Next morning Sir Redvers Buller landed in state. Sir F. Forestier-Walker
and his staff came to meet him. The ship was decked out in bunting from
end to end. A guard of honour of the Duke of Edinburgh's Volunteers
lined the quay; a mounted escort attended the carriage; an enormous
crowd gathered outside the docks. At nine o'clock precisely the General
stepped on to the gangway. The crew and stokers of the 'Dunottar Castle'
gave three hearty cheers; the cinematograph buzzed loudly; forty cameras
clicked; the guard presented arms, and the harbour batteries thundered
the salute. Then the carriage drove briskly off into the town through
streets bright with waving flags and black with cheering people. So Sir
Redvers Buller came back again to South Africa, the land where his first
military reputation was made, where he won his Victoria Cross, the land
which--let us pray--he will leave having successfully discharged the
heavy task confided to him by the Imperial Government.

Now, what is the situation which confronts the General and the army? I
will adventure an explanation, though the picture of war moves very
swiftly. In their dealing with the military republics which had become
so formidable a power throughout the Cape, the Ministers who were
responsible for the security of our South African possessions were
compelled to reckon with two volumes of public opinion--British and
colonial. The colonial opinion was at its best (from our point of view)
about three months ago. But the British opinion was still unformed. The
delays and diplomatic disputes which have gradually roused the nation to
a sense of its responsibilities and perils, and which were absolutely
necessary if we were to embark on the struggle united, have had an
opposite effect out here. The attempts to satisfy the conscientious
public by giving the republics every possible opportunity to accept our
terms and the delays in the despatch of troops which were an expensive