The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-06-03
THE BEECHER.TILTON SCAN.
DIAL.

Last Fall vicious woman named Vic
toria Woodruff, in the course of her advo-
cacy of an infamous doctrine, published in
Woodruff e. Claflin's Weekly, a detailed
statement of charges against Henry Ward
Beecher. The woman was arrested for
sending an obscene paper through the
mails, because the same paper contained a
still more beastly charge against New
York Wall street broker.
No notice was taken of the libel by Mr.
Beecher. This was very unsatisfactory to
large number of people. He was an
eminent divine, it is true, and his assailant
was an infamous woman. But there was
something more than character concerned
The woman had made detailed statements
with the air if not the substance of truth,
and had named distinguished pcrsonages as
authority for her assertions, and, to the
surprise and pain of many, not one of those
persons came forward with a denial She
even named Mr.. Tilton as one who had suf-
fcred in his family relations; and Mr.. Til
ton, bound, as any man should be, to de-
fend the honor of one whose honor should
he dearer to him than life itself, kept an
appalling silence. 1t was not anything
that disreputable woman said that hurt
Mr.. Beecher, it was this brooding silence
that settled down over Mr.. Beecher and
Plymouth church. Mrs. Woodruff men,
toned as witness, Mr.. Moulton, men,
Der of Mr.. Beecher's church. He was 81
lent, also. She mentioned her then intimate
friend, Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, a
sister of Henry Ward Beecher, as one who
would sustain her, and that lady, at the risk
of losing personal friends, near and dear
to her, unused and said nothing.
During all this time Mr.. Beechcr was adj.
dressing crowded thousands who thronged
10 his church, and be was delivering lee
lures over the country drawing immense
houses.
In the meantime, there was no prosecu
ton of the woman Woodruff for libeling
Mr.. Beecher. She was imprisoned on
different charge and prosecuted for libeling
Il
nally, she ceased to have the ear of the pub
lie.
George Francis Train took up the mat
ter and issued paper in which he had in
serted scraps from the Bible originally in
tended for "A good purpose, and colatina
them together published them for bat
purpose. He might have done the sam,
thing with doctors book. But it was ,
trap to catch Comstock, the agent of tn,
Young Mems Christian Association, VIII,
had been doing very worthy and com
mendable work in stopping the publishing
of obscene papers, and who had causet
Mrs. Woodhulls arrest. Comstock fel
into Trains trap and had him arrested
Train proved to be an elephant. He la,
in Jail five months, was then sent to an in
sane asylum, and released, and has gone Il
Europe. Train is cracked and bad man
doubtless, but there is enough method il
his madness to keep him out of lupat
asylum.
Yet the arrest and immurement of tn
women Woodruff and Claflin, and tn
pitiable Blood, and then the long imprison
ment of Train, kept the talk going, unit
finally some professed friends of Beecher
who were probably really members of hi
church, published in the New York paper
on Friday morning the agreement between
Henry Ward Beecher, Theodore Tilton an,
Henry c. Bowen, which appears on tn,
outside of to-days paper. The real pur
pose of this publication was transparency
to force an investigation, which it appears