The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-19 00:00:00

FIRES IN THE METROPOLIS.

Yesterday morning between 2 and 3 o'clock, a fire
broke out in the premises belonging to Mr. W. Lai t-
ham, a builder, carrying on business at No. 3, Acton-
place, York-street, Wal worth-road. The disaster arose
in a brick and timber building used as the workshop, in
which property of considerable value was deposited. The
discovery seems to have been made by a police officer of
the P division, who lost no time in sending off for proper
assistance as well as arousing the neighbours. ID the
course of a few minutes the engines of the London Bri-
gade belonging to the Waterloo and South wark-bridge
roads attended, as well as that of the West of England
Insurance office. The firemen then found that the whole
of the workshops were in flames. They forthwith went to
work in an admirable manner, but they were unable, al-
though assisted with a plentiful supply of water to get
the fire extinguished until the workshops were nearly
destroyed and the contents consumed. Fortunately the
sufferer was insured in the Alliance Fire-office.

Another fire took place in the Stable-yard, Crescent,
New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, in the premises belong-
ing to Messrs. Rains Brothers, foreign warebousernec,
which did a considerable amountof damage. The sufferer
was insured in the Royal Liverpool Insurance-office.
The most extensive fire that took place during the
night was at the well-known range of premises belonging
to Messrs. Thomas and Co., termed the Lavender Dock,
situated at Rotherhithe. The discovery was made by one
of the policemen of the M division, who, in passing the
wharf, perceived a great glare of light shining over the
surroundingbuilding. Having given the necessary intel-
ligence to the occupiers, the officer sent off for the en-
gines, and in a very brief period those of the London
Brigade, including the two powerful steam floats, at-
tended, when the firemen set their machines to work in
good earnest, but it was some houti before they oci aid
get the mastery, and not before they joiners' shop, the
saw-pits, nearly 10111 feet long and. 80 wide, were de-
stroyed. At one time it was apprehended that the
splendid ship Candahar, belonging to Messrs. Sheldon
and Co., would have been consuraed. As it was, the
larboard side of the vessel was extensively damaged by
fire, and the premises of Mr. E. Jolliffe, manure-mer-
chant, had the side windows burnt out, and the contents
are damaged by water.
A fire also took place at 16, Hawley-mews, Ramp.
stead-road, belonging to Mr. H award, a corn-chandler,
but the damage done was trifliog, and will fall on the
West of England office.

(Prom the Times.)
There It one assurance in the long and able letter
of our Pennsylvanian correspondent of Saturday
last which we should receive with the most extreme
satisfaction were it not overthrown by the commen-
tary which he appends to it. Mr. Buchanan, as
President, he tells us, will not only be superior to
Mr. Pierce, but must not be measured by the
standard of the Ostend manifesto. We desire
most earnestly to believe this. It is our wish that
America should have for her chief magistrate a
man in every way calculated to secure the respect
and promote the best interests of the community
over which he presides, and nothing could more
disentitle biro to that respect, or more entirely
compromise those interests, than an adherence
to those doctrines of the, supremacy of 'night
over right, and of the justification of violence by
an arbitrarily assumed political necessity, of which
Mr. Buchanan has unhappily made himself the ex
positor. But when we seek for proofs iu support
of these flattering assertions they are entirely
wanting, We are told that Mr. Buchanan settled
all questions between the English and American
Governments, during his residence as ambassador
here, and that he cannot choose his Ministry ex-
clusively from the South. The first assertion is
rather rashly hazarded, when we remember that
not only did Mr. Buchanan not settle the Central
American and enlistment questions, but that he
kept them alive and omitted in one instance to
transmit to his Government the offer of mediation
distinctly made to him by Lord Clarendon. As
for his Administration, we agree that it is not likely
that it will all be formed from the South, but that
is of little moment to us if it be formed, as it is sure
to be, of men whether Southern or Northern,
are pledged to the extension•of slavery and davotd
to the policy of annexation. Those slaves, says an
American political satirist, that the South make
the most out of aro all north of Mason and Dixon's
line. Mr. Buchanan's principal adviser will pro
bably be Judge Douglas, senator for the Northern
State of Illinois, the repealer of the Missouri Com-
promise, and the ablest and most unscrupulous
advocate of slavery extension. The South has
never been without obsequious admirers in the
North, ready, after having made a reputation by
denouncing slavery, to employ the reputation so
made in its support, and to employ against the
interests of those who raised them to power the
very power which they owe to them. Such men
are known to America, from the flexibility of their
political countenance, by the homely but expressive
name of " Doughfaces ; ' and it matters little, so
far as the interests of freedom within and tranquil-
lity without the State are concerned, whether the
new President's Cabinet be filled by Southern
men such as Jefferson Davis and Senator Toombs
or by Northern Doughfaces, only too happy to be
employed as their obsequious and unscrupulous
agents.
We do not derive much comfort, therefore, from
the assurance of our correspondent that Mr.
Buchanan's Cabinet will not be exclusively South-
ern, still less from the fear which he expresses that
slavery will be extended, that Fillibusteriem will
be feebly resisted, and that there will be a want of
respect for foreign rights and political ethics. This
is just what Mr. Buchanan's previous career would
lead us to apprehend, and these are strange rea-
Fons why we should form of his Administration
better hopes than of that of Mr. Pierce. Nor are
we much reassured by being told that Cuba will
probably be annexed, but must be purchased, like
Louisiana, for we fear this same " must" expresses
a moral, and not a physical necessity--a species of
sanction which has no binding force at all to men
wanting in respect for foreign rights and careless
of political ethics.
Passing over, then, the remarks of our cor-
respondent, whose premises seem not a little at
war with his conclusions, let us try to make out
for ourselves, not from the invectives of party or
the declamation of disappointed ambition, but
from a fair consideration of the case as it stands,

what are the prospects of this country and thy
United States from the election of Mr. Buchanan.

In the first place, there can be no doubt that it
will be regarded, and justly regarded, by the South
as a great and signal victory, its importance being
mea-ured by the terror telt by the victorious party
after the defeat in Maine, by the enormous exer-
tions by which alone it has been obtained, by the
fact that it was gained over the North for
the first tim• active and united, and by the
great probability that this triumph, signal as
it is, unless improved to their advantage, may
be the very last which the South is destined
to obtain. The victory has been one rather of
superior organisation and dexterit,y than of greater
force ; it has required all the influence of Govern-
ment to secure it, and has been mainly promoted
by threats of disunion, which cannot be used with
similar effect on every succeeding occasion. All
these things tend to enforce upon the Southern

mind the necessity of using the next four years so
as to make the very utmost of their success, and

place a party inferior in numbers and intelligence
on a footing of superiority, which nothing but a
revolution and civil war can destroy. They have
the President and the majority in both Houses ;
their political existence is at stake, the quarrel
with the North is henceforth irreconcilable, the
struggle has begun in earnest, and on either ban-
ner " Yce victis" will soon be inscribed in very
legible characters. We are therefore justified in
expecting that, so far as the internal policy of the
Union is concerned, the course adopted by Mr.
Pierce will be persevered in and carried out with
even still greater violence. Now or never is the
time to increase the number of Slave States, to ad-
mit Kansas, to subdivide Texas, and to seek
wherever it may be found fresh territory in which
to plant the institution, the extension or repression
of which is henceforth the only issue of American
politics. Whatever be Mr. Buchanan's personal
predilection for reasonable and moderate counsels,
we believe that he will have great difficulty in
standing against the violence of the men by whom
he is surrounded, and who are committed to an ex-
tent which admits of no increase to the propaga-
tion of slavery and the counteraction, by whatever
means, of the free spirit of the North.
As regards foreign policy the prospect might at
first sight appear to be equally gloomy. The
election of Mr. Buchanan over Mr. Fillmore,
agreeing, as they essentially do, in home politics. is
a declaration on the part of the American nation
in favour of the foreign policy of the former over
that of the latter—that is, a declaration in favour
of aggression and annexation. Moreover, the spirit
of annexation is essentially Southern, having re-
ference to the necessity of obtaining new Slave
States, to counterbalance the accession of Free
States from the North! Still, we are disposed to
be much more sanguine as to the foreign than as
to the domestic policy of the new President, and
we are convinced that his election by no means im-
plies hostility to England on the part of the De-
mocrats. An aggressive foreign policy, carried out
in the spirit of the Ostend manifesto, means a
foreign war, and a foreign war is in the present
state of the Union a contingency which North and
South would be equally anxious to avoid. The
South would view with dread a chance of a rising
among their slaves, in the suppression of which
they would have little to hope from the sympathy
of the North, and, having little accumulated capi-
tal, would suffer severely from any restrictio:i of
their power of exportation. The North wouLl
view with increasing disfavour the prosecution of
foreign conquests, which they would justly regard
as really made over themselves, and would natu-
rally refuse to aid in operations entailing upon
them great immediate loss, and ultimately destined
to counterbalance or undermine their influence in
the councils of the Confederation. The breach be-
tween North and South is henceforth declared and
open ; and though by the forms of the constitution
one party may govern, it cannot hope to carry on
a war, which is a matter not of abstract rude, but
of practical, and very apt to redress by th to sum-
mary process of revolution inequalities whi ch the
indolence of peace has ieft untouched. VITo also
hope that Mr. Buchanan nay rise more
. nearly
than he has hitherto done to the level of his posi-
tion, and, discarding after he has obtained ; iower
the questionable arts by which it was sec ured,
rise above the dictation and exigencies of ! his
party, and think more of the great trust pl 'aced
in his hands than of the instruments' and the
assurances by which that trust has been ob-
tained. For ourselves we can truly say tha twe
shall respect the choice of the American natio) 3 in
a matter so peculiarly of domestic cognisance, and
never allow any objections we may have enterts aned
to Mr. Buchanan's principles or professions to pre-
, vent us, from dealing with respect and can odour
with the acts of the chief magistrate of a grt tat' a
friendly
and a kindred people.

A. slight modification of the law relating to the osn•
eorahip of the press has just been made inc 13,-118th a, at-
lowing more latitude than has hitherto been ed ed to
historical discussions and criticisms of thO el' of
foreign GovernmentF.

TUESDAY Timmy'.
As time advances, and as fresh opportunities pre-
sent themselves for inquiry, it becomes more and
more astonishing how a man who had gone through
such an extraordinary career during the years ire-
vious, to his appointment as a clerk in the Great
Northern Railway could have had so much trust
reposed in him, and been advanced to ,:a position
foriwhich the strictest integrity and the most
proaohable life should have been indispensable con-
itions. In the various positions he has occupied
during the last years there seems to have been
no inquiries into his conduct by those who have
relied upon him, and the consequence has been
that he kas forced himself on from bad to worse
until he has crowned all by a series of gigantic
frauds which find few parallels in the commercia 1 -
history of the country.
When the Peninsular and Oriental Company was
started, it being then rather a private concern than
a public company, Redpath was engaged as a clerk
by its promoters, Mr. Wilcox, M.P. for South-
atupton, and Mr. Anderson, the present chairman
of the Crystal Palace Company. In this service
nothing particular is. remembered of him, nor is it
known exactly under what circumstances he left
the Messrs. Willcox and Anderson's employment.
Before he ceased that connexiono•he obtained an in-
troduction to Mr. T. F, x, the extensive and well-
known up oolsterer and estate agent, of Bishopsgate-
street Within, to whom it was represented that he
was a highly respectable and honourable young man,
and that he was about to marry the daughter of
one of the directors of the company in which he
was a clerk. There is every reason to believe that
this was a false representation, inasmuch as it may
be supposed that if he had formed such an alliance
he would never have been reduced to the state of
poverty which marked the next few years of his
eventful and chequered life. Upon his introduc-
tion to Mr. Fox, Redpath informed him that in
anticipation of his marriage he had taken a house in
Dartmouth-terrace, a row of somewhat quiet but
still fashionabletouses, on the main road leading
from Deptford on to Blackheath-hill. After 1101110
little hesitation Mr. Fox supplied him with furni-

ture to the amount of belween 5001. and 6001.
Redpath was soon afterwards married, it is thought
to a ;person in humble circumstances, and he then
left his employment and started in business as a
ship insurancs broker, and transacted business
generally as a steam navy agent for the sale of
shares, &c. This business he carried on at 44,
Lime-street, City. Meanwhile he lived in good
style at his suburban residence at Blackheath, and
seems there to have first entered upon that appa-
rently religious and charitable course with which,
up to the time of his capture, he was so intimately
identified. The time which he could spare from
his commercial pursuits he devoted to the advocacy
of the claims of charitable institutions, to the dis-
tribution of religious tracts and to other objects of
a kindred character, which soon raised him in the
estimation of his neighbours, by whom he was re-
garded as a most exemplary person. This delusion
tie successfully maintained by contributions of a

liberal charaeter to the institutions in which he
evinced an interest. He gave at the same time
considerable orders to tradesmen, which were un-
hesitatingly performed, so high did Mr. Redpath's
character stand, and so conspicuous were his vir-
tues. This portion of his career was a sliort one,
for in less than three months he was made a bank-
rupt, and it was then found that he had incurred
debts to the extent of 5,0001.—amongst his creditors
being pianoforte makers, musical instrument
makers, dealers in articles of bijouterie and vertu.
Mr. Fox applied unsuocessf ully for his money, it hav-
i rig bean understood that it was to be a cash transac-
tion, and upon calling personally upon Mr. Red-
path he found that some of the tradesmen were
taking away the goods they had supplied. He then
made Mr. Redpath a bankrupt on the 20th April,
1840, and the case was disposed of by the late Mr.
Commissioner Merivals, the papers relating to the
fiat having passed from the hands of the late Mr.
Gibson and the late Mr. Green, who were succes-
sively the official assignees, into the hands of M.
Pennell, of No. 3, Guildhall-chambers, who now re-
tains them. Redpath's effects were sold by auction,
at his residence in Dartmouth• terrace, and the re-
sult was, that, after payment of the customary ex-
penses, the estate realised two dividends, one of ls.
6d. and the other of ls. In the course of the same
year Redpath obtained his certificate, under circum-
stances which showed that even at that time he was
au adept at clearing himself from difficulties. He
obtained his certificate by getting the signatures of
two-thirds of the creditors to his petition, not, how-
ever favouring Mr. Fox with an interview on the
subject, although that gentleman was the principal
creditor, and it was the proceeds of the sale of the
goods of he had been defrauded which mainly
provided the dividend for the other creditors. Be.
fore the Court of Bankruptcy Redpath wasextremely
insolent, and was severely reprimanded by the com-
missioner, and on the strength of Mr. Fox's oppo-
sition he was sent back. _

From this time anddur.ing the period of railway
speculation which resulted in the "mania" of 1845,
although a man without character or means, Leo-
pold Redpath managed, like many other shrewd
men of his class, to pick up a precarious living
amidst the bewildering excitement which then pre-
vailed.

While the Great Northern Company were strug-
gling with a rival company in Parliament for their
bill Redpath was of great assistance to them in pro.
moting their cause, and when they started as an
organised company he was engaged as a clerk. For
some time he occupied lodgings in Cumberland-
market—an obscure locality, lying between the
upper part of Regent's•park and the road-to-Cam-
den-town. His finances indeed were at this time
of such a limited character that in order to
meet their expenses his wife was obliged to accept
a situation as companion to an invalid lady resid-
ing in Cumberland-place, Regent's-park. In course
of time his circumstances began to improve, and he
then removed to lodgings at 43, Upper Albany-
street, after which he took the house No. 2, Park
Village West, where his taste foillelegance and his
extravagant habits first began to develope them-
selves. He lived in a style which was very far
beyond the means of a man wko had a salary of
5001. or 6001. a year, his own receipts from the
company being at that time less than 1001. a year.
In June, 1852, and while ,residing at Park
Village, Redpath's house was broken into, and a
number of valuable articles were stolen. Of these
a vase, worth about 30 guineas, was traced, and
two men—one a man named Jacobs, a dealer in
such articles, and the other named Lawrence, a
beer-shop keeper, of Chenies-street, Tottenham-
court-road—were prosecuted by Redpath, at the
instance of Inspector Shaw and Sergeant W . Smith.
They were convicted at the Old Bailey, and sen-
tenced to ten years' transportation.
This day (Tuesday) fresh frauds to an enormous
extent were discovered. Since the examination of
the books commenced last Monday week every
day has revealed forgeries of the most startling
character, which makes it almost a mattor of cer-
tainty that Redpath's frauds will far outstrip the
amount originally stated. It is a fact beyond dis-
pute that the company have been for a long time
past paying dividends upon 200,0001. of capital the
existence of which they have been unable to true.
Many of the fraudulent entries which have been
discovered, unless some very clear explanation is
given, show a complicity in the transactions on the
part of Kent. Ono singular fact in connection
with this young man man be mentioned. UP?"
his marriage, which took p his
life not long since, he
settled the whole of his household furniture,
life policy, eand all the other property he possessed,
upon his wife, so that in the event of his being
found guilty, in connection with Redpath, it is a
upon what he may be found to post:
il ter fraudulently.
question whether the company will have a claim
It has been ascertained that Re
_Phe
in-
stitutions with which he. was ctoo
trafficked in the votes of somenont:ot
It appears that, in adGlitionn _charitable
ed as governor.
being a governor of
almoner, and one of
Christ's Hospital, he ao.
of Redpath's transactions
As a proof of the exteueit
may be stated that he
Mrs. Redpatb, the
its committee of manag;
on the Stock Exchange,
leading brokers engaged
had constantly three of the
for him. meant.
wird. is now in custody,
wife of Leopold Redpath,
and coreverting to his own
chars©d with forgery, and
The Essex
shares in the Great Northern Railway, was the
use
the late Major Shernian, in the service
Herald says :---,"
daughter of . _
of the East India Company, and ,she was described
at the period of her marriage as a young lady of
considerable personal attractions. Major Sherman
resided for many years, and up to the period of his
death, five or six years since, at Maryland Point,
Stratford. Mr. Redpath was known in the neigh-
bourhood of Stratford from his frequent visits to
Major Sherman's residence, both previous and
subsequent to his marriage."

CONVICTION OF STOWELL, THE INFORXER.--Ire9terdal
at the Surrey Sessions, Thos. Stowell, described as an
attorney's clerk, was indicted for obtaining by false pre-
tences.sl. from Harriett Perry, with fraudulent intent.
.
The circumstances of the case bare alreadY
mlaibsoduermiertanthoeurw, he was months hare
appeared in
this journal. The jury returned a verdict of ellty, and
there being former convictions agitinst the prisoner for
orjr2eomti
srir antoenusemedofteo