On Saturday morning, about ten o’clock, immense excitement was produced in the neighbourhood of St Andrew Square by the appearance of a large number of criminal officers and other detectives, who surrounded the premises of Messrs Hunter and Glover, in North St Andrew Street. Besides these officials, a body of police, said to amount to fifty men, under the command of two lieutenants, were stationed at the corners of the neighbouring streets, and in various common-stairs. The Annuity-tax cab was drawn up at the railings of the square, opposite Douglas’s Hotel, ready for immediate use. These arrangements having been completed, criminal officer M’Levie and three others entered the shop of Messrs Hunter and Glover, and stated their object to be the arrest of Mr Hunter and one of his workmen of the name of Peacock. Mr Hunter had gone out, but they took the young man into custody, and marched off with him to the office of the Procurator-fiscal for the city. The remaining criminal officers expressed their determination to wait there till Mr Hunter should return. Meantime a great crowd gradually assembled; at one time there could not have been less than 1500 or 2000 people. Great curiosity was excited respecting the object of the police. The general opinion was that it was a renewed attempt to enforce the warrant for Annuity-tax, which had been rendered inoperative by the proceedings of the 7th of September. Others maintained that it must be a criminal warrant consequent on certain rumoured precognitions which had been taken respecting the alleged charge of deforcing the officers. The criminal officers and the ordinary police were both appealed to; but they either did not know or refused to give any information. In either case, the strongest indignation was freely expressed at the renewed outrage on Mr Hunter, which the proceedings evinced. While these events were taking place, Mr Hunter had been informed of the state of affairs; and, apprehensive of the results that might have happened had he been arrested in such exciting circumstances, he abstained from going home. He placed himself in the hands of a law agent, who, after ascertaining that it was a criminal warrant, undertook that Mr Hunter should present himself before the Procurator-fiscal at a specified hour on Monday. The police were thereafter withdrawn, and the crowd which had collected about the street, impeding business and exciting alarm till between three and four o’clock in the afternoon, gradually dispersed. These extraordinary proceedings are the more unaccountable when the fact is taken into consideration that Mr Hunter, during the last month, has been attending to business just as usual, and even on the day before was engaged for several hours in the Council Chambers, within a few steps of the Procurator’s office. The lad Peacock, after having been examined, was admitted to bail of L.50, after having been in confinement for five or six hours.

Caledonian Mercury  Monday,  Oct. 10, 1859

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