prosecute Long for libel in a criminal suit. Friday, 19 July 1861 was fixed as the first date for the trial and it lasted from then to 24 July at the Calcutta Supreme Court. It was regarded as the first "state trial of India under the Empire". Mr. Peterson and Mr. Cowie were prosecuted. Mr. Eglinton and Mr. Newmarch appeared on behalf of the defendant. Sir Mordunt Wells presided as the judge. It is true that it becomes difficult to censor any literary work when it becomes so available in the public domain. That is why it became very urgent to find out the list of people who had the books after its printing. The issue of finding out the list was the concern for the first day of trial on 19 July 1861. The list submitted at the trial contained the number of copies that had been issued was said to be two hundred and two. The agenda for the days of 20 to 24 July was to justify the two counts brought against James Long. The first count referred to libel or a supposed libel against the two leading newspapers named the Englishman and Hurkaru published in Kolkata. These two papers were alluded to in the preface of the play Nil Durpan: The Editors of two daily newspapers are filling their columns with your praises; and whatever other people may think, you never enjoy pleasure from it, since you know fully the reason of their so doing. What surprising power of attraction silver has! The detestable Judas gave the great preacher of the Christian religion, Jesus and others, into the hands of Odious Pilate for the sake of thirty rupees; what wonder then, if the proprietors of two newspapers, becoming enslaved by the hope of gaining one thousand rupees, throw the poor helpless of this land into the terrible grasp of your mouths. Being aggrieved, Mr. Brett, the managing proprietor and formerly joint editor of the Englishman, brought a criminal prosecution against James Long. He claimed that the implied meanings of the allusions were defamatory because the extract indicates they wrote for reward from the indigo planters and not otherwise. The second count, which concerned the interests of the society at large, was the alleged libel against that portion of the community called the indigo planters of Lower Bengal. Sir Mordunt Wells accused Long of slandering European women