The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-16 00:00:00

" THE BRITISH AND AUSTRALASIAN BANK.

" 55, Moorgate-street, London, May 7, 1839.
" Sin,—l am instructed to acquaint you that the
Directors of this bank have resolved upon appointing
you to conduct the Chatham agency for them, and that
they will hereafter inform you fully as to the terms and
conditions which will be thereunto annexe,l. It '4.11
always be the wish of the Directors to deal with you
in every case in the most liberal manner, and they de-
sire me to add that in your various transactions with
them, they will invariably afford you every facility they
can in conformity with their regulations and arrange-
ments, and that they have no doubt business may be
transacted to a considerable extent which will prove
mutually beneficial. I shall shortly address you more at
length, and, in the meantime, I remain, Sir, your obe-
dient servant,

" FRED. BOUCHER, Managing Director.
" E. T. Gough, Esq."

He (Mr. Gough) found, after he had done a great
deal of business for the bank in Moorgate-street, that
Mr. Boucher was determined merely to use him for his
convenience, and to refuse to honour the drafts which
were drawn upon the establishment, to excuse himself
from doing which, he repudiated all connection with the
Chatham bank.
The CHAIRMAN admitted, we understand, that there
appeared to be no just ground of imputation against Mr.
Gough in the transaction.
Some conversation then took place amongst the di-
rectors and shareholders on the subject of the prospects
of the establishment, which were said to be flourishing,
and it was unanimously agreed that the bills which had
come back unpaid from Adelaide should be forthwith
discharged, with ten per cent. interest upon them ; or if
that amount of interest were not acceptable, with a fur-
ther increase of five per cent. making 15 per cent.
We did not hear that any explanation was given as
to the 28,0001. stated by Mr. Boucher to be in the
hands of Messrs. Walker, of Sydney.
The meeting adjourned for a fortnight.
(From the Morning Herald.)
On Saturday a meeting of the Shareholders of the
above Bank, convened by public advertisement, was
held in one of the small rooms of the establishment, in
Moorgate-street. The meeting was called in conse-
quence of the proceedings which have recently taken
place:at the Mansion-house, respecting the refusal of the
Bank to acknowledge the agency of Mr. Charles
Boucher, in certain transactions in New South Wales.
The meeting was convened at twelve for one o'clock.
At half-past twelve the only persons present were Mr.
Frederick Boucher and another gentleman. Mr.
Boucher expressed himself extremely indignant at the
" false statements" respecting " the British and Aus-
tralasian Bank" which had found their way into the
newspapers, and placed in the hands of our reporter a
letter he had written to the editor of an evening news-
paper, calling upon the latter to give it immediate in-
sertion in answer to some alleged false and libelous
charges which had been published in the said Jour-
nal, on the 12th instant. In that letter, the Editor
of the Evening Paper was informed that " the
British and Australasian Bank" had transacted
business in various places to a considerable amount,
without a single case of irregularity. The agency of
Mr. Charles Boucher, in the matters brought before the
Lord Mayor at the Mansion-house, was repudiated ;
"the British and Australasian Bank" was declared to
be as respectable, in every way, as the other banks con-
nected with Australasia ; and an intimation was given,
that unless the said letter was inserted in the said even-
ing paper, the Solicitors of the Company would be in-
structed to commence legal proceedings against it. This
letter was signed " Frederick Boucher, managing di-
rector," and in a postscript, the editor was called upon
to give up the name of a person who had written a letter
signed " Vindex," that had appeared in the journal al-
luded to. The name was required in order that the
Company might proceed against " Vindex" for " a wilful
and malicious libel," Mr. Frederick Boucher was
asked if a voluminous correspondence, as hinted at in
the morning journals, was likely to be read? He an-
swered in the negative, observing, that any parties who
might be desirous to withdraw from the Company would
be allowed to do so upon equitable terms.
At about a quarter to one o'clock four or five persons
had arrived, one of them a respectable-looking woman,
who appeared to be labouring under extreme uneasiness,
and it was understood that she was told not to be in the
least degree alarmed as she was perfectly safe. What
the cause of her alarm was did not transpire, and. it
will be seen that the way in which the business of the
day was carried on did not afford the reporter an op..
portunity of ascertaining whether the lady had any real
ground of alarm or uneasiness, or not.
Shortly before one o'clock a gentleman of very ma-
gisterial manners, and who appeared from his pronun.
ciation to be a Scotchman, entered the room, and im
mediately began a conversation with the mantic'',
'aPsl:_frved (as
director. He inquired of the latter whether he haidarsoldoi.:
the article in the morning journals of that day res e
the bank.—(The article appeared in the herald sting
turday.) Mr. Boucher said he had. lie a A Sa-
person or firm
treat the article with great contempt, and o
the reporter understood that a Capt. Walker had been
tchhrgentlemen seeme,
confounded with or mistaken fora
of the name of Walker. The Scot
tfooudissentfromme bank thi s
i,na nAdutsltiroaul Lb, ta w
ith the British at d
emeodment a gentleman of
article had cot '-
Australasian Bank. At this
youthfulhe atphpeeualtz:hatncteheent
meetingr would be a very
sveerrrYedtbat the room, and ob-
thin one. " Very likely,"- saidli the Scotch gent',eman.
" Our Shareholders are parts of the country.. A
ninth gentleman now enteredna
the
place. meeting, ac-
companied by a friend,and
addressing Mr. Boucher, he
said he supposed ho might be allowed to haye a friend