On the 18th of June General Craig met the Commissioner at Cape Town. The next day the general was introduced to the council, and laid before the members the mission upon which he had been sent and his instructions as to the manner of accomplishing it. He stated that the fleet and the troops had been sent by his Britannic Majesty to defend the colony against seizure by the French, or any other power, and that the British occupancy was intended to last only until the government in the Netherlands could be restored to its ancient form, when it was his Majesty’s purpose to give up the colony to its proper rulers—the Stadtholder and the States-General of Holland. He assured them that no changes would be made in the laws and customs of the country, nor would any additional taxes be levied without the expressed desire of the people. The colonists would be required to bear no cost but that of their own government as it then existed, and they would be at liberty to profit largely by trade with England’s possessions in India. The colonial troops would be paid by England, on condition that they take an oath of allegiance to his Britannic Majesty—the obligation thereof to last only as long as the British occupancy of the colony. The civil service would remain as it was, and the present incumbents retain their offices until his Majesty’s pleasure should be made known. To this proposal the council made answer in writing, declining it, and notifying the general that they would protect the colony with their own forces against all comers. Admiral Elphinstone and General Craig responded to this act of the council by a general proclamation to the government and inhabitants of the country, inviting and requiring them to accept his Britannic Majesty’s protection in view of the certainty that the French would endeavor to seize the colonial dependencies of the Netherlands.