On the other hand, Mr. Rathbone, who moved the amend-
ment approving the policy of the Government, made an extremely spirited defence of the course taken, on the assump- tion that it was undoubtedly a frank confession of error, but a frank confession of error made with the best kind of courage, at a moment when all the physical force was on the side of England, and nothing would have been easier than to hide the error under great military successes, a policy which would, however, have been mean, as well as unjust. He insisted on the evidence of good-faith given by the Boers in the surrender of Potchefstroom and of the persons accused of Captain Elliot's murder ; he pointed out that, as regards the acquittal of those persons, it was not only in South Africa that those whom the public believe to be guilty find juries to acquit them ; and he declared that by frankly avowing their mistake, so soon as they had clear evidence that it was a mistake, the Government had given to our rule in South Africa "a strength, a dignity, and a Christian character which far surpassed the results of the most glorious victory." Mr. Henry Fowler, the Member for Wolverhampton, one of the weightiest and most eloquent speakers in the House, enforced the same side of the case, as Mr. Rathbone's seconder, in a speech of extraordinary vigour.
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