The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-01-05
The BROOKLYN SCANDAL.
Official Statement in the stChristian
Uni0n.,s

Uni0n.,s
From the Christian Union, edited by Henry
Ward Beecher.]
Although the readers of this paper
have had to learn the fact from other
sources, none Of them are ignorant of
the existence of an action at law
brought bv Mr.. Theodore Tilton against
the editor Of this journal. We have
RETAINED from all mention of the sub.
ject for obvious reasons; and. in now
giving brief account of the course Of
the affair in the past. and of the inten-
tions Of the defendant in that suit for
the future, we shall abstain, as far as
possible, from saying anything which
might influence the current Of judicial
proceedings in the case.
That the defer dant, so long as it
seemed practicable to keep from the
public the names of those pure and hon
orable women whose regulations were
threatened by false end wicked SLAM
ders,
MADE EVERY EFFORT TO DO so,-
willingly putting his own name in peril,
if thus they might be spared, --he
neither denies nor regrets. If the de-
velopments Of the last year have not
justified the motives as fully as they
have proved the uselessncss Of those
efforts, then we are unable to offer any
argument which will reach the uncon-
WINGED. We are not of the mind of
those who profess that they maintained
silence because the welfare Of the COM
munity, the peace of families, and the
interest Of the Christian Church de-
handed it, but felt bound to sacrifice
all those interests the moment that
their own reputation is attacked. On
the contrary, we feel it TO be the duty
and the privilege of a Christian man
to bear thousand attacks upon his
own reputation in silence, rather than
to suffer one innocent women to be vii.
lifted for his sake before the world.
We are not alone in such opinions,
or in the course which we have adopt
ed under such views. Eminent and
honored men in every walk Of life, and
notably so among the clergy, have pur-
sued the same policy in numerous in
stances, some of which arc recorded in
history at intervals for hundreds Of
years past, and others are known to US
to-day. But those which are known
are not 1.-THE of those which are gen.
orally unknown. Fer in the vast ma
jority of cases the policy of silence IS
completely successful, and is the best
vindication of the innocent. The inno-
cent man vindicates himself by his
life, and if the innocent woman can at
any sacrifice be kept from becoming
the subject of public comment, the
triumph Of truth Is SO complete that
the lie is forgotten.
1t was only in June last that it
BECAME NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE
POLICY
previously adhered to. On June 25th,
the letter Of Mr.. Tilton to DR.. Bacon
was published. On the next day Mr..
Beecher resolved to call for an investi.
cation. He was disposed to place the
matter in charge of gentlemen outside
OF the congregation, but was assured
that such proceeding, besides being in.
consistent with Scriptural injunction
and Congregational usage, would not
be within the protection which the law
accords to the disclosures of witnesses
as privileged communications land so
not libelous), if made in an investiga.
ton conducted by the religious society
Of which the parties brought in ques-
tion are members. He therefore in
vited six members of his church and
congregation to take charge of the case,
and left it absolutely in their hands.
Their names were suggested to him by
members Of the regular Examining
Committee, and they were heartily ap-
proved by the full Committee when it
assembled.
This Special Committee went about
its w1rk with a determination to be
thorough, and was therefore necessarily
deliberate in it's movements, which were
regulated entirely by its own members,
without any attempt at advice or guild
ance on the part Of the pastor of the
church. Its conclusions were the re-
suit Of its own independent judgment,
and in some minor respects
DID NOT ACCORD WITH HIS.
Before the Committee had finished
its Investigations, Mr.. Tilton, who at
first willingly appeared before it and
testified to the honor and integrity of
its members, withdrew from it's pres
ence and brought the suit at law which
is now pending. The complaint was
served Aug. 81, during the defendants
absence in the White Mountains. The
answer was drawn the next day; but,
owing to the distance and succession
of difficulties in procuring correct Off
ciai certificates without which the de-
PENDANT S oath to the answer would have
been nullity), it was not served until
Sept, 7. which was, however. still some