Beecher, who had befriended him. Howard had planned to be
the first in the field with a hastily prepared biography of the great
preacher, and he felt that Bok had forestalled him. Forthwith, he
launched a vicious attack on the compiler of the memorial, accusing him
of "making money out of Henry Ward Beecher's dead body" and of
"seriously offending the family of Mr. Beecher, who had had no say in
the memorial, which was therefore without authority, and hence extremely
distasteful to all."
Howard had convinced a number of editors of the justice of his position,
and so he secured a wide publication for his attack. For the second
time, Edward Bok was under fire, and remembering his action on the
previous occasion, he again remained silent, and again the argument was
put forth that his silence implied guilt. But Mrs. Beecher and members
of the Beecher family did not observe silence, and quickly proved that
not only had Bok compiled the memorial as a labor of love and had lost
money on it, but that he had the full consent of the family in its
preparation.
When, shortly afterward, Howard's hastily compiled "biography" of Mr.
Beecher appeared, a reporter asked Mrs. Beecher whether she and her
family had found it accurate.
"Accurate, my child," said Mrs. Beecher. "Why, it is so accurate in its
absolute falsity that neither I nor the boys can find one fact or date
given correctly, although we have studied it for two days.
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