THE ART OF CROSS-EXAMINATION
Mr. Beecher (sarcastically). "Perhaps he is the only audience you can get."
Mr. Fullerton. "If I succeed in converting brother Sherman, I will consider my work as a Christian minister complete."
Mr. Fullerton then read a passage from the sermon, the effect of which was that if a person commits a great sin, and the exposure of it would cause misery, such a person would not be justified in confessing it, merely to relieve his own conscience. Mr. Beecher admitted that he still considered that "sound doctrine."
At this point Mr. Fullerton turned to the court, and pointing to the clock, said, "Nothing comes after the sermon, I believe, but the benediction." His Honor took the hint, and the proceedings adjourned.[1]
In this same trial Hon. William M. Evarts, as leading counsel for Mr. Beecher, heightened his already international reputation as an advocate. It was Mr. Evarts's versatility in the Beecher case that occasioned so much comment. Whether he was examining in chief or on cross, in the discussion of points of evidence, or in the summing up, he displayed equally his masterly talents. His cross-examination of Theodore Tilton was a masterpiece. His speeches in court were clear, calm, and logical. Mr. Evarts was not only a great lawyer, but an orator and statesman of the highest distinction. He has
- ↑ Extracts from the daily press accounts of the proceedings of one of the thirty days of the trial as reported in "Modern Jury Trials," Donovan.
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