Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-04-13
MIR. WILL SONS TURN NOW
Quenching Butterworth's Elo-
 quence With Cold Logic.

Quenching Butterworth's Elo-
 quence With Cold Logic.
 BRILLIANT PLEA OF THE MAJOR.
 Sin, but Was Pleading For a Higher
 Standard of womanhood-Lies Told by
 Bleckinridge Were SanctifiPd Lies. | WASHINGTON, April 13.-The defense of 1 Colonel Breckinrdge which Ben Butter worth made is conceded even by his oppo- nents to have been one of the greatest speeches ever made in a Washington court. It was effective as masterpiece of oratory and was made such largely by the winning personality of the orator.
 Mr Butterworth was persuasive, was dramatic. was friendly. conciliatory and artful. Whether he was convincing re | mains to be seen when the 12 men who are | to pass upon the case return their verdict on Saturday night, for it will be Saturday night when they are called upon to decide l Men are saying today that if the jury | l the eloQuence of his winning Quaker friend from Ohio. Particularly is this the eN pression of the lawyers who heard the speech, and it was probably the finest com pliment the eeN-congressman could have re ceived that so many of his professional colleagues were willing to stand all day tC listen to his utterances
 For nearly nine hours Major Butter worth carried the speaking part in the great case. He conjured by the name of mother the fireside and American woman | hood most effectively, making it appear that all of these forces were enlisted On the side of his client
 Through all the speaking the white h air ed member of congress from Kentucky sat facing the jury, much of the time with his face shaded by his hand, occasionally nod ding assents to the points scored by the speaker.
 Judge Wilson's Style Different.
 The slender plaintiff has heard none of the denunciations of herself and her at torneys have sat smiling throughout the onset Of the opposition. Judge Jere Viii son is a living sphinx, imperturbable as stone, and no one could guess how he was taking the assaults upon his client
 He did not care to begin after the close of the Butterworth speech, but commenced today and will consume the greater part of two days in his argument. His style is as different from Colonel Phil Thompson's or that of Mir Butterworth as can be i'm agined-cool, deliberate, analytical and generally effective That his style is diff ferent from MT. Butterworth' is probably well for his cause, for he could hardly eX- pect to overshadOw that gentleman in his own particular field.
 After the noon recess Mir. Butterworth recurred to the first meeting at the house of Sarah Guess, quoting the testimony of Miss Pollard that she thought that since she had successfully resisted Colonel Breckinridge twice she could do so again, and her later statement that she had de- liberately waited there half an hour for | her would be seducer to return and con summate the purpose of their trip, argu- ing the improbability and inconsistency of | the two statements.
 | Advancing to the life of the pair in | Washington, he represented that Colonel l Breckinridge was one of the busiest men in congress, without time for the constant association with her which Miss Pollard had described. He thought that the at torneys for the plaintiff had been skillful l in pushing to the front the few estimable | characters they had been able to get into | the case that they might obscure the back ! ground of the beginning of the relations. Mrs. Blackburn was an estimable and | cultured lady, but she had been imposed upon. She had been for two years a friend of Miss Pollard, moved by generous i'm | pulse to protect Kentucky girl, but no one pretended that Colonel Breckinridge had introduced Miss Pollard to the lady
 It was asked why Colonel Breckinridge had not led Miss Pollard away from her. | but he had no more power to lead her than l the lawyer had to guide cyclone by it's | tail. Mrs. Blackburn had naturally felt | indignant at having been imposed upon, and she had confused some of the things said to her. because everybody knew that l it was out of the range of possibility that those things could have been said under the circumstances. Miss Pollard had told Mrs. Blackb burn that they were engaged. and Colonel Breckinridge was obliged to go down with her and disentangle them from that net. \ marriage was impossi- ble under the circumstances. Miss Pol | lard knew it and had been told so. A mar | rlage under the circumstances would have been impossible and infamous. The other lawyers had expressed horror because the pair had lied. The two were in the busi- | ness of lying at that time.
 Told Sanctified Lies.
 | The course of those two was justified and sanCtified because their deception in jured no one and eXtricated family from ruin" said Mir Buttrrworth. Tt was to rescue a home, to rescue woman. to open to her better life, and it was more than justified.
 Beginning his conclusion the lawyer told the jury that the inherent probabili ties arising from the course of human na ture were to be considered more deeply than the statements of witnesses -Ihc question Was not WAetber William C | Breckinridge had violated any ordinance, human or divine; had been guilty of moral turpitude-conduct which should bring upon him condemnation-but whether those two parties had agreed that he was to become her husband and she his wife.
 To awaken horror before the public there had been a tale that Colonel Breckinridge had led astray guiltless little girl and had led her down the path of nine years of immortality to a marriage contract that was ruthlessly violated. The jury was to determine whether there had been any
 such guiltless little girl; whether she had
 not been mature and knowing woman.