The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-02-26

be should do II the retraction was give
up. Moulton pledged his word Of homo
that he would keep both letters otcontei
sion and retraction or destroy then
Beecher said he did mot want the retraC
ton letter destroyed. The reason thes
papers were destroyed, claimed the coup
sel, was because they did not contain
word about the charge Of adultery, bu
only improper proposals, Was thi
paper destroyed, with the knowledge o
consent Of BeeCher2 mol He wOulI
show them that this paper was not des
trOyed. II it was destroyed Il wa
no. until this conspiracy was hatch
ed between Theodore Tllton an
Victoria Woodhull for tho deS
truction Of Henry Ward Beechel
They would show BY the testimony Of
man whose word was not questioned tina
after the publication Of the Woodhul
scandal Tilton showed him paper whicl
he said was q copy OF the document show
Beecher on the night Of the 30th Of De
cember. This man asked Tiiton II tha
was In tho handwriting Of Mrs, Tilton
and he replied that 1t was not, but tha
the original was In MOulton's possession
And yet MoultOn does not remember wleI
or from whom hO received the letter from
Mrs. Tilton asking for the letter Of retrac
tion, He did not remember II she was II
bod or not at the time he got tho letter
II was not very important as character
hing this witness conduct as to where HI
got the letter or In what manner, but /
was important as to the Credibility Of hii
statement and as 10 the amount Of belle
to be placed IN bis testimony, Was tht
friendship OF Moulton to BeeCher a sin,
cere one, after the former testliying thai
he had been q friend Of Tilton since hii
school days, and when he learned o.
Beecher debauchlng his friends wifeH
On the evening Of January lSt Moul-
ton again visited the house Of Beecher
but he came there 10 make peace and loI
war. He drew q picture Of Tilton's ~
rows, Of The utter wreck Of his fortune o.
the destruction Of his family peace, and
all In terms so vivid as to excite the feel
ipgs Of his hearer to the highest pitch, III
yindicatpd his friend from ythe calumni
Gus stories which had been brought Ia
Beecher and had been believed by him
lie convinced BeecheF that the charge
which the latter, believing them to b.
true, had repeated to Bowen, were utterly
without foundation. Thenhe dwelt upoI
the alienation which had arisen between
this husband and wife, and on the uttel
misery which had fell upon the whole
amily In fconsequenoe OF this, IN tormI
calculated to wiring tears Of blood from I
compassionate heart, but without wore
Of oltlfrect accusation against Beecher save
the Implication that Beecher was II
some way responsible for Tilton's business
failures because he and Bowen had united
TO turn him out Of the Independent and
Brooklyn Union. Responsibility for his do
nestle misery because Of the alienation
OF the wife which lleechcr had previously
supposed to have arisen from
the misconduct Of her husband
was now assumed to have beer
caused by an undue affection for lel
pastor and o violent md protrACted strug'
glc between her passion and her sense o.
duty, which had destroyed her health aud
unsettled her reason. It Ia very easy tt
imagine the effect Of such a process upOr
A nature proverbiAlly kind and ingenious
The measure Of undeservGd misery tler
predicaled Of this plaintiff having beer
billed very high with careful ingenuity II
needed but slight push Of the suggestion
to roll the wheel upon the defendant. II
needed no special argument or persuasion
to ix the responsibility on the man fol
whose shoulders II had been prepared
Henry Ward Beecher stood convicted ID
his own morbid Imagination as a Sian
derer Of the meanest type and as a pastor
and friend whose needless folly had intro
duced discord into lie loliest Of relation
and had plunged into sorrow one Of the
happiest families Of his flock. Gentlemen
can you picture to yourselves the agony
of Ills self.rcprOaGh under this new and
astounding revelation 2 Can you imagine
with what ianaticul renlorse he would
pierce himself again and again with The
thorn thus furnished to his hand? Whal
species Of slander he would say Is 80 baSf
as 10 charge friend falsely with marital
uniaithiuIness, seeing that the charges
must involve not him alone but also at
innocent woman in inevitable Obloquyi
Il Is true ho might palIiate 10 himself
the fault by pleading the honesty Of hiS
intentions and his belief In the truth oil
those reports, but neither In law nor III
morals Ii mere belief In a slander any
Modification for its nttetanec. In the a6
senco Of preliminary inquiry, with
care proportionate to the magnitude OIL
The case, why had hO not made more cafc,
ful inquiry intothe source Of his ihforma
tion? Why had he not secured n more
serious investigation Into the facts before
assuming the responsibility Of an action
80 ihjurious7 Why so prompt to receive
with credit CaIumnlons reports against d
friend? Such were the questions which
aroused the conscience Of defendant, and
under The skillful mahipulationS Of d
setyiceablc friend, they were pushed
home with singing force and ag0niEibg
effect. But n, on this liBt charge
Beccher, following The delicate ihstihrti
Of an honorable man, felt himself 10 b
absolutely without excuse, how mist hi.
seli.reptoach have been intensified by the
additional thought, now presented Ia
him, that he had been the means Of be.
quilting Mrs. Tilton into an undue ailec
lion fot himself, and thus alternating
her from het husband, and destroying
the home where that husband NIGH
otherwise have fophd refuge with III
ruined fortunes. II this were 40, an
evidence Of what he had himself seeh led
him In his then excited state to accepi
Moultona statement IA true, and there
was absolutely but one excise or pallia
ton which he could offer 10 his own ac'
cusihg conscience for the ofTense, namely
that lie had not INTENTIONAL done wrong
that though he might have been culpably
careless he had not been consciousl J gull
" Of any conduct tending to encourage
the alleged affection. But such a defense
involved the Implication that the lady
had conceived this passion entirely with
out any suggestion from him or any en-
cotifagement on his part, and he was de
barred from any such plea BY all the In
stincts Of d gentleman, "a we'll "A BY hii
genuine respect aud Affection for the lady
herself. Nof would this plea, even II ht
could have induced himself TO make Il
have been full defense. II Il The sol
emn duty Of a clergyman 10 prevent such
diAAAtefs from Arising out Of his Associa
tionS with his flock. He Ia generally II