Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-07-31

| Christian woman, give the most ex-
plicit, comprehensive and solemn denial.
! HENRY WARD BEECHER.
| Brooklyn, July g. 1874.
! STATEMENTxQE.M MRS. TILTON. =.
To pick up anew the sorrows of the
last ten years, the stings and pains had
daily schoeled myself to bury and for
give, makes this Imperative duty, as
called forth, by the malicious, statement
of my husband, the saddeSt act of my
| life. Besides, my thought of following
| the Master coftTadiets this act of my
pen, and a sense of the perversion of my
| life faith almost cOmpels me now to stand
aside until God himself delivers; yet Isee
in this wanton act an urgent call and
privilege, from which [ shrink not. To
reply in detail to the twenty-five articles
of arraignment / shall not attempt at
present, yet If called upon to testify to
each and all of them | shall not hesitate
to do so. Suffice it for my purpose now
that / reply to one or more of the most
glaring charges.
1. Touching the feigned sorrow of my
husbands compulsory revelations |
solemnly avow that long before the
Woodruff publication | knew him by in
sinuation and direct statement to have
repeated to my very near relatives and
friends the substance of these accusations
which shock the moral sense of the entire
community this day. Many times when
hearing that certain persons had spoken
i'll of him he has sent me to chide them
for so doing, and then and there | learned
he had been before me with his calum-
nies against myself, SO that was speech
less.
2. The reiteration in his statement that
he had persistently striven to hide these
so-called facts is utterly false, as his
hatred to Mr.. Beecher has existed these
many years, and the determination to
ruin Mr.. Beecher has been the one
aim of his life. Again, the perfdy
with which the holiest love a wife
ever offered has been recklessly dis
covered in this publication reaches we'll
nigh to sacrilege, and added to this the
endeavor, like the early scandal of Mrs.
Woodruff, to make my own words con
denim me, has no parallel most conspic-
uously my letter quoting the reading of
Griffith Gaunt" Had Mr.. Tilton read
the pure character of Catherine he would
have seen that | lifted myself beside it
as near as any human may affect an ideal; !;
but it was her character and not the in
cldents of fiction surrounding it to which
| referred. Hers was no sin OF crimlnal
act or thought. A like confession with
hers had made to Mr. Tilton in telling
of my love to my friend and pastor one
year before, and | now add that, notwith-
standing all misrepresentation and an
guish of soul, | owe to my acquaintance
and friendship with Mr.. Beecher, as to
no other human instramentahty,t that en-
cOuragement OF my mental life and that
growth toward the Divine nature which
enable me to walk daily in lively hope
of the life beyond the grave.
| 3. The shameless charges in articles
seven, eight and nine are fearfully false
in each and every particular. The let
ter referred to in Mr.. Tilton's tenth para
graph was obtained from me by impor-
tunity, and by representations that it was
necessary for him to use in his then
pending difficulties with Mr.. Bowen. l
was then sick nigh unto death, having
suffered a miscarriage only four days be-
fore. / signed whatever he required,
without knowing or understanding It's
import The paper | never have seen,
and do not know what statements 1t
contained In charge eighteen is letter
of mine, addressed to Mr.. f. Moulton,
quoted to prove that / had never desired
a separation or was advised by Mr.. or
Mrs. Beecher to leave my husband. /
reply, the letter was of Mr.. Tilton's own
concocting, which he induced me to copy
and sign as my own, an act which in my
weakness and mistaken thought to help
him have done too often during these
unhappy years.
A. The implication that the harmony
of ha NH Mr
Beecher entered it as frequent guest
and friend is a lamentable satire upon the
household where he himself years before
laid the cornerstone of free love and des
ecrated it's altars up to the time OF my
departure, SO that the atmosphere was
not only goddess, but impure for my
children, and in this effort and throe of
agony | would fain lift my daughters and
all womanhood from the insidious and
diabolical teaching of these latter days.
His frequent efforts to prove me insane,
weak minded, insignificant and of mean
presence all rank in the category of
heartlessness, selfishness and falsehood,
having it's climax in his present endeavor
to convince the world that ] am or ever
have been unable to distinguish between
an innocent or guilty love. In sum-
ming up the whole matter affirm myself
before God to be innocent of the crimes
laid upon me; that never have ! been
guilty of adultery with Henry Ward
Beecher in thought or deed, nor has he
ever offered to me an indecorous or I'M
proper proposal.
To the further charge that ] was led
away from my home by Mr.. Beecher's
friend and by the advice of a lawyer
whom Mr.. Beecher had sent to me, who
in advance of my appearing before the
committee arranged with me the ques-
tions and answers which are to constl-
tute my testimony in Mr.. Beecher's be-
half, | answer that this is again untrue,
having never seen the lawyer until intro
duced to him few moments before the
arrival of the committee by my step
father, Judge Morse; and in further re-
ply | submit the following statement of
my action before the committee and the
separation from my husband
5. The publication of Mr.. Tiltons letter
in answer to DIR. Bacon / had not known
nor suspected when on Wednesday
evening he brought home the Golden
Age, handing it to me to read. Looking
down its column 1 saw well nigh with
binding eyes that he had put into exc
cution the almost daily threat OF bis life
that he lived to crush out MIR. Beech
er; he had always been Mr.. BeecheT's su-
perior, and all that lay in his path-wife.
children or reputation, if need be- should
fall before this purpose" did not read
it. saw enough without reading. Ny
spirit rose within me as never before.
Theodore" said, "tell me what means
this quotation from Mr. Beecherg Two
years ago you came to me at mldnlghb
saying, Elizabeth, all letters and papers
concerning my difficulties with Mr. Beech-
er and Mr. Bowen are burned, destroyed