Dispassionately and as in the sight
of the Triune God for what they are fighting and whether the aim of
each justifies all this appalling misery and devastation.
'With this object, and in view of the assertions of various British
statesmen to the effect that this war was begun and is carried on
with the set purpose of undermining Her Majesty's authority in
South Africa, and of setting up an administration over all South
Africa independent of Her Majesty's Government, we consider it our
duty to solemnly declare that this war was undertaken solely as a
defensive measure to safeguard the threatened independence of the
South African Republic, and is only continued in order to secure
and safeguard the incontestable independence of both Republics as
sovereign international States, and to obtain the assurance that
those of Her Majesty's subjects who have taken part with us in this
war shall suffer no harm whatsoever in person or property.
'On these conditions, but on these conditions alone, are we now as
in the past desirous of seeing peace re-established in South
Africa, and of putting an end to the evils now reigning over South
Africa; while, if Her Majesty's Government is determined to destroy
the independence of the Republics, there is nothing left to us and
to our people but to persevere to the end in the course already
begun, in spite of the overwhelming pre-eminence of the British
Empire, conscious that that God who lighted the inextinguishable
fire of the love of freedom in our hearts and those of our fathers
will not forsake us, but will accomplish His work in us and in our
descendants.
'We hesitated to make this declaration earlier to your Excellency
as we feared that, as long as the advantage was always on our side,
and as long as our forces held defensive positions far in Her
Majesty's Colonies, such a declaration might hurt the feelings of
honour of the British people. But now that the prestige of the
British Empire may be considered to be assured by the capture of
one of our forces, and that we are thereby forced to evacuate other
positions which we had occupied, that difficulty is over and we can
no longer hesitate to inform your Government and people in the
sight of the whole civilised world why we are fighting and on what
conditions we are ready to restore peace.'
Such was the message, deep in its simplicity and cunning in its
candour, which was sent by the old President, for it is Kruger's
style which we read in every line of it. One has to get back to
facts after reading it, to the enormous war preparations of the
Republics, to the unprepared state of the British Colonies, to the
ultimatum, to the annexations, to the stirring up of rebellion, to
the silence about peace in the days of success, to the fact that by
'inextinguishable love of freedom' is meant inextinguishable
determination to hold other white men as helots - only then can we
form a just opinion of the worth of his message.
