Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1875 — NOT GUILTY, BUT PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES. [ARTICLE]

NOT GUILTY, BUT PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES.

From the evidence of Mr. Beecher’s testimony we are compelled to believe that he is not guilty of what he has been charged with. No sane man, in the opinion of the Republican, can read Mr. Beecher’s straight-forward testimony and believe him guilty.— Rc tisscla c r R< p übllean. It is'possible that our modest and innocent neighbor across the street may speak the opinion of sane people, but if much more-tes-timony like that which is quoted below is elicited in the cross-exam-ination, and the sanity of people is to be measured by their belief in the moral integrity of the uefend--antrthere certainly is -e ause to fear that a large majority of those who read the proceedings of this trial will go_clean daft, unless they fortify themselves impregnably in pure whiteness of soul, protected by chevaux-de-frise of true inwardness of feeling. J hit we are willing to give the old man a chance and let him tell Ills own sto ,- v, which is as follows: Question by Fullerton. —Were you in the habit of visiting Mrs. Tilton in the absence of Mr. TUton ? Answer by Mr. Beecher.—Yes, sir. Q. -How frequently? A. —I can not say how frequently. Q. — Well, give us an approximate idea of the number of visits, or their frequency. A.—l should say in general that, with the exception of one season, I went to see her, 1 should say, once in two or three weeks, unless there was some special reason for going oftener. There was one season m which 1 was requested, and that season 1 went oftener.

Q.—Was you in the habit of kissing her? A. —I was when I had been absent any considerable time. Q —And how frequently did that occur? A.—Very much. 1 kissed her as I would any of my own family. Q. —I beg your pardon. I don’t want you to tell me you kissed her as you did. anybody else. I want to know if you kissed her. A. —I did kiss her. Q-.—Were you in the habit of kissing her when you went to her house in the absence of her husband ? A, — Sometimes 1 did aud sometimes I did not. Q.- —Well, what prevented you upon occasions when you did not? A —lt may be that the children were there; then it might be that she did net seem in the mood to greet me in that way. Q. —Well, do you mean by that, you didn’t kiss her when the children were present? A. —1 sometimes did, and sometimes did not. Q. —Did you kiss her in the presence of the servants? A.—Not that ever I recollect.

Q.—Was it not true that you did not , kiss her in the presence of the children or servants, but did kiss her when she was not in their presence? A.—No, sir, it is not true in any—as I unders tan d your qtiest io n. Q. —1 don’t know how you understand the question. It is about as plain as I can make it. Did you not ’ purposely omit to kiss her in the pres- : ence of the children and servants? A. I —No. sir ; 1 did not in the presence of i the children ; certainly not. i Q. —Did you ever kiss her in the I presence of Florence, the oldest ■ daughter? A. —I don’t, recall ever j having Florence there, but I have no i doubt 1 have done it. Q.—l read to you from Exhibit 74, being a letter of Mrs. Tilton to her i husband. In speaking of yourself ■ she says: “During these early years, I at the mention of his name—to meet him, or, better still, a visit from him —my cheek would Hush with pleasure, an experience common to all his ■ parishioners of both sexes.., It is not strange then, darling, that on a more intimate acquaintance my delight and ! pleasure should increase.” Do you i recollect of any instance in which i these things were apparent on the part of Mrs. Tilton when jou visited her? A,—What things? Q.—That her cheek would flush ■ with ’pleasure? A.—Yes, sir. Q. —Did you not construe that into ! any undue affection for you? A.—l ! did not. Q. —You thought it was proper and right? A.—l did. It is ( sind that to the pure in spirit all things are pure. Just to what{ extent this may apply there will perhaps be,a divergence of,opinion among men until the ushering in of the millennium, when it is expected that human nature will undergo a radical chahge by which the passions wjU be rendered subject to

a purer and more exalted will. It may be possible that the new dispensation for which niahy are now anxiously looking and hourly expecting to arrive, is so near at hand that individuals are living to-dlty who are so completely saturated with a confiding spirit of true inwardness as to believe that q man may visit his neighbor’s wife in the absence of her husband once or twice a fortnight, embrace her in his arms, hold her on his knees* fondle her, kiss her willing lips, note the pleasurable, burning blushes of passion well up and suffuse her unshamed, half-inviting face with their suggestive tide,continue these lover-like interviews over a period of two or three years, and still maintain his virtue unsullied, intact. It may not be impossible for individuals to thus toy with temptation week after week, month after month, and year after year, and yet come out of the struggle victorious, but instances of this kind are of so rare occurrance as to almost partake of the nature of divinity. Where one triumphs ten thousand fall. It is far safer to flee from temptation such as Mr. Beecher says he dallied with for years, than to attempt to imitate his example, though his victory be yet complete and exalt him higher among the names of virtuous men than Joseph son of Jacob.

John Vanatta is not the handsomest 'man in the “Vale,” but he has the reputation of being the best harness maker in the city. — Valparaiso M sengcr, Johnny may not lay claim to preeminent beauty, but that he has excellent judgment is apparent from the fact of his having chosen a wife among the daughters of Rensselaer. A new hotel has been started in Rensselaer —the Hopkins House—which is becoming popular with the traveling public. It is kept in firstclass style.— Jiehiingtou Record. The unanimous verdict of alb who stop there. If plenty of wellprepared food, clean beds,quietude, neatness, and assiduous attention to the comfort of guests have anything to do with the popularity of a hotel, this one will certainly be a favorite of these who have occas ion to visit Rensselaer. Mr. W. N. Jones, of Pulaski county, Mr. J. G. Hunt, of Gillam i township, Mr. Al. J. Kitt, editor of the Remington Record, Mr. Daniel B. Miller, attorney, of Remington, Mr. C. 11. Price, cleik elect of this county, Mr. Alfred Glazebrook,trustee of Kankakee township, and Messrs. McCormick and DeCoursey, railroad contractors of Valparaiso, Ind., were among the visitors to The Union office last week. Mr. Jones says that if the, seasons are favorable there will be a better fair l at Francesville next fall than was held there before, and it is a pretty nearly unanimous expression of those who have attended them that the Prairie Farmers’ Agricultural Society has made several creditable exhibitions in past years.