Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1874-08-15
hull gave vent, as I understood for the first
time in public, to a full exposition of her free

love doctrines. Inc very thought tnat snOuiO
have been asked under any circumstances OIL
upon any. excuse to preside or be present al
such a meeting was inexpressibly CALLING to
me. Whatever my opinions might have been
the motive of Mr.. Tilton and Mr.. Moulton fol-
such thing, of which | did not at the time
have as clear conce ption as now have, was
| a humiliatihg one.
About tho same time found that the circle
of which Mrs. Woodruff formed part was
the centre of loathsome, scandalizing, organ.
lied class, fed and perpetuated with greedy and
unclean appetites for anything that was foul
or vile. The moment that any one, whether
| man or woman, became noted as reformei
or attained any degree of eminence among the
advocates of liberal sentiments, it seemed as il
those who claimed monopoly of reform &C.
lected such persons as the special victims Of
charges and filthy SANDER. Twas by no means
the only clergyman who was made the text
for their private gossip, while it scanned as il
! no woman OF any distinction within the land
was left out of their pool of scandal. All the
history of their past lives and even the graves
of their friends were raked over to furnish
material and pretext for their loathsome false
hoods. 1t was inexpressibly disgusting to me,
| and would not associate with these people
Yet Mr.. Tilton and Mr.. Moulton had some
strange theory concerning them in the man.
|
| made it in their judgment necessary for them
to maintain friendly relations with this group
| of human byenas.
| From this circle and from Mr. Tilton's intimate
associations with it, many rumors and suspicious
| arose among my own congregation, which led
them to press me with questions and to originate
| investigations especially into the affairs of Mr.
| lllton, from whom alone, as generally believed
| the rumors against me originated. In this was
| constantly and vehemently assured by Mr.. Moul-
| ton that they were mistaken, and yet their yea
in my defence made them impatient of my silence
| and anxious to deal in summary manner with
| Mr.. Tilon Had allowed them to do this, it was
| obvious that Mr.. Tilton would have been greatly
| enraged that all his former unjust suspicious OF
| me would have been confirmed, and that he would
| have had every motive which was necessary tc
| induce him to break up the peace between us
| and to make some such public attack upon Inc a
he has finally made.
l have no knowledge of Mr.. Tilton's friendship
for Victoria Woodruff, other than that which
| the public al ready has. That he manifested his
admiration for her publicly, that he wrote her
| biography and that he presided at her Steinway
| Hall lecture, | melton only because by this he
| aroused against himself great indignation and
| odium. The winter following, 1871 and 1872
| Mr.. 1on returned from the lecture field in des-
pair. Engagements had been Cancelled, invita-
| tons withdrawn, and he spoke of the prejudice
| and rePugnance with which he was everywhere
| met as indescribable. | uged him to make a
| prompt reputation oil those women ana thelf
doctrines. 1 told him no man could rise against
| the public confidence with such load Mr.
| Illton's vanity seldom allows him to regard him
self in the wrong or his actions faulty. He
could never be made to believe that his failure to
| rise again caused BY his partnership with
those women, and by the want of a sensible work,
| which work should make the public feel that he
had in him power for good. Instead of this he
preferred, professed to think, that was using
| my influence against him that | was allowing
/ m II, he fralu Wi rnn ly m
| the front to defend him, and that my friends
| were working against him, to which Irepled that
| unless the laws Of mind were changed not AL
| mighty God himself could lift him into favor il
| those women must be lifted with him. Neverthe-
less, ought in every way to restore peace and
concord to the family, which | made to
feel had been injured by me, and was dependent
upon my influence for it recovery.
/ The letter of Mrs. Tllton, which is here partly
| quoted is as follows:
| TUESDAY. | leave for the West Monday next.
| How glad | was to hear you your own self
Sunday morning. Theodores mind has been
| hard toward you of late and think he proposes
| an interview with you by word or note before
leaving home. If SO, be not cast down. fear
| this almost always, but the God in whom we trust
will deliver all safely. know you do and are
| willing abundantly to help him, and l also know
| your embarrassments. | anticipate my Western
| trip, where may be alone with him, exceedingly
now come with my narration to give an ac-
| count of the origin of the somewhat famous tri-
partite agreement. Shortly after the foregoing
letter was written, Mr.. Tlton returned to the city
| thoroughly discouraged with the result of his
lecturing tour. The Golden Age, which had been
established for about twelve months, had not sue
| cecdcd, and understood to be losing money.
| His pecunary obligations were pressing, and
| although his claims against Bowen for the viola
ton OF his two contracts had year previously
| been put under the exclusive control of Moulton,
| with view of settlement for $1,000, and that a
| written agreement was entered into by Bowen,
1ilton and myself of amnesty, concord and future
peace, it was agreed that the offensive article, the
publication of which had produced such an effect
upon MIR. Bowen, and secured happy settlement,
should be destroyed without seeing light. 1t was
an act of treachery peculiarly base that this ari-
| Gle was permitted TO get into hands which would
insure its publication, and that it was published.
| was assured that every vestige of it had been
destroyed, nor until comparatively recent period
| did understand how Mr.. Titon secured its pub
| LEGATION without seeming himself to be responsible
| for the deed Finally, after vainly attempting to
| obtain money, both from myself and my wife as
| the price of its suppression, the Woodhull women
published their version of the Tilton scandal in
| November OF 1872. The details given by them
| were minute, though distorted, that suspi-
con was universally directed toward Mr. Tilton
the real author of this which he so justly calls
| "a wretched and horrible scandal" though it is
| not whit more horrible than that which he has
| now fathered, and not half so wicked, because
| those abandoned women did not have personal
1
| ton has of his.
To rid himself of this incubus, Mr.. Tilton
drew up voluminous paper called q true
statement, but which was familiarity called
"Tilton's case" l had some knowledge OF
its composition, having heard much of it read
| but some documents were only referred to as
on file, and others had not yet been manufac-
| tured. Tiltons fervor for confding state
ments was one of my familiar annoyances.
Moulton used to tell me that the only way to
manage Theodore was to first work off his
periodical passion on some such document
and suppress it. This particular statement
was special plea or allotment of the preju-
dices excited by his Woodruff partnership. 1t
was muddle of garbled statements, manu-.
| featured documents and downright falsehood.
This paper know he read to many, and |
am told he read it to not less than fifty per-
sons, in which he did not pretend to charge
crminality upon his wife on the contrary,
he explicitly denied it and asserted her purity,
but charged me with improper overtures to
her. 1t was his paper which he read to DR..
Storrs and poisons with this his mind; this
leading to the attempt to prosecute Tilton in
Plymouth Church The interference of neigh
boring churches and the callinpl of the Con-