The Only Result Of The
Proclamation Was To Burden The British Resources By An Enormous
Crowd Of Women And Children Who Were Kept And Fed In Refugee Camps,
While Their Fathers And Husbands Continued In Most Cases To Fight.
This allusion to the peace movement among the burghers may serve as
an introduction to the attempt made by
Lord Kitchener, at the end
of February 1901, to bring the war to a close by negotiation.
Throughout its course the fortitude of Great Britain and of the
Empire had never for an instant weakened, but her conscience had
always been sensitive at the sight of the ruin which had befallen
so large a portion of South Africa, and any settlement would have
been eagerly hailed which would insure that the work done had not
been wasted, and would not need to be done again. A peace on any
other terms would simply shift upon the shoulders of our
descendants those burdens which we were not manly enough to bear
ourselves. There had arisen, as has been said, a considerable peace
movement among the burghers of the refugee camps and also among the
prisoners of war. It was hoped that some reflection of this might
be found among the leaders of the people. To find out if this were
so Lord Kitchener, at the end of February, sent a verbal message to
Louis Botha, and on the 27th of that month the Boer general rode
with an escort of Hussars into Middelburg.
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