evince them and save an Empire for England and heal South Africa’s
wounds? Are we asking too much when we turn our eyes with hope to him?
Further off also, across the sea we look with hope. The last of the
race of great statesmen was not put into the ground with the old man
of Hawarden; the great breed of Chatham and Burke is not extinct; the
hour must surely bring forth the man.
We look further yet with confidence, from the individual to the great
heart of England, the people. The great fierce freedom-loving heart
of England is not dead yet. Under a thin veneer of gold we still hear
it beat. Behind the shrivelled and puny English Hyde who cries only
“gold,” rises the great English Jekyll, who cries louder yet “Justice
and honor.” We appeal to him; history shall not repeat itself.
Nearer home, we turn to one whom all South Africans are proud of, and
we would say to Paul Kruger, “Great old man, first but not last of
South Africa’s great line of rulers, you have shown us you could fight
for freedom; show us you can win peace. On the foot of that great
statue which in the future the men and women of South Africa will raise
to you let this stand written: ‘This man loved freedom, and fought
for it; but his heart was large; he could forget injuries and deal
generously.’”
And to our fellow Dutch South Africans, whom we have learnt to love so
much during the time of stress and danger, we would say: “Brothers,
you have shown the world that you know how to fight; show it you know
how to govern; forget the past; in that Great Book which you have taken
for your guide in life, turn to Leviticus, and read there in the 19th
chapter, 34th verse: ‘But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be
unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for
ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
Be strong, be fearless, be patient.
We would say to you in the words of the wise dead President of the Free
State which have become the symbol of South Africa, “_Wacht een beetje,
alles zal recht kom._” (Wait a little, all will come right.)
On our great African flag let us emblazon these words, never to take
them down, “FREEDOM, JUSTICE, LOVE”; great are the two first, but
without the last they are not complete.
Olive Schreiner,
2 Primrose Terrace,
Berea Estate,
Johannesburg,
June, 1899. South African Republic.