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THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST W. A. VAN DER STEL 361 eighteenth century, after twenty years of living the same life and fighting the same hardsliips as the older popuhition, they had gradually lost their first feeling of mistrust and aloofness. To hasten on the fusion of the races, to make Frenchman and Dutchman stand shoulder U) shoulder, it only required a common cause, a common danger to confront. The misgovernment of van der Stel, the " intolerable yoke " which he had imposed upon the farmers, provided such an occasion. The most con- spicuous feature of the movement is the solidarity amongst the farming community. The difference of race is completely forgotten, and French and Dutch face the tyrant as one man. Of the sixty-three signatories to the Memorial thirty-one are French, the rest are Dutch, both home- born and colonial, Kollx; remarks upon the coincidence that of the nine colonists banished for their share in the conspiracy, three were Hollanders, three were French, and three were South Africans. He also points out as a singular fact that of the three who died during the persecution one was a Hollander, one a Frenchman, and one a South African. Coincidences so striking were obviously of special significance for the contemporary observer ; they symbolised the unanimity with which the colonists had entered upon the struggle, and the feeling of brotherhood which characterised their conflict with the tyrant. It was a happy augury for the future. Henceforth, distinction of nationality should form no ])arrier between the Cape farmers who had stood so loyally by each other. The Diary of Adam Tas furnishes unmistakable evidence of how mutual respect and regard are developed in the face of danger. At first Tas speaks of "" tlie French " with some measure of indifference. But later, when he sees how faithfully the French stand by him in his perilous task, how in the dead of night they bring him intelligence as to the progress of events, how du Toit upbraids the Governor to his face with his misgoverinnent, his tone becomes more cordial. Bleusel is now "true heart," du Toit "a patriot," the refugees are " our French brethren." No other factor con- tributed so much to the fusion of the races as the tyranny of van der Stel. § 3. It has already been pointed out that the movement against van der Stel was exclusively a farmers' movement, originating in the grievances of the farming community. Both the Governor and the burghers make that point clear to us in their writings. In his kttei-s to the Seventeen van der Stel reiterates time and again that the c(»m- plainants are " boors," " ignorant boors," " insolent rascals of boors." He could not have conceived that " these boors of farmers should go so far, etc." Long after his dismissal, what still distresses him is the fact that it was the " boors of farmers '" who IkvI brought about liis fall. 362 DE KLACHTEN TEGEN W. A. VAN DEE STEL Wanneer hij op 't piiiit staat, de Kaap tc vcrlaten, bezoekt hij Kolbe, en bcspreekt met hern de wocliiigen van de vorij^e jaren. Hefc gesprek gaat dan weer over " die Bauern (so nennete er generaliter alle die- jenige, die das . . . Klag-Schreiben unterschrieben batten)." En ver- der, van zijn val sprekende, zegt hij ten slotte : " Dit heb ik reeds weg, en dit hebben de boeren mij gebakken." ^ Hierin ligt Let biezon- dere belang van de episode. De navorser, die in onze geschiedenis zoekt naar de eerste sporen van politiek leven onder de kolonisten, naar de eerste kiemen van een nationaal bewustzijn, zal ze zonder enige twijfel vinden in de beweging van 1705. Het is de belangrijkste politieke gebeurtenis tijdens 't bestuur der Compagnie. In deze beweging hadden de stadsburgers, — de herbergiers en kosthuisliouders, die in 't stadje cm 't Kasteel een parasities bestaau zocbten, — hoegenaamd geen aandeel. Met de boeren hadden zij niets gemeen, want zij leefden, als echte parasieten, " van God en de vreem- deling." 2 Het welzijn van 't gemenebest, het goed recht der kolonisten, dat ging hun niet aan. Later in de XYIIIe eeuw hadden stedehngen wel een hand in klachtbewegingen, maar deze waren 't gevolg, de vrucht van de beweging van 1705. En die was uit de boeren alleen voortgekomen. Adam Tas en de mannen van 1705, die de rechten en voorrechten der kolonisten zo onmiskenbaar geformuleerd en zo dapper gehandhaafd hebben, raogen dus met recht genoemd worden de grond- leggers van ons politieke zelf bewustzijn. Zij hebben ook bijgedragen, en in geen geringe mate, tot te vor- ming van het Afrikaner volk. Wanneer van der Stel honend zijn tegenstanders uitkrijt voor " boeren," beseffen wij, dat deze scheldnaam geen stand of klas bedoelt ; hij bestempelt een natie. Een nieuwgeboren volk heeft hier zijn naam ontvangen. > Kolbe, 812. - Zo drukken zij het zelf uit iu een IMemorie van later datum. THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST "W. A. VAN DEE STEL 363 Wheu upon the point of leaving the Cape, he visits Kolbe and discusses with him the distnrbanccs of the i)revions years. The conversation turns as before upon " die Baiiern (so nennete er ifeneraliter ulle die- jenige, die das . . . Klag-Schreiben unterschrieben hiitten)." And subsequently, speaking of his fall, he concludes with the remark: " I am now undone, and it is the boors of farmers who have cooked my goose." It is here that the special significance of the episode is to be found. The investigator, examining our history for the first traces of political life among the colonists, for the first germs of a national con- sciousness, will beyond all question find them in the movement of 1705. It is the most important political event during the administration of the Company. The townspeople, — the publicans and lodging-house keepers, who found a parasitic livelihood in the embryo city that lay about the Castle, — had neither art nor part in the movement. "With the farming population they had nothing in common ; like true parasites, they derived their subsistence "from God and the sojourner." The well- being of the community, and the just rights of the colonists, were nothing to them. The eighteenth century was productive of other reform movements in which the city population did participate, but these were a later growth and themselves the offspring of the movement of 1705, which had originated solely with the country population. Of Adam Tas and the men of 1705, the men who so clearly formulated and so stoutly maintained the rights and privileges of the colonists, it may therefore be said with justice that they laid the foundations of our political consciousness. They also contributed, and that in no small measure, to the forma- tion of the South African people. When van der Stel rails upon his adversaries as " boeren " or Boers, it is borne in upon us that this scornful appellation denotes no caste or class; it designates a nation. The new-born people has received its name. REGISTER OP DAGBOEK INDEX TO DIARY Abramsz., Anth., 8i Appel, Ferd., 8, 32, 42, U, 50, 56, 58, 70, 76, 86, 92, 94, 100, 102, 104, 112, 116, 128, 130, 138, 140, 142, 144, 148, 150 Arij, 70, 72, 74 As, Jakob van, 112 Basson, Willem, 84 Bek, Henricus, 6, 8, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 30, 34, 38, 46, 54, 58, 60, 80, 82, 98, 100, 102, 136 Benthem, van, 38 Bergc, Jakobus van, 8 Besemboutje (Besomshank), Lambert, 70,76 Beukes, Jan, 70, 72, 74 Bijl, Geertruij van der, 16, 70 Bijl, Juffr. van der, 16, 20, 40, 64 Bijl, Pieter van der, 16, 18, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 50, 54, 60, 64, 70, 72, 76, 86, 92, 94, 96, 98, 102, 104, 106, 112, 114, 124, 128, 134, 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 148, 150, 152 Bleusel, Abraham, 146, 152 Bogaard, Lucia van den, 10 Bombam, Jan, v. Oudbeijorlaud Botma, Jau, 58 Bouman, Hondrik, 84 Brakel, Barbara van, 16, 26, 38, 42, 50, 108 Brakel, H. van, 36, 50 Brakel, Jakobus van, 64, 66, 74, 98, 116, 132, 150 Brouwer, David, 4 Bruijn, Theunis de, 34 Cleynvklt, Valontiju, 10, 132 Coetzc, Griet, 64 Coetz6, Juffr., 64 Conterman, Hans Jakob, 2, 6, 10, 30, 42, 62, 78, 84, 86, 88, 92, 102, 120, 134, 136, 138, 148 Corssenaar, Samuel, 68 Corssenaar, Willem, 14 Cruso, Urbanus, 34, 36, 154 Damme, Hendrik ten, 4 Damme, Jufir. ton, 66 Damme, Willem ten, 58 Diemer, Abraham, 40, 68, 134 Diepenauw, Klaas, 66, 132 Dirksz., Gerrit, 32 Elberts, Alida, 82, 64, 66 Elberts, Jan, 50, 92, 116, 142, 148, 150 Elsevier, Samuel, 36, 106, 120 Erasmus, Pieter, 152 Esterhuis, ChristofEel, 134 Predbbiksz., Douwe, 112 GiLDENHUYS, Arend, 24, 00 Gildenhuys, Juffr., 16, 60 Greef, Jochem, 114 Greef, Matthijs, 144, 146 Grovenbroek, Guillelmus Johannes, 42, 76, 80, 82, 86, 88, 110, 114, 116, 126 Harmansz., Jan, v. Potgieter Hartog, Abraham, 10 Hasewiukel, GhristolYel, 12, 76, 102 Hattingh, Hans Hendrik, 130, 138 Heems, Guilliam, 84 Heiden, Jakobus van der, 14. 16, 18, 28, 30, 38, 40, 44, 48, 50, 54, 56, 68, 64, 66, 366 REGISTER OP DAGBOEK 68, 70, 172,1 76, 78, 94, 96, 106, 108, 110, 112^ 130, 136, 138, 140, 148, 150, 152 Heiden, Juflr. Mulder, Johannes, 24, 104, 110, 142 Munkerus, Weduwe, 52, 132 Nas, Jakob, v. As, J. van, Nel, Jannetje, 26, 94 Nel, Willem, 22, 32, 36, 58, 98, 152 Kiel, Etienne, 144 OoRTMANS, Nikolaas, 10, 12, 84, 130, 132 Oudbeijerland, Jan Coruelis van (Jan Bombam), 46 Overholstcr, 84 Overneij, Abr., 90, 92, 94 Pannesmit, David, 60 Paran, Fred., 2, 10 Phijfier, Johannes, 4, 12, 28, 36, 52, 66 Du Plessis, 112 Pleunis, Jakob, 20, 36, 78, 98 Poetser, Charles de, .32 Potgieter, Jan Harniansz., 8 Poulle, Abrh., 34, 52, 132 Du Pre, Hercules, 82, 40, 108, 130, 144, 148, 150 Pretorius, Jau, 76 Pretorius, Wessel, 16, 18, 30, 38, 56, 78, 114, 140, 142, 148 Putten, Willem van, 2 Remkes, Gerrit, 12, 128, 130, 148, 152 Robbertsz., Juffr., 42 Robbertsz., Pieter, 36, 88, 40, 46, 54, 58, 60, 126 Rochefort, Pieter, 74, 78 Roggeveen, 148, 152 Rotterdam, Jan, 52 Sandertz., 33n Simonis, Johannes, 10, 14, 16, 18 Simonsz., 34 Smit, de, v. Conterman, H. Smit, Lourens de, v. Verbrugge, L. Stamhorst, 22, 24 Starrenburg, Johannes, 2, 24, 28, 34, 36, 88, 44, 54, 100, 110, 112, 124, 138, 144, 146, 150 Stel, Frans van der, 62, 112 Stel, Marie van der, 82 Stel, Willem Adriaan van der, 12, 24, 28, 48, 56, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 84, 90, 96, 98, 100, 104, 106, 108, 114, 126, 138, 140, 142, 146, 148. 150 Tas, Jantje, 18, 22, 56 Tas (Margareta Lindenhof) Weduwe, 4 Tas, Sara Wilhelmina, 2, 56, 126 Du Toit, Francois, 146, 1C.0 REGISTEE OP DAGBOEK 567 Du Toit, Guilliam, 18, 142, Hi, 146, 150 Trip, Hendrik, 12, 14 3, 114, 140, Vries, Gerrit de, 38 Valkntijn, Francois, 122 Vegfcman, Klaas, 22 Verbrugge, Lourens, 8 Vermey, Steven, 12, 14 Verzeijl, 90, 92, 94, 120, 124, 154 Viorahend, Jan David, 28, 58, 154 Villiers, Pierre de, 152 Vincent, IJsbrand 2 VIoIj, Johannes, 104, 130, 134, 136, 148, 150 Wksthoizen, Klaas van dcr, 116 Wet, Jakobus de, 12, 14 Wigmans, 10 Wijk, Arij van, 14, 148, 150 Willcmsz., Schalk (van dor Merwo), 70 Wismar, Katrijn, 126 Witson, Nikolaas, 12 Zande, Roiuior van dc, 116 Zijl, Willem van, 150 HEX EINDE PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. ^^v (J. 