The Great Trial

The pens and tongues of contumely were arrested. Mocking mouths were shut. Even righteous protestation hushed its clamor, as when, having striven manfully in single combat, a high-helmed champion is stricken by Jove's bolt and the two snarling armies stand at sudden gaze, astonished and bereft a moment of their rancor.

The death of William Jennings Bryan furnished Tennessee's anti-Evolution case with a climax. In the trial itself (TIME, July 6 et seq.), there was no climax. Judge Raulston, having denied the defense an injunction against Teacher Scopes' indictment on the ground that the state anti-Evolution law was quite unconstitutional, and having further refused to admit scientific evidence (save as affidavits* in the record to instruct higher courts) by which the defense would have sought to disprove Scopes' misdemeanor through "reconciling" the Biblical with the scientific account of creation, there remained to the trial nothing but the bald testimony of two schoolboys that Scopes had "taught Evolution." Though the trial lasted a fortnight, costing over $25,000,/- the schoolboys' testimony was practically all the farmer-jurors were permitted to hear in the courtroom. It alone constituted the basis for their verdict of "Guilty."

After the judge had charged the jury, Defense-Counsel Darrow shuffled to the barrier. He could not enter a plea of guilty and retain his client's right of appeal in a higher court. But he could and did tell the jurors he saw no alternative for them but such a verdict. Said he: "We think we will save our point and take it to the higher court and settle whether the law is good, and also whether he [Judge Raulston] should have permitted the evidence. I guess that is plain enough."

The defense having moved to submit the case to the jury without argument, there was no final address by Mr. Bryan. To the latter this was disappointing, since he had prepared an oration which he told friends was to have been "the capstone" of his public-speaking career and the prelude to a nation-wide campaign against what Mr. Bryan suspected was an organized conspiracy among scientists to undermine and overthrow the temple of Fundamentalist religious belief.

The jury withdrew to the shelter of a sweetgum tree (it was raining) on the courthouse lawn, cast one ballot, returned after five minutes to the box. Called to the stand to state why he should not be convicted and fined $100 (the minimum penalty), said Teacher Scopes: "... An unjust statute. I will continue in the future as I have in the past to oppose. . . ."

The Baltimore Sun furnished the culprit his $500 bond. The defense promptly entered its appeal. The courtroom rang with fresh speeches, all benevolence and good-fellowship (except between "Agnostic" Darrow and "Bigot" Bryan). A reporter thanked the court for its courtesy and hospitality. So did a nondescript tourist from a back bench. The courtroom was emptied of its human contents.

Appeal. In September, the Supreme Court of Tennessee, sitting at Knoxville, will contemplate arguments for and against the two propositions of Appellant Scopes: 1) That the anti-Evolution law, prohibiting the teaching of any theory of creation which denies the account found in Genesis, is unconstitutional under Tennessee's Bill of Rights, being sectarian; 2) that if the law were valid, teaching the theory of Evolution would not--in Scopes' case, did not--constitute a misdemeanor since the two accounts--Biblical and scientific --can be shown to be compatible.

With Mr. Bryan dead, the prosecution will continue in the able hands of legalistic, shrewd young Attorney General Stewart and whimsical, shrewd old "General" Ben G. McKenzie. Lawyers Darrow, Dudley Field Malone, John R. Neal and Arthur Garfield Hays of the defense, all of whom were expected to carry on, will be joined by Lawyer Frank Spurlock of Chattanooga, well versed in the peculiarities of Tennessee law. Wrote Teacher Scopes for the Hearst press : "Success is ultimately with us."

*Membership: (some) 900,000. *Two affidavits were entered in the record to indicate the nature of testimony scientists would have borne if permitted. Dr. Maynard M. Metcalf of Johns Hopkins University drew upon Zoology to demonstrate "God's ever-growing revelation of himself." Wilbur A. Nelson, State Geologist of Tennessee, showed how the study of Geology, permitted in Tennessee these 97 years, would be impossible without introducing the theory of evolution.

/- Though counsel served feeless, the defense put its costs between $20,000 and $25,000. The largest items were transporting to Dayton the group of expert witnesses whose testimony went unheard. Actual court costs were $300, treble the fine imposed.