Year: 1874

the termination of the civil suit Tor damages


brought by Miss Proctor against Francis ID.
Moulton for his wanton libel against her. Its
prompt settlement before o referee has pre-
vented the mass of irrelevant prurience which
had been collected by MoultOn and his
chief counselor from being spread before the
country and poisoning the air through long
trial. For this reason alone, the community
ia TO be- congratulated upon the lady-like
macpanimity shown by Miss Proctor, not only
in declining any pecunlary reparauon 1or inc
Infamous and cowardly attack upon her char
acter, but in refraining from pushing her case
against her slanderer after he had confessed
that he had no evidence whatever to support
his libel. When men like Butler and Moulton
are engaged in scandalous contest 1t shows
no lack of courage, nor of confidence IN aJust
cause. to be glad when the case is ended.


But with this sole exception, the sense of
the community is that brutal ruiilan has
escaped altogether too easily. lie dragged
into his loathsome story lady OF per-
fectly unblemished character, who had no
more to do with his quarrel than one OF the
eleven thousand saints of Cologne. In that
extraordinary mass of letters and papers which
the inexcusable folly of Mr.. Beecher placed in
his hands, he found one from MISS Proctor
saying she had formerly, under great
grief and excitement, said things injurious
to Mr.. Beecher;n that afterward her opin-
ion of the matter changed, and that she was
now convinced of her mistake, and that Mr.
Beecber's conduct toward her was meant to
"be kind and honorable" 1t is barely pos
sible that his diseased imagination may have
seen something equivocal in this note. But
all the probabilities are that from the first he
knew what it meant. Certainly, before ne
published his libel. he was assured by those
who wished to save him from great crime,
and Miss Proctor from disgusting SANDER,
of the whole scope and meaning of the inno-
cent note. which referred to a misunder-
standing, years ago, between the young lady
and her pastor in reference to the publication
by her of extracts from his sermons. mere
matter of business in which she had Thought she
was not fairly treated. This trlfllng matter
Moulton distorted and degraded into the foul
est slander which can be uttered against man
or woman. His performance appears inexplic-
able according to any ordinary rules OF human
action. But all the performers on this BROOK
lyn stage seem to be guided by rules and mo-
tiyes incomprehensible to the world at large.
He seems to have had no motive. except to
blacken the character of Beecher, and to re-
yenge himself on certain friends of Miss Proctor
for having sided against him in the Plymouth
Church controversy. 1t is not unlikely that
be was without malice against the lady herself,
as he claimed. He was fighting his own fight,
in his own dirty way, and the life or fair fame
of woman more Or less was not to be con-
sidered.


In all this he had an appropriate adviser.
In fact, it seems impossible for any piece of
thoroughly depraved rascalty to be perfected
in this country without the finishing and
shaping hand of Benjamin f. Butler. The
Euening Post yesterday asserted that "Gen.
" Butler himself inserted the libel in Moul-
"ton's statement, and rejected the counsel OF
ga friend to whom he showed the manuscript
"and who advised him to oxpunge it." There
ia an inherent probability in this statement.
No story comes amiss to the Essex statesman,
which can comfort him by showing that men
in general are as unprincipled as his plan OF
life supposes them to be. His more than pro-
fessional sympathy with his client was strlk-
;nply shown in the proceedings on "Wednesday
before the referee. 1t was well understood
that Moulton's lawyers had surrendered the
case beforehand. IL would have been natural
for them, therefore, supposing them to
possess the ordinary human feelings, to
have treated Miss Proctor with at
least decent courtesy, and even some
EXPRESSION of regret for what she had suffered.
But Gen. Butler was consistent to the end.
The first effort was to get the damages assessed
as low as possible which was rendered easy
by Miss Proctor's magnanimty and self-respect.
The next was to avoid anything like an ex-
preston of regret, or even OF disbelief in the
truth of the infamous libel. This was also
successful But even this was not enough for
the distinguished advocate from Massachusetts.
He could not let Miss Proctor 60 without in.
sultipg her. He interrupted her in her evil
dence, saying zone word, my darling; here
"must confine YOU" Mr.. Butler is not like
Burke in many things but he evidently believes
with him that the age of chivalry is past.


We fear it is not quite accurate to say that
Moulton is sufficiently punished by the dis
grace which this decision casts upon him. 1t
does not disgrace an assassin to be imprisoned
nor bully to be fined. There are not many
ladies, so shamefully sandered. who would
have the courage and endurance to tempt the
terrible ordeal out of which Miss Proctor has
brought her honor uninjured. Some would
have been crushed by it, losing their happi-
ness, their reason or their lives But here is
one who has accomplished almost the impos-
sible. by bringing her slanderer to confess his
guilt in open court, and then woman's mag
nanimity has stopped the hand of justice. and
saved her assailant from the consequences of
his crime. We should be glad to think the
lesson will be beneficial to the public. We do
not hope for any good results upon Moulton
and Butler.