Star.
London, England, 1801-03-20 00:00:00

FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1801

PA!?LJAA/L•N7ART PROCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF 1.01UY;, THURSDAY, MARCH 19.

Lord Al I OWA v and nth. r Peers prJented then (elves to
be (worn, but, in confequence of an obfervation from the Earl
of MRS', refpeding the itrietnef; and Order of the Houle re-
lative to the hour of (westing, taking feats, &c. the proceeding
did nut take place.
A Petition was prefented by the Biihop of DURHAM from
certain Debtors confined in the Gaol of Durham, and all. two
others by the Fail of _unit
it, front certain perrins c..nti,tra
on the fame 3CCOUITI, in other places, praying relief, tke.--:111
which were ordered to lie on the Table.
TAYLOR'S DIVORCE RILL.

The Marquis of BUCKINGHAM moved the Order
of the day, for the Aa to diffolve the marriar of
Mr. George Taylor with Catherine birchall Fay-
lor, his now wife, being committed to a Committee
of the whole Houfc. The fame having been read,
The Maatoyts fitid, he role to call the attention
of their Lord!hips to a provifo of very great
im-
portance to the morals, the religion, and the vir-
tue of the public ; that when he gave notice on a
former day that he meant to add the provifo to a
Clanle in the Bill, he had exprefily Rated that his
provifo had made part of a Bill upon the fubjeet,
which had been very fully and eloquently difcuffed
lat Salon, but which had failed in the Houfe of
Commons, that Houle refuting to entertain it, or
Puffer it to go to a Committee, although it was a
Bill that contained regulations of a mod ferious
nature, and which went to pa a queltion of con-
liderable magnitude, at this time in a ltate of un-
certainty, into a (late of certainty. He himfelf
had not been able to attend the debates on that
Bill in the lemon before the laR, having the mil-
fortune at the time to be confined to his bed with
a fevere indifpofition ; the iubjeet of the provifo
he fhould have the honour to move, having how-
ever been amply and ably dilculfed, it would not
be necelEtry for him to go into a detail on the effi-
cacy of its principle in rtfpeet to its future oper-
ations on the morals of the public, or to detain
their Lordthips long. The firft thing he had
thought it right to look to, was to fee what had
been the praelice of our aneeflors, and what their
opinion as to the legality of the adulterer marrying
with the adultercfs, and he found upon examina-
tion, that previous to the reformation, Divorces
were not recognized by any other jurifdietion than
that of the Eeciefiallical Law. The firft cafe he
met with, was that of Lady Boucher Par, wife of
the Lord Par, and daughter of the Earl of EiTex ;
the next was the cafe referred to in the debates on
the fobjeet lafl year, that of tl.: Marquis of North-
ampton, who, after four years, married again,
which marriage occafioned a good deal of agita-
tion, and a Commillion of Enquiry into its legali-
ty was. Wired and direeted to fome of the Bithops
of the molt dignified rank, and eminent learning,
at the head of whom Archbithop Craurner
That marriage was declared valid, but was after-
wards dilfolved on very °mate grounds. A third
cafe his Lordfhip mentioned, was that of the
Duke of Norfolk and his Duchefs ; and a fourth
which happened, was the cafe of the Lord Roos
in 166. From all thefe cafes it was evident, that
the general opinion of our anceftors was that the
Adulterer could not under a Divorce intermarry
with the Adulterefs. That opinion had prevailed
for nearly two centuries, but of late a very
different praltice had been fnffered to obtain, hut
(kill it remained uncertain, whether fuch marriages
were valid, and doubts were limiting in the public
mind as to the Rate of fecurity, and- right of inhe-
ritance of children born under fuch marriages—a
circumflance which all their Lordlhips mull deep-
ly regret, let their fentinients differ ever tO widely
upon the quellion itftlfi He therefore was ex-
tremely anxious to have the matter decided one
way or another, and reduced to a certainty. His
own opinion was, that inter-marriages between
Adulterers and Adultereffes were of themtelves il-
legal, and he thought a declaration of the Legifla-
lure to that effeet would be highly conducive to
month y,and effeetually alt as a check and preven-
tion of the (hocking crime of adultery, a crime fo
(hamefully prevalent, and fo injurious to the heft
intercfls of fociety. With regard to this particu-
lar Bill, it was perhaps more incumbent on their
Lordfitips to adopt the provifo, not only to excite
the public, who looked up to them as the more
peculiar guardians and proteaors of the moral and
religious efiablifiiments of the country, to reflect
ferioully on the iiihjeet: but from the fingular cir-
eumßances of the cafe made c. tt by Mr. Taylor,
which was a mar tiagrant one, the adulterer being
a clergyman, the mi:atter of the parith in mint,-
' fcure country town in Devonthire, whole duty it
was to manitch an inftruelive example of piety,
morality, and virtue in his own cotiduil, that he
might with the greater effed fucceed in admonilit-
ing his pariihiomr s to perfevere in the lame righte-
ous princii:lcs. Inliead of this lat..-. Lie and pi ri-
per line of conduet, the clergyman in queltirm had
molt iufamoufly abandolierl tits duty, and carried
on an adolvrous intercourfe with Mt s. Taylor for
four years; had nor, therefore, the a settle of
intemperate:, the hat of a ntonien:'s pafiioa, fut.
priie, or any other of the various plautible pre-
texts that mai could fornetimes plead in palliation
fur the hull mity of lmman nature. The cat:: here
was a proof of a roctc.l, depraved mind, of deli.
berate and repeated ads of criminality and viola.
tion ~1 an exprefs commandment of the Divots
Bmio, to which, from his profedion, the adul-
terer could be no Itranger, and ought implicitly
t, have obeyed. Such condo& was fo atrocious,
that he hoped the Ecclefialtical Courts would pu.
nifh the a.bilterzr for fuch a difgrace of his pro-
(anon, and loch * graft violation of that purity
which it particularly behoved him to obierve. He
was aware that the Ecclefialtical Laws were but
weak iatinuonts of Comity, but be tidal that

L'; RICE SIX-PENCS.

the Bithcp of the diut:f: ir. uLch the adulterer
lived would e.bot hi; Cue t.tioo!t, to cep.
fure and to pundit fo nioili:-ate niiiutier of the
Church of England. -l'hc‘!Netartptis ciliatt_ti with
eat warmth and enei:;y ot: the entumity of the
otrcnce in this pat-tic:ll,o ;tale, and of the recelfity
of pre% the intetrna:-ria7e of the ott.tnling
parties, oblerving that if the minister (4 a paridt
in whieh he and his family had long-relicLtl, was
fuffered to in trry the adultest:f=. ard to ul.;ee her
ever!: Sunday in the elert:ylllAll'S pew, what a had
eat( it mull hare on the minds of all his parilhion.
las, who could not hat be air:ll-'7 of his T tying
committed adultery s ith his Witt., ai ,1 dzliberate-
ly continued in the prattlice of it for iour years to.
paler. The Marquis added a variety of other
drong obfervations on the necedity of fettins the
law at rest in refpea to the legality of such Inter-
marriages, and on the urgency of the prefeat oc.
cation of introducing the provifo which he held in-
his hand. He concluded with thanking the Hoak
for their attention, and moved'his claufe.

The Earl of KINNOUL rofc to fay a few words.
He reminded the Houfc that he had lait year taken
a decided part in the difcuflinns that hadnaken place•
on the two Bills, containing a similar elaufe with
that moved by the Noble Marquis, and by the
fentiments which he then delivered he fhould Rill
abide ; it was unneceffary, therefore, to repeat
them at prefent. He could not, however, but
deprecate the introduetion of filch a elaufe by a
fide-wind, as it were in a private Bill ; if it were
deemed fit to be adopted by the majority of their
Lordfliips, it ought to be taken up feparately and
diilinaly as a general law, and be coniidcrcd on,
its own grounds and • merits. It became their
•Lordlliips alto to confider what might be the con.
fequcnce of ad:ling i: to a elaufe of the inefent
Bill. The Commons had lad year difapproved of
it, and thrown out the Bill in which it was con-.
mined. There was every rcafon to fuppofe that
they would perlitt in the fame objeftions that they
then maintained, and throw out the claufe,fo that
the Petitioner, \vim had undoubtedly made out a
strong cafe, would probably lofe the Bill, and be
deprived of the relief that he prayed for nnlefs
their Lordlhips fhould confcnt to the amendments
of die Common~, which was not very probable.
Befides, his Lordship f ud, he did not think it was
aCting v.ith d'gnity and fairness which it at all.
times became that Hou:e to :a:aid/At, and which
could alone indef.(' indace the People to look up
to k, as the Noble Marquis had well obferved.7
with due refpeCt, to take the Petitioner by farm ife,*
and clog his Bill with a elaufe that was objediona-
ble to one branch of the Legit;atitre, and of the
intention to infert which be had not received any
previous notice. Upon thele contiderations, he
bored the Noble Marquis sent Id not infilt on his
clank being made a pint of the relent Bill.
Lord Ayr LA ND laid, in confectitence of the
able manner in whichthe noble Marquis had open.
ed the claufe, lie had been lived the trouble of fay-
ing a greet deal of what he had intended to addrefi•
to their Lordships; he would therefore, as lbortly
as poffible, make a few ()Nervations only. • The
Houle no doubt did taped that, after the perfonal
(hare he had taken in the tills of lag year upon
the fuhjea, that he Ihould fay finnething on the
relent oceafion. That the adulterer was not ori-
ginally confidered to be entitled to intermarry
with the adulterefs, he colleCted front fome parts
of the Gofpel of St. Mathew, and the praeice of
our aneeflors, as flated very correely in general
by the noble Marquis in the feveral cafes he had
referred to. Divorces were riot heard of in that.
Houle, or known to the courts of law till after the
Reformation, and the reafon was obvious. Till
then the religion of the country was Popith, and
in Popifh times marriage was deemed a facrament•
and all matters refpe&ing marriage were cognize.
ble only by Ecelefildlics. With regard to the
Marquis of Northampton's cafe, that noble Lord
did not wait for a !Pedal law to enable him to
marry again, but conceived himfdf to be entitled
to do fo. His fecond marriage took place four
years fublequent to his divorce ; the fecond mar-
riage provoked much enquiry, and the commit'.
lion alluded to by the noble Marquis was if-
fued to certain Bithops therein named, who had
feveral feparate queftions referred to thcm, to
which they gave diftincl anfwers, and confirmed
the validity of the mail iage, which, ho‘vever, was
let afide afterwards byqi2ecii Mary, Popery being
again introduced in her reign. The other cafes
bad all happened between the tittle of the itefornia:
tint) and thc year : rd,a, as mentioned by the h:o.
ble Marquis. \Vitb refpea to th 2 clank movfd
to be inferted in the BiN now before the Commit-
tee, hip own opinion was, it utTlit to la: made
FOICX.II law ; being of that opinion, and thinking
IL an elleCtual meals of presentiliv, adr'terv, he
thou's' ceitaiiily ftipport it on the pte:cr.7 orrafion,
bizt.tufe, till a generid law ettaCting it thr.l.ll
it behoved that Howe to take care ;hat ce::ry Ipe-
dal CAI.: that came before them timail a be guarded
by to wile and lo neceira: y a 1!•:?.; ittion. In the
pi ci.:nt lila:ince it was nicre than ever effentially
neeeffary to make a Legiliative declaration, that
the adulterer lhould not intermarry with the :4,1111.
' terels, trim the face ed office of the fa. mi., as tfici.
ating nanilter of itic parilh in which ret-tded ;
and loch an bac: man ;age mint hold out a vizi-
'
ous and profligate example to thole very
erg whole morality and virtue it was :he peculta-
duty of the parochial minificr to lupciintend and
encourage. Such a man had manifefted mere than
an ordinary (bar: of crittiGalite, beeattfc as it was
his duty to read the Church fervice, be roma
from day to day have repeated from the reeding
della the retrench commandment, “ Thou (halt oat
commit adultery." If the intermarriage were al.
lowed, could the rniuttler, with his wife in his ewtt

pnv, repeat that commandment frith dte ciefifTLi
elf 441? Would his congregation, knowing that
the miniiter had himfell committed adultery, and
violated the bonds of marriage, receive it with tile
awililnef: that it oti!:ht to ithyrcfs upon their
winds ? IF; Lordlhip h, had d,dar.
ed lalt year great objection to the mode of obtain-
ing ditnrec by Parlianieolai y Ilill, becatife it
hut a partial remedy—in ft& it was toady a re-
rnedy for the rich, but not fur the poor, li,:caufe a
poor man could not go to the espenee of applying
for Inch a Bill. In his judgment it would be more
advantageons to cite community if div,:re„..s were
t ticen out of the hands of that Hour: and of the
falter, and put under the cognizance ofa very dif-
ferent tribunal. :Oat Houfe contained nearly
three hundred Members, and the two together A-
rm* amounted to• a thoufand, which certainly
made Parliament ilbadapted to try, to judge, and
to pronounce fcntence on inch a lubjea with that
impartiality and &int& which ought to accom-
pany all deeitions of fo ferions and important a na-
ture. With regard to what the Noble Lord, who
fpoke lent, bad tlaid about the want of notice to the
Petitioner in the prefent inflance that fuch a dance
would be moved, the Noble Lord mutt know that
no inch notice was necetrary, and that every Noble
Lord in that Houfe had an undoubted right, when
a Bill was in a Committee, to move whatever a-
mendment he thought proper without any previ-
ous notice; and as to the dangertthe Bill would
be placed in, fhould the other Houfe of Parliament
throw out thetlattfe, it was not regular nor decent
tin fay beforehand, what would be the conduaof

the other Houle, but at all events, their Lordlhips
• would, in cafe the other Houle thould fend the
Bill back with amendments, agree to thole amend-
ments or not, as they thought bell. On every
ground, therefore, that could be imagined, Lord
Auckland declared the claufe moved by the Noble
Marquis fhould have his hearty fupport.
The Duke of Ctaasirce °Vetoed, that the Bill
before the Committee was avowedly for the relief
of Mr. Taylor, and, as it was natural to fuppofe,
drawn up under' his dire Lion by his Solicitor,
pointed at no fuch prohibition with refpeil to Mrs.
Taylor as that enafted by the propofed Claufe.
Such a circundlance did not feem to have entered
into his contemplation. He therefore mull fubmit
it to their Lordfhips, how, continently with the
principles of Humanity, and, be mutt fay, of
Chrifban Charity, they could entertain that which
scruff throw the miferable woman, the objet of
the Gault, into eternal prottitution ? The A.c.t
before the Committee was to daisies the marriage
of Mr. Taylor with his now wife, and to enable
him to marry again, and not to punifts, perhaps, an
already too miferable a woman. With refpei to
himfeif, the more he tonlidered the fubjed, the
more he was fatisfied with the reditude. of the
part he had taken. Did he think the propofed
matures likely to prevent the crime of adultery,
no one would more cheerfully fupport them; but
the contrary was his decided nonillion. He re-
probated theprinciple alluded to, as operating molt
Injurioufly, WIWI as unjaftly, with refpeft to the
females of this country, who wen its brighten or-
ninnenti and, generally (peaking, remarkable for
their virtues and correftnefs of conduft. He
firmly believed, that, in the great majority of
thole inftances where the conjugal vow was broken,
the profligacy of the man was the principal caufe ;
at the fame time he was aware that in tome cafes
the fault relied with the woman; there were, un-
fortunately, among the fez, fome meretricious
and infamous charafters, and fuch, he thought, de-
ferving-of the fevereft punifhment. For his own
part, he had continually before him the brighteft
patterns of domeftic virtue and conjugal affeetion--
la Him who filled that Chair (pointing to the Thrust),
and was fo juttly the objeft of their Lordfhips'
reverence and affeftion. Such a bright example,
he was determined, as far as in him lay, to imi-
tate, and to perfin in his deteftation of the deftruc-
tive crime of adultery. Recurring to the general
queftion, his Royal Highnefs proceeded to ob-
fem, that the confideration of the charafters of
both fetes rerpeftively were upon very different
grounds. In this Country, a tnan of adequate
talents and an enterprifing fpirit, may rife to the
higheft offices of the State, or to opulence the molt
ettentive, notwithitanding his charafter might be
;only fortiited on account of his committing the
crime in queition, or even on account of treachery
to his friend in the perpetration of that crinie.—
With a woman it was the reverfe—her charaßer
once facritieed that way, every thing was loft to
Ler, and it peihaps inipoaible to retort her
charaßer hut by ow. way, and that the propofed
claufe west to do away, which if the Honk
adopted, it would nand pledged to a conliderable
talent. In obierving upon the fatal confequoices
which the achiption of Inch a principle would be
to the unfortunate obje;ts of it, he raid, that a new
el.!fs of females, fechided from general (witty,
would be created by it ; thole would he di iven to
prornifeuous prollitution, or to live with their
paramours, Root which numbers of illegitimate
children would molt probably atiti. if the mra-
lure in coweniplation was propofed as a punilli-
nient, why not extend it to both the offending p:tr.
ties ? lu Mull ration of :his part Cl his aroatment,
the Royal Duke alluded to a cafe of cont!.ktahle
aggravation, (we believe ilia., of Addilini, now
pending before their I,ordlliip.) in whir, the Hof-
band was convicled not only or adultery, but with
the Sigler of his own wire, whole huts:mil was his
particular friend ; that rarely was a cafe to which
the principle could not poflibly appl).—Conld they
for a moment think, in Inch an inliance, of punilk-
ing the innocent and min-ending woman by a
prohibition from a future marriage, and letting
inch a hufhand go unpundhed ?
Lord ADNOR had come to the Houle to vote
for the claufe, becaufe he approved the principle ;
he did not think it went far enough, but withed
the law was made general.
Lord flittavii.tt entered into a defence of the
elatife and the principle; he alluded to the former
debate, no which occafion thofe who differed with
blast upon the (obit& sainted to know whether no
sate might occur in which he would not be inclined
to forego the retteißicia he certainly *doiitted
there Ought i they then argued the a ..isciple ough

isot tA be trade gianitai, tut calittl for a jutilitu-
lar cafe; that talc was now befwe them : !tad.
t 1!;.% now oblefted to the partiality of the el:lde.
It any conchillons were to be dr.tv:at from rt, parti-
cidar cafe, this farely wa . that cafe; for a :tore
ilagiant one could not poffibly ennui before thefts;
and lie deried the imagination of an 7 man to go
beyond that of a priell in holy orders, to whom
the cure of iuuls in a country village was corn-
mitt cd, ledueing the wife of one of his parithioners,
ard Still prcthming to teach them to walk in the
m
i :ribs of truth and ; except they were
to add thereto the letting up as an example of be-
ing rewarded fix Ll-.eir vices, the woman who had
hen a partner in his guilt, by violating thole holy
law., which his duty bound him to teach his
neighbours to obey and rcfpca. Where, when he
fild, " Thou flialt not commit adultery," would
the eyes of the congregation be turned ? and what
mug he their conclutions t With fuch examples,
what adherence to religion and morality could be.
eNpeeted from the people ? His Lordlliip denied,
that it was in fat denouncing any puniilunent
againft the woman, for it left her in the Rate to
which, by her own imprudence, the had fuffered
herfelf to be reduced, while, on the other hand,
he firmly believed that the prohibiting the crimi-
nal parties to marry wouli be to her advantage, as
it would remove one of the great temptations made
tile of by the artful- foam- ; indeed, if it was to
become the eftablithed law, that filch might marry,
he could hardly fee any renfim • why a man might
not as openly addrefs a married woman as a tingle
one ; for he would only have to prevail on her to
commit the all of adultery to be at liberty to
change her hufband, as her inclination thould
With refped to what might be the fate of this
claufe in another place, he did not think it ought
to have any weight with their Lordfhips, and the
complaint of the injured party could not be made
agaitilt them, but thole who prevented his having
the &fired relief, becaufc a regulation for the be-
nefit of focicty was annexed thereto. His Lord-
fhip then went at length into the nature of Divorce
Bills, and perfetaly agreed in the fentiments which
had been urged by his two Noble Friends, the
Marquis of Buckingham and Lord Auckland.
Lord Mu LGRAVE defended what had fallen from
the illuarions Duke, and like him had found him-
fell the more confirmed in the juftice and propriety
of the pan he had taken on this fubjeft, the more
he confidered of it, and the more it came under
difeuffion. Tikere was not one fingle fcntence
thrown out by the haft Noble Speaker, from which
he did not molt decidedly diffeut--efpecially as to
'the example that he fuppofed the permitting of
theft particular individuals to marry would have;
for in his opinion, their continuing to live in a fiate
of illicit commerce, would have a much wurfe
drat ; that by the feducer's being at liberty to
Phew he was willing to make every atonement in
his power for the crime he had committed, and by
that means re-condo& her to that path of propriety
from which he had (educed her. His Lordihip
' then turned to the particular hardthip the prefcnt
injured Gentleman would Puffer, if the- claufe
thould be adopted in this, and thrown out in the
other Houle, as he would then remain unrelieved,
or they would be obliged to pars it in its.arnended
!fate and having dwelt for tome time upon the
idea thrown out of that Houfe' from their num-
bers not being a proper tribunal for fuch cafes, he
faid he Mould certainly vote againft the claufe.
The Biihop of Rocuerria, in fupport of the
claufe, fpoke at Come length. He (aid, that
confifteutly with the fentiments he uniformly
felt refpedmg the heinous crime of Adultery, and
from which no confideration would induce him to
fiverve, he Ihould fupport the pmvifo moved by the
Noble Marquis. He thought that the interdielion
fhonid be general, but which confideration did not
preclude the propriety of its application in a par-
ticular infiance. The Reverend Prelate fpoke in
appropriate language of the conduit of the Clerical
de►inquent, and exhibited it in a Rill more crimi-
nal view by defcribing the nature and importance
of his facred fundions, as a Minifter of the Gofpel ;
a more horrible cafe, his Lordilip obfervcd, could
not be imagined. He perfedly agreed with thole
Peers who thought filch a perfon deferring of the
moll exemplary evtleliallical punifitment, and in
this part of his fpeech he touched upon the nature
and conftitution of the Eccletiahtcal Courts. After
confidering at Come length the general quellion,
and erincmg the neeellity of the adoption of Tome
decifive remedies, he paired so the particular cafe
before the Committee ; and refpeding the idea,
I that the adoption of the Claufe might pollibly have
an unfavourable effeet, in regard to the palling of
the Bill, obfervcd, that the objettion, even admit-
, ting it to be well-founded, ought not to withhold
them from doing what they felt to be right—as it
was well known, that in many cafes, individual
interett Ihourd girt way so public confideration.
The queflion was now called for, when
The Loan CHANC!LLOR rofe, and in delivering
his fentiments upon the quaint; before the Com-
mittee, took a legal view of tome of the points
conneded with it, and referring to the precedents
adduced by the Noble Marquis in the early part
of his fpucch, particularly to that of the cafe of
I Lord Bruce. obferved, that no of law obtain-
: cd upon what was, or seas not a legal marriage:
that confideration lay entirely with the Eerie:llli-
I cal Courts. His Lordtbip proceeded to ?late that
the praftice of other Prutellant countries, par-
ticulatly of :icotland and Holland, decidedly was
to declare the marriage of the adulterer with the
:Wolter& abiblutely invalid. In this country the
lass- had been left in a tine of uncertainty, nothing
having been decided by the Common 'Law upon
the fillijet4. In his Lordthip's opinion, the Legit-
lature might to exprefs a diflitie fentiment refped-
ing the future illegality of inch marriages, but at
the fame time to remove any apprehenfions that in
• fuck a cafe might he entertained, that their Lord-
!hips ought to acknowledge the legitimacy of the
• ilrue from Intl marriages entered into under fuch
cireumfiances.

Lord CLARE rald, that notivithltanding all that
he had heard from Noble, Lords, or from the
Right Reverend Prelate, he was not fatisfied in
his owa mind, that the Class& propofed would
prove a cbeck to dis foroziog of fuck counsaions,

Lnn 4ui to •••,
nor ehe approve to the trOutimuft br rodi
a Chute into a Myatt: Dill, which might, in its
conftquences, :died tln private rights of many in-
dividuals, and reach to an extent of which many
Noble Lords might not be aware. Would it
Le proper or advifeable, or were their Lordfhips
prepared to fay, that by fuch a Legiflative de
clartttion of the Law, they were ready to pro-
nounce, virtually, a fcntence of haftardy againfl
the Ate of marriages fo contracted ? and which,
as to the matter of Law, were heretofore confi-
dered as of a doubtful nature ? With regard to
his own fentiments on the fubjed, his Lordihip
conceited that they were in favour of the legality,
if not of the propriety of fuch marriages. He
confidered the marriage ceremony, to be of the
nature of a civil contrail between two parties, and
that if that compact was declared null, his opinion
was, that the parties wereat liberty to enter into a
new contract. He begged their Lordfhips to con-
:icier that the confegnence of adopting the propofed
Claufe would be to give a Legiflative declaration
in a Private Bill which would have the effect of a
General Law, afteCting the validity of fuck con-
trails. But if fuch a Claufe were adopted, the
Houfe was bound in Juitiee, to declare that all
fuch frefh Commas formed under the circum-
fiances which had been (bated, were legal as to
the fecuritv of real and perfonal rights, to the,
Ate of fuch Marriages. His Lordfhip repeated
that his objedinn went to the adoption of'a Claufe
ht a Private Bill, giving a Le:,iflative fanClion to
little a difiaited quellion. Ife pettedly agreed
that the offending Clergyman ought never to be
fttffered to officiate in that charaiter. He appre-
hended that the power of tin: Bifhop was fitfficient
for that purpofe, and that lie would never be lUiFer- !
ed to ctifgrace a pulpit in England. But his Lord-
fhip Paid, he could not agree that if that man
fhoald be obliged, by the introduCtion of the clatife,
to call the woman out into the wide world, and
caprice her to proffitution, or that if he was flit--
fere,' to marry any other woman, that the exam-
ple would be lefs an evil, than by marrying her
whom he had (educed front her conjugal vow ;
nay, in his opinion, the only retribution which he
could make to Society for the offence he had com-
mitted, would be to marry that woman, and thus
to recall to his relledion fentiments of penitence
• and morality. He faw no fofficient reafon to de-
viate in this inftance, from a general rule, merely
becaufe this offender was a Prieft, for if not de-
graded from his office, he apprehended his Bilhop
would have both the power and the difpofition to
refute him iodation to a Living, or a Licence to
a Curacy. His Lordiliip Paid, that his opinion on
this fubjed was that if a general Law was paired,
compelling every Adulterer to marry the Adul-
terefs, and that if every perlbn Petting out on the
trade of feduCtion, was to do fo with the terror of
'matrimony before him, it would operate more ef-
feittrally to prevent the crime of Sedueion, than
by any other means that could he deviled. If any.
,doubt remained to be cleared up on this fubjeit, it
ought to be done by a general Law; at all events,
'he confidered it a point of public Jullice to declare
,the aim of fuch Marriages heretofore coatraded,
to be legal.
I The Lotto CHANCILLOR obfervccl, in anfwer to
what had fallen from tht Noble Lord (Clare 4,
that although by the Adultery of one of the Par-
ties the Marriage Contrail was rendered null, yet,
in marrying again a fecond Contrail was to be
entered into • but it was a good rule that no legal,
Contrail could fpring out of a crime.
The Bifhop of DuilIAM, after complimenting
the Reverend Prelate (the Bilhop of Rochefter)
.for the ability with which he had delivered his
fentimenta,and particularly on the Divine Law,
upon the übjed of fuch Marriages, laid that be
had alto paid every attention to the injundion of
our Saviour, as became an Interpreter of the Divine
I Law, and that he was forcedto differ in opinion
from his Reverend brother in his Expofition.—
He was of opinion that our Blared &moult made
no fuch prohibition on the Parties as had been
afferted, but that he left them at liberty to marry
or not ; he confidered what Our Blefted SA9/401,44
had Paid, to bean improvement of the Mofaic Law,
that he laid down the Mofaic Law as the text, and
his explanation as the comment upon it, and that
his meaning was, to give relief to the injured party
without faying any thing refpcaing, or giving
diredions to the offending party. But if fuch Mar-
riages were confidered at illegal by the Divine
'Law, with what propriety, he would afk, could
their Lordfhips be called on to pars a Bill legalise-
ing fuch fort of Marriages ?
Earl 17:T2%44.1.1Am thought that the enaftment
of an AO legalizing Inert Marriages ought to be
well confidered. He faw many difficulties that '
would attend fuels a tneafttre.

The Bifhop of Lonoos raid, that the adoption
of this Claufe met with his entire concurrence.—
His fentiments upon this fubjeCt he had already
declared, anti they remained unaltered. He ac-
knowledged that filch a prohibitory Claufe would
not go to the root of the evil, but certainly would
operate as force check to the rowing crime of
Adultery, inafmuch as it wade; prevent the wo-
man from entertaining the profile& of a future
marriage with the object of her criminal attach-
ment ; and lie was afraid that it was this hope
which in moll cafes operated upon the female mind,
for though no promife to this effect might be made,
yet the expeClation almoft always operated as an
tquirstlent. To import filch a reftraint was doing
more fervice to the caufe of Morality, than the
modern refinement of pleading pity, &c. on behalf
of crimts, of which Adultery Rood the forentoll.
And although their Lordfhips might not be able
to do all they could with, they Should do what
they could, and though they could not cut up this
odious crime of Adultery by the roots, Still they
might lure it a fort of hideous trunk.
The Bill-sop of ROCHESTER laid, he (Load not
then enter into the fubjell of difference between a
Reverend Prelate and himfelf, all he Should fay
was, that the opinion he had expreffed as to our
Say i ov mcaning, wh en fpeaking of adultery, was
the concurring fentiment of the Greek and Latin
Churches from the time of Chryfoltont down to
the days of Luther- In the teat referred to, he.
coufidand our LARD aot as as sapolitor of the

NTifaie iitit mther as an l,rig:nal Lgitim,)r,
refloriiig ivi.oriage to Its pt;il;4lc ity. txt
:hough he confidertd the I)ivin4. Law a, n.,04.g..
mutt to inch marriages, yet he would tell the Re-
verend Pretty and their Lordliiips why he would
concur in kgaliting filch marriages as had been
entered upon,. Ear froM approving them, yet he
conlidcred there were many occafions on which
they were called to make their choke of two evils,
even pofitivc amitnoral e... 415. Now if the Divine
Law was gencridly rulfunderifood, and the Law
of the Land was oti the fide of fuch marriages, he
would agree to protea the ate of fuch marriages
as had been already entered into.

The Marquis of Buciusousins foul, l.is (bjel't
was, to reduce to fume: certainty the Law on this
fubjc et, and to cheek a mifehief which was horridly
increating. Their Lordthips had heard of a dif.,
Terence of fentiments on this fubjell and even froni
two Reverend Prelates that evening—all this
pointed out the propriety of fettling the Law.—
From the esamination he had made, he had found,
that for tso years pail, their Anceltors deemed
inch marriages equivocal; and for the loft
years, them had been no legal decifion whatever.
By the prekiit Bill, they were now called upon to
add one more to the horrid code of uncertain
laws. He fhould be more content if his clank
was rv.:e& e.
ed, that fense noble Lord would move
the dirat inverfe of the propofition, rather than
leave the matter in the prefent fad flaw of un.
certainty.
The 'Houle then divided—For the Claufe
A it 24.—Majority in favour of the Claufe 3.
'After fume conversation between the Duke of
Ciai owe and the Marquis of Buckingham, it was
fettled that the Report was to be brought up on
that day ferinight.—Adjourned at 8 o'clock.