When the delegation of the Boers which was sent to appeal to the European Powers for action in behalf of the Republics reached Paris in July, 1900, the attitude of the French Government was not altered, nor were the envoys encouraged to hope for intervention.  They were received by the President but only in an informal and unofficial manner when presented by Dr. Leyds.  When they reached Berlin in August neither the Emperor nor the Chancellor was in the city and consequently the visit had no official significance, but in St. Petersburg a more favorable reception awaited them.  The Official Messenger announced on August 26 that Dr. Leyds had been received in audience by the Czar.  This statement, coming as it did from the official organ of the Foreign Office, seemed to signify a full recognition of the accredited character of the delegation, and Dr. Leyds was referred to officially as “Minister of the South African Republic."[7] With the exception of the British Minister, he was received by all of the diplomatic corps, a courtesy which the members could not well have denied him, but as to practical results the mission to Russia amounted to nothing.

[Footnote 7:  London Times, July 26, 1900.]

On their return to Germany the envoys received no official notice.  The secret instructions which they had opened only upon reaching Milan were supposed to have contained certain communications which had been exchanged between the Governments of the Transvaal and Great Britain but which it was alleged had not been published in the Blue Books.  This assertion of sinister motives on the part of Great Britain exerted little influence upon foreign governments in Europe.  The delegation realized the impossibility of securing the interference of a concert of Powers or of any one State against the wishes of England.  The mission of the Boers had been doomed to failure from the beginning.

The action of the Queen of Holland in receiving the delegation was generally understood as not of an unneutral character but as inspired by sympathy for a kindred people and a willingness to mediate though not to intervene.  It was recognized that no nation whose interests were not directly concerned could afford to persist in offers of mediation in view of the fact that Great Britain had already intimated to the United States that such an offer could not be accepted.  Although Holland refused to intervene, the attitude assumed by the Dutch Government in other respects caused severe criticism in England.  The chief circumstance which confirmed the opinion that Holland as a neutral State had not displayed a proper attitude at Lorenzo Marques was the fact that after the visit of the envoys of the Transvaal the Hague Government had sent a man-of-war to the island of St. Helena, which was being used as a prison for the Boers who were transported from South Africa.  This proceeding was viewed by England as officious from the fact that foreign men-of-war were not usually received at that