The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-02-12
That Famous Interview,
IN WHICH TILToN TOLD BEECHER OF HIS
wIFE's CONFESSION.
Extract from Tnson's testimony

WIFES CONFESSION.
Extract from Tiltons testimony.l
On the Both of December, 1870, l had
an interview with Beecher Moulton
brought Beecher and retired L did not
salute Beecher, nor he mo !; ! crossed the
room, locked the door, and went back
and sat opposite 'Beecher. / began in
this way: 1 think ] said, 1 presume you
received from Bowen the letter demand
ing your retirement from your pulpit in
Brooklyn. He answered, | did, sir. /
told him he need not fear that letter. He
thanked me. | said he need not do so.
Elizabeth deserved his thanks and not
me. He said he understood the object
of this interview only in general terms,
and asked me to tell him what Bowen
had said. / told him it would be better
to go to Bowen himself. | told him
Bowen said he was intimate with mem
bers of your congregation for the past
! twenty-five years. That You were not
safe man, and had ruined many family
/ households. That you were wolf in
/ the fold, and should be extirpated, and
that Bowen had said that ne had it in his
! power TO drive Beecher out of Brooklyn
in twelve hours.
L told him that after / had this inter
view with Bowen L told it to my wife,
who was distressed and reminded me
that | said in the previous summer that
would not break my promise not to hurt
Beecher for that, if he were driven from
Brooklyn, it would be her shame and
! that of her children. Beecher asked me
what | meant by her shame, and 1 read
to him Elizabeth's letter of confession.
| This confession was destroyed by Eliza
beth two years after. A copy of it was
destroyed on this evening.
Tilton then testified that Beecher at
tempted to speak, but witness said !:
Wait, hear me through, and then
! speak. Witness said to Beecher that
Mrs. Tilton had come unexpectedly, and
said to her husband that she wanted to
communicate n secret that had long been
on her mind and that she wanted to
/ throw off that she had been Mt the point
several times, and once particularly
when she was on a sickbed. Before
! telling the secret she extorted promise
from her husband not to tell any one and
not to injure the person concerned. She
said it was n secret between herself and
her pastor. She said that for long time
friendship had existed between them,
more than friendship. 1t had been sexual
intercourse. 1t began after the death of
her son Paul. She went to her pastors
/ house, and on the 10th of October, 1868,
she surrendered her body TO him in
sexual embrace. On the Saturday fol-
/ lowing she repeated the act at the house
of her husband, and on several other
occasions at his house and mt several
other places. 1t had occurred all through
the fall. In the month of July, 1870,
she had written a letter to witness telling
witness of the facts. She had been
/ greatly distressed owing TO rrlmors as to
the condition of Beecher's moral charac-
ter. She wanted to demonstrate the
honor and dignity of her sex. Until he
told her, her love was innocent. She
said to Tilton that for long time
Beecher's home had not been a happy
one that his wife had not been salts
factory one, and that he wanted Eliza
beth to be wife to him, but she always
refused. Beecher's solicitations to her
were oftentimes violent. She had gone
away from witness in the spring, and
witness wrote her letter saying that
until she made full confession he would
never look upon her. She said she had
come down from the country on purpose
to make the confession. Witness said
that he wished it understood that the
conversation was not given word for
word, but as accurately as he could.
He furthermore told Beecher on that
occasion that Mrs. Iilton had become n
broken-hearted woman, and that instead
of taking her usual summer vacation, she
went TO the far West. Also told him i'm
regard to the statement that she had
asked Tilton to send to Beecher that they
might hold an interview, and she could
hear that the letter about withdrawing
from the pulpit and Brooklyn should be
withdrawn. Also told Beecher that he had
refused TO acquiesce, and that she had
appealed four or five times, and then she
asked witness to carry letter, and wit
ness refused to do it. She then implored
him to hold an interview with Beecher
which should not jar his pride. Mrs. Il.
wrote letter to Moulton for the purpose
of holding an interview. In conclusion,