, 1874-09-30
TRIAL by NEWSPAPER
lSpectdtOr.)

dCtIu power, Inc 4FeU York 1R0tlOR points OUT
the obvious disadvantages of "Trial by News
paper" A conspicuouSly painful example Of
that method Of dealing with public offences is.
as everyone knows, ex cit!ng the keenest atten-
ton in the Uuited States A great reputation
is attacked, and with the name of the first pull
pit orator Of the New World many wider con-
siderations than those of mere personal feeling
are bound up. With the facts, or what profess
to be such, of The Tilton- Beecher Scandal we
are not concerned, and do not mean to concern
ourselves. We hasten to say that we are not
going to put our hands into that mud. We
should not hesitate to,do so if necessity were
shown, for it may sometimes be the duty of u
journalist, even at the cost of decency, to vim
dictate some personality frcm a grievous wrong,
Or to assert some principle that bad been pub
licIy ignored. But with the conflict that is
raging around the fame of the pastor of Ply
mouth Church we are glad to say We in this
country have nothing to do; we have no ade-
quate means of forming a Judgment about any
OF the charges that are banded about with
reckless levity, and we are we'll pleased to be
dispensed from the duty of taking a side in an
arraignment that has been poisoned with all
the fury of faction. Mr., Ward Beecher may
be a free-lOver, or the seducer of Mrs. Hilton,
or them0st illuminated of mankind, for any
opinion we have to give except this, that as yet
there is no title of trustworthy evidence against
Mr.. Beecher except Mr.. Beecher'S Own,-a
letter Of remOrse, for which, he says, he can
thoroughly account. But the method OF deal
ing with the alledged offence of an eminent
public man which the Americans have chosen
is worth a little consideration. 1t is not such
as we should be likely to see generally resort
ed to in this country, yet it would be mere
Pharisaical vanity to assert that it is altogether
incompatible with our habits of thought and
our social conventions. 1t is q danger on the
brink of which all countries that possess an un-
fettered Press are lowering, and there is no
security against it, except a ~resolute hardening
of public opinion against the slightest and ear
lest signs of q tendency towards the abyss.
The Americans have plunged into the miry and
Shiny food with something like frenzy, and 1t
is hopeless to think that the national mind can
come out oft unbesmirohed.
Trial by Newspaper may be described as
that method Of sorutinising the characters Of
public men AMI distributing praise or blame
which is common, and indeed inevitable, in a
democratic community that resents all claim
TO domestic privacy as a restriction of public
rights, In every country there is an inclina-
ti0n TO assert some such power Of supervision
over the private lives of eminent persons, but
in societies where distinctions of class are
maintained the pretenSion is all but universally
r6pudlaJed. VI course, II a scandal breaks out
affecting the private character of some one on
whom, for any reason, the worlds gaze is turn
ed, and if legal proceedings follow, there is no
possibility of preventing the publication of ev-
cry detail connected with the matter. A prom
inence altogether disproportioned to its intrin-
sic Importance is thus frequently given to some
unpleasant or, discrelitable relation in which
a distinguished parsonage may be involved
but in England, even when the law demands
publicity, reasonable limits of inquiry and of
comment are set by the very fact that public JUS
tice has taken the controversy in charge.
Without the intervention of law, there is no ex-
ouse that would at present be admitted in this
country for the open discussion and unautho-
rised investigation of a scandal duplicating a
man of eminence. Whatever may be- the i'm
perfectiOns of our legal system, it. does. to a
considerable extent, secure a fair hearing for a
man whose character is impeaehed, and its &C.
cfsions generally govern the drift of public oPip-
ion. But the sort of trial to which Mr.. Ward
Beecher is now being subjected has no ifrnita-
tions whatever; it is confined withinano bounds,
by regard either for TRUTH or justice. or decen-
cy. Gossip sits upon the Judgment seati apd
every one is by turns, or sometimes at the
same moment. jqdga, and .adaVaofcSatte, jury and
witness, reporter, commentator, and execution
err. Everything is evidence, and nothing IS one