The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-08-15

ded snake, still drags is SLOW length along
The committee Of ~ appointed BY Mr..
Beecher to iuvesiigals Theodore Tilton's
eharges &C adultery against himself and
Mrs. Tilton, ssill sit ii secret, but columns
Of the evidence are given to the public
through the Brooklyn and New York pa
pers, which is again published from their
columns By all the daily journals in the
country A more widely spread case Of
Grim. con. probably never appeared in the
history Of the world. Whatever may be
the Judgment Of the committee, which was
probably organized from among Mr..
Beechers most trusted friends for the
purpose Of HhiieEashing him, pablo Opin-
ion seems to be settling down upon indg-
ment Of condemnation, made up, in most
part, upon the evidence Of his own letters
and confessions. The revelations, 50 far,
present phase Of society around Plym-
euth Church, unparalleled, probably, with
IN tho bounds Of civilization, and lead the
public mind to the conclusion that Plym-
oath Church is q nest o uaelsan biirls, and
its pastor, with an his acknowledged intel
lectuality, vhited sepulchre," present
ing to the world fair exterior, but within
fun Of rOttepasss and all uneleanness; that,
in fact, he has for many years, been @vear-
ing the livery and garb Of heaven to serve
the devil in. We are not at all surprised
at the denOuement Of this affair, or that
the glitteriBg Plymouth bubble has at
length burst assnnder. We have the as
suranee Of holy writ that wickedness can
not be covered up. Be assured, it says,
your sin viii find You out" Beeeher's
sin has found him ont; the wonder IS that
he has so long kept it hid from the public
gaEe. We marked his course, years ago,
as singalarly Inconsistent with what the
conduct Of "a minister should BE- He took
up, in his church. on the sabbath day, =
collection to buy Shapes rides. to aid in
the work Of shedding fraternal blood, in
the Nilds Of Kansas. he invited into his
parlor an English in6dsl, to lecture before
the elte Of his own congregation. men and
women prOmiscuOusly assembled, upon the
subject Of free love- That lecture has
borne its fruit, in the revolving scandal in
which he is inculpated, and of which he is
the head and front. Good men have dep
recated these revelations as calculated to
bring reprOach upon the Church, and to
work injury TO the cause of religion Not
50. Beecher had nothing to do with re-
kgion, nor religion with BeecheF- True,
he wore religion as a mask, for many
years, but the mask has fallen Of, reveal
ing his moral hideousness, which was long
before but imperfeetly concealed from close
observers, and from those capable of intel
ligently scrutinixihg the springs Of human
action. Religion has nothing to lose from
the exposure Of such moral leprOsy as that
Of Beecher's; it can only gain BY it.
There is much food for reflection con-
nected with this case The scales Of retri-
butise justice are held more nearly in
exact equipoise, perhaps, than many per
sons are able to perceive. Harriet Beeeher
Stowe, like her brother, gifted with rare
intellectual endowments, prostituted those
gifts to purposes Of nOtoriety and gain.
She dabbled in the dirty pool Of the Byron
scandal, but befouled no one 50 much as
herself She seemed willing, however, to
endure the dirt for the sake Of the dimes,
but public decency revolted at It, and the
public sense Of propriety was shocked, that
any chaste, pure minded woman could con-
descend to dwell upon, and treat Of, such
thine The subject is brought home
to her, in the most pointed manner, in the
person of her own brother. Did she wan
tonly seek to stair the memory Of Byron
and his sister A similar stain has fallen
upon her, in the person Of her kinsman.
But this is not ALL She lost caste by this
wretched faar pas, even among those
who had paid tribute to her genius for
her creation Of Uncle Toms Cabin. We
say creation, for It was nothing more, moth
ing less. A tissue Of falsehocd from be-
ginning to end, disappearing and ma
ligning the whole South. But, il brought
her fame and fortune, aud little did she
care whether her story was true or false,
The sBeeehers are not the idols they once
were, and Henry Ward win have to astep
down and out" from the niche he has 80
long flled, before his little affair Of q nest
hiding Is done with He has the assist
ance of able, and we may aay impertiaeat
counsel, in Col. Gray, and the investigation
i conducted before committee Of his
own selection but they have the inexo-
rable logic Of facts to deal with, furnished
by Beeeher himself, in the shape of his
letters and admissions, which cannot be
explained on the theory Of his innocence.
If his offence against Tilton went no far