eace was concluded. Then, indeed, the
darkness seemed tangible Who shall number the tears shed on that
day--tears of men, women, and even children? Tears of men who had fought
for almost three years, who had sacrificed their all, who had but one
object in view, one ideal to pursue; who loved liberty and independence,
with an amazing love. Tears of women, who had spent many months either
in camps, or in the open veldt; women whose husbands and sons had fallen
in the war, whose infants were laid low in many a graveyard. Tears of
children, who had lost their parents, children who never more would know
the love of a mother, the protection of a father. With one voice the
whole people lamented the loss of their beloved Fatherland.

And how did the officers who had to subscribe to these terms of peace
feel? Let one[A] who was present speak:

"Never shall I forget what I witnessed there. General De Wet showed
that there was no chance any longer of continuing the struggle ...
I see him yet, that unyielding man, with his piercing eyes, his
strong mouth and chin--I see him there still, like a lion fallen
into a snare. He will not, he cannot, but he must give up the
struggle! I still see the stern faces of the officers, who up to
that moment had been so unbending. I see them staring as if into
empty space. I see engraved upon their faces an indescribable
expression, an expression that seemed to ask: 'Is this the bitter
end of our sufferings and our sorrows, of our faith and our strong
crying to God?' How great was their emotion! I saw the lips of men
quiver who had never trembled before a foe. I saw tears brimming in
eyes that had been dry when they had seen their dearest laid in
the grave....

"Everything was as silent as death when acting President Burger
took the pen in his hand. I looked at my watch; it was five minutes
past eleven on the 31st day of May in the year 1902.

"President Burger signed. President Steyn was not there. Our hearts
bled at the thought that he had been seized by a dangerous malady;
and yet it seemed to me that something was owed to that malady,
since it prevented the President of the Orange Free State from
doing what would have caused him the greatest pain in the world. He
had said once: 'To set my hand to a paper to sign away the
Independence of my people--that I shall never do.' Sa