[Manchester—Monday, 20 July 1874]
Manchester, Mass. Mrs Dame’s. We are in the first stage or perhaps the second of the sad scandal against Henry Ward Beecher. It looked terribly dark for him at one time just after Tilton’s paper was published but he will come out and shine again before the Laws of men. The same day, this shocking paper came to us of T’s accusation, which looked fatal, inasmuch as my mind could not conceive of such blackness of darkness as that wh. has allowed Tilton to sacrifice, home, friendship, truth, manhood, all man holds most dear upon the altar of vanity and self-love, the same day I say, a terrible letter came to me from an Irish woman in Boston who is endeavoring to extort money from us on the plea that I persuaded her into an unsuccessful business for the sake of helping the sewing-girls who were out of work at the time of our Boston fire. Of course I did not persuade her, of course she can find no case except that she owes me, or us, money which she never means to pay, but the letter was so full of hatred and trouble and threats that I cannot get it out of my mind. How strange it is that our best efforts may end in this! God help us all.
