New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-08-22
MR.. MOULTONS STATEMENT.

| TX.
Mr.. Francis D. Mouton has at last given to
| tho public the statement which he refused to
give to the Committee. 1t is the product of
| long labor and consultation with lawyers, and
! it is put forth with an air of solemnity which
seems to pOrtend ruin and desOlatiOn. What
might have been its effect had it appeared
month ago we will not stop to conjecture
| but coming so late, and under circumstances
| so gravely suspicious, it will require very
cautious examination. Certainly it is very
far from justlfying the fears of Mr.. Beecher's
| friends or the exutant prOphesies
of bis enemies. The witness who was
supposed to hold the key of the situation
| leaves the posture Of affairs substantially I'M
changed. Those who believed in Mr.. Beechers
innocence before will believe in it STILL Those
who waited for further developments must be
content to wait a while longer. 1t is evident
That the assailants discharged their worst mis-
siles at the opening of the engagement. Mr.
MoultOn cites very few additional documents
of any Importance, and none that are half so
damaging on their face as the letters already
published He quotes one or two which tend
to confirm the theory that Tilton's original
charge against Mr.. Beecher was not adul-
terry, but improper solicitation. He makes it
as clear as day that Tilton's sensitive
ness on the subject of his wife's honor rose
and fell with his pecunary fortunes; began
when he lost his engagements on The hide
pendent and Brooklyn Union slept while the
$1,000 paid by Mr.. Beecher to The Golden Age
held out and became ungOvernable when the
money was all gone and Mr. Beecher Gas he
himself says) refused to furnish any more. If
the public still cherish any delusiOn as to Mrs.
Tiltons value as a witness on either side, 1T
will doubtless be dispelled by Mr.. Moulton's
citations from her contradictory letters. Ii
any further proof is wanted that Mrs. Hooker
and her choice companions eagerly
believed the scandalous story pub
lished by Mrs. Woodruff, it will be
found in the batch of family letters which
Mr. Moulton takes the amazing liberty of in
cooperating in his statement Some very
curious light is furthermore thrown upon the
business habits of Mr.. Henry c. Bowen. and
Mr.. Tilton is shown to have made already
$4,000 out of the alleged immoralities of MIR.
Beecher, getting $4,000 from that gentleman
himself and $1,000 from Mr.. Bowen. All
these things give Mr.. Moulton's statement not
only interest but Importance.
When we come to inquire however what
eridence it supplies that is pertinent to the
issue we shall soon exhaust it. Mr. MoultOn
tells the story of his connection with the case
substantially as it has been told before. Many
of the incidents are repeated almost exactly
as Mr.. Beecher described them, only with a
few half perceptible touches MoultOn gives
them much darker cOlOring. He declares
however that on the occasion of the
dictation of the famous apology MIR.
Beecher frankly confessed the crime
of adultery. He declares that Mrs. TiltOn
made to him similar confession. Mrs Til
! TOM he says, has more than once admitted
to me and to another person to my knowl-
" edge-wbOm / do not care to bring into this
conference.-the fact Of her sexual relations
with Beecher, and she has never once denied
them other than in the written papers pre-
pared for purpose, which l have already
"exlibited; but on the contrary, the
fact of such criminal intercourse being
well understood by Beecher, Tilton, and
"Mrs. Tilton to have taken place, my
"whole action in the matter was based
"upon the existence of that fact" There is
no other testimony on the main issue. We
have simply the word of Mr.. MoultOn, forti-
fled by no documents more satisfactory IMAM
those that have already been published and
discussed. We have heard great deal lately
about other letters in Mr.. Moulton's possession,
letters of passion, letters of assignaton letters
| which bore the unmstakable traces of guilt
in every line; but if he holds any such
damning evidence, he has kept it IN
his desk there is no trace of it in this huge
statement into which he empties the accumu-
lation of filth, meanness, and hypocrisy
whereof he has been the custodian. Surely,
after all this delay, all this maneuvering for
the last word, we are justified in surprising
that the accusers have done their worst. The
issue. then, is between the word of Mr..
Beecher on the one hand and the word of
Mr.. Moulton on the other. In adjusting
tie balance between them, we have
of course to take into consideration