The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-05-08
BEECHER TRIAL.

monotony OF the Beecher-Tilton trial Il
Brooklyn on Monday Just before the close o
the days session and just after Tracy's cvi
dence was finished and the defence had an
nounceG that they had no more witnesses tt
call, Mrs Triton, who had watched the pro
ceedings from day to day patiently awaiting
her turn to have her say, now asccrtaining
that it was not the intention Of the deieace tC
place her upon the witness stand, rose and
presented a paper to Judge Nelson, asking
him to read 1t out. The Judge declined, how
ever, to DO so, but instead intmated that a
written reply would be returned, The letter
of Mrs. Titon was published next day as fol.
| lows:
BROOKLYN, May 8, 1S1j-JUDGE NELSON
| ask the privilege from you for few words
in my own behalf | feel very deeply the IN
justice of my position In the law and before
the court now sitting and while have under
stood and expected from the beginning Mr..
Evarts' principle in the matter, vet, since
your last decision, have been so sensible of
the power of my enemies that my soul cries
out before you and the gentlemen of the jury
that they beware how, by Il verdict, they con,
sign to my children Il false and irrcvocable
stain upon their mother. For five years past
| have been the victim Of circumstances most
cruel and unfortunate, struggling from time
to time only for place TO live honorably and
truthiully. Released for some months from
the VIII ofone inwhose power, uncOnsci0usly, |
eliminated myself again and again, declare
solemnly before you, without fear of man and
with faith in God, that am innocent of the
or INN n In Tor OF I 1Kn To
tell my whole sad story truthfully, to acknowl-
edge the frequent talsehoods wrung from HE
through cOmpulsion, though, at tie same
time, unwilling to reveal the secrets of my
married life, which only the vital importance
OF my position makes necessary. assume the
entire responsibility of this request, unknown
to friend or counsel OF either side, and await
your honor's honorable decision. With great
respect, ELIZABETH r. Triton.
The reply of Judge Nelson simply ex-
plains to Mrs. Tilton that the reason why she
is not called on the stand is that the laws of
New York do Otallow the wife to testify for
or against the husband bat lntimates if both
parties are agreed, he shall lnterpose no OBJ.
lection to her taking the stand.
If this was a big sensation on Monday,
what are we to call the event on Tuesday,
when the prosecution put Henry c. Bowen on
the stand? Bowen was all along admitted to
know great deal about the whole business,
but both sides fought shy Of him because
neither side knew which his testimony would
hurt most The fact that the prosecution dar.
ed to call him to rebut Beecher's testimony
indicated that they finally knew their man
and that he would make things lively, The
testimony CT Bowen was important mainly on
account of the many points on which he
fatty contradiCts Beecher For instance, he
averred positively that he had discharged.
Tilton before the Elton letter was written
Beechers abdication; while Bee.
cher all along assumed that Tiltons dis.
charge was in consequence of that letter
Again, Bowen swears there was no con.
nection between his $1,000 check to TiltonI
and the tri-partite agreement, while Beecher
made that check the sole foundation of thai
agreement When Beecner was testifyingI
his favorite refuge was, II don't recollect,"I
Bowen, on the other hand, says fatty and
positively, "Thats' not So" Bowen may oc
cupy the stand several DAYS.