These two republics differed much in their attitude to England. The Orange Free State was always on friendly terms; the Transvaal always more or less hostile. The Orange State was reasonably well governed; the Transvaal became an anarchic, loosely compacted, lawless, bankrupt country, where decent government was unknown. Its chequered existence ended for a time in 1877, when, with treasury empty, and threatened on the one hand by Cetewayo and the Zulus and on the other by the Bantu chief Secocoeni, it was annexed in the name of Great Britain by Sir Theophilus Shepstone. Having taken over the Transvaal, England proceeded to break up the power of the Zulus and to subdue Secocoeni. Trade revived, and everything looked well, though there was still a good deal of veiled discontent, due to the British failure to grant self-government, when for party purposes, to eject Lord Beaconsfield from office, Mr. Gladstone began to declaim against the "invasion of a free people," as he called the annexation of the Transvaal. He was followed by Mr. John Morley and Mr. Leonard Courtney, and by most of his party in this kind of talk. [Illustration: A BOER COMMANDANT IN FIGHTING KIT.] [Illustration: BOER CANNON USED IN THE WAR OF 1881. These are old Boer cannon made by inexperienced workmen, and said to be fashioned from the iron rims of wheels taken off the British waggons captured at Bronkhorst Spruit. They form a remarkable contrast with the modern guns with which the Boers are now armed.] Never have rash and foolish words so swiftly come home to harass the speakers, as in this case. Mr. Gladstone achieved his object, and attained power for what afterwards proved to be the most disastrous and humiliating period in British history. His speeches had been reprinted in the Transvaal, and had inspired hopes which the Boers now expected him to fulfil. They were disappointed. On June 8, 1880, he wrote to a Transvaal deputation, "Our judgment is that the Queen cannot be advised to relinquish the Transvaal," and that "obligations have been contracted which cannot now be set aside." [Illustration: A BOER "LONG TOM" AT PRETORIA STATION, EN ROUTE FOR THE SCENE OF WAR. This powerful weapon, a Creusot gun of 5·9 inches calibre, has a range of 10,000 yards. It was christened "Long Tom" by our men at Ladysmith, where one of these guns was disabled in a night sortie. With equal aptness a Boer gun whose shells constantly fell short was nicknamed "Weary Willie."] [Sidenote: [1877-1881] [Sidenote: Sir Bartle Frere.]