Moreover, associated with these moral considerations were reasons of statecraft that made it appear wise as well as right to let the Transvaal go. The Africanders of the Orange Free State, of Cape Colony, of Natal, were known to be in warm sympathy with their brethren of the Transvaal. Of course, the power of Great Britain could crush, in time, a rebellion as extensive as the whole Dutch-speaking population of South Africa, but at what cost of treasure and blood and bitter disloyalty to the British crown! In comparison to the inevitable results of a general civil war the loss of the Transvaal was as nothing. How well grounded were these fears of a general uprising in 1881 may be seen in the earlier events of the second Africander War of Independence in 1899. With no late grievance against Great Britain to redress, the Orange Free State made common cause with the South African Republic from the first, and the Africanders of Cape Colony and Natal were more than suspected of aiding and abetting in a covert way the cause for which the two republics had taken the field. If the British ministers counted upon some recognition of the magnanimity displayed in making the retrocession immediately after defeat—of the humanity which renounced revenge for the humiliation of Majuba Hill when it was within easy reach—they were disappointed. The Africanders saw not generosity, not humanity, but only fear as the motive for the sudden and easy yielding of the British; and to their natural exultation they added contempt for their late antagonists, and so became and have continued very unpleasant neighbors for so proud-spirited a people as the English. And this is the principal reason why the English in all South Africa have always condemned the restoration of independence to the Transvaal—and, most of all, the time and manner of the act. They have not been able to forget the fact that the terms of peace were, in a way, dictated by the Africanders as victorious invaders and holders of British territory in the colony of Natal. In order to view intelligently the causes of the second Africander War of Independence, it is necessary to consider the general trend of events in South Africa, and the conflicting policies sought to be carried out there during the few years following the restitution of independence to the Transvaal. The South African Republic emerged from its brief and successful struggle for independence impoverished and in a state of political chaos, but rejoicing, nevertheless, in a sense of national freedom, and more than ever confident that it enjoyed the special favor of Heaven. The old constitution, or Grondwet, was revived, the volksraad was convoked, and an election was held, resulting in the choice of Mr. Paul Kruger to be president. Mr. Kruger immediately planned for bold and far-reaching movements on three sides of the republic’s territory.