is Kruger's style which we
read in every line of it. One has to get back to facts after reading
it, to the enormous war preparations of the Republics, to the unprepared
state of the British Colonies, to the ultimatum, to the annexations, to
the stirring up of rebellion, to the silence about peace in the days of
success, to the fact that by 'inextinguishable love of freedom' is meant
inextinguishable determination to hold other white men as helots--only
then can we form a just opinion of the worth of his message. One must
remember also, behind the homely and pious phraseology, that one is
dealing with a man who has been too cunning for us again and again--a
man who is as wily as the savages with whom he has treated and fought.
This Paul Kruger with the simple words of peace is the same Paul Kruger
who with gentle sayings insured the disarmament of Johannesburg, and
then instantly arrested his enemies--the man whose name was a by-word
for 'slimness' [craftiness] throughout South Africa. With such a man the
best weapon is absolute naked truth with which Lord Salisbury confronted
him in his reply:--

Foreign Office: March 11th.

'I have the honour to acknowledge your Honours' telegram dated March 5th
from Bloemfontein, of which the purport was principally to demand
that Her Majesty's Government shall recognise the "incontestable
independence" of the South African Republic and Orange Free State as
"sovereign international States," and to offer on those terms to bring
the war to a conclusion.

'In the beginning of October last peace existed between Her Majesty and
the two Republics under the conventions which then were in existence.
A discussion had been proceeding for some months between Her Majesty's
Government and the South African Republic, of which the object was to
obtain redress for certain very serious grievances under which British
residents in the Republic were suffering. In the course of those
negotiations the Republic had, to the knowledge of Her Majesty's
Government, made considerable armaments, and the latter had consequently
taken steps to provide corresponding reinforcements to the British
garrisons of Cape Town and Natal. No infringement of the rights
guaranteed by the conventions had up to that time taken place on the
British side. Suddenly, at two days' notice, the South African Republic,
after issuing an insulting ultimatum, declared war, and the Orange Free
State with whom there had not even been any