The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-07-24

his statement. The committee at 4 late /
hour was still in session, witt Mr. Tilton !
present
AT half past t~elve this morning, Mr.. i
Tilton, who had been reading his state
ment carefully and deliberately to the
committee, left DR.. Storrs' residence, ac-
companied by his friend, Mr.. Frank
MonIton. 4 score of eager reporters
gathered around Tilton, as he emerged
from the residence of DIR. Stoors, and ea- /
gerly inquired for news: He said: i
have nothing to say, except l have
made NV statement. and think it is I'M
answerable."
In reply 70 a question as 10 whether
his statement could he obtained, he said
the committee had agreed that nothing
should be made public as yet. He then
drove off with his friend Moulton.
The committe refused, in a most deci-
ded manner, to give any information
whatever. They said Mr.. Tilton's
statement had been made, but there were
other witnesses to be heard from, and the
time had not yet arrived to give any
thing TO the public.
TILToN's LETTER TO BOWEN.
The Telegraph has given an abstract
OF Mr. Samuel Wilkeson'> statement be-
fore the Beecher Investigating Commit
tee, and very fully what Mr. ". in his
statement introduced the following let
ter TO Henry C. Bowen, the editor of the
Independents, ,@hich for It's importance
i'll the investigation should be published
entire. Is Is as follows:
'BRooKLYN, Jan. /, 1871.
Mr.. Henry c. Bowen:
''SIR-I received last evening your
sudden notices breaking my tw1 con-
( tracts. one with the Independent, the
other with the Brooklyn Union. With
reference with this act of yours l will
make plain statement Of facts. 1t was
during the early part of the rebellion,
if / recolIect Alright, when you first init
mated to ME that Rev. Henry Ward
| Beecher had committed acts of adultry
for which, if yon should expose him, he
would be driven from the pulpit. From
! that time onward your references TO the
| subject were frequent and always accom-
panied with the exhibition of deep seat
ed injury to your heart. In a letter
which you addressed TO me from Wood
stock, June IS, 1858, referring to this
subject, you said: 4 sometimes feel
that l must break silence; that | must no
! longer suffer as dumb man and be made
to bear Il load of grief most uniustly.-
/ One word from me would make-a re
bellion throughout Christendom. r had
almost said, and you know it. You
the great volume in your possession. |
am not pursuing phantom, but sol
emnly brooding over an awful reality
"Subsequent to this letter, and on fire.
quent intervals from them till now, you
repeated the statement that You could
expel Henry Ward Beecher from Brook
lyn. Yen have reiterated the same
thing not only to me but 10 Others =
Moreover, during the year just closed
your letters on the subject were marked
with more feeling than heretofore, and
we're not unfrequently coupled with
your emphatic declaration that Mr..
Beecher ought not to be allowed to oc-
cupy a public position as Christian
teacher and preacher.
| ASkA e
an interview in your house, at which
Mr. Oliver johnson and we're present,
you spoke freely and indignantly against
Mr.. Beecher as an unsafe visitor in the
families of his congregation. You allu-
ded by name to woman, now widow,
whose husbands death you did not
doubt was hastened by his knowledge
that Mr.. Beecher had maintained with
her improper intimacy. As if to leave
no doubt on the minds of either Mr..
Johnson or myself, you informed MS
that Mr.. Beecher had made to you a
confession of guilt, and had with tears
implored your forgivness. After Mr..
Johnson retired from this interview
you related 10 me the case Of woman,
,f whom you said las nearly as can
recollect your words that MIR. Beecher
took herssin his arms by force threw her
down upon the sofa, accomplished upon
her his deviltry, AMI after her.
During your recital to this tale you
were filled with anger toward Mr.. Beech
er. You said, with terrible emphasis,
that 'he ought not to remain a week
longer in his pulpit You immediate
ly suggested that d demand should be
made upon him 10 quit his sacred office
You volunteered to bear to him such a
demand in the form of an open letter,
which you would present to him with
your own hand, and you pledged your
self to sustain the demand which this
letter should make, viz: "That he should,
for which he explicitly knew, inlmedi-
ately cease from his ministry at Plym-
nuth Church and retire from Brooklyn.
The first draft of this letter did not con-
tain the phrase for reasons that he ex-
plicity knew and these words, or words
to this effect, were incorporated in a
second at your motion. You urged,
furthermore, very emphatically, that the
letter should demand not only Mr.
Beecher's abdication of his pulpit, but
the cessation of his writing for the
Christian Union-a point of which you
were overruled. This letter you presen-
ted to Mr.. Beecher at Mr.. Freeland's
house Shortly after its presentation
YOU sought an interview with me in the
editorial Office of the Brooklyn Union,
during which, with unaccountable emo
tion in your manner, your face livid
with rage, you threatened with loud
voice that if ever should inform Mr..
Beecher of the statements which you
made concerning his adultry, or should
compel you to adduce the evidence on
which you agreed to sustain the demand
for Mr.. Beecher's withdrawal from