The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-10-21

| the detention. NOT receiving TINS letter, Ut
Parker, on the 25th of May, addressed Mrs
! Stowe again
DR.. PGrker's third letter TO Mrs. Store.
New YORK, LEROY PLACE,
Nay 25, 1852.
MADAM: | have addressed to you two com
munications respecting your holding me up tc
public odium In each | have demanded an
open and full retraction. You have not pro-
posed any PREPARATION for the wrong, nor even
deigned a reply. My letters were under date
of the Sth and the 18th instant. Sufficient
time has elapsed. The calumny is still spread
ing | am not bound in justice to wait longer.
Yet it is my desire to exercise spirit of Chris
tian forbearance. sincerely depreeate the ne
cesSity of placing you in an embarrassing posi-
ton. beg Of you, do not compel me to do
so. | have no resentments to crafty. do
not wish, because you have injured me, to in
jure you. On the contrary, it will afford me
great pleasure to be spared the necessity OF
public conflict with lady, professed Chris
tian. and the wife of clergyman.
Though you can never repair the wrong you
have done, you can make such amends as will,
if made now, satisfy me. Should you find
yourself in difficulty hereafter, therefore, be
pleased to remember that it is not of my seek
ing greatly prefer that you should not com
pei me to appear before the public in u conflict
with you respecting matter which you can
so easily bring to an amicable adjustment and
that, too, without doing anything which one
who has inflicted wrong ought not to regard
as pleasure to perform Respectfully
JOEL PARKER.
Mrs. Fl. b. Stope.
In the mean time, Mrs Stowe was making
every practicable inquiry to ascertain the ORR
gin of this paragraph, and the correctness or
incorrectness of Dr. Parker's assertion in re-
spect to it, She was assured by clergymen per-
sonally cognizant of the history of the matter,
of the highest responsibility, personally and by
letter, that she had not done injustice to DR..
Parker. Friends in Philadelphia were written
to the copies of the Christian Observer con-
tanning the original articles of Dr. Parker were
solicited visited DR.. Hatfield, of New York,
myself who was Of impression that Mrs. Stowe
was correct; and rs he was on the eve of leav-
ing for the n s. Presbyterian General Assem-
bly, at Washington, procured his promise to
see Mr. Converse editor of the Christian d.
serUer, and to investigate the facts. Through
a friend, Mrs. Stowe wrote to the gentleman,
who was DR.. Parker's respondent in the con-
troversy in which the language was said to
have been employed, and received from him
the following brief note, which he afterwards
confirmed by a more elaborate letter.
DEAR BROTHER | received your note, and
called to see you. If DR. p. denies the state
ment made by Mrs. Stowe, it will be strange
These are his exact words used by him in our
controversy; "What are the evils that are IN
sepGrabie from slavery There is not one that
is not equally IneparGble from depraved hu-
man nature in other lawful relations" If Mrs.
Stowe uses the word incideataL it is probable
he POUNDS his denial on that error can fur
nish you with the number of the Christian Oh
server, if you desire it. Truly yours
A. Room.
Such being the state Of facts, upon the arri-
val of DR.. Parker's third letter, Mrs. Stowe re-
garded it rs an affront-an attempt at intmi-
dating her, not with a threat of pecuniary
damages, but the publicity Of lawsuit which
might be supposed to be one of the things which
a sensitive woman would most dread The
very threat was reason for frmness, and Mrs
Stowe addressed DR.. Parker second letter on
the same day that this was received:
Mrs. STORES second letter TO Dr. Parker.
May IS.
DEAR SIR: | mailed reply to your note on
Saturday. fit has not reached you, it proba-
bly, is owing to my having mailed it for New
York simply, and will perhaps be found by
more particular inquiry at the post Office
In case you receive that, you will be appri-
zed of my views; and in case you do not, by
addressing Il note to my brother, Henry Ward
Beecher, duplicate of it can be forwarded to
you. am sorry for the delay.
In regard to the threats implied in your let
tor, give me leave to say, that though for many
reasons, should regret public encounter on
this subject, yet my conviction, derived from
facts, documents, and the testimony of living
witnesses, is that such an issue would be far
more unfortunate for you than for me. With
the knowledge that | have noW, it is entirely
out of my power conscentiously, to say that
believe you have not uttered the sentiments in
question. ! cannot help my convictions in view
of evidence; and could not for my own broth
er make any public statement contrary to those
conuictions Nopersonal feeling influences me-
1t is matter of regret that am obliged to
think as do. would be very glad to think
myself mistaken.
repeat what | said in my letter, that the
point lies not between you and me- but you and
the pubic-you and men who hold in their
hands the documents in which this sentiment
is unequivocally asserted When you can
prove to the public and to me, that these senti-
ment, are all mistaken, and account for your
so long suffering this allegation to lie upon you
unnoticed, will with the greatest pleasure do
anything you shall request to set you right be-
fore the public
| leave town on Thursday, and any future
communications must be addressed to my
brother, H. w. Beecher who is in full posses
sion of the subject Yours, truly,
--H.-B b. STewE