The Sun. — 1856-02-23 (London, England)

ALP.-THE LATE  ASTOUNDING bISCLOSUR,ES.  (From the Morning Advertiser.) We have this day to announce the most startling facts which ever perhaps appeared relative to the extent of frauds and forgeries committed by one individual. We, ourselves, have no recollection of ever having heard or read of anything, in the form of frauds and forgeries, which could be at all compared with those which we are about to specify as having boen committed by the late Mr. John Sadleir. As yet, the full extent to which the practice has been carried by the late member for Sligo, has not been ascertained ; but there is every reason to believe that when all is known, it will be found that the amount of the frauds and forgeries of which he has been guilty will not he much under 1,000,000/. First of all, it has already been ascertained, beyond all question, that Mr. Saneir had forged no fewer than 50,000 Royal Swedish Railway Company's shares and obligations, for 51. each,--on which large sums of money were raised. This forgery alone is to the nominal sum of 250,0001.—0n1y it is net yet known what amount Le was able to raise on the shares and obligations. In addition to these forgeries, there are forgeries of several deeds and mortgages of estates in Ireland. As regards these, however, the extent is not yet known. But perhaps the boldest and most daring forgeries of all, are those which relate to deeds for the purchase of property in the Encumbered Estates Court of Ireland. These forged deeds purport to bear the signatures of the Commissioners, the Regiserar, the Chief Clerk, the solicitors in the various causes, and the Commissioners' seal. The extent to which this awes of forgeries has been committed, may be inferred from the fact, that the stamp duty alone on the deeds amounted to several hundreds of pounds. A considerable number of forgeries on private individuals also have already been discovered, and there is every reason to believe that others yet remain to be ascertained. Those which have been detected are suppo-ed to amount to nearly 100,000/. In addition to the classes of forgeries already enumerated, Mr. Sadleir has been guilty of the assignment o deeds held in trust by him, to an enormous amount. The drafts of all the forged deeds and mortgages are in Mr. Sadleir's own handwriting. The forgeries of signatures are in every case remarkably successful. 'Those of the Encumbered Estates' Commissioners are said to be so perfect that the most experienced eye could • not detect the forged deeds from the ,genuine. The act of selfelestruction was, it is believed, precipitated by the circumstance of one of the holders of deeds relative to the purchase of one of the encumbered estates, who had advanced 10,0001. to M. -Futaleir, having on Saturday last gone over to Ireland with his solicitor, for the purpose of having the deed registered. Mr. Sadleir endeavoured to frustrate the intention of the party, but failed. Hence, it is presumed, the commission of suicide at the particular time it took place—longer concealment of his ciiines being seen to be impossible. On Saturday afternoon, at five o'clock, Mr. Sadleir met a large speculator in the City, as lie was in the act of starting for home. He shook his City friend cordially by the band, and said to him cheerfully, on parting, " Good bye ; I am going to make a long journey, and we may not meet for some time." The consternation iu City circles, where further appalling disclosures of Mr. Sadleir's unparalleled misdeeds are looked for every hour, is described as being intense. On the Continent, too, where his transactions were to an enormous extent, greater alarm prevails. It is supposed that frightful as is the amount of his frauds and forgeries already ascertained a very small portion only of them has yet been discovered. He points to this himself, in a letter which he is supposed to have written immediately before leaving Gloucester-square for Hampstead-heath, where he put an end to his existence. In that letter—the last which ho wrote—he declares that, without the knowledge of any human being, unaided and unassisted, he committed the most diabolical crimes of which it was possible to be guilty—that these crimes must now be discovered, and as they would involve the ruin of hundreds of innocent families, had preferred to die rather than witness the sufferings which they must endure. The crime of suicide must have been contemplated by Mr. Sadleir some time before he committed the act ; for lie had purchased " Taylor on Poisoning," a large thick volume, and bad evidently read it through until be came to the chapter on the " Essentisl Oil of Bitter Almonds, when he turned down the page, as if lie had made .up his mind that that was the means to which he would resort for putting an end to his existence. Every one knows that it was by a large draught of the essential oil of bitter almonds that he did commit self-destruction. We repeat that, in the history of the world, there is no case on record in which frauds and forgeries have been committed to the same extent as in that of the late Mr. Sadleir. Those of Sir John Paul, Strahan, and Bates, are not only much smaller in amount, but they are tame compared with his. No ingenuity or management was required in their frauds compared with what were necessary in his. Though large in amount, they were common-place in character. Here we have a combination of criminality, boldness, inger.uity, versatiity, and tact, such as the world never before wit, e sed. If anything could be ;more wonderful than the fact that fraud and forgery should have been going on, on this enormous scale, for years, without being detected, it would be the other fact, that a man could be found who could eat, drink, seep, and mix in society, just as if nothing were the matter, with so frightful an amount of guilt weighing on his mind, which was sure, sooner or later, to be discovered, and which might be 83 at any moment,—bringing,' when detected, disgrace and a felon's doom on himself, and absolute lain and wretchedness on hundreds of innocent families.