affecting the government of India that his main interest was centred, and in various papers in periodicals and letters to the ‘Times’ he urged on the public the views which his deep insight into Indian character had enabled him to form. He took a statesmanlike view of our intercourse with Afghanistan, as appeared from a letter to Sir John Kaye which was much misrepresented in the party controversies of later times.
Stanley's visit to Dr. Livingstone had called public attention to the slave traffic in Africa, and Frere was sent by the foreign office in 1872 to Zanzibar to negotiate a treaty with the sultan, Sayd Burgash, for the suppression of the trade. The sultan undertook to do his utmost to put a stop to slavery in his dominions. On his return from this mission Frere was sworn in as a member of the privy council. The freedom of the city was conferred upon him (1874), and constituencies vied with each other to induce him to represent them in the House of Commons. His position on the Indian council, however, made it impossible for him to stand as a candidate. In 1875 he accompanied the Prince of Wales to Egypt and India, and by his knowledge of Indian society and Indian personages proved himself a most useful ‘guide, philosopher, and friend.’ A baronetcy and a G.C.B. awaited him on his landing in England (24 May 1876).
The successful confederation of the British colonies in North America with the Dominion of Canada had suggested to Lord Carnarvon, then colonial secretary, the idea of carrying out a similar system of confederation in South Africa. There was much to be said for the scheme in theory, and of all men Frere was best fitted by his successful dealing with similar difficulties in India to undertake such a work, had it been then practicable. It might reasonably be expected that he would be able to induce the inhabitants of South Africa to join a confederacy which would give to the inferior races all the protection and advantages of English rule, while preserving to them their national existences. Accordingly in 1877 Frere was appointed governor of the Cape and high commissioner for the settlement of native affairs in South Africa. But on landing at the Cape, Frere found that he had been set down at the very waters of strife. In the Cape parliament party feeling had reached a pitch which was well-nigh becoming dangerous to the state; the Transkei Kaffirs under Kreli were threatening the eastern colonies; the annexation of the Transvaal by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, which was publicly proclaimed twelve days after Frere's arrival at the Cape, was giving rise to agitation and unrest, and the Zulus were mustering armies which threatened the peace of Natal. As at the close of the first session of parliament the Kaffir affair presented itself as the most pressing question of the hour, Frere went to King William's Town and across the Kei at the risk of his life, with the intention of meeting Kreli to discuss the question in dispute, and explain the good will of the British government. Kreli made no response to this overture, and subsequently suddenly attacked the Fingoes, who were under British protection, in revenge for an outrage committed on some of his followers in a drunken brawl. The white settlers became alarmed with good reason. In their interest, as much as in that of the Fingoes, it became imperatively necessary that peace with the Kaffirs should be restored as speedily as possible, and Frere placed the matter in the hands of Sir Arthur Cunynghame, the general commanding. Meanwhile the conduct of some of the leading members of Frere's cabinet became openly and unconstitutionally obstructive. The position, complicated by the alarm of a savage war, was intolerable. Frere dismissed his cabinet, and Sir Gordon Sprigg, the leader of the opposition, accepted the seals of office as premier. From this time the war progressed favourably, first under Sir A. Cunynghame, and afterwards under General Thesiger, and a peace was finally brought about in 1878, after a trying succession of bush fights and rough skirmishes.
Tranquillity having been thus restored, Frere returned to Cape Town after an absence in Kaffraria of seven months. By the Sand River convention of 1852 the British government had guaranteed to the Boers the management of their own affairs, and engaged to respect their territory. The republic, however, had become greatly disorganised; the laws were not enforced, and the taxes had fallen into arrears. In 1876 the public debt amounted to 300,000l.; the confusion was chaotic, and neighbouring tribes were becoming dangerous. Sir Theophilus Shepstone was sent by the English government to report on the condition of affairs in the Transvaal. He came to the conclusion that the continued existence of the republic was dangerous to the welfare of ‘her majesty's subjects and possessions in South Africa,’ and in virtue of the power given to him formally annexed the state in April 1877. No resistance to this measure was made by the Boers. The president, Mr. Burgers, ordered the people to be loyal to their new ruler, and directed the state secretary to hand over the keys of the government offices to Sir Theophilus Shepstone. Little change was necessary in the personnel of the govern-
