for the protection of their countrymen, and one would think that no expense was spared by them to gain all the information that could be obtained. It is for you to consider whether half the industry and diligence which has resulted in the production of those old hats that we saw last night-I forget now how many there were it is for you to consider, whether, if that diligence had been applied in finding out where the prisoner bought this hat, which was bought, certainly, according to his own account, not more than a month from the date of the murder, half that diligence would not have found out the very man who sold it to him, if any body did sell it, and the very man who altered it, if, in fact, any body did alter it but himself. That is a fact you will have to put to yourselves and decide for yourselves, but it is a point in the case that appears to me to be worthy of your consideration.

Mr. Sergeant Parry.-Mr. Digance, at the close of his evidence, in answer to me, said, "I will not swear that this is the hat I sold to Mr. Briggs."

The Chief Baron.-I dare say he would not swear that is the one; but the question is whether he believed it was, and whether he furnishes sufficient materials for you to believe it was. A man may not swear to a fact of which he is not thoroughly satisfied; Mr. Digance could not be certain in the sense in which I am certain I am addressing you, or in the extreme sense asked in a court of justice. Well, then, you are to say how far the story of the hat leads you to the conclusion that the hat found in the box belonging to the prisoner at the bar was the hat of Mr. Briggs. With respect to the hat left in the railway carriage, undoubtedly it was a matter of some surprise at first. The foreman said, looking to the pattern of the lining, there were not more than three hats made with it, and Mr. Walker, the hat-maker himself, said, "I had a number of samples from Paris; there were only two or three of this pattern, and certainly not more than one hat, or two at the most, were made with this particular lining." It is for you, gentlemen, to say what is the conclusion you draw from that. Mrs. Repsch said Müller's hat had a remarkable lining, and so the fact appears to have been, she never could have seen its like. But where these different points of the case lead independently of each other to the same conclusion, it is for you to say how far the union of more than one gives strength to that conclusion-how far it is better if several of them unite together in a conclusion, even though not so perfect, and lead to a result more certain on the whole. There is a case reported which will illustrate what I mean: it occurs in Mr. Starkie's book on Evidence. A gentleman was robbed of his purse in a crowd. He gave instant information. Some notorious character was apprehended, and the purse was found upon him. The gentleman was asked whether that was his purse. He said he believed it was. The purse was turned out. It contained five or six pieces of coin. He was asked if he could swear to the first. He said, "No." He was asked if he could swear to any one of the pieces of money. He said, "No, I cannot." He was told if he could not swear to the property the prisoner must be acquitted. He was again asked, "Are you convinced that is your purse and money ?" He said, "I am." He was asked why. "Because," he said, "the purse happened to contain five or six separate pieces of money, and although I could not swear to any individual coin-there was a 78. piece, even then not very common, a half-crown piece, and others (enumerating the coins)—yet I cannot imagine that any one else had a purse exactly like this, with these several pieces of money in it." You will appreciate the value of that kind of identification-not identifying each piece, but identifying the collection. "I swear to my purse," said the gentleman, "with these separate pieces of

money, which I perfectly recollect. Though I cannot identify each individual piece I can identify the whole, and the conviction on my mind is that it is my property." I forbear to state what the conclusion was that was drawn in that particular case, but it will illustrate what I mean when I say that if part of the case leads to one conclusion, and another part of the case, though imperfectly, leads to the same conclusion, it adds strength to that conclusion; and so a third point, though not perfectly made out, still adds strength to the general case that is involved in a comparison of these different facts and circumstances; and that is the true value of circumstantial evidence. If you believe the facts that lead to the conclusion, you are bound to go on with that conclusion to the end. Well, gentlemen, I shall not trouble you further with reference to the hat which was found in the carriage, the hat which was found in the prisoner's box, or the watch and chain. I have already made a remark on Lee's testimony. I have told you distinctly that if you believe, from the appearance of the prisoner, and from what you know of his history and habits, that he was incapable of doing the deed, of course he is entitled to your verdict. It is said he was lame on the Saturday night, but according to the evidence he was walking about from six to nine o'clock on the night following that of the murder, and it is not stated that he walked lame or had to sit down in consequence. I now, then, come to the last defence made the alibi. That is so entirely a matter for your consideration that I shall say very little about it. You have had the evidence of Mary Ann Eldred, whom it is impossible to hear or see without great compassion for the situation in life which she has filled. Her evidence consisted, certainly, very much more in saying what she could not than in saying what she did recollect. But she stated that she went out at nine, and that Müller called about half-past nine o'clock. No doubt that is the case of the alibi; that was what she came here to say. She said she knew Müller was going to America, and it is fair to say that his going to America was perfectly well known —that is, that he had the intention of going. And she said, "He told me that if I did not go with him he would not stay more than six months." You will have to say whether her account is at all a satisfactory one, and how far you believe that it makes out an alibi. With respect to the witness Jones, it is impossible to speak of her or her husband with the same degree of forbearance. With respect to the husband, I think a man engaged through the medium of his wife in a transaction of that sort is about the most infamous of mankind. How far the wife is some shades better it is for you to determine. But really the question comes to this-and it is for you to consider whether the whole movements of the prisoner spoken to on the night of the murder are not, according to the argument of the Solicitor-General, entirely reconcileable with the case for the prosecution. Between seven and eight o'clock the prisoner was at Repsch's. He then left, taking his boots with him, saying he was going to Camberwell. There was plenty of time for him to have gone to Camberwell, and to have returned, though not in the same omnibus with Mr. Briggs. He would arrive in the City in time to go by the train from Fenchurch-street. These, I think, are nearly all the circumstances to which it is necessary for me to call your attention. And now, gentlemen, I have endeavoured to discharge my duty. It remains with you to discharge yours. I must again tell you that the verdict is to be yours. It is for you to decide the great and important question of the prisoner's guilt or innocence. If I have in any part of my address to you intimated any opinion on that subject, I have desired to express none. I have called your attention to circumstances which I think you ought to consider; but as far as I could I have endeavoured to

avoid the expression of any opinion of the kind. It is not for me to decide; it is for you to deliberate and decide according to the best of your judgment, and according to your conscience; and if you have collected any opinion as to any part of the case from what may have fallen from me, unless in as far as it goes along with your entire and deliberate judgment, I beg of you, gentlemen, to treat it as if I had said nothing on the subject. The verdict is to be yours. The law and the constitution have given to twelve men, sworn to act according to the evidence, the duty of finding the verdict of Guilty or Not Guilty. In deliberating upon that verdict, I doubt not, as advised by both learned counsel, you will act with impartiality and fairness; you will remember the duty you owe the prisoner, to deem him innocent till he is proved guilty. You will not forget the duty you owe the country and society at large, if the evidence leads you to a conclusion of guilt, fearlessly to act upon it, according to your conscience, and find that verdict which you believe to be the true one. And may the God of all truth guide your hearts and judgments unto that which shall be a perfect and satisfactory verdict according to the truth and justice of the case.

The jury retired to consider their verdict at a quarter to three o'clock, and after an absence of fifteen minutes returned into court, finding the prisoner Guilty.

66

Being called upon to say if he had any thing to urge why sentence of Death should not be pronounced, the prisoner made answer : I have nothing to say before judgment.”

Mr. Baron Martin having put on the black cap, addressing the prisoner, said,—Franz Müller, you have been found guilty by the jury of the murder of Mr. Briggs, and it is no part of our duty to express generally any opinion with respect to the verdict of the jury. It is their province to decide upon your guilt or your innocence. But it is usual for the Judges to state, in passing sentence, if they entirely concur with the verdict, and they do so for two reasons. It is satisfactory if the opinion of the Judges concurs with that of the jury, and I am authorized by the Chief Baron to state, and I state on my own behalf, that we are perfectly satisfied with the verdict, and had I been on the jury I would have concurred in it. And there is a second reason for the statement, in order to remove entirely from your mind any idea of the possibility that you will live in this world much longer. Within a short period you will be removed from it by a violent death. I therefore beseech you avail yourself of what I have no doubt will be afforded you -the means, so far as you can, of making your peace with your Maker,—and be prepared to meet that fate which very shortly awaits you. I forbear going into the particulars of the case; but there are a variety of circumstances in it which, if the evidence had been gone into more minutely, would have more and more tended to establish your guilt. The whole evidence as to your movements during the day of the murder points to that conclusion. You left the house of Blythe about eleven. You continued at the house of Repsch till between seven and eight, when, according to the testimony of a witness who was evidently favourable, you started at a quarter to eight, telling him you were going to Camberwell to see the young woman Eldred. You went there. It may be that Mrs. Jones supposed she was telling the truth when she says you were there after nine o'clock, but in my opinion she was in error, and from the time you left the City it was earlier ; but you still had time to return by omnibus towards the Fenchurch station before the train started, where, observing Mr. Briggs, probably exhibiting this watch and chain, you formed the determination to rob him. There are other circumstances which tend to the same conclusion. What is your history during the following week?

You exchange the chain of Mr. Briggs for another at Mr. Death's. You immediately proceed to pledge that chain in order to receive a sum of money upon it. Having done so, you take out of pledge your own watch and chain, and, having got them, you proceed to pledge them again at another shop for a higher sum and sell the ticket. If the real truth were known, I have no doubt it would be found that, moved by the devil, and for the purpose of getting money to go to America, you robbed Mr. Briggs of his watch and chain, and with these contrived, with assistance from your friends, to get sufficient money to pay your passage. That, there can be little doubt, is the true history of the transaction. I refer to these facts for the purpose of removing from your mind all idea of there being any possibility of a commutation of sentence. I must say, after listening to all the evidence which has been adduced, I feel no more doubt that you committed this murder, than I do with reference to the occurrence of any other event of which I am certain, but which I did not see with my own eyes. The sentence I have now to pass on you is not that of the Chief Baron; it is not my sentence; it is the sentence which the law of England imposes on all persons found guilty of murder, and that is, that you be taken back to the prison whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, and there be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and that your body, when dead, be taken down and buried in the precincts of the prison where you were last confined before this sentence of execution was passed upon you; and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

The prisoner then, with great firmness and self-possession, said," I should like to say something. I am, at all events, satisfied with the sentence which your lordship has passed. I know very well it is that which the law of the country prescribes. What I have to say is that I have not been convicted on a true statement of the facts, but on a false statement."

The firmness of the miserable man here gave way, and he left the dock bathed in tears 1.

1 For an account of the execution of Franz Müller, see the Chronicle, ante.

APPENDIX.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AND STATE PAPERS.

I.

AFFAIRS OF DENMARK.

Summary of the Deliberations of the Conference of London, from the 25th of April to the 22nd of June, 1864. From Papers presented to both Houses of Parliament.