Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-07-09
The Tilton Beecrer Scandal

contained avsledletory of Mr.. Tillon
who resigns the editorial charge f.
| Rev. w. r. Clarke, but will cnntio,a
to write for the paper. II alao con.
taincd further article on he Triton
Beecher Scandal which is considered
as quite a letting down on rilton's
part, from whose pen Il is supposed
to be. The FIJI wing are the impor-
tant parts
Two or 'hree Of the general critic
isms IA Mr.. i'iltoi's le,tcr show nm
entire misrepresentation Of lis charac-
ter and purpose, and call for corroc.
tons. He has been blamed. in some
quarters, for publishing the letter At
ali, and in others, for not going fur,
tber and saying more. Ooe class of
critics censure him for trying TO in.
lure Mr.. Beecher at the expense Of
his own family, and another class is
evidently piqued because he did not
utter something that should fix an
ineffaceable stigma on Mr.. Beccher,
and his own household, too. The
letter stands on its own merits, aud
tells it's own tale to whoever will
read it with sufficient patience. 1t
was no pant of Mr. Tiltch'r purpose
to ventilate the old scandal r. drag
the offeacive thcme from ts hi4ing.
place into publicity. He insen aonal.
| ly avoided bringing any specific
charges against Mr.. Bcecber, and on.
Iy alluded to his ctfcnce (and in the
most indrfin i.nssihe terms), hr.
cal 80 i was absolutely necessary fer
him 10 g. so in seit vindication. He
bal been ossa]l d directly ANA in the
m )st cXp'i:it terms by Or. Bacon "a
kind man and just one, too), who I'M
doubtedly rn"po-,d, rom what he
had learned through Mr. Baorher
and his friends that Mr.. Tilton was
a knave and dog, creature Of too
torbearing pastors magnanlmity, u
scanda -monEer and fNIsitier, who had
til, i o ruin the most beloved of
ministers, aspersions from the pen ct
one OF the leading and most eminent
divines in America, published in
religious paper of large circulation
and commented on by the press Of
the whole country, were Of too seri-
Gus character to be borne in silence
or passed by
zone sentence from Mr.. Beacher's
lips or pen would have drawn the
poisoned arrow and healed the smart,
Mr. Tilton called Mr. Beccher's at
tcntion to the offensive statements.
and in the presence of two witnesses,
toll him that, unless he corrected the
misrepresentation in his way, it
would be necessary for himself to
correct them in his own way, which
would be severe. Weeks passed and
no correction was made. Longer
silence on his part was impossible.
"Mr. Tilton is accused of intending
to strike Mr.. Beeeher staggering,
if not fatal blow. Whoever reads
his letter with care will see that be I
studiously avoided from striking any 4
blow at all, save st the thick net i
work Of calumny and misrepresenta-
ton that had been adroitly woven for
his own ENHANCEMENT and ultimate
destruction. His sole purpose was to
: save himself after years of penitence
; and endurance, and when longer a.
. lence and endurance would have been
fatal; and he refrained from mention
: ing Mr.. Beecher at all, except as il
was necessary to do so in order to .
set himself right. If Mr.. Beecher
| has fn
mouth Church wishes to vindicae F
the character of its pastor, the way
is open, and the world will await the Z
issue with anxious soljctude. But 80
far was it from being Mr.. Tilton's to
injure Mr.. Beecher in any way, that
his sole hesitation to publish the ei.
ter was fear that it might injuro Mr..
, Beecher' He said to his personal
| friends who urged its publication,
that be shrunk from saying one word
that would add pang to Mr. Beech
er's already pierced and tortured
| heart He said: III wonld not lay 30
much as finger on that sad and soT
rowing head; would not rise by BIZ
ruin if could"
$50 much for this part of tho maj.
: ter. But the essential point 10 this
: whole controversy remains untoucb-
ed. With tho scandal itself we have
nothing to do; that is matter for
Plymouth Church and its pastor 70
deal with. Ii there is a skeleton 10
their closet, they will probably hasten
to open the door and let daylight
shine through it's dark places. Web
ster said that suicide under weghto oil
: accusation was q confession of guilt Il
There are circumstances IN when
silence is suicide.
But one thing 10 this whole mat
ter ia so conspicuous and grand thai
it deserves notice it has not recelF-
ed. We refer 10 the liberation, the Z
sympathy, the solictude of the Amer
can people for great and useful mar
under cloud Of suspicion, thick ana
heavy enough to crush an ordinary
character beyond recovery. Hsd
this happened % years ago Mr.
Beecher would have been dragged
before an ecclesiastical tribunal fo'
trial in less than q month after Toe
accusations assumed definite shape
and had be tried TO preach before
trial he might have been mobbea
To-day there is scarcely u man or
woman in America but hopes be Is
innocent of any wrong, and tries 70
believe him so. In spite of circum'
| stantia evidence confirmed by bl'
own course, b g name is preclon'
household word. He has the sym
patby Of 100000 of people, who
bend forward to save and bless bin
'All that Tilton asked for himself
and all his friends demand for bin
| iustice. The set tor which be b..