River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-03-05

| lHeTe was absolutely hOtillb oub lHls III
excuse or palliation which he could offer
to his own accusing conscience for the
ofIcnse, namely that he had uninten.
| tionally done wrong thai though he
might have been culpably careless, he had
not been censureably guilty Of any
conduct tending to encourage
an illegal affection. But such defense
involved the implication that the lady
had conceived the passion also, without
suggestion or any encouragement on his
part, and he was debarred from any such
plea by al! the instincts Of gentleman,
as by his genuine respect and affection
for the lady herself. Nor would this
plea, even il he could have induced him.
self to make it, have been full defense.
II is the solemn duty Of clergyman to
prevent such disasters from arising out
Of his associations with his flock. lie is
generally in the fault if he fails to see
and to repress the first symptoms Of a
dangerous affection for him on the part
Of a married woman. This, gentlemen,
is the simple and obvious meaning Of that
language in Mr. Beechels statement
which has been so many times malicious
ly and dishonesty perverted for
the ends Of this great conspiracy Think
for a moment Of his situation. A charge
the most terrible that could possibly con.
front a man in his position-for it would
be easy to show that under the circura.
stances charge Of impure PROPOSAL
would be more difficult to meet than on,
Of actual adultery. Such a charge has
thunder clap from clear sky. not
from a gasconade and harlequin who
orders him out Of Brooklyn at the muzzle
Of shot or commercial note, but on
paper signed by lady, his friend, his
child almost, one whom he knew to be,
when in her normal condition, pare and
good and truthful. How stunning the
surprise, how terrible the complica-
ton. Is it possible she can have con-
sented to snch an accusation If so,
what diabolical vaccination had led to
it, and what must be the final results
| lie has received from her indeed frank
retractiOn, with fearful expressions of
regret, and a touching account of
the means by which she was driven to
act, but hardly are these conscling words
cold before he is informed of re
traction. Then is she indeed broken in
health and distracted in mind, and all
these troubles have been brought upon a
family IN former years and still so dear
to him, and he, minister of the gospel,
who has been to these people father !;
the man by whose agency all this ruin
has been brought about. When we con.
slider the swift succession of images pre-
sented to the man who, IN addition to his
remorse for the past, had reason to appre.
bend plunge into public conflict with a
jealous husband, and with no other de-
Tense than his solemn word of honor
when we consider all this, do we wonder
that Beecher was deeply agitated and
excited man. But this is not all. The
affection she had manifested for him, and
which had destroyed her domestic peace,
had shattered her mind. That this was a
fact we have already shown, and that
Beecher was made fully to believe, and did
not this afford more satisfactory expla-
nation of her mysterious charge than his
previous SUPP osition that ii was extOrted
from her by her husband. Nothing was
more natural than that woman whose
mind was shaken by this cause should
imagine that the object of her love had
selected her affection. Nothing more
natural that in an hour Of remorse and
mental distraction that she should con
TESS her own passion, and assert that she
only loved but had been loved, for where
is woman living who will freely confess
she had been loved without encourage
ment and without solicitation. This
supposed fact clears up the whole mys-
terry, explains the whole disaster to the
family, and relieves the husband
rom all suspicion of conspt
racy against the pastor himself 1t
made his defence impossible. so long as
the accusation brought against him was
not coarse or vulgar in its terms. lie
was not free from faults. His own con-
science condemned him. All through be
we'll knew that he had never said an i'm.
proper word nor offered an improper
careSs, yet he could not deny the charge
Of having beguiled the womans affection
without imputing to her the indelicacy
OF forcing her affections upon him in
thought. This is what he said, "he
would die before he would confess"
This is what he said in his statement last
August
General Tracy then said that Tilton's
views also underwent an important change
in regard 10 the relation of the sexes, be-
lieyng a great social revolution was i'm.
pending In regard to this matter, Til
ton, according to his usual custom. EN-.
braced the radical side. lie made this
subject matter Of frequent conversation
with his associates, who visited az his
house, taking ground that every relation
between the sexes were proper that was
attended by mutual love. These views
and these associates were extremely often.
siye to his wife, and source Of even
greater anguish to her than the
change in his religious views.
In 1866 Tilton induced his wife, against
her will, to ipyitc to her house q young
lady whose acquaintance he had made.
and with whom there was no doubt he
was desperately in love, as appeared from
his own letters. II was his own intimacy
with this woman which nearly drove his
mother-in.law to insanity. The lady in
question seeing the danger to her from
/ TitOn's admiration finally lcIt. and