New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-07-01
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1857

brehrea he had but to show that no prac
teal harm had Come OF his carclessness. Mr.. Marvin
was very impressibe witoess, a talkatv' man. ani
sipguaily fogetul one. Counsel referred to his tes-
umony as given before the Coroner and then before
the Surrogate, contrasting his statements. He then
spoke OF bis declarations at the time of the inquest to
those with whom he converted, aud the descrip.
tiou be gave Of the man he married.
lie described the man whom he married in all re.
spee,s so inconsistent with the known pecu'isrtes OF
Dr. Burdell that those he addressed turned away say
ipr il could not be DIR. Burde. The idea that it was
not Dr. Burdel whom Mr. Marvin had married to Mrs.
Cupnipe cham originated in the mind Of Mr.. Marvin
himself and il was not until after that testimony that
,uspicion faetened upon Eckel No idea Of the kind,
tbeefore could have been impaired 10 Mr. Marvin BY
the ~ ope surrounding him; But, the contrary, Il
was his testimony which first originated thei idea among
the public. Counsel reverted to the evidence OF
witnesses who were examined as to the declarations of
Mr.. Marvin and his failure to recognize the body the
second time as well the first OCCASION he saw il.
The explanation of DIR. Uhl that the body grew more
natural few days after death, awaited Mr.. Marvin
nothing, but rather tho contrary. On Thursday after
the murder, Mr.. Marvin saw Eckel, aud on Friday
was examined. The question again put to him by
the Coroner to the identity of DR.. Burde with the
man he married. and he then said that the body OF
the Doctor looked more like the he married than
did Mr. Eckel. This was all he would cOncede to the
winning manner Of the Coroner. Subsequently, in
exclamation he said he considered il question as TO
the relative points Of resemblance treating the mat
ter as though if it not Eckel he married. ii must
have been Burde. Now, if, as be afterward stated,
he was convinced at the time that it was DR.. Burdell
he married. why did he not state it at the inquest
But he did not feel so convinced then. That convc-
ton was brought about by another process There
was no reality, counsel commended, in the
pretext that Mrs. Cunningham had gone to Goshen to
get the Rev. Mr. Snodgrass to perform the marriage
ceremony. There no evidence of this beyond bel.
own statement And yet this of the consider
atoms which brought the Rev. Mr.. Marvin to the
conclusion that it was Or. Burdel whom he married.
This was sort of moral reasoning which could not be
admitted az evidence. Another thing he stated as
reason for coming TO this conclusion, was, that
soon aerward he went to the Rev. Dr. Snodgrass;
that considerable number of men who knew DR..
Burde described his features and appearance, and
that when they did so he always replied You have
" described the man married" Now, looking at
the process of the human mind It was easy to see
that it at this time, and by such MEANS that Mr.
Marvin came to the conclusion that it was
Dr. Burdell whom he married. As late as the 10th OF
February, he had declared, after seeing the body
second time, that he saw nothing new to lead him to
think it was DIR. Burdel he had married, but that he
had derived the change in his convictions from other
sources. This was his statement to Alderman Noor-
HES; and this acknowledgment OF the process by
which the conclusion had been wrought out in his
mind, counsel argued should prevent that conclusion
from becoming competent testimony and deprive II OF
any weight. The Rev. Mr.. Marvin was undoubtedly
a competent witness to the pecuaretis exhibltedby
the man be married. He might not be the most salts
factory witness those but he was the only One aud
therefore they should take him for what he was worth
Now there were two modes Of identification: the one,
Identification Of image presented to the mind, with
one existing in the memory. This was instantaneous
ard depended not upon any process OF reasoning
The resemblance struck the mind at once Such
form of Identification certainly never existed IN the
mind of Mr. Marvin with regard to DIR. Burde. Ills
conclusions did not arise until his means of recognition
had long ceased-untl the body had been buried. AS
TO the description Mr. Marvin gave OF the man he
married, what was it. Passing over the generaitle'
of size and voice, come 10 position and carriage
TO Dr. Burdels erectness or STOPPING The impression
ON Mr. Maryins mind was that the man he married
stooped and in that respect seemed man vi o0 or %
wears of age. Now, several witnesses who knew DR..
BurdeD testified that he was an erect mana straight
man. IL was true DR.. Roberts said that at hrst
YOU might suppose he stopped little. But this was
very qualified and implied that he really not So
Again az to his motions: Mr. Marvin stated that the
man he married was slow in his motions; whle
dozen witnesses testified that DIR. Burde was quick
in his motions. DIR. Uh, who was brought forward to
explain every difficulty in the case of the claimant
stated that the Doctor had two manners mat was
all that could be said in reply to their evidence But
more important still was the testimony relative 10 the
Doctors whiskers. The Rev. Mr. Marvin had par
ticuary noticed the whiskers of the man he married.
and he d ssp . nned as to the color Of
DR. Burdells whi-kes, testified that they were of
mixed color-brown mixed with gray, and that they
of this alleged marriage. Even their own
witness, Dr. Roberts, stated that at the time
of his DEATH his whiskers black that be
would scarcely have known him. In this connection,
It should be remembered that Of the persons who
described Burdell to the Rev. Mr.. Marvin, told him
his whiskers were black. Then as to the size Of his
whiskers counsel called attention to the daguerreo
types of Dr. Burdell, where the whskers were shown
TO be very thin and short the side of the face and
on the chin so short scarcely to change the of
the face. The Rev. Mr.. Marvin described the whs
kers of the man ne married as large and thick, and
such as he imagined to be false-that they were as
h,nh cd nlU
good sized standard. He said they were long rhis-
kers longer than usually in the street. Mr.. Da-
Wis testified that in the Summer the Doctor had no
whskers the side of his face or on the upper lip and
he was corobOYated BIZ other witnesses, as TO their
condition in the Summer and FALL that at the time of
his death his whiskers were unusually heavy. TO
meet this mass OF testimony the other eide produced
Mr. Beekman, to say that when he last saw Dr. Bur
dell his whiskers were long. This was shortly before
his death. Mr. Douglass, also. who said that when
facing the Doctor you would think he had heavy
whiskers, but taking side view his whlskers were
thin on his face. Indeed, the testimony of their wit
nesses in this respect, scarcely modified that OF theirs
and it all went to show that nothing could be more
dissmilar than the personal appearance OF Dr. Bur
dell as described by those who knew him, and the
description given by the Rev. Mr.. Marvin Of the man
he married Could it be DIR. Harvey Burdell in
false whiskersl Mr. Maryin's testimony negatived
that; for he stated that on second examination he
was satisfied the whiskers of the man be married
were not false. Throwing then, oV Of the case all
bearsay, and what was the result arrived at why,
that the man married by Mr.. Marvin not Dr. Har-
vey Burdel. SO marked was the difference between
them that Mr. Maryin's first descriptions the In
stinctive reply Of every one who knew the Doctor
was, that he could not be the Though coming
forward as witness for the claimant, God had over.
ruled Mr. Marvns testimony and put it on the side OF
truth-a clear reutation of the idea that DIR. Burde
was the man he married to Mrs. Cunningham. From
the Rev. Mr. Marvin, counsel passed to considera-
ton Of the testimony of the servant girl who, though
going to Bond street with her mind preoccuped with
the idea that she was going to see the man that was
nee: ned, was yet unable to identity the bocy.
Thcnext witness whose testimony was to be cOnsd-