228 SOUTH AFRICA. 



they represent a very insufficient purchasing power 

 in a place where almost everything is three times 

 dearer than in England. 



Comfort, except in the case of rich people, is an 

 unknown quantity in or near the gold fields, and 

 upon the whole, or for the present at least, I should 

 feel guilty of cruelty if I held out any encourage- 

 ment for immigration thither in the general sense 

 of the word, although perhaps an exceptionally 

 lucky skilled artisan may do well. 



Had Mr. Gladstone after Majuba subordinated 

 his sentimental proclivities to the maintenance of 

 the interest, the honour, and the prestige of his 

 country, and refrained from giving back the 

 Transvaal to the Boers, he could easily have done 

 so without bloodshed, and in all probability tens 

 of thousands of Englishmen in excess of the 

 present population would have made South Africa 

 their home ; but instead of that he preferred 

 perpetrating one of the very few jokes he has been 

 guilty of, and labelled it " Magnanimity." The 

 joke fell flat : it was too grim for any but Boers 

 to appreciate, but they at least laughed as heartily 

 as their gloomy temperaments permitted. It may 

 be taken for granted that South African prosperity 



