The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1874-07-02

yhe ~. 0tn1ah S1MEnM.
W.. NIT HELL. EDITOR.
Thursday. July 3, 1874.
THn nEECMEK.TILTON SCANDAL.
Theodore Tilton has spread before
the world an unsavory mess in tho
shape Of = seven.oolumu letter con.
corning the Beecher.Tiltou scandal.
It was published first in Mr.. Tilton's
paper, tho Golden Age, and was id.
dressed 30 the Rev. Or. Bacon, Med
orator Of tho recent Congregational
Council At Brooklyn, whose series
Of letters 10 the Independent, exeorio1-
ating Triton, are given as the cause for
this publication. The letter is entire.
y without point or dirsctness it deals
10 vague hints and insinuatious; and
words are seemingly multiplied for the
one purpose of avoiding the making Of
a plain, poiutblauk charge. He re-
lstes At great length incidents con-
nected with and following his With.
draval from Plymouth ohuroh-a with.
drawal which, he says, vas caused BY
the knowledge coming to him. in 1870,
that Mr.. Beeoher had :oommitted
against him IN offense which he forbeazs
to name or characterize" This Of
Tense is nowhere moro explicitly de-
soribed, but it is understood to mean
that on certain occasion, while MI.
Beecher vas visiting Mrs. Tilten, he
made 10 her proposals Of an improper
nature, which were Indignantly 10.
PEELED. But whatever this ofeuse
may have been, it seems 70 have been,
in Mr.. Nlton's estimation, within the
pale Of forgiveness; 70, he publishes
what pu.ports to DO On extract from .
letter written to him BY Mr.. Beeoher,
which reads q follow:
-, "BRooKI1s, Jan. l, 1871.
81 ask Theodore Tilton's forgiveness,
and humble myself before him - do BE-
fore my God. He would have been bet
tsr nan in ny circumstances than have
been. can ask nothing except that he
will remember al the other breasts that
would sehs. viii not plead for myself
Lever wish that I v:F' dead;
n. ". BEEoHEh."
This apology Mr.. Tilton accepted ~
complete and satisfactory, and such Is
10 render friendly intercourse between
himself and Mr.. Beecher possible du'
ring the years that followed.
But this extract is in keeping with
tho general vagueness Of Nh. Tilton's
letter; it throws no certain light on the
dis.greeable matter at issue; it is but .
fragment. Mr.. Tilton had no business
to publish . part Of the letter
without publishing it all. he
Is now writing for the two.fold
purpose of relieving himself of
certain imputations and Of running Mr..
Beecher's good name. Having once
set himself TO the work, he should
have stopped At no hallway measures.
II Mr.. Beeoher vas guilty of what he
would have the world believe him to
have been, MI. Tiltou should not have
spared him. II the unpublished parts
of tho letter beer more heavily on the
offending pastor than does tho part
published, Is MI. Tilton now says they
do, he acted very weakly in withhold.
ing them. Mr.. Bsecher daasrvad no
mercy At his hands. As this letter is
the only certain thing he has with
which to make headway IN the prose.
cution of his case, he destroys its force
by giving only its opening paragraph.
So long as Mr.. Tilton has left in
mystery the prec Use nature IF the Of
Tense to which he alludes and so long
as he has seen fit to have Mr.. Beech
er ask his forgiveness for something
which may have been q henious crime
OF may have been q slight trespass, the
public will have little sympathy With
bis lamentations, and will be slow to
excuse him for thrusting on them an
exceedingly diagreeable subject in
very lame way. Had he, at the time
the assumed wrong was put upon him
visited proper ebsstisement on the Of
fender, he would haye been fully justified.
But he accepted . written apology
If Mr. Beecher's letter is to be con.
sidered a. IN apology for the "unohar-
scter,zable offense''-as . full reparA.
ton, therein displaying, - he would
have the world understand, = degree Of
mseknsss and . spirit Of forgiveness
which would indicate that IN angel of
light was lingering for ont Of his coles
tial sphere. However, when . vroag
ofthis kind Is not forgotten - we'll Is
1olgiven-is not buried out Of sight,
never again to be brought forth-it b.
comes . repreach to tho one Who for
gives. Mr.. Tilton's neskness seems to
have failed him; tho burden Of silence
which be voluntarily assumed va
greater than he could bear; and he
seems to have cared more about tho
publios understanding just how he
withdrew from Plymouth Church than
about HAVING tho name Of his wife
passed from lip to lip In : connection
which would fill any pure woman's
soul with agony and from which any