The Sun.
London, England, 1827-09-25 00:00:00

A DEIST'S OATH.

The Rev. Robert Taylor came up'to be heard on
his petition, and was opposed by Mr. POLLOCK, on
behalf of Messrs. Cracklow and Williams.

. .
The insolvent, on being asked by the Counsel,
when about to be sworn, whether there was any
part of the book put into his hands (the New Tes-
tament) to which he gave 'credence, stated that he
did not believe in the Gospels, but he did believe
in the existence of a God. •

COMMISSIONER.—Do. you then disclaim. the Gos-
pel ?—Taylof : I would not have objected to being
sworn on the Gospels, had it not been for this cavil
being raised.
CommtssioNtn.—lt is no cavil, Sir; it was the
Counsel's duty to put the question to you. I ask
you again, do you disclaim the Gospels ?—Taylor :
lam a Deist. Ido not believe in the Gospels.
COMMISSIONER.—WouId you object to taking the
oath in the usual form, but without. touching that
book ?—Taylor : I will not object to be sworn ac-
cording to that form.
Mr. HALCOMB here mentioned a case which had
occurred on the Western Circuit, where a man re-
fused to be sworn on the New Testament, because
there was a passage in it which prohibited swearing.
He, was then asked if he believed in the Old Testa-
ment, and answering in the affirmative, he was sworn
upon that, and the oath was considered a good one.
He did not know if this case would at all relieve the

....t."./.11,111...W.L0m • c.; c.„
my impression that there is no reason for rejecting a
man's oath, merely because he cannot be sworn in a
particular manner. Does the insolvent believe in the
Old Testament ? Taylor—l do not in either.

Mr. CooKE mentioned several cases referred to in
Mr. Phillips's book on evidence, from which it
would appear that any form of oath which is binding
on the witness's conscience is sufficient.
COMMISSIONER---Insolvent, do you believe an
oath sworn according to that form binding upon
your conscience ? Taylor—l do.
COMMISSIONER—Do you believe in God ? Taylor
—I believe in God, and in the just government of
God--

COMMISSIONER—Now let us not have the time of
the other suitors wasted with long speeches ; but
just answer my question. Do you believe in God ?
Taylor--I do.
COMMISSIONER.—And in a future state of rewards
and punishments under his dispensation ? Taylor.
I do; and, without kissing the Bible, I swear to
speak the truth'.
COMMISSIONER.—Mr. Pollock, I do not see any
principle on which I ought to reject this person's
oath.

Mr. POLLOCK.—The difficulty is, in what form is
he to be sworn so as to support an indictment for
perjury if he swear what is false
COMMISSIONER.—I feel the difficulty, and am very
much surprised that there is no decision to meet it.
Taylor.—lt would be very hard that my prosecutors,
who are Quakers, should be excused from taking an
oath, and yet allowed to keep me in perpetual im-
prisonment because I cannot take an oath in a parti-
cular form.

Mr. Pou.pcx requested that the case might stand
over for a few minutes, as he had sent to his chambers
for a book which would probably assist the Court
in arriving at some conclusion on the subject. As
the insolvent had made use of the word " cavil," he
(Mr. Pollock) would take the liberty of observing
that it was not easy to measure the conscience of a
man who admitted that only for that " cavil" he
would, not have objected to be sworn upon a book
in the,truth of which he did not believe.
Ttdsheoer
rei
long, that
sh‘tavaten:Tle
aover
ledfoorn
s case
'hiWas further postponed till to-morrow morning.
c; leht,e
oacentei
ireijvccia st
ohtreh
tce:vionu or
otr

AUTHOR OF WAVERLY.—This celebrated
magician it seems was in Glasgow casting can-
trips last, week. We understand when he visited
the Saitmarket on Friday lie could not discover
one trace of the residence of his worthy kinsman
I3ailie Nicol Jarvie, so completely have the re-
cent improvements changed the face of this once
con!fortable street.--Inverness Paper.
publiT u RNlPS.—Deplorably deficient
baasvethaelrecraod.py
of turnips was last year, the compieltaivtiemrivantfrtohme
c roups was so keen that they brought from
the crop is
taken
e‘...1x30e/le..
excellent,
12t1a,
6611 a..
ni a
an cd tn
i csr re
thee
a about
~
soa vicinity,et This
pricesfiss w e,aleiscohonr
.six pounds
an acre under whatt)iea
years. The
price
el tichorewo,.
lower
average
bi
or
circum-
stance ii_nca es
much -
taoeslfls both ways in behalf of sf ar
nacenwunih betteribcehr
cattle-
feeders. White turnips
are retailing at Bd., and
mixed white and yellow at 9d. a cwt. The fall
on straw is also considerable ; it is now 9s. and
at this time . last year it was 14s. a kemple.-7-
Though the keep of a caw barely exceeds half
the sum requisite six months ago, sweet milk is
still sold at 6d. the imperial pint. But it is fair
to mention on behalf of the dairyman, that
though the. fodder rose to Such an extravagant
rate, there was no advance on the milk.—
Scotsman.