Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-09-18

confessed and denied not, but confessed as he
did not deny this charge so explicitly made by
me. w Whatever 1nferences | have made from his
words at other times he certainly could not have
mistaken mine at this time. When speaking of
the relations of man and woman, criminal inter-
course has but one legal or literal meaning, even
to clergymen. 1t, however, seems necessary that
should go still further, which / do, and say
that on that evening he confessed to me his rela-
could not possibly mistake or forgeti it. lie said
My acts of intercourse with that woman were as
natural and sincere in the impression
of endearment which 1 addressed to her. There
seemed to be nothing in what we did together
that could not justify to myself on the ground
OF our love for each other, and think God will
not blame me for my acts with her. know that
at present it would be utterly impossible for me
to justify myself before man"
Mr. Mouton then calls attention to the asser-
tion made in his former statement that in the
presence of himself and 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 ofthe chnrres against them, and
| asked advice as to the course to be taken by
them.
Moulton says it has never occurred to him that
the procedure by which money was obtained
from Mr.. Beecher was an extortion. He
others were subscribing money toward sus-
tanning the Golden Age, and he had no thought
that Beecher was doing anything other and diff
ferent from what the were doing, except tnat
he (Beecher) 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. careful examination of
Mr.. Beec6er's statement will show that the sug-
gested payment of $1,000 first came to
him (Moulton) from Mr. Beecher, and was
not made by, Mr.. Moulton to Mr.; Beecher., He
(Moulton) told Mr.. Beecher Mr.. Tilton would not
receive the money if he knew it came from Mr..
B., and therefore it was arranged between them
that it should be given to Mr. tqn mi in small small
of Mrs. Morse Mrs Titon's mother) to MxA
Beecher, in which she addresses him as her son
and signs herself Mother" is given in full.
After stating her pecuniary difficulties she
writes: do come and see me. i will
promise that the secret of her lfe' as
she calls it, shall not be mentioned know
intensely and we all will, fear until released by
death. Do you pray for me? If not, pray do. l
never felt more rebelliOus than now; more need
of Gods and human help Do you know think
have told darling felt if you could, in safety to
yourself and all concerned, you would be to me all
this endearing name; Am | mlstakenIn MI
Moulton then says: This letter bears date Oct "a
fix the date to be in 1871, because it was at that
time that Mrs. Morse had the house for which she
was paying 81 800 rent andin the time when Tilton
was allowing his wife $40 per week for house
hold expenses. This letter was given to me by
Beecher as written by Mrs. Morse, Elizabeth's
mother, and is a call on him for money, which
may explain the necessity for mortgaging his
house otherwise than by paying $4,000 to me. 1t
is the outside family that is always the most
OnerOus to man. The trouble is,
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 was blackmailer. He
protected himself from Bowen by using Tilton to
get the tripartite covenant out OF him. and yet he
puts the facts in a light exactly contrary to the
truth. Beecher in fact, used Tilton's position
with Bowen to eXtOrt from him (Bowen) certif-
cate of good character, after he had preferred
several grave charges against him, one OF them
being described as brutal rape.
1t was not Titon's accusations but Bowen's
that Moulton had in charge, and the real point
G then t. to Au tRe eoancil Monitor ton then then gives
the charge of rape as contained in Tlltons
letter, recapitulating Bowens cause of offense
against Beecher, and then significantly asks:
"Could an innoceH clergyman have allowed
such a charge to be made, and more
than once reiterated. however guardedly, by
a leading member of his church, and rest con-
tent until his innocence was fully and clearly es-
ta5ished, if in no other way, in court OF JUS
tice?'' Mr.. Moulton said that in his former state
ment he endeayored to state the facts of that
brutal offense with as much delicacy as their
wickedness would allow, but that his very retl-
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
bounds within which he had set himself in bis
former statement; and if something was pub
lished which ought not to be published, it was
not his fault, but necessity made by Beecher
and his friends for his (MOulton's) own vindica-
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 it necessary to tell
Moulton the truth concerning his adultery with
the woman to whom he supposed Bowen re-
ferred. Mr.. Moulton here gives Beecher's con-
fession or narrative of the affair, which, In the
interest of decency, is here suppressed. He
suggested that unless Beecher obtained a retrac-
tion of the story from the woman he would
some day find himself at Bowen's mercy.
Such a paper he obtained on the 10th of
January, 1871, but it was not so direct or
satisfactory as the retraction he obtained from
Mrs Titon 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. The last episode of
crime had been related to him in the presence of
witnesses.
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 if ever the story of his
crime with Mrs. Titon should become public.
rapher's gallery, when he learned that one of
the employees had mistaken glass of poison for
glass of water, and, having taken and drank
it, 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
this same poison from the photographer, which
he told Moulton he intended to use if an intima-
ton of his crime should be made, and then he
said .'it would be simply reported that Beecher
died of apoplexy, but God and you and will
know what caused my death" If those
who blamed Moulton could have looked
into Mr.. Beecher's grief-stricken face and list
ened to the tones of his voice in great emergen-
cies, in which he said there was no refuge for
him but in death, they would have felt impelled
to do as generous and open-hearted a service as
he (Moulton) had practiced toward him. 1t
would have taken harder heart than his, being
witness of Mr.. Beecher's sorrows, not to forget
his sins.
The remainder of the long statement is only
interesting-not mportant-personal matters