Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1874-08-22

Meanwhile Mr.. TiltOn had il,
stroyed his wife's first letter acknow
, edging the confession, and Mr.. MOu
ton claimed that / had taken mea
advantage and made a fashionable us
: Of TheodOre's request that 1 shOul
visit her, in obtaining from her
written contradiction to a dOcumcu
not in existence. He said that all tn
difficulties could be settled withou
any such paper, and that 1 ought L
give it up. He was under great ex
citement. He made no verbal threats
but he opened his overcOaG and witt
some emphatic remarks showed pis
tOl, which he afterwards took on
and laid on the bureau near which Ia
stood. 1 gave the paper to him, an,
after few minutes talk he left. D."
Was this the conduct of an limo
cent man? Would not an innOcen
man have said, ''AIr. MOultOn, ] wa
sent by Mr.. TiltOn to his wife, who
has given NE a written proof of my
innocence. That Is indispensable Il
yindicate me: and, under the circum
I stances, came fairly and honestly into
/ my possession. It Is not an act oI
| treacheTy in me to protect myself
? against -act-Of-a- -lunatic or in.
I triguer, for TiitOn must be the one OF
I the other, and sol shall keep this pa
per, if you please" Mr.. Beecher said
nothing of the kind. He surrenders
to TiltOn's accomplice a statement OF
Mrs. TiltOn that she had been coer-
ced to be his accuser. Was he afraid
of the pistol? Did he think Moulton
would shoot him if he refused? II
he was afraid it shows him to have
been at once a pusillanimOus coward
and an absurd fool, for MOUltOn is a
man of family and fortune, who cOuld
have no possible cue for violence of
any sort, and who could not have Of
fered any violence except at the cost
of certain punishment. Mr.. Beecher
obviously wishes us to infer the ap-
plicatiOn of violence by his reference
to the pistol. But does this inter
rupt his confidence in MOulton:-
Not in the least. On the contrary,
the exhibition of the pistol produces
the most soothing and even perma-
nent results. Two or three days later
he and his dear friend Frank have
another interview, in which MoultOn
is allowed to take down words Of
frenzy and cOntrition, to which Bee
cher puts his name. Was this the
act of an innocent man laboring under
a morbid condition Of body and mind?
Moulton had shown himself either q
black-mailer, in league with Tilton,
or a rufiian moved to procure
the pastors ruin by some dia-
bolical influence. He had GER
tainly not shown himself a friend
to Beecher, unless we assume Beech
er's guilt. Yet Beecher cringes to
him, does his will, continues to cher
ish him, to rely on him, and, up to
two weeks ago, to call him ''my dear
Frank" What are we to think of a
man, famous, rich and powerful, who
would submit to such all Infamous
matchmaking game as is ascribed
Jointly TO Iilton and MoultOn? What
are we to think of a man, shrewd,
worldly-wise and quick-witted, who
could be so deceived as Beecher pro-
fesses to have been deceived by MOul-
ton, TO say nothing of his repeated
betrayals by Tilton? Conceding a
motive on TiltOn's part, what was
Moultcn's motive? MOulton is rich
The head of a well-known household.
The husband of a lady distinguished
in society. The father of a family.
A stOckholder and pewholder in
Beecher's church. Not the enemy
but the friend of the great pastor
Why should he become the manager
of deviish scheme to ruin a pure,
and noble, and gifted christian min
lister? Why should he undertake.
with guns, pistols, and l know not
what. with witchcraft of his wit,
with truitorOus words and gifts, to
put through a filthy, matchmaking
Job for lewd and inspired idiot, such
as Beecher claims TiltOn to be? And,
being the creature of such hellish
purpose and the master of such de-
vices, how came he to effect such
blindness and such fear, such conf
dence and such affection, during so
long a period, in the ready, the astute,
the prosperous, the popular, the self
confident Henry Ward Beecher?-
Come, the cue, the motive for all this
in an easy, gOod-natured, wealthy
man of business like Frank MoultOn!
There's the rub for Mr.. Beecher. 1t
is the hitch in his psychology. 1t is
the fly in his ointment, the bee in his
in his Cruel, the one fatal piece of
timber which tumbles his whole fab
ric to the gronnd.
But we have besides forty columns
of love-letters, running through years
of domestic felicity, the whole at vari-
ance with Mrs. TiltOn's imprOvised
reasons for leaving her husband and
going over to the camp OF the enemy.
There is the Catherine Gaunt letter,
which has been construed into a con
fession that the writer had erred
merely in affection for her husband
and not in actual criminality with
Beecher-a strained construction
and there is the letter in which Mrs.
Tilton conjures her husband not to
disclose her ''sin" to her father, lest
it should bow down his head to the
grave with shame ana sorrow. The
( correspondence IN erteHsO fully cor
rOborates Tilton and cOntradicts his
wife. To be sure, we must make al
/ lowance for a good deal of affectatiOn
and hyperbole in the conuubial effu-
siOns of a most subhmated, not to say
I most STACEY, pair of sentimental
/ babes in the wood. But, diScOunting
/ this, enough is left to refute the after
| thought of brutality and neglect put
forward by the woman, who, accord
/ ing to Beecher, confessed and recdnt-
/ ed the most disgraceful and ruinOus
I of all conceivable falsehOods, and who,
according to her own exhibit, but
| lately held the husband she has abau-
doned as the idol of her soul.
/ The showing against Mrs. Tilton Is
rough. Whether we Judge her by
/ Beecher's narrative, or TiltOn's mar
rative, or her own tale, which Is con-
fused and tangled, we shall find her
/ equally tickle, tiighty and affected
| She seems one Of those half-headed
little fools. whom we now and then
! meet in the literary and religious
world, with an overplus of sentiment
and taste for celebrities, too sweet
/ to live, too ridiculous to die, existing
i'll semi-poetic state in the bogs OF
dreamland. Such women are usually
/ the victims of an uucOnQuerablev van
. ity. Their wealth of affection Is
/ bOundleSs. They are, in their kind,
more sfillful IN hattering the vanity
of male simplet0ns than professional
adventuresses like Becky Sharpe, be-
cause they purr and lie IN a languish-
. thSr ulcAMdN etItLh oA nat tul e. anu are
not without the attractions of flesh
and blood withal. Well, Mrs. Tilton
seems of this cut; and, if her relations
with Beecher did not ante-date her
marriage with Tilton, she has earned
for herself the distinction of having
/ succeeded in captivating aud destroy
ing very much stronger man than
usually falls under the influence OF
such actresses. An actress she is,
undoubtedly. The bedroom scene,
with its rigid, white-robed, speech
less figure, that reminded the great
/ preacher of the statues he had seen in
Europe. indicates considerable dra
matte talent But, tor all her subIim-