his country.

One of the most interesting and important events in Pretoria before the
British occupation of the city was the meeting of the Volksraads on May
7th. It was a gathering of the warriors who survived the war which they
themselves had brought about seven months before, and, although the enemy
to whom they had thrown down the gauntlet was at their gates, they were as
resolute and determined as on that October day when they voted to pit the
Boer farmer against the British lion. The seats of many of those who took
part in that memorable meeting were filled with palms and evergreens to
mark the patriots' deaths, but the vierkleur and the cause remained to
spur the living. Generals, commandants, and burghers, no longer in the
grimy costumes of the battlefield, but in the black garb of the
legislator, filled the circles of chairs; bandoliered burghers, consuls
and military attachés in spectacular uniform, business men, and women with
tear-stained cheeks filled the auditorium; while on the official benches
were the heads of departments and the Executive Council, State Secretary
Reitz and General Schalk Burger. The Chairman of the Raad, General Lucas
Meyer, fresh from the battlefield, attracted the attention of the throng
by announcing the arrival of the President. Spectators, Raad members,
officials, all rose to their feet, and Paul Kruger, the Lion of
Rustenberg, the Afrikander captain, entered the Chamber and occupied a
seat of honour.

[Illustration: GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER]

Grave affairs occupied the attention of the country and there were many
pressing matters to be adjusted, was the burden of the meeting, but the
most important work was the defence of the country, and all the members
were as a unit that their proper places were to be found with the burghers