I one (actuarial mutant.

but at last-he tween the Duke and Lady Augusta before and immedi- ately after their marriage] On the 15th of September, 1799,

' efrom the expiration of_twelve calendar meant. In" \ ' iin‘ihynifunis given to the privy cost it as aforesaid, enamel m marria e; and his or hgr igailtnagf’ ithggiie gqjhugztwlh. an“.

. “d3 ‘ccted ma e u so emni _- me Pnnce m 22:51:31: {films Majestj, his heiyrs or successOrs', and such mom-g. shall be good, as if this not had never been tirade, unlsap hath , Houses of Parliament shall, before the expiration of th. 3““; M twelve months, expressly declare their disapprobation ofsuclt m. z y ,

tende’d marriage." _ . - I I, [A third clause subjected all parties concerned int!» 3 martiage to the penalties of premumre.) ‘ . ~. iii, Sir T.. Wilde, having concluded readingthe act, “ tinned—In this not there was no limitation on the peweggfw i ofthe Crown; and the fancied power. of the part, u, give notice under the second clause might be for «I; . prevented by the simple delay of the Crown to e any dissent. Then again, the issue of Princesses mar- tying into foreign families were excepted from the opera-11 1‘ .tion of the act. Why, that. would have excluded the z i issue of the Princess Charlotte, and-perhaps even the, .. issue of her Majesty, for both were Princesses who no , g a ried into foreign fatnilies;unless indeed, the fact thather: I Majesty had come to the throne before her marriage-5. - prevented the act from applying to her, The {not the, such a question might be raised on the act showed lief . - ‘ loosely its provisions were drawn, and how rigidly it

THE DUKEDOM 0F SUSSEX. the ceremony, be refused for sometime,

A C . f P d _ f h H ‘ [L d ‘ yielded. The parties inetfat the recidence ell; Lattjy ‘ "mull '9 (“I e “0 l 9 0‘15?“ 0" "a more, takingadva-nta e o ano rtunityw en a ' . . I _

on Thursday morning, Maygml, the Earl of Shaftesbury was absent. Mr. Gin" waspmde to can on Lady hls mu m ,3ng when left no _doubt up ttl) yyihrsgiye

in the cliair,to consider the claimof Sir Aucus'rus Fitn- Augusm she received him, and" while may were in com ,hoggh, of hm own mm.ng and 1],, son . egr . I

DERICV- D'ESTE t0 the rank, title, "Id 11090“? Of his versation, the Prince came forward, and the two young This was an extract from it :-— . . 1m

MP (“thet- the Duke Of Sussex. Fulfil. Ih'emfi’g'w persons importuned Mr. Gunn to perform the ceremony. 9‘ you J'qutllte and justfoune to declare,in this my

- ' ' ' ' " ' ' 7! i l and do married to Lady Augusta B """A'klo‘l" » . .He did celebrate it according to the rubriu‘u Church Will.,th _ ,was solimh y e on the 4m gThi: committee was numeroust attended, The Lord of England_ Everything “mm, could re ,. the mar- Murray (second dnubliier of the girl of Dunmm’ )

s . day oprril, 1793, at the cit of ltome.nd in the inn commoq- C haucvilor and all the law lords were present; and the rings "lid in ma, way was performed; .niwthmg, so , km“,an 1m“,an of "mint", when my “puffing-“J: Lerd tiltiefJusticcofthe Common Pleis.’the.L0"l Chief far as form went, was wanting to give it force and then reside .wilh lier motlier,Ludy qunmofiéragngr‘ sisazd, Baron of the Exchequer, Justices Williams, Patteson, validijy_ After a few months. the Prince was recalled :gpyrynilrginntna bizaiga'yséognglralfigtgp; bgirngliemumciem’ Pagan Gunman, 'nd Creisw‘eu’ and'B'flon Puke were als? pre‘ ‘0 Engmnd' The lady and her family were likewne abom performed tlieplticremnny of marriage with my _suid wife at the“ sent. having beér’t'summonetho assist their lordt‘h'PS- to return hither, and on their road they met at Florence. [wish change,- 5, George, H,,,ov_e,.,q.,.re, m the coulnty oou Th0 counsel ‘0’ the 0185mm: were Si! T- Wilder M" 'l‘he‘consequence of the intercourse between them had Midplesex, by virtue of batins pubhshgd in fttgqlggghlyfid'ithm. M’- '""‘ M“ W“ “a "'° mm“ “the the" begun to manifest "self- Tha 'adi was We", -“ :.'::.::l.:.*;~i.;’£.£";‘rs'.::‘::t:.:.'2:.2’:“.:.‘:.:":..; a... .1- pqrt ofthe Crown by the Attorney-General, the Solicitor' medical man wa’s called in, and at Florence, in order to Comm!” to deedum l‘ny marriage unhfimq Md, ye” reel General, and Mr. Waddington. We sincerely regret to prevent her from being treated in a‘manner which her mys,,“-,,,m “(,llc,sj,nu,,d by every obng not lgw,bctogs3fi_:cpri say that the‘ Attorney~General appeared to be stilLterY case did not really require, the truth was confessed, and and honour, to consrdcr her as rn‘yl' lnwi‘uttarljgnanlnoc: eAnd mm Weak and “ufle'lng- ‘ ‘ fl then, for the first time, her mother became acquainted Every {sspccgdnsi‘itetlingaijpggkgijvlgide‘yxufawn lingual“ haw ' Sir Tum“: WILDB said that he appeared at their lor'd. With her marringc' They came to England in September ridlizlii'librtlias lioniitftcr both tliuse inurriuges, as my true, legi' ' 'Bhll“. b‘" to P'e5em to we" cons.lde"‘l°“ "‘e grounds or October, I793. The Prince went to his own famlly, “mum, and lawful "my . 0“ which Sir Augusws D’Efle claimed ‘0 “1° 99“ fl” and she remained with hers. From the first, het‘had In Home, Wm. made in 1800' .he appmmed the 1"“ film" “Duh “Sum”- He h‘d Pt’eseme , ‘0 “9' been extremely desirous that no question should be raised prince of wales, and me Duke of York as his executors, "fie", hi3 hnmble memm'l‘lt Pf'l'ing lb“ he m'gh' be as to the legitimacy ofthe child, but he knew the pledge

declared entitled to the succession, and it ha been her

Majesty’s pleasure to refer this memorial to ships’co‘naideratien. The claimant would prove beyon

all doubt that he was the son ofhis late Royal Highness. There would be no difficulty about that. Nor, it was hoped, would there be any in establishing his claim as

the legitimate descendant of his father. He anticipate that the‘real question which their lordships wou

tion and effect ofan act ofParliament,tlie 12th Geo. Ill

commonly calledthe Royal Marriage Act. It was with

no small degree of confidence that he looked to the

lordships for a declaration of their opinion that that sta-

tute did not apply to the case of this claimant.

The. points that he should have to establish were— first, the fact of the marriage, which took place at Rome, on the 4th oprril, U93, and of which he apprehended there would'be no doubt; next, that,that was it uh marriage, independently of the Royal Marriage Act; thag't was a valid marriage notwithstanding He should, before discussing these poi a,

and lastly that Act’ state the circumstances under which the marriage place.

Their lordships knew that Prince Augustus, the son of George III., was sent abroad at the early age of thirteen. It would appear, from the course of his education, and the period ofhis absence, that it was intended that he should be domiciled abroad, and become an inhabitant ofother dominions of his Majesty rather than that he should live in England. He was sent to the University of Gottingen in his thirteenth year, and remained there At that age, his health was much It was sup-

till he was twenty. affected, he had become subject to asthma.

eir lord-

have to consider would be that which related to the construc-

of secrecy whichhe had given to Mr. Gunn at Rome, and he was desirous of keeping that pledge,l But when the edudition ofthe lady rendered it necessary that some step should be taken, the Prince caused the banns of marriage to be published in the church of St. George,» Hanover-square. "They were published in the names of Augustus Frederick and Augusta Murray, names which did not attract attention, and no one knew of.the mar- riage which was intended to take place, and which did take place shortly afterwards. It was impossible to say at what time the King was informed of the matter; but

if

d

it having occasion to search the registry of marriages in that church, saw the names and handwriting, and imme- diately afterwards the King became acquainted with the fact of the marriage. The fact of the King’s knowledge did not appear toiliave been communicated to the Prince, for he was shortly afterwards ordered abroad, where he remained for some years, and it was not till after his de- parture, and after some severe proceedings had been adopted towardstlielady, that the fact ofthe King’s know- ledge of the matter was ascertained. Some time after— wards the Prince was taken ill at Berlin, and the lady went thither to attend her husband. There was some difficulty in her getting a passport, and at last she ob- tained one'hi a feigned name, and departed to discharge her conjugal duties. After she had been there a short time she was required to quit Berlin, and she returned to this country. The Prince afterwards returned to this country, and he then lived with her for some little titne in a house which he occupied in Lower Grosvenor-street. During this time, his communications with the royal

k

it appeared that very shortly afterwards it nobleman,

and animated them to maintain the just rights ofhis son. He wrote on the same subject ro-various persons of in- tluence,and tuck every means short ofthat ofopen public avowal, which, if then made, would have superseded the necessity of the present proce‘eding.- Such were the means he took to assert his marriage. There were now but few persons alive who had taken part in these trans- actions. The onlyvperson of the family _now alive was Lady Virginia Murray, now residing .Paris, who would come here as a witness shouldfieir lordships deem her attendance necessary, but w 0 could only prove the secrecy which had been observed by the Prince and.her sister respecting the whole affair, till the cir- cumstances he had already mentioned had rendered a disclosure necessary and inevitable. The facts he had stated were, he thought, sufficient to establish the fact of a marriage.

Tltis, then, brought him to the statute. There were now two questions to be considered : first, whether, sup-

Ollgllt to be construed, if it Was not to be turned '. means of defeating the principles, as wall as upped. _ the practice, of the law of England. _Tlie act, it would ,, be said, created a personal incapacity. But for they ‘in very reason it must be strictly construed. Now, its eF- g: fect must in some measure be judged by the. means enforcing it. It created not only an incapacity, but 19. ‘5; crime, one punishable by a prteuiunire ; in other wordp, . u by a forfeiture of goods and imprisonment. But butf ' was this prtemunire to be enforced? How could an of.“ I" fence against the laws of this country be cominitted.b.,, , .2 yond the seas, unless the act creating the offence dado-r ‘I "j red that it might be committed by such persons? In j all other cases that'rule of construction applied: pal», crime declared to be such by our law could be 4 ‘ this country if committed abroad,unless the law disttucak ly declared that it should be so tried, and settled how I v should be tried. In foreign states a marriagegood I L the law of those states was recognised as good hen.

posing the marriage made at Rome, under circumstan- ces like these, was held to be a marriage of .the claim- ant’s parents, this not contained anything which would render a marriage that was otherwise perfectly valid of no value whatever, and make the ofispring, who would otherwise be legitimate, merely bastard. But he should not argue that point till he had made some observations on the statute; for, iftbe statute could render It. null, it would be oflittle importance that it was in other res- pects valid and binding. 'In arguing on the statute,‘he must assume the marriage to be in other respects a good and lawful marriage. Assuming that, he came to the question, whether it was void by reason of this act of Parliament, one of the parties to it it being, within the

Such was a principle of law, existing not here-leap, ‘ but throughout the civilized world. The marriage}. 3. if this case was not good by the law of the place when was celebrated. He should not repeat his argumentai...’,g that no statute of this country could affect British sub- , 5' jects in foreign states, without expressly declarin‘ I,“ thatthe"'Legislature intended so to affect them. But, _, such was the rule; and the cases of the lawaagainat 'V.‘ slavery'and against usury Were instances strikingly in , point upon this subject. The learned counsel here pro.- ,_ ceeded to refer to several legal authorities in support of; his arguments, and concluded by observing that hoped, upon a r view ofthe circumstances of this cue".

that their lordsh a would lie of opinion that there was? ‘ nothing to deprive the claimant of those honours to"- which he was, in justice at least, so fully entitled. He”. trusted that their lordsliipa would consider the act'of , Parliament as one which, imposing liabilities, required, :‘r according to the ordinary rules oflaw, to be strictly con-

strued, and as one the provisions of \ihicli could not be , impliedly extended to cases for which it did not contain V, any express enactments. He should not stay to consi- , der what might be the consequences of a contrary con. struction—what fearful events might arise from it ; how

it might even give rise to all the horrors of adiaputed1 . succession, and bring on the country all those et‘ilc' V. which it had so long been our happiness to avoid. He,‘ simply asked their lordships to act on the ordinary rule‘s; ~ oflaw—on those rules which had been found the be‘fi security for our lives and property, and, if they did 00,," he felt confident that they would in the erid advise Her. 4 Majesty to award to the claimant those honours to ~ f which he. was justly entitled. “

The further hearing of the case was adjourned .rt'u die. ‘.

family were not satisfactory, and lie quitted England. From that time they never met again.

In the first instance the Prince had left England at so early an age that he could have had no knowledge ofthe virtues or the firmness of his father, and thought, when about to marry, that his father would relent; but he knew from history what the character‘of that father was, aud,iu fact, he postively resisted, from the begin-' ning. anything like a concession or a consent. Some years had passed away when, after this residence in Low- er Grosvcrior-streel, the Prince again quitted England. In the meantime his brothers had received titles and pro- vision for their maintenance; he alone was kept in a state ofcxtrorne depression. Separated from his wife, from his family; oppressed with absolute poverty, he suffered dearly for the imprudcuce he had committed. His wife for some time suffered similar evils. and the consequen- ces were such as might naturally have been anticipated. The lady became perhaps a little impatient under her sufferings. Wants and wishes had been excited in her which could not be gratified. In England She liad,forthe first time, become aware ofthat act of Parliament,which appeared the more to be feared from the obsctirity of the terms in which it was couched, subjecting as it did, the persons who violated its provisions to all the consequen- ces of aprtcmuuire—a word which, to those who did not understand it, appeared to threaten them with trans- portation. Complaints ofher wants and privations were tnade to him, and, perhaps, appearing to him unreason- able, as those wants and privations were inevitable. pro- duced by degrees in his mind an altered state of things. Letters of disappointment, possibly ofreproacli, followed. She was not aware of the efforts made by him to do her justice : and all this led to alienation of feeling between them; and having separated in full warmth of feeling, believing that their happiness depended on each other, they never again nict.

Some time afterwards, proposals were forwarded to her through Lord Grenville, to settle 4,0001. 8 yEaI’ on her, on certain conditions, such as giving up the royal livery; arid the lady, smartiiig under the circumstances already detailed, accepted these proposals. The claimant, how- ever, was then, and always had been, the object of his father’s affection, who addressed him in terms of as warm affection as were ever used by parent towards children. The Prince, too, desired that the son should succeed to all his honours. In his will, where he made the Prince of Wales, afterward George lV., and the Duke of York, ltis executors, he urged them in the strongest manner to maintain the interests and rights ofhis son; and, even after being ftilly made acquainted with the provisions of

words of the act, a descendant ofGeorge II. ;—:—was this act confined to marriages contracted in England, or in British territories, or did it prohibit British subjects from marrying anywhere, or under any form, without first obtaining the consent required by its provismns"! He contended that its effect must be confined to this country, and to marriages contracted within the British territories, and that the ordinary ruléc of conSII'IICth" would so confine it. Such, he was sure, would be the conclusion of tlieirlordsliips when its history was CONSI- deted. The Act was passed in the summerofl773. In the previous year, the marriages of the King's bro- thers, the Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester, had been made public. The children ofthe King were too young at that time to require such a statute for their pro- tection. The act was rather an expression of the royal displeasure against the King’s brothers than anything else. It. was passed with extreme rapidity—it might be doubted whether it was consistent, either with regard to policy or religion, and on the face ofit little consider- ation was shown either for principles or details. It was passed after a short but vigorous opposition, and was adopted amidst the protesis of many noble lords. The Marriage Act ofGeorge II. had been considered by the Courts as an act creating disabilities, and, therefore, to be strictly construed; the Royal Marriage Act much tnore truly deserves that character, and required the ap- plication of that rule of construction. It Was indefinite ‘both as to the persons to be affected by it, and the time during which it should operate upon them. It interfered with that which was most sacred in its nature, and most necessary to man’s happiness and the good of society, and it professed to hand over to one person the cliotce of that which was dearest to m'an, though the person thus entrusted with the choice might‘ have no one sympathy with the person for whom he was to choose. The first objection to the act in point of law was, that there was no period during which its provisions were restricted in their operation—it would operate on therdesceiidants of George II. for ever. If all the children of George III. had families as numerous as his own, the multiplication of persons on whom the act was to operate would have become ridiculous. If the, public interests required such a restriction, the public ought to provide for the persons on whotn the restriction was placed, for even the most remote descendants of George II. were afl‘ected by its operation. The circumstance alone showed the sort of rules of construction that ought to be applied to such an net. This act was uncertain as to time, place, and persons, and its value and general expressions could not be assisted by the doctrine of implication. In order to enforce this act, their lordships must abandon all the

ordinary rules of construction, and guess at possible intentions.

Lord CAMPBELL—YOU do not go so far as some of the lordswho dissented from the bill, and declared that it was against the constitution, and though passed in Par- liament couldknot» have the force of law.

.Sir. T. Wicca never went to that length, when the Parliament which made the law possessed the power to enforce it. It might be unholy, lrreligious, and bad, but still it was law. What were its terms ’! He would

read the whole of it, and then comment on its provi- SIODS.

[The learned counsel here read chief clauses are these;:—— “ Be it enacted, that'uo jesty King George tlié Sec issue of' princesses

posed that his growth had been beyond his strength, and that it was necessary he should go to Italy, to try the ofi'ect ofa warmer climate. He arrived there at the ettd of 1792. The arrival of a young and accomplished English prince at Rome would, of course, create a great sensation, which was uotlikely to suffer any diminution when his manners and accomplishments became known in society there. He was very gladly received in all society. Lady Dunmore was at that time at Rome with her two daughters, Lady Augusta and Lady Virginia Murray. Lady Augusta, especially. possessed very cou- sitlcrable personal'attractions, and lter other tnerits were worthy of her rank, her sex, and her station. The Prince became warmly attached to her. She did not at first favour this attachment. She was aware that any con- nection with a family, however high and honourable, but ‘ which was not royal, was not likely to meet with ap- probation. He himself struggled with his passion, btit the strug lc threatened robe fatal to liiin—hc abstained from foo , and intimated his resolution to marry or to I die. His attachment and his offers were stutliously con- cealed from Lady Dunmore, but the prince and Lady Augusta met as often as they possibly could without at- tracting observation. At last he preSscd for marriage in the most urgent manner. She was six or seven years older than he, and ._ he acted a must honourable part. Though she was noisiusensible to the merits of his Royal Highness—though she must have been impressed with his attachment—though these circumstances would na- turally induce on her part a strong feeling of regard to- l wards him, yet she felt that. it was necessary for her to resist her own feelings, and to assist him in repressing the indulgence of his own wishes. But parleyiitg on such occasions never did much iced. Where an ardent ; attachment existed, in proportion as the object of it t showed magnanimity and generosity, in that same pro- ! portion was the passion ofthe other party excited and | l l