Then he proceeded to the subject of Federation, which was always in his mind and at his heart.

Here he unfortunately failed to make allowance for the sensitive pride of Colonial statesmen.

He proposed the assemblage of a Federal Conference at Cape Town, at which Froude would represent the Colonial Office.

For Cape Colony he suggested the names of the Prime Minister, Molteno, and of Paterson, who led the Opposition.
In June, 1875, Froude went back to South Africa, this time as an acknowledged emissary of the Government, but by ill luck his arrival coincided with the receipt of the despatch.

The effect of this document was prodigious.