any place in that great man's mind, or had even "cast its shadow before"
in his thoughts. It appeared as though he had not even taken in the fact
of the existence of those four millions of slaves, the uneasy clanking
of whose chains had long foreboded the approach of the avenging hand of
the Deliverer. This obscured perception of the question was that of a
great part, if not of the majority, of the Press of that day, and of
most persons of the "privileged" classes; but that _he_, a trusted
leader of so many, should be suffering from such an imperfection of
mental vision, was to us an astonishment and sorrow. As we left that
crowded hall, my companion and I, we looked at each other in silent
amazement, and for a long time we found no words.

As I look back now, there seems in this incident some explanation of Mr.
Gladstone's total oblivion of the interests of our loyal native subjects
of the Transvaal at the time when he handed them over to masters whose
policy towards them was well known. These poor natives had appealed to
the British Government, had trusted it, and were deceived by it.

I recollect that Mr. Gladstone himself confessed, with much humility it
seemed to us, in a pamphlet written many years after the American War,
that it "had been his misfortune" on several occasions "not to have
perceived the reality and importance of a question _until it was at the
door_." This was very true. His noble enthusiasm for some good and vital
cause so engrossed him at times that the humble knocking at the door of
some other, perhaps equally vital question, was not heard by him. The
knocking necessarily became louder and louder, till at last the door was
opened; but then it may have been too late for him to take the part in
it which should have been his.

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 15: Speech of Mr. Drage, M.P., at Derby, December, 1899.]

V.

VISIT OF TRANSVAAL DELEGATES TO ENGLAND. THE LORD MAYOR'S REFUSAL
TO RECEIVE THEM AT THE MANSION HOUSE. DR. DALE'S LETTER TO MR.
GLADSTONE. MR. MACKENZIE IN ENGLAND. MEETINGS AND RESOLUTIONS ON
TRANSVAAL MATTERS. MANIFESTO OF BOER DELEGATES. SPEECHES OF W.E.
FORSTER, LORD SHAFTESBURY, SIR FOWELL BUXTON, AND OTHERS. THE
LONDON CONVENTION (1884).

In 1883, two years after the retrocession of the Transvaal, the Boers,
encouraged by the hesitating policy of the British Government, sent a
deputation to London of a few of their most astute statesmen, to