hat which had been a
local agitation now appeared in the light of an English invasion, roused
all the Boers, of whatever party, to defend their country, and drew from
the High Commissioner an emphatic disclaimer and condemnation of the
expedition, which the home Government repeated. The rising at
Johannesburg, which the entrance of the police had precipitated, ended
more quickly than it had begun, as soon as the surrender of the
Company's forces had become known, for the representatives of the High
Commissioner besought the Uitlanders to lay down their arms and save
the lives of the leaders of that force.[86] This they did, and, after
what had happened, there was really nothing else to be done.

The most obvious moral of the failure is the old one, that revolutions
are not so easy to carry out as they look when one plans them
beforehand. Of all the insurrections and conspiracies recorded in
history, probably not five per cent. have succeeded. The reason is that
when a number of private persons not accustomed to joint action have to
act secretly together, unable to communicate freely with one another,
and still less able to appeal beforehand to those on whose eventual
support they rely, the chances of disagreement, of misunderstanding, of
failure to take some vital step at exactly the right moment, are
innumerable; while the Government in power has the advantage of
united counsels, and can issue orders to officers who are
habituated to prompt obedience.[87] In this instance, the plan was being
conducted by three groups of persons in three places distant from one
another,--Johannesburg, Pitsani, and Cape Town,--so that the chances of
miscarriage were immensely increased. Had there been one directing mind
and will planted at Johannesburg, the proper centre for direction, the
movement might have proved successful.

Another reflection will have occurred to the reader, as it occurred to
the visitor who saw the storm brewing in November, 1895: Why could not
the Reformers have waited a little longer? Time was on their side. The
Uitlanders were rapidly growing by the constant stream of immigrants. In
a few years more they would have so enormously outnumbered the native
Boers that not only would their material strength have been formidable,
but their claim to the franchise would have become practically
irresistible. Moreover, President Kruger was an old man, no longer in
strong health. When age and infirmity compelled his retire