St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-09-18

'">I''S ~ liH plt'Iit Win MS ingenious
~ prepared statements. His whole
course on his own showing has lacked
III opcIn">> aud StrIi"htluIwHr,lncSS
His business has been that of conceal
ing facts. giving wrong Impressions and
working for effect. He proic>>,., to
have done Thu, in the interest of Mr..
lircrhcr. May he not littcrIl have
done it for Ill'"m. aud may hr not now
he doing il for himself These are
N"'n Witnesses: judge between them
IOSfOH GiObc.
This statement i offered by Nh.
M"ult"n foI Il double purpose: inst. ~
a personal defense. and second, IL :;
fresh arraignmcmt of Nh. Bccchrr. We
regard it H. fulfilling neither purpose.
TIL" general reader will see
i'll his Way "f twisting the mraniu" of
- very proper request. fresh evidence
ii the working "i Il rurinu>li snrhi>tiral
mi!d. ana will only rryrrt thai VII.
NnHIt"n has tailed tu act upon the
sound adyir" of keeping his evidence
within the Limits of his personal know /
edge.
'"mpIinnc" with such Il luI.. would
have seriously curtIilrd the l.u"Ih of
Nh. Monitors latest statement. and
would have purg,.d II from the dis
GH>tlm@ series ot prIlirul nnurn,luc>
with which il l. >tud,Ird. For r\am-
pie. cam anN mIIu al pune mind. =, hat
ever hc his theory ot the, east. lind i'm
Nj. E,rclrI' latest letters To Mrs. Til
ton amy such filthy Suggestions as Mr..
N"ult"n thinks he has di>cnlcIcd in
them! They are. indeed. Written III
the extraordinary dialect with which
''tlr. scandal" has made H. familiar. hut
they N" perfectly rncnncilahIr with an
entire ;rh~"nc" of ANY guilty intercourse.
h"tw"'" Mn H...'.h"r and Mrs Tilfun.
The ~atNr-lIkc lrcr with which We are
asked Ia notice Mr.. Bcrcicr'> references
L" his Witr'> leaving home. and the
forced construction pat upon his curious
.Ihrgon about ''IIuc iuWarlnr>>' will
l".ri impartial! people to infer either
that M"ulr"m hH> tIu"cd this " hole con
irnNrI>\ with his own CUISINES. ur that
til" slime ot his ''ablr cuIsSri has l,Jt
4 distinct trace here. II tbs kind of
comment l. calculated l." Weaken what
Mr. M"uIt"m calls hi> cease" hat shall
We say about his p, ltcctll waIuiinu~
introduction. i'll ali IT. l"atl>unlr ,lctI
of the charges which TiIl"m quoted un
the authority of Henry {. Bowen. and
which. solely ON the prompinyS of \
prulirnt curiosity. Mnultm WAS lri To-
inquire about If We understand
Alright that my >trli"u> d"cumcnt known
AZ ''tlr tIirnrritr covenant" these.
charges were either di>lv"wcd nI with
drawn 10y Bowen. and abandoned. 81
Tar a> Triton WIS concerned. The lady
VIA" gave them currency ais" made Il
t"'"!ahlN explicit DENIAL of he alleged
facts "i this EARLIER scandal. and what
possible pul'n>r can hc served hN its
unSINolN lr>IIIrr"lIoG now l. >onirW hat
difficult 1" conceive. Nnulton'> unSup-
ported testimony about Nr l;rcchrr'S
''cnni, ,,>iol> on this matter mast have
precisely the same lack Of crrdihilif\
which his other bare, assertions of "A sim
liar character possess.
This latest statement does not make
it ANY more intclii.inlr than before how
it was possible for Moultnn to state. be
iicviny What he SAYS he did. that Mr..
BrrrhcI could stand III the whole ease
We're published tn-mnI1oW." lie repeats
now his belief that III he Nh lccchcrl
had made, H. he WAS advised To make.
Il full aud flank confession of the whole.
truth. ~ he had done to me. accompa
med 10y such expressions OF contIitiuu
and repentance aS he had made to me.
his church and the world would have
forgl him. and he would have stood"
This l. grossly absurd. Mr. Brrchcr'S
confession of half the oifcn>,.> of which
M"ult"n claims Ia have heard from his
own lips w,nlld have irrrtrirvahlN ruin
ed him. 1t Is nonsense to talk about
M"ult"m> opinion receiving strength.
from the fact that after all the charges
have been published. Mr.. Bcrchcr still
retains his hold on his church. There
has been no ''condoming" of ..adultc-
ricS" either in Plymouth Church or out
side of it. hrcatSc Mr.. Bccchrr has not
been convicted of ANY such otfrnscs.
An eminent clergy man has precisely
the same right AZ other people to claim
that he shall not Ice condemned on evil
dencc which will not stand either the
test of Il court of law or of far minded
criticism. Plymouth Church NAV have
nn,lrrvalurd that evidence. Just as ii
good many other people have ovcrval-
ned 1t. Bnt the majority of the re~pcc-
table public have simply insisted ON
rating Mr.. Bccchcr'> crcdibilty higher
than that of the men who have appear
eel against him. and So have accepted
his own explanation of his conduct and
his letters as. on the whole. involvin"
fewer difficulties and infiicting less oh |
vious injustice than any of the other al |
trrnativcS which have been presented. |
The only unqucsiionrd .'di>cloSureS-
which have attended the entire contro-
NcrsN involve the revelation of uISiIs-
pcctcd weakness in Mr.. Brcchcr'S char !
actcr OF moral coNaI,licc. of il tcndcn- |
cy to Use words in non-l.lturnl senses. |
OF surprising Ignorance of human char |
actrr. and of amazing preferences for
rather worthless people. The un,loubt-
ed proof which has been given of the |
existence of such tailings. joined with
morbid and dangerous habit of mixing
up the most solemn with the most tliv- |
lal subjects, will doubtless seriously i'm
pair Mr.. Beechcr'S future influence as a |
great religions Teacher Rut II will |