‘I believe that if England were FREE, and willing to put out her full strength against the Afrikander nation, that she would conquer in the end, for every Afrikander Burgher killed would leave a vacancy in their ranks; while, if one British soldier is killed, two could always be found to take his place. But even if England is able to put out her full might against us, it would be a long and bloody struggle. For every Burgher killed three or four British soldiers would bite the dust. In his native land, and amongst his native hills and mountains, the Boer can take long odds against himself. Then the fight will be on land and not on the sea, where England is supreme. Then again the Boers will always choose their own battlefield, and you ought to know by this time that a Boer knows how to choose a battlefield to his own advantage. The British forces would only be attacked where their superior numbers and arms would be of no advantage. In short, it would be a warfare on the guerrilla system, in which the Boers excel all other nations, and by the time England had conquered the Afrikanders (if she did conquer them), which will only be when at least half of them have been killed; by the time she had conquered them, I say, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of English soldiers will have perished in the South African veld by the bullet or by starvation. Now, I come to the chief reason why England does not _dare_ to undertake such an unjust war, or rather I should say, why the English _Government_ does not dare to do so: And that is because the British people, being a free people, with a voice in their own Government, would never allow their Government to undertake such a cruel--to both sides--and unjust war, and have thousands of their soldiers and relatives killed, all to please a few grasping millionaires such as Rhodes and Beit, or a few conspiring, speculating attorneys, etc., who wish to obtain power as well as riches.’ Steve became quite eloquent in his earnestness. ‘Do you think, then, that England will leave everything to the Boers to do as they think fit? Will she, do you think, allow your Government to shoot down her subjects in Johannesburg, without giving them aid? or if Johannesburg surrenders to the ultimatum, unconditionally, would England allow the Boers to shoot the Reform Committee as rebels, which would probably be done if nothing was done to prevent it?’ ‘If it were done, it would only be what they deserve. But it will _not_ be done, at least, not without a fair trial. You may be sure the Government is not going to do anything rash, and sacrifice all the advantages they have obtained. Everything will be done legally and according to the laws of the country.’ ‘It remains to be seen,’ said Hastings, walking out whistling, giving Steve to understand that he had had enough argument for once. CHAPTER XX JOHANNESBURG SURRENDERS UNCONDITIONALLY--HOME RULE FOR THE RAND