‘Ah, here he comes! here he comes! Hurrah! No, it is our men leading; he is sure to be behind them. But see how their horses sweat; they must have ridden hard. Where is Jameson? Where is Jameson? Alas! their hero was but clay. They had failed him. He had tried not to fail them, but fate was stronger; justice and right were against him; while they were waiting to give him a glorious and triumphal welcome, he was a prisoner. On inquiry, it was found that the brave (?) Johannesburg troops, who had gone forth to aid Jameson, had seen a few Burghers in the distance, and thinking prudence the better part of valour, had retired.
Amidst all this revolutionary turmoil, the friends of the Government in the city of gold kept calm and cool. For the Government had yet many thousands of friends in this city. But they were quiet and calm. They had offered their full assistance to the representatives of the Government, but had been requested to keep quiet and cool--they would be called upon only when it became necessary, not before. It is believed that the Government possessed friends and strength sufficient in Johannesburg alone (without calling in the aid of any outside Burghers) to crush the rebellion. But the Government wished to avoid a collision and the consequent bloodshed as long as peace was possible, and if a stronger force was displayed around Johannesburg and Pretoria than was necessary, it was only to guard against outside interference, as well as to show Johannesburg the folly of its ways of seeking reform by force. This display of force was one of the chief factors which brought about a peaceful ending to the revolution.
Johannesburg, or rather the Reform Committee pretending to represent Johannesburg, did many inexplicable things during these few days of excitement.
The Reform Committee had sent a letter to Jameson (as per agreement?) requesting his aid to obtain their demands, as is proved by the letter Jameson had received, signed by five of the leading members of the Reform Committee. The Reform Committee had promised Jameson (so he declared) to send two thousand men to aid him in pushing his way through to Johannesburg. But what did these brave reformers do--these followers of Mirabeau, Rousseau, and who knows, perhaps, Marat? When Jameson was on his way, as per agreement with them, to fight with them, and for them, these reformers (?) sent a deputation to Pretoria and concluded an armistice with the Government, by which they bound themselves not to do anything to break the peace, or to give the Government cause to send a force against them for a stipulated time. A very laudable thing, and tending towards a peaceful solution, you would think. Quite so; only why did they not do so before? Why did they first entice Jameson to place himself in peril, and in danger of life on their behalf, and then utterly desert him. This much can be said on behalf of Jameson, and is freely acknowledged by the Boers, that he at least was no coward, and kept his part of the agreement, even though it was in an ignoble cause; but it only proves that there _is_ sometimes honour among thieves, even though the honour was all on one side here.