Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-06-05
Stories of Beecher and Grant.
Gath in the New York Tribune

In the Fl th avenue Hotel recently I
met ex-Judge john K. Porter, looking
much grayer, but not nearly SO old and
careworn as he looked during the Gui
teau trial, nor any older, thought, than
when he appeared in the Tilton and
Beecher suit eight years ago. I re-
marked his improved appearance, and
he explained it by saying that since the
trial Of the assassin Of President Gar
field he had retired from his profession
and was resting, living in the summer
at his place on Schroon Lake in the
spring and fall 1T Waterford Lear Sara
toga Springs, ana in the winter at the
Fifth avenue Hotel, three pleasant re-
sorts in their seasons
1t has been the peculiar experience of
Judge Porter to be engaged in many
suits which occupied great deal of
time in their trials and involved many
new and complex questions Of law. He
was in the Beecher case for six months;
his health broke down under the strain.
The Guiteau trial lasted several weeks
He was referee in the famous Navarro
suit against the city, the hearing Of tes-
timony in which occupied nearly year,
and the various appeals in which took
up quite ten years. The Judge was in
excellent humor over the decision of
the highest court in the Navarro case.
The general term overruled his decision
as referee, and the Court of Appeals
reversed the general term ruling.
We naturally talked of the Beecher
case. I asked him what he thought the
most dramatic incident in that extraor-
binary trial. "The taking the oath by
Mr.. Beecher." he replied. Without in
tending to compliment the Judge I said
that his own sudden and unexpected de-
nun citation of Moulton as a false witness
and false friend was the finest instance
Of crushing invective I had ever heard.
That led to the curious revelation that
in the first consultations of Mr.. Beech
er's counsel Mr.. Evarts, senior counsel,
favored an amiable policy in defense,
taking the ground that all persons con-
cerned misunderstood each other. But
Judge Porter held that there was q con-
spiracy to blackmail, and that Tilton
must be put on his defense, and the de-
Tense OF Mr.. Beecher finally assumed
the shape of a vigorous attack on the
complainant and principal witness.
Drifting off to other matters, this
curious and / believed, new story about
General Grant came out. Grant had
just been appointed to the command
of all the armies in the West. In the
East he was not so we'll known as af-
terward, and men began to make close
inquiries about him. Judge Porter
asked an old friend who had been made
a pension agent what he knew about
him. "Only this" was the reply, "anG
1t has singularly impressed me. An old
gentleman came to my Office about his
pension whose name proved to be Jesse
Grant. I asked him if he knew this
new General. He asked, You mean
"Lis?" And then he told me that he
was his son and he had just received
letter from HIM which he showed me-
It read something like this: You are
perfectly right in thinking that I rec
ognize my unftness to command this
great army. But ! look around me and
wonder who is more fit. I may not
succeed. But if am beaten it will be
so badly that I will never be heard of
again." That certainly sounds like
Grant.