Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1870-01-14
THE CLERICAL LOPEMENT CASE.

The mysterious elopoment Of Rev. Horace
| Cooke, OF which yesterday We gave the
facts, aud the circumstances attending the
same, very nearly terminated In a traRedy
last evening. The report which was pub.
lished In yesterdays World IL totally con.
traaieted By the parishioners OF Mr.. Cooke
In Flushing and Marmaroneok. Each one
might be refoted particularly, for the facts
denying them were furnished to our reporter
| " representatives Of those congregations.
Not word OF scandal, not an lntlmatlon Of
dlahonorable nature, has sver been at.
tached to Mr.. Cookies name until this sad
occurrence. The attack so vlclously made
was calculated to aggravate the grief Of two
families, already sufficiently great, and to
blackon the character OF man who has al
ready injured himself beyond repair. II the
credulity OF the people Is equal to the lnyen-
tons OF those who coutrived the scandals,
no doubt all this has been effected.
Miss johnson retu med to her home yes
terday evening, about Eve O'Clock, and
about the aams time Mr.. Cooke registered
his name as Mr.. DAILY at Freneh's Hotel. At
about six o'clock In the evening Mr.. Brown,
a son Of Paul r. Brown, and an Intimate
friend Of Mr.. Cooke, mat the latter oppo-
site the Astor House, aud walked with him
up Broadway as far as Bond street. Mr..
Cooke was hercely agltated In manner, and
drew his pistol four tlmes, and suddenly re-
turned 1t to his pocket. His movements
were very nervous, and no exhibited q
strange excitablllty OF temper. MI. Brown
i sought to calm him, and asked him 10 20
| up TO q restaurant and take dinner aud Gu
Joy a smoke. Mr.. Cooke declined the lnVl-
| tation, saying he had eaten nothing, and
| did not desire TO partake Of anything. lie
asked Mr., Brown To 90 with him TO the
| World Office, and he would "tear the editor
to pieces" Finally Brown appointed
meeting with Cooke at q later hour In the
evening, and they separated. Mr.. Cooke
proceeded 10 his house, and, entering the
/ room, his wife saw the revolver, and flight.
ened lest be might do desperate injury to
himself, sent Into the church adjoining for
some one 10 come Into the parsonage. Mr..
| Carter, trustee OF tho church, went In,
and, engaging Mr.. Cooke In conversation,
quietly distracted the revolver from hls
i overcoat, which no had left on the sofa,
Suddenly Mr. Cooke left the house and ran
swiftly down Third avenue, and escaped Mr..
Carter, who pursued him. Il seems he went
TO the World office, and remained outside
| the building some time, when he entered the
eounting-room and assalled an editor Of that
paper. Cooke was 80 weak at tho time that
be was hardly able to stand, and did little
more than shake him roughly.
Before proceeding TO violence, he Intro.
duced himself TO the editor by announcing
that his namo was Cooke. An officer was
called In, who conducted him to the Second
ward statlon-house. The editor of TIE
World lodged complaint against him for
assault. his name was booked, and he was |
locked up In q cell. The captain len orders |
that no one should 500 him. The clipping |
party have been In an adjoinlug city, and |
have seen tho papers each day. Mr.. Cooke |
said last evening that all reports Of lndis-
cretions heretofore, as publlshed In The |
World yesterday morning, are lies, aud uu- |
der these scandals, that have been Imposed |
upon the public, Cooke seems most 10 smart. |
Cooke also says that he returned Miss
johnson as pure, as far as he is concerned,
as a babe.
Mrs.. Cooke told our reporter last evening
that her husband, the night before he len,
took dose Of laudAnum and ehloroform
which was enough TO kill, and he awakened
bis wife and told her he thought he had
poisoned himself fatally. She resuscltated
him, and begged him never to touch Il
again, but he said he would go crazy II he
did not indulge in those opiates.
He has been partaklng OF these drugs for
long time past, and has betrayed a ner-
vousness Of manner quite antAgoniGtic to his
nature. 30 marked has been the change In
his demeanor that many have referred to II,
and inquired Of him what so troubled him.
His answer was that neuralgia was causing
him great pain. Last evening he said to his
wife; "Oh, every one has deserted me;
have not q single friend left." This belief
seemed most 10 perplex him.
On Tuesday evening Mr.. Cooke was seen
on Broadway, entering cigar store, and
after purchasing and lighting q cigar he
walked out and stood on the curbstone a
few moments, when he flung the cigar away
and walked hastily OF. He has moved
| boldly .E-s~sh A. -isy, -"d las tsshsn
extraordinary measures 10 conceal himself.
1 Hia Rnaarh Ia AlalaiNNaA auA
wandering.
Miss johnson has been entirely secluded
since her return, and the parents say that II
/ II Is proven that she Is, as Mr.. Cooke saws,
as pure as ever, efforts will be put forth TO
have the matter speedily quieted.
Reports which showed that Miss johnson
was more than imprudent In her relations
With Mr. Cooke are strengthened BY further
Information from his wife. When Mr.
Cooke fret entered on his pastorate in Sew.
enth street, and before his wife had become
acquainted with the pariShloners, Miss John.
son used 10 enter the parsonage through the
basement Of the church and the rear en-.
trance Of the house, and go into the parlor
and play on the piano, with q view OF at
tracing her pastor to the room.
At first Mrs. Cooke asked her husband
what It meant, and he said no did not know.
She went down into the parlor, but tho
young lady escaped by the rear entrance.
For some time Mrs Cooke did not know
who she was. She Pretended q great love
for Baldwin, the son, and the week before
the eloPement, In coming out Of the church,
she threw her arms about the boys neck
and said she was very glad to ss1 him. Tho
day before she len she passed the parsonage |
and bowed very graclously TO Mrs. Cooker |
this was the last that she saw Of her. Mr.. |
johnson told Mrs. Cooke that he had noticed
a little filtration between her husband and
bis daughter, but he thought very little Of
II, and faneied that she would soon cease TO
engage In Il. Mrs. Cooke told him that he
did her a great wrong In failing to tell her
that. She feels confident that she could
have crushed Il all In the beginning.
We have received the following letter,
which tells Its own story, and which we
print precisely as II reached U.S.
To tAs Editor Of he TTibHHs-Sir; win you
give the words Of a criminal place In your
eolumnsi do not Ask to excuse myself-oh
not only wish the TRUTH to be known. II
eoald only write, 1 would "a plain, unVAr-
S Si,hSd tAlen deliver. but my head and my heart
On this day the young lady will be returned
70 her hone, as pure aud good As when nrst
OF course we did not intsHd Nat, but my
wrehnhed heart stung me at the beginning
and ny Only desire 10 TO repair las far as IeG1J
good to me-And TO the ehuroh-but q the
dAmned blot' will never out Excuse the
Blot, they were caused By the snApping Of the
wish that could write, but cannot Let
me make a Few StatemSnts, and for Gods sake
BELIEyK nc;
LIST. ! did Aot-I hdpS moi seduesd Miss John
son, II ] had, why should 1 bring her bAokl
IL vas villain enough to ruin her, would
not have been villain snough TO keep hert II
is no fear Of personal injury that prompted
me, beeause could have eluded Everybody, n l
ehosa, and AN back now, and ready to pay
any plnnalty the family may require, only dont |
let dnybody site come near mel Tor inAsmuch a.
the papers say an q ts0lI IT must be Femem-
bered that wolves BITE
"a. ] did not correspond with her when In
50. ] neUsr visited the school until the day
We ldft the city.
18th; was never In an AsSignatiOn house
with her or any one else 10 my life.
bths No "pAnekthieVea" have blaekmaIled
ne, md defy and challenge any living man
or Woman TO lay auEht against my character |
since have been minister OF the Gospel. II !
Anybo dy-pAnel-thioYes or any one else-hAVe |
lette11 OF mine, lot them publish then. As !
hope for meFcy-no, don't hope for Anyi but |
on my sOul-oh everything that men hold |
HAgFRn. tho = "a a.