Star. — London, England, 1802-03-20 00:00:00

r 7 \ P.IRLIAMEIVTART PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF I.ORDs, FRIDAY, MARCH 19. The Royal Agent team given by Commiifion to the Exche quer Loan Bill, the Annual Indemnity, the Expiring Laws. the Cinnamon Dutv,and the Greenland Whale Fahey" Bill,and to 14 Bills of a private or local deferiptioti. The Lords COMAliffill/ITS were, the Archhilhop of CA K. TIRSURT, the Loan CNANCALLOIII, and Lord WALSINCI• MANI. The various Bills before the Houle were forwarded in their refpeetive Rages, among which was - the committal of the Mu tin Bill. Mr. ALEXANDER brought up the Marine Mutiny Bill from the Commons, which was forthwith road a kit time. The fries Tau es Bill was alto brought up, together with two Private Bills. Lord PELHAM propofed a motion, the effc.t of which was, that a Metfage be fent to the Coin. moms requefting a communication to their Lot.l - of a copy of the Report of the Committee of their Haute, to whom the confideration of certain paper; relative to the Civil Litt was referred. Load tint.t.Emu took the opportunity to inquire (and could not avoid expre(iing his furprize at the fame time at what had already taken place refped ing the Kt mo's blefFage relative to the Civil Lift), of the Noble Secretary of State, what line of pro ceeding he intended to propoli, with regard to the bufinefs in queltion ? He obferved, that the Mcf fage had been fent down flume time fence ; no fort of - notice was yet taken of it, farther than to de. dare, that it fhould be confideted. However, though he ditapproved of this condttd, he teemed to think it preferable to following the very impro per precedent of 11767, when bufinefs of a fimilar nature was 'mirk.' through the Houfe in the cootie of a few days. In the prefcnt inilance, he thought neither the fenfe or dignity of the Houle had been cor.fulrcd, not to fay any thing of a teem ing want of repel to a Royal Metfage. The only reafon he had heard aligned for the delay was, a reference to the proceedings of the other Houle of Parliament upon the foiled, which he, in fuch a cafe, did not think a fufficient ground to regulate the proceedings of that Haute. Not a Rep had as yet been taken in the bufinefs, no attempt at in. qttiry, or endeavour to obtain information on the fubjed. A few words took place in the way of explana tion, between Lord PELHAM and Lord HOLLAND, on the question of the regularity of the proceeding now propofed ; refpeCting which, it appeared the Noble Lords, in the fir ft initance, mifunderftood each other. Lord PALHAPA then °blared, that a reference to the proceedings of either Houle refpedively, was in molt cafes not only Arial) , regular, but in fume initances a great convenience to the difpatch of public bufinefs. A proceeding was now pro pored, the objea of which was, to attain the re. port of the Committee of the other Houfe of Par liament, which had fat for the inveftigation of the fubje&—lt was undoubtedly open to their Lord hips Houfe to appoint a Committee for the confi deration of the papers laid before their Houfe. The proceeding in queftion was not only regular, but likely to prove of confiderable utility, as from the document called for, tome important information may be collated; his Lordfhip raid, that at pre fent he did not feel it necelfary to fuggeft what line of proceeding he propofed upon the occafion : when the &Nett fhould come regularly under difinflion, and opportunity would prefent itfelf; and when the defired information fhould be laid before the Houk, their Lordfhips would be better able to judge what line of proceeding to adopt. Lord HOLLAND fpoke in explanation,but in which he little more than recapitulated what he had ad vanced in the firft inftance. The Order of the Day for the further confide ration of Crewe's Divorce Bill being read, Lord Ay ea LAND frivolled the propr; ety of quell tioning the Agent for the Petitioner upon certain points refpeding the Evidence produced before the Court of Enquiry. In obferving upon this mat ter, his Lordibip referred to fome details of the Evidence, and explained that the Witneffes pro duced at the Sheriff's Court, were of a very diffe rent defeription from thole brought forward at the Eccletiallical Court—nor was there adequate evidence produced at the Bar of their Lordships' Houle refpeding the fad of the Adultery. Ile then preffed the idea of examining the Agent, with the view that he propofed. The Loan Cm Ame I Lima concurred in the idea of its being proper to tilt the cafe, as far as was prafticable ; but he begged to obferve a degree of mikonception, or rather irregularity, which ap peared in what had fallen from the Noble Lord ; and this gave him occafion to repeat, what was his fixed and decided conviaion, that in nine cafes out of ten, where judgment was fuffered to go by default, there was an underßanding between the parties. In there cafes, the Defendant confeffes the offence, and no fpecial proof is necefrary. In what had fallen from the Noble Lord, with refpeft to other parts of the Cafe, he teemed perfediy to concur. Lord Mu LCR AVE made fome obfervations upon the line of proceeding which thou'd be adopted.— He (caned to fay that the evidence already ad duced, and then before the Houfe, was lbfficient to enable their Lordfliips to judge of the merits of the cafe ; the necefrary verdias in the Courts below had been obtained by the Petitioner; and upon the whole the Noble Lord appeared to think it was neither confunant to the gravity or wifdom of the Houfe to proceed further in that refped. Lord Auca LAND fpoke fkqrtly in explanation. Lord CATHCART feemed of opinion that the futile should be principally guided by the evi dence given at their Lordfhips' Bar. Mr. Richartifon, the Agent for the Bill, was then called to the Bar, from whore teitimnny, and tri.to that of his Clerk, it appeared that Mrs. Crewe was roved with a Copy of their Lordfhips' 0..1er on the t nth of February, and that the wit neffes produced at the Sheriff's Court were, Dr. ffin..l, Dr. Mor:ley, and Col. Macmalinn. The above proceeding was interrupted, while Oicir Lordfhips received from the Commons tlic lrilh Taxes Bill, and the Felons Trani - port:Blot) Bill. Lord CJrocaar made a few otrfci vati.ns iti.on eke nature of the evidence adduced; and flitted that he raw no reafon why the Bill fhould not pars. The LORD CHANCILLWR then quitted the Wool lack, and entered upon the general fubjea at tome length.—(We regret that our vet y confined limits preclude us from giving but a very brief 'ketch of the Noble and Learned Lord's excellent Ipeech, as well as of the remainder of the de bate.]—His Lordfliip difplayed - his ttfual profound knowledge of the fubjed before the Houfe, and evinced a warmth of feeling on the occafion, Ifrongly indicative of a virtuoufly di• rated mind. He replied with great ability and effea to what had fallen from the two Noble Lords who took an oppofite part on the occafion. He regretted that the paramount confederation of duty impofed the painful talk on him of urging that which mull be hurtful to individual feelings. He made a var;ety of obfervations upon the evidence. tending to (hew that the Petitioner was not enti tled to the favourable interpofition of the Legal tore. To grant the Bill, he contended, would, under all the circumllances of the cafe, go to pro. duce a facility which would be of the molt dan gerous confequences, and let a precedent of that nature which it was the duty of their Lordlhips, as chief guardians of the morality and religion of the nation, to let their faces againft. The precau tions required by their Lordlhips, for the fafety of their proceedings, were guards little enough— they lhould take care not to make them lefs. He regretted to hear the idea of the damages being as a compenfation for the injury inflieled ; dwelt upon the crime of feduelion ; in fuch cafes, when increafed by the confederation of its being perpe trated by a friend, no damages could be adequate. The higher orders of fociety flintild be as cone& a. poiTible in their conduet, and from his heart be believed that the (bock which this country was en abled to (land for the fall ten years, was princi pally owing to the effeds of the example let to the people by the virtue, religion, and morality of their Superiors. His Lordfhip dwelt copioufly upon tome particular parts of the evidence, in order to chew that the condua of the Petitioner was not loch as Ihould entitle him to favour at the hands of their Lordlhips • and tome of his ob fervations went to eflablifhhe point, that no proof of the tat of Adultery obtained previous till the reparation took place between the Petitioner and his wife ; abliraaed from there confiderations, fuch a cafe fhould be decided upon general prin ciples, no refpea to individual hardthip fhould ever be (offered to Rand in competition with the public good. Though he did not mean to impute collufion to the Petitioner, yet he could not help recolleeing that the judgment was obtained in the very way in which it is In cafes of collufion of the worn kind. He thought alto, that there was a degree of intimacy fuffered to take place on the part of the Adulterer, which looked at leaft like negligence on the fide of the Petitioner, and which fhould not be fuffered—on the particular grounds, as well as the general principles which he had laid down, he 'felt it his duty to vote againft the further progrefs of the Bill; and though he did not deem the Petitioner entitled to the fa vour he fought for, yet he mull do that Gentle. man the juflice to fay, that he could not without emotions of fatisfaaion, comfort, and delight, read that part of the evidence which related his condo& as a careful and affedionate parent to his children. Lord Caracarr obferved &only upon what had fallen from the Noble and Learned Lord on particular parts of the evidence. Lord My Loa AVE laid he underftood this Bill to be oppofed on two grounds :—.lll, That there was not evidence of adultery having been committed; in the next place, that Mr., Crewe had treated his wife with great careletfnefs and inattention. In the firli place he wiffied to remind their Lordlhips, that in moil cries. con. trials, the proof of adultery generally depended on circumftantial evidence.— The circumftances of a carpet being powdered, of a bed having a preffure, as if two perfons had lain upon it, &c. often amounted to fufficient proof, although nothing more than a game of romps might have taken place ; but now be was to un derhand that a woman took every opportunity of her hufband being abfent, to admit a man into the houfe—that they were repeatedly alone together; that he never came nnlefs when the hufband was abfent; that when the huffiand happened to come home before he departed he was concealed, let out privately, and his hat thrown to him from a win dow. tie was to be told all thefe things, and at the fame time be told there was nothing to induce one to believe that the crime of adultery had been committed ! He contended there was as much cif.- cumftantial evidence here, as in cafes where, by de ailions of Courts, the crime had been declared to have been committed. With refpet to Mr. Crewe's Inppofed inattention to his wife, he would put it to every Noble Lord who heard him, whether in attention could be inferred from a Gentleman gn. ing fometimes to fpend an evening among his ac quaintances and leaving his wife at home ? and whether, becaufe he happened not to be at home exaaly at twelve o'clock, he was to be condemned as a carelefs and bad hufband. Noble Lords who were acquaimed with the world, knew very well that in a peat city like London, where there was lo much tociety, the ma attentive and domeftic hu(bands that ever lived, fat Sup to a very late hour at night, and were often in parties where their wives w .re not prefent. As to Mr. Crewe's want of vigilance, he would ark- whether a man who had been married nineteen years, and who had had five or fix children, was to confider himfelf as bound to look after his wife with eyes of fufpicion and jealoufy ? Had he been but recently married to a young girl, it might have been as necelfary to look after her condo& until lien habits were formed, as it would have been ridiculous to watch a wife who had arrived at the age of fixty. Upon the whole, I he was convinced this Gentleman was as much an object of relief as any Petitioner who had e ver come' before that Houle ; pnd therefore he would fup port the Bill. Lord REOSSDALP.I - 441, whether the at of adul tery had been proved or not, was a matter of no great confequence in the prefent cafe. The only quettioi, was, %site Ler Mr. Crewe 1141 11 iftained inch an injui) as rendered him a tit obj.,:i ot relief • and this was to be judged of only by his conduit. It appeared that he had been in the emit ant habit of fpending his evenings from home—of negleCting and abfenting himfdifrom his wife ;and however he himfelf, as an individual, felt perfonally for that Gentleman ~ the duty he owed to the .public *ould not permit him to agree to the Bill then before the Houfe. The - Duke of Ct.aaence agreed in molt of the principles laid down by the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolfack ; but he could not conceive that fuffering judgment to go by default was any proof of ennui - ton between parties; on the con trary, he confidered it a mark of contrition and Ihame, which made men afraid of public expofure in the Court of King's Bench ; and it was of courfc a proof that, however had and infamous the eon duft of adulterers might be, they were not :dto- Hether fo abandoned as fome were apt to imagine. e certainly thought the prefent Petitioner entitled to the relief he :liked for. He had known Mr. Crewe for a confiderable time, and he could drum the Houfe that he had alwaysihewn himfelf a molt attentive, affeitionate, and dome ftichufband. The Bifhop of ROCHESTER fAid, before a man could claim fuch relief as that of a divorce a wined* matritnorsii, he mull come before that Houfe cloath ed with a clear ' pure, and unfufpeeted charther. It was incumbent on him to thew that he was a good domellic hulband, and that he had fpent the greater part of his time in company with his wife. There was no fuch thing here : but it was proved by the witnefres that this Gentleman Wed to abfent himfelf from his wife and his houfe two or three times a week, and flay out to a moll unfeafonable hour. He was not therefore entitled to any favour from that Houfe. It was of the utmoll confequcnce to the morality of the country, and to the very exiflence of our Conaitution, that divorces fhould not be fuffered except in cafes of great hardfhip on the part of thole applying for them. Lord MuLGRAVA, and the Duke of CLARENCE explained. Lord AUCKLAND perfelly coincided in the opi• nions delivered by his Noble and Learned Friends, and the Right Rev. Prelate near him. He was convinced that collufions had frequently taken place • and that adultery was often pretended to have been committed, when in fat no fuch thing happened. Lord CATHCART flrongly fupported the Bill.— After which a divifion took place—Contents 4 Non-contents I.—The Honk then adjourned to half pall nine to-morrow (this) morning. HOUSE OF COMMON& The Unita of the Bi-ack ROD fummoned the Houfe to the Houle of Peers, to hear his Majefty's Cantniffion read. The S ' attended by feveral Members, went to the Houfe of Peers, and on his return, informed the Houle, that the Royal Affent had been given by Co:rani/Son, to the One million Exchequer Bills Bill, the Cinnamon Duty Bill, the In demnity Bill, the Rum Drawback Bill, the Greenland Whale Misery Eill, and feveral private Bills. Mr. CANNINO poftponed his motion refpraing the Eland of Trinidad, till after the coeclufion of the Definitive batty. Lord Bakowava expreffed hit intention of shortly (Omitting a motion to the Hoak on the fobjed of the Treating Ate. A new Writ was ordered for Petenfield, in the room pf Wm. Jolliffe, Efq. deceafed. Upon the motion of Mr. VANS' , an account of the deficiency of ss,ooci. granted out of the Du ties an Exports and Imports, and on Tonnage for the year dot ; and alfo in ac count of the outiltanding Exchequer Bills iffued in die 39th and 40th years of Geo. 111. were prefented and laid upon the table. Mr. Lai/Isom Gowst moved for the appolatment of a Coin. mittee to confider of the propriety of giving power to iftiees of the Peace more effaftually to provide for the repair of county Bridges. . _ Tee Parith Apprentice Bill was read a feccod time, and com mitted for Thurfday. The Coroners BM was read a &ft time and ordered to be printed and read a fecond time on Tburfday. PRINCI OFWALIII. Mr. &Litmus SUTTON Rated, that by the defire of his Royal Highnefs the Prince of Wales he (hoold withdraw the notice he had given of a motion on Wednefday next, relative to the duchy of Cornwall, and fhould bring it forward on Monday feunight. FINANCE OF IRELAND. Mr. N. VANSITTART moved the Order of the Day for the third reading of the hall Revenue Bill. On the queftion for the third reading, Mr. Jowls objeaed to the Bill on the ground of its confirming the Bill pared in July laft, for re pealing the Duty on Places and Penfions on the frith Eftablifliment, held by perfoni, abfcnt from Ireland, but faid, if it was the fenfe of the Houfe that the Bill thould go forward, he would not op pole it. Mr. Rosana urged the fame objeaion, and faid he could not give his confent to the Bill.—The Bill was then read a third time. On the queftion that it lhould pars, Mr. Roasos perfillcd in his oppofition, in confequence of which the Houk divided.—For the palling of the Bill, 8 t—Againli it, I.—The Bill was pallid. After Rrangers were re•admitted, the Trani. portation Bill was read a third time, and palled. INCOME TAX. The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHIQUER raid, he rofe in purfuance of the Notice he had g iven come days preceding, to move for certain Papers re lative to the Income Tax. He then moved for the following Accounts, which were feverally or dered : An Account of the grofs Affeernent and net Produce of the Income Duty in Great Britain for the year dos, dißin plating the Returns made to Commercial Commiffioners. An Account of the grata Al effment of the income Duty for the year ending the sth of April, root, diftinguledng the number and amount of Affellinents on Incomes below tool. ; from sooL to scoh; from scoL to 1000 l.; from wool. to wool.; from scoot. to scoot.- and from scoot . upwards ; and alto dif ti nguilidng the dedu c°don for children. An Aciunnt of the number of Perfons and the amount of income contained in each Clara, dlitinguilhing the Sums col leded, and the amount afreired._ An Account of the grofs Arcane:it upon Income for the year ending the sth of April, zBot, dlitinguiedng England from Scotland, and diftinguithing the amount of Affaments on In comes below aool. from scol. upwards, and alfo diltinguilhing the Returns made to Commercial Commillionen. Mr. Jos ss atked whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer intended to ground any Motion on the Papers which he had moved for relative to the In. come Tax, as the Papers he fuppofed would be eery fpcedily produced, having been moved for on the other fide of the Houk? The CSAICILLOL of the Enlist:welt Paid, be knew of no ground upon which the Hon. Gentle man could found a fun/41160a that Papers would be more fpcedily produced becaufe moved for 4a that fide of the Houfe. It might fometimes hap• pen that notice might be given previoufly to mov ing for a Paper, in confequence of which it might , be produced more fpeedily than it otherwife cold: be, but he would !lady aver, that no (Mallon whatever was made in any of the Offices with re• (pea. to the produaion . of Papers, whether they were moved for on this or that fide of the Houfc. As to any Motion that lie might think proper to ground on the Papers he had moved for, he thought the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Jones), had acqutefeed, and that he fhould have heard no more upon the fubje& from that Hon. Gentleman until the opening of what was called the Budget, at,,t until that lion. Gentleman was in the polfetlion his intentions with refpe& to the Tax. His opt. nion had been long formed upon the lubje.ff, lint nothing that piled in any other place, however refpeEtable, fhould influence that opinion. He fhould (late that opinion at a proper time, and leave it to the Houfe to decide upon it. He had underflood that the fubjea would not again be brought forward until the Ways and Means for the year were Rated. Mr. JoNas was proceeding to make tome fur ther obfervations relative to the fubjea, when be was flopped by The SPEAEPR, who obferved that the allowing of queflions to be afked was an indulgence; but when it was carried farther, it became a very great inconvenience. A Men: age from the Lords req►►eiled the Houfe would communicate to then► the Accounts pie. fented on the 16th of March lak relating to his Majelty's Civil Lift, with the Rcport of the Com mittee of the Houfe upon the fame. Adjourned till Monday. LONDON. SATURDAY, MARCH 20. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK: 3 per Cent. Conf. OF—U.,. account 691 t. 3 per Cent. Ann. tot !LICK OF STOCKS YESTERDAY: Bank 189} for the open. I Imp. 3 per Cent. 68} 3 per C. Cont. 69* 69 a Imp. Ann. 12 7-0 i 5 per Cent. Ann. zor I Exchcq. Bills par to is prem. India Bonds Ss. prem. Conf. for Acc. 69} t COURSE OF EN.CHANGE. Hamburgh 3s 4at U. Madrid 39 ace. Altona 13s s at U. Bilboa Cadls 3t in paper Leghorn sat Ditto 39 effective Naples 45 Madrid 31 in paper Genoa 48i Venice —• Lilbon 6sni Oporto 69 Dublin is Further news from St. Domingo is looked for with confiderable anxiety. It is reported in fome of the higher circles, that more news has been re. ceived from St. Domingo than has been publifhe,l in the Monikur. It is even faid, that the French force had been obliged to re-embark. This, how. ever, is hardly to be credited ; it is poflible, that fome one detachment, as the French landed at dif ferent points, might fail in its objea, and that this might give rife to the report. This morning Mr. DRFSSINGS, one of the King's Meffengers, arrived at the Secretary of State's Office, with difpatches from the Marquis Cozawas.us, at Amiens. The difpatches were fent to Lord HAIVICESBUILY. The negotiations at Amiens are now drawing to a dole. It appears from the fiatement which we yefterday prefented from the Nonitear, that the terms were abfolutely fettled fome time ago, as was Rated in the STAR at the time alluded to. The Menitnir has not, however, [fated the fad cor redly, where it tiles evrcffions intended to convey an idea that nothing but difeuffions refpeCting the wording (the reclaim), had occafioned delay in concluding the Treaty. The truth is limply this : after the negociations were fo far advanced as to need hardly auy thing to be ;done but what was connected with forms, the bufinefs of the Confulta at Lyons, granting to BONAPARTE the chief direCtion of the Italian Re public, was made known in the French official Journal. Onr Knitters very naturally took alarm at this proceeding; for if the pretended paucity of able men in any State were to be admitted as a pretext for receiving a foreign head, there was no poffibility of forefeeing how far it might be car ried—Switzerland, Holland, even Spain itfelf, might, by fimilar arguments, have been rendered, virtually and perpetually, parts of the French Re public, though allowed to affume other deligna tions. If fuch States, however, chute to fubmit to receive the commands of a Foreigner, it might be difficult to fee an immediate remedy : but the cafe was different with raped to tome other ter ritories which came under dircufflon.—Malta in particular; and it was hardly to be expeded, that being in poffeifion, and teeing what had taken place with refped to the Italian Republic, that we fhould put it in the power of France to ob. tain, by any means whatever, a fimilar offer fiom the Maltefe. This, we learn from good authority, was the caufe of the negociations at Amiens being procraf tinated ; and we have reafon to believe, that when the terms, at laft agreed upon by all parties, ihall be made known, the public will find that they are more favourable to England than thofe of the Pre liminary Treaty—or than they would have been, tad not the bufinefs at Lyons ended as it did.