The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Volume X Part 46

That he, Rerdell, drew the money himself. And that his entire testimony is absurd, contradictory, and utterly unworthy of credit.

Let me say another thing to you, gentlemen, right here. It would be better a thousand times that all the defendants tried in the next hundred years should escape punishment than that one man should be convicted upon the evidence of a man like this--a man who offered to the Government to make a bargain while the trial was in progress, that he would challenge from the jury all the friends of the defendants, and help the Government to get the enemies of the defendants upon the jury.

You never can afford to take the evidence of such a man. It turns a court-house into a den of wild beasts. You cannot do it.

I have shown that the story of Walsh is improbable, and that all that Boone swears against these defendants cannot be believed. That Walsh never loaned the money to Brady that he claimed, and that Brady never took from him the notes as he says. That Brady never made in his presence the admissions that he swears to. Think of it; Brady robbing Walsh, and at the same time saying to Walsh, "I am a thief and public robber."

I have shown to you, gentlemen, it seems to me, that no reasonable human being, taking all this evidence into consideration, can base upon it a verdict of guilty. It cannot be done.

Now, gentlemen, the responsibility is upon you, and what is that responsibility? You are to decide a question involving all that these defendants are. You are to decide a question involving all that these defendants hope to be. Their fate is in your hands. Everything they love, everything they hold dear, is in your power. With this fearful responsibility upon you, you have no right to listen to the whispers of suspicion. You have no right to be guided or influenced by prejudice.

You have no right to act from fear. You must act with absolute and perfect honesty. You must beware of prejudice. You must beware of taking anything into consideration except the sworn testimony in this case. You must not be controlled by the last word instead of by the last argument!

You must not be controlled by the last epithet instead of by the last fact. You must give to every argument, whether made by defendant or prosecution, its full and honest weight. You must put the evidence in the scales of your judgment, and your manhood must stand at the scales, and then you must have the courage to tell which side goes down and which side rises.

That is all we ask. We ask the mercy of an honest verdict, and of your honest opinion. We ask the mercy of a verdict born of your courage, a verdict born of your sense of justice, a verdict born of your manhood, remembering that you are the peers of any in the world. And it is for you to say, gentlemen, whether these defendants are worthy to live among their fellow-citizens; whether they shall be taken from the suns.h.i.+ne and from the free air, and whether they are worthy to be men among men.

It is for you to say whether they are to be taken from their homes, from their pursuits, from their wives, from their children. That responsibility rests upon you.

It is for you to say whether they shall be clothed in dishonor, whether they shall be clad in shame, whether their day of life shall set without a star in all the future's sky; that is for you.

It is for you to say whether Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. Dorsey, John R.

Miner, Thomas J. Brady, and H. M. Vaile shall be branded as criminals.

It is for you to say, after they have suffered what they have, after they have been pursued by this Government as no defendants were ever pursued before, whether they shall be branded as criminals.

It is for you to say whether their homes shall be blasted and blackened by the lightning of a false verdict.

It is for you to say whether there shall be left to these defendants and to those they love, a future of agony, of grief and tears. Nothing beneath the stars of heaven is so profoundly sad as the wreck of a human being. Nothing is so profoundly mournful as a home that has been covered with shame--a wife that is worse than widowed--children worse than orphaned. Nothing in this world is so infinitely sad as a verdict that will cast a stain upon children yet unborn.

It is for you to say, gentlemen, whether there shall be such a verdict, or whether there shall be a verdict in accordance with the evidence and in accordance with law.

And let me say right here that I believe the attorneys for the prosecution, eager as they are in the chase, excited with the hunt, after the sober second thought, would be a thousand times better pleased with a verdict of not guilty. Of course they want victory. They want to put in their cap the little feather of success, and they want you to give in the scales of your judgment greater weight to that feather than to the homes and wives and children of these defendants. Do not do it.

Do not do it.

I want a verdict in accordance with the evidence. I want a verdict in accordance with the law. I want a verdict that will relieve my clients from the agony of two years. I want a verdict that will drive the darkness from the heart of the wife. I want a verdict that will take the cloud of agony from the roof and the home. I want a verdict that will fill the coming days and nights with joy. I want a verdict that, like a splendid flower, will fill the future of their lives with a sense of thankfulness and grat.i.tude to you, gentlemen, one and all.

The Court. Let me inquire of the counsel for the defence if there are to be any other arguments upon their side?

Mr. Henkle. May it please your Honor, inasmuch as I alone represent two of the defendants, it is perhaps due to this jury and to myself to explain why I do not propose to argue the case. I had prepared myself, with a good deal of labor and painstaking, to submit an argument to the jury.

But after the exhaustive and able argument of my Brother Wilson, I and my colleagues were of the opinion that there was room but for one more argument on the part of the defence, and with entire unanimity we selected our colleague, Brother Ingersoll, to make that argument. And how grandly he has justified the choice, the jury, your Honor, and the spectators will determine.

I saw some time ago a little paragraph in a paper in this city, which represents the interest of the Government, in which it was said that the defendants' counsel were afraid to argue this case because they would come in collision with each other; that each would try to throw the conspiracy at the door of the others and exonerate himself, and that therefore they were afraid to argue the case. I want to say to your Honor that so far from being afraid to argue the case, I should have been very happy to pursue the argument, so far as I am concerned. But out of tender consideration to the jury, who have been kept for six long months from their business and their interests, which I know are suffering, we have unanimously concluded that we would close the argument with that which your Honor has just heard. And I simply want to say further, that I not only do not antagonize with anything that has been said by my Brother Wilson, or by my eloquent friend who has just concluded, but I indorse most fully and cordially every word that has been uttered. And so far as my clients are concerned, gentlemen of the jury, the case is with you.

Mr. Davidge. May it please your Honor, perhaps I ought to add a single word. It was understood among counsel when Colonel Ingersoll, as stated by General Henkle, was unanimously selected to represent the defendants, that both Colonel Ingersoll and myself should have the privilege of addressing the jury if, in the judgment of either, it should be necessary. I have felt such a deep interest in the present case that I have almost hoped he might leave unoccupied some portion of the field of argument. I have listened to every word that has fallen from his lips.

He has filled the whole area of the case with such matchless ability and eloquence that I have no ground upon which I could stand in making any further argument. He has so fully uncovered the origin of this so-called prosecution, its methods, and the character and weight of the evidence upon which a conviction is sought, that I can add nothing whatever to what he has said. I need not add that every syllable he has uttered receives my grateful indors.e.m.e.nt, as well as that of all the defendants and their counsel in this case.*

* Twelve jury men decided this morning that the Government had not legally established a case of conspiracy against the Star Route defendants. This verdict of absolute acquittal coming so unexpectedly has created a very marked sensation.

The announcement in the court room of the verdict was followed by an uproarious scene of applause, tears, hysterics and cheers. Every one expected the jury to disagree. Judge Wylie himself, a week or ten days ago, called up the counsel for the prosecution and said to them, "I do not think you are going to get a verdict out of that jury. I have watched it carefully, and I am certain that four of the best men on it are in doubt." Last night an employee of the Department of Justice reported that the jury stood eleven to one for acquittal. This came from one of the bailiffs, who claimed to have overheard a vote.

At any rate the prosecution had intended, if a disagreement was reported, to ask to have the jury dismissed, on the ground of the condition of Juror Vernon. Had this been attempted, Dr. Sowers, who attended Vernon yesterday would have testified that Vernon was all right mentally, after he had braced him up with two drinks of brandy.

The court room was crowded when the jurors took their places. Every one of the defendants was there. Dorsey sat by his wife, flushed and expectant. Upon the left of Mrs.

Dorsey was her sister Mrs. Peck. Brady was just back of his special counsel. Judge Wilson, looking as hard and grim as ever. All of the counsel for the Star Route defendants were in their seats. Colonel Ingersoll's face showed great self- control, although he was evidently laboring under strong nervous excitement. He was flanked by his entire family.

Mr. Farrell, Mr. Baker (Colonel Ingersoll's secretary), and the white-haired and white-bearded Mr. Bush, the hard working a.s.sociate of Colonel Ingersoll, were also present.

When the jurors took their places in the court room precisely at ten o'clock, Judge Wylie looked at them, and said In his slow hesitating way: "Gentlemen, I have sent for you to learn--ahem--to learn if you have agreed--ahem-- upon a verdict." Mr. Crane the foreman said: "We have agreed."

Judge Wylie gave a start of surprise and looked towards the seats for the counsel of the Government. Not one of them was present. This looked very ominous for the Government's case, and indicated besides that the bailiffs must have betrayed the secrets of the jury room to the prosecution, as neither Bliss nor Merrick came to the court room at all. Mr. Ker, one of the counsel for the prosecution, came in and stood In the door as the Judge said to the Clerk, "Receive this verdict." There was the usual silence as every one turned toward the foreman. Mr. Crane said very deliberately. "We find the defendants not guilty."

Then there followed a scene of great confusion and uproar, which the Judge could not restrain. Indeed he did not try.

The triumph of such an unexpected success after two years of fighting in the face of the entire power of the Government, made the humblest person connected in the most remote degree with the defence crazy with joy. When Colonel Ingersoll came out of the Court House a crowd gathered in front of him, and then one stout-lunged, broad shouldered man cried out "Three cheers for Colonel Ingersoll." There was a wild scene of tiger-like cheering from the excited crowd. This demonstration was a personal compliment to the Colonel, for when the defendants pa.s.sed out there was not the slightest sign of approval or disapproval beyond the congratulations of personal friends. Colonel Ingersoll stood on the broad steps of the Court House and smiled with the benevolent air of a popular orator in front of a congenial crowd, and laughed outright when some over-euthusiastic admirer called, "Speech, speech."

The morning was clear and bright. Colonel Ingersoll watched the crowd a moment, himself a picture of radiant good nature, as he stood with his white straw hut encircled with a blue band, pushed back from his face. His short thin black coat was partially b.u.t.toned over a white duck waistcoat. He rested his hands in the pockets of his gray trousers. The request for "Speech, speech" so amused him that he chuckled over It all the way to his open carriage, which came up a moment after. He was driven through Pennsylvania Avenue with his family. People called out to him from the sidewalk, and he was obliged to lift his hat so much that he finally sat bareheaded, like a conquering hero, waving his hands to the right and to the left. His house was thronged all day. Mrs.

Blaine and her daughter Margaret were among the first who called. There was a profession of people all day long who had no sympathy at all with the defendants, and who were perfectly indifferent whether they went to the penitentiary or not, but who were most heartily glad that their friend Colonel Ingersoll had accomplished such a great personal victory.

Now that the case is over, it is time to tell some facts about the prosecution which have been withheld until the case was closed. In the first place, the management of the prosecution has been equally scandalous with the crimes charged against the defendants. The District Attorney here has always been allowed a five dollar fee for the prosecution of cases. Attorney-Generals who preceded Mr.

Brewster ruled that this should be the official fee of special counsel. This was made up by allowing the payment of lump sums as retainers. When Bliss and Merrick were put upon the extravagant pay of one hundred and fifty dollars per day it was inevitable that they would prolong the case to the uttermost. Bliss has, on top of all this pay, put in an extraordinary list of personal expenses, which have been allowed up to a very recent date. The amount of extra matter run into this case only to prolong it has resulted in so confusing the case as to materially aid the defence.

Then the reporting of the case has been turned into a huge job. The stenographers will clear between thirty and forty thousand dollars on their work.

The other day I estimated from official sources, the cost of the Star Route trials at one million dollars. It will go above that. It will foot up near one million two hundred thousand dollars. This evening Col. Ingersoll was serenaded.

There was a large gathering of friends of the Star Route defendants at Colonel Ingersoll's house to-night. Indoors the acquitted men, their counsel, and a large number of their more intimate friends, many of them women, met to exchange mutual congratulations. And in the street a crowd had gathered, partly out of curiosity--and partly to express their sympathy with the defendants. They cheered Ingersoll and the other counsel as well as the defendants and the jury, and called for speeches. Colonel Ingersoll and Judges Wilson and Carpenter spoke briefly.

Col. Ingersoll's speech was short and vigorous. He hailed the verdict of the jury as a victory for truth and justice, and as a notice to the administration that it could not terrorize a jury by indicting jurymen, and a warning to the President that he could not force a verdict by turning honest servants out of office.

The Sun, New York, June 15,1883.

ADDRESS TO THE JURY IN THE DAVIS WILL CASE.

* The matchless eloquence of Ingersoll! Where will one look for the like of it? What other man living has the faculty of blending wit and humor, pathos and fact and logic with such exquisite grace, or with such impressive force? Senator Sanders this morning begged the jury to beware of the oratory of Ingersoll as it transcended that of Greece.

Sanders was not far amiss. In fierce and terrible invective Ingersoll is not to be compared to Demosthenes. But in no other respect is Demosthenes his superior. To a modern audience, at least, Demosthenes on the Crown would seem a pretty poor sort of affair by the side of Ingersoll on the Davis will. It was a great effort, and its chief greatness lay in its extreme simplicity.

Ingersoll stepped up to the jurors as near as he could get and kept slowly walking up and down before them. At times he would single out a single juryman, stop in front of him, gaze steadily into his face and direct his remarks for a minute or two to that one man alone. Again he would turn and address himself to Senator Sanders, Judge Dixon or somebody else of those interested in establis.h.i.+ng the will as genuine, At times the gravity of the jury and the audience was so completely upset that Judge McHatton had to rap for order, but presently the Colonel would change his mood and the audience would be hushed into deepest silence. If the jury could have retired immediately upon the conclusion of Ingersoll's argument, there is little doubt as to what the verdict would have been.

If Ingersoll himself is not absolutely convinced that the will is a forgery, he certainly had the art of making people believe that he was so convinced. He said he hoped he might never win a case that he ought not to win as a matter of right and justice. The idea which he sought to convey and which he did convey was that he believed he was right, no matter whether he could make others believe as he did or not. In that lies Ingersoll's power.

Whether by accident or design the will got torn this morning. A piece in the form of a triangle was torn from one end. Ingersoll made quite a point this afternoon by pa.s.sing the pieces around among the jury, and asking each man of them to note that the ink at the torn edges had not sunk into, the paper. In doing this he adopted a conversational tone and kept pressing the point until the juror he was working upon nodded his head in approval.

Both Judge Dixon and Senator Sanders interrupted Ingersoll early in his speech to take exception to certain of his remarks, but the Colonel's dangerous repartee and delicate art in twisting anything they might say to his own advantage soon put a stop to the interruptions and the speaker had full sway during the rest of the time at his disposal. The crowd--it was as big as circ.u.mstances would permit, every available inch of s.p.a.ce in the room and in the court house corridors being occupied--enjoyed Ingersoll' a speech immensely, and only respect for the proprieties of the place prevented frequent bursts of applause as an accompaniment to the frequent bursts of eloquence.--Anaconda Standard, b.u.t.te, Montana, Sept. 5,1891.

MAY it please the Court and gentlemen of the jury, waiving congratulations, reminiscences and animadversions, I will proceed to the business in hand. There are two princ.i.p.al and important questions to be decided by you: First, is the will sought to be probated, the will of Andrew J. Davis? Is it genuine? Is it honest?

And second, did Andrew J. Davis make a will after 1866 revoking all former wills, or were the provisions such that they were inconsistent with the provisions of the will of 1866?