Here, with the taking of some formal evidence, the first hearing of the case closed, and at this point Mr S.Y. Tilly, who had been retained for the defence of the prisoner, said that if he had been in possession of the information outlined by Mr Bodkin it would have made a difference in his procedure in the case. He had been assured by the prisoner and the prisoner's friends that Ernst was a perfectly straightforward British subject: but, in the circumstances revealed by Mr Bodkin's statement, he felt compelled to withdraw from the case. The act was sufficiently unusual to excite comment on the part of the court authorities; but Mr Tilly withdrew. The second hearing took place on October 5, 1914, when the first witness called, a clerk in the secretary's office at the General Post Office, deposed to having opened and copied the letters which bore as postmark either "Potsdam" or "Berlin." These letters were written in German, and many of the envelopes contained letters which were to be reposted by Ernst to other addresses. Some of the letters to Ernst were signed "St," and one of them, bearing the postmark "Berlin 6-1-12" contained an envelope addressed to "Mrs Seymour, 87, Alexandra Road, Sheerness." Mr Bodkin explained that this was the pseudonym and address of the man Parrott, who figured in an espionage case in the autumn of 1912. Another letter to Ernst, the witness further deposed, was dated "Potsdam, January 25, 1912," and signed "St" It contained a request that envelopes, bearing the printed name of the makers, should be sent to the writer. Then, on February 12, the same correspondent addressed Ernst: "Please post the enclosed letters at once, and send me, if you please, fifty envelopes as sample which you sent. Then write me a letter, if you please, a letter in good English, in which a customer asks for letters to be forwarded to him on the Continent addressed to `Poste Restante, etc.'" There were enclosed with this missive two letters, addressed respectively to "F. Ireland, Mess 2, H.M.S. _Foxhound_, care of G.P.O.," and "A Schutte, 5, Castletown, Portland Harbour." Another letter produced, bearing date of January 23, 1912, signed "St," and dated from Potsdam, contained the following: