The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1875-05-27
the eREAT SCANDAL.
Judge Porser,s Argument.

lnt 6ktAl SCANuAL.
Judge Porserss Argument.
NEW YORK., May 19.-Pursuant to adjourn
ment the TlltOn trial was resumed this
morning. Long before the opening the Brook
lyn City -ourt room was unusually crowded,
reminding one Of the early days Of the trial.
was greatly diminished, which is attributed to |
the fact that the evidence in the scandal was |
all in. Theodore Tilton entered few minutes |
before the hour, closely followed by Mr.;
Beecher and his wife. The defendant chatted
and laughed with those Of the Plymouth gath
ering in his immediate vicinity.
Before the jury was called, Judge Nelson
instructed the audience to keep perfect silence,
as any noise would interrupt the speaker. Ex-
| Judge Porter then began summing up for the
defense. He said: "Gentlemen, you have
been for FIVE months in the service OF Theodore
Tilton, under the mandates Of power which
you were bound to obey. Ny client has, since
the beginning Of the suit, dealt in scripture
principles When they have struck him on
one cheek he has turned to them the other. In
with the general air of untruthfulnesss
which permeated the case and counsel
thought that if they had then been called to
deliver their verdict, there could have been
little doubt what the verdict would have been
On the one hand they had Tilton and houlton,
Joe Richards, starting up dali.
ack, and Ben. Butler, the strategist. These
are the parties who are sponsors Of the accu-
sation. These are the champions of Christian
purity and morality, the originators, publish
ers and advisers in this matter
| We had, in favor of the defendant, the jury
of the vicinage, the wife, the children, and the
grand children who found shelter beneath his
roof, and the three thousand worshippers OF
Plymouth church. Even the clustering chill
dren loved his name and would be
will be no more. We have with us the al
most unanimous and enthusiastic support OF
his professional brethren and the sympathy Of
emil ghtened christendom. These trusted and
loved the defendant, while they abhorred and
loathed the names Of Theodore Tilton and
Frank Moulton.
In our whole system of Jurisprudence the
plea of innocence was safe, and our laws In
that respect were net failure. The speaker
quoted from Milton in regard to the might Of
truth and its prevailing power
, OF the obstacles to the accuser, one was the
!, defendants answer of his innocence on the
oath of an honest man. Another obstacle they
l met with presented itself in the unblemished
/. character and unsullied purity Of both him and
s the wife Yet another obstacle was the fact
that T Elton AND nd t t6eir vor ,GI
!, and acts ialsifed such accusation both in Wi
f ting and otherwise. Another obstacle was the
|, tact that Triton eohabited and slept with the
lady accused and remained for four years in
family relations with the alleged adulteress
e they both, Moulton and Tilton
S admitted they were here with the oath on thei
q lips of having open hostility against the de
. fendant. They encountered another obstacle II
= the fact that they lied to conceal it, as they
I said, and the question arises If they are nov
lying
S There was an old maxim of the real Law
. which provided that witnesses were to b.
: weighed in the balance, and here in one seal
;, they had Henry Ward Beecher and his life
and Tilton and Moulton, with the record Q
r their lives, in the other
e We are accustomed to believe in truth, no
e by the numbers of those who speak, but tn
. probability of stories told in regard to the mat
g ter. Who was the alleged culprit! A mai
three score years of age, self disciplined, wei
u poised not merely christian but vetera!
IT christian and minister man who from hi
h. youth up had dedicated himself to God an
!. religion who in his boyhood was raised by
II mother who was an angel Of mercy IT ever TO
ever sent one on earth. He was not trained U
E. in lessons of lust, but he received the tende
,e and gracious schooling of a Christian mother
20 from whose lessons he passed on to labor IN tn
!. fields OF God.
le When the defendant was going from on
ut log cabin to another preaching the word I
God. h lett no mark or trace Of the seducer b.
hind If he was true to his wife and virtue
these early days OF his ministry, should it
believed that he had fallen now?
e. The speaker dwelt at some length upon II
lie purity OF Mrs Tilton and her intellectual c;
81 pacities, and yet they would have you believ
8. a. is known to every man and woman AZ
is child in the country, that this s man e oou'
Cd " debauching the mother Of . family. tn
DIS such an amour could be carried {
tn through . year and half, no eye seeing AZ
it. no ear hearing, and the 6ra woman on earl
he to tell s,z, II is s., Mrs. ,h. T'''0n, .ho a
%. tell it to was Mr. Theodore Tilton. Hem
If Ward Beecher was the last man on earth tn
m could have been guilty.
I'M The speaker spoke Of the impo0blity
Beecherss taking mistress TO his own hous
to children Then turning towards Moulto
and Tilton, the speaker exclaimed: What .
MS such men for, unless for hunting down clerg
m men and TO cruelty women!
-. Letters which passed with no thought
'se her part, except in the confidence reposed
w. been thrown before the world in altogether
rer different light from that intended
~. Mr.. Porter's address was interrupted BY
- recess when the court room was cleared
- publication.
"a After recess and lunch Judge Port
1 continued his speech, introducing anoth
=. quotation from one Of Mrs. Tilton's i
III tiers, in which she breathed forth the f
-, vor Of her admiration Of her husban
- The woman whom he asked to be ston
rs an adulteress, knclt to him 8 to G.
and loved him IS she loved her Redeem
This woman. standing at the grave OF
NJ. boy, they would have yeu believe sto
-s%h;c nina vnnrtha n the crave of
the WITHIN nine "U1'l 49,. u .1
~ alluded to the frequency Of the intervie
80 between Mr.. Beecher and Mr.. Tilt.
~ Now no one would doubt for . ncm'
that Mrs. Matte Bradshaw was . 20
,1ss and pure woman, and Mrs Iltcn, in
80 letter to her husband, said she w.s je
~ Gus Of the attentions shown to her BY
10 Beecher.
nth Counsel quoted further from some
rcd <.rr frnm Ma TSlfnn illugtfative Of