Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1874-08-20

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minent in the rernoRstrance addressed to
Mr.. Bowen concerning the course of his
paper under Mr.. Tilton's management.
1t was understood that Mr.. Bowen
agreed, as a consequence of proceedings
arising out of this remonstrance, to re-
move Tilton or suppress his peculiar
Views; but instead of that Theodore
seemed securer in the saddle than before
and his loose notions of marriage and
! divorce began to be shadowed editorially.
! This led to the starting of the AdUdnce,
| in Chicago, to supersede the L1ldepeqldeat
! ia the North-we and Mr.. Bowen was
made to feel that Tilton's management
was seriously iDjuring the business and
! Mr.. Tilton may have felt that his posi-
ton was being undermined by opponents
of his views, with whom he subsequent
i ~ pretended to believe was in league.
Vague intimatiens of his s'feeling hard
toward me ] aseribed to this miseoncep-
tion. had in reality taken no step to
harm him.
After Mrs, Tiltcn,s. return from the
West, in December, 1870, young girl
whom Mrs. Tilton had taken into the
family, educated and treated like an own
child, [her testimony, 1 understand, is
before the committee, was sent to me
with an urgent request tia: would
visit Mrs. Tilton at her mothers. She
said that Mrs. Tilton had left her home
and gone TO her mothers in consequence
| of ill-treatment of her husband. She
then gave an account of what she had
seen of cruelty and abuse on the part of
the husband that shocked nae ; and yet
more, when with downcast look she
said that Mr.. Tilton had visited her
Iol, L,
| consent to bis wishes. Immediately
| visited Mrs. Tilton at her mothers, and
received an account of her home life
and of the despotism of her husband,
and of the management rof woman
whom he had made housekeeper, which
seemed like nightmare dream. The
question was, whether she should 60
back or separate forever from her hus-
band. | asked permission to bring my
wife to see them, whose judgment in all
domestic relations l thought better than
nay own, and accordingly a second visit
was made. .r...
The result of the interview was that
my wife was extremely indignant
toward Mr. Tilton, and declared that no
consideration on earth would induce her
TO remain an hour with a man who had
treated her with hundredth part of
such insult and cruelty. felt as strong
ly as she did, but hesitated, as | always
do, at giving advice in favor of a separ-
alton. 1t was agreed that nay wife
should give her final advice at another
visit The next day, when ready to 90,
she wished final word, but there was
company, and the children were present,
and so i wrote on a scrap of paper u
incline TO think that your view is right,
and that q separation and settlement
| of support will be wisest, and that, in
his present desperate state, her presence
near him is far more likely to produce
hatred. than her absence" Mrs. Tiiton
| did not tell me that my presence had.
anything to do with this trouble, nor did
she let me know that on the July pre-
viOus he had exterted from her a con
| fession of excessive affection for me.
|: ON the evening of Dec. AZ 1870. Dir.
Bowen, on his way home, called at my.
house and handed me letter from MIR.
! Tilton. 1t WIS, as nearly as / can re-
member. in the following terms
For reasons which you explicitly
know, and which forbear to state. /
| demand that you withdraw from the
pulpit and quit Brooklyn as residence.
THEODORE TILToN.
% b. 4
Bowen and said '.This man is crazy
! This is sheer insanity" and other like
words. Mr.. Bowen professed to be ig-
norant of the contents; and l handed
him the letter to read. We at once fell
into a conversation about Mr.. Tilton.
He gave me some account of the. reasons
why he had reduced him from the edi-
torship of the independent to the subor-
dinate position of contributor, viz, that
Mr.. Tilton's religious and social views
were running the paper. But he said
that as soon as it was known that he had
so far broken with Tilton, there came
pouring in upon him so many stories of
Mr. Tilton's private life and habits that
he was overwhelmed, and that he was
now considering whether he could con-
sistcntly retain him on the Brooklyn
Union, or as chief contributor to the
I7ldependsnt. He narrated the story of
the affair at Winstead, Conn, and some
like stories from the Northwest, and
charges brought against Tilton in his
own office. Without doubt he believed
these allegations, and so did l. The
other facts previously stated to me
seemed full corrOboration. We con-
versed for some time, Mr.. Bowen wish
ing my opinion. 1t was frankly given.
| did not see how he could retain Mr..
TiltOn. The substance of the full con-
versation was that 1ilton's inordinate
vanity, his fatal facility in blundering,
(for which he had genius and osten-
tatious independence in his own opin-
ions, and general impracticableness,
would keep the Union at disagreement
with the political party for whose ser
vice it was published, and now added to
all this, the revelations of these promis-
cuous immoralities would make his con-
nection with either paper fatal to its in
terests. | spoke strongly and emphati-
cally under the great provocation of his
threatening letter to me, and the revela-
tion l had just had concerning his do
mestic affairs Mr.. Bowen derided the
letter of Tilton's which he had brought
to me, and said earnestly that if trouble
came of it might rely on his friend
ship. | learned afterwards that, in the
further quarrel, ending in Tilton's per-
emptory expulsion from Bowen's ser
vice, this conversation was related to
Mr.. Tilton. believe that Bowen had
an interview and received some further
information about Tilton from my wife,
to whom had referred him. Although
| have no doubt that Mr.. Tilton would
have lost his place at any rate, | have
also no doubt that my influence was de-
cisive, and precipitated bis final over
throw.
When came to think 1t all over ]
felt very unhappy at the contemplation
of Mr.. Tilton's impending disaster.
had loved him much, and at one time he
had seemed like son to me. My infu-
ence had come just at the time of his
first unfolding, and had much to do with
his early development I had aided
him externally to bring him before the
public. We had been together in the
great controversies of the day until after
the war, and our social relations had
been intimate.
1t is true that his nature always ex-
aggerated his own excellences. When
he was but boy he looked up to me
with affectionate admiration; after
some years he felt himself my equal, and
was very companionable, and when he
had outgrown me, and reached the posi-
ton of the first man of the age, he still
was kind and patronizing. / had al
ways smiled at these weaknesses of van
ity, and had believed that larger ex-
perience with some knocks among strong