ccess except Marconi in the whole of
your career?

Isaacs: In companies?

Wild: Yes.

Isaacs: A complete success, no; I should not call any one of them a
complete success, but I may say that each of them was an endeavour to
develop something new.

But Carson had made the point in his opening speech that though
Godfrey Isaacs had been connected with so many failures, he had not
been accused by the shareholders of anything dishonourable: in his
closing speech he pointed out that "not one single City man had been
brought forward to say that he had been deceived to the extent of one
sixpence by the representations of Mr. Isaacs." And indeed the
evidence called by the Defence in this present case, however
suspicious it may have made some of his actions appear, did not
establish beyond doubt any actual illegality.

The trial ended on June 9. The Judge summed up heavily against Cecil
Chesterton. The jury was out only forty minutes. The verdict was
"Guilty." Cecil Chesterton, says the _Times_, "smiled and waved his
hand to friends and relations who sat beside the dock." The Judge
preached him a solemn little homily and then imposed a fine of L100
and costs. The Chestertons and all who stood with them held that so
mild a fine instead of a prison sentence for one who had been found
guilty of criminal libel on so large a scale was in itself a moral
victory. "It is a great relief to us," ran the first Editorial in the
_New Witness_ after the conclusion of the trial, "to have our hands
free. We have long desired to re-state our whole case about the
Marconi disgrace, in view of the facts that are now before us and the
English people. . . . When we began our attack . . . we were striking
at something very powerful and very dangerous . . . we were striking
at it in the dark. The politicians saw to that. Our defence is that
if we had not ventured to strike in the dark, we and the people of
England should be in the dark still."

There can be no question of Cecil Chesterton's courage. But he may
have exaggerated a little in saying that if the _New Witness_ had not
struck in the dark the nation would still be in the dark: Parliament
had already refused to approve the contract without proper discussion
and the _Outlook_ was attacking vigorously, _before_ the first _New
Witness_ attack. And there are grave drawbacks to the making of
charges in the dark which later have to be withdrawn. Cecil's
withdrawal of his cha