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

LAW INTELLIGENCE.-April 30.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.
(Sittings in Banco, before Lord Campbell and Jus-
tices Wightman, Erie, and Crompton.)
THE QUEEN V. COCKBURN.
Sir F. Thesiger (with whom was Mr. Turner)
moved for a rule calling upon William Cockburn,
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 Bank of London, and. cal-
culated to affect the credit of the bank. The Bank
of London was established in the year 1855, with
Sir John Shelley as chairman, and the applicant,
Mr. Frith, as vice-chairman. Its business was
prosperous, and its shares were in a satisfactory
cJndition. On the ] 4th April last an article ap-
peared in the Atlas newspaper on joint-stock com-
panies in general, in which it was stated that the
directors of the Bank of London were indebted to
the bank, and the name of Sir John Shelley was
connected with the satement. At that time Sir
John Shelley was absent from London, but Mr.
Frith wrote a letter to the Times, in which he
stated that Sir John Shelley was not indebted one
shilling to the bank, but, on the contrary, the bank
bad a considera,,le balance standing to the credit
of his account. The letter also said that—
" With respect to the unworthy motive attributed to
the other directors in joining the board the best reply
will be that no director in this bank has, or can bays,
an advance upon anything but first-class bills of exchange,
or upon such convertible security as would readily be
taken by the Bank of England or by any London banker."
In a subsequent number, on the 18th of April, the
Atlas, which was a respectable journal, after refer-
ring to Mr. Frith's letter in the Times, said:—
" In 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-
tended, and we should muck regret it. Sir John at a re-
cent meeting stated thatdirectors had received advances.
We object to any director receiving advances, and there-
fore our observations on that head were general," &c.
After thi., 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 a,i out the c:ty, and sell in the banking.
houses and in the streets. It was on the 23d and
24th of April that Mr. Cockburn caused the publi-
cation of the 18th of April to 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
familiar with the antecedents of the Bank of London
could now "form an opinion whether the parties
whose moral condu,:t has been denounced in our
columns are or are not capable 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 nnsophiii-
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 sunpose that the respectable
parties 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 cne emanating from a public
journal the directors of which have a public duty to
perform and an interest 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 his power 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,
ta:, 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
would have done the State some service.'"
The learned counsel stated that he bad the affidavit
of Mr. Frith, ot S:r J. Shelley, of all the directors,
and of the manager of the bank, stating that they
bad not been parties to any transaction in con-
nexion with the bank which was irregular, or con-
trary to the deed, or injurious to the interests of
the general body of shareholders, and that they.bad
no interest in concealing any of their proceeding's
from the shareholders or the public. Mr. Frith
also stated that, since he had been vice-chairman
he had attended to Vie affairs of the bank, and
that no director had done anything irregular, or
had any interest in keeping tke shareholders or
the public in ignorance, of their proceedings. The
Court could easily believe how very injurious the
imputations contained in the libel must be to the
characters of the parties, as well as to the interests
of the shareholders of the bank, and therefore he
trusted the Court would grant the application which
he now made.
Lord Campbell said the proceedings of joint-stock
banks were matters of great public importance, and
the Court would by no means interfere with any
fair comments on their proceedings ; but in this
case his Lordship thought the application was en-
titled to the interference of the Court, for, if unex •
plained, it was difficult to say that the publication
was bonat Ce.
Rule nisi granted.
THE QUEEN V. WOOLER—THE LATE DARLINGTON
POISONING CASE.

'Mr. 0 verend, on behalf of Mr. Ford, the attorney
for the defendant in this case (Mr. Wooler), who it
will be recollected was tried at Durham on the charge
of poisoning his wife, but acquitted, moved that the
defendan..'s bill of costs be referred back to ths
Master for taxation. It seeme.l that' Mr. Wtaaler
had objected to various items in the bill, and on
taxation before the Master several reductions hail
been made. The learned counsel stated that the
gentleman on whose part he applied, had made ex-
traord.in.aty exertions to defend his client, and had
incurred very considerable expenses, and believed
that he was fully entitled to make some of the
charges which the Master had disallowed.
Rule granted.
THE QUEEN (ON THE PROSECUTION OF MR. BARKER,
MAGISTRATE) v. SIR E. CONROY-CRIMINAL IN-
FORMATION.
Sir F. Thesiger applied on behalf of Mr. Barker,
a magistrate for Berkshire, for a criminal informa-
tion against Sir Edwd. Conroy, also a magistrate
for the same county, -under the following circum-
stances.:—lt appeared that Mr.4Barker was in the
habit of attending divine service in the parish
church of Hurst, of which Mr. Cameron was the
perpetual curate, and Mr. Palmer, a member of
the bar, the lay rector. In 1855 Mr. Cameron
made considerable alterations in the church, and
introduce 1 a new choir, both at his own expense.
He also made considerable alterations in the deco-
rations of the church and in the mode of conducting
divine service, which led to dissensions among the
congregation, a large portion of whom retired alto-
gether from attendance at the church. Sir E. Con-
roy, who was not a parishioner, but resided in the
neighbourhood, together with some other persons,
formed themselves into a committee for the purpose
of inducing Mr. Cameron to abandon some of these
changes whichhe had effected. The bishop of the
diocese, on being informed, f what hail taken place,
requested Mr. Barker, Mr. Palmer (the lay rector),
atid Mr. Walter, M.P. for Nottingham, who re-
sides at Bearwood, in the county, to endeavour to
reconcile the differences in the parish. Negotiations
then commenced between these gentlemen and Sir
E. Conroy, and resulted in Mr. Cameron making
various concession.. Alter this it seemed that some
misunderstanding arose between Sir Edward and
Mr. Barker as to the purport of a conversation at
Bearwood, respecting •the acceptance on the part
of the former of these concessions as satisfactory to
the parishioners, and a rather warm correspondence
followed, especially on the side of Sir Edward.
They subsequently went to the Quarter Sessions,
and, after the transaction of the ordinary business,
Sir Edward and Mr. Barker, together with other
magistrates, signed an order. Sir Edward after-
wards left the room and returned in an excited
state, and asked Mr. Roberts, the clerk, to show
him the order in question, and seeing Mr. Barker's
name upon it, he struck his own name out, and,
addressing the magistrate-, said,, " I do not consi-
der Mr. Barker a gentleman. 1 will not have my
name attached to any order or paper !bearing his
name, or act in any way or manner whatever."
Lord Campbell—While' Mr. Barker was sitting
as a magistrate and business was going on ?
Sir F. Thesiger—Yes, before the court bad risen.
Th. clerk then ordered the room to be cleared, and
Sir Edward attain repeated his statement, saying,
that he (the clerk) was not to ask for his name
where Mr. Barker's name was, for he was wit a fit
person to act with in any way. Under the circum-
stances he hoped their lordships would consider
that Mr. Barker was entitled to the protection of
the court.
Lord Campbell—lf a stranger bad used these
words to a magistrate in the discharge of his duty,
he would, unless some explanation were given, be
guilty of a misdena'eenour, and a brother magistrate
would not bs lss so, if such words proceeded from
bite. Take a rule.
Rule ni, i.

roLich: IN 1' FILLIGENCE-April 30.

GUILDHALL.—Benjamin Matthews, a man
about 30 years of age, was charged with picking
pockets.
Mr. Harri9on,/a temporary resident in London,
said--As I was walking through Fteet-street, I lost
my .ilk handkerchief, and soon after missed it. I
purchased a new one, and went the same round