St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-07-03


prived of an opportunity to vindicat,
himself Truly Yours,
THEODORE TLTON.
/" the above communication | re-
ceived the fol.' wing reply from tn,
clerk of the chu Oh :
BRooKLYN, May Il. 1874.
Dear Sir: \ ouI note of the 4th in.
slant. inclosing ii letter addressed t,
MIR. Beecher. Mr.. Halliday. and myself
WAS duly received.
This letter has been read by Mr.
Halliday. it'll hose concurrence it has
been submitted , the examining com
mittee aud w all deem its contents
to present Il q'r >tion which should he
decided by thai committee. and which
should not he Submitted to the pastor
of the church, to whom. therefore. the
letter has not been shown, though he
has been advised of its substance.
Having consulted the members of
the committee. | am Informed by them
that they see 10 reason for accepting
your propositions, or for laying it before
the church.
Whatever view may be taken of the
case 10y others. the examining commit
tee and the church have seen no neces-
sity for viIdiciting any member of the
church from charges which no one has
made, and the church has never. in the
twentN-ScNcn wears of its history
adopted such ii course. No one eau
therefore. hold you responsible for the
loss of an opportunity to the church to
do that which ii never vet has done.
and probably never will do.
We do not understand your letter us
implying that y"u have any charges to
make, hut To the contrary. If the com
miltce had so understood it. they would
have readily entertained and fully in
ve>tigatcd them.
1t is proper to add that your name
was dropped from the roll not simply
because of the statements made by You
after charges had been preferred against
you, hut because, months if not years
before any charges were made, You dis
tinctly stated to various officers and
members of the church that YOU had
permanently abandoned your connec-
ton with it, thus bringing yourself eX-
preSsly within the terms of our rule
upon this subject. Yours truly.
THOMAS G.. SIEARMAN.
Mr.. Theodore Tilton.
L.
Shearman seemed to bear no official.
hut only Il private, signature, adj
dressed to him the following note:
Ia Livingston street,
Brooklyn, May %. 1874.
Mr.. Thomas G.. ShcarmIn. clerk of
Plymouth church,
Sir: My recent communication adj
dressed to the pastor, the associate
pastor. and the clerk of Plymouth
church is acknowledged by you in IL
note which You seem to have signed
merely rs Il private individual. and not
rs an officer of the church.
| call your attention to the fact that
| did not address YOU in your private
capacity. hut solely as the clerk of
Plymouth church.
|, therefore, respectfully request to
hr informed 10y You, definitely and in
writing, whether or not | am at liberty
to regard your letter as an official reply
to mine. Truly yours.
THEODORE TILToN.
Mr.. Shearman's reply was as fol- |
~ Hicks street. Brooklyn,
May %. 1874.
whether my letter of IStn inst. was an |
official answer to yours of 18th inst. /
beg to say that did not feel at liberty,
without the express authority of the
church itself. to sign that letter as its
clerk.
In so far rs the letter stated that your
proposition of May was declined. it
was official since as clerk of the
oh | a, Il al 4.
to lay the proposal before the church
itself. holding ,iySelt responsible to the
church for 81 doing.
The remainder OF the letter of 18th
inst. must he regarded as my indivi,lu-
al statement OF what believe to be the
unanimous opinion of the officers of the
church. Your obedient servant.
THOMAS g.. SHEARMAN.
Mr.. Theodore TilIon.
1t will thus "n seen that Mr.. Shear
man. i'll amSwe, - my inquiry. charac
tcrizeS his pI, ions letter tn me a>
partly nmotici; though how he could
originally have .Npccted me to draw
the dividing Ii between its two parts
without this subsequent explanation.
| am AT loss t. understand. But the
official pnl,iOn of his letter (now that
il has been pointed ont to mel is sutl-
cicnt to answer your query. when did
Mr.. Tilt,h csaSe to he responsible t"
the III mGuth tIrch ," | respectfully
submit that. =. ing aside all previous
cavilS ma tech 'ralitieS concerning the
church. Oh / ~ he fairly said to have
ceased NV res .onSbility to Plymouth
church When t',c clerk of that church
officially Informed me that my volunta-
L 1. Il
cially declined.
". H. Your five ESSAYS you We're
led. through Ignorance of the facts, Ia
make several other erroneous and in
furious StatcmctS concerning my case
but the core 'tionS and explanations
which have already given will of
themselves correct the others.
1t now remains for me to give you
some reasons Nhy | have been prompt
ed. after years of reticencc. to lay be
fore You the grave matters contained
in this communication. Nothing could
induce m" to make my present Use of
the iOre-g going facts except the conyic-
ton which the events of the last wear.
and particularly of the last half wear.
have forced upon my mind that Mr..
Bcccher, or his; legal and other agents
acting in his interest and 10y his con
sent. have shown themselves willing to
sacrifice my good name for the main
tcnance of his. have come slowly to
this Judgment more slowly than my
personal friends have done hut that
| I'm not mistaken in it, You shall see
10y Il few illustrative instances =
|. have already shown You how
the church, at Il public meeting on Fri
day evening. October 81, 1873. by an