New-York tribune., 1901-06-05
CONES HERE FOR DIVORCE.
MIR. DELPIT TELLS OF HIS CASE. WHICH
HAS INVOLVED CHURCH AND
STATE IN QUEBEC.

cIAl IN QCEbI4N'
A man of medium stature. but we'll proper
toned, whose age of thirty-one years was made
to appear somewhat more by a close cropped
black beard. hastily entered the law office of
Carruthers & Guthrie, at No % Broadway. yes
terday afternoon. and slipping card into the
hands of the office boy. exclaimed: Il wish to
see Mr.. Carruthers at once. My train leaves
for Baltimore in an hour" On the card was
printed the name "Edouard Delpit."
The visitor was no other than the plaintiff in
the Delpit divorce of Montreal. which has
plunged the Roman Catholic Church and the
civil courts of Quebec into a bitter controversy
as to which is supreme in the laws of marriage.
A Tribune reporter obtained an interview with
Mr.. Delpit after the conference with the lawyer.
In explaining his coming to this city Mr. Delpit.
in the few minutes he had left before taking his
train. said:
81 have come to the United States for the re-
lief which despaired of obtaining in Montreal
1 have sought your courts to grant me divorce
without notoriety and the waste of years of
time The struggle that I have had in my own
country of Quebec has been widely noised
about. Unfortunately, it involved the Roman
Catholic Church and the civil government of
the province in such struggle for supremacy
that the primary case was lost sight of. In
deed, the antagonsm between these two powers
of society has grown bitter that l that
could obtain a final decision in the case only
after years of struggle and notoriety.
Accordingly I made my home in Baltimore
three months ago. There will bring action
for divorce through Mr.. Carruthers as soon as
my year of residence is complete. I have been
in this city only a few days visiting at the home
of sister and consulting with my lawyer"
Mr.. Delpit then consented to tell the history
of the case as briefly as he could.
''MV wife he said NiSs he
Aurore Jeanne Cote We were married on May
p 1893. She sixteen years old then. and
was twentythree. Although each of US had been
brought up in the Catholic faith
ried by a Unitarian minister. the Rev. w S
Barnes of Montreal. We had three children
boy. who is now nearly seven years Old and two
daughters Marie and Louise.
Our marriage proved unfortunate. MY wife
showed such hatred to me and to the children
that life became unendurable. We both sought
for divorce she in a civil. in an ecclesiastt-
cal court In my contention before the Church
authorities I argued that a marriage between
two Catholics who had not abjured their re-
HEion was clandestine, and therefore null. when
solemnized by Protestant clergyman. My con-
tention was upheld. and a decision in my favor
given through the Ordinary of Quebec
in July. 1900 and ratified by the Pope on No
vember 2% last
ms judgment was ONeEIulSu however pS
the civil courts of Quebec in a decision handed
down by Justice Archibald, of tho Superior
Court March 81 last An appeal from this
decision is before the Court OF Appeals of
the province. which. although, as 1 believe, will
overrule Justice Archibald. will not be final
nv wife has threatened to carry the case to
the House Of Lords. As have little doubt that
the House OF Lords Will sustain Justice Archi-
bald. I have finally abandoned the Canadian
courts for the courts Of this country. Here |
hope my suit will be tried with expedition and
fairness and without notoriety.
Il shall base my claim for absolute divorce
on grounds OF cruelty, both to me and my chill
dran. In order TO give these proper protection
/ sent the hoy to France to his grandmother and
then afterward had my mother and an aunt
come 70 Montreal from France to take care OF
the two Younger children. also. The hatred that
my wife bore to the children can be seen by this
affidavit from Mrs Cameron, a servant in our
employ She testified as follows;
when he boy returned from France with
his grandparents Mrs Delpt told me that she
hated him cher own SOM enough 20 kill him, and
that she wished that the vessel in which they all
came had gone to the bottom Of the sea, and
that all the family had drowned, even TO her lit
tie SON
The children are now in this city. at the horne
of Mr.. Delpit's sister. with whom he has been
staying. Their grandparents are also here
The lawyers Of the wife. who is now in Mon
treal, allege that Mr. Delpit treated his wife
cruelty and often struck her.
Mr.. Delpit is the son of Antoine Adrian Ed
Guard Delpit, novelist. who for many years
served under the French Minister of the In
terror. Among his novels 'Marcenne,
"Coeur de CT "Plein Coeur' and La Ravanche
de rEnfant." The son was born in Beaumont-du-
Perigord. France and left that country in 1SSS
to become the secretary of Lieutenant-Governor
Chapleau. Afterward he became the secretary
of the present Lieutenant Governor Jette. Mr..
Dept left the last place only few months ago
Mr.. Carruthers. his lawyer, received a tele-
grain late last night from the opposing lawyers
NM Taillefer and Lafeur. 10 the effect that
his proposition to fight the case out in the
Maryland courts was under advisement. and
that a reply had been delayed by the Illness of
NJ TaiIlefer, The wife's counsel contend that
the ecclesiastical courts have no right 10 annul
a marriage for which a license had been OBJ
tained.