the revenue of the country while denying them representation, the policy of the Government has been steadily to encroach upon the liberty of the subject, and to undermine the security for property to such an extent as to cause a very deep-seated sense of discontent and danger. A foreign corporation of Hollanders is to a considerable extent controlling our destinies, and in conjunction with the Boer leaders endeavouring to cast them in a mould which is wholly foreign to the genius of the people. Every public act betrays the most positive hostility, not only to everything English, but to the neighbouring States.
"Well, in short, the internal policy of the Government is such as to have roused into antagonism to it not only practically the whole body of Uitlanders, but a large number of the Boers; while its external policy has exasperated the neighbouring States, causing the possibility of great danger to the peace and independence of this Republic. Public feeling is in a condition of smouldering discontent. All the petitions of the people have been refused with a greater or less degree of contempt; and in the debate on the Franchise petition, signed by nearly 40,000 people, one member challenged the Uitlanders to fight for the rights they asked for, and not a single member spoke against him. Not to go into details, we may say that the Government has called into existence all the elements necessary for armed conflict. The one desire of the people here is for fair play, the maintenance of their independence, and the preservation of those public liberties without which life is not worth living. The Government denies these things, and violates the national sense of Englishmen at every turn.
"What we have to consider is, what will be the condition of things here in the event of a conflict? Thousands of unarmed men, women, and children of our race will be at the mercy of well-armed Boers, while property of enormous value will be in the greatest peril. We cannot contemplate the future without the gravest apprehensions. All feel that we are justified in taking any steps to prevent the shedding of blood, and to ensure the protection of our rights.
"It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here. The circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who will be so situated. We guarantee any expense that may reasonably be incurred by you in helping us, and ask you to believe that nothing but the sternest necessity has prompted this appeal.
"Charles Leonard.
Lionel Phillips.
Francis Rhodes.
John Hays Hammond.
George Farrar."
It was arranged that Dr. Jameson should start from camp on the night of the outbreak at Johannesburg—either on the 28th of December or on the 4th of January—according to notice which would subsequently be given. From this moment, however, doubts began to fill the minds of the Reformers. They were dissatisfied with the quantity of arms they had been able to smuggle into the town; there was a want of cohesion among the different sections, of those interested; they went so far as to disagree as to what flag they were going to revolt under. The Reformers were evidently not all of Dr. Jameson's opinion, that the Union Jack was the one and only flag under which they could hope for justice—they were, as we know, only comrades in suffering but not compatriots, and besides this, many declared that reform and not annexation was what they were anxious to secure.
Dr. Leander Starr Jameson.
Photo by Elliott & Fry, London.
Here we have before us what made the complicated riddle of the Raid. Since it has defied all the Œdipuses of the century, we will not endeavour to unravel it. Did the Reformers set all their grievances aside before the paramount question, "Under which flag, Jameson?" or did they make use of the flag argument to cover a series of vacillations which prevented them from acting up to the rules of the conspiracy they themselves had set on foot? Did Mr. Rhodes engage in the plot for the sake of financial gain? Did he do so out of sympathy for the "cause," or did he attempt a magnificent political coup? And lastly—Did that unhappy scapegoat, the gallant Jameson, launch himself on the wild mistaken escapade to rescue his fellow-countrymen from oppression, to serve his private ends financial or political, or from the sheer spirit of adventure which, in some degree, animates every British heart? Who shall say?
THE CRITICAL MOMENT
It was arranged, as has been mentioned, that the rising at Johannesburg should take place on the night of the 4th of January. The arsenal at Pretoria was to be seized, and Dr. Jameson with his troops was to make his appearance, assist the Reformers in urging their claims, and, if necessary, save the women and children from possible violence.
"According to the original plan," says Mrs. Lionel Phillips in her "South African Recollections," "what with the smuggled rifles, those in private hands, the spare weapons to be brought by Jameson's men, and those men (the Reformers) themselves, Johannesburg must have mustered a little army of not less than 5000 men, to say nothing of the guns which might possibly be captured in the arsenal. It was believed that with this force the town could be held against any attack that might be made by the Transvaal forces, and that, upon a failure in the first assault, the Boers would have adopted their well-known tactics of cutting off supplies, with a view to starving the town into submission. To meet this contingency the town was provisioned for two months, and it was supposed that the British Government would never sit still and allow the Uitlanders to be forced into capitulation in the face of the wrongs which they had suffered. In November, when Jameson came to Johannesburg, the supporting force had dwindled to 800. The telegrams apprising the Reformers of his advance spoke of 700, and in reality he started with less than 500 men."
But by the time the plot should have neared completion, the conspirators, as has been shown, had ceased to be of one accord on the subject. On Christmas Day Mr. Leonard interviewed Mr. Rhodes in Cape Town, and represented to him the divided state of affairs. Meanwhile the Reformers in Johannesburg desired to make known to Dr. Jameson their change of front, and, to prevent him starting on the expedition, despatched two messengers to Pitsani Camp by different routes. These messages were received on December the 28th, and with them other telegraphic ones from Mr. Leonard and Mr. Rhodes explicitly directing the expedition not to start.
The news that Dr. Jameson had started, in spite of these messages, came on the Reformers like a thunderclap. They were not ready—they had not sufficient arms to fight with, and they were not of one mind. The doing had been easy enough, and they had fancied the undoing would be as simple. They had laid their gunpowder train without thinking of the number of firebrands that surrounded it! Amazement gave way to indignation, and the Reformers were not slow to hint that Mr. Rhodes or Dr. Jameson had disregarded the messages in order to further their personal ends. The most charitable decided that the Doctor's starting was due merely to misunderstanding. Many rumours of discontent and disturbance were floating about, and it was believed that some of these might have reached the Doctor's ears and influenced his actions. Anyway the Reformers were at sea. All they could do was to arm as many men as possible with a view to defence—to holding the town against any attack that might be made by the Transvaal forces, and to decide to take no initiative against the Boers. No uneasiness was felt regarding Jameson, for it was believed that he was well supported by not less than 800 men, and that the Boers would stand a poor chance against a body so well equipped and trained as his was supposed to be. The position taken up is explained in a notice of the Reform Committee in the Johannesburg Star:—"Notice is hereby given, that this Committee adheres to the National Union Manifesto, and reiterates its desire to maintain the independence of the Republic. The fact that rumours are in course of circulation to the effect that a force has crossed the Bechuanaland border, renders it necessary to take active steps for the defence of Johannesburg and the preservation of order. The Committee earnestly desires that the inhabitants should refrain from taking any action which can be considered as an overt act of hostility against the Government."
The High Commissioner and the Premier of Cape Colony were communicated