, 1884-10-23
Hendricks, By Invitation
Speaks to Workingmen.


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Ward Beecher, in the course of a poIiti-
cal speech tonight, in the rink at Brook
lyn, said; The air is murky with stories
of Mr.. Cleveland private life. Lies so
cruel, so base, so atrocious have never be-
fore been set in motion, as cockatrice's
eggs brooded and Matched by rash and
credulous clergymen. They couldn't go
to Mr.. Cleveland with honest inquiry,
but opened then ear to the harlot and
the drunkard sensation and promulgated
a letter to poison the faith of holy men
and innocent women. Do timid ministers
ever reflect that the guilt Of the vice or
the crime, measures the guilt of him who
charges it falsely?' lCheers. Mr..
Beecher then paused, and stepping to the
desk, said in trembling tones, thus;
My honored and beloved wife,
quite unknown to me, made
clippings from newspapers, in respect to
the life of Governor Cleveland in Albany,
she sent them to him with a letter that
will not be published, but which would be
a gem in English literature if it were pub
lished. As quick as the mail could re
turn, she received a letter from Governor
Cleveland, which | have had between wo
and three weeks, and which he
meant to be and marked pri-
vate, but such a complexion has
the canvas taken that | telegraphed him
two nights ago to ask if | might use my
discretion with regard to it. His reply
was: Certainly, lift is your judgment"
Now | read Governor Cleveland's letter:
My Dear Mn. Beecher :-Your letter,
as you may well suppose, has affected me
deeply. What shall I say to one who
writes so like my mother; | say like my
mother, but l don't altogether mean that,
for she died in the belief hat her son was
as true and noble as she knew he wa du-
tiful and kind. | am shocked and
dumbfounded by the clipping hat you
send mt because it purports to give what
a man actually knows, and not a report, as
the other four or FIVE lies do, which Ihaye
heard about my life at Albany. l have
never seen any living woman whom |
have any reason to suspect was in any
way bad. / do not know where
any such woman lives. In Albany | have
not been in any house except the Execu-
tive Mansion, Executive Chamber, First
Orange club house. twice at receptions
given and at one or two other occasions,
and the residences of perhaps fifteen or
twenty of the best citizens to dine. Of
course I've been to church. There never
was a man who has worked harder or
more hours in a day. Almost all my
time has been spent in the Executive
Chamber, and l hardly think there has
been twenty nights in twenty-one months
have lived in Albany-unless l
was out of town, that l have
left my work earlier than midnight
to indImy bed at the Mansion. | am at
a loss to know how it is that such terribly
wicked and utterly baseless lies can be in
vented. The contemplate creatures who
coin and pass these things appear to think
that the affair which l have not denied
makes me ~defcnceless against any and all
slanderers. As to my outward life in
Buffalo the manifestation of con-
fdence and attachment which was
there rendered me must be proof that
| have not led a disgraccful life in that
city, and as to my life in Albany, all
statements that tend to show that it has
been other than laborious and correct are
utterly and in every shadow untrue"
The Governor then refers to
his esteem for Mr.. Beecher's good
will and asks hat he may see
him while in Brooklyn at the late demon
s~tration, then in prospective. Then Mr..
Beecher added: when in the gloomy
night of my own suferings in years gone
by | sounded every depth of sorrow, l
vowed if God would bring the day star of
hope to me | would never suffer brothers,
friend or neighbor to go unfriended,
should a like serpent seek to crush him.
That oath I'll regard now, because l
know the bitterness of non lies. |
will stand against the infamous lies that
seek to sting to death a man and magis-
trate worthy o. better fate.
The speaker then said his bold speech
on this subject was in spite of friends,
who advised silence lest he stir his own
sorrow. He concluded thus: IF | re
fuse to expose to shame the swarm of liars
that nuzzle in mud or sling arrows at Mr..
Cleveland from ambush, may my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth and my
right hand forget its cunning