th December, 1898; he lay on the ground as if dead, and
ultimately died in the hospital. Edgar escaped to his room, and some
police came on the scene, attracted by the screams of the bystanders.
Amongst the police was one named Jones. When they saw the man who had
been assaulted lying as if dead, they went to Edgar's apartment in order
to arrest him as a criminal (he had, indeed, rendered himself liable for
manslaughter, and apparently for murder). As he was caught in the very
act, the police officers were, according to the Laws, not only of this
Republic, but of all South Africa and of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, justified in breaking open the door in order to
arrest the culprit. While doing so, Edgar, with a dangerous weapon,
struck Jones a severe blow. Under the stress of necessity the latter
shot Edgar, from the effects of which he died. The question is not if
Jones was justified in taking this extreme step, for the State Attorney
of the Republic had already given effect to his opinion that this was a
case for the jury by prosecuting him for manslaughter. The question is
solely whether any jury in any country in the world would have found a
man guilty of any crime under the circumstances set forth, and whether,
if they did not find him guilty, the fact of their doing so would have
been stamped and branded as a flagrant and remarkable instance of the
maladministration of Justice.

"This Government is convinced that the English judicial administration
affords numberless instances where the facts are as strong as in this
case, and it cannot see why an occurrence which could happen in any part
of the world would be especially thrown in their teeth in the form of an
accusation.

"This Government does not wish to pass over in silence the censure which
has been passed by Her Majesty's Government on the Public Prosecutor of
Johannesburg, by whom the prosecution of this case was conducted; the
fact that being of pure English blood, that he received his legal
training in London, that he is generally respected by the Uitlander
population on account of his ability, impartiality, and general
character, will naturally not be of any weight with Her Majesty's
Government against the facts of his action in calling witnesses for the
prosecution who were intended for the defence, and thus rendering an
imaginary cross-examination abortive.

"This Government only wishes to point out that the fact that the Edgar
ca