_Weak_, did I say?
Yes! but only in the body--his mind was still as strong, as brave, as clear as ever.
And thus it was that President Steyn was only able to be present on two occasions at our meetings; for, on the 29th of May--before the National Representatives had come to any decision--he went with Dr.Van der Merwe to Krugersdorp.
As I write these lines--six months after the meetings at Vereeniging--and think that during all the intervening time he has been lying on a bed of sickness--I am cheered by the news which I received in Holland that hopes are now entertained of his ultimate recovery.
The National Representatives began their important deliberations on the morning of the 13th of May, 1902.
For three days we discussed the condition of our country, and then proceeded with Lord Kitchener and Lord Milner to Pretoria.

This Commission was composed of Commandant-General L.Botha, Commander-in-Chief C.R.de Wet, Vice-Commandant-General J.H.De la Rey, Vice-Commander-in-Chief Judge J.B.M.Hertzog, and States-Procureur J.C.
Smuts.
The negotiations with the representatives of the British Government continued from the 18th to the 29th of May; and upon their conclusion the Commission communicated to the National Representatives the terms on which England was prepared to conclude peace.
On May the 31st we decided to accept the proposals of the English Government.[110] The Independence of the two Republics was at an end! I will not attempt to describe the struggle it cost us to accept these proposals.

Suffice it to say that when it was over, it had left its mark on every face.
There were sixty of us there, and each in turn must answer Yes or No.

It was an ultimatum--this proposal of England's.
What were we to do?
To continue the struggle meant extermination.
Already our women and children were dying by the thousand, and starvation was knocking at the door--and knocking loudly! In certain districts, such as Boshof and Hoopstad, it was still possible to prolong the war, as was also the case in the districts of Generals Brand and Nieuwouwdt, where the sheep and oxen, which had been captured from the enemy, provided an ample supply of food.

But from the last-named districts all the women and children had departed, leaving the burghers free to wander at will in search of food--to Boshof, to Hoopstad, and even into the Colony.
In other parts of the Free State things were very different.