Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-07-13
The Beeeher-rirtou scandal

ais accustomed TO this nefsriO1s business.
The Beeeher-Ifltou Scandal
The accusations OF Tiltcn against Beecher
are now under vestigstion. and the public
viii shortly be apprised OF their truth or TASTY
on the Ith instant Beecher addressed note 70
the examining committee OF Plymouth church.
stating that he hsd requested certain gentle
men, members OF the Oh urch and OF the spciety
70 make q thorough AMI detailed en- ami aatlSa
into the rumOrs, inslnuations OF charges re-
specting his conduct, and aSkei the N. IA they
approved Of the selection. TO sdd their official
appointment 10 his personal request. The let
Ut asking the gentlemen 20 serve was ~ fol-
lows:
BRooKLYs, June =, rS5s.
6enlsHscH--ln the present stale OF TIE nnhlic
{, cling, owe 10 70 nay friends, and % the
church ana society over whics I am pastor 10
have some proper Investigation made OF the
rumors, tnsiHustions or charges made resoect-
Ing my conduct, a. COMPROMISED BY ths late
publication made by Mr.. Elton. 1 have tbouyht
that beth the church and society shoali De rep
resented, and take the liberty OF asking TIE
following gentlemen 20 serve in this ma atry
and TO do That has ruth ami 5ustire ma r.
9uire. beg that each OF the gentlemen namsd
will cor scer this letter A. a. N hAd been -ep.-
rHtely sent 20 him; namely;-FrOm the church.
Henry W. Sage, Augustus StOrrs Henry Al
Cleveland; from the society, Horace a. Clsain,
John WiBslow, ). Y. Waite. I dasire you
when you have satisiei yourselves by an lm.
partial and thorough examination o. al s5nrcss
OF evidence, Ia communicate 90 the examining
committee or 60 the church sach action - may
ten seem 10 ycR right sud wise.
HkERy wARD BrsCrER
The examining committee, recOgn. gag the
representative character OF the men "A A. ap-
pointed, adopted the acti0n OF the pastor, and
formally authorized the gentlemen named 20
act as committee ON Is behalf ana report The
result Of their inquiry Tor Its information and
further action. TiltOn's publication. n will he
remembered, Was made on rhursdag, June
18th. Mr.. Beccher, coming 70 town, Friday
conducted his usual prayeT-meetin NJ And M,
Saturday, the 9Th, wrote the above letter. ask
ing his church 10 investigate the matter. The
NTWr tao hHxa
prosecute IL 70 the earliest possible compile
ton.
MR.. BEKcHKRs INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE.
Henry W. Sage ts the founder OF the Lyman
Beecher LectuTeship on Preaching" TO which
be gave $1,000, and $500 900 10 found the sage
college for Women" in Cornell L University, aud
$4,000 towards the buiidIng OF a church IN
Ithaca, n. Y, his former home. n n a deacon
Of the church and q trustee of the society Au
gustns StoIrs, OF tie commission house of Storrs
Brothers, IL member Of the Plymouth Church
Board OF Trustees, treasurer OF the society: a
man OF means and Of Kind, charitable dispoei-
ton. Henry M. Cleveland h a member of
Plymouth Church, and n member OF the exam
lining committee; and q member OF the large
paper house Of h. G Hurlbert & Co, Horace b.
Clafiin, one Of the trustees OF the society, and
with the exception OF Its president y amss Free
land, the Oldest member Of that board IN SER
vice, not a. years. has been known as one Of
the foremost men m the affairs OF the society,
and ranks A. one OF the largest dry goods dealers
IN the world. John WInslow is the district at
torney for Kings county, appointed by Gov.
n MlnsOW
& Van Cot, in Brooklyn. His partner Judge
Van Colt, lie leading member Of the Church Of
the Pilgrims, (Dr. X. > Storrs', and was on the
special committee calling the late Congregation
81 Council :. V. White, the church treasurer
is miIently active in all the Plymouth
Church ana Ssbbath school work.
MRS. WOODRUFF AEFIRNs HER cAAReE
AGAINST MR.. BEECakR.
From the San Francisco Chronicle
The announcement that the WoOdhun would
lecture on the Beecher-Ti ton scanCal drew A
large COneQurSe Plafffs hal la1s
She spoke or the original article on tie scandal,
alluded 20 her intimate relations TO all parties
implicated in IL, ana gave the history OF the
csnses that led 20 its publication. Beecber. She
said, had shown that he was a grand and noble
character by refrRining from q positive denial
OF the story, and had thereby lent has great in
huerce 20 the cause advocated by the Wood
hull. In fact, there had been 3 great deal OF
grandeur and nobility wasted in and about
Brooklyn, for not only had the church, by it's
silence, endorsed Tree love, but the press OF
that city and New York, by their defence OF
BeeCher, had also rendered a verdict in its
favor. A stlll broader sweep was given 20 this
logic by the assertion that the attitude Of the
press and people OF the whole coBstry, in their
attic pt 10 find excuses for the Brooklyn di-
vine, showed that the doctrines OF free love
would speedily triumph. IntersOven with this
was an appear tor the right 81 Tree love I'm Bee
chers case, and in all cases, based on the right
which was Insisted OF by all Americans in re-
EeiOUs matters. Never hGd there existed so
grand anu noble = man Beecher seemed Z,
be In the estimation OF the WOOdh ull. the trutR
OF ali the ali cations against him being ai
Tas PLAIN PURPOSE or THE WHOLE pIs-
COURSE.
II Wa evident was 20 LIT free love into view q
the shoulders OF Mr. BeechN's presumed n
cerse IN love matters. n wac not hgs faulr, bu
that OF Il social despotisms in which be tOun
himself. Her qUaIIel WAS not with Ra.cher d
account al h. relations TO Mrs. Tt,tOn, bu
from another cause. Although this cause wa
lot elabOTstely explained. u appeared 20 b.
that BeecLer had allowed the W0cdhull 70 DO
tresttd with ina gnity OF account Of her instru-
mentality in bringing the scandal 10 the public
knowledge. She seemed TO think there were
two Bcechers-cue grand and noble" and the
other quite weak aud extraordinarily human.
The "sublime silence OF Beecher" aud the
"sublim0 reticenoB OF his cOngreg alton re-
cured at intervals during the lecture with tue
regularity of refrain &c a song. COMBINATIONS
remarks were made about the temperance
women, which net with great favor. These
women, she said, would try in time 10 iaterdict
the use OF tCoacco. The story OF the effort TO
buy her OF when ia LudlOw-street jail WITH
OOfrcm Iursuilg the matter was rehearsed
with all the energy thst would have been iD-
spred by wounded pride and injured virtue.
People had blamed her for defending Beecher,
and asked her why she did IL. No man or wO-
man had any business 10 say anything agaI7kt
Linn. lie had acted according 20 his instincts.
TIE WHEREABOUTS oP OTHER COMETS
Prof. Henry N. PaTkL urst writes TO the New
York Tribune az fOllOa =" For nearly forty
years have been ar observer OF comets, which
have come, wandered through the heavens for
a few weeks or months, and departed; returning
in few instances, in a few Others expected to
return; but in most c6ses passing OF ia orbits
giving no hope Of a return for thousands OF
years. The clouds forbid observation Of our
present visitor to-night, and my thoughts 70
back TO torper visitors, long since departed,
and 9sk. Where are they now? First, there
Was Halley's comet, APT reaching it, peTiheliOn
IN lS5. That II new just beyond the orbit OF
the planet NEPTUNE, having commenced its re-
turn during the present year. Next, wildly
impressed upon my recollection, IL the comet OF
1873, which L saw At monday near fle sun.
That Il not yet twice the distance Of Neptune.
DOhati's comet II a little beyond the orbit OF
Neptune, and the comet Of 1851 H. Just crossing
that orbit. refer solely 90 distances, and not
10 the direction OF these comets. As il Is hardly
prefer 70 exclude from our system AZ planet
possibly existing al twice the cistancs OF the
furtbest now known, IL is proper TO say that
every one OF the hundred comets ana more that
have appeared sDd disappeared within the last
thirty years, II still nearly or quite within the
limits Of our solar system Is IL not ate % con-
clude also that there sre a. ANY already within