ss their
opinions, so I have had to act apparently against them, and this I
felt bound to do, knowing the state and danger of the country, and
that three-fourths of the people will be thankful for the change
when once it is made."

As a matter of fact the annexation was received with rejoicing all
over the country. "God save the Queen" was sung, and special
thanksgiving services were held in many of the churches. The Union
Jack was run up, the Republican flag hauled down without a
dissentient voice. The arrival of British troops--the first
battalion of the 13th Regiment--was hailed with curiosity and
pleasure, the Boers with their women and children turning out to
meet it and hear the band play. The financial effects of the new
departure were magical. Credit and commerce were at once restored.
Valueless railway bonds rose to par, and the price of landed
property was nearly doubled. On the Queen's birthday, the first
after the annexation, the 24th of May 1877, the native chiefs were
invited to attend, and the Union Jack was formally hoisted to the
strains of the National Anthem. This same flag was within a few
years ignobly hauled down during the signing of the Convention at
Pretoria, and formally buried by a party of Englishmen and loyal
natives. But for the time being all seemed pleased with the new
state of affairs. As Mr. Haggard says, it is difficult to reconcile
the enthusiasm of a great number of the inhabitants of the Transvaal
for English rule and the quiet acquiescence of the remainder at this
time, with the decidedly antagonistic attitude subsequently assumed.
His description of the situation in "The Last Boer War" seems to be
more near the truth than any forthcoming: "The Transvaal, when we
annexed it, was in the position of a man with a knife at his throat,
who is suddenly rescued by some one stronger than he, on certain
conditions which at the time he gladly accepts, but afterwards, when
the danger is passed, wishes to repudiate. In the same way the
inhabitants of the South African Republic were in the time of need
very thankful for our aid, but after a while, when the recollection
of their difficulties had grown faint, when their debts had been
paid and their enemies had been defeated, they began to think that
they would like to get rid of us again, and start fresh on their own
account with a clean sheet."

In the management of affairs it appears that Mr. Burgers began to
set an example of the policy w