The Jameson trial, which will, it is clear, be a
terribly long and dreary one, may be said to have begun on Tuesday, when Dr Leander Jameson and fourteen companions were brought up at Bow Street charged with having prepared a military expedi- tion against a friendly State contrary to the Foreign Enlist- ment Act. The Attorney-General recounted the facts—with most of which the public are acquainted—and the examina- tion of witnesses began, which tended to show that at Mafe- king and Pitsani the police of the Chartered Company were asked to join in a raid to Johannesburg for the protection of women and children, and consented. The proceedings, how. ever, were hardly commenced when there was a remand for a week, no hint having been given of the line of defence to be adopted. We presume this delay is needful in order to collect evidence, but there is some ground to. apprehend that by the time the verdict is reached the accused will be able to plead for mercy on account of the burden of their years and the ruin inflicted on their careers. We are falling, as regards all interesting trials, into Spanish ways.
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