onal Law, or in the terms prescribed by the various
Conventions. It seemed, however, that as far as the Republics were
concerned, International Law and Convention obligations did not exist at
all. The policy of the Republics all through the war, as one might
expect, was to secure and maintain the friendship and sympathy of their
colonial brethren. The Colonist was treated as a friend, and not as an
enemy. His person and property were respected so long as he remained
neutral. Strict neutrality, and nothing more, the Boers enjoined,
especially towards the end of the war.

To be fair towards the Republics, we have to note that when the
Colonists were commandeered at the commencement of the war--for it was
_only then_, and not later, that they were summoned to the front--the
object of the States was not to force them into their service. It was
more a precautionary measure to protect the Colonist should he fall into
the hands of the enemy. The fact that he had been commandeered, when
taken into account, might, and did, tend to mitigate his punishment.
This commandeering was never rigorously enforced. Occasionally officers
acting on their own responsibility, and without instructions from the
Boer governments, commandeered and pressed Colonists to take up arms
without their consent; but such cases were exceptional, and were
disapproved of. What the Boers wanted were men who volunteered their
services, and came to them, not because they were disloyal to their
Government, but because such a strain was laid upon them that they were
compelled to come. Upon such men they could rely, and they proved
themselves worthy of the confidence placed in them.

The various war proclamations issued by the British from time to time
goaded the Colonists into rebellion.

[Illustration: COMMANDANT W.D. FOUCHE.]

If all the proclamations which were circulated in the Republics and
British colonies were published they would constitute a volume of no
mean dimensions, and might afford instructive reading "to principalities
and powers" planning to enlarge their dominions by the assistance, and
on the basis, of proclamations. In South Africa these "paper sheets"
were by far the most formidable allies of the British Empire. They
wrought greater havoc among the Boer forces than all the British
batteries ever did; for when they first began to explode in the midst of
the burghers the latter dropped down thick and fast. Thousands were
lured away from the