National Republican., 1875-07-05

ton nrst saw the light. In that puBucauon
il was asserted that Beecher preached to
twenty of his mistresses every Sunday.
Did not she probably have as good suthor-
ity for this assertion as she did for the other
that he was living in adultery with his
friends wifef Does any one suppose that
if he had twenty RGisons in his congrega-
ton that jealousy, revenge and other pas
Sims would not have combined to expose
him long sgof Could he have kept them
all secret And if he was in the habit of
3ecretly indulging in lewd practises, and
the qualification Of his lust with such men,
bers of his congregation as he was able to
debauch, would not his lower passions have
gained such control over him that he could
no longer disguise and subdue themf Is
1t not the case with other menf Does not
excessive indulgence place its unmistaksble
marks of sensuslity alike upon man and
beastf Do they not gradually transform
the countenance and its expression from
innocence and purity 10 desire and lustf
Does not pure woman instinctively shrink
from the impure gaze of the debaucheef
The women Of Mr.. Beecher's church know
whether he is ibertine and a hypocrite
or not Ithey know him to be guilty, Is
1t not incredible that they have sustained
him throughout this whole trial with sim
gle exception.
MIR. Beecher was accused by three wit
nssses Of having confessed to them that he
had committed adultry with Mrs. Tilton,
or been guilty of some great wrong To-
ward her husband. This and Mrs. TIL
toms alleged confession of similar inter-
course with Mr.. Beecher was the burden
of the proof submitted to the jury. These
confessions were emphatically denied by
Mr.. Beecher and also by Mrs. Tilton. The
question of guilt or innocence was thus
practically narrowed down to the respec-
tive credibility of the sccusers and the &C.
cused.
But to return once more to Theodore
Tilton as the chief accuser of his mentor
and former pastor. Let US put ourselves in
bis place. We see him first with the wife
Of his youth. Anon he has arisen to be
great lecturer, great editer-and noto-
rious flirt. His wife he considers his infe-
rior In point Of culture. BE is vain and
ambitious. He is the companion Of the first
men in the land. He edits and is supposed
to control the columns of one of the most
powerful religious journals in the country.
From having been an assistant of Mr..
Beecher he has become q rival Flattery
and m.considered praise of some of his
beautiful and wordy though shallow and
impracticable leaders have turned his
head. He has reached an income of fifteen
or twenty thousand dollars annually, and
really thinks he would hold the world in
sling If Henry Ward Beecher were only
out of the way. His old teacher and
preacher, who knows every intellectual hair
of his head as well as though they were of
his own manufacture, stands there In the
path of his ambition. He will drive him
out. He will raise scandal which will
horrify him, and to avoid the publication of
it he will leave his pulpit and his work to
be managed by others. This was his plan.
He made his accusation of improprieties
and Beecher was amazed, horror
struck, but Mr.. Bowen saw through Mr..
Tilton's little game. He saw that Tilton
contemplated driving Beecher away, that
he (Tilton) might have Mr.. Bowen and his
papers more completely in his control to be
welded for his ambitious purposes Mr..
Bowen had heard unpleasant rumors con-
corning Tilton's habits and associations,
and the bold, modern free-thinking, not to
say free loving, sentiments put forth in his
lectures, and which occasionally crept iato
his editorials. The circulation of his papers
began to shows change which also warned
him. lift did not fall off materially, some
of his best supporters gave place in the
lists to those who were more Of the PAN
tsrchist stripe. Mr.. Bowen is q very
prompt man in business. A very little in
quiry and reflection determined him to DIS
miss Tilton from both his papers.
Then Tilton was In despair. From the
pinnacle of his greatness, where he consid-
cred himself almost al, powerful but few
days before, he found himself precipitated
to the depths Of misery. Then commenced
his bleeding of Beecher through tour
mutual friend, and by gradual approaches
the full -fedged charge Of adultery was duly
made and prosecuted in the trial Just ended
1t is not necessary to enter iute details.
What credence Is q man entitled to who by
his own testimony was quietly cuckold
with his own knowledge for upwards of
three years. while pecuniary benefits re-
suited from silence;, who swore his wife
was pure as an angel all this while, and
when the money stopped brought this suit
for damagesf Is not the inference plain
that he had embraced the Woodruff doc
trines Of the innocence and propriety of
free-love afflnities, and therefore did not
consider himself injured In bis feelings and
affections 30 long as 1t paid, but when
silence in the matter ceased to be profitable
was ready and willing to make merchan-
disc Of his shamef
One word regarding the press. Has Mr..
Beecher been fairly treated by the pressi
Presuming him to have been innocent as
the law does until his guilt is proven, has
he had fair play shown him by the pressi
Have not most Of the great newspapers
treated this question as though Christian
preacher was just as liable TO fall into temp
tation and yield to lust as man Of the
worldi Have they not insisted that he
should prove his innocencei And in this
respect have they not treated him unjustlyi
Do not editors have some, yea, q great deal
ofregard for their professional regulations
To be sure they do. Then accord 10 Mr..
Beecher the credit Of having some regard
for his professional reputation as preacher.
"Put yourself in his place and see what
you think you would have done In like 1
circumstances. Tilton had pretty much
fittered away his reputation Is an editor
before he brought this suit. he foundthat
the Independent and Christia1 Unien pros
pered rather in spite Of his aid than by
reason Of It. BE Is now an object Of the
most sorrowful commiserstinn Of the ffs-
ternity, possibly Of iH contempt II Mr..
Beecher Is guilty Of the crime imputed to
him. this does not appear to be Gods time
to make 1t plain; but his sin win certainly
find him out Meanwhile let US cover all
a -