A TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE House of LORDS From Jan. 7. 1691. to Feb. 17. following BETWEEN The Duke and Dutchess of Norfolk Upon the Duke's BILL ENTITULED An Act to Dissolve the Marriage c. OCCASIONED By Two Libellous PAMPHLETS lately Published and Dispersed under the same Pretence and Title LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCII THE PREFACE THere have been lately printed and made publick Two scandalous Pamphlets the one under the Title of The Proceedings before the House of Lords between the Duke and Dutchess of Norfolk The other is called The farther Depositions and Proceeddings in the House of Lords in the Affair of the Duke and Dutchess of Norfolk with the Bill of Divorce Now these two Papers are so far from a faithful Narrative of the said Proceedings that what with confounding the Order of the Transaction and disguising the Truth of Things by industrious Omissions gross Imperfections and wilfal Mistakes This pretended Account has made it absolutely necessary even for the sake of common Justice to set the World right in the Story To which end the entire Series of this Affair is here set forth from Point to Point just as it passed before their Lordships and stands upon their Journal with such Notes upon the Evidence on both sides as the Nature of the Case requires and as the Reason of it will fairly bear The Reader will observe here upon this Relation that the two Principal Witnesses produced against the Dutchess of Norfolk are Rowland Owen and Margaret Ellwood for they swear positively to the stress of the Question whereas all the rest is but Circumstantial and made use of only for Aggravation Prejudice and Clamour So that upon invalidating their Testimony the main Cause falls effectually to the Ground saving only the unavoidable Misfortune of many an Innocent Person that suffers under the Impossibility of proving a Negative there being no Fence against uncharitable Presumptions Now taking this for granted as it is not to be denied the Reader is only desired to lay seriously to Heart the Impossibility of the Fact that is sworn against the Dutchess in some Cases and the utter impossibility of it to be true in others The Tampering and Practice that has been used the Inconsistency of the Witnesses with themselves their Character and Credit c. one of them Ann Burton being trapt in a false Oath out of her own Mouth upon the very place of Examination The Reader will also take notice that of Twenty Six Witnesses produced in Favour of the Duke one half of them are Principals and the other only Seconds Peter Scriber Andrew Anderson Robert Hemming John Reynolds and Margaret Foster are five of the former Number but speaking little or nothing to the Merits of the Question it was not thought worth the while to offer Exceptions to their Testimony though to the other Eight that is to say Owen Ellwood Hudson Burton Varelst Tho. Foster Lloyd and Wadsworth there were several Witnesses on the behalf of the Dutchess to invalidate their Credit viz. Two to the First Six to the Second Two to the Third Four to the Fourth One to the Fifth Two to the Sixth Two to the Seventh and Six to the Last It is very remarkable also after all these Exceptions to every one of the Duke 's principal Witnesses that the Testimony of the Dutchess's Witnesses passed current without any contradiction saving only that Henry Daggley and John Hoskins were examined against the Credit of John Hall in the Case of Jane Wadsworth leaving four Witnesses more in the same Case untouch'd and Edith Sawbridge against the Testimony of Mrs. Judith Stourton which Depositions the Reader will find to be of little or no moment as to the matter in hand This puts it past Dispute that they had nothing more to say against the Witnesses for the Dutchess but stopt at these three for want of farther Pretence The Result in short is this that all the material Witnesses to the Charge are Impeached and the Evidence on the other side stands untainted To say nothing of the unanswerable Reasons that prevailed with the Lords finally to reject the Bill especially considering the Solemnity of the Proceedings For the Cause was kept on from the 7th of January to the 17th of February following All the Lords in and about the Town being summon'd by an Order of the House bearing Date Die Veneris Feb. 12. 1691. to attend at Twelve of the Clock on the Tuesday following And the Officers that summoned them to give an Account of what Lords they summoned pursuant to which Order their Lordships met according to the Appointment and after some previous Debates Adjourned till the next Day when the Depositions on both sides were read at the Table by the Clerk as will be seen more at large upon the following Journal And after a long and solemn Debate The Question being put Whether the Bill entituled An Act to Dissolve the Marriage of Henry Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England with the Lady Mary Mordant and to enable the said Duke to Marry again shall be read a second time It was Resolved in the Negative A True ACCOUNT of the Proceedings before the House of Lords from January the 7th 1691 to the 17th of February following between the Duke and Dutchess of Norfolk upon the Duke's Bill Entituled An Act to Dissolve the Marriage c. The 7th of January the said Bill was lodg'd in the House of Lords The 8th of January THE Dutchess of Norfolk having received Intimation that the Duke of Norfolk was this Day offering a Bill to the House of Lords for Dissolving the Marriage between them and that the same was under Debate before their Lordships She was advised to present the following Petition To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled The Humble Petition of Mary Dutchess of Norfolk Sheweth THat your Petitioner being informed that the Duke of Norfolk is at this time offering a Bill to your Lordships for Dissolving the Marriage between him and your Petitioner Your Petitioner Humbly prays she may be heard by Your Lordships before such Bill be received And Your Petitioner will ever pray c. M. Norfolk Upon which Petition their Lordships were pleased to make the following Order viz. Die Veneris 8 Januarii 1691. A Bill having been offered to this House on the behalf of the Duke of Norfolk to dissolve the Marriage between the said Duke and his Dutchess It was ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled that Her Grace shall have notice thereof and may be heard by her Counsel at the Bar of this House on Tuesday next at 12 of the Clock what she hath to object against the receiving the said Bill at which time the said Duke may also be heard by his Counsel for the said Bill if he shall think fit Matth. Johnson Cler ' Parlimentor ' Die Martis 12 Januarii 1691. AFter hearing Counsel this day at
the Bar what they could object for her Grace the Dutchess of Norfolk against the receiving of a Bill offered by his Grace the Duke of Norfolk to dissolve the Marriage between him and his Dutchess As also the Counsel of his Grace the Duke of Norfolk for receiving the said Bill And after Consideration of what was offered by Counsel on either side and a long Debate thereupon This Question was put Whether the Duke of Norfolk ' s Bill should be received It was Resolved in the Affirmative Which Bill is as followeth An Act to Dissolve the Marriage of Henry Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England with the Lady Mary Mordant and to enable the said Duke to Marry again FOrasmuch as Henry Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England having been Married to the Lady Mary Mordant hath made full proof that his said Wife is guilty of and hath committed Adultery on her part And forasmuch as the said Henry Duke of Norfolk hath no Issue nor can have any probable expectation of Posterity to succeed him in his Honours Dignities and Estate unless the said Marriage be declared void by Authority of Parliament and the said Duke be enabled to Marry any other Woman The King and Queens Most Excellent Majesties upon the Humble Petition of the said Henry Duke of Norfolk having taken the Premises into their Royal Consideration for divers weighty Reasons are pleased that it be Enacted And be it Enacted by the King and Queens Most Excellent Majesties and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That the said Marriage between the said Henry Duke of Norfolk and the said Lady Mary his Wife shall from henceforth be null and void and is by Authority of this present Parliament Declared Adjudged and Enacted to be null and void to all Intents Constructions and Purposes whatsoever And that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Henry Duke of Norfolk at any time or times hereafter to Contract Matrimony and to Marry as well in the Life-time of the said Lady Mary as if she were naturally dead with any other Woman or Women with whom he might lawfully marry in case the said Lady Mary was not living And that such Matrimony when had and celebrated shall be a good just and lawful Marriage and so shall be adjudged deemed and taken to all Intents Constructions and Purposes And that all and every Children and Child born in such Matrimony shall be deemed adjudged and taken to be born in lawful Wedlock and to be Legitimate and Inheritable and shall inherit the said Dukedome of Norfolk Office of Earl Marshal of England and all other Earldoms Dignities Baronies Honours and Titles of Honour Lands Tenements and other Hereditaments from and by their Fathers Mothers and other Ancestors in like manner and form as any other Child or Children born in lawful Matrimony shall or may inherit or be inheritable according to the Course of Inheritances used in this Realm And to have and enjoy all Priviledges Preheminencies Benefits Advantages Claims and Demands as any other Child or Children born in lawful Wedlock may have or claim by the Laws or Customs of this Kingdom And be it farther Enacted That the said Henry Duke of Norfolk shall be Intituled to be Tenant by Courtesy of the Lands and Inheritance of such Wife whom he shall hereafter marry And such Wife as he shall so marry shall be Intitled to a Dower of the Lands and Tenements of the said Henry Duke of Norfolk and of such Estate whereof she shall be Dowable as any other Husband or Wife may or might claim have or enjoy And the Child or Children born in such Marriage shall and may derive and make Title by Descent or otherwise to and from any their Ancestors as any other Child or Children may do any Law Statute Restraint Prohibition Ordinance Canon Constitution Prescription or Custom had made exercised or used to the contrary of the Premisses or any of them in any wise notwithstanding And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the said Lady Mary shall be and is hereby barred and excluded of and from all Dower and Thirds and of and from all Right and Title of Dower and Thirds unto or out of any the Honours Mannors Lands or Hereditaments of the said Duke And that all Conveyances Jointures Settlements Limitations and Creations of Uses and Trusts of into or out of any Honours Mannors Lands or Hereditaments at any time heretofore made by the said Duke or any of his said Ancestors or Trustees unto or upon or for the use or benefit of the said Lady Mary or any the Issue of her Body or for raising discharging or counter-securing any the Mannors Lands or Hereditaments of the said Lady Mary or any of her Ancestors shall be from henceforth utterly void and of none effect And all and every the said Honours Mannors Lands or Hereditaments of the said Duke or any of his Ancestors or Trustees shall from henceforth remain and be to and for the use and benefit of the said Duke and such other Person or Persons and for such Estates and Interests and in such manner and form as if the said Lady Mary was now naturally dead without any Issue of her Body And also That all Limitations and Creations of any Use Estate Power or Trust made by any of the Ancestors of the said Lady Mary unto or for the use or benefit of the said Duke his Heirs or Assigns out of any the Mannors Lands or Hereditaments of any of the Ancestors of the said Lady Mary shall be from henceforth void and of none effect 13 Januarii 1691. THe Duke of Norfolk's Bill aforesaid having been yesterday received and read The Dutchess of Norfolk presented the following Petition to Their Lordships this Day To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled The Humble Petition of Mary Dutchess of Norfolk Sheweth THat your Petitioner being Married to the Duke of Norfolk 14 Years and upwards never had or received from her Husband any Intimation of a Misdemeanor on her part against him which joined to her Innocency of the Crime mentioned in the Bill makes this Proceeding before your Lordships very surprizing to her Her Person Estate and Honour which is more dear to her than her Life being now brought in question Your Petitioner humbly prays she may have a Copy of the particular Charge against her with the Names of the Witnesses and reasonable time allowed her to answer the same before any farther Proceedings upon the Bill Mary Norfolk Upon which Petition the following Order was made Die Mercurii 13 Januarii 1691. UPon reading the Petition of Mary Dutchess of Norfolk It is Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled That Sir Richard Reynes Sir Charles Hedges and Dr. Oxenden do attend this House to Morrow at ten
was a Coach Coach-man two Foot-men a pair of Horses and two or three more Servants but says his Grace I formerly paid Money for her to one Mourton and should be unwilling to do so again I presume my Lord Duke said he that was a Debt contracted while your Grace and the Dutchess lived together but says his Grace pray do you acquaint them of it for this is what I expect Next says his Grace my Wife has some pretentions upon Castle-Rising which I could Sell without her Consent by losing Two Thousand or Two Thousand Five Hundred Pounds and besides I find she hath also a pretention upon Billing which I never knew till very lately when I was upon Selling of that Reversion but I should have been an ill man to pretend to do that if I had known of any such Incumbrance Therefore I would have you tell my Wife that if she will consent to the Sale of those Estates and make me easy in that particular let her consider wherein I may make her easy and I shall do it I know she was a great Lover of Drayton and I suppose is so still and she did once offer me a considerable Sum of Money for my Life in it therefore let her consider of this Matter and if she can propose any thing for her ease and quiet on these Terms I shall comply with her I do not say it to threaten her But I am told that for the Reason of there being either One and Twenty or Two and Twenty Catholick Heirs of my Family before One Protestant One if I would bring in a Bill of Divorce I should obtain it on that account he told his Grace he should be sorry to hear of any such thing But in Obedience to his Grace's Commands he would acquaint the Dutchess with it accordingly he did the same day and Lady Peterborow both her Grace was very Grace was very angry at the Message especially at that part that mentioned a Divorce and he was sent the next Morning to Mr. Scott to desire him to acquaint the Duke that as he was my Lord Peterborow's Servant it was not fit for him to receive nor bring such Messages But if his Grace had any thing to say it was most proper by a Servant of his own or to send for one of hers I carried the Message the next Morning to Mr. Scott and at my return Home the Dutchess shewed me a Letter she had Writ to the Duke to the same purpose and which was sent to his Grace but not by him the Dutchess did declare when he proposed the Sale of Castle-Rising and Billing as the Duke had desired that she would never Consent to it By any of this Discourse it did not appear to him that the Duke showed any Inclinations to live with the Dutches nor did he understand it so Observations upon the Depositions of Mrs. Judith Stourton Edith Sawbridge Elizabeth Camell Mr. Mathew Scott and Mr. Robert Welborne THE Reader will find this Discourse about Mr. Germaine and the Dutchess to be a Scandal of a matter of Six Years standing Hudson a Cast Footman has sworn to the Shirt and Wastcoat and that he immediately told my Lord of it Ann Burton swears likewise with another false Oath between her Teeth that this Shirt and Wastecoat were sent by the Duke to the Lord Peterborows It follows now to be noted what course has been taken from the First to the Last for a thorough Discovering of the Truth of this Matter and now it comes to pass that the Thunder-Bolt should hang in the Air so many Years after the Breaking of the Cloud Mrs. Stourton is here upon her double Oath first under the Shrift of the Duke and my Lord Peterborow who took her privately and Adjured her as ever she hoped to see God in Heaven to declare what she knew as to the Dutchess being an Adultress she purg'd her self upon her hopes of Salvation that the Dutchess was as Vertuous as any Woman alive for ought she knew she swore the same thing over again at the Bar of the House of Lords and being Internogate about the Shirt and Wastcoat before spoken of she swore likewise that she saw no Shirt or Wastcoat at that time Edith Sawbridge was now produc'd against the Credit of Mrs. Judith Stourton and lays the stress of her Evidence upon what Mrs. Kniffton said which has been the very Pinch of the Question throughout the whole Cause and the Prosecution has still been at a Fault when it came to any material Point that is to say only the Hear-say Witnesses are produced and those that can speak upon Knowledge and positively to the Fact are withdrawn or conceal'd contrary to the Practice and Reason of all Judicial Proceedings Mrs. Stourton is called in again to confront Edith Sawbridge and denies every Article in her Deposition one by one that is of any moment but at the same time there appears no Exception on the other hand to the Credit of Mrs. Stourton Neither is it to be imagin'd that any Woman should dare to swear false in a Case where two such Witnesses should be privy to the Perjury It follows now to be noted what Course has been taken for a thorough Discovery of this Intrigue according to the usual Methods of Honour and Justice The Examination of Mrs. Stourton by the Duke and my Lord Peterborow was as solemn strict and private as the Case required and it was while the Clamour was fresh too So that there was no Time lost when they enter'd upon the Scrutiny It will be seen in that which follows by what degrees the Heat of this Calumny cool'd and what brought it on again The Duke and Dutchess went for France together about a Week after the Breaking out of this Clamour and Elizabeth Camel waited upon the Dutchess who swears that they went lovingly together and parted with Tears on both sides my Lord telling her Grace at Parting that he would fetch her away suddenly They eat and drunk together every Day and were frequently together in private but she cannot say they lodg'd together So that thus far in all outward Appearance the Mis-understanding seem'd in some measure to be composed Mrs. Scot speaks only to the matter of Monies and Accounts which is little or nothing to the purpose in this place except only as to the One Hundred Twenty and Five Pounds mentioned to be pay'd by him for the Dutchess's use which was a Quarterly Payment out of Five Hundred Pounds per Annum adjudged and ordered by the High-Commission Court to be pay'd to her in lieu of Alimony But Mr. Robert Wellborne comes to the very Merits of the Cause and the present State of the Question He deposes that in November last the Duke sent for him and told him among other things by the by that the Dutchess had some Pretentions upon Castle-Rising and also upon Billing and thereupon order'd the Witness to give her Grace to understand that if she
would consent to the Sale of those Estates and make the Duke easie in that particular let her but consider wherein he himself might make the Dutchess easie too and upon those Terms he would do it His Grace told the Witness farther that there being One or Two and Twenty Catholick Heirs to the Family before one Protestant Heir if says his Grace I would bring a Bill of Divorce I do not say it to threaten her I could obtain it on that Account The Witness acquainted both the Dutchess and the Lady Peterborow the very same Day with the substance of this Message her Grace taking it very heinously to be told of a Divorce and the next Day the Dutchess shewed the Witness a Letter she wrote to the Duke upon this Occasion declaring that for Castle-Rising and Billing she would never part with them It appears from hence that upon the Examination of Mrs. Stourton and other necessary Enquiries into the grounds of this Scandal the violence of the first Impression was so far taken off that according to the Evidence of Elizabeth Camel my Lord was pleased to treat the Dutchess with all Instances of Tenderness and Respect both upon their Passage into France and upon the Places there those of the Bed only excepted In this state Matters have continued some five or six Years now without any Speech or Thought of a Divorce that ever the Dutchess heard of till Mid November last in a Message by Mr. Welborne from the Duke and that was but upon a certain Condition neither however it was improved afterwards into a Bill that upon the seventh of January following was formally brought into the Lords House The Reader will need no other Light to a true understanding of the Strait her Grace was in upon this Surprize and the Disadvantages she was exposed to than what he has here before him in the Order of the Journal it self Where he will find the Dutchess so scanted for time to produce Witnesses and prepare her Defence that it was a wonderful Providence she should do so much as she did Though in the mean while her Grace has lost the benefit of several considerable Witnesses for want of time to find them out and bring them together Now as for Mr. Welborne's Deposition it carries the Countenance rather of a Treaty than an Accusation the Duke's part is only a calm deliberate Discourse consulting the Reciprocal Ease both of himself and of the Dutchess Terms are proposed and promised and not one Word or Glance of Reproach from one end to the other of it Mr. Welborne upon the Duke's asking him at the Lord's Bar if by his Discourse he understood an Inclination to live with the Dutchess 't is true did not gather from his Words as if he had any thought of living with her the only hard thing said was that about his Catholick Heirs which seem'd to turn the Case of Adultery into a Case of Religion Let any Creature judge now whether the Dutchess durst to have stood it out thus if she had been guilty of so foul a Crime when she might have been safe and free as appears by the Proposal upon Terms so much more easy To make a short Summary now of the Whole a Word first to the Character and Quality of the Witnesses There is Owen a Street-Porter brought in as a Witness to the Privacies of the Dutchess's Bed-Chamber besides several unanswerable Exceptions to the Particulars of his Evidence There is Ellwood a Coblers Wife and a Gilting little Slut that 's as palpably detected of Falsity as the other Hudson a poor Roguy Tricking Footman that was turn'd off for his ill Behaviour Burton a beggerly Wench that cheated her Landlady and forswore her self in this Cause at the Lords Bar Varelst a Painter and by Intervals a Mad-man Foster a Coachman that was turn'd off by his Master and swore to be reveng'd of him Lloyd under several manifest mistakes but nothing to the main Cause Scriber Anderson Hemming Reynolds and Margaret Foster say not one word to the purpose Wadsworth a pilfering Servant that robb'd her Mistress and her Evidence most notoriously expos'd Now as these Witnesses are of very little value upon the Stock of their own Credit so the Witnesses against them cannot be deny'd to have a fair Reputation on the other hand And it is very extraordinary that after the naming of so many Persons in their Depositions that said or did or heard or saw this or that the Prosecutors have not brought in so much as one Creature to second the Swearing Evidence Tho' it is sufficiently known they could have found them if they would have ventur'd the Cause upon that stress It is to be consider'd once more what a difference there has been betwixt the Demeanour of the one side and the other towards the Evidence What Promises Flatteries and engaging Obligations on the one hand and not so much as one Word or Deed directly or indirectly that look'd like a Practice or a Prepossession on the other part of the Dutchess Let this be taken in the softest sense for it is a great Misfortune when officious Instruments that are foreward'd to broach Scandals meet with easie and good natur'd Dispositions that are too open perhaps to receive them This may serve in some measure perhaps to remove the Evidence of those that are not wilfully Deaf and Blind and for the rest it is left to Time and Providence to bring the Truth to light in its due season and to vindicate the Cause of the Innocent and Oppressed FINIS