The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-05-21

had TO take my documents to the reve-
nue. office, and there pay two francs to
| nave them stamped; and from there |
had to proceed to the French foreign
office to get the visa to the consuls sig
nature, which cost me another two
| francs.
For the second time I returned to the
Marie thinking that my troubles were
at an end; but alas! the asthmatcal
old gentleman waded cerefully through
the mass Of papers which had indus
| triously accumulated, and found that
| he could not accept them because the
consent of the maternal grandmother
was not drawn up by public notary,
| who in France is a ministerial officer,
I demonstrated With the old gentleman,
and said it was monstrous that a young
woman of twenty-five could not get
married without the consent of her ma
| ternal grandmother Monsieur" he
replied testify, such is the law. / did
not make the law"
! I began to feel that had undertaken
a task almost beyond my strength, but
| resolved to go through with the bust
ness even if 1t took me years to accom-
plish. / communicated with my fan
Gee, who went on to see her maternal
grandmother; but the old lady fell into
a state of nervous excitement at the
| idea of having to execute a notarial
deed and endeavored to persuade her
granddaughter to give up her foolish
notion of marrying an 'Anglais," of
which, she said, no good could come.
After q great deal of trouble she was
| persuaded to consent, and we finally
managed to convey her to the nearest
| town where a notary resided. All this
had taken several days to accomplish,
| for the old lady was over eighty and
| very deaf. Ridiculous as it may APP
| pear If the old lady had refused her
consent theFrench law would have re-
quired us to give three respectful SOM
nations" or notices, at intervals of
month, before we could get married. 1t
| was therefore, with a feeling Of relief
that that at last found myself in the
train in possession of the notarial act
| by which she gave her consent which
cost twelve francs thirtyone confines
] exactly-for a French notary would
/ consider he was dishonoring his profess
sion If he did not charge an odd number
of centimes.
On my return / once more FASTENED to
the asthmatical old gentleman at the
Bureau des Marriages" armed with
| these documents:
| /. My birth certificate.
q A translation thereof.
3. The consular documents setting
| forth my liberty to marry.
4. A certificate of residence.
| 5. The 'permis de sejour,'' or permits
| sion to reside in France, which every
| foreigner is bound to take out at the po-
| lice office.
| g. A doctors certificate that had
been vaccinated.
| I. One likewise of my f1ancee.
| s. My flancee's birth certificate.
| g. The certificate of decease of her
father.
10. The certificate of decease Of her
! mother.
H. The certificate of decease Of her
paternal grandfather.
| II. The certificate of decease of her
paternal grandmother
| 10. The certificate of decease of her
maternal grandfather.
| IA. Her maternal grandmothers con-
| sent to the marriage.
IS, The certificate of her residence and
mine
16. Notarial documents setting forth
| that there was marriage contract.
| IL A declaration that my fiancee was
not my sister, aunt, mother nor grand
| mother.
| / tremblingly submitted the whole of
the above mentioned documents to the
asthmatical old gentleman, who, hav-
| Ing carefully adjusted his spectacles,
proceeded to wade through once more
the whole mass of papers from begin
| ming to end When he had finished, he
| scratched his head and said that, see
ing that my fiancee was an orphan, he
was not quite sure as to whether he
ought not also to have the birth certifi-
cate of the maternal grandmother"
| but, on reference to the Code Civil" he
| found, to my intense relief, that this
was not necessary. He seemed some
what disappointed that there was not
some document missing; and, in
warning voice, he said, "Well, mon
sleur, you can publish the banns now If
you like, but at your own risk and per-
Ill for if there is any hitch at the time
of your marriage you must not blame
me-" ! accepted the tremendous re-
sponsibility, paid one franc twenty-five
centimes for the necessary forms, filled
them up, and handed them back to the
old gentleman.
At last the eventful morning came,
and, contrary to the forebodings Of the
asthmatical old gentleman, there was
no hitch. The room where the mar
riage took place was beautifully paint
ed in white and gold, with a bust en-
blematic' of the republic in a prominent