Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-03-24


was prepared to prefer some formulated
charge or charges against Mr. Beecher, and
to undertake the proof thereof before the
mutual council Indeed. You say Of the
Andover " proposition that II &c provides
a public prosecutor. pledged. a. al Citcial
duty. 10 see that all available facts adverse
TO Mr. Beecher and pertinent to the issue
be properly submitted The lair infer
ence seems TO be that the party " asking
and " proposing mutual council, was 10
be the public prosecutor.
have not seen the answer which the
Plymouth Church has made % the AndOver
Letter. Unfortunately that great church
has heretofore shown itself painfully sepsi-
tive to aimonitory letters from other
churches and if your church Aas received
gentle and loving answer, / trust YOU
will regard Il a. an evidence that the labor
OF the late council was not entirely IN vain
Should the REQ rest for q mutual council he
granted, YOUR church or some other public
prosecutor Will Of course be ready with
charges and specifications. and with " all
available facts 10 sustain the charges. |
will not say that the result OF trial before
such q council would not be satisfactory to
the public.
But inasmuch a. the Piymolth Church
declines the And0yer proposal. iet me 6, K
y0u 10 reconsider your Judgment about the
other proposition. You say, The An
over Letter : misunderstood Perhaps
the other proposition i also mlsunder@tood-
Without undertaking to show wherein yong
account OF i i erroneous or detective, /
will tell you how | understand il
!. The proposal Of the late council rests
on the principle ct which | reminded You
at the beginning Of this letter namely,
that NJ Beecher's ccclesi2silca- RESPONSE
bility Is, first Of all 10 the charch n which
be j. a member and an cfh,er
> Ii assumes that there can be 10 trial
Of Nj Beecher without definite charges
backed by responsible complainant. and
sustained By ters 0t testimony
O. Il constitutes 30 &c scandal Bureau -
no reserve lr into which the sser- shall
discharge their flth-nu iuquestto hunt 10y
rumorS and trace them 10 their -ource-nO
" lions mouth" into which every coward :
calumniat1r. and every credulJus recipient
OF stories that have grown large aat dread
ful BY heed e. " malicious repetition. may
drop anonymous accusations.
! Ii assumes. what the Art0yer Letter
assumes. that there are not rumlr- merely
but tangible charges against NJ Beecncr,
and that somebody j. ready % prefer charges
and 10 undertake tie responsibility OF pros
ecuting them
; Il assume that the TIA. IT those
charges must not be civil but ecclesiastlca.
not Presbyterian. nor Methodist but
Congregational and that therefore i must
be either before the church itself, or before
some special tribunal committee. c1m9l--
sion. or council which derives as power
from the church. winch acts IL behalf %
the church. and which reports % the caareh
the result Of the investigation
The proposal l. that The charges. when
presented. sbal be tried not BY the church
meeting which. for various and obvious
reasons. : nJt competent % act iutlcia-y
IN this case nor By d committee o. church
members. Who might De ~wayed unc1n-
scl0usly ty affection nor ty an eccle-la-il-
ca council. which could hardly be oonsti-
tuted Of fewer than twenty members, some
OF whom might be inexperienced. Others in
iudicious by nature. others passi0nately
preiudlced and 0ther- perhaps nattsutiye
but BY commission Of i've men outside
OF the church. outside Of Brooklyn snd
New York, and outside t.. the la-e council
men whose names. BY whoms0ever selected,
would command the confidence 90 the
churches and Of al respectable people
! understand that, IN view % TIE pub
Aelty already given q the scandal, and IN
view u the rules snd usage= by which the
PlymoLlL Church l. governed. the com
plainant N this ease-Sh0ever he NAV be
will not be required O. show that be hs~
taken the first and second steps Of private
a1mouition but may Immediately bring =
the church, or is Examining CoumlIee,
his formulated charges
II the church has accepted the advice
of the late Council (Which ! understand 10
be the fact), then It nas pledged tself that
the charges thus presented shall he immC-
dIately referred to the proposed commission
for trial should the church sscede from
this engagement. il Will cast itself. with s
milestone about It. neck -ut0 Ila deep
sea
y When the three brethren named 5y the
late Council shall have been informed that
charges are brought against MI. Beecher.
it Will be their duty. if the charges are
brought by 8 psrty " parties making
themselyes responsible for the truth and
proof of the same, 30 tu1 among the
twenty men enumerated IN the result II the
Council. the I've whom the church viii
- empower as It's commission for the trial
Of the charges. Those three brethren will
have no other duty OF power 10 the matter
To say that Dr. Dwight, Dr. Wellman and
the Hon Mr. Wood Will select if they can e,
from among those twenty. i've partial or
incompetent men-or that they can If they
willis TO say what nobody Will believe
10 IL no charges shall be preferred, there
viii vet remain possibility Of inyestIga-
ton hy the proposed commits Ii may
be judged expedieut by the Examining Com
nj itee Of the church. ani By the three
- D. &
must be concurrence of Judgment, that
important testimony not previously given.
which might throw light on charges which
hitherto heretofore have been tried
should be iudicially received and pronOunc-
ed upon. In that case tine commission must
be appointed and " empowered" but there
will be no proper trial because there will be
no complainant.
II. That the matter MAY not be iudeE-
nitely held in suspense. time is fixed,
within which the OCCASION t1r appointing
the commission must arise. Charges must
be brought, or the contingency 10 which
charges will not be necessary . new IN
yestigatI0n must occIr. within sky days
after the dissolution Of the late council, -
that Is, on or before the 29ih Of April. or
if " three days Of grace be added. on or
before the "a OF May
| am now prepared to state tue object for
which this letter, with all these explana-
tions, Is written Who shall be the com
plainant in this case. Or as You express il,
the " public prescott lr'2 Who. in the in
terest of purity and peace, who in behalf Of
the ministry and the churches. who for the
sake Of an investigation which shall expose
the very bottom of the terrible scandal
and which shall put beyond the reach OF
doubt either the Innocence OF the great
preacher or his unparalleled wiekedness-
will assume the painful responsibility OF
formulating L complaint, Of maintaining
1t, and Of taking care " that all available
facts adverse to MIR Beecher and pertinent
to the issue be properly submitted ?" Some
body ought 10 do this-somsbody, let me
say, who can bring TO the task the dignity
of an honOred chara :ter and position. the
force of cultivated and balanced mind,
the dispasslonats cslnness Of heart with
out malice or progression and the pure
candor of soul working not for victory but
for truth. | say. therefore, let your church
which has already manifested its desire
for more thorough investigation. and its
willingness to take hold Of the wark-as-
sumo this burthen Or. rather. let some
members OF your church informally desig-
mated. If not formally come forward, at
the earliest practicable day, with the /
charges and the pra0f, which, it would /
seem, are in some degree Of readiness. Ii !
the same learned. aonored aud beloved
brethren who came - Brooklyn as q com |
mittee to bring the Andover Letter land at
whose desire, if an not misinformed, that
document was communicated u the council /
then sitting) will undertake this service. ia |
The same kind and hrotheriy spirit AZ which |
he letter was written. the announcement. | |
am sure. will be received with universal |
Let not the cause on which |
your heart and the hearts Of thousands |
more are set be in any degree imperilled by /
tevslving on Mr.. houltoD, Oh Mr. Bowen.
IN anybody who mas personal interest in |