The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-08-20
NUMBER 81.

nv siencc, and anxious to deal in summary
manner with Mr.. Tilton. Had allowed them to
do this. il was obvious that Mr.. Tiitep would have
been greatly enraged that all his forhicr UNJUST
snspicions of me would have been coniirined' ava
that he would have had every motive which was
necessary To induce him to break up the peace
between us. and to make some such public attack
upon me as he hae finally made. But one thing
was constant and apparent: When Ihe"u"re, ns
leetnrins or otherwise. was prosperous, he was
very genial and affectionate TO me-. whenever
he met With rebuff, and was I'M pccuniary tronee'
he scowled thfeateningly upon me as the
author of his troubles. and Moulton him-
self seemed at times to accuse ME OF 'ndifierence
to Tiltons mstortunes. Il was in the ff'ldst oi
complications like these, may be- that part oi
these events happened. Shortly afterward IN a
thoroughly worried and depressed mood discour-
aged by the apparent helplessness OF extrica.ins
Tilton from his difficulties. or of saving his iahi
lily from the blight which he hn. since fastened
upon il, with even more destructive chect upon
It's members than then feared, wrote ie'.,f
even n,cr" wickedy garbled than his other
quotations: for he has represented two extr3cts
from this letter as contributing points. of Two
separate letters, and has attfnlly given the
impression that they were written IN or aiter
June, 1879. whereas the letter was datco Feb
B. 1872. He further says that this letter was
written for the purpose of being shown to him. |
had no idea Sf such thing being DONE as me
letter shows plainly enough on its face. and did
not authorize any such Use cf that letter, which
was supposed by me to be written mud received
in the meet sacred coincidence anu now IN.
formed an inspection Of the original would
doubtless refresh my .memory concerning the
circumstances but this Mr.. Monlton denies to
ME.
The letter of Mrs. Titon, which is here partly
quoted is as tolloWsi
"THURsDAy
Il leave for the West Monday next. How glad
was tn learn You were your own sell SUNDAY
morning. Tsodore's mind has been hard 10
ward you Of late. and think he proposes an IN
teryicw with yen. by word or note, before leaving
home. If so. be not cast down. l hear this
almost always hut the God in whom we trust
will deliver liz al safely. know you do. and
are willing abundaIitit 1" help him. and also
know your embarrassment anticipate my
Western trip, where | may be alohH -tth him.
exceedingly"
Inow come in my narrative to give an accouii
of the origin of the somewhat famous trpartitc
agreement. Shortly after the foregoing letter
was written. Mr.. Tilton returned to the city
thoroughly discouraged with the result nf his
l.cturing TOUR The Goiiea Age, which had then
been established for about twelve months, had
not succeeded and was understood to be losing
money. His pecuDiary obligations were press
ing. and although his claim against Bowen for
violating his two contracts had n yctr previously
been put under the exclusive control OF Moulton,
with d view of settlement. it had not as yet been
ELECTED Aboat ths time Mr.. Moulton, who was
sick, sent for me and showed me gallcy-proof
of the article prepared by Mr.. Tilton for the
Goiien .ige, and which has since been published
in the BROOKLYN papers, in which he en- nmhediea s
dated Jan. /, ISL i'll which he charged Bowen
with making scandalous accusations against my
moral character This was the first time that |
had ever seen those charges. and | had never
heard of them except by mere rnmor--Mr Bowen
never having at any time said word to me
p"ssd publication. l did not then under
stand The ren object of giving circulation
to such ISLANDERS My firm impression was
thai Mr.. Tilton signed, under cover of an at
tack upon me in the name of another. I" open the
way for the publication of his own pretended
personal grievances. protested against the
publication in the strongest terms, but was in
formed that it was not intended as hostile act to
myself. but To Mr.. Bowen. did not any the less
insist upon my protest against this publication.
On its being shown to Mr.. Bowen, said l
would think II over and perhaps write some
thing. This was Friday Saturday The COW
chant appeared Friday morning, and the
alarm was sounded on me immediately that Theo-
dorc would do something dreadful if not re-
strained. On Sunday had made up my mind To
write to Mr.. Moulton the following letter, garblcd
extracts of which are given in Mr. Titons state
ment:
my DEAR FRANK-'The whole earth is tran
quill The heaven is screner, beis one who
has about finished this worlds life. ] could do
nothing on Saturday. My head was confused, but
a good sleep has made it like crystal. have de-
tcrmined To make no more resistance. Thco-
dores temper il such that the future, even iftem-
p4rarily earned, would be absolutely worthless
me liable at any hour or day to be
Obliged to stutify all the devices by which
we saved ourselves. II is only fair that he
which he proposed would leave him far worse oil
than before the agreement was made. After my
letter through you was written he had had il Il
year. He had condoncd his witcs fault; he had
cnluined upon us with the utmost earncstncss
and -oemnity not to bctray his wife. leave
him to a blight. ! had honestly and earnestly
joined in the purpose. Then his settlement was
made and signed by him II was not my making.
He revised his part SO that ii should wholly suit
him and signed il. 1t stood unquesiioncd for
more than year. Then il was published; moth
ing but that. That which he did in private,
when made public, excited him To fury, and he
charges me with making him appear gra-
ciousy paraoncd by me- II was his oNn dcliher
ate act. with which he perfectly content till
others saw it, and then he charges sricvous
in haste, and shall write for the pub
lie statement that will bear the light
of Judgment Day. God viii take care Of
me and mine. When | look on earth il
is deep nights when look on the heavens above
] see the morning breaking; but oh! thai could
put In golden letters my deep sense of yonr
disinerested friendship. Your whole life, too,
has been one of Gods romt"rtcrs. II is such
life that renewed waning faith in manhood.
Now. Frank. would not have YOU wartc any
more energy hopeless task with such man
as II. T. There is no possible salvation for any
that depend upon him. With strong nature,
he does not know how to govern it: with gencr-
Gus impulses, the undercurrent that rules him
il self: with ardent affection, he cannot love
long that which does not repay but with ad
niraiion and praise: with Il strong thcatric
turc, he is constantly imposed upon with the idea
that II position, great stroke, Il coup dctat. is
the way to success, Besides these he has a hun
dred good things about him. but these named
traits make HIM absolutely unreliable. There
fore there is no use in further trying. | have Il
strong feeling upon me, and it brings great peace
with it, that am spending my last Sunday and
preaching my last sermon. Dear. good God,
thank Thee! | am indeed beginning to feel n
rest and triumph. The pain of life is but a mo
ment; the glory OF the everlasting emancipation
is worldless, inconccivable full Of breaking
glory. Oh, my beloved Frank, | shall know you
then. and forever hold fellowship with you, and
look back and smile AT the past! Your loving
III. W. B.
Mr. Beecher here details his efforts to prevent
the scandal being made public which was threat
ened by the trial Of Tilton by the church. and
says Of I'ilton was so determined to carry ont
my pledges to Moulton for him, and do all in
human power to save him even from himself. that
| was ready to resign if that would stop the
scandal. wrote a letter Of resignation not re-
ferring to the charge against me, but declaring
that had striven for years to maintain secrecy
concerning scandal affecting a family in the
church, and that as l had failed | herewith
signed. This letter was never sent A little camer
thought showed me how futile it would be to stop
the trouble. mere useless sacrifice: but showed
tito Mr.. Moulton and possibly he copied it: !
have found the original of it in my house. If l
could at this moment remember any of the other
letters which have written to Mr.. Moulton
would do so. If he has reserved all my einsions
of feeling he must have a large collection. /
wished him to bring them all before the commit
tee. should have been glad to get such hints as
they may contain To refresh my recollection OF
facts and sequences. | have no fear of their full
and fair publication, for. though they would
doubtless make sad exposure of my weakness,
grief and dcspondency, they do not con
tain a line confessing such guilt as has
been charged upon me. or word incon-
sistcnt with my innocence. nor any other
spirit than that OF =, generous remorsc over
great and more and more irreparablc evil. But
however intense and numerous may be these ex-
pressions of grief they cannot possibly ever state
the anxiety which constantly felt for the future,
the perls of which it is now clear did not exay-
gcrate, the sorrow and remorse which felt
originally on account of the injury which sup
posed had unwittingly done to a beloved family,
and alterward for the greater injury which be-
came satisfied had done by my unwise, blind
and useless efforts to remedy that injury only as
happiness Of my own family and the peace OF my
own church.
GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE: In the note re-
questing your appointment asked that you
should make a full investigation of all the
sources of information. You are witnesses that
have in way influenced iDterfered with
your proceedings or duties. / have wished the
investigation to be searching that nothing
to gain by any policy of suppression or COM
promise. For four years | have borne and
suffered enough, and I will not go step
further. j will be free. l will not walk under u
rod or yoke. IL any man would do me favor
let him tell all he knows now. 1t is not mine to
lay down the law of honor in regard to the use of
other persons confidential communications, but
is not letter or document which am afraid to
have exhibited, and l authorize any, and call
upon any living person to produce and
print forthwith whatever writings they have, of