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

Newspaper Press Fund.

A special general meeting of the members of this society
was held on Saturday afternoon at the Freemasons' Tavern,
Great Queen-street, for the purpose of considering the re-
vised rules and regulations, and of electing committee-men
and other officers for the current year, and for other busi •
ness ; Mr Godwin, ono of the vice-presidents in the chair.
The committee, which had conducted the affairs of the
society at once placed their resignation bodily in the hands
of the meeting. The business commenced with the hon,
secretary, Mr Henry George Warren, reading the rules and
regulations seriatim, and a lengthened discussion arose upon
some, which were amended. The names of the gentlemen
who had formed the committee up to this meeting were
read, and they were severally re-elected. By an alteration
which was carried in one of the rules, having reference to
the management, the number of the committee was in-
creased from twelve to eighteen.

The meeting then proceeded to elect the new members,
and to fill up the vacancy caused by the retirement of one
of the former committee. The names of the several gentle.
men who had consented to act, if elected, wore put seriatim,
and they were duly declared elected, namely—Mr Leicester
Buckingham, Mr T. D. Chipchaso, Mr H. Corbett, Mr
Callaghan, Mr Findon, Mr E. Lloyd, and Mr Edward
M'Dermott.

Mr D. M. Evans, C. Downing, and Charles Saunders,
were elected auditors.

A notice of moticn by Mr Frederick Ledger was on the
paper of business—" That some recognition of the services
which the hon. secretary has rendered to the institution
be made to that gentleman." It was, however, suggested
that the funds in hand ought not to be applied to any pur-
pose other than those for which they had been subscribed,
and that while the feeling was unanimous with respect to
the value of the services rendered by their es'eemen

lecretary, it would be the better course for the members

themselves to subscribe to a separate testimonial fund
rather than that by a vote such as that proposed they
shauld appear to divert any portion of the funds from the
objects contemplated at the formation of the society. Alist
was at once commenced, Mr Godwin heading it with hie
name for two guineas ; Mr Chas. Gruneisen kindly followed
the chairman's example, and other members present sub-
scribed liberal eums. A committee of five was ultimately ap-
pointed to collect and receive the subscriptions of the mem-
bers to the Warren TestLoonial Fund,

The proceedings were closed with a vote of thanks to the
chairman of the meeting.

The Convict Muller.

Yesterday again Fratz Muller, now under sentence of
death in the prison of Newgate, was visited by the Rev.
Mr Walbaum,rninister of the German Chapel in St. James's,
who remained with him some time. He also attended the
morning 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 Dakin 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 fJrwarded
to the Home Secretary to-day (Monday) or to-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 in
presenting the memorial. Originally Mr Beard, with the
advice and c.ssistance of the counsel who defended the pri-
' senor on his trial, prepared a memorial praying for mercy
on the ground, in effect, if not in terms, that the crime of
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 c kre has been taken by the
Governor of Newgate, and by the officers under him,
to conceal from the doomed man the efforts that

aro being made in that quarter to save hies life, lon
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 conviction, he has carefully avoided for the
same reason making any reference to such overtures. Still,
there is reason for believing that the convict is not altoge-
ther ignorant of such overtures, and the Governor and the
Chaplain are understood to regret the circumstance very
ranch for his own sake.
" It is understood (according to the Observer of yester-
day), that a communication has been made by the Secretary
of State to the judges who presided at the trial, with refe-
rence to the case, as to their opinion of the verdict. It is
customary in all cases of capital conviction ,for such an ap
plication to be made, and it is said that both the Lord Chief
Baron and Mr Baron Martin, in reply, stated that they
considered the evidence entirely conclusive, and that they
saw no reason to doubt the propriety of the verdict. The
prisoner, since his conviction, has been
_repeatedly invited
to give some reasonable explanation how he became pos-
sessed of the property that was stolen 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 for him, but he ap-
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 ono found in the railway
carriage."
Meantime the prisoner continues cool and collected, and
to eat and sleep well. He is even ranch improved in ap-
pearance since his conviction. His countenance, which at
times during the trial was pale and careworn, 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 German,
and in it he only slightly alluded to the crime of which he
had been convicted, without saying either that he was
innocent or guilty.

A young 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 Franco 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 cirole of the beau monde, who take the
greatest interest in her success hi the dramatic world.