The bulletins of the week from America are full of
references to the Boer mission, none of them of any particular value, ex- cept, perhaps, the admission of the New York Sun, their especial friend, that "intervention is a dream." The reception has not been especially cordial, those prominent in it being all Irish ; and it seems to be agreed on all hands that nothing will be done, though the Democrats will conciliate the Irish voters by speeches on the Boer side. The Republicans, on the other hand, will not make even that concession, and the delegates will be welcomed at Washington only as "distin- guished strangers." They themselves are clearly losing heart. They at first talked of offering the Union a Pro- tectorate over the Dutch Republics, which were to be admitted as States; but as this excited ridicule, they now only say that "they have very large powers." The most ominous sign of all for their cause is that they no longer promise victory, but only pledge their countrymen, if defeated, to rise in insurrection by and by,—a threat which will be remembered when the arrangements for disarmament come to be made. It should not, however, influence us much. "Wait till to-morrow" is the natural menace of the defeated Bide.
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