Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-08-20

extract rom Mr.. Bowen 5000, the amount OF the
that sum In hand, Mr.. Tilton signed an agreement
OF peace and concord, not drawn by me, but
accepted by me a. sincere. The Golden Age had
been started. He had the capital to carry it on
for awhile. He was sure that he was to
head great social revolution With returns
ing prosperity be had apparently no
gri.'s which could not be covered by his sigma
that covenant made by him before signing ii, and
represented TO ME necessary merely to relieve
him from the imputation of having originated and
circulated certain old and shameless ISLANDERS
leave him free for future operations upon me and
against ME. So long as he was, or thought he
was, on the road to new success, his
knew how to make it; his assumption
OF superiority and magnanmty and his
patronizing manner were tribes at which !
greater humility since l still retained the pro-
found impression made upon me, as explained
IN the following narrative, that had been
cause eau OF overwhelming disaster TO MN MN
lie standing and household happiness was
a. reparaiion justly required of me, and
the only one which l could make; but, with
peculiar genius for plumbers, he fell, almost at
every step, into new complications and Difficult
ties, and in every such instance il was his
policy to bring coercion to bear upon my
honor my conscience and my affections for the
purpose of procuring his extrication at my
expense. Theodore Tilton knew me we'll He
has said sgain and again to his friends that If
they wished to gain any influence over me they
must work upon the sympathetic side of my ma
ture. To this he has addressed himself steadily
for fonf years, using AZ a lever without scruple
my attachment to my friends, to my family, to
his own household. and even my old affection Tor
himself. Not blind to his faults, but resolved to
look on him as favorably and hopefully posi-
bic, and ignorant of his deeper malice, labored
earnestly, even desperately, for his salvation.
For four years have been trying to feed the in
satiabe egotsm, TO make the man AZ great as he
conceived himself to be. to restore to prosperity
and public confidence one who, in the midst OF
my efforts in his behalf patronized disreputabe
people and doctrines refused when l besought
him TO separate himself from them, and ascribed
to my agency the increasing ruin which he was
persstently bringing upon himself, and which l
was doing my utmost to avert, 1t was hard to do
anything for such man. l might as well have
tried to fill sieve with water. In the latter
stages Of the history he actually melted and ere
ated difficulties, apparently for no other purpose
than to drive me 70 fresh eXertions. l refused to
indorse his wild views and associates. The best
i could do was to speak well of him, mention
those good qualities and abilities which ! still
believe him to possess in his higher moods, and
keeping silence concerning the evil things which
was assured and believed had been greatly ex-
aggeratod by public report. / could not think
him so bad as my friends did l trusted to the
germs of good which thought still lived in him
to Mr.. Moulton's power over him, and the power
Of my persistent self-sacriice.
Mr.. Moulton came to me first a schoolmate
and friend of Mr. Tilton, determined to rcins tate
him, always suspected, without regard TO my
interests but, on further acquaintance with me,
undertook and promised to serve his friend with
out doing wrong to me. He said he saw clearly
how this was to be done so as to restore peace
and harmony to Mr.. Tilton's home and bring to a
happy end all understandings MANY things
which he counseled absolutely refused. but
never doubted his professed friendship for me
after the friendship had grown up between us,
and whatever he wished me to do did, unless it
seemed to me wrong. My confidence in him was
the only element that seemed secure in this con-
fusion of tormenting perplexities. To him l
wrote freely in this troublous time, while l felt
that secret Vaccinations were going on around
me, and echoes of the vilest ISLANDERS concerning
me were heard in unexpected quarters. When
some of my near relations were set against me,
and the tattle Of crowd of malicious
women hostile to me on other grounds
borne to my ears; when had lost the last rem
nant Of faith in Theodore, or hope for him; when
heard with unspeakable remorse that every
thing had done TO stay his destruction had made
matters worse and worse, and that my attempt to
keep him from public trial involving such a
flow Of scandal as has now been let loose had
been used by him to bring up new troubles; that
his unhappy wife WAS, under his dictation, signing
papers and recantations, and know not what
that in short everything was breaking up and the
destruction from which had sought to save the
family was likely to be cmpted on other families,
the church, the community, with infinite horrors
of woe for me; that my own innocence was
buried under heaps and heaps of rubbish, and no.
body but my professed friend, if even he. could
save us-to his assurances that he could still do
so gave at least SO much faith AS to maintain
under these terrible trials the silence which he
enjoined; not until Mr.. Tilton, having attempt
ed through Frank Carpenter to raise money from
my friends, openly assailed me in letter to DR..
Bacon, did break that silence save by the sim
pie denial of the slanderous rumors against me n
year before.
On the appearance of the first open at
tack from Mr.. Tilton l Immediately, without
consulting Mr.. Monlton, called for thorough
investigation with u committee of my church. l
am not responsible for the delay Of the publicity
or details of that investigation. All the harm
which have so long dreaded, and have so earn
estly striven To avoid, has come to pass. could
not further prevent 1t without a full surrender of
honor and truth. The time has arrived when
can freely speak IN vindcation of myself.
labor under great disadvantages in making Il
statement My memory of states of mind il clear
and tenacious, better than my memory of dates
and details during four troubled years, in all of
which have been sin gularly burdened with pub
lie labor, having established and conducted the
Christian Union delivered courses of lectures,
preaching before the Theological Seminary of
Yale College, written the Life of Christ" de-
livered each winter lyceum lectures in all the
North and West-all these duties, with the care
of great church and its outlying schools and
chapeis, and the miscellaneous business which
falls upon a clergyman more than upon any
other public man, have kept in regard
and now, with the necessity of explain
ing actions and letters resulting from complex in
nucnces apparent at the time, find myself in
position where know my innocence without be
ing able to prove il with detailed explanations.
am one upon whom trouble works inwardly, max
ing me ontward;y silent, but reverberating in the
chambers of my soul, and when at length do
speak ii Is pent-up flood, and pours without
measure or moderation. inherit tendency to
sadness, the remains in me of positive hypochon-
dria i'll my father and grandfather, and. i'll certain
moods of reaction. the world becomes black, and
see very dcspairingly. If were IN such mood
to speak ~ feel should give false colors and
exaggerated proportions to everything. This
manifestation is in such contrast TO the hopeful
and courage which experienced in ordinary
times that none but those intimate with me
would suspect one so full Of overlooking spirit
and eager gladsomeness to have within him care
or gloom Some of my letters to Mr.. Moulton re-
fleet this morbid feeling He understood, and NJ
times earnestly reprovcd me for INDUCING it,
With this preliminary review | proceed to my