Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-28
EVARTS' OPENING.
His Line of Defence Fore
Swallowed.
TiItOn's Attack is Not Against
Beecher but Against
Public Morals.

Public Morals.
The Institution OF Marriage I'm Dan
ger-A Funny French CartOOn-Safe-
Deposit Companies Wanted for the
Security OF Wives.
NEW YORK, May 27.-The Brooklyn
CITY Court room was more densely packed
than usual this morning, and the number
of ladies in attendance was very large.
Beecher and his wife were early in their
seats, while the plaintiff came in a few
minutes before the opening of the court.
Judge Nelson instructed the audience to
keep perfectly quiet, in order that not only
they should hear the counsel but that the
jury also should hear him. EVarts then
rose and began his address. He said that
whatever diVersitieS the trial might present
the sOlicitude Of an advocate knew no end.
There vas everything in this cause that
should make every one think what he
would desire and what he wishes himself.
One would wish some of these fabulous
| powers. One would wish for one hundred
eyes to pry into every fold and creVice of
this testimony and draw forth every fact.
One would wish for one hundred hands to
hold up the whole mass of it
and then that he might divide it so
that at some fingers end there might be
such passage which would throw light up
ON il. One would wish that he had that
| power Of reason that could grasp the mass
| of evidence, separate the ore and purge it
| Of all droSs and lose. not one pennyweight
| of all the gold of truth in it. Then he
/ would wish for that greatest power Of elO-
| quence that would leap from mouth to ear.
Ii has been true in this case that the de-
/ PENDANT and the lady had not received that
| charity which the Scriptures taught. Eu-
/ rope had been trying America and New
| York had been trying Brooklyn. Presby-
| terians had been trying COngregatiOnalists |
/ and the latter had been trying Plymouth !
| Church. When they came to consider the |
defendant, at once there was an expression |
Of public opinion as TO what was right to be |
done by such a man. The result would be |
that unless he could prove himself as clear |
as as.the day Of judgment he would be |
able, doubt Of his guilt would remain al |
ways the same.
The jury would find as they went on |
with the cause that in every page Of the |
business the attack was not against Beech |
er, but on
Public Morality.
The crime imputed was seduction, Sc |
dUCtiOn of a married woman during a pc /
Rod when she bore children to her hus- |
band. Counsel knew when he heard all |
of plaintiffs testimony On the stand, that /
the devil Of lies had played him (Tiltou) /
the same trick that he played all Of his /
deyotees. The intellectual traits that had /
framed this charge were to be despised. /
The whole decalOgue was rent asUnder by |
a woman who was lovely, who was a leader
Of L.,
that when man began with self-WOTship,
what he came to.
The IneredibiIIfy
of so fragrant and heinous an impulatiOn i
upon two excellent persons was sought to
be modified by plaintiff by certain quail
licati0ns. He would commend the charge
70 human credibility by making it out that
good persons could commit evil. The first
step was taken to this end, but calling evil
good and good evil was the last stage of
the dissOlute and the wicked. Good men
might do wicked things and bad men might
do good things, but woe to him who draws
from this the influence so insulting to the
Deity that between good and evil there was
no distinction. They said that this lady
never did anything which she believed TO be
wrong; that she was always pure-minded;
frame, and that she never discovered she had
violated her marriage vow until she read a
novel In which there was mol adultery but
the ENHANCEMENT Of 4 wOman's affection for
priest, which inteTfered with her whole de-
vOtiOn to her husband.
Mr.. BeecheT, according TO the pTOseCU- !
ton, said that he sinned not through lust,
but through love, elevating, purifying, I'M
selfish love. If he had any aduiterOus in
tercourse with Mrs. TiltOn It was merely
circumStantial, strengthening his mind for
the conversion Of sinners and lifting him
toward God. According TO TItOns testi-
mOnyit was ,BeeChers great moral qualities.
These were what made him greater than
Sumner, and Greeley, and TilJon. These
were what induced him 10 engage in what
he termed sOciamental adultery, intro
duced and terminated by prayer.
Mr.. Eyarts asked the jury to look at the
folly Of this attempt to make the charge
creditable by making adultery seem i'm
maculate. Adultery was a thing which
touched the institution Of marriage, and
children, and children's children were III
terested that the proof in regard to 1t
should be plain and convincing. Il was
Divine law that when the fathers had
eaten sour grapes the children's teeth
should be set on edge. Now what sort Of
adultery was this which took place be-
tween the purest and best who remained
pure and good after it had taken place?
Who could prevent this sort Of miraculous !
adultery from getting into families and
who could wazi Of the charge of its COM
mission. In regard TO this sort OF miracle
he was
Reminded of a Cartoon
published in Punch, representinga Sunday
school boy by his teacher. The boy did
not know what a miracle was, and the
master asked him what he would say if he
saw the sun shining in the night The boy
replied that he should say that it was the
moon. "But," said the master, 'if a man
should tell you it was the SUM-" "Please,
sir, ] should say he lied" Laughter
"But if l should tell you it was the sJu--I,
who neyeIi lie?' "Please, sir, l should
think you were drunk" Laughter So
in this case; the jury were asked to believe
that the chaste moon. shining in the pure
heaven Of the religious world, was the
blazing sun of adultery. They would
at once declare that it was the
moon, but here Theodore TiltOn comes
along and says: 81, sir Marmaduke, de-
clare it is the sun of adultery, what would
the jury say to her? lie believed they
would say he lied. (Laughter.) But
Frank MOultOn comes next, he who never
told lie, and said son the homer of Sir
Phillip Sidney, declare it is the sun of
adultery" what could the jury say to him
but that he was drunk? (Laughter.)
Punch ended Lere, but there was a third
witness in this case, Mrs. MOultOn, the
wife Of Sir Phillip Sidney, the sisterly |
friend Of her pastor and Of Mrs. TiltOn.
The two declared that this was the blazing
sun adultery. In this case with all the
politeness which the boy could command,