The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-06-29
Silence In the Court!

Silence In the Court:
Mr.. Beecher has taken up his position
behind very strong barricade of silence, and
evidently intends to stay there He proposes
to allow Mr.. Tilton to write as many playful
letters as his leisure will admit of, but sternly
refuses to dip his quill into the inkstand to
reply If it affords pleasure to the party on
the one side to stick pins into his neighbor,
the party on the other side is satisfied to play
the role of an animated pincushion until the
manufacture of that useful article gives out.
No sealing wax compares with the adhesive
quality of Mr.. Beecher's lips. The Sphinx
is to the Plymouth pastor as garrulous old
man to one born deaf and dumb The dread
secret which has set the sewing bees Of our
country churches wild with excitement, and
threatens to fill our lunatic asylums to over
flowing with that permanently unmarried por-
ton of the community which means gossip
when it prays tor daily bread, remains under
lock and key.
This febrile state of mind was greatly ex-
aggerated by the recent letter of Mr.. .Tilton,
which as q piece of literature is curiosity,
and as statement of facts is labyrinth in
which the shrewdest loses his way. The only
part Of it that is new is that which points its
bony finger toward very large piece Of
humble pie in the cupboard which the
Plymouth pastor declares can be explained
out Of sight. There has seldom been before
the public q subject concerning which there
has been such persistent silence on the one
hand, and on the other so many hints about
ghosts and COLLINS that lurk in dark corners,
just ready to emerge into the light. No one
appears to be willing to put on the cast-of
garments of the Witch of Endor, and to call
up from its grave the skeleton whose bones
have been rafting in our ears tor several
months past Indeed that poor corpse has
had rather hard time 1t is neither
allowed to rest nor to come to life again. No
sooner is it fairly under ground than
gravel 1t is exhumed and joted
through the streets tor awhile to the
dedication of some and to the disgust of
many, and then taken back and covered up
again. No sooner have we said our familiar
and oft-repeated goodby to it, however, than
new theory springs up and the graveyard is
invaded once more. Ordinary burial is evil
IDENTIFY insufficient, for no sod is heavy enough
to keep the thing under cover. Nothing short
of cremation will put the matter beyond the
reach Of resurrection.
In the meantime the people are in the posi-
ton Of spectators gathered about the man who
plays the dexterous game Of the little joker.
The operator blandly assures US that he will
show us under which of the three cups the
secret lies, but when he lifts the cup the secret
is not there. 1t is somehow always under the
cup that is not lifted. Undoubtedly the skill
full manipulation knows just where it is, but
when you pay your money and take your
choice you always choose wrong 1t docs no
good to threaten, and very little good to coax.
for you can only know what he wishes to tell
who does not propose to tell anything. MIR.
Tilton undoubtedly knows great deal, and
if he should happen to talk in his sleep he
might make revelations perhaps, which would
open our eyes very wide; but he sleeps little,
and always with his mouth shut But the
subject has rested in the morbid region of
innuendo until its diseased image is as CHASTITY
in the public eye as Death on the Pale Horse,
, and 1t becomes clearer every day that the
sooner earnest, honest steps are taken to set
all parties in their true positions the better for
all Perhaps it will then be found that in
spite of all the smoke of scandal, there is not
much fire of sinfulness after all.
The City Budget-Retrenchmen Against