The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1874-09-24
An Additional Statement bv Mr..
MOultOn.

Moulton relative to the charges against Mr.
Rcecher and In reply to tho explanation made Nv
the latter before the Plymouth Investigating
Committee.
Mr.. Moulton recounts in detail how strenuous.
y nc labored to prevent the exposure being made
se5 Mr thf Mr. sSn and oy
gcthcr to this end; but owing to their Inability
to prevent the meeting Of the committee on tie
appointed evening thsir EFF effort r. was aureM
not prepared to receive his statement Oh that par
ticular evening he would defer making it for the
time being at least.
With regard to Mr.. Beecher's statement that
the only copy of Mrs. Tilton's confession was
torn in pieces in his own presence on the night
Of the h Of December iso Mr. Mouton rcit
by him and returned to Mr.. Tilton after the tri-
partlte agreement, to be returned to Mrs Tilton
that she might destroy, it, Mrs. Tilton's letter
regard to The interview al the time Mr. bec w
gave 9lp the confession Mr.: Mcuton says!
ns eem Wst the retraction from him.
it up: answered: i viii keep It ~ ikecp tSs
confession tf you act lonorally. viii protest
1T Win my life as would protect the other with
my ilfe.' may be allowed to say here that at
this remark made reference to the pistol in my
overcoat pocket. which l always carried in the
night nigh, as emphasizing the extremity of my de-
made no verbal threats, but opened his overcoat
ana; Win some emphatic remark, he showed me
t,iRt pistol , Why msrspresentr Is it possible
whr estosted the paper from him with pistol:
Yet Bcccher's committee flake a point Of thi.
prsyaricaton In their argument fer the accused"
With regard to Mr. Becchers letter of cOntri-
ton, Mr.. Moulton explains at length the circum-
stances under which it was written. He saws. as
before stated, that it was written out according
act language of Mr.. Bcccher was used in the let
ter. He (MoultOn) was not in the habit of using
. such iangnage, and could hardly have composed
the letter in question: He raye
should not myself have used the phrase
Humble myself before him a. do before INV
God. was not used to that kind Of expression;
there pray ling with folded hands, never called q
woman of nearly forty years old poor child in
my life. did not know that she was lying
anywhere with folded hands. Bcecher did, be-
cause he says in his statement to the committee
that She lay there, white marble, like statue
Of the Old World palm to palm. like one pray
thu S1 al
conveyed to me, and which put in the letter of
c9ntrition:' / could not have used the phrase
i have her forgiveness because did not know
whether he had it or not, except as he told me.
and if had acted upon my belief in the matter
should suppose that he had not. This letter,
after si being prepared by me- was read by him be-
put by Beecher i'll his statement that this
paper was. mere memorandum of points
!" BE- used by him One, in setting forth my his,
sentences by him (me) expressed as he % under
stood them. not my (his) words. but as hints
OF my This? figures and letters, to be used by him
string Of hints hastily made by an Impractical
writer. Us helps to his memory in representing to
MIR. Tilton how felt toward his family. All this
the purpose Of explanation merely. Bcccher al
ways treated this letter his in all the after
conversations upon the subject with Mr.. Samuel
WilkesOn. Mr.. BecChcr's friend
In a subsequent conversation with Mr.. MOul-
ton Mr.. Bcccher had alluded to the document
IN question as his (Bcccher's> letter to Mr..
some plan to break the force of my letter to MIR.
Tilton:" etc.
Mr.: Moulton again brings forward his proofs
that Mr. Bcecher and Mrs. Tilton renewed their
intimacy after the confession was made. and
after both had given assurance to Tilton that they
would not meet except through him. After again
printing Mrs. Tilton's note to Mr.. Beechcr, con-
Guiding with the expression ''Of course, should
like to share with yen my joy Mr.. Moulton pro-
duces another letter from Mr.. Bccchcr to Mrs
Tilton, which is as follows:
spark OF light and warmth in your own house
will be star and y sun in my dwelling. Your
note broke like spring (sic) upon winter, and
can ever know, none but God, through what
dreary wilderness l have wandered There was
Mount Sinai; there was the barren waste, and
that marked the pilgrimage Of old. If only it
might lead to the promised land Or. like Moses.
shall die on the border: Your hope and cour-
restore and rebuild at home. and. while doing it,
to cheer and sustain outside of it another who
sorey needs hepin heart and spirit, it will prove
life so noble as few are able TO live, and in an
other world the emancipatcd soul may utter
THANKS. II 1t would be of comfort to you now
and then to scnd me letter of true inwardncss
'slci the outcome of your inner life. it would be
safe for am now at home here with my sister.
and 1t is permitted to you tsic> and will be an
ccedlng refreshmeht to me. for your hcart-cx-
pcricnccs are often like bread from heaven to the
hungry. God has enriched your moral nature
NAV not Others partEke p
This. says Mr.. MOultOn. Is is in Mr.. Bccchcrs
handwriting, but without direction or signature:
ton of it. as the words Your note broke like
spring upon winter tell also to what note it was
~ reply, hccase that quotes the words of Mrs.
her ioS she eins ali r"t now the nco oare
is on slip of paper marked o. but which do
not produce here. rescrving it for presentation be-
case of renewal of intimacy. to say the least than
this: Mark also, amid the prayers to God con-
tanned in the longer note, Becchcr's suggestion
that Elizabeth can write him now with safety,
because he is living at home with his sister, c.,
his wife is away
Mr.. Moulton then gives in detail Beechers al
legged confessions to him of his adultery with
being man of the world. I drew differences from
his (Beecher's) pure and unguarded expressions
which they did not authorize and therefore as to
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 impossibiity that l could be mistaken. not
seeking to shelter myself under any supposed
misunderstanding. but taking all the burden of
veracity between Bcecher Triton and myself. l
n"w pr to give such portions as are
Beecher made confession of adultery. have be-
fore stated that the first confession was made on
tone ta1 5hat for the i"d Mr. TIL
Mrs. Tilton: and you have done great
injury injury, t., to Tilton Otherwise, and ray
confessed and denied not, but confessed he
did not deny this charge SO explicitly made by
me. Whatever differences have made from his
mistaken mine ut this time. When speaking of
the relations of man and woman, criminal inter
course has but one legal or literal meaning, even
should go still further, which do, and say
that on that evening he confessed to me his
relations with Mrs. Tilton in language so vivid
He said: My acts Of intercourse with that
woman were as natural and sincere in the i'm
preston of my love for her az the words of en-
dearment which addressed to her. There seemed
70 be nothing in what we did together that
could not justify to myself on the ground Of our
love for each other, and l think God will not
blame me for my acts with her. know that at
Justify myself before man.
Mr.. MOultOn then calls attention to the asser-
ton made in his former statement that in the
presence OF himself ana another witness, whom
he still feels reluctant to bring forward (of
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 blackmall, Mr.
MoultOn says it has never occurred to him that
the procedure by which money was obtained
from Mr.. Beecher was an extOrtiOn. lie
(MOultOn) himself, his business partners and
Others were subscribing money toward sustain
ing the Golden Age. and he had no thought
that Beecher was doing anything other and diff
ferent from what the rest were doing, except that
he Ieecher) had, perhaps, an additional personal
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.. Beechcr's statement will show that the suc-
gested payment of $500 first came to him
(MOulton) from Mr. Bcecher, and was not made
by Mr.. Moulton to Mr.. Beecher. He (Moulton)
told Mr. Beechcr Mr.. Tilton would not receive
the money If he knew it came from Mr. b., and
therefore it was arranged between them that 1t
should be given to Mr.. Triton in small sums, as
coming from Mr.. Moulton. The letter of Mrs.
Morse Mrs. Tilton's mother) to Mr.. Beechcr, in
which she addresses him as her son and signs
herself Mother is given in full. After
stating stating her peemniary difficulties she
will promise that the secret of her life,
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