The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-05-25
BEECHER TRIAL.

. NNAil : AuOhA was NlNNhEA again Au-hdN
and Judge Porter resumed his argument
He referred to the letter Of Contrition,
which was the only known instance in
which a man had written a letter to him
sell. How did it happen that this man,
who was master in every intellectual
department, when he came into MOul-
tons presence, was like an untutOred
schOolbOyy Another feature Of this let
ter was the fact that Becchcr refused to
sign ii. Frank Moulton was q sham
from the beginning, and strutted about
! like a peacock in proud plumagc. Til
ton, a. literary writer, bore the foremost
name OF any man in America, and had
gwen the idea that he was man OF
boundlcss wealth, These two statements
were put forth to the world by MoultOn,
copied from Theodore TiltOn's drafts, or
were the result Of fortnight's work on
the part OF Benjamin i. Butler. 1t was
TiltOn who gave the directions for carry
ing out these schemes, 1t was in his
fertile brain that they had birth, and
when MOultOn spoke Of crushing Tilton
II he injured BeeCher, it was but the Ian
guage OF braggart. The diCtatiOns Of
MonltOn, TitOn and Mrs. MOultOn all
bore the stamp Of Tilton's mind, That
word paroxysmal, referring to the kiss,
was never heard from BeeChers lips ex.
ccpl by two persons-Tilton and Moulton.
The words standing on the brink Of n
moral Niagara" were no more Henry
Ward BceChcr's than the words moral
haystack, for the words would seem incOn'
gruous. They were TillOn's expressions.
The counsel then commented on the
form in which the letter was written, be.
ginning, al ask through you Theodore
'l'ilton's forgiveness, and humble myself
before him as ! do before my God. lie
would have been u better man in my
place than have been" Did Mr.. Beech.
er write Ihis2 II he did, which did he
mean, that God or TillOn would have
been better man in his placer The
language in this letter preCludCd all idea
Of the charge against BeCcher being adul-
terry, and the man who said Beecher wrote
It lied and was an unlrustwOrthy witness.
The counsel referred to the letter Of May
3, 1871, written by Mrs, Tillon to
lIeechcr as her pastor. Was that
letter Of adultery etc, to her
paramnur! It had more the strain Of
broken hearted woman to man whom she
falsely accused. Never did lIecCher use
the term Of nest hiding. lie had written
books and the counsel on the other side
had searched them in vain for that term.
Judge Fullerton found reference to the
robin hiding her nest, aud which Fuller.
ton paraded before them. You could not
20 10 hear DeeChcr Sunday next without
being impressed with his vividncss and
imprcssiyeneSs.
After referring To other letters the
counsel said, what led Moulton and Til.
ton to lie as they said for BCcChcrY MOul.
ton said he lied for tenderness and deli.
cacy TO lIrcChcr and the plymouth Church.
and riltOn for motives VI the same char.
actcr toward his wife. Could TilIon have
these feelings, and those which led him TO
bastardizc his own dead boy and to seek
to ruin his adopted danghterS both these
witnesses in the testimony expressed
themselves with malignity which
rendered their testimony comparatively
worthless. II the jury believed the testi.
mOny Of WilkesOn and Schultz, what was
the character Of Tilton? A man who
had broken and violated all his pledges,
filton waS living by blackmnil for u
number Of years, ready TO accept IL in
the form Of bcncfactiOns or otherwise.
Why did Tilton threaten to blow the roof
of plymouth Church unless they Nccedcd
To his terms? Was II not soliciting help
from lIeecher7 According to Mr.. and
Mira. Ovington, Tilton said Elizabeth
loved Mr.. Beechcr, and he ought to do
something for her; that Elizabeth had
done all She could for him, and he ought
to come forward to her help Tilton,
speaking Of his wife, said she would lie
for him II necessary. This was the use
Theodore TiltOn put the woman TO. Was
this the school in which Mrs. MoultOn
had been rcnrcd2 Frank Moulton said
lIecChcr was a liar and a libcrtine, and
that was the reason he had broken faith
with him. lie admitted also that he had
broken faith with TiltOn. There was no
person with whom he had not broken
faith; and waS this man, on whom no
one seemed to place reliance, to bO be-
icvph when he malignCd Henry Ward
IIeccher? This man had threatened to
shoot Beccher, but this was mere Orayado,
ana n man VINO could make surh threat
without lhtcnulng 10 execute II was oi
low order OF morals -
Ihc court mere look rcce''
After recess Mr.. Porter continued his
argument. lie said that in describing
Henry Ward iiecchcr AZ a liar and n
sneak, Frank Moulton correctly dcscrib.
ed himself and Theodore Tilton. II the
blood Of Tilton and MoutOn were trans
fused II would find as black arcsting place
in the heart Of one as the other. After
continuing for some time in this strain Of
invccliyes Porter spoke Of the imprOb.
ability Of lady's saying to gray.haired
clergyman, rs Mrs. MOulton said she did
in her own house, that he had added four
years Of perjury and lying TO his original
sin Of adultery. Yet she said, having
told him, she declared 10 him n belief
that he could confess II to the plymouth
Church and be forgiven. The story
which Mrs. MOulton had been made to
tell by her husband was mohslrously in.
credible on the face Of II and furnished
its own rcfutatiOn. Men who lneditaICd
murder, men who talked Of their wives
lvinV fnr ihpIn WpFp rnDnDlp of tlpVisinr