doesn't say straight out that the English are a bad lot, and therefore
Oom Paul must not display official ignorance by doing that which the
German Emperor does not do. A man may not exactly be born a King, or a
President, but he can learn a lot of useful little formalities by
watching the other Kings and Presidents. It will be observed,
therefore, that the Transvaal has all along been very docile and
consequently very badly used. And because it has displayed the best
and noblest qualities and on all occasions endeavoured to obviate
friction with other people, it has been unjustly assailed and trampled
upon.

Oom Paul is a very good man, but he kicks at the traces a great deal.
He likes to go out of his way to find out what other people are saying
about him, and he displays, moreover, another undesirable
characteristic--he is suspicious. It is in the family; it is in the
whole people. He is continually working himself up into the condition
of a man whose highly-strung nerves convince him that the whole world
is against him. He always imagined that everybody was working out
plans of campaign by which it would be possible to annex the Transvaal
to the British Empire. Fortunately there were other matters and other
countries to consider, and if Oom Paul would just study a map of the
world for a few weeks and reflect, he would probably find his position
less irksome. But Oom Paul has a great deal to think about--he must
think for the whole nation. The 'unfortunate affair which occurred
after 1895' seems to trouble him a great deal. Despite the fact that
the country was well paid for it, this incident seems fated to crop up
at least every six months, and it will be handed down to generations
untold, so that it may ever be kept green. It will be nurtured and
well looked after, and the one regret will be that it does not bring
in an annual income in proportion to the original amount.