e the tale--we can seize in one day Cape Town, Port
Elizabeth, East London, and Durban, and within a very short time turn
every Englishman out of the Colonies, out of the land which England has
robbed us of."

Those words were spoken by a Bond man who is known to rarely speak in
public. When asked by a Uitlander how it could be done, he relapsed into
his usual prudent reticence, and merely remarked grimly, "We can do it."

But for subsequent revelations and the present sequel those words would
have been forgotten, and were at the time attributed by some to mere
boastful exuberance.

In July last the topic was discussed by some Boers at the house of a
highly placed military official, about the five per cent. tax upon the
profits of the gold industry. One said it should be raised to
twenty-five per cent. for the benefit of the burgher estate. That
official, who, by the way, had just returned from a gathering of country
officials at Pretoria, sententiously replied "that it was no more a
question of any tribute, but of taking the mines altogether out of the
capitalists' hands"; and when another burgher interposed a doubt as to
the fairness of such a proceeding, that official continued by saying,
"Fairness indeed! it is we who have submitted to unfairness only too
long--_ons wil nou Engelse schiet_ (we want now to go on the battue of
Englishmen)."

When the Transvaal Government had secured the assent of both Volksraads
to the seven years' franchise measure it was thought desirable, as a
matter of form and to gain time, to defer the formal passing of the law
until after it had been referred to the burghers. This was not done till
August last. A large section of the people were known to be against
extending the franchise, but the Government had no misgivings about the
result, counting upon the persuasive influence of the Volksraad members
who were to preside at the plebiscite meetings, and had before been
drilled up to their task. Their success was as desired, and the measure
became law in due course. Those meetings in the different districts and
wards of the State were characterised by almost uniform proceedings, so
that the description of one of them can serve for all.

The burghers assembled on the appointed day at the local Government
Office. The Landdrost, or chief official of the ward, took the chair.
There were four Volksraad members, who each in turn recommended the
adoption of the seven years' franchise measure.