New-York tribune., 1874-08-17

with Mrs. Tilton. He processes to have no
other evidence of these repeated offenses than
the confession of Mrs. TiltOn, freely and cir
cnmstantally made to him on the 3d OF July,
1870. In the following December MIR. BeecheI
received the first intimatiOn of the charge III
the form of u paper containing a statement
"by Mrs. Tilton of the substance OF the con-
fessOn which she had before made"-that H.
according to her husband. a confession OF re-
peated acts of adultery. 1t is very singular
and unfortunate circumstance that Slr. Tllton
who seems to have preserved with the greatest
care all manner of significant and insignificant
documents connected with this case, and even
to have kept copies of many of them, cannot
produce this important paper upon which his
whole story rests. He first copied it then de-
stroyed the original and finally destroyed the
copy. What did it contain Tilton says II
was a confession of adultery, explicit and CIR
cumstantial. Mrs. Tilton and Mr.. BcecheI
deny this. and declare that it contained moth
ing more than an allegation OF improper ad-
vances on the part Of the prearher-in Other
wolds that it was not confession at all, but
an accusation.
Excluding the statements of the parties In
interest, there is no direct proof of the char
acter of this paper, and we must consequently
look for circumstantal evidence That for
tunately is abundant. In the first place Dir.
Beccher Immediately went to Mrs. Tilton and
obtained from her IA retractIon of the state
mtnt she had just made to her husband; ana
according to Tilton, Mr.. Bcecher dictated this
paper and she copied and signed it. 1t is in
| conceivable that under these circumstances
the retraction should be any less broad than
the original charge. If TiltOn tells the truth,
that charge was adultery. But what was 1t
that Mrs. Tilton withdrew? "Wearied with
importunty,' she says, aud weakened by
sickness, | gave a letter impiicating my
" friend .lenfy Ward Beecher. . de-
" sire to say explicitly Mr.. Beecher has never
offered any improper suggestion" That is
| all and we have no hesitation in saying that
| it is not such letter as a man would accept
AZ an explicit retIacton of the charge of adu-
! terry, or woman would write who wished to
protest her own fdithfulncss.
The second piece OF circumstantial evidence
Is Mrs. Til,on's letter to her husband, dated
June %, 1871 which TiltOn cites in cUrr0b0ra-
tion of hi' charge. My dear Thcodore," she
writes, "to-day, through the ministry of
Catharine Gaunt, character Of fiction, my
"eyes have been opened for the first time i'll
"my experience so that see clearly my sin.
" 1t was when | knew that | was loved to
suffer il to grow TO a passion. virtuOu5
woman should cheek instantly an absorbing
love. But it appeared to me in such false light.
d" mat tie Tore felt asd receired couid harm
no one, not eren y0u, hare beiiered a!DaHeriRJ-
:" IN until o'ci0ct this GtleROoa." That this
should have been written by peniscnt adul-
teless is a moral impOssbility. II plainly re-
fers to nothing more than the fault which Mis-
Tilton has publicly acknowledged, of allowing
q sentimental affection for her pastor TO inter
fcre with her love for her husband-and that
was the fault of Catharine Gaunt. And more
over, the date is significant for six months
after Mr.. Tilt0n pretends that his wife III an
agony of remorSe confessed 20 criminal rela-
tions with IIr. Boecher, we find her declaring
" that the love | felt and received could harm
"no one, not even you, have believed I'M
" "falteringly until O'Clock this afternoon
The third piece of circumstantial evidence
is the fact that although TIlton has been
chattering about his wrongs for four years, and
has repeatedly charged Mt. Deecner WIFI lll-
proper behavior towards Mrs. Tilton, telling
the story to Mr.. Bowen, to DR.. StOrrs, and to
countless other persons, it is only within a
short time that the crime of solicitation has
apparently been magnifed into the crime of
adultery Even the letter to DR.. Bacon out of
which this investigation grew, while it alluded
darkly to Mr. Beecher's Offense, referred to
Mrs. TiltOn in language which no decent man
could use respecting an unfaithful wife; and
the conclusion is almost irresistible that when
Mrs. Tilton refused to take any further part
in the persecution of her pastor. the desper-
ate accuser resolved to enlarge the Indictment
so as to ruin not only his friend but his wife.
These, however, are only conjectures. The
only thing certain about it is, that the state
ment that Mrs. TltOn's so-called confession
was a confession of adultery, rests upon the
unsupported and contradicted word of a black
mailer; and what that is worth the public
seems to be pretty well satisfied
ODOROUS COMPARISONS.
Commissioner Stern's argument against the