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did not stop here. As if to assure the audience, who were in sympathy with the Free States, that they had nothing to fear, he added:

What we have to do is to deal practically and expeditiously with the affairs of Griqualand West and Natal; they will not wait and we have to act. People say wait till things are more matured, but when will that be?

Then he proceeded to condemn British policy and to threaten the Colony if it did not take part in this Conference :

They will be more matured according to that showing when the British Government has gone on, still pursuing its present policy and rendering itself more hated and execrated, and when the whole thing is in utter confusion up there and down here, when the name of Great Britain is received with hissing and reproval things will, I suppose, then be highly matured, although such a state of things as that would be by no means agreeable to us; mature this matter is for us at present, and we must act upon it and shall act upon it, and depend upon it we will act upon it in such a way as to bring about a settlement. If you will help us well and good, if not we must get on the best way we can; but I would very much rather you had somebody there to look after your interests.

In the face of the reference to the protest made to the Free States by the High Commissioner through the Government of Griqualand West, and this reference to the relations with the South African Republics, what are we to say of the conduct of this Imperial envoy? Could such action lead to good results? What must the High Commissioner have felt on reading these words? Mr. Froude had attacked Sir Benjamin Pine in England in regard to the Langalibalele affair. He had on the previous visit, and now again, attacked Mr. Southey,' the Imperial

'I speak with the greatest diffidence-with the strongest sense of the impropriety of setting my judgment against that of so wise and experienced a person as Mr. Southey. Of all persons in South Africa I have seen none so remarkable as Mr. Southey. For clearness of purpose, for calm unflinching firmness, for determined resolution to carry through any purposes which he

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Lieutenant-Governor. It was now the High Commissioner whom he did not hesitate to attack publicly, while still holding his office. We are subsequently to find included in his animadversion the Cape Ministry and the Cape Parliament, thus making complete the record of his condemnation of British authority. No wonder Mr. Molteno and all who valued order and decency in public matters stood aghast.

Here, as in subsequent speeches, Mr. Froude pleads guilty on behalf of the British Government to all kinds of injustice towards the Free State and the Transvaal, but if the Home Government were guilty why should they not act justly to these States? It is certainly a strange position for the British Government to take through its representative, to plead guilty to acts of injustice and then ask for a conference to show how these can be remedied. If they had been badly treated by the British Government, by all means let the British Government give them redress as quickly as possible, but how could the Cape Colony remedy any such injustice? It is not to be wondered at that the High Commissioner asked himself in what capacity did Mr. Froude come out to South Africa. As Lord Carnarvon's representative? Had he any commission from the Queen; any instructions from the Secretary of State?

Mr. Froude went on to give reasons for the designation of the representatives in the despatch.

Then there are two names-those of Mr. Molteno and Mr. Paterson. If there had been any intention of forming an might have in hand, I have rarely met anyone equal to him. . . . I will merely say that he knows the aspirations entertained in the Free State, and believes that they can be encountered successfully only by those methods which have occasioned the existing complications in that country. I will not insult Mr. Southey's intelligence by supposing that he is involving the British Government in a quarrel with his neighbours on account of Waterboer or Mankoroane, or any other dark-skinned potentate. He believes that the two Republics are unalterably hostile to British authority, and he intends to coerce them by establishing a powerful state on their Western borders.' -Extract from Mr. Froude's speech at Port Elizabeth, 5th of January, 1875.

official or formal Conference, the Colonial Secretary would obviously and immediately have been applied to as the Responsible Minister of this Colony; but that not being the case, and the Conference being only of an informal character, her Majesty's Government considered that it was the highest compliment they could pay to Mr. Molteno to put him at the head and front, having so perfect confidence in him that virtually if he had been pleased to accept the trust he would have had the entire management of the whole affair. The despatch does not positively name this or that person, it only recommends, and it would have been perfectly competent and easy for Mr. Molteno, having the entire confidence of her Majesty's Government, to make any change he pleased, to appoint anyone. he pleased, and to limit the subjects to be discussed, so that this matter of the Diamond Fields, and the change in the laws of Natal were fairly considered. So far as I know it was merely Lord Carnarvon's desire to pay the utmost compliment to the Cape Parliament; and the name of Mr. Molteno was mentioned, as he might fairly be presumed to represent the feelings of the majority.

This was another astounding statement which Mr. Froude repeated in his letter to Mr. Molteno. Surely it would have been better, had it been true that Mr. Molteno was to be treated with so much deference, that he should have been consulted before the despatch was sent. Was it not mere flattery intended to induce him to assist the policy which had been decided on quite irrespective of his advice or wishes?

Both the High Commissioner and Mr. Molteno had pointed out to Mr. Froude the danger of rousing the old question of East and West, and with a view to avoid this he now went so far as to state that Mr. Paterson was named in the despatch as the leader of the Opposition, and not to represent the East against the West; but this statement,

1 These glosses on the despatch did not make the position clearer. Upon reference to paragraph 9 of this document there is an unequivocal statement that the Eastern and Western Provinces are to rank with the other Colonies and States of South Africa as separate units in the proposed Conference. Mr. Froude's explanation of the choice of Mr. Paterson was therefore disingenuous, and if true was no real reason for placing him in a position of equality with the

as Mr. Froude subsequently admitted, when engaged in fostering this agitation, was rather beyond what he ought rightly to have said.' He hoped nothing in his speech would have the appearance of an appeal to the people. of the Colony against the Ministry and the Parliament.' After his explanation the Ministry would probably take a different view-it was merely a misunderstanding. And, he said,

they are justly suspicious considering past transactions with the Home Government, when anything is laid before them unexpectedly that might appear like an invasion of the newly acquired rights of responsible government, and Lord Carnarvon's only desire was to leave you to settle matters as you will by yourselves.

It is a matter for extreme regret that Mr. Froude did not apply these alleged principles of Lord Carnarvon to himself and leave the decision of the Cape Ministry and Parliament where it was.

Mr. Froude further stated that the despatch was not the result of any 'hasty or sudden resolution,' but of long, patient, and careful thought on the part of the wisest minds that could be brought to bear on these subjects. It is not only Lord Carnarvon, but it is all the Ministry and her Majesty herself, who is as anxious as anybody,' If this were so, it is curious that it did not strike these wise men that they could learn anything on the subject from the High Commissioner or the authorities on the spot. It surely shows a defect in their system of reasoning to have neglected such important sources of information which were freely at their disposal. When Mr. Froude said to the High Commissioner, 'How could Lord Carnarvon know that the despatch would raise the old feeling between East and West?' the Governor replied with the unanswerable rejoinder, 'By

Premier, who represented the whole Colony. It was further not in accord with fact, for Mr. Paterson did not assume, nor was he accorded by the Cape Parliament, the position of Leader of the Opposition.

consulting those on the spot.'

That Mr. Froude felt

instinctively that there was something not quite straightforward in his and Lord Carnarvon's conduct and intentions, seems clear from the following passage:

Lord Carnarvon is sincere and must not be suspected of sinister designs, and his only object is to take away all these mischiefs, troubles, and anxieties which have for so long a time past been ever working mischiefs here, and leaving you to settle matters as you will with yourselves.

As to this speech, we can only endorse the contemporary criticism of a friendly journal: 'Taking all his utterances together we find them considerably more irreconcilable than is becoming in the diplomatic speech of an officer bearing a commission from the Crown to work out a difficult problem.' Mr. Froude had freely criticised and condemned the Governor and High Commissioner. This officer could make no public defence of his conduct at the time. Mr. Froude had most improperly referred to some private correspondence which he alleged had been received at Bloemfontein from Mr. Molteno, putting a different complexion on a protest made by the High Commissioner in regard to the seizure of arms already referred to. He had placed the action of the High Commissioner and Her Majesty's Government in its relation to the two Republics in the worst possible light. The impression it gave, even to those in favour of Mr. Froude's policy, is shown by what the 'Diamond News' said of this speech:

Mr. Froude appears to take a pleasure in putting the Dutch against the English, of hitting absent friends behind their backs, and throwing out all sorts of bones of contention to divide us.

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while the Standard and Mail' pointed his speech by saying:

The Cape Colony, bound by so many ties with the Republics, will not see them dealt with unjustly, and there is a suspicion gaining ground that because Mr. Froude wishes to see them dealt

VOL. I.

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