Star.
London, England, 1824-06-10 00:00:00

CASE OF JAMES TAYLOR.

Mr. MARTI/4 said, he had once more to call the at-
tention of the House to the case of an unfortunate wo•
man, Maria Taylor, whose husband bad been convicted
under the provisions of the .56th of the late King, of
having been taken in arms, with several others, who had
assembied, as they asserted, to petition for a redress of
grievances, and sentenced to be tran,ported. He had
laboured hard with his Right Honourable Friend, the
Secretary of State hr the llome Department, to induce
him to acknow ledge that Taylor was a person who
ought to be recallet and his punishment to be put an
end to, but in vain. Neither could he persuade his
It'ght Hon ,nrable Friend to give him any proof of the
guilt of this unfortunate individual ; and having failed
in both these points, he had felt it kis duty again to
bring this case before the House. The Honourable
Member then proceeded to comment on the evidence
• upon wh;ch Taylor had been convicted, and strongly in-
sisted that the Jury ought not, upon such evidence, to
have round Taylor guilty. He concluded by moving
for leave to Loing tip a Petition from Maria 'Taylor.
Mr. Secretary PEEL said, as here was a charge against

his Majest)'s Government, for not having recommended
to the Crown to extend mercy to this individual, he
Could not sit entirely silent under this charge, without
pleading guilty ; still he scarcely knew what he had to
say. lie held ►n his hand the notes of the evidence
taken at the trial by the Learned Judge who tried the
cause, and upon which the Jury, who had the opportu-
nity of examining the witnesses, and remarking on their
Conduct, had found the prisoner guilty. It did some-
times occur to him, in cases where any doubt either of
the law or facts of the case could be entertained of the
guilt of the privwer, or propriety of the ,entence, to re-
commend to the Crown to extend mercy to the indivi-
dual; but when. upon full inquiry and investigation, no
doubt could exist of the guilt of the individual, and the
propriety of the verdict, it was his duty, as he con-
ceived, to resist all applications which might be made,
from whatever quarters they came, calling on him to,
interfere with the course of justice. Tire Right Hun.
Gentleman then went into a statement of the evidence,
as given on the tr al, Iron which it appeared that Tay.
lor lad been apprehended on the coast, in consequence
of having been engaged with several others in some
ds.spetate smuggling transactions, iu which blood was
shed. The transaction took place near, Margate, and
the cause was tried before Mr. Baron Wood. Taylor
gave or.iers for firing, and was apprehended in the
sa.ne cl-thes in which he was recognised by the man
who as shot at. The Right Hon. Secretary shewed

other evidcnce to convince the House that Taylor had
been sufficiently identified, notwithstanding the alibi set
up in his favour. Besides, three Canterbury men, who
were : admitted as approvers, were previously unac-
,quairited with the Margate men, and, therefore, could
not identify Taylor. Ile astute the House that no
case had ever more it,isiuutly occupied his attention than
this one. He had everi had the distance measured be-
tween the place of action and the house of an
indivi-
dual who had written to him that he had heard woi ds
favourable to Taylor, and he found that it w•ai more
than h.sif a mile from the place.
The Petition was then rejected without a division.
Sir J. ASTLEY presented a Petition Irons 11. Goorlay, com-
plaining of abuses in Schools.—Ordered to lie on the table.
Mr. 1108 HOUSE presented a Petition from Seven Oaks, in
Kent, praying the repeal of the Window Tax. lie then gave notice,
that early in the next Sassion he should move for the total repeal of
the Window Tax.
Mr. EG ERTON presented a Petition from the White Salt-
makers of Cheshire, against the introduction of Foreign Salt dirty
free.—Liid on the table.
Mr. HUME presented a Petition from a person named Jones,
of George-street, Baguigge Wells, complaining that he bad to take
an oath at Hatton Garden Office, hut refused to be sworn on the
New Testament, wishing to b.: sworn on the Bible. A Hebrew
Bible was presented to him, and he was desired to put his hat on,
in order to be sworn as a Jew. This also be refused, and his Peti-
tion now complained of the injury done to his feeling*.—Ordered to
be laid on the table, and to be printed.
Mr. HUME 'moved fbr Returns respecting Criminal Com-
mitments,
Mr. Secretary PEEL adverted to a statement of the Hon.
Gentleman, as to the increase of Commitments; now he had looked
back, and found a decrease in them as well as in the executions, since
Mix This applied also to capital convictiona. Since that year
there had been a diminution of capital convictions to the number of
2,000, and of capital punishments, from 108 to 55, throughout the
whole country.
Mr. MARTIN (of Galway) obtained leave to bring in a Bill to
abolish Bear-baiting, and other inhuman sports.
On the motion of Mr. Mammy, an Account was ordered to be
laid before the House of the sums raised in the Metropolis, for the
last seven years, fur Lighting, Paving, and Watching.
The Transportation of Offender:, all was read a third time
and passed.
The Magistrates of Ireland Indemnity Dill was read a second
time, and ordered to he committed to-morrow.
The Report of the Dublin Police Bill was brought up, the amend-
ments agreed to, and the Bill was ordered to-be read a third time
on Monday.
Tile Land Tax Redemption Bill went through a Committee.—
Report to-morrow.
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at Fight o'clock.