The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1873-03-14
ggisfellaaeuns.
TILTON AND BEECHER.
An Explanation of the Scandal Written
but not TO be Published. ~

but not TO be Published.
Brooklyn letter TO the Cincinnati Commercial
MIR. Theodore Tilton has permitted
one or two of his more intimate friends
to see and read the manuscript vol
ume which he has written for private
preservation, about the so-caIled
"Beecher-Tilton scandal concerning
which the slanderous Mrs. Woodruff
tried to raise social and religious
uDroar tour months ago.
1t is an elaborate and detailed his
tory of this extraordinary scandal, in
vOlving many curious incidents, impli.
eating persons who have not publicly
figured in it, covering some ten years
oftime, with date, names and circum-
stances, and elucIdating some things
which are not likely to be revealed
till the day OF judgment
There are reasons satisfactory to
Mr.. Tilton and others, why this man.
uscript should not be published; and
there were reasons why 1t should be
written and retained in his hands
Under the circumstances, it would be
manifestly improper for anybody else
to make public display of the facts
1t contains, or to say anything about
it which the author himself, or Mr..
Beecher on his own account, has not
seen fit to say. But there is one thing
which the public ought surely know
a: once, and which, it seems to me,
would go far to cCunteraet the effect
preiudicial to Mr. Beecher which has
been produced by the SANDER of Mrs.
Woodruff. This thing is, that there
is nothing in Mr.. Tilton's narrative to
justify or give any ground for believ-
ing the accusations against Mr.. Beech
er In reference to the lady with whom
his name has been scandalously asso
ciated. On the contrary, Tilton's
narrative exculpates Beecher from the
charges of criminality in this matter,
which were brought against him by
Mrs. Woodruff, and which she forfeit
ed by evidence that disappears in pres.
ence of the actual facts. One sees, in
reading it, how Mrs. Woodruff dis
torted what she had heard, drew upon
the imagination for what she suspect
ed, and worked up a slander, at once
false and cruel, against innocent part
les. One can also see why it has been
considered better not to tickle the
of gossi p mongers by retailing
domestic matter, the publication of
which, while Oyerthrowing the Wood
hull slanders, would give renewed
occasion of mischief to back biters and
of talsehood.
But there is another observation
wish to make. 1t is this: None OF
Lhose-and they are necessarily very
few-whO can possibly have any d.
rect knowledge of the facts in the
Beecher TIlden scandal, make any ac-
of criminality or guilt in re-
gard to the affair. If TiltOn, in this
case, does not bring the criminal
charge against Beecher-if the sian.
dered lady who has been its victim
repudiates tiff Mr.. Beecher himself
knows his own innocence in the mat
ter-if neither of these parties, / say,
accuses any of the others OF the guilt
which slanderous tongues have i'm
else, let me ask, can be
in a position to obtain better knowl-
edge of the facts? Who is authorized
to speak about the matters? Who
has spoken about it
Certainly no body need give any
heed to a sensational story which was
concocted by Mrs. Woodruff, and
which she supported by what she
called the evidence of three PERSONS
Frank MOulton, Mrs Paulina Davis
and Mrs Stanton-all OF whom deny
the allegations which she imputes to
them. Mr. Frank Moulton, a friend
Of both Tilton and Beecher, is init
mately acquainted with oil the facts
and fictiOns, sayings and writings re
garding the Beecher Tilton scandal
and Mr.. Moulton affirIns his entire
belief in Beecher's innocence in this
matter. Mrs. Paulina Davis, who has
been abroad for year or more, has ,
written letters to her friends in this
denying directly that she
ever told Mrs Woodruff the things
Mrs. Woodruff attributes to her, and
showing that she (Mrs. Davis) could
not possibly have known of them, or
heard of them. Mrs. Stanton also re-
uses to take the responsibility of being
he authOress of the accusations con
lected with the BeecheF-Tilton scandal
which Mrs. Woodruff had made
Where, now, can any basis be found
tor this scandal? What does anybody
Know about it? Why should anybody
regard it as anything else than a mag
got hatched in a slznderer's brain,
rom material, not harmful in itself,
which had been deposited there by
other parties, but which had grown
putrid in the moral atmosphere byt
which it was surrounded ?
Since the publication of this scandal,
Mr.. Beecher has been a friendly vIsi-
tor at Tilton's house. Since its pub
IicatioD, Mr. Tilton has appeared in
society and public places with his wife.
In November last, just after the pro- 7
mitigation Of the scandal, they attend
ed Greeley's funeral together, and
had their fair faced little boy with
them; and up to the present time
their home has neither been destroyed
nor their lives divided by the scandal
There is story going round which
Tilden As haggard in the
face, wild in the eye, gray in the hair
and breathing out threatenings and
slaughter, after the fashion of Paul.
when on his way to Damascus Those
who have seen him daily since the close
of the Greeley campaign, certainly
hayn,t noticed any such changes in
him. It would not be surprisiDgif he
were troubled over the fact that SLAM
derers have invaded his household,
and still more embarrassed because
have made it unadyisa. |
Bile for him to give full publication OF
The way in which the thing originated