As regards the pension he received from the English
Government, which has so often been brought up against him, it was
after all no more than his due after five years of arduous work. If the
Republic had continued to exist, it is to be presumed that they would
have made some provision for their old President, more especially as
he seems to have exhausted his private means in paying the debts of
the country. Whatever may be said of some of the other officials of the
Republic, its President was, I believe, an honest man.
In 1875, Mr. Burgers proceeded to Europe, having, he says in a
posthumous document recently published, been empowered by the Volksraad
"to carry out my plans for the development of the country, by opening up
a direct communication for it, free from the trammels of British ports
and influence." According to this document, during his absence, two
powerful parties, viz., "the faction of unprincipled fortune-hunters,
rascals, and runaways on the one hand, and the faction of the extreme
orthodox party in a certain branch of the Dutch Reform Church on the
other, began to co-operate against the Government of the Republic and
me personally.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191