Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-06-07
THE BEECHER TRIAL-1HE STUNNING
FIFTH DAY OF Mr.. EvARTs.

Mr.. Evarts resumed his inquiry into the charac.
ter of the slip Of paper read to Beecher by Titon
on the night of Dec. 80, 1870. niton and Moul-
ton, he said, commended themselves with denying
Beecher's version of it. Why did they not say
what the real contents of it were 1t was vital to
their case to do So Had they sworn to q different
version it would have been willful and deliberate
perjury, and there was too much written and oral
evidence on the subject to warrant them in run
ming any risk.
There was no doubt that an interview took place
that night between the pastor and the wife alone,
at the suggestion Of the husband. The jury must
judge these people not on any particular standard,
but according to common-sense views of human
nature. Think of . husband, after three years Of
impure solicitation and fondling, and eighteen
months of dcbauchery, inviting the paramour to q
private conference with the guilty wife in her bed
room! 1t would have been as intolerable to the
paramour as it should have been to the husband.
If he had known that he was guilty, would he
have cared to meet the woman under the circum-
Stances for the purpose OF obtaining from her the
final proof of his guilt
Mr.. Evarts narrated the circumstances of Mr..
Beechers visit to Mrs Tilton, arguing that every
thing that took place there perfectly natural.
He considered it rather singular that Moulton
should think Mr.. Beecher needed his escort at 8
o'clock in the evening for few blocks in the
streets Of Brooklyn. The testimony Of the nurse
Mrs. Mitchell, speaks volumes as to what the
character OF that interview was; Mrs. Tilton was
pnt at ease by it. She had repaired wrong forced
from her BY a husband who needed to restore his
shattered fortunes. Beechers account of that in
terview is sustained by all that had passed before,
and all that happened afterward. His description
Of Mrs. Tilton's appearance shows that this visit
was not unprepared for. The paper Mrs Tilton
gave Mr. Beecher makes plain to the commonest
understanding what the gravamen of Mr.. Ttons
charge was. There is no need to compare texts
against those who destroyed the original paper.
Ilton has not denied bis wiies statement that the
orignal accusation was extorted from her by i'm
portunties extending to the point of force.
Mr. Evarts read three authorities to show that
the courts have held confessions extorted from
wives, even though sworn to, to be of no weight
Judge Nelson nodded assent. The institution Of
marriage, said Mr.. Evarts, is solid institution,
and carries with it the unbounded sub0rdinatiOn
OF the wife to the husband. Even in this advanced
age of ours, when independence for women is so
sought after, in our own Court Of Appeals and in
the highest tribunals of England, within the last
few years. there has been distinct recognition of
| this principle. Mr.. Evarts read case that oe-
CURED in ISL, in England in which a wife was
proved to have actively participated with her hus-
band in a robbery. The husband escaped arrest
The wife was tried and acquitted, on the ground
that she had done what she had done in the pres
ence and presumably under the power of her hus-
band. Parliament subsequently passed upon this
case, and refused TO alter the law. Now the jury
the wisdom of not permitting the wife to testify
against heAhusband. Mr.. Evarts supported the
English case by recent decision of the Court OF
Appeals of this State, that wife is not liable fol
damages in suit brought Jointly against her and
her husband for malicious prosecution in which
both took part.
Taking up the circumstances subsequent to the
last interview, Mr.. Evarts asked why shond
Moulton have forced himself upon Beecher on his
way home. 1t was because he was Tiltons re-
tainer to zee that Mr.. Beecher did not have The
benefit Of other than heather friendship that night
Titon the speaker then said, claims that on re
turning to his home that night, without any solici
tason on his part his wife put into his possession
recantation Of the retraction she had given MIR
Beecher. Here recess was taken.
AtZ 10 Mr.. Eysrts resumed his argument where
he had left il at recess. To show that Titor
aroused his wife from her sleep and forced her to
write the recsntation, he cited the testimony OF