CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THIS BOOK IS ONE OF A COLLECTION MADE BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 AND BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY THE BEECHEE CASE, COMPILED FROM "THE OFFICIAL RECORDS. WITH A PREFACE By EEY. LYMAN ABBOTT. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 649 AND 651 BROADWAY. 1876. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924082445788 MCONTEADICTED TESTIMONY IN THE BEECHEE CASE, COMPILED FROM THE OFFICIAL RECORDS. WITH A PREFACE EEV. LYMAN ABBOTT. NEW YORK: D, APPLETON AND COMPANY, 649 AND B51 BEOADWAT. 1876, / hereby certify that the citations in this pamphlet, purporting to te extracts from the testimony at the trial of Tilton m. Beeoheb, a/re correct citations from the official stenographic report thereof. A. F. WABBURTON, Stenographer. P EEFAO E Upon the trial of the case of Theodore Tilton against Henry Ward Beecher, Mr. Beecher explicitly denied, under oath, every confession imputed to him by Mr. and Mrs. Monlton and Mr. Tilton. An issue of fact, thus joined, can be determined in three ways : I. By the respective character of the witnesses. II. By the inherent probability of their stories. III. By a consideration of such of the facts in the case as are unquestioned. The American people are abundantly able to weigh the character of the parties, and the inherent probability of the accusation. The object of this pamphlet is to afford . the means of considering, the significance and weight of the un- contradicted testimony ; that is, the unquestioned facts in the case. After the defendant's case was closed, Mr. Tilton and Mr. Moulton were recalled, and did contradict a part of the testimony. In this pamphlet are included only such facts as they left uncontradicted. From the uncontradicted testimony it appears that, on the 30th day of December, 1870, Mr, Beecher, at Mr. Moul- 4 PREFACE. ton's request, met Theodore Tilton at Mr. Moulton's house j that Mr. Tilton then and there, in a private interview, pre- sented certain charges against Mr. Beecher, reading in sup- port of them from a memorandum in his hand ; that this- memorandum purported to contain a statement from Mrs, Tilton implicating Mr. Beecher; that Mr. Tilton destroyed the memorandum as he proceeded with the interview, and. subsequently destroy ed the original document, of which it purported to be a copy. "What that document contained, whether a charge of adul- tery or of improper solicitations, is one of the fundamental questions in this case. But several witnesses testify to Mr, Tilton's subsequent account of that interview, and he does- not deny, though going on the stand after their testimony was given, the truth of their testimony. That account, tiieref ore, is here given to the reader. It further appears by uncontradicted testimony that this charge, whatever it may have been, was obtained from Mrs. Tilton by her husband, at a time when she was confined ta her bed and greatly weakened by a dangerous illness ; that, on the same evening on which the original, charge was pre- sented to Mr. Beecher, he went, with the approbation of Mr. Tilton, to Mr. Tilton's house ; . that he there had an interview with Mrs. TUton, and received from her an exon- eration from the charge ; that subsequently, and within two or three weeks, friendly relations were reestablished between Mr. Beecher and Mr. Tilton ; that Mr. Beecher continued to visit in Mr. Tilton's family with Mr. Tilton's approval ; that Mr. Moulton, and to some extent Mr. Tilton,. continued ta maintain friendly relations with Mr. Beecher, and to avail themselves of his offices of friendship for over three years thereafter ; that Mrs. Moulton was on intimate social terms PREFACE. 5 -witli Mr. Beecher, at and after a time when she knew all that she now knows respecting his relations with Mrs. TUton ; and that she promised her own offices to comfort and help Mrs. Tilton in the domestic afflictions which had come upon ier. It further appears, still by imcontradicted testimony, that, ■from 1871 up to 1874, Mr. Tilton spoke to a number of per- sons of his grievance against Mr. Beecher ; that he wrote an article containing grave but indefinite implications against Mr. Beecher, and involving Mr. Bowen as his authority, in whole or in part, for them ; that Mr. Moulton threatened 31r. Bowen with the publication of such facts, in order to secure from him a settlement of Mr. Tilton's claim against Tiim for damages ; that, further, Mr. Tilton wrote down what lie called " The True Story," in which he gave what pur- ported to be a true narrative of all the facts in the case ; that not only in this statement, but in other ways, both in speak- ing and writing, he solemnly and repeatedly asserted his wife's "innocence ; and that not until the 20th of July, 1874, not till after Mr. Beecher had thrown down the gauntlet of defiance l)y calling for the appointment of a committee of investiga- tion by his church and congregation, did Mr. Tilton make any public charge of adultery, preceding it by a threatening mes- sage, sent to Mr. Beecher by the hands of Mr. Eedpath. These are the most important of the uncontradicted facts :that bear directly upon the main issue. The question will naturally occur to every mind. What is the motive for this persecution of Mr. Beecher, if it be not founded on either fact or a misapprehension of the facts in 'Kr. Tilton's mind ? On this question also there is a consid- erable amount of uncontradicted testimony. From this it iippears that Mr. Tilton, in 1870, was the editor and Mr. H, 6 PREFACE. C. Bowen was the proprietor of tlie New York Independent^ and that Mr. Beecher was the editor and part-proprietor of the ChrisUcm Union ; that the two were in some sense com- peting if not rival newspapers ; that in the fall of 18Y0, ow- ing to domestic difficnlties, Mrs. Tilton left her hnsband, sought Mr. Beecher's advice, and he, after conference witK his own wife and with one of the leading members of the church, advised a permanent separation ; that Mrs. Tilton afterward returned, on account of her child, to her husband's home ; that in December, 18Y0, in conference with Mr. H.. C. Bowen, Mr. Tilton prepared a letter, which Mr. Bowen: delivered, demanding that Mr. Beecher leave his pulpit; that Mr. Tilton's avowed object in that letter was, as ex- pressed by himself, "to strike Mr. Beecher to the heart;" that in this he failed ; that Mr. Beecher did not even deign- to reply to this demand; that Mr. Bowen refused to support Mr. Tilton, threatened him with instant dismissal if he made public the interview between them, and executed his threat, by closing, without notice, his contracts with Mr. Tilton as editor of the New York Independent and the BrooTclyn Union ; and that it was not till after these events that Mr. Tilton sought a personal interview with Mr. Beecher, and presented the charge based on the memorandum read as Mrs. Tilton's statement, whatever that was; that Mr. Moulton came into the case as Mr. Tilton's friend ; that he first intro- duced himself to Mr. Beecher, proffering his services to him,, and indicating his ability and desire to bring about a recon- ciliation between Mr. Beecher and Mr. Tilton; that, after- securing Mr. Beecher's confidence, he endeavored first ta secure the reinstatement of Mr. Tilton on the Independent^. then the establishment of a new paper for him ; and that, Mr. Beecher paid, through Mr. Moxdton, at various times^ PREFACE. 7 sums of money amounting in all to several thousand dollars, of which five thousand dollars went into Mr. Tilton's paper, the Golden Age, and the rest to help defray the school-hills of Miss Bessie Turner, z, protege of Mr. Tilton's. The reader is here left to draw his own conclusions. In this pamphlet the endeavor is only to set forth the essential facts in the case — ^not to argue it. Mr. Beecher wrote, at various times between 18Y1 and 1874, several confidential letters, chiefly to Mr. Moulton, in which he gave expression to strong feelings of poignant regret, for the unhappy result in the Tilton family, as he then supposed, of his own influence.' The most important document attributed to Mr. Beecher, and the only one bearing very directly on the case, was written by Mr. Moulton, on three loose sheets, to the last of which was appended a memorandum signed by Mr. Beecher. The accounts of the composition, as given by Mr. Moulton and Mr. Beecher, flatly and positively contradict each other. This letter is therefore given in full, and, in parallel col- imms, their testimony respecting its composition. The reader can judge for himself which is inherently the more probable account. Thus this pamphlet contains : I. The material facts in the case, as sworn to upon the trial, and left uncontradicted. II. A comparison of the conflicting testimony in respect" to the interview between Mr. Moulton and Mr. Beecher on the evening of January 1, 18Y1. ' These hare been published so often, that it is unnecessary to reproduce them here. It is well known that they imply an admission of some fault on Mr. Beecher's part, and that they do not contain any words clearly describing that fault. S PREFACE. This is believed to be all that is really necessary to a Tight and just conclusion respecting this extraordinary case. "WTiile its examination will not probably change the convic- tion of those who have already formed their judgment, it will enable those who desire to lay aside all rumors, gossip, scandal, and hearsay, and all doubtful, perplexed, and contra- dictory testimony in the case, and to base their judgment upon the sworn testimony and the imdisputed facts, to come to a just conclusion respecting it. UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY THE BEEOHER CASE HISTORY OF THE CASE. mr. beechee cails on the tiltons at sirst upon mr. til- ton's especial request — the manner of his calling — the nature of the intimacy that springs up in con- sequence. Mr. Beecher's Testimony. Q. Now, in what form and at what time was it that Mr. Til- ton began to invite or desire your visits to his house ? A. I have not particularly looked back, but I should say, from my general impression of it, that it was as early as 1860, or about that time — when we began to be together a good deal in oui editorial relations ; perhaps it might have been a little earlier than that. Q. But, as a matter of fact, until after they went to Mrs. Morse's from Oxford Street were you in the habit of visiting there ? A. I don't think I was, sir. Q. How did Mr. Tilton speak on the subject of desiring your visits at his house, or your better acquaintance with his ■wife ? A. Well, he spoke very admiringly and simply of her ; I mean by simply, I recollect having a pleasant feeling how , every man thinks that he has found the one woman of all the world ; I recollect once, when he had been talking to me, think- 10 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY ing what a blessed constitution that was ; and I recollect another time when he spoke of himself as being "the fortunate diver " — of all others he had brought up the pearl ; and I recollect his speaking in this wise on one occasion : " You have no idea what a wife I have got ; " and I have heard him say — ^he said to me on divers occasions — " Why don't you come down and see me just as you do your other friends ? " I made the same reply to him that I make to a great many that have given me such invi- tations. He said : " We will do just as much for you as they will." And I replied : " I am afraid you will do too much ; that is my great trouble in visiting where there is excitement ; I cannot bear it in addition to my other work, and I must go where there is quiet." " Well," said he, " you shall be just as quiet as you are a mind to ; we won't do anything for you." And on another occasion I recollect he said of his wife : " There is one little woman down at my house that loves you more than you have any idea of." And I heard him say on another occa- sion: "Lib" — no, something to this effect — "You have. as fast a friend in Lib as one needs ;" or something to that effect. Q. During the period of the residence of this family at their last house in Livingston Street, what was the manner of your visits there, Mr. Beecher, say on to the year 1870 ? A. I can- not exactly tell the manner, because I don't know as there was any special manner, one way or the other. I know that the post-office used to be on the corner — near the corner of Wash- ington Street and Court — and that my habit was then to go down and take my letters, after I had got through my morning study; to take my letters in my hands, and read them as I went along, and drop in there for a half-hour in the morning, or along there, and then make any little calls that I wanted to make, and frequently I rounded — I went over the ferry to New York, and came back home to my dinner. It was a little exer- cise, a walk after my literary work of the morning. Q. Was your habit then to complete your work in the morn- ing ? A. I have always been an early riser and an early worker.. Q. And you completed your literary work early ? A. Yes, sir ; by ten o'clock I usually am done with my study, Q. And then you went out for recreation or exercise ? A. IN THE BEECHER CASE. 11 Yes, sir ; for exercise, or Oii errands, or to my editorial work, or any other. Q. So that whatever calls you did make at this house were, as you understand, at that time of day, and in that connection ? A. In the immense majority of instances. Q. Now, have you any recollection, Mr. Beecher, of any habit of calling there in the evening, or of calls there in the evening ? A. No, sir, I have not, except when there was com- pany, or some consultation committee ; in the years 1867, 1868, and 1869, I may have been there a few times, but it was not only contrary to my habit, it was impossible ; my evenings are mostly engaged in speaking, or in equivalent work. Q. So that you have no habit of making calls in the evening anywhere? A. No, sir. Q. Your familiar calls with others, with other families of your intimates, were they in the daytime usually ? A. Almost always, unless I strolled up to friend Howard's in the evening, after meeting with him, but the ordinary little neighborhood, calls that I made usually, I made about five o'clock in the after- noon — I mean near people, near calls. Q. How frequently did you. see Mr. Tilton at his own housOy do you think ? A. I should think as often — he was there as often as he was not there ; that is, I should think that half the time he might have been there, and half the time not, just as the case would be. When he worked in his own house — wrote, as he often did — then he would be at home. Q. At those hours of your calls ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you remember, early in the year 1870, taking Mrs> Tilton out to drive ? A. I do. Q. And how did the first occasion of that courtesy arise ? A. I don't know how it arose ; I only know I had bought a pair of fine grays, and it was not yet time to go up to my place, so I was keeping them here for a week or two ; I went down one bright morning in the buggy and took her out to the park ; the only other time I recollect was — I don't know whether a fort- night later, but I met Mrs. Morse in the mean time, and she praised me, and begged that I would give Lib a ride whenever I could, for I had no idea how much good it did her ; and be- fore the horses went up to the farm I took her a second time. 12 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY Q. You went there a second time after this conversation -with Mrs. Morse ? A. I did. Q. Whom did you see there then ? A. Mrs. Tilton ? Q, And Mr. Tilton ? A. Him first ; I think he was in the •window when I drove up, and he saw me come up ; I did not get out of the buggy ; he talked with me there on various ihings that I don't remember ; I said to him, " I have come to take Lib out to ride," or " your wife out to ride ; " and he dialled her to the door ; she was within the house ; I then spoke -to her and said, " Mrs. Tilton, I have called to see if you would not like to ride ;" she declined, and he playfully reproached her and said : " Go in, get your things — go in, and get your things and take a ride ;" thereupon she went in and came out, and I iook her to ride. FKEQUENCT OF MB. BEBCHBe's VISITS. Q. During the period, say from the beginning of the residence in the house 174 Livingston Street up to the year 1870, with ■what degree of frequency are you able to state that you made any visits, either upon invitation, set occasion, or ordinary calls, at the house of Mr. Tilton ? A. . Do I understand you to limit it from 1867 to 1870 ? Q. Yes, I will take it from 1866 on to 1870. A. I should say, sir, that, speaking of averages, I saw them from once in ten days to once in three weeks. Q. As averaging during' the times that you were — A. That I was in town. Q. That you were in town ? A. Yes ; my visits there were not more than thirteen times a year, according to the best com- putation that I can make of them ; but that leaves out my sum- mer vacations, and my lecturing, and so on. Q. Now, during these visits, what was the manner of them, and what were the subjects of conversation — in general, I mean ? A. You ask two questions in one. Q. Well, then, we will take the answer of both. A. May I ask you to explain what you mean by the " manner ? " Q. I mean what was the manner between you and Mrs. Tilton during the visits, and what were the topics of conversa- tion ? A, Well, the manner was very much such as is my man- IN THE BEECHER CASE. 13 ner in my own house with my own family ; it was very simple, and without the slightest formality ; they kept an open, hos- pitable house, and left all their friends the utmost personal free- dom ; there was great propriety, with as little conventionality as I ever saw in a family ; and therefore I felt perfectly free to go in and out as I chose, almost. Q. How was it in regard to the presence of the children and their participation in your visits ? A. They were almost always- present ; at any rate, I felt I had lost a visit if they were not. Q. And were your visits in part devoted to them ? A. No inconsiderable part of many of my visits, and sometimes alto- gether. Q. Now, the subjects of conversation ? A. As various as the interests of the church ; of the phases of Bethel experiences, of the movements — the reformatory movements of the time, in which we are all engaged; of books, of literature, and, above all, of Theodore Tilton. MRS. TILTOn's CHEISTIAIT CHAEACTBE — HEB LOVE POE HER HTTS- BAND — HER TETJTHPUINBSS HER PURITY. Mr. Seecher's Testimony. Q. During this long acquaintance with Mrs. Tilton did you come to have, as you supposed, an intimate knowledge of her character, her temperament, and her intelligence ? A. I think I did. Q. Now, what estimate did you form concerning her mental and moral character ? A. At first I thought she was a woman of great simplicity and purity, and of fair intelligence. As I became better acquainted with her I admired her domestic traits ; and that which only after some considerable acquaint- ance I found out, was, a very deep and unusually-religious na- ture, developing itself so differently from what we see ordinarily, that it struck me very much. Q. In what regard did it strike you — what form of develop- ment ? A. Well, it was — I don't know that I can tell it ex- actly unless by saying what are the usual forms that we perceive. 14 TTNCONTRADIOTED TESTIMONY Some religious characters develop themselves in ethical strength and conscientiousness in all duties ; some persons develop them- selves in their religious nature more largely in social enthusiasm and generosities ; and some persons develop themselves in ven- eration and awe. Now, it was. a very unusual sight for me to see, as in her case, a person whose religious character devel- oped itself in the two forms, of ecstatic devotion, serenity, peace, and trust in God, and also in the form of generous, social sympathy and excitement. Q. Was Mrs. Tilton, under your observation, actively en- gaged in benevolent work ? A. Incessantly. Q. Were you aware of it all the while it was going on ? A. Hardly a visit that she was not talking to me about some case that she had in hand, some poor man, or some family, or something of the class of married women of which she was then the superintendent in the Bethel, or at some period of the time was in connection with. Mrs. I*utnam}s Testimony. Q. Will you state what was Mrs. Tilton's religious charac- ter ? A. She had a very exalted religious character, a highly spiritualized religious character, and the chief element of her religious character was love. I used often to think that she manifested the most of the love of Christ, the love that could overlook sin and fault and personal wrong to herself, of any per- son that I ever knew ; she lived in a spiritual atmosphere ; it was so — Q. You say that she overlooked faults easily against herself ; but, did she overlook faults in herself ? A. No, sir ; she was very severe, very rigid, in her judgment of herself ; morbidh' so, I always thought ; and I labored with her many times to convince her that she did herself wrong. If she had committed the slightest oflFense against a friend, or had neglected a friend in any way, or had dropped an incautious word, that she thought might pos- sibly wound, she gave herself great sorrow over it ; has often written me long letters about some little thing that I had utterly forgotten, and was not conscious that she had committed an error, often calling herself very severe names — IN THE BBEOHBE CASE. 15 Q. Mrs. Putnam, will you state, what was Mrs. Tilton's char- acter for truthfulness? A. I never had the slightest hesita- tion in relying upon Mrs. Tilton's word in anything but one direction, Q. What direction was that ? A. I don't think she was al- ways truthful with reference to her husband's faults. . She some- times made statements that I think were not truthful in refer- ence to her husband's faults, endeavoring to cover up her hus- band's faults. Q. Was there any point of weakness in Mrs. Tilton's charac- ter, in your observation ? A. Yes, sir ; there was one point of weakness. Q. What was that? A. She never seemed to have the power of living out her own life in opposition to her husband's wishes ; she was perfectly dominated, apparently, by his will. Q, Will you please describe what you saw of Mrs. Tilton with respect to her attachment to her husband and her children during the entire period of your acquaintance with her ? A, I never saw any wife or mother so unselfishly and utterly devoted to a family as Mrs. Tilton was to hers. - 1 used to feel that Mrs, Tilton's greatest fault was a blind idolatry of her husband. Q. Did that continue down to a period later than 1868 ? A. I never have seen her when she has not manifested the same. Q. When she manifested it ? A. She always manifested it. Q. Have you noticed anything with regard to Mrs. Tilton's treatment of Mr. Tilton's parents and bis brother ? A. She has always been a very devoted, faithful friend, always ministering to them in all ways. I have often been there when she has put me aside far the time being because she felt that she must min- ister to them, and asked me to excuse her. Q. Mr. Tilton had a brother who died finally of some infirmi- ties. Do you recollect anything of Mrs. Tilton's treatment of him, and conduct towards him ? A. I have often seen her in her ministrations to him, and her care for his 'comfort, and have been very much impressed by it. 16 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY ME. TILTON IS OEIGrfTALLT A GEE AT ADMIEBE 01" ME. BEECH EB, BUT COMBS TO THE CONCLUSION THAT HE HAS BEEN PARTLY' OVEERATED — CEASES TO ATTEND CHUECH — AND TELLS A. CONEIDBNTIAL FEIBND HOW TO "MANAGE HIM. Testimony of Mrs. Putnam. Q. Now, in the fall of this year, 1866, did you have anj further conversation with Mr. Tilton on the subject of his attend- ance at church ? A. I did, sir. Q. Did he tell you what his habits were at that time with regard to attendance at church, and how often he had been at church? a! He told me he had nearly given up church-going; he very seldom went ; that when he went, he went more to hear good music, or to accompany some friend, and occasionally he went with Elizabeth, but church, as an institution, he had given up, and priestcraft he had given np. Q. Did he compare the drama with the Gospel in any way ? A. Yes, sir. He repeated pretty much what I said before. He said he preferred the platform to the pulpit, and the drama to what I would call preaching the Gospel. He said Mr. Beecher's genius was very much overrated ; that Mr. Beecher's power over people was through his moral quali- ties, his magnanimity and his great-heartedness. He said that he was such a believer in his fellow-man, and he said that peo- ple were tired of the old Calvinistic doctrines, they were tired of decrees and so forth, characterizing the Calvinistic doctrines, and they went to hear Mr. Beecher because they got something fresh, something new, and something that was varied. He said that Mr. Beecher was the most magnanimous man that he ever saw ; he said he often was imposed upon, but, if people knew him as well as he did, they could impose upon him a great deal more than they did. He said that magnanimity was Mr. Beech- er's quality, was his moral characteristic. . • • ■ ♦ ' • • Q. Did Mr. Tilton say anything with regard to Mr. Beecher's inability to understand how any one should punish ? A. He analyzed Mr. Beecher's character again ; he spoke again of Mr. IN THE BEECHER CASE. 17 Beeoher's great magnanimity, and his love and forgiveness ; he said that Mr. Beecher's power lay there ; he said people thought it was his genius, but it was not his genius ; Mr. Beecher was ■overestimated in his genius very much ; there were a great many men in the world who had more genius than Mr. Beecher ; but lie said Mr. Beecher never could lay up anything against any one ; it was utterly impossible ; he never could be willing to see any one punished for anything they had done. Q. Did he say anything about the effect upon Mr. Beecher's mind of doing him a wrong ? A. Yes, sir. Q. What was it? A. He said Mr. Beecher had a very peculiarly constituted mind, and if one wanted to enlist bim in their behalf the best way to do it was to abuse Mr. Beecher. Q. What did he say Mr. Beecher would do then ? A. He said he would exert his best powers to deliver them from any difficulty they had gotten into from him. Q. What did he say about Mr. Beecher's course in case he {Mr. Beecher) had injured anybody — what he would do if he were made to believe that he had injured anybody ? A. I re- member the impression he left on my mind ; I don't know as I can remember the language. Q. We only require the substance of the language ; of course you cannot remember the exact words. A. He said that it was impossible to do anything to Mr. Beecher that he would not forgive and overlook — commit any offense against him ; that he was very sensitive himself to anything he had done to others, but it was one of his peculiar characteristics ; his mind was peculiarily constructed in that respect ; that if he thought he had ever injured a person he would leave no effort — he would put forth every effort he possibly could to comfort them and help them, and to do away with what might have been an in- jury to them. He said he was a man very tender of people's feelings — exceedingly so — and that his peculiar constitution of mind subjected him to great imposition from those who were designing. 2 18 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY ME. TILTON HAS PBCULIAE NOTIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF KISS- ING, AND UBGES THBIE ADOPTION BY HIS WIFE. Q. What was the habit of all that circle of friends with re- gard to greeting in the morning ? Including Mr. Tilton, Mrs, Tilton, and Mrs. Putnam? A. They always were very cordial and warm, and always greeted each other with a kiss — always calling each other by their first names, after the style of the Friends. Q. Did you ever have any conversation on the subject of this mode of greeting friends with Mr. Tilton ? A. I did once. Q. Will you state what that conversation was ? A. He apol- ogized to me for his habit of kissing people ; said that he con- sidered it Scriptural; that the Bible said, "Greet one another with an holy kiss," and he thought he liked the Oriental style of kissing ; he liked to see gentlemen kiss, and he should be very sorry to see his wife with the fastidious notions that some ladies had on the subject of kissing. He referred to his brother- in-law, Mr. Joseph H. Richards — he says : " Joseph doesn't ap- prove of our cordial, free style of intercourse, but," he says, " I think it is the true style ; I don't like to just greet my friends- with a shake of the hand ; I like to give them a kiss, and I like- to have my wife do it." MB. TILTON BEGINS TO BECOME BSTEANGED FEOM HIS WIFE,, AND TO TEEAT HEE HAESHLT. Bessie Turner's Testimony. Q. Was be in the habit of scolding Mrs. Tilton ? A, Yes,, sir; I have heard him scold her frequently. Q. Will you state the manner of doing ? not the words, but the manner. Did he do it before others and in private, or only before others ? A. He did it before his children and myself. Q. Was he ever in the habit of doing it elsewhere ? A„ Yes, sir ; I have heard him. Q. Will you state his habit in that regard ? A. He has had IN THE BEECHER CASE. 19 her in a room, with the door looked, several times, talking very angrily and loudly. Q. Did you ever on those occasions hear any profane expres- sions used towards her ? A, Yes, sir ; I have heard him swear at her. Q. How long would he remain with her in the room, with the door locked on the inside, while he was expressing his mind ? A. Sometimes for three or four hours. Q. When she came out from one of those lectures what was her condition usually? A. She was very much troubled, and her eyes were always red, as if she had been weeping. Q. On these occasions did she raise her voice when he raised his ? A. No, sir ; I never heard her. Q. Was this a'matter that occurred at different times ? Was this locking himself up with her in a room, and lecturing her, a thing that occurred at various times ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, how many times in all do you remember of her being thus locked up in the room by him ? A. Oh ! a number of times. Q. You have referred to an occasion when Mr. Tilton ob- served that Mrs. Tilton was one of the most selfish women that ever lived ; did that occur more than once ? A. That is the only time that I recall, at that table. Q. Now, what gave rise to that observation ? A. Mr. Til- ton had a little dish of something on the table ; I don't know whether it was quails or broiled oysters, I think it was one of the two, and he helped himself very liberally, and then passed it to Mrs. Tilton, and Mrs. Tilton said: "Let the chil- dren have it if there is any left ; let the children have it," and Florence Tilton looked up and said : " Mamma, I think you are one of the most unselfish women that ever lived ; " Theodore Tilton looked right straight at his daughter, and he said : " Your mother is one of the most selfish women that ever lived ; " that is the way he said it. Q. When was it that he made use of the term that that arose out of Mrs. Tilton's orthodoxy ? A. That was another time, at the table. 20 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY Q. Do you recollect when it was, what year it was ? A. No, sir ; during those three years. Q. What occurred then ? A. Florence had had some queer notions about not eating any animal food, or anything that crawled, eggs, or anything that had been alive at all, and one morning — I think Mr. Tilton asked Florence to have some meat, and she refused, and he shook his head and said that was all her mother's damned orthodoxy. AT LENGTH MRS. TILTON LEAVES HEE HUSBAND — THE FACT IS EEPOETED BT MISS TTTENEK TO MB. BEECHEE, TO HIS GEEAT SUEPEISE, DECBMBEE, 1870 HE COtTNSELS A PEEMANENT SEPAEATION. Mr. JSeecher's Testimony. Q. Do you remember Miss Bessie Turner coming to see you in the early part of December, 1870 ? A. I do. Q. Did she call more than once upon you in — at that period ? A. She may have called more than once, but I remember only once. Q. Do you remember about when it was in December ? A. I should say it was not far from the middle of December, rather earlier than later. Q. You have already stated it was before your call at Mrs. Morse's. A. Oh, yes, sir. Q. Will you be so good as to state, as you recollect, the in- terview that occurred between you and Miss Bessie Turner, giv- ing the words as you can, or the substance as you remember ? A. AUow me to say that in every interview that I shall narrate I profess to give only the substance, and, if there be an excep- tion, I wUl mention it. In regard to the visit of Miss Turner, she called upon me, I should think, about the middle of the fore- noon as I recall it, and said that she was requested — she was sent to ask that I would go down and see Mrs. Tilton at her mother's house; that she had left her husband and did not intend to return, and they wished to see me ; I expressed amazement, and she then — perhaps I asked, " What is the oc- casion of such a step ? " She told me that she was worn out with ill-treatment in her family ; that Mr. Tilton had been for a IN THE BEECHER CASE. 31 long time, to her personal knowledge, treating her with great severity. She was not a little excited — Q. You mean Miss Turner? A. Miss Turner was not a little excited in narrating to me some few incidents of this treatment. When I rather expressed a surprise, she replied, as if interpreting it into a doubt of her, that she was herself cognizant of his violence ; I think she told me that he had struck her, but she certainly told me that he had on two occasions sought her company in her own bed or in his, and that he had told her that such expressions of love were as natural as kissing or as caressing ; that, I think, is the substance of her interview in a few words. Q. Had you heard from any source anything of this kind con- cerning Mr. Tilton and Miss Turner before this ? A. I had not. Q. Had you before that heard or known of any disposition or purpose of her separating from her husband in any way ? A. I never had. Q. Then what Bessie Turner said to you then was the first intimation or information on the subject that you had ? A. It was a revelation ; I never dreamed of it before, that I know of. Q. Was the result of that, that you visited Mrs. Tilton ? A. It was. Q. Did you, before going, confer with any one else on the subject, or take any one with you ? A. Not that I recall ; I do not recall speaking to any one of it, and I know I did not take any one with me. Q. You went to Mrs. Tilton's ? A. I went to Mrs. Morse's, and found Mrs. Tilton. Q. And Mrs. Morse also ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you see them together, or Mrs. Tilton alone ? A. Both ; on the first visit, I think, I saw them together. Q. And not Mrs. Tilton apart ? A. That is my impression, sir. Q. Now, be so good as to state what occurred there. A. The conversation was very little with Mrs. Tilton ; it was almost entirely on the part of Mrs. Morse, in Mrs. Tilton's presence. It consisted in the general representation to me of the great un- happiness of that family. 22 UNCOSTEADICTED TESTIMONY Q. Of Mr. Tilton's family? A. Of Mr. Tilton's family; of his treatment of his wife, which she had borne, as the mother thought, with angelic patience, until it was no longer tolerable ; and that, at last, she had been driven to the resolution of leav- ing him, and they wished counsel of me as it respects the pro- priety of such an act as that. I made comparatively few re- marks ; the interview was not long ; I said, " This is a case in which I feel that a man can't give the best counsel ; it is a case, it seems to me, where a woman is needed ; and if you will allow me I should be glad to bring my wife and let her hear, for I think much of her judgment about such things." Mrs. Morse — they both seemed quite excited, pleasurably ; Mrs. Morse said, " Will she come ? I will bless her, if she will come, as long as I live ; " I said, " Surely she will come if I wish her ; " and that constitutes — about that — the first interview. Q. Now, when did you next see Mrs. Tilton in connection with this subject, and with whom, and what occurred then ? A. I think it was the next day, sir ; with my wife I visited them. Q. You communicated to your wife what had happened, I suppose ? A. I did. Q, And then you went together ? A. We went together. Q. And whom did you see? A. Mrs. Morse and Mrs. Tilton. Q. What occurred then ? A. I am not clear as to the whole. The two circumstances that I recall are that after a few general remarks — and what they were I don't remember — Mrs. Tilton went up-stairs with my wife, and they had an interview by themselves, Mrs. Morse staying with me. Then after, I should think, about a half -hour, Mrs. Tilton came down and Mrs. Morse went up to see Mrs. Beecher, leaving Mrs. Tilton and myself. I have a recollection of only one single thing that I said to Mrs. Tilton. Q. When alone ? A. When alone. " How is it," I said, " that I have been so long with you and you never alluded be- fore to me about distress in your household ? " And her gen- eral answer — ^I cannot give her words — was that she sought to conceal, in the hope that the difficulty would pass away ; and then I talked to her in respect to the household relations. I recollect giving her some counsel as to bearing and continuing patient — " Let patience have her perfect work " — and I joined IN THE BBEOHER CASE. 23 ■with her in prayer, and most of the time that I was with her I •was praying with her. Q. On this occasion? A. While my wife and Mrs. Morse — 4heir interview was not a prolonged one — wereup-stairs. Q. Well, did your wife and Mrs. Morse return to the room -where Mrs. Tilton was ? A. I don't remember ahout Mrs. JSIorse. My wife came down-stairs, and after some few general remarks we said — I said, in behalf of myself and wife — ^that we would think this over and in. a very short time give them some .final word ; that probably we would see them again. Then I .left, and the day following Mrs. Beecher and I talked the mat- ter over, and we agreed substantially in regard to the whole Kiuty of the household, and the relations of husbands and wives. After that consultation with my wife she was to go down again, and she went down while I was with company at my house ; .she had her things on ; she came and told me that she was going down ; I could not allude to the subject without betray- ing it ; I went to my table and wrote her this note as my judg- .Tnent as to what I thought was best to be done. I incline to think that your view is right, and that a separation and -a settlement of support will be wisest. HOW THE "POLICY OF SILENCE" BEGAN. .MB. BBECHEE TAKES COUNSEL WITH A LEADING OFFICBE OP THE CHUECH, ME. GBOEGE A. BELL, AND PEOPOSES TO PUT MES. TILTOn's case IN THE CHAEGE OF THE DEACONESSES, BUT IS DISSUADED BT ME. BELL. Mr. £eU's Testimony. After recounting an interview with Mr. Beecher about the -middle of December, 1870, in which Mr. Beecher communicated the facts narrated by him concerning Mr. and Mrs. Tilton, as testified to above by Mr. Beecher, Mr. Bell continues : He [Mr. Beecher] said then that he preferred to hand the XQatter over to Mrs. Beecher ; that it was a matter a lady could manage better than a gentleman, and Mrs. Beecher intended hj his suggestion to go and see Mrs. Tilton the next day ; the 24 tTNCONTKADIOTED TESTIMONY question was particularly as to what advice Mrs. Beecher should give to Mrs. TUton ; I don't know whether from Mrs. Beeoher or from him the question came up about a permanent separa- tion, but from one or the other that suggestion was made — of a permanent separation between Mr. and Mrs. Tilton — and Mr. Beeoher asked me what I thought of that ; I said in answer : " Of course, nothing else can be possible ; it is impossible for Mrs. Tilton to live another day with Mr. Tilton on such facts as you have presented to me." Then Mr. Beecher asked me if I thought it would be well to call in any of the ladies of the Church ; I am not sure whether deaconesses were mentioned then, as I am not quite sure that we had them at that time,'' but it is clear in my memory that he did ask me if the advice of any of the ladies of the Church should be called for — or that the matter should be handed over to the ladies of the Church — any of the ladies, to manage. I said, unquestionably not ; it was a matter of great delicacy, far more easUy managed by a. few than by many, and it would be exceedingly harmful to bring it into the Church, or even to hand it over to any ladies un- officially, and that I was certain that the best management of the case would be to have it left in his own hands, and thos& of Mrs. Beecher." A WEEK OK TWO lATBE MK. BOWEN BEINGS TO MR. BEBCHEE A. UETTEE FEOM THBODOEE TILTON, IN WHICH THE LATTEE DE- MANDS THAT ME. BEECHEE EESIGN HIS PUIPIT AND LEAVE THE CITY THE OBJECT OF THE LBTTBE, HE STATES TO BE TO STEIKE ME. BEECHEE TO THE HBAET. Mr. Beecher'' s Testimony and Mr. Tilton's Statements. Q. Do you remember, Mr. Beecher, on or about Christmas- day, or the day celebrated as Christmas that year, the 26th of December, a call from Mr. Bowen, and the presentation of a let- ter to you ? A, I do, sir. ' The records of the Church show that six deaconesses were then in office,, haying been instituted on Mr. Beecher's motion. » Thus the alleged adulterer turns over his alleged paramour to Ms man wife- for advice, and, not content with that, desires to have her case also investigated by six other ladies ! And this is shown by one of the plaintiff's witnesses. IN THE BEECHEE CASE. 35 The letter is presented to the witness and identified. It is in the following wGrds : December 36, 1870, Bboobxtn. Hbnkt Waed Bebchbk. SiK : I demand that, for reasons which you explicitly understand, you immediately cease from the ministry of Plymouth Church, and that you quit the city of Brooklyn as a residence. (Signed) Theodokb Tilton.' Q. Please state what Mr. Bowen said in bringing in and handing you the letter ? A. He said that he had a letter for me from Mr. Tilton — that, as he was coming this way, he had offered to bring it to me for Mr. Tilton. Q. And did he sit while you opened it ? A. He did. Q. You opened it and read it ? A. I did. Q. "What did you say to Mr. Bowen on reading it ? A. I said, substantially this : " This is sheer insanity ; this man is crazy." Q. Then what passed between you ? A. I made some ex- pression, but I cannot recall even the substance of it, except an expression — a sort of indignant surprise that Mr. Tilton should write me such a letter as that ; and Mr. Bowen then proceeded, to say that he and Mr. Tilton had had some differences them- selves, and, without standing on the order in which the conver- sation went, he commenced talking about Mr. Tilton, and not favorably ; it gave rise to a conversation in which he said that he had — as I was aware — dismissed Mr. TUton from the editor- ship of The Independent ; he had become only a contributor to that paper ; that when he had made up his mind to do that, it was on account of business reasons ; Mr. Tilton's views were not acceptable, and that the paper was suffering in consequence of them, or was liable to suffer, I don't remember which ;'that, however, as soon as he had reduced him to a subordinate posi- tion on the paper, that man after man — multitudes, he said — came in to him with stories affecting Mr. Tilton's moral charac- ter — clouds, he said — and that he was amazed ; he said he never ' Mr. Tilton thus states his object in sending this note to Mr. Beecher : Q. What was your object in sending it ? A. My object was to strike him right to the heart, sir. 36 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY -was so astonished in his life, and, on making inquiry of one and another, he said they, seemed to grow thicker and thicker. Mr. Bowen said that he had made up his mind that Mr. Tilton •could not stay on The Independent in any relation, and that he -was in grave doubt whether he could have him upon The Brook- lyn Union ; I said to Mr. Bowen that The Independent was dear to me, no matter what had come and gone between us — that it was the paper with which I had begun my life here in Brooklyn, and I felt a Warm side toward it, and it was my judg- ment that a man that was tainted as Mr. Tilton was could not properly be retained on such a paper as that without doing it damage ; as it respected The Brooklyn Union, I did not say anything about that, as it was a political paper, only that I thought Mr. Tilton an impracticable man, that he was not apt iio agree with parties or with movements, except so far as he led them, and that I thought that as the editor of the Republican organ in Brooklyn he would be found to be a man that would get his paper into trouble. Q. Did you mention to Mr. Bowen at this time anything re- garding Mrs. Tilton's separation, or application in reference to separation, that had been made to you ? A. I did ; that was the point on which I referred him to my wife. Q. Now, sir, did anything more occur at that interview that you can rehearse to us ? A. Nothing, except that Mr. Bowen grew more and more friendly, and in view of this attack, or Tather this warning to send me out of town — I was not ready to go then, and expressed myself so to him — he said that he would stand by me as a friend. Q. Do you remember what time of day this was ? A. Well, it was just before dark, I should say. TOUK DATS LATEB ME. TILTON SEEKS AN rNTEBVIEW WITH ME. BEECHEE AND lATS HIS 6EIEVANCES BEFORE HIM OS DE- CEMBEE 30, 1870. Mr. TiltorHs Account, as reported hy him to Charles Starrs and others. Four days after the delivery of Mr. Tilton's note to Mr. Beecher, by the hands of Mr. Bowen, Mr. Beecher goes at Mr. IN THE BEECHER CASE. 27 Moulton's request, and in his company, to his house, and there meets Mr. Tilton. The interview between them is without wit- nesses. Their accounts are in conflict. They agree, however, in respect to these essential facts : (1) that there was such an interview ; (3) that in it Mr. Tilton presented certain complaints to Mr. Beecher of ill-treatment or injury ; (3) that he read from a memorandum containing what purported to be a copy of a writ- ten statement from Mrs. Tilton ; (4) that this memorandum was obtained from Mrs. Tilton on the 39th of December, at a time when she was in bed and greatly weakened by serious illness ; (5) that, at the time of this interview with Mr. Beecher, Mr. Til- ton destroyed the copy and afterward destroyed the original ; {6) and that, with his approbation, Mr. Beecher went directly to his house, for the purpose of seeing Mrs. TUton, and did see her, and received from her a retraction of the charges embodied in the memorandum. What the memorandum in Mr. Tilton's hands, and the origi- nal from which itwas copied, contained, is one of the critical questions in this case, Mr. Beecher asserting that it contained a oharge against him of improper proposals, and Mr. Tilton assert- ing that it embodied a confession of adultery. We give, therefore, in lieu of their conflicting testimony, the uncontradicted testi- mony as to Mr. Tilton's report of this interview immediately after it occurred, and his statements at that time respecting his griev- ances against Mr. Beecher. On the 3d of January, Monday, New Year's day, Mr. Charles Storrs called on Mr. Tilton, who was an intimate friend, and in the interview Mr. Tilton told him of his troubles. Q. Was anything said about his having been discharged ? A. I asked him if he had been discharged from The Indepen- dent and the Union, and he said he had. Q. What further was said ? A. He said he wanted me to go right round to Frank Moulton's with him. Q. Did you go ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you have any conversation on your way there ? A. We did. Q. What was it? A. I asked him what the trouble was. Well, he said that Mr. Beecher, Mrs. Beecher, and Mrs. Morse, had been talking against him to Mr. Bowen and influencing him 28 imCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY against him ; and he also said that they had influenced his wife against him ; and he said that a lady had made false charges to Mr. Bowen about him. ... He said that he would not say that they could not say some things against him, but he wanted justice ; and he said that if he had seen me he should have come to me, but he had seen Mr. Moulton — Frank Moulton — and that he had put his matters between Mr. Bowen and Mr. Beecher into his hands for settlement, and that Mr. Moulton did not want him to say much about it. Q. When you got to Mr. Moulton's house whom did you see ? A. I saw Mr. Moulton. Q. Did you have a conversation with Mr. Tilton and Mr, Moulton ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was anything said there in regard to Tilton's difficulty with Mr. Bowen ? A. Mr. Tilton repeated what he had said on the way, about Mr. Beecher and Mrs. Beecher and Mrs. Morse having influenced Mr. Bowen ; and Mr. Tilton also then stated that Mrs. Morse and Mrs Beecher had also influenced Bessie Turner to tell somethings about him. . . . And -Mr. Moulton stated that it was all wrong, his being discharged, that it was a mistake ; and that he, Tilton, should be reinstated. He said that Mr. Tilton was the same to The Independent as Mr. Greeley was to The New Torh Tribune ; and that he should see Mr. Bowen to have him reinstate him. Q. Had you any further conversation with him on the sub- ject of his difficulties ? A. Yes, sir. Q. What did he say to you ? A. Well, he repeated about Mr. Beecher, and Mrs. Beecher, and Mrs. Morse having influ- enced Mr. Bowen against him, and then he said that his wife had told him about improper proposals by Mr. Beecher, and he said when he learned that, he sent for Mr. Beecher, by Mr. Moulton, to come to Mr. Moulton's house to see him, and he said that Mr. Beecher came there, and when he came there he made this charge against him of improper proposals to his wife, and he said Mr. Beecher seemed astonished, and said that it tjould not be so, and Mr. Tilton made a motion as though he was taking something out of his pocket, and he said : " I took out a piece of paper ; " I forget whether he said he read it or gave it to Mr. Beecher to read, and he said Mr. Beecher seemed surprised and said, " That IN THE BEECHER CASE. 39 it could not be so," said Elizabeth could not have said it because it was not true ; " Well," he said, " if you don't believe it, go ask Elizabeth ; " he said that Mr. Beecher did go and see his wife, and got from her a retraction, that there had never been any improper proposals, and he said, " When I found this out I was very angry, I told Mr. Moulton and he was very angry," and he says " Mr. Moulton went to Mr. Beecher with a pistol, and made him give it up and make an apology." In the winter of 1872 and 1873, Mr. Tilton reduced to writ- ing what he called " The True Story," which he showed to vari- ous friends — among others to Mr. Redpath, and which he pro- posed to publish. His account in this "True Story" of his wife's letter, and the interview based on it, with Mr. Beecher, is also inserted here. It substantially agrees with Mr. Tilton's statements to Mr. Storrs, and with Mr. Beecher's account of the interview between himself and Mr. Tilton, so far as the nature of the charge preferred against Mr. Beecher by Mr. Tilton is concerned, though, according to Mr. Tilton's sworn testimony, the written statement of Mrs. Tilton was not given to Mr. Til- ton till the last of December, 1870, and at the time of Mrs. Til- ton's illness : In the summer of 1870, a few months after I had undertaken, in addition to editing The Independent, to edit also The SrooJclyn Union, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Tilton, my wife, made to me a communication con- cerning Mr. Beecher, which, to use her own words, lest I should wrong him by using mine, she afterward noted down in a memorandum as follows : " Mr. H. W. Beecher, my friend and pastor, solicited me to be a wife to him, together with all that this implies." I borrow the above fact from my wife's handwriting, and forbid myself from pausing at this point either to blacken it with an epithet or to lighten it with an explanation. The subject of my wife's recital was communicated a few weeks afterward by me to Oliver Johnson and Francis D. Moulton, and by mv wife to her mother, and thence to some relatives. Mr. Beecher was absent from the State at the time, it being his vacation. During the summer and fall of the year 1870 1 spoke of the case to a few friends, exhibiting more anger than charity toward Mr. Beecher. To this end Mrs. T. wrote a brief note, addressed to Mr. Beecher through me, stating that she had given me the disclosure of July 1, 30 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY 1870, concerning him, and that her husband would speak to him face to face. On Friday evening, December 30th, I went to Mr. Moulton's house. Mr. Moulton went after Mr. Beecher, and brought him; this was early in the evening ; Mr. Beecher leaving his prayer-meeting, usual on that evening, to go without his leadership. My interview was with Mr. Beecher alone. I read to him my wife's letter, and said to him what I shall not here repeat. He sat like a statue under my brief remarks, and at the close bowed to me and said, " This is all a dream." He affected to disbelieve that Mrs. TUton had written the letter, and denied everything with a royal negative. I then said, " It is but a few squares to my house, go and ask Mrs. Tilton for yourself, whether or not she wrote the letter." He went and returned in half an hour. I did not see him. Mr. Moulton asked him what had taken place at Mrs. Tilton's. He remarked that he had seen that lady ; but he did nothing more, and left. This was about 11 o'clock at night. To several persons Mr. Tilton asserted his wife's purity, and denied that there had been any guilty intercourse between Mr. Beecher and her. This is among the undisputed facts in the case. The testimony of a single witness is a sample of several, Mr. Tilton reads to his friend Mr. Beecher what purports to be a letter from his wife charging improper proposals upon Mr. Beecher : this is in November, 1873, just after the publication of the Woodhull scandal. Mr. Belcher's Testimony. Q. Proceed with the narrative, Mr. Belcher, and state what occurred then, after he stated that the original was in Frank Moulton's hands. Do you recollect whether he stated whether he had read that paper or not to Mr. Beecher ? A. I asked him, when he read that letter coming from Mrs. Tiltoa — said I, " How did Mrs. Tilton receive the propositions from Mr. Beecher ? " Mr. Tilton said she indignantly repelled them. I then asked what he did when he received that letter from Mrs. Tilton ; he stated that he had seen Frank Moulton the liext morning, and arranged an interview with Mr. Beecher ; that he had an inter- view with Mr. Beecher at Mr. Moulton's house, and that at that interview he charged Mr. Beecher with the act, and read him this letter — Mrs. Tilton's letter. I then asked him how Mr. Beecher acted on the occasion ; he said he was confounded — IN THE BEECHER CASE. 31 astonislied and confounded, and that it was false, and that the woman must be crazy. Q. Did you ask Mr. Tilton, during that conversation, whether or not his wife had been guilty of adultery with Mr. Beecher.. A. 'I asked Mr. Tilton whether Mr. Beecher had committed adultery with Mrs. Tilton. We were shaking hands at that time,, about to part, when Mr. Tilton dropped my hand and lifted his- over his head in this manner (illustrating) and said : " No, my wife is as pure as an angel in heaven." Mr. Moulton was equally emphatic in denying that there was- anything criminal in the relations between Mr. Beecher and Mrs.. Tilton. Mr. JBiden^s Testimony. I met Mr. Moulton very suddenly, well, unexpectedly — I didn't seek him ; and I asked him whether there was any truth, in the story (the WoodhuU and Claflin story), and he then em- phatically said it was false, or somewhat to that purpose — at any rate it satisfied me. I thanked him, and said I was glad to- hear it, and left. I guess that is about all that passed between us. Mr. Barber's Testimony. Q. Did you ask him if that statement was true ? A. Yes^ sir ! That is, I asked him if there was any truth in the state- ment. Q. Did he answer in substance as follows : " There is not a particle of truth in that statement as against Mr. B6echer ? '* A. He did. He said that Mr. Beecher was entirely innocent, and that, if his life record was not an answer to such charges, nothing further that he could say to me would cover the case ; that is about the words that he used. Mr. CadweWs Testimony. We (Mr. Moulton and Mr. C), breakfasted in Boston, I think, on the morning of the 35th of November, at the American House, 32 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY and either at the breakfast-table or on our way to the Maine Depot (Mr. Moulton was going to Portland), I asked Mr. Moul- ton : " You seem to be mixed up in this matter ; is there any truth in this statement?" He said : "That is all a damned lie; Mr. Beecher's relations to Mrs. Tilton are no different from mine." Mr. Salliday's Testimony. Q. Do you remember anything being said (by Mr. Moulton) about his wife being a member of the church. A. Yes, sir. Q. What was that? A. It was in connection with — ^im- mediately following his declaration of the guiltlessness of Mr. Beecher. He said : " Mr, Halliday, I am not a member of your church ; my wife is. Do you suppose, if Mr. Beecher were a bad man, I would allow him to come and sit here at the table with my wife, as a guest, as he frequently does ? " ME. BBBCHBR GOES, WITH THE APPEOBATION OF ME. TILTON, IM- MEDIATELY TO ME. TILTON's HOUSE, SEES MES. TILTON, AJND EECEITES FKOM HBE A EBTEACTION OF THE CHAEGE WHAT- EVEE IT IS, AISD AN EXONEEATIOKT OF HIM FEOM AT.T. ACCUSA- TION OF IMPEOPEIETT OE INDELICACY. Mr. Beecher's Testimony. Mr. Beecher proceeds to Mr. Tilton's house, accompanied with Mr. Moulton, is shown up-stairs, and has an interview with Mrs. Tilton. Of this interview his account is uncontradicted. Q. And you went up ? A. I went right up and knocked. Q. Was the door opened ? A. The door was opened. Q. From within ? A. I believe so, sir ; I will not be posi- tive. Q. Well, what occurred then ? How did you go in ? A. There are two front rooms in Mr. Tilton's house, one of which is a sitting and receiving room, and communicating with the other one by folding-doors, which usually stood open. Mrs. Tilton was in the one where the bed was placed, and which was the nearest to the stairs. Q. When the door was opened were you left alone by the IN THE BEECHER CASE. 33 person that opened the door ? A. I was ; I went in from the door of the hall, and came, therefore, almost immediately to the bed, instead of going around throojgh the other room. Q. You came through the door that went immediately into the room where the bed was ? A. I did. Q. Were the folding-doors closed at that time ? A. No, sir; they were open. Q. They were then open ? A. Yes, sir ; I think they were open then. Q. Did they remain open ? A. They remained open, I think, all the time. Q. "Was any person other than yourself and Mrs. TUton in either of the rooms, to your knowledge, during the time of your interview with her ? A. No, sir ; there was not. Q. Describe the scene, as you saw it, as you entered the room ? A. The bed was dressed in pure white ; Mrs. Tilton was dressed" in pure white, and her face as white as the bed, lying a little above a level, reclining on pillows, her hands in that form on her breast [the witness here placed his hands palm to palm], in a very natural way. I drew a chair, or there was a chair by the bedside. I sat down on it. Q. Did she accost you in any way before you spoke ? A. Not at all ; her eyes were closed. Q. Did you observe whether she was asleep or not ? A. She was as one dead, and yet she was living. I sat down by her side, and said to her : " Elizabeth, I have just seen your hus- band, and had a long interview with him. He has been making many statements to me, and charges, and he has sent me to you in respect to some of them, that you should verify them." I then said : " He has charged me with alienating your affections from him. He has charged me that I have corrupted your sim- plicity and your truthfulness. He has also charged me with attempting improprieties — " it is a hard thing (shedding tears) for a man to speak to a woman whom he reveres such things, and I could not express myself very clearly. " Are these things soi Elizabeth ? " She — there was the faintest quiver, and tears trickled down her cheek, but no answer. I said, to her : " He says that you have charged me, Elizabeth, with making im^ proper advances. Have you stated all these things, and made 3 34 UNCONTEADIOTED TESTIMONY these charges?" And she opened her eyes and said: "My friend, I could not help it." " Could not help it, Elizabeth I Why could not you help it ? You know that these things are not true." " Oh, Mr. Beecher," said she, " I was wearied out, I have been— I have been wearied with his importunities," or something to that effect, " He made me think that if I would confess love to you it would help him to confess to me his alien affections," or words to that effect, "But," I said to her, " Elizabeth, this is a charge of attempting improper things. You know that that is not true." " Yes, it is not true," she says, "but what can I do?" "Do! You can take it back again." She hesitated, and I did not understand her hesitation. " Why can you not take it back ? It is not true." She said something about §he would be willing to do it if it could be done without injury to her husband, which I did not at all understand, " But," said I, " you ought to give me a written retraction of that written charge." She said she was willing to do anything if I would not use it against her husband, I said, " Give me paper." She pointed to the secretary in the other room, which stood between the windows, I went there ; I knew it, and took from the secretary some note-paper, pen and ink, I brought them to the bedside. She raised herself up a little and wrote the first part of the retraction. She signed it, Q. Well, how far did she write in the first instance ? A. Shall I read it ? Mr. Evarts — Yes, if you please. The Witness [reading] — f Decmher 30, 1870. Wearied with importunity, and weakened by sickness, I gave a let- ter inculpating my friend Henry Ward Beecher, under assurances that that would remove all difficulties between me and my husband. That letter I now revoke, I was persuaded to it — almost forced--when I was in a weakened state of mind, I regret it and recall all its state- ments. E. E. TiLTON. Q. During the writing, Mr, Beecher, did you in any manner dictate or suggest any of the language used ? A, No, sir ; I suggested that she ought — ^in the beginning I suggested that she ought to make a recall of those charges that should cover them. IN THK BEECHER CASE. 35 Q. Very well. Now, when she had written so far? A. She read it over, and then — Q. To herself, or aloud? A. No; to herself. She looked it over, and then held out her pen for some more ink, which I had in my hand, and added this : I desire to say explicitly, Mr. Beecher has never offered any im- proper solicitation, but has always treated me in a manner becoming a Christian and a gentleman. — and this she signed with her full name, " Elizabeth R. Tilton." Q. Did you in any manner suggest or request that additional writing. A. I did not ; it was of her own mind. Q. Did you in any manner dictate, or indicate any form of expression, or substance, in that ? A. I did not. ON THE FOLLOWING DAT AN INTEBVIEW TAKES PLACE BE- TWEEN MB. BEECHEK AND ME. MOULTON, AT WHICH THE FOEMEE GIVES TO THE LATTEE, AT MBS. TILTON's BEQUEST, THIS EETEACTION. The accounts of this interview are somewhat contradictory, and the facts are not very material. The day following that, Sunday, January 1, 1871, called upon Mr. Beecher about three o'clock in the afternoon. Of the interview which ensued there are but two witnesses, Mr. Beecher and Mr. Moulton. Their accounts materially differ — in important respects are in direct contradiction. We, therefore, publish all that is material in both accounts. rNTBEVIEW BETWEEN ME. BEECHBE AND ME. MOUXTON OF JANUABT 1, 1S11. Mr. JBeecher's Testimony/, Q. How and where did an interview occur between yourself and Mr. Moulton on Sunday, January 1st? A. After dinner, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the 1st of January, Mr. Moulton came to my house ; we repaired together to the study, which is the back room of the third story, looking out over the bay. 36 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY Q. Well, sir? A. After the salutations, Mr. Moulton in- troduced the subject of the effect of the mission of the last night upon Mr. Tilton, and his feelings — Q, What did he say? A. He said that it had been an eminently wise thing in me to comply with his request, and. that Mr. Tilton had received it very kindly ; words to that effect. Q. Now, during this interview, Mr. Beecher, how were you and Mr. Moulton disposed in this apartment ; were you sitting, or standing, or walking, one or both of you ? A. All ways, by turns. Q. That is, yourself ? A, I sat a part of the time, and part of the time I walked ; and a part of the time he sat, and a part of the time he stood ; I don't remember his walking much. Q. Now, will' you proceed with the interview as far as you call it to mind ? A. Yes, sir ; although I can't give it exactly in- the order, I will give it in such order as I can remember it — that is, in an order which assists my memory. I think that Mr. Moulton made some allusion, after finishing the immediate sub- ject of the result of my returning the retraction — ^I think h» proceeded to speak about Mr. Tilton and about his exacerbated feelings, not apologetically, but in, nevertheless, a courteous explanation of his insistance upon me of the last night's action and so on, and spoka of the great trouble that had come upon him by the treachery of Mr. Bowen, or by his misconduct, and said^ — Q. Mr. Bowen's misconduct, you mean? A. Yes, sir, Mr. Bowen's misconduct ; and that it was not in human nature for a. man to lose at once his position and his reputation and his livelihood, and not labor under great excitement, and it was perfectly natural' that he, should extend that to me, if he had. reason to think, as he had, that I had in some sense assisted in it. That gave rise to a conversation in regard to my whole re- lation, from the 26th, when the letter was brought to me by Mr, Bowen. I told Mr. Moulton that I certainly had been accessory to some part' of the trouble, and that, as far as in me lay,. I thought that it was -my duty to retrace my step and apolo- gize, or to do anything that I could to repair the mischief; that I had had time for reflection about the .matter. He then IN THE BEECHER CASE. 37 "Went on to say that Mr. Bowen had dismissed Mr. Tilton upon false accusations, or something to that effect, and that they ^were lies, and that he could prove them to be lies, many of the •charges that were made. Q. He, Moulton ? A. That Mr. Moulton could. He asked me, I think, what Mr. Bowen told mie in the interview of the 26th. I gave him a description of that interview, and, as it was then quite fresh, probably more literally and full than I have ^ven it here, but to the same general purport. I said that Mr. Bowen had brought that letter, and said that he brought it casually, as a kindness to Mr. Tilton, at his request; then Mr. Moulton said, using very strong language — expletive — ^that Mr. Bowen had proved treacherous, that Mr. Bowen was occupied with Mr. Tilton in the making of that letter, and that he had promised, if Mr. Tilton would send it to me, that he would back him up in the charges — and he spoke with emphasis upon that matter ; I think that he then asked me what Mr. Bowen had -charged to me were Mr. Tilton's offenses ; I said that Mr. Bowen Tiad represented to me that Mr. Tilton's opinions were becom- ing so loose that he found it was injuring, or was likely to in- jure. The, Independent, and that he had found it necessary to •dispossess him of his editorial position and put him in a subor- dinate position; that up till that time he had never heard a whisper — that is, Mr. Bowen never had— against the inoral •character of Mr. TUton ; but no sooner was it known that he had reduced Mr, Tilton, than there came in, pouring in upon Mm, stories from one and from another ; he said he could not hardly cross the ferry but somebody came to him and congratu- lated him upon having put Mr. Tilton out of that position, and telling him some reason, in the form of a charge against Mr. Tilton, why he should have done it ; I told him that he also ;said that, as a result of that first step, charges had been made a,gainst Mr. Tilton of the most shocking character ; he instanced one or two cases — ^the Winsted, and one in the Northwest, and one in — somewhere else — I have forgotten where, but stated as one that was fresh in his mind, and with some particularity of •detail, an event that occurred in his own office, of The Union — The Brooklyn Union ; I then told him that it was a singular coincidence, I told him that I told Mr. Bowen that it was a sin- 38 TWCONTEADICTED TESTIMONT gular coincidence that there had come to my knowledge, 'withiir a very brief period, charges of a similar character ; I related to him the interview between me and Bessie Turner ; I related to him the interview between me and Mrs. Tilton and her mother; I went into detail about that; I narrated to him that there were current reports and rumors, which now seemed to me to gather force, in respect to another person; there was something — a con- siderable conversation around about that point ; Mr. Moulton told me that, of his own personal knowledge, many of these stories were false ; that he believed Mr. Tilton to be a man abso- lutely chaste and faithful to his marital relations, and asseverated, that in .various forms — pressed it upon me. The conversation occupied in this direction, perhaps, nearly an hour, going over the relations of Mr. Tilton's character and his standing. ME. beechee's eemoese foe his supposed slandee of me.. TTLTON. I told him, however, that that was not the matter that hurt- me most ; I felt very acutely that I had done wrong even in those respects toward Mr. Tilton ; his assurances that Mr. TU- ton was blameless in these respects brought upon me a sense of wrong that was very hard to bear ; if there was anything, I told, him, in this earth that I abhorred, it was scandal, and talking^ and rumors about people ; that I had kept myself clean from them, and that there were few persons in the world dare tell me such things ; and to find that I had been caught in the slum of them myself, was very hard for my pride ; that I had listened to these stories, and that I had believed them, and that I was ashamed and mortified about it, and that it was all the worse because it was toward a friend whom I had known and whom I. had loved, and whose household was to me like my own home,, and that it was not the way that Mr. Tilton had treated me-- when I was in adversity ; he dropped every thing, and went for- the service of me, because it was my son, which was more than m'; ; he dropped every thing and went to Washington, and did. a great office of kindness for me ; but when he was in trouble X found that tb 3 first thing that I had done was to take sides, against him, and add to the weight that was threatening to crush him, and that I could not bear that — IN THE BEECHEB CASE. 39 HIS FEELINGS CONCEENING MES. TILTOlir. —and that as it regarded his household, I did not know hardly ■what to say ; I could not understand it ; how Elizabeth should have called me to a meeting to counsel her about a separation, without letting me know either before or at that interview that there had ever been discrepancy in the household, of such a kind as there had been, I could not understand ; I was absolutely be- wildered by it, but that it seemed to me that if she had been led to transfer her affections from her husband, by reason of my presence, I could not but feel that I was blameworthy ; that she was a woman, so quiet and so simple, her exterior life was so far from that, that I had never suspected it, but that her con- duct seemed to be now such as led me to feel that there had been — ^that the allegation was not untrue, that I had warped her affection, which her husband had made, in the interview of the 30th, and that it seemed to me that she must have been broken down in her moral nature ; that such charges and retrac- tions, and withdrawal of retractions — :it was a pitiable thing, and indicated that great mischief had been done in that house- hold, and that I had been the occasion of it was very plain and very evident, though I had not suspected it. This was the first time that I had given vent to all my thought and feeling. The other interviews had been, as it were, diplomatic, but I felt that Mr. Moulton was a friend to both sides, and for the first time I gave air to the pent-up feelings that I had ; I walked about the room in great agitation and great self-condemnation. I said to him that I could not conceive of anything for which a man should blame himself more utterly than to intrude upon a household, and to be the means of breaking it up ; that my idea of friend- ship and love was that it gave strength, and that I had always supposed that my presence in their family was giving strength to all of them ; that it was a blessing to the children ; that it was a help to his wife in her duties, and that it was not without a beneficial influence to Mr. Tilton, in the long run, and that this came upon me like a thunder-clap, and I was amazed and bewildered by it ; I think it was, perhaps, in that relation where I was somewhat doubting whether it could possibly be true that Mr, Moulton said to me, sitting in his chair [here Mr. Beecher 40 UNCONTRADICTED TESTpONY put his leg over the arm of the chair in illustration], with an intelligent look, " Why, there is no doubt about that, Mr. Beecher ; Elizabeth Tilton loves your little finger more than she does Mr. Tilton's whole body ; " I accepted it ; I had no means of contradiction ; I said to myself, " It has been a smouldering fire, burning, concealed, and I knew nothing of it." I felt ashamed to say, " It is not my fault." I felt rather the impulse which every gentleman will understand, to say, " I ought to have foreseen ; I was the oldest, the one that had had experience ; she was a child. If she did not know that the tendrils of her affection were creeping up upon me, I ought to have known it ; " and I expressed myself without measure on that subject ; and I alluded in the conversation to the conflict which I had, the feel- ing that I had always had for her as of a saint-like person, and the conflict that now was in my mind in respect to her as one that had been broken down, and had brought these false charges against me, and taken them back, and was acting in a mannei almost like one that was bereft of reason, and I couldn't under- stand it. ME. BEECHBE's HISTOBT or THE "apologt." Much conversation passed backward and forward turning on this, that Mr. TUton was set against me ; that he felt that I was his enemy, and that I had done wrong to him, both in his business relations, and that I had sought to undermine his influ- ence in the community. It was the harder because the implica- tion was, or the statement, that I had made use of my acquired reputation, and my position as the head of a great church, and my relation to the community — that all those, aside from my mere peraonal action, had gone to o'ershadow and injure him. I protested against any such idea. That he had occasion to think that I had done him wrong in the matters of Mr. Bowen, I was ashamed to be obliged to admit. That I had done hiin. inten- tional wrong in his family, I denied ; but that I had wronged him there, it was very evident, it seemed to me, from the pres- ent condition and action of Mrs. Tilton. Well, we went over the same ground a good many times, running out a line and going into something else, and that bringing us back again, and, on the whole, I — Mr. Moulton was far less severe with me thaa IN THE BEECHER CASE. 41 I was with myself, and at times, as it were, deprecated my own strong language against myself, and said, as the interview drew toward a close, that if I would only— that if Tilton could only hear what he had heard, he was satisfied that it would remove &om his mind animosity and the conviction that he had that I was seeking his ruin. " Well," said I— I said to him, " State -what you see and hear ; I have opened my heart to you." Said he, " Write — write these statements, or some of them, to Mr. Tilton," and at first I thought I would, but I was in a whirl, and I couldn't. I said— I declined it. « Well," said he, " let me write it," or something to that effect, and I said : " I have no objection to your writing it," and he sat down at the table, but the conversation didn't stop. I amplified and went on, and finally he said to me, " Well, I will say to him "—and he made something — ^looked up and said, " I will tell Mr. Tilton so-and- so," as a sort of interpretation of what I had been saying. I said, " All right," and he made a memorandum of it. Then I went on from point to point, and sometimes he would say, ■"What about so-and-so?" and I would go on profusely and long, and he would jot down a memorandum about it ; and that went through the whole memorandum. When he had gone through with it, it was about five o'clock ; the bell rang for my supper. On Sundays I take tea at five o'clock; in order to have time to prepare my notes for the evening, and the bell rang for five o'clock. He rose up from the table, and gathered up the papers ; they were on separate sheets, and a sort of after-thought came to him, and he said : " Sign this — ^you better sign this." I said, " No, I cannot sign a letter that I have not written." *' Well, but," said he, " it won't have the influence with Mr. Til- ton that it will if it has your name." " But," said I, " this is your memorandum ; you take that and talk on those points to Mr. Tilton, and tell him what you have heard me say, and he believes you ; you are his friend." " Well," he says, " it will be a great deal better if you just put your name to this in some way, to let him see that it is authorized," and so, on the edge of the paper, and remote as far as I could from the text, I signed my name to the statement that I committed this to Moulton in confidence ; and at that stage I think that he gathered the pa- pers up, made some remark of gratification, and went down- 42 UNCONTRADICTED TESTfflONT Stairs. It was about tbe time of gas-lighting when he went out ; and that ended the interview.' Q. Mr. Beecher, during that interview, was this memoran- dum read to you or read by you ? A. Neither. Q. Was any part of it read to you or read by you ? A. No part of it. Q. When did you next see it. A. In court here. Q. At this trial ? A. Yes, sir. Q. And when did you next see what purported to be any copy of it, either in print or in writing, or partial copy ? A. I think perhaps in the " Bacon Letter," in the summer of 1874, Q. But the paper itself or a full copy of it — the paper itself you have answered distinctly. When first did you see or know of — see or read or hear read any copy of this paper ? The paper itself you never saw until this trial ? A. No, sir, never. Q. When did you ever first see or know of the full text, or what purports to be the full text, of this paper ? A. Not until the summer of 1874. Q. Not until the publications of the last summer ? A. No, sir. Q. As a part of some of the proceedings of the last sum- mer ? A. Yes, sir. ' This so-called letter of apology is as follows : Bbooelth, Jem. 1, 'Tl. In trust with F. D. MouUon. My dear friend Mobltos I ask through you Theodore Tiltou's forgiveness, and I humble myself be- fore Mm as I do before my God, he would have been a better man, in my cir- cumstances than I have been — I can ask nothing except that he will remember all the other hearts that would ache — \ will not plead for myself. I even wish that I were dead, but others must live and suffer. I will die before any one but myself shall be inculpated, all my thoughts are running towards my friends toward the poor chad lying there and praying with her folded hands ; She is guiltless, sinned against, bearing the transgressions of another. Her for^ve- ness I have, I humbly pray to God that he may put into the heart of her hus- band to forgive me. I have trusted this to Moulton in confidence. H. W. Bekoheb. IN THE BBECHBE CASE. ' 4S Mr. MoultorCs Testimony.'' Q. State, if you please, what that interview was? A. I told Mr. Beecher that I had taken the retraction to Mr. Tilton,. and that I had told Mr. Tilton that it would have been very foolish for him to have carried his threat of the morning int» execution. I told him that Mr. Tilton was pleased with my having procured the retraction, and I told Mr. Beecher that Tilton told me that he had made' up his mind that, no mat- ter what came to himself, he would undertake to protect the reputation of his wife at all hazards. Then Mr. Beecher said to me that he was in misery on account of the crime that he- had committed against Theodore Tilton and his wife and family j he said that he would be willing to make any reparation that was within his power ; he said that Mr. Tilton, he thought, would have been a better man under the circumstances in which he had been placed than he had been ; that he felt that he had done a great wrong, because he was Theodore Tilton's friend, he was his pastor, he was his wife's friend and pastor, and he wept bitterly ; and I said to him, " Mr. Beecher, why don't you say that to Mr. Tilton, why don't you express to him the grief you feel, and the contrition for it ? You can do no more than that, and I think I know Theodore Tilton well enough to know that he would be satisfied with that, for I know he loves his wife." Mr. Beecher told me to take pen and paper and to write- at his dictation, and I did write at his dictation the letter of January 1, 1871. Q. What was done after you wrote that letter ? A. I read the letter to him, and he read it, and then he signed — Q. Never mind, we will show that in a moment. You say you read it to him ? , A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you read it as it was ? A. Yes, sir, and as it is. Q. Did he take it and read it ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you mean to be understood that you read it to him, and that he read it afterward for himself ? A. Yes, certainly. ' It should be observed that after Mr. Beeoher's testimony was concluded Mr. Moulton -was recalled, and that he left Mr. Beeoher's account substantially tmeontradicted, except in so far a^ it is contradicted in the account ^ven by Jliiin iu his examination-in-chief. 44 UNCONTBADICTED TESTIMONY Q. And did he write anything himself upon that paper or those— add anything to that letter ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Is that the letter of which you speak ? A. Yes, sir, that is it. Q. What part of it is in the handwriting, if any, of Mr, Beecher — ^the words at the foot of the last page ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Before reading the letter I want to ask you if you wrote it down as he dictated it ? A, Word for word. THE LETTER OP APOLOGY IS rOLLOWBD BY A EECONCILIATIOIT BETWEEN ME. BEECHEE AND ME. TILTON: JANUAEY 3, 1875. Mr. Beecher's Testimony. Q. Now, sir, on the following day was there an interview between you and Mr. Moulton — the 3d day of January, or there- abouts ? A. Yes, sir, there was, there or thereabouts. Q. Within what time ? A. Within a few days, but I think it was on the 3d. Q. Where did it occur ? A. At Mr. Moulton's house. Q. Were you there by appointment or by chance ? A. I can- not say. Q. Where was it held ? A. In Mr. Moulton's chamber. Q. What was his condition of health ? A. He was in bed, and I think it was on account of sickness. Sometimes he was in bed from late hours the night before, and sometimes from rheumatism, but I think this was the beginning — indeed, I know now — ^I am thinking. Q, You think it was illness ? A. I know it was illness, now. Q. But not so as to preclude him from seeing visitors ? A. No, sir; I never have seen him too sick to receive a call from me. Q. While you were there with Mr, Moulton, did Mr. Tilton come in ? A. He did. Q. Had you seen him before since your interview on the 30th of December? A. I. think not, sir ; I am pretty siwe I had not ^-certainly not to have any intercourse. Q. Now, after Mr. Tilton came in, how did Mr. Moulton open IN THE BEECHER CASE. 45 the conversation — after Mr. Tilton came in ? A. "Well, it was ia general that I had been saying very kind things of Mr. Tilton. Q. He said this to Mr. Tilton ? A. He said this to Mr. Til- ton. Mr. Tilton was distant and gloomy in his aspect. I turned toward him — shall I give the conversation ? Q. Yes; what passed between you and him then? A. I turned to Mr. TUton, and with far more words than I am using now — 1 epitomize now, and state the substance — I turned to Mr. Tilton and spoke to him of the profound regrets that I felt that I had in any way been a party or subsidiary to the injuries inflicted upon him by Mr. Bowen, and I also said that the dis- turbance in his household which had been occasioned by me was without intention and without my recognition at the time, but that I did regard it now as being very serious, and that I had the most profound sorrow for the disturbance that I had occasioned, the rupture between him and his family, and the miseries that he must have suffered ; that I asked his pardon for the one, and for the other — that I felt I had been in the wrong, and that I ought to ask forgiveness for it. Q. Did you say anything as to what you could do or would wish to do in respect to repairing it ? A. I said that anything that lay in my power consistent with truth and honor I would be more than glad to do, to repair the mischief; and at that Mr, ■ Moulton, with great emphasis, said to him : " Theodore, that is an apology which any gentleman can offer to another — that is, with self-respect, and that is an apology which any gentleman ought to accept." Q. What did you observe then on the part of Mr. Tilton ? A. Mr. Tilton was reluctant, and began to say something ap- pealingly, as " How can I " — " How can I speak " — well, refer- ring to what he had borne from me — " How can I be reconciled ? " was the idea. Mr. Moulton, with almost severity, with an em- phasis the most intense, said : " You ought to accept that apology. What can you expect a man to do more than he has done, to express his regret for that which is past, and his willingness in the future to repair the mischief?" And after some conversa- tion between them, back and forth, Mr. Tilton did accept the apology. Q, How did he indicate that ? A. We shook hands. 46 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY Q. And, the rest of the interview, what was the character of it ? A. There was but little more. Mr. Tilton withdrew I think, — one of us withdrew. SEVEEAI/ SUCH INTEEVIEWS ABE STJBSEQUENTLT HEU) AT WHICH THE EECONCILIATION BBTWEEK ME. BBECHEE AND ME. TELTOU IS APPAEENTLT QTJITE PEEFECTED. Mr. Beecher's Testimony. We report but one of these interviews, the more notable and significant, omitting the only statement, and that not a very important one, which either Mr. Moulton or Mr. Tilton contra- dicts. Mr. Beecher by invitation meets them in February, 1871, at Mr. Moulton's house : , Mr. Tilton met me as if he had expected me, and he — with- out being able to state precisely the language he employed — ^he introduced his conversation, by the recognition of the fact that we were to act harmoniously together, and that it was neces- sary, therefore, for a more perfect effectuation of that, that we should have a conversation together in regard both to myself and to himself; there was a renewal — some renewal of the con- versation in respect to the manner in which Mr. Bowen had treated him in a business point of view ; I cannot recall that , very distinctly ; the other part impressed itself more upon my mind ; he passed on from the statement of Mr. Bowen's having slandered me, to the statement that he himself had experienced a like treatment at the hands of Mr. Bowen. He proceeded to instance the stories that had been told by Mr. Bowen, if I recol- lect right, one by one. Q. About you ? A, No, about himself. It was an interview far more clearing himself than clearing me. He said that the stories told of him by Mr. Bowen, or hinted, in respect to his improprieties in the West and Northwest, he defied anybody to prove — they were absolutely false. He then went on to say that my wife was not altogether guiltless in the matter of propagating stories; that she and Mrs, Morse had joined hands against him ; that Mrs. Morse had repeated stories of his intemperance, and of his improvidence, and of his ne^ect IN THE BEECHER CASE. 47 of his family, and one by one he gave to them explicit denial. Q. What else did he say ? [Reflecting.] A. He stated then to me, in regard to his family, that, while he acknowledged that he had perhaps been at times hasty or inconsiderate, or something to that effect, he had never violated his marital vows ; he declared that he had from his youth up been immaculate in chastity ; he narrated to me the scene that took place between him and his father when he first began to launch out alone into the city, who took him and talked with him about the great dangers that he would have from the other sex, and from an undue intercourse with them ; I cannot recall it ; there was a considerable, and very specific, in that counsel of his godly and patriarchal father, as he was represented to me, and he said that that made such an impression on his mind at that time that it had held him up ever since. He stated then that he did not know but that his life had come to a premature termination ; his usefulness seemed clouded, his opportunities seemed shut up ; that his household seemed desolate. I spoke then words of sympathy and words of courage to him, and was profoundly impressed with his truth- fulness, and I felt worse than I had ever felt before, that I had lifted my hand against a man who, whatever might have been his weaknesses or his follies, had not deserved any such treat- ment, and I expressed myself so to him, and we had a kind of reconciliation again ; and he said that, in view of what had taken place through the kindly offices of Mr. Moulton, through interviews with me, as wc were to cooperate in the future, he wanted to have this conversation to say what he had said, and so on, and he wanted also now to say that he should desire me to visit in his family again just as I had done in former days — before any of these troubles arose. This was not said just as I have said it — ^that is to say, it was much more largely opened rhetorically, and yet this is the substance of it. We left the study and went down-stairs. I have forgotten exactly how it came to pass that I found myself with him in the bedroom with Mrs. Tilton — in the back bedroom on the south side of the house ; but there I recollect there was a supplementary conversa- tion between us three, or rather there was a supplementary dis- course to us two, in which he stated again to his wife that he had had a long and satisfying interview with me. He said that 48 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY he did not know that he should ever again be put in such pros- perity as he had lost, and spoke tenderly and sadly about that, and yet terminated with a kind of reassurance — he was young, and he was energetic, and he meant to recover himself. He spoke also in respect to his family — ^he said that he thought it only right to say to Elizabeth, addressing himself to her, that " Mr. Beecher, in all this difficulty, has acted the part of a man of honor toward you, and has taken in every case all the blame to himself ; and I feel bound also to say to you, sir," said he, " that Elizabeth has pursued the same course toward you, and said, ' If there is any blame it is mine.' " He said, then, that he did not know that he should ever be happy again — his home seemed to him to be a divided and a desolate home, but he did- not know but out of this very condition of things there would spring up again an affection that would be purer and stronger than if it had not been tried by thepe difficulties ; and with that — we all kissed each other and I departed. MBAinVHILE ME. TILTON GIVES MB. MOULTOK AtTTHOEITT TO ACT IN HIS BEHALF IS SBTrLING ALL CLAIMS FOE DAMAGES AEIS- nSTG OUT OF HIS SUDDEN DISCHAEGB FEOM THE EELATIONS HE HAD THEEETOFOEE SUSTAINED OF BDITOE TO ME. BOWBn'S TWO PAPBES, THE " N. T. INDEPENDENT " AND THE " BEOOK- LTIT ITNION," AND ME. MOULTON COMMENCES THE UNDEE- TAKING. Q. Was anything said by Mr. Moulton as to the occasion or propriety of you and Mr. Tilton combining ? A. Yes, sir ; oh, yes, sir ; that was the — that flowed through every conversation, and was the leading idea — " You and Mr. Tilton must stand together." Q. As toward or against whom ? A. For the sake of the family and for the sake of his restoration, and for the sake of justice — justice from Bowen to him. Q. Did Mr. Moulton at this stage of the conversation, or during the conversation, state to you what he proposed to do and to what result or what effect he proposed to bring matters with Mr. Bowen ? A. He spoke with the utmost confidence of compelling Bowen to disgorge. Mr. Bowen, as I understood IN THE BEECHER CASE. 49 from him, wanted to arbitrate ; he did not want to. Mr. Tilton didn't want to, and, as I understood it, he (Moulton) did not, as Mr. Tilton's adviser. Q. Well, do you remember the expression at this conversa- tion that Mr. Moulton used on the subject of being able to bring Bowen to terms ; do you remember any particular expression that he used as to what he would bring him to — bring Bowen to ? A. Yes, sir ; a good many of them. Q. Well, at this interview I am speaking of now ? A. I think it was at this interview — it was at one, and I think it was at this — that he said that he would bring him to his marrow- bones ; he spoke at this interview of their purpose being to bring Mr. Bowen into such a situation that he would do him justice of himself, without arbitration or legal proceedings ; that was the point that they were aiming at, as I understood it. Q. Now, sir, in that same month of January and at a some- what later period, did you have an interview with Mr. Moulton at his house, concerning an interview he had had with Mr. Bowen ? A. I did, next day. Q. Toward the middle of the month ? A. Toward the middle of the month. Q. Now, what did Mr. Moulton tell you at this interview as to what had passed between him and Bowen about Mr. Tilton's claim ? A. He detailed to me with some particularity — with more particularity than I can rehearse it — the statement which he made to Mr. Bowen of his treatment of Mr. Tilton, of the infamy of his conduct in procuring Mr. Tilton to write the letter of the 26th, and promised to back it, and then stepped from him to go over to my side ; he went into that with relish, and effec- tually. He then also opened, he said, on Bowen in regard to his treatment of me as a parallel instance of infamy that was almost without example. He rehearsed the different stories that he had reported of me, and that, when I had had inter- views with him, at one and another time, he had never dared to mention one of those stories to my face, but only behind my back, and that they never came up except it was to settle some money difficulty, between us, and that he then told Mr. Bowen 4 50 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY that the last and grand settlement that had taken place between him and me at Mr. Freeland's, in the spring, of that year, or in the early season or months of the year — Q. That is, of 1870 ? A. Of 1870— that at that time he says, " You went over the ground with Mr. Beecber, and you took up every cause of ofiFense that you had against him, pro- fessedly, and you, after every one of them had been discussed, and had been settled amicably, and after Mr. Freeland'had come out and shaken hands with both of you, and after you had walked wdth Mr. Beecher through the streets discussing how you might work together afterward in amity and peace, and after Mr. Beecher, in fulfillment of his promise, had gone to the house of God and had there, in the presence of his people, re- hearsed the reconciliation that had taken place between him and you, and you went down and shook hands at the altar with him-^how then, within forty-eight hours, you told a friend, his friend, that you had that that would drive Mr. Beecher out of town in less than twenty-four hours, if you should speak it ; and," said he, " I took that document in my hands," said he, " and I shook it in his face, and he turned as pale as a ghost, and he said, 'What, what shall I do?'" " Well," said I, "why didn't you get the money out of him ? " Well, he said the time was not come. Said he, " What Bowen ought to do is to put Tilton back into The Independent — that is what he ought to do." A SETTLBMBNT IS PINAIiT SECUEBD PBOM ME. BOWEN — THE " GOLBEN AGE " IS STAETED, AND ME. TILTON IS ITS EDITOB AND PEOPEIETOE THE PAPEE DOES NOT PEOSPEE — ME. BEECHBE IS INVITED TO OONTEIBUTE MONET. Q. Mr. Beecher, how early after these first weeks of the year 1871 did any questions arise between Mr. Moulton and yourself in regard to the use or the application of money in connection with Mr, Tilton's affairs ? A. Do you ask me how early his first suggestions were, or the first suggestions after a given time ? , Q. Well, I say after these early weeks- in January that we were speaking of, or if it was during those early weeks in Janu IN THE BBBCHER CASE. 51 ary, IS^l ? A. Among our earliest counsellings was how a standing ground sliould be gathered — got for Mr. Tilton, for his household, so that he could be at ease, and go on with his work, so that his household should be in an assured position, and I remember in a conversation his saying to me quite early, within the first two or three weeks, that there was a mortgage upon Mr. Tilton's house, and that he thought that ought to be re- moved, and that he thought he could then persuade Mr. Tilton to transfer that property to his wife, or make it over to her, and I said whenever any movement of that kind was made, I should ■wish to be counted in ; that I should do my share. Q. Did he mention to you the amount of the mortgage ? A. I understood it to be about $7,000, sir. Q. Did anything further become of that subject or conversa- tion — that particular point or item ? A. He never, that I recall, mentioned it to me again, but I did to him once or twice ; but I can't tell how long spaces after ; it was in a later period ; that is, I asked him if anything had been done, or anything was going to be done. Q. Do you remember the fact of your giving to Mr. Moulton the sum of $5,000 ? A. I do. Q. Preceding that act, Mr. Beecher, of the payment of the money, had anything been said to you by Mr. Moulton in regard to the pecuniary circumstances of Mr. Tilton ? A. Yes. There was — I was going to say — there was never anything else. Q. Was anything said by you as to Mr. Moulton's taking a part, or your taking the same part as he ? A. I don't recall anything very special about that, sir. Q. Now, previous to this payment by you of the sum of $5,000 to Mr. Moulton, was there any interview in which he had spoken about or shown you any contribution of any other per- son ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Please state what occurred on that subject ? A. It was one of several interviews which I had with him touching the business prospects and, conditions — he had spoken of having to pay paper bills ; he told me of various cases where the exigency came and there was no money to meet it, and he had to ad- 52 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY vance it himself, and on one evening when I was in his house, in his back parlor, the subject came up, and in the course of some conversation he drew out of his pocket a letter and some checks, and he showed them to me — two of them were time drafts — and I understood from him that there had been a check which was payable on demand and had been used for $2,000, and he read me passages from a letter in which the donor said that the check was all the money at present at his disposal, but he presumed that these drafts would be just as useful and it would be in their power to meet them as they came round, and. then, reading that, he brought his hand down on the table with a great emphasis and enthusiasm, and, looking me in the face, says : " That is what I call friendship." Q. Now, after this conversation what did you do in respect- to this matter of pecuniary help ? A. I went home and thought about it, and blamed myself for being so stupid, and I made it a matter of gentle reproach to Mr. Moulton afterward, that if he wanted money he ought to tell me so. I said I thought he had been acquainted long enough with me, that if he thought I ought, at any time, to help — to join in with him in what he was^ doing, he should tell me so — that that kind of delicacy ought not to hinder him. Q. Very well? A. And then I said to him, "I will give $5,000 if that will put him over this pinch; " and he didn't urge it ; he was very delicate about it ; and I at once set on foot the operation to get the money — I hadn't got it. Q. You went to work and got the money by a mortgage oi» your house ? A. I did. Q. And did you take the money to Mr. Moulton ? A. I did, in rolls — of bills. Q. What occurred between you and him when you gave it to him ? A. He expressed himself as extremely gratified with it ; he thought it was a very — a most friendly act. Q. How soon after that payment of this $5,000 to Mr. Moul- ton did you have an interview with Mr. Tilton, and how did that occur? A. I think it was the following Sunday mornings When I went out of my house to. go to church Mr. Tilton wa» waiting, apparently for me, on the opposite comer, and I joined IN THE BEECHER CASE. 53 tim as I went over, and he walked down to the church with me, -talking in the most affectionately cordial manner — went until Aye got to the comer this side of the church, just on the edge of ihe crowd, and he went his way and I went on. Q. Now sir, on that same Sunday did you receive a slip of paper with the words " grace, mercy, and peace," ' on it ? A. I don't know ; received that slip of paper one Sunday, but I ■cannot identify the day. I found it lying on my little table, on the platform, by my chair, inclosed in a sealed envelope — and on ■opening it — ^it was in Mr. Tilton's handwriting, there was simply rthat sentence. MRS. MOTJITON COMES INTO THE CASE. In May, 1873, Theodore Tilton threatens to publish a card •containing a quotation from the famous so-called letter of apol- ogy (p. 43). Mr. Moulton calls to see Mr. Beeoher to induce some further proceedings to stop Mr. Tilton from publishing. Mr. Beecher resolves that he will make no further attempt to pre- vent the publication, or to secure reconciliation with Mr. Tilton, and writes a letter of resignation of his office as pastor of Plym- outh Church. We resume Mr. Beecher's testimony, account of "the interviews that followed so far, and only so far as it is left uncontradicted by the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Moulton. Senry Ward Beecher — " I drew the letter of resignation out •of my pocket and handed it to him, and said to him : If that card -comes out, and is, as you say it is going to be, that is going to be my answer, my resignation to my church, and that is the reason." He took it in his hand, looked at it, and read it all the way through, and a sort of started back a little, and read it again. " Good God ! " said he. He read it a third time. I took it from his hands as he rose ; he left the room and told me to wait a moment, and went downstairs ; then his footsteps had liardly ceased to be heard before Mrs. Moulton esntered the room .and closed the door, threw it back loosely, and we interchanged some words, but I was in rather a stern mood, and the conver- sation Was not general at all; but after some few words, I sit- ting at the table with my back to the fireplace, I don't know — * The note waa introduced in evidence and was in these words: "H. W. B drace, mercy, and peace. T. T., Sunday morning, 7.7." 54 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY I was engaged in some paper, what it was I don't know, she came up behind me near my left shoulder and said : " Mr. JBeech- er, I don't believe the stories that they are telling about you: I believe that, you are a good man.''' ' I turned a little toward her, and looked up and said: "Emma Moulton, I am a good man, you may be sure of that ; I am a good man," and with that she put her hand around my neck gently, so as to bring my head up a little, and kissed me on xaj forehead, and it was certainly a kiss of inspiration ; stiU I thought it prudent not to return it, and I sat perfectly still at the table, and she sat down upon the- sofa in a moment, and then after a little Mr. Moulton came back, again, and we had some slight further conversation, and I got up and went home. ME. BBECHBE TAUKS WITH MES. MOULTOSr ABOUT MES. TILTOW. Mr. Evarts — No, I say it is not a statement — I don't know^ that it is, but to exclude any conclusion that it was, I ask him^ if it was said in his presence ; I don't understand him as having- said it. [To the witness.] Mr. Beecher, do you remember, if at all, how early there was any conversation between you and Mrs. Moulton concerning any of the matter which led to your visits to her husband ? A. It was early in 1871, sir. Q. And when first, and in what form, was anything said be- tween you and her ? A. My impression is it was very soon after they moved into their new house on Remsen Street, which would be May or June of 1871. Q. Yes, and how did any conversation arise, and what was said ? A. It arose in consequence of my asking her husband whether his wife was aware of the diflSculties in the family — Q. You had asked him — A. "Whether it was — he thought it would be wise for me to say anything to her about it. He said he thought — he made no objection to it ; rather encouraged it ; I asked Mrs. Moulton when I met her another time whether her husband had spoken to her about the difficulties that existed, in Mr. Tilton's family, and with which I was connected, and. about which he was occupied, and she said he had, and I said to her that I was glad of it, because I was sorely distressed by ' This aeutence is the only one denied by Mrs. Moulton in Mr. Beecher's re- port of this interview. IN THE BEECHEE CASE. 55 the condition of Mrs. Tilton ; that she was alone ; there were reasons why her mother could scarcely see her much ; she her- self could not go out much ; her health was feeble ; I could not under the circumstances do much myself to alleviate her con- dition ; and, besides, in such a matter as that, a woman's nature was needed for good counsel, and it would give me the greatest joy and I should feel the greatest gratitude if she would con- sent to be interested in Elizabeth and to do those things for her which one sister would do for another in the way of counsel and of sympathy and of the inspiration of hope and courage ; the condition of things made it improper, I thought, so far as I was concerned, for I then, as for years after, labored under the im- pression that Elizabeth loved me in over-measure, apd it was necessary that somebody should take care of her, and I Lad that opinion of Mrs. Moulton which led me to believe that she, under the circumstances, was, providentially, the very woman. Q. Now, in any conversation with Mrs. Moulton, did you express any feelings of grief on your part in reference to this situation of Mrs. Tilton or the family ? A. Very great. Q. And in what way, and how, did Mrs. Moulton respond, if at all, to such statement ? A. She responded in a way that commanded my esteem and gratitude ; she said that she loved Elizabeth, that she thought highly of her — that she would very cheerfully take upon herself any offices of kindness. I told her that if in the strife with trouble and want there were any of the things that a woman should perceive to be necessary for her comfort or for her children, and that could not be supplied through her husband, any things that a woman would think of, only let me know, and she should be furnished with funds at any time ; all I wanted was that she should be looked after by some one that loved her and would take care of her discreetly. Q. Do you remember, Mr. Beecher, any occasions on which you sent any messages of any kind by Mrs. Moulton to Mrs. TUton ? A. I have no — I don't single out any special instances ; I did send words of encouragement to her, exhorting her to build her house again and to renew the love of her youth ; not to be discouraged ; that God would take care of her and of the children, and such counsels as a pastor and a friend might send to a woman betided with such trouble. 56 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY MBS. MOTTLTOBT's ATTENDAITCB AT PLYMOUTH CHtJECH. Q. Did you ever have any conversation with Mrs. Moulton on the subject of her attending your church, and, if so, what passed between you on that subject ? A. Yes ; I have talked with her on the subject of being in church various times and ways ; I recollect her saying, telling me that — in 1871 it was on — I have forgotten how it was introduced, but I remember her speaking with some anxiety as it respects the securing of a pew in that year ; that Mr. Moulton had intended, or told her that he was going to have one, and she was solicitous to know whether — she thought Frank had forgotten it ; she was afraid he had, or something to that effect ; I know that in 1873 and 1873, both, she spoke to me of wishing seats ; Frank did not want to take a whole pew, and wanted to know whether seats could be had ; she wanted two ; she did not think Frank would go with her much, but she might take her son, or, it might be, a friend would want to go ; she wanted two seats ; I referred her to Mr. Weld, the sexton of the church, saying that they could almost always be procured in eligible pews, the owners of which sublet single seats. She was kind enough to express herself com- plimentarily of me for improving, as she thought, in preaching, and, partly on her own judgment and partly on what was told her, as I understood from her ; and I recollect seeing her not infrequently in church ; not regularly ; twice I distinctly recall her coming to the pulpit-steps and waiting for me after the congregation, after I got through and while they were dispers- ing, bringing some errand from Mr. Moulton ; he wanted to see me, or something to that effect. I recall talking with her on one occasion, in which she said in a very pleasant way — she had a sparkling and a pleasant manner, very sincere and simple and yet pleasant way — and she said : " You did not see me at church yesterday." " I did," said I ; said T, " You are never at church, Mrs. Moulton, that I don't see you, and it is always a very pleas- ant thing for me to see you in church, too," or words to that effect. MRS. MOULTON SEEKS MB. BEECHEb's SOCIETY. Q. Now, sir, what passed between you and her on occa- sions of your visits to the house, by the way of invitation or IN THE BEBCHEE CASE. 67 suggestion on her part that you should make visits to her ? A, I recollect twice — twice distinctly — but with a less positive rec- ollection of once or twice besides ; but I speak this of certainty, that she said to me once from the head of the stairs, and once up-stairs in the chamber, " You always come — " once she says, ■" You always come to see Frank ; why don't you come to see me ? " and I turned it off, understanding it to be a courteous jest, a little conception of welcome, and so on. At one time she spoke from the top of the stairs, as I had gone down-stairs, and was near the cloak-stand ; she spoke to me in the same way and said, *' Mr. Beecher, when are you coming to see me ? I mean," said she, " when are you going to make a visit, a social visit, on me, and not a business one ? " or words to that effect. ME. EBECHBE IS THEEATENBD WITH DESTRUCTION IP HE OE HIS PEIENDS DO NOT SECUEB THE EBINSTATEMENT OF THEODOEE TIITON. Mr. Wilkesori's Testimony. Q. Now, you were going on to state if he really intended to publish ? A. I asked him if he really intended to publish that article. He said he did, unless justice was done him by Mr. Beecher. I remonstrated with him against the publication of that article. I told him that it would be enormously mischiev- ous ; that it would produce a scandal which would extend throughout Christendom ; I told him it would do infinite wrong and work infinite mischief. He said that it was his purpose to publish it unless justice was done him. Then he went on to speak of Mr. Bowen ; he said that Mr. Bowen had dismissed him from his employment on the The Independent and on Jlie Christian, and on The Brooklyn Union, and that he had vio- lated his contracts with him to render editorial services for cer- tain salaries on each paper ; that he had — that Mr. Bowen had deprived him of his income ; that his dismissal from those pa- pers had ruined his reputation, and had destroyed him ; and he went on growing in excitement, and he said that Mr. Beechei had not come to his help ; that he was a man of such power that he could with his little finger have lifted him up in hia troubles; but that as he lay on the sidewalk in Brooklyn, crushed and ruined by Bowen'3 treatment of him, and by the 58 tTNCONTEADICTED TESTIMONY consequences of his loss of employment on those two papers, and the injury done to his reputation, that Mr. Beecher, who with his little finger had the power to lift him up and reinstate him, had passed him by indifferent and had not helped him, had left him lying there; and moving across the room back and forth, in great excitement, he said he would pursue Mr. Beecher into the grave. Mr. Beach — Into what ? A. Into the grave. THE StTRMISED PUEPOSB OP ME. TILTON'S CAIL. Mr. Hill — What else occurred, Mr. Wilkeson ? A. I thought that Mr. Tilton's immediate want was money. Mr. Morris — Oh 1 oh ! never mind what you thought, Mr Wilkeson. Mr. Beach — I move to strike that out. Judge Ifeilson — Well, it was not inquired of. Q. Did you say anything about that ? A. I told him that he was going the wrong way to work to restore himself; that what he "wanted was help, and that warfare would not give him that which he desired. I told him that his interest lay in — be- fore this, however, he said to me that he had been compelled to bring a suit to collect the amount of money that Mr. Bowen owed him on his contracts, and that that suit was pending, and he did not know when it would be ended ; and he also said that he was in pressing need of the money that Mr. Bowen owed him. I told him that his true way was to take such steps as would terminate that suit and get his money ; and then that he ought to secure and control the influence that would enable him to restore his relations with Mr. Bowen, and to restore his repu- tation to the world at large, and I shadowed to him how that could be done. I told him that Mr. Beecher was sincerely at- tached to him ; that he was his friend ; and that Mr. Beecher was surrounded with people who had strength and influence, and that that could be brought to bear in his behalf ; and that Mr. Bowen could undoubtedly be influenced to do him justice ; and that it was not, it seemed to me, an impossible or difficult thing to bring Mr. Bowen to feel that, if he really owed the money to Mr. Tilton, which Mr. Tilton told me that he did, and which I believed that he did, on his statement of the contract IN THE BEECHER CASE. 53 that he had with Bowen, that Mr. Bo-wen could be induced to- pay that money and terminate the suit ; and I promised him the aid of The Christian Union to h^lp him in his Golden Age enterprise— I thought that I could do that : and I told him that undoubtedly Mr. Bowen could be induced to help him with The Independent ; and this thing could all be arranged, he coidd be effectually helped, and that the necessity for the publication of scandals of the character such as he had shown to me in presSy and the initiation of a warfare which that foreshadowed, could all be avoided, and the whole thing amicably adjusted. Q. Proceed with what else occurred there. A. Mr. Tiltort grew happy, calmed down, looked pleasant and sweet, and he- told me that he was very glad that he had come to my .office,, that it was a fortunate thing for him that he had done so ; that he had been walking down Broadway with his troubles, aim- lessly thinking over his affairs, and when he got to the Equit- able Life Insuarance Building, a sudden inspiration came to him to go up and see his old friend Samuel Wilkeson, and that he had come there with no object in view whatsoever, and didn't know how he happened to lay that paper down before me ta read; he thought that a good angel must have sent him therp j the spirits must have sent him there. Q. The what ? A. The spirits must have sent him there. He congratulated himself heartily upon having come there, and upon the result of his interview with me ; and I told him that I would take hold of the affair heartily and immediately, and ad- dress myself to the accomplishment of everything that I had told him I thought ought to be done ; and he went away. ME. BEECHEE IS THEEATENED -WITH A CHAE6E OP ADULTEET, IF HE PEESISTS m DEMANDING AN INVESTIGATION — ME. BEECH- be's EESPONSE. Mr. JRedpath's Testimony. In July, 1874, Mr. Redpath meets Mr. Tilton and Mr. Moul- ton in Brooklyn, A letter has been published by Mr. Tilton containing an extract from the letter of apology of January 1, 1871, and Mr. Beeoher has publicly demanded an investigation 60 UNCONTKADICTED TESTIMONY hy his churoli, and secured the appointment of a committee for that purpose. A. Theodore was lying on the lounge, Frank was sitting near the fireplace, and I was sitting at the end of the lounge. Theodore said, " Redpath is going up to Peekskill to see Mr. Beecher to-morrow." Frank said, "Is he? What are you going up about ? " to me. I said that I was going to try to get Mr. Beecher to arrange dates for lecturing. Theodore said, " Tell him that I am going to charge adultery." Frank said, "No, don't, Redpath." I said, " I am not a fool, Frank ; that would be a pretty way of introducing a business conversation ; I have no intention of telling him that." Theodore said, " Yes, you, had better tell him." At this time Frank had risen and was walking uneasily about the room, and suddenly he stopped before the — before us, and said, " Theodore was mad at me yes- terday for saying that I loved Mr. Beecher more — " then he stopped, caught himself and said, " as much as I love you. I don't care a damn, but much as 1 love both of them, Redpath, I would smite either of them to the earth," or, " to the ground, if either one of them attempted to crucify the other. Tell Mr. Beecher that." " No, I won't ; " I said ; " you seem to forget that I have never spoken to Mr. Beecher on this subject, and I certainly should not introduce it." He said, "You will find liim ready enough to talk." That is all I remember of now. Then they went to prepare that note, Frank Moulton's first statement. Mr. Redpath goes up to Peekskill to make engagements for Mr. Beecher to lecture, and communicates the message of Theo- dore Tilton and Mr. Moulton. Q. Now, tell us if that is all, and what Mr. Beecher replied, if anything, to this communication of yours ? A. When I was telling this, as near as I remember, at this time, Mr. Beecher and I were sitting very close together — as near as I am to this gentleman, and he was fixing his mind upon me ; I said, " I am exceedingly nervous, and tired, and faint," and I said, " Don't fix your mind upon me, Mr. Beecher, I cannot think; " he with- drew a little and he rested his hand upon the table ; he began, after I had got through, " Well, I suppose you know all that Theodore has had to say on this subject ; " I said, " Yes, sir, I IN THE BEECHER CASE. 61 have known it for two or three years ; I read the ' True Story ; ' " he said — I think at that time as I remember, or later in the con- versation — I think at that time, however, " Yes, he is probably very glad Elizabeth tore it up ; " T said, " I have got a copy of that, I think, somewhere ; " it had occurred to me that I had ; I had forgotten all about it until that remark ; I don't remember the intermediate conversation ; I think I said something then, but I cannot recall it ; he went on : "I don't deny that I have given Theodore cause of offense," or " just cause " — I don't re- member the words ; I told him — oh ! I had told him that Frank wanted him to do something about a card — I have forgotten about — but he said, " I shall be a party to it no farther — the matter is out of my hands now ; I have put it in the hands of a committee composed of men — " I cannot recall his language, but the substance was this, that he had put it in the hands of men of high character who could not afford, by their social position, to be influenced at all to bring in any verdict other than in accord- ance with the facts ; that he had left them absolutely free — had given no instructions whatever. Then he described one or tw» of the men ; I didn't know the men, and therefore the descrip- tions have left no impression upon my mind. He said : " If, ir» accordance with the facts and truth and honor, they find a ver- dict of acquittal, I shall go on. If there is the least censure, I shall resign my pastorate in twenty-four hours ; but I shall be a party to no further compact that depends on the truthfulness, honor, good faith, or magnanimity of Theodore Tilton ; he is a scoundrel." He said — the language of the following I cannot recall — but this was the substance, that in this affair there had been a dozen crises ; that whenever there was the least indica- tion that the scandal would cease, Theodore was sure to da something to revive it. He gave one or two instances, but I only remember the " letter to a complaining friend." Then he said, " But Frank, I think, is my friend ; " it was pronounced as if an interrogation. I said, " Yes, sir ; I have no doubt of that." " No," he said, " I should have to revise, or reverse my theories of human nature if Frank Moulton should prove false," OP " prove a traitor " — " prove false," 1 think was • the word. Then he went on — he talked very rapidly — with a great deal of emotion, with tears in his eyes part of the tinie, and said thai; 62 tJNCONTKADIOTED TESTIMONY lie had all his life tried to do good to his kind ; that he loved his kind, and that he had certainly never put himself above any man ; that his only ambition had been in life, that perhaps after he was dead he might leave something that would be a consola- tion to those in sorrow ; that he had been very much touched by receiving so many proofs of the good will of his countrymen; that he had received hundreds of letters from all parts of the country, and from people in all conditions of life, express- ing their sympathy for him in his trials, and that only two or three of them were of an insulting character ; he said what made it more touching to him was that so many of them, or the majority of them — I don't remember which — were written as if the writers believed there was some truth in the stories against him ; that he was particularly touched (he pointed to a bag, I think, or a large number of letters), but he said there ■was one he had received from a clergyman in New York — an Episcopal clergyman, I think — that was particularly grateful to him ; he looked for it, and went out of the room and brought it back, and read it to me, read part of it. Well, we went on talk- ing until dinner. Oh, I remember an incident. During this conversation three of his little grandchildren came to the win- dow and cried, " Grandpa ! " and he rose and went to a closet and brought three oranges, and said some pleasant words — I re- member the immense control of his face — and threw them out to them, and they went away ; we went to dinner ; he retired ■ before the dessert ; after a while, staying in the middle room, I went in, and he was lying on the bed, and his aspect had entire- ly changed ; he looked up with laughing eyes ; I said, " What are you reading, Mr, Beecher ? " and he said, " Oh, I am read- ing one of Dumas's novels ; whenever I get bothered or wor- ried, and tired, I go to one of these and forget myself;" that is all I recall of the conversation ; no, in the course of this con- versation, talking about Theodore, he said, " Oh ! yes, his woes are such " — he said, " his woes are such as money could assuage ; " that and calling Theodore a scoundrel were the only bitter re- marks he made in all the conversation. Q. Did he say anything in that conversation about making a statement ? A. No, sir. IN THE BBECHEE CASE. 63 Q. Did you ever have an interview with him at his house in Brooklyn ? A. I went to see Mr. Beecher at his house ; I went there, I think, about three o'clock ; I didn't see him for an hour or an hour and a half afterward ; he was up-stairs asleep ; then we went down — then we went down to tea. Oh, I asked in the parlor — I asked him if nothing could be done to stop this yet. He placed his hand on my knee and said : " Oh, that is all right now,'' or some expression like that ; " I have made up my mind ; " we went down to tea, and after tea he took me into the garden or yard, and went to the front part and talked a little about the cellars a minute, or the vaults underneath, and in going back he said — I forget the remark I made that led to it— he said : " I was with some of my friends until two o'clock this morning, and my mind was not clear. But when I awoke this morning I saw my way clear ; I shall make a clean breast of it ; I shall tell the whole truth; I shall take the whole blame upon myself; I shall vindicate Theodore and Elizabeth." I said : " Well, Mr. Beecher, without any reference to what the truth is, I am very glad of it." Q. Now, Mr. Bedpath, I ask you this question, whether at the interview at Peekskill of which you have spoken, or at the interview at Brooklyn of which you have also spoken, Mr. Beecher denied the commission of adultery ? No, sir ; I did not ask him, because I did not believe it. MES. TTLTON HAVING AGAIU' LEFT HEE HTTSBAITD, IN JULT, 1874, AFTER HE HAS PUBLICLY BISGBACED HEB, HE EXPRESSES HIS PURPOSE TO " SMASH " MK. BEECHEE, EVEN THOUGH HE DESTEOTS HIMSELE IN SO DOING. Mrs. Ovinffton's Testimony. Mr. Tilton said : " I shall be the Sampson which will destroy the temple. I will pull down the pillars of the temple, and, al- though Beecher and my family are crushed, I shall be crushed with them." 64 UNCONTRADICTED TESTIMONY IN THE BEECHEK CASE. Mr. Charles Storr^s Testimony. Q. Did you have a conversation with Tilton in July, 1874, at Mr. Ovington's house ? A. I did. Q. Was it before or after his wife had left him ? A. It was- just after. Q. What was said on the subject of his wife's having left him, and what he should now do to his wife and Mr. Beecher ? A. Well, the conversation on that point was that his wife had left him, and he said he had not said anything about it, but he thought he must now smash Elizabeth and Mr. Beecher. ADDEI^DA. Mr. Tilton was contradicted by twenty-seven witnesses upon points scarcely admitting of mistake ; and in the majority of cases the conflict of testimony was too positive to be reconciled on any theory of mistake. These witnesses were Mrs. Sarah C. Putnam, Mr. Rufus E. Holmes, Mr. George W. Lincoln, Mr. Albert F. Norton, Mr. Samuel E. Belcher, Mr. Oliver Johnson, Mr. Charles Cowley, Mr. Samuel Wilkeson, Mr. Thomas M. Cook, Mr. John Gallagher, Rev. John L. Gay, Miss Elizabeth A. Turner, Mr. John 0. Southwick, Mr. James B. Woodley, Mr. Richard A. Grey, Mrs. Lucy N. Giles, Mr. John Winslow, Mr. S. V. White, Mr. H. B. Claflin, Mr. Charles Storrs, Mr. James Freeland, Mr. Henry M. Cleveland, Mr. Edward J. Wright, Mrs. Elizabeth L. Palmer, Mr. B. F. Tracy, Mr. Stephen Pearl Andrews (Mr. Tilton's own witness), Mr. Henry C. Bowen (also Mr. Tilton's own witness). Mr. Moulton was contradicted by eight witnesses in like manner, viz. : Mr. H. B. Claflin, Mr. Charles Storrs, Mr. James Freeland, Mr. Samuel D. Partridge, Mr. H. O. Armour, Mr. B. F. Tracy, Mr. George W. Uhler, and Mr. W. E. Cauldwell. In the_ foregoing list no contradictions are noticed upon im- material points, explainable by mistake. Mr. Beecher was contradicted by Mr. TiltoD, Mr. Moulton, Mrs. Moulton, the nurse Kate Carey, and Mr. Henry C. Boweu, but not by any one else. Mr. Bowen confirmed Mr. Beecher's statements in the main, only diiFering from him in matters of detail, concerning which either side might have been mistaken. Upon the most material of these differences Mr. Beecher was confirmed by Mr. James Freeland and Rev. Edward Eggleston. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 082 445 788