Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-08-22
To this accusation Mr.. Beecher

2 That IN DeceInOeI, 1odO, LIS LIE
TiIton left her house because of Til
toms cruelty; sent for him, and that
he and his wife advised her to have
a formal separation from her hus-
band.
8. That few days after, Bowen
delivered him a note from Tilton,
demanding his retirement from Ply
mouth Church; he treated it with
contempt.
4. That in consequence of his re-
fusing to take part with Tilton
against Bowen, and of his telling
Bowen of his belief in Tilton's i'm
moral associates and habits, Tilton,
on Dec. %, 1870, ''extorted from
his wife, then suffering from illness,
a document eliminating Beecher"
That the next day he went with
Moulton and saw Tilton, who then
accused him of business enmity, of
having injured him in his family by
advising a separation, and of having
MADE wicked proposals to Mrs. Ill
ton. Tilton informed Beecher that
this conference had been made in the
July previous, and told him Mrs. T.
was then at home and would confirm
the statement. That he (Beecher)
saw Mrs. Tilton, who was sick in
bed, and obtained an explicit recan-
tation of the statement which she
said her husband had made her sign.
That, with this paper, he returned
to Moulton's, said nothing of the pa
per, and soon after went home. The
next day Moulton came to him, re-
monstrated against his having OBJ
tanned her recantation; declared that
she had already recanted her recan-
tation, and he then surrendered the
paper.
5. That day or two after (about
Jan. l, 1871 Moulton visited him;
they had long talk about the whole
matter; he (B.) was greatly panied,
and excited, and alarmed by the
threatened destruction of all the
aims of his life; believing that he
had perhaps unjustly thought Tilton
immoral, and had injured him by ad-
vising a separation from his wife,
ETC., he expressed his regret in the
most earnest terms; that Moulton
suggested letter of apology to Til
ton; that this he declined, but told
him to tell all to Tilton; that Moul-
ton reduced to writing, in his (M's)
own words, as heads or memoran-
dun, what was to, be said to Tilton;
that this paper, written by Moulton,
he (Beecher) never read nor heard
read; that, except the last line and
signature, he was ignorant of its con-
tents; that subsequently Moulton in
formed him that this paper had been
destroyed. This paper is the "apol-
ogy."
6. That after this he met Tilton
at Moulton's; and subsequently he
was invited by Tilton to his house,
who recommended and praised him
to Mrs. Tilton.
Z. In May, 1871, Woodruff adver-
tised her purpose to publish scan
dal; that TIlton "ostensibly" kept
this suppressed until November,
1872; in the meantime she was Til
toms heroine.
8. That until the Woodruff publ
cation he had never heard of the
charge of adultery, nor anything
but that he had made proposals TO
Mrs. Tilton.
This is the substance of Tilton's
sworn statement and Beecher's
unsworn denial. How far the one
repels or meets the other is the mat
ter 10 be determined now.
The "apology," or substantial con-
fession, exists. Tilton accepted and
acted on it as Beecher's own docu-
ment; Beecher declares that it is not
his, and denounces it. Here, then,
is case where Mr.. Moulton must
come to the front and clear up this
mystery.
The next point is that Beecher de-
clares he never heard of any graver
charge than an overture until the
Woodruff story was published.
Here, too, is a point on which Moul-
ton alone can furnish any light.
Mr.. Beecher attributes to Tilton's
intimacy With the Woodhulls and
their clan the wrecking of Tilton's
morals, and that this was one of the
reasons why he advised a separation.
This advice was the occasion of the
apology" Tilton says, and his
statement is not contradicted, that
he never met the Woodruff until
nearly year after his wife's con-
fession, and six months after he had
accused Beecher, and after the lat
ter had confessed and apologized.
Mr.. Beecher labors arduously
throughout to explain his various
letters and deprive them of any
meaning; but the answer, however
satisfactory it might be in ordinary
circumstances, falls short of explain
ing letters which evidently had some
object, which had a direct and fixed
meaning when written, which were
delivered and have been held in con-
fdence ever since. The meaning of
these letters has been attested by an
oath. and it is alleged that Moulton,
by the full confidence of all parties,
can verify it.
The intimations of Mr.. Beecher,
that Tilton was covertly seeking to
blackmail him, are ungenerous; it is
disproved by every incident in the
history of the man and of this trans
action.
The money claimed of Bowen was
a lawful debt which he could have
collected in any court of common in
telligence. Nor is the intimation
that Tilton was immoral of any avail
to Mr.. Beecher; whatever Tilton's
crimes, they in no wise change the
case against Mr.. Beecher. The fur
ther charge that Tilton was deter
mined to use this accusation to fol-
low Beecher through life, is hardly
borne out by the facts. 1t is dis
proved by Tilton's sworn statement
that he had never communicated the
case to any outsider save Moulton
and Beecher; and that his life was
I