But the most important thing of all, and the fruitful cause of future trouble, lay in an omission.

A suzerainty is a vague term, but in politics, as in theology, the more nebulous a thing is the more does it excite the imagination and the passions of men.

This suzerainty was declared in the preamble of the first treaty, and no mention of it was made in the second.

Was it thereby abrogated or was it not?
The British contention was that only the articles were changed, and that the preamble continued to hold good for both treaties.

They pointed out that not only the suzerainty, but also the independence, of the Transvaal was proclaimed in that preamble, and that if one lapsed the other must do so also.