Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1874-09-03
General News.
The Verdict Of Plymouth Church.

BEEcHEH for the purpose of making "a
thorough aud impartial examination of all
charges affecting his good name" and of
communicating" TO the church such ne.
ton as. in the light of that examination.
! might seem To them just and wise The
fact OF the judges having been appointed
by the person accused aud OF his possess
ing the further privilege OF being alone
represented before them by legal counsel
imposed on them very peculiar respon.
sibility. While. nom inaliy, they had to
report to Plymouth Church alone, they
| couid not fail To remember that their yer.
met was matter OF more than usual in
terest to the whole Christian community
| OF This. and. To some extent. oil other
countries. Plymouth Church might not
be likely TO doubt their strict impartiality.
but the more extended public outsld. OF il
was certain 10 test their methods Of pro.
cedure by the ordinary rules sovernin,
| judicial tribunals, The fact that the mem
oers OF the court entered upon their labors
necessarily prepossessed in Mr. BEECH
ERs favor. made Il all the more impcra-
tive that they should aim at the most Sc
we're judicial impartiality in sitting the evil
dence submitted To them and IN presenting
/ the conclusions to which il led. TO render
| their report OF any value outside the circle
| OF Mr.. BEECHEg's immediate friends IL
| should have been as free from any appear
ance OF bias A. "A carcfully-wrtten Judi
| clal decision. In point of fact, il bears IN
many parts n close resemblance To the
| pleading OF an advocate for the defense,
and as 4 whole II can only be compared to
a charge which might be delivered To A
| jury by Judge strongly convinced OF the
| innocence OF the accused
| These radical defects in the tone and
/ A.lF nf h.sr
/ Committee are the more to be regretted
inasmuch as their verdict that the evidence
IN the case fails to susi lin 'he main chary-
/ e. made by Mr.. TILToN. Is such a, any
strictly legal tribunal would have been
/ compelled 10 adopt But surely that evil
| deuce might have been siiled ani sam
married without diverging into irrelevant
/ abuse like this: 1T is an amazing pify
that At this juncture. MOTION was not
handed over 10 the police" Whatever
| MouLroS may say now, since his malice
has been excited by certain exposures. i
/ Of little consequence" There NAV be "A
| place for such statements. bat 1t i certain
! ly not in Judicial document intending 10
/ command general aud respectful assent
! from the public. The same remark an
| plies to the analysis Of the present charac-
ter aud ,tan1n: ofrnEopoRE TIrox be-
| ginning: 'ftDally. who l. this accuScr
that he makes so bold iace;'' The com
miiiec have heard = great deal OF esidcncn
! OF which the public knows nothing. and
there will be 4 general disposition To take
/ their word for II that due weight has been
| given 10 all the testimony before them.
| Ia their e>timat. of the value of Two nor
tIons of the evidence, with which the pu..
| lie are familiar, they will. however, hardly
obtain very c~rdial assent. II l. quite
L ~. ft.s.N
"BE>sIE" TugNKR is a person of unusual
Intelligence and that appearance and
manner before the committee impress ,ed
all who heard her testify that she was sin
cere anl reliable" Her evidence certain
iy Impressed the majority OF decent peo-
pie VINO read u IN quite a different way
and II anything throughout the whole
miserable business were calculated 20 cx
cite faint emotion of pity for Mr. TiLroN.
II Is the extraordinary Kind OF espionage
10 which. on her own showing, he was
subjected by his adopted child, In his own
house. Then, In legal sense, Il is per-
fectly clear that ii one part OF Ms. TIL
TONS testimony Is thrown out on the
ground that she was incapable of telling
the truth while under her husbands In
fiuence, the rest OF it hardly deserves tn.
value attached TO II by the committee. be-
cause IL il obviously open 10 the objection
that she might BE- equal ineIp4jl, of tell
Ing the truth while under the influence of
some one else.
According 10 the resolutions drafted by
the Examining Committee to which the
Committee OF Investigation first submitted
their report, Mr.. BEgCHgg has never
been really on trial at all. and the bu.i-
ness OF the latter body was simply to dis
cover whether there was evidence enough
TO warrant his being placed on trial. I'm
fortunately. the majority Of the public and
The newspapers long ago made up their
minds not only that Nr. BEECHEg was on
trial. but that they were quite as well ft-
ted 10 dispose Of his case a. the gentle
men who were engaged in hearing the
evidence. One result OF this feeling.
which has been enlightened by the
pIecemeal publication OF nearly all the i'm
portant testimony in the case, has been
that the committees report finds large
portion of the public divided into two
sets OF pArtisans. who will only seek N its
conclusions some fresh argument to sus-
tam the opinions they have long ago
reached the only part of the testimony
TO which impartial peonle have been dis
posed II give aay weight "a, bearing
against Mr. BEEcIER. Is that Of his own
letters. The theory OF the Investigating
Committee in regard to these j. perfect
ly tenabie one. and one TIL most OF our
readers would be glad 10 accept a, the
last words ON controversy which last
nights proceedings ia Plymouth Church
hardly warrant Us in regarding as finally
settled. There is not q letter from Mr..
BEECHER. nor an act of his, however ILL.,
Judged, through these four years OF anx-
lety and grief, that cannot be accounted
for upon the plain theory that he was
nshtlng To suppress an outrageous scan
dial which consisted of a false accusation
against him made by a reputable woman:
and. further, that he was endeavorny To
help man whom he felt he had unduly
injured in business matters upon repre-
sensations which he was afterward made
TO believe, chiefly by MoULroN. were not
well founded"
We may now take leave to express the
hope that our readers will not expect us
TO publish any more statements. explana.
tons, or reports on this offensive, not to
say ioathsOme, subject There is a demand
for such reading, we are sorry to say; and
we have received some complaints from
persons wtO think that We .'do not give
enough about TILTON, MOULroN. aud
BEECHER. We have, however, done what
We thought to be right, and acted in the
interests Of the great mass Of our readers,
decent families, into which such ilthy
stories a. that of BESSIE TURNER" would |
never be willingly Audited. There are
many journals which eagerly pubIIsh mar
ratives Of this kind, but we have never
been, and never intend to be. of tho num-
Der. We now trust that we have done |
with the whole affair. OF the tons Or ..ed. |
itorials" written about this scandal the |
only sensible articles we have seen are |
two which have appeared in the New York |
Nation. We fully agree with the opinion
which is expressed at the close of the Sec |
ond of these excellent articles: 1.-The |
case has evidently reached stage at which
the further discussion Of 1t will do no good. |
and serve 20 purpose but to crafty the
cravings Of the actors In It for notorieiy.
1t has come to be conflict OF yer acity'
between people whose moral standard is
evidently not that OF respectable men, and
the best thing the public can do is to let it
drop. N. Y. Times.
In the French Assembly when men,