DE WET’S BURIAL

Evening Star, Issue 17927, 24 March 1922, Page 5

DE WET’S BURIAL

HUGE GATHERING AT BLOEMFONTEIN. ORATION BY GENERAL SMUTS. .From dawn this morning tho void around Bloemfontein lias echoed with the thunder of the. hoofs of a thousand horses bringing in tho burghers from the surrounding districts to attend tho obsequies of Genera! Do Wet (says the ‘ Rand Daily Mail ’ of February 0). Big motor ears were jostled in tho’enuh by tho Capo carts, spiders, and ox waggons. Tho day has - boon one of blistering heat and'sweltering sunshine; but it had' no terrors for tho thousands of Boer families from all parts of the Free State who thronged the streets and mingled with the citizens of Bloemfontein. ' ANIMATED SCENES.

It was difficult to realise till the final act that the occasion Of tho ’animated scenes in the streets was the passing of one who has played so prominent a part in the making of tho country and history. The dense moving throngs, tho packed hotels, cafes, and clubs, Jdie swiftly-moving motor cars, tho clatter of horses’ hoofs outlie glassy streets as mounted and armed burghers galloped up and down, were reminiscent of .something very different from 'a funeral, and one almost subconsciously looked round to seo if tho familiar figure of I)e Wet himself, with rifle and bandolier, was not at tho head of each commando that arrived. The distance between the church and the National Monument is about four Milos, and every yard was lined tbree-deep with spectators, every window and balcony bore a full complement of mourners, and every head was bowed with respect as tho cortege slowly wont up Maitland street, past Government Buildings, the Eunice Convent and tho Normal Schools, whoso pupils, all dressed in white, saluted as it passed. THE CORTEGE. Tho hearse was drawn by six jetblack horses, draped in black, wit.li black plumes, and on top of the coffin rested the sword of honor presented to General do Wet by three German towns. Preceded by mounted police under tho command of Colonel George Brand, Do 'Wet’s old comrade, and a commando of mounted burghers with the Free State Vierkionr at their head, and followed by some two miles of cars and carriages carrying the chief representatives of every activity in the State, from the Governor-General and the Prime Minister downward, the procession passed slowly to the warrior’s resting place. -'The natives had gathered in their thousands and lined the route along Monument read. The scene at the monument was wonderful. Tho great obelisk overlooks an immense expanse of the void and is the centre of a sort of amphitheatre of kopjes. Tho rains of past weeks had veld and kopjes carpeted in green, but tho verdure was completely concealed by the closely-packed masses which covered the slopes. The coffin was borne up tho stops and laid across the open grave, while the frail little figure of Airs De Wet, her face furrowed with cares, but bearing up with stoical fortitude, surrounded by her sons and their families, followed. Then came tho Prime .Minister, _ General Hertzog, ex-Presi-dont Reitz, Judge De Villiers, and other distinguished visitors. At the foot" of the grave stood Colonel Nussey, the general’s old secretary, in his Defence uniform. Round the enclosure thronged men and women whoso names are familiar to every citizen of South Africa. WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF WREATHS.

A special carriage bore a wondrous Collection of wreaths from old friends and foes and many public bodies, as ,woll as a fine one from tho Union Air Force. A special platform, draped in black and purple, had been erected in front of the memorial immediately beneath the b/onzo group typifying the hope of tho women and children of South Africa, and from this the funeral orations were delivered. With one exception the speeches were brief, and considering the occasion, were free from bitterness. When General Hertzog had finished Lis speech four young ladies advanced and covered) tho coffin with a Free State f}ag in silk, worked by the girls of tho Oran,jo School. The Rev. J. D. Kestell read the committal and then, amid the tense silence of over 10,000 people, and amid every manifestation of national sorrow, the mortal remains of Christian l)o Wet were lowered into the grave. The air reverberated to the crack of the last volleys fired from tho rifles of the burghers. Tho wailing notes of the*‘Last Post \brought the ceremony to a close. TRIBUTES TO THE DEAD.

General Smuts, in tho course of a

moving tribute, said: "I am/grateful to see such an t amazing gathering hero to-day to ~ show the last respect to the memory of General De Wet. I wish specially to thank H.R.H. Prince Arthur for being represented here to-day to take part in the homage we are rendering to the memory of General Do Wef. I also thank the representatives of tho foreign Governments who are taking part in to-day’s great .‘went.

“ General De Wet lived and worked in the midst of storms. His life was a stormy one, and at his death an unfortunate storm was raging in the Transvaal which had rendered it almost impossible for mo,to bo present hero to-day. But I had firmly resolved, if at all possible, to he with you to-day to honor tho memory of tho great leader and to express my sympathy, especially with tho people of the Free State, in which he w r as the outstanding figure in its last years. My deepest sympathy goes out to her, his life-long partner, through all a noble type of South African woman and mother. May the Strong Arm support her in this hitter hour. —Another Tie.—•

“But I, am not only here in my official capacity on' behalf of the Government. There is another tie from the past which no misunderstanding or difference or happening has been capable of breaking. We were comrades in South Africa’s groat struggle, ajid the remembrance of it is, and remains, a sacred tie between us, I first learned to know Christian Do Wot on October 31 1899, on ‘ Klein Majuba,’ or Nicholson’s Nek, near Ladysmith. 1 often came in contact with him during the war, especially during the latter period thereof, when I had the chief comniand in the Capo Colony. That' war is, ( and remains, the greatest event in South Africa, and the farno, of Christian De Wet remains irreparably connected with it. Ho also .did much thereafter, and in particular took a prominent - part in the establishment of the’ Union of South Africa: but his fame will always rest on his work in the Boer War. t —A' Giant's Task.— ■ “In the struggle the Boer nation accomplished ,a giant’s task: gigantic figures sprang up among.-the Boers. 1 do not speak of President Kruger, who belonged to the pre-war period, 1 speak of President Stoyn, who became the soul of the struggle of perseverance. I have in mind that military triumvirate who will ever be the shining stars in our firmament—De La Roy, Botha, and De Wet. Of these three, General De Wet was the last to go. “ These.three heroes were types of the Africander people., Koos

the beloved, tender and gentle as a woman, but with tho heart of a lion in battle; Louis Botbn, the great soldier,, but more than soldier —tho hero and far-seeing statesman who came the founder of a United South Africa, of which he was for ten years the Prime Minister; Christian Do Wot, the warrior par excellence, a man in every sqnso of tho word, full of fire and action, a little rash as befits a statesman, afraid of nothing, going to tho utmost in matters of conviction, a knightly figure and a clean fighter, a noble character in which there was nothing mean or vindictive. —Meeting After tho Rebellion.— " May I give an exftmple of this that is perhaps not known? 'Shortly after Do Wet was liberated from prison after tho rising ho came to my office at Pretoria and we sat for several hours discussing the recent events of the rebellion. Although _it hud been incumbent upon mo as Minister of Defence to have taken a leading part in the fight against him, I saw no trace of personal animosity in him.

“I related this incident to a group of statesmen at tho Paris Peace Conference, where hate, - wrath, and vindictiveness were predominating. These old sinners could not believe it. I told them that was how understanding came about in South Africa ; that was the Africander style ; that was how we in'South Africa attempted to climb from out the dust up to the stars. No, in Do Wot there was no pettiness. "A-nation does not only grow in external and material things, in territory, numbers, industries, or neqes. Tho upbuilding of a nation is duo much more to spiritual culture, to the formation of a rfoble national character, to the creation and upholding of great traditions, and the character and deeds of tho great leaders of the people had much to do with this spiritual culture. Bv his example, by his feats of arms, by his world fame, GcncnG De Wet li'ad made an enormous contribution to this development of onr people’s character.”