Mr. Anderson—We don't intend to examine Sir John Gray, but I wish to say that if the police believed any one could give important evidence, it is a new proposition to me that it is an indignity upon a man to summon him as a crown witness—
Mr. A.M. Sullivan—I say it is an indignity, and that the crown solicitor should not seek to shift the responsibility on the police, who only do what they are told.
Mr. Anderson—I am not trying to shift anything.
Mr. Sullivan—You are. You are trying to shift the responsibility of having committed a gross indignity upon a member of parliament, upon myself, and upon many honest men here.
Several persons holding up summonses said "hear, hear," and "yes."
Mr. Sullivan—This I charge to have been done by Mr. Anderson as his base revenge upon honest men who bade him defiance. Mr. Anderson must answer for this conduct. It is a vile conspiracy—a plot against honest men, who here now to his face tell him they scorn and defy him (applause).
Mr. Dix—I adjourn the case till one o'clock to-morrow.
The proceedings were then adjourned.
So far have we quoted from the Freeman's Journal. Of the closing scene Saunders's News-Letter, grieving sorely over such a fiasco, gives the following account:—
The adjournment of the court was attended with a scene of tumult and disorder that was rarely, or never, witnessed in a police court, in presence of the magistrates and a large number of police—both inspectors and detectives. The crowd of unwilling witnesses who had been summoned to give evidence against the defendants, clamorously protested against being brought there as crown witnesses, avowed that they were present taking part in the procession, and loudly declared that they would not attend at any subsequent hearing of the case. The latter part of the case indeed was marked with frequent interruptions and declarations of a similar kind, often very vociferously uttered. The proceedings terminated amid the greatest and unchecked disorder.