The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

THE ROYAL BRITISH BAYK.

(From the Times )

After the declaration of Nis. Gmiinissioner'Holroyd,
it is difficult to conceive that S:r Richard Bethel., the
Attorney-General, can sl canplalely set at nought, the
obligations of his office as to resist the_ appeal which has
been made to him, upon the R >yal B:itish Bank. Mr .
William Coningham plainly put the question laAt night
to the. Attorney-General, " Is it your intention to in-

stitut'n cr,minal proceeding; again3t, these great cri-
minals ? Ay or n ?" From Sir Richard ththea's an-
swer it is &11-Inuit to gather what his real intention may
be. Now, what can be the m..it,ive of t`iis reluctance ?
Ii is simply puerile to suppose that a man of the pro-
tessional eminence of the present A.ttorney•Gan,ral can
nave any personal object ti answer which shoul 1 induce
him to stay proceedings in so serious a matter. Sir
It. Bothell as forty years of high character at his back;
we dismiss any such supposition as unworthy even of a
' inorrient's discu,sion. But acquitting, as we do most en-
tirely acquit. the Attorney• General of any such imputa-
tion, it is difficult to understand why lie ,hould for a imp
inent hes:tate to 1.. e the pwers which are placed in his
hands for the pull° :ecurity. A man of his great ability
can never give a mo:nent's
,kredence to the a,sertion
which he nitm,elf made 134 night :—" My reluctance
will be due entirely to tho reports and etvements which
I find repeated day by day in the public newspaper,,
which would render it, almost iinpo,sioV., where persons

ire indict d for an offence so ill-defined and so elastic as

that for which these persons can alone, according to my
personal apprehen,ion, be indic ed, that they can be
fairly trial while the pohlia mind remains in it , pre•
sent excited state." Does our whole judicial ma-
chinery, then, break down in the moment of trial I Of
course, a great crime, or even the imputation of a great
crime, will always inspire a great measure of public
indignation, and God forbid that It should be otherwise,
or in what a country should we bo 'ring? But, accord-
ing to the Attorney General, an offender is not to be
brought to trial because the crime wherewith Le is charged

is such as to tou•si the emotions of all honest men to a
keen inspection of the proceedings. Let Sir Richard calm
his mind aud dismiss all apprehensions of an undue decision.
The difficulty here is not one of fact, but one of law.
Now, the fifteen judges aro not men' peculiarly liable
to he swayed by transitory smut onR, and the question
is whether the Directors o the It .y.l British Bank have
violated the law ? The 1-gal point is one rather for the
Bench than for the jury. The Attorney-General should
remember, too, that if he mero mote chargeshisconiscience
with the responsibility of. deferring this inquiry,
practically he standing alone and setting his judY,-
ment or his timidity against the conviction anti the
resolution of the best criminal lawyers in the king-
, dorn acquits these criminals. Now Sir Richard Btthell
•is not the, first criminal lawyer in the kingdom.
His fame depends upon Lis pre-eminence at the (quill
bar—surely enough to content the pride of any
man. Why, then, Should he shrink froth acknowledging
tba;-, the prosecution of criminals is a matter with
which he has not been conversant. lie needs but to
give an intimation of his decision, and he can nornmaed
the assistance of the highest professional ekill which the
country can afford. We repeat once more that this i
one of the two or three occa•ions in a man's life when
his fame is made or marred. It is one of the occasions
on which the Attorney-General must do his duty at anY
cost. His answer to Mr. William ConinJiam last nigh!
was shifty and flimsy in the extreme '• it should be react
by the side of Mr. Commissioner Ilolroyd's judgment,
—Tiincs.

THE CONDEMNED CONVICT MANSELL.--MAIDSTONSt
Frida .—Tho i-xtontion of this murderer is fixed 1"1.

Monde), next, the 18th inst., and up to this evening n°,
respite has been received. It is very generally believed
that kis life will be spared.
BRITISH FISHERIES.—Last night's Gazette contains a°
order in council prescribing regulations for carrying out
the convention with France, and the Act 6 and 7 Viet.,
cap. 79, respecting fisheries situated between the coaets
of Great Britain and France. ~., -
THE ART TREASURES EXHIBITION.--Among the el'‘
tinguished visitors to the Ex iibition on Wednesday
were Lord John Russell, the Duke of Argyll, the Doke
of Northumberland, Sir Jahn Maxwell, and Lord Dud'
ley. The general-attendance was not very large.
PARLIAMENTARY BILLS.—It, appears', from a return
issued yesterday, that the sum total paid to draftstoce°
by the several public departments during the year IS6ut
for settling the drafts of parliamentary bills, amounts t°
6,3341. 7s. 2d.
. CRYSTAL PALACE.—OPERA CONCERT DAY,--AD: 5;
SION SEVEN SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE.—FRIDAY, ak'
15.—Admissions on payment, 1,008 ; ditto by 808°11
ickets, 3,212 ; total visitere, 4,220. f t e
TILE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF CHINA.—Some 0, -ba
Chinese news we have ittidy got from Paris is od."
enough, but the oddest of that kind seems to be this:, ,
"the Cniuese prince and princess, who have been I°,
some time expected at Paris, arrived to-day (Wednesdai,
last). The prince is two feet high, and the princess a o°4
and a half. They took a promenade along the Boulevarja
to-day in a carriage ala Daunzont, the carriage aa f
horses being of a size corresponding to the stature 06
' their highnesses.' They will give audience to visit Sol
every day whilst they remain at Paris, imposing a ell':
tribute in return for the honour of admission to their
presence.
DEATH FROM SLEEPING IN A BOILER Room.--At 0%11,
on Monday, a boy discovered a man named Brae.,
bury lying asleep on one of the boilers at the SP°7O
field Mills, Salford, and on arousing him found a
was drunk. Between five and six o'ciock he a-0 bee
in a beerhouse in the neighbourhood, still drunk. ' 0
next morning he did not appear at his work, and user
a search being made he was discovered in a dark horae
i°
of the boiler room, close to one of the boilers, tla g,
dead. His body was dreadfully burnt in several PlOp
and the flesh dropped off the bones when touched,
,to
was stated by one of the witnesses that the heat At 104
spot where deceased was found was so great, that it ,c,,
impossible for any person to exist there for ten cnionte,o
The verdict was, that the deceased died from suffocaill
whilst in a state of drunkenness.
EMBEZZLEMENT OF B,oool.—Thomas Fix LiP,s°'
cashier to Messrs. Kershaw, Lees,, and Co., reiten,i'fy
turers and merchants, Manchester, charged on elee";11
last with embezzling money t i a large amount, °ji,
brought before the magistrates yesterday for re-eorot
don. In addition to the 2,0001. proved to be defie'epo
in one amount on Monday, several others were go
into. There was au entry in the bank 1-dger iii gad
handwriting of December 27, 1855, of 3,0001, reo,lero
from the Manchester and Salford Bulk, but thael
was no entry in the cash-book in which he sb.°o
have accounted for it, and ho had never, ie fact, pwd
the money. There was another sum of 1,2001., reeeloe
from the Bank of England, and entered into the 1),,e,
pass-book ; but there was no entry of it in the cash-b° of
The total deficiency in his cash is stated at upwar lel
8,0001. The prisoner has not lived extravagantly, es
appeeis to have lent the .greater part of the raohloi'
I 0 U's and promissory notes to a firm carrying oil woes
ness in Salford, so that there is some hope that a e;tteJ
of it will be recoverable. The pawner was coma:"
for trial. f.. of
THREE RIVERS SETTLEMENT —This vast trAc.„-„,00
country-50,000 square wiles—is destined at no re'r„ et
period to become of paramount importance, not othf fif
the lumber merchant, lent to th i setil .r. A 031'00
' this hitherto terra incognita is* being engraved t°l.ooo
Crown Lands Department, and the world will fee
be beUer able to judge of its magnitude. Oos iog,;
tore of this tract of country is it numerous I/1 et
W hen the lumberman ascends a tree to " prosei el
his eye is dazzled with the glitter all around, 0;0(
saute localities be may count froise one point 01,-11.10
as many as 50 lakes. These lakes are filled wit'foili
finest flab, flora the perch to the muskinonge, ortl'ePo-ref'
weiehing 50 lbs. BeAdes the abound; black bass, ' ori
white fish, and salmon trout
I have seen some sold in the Three Rivers market, Icieet,'
have been caught only 40 miles north from this P 0'
weighing 341 b. These fi'h are taken by the lia°cflll
hook, generally baited with a young chub or pieced' 0
l pork. When the arms of the fisherman grow voiol'i
; heeling out his prey, he adopts a plan for hi' relief cyl,oo.
I question, never entered the brain of Izeak NV3 pie,
• Ele bends downs young meting, either beech or nifiad,
which he finds growing near the water's brink, tit ei°
attaching his line to the tapmost branch, throws ° teel/
baited hook, which no sooner touches the surfa°°
laid
it is seized upon by some hungry cruiser ; the °b °
' is allowed to rebound, and the captive is landed cvaldiei
I jerk.—Three Rivers Correepondent of the Cal/
News. ' •9
D sl?ei
THE EXHIBITION OF GOVERNMENT OFFICE .--,..%iie ,
AT WESTMINSTER-HALL.—The fact that the v.rigttj
Buccieuch possesses a mansion immediately adiniail, 0
site to be treated, about to be enlarged or reetia"gort
that. Mr. Burn is his architect, may lead some to a 000::
by and by, that predilection for certain arrahe
e act
, :,
affectingpersonal convenience haS weighed in lto d
sion, All, the judges, however, are understoc oitli
, nten of the highest integrity, and if they fail in ajet air,
• a correct selection, it will not bo through want 'co l'ii,,
i to do what is right. The task is one ht griovole.
• sponeibility, and, properly performed, will
re erd
. immense labour. Let us hope that the judges a 01311,,
pared to give that patient attention to the mattetrbets9of
it demands. When we talk of the difficulty nf •tlrioo
1 we speak,from personarkuowledge ; none can Jster "le
it but those who have made the attempt to ni"l eil'o
various propositions set forthwith pen and oenclage, lAre
I various competitors. The intimation in Our P eei ee
l 1 week, that we should be glad to receive copies °fo us
~,
ports sent in with the designs, has brought I.2l),lstbec_i.
l overwhelming pile of papers, to say nothing °I. ol' 0
i I respondence on the euhject. We alluded ela.o of :
• vious article to the fact that the autholllicpoccie
L large number of the designs was perfectly sell eat ehef
since then, the anonymous late been for them
tht* txtild
; labandoned ; competitors of any position felt
_hoe
,be
were disadvantaged by reinainal unknowea reite :fie
works of contemporaries were mentioned
,".tbron2",e,
, names of their authors ; and the result is ''
thaehe alituetij
1 out the Rall reserve has disappeared, and
._.1.100
_l5O
1 ship of nearly every design of note is a a d'of
publicly recognised. Thus to Lame halt ye ihefe
noticeable designs to which we shall not a?':,(.o to "tt
course/of the present nrticle--No. 69 is g1,1ipg1,9,06
Knewlee, 76 to Mr. Lamb, 77 to Mr. G:tgr. 0" ,
Mr. E. M. Barry, 112 to Mr. Kerr, 116 teie.r. ,0 el,
144 to Mr. Cockerel', and SO On.--The-BU",:.o4erbj,t Ot
No'Pew RENTS.—A new Baptist chaeela, 0, co:,,elt
accommodetuie 1,000 persons, and erected ''A ea; :':, ;
14,0001, was opened at Bradford yesterelse';.,
pew 1,1,100:
nitre are pews in the chapel, there will ogee", beieg
..0e,,,,.
Ithe voluutary prieciple, "pure and eirn,,PD ivine se_ja lon '
( to be adopted for the mainteeance i
' Braaten', apps
I
1 The experiment is altogether new in . 2„ secti "
working will be watched with interest by a'
1 Christians