Page:The World's Most Famous Court Trial - 1925.djvu/95

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Therefore, I am pleased to overrule the objection of counsel and invite Dr. Stribling to open the court with prayer.

Mr. Darrow—I note an exception, your honor.

Thereupon Dr. Stribling proceeded to offer the following prayer:

Dr. Stribling—Our Father, to Thee we give all the praise for every good thing in life and we invoke Thy blessings upon us this morning, as accountable beings to Thee as we enter into the duties of this day. It matters not what our relation to man may be. We have a responsibility to fulfill, righteously the tasks that are ours to do and we would ask Thee this morning, oh God, to make us fully conscious of Thy presence and to give unto us minds that are willing to be directed in the way Thou wouldst have us do. We pray, our Father, to bless the proceedings of this court, bless the court, the judge, as he presides, and may there be in every heart and in every mind a reverence to the Great Creator of the world.

We ask Thee, our Father, to help us, every one to find our place in our relation to every other man, so that we can best serve, can best know human interests and can best sympathize with the needs of every heart.

To this end we ask that Thou wilt enlighten our minds and lead us to understand and know truth in all its every phase, we ask it in the name of our Blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen.

The Court—Open court, Mr. Sheriff, pursuant to adjournment. Be seated.

Thereupon court was regularly opened.

The Court—Any motions this morning, gentlemen? Any further motions? Col. Darrow, did I understand you to finish your argument or not?

Mr. Darrow—Your honor, I only reserved the right this morning in looking over my points to see whether I had forgotten something. I find that I covered everything that I wished to cover and submit the argument now.

The Court—Anything further from the state? Of course not.

Gen. Stewart—No, sir; not on that.

The Court—Well, of course, these are profound questions, gentlemen, which you present to me. I worked late last night; but the lights were out until 8:30 and I couldn't do anything until that time. As I said yesterday it is not my disposition to guess if I can avoid doing so, when deciding issues involved in a lawsuit and therefore I will have to ask the indulgence of the court this morning, until I finish my investigation, and the preparation of my ruling upon these questions. I don't know how long that will be—possibly two hours.

Mr. Neal—We have a demurrer that we wish to file and consider for decision nunc pro tunc?

The Court—Involving the same questions?

Mr. Neal—Yes, sir.

The Court—You might consider it as filed now, and let me act on both together if you desire? Is that agreeable to you, Gen. Stewart?

Gen. Stewart—I would like to see the demurrer?

The Court—Have you furnished him a copy?

Mr. Neal—No, sir; but we will.

The Court—If you want to make any pictures, boys, make them now. I will have to excuse you from the stage.

Mr. Neal—The same questions are raised.

The Court—You raised the same questions by a different route.

Mr. Neal—Yes, sir; that is right.

The Court—You are not sure as to the method.

Mr. Darrow—That is all there is to it.

The Court—If you want to make any pictures, I will give you fifteen minutes.

Gen. Stewart—Your honor, just adjourn until this afternoon. It is 10:00 o'clock now?