The Sun.
London, England, 1801-04-25 00:00:00

:21‘.;'ElZfAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF PEERS;

riuDAT, APRIL 2+.

THE Bills before the Houses were- forwarded in
their respeftive stages, among these were the Lot-
tery and-Timber Duty Bill, which were read a
third rim:: andimssed,
The Earl of Mn'6A moved, That the Insolvent
Debtors Blain read t..secontl. time on Monday next,
which ;vas or.li.rcd accordingly.
Mr. I3,URION, an Officer of the Chancery. in Ire-
land, presented xe.4eral Tapers from that Court,
relative.to a penai,ng,Appeal.
Mr. OWEN presented .eertain Annual Accounts
from the I)irators. of the East India Company.
Several Bills were braught up'from the Commons,
two of s..hich'were by Mr. cOkk Ir, Chancellor of
the Exchequer of Ireland, and' related to the GQ-
vernment of.ihat part of tht United Xingdom, They
were respectively read a first time.

Mts. A:DDISON's, DIVORCE iiILL7

On the Order of. the Day respeciing the second'
reading of -chi& /111
Mr. ADAM' Cotinsel for the Lady, was called to
the Bar, and heard in continuation upon the stibjea;
oo the delicate.and abstruse points of Law, . con-
=fled with Av4iiich, Jhe,l.karned Counsel address-
ed the House
_yet' some length, and displayed his
usual ability, and professional knowledge. He
first touelled,, upg.m
,the point, of the regularity
and elie%rt (4. Offering at. the Bar. proof of the
verdia obtained'. by Dr. Campbell against Mr.
Addison, in Alw, Co..:rt below; for Adultery with
Mrs. lc ihe sister of his own wife, as
further' 'or corroborative evidence of the adul-
tery of Mr. 'Addison, and in support .of the cor..
respondent- allegation in, the Bill. Respeaing this'
question, which appeared to hi)Ve divided itself
into two poinv,—Firt, that which related to the
consideration of the necessity, and, Secondly, with
Tespeet to the made of pi-vying the allegation. On the
latter point, weunderstood their Lordships to have
decided on a forinei evening, that only one mode
obtained' of pr,oving
,r,pch an allegation,, styposing
its necessity, Which -was, that suggested by the.
Learned Counsel." Athirdingly, this evening, after
an interchange of a few explanatory observations
between. the Lotto CHAT•IC ELLOR and the Learned
Counsel., the„latter was rmitted to, offer proof
of the Record of the Court below, respeding
the verdia in 'the case of Dr. Campbell against
Mr. Addison, by which damages and
costs were awarded to Dr. 'Campbell. However,
their Lordships appeared to have come" to no deei_
sion as to the point of necessity. The- Learned
Counsel then stated, that the' Marriage Setttement
between. Mr. 'and Mrs. Addiion, remained to be
proved) which he was then prepared to tio-
but he was informed, that the' Committee UDS' the
proper stage of the Bill for offering such proof.—
He proceeded to state, at some length, the various
grounds, considering the case in -various points -of
_ _

view,. as those-of justice, Morality,
and above all, he pressed the 'consideration that...the
. Parties to be.a4.aert" by.the, Divorce Bills imquer.
;ion, nc,s, raiding before theit Lordships, Were all
within the forbidder degrees of Marriage, and that
no, appreherisionS could arise in ..their Lordships'
minds, .on. that head. The Learised Counsel pro-
ceeded; to,-.dwell at some length,on this 'important
branch of his..argurnent, whoa ' ..•
Th;? ..111gryitii of.' BCIC ICING If 3AI expressed his
wish for Some infortnationlhe seemed twaddress.him-
self particulafly 'to. the Noble and Learned Lord on
,thz Woolsack) 'relative to the operation and efFea,
as we Understood.the Noble Marquis, of the Bill,
with. a view to the Validity of 'a. fifrure
considering the degrc.;:._of. affinity either bet Ween
The innocent or:the g lilt) among the parties.
This led to an explaaatoryconversation
,between
'the Learned Lord citi'theWoOlsack, 'and the Noble
.Marquis, whom the former,,fOrtsoMe time, seemed
not.,perfedly' to understand,' and obierved that the
Questions, as he conceived them,. went.toinvolve
points which it tniAht saltier dangerous or im-
proper for their Lord hips tO.disenss, in.. their. Le.
gislative qpacity, p:hatcount of the influence the
opinions of the 1.-louse might have.Un ihd.,proceed'.
ings in the Courts below, before which they Might
possibly. 'be brought in a variety of shapes, and,
which ought to have an jurist:Haiti() in such
eases. fie %K as 'nor prepared' tet, itate-a- decided 614-
urOd by the Noble Marquis,
respelling which, ha-could nit go the leOgt.h to say,
tiiat Matiiages so Contr:l6:d were void, though he
certainly thought.tliem voidable. '
Lord ULG .4r E made a few observationtupon
the subject of . he• con versotion
.betwecn 'the Nobit:
Vlarquis and. the Learneci,'Lord'. on the 'Woolsack,
and seemed ~to say, the case as put.. by the former,
involved a digindion without. a difference. ,

The Earl. of CLARE s.itid a few words upo-n. the
points adverted to,_.and.sci)- reed to agree itirmuch of
what had fallen from the Noble acid. Learned. Lord.
It was not a point to which he, had elireaed much
of his.atterition, but had collected from the opinion
of a Learned Friend, who ;was, perhaps, one of the
ablest Civklians in +.:utope,l that, so we understood
Loraship, inch marrialcs those,ad,vertcd to,
were voidal);e. '1'1)0 Nob #e Earl seemed to depre-
lte.the praaitze of their ii,ordsbips in their Legis-
Litive .capacity. propoundiri; questions for the ar-
11Inent uf,tiounsel, and erx-pai-te, at their Bar,
Nvhich mire than possibly Tight come before them
in their J:),li,;:dal capacity also glitnced, as an
argument against such prkiices, at the
consideration of the infinenve which such proceed.
i!.31 on tIA parr ortil.ir,Lo4Lhips roust have on the
"Coorts betuw.

The. LORD CtLiNtEPOR lELDoy) felt it
incambent on t•i;n aV.-,n to acklres4 the'HQIICC on this
sohjra. He 1, ta to apologi4c, he said. to.lheir
Lora4Aips and,to ,tbr Winixinis in
piirtikulnr;yhD did him the done tr to retire his
opinion—for [lot being fully prepay Id to, Speak on
tire' very impo;tit poin,ts question ; htit on 'a
former night.; when tlizt rut of tile snbjett was
I;cl,x:crtczti tv, lie bapttk.•,c_.ci not rt.ht" present,
bavini‘i ocii. then the honoug.of..any diny
attend inbe House. 11.4 c ttion arising.
iron/ the Icgie,e,ive measure then ulikr

sion of their Lordships, were of the greatest im-
portance, and required the Mostdeliberate attention.
He propose(' to turn his mind pactieolarly to:it, and
to make-every research in his power. He also wished
.that their L:orcishir. should hive the benefit.of in
opinion of his. Noble and Learned Friend (then ab-
sent),. who lately occupied the' Wooßack;•not only
on account of his general legal knowledge, but be-
cause lie had very an*iously turned his attention to
the 'point in question. For these reasons lie:very
much wished that the discussion was postponed to
some future, but not distant day. • Ve repeated the
opinion he had offered upon
.the point, *the course
of the conversation above alluded to, that Mar-
riages so ' dons truaed, were, at least, voidable-:
but as he. was upon his' legs, he would trespass
on the indulgence -of. . sbei.r.Lordships while he
offered a few __observations o,t Ow. general subje6t,
of which that, particularly Under. diScu"ssion,.formed
a part. Such, he observed, was the present 'state of
morals in this Country, that the pernicious praCtice
-of adultery must inevitably increase, until it was
rendered, he would not say criminal, for even in
the contemplation of the Law it was already a crime,
but a crime of that description as to be " whipt of
Justice!" Strong and decisive Legislative regula-
tions were necessary .to stem the growing evil.—
With respel to, the Bill then before their Lordships,
it was.one, in every point of view, of the greatest
importance, and one which their, LOrdshitis could
not think of too often before
.they .passed it. He
was well aware of the situation in which a woman,
circumstanced as the Lady who,s!ieii for the Bill in
question; was placed. - The feelings and honour of
a. woman were as much at stake in these cases as
that of a man ; but though they must feel for, and
attend, in justice, as . far as possible to the case of
the individual; yet , the questionable and • im-
portant effeets of liaising such a Bill should be
most seriously considered.. The
.situation of the
children of parties aft led by such Bills, merit-
' cd particular consideration, and in this view of
the case, the situatioti of a husband suing for
a divorce, and that of a wife engaged in. a like
pursuit, were materially different ; in the. former
instance, they remained under the care and protec-
tion of the husband who was injure; and supposed
to be innocent, .and went taken froth theguilty wife:
In the latter case, hy the operation of tii,e existing
laW, 'and referrini emphatically to the particular
case before their Lordships, the innocent and helpless
children were deprived of the loitering care and
prOteelion of a virtuous mother ';' and 'surely the
poignancy of her afilidion must he lamentably
amooc.rtivated -by 'the consideration that' they Were
to be taken from.her care at. a moment, when they
were also bereft of the proteCtion- and guidance of
a father. At this part of his Speech, his Lordship
yielding to the pressure of the finest and most lan.
•dable feelings of the human heart, was visibly af-
feeted : and he observed; it was no-wonder his head
should be affected by the consideration of this sub-
jai,- as it had found.the way •to his heart. Another
view in which: it was to bp considered s s, the de-
struellee
.consequences which would arise from an .
. increasedfacility in obtaining, or a multiplication
of Divorces. The crime of Adultery, -he had
grounds for asserting; was ' very general in this
Country. It was not from the consideration of
the numtnr at: AFplioartea C.r r5t........5.s at welt
Lordships' Bar, that, its extent was to be estimated;
oreyen from tlre. Suits instituted in the Courts be-
low. Were the door opened to applications from the
Wife, he begged their Lordships ro consider, what
might be the consequence. A profligate, a flagi-
dews. Husband; in order to break_. his ?Marriage,
might be induced to do that, which, in the present
state.Of Society. and Morals in this Country, he -
was sorry . to 'say, would be no degradation to him,
at least among his Own sex, with a view of afibrd.-
ing the Wife an opportunity of suing fbr a Divorce.
This was a most serious caPsiderkion.. The facility
of obtaining Divorces, might alSobe much'inereaSed
by it ; and here liis Lordship expatiated on the solem-
nity and importance of the Marriage Coc teat}, prin-
cipally in a religious. point of vie.,-, :;'' 2 solemn en-
gagement entered into in the pr,_ -,-,,L.! ;Gad, liid- as
a Religious institution:of the first pr 'ilcalialliort-
inve, •in which light_ it was certainly ,s,:: i'dered by
Cliii.stianity,, anti recognized _by the Lax of the.
Land. - He
.pressed.the- Hause.to consider seriously
ere, it citlopted - any •.orseasure :whielt,.:l4-:_-facil its t ing
the obtaining Divorces; migtheincirea.seseNe praetice
of ;Adultery, a crime which ditily jar tiiaca the ;ruin
of families, -and- must
..uhitnately; W -not- chedkt.di
destroy that grant aggregate of faruilies, the,Rublic.
• ' .Tito E6:7,-I V.,'(' L. 4 RE. - arid .1$ rd. AUG fel. AND
then made cach.a.:few observations on:the subject in
question, which our"contracted limits- preclude Ili
froto,detailing,;---after which• the further considera,
tion of the Bill Was.dtiertethtiitTuesihr, to tvhidi .
day the Committee-op Campbell's Divorce Bill' was',
also postpotted,-!-Adjourned till Monday. --. ' '

110 US E OF- CO WO ,

FRIDAY, 4ra1k.,24.

A Person from the Tax -Office brought up-an, ac-:
count of colleding -the Hair Powder Tax, and the'
Armenia! Bearing' Tax. •
Mr. ©WEN, prom the East India House, brought
up an account of the Sales of the East India Com:.
• I'
pa I iy