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  • Nov. 1, 1794
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  • MONTHLY CHRONICLE.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Nov. 1, 1794: Page 65

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    Article MONTHLY CHRONICLE. ← Page 4 of 5 →
Page 65

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Monthly Chronicle.

At the late Session at the Old Bailey , John Taylor , of Fleet-street , London , ( one of the principal witnesses against Watt and Downie , convicted of High Treason at Edinburgh ) , was tried for Bigamy , in feloniously marrying Margery Sophia Richardson , spinster , his former wife being then alive . The first witness was William Bearle , who said that he well knew the prisoner , and that he was married to Miss Sarah Marshall , on the 16 th of May , 1781 , at Baldock Church , in Hertfordshire ; the witness knew of his own knowledge , that Sarah Marshall was alive on the 19 th of September last . J . Barnley proved that the

prisoner ' s first wife was alive about ten days ago ; on his cross-examination he said he was not subpcened to give evidence by any relations of the prisoner , but by Mr . Pearce , the Clerk to Mr . Martin , now under confinement for High Trea ^ son ; he did not know that Mr . Pearce had himself ever been apprehended for High Treason . Margery Sophia Richardson , the second wife , was then called ; she proved that she was married by licence on the 30 th of May , 1790 , to the prisoner , at St . Bride's Church , Fleet-street ; she did not call it a misfortune to have been married to the prisonerbut she conceived it a happiness ; she knew

, lhat he was a married man at the time , and so did all her relations , who consented to her being married to him ; she said she loved , honoured , and obeyed him , and should always consider herself as his wife ; she had heard that his former wife could not receive the conjugal embrace , and though she did not at the time know of the second marriage , she afterwards highly approved of it , and she and the witness were upon terms of the greatest friendship ; she added , that she believed the prosecution against the prisoner originated solely in spite and malice . Mr . Pearce ( Clerk to Martin ) said he had instituted the present

prosecution from motives of justice , conceiving the prisoner to be a bad man ; he had no intention of convicting the prisoner to prevent his giving evidence against any persons charged with High Treason ; lie acknowledged he had been apprehended for High Treason , but was discharged by the Lords of the Privy-Council , upon his undertaking to appear when called for . Mrs . Taylor , the first and real wife , was offered as an evidence for her husband , to acknowledge what the other wretch , Richardson , had asserted of her being physically unfit for a wife . ' The Counsel for the prosecution objected to her testimony as

illeg-al : it was rather strange , he said , that the hoary defendant-at the bar had not discovered the inability of his wife before the termination of so many years , and before he met the precious witness who had just given her testimony . Mrs . Taylor ' s evidence was rejected . The evidence being closed , the Recorder observed to the Jury , that the witness Margery Sophia , with whatever confidence she seemed to pride herself on her connection with the prisoner , was yet to be considered in no other view than a prostitute , and he was surprized that the relatipns of this woman should so far forget themselves , as to assent to an union" so contrary to every legal , moral , and religious precept . The Jury found the prisoner Guiltv .

Sometime since , a gentleman and his family travelling on a road where there was an opposition between the inn-keepers , at a short distance before he came to the end of a stage , ordered the driver to take him to the inn which he had before been accustomed to use ; at the instant of which the fellow , putting bis hand to his hat , and looking over his shoulder , says , " Please your honour , have the children had the small pox ? ' cause the landlord ' s children at that house have got it now . " The gentleman being struck with the supposed honesty of the knight of the whip , knew not how sufficiently to make him an adequate

conpensation for this timely information , and in consequence gave him a ' very handsome acknowledgment at parting with him . On his return , meeting with his former acquaintance , the innkeeper , and on enquiring after his and the health of'his family , he discovered it to be a fraud , in consequence of the usual bribery of his opponent . A wager of a very whimsical nature has lately been made , and has not , as we ¦ understand , been yet determined . A sporting Gentleman proposed to deposit 50 guineas that he would find a man in thn room where they were sitting , who should anv time -. silkin a month fight any man of eqml -.-.-eight and age in the king-

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1794-11-01, Page 65” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 10 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01111794/page/65/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, OR GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY. FOR NOVEMBER 1794. Article 1
1st EPISTLE OF ST. PETER, 17th VERSE. Article 3
MASONIC PRECEPTS: Article 6
MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS AT NAPLES. Article 11
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RELIGIOUS AND MILITARY ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. Article 15
MR. TASKER'S LETTERS Article 21
Untitled Article 23
TIPPING BROWN, M. D. Article 24
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 26
EXAMPLES OF THE VIOLENCE WITH WHICH THE LEARNED HAVE CONTENDED ABOUT TRIFLES. FROM D'lSRAELI'S "CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE." VOL. II. Article 28
EARLY THEATRICAL MYSTERIES. Article 30
MAGICAL SUPERSTITION. Article 31
DETACHED THOUGHTS, Article 32
ON DESPAIR. Article 33
ON MILITARY DISCIPLINE. Article 34
ON WISDOM. Article 35
A CURE FOR THE BITE OF A VIPER. Article 35
ON THE COMPARATIVE MORALITY OF THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS. Article 36
ON THE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS. Article 39
ON THE VARIETY OF CONJECTURES CONCERNING THE APPEARANCE AND DEPARTURE OF SWALLOWS. Article 42
AUTHENTIC AND INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE ADVENTURES OF THE MUTINEERS Article 44
ANECDOTES OF CHAPELAIN, A GREAT MISER. Article 51
POETRY. Article 52
WHISKY: AN IRISH BACCHANALIAN SONG. Article 53
CONTEMPLATING THE PERIOD OF ALL HUMAN GLORY, AMONG THE TOMBS IN WESTMINSTER-ABBEY. Article 55
ODE TO FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. Article 56
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 57
PROLOGUE TO EMILIA GALOTTI. Article 59
EPILOGUE. Article 59
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 62
LIST OF GENTLEMEN NOMINATED AS SHERIFFS FOR 1795. Article 67
COUNTRY NEWS. Article 68
PROMOTIONS. Article 70
Untitled Article 70
Untitled Article 70
BANKRUPTS. Article 71
Untitled Article 72
LONDON : Article 72
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 73
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Page 65

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Monthly Chronicle.

At the late Session at the Old Bailey , John Taylor , of Fleet-street , London , ( one of the principal witnesses against Watt and Downie , convicted of High Treason at Edinburgh ) , was tried for Bigamy , in feloniously marrying Margery Sophia Richardson , spinster , his former wife being then alive . The first witness was William Bearle , who said that he well knew the prisoner , and that he was married to Miss Sarah Marshall , on the 16 th of May , 1781 , at Baldock Church , in Hertfordshire ; the witness knew of his own knowledge , that Sarah Marshall was alive on the 19 th of September last . J . Barnley proved that the

prisoner ' s first wife was alive about ten days ago ; on his cross-examination he said he was not subpcened to give evidence by any relations of the prisoner , but by Mr . Pearce , the Clerk to Mr . Martin , now under confinement for High Trea ^ son ; he did not know that Mr . Pearce had himself ever been apprehended for High Treason . Margery Sophia Richardson , the second wife , was then called ; she proved that she was married by licence on the 30 th of May , 1790 , to the prisoner , at St . Bride's Church , Fleet-street ; she did not call it a misfortune to have been married to the prisonerbut she conceived it a happiness ; she knew

, lhat he was a married man at the time , and so did all her relations , who consented to her being married to him ; she said she loved , honoured , and obeyed him , and should always consider herself as his wife ; she had heard that his former wife could not receive the conjugal embrace , and though she did not at the time know of the second marriage , she afterwards highly approved of it , and she and the witness were upon terms of the greatest friendship ; she added , that she believed the prosecution against the prisoner originated solely in spite and malice . Mr . Pearce ( Clerk to Martin ) said he had instituted the present

prosecution from motives of justice , conceiving the prisoner to be a bad man ; he had no intention of convicting the prisoner to prevent his giving evidence against any persons charged with High Treason ; lie acknowledged he had been apprehended for High Treason , but was discharged by the Lords of the Privy-Council , upon his undertaking to appear when called for . Mrs . Taylor , the first and real wife , was offered as an evidence for her husband , to acknowledge what the other wretch , Richardson , had asserted of her being physically unfit for a wife . ' The Counsel for the prosecution objected to her testimony as

illeg-al : it was rather strange , he said , that the hoary defendant-at the bar had not discovered the inability of his wife before the termination of so many years , and before he met the precious witness who had just given her testimony . Mrs . Taylor ' s evidence was rejected . The evidence being closed , the Recorder observed to the Jury , that the witness Margery Sophia , with whatever confidence she seemed to pride herself on her connection with the prisoner , was yet to be considered in no other view than a prostitute , and he was surprized that the relatipns of this woman should so far forget themselves , as to assent to an union" so contrary to every legal , moral , and religious precept . The Jury found the prisoner Guiltv .

Sometime since , a gentleman and his family travelling on a road where there was an opposition between the inn-keepers , at a short distance before he came to the end of a stage , ordered the driver to take him to the inn which he had before been accustomed to use ; at the instant of which the fellow , putting bis hand to his hat , and looking over his shoulder , says , " Please your honour , have the children had the small pox ? ' cause the landlord ' s children at that house have got it now . " The gentleman being struck with the supposed honesty of the knight of the whip , knew not how sufficiently to make him an adequate

conpensation for this timely information , and in consequence gave him a ' very handsome acknowledgment at parting with him . On his return , meeting with his former acquaintance , the innkeeper , and on enquiring after his and the health of'his family , he discovered it to be a fraud , in consequence of the usual bribery of his opponent . A wager of a very whimsical nature has lately been made , and has not , as we ¦ understand , been yet determined . A sporting Gentleman proposed to deposit 50 guineas that he would find a man in thn room where they were sitting , who should anv time -. silkin a month fight any man of eqml -.-.-eight and age in the king-

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