m the
suggestion to plead guilty was as gall and wormwood, and was regarded
as another humiliation which they were required to endure, another
climbing-down similar to the disarmament, and attended, like it, with
exasperating and baffling complications and involvements that made
refusal an impossibility. The one call to which these men would
respond was the call to stand together and have no divisions--a cause
for which they were still to make many sacrifices. The irony of it
was that in order to 'stand together' they had to agree to
segregation.

Dr. Coster would accept no further modification or variation of his
terms--there was no option to individuals to plead not guilty and
fight it out, except at the cost of involving all the others, nor was
there any option to them to plead with the leaders. One other factor
in the determination of this policy remains to be noted. The
communications already recorded as having passed between some of the
members of the Reform Committee and Dr. Jameson, after the latter had
actually invaded the country, and some evidence as to the
arrangements made for the reception and camping of his force, were in
the hands of the Government, and these were sufficient to convict
every member of the Reform Committee under count 2 of the indictment
in a trial before a Boer jury and by a special judge. Conviction
under count 1 was assured by the letter of invitation and the
admissions in the 'privileged' meeting with the Government
Commission. Conviction under count 2 would be a distinct aggravation
of the position of the four--or so it seemed then--whilst it would be
a most serious thing for the rank and file; and it was finally
decided to plead in accordance with the suggestion of the State
Attorney. The decision was conveyed to this gentleman and by him to
the President, who expressed his 'satisfaction' at a course which
would enable him to 'deal magnanimously with the prisoners,' no doubt
in pursuance of the policy of 'Forget and Forgive.' When, as a
convincing proof of the wisdom of the decision to plead guilty,
the 'satisfaction' of the President was made known to the
Irreconcilables, they remarked that this was the worst sign that
they had yet detected, but others were more hopeful.

As to the soundness of the advice on which the prisoners pleaded, it
may be observed that Messrs. Gregorowski and Coster have both since
then expressed the opinion that there was sufficient evidence to
convict