, 1860-12-14

there procure divorce on some ground othel
than adultery; because even there a diyorcs
upon the ground Of adultery would b. just O.
fatal to her as II obtained here. Mr.: Burct
came to me very anxious TO do it, lift Wers
possible. l said to him: Yes, yon can do It
there are only two difficulties in the way. II
the first place yuu must swear to lie. and II
the next place, you must get half dozer
: men to do the bame thing. These difficulties
J; surnoupted, you eanget u divorce. You musi
!! sNear, in aEy STATE where you npply for q dI
j. yorce, that you are resident Of thnt St=te.and
! hive been for year, or some other Tine six
/ months, tllink, is the least required In nnJ
! State. In the next place, you must swear to
some other cause for divorce except adultery.
You know there is no other callse- You must
! swear TINT your II fe has been cruel towards
you, or that she has desc1tedyou, OF tat there
! Ia incompatibl1ity Of temper between you.
! You know she las never deserted you; you
/ know that she never has been cruel TO you
and you know TINT there Is no incompatible,
! ty Of temper. Now, If you can commit these
! two pcrjuries, and If you can get other persons
to do the same, you can get divorce" Mr.,
| Durch, they say, is most wilful and obstinate.
ruan. Mr.. turch did tell me In the most 1sillEl
such thing, and he stuck to 1t. He told me-
TINT II he could obtain divorce upon the truth,
as 1t ssps, he would have It. Now the only
truth there WEE in the case was the very truth
which VIC have been proving here. He said
TINT II he could obtain it only by peHur7,
either Of himself or Of others, be would not
lave it at all This is, doubt not, a most
censurab1e instance Of wfltu1Rcss and stn!,-
boruness on the part OF Nj. Burch, for which
he has received, ever since. the denunciatiop
oftlc counsel who proposed it. How well lie
deserved that denunclalion, l have no hcsi-
fancy in submitting 1t to you. Now, from the
history Of this cnse, was it possible to obtain a
Il r}h 1-rnn ri fnr1.
There were other propositions made for the
purpose of getting over this suit on this very
ground, without publicity. And alter Mr..
Burch found upon Investigation that he had no
other ground for suit, without perjury. The
counsel upon the other side know who is re.
20 into1lcse matters. I will 60 NO further
Than to follow the counsel In his statement.
What state here to you in reference to this
matter will be published. l will stand BY it,
and stake my vcracity that that was the propo-
sition, and that that was ous answer to 1t.
Mn BEcKw1Tn-My proposition was that
that they could not live happily together.
Mr. VAN AHMAS-Conld nor live happily to-
gcther!" There il no such Law in any State Of
tho Union. lncompatibil'ty Of temper, quar-
rcling, that was the ground They never did
quarrel from the day they were tlrst married.
counsel well knew 1t, and the proposition was
most infamous attempt to induce Afr. Burch
TO commit perjury, and to get others to do the
same Mr. Burch was not prepared to do that.
You arc mca Of intelligence You know
whether divorce can be obtained in any State
Of the Union without any ground for IT, Men
aud swearing 10 a residence there. Now what
does residence means 1t means that they 90
there and iutcnd to remain there; not TINT
man has gone into u State for one month, or
two months, or Elk months, for certain pur.
pose, and as soon as that purpose is accom-
mean to stand before you and say that Mr.
Burch should have done thats
Mr.. DEcKw1Tn-3frs. Burch offered to 70 to
lndiann and live there, and make her residence
there, in order to comply with the statute.
Mn. VAN ARMAS-llow would that comply
with the statute! The party asking for Inc
divorce must have residence there Mr..
Burch must swcar that lie has a residence
there in order to get divorce. There is no
lodging II. The counsel can not ret around
it. A more Infamous attempt to induce man
to commit perjury in order to save family
pride nevcr was made. Now it may he greatly
against Mr.. Burch that he did not d. it. But
he must swear wherever he went, and you
knew it, Mr.. Heckwith, when you made the
proposition, that he was resident Of the State
In which he made the application II is nil lille
TO talk OF swearing TO his residence in any 9th
er State than this. His residence In State
means that he intends to remain and livcln the
State. man who goes into the State Of
Michigan, lndiana, or Iowa, and swcars that lie
is q resident Of that State, when he intends IL
learc 1t when he has accomplished some Fpe-
cial purpose, haecummi;tcd pcr,urr. And be-
cause Mt. DuEch would not he driven to this
Infamous conduct, he has been persecute.'.
Now, If the counsel upon the other side de-
sire to make any correction Of my statements
n r. n NIL &c fhnv fnya
reply, they nrc welcome to do SO. If say
ANYTHING that is untruc they can correct me-
Mn. BECKwiTu-The proposition was that
Mrs. Burch should go into 1ndlana and take rp
q residence there. and yet divorce. We then
believed she could get it according to the stat
utes of Indiana
MIR. VAN AnMAs-Indccd! indeed! How
could shc get divorce without perjury: Had
she nuy grounds upon which she could ubtafn
divorce without perjury?
MR- BEcKw1TH-Ycs sir; upon the ground
that have already mentioned.
Mr.. Vas ARxAs-Upon the ground he has
already mentioned! She has committed adul.
tcEy, md therefore she could ret divorce!
In order that she could get divorce she must
swear asainst her husband that he had abused
her; that there was :ncompatibility Of temper
between them, and that she could not live
with him. Mr.. Bnrcll was asked 10 consent
10 that. Now ask you TO draw the dist:nc-
conscnting that your wife shall do IT. beg
any of you who are nice casuiEts, who may be
perfect masters Of sophfAtry, to sum up the
difference between perjury and sn6or7,dfion Of
p<rj'sry-between telling . lie under oath your
self, and inducing some other person to do SO.
The gentleman cannot get out Of the situation
in which he has ploced himself.
MR. BECKwITH-lha have no desire That YOU
shall improperly misrerresent inc. ] stated
distinctly, at the time, that the divorce would
le granted upon the ground that they did not
liTc happily together,
no ground for divorce in Indiana or any other
State, OF that sort-nonc but the fact Of inrom-
patibltity OF temper. Tie fact that they call-
not live happily together Is not in the statute,
and the gentleman knows It. II he disputes
it, will read him the statute 1t must he
Quarrcled. Now thut was lie; they never
had quarrcled; and the gentleman knew 1t,
aud l knew it, And llr. Bnrch would not
consent to any such proposition. Now, if you
think he ought to have done it, then you will
a,ree with Mr. Beckwith upon the subject.
Something WINS said about deed Of his
property that Mr.. Bnrch gave to Mr.. Farnuua.
Now would like to know what that has to do
with the question here Of the guilt or Inno-
ccpce Of this defendant! Whether Mr. Burcll
made deed Of his property or not, what has
tlat to do with II. 1t may nc wrong; 1t may
prove him TO be more tender Of his pecuniarv
interests than lie ought to be. But does it
have the slightest tendency to prove whether
this defendant is guilty or innocents But be-
fore you condemn Mr.. Burch in this respect,
even though it has nothing to do In the ease,
beg youF attention to his situation Just then.
He vas banker. The use of his property
was requisite to his banking business, He
was subject to the cxi5cncIes that overtalc
all men in that business, and might for imme-
dintc and indispensable purposes wish to make
use OF any real estate hs possessed Was It
singular that be shonld desire to have It under
his own control They. have no right to com
plain. It was no wrong to her. 1t was his
| property, that he had earned with bis own
| hands. All that was hers he sent home Aud
a1n not at liberty to tell you what PROPOSE
! tions have been made 10 support this woman.
Mr. Burch Is anxious and willing to maintain
her In any style she desires. It Is not money
! that divides them, and We cannot 1ft1gAte that
question in this suit And the gentleman IL
most unjust to bring anything Of his SOFT
here, for the very reason that be knows that
an mt at liberty 10 bring in proof TO answer
| It. He knows that it could not be done; that
| such proof would be iuadmissible That mat
| ter you must dismiss entirely from your con-
| sideration, because 1t cannot be litlsnted here
We cannot prove what otfers A{r. Burch has
made 10 support this woman. We cannot
! prove that be has always stood ready to give
any reasonable amount Of money for her sup
| Tor it would not be admitted. And you must
see how unjust II is for the other side to bring
any such considerations into this case.
will proceed now to close 1ny argument.
! Mrs. Burch, on Wednesday, the 18th OF
! January, left her husbands house Tor Albany,
for the home Of her uncle, Mr. Corning, under
the escort Of clerk, married man. She