the cruel anomaly. They are all traditionally religious, tracing their
descent from some of the best men (Huguenots and Dutch) the world ever
saw. Hence they claim to themselves the title of 'Christians,' and all
the coloured race are 'black property' or 'creatures.' They being the
chosen people of God, the heathen are given to them for an inheritance,
and they are the rod of divine vengeance on the heathen, as were the
Jews of old.

"Living in the midst of a native population much larger than themselves,
and at fountains removed many miles from each other, they feel somewhat
in the same insecure position as do the Americans in the Southern
States. The first question put by them to strangers is respecting peace;
and when they receive reports from disaffected or envious natives
against any tribe, the case assumes all the appearance and proportions
of a regular insurrection. Severe measures then appear to the most
mildly disposed among them as imperatively called for, and, however
bloody the massacre that follows, no qualms of conscience ensue: it is a
dire necessity for the sake of peace. Indeed, the late Mr. Hendrick
Potgeiter most devoutly believed himself to be the great peace-maker of
the country.

"But how is it that the natives, being so vastly superior in numbers to
the Boers, do not rise and annihilate them? The people among whom they
live are Bechuanas, not Kaffirs, though no one would ever learn that
distinction from a Boer; and history does not contain one single
instance in which the Bechuanas, even those of them who possess
firearms, have attacked either the Boers or the English. If there is
such an instance, I am certain it is not generally known, either beyond
or in the Cape Colony. They have defended themselves when attacked, as
in the case of Sechele, but have never engaged in offensive war with