The enemies of the Boers
have been destroyed, the powers of the Zulus and Secocoeni are no more;
the country has prospered under a healthy rule, and its finances have
been restored. More,--glad tidings have come from Mid-Lothian, to the
"rebel and the revolutionist," whose hopes were flagging, and eloquent
words have been spoken by the new English Dictator that have aroused
a great rebellion. And, to crown all, English troops have suffered one
massacre and three defeats, and England sues for peace from the South
African peasant, heedless of honour or her broken word, so that the
prayer be granted. With such events before him, that dying man may well
have found cause to change his opinion. Doubtless the Annexation was
wrong, since England disowns her acts; and may not that dream about
the great South African Republic come true after all? Has not the
pre-eminence of the Englishman received a blow from which it can never
recover, and is not his control over Boers and natives irredeemably
weakened? And must he,--Burgers,--go down to posterity as a Dutchman who
tried to forward the interests of the English party? No, doubtless the
Annexation was wrong; but it has done good, for it has brought about the
downfall of the English: and we will end the argument in the very words
of his last public utterance, with which he ends his statement: "South
Africa gained more from this, and has made a larger step forward in the
march of freedom than most people can conceive.
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