"CITIZENS! THERE IS NOT A MOMENT TO BE LOST; ^ ^ ^ TO ARMS! CITIZENS, TO ARMS ! * * * THE COUNTRY IS IN DANGER." — Camille Desmoulins, July 14, 1789. ■RcptlntcJ) from tbc Iflret EOftion ot 1899 ^be Sbetvpoob press. 1902, ^SX^i^#^^^#i^^i^^^^^^ loijit f\. Sleeper. •CITIZENS! THERE IS NOT A MOMENT TO BE LOST; ,, .^ .^ TO ARMS! CITIZENS, T ARMS! .^ ,, ,, THE COUNTRY IS IN DANCE — C'ajiii.i.k Dksm(ui.ins, .Tn.Y 14. IT IReprinteCi from tbe ffirst B^ition of XSqq, Zhc Sbetwoob Ipuess, 1902. .7«^***ir*#*>**>ff*^^«F^»*<,»*^^^*^*^^spc?vrc^\. ^ Xlo Jibe MortbB IPresfOents ;0ut| ffrican %qMk and ^be §u\\f fm Itaft; BnO Co .^y Zbe JBtave atiD jfaitbful /II!>cn IWlboec IHoblc Jfatbers ffougbt jfor Zbe TRigbts ®f /Ifcan 1Fn Gape GoloriB, 1ln 1815, an& "Wabo Ibave Coneistentlg 2)ctenCic& Zbosc Just "Rfgbts; Ever Since Cbat /IRcmorable tlprtsing. " 't is a rough land of eakth, and stone, and teee, Wheee breathes no casti.ed lord or cabin'd slave, Where thoughts and tongues and hands are bold and free, And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave ; And where none kneel, save when tc heaven they pray, "Not even then, unless in their own way." — Halleck, CONSISTENCY ! "To goto war with Pres. Kruger to enforce upon him reforms, — that would be immoral" Chamberlain, May 8th, 1899. DEPRECATISG war on the S. a. REIM BLIO. " Great Britain must remain the para- mount power in 5outh Africa. " Cuajiheri.aix, Oct. inxii, 1899. Al)VOfATl>t; WAll US illE S. a. REPDBLIO. P. C of St, 15Ap'03 Ipublisbet's Botice. rr^ iie surprising success of the " Epics of South Africa, " ( as the New York " World " has been pleased to denominale Mr. Sleeper's excel- lent poems : " Cronje's Glory, " and the " ^Marion of the Free State ; " over nine thousaiul copies of each of which have been sold in a short time ; has induced us to publish a second edition of the first of hia Afrikander pieces : "The Tocsin. " This originally appeareuxe, and .tOO copies of the ordinarv issue, to be distril)uted, freef)f charge, t(j un]iortaiit li- braries and unions ; all the balance to be placed on sale. Ordinary Edition — 10,000 Copies. IPtefatot^ IRemarks. "T tis 1388 and the scc-nc is Glaris ; (4Iariswith its we.altli of ylDoiiiy raviiU' ami snow y alpine lieight, the vast rock-fortress reared hy Nature on Helvetian soil. To the frontiers rush its shep- herd-i)eople, few in numbers, ])ooi-ly attii-ed, aid- ed only hy the men of Sehwyz ; hut manv and mighty in their naked selves because animated by a quenchless love of Liberty and sujiporled bv the invisilile but j)otent aid given by resistless Truth unto a righteous cause. An Austrian army lias gathered there ; twenty to ai- l)arons " ignorance " of the decried Midtlle Ages ever belield with callous or indifferent apathy ? Aro WQ morally, as wc'l\ as industrially, advan- ciniif ■;' It is doubtful — very doubtful. The self-same soothing or tumultuous passions rule in the Tninds of modern men as those that swayed the Egyptian, the Assyrian, nay primeval, races; for better or for worse, by their impulsive or cap- ricious dictates. True, universal, TCducation can alone instruct us how to control these, and felicitously direct their proper application. B\it, unfortunately, we are not rightly educa- ted ; nor does any immediate or early prospect of our being so, Hatter us with promise. Reflect upon the almost world-wide system that vitiatingly prevails ! We are taught to reverence what should long ago have become an obsolete mythology, abounding — as it does — with preposterous marvels, pernicious superstition, and vulgar and revolting incidents, that disgust and repel intelligent searchers after Truth, in desjnte of a leavening of exalted moral a.viom ; we are daily instigated by unchecked desires or by more seductive example, to stifle much of the regard we should feel towards our fellow man — to mulct liini )>y the shrewrE ! iSedecked v.-ith the trappings of barbaric pride — Aflush with the prestige of past glories won — They clamor to meet ^\•ith a foe they deride, And hurry to death liy false visions led oil For the day-dreams of riches that glamor their sight ; And the witcli-rays of Glory endazzling their path ; As, soulless and thouglitless, they rush to the tiiitish ears by mere gold are not closed to appeal. ^, 0^ vx c8 ^^ r^i m ® %. lint by causes as potent ; the hatred of race ! The greed for dominion ! the hist of Ambition ! Three vices that millions of mankind disgrace, And demean and o'erthrow whate'er their condition. The States of South Afric' have dared to defy A monarchy's might fe\v of yore have withstood ; Which, abhorring republics, their rights would deny To GOVERN THEMSELVES AS A FREE PEOPLE SIIOIII.I) ! * * * * * * * * * * * * « * * To the narrative listen, that I shall relate ; Of Albion's actions of conscienceless wrong, "Which sternly precluding defence or debate A-^oice the tyranny shown to the weak by the stkoncj. Five score and live years ago, the Dutch at Cape To«ii ; A few thousand farmers spread 'round Table Bay ; Renounced the weak prince who had weighted them down With the despotic might that such rulers display. A spark from the beacon that lighted up France, And the tinsel of royalty scorched as it blazed. Wafted o'er to the Cape ; from a long-lasting trance Its people awakening, free standards upraised. They formed a republic — Ah ! brief it endured, For Orange appealed to the all-grasping isle. And speedily ample assistance secured ; For aid is oft speedy when made worth the \\hile. The isle that has reached out afar o'er the sea. And seized on the fairest of Earth as her spoil. To root, branch, and re-root, like the huge banian tree, "SVith avidity caught at this fresh fertile soil. X v3v:j. AimI liow (lid slic rule the laTid slu^ tlius st'i/.iMl ■;" Witli kind and (•(iiisiilcrnti- caie for its weal V Tntil the fresh ^yonnds of its people ajfjteased Soothed 1)V Love's magic balm seemed becnmiiiiy to lieal V As it fared with the j'outli's whose ailments came under The hand and the Jierbs of Cathay's learn'd princess — And the ])arts that the sword had stricken asunder Joined smoothly together with Oriloan quickness? Oh no ! With a high and a rigorous hand She I'estricted the price of the selling of grain ; Made English compulsory o'er the vexed land ; And jiolice formed of Hottentots made it maintain ! Placed ignorant blacks, of degenerate mind, In positions conferring much absolute power, AjkI decreed such liarsh laws protecting their kind As to stir up the 15oers, whom they hoped they would cower In Eighteer.-sixteen a rebellion was quelled, And five of the ringleaders crtielly hung ; While their wives and their friends were harshly conijielled To view the torments their last agonies wrung. \ "¥>, To the farm of Van Aadt were these martyrs conveveur ro])es failed in strength at the critical time, And four rose unharmed of those swung off to ilie ! m^ ,®^'- ts v% K \ \ Aye ! women and children by soldiers were forced Two hangings of husbands and fathers to see ! While tears dowai the cheeks of the multitude coursed As they clamored the guiltless of blood should be free. Unvocative. Oh ! friends of the men "^ That at Slachtee's Nek died, Come — haste to the vengeance That war will provide ! Let thoughts of the butchery Ease Somerset caused, And followed with exile Ere Cruelty paused ; En strengthen each arm To stoutly oppose In battle's ordeal Such merciless foes ! On ! then, to victory Forward in the Right ! Stri-\ang and suffering 'Till won is the iight. IHatrativc. Next, England, with reason, enfranchised the slave ; But , did Justice preside with benilicent sway ? No ! Scarcely three-fifths of his a^alue she gave In bonds good at London ; three months voyage away ! Shrewd men " aided " those whom necessity drove To dispose of these bonds for a pittance in hand, \'ilderness, unknown, arid a part Of the kingdom of Dingan ; a despot installed By the murder of Chaka " the cruel of heart ; " On the Katfirland throne. One who viewed with distrust The spread of those Boers o'er his royal domain, Who, in Retief's leadership placing their trust, Pi-oclaimed that they purposed in peace to remain. The malice of England, who could not jjrevent The vast emigration, was bitterly shown In annoying the helpless who could not resent Tyrannical burdens full swift on them thrown. The powder and guns of the first Boer bands Were seized by the pitiless Governor's orders ; So these pioneers perished by enemies hands — ■ Or by famine — far over Cape Colony's borders. But the flow of the Exodus rolled grandly on, And stretched out afar o'er the j)romising plains #yi ■y % W^:K 3^ iXn \ That lay 'twixt the Yaal and the fair Caledon, Ei'e the fords were impeded by torrential rains. Then uj)on the poor exiles a fierce dusky band, Befeathered — bepamted — and naked for war ; The flower of Zululand's grim monarch's command, Leaped, demon-like, yelling. Ah ! then all seemed o'er ! For the warriors were many, the Boers were few. And worn ^\ath the hunger and toil of the way, But they laagered and swiftly the death-lire flew From the slopes of Vecht Kop where their f olorn hoj)e lay. Like the flesh-searing rain of tlie Dantean hell ; From a browu sea of forms dark as Trinidad's lake Flame-feathered with tire the assegai fell — Like the dash of the gnu adown Keisi's dim brake Was the charge of that host on the wagons and trees Whence the okl flintlock muskets incessantly spoke As each rush of the regiments onward to seize The white strangers fortress, they baffled and broke. Thus the army ]VIoselekatze chose from his nation Li a brief hour shrank like the cereus' bloom And the glare of the flames from the Boers burning station Illumed heapings of slain that the jackals entomb. Then Grahamstown lighted huge tires, o'erjoyed At the rumors that spread o'er the land like the smoke. Believing the Boers they so hated, destroyed In the flames of a camp whence no fugitives broke. Next, a treaty concluded with Dingan, the king, Gave the Trekkers jjossession of large tracts of land ; r\ fOr^^ But tlirtt crafty Zulu was secretly seeking To delude and destroy their poorly armed liand. Opportunity eanie, (as the wily one thought), And four score of Boers with brave Retief fell. At the close of a feast in an African fort — A tragical ending but few lived to tell ! Then down on the camp of the helpless ones nigh Swept a terrible torrent of merciless men, And soon to the heavens rose piercing and high, Screams of torment and death from that dread slaughter-pen. There six hundred women and children were pent Under guard of the few, of the very few, men Who remained when the ill-fated Retief went On the mission from which he came never again. These gazed on the thousands of weird painted forms And knew that their hour of parting drew near ; Yet the men showed that valor the desperate warms, And women fought with them, courageous from fear. The children, all thoughtless, with infantile glee Fresh powder and water to doomed parents boi-e While the Parcsean blade was sund'ring the wee And scarce-woven threads of lives nearly o'er. Hast'ning hither and thither, with dishevelled hair, The women extinguished the flames that upsprung. While shot after shot rang out on rhe air 'Till their powder all sj)ent — their knell it was rung ! Then down on their knees, on the blood-sprinkled sod. Fell part of the pious and up from the dying 0^ \\6 n %> ^^. \ V © ^ All solemn anrl sad rose a hymn to their God While a few yet the host of the foe stood defying Overhead swarmed the tigers, ere, raging, they sprung ; Below huddled, helpless, their feminine prey ; While flames from the camp long crimson'd darts flung T'wards the gay garish light of the calm, mocking, day. For a moment that host at the summit appeared Like the white, feathered crest of some dark, rolling, wave, Impending on high a dread voUune upreared. To descend mth an impact no power could stave. Then do\\m from the wagons and branches there poured. Afire Avith fury and hatred and lust ! A wild-yelling, glorymg, evil-eyed horde. Vain rose that last pray'r to Him christians trust ! For the war-axes crushed the frail skull of the child Tossed high on the barbs of the transfixing spear, Ere they fell on the parent, distracted and wild At the throes of her infant, so cherished, so dear. For the assegai rent the soft breasts of the maid Yet shrieking from usage more dreadful than death- Yet pleading for mercy"; dismembered and flayed ; With the last labored gasp of her agonized breath. AVhen the fiend-work was done and the death-heaps Avere strewin: Where the li\ang moved hopefully round at the morn ; As the Northern-land lemmings ran onward to ruin Tlie homes and the harvest till Noi-ge seemed lorn, s k^afifC Thf wiiriior.s of Kosa and ZuJu and Ponda Alar o'er the farms and the settlements spread, Resolved not a Boer should survive to wander Where the thousands of late were by Retief led. But there echoed afar a stern rallying cry ; To Pketorius' banner sped live hundred Boers, Prepared on a lost field of battle to lie, Or rejoice in the blessings a triumph procures ! And onward they marched through the wild, rugged, land Till the impis of Dingan burst fierce o!i their sight ; Twehe thousand, or more, the broad war-shields expand, And the spear and the bullet commingle in fight ! Thrice set had the sun on tliat sad scene of strife, And the javeiin still whirred o'er the soil-soaking slain ; Still Christian and Kaffir fought madly for life ; Death biding for either who yielded that plain ! Oh ! vast was the power and -nade spread the sway At morning, of Dingan, the " Elephant King, " But, blasted and blighted, they withered away Ere Night, intervening, her baton could fling. For tlie ranks of his Ziugans by carnage waxed thin — Fell like river-reeds, sink at the sweep of the scythe : And the field, as if scathed by the breath of the Jinn, Lay blackened -with dead and with dyini.- awrithe. V:-, ,(V/ 2C?^ V5 ^ 2^ tlnvocative. Oh ! sons of the Trekkers ! Say ! Can you forget 'i 10. t ^0C II 1^ ' '^ *''^^^rfK 5 ^ J f ~.yLJ ■A ■t4- m The sorrowful story Whose memory yet Enrages the just souls Who picture the woe Of those whom the British Forced naked to go To the barbarous \\-ilds, With those they held dear To perish by famine Or fall by tlie spear ! Remember those heroes Preferring to die To living in serfdom — Arm ! England defy ! IRarrativc. Sweet Peace, for a time, with encouraging smile. Spread her pinions, dove-like, o'er the blood-sprinkled ground And from farm and from mill for many a mile. With heart-cheering cadence, came Industry's sound. Ah ! but for a while ! Britain hungered anew ; Natalia, now thriving, lay temptingly near ; So she burst the frail barrier Principle drew — " For South Africa's peace, " proclaimed Napier 2 Said Prinsloo, then chief of the African State, " The might of Great Britain will surely prevail, But the wrong she'd iniiict we'll not tolerate, And we'll battle for Right till our resources fail ! 11. y^S' V y r — { oil ! would there were niaTiy sucli excellent men Of principles lofty ; of courage as high ; As KoEFED who cast from Bornholm its burden, As D' Ei.BEE who dared for La Vendee to die, As Maevell submitting to Poverty's gripe When defection invited a shower of gold ; As this large-hearted Boer and those of his type — Incorruptible ! staunch ! and — rare to behold 1 All hail to such minds ! whence our slow-gaining world Draws the little of Liberty leavening its gloom ; They shall live ; though their harboring caskets be liurlcd, Amid wrath or contempt, to Obscurity's tomb. The Boers under Prinsloo, though cannonless, met The British where flows the Congella's scant lidj And they strove for their homes with a valor that set The red-coats at naught and dashed them aside ! But the English incited the Kaffirs to arm, And the warriors rushed eagerly forth to the fray ; The shriek and the flaine-burst rose high from the farm. And — the Boers succumbed ! such horrors to stay. Again they relinquish the soil they liave tilled ; Ao^ain their rich farms to the raider they leave ; And lo ! the trek-wagons, wth movables filled, A rough-jolting way through the Drakensbei'g weave To the north of the Vaal, whei-e tour new States had birth Whom Britain was graciously pleased to assure 'i<\ 1^ F x^' tcD ," H' A, Might make tlioiv own laws and till their own soil, And she no jiore new lands would seize or secure ! Ci>' \ yjK M'ith the passage of Time, how tliis promise endured ! The Free State was annexed — then in iive years resigned To its rightful possessors, because, ( we're assure.l ), Of its COST to protect and its trouble to mind All along; like the strong, sucker-branched, Devil Tree, That twisting and trailing searched Manoa's ground — Whose blood-nourished tentacles let little break free AX'hen once the dread coils enveloped it 'round — Was England o'er seeking, subduing and seizing The lands and the peoples of Africa's clime ; Protesting, while these of their all she was easing. Against Boer conquest — that, she brande desist. Though Great Britain had vowed she would not extend Her sway over more of the Southern land. Yet in 'Seventy-seven that failed to defend The " Transvaal " from seizure ; dark, sly, underhand ! It was " deeply in debt " and " menaced by foes, " Aroused by a railroad laid t'wards Delagoa ; And Sekkocoeni's and Cetewayo's Great armies conduced its courage to lower. 13. y i Hi Vi Tlit'ii Slu']>stoiio — as "friciiil " ami "advisfi'" — a])poai-0(l ; And reinaiiu'd as >isiir])er, ignoi'ing each riglit Of tlie State lie annexed as soon as there neared Its fortressless borders some forces of might ! Oppression an ^ 8 a / m m X^'. s^ rr ^ tC0 ;^i^% :ga^ The soldiers of Freedom Need fear no defeat ! Form ! herdsmen and farmers ! With rilie in hand, And rally round Joubekt A resolute band ! IHarrative. So Gladstone conceded the rights of the Boers, Reserving alone, to Great Britain, tlie oi^tiou The privilege of fathering treaties ensures : To prevent their conclusion or speed their adoption. Thus far all seemed well. But who could expect A nation like Britain to hohl to her word. When the course of events should severely affect The results to her progi-ess its keeping incurred V In tlie 'Vaal were discovered rich veinings of (iOLD ; A loadstone as potent to lure and destroy, As the Lead Horseman's spell o'er his Black :M(>unt,iin li Ere the arrows of Agib o'erthrew the deco)-, A medley of miners swarmed into the State — Adventurers seeking their fortunes to fcmnd — Confusion intruded where Peace reigned of late. For the most cared f. M \ IW'^ '® m ^ ^: Kepelling wdtli loathing, the curious seekiilg Tlie vicinage of its rank, inutile, bloom ; Thus presenting, in truth, a likeness most speaking Of this self -engrossed, ill-savored, human mushroom ! This schemer for station, ( Joe Chamberlain named ), Souglit the dark, narrow, jjaths wherein diplomats crawl : Destroyed the good work for which Gladstone was famed, And trailed — Helix-like — a foul slime oven- all. I^ike the wayfarer, housed by the Satyr of old, (As 'tis pithily told in Esopian lore ), Who with the same breath blew iirst hot and then cold ; He contradicted, at times, what he'd uttered before. He countenanced the schemes Rhodes' roguery liatchcd. And Milner of Cape Town's sly intrigue contrived ; Till 'twere hard to discover three such rascals so matched, And their schemes of iniquity broadened and thri\'ed ! The calm had subvened that tempests oft follow — The franchise, late craved for, the Boers concede. During ])arleys for peace on England's part hollow — Ah ! now no concessions could satisfy Greed ! Nor mere arbitration receive the approval Of Chamberlain's faction, whose ambitious crew Are barlessly bent on remorfeless removal Of those whom they deem a suppkessibi.k few. Soon troops were despatched and took u]> their station In Natal quite close to the boundary line ; In positions that menaced each gallant Boer nation ; Thus firing the train tliat was laid to the mine ! J c' \ r<>. ,.n:-^\ To KiiUiiKR and Steix of the Transvaal and Free State, Ilarsli alternatives offered : subjection or — war ! For years they'd foreshadowed this ultimate fate, And j)rei)ared to resist it, most timely hefore. Then cried out these brave ones ; " Then let it be war !" They hurl down the gauntlet with resolute hand. At once into Natal their armies they pour ; To visit the strife on their enemy's land ! All honor to Kru<;er ! All honor to Stein ! Unra\ e Transvaal defenders ! Whose forefathers left The farm-lands of Natal That robbers had reft ! A third time behold theiu ; (The conscienceless thieves ! ) All sateless, they come, With the plea that deceives. Four horrors confront yv, Proclaimed in a breath — The desert •,»subjection ; Or battle ; or death ! Strive then for Liberty ; Strike for your home ! Until your last foeman Your arms overcome ! tJ ?^ 18. ■x^ fX €B i::!:0C Daticination. Tlie liurricane gathers ! It darkens the sky ! Say ! whose are the forms tliat before it shall rty ? Thine ! Thine ! oh false England ! the maltreated Boer, Ajitseiis-like risen, hath ceased to endure ! Thou hast cast the bared sword in the fair-weighted scale And — like Brennus the Gaul's — thy endeavors shall fail. Oh ! dread be the reck'ning ; complete, thy disgrace, When thy armies meet foemen incensed by menace. Thy treasure, oh Britain ! shall slip froTn thy hand ; As Falkenstein's Count's ran changed into sand — Thy chiefs be disheartened — thy people distraught — And thy realm to the verge of insolvency brought. Thy land shall be rent by ijolitical strife ; Dark robings of sorrow garb mother and wife. For the lost that leave bleaching on mountain and veldt White fraginents of bone where their life stream erst welled And Chamberlain's raiders shall long rue the day That their cohorts abetted a demagogue's sway ; When he and his creatures of ambitious lust Are, with Britain's false pride, down-hurled in the dust. For when England reflects on the warfare of shame She hath waged with a people quite guiltless of blame Self-reproaches will follow and Justice arraign The evil Arch Plotter, her curse and her bane — Chamberlain ! 19. IKlotes. Page 1. Caption. iveil from the Olil French ir.Tocsi.N. ■tiKjuier," ( til touch iir strike), anil "aseiiit, " (a bell. ) Wkbstkk's Dictionary, IXiB. " An alarm bell or the ringing of it for purposes of alarm." NUTTALL, " Standard Dictionary. " The use of the Tocsin during the French Revolution to as- semble the multitudes, has rendered the word almost proverbial. Zkl:., "Pop, Encyclopedia," n-. 23W. Today, when the liberties of the entire world— such as they are— are jeopardized by one of the most causeless and flagrant invasions of human rights ever beheld ; never was there greater occasion to sound in significant tones a wide-spread warning to all the people of the so- called civilized nations of the earth, arraying them as an united whole in the repression of injus- tice, perfidy and wrong. To that end ha\e I entitled this poem •■ The Tocsin, " desitribed in its stanzas, with truthful exactness, the unmerited sufferings of the persecuted Bokr Rei'II!- Lics under the execrable policy pursued towards them, xor by the misinformed Exi:lish Pkii- I'LEbutbythe Government of the latter, directed by Joseph Chamberlain andthelike ; and now send it forth to summon ; as with the voii- e of the veritable liell ; every freeman of every clime to the aid of the opjiressed, and the discomfiture of the de.signs of heartless and gnispin"- tyranny. Pg. 1. Line 11. '' Your B-\ttle hvmn"si>;gix(:. " The simple but stirring verses of the Transvaal " Volkslied, " of which the Hrst lines have been thus rendered into our tongue ; " Right nobly gave, voortrekkers bra\e. Their blood, their lives, their all ; For Freedom's right, in Death's despite, They fought at duty's call. Ho ! burghers, high our banner wa"\'es, The standard of the Free ! Ko foreign yoke our land en.slaves ; Here reigneth Liberty ! 'T is Heaven's command that we shoulil stand And aye defend the volk and land. " And eloquently does past history testify how gallantly the lioers ha\e obeyed tlie higli behest. Pg. 1. Line 18. " The kameel-dorx tree. " This tree, ( Acacia giraffa;), so called because the giraffe ; known to the Dutch by the name of " kameel ; " browses on its tender foliage, is a ^ ery conspicuous feature of South African scen- ery. Requiring, as it does, but very little water it abounds on sandy plains ; greatly relieving a surface which , but for its rapid growth, fair statue and plenteous leafage, would present a com- paratively barren aspect. Thick, strong, brown thorns render it formidable. 11 ^ 3? 20. % *^iM m 5: Pg. 1. Line 20. " KAROSSEI) Kaffii!. " The kaross Is a peculiar cloak forming the principal Kaffir garment. It is prepared from the ekins of jackals, leopards, meerkats, oxen, &<;. those of the black-backed jackal being, perhaps, most highly prized, and those made from ox-hide the kind commonly met with. Great skill is shown by the native tailor ; ( nearly every Kaffir, once upon a time, being his own artificier ), in the fabrication of these cloaks ; the stiff ox-hide becoming pliable as silk in his deft and prac- tised hands. It is sewed with a large poniard-like needle, the thread used being strong sinew. The inner side is often curried with dark:Ochre or charcoal, ; says the " Universal Traveller" pg. 470 : but Wood, ( " Man in Africa " ), and Barkow, " Travels into the Int. of S. Africa " ), do notcontirm this statement ; rLEJiiNG,^ "Southern Afr}ca,."a«5(;,.pg. 141, )' mentions such a practice as in vogue amongst the Korannas. Since the advent of the Caucasian, the far less graceful blanket has superceded the kaross a. mong many of the tribes contiguous to the settlements. J. Pg. 2. Line I. "The FIR.ST OP all civilized lands. " Such is the iilaim of Englishmen, who, nevertheless produce and permit a Cihamberlain to com- mit acts against whichihumanity protests and by which justice is outraged, religion made more of a mot-kery than is usual and true civilization effectually thwarted and iiuleflnitely postponed. Pg. 2. Line 3. "At A 'I'EACE-LOVISG' QUEE-N'S MOST ' CHRISTIAX' C0.M5IAND.S-" Victoria has the prerogatory power of declaring war or procl aiming peaepj When it is remem- bered that not a single week of peace, within the limits of her dominions, has been recorded in history since her accession to the throne, the reflective reader may belert to doubt the sinceri- of the British sovereign's oft-reiterated protestations of good will to the world ! Pg, 2. Line 5. " Bedecked with the trappings of barharic pride. " ilany British regiments have been sent to meet their South African.opponents. dad in more than even the glaring finery worn by some of our militia on parade :! Strange! that England so progressive along certain other lines, should be so slow to learn the lesson successively taught by Braddock, Burgoyne, Ross and Smith. It is safe to predict, that unless the Northumberland Fusilier iiuickly doffs his white-barred jacket of red, the Gordon, or Argyll, Highlander his kilt of yellow and green, and the Lancer his conspicuous "helmet" and tawdry, glittering lacings ; the only land the English soldier will permanently acquire from the Boers of South Africa will prove to be of similar extent and character to that allotted by the Saxon Harold to the Norwe- gian Hardrada. rredilection for gaudy colors, shining tinsel, pomp and show is a relic of barbarism and as un- mistakeable a token of a deficient education among us at the present day, as the red paint and i\(>ry armlets of the wild Musguese, the massive and glittering rings of copper of the Balonda, or the rainbow-hued costumes and furnishings of China and misnamed Muang Thdi. "® ^-'/^ >1- rx •'© Pg. 2. Line 24. "Than his who <-(>vr:TF.D tiik rAUTiiiAX Statk." Crassus, reputed one of the wealthie%t ami most avaricious of the patricians of ancient Rome ; who li\ eil from 108 B. C. to 54 B. C. Actuated by greed and ambition, he personally conducteil an expedition into Parthia— only to meet with deserveil and terrible defeat from its alert and wily people. Taken prisoner in the pitiless closing of the death-trap set for him by the treach- erous Surena, general of the Parthians, and at once put to death, his head and hand were sent to king Orodes, arriving during the nuptual feast of one of that monarch's daughters evoking a display of the spirit of savagery latent in man in all ages ; the same cruel delight which impell- ed Munch of Auenstein, centuries later — viewing the bodies of his foemen on the Field of St. James— to exclaim: •' The very grass, dyed with the blood of my enemies, seems a pathway of ro- ses ! " Their joy was heigthened by the sight, and. says Rolli.n, ( " Ancient Hist. " Bk. xx, Art. 2. ), "It was reported that orders were gi\en to pour molten gold into the mouth of the head, to reproach the insatiable thirst Crassus always had for that metal. " Plitarch, ( " Life of M. A. Crassus," Tonson's edit. 1727, v. pg. 117.1, only tells us that a farce was performed with the bead for its subject, by the triumphant nobles of Hyrodes the king. The career of Crassus might serve to typify the present, and perhaps foreshadow the future, course of England and its probable outciime. High in station, rich beyond a dream, holding the rod of vast empire ; yet covetous of fresh himors, greater treasure, and more extended domin- icm ; he dissipated his wealth and destroyed himself, in vainly endeavoring to effect the useless subjugation of a brave and hardy people guiltless of olTense, but possessed of tempting territory and acMTcditcd with affluence ! Pg- 2. Line 25 . "Teie rich 'Waterskaxd." The Witwatersrand, the great gold field of South Africa,— and one of the causes of the shame- ful persecution to which the inhabitants of the Transvaal, ( within whose boundaries they are lo- cated ), have been subjected by Great Britain ; lies between the Jlagaliesberg range, ( X. ), and the Vaal River, ( S. ), and extends from Klerksdorp, ( W. ), to Heidelberg, i, E. ) The " Rand " is unique in consisting of auriferous, pebbly, cimglomerates of sedimentary ori- gin ; found in the primeval gneiss and granite rocks. A titaniferous band of red quartz and magnetic o.xide of iron, is a remarkable frequent accompanyment and, therefore, indicator of the precious metal, which is present in no large crystals ; never as water-worn nuggets ; but in an invisible state in veins associated with pyrite and silica. L. de Lau>'AY, ( Eng. & Mng. Jour- nal, 1897, Ixiii, pgs 631, 659. ) The seams of ore vary from three inches up to even four feet in thickness, writes W. Y. Campbell. ( ibid. Ixiv, pg. 30. ), who gi\es much interesting data. The first five stamps were operated in 1887, at the close of 189o, about 1800 were working, and up to 1897 as many as 4831 had been built. Amalgamation, chlorination, cyaniding and leaching of slimes are employed to extract the gold, most of the labor being performed by Kaffirs, Hot- tentots and other " black boys " who receive small wages and are poorly fed and lotlged. When it is known that the gold mined in 1897 was valued at §46,169,545, and in ten months of 1SU8, $59,288,193 ; the desire of the British to seize these mines will be rea — ^ 0^ n k % ^m ^../ OY A, \_ W; c^'' -c:) Pg. 3, Line 1. " KUT ISV CAUSES AS POTENT, THK HAiKEIJ OF KAfE ; " etO. Ancient grievances were cherished between the British and Flemish, before Edward III, al- lied himself with ths latter in 1338 against France ; revived again when, in 1345, he sought to impose the rule of his son o\er them and failed to accomplish his design. In 1372, says FKOrs- SART, ( " Chronicles, " vol. i. ch. cexeix. ), they fought whene\er they met on the seas. The English, who, in the reign of strong-willed Elfcabeth, assisted the Dutch in the resistance theyinade to the encroachments of Spanish power ; leaving, however, owing to the I'udenessof the soldiery to the women and the incuke of York seized some (Jiiinea settlements of the Dutch, the latter \a\ iieiliiite- ly captured some English merchantmen ; war wa^ ileclared and then ensued a series of " battles of the giants " on the seas ; strewing them with splintered wrecks and pouringinto their shut- surged waves the wasted blood of thousands of gallant men ; both sides fighting with the dog- ged obstinacy characterizing the two races, sometimes, { as oil Lowestoft, iri(!5, and The Downs, l(}t)(j), for days, and finally sheering olT so crippled as to be unable to secure the fruits of victory. And this strife *' for no provocatif liergen, only tci exijeri- ence a niost disgraossessions and never properly appreciated by the people she supported at sui^h a crit- ical period. During the French war, in IriOG, these restored territories were again taken by fireat Britain. An expedition involving the loss of much money and many lives to England, termina- ting ineffectivel.^ In 1HU7, and the forced sale of the Cape by Holland for ( our condensed narrative of the embroilments of the two cohmial and ( conclusion. Pg. 3. Line 13. " Five scuhie and fivk yeaiis ago, thk Dutch at Cape Town. " Xo ptTuianent settlement at the Cape was effected by the fleet sent there by Hidland in 1H20 ; nor by the English who endeavored to defeat the object of their voyage by taking possession of the countrj in the name of James the First, a little prior to their arrival. This never received official rec^ognition. A few British convicts had been placed on Robben Island in the bay in 1614 ; but were soon killed or driven away. Though neglect to lastingly occupy a country does not ne<:essarily nullify the claims of a Power to sovereignty over it. as ruled by Mc Mahon dur- ing the Delagoa Bay arbitration proceedings in 1872, when England was seeking to dispossess Portugal eople" rendered more intelligent (by the seed sown broadcast over the land by Carnegie and such as he, in thie form of public libraries to the ruin of their posterity ; germinating and matur- ing), awaken to the realisation of the fact, now so little heeded : that the concern of one is the (■ont^ern of am., and act in energetic and unselfish I'NIOn. Pg. 4. Lines 5 and 6. "As IT FARED WITH 1 HE VOITH'S, WHOSE AILMENTS* * * CATHAV'S LEARNED I'RINOESS. " The amiable yoilth, Medoro ; wounded while conveying the body of his dead patron from the battle-field, and succored at the point of death by the lovely Angelica of Cathay. ( China ). " Soon as Angelica with sad survey Jieheld the youth, who pale and wounded lay, * * * Then to her mind she call'd whate'er before, In India taught, she knew of healing lore, ** * > ' Once in a lovely mead with searching view ; A plant she niet whose virtues well she knew : * * * This o'er his breast she sheds with sov'reign art. And bathes with gentle touch the wounded part : The wound such virtue from the juice derives At once the blood is staunch'd, the youth revives. " , ' Ari(>sto. ( " Orlando Furioso. " Hoole's tr. 179!), bk. .\ix, pg. .'iiaj et seq. ) Pg. 4. Line 8. ••With Okiloan QUICKNESS. " rilo, ( Kose— Huggins ), was the giant robber with whom many a champion •ek bands. " Incredible as this act of cruel heartlessness, emanating from the Cape Government, mayap- pear ; it is incontrovertibly true. But many merciful English officers evaded strict compli ance with orders whose rigid enforcement would have been equivalent to handing over the un- fortunate emigrants bound hand and foot, to the savages the authorities pretended to be so de- sirous of protecting. These conveyed warning of their purpose to, or were remiss in their search of, the Boer pioneers ; so much ammunition, etc. was secreted. Yet the order limited their supply so seriously that Jan van Rensburg's little company perished, men, women, chil- dren,— all ;— by famine and massacre ! And subsequent parties also suffered horribly. Pg. 7. Lines 9 and 10. E DEATH-FIRK FLEW, FROM THE SLOPES OF VECHT KOP, " • Matzule-Katze, ruled over the Zulus called ilatabeles then dwell- A graphic pen-picture is drawn of this chieftain by Cornwallis- Harris, ( " Narr. of an Exped, into S. Africa, " 1838. ), who also described one of the camps of the emigrant Boers. Suspicious of the white men's intentions, his warriors suddenly swept down on their advancing van and butchered first 28, and then 25, of both sexes and all ages. Other Boers, warned by survivors, resisted successfully; Moselekatze sent a great army coui- posed of the martial flower of Amatabele, to destroy them ; but the desperate fanners, assisted by their wives and children, ( for there were only 38 available men t ), formed a strong laager on Vecht Kop in the Orange Free State, and defended this camp with such puissant valor that, although it was repeatedly set on fire in places and once nearly carried by assault ; the ferocious assailants were finally repulsed ; the Boers losing only eight killed and wounded, Pg. 7. Line 11. ** Like the flesh-searing rain. " That which dropped on the folorn and naked of the seventh circle, " arid sand and thick* * * fell, slowly wafting down, dilated flak«s of fire Comedy — Inferno," Cary's tr. canto xi v. lines 13, 14, 25 and 2G. ). It was a favorite device, originated by the Kaffir soldiers, to bind blazing brands to the shafts of their ' throwing-spears " and literally shower them down, thus converted into incendiary mis- siles, upon their enemy's kraal, ( village ), or laager, ( camp ). •' And swiftly ti The fierce Moselekatze, c ng far north of the Vaal. whose area wide of Dante, ( " Divine m Y. ^1 « %. ''¥ y^ -CO > ;3n ,rced to see and suffer, passes both imagination and description ! 31. hjsF Cyf^ wc-r7( liavished, eventerated, eviscerated, dismembered alive— flayed with assegai blades an. " An impi, or regiment, consisting of from BOO to 1(100 men, was indicated by the black and red spots displayed on the broad white surfaces of their tall, strong, shields of hide As many as thirty six impis were, at the zenith of .\mazulu power ; kejit reaily for war. Pg. 10, Line 16. • Dej ITU nirUNG FOK EITHER "WHO YIELDED THAT PI.AI>'. " Zulu soldiers returning unsuccessful from battle were certain to meet death or decimation according to the sanguinary prececlent set by Chaka. And the Boers knew that failure to win that strife meant future massacre to themseUes and all dear to them, by the victors. Pg. 10, Lines 18 and 21. "'Bi.Ei'UANT King.' " * » « " Zi.ngaxs." ' Elephant King " is an isa-bonga, i praise-name ) ; it is assumed by, or given to, a Kaffir on occasion Zmgan, or Zingian, is a name applied to all the tribes occupying the territory lying t 3 J !. I %J^ m i-^ ' m 3 \ ^ 1 ,:^vv l>ftwt'Oii the Drukpnslmrg mnuntains ami the soa. Uingairs army left from 30110 to 5000 dead and wounded on the field ; many Boers deolarn that the battle continued three days. It terminated on Dee. 10, IKts ; the anniversary of this victory is celebrated to this day at Paardekraal. *-!-:/( Pg. U, Lines 22 and 23. " Xapiek. ••«»«" Prixsloo. ■• George Napier, governor of Cape Colony, wrongfully laid claim to Natalia on the pretext that it was originally included in the land acquired by England at the " cession " of the Cape ; and also to preserve peace in South Africa, which his own countrymen had repeatedly sprinkled with the blood of its natives, whom they affected to protect when the latter did not immediate- ly stand in the way of their ambitious projects. Yet, in IMO, this man had left Natal to the lioers.writing a fine moral missive to their Landrost which concluded with his " sincerely hop- ing" that they might cultivate those beautiful regions they had made their own, in peace and tranquillity ! ( See Cloete's " «r. Boer Trek. " ) The brave, rugged, honest Gov. Prinsloo's Hrst notification of this villany, was the advent of a well-appointed detachment of troops under Major-General Smith ; he remonstrated in vain ; so uttering the memorable words given in the poem, he awaited the onslaught of the foe. Attempting to surprise the Boer laager near the Congella river, a swift Xatal stream ; Smith was defeated, losing many men, ( mostly drowned in their precipitate flight ), anil all his cannon ! He was thereupon closely beseiged in Durban, but large reinforcements arrived and British agents caused the Kaffirs, always delighting in war! to fall upon the frontier farms: thus relieving Smith, who had been dieting economic-all.v up- on horseflesh ; for the Boers hastened to save such of the womenand children there as had not already been outraged or murdered. Thus the English forced them to submit ! Some began to leave Natal at once ; others, finding the rigor of British rule increase-for ma- ny farms were confiscated because not immediately occupied, houses were arbitrarily entered and searched, a petitioner sent to the Cape ignored, and a reward of £1000 offered for their for- mer leader dead or alive— soon followed them and Smith said that the misery he then beheld, ex- ceeded any he had ever seen before. And all this after England had solemly assured Retii:i- she would not interfere with the Boers in future, on their quitting Cape Colony ! She began to fear the effect of the proximity of a flourishing free reih bi.ic. Pg. 12, Lines 3, 4 and 5. • KOEKEI). ■• •• D'El.BEE. ■■ ■• MaRVELL. • .lens Koefed, a brave, upright and sagacious inhabitant of the mountainous Danish island of Bornholm,( in the Baltic), assembled five resolute men and surprised the commander of the Swedish forces then subjecting the country, at Roenne-rode, like Paul Revere, from villa--e to village rousing the people-captured Hammersluus-was made general-in-chief-and freed the island from the yoke of the invaders. D'Elbee, a Vendean gentleman then about 40 ; joined the peasant-army in 1793 ; nds had been discovered the year before, was torn vX ^§35 from the Free State by Great Britain and fornieil into a i nlony entitled ( Jriqua-land West. Some years later a trifling sum was paid to the Boers as indemnity for their losses hy this act of infamy ; a payment of thousands where millions were involved and which, while it confess- ed, only accentuated the wrong done the unoffending Republic. ^'Pf( Pg. 13, Lines 21 and 22, et. seq. " That f.^iled to dkfkxd the Trax.sva.\l from seizure " The South African Republic, or " Transvaal " had been endeavoring to connect itself with Delagoa Bay by rail ; this, and some trouble with the people of Utrecht on the frontier, stirred the wrath of Cetewayo, king of the Zulus, and seconded by a powerful chief nameil Sekkocoeni lie prepared to make a descent with three large native corps. It is true that the Republic was bankrupt, that her citizens were alarmed, and that there was a minOTity jiarty favoring annexation amongst them ; but it is, however as certain fact that the Boers who, despite continual British and native hostility, had preserved their independence for four decades— unaided— could anil would ha\ e successfully defended themselves at this cri- sis ; and that there is nothing to justify the treachery and hypocrisy which now disgraced En- glish procedure, Theophilus Shepstone was hurried to Pretoria from the Cape, as friendly connseller ; there is no doubt, from his extraordinary influence over the Kaffirs, he could have rolled back the tide of invasion then, as he easily did subsequently ; but that was not the de- sire of the Machiavelians who sent him. He paltered— pretended to find anarchy while he art- fully fomented discord— and at the juncture he judged favorable ; the savages on one side, an accumulating British force, ready to be employed for or against the Boers , ( as circumstances might warrant ), on the other— he indelibly besmirched the honor of his country and betray- ed the confidence many Afrikanders had based upon his previous asseverations, by proclaiming the Transvaal a crown colony ! In vain the burghers protested ; in vain two deputations jour- neyed to England— the former were unheeded, the latter were denied an audience— and the old aggravating policy of supercilious misgovernment was inaugurated anew. See Theal, i, " History of the Boers " ) ; Nixon, ( ■• story of the Transvaal " ) ; Carter, ( •• A Narrative of the Boer war " ) ; and Colenso, ( " Natal letters " ) : I have corresponded with Englishmen and Boers familiar with the above-mentioned occurences and have carefully read the contemporaneous British "Blue Books," in my search for truth. Pg. 14, Line 6. "Till a Boer was maltreated within Potchef.stroom. " A Boer, named Bezhidenhoi-t, of the Potchefstroom District— < along the .Mooi river, to- wards the S. W. of the Transvaal (—refused to pay the Government quit-rent taxes, which the usurpers of his country had imposed on the burghers without caring to obtain the sanction of the Volksraad. His wagon was seized, ( after he had been roughly handled ), and offered for sale in the market-place of the town, when its indignant owner appeared with a few determin- ed friends and carried it off. Constables were despatched to enforce the claims of the Re\ en- ue Commissioner, but Bezuidenhout had many supporters by that time and they precipitately 36. ^ ;;/ II g^ c^^ ^c ^0( m ■M'"^ \ m % 1^4 took to flight. Troops were telegraphed for ; meanwhile the Boers were meeting at Paarcle- kraal and electing a government, and proclaiming their independence ; Dec. 8th to 13th. 1880. The ensuing war proved disastrous to the British, who were ambushed at Bronkhurst Spruit, (Dee. 20th ), repulsed at Laings Nek, ( Jan. 28th ), and at Ingogo, ( Feb. 7th ), and completely de- feated by a far inferior force under Nikolas Smit at MA.JUBA HILL, Feb. 27, where less than 200 Boers stormed the British position, killed Gen. Colley, the commander-in-chief, and nearly 102 men, and drove those not taken prisoners, in utter confusion from the mountain top. Besides this, bodies of English were closely besieged in Potchefstroom, Standerton, Wakker- strom, Rustenberg, Lydenberg and Pretoria ; defending themselves with the gallant obstinacy so characteristic of the soldier of Britain, but with varying sucicess. Directly after their defeat at Majuba, the English made peace with the Boers and re-affirmed the Zand River Convention. A truly great man, (Gladstone ), then directed Britain's af- fairs ; a Ministerwhose generouscosmopolitanismandardentzeal for his country's most endur- ing glory, prevailed o\er the base instincts of racial, factional, and personal ambition— He rec- ognized the full extent of the -vvrong that had been done and strove to repair that wrong as far as in his power lay. The Pretoria Convention of Aug. 1881 speciiied British suzerainty over an otherwise autonomous people, but this unwarrantable and unrighteous clause was omitted from the subsequent Convention of London signed iu Feb. 1884; the complete independence of the Boer Republic being thus tacitly admitted. Pg. 15, Line 17. " As THE Lead-Horseman's spell. " Tlie bearer of that potent talisman of lead, affixed to his brazen breast, who dominated the fa- tal loadstone mountain and, (amongst many others ), drew the ships of Agib, son of king Khes- ib, to swift destruction on its rocky and iron-strewn base. Tlie prince let fly three magic ar- rows at the rider and lo ! the spell was dissolved and horse and man engulfed In the sea. "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, " Pavne's tr, Villon Society, vol. i, pg. 123. Pg. 15, Line 23. "Yet 'twas claimed foe these men; — " etc. That the Uitlanders, ( non-citizen foreigners ) of the S. A. Republic, were flrmly and in some instances autocratically ruled, is certain. But whatever treatment of this nature they un- derwent was amply justified by the peculiar conditions environing the State without, and also by the increasing numbers, monarchical tendencies, and menacing attitude of the immense al- ien influx within. This foreign population was almost entirely composed of miners • men for the most part caring nothing for acquiring citizenship or founding permanent homes in the country : but only interested in efforts to extract the greatest possible amount of gold from the ground in the least practicable time and cheapest accomplishable manner, and then re-em- bark for their native shores carrying their uninvested wealth along with them. Of 10,000 whites in the "Rand" in 1806, 8U per. cent, were Exglish. W. Y. CAiMpbell (E & Mng. Jour. vol. Ixiv, pg. 96). The actions of these latter unmistakeably evinced the hos- tile trend of their sentiments towards the little Republic. They refused to bear arms against rx 37, r<^. \ theKallir triht-s menacing tlie St:iU-, although iirotTered full hurgershiii if they cimplieil— they clanioreil that there was no education tnr their children, when the faet was, (and is, as the read- er may easily ascertain for himself \ that several good Dutch schools were located in the Trans- vaal, Hut they had no wish to make use of these ; for why ?— their posterity would then be- come imbued with Boek and Rkhlulican ideas and sympathies ! They protested against the deservedly heavy taxes ; the only source from which the country could hope to derive any material benefit out of those who were draining it ol its natural treas- ures—they, and the great mob of the criminal and dissolute always met with in a large mining camp, agitated for liquor-saloons in plenty; which the Boers, a sober people, strongly opposed; but, above all, they cried out that the franchise was denied them— as from the force of circum- stances it certainly very properly was, until they had been residents for 14 years, liut 14 years had not always been exacted by the Republii^ In 1x76, hkfokk the precipitation upon her of a foreign element in numbers nearly twice her entire population, one year's abode in the coun- try conferred citizenship ; in 1882 the term was increased to 5 years, and only extended to 14 af- ter the wild rush to the newly-discovered gold-fields in ison. Even then the Trans\aal did notattempt to restrict or prohibit emigration— as the United Stotes has done without being warred against by any of tba foreign governments whose subjects were thus excludeil. Had the former liberal franchise remained in force, the malcontent British, (and it was from Britons most of the clamor arose ), would have outvoted the republicans in their own \'olksraad and handed the country over to England. Ulterior agency was busily at work among these dissatisfied adventurers to stir them into rebellion ; many of the great moneyed combinations of the world— suchas the Rothchilds,Wer- ner Beit & Co., and others of the rascally stock-jobbers that disgrace our social conditions and reject no methods, however mean or infamous, that appear conducive to the success of their fi- nancial schemes ; had insinuated their mercenary and intriguing creatures, of whom Rhodes then Cape Premier, was chief, into the affairs of the Republic's til! then orderly mining camp. Pg. 16, Line 6. "This max, ( Ceoii, Rhodes), i.vstigathi) a raid." Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, former Premier, director of railroads, man of millions, and plotter to create an United South Africa neither under Boer nor British flag ; stands prominent- ly revealed by the search-light of inquiry directed upon the immediate causes of this wanton attempt to coerce the Afrikanders as one of the prime movers in the iniquitous conspiracy call- ed " .Jameson's Raid. " With the design of Jameson the cat's-paw, when, with Rhodes' broth- er and a force of Bechuana-land police, &c., under prominent Buitish officers, on Dec. 30tb. 18.95, he starte-asthat of their saviour, evinced little sympathy— some, Englishmen to boot ! regarded his undertaking with unconcealed dislike. Many concessions had been made to them by Pres. Kruger, and by patient endeavor they knew much more might be achieved. The reform Commitee. however, armed and began fortifying. But all their hopes were ut- terly destroyed by the disaster that befel the incautious Jameson, who— lirst repulsed in a skir- 38. /^% miso at Krugersdorp— washemmeil in on all sides, at DoouxKor, by the vigilant lioers comman- ded by the wily and able Gen. Piet Cronje, and compelled to surrender, after a loss of 58 killed and wounded. ( Jan. 1st, 1890 ). Then they were forced to throw themselves upon the mercy of the i)eople whom they had unjustifiably outraged. With the Draconian British Government to deal with, death would have been their punishment ! Admirably had the Republic just demonstrated its stability— no less praiseworthily did it now display a most extraordinary mag- nanimity. The offenders were only banished or fined, and England, ( who had hastened after their overthrow to disavow any part in their plot ), was expected to bring them to trial ; which she never, subsequently, made e\en a pretence of doing ! See Ki.NO, ( '• Jameson's Raid, " 18.%. ) ; You.vghushanii, ( " S. Africa of Today, " 1K97. ) ; liiGELow, ( '• White Man's Africa, "1898.) ; also Govt. " lilue Hooks " of the period., I have, besides, resorted to trustworthy correspondence, with both parties, before forming any opinions. Pg. 16, Line 27. ' LiKK TllK LOW-HOK-N- RAFFLKSIA. I those who ho ■rably I have not alluded to Chamberlain's humble origin to cast any slur i rise from lowly beginnings— but simply to add force to the simile. The bizarre Rafflesia Arncddi, discovered by Joseph Arnold near Pulo Lebban, Sumatra, in 18- 18, is a parasitic rhizanth, or stemless and leafless root-flower, inhabiting the hot moist jungle. "He " ( a native ) " pointed to a flower growing close to the ground, under the bushes, which was trillv astonishing— " * * * " it measured afull yard across, the petals bemg twelve inches high—" * * * •• the neetarium, in the opinion of us all, would hold two pints, and the weight of this prodigy we calculated to be fifteen pounds that flies are AllNOLU It grows in the old wood of a species of Cissus, and emits so loathsome often attracted to it to deposit their eggs. Pg. 17, Line 5. "This schk-mku for station, (Jok CiiA.MHEUi.ArN xa.meo ). " Of Joseph Chamberlain, one is irresistibly impelled to cry out In the words of CowLEr : " Curst be the Man ( what do I wish '? as though The wretch already were not so Hut curst on let him be ) who thinks it brave And great, his Countrey to enslave. Who seeks to overpoise alone The Balance of a Nation * * * Who of his Nation loves to be the first Though at the rate of being worst. Who would be rather a great Monster, than A Well, proportion'd Man. " (" Discourse on the Govt, of O. Cromwell," Works, 8th ed. 1G93, pg. 59). Chamberlain, the son of awood-screw maker, was born in London in 1836 ; drifted iuto politics, abandoning his trade to more diligently pursue them, in 1874 ; was repeatedly elected mayor of Birmingham— 1873,-1,-5, and was sent to Parliament in 187C, to which he has been returned e since. Gladstone appointed him President of the Board of Trade, and he posed as an ultra- radical until 1880, when he disagreed with the Grand Old Man who, prophesying that he would some day bring great trouble upon the country ; had held him in check with a strong hand. In 1883 he married one of those rich women of the Cnited States always content to sacriljoa 39< y^ v"*^iy ^ ^®^fe^^^ '^ n«i»ubliran principles and privilej^es for the shining {^aiuis of social — aristocratic. — distinction. He is now Colonial Secretary, and a rabid inii>erialist — :i determined persecutor of the Boers ; whom he has, as occasion reiiuired, alternately lauded and decried. This wotul lack of consis- tency and of regard for the truth, together with his uncontrolable ambition, constitute his evil features. In many other respects he is an extraordinary person, as evinced by his rapid aciiuirement and firm retention of no inconsiderable power. And having dwelt upon hi s glaring demerits, it would be manifestly unjust to omit mention of some of his commendable (jualities ; which are patent to all when it is said that he is a good husband, a faithful friend, a brilliant orator, and a politician practically incorruptible. As to his great aspirations : the Premiership of Great Britain and the annexation of all of South Africa to the Empire, this war will probably wreck his schemes relating to the latter and though he may attain to the former, it will not remain with him long, for, even if the reaction sure to take place in the popular mind, during or after the strife, does not displace him, some other shrewder, shiftier, or merely luckier jjolitician assuredly will. Hisfate may be read in the fourth book of Cowper's " Task : " " The seals of office glitter in his eyes, He climbs, he pants, he grasps them ; at his heels. Close at his heels, a demagogue ascends And with a dexterous jerk soon twists him down. And wins them but to lose them in his turn. " Englishmen, admirers of Chamberlain, may denounce what I have stated derogatory to him ■ nay imagine it pro-15oer libel. Let these read his speeches and study his acts with careful attention, and with the regard to equal justice on both sides that is notable among the English people's traits of character ; — I ask no more. Pg. 17, Line 9, "LiKK THE WAVFAKER HOUSED BV THE SaTVR OF OLD." The Satyr in Esop's, ^ or ..Esop's ), Fables, who drew the chilled Traveller into his cavern fnmi the wind and snow ; and, horrified when his guest first blew on his hands to warm them and af- terwards on the hot wine prepared for him to cool it ; indignantly expelled him. The ap jdication warns us that, unless the tenor of a man's life be always true and consistent with it- self, the less one has to do with him the better. ( Fable Ixxiv. Croxall's ed. jigs. 153 and l.'H). Pg. 17, Line 19. "UlltlNi; I'AKl.EVS FOK PEACE." The High C