Year: 1875

New York, June o4.-The Brooklyn
court room was crowded, and Beeeher
and his wife were among the Plv-
mouth throng. Judge Nelson said
that, under the circumstances, he was
compelled, after an examination of the
affidavits, to deny the application for
re-opening the case, and, in accord
ance with Beach's request, the papers
were filed with the Clerk of the
Court.


Judge Nelson then stated that the
Jury might retain their seats, II they
so desired, while he delivered the
charge. After congratulating the Jury
on the approaching close of their
lahors, and saying that he had habitu-
ally refrnined from stating his own
opinions on questions of fact, he said /:
q" AT this hour it is your duty to nc
cept fully, and without a shade OF
mental reservation, the rules of the
law stated, but on the other hand l
wish to pay like degree of respect to
your gicat Office. You are the sole
judges of the weight of testimony, aud
of the credibillty of the witnesses. A
sense Of this rystrnins me from COM
menting Oh the proofs at large, and
from indicating to ycu what my own
opinions may be on the questions of
fact involved. Gour recognition of
that, in your relation to the court and
to the cause, is due to the oath you
have taken to render true verdict
according to the evidence. Ny rrcog-
milton of ii is due not only to you but
10 these parties, as the moral furce of
II verdict depends largely on the fact
that it is the unbiased judgment of
twelve men, selected from II body of
our citizens, and in the most solemn
form known 10 our laws consecrated
to the service. He then stated that
the counsel had extracted so much
testimony from the one hundred and
eleven witnesses, that if he was to
quote it to them they would not reach
their deliberation until days hence,
weary and exhausted. The pleadings
had been stated in their hearing, and
they understood that the charge of
adultery lay at the bottom of it. The
Judge said that some of the testimony
relates to the principal question at
issue, some of it to the credit due to
certain witnesses, and some of it to
the mere question of damages. The
pleadings have been stated in your
hearing, and you perceive that the
charge of adultery, denied by the an
swer, lies at the foundation of the case.
Upon the issue thus Joined, the burden
of proof rests on the plaintiff: You
are also to understand that the evil
dence should be such as to carry con-
viction to the minds of just and pru-
dent men; it should point to actual
guilt more directly than to any other
reasonable hypothesis. The wrong
charged in this complaint might be
proved by direct or circumstantial evil
dence, but such charge is not usually
proven, or indeed provable, by direct
and positive evidence. The reason is
obvious, as in most instances where,
under social restraints, an apparent
proper intimacy degenerates into licen-
tious acts, the evil intent and life puts
on the garb of innocence. To such
cases, in all causes of doubt and diffi-
Guilty, the law OF evidence is searching
and flexible. and applies peculiar tests,
presumptions and inferences, drawn
from facts aud from conduct accord
ing to the dictates of experience, 80
that finally the question of guilt
or innocence may be determined
by jury in the light reflected
by the surrounding circumstances.
Judge Nelson said, a few simple
illustrations, stated with reference