The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-01 00:00:00

Na,.. al and y Intelligence.

The Adventure and Assistance, iron steam t-olp-
ships, fitting out cut, at Portsmouth Dockyard for
the conveyance of troops and stores' to China, will
not I,e ready to eml•ark them for a week or so. As
these vessels are children of the same parentage as
the Transit it is possible her fate may stimulate the
"powers that be," to make them worthy of the
pennant.
The Volcano, 3-gun steam-vessel, Master Com-
mander Hockey, is undergoing extensive repair at
Portsmouth for the C!iina station, where she will
do rhe duty of a floating smi hery frsr the repair of
the steamers' machinery on that s a'ion. The fore
part of her is almost new. She is row being re-
caulked previous t 3 being recoprered; and may be
expected to be out of dock in about. a week or 10
days. She has been brig-rigged;-which is consi-
dered to answer better for a long- voyage, as she
can carry but a small amount of cJal or other fuel
for steaming.
The Sphynx, steam sloop, Captain A. P. E.
Wilmot, C. 8., will be paid off at Portsmouth to-
morrow. She has landed at the gun-wharf the gun
she brought as a present from the Sultan to the
Queen. and which has been before de,cribed. It
lawaits h'r Majesty's pleasure as to its dispesil.
The Rodney, 92,in ordinary at Portsmouth, was
Itaken to the shears yesterday to b 3 dismasted

The Glatton, 14, iron sream Lattery, was un-
docked yesterday at Portsmouth, and is to be laid
up in orlinaty.
The Glneral .Commanding-in-Cilief in Scotland
considering it incompatible, in the present sate of
the regiments of Artillery, that chlonels should
hold what may be considered the command of a
lieut.-colonel, has d:cidyd to relieve Col. Warde of
the command of the Royal Artillery there.
It is stated that a couple of regiments will be sta-
tioned at Pembroke Dockyard in lieu of the present
four-company battalion now doing duty there, and
that this measure is contemplated in consequence
of the duties of the establishment falling with seve-
rity on the depots, which are inadequate to guard
the extended ground over which the posts lie. The
staff and the first depot battalion are to Le removed
to Ne wport, ,Monmouthshire..
Two more first-class frigates will be 'launched in
the course of the season from Pembroke Dockyard.
The Melpomene did Immortalite have been length-
ened to the extent of 50 feet, by cutt'n,.; them in
two and lengthening them amidships to the-extent
of 32 feet, and by the stern and bows 13 feet and 5
feet respectively. They now rank as 51-gun fri-
gates in lieu of -60's, for which they were original'y
intended, as sailing frigates. Their eng:nes are to
be of 600 horse power, and their length will be
240 feet.

An Admiral'y order has arrived at Sheernesa to
discontinue the fitment of the paddlewheel steam-
ship Terrible for assisting the Agamemnon in lay-
ing down the transatlantic telegraph cable. This
order has been received in consequence of the ex-
tensive nature of her defects, all of which are now
ordered to be made good previous to her being put
out of dry dock.
The Cyclops, 6 guns, paddlewheel steam frigate,
commissioned for particular sPrvice connected with
the transatlantic telegraph cable, has been fitted
and rigged.
An Admiralty order has arrived at Sheermas to
pay off the Crew on her arrival there. She is then
to be placed in the 2d. Division of the steam squadron
of reserve, under the charge of Capt. Edward P.
Halked, of the Edinburgh.
The Cumberland, Capt. John B. Dickson, is re-
ceiving her shot, shell, &c. Her hold is being
stowe I, and great acivity prevails to get her ready
fur s-a on the 15th inst.

The Lizard hai aga'n proceeded out 'to the Mouse.
Mr. Jackson has succeeded in weighing the Curlew.
As the weather continues moderate, it is expected
she will be brought into harbourthisaf, ernoon s tide.
None of the bodies have yet been recovered.
The Vesuvius, 6 guns, paddlewheel steamship,
Capt. Charles Wi.v (la' e of the flagship Impregnable,
at Davenport), is being fit' ed with all possilde des-

patch.
Yesterday morning the troops belonging to the
provisional battalion at Chatham were marched to
the foitiflcations at the Spur battery for the pur-
pose of witnessing the infliction of corporal punish-
ment on a soldier of the Ist Battalion of the 60th
Rifles,. named John Quintrell, who had been sen-
tenced by a district court martial to receive 50
lashes for having robbed a comrade, narnel Evans,
belonging to the 53d Regiment, of a silver medal.
The battalion having been formed into three site 3
of a square the sentence was read to the troops in
the presence of the prisoner, who was then fastened
t.) the triangles, and the punishment inflicted. The
prisoner was afterwards removed to the garrison
hospital.
Yesterday a forler eischiarge Of troops, to the
number of nearly 100 men of all ranks, took place
from St. Mary's barracks,. Chatham.
It is understoo3 tq be the intention of the autho-
rities at the War-office to .despa•ch a division of
the Field Equipment Corps of the Royal Engineers
to China, in ()Her that they may act with the Royal
Engineer force now on their passage thither.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :
Latenante—S. W. H. Tompeon, P. E. Luard, and
G. T. Nicholas, to the Leopard ; J. It. Veitch, to the
Sydow,.
Masters—H. Harris, to the Leopard ; Wm. Luke, to
the Botcawen.

Chaplain—Rev. E. W. F. x to the Boscawen.
Paymasters—Nicholls Giles to the Cyclops ; Kenneth
Sutherland, to the Agamemnon ; Francois Auret, to
the Boacawkn ; John Lindsay, to the Castor.
Assistant-Paymasters— Wm. Young, to the Aga-
memnon ; C. H. Wclls, to the Bo:3cawen.
Clerks—Edward Knevitt to the Cyclops ; A. B. Se-
veicke to the Boscawen,
Assistant-Clerk—J. M. Odevaine to the 11)seavien.
Naval Instructor—George Fo6ter,-to the Boscawen.

BOW TO 111AKg THE PREMIER MOVE!

( From the Norfolk 11ews )

The Times, in a r.:cent article, deelarad Um'
"Parliamentary Reform is now a Parliament try
question." Obviemly, every p• ominent hmtings
question, being a turning-poiet in the crnstruction
(f the House of Commons, must become a Psri I-
m-ntary que-tion. By showing i s power to make
or unralke individual members, it directly aff-ct 4
the daberations and votes of the entire house.
The electors having made Reform a hustngs ques-
tion, have raised it into the dignity of a Parlia-
ment al one ; and by persevering in the same
course with mo&ration and energy, the question,
rapidly growing in importance, will so ,nclererm'ne
the fate, not of members only, but of Ministers.
It is not by more talk, either at public meetings
or private interviews, not by newspaper articles,
nor even by petitiens that any great measure cut
be carried through an adverse or reluctant Parlia-
ment. By the clear and 104ical process of reasoning
—the pod erat demonstrandum—adopted at the
lee elections, Parliament :ry pupil., usually so s'ow
to lea-n, were eriabled to master the most difficult.
problems ; and tf t::is proce=s be from time to time
continued, these "young gentlemen," with the
same Q. S.D. in prospect, will cross without much
effortthe bridge on which so many have flouedered.
We suggest that a national committee be furore 1
by delegation from the borough constituencies—
one from each—to frame the ' sine 'qua non of the
R,formers of this country. The resolution should
ba decided r3asonahle, and perfectly unambiguous
It should assert in one sentence the people's mini-
mum, the concession of which they are prepared to
m eke everywhere
the condition of their future sup
port. We hope it will not be thought presump-
tuous if we go further, and suggest the substance
and form of this resoluti n. Here it is :

" That no measure of Parliamentary Reform will be
acceptable' to the people of this country which does not
extend the franchise to householder 3 in boroughs occu
pying tenements of fire pounds' annual value, and to
householders in ',aunties occupying ternr.ents of ten
pounds' annual value; which does not disfranchibe
boroughs having a less population than 10,000, and give
the vacant seati to populous towns and districts • and
which does not give to the voter the protection Of the
b dlot,"

Were such a resolution adopted by the Reformers
in every borough constituency—not nominally and
as a mat er of form only, but determinedly, as an
sential article of political faith, and the sine qua
non cf future electoral support—Lord Palmerston
might deal out his jokes and peassntries, the Edin-
burgh Review might affect to pooh-pooh every pro-
position for organic change s' sham Libe; ale and
Reform-Club parti-ans might disguise their inten-
tion to deceive under vague generalities and clap
trap, but the people in earnest, united, and
organised, would be more than a match for them
all. Popular enthusiasm would make the slow-
paced eaginei go ahead, and, the steam once up,
the Premier would be the first to find that the
turning of the crank is an undignified and dangerous
office when 'the driver" cannot "ease off" the
steam.
What we have hinted at is easily practicable. To
carry it out effectively would require but little
labour, and a few pounds would cover the entire
expense. The Administrative Reform. Committee
might convene the proposed central gathering ; Re-
formers in almost every borough would obey the
call ; the resolution adopted by them would be the
rallying cry at every future election, and compro-
mise or delay would 'oecome impossible.

ETON COLLEGE; Thursday. By the marriage of thy-
Rev. James Jeffries Bumpstead, M.A , a: d
Bursar of King's College, Cambridge, ariother vacancy
is created in that society, which will be filed up by the
Captain of the Eten Colleges•

LA JV INTELLIGENCE.-April 30.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.
(Sitt'ngs in Banco, blore.Lord Campbell and Jus-
fcci Wightman, Erlo, and a•ompLn.)
" THE QUEEN V. COCKEUB,N.....

Sir F. ThrJgei (with whom wa,a Mr. Turner)
moved for a rule calling upon Will'am Ccrkburn,
the printer and proprietor of the Joint-Stock Com-
panies Journal, to show cause why a criminal in-
formation should not be filed against him for a libel
published in that journal' on the 18th April last,
reflecting on the character of John Griffith Frith,
the vice-chairman of the B3nk of London, and cal-
culatect to affect the credit of the bank. The Bank
of London was establish( d in the year 1855, with
Sir John Shelley as chairman, and the applicant,
Mr. Fritz, as vice-chairman. Its business was
prosperous, and its shares were in a satisfactory
condition. On the 11th April last an article ap-
peared in the Atlas newspaper on joint-stock com-
panies in general, in which it was stated that the
direct .I'3 of the Bank of London were indebted to
the bank, and the name of Sir John Shelley was
connected with the statemenf. "At that time Sir
John Shelley was absnit frcm Laudon, hut Mr.
Frith wrote a letter to the Times, in which, he
state I that Sir John Shelley was not indebted one
shilling to the bank, but, on the contrary, the bank
had a considerahle balance standing to the credit
of this account. The letter also said that—
" With respect to the unworthy motive attributed to
the other directors in joining the beard the best reply
will be that no director in this bank bay, or can have,
an advance upon anything but first-class bills of exchange,
or upon such convertible secarity as would readily be
taken by the Bank of England or by any Lordon banker."
In a subsequent nurrber, on the 18th of April, the
Atlas, which was a respectable kunial, after refer-
ring to Mr. Frith's letter in the Times, said
ID so far as he imagines that it was an implication
of Sir John Shelley as having received advances he is in
error, and, if open to that construction, it was not in-
tAxied, and we should much regret it. Sir John at a re-
cent meeting stated thatdirectors bad received advances.
We object to any director receiving advances, and there-
fore our observations on. that head were general," &D.

After thin, this publication of the Joint Stock Com-
panies Journal of April 18 was circulated in an un-
usual manner, a person being employed.with a pla-
card to go at-out the city, and sell in the banking-
houses and in the streets. It was on the 23d and
21th of April that Mr. Cockburn caused the publi-
cation of the 18th of April t,) be so circulated. (The
learned counsel then read the article of which he
complained. It was headed, "Bank of London and
Atlas Newspaper," and stated that those who were
familiarwith the antecedents of the Bank of London
could now "form an opinion whether the parties
whose moral conduct has been denounced in our
columns are or are not capab'e of helping them-
selves to the funds of the bank in the manner an-
nounced by the Atlas,' and it concluded with these
words :

"The worthy vice-chairman of the Bank of London
repudiates and utterly denies the above assertion re-
specting his colleagues ; but we belong to that unsophis-
ticated class of individuals who cling to the old-fashioned
axiom that ' where there is smoke there must be fire.'
Does any one in his senses suppose that the respectable
paities connected with the Atlas newspaper would gra
tuitously have inserted so damaging an accusation with-
out having good and solid grounds to justify them in
drawing public attention to the circumstances alluded
to ? The public will do well to place in juxtaposition
the two assertions—the one emanating from a public
journal the directors of which have a public duty to
perform and an intere,t to maintain, and on that ac-
count no doubt feel themselves justified in holding up to
scorn and contempt the conduct of such as
would endeavour to impose on public credulity. On
the other hand we have the denial of an interested party
—one whose public conduct and moral character is on
trial, and whose interest it is to prevent by every means
in hisrpower the transactions of the board of directors be-
coming known to the public. Had this gentleman dur-
ing the time he was vice-chairman in another bank,
to .en as much pains to enlighten the public on the vices
of his then chief, John Sadleir, as he is now endeavour-
ing to do with the virtues of his present colleagues, he

trout' have done the State some service.'"
The learned counsel s'ated that he had the affidavit
of Mr. Frith, ot" Sir J. Shelley, of all the directors,
and of the manager of the bank, st sting that they
bad not been parties to any tran.zaction in con-
nexion with the bank which was irregular, or con-

trary to the deed, or injurious to the interesta of
the general bndy of shareholders, and that they had
no interest in concealing any of their proceedings
from the shareholders or tbe public. Mr. Frith
also stated that, sinca he had been vice-chairman
I.e hod attended to the affairs of the bank, and
that no director had done anything irregular, or
had any interest in keeping the shareholders or
the public in ignorance of their proceedings. The
Court could eas ly believe inity very injurious the
impu'ation3 contained in the libel must be to the
eh tract±rs of the parties, as well as to the interes s
of the shareholders of the bank, and tl,erefore he
tru,tied the Court would grant the app:ication which
he now made. .
Lord Campbell s rid the pr.)c-eding3 of joint-stock
hanks were matters of great public importance, and
Court would by no, means interfere with any
fair comments on their proceedings ; but in this
ease his Lordship thought the application was en-
titled to the interference of the Court, fo-, if unex •
plained, it wag difficult to say that the publication
was bona i Ca.
Rule n'si granted.
THE QUEEN V. WOOLER-TRE LATE DARLINGTON