"First my coat was demanded of me, which I gave; next were asked my
boots, vest, and trousers. I surrendered these as well; and now, as I
stand in my bare shirt, my limbs are wanted besides."

The people were thus led to be unanimous in the resolve to oppose any
further concession, and to view Sir Alfred Milner's unconditional
insistence for a five years' franchise as a conclusive proof that
England in reality wanted no less than the country itself. In this way
the Boer mind was designedly fashioned into the conviction that war was
inevitable, and that both President and people were absolved from all
responsibility in it. Had the offered franchise of seven years and the
subsequent one of five years been honestly meant, there should, indeed,
have been little difficulty for adjusting in the one case the difference
of two years; but it being so surrounded by impossible trammels that
what purported to be an egg proved more like a stone, and even that was
not intended to be given, it was a mere subterfuge to gain time for
carrying out Bond designs.




ALLIANCE OF ORANGE FREE STATE WITH TRANSVAAL--SUZERAINTY
SQUABBLE--ARMAMENTS BEFORE JAMESON RAID


The project of alliance between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State
had been mooted before 1890. After that came conferences between the
respective Presidents and delegates for closer union as it was then
styled. Mr. John G. Fraser, one of the noblest and most distinguished