The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-08-26

Beecher; his discharge of Tilton,
which laid him out; and he gives a
letter Of Tilton to Bowen recapitula-
ting this history. The relevant point
in this story is that Bowen was secret
Iva continual accuser of Beecher of
various adulteries, and that he said
Beecher ought to be driven from
Plymouth Church, and that he insti-
gated Tilton to open the war, promis-
ing to back him. On the other side We
have Tilton's story that Bowen de-
sired him to give more prominence in
the Independent to Plymouth Church
and that he answered by telling
Beechers advances to Mrs. Tilton.
and then Bowen told of other and
worse ofenses, and thereupon the de-
mand was concocted subsequently
We have the Tripartite Covenant, in
which Bowen buried all causes
against Beecher, and his memorandum
statement of the conditions, which
were business interests to Bowen,
save those by which Beecher was to
relieve him from the injury he was
suffering by the impression that he
was unfriendly to Beecher.
Thus Bowen is brought in as
slanderer of Beecher, in order to sus-
tain Moulton; but he is at the same
time impeached. Bowen has yet a
defense to make; at present he stands
accused as slanderer, and convicted
By the Tripartite Covenant and by his
asserted treachery to Tilton.
Swift upon Tilton's downfall comes
his demand that Beecher should see
him at Moulton to be confronted
with copy of Mrs. Tilton's confess
ion, the original Of which he received
six months before and had destroyed.
Moulton now mentions the confession
as of the improper intercourse be-
tween them" Herein is convenient
vagueness, but the confession prescn-
ted to Beecher, and the retraction
Beecher received from Mrs. Tilton,
was of improper solicitations" Only
now was Moulton told by Tilton that
his wife had made confession six
months before. 1t appears that Til
tons sense of Beecher's injury to him
was latent till he fell into business
distress. 1t appears all through that
it rose and fell according to this.
Moulton tells oyer the tale of his
peremptory call of Beecher to this in
terview; his subsequent going with
Beecher to Tilton's house; Tilton's
telling him next day that his wife had
given Beecher retraction, and his
demanding it of Beecher as a breach
of faith to him, the mediator. There is
nothing in any of these variations to
show that the pistol played any part.
No one can suppose that Moulton was
so earnest in this business that he was
going to shoot Beecher He got back
the retraction by the plea that he was
the depository oil the confession, and
by the talk of good faith. Yet he af-
terward gave up Mrs. Tilton's confess
ion to Tilton. Moulton shows that
Mrs. Tilton was mere medium in
writing accusations and retractions at
Tilton's command. Beecher relates
that rilton confronted him with what
he said was copy of the confession
he having destroyed the original to
protect his wife-and that he ostenta-
tiously tore up the copy in his presence
Moulton says Tilton told him his wife
wrote the confession six months be-
fore, and that he had destroyed it; but
that she, fearing that if the Bowen
accusations against Beecher were
made public, the whole matter would
be made known, and her own conduct
with Beecher become exposed, had
renewed her confession in her own
hand writing, which he handed me to
read" Thus it appears that Mrs. Til
ton rewrote her confession, lest her
offense should yet come out. So the
beasts in convention resolved on sui
eide to save themselves from slaugh-
ter.
We here skip part in order to
close out Mrs. Tilton's confessions.
Moulton tells that after the Woodruff
publication he had Tilton get from his
wife a writing that she was pure and
faithful to her husband, and that
there was no ground for the scandal.
Also, that DR.. Storrs and Mr.. Carpen-
ter, being concerned about the Wood
hull scandal, Mrs. Tilton-of course
Tilton and his familiar moving her
wrote confession for them, in which
she stated that in July, 1870, she in
formed her husband that Mr.. Beech
er had solicited Inc to be wife to him
together with all that this implied
that six months thereafter she wrote
brief statement for her husband
she had forgotten in what form; that
he showed it to Beecher, and he came
to see her, and she wrote retraction;
that she found this retraction placed
her against her husband, and there
fore she wrote an explanation. Sc
much for Mrs. Tilton's mediumistie
confessions. But this again puts the
charge back to improper solicita.
tions, which seems to be all she was
ever made to accuse Beecher of.
We now return to Moulton's mar
ration of Beecher's sorrow for TiltOn'
| business and domestic distress; the
| apology which Moulton concocted anC
got Beecher to entrust to him in con
fidence; the settlement BY which Bow
en- paid Tilton the forfeit on his con
tract; and the tripartite covenant by
which Bowen and Tilton buried al
their charges against Beecher. A!
soon as they had signed it they dus
up the corpse. The significant feature:
| of this covenant are that the condi
tons show that Mr.. Bowen's SANDER,
Gus hostility to Beecher was changed
to love by business considerations, ant
that he desired Beecher to reliev,
! him from some social odium; and tina
with this secured to Bowen, and will
the large sum of 5000 in the hand
of Tilton, they both resolved tina
there was nothing to come between
their love for Beecher
We come now to the letters of tn,
Hookers. the Beechers, Mrs. Wood
hull and others, Moulton tumblet
these in for quantity. They contain
no evidence, and they have been dis
posed of in the public mind. Mrs
Hooker was infatuated with tn,
| Woodruff, and believed what she pub
lished must be true. Her mind dwell