President Burgers, who left the Transvaal broken-hearted, more by the
cruel and mean intriguing and dissensions among, and disloyalty of,
his own people, which made the annexation possible, than by the Act
itself, when dying left a statement of the case. It is too long to
reproduce in its entirety. He shows how the English faction worked
for annexation, and how the Dopper party, headed by Kruger, allied
themselves with the former in intrigue against the Government,
thwarting all effort at reform and organization, and encouraging the
refusal to pay taxes. He states plainly that this course was pursued
by Kruger in order to oust him from power, and secure the Presidency
for himself. He shows how he opposed 'that other element which had
formerly worked in secret, viz., British interference, which got a
strong support from the Boers themselves, and one of their chief
leaders, P. Kruger, who had betrayed me, after promising me his and
his party's support.' He gives the final scene as follows:

The Volksraad had gone away, having done nothing but harm. The
members of the Executive had gone home, as if all were safe, and I
sat with a half-new Cabinet and part of an old one, half discharged.
Yet I made one attempt more, and drafted a letter to Shepstone,
intimating that I would oppose the annexation by force of arms, etc.;
and showed this to two members of the Executive. The response to my
appeal, however, was so weak (one of them being in league with the
English) that I had to abandon the project, and try to prepare for
the worst. When, therefore, Shepstone's announcement came--that he
could wait no longer, that he had given us time enough to reform, and
that he must issue his proclamation--I could do no more than advise a
protest, and an appeal to foreign powers. This having been agreed to
by my Government, I met Shepstone in presence of the Executive, and
what could be saved for the country, such as its language, its