I do not say that these sentiments are general, but they indicate the weariness of the combatants. And this la.s.situde seemed to me to be creeping over all, from the general to the private, among those I met between Springs and Cape Town.
The army itself will not be consulted, of course, but I wish to note this state of mind, which seems to me serious.
On the other hand, British prestige is too deeply engaged for the English to retreat without losing caste.
What will happen? It would be foolhardy to prophesy. "If in doubt, refrain," says the sage. I will take his advice, offering for the consideration of those who have followed me so far this melancholy sentence from the Westminster Gazette of last March:
"Each Boer will have cost us 2,000 to subdue, and no one can yet say what each will cost us to govern."
October, 1900.
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (small version)]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State (large version)]
The Transvaal from Within
BY J. P. FITZPATRICK
Demy 8vo., cloth, 10s. net. Popular Edition, cloth, 2s. 6d. net.
People"s Edition, paper, 6d. net
Mr. Chamberlain, replying to a Westmoreland correspondent, who complained of the want of a printed defence of the Government"s policy in the Transvaal, wrote, "I refer you to Mr. FitzPatrick"s book."
Lord Rosebery at Bath: "A book which seems to me to bear on every page and in every sentence the mark of truth, which gives you wholesale and in detail an extraordinary, and I think I may say an appalling, record of the way in which the Government of the Transvaal was carried on and the subjection to which it reduced our fellow-countrymen there."
The Times: "Mr. FitzPatrick"s book supplies a want which has been widely felt. For the first time, the information which everyone has been asking for, and which n.o.body has been able to obtain, with regard to the common facts of contemporary Transvaal history, is collected in a volume convenient for reference and easy to read. Nothing that has been written upon the Transvaal brings the conditions of life there so clearly before English readers. Mr. FitzPatrick lays his arguments boldly and simply before his readers, but it is in the facts of the book--facts never before brought together in so convenient a form--that the most powerful of all arguments will be found. Few readers will lay down the volume without feeling that they know more than they have ever known before of the real issues on trial in South Africa."
Why Kruger Made War
Or, Behind the Boer Scenes
BY JOHN A. b.u.t.tERY
LATE OF THE "STANDARD AND DIGGERS" NEWS," JOHANNESBURG
1 vol., crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. Second Impression
The Times.--"Amid the never-ceasing flood of South African literature, Mr. b.u.t.tery"s is a book which deserves to be read. He writes with inside knowledge of the Transvaal, its recent history, and its public men. His chapters are pointed, easy to read, and full of interesting local matter. His description of the position of the Cape Dutch and of the Bond is worth reading. The book contains within small compa.s.s more useful and interesting information than is sometimes to be found in far more pretentious volumes."
Literature.--"It has the incisiveness that one expects from the work of the man on the spot, and it illuminates the British case with anecdotes and circ.u.mstantial details.
The Daily Telegraph.--"The author throws a good deal of light on the proceedings of the Hollander clique. The book contains much that is of interest at the present time.
The Rise and Fall of Krugerism
BY JOHN SCOBLE AND H. R. ABERCROMBIE
Demy 8vo., cloth extra, 10s. net. Popular Edition, 2s. 6d. net
The Daily Chronicle.--"The authors throw new light on much that we knew before, and they write with the experience of old inhabitants."
The Daily Express.--"A most timely book, and one well deserving the serious consideration of all public men."
The Scotsman.--"Those in search of enlightenment respecting the rise and fall of Krugerism in South Africa will find this volume a mine of information on the subject."
The Manchester Courier.--"The most striking feature of the work is its almost encyclopedic completeness, for there is hardly one of the many phases of political interest connected with South Africa which is not threshed out in these pages. There is a tone of healthy Imperialism about this book which is refreshing and attractive. It will be welcomed as a logical and painstaking presentation of the South African question."
The Newcastle Daily Chronicle.--"We leave the book convinced that a perusal of it will open the eyes of the British people all over the world to the evils and dangers of Krugerism in such a way as perhaps no other one book could do."
The Yorkshire Post.--"A valuable as well as an interesting work."
The South African Conspiracy
Or, The Aims of Afrikanderdom
BY FRED. W. BELL, F.S.S.
Demy 8vo., cloth extra, 5s. net