The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, L'ONDV,N, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23,

THE ROYAL BRITISH BANK (This Day.)

no knowledge of the 71a ciante ktf the chart,r, making
it necessary that the bank should stop when one-fourth
of the capital was lost. He denied that be hail been
actuated by any sinister object, and his whole time and
attention had been devoted to furthering the success o
the bank.

Leasing
Companies

Closing Price,
yesterday

Business
this day

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, GUILDHALL.
(Sitting at Nisi Prius, betore Lord Campbell and a
Special Jury.)
THE QUEEN V. BROWN AND OTHERS.
NINTH DAY.
The trial of the toforwation a4ainst 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.
Lord Campbell, on taking his seat 0/3 the bench, an-
nounced that the prosecution would be deprived of the
further assistance of Sir F. Thesiger. He candidly con-
fessed that he should have been well pleased to have
had the assistance of that learned gen'leman till the con-
clusion of the trial; but, at the same time, he must
express his satisfaction, which he felt assured was shared
in by the bar and the country, on his elevation. (A.p.
plause.)

.100
100
all
100
all
100

[To be eontinsed in our last edition.]

THE CHARGE AGAINST-MR. ISAAC

BUTT, M.P.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE.—THIS DAY.
The committee appointed to inquire into the truth
of the petition of Edward Lees Coffery, of Sheffield,
which alleges that Mr. Isaac Butt, the member for
Youghall, in the month of July, 1856, did corruptly
enter into an agreement with the Rajah Ali Moorad
Khan, or his agents, to the effect that he the said Isaac
Butt would, on condition of certain sums of money being
paid to him, advocate and prosecute, in the House of
Commons, and with the Etat India Company, the claims
of his highness for the recovery of his territory. That,
in pursuance of such corrupt agreements, divers sums
of money had been paid to the said Isaac Butt, and
that the petitioner was advised that, in entering into
such agreement a breach of the privileges of Parlia-
ment had been committed.
The members of the committee present were Sir J.
Graham, Mr. Bright, Mr. Sergeant Kinglake, Sir W.
Codrington, and Mr. S. Herbert.
Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Sergeant Deasy, who had been
appointed by the house to take charge of the petition,
and take part in the committee without the power of
voting, were also present.
Previous to the commencement of the investigation
the room, which was pretty fully attended, was ordered
to he cleared, and after the public bad been excluded
for a quarter of an hour the room was reopened, when
Sir James Graham, the chairman of the committee,
addressing the members of the press present, said the
committee had no objection to a report of the proceedings
appearing, but it was their especial desire that no com-
ments on the evidence should be published pending the
inquiry.
Mr. Roebuck then stated the case of the peti-
tion, and said he bad undertaken the position he at
present occupied purely upon public grounds, and In
no vindictive feeling towards Mr. Butt, who was a
gentleman with whom be was on the most friendly
terms. The hon. gentleman then proceeded to state
the case of the petition, from which it appeared that in
the year 1856, Ali Moorad, one of the Ameers of
Scinde, having been,as he thought unjustly deprived of
his property, came to England to procure justice, and
in the course of proceeding he came into contact with
Mr. Butt. After certain conversations, it was alleged
by the petition that Mr. Batt, for a sum of 5,000/.,
agreed to advocate the claims of the Ameer, hut in the
event of his having to go to India he was to have 5,0001.
more, making in all 10,0001. He should prove by
witnesses that Mr. Butt had received from Ali Moorad
two sums of 3001. and 1,5001. in prosecution of the first
part of the agreement.
Mr. Coffey, examined by Mr. Roebuck, said, in 1856
he was in Scinde, in the oapacity of postmaster-gen oral,
at a salary of 1,0001, and was induced to give that office
up in consequence of certain representations from Ali
Moorad that I should be well remunerated, and that if
he regained his position he should have a sum of 3,0001.
per annum. I received 5001. from Ali Moorad before I
left India, and some mall sums afterward. It was
introduced to Mr. Butt by my brother, and in the course
of the interview about presenting his highness's petition,
but at that time there was nothing mentioned about
money. Some days afterwards I had a conversation
with Mr. Butt, who told me he was not a very rich man,
and as he would have to incur great expence, and with-
eut the Ameer would assist him he could not prosecute
the petition effect. This I told to the Ameer, wh
directed me to inform Mr. Butt that if be gained
a restitution of his property he would give him 5,0001.
This occurred in 1856. The next arrangement was in
July after 1857. After a good deal of correspondence
with India, it was understood that a despatch would be
sent out directing the authorities in Scinde to inquire
into the case, and that as Mr. Butt would require to go
to India, to wind up the whole of the affairs ; and as he
could not give up all his business here without the 5,000/.
was doubled, and it was finally understood that the
despatch was sent out. The purport of the despatch
was, that the:authorities in Scinde should examine into
the case. The despatch, however, was never sent out
I recollect, in July, 1857, a letter being shown me by Mr,
Butt, who bad, I understand, written to Mr. Vernon
Smith. The letter was to the effect that Government
would feel embarrassed if Mr. Butt brought on his pro.
posed motion. In July I recollect Mr. Butt wanting a
sum of money ; in the event of his not receiving it be
will be compelled to leave London. for Dublin. After
some conversation with the Ameer; /got a blank cheque,
and, by direction of the Ameer, the sum filled in was
3001. by the Ameer, and it was crossed to Mr. Butt.
The witness was under examination when the report
left,

Mr. Sergeant Ballantine said the bar concurred in
congratulating the learned gentleman on his elevation,
and the prosecution much regretted his loss in the com-
pletion of the trials.
Mr. Crawford was recalled, and said that during
Cameron's absence from illness during January and
. May, 1855, Mr. Esdaile took the general management
_ of the bank. The green ledger, general ledger, share
ledger, and diary and bills book were frequently before
him, and they were also before Mr. L. M. Valiant and
Mr. Stapleton. Witness prepared the periodical balance
sheet in the mode adopted when he joined the bank by his
predecessor, in the course of their preparation he got out
details in a tabular form of the assets and liabilities of
the bank which were extracted from the balance and
ledger-book. He held in his hand three proof impres-
sions of the balance-sheet for the half-year ending Dec.
1855, bat each is different. The first is a printed form
filled in by witn(si in red ink of the balances in the
books, and delivered to Mr. Cameron, the general
manager ; after that, by Mr. Cameron's direction, he
prepared a second balance-sheet, which was a printed
balance-sheet, in Feb., 1855 ; in the first, the paid-up
capital was called 127,0001., and the new shares were
put in the inner column along with the deposits ; in the
second form the paid-up capital was raised to 150,000/.,
by applying that portion of the deposit,: for new shares
that had been paid in full. When Mr. Cameron gave this
direction to make the alterations, witness thought he
said the balance-sheet had been under the consideration
of the board. The third balance-sheet contained the
alterations in the second and some other trifling ones,
and was the last he prepared previous to the final
balance-eheet which was read to the shareholders at the
meeting. The tabular statement on which the final
balance-sheet was based was put in. The witness then
detailed the amount of the suspense account, past-due
bills, etc., etc., inserted as assets, which have already
been given. The balance-aheet was audited in his pre-
irence. He produced before the auditors statements of
the assets and liabilities similar to those he bad spoken
to. There was a difference in them to those he
handed Mr. Cameron, The accounts were differently
described. In the statement of assets, as first shown,
the bill account was headed in the precise form in which
they stood in the bank books, but in the copy before the
auditors they were simply entitled bill account, No. 1,
2,3, and so on. The loan account was similarly
named. Convertible securities being allied loan account
No. 1, and past-due loans, loan account No. 2. Mr.
Cameron, with his own hand, altered the title, of the
account before they went to the auditors. An alteration
produced uficresdt made,the auditors,
as 1853, in the statements
and they continued to be made
down to 1855. The auditing usually occupied three or
four hours. In 1853, after the accounts had been
altered, he said to Mr. Cameron, Mr. Page, one of the
auditors, appeared to consider that he was entitled to see
all the bills and securities of the bank. Mr. Cameron
replied it was no portion of the duty of an auditor to go
into those matters, or into the personal accounts. He also
raid Mr. Page mistook his duty, and were he to carry
out his view., he shquld sit at the board-room table, go
into all the treesactions of the bank, and there, de die
in diem, revise and comment on all the bank's transac-
tions. Snub a duty would entirely take away the
function. of the directors, If the auditors required to
see anything in the hocks he showed it to them. He
read the accounts off to the auditors. The balance
sheet of 1855 contained in the assets all the proved bad
debts, such as Welsh works, &c. In the ledger
these accounts were ranged under different
heads. The Welsh mines were ruled under
the suspense account and convertible securities,
cash credit account, adjusting interest account, amount-
ing in the gross to 103,0031. 2s. sd. op to December,
1855. Witness then detailed the manner in which the
others were more or less spread ewer the above accounts.
The I.lington Cattle Market debt amounted to 8,6001. ;
Mullena', 10,646/. 16F. 3J. ; Brewn'e, 79,437/. 3e. Id.
Oliver's, 14,1621. 4e. sd. ; Macgregor's, 7,369/. B'. 3d. ;
Blacker'e, 4,518/. 2d. ; Gwynne'a, 13,4151. 19s. 11d. ;
Cochrane's, 9,5331. 3,, 33. ;
(deducting 6931. Bs. 103., balance of his drawing
account). Cameron's, 24,590!. ls. 53.

By Ur. Sergeant Shee—The balance-sheet was drawn
out on the recognised principle of book-keeping. The
accounts showed appear in the balance-sheet as they
were in the books. A debt, unless it was entirely hope-
less, ought not to be written off, and, of course,:it must
come into the balance-sheet in the character of an asset
until that was done.

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION
OF THE FRENCH EMPEROR.

EXAMINATION OF BERNARD AT
BOW-STREET THIS DAY.
This afternoon, at three o'clock, Simon Bernard, who
stands charged with the late attempted assassination,
was placed at the bar.
Mr. Bodkin appeared, as before, on the part of the
Treasury, and Mr. Sleigh defended Bernard.
[We shall give the examination in our late edition.]

By Sir F. Kelly—The reserve fund for meeting bad
debts was formed on a calculation of 5 per cent. on the
net profits, and that was the meaning of the item 3071.
for that purpose in the balance-sheet of Dec., 1855.
No calculation or examination was then made of the
actual amount of bad and doubtful debts, but there was
in June, 1855. The balance sheets of June and Dec ,
1855, did not include specific items of bad debts, On one
occasion witness hazarded a remark to a director. When
Mr.Carneron came to him and said "I understand you have
been speaking to Mr. Cochrane. I think it excessive
bad taste on your part, and any recurrence of it will
meet with my most severe displeasure."
By Mr. D. Seymour Witness became general
manager after Mr. Cameron left, on 22d July, 1856. A
balance•sheet of June, 1856, handed io, Lad corrections
on it in Mr. Munro'is handwriting. Up to August,
1856, he believed the bank would be able to dispose of
their interest in the Welsh Works satisfactorily, and be
no substantial sufferer by it, It was Mr. Cameron's
policy to keep up a bad debt fund.
By Mr. Atherton—After June, 1855, no interest was
computed on 42,000/. of bad debts included in the
subsequent balance•sheets or assets. Out of 70,0001.
odd, Mr. Brown's discounts 8,060/. 14i. lid. was for
current trade bills. During the last few days of the
bank d: posits did not come iu very fast, and it bad sold
nut nearly all its stock.
Mr. Williamson stated that he was assistant.acoonot-
ant of the bank. Mr. Crawford informed him on one
occasion that it was Mr. Cameron's wish Mr. L. M.
Valiant, a director, should not be assisted is his exami-
nation of the books, and witness gave him as little
assistance as possible in prosecuting his inquiries.
(Laughter.)

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
TRAFFIC RETURNS FOR THE WEEK.

M Iles Receipts.
ojened, NAME OF RAILWAY.
1857, 1857. 1656.
----
BRITISH. X X
- -
65 Belfast and Ballymena ........, .... - 1,020 1,121
17 Belfast and County Down- - ........ 243 252
°‘ Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire 2,043 2,163
2634 1 Bolton, Blackburn,and West York .... - -
118 Bristol and Exeter • • .... • • ...• ••• • - 4,792 4,836
198% Ca1ed0nian............. ............ 11,192 11,625
91'; Chester and Holyhead • • ........ 4,936 3,993
614 Cork, Blackrock, and Passage ...... 17l 159
20 Cork and Bandon .. • • .............. 223 2'oo
63 Dublin and Belfast J unction ........ 1,094 1,105
, , Dublin and Drogheda.. • • ......... 1,400 1,369
4" Dublin and Kingstown •••••• - - .. - 1,122 1,083
174 1 Dundee and Arbroath ..............437 513
31 1 Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen Junction 938 951
35 1 Dundalk an 4 Enniskillen...." •••• • • 409 4ul
67% ' East Ang1ian........................ 831 911
93 East Lancashire.. . -
489 Eastern Counties and Norfolk.. -- } 20,783 21,1!8
Eastern Union - .... - - • ..... ...
142 4,787 4,880
Edinburgh and Glasgow .• • • • • • •• •• ••
78 Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee - .... 2,703 2,917
6 Exeter and Crediton........ •• •••• •• - -
22 Furness Railway ... .............. 747 ' 1,258
.
183% Glasgow, and South-Western- ...... 5,624 ! 5,969
283 Great Northern... - . ....... ~, 20,312 19,277
203% Great Southern and Western (Ireland) 5,'29 .5,611
465 Great Western .................... 23,850 23 719
25 W Irish South Eastern .• •• •• - ~•• -.. 195 253
90 Lancaster and Carlisle.. • • .......... 5,455 5,374
286 W Lancashire and Yorkshire....
- Leeds Northern ...... • • • • • • • • •..... - -
16 i Liverpool, Crosby, and Southport.... - -
647 London and North Western ......... 53,161 16,466
5% London and Blackw all •• • ........... 1,(66 , 1,161
183% LoadOn, Brighton, and South Coast.. 9,873 9,899
289% London and South We5tern......... 10,955 12,722
60 Londonderry and Enniskillen - • . .... 611 651
- Manchester, Buxton, and Matlock, &c. - -
17319 Manchester, Sheflield,and Lincolnshire 8,689 8,702
93i Manchester and South Junction...... 7113 766
28 Maryport and Carlisle •............. 800 932
567 Midland ..... , ...... •............. 29,182 27,362
177 Midland Great Western (Irish) .• •• .. 3,569 3,378
52 Monklands ........................ 1,310 1,432
78 Newcastle and Carlisle...• ........... 2,765 2 932
149 North British •• -••••• • .• • • - ...... 4,696 4,593
233 North Staffordshire ..... ........... 6,270 5,672
47 North-Western .................• .. 810 895
50 Scottish Central • • ..... .
3219 Scottish Midland .................. - -
29 Shrewsbury and Birmingham ...... 1,316 1,457
4834 Shrewsbury and Chester ............ 2,267 2,05
30 Shropshire Union .................. 766 753
57 South Devon /. •• • ................- 1,902 1,700
301% South Eastern - .................. ~ 13,327 13,429
171 South Wales ...................., 6,563 j 6,327
10814 South York., Doncaster, and Goole .. 2,218 I 2,125
53 Taff Vale - .... ..
36 Ulster . - ...... - .................. 1,292 1,351
77 Waterford and Limerick • • .......... 1,018 I,l'a
27 West Cornwall -
12% Whitehaven Junction ........... •• • • 313 397
682 York and Newcastle, and Berwick &
York and North Midland & Leeds.. - -
FOREIGN:
109 Datch Rhenish .... • • ......•••••••• 2,451 2,161
344 Lyons and Mediterranean - ........ --_
63 Montereau and Troyes .......... •• .. - -
- Namur and Liege .. • • •• • • .... - • • •• - --
539 Northern of France ................ 40,681 35,861
- Orleans and Central - -
434 Paris and Lyons - - -
588 Paris and Rouen. •• .. .. .. - •• . . - .. - -
886 Paris and Strasburgh ............ .. 36,330 130,471
- Rouen and Havre.. .... - -
596 West and North-West of France .... 25,495 I 26,360

object was to prevent one director
midolialeoyt kw if
trnaonsferrietdwfarsosmtaotnede
y m
Cameron'sour
—liegdstond as follows with a f"
examining the account of another director.
By Mr. Atherton—The cash book showed on the
thaßtyDrisrf.r.S e
days :of the stoppage :-27th August, 1856, •18,1391.
acaooshnoortedtiot saidoeo,tbienrc.ludlint
le. sd. ; 28th August, 117,092/, 18s. 41. ; 29th
August, 75,9211. Os. ld. ; 30th August, 131,0241. 103.
7d. ; let September, 157,672/. 19s. 4d, ; 2d September,
109,4851. 18s. Bcl. ; 31 September, 56,918/, Bs. 11d. ;
making a gross balance of 665,2611. 17e, 4d. a balance
in hand, then remained of 18,0391. Ss. 7d.
Mr. Danoan was called, and stated that the bank
was never pressed for money, and
when the bank
stopped there was a balance of 35,0001. in the till at
the principal office, and a similar amount in the Bank

of England.
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine then read a portion of Mr.
Bsdaile's affidavit before the Vice-Chancellor, which
applied to his knowledge of the state and condition of
the bank ; from its commence to tha time of its stop-
page. It stated that Mr. Esdaile wee not aware the
capital was not paid up when the charter was obtained,
and his impression that the bank did not make, in
commercial phrase, sufficient provision for bad debts.
The affidavit set out the different debts that had
been the subject of investigation during the trial
and gave a detailed account of the transactions
in reference to them, it also referred to the additional

The new screw steam corvettee Racoon, 22 gung,
Capt. J. A. Painter, at Sheerness, completed the
adjustment of her compasses on Saturday, and left
at 12.20 p.m. yesterday for Portsmouth, where sbe
will receive her orders for ber future destination,
said to be the Mediterranean.
The Royal George, 102 guns, screw steamship,
Master-Commander Wm. Ellis, at Sheerness, pro
ceeded on a trial trip of her machinery on Thurs-
day last. The entire working of her engines was in
every respect satisfactory. She returned into har-
bour again the same day. The new screw steam
vessel Snake, of 4 guns, on the following day, also
made an experimental trip to try her machinery,
which worked satisfactorily.
The new screw steamship Renown, 91
guns,
Capt. A. Forbes, left Sheerness on Saturday.

charter and that the issue of new shares is consequence.
It stated also the appointment of various committees of

the board before whom, almost every day, questions
arose relative to past-due bills and loans ;it further
stated the principle on which the balance-sheets were
made up, and the system of banking carried on. The
directors consented to the issue of new shares, in the
hope that by doing so they would increase the capital
and prevent the run on the shareholders. The applica-
tion for issuing new shares did not arise from the want
of money, but to strengthen the bank and allow them to

recover their lost position. He had no idea when the
application was made for a new charter, He had