The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-08-06
The Bsseher Situation.

The Albany Evening Journal appears
to concur with our estimate of MIR. Beech
er's own letters, and to consent to the con-
clusion which a patient, searching analy-
sis will conduct every fair mind to, viz
that "all the letters are consistent with
''the no-crim. con. theory. Two Of the
~'sletters are consistent with either theory.
''Four of the letters are inconsistent with
"the crim-con theory" and the Journal
adds, "of course the World believes Mr..
Beecher guiltless."
What the World believes it will itself
know when the evidence is all in. Not be-
fore. Not till then will it undertake to
form a belief.
What the World believes of the evidence
now in is:
l. That it proves nothing which is
charged.
2. Mr.. Beecher's own letters, which
the nasty construe by the light of their
W nastiness, and which sloppy minds
find so hard to understand and want him
to explain, can nohow be made to hitch
with the assumption of his guilt of GRIM
con. But every line and syllable of those
theory is true. And either Grim. CON-. OF
no Grim. con. is the true theory. A and
not.A comprise the universe, its gods and
its bells, and A may mean anything you
please.
g.. Mr.. Beecher's own letters, SO writ
ten, fluent and free, the ''exaggerations of
imprisoned sorrow aoould have convicted
him if he had been guilty of Grim. con.
This is a mere argument to the probable
ty, but 1t Is an erperimentum crucis, and
there is no better reason to be had by sci
ence for believing that light arrives to the
eye In waves, not in emitted particles.
That was the way Hamlet detected his I'M
cle's guilt and proved his fathers ghost
an honest one.
II his occnlted guilt
Do not itself unkenuel in oae speech.
1t is a damned ghost that we have seen,
And mems imaginatioEs az as foul
As Vulcan's stifhy."
But his uncle's guilt being assumed by thu
play within the play-Hamlet caught til,
conscience OF the King, whose guilt did un
kennel in the cry:
Give me some light-away!'
A. Mr.. Beecher's letter of contrition,
Tilton himself has now proved not to lie.
fer to Grim. con. but to some wrong OF
which Mr.. Beecher's wife was gu;ltier than
he. But the letter of contrition explained,
nothing else needs explanation, tor then
his sorrow was at its maximum and he
wished he were dead. Tiltou in his exam
ination testified:
From Tilton'a Testimony
"I1e [Bcccherl burst ont in an expression Of great
sorrow to me, and said that he hoped the CommIi-
ication which he had sent TO me by Mr., Moultyl
was satisfactory to me. He then and there told
Mr.. Moulton that he had done wrong, not 50 mach
as some others hdd treferrihg 10 his rife, who had
made statements TO Mr.. Bowen that ought TO be nm,
made unn he fhpr4 min "a .l . IN ksrfN IA lAtfAr
10 Mr.. Bowen concerning the facts which he had
misstated.
The Tribune denies to Mr.. Beecher the
presumption Of the common law, that he ID
innocent till proved guilty. 1t assumes
what is not true, that his own letters, I'M
explained, prove guilt, and demands ex
planation:
From the Tribune
Meanwhile Nj. Beechcr and his friends should
understand that they are wearing out the pa fence
of a community that has meant to he very slow in
deed to think evil OF them. There stand Mr.Btech-
and that his statement is ready, lie cannot furnish
IL an hour too soon, or maze 1t too frank and com
plcte.'
We do not doubt that the letters will be
put in relation to their circumstance by
Mr.. Beecher or some Of his friends. But
when according to Tilton himself the let
ter of contrition had no reference to crim.
con, what needs explaining except the in
sanity of 1ilton? The 7rtJuae might as
well be asked to explain its relations with
Jay Gould after the Times should prove
that Gouid's stock gambling is hindered
not helped by its daily columns.
5. Tilton's crime, however, is complete
and proved under his own hand and seal.
About half the newspapers in the United
States, of the Republican stripe, denounce
us for denouncing 1ilton, thus showing
that they are not shocked, that to them it
is no crime for 1ilton to dance naked
through the streets singing vessels If dis
honor ia at the windows of every house.
Mr.. Beecher might have deserved the
worst that can befall him without Ameri-
can homes deserving this deflement.
What Mr.. Beecher deserves we may have
an opinion about when the evidence is an
in. What Mr.. Tilton deserves we know
now. And the editors who do not resent
1T, themselves, like Tilton, deserve the
Delaware whipping post and CaIiban's
horse pond. IN /. World.