taken the matter in hand, we will not let it go until we have secured conditions which once for all shall establish which is the paramount power in South Africa, and shall secure for our fellow-subjects there those equal rights and equal privileges which were promised them by President Kruger when the independence of the Transvaal was granted by the Queen, and which is the least that in justice ought to be accorded them.’  Lord Salisbury, a little time before, had been equally emphatic.  ’No one in this country wishes to disturb the conventions so long as it is recognised that while they guarantee the independence of the Transvaal on the one side, they guarantee equal political and civil rights for settlers of all nationalities upon the other.  But these conventions are not like the laws of the Medes and the Persians.  They are mortal, they can be destroyed. . .and once destroyed they can never be reconstructed in the same shape.’  The long-enduring patience of Great Britain was beginning to show signs of giving way.

In the meantime a fresh dispatch had arrived from the Transvaal which offered as an alternative proposal to the joint commission that the Boer Government should grant the franchise proposals of Sir Alfred Milner on condition that Great Britain withdrew or dropped her claim to a suzerainty, agreed to arbitration, and promised never again to interfere in the internal affairs of the republic.  To this Great Britain answered that she would agree to arbitration, that she hoped never again to have occasion to interfere for the protection of her own subjects, but that with the grant of the franchise all occasion for such interference would pass away, and, finally, that she would never consent to abandon her position as suzerain power.  Mr. Chamberlain’s dispatch ended by reminding the Government of the Transvaal that there were other matters of dispute open between the two Governments apart from the franchise, and that it would be as well to have them settled at the same time.  By these he meant such questions as the position of the native races and the treatment of Anglo-Indians.

On September 2nd the answer of the Transvaal Government was returned.  It was short and uncompromising.  They withdrew their offer of the franchise.  They re-asserted the non-existence of the suzerainty.  The negotiations were at a deadlock.  It was difficult to see how they could be re-opened.  In view of the arming of the burghers, the small garrison of Natal had been taking up positions to cover the frontier.  The Transvaal asked for an explanation of their presence.  Sir Alfred Milner answered that they were guarding British interests, and preparing against contingencies.  The roar of the fall was sounding loud and near.

On September 8th there was held a Cabinet Council—­one of the most important in recent years.  A message was sent to Pretoria, which even the opponents of the Government have acknowledged to be temperate, and offering the basis for a peaceful settlement.  It begins by repudiating emphatically the claim of the Transvaal to be a sovereign international State in the same sense in which the Orange Free State is one.  Any proposal made conditional upon such an acknowledgment could not be entertained.