The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-24 00:00:00

THE CASE OF MARY FURLEY.

Sir James Graham has earned an undying reputation
by his conduct in the case of this broken-hearted
woman. In the first place, although she was sentenced
to death by the honey-tongued Mamie, Sir James Graham
knew nothing whatever of the matter. No ; when ques-
tioned by the House upon the atrocity of the sentence,
aggravated as it was by the funeral eloquence of the
judge, who doubtless, to teach a great moral lesson,
tortured the woman with Tyburn tropes ; even the
Home Secretary knew nothing of the circumstances
which had sent a shudderin-, horror through the heart of
the kingdom. He would, however, inquire about Mary
Farley. A week or so passes, and the country is astounded,
horrified at the further barbarity exercised upon the
sufferer, who is frenzied, agonized by the official
visit of the sheriff, come with the death-war-
rant from the Home-office. There is no hope for her!
She has, it is true, been driven to madness by accumu-
lated miseries which beggar fiction : she has been tor-
tured into an act of insanity by the cruelty of fortune ;
it is no matter, says the philosopher at the Home-
office—she must die. The woman must be hanged!
For some four-and-twenty hours the doomed creature
suffers agony unutterable. Sir James Graham, doubtless,
sleeps sweetly in his bed—yes, enjoys that sweet, deep
slumber, rewardful of solemn duties solemnly fulfilled.
Then, rising, he bethinks himself of the poor wretch
in Newgate ; the fact is, he is made to think
of her by the earnest faces and loud remonstrances
of a few Samaritans who beset the Home-office.
He is entreated to reconsider the sentence, and the re-
sult is—a reprieve for Mary Furley. No extenuating
circumstance has been discovered—none whatever. The
case remains as it was when Judge Maule—whose
eloquence might fire even the Temple—denounced
• the forlorn offender from the judgment-seat ; just
.
as it was, wLeti Sir James Graham sent down
the death-warrant ; but the public heart has re-
volted at the contemplated atrocity—the official
murder threatened by the Home-office—and the Minister
relents ; yes, the woman shall be reprieved ! She has
been upon the rack for four-and-twenty hours ; but
what is such amount of torment, more or less, to one
who has already suffered so much ? What, another
stab of the heart, to a heart so sorely maimed and
bleeding ? Then appear in the newspapers comforting
paragraphs, indicative of the new tenderness of Sir
James Graham. Yes, think we, Sir James has
now fully considered Mary Furley's condition. Poor
blighted creature! He has followed her through her
miserable history—has sympathised with her wretched-
ness in the union, when her sick child was cut and
maimed by the union's drunken servant—has glowed
with admiration of her, when, with her heroic wo-
man's heart, she again faced the misery of an un-
pitying world—has sorrowed with her at the failing
of her last hope, the few' shillings, stolen or lost,
that were to have given her and her babe the means of
life—has felt, to painful intensity, a grief and sympathy,
when, with a brain fired with despair, the frantic mother
sought a grave for herself and child. Yes—thought we
—the good, soft-hearted Sir James has pondered on the
history, so complete in all its terrors, of Mary Furley, and
he will recommend the woman to the Royal mercy. A
few days. a week or two perhaps, may be the term
of her imprisonment in the Penitentiary ; and then she
will return to the world, to enjoy the active sympathies
even-of the highest-born of her own sex, who will gather
about her, and with Samaritan goodness strive to heal the
wounds inflicted by undeserved wretchedness upon her.
She will be pitied, comforted, ay, caressed, for the horrors
she has endured, and, by the bounty of sympathising good-
ness, the means of subsistence will henceforth be made easy
to her. Such was our day-dream. Sir James Graham has
recommended Mary Furley to the Royal mercy, and the
result is—transportation for seven years! " Such is the
breath" of Home Secretaries! The Royal mercy was
wont, by a figure of speech, to be called the brightest
jewel in the Crown. If it still be so, why then, Sir
James, thanks to you, her Majesty Queen Victor wears
at the present moment the dimmest of diadems.—
Punch.