The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-27 00:00:00

THE YELVERTON MARRIAGE CASE.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, DUBLIN, FEB. 25.
(Before Chief Justice Monahan and a Special Jury.)
For more than an hour before the opening of the court
the doors were besieged by an anxious crowd, which
extended over nearly one-third the area of the Great Hall.
The policemen stationed at the door for the purpose of
preventing the court becoming overcrowded had the
utmost difficulty in the performance of their duty, and in
three minutes after the
.doors were opened every portion
of the building was thronged. The number was greater
than on any of tho preceding days of the trial, and on the
bench his lordship accommodated several persons of dis-
tinction with seats, amongst whom were the Earl of
Monntcashel, Lord Viscount Avonmore, Lord Talbot de
Malahide, Lord Viscount Monck, &c.
A few minutes before eleven o'clock, Mrs. Yelverton
entered the witness-box, when her re-examination was
resumed by Mr. Whiteside as follows :
Mrs. Yelverton, you were asked a good many questions
about your father. Did you attend on him while he was
ill 1)-1 did. Fur how many days ?—For about a fortnight.
I had waited on him in a very dangerous illness previous
to that. I never took off my clothes for ten days. On
one occasion I saw a black spot on his foot, and I became
possessed with the idea that it was mortification. I asked
him to allow me to send for the doctor, but he refused. I
stole off when he went to sleep, and, ran four miles to fetch
a doctor. The doctor told me that in four hours more he
would have died if he had not come. I wish to state that
I wrote the account of my father's death bed in confidence
to Major Yelverton. I wish to make the antende honour-
able to my father's memory here by this explanation.
The opinions, however erroneGus, which he held, have
also been h4d by great and good men. Mr. Bellamy, my
brother-in-law, died on the first day of this trial. He
was the manager of my brother's affairs, and was acquain-
ted with the engagement between Major Yelverton and
myself. Mr. Stuart and Mr. Shears proposed for me
in marriage. Major Yelverton never found any fault
with me for anything about Mr. Roo. He was never other-
wise than most respectful to me, and I believe him to be the
most honourable of men. He is not the sort of man which he is
represented to have been in this case—the ruthless destroyer
of women. My sister Sarah knew of my engagement to
Major Yelverton. She approved of it eventually, but not at
first. She showed me a letter which ho had written to her,
in which he said his intentions were honourable, but that
there were obstacles which he could not conveniently ex-
plain at the time ; I asked him why he wrote such a letter,
and ho said, "confound p .ople that keep letters to make
mischief." He also said, " we are now married, and let the
matter rest." Some letters were destroyed in part at Ros-
trevor, but I preserved a portion of them.
Did you afterwards produce truly every scrap of letter
which you had in your possession F—l did.
And you state that some 20 letters of yours, written after
marriage, have not beeff produced ?
Yes. It was by invitation of Major Yelverton I came to
Ireland to be married ; the letter in which Major Yelverton
asked me if I wished for a guitar was written in Dublin,
after we came from Edinburgh. After the Scotch cere-
mony, when I refused to consider myself his wife, he said
that he would never call me " mia" again until we were
married. It will be observed t hat in the letters written by
him, between that and the Irish marriage, the word is
never used, but after the marriage in Ireland he resumed
the word, and I call myself in my letters " tua." When I
arrived in Rostrevor Mr. Mooney took me to the Bishop.
Ho took me twice after our marriage. Major Yelverton
always went to church with me, and always said his prayers
with me. He said that he had never said any prayers be-
fore his marriage.
To the Chief Justice—Those prayers were at night and
at home.

To Mr. Whiteside--We did not kneel together, but the
prayers were said in our chamber. I thought my husband
would become a religious man. Mr. Mooney gavo me in-
structions as to how I was to proceed with him—not to
harass him too much at first, but to induce him to go to
church by degrees. I got my marriage certificate from
Mr. Mooney. I did not offer him anything for sending
it to me. I gave the certificate about a year ago to
Mr. Thelwall, while staying. at Mr. Thelwall's. Major
Yelverton read a letter from his sister, asking him if it
were true that he had become a Roman Catholic, and say-
ing she had it on good authority that he had. He said it
must have been the priest that told it. At Leith, on the
24th of June, 1858, on the day before his marriage with
Mrs Forbes, my husband told me that his family had heard
of our marriage. He said that they had learned it by the
opening of a letter written to him by me. I wrote that
letter from Bordeaux, and signed myself his " wife." That
was in May or June, 1858. When the letter was forwarded
to him he said, " this has evidently been opened, and they
now know all." Just describe what passed between you
and that gentleman ?—He was with me for about a quarter
of an hour before he was able to express himself. He spoke
to me about making some arrangement of Major Yelver •
ton's affairs. He did not speak to me of his marriage. I
did not accept any offer made to me. I stated that Major
Yelverton went up to Dublin to consult a doctor. That
was in reference to an asthma from which he suffered. He
started very early that morning from Rostrevor, and I think
I took in coffee to his room. I was dressed, and he was also
dressed, and we came out together to the sitting room.
While seated in this box at the beginning of the trial, I
saw two women put on a seat opposite me and watching
me. 1 believe it was to the Marchioness de Labinuier's
house we went after our arrival in London in 1852, but my
sister, Mrs. Bellamy, seems to think that it was to our own
house—that rather shakes ray belief as to the marchioness,
but it is so long ago that I cannot be precise.
To Mr. Armstrong, Q.C. through his lordship—lt was
while I was on board the yabht of Sir James Close, in the
Bosphorus, that Mr. Stuart proposed for me. He was, I
believe, a descendant of the royal family of that name, and is
a captain in the French army. Did Major Yelverton state
in his letter to your sister Sarah that marriage had never
been spoken of between you, and that it could not be ?
Never; he said that there was no engagement, and that
there were obstacles to such an engagement, but that he
did net mean any disrespect to me or my family. Whilst in
Abergavenny it was my habit to keep his letters in my
pocket as I lived on such terms of intimacy there with my
sister that I never kept any place locked up, and she could
readily read any letter she might find in my desk, not
thinking it any harm. The fraternal scheme" referred to
in one of Major Yelverton's letters referred to a proposition
that our marriage should be celebrated by my cousin, the
consul at Monastir, whom I had been in the habit of call-
ing my brother, I don't know exactly whose proposition

John 1 helwall, examined by Dr. Townsend—l am the
plaintiff in this case ; I reside at Hull, where lam an iron
master ; I knew Mrs. Yelverton 12 or 14 years ; I was very
intimate with her, particularly after my marriage; Mrs.
Thelwall is ill and cannot attend here. She is also inti-
mate with Mrs. Yelverton. In July or August, 18.59, Mrs.
Thelwall and myself wore in Edinburgh. We saw Mrs.
Yelverton there at the house of Mrs. Blake, in Albany-
street. She was then called Miss Longworth. I saw Major
Yelverton for the first time then. He came to the house
where we were staying. The night before wo left for Hull
Mrs. Yelverton introduced us; Major Yelverton's name
was not mentioned, and Mrs. Yelverton introduced Mrs.
Thelwall as her sister, meaning, as I take it, as a particular
friend. She did not introduce Major Yelverton as her hus-
band. That was after dinner, and we had -coffee together.
Before his arrival I had noticed a wedding-ring on Mrs.
Yelverton's finger, but nothing was said about it on that
occasion. We left Edinburgh the next morning. and Mrs.
Yelverton came to Hull at the latter end of November,
on a visit at my house where she stayed until
the February following. Major Yelverton visited her there,
and was received by my wife and myself as the husband of
Mrs. Yelverton. Major Yelverton remained a week or ten
days, and then went away when his leave expired. He re-
turned again and remained I think a week or thereabouts.
The date of his first arrival at Hull was the 31st of Decem-
ber. They occupied the same bedroom. Mrs. Yelverton
continued to wear the ring during that time. It was then
proposed that Major and Mrs. Yelverton should go on the
Continent. Mrs. Yelverton wore several rings on the same
finger as the wedding-ring to hide it. She was not satisfied
with that, as she feared that her friends on the continent
might see it. Mrs. Yelverton did not say that, but it was
an inference of my own. She asked me for a steno fixed to
her wedding ring, which might remove or replace at plea-
sure. I discussed the matter with her in presence of Major
Yelverton. I gots:mall stone with a hook to it to fix on
the ring. The ring was spoken of as her wedding ring. I
remember going with Major Yelverton about a passport to
the office of the French consul at Hull; the passport was
not then obtained. We were told that, in consequence of
the recent attempts on the life of the French Emperor, we
could not get a passport—that the application should be
made to the Foreign-office in London, through a banker or
magistrate ; we were shown a copy of the Times with direc-
tions as to the mode of applying for passports. We took a
copy of those directions in pencil, and I wrote the application
at his dictation. He desired me to write the name Mrs. Yel-
verton in full—" Mrs. Theresa Yelverton." We went to
the police office to see the stipendiary. I gave the applica-
tion to the clerk, who said it was not right, and we then went
to Messrs. Smith Brothers and Co., bankers, in Hull, and
saw the manager and told him what we wanted. The mana-
ger asked the name of the person for whom he wanted the
passport andMajorYelverton said" Mrs. TheresaYelverton."
The manager said he would write to the agent in London. I
saw the passport after it was procured. [Passport handed
to witness, which he identified.] Mrs.Yelverton said on one
occasion that if she were killed abroad and buried she
would wish to be taken up and re-buried, and that then
having been twice christened, and twice married, she would
be twice buried. Majoi Yelverton made no remark to that.
She left Hull at the beginning of February (letter handed
to witness). That letter was written to me by Major Yel-
verton. Reads—" My dear Thelwall,—Please smoke the
accompanying cheroots, and make my mind easy on the
score of the many cigars of yours which I have smoked.—
Yours sincerely, " W. C. YELVERTON.
" P.S.—On second thoughts I send them by rail."
Examination resumed—l never had any conversation
with him about his religion; Major Yelverton said some-
thing to me on one occasion about Protestant missions,
which, he said, he believed did a great deal of mischief. On
another occasion, speaking of the prospectus of aProtestant
Insurance Company, which had an open Bible represented
at the head of it, he said he should have very carefully
avoided it. We went to the theatre at Hull, four of us—l
paying for the party. Major Yelverton offered to return me
the money for two, which I declined. Mrs. Yelverton came
back to my house in the early part of 1859. She had one
female servant with her. She took equestrian exercise,
which she was ordered by Dr. Lee. Sometimes she need
my horse, and sometimes one which I hired for her. She
boarded with my family, and I paid for medical attendance
for her, and paid silk mercers' bills for her. I have not
been repaid these monies. I never had the slightest doubt
that Major and Mrs. Yelverton were husband and wife
while at ray house. They were received there as my guests.
They were not introduced to any of my friends while at my
house. Why P [Question objected to.] The bill of par-
ticulars furnished by me is substantially correct. I have
always preserved my intimacy with Mrs. Yelverton, and so
has Mrs. Thelwall. I received a certificate and letter
from her for safe cueody.
Mr. John Goodliffe, examined by Sergeant Sullivan—l
reside in London ; I am a merchant, and a member of the
firm of Goodliffe and Smart ; I recollect being at Dun-
kirk in the January, 1858. I stopped at the Hotel Chapon
Rouge. Major Yelverton, whom I knew, arrived there
after me ; he told me that he was there en passant, and
that he expected a relative; he used words "a relative,"
"my wife," or "a lady," I saw him on the next day with
a lady ; he gave me to understand that rho was the person
he was looking out for. They dined at the same table with
nu, and sat near me. He introduced the lady to me. How
did he introduce her P—He introduced her specifically as
his wife. Major Yelverton and I walked about Dunkirk
the next day. We talked a great deal, and, amidst a long
desultory conversation, I. said to him, in reference to the
lady, "I say, Yelverton, talking, about your wife, is this
all right!, is it on tho-square He said, " Yes, he is
really my wife, but-we have been married privately, which
I have been obliged to do in order to conceal it from my
family,": He begged me particularly not to mention to any
mutual friends in London that I had met him and his wife,
and not to say that he was married ; I think they were at
the hotel for three days, where they certainly lived as hus-
band and wife. I had the best room in the house as I was
a good customer. I proposed that Major Yelverton and his
wife should came into it, as their rooms were inferior. That
proposition was declined by Major Yelverton ; the lady
whom he introduced to me on that occasion as his wife was
most certainly the lady whom I have seen examined here.
Cross-examined by Dr. Ball, Q.C.—I may have met with
some similar cases in the course of my travels, not perfectly
on the square.
Sergeant Sullivan-L.-Did you ever know a case in which a
gentleman introduced a lady to you as his wife who was not
his wife ?

Witness (emphatically)—l never did.
Miss Arabella M'Farlane examined by Mr. Whiteside,
Q.C.—I am the daughter of an author of that name—a
Scotchman ; I was a long time acquainted with the Long-
worth family, and particularly with Mrs. Yelverton ; my
father allowed me to accompany her to Edinburgh in
February, 1857 ; we stopped at Mrs. Gamble's, where we
had three rooms—one being a bedroom, which I shared
with Miss Longworth ; the sitting-room opened out from
the bedroom ; we went at that time into society—all the
people I knew being my father's friends ; we visited Lady
Murray and Mr. Robert Chambers, to whom we had letters
of introduction ; we remained there until April ; I knew
Major Yelverton; he was in the habit of visiting at that
house during our visit, almost daily; he never stayed a I
night; he visited, I understood, as a suitor ; his manner was
that of a perfect gentleman ; they never went out except on
horseback; I was at that lime a member of the Church of
England; there was a prayer .book of mine there; it contained
the marriage service. I changed my religion. I am at pre-
sent a Roman Catholic and belonging to the Sisters of
Mercy, at Blandford-square, London. I went into a convent
at Morningside, near Edinburgh. Major Yelverton knew I
went there. Mrs. Yelverton went to Hull after putting me
into the convent on the same day. We had frequently con-
versations about matters of religion, and Major Yelverton
always seemed to have a leaning to Catholicity. When Mrs.
Yelverton came back to Edinburgh, she came to see me. I
noticed a marriage ring on her finger. Major Yelverton
wrote letters to her, which he enclosed to me. Before Major
Yelverton arrived at Edinburgh Mr. and Mrs. Thelwall
joined us, and remained in the same house. Major Yelver-
ton joined the party while I was there, and while Mr. and
Mrs. Thelwall were there. Mrs. Yelverton went to meet
him, and we all spent the evening together. Major Yelver-
ton remained all night. I regarded him as the husband of
Mrs. Yelverton. He was quartered at Leith Fort after Mr.
and Mrs. Thelwall went away. Major and Mrs. Yelverton
occupied their room. I understood that the marriage was
to be kept secret. I recollect seeing Mrs. Yelverton ill, and
Major Yelverton attending on her.
Cross• examined by Mr. Brewster—On that second occa-
sion Mrs. Yelverton told me that the marriage was yet to be
kept secret, because sho was a Catholic, and Major Yolvor-
toil was not. _ _ _

Mr. Joseph Martin, examined by Serj cant Sullivan—l am
a goldsmith and jeweller residing in Dublin. (Ring pro •
duced.) I have seen that ring before ; it is extremely small,
and there is a mark inside. I have a strong recollection of
having sold such a wedding ring on 26th July, 1857. I sold
it to a gentleman like Major Yelvorton, a gentleman like
him as he is represented in the photograph which I have
seen. I have sees the defendant. I feel satisfied that I sold
it to him but I could not swear positively that I sold the
ring to him. I was a long time searching for the ring. I
saw the defendant when he was asked to leave the court.
When I saw him I certainly did not think he was not the
man—(a laugh)—but I feel as much satisfied as before that
he is the man. He was not dressed in uniform. He had

whiskers and moustache. I was surprised at selling such a
ring to a person of his appearance ; he gave me to under-
stand that a ring of any kind of gold would do. The ring
is a second-hand ring.
Miss M'Farlane was recalled by Mr. Whiteside.
Mr. Whiteside said he wished to ask her a question in
reference to the conversation she had with Mrs. Yelverton
as to the reasons for keeping the marriage secret.
Mr. Brewster asked Miss M'Farlane if she had been
speaking to any one since she left the court ?
Miss M'Farlane said she had been speaking to Mrs. Yel-
verton.
Mr. Brewster said the evidence ought not to be taken.
The Chief Justice said it might be taken subject to this
circumstance. _ . .

Miss M‘Farlane then said—ln. my agitation I said that
Mr. Yelverton said to me that it was because be was a
Protestant and she a Catholic that the marriage was to be
kept private. I should have said that it was because of the
religion of his family it was desired to keep it secret, and
not on account of his own religion.
Chief Justice—Are you positive?
Witness—She said the marriage must be kept secret on
account of his family because they were Protestants, and
they would object to his marrying a Catholic.
Mr. Brewster—And you said before that she said the rea-
son it should be kept a secret was, because he was a Pro-
testant and she a Catholic.
Sergeant Sullivan—The words were put into her mouth.
Mr. Brewster—You have no right to say that. Did you
not say on the former occasion that the reason Mrs. Yel-
verton assigned for keeping the marriage secret was that
she was a Catholic and he a Protestant ?
Witness—l did; but I made a mistake.
Mr. Whiteside—Was it not this gentleman who made
use of the words, and you assented to them?
Chief Justice—Can you account now for having made
that mistake on your oath?
Witness—l misunderstood what that gentleman (Mr.
Brewster) said. I should have said it was on account of
Major Yelverton's family, and not on account of himself.

I say that on my oath. I misunderstood what was said.
I should have said his family.
To Mr. Whiteside—Major Yelverton used to come to
chapel with us.
To Mr. Brewster.—Mrs. Yelverton used to sing at high
mass, at which we attended.
The Ret. Bernard Mooney was sworn, and Mr. White-
side proceeded to examine him. Yon are a Catholic clergy-
man, and the parish priest of Kilbroney I am. Do von
know Major Yelverton and Mrs. Yelverton ? I do. liow
long is it since you saw Major Yelverton ? I saw him some
time in August, 1868. I saw him first when he and Mrs.
Yelverton appaared before me in the chapel of Kilbroney ;
I s‘w him secondly in the end of May or beginning of
June, 1858, in a carriage with Mr Denvir, at Warren-
point; and the next time I saw him was when he was
brought before me to be identified by nte. Mr. Denvir, of
Newry, is an attorney. Did you see Major Yelverton a
second time that day ? I did,•at the hotel. Who' were
present ? Major Yelverton and Mr. Denvir. How long
were you there ? Not very long. You signed nothing ?
I signed nothing there or anywhere else. When did you
first see Mrs. Yelverton? Some time previously to
the 16th of August, 1857. 1 don't remember the day
of the week. Did you take her to the bishop of your
diocese? I went -with her. Did you and she see the
bishop ? We did.—What day of the week was that ? I
cannot say.—Had you her and a gentleman with her on a
festival day in your church—the festival of the Assumption ?
Yes, that was a holiday.—Was high mass inyour chapel on
that day ? There was never high mass in that church since
I came there; there was low mass on that day.—Did_they
both come into the chapel ? They did.—And were you at
the altar ? I was in the side rails of the altar. May Ibe
allowed, my lord—
Mr. Whiteside—Not yet. Did' they kneel down before
you ? They did.—Did they consent to be man arid wife in
your presence ?

Mr. Brewster objected to this question.
Mr. Whiteside—Did you ask the man whether he would
take the woman to be his wife, and did you ask the woman
would she take the man to be her husband ? I asked him
first as respected his religion.
Mr. Whiteside—l will come to that in a moment. Did
you ask the man would he take the woman to be his wife,
and the woman, would she take the man to be her husband,
and did they agree to it ? Yea —Was there a piece of money
produced ? I have no knowledge of a piece of money having
been produced.—Was there a ring produced ? I have no
knowledge of seeing a ring, more than when I was giving a
short exhortation after they had given their consent I
looked down and saw him having his hand on her finger.—
Putting the ring on her finger—come now ? Holding the
ring.
Mr. Brewster—l object to this mode of direct examina-
tion.

Mr. Whiteside—What did you see him do with the ring ?
I saw him just turning his fingers round on her fingers.—
Did you ever see a wedding ring put on a finger before ?
I did, often enough.—Did you pronounce the benediction ?
I pronounced no benediction.—Had you conversed with
the lady several times before you saw her kneeling at the
altar? I conversed with her on two previous occasions,
and on the first occasion she told me---

Mr. Whiteside—l only asked you that question. Did you
ascertain that she was a Roman Catholic ?II did.—Did she
go to confession F That is what I will not answer.

Mr. Whiteside—Very good. I don't want to press you
at all.

Chief Justice—As 1 understand, you are not asked what
she stated in confession.

Witness—But I won't answeranything in respect of con-
fession.

Mr. Whiteside—l don't at all wish to press it. Before
Major Yelverton knelt down and agreed to be her husband,
and put the r;ng on her finger, did you ask him or her any
question, such as " Are you free to marry ?" I did not put
the words "free to marry" him.—Did you put questions of
that sort to them ? The question I put to him was, what
was his 'religious belief.—What was his reply ? •He said I
am not much of anything. I asked him what did he mean
by that, and I said, "Are you a Roman Catholic ?" "I am
not," he said. •‘ What are you?" I said, and then the lady
said, "Don't mind. rieis not confirmed yet. He went with
me frequently to places of catholic worship, but he is no t
confirmed yet." I said, " What are you ?" and he said, " I
am a protestant catholic." It was before he said this that
she interposed.—Are you sure the word " catholic" was
used ? lam sure.—Are you sure it was used by him ? I
em:—And you are sure it was used by her ? I had not the
least doubt of her being a catholic.—Was it after that you
put the question, " Wilt thou take this woman to be thy
wife ?" Allow me to tell— Answer first, was it after
what you have stated that they agreed to be husband and
wife ? Yes ; they agreed to be husband and wife.—At the
altar after that ? Yes.—Andyou were within the rails ? I
was.—Are you sure the word "catholic" was used ? I am.
—Are you also sure the word "protestant" was used ? Pro-
testant catholic.—But " protestant" was used ? It was.
Chief Justice—Mrs. Yelverton was standing sufficiently
near to hear everything that occurred ? Yes.
Mr. Whiteside—We know what a protestant means in
this country; but what is that mongrel thing called a
protestant catholic ? Have you anything like it down in
your part of the country ? I believe—l ask did you ever
meet a man of that particular religion before ? I heard—
lam not asking what you heard. Did you ever meet a
man that gave you such an answer as that ? I never did.—
Did you get your fee ?—As the lady was leaving the church
she turned back and gave me two notes. I asked what the'
was for ? She said, " For you." They were two notes of
each.—Was one of them for the bishop ? Not at all.
Nor did she ever say so.—Did the gentleman appear to y,iu
to be a military gentleman? He was dressed in plain
clothes.—Did he speak audibly and distinctly as you bid
him ? He did, audibly and distinctly.—He repeated the
words in the language of the ritual of the Church ? I re-
peated the words before him, in order to enable him to do
an. I said the words from memory, and he repeated them
distinctly after me.—Kneeling at the altar?
she by his side; -kneeling at the altar? Yes.—And you
married them ? I renewed the consent that Wit 4 giyen in
the Scotch marriage. I did not many them, it was solely
to remove —7-

Mr. Whiteside—l object to this gentleman giving that
answer. I object to any one, if he were the Archbishop of
Canterbury even ; tell us what a marriage is ? If he goes
through the form, it is for your lordship to decide what it
is. Did you say to Mr. M'Farlane that you married two
Roman Catholics on the 15th of August? I remember a
gentleman calling on me in respect of this marriage, and I
told him— I ask you whether you told a gentleman who
was with Mr. Bellamy that you had celebrated a marriage
ceremony ? They asked me, and I said I did not do so.—
Did you say to them that you had married two Catho-
lics ? I did not.—Did you say they appeared before you as
Catholics on that occasion ? I did not. I told them they
appeared before me as man and wife, from a previous mar-
riage in Scotland, and that I received the consent.—On
your oath, did you tell these gentlemen that the two per-
sons that came before you appeared before you as Catho •
lies ? I don't remember any such thing.—Will you swear
_ _

that you did not ? I will swear I have no knowledge of it.—
Will you swear you did not say it F—l will swear I don't
remember. But you won't swear positively. Do you know
a Mr. W. Burroughs in your neighbourhood F—l do. Did
you state in his presence that no trouble could come on you,
for that the two persons you married declared themselves
to be Catholics ? I don't remember stating that to him. If
he swore you did say that, would you believe him ?—T would
say certainly that I have no recollection that I ever told
him. Did any one say anything to you about a prosecu-
tion ?—Yes. Did Mr. Denvir, the attorney ?—No. Did
you say, if anylone did speak to you on that subject, that
no prosecution could be maintained, for that the two per-
sons that came before you appeared as Catholics ?—I did
not say it to anybody I remember. But you can't say you
did not say so ? Not that I remember. You sent that
certificate now produced ?—Yes. And directed the letter
to Madame Yelverton with your own hand F—l did not.
. .

Neither the certificate nor the letter was written by me,
but by my directions. Who wrote them ?—My curate. By
your authority ?—Yes. And with your knowledge and
assent ?—Yes. Now you may go down, sir, I have nothing
more to ask you.
Cross-examined by Mr, Brewster—An officer of the court
in Scotland was sent for me, and I was examined as a wit-
ness before the Procurator Fiscal; I saw the lady some days
before I saw Major Yelverton, and I went with her to the
bishop; I never saw her produce any paper or document.
Did she not tell you that the gentleman was a Protestant?
—She told me that she contracted a marriage. I am now
asking you in reference to a conversation, not of a religious
character. Upon your oath did she not tell you the gentle-
man was a Protestant?—She did. In reference to the
ceremony you did perform, is there not, according to the
rule of your Church, a peculiar dress to be worn by the
clergyman at the celebration of a marriage ?
Mr. Whiteside—l object to that ;if it were a sack he
wore on his head it makes no matter when he marries a
person in church.
Chief Justice—That is not the reason why the question
should not be asked.
Mr. Whiteside—Does the reality of the marriage depend
on the cut of his coat?

Chief Justice—What way wore you dressed when cele-
brating the ceremony—whatever you call it ?—I wore a
soutane.

Mr. Brewster—Was that all the clerical dress you had
on ?—That was all. Was there any other person in the
church but you and the two when this ceremony was per-
formed ?—No one, to my knowledge. Betty Brennan, the
woman who has charge of the chapel, was in the vestry,
but did not witness it, to my knowledge.
Mr. Brewster—Was Richard Sloane in the chapel on that
day ?—Ho was not, to my knowledge ; it was expressly
agreed upon between Mrs. Yelverton and myself that no
person was to be present lest the secret might be exposed.
A Juror (Mr. Long)—What was the secret?
Witness—The secret was that the family were Pro-
testants.

A Juror—l want to know what was the secret ?
Chief Justice—You say it was agreed that there should
be nobody in the chapel 'at the time?—Lest the secret should
be exposed.
Chief Justice—And what was the secret that was not to
be exposed ?—That it should not come to the knowledge of
the family who were Protestants, lest his father should dis-
inherit him.
Chief Justice—But what was the secret?—Their renewal
of consent.
A Juror (Mr. Long)—l wish to know what you took the
£lO for ?—She gave it to me.
Juror—What did you take it for ?—For being present on
the occasion.
Another Juror—ls that the usual fee for renewing a con-
sent?—lt is not.
Juror— What is the usual fee for a marriage ?—The
usual fee we receive is £l.
Juror—Did you ever tell anyone you got £lO did.
Juror—Did you say for what ?—I told them I got £lO
from the lady when she was about to leave the church, and
that I believed that it was for being present at the renewal
of the consent given.
Mr. Brewster—Do you keep a registry of marriages in
the parish ? I do. (H egistry produced.)
Mr. Brewster asked if there was any entry in it of a mar-
riage between Major Yelverton and the lady.
Mr.Whiteside objected to the quest ion,which was allowed
to be put, subject to the objection.
Chief Justice—ls there any entry in reference to what
occurred on the day in question ? No entry of that kind,
and the lady would not allow me to make an entry. She
asked me to enter it in my private register. I told her I
had no register but a public one, and she said that would
expose their secret.
Chief Justice—And it was not entered? It was not

entered.
Re-ezamirted by Mr, Whiteelde—When did that take

place In the chapel after the :ceremony.--And the gen •
tleman was standing beside her? He was.—Z ou have re-
fused, and very rightly, to relate anything that occurred in
the confessional, but you say she told you the gentleman
was a Protestant ? She did.—And after she told you that
you asked him what religion he was, and he said he was a
"Protestant Catholic ?" Will Ibe at liberty to—Not until
you answer that. She told me before we went to the bishop
—You stated she told you he was a Protestant. I ask you
was that in the presence of the bishop ? That was before we
went to the bishop. I never heard her say he was a Catho-
lic untilshe said so in the presence of the bishop.—And the
bishop gave you authority to marry them ? He gave me
authority to renew the consent.—Of marriage? Not of mar-
riage ; to renew the consent of the previous marriage.
A Juror—A marriage consent ? A previous marriage
consent contracted in Scotland, to satisfy the scruples of
the lady.
Mr. Whiteside—Are not the words "lawful in marriage"
in that certificate ? Yes; but I have a right to explain why
I gave it in that form. The reason was this :—I received a
letter from the lady telling me that she expected the arrival
of a little stranger, asking me for a certificate ; and I
gave it for the purpose of proving that she was validly
married, and that her child might be baptised legitimately.
That was the reason ; and if I had thought it would have
been used for any other purpose than that for which I gave
it—to have the child baptised legitimately—to satisfy the
foreign clergyman into whose hands I thought it was to
fall—if I thought it was to be used for this purpose, I would
have cut off my right hand sooner than have given it.
Before you go back to Rostrevor answer me a question—is
it the practice, or is it usual for Catholic priests to certify
falsehoods under their hands ? No. You may go down
now.
The further hearing of the case was then adjourned to
yesterday morning.