Year: 1874

otate expenses


Another Step In tho Progress OF Folly.


The latest phase in the Beecher-Tilton scan
dial is the worst. An unknown man, appar-
emily anxious to lift himself from the obscu-
rity in which he has hitherto been compelled
to live, and willing to obtain even.a question:
able notorfety at the expense Of other peoples
sins and misfortunes, has instituted proceed
ings against Theodore Tilton for criminal libel
against the character of Henry Ward Beecher.
Desirable as was some such action ii was only
desirable as coming from the inculpated party.
No good can result from the meddlesome in
reference of this busybody. But there are
always men ready to eat heartily at buzz
yards feast, and this fellow seems to be one
of them. Debauched by the evil example
of his betters, he evidently wants to drag Mr..
Beecher and Mrs. Tilton before a police
magistrate, regardless of their own desires in
the matter and so add another chapter Of folly
to all the follies that have gone before. A
police court is Of all places the least suitable
for hearing even part of the evidence in the
case, and it is to be hoped the Justice will
either dismiss the case or simply hold Mr..
Tilton for trial. We will not believe that this
movement is made by connivance but should
Mr.. Tilton demand preliminary examina-
ton, as he can do when he appears to give
bail this morning, he will, for all practical
purposes, become q party to the criminal
action against himself, and exhibit ferocity
not exceeded by Hawthorne picture of Roger
Chillingworth.


We cannot regard this scandal in any other
light than that of serious calamity, not
alone to all the parties concerned in it, but to
the entire community. A popular and power
full preacher has been stricken down before
the flock by whom he was rsvered, and his
usefulness is not only impaired, but utterly
destroyed, unless he can explain the accusa-
tions which are really based on his own let
ters. A wife and mother is publicly dis
honored by the husband who had condoned
her fault. The husband has shown that he
could basely forgive, and then, more basely
still, turn upon and seek to destroy those
whom he had forgiven. Ladies and gentle
men Of high social standing and professed
moral worth have busted themselves for
years as common scandalmongers, all the
time discussing the shame of these
three as phase of social life. The saints
seem to have been turned into very devils
and to have been bereit at once of everything
like moral understanding and all sense of
social decency. In certain sense the COM
munity has shared in this shame, and it is no
ify nd 1ioion -
is now too late to sit down and grieve over the
wrongs of the past. They have become mat
ters of impartial investigation, and in the end
they must become matters of solemn judg-
ment Unfortunately the inquiry so far has
been without good results. The tribunal itself
was not of kind to commend it to the public.
In conducting the investigation the committee
has made serious mistakes, especially in the
latitude allowed in the cross-examination of
the accuser and principal witness. Instead
Of confning the inquiry to the simple issue
of the guilt or innocence of Mr.. Beecher
upon the charges preferred against him and
to ascertaining the value of the proofs bear
ing upon the case, extraneous matters were
permitted to be introduced on both sides,
and hired attorney was allowed to practice
the pettifogging tactics of the police courts
The publication of Mr.. Tilton's cross-exam-
ination destroyed the committees usefulness,
and this imposes upon it the necessity Of dis
solution. A calmer and safer tribunal
tribunal having judicial authority-must hear
and determine the case; but Heaven forbid
that it shall be police court, with Mark
NEEDLE as the master of ceremonies The
time for pistols or policeman was in the
beginning, but now q different course must
be pursued, while the busybody who has
caused Tilton's arrest ought to be bundled out
of court for the trouble he has taken


In one aspect it matters very little whether
the case proceeds another step. Mr. Beecher
is already convicted, and the verdict will
stand against him unless he makes his de-
fence and exculpates himself. Even Theo-
dore Tilton, if he rejoices in such sorrowful
triumph, ought to be satisfied with the advan-
tage he has gained. Unless Mr.. Beecher
speaks with distinctness that will command
belief Tilton has had his wish and has
destroyed his antagonist In the present
state of the case Tilton has no need of a
police court examination. Beecher alone is
on the defensive If Tilton is to be prose-
cuted Beecher is the man to prosecute
him. This, we believe, would be the
wisest course but it is for Mr.
Beecher to determine whether it is the safest.
No other man in all the world has the right
TO do it for him. For this reason the action
of yesterday afternoon is in the nature of an
outrage, and such meddlesomeness cannot 90
unrebuked. Mr.. Tilton was entitled to mako
his charges and he made them in his own
way. We sternly rebuked everything which
looked like interference with him in this re-
spect Mr.. Beecher is also entitled to make
his Defence and in his own way. II he fails