Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-02-03


| imical TO him, and advised that some pe,
son in The Office should be made a friend O
his. l told him to 90 TO his work and no
be dOWncast, and relieve his mind Of al
/ apprehension Of me. The tears then cam
into his eyes and be left me. That is ths
substance Of that interview with Beecher
When | was lecturing in the West, wa
asked about my sudden removal from thi
Independent, and on my return told MI
friends this, and also Mr.. MOultOn, giving
him the true reasons, which 1 desired &
publish in the Golden Age. MOulton ad
vised me not to do so. This paper pro
duced has an article prepared by Mr.. John
son and myself for publication. The
stories told in the West were horrible and
injurious 70 my reputation. I believed j
was entitled in good faith to the S7,OOC
from Bowen. ] wrote a letter TO Pastor
Holiday at a later period, dissOlving my
connection with the church. / had several
conversations with Mr.. Beeeher with regard
TO having some person on the ChristiOl
Union who could deal more fairly by me
on the subject Of the scandal:
one who knew the facts, and ]
suggested Oliver JOhnstone. After Bowen
paid me seven thousand dollars. MOultOn
asked, as coming from Nh. Clahin, that If
Bowen took back his charges against
Beecher, I should withdraw mine. The
paper was then drawn up, which I signed.
Bowen, wnen giving me the 5000, said
he had no i'll feeling towards me, and that
If / supposed be had, was wrong. he
published vindicatiOn and justification OF
me in the Independent, which was copied
in the GhristiaH Union, with comments
attached.
Dir. Fullerton then read the article as
published in the Christian Union. with
the comments attached, April II, IS72, and
it was offered in evidence.
TiltOn continued: 1 remember Beech
er's dining at MOIltOn's house in October,
1872. The only feature on the occasion is
this: Mr.. Beecher said to me that he was
either going to have or had had, the ami
versary Of his silver wedding. He
spoke to me about his popularity
and the strength Of his friends.
He asked me if 1 thought there were i'm
minent dangers in our case. I told him
that this was a good time to resign, and as
he was writing the Life Of Christ, he could
go 10 the Holy Land to study the subject
more thoroughly. l told him there were
so many prying eyes that il was dangerous
for him to remain in the pulpit, and he
promised 10 think over it. This was all
that occurred. 1 was in New Hampshire
when the Woodruff publication Of the
scandal was made, and on my return home
was told il had been circulating a whole
week. During my absence, I was inform
ed By either MOultOn OF Beecher, that they
had a conference when il came out, and
that it was thought better 70 treat the
publication with silence, as the best means
Of killing il. Beecher said that if anv
denial was made, it would only provoke
Ms. Woodruff to produce it in another
form, and so il would have to be denied
three or four times. There were several
meetings about this in MOultOn's study,
and at one Of them it was proposed 20 pub
liSh a card by me, which has already been
given in your evidence. I said that if any
card was TO be published, was not the
person to do so; tha. il was the duty Of
BeecheT, as one Of the parties more init
mateiY connected, to publish a card. /
told him he might deny 1t, and would no:
contradict his denial. | said that if pub
lished a card, the public would say that
IIltOn's wife had been attacked, and be
merely published a card vindicating his
conduct with the Woodruff. / told him l
was angry; that he pUJ on neither the re-
spOnsiDility Of meeting the Woodruff
story, aud that all the Odium was left on
my shoulders.
The court here took recess.
After recess The. examination Of TiltOn
was continued he testified that after the
publication Of the Woodruff story. there
was an interview at MOultOn's house, at
which those present were MOultOn, Frank
lin B. Woodruff and Tracy. On the first
Sunday evening after he returned from
New Hampshire, he was sent for 70 90 10
MOult0n's house, where he saw first MOul-
ton.
Mr.. Eyarts objected to the testimony con-
cerning the interview, inasmuch as Beecher |
was not present. The court told him TO
axe AZ exception.
The witness said that on going into the
study, he saw Tracy and Woodruff. BE
old Tracy that the interview was
against his protest, and that Tracy
lad been taken into the consultation |
without his knowledge OF consent. He
hen said that before going any further he
wished Tracy to give him a pledge that if !
be (the wItness) and Beecher ever came |
into collision, Tracy would not act in any
way as Beecher's counsel. Tracy replied !
hat he gave that pledge both as a lawyer |
and as a gentleman. The witness said, |
very well. Tracy was then handed Beech /
3r's letter Of contradiction, which he read !
four or five times. Tracy then exclaimed, |
'Great GOdi' and said that a man who |
could express such heart breaking senti- |
nents had already been punished enough. /
lie said this was a case in which lying !
would be right. He said to witness that |
would not only ruin his wife and /
BeeCher, but would ruin witness, as the |
world would never forgive him for cOndOn- |
ne his wife's sin. Witness replied that he |
we'll knew publicity would ruin the par
les, but that his great anxiety was for his |
wife.
At a subsequent interview in MOultOn's /
study, Beecher showed some letters, and |
aid his sister, Mrs. Hooker, had threaten |
ID 10 invade his pulpit and read from |
lis desk a confession Of his connection |
With Mrs. TiltOn. Witness and MOultOn |
cad the letters, which were from Mrs |
Hooker. Beecher asked what could be |
done, and witness said he would see Mrs. !
ANUNEA anu sup tAAg AAAA1NlAANAs AAE AlAA oCG
Ter at the residence CT a female friend Of /
lers in New York. As a matter Of deli |
.acy, he dill not think it necessary to men
ion her name.
The court said iE was not necessary, and |
md a lively dispute took place between |
1varts and Fullerton in regard to the /
TOund OF which the name should be with |
leld, although both said they did not want /
Judge Nelson said the trouble with the /
curt in this case was, that both Of counsel |
we're right.
Witness said he induced Mrs. Hooker to
elinquish her design. When he saw /
}eecher afterwards, the latter expressed his
Tatitude. Beecher also made some re-
marks concerning Mrs. Hooker, which wit
.eSs did not deem necessary TO repeat.
Mr.. Evarts objected to the last remark,
nd there was another fruitless war Of
rOTds between counsel.
Witness said about a fortnight after this,
Seecher, az an interview in MOultOn's |
tudy, said he could no longer believe in
be policy Of silence in regard 10 the Wood
all scandal. he said the public would
elieve that where there was so much
mOke there was some fire, and suggested
D satisfy the public. some journals. such |