New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-24
EAMIIY FAMk.

the public journals concerning members OF her
family, viz:
l. That DIR. Lyman Beecher upon certain
occasion prayed and preached in church, when
only one man was present. and that TINS mol
yidual was then and there converted. False.
9. That one of the Beecher brothers, at his
sons ordination, charged his offspring to re-
member that "he was the grandson OF his
" grandfather the son of his father, and the
"nephew of his uncle" False.
3. That Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe owned
place in Florida lost it for want of title, and
lost her orange crop beside; and, moreover
that "she had changed her opinion of the negro
character" False
A. That the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher COM
menced a sermon by saying ut is damned
hot" False.
8. That Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe has I'M
dertaken, in a book, to teach American Women
how to cook, without knowing how herself to
cook. False.
The last charge Miss BeecheT denOunces as
"the most recent outrage" Mrs. Harriet
Beecher Stowe is most excellent house
keeper, with both talent and taste for domes-
"tic cmplovmentsr Looking at it from our
point of view, it seems to us hardly ealumny
which called for n solemn and public refuta-
ton; for, though the matter may be OF interest
to those who expect to breakfast, to dine, OF 10
SUD with Mrs. Stowe, and generally to ENJOY
her elegant hospitality, it is really of but little
importance to the majority of mankind. More
over, it is well known that person may pro-
duce a very good book about cooking without
being practical cook at all. Indeed, we be-
lieye that Dr. Johnson himself once talked oil
compiling a manual for housewives, and was
not entirely satisfied with the celebrated pro-
duction of Mrs. Glasse
1t seems TO us little remarkable that lady
dreading, as Miss Beecher does anything like
notorety should, upon a provocation as slight
az this, rush heedlessly into print If the
public has a passion for talking about such
we'll known peYsonages is it likely to be mit-
gated by letter like this The scandals Oh
which this lady complains are in the lowest
degree frivolous; they are exactly and literally
of less than TOotsian mo consequence; ana
this reputation can only set ten thousand tea
tables to cbattcriDg about the Beechers. How
many people, pray, in this world are there VINO
do not have falsehoods of one kind OF another
told about them What would become of us
if the general good sense of society did not
prevent elaborate IcfutatiOns In print OF all
the mendacious tattle which weters loosely
nm and down upon the surface of tho -""i"l
sea, like the Shiny things in " The Ancient
Mariner ?" If the public dearly loves gossip
about those whom either chance or ability has
raised above the common level, and finds a
strange satisfaction in new stories about LORD
Byron, why should it bc bilked of its rapture
by common place denialsl It is true that Byron
himself once complained
Hard /, bis fate % shom the pahIe rare
il fI,d to detriei or praise,
Repose denies her requiem 70 bis name
And folly loves ne maty iom of fame"
II still, however, may be affirmed that
men and women OF unusual and acknow
lodged intellectual capacity, have often
been able TO secure reasonable degree
of privacy and it may be further asserted that
this is just what many women and men of lit
erary pretensiOns least desire. The accom-
plished family of which Miss Beecher is a MEM
her, if they have desired personal privacy, have
been singularly unfortunate in its attainment.
The eloquent pastor of the Plymouth Church,
whatever may have been his original and con-
stitutiOnal bashfulness, has, to a great degree,
overcome that feminine infrmity. The excel
lent authoress of "Uncle Toms Cabin" can
hardly wonder that she is made the sub
iect of unlimited chlt-chat, when the
proprietOrss of rival magazines bid against
each other for her contributions, and when her
name, printed in elephantine letters, adOns
half the dead-walls in the Republic. Miss
Catharine Beecher has, at least upon one pre-
vious occasion, thought il worth while TO en-
gage in a public controversy upon strictly
private topic A family group so remarkable
in itself, so universally advertised, and partly
at least by its own consent, cannot wonder to
find public loyal to the objects of its admira-
ton, and curious concerning the personalities
of its idols. Others similarly distinguished
have suffered (or enjoyed) a similar notoriety.
Lord Byron cannot escape the gravcst charges,
although for nearly half a century his mortal
frame has been moldering in the village
church of Hucknall; and the harmless tales
of which Miss Catharine Beecher complains
sink into nOthingness when compared with the
hideOus accusations (which have been brought
against his memory But who living escapes
the penalty of greatness What enormous fibs
have been told about Mr. Dickens! Mr.
"Thackeray" said an American lady, rs 1t
"true, this dreadful story which we hear about
"yOu and Miss BrontG2n MADAM" responded
the burly novelist, cit is, grieve to say, too
I" true. Six children were the fruit of that un-
"hallowed intimacy, and i killed them all with
"my own hand" AS we of comparatively
private station reflect upon the fearful cost at
which literary celebrity is achieved, and the
disagreeable tenure by which it is retained, we
find all emotions of envy dying within us, and
are quite ready to 90 to the lsepucher unwept
nd mil IN
sung ANONYMOUSLY and altogether.