Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-22

| NEW OIsk, July Sl.-1he following IS
the statement submitted 10 the Inyestigat-
ing Committee by Theodore Tilton:
Mr. TiItOn's Statement.
Gentlemen of the committee, in COM
municating to you the detailed statement
of facts and evidences which YOU have
been several days expecting at my hands,
let me remind you Of the circumstances
which called this statement forth. In my
recent letter to DR.. Bacon / alluded to an
otiense and apOlgy by Rev. II. w. Beecher.
To whomsOever else this allusion seemed
indefinite, to Mr.. Beecher it was plain.
The OfIenSe was committed by him. The
| apology was made by him. Both acts were
his own and were among the most mo
mentOus occurrences of his life. Of all
men in Plymouth Church or i'm the world.
Mr.. Beecher was the one man who was best
Informed concerning his ofienSe and
apology, and the one man who least need
ed TO inquire into either. Nevertheless,
while possessing a perfect knowledge of
both these acts done by him, he
has chosen TO put on a public
afectatiOn of ignorance and innocence
concerning them, and has cOnspicuOusly
| appointed a committee of six of the ableSt
men of his church, together with two at
torneys, to inquire into what he leaves YOU
TO regard as the unaccOuntable mystery of
this oflenSe and apology, as if he had
neither committed the one nor offered the
other, but as if both We're the Pigments of
another man Imagination, thus adroitly
| prompting the public to draw the deduc-
! ton that L am a person under some hallu-
| cination, living in dream and forging a
fraud. Furthermore, in order TO cast over
| this explanation
The Delicate Glamour
which always lends charm 10 the defense
Of a woman's honor, Mrs. Elizabeth r.
| Tihon, lately my wife, has been prompted
away from her home TO reside among Mr.
| BeecheT's friends, and to cooperate with
him in his Ostensibly honest and laudable
| inquiry into facts concerning which she
too, as well rs he, has for years past had a
perfect and equal knowledge with himself
| This investigation, therefore, has been pub
| licly pressed upon me by Mr.. Beecher,
| seconded by Mrs. TiltOn, both of whom
| in so doing have united in assuming
before the public the non-eXistence OF grave |
and solemn facts into which they have con- !
spired to investigate for the purpose, not of |
eliciting, but denying the truth. This !
joint assumption by them, which has seem |
ed 10 your committee to be in good faith. !
has led you into All examination in which |
you expect 10 find on their part nothing but |
innocence; on my pant nothing but SANDER. |
1t Is now my
Unhappy Duty,
from which / have in vain sought earnestly /
TO be delivered, TO give you the facts and |
evidences for reversing your opinion on this /
subject. In doing this painful duty, may
say beau-rending duty, the responsibility /
for making the grave disclosures which | |
am about to lay before YOU belongs not 10
me, but, first. 10 Beecher who has prompt
Ell you to this examination, and next to
Ms. Tilton who has joined him in a con-
spiracy which cannot but be full of wretch
edneSs to many hearts. ! call YOU to wit
ness that in my first brief examination by
your committee, | begged and implored
YOU not TO inquire into the facts
Of this case, but rather to seek to bury
them beyond all possible revelation.
Happy for all concerned had this entreaty
been needed. Ii is now
Too Late.
The last opportunity for reconciliation and
settlement mas passed. This investigation
undertaken by You, in ignorance of the
dangers which Beecher should have warned
yOuOfin advance, will shortly prove itself, to
your surprise, to have been an act Of wicked
folly, Of which Beecher, as its originator
and public sponsor. will find no space for
repentance, though he seek il carefully aud
with tears. This desperate man must hold
himself only, and not me, accountable for
the Indebtedness which these disclosures
viii carTy TO his own home and hearth as
they have already brought to mine. will
add that the original documents referred to
in the ensuing sworn statement are for the
most part in my possession, but that the
apology, and few other papers, are in the
hands of Francis ID. Moulton.
Truly yours, THEODORE TLTON.
TiItOn's Sworn Statement.
Whereas, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
has iuStigated the appointment Of COM
mittee, consisting of six members of his
church, 10 inquire and report upon alleged
aspeTsiOns upon his character 10y Theodore
Tilion; and whereas, Mrs. Elizabeth Il.
TiltOn, formerly wife of Mr.. TiltOn, has
openly deserted her home in order to Co
operate with Beecher in a conspiracy to
overthrow the credibility and good repute
Of her late husband as a mau and citizen.
therefore Theodore TiltOn, being thus au-
thOrized and required, by published de-
mand made by Rev. Henry Ward Beccher,
and being now and hereafter released by
the acts of Mrs. Tilton from further re-
spOnsibility for further concealment of the
truth touching her relations with Beecher,
therefore Theodore TiltOn hereby sets forth
under solemn oath the following facts and
testimony:
!. That on the I'd OF October, 1855. at
Plymouth Church. BROOKLYN, a marriage !
between Theodore Tilton and Elizabeth VI.
Richards was performed by Rev. Henry w.
Beecher. which mar iage, Is years after
wards, was dishonored and violated by this
clergyman through the criminal seduction
Of this wife and mother as hereinafter set
forth.
2. That for period Of about Il years,
extending both before and after this mar
rage, an intimate friendship existed be-
tween Theodore Tilton and Henry w.
Beecher, which friendship was cemented to
such a degree that, in consequence thereof, |
the subsequent dishOnOring by Beecher of
his friends wife was a crime and perfidy.
s. That about nine years ago Rev. Henry
W. Beecher began and therefore continued
a friendship with Mrs. Elizabeth Il. Tilton | ,
for whose native delicacv he often express
ell TO her husband high admiration, visit
ing her from time to inc for years, until
the year 1870, when fOr reasons hereinafter
stated he ceased such visits-during which ,
period by many tokens and attentions he
won the affectiOnate love Of Mrs. TiliOn, {
whereby after a long moral resistance by
her and after repeated assaults by him up
on her mind with oyennaSlering argu- :
ments, he accomplished the possession Of :
her person, maintaining with her thence :
forward during The period hereinafter '
stated the relation called criminal inter
course, this relation being regarded by her S
during that period rs not criminal or NOR S
ally wrong, such had been the power of his =
as a clergyman to satisfy her
Religious ScrupIes S
against such violation Of virtue and honor,
4. That on the evening of Oct. 10. 1874.
or thereabOutS. Mrs. Elizabeth II. Tilfon I
held an interview with Rev. II. W. Beecher ]
at his residence, she being then in tender
state Of mind, owing 10 the recent death
and burial of a young child. and during 4
This interview an act Of criminal commerce 3
took place between this pastor and this I
the matter, uu her part being. {
IS hereinbefcre stated. not regarded by her
al the time as criminal OF wrong. which act a
was followed by similar act of criminality a
at TiltoD,S house during a paStOral visit ! I