The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-12 00:00:00

HE NORTH ADAMS SCANDAL.

REV. MR. MERRILL'S CONFESSION.
(From the Springfield Republican.)
Rev. S. M. Merrill, the Plattsburg Methodist
minister, who was the hero in the scandal case with
a young lady at North Adams, and afterwards
tried to make people think he was drowned, when
he had in reality run away, appears now in the role
of a penitent, confessing his misdeeds and asking
for mercy, in a long communication addressed to
the 2 roy Times. 11Ir. Alerrill lays the beginning of
his troubles to the fact that he was poor and in
debt. Changing
about from place to place, after
the Methodist plan, the first years of his ministry
not getting enough to live upon alone, and after
that burdened with a constantly increasing family,
his debts continually grew more in number and
larger, and he was so low-spirited that he could only
find consolation in the company of the young and
giddy. Thus he went on from bad to worse, till
he wa3 stationed in North Adams, in 1861, where
he found the needed consolation particularly in the
company of one young lady, which may have
been natural enough, but to the unimpassioned ob-
server would hardly seem to furnish the help needed
iu his particular case. From this point the confes-
sion goes on as follows, closing with a despairing
plea to the public for mercy. Whether Mr. Mur-
rill in the confession tells the whole truth, and
_ _

nothing but the truth, NYC leave it for the public, to

appears fully as remarkable as any of the previous
developments in this remarkable case :-
‘‘ Ny debts perfectly overwhelmed me at times.
I sought the society of the young, and where most
freedom and gaiety could be found there I visited
most frequently. Thisgave occasion for talk. Some
scandal soon started in connection with my name.
But as God is true, I only sought thi3 society in
preference to the more sober to drown my trouble
of mind. I was proud and wilful, and would not
listen to the counsel of friends. Up to this time
my reputation as a minister had not materially suf-
fered. As the last year drew to a close my reputa-
tion was suffering more than I was at the time
aware of. I was indiscreet. I called at the-house
of the family with whom my name has been so
sadly associated.more frequently than I ought to
have done.my
e 1 notut G
onolay myself an injury, but
the fa
knows I did not intend
to injure any one. Two or three of the family were
members of the choir and excellent singers. This
il But
served to furnish relief from the gloom and darkness
which had settled down upon me. I always appeared
cheerful. But it was all put on. I was miserable
indeed. When on my way West, I met the lady
whose name has been so unfortunately associated with
my own in Troy, and accompanied her to Albany,
a most careless and imprudent step. This gave oc-
casion for that awful article which appeared in the
7 imes, charging us with an elopement. When
that article was published we were more than 200
miles apart, and when the paper was handed me
and I read the article the last ray of light seemed to
be extinguished. I was on my way home. Oh
God ! my mind wandered and my brain was on fire.
I tried to pray. I wept and walked the boat. I
returned to Troy and secured a retraction in the
papers. But whatever paper I took in my hands
from distant parts of the country, my eyes were
horrified with the most extravagant and false state-
ments in relation to me. And here I desire to say
that no part of the blame or censure belonging
to me for imprudence or wrong doing in the whole
matter should be cast upon the young lady involved
in this sad affair. lam older, and on my un-;
covered head let the blows of condemnation fall. I
am to blame. Every fair-minded person will see
that what I now say cannot be said to screen me
or in any way help my case, further than as truth
will do it. But as God is my judge, and as I expect
to give a strict account at His bar in the last great
day for all I speak and do ; and as I hope for ac-
quittal when all men shall stand silent before God,
so far as any crime is concerned with me, or any
other being on earth, as far as I know, that young
lady is as pure as the stars that shine over her head
by night, or the sun which lights her path by day.
"I went home to my desolate and sorrow-bowed
family. I tried tc hope. I tried to pray. A
horror of darkness came over me. I owed full
one thousand dollars, three hundred of which was
bank paper just due, and but one hundred dollars
on earth to pay the debts. My reputation was
blasted—my hopes crushed. I walked my house—
I walked the streets in gloom. I did not know
what to do. I resolved to throw myself into the
river, and either sink to the bottom never to rise
or escape in the darkness and never be seen again
by any one I knew. I arranged the grim and
dreadful work with the hot tears burning their
way down my face. I plunged wild and madly
into the stream. But, oh God ! The agonised
cries of my poor affrighted boys tore into my
bleeding heart. I made my waY out far down
the river. I ran to my house, and passing up
through the cellar, got some dry clothes, and
started on- my dreary and desolate course to-
wards Canada. All night long I walked, and
cried and prayed, those fearful cries tearing into
my heart and making me sick and faint. But
the awful deed was done. The ruin was
accomplished. For two weeks I moved about
from place to place a walking desolation. For
the first time it ()waved to me that my