Adamantia : the truth about the South African diamond fields : or, a ...

•316 SIB B. BARJa,Y'S DIPLOMACY.mast, therefore, deter till Dext SeuiOD any 1'8CODUDencJat.iona as tolegialatjng for thia object, aDd endeavour, meanwhile, by employing811Ch oftlciala 88 may be found requisite, and with the aid of a n16..ment body of the Frontier Police, for the P1'8ll8l"Yation of order, toeonduct the internal administration of aDy territmy the charge ofwhich may happen to devolve upon hill hands."The fact th!1t an irregular "form of Govemment,'"1uitlwut "law," had already been e8talJli.Aed over FreeState territory, by the appointment of British magistrates,was carefully kept in the back ground. Howis the above declaration to his Parliament to be reconciledwith the following ultimatum Sir H. Barkly hadsent oft' to the President of the Free State in a despatchdated July 18th ?"I feel bound • to DOtify to your Honour that I hold a commissionunder the Royal Sign Manual, authorizing me to accept theceeaion of territory offered by Captain Waterboer, aud to aDDex thesame to this colony, with such boundaries aa I may .ee fit to prolaim•" cBesides its totally opposite character to the moderatepolicy expressed to the Cape Parliament, thisarrogant assertion of Sir H. Barkly's, by reason of theentire suppression of the conditions on which aloneany such authority was given him by the Commission,.is not only a deliberate suppressio veri, but an equallyintentional 8U9ge8tio falai." I should be extremely reluctant, irrevocably, to fix these boundaries,"adds the Governor, with exquisite irony, "in direct oppositionto the clai"., ,.t up by the Orange Free State, 80 long as theslightest chaDce exists of an amioable adjustment, either by meaDS ofarbitration or otherwise, anti I,MIl fIIa;t, therefore, for a reasonableperiod, your Honour's reply to this communication."• rW. p. 16, Blue Book, .. Further oOrre&pOndeJlC8 respecting theatFaira of the Cape of Good Hope,"-London, February 6, 1872.Digitized by Goog Ie