REITZ, _Secretary of State._ The answer which the President sent to this letter was formerly in my possession, but has been lost with many of my documents.

I am able, however, to give an extract, which I received from the Rev.J.D.
Kestell.

It was to the following effect:-- The President was much disappointed with the letter of the Transvaal Government; he said that although there had been in the past some surrenders in the Free State, this difficulty had now been overcome.
Moreover, although the ammunition had for a long time been scarce, nevertheless, after every fight, there had been enough to begin the next with.

To the question, What probability was there of their being able to continue the struggle?
he would reply by asking another question--What hope had the two little Republics, at the beginning of the war, of winning the fight against the might of England?
If they had trusted in God at the beginning, why did they not continue to trust in Him?
He also pointed out that if the Boer cause was really quite hopeless, the Deputation would have been sure to send word to that effect.
Further, he assured the Transvaal Government that if an armistice were to be obtained, and if during it the people of the Free State were to be asked for their opinion, the decision of the burghers who were still in the field would be to continue the war.
He could not approve of the decision of the Transvaal Government to ask Lord Kitchener to allow ambassadors to be sent to Europe, for, by so doing, the Government would be showing its hand to the enemy; he added that he was very sorry that such a decision had been taken without first consulting the Free State.
As to the fear expressed by the Transvaal Government, that the Authorities and the Officers in the field would be left without burghers, the President said, that even if the Government and the Officers of the Free State were to surrender, the nation would not do so.

It would be a great misfortune, he added, if the Orange Free State, which had not only lost its property and the lives of many of its burghers but also even its very independence, in the defence of the sister Republic, should now be abandoned by that Republic; that then all confidence in one another and all co-operation between Afrikanders would come to an end for ever: and that, under such circumstances, it would be too much to expect that the African nation should ever be able to rise again.