at, 157; open letter to
Messrs. Kruger and Joubert dis-
tributed among burghers, 138;
arrival in Cape Town, 118 ; Kru-
ger and Joubert, Messrs., invita-
tion to, during their mission to
Cape Town, 145; invitation re-
fused, 145; Zulu War of 1879
—request to President Kruger
to accompany expedition, 133;
Kruger 's, President, refusal,
133 ; frontier commission— ap-
pointment, etc., 173; Massouw
declared independent, 179

Gangrene, Boer remedy for, 34
Gasibone, Chief: Diamond-fields
discovered in 1870; British Gov-
ernment contention that terri-

422

INDEX

tory belonged to Montsioa
and Gasibone, 105; expedition
against — President Kruger as-
sistant general— success of ex-
pedition, etc., 64-66
Gelderland: Dutch warship in
which President Kruger jour-
neyed to Europe, 319
German emperor unable to receive
President Kruger owing to a
hunting engagement, 326
Germany : Enthusiastic reception
of President Kruger, 325, 326;
Kruger 's, President, visit in
1877; failure to obtain interven-
tion, 127; reception of Boer
delegates in 1884, 177; veterin-
ary congress at Baden-Baden —
South African Republic repre-
sentative, President Kruger 's
announcement, 371
Gold-fields of the South Afri-
can Republic: Bewaarplaatsen,
change in method of allotment
of— Chief Justice of the Su-
preme Court challenging valid-
ity of the resolutions of the
Yolksraad, 254; dismissal of the
Chief Justice, 257; Kruger 's,
President, defence, 356; com-
pany promoting of valueless
property — precautionary mea-
sures, President Kruger 's speech
in the Volksraad (12th May,
1898), 342; delvers commit-
tee established, 182; depression
among the poorer classes, relief
measures ; warning to the gold-
field banks, etc.— President Kru-
ger's speech delivered at his in-
auguration as president (12th
May, 1898), 340; discovery of,
179, 180 ; beneficial results, 180 ;
South African War largely due
to discovery, 120, 180; Johannes-
burg, origin of, 182; population
of the "Witwatersrand, character
of, 181 ; progress of mining in-
dustry; value of gold extr:
etc., President Kruger 's ai.
nouncement in the Volksraad,
373 ; representation in the Volks-
raad— increased representation
proposed, 281; Rhodes 's, Mr.,

determination to secure, 195;
war of 1899-1902— gold-fields
the first and principal cause of,
180
Goshenland: Foundation of, 170;
incorporation with Cape Colony
due to Mr. Rhodes, 192
Government of the South African
Republic : Charge of secret deal-
ing with Rooigronders, 171;
government resuming office, ap-
pointment of triumvirate, etc.,
151 ; self-government offered by
British Government— President
Kruger 's definition of, 143; war
of 1899-1902— transfer of the
Government from Pretoria — Ma-
chadodorp, 312; Nelspruit, 314
Great Britain: Relations with the
South African Republic (see ti-
tles British Government, British
policy, intervention, etc.)
Great Trek of 1836, 6; education
of children during the trek, 11,
12; losses sustained by Boers,
11; Moselikatse 's attack on Vaal
and Rhenoster encampments, 7;
resolutions enacted by emigrants
— treatment of natives, etc., 6
Greene, Mr. Conyngham: With-
drawal from Pretoria on decla-
ration of war, 306
Gregorowski, Judge: Trial of the
Johannesburg reformers by, 243
Griqualand, West: Diamond-fields

discovered at Kimberley, 105
Grobler, Johannes: Acting Presi-
dent of the South African Re-
public during absence of Presi-
dent Pretorius, 70
Grobler: Peace conference after
Zwartkopje — government dele-
gate, 90
Grobler, Piet: Consul to Loben-
gula, appointment as, 190; mur-
der by Khama's Kaffirs, 191;
pension paid to widow, 192

Hague, President Kruger at the,
326, 327

Hammond, Mr. J. Hays: Jameson
Raid, signature of Johannesburg
letter of appeal, 231; sentence
for conspiracy at Johannesburg

423

INDEX

and complicity in the Jameson
Baid, 244

Harris, Dr. Butherford: Negotia-
tions on behalf of Mr. Bhodes
for extension of chartered com-
pany's territory, 229

Heidelberg : Franchise reform
proposals— President Kruger 's
meeting, 270; gold-fields, dis-
covery of, 179, 180; meeting
during Civil War — President
Kruger 's meeting with the
young Boer, who announced that
Kruger had better not come, 83

Herholdt and Hofmeyer, Messrs.:
Franchise law simplification,
mission to Pretoria, 278

Hervormde Churcn: Besolution of
council, conferring equal rights
on burghers of all evangelical
churches, 76 ; state church of the
South African Bepublic, 74;
substitution of Dopper Church
as state church — intention at-
tributed to President Kruger by
Schoeman, 78; union with Ne-
derduitsch- Gereformeerde Church
in 1881, 207; abandonment of
union — property dispute, 208 ;
conference of 1891 — President
Kruger 's failure to compose
quarrel, 208, 209

Hicks-Beach, Sir M., and the Boer
deputation of protest against
annexation: Memorial, reply to,
130; refusal to receive deputa-
tion, 130

Hilversum, President Kruger at,
327, 328

Hofmeyer, Jan: Swaziland con-
vention, work in securing first
convention, 205

Hofmeyer and Herholdt, Messrs. :
Franchise law simplification,
mission to Pretoria, 278

Hogge, Major W. S. (H. M. Spe-
cial Commissioner) : Letter to
Commandant General Pretorius
requesting him to take over Or-
ange Free State on behalf of the
Boer emigrants, 55

Holland: Boer delegates of 1884,
reception of, 177; Kruger 's,
President, visit in 1877— failure
to obtain intervention, 125; Kru-

ger's, President, life in, 326-
328; Queen of Holland and
President Kruger — offer of war-
ships for journey to Europe,
319; reception of President Kru-
ger, 326

Home rule for Johannesburg:
Chamberlain's, Mr. J., proposal,
245; publication of the dispatch
in the London press before it
reached the Government of the
South African Kepublic — pro-
test, 245

Hudson: Dispute with President
Kruger, as to name of South
African Bepublic, 164

Hunting experiences of President
Kruger, 17-34

Illness of President Kruger, 327

Immigration restriction: Presi-
dent Kruger 's views on, 168

Importation of goods: Eegistra-
tion fees for goods imported
free — provisional agreement
with the Orange Free State —
President Kruger 's announce-
ment in the Volksraad, 370

Independence of the South Af-
rican Bepublic: Paarde Kraal
declaration, 151 ; Salisbury 's,
Lord, reply to Boer demand dur-
ing war of 1899-1902, 383, 392,
393

Independence, War of (1880-
1881) : Ammunition, scarcity
of, among Boers, 153; ammuni-
tion taken from the English,
162; armistice, English request
for, 157; Boer generals serving
in, 153; Boer losses, English ex-
aggeration of, 162; Boer plan
of operations, 152 ; Bronkhorst-
spruit, battle of, 153; treachery,
charge of, against Boers, 154;
Heidelberg, occupation of, 152;
Kaffirs called out against Boers,
153; Kruger 's, President, mis-
sion to Magato's Kaffirs, 155;
Majuba Hill, battle of, 155;
number of Boer forces, 152;
number of men engaged on
either side, 162; Paarde Kraal
mass-meeting — meeting forbid-
den, participants proclaimed

424

INDEX

rebels, 151; resolutions, 151;"
peace negotiations — Boer and
British representatives, 158;
British Colonial Secretary's in-
structions, 158; Jorissen's, Dr.,
third proclamation drawn up by
President Kruger 's order, 160;
Brand 's, President, opposition
to publication, 160; Pretoria
Convention (see that title) ;
provisional protocol, signature
of, by Messrs. Kruger and Jou-
bert, 162; terms of, 162; Wood's,
Sir E., attempt to evade signa-
ture, 160; Eoyal Commission —
appointment and constitution,

162, 163; difficulties in composi-
tion of, 158, 159; South African
Kepublic deprived of power of
interference in native quarrels —
Swaziland taken from South Af-
rican Eepublic, 201; Potchef-
stroom — first shot fired, 152 ;
preparations for war, 146;
taxes, refusal to pay— armed re-
sistance to forced sale of Bezui-
denhout's wagon, 149; territory
claimed by Great Britain, 159,

163, 164

Independence, War of, in the Free
State: A. W. J. Pretorius's
command, 37 note

Industrial Commission, appoint-
ment of, 252; Government
measures for carrying out sug-
gestions, 254; report, 253

Industrial resources, development
of: President Kruger 's views,
168

Intervention by Great Britain in
the internal affairs of the Ke-
public: Cape ministry's note—
intervention unnecessary, 278,
279; condition laid down in al-
ternative proposal to Mr. J.
Chamberlain's joint commission
proposal on the franchise ques-
tion, 281, 284; Chamberlain's,
Mr., dispatch of 30th Au-
gust, 1899, and Mr. Keitz's re-
ply, 285-288; independence of
the Kepublic, endangered by
suzerainty claim — Mr. Keitz 's
letter of 15th September, 1899,
289, 290; Milner's, Sir A., tele-

gram of 31st August, 1899, urg-
ing prompt and decided action,
286; need for intervention— Sir
A. Milner's dispatch to Mr.

! J. Chamberlain, 272; Steyn 's,
President, dispatch of 27th
September, 1899, 294; ultima-
tum of 9th October, 1899— final
protest by the Republic, 304,
305; violation of London Con-
vention of 1884— charge against
Mr. Chamberlain, 279

Intervention of Foreign Powers:
Annexation of 1877 — commis-
sion of delegates empowered to
appeal for, 122; failure to ob-
tain intervention, 126; Kruger,
President, a member of commis-
sion, 122, 125; war of 1899-
1902— deputation to Europe,
309

Isandlhwana, British defeat by
Zulus at, 134

Jameson, Dr.: Matabele, expedi-
tion against, 195; raid (see
Jameson Raid)

Jameson Raid: Advance of the
raiders — Dr. Jameson ignoring
all requests to withdraw, 235,
236 ; Chamberlain, Mr. J., charge
of complicity against, 228, 230,
248, 249; committee of inquiry
— charge against the British
Government of withholding tele-
grams proving Mr. Chamber-
lain's guilt, 230; telegrams
cited in evidence of the charge,
229, 230; deputation of reform-
ers to Pretoria demanding per-
mission for Dr. Jameson to enter
Johannesburg, 236 ; excitement
among the burghers — desire to
shoot down the Johannesburg
" den with all the rebels in it,"
240; ignorance of the Transvaal
authorities, 232; Johannesburg,
disturbed condition of — arms
and ammunition, concealment of,
in the Simmer and Jack mine,
228; committee to maintain
order, appointment of, 236; dep-
utations to President Kruger
in support of the Government,
235; flight <f thousands of in-

425

INDEX

habitants, 234 ; mediation — Sir
H. Eobinson's offer, 236, 239;
Phillips's, Mr. Lionel, attack on
the Government, 231 ; police con-
fined to barracks in order to
avoid a collision, 234; proclama-
tions by President Kruger stat-
ing that the conspirators consti-
tuted only a small part of the
population, 235, 243; reformers'
letter of appeal — undated letter
handed to Dr. Jameson to serve
as an excuse for invasion, 231;
unconditional surrender — Presi-
dent Kruger 's terms, 239, 241,
242; volunteer corps organized
by the Eeform Committee, 234;
work of the Transvaal National
Union in raising and maintain-
ing a ferment at Johannesburg,
228; Kruger, President— charge
of keeping a horse saddled ready
for flight, 234 note; Krugers-
dorp engagement, 237; procla-
mation by Sir H. Eobinson call-
ing upon Dr. Jameson and his
force to withdraw across the
frontier, 236; punishment of cul-
prits—Kruger 's, President, pro-
posal to hand over Jameson
and his men to the British Gov-
ernment, 241 ; Chamberlain 's,
Mr. J., gratitude, 242; objec-
tions by the commandants, 241;
penalties inflicted, 242; reform
leaders at Johannesburg — arrest
and trial for conspiracy, 242,
243; Ehodes, Colonel, sent to
Johannesburg to represent Mr.
Ehodes, 230; Ehodes 's, Mr.,
plans and intrigues, 228; strate-
gic positions on the frontier —
negotiations for extension of
Chartered Company 's territory,
229

Jeppe (only printer in the South
African Eepublic) : Steyn's de-
mand for surrender of, 72, 73

Johannesburg: Dynamite explosion
of 19th February, 1896, 244;
franchise reform, President Kru-
ger's proposals, 270; home rule
— Mr. Chamberlain's proposal,
245; publication of the dispatch
in the London press before it

reached the Government of the
South African Eepublic — pro-
test, 245; Jameson Eaid (see
that title) ; Jorissen, Dr., ap-
pointed as special judge, 197;
Kruger 's, President, visit in
1887, 182; Kruger 's, President,
visit in 1888, 196; insult to
President Kruger, 199; riot be-
fore house where President Kru-
ger was staying — flag of the
Eepublic hauled down, 200;
Loch's, Sir H., proposed visit,
abandonment of, on President
Kruger 's advice, 221; munici-
pality— President Kruger 's pro-
mise of, 196, 243; origin of,
182; railways (see railways);
South African League — branch
at Johannesburg, formation of,
266, 267; meeting to protest
against arrests for contraven-
tion of the Pass Law — hostile
demonstration, 267; petitions to
the Queen on Uitlander griev-
ances, 270, 271
Jones, Policeman : Action in shoot-
ing Edgar in attempting to ar-
rest him for murder — Mr. Cham-
berlain 's misrepresentations, 268
Jooste's, Dr., letter in the Zuid
Afrikaan: Annexation opposed
only by a handful of irrecon-
cilables, 126; Kruger 's, Presi-
dent, reply — suggestion of a
plebiscite rejected by British
Government, 126
Jorissen, Dr.: Annexation of the
South African Eepublic, 1877—
attitude as to, 126; commission
appointed to discuss affairs with
Sir T. Shepstone, member of,
116; commission of delegates to
Europe and America, member of,
122, 125; Burgers 's, President,
discovery of a useful servant to
the state, 109; Burgers, Presi-
dent, supported by, 117; dis-
missal from state attorneyship
—President Kruger 's protest,
174; Independence, War of,
peace negotiations of 1881 —
Boer representative, 158; third
proclamation drawn up at Presi-
dent Kruger 's request, 160;

426

INDEX

Brand's, President, opposition, Keate, Governor of Natal: Deci-

160; special judge for Johan- sion as arbitrator in the dia-

nesburg — appointment, 197 mond-fields dispute, 106

Joubert, Christian: Church union Khama: Piet Grobler murdered

of 1881, leader of seceders by Khama 's Kaffirs, 191; pen-

from, 207 sion paid to Grobler 's widow,

Joubert, Commandant Frans: 192

Battle of Bronkhorstspruit, Jou- Kimberley: Diamond-fields discov-

bert's success, 154 ered in 1870, 105; rebellion of

Joubert, Commandant: Secucuni mining population, 182

war, retreat due to lack of re- Klerksdorp gold-fields, discovery

inforcements, 111 of, 181

Joubert, General: Adendorff Klopper, Christian: President of

trek— opposition to President the South African Kepublic

Kruger, 206; burgher volunteers Volksraad, 74

in the Moshette-Montsioa war — Kock, Jan: Joint commission

Joubert sent to recall, 170; at Potchefstroom — state church

commandant general, election as, question, 78

151; re-election in 1884, 179; Korannas (see Massomo, Chief)

commissioners for the western Kosi Bay: Cession to Transvaal by

border, appointment of, 171; Swaziland Agreement, 204

death of, 309, 382; gold-fields Kotze, Chief Justice: Disputing

discovery, reception of news, validity of resolutions of the

180; Independence, War of — Volksraad, 254; dismissal of the

Boer losses, extent of, 162; pro- Chief Justice, 257; Kruger 's,

visional peace protocol, signa- President, defence, 356; Joris-

ture of, 162; Massouw, expedi- sen, Dr., dismissed by, 174;

tion against, 179; military presidency, candidate for, in

capacity of, 154, 155; peace, 1893, 209

maintenance of, in 1879 — fail- Kraep, Jan: Secretary to Messrs.

ure of mission to Natal, 136, Kruger and Fourie on their mis-

137; support of President Kru- sion to the Orange Free State,

ger, 135, 136; presidency of 91

South African Eepublic — can- Kruger, Caspar Jan Hendrik,

didature in 1882, 167; Candida- father of President Kruger, 3;

ture in 1888, 189; candidature Portuguese frontier delimitation

in 1S93, 209; second deputation commissioner, 1844, 13

of protest against annexation, Kruger, Gert (uncle to President

member of, 129; Shepstone's, Kruger), 3

Sir T., attack on, 130; trium- Kruger, Mrs. (first wife): Death

virate of 1880, member of, 151 of, 13

Judges of the Supreme Court: Kruger, Mrs. (second wife):

Kruger 's, Piesident, address on Death of, 328; separation from

his election as president (12th the president on his departure

May, 189S), 350 from Pretoria, 310

Judicial functionaries and criti- Kruger, Nicholas (brother to Presi-

cism: Law requiring a promise dent Kruger), 25

not to assume the right of toet- Kruger, Piet (son of President

sing the validity of the laws, 257 Kruger) : Member of mission to

Migato's Kaffirs, 155

Kaffir chiefs, expeditions against Kruger, Theunis (uncle to Presi-

(see names of chiefs) dent Kruger), 3, 21; hunting

Kaffirs (see native question) experiences shared with Presi-

Kampen: President Kruger 's visit, dent Kruger— panther-kilkng,

328 29

427

INDEX

Krugersdorp : Gold-fields, discov-
ery of, 181; Jameson Kaid en-
gagement at, 237

" Kwaaie Vrouw ": President
Kruger's reference to Queen
Victoria, 259

Language (see Dutch Language)

Lanyon, Sir O. : Kleinfontein
meeting, presence at, 138; suc-
cession to Sir T. Shepstone — un-
fitted for post, etc., 135

Leonard, Mr. Charles: Jameson
Eaid — signature of Johannes-
burg letter of appeal, 231 ; Uit-
landers' grievances — manifesto,
232

Leyds, Dr.: Envoy Extraordinary
of the South African Eepublic
in Europe, appointment, 264;
Kruger, President, bringing Dr.
Leyds from Holland, 178; State
Secretary of the South African
Eepublic, election as, 189; re-
election, 264; suzerainty ques-
tion, reply of 16th April, 1898,
250 ; Swaziland Agreement,
draft proposals — Dr. Leyds 's
denial that he had signed and
approved draft deed, 204, 205;
western borde. disturbances ;
mission of Dr. Leyds, 173

Liebenberg Vlei: Home of Kru-
ger family, 9

Lion-hunting: President Kruger's
experiences, 18, 19; canine fidel-
ity, 20; first lion-hunt, 17; roar
produced by treading on body
of lion shoitly after death, 19

Livingstone: Arms repaired and
stored for Bechuana chief Se-
cheli, 40

Little Free State: Permission
granted to Transvaal to annex,
204

Lobengula: Matabele disturbances
(see Matabeleland and Mashona-
land). Eelations with South
African Eepublic consul, re-
quest for appointment of, 190;
murder of Consul Piet Grobler
by Khama's Kaffirs, 191; treaty
placing country under protection
of South African Eepublic, 190

Loch, Sir Henry: Interview with

President Kruger at Norval's
Point, 200; Pretoria visit— Brit-
ish demonstration offensive to
the burghers, 220; Volksraad
resolution, 224; Swaziland ques-
tion— conference at Blignauts-
pont, 203; draft proposals, 204;
Transvaal National Union — dep-
utation; correctness of Sir H.
Loch's public attitude — charge
of treachery, 221, 222; Johan-
nesburg proposed visit, abandon-
ment of, on President Kruger's
advice, 221

Lombard, Stephanus: President of
commission appointed to act in
Schoeman affair, 74

London Convention, 1884: Article
4 — foreign relations of the Ee-
public, interpretation of — dif-
ference of opinion between Mr.
Chamberlain and the South Af-
rican Eepublic, 249 ; text of Ar-
ticle 4, 249 note; Chamberlain's,
Mr., invitation to President Kru-
ger to visit England to confer
on Transvaal matters — discus-
sion of Article 4 of the London
Convention precluded, 245; Kru-
ger's, President, counter condi-
tions, 246; clor'ng the drifts to
goods from over the seas — viola-
tion of the convention, 227 ; dep-
utation from South African
Eepublic resulting in grant of
London Convention, 174 ; England
willing to receive, 174; members
of deputation, 174; negotiations
with Lord Derby, 175, 176; rail-
way concession — foundation of
the Netherlands South African
Eailway Company, 177; railway
loan, failure to raise, 177; re-
ception on the Continent on re-
turn journey, 177, 178 ; Eobin-
son, Sir H., President Kruger's
collision with, 176; franchise
question — President Kruger's
speech in the Volksraad, 376,
377, 378; intervention of Great
Britain in the internal affairs of
the Eepublic (see that title).
Natives, dealings of South Af-
rican Eepublic with — conditions
of convention, 171, 172; signa-

428

INDEX

ture of convention, 17(5; Stella-
land and Goshenland difficulties
— Transvaal Government unable
to intervene under the conven-
tion, 170, 171; suzerainty ques-
tion (see that title) ; terms of
convention, 175, 176; violation
of, by the South African Repub-
lic— Mr. Chamberlain's conten-
tion—dispatch of 1897, 249;
dispatch of 27th Julv, 1899,
279

Lorenzo Marques: Detention of
President Kruger at the Portu-
guese governor's house on the
way to Europe in 1900, 318

Lorenzo Marques to Pretoria Rail-
way (see Delagoa Bay Railway)

Lottering (Kaffir girl) : Attempt
to prevent Grobler's murder,
191

Loubet, President: Reception of
President Kruger in 1900, 324

Louis Trichardt, village to be so
called to commemorate the ex-
pedition against the rebellious
tribe of Ramapulaan — Presi-
dent Kruger 's announcement in
the Volksraad, 372

Machado, Governor, kindness of,
during President Kruger 's de-
tention at Delagoa Bay in 1900,
318

Machadodorp: War of 1899-1902,
transfer of the Government
from Pretoria to Machadodorp,
312

Machem, Chief: Raids in Maka-
paanspoort district, President
Kruger 's successful expedition,
etc., 100-102

Magato, Chief: Aid given to
English in War of Independeni je
— President Kruger 's mission to
Magato, 155 ; escape from Mose-
likatse, 10 ; President Kruger in-
troduced to Moshesh bv Magato,
61

Mahura, Chief : Diamond-fields
dispute — Mahura included with
Chiefs Waterboer and Montsioa
in arbitration, 106; Gasibone ex-
pedition, action in — submission,

■ointment as chief in place of
(iasibone, etc., 65, 66

.Majuba Hill, battle of, 155; war
of 1899-1902—" Revenge for
.Majuba Hill," a cause of, 120

Makapaan, Chief: Expedition to
avenge attack on women and
children traveling between Zout-
pansberg and Pretoria, 43, 44;
end of resistance — Kaffirs
starved into surrender, etc.,
47

Makapaanspoort : Kruger 's, Presi-
dent, visit to Kaffir chiefs in
1868, 101; Machem, Chief, sub-
dued by President Kruger, 100-
102; capture of Kaffir women,
101; restoration in considera-
tion of Machem 's good be-
havior, 101

Makatese tribes: Submission to
Zulu chief, Moselikatse, 7

Malan, Commandant : Conditions
of Dr. Jameson's surrender,
237, 238

.Malan, Jacob: Command of Aap-
jes River post in Civil War, 77

Malapoch, expedition against :
British subjects' efforts to es-
cape military service, 218, 219,
377

Malnianie gold-fields, discovery of,
181

Maniagali, Chief: Trial and pun-
ishment for false information
leading to Potgieter's attack on
Strijdpoort, 11

Ma in pur— Murder of Chief Secu-
cuni: Expedition to punish
Mampur, 169

Mankoroane, Kaffir chief: Mont-
sioa, assistance to, in his war
with Moshette— offer to English
volunteers, 170

Mansvelt, Prof., education laws of
1882 drafted by, 216 note

Mapela, Chief: Kruger, President,
"fetching Mapela down from
his mountain, " 62 ; Moshesh,
connection with, 62 ; Potgieter,
Herman, murder of, 42, 43; ex-
peditions to avenge murder —
President Kruger assistant gen-
eral, 44, 47-49; trial, 62 note

Mapoch, Chief, protection of Mam-

400

INDEX

pur, Secucimi's murderer: Ex-
pedition against Mapoch, 169

Maraba's town: Expedition to re-
cover stolen cattle, commanded
by President Kruger, 48

Marabastad: Chief settlement in
Zoutpansberg district, 100

Marias, Commandant Jan, officer
of Schoeman's party induced to
accompany President Kruger to
Pretoria, 83

Mare : Boer representative in peace
negotiations of 1881, 158

Marriage: Civil marriage regarded
as natural rite by the Boers,
13 note

Marriage of President Kruger:
First marriage in 1842 (Miss
Maria du Plessis), 12, 13; sec-
ond marriage (Miss G. S. F. "W.
du Plessis), 14

Marseilles: Welcome of President
Kruger on arrival in 1900, 322,
323

Mashonaland: Mr. Ehodes's in-
trigues (see Matabeleland and
Mashonaland)

Massouw : Moshette — Montsioa
war, share in — offer of land to
white volunteers, 169, 170; de-
feat of opponents, 170; revolt
in 1885 — success of Boer expe-
dition— Massouw is killed, etc.,
179

Matabele disturbances: Boer en-
campments, Matabele attack on,
during Great Trek, 6; protec-
tion of women and children,
South African Eepublic offer of
assistance to the British Gov-
ernment, 233; Zeerust, defeat of
Matabele by Boers, 8

Matabeleland and Mashonaland :
Cecil Ehodes's intrigues to avert
ascendancy of South African
Eepublic, 190-192 ; annexation
of territory, 194; charter grant-
ing right to certain monopolies
and independent action, means
used to obtain, etc., 193, 194;
Chartered Company, formation
of, 194; concession obtained
from Lobengula, 193; gold,
failure to discover, 195; Irish
faction in British Parliament,

attempt to unite, 194; massacre
of Mashonas by Lobengula, pun-
ishment of — death of Loben-
gula, 195; Matabeleland and
Mashonaland, intrigues to avert
ascendancy of South African
Eepublic — murder of Grobler
due to Mr. Ehodes, etc., 191;
Eobinson, Sir H., treaty with
Lobengula, 193

Meyer, Lucas: Election as presi-
dent of " New Eepublic," 184

Menitjes: Delegates for Schoe-
man's party at the peace con-
ference after Zwartkopje, 90

Methuen, Lord, Capture of, by
De la Eey: President Kruger 's
desire for Lord Methuen 's re-
lease, 328, 329

Military service: Exemption of
persons not in possession of -full
burgher rights on payment of a
certain sum of money, 220;
Malapoch expedition, efforts of
British subjects to escape mili-
tary service, 218, 219, 377

Milner, Sir A.: Anti-British move-
ment among the Afrikander
population, alleged, 271; auto-
cratic character of, 257; gov-
ernor of Cape Colony and High
Commissioner for South Africa,
appointment in 1897, 257; par-
tisanship, charge of, 269; policy
— ' ' The power of Afrikanderdom
must be broken, ' ' 258 ; Swazi-
land, Bunu question — interfer-
ence of Sir A. Milner, 265, 266;
Uitlander grievances — confer-
ence with President Kruger at
Bloemfontein, 31st May, 1899—
unyielding attitude of Sir A.
Milner, 273; intervention, need
for— dispatch to Mr. Chamber-
lain, 272, 286

Mining committee established, 182

Mining industry: Beivaarplaatsen,
change in method of allotment
—Chief Justice of Supreme
Court challenging validity of
Volksraad's resolutions, 254;
dismissal of chief justice, 257;
Kruger 's, President, defence,
356; company promoting on
valueless property— precaution-

430

INDEX

ary measures, President Kru-
ger's speech in the Volksraad
(12th May, 1898), 342; Delvers
Committee established, 182; de-
pression among the poorer
classes — relief measures, Presi-
dent Kruger's statement (12th
May, 1898), 340; Industrial
Commission, appointment of,
252; Government measures for
carrying out suggestions, 253,
254; report, 253; progress in—
value in gold extracted— Presi-
dent Kruger 's announcement in
the Volksraad, 373

Mission of President Kruger:
Early prophecy, 3

Missionaries: Boer attitude
towards, 40, 41

Mobilo, Chief: Evidence in the
diamond-fields arbitration, 106

Montsioa, Chief: Appeal for pro-
tection to South African Repub-
lic, 171; proclamation by South
African Republic of protector-
ate over Chiefs Moshette and
Montsioa, 171, 172; British
Government disallowing proc-
lamation— proclamation recalled,
172 ; diamond-fields discovered
in 1870— British Government
contention that territory be-
longed to Montsioa and Gasi-
bone, 105, 106; expedition
against, in 1853 — President Kru-
ger's action, etc., 50-52; Mo-
shette, war with, 170; suzerainty
of Great Britain over Montsioa 's
territory declared, 172, 173

Moselele, Chief: Murders commit-
ted by, in South African Repub-
lic, 38

Moselikatse, Chief: Friendly rela-
tions with South African Repub-
lic, 190; Great Trek of 1836—
attack on Boer encampments, 7;
defeat by Boers at Zeerust, 8;
Potgieter's expedition of 1839,
failure of, 9; raids of— expedi-
tion against, 20; tyranny of, 7,
107

Moselikatse Pass: Potgieter's at-
tack on, in 1840, 10

Moshesh, Chief: Basuto War of
1865 (see that title). Gift of

saddle-horse to President Kru-
ger, 63; Orange Free State,
troubles with, 59, 60; Kruger's,
President, success in negotiating
peace, 61-63; polygamy, views
on, 62

Moshette, Chief: Protectorate pro-
claimed by South African Re-
public, 171, 172; proclamation
disallowed by Great Britain and
recalled, 172; war with Mont-
sioa— offer of land to English
and Boer volunteers, 169, 170;
defeat of opponents, 170; Stel-
laland and Goshenland founded
by white volunteers, 170; Trans-
vaal proclamation forbidding
burghers to volunteer, 170; vol-
unteers' icfusal to obey, 170

Mother of President Kruger, 3

Name of the South African Re-
public: Name Transvaal State
retained under Pretoria Conven-
tion, 164; Kruger's, President,
persistence in use of name South
African Republic, 164; restora-
tion of name South African Re-
public by London Convention,
164

Natal: Boer attempt to treat frr
acquisition of land, failure of,
9; railway communication with
Johannesburg, schemes for —
Kruger 's, President, rejection
of, 182-185; scheme agreed to
by President Kruger at first
Swaziland Convention, 205

National Union (see titles Trarc-
vaal National Union and Reform
Committee)

Native chiefs: Arms, smuggling
of — Livingstone's breach of
Sand River Convention, 40, 41 ;
expeditions against (see names
of chiefs). Independence, War
of — aid given to English by M:i-
gato, 155; Kaffirs called out
against Boers, 153; raids into
Cape Colony, 3; royal commis-
sion of 1881— South African Re-
public deprived of power of in-
terference in native quarrels,
170 ; Swaziland Convention-
South African Republic debarred

431

INDEX

from treating with natives in
North and North-West by first
convention, 205

Native question: Arms for the na-
tives— Livingstone's breach of
Sand Eiver Convention, 39, 40;
Boer treatment of natives — chil-
dren captured in warfare, dis-
posal of, 47, 101 ; Great Trek of
1836 — resolutions, etc., 6; prin-
ciple followed in dealing with
native tribes, 40; cannibalism,
evidences discovered by Presi-
dent Kruger during expedition
to avenge Potgieter's murder,
47; Kruger 's, President, opin-
ions on — speeches of 1882 and
1888, 41 note, 168. Labor: Dif-
ficulties in dealing with Kaffir
servants, 14; industrial commis-
sion, suggestions and Govern-
ment measures, 253, 254; politi-
cal nature of question — Presi-
dent Kruger 's attitude towards
the natives, 41 note

Native territories (see their
names)

Naturalization laws of the South
African Bepublic, 197, 198;
Bloemfontein Conference propo-
sals, 272, 273

Nederduitsch-Gereformeerde

Church: Union with Hervormde
Church, 207

Nelspruit, transfer of the Govern-
ment of the South African Be-
public during the war of 1899-
1902, 314

Netherlands South African Bail-
way Company: Foundation of,
177; repayment of loan — Presi-
dent Kruger 's announcement in
the Volksraad, 372

" New Bepublic," origin of — in-
corporation with South African
Bepublic, 184

Niekerk, G. T. van, administrator
of Stellaland, 170

Nigel gold-fields, discovery of, 180

Nyhoft, secretary to President
Kruger— sleeping through M>
shesh's night attack, 96

Ohrigstad in Lydenburg district,
foundation of, 14

Orange Free State: Alliances with
the South African Bepublic
(see alliances). Annexation
by Great Britain — President
Steyn's proclamation, 409; an-
nexation by Great Britain of
South African Bepublic, resolu-
tion by Free State Volksraad in
favor of repeal, 139; barter of
territory to Boer emigrants of
1836, 6; Basuto War of 1865
(see that title). Boundary be-
tween South African Bepublic
and Orange Free State — Presi-
dent Kruger appointed to repre-
sent South African Bepublic in
deciding, 85 ; Civil War with the
South African Bepublic (see
Civil War). Constitution of,
making as similar as possible to
that of South African Bepublic
— President Kruger 's announce-
ment in the Volksraad, 369 ; Gasi-
bone expedition, share in, 64, 65 ;
loan concluded with the South
African Bepublic — President
Steyn's announcement, 383; Mo-
shesh's raids — President Kru-
ger 's successful mediation, 61-
63 ; Moghette— Montsioa War,
volunteers from Orange Free
State for, 170; presidency (see
that title) ; Pretorius, M. W.—
claims on Orange Free State,
compromise effected with South
African Bepublic, 58, 59; elec-
tion as president, 69; visit in
1860, 69; registration fees for
goods imported free into the
South African Bepublic, pro-
visional agreement — President
Kruger 's announcement in the
Volksraad, 370 ; Steyn, President
(see Steyn) ; transfer by Great
Britain to Commandant General
Pretorius and the Boer emi-
grants, 56; Volksraad, opening
speech by President Steyn, 381;
war between Great Britain,
South African Bepublic, and
Orange Free State (see that ti-
tle); War of Independence, A.
W. J. Pretorius 's command in,
37 note

Owen, C. M. (H. M. Special Com-

432

INDEX

missioner) : Letter to Command-
ant General Pretorius requesting
him to take over Orange Free
State on behalf of the Boer emi-
grants, 56

Paarde Kraal Meeting: Declara-
tion of independence, 151

Panther-hunting: President Kru-
ger's experience, 29

Parents of President Kruger, 3

Paris: Exhibition of 1900— educa-
tional distinctions conferred on
the South African Kepublic,
217; international exhibition of
1878 — President Kruger 's visit,
132; welcome accorded to Presi-
dent Kruger in 1900, 324

Parker, President of English Min-
ing Kepublic, at the diamond-
fields threatening war against
Pretorius, 105

Peace: Termination of the war
(see war between Great Britain,
South African Kepublic, and Or-
ange Free State)

Peace conference after Zwart-
kopje: Constitutions and deci-
sions of, 90, 91

Phillips, Mr. Lionel: Attack on
the Government, speech at open-
ing of Chamber of Mines new
buildings, 231 ; franchise— Mr.
Phillips's statement that " We
do not care a fig for the fran-
chise, ' ' 232 ; Jameson Raid, sig-
nature of Johannesburg letter of
appeal, 231; sentence for con-
spiracy at Johannesburg and
complicity in the Jameson Raid,
244

Pittius, Gey van, administration of
Goshenland, 170

Plague: Bubonic plague confer-
ence— President Kruger 's an-
nouncement in the Volksraad,
370

Plessis, Louw du: Serving the
guns in battle against Secheli,
39

Plessis, Miss Gezina Suzanna
Frederika Wilhelmina du: Mar-
riage with President Kruger, 14 ;
separation from husband and
death, 310, 328

Plessis, Miss Maria du: Marriage
with President Kruger, 12, 13;
death, 13

Population: Number of male white
population of South African
Republic, 129

Portugal, attitude of, during the
war of 1899-1902: President
Kruger 's detention at Delagoa
Bay, 318

Portuguese possessions in South
African frontier : Commissions
of 1844 to determine, 13

Postma, Dr. : Founder of Christe-
lijk-Gereformeerde Church, 75

Potehefstroom : Wedding of Presi-
dent Kruger, 13

Potgieter, Andries (son of Her-
man) : Murder by Chief Ma-
pela, 43

Potgieter, General Piet: Command
in expedition to avenge murder
of Herman Potgieter, 44; death
— rescue of body by President
Kruger, 46

Potgieter, Hendrik: Commandant
and leader of the Great Trek
of 1836-37; electiou as com-
mandant for life, 37 note; ex-
pedition of 1839 against Mose-
likatse — failure of, 9; Kruger,
President, taking part in, 9, 10;
Matabele, pursuit and defeat of,
at Zeerust, 8; Moselikatse Pass
—storming of Kaffir town in
1840, 10; Strijdpoort— attack
on Rooi Kaffirs due to false in-
formation, 11

Potgieter, Herman: Murder by
Chief Mapela, 42, 43; expedi-
tion to avenge — President Kru-
ger's exploits, 45, 46

Pott, Consul-General : President
Kruger 's visit on his way to
Europe, 318

Presidency of the Orange Free
State: Boshoff, President, re-
tirement of, 69; Pretorius, M.
VS., election of, 69; Reitz, F. W.,
election of. 195, 196; Steyn,
Judge M. T., election of, 258
Presidency of the South African
Republic : Acting president
during President Kruger 's ab-
sence in Europe— appointment of

433

INDEX

General Schalk Burger, 316;
ballot — first election under the
new law, 1897, 258; Burgers,
Thomas Francois, election of,
108; candidates in 1893, 209;
election of 1893— violence of
electoral struggle, 209; Grob-
ler, Johannes — acting presi-
dent during absence of Preto-
rius, 70; Joubert, General, candi-
datures, 167, 189, 209; Kruger,
President — acting as president
after the annexation of 1877,
122; candidature in 1882, 167;
first candidature, 114; first
presidency, 168; expiration, 185;
fourth presidency, 1898, 263;
speech on installation, 263, 264
note; inauguration — speeches
(12th May, 1898)— Kruger 's,
President, speech, 338; re-
quested to become a candidate,
108; second presidency, 1888,
189; third presidency, 1893-
1898, 213; protest by Joubert
party, 213

Pretoria: Kruger, President, de-
parture of, 316; Loch's, Sir H.,
visit ; British demonstrations
offensive to the burghers, 220;
Volksraad resolution, 219; occu-
pation by Lord Eoberts in June,
1900, 312; railway to Lorenzo
Marques (see Delagoa Bay Kail-
way) ; Swaziland Convention-
conference between President
Kruger and Sir H. Loch, 222 _

Pretoria Convention of 1881 : Dis-
satisfaction among burghers-
convention accepted with res-
ervation, 163; Kruger 's, Presi-
dent, vain appeal to Gladstone,
163; name " Transvaal State,"
retention of, 163, 164; suze-
rainty clause, opposition to, 163

Pretorius: Murder by Basutos, 95

Pretorius, Commandant General A.
W. J.: Death of, 55; Indepen-
dence, War of, command in —
election as commandant general
of Potchefstroom and Eusten-
burg districts, 37 note; Mont-
sioa, Chief, expedition against,
50; Potgieter's, Herman, mur-
der, avenging expedition com-

manded by, 42, 44; Sand Eiver
Convention, 37

Pretorius, M. W. : Election in
1858, 56, 69; resignation of, 70,
107 ; Eobinson 's candidature
supported by President Kruger,
108; Volksraad resolution that
state president should hold no
other office, 70

Pretorius, President: Annexation
— election as chairman of Pleb-
iscite Committee, 127, 128; ar-
rest on charge of high treason,
142; liberation of Pretorius by
force — attempt prevented by
Kruger and Pretorius, 142; re-
lease on bail, 143; Civil War —
joint commission — Pretorius
serving for Schoeman's party
on second joint commission, 81;
opposition commission, member
of, 91; peace conference after
Zwartkopje — delegate for Schoe-
man's party, 90; commandant
general of the South African
Eepublic, appointment as, 56;
diamond-fields dispute, agree-
ment to arbitration in — Presi-
dent Kruger 's disapproval, 106;
Gasibone, expedition against —
appointment of President Kru-
ger as assistant general, 64;
Kruger 's, President, mediation
between Orange Free State and
Moshesh, Pretorius sharing in,
59, 60; Orange Free State-
claims to government of, 56, 57;
Boshoff's, President, armed re-
sistance, 57; compromise ef-
fected, 58; Kruger 's, President,
mediation, 57; election of Preto-
rius as president, 69 ; resignation
of presidency, 88; peace, main-
tenance of, in 1879— support of
President Kruger, 136; peace
negotiations of 1881, Boer rep-
resentative in, 158; presidency
of South African Eepublic —
election in 1858, 56, 69; resigna-
tion, 70, 107; in consequence of
upshot of diamond-fields dispute,
107, 108; president of Govern-
ment of South African Eepublic,
appointment as, 56; proclama-
tion of the British Government

434

INDEX

offering self-government to the
South African Republic— read-
ing at Nauwpoort, etc., 143; re-
turn from Orange Free State,
73; Secucuni War — Kruger's,
President, recommendation of
Pretorius to serve as fighting
general, 111; triumvirate of
1880, member of, 151; Zoutpans-
berg expedition — failure to sup-
ply President Kruger with am-
munition, 99

Prinsloo: Peace conference after
Zwartkopje — Government dele-
gate, 90

Proes, state attorney of South Af-
rican Republic, 73

Punishment and chastisement, dis-
tinction between, 59

Queen Victoria: "Kwaaie vrouw,"
President Kruger's jest, 259

Railways: Extension of railways,
President Kruger's views on,
168 ; Johannesburg, access to, by
rail — President Kruger refusing
requests of Cape Colony and
Natal till Delagoa Railway
should be finished, 182-184; in-
dignation in Cape Colony, 185;
Kosi Bay and strip of land
ceded to South African Repub-
lic for railway construction, 204 ;
Natal scheme for railway to Jo-
hannesburg—Kruger 's, Presi-
dent, acceptance of scheme, 203;
Swaziland Convention scheme
agreed to, 205; Orange Free
State railways— President Kru-
ger's proposals, 184; acceptance
of, 196; profits division pro-
posal (see tariff war) ; tariff,
reduction of — Industrial Com-
mission suggestions and Govern-
ment measures, 253

Ramapulaan native tribe revolt, ex-
pedition against : President
Kruger's announcement in the
Volksraad, 372

Red Cross abuses, alleged, during
the war of 1899-1902 (see War)

Reform Committee: Arrest and
trial of reform leaders in Jan-
uary, 1896, 243; deputation to

Pretoria to demand permission
for Dr. Jameson to enter Jo-
hannesburg, 236; name adopted
by the Transvaal National
Union, 234; Rhodes, Colonel,
the only man who understood
his business, 234. (See also
Transvaal National Union)

Reitz, F. W.: Character of, 196;
franchise question, stages of
(see title franchise question) ;
president of Orange Free State,
election as, 195, 196; state
secretary of the South African
Republic, election as, 264

Religious advancements of South
African Republic : President
Kruger's views on, 168

Rensburg, Adrian van: Hunting
experiences shared with Presi-
dent Kruger— elephant hunting,
27, 29

Rensburg, President van: Civil
War — joint commission at Pot-
chef stroom, proposals, 78; spe-
cial court established by joint
commission summoned by presi-
dent, 82; nomination as acting
state president of the South Af-
rican Republic, 74

Retief, Piet, murder of, 9

Rhenoster encampment : Mose-
likatse's attack, 7

Rhinoceros hunting : President
Kruger's experiences— adventure
with cow witharnoster, 22, 25;
thumb blown off by explosion of
rifle, 31

Rhodes, Cecil: Adendorff trek,
opposition to, 206 j character,
political creed, etc., 191-195;
closing the drifts— retaliatory ac-
tion as premier of Cape Colony,
227, 228; delvers committee,
member of, 182; financial influ-
ence, 192 ; gold-fields of South
African Republic, determination
to secure, 195; imperialistic
dreams, 190; Jameson Raid (see
that title); Kruger's, President,
attempt to win over, by offer
of Delagoa Bay, 192 note; po-
litical career in Cape Colony,
192; South African Republic
western frontier question, Mr.

435

INDEX

Ehocles's mission, 171, 173; Kooigrond, capital of Goshenland,

Stellalaud and Goshenland — in- 171

corporation with Cape Colony Boos, Tielman: President Kruger's

due to Cecil Ehodes, 192 ; Swazi- teacher, 12

land question— first convention, Eooyen, Van: Assistance rendered
influence in, 206; presence at to President Kruger during bat-
conference, 203 tie against Sechebt, 39

Rhodes, Colonel, and the Jameson Eotterdam: President Kruger's

Eaid: Only man among the visit, 327

reformers who understood his Eowlands, Colonel: Command of

business, 234; representative of Secucuni expedition, 132

Cecil Ehodes in Johannesburg, Eoyal commission of 1881 (see in-

230; sentence for conspiracy at dependence, war of, peace nego-

Johannesburg and complicity in tiations)

the Jameson Eaid, 244; signa- Eustenburg: President Kruger's

ture of Johannesburg letter of meeting with reference to fran-

appeal, 231 chise reform, 270

Bing presented to Mr. Kruger by
English friend of the Boers,

131 Salisbury, Marquis of, and the

Eoberts, Field-Marshal Earl: War of 1899-1902: Eeply to

Bronkhorstspruit, battle of — Ee- President Kruger's application

vival of charge of treachery for peace negotiations — Presi-

against the Boers, 154; war of dent Kruger's comments, 383,

1899-1902 (see war) 392, 393; statement that the Ee-

Eobertse, Frans, wounded by first publics would not be allowed to

shot fired in War of Indepen- retain a shred of independence,

dence, 152 310

Eobinson: Candidate for Presi- Sanibaanland: Annexation by Eng-

dency supported by President land, protest of the Transvaal,

Kruger, 108 224; incorporation with the

Eobinson, Sir H. (High Commis- Transvaal proposed, 203

sioner) : Johannesburg, disturbed Sand Elver Convention: Annexa-

state of — offer of mediation, tion of 1877, a violation of, 119;

236, 239; Kruger's, Presi- Kruger, President, accompany -

dent, esteem for, 176; London ing Pretorius; Livingstone's

Convention negotiations — colli- breach of —storing and repair-

sion with President Kruger, 176 ; ing arms for natives, 40

Matabele disturbances— reply to Seheveningen : President Kruger's

South African Eepublic's offer visit to Mr. Wolmarans, 328

of assistance, 233; treaty with Schoeman, Commandant General:

Lobengula, 193 ; suzerainty ques- Agreement to assist President

tion, opinion on, 250; Swaziland, Boshoff, 57; Mapela expedition

opinion as to annexation of Swa- of 1858, command of, 48; vio-

ziland by South African Eepub- lation of the constitution of the

lie, 201, 202; War of Indepen- South African Eepublic (see

dence, peace negotiations, royal Civil War)

commission— Sir H. Eobinson a Schoeman, Marthinus: Escorting

member of, 162, 163 President Kruger on his mission

Eoets, field-cornet of Heidelberg to Moshesh, 60

district— Friendly reception of Schoemansdaal, village of, aban-

President Kruger, 82 doned owing to Kaffir attacks,

Eooi Kaffirs of Strijdpoort: Pot- 99

gieter's attack on, due to false Scholtz, Chief Commandant: Corn-
information, 11 ma ml in Secheli expedition of

436

INDEX

1849, 38; confiscation of Living-
stone's arsenal, 40

Schoolmasters and mistresses:
President Kruger's address on
his election (12th May, 1898),
366

Schoonkloof Farm: President Kru-
ger's accident, 98

Schutte, Commandant : Expedition
against Montsioa, endeavor to
dissuade Kruger from attacking,
51

Secheli Expedition of 1849: Kru-
ger, President, Deputy Com-
mandant—share in fighting, etc.,
37, 40; Secheli 's accusation
against President Kruger, 39

Second Volksraad (see franchise
question)

Secucuni, Chief: British claim to
territory of — expedition under
Colonel Rowlands, 132; mur-
dered by Mampur, 169; Wolse-
ley's, Sir G., subjection of.
140

Secucuni war of 1876: Annexation
of South African Eepublic by
Great Britain, failure of Secu-
cuni war a pretext for, 114,
116; Burgers 's, President, de-
termination to accompany the
commando — President Kruger 's
refusal to command, 110; causes
of, 110; failure of main at-
tack, 111 ; fighting generals rec-
ommended by President Kruger,
111; Magali, Chief, successful
attack on, 111; peace, Secucuni 's
petition for, 112, 116; tax
levied by President Burgers for
maintenance of outposts — burgh-
ers refusing to pay tax, 113;
Burgers 's, President, attempt to
exclude non-paying burghers
from the Volksraad, 117; Kru-
gers, President, opposition to tax
as illegal, 113

Secucuni 's town : President Kru-
ger's thumb blown off by ex-
plosion of rifle, 31

Self-government offered to South
African Eepublic by British
Government, President Kruger's
definition of, 143

Shaw, Miss Flora: Telegraphic

correspond m * ■ with Mr. Ehodes,
showing Mr. Chamberlain 's
knowledge of the Jameson Raid,
229, 230

Shepstone, Ofl'y : Adviser to King
of Swaziland, appointment, 202

Shepstone, Sir Theophilus: An-
nexation of the South African
Eepublic in 1877 — mission to
Pretoria, etc. (see annexation) ;
Kruger 's, President, attitude on
the annexation question, mis-
statement as to, 126; presence
in Pretoria during the Secucuni
war-tax dispute, 113; reply to
petition against annexation —
attack on Messrs. Kruger and
Joubert, 130; Zulu war of 1879
— request to President Kruger
for assistance, 134

Simmer and Jack mine: Arms
and ammunition concealed in, at
the time of the Jameson Baid,
229

Sister republic (see Orange Free
State)

Slaves: Emancipation by the Eng-
lish prior to trek of 1835, method
of payment of compensation, 4

Smit, General : Independence, War
of — peace negotiations — pro-
posal to renew hostilities, 159 ;
services in, 155; London Con-
vention deputation, member of,
174

Smit, Nicholas: Fighting general
in the Secucuni war, appoint-
ment on President Kruger's
recommendation, 111

Smith, Jimmy: Presentation of
American children's address to
President Kruger, 311

Smuts, Mr. J. C. : Character
sketch, 264; state attorney of
the South African Eepublic, ap-
pointment, 264

Snyman, Commandant General:
Civil War— order to surround
Schoeman, etc., 77; nomination
as commandant general of the
South African Eepublic, 74

South African Committee: Charge
against the British Government
of keeping back telegrams which
proved Mr. Chamberlain 's know-

437

INDEX

ledge of the Jameson Raid, 229,
247, 248

South African League: Franchise
question — alleged insufficiency of
reforms, further demands, 284;
Johannesburg branch — forma-
tion of, 266, 267; meeting to
protest against arrests for con-
travention of the Pass Law —
hostile demonstration, 267; peti-
tions to the Queen on Uitlander
grievances, 270, 271

Spain, King of: Reception of
Boer delegates in 1884, 177

Speeches by President Kruger in
the Volksraad (12th May, 1898),
338 (1st May, 1899), 368; (2d
October, 1899), 376, 379; (7th
May, 1900), 385— explanatory
speech, 391

Speeches delivered at the inaugu-
ration of President Kruger as
State President (12th May,
1898), 333

Standard Bank: Refusal to ad-
vance money to the South Afri-
can Republic in 1885, 179

State Attorney of the South Afri-
can Republic: Jorissen, Dr., dis-
missal of, 174 ; Smuts, Mr. J. C,
appointment of, 264; State Presi-
dent of the South African Re-
public (see presidency)

State Secretary of the South Afri-
can Republic : Fischer, Abraham,
election of — refusal of appoint-
ment, 264; Leyds, Dr., election
of, 189; re-election, 264; Reitz,
Mr. F. W., election of, 264

Stellaland and Goshenland: Diffi-
culties (see western frontier
question); foundation of, 170;
incorporation with Cape Colony
due to Mr. Rhodes, 192

Steyn, Douw, of Bulhoek Farm,
grandfather of President Kru-
ger, 3

Steyn, Elisa, mother of President
Kruger, 3

Steyn, Johannes : Commandant gen-
eral, appointment by Command-
ant General Schoeman, 71;
Jeppe, demand for surrender of,
72, 73

Steyn, President: Annexation of

the Orange Free State by Great
Britain — President Steyn 's proc-
lamation, 409; character sketch,
259; election as president, 258;
speech at annual session of the
Volksraad of the Orange Free
State (2d April, 1900), 381;
war between the South African
Republics and Great Britain —
Orange Free State, attitude of
— correspondence with Sir A.
Milner, 293-303; speech in the
Volksraad — Orange Free State
ranging herself on the side of
the sister Republic, announce-
ment (2d April, 1900), 381

Strijdom, Mrs.: Mr. Kruger 's
amusing experience with, 84

Strijdpoort in Waterberg district,
Potgieter 's attack on — Rooi
Kaffirs mistaken for Moseli-
katse's men, 10

Supreme Court: Chief Justice
Kotze disputing the validity of
resolutions of the Volksraad,
254; dismissal of the Chief Jus-
tice, 257; Kruger 's, President,
defence, 356, 357

Suzerainty question: Abolition of
the suzerainty by the convention
of 1884— South African Repub-
lic contention, 250; Derby's,
Lord, dispatch, 250; Leyds 's,
Dr., reply of 16th April, 1898,
250; Robinson, Sir H., opinion
of, 250; Chamberlain's, Mr. J.,
contention that the convention of
1881 held good, 250, 251, 279;
Chief Justice, dismissal of, ap-
peal to the English suzerainty —
Mr. Kruger 's defence of the dis-
missal of the chief justice, 357;
condition laid down in alterna-
tive proposal to Mr. Chamber-
lain's joint commission proposal
on the franchise question, 282,
283; Chamberlain, Mr., dispatch
of 30th August, 1897, and Mr.
Reitz 's reply, 285, 286; inde-
pendence of South African Re-
public endangered by British
claim— Mr. Reitz 's letter of 15th
September, 1899, 289; Kruger 's,
President, statement in the
Volksraad uncontradicted by

438

INDEX

England, 178; London Conven-
tion— repeal of suzerainty, 176

Swaziland: Annexation of Swazi-
land by South African Kepublic,
proposal, 201, 202; Krugcr's,
President, efforts in favor of,
203 ; opposition in England, 202 ;
Bunu — murder of Umbaba and
refusal to appear before the Su-
preme Court at Bremersdorp,
265; armed force sent into
Swaziland by Government of
South African Kepublic, 265,
266; flight of Bunu to Zululand,
266; Milner's, Sir A., interfer-
ence, 265, 266; punitive meas-
ures— agreement between the
Government of the Republic
and Sir A. Milner, 266, 267;
convention of 1893, 205; con-
ferences between President Kru-
ger and Sir H. Loch at Coles-
berg and Pretoria, 222; terms
of, 222, 223; convention of 1894,
224; clause deciding cases within
the competence of the Supreme
Court, addition of, 267; first
convention, 205; government of
Swaziland handed over to com-
mittee of Boers and English-
men, 202; Bang Umbandine's
request for a British adviser,
202; preliminary agreement —
draft proposals, 204, 205; Kru-
ger's, President, refusal to ac-
cept, 205; Swaziland question —
Swaziland taken from South
African Republic by Royal Com-
mission of 1881, 201; transfer
to South African Republic —
Swazi opposition, deputation to
England, 223; Winton, Sir F.,
interview with General Joubert,
202

Swimming the Vaal in flood, in
order to visit his betrothed:
President Kruger's daring, 12
note

Tariff war resulting from Trans-
vaal Government scheme for
equal division of railway profits
between Cape Colony, Natal, and
the Transvaal, 226; Cape Gov-
ernment objections, alternative

proposed, 226; Cape railways re-
duction of tariff, 226; closing
the drifts — reply of the South
African Republic to the Cape
wagon transport policy, 227;
Chamberlain 's, Mr., ultimatum
to the Republic — condition that
Cape Colony should bear half
the cost of war, 227; London
Convention, violation of, 227;
Netherlands South African rail-
way, raising tariff, 226; wagon
transport from the Cape fron-
tier to Johannesburg, 226

Tempus (President Kruger's
horse) : Death of, due to tse-tse
flies, 29; habits of, 27

Theunissen, N. (brother-in-law) :
Hunting experiences shared with
President Kruger — buffalo hunt-
ing, 25; rhinoceros hunt ad-
venture—thrashing administered
to Kruger for recklessness, 23

Toit, Andries du: Special court
decision in case of, 82

Toit, Pastor du: Commissioner
of western border, appointment,
171; education, tenure of office
as director of, 215 note; flag of
South African Republic hoisted
over "proclaimed" territory on
western border, 172 note; Joris-
sen's, Dr., dismissal from state
attorneyship — share in, 174;
London Convention deputation,
member of, 174

Tortoise — "You must give the
tortoise time to put out its
head ": Significance of Presi-
dent Kruger's phrase, 232, 233

Trade and commerce: Increase in
— President Kruger's announce-
ment in the Volksraad, 371;
Kruger's, President, fears for
independent trade — refusal to
allow opening of railway con-
nections with Johannesburg
other than Delagoa Bay Rail-
way, 182; tariff war (see that
title)

Transvaal National Union : Forma-
tion of, at Johannesburg in
1892, 217; Johannesburg, dis-
turbed state of, work of the
reformers (see Jameson Raid) ;

439

INDEX

Loch, Sir H., and the Union —
deputation — correctness of Sir
H. Loch's public attitude —
charges of treachery, 221; Jo-
hannesburg, proposed visit,
abandonment of, on President
Kruger's advice, 221; name, al-
teration of, to reform commit-
tee, 234; nature and aims of,
218; punishment of leaders — in-
terpretation of President Kru-
ger's phrase, "You must give
the tortoise time to put out its
head," 232, 233; Uitlanders'
grievances — manifesto, 232. (See
also reform committee)

Transvaal State: President Kru-
ger's refusal to use name — res-
toration of name South African
Republic, 164

Trek of 1835 : Black servants re-
maining in the Colony, 5; causes
of, 3, 4

Triumvirate of 1880: Kruger,
President, a member of, 151;
proclamation drawn up by, 151;
printing at Potchefstroom, 152

Uitlanders : Dynamite explosion
at Johannesburg, Uitlanders '
sympathy with the victims, 244;
education of — erection of schools
at the cost of the state, 217
note; grievances of the Uitland-
ers — Bloemfontein conference
(see that title) ; British Govern-
ment promises to Uitlanders —
employment of force to secure
demands made by Sir A. Milner,
281; Executive Baad empowered
to deal with, 197; franchise
question (see that title) ; inter-
vention of Great Britain (see
that title); Kruger's, President,
attitude towards grievance com-
plaints, 183; mining grievances,
appointment of the Industrial
Commission, 252 ; Government
measures for carrying out sug-
gestions, 253, 254; report, 253;
negotiations— compliant attitude
of the South African Eepublic
mkI unyielding attitude of Sir
A. Milner, 269, 272, 275; peti-
tions— committee to inquire into

genuineness of petitions — Presi-
dent Kruger's offer, 274; Queen
Victoria, petitions to, drawn up
by South African League — first
petition — Mr. Fraser 's refusal
to receive petition — Mr. Cham-
berlain's censure, 270, 271; sec-
ond petition — spurious signa-
tures, 271; South African Ee-
public— petition from Uitlanders
to the Government declaring
satisfaction with administra-
tion of country, 272; false sig-
natures, Sir A. Milner 's allega-
tion, 274; taxation grievance —
reduction of taxation, 183 ;
' ' thieves and murderers ' ' —
misconception of President Kru-
ger 's speech at commemoration
of declaration of independence
at Paarde Kraal, 201; Trans-
vaal National Union manifesto,
232; Kruger's, President, ad-
dress on election as president
(12th May, 1898), 349, 350; re-
form committee (see titles
Transvaal National Union and
reform committee)

Uitlanders Council and the fran-
chise question : Dissatisfaction
with the law of 1899, 279; in-
adequacy of reforms — further
demands, 284

Ulundi, British victory at, 134

Umbandine, Swazi king: Bequest
to British Government for an
adviser, 202

Umbigesaland : Annexation by
England, protest by the Trans-
vaal, 224; incorporation with
South African Eepublic pro-
posed, 203

Union of South African Eepublic
and the Orange Free State:
President M. W. Pretorius's
aim, 69, 70

United States of America: Jimmy
Smith 's arrival at Pretoria with
school children's address to
President Kruger, 311

Usibepu, Zulu chief: Defeat by
Dinizulu, 184

Utrecht, Holland, President Kru-
ger at, 327, 328

Utrecht and Wakkcrstroom dis-

440

INDEX

tricts: British desire to keep
back, 159

Vaal encampments: Moselikatse 's
attack, 8

Vaalbank Farm, birthplace of
President Kruger, 3

Vechtkop: Matabele attack on
Boer laager, 7

Venter, Commandant Piet: Boer
representative in transfer of
Orange Free State from British
to Boers, 56; commander of
Orange Free State contingent in
expedition against Gasibone, 64

Venter, Koos: Mr. Kruger's offer
to fight Venter on behalf of
President Pretorius, 58

Veterinary Congress at Baden-
Baden: South African Republic
representative, President Kru-
ger's announcement in the
Volksraad, 371

Vice-president of the South Af-
rican Republic, election of Mr.
Kruger, 118; nomination of Mr.
S. W. Burger, 386

Victoria, Queen: " Kwaaie

vrouw, ' ' President Kruger 's
jest, 259

Viljoen, Jan: Commandant of
Marico — capture of part of
President Kruger's escort at
Potchefstroom, 85, 86; Schoe-
man party in the Civil War, ad-
herence to, 78

Village or Dorp: Meaning given
to the word by Boers, 113 note

Village population, foreign ele-
ment in: Petitions in favor of
annexation, 113, 114

Villebois-Mareuil, Colonel, volun-
teer in the Boer army: Promo-
tion to general of the Foreign
Legion, 309

Villiers, Sir H. de (Chief Justice
of Cape Colony) : Intervention
in the dispute between the judi-
cial and state authorities of the
South African Republic, 256;
War of Independence, peace ne-
gotiations—Sir H. de Villiers a
member of the Royal Commis-
sion, 163

Volksraad: Orange Free State—

;i;iuual session, opening speech
by President Steyn, 381; South
African Republic— adjournment
of Volksraad on declaration of
war with Great Britain, 306;
elections — postponement in con-
sequence of the war, 386; Ex-
ecutive Raad, constitution of,
70 note; Kruger's, President,
speeches in the Volksraad (12th
May, 1898), 338; (1st May,
1899), 368; (2d October, 1899).
376, 379; (7th May, 1900), 385
— explanatory speech, 391; reso-
lutions contrary to the conven-
tion — Chief Justice Kotze 's
criticism— dismissal from office,
254-257; Kruger's, President,
defence, 358; Second Volksraad,
institution of (see franchise
question) ; session of 1866—
President Kruger's accident on
return journey, 98
Vorster, M. W. : Resolution to take
a plebiscite on the annexation,
127
Vryburg, capital of Stellaland, 171
Vryheid district, formation of, 184

Wakkerstroom district: British de-
sire to retain, 159

War between Great Britain, South
African Republic, and Orange
Free State, 1899-1902— annexa-
tion of neighboring colonies — de-
cision of the Republic not to an-
nex: President Steyn 's speech
in the Volksraad, 383; annexa-
tion of the Orange Free State
by Great Britain — President
Steyn 's proclamation, 409 ; an-
nexation of the South African
Republic by Great Britain —
counter proclamation, 314 ; arma-
ments of the South African Re-
public, warlike preparations af-
ter the Jameson Raid, 247, 248;
army of the South African Re-
public, Foreign Legion— promo-
tion of Colonel de Villebois-
Mareuil, 309; number of South
African Republic and Orange
Free State combatants (40,000)
— President Kruger's speech in
the Volksraad, 393; Boer prep-

441

INDEX

arations — armaments, increase
in, after the Jameson Eaid, 247,
248; burghers, concentration of,
on borders of Natal, 292; Mi-
ner's, Sir A., correspondence
with President Steyn, 297; Brit-
ish preparations — mobilization
of army corps, 292, 302; proc-
lamation calling out reserves,
303; reinforcements, withdrawal
of— ultimatum of 9th October,
1899, 305, 306; troops con-
centrating on frontiers of the
the Eepublies — explanation re-
quested, 292 ; Steyn 's, President,
correspondence with Sir A. Mil-
ner, 292-303; ultimatum of 9th
October, 1899, 304, 305; with-
drawal of troops condition prece-
dent to further negotiations,
300; British war office, intelli-
gence department preliminary
report — issue of ' ' Military
Notes," 277; causes of the war
—annexation of 1877, 119, 180;
English press hostility to the
Kepublic, 269, 298; franchise
pretext, 269; gold-fislds discov-
ery, 120, 180; military prepara-
tions of Great Britain, 299; cir-
cular dispatch from President
Kruger to the commandant gen-
eral and officers in the field
(20th June, 1900), 399; (14th
July), 405; conduct of the war
—barbarism of the English—
President Kruger 's speech at
Marseilles, 322; French press
expose of English methods —
President Kruger 's thanks, 324,
325. (See also sub-headings Red
Cross and white flag treachery.)
Dalmanutha — British attack on
Botha's positions, 314; declara-
tion of war (11th October,
1899), 306; expenses of the
war — position of the South Af-
rican Republic treasury, 389;
Glencoe — President Kruger 's
exhortation to the burghers,
308; government of the South
African Republic, transfer from
Pretoria — Machadodorp, 312;
Nelspruit, 314; intervention of

foreign powers — deputation to
Europe — Kruger 's, President,
speech in the Volksraad (7th
May, 1900), 387, 388; Steyn 's,
President, speech in the Volks-
raad (2d April, 1900), 383;
Kruger, President — delegation
to Europe — proclamation by the
Executive Raad, 316; departure
from Pretoria — parting from
wife, 310; life at Waterval On-
der, 313; speeches in the Volks-
raad (7th May, 1900), 385, 391;
unshaken confidence in God and
resignation to His will, 329;
work of advising and encourag-
ing the burghers, 307; medical
aid for the Boers from European
countries, etc.— President Kru-
ger 's gratitude, 389; members
of the legislative and executive
bodies called to the field, num-
ber who had fallen, etc.— Presi-
dent Kruger 's speech in the
Volksraad (7th May, 1900), 385,
386, 397; Methuen, Lord, cap-
ture of— President Kruger 's de-
sire that Lord Methuen should
be released, 328, 329; Modder
River— De la Rey holding Gen-
eral French in check, 308 ; oath
of neutrality— Lord Roberts's
tempting proclamations and
President Kruger 's warning,
312; Orange Free State, attitude
of — Kruger 's, President, speech
in the Volksraad (7th May,
1900), 386, 387; Steyn, Presi-
dent— announcement (2d April,
1900), 380; correspondence with
Sir A. Milner, 292-303; Volks-
raad resolution (27th September,
1899), 294; peace negotiations
— Kruger 's, President, trust in
God, 329, 330; South African
Republic and Orange Free State
proposals for negotiations on
basis of both Republics being
recognized as sovereign interna-
tional states, 309, 310; Kru-
ger's, President, speech in the
Volksraad (7th May, 1900), 387,
388, 392, 393 ; Salisbury 's, Lord,
and Mr. Chamberlain's reply—

442

INDEX

President Kruger 's comments,
392; Steyn's, President, speech
in the Volksraad, 382; Poplar
Grove — President Kruger 's re-
tirement owing to General
French's advance, 308; Pretoria
— departure of President Kru-
ger, 316; occupation by Lord
Eoberts, 312; Eed Cross — white
flag treachery by the British,
etc., alleged — Kruger 's, Presi-
dent, protest, 389; Steyn's,
President, speech on the war,
381 ; sympathy — world-wide
sympathy with the Boer cause —
President Kruger 's Volksraad
address, 389, 397; telegram
from President Kruger to the
commandant general (7th July,
1900), 403; " ultimatum " de-
livered to British agent at Pre-
toria (9th October, 1899), 304,
305 ; Villebois-Mareuil, Colonel
de — promotion to general of the
Foreign Legion, 309; Volksraad,
adjournment of, on declaration
of war, 306; Wolseley 's, Lord,
plans for conquest and seizure
of the two republics, 277

Warfare, Boer methods, superior-
ity to English methods, 133, 134

Warren, Sir Charles: South Af-
rican Eepublic western border
disturbances, Sir C. Warren's
mission, 173

Waterboer diamond territories :
Waterboer's claim made at in-
stigation of the English, 106

Waterkloof : President Kruger 's
home as an independent member
of Boer community, 12

Waterval Onder: President Kru-
ger's life at, after transfer of
the government from Pretoria,
314

Wessels, C. H. : War of 1899-1902,
intervention of foreign powers
— member of deputation to Eu-
rope, 309

Western frontier question: Four-
teen Streams meeting, 173; com-
missioners appointed, 173 ;
Ehodes's, Mr., attitude at meet-
ing, 173; frontier fixed by the

commissioners, 173; Kruger 's,
President, mission, 173; Mont-
sioa's appeal to South African
Eepublic, 171; proclamation is-
sued by South African Ee-
public, subject to London Con-
vention, 172; flag of South
African Eepublic hoisted over
' ' proclaimed ' ' territory by du
Toit, 172 note; proclamation
disallowed by Great Britain and
recalled, L72, 173; restoration to
South African Eepublic of ter-
ritory taken by British in 1881,
175; Transvaal Government de-
barred from assisting Eooigrond-
ers by London Convention, 171

Willoughby, Sir J.: Officer in
command of the Jameson Eaid,
237

Winton, Sir Francis de: Appoint-
ment as special envoy to Swazi-
land, 202; Joubert, General, in-
terview with, 202

Witwatersrand gold-fields, discov-
ery of, 180, 182

Wolmarans, A. D. W. : Church
union of 1881 — leader of burgh-
ers withdrawing from, 207, 208;
Executive Eaad, member of —
election — President Kruger 's an-
nouncement in the Volksraad,
368; retirement — President Kru-
ger 's announcement in the Volks-
raad, 371; Kruger 's, President,
visits to, 88, 328; war of 1899-
1902, intervention of foreign
powers — member of deputation
to Europe, 305

Wolseley, Lord: Annexation of
the Transvaal, phrase as to ir-
revocable nature of, 140; Secu-
cuni, Chief, subjection of, 140;
war of 1899-1902— plans for
conquest and seizure of the two
republics, 277

Wood, Sir E. : War of Indepen-
dence—numbers of Boers en-
gaged, questions as to, 162;
peace negotiations of 1881, 159;
British representative, 158; Kru-
ger's, President, difficulty in ob-
taining Sir E. Wood's signa-
ture to provisional protocol,

443

INDEX

160; Koyal Commission, Sir E.
Wood a member of, 162, 163

Zeerust, Boer victory over Mata-
bele, 8

Zoutpansberg district: Kruger's,
President, expedition against
rebel Kaffirs in 1867, 99; Kru-
ger's, President, visit in 1868 —
reception by Kaffir chiefs, cen-
sus of Kaffirs, etc., 101, 102

Zuid Afrikaan: Publication of
Dr. Jooste's letter on the nature
of the opposition to annexa-
tion, 126; Kruger's, President,

reply — suggestion of a plebiscite
rejected by British Government,
126

Zulu war of 1879: British claim
to Cetewayo's territory, 133;
Cetewayo, capture of — rumors
of British treachery, 134;
Isandlhana, British defeat at,
134; Kruger's, President, offer
to Sir B. Frere, 133; Kruger's,
President, refusal to assist the
British, 134; Ulundi, British
victory at, 134

Zwartkopje, battle of, 89

1 I I

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

II III I II INI

A A 001 406 484 4

mmajm^n-

3 727° 00604 6088 ' '

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "The memoirs of Paul Kruger, four times president of the South African republic"

See other formats