Year: 1874

ness in the delivery of your original note


summoning me to your committee, which


| received only four hours before | was


to appear and yet the summons bore date


of the day previous. But let these trihes


pass. Your note just received surprised


me by its contents, for You seem to have
forgotten that on the last day of my ap-
pearance before your committee carried
to your meeting not only all the documents


which | quoted in my sworn statement,


save those in Moultons S possession, but


many more besides. making double hand


tul of interesting and important papers


vital to my case and destructive to yours


All these papers | purposed to lay before


you, but no sooner had | begun to read


them aloud in your presence than one of


your attorneys stopped HE in reading and


proposed that should save some time by
referring these papers to one Of your mem


bers, Hon, John Winslow. | acauiesced
in this suggestion and retired from your


committee with the expectation of speedy
conference with Mr.. Wlnslow, Perhaps
it was my proper duty to have called on


Mr.. Winslow. but as the committee had


previously set the example of calling in a


body on one OF the other parties to this
controversy, took 1t for granted thai MIR.
Winslow would repeat this precedent hy
doing me the honor to call at my house, at
which he would have been welcome
guest. But while waiting for his coming
| was called upon instead by policeman, |
who arrested me and carried me ut thirty |
minutes notice before Justice Riley police
court t. answer to a charge OF libeling Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher, against whom had
spoken no libel, but the truth. Up t.
the time of this arrest ! had employed no
lawyer, not needing any, but on finding
myself betpre police court and not uu-
derstanding the motive of my arrest nor
the author requested my friend, Judge
5. ID. Morris, to answer for me in the pro-
ceeding, in which knew not how to an
swer properly for myself Twice have |
been before this unexpected tribunal and
may be called before it third time on
W ednesday next. Meanwhile my counsel
to whom have Just shown your note in
structs me to lay no documents, papers, or
my remaining testimony before your com
inttee, nor to hold any further communi
cation with you in any form. except to send
you the present and final letter, containing
my reasons for this step. These reasons
are the following:


First You are a committee of Mr..
Beechers friends, appointed by himself,
and expected TO act in his behalf, assisted
by attorneys employed exclusively for his
holding secret sessions inacces-
slble to the public, having no power to
compel witnesses, giving no opportunity ,
for the opposite side to cross examine such
a, voluntarily appear, publishing or sup
pressing their testimony as you see fit and
so far as my own experience goes, asking
me no questions save such as were irrele-
want to the case, and emitting to publish in
your imperfect and unjust report of my I
testimony all that was most pertinent to
my own side of the controversy. a


Second. The daily papers of Brooklyn and c
New York have been artfuly, day by day, a
been filled with crumbs of evidence against ,
my own character, as if not Mr.. Beecher,
but l alone was the man on trial ; and
though | have little right to hold your COM =,
mittee responsible for this delay and mis- :
which may come through .
he malice of others yet the result is the :
same to me as if you had deliberately de- .
signed to do so, and that result is this,
mmely, | expect no justice either from
your tribunal, since you cannot compel wit.
lesses to testify, nor your reporters, since N
hey do not give impartial reports p


Third. | cannot resist the conviction, a
hough | mean no offence in expressing it, N
hat your committee has come at last to be
Is little satisfactory to the public as to my "a
self, and that your verdict, if you render u
t. could not possibly be based on the full a
acts, since you have no power to compel
witnesses nor to verify their testimony by
oath, nor to sit it by cross examination. T
Cor these reasons, which ought to have :,
oeen seen by me earlier, have at last in
my counsel to proceed at once at
MS discretion to carry my case from your
Jurisdiction to court of law, and in view N
# this instruction from me he has in turn
me to hold no further commun-
ion with your committee except through
his letter of courtesy, in which | have 10
id you farewell, doing which allow me to
ldd that the respect which am unable to
entertain for your committee as a tribunal


cannot help expressing for you each and
III as individuals. Truly yours


THEODORE TILToN.