The Portland daily press., 1874-08-18

Yrs. 1ilton acds an lone gHh him. This was a |
Iifficult theme for him TO introduce into his ex-
but it is necessary TO a thorough |
of his course of procedure. He
vas aware Of her feelings towards him. 1t
,ould not be otherwise. She had demonstrated
Ter affection for him so plainly, that other eyes
lad taken note of it, That he had not repealed
.ud chided this sentiment, as became his sa-
red office-that he had, in truth, given it a
seeming encouragement by making frequent
visits to, and bestowing marked attentions up
On her, constituted the "offense,' to a sense of
which he was rudely awakened by the storm
ngs of jealous husband, and for which he I'M
loubtedly was overwhelmed with contriton.
1t was the love for Mr.. Beecher that Mrs.
Tilton acknowledged. If she bore testimony to
any overt act of criminalty, it was falsehood,
wrung from her, just as many another has
been in the progress of this wicked conspiracy,
by the desperate menaces of her husband. A
more pliable piece of clay never was tenanted
by living spirit. AS q witness she is of no
value whatever, but the declarations she makes
when liberated from the control of the being
who has so long moulded her to his will, are
less incredible than those extorted from her by
him.
The one sentence in Mr.. BeecheI's narrative
which will satisfy the doubts of all who know
him, is sufficiently explicit: = "At no
inte'vaeo which eUer took place betaUeen Mrs. TIL
ton and myself, did anything occur ochsch might
not hare occurred eCi perfect propriety betaoeen
brother and sister, betseeen father and child, or
betsceen man of honor and the acJe ofhis dear
est friend; nor did anythiag happen aohich she or
/ sought to conceal from her husband" This
will be accepted as establishing, that while he
has suffered himself to glide into such familiar
relations with a preternaturaly susceptible fe-
male parishioner, as have served to estrange
her from her husband, and make her dscon-
tented with her home, he has not committed or
thought of committing that crime for which
men of the world justify the expiation of blood,
and which, when perpetrated by clergyman,
excludes him from all possibility of human for
giveness.
The abiding faith of his people in his inno-
cence has quickened their impotence that Mr.
Beecher should be heard. And now that he
has spoken, it is refreshing TO find that all his
terror and apprehension seem to have vanished,
He turns upon his assailants with an energy
and force which entirely changes the face of
the BATTLE They are On the defensive now, not
he. And he ceTtaiRly does exhibit them in
most hideous aspect, especially the principal
and his accomplce. The one has persistently
sought to get gain from his custody of the Sc
cret, and the other has not scrupled to serve as
intermediary in this disgraceful bargaining.
Shrewd men of affairs like Vanderbilt, Scott and
numerous others of that class have insisted
from the beginning that this would turn out TO
be black mail case. have known that it was
for long time, so I'll claim no credit for supe-
rior prescience. The thing has been artfully
worked, and it is barely possible Tilton may
take the ground that he was not aware
of the sources of the contributions, which
Moulton has been passing over to him
as he squeezed them out of Beecher.
That wouldn't be a bit more preposterous than
the pretenee that Tilton caught the extracts
from Beecher's private letters in short hand,
while Moulton was reading them to him; nor
a bit more impudent than the assumption that
the private letters aforesaid, Econfided to this
mutual friend" were held subject to the joint
demand of both Tilton and Beecher.
1t appears by the record that the secret was
turned to pecuniary profit as long as the vic
tim would bleed. Like Montague Tigg, the
accuser reasoned thus: "My discoveries being
published would be, like many other mems
discoveries in this honest world, Of no further
use to me. 1 make, or think
make, certain discovery which L take an
early opportunity of mentioning in your ear,
in that spirit of confidence which 1 really
hoped did prevail between us, and was reeip-
rocated by you. Perhaps there is something
in it, perhaps there is nothing. 1 have my
knowledge and opinion on the subject. You
have yours. We will not discuss the question.
But my good fellow; you have been weak;
what [ wish to point out to you is that you
have been weak. / may desire to turn this
little incident to my account. Indeed do. I'll
not deny it, But my account does not lie in
probing it or, using it against you.
wish you to venture a little more with us
certainly, and to keep quiet You promised
me you would and you n1uSt I say it
plainly, you must reason the matter. If
you don't my secret is worthless to me;
and being so, it may as well become the
public property as mine; better, for / shall
gain some credit, bringing it to light
The only difference perceptible between Tigg
and Titon is, that the one urged his demand
in person, the other by attorney, But then it
should be stated, to the credit of 'Tigg, that he
was not trafickng in the virtue of his own
NJ ,,oIo l.; ,~1ot
revolving by introducing so dark a feature of
moral obliquity into his story
by no means conclude that the storm is over.
Moulton has flown to his legal adviser in
Gloucester, and the two are doubtless, at this
very moment devising means to parry the force
of the first decisive blow strack at the con-
spiracy. The crime of levying back-mail is
one of peculiar atrocity, placing its perpetrators
beyond the pale of sympathy CT forbearance.
1t will require no small degree of ingenuity to
invent plausible explanation of this iniqui-
tous phase of the case. Gen. Buffers talents
as criminal lawyer, conspicuous as they are,
will find ample scope in discovering some
method of extrieatng his client from the un-
pleasant dilemma in which he has placed
himself.
Neither can anything be expected of Tilton but
the malevolence which is aggravated by disap-
pointment and failure. All that he can pos
sibly hope for now. is companionship in his
irretrievable fall. Involved in an inextricable
maze of inconsistencies and contradictions, he
will throw his; little remnant of strength into a
desperate effort to bury the great preacher
beneath the ruin which he has brought upon
himself So far from succeeding, I anticipate
confidently that the pulpit of Plymouth church
will soon again resound with the eloquence of
its gifted minister, inspired with fresh power
by the christening influences of the relentless
persecution to which he has been subjected,
and exclaiming like the Hebrew prophet "my
God hath sent his angel and hath shut the
lions mouths that they have not hurt me, for
asmuch as before him innocency was found
in me- YARMOUTH.