The Portland daily press., 1873-11-07
,ERMS $500 PER ANNUMTN ADVANCE
Plymouth Church and Its scondaI.

WIN 'ue performance of last Friday eve
ming, the curtain has finally rung down. let
us all hope, upon the modern BROOKLYN YER
sion of "The School for Scandap'-with
Messrs. Beecher, Bowen and Tilton and Mrs.
Woodruff in the leading pats. 1t has been
'very tragical mirth,' from the start; what
ever interest the public originally took in it
died, long since, a natural death; the sooner
1t is withdrawn from the church boards, the
better for all concerned
The history of Friday evenings doings
u@oes @ not require great many words in the
.elinS' AfLer the close of the regular week.
y prayer-moeting, the Plymouth brethren
ana sisters proceeded to business. A motion
10 turn out all persons not members of the
church and sit with closed doors was voted
down. The committee on grievances sub
mitted report, the gst of which was that,
as MIR. Theodore Tilton denied the jurisdic-
tion of the church and claimed TO have sun
dered his connection with it four wears before.
his name had better be dropped from the roll
OF members. The acceptance of the report
having been moved, Mr.. West, the author of
the charges of SANDER preferred against Mr..
Ttlton, objected and offered a substitute.
This was the signal for curious parliament
tary wrangle such as we see sometimes in
Congress and other secular bodies-Mr. West
and his sympathizers, who were bent on
searching investigation, trying to bring the
subieot-matter OF the charges into the discus
sion, and another party, headed by Mr.. Sher-
man, the distinguished legal adviser of the
late James Fisk, Jr., as persstently raising
points of order and calling for the previous
question. While this wrangle was at its
hight, Mr.. Tilton himself came to the fore
apparently per pre-arranged programme-and
asked the courtesy of hearing. As his re-
marks were brief and rather interesting, we
reproduce them verbatim:
Twenty years ago, / joined this church,
and many of the most precious memories OF
my life cluster about these walls. Four years
ago, ceased my membership, nor have L
ever been, from that time until tonight, once
under this roof Retiring from Plymouth
church, did not ask for the erasure of my
name from the roll because the circumstances
were such that | could not publicly state them
without wounding the feelings of others be-
side myself During these years OF my alb
sence story has filed the land, covering it
like mist, that l haze slandered the minis
ter OF this church. Last summer, Mr.. Beech
er published an explicit charge in the Book
lyn Eagle exempting me from this injustice.
Notwithstanding this public document in nv
behalf, a committee of this church by its ac-
| ton has given rise to injurious statements
| in the public press that my claim
| of non-membership is made by me in
| order to avoid my just responsibility
| to the church as member. / there
fore come here, tonight, not from any obli-
| CATION of membership, since ] am not q
| member, and not examined by any commit
| tee, for no committee has examined me, but
of my own free will, prompted by my SELF
respect. and as matter vital to my life, and
in order to say in Mr.. Beecher's presence,
surrounded here by his friends, tina. if / have
| sl inn II Ia 90 60 81 -
the man whom have slandered. If, there
fere, the minister of this church has any,
thing whereof 10 accuse me, let him now
speak, and l shall answer, as God is my
judge"
When Mr., Tilton reached the passage
about tho story that had covered the land
like a mist, he was loudly called to order,
but the moderator permitted him to proceed.
When he sat down, there was a dead silence
broken, al last, by the voice of the moderar
tor stating the question before the meeting.
Mr.. West made another effort to get hear
ing and in a moment the battle was raging
more fiercely than ever. One or two OF the
brethren lost their tempers; Mr.. Edgerton
declared, amid vociferous applause, that the
truth ought to be brought out-that charges
had been made and could be proved; MI
Hawes intimated that his brother Mckay
was a blackguard. At this threatening
junctssre, Mr.. Beecher took the platform and
changed the atmosphere. After lecture on
Congregational poity in general and Ply
mouth ehuleh pohty in particular-the Eli
| glish of which was that Plymouth churcl
didn't undertake, Theoretically or practically
to maintain any rigid discipline among ii
members or to m eddie with their prival
affairs, he took up the cudgels for Mr.. Tilton
Ntr. T., he said, had not run away. lie ha
| sin, ply stayed away, aud the church, b
| ouiet. " acquiescing in his decision to sta
I awav' 'ad sanctioned it. Mr.. Beecher con
| tinued:--
81 desire to say further that don't believe
that Mr.. Tilte, has desired in any way what
ever TO shirk prI. per responslDlllty OF 10 av0l
or to eyade anv proper charge that nigh
be made by the eh, rrch. He asks if have
1 any charge to make against him. 1 hav,
none. Whatever differt noes have been be
tween US have been amica. w ADJUSTED; and
so far as l am concerned, bur> gu; SO lar as ~
IS concerned, buried. | have no cuarses
This whole matter has not been with u
consent. This whole matter mas been
against my judgment. / have said to the
brethren who were interested in it, but who
have acted sincerely and honestly, I believe,
You will only, to take up this matter, stop
TIE proper business of the church, and reach
point at which you can do nothing. You
will end just where you began, and l hold it
not to be wise, not TO be called for certainly
not to be, according to my Judgment, the
matter OF the church, That which held
from the beginning l hold s.il''
Notwithstanding this attempt of their pas
tor to restore harmony by silencing discus
sion, the struggle between the party of
investigation and the party Of the
party of suppression went on for some
time longer. At last, after tie meeting had
got itself into dreadful tapgle, it suddenly
adopted the original resolution of the COM
mittee, and adjourned. So Mr.. Tilton is
dropped and there is an end of that in
vestisation. Springfield Republican.
| un..o lo..-4.Is..