Skip to main content.

Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume 10 - Legal

For those who like courtroom drama, here are Ingersoll’s Opening and Closing arguments on the most famous trials of his career--the Star Route Trials which stretched over 2 years, revealing high government corruption in the U.S. Post Office system's westward expansion. Ingersoll was lead counsel for the defense. Compiled from countless reports and endless conflicting details (much like untangling a huge pile of fishing line), it was said that his prodigious memory of the minutest details without referring to the record, knowledge of the law, impregnable logic, forensic power, lucidity, almost infallible judgment, remarkable ability as an orator that kept the courtroom spellbound; his uniform fairness, tact, candor, humor, and matchless summing up, are vividly captured in these transcripts. "He absolutely made no mistakes", said one federal judge. This volume also contains 3 shorter trial summations: the Munn Trial, the Davis Will Case, and the Russell Case. This is the entirety of Volume X, Dresden Edition, pub. 1900. ~ Summary by Michele Fry (24 hr 36 min)

Chapters

00. Publisher's Preface

01. 1.1 The Munn Trial, Part 1

02. 1.2 The Munn Trial, Part 2

03. 2.1 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 1

04. 2.2 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 2

05. 2.3 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 3

06. 2.4 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 4

07. 2.5 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 5

08. 2.6 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 6

09. 2.7 First Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 7

10. 3.1 Second Star Route Trial, Opening Address, Part 1

11. 3.2 Second Star Route Trial, Opening Address, Part 2

12. 3.3 Second Star Route Trial, Opening Address, Part 3

13. 3.4 Second Star Route Trial, Opening Address, Part 4

14. 3.5 Second Star Route Trial, Opening Address, Part 5

15. 4.1 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 1

16. 4.2 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 2

17. 4.3 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 3

18. 4.4 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 4

19. 4.5 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 5

20. 4.6 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 6

21. 4.7 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 7

22. 4.8 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 8

23. 4.9 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 9

24. 23. 4.9 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 10

25. 4.11 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 11

26. 4.12 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 12

27. 4.13 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 13

28. 4.14 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 14

29. 4.15 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 15

30. 4.16 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 16

31. 4.17 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 17

32. 4.18 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 18

33. 4.19 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 19

34. 4.20 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 20

35. 4.21 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 21

36. 4.22 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 22

37. 4.23 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 23

38. 4.24 Second Star Route Trial, Closing Address, Part 24

39. 5.1 The Davis Will Case, Address To The Jury, Part 1

40. 5.2 The Davis Will Case, Address To The Jury, Part 2

41. 5.3 The Davis Will Case, Address To The Jury, Part 3

42. 5.4 The Davis Will Case, Address To The Jury, Part 4

43. 6. The Russell Case, Argument before the Vice-Chancellor