§ MR. P. A. TAYLORsaid, he had put into the hands of the Home Secretary a Letter from one who was present on the occasion of the trial, and had seen the depositions, and given a very different account from that furnished to the right hon. Gentleman. He wished now to ask, Whether the right hon. Gentleman would cause further inquiry to be made into the facts?
MR. BRUCEreplied that he should be very happy to cause further inquiry to be made if it would lead to any satisfactory result. But though the accuracy of his Answer the other evening had, in some particulars, been questioned, the substance of it had not—namely, that the woman pleaded "Guilty" to a charge of stealing faggots, that one of the witnesses stated that he had heard her say that she had stolen more on the previous night, and that the magistrates had passed a sentence upon her of seven days' imprisonment. The only course which he could take with respect to the magistrates, if he considered their conduct unworthy of their position, would be to report them to the Lord Chancellor, and ask to have them removed from the commission of the peace. He did not think the facts would justify any such proceeding.