The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-07-09
THEPLYMOUTH CHURCH CASE.


- NV -
~ From the Golden Age
15e Red Leonard Bacon, ID. d., L. I. D., er-
I ModSutor ne BrooklyB, Councd:
SIR: After had been for fifteen years
member of Plymouth Church, and had be-
come meanwhile intimate with its pastor,
knowledge came to me in 1870 that he had
committed against me an offense which for
bear to name or characterize. Prompted by
my self respect i Immediately and forever
ceased my attendance upon his ministry. l
informed him of this determination rs early
as January, 1871, In the presence oil mutual
friend, Mr.. Francis ID. Moulton.
The rules of Plymouth Church afforded
me two methods Of retirement, one, to ask
for formal letter of dismissal the other,
to dismiss myself less formally by prolonged
absence. chose the latter. In so doing
my chief desire was to avoid giving rise to
curious inquiries into the reasons for my
abandoning a church i'm which had been
brought up from boyhood, and therefore, 1
did not invite attention to the subject by
asking for dismissory letter, but adopted
the alternative of silently staying away re-
lying on the rule that a prolonged absence
would finally secure to IN, me "a . o'sm'SS"i III
Several powerful reasons prompted me to
the adoption of this alternative, among
which were the following: The pastor com.
municated to me in writing an apology sign
ed by his name. He also appealed to me to
protect him from bringing reproach to the
posure would forbid him to reascend his
pulpit. These and other similar reasons had
no right or disposition to disregard; and l
acted upon them with q conscientious desire
to see Mr.. Beecher protected rather than
harmed.
At length my absence from the church,
an absence which not three members OF the
has .Nag knANV
cause, began to excite comment in private
circles.
At length after many calumniOus whisper
ings near and for. since evil tales magnify
as they travel, weekly paper in New York in
November, 1872, published wicked and
persons in the church ignorantly attributed,
in its origin and animus, to me; whereas /
had previously spent many months OF con-
slant and unremitting endeavors to suppress
it, an endeavor in which, with an earnest
motive but foolish judgment made many
ill-directed sacrifices of my reputation, po-
sition, money, and fair prospects in life, for
all such losses of things, since mine alone
was the folly, let mine alone be the blame.
In August, 1873, Mr.. William +. West, a
member of Plymouth Church, hitherto a
stranger to me, came to my residence accom-
panied, at his request, by my friend, Mr.. F..
b. Carpenter, and told me that when the
summer NdCdtlOu Was ONtTy uty MI. west,
meant to cite me before the church on the
cha fge of circulating scandals against the
pastor, declaring in Mr.. Carpenters presence
that Mr.. Beecher had acted as If the reported
scandalous tales were true rather than false,
and urging that owed it to myself and the
truth to go forward and become willing
witness in an investigation. peremptorily
ton, and declared that as had not been a
member Of Plymouth Church for several
d years, / could not be induced to return to
that church for any purpose whatever, least
of all for so distasteful purpose as to par.
ticipate in scandal. Some leading mem
my co-operasion in defeating Mr.. West, and
Z cheerfully gave it. To this end ] wrote,
with their pre-knowledge and at their earn
est desire, letter declining to accept u copy
of the charges addressed to me as a member,
on the ground that l had four years pre-.
yiously ceased my connection with the
church. For this letter received, on the
and hearty thanks. To my surprise and in
dignation learned, on the morning of De-
tober 81, 1873, that the. report which was to be
read at the church meeting to be held that
evening, would not be in the simple form
already indicated, but would declare that,
whereas had been charged with slandering
the pastor, and whereas had been cited be-
fore the church to meet the charge, and
whereas kad pleaded nOn-membership as
an excuse for not appearing for trial, there
fore resolved that should be dropped, etc.
7 This gross imputation thus foreshadowed to
me, led me to appear in person at the church
that evening, there to await the reading OF
the forthcoming report. The report when il
came to be read, brought me the following
novel intelligence, namely: Whereas, a
copy Of the charges was put into the hands
of the said Tilton on the 18th of October,
and request made of him that he should
answer the same by the 23d of October" etc.
do not know to this day whose hand it was
that drew the above report, and, therefore,
am happily saved from an offensive person
atty when / say that the statement which
have here quoted is Numerically the oppO-
site of the truth for instead of my having
been requested to answer the charges, had
been requested not to answer them. After
the public reading OF the above report, /
arose in the meeting and said in Mr.. Beech.
er's presence that ii had slandered him
would answer for it to his face; to which he
replied in an equally public manner that he
had no charge whatever to make against
me.
Next, growing out of the church's singular
proceedings in this case, came the Congre-
, sgational Council of which you were Moder-
ator.
You say that l have either ga malicious
heart or crazy BRAIN" / know the fountain
head of this opinion. While the council was
in session in Brooklyn, the following start
ling paragraphs appeared in the Brooklyn
Union, of Saturday, March 90, 1874:
MIR. sHEARMAN on TIE SITUATION.
At the close OF the services a linton reporter ap-
preached Mr. Beecher for the purpose Of getting his
views 10 the council, but he declined to be inter
viewed.
Mr.. Sherman, the clerk of the church, however
was communicative. He said he had received no in
timation yet what course the council would pursue
In regard to the scandal on Mr.. Beecher, he said
far Tilton concerned he (Tion) out of his
mind, and of his balance and did not act reasonably
trouble while in a haIf-crazed condition. She had
mediumstic fits, and while under the strange power
that possessed her often spoke of the most incredible
things declared things possible that were impossible,
and among the rest had slandered Mr.. Beecher. Mr..
Tilton himself had ACKNOWLEDGED that all the other
things she had told him in her mediumstic trance
Sherman, should the scandal Mr.. Beecher be the
only truth In her crazy words?
Shortly after the appearance OF Mr.. Shear
mans reported interview in the Union, that
gentleman sent to me, through Mr.. +. ID.
Moulton, letter, the substance of which was
that he (Mr. 81 had re ferred in the above
conversation not TO me or my family, but to
other persons. This letter Ideclined to re-
ceive, and returned it to the writer, with a
demand upon him to retract his untrue and
unjust statements. Furthermore, required as
condition of my accepting from Mr.. Shear
man sny spology ut all that this apology
should be presented 10 me in writing In the
presence Of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
This was promptly done at Mr.. Moulton's
house in Mr.. Beecher's presence.
The above named calumny, which Mr. T.
g. Shsarman thus ,retracted, is but one of
seyeral similar falsehoods against my wife
ana myself, which have been fostered by in
terested parties TO explain the action of Ply.
mouth Church falsehoods which in some
instances have been corrected in the same
way, and which in others still await to be
corrected either in this way or in court of
Justice.
You ask, "When did Mr.. Tilton cease TO be
responsible to the Plymouth Church," /
answer that / first ceased my responsibility
TO that church when terminated my mem.
bership, four years ago. I afterward volun-
tarily renewed my responsibility to the
II. n Al q ~