Wilmington daily commercial., 1874-08-05
FIRST EDITION.
Tbe Brooklyn Church scandal,

rILros FAREWELL TO THE INVESTIGATING COM
MIirLE-HE ORDERS AN APPEAL TO THE COURT.
The latest phase in the Beecher-T .lton cas- q
is letter from Mr. Tilton to the Investigating
Committee declining to hold further commune
cation with it. and notifying the committee of all
appeal to legal tribunal. The letter is as fol-
| lows.
M-. II. ". Sage. Chairman,
| MY DEAR SIR I have just received your note
OF July 3lst, -four days after date. Uness you
accidentally msdated IL, the communication
| should have come to me several days ago This
leads me to recall similar dilatoriness Of delivery
of your original note first summoning me to your
committee, which received only four hours be-
fore was to appear, and yet the summons bore
the date OF the day previous. But let these tri-
lies pass. Your note just received surprises me
by its contents for you seem to have forgotten
that on the last day of my appearance before
your committee l carried to your meet
ing, not only all the documents which
quoted in my own statement, save
those in Mr.. Moultons possession, but many
more besides, making a double handful of in-
terestinC and important papera vital to my case
and destructive to yours. All these papers
proposed to lay before you, but no sooner had
begun to read them aloud in your presence than
one OF your attorneys stopped me in the reading
and proposed that should save the committees
time by referring these papers to one of your
members, the Hon. John Winslow. l acqui-
esced in the suggestion and retired from your
committee with the exnectation of a speedy con-
ference with Mr.. Winslow. Perhaps it was my
proper duty to have called OH Wnslow, but az
the whole committee bad previously ret the ex-
ample OF calling in body ON one of the other
parties to this controversy. l took
it for granted that Winslow could repeat this
precedent by doing me the honor to call at my
house, at which he would have been welcome
guest but while waiting for his coming, was
called upon instead bg policeman who arrested
me- and carried me at thirty minutes notice be-
fore Justice Riley's Police Conrt, TO answer u
charge of libelling the Rev. Hunry Ward Beech
er. against whom had spoken not libel hut
the truth Up to the time of this arrest 1 had
employed no lawyer, not needing them, hut on
finding myself before Police Court and not
understanding the motive Of my arrest. nor the
methods OF court, requested my friend, Judge
). ID. Morris, to answer for me in the technical
proceedings in which knew not how to answer
properly for myself.
Twice already have been before this unex-
nected tribunal. and may be calld before il a
third time en- Wednesday next. Meanwhile my
COUNSEL to whom have just shown your nose,
iistrncts me to lay no documents, papers or re-
naming testimony before your committee, nor
to hold any further communication with YOU in
any form, except to send this present and final
letter containing the rensons for this step.
These reasons are the follwing
FIRST You are committee OF Mr.. Bsecher
friends, appointed by himself expected to act in
his behalf, assisted by attorneys employed ex-
clusivey for hs vindlcation. holding secret ses.
siOns inaccessible to the public, having no pow
er to compel wtnesses, giving no opportunity for
the opposite side to cross-exanline such IN vol
unfairly appear, publishing or suppressng their
Testimony as you see iit and 10 far as my expe-
rience goes, asking me no questions save such
as were irrelevant to tie case, and omittng to
publish, III yonr own imperfect and unjust re-
port of my testimony, all that was most peril
nent to my own side of the controversy.
Secondly The daily papers OF Brooklyn aud
New York have been aitfully fed day by day
with crumbs OF fictitious evidence against my
own character, rs If not Beecher but alone
were the man on trial aud though have little
right perhaps to hold your committee reeponti-
BILE for tns daily misreprcs entation which may
come through the malice of others, yet the re-
SILT is the same to me AZ il you had deliberately
designed it, and that result s this, VIZ l expect
no justice either from your tribunal since you
cannot compel witnesses to testify, nor from
your reporters that they do not give impartial
reports.
Thirdly. l cannot reject the conviction,
though mean 40 offence III expressing 1t. that
your committee has come at last to be as little
satisfactory to the public as to mysolf and thai
yonr verdict, if You render one, could not possi-
bly, be based on full facts, since you have no
power to compel witnesses nor to verify testi-
mOny by OATH nor to sift by cross examination
For those reasons, which ought to have moved
me earlier. have at last instructed my counsel
to proceed at once at his discretion, to carry my
case from your juriedic.ion to court OF law,
aud in view vi Tins instruction from me, he has
in turn instructed me to hold no further COM
munication with you except thls pr sent letter
Of courtesy, in VIII ch have the honor TO bid you
farewell IN doing which, allow mo to add that
the respect which | am unable to entertain for
your committee as a tribunal | cannot help ex-
pressing for you, each and all. as individuals.
Yours, etc. THEODORE TILToN.