n if possible to form South Africa into a
confederate dominion, with complete internal self-government."* That
was the whole object of the Conference, which but for that would
never have been proposed. That, as Froude truly says in his Report,
was one of Molteno's reasons for resisting it. The Cape Premier
thought that South Africa was not ripe for Confederation. If Froude
had had more practice in drawing up official documents, he would
probably have left out this deprecatory argument, which does not
agree with the rest of his case. He attributes, for instance, to
local politicians a dread that the supremacy of Cape Town would be
endangered. But no possible treatment of the natives, or of
Griqualand West, would have endangered the supremacy of Cape Town.
The Confederation of which Froude and Carnarvon were champions would
have avoided tremendous calamities if it could have been carried
out. The chief difficulties in its way were Colonial jealousy of
interference from Downing Street and Dutch exasperation at the
seizure of the Diamond Fields. "You have trampled on those poor
States, sir," said a member of the Cape Legislature to Froude, "till
the country cries shame upon you, and you come now to us to assist
you in your tyranny; we will not do it, sir. We are astonished that
you should dare to ask us." Such language was singularly
inappropriate to Froude himself, for the Boers never had a warmer
advocate than they had in him. But the circumstances in which
Griqualand West were annexed will excuse a good deal of strong
language. At Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown Froude was welcomed as
an advocate of their local independence, which was what they most
desired. When, with unusual prudence, he declined to take part in a
separatist campaign, their zeal for Confederation soon cooled. On
the other hand, the Dutch papers all supported the Conference,
although Brand refused to lay his case before it, or to treat with
any authority except the British Government at home.

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* Life of Molteno, vol. i. p. 337.
--

Neither Froude nor Carnarvon made sufficient allowance for Colonial
independence and the susceptibilities of Colonial Ministers. Many of
Froude's expressions in public were imprudent, and he himself in his
Report apologised for his unguarded language at Grahamstown, where
he said that Molteno's reply to Carnarvon's despatch would have
meant war if it had come from a foreign state. Yet in the main their
policy was a wis