The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-08-27

The New York Tribune thus candidly |
speaks of the great Beecher and Tilton
case:
AT LAST THE TRUTH
Mr.. Beecher has spoken. If the state
ment we print this morning had been
given to the world within a reasonable
time after Mr.. Tiltons charges. the scan
dal would now be dead. Delay has made
the task of killing the dangerous growth
immeasurably harder; but we believe
that candid readers will still rise from
Mr. Beechers nervous recital with the
conviction that he has been the victim
of monstrous conspiracy.
The case against Mr.. Beecher rested
First and mainly, On his own letters
Second, On Mrs. Tilton confessions
Third, On Mr.. Moulton's private decla-
rations that the pastor had confessed the
crime to Linn; and
Fourth, On Mr. Tiltons claim that he
had likewise confessed it to him.
If the first of these grounds for believ
ing the monstrous charge could be re-
moved, the rest would not support 1t.
The second was worthless because Mrs.
Tilton had retracted and explained to
such an extent that even the judge most
preiudiced against Mr.. Beecher could go
no farther than to hold her testimony of
no weight on either side. The third was
nearly worthless by reason of Mr.. Moul-
tons extraordinary conduct and general
character but it is now utterlySaemol-
ished by the production of one of Mr..
Moulton's letters, explicitly admitting
that the whole case might be published
to the world the next day and Mr..
Beecher could stand. And the fourth has
not from the first been regarded by un-
preiudiced people as of any value, and
after Mr.. Beecher's exposure will seem
contemplate.
The case then rests solely on Mr..
Beecher's own letters. Does he explain
them? He certainly shows that they
have been monstrously garbled. The
long letter, that in which he speaks of
| living on the sharp and rugged edge of
| anxiety remorse, fear, and despair,
proves to have been nearly four times as
! long as the part given by Mr.. Tllton,
seems thoroughly consistent with Mr..
Beecher's explanations, and in several
points quite inconsistent with the idea
of his guilt The confession itself was
never written or read by him, some of
the sentences in it were never uttered by
him, and it wholly related to his mental
distress at finding himself, as he thought,
in some way responsible for Tilton's
|
the detailed account of his dealings with
Tilton and Moulton furnishes perfectly
natural explanation. The fear of appo-
plexy, especially under mental trouble,
accounts for the illusions to his probable
death, expectation of never preaching
another sermon, and the like; and the
admission that he has paid seven thous-
and dollars to Tilton, and only stopped
when five thousand more were demand
ed (though given with too little detail)
seems to throw a flood of light on some
of the motives that have led to this
shocking business.
The statement will measurably clear
away the clouds that have been dark and
thick about Mr. Beecher's name. If it
had come sooner, it would in all proba-
bility have ended the scandal. For that
we must look now to the cross-examina-
ton, which cannot yet be weighed, to
collateral proofs, and to the calm and
late judgment of a people always exacting
in such cases, but generally sure in the
end to be just. They will probably re-
gard his course as unwise, his friendships
as unworthy, his heated language in crit
ical moments as unsafe, and his course
through the whole miserable BUSINESS
as weak but not wicked.