The New York herald., 1874-07-30
The commuaio. OF the Saints.

The Communton OF the Saints.
The latest Brooklyn saint to come to the
frontis F. B. Carpenter. This holy man was
at one time, like his brethren, Bowen, Tilton
and Moulton, high up in the Plymouth
synagogue. When differences came he joined
the fiery Moulton and followed Theodore. Car
penter seems really to be one of the most in
teresting saints in Theodore's flock, evidently
from his testimony of sweet, pensive nature,
truth-loving and truth-telling. with practical
turn Of mind that must have been of advantage
to his impetuous master. 1t was Saint Francis
who discussed with Mr.. Beecher the pro-
priety of sharing his fortune" with Theodore.
1t was Saint Francis, according to Mr..
Wilkeson, who impressed upon him the wis.,
dom of Mr. Beecher's business partners paying
Theodore eight or ten thousand dollars year,
as q. contribution, we presume, to the ex-
penses of the new dispensation. 1t was Saint
Francis who intimated to Mr.. Cleveland,
another business partner Of Mr. Beecher, that
five thousand dollars paid to Theodore would
'avert the storm" This good soul had q
perfect conception Of tho wants of his master
and of the practical methods of building up
religious influence, and he wdsted no time
dreaming. Theodore might write his little
sermons on the mount" and parallels like
TIE "Grace, Mercy and Peace note to Mr..
Beecher. The fiery Moulton could look after
the pistols, and obtain the letters Gin con-
fdence;" but what Saint Francis wanted was
money, and Subscribers to the Golden Age by
the thousand" Not one Of the holy brother
hood had such sound conception of what
was needed as Carpenter. Nor must
we suppose that he lacked in senti-
ment either. For when not looking after
the means for his masters work he seems to
have made point of discoursing on his sor-
rows. The "suferings Of Theodore make
him touchingly eloquent and show the true
religious fervor. He quotes Mr.. Kinsella, the
editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, as saying that
Theodore Tilton had suffered more than any
man since Jesus Christ clifton told me-"
he continues, 'the night he put the Bacon
letter to press that he would rather take thirty
nine lashes in the flesh, and drawn blood
every time, than have printed this thing
against Mr.. Beecher" What is more, Saint
Francis really believed him. If any master
knows his saints Theodore is that man. He
makes no blunders. When money is needed,
Moulton does not 60 on the errand, for
Moulton is like Saint Peter, and has q soaring,
combative soul. Neither does he intrust the
enthusiastic Carpenter with the loaded pistol.
A disciple Of his emotional nature, who really
believes In his masters sorEows ss only to be
compared with those Of divinity, would have
brought the new gospel to sudden catas-
trophe had he been trusted alone in Brooklyn
with deadly weapon. It is the great virtue
of Saint Francis that he believes in his master,
his sorrows, his virtues, his rhetoric, his life,
and probably no one more sincerely grisvss
to-day than this good soul that Cleveland did
not pay the five thousand dollars necessary
for peace" or that Wilkeson did not secure
lasting harmony by entering Theodore on the
books of Mr.. Beechers firm as the recipient
of salary of 'eight or ten thousand dollars
year"
This is an instructive picture also that Saint
Francis gives us of the sanity Bowen at that
memorable conference, when committee of
Plymouth saints proposed to ''discipline"
Bowen for ''slandering Mr.. Beecher." There
was Saint Francis himself, wondering, We are
we'll persuaded how the new gospel would
thrive if money did not come. There was the
holy Moulton, we presume, with his loaded
pistol. There was Clafin, who now, it seems,
is ''the possessor of the covenant" and there
was the good Bowen himself, insisting that
what he signed in the covenant was untrue,
and that Beecher had been ''on his knees be-
fore him. confessing his sins. The spectacle
of Henry Ward Beecher at the feet of Henry
Bowen as fearful penitent is extraordinary,
and leads to the suspicion that Bowen himself
had become jealous of Beecher, and meant to
have q new religion of his own and his own
. collection of saints to worship him as Beecher
and Tilton are worshipped Here, perhaps, is
the key of the whole trouble. A religion like
Plymouth church, that seems to have ignored
the old landmarks of faith and orthodoxy,
that rested simply on the eloquence and the
genius of one man, that adored Henry Ward
Beecher instead of Jesus Christ, could only
result in this downfall Men are human and
have their vanities, and why should not
Bowen and Tilton, after paying divine honors
to Reecher, feel that in time they should re-
ceive similar honors themselves? We can we'll
understand how two saints of their yearning
temperament, impatient of the overmastering
presence of Beecher, should have united in
sending him blackmailing letter, for which
they could have been indicted. Since Mr..
Beecher received the letter, and, instead of
calling in policeman and delivering his tor
mentors into custody, saw fit to enter into
covenants with them, nothing that has taken
place should at oil surprise US. Had he been
innocent he would not have thus fallen.