The recent death of Sir Starr Jameson reminded the public of the
South African War, which was such an engrossing subject to the British
public at the close of the 'nineties and the first years of the present
century. Yet though it may seem quite out of date to reopen the question
when so many more important matters occupy attention, the relationship
between South Africa and England is no small matter. It has also had its
influence on actual events, if only by proving to the world the talent
which Great Britain has displayed in the administration of her vast
Colonies and the tact with which British statesmen have contrived to
convert their foes of the day before into friends, sincere, devoted and
true.
No other country in the world could have achieved such a success as did
England in the complicated and singularly difficult task of making
itself popular among nations whose independence it had destroyed.
The secret of this wonderful performance lies principally in the care
which England has exercised to secure the welfare of the annexed
population, and to do nothing [x] likely to keep them in remembrance of
the subordinate position into which they had been reduced. England never
crushes those whom it subdues. Its inbred talent for colonisation has
invariably led it along the right path in regard to its colonial
development. Even in cases where Britain made the weight of its rule
rather heavy for the people whom it had conquered, there still developed
among them a desire to remain federated to the British Empire, and also
a conviction that union, though it might be unpleasant to their personal
feelings and sympathies, was, after all, the best thing which could have
happened to them in regard to their material interests.
Prosperity has invariably attended British rule wherever it has found
scope to develop itself, and at the present hour British patriotism is
far more demonstrative in India, Australia or South Africa than it is in
England itself. The sentiments thus strongly expressed impart a certain
zealotism to their feelings, which constitutes a strong link with the
Mother Country. In any hour of national danger or calamity this trait
provides her with the enthusiastic help of her children from across the
seas.
The Englishman, generally quiet at home and even subdued in the presence
of strangers, is exuberant in the Colonies; he likes to shout his
patriotism upon every [xi] possible occasion, even when it would be
better to refrain. It is an aggressive patriotism which sometimes is
quite uncouth in its manifestations, but it is real patriotism,
disinterested and devoid of any mercenary or personal motives.
It is impossible to know what England is if one has not had the
opportunity of visiting her Dominions oversea. It is just as impossible
to judge of Englishmen when one has only seen them at home amid the
comforts of the easy and pleasant existence which one enjoys in Merrie
England, and only there. It is not the country Squires, whose homes are
such a definite feature of English life; nor the aristocratic members of
the Peerage, with their influence and their wealth; nor even the
political men who sit in St. Stephen's, who have spread abroad the fame
and might and power of England. But it is these modest pioneers of
"nations yet to be" who, in the wilds and deserts of South Africa,
Australia and Asia, have demonstrated the realities of English
civilisation and the English spirit of freedom.
In the hour of danger we have seen all these members of the great Mother
Country rush to its help. The spectacle has been an inspiring one, and
in the case of South Africa especially it has been unique, inasmuch as
it has been predicted far and wide that the memory of the Boer War would
never die out, and that loyalty [xii] to Great Britain would never be
found in the vast African veldt. Facts have belied this rash assertion,
and the world has seldom witnessed a more impressive vindication of the
triumph of true Imperialism than that presented by Generals Botha and
Smuts. As the leader of a whole nation, General Botha defended its
independence against aggression, yet became the faithful, devoted
servant and the true adherent of the people whom he had fought a few
years before, putting at their disposal the weight of his powerful
personality and the strength of his influence over his partisans and
countrymen.
CATHERINE RADZIWILL.
December, 1917.
