The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-09 00:00:00

The Convict Muller.

Up to last evening Franz Muller, now ruder sentence of
death in Newgate, had shown no inclination to confess th
crime of which he has been convictcd.:Knowing, as then
is reason to believe he does, though the tact has been care-
fully concealed from him by the prison authorities, tha
efforts are being made by the German Society to procure
a commutation of the sentence, his reserve occasions no
surprise. The impress'on among the authorities is that,
if ha confess at all, it will not be until the very last. Yes•
torday, again, Mr Sheriff Bexley paid him a visit, as did
also the Rev. Mr Walbaum, the minister of the German
Chapel, in St. James's, who has spent some time with him
daily since his conviction. The convict also attended the
service in the chapel. He has always shown a disposition
to profit by the religious consolation which has been offered
him since he received seutem., but in other respects he has
been reserved, cold, and unimpressionable, without in the
least, however, being disrespectful to those about him.
As early as 7 o'clock yesterday morning the members of
the German Legal Protection Society are said to have had a
meeting at Seyd's Hotel, Finsbury-square, for the purpose
of sOttling the draught of the memorial they mean to pre•
sent to the Home Secretary. •Before separating the memorial
was unanimously adopted, and they resolved to forward it
to Sir George Grey on Wednesday morning. In the
meantime a Special Committee of. the Society are
publishing an elaborate report, describing minutely the
whole of the steps they have taken from first to last to clear
up what they regard as the mystery attending the murder,
and particularly to ascertain the movements of the prisoner
about the time of its commission, and how he came into
possession of the watch and chain of Mr Briggs. It is, in
fact, the whole story of the defence told over again, and
embodying besides statements which were not legally ad-
missible in eviience on the trial, but which they regard as
throwing additional light upon the matter, and justifying
the course they took in defending him.
Adverting to the alibi, they say—
" Thu distance from Stanley Cottage was measured, and
it was ascertained that, taking into consideration all circum-
stances—as for instance, the lameness of Muller—it would
take 20 to 25 minutes to walk from the house to Camberwell-
gate. The journey by omnibus to King William-street,
after riding at different times and in different omni-
buses, was found to take 20 to 30 minutes. Therefore,
supposing the statements of the Joneses and of Muller
in New York to be true, Muller, after having left Stanley
Cottage at half-past 9 o'clock, could not have been in King
William-street before 10 minutes or a quarter past 10. con-
sequently could not possibly have been the perpetrator or
abettor of the murder in the railway carriage at 10 minutes
to 10 o'clock."

They relate the following as the account given by Muller
himself to a member of their body and to Mr Beard, their
solicitor, at the Bow-street police-station on the same
evening he arrived in London from New York :
" Atter the exchange of some kind words and a solemn
exhortation to adhere strictly to the truth, Muller declared
that on Saturday evening the Bth of July he had left his
friend Haifa at Mr Repsch's house, where he had had tea,
and had taken an omnibus at the corner of Fenchurch-
street and Gracechurch-street for Camberwell. He had been
lame at the time in consequence of his having been run
over on the Thursday, and therefore wore a red carpet slip-
per on his right foot. Near the gate he had left the omnibus
to walk to a house in George-street, Camberwell, New-road,
He declined to give the address of the house. On coming
back he had had a glass of ale at a pu')lie house on the left
side, before coining to the gate, from the Elephant and
Castle, and had entered into conversation with the bar-
keeper. The house was about 200 yards from the
toll-gate, and could bo recognised by its standing for-
ward and being bounded by two streets. There always
were sh)eblack boys in front of it. The bar-keeper
was a young man of average size, with dark hair, whis-
kers, and a beard on his chin. By this description it
must be easy to recognise him. After half-past 10, to his
belief, he had left Camberwell-gate in an orange omnibus,
had ridden to the Monument in King William-street, and
walked from there to the Bank, in order to take his omni-
bus from T.hreadneele-street to Hackney. As it already
had left, he had walked home to Old Ford-road, and reached
it about half-past 11, His landlady and the other lodgers
had already gone to bed. On his way home he did not meet
with any friend or acquaintance, nor did he call anywhere.
The omnibus from Camberwell to King William• et., con-
tained besides him four persons—an old gentleman with dark
hair and dark whiskers, two young ladies, and a little girl.
The conductor was of average height, wore a hat and a long
coat which had no buttons at the back. His face was small,
dark, and pock-marked ; he wore a white and black
chequered neckerchief. When he entered the omnibus, a
brown dog, which was flying at a boy in the street opposite
the publichouse, caused a crowd."
On the all-important subject of the hat, proved at the
trial to have been that of Mr Briggs, the committee says :
" The hat which had been found in his possession at New
York he had bought, between May 14 and 20, at the shop of
Mr Digance, for 14s 6d. He remembered the occasion very
well, because at the same time, as he used to do at Whitsun-
tide, he had bought a now suit. The two Repsches must
remember this, as they had seen him in his new suit. He
left the hat Mathews had bought for him at the shop. The
lining of this hat was dark and had blue stripes."

In connection with this story, it should be borne in mind
that Mr Digance's shopman, of whom the prisoner must
have bought the hat, if he bought it there at all, seeing
that Mr Diganco never sold him a hat, and that ho has
only one shopman, a person who has been with him for the
last 12 years, has been confronted pith the prisoner in his
cell since his conviction, in the presence of Mr Beard, and
that on the one hand Muller failed to recognise him, and on
the other the shopman said he had no recollection of havieg
seen bim before. The committee proceed to say :
" With regard to the watch and chain, Muller declared he
had left the house of Mr Repsch at about ten minutes to 8,
had gone to Mr Hodgkinson to see Haifa, had not found
him (ride the statements of Haifa and Mr Hodgkinson's
foreman), and had then immediately gone towards the Lon-
ion Decks in order to enquire about the time of sailing, and
if posAble to take his ticket at the same time. He arrived
at the docks at half- past 8. He found a Gorman porter in the
office near the ship Victoria, bnt as he could not get his
ticket he was about to leave the docks again. About 100
yards from the office, in the passage to tho warehouses, a
pedlar offered him a watch and chain for sale. He held
these things in his hand, and took some rings and chains
and another watch from his coat pocket. The pedlar was
of middle height, had a small face with prominent cheek-
bones, brown whiskers, and close-shaved skin; he had
a small cut or scar on his lip, and wore a Melton morning
coat. When the things were offered to him for £6 he had
only £4 and three halt-crowns in his pocket. The seller
of the things refused to accept £4, and Muller went on,
but came back on the second thought that the watch
and chain must be worth more, because the £4 wers
refused by the pedler, and might make a gcod bargain, end
offered three halt-crowns-7s 6d— more, The pedlar took
the offer. While on his way home, and calculating how
by the sale or pawning of the things bought he might make
a profit so as to be able to redeem his own watch and chain,
which he had pawned some weeks ago iii Whitechapel, and
of the value of which—£9—he was fully aware, he was
disturbed by the thought that the things bought might be
not real gold or valueless. He at once determined to ga to
Mr Death's in Cheapside, and by changing the chain as-
certain its value and that of the watch."

The words in italics are so put bp the committee.
" After Muller had spent his money in purchasing the
watch and chain, he resolved to pawn the chain he had ex-
changed. He got Ll 10s in the Minories, and sold the ticket
to his friend Huffs for 12s. Thus he became possessed of
£2 2s. From a mark he thought the watch he bought at
the docks a valueble one, and determined to keep it. With
the £2 he redeemed his own watch which he had pawned at
the Minories, and asked his friend for the loan of £l, in
order to redeem the chain also, and then on Wednesday
morning pawn both together at the West-end for a higher
price. He received £4 in Princes-street, and sold the ticket,
as proved, to Glass for £1 ss, The ono pound lent waf
deducted. Besidee, he received from Mr Repsch, who owed
him £1 2s, 14s; from Mr Mathews, 3s 6d; for a coat he
pawned, 6s. With the money thus acquired he bought on
Wednesday his passage-ticket for Ll, a mattress for 7s 6d,
and paid is porterage. The 12s found upon him at Now
York he got by the sale of a coat and a pair of trousers,
When asked why, at his arrest at New York, he had cold a
lie about the watch, he declared that nothing but the sur-
prise and fright of the moment, had induced him to do so.
With regard to the hat, he said Inspector Clarke mutt be
mistaken, as the minutes of his examination at New York
could easily prove; only with regard to the watch he had
told an untruth."

¶1 hese are the more material parts of a document extend-
ing over three columns of an ordinary newspaper, and which
is described as " Part first," the rest being to follow,

BREAXPAST BEVERAGE.—Homoeopathic practitioners,
and the medical profession generally, recommend cocoa
as being the most healthful of all beverages. When the doc-
trine of hommopathy was first introduced iuto this country,
there were to be obtiined no preparations of cocoa either at-
tractive to the taste or acceptable to the stomach ; the nut
was either supplied in the crude state or so unskilfully
manufactured as to obtain little notice. J. Epi 8, of London,
Homoeopathic Chemist, was induced in the year 1839 to turn
his at entiOn to this subject, and at length ho succeeded,
with the assistance of elaborate machinery, in being the first
to produce an article pm e in its composition, and so refined
by the perfect trituration it rcz,eives in the process it passes
through, as to be most acceptable to the delicate stomach.
For general use Eppa's Cocoa is distinguished as an invigo-
rating, grateful breakfast beverage, possessing a most deli-
cious aroma. De. Hassall, in his wo.k "Adulteration of
Fcod," says —" ocoa con abs a great variety of important
nutritive principles every ingredient necessary to the
growth and sustenance of the body." Again: "As a nutri-
tive, cocoa stands very much higher than either coffee or
tea." Directions—Two teaspoonfuls of the powder in a
breakfast cup, filled up with boiling water or milk. Secured
irr tin-lined 11b., alb., and 11b. labelled packets, a d sold by
grocers, confectioners, and chemists. - [AcrvT.]