The Portland daily press., 1871-02-11
THE MILLER DIVORCE SUIT.
EIGHTH DAY-FRIDAY FORENOON.


| ly recovered from previous trial from which
had just emerged that the labor upon me was
exceedingly severe. I was Obliged, as you
know, being alone, to examine my witnesses
during the evening and part of the night
| when should have taken my sleep; and in the
daytime had the conduct OF the cause with
the assistance of my learned friend Judge Da-
Wis, who sat by to advise me relative to certain
questions of law, and when l came to address
| you yesterday the condition of the Court room
was such and my physical exhaustion was
such that did whatI never did before in nv
life to my recollection and that was to faint.
Ihis morning, labor under this disadvant-
age, that while do not feel the same faintness
that did yesterday 1 still feel exceedingly
weak physically and may not be able there
lore to present to you as fully as 1 otherwise
sEould the testimony in this case But. gem
oemen' non tbt peg e OF you, implore you each one
part In this respect, if should fail to cali YOUR
attention to any fact or circumstance beating
upon tnis case, and if fail to allude even to
tne very disIngenuous but able and eloquent
argument and mlsstatcments as am bound to
say OF my learned brother in MANY instances
that you will for yourselves recolIect all this
testimony and see that this woman who sits
mere suffers no hahn because of the physical
lncapacity of her counsel.
The case is to be tried upon the testimony
and know when that testimony closed and
before any argument of counsel was made that
with your knowledge of human affairs, with
your experience in the world and matters of
society that you could have but little doubt as
| to the verdict you are to give. Well, now it
is not the argument of counsel that is to con-
| troll in this cause; not appeals to prejudice or
| sympathy but YOU are to be governed by the
| law as it shall be given you by the Court and
| the testimony of the Witnesses on the stand
| No other consideration should sway you, sit
| ting here, in a cause of this magnitude where
| not only the parties themselves but the public
have such interests at issue. 1t would be un-
hQon mo nd II uorp nuI y,aff for
ment deviate from any rule of conduct which
| is plainly set out in the oaths you have taken
to decide the cause according to the law and
the testimony in the csse What are the issues
presented? My learned brother contends that
| we are to prove every allegation in the libel
/ and that we are to prove it to the satisfaction
| of every one of you and he made this most re-
markabe statement and appeal in the begin
| ming of his argument in which he virtually
conceded that the respondent could not gain
verdict in this cause and that all he hoped for
was disagreement ON the part of this Jury
Far be it from me gentlemen of the jury, to
counsel andsot you to give up your views as to
right in this matter. 1 do expect that YOU will
consult together and calmly investigate this
whole matter, that when you have come to the
conclusion Gas Eto what is right no personal
prejudice, no recollection Of any former trans
action, nothing outside of the cause or testi-
mOpy is to influence your verdict for one single
moment AS reasonable men instead of sit
ting here for the purpose of disagreement as
my learned brother wishes you to do you are
sitting here for an agreement which shall be
just and proper not only to this complainant
whose cause is upon trial but to all parties
connected with it and to the public who it is
true, have some interest in this matter.
My brother contends that we are to make
out all the charges in this libel in order to OBJ
tain divorce. L do not SO understand the law.
l understand that IN causes of this kind we
have right to set out various causes of di-
vorce and then if we can prove enough of
them, any one of them, that is sufficient cause
for divorce. And if you believe there is suffi-
cent cause of divorce between these parties
you are bound to give such verdict as will en-
able that divorce to be decreed.
1t is impossible for an attorney to know in
advance every possible allegation or miscon-
was for this reason among others in the ther
state of my knowledge that I struck out the
allegation of adultery because did not wish
to charge the respondent upon the record with
any crime which could not prove him guilty
OF. Having no malice or revenge to crafty,
didn't wish to hold him up to the public as |
malefactor, or desire any single charge made
against him that it was not in my power to
prove, and when I found the testimony on |
which had been relying for the proof of adul- |
terry in that particular case did not come up |
to my expectations, 1 with a magnanimty |
which his counsel have not shown in this case /
struck that from the record in order that no |
charge should be spread before this public, |
which was not proven or which l could not |
prove. But, gentlemen, did not then know,
it was not until this case was in progress that
L knew, from the testimony of two independ- |
ent, respectable citizens of this town, that this
man who comes in here through his counsel |
and makes the charge of adultery against this /
woman, was himself guilty of this crime; and /
that could have proven it, had left the alle
cation in my writ But the testimony Is preg- |
1adnt when l come to show you the character of |
the man who alone, alone except when sur
rounded by members of his own family insti- /
gated by the same spirit of hatred and cupidity,
the testimony is important, as showing the /
character Of the man who makes these Seri- |
GUS charges, not only against this woman but |
against the respectable members of the society /
in which they have hitherto moved and against |
a man who, my brother himself says, has occu- |
pied high official position on the bench in |
United States court |
Now, gentlemen. will you go back with me
and consider the charges we make against the |
respondent. I do not propose to appeal to
your passions or your prejudices. ask you to
consider the testimony and whether the alleaa-
tions against him have not been substantially
proven. What are they? Two-1st, habitual
drunkenness; and second, cruelty and abuse OF
his wife. We say that habi.ual drunkenness
has been of that length of time, and the abuse
it conducive to domestic harmony that we
should have divorce granted in this case.-
Either one Of these grounds if it is proven here
would be sufficient. / contend we have proven
OI
the subject of cruelty introduced testimony
enough for halt dozen divorce cases instead
of one. piled up that testimony mountains
high, till 1 felt that it was an unnecessary Ia
Dor on my part, and yet l knew unless 1 did
cumulate this testimony beyond what was
necessary, my learned and acute brother, with
that wonderful art have seldom seen equalled
in this courtroom, would argue to you that
this was not proven. To show the disingen-
BUSINESS of counsel, take for instance the ques-
| tion of cruelty, upon which we have offered
testimony and which testimony, if true, is suf-
| fcent to send him to States prison. Why, he
says, you have not proven it because you did
not put Mrs. Miller on the stand in the first in
stance and give us the power to explain
Didn't we put her upon the stand? Wasn't
| she open to his crOsS-eXamination? If there
| had been any just cause for the atominable and
| outrageous treatment which that man has, for
| a course of years, perpetrated against that weak
| and innocent woman, could he not have asked
her what that cause was? Is it trne that de-
barred her from testifying in this matter?
| Could he not have asked her what the cause of
| that scene was when her little children sat in
her lap and begged him to desist from his cruel
| ty to her? He could have asked her the cause
| of the choking on the Sd of September; when
| he tore her dress and left her crying on the
| stairs. He could have asked her why it was
| in the dead hours of night the neighbors have
heard him during his abuse of this woman,
| and she beseecbing him to desist. ask you
| what sort of fairness and ingenuousress of
| treatment is it for counsel to discuss cause
| like this in this way and say my clients mouth
| was shut; that he could not show the cause of
| this inhuman and cruel treatment, and init
| mates to you, i1atin,dteS, that there was such
cause. Whenever trenched upon that gronnd
| and put any question to Mrs Miller which
| seemed to look toward the examination of this
| question and asked her in relation to this cru
| city which she had received, he objected: he
| said object object; it is not in the line of
| your examination; and then has the audacity
| to argue before the jury that we have shut his
mouth from putting in an explanation which
| he might have given. l speak OF this, gentle
| men, to show you the character of the argu-
ment which was addressed to you in defence of
this respondent yesterday. And then another
by way OF illustration, with tears in his eyes;
| with hypocrtical tears that you aid this man
| in the cause that he has undertaken. He would
have you believe he had suddenly reformed
when his own sister testified that not more than
three weeks ago she saw him intoxicated; that
he has been intoxicated recently three days at
| time. His reformation is reformation for
this trial, to enable him to 60 upon the stand,
and with that cunning ingenuity to follow up
the cruel assault which he has made upon the
fair name and reputation of her whom he had
| promi ,ed to honor, protect and defend. | saw
we have fully proven the allegations in our
writ that for four years last past, and the allie
cation of time is immaterial, that for four years
| last past this respondent and husband of this
woman has been common and hahltnai drunk
ard. NY learned brother has seen Mt to spend
| great deal of time and given learned citations
| in order to determine what common and hab-
itual drankard u.s. Iknow that in California
and he had to go great ways f9r his lawn
that land where one half of the inhabitants do
| their business in the morning and are drunk
l at night. know that the court there in con-