It was now admitted that the Boers had misunderstood the principle of leniency. They had used it as a cloak for further resistance, with the result that precious lives were sacrificed, owing to the impossibility of distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants, between supposed neutrals and intending guerillas. Lord Roberts, therefore, found it necessary to revoke his former proclamation--except in regard to those who had already taken the oath--and promulgate a new set of rules of a more stringent nature. In future all persons who had taken the oath and broken it would be punished with death, imprisonment, or fine. All burghers in districts occupied by British forces, except those who had sworn the oath, would be regarded as prisoners of war and transported; and all buildings, structures, and farms where the enemy's scouts were harboured would be liable to be razed to the ground. All fines under the former proclamation would be rigorously exacted, and prisoners were warned to acquaint her Majesty's forces of the presence of the enemy on their farms, otherwise they would be regarded as aiding and abetting the enemy. This new move afforded general satisfaction to those who had suffered from the duplicity of the foe, and it was felt that the time was ripe for the formal annexation of the country, whose capital was in our hands, and for the intimation to Mr. Kruger that no longer could his scattered knots of burghers be viewed in the light of belligerents, but merely as irresponsible marauders. In reference to Lord Roberts's proclamations, it is of interest to read the following letter, which was addressed by "the envoys of the South African Republic and of the Orange Free State to the Right Honourable the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G.," by the "Consul-General temporarily in charge of the interests of the South African Republic":-- "ST. PETERSBURG, _August 18, 1900_. "EXCELLENCY,--According to a publication issued at Pretoria on June 25, 1900, under the designation, 'Government Gazette Extraordinary, vol. i. No. 7,' some proclamations have been addressed to inhabitants of the South African Republic by Lord Roberts, Field-Marshal, Commander-in-Chief of her Britannic Majesty's troops in South Africa. "By the first of those proclamations, dated Johannesburg, May 31, 1900, it is, _inter alia_, announced to all burghers 'who have not taken a prominent part in the policy which has led to the war between her Majesty and the South African Republic,' &c., 'and who are willing to lay down their arms at once, to bind themselves by an oath to abstain from further participation in the war,' that they would be allowed, after taking the oath, to return to their homes (section 2 of the proclamation).