The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-21
MAKING A VALID MATCH
Difficulty in Marrying an mericel
Girl to a Frenchman.

Girl to Frenchman.
NEW York, Aug. 1S.-Some important
facts relative to the French marriage laws
have recently been emphasized, the Times
says, in the Investigations instituted by the
law firm of Coudert Bros. in arranging the
preliminaries Of the proposed marriage be-
tween Miss Gwendoline Byrd Caldwell aud
the French Prince Murat Miss Caldwell.
being an orphan, the consent of her legal
guardian, Banker Eugene Kelly, was OBJ
tained. But this consent was not sufficient
under the French Law. In order to COM
ply with the provisions of the Code Napo-
leon 1t became necessary to furnish proofs
OF her legitimacy, to establish the fact of
the legal marriage, and also of the death
and burial of her parents and grandparents,
or, IN other words, to establish direct line
of descent.
Miss Caldwell is descended on the mater
nal side from the Breckinridges Of Louis
vile, KY, and on the paternal side from
the CaldwellS of Fredericksburg, Va. The
Investigations on the part of the Messrs.
Coudert have been conducted by clerk Of
the firm, William F. Randall, who has been
successful in obtaining all the proofs es-
sentlal with the exception of the certificate
OF the death of the paternal grandfather
which Is at present the only remaining
rlage. The Importance of completing the
required chain of evidence in compliance
with the Code Napoleon, not only in this
case, but all Others, is explained by the fact
that in the event of the husband dying in
testate the marriage so contracted would
inevitably be held to be invalid by the
French courts. and all property of the hus-
band IN France would revert to the govern
ment.
/
ltY on French marriage / Tvs, SAYS, in his
book on The Geography Of Marriage; or,
Legal Perplexities Of Wedlock,n accepted
as standard publication:
ut has been observed that the maxim
that marriage valid where sOlemniZed is
valid everywhere is a maxim of private in
ternational law, applicable to all civilized
countries. France, however, refuses 10
recognize this just and wholesome principle
By the laws of that country a Frenchman
who marries abroad is obliged to publish
the bans and the notice of intention to wed
in accordance with the French law, in order
to render his marriage valid and
binding in his native land He is
required to post a notice of the
wedding in the office of the French consul
IN the country where the ceremony is to be
performed, and send a copy OF it also to the
Office Of the mayor or other official head of
the municipality of France where the
groom resides or formerly resided. Should
Frenchman travelling in the United States
or even residing here, seek the hand of an
American lady in wedlock, what would she
know. or What could she be supposed or ex-
pected to know, about the laws of marriage
IN France9 And yet, if she should marry
under SUCH clrcumsta noes, a failure to COM
ply with the French law with respect to
publication and notice would enable her
husband, should he feel disposed to reject
his manhood for selfish ends, to repudiate
the marriage in France with impunity. The
wife would find no protection in the French
country.
The experience of Elizabeth Patterson,
the handsome, dashing and accomplished
belle OF Baltimore, who espoused jerome
Bonaparte. illustrates this point. The mar
rage of Mime. Bonaparte belongs to his.
tory. 1T disturbs,' saws Didier, her bio
grapher, the plans of the greatest cor
queror OF modern times, and produced a
rupture between pope and an emperor
But the gross injustice done to the wife of
the young Frenchmen through the dis
pleasure of her brother-in-law, the
great Napoleon, has never been corrected
by amending in that respect, the code
which bears his name. The marrige of
Nine. Bonaparte was solemnized in due
form by the Rt. Rev. John Carroll Bishop
of Baltimore, afterward archbishop of the
diocese, and the first primate of the Catho-
lie church in America. 1t was recognized
as valid by Plus VII, not only in the United
States, but In France as well, notwithstand-
ing that the laws of that country as to no.
tice and publication had not been complied
with. Yet the courts of France refused to
recognize it, and the law has not since been
altered with respect to marriages con-
tracted with Frenchmen while abroad y