Wilmington daily commercial., 1874-07-22
FIRST EDITION.
The rIlton-neecher 1Eorror.

MIR. 1ILToN's STATEMENT TO THE INVESTIGATING
| COMMITTEE PUBLISHED IN FULI.-Irs cHARAc-
TER AND SOME OF THE LOCALITIES.
Theodore Tiltons statement of his charges and
proof against Mr. Beecher as read to the Inves-
tigating Committee Monday night, is published
1t is, in TERMS specific allegation of adultery,
committed by Mr.. Beecher with Mrs Tilton,
first at MIR. Beechera own house
on the evening of Oct. 10. 1868, and frequently
| thereafter at the residences of both.
and elsewhere, until the Spring of 1870. 1t al
eges Mr.. Tutons discovery Of Mr.. Beecler
| locked up with Mrs. Tilton in her bed room (;
his seeing improper liberties taken with her by
MIR. Beecher IN his library Mrs. Tilton's own
confession to him of her guilt and her explana-
tions of it, on July 3, 1870 that this confession
was subsequently put in writing by her. and was
| shown by MIR. f. ID. Moulton to Mr. Beecher
that Mr.. Beecher first procured from Mrs. Til
ton written retraction of the whole story and
| then confessed to Mr. Moutun his own guilt.
returned to the latter Mrs. Titons retraction
and threatened suicide in case of exposure. The
| full text of Mr. Beechers apology is given with
parts of several other letters by him, addressed,
| like it, to Mr.. Moulton all EXPRESSING
remorse and contrtion for some great but rn-
named wrong done Mr.. and Mrs. Tlton. let
ter from MIR. Bee cher to Mrs. Iilton eulogizes
Moulton as the friend who had tied up the storm
ready TO burst on their heads. letter from
she first saw that the love she felt and received
was sinful on reading Griffith Gaunt, and assures
her husband now of a purified and restored love
Whenever he yearna towards her with true feel
ing. The rest of the statement deals with the
provocatlon given for this exposure by both MIR.
Beecher and Mrs. 1fton; and with the happy
character of the family life thus destroyed.
Mr.. Shearman, the Clerk of Plymouth Church,
and MIR. Tracy, MIR. Beecher's counsel, wero in
consultation yesterday with Mrs Tilton and Mr..
EppgIpr ar f.a riffr az
ments to be laid before the committee. That
of Mr.. Beecher ls expected on Thursday.
Mr. Beecher's friends analyze Mr.. Tiltons
statement expose some Inconsistencies in his
references to his wife, deny the Interpretation
placed ON the PASTORS letters, and say Mr.. Beech
er did not write some of them
Much testimony is yet to be taken, besides
that of Mr.. Beecher and Mrs. Tilton. The Com
mttee still refuse to express any opinions. The
excitement over the subject grows intense aud
universal
TILToNs INTRODUCTORY LETTER.
Gentlemen of the Committee I'm commun-
eating to you the detailed statement of facts, of
evidences which you have been several days ex-
pectlng at my hands, let me remind You of the cir
cumstances which call this statement forth In
my recent letter to DR.. Bacon, / alluded to an
offence and an apology by Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher. To whomsoever else this alluslon
seemed indefinite, TO Mr.. Beecher it was plain
The offence was committed by him, the apology
WAS Ildub DN llll. BOIn hcIH were lllH OWN, ana
were among the most momentous occurrences
of his life.
or all men in Plymouth church, or in the
world, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher the
one man who was best informed concerning this
offence and apology, and the one man who least
needed to inquire INTO either. Nevertheless,
while possessing perfect knowledge of both
these acts, done by himself he haa chosen to
put on public aifectaUion of Ignorance and in
nocence concerning them, and has conspicuous
10 a,afa Of tha aal,l ef
his church, together with two attorneys, to in
quire into what he leaves you to regard the una
countable mystery of this offence and apology,
as If he had never committed the one, nor
offered the other, but as If both were the mere
iigments of another mans Imagination, thus
adroitly prompting the public to draw the dedue-
ton that l am person laboring under some
hallucination or delusion-living in dream and
forging q fraud.
Furthermore, in order to cast over this ex-
planation the delicate glamour which always
lends a charm to the defence of woman's honor
Mrs. Elizabeth II. lilton, lately my wife, has
been prompted away from her home to reside
| among Mr. Beechers friends, and to corporate
with him in his ostensibly honest and laudabe
inquiry into facts concerning which she, too, as
well AZ he, has for years past had perfect and
equal knowledge with himself.
| The investigation, therefore, has been publicly
| pressed upon me by Mr.. Beecher, seconded by
Mrs Hilton, both OF whom, in SO DONG have united
| i'll assuming before the public the non-Tesist nee
of the grave and solemn facts into which they
have conspired to investigate for the purpose,
not electing that or denying the truth. This
joint assumption by them, which has seemed to
your committee to be in good faith, has natural
| ly led you on to an examination in which they
expect to iind on their part nothing but inno-
cence, and on my part nothing but slander.
| Ii is now my unhappy duty, from which have
| in vain sought earnestly to be delivered, to give
| the facts and evidences for reversing your opiu-
ion ON the subject. In doing this painful duty
| may saw, heartfeelngly, the responsibility for
making the grave disclosures which am about
to lay before You belongs not to me, but, first,
to Mr. Beecher, who has prompted you to this
| examination, and next to Mrs. Tllton, who has
| joined hlm in II conspiracy which cannot fail to
be full of peril and wretchedness to many
| hearts.
call you to Witness that in my first brief ex-
| examination by your committee | begged and
implored you not to inquire into the facts of
this case, but rather TO seek to bury them be-
| yond all possible revelation Happy for all con-
eerned had this entreaty been Needed, but 1t is
now too late. The last opportunity for recon-
citation and settlement has passed. This in
yestigation, undertaken by you i'll ignorance of
dangers against which Mr.. Boecher should have
warned you in advance, will shortly prove itself,
to your SURPRISE to have been an act of wanton
and wicked folly, for which the Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher, as its originator and public spon-
sor will hereafter find no ''space forrepentance,
though he sock it carefully and with tears"
This desperate man must hold himself only,
and not me, accountable for the wretchedness
which these disclosures will carry to his own
homo and hearth, as they have already to mine.
/ will add the original documents referred to in
the ensuing sworn statement are for the most
part in my possession that the apology and a
few other papers are in the hands of Mr.. Fran
els d. Moulton. Truly yours,
THEODORE TILToN.
THE SWORN STATEMENT OF TILToN
Mr.. Tilton's sworn statement following the
above letter, consists of twenty-five speciiica-
tiona, setting forth in detail the charges against
Rev Henry Ward Beecher. They declare "Ihat
on the I'd of October, 1865, at Plymouth Church
Brooklyn, marriage between Theodore Tilton
and Elizabeth NJ. Richards was performed by
the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher which marriage
thirteen years afterward, was dishonored and
violated by this Clergyman" That the offence
of Mr. Beecher was repeated and continued
from October, 1868, to the Spring of 1870.
That these acts of wrong were, on the part of Mrs
Tilton, Hfrom first to last not wanton or consci-
ously wicked, but arising through binding OF
her moral perceptions, occasioned by the power
full influence exerted on her mind at that time,
to this end, by the Rev, Henry Ward Beecher as
her religious preceptor and guide" Also that
on the evening of July 80, 1870, Mrs. Tilton,
''after exacting solemn promise that he would
do Rev. Henry Ward Beecher no harm nor COM
municate to him what she was about to say,