SILVIA HOLLAND'S GREAT PLEA TO THE JURY
Hours before court time the next morning an immense crowd packed the
streets around the building, and when the doors were opened it was
useless to attempt the enforcement of the ticket rule. When the court
convened the space outside the rail was jammed with a crowd that
threatened to overflow the space inside which was reserved for members
of the legal profession, witnesses, and the family of the defendant. It
was an orderly crowd, however, and the tension of silence was so
complete that it held them in a kind of paralysis of attention when the
gavel fell and the stentorian voice of the bailiff called his "Hear ye."
As soon as he sat down the Court recognized Silvia. She took her place
at the end of the counsel table with a few papers within reach. The
district attorney noticed with satisfaction that they were very few. She
was gowned in pure white, and her hair rippled back from her broad
forehead, and with head proudly erect and with easy, natural pose, she
faced the jury, which gave her instant and absorbed attention. She spoke
slowly, deliberately, and her soft, musical voice was heard distinctly
in every corner of the courtroom.
"Gentlemen of the Jury: Human life is the greatest mystery in a universe
of mystery. It springs into existence with the knowledge of the ages
coursing through its sensibilities and inherently possessing all of the
passion and prejudice of countless centuries. Where it started none of
us knows. Where the aeons ahead of us destine it to end none of us can
tell. Deliberately to blot from this earth and its service that which
comes into the world so divinely equipped with knowledge and inspiration
requires both sublime courage and indescribable depravity; sublime
courage to invite the hostility of the vast, complicated, mysterious
forces that are embodied in a human life, however humble it may be;
indescribable depravity to destroy the most useful and the most
beautiful product of this earth.
"Yet the statute in this and other American States for the punishment of
those who take human life is made to apply but to a fraction of those
guilty of such offense. The individual who shoots or otherwise takes the
life of another is always prosecuted and generally punished. The
association, whose culpable neglect of the ordinary dictates of humanity
in making its employees safe, is not even prosecuted for factory girls
destroyed in a fire, for miners entombed in the earth, for passengers
and trainmen hurled to their death that dividends may be wrung from soft
roadbeds and rotten rails, for excursion boats so built as to prevent
the saving of passengers in case of accident; and what must be said of
those economic and social conditions that drive thousands to
self-destruction every year and that destroy all Christian and political
ideals, the proper development of which would preclude the possibility
of crime!
"You, gentlemen, represent the collected society of which I am a part,
and the fact is worth your consideration at least, that under the system
of woman parasitism, dependence, and, in a way, slavery, the rugged
qualities of strength of purpose, of womanly self-reliance, of
constantly expanding mental and moral natures that so distinguished our
foremothers, and which mean so much to the character of children, which
in turn mean so much to the character of the citizen and the nation,
have largely disappeared.
"In every consideration of crime, its cause should be of interest to
those who represent the State. I am not seeking to minimize or palliate
or excuse whatever crime may have been committed in this case, but
_that_ society which is seeking its own safety and perpetuity cannot too
strongly be urged to beware of the universal menace to its existence, as
well as to guard against those individuals that war only against
individuals. So I appeal to you in this case, if crime there be, to deal
with the perpetrator of such crime with all due justice, but with that
mercy and consideration which these thoughts may suggest, and which we
owe to the weaker members of society.
"Whatever crime was committed in this case sprang from the old order of
our existence, which is rapidly passing away; it was nurtured in that
soil which most of us cultivate too much, and which produces envy,
malice, hatred, uncharitableness and other destructive and despoiling
human traits. I have no quarrel with the character of the testimony with
which it is sought to convict the defendant, for circumstantial
evidence is the most reliable, the most convincing, the least subject to
perjury of any evidence recognized by the law, and, as I shall undertake
to demonstrate to you, it is absolutely unassailable when each link of
the chain fits perfectly in every other one. I am not unmindful of the
very strong case which the district attorney has made against the
defendant, and it may be that his contention is the correct one. That is
a matter for you to determine."
There was a little stir in the courtroom at this extraordinary
statement, and Hilda looked at her husband and then at her brother and
the hot flush of resentment dyed her white face to the hair.
"The motive of malpractice on the child," Silvia went on evenly, "and a
troublesome _liaison_ with the mother do, indeed, seem to be powerful,
but what can be said for those motives when I prove to your entire
satisfaction that the setting of this fracture and the subsequent
treatment and final results are among some of the best ever attending
such cases in this large city; that the tuberculosis of the knee is the
recurrence of a disease which had attacked the child five years before
in the glands of the neck and which broke forth afresh in the knee
because of her low physical condition and the immediate injury to the
knee; that what I shall present will so conclusively prove the
impossibility of a _liaison_ between Dr. Earl and Mrs. Bell that there
cannot even remain the suspicion of such a thing?
"The mystery of her support since last April I alone can clear up with
checks and other evidence so convincing in character as to leave no
doubt. It is embarrassing but necessary to bring myself as a witness
into this trial. I found this poor woman with a great and secret sorrow,
not knowing how to earn a living and by industrial independence develop
the best qualities of her nature, and I undertook to teach her
self-reliance and to lead her into the new life of social and economic
freedom. Had she been thus trained from girlhood this tragedy would have
been impossible, and her life would have been full of beauty, for I have
never known a sweeter character. In the meantime I loaned--not gave, but
loaned her the money to live upon. She would have resented a gift. She
was making splendid progress with her fine sewing, and would soon have
been independent of any financial aid. But the sorrow which hung over
her, and which all this time was and still is a mystery to me, seemed
to dominate her life, as I will presently show you.
"It was the ghost of the old environment, of the old parasitical age,
when women were so easily enslaved with the promise of idle luxury and
transient caresses, stalking into the midst of a nobler effort and
beckoning her backward while yet the understanding and courage were not
sufficiently seasoned. Later I shall go into these things more fully.
"I will prove to you by the proper Federal officials that, owing to a
change of design by the government, the ten-cent stamps on this package,
bearing this particular vignette, could only be purchased in three or
four post-offices in the United States for several months before and at
the time the package was mailed, and the only place east of the
post-office at St. Louis was in Providence, Rhode Island, and I shall
also prove that the defendant has not been in Providence in four years.
You will notice that stamps to the value of sixty cents were placed on
the parcel, when half that amount would have been sufficient, showing
that whoever mailed it did not care to have it officially weighed.
"Another circumstance worthy your attention is that poisoning by
hydrocyanic acid is so easily recognized that it has seldom been used
for purposes of murder, except in cases where the person committing the
crime felt safe as to his own identity, and desired to make it appear
that some one else had done the deed."
She paused in her recital and cast a glance at a large, muscular man,
seated among a group of witnesses for the defense. He gave her an almost
imperceptible nod in the affirmative, and she went on slowly and
impressively:
"What is more, gentlemen of the jury, this candied fruit was not
purchased in Boston, but in Providence, and the person buying it
insisted on a perfectly plain box, without any name upon it; he also
bought several separate pieces of similar fruit."
There was a buzz of excitement in the human hive, which the bailiff
suppressed by a sharp rap of his gavel. Those who had caught the signal
turned their eyes from Silvia to the large man, but there was nothing in
his impassive demeanor to attract attention.
The defendant and his family were evidently as much at sea as were the
others in the courtroom as to the significance of these assertions, but
the look of worry had entirely disappeared from the face of Dr. Earl.
"It is true," she went on, "that I had taken the little girl to the
country for a week when this awful crime was committed, but Dr. Earl
knew nothing of this, and the evidence is already so clear as to need no
further illumination that the person who sent the poisoned candy was
aware of the fact that the child was not at home, and would not be for
several days at least. So clear is it that Dr. Earl did not know the
child was in the country that I will prove to you that he sent to her
city address a box of pecans which were forwarded by her mother to the
country, and I will offer in evidence the box in which they were sent.
The person who mailed this box had designs on one victim only, and had
the child been at home she would undoubtedly have been the one killed,
for she would have been certain to receive the first piece. With all due
deference to the learned district attorney, and while his theory is
possible that a kiss given and received might have caused the death of
the other, the probability is so remote that a person skilled in the
knowledge of poisons and their effects, as Dr. Earl is, would scarcely
have undertaken to poison two people in this clumsy and uncertain
fashion, when the placing of two pieces of candied fruit instead of one
on the top of the box was all that was necessary to insure the end
desired."
She paused again, and gave the large man another look, and then
exhibited a card to the jury, which she had been holding in her hand
from the beginning of her address.
"No, gentlemen, the poison was intended for but one person, and that
person partook of it," she said sadly and earnestly. She held a picture
postal so the jury could see it. "This postcard, as you see, was sent to
Mrs. Bell from Magnolia a few days before the crime occurred. It is
dated August 5th; her death took place August 9th. Look at the address
on this card, and at the message on the other side. Now let me show you
a strange thing, which cannot be merely a coincidence."
She took the outer layer of thin white paper that had wrapped the box,
on which were the stamps and the address, and laid it over the same
address on the card, and the length and formation of each letter were
identical, the punctuation marks and the lines of shading were the same,
on paper and card.
"You see how this has been done," she said. "The address on the paper is
written with an indelible pencil. Ink would have spread and blotted. We
shall prove to you that the address on the box was copied by tracing
from this identical card, as also were the closing words on the card
with the initials which were traced on the paper that is pasted on the
top of the box--'With best wishes to you and Alice. J. E.'"
The district attorney protested to the Court against so much detail and
proof going into an opening statement, and the Judge looked inquiringly
at Silvia.
"I know I am pursuing an unusual course," she replied, "but I promise
your honor, and also the honorable district attorney, that I will not
abuse my privilege, and if you gentlemen will bear with me I am certain
that I shall be able to render a distinct service to the State."
The Judge had followed her carefully, and being one of those wearers of
the ermine who believe that substantial justice rather than technical
results should be the aim of courts in criminal trials, said to the
district attorney, "I am certain that Miss Holland fully understands the
rules of procedure in this court and will adhere to them as strictly as
the nature of her defense will permit. If I think she is overstepping
them, I will stop her."
Silvia gave another glance at the large man. His eyes were on the little
group by his side at the time, but the silence caused him to turn to her
again, and after another affirmative nod she resumed.
"It is difficult for me to cause pain to anything that lives. I feel
that the ant, with its wonderful little organism, is as much entitled to
the uses and joys of this dear old world as I am. When I enlisted in
this case it was to defend a man whom I felt certain was innocent, not
to bring any other person to the bar of justice, and even now, if I
could clear the fair name of my client from the remotest suspicion of
ever having thought of this crime, without injury to another, I should
much prefer to do so. Not that I am unmindful of my duty as a citizen,
but I am more conscious of the tenderer feelings that are of necessity
appealed to in such a case.
"When in the discharge of my duty I found suspicious footprints leading
elsewhere I spent hours determining what course I should pursue in this
complicated situation. The sequel will give all of you, in the jury box
and in this courtroom, an opportunity to decide whether my course has
been the right one. God knows I have prayed to be shown another way, but
I could discover none."
She paused, and the tears were glistening in her eyes and her voice
trembled, but she regained her self-control at once.
"Before I did aught else, I had two skilled detectives watch the
suspected person; their observations were all too convincing. It was
Eugene Aram again telling his dream to the child, but this time the
guilt was acted.
"Then down I cast me on my face,
And first began to weep,
For I knew my secret then was one
That earth refused to keep:
Or land or sea, though he should be
Ten thousand fathoms deep.
"So wills the fierce, avenging sprite,
Till blood for blood atones!
Ay, though he's buried in a cave,
And trodden down with stones,
And years have rotted off his flesh--
The world shall see his bones!"
Once more the tears shone in her eyes, tears that were the only
consolation one wretched soul in that courtroom was ever to know, but
she dashed them away impatiently.
"To prevent injustice, and possible injury, the suspected man has been
kept under surveillance ever since."
Again there was a murmur of voices over the courtroom, and Frank, who
had entered hastily, just after she began her address, called her
attention to a large envelope which he laid on the table before her. She
looked at him, and then at the envelope, and gave an involuntary start
of surprise and a hastily stifled exclamation. "The missing letter!" she
said, under her breath, and hastily tore it open, and glanced at the
first and last pages, while the bailiff restored order.
"I must beg your honor's indulgence," she said, "for a few moments. This
letter contains information of vital importance, and as your honor sees,
it has just come into my hands."
The Judge granted her request, and while she hastily read the document,
the excited murmur swelled again in spite of the glaring bailiff. In a
few minutes she turned to the Judge.
"Your honor," she said, "this is a letter to me written by Mrs. Bell
only a few hours before her death; I can easily prove her handwriting,
and in any event, it is sworn to before a notary. The matter contained
therein will end this trial. That I can use it as part of the _res
gesta_, I have no doubt. I will submit it to the district attorney and
ask him to examine it, and then give it to your honor. In the interest
of justice and my client I would like to read it to the jury at this
time."
She handed the letter to the district attorney, and while he read it she
seated herself and conferred with Frank. "Where in the world did you get
it?" she asked.
"Carroll and spooks," he began, and then went on more seriously, "but
where on earth did you hide yourself? We have been madly tearing around
New York, and telephoning all over the adjacent territory in a wild
endeavor to find you and get this into your hands. I'm not going to tell
you about the letter itself; that's Carroll's story. We've been to the
Studios, and everywhere else we thought there was a possibility of
finding you, and waited at your office until the last minute in the hope
that you'd come there."
"I spent the night at Nutwood, making a last search for the letter," she
said. "It was only a chance, but I felt that I couldn't give it up.
This morning I motored down, and we had some delay, so that I had to
come directly here. But it's all right."
The Judge finished reading the letter, and called Silvia to the bench,
where they held a whispered conversation with the district attorney,
glancing once or twice toward the little group of witnesses where the
large man sat. Then Silvia returned to her seat, and the district
attorney gave some hurried directions to a deputy, who immediately left
the room, while the Judge gave whispered instructions to a bailiff, who
stationed himself at the general entrance.
"You may read the letter, Miss Holland," said the Judge, and the tension
in the courtroom grew almost intolerable as she rose, holding the letter
in shaking hands, and began reading:
"'NEW YORK, August 9.
"'MY DEAR MISS HOLLAND:
"'The secret I have longed and yet hesitated to tell you must now be
disclosed. Of course my trouble has been caused by a man, a man whom I
have known a long time and loved too well. He was here day before
yesterday and we had a stormy interview--which he says shall be the
last. For a long time his manner has been changed toward me, and for the
last few months he has neglected me. He didn't seem to like it when I
got acquainted with you, or when you paid so much attention to Allie; he
said he didn't see what you wanted of her, and asked me how you came to
take her to the country and when she would be back, and wanted to know
if I had told you or Dr. Earl of my relations with him. I said certainly
not, and when I reproached him for not coming to see me he said he
couldn't come here. Since Allie was hurt, I have only met him a few
times. Sometimes I have been happy when I was with him, for I loved, and
I love him, better than my life, but I have not wanted to deceive you,
and every day the old life has grown harder to bear. I think I have
always believed that he would marry me, as he promised in the beginning,
until this summer. Now I see that, more than he has deceived me, I have
deceived myself, as every woman deceives herself when she forgets the
honor of the present for promises that are to be redeemed in the future.
"'I had made up my mind to break away from this life and try to begin
over again; you had shown me the way, and I saw the means by which I
could support myself and Allie, and not be beholden to him. God knows I
never wanted to take his money, and when it was grudgingly given it was
worse than gall and wormwood to have to ask him for it. I did not mean
to see him any more, for when I look into his face I forget everything
except the days when he did love me. I meant to tear him out of my
heart, and devote my life to Allie.
"'And then, Miss Holland, I made the discovery that has made me
desperate, the one discovery that tells a woman she is helpless, and
that not only her whole future, but that of another, depend upon the
whim of a man. I demanded that he should keep his promise; I will not
permit a child of mine to go through the world bearing the brand of
illegitimacy, and I told him so plainly. Perhaps I was wrong to lose my
temper and threaten him, but I am half mad. I told him I might bear the
blame, and the pain, but that if he allowed me to go through this
dreadful time alone that he should share the shame, if I dragged him
through the courts to fasten it on him.
"'I don't wonder much that he was infuriated with me, or that he
threatened to kill me if I didn't let him alone. He said he hadn't the
money to give me all I needed, but if I would be sensible and not make a
fuss and a scandal, when he married the rich woman he expected to win
that he would give me a fortune ample for myself and my children for the
balance of my life. I think it was the thought of his marrying another
woman when my child was coming into the world fatherless that made me
beside myself, but I could not bear it and I said some dreadful things.
"'Now, I want to know what I can do, or if there is any law to defend a
woman who makes a mistake; if there is, I know you will find it. I am
going to swear to this, so you will know that I am in earnest, and will
not back out like so many women do.
"'One other thing I think I ought to tell you. While we were talking he
picked up the postal Dr. Earl sent me, from Magnolia, and then he began
all over again and talked awfully about him. I don't know why, but he
hates him and will injure him if he can.
"'You will find this at your office when you get back from the country;
even now I can't bear to tell the whole truth, and yet I suppose you
must know it if you are to help me. What fools women are, Miss Holland;
I ought to hate him, and yet if it were to be the last word I should
ever write--now, as I always have, I love Orrin Morris.
"'Your unhappy friend,
'EMMA BELL.'"
Silvia had scarcely finished the letter, pausing instinctively before
she read the name of the guilty man, when the large man, who had been
furtively keeping guard of the little group of witnesses where Dr.
Morris was seated, sprang toward Morris in a vain attempt to knock from
his hand a vial which he but that instant had touched to his lips. At
the same moment a smaller man on the other side of the group made a
similar effort, but they were both too late. Almost instantly the doomed
man became rigid, a slight froth appeared on his lips, the pupils of his
eyes dilated and the lids opened in a wide and horrible stare. There was
a general rush in his direction on the part of the medical men gathered
for the trial, but the first of the physicians to gain his side saw the
hopelessness of any effort to save him and waved the crowd back. In less
than five minutes he was dead, and in the sudden appalled silence the
bailiffs cleared a way and removed the body, a considerable portion of
the curious crowd following.
Every day during the trial Dr. Morris had occupied practically the same
seat in the courtroom. His naturally colorless face gave no indication
of the emotions within, and when Silvia's address told him all too
plainly that his deeds were to be publicly uncovered, he turned a trifle
more livid, but otherwise gave no evidence of his feelings. He had known
for several days that he was under surveillance and he understood, at
last, that the reason for his subpoena as an expert for the defense was
to keep him constantly in attendance on the court, but he faced his
ordeal with resolute will, if not with supreme courage. As often before
during his career he had carefully scanned the path he was to tread and
was prepared for every emergency. When the fatal exposure came, which he
had hoped until the last might be withheld, he was determined that none
should know aught from his lips concerning its truth or falsity. They
might speculate as to the significance of his death by his own hand,
but he would neither say nor do anything that would throw additional
light upon the subject.
Poor Morris! Other learned professional men before him had sought to
mystify the world as to their misdeeds by blotting out their own lives,
not realizing that every accusing finger of the seen and the unseen
world would be instinctively and unerringly pointed toward their mortal
remains with the final and irrevocable verdict--"Suicide is confession."
When quiet was restored the Court ordered the defendant to come forward,
and Silvia, trembling with emotion, stepped to the front of the Judge's
bench with him.
"It is quite evident, sir," began the Judge, clearing his throat, "that
a mistake has been made in your case. Not an intentional one, or one
that could have been avoided, apparently. The manner in which you have
been defended leaves not a vestige of suspicion attaching to you either
in connection with this matter, your professional qualifications or your
standing as a citizen. Let me assure you that such a result, under the
circumstances, is most gratifying to all of the officers of the law, for
our purpose is to guard society by punishing the guilty and protecting
the innocent. Sir, you are discharged as a defendant in this case."
Great applause greeted this speech from the Court, and the district
attorney added his own tribute, while Silvia was given an impromptu
reception by jurors, court officers and spectators. When this was over,
and the throng that had surrounded her and her client went their way on
the quest of new sensations, she found herself standing alone with him
before the bench, in almost the identical spot where he had entered his
plea of "Not guilty" a few weeks before. The Ramseys and Frank and
Carroll were eagerly waiting their turn to shower congratulations upon
them, but as John Earl took both her hands in his, Silvia was
unconscious of all else. The eyes she lifted to his were swimming in
happy tears that could not drown the love they revealed. He dared not
trust his voice for more. Besides, what more was there to say? For all
the world lay in the single word--"Silvia!"
* * * * *
In a short time, Jack and Silvia were absorbed in their respective
professions, but never failing in their duty to the great world
movement that was making real the prophecy of England's poetic seer:
"We two will serve them both in aiding her--
Will clear away the parasitic forms
That seem to keep her up but drag her down--
Will leave her space to burgeon out of all
Within her--let her make herself her own
To give or keep, to live and learn and be
All that not harms distinctive womanhood."
There was no "task" to their duties, for the all-powerful though subtle
inspiration of genuine love made each day only a part of a splendid
dream which they felt could never end.
And the love that leads to high endeavor and unlocks the storehouses of
human progress crowned their efforts with success, and humanity was
better and nobler for their deeds and example.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's An American Suffragette, by Isaac N. Stevens