The South-African crisis - pagina 33

THE SOUTH- AFRICAN

29

CRISIS.

value of whose annual product of diamonds to £ 4,000,000.

To

amounted

this first cynical violation of duly

acquired rights England added, on April 12

more scandalous rupture

still

vaal. Sir

engagements by

of her

annexation of the whole of the Trans-

foolhardy

the

1877, a

Theophilus Shepstone at the head of a small

army entered Pretoria. To save appearances he consulted some merchants and their emploj-e's and contenting

himself with

this fraudulent plebiscite,

annihilated at one blow the result of

which the Boers had consummated independence. served

Two

as

more

Once

the

in order to

Bat the game

pretext.

the sacrifices

all

fate

he

win their

of the

had

natives by-play.

its

years later the English themselves had to go to

war with them and massacred 10.000 men, women, and children, Meantime, Boers

i)

dumfoundered not

could

dream

by

of

such

active

audacity

the

They

resistence.

believed the affair to be a bold stroke taken at his initiative

to

the

own

by the Governor at the Cape; and trusting

respectful

confidence

which they

still

had

in

Queen Victoria they decided, in 1877, to send a deputo London. How they were deceived The

tation

!

welcome accorded them was more than deputation

which

set

out

from

cold.

Pretoria

A

second

1878

was

treated in a fashion almost offensive. Sir Bartle Frere at the Cape declared, bluntly "the Transvaal

is

English

and must remain English", and Wolseley haughtily added that the sun would dissappear from the Hea^)

CoLENSO

p,

519.

It

was

Louis Napoleon met his death.

in this

war with the Zulus that Prince

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