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Page 25
"Since the period referred to, a very powerful Dutch-Africander
combination has come into existence, and there can be no doubt but
that one object of such a body, is the severance of all but nominal
ties between the Cape, and Great Britain.
"However visionary such hopes as these must for a long series of
years remain, the fact of their existence, and of their being in a
variety of ways advanced from time to time, has a very marked
influence upon all classes of people in this country.
"For instance, the youth of the country are influenced to hope for
a time, when they shall be members of an independent State; and
while on the one hand they may not see any immediate prospect of a
change in such a direction being effected, nevertheless they lessen
their interest in, and their respect for, the Crown of England and
its attributes, and thus grow up comparatively devoid of any sound
patriotism, even to their native country; and, above all, without
any touch of that enthusiasm, which is ever engendered by high
national traditions.
"That some momentous changes are likely to occur in South Africa,
and that possibly, before very long, all are agreed. The question
only remains in what direction will these changes tend?--towards
some Foreign Continental Power, towards a Confederation with the
existing Dutch Republics, or in the direction of a strengthening
of the union with England?
"It is sometimes surmised, and this not merely by extreme men, but
by quiet and experienced observers of events in this country, that
the large population, mainly British, which has been attracted to
the Gold Fields of the Transvaal, is unlikely to endure much longer
the systematic misgovernment and suppression, to which they are
subjected by men of avowedly anti-English sympathies, and pledged
to a policy directed to check British progress by all means.
"What form the suggested revolt in the Transvaal may take is not
likely to be revealed, until some overt step towards its execution
has been taken. We would all desire that the end in view should be
secured by peaceful means, and that the Transvaal should become a
part and parcel of British territory.
"To effect a revival of loyalty to England in the Cape Colony, and
to influence the destinies of other States in the direction of
union with England, should surely be the hope and endeavour of all
true Englishmen, whether in this Colony, or elsewhere.
"And the end in view is not an easy one to attain in a country,
where the majority of Europeans consider that they, or their
compatriots, inflicted disgrace, and a permanent loss of influence
upon the Imperial Troops on the one hand, and the Imperial British
Government on the other.
"The application of any remedy seems to lie more with the Sovereign
personally, or Her Majesty's immediate advisers in England, than
with any Governor, and High Commissioner, or Cabinet of Cape
Ministers.
"For _qu�_ Governor, the Queen's Representative at the Cape, is
necessarily checked, or controlled by the Ministry of the day, his
Constitutional advisers, and the presence in the Cape Parliament of
a dominant force of the essentially non-English, or Africander
party, must necessarily also have a very material influence upon
Ministers, who depend upon a majority of votes for the retention of
their office.
"In short, the problem in the Cape Colony is one, which happily
does not exist in either of the other great dependencies of the
Crown; it is altogether peculiar to South Africa, of which, after
all, England acquired possession by conquest, and, having acquired
it, has never completely won the adhesion of the Dutch inhabitants,
who resent such acts of Government as the abolition of slavery, the
introduction of the English principle of equality before the law,
and, above all, an unsettled vacillating policy, which last has the
worst possible effect upon all the nationalities, European, as
well as native, throughout South Africa.
"The present attitude of even British South Africa, is one, not of
expectancy, but of slight hope, mingled with distrust, and after
such conspicuous events as the dismemberment of Zululand, the
retrocession of the Transvaal, in addition to the ineffective
efforts towards confederation, he would be a bold man who, as an
Englishman, would dare assert either that his country protected her
children, or her dependent races, or that there is any settled
British policy in the very Continent, where vigour, firmness, and
consistency, combined with mere justice, seem to be absolutely
essential.
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