quote it all; but it goes on to say that "if the emergency should seem to you to be such as to render it necessary, in order to secure the peace and safety of Our said Colonies and of Our subjects elsewhere that the said territories, or any portion or portions of the same, should provisionally and pending the announcement of Our pleasure,[1] be administered in Our name and on Our behalf, then and in such case only[A] We—" authorize you to annex so much of any such territories as aforesaid.
But the caution against such annexing was continued much further. "Provided first—that"—no such annexation shall be made—"unless you shall be satisfied that the inhabitants thereof, or a sufficient number of them, or the Legislature thereof[A] desire to become Our subjects, nor if any conditions unduly limiting Our power and authority are sought to be imposed. And secondly, that, unless the circumstances are such as in your opinion to make it necessary to issue a Proclamation forthwith, no such Proclamation shall be issued by you until the same has been submitted to and approved by" the Governor of the Cape Colony, all whose titles are given at great length.
Could anything be more guarded, or less likely one would say on the mere perusal of the document, to lead to an immediate and permanent annexation of the whole country. The annexation if made at all was to be provisional only and pending the Queen's pleasure, and then it was only to be made if the inhabitants, or a sufficient number of them, or the Legislature should wish it. What the sufficient number
- ↑ The Italics are my own.
