The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-23 00:00:00

The Contemned Convict in Newg ate.

Efforts are now being made in the proper quarter
to procure a commutation of the sentence of death
passed upon Karl Anderson, a Swedish sailor, at the
last Sessions of the Central Criminal Court, for the
murder of a fellow-seaman, named Marnchein, on
board the ship Raby Castle, on a voyage from
Penang to England, in November last. On Satttr;
day, a memorial, with that view, was prepared and
forwarded to the Home Secretary by Messrs.
Won tner and Sous, the solicitors, who, at the
instance of the Swedish Consul, conducted the de-
fence of the prisoner on his trial. The facts, n 8
they were brought out upon the trial on Friday
week, will be still fresh in the public recollection,
and it is only now necessary to state, what NO
abundantly proved in evidence, that the prisoner
shared in a superstition said to be common among
sailors, that a ship with a Russian Finn on board
was always more or less in danger of being lost;
and that he was possessed with the belief that the
man Marnchein, though in fact an Indian mulatto,
was a Russian Finn, and must be got rid of for the
safety of the vessel and all on board. The
memorial states that the case ou the part of the
Crown was perfectly clear, and could have left no
doubt in the mind of any person who heard the
evidence that the prisoner put the unfortunate Inn
to death, but it is submitted that the attendant cir-
cumstances show a state of mind of the prisoner at
the time of the alleged murder which takes the
crime out of that category. The memorialists sal'
from the evidence both on the part of the proven"
tion and of the defence, it appeared that for some
time past the prisoner, although in a general teal
accountable for his acts, is a person of wet'
mind, and the officers of the ship Progret
in which he sailed in 1865, went the length '9'
calling him " a harmless idiot." He used to walk
about the deck talking and muttering to himself,
and if addressed by a superior and told to do ea'
thing he would laugh in his face. He inTariabli
took his meals apart from the other men, ate raven;
ously, and though capable of understanding th,
orders given to him, the general impression on boar's'
was that he was a person of very feeble intellect'
The memorialists say that a superstition clearly exists
among sailors that the inhabitants of Finland 113/e
the power of witchcraft, and among no people more
strongly than their neighbours, the Swedes, of vvh°l/1
the prisoner is one. No sooner did Marnchein, the
deceased, join the Raby Castle, then the prisoner, who
believed him to be a Rufsiau Finn, was repeated
heard to say that the devil was in the ship. The%
remarks were not addressed openly to any one, 19110
were muttered audibly to himself as he walked tni,
deck. The memorialists also say it was clearly nu,.
1-flitted on all hands that there was no personal
on the part of the prisoner which conduced to the
act. They recount all the facts elicited in evidencit
on the trial, and say those facts establish to h,.r
mind a perfect instance of a murder committed under
the pressure of a strong delusion, and from the snore
ming up they are of opinion that the learned Jildg#
(Mr. Baron Chanuell) who tried the prisoner elite',
tamed the same view. The jury, however, after con'
suiting sulting together for more than an hour, found the
prisoner guilty, and he was of course sentenced
death. The memorialists say that in spite of that
at
verdict they still adhere strongly to the opinion
the view taken by the jury was incorrect, it bt;
admitted on all hands that there was no other inntlo
which could have influenced the prisoner beyond the
superstitious delusion which the evidence of all
~
witnesses showed to have been the cause of the inul
of
der. Nothing, they say, but the strongest sense ,
the injustice of the verdict would have induced
itvhes;
to move in the matter, and they trust that Mr. to
pole will be induced to reconsider the case, anclio
consult the learned Judge before allowing a von);
so much against the evidence to stand. In the mean
time the Sheriffs of London have fixed the exectiti°o,
unless respited, for Tuesday week, the 30th APrto
and an intimation has been made to that effect
the convict.

THE CONDEUNED CONVlCT.—Yesterday the 61;
vernor of Newgate received a communication fr°l3l ha
Secretary of State for the Home department respititicio
sentence of death upon Charles Anderson, the SWe"
sailor, during her Majesty's pleasure.

• Births.
,boo
ATIIOLE —On the 20th inst., at Blair Athole, the Du
of Athole, of a daughter. wife
STROUD—On the 22d inst., at Tunbridge, Kant, the
of the Rev. John Stroud, of a son. ticei
GREEN —On then
22d inst., at 5, Woodlands-ter of
B'aekhoath, the wife of Samuel Green, 8401.1
daughter.

Marriages. ,fireth
Tnyy—cowNs—Ou the 18th inst., at St. Pancras Nig]
Thomas Alfred, youngest son of the late Thoaaa6 „coil°
of Gloucester-crescent, Regent's-park, to Jane,
daughter of William Collins, of Notting:hill.
DACTZIGER—SUMNER-011 the 20th hat., at St•
Dgbi
Kennington, Harry Dautziger, Esq., to Su,s,a-a ,
of
younger daughter of the late Robert Sumner,
Priory-road, Glapham.

James ..„Deats.
KENT—On the 21st inst., Mr. James Kent, of vv e"-
a. 014
Hampstead, aged 74. P.'
ROMER—On the 22d inst., at Lamb's Conduit-stree.,
Jon Romer, iu his 81th year. who,eo
BOWMAN—On the 10th inst., at Walton-012—i-
James Bowman, Esq., aged Cliii"
CHILDS At Clap on, tho Rev. Thomas Cave ifoitolit
rector of St. George Plympton, near South ''''
Dovon, aged 47.
-....**--'‹

London: Printed and Published by WILLIA3I AND/40. I.lf
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TUE SUN °Rice' ~„t,y °-
Strand, in the Preeinc,t of the Savoy, in the Co“—
Middlesex.—Tuesday, April 23, 1867.