Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1874-08-20
The TiIton-Beecher Troubles.

important matter. But TiltOn and
Beecher have now had their say about
it, and we feel more at liberty to pub
lish something on that subject, Be
low we give an article from the Gin
cinnati Gazette, of Saturday last, which
seems to be a kind of summing up of
the business, made from what has been
developed during the Investigations
that have been had on the subject:
MR.. BEECHER's EXPLANATION-THE CASE
AS IT STANDS
Whatever may be said as to the ra-
tional efficiency of Mr.. Beecher's ex-
planation, all must grant that he has
held nothing back for fear of Tilton or
Moulton Tilton is described as one
who ruined his chances by his own
follies who then tried to make Beech
er lever to lift him into position
again, and, having defeated Beecher's
generous efforts to this end by his own
genius for blundering, sought revenge
on him by the destruction of his char
acter, even at the cost of blasting the
fame of his own wife, and fixing
stigma upon his children. Whatever
means TiltOn may have to injure
Beecher, and whatever Moulton may
have in his hands to protect him in
whose cause he has all the while acted
as partisan, are now openly defied.
His narrative of Moulton's acting as
mutual friend and confident in all this
business, while it refrains from char
acterizing it by epithets, represents
him as playing a treacherous part; as
drawing on his sympathies, and goad
ing him into the deepest distress by
descriptions of the ruin and despair of
a once happy family, which he per
suaded Beecher he was in some way
responsible for, and thus eXtorting
from him expressions of sorrow and
apology, which he distorted in the
writing down, and then placed in Til
toms hands to be perverted to support
an ACQUISITION which at that time neith-
er Tilton or MOulton had limited at
The narrative represents MoultOn as
a sort of IagO, drawing BeecherNon to
expressions more and more regretful
and generous to Tilton, by pictures OF
his family's despair, and by pretences
that this would restore Tilton's mind,
relieve him from the social and bust
ness ostracism he had incurred, and
rescue him and his family from utter
ruin.
Thus, if Moulton has anything in
his hands to refute Beecher's eXplana-
ton, it is not only made in the face OF
it and in open defiance of it, but is
made with a reflection on Moulton's $
integrity which puts him on his de-
fense, if he has any. AS it is too great
strain of the probabilities to sup
pose that Beecher would throw his
whole character upon an explanation
which a man already shown to be SO
treacherous as Moulton had the means
of refuting, and thus of proving to the
world that Beecher had not only fall
en-, through the TRANSIENT ascendency o.
sexual passion, out was a deliberate
: liar, and one who would destroy thu
> character of others to cover his owl
+ faults, we have to take Beecher's ex
planation as true until Moulton shall
furnish proof to the contrary.
I Beecher's description of Tilton'
character, as regards his conceit, hi
colossal egotism, and his crazy notio
to revolutionize all social ideas,
corroborated by what the public kno1
or at least that part OF the publ
v which takes special note of journal
S ism. The public can well understan
+ the intense jealousy which such con
d ceit and egotism were susceptible of i
e the contemplation of Mr.. Beecher'
superior powers and position. The
. will remember with what alacrity b
- embraced the opportunity to attac
II Beecher for his letter to the ConveI
1 ton at Cleveland, as if he could there
ID on eXtinguish a man whose fame an
n. position Overshadowed his. The pul
or lie will remember how TiltOn, whe
it he came to be the editor of the Ind
is pendent, assumed the air of the aut
crat of political and social movements
and that when it was announced tn
he had been made editor of tire BroO
lyn Union, and would still remain Il
le principal contributor to the Indepen
n ent, receiving two handsome salarie
n it was thought that this Journalist
~ Colossal had planted one foot in Ne
York and the other in Brooklyn, stra
ding the East River, and loollil
re down upon all living movements
s. compassed by him.
Ia But Tilton's rise by the wings Bo
- en- furnished, had already culminate
- His withdrawal from the editorship
1. the Independent was, in fact, hecau
V. his religious and social yagaries hu
ch that paper Hard upon this came |
~ downfall. 1t has been told-with he
much truth we know not-that Bow
"' expostulated with Tilton on his l
no ported moral lapse, and that there u
e. on Tilton accused Beecher to B0We
e. This may have been the prelude to t
peremptory demand he sent Beeche
by the hand of Bowen, to quit Pl
mouth Church and Brooklyn. Bow
N bore this letter but said he was ign
er rant Of its contents. Beecher na
IS rates that Tilton had conceived tn
o he had contributed to the rumors
: his lapses from morals. This, the
u was the measure of TiltOn's reven!
er on Beecher. Indignant threat. Beec
ed er says he told Bowen of TiltoI
re looseness, and that soon after Bow,
va and Tilton had another quarrel, al
Bowen discharged him.
y His downfall was complete and irr
~ trievable. High professional and s
n cial position, moral reputation, t
,e. tide of fortune, and the means of liy
ba lihood were all swept away. The I
tiOnal mind can have some conceptit
of the madness into which such
Ii unwholsOme mind as Tilton's w
he thrown by collapse of such an inf
10 ton of conceit and egotism, and
the consciousness that the ruin was t
CO result of his own folly. 1t will rea
Sc lily conclude that such genius f
lg destroying could do nothing to
in trive his fortunes. He sought to ma