Year: 1874

tion If he had chosen to do SO. Any assertion |
to the contrary is an affront to ordinary ntelli-
gence. He was the constant companion of Mr..
Tilton. They were inseparable No step OF
that paramount gravity would ever have been
taken without consultation and agreement
between them. At any rate if Moulton had
simply declared, as he was bound by every OBJ
legation of honor to do, that so fragrant breach
of faith as the unloosng of this tattle, involved
d permanent rupture between them, there
would have been an end of the matter. That
they talked the subject over before hand ap-
pears by the credit Moulton takes to himself
for having suggested some softening modi6ca
tions in the Bacon letter.


And then it is impossible to mistake the ag-
gressive tone which Mouton assumes in his
correspondence with Beecher Even Beecher's
eyes are open at last to the real character of
this false friend (?) in whom he has trusted so
implicitly, to whom he has barred his bosom
without misgiving as to his fidelity, and into
whose treacherous ear he has whispered the Sc
crets of his inmost heart. The only marvel is
that he could have been deceived so long. His
nearest and truest friends have pleaded with
him long and sedulously to break off an init
macy in which they foresaw peril to his peace
and reputation. "GiUen in confidence to Mout-
tonp Ominous sentence! Given, in fact,
through Moulton to Tilton, and through Tilton,
first to his associates by scores, and finally to
the world. Unparalleled credulousness requit-
ell by unexampled perfdy.


And yet, there shines out through all this
dense cloud of darkness, the explicit declara-
| ton of Beecher that he is guiltless of the
offence imputed to him. Those who know
hi.h do not doubt his truthfulness in the least,
and are therefore confident of the final result.
They believe that the statement he will make,
| will be the master effort of his life; that he
| will present an array of facts showing by what
| processes he has been ensnared in the tolls of
| monstrous conspiracy; that every effort he
| has made to extricate himself has only served
| to render his involvement more complete; that
he has been the prey of a system of black-mail
as unreenting and Unsuitable as ever was
Isactced upon mortal man; and that when
| the whole truth is known, the only stigma thai
| will st~upon him, will be that he has dis
| played inexcusable weakness and timidity in
not turning upon his assailants at the outset
and treating them with indignant defiance.
L
| correspondence of most delicate nature,


invests this affair with additional interest; and
it would be impossible to exaggerate the inten-


sity of popular curiosity and solicitude in ref
| erence to it. Already this case has revealed


the existence of a style of literature. hitherto


supposed to be confined exclusively to the


domain of fiction. To say nothing of the


minor actors in the drama-who have developed


an astonishing tendency to sentimentalism of


the most aggravating type-Mr. Beecher has


exhibited himself in some of his letters as an


adept in fervid and impassioned expressions of


friendship, love, sorrow, remorse and the whole


scale of emotions.


There is an Oriental SAVIOR about many of the


detached passages which have been woven into


the painful narrative, which reminds one


wildly of the self reproaches of David. The


XXXVIIIth Psalm, for example, contains


confession" from which the Tiltons ant


Moultons of that age might have framed al


Indictment against the venerable PSALMS


more sweeping and terrible than they hav,


elaborated concerning the modern exponen


of religion. In so far as any inference can b


drawn from this proneness to excessive wore


coloring, it is favorable tc the theory of MI


Beecher's innocence. He would be much NOR
apt to overstate his faults than one who deal


in less ornate dction.


Before this reaches your readers, the stor,


of Moulton will have been told, and the sub
stance of it will perhaps appear in the sam
| issue with this letter. [ only hope that thos
} who peruse it, will withhold their judgmen
} until Mr.. Beecher himself shall have beer


heard from. The decisive statement mus
come from him. I will not indulge in an


further speculation or prediction touching it


import, beyond avowing my abiding conviction
that it will prove a successful and satisfactor,
vindication of himself, as it certainly will be
terrible exposition of the rancor, venality ant
maIeyoence-of his enemies.


YARMOUTH