Dutch alike, and which would
secure all, if not more than all, that the English had ever demanded.

Let us note some of the steps they took.

When the Imperial Government announced their policy of annexation of the
Republics after the occupation of Bloemfontein and Pretoria, the voice
of the Cape Dutch was raised once more. They knew that Lord Roberts had
greatly mistaken the character of the people he had come to conquer when
he thought that no sooner would their capitals be occupied by his forces
than all the Boers would surrender. They were conscious of the fact that
a war of annexation would lead to one of conquest, and that the Boers,
rather than sacrifice their independence, would choose to fight to the
finish. Hence the colonial Dutch again strongly urged the Home
Government to discard the policy of annexation, which would crush and
destroy the national life of two small states, which had bravely fought
and struggled for their independent existence.

A conference, attended by thousands representing the whole Dutch
population of the Cape Colony, was held at Worcester on the 6th of
December, 1900. In that conference or congress of the people resolutions
were unanimously adopted discountenancing the policy which led to the
annexation of the two Republics. Six prominent men were chosen from the
Worcester delegates, and were deputed to go and appeal to the conscience
of the English people. It was hoped that, at least, in England--the home
of liberty--they would be allowed to plead their cause, and lay it bare
before the public. How enthusiastically (?) they were received in
England and Scotland is well known. _Warm_ receptions were extended to
them. "Away with them! Crucify them!" was the cry of the enraged war
party. Instead of their message being listened to, these men were
mobbed, hissed at and hooted; sometimes they had to flee so as not to
be the targets for the missiles of the mob. And the treatment of these
men, who represented at least 90,000 Dutch colonists, at the hands of
their fellow-British subjects, was that not an insult--a mockery of
liberty and equal rights?

Besides this deputation of the people, two of the leading ministers of
the Cape Parliament--Messrs. Merriman and Sauer--went to England on a
similar errand, but fared no better. In vain did they offer their
services to the Imperial Parliament by way of suggesting a basis for a
settlement, which would terminate a war of devastation and ruinati