CONTENTS OF VOL. XLVI PAGK ARE WE TO LOSE SOUTH AFRICA? By Sir Sidney Shippard A SUPREME MOMENT (a Play in one Act). By Mrs W. K. Clifford THE EXCESSIVE ARMIES OF RUSSIA. By Sir Lintorn Simmons THE LIMITATIONS OF NAVAL FORCE. By Sir George Sydenham Clarke A WOMAN'S CRITICISM OF THE WOMEN'S CONGRESS. By Miss Frances H. WHAT CHURCH HAS CONTINUITY? By Dr. St. George Mivart THE RECENT FUSS ABOUT THE IRISH LANGUAGE. By Professor Mahaffy. WHY ARE OUR BRAINS DETERIORATING? By Colonel H. Elsdale. LIFE ON THE NILE SOUTH OF FASHODA. By Arthur D. Milne 'THE HUMOURS OF TER-NA-NoG.' By Mrs. Orman Cooper THE DECAMERON' AND ITS VILLAS. By W. J. Stillman MADAME NECKER. By the Hon. Marcia C. Maxwell THE EVOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY OATH. By Michael MacDonagh 317 THE IMPERIAL FUNCTION OF TRADE. By Henry Birchenough THE AMERICAN NEGRO AND HIS PLACE. By Miss Elizabeth L. Banks THE SIERRA LEONE DISTURBANCES. By Harry L. Stephen AN ALL-BRITISH RAILWAY TO CHINA. By CA Moreing THE FUTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. By the Rev. Dr. Percival AFTER THE VERDICT-SEPTEMBER 1899. By Algernon Charles Swinburne 521 LIBERALISM AND ITS CROSS-CURRENTS. THE GREAT UNPAID. By Sir Algernon West THE FEAR OF OVER-EDUCATION. By Alexander Sutherland ELECTRICITY IN INDIA. By Major C. C. Townsend II. A CONSCIENCE CLAUSE FOR THE LAity. THE CHURCH CRISIS AND DISESTABLISHMENT. LAMBETH AND 'LIBERATION' By George W. E. Russell NATIVE UNREST IN SOUTH AFRICA. By E. M. Green THE FUTURE OF LORD ROSEBERY. By H. W. THE VAN DYCK EXHIBITION AT ANTWERP. By Claude Phillips THE INTELLECTUAL FUTURE OF CATHOLICISM. HORTICULTURE AS A PROFESSION FOR THE EDUCATED. Freer THE DALMENY EXPERIMENTS: LITERATURE BEFORE LETTERS. By Professor Max Müller. (1) By Sidney Low ENGLISH AND DUTCH IN THE PAST. By Mrs. John Richard Green TERMS USED IN MODERN GUNNERY. By Major-General Maurice. MR. STEPHEN PHILLIPS'S TRAGEDY OF PAOLO AND FRANCESCA. By Sidney A NEGRO ON THE POSITION OF THE NEGRO IN AMERICA. By D. E Tobias THE CHURCHMAN'S POLITICS: A DIALOGUE. By the Rev. Anthony C. Deane AUSTRIA AT THE END OF THE CENTURY. By Francis Count Lützow THE NINETEENTH CENTURY No. CCLXIX-JULY 1899 ARE WE TO LOSE SOUTH AFRICA? In view of the issues at stake in South Africa at the present time, the Editor of this Review has done me the honour of asking me to write an article on the Transvaal crisis. In doing so I have to break for once the rule of silence which is generally binding on ex-officials in respect of political questions of a controversial nature-at least, in cases in which their utterances might possibly tend to embarrass the Government they formerly served. I have hitherto refused all requests of the kind with reference to South African politics, even when sorely tempted to contradict erroneous statements or to expose the fallacies underlying the sentimental tirades which apparently find such ready acceptance among well-meaning but credulous people unacquainted with the conditions of life in South Africa. The present is, however, an exceptional occasion, and I feel at liberty to speak out plainly. The result of the Bloemfontein Conference has created a new situation, and my views, based upon long personal experience, are in accordance with the present policy of Her Majesty's Government, so far as I can judge from the recently published despatches between Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Alfred Milner. I I ought, perhaps, to begin by explaining why my opinion has been asked, and how I am qualified to form an impartial judgment with regard to the present crisis in South Africa. have been connected with South Africa by the closest personal ties from an early age, and long before I visited the country I was familiar with its history, its politics, its races, and even the characters of its leading men. I first went out to practise at the bar of the Supreme Court in Capetown in 1870. Shortly after the territory of VOL. XLVI-No. 269 B Griqualand West was annexed to the Empire as a Crown colony by Sir Henry Barkly's Proclamation of the 1st of October 1871, I proceeded to the diamond fields in order to practise at the bar of the High Court of Griqualand. I subsequently became Attorney-General there, and had many strange experiences during a somewhat stormy period. Later on-in 1880-I became one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope in the Eastern Districts, where frequent circuits familiarised me with the whole country and its inhabitants. I held that office for nearly six years, including the time when I was the British Commissioner on the Anglo-German Commission appointed after the German annexation of Great Namaqualand and Damaraland. In 1885, on the return of Sir Charles Warren's Expedition, I was asked by the late Lord Rosmead (then Sir Hercules Robinson) to undertake the Administration of the Government of British Bechuanaland with supreme judicial as well as executive powers, and also the duties of President of the Land Court and Deputy High Commissioner, and I subsequently became Resident Commissioner for the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the Kalahari, with jurisdiction up to the Zambesi. I need hardly say that this multiplicity of duties necessitated a great deal of travelling about, and an intimate acquaintance with all sorts and conditions of men throughout that vast territory. I found British Bechuanaland in a state of chaos. After ten years of very hard work I left it and all its inhabitants peaceful and prosperous. During the whole of that time I managed to maintain friendly relations with the Transvaal Government, in spite of the bitter feeling of many disappointed freebooters, and of the numerous difficulties which from time to time arose on the border. Throughout my tenure of office I remained on the best terms with the comparatively large Dutch population of British Bechuanaland, which included many farmers from the Transvaal and the Orange Free State as well as from the Cape Colony. I had many conferences with them, and knew them well. I mention these facts for two reasons: first, in order to prove that I am well acquainted with the subject on which I have been asked to write; and secondly, in order to show that I am entirely free from prejudice against the Boers, as they are called. The friendly feeling invariably exhibited towards me personally by the Dutch throughout South Africa suffices to prove this. this. I entertain sincere admiration for their many sterling qualities, and I can truly say that the Dutch inhabitants of South Africa have no more sincere well-wisher than I am. I therefore feel no hesitation in expressing my views on the present crisis. In the brief observations which I have to make I do not propose to go over the oft-told tale of the political blunders of Mr. Gladstone, or of those who followed his lead. I do not even wish to dwell on the details of the bad faith and tyranny of the Pretoria Government, |