The New York herald., 1875-03-01
"A Dissection Of General Tracy's $
Address.
MISTAKES OF JUDGMENT
How Tracy and Shearman
Came Into the Case.
THE MODERN HoTsPUR
Some Amusing Statistics of
the Trial.

the Trial.
General Tracy's speech, which has consumed the
better part OF q week, has at least been success
in innaming o great number OF people who have
not hitherto put in an appearance In the court
room. II MIR. Beecher had chartered General
Tracy to run muck and in1lct cash upon con-
siderable portion OF mankind as he passed them
his lawyer could hardly have been more feroci0us.
II Tracy's speech had been delivered sponta-
neousy itsherce philippics might have been attrib-
uted to his intense temperament and love OF COM
batveness; but, on the contrary, the whole speech
was carefully committed TO paper every alternate
line left blank Tor amendment, ana 1t was amended,
toned anu expurgated. For all that It was
an extraordinary piece OF characterization. Mr..
TIton Is mildly described as q putrid corpse,
lingering superfuous above the ground and pres
entity 10 be buried by way OF charity. Mr.. M0ultOn
Is carried to the city Of Milan, where Leonardo da
Vlnci's 'Last Supper' clings IN mouldy fragments
10 the wall 80 as TO be hardly intelliglbe at the
present time. and Moulton Is compared to the
picture of Judas Iscariot delineated there-a lace.
by the way, which has excited much admiration
among artists
FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS.
BY parallel reasoning Mr.. Tracy might have
transferred his client to the central spot IN the
same picture; but the Generals inclination does
not run 70 eulogy. He did not succeed in making
any presentable picture OF Mr.. Beecher Whatever,
but etcned him In parts and by splashes.
II Mr.. Joseph Richards innlcted .
cureless wound upon his sister she had the salts.
faction in turn OF hearing Tracy describe her
brother In terms hardly satisfactory to the family
stock. This puts Mrs. Morse In very singular
position She Is already subp9naed to testify
against her son-in-law, and must now elect be-
Dor hio
state Of AFFAIRS will lead our species to bear with
wayward sons-in-law rather than to explode the
household and surprise the public. 1t Is when the
Eye falls on this unhappy family. particularly the
female members OF 1t, that all the comedy and
melodrama OF this case vanish, and we see bleak,
nntnteresting, remorseless tragedy, Greek In Its
severity. almost as II there had been direct In.
terposlti0n OF the cruel gods.
1t is among the melancholy necessities Of such
, charge as conspiracy that
wIDENs THE CIRCLE OF ACCUSATION
as witness alter witness enters with testimony
for the plaintlfY But General Tracy seemed to
receive 40 intimidation from this slight circum.
stance. "Have at We allr' was his motto. He
dismissed Kate carey. who had testified to two
afTectionate scenes in the Tilton household, as
mass OF corruption, diseased, marketable and
gaseous. Such ate the penalties OF hiring out as
wet nurse
Mrs. Frank Moultons position in the course of
such line OF argument wou1 have been made
unhappy but that the orator hesltared to take
the responsibility OF classifying the niece Of two
OF his wealthy clients with persons he had
so harshly stigmatized. In point OF TACT, Mr..
Beecher's mistake from the beginning has been in
retaining any lawyers whatsoever attached to his
personal circle in the city or Brooklyn. 1t is
stated his original intention was to keep General
Tracy as physical associate and contdante, and
not to have Mr.. Snearman at ALL The latters
nimbleness and anxiety were such that he came
into the cause per force. He can make as much
noise as dry pea rat:ling around In half bushel
measure. His devotion Is unquestioned and he Is
smart, but 1t Is not metropolitan smartness.
During this case, when Messrs. Evarts, Porter
and Abbott have exclusively done Mr.. Beecher's
work. there has been q unity, moderation and
effectiveness about 1t which have, so to speak,
civilized the conduct OF the case. These old prac-
titioners prefer to earn their money by their
talents and not through their tempers But Mr..
Tracy strides III like an imperlous barbarian, and
ONE hat suggests Pope's cOuplet:-
when Ajax strives some rocks vast weight to throw
The line. too, labors and the words move slow.
There Is nothing that more nicely determines
the work OF a cosmopolitan advocate than his
preference for gentle words and af1able character
izations harsh and brutal MEANS II the former
will be equally effective.
BUT THERE WAS DESTINY
0vcrhanging the growth OF this case from the be-
ginning. In the effort to suppress the scandal,
whatever 1t was. voluminous correspondence
took place. BY another fatality the whole Of this
correspondence was kept In the custody OF one
person, and with 1t pile OF family letters not
germane to the main issue, but we'll adapted for
mud.throwing and insnuation. BY q third
fataity-and here Is where Mr.. Beecher made his
conciated at evory cost, was antagonized at
certain stage OF the proceedings, and, according
TO Mr. Moulton's explicit charge, Mr.. Beecher was
put upon this course by the rash counsels
OF Tracy, Shearman ana Hill. The oc-
casion OF thus antagonizlng Moulton was
trining one newspaper statement had
appeared. alleging that MOutOn had said certain
things derogatory to MIR. Beecher and In praise
OF Tilton's general demeanor When challenged
TO contradict this statement Moulton replied
that he should not make 1t, because 1t would lead
to an interminable series Of newspaper cards. At
once Mr.. Beecher was directed to bundle up
Moulton with Tilton and to charge at them both.
1t Is not probable that any nrst class lawyer
IN the city OF New York would have
given such Hotspur advice at such a crisis.
But Moulton was not only called
conspirator with Tilton TO entrap and defame MIR.
Beecher; he was called such conspirator for the
sake OF q matter OF $4,000, distributed over three
years of time That Is to say, there being two
principals, MIR. Moultons annual receipts from the
blackmainng fund were about 500 month. At
the same time Mouton was partner In the
largest warehousing and salt importing firm in
the New World. When he was assaed II was In
evitable wife's uncles, the Rooinsons, and
their partner, Woodruff, should come to his sup
port, and, If stern necessity compelled 1t, his wife
rs well, regardless Of her secondary feelings OF
repugnance. when Mr.. Beecher put In his
STATEMENT BEFORE THE CHURCH COMMITTEE,
impugnlng Moulton he gave the latter the only
excuse he could have in manliness Tor printing
Mr.. Beechers letters. But for such an imputation.
II would have better become Mr.. Frank Moulton
TO leave the United States and take his documents
with him, rather than to admit that he had made
such grievous failure as a mutual friend. It Is