National Republican., 1883-04-20
v1NDICATIoN OF MRS. sPRAGUE.
~ no Full Text OF the Letter OF Her coun-
sci Refuting spragiie's Fslsehoods.


u no Full Text OF the Letter Of Her Coun-
sci Refuting spregae's Fslsehoods.
A synopsis of the letter of Mrs sprague's
counsel, in reply to sprague's falsehoods ut
tered at Staunton, Va, was furnished by the
associated press, and appeared in THE RE-
PUBLICAN as IL did IN the press generally.
We print below the entire letter, which has
since come TO hand, and which will be read
with interest. twill be seen that IL presents
much that was not stated in the brief press
dispatch:
To THE EDITOR OF THE Vo,dicator, STAuN'
TON, VA.-,Sir. A copy of your paper of the
sixteenth of March, 1883, has been placed In
our hands, from which it appears that Will
lam Sprague, of Rhode Island, in order to
procure a license to marry again, and to in
duce a'cergyman TO perform the ceremony,
made certain statements in regard to his di-
vorced condition to the clerk Of the court, to
the commonwealth attorney, and to the Rev.
j. d. Hullihan, all Of your city, which state
ments, having been published by you, aud
being not only false but also libelous Of q
most honorable and worthy lady, We her
counsel in her suit for divorce from Gov.
Sprague, feel IL our duty, in Justice TO her, to
ask that you publish this statement Of facts
in the case.
When interrogatod as to It's being lawful for
him to marry, Gov. Sprague, as you publish,
responded: II wish to state to you the ground
on which 1 was divorced. / applied for a di-
vorce from my wife on the ground of adultery.
She filed cross bill charging me with the
same offense. She, after short WHILE with
drew her charges against me, did not with
draw mine, They remained, and on that
standing of the case the court in New York
granted me O divorce and divided the custody
l.zEN IL Ill yl.-A l. .ss.AA
You add that ION the return of the clergy
man and Mr.. Ecbols to the hotel Gov. Sprague
answered the questions, which had been for
greater caution written down by Mr.. Hulli-
han, satisfactorily, in view Of tho require
ments Of the canon bearing on the case.
These are the questions answered:
| q. Are you divorced man or not2 A. 1 am
Q. Please state the grounds upon which the de-
| cree was granted. A. Adultery.
Q. Was this charged upon your divorced wife or
| upon yourself? A, Upon my wife.
Q. Was there any such charge preferred against
you on the proceedingsP A. There was not.
1t is difficult for us to believe that any one
deliberately made the statements, as they are
entirely without truth. Yet we have seen
as yet no contradictions of the report. The
facts are that Mrs. Katharine Chase-Sprague
applied to tho supreme court Of Rhode Island
for divorce from Gov. Sprague, alleging
repeated adulteries, cruelty, and neglect to
provide for herself and their children, though
abundantly able to do so the latter charge
being sufficient cause for divorce under the
statutes Of Rhode Island, and Gov. Sprague
answered by petition, making various allega-
tions against his wife. Tho testimony Of
many witnesses establishing the truth of Mrs.
Sprague's complaint was promptly taken and
she was ready for trial at an early date, but,
upon one pretext and another and against her
opposition, the trial was postponed through
b. a uaa xyith rati hx
him. Finally, we attended the court at South
Kingston, r. l., Feb 20, 1882, fully prepared
for trial, with depostions taken and nu-
merous witnesses in court to support every
allegation in oprbill. The court decided that
the trial must proceed, whereupon Gov.
Sprague and his counsel approached us, pro-
posing to withdraw their petition and all
charges against Mrs. Sprague If she would
waive proof of adultery against him and con-
sent to let the cause be tried on the remaining
grounds of cruelty and non-support. Gov.
Sprague then furnished Judge Hoadly with
a written retraction of all charges against his
wife, to be givcn to her after the decree OF
O| divorce should be granted. Hr
Knowing that Mrs. Sprague had no object
except to secure her decree and protect her
children from discredit as far as possible
consistently with justice and right, we, her
counsel, having procured by telegraph her au-
thority to act at our discretion, assumed the
responsibility for her. waving the charges ol
adultery and cruelty and allowing the case to
rest on the less offensive charge. Following
this conference, Gov. Sprague's counsel in
open court, sprague being present, and before
the trial. withdrew his petition and all the al
legationsi 1T contained. Thereupon testimony
was introduced which established to the salts.
faction of the court that Gov. Sprague had
failed to support his wife and daughters, al,
though abundantly able to do SO, and on this
ground a decree of absolute divorce was
granted in favor of Mrs Sprague, with per.
mission at her discretion to resume her
maiden name of Katharine Chase, n privilege
seldom granted in Rhode Island, and never
when cloud rests upon lady's repute. The
court also awarded the custody of the three
younger children, daughters, to the mother
the remaining child, u boy near manhood, not
being subject under the laws of Rhode Island
to the control of the court in such an action
The consideration extended to Gov. Sprague
was fully acknowledged. He proposed to
surrender and deliver, aud did execute a
written agreement to deliver to Austin Cor
bin, esq.,, of New York, q relative of Mrs
Sprague, as trustee for the children, the per.
sonal property at Canonchet. We add that
but for the withdrawal by Gov. Sprague of all
charges against his wife, aud also of his peti.
tion we should not have advised her to con.
sent to waive proof of the charges against
him, or to take the decree of divorce upon the
minor ground.
There has been so much Misrepresentation
of defenseless woman, not only in the state.
ments of Gov. Sprague referred to, but fol
years, that we feel called upon, as her coun
! sci, to enter protest, and, in view of all tn,
facts, we have advised her to resume hei
maiden name.
GEORGE HoADLEY, of Cincinnati.
WINcHEsrER BRITroS, Of Brooklyn, NY
Dated April l6, 1888.