The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-14 00:00:00

Capital Punishment,

The correspondent of a contemporary writes as follows :
Another instance has been afforded, by the late execution at
Leeds, of the levity exhibited by base human nature, at the
public strangulation of their fellow-creatures. We read that
seats were let on a platform raised for the purpose at 2s 6d
per spectator, that there was all the ribaldry and provision
of a fair, Now, I would ask (as much in the name of
common sense as humanity) of what utility are these spec-
tacles exhibited, and to what extent they deter men from
the fearful crime of murder P Let as agitate this question
again and again until the great law of God and man,
" Thou shalt do no murder," is at least obeyed by those who
now violate its precept. I subj )in a letter of Mr Charles
Dickens to a contemporary, which appeared after the exe-
cution of the Mannings at norsemonget-lame Gaol. The
graphic description of that writer is I think well worth a
reprint :

CHARLES DICKENS, ESQ , ON THE LATE EXECUTION.

Sir,—l was a witness of the execution at Horsemonger-
lane this morning. I went there with the intention of
observing the crowd gathered to behold and I had excel-
lent opportunities of doing so at intervals all through the
night, and continuously from daybreak until after the spec-
tacle was over.

I do not address you on the subject with any intention of
discussing the abstract question of capital punishment, or
any of the arguments of its opponenti or advocates. I simply
wish to turn this dreadful experience to some account for
the general good, by taking the readiest and most public
means of adverting to an intimation given by Sir G. Gray
to the last sessien of Parliament, that the Government might
be induced to give its support to a measure making the in-
fliction of capital punishment a private solemnity within the
prison walls (with such guarantees for the last sentence of
the law be'ng inexorably and surely administered as should
be satisfacti,ry to the public at large), and of most earncstly
beseeching Sir G. Grey, as a solemn duty which he owes to
society, and a responsibility which he cannot for ever put
away, to originate such A legislative change himself.
I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the
wickedness and levity of the immense crowd collected at
that execution this morning could be imagined by no man,
and could be presented in no heathen land under the sun.
The horrors of the gibbet and of the crimo which brought
the wretched murderers to it, faded in my mind before the
atrocious bearing, looks and language, of the assembled
spectators. When I came upon the scene at midnight, the
shrillness of the cries and howls that were raised from time
to time, denoting that they came from a concourse of boys
and girls already assembled in the best places, made my
blood run cold. As the night went on, screeching, and
laughing, and yelling in strong chorus of parodies on
Negro melodies, with substitutions of "Mrs Manning"
for " Susannah," and the like, were added to
these. When the day dawned, thieves, low prostitutes,
rufffins and vagabonds of every kind, flocked on to the
ground, with every variety of offensive and foul behaviour,
wst Ii n
Fw ihgehnt ns,
swooning fa in twi nog;
e,
n were hi gs, imitations of Punch,
brutal jokes, tumultuous demonstrations of indecent delight
dragged out of the crowd by
the police with their dresses disordered, gave a new zest to
the general entertainment. When the sun rose brightly—as
it did—it gilded thousands upon thousands of upturned
faces, so inexpressibly odious in their brutal mirth or cal-
lousness, that a man had cause to feel ashamed of the shape
he wore, and to shrink from himself, as fashioned in the
image of the devil. When the two miserable creatures who
attracted all this ghastly sight about them were turned
quivering into the air, there was no more emotion, no more
pity, no more thought that two immortal souls had gone
to judgment, no more restraint in any of the previous ob-
scenities, than if the name of Christ had never been heard
in this world, and there were no belief among men but that
they perished like the beasts.

I have seen, habitually, some of the worst sources of
general contamination and corruption in this country, and
I think there are not many phases of London life that
could surprise me. lam solemnly convinced that nothing
that ingenuity could devise to
be done in this city, in the
same compass of time, could work such ruin as one public
execution, and 1 stand astounded and appalled by the
wickedness it exhibits. Ido not believe that any commu-
nity can prosper where such a scene of horror and demora-
lisation as was enacted this morning outside Horsemonger-
lane gaol is presented at the very doors of good citizens,
and s parsed by, unknown or forgotten. And when, in
our prayers and thanksgivings
for the season, we are
i
humbly expressing before Clod our desire to remove the
moral evils of the land, I would ask your readers to con-
sider whether it is not a time to think of this one, and to
root it out ?—I am, sir, your faithful servant,
CILARLES DICKENS.
Devonshire-terrace, Tuesday) Nov. 13.

TIM COURT AT BALMORAL—Oa Thursday her
Majesty, accompanied by her Royal Highness the
Princess Helena, and their highnesses the Duko and
Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, drove Vein Balmoral, via Inver-
cauld-house and Allasquoich, which was reached about 2
p.m. Hero ponies and men from Balmoral were in waiting,
and the whole party having mounted, rode up thenquoich,
nearly to the hoary pine forest of the Beechen, which is
proximate to the foot of Ben-a-Bourd, where a sump-
tuous luncheon was partaken of. After a brief sojourn,
and a delightful walk through the wild and picturesque
district around, the royal party returned to Braemar,
via OA Mar Lodge and Linn of Dee, At the latter
place, a brief stay was made to view the unique beauty
and unparalleled scenery that surrounds the Falls. At the
Invercauld Arms Hotel horses were changed. Mr Fisher
was in prompt attendance, and personally attended to the
requirements of the royal party. A large and respectable
assemblage of visitors and others lined both sides of the
area in front of the hotel, and greeted the royal party with
a warm salute, which was very graciously returned by her
Majesty and the other occupants of the royal carriago. The
horses having been changed, the Queen and party drove on
to Balmoral at half-past 6 p.m. The day was delightful,
and only a slight shower of rain fell, which in no wise in-
commoded or marred the enjoyment of the royal sojourners.
—,Thendee ,44vertiser.

AMERICA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESTONDENT.)
NEW YORK, Aug. 30.

As was stated, in effect, in my last letter
there does not appear that any definite object
would be gained by entering into a discussion
upon the abstract question raised by the Northern
quasi-envoys and their so-called British friends.
They persist in the assertion, or opinion, that
a most friendly feeling exists towards Great Bri-
tain and the British people in the United States,
or, rather, in that section thereof which these
quasi envoys represent. The question as to the
real nature of the active sentiments, as they are
called, of any largo country would be a compli-
cated, difficult one to dissertate upon. Asiuredly
I am not presumptuous enough to try my hand
upon those of the United States, But as the per-
sons referred to chose to give their opinion to my
countrymen, I considered it my duty to give mine;
and I here repeat it—merely, however, because the
same opinion has akvays been expressed to me by
every British person who, like myself, has had
reasonable opportunitees to observe realities for
some years in this country.
The ruling classes in the Northern States are not
only unfriendly to England as a nation, but malig-
nantly inimical to her commercial and political
interests.

Having arrived at that conclusion, after as earnest
and impartial an inquiry as it was in my powor to
make, I expressed my opinion, quant. sal., and en.
tered into detail in your journal, more than two
years since. On the present occasion my purpose
simply is to give again my opinion, but now a still
more experienced one—and to spare your readers
my details; but I shall subjoin some extracts from
newspapers published in the North, which pro-
bably will be considered relevant to the "differences
of opinion" in question.

It is necessary to remark here parenthetically,
that no quotations from the New York herald shall
be put forward. In consequence of that great organ
of public opinion, having the largest circulation in
the Northern States,—to use its own modest de-
scription—being so much oftener quoted by the Bri-
tish press than its contemporaries, it is only fair to
give those a turn. Moreover, the quasi-envoys and
their organisation inEngland avow most vehemently
that they repudiate the anti-British, proclivities,
loud talk, and, they might have added in plain
English, the slanderous, abusive language of the
organ aforesaid.
Apropos of this repudiation, it reminds me of a
story told of a very distinguished and able, tut
sometimes coarse spoken, Chief Justice of former
times.

The attorney in a cause objected to some decision
or ruling of his lordship, and said, " I protest
against" so and so. "Go home, sir," qnoth the
irate judge, "and protest and be hanged.
Now really when these quasisenvoys, who never
utter a word in public, nor publish a line, when
they are over here, to even deprecate the course
pursued by the Herald—tell their audiences and
readers in England that they " repudiate the journal
and all its works, one might be inclined to para-
phrase the rough and ready ejaculations of the
Chief Justice, and Bay, "Go home, gentlemen, and
repudiate, and"—ccetera desunt.
Before giving the extracts referred to, I shall
conclude—and gladly—my remarks in connection
with the repudiated Herald, by repeating what was
said, to the same effeot as the following, by me (in
The Sun) two years ago :—Many persons here
assert that the New York Herald is, quoad its home
politics, &e., a corrupt, disreputable journal. I
leave those who understand such matters best to
decide ; but consider, if it be as stated, that it does
not enjoy R monopoly in the respects stated. Be
this as it may, there is one thing certain, that the
New York Herald has a large circulation in the
United States—is anti-British and anti-Canadian,
but merely gives expression to the dominant anti-
pathies of the people among whom it circulates.
There are scores of extracts from sundry news-
papers published in the Northern States before me.
There are many, for instance, from the New York
Tribune, Evening Post, &c., that for rabid abuse of
England and misinterpretation far exceed in dogged
dulness, but equal inapparent malignity, the quasi-
envoy-repudiateds//era/d. However, as the New
York limes is the avowed organ of the Washing.
ton Government, I shall give it the first place.
After pronouncing eulogistic comments upon Rues
sia, and rather the contrary in reference to France
and England, the article concludes thus :
They imagined that the American Republic had fallen
not to rise again; while, AntseJus-like, it has but touched
the earth to rise all the stronger. Never was it surer of
the mightiest destiny than now. England, in its prostrate
hour, turned against it. She did all she dared to do to
make its destruction sure. That is the way in which she
repaid its outflow of goodwill towards the heir to her throne.
The treachery at first confounded—it then exasperated—it
now is coolly accep`cd as a development of England's dispo-
sition we were fortunate so early to learn. The bewilder-
ment and the passion are fast subsiding into a fixed, un-
changeable policy. We accept the new relations which
England, in our sore straits, saw fit to establish ; and it
shall go hard with us but that she shall have enough of
them before we are through with he-. It is idle to talk
about an oblivion of the past, There are crimes which it
is not in human nature to forget, and this is cf them; and
democracies proverbially have very tenacious memories.
Henceforth American people will recognise no tie to Eng •
land, They will consider her the friend of human slavery,
the accomplice in the attempt to assassinate free institu-
tions, and a nation that professes goodwill only to betray
in the day of need. They wilt remember that Russia on
the other hand has stood firmly by them through every
trial. They will admire her for all cf her grand efforts to
enfranchise and elevate her own people, and will take it as
an earnest of a grander final Commission to infuse fresh
blood into Western Eu'ope, and redeem it from the degene-
racy and decrepitude which seem otherwise inevitable.
Young America salutes Young Russia. Let the heathen
rage.

As a p.ndunt to the " editorial," a sample of
the "London Correspondence" of the same journal
is giver, :

London is hot and dull. The concerts aro over—the
theatres closing. Hyde. park is deserted—Rotten-row a
solitude. Belgravia a4d Tyburnia have closed their shutters
and are off to the mountains and the sea. The lower classes,
left without the good example of their betters, grow
drunken and savage. Men beat their wives; women scratch
and bite each other— some swallow ears, some gnaw off
fingers. The Cannibal Islands are less savage than this
drunken, besotted lower million of London—the saddest,
hardest, most repulsive populace, I verily believe, to be
found in any civilised country.

It was my intention to offer a few more specimens
of the style and sentiments of the Northern press—
minus the New York Herald—but as, in some re-
spects, the above are actually " mild examples,"
probably your readers may cry " hold, enough!" of
such trash; so I shall add one of the instances of
clerical attacks on England that are so common in
this country, and shall only observe that the reverend
orator is represented to be of the " Presbyterian
denomination," was chaplain of the Senate, and is,
or is to be, the pastor of the," American Congrega-
tion," or chapel, in Paris. The Rev. Dr. Sunder-
land, in his sermon delivered on the occasion of
the " FAst-day" lately proclaimed by the President,
observed, inter alia, of England :
" This (slavery) was the apple of discord NVhich
perfidious England—never more to stand in the
affections of the American people—had thrown
among the sisters of the American Union, to
divide and plague us. This is the heir-loom we
had from the mother country, the source of so
mush misery, and the pretext of this terrible con-
vulsion. No doubt England contemplates with
complacency the works of her hands to-day. „
The young giant, after a growth and an activity of
more than eighty splendid years, begins to feel in
his veins the virulence of that deadly poison which
has been circulating there. England looks on and
exults over the operation. Oh ! thou foul, false,
hypocrite of the nations (loud applause), thou
may'st laugh now, but the hour of thy own retri-
bution shall come.'

The login of the rev. gentleman appears to me
about on a par with his charitable teaching ; how-
ever, the above charitable extract pretty fairly
represents the tone and spirit in which the
" Clergy" of the majority of the inhabitants cf
the Norther❑ States—at least of those of New
England—treat of our country. In the aggregate,
the ministers of the Episcopalian, the Roman
Catholic Churches, and those of a few other deno-
minations, refrain from references to political
subjects.

An Interview with Muller.

The correspondent of a contemporary states that he
visited Muller in the Tombs Prison, on the 30th ult., by
permission of the United States Marshal, and that he and a
friend who accompanied him had a long conversation with
the prisoner in regard to the explanation he had to offer of
the circumstances bearing against him. The following is
his report of what passed, for the accuracy of which, how-
ever, we are unable to vouch :
Fortunately we happened to reach there just as Muller
was entering the prison yard to take his morning walk.
" Well, Muller," remarked one of the bystanders, as he
mute his appearance, "how do you feel this mornirg ?"
He answered readily enough to show that he understood
the English language well, although his pronunciation was
quite imperfect, " I feel weak and bad ; I am sick."
And the poor fellow's countenance sustained his words.
Since 1 saw him in court on Saturday last he had been
allowed two days of perfect quiet, and after the exciting
scenes that ho had passed through the irritable reaction had
set in. He had evidently begun to comprehend the peril
of his condition, and to appreciate the consequence of a
conviction for the crime ‘e ith which he stood charged.
The same gentleman who had opened the conversation
proceeded—
" Muller, I understand that you feel confident ycu can
prove an alibi—that you were not upon the Northern Rail-
way the night Mr Briggs was murdered ?"
"Yes," he replied, "I was not there."
"You have a sister in this country ?" some one remarked.
"I have," he said. "She lives at 139, Nassau-street,
but she has not yet been to see me."
" Perhaps she does not know that you have arrived ?"
"Perhaps not," he replied, " but I have tried to send her
word."
"Is she married or unmarried ?"
" She was unmarried when she came to this country," he
answered, " 14 years ago, but she is now married."
The warder of the prison took down her name and ad-
dress as Muller gave it, and promised to try and find her.
Some further conversation ensued regarding the adoption
of means to make the prisoner as comfortable as possible
while he remained in the prison, and I took advantage of a
lull in the conversation to remark to him that I expected to
write to England to-day, and wauld gladly do my best to
make public any statement he might desire regarding his
whereabouts upon the night Mr Briggs was murdered. At
first he did not seem to understand me, apparently supposing
that I desired his version of the fact for publication here, as
he answered that he did not care to have anything said—his
counsel knew all the circumstances. A casual allusion to a
statement I had seen in some of the London papers to the
effect that the German societies were interesting themselves
in his case, and endeavouring to gather testimony for his
defence, seemed to give him the correct idea of my object,
and he at once proceeded to say that on the night of Mr
Briggs's murder he left his boarding place shortly after sup-
per, rode to London-bridge, as he was troubled with a lame
leg, a cart having run over his foot a few days previously
and bruised it ; that he walked across London-bridge and
took another omnibus to Camberwell New-road. Going
into a publichouse in that locality he drank a glass of beer,
and remained there until half-past nine, when he again took
an omnibus to return to London-bridge. On recrossing the
bridge and going to the Royal Exchange, which he reached
about ten o'clock, he found that the last omnibus had left,
and he was obliged to walk home. In consequence of the
lameness of his foot it was eleven o'clock before he reached
there, and all the folks had gone to bed. Ho made his way
to his room as soon as possible, and saw none of them until
the next morning.
I toll Muller, after he had completed this statement,
that much curiosity was felt to know how he came in pos-
session of the hat and watch which were said to belong to
Mr Briggs.
He promptly answered that he purchased the hat at a
shop in London a year ago. The watch he stated he bought
of a pedlar on the docks the Monday before he sailed. The
vessel left port on Friday, and he narrated the circum-
stances as follows :—The pedlar had rings and other trinkets
for sale, and upon Muller's stepping up to look at them he
offered him this watch. Muller had but four pounds and
three half-crowns in his pocket, money which he had been
saving up to purchase bis passage ticket to America, and
when the pedlar offered him the watch for £5, he replied by
offering £4 for it. This was refused, and Muller turned to
go away, but ho had taken such a fancy to the watch that
he determined to purchase it if he could by the payment of
all the money in his possession (four pounds, three half-
crowns), and this the pedlar finally accepted. When he
got the watch in his possese'ion ho said he was afraid that
it might be worthless, and so went to Mr. Death's, in
Cheapside, to exchange the chain, thinking that if this
proved to be pure gold the watch also must be as valuable
as it seemed to be,

"Then," said I, "Mr Death's statement was correct.
You bartered the chain with him ?"
"Yes," Muller answered.
"fled you heard of Mr Briggs's murder," I asked,
" when you bought the watch ?"

"I had," he replied ; "but I did not think of the watch
being his."

"How was it you happened to take passage for America
just at that time ?"
" Oh," said he, "I had been intending for some time to
come here, to follow my trade, and had given my landlady
notice a fortnight before that I meant to leave."
"Another question," I said; "You have just told me
that you gave all the money you had for the watch ; where
did you raise funds to pay for your passage ticket r,
"1 pawned the watch chain," he answered, "and after-
wards sold the ticket."

" Certainly," I replied, "that could not have been suffi-
cient."

" No," said he, " I had a gold watch before I purchased
the one said to belong to Mr Briggs, which I sold, and which
brought me sufficient."

You will remember that several of the witnesses who
have testified before the London tribunals have stated that
Muller had no gold watch previous to the time that he se-
cured possession of Mr Briggs's, Bearing this fact in mind
I did not think it worth while to push my inquiries farther,
and, after a few unimportant remarks, took leave of Muller.
During the conversation he bore himself with great compo-
sure, and was never at a loss to answer any questions that
I put to him. He was dressed in the same clothes he
wore in court, with the single exception that he was
without a coat. His shirt had apparently just come from
the hands of the washerwoman, and was consequently
clean. His pants were threadbare, but were neatly
brushed, and on the whole his appearance was as much
in his favour as it could have been expected to be. As
I turned to leave the "Tombs," the warden remarked,
" He is a hard case, you may depend upon it—his mouth
shows that,"

- HORRIBLE Cl/ILD MURDER.—Yesterday morn-
ing, at 8 o'clock, a charwoman employed in clean-
ing out the first class ladies' waiting room on the departure
platform of the Great Western Railway Station, Padding-
ton, found under a sofa the dead body of a fine female child
in long slothes, and tied up in an apron, the string of
which was twisted tightly round the child's neck. Informa-
tion was at once given to Mr Durdle, chief inspector of the
railway company's police, who ordered the body to be taken
to the Paddington police station, when it was examined by
Mr J. S, Beale, surgeon, of Porter's-road, Paddington,
who said the child was about seven days old, had been
remarkably healthy, and had ,been dead about three
hours. At the time the babe was found there was a
lady in an adjoining first class ladies' waiting room, who
on being interrogated by Mr Durdle, stated that she had
come.to the station to see a lady off by the 6 a.m, train, and
that she had been resting herself since that time. The
lady gave her name and address, and Mr Durdle finding
them to be correct he allowed her to go at large. The
matter is now in the hands of Inspector Everton and Ser-
geant Hawtree, of the D eivision.

LIMITS OF HUMAN POWER.—It is, on the one
hand, rash and unphilosophical to attempt to set
limits to the ultimate power of man over inorganic nature,
and it is unprofitable, on the other, to speculate on what
may be accomplished by the discovery of now unknown and
unimagined natural forces, or even by the invention of new
arts and new processes. But since we have seen aerosta-
tion, the motive power of elastic vapours, the wonders of
modern telegraphy, the destructive explosiveness of gun-
powder, and even of a substance so harmless, unresisting,
and inert as cotton, nothing in the way of mechanical
achievement seems impossible, and it is hard to restrain
the imagination from wandering forward a couple of gene-
rations to an epoch when our descendants shall have ad-
vanced as far beyond us in physical conquest, as we have
marched beyond the tropics erected by our grandfathers.
I must therefore be understood to mean only, that no
agencies now known to man and directed by him seem
adequate to the reducing of great Alpine precipices to
such slopes as would enable them to support a veget-
able clothing, or to the covering of large extents of de-
nuded rock with earth, and planting upon them a forest
growth. But among the mysteries which science is yet
to reveal, there may be still undiscovered methods of
accomplishing even grander wonders than these. Media-
nicll philosophers have suggested the possibility of accu-
mulating and treasuring up for human use some of the
greater natural forces, which the action of the elements
puts forth with such astonishing energy. Could we gather
and bind, and make subservient to our control, the power
which a West Indian hurricane exerts through a small
area in one continuous blast, or the momentum expended
by the waves, in a tempestuous winter, upon the break-
water of Cherbourg, or the lilting power of the tide, for a
month, at the head of the Ih of Fund. 7, or the pressure
of a square mite of sea water at the depth of 5,000 fathoms,
or a moment of the might of an earthquake or a volcano,
our age—which moves no mountains and casts them into
the sea by faith alone—might hope to scarp the rugged
walls of the Alps and Pyrenees and Mount Taurus, robe
them once more in a vegetation as rich as that of their pris-
tine woods and turn their wssting torrents into refreshing
ctretuns. Mail and Nature, by G. P. Illai sh.

The number of visitors at the Patent Museum
South Kensington, fur the week ending Sept. 10, w:ts
2,322; total number since the opening of the museum free
daily (12th May, 1858), 819,040.

6,lntrt 42411401:07 (ti rtibt