The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-24 00:00:00

The Yelverton Case.

Mrs Yelverton has addressed the following letter
to the Weekly „Register :
" Sir,—l notice in your columns of Saturday a
long space devoted to my case, which is ably and
clearly put, save in some particulars which you cans•
didly admit you are unable to cope with, namely,
Scotch law. As one or two of those errors are serious,
although inadvertent and natural on your part, will
you permit me a short space to rectify them ? In
the first place, the suit is not concluded, nor, I
regret to say, any way near its termination. Le-
gally, as well as morally, I am in point of law,
Mrs Yelverton, the judgment of the Lords not
being is yet ex'rected, which alone ter-
minates the case, so far as Scotch law is
concerned. That decision does not, as lam
advised, annul the Dablin verdict, effect the
Irish marriage, or prevent its being proved by direct
issue. Considering, therefore, that it has taken five
years, in a suit brought against me by my husband
—and in which I have merely been defending my-
self—to obtain a decision in his favour, not yet final,
it may probably take the same period when I take
the initiative. This may be unpleasant intelligence
to some of your readers, who naturally become
weary of a long and com2licated case; bu', if, as you
say, in your intercourse, you have found no persons
expressing their sympathy and satisfaction with
the conclusion of the three law lords, how is it to
be expected that I should be content ? The public
are dissatisfied because they believe it unjust, but
I, the victim, feel it as a legal cruelty, which has
no parallel in the annalsof this country. That a lady
should have a sentence passed upon her, not simply
annulling her marriage, but degrading her to the
rank of an outcast,eo that English journalists consie
der they are entitled to rank her with the classically
notorious Phryne, has no counterpart in our judicial
records. And for what crime has she merited such
a punishment ? Because she was a Catholic, and
understood marriage to be a sacrament. She ob-
tained the sacrament, and thus destroyed the
validity of the marriage, owing to a penal law
enacted centuries ago for the special persecution of
Catholics. I appeal to every Catholic lady, to
every Englishwoman, whether I am not bound, in
honour and in conscience, to assert my wifehood,
and, having asserted, maintain it ? Yes, though my
whole life's struggle paid the sacrifice. Before
Heaven I am bound to bear witness to the truth of
the vows I plighted at the altar, where God was nay
witness, and not tostand silently by whilst the whole
world is scandalised by the startling theory set up by
my opponents that Catholic marriages are merely
religious farces gone through at pleasure as a
c'oak to vice. Am I to allow a Protestant world
to suppose that Catholics have forms and ceremo-
nies which resemble and are little better than the

orgies of Vishnu? Yet a judge on the bench be-
lieved that the sacred joining together of man and
wife by a Catholic priest was the most disgraceful

and blasphemous thing he had ever heard of. He
believed it wss a mockery and a farce, and that we
Catholics can obtain from our ministers sanction for
such things. I ask you, was this an imputation for
any Catholic, any Christian,to submit to in silence ?
As you justly remark, had I not been a Catholic

such infamy never would have been imputed to me.
Nay, further, had I not 'been a conscientious and
earnest Catholic, determinedly adhering to what I
bad been instructed was my religion, I never should
have been in my present melancholy position. My
Scotch marriage would have been consummated,
and thus made valid. One of the most able
judges held that the Irish marriage acted
as a mid-impediment to the validity of
the Scotch ; hence, on the one hand, I

lose the legal marriage by my conscientious scru.
plea, whilst, on the other hand, I am told those
pretended scruples were a disgrace to humanity.
B ut—

I argue not 'gainst Heaven's hand or will,
Nor bate one jot of heart or hope, but still bear up,
And steer right onwards.
"That I conceive to be my duty in the faith I am

placed.
"In respect to the reference to oath the process
now before the Scotch court, and which will
doubtless be adjudicated on and after the Christmas
recess, permit me to correct your assumption that it
consists of a mere declaration whether Major Yel-
verton did or did not go through the marriage cere-
mony in Scotland. If my last chance depended upon
that, as you truly remark, it would be but a slender
hope indeed, and would scarcely have been ad•
vised by the able counsel conducting my
case. Reference to oath, however, admits
of the most searching cross-examination over
the whole length and breadth of the case, embracing
all the letters, all the evidence previously given, and
any contradictions in this would entail perjury and
its consequences. You may recollect that in the
evidence given upon the Irish trial Major Yelverton
admitted verbatim the whole of the marriage ser.

vice at the chapel of Killowen, and that he intended
to keep those vows, and denied that it was a
mockery. For the information of those who have
not read the Scotch case, I may mention that the

whole of this evidence is therein denied. Had the

same admissions been made in the Scotch case that

were made in the Irish, my counsel are of opinion
that they would have sufficed to prove a Scotch

marriage. It is therefore easy to draw an inference

of what the examination may result in.—l remain

yours faithfully, " THERESA YELVERTON.
" Oxenford Hotel, Edinburgh, Dee. 20, 1864."

Vacancies, Promotions, and Appointments

in the Civil Service.

(From the Civil Service Gazette.)

Home Office—A sub-inspectorship of factories
has become vacant,by the death of Mr Savil Kent.
Mr Harry King Evans has been appointed junior
clerk in the office of the receiver for the metropoli.
tan police district.
The Admiralty—Mr John Russell has been ap-
pointed to be clerk in the director of works depart-
ment, Somerset House. Mr J. G. Coldo has been
appointed to be clerk and accountant in the works
department, Somerset House.
The Post Office—Mr W. Wakefield has been ap-
pointed to be a temporary clerk in the savings bank
department. Mr J. Kingsniull has been appointed
to be a temporary clerk in the savings bank depart-
ment. Mr John T. Hodgson has been appointed to
be a temporary clerk in the savings bank depart-
ment. Mr T. G. Vaughton has been appointed to
be a temporary clerk in the savings bank depart.
meat. Mr R. J. Mahon has been appointed to be
a temporary clerk in the savings bank department.
Mr J. Leach has been appointed to be a temporary
clerk in the savings bank department. Mr F. C.
Sadler has been appointed to be a temporary clerk
in the savings banks department. Mr Denison M.
Wilkinson has been appointed to be a temporary
clerk in the savings bank department. Mr John
Pott has been appointed to be a temporary clerk in
the savings bank department.
Customs.—Mr George Frederick Dickens has
been appointed an outdoor officer, London. Mr
John Ord has been appointed an out-door officer,
London. Mr William Tracey has been appointed
an out-door officer, London. Mr Henry Brown,
out-door officer, has been promoted to be an exa-
mining officer, 6th class, London. Mr James W.
Tamsett, out-door officer, has been promoted to be
an examining officer, 6th class, London. Mr Hod.
sell Manwaring, out-door officer, has been pro-
moted to be an examining officer, 6th class, London.
Mr. Walter Furlong, out-door officer, has been pro-
rooted to be an examining officer, 6th class, London.
Mr F. Healy, out-door officer, has been promoted to
be an examining officer, 6th class, London. Mr
Joseph Salmon, outdoor officer, has been promoted
to be an examining officer, 6th class, London. Mr
E. W. Jacobs, outdoor officer, has been promoted to
be an examining officer, 6:h class, London.
Inland Revenue—Stamp and Tax Branch—The
surveyorahip of taxes, Leeds, 2d district, has become
vacant by the death of Mr N. R. Luca?. Mr A.
Bindon has been appointed picker in the warehouse,
Somerset House.
Excise Branch—Mr William Jacques, supervisor,
Antrim district, Belfast collection, has been ap-
pointed supervisor of Newport district, Southamp-
ton collection. Mr A. Priddis, examiner, has been
appointed supervisor of Antrim- district, Belfast col-
lection. Mr C. Chatterton Trim, examiner has been
appointed supervisor of Hinckley distriet,:Leimter
roHecticr,