The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-09-08
New. Newman Hall and Miss Mary
Wyatt.
[London Times.l

MIR. Arthur Harvey wyatt, or C0rSe
Vicarage, Gloucester, has addressed the
following letter to the editor of a contem-
porary:
As Staffordshireman, and member
Of a family well known in that county,
am sure you will kindly permit me a
short space in your columns while make
few observations upon the above now
celebrated case. 1t would be afiectation
to suppose that every one in the county
who has followed this case does not by
this time know who Mary Wyatt is; and
it is upon her friendship with the petit
toner that | desire to make some re-
marks. At the time, 1862, when my sis
ter introduced herself to the petitioner
she was suffering from impaired health
and low spirits, which brought on relig-
ious melancholy. In London lady ad-
vised her to attend the ministry of the
Rev. Newman Hall, pastor of Rowland
Hills chapel.
She was much interested by several
lermons she heard, and she determined to
open her grief to the eloquent preacher.
To his honor be it said, that after answer
ing her first letter and upon the receipt
Of second, he wrote to the lady's father
and requested his sanction to any further
correspondence. After an interview with
my sister, my father gave his consent in
letter which would have been read had
the Co ~ter-charge been persevered in. A
letter from my father was read, in which
he thanked Mr.. Hall for his disinterested
kindness to his daughter. My sister
Mary was then of full age, and my father
was only entitled to exercise moral con-
troll over her actions; this should be re-
membered in forming Judgment of his
conduct. Our family must be considered
TO have conSerted and approved OF this
friendship, because when relatives give
tacit consent they virtually approve, and
no member of the family intelfered or
objected.
Their opinion was not asked, nor was
It volunteered. [ may, however, say
that my mother and myself, though we
had no dislike to Mr. Newman Hall,
whom we only knew by public reputation,
viewed with regret my sister Mary's con-
duct. We thought it a pity and a mis-
take to seek that spiritual comfort and
religious direction from Nonconformist
minister however excellent and eminent,
which she could have obtained from
some discreet and learned minister of
Gods Word and Sacraments within the
pale of the Church of England, the
Church of her fathers, the Church which
was her birthright As time wore on,
however, and We perceived how great a
pleasure and apparent advantage my
lister derived from her friendship and
correspondence with Mr.. Hall, the annoy
ance which my mother and myself felt,
and expressed in private to one another,
diminished and finally died away. A
word upon the fact of their correspond
,nce being carried on in cipher.
Mr.. Newman Hall was very busy
man; he was master of shorthand, and
be soon found that voluminous cores
pondence (they wrote once week to
each other and at length) upon all sorts
of topics-religious literary and artistic
made too great demand upon his
time; he, therefore, sent an alphabet,
with directions to my sister, who pres
emily became nearly as proficient as Mr..
Hall himself ia this rapid and ready
method Of writing. This was perfectly
well known to all OF us-there was no
secresy about it, The reason for it was
given, accepted, and deemed sufficient
When Mary visited at Mr. Halls she did
10 at the the invitation of Mrs. Hall her.
self; indeed, Mrs. Newman Hall was the
last person to permit any lady to visit at
her house without her invitation, nor
would my sister, for moment, have
taken 50 great liberty, even had Mrs.
Hall been very different person from
what she was.
Newman Hall asked the Court to believe
she had intercepted, and which she said
she had for very shame destroyed, at the
time she received this letter Mr.. Weston,
our family medical man at Stafford,
received letter intended for Mrs. Hall
which he at once returned to my sister,
saying, in an accompanying note that if
Mrs. Hall We're a woman and a lady she
would restore the letter missent to her.
This letter was written by my sister to
her medical man and intended for his
eye alone. This letter Mrs. Hall never
returned, but swore she had destroyed
and therefore could not produce it, and
then founded upon an absent document
malignant and foul attack on my sis
ter's honor. Mr.. Weston was in court
ready to be examined, but when the
counter charge had served its turn il
was absolutely withdrawn, and Therefore
the petitioner was unable to give eyi
dence to rebut. The jury were instructed
"to regard it as though it had never beer
made" One point more and have done
1t is now several years since the CORES
pondence between Mary Wyatt and New
man Hall ceased. Her visits at Mr.
Halls were discontinued when Mrs. Hall
quilted her husbands home, and the cor
respondence shortly afterwards ceased
because Mr.. Hall, solicitous for my sister
reputation, which was unscrupulousl.
assailed by his wife, deemed it advisable
and better that it should cease. After
wards they seldom met and never excep
in the presence and society of Others