On Tuesday the telegram containing the Boers' offer of peace,
dated Bloemfontein, March 5th, and onr reply were read out in both Houses of Parliament. Of the Bt,er terms it is hardly an exaggeration to say that they offer to forgive us for having resisted the invasion of our territory, the destruction of our Colonists' homes and farms, and the bom- bardment and beleaguerment of onr cities provided we acknowledge them to be independent sovereign international States. As they put it, " on these conditions, and on these conditions alone," will they make peace. That is brave, if not very wise or reasonable, but when they speak of " the unextinguishable fire of the love of freedom" which burns within them there is a note of Pharisaism, or even hypocrisy, which is not pleasant. The fire of the love of freedom was, at any rate, a jealously guarded monopoly, at which no Outlander must presume to warm himself. • It was too good a thing to share with any one else. The Boers quaintly add that they did not like to make their offer till we had taken one of their armies and had driven them oat of their positions on our territory, "as such a declaration might have hurt the feelings of honour of the British people." Plain people may be excused for thinking that the real reason was that if the Boers had not lost Cronje's force, and if they had succeeded—as they so nearly did—in destroying our army at Ladysmith, they would not even have offered to allow us to take back our own territory.
