The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-06 00:00:00

trAs then pnt from the Woolsack, and negative
wi.liout a division.

ROYAL BILL OF DIVORCE.

The Earl of LIVERPOOL.—My Lords, in the
discharge of a mostpainful duty, I rise to present
the Bill which I now hold in my hand. In doing
so, I feel tha116.4 shall beet consult your'wisli'es,
-My 'ciao inctirete4oo4.4ll‘h e d which! is
due to all parties concerned, by it in the
piesent stage from any details respecting the im-
portant matter referred to in the preamble of
the Bill. That preamble :•ill speak for itself, and
'it will be for those who are officially employed
in this distressing case to prove at your Lord-
ships' bar, the allegations contained in the pream-
ble. Under these circumstances your Lordships
would no doubt be impressed with the deepest
regret, if any thing should take place that
could have a tendency to create more prejudice
than seems to arise necessarily out of every case
of accusation. Neithei am I disposed to revive
former discussions by what I shall offer this night ;
but I must say with my Noble Friend on the
Woolsack, that after the best consideration I could
give the question, I still remain of opinion, that
if we were to retrace our steps again, I know not
how the House could move in any other manner.
I know that the course of impeachment was su;•
gested, but I stated before the difficulties to which
that proceeding was liable. Without arguing the
objections over again, or undervaluing the argu-
ments opposed on the other side, 1 must still as-
sert that the course adopted was that which re-
commended itself upon every ground of constitu-
tional principle and analogy. It was at least
doubtful whether an impeachment could be sits-
tained tinder all the circumstances of the case.
My Noble Friend on the Woolsack doubted it.
Another Noble Lord (Erskine), who has also sat
on the Woolsack, and who was equally conspicuous
for his talents and his knowledge of the criminal
laws of this countty, doubted it ; so that looking
at it Hs a question of doubt alone, I ask your
Lordships whether we should be justified in
commencing any proceedings with an tincertainty
before our eyes as to whether we should he able
to bring it to any conclusion or not ? That
being the state of the course of impeachment,
the Bill which 1 now present was. the only
one open to your Lordships upon this subject.
You know that the case could not be tried in the
Ecclesiastical Courts, or in the Courts of Law. A
Legislative proceeding was all that remained, and
the only question then was, in which of the two.
Houses of Parliersent the -proceeding ought to
commence I stated on a former occasion, that it
was competent to either House of Parliernent
to commence, but that it was more peculiarly fie
for this House to do so in the present lestance,
because the forms of the Rouge, and the power it
.possesses to examine evidence upon oath, afford a
better chance that justice shall be done to both
parties ; I stated farther, that this was not in the
ordinary sense a Bill of Divorce, that it was not a
case between two individuals, that it was not a
mere question of injury between the King and the
Queen, but between the Queen and the State also.
Yet as it must refer in some degree to the mar-
riage between the Illustrious Persona, I thought,
and I cill think it better, that the proceeding
should originate with this House. The only
question that remains is, whether the Bill ought
to have been brought forward in the first instance
on the responsibility of Ministers, or whether a
Secret Committee ought to have been interposed.
I have considered this poiut maturely—l have
considered it both with reference to precedent
and to principle, and upon either ground I con-
clude that the course we have adopted is correct.
—Your Lordships will not find that any legis-
lative measure of this kind has ever been adopt-
! ed without previous inquiry. It was not that
the Executive Government shrunk from the re-
sponsibility, but that it was necessary to avoid
the adoption of such a measure oft the mere
ipse dixit of the Minister of the day, and to re-
quire the interposition of some intermediate body.
It was not merely the question, whether the evi-
dence was sufficient that the Committee had to
determine, but all the various considerations con-
nected with the nature of the evidence, and the
dangers of disclosure, and whether those consi-
derations were such as to warrant or discounte-
nance the Adoption of any proceeding. There is
no mode of shaping an accusation so as to avoid
the excitement of sonic prejudice against the ac-
cused. The mere commitment of an individual
by a Magistrate, excites a prejudice against that
individual to a certain extent. It is an evil, but
an evil that cannot be avoided ; it is an imperfec-
tion, but one that is inseparable from the admi-
nistration of justice; and all that remains for us
is, to cboose between the alternative which u.eces•
sity imposes, either to abandon investigation al-
together, or to adopt it under a disadvantage from
which we have no power to separate it. Bet this
is not a question respecting an individual only, it
is a great State question, anti I do not feel that
the course we have adopted is in any degree in-
consistent with those principles. of 'justice which
we have all an equal interest in maintaining.
The preamble states as much, particularly with
respect to the number and nature of the of-
fences, as will justify Parliament in assuming, that
the allegations can be proved, in depriving her
Majesty of all her rights and prerogatives as
Queen Consort, and dissolving the marriage as a
necessary consequence. This is the full extent
of the Bill—there are no other penal consequences
in its enactments, which are framed in such a
manner, as not to bear with any severity th,rt
could be avoided against the illustrious iudiei-
dual who is the object of their.—As to the
question of the provision which it may be pro-
per to make for her Majesty in case .tlie
charges should be substantiated by evidence,
that will more properly become the subject of
consideration, hereafter in another place. The
es-
sence of tl►e charge is founded in the pream-
ble. On that ground, when the Bill proceeds to
the second reading, it will be necessary that we
should go to the proof. You; Lordships will
no doubt, discharge this duty as you have done
every other in which you have been engaged, in
such a manner as to entitle you to the respect and
confidence of the country. It is my intention to
move, it your Lordships should consent to the

first reading of this Bill, that a copy of it sha:l be
furnished to the Illustrious Person whose station
and privileges it affects. lam indifferent whether
I now appoint a day for the second reading, sti"‘
ject to any postponement which her MajestY 5
convenience may reqnire, or I -it without fi)c*"
ing any period tor a few clays,z til her dckstoti"
..„..-Q. is known as to thecourse,.of procee2l4-0
..willsch.slie may think proper. tor adopt rer..
fiats it is as%Well that I should formally fix thi,g
day fortnight, leaving it to he determined in the
interval what further postponement shall tale
place. The subject, 1 can assure your Loyd`;
ships, give me, in common with every other man in
the country, the greatest pain. We all feel deeplt
on the occasion ; but it there is any one class rat
persons who may be supposed to feel more tit°
others, it is natural to think that those who "r 4
entrusted by his Majesty with the executive G°'
vernrnent, and who, in the performance of their
duty, came forward on this painful occasions
should be the persons to feel the most. it hp}'
been our endeavour to discharge our duty with all
justice and lenity towards the Illustrious Person'
and it is a satisfaction to reflect that there arcl
no precedents for the last two hundred years'
except in the case of one individual, Who
never came to this country, or appeared as
Queen, in which even a whisper has been knovirk
to circulate against the character of the
Queen Consort. It is a satisfaction to re'
fleet also upon the benefit which the country
has experienced during the last six years from
the example of the Illustrious Individual WVI
filled the Throne, and reflected by her conduct
such purity on the public morals. It would have
been a fortunate circumstance, I shall rilwaffr
contend, if the shame and scandal which must a"
tend such an investigation, whatever the result
may be, could have been avoided i ban we ore
placed in a situation which leaves us no al.erot'
live. The question is nut the impunity of godr'
but the trial of guilt. Cod grant that the 9C#
cased may be able to disprove the charges ; bul
however that may be, there remains but °°'
straight-forward course for voo, mv Lords; I 31/:
confident you will adopt it ; I am confident lot`.
will do your duty ; and whatever morneotari,
clamour may exist, the country in the end ~rill:
do yon justice.
The Bill, of which the following is a literal
copy, Was then read by the Clerk : ..
•_

" A Bill to deprive her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth'
of the Title, Prerogatives, Rights, Pririleges, and Pretca'
sions, of Queen Consort of this Realm, and,to dissolve Or"

Marriage between his Majesty and the said Queen.

" Whereas in the year 1814, her Majesty, Caroline Awe"
Elizabeth, then Princess of Wales, and now Queen Consort
of this realm, being at Milan, in Italy, engaged' in her set'
vice in a menial situation, one Bartointao Pergami, other
wise Bartolomaßergaimi, a foreigner of low station, who WI
before served in a similar capacity :

" And whereas, after the said- Ilartolomo Pergami, °thee
wise Bartolomo Bergami, had so entered the. service of bet'
Royal Highness the said Princess of Wales, a most unkrecoPe
ing and disgusting intimacy commenced between her Rocal
Highness and the said Bartoloino Pergami, otherwise Pl'
tolomo Bergami . •

" And whereas her Royal Highness not wily advanced It'e
said Bartolomo Pergawi, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, t°
a high situation in her Royal Highness's household, and tr
ceived hint into- her service, and that in high and confide's'
tial situations. about her Royal Highness's person, Nut 6°
stowed upon him other great and extraordinarc marks of ftv •
your and distinction, obtained for him Orders of Knighthe"d
and Titles of Honour, and conferred upon him a pretended
Order of Knighthood, which her Royal Highness had taken
npon herself to institute without any just or lawful Or
thority:
"And whereas her said Royal Highness, whilst the Oki
Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartolomo Bergami, was
rA
her said service, further unmindful of her exalted rank ats`
station and of her duty to your Majesty, and wholly regard-
less of her own honour and character, conducted herself irr
wards the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise Bartol°l°
Bergami, and in other respects, both in public and private'
in the various places and countries which her Royal FOY
[less visited, with indecent and offensive familiarity and free'
dorm, and carried on a licentious, disgraceful, and adollei°
intercourse with the said Bartolomo Pergami, otherwise 1331.
tolomo Bergami, which continued for a long period of tint'
during her Royal Highness's residence abroad, by which COll'.
duct of her said Royal Highness, great scandal and viiita:
nour have been brought upon your Majesty's family and Oa':
kingdom. Therefore, to manifest our deep senses of 6ucf
scandalous, disgraceful, and vicious conduct on the Part e
her said Majesty, by which she has violated the JOY si'
owed to vour Majesty, and has rendered herself unworthy °f
the exalted rank and station of Queen Consort of this Re3l°l'
and to evince our just regard for the dignity of the Cra'e,
and the honour of this. Nation, we, your Majesty's most dtit
tiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Tenet:,
and Commons in Parliament assembled, do hereby it' by
your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enactea.o
the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the ad°
and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Cetii:,
mans in this present Parliament assembled, and by tbe
thority of the same, that her said Majesty Caroline A"'eb),
Elizabeth, front and after the passing of this Act,
and is hereby deprived of the title of Queen, and of all
prerogatives, rights, privileges and exemptions appertaillow
to her as Queen Consort of this Realm ; and that her for
Majesty shall, from and after the passing of this Act,iog
ever be disabled and rendered incapable of using, exereihat
and enjoying the sante, or any of them; and moreover, t"),,
the marriage between his Majesty and the said Caroline 'no,
lia Elizabeth, be and the same is hereby from hencefortb
ever wholly dissolved, annalled a,;(1 mathe void to all in"oo, -‘
constructions and purposes whatsoever." 'of

After the Bill was read a firs: time, the E,rl to
LIVERrooL moved, that Copies should be seal
I er ilhiesty, and her Alaiesty's Attorney (4"f
and also to the King's Attorney
.General,
was
EaagreedGa to.
tlt
Eat lu.v observed, that the more he On.li
dered the objections against the mode in AWriniCeil
they were proceeding, the more he was con"' jo•
in those objections. The Bill, he thoughl'ed
stead of sating generally the criminality iloP:" of
to her Alajefity, should specify the partical4rwed
time and place, in Under that she might be ellyer,
to meet !he allegltions. The preamble, 11"``'e in
did no such thing, and therefore was svaulinogive
that cenainty of debcriptiou l'er tie