Pretorius at once resigned the presidency of the Transvaal; but his partisans held a mass meeting at Potchefstroom, on the 8th and 9th of [[152]]October, at which revolutionary proceedings were taken. It was resolved, almost unanimously, that the volksraad no longer enjoyed the confidence of the people they represented and must be held as having ceased to exist; that Mr. Pretorius should remain president of the Transvaal Republic and have a year’s leave of absence to bring about union with the Free State, Mr. Stephanas Schoeman—instead of Mr. Grobbelear—to be acting president during his absence; and that before the return of Mr. Pretorius to resume his duties a new volksraad should be elected.
PIETERMARITZBURG.
The new election was so manipulated that only a thousand burghers voted, and of these more than seven hundred declared in favor of the resolutions of the Potchefstroom meeting. The committee that effected this clever political strategy was composed of Messrs. D. Steyn, Preller, Lombard, Spruyt, and Bodenstein. The new acting president, Mr. Schoeman, assumed official duty immediately.
With amazing inconsistency—for he was thought to be a loyal friend of Mr. Pretorius—Schoeman called a meeting of the old volksraad that had been dissolved by the revolution. He held his office from the same authority that had declared this body to have forfeited confidence, [[153]]and to be non-existent, and yet he acknowledged its legal existence. The old volksraad met on the 14th of January, 1861, and after a session of two hours the majority of the members resigned, being convinced of the general antagonism of the people. Not content to let matters rest in a peaceful acquiescence in the revolution, Mr. Schoeman called the old volksraad together a second time, under armed protection, and procured an order for legal proceedings to be instituted against the committee that had carried out the Potchefstroom resolutions. A court consisting of two landdrosts—one of whom was Cornelius Potgieter, their bitterest political enemy—tried the committee for sedition, on the 14th of February, found them guilty and sentenced each to pay a fine of £100, except Mr. Bodenstein, whose fine was only £15.
These proceedings led to great disturbances throughout the republic, and, finally, to war. Schoeman assembled an armed force to support his authority. Thereupon, Commandant Paul Kruger, of Rustenburg, called out the burghers of his district and marched to Pretoria for the purpose of driving out Schoeman and establishing a better government.
Among the expedients resorted to to prevent [[154]]bloodshed, a new volksraad was elected, a new acting president was appointed, and for several months there were two rival governments in the Transvaal. Acting President Schoeman, supported by a strong party, persisted in endeavors to rule the country. So grievous a state of anarchy prevailed that Kruger resolved to put an end to it by the strong hand. Schoeman and his partisans retreated from Pretoria to Potchefstroom, where he was besieged by the burgher force under Kruger. The loss of life in the bombardment, and one sortie by the garrison, was not great; but Schoeman became disheartened and fled, on the night of the 9th of October, into the Free State, accompanied by his principal adherents.
A few days later, Kruger having moved his force to Klip River, Schoeman re-entered Potchefstroom, rallied some eight hundred men around him, and Kruger returned to give him battle. At this critical point President Pretorius interposed as mediator, and an agreement was reached by which immediate hostilities were prevented. Schoeman, however, continued to agitate.
Under the terms of agreement new elections were held by which W. C. Janse Van Rensburg [[155]]was chosen president over Mr. Pretorius, and Paul Kruger was made Commandant-General.
But the tribulations of the Transvaal were by no means over. On the pretense that the ballot papers had been tampered with the standard of revolt was again raised—this time by Jan Viljoen. The first encounter was against Kruger, who had underestimated the strength of the new rebellion. Later, on the 5th of January, 1864, a battle was fought in which Viljoen was defeated and compelled to retreat to a fortified camp on the Limpopo.