His appearance in the witness-box is still half a mystery to me and I can only ask, _Que le diable allait-il faire dans cette galere ?_ Ultimately the case was remanded till the following Monday, Mr.Maloney intimating that he should apply for fresh summonses for other numbers of the _Freethinker_, as well as a summons against Mr.Bradlaugh for complicity in our crime.
Let me here pause to consider how these prosecutions for blasphemy are initiated.

Under the Newspaper Libels Act no prosecution for libel can be commenced against the editor, publisher or proprietor of any newspaper, without the written fiat of the Public Prosecutor.

This post is occupied by Sir John Maule, who enjoys a salary of L2,000 a year, and has the assistance of a well-appointed office in his strenuous labors.

_Punch_ once pictured him fast asleep before the fire, with a handkerchief over his face, while all sorts of unprosecuted criminals plied their nefarious trades; and Mr.Justice Hawkins (I think) has denounced him as a pretentious farce.

He is practically irresponsible, unlike the Attorney-General, who, being a member of the Government, is amenable to public opinion.