The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-14 00:00:00

The Convict Hall,

The followirg eoramunication fmm the Home-
dace was received by the Mayor of Birmingham on
Saturday :

Whitehall, March 11.
Sir,—l am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to
acknowledge the receipt of the memorial from inhal4itants
of Birmingham, transmitted by you on the 7th, on behalf
of George Hall, a prisoner under sentence of death in War-
wick gaol for the murder of his wife.

Several other memorials have been received to the same
effect. Among them is one from Mr. Wright and Messrs.
Morgan, attorneys-at-law at Birmingham, entering in
detail into the circumstances of the case, and accompanied
by affidavits made
.by several persons, all of whom might
have been examined on the trial as witnesses for the pri-
soner, in order to show the provocation under which the
prisoner is alleged to have acted. This memorial, after
expressing the hope that the facts of the case may be held
to show that the existence of a form of provocation at least
as strong as those provocations which by law reduce mur-
der to manslaughter, concludes by praying, on this ground,
a commutation of the capital sentence.
The learned Judge bas also sent to the Secretary of
State his notes of the trial. Sir George Grey has given the
most careful and anxious consideration to all those docu-
ments. The case is one of very painful and distressing
character, but the actual facts appear to admit of no doubt
or uncertainty.

The prisoner, on Christmas Day last married a woman
after an acquaintance of several years, but which is said to
have been broken off for some time last spring. In conse-
quence of a dispute about another man she went home to
her mother's house on the day of the marriage on the plea of
illness, but she returned to her husband tha next day, and
remained with him until the 3d of January, when she finally
left him, going back to her mother's house, land continued
there, though there is no reason to doubt that she associated
occasionally with her paramour. On the 4th of January an
altercation took place between the prisoner and his wife on
his meeting her coming from the theatre with the other
man. On the 12th the wife took out a summons against the
prisoner for, as she alleged, threatening her. The summons
was dismissed on the 14th. On the afternoon of the IGth
the prisoner bought a brace of pistols, with powder and
four bullets. On the evening of the same day, after being
apparently on good terms with his wife at her mother's
house, he induced her to go out of doors with him, and while
they were out he shot her through the head with one of the
pistols.

Whatever distress of mind the prisoner may have suf-
fered from his wife's misconduct, there can be no doubt
from the evidence that the murder was deliberate and pre-
meditated. The act was not committed in any fit of excite-
ment immediately consequent on his wife's desertion of him
or the discovery of her infidelity. A considerable interval
had elapsed since she left him. Nothing appears to have
occurred on the evening of the murder to inflame or exaspe-
rate him. No reasonable doubt can be entertained that he
bought the pistols with the intention of taking away his
wife's life, and that he took them with him and induced her
to accompany him from her mother's house in order to
carry this intention into effect.

Sir George Grey feels that it would be of most dangerous
consequence to society if such provocation as the prisoner
received were held sufficient to exempt a man from the
penalty attached by law to deliberate and premeditated
murder, and therefore he regrets to be compelled to come to
the conclusion that it would be inconsistent with his duty t®
recommend a commutation of the sentence.—l am, Sir,
your obedient servant,
The Mayor of Birmingham.

H. WADDINGTON.

On Saturday the Rev. Canon Miller, D.D., Mr.
W. Morgan, and Mr.S. S. Wright (of Birmingham),
came to London to see Sir George Grey, and after-
wards the two latter gentlemen went to Lincoln to
see Mr. Justice Byles, the judge who tried the
case, and we understand that yesterday Mr. J.
S. Wright, accompanied by Mr. Fitzjames Stephens,
the junior counsel engaged in the defence, came to
London from Lincoln.

At the same time Mr. Alfred F. Morgan came
from Birmingham, accompanied by Mr. G. F.
James and Mr. J. Ansel!, solicitor, with further
affidavits.

Sir George Grey came to the determination yes-
terday that the final sentence of the law in this
case should not be carried into effect, and has re-
spited the prisoner.

BIRMINGHAM, Sunday Night.
Sir George Grey has yielded. Hall i 2 respited.
It was nearly midnight when this was generally
known here, and much satisfaction was manifested
by the large numbers of persons assembled in the
neighbourhood of the newspaper offices and the
Electric Telegraph Company's offices.
Naval and Military Intelligence.