, 1860-12-11
THE BURCu DIVORCE CASE,
[esnnaAsd nom Third RQt.1
AFTERNOON SESSION.

The Court resumed It's session at two o'clock
1.u
~.
y. M4. VAa nAAAH contaoaeo o's argument a.
1slloTS:
GENTLEMEN OF TIE JUsYI had arrived.
in the very imperfect dtscusslon Thlch prc.
seated to Won this mornlnp. al fhe ncrini of
the date Of Mis-, Burch7s cs,nffssion Refor,.
proceeding to uat7ste The eyant1 eeeornnanv.
fnr and fo1loHfnr thnt cnnfessinn T. hacp,n..
necessau and pTo,n1 that shon,d nov ,,re'
xent to Won for momcnt +ha -rnsa' a.espnnt psS
pcrtaiuinc TO ti,at' oucstinn @1N - 111s"N
Let Us sec distinrtiv whaf .be ,,os,t,ona
which the rar4;es rcsnsct;ro11 e.e,ie,. sra ~,
rclereucc to those confessions The cnmn1ain.
mt here alleges tl1at th,t conffrsssnn Uas m,dc
by The deG;.ndnnt ths+ - L. ha1 onfase1on
The posftinn of the iefcnd,nt ;s that Il II l.,
substance and effect a fon1err for o1thanel,
ehc saYs tfat shc sifnca II she s.rs +1,nt a. IA
tmc when She sitsnsd il. Il mereIy cnntn;ncd n
s;mplc afijrnati6n ~ - ~ Ieas1;raanx na ~ H.,
younrer child ar rsther th,t Whsn irst ~ nm. m.
1tssion WA nr,vn and erhihitad ~ ~ - con-
tainsd that and containcd M 1nnre Thst il
what the dcfcndsnt affrms In ,,afcrencr tn that
first coofcssIon. Her statement ehont # ;s
this: that on The morning nf Mnndav Mr
Burch drew nm = statsm4nt IL .os,.r Sn2,, nj: af
fIrminp that hrr rnmnoasf rhi1a ~. ne that
he yns the father ~ ~ nd -hnw"5 - -, Rev
thcu nut il In his nocIet md she snT M mora
Of II uutil the fi,liowiny dny. when the second
confession was to be siyned: thst at the samr
time she sieued the second confession h. drew
fiis nnrcr t3nt Of 1is nncEef nnd rr,t11ont rcoJ.
Ing Or submitting It's contents to her 1s asked
her 10 sim II: Has s}1e did arm II snnnos{n,-
it contained nothing more than she aays II di,i
when he read 1t her. a mere afirmatiou Of tlu
legitimacy Of her youngest child, That il her
statement In reference to th1t confession,
Now, am not going at this moment to cali
your attention to tho eridencs which rcbuts
this statement and proves it to be false Twill
do that In seasop
But come now to tho main question, the
important and only question really in this case
Did Mr. Burch fnGricatc that conlession-tlat
first confession, and all the rest Of them
When we reason about the conduct Of Au-
man being, a moral agent, no argument ia
moro important than that which pertaine to
his motives. When you arc determining what
man did, whether he performed Particular
act, you have three questions to a.k your
selves. First, wouad be do I'll second, could
he do it? aud third, did he do itr The fist
question In order alunys is, and often-almost
alHays-does 1t appear the most important
question, Ehen reasoning about the conduct
OF men. Would be do it, had he the motive
to do It? Now SO important Is that question
that it struck the counsel who drafted this dc.
fensc. Tue leading counsel for the defense here
who Is the author Of this defense, and whom
shall never desire TO deprive Of the honor Of it,
felt forcibly utat it vas necessary, We having
proved these confessions to have been signed
by her, repeated Us they we're, he felt that it
was necessary for them to show that Nr.
Burch had The motive to induce lin to pcrpe-
trate this fraud, this-crue wrong and Injustice
upon his wife. They felt that the burden Of
proof was upon them, and that they must
show that he Ind the motive to do 1t. And,
accordingly, in her answer she Is made to eay
that they had lived rnhappiIy together: that
he had been cruel to her: had ETonred her:
md almost In the very. language Which Tie
gentleman has here racited to YOU, that 10
man could imagine the bitter and insupporta-
bic wronce which she received at his handd-
Il WAS statedia round terms thst tbis fami
" had lived unhappily tArether. fhnt
he had abused her from time IL fine Nn,y
fhat would aeem to furnfsh some motjvr. Ic4
M see what Followed II has already bccn
stated TO Won. and is well known to you. tl.at
ana aeceptcd the ipsue he said that ehnr19r was
false: ti,at frnm the timc Of fheir msrrIarr
down to tbe dav of their scrarntion M oi,n
sinpIe sturt,ar;cc in tfnf family ba} occ,rrr,,.
fhaf instead Of lars and dissonsIons. iii had
i,oen ncace and t;nTmonv.under that roof 1ie
Rad notI;nr ~ cnrn3s}n If oca;ns+ Ii vita
.nd H. ~ as,~n.s ,i,ofassnd r. H., 10 .:
a-J.,t attschmrTt =. ,raa 1,-,nd ~ "a. .'1e. ~
1s1t 1,,nsclf hnno-ed Nv ~. .onnectn,' ,,,;,, ~
hsr. he fsit tSat n her hs l,e@ trasanrs VIZ ~
nasd;na,1 .aa 49, 49, Ia a,sii e, ... a.
t1;s hs ss,laa II III ~ "se
ne edusn ts ~ ~ etass sn oeiose Luz mns
ts.,.a a,.S.. soH -,a..a. as.. - E.E:a
u1Moetet 49, pGtsou W. nsu M ~ opportuni.e
raI hnu ,,,n ~" 1ao Spy t maa I':a Htaea, "
aed upon W G1lae ,3 n1f"atu ane slale RhaA
answ; tu s .nTy .Ess n!u ~ comG pelo'o 1ne % MAJ
!tlsate ana gM1 grt, Icl uspontaaons. an Mnat -
LUG Gonauel ol.ae osacnuant a.ot oa !an t,1@ IN.
~. aau Ss 4tat ~ anas hIs'
IVY sos P.u.u.ns oeto9 3o1 luat tue ~
s ssS ua1 ~. a, g. ~ 10 ~ VIZ ~.
elu Tug Gouusci 20 as came !nI9 tnih
cou.1 nno Aoscu ~, " stl1Ae taAt 1esunon! y W!
from tns record. lhat was m Issue taey d!a
not Wlha 70 hest. a9o tne 1esumony WasslfucA
out on ~ motiun, ieaslnE tais lecola pare ol
one eyuaoie OF prop1 q'lecuy sao~lng IN VIVA! :,!
ma1nea anese Rast1ss H. naa Hveo 4 412sctner. ba'
1ask you TO take the pfoo1 lnnt M conc cnl
-1aen eaJ now this iantly had iaved Together.
4a %aGIoss "a tnat appsIs IT. ast mr. 1ut.n
We e.4 aesi1om m " ~. ~ " .1as @ "oma' S.sM'
He. MIa tequitc mo1e oI .eSs piuoa' aceoIa'
aug 10 " ~ noiGo VI aess pluuAu'c Anc aunnh'
OF pool lequ1ste 70 cstaunen any 1act VII !. "
lust In lne nseloe p1opofuon pt ~ Fsooa.nil,
M: A. pscomes moIG pIooAo1s, .ess p!oof
M1u be ro4nlfeo 70 es1ablssn T. y theee Jar,
Tics hAd ATeo unnappAy 1cgelhe1su NJ. huiel'
Ess man whose prc1io1a condnct haa beea'
such ns to 1nstaly you IN oeneF1ng mat nc wa.
gullty oi f9ca eslms &C was c11niiia' II
hea5t, a., hoce9, he us ocea cnatGea he.'
with being; II ne llYed unoapplly Win M
wife. If theFe was IN their relations ANYTHING
which Vould induce you to suppose that ~!
desired to get rid OF her; you could be salts
1cd, In short, with some measure OF proof tlias
he might have done SUCH thing. But TAX,
yorr own experience. speak now in gene
raj How often does It happen In your ohs:r.
vation and experiences that 3 nan aftsr hasi:;
lived twelve yC1Ik with woman, IN 7Eld