The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-19 00:00:00

SADLEIRISM.

Although eight years have elapsed since the ter-
rible tragedy on Hampstead-heath, the name of the
hero of it is still fresh in the daily records of the
Irish law court. Yesterday some fresh complica-
tions turned up in the Landed Estate Court, before
Judge Hargreave, in the matter of the late Lord
Glengall, relative to conflicting claims to a sum of
£lB,OOO, the amount due for principal and interest
on the foot of a mortgage bearing date Sept. 29,
1849, on the estates of the Earl of Glengall sold in
the court above named. The facts are these :
" One claim was made by Mr. Norris, in whose
name the mortgage was executed originally, and
the case set up on his behalf was, that he had been
engaged in making advances upon securities in
Ireland, and that the late John Sadleir was his
agent ; that there had been considerable money
dealings between them, and that at the time of
Sadleir's death he was indebted to the claimant to
a large amount. The mortgage recited a judgment
for £6,000, which was obtained by Mr. Norris
against Lord Glengall, and an advance to his lord-
ship of £4,500, being altogether £10,500. Mr.
Norris relied, in support of his claim, on a docu-
ment by which John Sadleir allowed him to hold
the mortgage as security. The document in ques-
tion was executed the day before the death of John
Sadleir. The official manager of the Tipperary Bank
made the case, that the advances made to Lord Glen-
gall were the moneys of that bank ; that Mr. Norris
had only allowed his name to be used in the deed of
mortgage as a trustee for the bank, and was not en-
titled to make use of the deed as a security for him-
self. Previous to the death of John Sadleir there
had been legal proceedings between the parties on the
subject of these securities. In a final schedule
made out subsequent to the sale of the estate Mr.
Norris was returned as a creditor on foot of the
mortgage in question for the amount mentioned,
and it was on an objection to that claim, filed by
the official manager, that the case now came before
the court."
Several witnesses were examined yesterday ;
among them a person named Hickey, who had been
in the employment of John Sadleir. The cross-
examination of this person was quite a curiosity:—
" Mr. Sullivan—Were you not concerned with
the late John Sadleir in forging the bank deed of
the Tipperary Bank ?--I was an innocent party in
the matter.
" Did you with your own hand forge the deed ?
—I did not. I made some alterations by his direc-
tions.
" After that bank deed was executed P—l be-
lieve so.
" Yours was the hand that altered it ?-1 en-
grossed it first.
" After it was executed as a deed did you fOige
a passage in it ?—I altered a passage in it by the
direction of. John Sadleir; under the circumstances
I did not look upon it as an improper transaction.
I altered the deed increasing the salary of James
Sadleir prior to his marriage. John Sadleir directed
me to meet him in Kilkenny, and there, in the
Court-house, or in the house of a gentleman, the
alterations were made. John Sadleir had a printed
document, which he said was a form of a new deed,
and that the first deed was to be cancelled alto-
gether. He directed me to make the alteration
with the view of putting it in the new deed. He
said, We are goine• to get a new deed according to this, and I want to get the alterations made.' I was perfectly satisfied with this explanation or I
would not have made the alteration
" Mr. Sullivan—Here is the letter of the ith
of
November, 1855„ from Mr. Rickey to John Sadleir,
requiring an explanation from him with reference'
to this transaction.
" Mr. Sullivan read the letter, in which Mr.
Hickey stated that John Sadleir could not forget
that he (Hickey) had been made the innocent fabri-
cator, for the purpose of making a bank deed lone.
after it had been executed by the shareholders, and
without their knowledge or consent ; and asked the
witness if it was true.
" Witness—Yes, it is true in substance.
"The learned counsel read the remainder of the
letter, which stated that the writer might take an
erroneous view of the transactions, but that in ease
Sadleir failed to give a satisfactory explanation he
should explain to the shareholders and the public
the part he was induced innocently to take in what
appeared to him to be a gross fraud perpetrated
upon them. (To witness)—Did you ever tell the
shareholders of the fraud you perpetrated ?
" Witness—l did not.
" Mr. Sullivan read the words of the letter :—' In
case I do not hear from you in a week, I will send
a copy of this letter to each of the shareholders,'
and asked the witness did he hear from Sadleir
within the week ?
" Witness—l did not.
"Did you send a copy of the letter to each of the
shareholders P—l did not; I was advised by counsel
that in such a transaction I ought not to volunteer.
"To Sergeant Fitzgibbon—When I altered that
deed, under the direction of John Sadleir, I believed
that he was about to get a new deed, to which the
shareholders were to be parties, and that the altera-
tions were merely to substitute the new deed for the
old.. I did not know at that time that Sadleir was
acting so for fraudulent purposes • if I did I would
not have made the alteration. I do not know
whether Morrogh and Kennedy knew of the altera-
tion in the deed did not know of the effect of
the alteration until afterfoilrthe
it was executed. I should
say I knewni
was _ benefit of James Sadleir.
"Judge knew
fraudulent You did not know it was
" Witness—l did not, my Lords,utastrticularly as I
knew that the deed was to be substituted by the
new one. They told me that the
had consented to the increase of the salozyo_ shareholders
t
Sadleir;
eluded in the new deed which was prepared,ll-
- Mr. Sullivan--Do you swear that
" Witness—l do.
" Where is the new deed ?—I saw the two in the
official manager's possession.
" You thought there was no harm in doing what
you did ? I though( there was no ha) m. I became
uneasy afterwards.
"Were you pressing John Sadleir in November,
1855, for a settlement of account, when you wrote
that letter 9—l believe so.
"Did you think it was a fraud when you wrote
that letter to him 9—Yes, in the meantime I began
o suspect it.
" Did you find out the true nature of it in No-

vember, 1855, when you were quarrelling with I
John Sadleir ?—I supposed.
" Did mortal know that you altered that deed
except John Sadleir ?—James must have known it.
I 'will not swear that he was present at the altera-
tion ; he accepted it. I will not swear that there
was any man present except John Sa •leir.
" Mr. Norris was then examin( d and cross-
examined at considerable length, after which the
case for the bank closed.
" Mr. Sullivan stated that there never was a
second deed. He wished to ask the official manager
a question.
" Mr. M'Dowell, in reply to Mr. Sullivan, de-
posed that there had never been but one bank deed
in his possession, and that was the deed referred to
by Mr. Hickey as the one in which the alteration
was made ; and he never heard of any subsequent
deed, but there was a deed executed before it.

"The further hearing of the case was adjourned
:o this (Wednesday) morning."

" SOCIETY,"" MISSION," AND "ASYLUM

LIFE."

A writer in a contemporary says :—I doubt
whether anyone living besides myself has given
the time I have to the study of that species of
literature, the subject-matter of which is the Re-
ports of Religious and Philanthropic Societies—
dry reading, but very instructive.
I speak within bounds when I say that the
working capital of these societies and institutions,
having their head quarters in London, and other
large towns, is not less, year by year, than two
millions of money. A very large portion of this
capital is annually obtained by " voluntary sub-
scriptions." There is also a large portion which
has accrued from legacies, and to this there is a
large annual addition.
1 cannot trace the existence of any one institu-
tion or society, which according to the. opinions of
the founders and supporters has not a truly good
object. Too much cannot be said in praise of
English liberality as shown in these reports ; there
is scarcely one spiritual or temporal evil towards
the eradication or alleviation of which there is not
some effort being made by this species of moral ma-
chinery. We are a busy mercantile people very ad-
hesive to shop business, but not careless to forget
the claims of Christianity and humanity. Very
regardful of the health of the " till," we may grudge
the time, or be ill able to spare it, to do our own
alms, but we are ready to take liberally from that
" till" to do good deeds by the agency of others.
The machinery by which the money is raised
admits of a very wide, penetrating, and elastic ap-
plication :—Meetings with speeches made by
volunteers who have either rank, or elo-
quence, or notoriety to attract auditors,
aided by trained and salaried advocates; ser-
mons by preachers whose names or known talent
are likely to fill the church, and procure a good
" collection ;" tavern dinners, got up with great
pains, by persons skilled at the work, long pre-
viously advertised, the list of stewards framed upon
a system, the object being to convey to the public
the -idea that a Royal or noble chairman will have
the support of a great number of men of rank,
with others eminent for piety, philanthropy, &c.
In addition to these three methods of " appeal,"
there are many other means and appliances en-
listed for the same end—bazaars, concerts, balls, and
the use of cleverly-written circulars sent by post
to all classes of persons likely to respond; then,
there are prettily-contrived boxes for " collecting"
in private houses ; there is the " card" system for
getting in small sums.
A society or institution once started, the yearly
report, of course, is framed, not only to relate its
past work, but to elicit help from fresh sources by
its relation of the " openings" for future increased
itsefulness.

It is clear there must be great rivalry in the bene-
volent race ; it has become, therefore, a branch of
social science how best to push an " interest." No
mercantile houses take more pains to solicit orders
than do the " societies." They have their highly-
salaried travellers to go through the land to stir up
the minds of the almsgiving classes; organising
secretaries to establish tributary provincial asso-
ciations. There can be no doubt of the fact that
the various " interests " are kept alive by sheer
hard work ; no stone is left unturned beneath which
a halfpenny subscription may appear to wait a
call. Deputations, practised tongues, know the
hits to make ; they do more than justice to their
briefs ; they address themselves to the sovereigns
of country Lady Bountifuls, the half-sovereigns
of the clergy and professionals, tradespeople's
crown-pieces, the sixpences from schools, the copper
of the villager. The result is that parent societies
deal with gigautic incomes ; of course, there is the
expense of collection to be deducted • still the great
fact remains—there is a large annualcapital. John
Bull is a very liberal fellow, but he is somewhat
whimsical. Voluntary subscriptions depend upon
sustained interest in the particular society. Dead
men and women not only tell no tales, but legacies
are realised, expressions of goodwill which cannot
be alienated. It is of great importance, therefore,
to get post mortem goodwill to draw from executors.
To this end I find almost every " report" carefully
gives the form of a bequest, that testators may see
clearly how legally to bequeath money to the so-
ciety. I will not trust myself to state the total of
money so left by will during the last 10 years, even
to the some 30 or 40 societies and institutions to
whose reports I have had access. It is a very large
sum—a very large portion of it is in the hands of
trustees for purposes for which there is in reality
no other security than the existence of a society or
institution which may any day alter all its rules,
change its character, or be dissolved. I regret to
add my conviction, founded on good grounds, that
the system of touting for legacies is one much abused.
There are members of the legal profession who could
tell strange tales on this head.
Of course, under the high pressure of great rivalry
much that is morally wrong is perpetrated in raising
the money for many societies. The speeches of
the " travellers," the " reports," the " tracts" art
highly seasoned. " They will have it so," lam
fold by a retired proficient. A few days' study
of what "reports" say that clergy do abroad, the
attendance at a few meetings where the over-
whelming success of the society's agents is
told by some eloquent deputation, puzzles one's
philosophy to account for the fact that the same
means do so little at home. Anecdotes form the
great staple of a good deputation's talk ; they are
well told, are what ladies call " pretty ;" some of
us grown gray in the world wonder how it is that
for home, domestic ends these lovely traits of piety
and benevolence to seldom appear. Who ever
heard of a little boyselling his dessert to his mother
for 2d. a night during the holidays that he might
put the money into the County Hospital Fund ? I
will, however, at present say no more upon the
quality of the reports. Let me now speak of the
nature of the " management." Of course, this
varies a good deal ; in all cases it is a great object
to parade great names before the eyes of the sub-
scribers. Whether as patrons, presidents, or vice-
_ presidents, noble names are considered indispen-
sable. These titled andvvoßoyalid supporters are done
vitality of the institution deupensdeeedmu
all type honour to. It
paosnitfh tebaemvery
t
of nobility it can parade. Then, there are certain
men of pious and philanthropic
'nark— some noble,
some professional, some mercantile; these are
worked in as committee-men or There
is a committee, of course,
work of the and sa
tarie d officers ;
these are supposed to do theinstitution ;
there are auditors, who are supposed to
audit.
Theh
hon. secretary is often one of the
however, withwWn
i-
'salareis d
lanthropic city men, connected,
West-
end society. The working secretary is a
official, who really does the work. Some." rules"e
are carefully drawn ; very many most carelessly.
Now, let us look at the real working of the ma-
chine. It is my belief, not lightly taken up, that
on the average the business is really done by a very
limited number of the committee, who sometimes
are wholly under the thumb of the secretary. in
very many cases this officer really has it almost
all his own way. The leviathian societies have
great patronage ; there are, of course, in their cases
more members of the committee who really work ;
still, so far as the financial system is concerned,
the secretary has often even in these cases held it
all in his own hand. lie has the monthly accounts
prepared, gives the data for the yearly reports;
doing the drudgery, he is allowed great freedom of
action. On his activity depends the keeping
up the
list of great names, the putting out of appeals,
the
dunning for back payments, the securing all that
is necessary for a "telling" anniversary, be it a
" meeting' or a dinner.
" Societies" parade known men of business as com-
mitteemen; many of thesesame names are soparaded
for very many different societies ; they have their
own firm's business to attend to; it is known, too,
that the), are for ever here and there at " meetings,"
&c. ; it is utterly impossible they can really attend
to the regular business of any one of the societies.
From some amusing confessions in my possession
I gather that, in salaried official opinion, it is for-
tunate that these highly puffed gentlemen do not
attend, for they are said " to be N ery bad men of
business ;" " either crotchetty or so prejudiced that
they are always finding fault."
It requires great tact to make a good Secretary ;
highly paid, he has every interest to keep the
thing. going; he soon finds this to be no easy task.
II iron of philanthropy may be for once forced to
a white heat. The launching a new ofinstitution
is one thin
g— to keep up the warm by which it
drew its breath isanother thing. Weak Peers in
the hands of scheming Secretaries in anticipation
will work hard to launch institution
the which,
born of them, gives them temporary eclat. When