With a religion which has not unfitly been described as a superstition based upon the Old Testament, there is profound ignorance accompanied by prejudice of the most deep-rooted character. Mr. Botha tells us that unfortunately the ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, "greedy for the fat lamb, the fowl, and the purse," foster this ignorance. One Predikant had actually the audacity to tell his congregation that God _must_ help His chosen people, otherwise He would lose His influence. Mr. Botha defends his own people against charges of treachery, and gives it as his fixed opinion that a just and firm Government with uniformity of treatment will not only control and satisfy the Boers, but eradicate in time that feeling of distrust and fear which was engendered in their minds by the halting and unequal policy of England. He admits at the same time that it is to Britain that they owe peace, and that it was Britain that protected them from foreign invasion and saved them from continual civil strife. Then comes most important evidence. President Brand of the Free State recognised in the misgoverned Transvaal a subtle enemy. Indeed, it is scarcely remembered that in 1857 the burghers of the South African Republic invaded the Orange Free State territory and declared that it belonged to them. Paul Kruger was subsequently raised up, in the opinion of his followers, to be a Moses, whose mission was to deliver "De Africander Natie" from British bondage. Mr. Botha asks us to let him tear this veil of false romance away. "We know him," he tells us, "as an avaricious, unscrupulous, and hypocritical man, who sacrificed a whole people to his cupidity." Krugerism spread over South Africa, using the Bond, the press, and the pulpit to further its schemes. [Illustration: AT THE HEAD OF UMGENI FALLS, HOWICK, NATAL.] Let it be fully understood--the Bond was the _fons_ and _origo_ of the South African war--Krugerism powerfully co-operating. The idea of the Africander Bond took root at the Paarl in the Cape Colony in the years 1879 and 1880. Of course, as we have seen, there was abundant preparation, but events in the Transvaal hastened proceedings. Enthusiastic, educated men, such as Reitz, Te Water, and the students of the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch felt patriotic desires wildly coursing in their veins, but the honour of formulating a definite plan of organisation belongs to the Rev. S. J. du Toit, who then edited _De Patriot_ newspaper at the Paarl. _De Transvaalse Oorlag_ was published by Messrs. D. T. du Toit & Co. of the Paarl in the year 1881. It was the retrocession of the Transvaal under the direction of Mr. Gladstone in the last-mentioned year that enabled the Bond to assume a very definite shape, and to obtain immense and widespread power.