The terms of that ultimatum had just become known in Johannesburg, and
it was not surprising that it had created an intense excitement. All had
long felt that war must come, and that at an early date, but the step
that had now been taken came as a surprise. From all appearances it had
seemed that the negotiations might be continued for months yet before
the crisis arrived, and that it should thus have been forced on by the
wording of the ultimatum showed that the Boers were satisfied that their
preparations were complete, and that they were in a position to overrun
Natal and Cape Colony before any British force capable of withstanding
them could arrive. England, indeed, had been placed in a most difficult
position. The ministry were not unaware of the enormous preparations
that the Boers were making, and had for some time past been quietly
sending out a large number of officers and a few non-commissioned
officers and men to the Cape. But so long as there was a hope that the
Boers would finally grant some redress to the Uitlanders, they could not
despatch any considerable number of troops, for had they done so they
would have been accused not only on the Continent, but by a section of
Englishmen, of forcing on a war with a weak state, whereas in point of
fact the war was being forced on by a country that most erroneously
believed itself to be stronger than England.
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