ABSTRACT
The advent of Lord Grey found South African policy in the melting-pot of war. Grey had meanwhile been coming to very similar conclusions, though he chose a new Governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, to carry out his policy. The simultaneous appointment of Pottinger as High Commissioner for the settlement of frontier affairs was an indication that, disinclined as Grey might be to incurring the expense and responsibility of extending the British dominions in South Africa, he yet felt that responsibility for what happened on and beyond the frontier could not be shirked. Yet in Grey’s view there was little use in relying upon Crown nominees or other contrivances to give the Government power and influence in the Legislature and check the democratic body. Grey decided as in the case of the Australian constitutions to take the advice of a committee of the Privy Council.
