St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-07-31
Theodore Tilton's Infamy.

The statement of Mr. Bccchcr. pub
lI>hrd yesterday, and the sad rcvela-
tlonS of Mrs. Tlltnm given To the world
this morning, ought to set forever ut
rest. III every candid mind. the ahnm-
Unable ISLANDERS of which Theodore Til
ton l. the author: but what shall he
said of the man Tilt"n himself? lie is
revealed us the cmhodimcnt of all the
cNll passions which curse human nature,
spuIlcd on to the accomplishment of
his malignant designs over the spotleSs
character of his own sensitive. loving
wife, oven the wreck and ruin of his
own home, Oven his own reputation and
all the hopes that he could ever have
cherished for standing in the esteem of
the world. 1t seems hardly us though
the character portrayed in this thrilling
story of an injured and much abused
woman could hc that of Il human being.
but rather that of II liend that had been
made incarnatc to torment himself and
he Il curse to others.
Mr.. 1ilt"n's early life was full of
promise. OF uncommon intellectual
t'ncc, he early placed his feet upon the
path To cmincnce, and had his moral
nature been sound and sweet, had his
soul been endowed with magnanimitv.
with the love of what is pure and true.
he might have ranked among the noblcst
and best belotcd of the nation. But il
seems that his bosom has been the dark
nursery of NAL grant and wicked pas-
Sions, which have torn him like the
devils in the maniac of old. He had Il
pure and trusting wife he had children
whom he should have taken pride in
training up in ways of purity and virtue.
but he chose to bring into the sacred
precincts of his home vile doctrines
which, are suhvcrsivc of all conditions
of domestic happiness and peace. He
took to practices and principles
That blur the grace and blush of modcsty;
Call virtue hypocritc; take of the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love-
Ana set "A blister there; make marriage vows
As falls" as dicers oaths;
rhapsody Of words
The torture and unhappincss of his
wife during years of silent suffering are
to he imagined, not expressed. In the
statement now wrIrIg from her reluctant
lips we get glimps,s of the picture of Il
home turned To purgatory by the dark
and unhridlcd passions of the husband
to whom she had given her Youthful
affections. The Ovcrmastcring and all
absorbing passion of his life seems.
somehow, t" have been envy and hatred
for the pastor to whose church he be-
l"nged, and who was regarded bv his
wife with IL reverence which seems to
have reused him to burning rage.
There is Il mystery about his envy and
hatred of Berchcr and his determination
to humble and destroy him which it is
hard to comprehend. 1t seems almost
Incredible that mere envy mt the ex-
altation of another and the loving es-
TEEN III which he is held should so
arouse the devil in bad but ambitious
nature. Whatever may he the kew to
tins feeling. whether the fact that
Beecher was famous and beloved, while
he was distrnsted whether jealousy nt
the implicit confidence which his wife
placed III the man he hated; whether
the blind Promptings of Il passionate
ana vIndlctive nature and determine
ton to bring the object of his envy into
the PIT of contamination and pollution
INTO which he was plunging, it seems
that Theodore has long cherished a wild
determination to ruin the preacher of