of Dutch descent were afraid lest this crowd of foreigners or Outlanders, as they called them, would make themselves their masters. These feelings took possession of the mind of their President, Paul Kruger, especially as the Outlanders before long outnumbered the Boers and were constantly increased by new arrivals. Kruger and his supporters refused the right of voting to all but a very few of the Outlanders, fearing lest these strangers should gain a majority in the councils which made laws for the Republic, and treat the Boers with as little consideration as in the time of the first annexation. If all that the Outlanders had suffered had been the deprivation of votes, it is unlikely that trouble would have followed. The possession of power, however, as is usually the case, tempted the Boers to use it unjustly. They considered that the Outlanders were rich, and they taxed them heavily, besides interfering with their industry in many ways. Boer officials found means of filling their own pockets by wrong-doing, with the result that the Outlanders drifted into a state of discontent, which made them eager to free themselves, by any means in their power, from the tyranny under which they suffered.

6. Jameson's Raid. The Outlanders, finding their complaints disregarded by President Kruger, began to think of resisting his authority. Many Englishmen outside the borders of the Transvaalor, as it was now styled, the South African Republic --sympathised with them, and Dr. Jameson rode in at the head of a small force to bring them help.

Though he was strictly ordered by the British Government to turn back, he persisted, and was easily defeated and captured by the Boers. After this Kruger and the greater part of the Boers were convinced that the British Government was bent upon annexing their territory, especially as Parliament made no satisfactory inquiry into the history of the raid. Thereupon Kruger continued to tax the Outlanders heavily, using the money thus secured to buy guns and military stores in Europe, which were brought secretly into the country.

7. The South African War.-After a while the British Government took up the cause of the Outlanders, asking President Kruger to allow them to elect certain number of members to the councils which formed what we should call the Parliament of the State. Kruger, however, was alarmed lest the Outlanders, if they were admitted to vote in large numbers, should become the masters of the Boers, and he was also bent on getting rid of the clause in the Convention of London which forbade him to make treaties with foreign States. Though he did not refuse point blank the terms pressed on him, he put so many difficulties in the way that it was plain that he did not mean to allow anything like equal rights to the men of the two races. he was no more inclined to govern the Outlanders justly than he was to let them take part in the government, the dispute was not likely to be settled by peaceable means. The British Government ordered troops to be sent into South Africa, and in October, 1899, Kruger, thinking it better to fight

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before overwhelming numbers arrived, declared that he would go to war unless the British troops. were withdrawn and no more were sent. On this war began. The Orange Free State joined the Boers of the South African Republic. At first these two Boer Republics, being superior in numbers and weapons, invaded the British colonies, and got the better of the British troops. Early in 1900, Lord Roberts was sent out to take the command. By this time troops were pouring into South Africa in large numbers, and Lord Roberts defeated the Boers, and occupied Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, and Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic. Kimberley, where are large diamond mines, and Mafeking, a distant post under the command of Baden-Powell, both of which had been besieged by the Boers, were relieved; as was also Ladysmith, in Natal, in which a British army had been for a long time shut up. The two Republics were annexed by proclamation under the names of the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal Colony. Lord Roberts returned to England in the autumn, leaving Lord Kitchener in command. Throughout the year 1901 Lord Kitchener was still employed in beating down the resistance of the Boers. But early in 1902 they were compelled to make peace and submit to be incorporated in the British Empire.

8. The Consolidation of the Empire. The most remarkable result of the South African War has been the zeal with which the great self-governing States which were founded as colonies of England

have voluntarily come forward to share with the British army the toils and dangers of the struggle. Canadians, whether of French or of British extraction, Australians and New Zealanders, have fought and died side by side with men from England, Scotland, and Ireland. There can be no doubt that these men have thrown in their lot with the inhabitants of our island, not because they were dwellers in colonies founded by Great Britain, but because Great Britain has wisely sacrificed her own real or fancied interests to their well-being, and has known that well-being is only to be secured by peoples who, being capable of self-government, are left to govern themselves. Whether, in process of time, there will arise some common Parliament or council in which the peoples once directly under British Government may consult together on affairs common to all, as the peoples of British America consult together in the Dominion of Canada, and the peoples of Australia consult together in the Commonwealth of Australia, we cannot as yet say. It is enough to know that the goodwill and kindly feeling are there, which will, doubtless, take form in closer union at some time or other. For the present, let us remember that, if we are tempted to think with pride of what is usually called the British Empire, it is not because we have added millions of square miles to the dominions ruled from our little islands at the beginning of the century, but because those millions of square miles are inhabited by peoples who are ruled with justice where they are unfit to be trusted with self-govern

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ment, and who are left to rule themselves where they can be so trusted. In the old sense, there is, in the case of the latter, no Empire at all-for Empire means the government of a master-nor are there any colonies at all-for to be a colony is to be in some way dependent on the mother country. What we have now is an association of sister States proud of their common freedom, and eager to contribute, so far as in them lies, to the safety of the whole.

9. Deathof Queen Victoria.-On January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria died, after a reign of more than sixty-three years. From the beginning to the end of that reign she occupied the first place in the hearts of her subjects, being always ready to rejoice with those who rejoiced and to mourn with those who wept. All knew how fondly she loved her husband, and with what love and skill she guided her Household. Only a few were aware of the part she took in affairs of State. Acts of Parliament and actions of government are rightly attributed to the Parliaments which make laws and to the Ministries which determine upon doing this thing or the other. There remains, however, work to be done which is by no means the least important the work of keeping jarring elements in harmony, of throwing in a word of wisdom when folly is about to be committed, and of persuasively urging, without peremptorily insisting, that faults committed shall be amended. This is the task to which Queen Victoria devoted herself without seeking the praise of men; and because she did. this, never resting and never halting, her people

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