St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-12-10
The Beecher Scandal Re-Opened.

The Beecher Scandal Re-Opened.
MRS. MOULTON'S REPLY To REECHER.
Mrs. Moultom has addressed IL letter
to the members of plymouth church it,
reply To the one addressed to heH am!
adopted by them on Friday evening oi
last week. She SAYS: do not believe
there WAS ANY one more faithful to Ply
mouth church than was up to the time
| hecaue acquainted with the great
wirkrdncS> which Nr BeechcI had com
mittcd i'll his relations with Mrs. Tilton.
After that il did not seem possible tOI
me to 90 To the church and hear him
preach. or take the sacrament from his
hands. and | stopped doing SO. | could
not, with any satisfaction. hear him
preach of purity and Christian JOY while
| knew of his secret agony and his ac-
knowlcdged but hidden sin. That did
not go elsewhere for Worship and the
sacrament. MAS almost wholly owing to
him. He begged me. again and again.
Ia come back. and when sand ! could
not until he hHd acknowledged his sin
and 81 atoncd tnI il rs tar IL he coulu.
he VAS sad and depressed. even tn tears.
YET. If went AWAY from Plymouth
church To any other. while he WAS all
the time coming to oIlr house. ii would
of course excite attention, cIu>r Su~pi-
cIou and rmharliss him very much. rs
we'll ~ my husband. " no was then thy
inn hard. under Mr.. Hccchcr'> constant
ur",nr\. to keep the awful secret from
the public | SHOULD not know what to
say il Wis asked the :c;l>uu tor it. and
i; might h,. the means of great iuiul,
t. those whom waited to shield and
h lp. Mr.. Bcrrhrr. too. had. more than
ANY other. REPRESENTED To me lhc Chris
tian religion. and to Liiug Irproarh up
ON him seemed an iniuIl To- il. So !
ah>tainrd from going ,I>,u here. lest il
should harm him. aud indirectly hrin.
things to light which he was all the
y hil,. afraid would bcrolnt known. and
which il did not hclung to me To di~-
clos,
Mr. Bccrhcr surely ought to h,. the
last man in the world to blame me tur
what | did in his behalf He knows
that coull not speak the truth more
perfectly than have spoken it here. il
WAS standing his moment before God,
throne of Judgment. When Mr.. Tilton'>
i.amc was dropped hv Won two Years
ago. told Nh. Bcccher that WIS afraid
N"u would some time want to drop mine
III the same Way. and he then most
earnestly assured me that II should
never lee done. hat he would see To it
himself that | should never he in ANY
way hunt hN his rhmch. | really do
not see now Nh Bccchrr, know ing aS
well H. hr docs the perfect truth of what
>fN. -kn"Nim. how he used To weep
at our nous" and heap shame upon him
self ful his great sin. and how often Ia,
spoke Ia my husband aud myself of the
utter despair in which he would he cN-
ccpt ion our comfort and hrlp. | can
hot see how it wa~ possible for him to
stand up and read this letter to m, IN
lnuf presence without his very soul Civ
in. way.
Mrs. Moulton refers to other parts of
the letter. and SAYS there aIe a great
many things IN it which are incorrect
and injurious. some of which she. men
tinli~. is follows: Yon say that. 50 fan
aS the church or the committee knew.
had never made any statement i'm
pu"mnr the. purity of Mr.. Hc.rhcr .>
ccpt in Il court of Justice. But in that
vril court | had stated. under oath
thai | had made. pIecis,k tb, same
statement which have since made in
nay protest to Won. LONG AGO. To one of
the, leading members and officers of youl
church. telling HIM that Nh. BccrhcI'S
sin was adultery. and that he and Mrs
TiIton had both confessed il +, me, If
the statement WIS a SANDER. had de
cl:iIcd the fact of my INTERIM" the slam
der iefore all the world. AMI mirr,t
months a"o. have been called to occnrut
for it. never knew before that f,Is,
swearing in Il court of Justice j. an of
fcnSt. which the church of Christ is nm
willing or unable to punish. And if
Won think that lied in that public man
nrr. and in that solemn hour. that lied
in order to iniurc the minister whom
had loved AS much Il. any of >,,, and
whom had done NV very best to M
hold and comfort for three dismal y,,I's
through the time of an anguish which
he WAS carefully hidin" from Won. Won
ought all the more. think, To have
tried and condemned me, instead of
dh "pping my name.
The letter concludes az follows: |
had II heavy burden to carry. and am
Sorry to say that the first act of Chris
tian attention which | have received
from the church in the i've wears past
was the notifying me that my name was
to he dropped from the roll. the next
evening. NV proposal to Won i'm my
prcViou letter WAS that Won should
unite with me IN calling Il council of
churches, before which YOU should state
your reasons for your action and should
state mine. and which should inpar-
TALLY Judge between Us. That proposal