encourage polemics of this description. It may be taken for granted, I fear, that there is no goodwill on the part of the German Press towards this country, but we ought really to have accustomed ourselves ere this both to the animosity and the truculence of the Berlin editors, and it seems a mistake to add to the existing irritation by keeping up a controversy in which it is quite certain that we shall never succeed in convincing the other side. The other feature in to-day's journalism to which one may take exception is to be found in an account of certain religious services recently held in Parkhurst Convict Prison. It is all very well to tell us what is being done for the spiritual welfare of the prisoners, but it was surely unnecessary to make special mention of the names of certain of those prisoners whose only claim to the interest of the public lies in the fact that they are members of well-known families. No doubt the error was committed in thoughtlessness, but it is an example of that kind of cruelty of which our Press is at times guilty. Friday, the 20th of October.-The battle of words is practically at an end, just as the real battle is beginning. The defeat of Mr. Stanhope's amendment last night means the collapse of opposition to the Vote of Credit, and the subsequent proceedings of Parliament during this short Session will have little general interest. When you are face to face with the enemy in the field, the strife of tongues may very properly be postponed. Strange to say, however, this doctrine was not only rejected by the more ardent and insubordinate members of the Opposition, but was hotly resented by many. 'Do you think that I am going to allow Campbell-Bannerman or anybody else to muzzle me?' cried one eminently respectable member of the Liberal party when he was discussing this matter with me yesterday. And this, curious to relate, seems to be the view which is taken by a not inconsiderable proportion of the Opposition with regard to the advice that is supposed to have been tendered to them by their leader. It follows that a fissure, deep if not wide, has been created in the Liberal party by the events of the past week. Well, the debate has taken place, and already people are beginning to realise the fact that it has done no particular good to the country or to the cause of peace. It has damaged Mr. Chamberlain's reputation as a diplomatist, though it has raised it still higher as a debater; it has shown, what most of us had perceived already, the precise point at which the negotiations with the Boers went wrong, and on the other hand it has inflamed the passions of the Ministerialists, and has certainly not brought us nearer to a pacific settlement of our long-standing dispute with the Boer population of South Africa. To begin with, the debate opened badly by the raising of mere personal issues. Mr. Stanhope turned his indictment of the policy of the Government into a fierce attack on Mr. Chamberlain, based upon the allegations with regard to the Colonial Office and VOL. XLVI-No. 273 3 M the Raid. Mr. Samuel Evans, a typical Welsh member, converted his speech into a fiery onslaught upon Lord Rosebery, who has not apparently wooed the Nonconformist conscience of Wales so successfully as Sir William Harcourt appears to have done. Sir William himself made a speech which was enthusiastically lauded by some persons and as hotly denounced by others. It was really a good example of the 'Historicus' style, to which this versatile politician occasionally resorts, and did not turn a single vote. Then came, on the following day, Mr. Chamberlain, in a speech the remarkable qualities of which cannot be disputed. It was a brilliant and defiant vindication of his policy from first to last, and but for one extraordinary passage it must have strengthened his position in the eyes of Parliament and the country. But that one passage con tained a fatal blot. This was the declaration that he did not intend his reply to President Kruger's five years' franchise proposal as a rejection, but as an acceptance. It was generally construed in this country at the time as being an acceptance of the five years' franchise, but a rejection of the conditions that accompanied that offer. Now Mr. Chamberlain asserted that the conditions, as well as the offer itself, had been practically accepted. Little wonder that Sir Edward Clarke, who spoke under the influence of strong emotion, fastened upon this admission as justifying all the censures passed upon Mr. Chamberlain's diplomacy. Sir Edward Clarke's speech was, as a matter of fact, the only speech of real power made against the Government during the debate, and the way in which he drove his sword through the weak place in the Colonial Secretary's armour was masterly. To-day there has been great excitement among Liberals over the debate. The division, thanks to Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Edward Clarke, was unexpectedly favourable to Mr. Stanhope, though Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, and most of his colleagues on the Front Bench, were courageous enough to maintain their determination not to enter into partisan recriminations at the very moment when battle was being given in South Africa, and brave men were sacrificing their lives at the bidding of duty. Sir Henry has his reward now when the news reaches us of the severe engagement and brilliant but costly victory at Glencoe. Still, it can hardly be doubted that the debate which terminated yesterday has produced serious consequences. It has shaken the confidence even of his friends in the diplomatic capacity of Mr. Chamberlain, and it has strengthened the hands of the faction of Little Englanders who seem to be bent upon wrecking the Liberal party if they cannot secure an absolute control over its policy. Saturday, the 21st of October.-The real meaning of a state of war is brought home to most of us to-day. When Mr. Wyndham broke off in the official speech yesterday afternoon in order to read the telegram from General Yule announcing the victory at Glencoe, he emphasised the fact that the times are no longer normal. This morning the people of London took to the fog-laden streets early in order to give a parting cheer to the Guards, who are peculiarly the garrison of the capital. This afternoon trembling hands in many households opened the evening newspapers in order to read the list of killed and wounded. It is heavy, and especially heavy among commissioned officers. The fate of General Symons and the sacrifice of so many of the principal officers have done much to subdue the rejoicings over a brilliant victory. On the other hand, the political situation is affected favourably by this proof that we are even now a match for the enemy, and the sanguine on both sides of the House are hoping that with another action like that at Glencoe we may see the way opened towards a satisfactory peace. The formation of a flying squadron is exciting a good deal of comment here, and will cause new suspicions of our intentions to spring up among our Continental neighbours, who will hardly understand the reason for employing a naval force against an inland people. Monday, the 23rd of October.-In the streets, the clubs, wherever men meet, it is of war, and war only, that they talk. The thing which has loomed so heavily and so long before our eyes is here in good earnest, and the light hearts with which some regarded it when it was still at a distance are to be found no longer. There is profound satisfaction at the victories achieved by our arms, mingled with deep grief at the loss of so many precious lives, at the outpouring of blood upon both sides. The sanguine still believe that the fighting at Dundee and Elandslaagte will settle the campaign; but that is hardly the view taken by those who have experience of war. They regard it as being probable that many more lives will be sacrificed before we reach the desired end. For the moment the tumult of the battlefield drowns the cries of contending parties at home. The contentions which raged so fiercely, down even to last Thursday, seem to have ceased with a startling suddenness, and we are holding our breath as we watch the progress of the campaign. Some of the politicians are, indeed, already turning their eyes from South Africa to the Mediterranean, where rumour asserts that grave events are possible. It cannot be for service on the coasts of the Transvaal that we are commissioning fresh ships; it may be for service on the coast of Poland,' says one, recalling the old blunder of the statesman. In the midst of this public excitement and public sorrow comes the announcement of a private bereavement, which nevertheless seems to have a subtle link of connection with the larger stage of life. The death of Mrs. Forster reminds one of the fearless statesman and patriot who had so great a part in creating that sentiment of Imperial unity of which we are now reaping the benefits. Mrs. Forster was something more than the wife of the author of the Education Act. Those who knew her recognised in her the type of the highest class of English womanhood, great in intellect, great in heart, all-womanly in nature, yet with gifts of political intuition and literary skill such as comparatively few among men possess. Tuesday, the 24th of October. -The rumours which circulated darkly yesterday afternoon as to the retirement of our troops from Dundee under pressure from an overwhelming Boer force were confirmed by the Under-Secretary for War at the sitting of the House, and as this morning no further news has been received from the front, a feeling of grave anxiety prevails. It is intensified by the accounts of the mortality, more particularly among the Gordon Highlanders. The realities of war are at our doors, no longer to be trifled with, no longer to be regarded as figures of speech for use in debate, but to be faced with the courage and resolution that befit a race like ours. Of the ultimate issue no man can doubt. Wednesday, the 25th of October.-There is a slackening of the tension to-day, consequent upon the successful engagement of Sir George White with the Boers on the road between Ladysmith and Newcastle. Everything depends, however, upon the junction of Sir George White's forces with those under General Yule, and of this we have, as yet, no authentic news. But while the public are in better spirits a different feeling prevails among those who 'know,' and there are signs that a fierce outburst of indignation against those responsible for the procrastination in military preparations will follow any reverse in the field. Private advices from Natal just before the outbreak of hostilities do not speak as favourably as one could wish of our organisation, and it was freely admitted by officers on the spot that if the Boers were to come down in force before the arrival of reinforcements the position would be serious. In the meantime, this pause in the tide of English success, whatever may be its importance, has brought us fresh evidence of the feeling with which we are regarded by our Continental neighbours. The curse which falls upon the man of whom all others speak well is not one that is likely to trouble the English people. The last faint mutterings of the Parliamentary storm are still audible, though nobody gives much heed to them; yet I believe that this 'short Session' of 1899 is destined to have grave political consequences, affecting both, or perhaps I should rather say all, political parties in the House of Commons. Differences that have long been felt are now making themselves apparent to everybody. WEMYSS REID. The Editor of THE NINETEENTH CENTURY cannot undertake THE NINETEENTH CENTURY No. CCLXXIV-DECEMBER 1899 SOUTH AFRICAN PROBLEMS AND LESSONS I WAR is sometimes the end, and sometimes only the beginning, of political diffic ties. In South Africa it is both. On the one hand, it cuts with tue sword a ravel of complication which diplomacy had failed, and p rhaps necessarily failed, to loose. But when the soldiers have done eir work, that of the statesman will begin. When the war is over when British bayonets are seen once more in the capital of the Transvaal, which they quitted so ignominiously eighteen years ago, when the defeat of the Boers is absolute and acknowledged, then the South African question will still lie before us in new and formidable shapes. The war indeed has disposed of one portion of it. There are still some differences of opinion as to whether hostilities were inevitable or not, whether the steps which led up to them were wise or the reverse. This is a controversy which is not very profitable at the moment, and on which there is little to be said now that can be useful. War is a fait accompli, if there is such a thing in the affairs of man. Right or wrong, you cannot act as if it had not happened. Some of its changes are irrevocable, even if it were desired to recall them. A system of political relations which has been blown away by the blast of cannon cannot be set up again as it was before. The dead return no more to life. The campaign must decide the question of British supremacy in South Africa. There are some who say the point did not need deciding, since it could not really be denied. There are others who maintain that it not only could be, but that it was, disputed, and that nothing but force would ever have convinced the Boers that theirs VOL. XLVI-No. 274 3 N |