Here, At Two O'clock On The Afternoon Of June 5th, Lord
Roberts Sat His Horse And Saw Pass In Front
Of him the men who had
followed him so far and so faithfully - the Guards, the Essex, the
Welsh, the
Yorks, the Warwicks, the guns, the mounted infantry, the
dashing irregulars, the Gordons, the Canadians, the Shropshires,
the Cornwalls, the Camerons, the Derbys, the Sussex, and the London
Volunteers. For over two hours the khaki waves with their crests of
steel went sweeping by. High above their heads from the summit of
the Raad-saal the broad Union Jack streamed for the first time.
Through months of darkness we had struggled onwards to the light.
Now at last the strange drama seemed to be drawing to its close.
The God of battles had given the long-withheld verdict. But of all
the hearts which throbbed high at that supreme moment there were
few who felt one touch of bitterness towards the brave men who had
been overborne. They had fought and died for their ideal. We had
fought and died for ours. The hope for the future of South Africa
is that they or their descendants may learn that that banner which
has come to wave above Pretoria means no racial intolerance, no
greed for gold, no paltering with injustice or corruption, but that
it means one law for all and one freedom for all, as it does in
every other continent in the whole broad earth. When that is
learned it may happen that even they will come to date a happier
life and a wider liberty from that 5th of June which saw the symbol
of their nation pass for ever from among the ensigns of the world.
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