Neville secures his divorce after pleading for his first wife

Neville tells how his first wife was up before a judge for a small offence that carried six months in jail, how he pleaded with the judge to forgive her, how she then asked him for the divorce papers, and how he got his divorce in New York City while sleeping in the assumption that he was already married to his present wife. The page also reproduces Neville's account of pleading for Mildred after her arrest and then receiving the divorce papers. The source records the decree against Mildred and reproduces Neville's account of pleading for leniency after her arrest before she accepted the papers.
Date (happened)
25 July 1938
unresolved
  1. 25 July 1938 stated · preferred
    Source Goddards Wives Children Research Notesdivorce affidavit summary
    Why NYC Supreme Court; adultery; defendant served but did not appear.
    Reasoning The affidavit transcription gives the exact decree date, court, grounds and service status.
  2. between 1960 and 1971 stated · probable
    Source Consummation ¶17"When I told this story years ago concerning my first wife", told in Consummation (nid 1539)
  3. 25 July 1938 stated · probable
    Source Goddards Homes West Hollywood New Yorkdivorce table entry
    Why Grounds listed as adultery.
    Reasoning The page gives an exact divorce date but elsewhere labels the divorce 1939; the contradiction is retained by lowering confidence rather than rewriting prior claims.
  4. before 1966 bound · possible
    Source What Must We Do Believe ¶36qualifying source passages 546902; telling lecture nids 1853
    Reasoning Qualifying passage ids [546902] belong to telling lecture nids [1853]. Each listed lecture contributes the selected safe envelope year 1966 (MAX of its non-refuted delivery years); 1966 is the MIN across telling lectures.
  5. before 28 January 1966 bound
    Source What Must We Do Believetelling lecture nid 1853, certain delivery 1966-01-28
    Why Tightens the phase4 L6a envelope from before 1966 to before 1966-01-28.
    Reasoning L6a envelope tightened to the telling day of nid 1853 (certain delivery 1966-01-28); same premise, finer precision. The phase4 L6a bound on this event is `before 1966`, an envelope over delivery YEARS computed without reading text. Its premise is that the fact is true by the time it is told; on that same premise the DAY of the telling is a strictly better upper bound. Nothing is re-decided — the bound is stated to the precision the evidence always supported. The delivery claim for 1966-01-28 on nid 1853 is held at `certain` by the corpus, which is what carries this claim. #2274; the L6a row stands beside this one.
  6. 25 July 1938 estimated · probable
    Source What Must We Do Believe ¶36
    Why M7 dating pass (529; 525's readers, packet 012)
    Reasoning The story (passage 546902: assumed he was happily married, slept a week in the assumption) has the court scene where he pleaded for his estranged wife. The chronology dates the same story, 'Neville secures his divorce after pleading for his first wife' (17340), to 1938-07-25 in New York. 'The girl who bears my name' is read as the wife he married in 1942 (819), told in hindsight, so the 1940 meeting (810) does not conflict.
Place
New York City
Persons
Neville Goddard
Told / reported
  1. 28 April 1972 stated
    Source ConsummationConsummation (nid 1539), telling 1539-1, told 1972-04-28
  2. 28 January 1966 stated
    Source What Must We Do BelieveWhat Must We Do Believe (nid 1853), telling 1853-9, told 1966-01-28
Sources

Source

  • Consummation ¶17 (And she met me on the outside and said, “That’s a very decent thing of you to do, Neville; give me the papers for my divorce.” Well, I didn’t have any papers with me. So, I took her home to my place and I gave her the papers, a thing I’m told legally I’m…)
  • Goddards Homes West Hollywood New York (divorce record and Proof, The Law Works excerpt)
  • Goddards Wives Children Research Notes (divorce affidavit and Proof, The Law Works excerpt)
  • What Must We Do Believe ¶36 (So what I did, no one to be hurt, I simply assumed that I was happily and blissfully married to the girl who bears my name. I went to sleep for one solid week in that assumption, that there she slept and here I am, and I wouldn’t be this happy if it was …)
2 tellings, oldest first. A date in brackets shows how it is known; "circa", "after" and "possible" dates are rough.
Date Lecture or book Telling Passage
1966-01-28 [exact/certain/final] What Must We Do Believe So what I did, no one to be hurt, I simply assumed that I was happily and blissfully married to the girl who bears my name. I went to sleep for one solid week in that assumption, that there she slept and here I am, and I wouldn’t be this happy if it was at the expense of someone else. I couldn’t hurt someone else. So that’s all that I did. 546902
1972-04-28 [exact/certain/final] Consummation And she met me on the outside and said, “That’s a very decent thing of you to do, Neville; give me the papers for my divorce.” Well, I didn’t have any papers with me. So, I took her home to my place and I gave her the papers, a thing I’m told legally I’m not supposed to do. But I nevertheless gave them to her and I got my divorce in New York City. She only responded to my dear and deep need: I wanted a divorce. So, she was forced to do what she did based upon what I was doing within myself. I was sleeping in the assumption that I was blissfully happy and married to the girl to whom I am now… 542317