Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-03-27
The Brown Trial.


main and more serious charges sub
mitted for investigation, and base
their verdict upon the attempted in
& tlmidation III II young lady member OF
his congregation. For this act they
declare that he Is " guilty of violation
oil all rules which should control the
actions OF gentleman and Christian
minister" The council likewise seem
! to have doubted the sincerity of the
! doctors explanation OF the payment
OF $500 hush money to Mrs. Davidson
when they declare that that action
was mot altogether satisfactory" to
them. still. with this qualified exon
3 Grafton, i; is charged that the reverend
gentleman rushed to the associated
press Office and sent broadcast to the
East dispatches announcing his COM
piete vindication, statement that is
wholly unwarranted by the record,
and for which he will probably be held
accountable before he will read his
title clear to peaceful resumption OF
his duties as pastor.
The verdict Of the ecclesiastical court
was reached by entirely ignoring the
testimony Of Mrs. Stockton, because
she was mot woman to be believed"
and rejecting that of Miss Overman
because she had conspired against
DR.. Brown while occupying his house
and eating at his table," 1t seems
that the reverend gentlemen did not
seek any roundabout way to pass
upon the character of Mrs. Stockton,
and did not hesitate to arrive at a con-
clusion although the acts which would
sustain charge of total unreliability
were certainly not proven" as plainly
as against the party on trial. They
likewise have shown a remarkable
readiness to ignore the truth of the
statements made by Miss Overman,
simply because they did not deem it
possible that the young lady could
conspire" to blackmail the doctor
while occupying his house and eating
at his table," Ingratitude may indeed
be the basest of crimes, but it is in
this instance an unstable reliance
upon which to base unreliability. The
clerical jury have evidently not under
taken that close analysis Of human
motive to justify such conclusion.
There are passions which control poor
fallable mortals which lead at times to
the most unexpected results. A wo-
man seldom passes with calm judg-
ment neglect or reproof from the man
she loves, and even
Hell hath no fury
| Like woman scOrned."
1t looks to an unprejudiced layman
as if the regulations of these two wo-
men, who we're under no charge,
should have been at least as jealousy
guarded by the ministerial council, as
that OF their reverend brother. They
were not willing witnesses, but were
brought before the council to aid in
proving the guilt or innocence of an
other. 1t seems that the Masters adj
monition would have restrained true
followers from publishing to the world
that certain changes were not prov.
en-" because one of the witnesses was
bad and the other so untruthiul that
she could not be believed under oath.
The deeply pious tone of the first
series of letters written by Miss Over
man could scarcely have been feigned ;
nor is it logical to conclude that the
interpolated letters in which an i'm
implied charge of immortality against
DR.. Brown was surely made. were in.
spired more by desire for "blood
money" than by q recoil OF a sensitive
nature after having been strung to the
highest tension by acts which subor-
dinated reason and filled the heart
with spirit for revenge. 1t seems the
proper method, in an impartial trial,
where there is necessarily doubt of
actual circumstances which imply i'm
morality, to accept the most reasonable
hypothesis for arriving at conclusion.
The inconsistencies in Miss Overman' g
statements find a much reader ex-
PLANTATION in the love she confessed for
DR.. Brown, his final repulse, and the
natural desire for revenge, than in a
momentary temptation to bleed his
pocket, at the suggestion OF Mrs. Day.
idson. Young women, especially Of
the pious kind, are not SO easily in.
duced to perform such acts of perfidy,
when in their full mental powers, and
nothing short of q serious sense OF
wrong would have produced such q
result.
The spiriting away of Mrs. Tunnel
the only witness by whom the truth
OF the Interpolation of the letters
which served 80 we'll for the defense
could be proved or disproved, is another
, matter in which the ecclesiastic breth
rem manifest q conspicuous silence
, when it was shown that DR.. Brown
3 aided in the fight and concealment OIL
, the woman by donations of money.
f, 1t is hardly probable that the DR.
will want to remain in the field he has
, occupied, with the bitter opposition
7 that exists in the First Congregations
: Church to confront him. And it il
i. better that he should not, for if it bt
\ conceded he was not proven guilty
;. there was absolutely nothing to show
that he was innocent without sacrific.