Annexation of the Transvaal 151 



was sitting on Mr. Lys' verandah when I delivered 

 the message ; and it took me some time to convince 

 him that old Tjaardt was in earnest ; when he sent 

 me back to say that in his official capacity he could 

 not accept his proposal. Old Tjaardt said he was a 

 coward, but no blood was shed. After the annexation 

 much money was spent in the country, the people 

 were divided in opinion as to British rule ; the Bapedi 

 and Zulu tribes had been subjugated at great cost to 

 Great Britain ; the public offices had been established 

 on sound business principles, which they were not 

 before, and the Boers as a whole were apparently 

 contented, with improved conditions. There was, 

 however, all along a section influenced by Mr. P. 

 Kruger and some others, who quietly kept the embers 

 of anti-British sentiment alive, awaiting an oppor- 

 tunity to organise against the British rule when 

 convenient. 



Upon the annexation of the Transvaal under 

 the circumstances known to history, I resigned all 

 official commissions and accepted no office of emolu- 

 ment again in the Transvaal, either under the British, 

 or subsequent Republican rule. I will not attempt 

 to write details of the political situation records 

 abound and books could be filled. I will only mention 

 a few points that occur to me. When Paul Kruger 

 went on the first deputation to England to get the 

 annexation rescinded, he was in the pay of the 

 British Government. While in London he ran up 

 an account of 1,400 for hotel expenses at the Alber- 

 marle, which he could not pay, so Lord Carnarvon 

 paid it for him, and it was, so it was stated, never 

 repaid. 



When Sir Bartle Frere came to Pretoria, in 

 1879-80, he asked me to allow myself to be appointed 

 a member of the Executive Council, under a scheme 



