The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-07 00:00:00

The Convict Muller.

Yesterday again Franz Muller, now under sentence of
death in the prison of Newgate, was visited by the Rev.
Mr Walbaum,minister of the German Chapel in St. James's,
who remained with him some time. Ho also attended the
mornirg and evening services in the gaol chapel. Up to
last evening he had not shown the slightest inclination to
confess the crime of which he has been convicted. On
Saturday morning Mr Sheriff Dakin paid him a visit in his
cell, and found him reading the Bible. After saying he
was glad to see him so suitably engaged, Mr Dakia so
lemnly entreated the convict not to indulge the slightest
hope that the capital sentence would not be carried into exe-
cution, and exhorted him to make the best use' of the short

time that remained to him in preparing to die.
It is said that a memorial from the German Legal Pro-
tection Society, embodying an appeal to the clemency of the
Crown for a commutation of the sentence, will be forwarded
to the Home Secretary to-day (Monday) or tc-morrow.
There has been some difference of opinion, it is understood,
among themselves as to the grounds on which the appeal
should be made to rest, and that accounts for the delay iL
presenting the memorial. Originally Mr Beard, with the
advice and assistance of the counsel who defended the pri-
soner on his trial, prepared a memorial praying for mercy
on the ground, in effect, if not in terms, that the crime or
which he had been convicted might be fairly presumed to
have been unpremeditated, and the unforeseen result of a
struggle; but the German Society, at a meeting they held
in Finsbury one evening last week, declined to adopt it in
that shape, and at the suggestion of their solicitor they
agreed to prepare one embodying their own views. In the
meantime most scrupulous care has been taken by the
Governor of Newgate, and -by the officers under him,
to conceal from the doomed man the efforts that
are being made in that quarter to save his life, lest
the knowleege of them might divert his mind from the
preparation for death. Mr Beard, the solicitor for the de-
fence, also declares that, in the interviews he has had with
him since his conv:ction, ho has carefully avoided for the
same reason taak;ng any reference to such overtures. Still,
there is reason for believing that the convict is not altoge-
+her ignorant of such overtures, and the Governor and the
Chaplain are understood to regret the circumstance very
much for his own sake.
It is understood (according to the Observer of yester-
day), that a communication has been made by the Soc:etary
of State to the judges who presided at the trial, wi. h refe-
rence to the case, as to their opinion of the verdict. It •
cus'omary in all cases of capitrl conviction ,for such an ap
plication to be made, and it is said that both the Lord Chiet
Baron and Mr Baron Martin, in reply, stated that they
considered the evidence entirely conclusive, cad that they
saw no reason to doubt the propriety of the verdict. The
prisoner, uonv:ction, has been repeatedly invited
to give some reasonable explanation how he ,became pos-
sessed of the property that was stalen from Mr Briggs on
the night of the murder, and the possession of which formed
such cogent evidence in support of the charge against him;
but he has evaded
_doing so, and expresses himself unable
to say more than that he bought it. He has, how-
ever, made a very important admission in reference to the
evidence given by Matthews, the cabman, as to his having
purchased a hat for him at Mr Walker's, which is that
Matthews really did purchase a hat fir him, but he up- I
pears utterly unable to give any account of what has become
of that hat, and the only inference that can be drawn is
that the hat so purchased was the one found in the railway
carriage."
Meantime the prisoner continues cool and collected, and
to eat and sleep well. He is even much improved in ap-
pearance since his conviction. His coultenence, which at
times during the trial was pale and carewora, is said to
have assumed its wonted hue and expression, and altogether
he is described as being in high health. His father and
mother and a sister, it is said, reside in Saxe Weimar. He
wrote a letter to them a few days ago. it was in Germen,
and in it he only slightly alludel to the crime of which he
had been convicted, without saying either that he was
innocent or guilty.

A stung and fascinating artiste, who is about to
appear at one of the West•end theatres, is of French
origin, and born in the island of Guadaloupe. She has
studied in France and Italy, and has also been a favourite
pupil of Mrs Stirling (who has great faith in her genius and
talent) for more than six months. She also commands the
esteem of a largo circle of the beau monde, who take the
greatest interest in her success in the dramatic world.