New-York tribune., 1875-03-06
THE BEECHER-TILTON TRIAL.


ONE OF HIS FRIENDS VOLUNTEERS HIS COPY
AND SENDS 1T TO Mr.. BEEcHER-nE Is TO
HrcoNE A WITNESS IN BEHALF OF THE DE-
PENDANT.
When the magnitude of the issue is considered,
there have been comparatively few surprises in the
TiIton- -Deecher trial Mr. Moulton and Mr.. Tilton
cepeatod on the witness-stand the accounts which
they had previously given in their statements.
The appearance of the wet-nurse, Ann Carey in
the witness-chair, and the remarkable testimony
of Mrs. Francis ID. Moulton, were the
only features of the evidence for the plaintiff which
were SO unexpected as to starte the opposing coun-
sci and to throw the courtroom auditors into a
fever of excitement To the defense however be-
longs the credit of the first genuine " sensation"
of the trial-tbe introduction of the so
called True Story" during the cross-exam-
ination of Mr.. Tilton on February IL.
Mr.. Tilton had produced in court, in answer to the
summons of his opponents. the last few pages OF
the "True Story :" but to the astonshmcnt OF bis
counsel Mr.. Evarts instead of questioning him IN
relation TO them, set them aside and read
20 him sentence by sentence copy OF
the main portion Of the same document. re-
curing him to identify it, fragment by fragment,
AZ The rehearsal proceeded The counsel for Mr..
Tilton were very anxious to have the document
placed in their hands but Mr. Evarts offered no ex-
plantations and introduced it In his own way
From that day to this he and his asso-
ciates have kept their own counsel, and
a1hr fnr
the defense only dropped slight hint in regard to
tho manner in which the copy of this important
document was secured Much curiosity has been
manifested by the public and by Mr.. I1ltons coun-
sci and the question has been asked again and
again. "How did a copy of the True Story get
into the hands of Mr.. Beecher's 1awyersY" The
first surmise was that Mrs. Tilton had made
a COPY of the document surreptitiously months be-
fore she left her husbands house; but on this
theory il was difficult to explain the sudden break
in the Ms from which Mr.. Evarts read to the wit
ness and the jury. 1t was also conJectured tnat
Mrs. Tton had taken away the original MS when
she left her residence, and that i'll the haste OF
her dcparure a few of the sheets had been
mi,laid and been subsequently found by Mr.. lllton
The friends of Mrs. TltOn in Plymouth Chnrcb,
however, have been unwilling to accept these
explanations and the curiosity of the public has
been plQucu DN lnc VI thc V'uhSoi '" o"O
mystery with which the recovery of this important
document was enshrOuded.
The general fact that some person to whom Mr.
Tilton had shown the True Story" and not Mrs.
Tlton had furnished q copy of the document to the
counsel for Mr. Beecher was first made known pos
ihvely through the medium of Mr.. Iracy's opening
address to the jury. in behalf of the deterse. IN
which the speaker SAID that though xfr.
Tton thought that it had bees
DESTROYED and would not confront him now, he hal
shown il to too many men. some of whom had been
shrewd and cautious enough to preserve a copy. MT
Tracy did not name the man who furnished the copy
to the defense but the fact has been estab-
Ished that the defense are indebted for
the copy to James Redpatb Of Boston, long an active
partisan of Mr. Tlton but who since the latter went
on the stand has become apparently convinced that
Mr TiltOn is wrong and WHO is unquestionaDly IN
communication with Mr.. Beecher aud Will be an I'M
portant witness for the defendant.
It WAS drawn from Mr. Titon by Mr.. Evarts that
he began to prepare the draft of the True Story
On Dec. %. 1872 The sheets OF the draft were
destroyed as they were copied, being thrown into
the waste-basket page by page. The copy was
finished Mr.. Titon testified, about Christmas Day.
This story was shown to VIM. c. Dewitt, George A.
Bell. Mr. Duncklee the Rev. DR.. Storrs Gen. Tracy
Franklin Woodruff. Francis b. Carpenter. John W.
UarmaD. Wm T. Clark. Francis d. Mouton, and
Others but not according to Mr.. Tilton to Mr Red
path Among the passages Of the cross-exanination
on this point was this
O DID Won show IT to and leavo it with Mr.. James
Redpathl A. No, SIr, think not; don't remember
O. Yon know Mr.. Rcdpathi A. Perfectly well .ro,
q And were IN the habit Of seeing him at that umei
A. MIR. Redpath lives in Boston; he came over 10 my
O. saved at your house as a friend 7 A. Yes Sir.
q Now. what DO you say as to him A. have
~ Have Won no recollection OF having showed it to
bImi A. Ibave already answered you, Sir
O. Wclq A. II had any recollection, MT Evarts'
should tell you chceTfully ,..,o. ,
did not show 1t to hnl A. have already said that
had recollection on the subject how then can recoi
O. You nave no recollection on the subecti A. No,
Again. after passing to many other points. Mr.
Evarts took pans TO return to the SUBJECT III tms
way:
O. Did you show that original draft to Mr. Redpath
@ Now. what became OF tins original drafti A. As
soon az copied Inade clean copy OF 1.-THE original
sheets. think, went into my waste basket
But il will be shown that after the True Story"
was written by Mr.. Tilton in December, 1872, and
shown TO his friends enumerated above, ne
was anxious TO have it published suTeptitiously
(this is the word used by friends of the defensel
in Boston, and he communicated his wish TO Mr.
Redpath Mr. Redpath consented to secure It's pub
ication in England, and the document was
either sent 10 him III Boston. or handed to him IN
New-York. At all events he began 10 copy the
original MS, but as he proceeded he be-
came alarmed at the consequences OF pubnshnR
it aud abruptly abandoned the work, breaking oil
lust at the point where Mr. Evarts did in the court
ROOM He sent back the original manuscript to Mr..
Tilton with the remark that he did not wish to have
hand In its publication. He kept the copy and