Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-09-24


writes: sDo come and see me. l
will promise that the secret of her life.'
az she calls Ii, shall not be mentioned. know
it's hard to bring ii up, as you must have suffered
intensely, and we all will, l fear until released
never felt more rebellious than now; more need
Of Gods and human help. Do you know think
i strange shoqa ak me =, eoe ea y0 n sscy
yourself and all concerned, you would pc 70 me All
this endearing name. Am mistakenr Mr. Moul-
Ak the date to be In 1871 because II was at that time
that Mrs. Morse had the house, Tor which sne was
paying 81, 500 rent, and in the time when Tilton
was allowing his wife say per week for house Sc
Beecher as written by Mrs, Morse. Elizabeth :
mother. and Is a call on him for money, which
may explain the necessity for mortgaging his Is
il the outside family that is always the most
onerous to man. The trouble Is,
Beecher mistakes the persons who blackmailed
him 1t was Mrs. Morse and Bessie, and nobody
else, and they are now repaying him by testifying
in his behalf"
If to obtain advantage to oneself by using the
unfortunate situation of another Is blackmail,
then Beecher himself blackmailer. He
protected himself from Bowen by using Tllton TO
get the tripartlte covenant out OF him. and yet he
puts the facts in a light exactly contrary to the
truth. Beecher, in fact, used I1lton's position
with Bowen to extort from him (Bowenl Ger.
tificate OF good character, after he had preferred
several grave charges against him, one OF them
being described as a brutal rape.
1t was not Tilton's accusations but Bowen s
that Moulton had in charge, and the real point
was TO avoid . an appeal TO the church and then
to the council" Moulton then gives the charge
of rape az contained in Tlton's letter, recaptula-
ting Bowen's cause OF ofense against Beecher,
and then significantly asks: Gould an innocent
clergyman have allowed such a charge TO be made,
and more than once reiterated, however guardedly,
by u leading member OF his church. and rest CON
tent until his innocence was fully and clearly
tablished, If in no other way, in a court of JUS
tices'' Mr.. Moulton said that in his former
statement he endeayored to state the facts of that
brutal offense with as much deicacy ~ their
wickedness would allow but that his very reti-
cence had been made the ground of accusation
that he had mistaken the purport of what Mr..
Beecher had said. or that If he were telling the
truth he would give his exact words.
He was therefore compelled, in relating the cir
eumstances attending the affair, to overstep the
bounds within which he had set himself In his
lished which ought not to be published, IL was
not his fault, but necessity made bv Beecher
and his friends for his (Moulton's) own vindca-
ton. Exactly how the matter came about was as
follows: He showed to Mr.. Beecher the letter OF
Tilton to Bowen, bearing date Jan. /, 1871, con-
tanning the charges alleged to have been made by
Bowen in the presence of Tilton and Oliver John
son, and Beecher deemed il necessary TO tell
Moulton the truth concerning his adultery with
the woman to whom he supposed Bowen referred.
Mr.. Moulton here gives Beecher's con
fession or narrative of the affair, which,
In the interest of decency,- is here sup
| pressed. He suggested that unless Beecher
Il
woman he would some day find himself at Bow
ems mercy. Such paper he obtained on the
10th of January, 1871 but IL was not so direct or
satisfactory the retraction he obtained nom
Mrs. Tilton. Beecher denied the allegation OF
rape, but did not deny the fact of adultery. Mr..
Moulton also stated that that connection and in
timacy was still continued, as he believed, but
declines to give either her name or copies of her
letters in his hands, because he did not wish
needlessly to involve reputation which had thus
far escaped public mention by any Of the parties
| to the controversy. This last episode of crime
| had been related to him in the presence OF wit
nesses.
In relation to Mr.. Beecher's proposed suicide,
Mr. Moulton states that Mr.. Beecher told him,
| and showed to another in his presence, that he
| had within reach in his own study poison
which he would take IL ever the story of his crime
with Mrs. Tilton should be made public He
| told him of a visit he had made to photogra-
piers gallery, when he learned that one Of the
| employees had mistaken glass of poison for a
| glass of water, and, having taken and drank IL,
had fallen dead with scarcely time to drop the
glass. Mr.. Beecher said that was what he wanted
| for himself, and, under the plea Of making some
Photographic experiments he procured some OF
| this same poison from the photographer, which
he told Mouton he intended to use II an intima-
| ton of his crime should be made, and then he
| said lit would be simply reported that Beecher
| died of apoplexy, bnt God and you and will
who blamed Moulton could have looked
into Mr. Beecher's griefstricken face and listened
to the tones of his voice in great emergencies, In
which he said there was no refuge for him but In
| death, they would have felt impeled to do al
generous and open-hearted a service az he (Moul
| toni had practiced toward him. 1t would have
| taken q harder heart than his, being witness o
! Mr.. Beecher's sorrows, not to forget his sins.
| The remainder of the long statement is onl,
interesting-not important-personal matters.