The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-09-03

clearly proves in his cross-examinati0n whe
he states that the day after the apology was pre-
cured, when he met M Beecher 1t M. Aoulton'
room, he Qcecher) burst out in an expressio
of great sorrow to me and said he hoped the con
munication which he had sent me by Mr. Mou
ton was satisfactory to me. He then and thcr
told Mr. Moulton he had done wrong, hut not =
much as some Others had-referring TO his wife
who had made statements to Mr.. Bowen tina
ought TO be nnmadc-and he there volunteered t
| write a letter to Mr. Bowen correcting the fact
| which he had misstatcd." Here, say tn
committee, is clear light as to what tn
apology does not refer to. It disposes of tn
! apology forever as paper referring to adultery
II refers TO nothing of the kind. Ii the wron
done to which Mr. Bcechcr refers was adultery
how could these words be used in reference to it
:. lie had done wrong, not 50 much as some 9th
ers!'' Those words and the apology are suscepti
bic Of but constructon--thcy refer, as MI
| Beecher says to his deep regret for statement
which he and his wife had, under certain infor
nation. few days before made to Mr. Bower
which led him TO execute Il purpose already enter
| tanned of removing Tilton from the Brooklyn
| tnioa and the Iadtgendent II appears als'
! that the next day Mr.. Beecher did write a lette
| to Mr.. Bowen, which Tilton says he volunteered
to write, and which is referred to in Tiltons bust
| ness troubles with Bowen. Next consider Moul
! tons course with view Of still further testin.
what in his mlud, well as in Tilton's, as I.
the character of the offensc. If Moulton under
| stood the charge to be adultery. then he is enti
| tied to the credit of invention or discovery tha
this crime could be the subject Of an Apology ant
a ready forgiveness Or conciliaton on the part o
/ the offender and the injured husband Tha
Moulton did not believe or understand that tn,
| ohense was adultery il shown by the same class
OF evidence that has been stated in reference Il
| Tilton
| In reply to Mr. Bcechers letter of June l. 1873
| in which he says his mind was clear, and that h,
| should write for the public statement tha
/ would bear the light of the judgment day. Mr.
Moulton first wrote these words: Ii the truth
must be spoken, let it be. know you can stant
| if the whole ease was published tomorrow.
| Apparently fearing this might rather tend to de
terminc Mr.. Beecher to publish the whole case
| than otherwise. he crossed out these and other
| lines with pencil and commenced anew. In
this new effort on the same paper these words
| occur: :" You can stand if the whole case were
| published tomorrow.
| The committee say Moulton right in this
statement, and that the pity is that MIR. Beecher
did not publish such statement at once.
The committee here state their conclusion that
in view of the facts and circumstances before
| them, the original charge of impure advances
cusers and adultery had been substituted as III
aftcrthought. The committee brand this per-
formancc as fraud that ought to end all con-
troversy as TO the innocence of Mr.. Beccher.
Mr. Bcecher believed that for reasons of malice
and revenge Mr.. Tilton was preparing to make Il
deadly assault upon him. and it was his supreme
duty TO prevent ii by all possible honorable
>means. Moulton profcssed to deprecate Tilton $
purpose, and declared if Mr.. Beecher
would trust him he could and would prevent it, and
so now began series of letters and steps. under
lHc ulTtttlOH anu duNlCc OF IHt ulpIOmatlc ana
mutual friend, having for their object, as Mr..
Dcechcr believed, the suppression OF the scandal
and the restoration i'll some measure. il practi-
cable, OF Tilton to IA position OF employment.
Speaking of Mr.. Beecher's letters the commit
tee say much has been said. and not without
some justice. OF their extraordinary words and
tenor, but in interpreting the letters it must be
remembered that Mr. Beccher, under the excite
meni Of deep feeling, uses strong words and emo
tional expressions. and that, in this trouble,
he was dealing with Mr.. 1'ilton, who had shown
- IL a
mcrcenary. In the light of these facts there is
not a letter from Mr.. Bcccher nor an act of his.
however i'll JUDGED, through these four years of
anxiety and grief that cannot be accounted for
upon the plain theory that he fighting to
suppress an outrageous scandal, which consisted
of a false accusation against him. made by rep
utable woman: and further, that he was endeav-
orlDg 10 help 4 man whom he felt he had unduly
injured i'll business matters upon representations
which he was made to believe, chiefly by Moul-
ton. were not well founded
The committee here alluded to the fact that
Mrs. Tilton, as her domestic troubles came on be-
gan to look more than ever To her pastor for SYM
pathy and advice, and consider il not unlikely
that her feelings toward Mr.. Beechcr became SO
strong rs To diminish the proper influence that
belongs to every good husband.
The committee express regret at two errors into
which II is apparent Mr. Bcecher fell. They feel
that in his threatened troubles the pastor should
have sought counsel from Christian men of his
own brotherhood rather than rely upon the eoull-
sci Of a man Of whom Ne knew little and
u.
sadly msjudged. They also think that
in view Of the surrounding circumstances, MIR.
Bccchcr erred in not guarding so closely his rcla-
tons with the family Of MIR Tsnon that there
could be no possibility for fear in his own mind
even OF an undue affection by Mrs. Tilton for him
through any needless friendship or agency of his.
The committee alludc to Mr.. Tilton's statement
before them that his home was one of unusual
harmony. and say that on his cross-cXanlination
il clearly appears that it was anything but II
happy or harmonious home. They then cite Mrs,
Ift,n7S INF and
count of the domestic misery in the Tilton family
il corroboratcd by the testimony of several wit
ncsscs, and very fully by Miss Elizabeth a. Tur-
ncr. who is now twcnty-thrcc wears of age and
was an inmate of the family eight years.
The committee then ask: VIII innocent men,
and especially clergymcn, fight us for their lives
10 suppress an Injurious scandal. even though it
be born of eXtortion, falschood and revenge?
This question had been too often answered by
history in the affirmative. Ii was easy to wonder
that Mr.. Bcccher should trust such men rs Til
ton and Moulton, now that their characters arc
known, and the committee felt like visiting the
sevcrest censnrc upon Mr.. Bcccher for impcring
the precious interests coniidcd to hun through the
confidence rcposed III them.
The charge made by the accuser is easily pre-
fcrrcd and not easily disprovcd. Its not enough
for the accuser TO say: Il make this charge; now
let it be disprovtd or be taken as confessed" All
tribunals have required, in determining the truth
or faisity of such charges. such proof Of facts and
circumstances as point Enthusiastically to
the guilt of the accused as are not con
sistent with any theory Of innocence The
committee then cite sGrccnlcaf on Evi
dence" to substantiate the proposition and
then go on to say that there is nothing whatever
disclosed by the evidence that proves that the ac
cused parties have ever been found together un-
der suspicious circumstances such as III some
unusual house or place, or consulting together Ill
some secret way, to avoid exposure and observa-
ton. There was no proof of clandcstine CORE
spondence. Mr.. Beecher's wife testified that she
opened, arranged and read all letters that came
to her husband, except those that came to the
christian Union Office and the church, and those
were opened by Others. and hence conclude that
the usual facts and circumstances indicative Of
wrong-doing are utterly wanting in this case. The
case then rests upon mere words and assertions
supported by no circumstances whatever that are
the usual indications Of adultery.
Tilton saws he knows the fact from his wife =
confession and from her subsequent confession to
Moulton and her mother. But Mrs. Tilton says
this confession was eXtorted from her by an i'm
perious, malicious husband. and by fraudulent
means, the pretcnse being that she must say
something in order to cxtricate him from his
business perplexitcs. Shcswas made to believe
that there was some conspiracy Matching against
her husband The fact that she withdrew the
charge when Mr.. Bcccher first confronted her. on
the evening Of Dec. 30, together with the further
fact that she has ever since denied the truth OF
the charge when free from the dominating in
tluence Of her husband, was referred to and
specially commented upon by the committee.
The source OF the scandal the alleged words
of Mrs. 1flton, which she explains in such a man
ner as to deprive the allegation of all force 4nd
credit.
Then comes Mr.. Bcecher who solemnly declares
that whatever words by whatever means. had been
drawn from Mrs. Tlton by her husband, he is
innocent Of any and all impropriety toward her.
whether relating to improper advances or adultery
The committee did not propose to defend the
course of Mrs. Tilton. On any theory OF human
responsibility 1t was indcfensible The testimony
showed that, under the influence Of a designing
hnsband,w when III condition Of mental alteration,
she had at least passively made charges OF inn
proper advances by Mr.. Beecher. but when her
attention had been called to She great wrong she
had done she quickly retracted them in sorrow
and pcnitence. Eminent physicians appearing
before the committee had testified that such con-
duct on the part of Mrs. Tilton. being subjected
to the influence referred 10, was not inconsistent
with an honest mind. As illustrative of this
latter proposition the committee refer to the
letter published by Mr.. Moulton, purporting to
have been written by Mrs. Tilton, in which she
says she is q perfect coward in Tiltons presence,
truth and also to a subsequent letter
in which she says: with all my woman's
soul l am innocent of the crime OF i'm
the statement also, which was prepared under
the direction of Mr.. Tilton and Mr.. Carpenter,
and taken to DR.. Storrs in 1872, Mrs. Titon shows
that she was made to believe that a conspiracy
had been formed against her husband. Subse-
quently, in letter, she Is found asking the ior
giveness of Mr. Beecher for the sutferings she had
caused him. The committee had heard much
from Tilton Of confessions made by his wife to
him. but they were obliged to receive his state
ments on this point without confederation. On
one occasion, according to the testimony OF Miss
Turner, she told her husband that it was . ne
that she had confessed to him her intimacy with
Mr.. Beecher. This witness was the same person
who, it was said by Tilton and Moulton, was sent
to boarding-school to get rid Of her, because
she had heard Tilton make charges against her.
Miss Turner and Mrs. Tilton both agree in saying
that it was Tilton's plan to have her go
away, because she had stated to her
friends that Tilton had twice attempted
intimate relations with her during the absence