§ On the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Pensions Bill was read a third time.
§ On the question that it do pass,
Mr. O'Connellmoved, that the passing of the bill be deferred till to-morrow, in order that he might have an opportunity of bringing up a clause relating to Lady Westmeath's pension. It was quite impossible that any man could say a word in disparagement of that lady, but he thought, under the peculiar circumstances of her case, that her pension should not be continued during the lifetime of her husband. Lady Westmeath had lately passed through a most afflicting ordeal; she had obtained from an ecclesiastical court a decree of separation from her husband, on the ground of his cruelty against her. It was therefore, he thought, right that the pension should be suspended, inasmuch as it was in fact paid to her husband, not to herself. Sir John Nicholl, on decreeing a separation between the parties, had assigned Lady Westmeath, besides her pension of 385l. an alimony of 700l. a-year. Against that decree the Marquess of Westmeath had appealed, and the Vice-Chancellor before whom the case was heard, sustained the sentence of the inferior court as regarded the separation, but reduced the alimony to 315l., on the ground that Lady Westmeath was in the receipt of a pension of 385l. a-year. Nobody could think it proper that Lord Westmeath should be rewarded by the amount of this pension for having acted with cruelty towards his wife. He contended, that the lady's income should remain intact, but that it 1015 should be paid by the person who had maltreated her, otherwise the continuance of the pension would only be a mitigation of a deserved punishment. It might be said, that this was a legal pension, being granted out of the Irish revenue. He was not disposed to dispute the accuracy of the opinion given as to these pensions by the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, in opposition to the views of the hon. Member for Middlesex, but he was of opinion that in peculiar cases the holders could be proceeded against by information or scire facias, and indeed a case of that kind had already occurred.
§ The Attorney-Generalwas glad to find that the hon. and learned Member agreed with him in the opinion he had given respecting the Irish pensions, but on that very ground, he must see that such a clause as he suggested, would be inexpedient and even unjust. This was a legal pension, to which Lady Westmeath was entitled during her lifetime, of which nothing but an Act of Parliament could deprive her, and surely it would not be just to deprive an individual by an Act of Parliament of a vested right.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequerresisted the proposition. If such a clause were permitted, it would overturn the unanimous decision of the Committee.
§ Motion negatived, the bill passed.