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

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\

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.