The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-25 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 26, 18NS.

TRIAL OF THE ROYAL BRITISH BANK
DIRECTORS.

COURT Or QUEEN'S BENCH, GUILDHALL.
(Sitting at Nisi Prius, betore Lord Campbell and a
Speoial Jury.)
THE QUEEN V. BROWN AND OTHERS.
TzIITH DAY.

[The following appeared in saecessive editions of The Sun
of yesterday :

The trial of the information against the directors and
manager of the Royal British Bank for conspiring by
false pretences to defraud the shareholders and cus-
tomers and the public, was this day resumed.
The same counsel appeared as before.
Mr. Atherton said that the prosecution had had time
to look into the remainder of the evidence they propo,ed
to call since the adjournment last night, and they had
come to the conclusion that after the intimation of his
lordship's opinion that no evidence should be given on
this information relative to what occurred in 1856, they
would not occupy further time on that head, bat pass o❑
to the evidence of shareholders and depositors to prove
they were ignorant of the affairs of the bank.
Mr. Thomas Cantrill, Mr. Marotta, Mr. Beatie, Mr.
R. Mitchell, Mr. D. -tesvart, Dr. Richards, and Mr. J
Sidcombe (servant), were call,d to prove the above fact.
Some of Weal stated they received the six per cent.
dividend.

Mr. Atherton said he proposed to prove the known
worthlessness of some of the securities by the directors
in 1855.

Mr. Scott, sharebroker, was recalled. He stated that
in December, 1855, Eastern Archipelago shares were
unmarketable ; Strand Bridge shares were about 51. per
share at that time ; Wark worth Duck shares he never
heard of in the market; the Irishßeet-root Sugar Company
shares were valueless, and there was no market for Irish
Peat shares ; the Chartered Australian Gold Company
were only worth a tew shillings. (The above were a
part of Mr. Macgregor's securities.)
Mr. Cooper, clerk to Mr. Lee (official assignee to
the Royal British Bank bankruptcy), stated—The
debts proved and claimed under the bankruptcy
amounted to 537,6461. ls. 6d. There had been
collected 279 0831. 3s. Bcl. The official manager
returned 5,0001. as indemnity. There were 33,0001.
out,tanding, making 317,083/. 3s. 8.1. No debts were
proved upon the capital which had been lost. The
Welsh mines were sold on Feb. 8, 1858, for 6,0001. to
the landlord.

By Mr. James—The legal expenses under the fiat
were 8,0001.
Mr. James—That won't cover them.

Witness—The whole of the 1-gal expenses of working
the estate amounted to 22,0001. It included the official
assignee's expenses and the 5,0001. for the official
manager. He did not know if the water had been let
into the mine during its working by the official manager.
The landlord claimed 10,0001. damages, and brought an
action of ejectment, which had been compromised ;
two dividends had been paid out of the estate of
Ss. 6d. and 2s. 6d. in the pound, 2s. in the pound
mere was expected, and 4e. in the pound from contri-
butors under the winding-up order.
Some other evidence wa4 given relative to proceedings
in bankruptcy, in connection with e.•t,ites having refer-
ence to the claims of the bank. Mr. 11. Brown's "state
had realised 20 8161. 154. 4:f.; Mr. Macgregor',, 1,9881
124. 6d. ; Mr. Cochrane's,2,ol7/. 10s. ; and Mr. Blacker's,
3751. At present nothing had been received from the
Islington Cattle-market, Mr. Gwv rine, Mr. Mullens,
and Mr. Cameron's estates ; 6,000/.j additional was
expected from Mr. H, Brown's es ate.
__

The plant of the Welsh works was valued by Messrs.
Fuller and Horsey for the as.ignees at 13,000/. or
14,0001., at a forced sale, and 38,000/. r 40 0001. to a
willing incoming tenant, subj pct to 1,5001. arrears of
rent and dilapidations to a considerable extent. 'roe
lease wa-, not valued from it* being considered worthless.
Mr. Seymour—That was after they let the wa' er into
the mine.. (Laughter.)

. ,
Mr. Paddison recalled, and, in answer to Mr. James,
said that Mr. Dumlerr's reference to the Bank of E,gland
when he opened his account with the Royal British
Bank, led to the latter discounting his bills to so large
an extent, and their becoming involved with the Wel- h
mines. On the last day of the Royal British Bank's
existence there was in cash, bills, and at the Bank of
England, at the chief office and at the branches, 189,234
After some further evidence on points of detail rela
tive to evidence given in the course of the trial,
. .

Mr. Atherton ssid he had closed the case for the
Crown.

Lord Campbell said he thought he might now con-
gratulate Sir F. Kelly on his appointment as Attorney.
General—(applause)—and that then he would take
precedence in addressing the jury, notwithstanding the
rule that the learned counsel for the first-named defendant
first addressed the jury.
Sir F. Kelly asked, if looking at the dates of the
balance-sheets of June, 1855, and December, 1855, in
connection with the time when Mr. Stapleton joined the
bank, he ought to be called upon to address the jury.
Lord CarDpbell said, in his opinion, the case against
the defendants varied very considerably, but he must
leave it to the learned gentlemen who conducted
the prosecution to say what course they would pursue.
Mr. Atherton, for the Crown, said he must ask the
opinion of the jury-in the case of Mr. Stapleton.
Sir F. Kelly said that although he could not but
express the deep anxiety he felt in a case like this, and
representing as he did Mr. Stapleton. he thought it was
his duty to appeal to the learned judge, now that the
case for the Crown was concluded, te ask whether it
could fairly be said there was a scintilla of evidence
affecting the honour, the character, or the conduct
of Mr. Stapleton, and he must declare with profound
sincerity that it was wi h no regret ha had heard the
answer of the learned judge and the determination
(though, perhaps, with surprise) he had heard from the
representatives of the Crown to take their verdict in the
case of Mr. Stapleton, for during the long and arduous
investigation day by day of this complicated and ten-
portant case, every moment had he longed for the
opportunity of bringing under the calm, patient,
and impartial consideration the case of the
gentleman who had entrusted it to him. Fur
he ventured to say that if at the close of
this great cause he should not leave the Court with•
out the shadow or the shade of a etain or a suspicion
on his character, no man in this free and enlightened
country, where justice was administered more purely,
and, he believed, was a nearer approach to perfection
than in any other country in the world, could hold his
character, his honour, or his happiness safe for a single
moment if he had the misfortune to be connected with
an establishment like the Royal British Bank. He at the
outset woul I call their attention not in the technical
language of the Taw, but plainly and intelligently as to what
was the na ure .f the caarge made against Mr. Stiple
ton and the ether defendants, and ho entreated their
attention more especially to the time—to the period of
time which the charge embraced, and to that to which
it was exclusively confined, not that he had any interest
in excluding from their attention any fact that bad been
proved in evidence from she earliest e-tahli.hment of the
Royal British Bank to the present time, but because he
felt it was e,ential, in order thoroughly to apprehenu the
bearing of the facts of tee case upon the character, con-
duct, and motives of Mr. Stapleton to welch the indict
went related, the period of the time during which the
censpiracy was said to have been formed, and by which
the public, it was stated, bail been defrauded and
deceived; comprising the period between the early part of
December, 1855, and the let of Feutuary, 1856, when
the balance-sheet and the report up to the 31st
of December, 1855, were published at the meeting
of shareholders. A great deal of evidence hate
been laid before them most material in its character, and
essential and indispensable in the prosecution of the
case from the earliest period of the establishment of the
Royal British Bank down to the moment of its failure,
and even up to the present tine when they were called
upon to try this case, but it must be proved in evidence
that the directors of the Royal British Bank had a
knowledge of the real state of the bank and made state-
ments that were false, to defraud the public ; and what
the judge had to deal with was, whether one or two or
more of the defendants conspired to defraud and impose
upon the public by the publication of the balance sheet
lAA report up to 31st December, 1855, which
were materially and substantially false, and which
they knew to be false when they published it
to the world, and the onarge from which,
through their verdict, he had to deliver Mr. Stapleton
was that before nr at the time when the balance-sheet,
up to 31st Dec. 1855, was published to the shareholders
he knew they were substantially and materially false,
and that knowing so, he was a party to the publication
to the shareholders and the world at large. If it be
brought home to zelr. Stapleton that such was the fact,
they ought to pronounce a verdict of guilty against
him, but when he had called their attention to
the undoubted and unquestionable taws of the case,
in respect of the dates of their transaction, they would
find that to charge Mr. Stapleton with a Izeowltalie, on
the 12th Feb., 1856. that the balance-sheet was fele- to
the extent of 100,000/ or more by reason of bad debts,
&c., they might as well charge him (tbe learned counsel)
and teete (tee jury) wit:t the ea .e oiLece, who never
heard of these transactions till long after the failure of
the bank, and they became notorious to the public out
of doors. The learned coun-el then referred to the
period when Mr. Stapleton became a depositor and ,
director on 31st Ju y, 1855, and if the bank was
sound on the 31st of December, 1855, it was
also seund at the time when Mr. Stapleton
joined the bank, and if it were true that the balance-
sheet was wrong at one time it was perfectly clear,
and had been preyed, it was false at any other period ;
and Mr. Stapleton, in the boor when he be-
came a shareholder of the Royal British Bank, in July,
1855, became a ruined man. He was the deceived, and
not the deceiver—he was the victim, and not the perpe-
trator of the crime with which he was charged 'Th,ei
learned gentleman then referred to Mr. Stapleton 's
family connections, and his relationship to Sir James
Matheson, member of a well-known commercial house
in the City, and passed on to his joining the bank.
He then stated that Mr. Stapleton was not a
wealthy man, as bis deposit with the hank showed, but
it also showed that he had no accommodation Mallet he
was connected with _t. Referring to the balance-sheet,
the learned gentleman raid thst Mr. Cameron and those
who acted under him were responsible for the production
of the balance-sbeets, because it had been shown that
none of the directors were allowed to examine the sta-
tistical tables on which they were made out, Mr. Cameron
believing the directors had no right to interfere with the
executive. When Mr. Stapleton joined the Royal Br-tie;.
Benk he believed be bad joined a solver), establishment,
and there was nothing on t he faneof thi gsto is a sn
picion that anything was wrong. During 1855, the period
when Mr. Stapleton was a director, he was absent for a
considerable period during the long vacation, 'and again

when Lady Matheson met with a lamentable accident
that deprived her of her life; but. it was true that he
attended the court meetings from October, 1855, to
February, 1856, when the conspiracy wet seid to have
taken place But no evidence had been given that such
was the case ; for it had not been shown what they did
or said with a view of defrauding the shareholders of the
bank, and he defied the prosecution to do so. Mr. Staple-
ton assiduously attended to the meetings of the court
and of the former committees during the above period,
when he took a prominent part in considering the state
of four debts—one 'was the bills of H. Brown, and after
wards his debt ; the second wag the Welsh mines ;
thirdly, the debt of Oliver ; and fourthly,• Racker',.
debt. In consequer'ce of an irregularity cerninitted by
Mr. Cameron in reference to Brown's debt, Mr. Staple-
ton was annoyed with both Caeneron and Brown, th,
result of which was that the former retired from the
general management, and the latter from the directory,
and yet Mr. Stapleton was charged with a con-piracy
with men with whom he held no communication at the
,ime when it wet stated the conspiracy took place. He
called on the prosecution to state the day, the time, and
occasion, and the moment when Mr. Stapleton conspired
with Cameron and Brown, and defied the public
at the time when he was not on speaking t-rms wish
them. To conspire, it was iwcessery that parties should
be on good t lns, and the offence commenced ie ,ecret,
and therefore it did not appear at all probable that ^lr.
Stapleton conspired with these parties, and at the time
when Cameron was ivakir.g out the halance-sheet up to
December, 1855. Tie complained of the course adapted
by the Crown in making all the directors defendants,
which had the effect of shutting all their mouths, and
preventing them giving that explaiiation ot the circum-
stances of thecasewhichit wa-i desirable should he known.
The learned gentleman, with wane minuteness of detail,
entered on a consideration of the evidence that had been
adduced on the part of the prosecution in reference tu
the debts incurred by the British Beuk, and the securi-
ties taken, as well as the meetings of the Court of Direc-
tors and the committee meetings, in the c iur-e of a rece
he ar_ ued that with regard to Brown's debt he had given
a greater security than his debt, but that the deprecia-
tion in the value of ships, and the forced sales under the
bankruptcy, were the causes that led to their deprecia-
tion. Of the whole of the deets said to be incurred,
Brown's was the only one that ever came h•fere Mr.
Stapleton in detail. At that time (1855) Mr. Brown
was in good credit, and no man would have dared to
have said then that he was insolvent. Had it heel.
stated at a meeting of shareholders the party woud have
been proceeded against by Mr. Brown, who, triers wee
no doubt, would have received exemplary damages fie.in
such a jury as themselves, under the direo ion of his
lordship. The evidence chewed that Mr. Cameron estab-
lished the bank upon a series of leading principles, one
of which was that the manager shout t have tke sole
control of the debts and making up the balance
sheet, without the interfere ea of the directors.
The directors in succession, from 1849 to 1855, had
acquiesced in it, and Cameron had repri uanded arid
threatened the dismissal of a clerk for merely having
communicated to a director something that came within
hie (Cameron's) peculiar functions of general manager,
The balance.eheet of Dec., 1855, was made up and
prepared by Mr. Cameron, with experiences person,
under his control, who had lenses to ail the book. of
the bank, and after earde duly audited by the auditors
appointed by the shareholders, and was it to be expecte.,
theta young and inexperienced directors, 3 monthe' stand •
log could have had susoicion that he was being deceived.
The prosecution had taken 12 mon,hg to deal with the-e
accounts, and arrive at the result which bad take:, 10
days to prove. Yet all that was supposed by the pro-
secution to have been known in same isc.imprehensive
way by Mr. Stapleton at one meeting of the director.,
or from conversations with the directors, in ao incre-
dibly short period of time Referrit g to the value of the
Welsh mines in Dec, 1855, the learned g, etleuran said
Mr. Stapleton had not been down to examine t iern, ano
it be had he doubted it he would be able to form ae opt
Ilion of heir value more than he was to the exect distence
of the earth from one of the fixed star,. M.-. Stapleio.
was never called on to torn his attention to their value,
and from all he had heard he was led to believe 'Oa y
were valuable and productive. E,th. rin Nov. or Dee.
his attention was called to a report thee had bete pre-
sented to the bank tnat it rail way cernoweicetion ceuid
be made from the pi 's mouth with the South Wales
Railway, the mines wank amp.yrepay the bask for its act.
vances. There were only ',hree or four meetings in reference
to the mines, and the result was that an arr :ngeoien had
been made by the Bank with the Llynvie Valley Com-
mittee teat would accomplish the above ebj et, and
thereby increase their value, The learned gentleman
referred to the report of Mr. Clarke that genet not be
found, which valued the mites at 93,000/. in 1851, end
remarked that there was no evidence to show
that information had been communicated t
Mr. Stapleton that this estimate was an erroneous one ;
and, referring to the sale of the mines very recently f
6,000/., he said that, in May 1856, Mr. Strict valued
the mines as worth 16,000/ a-year,and which would have
made them ample security for the advances of the bank
The mines were not worth loss in Doc., 1855, than they
were in June, 1855, and if Mr. Stapleton had been
asked a question of that kind he would have
been answered they had always been treated in
the same way, and he would .of course have
considered they had been treated rightly under toe
superintendence of the previous directors. All the other
debts existed in June as they did in Dee , and he knew
as little of them then as he did in June. If they
were bad debts so much the worse, and if they had
not been entered as they ought to have been, that w
the fault of those who prepared the balance-sheet in June,
1855, when Mr. Stapleton joined the directory. After
some further remarks on the bad debts of the bank,
and the publication ,it false reports and balance-sheete,
the learned g,ntitttinatt, is conclusion, said he did not
rest Mr. Stapletoc's ease on the question 4 good or tad
debts, but that when he became a shareholder he be•
lieved that the balanc-oeheet o. 1855, and the report ee
Jane 1856, published in February f lio ving, were cor-
rece, and that he had no reason to believe the insolvent
at that time was insolvent.

Lord Campbell said tot Sir F. Thesiger admitted, in
his opening addres-, that when Mr. Stapleton came inta
the directery he as igeoraut of the stAte of toe bank.
Sir F. Ko ly—Exactly so. It was teat that had led
him earnestly and confidently to hope that when
the case fir the prosecution was closes that those e-1 ,
represented his friend, Sir F. Teesiger, who had been
justly elevated to the distinguished office of L ird
Chancellor, that they would have done Mr. Stapl-ton
the tardy justice of consenting to his acquittal at that
stage of the prncesdinge. He, however, defieo
learned friend to point out any one particle of evidence
against Mr. Stapleton. He said tome was noee ;
eve to the last moment of its exi.tence he heliev-d in
i s solvency. The failure of the hank took him as much
by surprise as it did the public, and it was enly a few
days before he wrote his relative, Mr. Alex. Mathe,ee,
to j in the hank, believing that it would become ene of
the leading ins itutions of the metropolis. He C intended
there was nothieg in Mr. Stapleton's conduct that cold
cast suspicion on the honour, the integrity, and good
name of that.gentlernin. (Applause-)
L ,rd Campbell said he hoped such ebultien of feeling
would net be reeea ed, and that the persons present
would recollect they were in -a court of justice,
Mr. Sergeant Shee, in addressing the jury for Mr.
Alderman Kennedy, said that that gentleman had epeet
the greater period of hip li sin India. He was the son
of an Indian general officer, and bad himself spent 32
years of his life in India, as physician general at &en-
bay, and when he reeiened his appointment he left Bom-
b 4,), in the enj.‘yment of the hietiest peg.ible estimeti,m
for his honour and integri y Mr. Aid. IC.,unedy, when
he arrived in this couniry, with an ample compe,micy, war+
about 55 years of age, and he was desirous of obtaining
some means of employing it to his own benefit and that
of his countr, men, He became a member of_ the Cor-
poration of London in 1854, when he was elected an
alderman for the ware of Cheap, and whatever iniget
have been said of the Corp ration of London, they had
never yet admitted or allowed a man to remain a mem-
ber of the Corporation whose character was open to
the slightest eu-picion avainst hie credit, whico was a
strong presureptiee of his honourable character in his
favour. Mr. Aldertuai. Keinnedy was one of the oriei
nal promoters of the bank, in which tie had staked the
whole of his fortune, and during the time he had been
connected with it he had never trafficked in its shares or
earned a shilling in connection with it. He was one
of the earliest promoters of the bank, and when he be.
came a ears of some di,counts in connection with Mac-
gregor, who, from his having been under-secretary to the
Board of Trade in S;r R. Peel's Government, was be-
lieved to be a wan of substance and respectability. He
left the directory, but was induced to return in Oct.,
1854, and remained till the stoppage of the bank, doing
his bet to mitigate the losses that had been incurred
since its establishment. The learned gentleman then
referred to the evidence given of the connection of Mr
Alderman Kennedy with toe losses of the bank, .and
his conspiracy to defraud the public by Inter!,
thereres
id be
enct,i,neg the state
du
bato,,ofbtthmr)e t. arAikl,daerni.nd
Alderman
bn
Kceenbc,lueidisonksbaeiwd
of some locks-UP of the hank, through the Welsh mires
and other advances, but there was no reason to believe
°JI-atis' bli,Y,ll(t).tflearll athan
g t‘iwlausl I tt'lanas
only wants,' hwa7teleeemeB,7imitiereial strength at the board
till after the bankruptcy
st
tle-iceubr triieks
to wake rt one of the safest and ,ourelett of itveied in tit,
kingdom. Be trougly expreosed his con vio.ion teat
it was imposinble to say Mr. Althrinan Kennedy had
been guilty of the charge of conspiracy by whine he w„,
to render desola,e the hearths and hnme, of those tor
whose benefit he was induced to eetable,h the bank. li,-
irne
lored them to remember that drrieg the end et
1855 and nearly the whole of 1856, Mr. Alderman
Kennedy was prevented horn attending to the
board meetings owing to his having•to discharge the
arduous and responende dal of sheriff of London arid
Middl sex— an t,ffice the most laborious that could he
found, from its occupying the time of the holder both by
dayand night—in the termer in dischai wig the busin, es
part of the office, and by night dispensing hospitality a,
countenancing acts of charity sad benevolence
ouethe whole period of his year of office. If Mr. All
ter h -
f .ou g
Kennedy was absent, how could he have conspired with
others to defraud the pub ic ; tend if he had been r;N)4-
nisarit of the true state of the bank, it was not likely
he would have brought his brother-in-law, Mr. L. M
Valiant, into the Directory in Feb. 1856, and have
induced his nephew anti nietiler-in-law to become d, po-
,,itore. The learned gentleman's address occupied the
court till its rising at half-past five o'clock.
There are four other learned gentlemen to address the
jury in support of their respective clients. It is under-
stood that some of them intend to call witnesses, but it
is confidently anticipated the case will be concluded by
Saturday night.

PRESCOTT, THE AMSRICAN HISTORIAL—We regret
to learn, by a letter dated "Boston, United States,
February 5," that this celebrated writer is suffering
from an attack of parallaivi—SCo(smco.