Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-08-21

y ence, and that he would 20 right on that
IS very night and secure this thing He did.
without moment 5 delay. start and 90 to
: Washington, and he secured, through
: Samuel WilkesOn. from Simon Cameron,
: then Secretary of War, the appointment of
f Henry as second Lieutenant in the Fourth
4 Artillery service. have felt ever since
| that IN the doing of that thing he did the
Y most royal service. | have felt it exquisite
| lly; and there has not been a time when
have done anything that hurt Tilton that
, that thing has not come back To me; and
| when it seemed as though | had in an hour
OF his need and trouble stepped aside. and
even helped TO push him down / felt it yery
acutely.
On letter occurred the words.
Nv hen saw You last did not expect ever
70 see you again or he alive many days
What was in YOUR mind when You wrote
them? \. Just wha, have stated in my
statement already.
Q.-Nothing else \. W. | know |
frequently said, Il wish was dead" and
Theodore Tilton came in and said he wished
he was dead, and Mr.. Moulton was fire.
quently in q state in which he wished he
was dead and Mrs MOulton said. II am
living among friends every one of whom
wishes he was dead. or something like
that, do not know but it was smarter than
Thar. but she put it IN Il way that was very
ludlcrons, every one Of ~ used to be echo
M that expression; were vexed and
plagued together. ami | used the familiar
phrase Il wish | was dead -
Q.-Ihe outside gossip j. that You re-
ierred IN that line to contemplated suicide
Nj Beecher How d. You propose To cure
the gossip?
Mr.. Win-low-l eannot say hut want
to know II ANYTHING of thar kind was in
| your mind. \. it was not; my general
| purpose in the matter OF this whole thing
was this-and kept 1t as the mottu Of nv
/ liic-by patient continuance in we'll doing t.
put to shame those who falsely accuse me
l | meant 10 put down aud preach down this
| trouble. of course. IN my dismal moods,
felt a though she earth had come to au
end Now IN interpreting these special
letters, everybody Is Irrc-l-tih,y tempted
t. suppose that everything SAID was said
narrowly IN regard ~ their text. instead of
considering the iorcgonc state Of my mind;
whereas my uttcranceS were largely to be
interpreted ~ the past as well a. by the
present or the future. ! cannot interpret
them precisely a. | can note of hand or a
check. \ man that Is p,etical, Il man thar
l. 6itentlmes cxtravazant a man that i
subject to moods such n make me what |
am. cannot narrowly measure hiS words.
And yet, from the writing uf over four
year~. in every conceivable condition. in
this large correspondence. proceeding from
a mind speaking in hyperbOlical moods.
and in all manner OF states. about every
body and everything. out OF this mass they
have got only these fen e4uIvOcal things
Gle had cOndDncI ''his wiie'S fault -
W hat dat You mean bY this \ CoudJne
ia- a legal meaning aui "a general meaning.
but the general meaning OF c1nd med Is TO
pass over, u make peace, u overlook and
! Use the word a. literary man would use
1t, and not Is a LAWYER. Il used it in
legal phrase the worI would have been
Offence. not "fault"
Q-ln using the word ''uult. ." do you rr-
fer TO some particular art ni Mr.. Hl ton?
\. ! refer 90 the complaints he made in
general in respect - her, You know per-
ectiy well what was the Impression con
ycyei - me from the beginning t. the end
and thlt WIS thar hal stolen into his
house and that had taken alvanta.e of
the simplicity Of his VIE 20 steal her aiec-
ti1n u myself and away from him
Q.-AEJ 10 You mean u say you had
that in Your mind when yol used the word
fault \. ! suppose did.
O. ou Siy in the same letter that he
had enforced upon you most earnestly and
~0lemulV not % hetrav his w.fe''-in what
y
Guilty into which hi household have been
cast. Consider how it Is appeal To every
sensitive man and cultivated nature in the
world If any greater evil can betal than
to have woman. % wife and a
mother made the subject %; even investiga-
ton a II respects her moral character. For
NJ greater harm can hsiai a woman than TO
be talked about from house 70 house with
discussions a. t. the grade of offence, and
the probable nature OF the offence and the
cause OF the offence and everything about it,
Next u stabDing Il woman dead l. 10 talk
about her irtuc and IL the public suppose
that in order To interpret those letters I
must refer to "a vulgar. physical, gross in
dignity. then they are living on a plane
where d. not live. lou must remember
that wa~ aware that in addition to the
trouble involving my name, Mr.. TltJn haG
also. in ttS of jealousy. accused his wife OF
criminal intercourse with several gentlemen
of whom wa~ not one. and had asserted in
the presence 0t witnesses that all her chill
drcu. except the first. were the children of
those gentlemen respectively. In his decent
moods he was very anxious 10 have such ac-
cu>ition~ unknown TO the world. the mere
rumor of them would cast an ineiaceabie
blight upon his children Nothing would
have induced me To make this explanation
but that Mr.. illton has deliberately chosen
To- east blight of precisely the same kind
upon those very children b. his Subseq uent
course. And all that i lett to me Is the
power to speak of this aoOminabe accusa-
tion with the Scurn which such a horrible
ill~chooi deserves.
Q.-Iou can refer 10 some points which
have already been considered for moment:
- have Il strange feeling upon me, that
am spending my last Sunday and preach
ing my last sermon DO You refer to the
same condition of health and mind that you
have described? \. | refer to the TACT
simply that that was my state of mind
during this great trouble. although it you
were to collect all the language have used
at various times, it might produce an im-
preston that | had wallOwed in sea of un-
uaralleei distress. have had stormy day.
and have suffered more from this than prob
a bly, all other causes IN my life put to-
gc;her Yet, taking the four years together.
have had more religious peace and more
profound insight into the suiferings Of men
since have become acquainted with trouble
and despair | have bad experience IN
the higher regions of Christian life that -
worth all the sorrow and suffering that
have had to 20 through 10 get to it.
Q.-llaS MOultOn any secret Oi Yours IN
paper, IN document or in knowledge of any
act of yours that you would not have see
the light thi- hour T. Not that | am
aware of.
Q-llayc you any doubt? Al have
none.
Q-Do ,ou now call on him to produce
all he has and tell all he knows? \. do.
by Mr. Cleyeland-Q. Have you reason
in the light of recent disclosures to doubt
his fidelity during those four years? a.
The impression made by him during the
four years Of friendship and fidelity was 81
strong that my present surprise and indig
nation do not seem to rub 1t out; | am IN
that kind OF divided Consciousness that |
was in, in respect to Elizabeth IiltOn that
she was 4 saint and chief of sinners, and
Mr. Moulton'S hold upon my confidence was
80 great that all that has como now afeets
me as dream.
BY Mr.. Win>low-Q.-ln your letter Of
February ). 1872, you speak of the posi-
bility OF q runOuS defence of you breaking
out; how could there be any ruinOus de-
fence OF You? \. \ defence Of me conduct
cd by ignorant people, full of church zeal
and personal partisan feeling, knowing
nothing of the facts and compelling this
whole avalanche of mud to descend upon
the community. ight have been ruinous;
/ think now a. then felt.
Q.-lt would be at least injuriOus3 A.
Where you would say injurious, ! would
say runous.
Q.-Iou speak OF remorse. fear and de-
SPAR? \. | suppose felt them all wheth-
or | was justified in 80 feeling Is question,
when ! lived in Indianapolis there
was an old lawyer there named
Calvin Fletcher, New England man, of
large brain, who stood at the head of the
bar he was Methodist Christian man ; he
took a peculiar fancy to me. and he used to
come and see me often when | was young
minister, and would see him great deal.
lie would make many admirable sugges-
tions one of which was that he never ad-
mitted anybody was 70 blame except the
party who uttered the complaint. Says he,
| hold mySel t responsible ior having
l. ri.rLt h nj Il tLc,r d.