pinions. It used to be jestingly said that the Boers
disliked him because he denied that the devil possessed that tail which
is shown in the pictures that adorn the old Dutch Bibles; but his
deviations from orthodoxy went much further than this, and were deemed
by the people to be the cause of the misfortunes they experienced under
his guidance. He formed large plans for the development of the country
and the extension of Boer power over South Africa, plans which his
citizens were unable to appreciate and the resources at his disposal
were quite unfit to accomplish. Disorganization, aggravated by intestine
faction, grew worse and worse. The State was practically bankrupt; trade
had ceased, money could not be raised. In 1876, in a war which had
broken out with Sikukuni, a Kafir chief who lived in the mountains of
the north-east, the Boers were repulsed, and ultimately returned in
confusion to their homes. On the south, Cetewayo, then in the zenith of
his power, was unfriendly, and seemed likely to pour in his Zulu hordes.
The weakness and disorders of the Republic had become a danger not only
to the British subjects who had begun to settle in it, especially at the
Lydenburg gold mines, but also to the neighbouring British territories,
and especially to Natal; so a British commissioner was sent to examine
into the condition of the country, with secret instructions empowering
him to proclaim, if he should deem it necessary, and if he was satisfied
that the majority of the inhabitants would approve, its annexation to
the British crown. After three months' inquiry the commissioner, Sir
Theophilus Shepstone, exercised this power upon April 12, 1877, and his
act was approved by the High Commissioner at the Cape and by the
Colonial Secretary in England. President Burgers had endeavoured to
rouse his people by pointing out that only through reforms could they
preserve their independence. They agreed to the reforms, but would not
help him to carry them out, and obstinately refused to pay taxes. He was
helpless, for while the more rigidly Calvinistic section of the
population supported Paul Kruger, his opponent in the approaching
presidential election, others (especially the English who had settled in
the spots where a little gold had been found) favoured annexation to
Great Britain, and most of the Boers had been repelled by his unorthodox
opinions. Accordingly, after entering a protest against the annexation,
he returned to Cape C