WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.319
<v Speaker 1>This is section fifty five of The Gilded Age. This

2
00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:07.000
<v Speaker 1>LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Gilded Age,

3
00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.480
<v Speaker 1>A Tale of to Day by Mark Twain and Ceed Warner,

4
00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:15.800
<v Speaker 1>Chapter fifty five. Henry Brierly took the stand, requested by

5
00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.559
<v Speaker 1>the district attorney to tell the jury all he knew

6
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:23.000
<v Speaker 1>about the killing. He narrated the circumstances substantially, as the

7
00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:27.120
<v Speaker 1>reader already knows them. He accompanied miss Hawkins to New

8
00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.800
<v Speaker 1>York at her request, supposing she was coming in relation

9
00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.159
<v Speaker 1>to a bill then pending in Congress to secure the

10
00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:38.439
<v Speaker 1>attendants of absent members. Her note to him was here shown.

11
00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.799
<v Speaker 1>She appeared to be very much excited at the Washington station.

12
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:46.880
<v Speaker 1>After she had asked the conductor several questions, he heard

13
00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:52.679
<v Speaker 1>her say he can't escape. Witness asked her who, and

14
00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:57.159
<v Speaker 1>she replied nobody did not see her. During the night,

15
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.920
<v Speaker 1>they traveled in a sleeping car. In the morning, she

16
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.799
<v Speaker 1>appeared not to have slept, said she had a headache.

17
00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:07.640
<v Speaker 1>In crossing the ferry, she asked him about the shipping

18
00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:11.519
<v Speaker 1>in sight. He pointed out where the cunarders lay. When

19
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.640
<v Speaker 1>in port. They took a cup of coffee that morning

20
00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:17.680
<v Speaker 1>at a restaurant. She said she was anxious to reach

21
00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:21.280
<v Speaker 1>the Southern Hotel where mister Simons, one of the absent members,

22
00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:25.439
<v Speaker 1>was staying, before he went out. She was entirely self possessed,

23
00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:30.640
<v Speaker 1>and beyond unusual excitement, did not act unnaturally. After she

24
00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:34.000
<v Speaker 1>had fired twice at Colonel Selby, she turned the pistol

25
00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.280
<v Speaker 1>towards her own breast, and witness snatched it from her.

26
00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:40.840
<v Speaker 1>She had been a great deal with Selby in Washington,

27
00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:45.560
<v Speaker 1>appeared to be infatuated with him. Cross examined by mister Braham,

28
00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:53.959
<v Speaker 1>Miss mister Briley, mister Braham had in perfection this lawyer's

29
00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:56.840
<v Speaker 1>trick of annoying a witness by drawling out the mister

30
00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.000
<v Speaker 1>as if unable to recall the name until the whitis

31
00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.319
<v Speaker 1>is sufficiently aggravated, and then suddenly, with a rising inflection,

32
00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:11.000
<v Speaker 1>flinging his name at him with startling unexpectedness. Mister er

33
00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:17.680
<v Speaker 1>Er Briarly, what is your occupation? Civil engineer? Sir ah er,

34
00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:22.599
<v Speaker 1>civil engineer, With a glance at the jury. Following that

35
00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:27.840
<v Speaker 1>occupation with Miss Hawkins smiles by the jury, No, Sir,

36
00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.520
<v Speaker 1>said Harry Reddening, how long have you known the prisoner?

37
00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:36.800
<v Speaker 1>Two years, Sir, I made her acquaintance in Hawkeye, Missouri.

38
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:45.919
<v Speaker 1>M M M. Mister er Briarly, were you not a

39
00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.080
<v Speaker 1>lover of Miss Hawkins? Objected to. I submit your honor

40
00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:53.719
<v Speaker 1>that I have the right to establish the relation of

41
00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:59.759
<v Speaker 1>this unwilling witness to the prisoner admitted well, Sir, said Harry, hesitatingly.

42
00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:06.479
<v Speaker 1>We were friends. You act like a friend, sarcastically. The

43
00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:09.800
<v Speaker 1>jury were beginning to hate this neatly dressed young Sprigg.

44
00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:18.919
<v Speaker 1>Missster Briarly, didn't Miss Hawkins refuse you, Harry blushed and

45
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.840
<v Speaker 1>stammered and looked at the judge. You must answer, Sir,

46
00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:29.840
<v Speaker 1>said his honor. She she didn't accept me. No, I

47
00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.319
<v Speaker 1>should think not Briarly, do you dare tell the jury

48
00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.240
<v Speaker 1>that you had no interest in the removal of your rival?

49
00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.680
<v Speaker 1>Colonel Selby, roared mister Braham in a voice of thunder.

50
00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:43.960
<v Speaker 1>Nothing like this, Sir, Nothing like this, protested the witness.

51
00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:49.360
<v Speaker 1>That's all, sir, said mister Braham severely. One word, said

52
00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:53.680
<v Speaker 1>the district attorney, had you the least suspicion of the

53
00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:57.120
<v Speaker 1>prisoner's intention up to the moment of the shooting, Not

54
00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:00.960
<v Speaker 1>the least, answered Harry. Earnestly, of course, not, of course,

55
00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.120
<v Speaker 1>not nodded mister Braham to the jury. The prosecution then

56
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:07.680
<v Speaker 1>put upon the stand the other witnesses of the shooting

57
00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.919
<v Speaker 1>at the hotel, and the clerk and the attending physicians.

58
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:15.439
<v Speaker 1>The fact of the homicide was clearly established. Nothing new

59
00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:18.360
<v Speaker 1>was elicited, except from the clerk, in reply to a

60
00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:21.839
<v Speaker 1>question by mister Braham, the fact that when the prisoner

61
00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.759
<v Speaker 1>inquired for Colonel Selby, she appeared excited and there was

62
00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:29.920
<v Speaker 1>a wild look in her eyes. The dying deposition of

63
00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:34.079
<v Speaker 1>Colonel Selby was then produced. It set forth Laura's threats,

64
00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.240
<v Speaker 1>but there was a significant addition to it which the

65
00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:40.839
<v Speaker 1>newspaper report did not have. It seemed that after the

66
00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:44.319
<v Speaker 1>deposition was taken, as reported, the colonel was told for

67
00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.839
<v Speaker 1>the first time by his physicians that his wounds were mortal.

68
00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:51.399
<v Speaker 1>He appeared to be in great mental agony and fear,

69
00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:55.279
<v Speaker 1>and said he had not finished his deposition. He added,

70
00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:00.560
<v Speaker 1>with great difficulty, in long pauses, these words, I have

71
00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:10.160
<v Speaker 1>not told all I must tell. Put it down. I

72
00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:20.480
<v Speaker 1>wronged her years ago. I can't see. Oh God, I

73
00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:26.399
<v Speaker 1>deserved that was all. He fainted and did not revive again.

74
00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.319
<v Speaker 1>The Washington Railway conductor testified that the prisoner had asked

75
00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:33.920
<v Speaker 1>him if a gentleman and his family went out on

76
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.680
<v Speaker 1>the evening train, describing the persons he had since learned

77
00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.600
<v Speaker 1>were Colonel Selby and family. Susan Cullum, colored servant at

78
00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.079
<v Speaker 1>Senator Dilworthies, was sworn. Knew Colonel Selby had seen him

79
00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.600
<v Speaker 1>come to the house often and be alone in the

80
00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:53.120
<v Speaker 1>parlor with Miss Hawkins. He came the day but one

81
00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:57.519
<v Speaker 1>before he was shot. She let him in. He appeared flustered,

82
00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:01.279
<v Speaker 1>like she heard talking in the parlor, peered like it

83
00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:07.000
<v Speaker 1>was Quarrelin was a feared sumfin was wrong. Just put

84
00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:10.720
<v Speaker 1>her ear to the keyhole of the back parlor door.

85
00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.120
<v Speaker 1>Heard a man's voice. I can't I can't good God

86
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:21.160
<v Speaker 1>quite beggin like heard young missus voice, take your choice.

87
00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:24.720
<v Speaker 1>Then if you abandon me, you knows what to expect.

88
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.079
<v Speaker 1>Then he rushes out in the house. I goes in,

89
00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:31.399
<v Speaker 1>and I says, Missus, did you ring? She was a

90
00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.319
<v Speaker 1>standing like a tiger, her eyes flashin I come right out.

91
00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.199
<v Speaker 1>This was the substance of Susan's testimony, which was not

92
00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:43.279
<v Speaker 1>shaken in the least by severe cross examination. In reply

93
00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:47.160
<v Speaker 1>to mister Brahm's question if the prisoner did not look insane,

94
00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:52.120
<v Speaker 1>Susan said, Lord, no, sir, just mad as a hornet.

95
00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:56.920
<v Speaker 1>Washington Hawkins was sworn. The pistol identified by the officer

96
00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.959
<v Speaker 1>as the one used in the homicide was produced. Washington

97
00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.600
<v Speaker 1>admitted that it was his. She had asked him for

98
00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:06.519
<v Speaker 1>it one morning, saying she thought she had heard burglars

99
00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.279
<v Speaker 1>the night before. Admitted that he never had heard burglars

100
00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:13.439
<v Speaker 1>in the house. Had anything unusual happened just before that?

101
00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.480
<v Speaker 1>Nothing that he remembered. Did he accompany her to a

102
00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:21.639
<v Speaker 1>reception at missus Schoonmaker's a day or two before? Yes,

103
00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:25.560
<v Speaker 1>what occurred? Little by little It was dragged out of

104
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.199
<v Speaker 1>the witness that Laura had behaved strangely there, appeared to

105
00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:33.000
<v Speaker 1>be sick, and he had taken her home. Upon being pushed,

106
00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:36.120
<v Speaker 1>he admitted that she had afterwards confessed that she saw

107
00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:40.800
<v Speaker 1>Selby there, and Washington volunteered the statement that Selby was

108
00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:44.600
<v Speaker 1>a black hearted villain. The district attorney said, with some

109
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:49.360
<v Speaker 1>annoyance there there that will do. The defense declined to

110
00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:53.079
<v Speaker 1>examine mister Hawkins at present. The case for the prosecution

111
00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:56.160
<v Speaker 1>was closed of the murder. There could not be the

112
00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.199
<v Speaker 1>least doubt or that the prisoner followed the deceased to

113
00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.360
<v Speaker 1>New York with her murderous intent. On the evidence, the

114
00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:06.240
<v Speaker 1>jury must convict, and might do so without leaving their seats.

115
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:09.199
<v Speaker 1>This was the condition of the case. Two days after

116
00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:12.560
<v Speaker 1>the jury had been selected, a week had passed since

117
00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:16.639
<v Speaker 1>the trial opened, and a Sunday had intervened. The public

118
00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.160
<v Speaker 1>who read the reports of the evidence saw no chance

119
00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:23.600
<v Speaker 1>for the prisoner's escape. The crowd of spectators who had

120
00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.879
<v Speaker 1>watched the trial were moved with the most profound sympathy

121
00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:30.480
<v Speaker 1>for Laura. Mister Braham opened the case for the defense.

122
00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.320
<v Speaker 1>His manner was subdued, and he spoke in so low

123
00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.120
<v Speaker 1>a voice that it was only by reason of perfect

124
00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.559
<v Speaker 1>silence in the courtroom that he could be heard. He

125
00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.600
<v Speaker 1>spoke very distinctly, however, and if his nationality could be

126
00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:47.759
<v Speaker 1>discovered in his speech, it was only in a certain

127
00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.919
<v Speaker 1>richness and breadth of tone. He began by saying that

128
00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:55.639
<v Speaker 1>he trembled at the responsibility he had undertaken, and he

129
00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:59.519
<v Speaker 1>should altogether despair if he did not see before him

130
00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.120
<v Speaker 1>a jury of twelve men of rare intelligence, whose acute

131
00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:07.559
<v Speaker 1>minds would unravel all the sophistries of the prosecution. Men

132
00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.639
<v Speaker 1>with a sense of honor which would revolt at the

133
00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:14.840
<v Speaker 1>remorseless persecution of this hunted woman by the state, Men

134
00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.799
<v Speaker 1>with hearts to feel for the wrongs of which she

135
00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.000
<v Speaker 1>was the victim. Far be it from him to cast

136
00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:24.440
<v Speaker 1>any suspicion upon the motives of the able, eloquent, and

137
00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:29.120
<v Speaker 1>ingenious lawyers of the state. They act officially. Their business

138
00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:33.039
<v Speaker 1>is to convict. It is our business, gentlemen, to see

139
00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:38.360
<v Speaker 1>that justice is done. It is my duty, gentlemen, to

140
00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.120
<v Speaker 1>unfold to you one of the most affecting dramas in

141
00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.720
<v Speaker 1>all the history of misfortune. I shall have to show

142
00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:50.320
<v Speaker 1>you a life the sport of fame and circumstances, hurried

143
00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:55.080
<v Speaker 1>along through shifting storm and sun, bright with trusting innocence,

144
00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:59.480
<v Speaker 1>and a non black with heartless villainy, a career which

145
00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:04.159
<v Speaker 1>moves on in love and desertion and anguish, always hovered

146
00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:10.080
<v Speaker 1>over by the dark specter of insanity, an insanity hereditary

147
00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:15.080
<v Speaker 1>and induced by mental torture until it ends, If end,

148
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.799
<v Speaker 1>it must, in your verdict, by one of those fearful

149
00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:23.000
<v Speaker 1>accidents which are inscrutable to men, and of which God

150
00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:27.639
<v Speaker 1>alone knows the secret. Gentlemen, I shall ask you to

151
00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.960
<v Speaker 1>go with me, away from this court room and its

152
00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.879
<v Speaker 1>minions of the law, away from the scene of this tragedy,

153
00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:39.200
<v Speaker 1>to a distant I wish I could say a happier day.

154
00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:42.559
<v Speaker 1>The story I have to tell is of a lovely

155
00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:47.759
<v Speaker 1>little girl with sunny hair and laughing eyes, traveling with

156
00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:52.159
<v Speaker 1>her parents, evidently people of wealth and refinement, upon a

157
00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:57.639
<v Speaker 1>Mississippi steamboat. There is an explosion, one of those terrible

158
00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:01.639
<v Speaker 1>catastrophes which leave the imprint of an unsettled mind upon

159
00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:07.480
<v Speaker 1>the survivors. Hundreds of mangled remains are sent into eternity.

160
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.679
<v Speaker 1>When the wreck is cleared away, this sweet little girl

161
00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:15.519
<v Speaker 1>is found among the panic stricken survivors in the midst

162
00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.879
<v Speaker 1>of a scene of horror enough to turn the steadiest brain.

163
00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:24.240
<v Speaker 1>Her parents have disappeared, search even for their bodies is

164
00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:28.960
<v Speaker 1>in vain. The bewildered, stricken child, who can say what

165
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:33.840
<v Speaker 1>changes the fearful event wrought in her tender brain, clings

166
00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:37.399
<v Speaker 1>to the first person who shows her sympathy. It is

167
00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:43.360
<v Speaker 1>missus Hawkins. This good lady, who is still her loving friend, Laura,

168
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.720
<v Speaker 1>is adopted into the Hawkins family perhaps she forgets in

169
00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:53.759
<v Speaker 1>time that she is not their child, she is an orphan. No, gentlemen,

170
00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:56.919
<v Speaker 1>I will not deceive you, she is not an orphan.

171
00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:01.320
<v Speaker 1>Worse than that, there comes another day of agony. She

172
00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:06.000
<v Speaker 1>knows that her father lives. Who is he? Where is he?

173
00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:10.120
<v Speaker 1>Alas I cannot tell you through the scenes of this

174
00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:15.120
<v Speaker 1>painful history. He flits here and there a lunatic. If

175
00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:18.960
<v Speaker 1>he seeks his daughter. It is the purposeless search of

176
00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.240
<v Speaker 1>a lunatic, as one who wanders bereft of reason, crying

177
00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:28.159
<v Speaker 1>where is my child? Laura seeks her father in vain.

178
00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:31.440
<v Speaker 1>Just as she is about to find him again and again,

179
00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:37.559
<v Speaker 1>he disappears. He is gone, he vanishes. But this is

180
00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:41.080
<v Speaker 1>only the prolog to the tragedy. Bear with me while

181
00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:46.279
<v Speaker 1>I relate it. Mister Braham takes out a handkerchief, unfolds it, slowly,

182
00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.039
<v Speaker 1>crashes it in his nervous hand, and throws it on

183
00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:54.399
<v Speaker 1>the table. Laura grew up in her humble southern home,

184
00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:58.399
<v Speaker 1>a beautiful creature, the joy of the house, the pride

185
00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:03.440
<v Speaker 1>of the neighborhood, the loveliest flower in all the sunny South.

186
00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:07.840
<v Speaker 1>She might yet have been happy. She was happy, But

187
00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.279
<v Speaker 1>the destroyer came into this paradise, He plucked the sweetest

188
00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.440
<v Speaker 1>bud that grew there, and, having enjoyed its odor, trampled

189
00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.879
<v Speaker 1>it in the mire beneath his feet. George Selby, the deceased,

190
00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:27.320
<v Speaker 1>a handsome, accomplished Confederate colonel, was this human fiend. He

191
00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:31.519
<v Speaker 1>deceived her with a mock marriage. After some months, he

192
00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.879
<v Speaker 1>brutally abandoned her and spurned her, as if she were

193
00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.399
<v Speaker 1>a contemptible thing. All the time he had a wife

194
00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.840
<v Speaker 1>in New Orleans. Laura was crushed for weeks, as I

195
00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:47.039
<v Speaker 1>shall show you by the testimony of her adopted mother

196
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.639
<v Speaker 1>and brother. She hovered over death in delirium. Gentlemen, did

197
00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:57.039
<v Speaker 1>she ever emerge from this delirium? I shall show you

198
00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:01.000
<v Speaker 1>that when she recovered her health, her mind was changed.

199
00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.519
<v Speaker 1>She was not what she had been. You can judge

200
00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:09.399
<v Speaker 1>yourselves whether the tottering reason ever recovered its throne. Years

201
00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.759
<v Speaker 1>pass she is in Washington, apparently the happy favorite of

202
00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.080
<v Speaker 1>a brilliant society. Her family have become enormously rich by

203
00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.960
<v Speaker 1>one of those sudden turns in fortune that the inhabitants

204
00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:26.200
<v Speaker 1>of America are familiar with, the discovery of immense mineral

205
00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.399
<v Speaker 1>wealth in some wild lands owned by them. She is

206
00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:34.399
<v Speaker 1>engaged in a vast philanthropic scheme for the benefit of

207
00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:38.600
<v Speaker 1>the poor by the use of this wealth. But alas,

208
00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:43.120
<v Speaker 1>even here and now, the same relentless fate pursued her.

209
00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:47.000
<v Speaker 1>The villain Selby appears again upon the scene, as if

210
00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:50.120
<v Speaker 1>on purpose to complete the ruin of her life. He

211
00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:54.279
<v Speaker 1>appeared to taunt her with her dishonor. He threatened exposure

212
00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.279
<v Speaker 1>if she did not become again the mistress of his passion. Gentlemen,

213
00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:01.960
<v Speaker 1>do you wonder if this will woman thus pursued lost

214
00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:06.320
<v Speaker 1>her reason was beside herself with fear, and that her

215
00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:10.159
<v Speaker 1>wrongs preyed upon her mind until she was no longer

216
00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:14.799
<v Speaker 1>responsible for her acts. I turn away my head as

217
00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:18.480
<v Speaker 1>one who would not willingly look even upon them, just

218
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:23.279
<v Speaker 1>vengeance of heaven. Mister Brain paused, as if overcome by

219
00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:28.000
<v Speaker 1>his emotions. Missus Hawkins and Washington were in tears, as

220
00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:33.879
<v Speaker 1>were many of the spectators. Also. The jury looked scared. Gentlemen,

221
00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.039
<v Speaker 1>in this condition of affairs, it needed but a spark.

222
00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.799
<v Speaker 1>I do not say a suggestion. I do not say

223
00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:50.639
<v Speaker 1>a hint from this butterfly. Briarly, this rejected rival to

224
00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:54.840
<v Speaker 1>cause the explosion. I make no charges. But if this

225
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:57.799
<v Speaker 1>woman was in her right mind when she fled from

226
00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.879
<v Speaker 1>Washington and reached this city in company with Briarly, then

227
00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:08.279
<v Speaker 1>I do not know what insanity is. Mister Braham sat down.

228
00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.200
<v Speaker 1>He felt that he had the jury with him. A

229
00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.720
<v Speaker 1>burst of applause followed, which the officer promptly suppressed. Laura,

230
00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:18.679
<v Speaker 1>with tears in her eyes, turned a grateful look upon

231
00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.360
<v Speaker 1>her counsel. All the women among the spectators saw the

232
00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:26.320
<v Speaker 1>tears and wept also, they thought, as they also looked

233
00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:31.320
<v Speaker 1>at mister Braham, how handsome he is. Missus Hawkins took

234
00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.399
<v Speaker 1>the stand. She was somewhat confused to be the target

235
00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.480
<v Speaker 1>of so many eyes, but her honest and good face

236
00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:42.840
<v Speaker 1>at once told in Laura's favor. Missus Hawkins said, mister Braham,

237
00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.759
<v Speaker 1>will you be kind enough to state the circumstances of

238
00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:51.519
<v Speaker 1>your finding Laura. I object, said mister mc glynn, rising

239
00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:54.320
<v Speaker 1>to his feet. This has nothing whatever to do with

240
00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:57.240
<v Speaker 1>the case, your honor. I am surprised at it, even

241
00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:01.279
<v Speaker 1>after the extraordinary speech of my learned friend. How do

242
00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.720
<v Speaker 1>you propose to connect it? Mister Braham asked the judge,

243
00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:08.799
<v Speaker 1>if it please the court, said mister Brahme, rising impressively,

244
00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.839
<v Speaker 1>Your honor has permitted the prosecution and I have submitted

245
00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:18.400
<v Speaker 1>without a word, to go into the most extraordinary testimony

246
00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:22.359
<v Speaker 1>to establish a motive. Are we to be shut out

247
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:26.000
<v Speaker 1>from showing that the motive attributed to us could not,

248
00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:32.039
<v Speaker 1>by reason of certain mental conditions exist? I propose, may

249
00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.279
<v Speaker 1>it please your honor to show the cause and the

250
00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:39.039
<v Speaker 1>origin of an aberration of mind, to follow it up

251
00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.079
<v Speaker 1>with other like evidence, connecting it with the very moment

252
00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:46.799
<v Speaker 1>of the homicide, showing a condition of the intellect of

253
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:53.160
<v Speaker 1>the prisoner that precludes responsibility. The state must insist upon

254
00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:57.039
<v Speaker 1>its objections, said the district attorney. The purpose evidently is

255
00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.920
<v Speaker 1>to open the door to a mass of irrelevant testimony,

256
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.359
<v Speaker 1>the object of which is to produce an effect upon

257
00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.359
<v Speaker 1>the jury. Your Honor well understands, perhaps, suggested the judge,

258
00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.440
<v Speaker 1>the court ought to hear the testimony and exclude it afterwards.

259
00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:15.119
<v Speaker 1>If it is irrelevant, with your honor, hear argument on

260
00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:20.279
<v Speaker 1>that certainly, and argument his honor did hear, or pretend to,

261
00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.920
<v Speaker 1>for two whole days from all the council in turn,

262
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.640
<v Speaker 1>in the course of which the lawyers read contradictory decisions

263
00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:32.119
<v Speaker 1>enough to perfectly establish both sides from volume after volume,

264
00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:36.160
<v Speaker 1>whole libraries, in fact, until no mortal man could say

265
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.599
<v Speaker 1>what the rules were. The question of insanity, in all

266
00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:42.839
<v Speaker 1>its legal aspects, was of course drawn into the discussion,

267
00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.519
<v Speaker 1>and its application affirmed and denied. The case was felt

268
00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:50.640
<v Speaker 1>to turn upon the admission or rejection of this evidence.

269
00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:53.920
<v Speaker 1>It was a sort of test trial of strength between

270
00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:57.519
<v Speaker 1>the lawyers. At the end, the judge decided to admit

271
00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:00.880
<v Speaker 1>the testimony, as the judge usually does in such cases,

272
00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:05.839
<v Speaker 1>after a sufficient waste of time in what are called arguments.

273
00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:11.640
<v Speaker 1>Missus Hawkins was allowed to go on end of chapter

274
00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.440
<v Speaker 1>fifty five