The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-08-19 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAM E...s T.
HOME OF LORDS—FaIDAY.

After the preliminary proceedings, as reported in
ye•sterday's STATIIIIMAN, the Counsel and Agrtit% were
then called in.

e.l to anrow their Lori
ink; leis tAaili. for*, I
eistrrd y is being elite
iv a etatenseat of these.' objection whiallelistagt
his ditty to ergo egoista the 4,ftill Net bare the
lions*. ft was-quite coaecessacy..for Jain twailvancit
any argument with the 'view of.conviocieg their Lord-
ohips theologise question, as to the principle of the Bill,
was as open at patent as if it whs now •for the first
tits, brought Wader. their Lorikohipar consideration.
Ihis point was established by•the Duchess af,biotfolk's 1
ca<e. l Lit should net.he in the present instance ad.'
mitteil, and If he should be restricted as on the former
occasion when he addressed their laordshipts against
theo'course of proceeding they ware about to adopt, it
wait-quite clear that fur hiorto speak at all on the sub-
ject, winsW be only an idle wawa of their Lordships
titan He should therefore; peoceed.as if the Bill had
new for the first time corns before-the.tiouse of Peers,
.visteh in law as well as in faetthail never yet heard a
isgie metal motives- that actuated those who
were the proseeters of the measlier. .11 then it Was
perfenly opewto the Hesse se enter now into the full
vonsiderstiew oftite-principle of the Bill, there could
Ile netintroppistearrer retraction if the House, cousti-
tuctilnwitcsow was, should take a slitierenk.view of
act orgetlibut from that which -hail .been tithesw•wlieb
itiowafirat•ititeuduced. 1 here use nothing•to be en.
dohs* innentuelo. as nothing had been Moue. They
• Were sow we the threshold of the siseisure, and it was-
apow•this that he would make his first stan.d Ili
lenising at a 1.101 of such troonenikous inipurtance4,
though he-felt all then objections to . tbe principle. of
ibtoilick mot suggest themselves to every legal miall not
*Holly iodiffereut to theist, etill be confewedwlisit hey
felt aim be would term a teehMe4 difficulty in • eels- I
. ing op that fabric against whirls he hal to contend.
• _ Whin he Game to read .the Bid he .0 as at a loss to I
..• state what point be had to assails %hat argutpeata hr
• had, to relate, what facts he al 1,1 *eke for greeted.'
oe what were ;woo to he established. Whet .prece-
Iftelt" had hires adduced, or what tight had. we
a .Iha.poult or whoa etuunple for-the flame ? reading
~.:110aossaaside of this Bill, he found nothing. to.con-
. tatitste a .pee t...e charge, nor cool . he brim, his,
•Collind to behove • that the tenor of it •srepl
- meetly to affect the humour 3:id • character of)
.. • his ilhisszioas cheat. He ought perhapa• to state'
• is tite•first iostance that he hail to ;thine% their
•=ips under an election which. they themselses
.r. liged him to make, and though-he Jail riot by
mijiisigats question the wisdom or propriety of any
• lOW* of preceedissg, 44 bids their Lordships sliou!d!,
i•
.sapptineo.stiil he might be permitted .to elate, that this,
oassopahlary election was paschal-4 resvictive sponj
...,itiseuitaasl Me hoped. that it-irsala net Its atiniqu Sly t

fe began by
he had exi

express-

taken as bioding, should any change occur irsthe di;.'
elusion of the measure, to render a_diffortnt.
ticregill. His Learned Friends, who acted kith
entertained rely the same opinion.; yet, he
d tetrichether ached a tris'e discretion, wilt
respect to the interests of the Royal Pirsonage, whose'
• cpso ago/ore to advocate. In other... Lies of a siuii-
Lir Ware ,tp the present, common lawyers sad civi-
4....liese.ftwaroislioited to he heard, whereas in- this, only
:tadit Memo* laitryer and one civilian, or two common
irk, rre permitted to address their Lordships..
eratepttillarly severe when the nature of the al-
•
It tied; waroconsidered. They itivolve.imauers of
the, deepest .istereat, and such as referred to the
dimwit seasactiase of social lite. To appreciate the
merits of them properly, it would he neceic ry to bate
r:sttutte to the Etclisiasticat polity. With this they
wytk inseparably connected, and his Learned Friend,'
. tt ho bad yesterday so ably addressed their Lordships,
k that. part of the subject untouched, everting that
lt‘slionifall late more experienced hands. Pe (sir.
Delman) might be allowed in coming forward spun al
• trestle% the most momentous and awful in its Charm--I
tb-, to stare, that however painful was the duty which i
NI het to-perf,rm, still he undertook it with alacrity,
. acd he prized the honour done him in being selected
or, the advocate of the Illustrious Personage under her ,
present afflicting circumstances, much more highly !
thin if she employed bin, ins ease where all that she
with d most was at issue. He was better pleased to
Mend that cause whit!) was rerommended to him by
uctnerited suffering, 'than to receive the most chitin-
, guiaketi iqvuur that Royalty could bestow. If he
tailed. it alight be for want of ability, bait never for
want of 401. :Coming now to the question before
their Lorilithips,te found that a Secret Committee had
' been appafriteditt► exaMine certain papers untouched
Fir oral tistiitiotit: The: proceeding of this Committee
wag fike4cl to sn lnaletme.nt on a Bill found by a
Orand Jory. 'He shoulk•not now travel over the
igtaund that had already beed passed on this subject,
• 7' see should he contrast the judicature of this House
eith that of an inferior tribunal; but he might be
• a:lowed to remark upon tile manifest difference
there would be, if, in the course of a judicial pro-
ceeding a Bill of Indictment had been preferredinstead
•• of this. First, the Septet Committee was likened to
Otar.d jtry. whose duty it was co.tinti a Bill. But
this Bill was 'not found by the Secret Counnittee 1 they
d!y recommended that a solemn inquiry should take
place upon certain charges against ber'Majesty. They
had out said that they found any facts before them
to substantiate these charges, or that this was the most
proper as well as the most expedient mode of proceed-
• i;:g. They reported that a solemn inquiry ought to
take place. 't hey said they had examined the docu-
ments which were laid before them, and found that
they contain'd allegations supported by the concur-
cart testimony of porsons who resided iu different
Purls of the world, charging her blajesty with an
adulterous intercourse which deeply affected the honour
• and dignity of the Crown, anti was revolting to the
croal feeling of the country. Ii was their opinion,
t.at a solemn inquiry was necessary ; but they did not
suggest any particular mode of instituting it. What,
thorefore. did they recommend ? Nut, certainly, a
fl:11 of Degradation, at Divorce; they did not recom•
icettiltany etwiwurethotshoald enable: his Majesty to.
grJArry ag.tin ; all thil did 'reistinftfiend was; as be

been

..

1;mod

.. outs' adellp t i e
_at 4i1.1 had thuu‘bt_ fit,
oefo-re the Douce, to present
eiontainink the obnoxious and the
_ . .
might hato-sloue, and .could therefosssresetraordiunry .phrases, that bed baps read. him Polo,
pie-eminence. But ifs Bill of Indictment had also lamented, tier Royal Highness's familiarity ; but
.miad by a Wand Jury, how different would he surely in the conduct of Royalty familiarity was no
,e mode of proceedine? He took it for ersnted that objection I sad of that opinion, in earlier days, was as
the Noble Lord did not frame the Bill himself. Indeed illustrimet Peltiouage, thous he dared not now name,
he (Mr. Denman) could not pretend to say who it was bat who had actually descended to such familiarity
Thai framed it.' He could not say whether the Usher with a waiter,..that tbatperson addressed him in a note,
of the Black Rod carried the instructions of the Noble " Samof the Cocoa Nut Cuff( • -house presents his com-
Lord to the Attoruertienerati and got him to draw it i plisses's to his Royal Highness, and begs" so and so.
up,-mor had he any kauwledge whatever, how, ragne I With jocularity that illnstrions person remarked to
and indefinite as it was, it came before their Lordships two Noble Personages present. " this is very well to,
for their concurrence. But looking at it as a *Haul us, Frank, but it won't do for him to speak so to Nor:
measure, he frit himself at liberty to treat it with all folk or Arundel !"—(La. /sing)—He did not Mac
the regardlesstwss, If he might sceexprese himielf, of levity on so solemn an oecasion, but the Bill befit,
any one, that originated in the humblest tribunal in their Lordships reminded him of a theatrical repres
the land, where the rights of the subject are protected.-1 mutations, where each person was employed its throwing,
When he mutiny!! the teems in which it was couched, in their little face, their morsel of detraction—one tab,
he found that it was not railed for by any motive of of the distinctions conferred upon a menial, another
state necessity. No reasons had been adduced in sap- I adds eittnethiag about improper familiarities, and tips
port of it, except those that sweet suggested by the tome Mrs. Candour ate; s in, and only stops 0;01 .1
ientimehts of the Noble Peer by Whom it was leen- i the word " adultery ;" and thus that solemn inquiry
duced. It was founded on Ilorriturnls which were un- i was niatle neither more nor loss than a solesuu farce,
vouched by the evidence of responsible witnesses. The 1 and whether .lbrip,,/i,, had received favours from hie I
Learned Counsel here proeeteled to read detailed lady, or whether the servants had quarreled with she.;
eitrafts froPthe Bill, commenting on theta a'a he west steward, appeared to he the only question. What he
along. partiettlarlyon the preamble, which he avail. I complained of was, the want of a definite ground, anii 1
asserted did nut curtain a single lamination that could the ititmillicriun of so great A variety of circumstances
directly inculpate her Majesty. It appealed that her smite in-els-vast toile main fact ; and that was holding
Nlajesty, while Princess of Wales, being at 31ilan in unt a motive to the passing of the Bill by their Lord-
Ist', met there a certain iudividualotained liartolouitt I shipi, whichsoever could have had place were the
Bergauti, or Per anti, whom she took in her service, i proceeding really judicial. Some of their Lordships I
and raised him from a menial situation to a rank of Might thus be induced to pass the Hill from our ma-
distinguished fototir and confidence. _Now, there was tire, and some from anotiler : att.! it was impossible
nothing l•riiiiinal in (Lk, oar was there, any thing in i that they (die Counsel) could apply thenotelves to all
• it to 'hew that she was godly, of'" 'disgraceful, vies'- I that variety of inducement which might weigh on ,
. °us. immoral, and scandalises( cofidttet," as Pie cream- their Lordships minds, when they considered this Hill ,
Me 5t.1 tell. It was ivaposiihle for him to decide. how not on the 'mind of being a judicial proceeding, but
faLane. Lord might think it degrading. to the Royal on the ground of State necessity and expediency.—ol
Idignity, and injurious to the interests of the sere, that lie noticed the language that had been held by the
I
in act slomld be done upon which another Noble Lord publii prise. it hail been declared, that political ex-
'night .1) upon to direr with him altogether. 'lle ele- petlit!arY required that the Queen, should he got rid .
vetion ~t a faithful servant was not a,novelostestreance, i of----if in nu other way, as a martyr. He stated it to
anti most certainly was mat of itself au art which eves beide intention, in the toorse of those proceedings,i
by the t forced construction could cuuatiotte guilt. to claim for her Majesty the Queen, in its fullest ex-
ile saw nothing in the Bill that in a Court. of Justine tent, the right of reeriminat• . If ever a cave!
world be considered as a charge, or that in a legiela- 1 imbued; in vrifich the right of recrimination was most
ties Parliam lot would be held as criminal. If it were . iMportant, this was that raw. Ile commented on the
a Bill of Ind ctruents strong darts would be stared On, situation in which her MaSiesty ti As placed by having
the face of it. These (:arts would he mated ma ith the her case submitted to the two Houses of Parliament ;
minutest precision : the tithe, the ;thee, and the pro- and finally and especially on that in which she must,
sulnent features of the c. 0.,. would he clearly specified.'„ tint!, herself when it was ref. r.. 11 to the II estate. '
But here was no ends pr.-vision, here no specification Either the King had or had nut been a party to the
whatever was given ; Anil he would ask wa, thereany pretest arensation. If he had not, sorely their Lord-
thing plain or honourable in this Bill ? Was there ' ships would taut violate one of the last principles of
any thing more insidi arts and jesuitical ? The law or. cinun hoe, namely, to dissul,a• a marriage without the;
'England, whirh might be termed' the perfection of hoe,
complaint of the husband. •And, if he had been a i
*Went and humanity, took care that nothing shbuld ! tmetr•Mly -he had put *II that meehinery in motion I
be stated in a hill of indictment that roiald net be , Whic'h was now in ' sorb dreadful operation, with
clearly understood by the meanest caparitv.
.IVae this! what fare would. their Lurdships ask the third
Hill equally definite and perspicuous? Who Was the state, for its consent to a measure which was
:man living that could answer in the affirmative? If . inlopted at itsown institution, and of which its opinion
he charged a man•ivith murder, would a 'irate' .Inry 'had been so Manifestly expressed? This was 1111-
11Illi the bill, unless it Was clearly proved that there questionably a Bill of Divorce, anal thost4ie,altject of
wsiemalire aforethought ? Would thete be any orris- •is was to dissolve the preterit marriage diutl subsisted,
sinn of this on the face of the instrumeet ? ilr would in order that the King might form a new (=oracle?.
not the titne anal place he stated in which the &tali! BefOre, therefore, their 'Lordships coitlesailttion such,
r blnw las given? And if Bill of I ndietinent'assfimed• a measure, they would surely see that the accuser
this distinct and positive charseteis Why shuald,not • came into Court with clean hands. Witlisiegard to
the present Bill be equally explicit.? Why ghoul& not ' State necessity, he denied the etistence of such a
the Illitetrions Defendant in this ease have the clearest ' motive on the present occasion, because the gaiety of
notice of all the facts charged? Old any min ever the country demanded that this measure should be
sip in preferring a Bill of Indictment, that John or i abindoned. With respect to the Hill of Pains and
Thomas had entertained malice against anotherindi- ' Peualtier,* after the eloquent appeal made yesterday
virtual for many years before; that he (,rolin.or Thomas) by his Learned Friend, .it would be menecessaey to
Minded to, have waylaid that individual at a certain ' say'inech ; hut he would ask their Lordships td look
time, lint was frustrated in his atrocious purpose; !at the sirtistion in which they were about lii 'Mice
that he had harboured against him a deadly and , themselves. The other House was about to beadtnite
Implacable spoceanr., and sought to have decoyed 'ted to a share of their judicial functions—a body
him into a wood, where he meant to take his life? • who could not examine a witness upon oath, and
=eat this m mien( her Majesty entered in the manner' who, it had been declared by a high authority, had
-
mentioned yesterday: and after a pause, Mr. Denman ; disgraced itself by every inqn:ry into which it bad
proceeded.]--A Secret Committee had already sat, and i entered. How could the consent of the King be
their situation hail been likened to that of st (trend i rifled the consent of the third estate of the realm ?
Jury. He was not going ov,'r the objections that had IHe pressed on the consideration of th; House, hypo-
, been already. urged to this similitude, but almost the 1 thetically the ease of a young and foreign Princess,
first thing that struck him, that this Secret Committee I who came to. this (-wintry to meet the affections of a
wa: not the body by whom the Bill thin before their lin'sband• as she expected, and with prospects and
Lordships was found. It had originally been ream'.; hopes of grandeur and happiness without parallel. He
mended by the Committee, but it had not been found 1 tailed neon the House to reflect what her feelings must
by them. They recommended,' as it was stated front be. if, shortly after her arrival, she had found herself
1I
certain 'documents, that a solemn inquiry should take surrounded by mistresses, and subsequently lii spies
place, on account of the great number of adulterOus and informers. He put it to them what must be her
arts committed by her Majesty—these acts appear- situation, if the birth of an only daughter,' instead of
ing to them so deeply to affect the moral feeling proving the pledge of renewed love, had only proved
of the nation; and the necessity of such a legit- the signal fur their final separation. lie followed this
lative measure they deeply deplore. What they up by supposing her actions to have bees basely
recommended was not a hill of Pains and Penal- watched from that time forward, and at length an hi-
des, but a solemn inquiry. Whether the documents quiry set on foot before a tribunal formed on princi-
on which they founded that opinion was true or pies most unfavourableeo her, which inquiry, however,
false,*did 'not appear ; but the Bill of Pains and l'enal- had terminated in her acquittal. He then repreaented
tie, was recommended, and lie meant not to state it tide persecuted Princess to have been by varieus.pro-,
disrespectfully; simply by one of their Lordships—a' . ceedings in a manner compelled to later thit easintry,'
Peer certainly high in his Majesty's Councils, hilt ap- and called upon their Lordships to consider thelard-
Oaring there and offering that Bill to their Lordships, . ship of her case, as still peesued by spies and Inform-
simply as a Peer of the House: the Bill was not, he era, bribed to report or to fabricate tiles, to her per-
supposed, drawn by the Noble Lord who presented it. jury and suboritaion, to repeat an experiment isataly
It might, for aught he knew, have been the production which had failed in England. He strongly urged
of the Attorney-Deneral, or the Gentlemen of the Black this, an pressed on the attention of their Lordships,
Rod, who required his Learned Friend's attendance ; the hardships and injustice of which a person thus
but proceed from whatever quarter it did, he would still situated might complain. In such a case as that
treat it with the same feeerlom as if it were the lowest which he had lupposed, the right of recrimincion was
indiettnent that proceeded (rent the lowest court in the shoal btely accessary. If their Lordships denied her
country. And when he looked through it, arid found that right, they took from themselves the power of
no State necessity to jnstify its enactment—no reason giving a divorce, and gave it to the husband, whose
given, exeept those recited in its preamble—nothing incontinence, whose brutality, and whose cruelty of
more than an ebnllition of moral zeal on the part or every description, had driven her from her home, and
the person who drew it up, it was not necessary to offer placed her in circumstances in which she might ap-
any apology fur this course of proceeding. The pear guilty of adultery, and, in which, if guilty of
Learned Counsel then proceeded to read the Preamble adultery, it might fairly be imputed to his misconduct ;
of the Bill, and remarked upon the various parts of it, and, therefore, to deny her the right of recrimination,
as insufficient to jnstify the proceeding before their would be to authorise him to avail himself. of the
Lordships. Ile would defy any one to tell him wrong he had done her to triumph over the injured
•on whose opinion her Majesty's conduct had deserved pasty. Again: the right of recrintinatiom was in his
epithets that were conferred on it by the resent Rill. judgment the newt important right which the Coined
Referring to a former investigation, be wollhi call possessed. If any doubt could be entertained on this
to the itteetion of She House the letter °flies. Lisle, subject, that doubt .must speedily vanish unless the]

TV STA eran,
•
%tail Wore., a wield y to, aseert•lio irSet :I " i ling" waN tl
„the allefatioes contaloed fie shwitinents 'verb, tr nately watrl
'er false. Theslllilrfleatilas Wrote the Hoke we, 614 of rend
bread; halt* a Peer, as an jtoli ideal, who, in this svipeksjog 9f, the.,Presful
respet,-Was elititled to no highor Ani.tideration than wtthout any iVittence before th
any other of theft Lereshites, fie was °ay yrbati WII, .e.(ingsilling I