The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-09-11
Would IL have been Better for Tilton
to XIII Heecher

cannot condone his wife's offence with
safety" adds that the only remedy left to
such n husband, is at the first opportunity
to shoot the man who has ruined his home (;
and that il is great pity that Triton had
not killed BEEcHER.
| There is no doubt that this is the view
which most men of the world take Of
such SUBJECTS; and it is probable that
if TILTON had ended the life of the
Plymouth pastor MS soon as he discovered
his guilt, he would be in the enjoyment of
much greater degree OF popular respect
than is now accorded TO him. But is this
theory OF the matter the true one2 Would
1t really have been better if Triton had
shot down the seducer, or stabbed him
with a bowie knife, or put him to death by
any other violent means?
In attempting to answer this question:
| we must first of all remember that such u
course would have been contrary to all
| TILToN's doctrines ana principles. He was
a disciple of the philosophy of free love
on the one hand, and he believed in for
| giving all injuries whatever on the other
Out of these two ideas he had built for him
self n lofty moral pedestal, on which he
stood the idol ut least of his own alteration.
| In regard to love, nc held that IL could not
| be high and spiritual without entire free
| dom from constrant; and rs for the for
| giveness OF injuries, he adopted the broad
est literal Interpretation of the sublime
law laid down by the Saviour: "Whoso-
ever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also. Love your enc
mics bless them that curse you do good to
hat Int Al.
which dcspitefully use you" II plain that
with such principles rs these, and with ire
mendous conception of his own moral grnn-
deur connected with them, TILToN could
notpossibly execute that swift and sangun-
airy vengeance upon his adversary which
| our ST. Louis contemporary so much COM
| mends. His is not one of those violent ma
lures that in the explosion of such dis
covery, sweep aside all preconceived no.
tons and beliefs, aud march straight TO
vengeance through every obstacle. He
tried TO forgive, and condone, and TO save
his children from the blight of public
explosion. In doing this he was mistaken /;
but the effort was consistent with his prin-
ciples and his mental constitution.
But suppose he had broken out and
hllltu DbENnths hOulu tue OiiSt now nc
any better than it is? Would BEEcHER
have been worse punished, and would
TILToN stand any better before the
world? Or would ii be, upon the whole,
any better for society,"
As for TILToN' : standing. that, we think,
is n matter of small account. He is man
of comparatively little value and little i'm
portance TO the public. But in regard TO
BEEcnER, and the interest which society has
in the affair, an inquiry is worth making.
No doubt the public morals have
suffered terribly from the poison which
| Bocchcrism has distilled through its
revelation OF audacious lewdness and
| hypocrisy. When man Of genius and II
minister of the gospel is found to be hypo-
critical, corrupt licentious, the evil that
he works is immense, almost inconceiv-
able But how can this evil he counter
actedi Surely not by killing him
suddenly, and leaving great por-
ton of the public TO believe him in
noccnt. and TO honor his memory. Be
sides, swift extinction was what he then
desired. II look upon death" he eX-
claimed, las sweetcr-faced than any
friend have In the world" To give him
such death would have been friendly
and not revengeful act. In the view of
the matter which we are now considering,
it was much more desirable that he
should live, ana that his sin should
be clearly proved and branded upon
him, so that Others tempted to initiate it
might be withheld by the exposure of his
crime and falsehood, and warned by the
, example Of his chastisement. IL is far
| better. i'm the interest of society and
of public morals, that this case should
have passed through the phases we have
seen rather than have been ended by one
sudden and murderous act of coarse,
| ineffective, brutal violence.
As for BEEcHER himself, the punishment
which he has undergone, and which still
bears upon him with its awful weight, il
something far more adequate to his COM
plicated Offences than the bullet of n pis-
tol or the blow of n dagger. He has him
self partially described ii in his terrible
letters. ITO keep Serene" he said, las if
| was not alarmed or disturbed; TO be
cheerful at home and among friends
when l am suffering the torments
OF the damned to pass sleepless
fun for Sunday. All this may be talked
about, but the real thing cannot be un-
derstood from the outside, nor its wearing
ana grinding on the nervous system"
Nothing can possibly be so bad as tho
horror of great darkness in which
spend much of my time. To live
on the sharp and ragged edge of anxiety,
remorse, fear despair, and yet put IN
all the appearances OF serenity and happi-
ness, cannot be endured much longer" If
this was his condition before his wicked
ness was revealed to the world, how much
more intense must be his suffer
ings since his fall, and amid the
enormous efforts he puts forth in the vain
hope of saving himself from final dostruc-
ton How much more intolerable the
torture OF coming up now fresh and fun
for Sunday before an audience that his
own eXertions rs a Snowman have got to-
gether knowing that out of every hum
dred persons ninety-ive believe him guilty
How much more difficult "to put on all