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Mr. Kemp, Superintendent of Police. I said to him, 'Why are you thrashing our men? If they have done anything, I am the person to be punished. I am responsible. Arrest me if you like.' 'You are my prisoner, sir', was the prompt reply of the Police Superin- tendent. At this stage Mr. Motilal Ghose came forward and said, 'Arrest me also'. To that Mr. Kemp's reply was, 'My instructions are to arrest Mr. Banerjea alone'. Evidently my arrest had been pre-arranged; but that is another story.

This part of the episode closed with my arrest. I was now a prisoner in police custody. Turning to Mr. Bhupendra Nath Basu, who was close by, I said, 'You had better proceed with the business of the Conference without me. Let it not be stopped or suspended.' My instructions were scrupulously followed. The excitement and indignation were great; but the Conference went on to transact the business that was before it as if nothing had happened. This display of self-restraint in circumstances so trying was no small testimony to our possessing one of the essential qualities for self-government.

In the meantime I was taken by Mr. Kemp to the Magistrate's house. We hired a ticka gharri (hackney carriage). Mr. Behari Lal Roy, Mr. Aswini Kumar Dutt and Pundit Kali Prosanna Kabyavisarad accompanied me. There was no room in the carriage for five of us, as Mr. Kemp, who had me in his charge, had to form one of the party. Kabyavisarad stood behind the carriage, occupying the place of the syce.

We were ushered into the verandah of Mr. Emerson's house, and stood there for a minute or so to give the magistrate time to be ready. We were then asked to enter his room. As Kabyavisarad crossed the threshold, Mr. Emerson cried out, 'Get out' in a somewhat loud voice. There was reason for this exceptional treat- ment of Kabyavisarad. Kabyavisarad belonged to the priestly family of the Halders of Kalighat, the keepers of one of the holiest shrines in Bengal. Usually he appeared at the anti-Partition and Swadeshi meetings robed in the habiliments of Hindu orthodoxy. It was not a mere whim (though Kabyavisarad had many), there was a reason for it. That dress was the symbol of priestly and Brahminical influence, and he naturally wanted to enlist on his side all the sources of power that he possessed. He was without a shirt, in plain dhoti and chaddar, with the Brahminical thread in striking evidence on his bare body. All this was meant for the delegates of the Conference, and not for Mr. Emerson or his Court. The magistrate was offended at the scantiness of his attire; and with