Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-06-11
The Scandal Trial.
Mr.. EyARTs' SPEECH CONTINUED.

The Scandal Trial.
Mr.. EyARTs' SPEECH CONTINUED.
TILroS's CONDUCT
The conduct of this plaintiff upon his ow
showing (and no man can complain Of bein
judged out of his own mouth) is not in nee
of any characterization. As Junius sal
once, with the pith that characterized him
such character as this plaintiffs can es
cape censure only when it escapes observa
ton. Now, it may not be pleasant me-
do not always like to Ii, in the bed that the
have made for themse es /; and they some
times, most unseasonaby and at great incon
yenience to others, try to find softer bed
Laughter But alas in the search tina
this plaintiff may make to get out of thi
uneasy bed in which he lies, he has not tn
sympathizing follower with pillow behinc
him that he had on those other occasions
Renewed laughter. Now, gentlemen, i
there had been no question in this case af
fecting a great character, in which there wa,
enlisted the interest Of every honest mar
and woman in Brooklyn, in the United
| III AuTlSltluOm-l mean MI DtttI
er-if the fact of his purity had not beer
the fundamental fact in this case, but the
question had been, as it might have been,
between Mr. Tilton and one of his neigh
bors, between neighboring farmers, or mer-
chants, or lawyers, if plaintiff, against
such defendant, had brought suit of this
kind, the jury would not have sat five
months, enc month, one week, one day upon
his case They would have said . Well,
if you could be 50 cool and quiet, 50 gener-
Gus and forgiving, 50 amicable in intercourse
with the adulterer. and receive so many aids
and iavors from him. and above all if You
could live with your wife four years after,
we do not see any good reason why we
should trouble ourselves much about your
misiortuncs you have been toierably pa
tent under them, and we guess in the long
run it will be as well for you and Elizabeth
and the children that you should 20 on you
have begun, to the end The plaintiff
would be laughed out of court. Now, our
learned friends understood this perfectly.
and the odiousness Of taking money YER
diet on to this action OF this husband against
this defendant, in respect to this disturb
ance Of his peace, If it were all believed,
was 50 apparent that they early disdained
that. Some more noble passion than the
accusation of gain after this long patience
was necessary, and my learned friends have
found ii in that very mild and creditable
Christian virtue, rermge This is their Ian
guase-not for money, but revenge. Well,
never knew jury that would like to be
made an instrument of revenge. II they
were To heal an honest mans injury, they
would do it but to help him to "A revenge
ful assault upon another, Is not creditable.
THE CRIME CHARGED.
However careleSSly, however grossly reo-
lle may talk about different forms Of incon-
tinence, nobody can qualify, nobody can
tolerate premeditated and persistent seduc-
ton Of married woman, and continuous
dehlement Of the marriage bed. All gen
tlemen, we must look tins crime IN it, face.
Why, there Is not n sailor in Wrapping. with
strumpet on either knee, badgercd AMI
beaten in the debauches Of long voyages and
frequent ports but that If c0nrade should
venture to suggest to him that he had ~e
duced the daughter OF an old shipmate. or
the wife OF a Young c0mmde, he would bury
his sheath-kniic in the heart Of his accu>er.
There are no coarse and vulgar yoluptua-
rie>, however lightly they may deal with
inc0ntincnce. and however much they may
feel at liberty to pulch on the manors that
are not couiIed to their care, that either in
practice or in accusation Will tolerate any
such charge as this that You are asked to
bind by your verdict against Mr. Beecher
and Your verdict for SIX cents finds II aS much
a. if il was for 100000. The issue l. a
vital one your verdict is for the plaintiff or
for the defendant. Ii passes upon this issue.
There j. not any other crime with which he
i charged. There are no qualifying cir
cumstances about it. If he is not guilty Of
all that | have described to you. he is not
guilty OF ANYTHING That is the plaintiffs
own figuring Of the dimensions, the incl
dents, the traits of the crime.
TIE ClRCpu,rANTIAL EyIpENCz.
Now, what is circumsiantial evidence ?
1t Is the evidence Of direct witnesses to GER
tain facts, which are thus directly proved
and from which, a, definitely and accurately
you infer. within legitimate
principles of reasoning, and by the test Of
common sense, that what i alleged rs the
necessary conclusion from them, j. such
necessary conclusion. refer, if your Hon
or please, to an authority in oar Court oi
Appeals
." In determining n question Of llct from
evidence, there are TWO gene
RAJ rules to be observed (l) The by
pothe>ls of delinquency or guilt should ilow
from the facts proved, and be con
sistent with them all. (2) The evidence !
must be such as to exclude to a moral Ger
tainty every hypothesis but that Of his guilt |
of the oiicnse imputed to him or, in other /
words, the facts proved must all be consist |
ent with, and point to his guilt not only, |
but they must be inconsistent with his inno- |
cence.
Accordingly, in reference TO 4 case of this |
kind, where parties at a tavern, much more /
at hrothel, are found TO have been shut up |
in the same room, locked or otherwise Sc
cured and the preliminaries have been |
shown of engaged affections, of lewd desires, |
Of adulterous purposes why, there Is cir |
evidence which iustifes a con
cluSiOn that the act of adultery may have |
occurred, must have occurred. But all agree, |
that when there Is no circumStantial cyi- !
1ence by cxtrancous witnesses, of ear or eye, |
of such relations, either tending to or pre-
suming the act which makes the guilt
where no evidence of that kind j. present,
that is the end Of circumstantial evidence.
Now, gentlemen, the plaintiff has not |
failed to present proofs that should carry |
some conclusion Of guilt, from any delicaey, |
Jr from any want Of research. lie didn't ,
hesitate TO put the power Of the law upon /
Joseph Richards to make him come here and I
regret that he could not give you any yalua-
hle information. lie did not hesitate when
he brought from the wards OF pauper hos
pital lying, drunken woman 10 say that
,he heard Mr.. Beecher say to Elizabeth I'll
ton GLOW do you feel - and she replied
' Dear father or father, dear, 50, so. -
Laughter Well, | don't know should
think $50, so, at best, was an Indifferent
sort of feeling, compatible with a variety of
things besides adultery. They don't reject
trivial testimony, because they brought
Brasher to testify that, as he was going
ishlng along one of the public streets, be-
he sun was shining bright, he saw-woud
you believe it?-in open day, as the ap-
lr0ximatc act of adultery, Mr. Beecher
Standing on the doorsteps, having pulled the
lell, and waiting for somebody to come to
aim Laughter
Richards saw his sister Withdrawing from
what think is called proximity to Mr.
Beeeher-m moving away from him, and that
.he colored a little. Well, | don't think
hat that comes up to the rule, that it must be
IN act that not only points to adulterous
but Is inconsistent with anything
,lse. 1t does not strike me so. How did it
,trike Richards? lie went in and kissed bis
lister, and saluted her, and shook hands
with Mr.. Beecher, and talked with him,
hen went off about his business And never
hought it worth while to mention the cir
to his sister, his only sister, he
Ter only brother, and their mother a widow.
Well, gentlemen. .as | said about the offence,
here is no generalization of such conduct OF
Richards as enables me to apply an adjec
i've to it. 1t never happened before. |
lon't think that, after his example, it will
,yer happen again.
This case is utterly bare of all those facts
II conduct as seen and observed which lead