Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-07-30
WHOLE NO. 1886.

Il
ted against Beecher some heinou,
wrong which Beecher had pardoned
| whereas there was the reverse.
BEECHER HOPELESS.
To remedy this false public i'm.
preston, Mr.. Moulton requested
Beecher to prepare suitable card re-
lieving Tilton of this injustice. In
answer to this request Beecher plead
ed his barrassments, which prevent
ed his saying thing without bring
ing himself under suspicion. Tilton
then proposed to prepare a card OF
his own, containing a few lines from
the recently quoted apology, tor the
purpose of showing that Beecher, in
stead OF having had occasion to for
give Tilton, had had occasion to be
forgiven by him Beecher then
wrote letter to Moulton, which, on
being shown to Tllton, was success
full in appealing to Tilton's feelings.
Beecher said in It, under date of Sun
day morning, June l, 1878:
| My DEAR FRANK: | am determined to
make no more resistance. Theodore's tempera-
| ment is such that the future. even if tempora
| riy earned would beabsoluely worthless, and
| rendering me liable at any hour of the day 10
| be obliged to stultify all the devices by whic
we we'd ourselves. 1t is only fair that he
should know that the publication of the
| card which he proposes would leave him
worse eff than before. The agreement, viz :
s'The TrIpartie Covenant" was made after
| my letter through you TO him, viz: "The
10 haA t,aA -
| He had condoned his wife's fault. He had en-
joined upon me with the utmost earnestnesss
and solemnity not TO betray his wife nor leave
| his children TO blight
With such man as L. T. there is no saliva
| ton for any that depend upon him. With a
strong nature, he does not know how to gov
ern it,
There i, no use in trying fnr.ha-. L~,~ =
strong feeling upon me, and 1t brings greet
peace, that am spending my last Sunday, and
preaching my last sermon.
TILToN ADMoNIsHED.
The hopelessness of spirit which
the foregoing letter portrayed on the
part of its writer, led Tilton to recon
slider the question of defending him.
self at the cost of producing misery
to Beecher, which determination by
Tilton, to allow the prevailing caum-
mis- against himself to go unanswered,
was further stronghold by the follow
ing note received by him two days
thereafter from the office of the edi.
tor of Beecher's Journal
1873 EAST TWELFTH SrREET, June 4, 1873.
My DEAR THEODORE May | tell you
frankly that when / saw you last you did not
seem to me to be the noble young man who
inspired my warm affection so many years
ago You were yielding to an act which
| could not help thinking would be dlshonora-
Bile and perfdlous, and, although it Is easy for
me to make every allowance for circumstances
that had wrought you TO such frenzy, was
dreadfuIy shocked My dear The odore, let
me- as an old friend, whose heart is wrung by
your tsrrihiA suffering and sorrow. tell you
that you were then acting ignobly, and that
you can never have true peace of mind till you
conquer yourself and dismiss all purpose and
| thought of injuring the man who has wrong
ed you. Of all the promises our lips can
| frame, none are so sacred as those we make to
| those who have Injured us, and whom we have
protested to forgive and they are sacred just
in proportion as their violation would work
| injury to those to whom they are made. You
cannot paint too blackly the wrongs you have
suffered. On that point, make no plea in
abatement /; but beg you to remember that
no: hing can change the law which makes for
giveness noble and Godlike. | have Prayed
for you night and day, with strong crying and
tears. beseechng God to restrain yoa from
wronging yourself by violating your solemn
engagements. Tonight am happy in the
thought that you have been preserved from
committing the act which / so much dreaded.
In letter written by Beecher in
order to be shown to Tilton, Beecher
sp oke as follows:
"No man can see the difficulties
that environ me unless he stands
where | do. To say that l have a
church on my hands is simple
enough but to have the hundreds
and thousands of mon pressing me
each one with his keen suspicion, or
anxiety, or zeal to see the tendon
cies which, if not stopped, would
break out into q ruinous defense of
me; to stop them without seeming
to 90 it to prevent any ore question
ing me; to meat and allay prejudic-
es against L. which bad their beginn-
ings years before to keep serene as
Iif / was not alarmed or disturbed TO
be cheerful at home and among
friends when | was suffering the tor
ments of the damned to pass sleep
less nights often, and yet to come up
fresh aud fair for Sunday F.; all this
may be talked about, but the real
thing cannot be understood from the
outside, for its wearing and grinding
on the nervous system"
In still another letter, written for
the same purpose az above, Mr..
Beecher said
off my destruction would place
him (Mr. Tilton) all right, that shall
not stand in the way. am willing
to step down and out. No one can
offer more than that. That do of
fer. Sacrifice me without hesitation
if you can clearly see your way tc
his safety and happiness thereby
In one point of view, 1 could desire
the sacrifice on my part. Nothing
can possibly be 90 bad as the power
of great darkness in which spend
much OF my time. | look upor
death as sweeter far than any friend
| have in the world. Life would be
pleasant if l could see that rebuilt
which is shattered. But to live or
the sharp and ragged edge of anxiety
remorse, fear, and despair, and yet
put on an appearance of serenity anC
happiness. cannot be endured muct
longer. | am we'll nigh discouraged
If you cease to trust me, to lose me
II am alone. | do not know any
person in the world to whom L coulc
go"
Mr.. Tiiton yielded to the above
quoted and other similar letters, and
made DO defense of himself against
the public odium which attached tc
him unjustly.
MRS. TILToN's EARLY LOVE FOR HEF
HUSBAND.
Seventeenth-That the marriage
union between Mr.. and Mrs. Tilton
until broken by Beecher, was o
l II