New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-20
THE OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF TIL
ACCUSERS

When these men come into a court OF justice
To prefer their infamous they must submit 10
the ordeal which Justice herself has ordained. lhey
here substance imputiDg black and beasty gum
10 an aged and hOnored clergyman and TO feeble Du u
stained matron. The first obstacle they encounter III
their undertaking il the shield which the law lifts before
each in the legal presumption that both are innocent
That shield shelters them at every stage OF the case ro
the hour OF their arragnment down TO the RENDITION vi
the final verdict. The lances OF the accusers must I've
driven home with strength sufficient to penetrate in
double shield before there be verdict That sheiu
Is the protection which the law extends to every ""'
to every man. it is yours and mine. The second op
etace these aeon encounter Is the defendants oah OF
his innocence and hers the oath OF honest man, 'h'
oath Of who forsworn, an oath which VIII
be accepted by God though ii were rejected Oy man. Bear
ia mind that oath Of the defendant hamonzes VIII
the presumption which the law raises in her protection
that she is innocent IN his defense that he IL innocent
that 1t absolutely conclusive in his favor unless IL
is borne down by Impartial reliable, and Trustworthy
evidence 50 overwhelming in s strength as TO convict
him Of fasehood and Of perjury The third obstacle Ie!
meet presents itself in the unblemished character ana he
unspotted purity of the life OF the lady and the clergy
man UP the very day when they are charged wth h
Joint Of and infamy The fourth obstacle tey
must encounters that both Tton and Mouton for four
wears after pretended knowledge OF the
crime private and in public by their words ana thel
acts orally and in writing. fasied the accusation weh
they now AJAX YOU 10 indorse They fifth and fatal
obstacle in the fact opposed to all human onserVauoh
and experience that Tlton cohabited slept with the al
eyed adueress rs pure and unsuled wife for years
after he knew that she hal polluted his marriage bed
You feel and you kno'C that the charge is false Nay
more that he and MouOn both maintained, through all
those four years relations OF social and family lnter
course and of profcssed friendship and goodwin
toward tie alleged adulIerer, fact at wal
with the truth of their accusation ana utterly
revolving 10 public deccncy, IT, as they now pre-
tend they were dishonor after the fact
They met sixth obstacle the fact that they both admit
that they here with The oath upon their ips IN
mood OF mind which they admit to have been for long
period that Of bitter and malignant hostility hostility so
malignant that each o. them frankly avows that one o.
them meditated shedding blood and have proved a.
to the other that he declared that al be wanted WAS e
countenance of the whom he was talking Win 10
cut down Henry Ward Beecher. Are these the fair
the honest and the impartial witnesses on whose
testimony you are going to become the palloelrcrs OF
Henry Ward Beecher They encounter seventh oos'a-
Gle ia tue fact that they are compelled to swear thdl Al
respect 10 the very transactions which they now
stand as witnesses and they ed for years ana
this they must do in order to induce you to believe
that they are not lying now. The eighth
obstacle they have TO encounter is, that on
points vital 10 their credit trustworthy
witnesses they Overborne by explicit and over"he-
ing contradictions, proceeding from witnesses OF the
highest character, OF them ladies OF known purity
and elevation many OF them among the foremost cti-
zens of Brookyn and New York, and all entitled to
confidence and respect which neither Ton nor Motoh
can ever command after the revelations they nave IN
vted during present trial ninth obstacle If pre-
sentcd in the inherent nprObabity OF the truth OF the
accusation in view OF the anecedenis and the surround
ngs of all parties There is an old maxim OF the
law familiar even in the days Of Rome witnesses are
10 be weighed colntel. In the scale y0n have
Henry Ward Bprcher ana his fe, Elizabeth TItOn and
her life in the you have Theodore Titon and his
lie. Frank Mouit ON and his life