contrary, that the problem of their being allowed to continue to exist beneficially to others and becoming improved themselves is one that can be solved, I turn with sad repulsion from what I have seen and otherwise know to exist.

After Mr. Rutherfoord's report had been sent in, the Transvaal Government determined to send a Commission of their own to the border. The nature of their errand may be gleaned from the following document, which they strove to induce Mankoroane to sign, but in vain. Threats and entreaties were used, but Mankoroane, like a stag at bay, would not commit the happy despatch they desired. The letter is as follows:

To his Honour the Vice-President,

S. J. P. Kruger,

Taung, January 25th, 1883.

and Government of the S. A. Republic.

HON. GENTLEMEN,-It is a short but urgent request which I and my councillors in name of our people forward to your honour. It is a long time ago now that we called your honourable Government to come and protect us, and have also positively declared on the 26th of July, 1882, that your hon. Government must protect and take us over in accordance with the cession of the 19th of September, 1882. We now humbly beg your honourable Government to come to our help by right of the mentioned documents formerly signed by us, as we do not desire and will not accept the protection of any other Government but that of the South African Republic. We therefore beg your honourable Government to come over immediately and put a stop to thieving here, which will within a short time bring us into war again. The mentioned documents which we have already signed and sent to your honour we will strictly adhere to and carry out. trust David Massaw, and will not stand under his laws, and I therefore earnestly pray your honourable Government to come as soon as possible to take over myself with my subjects and my territory under your protection.

Trusting your honour,

But I don't

We remain your honour's friends.

As soon as Mankoroane left the Boers, he wrote a

letter for the President in the following terms, which committed him to nothing:

Taung, January 25th, 1883.

YOUR HONOUR,-I beg to bring to your notice that I had the pleasure of meeting your Commissioners this morning, viz. Colonel Fereira and Mr. Schouman, who requested me in your name to form some plan to work jointly with your Government to put down the stealing from all quarters, in order that no further disturbances may arise pending the decision of the Imperial Government.

I now wish to convey to your honour my eagerness to co-operate with your Government for the above purpose, and also that I am ready at once to provide men, &c., to act jointly with your Government for the purpose of establishing law and order in the country.

The Boer Commission retired baffled and disgusted, and Mankoroane and Montsiwe waited patiently for help from England. But none came, and they and Sechele and Gatsisiwe banded themselves into a defensive alliance, of which they gave formal notice to the British Resident. The latter rebuked the chiefs in the following terms:

My friend, I have just heard from the President that you are joining with Gatsisiwe and Sechele to attack Moshette, who has applied to the Transvaal State for protection. I trust it is not true that such

is your intention, as any such action on your part would, I think, lead to direct interference on the part of the Transvaal. The Government has asked me to communicate with you on the subject, and to desire you to abstain from attacking him. It is my duty to influence all you chiefs and native tribes in favour of peace, and I shall be glad to hear from you at once as to the cause which is leading you to attack Moshette, and I want to know if I can assist in bringing about a peaceful settlement of matters between you. Meanwhile I urge you to refrain from fighting, and to respect the Convention line.

The tone of the Resident was unmistakable, and he received a snub from the High Commissioner for taking the part of the Transvaal Government, and becoming their mouthpiece."

While these matters were proceeding in Betshuanaland, the state of the natives began to attract attention at home, thanks to the persistent efforts of the Rev. Mr. Mackenzie, a missionary of the London Society who had been stationed at Kuruman. The thick hide of the Government was at last pierced by the threatened defection of a number of their Nonconformist followers, who sympathized with the missionaries, and they proposed-as the least they could do-to send out a Commissioner to investigate matters. The Boers, duly advised by their friends in England, met this by a counter-proposal to send a Commission home, and this offer was accepted. The president, the Rev. Du Toit, and Smit, the fighting general, were elected as a deputation. Joubert was constituted Acting President, and the deputation left the Transvaal confident of obtaining from their accommodating friend, Mr. Gladstone, all they required.

The story of their doings, and of the events in England which led to the Convention of 1884, must be left to the next chapter.

315

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE CONVENTION OF 1884.

Reception of the Boer deputation-Efforts of the missionary societies to save the natives-Mr. Gladstone on the Convention—Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Derby-Letter of the deputation to Lord Derby, and his reply-Advice of Sir Hercules Robinson-His honesty-Draft treaty proposed by the deputation-The 1884 Convention-Analysis of its provisions-Summary and con

clusion.

It would have been thought by a person unaccustomed to the tortuous ways of the Government, that the Boer deputation would have been received with coldness. The principal articles of a solemn convention entered into only two years and a half before had been boldly and defiantly violated. The feeble remonstrances of Lord Kimberley had been treated with contempt. The provisions for the protection of the natives, which Mr. Gladstone made so much of, and which he proclaimed loudly should not be allowed to be interfered with, had been ignored. But the English Government considered the lapse of time rendered them safe from reproaches concerning the past, and the Boers were received with eagerness. But for the untoward accident of Mr. Mackenzie being in England, and for the inconvenient memories of some Members of Parliament, who did not regard South Africa as a mere

football of party politics, the deputation would have been granted everything they desired. As it was they obtained more than they expected.

Mr. Mackenzie's efforts in favour of the wretched Batlapins and Baralongs roused two of the most powerful missionary societies-the London, and the Wesleyan-to action. These societies could not view with complacency the destruction of the missionary work of half a century, of which the venerable Dr. Moffat had been the pioneer. They brought their agencies to bear, and the Government were unwillingly compelled to take some steps to save the natives on the Western Border from annihilation. In other respects the Boers were allowed their own way. Mr. Gladstone, who in January, 1880, talked largely of obligations to the natives; who, later on, at Leeds pledged himself to faithfully maintain the interests of the native populations, and to be faithful to the dignity of the empire; and who about the same time at the Guildhall stated that the words of the convention were solemn words which the Government intended to abide by, inasmuch as they were introduced from regard to considerations deemed to be sacred, namely, the rights of the natives,' now for a second and a third time ate his own words.

In a debate in the House of Commons on Friday, the 16th of March, 1883, Mr. Gladstone, replying to an admirable speech by Mr. Forster, said :—

I want to know what is the meaning of the right hon. gentleman's views of the obligations we have undertaken by the convention of 1881. He objects to the definition given, or the description given, by my hon. friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, who

1 See the speeches, sup.