The Portland daily press., 1875-01-14

sion OF elizabeth llllOU, anu IL JOu WIN iOSutE
to me that recantation, | will burn both the
confession and the recantation." He said that
he wanted to keep the recantation. told him
it woild do no good; that the truth would
come out. He then got the retraction and
handed it to me: then took both papers ana
tect both papers with my life. He said he was
standing on the brink of a moral Niagara
and he called upon me to stand by him.
told him would do so. spoke to him of the
offence he had committed, and he said he re-
sarded the physical expression of his love for
Mrs. Tittoti as the words he used IN speaking
ONPlease look at this letter and see if it is
one of the three which you have received.
DIN whose handwriting is it?
A-Mr. Beechers.
Mr.. Fullerton read the letter addressed my
dear Frank"
O-What elsee occurred at Beecher's house,
if aoything, on the 3lst OF Dec?
Al don't remember.
Q-Did you take with you the letter wnlcn
Beecher gave you?
O-What did you do with it?
Al took it to Mr.. Tilton.
Q-When did you see Me- Beecher?
A-On Jan. LIST.
Q-Where did you see him?
A-At his house, where l had an interview
with him in his study on the second floor.
Q-State, if you please, what that interview
was. .,
Al had taken the retraction to Tilton and
I told Beecher that Tiltou told me he had
made I'D his mind that he would undertake to
protect the reputation of his wife at all haz-
ards. Thea Beecher said to me that he had
been in misery on account OF the wreng he
had committed againt Theodore Tilton and his
family; he said be was willing to make any
reparation that was within hls power. He
said Mr. Tilton, he thought would have been
a better man under the circumstances he was
placed in than he had been, that he felt that
be had done great wrong because ne was
Theodore Titon's friend, and he wept bitterly.
Well, received a note from Titon on the
morning of December 31st. asking me return
"Elzaheth's" confession. l went to Beecher's
house and said to him: "Do yeu remember
that asked you if anybody had seen the let
ter that Tilton wrote and sent to Bowen, and
YOU told me that no one else had seen it. L
told him wanted to read read letter from
Mrs. TitoD asking for the return OF the paper
she gave to him last night, and L read the let
ter. 1 said will read to you letter which
Mrs. Tilton told her husband she had given-a
letter of retraction-and read that also He
said be was surprised 1 said: "Mr. Beecher,
think you have been guilty of great mean
ness in getting the permission of husband to
visit his wife and going there and getting
from her what you know to be lie.
|, 1 said, 81 hold the confession of Elizabeth
will burn both or preserve both" aud he said,
'Iu case of my death, this will be the only de-
fence my family will have" l told hun he
ought TO abide by the truth, and asked him for
the retraction, and he handed it to me. l told
him would protect it, and, feeling my pistol
in my pocket, said, "to this extent, (pointing
to it) with my lfe." He said that since you
know the truth throw myself on your friend
ship, and desire you to save Inc, and he con-
sidered his sexual intercourse with Mrs. Illton
l 1f l.,
words he used. He said, "When to me now
there should come honor and rest, l find my
| self on the brink of a moral Niagara, and
call on you to save me-" letter shown.) That
is in Mrs. Tilton's hand writing. Letter read as
| follows:
Mrs 7Nton to Moulton:
SATURDAY MORNING.
! My Dear Frank-I want you to do me the
greatest possible favor. My letter which you
have and the one gave Mr.. Beecher at his die
tation, las evening, ought both to be destroyed.
Please bring both to me, and will burn them.
Show this note to Mr. Beecher and Theodore.
They will see the proprety of this request
(Signed) E. R. TnToN.
| After the interview with Beecher went to
my house and showed the letter of Mr..
| Beecher to Mr.. Tilton and then kept it, [ saw
Beecher on Jan. LIST at his house, where l met
him by his invitation. 1t was towards even
| ing. We had an interview in his study.
| told him had taken the retraction to Mrs. Til
| ton. that it would have been very foolish for
him to carry this threat on the morning into
execution, that Mr.. Tilton was pleased at the
retracton and that Mr.. Tlton had told he had
made up his mind to protect the reputation OF
Lis wife at all hazards. Then Mr.. Beecher said
he was in msefy on account OF his crime and
was willing to make any reparatlon within his
power. He thought Mr.. Tilton would be a
better man in his circumstances than he had
been. He wept bitterly on account OF his
crime, and 1 asked him why he didn't express
his own feelings to Tilton, and he told me to
| take pen and paper and write at his dictation,
| and wrote the letter of Jan. !, 1871. read
| the letter, and he read it and then signed it. l
read it as it is. He took it, read it and added
something to it. That is the letter. (Letter
shown and read in evdence) The last words,
II have trusted this to Moultou in confidence.
wrote the letter as he dictated. Letter read
He wrote the last words. told Beecher that
Tilton said that for going to bis wife and get
ting that retraction he would suit him. L left
| the house then. The last thing he said was
| that he wanted me to do my utmost for peace.
showed the letter of Jan. LIST to Mr.. Tilton
| the same evening, and saw Beecher on Jan.
ID at his house by invitation. told him that
Tiltons disposition seemed to ensure the keep
ing down of the story. L thought he had moth
| ing to apprebend from Tilton because he SEEM
ed bound to protect the reputation of his fam
lily. On tie evening of Jan. 18th Beecher asked
me if thought it would be safe to let the sale
of Plymouth church pews go on. / told him
thought it would. Beecher said that Eliza
beth Titon had asked him to come to the
house. that she said their relations were wrong,
and that he said if they were they would be
discontinued. They then prayed for help to
discontinue their. sexual relations and they
were discontinued in July, 1870. l told him
on Jan. I'd, that Mr.. Tlton was writing let
ter to Bowen. told him L would like to get
hold of that letter as would do anything in
my power to prevent an outbreak. told him
that Tilton intended to publish the correspon-
dence between himself and Oliver johnson,
which was to be embodied in this letter to
Bowen.
Mr. Tilton had been editor of the Indepen-
dent and associated with Bowen in the editor
ship of the Union. Beecher told me in rela-
ton to the letter he sent to Bowen he had
written letter retracting statement made 10
Bowen about a lady. This letter was sent on
account of my demonstrating with him for
making the lady's name known CThe letter
in question was handed to witness and identi-
fied.) ~
The counsel for prosecution read the letter
and the court suggested that the name of the
third person should be omitted. This was ac-
ceeded on agreement that the letter should all
be considered in the evidence.
January 4th-Beecher called to see me, Til
ton was there and they met in my presence
This meeting was accidental. Tilton spoke
with a WAIT of cordiality 1 said to Titon,
Don't you think your conduct here is wrong?
You have no business to treat. in my house,
Mr.. Beecher with such discourtesy. He has
done all in his power, and can't do any more,
and you should treat him at least civilly.
Beecher said: Theodore, hope you will see
that the expression Of contrition i'll my letter
will be lasting" .tses -of-
Mr.. Tilton told Beecher that he simply in
tended to protect his family. Tilton turned to
me and said, "How could you expect me to
treat this man ciyilly''
1 saw Beecher very frequently after this
at house. Once before the 10th of January L
read Beecher a letter sent by Tilton to Bowen.
(Witness was here handed the letter in ques-
ton which he identitied) The letter was read
in full as already published.
Witness went on to say that Beecher then
said the statement that he had confessed adul-
teres to Bowen, was untrue. Witness said, II
have a contract matter between Titon and
Bowen to settle, and don't want to bring this
matter into court if it will interrupt your rela-
lions with Tilton's family" He told Beecher
that he wanted to settle all matters peaceably,
and that in his opinion Bowen had acted treach-
erously to Titon and him (Beecher) and that
Titon wanted to publish that letter, as he
thought all about his family had been struck
out. Beecher said lie thought it necessary to
tell the witness the truth about the relations
between him and Mr.. Bowen, referred to in the
letter He said that he knew what Bowen re-
ferred to in this passage passage ready about
Beecher having taken lady in his arms and
throwing her violently on the sofa.
Evarts objected to the proffered explanation