Star. — London, England, 1809-05-03 00:00:00

FOREIGN lATSLLIGENCE. AMSTERDAM, APRIL 24. His Majesty the &opt -or of France arrived at Ludwigsburg on the night of the 15th and 16th, and proceedato Dillengen, at twelve at noon. M. Duroc, the Marshal of the - Palace, was with him. His Ma- PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LO RDS, TUESDAY, MAY 2. jesty has ordered the Bavarian troops to take their ancient position by Straubing, that the army may soon be in a condition to commence offensive operations with the greatest effect. The French head-quarters are to be removed from Donauwerth to Ingolstatt, and so proceed forwards. • The Austrians appear, since they crossed the Inn, to have daily, fortified themselves, and to be desirous to advance slowly: Some blow cannot fail to be struck before long. Nothing of the kind had taken place on the departure of the last couriers, because the allied troops had received orders to retreat on the approach of the enemy. • Several public andprivate bills were brought up from the Com mons, and read a first time. Those on the table were forwarded in their respective stages. THE LOCAL MILITIA. The Earl of LIVERPOOL stated to their Lordships, that the Local Militia Bill had passed through its last stage in their House thg evening before, in a state by no means intended, deficient in some points, upon which it was determined that some clauses should have been introduced. He did not impute blame to any person, but merely considered it an oversight, and that, as the -case actually was, it had in the hurry of the moment escaped par ticular notice, and had passed. He therefore meant to submit a bill to their Lordships' consideration, the object whereof would be to remedy the defects in that bill that he complained of. Lords GRENVILLE' and AUCKLAND both complained of the way in which bills were crowded together towards the con clusion of a Session, by which the most important enactments were often overlooked, and the most injurious often passed into Law. PARIS, APRIL 20. In the Moniteur of yesterday are the following officii particulars concerning the commencement of the war with Austria :- 44 The letter of the Archduke Charles, addressed to the Commander in Chief of the French troops, was not delivered to that General, he not being in Bavaria, and there being no French army there. The letter was brought by M. Wratislaw, Field Officer of the Archduke. This Officer did not chuse to say at which point of the army the Archduke was, when he brought the letter, which was handed to his Majesty at Munich. " Even in March the preparations for the campaign by the Emperor and the Archduke were announced. All the roads in the Austrian dominions were covered with troops. On the 4th of March the Archduke. Lewis fixed his head-quarters at Wels. On the 31st there was already a great quantity of provisions col lected. at Lintz and Wels. All the frontiers of Austria were supplied with provisions, and beset with troops. —The Emperor Francis was expected on the 6th at Linz. The old Elector of Hessia was raising a vo lunteer corps at Prague, which took in troops from all countries, more especially Hessians, of whom, it was said, great numbers were flocking thither. M. de Stein was at Prague, composing there all sorts of libels.—The Austrian Government succeeded for a moment in rousing the poptilace, even the more en lightened classes, by assertions that for nine months the fencibles had been armed for the defence of the Country. • " On the Bth of April, the intelligence was received at Munich, that preparations were made by the Aus trians for passing over the Inn, and that a bridge of boats was already made between Brannan and Schar ding. On the 9th the Austrian Charge d'Affaires at Munich demanded of the Minister of the Emperor Napoleon an interview for M. Wratislaw, Field-Officer of the Archduke, who brought over the letter. M. Wratislaw had at the same time delivered a letter to the King of Bavaria, soliciting his Majesty to attend to the wishes of the Bavarian people, who, as the Austrian Princes affirm, behold in them only their deliverer=. He adds that he had received the strictest • orders to act hostilely only against that nation which is the enemy of all political independence in Europe. The Archduke assured him that it would cost him much to make the Bavarian nation sustain the evils of a war which was undertaken for the cause of gene ral freedom. On the morning of the 9th of April it was not known at Munich where the Archduke ac tually was. His Field-Officer, M. Wratislaw, has refused to say any thing upon the subject. Somewhat later in the day of the 9th, tidings were received that the Austrians had passed the Inn at Brannau and Burghausen. The same intelligence was received at the head-quarters of the Duke of . Dantzic. The dispatches from Munich of the 10th, announce, that the Members of the Austrian legation there had assumed a lofty tone, and affirmed that the Archduke would attack the whole line on five points at once, and would take the friends of the French as hostages. The French answered, that for every Bavarian hostage they would take ten Bar ns of the Holy Roman Empire with them. M. de Stadion, the * lntendant General of the Austrian army, Is already announced at the house of a Banker at Munich. Credit to a considerable amount has been opened.in his favour at Augsburg, Ulm and Ratis boy, Leipzig and Frankfort. M. de Stadion is des tined to be the 44 Thomas Payne" of Germany. The frontiers are covered with proclamations and pamph lets of every description. With Messrs. Genz and Stein is also one Schlegel. 64 On the 11th, particular intelligence was received of the passage of the Austrians, who had come near 'enough to be saluted by the centinels, but had, how ever, not fired upon the Bavarian soldiers. They issued pretended proclamations, to persuade the Ger mans to make common cause with them. The Bava rian troops retreated to the Lech. The King of Ba varia went on the 11th with his attendants to Dil lengen." This piece is considered generally as an introduction to the Bulletins which we have to expect. There are a variety of reports. Some assert that the Aus trians have advanced further ; others, that they have been driven over the Inn. Both are considered as unfounded. His Majesty the Emperor staid but a short time at Strasburgh, and proceeded instantly to the army. What passed in the Senate is not yet knOwn ; but it is generally asserted that a new levy of troops has been spoken of. BAMBERG, APRIL 12. ADULTERY. Lord AUCKLAND, in pursuance of the notice he had given, called the attention of the House to the subject of divorces in cases of adultery. His Lord ship stated, that the object he had in View was, if pos sible, to protect social order, by preventing, as far as legislative interference could go, the violation of the marriage contract ; to prevent as much as he could the increase of that most criminal offence, adul tery, which of late years had grown to such an enor m >us extent. It was really a most lament able cir cumstance that the vices of the age were such, that no rank, no degree appeared to be exempt from it ; that it had made such strides in the higher walks of., life, unless legislative interference were exerted to check the evil, it would be quite impossible to foresee the fatal consequences that must ensue ; because to them the rest of the public looked up for example ; to them the great mass of the people were naturally attracted for their models of rectitude and right : " If pure are the springs from the fountain, " As purely the river will flow ; " If noxious the stream from the mountain, " It poisons the valley below." So as the more elevated ranks of life are viciotts or virtuous, those beneath them imitate the pattern. He had long contemplated a remedy for the evil he com plained of, and he thought none so applicable as that which would prevent the offending parties from in termarrying with each other. To accomplish that object was his intention this night. He observed, that of late years it was become quite a common thing for the adulterer and adultress to intermarry as soon as the bill passed which separated for ever the offending wife from her offended husband. And so barefaced and flagrant has this practice been, that in a recent instance the adulterer and adultress were married on the very same day that the divorce bill of the latter passed their Lordships' House. For his part he could wish that somelegi slative measure should' be adopted to give the injured a more facile mode of relieving themselves from the aggressing party than at present prevails. According to the system at this moment existing, the benefits of divorce can only be obtained by the higher ranks of life, or the opulent. The expence is so very great, that the great mass of the people cannot accomplish it, and are therefore excluded from those advantages which money alone gives to the higher classes of the community, or to the wealthier ; as, for instance, one case of of divorce alone which occurred this Sessions, cost the unoffen 'ding husband no less than 40001. This he mentioned merely for the sake of persuading their Lordships to think seriously of some means to dispense equal jus tice to all classes of our fellow subjects. His Lordship from this topic, proceeded to take a view of the va rious ills annexed to the crime of adultery, and to shew therefore the urgent necessity of their Lordships adopting the principle he suggested, and concluded with moving, 44 That it be a standing order of the House, that every Bill of Divorce on account of adul tery introduced therein, should contain a clause, pro. hibiting the offending parties from intermarriage." The Earl of RADNOR approved of the object of 'the Noble Baron's motion ; but feared much that dif t ficulties might easily be thrown in the way of its ac complishment. The intermeddling with the standing orders of the House he did not much relish, nor did he think the proposed. clause of the Noble Baron would be of any avail ; for the Committee on a Di. vorce might resolve to break through, as had been done even in,the course of the present Session, when the Hcuse met at an unusually early hour to pass a Divorce Bill, in order to permit the offending parties to marry without delay. Lord MULGRAVE entertained the same senti ments on this subject as he had before expressed.— His Lordship could not perceive how the great cause of morality could be effectually promoted by such a measure. The sum of 40001. seemed enormous in such a case ; but if it were necessary to incur such expences, he should rather say that something should be done to make the matter more equal to the lower classes. He wished as much as any Noble Lord to diminish offences of this description, which had such baneful consequences, and was willing to do any thing in his power to carry into effect any measure for that purpose, as far as the mild and benignant spirit of our laws was kept in view. But would mo rals be promoted by taking away almost the onl) chance of reforming and amending the life of the female.? If noble Lords would looks at the instances of such persons divorted, who did not marry, and compare them with those who subsequently married, Within the last week no post is arrived from Vienna. I they Would find a very great difference. Some un• On the other hand, various persons have come here, fortunate ladies had diplayed, after their faults, a who, as foreigners, were obliged to leave Vienna, and character that even might be called exemplary. He who had received passports to proceed through Bo- ;.thought such a measure rather encouraged seducers, h ern i a .to Saxony and Fra ncon i a . A ccord i ng to these, by taking away all remedy for misconduct. It cer there was an Austrian army pl ace d on the other side tainly tended to make the woman a mistress in future (4 . the Elbe, towards the Saxon frontiers, of which the • and not a and to shut up the door to repentance van was in Tischen, and also another corps, of which and reformiOn. He had a sincere desire to repress the main body was placed in the environs of Topliz. the evil, but he had a fitm conviction that the probi- Towaxds the frontiers of Franconia, two cs were bition had a tendeucy rather to increase it. He hoped ca ntoned, the one by Er orpaogen, th e ot h er by Pilsen, to see somet hi ng better proposed than a measure Th e latter, which is the most numerous, has already :'which, in its operation, might become so severe and advanced in the field, and appears disposed to advance cruel. Inwa rds Ratisbon. The right W i ng o f the French The Archbisjaop of CANTERBURY, a f ter some • F iny, which is in Franconia, stands at Amberg and prefatcry observations, said, tbat though he was not *zzetches itself to Ratisbon. The centre stands near so fortunate as to hope by this measure to extinguish . Forcheim, and the left wing towards the territory of this great crime, yet he VMS hap to adopt any prac % Layreuth. The advanced posts of the left Wi ng t i ca l mo d e o f prevent i ni the *Li W • . the commis ft- Pr, • v. `' ' sion of ultety. It was, he lamented to say, very , sell at he could see their Lordships` table pure and clean from the pollution of Divorce Bills, now becoming daily more frequent. So common indeed were they, that, to use the words of an old author, they seemed to be considered as the proper fruits of marriage. There was, he feared, hardly a pedigree that was not stained and broken by this sad frequency of crime. It was impossible that such things could last long. Marriage was, in fact, the basis of all our relations and duties !ft SOCiAI life. It began with the creation, and it remained in the rudest elements of society. Its importance and sanctity were recognized by the universal consent of mankind. In this coun try, indeed, we did not exalt it into a sacrament ; but we regarded it justly as a sacred institution. It was both a civil contract and a religious rite. His Grace reviewed the state of matrimonal obligations among the Romans, and shewed from a variety of illustra tions and quotations the immense importance of guarding them from the intrusions of licentiousness. The misery that the crime of adultery caused to fa milies, was of the most serious nature. There was one result of such criminality, which it was the highest duty and soundest policy of any state to prevent ; he meant the neglect of children, which was its natural consequence. His Grace would not take upon him. self to say how far, in ancient times, the barbarous practice of the exposure of children might have arisen from this offence; but he was sure that its frequency might be fairly considered as leading to the greatest indifference, and most shocking carelessness and ne glect of our offspring. His grace then proceeded td the religious view of the question; and entered into the history of the customs of the Western world on the subject of 'marriage, which, until the Reforma tion, were considered here indissoluble. After that great event, persons were set at liberty in cases of adultery ; and subsequently the marriage of those di vorced by Act of Parliament took place. With re spect to his opinion, and that of his Learned and Reverend Brethren on the Bench, his Grace observ. on the .work of legislation. He thought t h e expense: mentioned in a suit of this kind much larger el 1 an a: :} circumstances seemed to warrant. On the present footing, it was impossible for any limitation of sod!: expenses to bring relief to the lower classes of socie ty. The present system was a wrong o ne . I t pro. seeded entirely on the principle of granting a private . favour by Act .of Parnament ) and the man who could devise a good remedy for the inconveniences attending the present system, would confer a g reat benefit on the country. He supported the propositiur with much force, but considered that more good waa still to be accomplished. - Earl STANHOPE rose, he said, not to teach di_ vinity to my Lords the'Bi shops, but chiefly to opp os , the Lord Chancellor's law. He declared that he would lay his Lordship flat upon his back, and make him unsay what he had said about the intermarriag es of the criminal parties before he had done with him. His Lordship had questioned the validity of d lose marriages. Why, then, were all the children bastard, ' and to lose their estates ? As for the people at D oe tors Commons, they were the absurdest fellows i n , world. What did they mean by a bond not to that which they had no right to do ? As to pecouiar, penalties, if the lawyers did not like to learn somela.. from him, he should give them a little from ah.. Dunning, who was a. very good lawyer. He w a s once speakingito Mr. Dunning about pecuniary penalties for offences, and Mr. Dunning gave him a sort of de. finition• of a pecuniary penalty. He told him that a pecuniary penalty was only the payment of a sum f ol . doing that which was illegal. A man paid the pe nalty (say £'20,000), and then he had dune no more than he had a right to do in breaking the law. It t h c , Commons rejected the clause proposed to be inserted, would their Lordships be so unjust as to refuse the relief they ahought proper to give at first, merely to save their Standing Order ? . Would not this be indi. vidual injustice for the sake of a general theory ? He had heard his Noble Relation (Lord Grenville) make one of the finest speeches he ever heard in his life against the. Slave Trade, which the 'Noble Lord with the star opposite (the Earl of Westmoreland) thought.was very beneficial to mankind, and then h.s Noble Relation confuted that practice, which by his speech this night be actually supported. Besides, could not that House pass the Bill without the claus He should not speak at length because there was so thin an attendance on an important subject. Lord GRENVILLE explained. The LORD CHANCELLOR, with great good humour,explained his former observations, and shewed the misconceptions into which the Noble Earl had fallen. He was very sorry that the Noble Earl had misunderstood him ; but was much afraid they should not soon understand each other. Earl of LIVERPOOL stated, that the law of Erg. land admitted of a separation between man and NOQ, but not of a dissolution of the marriage bend. He thought it proper that they should lay down some general rules to regulate their proceedings in such cases, from which they ought in no instance to depart. He thought the measure proposed likely to . do good in some cases (those where some decency and vatuo remained in the mind), but not in all. If they did put it on their hooks, he could hardly conceive .1 case where it ought to be dispensed with. Earl DARNLEY was of opinion divorces had been sometimes too easily granted ; they had been granted in cases where no evidence had been adduced at their Bar to prove the adultery. He did not, however,mean to oppose the motion.—A division took place, when there appeared, Contents 28—Not Contents 12 —Majority 16.—Adjourned. ed, that by the divine law there was a liberty to marry again, or else unquestionably that Reverend Bench would, before now, have interposed. He quoted passages from Holy Writ, in the original Greek, and in the vernacular tongue, expressive of the Scripture doctrine on this subject, and made a variety of re marks and used many arguments which we are sorry we are unable to detail. He concluded a very argu mentative and eloquent speech by declaring that he thought the measure an act of mercy. It was to take out of the mouth of the seducer his specious, de lusive, and fatal arguments and temptations, to pre vent him from recommending himself to the weak by saying he meant nothing dishonourable, and pointing out a future marriage as a source of future and aug mented felicity ; the means by which female virtue was but too often and too successfully assailed. He felt it to be his duty, in the hope of attaining some good, to support the motion now before their Lord ships. Lord ERSKINE made an animated speech in sup port of the motion. He highly complimented the Right Reverend Prelate for the sentiments he had Uttered, and dwelt with much eloquence on the in stitution of marriage, the vast influence it had on so ciety, and the innumerable and inestimable duties and benefits that flowed from it in all our relations, hopes, and prospects. It was most extraordinary that the Legislature could permit the foundation of such a connection to exist hi the commission of a crime that struck at its very root, and should enable those to enter into all its advantages, who had treated it with contempt and scorn by the nonobservance and viola tion of all the duties it imposed. The adoption of the proposed standing . order did not prevent their Lordships from acting in particular cases as might seem to them fitting ; but the difference . was abun dant between the rule and the exceptions. What greater misdemeanour could there be than seductive adultery ? A misdemeanour was a private wrong, but a wrong that injured the peace and happiness of society • and surely nuisances and assaults were infe rior in the comparison. His Lordship painted the picture of a family ruined by this afflicting offence ; the woman degraded and forbidden—the children ne glected and despised—the husband made a mark for the finger of scorn to point at. He had voted for merly in a minority in the House of Commons on this question. He had, in near thirty years practice at the bar, been concerned in, or conducted alrrrost every case of this sort in the Chief Criminal Court of the kingdom. Much came to his knowledge that could not come before the Court, and the result of his ex perience was, that the prospect of the intermarriage of the offenders was a very great facility to the com• mission of the offence. He thought the passing of the motion would be a memorial of their Lordships' wisdom. The LORD CHANCELLOR argued in favour of the Motion on various grounds, but rejected the opinion that the offence was much increased of later years. As to the expences of a suit, that must de pend upon the circumstances of the particular case. His Lordship reviewed and explained the law as it stood, respecting divorces. The intermarriage of the parties could not have been in contemplation when divorces a vinculo matrimonii were first granted. He stated - the difference between such a divorce, and one merely a mensa et thoro, and noticed the circumstance of the bond'eptered into in such cases. He did not impugn the marriages that had occurred under such circumstances as divorces a vinculo matrimonii, but thought that the form of their. Lordships' proceedings on such subjects required amendment. This was no undue stretch, since the House already demanded in the first instance, the proceedings of the Ecclesiasti- cal Court, the examination of witnesses, and the ver dict of a Jury fur damages. He admitted that there were cases which men of feeling and generosity would be inclined to relieve, but it was impossible to look at a legislative measure with sach feelings. As Le. gislators, what they were to do, was for the general benefit. Lord GRENVILLE thought nothing more likely to corrupt the female mind than the prospect held out of an after-marriage with the seducer. Punishment he considered intended entirely for prevention ; and the sort of punishment proposed he thought necessary, for the' sake of wives themselves, as well as for the happiness of families. He exposed the futility of any argument drawn from an anticipated difference of opinion in the ljouse of Commons, since, if that ware admitted, it would go to prove the impractica ' bility of two distinct and independent bodies carrying HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. BLACKBURNE moved the further consideration of tl Amendments upon the Manchester Small Debts Bill ; but Mr. SPENCER STANHOPE moved as an Amendment, that they be further considered chit day six months. After some conversation between Mr. Frankland, Mr. Rose, Sir Robert Neale, Mr. Curwen, General Tarleton, and Mr. Davis Giddy, the Amendment was adopted, and of course the Bill is lost. A Message from the Lords announced their Lordships assent to the Locallifilitia Bill, and the Londonderry Free School Bill. Mr. DENT gave notice, that he would e. rly in the next Ses sions move for leave to bring in a Bill for enforcing the Payment of Small Debts at Bolton and Leeds. The SPEAKER informed the Hon. Gentleman that a notice was unnecessary upon a Bill of this nature. Lord MILTON gave notice of his intention to move on Mor• day next, for leave to'bring in a Bill to Repeal the Act preventing Judges trying Civil Causes in their own Counties. The Bastardy Bill and the American Trade Bill, were read: third time and passed. The LORD ADVOCATE of SCOTLAND obtained leave to bring in a Bill to provide for the Families of the Scotch Militia men, when called into actual service. Mr. HUSKISSON also gave notice of a motion forto-morrow, that the Letter from the Treasury to the Comntissioners ut Stamps in Scotland upon this subject should be laid before th. House. --- WOOLLEN MANUFACTURERS REGULATION BILL. Mr. ROSE moved the second reading of the Woollen Manu facturers Regulation Bill, observing, that it was his intuition to move for its committal to-morrow. It was, lie said, a mea , u:e of con :iderable importance, and particularly to tho , e more Im mediately concerned, and therefore, he had afforded ample time to all parties affected by it, to come forward with their state ments upon the subject, a fortnight having elapsed since the first reading. Mr. MOORE asked, whether it was really meant that the par ties affected by this measure, shoold be heard by their Counsel before the Committee? This was a subject in %%thick he had in terested himself upon a former occasion, and stmie of the parties had therefore recently waited upon bins ; hut not being able to understand their object, he did not propose to meddle with their case at present farther, than to plead for a fair consideration of their claims. Mr. ROSE replied, that as far as depended upon him, he should recommend the hearing of Counsel before the Committee; and he understood, that although the patties Solicitors for such a hearing had been but a few days in town, the Contact had uudertaken to be ready with a statement of their case to-morrow tvriiing. The Bill was read a second time and committed for to , morr ow. 'Lord BINNING presented a petition from certain Inhataitants of the County of 1-raddington, complaining of some provisions of the Income Tax.—Ordered to lie on the table. The House in a Committee went through the Nova Scotia Trade BM, and the Report was ordered to be brought up to more ow. • Lord TEMPLE announced his intention of moving to-morrow for Copies of the Reports of the Medical Staff to the Board, with regard to the State of the Army employ,d in !•:pa!:'. and Portugal, and also for a Return of the Number of thtt-s Sick or Dead since the arrival of the army alluded to in this country. Mr. FRENCH obtained leave to bring in a Bill for regulatitt; the Fines payable by persons charged with Treason, Felony, "r other Offences in Ireland, and for Amending an Act of the Iri.ls Parliament of the Stith of his present Majesty upon that subject. SCOTCH STAMPS. Mr. 'WHITBREAD observed, that among the account of it:kr.- dents for Stamp Duties in Scotland, the sung of ,6 100 was sta g ' " to have been paid for pfocuring brills and allowing premiurt their discoont. This item was to him quite incomprehen:ll-: ;pence: . lan a: l} present sue!, F socie- It pr o . private at who niences great )ositiur. god wa: !ach • ( PPOS!• that h e 1 td make arriages ith him,. if those asta r th , at Doc vs in lot to ecolila t ome la.s om Mr, W as once penalties rt of de- m that a . sum l ot the pe. no more • If the inserted. !fuse the nerely to ; be indi. icor y renv ille) rd in his )le Lord foreland) then h.s h by his Besides, to clause re was eat good td shewed Earl had Earl had ey should w of Ens , - and md. iwn some ;s in such to depart. .do good and vir.tie If they conceive a s had beet en granted ed at their , however, took place, :onteras 12 eraticn of the I; but :ndment, taut , Mr. Rose, and Mr. of course the dships assent School Bill. the next Se:- the Payment that a notice love on Mor- kct preventing I, were read is wined leave to torch Dfilitia- Orto-morron - , imissioners ut ad before the HILL. wllcn Mant:- ha intuition to ud, a tnea , o:e o , e more in.- ed ample time :h their l•tatc- , ranee the 11:4 tt that the pa:- their Counsel ich he had it:- of the parties being able to .; advance to Hoff ; and this wing has been reinforced by a number of troops from Saxony. Betwixt the centre and the right wing stand some contingents, belonging to the Princes of the Confe deration of the Rhine. V