ARRIVAL OF THE CALIFORNIAN MAIL PER R.M.S.S. 'COLIMA.'

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4485, 29 March 1876, Page 3

ARRIVAL OF THE CALIFORNIAN MAIL PER R.M.S.S. 'COLIMA.'

THE BEECHER SCANDAL. A good deal of space is occupied in the American papers by the proceedings of the Advisary Council which is sitting on the Beecher case. We give some portions of the report: — New York, .February 10.—Henry C. Bowen appeared before the examining committee of Plymouth Church to-night, in answer to the summons to appear aud testify as to facts known to him in reference to the charges against Beecher. Bowen read a statement, in which he alluded to the unfairness and irregularities of the procedure, but said that as he wished to assist the committee to make the examination thorough and conclusive, he would make the following proposition :—" I propose that three men within the congregational body be selected, distinguished for their wisdom and impartiality—such for example as President Worsley, President Asa D. Smith, President Fairchild, Judge Fayette, S. Foster, the Hon. Alpheus Hardy, or the Hon. Julius H. Seeleye, men in whose decision the world will feel confidence—who shall be pledged to keep all such evidence secret, before whom only Mr. Beecher and myself shall appear with our witnesses, aud before whom I will consent, without any reservation whatever, and as soon as they can meet, to give in full the evidence which has led me to say that I have no doubt that Mr. Beeeher is guilty of adultery, hypocrisy, ana perjury. I ask nothing more thantl-at they shall fully consider the questions which you seem to have before you, whether I deserve ecclesiastical censure for my previous silence in reference to Mr. Beeeher, and whether I am now justified by the facts in my possession in making what you call my ' infamous allegations and insinuations' about him, made in response to your own demand for a reply to Mr. White's grievances. The committee decided not to accept Bowen's proposition. New York, 12.—The scene at Beecher's church last night is the general topic of interest. Beecher's courage, boldness, and determination challenge respect '. and increased confidence in his innocence I among thoughtful men. fief erring to the I coming Advisary Council, he said: " You that receive brethren into your households ought to set up within your hearts a sentiment of honor. Those who come together upon this Council come to hear impartiality, and give such advice as the Lord may inspire in them upon the facts that shall bo presented. You must not attempt in yx>ur j households to bias them by your kindness in the slightest degree, or to beguile them from the fullest, fairest discharge of their duty, even if their judgment should be adverse to your convictions and mine. Every dictate of Christian honor demands that these men should be received in your families without being in the slightest degree biassed by social influences." In equally strong terms, he urged his people not to attempt to influence the Council meetings by tokens of applause or dissent. When Bowen's case came up he referred to him with evident sadness , in view of their long-time relations, but finally, when referring to Bowen's insinuations, he said, "If for move tiiau fifteen years, Bowen lias been in possession of such facts as he now alleges in his letter, and never mentioned them to me nor to any officer of this church, nor in any •wise brought them to the knowledge of the church itself, he deserves to be expelled forviolation of his covenant. (Great app!i9 se ; } If I am what he alleges I have been, and he knew and permitted, without a word of warning, to me or to the Church, he has committed a crime against his Church and against morality. His allegation is a lie, and before God Iso pronounce it. Bowen was asked by his brethren to state what his facts were, and what was the evidence in his possession, and he pleaded that he was put on trial, and that lie had not had time to prepare himself; but he had time to write that letter and to charge me before the pxiblic of being a criminal; he had time to set me up as a monster, and publish it in the newspapers. He is asked, ' What is your evidence ?' and he says he has not had time ;o jjrepare an answer. Ought not that to have been thought of before he published the slander ? There shall be no secrecy iu the matter. If it be not exposed to the bottom, it will be because my will is set aside. I do not propose that he shall hide himself, nor will 1 permit anything to be hidden about me by having it referred to these gentlemen, with the understanding that they shall keep the proceedings had before them secret, and only let out what they choose. Since the matter has beeu published with his name attached to it, he has gut to face these things and produce his evidence. For myself, I have only this to say : I pronounce all the insinuations aud allegations he has made to be false ; and with the Almighty God before me, and looking to the Judgment Day, 1 arraign him as a slanderer and a liar."— Beecher sat down overpowered, and the congregation became wild as its waves of cheers and shouts of applause reverberated through the room, receding only to break out anew, again and again, despite every effort to repress them by cries of " Order !" " Order!" Francis D. Moulton sent to Dr. Leonard Bacon, Moderator of the Plymouth Advisary Council, the following communication: — " Brooklyn, February 21.—Rev. Leonard Bacon.—Reverend Sir, —From the terms of the Letter Missive, I had not supposed your reverend body was competent to consider or determine the question of the guilt or innocence of ET. W. Beecher. The proceedings ef the Council show, however, that I may possibly be mistaken in my construction of the character of your authority, since Beecher was allowed to introduce his own protestations of innocence, and some cor.roborative declarations by his adherents. Beecher invoked the Deity and challenged mankind to deny or disprove his innocence, which defiant declaration the Council accepted with applause. I send this communication to the Council simply to say that I ani prepared to prove Henry Ward Beecher guilty of adultery and perjury by evidenee both oral and documentary; and that, if I am allowed the opportunity of producing such proof before the Council, and I fail to make good this assuiance, then I am willing to be discredited nnd denounced by mankind as a wretch, devoid of truth and honour, and unworthy of human association. — Respectfully, your obedient servant, Fraxcis D. MoULTOif."

Henry C. Bowen to-dayaddressed a letter to Rev. Leonard Bacon, Moderator, contradicting statements made to the Council on Saturday. He says first, that Beeeher is reported as saying, "Mr. Bowen is a man of courage, but he has not courage enough to look me in the face, and never had, and intimate' any moral impurity to me, and never did." Bowen says it is false that he never dared to meet Beeeher in this way, and in proof of his accusations, cites an attempt to bring abont a private interview between himself and Beeeher in reference to charges of moral impurity said to have been made by the former against the latter, and that Beeeher said, "There isn't force enough in Brooklyn to draw me into a private interview with H. C. Bowen." He continues : I was no more afraid to meet Beeeher and inti-i-jate moral impurity than I was in your presence last Friday night, nor than I would have been on occasions on which I have been before the Examining Committee of the Church, of which he is chairman, had he seen fit to be present. Beeeher is reported to have said to the Council, speaking of hia interview with me at Sir. Freeland's house, " The great difficulty was, that, being newly married, he could not endure ■ that his wife should suppose that he was under the" ban of the pastor." THis statement is false, as are all the inferences that Beeeher draws from it The meeting at Freeland's house was about the Ist of February, 1870. I was married in 1865. Bbookxy!,-, February 24.—The closing session of the Advisory Council was held this evening, at Plymouth Church. The

audience expected that the Advisory Council would announce the result of its deliberations. Mr. Clark, the scribe, read a report embracing the conclusions of the Council. The report says that the Council had listened to the statements from the Examining Com- ' inittee and various members of the church, and Henry Bowen, in relation to his connections with Beecher, also to the statement of Van Cott, and the conclusions of the Examining Committee. They had also 3 considered over the church proposals, but 5 could not accede to it, as it was not in ac--5 cordance with the rules of courtesy. Their 2 conclusions generally supported the ministration of the church. The meeting of the Plymouth Church Ex- . illuming Committee, at Halliday's house, . last night, and the scene stated to havo r occurred there, are much discussed hero to- . day. Mr. Shearnianstated that Bowen's statel ment, that ho was told that ho would not be . permitted to leave the room, was false. He was asked to remain and answer some (jucs- . tions, but refused. Mr. "White, who is said i to have acted the part of gaoler, in locking r the door, said to-day that lie merely turned '. the key sportively, intending to prolong the discussion for a moment, and that the scene which followed was half ; comic, half tragic. Bowen and his sons rushed in the direction of the rear door, upsetting the stools in the way and calling out, "Publish this to the world. Henry Ward Beecher and his niiuions have tried to lock the doors on us." White says ho is deterjj mined to follow the matter up until either Bowen orßeecherleavesthe church. Edward, one of Mr. Boweu's sous, today said, as they understood that the committee sessions wero private, it was a great surprise to them to see so many of Beechcr's friends at Halliday's house last night. It was done, ho tuinks, to intimidate his father, and the attempt to detain him was concocted to wring i from him information that ho had already decliued to furnish. They did not fear personal violence until White called out "Lock the other door," when several men jumped , toward the door intending to head Bowen . off. Edward sprang to the door to help him . if necessary. Happily, his father was too i quick' for them. ' A member of Plymouth, i Church, who was present, says that Bowen's statement was a special plea explanatory of ■, his signing the tripartite treaty, of his attending the Church services, and of his treatment of Beecher for years past. It was all hearsay as regards the accusations against ! Beecher, and contained nothiugnew. It was a : disconnected and rambling defence of himself for continuing in the Church. It began by charging that Beecher was an adulterer, perjurer and hypocrite, but he added nothing of his own knowledge. An instance was given of a woman, who was not named, who had been seduced by Beecher, and with.; i whom Bowen charged that Beecher had been criminally intimate for years. After reading his statement, Bowen expressed his willingness to givo the names and dates to any committee sworn to secresy. Mr. Beecher, to-day, said that " Bowen's whole ! statement was, in the start, an effort to prove that; lam a criminal, but it turned ; into a special plea for himself. There was not a single new fact in it at all, or one fact which he could state of his own personal knowledge." Colonel H. D. Beecher say 3 chat Boweu told the old story, that his father had ravished some lady in his study ; .but at the same time ho knew there was no study at all. Mr. Bowen, to-day, said he had nothiug further to communicate in regard to the scandal. He spoke with much warmth, and in derision of the affair of last - evening. The Advisory Council still remains in secresy regarding the deliberation." The session to-day was private. The Council has nearly completed the consideration of the report of the Committee of Nine. When this is finished," the Council will adt iourn permanently., The findings of the Council will probably b.e read in public tonight. TERRIBLE SCENE IN AN OPERA HOUSE. Cincinnati, February 4.—During the performance of the allegory of " The Great' Republic," at Robinson's Opera House, this afternoon, a terrible scene occurred. The house was densely packed, and the thousands of children among the audience were at the height of enjoyment, when some one in the gallery raised the cry of " Fire !" as the red lights used in the play flashed out from the wings. Every inch of the theatre was occupied, and a dense crowd was pressing and surging about the staircases and in front of the doors. Some one in the audience took up the cry of " Fire !" and it was reechoed from a door b}' some one who caught a glimpse of the red glare from the stage. Then there was an immediate rush for the front doors. A child was pushed down the steps and screamed. Immediately after, a man thrust his arm through a window, and the crash was enough to set the panic in full force. In the narrow vestibule leading to the street, people in the rear, mad with fear, pressed upon those in front. Shouting and cursing men, terrorstricken, struck down helpless women and children in front, or clinibedover their heads, to the top of the staircase, and precipitated themselves upon the screaming and bleeding mass of children and women. The scene in and about the opera house after the accident was heartrending. Sews of the accident spread like wildlire over the city, and from every direction came people hurrying to the scene, until squares were impassable. At the cry of " Fire !" a few men placed themselves near the doorway and endeavoured to assure the people there was no danger, and an effort was made from the stage to check the mad career of the affrighted audience; but quiet was not restored till a number had been trampled to death and many severely injured. Those able to walk at once went homeward ; those more seriously injured were taken to the Ninth-street station-house and to the Commercial Hospital, and the dead were gathered in the office of the opera house. Up to 9 o'clock tonight, the following have been reported killed:—Mrs. Alfred White and son Harry, aged 12; Mrs. Nancy • Clark, reported to have died from heart disease, caused by the excitement ; August aud Fred. I oesch, two brothers, aged S aud 10; Hattie Leslie, aged 12; James Crowley, aged 7 ; Anna Mai Uienez ; Miss Teronica Massatt, aged 22 ; Miss Kesaler suffered a severe concussion of the brain, and is reported to have died this evening ; one unknown woman dead. Among the injured are Fred. Strasburg, Miss Pumphrey, Harry Bliss, and a child named Coddington. Miss Carey had the base of her skull crushed and her collar-bone broken. Miss Anna Flood was hurt in the breast seriously. Mrs. Lyou was injured internally. Mrs. White, who was killed, had five children with her, one of whom was killed; another, the youngest, was found clasped in her arms, uninjured. Mrs. Rienez, of Altoona, was in the gallery, and was either pushed over the railing or jumped to the floor below, striking on her head. A Corouer's inquest will be held on Tuesday, aud he will endeavour to ascertain definitely how the alarm originated. February 6.—lnformation to-night from those injured at the Opera House yesterdayis favourable. Mrs. Henry Kessley, reported dead, is still living, and ml) i ecover. Considerable promineuce is given to a report that the alarm was started by pickpocket!,, who expected to profit thereby, but the storyis generally discredited. THE STRATHCLYDE, OF GLASGOW, SUNK -IN DOVER BAY.—FIFTYTWO PASSENGERS DROWNED. Lo>"BO>', February 17—The steamer ' Franconi ran into the steamer Strathclyde, of Glasgow, this afternoon. The boilers o£ the Strathclyde burst, and she sank immediately. Fifty-two of her passengers were drowned. Five have been landed at Dover, and four others are reported to have been saved. Smith, Sundius and Co., steamer agents, report that the Franconi has put into Dover. She had Her bow stove at the water line. The following additional particulars are received:—The steamer Strathclyde, which sailed from London, for Bombay, tad been in Dover Bay to land her pilot, and as she was shearing out again, about a mile from Admiralty Pier, she was caught by the (£ar continuation of news see Supplement.)