The two main points made by Lord Spencer, who now
leads the Opposition in the Upper House, and partly endorsed by Lord Rosebery, were that there should now be negotiations with the Boers, and that martial law at the Cape was either illegal, or too late, or badly administered. Lord Salisbury, in a most vigorous and slightly scornful reply, declared that it was simply impossible for the Government to negotiate with men who, without any international reason, had invaded British territory until they themselves asked to be forgiven. If the Boers wanted peace let them say so, and then Govern- ment could consider what to offer. As to martial law, it was a necessary concomitant of a state of war, and if the military authorities had not power to declare it, it was high time Parliament should invest them with such power. As to the refusal to call the Cape Parliament, it had been advised by the responsible Ministers of the Cape All sneakers in the Lords admitted that the Boers could not have I independence, and the only savagely hostile remark came from Lord Rosebery, who said that the Government had made itself " detested " throughout the Continent.
