The covenant - James A. Michener [275]
Therefore, when Dr. Keer arrived in town he could no longer ignore the little Hottentot, as everyone called her. Remembering that she was Sir Peter's sister-in-law, he had to treat her decently, and insofar as he could unbend to an inferior, he did.
Hilary, who could bear no animosity toward anyone, was actually pleased to see the dynamic little agitator, although, as he told Emma, 'He doesn't seem so little now. Success and moving with important people have made him taller.'
'It's a game with him,' Emma said shrewdly. 'The pieces on the board are no longer plain checkers. Now they're knights and parliaments.'
'But don't forget. It was this man who taught me to love Jesus,' Hilary said.
'Don't you forget!' Emma laughed. 'He taught me, too. He was like thunder and lightning.'
They speculated on what could have caused the profound change, and reached no conclusion, but when the three men sat beside the River Avon, admiring the swans that moved through the rippled reflections of the cathedral, Hilary was willing to concede that Keer was motivated by one ambition: to end slavery. Everything else was secondary; he had moved from the veld onto a world stage: 'The pressing task no longer concerns the Cape Colony. It focuses solely on Parliament. We must pass the anti-slavery measure. We must force the colonial secretary to issue the ordinances I've drafted. We must press forward, always forward.' It was obvious that he had little concern with Boers, Kaffirs or Englishmen as human beings, but only with a rationalized system, and confessed this: 'In the government of nations the time often comes when the establishment of a principle ensures freedom for centuries to come. We're at such a marking point.'
'You don't agree?' Sir Peter asked his brother.
'Oh, but I do. Dr. Keer's right. We are at a turning point. But I believe it involves specific human beings and not abstract principles. Peter, in whatever you do, you must ask how this will affect the Boer farmer, for he is white South Africa. And how it will affect the Xhosa'
'You mean the Kaffirs?'
'I never use that word. They're individual tribesmen. The Xhosa, the Pondo, the Tembu, the Fingo, the Zizi. And one day they'll be Africa. So be careful what you do to them. And finally you ought to ask yourself, "How will this affect the Englishman?" Because I assume we'll govern the place for generations to come, and we must do so with justice.'
'Can't we protect both Dr. Keer's general interest and your specific ones?'
'I'm afraid not. I think that when governments regulate in general, they stifle the individual, and then he festers and grows revolutionary and upsets everything. Start with individual justice and you'll guide the general.'
'Quite wrong,' Keer said with some force. 'Unless the principles are laid down, nothing good can follow.'
Sir Peter addressed his brother: 'How about the abolition of slavery? Surely Dr. Keer is right on that.'
'Indeed, indeed,' Hilary said, twisting his long, thin legs in knots as he tried unsuccessfully to make his point. 'What I mean is, the abolition must be done without infuriating the white. Otherwise we've accomplished nothing.'
'With a stroke of the pen we accomplish everything,' Keer said, his voice assuming the messianic glory he adopted when addressing church groups.
Hilary, twisting his legs into even tighter knots, began to laugh. 'Peter, you've never known a Boer, and, Simon, you've forgotten. Let me tell you about my neighbor Tjaart van Doorn. Built square like a corncrib. No neck. Big whiskers down the side of his face. Wears a belt and suspenders, and shoes he makes himself. Controls maybe sixteen thousand acres and lives in a fort. How many slaves? Half a dozen?'
'What's your point?'
'South Africa is filled with Tjaart van Doorns, and one day his white ox runs away. He goes after it, brings it back, and