The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-25


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4stFy}a In SsalnnIng UP. g -
The Brooklyn correspondent Of, tho
cincinnati ,ln Commercial writes Of Judge
Porter 9 first days argument IN the I'll.
ton.beecher summing up as follows: Ri
T. was at once evident that Porter
meant business and blood, and the Way in
which, on setting out, he went for Tilton's
heart, amazed those who were unaware of
his passional potentiality. He was really
starting at the very opening, as he told
the jurymen that they we're one hundred
and thirty-five days older than when the
tria)Jbegan,and that these five months had
been taken from their business and fami-
lies at the instigation of an adulterer who
hoped to prove that he had slept for four
years with an adulteress. AS Porter said
this he turned, shook his nervous hand
over the head of Tilton, displayed the
whites of his eyes, and created first-class
sensation. But Tilton returned look
for look. with face of which not a mus
Gle moved, though it turned red as a
beet. 1t is evident that Porter had set
out upon an aggressive policy, and has
no intention of standing upon the defens.
i've only. Porter's body swayed as his
voice rose and fell in sympathy with his
language. and we surrendered our minds
to his sway. At first We gave vent to
our rage against Tilton and his gang. and
then we were touched with pathos in be.
half of Beecher ; then our legal knowl-
edge was struck; then our reverence rose
to the skies, and we beheld the triumph
Of innocence; then again we took glance
at the hollow and theatrical nature of
Tllton, after which we were swept through
torrent of invective, closing with the
med:tated assination of Beecher BY Tilton
and Moulton then we had our ratiocin-
alive powers brought into play then we
were carried from heaven to hell; then
we went over the probabilities of the
case and were shown the formidable diff
culties Tilton had to encounter in prov
ing it. In the course of one of these
passages we had glowing eulogy on
Beecher's old wife, who sat by his side.
1t was highly emotional as delivered. and
many OF us were moved by it. Evarts
wept.
THE TEARS ROLLED DOWN
the corrugated cheeks of the conoueror
of Geneva and the hero of impeachment
Tracy followed suit, and his eyes glis-
tened with the emotional moisture. Only
Shearman, who has wept so much al
ready, failed to weep. Beecher's family.
all but himself and his wife, kept drying
their eyes, and the Beecher phalanx,
headed by the old Deacons, shed their
full quota Of tears.
Porter then proceeded again to glorify
Beecher's character and career, then he
showed US the monstrous and impossible
stories told by Jilton, including that OF
the inquest held by himself and Beecher
over the paternity of the white.haired
boy, Ralph, ''who ought to be here to-day
that you might see whether Theodore
Tilton or Henry Ward Beecher is his
fathcr.' [Senstion.l Here Porter
pointed the finger of scorn at the plain
TIT. he then gave US an amusing passage
of mimicry and satire in describing how
Tilton culled out and garbled his wife
letter Tor base purposes, and UNANIMOUSLY
gave her love words to the world. It
Was terrible moment when Porter, with
tremendously intense face, quivering,
hard voice. raised to it's highest pitch, and
eye fixed on Tilton, exclaimed that he
had cohabited and slept with his wife for
years after he knew Of her adultery. We
got to recess in high state of excite
ment.
The storms Of the forenoon, which
wrought up our minds and put US through
so many variable moods, was succeeded
in the afternoon by placidity which
lasted till the adjournment. Porter &C.
cupied the whole of the second session in
reading and commenting upon Elizabeth s
devotional and emotional letters to Theo-
dore, arguing that woman who wrote
thus, and so demeancd herself, could not
be false wife. The whole history OF the
human race, said he, can show no pre-
cedent Of an adulterous wife writing such
letters to a cuckold husband. It was
pleasant, after the agitation of the morn
ing, to listen to the calmer query into
probabilities during the afternoon.
1nmy judgment, the days speech. as
an argument addressed to reason and ex.
psrience, was weak in many of its parts,
yet it certainly made a deep impression
on all listeners Judge Nelson praised
it highly in my hearing, and so did
Beach, who is to answer.
Judge Porter continued his argument
in summing up for Beecher Thursday.
After reading few of the letters of MIR.
and Mrs. Tilton, he turned his attention
principally to the testimony of Bessie
Turner. He analysed Miss Turner's ev.
idencc, and compared it with that of
plaintiffs witnesses who had contradicted
her. lie continued frequently to de.