The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-03-27

The last three witnesses examined in the
Beecher trial are of more value to the defence
than all the others who have yet testified on
that side. They do great deal more than to
blacken the domestic and social life of the
plaintiff. If it should be established ever
so conclusively that Tilton was addicted to
licentious amours we do not see that the
defence would have advanced single step to-
ward clearing Mr.. Beecher If Tilton's con-
jugal infdelties began before the alleged
adultery and were known to his wife they
would help explain it. She might have been
persuaded to think his breach of the marriage
contract freed her from its obligation, or at
least extenuated the surrender of her chastity.
married woman whose husband is known
to her to have been unfaithful would natu-
rally be an easier victim for q seducer than
one whose husband had given her no
provocation. On the other hand, if it
were proved that Tilton's Hasons COM
menced after his alleged discovery OF
his wife's adultery. they might be
explained on similar ground. Tilton's &C
quaintance with the Woodruff woman did
Va
Tilton's alleged confession, and his intimacy
with her has no tendency to prove Mr.
Beechers innocence. The greater part of
the testimony relating to the conduct of Til
ton is, therefore, irrelevant and worthless,
because it has no real bearing on the fact
charged against the defendant
The same remark applies with equal force
IL 81
hulls three colored servants, which merely
goes to convict Tilton of undue intimacy or
improper famillarities with that woman. The
aspect in which their testimony is really i'm
portart and tends to break down the case of
the complainant, consists in the blow it strikes
at his veracity. When Tilton was on the
stand he swore most positively as to the infre-
quency of his visits to the house where the
Woodruff woman resided, and as to the num-
Der Of times he had gone up stairs to the sec
ond story. According to his own statements
he never went up stairs but once, and then
on the invitation of his hostess to see
for himself that the rumors that she kept an
improper house were untrue. He swore that
he found the upper part OF the house bare and
the rooms destitute OF beds in the only visit
in which he ever assembled above the first
floor. Now if the three negro servants are to
credited, Tilton must have sworn to known
and deliberate falsehood when he testified that
he was never up stairs in that house but once.
His relations with the Woodruff woman are
of little consequences; but if he deliberately
perjured himself IN his testimony he has
knocked out the main prop of his case. Let
us try to explain how this follows. The proof
of the alleged adultery rests chiefly on Mrs.
Tilton's confession to her husband. There
were no eye-witnesses, and if the erring wife
had not made q voluntary confession, her
guilt and that of her paramour would never
have come to light. 1t is affirmed that the
confession was afterward put in writing by
Mrs. Tilton; but that writing has been de-
stroyed, and the only knowledge of its con-
tents is derived from the statements of the hus-
band There is no direct testimony but his
that it was confession of downright adultery
and not of some minor offence. Mr.. Tilton's
oath is, therefore, the main piv& of the accu-
sation. It's effect on the jury must depend on
their belief in his veracity, and if this should
be broken down the real nature of Mrs. Til
toms confession becomes a matter of inference
and conjecture. 1t is, therefore, easy to see
the great importance of these three negro
witnesses. 1t is not that they testify to dis
reputable famiiarities between MI. Tilton
and Mrs. Woodruff, but that, if they have
told the truth, they convict Tilton of having
/ sworn to deliberate ialsehoods on his cross
examination. The established maxim in the
law of evidence, .falSts Ia uno fdlSus IN omnibus,
or, in plain English, ga man who swears
to one known falsehood can be believed in
nothing" has close application to Mr. Til
toms testimony if these negro witnesses
deserve belief. II they have told the truth
Tilton is perjurer, and nothing that he
swore to ought TO have the slightest weight
with the jury If the jury should come
to this conclusion the only thing that
can embarrass them in finding a
verdict for the defendant will be his own
damaging letters. He will 60 on the stand to
explain them under great advantages if the
! jury shall have been first convinced that Til
ton Is a wilful perjurer utterly unworthy of
belief.
This argument has proceeded on the as
sumption that the colored servants of the
woman Woodruff have told the truth. If
their veracIty can be successfully impeached,
if it can be proved that they have sworn
falsely, it will then follow that the defence has
made a mistake in introducing their testimony.
! For if it be shown that these poor creatures
have sworn falsely it will be hard for the jury
to resist the conclusion that they have been
| bribed and suborned, which would be fatal to
| the defendants case.
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