The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-14 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF MULLER.

(THIS DAY.)

Confession of the Murderer.
The Old Bailey in the course of yesterday was
visited by some thousands of respectably attired
people, who intermingled with others of the lowest

order, and wandered in and out the barriers till a
heavy rain compelled them to beat a retreat. And
owing no doubt to the unpropitious state of the
weather, which did not begin to clear up till nearly

2 o'c!ock this morning, there wcr© very few persons

assembled. At this Lour there could not have been

at tt e most more than a couple of thousand persons
present, and those principally of the lowest possible

order, miny of whom were curled up like bundles
of dirty rage in doorways of the bye-streets, and in
the Old Bailey itself.

Ftcm Ludgite-hill to St. Sepulchre's Church
barriers, extending entirely across the road and
footway, were erected at given distances, end kept
up to 6 o'clock by a small detachment of the City
police, under the command of Mr Inspector
Everett.

From the corner of Fleet-lane to a considerable
distance beyond the "debtors' door" double barriers
were erect«.l, forming the enclosure for the gallows.
Here, then, at this hour, the main body of the as-
sembled people took up their positions, and kept
them with indomitable tenacity, though they were
occasionally assailed by heavy ehOwers of rain. In-
side this enclosure a few privileged gentlemen,
amongst whom were several of high rank, paraded,
cigar in mouth, to and fro. For those who took
up positions lower down, nearer the Sessions
House, there was nothing to do but to wander op
and down within the limit of the particular pen in
which they chose to station themselves. Of course
eating, drinking, and smoking was the prevailing
element in these morbid groups of sightseers, who
extensively patronised the peripatetic vendors of
baked potatoes, fried fi3h, and such like delicacies.
To those who had plenty of money seats at the win-
dows of public-houses, coffee-shops, and other teneft
runts in close proximity, were let at fabulous prices,
ranging from £lO to £3O for small, dilapidated
rooms with a couple of windows, while £3 and £5
were looked upon and quoted as a reasonable price
for standingroom even at windows just within sight
of the place of execution. Nor were the owners of
many of these tenements content to advertise their
seats by means of canvassers to whom they allowed
a liberal commission, but thickly placarded their
windows with such announcements as " Seats to
let,'"" Good view of the execution," &c. But not.
withstanding the degrading efforts of these filths
lucre seekers, it was gratifying to observe that up
to within a short time of the execution there were
still large numbers of windows to let, which, at the
last moment, were thrown open at comparatively
nominal prices. Towards three o'clock the crowd
materially increased. Carpenters and workmen
with crowbars began to flit to and fro, while the
windows, especially those in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the prison, became filled with occu.
pants, whose dark outlines, boldly defined by the
blazing fires within, formed grotesque pha n.
tasmagoric pictures that rather harmonised than
otherwise with the buzzing, discordant hubbub, of
the mingled thousands, and the hideous gibbet
beneath.
Shortly before four o'clock the rumbling was heard in the
press-yard which indicated that the machinery for the exe-
cution was on the move. All eyes were turned to the gates
from which the huge black box, over which some 70 crimi-
nals have expiated their crimes, was to come. In a moment
it appeared, drawn by two horses, which seemed rather
ashamed of the business on which they were engaged. one
of them showing a strong inclination to jib. With little
difficulty, for the men seemed thoroughly to understand
their work, the foundation of the gallows was got into its
place, when an unearthly yell, such as is only heard at the
foot of the gibbet, was raised. As each stage was com-
pleted in fitting up the awful apparatus, there was a cheer,
or a yell, or a groan, or a mingling of the three. At about
half-past four all was in readiness; the mob, which only
numbered some 2,500 or 3,000, having seen that which ie
always looked forward to as the first exciting part of the
ceremony, subeidel into comparative silence, the constant
showers, and the impossibility of getting drink, having
rath r cooled them, and all noisy outbreaks having been im-
mediately suppressed by the well-directed efforts of the
police, under Inspector Everett, whose personal firmness
had no small influence on the roughs. Up to half-past 4
we heard of but one case of robbery ; in that instance, one
gentleman was captured with another gentleman's watch in
his hand.

During the few hours that elapsed between the erection
of the gallows and the execution of the culprit, th.
workmen were busily engaged fixing the remaining barriers.
The sound of the heavy mauls driving in the iron supports
probably reached the ears of the criminal in his condemned
cell. Then must ho have too fully realised the worse of
the immortal Bard of Avon—

" Tho.mta.r,ieridwri zuot,VvilvotripmthiluJir.
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death."

Inside the prison the heavy, iron-grated, dimly-lighted
passages, through which reigns a death-like ailence, broken
but seldom; and then only by the clinking rattle of warders'
keys, strike terror into the very soul of the stranger. En-
tering the building the iron-covered spiked door in the
Old Bailey, which is instantly closed upon the visitor, one
finds oneself in a lofty, half-lighted stone hall, about 40tt
square. Here, then, so far as one's freedom is concerned,
one is for the time being at th© entire mercy of the gaoler,
who, with the exception of Mr Jonas, the governor of the
prison, is the only man possessed of a key that can again
restore ono to liberty. With a feeling of awe the visitor
scans the dreary stone-paced hall. The eyes alight upon
three black boards fixed on the wall directly opposite the
entrance : on these are written the rules of the prison
house, but dust and age hide from the distant geze these
ancient writings. Against the wall to the left are fixed a
couple of shelves, on which are ranged in grim array the
white plaster casts of the heads of Greenacro, Courvoisier,
Rocker, Thistlewoed, Mullins, and others, who have been
hanged at Newgate. In all there are about 30, and strange
to say, in expression there are no two alike. The protruding
eyeballs of some, the half-closed eyes of others, the marks
of the rope on different parts of the neck, and the otherwise
distorted countenances, peering as they do through a thick
veil of black dust, and associated, too, with all that is ter-
rible, present a most hideous picture, and one that once seen
is not easily forgotten. With a shudder one turns away
from this frightful picture, and inquiringly eyes the grated
door opening into the first of the narrow, tortuous, and
apparently half-subterranean passages leading through the
heart of the prison to the condemned cells. As a kind of
personal relief one questions and chats with the ruddy-faced,
good-tempered gaoler, who says he has been stationed at
" that post for the past five-and-twenty years," and epito-

raises and narrates the histories of the numerous murderers
who have been hanged at Newgate during that period. All
this time one is waiting for the governor of the gaol, for
without his escort no one is allowed to go beyond the hall.

In duo course ho makes his appearance. The door is opened
by a gaoler from the inside, whose bright-buttoned uniform
and significant bunch of keys suspended from his
belt more than once attract attention while in the hall to
the grated door, as he paces to and from the gloomy passage
within, Entering at this gate, then, the visitors turn to the
left and pass along a passage dimly lighted by a small gas-jet.
At the end on the right is another massive iron door, and
another stalwart gaoler or sentry. instinctively, as it were,
through the grated window, he catches sight of the much-
respected governor, and throws back the cumbrous gate
upon its powerful hinges. Beyond is a kind of stone vestibule,
lighted by several small windows high up in the building.
Here, in the centre, is the "strong room," a place devoted
to the exclusive use of solicitors and counsel, in which they
hold converse with their prisoner-clients. From the fact of
' being called the " strong-room," it might generally be sup-
posed to be made of iron and doubly locked. But this is not
so ; on the contrary, it is in a building of glass, and is
termed "strong" because it is guarded by gaolers, who from
the outside can witness all that is going on ; but can hear
nothing. Proceeding onwards, passing through another,
and fifth massive iron door, a narrow passage is reached
which leads into the new wing of the gaol, an extensive
building lighted by skylights. In this structure are a series
of stone balconies built over each other in front of the cells
built in the walls round the room. Crossing this, ono passes
through another iron door on the north side of the room
into a short passage open to the air, but so covered in with
thick iron bars and strong wire that daylight is almost
excluded. At the end of this another massive door is
opened, and the visitor energes into a court-yard about
10 feet wide. This is formed by the boundary wall in
Newgate-street and tho now wing of the gaol. In this
yard the condemned cells are situated. There aro two of
these cells, each about ten feet square, and each contain-
ing an iron bedstead and mattress, a small deal table (over
which is a gas jet), and a couple of stools. Light is ad-
mitted by a square thickly•grated window looking into
the oourtyaid, and on to the massive towering white washed
wall opposite. Such, then, is the ingress to the condemned
cells,in one of which the wretched culprit who this morning
folf cited his life on the scaffold was confined since his con-
viction, and where he must have constantly heard the din of
busy life without.
The egress, however, from this horrible spot to the
debtor's door is by other and gloomier passages, which this
morning were made doubly so by the st,l tun procession that
passed through them.
After Mr Beard, Alderman Wiloon, and Mr Jonas left the
prisoner on Satutday night ho':''~)cared much Bliakon by