To take up such a position appears to us to
be not only a right, but a duty. When we say this we are not unmindful of the conduct of Mr. Rhodes and his associates towards the Transvaal, conduct which deserves the reprobation of all right- thinking men, and we admit that if unhappily war should now arise the ultimate responsibility for the bloodshed will be theirs. Two wrongs, however, cannot make a right, and we must not for ever withhold our protection from British subjects in the Transvaal because of Mr. Rhodes's offences, against not only justice, but the true interests of the Empire. It is true that but for Mr. Rhodes we might three years ago have de- manded justice for the Outlanders in language that could not have been gainsaid. But though he struck the Imperial arm with palsy for a time his action did not, and could not, alter the fundamental principles of political right and wrong.
