The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-05-04
Prof. Renaud on the Beecher
Trial.

AttAt
The Beecher trial is attracting much
attention among the legal minds of Eu.
rope. An exhaustive review of the
plaintiffs case and the opening of the de-
fendant's counsel, written by Professor
Renaud of the Heidelberg University,
has appeared in the Archives of Modern
Jurisprudence, the leading law journal of
Germany. Prof Renaud is said to be
one Of the most eminent jurists Of Ger.
many. The Brooklyn Eagle has trans.
lated and published portion of this re-
markable article We have room for
only portion of the translation Prof.
ltcnaud says:
Having carefully examined the opening
address of the plaintiffs counsel the evil
dcnco OF the plaintiffs witnesses, and the
opening address Of the defendants coun.
sci, 1 can but arrive at one conclusion,
and from conversation with many Of my
professional brethren, who take an equal
interest with my self in this great trial, |
herewith deliberately contend that IL is
the conviction of the legal minds Of Ger
many, Austria and France that the plain.
tiff, Tilton, has NJ case whatever and to
us it is matter Of surprise that, under
the laws Of America, he should not have
been on.suited after his evidence was in.
In actions of this kind, character should
weigh more than anything else. The
plaintiff, from his own words, stands con.
victed of having told different stories on
the subject. His charges against the
defendant grew more serious as his ami.
mostly against him, from causes discon-
nectcd with the case, increased. First it
was alternating his wiie's affections he &C.
cused the defendant of. Then improper
proposals, then adultery. And, oddly
enough, while ne prefers this terrible
charge against the defendant, he speaks
with maudlin tenderness of the, if his
history be true, infamous wife.
This confession, moreover, was, accord
ing to her statement, wrung from her at
time of great physical prostraton. Such
a declaration by wife in the interest of
her husband would always be treated with
the utmost distrust, even if she were in
the best Of health, and not, as the plain.
tiff's wife seems to have been, imbued
with romantic notions about love, religion,
etc. In neither German or French
court, | venture the assertion, would this
confession have been treated with the
slightest consideration. The defendants
conduct may have been indiscreet But
he is acknowledged to be a confding,
warm-hearted man, fond or given to ex-
travagant language-a defect into which
gifted persons, especially those who write
and speak in public great deal, readily
fall.
But the principal letter, the so.called
"letter of contrition," addressed to the
witness Moulton, who saws the defendant
dictated to him, cannot possibly have been
so dictated by Mr.. Beecher. The latter
is man of genius, master Of concise
language, and, as his writings supera-
Dundantiy prove, avv~esV"sd 60 erPre~o
his thoughts coherently, sensiby and
logically. But this letter, as piece Of
composition, is not even respectable. The
defendant could not have written or die
tated it in that shape, ever while prey
to the most intense agitation.
There remain, then, the plaintiffs wit
nesses. One is the mysterious Moulton.
He is described as smart business man
practical, energetic, and endowed with
hard, common sense. What drew him
into this mael-strom of bad passions :?
Friendship for the plaintiff, he says. How
can this cool, calculating, money-making
man have conceived any liking for the
vain, puffed.up, shallow minded utopist I?
Fire and water do not mingle, There
must have been some hidden motive for
Moulton's anxiety TO participate in the
quarrel between the plaintiff and defend
ant. 1t is one of the mysteries of this
strange affair, and it is not quite clear if
the defendants counsel, in his opening
address, hit the nail on the head in re-
gard to the aims Moulton had in view.
A court, however, would take the singu-
larity Of his conduct, and, above all, his
undisguised evaporation against the de.
fendant into consideration, and attach but
very little importance to his evidence
And, as regards Moulton's wife-well,
she is his wife, and had the most powerful
incentive in the world to corroborate her
husbands testimony against the defend.
ant. The acquittal of the latter would
be ruin to the witness Moulton. With
that alternative staring her in the face,
what woman would not feel strongly
tempted to help him? What court
would take her evidence, given witt such
AN alternative before her, as entirely
trustworthy? In no German or French
court would it be admitted and it seems
horrible that it should have SO much
weight in the American court. | repeat,
that on his own showing the plaintiff had
no case, and that the proceedings should
have gone on after 50 beggarly and bung.
ling an array of testimony for the plain.
tiff, adds only to our long entertained
conviction that the American and Eng
lish laws on evidence are detective and
that they lend undue aid to desi gning
litigants.
Giant Trees in California.
1t has been supposed that the Sierra