Let those who talk about British designs upon the republics turn their attention for a moment to the evidence which there is for republican designs upon the colonies.
Let them reflect that in the one system all white men are equal, and that on the other the minority of one race has persecuted the majority of the other, and let them consider under which the truest freedom lies, which stands for universal liberty and which for reaction and racial hatred.

Let them ponder and answer all this before they determine where their sympathies lie.
Leaving these wider questions of politics, and dismissing for the time those military considerations which were soon to be of such vital moment, we may now return to the course of events in the diplomatic struggle between the Government of the Transvaal and the Colonial Office.

On September 8th, as already narrated, a final message was sent to Pretoria, which stated the minimum terms which the British Government could accept as being a fair concession to her subjects in the Transvaal.

A definite answer was demanded, and the nation waited with sombre patience for the reply.
There were few illusions in this country as to the difficulties of a Transvaal war.

It was clearly seen that little honour and immense vexation were in store for us.