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

THE SUN, LONDON, TFIURSDAY EVENING,

LINES LEASED Ar FIXEO RENTALS.

Leasing Closing Prices I Easiness
ShnoPaid RAILWAYS. Companies yesterday this day
——
St. 100 Buekghamsh. Ln.&N.W. 98 100
St. 100 Clydesdale Jc. Caledon... 100 - 102
25 all Col.Stour Vy E.U.dtE.O 13 15
St. 100 E.Lni. g. 6 pa Gt.Northn 139 141
5 all E. Un. H.Sh. E. Count. 4 41
St. 100 Glas. Barr. da Caldonian.
Neils. Direct.
St. 100 Do. New Do et.
25 all Glstr.&Dn.Fr. Gt.Westn —
60 all Hull dt Selby. Y. & N.M llO 112
25 all Do. a Shares. Do ".
124 all Do. 4 Shares. Do •
12i all Lon.dtGreenw S.Eastern 124 134
20 all Do. Preference Do 24 2
St. 100 Lon. Til., dzS2Peto &Co 97 100
10 10 Do. Bark. Sh. Do
541 all Manch.Baton. LaLdtN.W
and Matlock tit Midld 24 2i
St. 100 Mdld. Bradfd. Midland 9B —10 J
64 54 Newmarket
BuryE.G.spc. E. Count 4 - p
50 all N.dtEst.s p.c. Do 56 58
50 all 'Do. 6 per ct.. Do
50 all Do.Fixed6p.c Do
25 all Prest. di Wyre L. dt A. W ...
1241 all Do. 4 Shrs. 4 Do
St. jlOO Roystn.dalit. Gt.Northn 138 140
10 j all IShrews.& Her T. Brassey 8 84
12 all S. Staffordsh.. M.MClean 104 —10 i
50 all IWearVal.g6pc Stk.dtDar.
25 I all IDo.
St. 'lOO iWiltsd&Sonirst Gt.Westn 9l 93

SFERENCE SHARES.

Blyth and Tyne 10 p.
c.pref. (issd. at 5010
Bris.StEx.4 p.c. St.
00. 4 per c. Shares
Caledn. £lO 4i p. c
Ches. & Ho. 5i P.C
Do. do. 5 per cent
Cork &Bandonsip.o
Dnn.Perth.&Aber.J
E. Anglian Cls. A Sh
Do. do. Cls. B 6p. c
Do. do. Cls. C 7 p. c
Eas.Co.Ex,sp.c No.l
Do. No. 2
Do. New 6 pr. c. St
East Un., G. 6 P. c.
Do. 51., 10 per cent.
• `Do 10. Debentr.Sh.
IDo, do. 4 per cent
East Lancash.6 p.c ts
E.&W. York. J. sths
Edin.& Gl. sp. c. Sh.
Ed. Prth. &Dun.4p.c
Furness, 5 p. c
Glas. & 5.W.G.5 p.c
Groat Northn. 5 p.c
Do. 5 p. c, Redeem
at 10 p. c, prom
Do. 4i per cent
Do. 5 p.c., Red. at 5
p. c. prem.
Gt.N. of Scotist Pre
'Gt. S & W. (Ireland;
Do. 4 per c. Pref. St.
Gt.W.(B.&H.Ex.spc
Do. con. red. 4i p.c.
Do. con. red. 4 p. c.
Do. irred. 4 per lent.
Do. 5 p. c. red. pref.
Do, Birm. Pref. Sh
Do. Chester Sp. c. P. S
Do. do. 5 p. c, do
Do. Birm. Gua, Stk
Do. Chesh. Gua. Sh
Do. do. do
Do. do. do.

2611
13
20
St.

Lan. & York. 6 pc. St.
Lon. &B. G. 5 pc. No. 1
D o. , P., 5 ID. c. St. No. 2
Do, New Guar. 6p. c.
Do. do. 5 p. c., No. 4
Lon. & N. W., Cov. &
Nuneaton 5 r. et...
Lon. & S.W. 7 perct.

St.
123
123
St.

late 3d Shares ...
Londy. & Color. Sh.
Londy. &Ennis. i Sh.
M., S.,&L. 6 p. Cent.
Do, do. do. £6

St.
12
12
12i
St.

Do. do. 31 per cent.
Marypt. 4 Carl. 4 p.c.
Do. 4i per cent
Do. do.

Consol.6 p. c. St.
Do. Con. Br. Bir. 6 p.c.
Do. 4A p. c. Pref. St.
Do. L. &IL Pref. St.
New., Aber., &c., pr.
5 p. c. red. 5 p. c. pm.
Do. Perpet. 6 pr. ct.
Nod k Deb. 4p. c. Sh.
Do. 5 p. c. Ext. 1846
Do. 5i p.c. pf , 1847
Do. V.5p..,1847
North British . ......
Do. 71. Preference
N. E. Berm'. 413. c. Pd.
Do. do. do

20
12
25111
20
St.

all
all
100
100
100
100
3;
100

it Do. Leeds 6 pe. No.l
Do. do. Qrs., 1848...
Do. York H. & S. Pur.
North Staffordshire..
Ox„ Wor. & Wolv. 6
p.c., Ist guar.
Do. 6 p. c. 2d guar...
Do. do. Debeutr. St.
Scot. Ceut.New Pref.

sc.N.E.Aber.g.6p.c.l
IDo. do. 7 p.c. pf. St.

pf. St
South Devon

25
10
Lo.6i

Do. fixed 4A pr cent.
S. Eastern (Reading
Ann.) of £1 Os. 6d.
Do. 4A per cent
Do. Fixed p.c. Sh
Do. New 4A pr. cent
S. Wales Gus. 4 p. c.
Do. do. 4. p. c
S.Yorksh.4 p.c.Guar
Stock. &Dar., 5 p. 0
Do, do. do.

St.
St.
S t.
S t.
S t.
20

100
100
100
100
100
all
all

!100

lWaterfd&Kilk. 6 pc.

2/ 121

30
17s
1715

61151

40
12s 6

11'7.1

90 - 95

iiii = Eli

6 - 64

10£3 - 112
110 - 114
115 - 120
115 - 120
130 - 135

74 - 76

ii;s -ii

113 - 115
105 - 107

64 - E 6
103 - 11

5i --
92 -- 94
87 -- 89
88 -- 90
99 -- 101
101 -- 161
16 -- 17 1
10 -10 A
74 -- 76
19 -- 20
9 -- 10
14 -- 15
138 - 140

160 - 165

121 - 123
60 - 70

137 - 139
102 - 104
1 94 - 95

fit :I iii;

- 110

93 100
di

i id
22 23

121 - 123
107 - 109
97 - 99

118 -- 120
103 -- 112
71 -- 73
101 -10 i

25 -. 2541
iOl - 103
101 - 103

28 - 29

all
all
all
all

100 1

108 i

1141 i 131

1021

79f
14 i

THE ROYAL BRITISH BANK (This Day.)

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, GUILDHALL.
(Sitting at Nisi PriuB, bobre Lord Campbell and a

Special Jury.)
THE QUEEN V. BROWN AND OTHERS.
ELBYENTH DAY.

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. E. James, Q.C., addressed the jury on the part of
Mr. Esdaile. He said—lt devolved on him, as counsel
for Mr. Esdaile, to address them on his behalf, with a
view of directing their attention to the evidence of the
prosecution, as applying to that gentleman's case in
contradistinction to the other defendants, and to point out
as be hoped satisfactorily that though Mr. Esdaile may
have acted improvident, too credulous, and too sanguine,
he had not acted criminally. That was the distinc-
tion he wished them to draw on a calm and impartial
consideration of his case, and to say by their verdict that
his conduct was dictated by a desire to retrieve the
interests of the bank, and not of defrauding any
one ; for until the last moment, when the ship
went down, he was at the helm endeavouring to take
her safe into port. Mr. Esdaile might have been wrong
in some instances in the course he had suggested, but
he had never acted fraudulently or guilty. They were
now arriving at that period when their verdicts would
solve this great question, and when he asked them to
step to some extent between, he would not say unna-
turally, the public indignation roused against these
gentlemen who were now sitting before them by the
public journals in designating them as swindlers to the
whole civilised world, and discriminate between a too
sanguine, and it may be a careless dealing with the bank
and criminality of conduct. It was incumbent on the
prosecution to make out a clear case, and it was the
wish of himself and his client to take a manly and
straightforward course on this occasion. Mr. Es-
hilt, however, had no desire to shelter him-
self behind the back of any director with whom he had
been associated, but to take upon hinsself the responsi-
bility of his own acts. At the same time it was essen-
tial for them to consider when they were called upon to
say whether any, and if so, who, were guilty, what part
each had taken in the transactions which it is alleged
shows conspiracy. Mr. Esdaile was a gentleman well
known in the city. He was in partnership with his
father at the city saw-milli ; and his uncle was, if not
the founder of the London and Westminster Bank, an
early Originator and supporter of that thriving concern.
Mr. Esdaile joined the Royal British Bank is 1849,
on its first formation, and there could be no doubt
the bank suffered from a want of sufficient capi-
tal, a difficulty which probably they were aware
had befallen the earliest days of some of our now most
flourishing concerns in the kingdom. The London
and Westminster Bank commenced their business with
a paid up capital of 50,0001. ; the London Joint Stock
Bank, 69,0001. ; the Union, 210,0001. ; and the London
and County, 35,0001. ; but as they were established
before the passing of Peel's act in 1844 they were liable
to no restrictions, and could call up their capital as they
required it. The Royal British Bank were unable, in
consequence of the above act, to increase their capital
beyond 100,0001. without obtaining a supplemental
charter, so that the bank was trading from the time it
opened in 1849 to 1855 upon a narrow and cramped
eapital which paralysed its exertions, and made the struggle
the more severe ; but a struggle was usual in young cod-
cerns, and the millionaire of to-day had had to struggle
against "lock-ups," and he doubted if there was a bank-
ing establishment or a large mercantile firm that had not
had large debts and claims which it was absolutely
essential that they should nurse, in the hope of retriev-
ing their position and removing a clog from their necks ;
and he should like to know whether the London and
Westminster Bank, if they bad had a debt of 250,0001.
"lock-up," would have stated it in an abstract of the
balance-sheet. Mr. Cameron's power, the learned
counsel said, was omnipotent in the bank, and the fact
had been most fully shown that the directors were
his creatures and his tools, and that he was the man
who pulled the strings of the puppets. Mr. Cameron
he had said, was omnipotent, and discounted bills at
pleasure that never went before the directors. The
appointment of a finance committee was a mere farce,
and Mr. Cameron must have laughed in hie sleive at the
prospect that whilst the finance committee was slitting
up stairs for the purpose of examining bills for discount
he was discounting his and his friends' bills at his plea-
sure. He reminded the jury that the conspiracy was
said to have been committed in 1855 and 1856. At the
early part of 1855, Mr. Cameron was away from illness,
and in consequence of that Mr. Esdaile became general
manager. When the first thing he did was to make a
searching investigatory into the affairs of the bank, and
what he and his brother director did to retrieve its posi-
tion, and which induced Mr. Cameron and Mr. Brown
to leave the bank was brought against him to prove con-
spiring. The learned gentleman referred to the hocus pocus
system of Scotch banking which had the effect of mysti-
fying every one, and the instruction that Mr. Cameron
gave to one of the clerks, not to supply information
to any of the directors, and called upon the jury to
discriminate between imprudent conduct and gailt. Mr.
Esdaile had lost everything, and if he had had a crimi-
nal intent he would have no doubt protected himself.
Mr. Slade, Q.C., addressed the jury far Mr. Owen.
The learned counsel said that Mr. 0 wen, after
20 years labour as a humble tradesman,
bad acquired
a competency, which he was induced,, through Mr.
Mullins, his pri rate solicitor to embark in the
Royal British Bank and the result was that Mr.
Brown had been received. That gentleman when he
took his seat at the board found himself surrounded by
M.P.'s and men of high standing in the commercial
world, and considering the omnipotence of Mr. Cameron,
it was not to be wondered at that Mr. Cowan was in-
duced with others to believe that the bank was in a sol-
vent and flourishing condition. The learned gentleman
then analysed the evidence, and contended that there was
not the shadow of a shade of evidence against him to
prove that he conspired with any of tne defendants.'
Mr. Huddleton, Q.C., addressed the jury for Mr.
Humphrey Brown. He said he could not with-
stha
jury,vg nonefrom
from himself that his position was one of considerable
dad vann ag
o ef ,
the in
theiro beingfthosetopics which his
learned friends had so powerfully used to beget for their
respectable clients the attention and to appeal to the
sympathiesi
in a p
represent them as having to the last no directionstietrieosnt toin
the monetary transactions of the bank. He had at the
bank resources
to a o
largef the
extent.bank,
outset to admit that Mr. Brown had availed himself of
thethandHtehat he was a debtor to
was also painfully con-
scious that there existed, not only in the jury box, but
elsewhere, a prejudice against his client, which, how-
ever, was not altogether unnatural, and which
he could not complain of,
because he had
brought it on himself, but what he did ask the jury was
to guard themselves against prejudices, that had been
most unfairly raised against Mr. Brown. He could not
believe from what source it arose, if it was to have the
effect of preventing justice being done him by a fair and
impartial investigation of his case, but he was buoyed
up with the hope that when these prejudices were pointed
out and explained he should not find the approaches to their
reason entirely closed against his client's answer. The
learned gentleman then entered into the details of the evi-
dence relative to his transactions, and compared them
with the date of his commercial transactions which, he
said, showed that the bank was at all tinter; amply secured.
Mr. H. Brown had raised himself to a competency by
his industry and probity. Ho had received the highest
honours from the inhabitants of his native town, and he
joined the bank with the "modest fortune" of 20,0001.
He denied that the prosecution had produced a tittle of
evidence to prove that Mr. Brown had been guilty of
the crime with which he was charged.

Leod, next ad.
aarlmiaimen atliti the hiC father had for
county of Ross.
w
dressedl‘ir.Ltahsve rjeunreye! on
Hebseahiadl ft
boaft in his Mr.
M
cli a: t was a member
of a
eery
dSciontcpb fly
He as a young man, and moreover a barrister.
years re pre ancientsen te
[To be continued in our last edttioal

-70-0311IUTATION OF
UlittpichßardCsoAns,E'llinttel, and R chard-
sent a . memorial to Sir George
praying for a
ulton,
eilor, for the
chard-
eon, IT: Tun BOLTON
Bc e
having
erl Sie
nceoft.ipinohnaAbiatraonnteivi,
commutationG y,
murder of his wife, have received the following letter' in
reply :
sied bo
yt
the a s
numberent e
is Whitehall, Feb. 18, 1858.
"Gentlemen--The Secretary of State for the Home
Department having had under consideration your appli•
cation, in behalf of Aaron Mellor, I have the satisfaction
to acquaint you, that, under all the circumstances, he
has felt warranted in advising her Majesty to commute
the convict's sentence to penal servitude for life.—l am,
gentlemen, your obedient servant:
H. WADDINGTON."

" Messrs. Richardson, Bolton."
TRH LIVERPOOL BOlitollGil BANIC.—The liquidators
have given notice that they are prepared to pay 50,0001.
of the promissory notes of the bank due on the 27th of
of April next, under discount at the rare of 3h per cent.
per annum. Today (Thursday) a meeting of the share•
holders is to be held at the bank, when a more complete
statement of the affairs than has yet appeared will be
Mad%