THE YELVERTON MARRIAGE CASE.

Otago Witness, Issue 496, 1 June 1861, Page 10

THE YELVERTON MARRIAGE CASE.

. The opening of tbis.extraordinary trial in the Dublin. Court of Common Pleas was announced in our last. The action, our readers are aware, was brought by a Mr. Thelwall, of Hull, nominally to recover from the Hon. Major Yelverton, of the Royal Artillery, upwards of £250, the cost of maintaining Mrs. Yelverton. The defence i 8 that the lady is Vot the wife of "the Major. The story of the lady is as follows :~ln 1853 Major Yelverton met Miss Theresa Longworth, the daughter of a Lancashire gentleman, on board a steamer. An intimacy sprang up; between them, a correspondence ensued, and it is evident, from the published letters, that the lady was deeply in love with the Royal Artillery officer. Years passed by, but they did not meet. Major Yelverton went to Malta, Miss Longworth to ""Italy,. The Crimean war broke, out, and Miss Lbtigworth, who is a H6nian Cfthpluvwent to Constantinople with the French sisters of charity. There Major Yelverton met her again. ■.. He. saw her at Galata, he saw her in use nut of her friends, General and Mrs. Straubenzee, in the Crimea. According to her account, he proposed that they should be secretly married by a Greek priest at Balaklava, alleging as an argument for a secret marriage that his relative, Lord Avonmore, had made him promise to marry no one who , could not. pay' hia debts. Miss Longworth then declined a secret marriage. After the war Jbe went home by way of the Danube, and she. returned to" England. In 1857 they met "■ . again in Edinburgh. In Edinburgh she resided with Miss M'Farland, daughter of the author pf that name, a convert to the Church of Home, and now a sister of charity in London. Major Yelverton proposed a Scotch marriage, and performed the ceremony by i reading, together with Miss Longworth, in ! Mies M'Farland's Book of Common Prayer, which was lying on the table. Site' was not satined with this ceremouy, believing that marriage is a sacrament, and thai it wonld b# a sin to live with her husband unless the union were, blessed: by n priest. Therefore she steadily v ]r.efUßed cohabitation. In order to satisfy her. scruples Major Yelverton consented to a marriage by a Roman Catholic clergyman. She hpd been with her sister, Mrs. Bellany, in Wales ; she crossed over from Milford-haven to, Waterford, where-she met Major Yelverton by appointment. . There, and at Thomastown, at Dublin, and at Newry, whither they went, in; search of a priest, they stopped at the same hotels, but did not cohabit. At length they found at Ttostrevor, near Newry, a priest — tneJßev. Mr. Mooney — willing to perform the ceremony, haying got a dispensation from th^.bishop to do it privately. Major Yelverton had bought a wedding-ring at Dublin, which she then wore. They met the priest in the chapel standing .at the alfear. She and

Major Yelverton knelt -together tA the altar, repeated after the priest the marriage ceremony in due form, omitting nothing important. When the ceremony was over Major Yelverton gave the priest two £5 notes, one for the dispensation and one for his own fee. After that day she and her husband lived like married people, which they had never done before. Major Yelverton had stated to the prießt that he was a Catholic, and was therefore free to marry a Catholic. After the marriage they went to the Giant's Causeway. They returned to Belfast, where they parted, he going to his family, she to Edinburgh. In about a fortnight he joined her there, and they went on a tour in the Highlands. In Edinburgh they were known as man and ivife. As such they were received by Mr. and Mrs. Thelwall and others. In the visitors' book at Doon Castle her husband wrote, " Mr. and Mrs. Yelverton." He also put her name, " Theresa Yelverton," in a passport when they went to travel on the continent. At Dunkirk he introduced her to a gentleman as his wife, and they were known as man and wife at the table d'hote in the hotel in that town. His leave of absence having expired he left her at Bordeaux, where she became seriously ill. Madame Andre, with whom she lodged, treated her barbarously after his departure, on the pretext that she was not married at all, and had been living under the false pretence that she was a wife. She was now pregnant, and she told Major Yelverton that her duty towards her child re : quired that she should publish the marriage 4 , the knowledge of which he was extremely anxious to keep from his family, as he had pledged himself not to marry wuhout the approbation of his father, Lord Avonmore. Mrs. Yelverton then went to her sister in France, where she was affectionately nursed. When she recovered she came to Scotland, and lived at Leith. There had been some quarrels while she was at Bordeaux, but till within a short period of their final separation Major Yelverton continued to write affectionate letters to her, affecting much anxiety about her health'! He then told her that he was a ruined man unless she consented to go to Australia, where he promised to join her in a few months. He begged that she would go to Glasgow on her way, and his brother was to meet her there in order to make arrangements for the voyage and for her future support. She did not consent to this arrangement. She remained at Leith, and in a few days after she heard of her husband's marriage with the widow of the late Professor Forbes, of Edinburgh. In Scotland she proceeded against him for •her support as his wile, on the strength of the | Scotch marriage. He allowed judgment to go by default, and paid the money. The present trial arose out of a claim of the same kind, made on her behalf by Mr. Thelwall. The examination of Major Yelverton commenced on the 27th February. According to his account the "odic force" operated very powerfully upon Miss Longworth, when they first met on board the Boulogne steamer. She told him the history of her life, her unhappy relations with her lather, and said she and her sister were living in London, unknown to the world. At the railway station she invited him to accompany her to her lodgings, where he might dress, and save himself the trouble of going to the United Service Club for that purpose. "He did accompany her home in a cab, and dressed in a room to which she conducted him. When he visited her in the hospital at Galata he sat two hours alone with her, in a small room, on a sofa. She took off her nun's cap. He made love to her, said she was very i loveable and attractive, put his arm round her waist, and kissed her several times. He confessed that there, on that sofa, in the hospital where she was attending the sick and wounded soldiers, he formed— not the " design" for that was too strong a word; not the " desire," that too, was too stroug a word— but the " idea" of making her his mistress. Nor did he think that incompatible with her holy mission there, for " some of the kindest -hearted people in the world are mistresses." Lady Straubenzee was in the hospital at the time of his' visit, and she invited Miss Longworth to go with her to Balaklava, which she did, and remained six weeks. During that time Captain Yelverton was almost a daily guest at General Straubenzee's hut, still haunted by the "idea," and longing to realise it, and seeking opportunities to do so while she was under the excellent protection of the general and his virtuous lady. At length the day arrived for the young lady's departure for Constantinople. She was accompanied to the steamer by the general, Captain Straubenzee, and Captain Yelverton, on whose car they went down to the landing-place. Captain Yelverton came on shore with the others, and having started them off, he stole back to the steamer, in pursuance of an arrangement made with Miss Longworth as they went down on. the car. It was evening, " Aye Maria I it was the hour of prayer ; Aye Maria I it was the hour of love." They sat together on the poop of the ship. He put his arm round her waist, he kissed her very much, they were both greatly excited, and then and there he attempted her virtue. At this point the ladies were compelled *o leave the court, and the details which followed were unfit for publication. He did not then succeed in his object, but he did on a subsequent occasion, and bis evidence went to show that she continued to be the slave of her passion for him. He swore that he never loved her " purely and honourably," that his love was based upon dishonour from the first, that he never thought of marrying her, and that his aim all along was to make her his " mistress-in-law." He swore that they had illicit intercourse in Edinburgh, and m all the Irish hotels where they stopped, and he denied that there had ever been a Scotch marriage. There were portions of his evidence which excited intense indignation in the audience, who could not restrain — his leading counsel (Mr. Sergeant Armstrong) admitted that it was impossible to restrain — the ebullitions of popular feeling unless the i court ceased to be an open court. The follow- | ing portion of his cross-examination touched j upon his ideas with regard to seduction . —

Major Yelverton, did you ever love Theresa Longworth f—lf — I did. Did you ever love her purely and honourably? — Not entirely. A juror said he had not heard. Sergeant Sullivan : I repeat my question ; did you ever love Theresa Longworth purely and honourably ?-— No. Then your love for her was always founded in dishonour ? — Yes, With the determination from the first to seduce her? — No (in a loud tone). But your love for her was all founded on dishonour ?—? — Yes. Explain me that. When I began the correspondence with her it was with no object either dishonourable or otherwise. I continued that correspondence with her. When I met her at Galata I was carried away by passion, and then first conceived the design of making her my mistress. In the convent of Galata ?—ln? — In the convent of Galata, sir. She wearing > the robes of a Sister of Mercy ?— True, sir. In attendance on the sick and dying soldiers of the Crimea? — True, sir; And you conceived the notion, then, of taking her from that holy work and taking her as )«>ur mistress? — I conceived the notion of making her my mistress, but not from that holy place. I suppose you thought as your mistress she could as well perform the works of charity? — The kindest hearted women in the world sometimes are mistresses. To be sure! That's your notion on the subject. Did you intend to make her your mistress on that occasion, and to dishonour her in that convent ?— No. No ; but you formed the design of making her your mistress? — I formed the desire, sir. The "desire," and not the "design?" — "Design" is a strong word, sir. And desire is a weak one, is it ? — The •* idea," sir, I think, was the word I used. The idea. I ask you did you form the design ? — I can't call it design. But you conceived the idea of

making her your mistress ? — I did. And you determined from that moment to carry it out? -—I determined from that moment nothing, sir. You had read her letters and knew she was an orphan ? — Yes. And a lady ? — What? A gentlewoman ? — A gentlewoman! I don't know, sir, what your definition of a gentlewoman is exactly. Will you tell us what your own is? — A woman of gentle blood. (Slight murmur.) Has education anything to do with it, think you ? — With making a lady P Yes. Have manners anything to do with it, think you? — They have, sir. Have accomplishments anything to say to it? — They have. Belief in religion ? — They have. Did you know that Theresa Longworth was an accomplished woman ?— I thought so from her letters — certainly, sir, that was my opinion. [Witness then explained that Miss Longworth, being the daughter of a Manchester silk merchant, did not possess that quality of "gentle blood" which went, in his opinion, to form a perfect gentlewoman.]

After some discussion, witness said : — What I said to Miss Longworth was, that marriage was an impossibility, and I suggested another sort of connection. Chief Justice : Do you mean at General Straubenzee's ? — I do. Serjeant Sullivan : In Lady Straubenzee's house ; you, an officer of the British army, suggested this connection to Miss Longworth. Chief Justice: Is that what you say? — Witness: Yes, my lord, lam sorry to say. Chief Justice: You told her marriage was impossible,and you proposed to her to become your mis~ tresß. — Witness : Very nearly that, my lord. The defendant denied that any marriage i whatever had ever taken place in Scotland, and said that the Irish ceremony was the result of an arrangement between Mrs. Yelverton and himselff in order to satisfy her conscientious scruples, but that she distinctly understood it was illegal. It was arranged, he said, before he left Edinburgh, that they were to meet again in a couple of months, and have a ceremony of an informal nature per/ormed by a Roman Catholic clergyman, but not such a solemn one as was subsequently gone through. He admitted that in the Catholic church, Kilowen, kneeling at the altar, he took Miss Longworth as his lawful wife, and she took him as her lawful husband. He repeated the words of the marriage service, after the priest. He meant, he said, to keep that promise subject to the arrangement he and Miss Longworth had previously entered into. In reply to a question of counsel, he said, — " This is not an ordinary case of a mistress' kept by a man. I do not pretend that. In taking each other in that way we thought we were performing a conscience-saving ceremony that would be binding upon our consciences, and at that time I intended to fulfil it. She undertook never to violate the secret without permission." The following passage occurred :— Serjeant Sullivan, referring to the perform 1111 11. 1 mance of the marriage ceremony in Ireland, said : — Had j r ou any respect for the chapel in which that ceremony was performed as a house of God ?— I had, Sir. And for the minister as a minister of his religion ? — Yes, sir. You went to that altar ? — Yes. The priest went inside ?— Yes. You and Theresa fcdlffgworth knelt down side by side ? Did you at that altar take her to be your wedded wife P—lP — I did? Did she take you for her wedded husband ?—? — Yes. Did you take her for better and for worse ? — I don't recollect these words. Did_ you repeat the words after the priest ? We did. What did you say?— "l, William Charles, take thee, Marie Theresa, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health, till death us do part, if Holy Church will permit, and thereto I plight thee my troth." On the virtue of your oath, did you not say these words at the altar ? — I cau'i recollect that all these words were used. ;Buf the substance of them was. — Well, the., worst part of them was, at any rate. You did that kneeling at the altar ? You are acquainted with the service of the Protestant Church ?—? — I am. Will you tell me the difference between the marriage services of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches ; do you know lt.P — I could not repeat the Protestant service word for word. [Counsel here read the essential portion of the Church of England marriage service, similar to that of the Roman Catholic church.] Did you mean those > words to be a mockery ? — I meant to sustain and protect. Answer me, sir, did you mean it to be a mockery ? — No. Did you mean to fulfil the obligation that you then contracted? — Yes; subject to the explanation. Did you take her hands ? — I took one of her hands. Did you put the ring on her finger ? — I touched the ring. Was that a mockery ? — Not altogether. Was that ring out of her possession after you gave it to her at Malahide until you went to Rostrevor ? — I think not to the test of my recollection. Will you swear it?< — I cannot go further conscientiously. (Suppressed laughter.)

Serjeant Armstrong commenced his address to the jury tor the defence on the Ist of March, and concluded on the following day. He vvas followed by Mr. Whiteside for the plaintiff. In the Dublin papers., Mr. Whiteside's speech occupies some twelve or thirteen columns. The following is the concluding portion of Mr. Whiteside's peroration : —

" The argument made by the defendant's counsel is that from the day he was at Galata he was her deliberate, skilful, and scientific seducer. Thus says the defendant tn his argument, — * I have added hypocrisy and profanity to deception and profligacy. I am not bound to pay for the {sustenance of this woman. lam not her wedded husband. I stand before you her profligate and heartless seducer. I found her young, I found her virtuous.' What is she now, gentlemen t Innocence defiled, virtue lost, beauty spoiled, and the hopes of life fled for ever. ' Better the hand of death had swept her to an early grave that would have been watered by the tears of maternal affection— gentle tears, catting up the happy memories of the past, assuaged by the blessed hopes of a bright immortal future. He has blasted her happiness in this life, and endangered it in the life to ctfme, according to' his own argument. Save him from the consequences^ of that argument, and do not brand him, as his counsel do, as a scientific, deliberate, and unprincipled seducer. How stands the question, now that the whole of this great trial is before you, — now' that you have all these facts, and I cannot dwell at this hour minutely npon them, as I might, if I had gained your attention at an earlier hour of the day, have endeavoured to reason step by step ? I ask you to judge that woman as she came before you, and then say do you believe her. Trace her conduct up from the time she sat within the wall* of the convent until 6he comes to this box to tell the •tgry of her multitudinous sorrows, and ask yourselves what fact is proved against her with any living man save this defendaut. Her crime «, she loved him too dearly and too well. If she had millions she would have flung them at his feet. Had she a throne to give she would have placed him on that throne. All she had to bestow was her heart ; she made him sovereign of her affections, and there he reigned with undisputed »waj. But what are those affections ? They have be«n implanted in our nature by an Almighty hand. They have survived the fall, and repaired the ravages of sin and death. They dignify and exalt, and inspire" 6tir existence, which else were cold, monotonous, and dull. Nor may we believe their uses terminate with the dissolution of the mysterious union between soul and body. Rather may we hope that the same high affections, purified, spiritualized, and immortalized, become a portion of • the bliis Unspeakable,' reserved for the spirits of the just .made perfect. (Loud applause.) She gav<? him that affection ; she gave him that love— a wq. man's love. Who can fathom its depths? can measure its intensity ? Who can' describe its devotion 1 She tells you herselfjwaa,t that love was — ' If you were to be executed as a convict, I would stand beneath the gallows.' If he had taken that woman for his wife, misery would have endeared him to her — poverty she would have shared with him, from flickness and misfortune she would never have fled ; she would have been his constant companion, his guide, his friend, — his polluted mistress never. Tlipiifore I now call upon you, to do justice to thai injured wotnaa. You oaiv. j

not restore her to the husband she adored or the happiness she enjoyed ; you cannot give colour to that faded check, nor lustre to the eye whioh has been dimmed by many a tear ; you cannot relieve the sorrows of her bursting heart ; but you may restore her to her place in society ; you may, by your verdict, enable her to say — ' Rash I have been, indiscreet I may have been through excess of my affection, but guilty — never 1 ' You may replace her in the rank she would never disgrace ; you itiay restore her to thdt society in which she is qualified to shine and has ever adorned. To you I commit this great cause. lam unable to further address you. Would to God I had talents or physical strength to exeit either or both longer on behalf of this injured, insulted woman ! She has found an advocate in you ; she has found it in the respected judge on the bench ; she has found it in every heart that beats within this court, and in the breast of every honest man throughout this country." I At the conclusion of the right hon. gentleman's ; address, the vast audience rose simultaneously 1 and cheered vehemently for several minutes ; hats and handkerchiefs were waved, and a scene of enthusiasm was presented such as has rarely been witnessed. The cheers were taken up by the immense multitude outside the court, and the hall rang with their acclamations. Mr. Whiteside, on passing through the dense mass of people, became the subject of a \ popular ovation.

The Court adjourned till Monday morning, March 4. Chief Justice Monahan commenced his charge to the jury at 10 o'clock. The jury .^returned into court at twenty minutes past 6. Their coming was awaited with intense excite-, .ment and great anxiety by a densely crowded court, and when they appeared, evidently bringing with them a verdict, all became hushed into profound silence. The Chief Justice said — How say you, gentlemen ? Was there a Scotch marriage ? The Foreman — Yes, my Lord. The Chief Justice — And was there an Irish marriage ?

Foreman — Yes, my Lord. Chief Justice — Then you find the defendant was a Roman Catholic for twelve months before ?

Foreman — So we believe, my Lord.

j Before the foreman bad spoken the last of his words, which gave the plaintiff an unqualified verdict, the universal joy and approval of all within hearing found expression, in a most enthusiastic burst of cheering, aguin and again renewed, accompanied by various other demonstrations of applause. Hats and h»nd,kerchiefs were waved, the members of the bar stood up and joined heartily in the public manifestations of delight ; many of them actually took off their wigs and waved them with energy. Men of all ranks seemed to vie ,with one another in testifying their gratification at this triumph of morality and justice, and the vindication of the honour of their sex. Ladies seemed at a loss how to show their feelings; they waved handkerchiefs, then clapped their hands, then wept with joy, and looked a world of gratitude at the juror, whose proud privilege it was to right an innocent and injured woman. The fees for the jurors having been handed up by the plaintiffs attorney, the foreman handed them back to the registrar, stating that the^iury did not wish to take any money in the ca|B, but to give it for charity. In reply to the registrar, they said they would wish the money to be given to the Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers' Society. This incident evoked another cheer for the jury. The cheering in court for the verdict had been, caught up by the multitude who thronged the hall, and vehemently reiterated by them.

The Dublin Correspondent of the Times says : — " When Mrs. Yelverton's counsel, Mr. Whiteside, entered the room where she was waiting, his countenance and significant gestures, as well as the cheers which rang through court, told her that the verdiefwas In her. favour ; she sprung forward without saying a word, clasped him in her armfl, pressed him. convulsively to her breast, and, seizing his two hnnds, kissed them. Overcome by the violence of her emotions, after such a long and terrible tension of the nervous system, she sank down exhausted, and found relief in a flood pf tears. The excitement of the court when the verdict was announced was quite unprecedented. The whole audience rose and cheered simultaneously, the ladies waving their handkerchiefs, the gentlemen their hats, and the barristers their wigs. It was a delirium of joy. The contagion spread through the multitude outside, and the shouts of triumph passed along the whole line to the Gresham Hotel, in Sackville Street. The crowd insisted on taking the horses from Mrs. Yelverton's carriage, and dragging it to the hotel, where she was obliged to appear on the balcony to gratify her admirers. She said: — 'My noble- hearted friends, you have by your verdict this day made me an Irishwoman. You will for ever live in my heart, as I do in yours this day.' Her being an Englishwoman had no effect in damping the ardour of the most bigoted Milesian or Ultramontist — lier having been a Sister of Charity and a convert to the Church of Rome, did not check the sympathy of the most intolerant Orangeman."

The lamentable part oi the case is, that the lady whom Major Yelverton married — and, no doubt, believed himself entitled to marry — in Scotland, is now declared no wife, and the offspring of that marriage consequently illegitimate. The case is not yet decided, as an appeal is to be taken by another tribunal.

Major Yelverton has since been suspended from military duty, and has, it is said, gone to America.