Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1874-08-20


as my own hes been, ia times of adyer-
sity, refuge from the storm and
tower of defense.
Besides a generous suffering i should
have had a selfish reason for such If ]
had dreamed that 1 was about to become
the instrument by which Mr. Tiiton
meant to fight his way back TO the pros
peritY which he had forfeited. II now
appears that on the 29th of December.
1870, Mr.. Tilton, having learned that I
had replied TO his threatening letter by
expressing such an opinion Of him as 10
set Mr. Bowen finally against him, and
bring him face to face with immediate
ruin, extorted from his wife, then suf-
fering under a severe illness, a document
eliminating me, and prepared an elabor-
ate attack upon me.
On Tuesday evening, Dec 30, 1870,
about O'Clock, Mr.. Francis ID. Moul-
ton called at my house, and with intense
.eaFnestBess said
II wish you 10 60 with nae 70 see Mr.
Tiltcn. -:
/ replied that I could not then. as /
was just going to my prayer meeting.
With the most positive manner he said
"You must go, somebody else viii
take care of the meeting
Invent with him, not knowing what
trouble had agitated him, but vaguely
thinking that might now learn the so
luton of the recent threatening letter,
On the wav asked what was the reas0
of this visit, TO which he replied u
Mr.. Tilton would inform me, or woA
to that effect. On entering his housc
Mr.. Noulton locked the door, sayings
something about not being interrupted.
He requested me to go into the front
chamber over the paFlor- | was under
the impression that Mr. Tilton was go
ing to pour out upon me his anger for
eolleaguing with Bowen, and for the adj
vice of separation given TO his wife.
wished Mr. MoultOn to be with me as
witness, but lac insisted that I should go
by myself
Mr. TiltOn received me eOldly, but
calmly. After word or two, standing
in front of me with memorandum in
his hand, he began set Grafton. He
charged me, in substance. with acting
for a long time in an unfriendly spirit
that sought his downfall; had spread
injurious rumors about him; was using
my place and influence to undermine
him had advised Mr. Bowen to dismiss
him, and much more that ] cannot re-
member. He then declared that L had
injured him in his family relation; had
Joined with his mother-in-laW in prOduc-
ing discOTd in his house had advised
separation had alienated his wife's af-
fections from him; had led her to love
me more than any living being; had cor
rupted her moral nature, and taught her
to be insincere, lying, and hypocritical,
and ended by charging that l had made
wicked proposals 10 her. Until he
reached this ] had listened with some
contempt, under the impression that he
was attempting to bully me. But with
the last charge he produced a paper pur-
porting to be a certified. statement of
previous confession made to him by his
wife of her love for me, and that / had
made proposals to her of an impure ma
lure. BE said that this confession had
been made to him in July, six months
previous !. that his sense of honor and
affection Woulus moi permit any such
document to remain in existence; thar
he had burned the original, and should
now destroy the only copy; and he then
tore the paper into small pieces. IF /
had been shocked at such statement /
was absolutely thunderstruck when he
closed the interview by requesting me
to repair at once te his house where he
said Elizabeth waiting for me and learn
from her lips the truth of his stories in
so far as they concerned her. This fell
ike thunderbOlt on me. Could it be
possible that his wife, whom / had re-
garded as the type Of moral goodness,
should have made such false and atroci-
Gus statements And yet il she had
not how would be dare to send me to
her for confirmation of his charges 4?
I went forth like a sleep-walker while
clouds were flying in the sky There
had been a snow-stOrnl, which was
breaking away The winds were out
and whstling through the leafless trees,
but all this was peace compared to my
mood within. | believe that Tilton
went with me ts the door of Tiltons
house. The hoUsekeeper-the same
woman of whom Mrs. Tilton had COM
plained-seemed TO have been instructed
by him, for she evidently expected me,
and showed me at once up to Mrs. Til
tons room. Mrs. Tilton lay upon her
bed. white as marble, with closed eyes
as in a trance, and with her hands upon
her breast, palm TO palm, like one in
prayer. AS | look back upon il, the
picture is like some forms carved in
marble that ! had seen upon monuments
in Europe. She made no motion, and
gave no sign of recognition of my pres
ence.
sat down near her and said:
elizabeth, Theodore has been max
ing very serious charges against me, and
sends me to you for confirmation.
She made no reply or sign. Yet it
was plain that she was conscious and
listening. repeated some Of his state
ments-that ! had brought dIscord to the
family, had alienated her from him, had
sought to break up the family, had
usurped his influence, and then, as well
as l could, added that he said that l
had made improper suggestions TO her,
and that she had admitted this fact to
him last July. l said:
elizabeth have you made such state
ments to him 2"
She made no answer. / repeated the
question. Tears ran down her checks,
and she very slightly bowed her head in
l said:
"You cannot mean that you have stat
ed all that he has charged 2"
She opened her eyes, and began in a
slow and feeble way to explain how sick
she had been, how wearled out with i'm
portunity that he had confessed his
own alien loves, and said that he could
not bear to think that she was better
than he, that she might win him to re-
formation if she would confess that she
had loved me more than him, and that
they would repent and go on with fu-
ture concord. l cannot give her lam
guage, but only the tenor of her repre-
received them impatiently.
| spoke TO her in the strongest language
of her course. / said to her:
'Have / ever made any improper ad-
vances TO your"
She said, ''No."
''Then," / asked, ''why did you say
so TO your husband 2"
She seemed deeply distressed.
''My FRIEND" (by that designation she
almost always called me, II am sorry.
but could not help it; what can do ?"
told her she could state in writing
what she had now told me. She beck,
oned for her writing materials, which i
handed her from her secretary standing
near by, and she sat up in bed and wrote
a brief counter-statement.
In a sort of postscript she denied ex-
plicitly that / had ever offered any I'M
proper solicitation 10 her, that being the
only charge made against me by Mr..