Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1874-09-18

No
thought made up for the purpose Of explanation
merely. Beecher always treated this letter as his
own in all the after conversations upon inc SUD
iect with Mr.. Samuel Wilkeson, Mr.. Beecher's
friend"
In a subsequent conversation with Mr.. Moulton
Mr. Beecher had alluded to the document In
question ar his (Bcecher's) letter to Mr.. Tilton,
and asked Mr. NJ: Cant we hit upon some plan
to break the force Of my letter to Tiltoni y etc.
Mr. Mouton again brings forward his proofs
that Mr.. Beecher and Mrs Tilton renewed their
intimacy after the confession was made and after
both had given assurance to Titon that they
would not meet except through him. After again
printing Mrs. Tilton's note to Mr.. Beecher, con-
Guiding with the expression or course, should
like, TO share with you my 10y Mr. Moulton
produces another letter from Mr. Beecher to Mrs.
Titon, which is as follows:
The blessing of God rest upon you. Every
spark of light and warmth In your own house
will be a star and sun in my dwelling. Your
note broke like spring (sic) upon winter, and
gave me an inward rebound toward life. No one
can ever know, none but God, through what
drearv ,viidprness | have wandered There was
Mount Sinai; there was the barren waste, and
there was the alienation of hope and despair
that marked the pilgrimage Of old. II only 1t
might lead to the promised land Or, like Moses,
shall die on the borderl Your hope and courage
are alike amazing. Could God inspire you to re-
store and rebuild at home, and, while doing
it, to cheer and sustain outside of it another who
sorely needs help in heart and spirit, IL will prove
life so noble as few are able to live, and IN an
other world the emancipated soul may utter
thanks. If IL would be Of comfort to you now
and then to send me a letter of true inwardness
(sic), the outcome of your inner life, IL would be
safe, for am now at home here with my sister,
and IL is permitted so you (sic) and will be eX-
ceeding refreshment to me, for your hcart-experi-
ences are often like bread from Heaven to the
hungry God has enriched your moral nature
may not Others partakey
This saws Mr.. Mouton. is in Beecher $
handwriting, but without direction or signature,
but the note inclosed in pencil tells us the drec
ton Of it, as the words Your note broke like
spring upon winter tell also to what note II was
in reply. because that quotes the words of Mrs.
AZ him n
her joy she being all right now. The inclosurc
is on a slip of paper marked o. but which I do
not produce here, reserving it for presentation
before another tribunal. Was there ever plain
er case of renewal of intimacy, to say the least,
than thisl Mark, also, amid the prayers to God
contained in the longer note, Beecher's sugges-
ton that Elizabeth can write him now with safe
ty, because he is living at home with his sister,
1. e., his wife is away"
legged confessions to him of his adultery with Mrs.
Tilton. He says =" 1t has been said that, being
a man of the world, drew inferences from his
(Beecher's) pure and unguarded expressions
which they did not authorize, and therefore as
to these letters have left inferences TO he drawn
by those who read them in light which
dates and facts have now thrown upon them.
But to answer this criticism in another
direction, and to show the impossibility
that I could be mistaken, not seek
ing to shelter myself under any supposed
misunderstanding. but taking all the burden of
yeracity between Beecher, Titon and myself, 4
now proceed to give such portions as are neces-
sary of some few Of the Conversations in which
Beecher made confession OF adultery have be-
fore stated that the first confession was made on
the night / went for the 'retraction' of Mrs. Til
ton; that | there told him: Mr.. Beecher,
you have had criminal intercourse with
Mrs Tiltoni rr. and You have done great
further in my published statement that he con
fessed and denied not, but confessed, as he did
not deny this charge explicitly made by me.
Whatever differences have made from his words
at other times, he certainly could not have mis-
taken mine at this time. When speaking Of the
relations of man and woman, criminal inter
course has but one legal or literal meaning, even
to clergymen. 1t, however, seems necessary
that should 90 still further. which do, and |
say that on that evening he confessed to me his
relations with Mrs. Tilton in language so vivid
that could not possibly mistake or forget it,.
He said: My acts of intercourse with that wom-
an were as natural and sincere in the impress
sion of my love for her a. the words of endear-
ment which addressed to her. There seemed TO
be nothing in what we did together that could
for each other, and l think God will not blame
me for my acts with her | know that at present
it would be utterly impossible for ME TO justify
Mr. Moulton then calls attention to the asser-
tiOn made in his former statement that in the
presence of himself and another witness, whom
he still feels reluctant to bring forward lof
course, not Mr.. Tilton), both Mrs. Tilton and Mr..
Beecher admitted, in language not to be mis-
taken, the truth of the charges against them, and
asked advice as to the course to be taken by
them.
With regard to the question Of blackmail, Mr..
the procedure by which money was OBJ
tained for Mr.. Beecher an extOrtiOn.
He (Mouton) himself, his business partners
and others we're subscribing money toward sus-
tanning the GOtdeR Age, and he had no thought
that Beecher doing anything other and
different from what the rest were doing, except
that he (Beecher) had, perhaps. an additional per
sonal motive to sustain an enterprise which all
favored and the results of which were looked
upon as an honor to journalism. a careful
examination of Mr.. Beechers statement Will
show that the suggested payment of 5000 first
came to him (Moulton) from Mr.. Beecher, and
was not made by Mr.. Moulton to Mr..
Beecher. He (MOultOn) told Mr.. Beecher Mr..
TitOn would not receive the money If he knew il
came from Mr. B., and therefore it was arranged
between them that it should be given to Mr.. Til
ton in small sums, as coming from Mr.. Moulton.
The letter of Mrs Morse Mrs. Tiltons mother)
to Mr.. Beecher, in which she addresses him
as her and signs herself Moth
err" Is given in full. After stating her pecun-
iary difficulties. she writes Do come and see
me. l will promise that the secret of her life,
as she calls it, shall not be mentioned. l know
it's hard to bring it up, as you must have suffered
intensely, and we ali viii, 1 fear until released
by death. Do you pray for meY II not pray do
never felt more rebellious than now;
more need of Gods and human help
Do you know | think it strange you
should ask me TO call you SOM | have told
darling felt if you could in safety to yourself
and all concerned, you would be to me all this
endearing name. Am | mistakcny' Mr.. MOul
ton then says: This letter bears date Oct. "a,
fix the date to be in 1871 because it at that
time that Mrs. Morse had the house. for which she
was paving 81. jOl rent. and in the time when Til
ton was allowing his wife $40 per week for house
hold expenses. This letter was given me by
Beecher written by Mrs. Morse, Elizabeth
mother, and l. a call on him for money which
may explain the necessity for mortgagng hi
! house otherwise than by paying $4,000 TO me. II
| is the outside family that IL always the mos
OnerOus 10 a man. The trouble ia
Beecher mistakes the persons who backmaileC
him. II was Mrs. Morse and Bessie, and nobody
else, and they are now repaying him by testifYne
in his behalf
ITO obtain advantage to ones self by using
| the unfortunate situation OF another is black
mail, then Bcecher himself was a blackmaler
He protected himself from Bowen by using TIltOI
to get the tripartte covenant out of him, and ye
| truth. Beecher in fact used Titon's position
| with Bowen to extort from Bowen certificate o
| good character after he had preferred severa
! grave charges against him, one of them being de
| scribed as brutal rape.
IL was not TiltOn's accusations but Bowen
that Moulton had in charge, and the real poin
| was to avoid ian appeal to the churcl
| and then to the council" MoutOn theI
| gives the charge of rape as contained in Tilton'
letter recapitulating Bowen's cause of ofcns'
| against Beecher and then significantly asks
| "Could an innocent clergyman have allowed
| such a charge to be made, and more than ono
| reiterated, however guardedly, by a leading mem
Der of his church. and rest content until his limo
| cence was fully and clearly established, " in N
other way, in court of justiceY' Mr.. Moultoi
said that, in his former statement, he endeavore
state the facts of that brutal ohense with as muc
| delicacy as their wickedness would allow, bu
| that his very reticence had been made tn
ground of accusation that he had mistaken tn
purport of what Mr.. Beecher had said
| or that, if he were telling the truth
he would give his exact words. ii
was therefore compelled in relating the cil
cumstances attending the affair, to oy0rstep tn
bounds within which he had set himself in hi
former statement; and If something was pull
lished which ought not TO be published, 1t wa
not his fault, but a necessity made by Beeche
and his friends for his (Moulton's) own vindici
| tiOn. Exactly how the matter came about was a
follows: He showed to Mr.. Beeeher the letter {
| Tilton to Bowen, bearing date Jan. /, 1871, col
taining the charges alleged to have been made b
Bowen in the presence OF Titon and Oliver JohI
son, and Beecher deemed it necessary 10 te
Moulton the truth concerning his adultery wit
the woman TO whom he supposed Bowe
referred. Mr.. Moulton here gives Beecher
confession or narrative of the affair, which
In the interest of decency, is here SUI
pressed. He suggested that unless BeechC
obtained a retraction Of the story from IN
woman he would some day find himself
Bowen's mercy. Such paper he obtained 0
the 10th of January, 1871 but il was not so direC
or satisfactory the retraction he obtained froI
Mrs. Tilton. Beeeher denied the allegation
rape, but did not deny the fact Of adultery. Nj
Moulton also stated that that connection and In