Star.
London, England, 1805-06-18 00:00:00

IRLIAI2ENT.AR r PROCEEDINu S.

AOUSE OF LORDS, MONDAY, JUNE 17.
Lottery Bid, the °Residers Ad Amendment BBL the
-r Duty Bill, the Englilb Pay Bill, and the 'rills-
, Bill, were broughtup from the Conunons, and read
time.

Committee on Moore's Divorce Bill was poftpopecl till to-

al Freehold Regina Bill paired throigb a Co.nunittei
reported.

MR. JUSTSCI TOT..
AUCKLAND role purfuant to notice, to
-ward his motion refpeaing the cats of the
tdicial charaaer. He called the attention of
&hips to the propofitions which he had cut
former occations thought it his
-duty to fulls.
to Houfe upon the fubjea, and which, in !m-
-ere negatively decided upon by the Hour&
tquence of this, and the line of proceeding
ly adopted, their Lordfhips were at the end
months arrived at the examination of a fecond
upon one of the charges at the bar. He
!d to think, that the °Nations he had former.
1 were well-founded ; and that the power ex-
.), the Houfe, on thefe occaGons, with refer.
the aa of lett lement, was not right', exercifed.
urge under confidcration, their Lordfhips
acollea, was not for corruption, but for
(polcen In long ago from this period as twenty.
,nths, and, from the period of the firft notice
iven to the Houle, it was very near ten
The principal conlideration on which he
what he Should now propofe, was the expe
if concluding the proceedings for the prefent
Their Lordfhips fhould confider the time of
id the very advanced period of the fellions ;
any tolerable progrefs in the inveftigations,
take them at 'call (even or eight hours every
. ever. then it would be to no pnrpofe. Under
ireumßances of the gale, they would not be able
fullice to the p4tites, nor confequptly to the
itatclhis reams% • For his part, he hao doubts of
able to attend ; but whatever progrefs' they
make would be ufelefs, from the circumßance
early approaching end of the feffion. He ad-
the great number of witnefes which were
:mined, even on one fide of the quellion—
ygoon ; but lie could not conceive what
end it could anfwer. They were further to
- how the inveßigation mull interrupt the re.
bufinefs of the Houle. AU thefe
iences and unfavourable confiderationsmight
id of, by limply adjourning the further con.
of the cafe tiil next fcffion. His Lorchltip
fed by moving, "that the farther proceedings
'elligation of the cafe of Mr. Jußice Fox be
irned till that day three months."
HAWKESBURY differed effentially from
Baron. He thought that many of the ,
tons he had laid down induced the contrary '
Ad, with regard to the Aft of Settlement,
iroceeding would determine whether that was
letter, or whether it could be ailed upon—r
ad Phew to the public what could be done
. With regard to the Noble Baron's imme•-
•opofition, he could not fee upon what poffibla
eit was founded. For. let them alk them;
rould fuch a line of condua be confident with
ards which are due to the confiderations of
'+ith what was due to the individual accufed?
was due tt) the petitioners ? with what was
public? and, after having proceeded fo
to cafe, they fhould now do that which
. manner qualb, and put an end to the in.
in. It would be contrary to all thofe duties,
ted ; and they were imperioufly called upon
and to come to fome determination upon
the bufinefs. He contended it was their
luty to proceed with the inveßigation with••
However Ihort the period of the feffion
it was their duty to proceed as long as
and to make as confiderable a progrers as
id, in the courfe of the prefent
lived to the bill he had on a former day
as his intention to bring in, he was
more convinced of the convenience and
of it. Their proceeding as far as they
id evidently tend to the convenience of re-
,viduals who micht he finally examined that
' releafed from further trouble And expence.
repeated, the duty of the Houfe, Readily
reringly to purfue the itriefliption to the
could ke no folid realm) which could be
Taint} fuch a legiflative meafure as he in.
oropofe, namely, a Bill for continuing the
from feffion to feflion. With a reference
of Settlement, and the general principles
itfelf, they were bound to come to fome
upon the prefent cafe; he therefore truii-
.ordfhips would refill a motion, which, in
would tend to put at end to the proceed.
Cher.

.1 of CARNARVON, though he teemed
great deal might be urged on the other
quetlion, yet, upon the whole, was inclin-
_.tr i 7 f,pporting the motion. With refpett
Noble Secretary's intended Bill, he obferved,
•

that its paring into a' laN wobld not altogether de-
pend upon that Houfe. •
Lord AUCKLAND Croke fhortly in Explanations'
The LORD CHANCELLOR declined going Into
a general argument upon certain contiderations eon
netted with the fubjett, and adverted to by forte of
the Nohle Lords ; hot, in .sefereare to what was
throwp out, as to the approaching period of the fer-
n* he would fay, that even if they could make no
more progrefs than four days examination, he thought
it would undeniably be a grofs inprilice to Mr. Juitice
Fox, if they negletted to fecure to him in much of a
further examination. The two witnetfes, Mr. Arm-
tirong and Mr.Galbraitli, it would-be recolleSed, had
only been examined in chief. The very heart they
could do would he to fecure the benefit of their exa-
mination to Mr. Juaice For. Even as the cafe flood,
a very clearable progrefs might be made thii lemon,
were their Lordfhips to fet earneftly to the bulinefs ;
were they to come down, fuppofe about one o'clock,
and to give fix or levet h4.nrs per dry for a few days
to the invelligation, a confiderable progrefs might
be made ; but -at leaft, he repeated, let them, on
principjes of common juftice, fecure the crofs exami-
nation of the pritnetfes to whoM lie had alluded.
The queition was then put, and Lord Auckland's
motion. vas. negatived without a divifion.
asusn's DIVORCE. DILL.
The Order of the Day refpetting this Bill being
read, Counfel and evidence in fupport of the fame
ware called to the Bar. When tome additional evj.
dance was fhortly put in refpefting the alimony award..
ed Mrs. Tear, and the annuity of tool. which had
been fettled on the Lady for her foie eafe by. ber
I father.

Mr. ADAM then (as leading Counfel for this Bill)
addreffed their Lordfhips at confiderable length,
upon the leading merits of the cafe. He called
their Lordfhips attention to the peculiar importance
of the cafe, the leading circumflances of which he
again recited. He dwelt upon the circumtlanees of
the Lady's hufband having Icft and deferted her, and
attaching himfelf to another woman with whom he
had long refided, had feveral children, and placed
at the head of .his family. He oblerved, that the
laws of this part of the United Kingdom with re-
raped to divorces, were different from thole of every
other kingdom in Chriftendom. In other countries,
divorce was equally acceffible to the hufband and
to the wife. In the northern divifion of the ifland,
it was effentially different. In Scotland, the divorce
a vincula matrimonii could be granted by the Ecelefiaf-
ticat Courts, and equally at the fitit of either party.
He adverted to the cafe of a Lady of exalted rank,
of the molt amiable demeanour, and perfectly irre-
proachable character, who, in confequence of the
condul of her hufband, one of the molt illutirious
Peers of the realm, in point of family and degree,
whore houfe was related to that of royalty in Scot-
land, the blood of whofe Kings flowed through his
veins, was conflrained to take the benefit of there
laws ; and yet no perfon even dared to utter a doubt
that the character of that amiable and exalted Lady
(we believe the Duchefs of Hamilton) was in the
tlighted poffible degree affected or fullied by fuch a
procedure. The cafe of Mrs. Addifon furnilbed a
precedent of their Lordthips own making, though he
admitted the incefluous adultery of Mr. Addilon
formed a (Ellin& feature in that cafe. He argued,
that under every confidetation which he urged, there
was a moral impoffibility of Mr. and Mrs. Tenth's
coming together; bib was not a cafe. of accidental
infidelity, but a politive, "fyllematic connedion whh
another woman, and the circumflance to which he
defcribed Mr. Teuth to have reduced himfelf, which,
of cootie, mull affect his ability to pay the alimony,.
was, he argued, a Itrong and additional confiders
tion in favour of the Bill. The divorce pronounced'
a Menlo a 7 boro was by no means a pitied or fuli-
tient one—many of the hufband's • ights, particular-
ly with refped to the property, were unimpaired by
it. Added to thefe' was the confideration, that
by the palling of the Bill, the lady would be placed
in the fituation of any other unmarried woman:—
Upon thefe various grounds he argued, that the Pc
titioner was entitled to a favourable decifion on the
part of their Lordthips with refpeift to her bill.
The Counfel and witneiles were then ordered to
withdraw; after which, the queltion was put, that
this Bill be now read a fecond time.
The Bilhop of ST. ASAPH rofe—he obferved the
(pillion before their Lortlfaip was one of great and
peculiar importance. That Houfe was more efpe-
cially the guardians of the public morals ; and,
againfl thefe, nothing, he conceived; could be more
detrimental than the frequency of divorces; he was,
therefore, upon all occalions, unwilling to concur
in 'them ; and, he thought, however hard the cafe
might prefs upon a few individuals, it would on
the whole, be better if no Bill of the kind were
ever paired. With refpeet to the prefent cafe, he
mull fay, it exhibited an inftance of the grolfett ind
delity ; it was not a tingle ad from a hidden itn-
pilfc of the pinions, but a deliberate abandonment
of a 'well-deferving woman, and a taking of a ftrum-
pet to Lis arths,ity which he perfevered many years.'
'However, to confider the fulicd on general, and
on public grounds, there might be fomething pecu-
liarly Arens and flaking in a cafe of this kind, to
induce the Legiflature to :silent to the prayei of the
petition. The cafe of Mrs. Addilon, referred to by
-the Learned Counfel, was one totally &Lind from
that under confideration. In that cafe it was really
a moral impoffibility that the parties could come ;tor
nether, as it was proved that the hufband had an
adulterous intercourfe with his wife's own fitter..-.
Nay, farther, the wife herfelf would be guilty of in-
'tett, if the returned to her hufband. There teas no-
thing of that kind to induce a moral impoffibility in
the prefast cafe—nothing' but a throng degree of in-
ference. They could not, confidently With a moll
important duty, confent to relieve the petitioner in
the way propofed. However, he had to obferve, he
could not underflarid how the lady's circunitlances
could be improved by a diffolution of the marriage,'
which would involve a log's of the alimony. Upois
the whole, the Learned Prelate's- opinion of the cafe
was fuels, as to induce him to move, that, infleadvf
" Now," " the Bill thould be read a fecond time
that day three months."

The had of CAERNARVON expreffed his dilt
fent from the opinion of the Learned Prelate, that
their Lordfhips paging fuch a Bill as that under car;
federation would operate injutiuully upon the public
morals. Neither was he aware of any law, or -emy
rule of that Houk; eLicir precluded a wernAil tole

addreffing the Leginatitti, sfat'dlataining relief, as
~-st as a man, if toe particular merits of the cite
err:tiled her to, it. He thonght this tircumnances of
the cafe under oonfidetation (light to induct -their
Lordttrips to affent to the Bill. He would afk die
Reverend Pielate, whetherit was oseceffary to the
public morals, that the hufband of 'the lady in gief-
ti ~o humid be fuffered to do every thing that could
d.forace her, anti derive her of the comforts of life?
Watcher it was neccffary, -for the fake of good mo-
rals, that the lady thluld be driven to feek relief at
the door of a praffigatc, who had robbed her of her
baband's affedions, and diminiffied his means of
maintaining her. After dwelling fhortly on there
topics, with tome degree of warmth and feeling,
his Lordfhip proceeded to the confideration of cer-
tain Canonical Laws and Ecciclioftical Regulations,
which bore upon the fubjed, particularly a Canon of
the year 5603, which he argued was not binding
upon the laity, nor upon the clergy, farther than
they thought proper, and that Divorces were per-
mitted by the Divine Law. He then recurred to
the fubjed of the Bill, and adverted to the reduced
circumstances of the lady's hufband, which waft af-
fed the payment of the alimony, and argued for the
pang of the Bill, which would enable the petitioner
to feparate hetfelf from an unworthy hufband. He
was not apprehen ve of the Bill's becoming a danger-
ous precedent, as every cafe would naturally reft
upon its own particular merits, and be decided upon
by their Lordlhips accordingly.
The Bilbop of Sr. ASAPS and the*Piael of Oita-
ise,avow feverallisexplained. .. l• -
. Lord HAWKESBURY concurred with the Rev.
Prelate, in a great deal of what he raid upon the
general fubjed. He obferved, that no precedent
whatever obtained, of a Bill being granted upon the
application of a woman, except in the cafe of Mrs.
Addifon, the circumnances of which were not in the
Leah applicable to the prefent cafe. In the one in
Ranee, a reconciliation between the 'parties was to-,
tally out of the queßion; in the prefent, it was merely
improbable. A material ditlindion appeared through-
out. But the general queftion involved conlidera-
lions which were to be contemplated with a reference
to their dices upon fociety ; a diffind rule and min:
ciple, with refped to fuch cafes, hitherto obtained :
were this to be broken in upon, it would be difficult
in future cafes to draw the line. The very good na-
ture of tome individual Peers would induce them to
grant, without fuffirient dile, imination; that, which,
in the views he rtferied to, would eventnilly be de-
trimental and injurious.
Lord AUCKLAND made a few general obferva-
lions in favour of what tell ft um the Rev. Prelate,
and the Noble Secretary of State. It was 'a point
upon which he teemed to have made up his mind,
and he particularly-adverted to the Serious impor-
tance of the quettion, with reference to its Petting a
precedent for future applications.
The LORD CHANCELLOR adverteriesiviiat
he had hated on a former evening, namely; his op-
prehenlion that he finuld feel it his painful duty to
give a negative to the farther progrefs of the Bill,
inlets the Counfel in fupport of the meafure could
alter the opinion he then entertained, and that he
thought the belt way of giving notice oh the occa-
lion. With refped to the particular cafe, he never
recolleded to hear a.mo;e favourable reptefentatibn
given 'of. any woman. But yet, ow theft general
grounds of public morality, which bid lisen fo ably
adverted to by thofe Noble Lords wholith preceded
him, he moll proceed with refped to his affent to
the Bill. With regard to the cafe of Nis. Addifon,
which had been referred to, it was as dillind from
that under confideration, as'any cafe could be, and
yet, even that cafe, in its effeds without doors, bad
produced confiderable mikhief, as any of. their Lord-
Ihips would perceive, fir* they take the trouble to
look at certain trials. .With refped to particular
parts the allegations on the part of thepetiiioner
there were hill open different modes of redrefs dif-
tind from that of divorce, and which could be re-
curred to. As to the queltioti before the Houfe,
upoO thofe great and leading principles to which he
had referred, and the convidion he felt as to the
probable, nay almoft certain injurious effects of
trenching upon them, he felt it his painful duty to
give a negative to the original motion.
The Houk then divided • when there appeared for
the Bilbop of St. Alapit's Amendment 10—Agatatt
it 7—Majority e.
The Bill is confequently loft.
The Bills recently brought up from the Common;
were then fevetally tead a &It time. After which
the Howe adjourned till to-morrow ; when their
Lordllops hand fummoned upon the Ear of Suffolk's
motion refpe&ing the Rate of Ireland.