Through Shot and Flame Part 32

It was in vain that voices were still raised for continuing the struggle. In vain that one referred to posterity, and declared that future generations would blame their forefathers that they had laid down their arms when they should have continued the struggle. In vain was it shown that they had been enjoined by their const.i.tuents to continue the struggle. "Injunction or no injunction, it is you," said General de la Rey to the Delegates, "who must decide, and you will have to decide, not for your own village or for your own district, but for the whole country."

The inevitable, the hard inexorable, stared the meeting in the face. It was simply impossible any longer to struggle against the stream. It was evident that although, from a military point of view, we had not been conquered, yet the war could not, for the sake of the People, be carried on any longer. The Boers had held out as long as they could; nay, months and months longer than they really could, and now--THE BITTER END HAD COME!

But how should we surrender? Unconditionally? That was what the warrior would wish. He would have wished to receive no favour from the enemy; he would have wished to listen to no terms from his adversary. He would have wished to say to his enemy, "I can do no more; there is my sword!

Do with me now what you will!"

But this could not be. THERE WERE THE PEOPLE!

What would become of the People if their leaders, in order to gratify their own military sentiment, surrendered unconditionally? "No!" said the leaders of the People, "we cannot do this." Here it was that I learned to respect General L. Botha, and with him other Generals, more than ever before. They sacrificed themselves, at the last moment, once more for the People. Repeatedly at the meeting at Vereeniging, and previously at Klerksdorp, the interests of the People had been referred to, especially by General Botha. Repeatedly, too, the colonists who had fought along with us had been mentioned, and it had been shown that if we accepted the terms of the English, then the People would retain possession of their personal liberty, and would eventually obtain self-government; and the colonists, although deprived of the franchise, would remain free. For the sake, therefore, of the People, the chiefs sacrificed their military pride; and in order to be able to provide for their kith and kin, and to be able to some extent to heal their wounds, they said, "We shall not surrender unconditionally; we shall advise the Delegates to adopt the proposal of the enemy."

Now there were a considerable number of Delegates that still desired to continue the war. They were princ.i.p.ally Free Staters, but there were also Transvaalers who were unwilling to give up the struggle, just as there were also some from the Free State who could no longer persist.

The disposition of these was, at all events, to persist until the discussions were closed, and if it then became evident that there were so many who voted against the continuance of the struggle that it would be impossible for them to carry on the war alone, then to say, "You who are for yielding force us also to surrender. We are driven to it."

Thus, they thought, the whole world would see who the men were who, at the last gathering of the Africander nation, had endured unto the end.

To the views of these Delegates expression was given on Sat.u.r.day morning, the 31st of May, by a resolution proposed by General Nieuwoudt, seconded by General Brand. That resolution proposed that the terms of the English should be rejected. Another proposal was drawn up by General s.m.u.ts, and laid before the meeting by Mr. R. R. Viljoen and General H.

A. Alberts. This draft proposed that the meeting should authorise the Governments to adopt the proposal of the British Government, and fully set forth what the reasons were that forced the Delegates to do so.

There now lay the two proposals. Would the Delegates be divided? Would they part from each other in anger? Would they for all future time look back upon this, the greatest moment in the history of South Africa, with bitter reproaches against each other?

But something great occurred. Was it not G.o.d's guidance to keep the People united to the last moment? It was this: those who wished to continue the war, instead of striving after the honour of being renowned as the steadfast ones who had only been forced by the surrender of others to surrender also, ranged themselves by the side of those who could no longer continue the contest, feeling that as they had fought and suffered together, they should also fall together.

It happened in this way. General Botha and General de la Rey went to General de Wet early on the morning of the 31st of May, and pointed out to him that it had after all now become plain that they could not go on with the struggle. Why should there still be division amongst them? they asked. If they had been united in the struggle until now, then surely it would be wrong to be divided at the last? General de Wet saw that this was so, and agreed with the other two Generals to meet his burghers separately, whilst the other two would speak to their burghers apart, with the object of arriving at unanimity.

At the meeting General de Wet suggested that in order to avoid division a commission should be appointed to draw up a third proposal that would be acceptable to both parties; and that whilst the commission was busy at this work the Free State and Transvaal Delegates should consult separately, with the object of arriving at a unanimous conclusion. The meeting approved of this, and appointed General s.m.u.ts and Judge Hertzog to carry out the resolution. Then the Free Staters went to the tent of General de Wet, while the Transvaalers remained in the tent of a.s.sembly.

I went along with the Free Staters. Never shall I forget what I witnessed there. General de Wet showed that there was no chance any longer of continuing the struggle, and said that they ought not to be divided, but if possible unanimously vote for one resolution. I see him yet, that unyielding man, with his piercing eyes, his strong mouth and chin--I see him there still, like a lion fallen into a snare. He will not, he cannot, but he must give up the struggle! I still see the stern faces of the officers who up to that moment had been so unbending. I see them staring as if into empty s.p.a.ce. I see engraved upon their faces something indescribable, that seemed to ask: Is this the bitter end of our sufferings and our sorrows, of our faith and of our strong crying to G.o.d?

General de la Rey had on the previous day exclaimed in the meeting, "You speak of faith. What is faith?... Lord, Thy will, and not mine, be done!

I eliminate myself under G.o.d's will!" Then those strong men who had led the People until that moment felt what those words implied!

How great was their emotion! I saw the lips quiver of men who had never trembled before a foe. I saw tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in eyes that had been dry when they had seen their dearest laid in the grave....

The men agreed to remain united!

They again a.s.sembled in the tent. The draft of General s.m.u.ts, amended by him and Judge Hertzog, was read by the latter, and ran as follows:--

"This meeting of Representatives of the People of the S.A.R. and O.F.S., held at Vereeniging from the 15th May 1902 to the 31st of May 1902, has learnt with regret of the proposal made by His Majesty's Government in regard to the cessation of existing hostilities and of the intimation that this proposal must be accepted or rejected in an unaltered form.

"The meeting regrets that His Majesty's Government has absolutely refused to negotiate with the Governments of the Republics upon the bases of our Independence, or to permit our Governments to enter into communication with our Deputation.

"Our Peoples have indeed always thought that not only on the ground of Right, but also on the ground of the great material and personal sacrifices that they have made for their Independence, they have a just claim to such Independence.

"This meeting has earnestly taken into consideration the condition of land and people, and has more especially taken into account the following facts:

"1. That the military tactics pursued by the British military authorities has led to the entire ruin of the territory of both the Republics, with burning of farms and towns, destruction of all means of subsistence, and exhaustion of all sources necessary for the support of our families, for the maintenance of our forces in the field, and for the continuation of the war.

"2. That the placing of our captured families in the concentration camps has led to an unprecedented condition of suffering and disease, so that within a comparatively short time about 20,000 of those dear to us have perished there, and the horrible prospect has arisen that by continuing of the war our entire race might be exterminated.

"3. That the Kaffir tribes within and without the borders of the territories of both Republics are almost all armed and take part in the struggle against us, and by perpetrating murders and committing all kinds of horrors, an impossible state of affairs has been brought about in many districts of both Republics, an instance of which took place lately in the district Vrijheid, where fifty-six burghers were murdered and mutilated in a shocking manner at the same time.

"4. That by proclamations of the enemy, which he has already carried into effect, the burghers still in the field are threatened with loss of all the movable and immovable property, and so with total ruin.

"5. That through the circ.u.mstances of the war it has already long ago become impossible for us to retain the many thousands of prisoners-of-war taken by our forces, and that we thus could do but comparatively little damage to the British troops, whilst our burghers captured by the British are sent abroad; and that after the war has raged for nearly three years there remains only a small portion of the forces with which we entered into the war.

"6. That this remnant still in the field, which forms but a small minority of our entire people, has to contend against overwhelming odds, and moreover has reached a condition virtually amounting to famine and want of the necessary means of subsistence--and that notwithstanding our utmost endeavours and the sacrifice of all that we value and hold dear, we cannot reasonably expect a successful issue:

"This meeting is therefore of opinion that there is no reasonable ground for thinking that by continuance of the war our People will retain the possession of its Independence, and considers that under the circ.u.mstances the People is not justified in carrying on the war any longer, as that can alone tend to bring about the social and material destruction not only of ourselves but also of our descendants.

"Urged by the above-mentioned circ.u.mstances and motives, this meeting authorises both Governments to accept the proposal of His Majesty's Government, and on behalf of the People of both Republics to sign the same.

"This meeting of Delegates expresses the confident hope that the conditions which have now been called into being by adopting the proposal of His Majesty's Government may soon be ameliorated in such a way that our nation may thereby attain the enjoyment of those privileges to which it considers that not only on account of its past, but also on the ground of its sacrifices in the course of this war, it can justly lay claim.

"This meeting has noted with satisfaction the resolution of His Majesty's Government to grant a large measure of amnesty to those British subjects who took up arms on our side, and to whom we are bound by the ties of blood and honour, and expresses the hope that it may please His Majesty to extend this amnesty still further."

With fifty-four against six votes the meeting adopted this proposal.

Clearly and fearlessly there were reasons set forth in this resolution why the Representatives of the People felt themselves obliged to give up the long struggle.

For a year past it had been impossible to continue, and yet the Africander people had with wonderful endurance continued to stand firm.

Not easily had they been induced to see that the struggle was a hopeless one, and when at last they were compelled by the overwhelming force of circ.u.mstances to give up the contest, they did not sink down paralysed to the earth, as if they no longer retained any self-respect; but they made themselves felt for the last time, by a resolution which will take rank in history as one of the great manifestos, which will be valued according to its true worth by future generations, better than we can value it to-day.

The Boers had sacrificed everything. They had seen their houses given as a prey to the flames. They had seen their property destroyed. They had seen their cattle driven away in large numbers, and their sheep done to death in heaps of tens of thousands. They had shed their blood like water. Everything, everything, they had offered up for freedom and independence. Nay, more than this had they laid on the altar. They saw that for the great cause their mothers, their wives, their daughters, their sisters, had suffered hunger, had been carried away, had died by thousands in the camps, that they had been ill-treated, insulted and slandered, and violated ... they had drunk of the cup to its last bitter dregs.

Could they do more? It was already too much. They had made the greatest sacrifice that could be demanded, and they had made it in a materialistic age, in which gold exercises a tyrannic influence, and much that is n.o.ble is trodden down under its remorseless heel. In these times, when many believe no more in such a thing as a pure love for Liberty, a love that can lead a man to the performance of sublime deeds; in these times, when men contemn the ideal, and speak with pity of n.o.ble aspirations, as being illusions or puerilities;--in these times, a drama had been acted before the eyes of the whole world by a people that could still sacrifice all for a great and holy ideal. Still in these times of unbelief there had been seen the heads of two States openly calling upon the name of G.o.d, and the world had seen a nation that could carry on war believing in G.o.d. And had these ideals now been rudely dragged through the mud by the bitter result? Had the faith of the People been in vain? Had that People appealed to G.o.d, and had He declared Himself against them?

Let no man say this!

G.o.d has formed the Africander nation in this great struggle. It has not been exterminated; its language has not been destroyed. The might of the enemy has overwhelmed it, has gone over it like a mighty wave, but Africander sentiment still exists. No weapon can bend that will, no violence can suppress that spirit! The Africander nation remains an indestructible element in the British Empire. Let no man say that G.o.d has not heard the prayer of the Africander nation. Many have not been able to understand the will of G.o.d, and have been overthrown by the insulting question, "Where is now your G.o.d?" but I say again, let no man a.s.sert that G.o.d has not heard the prayer of the Africander people. He who has eyes to see can see that the Africander race has been more firmly welded together by the glowing heat of this struggle, and our People will be held together chiefly by those who pa.s.sed through the greatest heat of the fire--our mothers. For it was they who suffered most; it was they who made the greatest sacrifices. Words fail me when I endeavour to speak of the women and of what they had to endure. I have found them in their burnt-down dwellings, in stables, and in waggon-houses. I have endeavoured to speak words of encouragement and consolation to them when I met them in the veld, fleeing before the enemy. I have seen them almost unrecognisable, tanned by sun and wind, and seen how thinly they were often clad. I have sat with them at their meals, in the burnt houses or on the ground in the veld, and when I thought of their scanty food it was as if the morsel in my mouth had grown too large, and I could not swallow it. And never did I hear them complain. They were ever ready to bear every burden, to make every sacrifice, if only the Independence of the People were not lost. It is they who will hold our People together.

It is because we have such mothers that we look into the future with courage, and feel that, although we now are under the British Empire, and as subjects of that Empire will bear ourselves peaceably, yet our own nationality will ever be something great and sacred to us. And we shall always consider it the greatest honour still to be known as Africanders.

Thus G.o.d has heard our prayer.

CHAPTER VI

EXIT

"Here we stand at the grave of the two Republics," said Acting President Burger when the resolution had been taken by the meeting. There was a great silence while he spoke. "For us," he continued, "there remains much to be done, and we must devote ourselves to it. Although we can no longer do so in the official capacities we have heretofore held, let us not draw back our hands from doing what is our duty. Let us pray G.o.d to lead us, and to show us how we can keep our People together. Of the unfaithful ones also we must be mindful. We may not cast out that portion of our People; let us learn to forgive and to forget."

That evening, shortly before eleven o'clock, both the Governments were back at Pretoria. With the utmost haste they were conducted to the house of Lord Kitchener.

For a few moments they were left alone, because they wished once more to hear the resolution of the Delegates read, and a.s.sure themselves that it was correct.