Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1874-07-23

cro:S-cXanliIa'!un was Then suspended He
had rad The night before that he had beer Of
frrrd !igh price Tor 1t when promising that
it should not b Published. 10 the morning. In
the examination, Mr.. iiton never claimed
that Alr. Bcccicr hai by an act ar word, ever
confess d any guilty act whatever, tie ouy
COZ tr>>lou being HAT drawn by implication
from his letters Nor mad he any written con-
te>sion t, this cifcc from Mrs r'Itor the only
"nc which he had being thar OF December %
1870 which expressly prrcluded the idea Ut
adultery. He had discovered the criminal init
macy Subsising between the two on July ),
1870; aud although he admitted that he had
known that 1t wa, going on for Ioug time, he
and had at 10 time discouraged the Intimacy.
After the discovery he allowed Lis wife and
daughter to attend Plymouth Church. and Tor
,ix months made nu complaint to any one, dur
ing the last period allowing Mr.. Btecher the
fullest privileges and freedom at his house in
calling upon h wife and dau.h;cr The first
time he mentioned the charges to aoy ne was
in a conversation with Mr. Bowen uyou lie yer
lag that he was about to be dismiss from his
position a. editor ufthc Christian Uulou. and
al this time the charge was CO iued 10 au I'M
proper offer on Mr.. Bcccher's part. Iu general
t,ruls Mr. Tiltyn WIS forced to admit that
whraever he bad made the cha.gcs some loss
Of position or salary was Threatened. Oa De
c'utcr 80 1870 he first made any charge to
Mr. Brcshtr, personally sending word 10 him
in the shape OF Il croie>>inD, drawu up for him,
to $ "a. wh!cn expressly excluded the idea of
adultery. La his cross-eXainluatioo Mr.. Iitou
refused TO produce any original documents
The tripa:ute agreement he admitted, was
sigrcd The day after he obtained tie sum Tor
which H. had sued Mr. W L, aud lie also add
mil!cd having begun the agitation which led
to the agreement ut the same time that he
made calm on Mr.. Bowen Tor the arrears Of
Sai;iry for which the suit was BROUGHT Mr..
Elton viii D. summoned before the committee
Tor the purp - OF completing the cross cXanl
nation Dt the evideoce which be has made iU
hi statement.
\ large amount of evidence bearing upon the
whole question has been submitted to the coul.
IDiitce, and explanations of some parts IT llr.
ii!ton', statcm mt, as We'll as OF !he documents
interviewer III It's story, have been already givtu
Ly some of the PERSONS concerned. The refer
caca made To Carharine Gaunt in the letter Of
iI.s Iitou, published in the statement, and
dated Schoi,arc, June 20, 1871, as explained
by herself, is considered to explain the whole
circumstances on which the charge OF Nh III
ton rest. Catharue Gauut, it will be r2mem-
i,crcd, was uoi woman who mad yielded 10
illicit intercourse, but one who had allowed The
i; fuencc Of = highly endowed priest to don-
natc her mind to he exc uson OF her husband :
nfuance, and this was what had happened in
The ease OF Mrs. fll:ou aud Mr.. Beechrr. She
declares in bc MOS; Soluun manner that there
had been al no time and at ~ period any lu-
pure or isnobIc thought in the Whole Of the IN
timacy much less any improper advance from
Mr. Brcch"r 70 each # the allegations OF
improper intimacy her evidence gives an en-
phatic dcnia, All which had su5>lStcj be-
tween them was deep Intimacy grown OF long
acquaintance, dating 10 her childhood, and
which had growu on her part, to quote the in-
formation given, 30 spiritual affection, which
b1rdcred closely on worship. Ii vas because
thi> was 10 every manner pure aud Tree from
any faint OF impure thought or feeling that she
insisted So iuug on her innocence In the VIII lie
matter l. was for this rcason that she claim
eli to be guitlcss in all her intercourse with
Mr. Becchcr. ard it was ouly when she read
Griffith Gauut' that ii occurred to her that
to allow relation Of this character, pure as
il was, to spring up aad overshadow her re-
gard for her husband was wrong. Like Catha-
r.n- Gaunt, she had lett her husband when
she ought to have forgiven him, and it was
th. feeling induced by this fact which led
10 the latter corIes>!ng wrong. 10 regard 10
other letters OF NOR: explicit character aud il
later date, the evidence before the committee
shows hat they were written at time wien
Mir. TiitGn had Compelled her return after a
teuI Iorary sep ration by abduc'lnI her child
rcu Letters Of lis were submitted proving
the clanlcsti1c method 10 which this Was done.
aud Other evidence brought forward TO snow
hat this time she was 80 entirely under her
husbands power or Influence, Or both, that III
his presence she denied statements Sue had
previously made, and which subsequently she
reiterated. with The explanation that she was
utterly unable to re>iS! the will Ut her husband.
Eydcncc of her husbands jealousy, Of the
TACT that hc has assigned each Of his children
TO d. ffsreul father, ard has charged her "! h
frequent aud almost continual lLfch,le>, la,
also been submitted to the committee, as well
as a large lDas> of information a. to her char
acter and the high standard which she has uni
fyrmly placed on the duties Of wife.
STATEMENT or THOMAS q sHEhRMAN.
Dir. Tnos. q. Sheatman. clerk Of Plymouth
Church, after visiting Mr. Bcecicr on Tuesday
evening. communicated the following TO a rep
rescnlatlve of paper. de said:
The statement Of Mr. TIlOn does not shake
the confidence of Mr. Bcecher's church ~ M
bers in him III the least. | saw Mr. Bcccaer
this evening. aud he said that he should make
Il prompt statement, in which all the charges
should be put IN their proper light. Mrs. Til
ton rc,tcrate- her avowal Of Mr. Beechcrs it,
noccnce as we'll as her own. There is nothing
ia Mr. Titon's statement, as far as documents
are cuncerDad that have not heard before. |
believe that | understand this case fully, hav-
iue heard nearly ali that can be said on every
side, and it has lolg been my personal desire
that the whole matter should bc brought out.
having known that Mr.. Beccher's silence was
maintained for the sake OF others rather than
for himself. am perfectly certain il my own
mi, that Mr. bcccnrr Is entirely gulItess not
only Of the otf:aSe' specifically alleged III this
document of TIlton's, but OF the minor otfensc
whici Triton has aIwas heretofore assigned as
the real one ~ to that, believe that the
ouly basis for such prcteDsc vas a mere com
pIimcnt halt humorous in lis nature which
I,. Mr. i(unrbnr Mr. iiltou at