,C)                        7> T5  t
.                     W~ee  - e   m
Theodore Tilton's Full Statement of the
Great Preacher's Guilt.
WHAT FRANK MOULTON HAD TO SAY
The Documents and Letters from
Both -Sides.
"I clasped a woman's breast,
As if her heart I knew,
Or fancied, would be true,
Who proved-alas, she too!False like the rest."
Theodore Tilton.
—: o:
NEW YORK.
, A BOOK OF RL-EP,.RE,NCE.
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Th~ec IN and Ti i  i.on
rilton's- Pull Statemnent of his Guilt.
-Mast Autouaing clarges Against the Great Preacher.
(From the BmoZ-,yn Argus.)
OF THF CO TER:
In communicating to you the detailed statement of facts
of evidence which you have been several days expecting
at my hands, let me remind you of the circumstances
which call this statement forth.
In my recent letter to Dr. Bacon I alluded to an offence
and an apology by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.  To
whomsoever else this allusion seemed indefinite, to Mr.
Beecher it was plain. The offence was committed by
him; the apology was made by him-both acts were his
own, and were among the most momentous occurrences of
his life. Of all men in Plymouth Church, or in the world,
the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was the one man who was
best informed concerning this offence and apology, and
the one man who least needed to inquire into either.
Nevertheless, while possessing a perfect knowledge of
both these acts done by himself, he has chosen to put on a
public affectation of ignorance and innocence concerning
them, and has conspicuously appointed a comtiiittc, of six
of the ablest men of his church, together with two attorneys, to inquire into what he leaves you to regard as the
unaccountable mystery of this offence and apology; as if he
had neither committed the one nor offered the other: but
....
I
It
I
I
, 
THEODORE HILTON"S STATEMeNt.
as if both were the mere figments of another man's imagination-thus adroitly prompting the public to draw the
deduction that I am a person under some hallucination or
delusion, living in a dream and forging a fraud.
Furthermore, in order to cast over this explanation tne
delicate glamour which always lends a charm to the defene of a wonon's honor Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tlton,,!ltely
my                    ed —a** fi    e  i ide
among Mr.4 Beechers friends, an  to co-operat8 with him
in his ostensibly honest and laudable inquiry into facts
concerning which she, too, as well as he, has for years past
had perfect and equal knowledge with himself.
This investigation, therefore, has been publicly pressed
upon me by MAr. Beecher, seconded by Mrs. Tilton, both
of whom in so doing have united in assuming before the
public the non-existence of the grave and solemn facts into
which they have conspired to investigate, for the purpose,
not of eliciting, but of denying the truth. This joint assumption by them, which has seemed to your committee
to be in good faith, has naturally led you into an examination in which you expect to find, on their part, nothing
but innocence, and on my part nothing but slander.
AN UNHAPPY DUTY.
It is now my unhappy duty, from which I have in vain
hitherto sought earnestly to be delivered, to give you the
facts and evidences for reversing your opinion on this subject. In doing this painful, I may say heartrending, duty,
the responsibility for making the grave disclosures which I
am about to lay before you belongs not to me, but first to
Mr. Beecher, who has prompted you to this examination,
and next to Mrs. Tilton, who has joined him in a conspiracy
which cannot fail to be full of peril and wretchedness to
many hearts.
ILcall you to witness that in my first brief examination
by your committee, I begged and implored you not to it -
quire into the facts of thiis ase, but rather to week to bury
them beyond all possible revelation.  iHappy for all conogrned had this entreaty been heeded, It is now too late.
4 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
The last opportunity for reconciliation and settlement haspassed.  This investigation, undertaken by you in ignorance of dangers against which Mr. Beecher should have
warned you in advance, will shortly prove itself, to your
surprise, to have been an act of wanton and wicked folly,
for which the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, as its originator
and public sponsor, will hereafter find no " space for repentance, though he seek it carefully and with tears."
This desperate man must hold himself only, and not me,
accountable for the wretchedness which these disclosures
will carry to his own home and hearth as they have already
brought to mine.
I will add that the original documents referred to in the
ensuing sworn statement are for the most part in my possession; but that the apology and a few other papers are
in the hands of Mr. Francis D. Moulton.  Truly yours,
THIIEODORE TILTON.
UR. TILTON'S SWORN STATEXENT.
whereas, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher has instigated
the appointment of a committee, consisting of six members
of his church and society, to inquire and report upon
alleged aspersions upon his character by Theodore Tilton;
and, whereas, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tilton, formerly the wife
of Mr. Tilton, has openly deserted her home in order to cooperate with Mr. Beecher in a conspiracy to overthrow the
credibility and good repute of her late husband as a man
and citizen; therefore, Theodore Tilton being thus authorized and required, and by the published demand made
upon him by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and being
now and hereafter released by act of Mrs. Tilton from
further responsibility for concealment of the truth touching
her relations with Mr. Beecher-therefore, Theodore Tilton
hereby sets forth, under solemn oath, the following facts
and testimony:
I. That on the 2d of October, 1855, at Plymouth Church,
B;rooklyn, a marriage between Theodore Tilton and ElizaReth R. Richards was performed by the Rev. Henry Ward
rxl 
THiEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
Beecher which marriage thirteen years afterwards was dis:
honored and violated by this clergyman through the criminal seduction of this wife a-d mother, as hereinafter set
forth.
II. That for a period of about fifteen years, extending
both before and after this marriage, an intimate friendship
existed between Theodore  Tilton and  the Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher, which friendship was cemented to such a
degree, that in consequence thereof the subsequent dishonoring by Mr. Beecher of his friend's wife was a crime
of uncommon wrongfulness and perfidy.
III. That about nine years ago the Pev. Henry Ward
Beecher began, and thereafter continued, a friendship with
Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tilton, for whose native delicacy and
extreme religious sensibility he often expressed to her husband a high admiration; visiting her from time to time
for years, until the year 1870, when, for reasons hereinafter
stated, he ceased such visits; during which period, by many
tokens and attentions he won the affectionate love of Mrs.
Tilton; whereby after long moral resistance by her, and
after repeated assaults by hirm upon her mind with overmastering arguments, accomplished the possession of her
person; maintaining with her thenceforward during the
period hereinafter stated, the relation called criminal intercourse; this relation being regarded by her during that
period as not criminal or morally wrong-such had been the
power of his arguments as a clergyman to satisfy her
religious scruples against such violation ot virtue and
honor.
A DIRECT CHARGE OF CRI[INALITY.
IV. That on the evening of October 10, 1868, or thereabouts, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tilton held an interview with the
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher at his residence, she being then
in a tender state of mind owing to the recent death and
burial of a young child; and during this interview an act
of criminal commerce took place between this pastor and
this parishioner; the motive on her part being, as hereinbefore stated, not regarded by her at the time criminal or
6 
THEO)DORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
wrong; which act was followed by a similar act of criminality between these same parties at Mr. Tilton's residence
during a pastoral visit paid by Mr. Beecher to her on the
subsequent Saturday evening, followed also by other similar acts on various occasions, from the autumn of 1868 to
the spring of 1870, the places being the two residences
aforesaid, and occasionally other places to which her pastor
would invite and accompany her, or at which he would meet
her by previous appointment; these acts of wrong being
on her part, from first to last, not wantonly or consciously
wicked, but arising through a blinding of her moral perceptions, occasioned by the powerful influence exerted on
her mind at that time to this end by the Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher, as her trusted religious preceptor and guide.
V. That the pastoral visits made by the Rev. Henry
Ward B3eecherto Mrs. Tilton, during the year 1868, became
so frequent as to excite comment, being in marked-contrast
with his known habit of making few pastoral calls on his
parishioners, which frequently, in Mrs. Tilton's case, is
shown in letters written to her husband during his absence
in the West; these letters giving evidence that during th6
period of five or six weeks twelve different pastoral calls on
Mrs. Tilton were made by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher,
which calls became noticeably infrequent on Mr. Tilton's
return to his home.
VI. That previous to the aforesaid criminal intimacy,
one of the reasons which Mrs. Tilton alleged for her encouragement of such exceptional attentions from the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher was the fact that she had been much
distressed with rumors against his moral purity, and wished
to convince him that she could receive his kindness, and
yet resist his solicitations; and that she could inspire in
him, by her purity and fidelity, an increased respect for
the chaste dignity of womanhood. Previous to the autumn
of 1868 she maintained with Christian firmness toward her
pastor this position of resistance, always refusing his amorous pleas, which were strong and oft-repeated; and in a
letter to her husband, dated February 3, 1868, she wrote
as follows:
T 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
.To love is praiseworthy, but to abuse the gift is sinHere I am strong.  No demnonstrations or fascinations could
cause me to yield my womanhood.
THE FIRST SUSPICION.
VII. That the first suspicion which crossed the mind of
Theodore Tilton that the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was
abusing, or might abuse, the affection and reverence which
Mrs. Tilton bore toward her pastor was an improper caress
given by Mr. Beecher to Mrs. Tilton by the * * * * * * *
while seated by her side on the floor of his library overlooking engravings. Mr. Tilton, a few hours afterward,
asked of his wit an explanation of her permission of such
a liberty, whereat she at first denied the fact, but then
confessed it, and said that she had spoken chidingly to
Mr. Beecher concerning it. On another occasion Mr.
Tilton, after leaving his house in the early morning,
returned to it in the forenoon, and on going to his bedchamber found the door locked, and when, on knocking,
the door was opened by Mrs. Tilton, Mr. Beecher was seen
within, apparently much confused, and exhibiting a flushed
face. Mrs. Tilton afterward made a plausible explanation,
which, from-the confidence reposed in her by her husband
was by him deemed satisfactory.
VIII. That in the spring of 1870, on Mr. Tilton's return
from a winter's absence, he noticed in his wife such evidences of the absorption of her mind in Mr. Beecher that
in a short time an estrangement took place between her
husband and herself, in consequence of which she went
into the country earlier than usual for a summer sojourn.
After an absence of several weeks, she voluntarily returned
to her home ih Brooklyn.  On the evening of July 3, 1870,
when, and then and there, within a few hours after her
arrival, and after exacting from her husband a solemn
promise that he would do the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
no harm, nor communicate to him what she was about to
say, she made a circumstantial confession to her husband
of the criminal acts hereinbefore stated, accompanied with
citations from Mr. Beecher's arguments and reasonings
8 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
with her to overcome her long-maintained scruple against
yielding to his desires, and declaring that she had committed no wrong to her husband or her marriage vow,
quoting, in support of this opinion, that her pastor had
repeatedly assured her that she was spotless and chaste,
which she believed herself to be. She further stated that
her sexual commerce with him had never proceeded from
low or vulgar thoughts either on her part or his, but always
from pure affection and high religious love. She stated,
furthermore, that Mr. Beecher habitually characterized
their intimacy by the term',' nest-hiding," and he would
suffer pain and sorrow if his hidden secret were ever made
known. She said that her mind was often burdened by
the deceit necessary for her to practice in order to prevent
discovery, and that her conscience had many times impelled
her to throw off this burden of enforced falsehood by making
a full confession to her husband, so that she would no
longer be living before him a perpetual lie.  In particular
she said that she had been on the point of making this confession a few months previously, during a severe illness,
when she feared she might die. She affirmed also that
Mr. Beecher had assured her repeatedly that he loved her
better than he had ever loved any other woman, and she
felt justified before God in her intimacy with him, save the
necessary deceit which accompanied it, and at which she
frequently suffered in her mind.
CONDONING THE WRONG.
IX. That after the above-named confession by Mrs.
Elizabeth R. Tilton, she returned to the country to await
such action by her husband as he might see fit to take;
whereupon, after many considerations, the chief of which
was that she had not voluntarily gone astray, but had been
artfully misled, through religious reverence for the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher, as her spiritual guide, together,
also, from a desire to protect the family from open shame,
Mr. Tilton condoned the wrong, and he addressed to his
wife such letters of affection, tenderness and respect as he
felt would restore her wounded spirit, and which  did
partially produce that result. 
I 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
X. That in Desernber, 1870, differences arose between
Theodore Tilton and Henry C., Bowen, which Were augmented by the Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher and Mrs.
Beecher; in consequence whereof, and at the wish of Mrs.
Elizabeth R. Tilton, expressed in writing in a paper put
into the hands of Mr. Francis D. Moulton, with a view to
procure a harmonious interview between Mr. Tilton and
Mr. Beecher, such an interview was arranged and carried
out by Mr. Moulton at his then residence on Clinton street,
Mr. Beecher and Mr. Tilton meeting and speaking then
and there for the first time since Mrs. Tilton's confession
of six months before. The paper in Mr. Moulton's hands
was a statement by Mrs. Tilton of the substance of the
confession which she had before made, and of her wish
and prayer for reconciliation and peace between her pastor
and her husband. This paper furnished to Mr. Beecher
the first knowledge which he had as yet received that Mrs.
Tilton had made such a confession. At this interview
between Mr. Beecher and Mr. Tilton permission was sought
by Mr. Beecher to consult with Mrs. Tilton on that same
evening. This permission being granted, Mr. Beecher
departed from Mr. Moulton's house, and in about half an
hour returned thither, expressing his remorse and shame,
and declaring that his life and work seemed brought to a
sudden end. Later in the same evening Mr. Tilton, on
returning to his house, found his wife weeping and in great
distress, saying that what she had meant for peace had
only given pain and anguish; that Mr. Beecher had just
called on her, declaring that she had slain him, and that
he would probably be tried before a council of ministers
unless she would give him a written paper for his protection.  Whereupon she said he dictated to her, and she
copied in her own handwriting, a suitable paper for him
to use to clear himself before a council of ministers.  Mrs.
Tilton having kept no copy of this paper, her husband
asked her to make a distinct statement in writing Of her
design and meaning in giving it, whereupon she wrote as
ofollows:
10 
THIIEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
THE LETTER.
DECREKER 30,1870-Midnight.
-y Pear Husban~d:
I desire to leave with you, before going to bed, a statement that Mr. Henry Ward Beecher called upon me this
evening, ard asked me if I would defend him against any
accusation in a council of ministers; and I replied, solemnly, that I would in case the accuser was any other person
than my husband.  He (HI. W. B.) dictated a letter, which
I copied as my own, to be used by him as against any
other accuser except my husband.  This letter was designed
to vindicate Mr. Beecher against all other persons save
only yourself.  I was ready to give him this letter because
he said with pain that my letter in your hands addressed
to him, dated December 29, "had struck him dead, and
ended his usefulness." You and I are pledged to do our
best to avoid publicity. God grant a speedy end to all
.further anxieties.      Affectionately,       ELIZABETH.
On the next day, namely, December 31, 1870, )fr.
Moulton, on being informed by Mr. Tilton of the abovenamed transaction by Mr. Beecher, called on him (Mr.
Beech,er) at his residence, and told him that a reconciliation seemed suddenly made impossible by Mr. Beecher'g
nefarious act in procuring the letter which Mrs. Tilton had
,thus been improperly persuaded to make falsely. Mr.
Beecher promptly, through Mr. Moulton, returned the
letter to Mr. Tilton, with an expression of shame and
sorrow for having procured it in the manner he did.
'The letter was as follows:
DsicEMBER 30, 1870.
Wearied with importunity and weakened by sicknesss,
I gave a letter implicating my friend Henry Ward Beecher
under assurances that that would  remove  all difficul~ties between me and my husband. That letter I now
revoke.  I was persuaded to it-alinost forced-when I
'was in a weakened state of mind.
I regret it, and recall all its statements.
E. R. TILTON.
I desire to say explicitly, Mr. Beecher has never offered
any improper solicitation, but has always treated me in a
manner becoming a Christian and a gentleman.
ELIZABETH R. TILTON.
it 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
At the time of Mr. Beecher's returning the above,
document to Mr. Tilton through Mr. Moulton, Mr.
Beecher' requested Mr. Moulton to call at his residence, in
Columbia street, on the next day, which he did on the
evening of January 1, 1871.  A  long interview then
ensued, in which Mr. Beecher expressed to, burl, loultoTi
great contrition and remorse for his previous criminality
with Mrs. Tilton; taking to himself shame for having
misused his sacred office as a clergyman to corrupt her
mind; expressing a determiniation to kill himself in case
of exposure, and begging Mr. Moulton to take a pen and
receive from his (Mr. Beecher's) lips an apology to be
conveyed to Mr. Tilton, in the hope that such. an appeal
would secure Mr. Tilton's forgiveness.  The apology which
Mr. Beecher dictated to Mr. Moulton was as follows:
THE APOLOGY.
Lin trust with E. D. Moulton.]
My dearfriend, X.oulton.
I ask, through you, Theodore Tilton's forgiveness, and
I humble myself before him as I do before my God. He
would have been a better man in my circumstances than
I have been. I can ask nothing, except that he will remember all the other breasts that would ache. I will not
plead fobr myself I even wish that I were dead. But others
must live to suffer.  I will die before any one but myself
shall be inculpated. All my thoughts are running out
toward my friends and toward the poor child lying there
and praying, with her folded hands. She is guiltless,
sinned against, bearing the transgression of another., Her
forgiveness I have. 1 humbly pray to God to put it into
the heart of her husband to forgive me.
I have trusted this to Moulton, in confidence.
H. W. BEECHER.
In the above document the last sentence and the signa —
ture are in the handwriting of the Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher.
XI. That Mrs. Tilton wrote the following letter to a
friend:
174 LIVINGSTON STREET, BROOKLYN, Jan. 5, 1871.
DEAR FRIEND:  A  cruel conspiracy has been fo~
against my husband, in which my mother and Mrs.
Beecher have been the chief actors. * * * *
Yonrs truly,              ELIZABETH R. TILTON.
12
I i. 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
XII. That in the following month Mr. Moulton, wishing
,to bind Mr. Tilton and Mr. Beecher by mutual expressions
of a good spirit, elicited from them the following corre'pondence:
MR. TILTON TO MR. MOULTON.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 7, 1871.
My Dear Friend:
In several conversations with you, you have asked about
my feelings toward Mr. Beecher; and yesterday you said
the time had come when you would like to receive from
me an expression of this kind in writing.
I say, therefore, very cheerfully, that, notwithstanding
the great suffering which he has caused to Elizabeth and
myself, I bear him no malice, shall do him  no wrong,
shall discountenance every project (by whomsoever proposed) for any exposure of his secret to the public, and
(if I know myself at all) shall endeavor to act toward Mr.
Beecher as I would have him in similar circumstances act
toward me.
I ought to add that your own good offices in this case
have led me to a higher moral feeling than I might other,wise have reached.
Ever yours, affectionately.
THEODORE.
To FRANX MOULTO'N.
On the same day Mr. Beecher wrote to Mr. Moulton
the following:.
MR. BEOHER T  MR.  OULTON.
EBROULTON.AY 7, 81.
EBRUA&RY 7, 187l.
By1- Dear Friend Moulton.
am glad to send you a book, &c.
Many, many friends has God raised up to me, but to no
,one of themn has IHe ever given the opportunity and the
,wisdom so to serve me as you have.
You have also proved Theodore's friend and Elizabeth's.
Does God look down from heaven'n three unhappier
creatures that more need a friend than these?  Is it not an
intimation of God's intent of mercy to all, that each one
of these has in you a tried and proved friend?  But only
in yoil are thus we united. Would to God, who orders all
hearts, that by his kind mediation, Theodore, Elizabeth,
and I could be made friends again.
Theodore will have the hardest task in such a case; but
has he not proved himself capable of the noblest things?
13 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT
I wonder if Elizabeth knows how generously he hla
carried himself toward me. Of course I can never speak
with her again without his permission, and I do not know
that even then it would be best. * * *
Mr. Moulton, on the same day, asked Mr. Tilton if he
would permit Mr. Beecher to address a letter to Mrs.
Tilton, and Mr. Tilton replied in the affirmative, where —
upon Mr. Beecher wrote as follows.
MR. BEECHER TO MRS. TILTON.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 7, 1874..
My dear Mrs. Tilton:
When I saw you last I did not expect ever to see you
again, or to be alive many days.  God was kinder to me
than were my own thoughts. The friend whom God sent
to me, Mr. Moulton, has proved, above all friends that I
ever had, able and willing to help me in this terrible emer gency of my life.  His hand it was that tied up the storm
that was ready to burst on our heads.
You have no friend (Theodore excepted) who has it in
his power to serve you so vitally, and who will do it with
such delicacy and honor.
It does my sore heart good to see in Mr. Moulton an unfeigned respect and honor for you. It would kill me if I
thought otherwise. He will be as true a friend to your
honor and happiness as a brother could be to a sister's.
In him we have a common ground.  You and I may
meet in him. The past is ended. But is there no future?
No wiser, higher, holier future? May not this friend
stand as a priest in the new sanctuary of reconciliation, and
mediate and bless Theodore and my most unhappy self?
Do not let my earnestness fail of its end. You believe ini
my judgment.  I have put myself wholly and gladly in
Moulton's hand.  And there I must meet you.
This is sent with Thleodore's consent, but he has not read
it. Will you return it to me by his own hand? I am very
earnest in this wish for all our sakes, as such a letter ought
not to be subject to even a chance of miscarriage.
Your unhappy friend,
H. W.  BEECHER.
XIII. That about a year after Mrs. Tilton's confession,
her mind remained in the fixed opinion that her criminal
relations with Mr. Beecher had not been morially wrong;
so strongly had he impressed her to the contrary; but at
length a change took place in her convictions on this sub.
14 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
ject, as noted in the following letter addressed by her to her
]husband:
MRS. TILT6N TO MR. TILTON.
SCHOHARIE, June 29, 1871.
_Wy dear Teodore:
To-day through the ministry of Catherine Gaunt a character of fiction, my eyes have been opened for the first time
in my experience, so that I see clearly my  sin.  It was
when I knew that I was loved to suffer it to grow to a passion.  A virtuous woman would check instantly an absorbin love. But it appeared to me in such a false light.
That the love I felt and received could harm no one, not
even you. I have believed unfalteringly, until four o'clock
this afternoon, when the heavenly vision dawned upon me.
I see now, as never before, the wrong I have done you, and
hasten immediately to ask your pardon, with a penitence
so sincere that henceforth (if reason remains) you may trust
me  implicitly.   Oh! my  dear Theodore,  though  your
opinions are not restful or congenial to nmy soul, yet my
own integrity and purity are a sacred and holy thing to
me.  Bless God, with me, for Catherine Gaunt, and for all
the sure leadings of an All-Wise and loving Providence.
Yes; now I feel quite prepared to renew my marriage vow
with you, to keep it as the Saviour requireth, who looketh
at the eye and the heart.  Never before could I say this.
When you yearn toward me with true feeling, be assured
of the tried, purified, and restored love of  ELIZABETi.
Mrs. Tilton followed the above letter with these:
MRS. TILTON TO MR. TILTON.
JULY 4, 1871.
0, my dear husband, may you never need the discipline
of being misled by a good woman, as I was by a good
man.
[No date.]
I would mourn greatly if my life was to be made kniown
to father. His head would be bowed indeed to the grave.
[No date.]
Do not think my ill health is on account of my sin and
its discovery. My sins and life-record I have carried to
my Saviour. No; my prostration is owing to the suffering
I have caused you.
XI[V. That about one year after Mrs. Tilton's confession,
and about a half year after Mr. Beecher's confirmation of
the same, Mrs. V. C. Woodhull, then a total strander to Mr.
10 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
Tilton, save that he had been presented to her in a company
of friends, a few days previous, wrote in the World Mon
day, May 22, 1871, the following statement, namely:
I know of one man, a public teacher of eminernce, who
lives in concubinage with the wife of another publie
teacher of almnost equal emninence. All three concur in
denouncing offences against morality.  I shall make it my
business to analyze some of those lives.
VICTORrA C. WOODIULL.
NEW YORK, May 20, 1872.
On the da  of the publication of the above card' in the
World Mr. Tilton received from Mrs. Woodhull a request
to call on imperative business at her office; and on going
thither, a copy of the above card was put into his hand by
Mrs. Woodhull, who said that "the parties referred to
therein were the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and the wife
of Theodore Tilton."  Following this announcement Mrs.
Woodhull detailed to Mr. Tilton, with vehement speech,
the wicked and injurious story which she published in the
year following.  Meanwhile Mr. Tilton, desiring to guard
against any possible temptation to Mrs. Woodhull to publish the grossly distorted version which she gave to Mr.
Tilton (and which she afterward attributed to him), he
sought by many personal services and kindly attentions to
influence her to sach a good will toward himself and family
as would remove all disposition or desire in her to afflict
him with such a publication.  Mr. Tilton's efforts and association with Mrs. Woodhull ceased in April, 1872, and six
months afterward, namely, Nov. 2, 1872, she published the
scandal which he had labored to suppress.
THE REV. THOMAS K. BEEOHER.
XV. That on the third day thereafter, the Rev. Thomas
K. Beecher, of Elmira, N.Y., wrote as follows:
ELMIRA, NOV. 5, 1872.
"Mrs. Woodhull o7dly carries out I'es's philosophy,
against which I recorded my protest twenty years ago."
XVI. That in May, 1873, the publication by one of
Mr. Beecher's partners of a tripartite covenant between
H. C. Bowen, H. W. Beecher, and Theodore Tilton led
the press of the country to charge that Mr. Tilton had
committed against Mr. Beecher some heinous wrong, which
Mr. Beecher had pardoned; whereas the truth was the
reverse.   To remedy  this false public impression, Mr
Moulton requested Mr. Beecher to prepare a suitable
card, relieving A r, Tilton of this injustice
le
IN". 
Rev. HiENRY WARD BEECHER  
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
In answer to this request, Mr. Beecher pleaded his embarrassments, which prevented his saying anything without bringing-himself under suspicion.   Mr. Tilton then
proposed to prepare a card of his own containing a few
lines from the recently quoted apology, for the purpose of
~showing that Mr. Beecher, instead of having had occasion to forgive Mr. Tilton, had had occasion to be forgivers
by him. Mr. Beecher then wrote a letter to Mr. Moulton:
which, on being shown to Mr. Tilton, was successful in
appealing to Mr. Tilton's feelings. Mr. Beecher said in
it, under date of Sunday morning, June 1, 1873:
MR. BEECHER TO MR. MOULTON.
My Dear Frank:
I am  determined to make no more resistance.  Theadore's temperament is such that the future, even if temporarily earned, would be absolutely worthless, and rendering me liable at Any hour of the day to be obliged tae
stultif  all the devices by which we saved ourselves.  It
is only fair that he should know  that the publication of
the card which he proposes would leave him worse off'
than before. The agreement (viz., the "tripartite covenant") was made after my  letter through you to him
(viz., th  "apology ") was written.  He had had it a year.
le had condoned his wife's fault.  He had enjoined upon
me, with the utmost earnestness and solemnity, not to
betray his wife nor leave his children to a blight. * * *
With such a man as T. T. there is no possible salvation
for any that depend upon him. With a strong nature, he
does not know how to govern it.  * *  *  *  There is no
nse in trying further.  I have a strong feeling upon me,
and it brings great peace that I am spending my last Supday and preaching my last sermon.
The hopelessness of spirit which  the foregoing letter
portrayed on the part of its writer led Mr.  Tilton to reconsider the question of defending himself at the cost of
producing misery to Mr. Beecher; which determination
by Mr. Tilton to allow the prevailing calumnies against
himself to go unanswered was further strengthened by the
following note received by him two days thereafter from
the office editor of Mr. Beecher's journal:
OLIVER JOHNSON TO THEODORE TILTON.
128 EAST TWELFTH STREET  Junle t, 1873.
MY DEAR THEODORE: May I tell you frankly that when
i saw you last you did not seem to me to be the noble;
young man who inspired my warm affection aQ many years
1T 
THEO DORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
ago.  You were yielding to an act which I could not help
thinking would be dishonorable  and  perfidious  and,
although it is easy for me to make every allowance for the
circumstances that had wrought you to such a frenzy, I
was dreadfully shocked.  My dear Theodore, let me  as
an old friend whose heart is wrung by your terrible suffering and sorrow, tell you that you were then acting
ignobly, and that you can never have true peace of mind
till you conquer yourself and dismiss all purpose and
thought of injuring the man who has wronged you.  Of all
the promises our lips can frames none are so sacred as those
we make to those who have injured us, and whom we have
professed to forgive; and they are sacred just in proportion
as their violation would work injury to those to whom
they are made. You cannot paint too blackly the wrongs
you have  suffered.   On that point I make no plea in
abatement: but I beg you to remember that nothing can
ohange the law which makes forgiveness noble  and Godlike.
1 have prayed for you night and day, with strong crying
and tears, beseeching God to restrain you from wronging
<aourself by violating your solemn engagements. To-night I
a.m happy in the thought that you have been preserved
from committing the act which I so much dreaded.
In a letter written by Mr. Beecher, in order to be shown
to Mr. Tilton, Mr. Beecher spoke as follows:
MR. BEECHER TO MR. MOULTON.
No man can see the difficulties that environ me unless
he stands where I do. To say that I have a church on
my hands is simple enough, but to have the hundreds
and thousands of men pressing me, each one with his keen
suspicion, or anxietv, or zeal; to see the tendencies which
if not stopped, would break out into a ruinous defence of
me; to stop them without seeming to do it; to prevent
any one questioning me; to meet and allay prejudices
against T. which had their beginnings years before; to
keep serene, as if I was not alarmed or disturbed; to be
cheerful at home and among friends when I was suffering
the torments of the damned; to pass sleepless nights often,
and vet to come up fresh and fair for Sunday-all this
mnay be talked about, but the real thing cannot be understood from the outside, nor its wearing and grinding on
the nervous system.
In still another letter, written for the same purpose as
the above, Mr. Beecher said:
is 
THEODiRE T-ILTON'S STATEM~iENT.
If my destructsit  would place him (Mr. Tilton) all right,
that shall not stand in the way.  I am willing to step
down and out.  No one can offer more than tha+,.  That
do I offer.  Sacerifice mne without hesitation if you can
clearly see your way to his safety and happiness thereby.
In one point of view, I could desire the sacrifice on my
part.  Nothing can possibly be so bad as the power of
great darkness in which I spend much of my time. I look
upon death as sweeter far than any friend I have in the
world. Life would be pleasant if I could see that rebuilt
which is shattered. But to live on the sharp and ragged
edge of anxiety, remorse, fear, despair, and yet to put on
an appearance of serenity and happiness, cannot be endured much longer.  I am well nigh discouraged.  If you
cease to trust me, to love me, I am alone-I do not know
any person in the world to whom I could go.
Mr. Tilton yielded to the above-quoted and other similar letters, and made no defence of himself against the
public odium which attached to him unjustly.
XVII. That the marriage union between Mr. and Mrs.
Tilton, until broken by Mr. Beecher, was of more than
common harmony, affection, and mutual respect. Their
house and household were regarded for years by all their
guests as an ideal home.  As evidence of the feeling and
spirit which this wife entertained for her husband, up to
the time of her corruption by Mr. Beecher, the following
letters by Mrs. Tilton, written only a few months before
her loss of honor, will testify:
MRS. TILTON TO MR. TILTON.
TUESDAY MORNING, Jan. 28, 1868.
MY BELOVED: Don't you know the peculiar phase of
Christ's character as a Lover is so'precious to me because
of my consecration and devotion to you? I learn to love
you from my love to Him.  I have learned to love Him
from loving you. I couple you with Him.' Nor do I feel
it one whit irreverent. And as every day I adorn myself,
consciously, as a bride to meet her bridegroom, so in like
manner I lift imploring hands that my soul's love may be
prepared. I, with the little girls, after you left us, with
overflowing eyes and hearts, consecrated ourselves to our
work and to you. My waking thoughts last night were of
you.  My rising thoughts this morning were of you.  I
bless you; I honor you; I love you.  God sustain us, and
help us both to keep our vows.
is 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
SATURDAY EVEN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ING  e.1  
MONDAY MORNING, Feb. 24, 1868.
Do you wonder that I couple your love, your presence
and relation to me with the Saviour's? 1 lift you up sacredly, and keep you in that exalted and holy place where
I reverence, respect and love with the fervency of my whole
being.
Whatever capacity I have, I offer it to you. The closing lines of your letter are these words: "I shall hardly
venture again upon a great friendship-your love shall be
enough for the remaining days."  That word' enough'~
seems a stoicism on which you have resolved to live your
life-but I pray God he will supply you with friendships
pure, and with wifely love which your great heart demands, withholding not Himself as the Chief Love which
fonsumeth not though it burn, and whose effects are always perfect rest and peace.
Again, in one of your letters, you close with: "Faithfully yours "-that word, FaithJl, means a great dealYes, darling, I believe it, trust it, and give you the same
surety with regard to myself.  I am faithful to you; have
been always, and shall for ever be, world without end.
tall not this assurance, impious; there are some things we
wtow.  Blessed be God I
HOME, February 29, 1868. 
SATURDAY EVENING.   f
Ah, did ever man ever love so grandly as my Beloved t
Other friendships, public affairs, all " fallto naught" when
I come to you.  Though you are in Decorah, to-night, yet
I have felt your love, and am very grateful for it. I had
not received a line since Monday, and was so hungry and
lonesome that I took out all your letters and indulged myself as at a feast, but without satiety.  And now I long to
pour out into your heart of my abundance.  I am conscious of three jets to the fountain of my soul-to the
20 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
Great Lover and yourself-to whom as one I am eternally
,wedded; my children; and the dear friends who trust and
love me. I do not want another long separation. While
we are in the flesh, let us abide together.
WEDNESDAY MORN, March, 1868.
0, how almost perfectly could I minister to you this
-winter, my heart grows so perpetually. I am conscious of
great inward awakening toward you. If I live I shall
teach my children to began their loves where now I am.  I
cannot conceive of anything more delicious than a life consecrated to a faithful love.  I insist that I miss you more
'han you do me, but soon I shall see my beloved.
YOUR OWN DEAR WIF..
OTHER LETTERS.
In addition to the above, many other letters by Mrs.
Tilton to her hun;band, prior to her corruption by Mr.
Beecher, served to show that a Christian wife, loving her
husband to the extreme degree above set forth, could onl
have been swerved from the path of rectitude by artful and
powerful persuasions, clothed in the phrases of religion,
and enforced by strong appeals from her chief Ohristian
teacher and guide.
XVIII. That the story purporting to explain Mr.
Beecher's apology as having been written because he had
offended Mr. Tilton by engaging his wife in the project of a
separation from her husband is ifalse, as will be seen by the
following letter written only three days after the date of
the apology:
174 LrviNGSTON STREET, BROOKLYN,
January 4, 1871. t
Xr. Fra'cis D.  uoulton:
MY DEAR FRIEND-In regard to your question whether
I have ever sought a separation from my husband,  I
indignantly dey that 8uc] was ever te fit, as I have
denied it a hundred times before. The story that I wanted
.a separation was a deliberate falsehood, coined by my poor
mother who said she would bear the responsibility of this
.and other statements she might make and communicated
to my husband's enemy, Mrs. II. W. Beecher, and by her
communicated to Mr. Bowen.  [.feel outraged by the
whole proceeding. and am  now suffering in consequence
more than I am able to bear.
I am yours, very truly       ELIZABETH R. TILT(X.
XIX. That during the first week in January, 1871, a few
days after the apology was written, Mr. Beecher commua
21 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT:
icated to Mr. Tilton, through Mr. Moulton, an earnest wish
that he (Mr. Tilton) would take his family to Europe and
reside there for a term of years, at Mr. Beecher's expense.
Similar offers have been since repeated by Mr. Beecher to
Mr. Tilton through the same channel. A message of kindred
tenor was brought from Mr. Beecher to Mr. Tilton,.last
summer, by Mr. F. B. Carpenter, as will appear from the
following affidavit:
AFIDAVIT OF F. B. CARPENTER.
HOMER, N.Y., July 18, 1874.
On Sunday, June 1, 1873, two days after the surrepti
tious publication of the tripartite covenant between IL, W
Beecher, H. C. Bowen, and Theodore Tilton, I walked
with Mr. Beecher from Plymouth Church to the residence
of Mr. F. D. Moulton, in Remsen street. On the way t(,
Mr. Moulton's house, Mr. Beecher said, to me that, if Mr.
Tilton would stand by him, he would share his fame, ifi
fortune, and everything he possessed with him (Tilton).
I fANCIs B.. CARPENTER.
Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 18th day of
July, 1874.         WILLIAM  T. HIcOK, Notary Public.
Mr. Carpenter, in communicating to  Mr. Tilton the
above affidavit, says, in a letter accompanying it:
I have no hesitation in giving you the statement, as I
understood at the time that it was for me to repeat in substance to you, and I did so repeat it. It was at this interview Mr. Beecher spoke to me of his apology to you.
The charge that Mr. Tilton ever attempted to~levy blackmail on Mr. Beecher is false; on the contrary, Mr. Tilton
has always resented every attempt by Mr. Beecher to put
him under pecuniary obligation.
XX. Not long after the scandal became public, Mrs.
Tilton wrote on a slip of paper, and left on her husband's
writing desk, the following words:
Now that the exposure has come, my whole nature
revolts to join with you or standing with you.
Through the influence of Mr.  Beecher's friends the
opinion has long been diligently propagated that the
sandal was due to Mr. Tiltoli, and that the alleged facts
were malicious inventions by him to revenge himself for
supposed and imaginary wrongs done to him by Mr.
Beecher.  Many words were spoken from time to time by
Mrs. Tilton to the praise and eulogy of Mr. Beecher,
which, being extensively quoted through his congregations
22 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
heightened the impression that Mr. Tilton was Mr. Beecher's
slanderer, Mrs. Tilton being herself the authority for the
statement.  In this way Mrs Tilton and one of her relatives
have been the chief causes of the great difficulty of suppressing the scandal. They have had a habit of saying,
"Mr. Tilton believes such andsuch things;" and their
naming of these things by way of denial has been a mischievous way of circulating them broadcast.  In this way
Mr. Tilton has been made to appear a defamer, whereas he
has made every effort in his power to suppress  the jinjurious tales which he has been charged with propagating.
On all occasions he has systematically referred to his wife
in terms favorable to her character.
Further, Mr. Tilton would not have communicated to
the committee the facts contained in the statement except
for the perverse course of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher
and Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tilton, to degrade and destroy him
in the public estimation.
STRANGE.
XXI. That one evening, about two weeks after the publication of Mr. Tilton's letter to Dr. Bacon, Mrs. Tilton,
on coming home at a late hour, informed her husband that
she had been visited at a friend's house by a committee of
investigation, and had given sweeping evidence acquitting
Mr. Beecher of every charge. This was! the first intimation which Mr. Tilton received that any such committee
was then in existence.  Furthermore, Mrs. Tilton stated
that she had done this by advice of a lawyer, whom Mr.
Beecher had sent te her, and who, in advance of her appearing before the committee, arranged with her the questions
and answers which were to constitute her testimony in
Mr. Beecher's behalf.  On the next day, after giving this
untrue testimony before the committee, she spent many
hours of extreme suffering from pangs of conscience at
having testified falsely.  She expressed to her husband the
hope that God would forgive her perjury, but that the motive was to save Mr. Beecher and. her husband, and remove
all reproach from the cause of religion. She also expressed
similar contrition to one of her intimate friends.
RECAPILUTATION.
XXII. Finally, that in addition to the foregoing facts
and evidences, other confirmations could be adduced if
needed to prove the following recapitulated statement,
namely, that the Rev. Henry Ward( Beecher, as pastor and
friend of Mr. Tilton and his family, trespassed upon the
23 
THEODORE TILTON'S STATEMENT.
sancity of friendship and hospitality in a long endeavor
to seduce Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tilton; that by the artful use
of his priestly authority with her, she being his pupil in
religion, he accomplished this seduction; that for a period
of a year and a half, or thereabout, he maintained criminal intercourse with her, overcoming her previous modest
scruples against such conduct by investing it with a false
justification as sanctioned by love and religion; that he
then participated in a conspiracy to degrade Theodore
Tilton before the public, by loss ot place, business, and repute; that he abused Mr. Tilton's forgiveness and pledge
of protection by thereafter authorizing a series of measures
by Plymouth Church having for their object the putting
of a stigma upon Mr. Tilton before the church, and also before a  ecclesiastical council, insomuch that the Moderator
of that council, interpreting these acts by Mr. Beecher and
his church, declared publicly that they showed Mr. Beecher
to be the most magnanimous of men, and Mr. Tilton to be
a knave and dog; that when Mr. Tilton, thereafter, not in
malice, but for sef-protection, wrote a letter to Dr. Bacon,
alluding therein to an offence and apology by the Rev.
Henry. Ward Beecher, he (Mr. Beecher) defiantly appointed
committee of his church members to inquire into the
injury done him by Mr. Tilton by the aforesaid allusion,
and implying that he (Mr. Beecher) had never been the
author of such offence and apology, and that Mr. Tilton
was a slanderer; that to make this inquiry bear greviously
against Mr. Tilton, he (Mr. Beecher) previously connived
with Mrs. E. R. Tilton to give false testimony in his (Mr.
Beecher's) behalf; that Mr. Beecher's course toward Mr.
Tilton and family has at last resulted in open destruction
of Mr. Tilton's household and home, and in the desolation of his heart and' life.
THODoeRE TILTON.
Sworn to before me, this 20th day of July, 1874.
Tomo. BvuaxY3a, Notary Pubio.
24
.1I
I
..,b
i
i 
BEECHER'S STATEMENT.
An Emphatic Benial of Mr. Tilton's Charges.
T~E  chorus ~of conversation'in the highways and byways of
Brooklyn andi New York was upon the statement of Theodore
Tilton. Groups on the street, on the ferry boats, in the cars, everywhere, were talking over the charges, speculating on their truth,
and wondering what Mr. Beecher would say in reply. The pastor
of Plymouth Church took his good night's rest, as he said he should,
and yesterday morning went to work in his library.  General Tracy
called upon him early in thei, day, and was closeted with him for over
an hour.  Then the general called on Mrs. Tilton, who is staying
with Mrs. Ovington, and was with her for some time.
In the afternoon the members of the Investigating Committee met
in Mr. Storr's house in Monroe Place.  Mr. Tilton rang the bell at
three o'clock, and entered with a bundle of papers under his arm.
General Tracy conducted the cross-examination on the statement
which was made Monday  night.  After three hours' session he
stepped from the house. To a SUN reporter he said, "The crossexamination of Mr. Tilton has not been finished. l He still refuses
to produce the originals of the letters he uses in his statements.
MR. TILTON APPEARS.
Mr. Tilton soon followed.  He said to the reporters; "I have not
refused to produce the original documents."
As he passed on, a reporter asked him whether he would be at
home in the evening.
He turned dramatically about and said, sternly: "I have no
home!"
General Tracy, after tea, went to Mr.  Beecher's residence on
Columbia Hights, and was soon joined by Mr. Thomas G. Shlear man, the clerk of Plymoutll Church.  Prof. Rossiter W. Raymond
called afterward, and with Mr. Beecher the gentlemen went  up
stairs.
In two hours Mr. Thomas G. Sherman met the newspaper mea at
tia residence, and delivered to them the following statement from
the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher:
MR. BEIECHIER'S STATEMENT.
I do not propose at this time a detailed examination of the re markable statement of Mr. Theodore Tilton, made before the Com.
mittee of Investigation, and which appeared in the Brooklyn Argus
of July 21, 1874.  I recognize the many reasons which make it of
(25) 
2BEECHER'S STATEMENT.
transcendant importance to myself, the church, and the cause of pub    lic mortality that I shall give a full answer to the charges against
me. But hlaving requested the Committee of Investigation to search
this matter to the bottom, it is to them that I must look for my vin   diction.
But I cannot delay for an hour to defend the reputation of Mrs.
Elizabeth R. Tilton, upon whose name in connection with mine her
husband has attempted to pour shame.
One less deserving of such disgrace I never knew.   From child   hood(i she ioas been under my eye, and since ileaching womanhood she
has had my sincere admiration and affection.  I cherish for hler a
pure feeling, such as a gentleinan might honorably offer to a Chris   tian woman, and which shle miglht ]receive and reciprocate without
moral scruple.  I reject with indignation every insinuation which
reflects upon her honor or my own.
My regard for Mrs. Tilton was perfectly well known to my family;
when sea'ious difficulties  sprang up in her household, it was to my
wife that she resorted for counsel; and both of us, acting from sym  pathly, and as it subsequently appeared, without full knowledge,
gave unadvised counsel which tended to harm.
I have no doubt that Mr. Tilton found that his wife's confidence
and reliance upoii my judgment hlad greatly increased, while his in  fluence had diminished in consequence of a marked change in his
religious and social views, which wastaking place duringii  thoseyears.
Her mind was greatly exercised lest her children should be harmed
by views which she deemed vitally false and dangerous.
I was suddenly and rudely aroused to the impending danger by
the disclosures of domestic distress, of sickness perhaps unto
death, of the likelihood of separation, and the scattering of a fam ily, every member of which I had tenderly loved.  The effect upon,
me of the discovery of the state of Mr. Tilton's feelings, and the'
condition of his family, surpassed in sorrow and excitement any thing that I ever experienced in my life.    That my presence, in fluence and counsel }lad brought to a beloved family sorrow andl
alienation, gave in my tlhen state of mind,a poignancy to my suffer ing which I hope no other manl may ever feel.
Even to be suspected of having offered, under the priviliges of a
peculiarly sacred relation, an indecorum to a wife and inotlher,coulf
not but deeply wound any one who is sensitive to the honor of
womanhood.  q here were peculiar reasons for alarm ill this case or
other grounds; inasmuch as I was then subject to certain malignant
rumors, and a flagrant outbreak in this family would  bring upon
them an added injury derived fromh these shameless falsehoods.
Believing at th'e time that my presence and counsels had tended,
however unc,)nsciously, to produce a social catastrophl)le, represented
as imminent,I gave expression to my feelings in an interview with a
niutual friend, not inll cold and cautious, self-defending wcords, but
eagerly, taking blame upon myself, and pouring out my heart to
my friend in the strongest language, overburtlhened witl the exagerations of impassioned sorrow.   Had I b)een the evil man Mr.
Tilton now represents,I should have been calmer and more prudent.
It was my horror of the evil imputed that filled me with morbid in —
tensity at the very s)iacdow of it.
Not only was my friend affected generously, but ihe assured me
that such expressions, if conveyed to Mr. Tilton, would soothe
26 
BEECHER'S STATEMENT.
wounded feeling, allay anger, and heal the whole trouble. He took
down sentences and fragments of what I had been saying, to use
them as a meditator.  A full statement of the circumstances under
which this memorandum was made I shall give to the Investigating
Committee.
That these apologies were more than ample to meet the facts of
the case is evident, in that they were accepted, that our intercourse
resumed its friendliness; that Mr. Tilton subsequently ratified it in
writing, and that he has continued for four years, and until within
two weeks, to live with his wife.
Is it conceivable, if the original charge had been what is now
alieged, that hlie would have condoned thie offense not only with the
mother of his children, but with him whom he believed to have
wronged them? The absurdity as well as the falsity of this story is
apparent when it is considered that Mr. Tilton now alleges that he
carried this guilty secret of his wife's infidelity for six months,
locked up in his own breast, and that then he divulged it to me
only that there might be a reconciliation with me!  Mr. Tilton has
since, in every form of language, and to a multitude of witnesses,
orally, in written statements and in printed documents, declared
his faith in his wife's purity.
After the reconciliation of Mr. Tilton with me, every considertion of propriety and honor demanded that the family trouble
should be kept in that seclusion which domestic affairs have a right
to claim as asanctuary; and to that seclusion it was determined that
it should be confined.
Every line and word of nmy private and confidential letters which
have been published are in harmony with the statements whichl I
now make.  My  published correspondence on this subject com prises but two elements: The expression of my grief, and that of
my desire to shield the honor of a pure and innocent woman.
I do not propose to analyze and contest at this tinme the extraor dinary paper of Mr. Tilton; but there are two allegations which I
cannot permit to pass without special notice. They refer to the
only two incidents which Mr. Tilton pretends to have witnessed
personally; the one, an alleged scene in my house while looking
over engravings; and the other, a chamber scene in his own house.
His statements concerning these are absolutely false. Nothling of
the kind ever occurred, nor any semblance of any such things. They
are now brought to my notice for the first time.
To every statement which connects me dishonorably with Mrs.
Elizabeth R. Tilton, or which in anywise would impugn the honored
purity of this beloved Christian woman, I give the most explicit,
comprehensive and solemn denial.          HENRY WARD BEECHER.
BROOKLYN, July 22, 1874.
The statement was read to several members of the committee,
who expressed the greatest joy at its contents, and their belief that
it would carry conviction wherever it was read.
27 
Statement- of Mrs. Elizabeth R. Tilton.
To pick up anew the sorrows of the last ten years, the stings and
pains I had daily schooled myself to bury and forgive,  makes this
imperative duty, as called forth by the malicious statement of my
husband, the saddest act of my life. Besides, my thought of fol  lowing the Master, contradicts this act of my pen, and a sense of
the perversion of my life-faith almost compels me to stand aside till
God himself delivers,
Yet I see in this wanton act an urgent call and privilege from
which I shrink not. To reply in detail to the twenty-two articles
of arraignment, I shall not attempt at present. Yet, if called upon
to testify to each and all of them, I shall not hesitate to do so.
Suffice it for my purpose now, that I reply to one or more of the
most glaring ch,gel.
Touching the feigned sorrow of my  husband's compulsery reve lations, I solemnly avow, that long before the Woodhull publica cation, I knew him by insinuation and direct statement to have re peated to every near relative and friend the substance of these ac cusations which shock the moral sense of the entire cummunity this
day. Many times, when hearing that certain persons had spoken
ill of him, he has sent to me to chide them for so doing; and then
and there I learned that he had been before me with his calumnies
against myself, so that I was speechless.
The reiteration in his statement that he had "I persistently striven
to hide', these so called filcts is utterly false, as his hatred to Mr.
Beecher has existed these many years, and the determination to ruin
Mlr. Beecher has been the one aim of his life.
Again the perfidy with which the holiest love a wife ever offered,
has been recklessly discovered in this publication, reaches we I ]nigh
to sacrilege, and added to this, the endeavor, like the early scandal
of Mrs. Woodhull, to make my own works condemn me, ras no
parallel.
Most conspicuously, my  letter quoting the reading of  Gffith
Gaunt.  Had Mr. Tilton read the pure character of Catherine, he
would have seen that I lifted myself beside it-as near as any human may affect an ideal. But it was her character, and not the incidents of fiction surrounding it, to which I referred. Hers was no
sin of criminal act or thought.
A like "confession" with hers I made to Mr. Tilton in telling of
my love to my friend and pastor, one year before.  And I now  add
that, notwithstanding all misrepresentations and anguish of soul, I
owe to my acquaintance and friendship with Mr. Beecher, as to no
other human  instrumentality, that encouragement in my  mental
life, and that growth towards  the divine nature, which enables me
to walk daily in a lively hope of the life beyond.
(28) 
STATEMENT OF MRS. ELIZABETH R. TILTON..
The shameless charges in articles 7, 8, and 9 are fearfully false in
each and every particular.
The letterreferred to in Mr.  Tilton's tenth paragraph was ob tained from me by importunity, and by representations that it was
necessary for him to use in his then pending difficulties with Mr
Bowen. I was then sick, nigh unto death, having sufferedl a mis carriage only four days before. I signed whatever lie required, witlh out knowing or understanding its import. The paper I have never
seen, and do not know what statements it contained.
In charge 18,a letter of mine, addressed to Mr. Francis Moulton,
is quoted to prove that I never desired a separation or was advised
by Mr. or Mrs. Beecher to leave my husband.  I reply the letter was
of Mr. Tilton's own concoction, which lie induced me to copy and
sign as my own- an act which,  in my  weakness and mistaken
thought to help him, I have done too often during those unhappy
years
The implication that the harmony of our home was unbroken till
Mr. Beeeher entered it as a frequent guest and friend, is a lamentable satire upon the household where lie himself, years before, laid
the corner stone of Free Love, and desecrated its altars up to the
time of my departure; so that the atmosphere was not only Godless,
but impure for my children. And in this effort and throe of agony,
I would fain lift my daughters, and all womanhood, from the insidious and diabolical teachings of these latter days.
His frequent efforts to prove me insane,weak-minded, insignificant,
of mean presence, all rank in the category of heartlessness, selfishness
and falsehood, have their climaxin his present endeavorto convince
the world that I am, or ever have been, unable to distinguish between an innocent and a guilty love.
In summing up the whole matter, I affirm myself before God to,
be innocent of the crimes laid upon me; that niiever have I been
guilty of adultery with Henry Ward Beecher in thought or deed;
nor has he ever offered to me an indecorous or improper proposal.
To the further charge that I was led away from my home by Mr.
Beecher's friends, and by the advice of a lawyer whom Mr. Beecher
had sent to me, and who, in advance of my appearing before the
committee, arranged with me the questions and answers which were
to constitute my testimony in Mr. Beecher's behalf, I answer, that
this is again untrue, having never seen the lawyer until introduced
to him a few moments before the arrival of the committee by my
step-father, Judge Morse; and in further reply I submit the following statement of my action before the committee, and the separation
from my husband.
The publication of Mr. Tilton's letter in answer to Dr. Bacon I
had not known nor suspected when on Wednesday evening lie
brought home the Golden Age, handing it to me to read. Looking down its columns I saw, well nigh with blinding eyes, that he
bad put into execution the almost daily threat of his life -" that he
lived to crush out Mr. Beecher; that the God of Battles was in him;
he had always been Mr. Beecher's superior, and all that lay in his
path, wife, children or reputation, if need be, should fall before
this purpose."
I did not read it. I saw enough without reading. My spirit arose
within me as never before.
"Theodore,"I said, "tell me what means this quotation from
.1
2ii 
30   STATEMENT OF MRS. ELIZABETH R. TItTON.
Mr. Beecher?"  Two years ago you came to me at midnight saying:
'Elizabeth, all letters andl papeis concerning my difficulties with
Mr. Beecher and Mr. Bowen are burned, destroyed; now don't you
betray me, for I have nothing to defend myself with.'"
'Did you believe that?' said he.
"'I certainly did, implicitly,' I seid.
' Well, let me tell you-they all live; not one is destroyed.'
If thlis was said to intimidate me it had quite the contrary effect. I
liad never been so fearless, nor seen so clearly before with whom I
w as de:ling.
Coning to me a little later, he said:   "I want you to read it;
vou will find it a vindication of yourself.  Ypu have not stood before tlhe coimmunity for five years as you nowdo."
Ro)use(i still furthei' by the wickedness hid behind so false a
rlask, I replied: " Thleodore, understand me, this is the last time
you call me publicly to walk through this filth. Mycharacterneeds
no vindication at this late hour from you.  There was a time, lhad
you spoken out clearly, truthfully and manfully for me, I'had been
grateful, but now I shall speak and act for myself.  Know, also,
tlhlat if in the future I see a acrap of paper referring to any human
being, however remote, whicll it seems to me you might use to pervert for your own ends, I will destroy it."
"T This iecans battle on your part, then?" said he.
"Just so far,',' I replied.
I write this because these words of mine he has since used to my
harm.
The next mrorning I went to my brother and told him that now I had
decided to act in this matter; that I had been treated by my husbandcl as a nonentity from the beg(inning, a plaything to bIe use:l or
laid aside at will; that it hld always seemed to me that Iwas   a
party inot a little concerned. I then showed him a card I had made
for publication.
He respected the motive, but still advised silence on my part. I
yielded to him thus fatr, as to appearing in the public prints; but
counseling with myself, and no other, it occurred to mie that among
the brethren of my own communion I might be heard.
Not knowing of any church committee, I asked the privilege of
such an interview in the parlors of those who had always been our
mutual friends.  Mr. and Mrs. Ovington then learned for the first
time that the committee would meet that night, and advised me to
see those gentlemene, as perhaps the goodliest persons I could select.
This I accordingly did,
There, aloe,I pleaded the cause of my husband and my children,
the result being that their hliearts were moved in sympathy for my
family-a feeling their pastor had shared for years, and for which
he was now suffering.
On going home I found my husband reading in bed.   I told him
where I had been, and that I did not conceal anything frem  him,
as his habit was from me.  He asked who the gentlemen were; said
no more; arose, dressed himself, and bade me good-bye forever.
Thle midnight following I was awakened by my husband standing
by my bed.  In a very tender, kind voice, lie said lie wished to see
nie. I arose instantly, followed him into his room, and sitting on
the b)ed-side, hle drew me into his lap, said "lhe w-as proud of Die,
loved me; that nothing ever gave him such real peace and satisfac 
-STATEMENT OF MRS. ELIZABETH R. TILTON.
tion as to hear me well spoken of; tlhat, meeting a member of th committee, he hi)d learned that hIe had been mi-gaken  s to my mo tive in seeing the committee, and hlad liastf d  to aasure me that he
had been thloroulghly wretched since his rash treatment of me the
night before." etc.
Then and there we covenanted sacredly our hearts and lives
-I most utterly renewing my trust in the one human heart
loved.
The next day, how happy we were! Theodore wrote a statement to
present to the committee when they should call upon him, to all of
which I heartily acceded.   This document, God knows, was a true
history of this affair, completely vindicating my honor and the
htonor of my pastor. In the afternoon lie left me to show it to his
friends.
He returned home early in the evening, passing the happiest
hlouirs I had known for years; renewedly assuring me there was no
rest for him away from me. So in grateful love to the dear Fathler, I slept.  Olh, that the end had then come!    I would not
then record the cruel blow  "which made a woman  mad  outright."
Lee next moning hlie called upon our friend, Mr. and Mrs. Ovington, and there, wiihi a shocking, bravado, began a wicked tirade,
adding with oath and violence the shameless slanders against Mr.
Beecher, of which I now believe him to be the author.
This fearful scene I learned next day.  In the afternoon he showed
me his invitation from the committee to meet them tl.at evening. I
did not then show  my  hurt, but carried it heavily within, but
calmly without, all night till early morning.
Reflection upon this scene at Mr. Ovington's convinced me that,
notwithsta.ndling my husbaid's recent professions to me, his former
spirit was unchanged; that hlis declarations of repentance and affection were only for the purpose of gaining my assistance to accomplish
his,ends in hlis warfare upon Mr. Beecher. In the light of these
conclusions my duty appeared plain.
I arose quietly, and having dressed, roused him only to say, " Theodore, I will never take another step by your side.  The end has indeed come!"
He followed me to Mrs. Ovington's to breakfast, saying I was unduly excited, and that lie had been misrepresented, perhaps-but
leaving me determined as before.
How to account for the change which twenty-four hours have been
capable of working in his mind, these many years past, I leave for
the eternities with their mysteries to reveal. That lie is an unreliable and unsafe guide, whose idea of truthl-loving is self-loving,, it is
mny misfortune in this late, sad hflour to discover.
JULY 23, 1874.                             ELIZABETH R. TILTON.
31 
TILTON'S TESTIMONY.
The Cross-Examination after the Reading of
the Charges,.
The Committee's Own Report.
HENRY WARD BEECHER'S APOLOGY.
Mlr. Sage's Letter.
Mr. Tilton's direct testimony having been published without the
knowledge or conbnt of tihe committoee of investigation, and fragmentary and inaccurate reports of his testimony under cross-examination having been publishled, by means unknown to the committee and without its consent, whereby it is said that Mr. Tilton feels
that injustice has been done to him, it is believed that in fairness
to all parties the whole of Mr. Tilton's'testimony should be made
public at once.                         H. W. SAGE, Chairman.
BROOKLYN, July 25, 1874.
The Cross.Examination.
BROOKLYN, July 20. -The committee met at 8 o'clock.  All the
members were present. Mr. Tilton was present with a written
statement which he read, and which has already been published in,
full.
After the reading of the statement a brief conversation  ensued on the subject of its publication, the committee suggesting that
it would be wise to postpone such publication until after all the
testimony should be heard, and Mr. Tilton declining to be restricted
in the matter. The cross-examination of Mr. Tilton then proceeded:
Gen. Tracy.-Are you able to give the date of the transaction
which you say you witnessed at Mr. Beecher's house at the time of
the examination of the engraving?
A. I cannot state the date.
Q. At the time you received the information you speak of from
your wife, you were the editor of the Inpendent and of the Brooklyn Union, I believe?
(32) 
~i~~  ~'i              ~~~;
,>;;~~~~;i;Y'~~       S: 4
Mrs. ELIZABETH R. TILTON.  
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
A. Iwas.
MRS. TILTON AT PLvYMOUTH CHURCH.
Q. Did your wife continue to attend Plymouth Chiurch after
that information?
A. Yes, sir; that was in the summer  time; she went into the
country and was absent a long time; she has always continued to
attend once or twice a year; she is a member of Plymouth Church.
Q. Did she attend regularly after returning from the country?
A. No, sir; she attended occasionally for communion service,
and would steal in quietly at the corner of the building, so as to be
unobserved.
Q. Previous to announcing your discovery, or pretended dis covcry, to Mr. Beecher you had fallen into trouble with Henry C.
Bor7en, had you not?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How long before?
A. Two days.
Q. You had ceased to be the editor of the rnd    dent when you
made this announcement?
A. No, sir; I ceased to be the editor of the Indendt on the
1st day of January.
Q. Was not your valedictory published on the 22d of December?
A. Yes, sir; but my engagement ended on thie 31st.
Q. Had you not entered into a contract with Mr. Bowen to be
editor of the Union and contributor of the Indenp     t before you
made any announcement to Mr. Beeclher of the pretended discovery,
and had not Mr. Bowen discovered immoralities on your, part, and
did he not threaten to break the engagement withl you?
A. No, he did not.
SCORNING( MR. BE"HER'S AID.
Q. Did you complain of Mr. Beecher for not aiding you to re main in the Independent 
A. No, sir; I would have scoiirned it.
Q. You have read Mr. Wilkeson's statement?
A. I have not.
Q. You know Samuel Wilkeson?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you say to him about that timnie that Mr. Beecher had
not befriended you in that matter?
A. I did not, and Mr. Wilkeson will not dare to say that under
oath.
Q. You say you never complained of AMrl. Beec)lier for not helping
you?
A. No, not for notlielpitng me, but for being unjust to me and
saying that I ought to be turned out.  I understood that lie said to
Dr. Spear that they were going to hlave Sir. Tilton out of the
I_ndent.  Mr. Charles Biiggs told me that.  He said, "I know
something about this tiling; I heard some such thing."
Q. You say that Mr. Beeclher apologized and that you accepted
the apology?
A. I read the account of that in the document.
Q. Did you, or did you not, as a matter of fact, accept the
.apology which Mr Beecher made, and forgive the offense?
A. I accepted the apology and forgave the offense with as much
largeness as I tlhouglit it was possi)ile for a Cih,istiani man to assuine.
33 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Q. Friendly relations continued after that between you and Mr.
Beecher?
A. Well, not friendly; you can understand what such relations
would be; they were not hostile; they were relations which Moulton
forced with an iron hand; le compelled them..
Q. Did you or not, after or about the time of the tripartite agreement, express friendly sentiments in regard to him?
A. I have taken pains to make it appear in all quarters that Mr.
Beecher and I were not in hostility, and have suppressed my selfrespect many times in doing it.
Q Did you ever state this offense of Mr. Beecher as committed
against you to Mr. Storrs?
A. I never did.
Q. Was it ever stated in your presence to him?
A. No, sir. He read a statement that Mrs. Tilton made, and that
I helped her to make.
Q. Did you go with her when she made that statement to Dr.
Stoirs?
A. I did not.
MRS. TILTON'S COMPLANTS.
Q. Have you any letters from Mrs. Tilton complaining to you?
A. Yes, I have.
Q. Have you not many letters from her setting forth her complaints and her grievances?
A. No. She very rarely wrote such letters. She used occasionally
to write me letters begging intercession in regard to her mother, and
complaining of my views in theology.
Q. Did you never receive letters from her complaining in other
respects?
A. In what respects?
Q. Well in regard to people who were in the habit of frequenting
your house at your solicitations
A. I have lhad( letters from her mother, complaining of Susan
Anthony and Mrs. Stanton; Mrs. Tilton thought Mr. Johnson and
others were leading me astray; she is very orthodox; and she wrote
me letters expressing strong and earnest hopes that I would be intensely orthodox.
Q. Did she complain of any female society on that ground, or in
any way?
A. No.
Q. Did she never complain of the presence of any ladies at your
house?
A. I do not think of any.
Q. Not of Susan Anthony?
A. She said she would consider it an insult if they came to the
house; I do not remenmber of any otihers.
Q. Mrs. Woodhull came a great deal, didn't she?
A. She was three times in my house, once to meet Mr. Beecher,
an(l on two other occasions.
Q. Only three times?
A. Three only.
Q. You say she came to meet Mr. Beecher?
A. Slie did on Sunday afternoon at my house.
Q. Do you know when that was?
A., I tliink Mr. Moulton made that interview. It must have been
34 
TILTON'S CROSSEXAMINATION.
in 1871 or 1872, because my acquaintance with Mrs. Woodhull
began in May, 1871.  My impression is that it was warm weather.
Mrs. Woodhull and her husband came.  She always came with her
husband.
MRS. TILTON AND MRS. WOODRULL.
Q. Did your wife complain of her being at your house?
A. Yes.  My wife came home, and Mrs. Wood hull and Mr. Moulton were there sitting in the front parlor.
Q. What happened?
A. Oh, nothing, except that Elizabeth expressed her indignation
against the woman. I told Elizabeth that she was too dangerous a
woman, and that too nmuch of the welfare of our family depended
upon her.  Elizabeth was wiser than I was.
Q. Did you excuse your acquaintance with Mrs. Woodhull to
your wife by exciting her fears?
A. I did not; I explained that acquaintance; I told her the way
to get along with Mrs. Wood hull and prevent this coming out, was
to keep friendly with her; but then it seemed the only thing that
we could do.
Q. Was the time that Mrs. Tilton expressed her indignation at
Mrs. Woodlhull being at your house, the first time that she had seen
Mrs. Woodlhull, to your knowledge?
A. My impression is that shle saw her in the  G-o    Age office
once.  It may have been b?efore or after.  I think Mrs. Woodhull
came to see me while Mrs. Tilton was the-e.
Q. With that exception, was the time when Mrs. Tilton expressed
her indignation at Mrs. Woodhull being at your house the first
time that she had seen her?
A. I do not know. Oh, no; Mrs. Woodhull and Colonel Blood
had taken tea at our house.
Q. Before Mrs. Tilton came in and found her there?
A. Yes.
Q. At whose invitation did they take tea theret
A. At mine.
Q. Was it the first time Mrs. Tilton saw Mrs. Woodhull?
A. I do not know.
Q. Mrs. Tilton expressed indignation at her being there, did she
not?
A. Yes, she had a violent feeling against her. She had a woman's
instinct that Mrs. Woodhull was not safe.  The mistake was in not
being friendly with Blood instead of Mrs. Woodhull. That was
the blunder. I was at fault for that; nobody else.
Q. This first letter which you quote from Mrs. Tilton, on page 35,
in which she says; "Love is praiseworthy, but to abuse the gift
is sin; here I am strong; no temptations or facinations," &c., what
did you understood by that?
A. I understood this; that she was in the receipt of visits from
him, and that slhe had once or twice felt that perhaps hlie was exercising an undue influence upon her; I know that once I was
afraid that she did not give me a correct account of his visits; there
mwere a great many visits mentioned in her correspondence.
Q. Have you the letters here?
A. No.
Q. I thought that you were to bring them?
A. AlL the originals from which I have quote I will carry before
36 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Judge Reynolds or any other Judge in the presence of Gen. Tracy.
I leave great confidence in you, gentleren; but I do not propose to
produce the originals here. If you will release one of your number
to go with me before any magistrate I will produce them. Mr. Moulton will of course be asked to produce lhis for examination, line for
line.  I do not suppose you would snatch them away or keep them;
but at the same time I propose that if you would see the originals
Gei. Tracy should go with me.
WILLING-TO SHOW THE LETTERS.
Q. Do you refuse to produce the originals before this committee?
A. I do not refuse to produce them to the committee in the presence of some outside parties.
Q. Do you refuse to produce them to the committee alone?
A. Yes, unless I can have some friends here with me.
Q. Why did you not take that position yesterday?
A. Because yesterday we had only a chat.
Q. Yes, but did you not promise to produce them?
A. Yes, and I do now.
Q. But you decline except in the presence of an officer?
A. I decline unless I can be perfectly ceitain that they will be returned to me. I don't want you to consider that as a disparagement.
It is only a necessary element in this discussion.  You shall see the
originals, but I will only slow them uiidei safeguards.
Q. Why do you make that qualification?
A. For this reason  You are six gentlemen determined, if possible, not to find the facts, but to vindicate Mr. Beecher, and I am
alone. There are eigit of you, and I am a single man; and if I
should hand over to you now Mr. Beecher's apology, perhaps you
would not return it to mne.  Though I do not mean to make that
implication, I do not mean to give you the chance. That is frank.
Mr. Hill-Let me say kindly, speaking on behalf of both of the
counsel-the committee may speak for themselves-thalit the suggestion on such a theory is altogether groundless.
General Tracy-It is not only groundless but outrageous.
Mr. Hill-I tilitik you are unjust.
Mr. Tilton-I!tare been informed that this is a matter of life
and death.
Mr. Clafinm-Tiis committee could not afford to take that position. It would not do to take those letters from you.
Mr. Tilton-I am perfectily willing to bring several friends of
mine and make an examination of these letters.  You shall see
them, but under proper safe(guards-tlithat is all. If Mr. Tracy were
in my position he would take the same ground.
General Tracy-No he would not, I beg your pardon.
Q. At the beginning of the acquaintance of Mr. Beecher witl
your family —not with you or your wife; but withl your family-did
not you invite him frequently to your lhouse!
A. Yes, sir; and I was always very proud when he came.
Q. Did you not say to him frequently that you desired him to
visit your house frequently?
A. I did, and always scolded him because lie did not come
oftener; during the first part of our life we were in Oxford street,
so far away that he very rarely came. Thle frequency of his visits
took place after I purchased the house in Livingston street.
Q. When was thlat?
36 
TILTON*S CROSS-EXAMINA1TION.
A. I have forgotten the year; I should say it was seven, eight,
nine, or ten yearsago.
TILTON'S ESTEEM FOR BEECHER.
Q. Did you not say that there was a little woman at your house
that loved him dearly?
A. I did many a time; I always wanted him to come oftener.
Q, You frequently spoke to him of the high esteemi and affection
that your wife bore to him, did you not?
A. I did; he knew it and I knew it.
Q. You always knew it?
A. I cannot say that I always did, because at first, during  the
early years of my married life, I felt that Mr. Beeclher rather slighted
my family.  He was intimate with me, and I think loved  me, but
lie did not use to come very often to my house, and it did not please
me.  I wanted him to come oftener.
Q. And it wounded you, did it not?
A. I cannot say that [ was wounded.  I was a mere boy.  It was
a matter of pride to have him there.  Elizabeth at first %was modest
and frightened. She did not know how to talk with him, or how
to entertain him; and it was a slow process by   hiclih lhe obtained
her confidence so that she could talk with  him.  It was  the same
with Mr. Greeley.  He had great reverence for her, and( had an exalted opinion of her.  I do not think there was a woman that he h.Id
a higher regard for than for Mrs. Tilton.
Q. And did not she have a high regard for him also?
k. Yes.
Q. Aud that was known to you too?
A. That was known to me; and I was very glad of it.
Q. Mr. Greeley came to your house often?
A. He used to come and stay sometimes in the summer a week or
two at a time; we kept bachelor's hall; yes, lie came often; it was
always a white day when Mr. Greeley came; hlie used to say thit lie
never would come in my absence; he said that it was not a good
habit.
Q. Did you urge him to come when you were off lecturing?
A. I aid.
Q. Did not you impress upon Mr. Beecher the necessity and desire
that you had that hlie would call upon your family and see your wife
frequently during your absence?
A. I did.
MRS. TILTON THE HEROINE OF " TEMPEST TOSSED."
Q. Now, Mr. Tilton, you have stated the religious character of
your wife; will you describe it again?
A. My wife's religious character I have, if you will pardon the allusion, undertaken to set forth in the book that I have spent a year
in writing-a work of fiction called "Tempest Tossed "-a name
strangely borrowed from my own heaving breast; in that novel is a
character, Mary Vail; I do not want to say vainly before the public
that I drew that character for Elizabeth; but I did; there is a chapter-the ninth I think (I won't be certain about the number)which iscalled "Mary Vail's Journal," I know it is good, because
I madeit up from Elizabeth's letters, and my heart was cleft in
twain to find in these letters some of the same sentences that crept
into this chapter. I changed them considerably to make them conform to the story.  I had this feeling, that if in this novel I could,
37 
TILTON'S CROSS.EXAMINATION.
as a -nere subordinate part of the story, paint that character, and
have it go quietly in an underhanded way forth, that that was
Elizabeth  (for I think I drew it faithfully) it would  be a very
thorough answer, as coming from me, to the scandals in the community, and that people would say: "I Theodore respects his wife"
-as I do to-day.
Q. Was it a truthful character of Elizabeth?
A. It was. It was not drawn as well as the original would warrant.
Q. You say it was not drawn as well as the original would warrant.
Then her devotion and purity of life would warrant a higher character than you have given "Mary Vail" in that book?
A. Yes, unless you attach a technical meaning to the word purity;
she was made a victim.
Q. You say that that character in that book falls below the or=inal?
A. Yes, because I did not make it a prominent, but subordinate
character.
Q. Are there any other persons that figure in this drama who are
described in that book, "Tempest Tossed?"
A. No, except by mere sugg,estions.
Q. Is not your true friend described there?
Mr.Tilton. -You mean Mr. Monlton?
Gen. Tracy.-Yes.
A. No; of the characters in "Tempest Tossed.," Mary Vail is the
only one that is true to life; the character of the colored womaa
was partly suggested by a colored woman tl,:t I knew.
"  GRIFFITH GAUNT. "
Q. You have brought forward the letter of your wife lwhere she
describes herself as having received new life, as having read the
character of Catherine Gaunt in "I Griffith Gaunt;" have you read
the character of Catharine Gaunt?
A. Yesterday I said no; but I have an impression that I have.
A friend of mine yesterday morning, said, that is a singular result
from "The Terrible Temptation." Charles Reade has written a
book called "The Terrible Temptation."  I have never read that
book, but on second thought I think I have read "Griffith Gaunt."
My impression is, that I read it on a journey, and  that I wrote
something to Elizabeth about it, and asked lher to read it.
Q. Did you thlink that the guilt in "Catherine Gaunt"  was that
of adultery?
A. I have no idea that I did.
Q. Has there been a change in your religious views since you
were married?
A. Yes, sir, very decided, I am happy to say. I think there is in
every sensible nman's.
Q. Do you know whether the change in your religous convictions
was a source of great grief and sorrow to your wife?
A. It was a great source of tears and anguish to her.   She said
to me once, that denying the divinity of Christ in leer view nullified
our marriage almost; and I think next to the sorrow of this scandal it has caused that woman to sorrow more than anything else;
she suffered because I cannot look upon the Lord Jesus Christ as
the Lord God; I think her breast has been wrenched with it; she
88 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.-.
is almost an enthusiast on the subject of the divinity of her Saviour.
Q. You think her a Christian, do you?
A. Yes, sheis the best Christian I know of, barring her faults;
better than any minister.
Q. Well, on the whole, do you thiuk she is about as white as
most Chlristians?
A. Yes, whiter than ourselves.
HIS WIFE NOT TO BLAME.
Q. Then you would not qualify the expression when you say that
she is the best Christian you know,  barring her faults? Do not
you think that she is the best Christian you know with her faults?
A. No. I would not say that, because there lias been a strong
deceit wrought out in Elizabeth that comes from the weakness  of
her character. Slie las had three strong persons to circulate amiong
-Mr. Beecher, her mother, and me.  In sentiment she outdoes us
all.  Her life is shipwrecked.  But she is not to blame.  I will
maintain that to my dying day.
Q. Do not you know that in these exigencies she sought consolation from her pastor?
A. I think she did; and lie took advantage of lier orthodox views
to make them the net and the mesh in which hlie ensnared her, and
for which I hold him ill a contempt which no English words  can
describe.
Q. The change of your religious views has been the subject of a
great deal of conversation and anguish and labor on her part. has it
not?
A. Oh, yes-of letters, and prayers, and tears, and entreaties,
many a time and oft.
Q. When you say that this has been the thing whlichi has enabled
her to be ensnared, do you nmean by that you think that was the
cause why, in some degree, hey confidence in the advice and judg ment of her pastor was increased, and  wlhy your influence  over
her was lessened?
A. Oh yes, largely so, tlhoroughly so.
Q. Then when you found that she was leaning more strongly
than formerly on the advice and consolation of her pastor, and less
on your own, you attributed it naturally to your change in reli gious sentiments?
A. Yes; at the same time I did not want Elizabeth to hold my
views; I said that she might be a Catholic or a Mohammedan.
Q. Did she not feel that your views were a source of danger to
the children?
A. Yes; she would not let the children have playthings on Sun day; John G. Whittier came to our house (he appointed tile time);
and Mr. Greeley, and met Mr. Johnson; and it almost broke Eliza bethl's heart to think that the best man in New England, whom she
reverenced, should have appointed Sunday  night; slhe never re ceived visitors on Sunday.
HER REVERENCE FOR GREAT MEN.
Q. Is it not a feature of her character that she has great reverence
for those men whom she believes to be pure in life and noble in
,hought and spirit?
A. Yes; she would kiss the hem of their garments.
Q. That is a marked feature of her character, is i+t not?
89 
TILTON'S CROSS.EXAMINATION.
A. Uncommonly so.
Q. Does it not almost go to tile extent of idolatry in one sense?
A. Well, no; there are a great many women who lookupon a mat
with a sense of worship.  Elizabeth never did that.  Elizabeth is.
the peer of any man; at the same time she reverences.  It was not
vanity-it was reverence. She never regarded Mr. Beecher as a
silly woman regards him. She was not a silly woman taken captive.
There area great many people, particularly women, who; if Presi dent Grant should call on them, would feel greatly flattered.  I do
not think she would. But if she regarded President Grant as a
man of high religious nature coming with the Gospel in his hand,
and devoted to the evangelical religion, then whather lie were famous orlowly, she would reverence him.
Q. So must there not beconnected with her reverence thie idea of'
absolute purity of life as well as of religious character?
A. Yes, I think Elizabeth regarded MIr. Beechler in early days as
the essence of all that was religous, apostolic. I think she looked
upon him very much as she would look upon the Apostle Paul.
Q. Aid you understood that?
A. Yes, and in fact looked upon him so in my early life.  I loved.
that man as well as I ever loved a woman.
Q. And is it not true that there is nothing that your wife so much
abhors in man or woman as impurity?
A. Exactly so.
RESENTING AN INSULT.
Q. The fact that she believed that any persons were impure, ho.wever, if it were otherwise, she might reverence them, woull destroy
her respect and reverence for them, would it not?
A. It would in those days. [Here Mr. Tilton gave in i'lustration the instance of a gentleman who his wife felt ihad insulted hert
by saying that lie sympathised with her, and hoped that she would
lifb up her head in self respect, remarking that Tilton's chief temptation had been temptation to thie sin of the sexes.  Mr. Tilton iesumiug.] I do not think hie did it indicatively; but the fact that he
could have done it at all burned in her blood.
Q. Was she not distressed at any suggestion of impropriety?
A. She was particularly so; and she is more so now than ever,
because iii her early days such a thought was never in her iiiid;,
but when it had passed through her experience it came out fvith
this contrition.  I think that hers is one of the white soues; tli.tis
the truth of the case.  She never ought to have been taken away
from her home; you gentlemen did it; youdid it Mr. Tracy-"tlhou
art the man."
Q. Will you state more distinctly than you liave (lone, what yoil
understood l)y that letter of Feb. 3, 1868, iii wliicli she says::
"Love is praiseworthy, but to abuse the gift is sil.  There I am
strong.  No tellptation or fascination couldi Cllbe ine to yield my
womanhood?"
A. I quoted that letter to show how strolig,ler views were at that
time.
Q. Did you quote it for the purpose of sliowiiig thlat at tlhat time
the was being tempted?
A. I have heard her say tiie substance  of that over and over
again.
Q. W'3'1en'i
40
.P 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATIO.'.
A. I do not know when; a long time ado, years ago, when he
(Mr. Beecher) used to go there. It was not because I had any suspicion of him then. Elizabeth always felt that when Mr. Beecher
went to such and such a place, there were women that would flatter
him. I do not think she did at all. She has always been a stickler
for the honor of her sex.  She said to herself, "I will represent
my sex."
Q. In other words, she wanted to show him purity of sentiment,
and of communion of mind without passion?
A. That is what she meant, I think.
Q. That is what you understood her to mean?
A. That is exactly what I understood her to mean.
TILTON'S FIRST SUSPICIONS.
Q. That is the way you looked upon the relation between them
for years?
A. I ought to say for the earlier years.
Q. When did you first bring your wife's attention to the fact that
you feared that there was something wrong?
A. Elizabeth so bl)otted. that out of my mind that I did not think
of it again.
Q. How long ago was it? Years ago?
A. Yes, asI recollect it, it must have been during the early years
when we lived in Livingston street, in our present house.
Q. How long have you lived there?
A. I do not know.
Mr. Winslow.-About ten years.  I remember.
Gen. Tracy.-It was a great many years ago?
A. Yes.
Q. Was it before 1868?
A. Long before.
Mr. Claflin.-In'64, probably.
Gen. Tracy.-Was it before 1865?
A. About 1862.
Q. Where did you live at the beginning of the war?
A. I am very much ashamed that I am never able to answer such a
question.
Q. You sav that it was in the early years cf your living at 174
Livingston street?
A. Yes. Pictures are vivid to me, and I remember where Elizabeth was sitting in the corner of my parlor. I spoke to her about it
when we came home.
Q. How long since was it that you have mentioned that subject
to any one until you put it in this communication?
A. She blotted it out of my mind.
Q. Did you ever speak of it to any one?
A. She blotted out all wrong as concerning her in the circum
stance.
Q. You never mentioned it to MIr. Beecher?
A. I was very young in those days and utterly unsuspicious of
such things, and when I spoke to her about it she was a little confused and denied it; and then said it was so, but that she had said:
"You must pot do that."  I had in those days something of the
same reverence for Mr. Beecher that I have since so eminently lost.
41 
T'l, i'ON S' CROSS.EXAMINATION.
THE PARLOR SCENE.
Q. Do you know who was present besides your wife and Mr.
Bcecher?
A. Nobody.
Q. There was nobody there but you three? You were looking at
engravings?
A. Yes.
By Mr. Winslow.-Were you sitting on the floor?
A. Not the whole of the time; I remember that those two were
sitting down on the floor with the pictures; I am a restless sort of a
man, and I do not know where I was; it was a long time ago.
Q. Do you say that you saw it with your own eyes?
A. With my own eyes.
Q. Do you remember whether Mr. Beecher looked at you first?
A. No. He did not know that I noticed it. I was standing up,
I think. I have to bring up the picture in my mind. I do not
remember exactly whether I was standing or sitting; perhaps I was
in a chair. I know that there was a kind of portfolio folded out,
and that the pictures were folded down (indicating with the hands).
She was sitting on the floor or on a stool, and he on the floor.
Q. Were you where he could see you?
A. He was looking at the pictures.
Q. If lie had looked up would he have seen you?
A. Yes.
By Gen. Tracy.-You were looking at some pictures in the room?
A. Yes; these things were on her lap.
Q. What part of her person did lie touch?
A. Her ankles and lower linmbs.
By Mr. Winslow. —Not above the knee?
A. No. If he hiad hlie probably would have been struck. It was a
question in my mind whether a minister could consider that a proper
sort of caress.
Q. Wasit done slyly?
A. Yes, very slyly.  His right or left arm was under her dress.
By Gen. Tracy.-How were they sitting?
A. My impression is that she was sitting on some little stool and
he on the floor by her side, and that some pictures were, perhaps,
put up against the chair and folded, and that it was by an accidental
brushing up of her dress that I saw his hand on her ankle.
Q. Do you know whether it was accidental or casual with him?
A. I only know that asked her.
MRS. TILTON CHIDING BEECRER.
Q. Could you know whether it was accidental or intentional?
A. I spoke of it to her.  She at first denied it, and then confes sed it, and said that she had chidden him. I did not attach much
importance to it after explanation was made.
Q. You were in doubt whether it was intentional or accidental?
A. It was merely a suspicion.
Q. How about the bed-chamber scene?
II. That was a long while ago, and that was blotted out of my
mind,too.
Q. When was it?
A. I do not remember the year; it was a good while ago.
By Mr. Winslow.-Before or after the ankle scene? 
A. Before.
'42 
TILTON'S C(OSS-EXAMINAT[ON.
Q. How long?
A. I do not know.
Q. Before'68?
A. I do not know.
Q. After you were living in Livingston street?
A. Yes; I remember the room. Again, I identify it by the picture.  It was in the left hand room.   I have two front rooms in
the second story, and it was the left hand of these front rooms.  I
knocked at the door, and Elizabeth came.   I was surprised that it
was locked. She was surprised at finding me.   Mr.  Beechler was
sitting in a red plush rocking chair-a sort of ottoman chair-with
his vest unbuttoned.   His face colored like a rose when I saw
himi.
Q. How long ago was that?
A. I do not know.
Q. How long had you lived in Livingston street at this time?
A. I do not remember.
Q. Had you lived there for two or three years?
A. That I do not know.  I should sayI had lived there perhaps
two years.
Q. Was it during the war?
A. That I do not know.
Q. Do you know whether it was before or after your visit to
Fort Sumpter?
A. No.
Q. The explanation was'satisfactory to you on that occasion?
A. Entirely so.
WHAT SURPRISED TII.TON.
. So that you let it be, and attributed nothing to it?
A. Yes, I attributed nothing to it. If thile door had been simply
shlut I should not have thought anything of it; but the door being
locked, I wondered at it.
Q. Was there more than one door leading to that room?
A. One door comes in from the hall.
Q. Was there any other door leading into the room from  the
other room?
A. There is a middle door communicating between the two
rooms.
Q. Two sliding doors?
A. Yes.
Q. And was there a door leading from the hall to the other
room?
A. Yes, that is the plan of tile house.
Q. And the room that Mr. Beecher and your wife were in was
a room communicating with another room with sliding doors?
A. Yes.
Q. What was that r6om for that Mr. Beeclher was in?
A. A bedroom.
Q. Was there a bed in it?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is the other room a sittiing-room?
A. Itis.
Q. Did you try that door which led into the sitting-room.
A. No.
Q. Wily?
43 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
A. Because I came and knocked at the hall door
Q. For aught you know the) lhad gone into the sitting-room from
the hall, and from there Mr. Beecher may have gone into tile bedroom.
A. Yes.  I will give them the benefit of tile doubt.
Q. Was it explained to your satisfaction?
A. Yes.
Q. What was the explanation that satisfied you?
A. The annoyance of the children.  My wife said that our chil.
dren and some of the neighbors children' were making t noise, and
she wanted to have a quiet talk witlh Mr. Beecher, and so she locked
herself in.
Q. That satisfied you?
A. That satisfied me. It was entirely reasonable. I only quote
it as a suspicion.
Q. Do you remember whether the sliding doors leading from this
room to the sitting-room were opeln?
A. They were shut. I remember it because I looked in. I saw
the two white doors coming together.  The picture is distinct in
my mind. I do not forget pictures.
No SUSPICIONS.
By Mr. Claffin-Was this door opened immediately?
A. Yes. I do not want you to think that there was anything wrong
at that interview at all.
Q. The picture of the room was the only reason you have for believing that the sitting-room door was shut?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did the explanation so satisfy you that that thing was blotted
from your remembrance?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So you have never regarded that circumstance as evidence of
wrong in any one?
A. No.
Q. Have you ever mentioned that?
A. I rather think I have.
Q. Why?
A. Because afterward there arose circumstances which made me
feel that the explanation which she had given of these two events
was not true.
By Mr. Winslow-To whom did you state it?
A. I think to my mother; I do not recollect; I never made any
blazonry of it, you know, abroad; I never tlhpught, really, that there
was any wrong in it until in the light of subsequent events; I do
not say now that there was any wrong in it; Elizabeth always denied stoutly to me that anything wrong had taken place at that
time.
Q. What kind of a room was that sitting-room?
A. It was thle common sitting-room of the house.
Q. The right-hand part was the sitting-room, and the left-hand
part was a bedroom communicating withi it b)y sliding doors?
A. Yes.
Q. That is where you receive your intimate friends?
A. Yes.
Q. If you had found  r. Beecier with yotur wife in the sitting.
44 
TILTON'S CROSS EXAMINATION.
room you would have found him where you would have expected to
find liim, would you not?
A. Yes.
Q. If the door had not been locked you would not hlave thought
anything of it?
A. No; I should have been happy to have seen him; we were in
the best possible relations in those days; nobody was a more wel come guest at our house than hle.
Q. Now, Mr. Tilton, can you say whether this scene was before
the date of that letter of Feb. 3, 1868?
A. Yes, it must have been a long time before thlat, I think; I
won't be certain; it must have been a long time before 1868.
THE PASTORAL VISITS.
Q. You say that her letters informed you that Mr. Beecher had
made twelve pastoral visits at your hlouse in five weeks?
A. I have those letters.
By Mr. Hill.-You have all the letters from which you say you
discovered that the twelve pastoral visits were made alien you
were away?
k. Yes.
Q. And those you will produce?
A. I think that perhaps I will.
Bly Gen. Tracy.-It was written here (in Mr. Tilton's communication) six and changed to five weeks; which is correct?
A. (After some explanations). It is correct as it is there.
Q. You say, Mr. Tilton, for a year after what you state as Mrs.
Tilton's confession, she insisted to you that she had not violated
her marriage vow?
A. Yes; Elizabeth was in a sort of vaporous like cloud.  Slie was
between light and dark. Slie could not see that it was wrong.  She
maintained to her mother in my presence that she had not done
wrong; she cannot bear to do wrong; a sense of having done wrong
is enough to crush her; she naturally seeks for her own peace a conscientious verdict; she never would have had these relations if she
had supposed at the time that they were wrong; Elizabeth never
does anything that at the time seems wrong; for such a large moral
nature, there is a lack of a certain balance and equipoise; she has
not a will that guides and restrains; but Elizabl)eth never does at
any time that which does not have the stamp of lJer conscience at
the time upon it.
Q. Do you say that she did or did not insist that shle had violated
her marriage vows?
A. She always was saying that " it never seemed to her wrong,"
and "Theodore, I do not now see that I have wronged you."
Q. What do you understand her as meaning by "To love is praiseworthy, but thle abuse of love is sin?"
A. I rather think sloe meant carrying love to too great an extent.
Q. Would not that include criminal relations?
A. Yes.
Q. Then you understand leer, as early as 1868, as saying that the
abuse of the gift of love by adultery would be a sin?
A. Yes.
MIRS. TIL,TON'S INTELLIGENCE.
Q. She is a lady of intelligence, is shle not?
A. Sle is in some respects a lady of extraorclinairy intelligence;
45 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
she has a remarkable gift at times which anybody might envy; there
is nothing low about Elizabeth.
Q. Is she a lady of large reading?
A. There are very few ladies of larger reading. She was educated at the Packer Institute. I do not think she took quite a full
course. She reads much to her blind aunt and to the children. I
used to read a good deal to her. She was a good critic. Mr.
Beecher carried to her sheets of his "Life of Christ" and many
chapters of "Norwood."  I used to read( to her many things.
Q. What do you say about the "Life of Christ" and "Norwood"
-that hlie carried them to her to criticise?
A. Yes; or not exactly to criticise; she is not a critic in the sense
that she can take a particular phrase and change the language of it;
but she could tell whether a little speech put into "Rose Wentworth's" mouth was one a woman would be likely to say.
Q. He took those chapters to read to her for that purpose, having
a high regard for her opinion in that matter-not a high regard for
her opinion in a strictly critical sense?
A. No. But in the sense whether it was womanly; and larger
than that, whether it touched human sympathy or not. - Iremember that he took her the first sheets of the "Life of Christ." She
wrote to me saying, " He said he ha(l not read it to anybody else."'
Q. When did lhe write "Norwood?"
A. I do not know.
Q. When did he write his first volumne of his "Life of Christ?"
A. It was after "Norwoold," I think.
Q. It was published afteiI" Norwood?"
A. I do not know about that.
Q. You know he took it to her to read?
A. I know, because she wrote it in her letters. I believe she told
the truth.  You ask about "Norwood," and the "Life of Christ."
He had brought the opening part of the "Life of Christ," and I
think also chapters of "Norwood."
Q. You understand that he brought them to her for the purpose
of criticism?
A. Yes.
A GOOD CRMIc.
Q. You yourself would regard her as an admirable critic?
A. Oh, yes. I always liked to take everything I wrote to Elizabeth.
Sometimes when I thought I had written anything particularly nice
I ran down and read it to her.  She was one of the best of critics
She never praised an article, because it was mine or his, but only
when she liked it.
Q. You found her judgment not warped by her affections in that?
A. No, that is the particular feature of her character: If a lady
were sitting at the piano and playing, and Elizabeth loved that lady
very much, she would tell her about the playing-that it was good or
that it was not-but she would not say the playing was good because she loved the woman. She would not say so unless it was
good. I was always quite certain that if Elizabetlh liked what I
wrote, she did not like it on my account, though she was glad when
I wrote a good thing. It was an honest criticism. If I had been
a minister, none of this trouble would have come. She was always
in sorrow that I was not a minister-wlwhich is thl)e only virtue that
46 
TILTONS CROSSEXAMINATION.
I possess. Thank God I do not belong to the priesthood or the
church.  It may not be an acceptable statement to the committee.
Q. Do you mean by that Mr. Tilton, that the want of a strong
religions feature in your character was what she missed in you?
A. No, Mr. Tracy, it was not that; because, though I should not
Hike to say it to myself, yet I am a more religious man than most
men of my acquaintance.  That is, I am a man of religious sympathies who thloroughly hates and despises religious creeds.  I do not
believe in one of the Thlirty-nine Articles, nor in either of the catechisms, nor in the divinity injunctions of the scriptures, nor in the
divinityof Christ, in the sense in which it is held. I believe his writings
to be enflooded by the Divine breath. It was not that I lack religious
spirit.  A man ought not to say that, perhapsof himnself; hutIdonot
lack the religious spirit. I love God, and am fond of religious sentiment; but I hate the creeds. I was taught to hate them during the antislavery controversy.  I saw the churches selling the negroes, and I
despise a churcli.  Now put it down there (to the reporter); say
that I despise the church, and generally despise ministers.
WHAT MRS. TILTON MISSED.
Q. Well, it was that lack of reverence for the church and its
Ordinances, and your lack of belief in the divinity of Christ as she
held it, that she missed in you.
A. Yes.
Q. And she grieved over it?
A. Oh, yes, indeed; grieved over it with tears.
Q. And what she found wanting in you she found in Mr. Beecher,
did she not?
A. Yes, she did, and he took advantage of it. That is why I say
he ought to spend the rest of hig life in penitence and anguish. If
Mr. Beecher had held the same religious views that I lhold, and gone
to that house, denying the divinity of Christ, he never could have
made any approach to her, and the affection and love which she
bore to him would never have existed-I mean the strong affection;
it could not possibly have done so.
Q. The enthusiasm for him which she felt would never have existed in that case?
A. No.
Q. You have no doubt that it was that feature in his character
which roused her enthusiasm and made him to her a sort of poem,
did it not?
A. Yes, a sort of Apostle. I think she regarded Mr. Beeclher almost as thIough Jesus Christ himself had walked in. That is an extravagant expresson, but you must not take it literally. I know that
she wanted to make the children look upon the clergy with reverence.  She ought to be an intense Roman  Catholic, like MadtaLme
Guion-a mystic.  I think she certainly spends hours on her knees
some days; I don't suppose a day ever passes over Elizabeth, that
the sun, if hlie could peep thlrou,gh the windows, would  not see hier
on her knees, and mny oldest daughter Florence, though slhe looks
like me, is like her mother.   Here has come this great calamity on
my house.  There was that publication last iiiglit.  She saw it; and
this morning what did she do?   I heard a noise in the house, and
found  that she was down in the front parlor playing on the melodeon, like a heroine, standing in the mlidst of this calamity like a
rock in the sea.  She gets that somewhat from me.  I can stand all 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATI'ION.
storms. BShie gets also from lher mother the religious inspiration.
Florence this morning had a genius for religion, when you would
suppose that she would leave been cruslled. You (Gen. Tracy) are
not stronger in the court room, than shle was this miorning, at that
musical instrument.
THE DAUGHTER'S GENIUS FOR nELIGION'.
Q. You use the expression in regard -to your daugoltei, "genius
for religion;" does not that express the character of your wsife?
A. Yes-even more so.  My daughter is more intellectual; she is
an abler and more stable woman, tlihough not so sentimental, and led
demonstrative. They are both great chlaracters.
Q. Well, she is a character that couldlhave atn intimacy and reverence and enthusiasm for a man of Mr. Beeclher's temperament and
religious convictions and teacllings, and carry it to an  extreme
lengthi without the tlhought of passi6n or criminti!ity?
A. I do not think the thougiht of passion or criminality were in
her breast at all.  I think they were altogethler ii his.  I think she
thiouglut only of her love and reverence.
Q. Such a character would not excite the tliouIght of jealousy as
to lher?
A. Not in tle slighltest I never hlad the slighltest feeling of jealousy
in regard to Elizabeth.
Q. Tlhe fact that she was manifesting this enthusiasm, and all
that, would not lead you to suspect i'er motives and purity originally?
A. It wounld- not; later it did.
Q. For how long a period?,
A. I do not know; I remember I wrote,lier some letters which, if
she has kept them, would fix the date; there was a,time when I felt
that Mr. Beecher was using his influence greaty upon her.
Q. To control her in- hler domestic relations,with you?
A. No, but' to win her.  He was always trying to get her to say
that she loved him better than me..
Q. She never would say it t?
A. Don't think she ever did.
Q. You do not believe she ever felt or believed it; do you?
A. No; that is to say,. in one sense she loved him. She loved his
religious views, she loved him as an evangelical minister; but I
don't think that on the whole hlie was as much to her as I was.
Still, of course, Mr. Tracy, I cannot question her motives. If she
should say that he was more to her than I was, I cannot dispute it.
Q. You set out a letter that she wrote on the night of Dec. 30,
after you returned to your house, referring to tile retraction she had
given to Mr. Beechler; did she write that letter, or did you?
A. She wrote it.
Q. Did you dictate it?
A. No.
HELPING BEECHER TO FORTIFY HIMSELIF.
Q. Why did she write it?
A. Because I asked her to make a calm statement of what she had
designed in this letter to Mr. Beecher. She was in such a state of
agony that she told me she could not recall her letter to him. She
said she had given him this letter that he might fortify himself in a
council of ministers.  I asked hier to take a pen at the end of the
evening and give the exact circumstances, and explain  whiat she
48 
FRANCIS D, MOULTON.'  
TILTON'S CROSS.EXAMINATION. 
meant by it; and she wrote that letter.  It was only next day that
the other letter came back, anu then this one ceased to be of any
importance. What struck me in that business as so damnable in
Mr. Beeclher was that after coming and confessing to me and Mr.
Moulton his criminal relations with Mrs. Tilton, and then asking to
see her a few minutes, and going around the corner to see her, lihe
should have conie back again inr. half an hour, expressing his hleartbrokenness, whereas lie hadt in pocket this retraction from her.  I
say it was damnable and nefarious.
Q. Do you say that when you saw Mr. Beecher at Mr. Moulton's
house MrI. Moulton was present?
A. Yes, lie,vas present in this way; I wanted a lengthy interview
with Mr. Beecher alone; and when he came into the room I locked
the door and put the key~in my pocket, an( nairrated in order Elizabetli's confession.  It was a long one, an(l it would have been indelic.tte for me touch it with any more elaboration than I have here.
I do iot wish to be questioned about it.  It wa3 a long story.
Q. Was Mr. Moulton present?
A. Not at that part of the interview.  After the door was opened
he was.  Tile interview tlihat we three together had was very short.
I was on the stairs while Mr. Beecher talked with Mr. Moultou on
the stairs. That interview was to bring nime and Mr. Beecher together.  Thie next time we all three had an interview.
Q. This retraction, you say in your connmmuication,  Mr. Beecher
returned to you through Mr. Moulton.  Is that true?
A. Yes, sir.
THEi RETRACTION IN A SAFE PLACE.
Q. Was that retraction ever delivered to you?
A. I have got it now.
Q. Is it.not in the possession of Mr. Moulto)n?
A. Yes, but it belongs to me. Mr. Moultoii hlad a safe place and
I had not, and he has some of my papers.
Q. Do you mean to say that Mr. Moulton delivered that retrac.
tion to your actual keeping, and that you have had possession of it
for any length of time?
A. He did deliver it to me, and it was sent back to him.
Q. I ask you whether Mr. Moulton delivered that retraction to
you and you kept it?
A. Mr. Moulton put that retraction iitto my hand; exactly what
I did with it-whether I carried it to my safe or not-I do not remember; I took a ntmber of papers and put them in his keeping
because I had no safe place.
Q. How long do you think you had possession of that paper?
A. I do not remenimber. I never saw the retraction tll it was
brought back to me.  Then I read it.  It may be that I never took
it away from Mr. Moulton's house.  It was sent back to me.  It was
put into my hand.  I read it and made a copy of it.
Q. In shorthand?
A. Yes.
Q. Did youi ever have it longer than that?
A. Yes, long enough to make forty copies in shorthand.
Q. Bit you returned it to Mr. Moultoni, and lie has kept it, and
has it now?
A. Yes, unless he has been robl)ed.
Q. The letter whichl you say Mr. Beecher wrote MN. Tilton withb
40 
TILTON'S CROSS.EXAMlNATION.
your permission, I see, as published, directs her to return to him
through your hands?
A. It was returned to Mr. Moulton by me.
Q Did you make a copy of it?
A. Idid.
Q. Then you took advantage of Mr. Beecher's direction to have
that letter returned to him through your hands to make a copy, and
you made and preserved a copy of the letters?
A. I did, exactly; and I hlave found a very good use for it in this
late emergency.
THE APOLOGY IN MOULTON'S HANDWRITING.
Q. What you call the "apology"-is that in Mr. Beecher's handwriting?
A. It is not.
Q. In whose handwriting is it!
A. In Francis D. Moulton's, except the last sentence, which is
Mr. Beecher's.
Q. "I trust this to Moulton in confidence," is in Mr. Beecher's
handwriting, is it not?
A. Yes.
Q. The words "in confidence" are   underscored, are they not!
A. I do not know.
Q. That document is written on how many half sheets of papert
A. I do not think on any. It is on sheets as big as that (legal
cap.)
Q. On how many-two or three?
A. Yes, large sheets.
Q. Do you know whether the last sentence, "I trust this to Moulton in confidence," is separated by a wide space from the rest?t
A. I do not know. Frank can show it to you.
Q. Is it not separated by a wide space?
A. No, not by a wide space.
Q  I ask you whether the last sentence of this letter is not here
somewhere [indicating with the hand, and the line, "I trust this
to Moulton in confidence, H. W. Beecher," down there [indicating]?
A. No, it is not.
Q. It is not at the bottom of the page?
A. It may be at the bottom of the page.
Q. Is it not away from the writing?
A. No, it is not; it is a part of the letter.
Q. Your were not present when it was written!
A. No; otherwise it would not have been written.
Q Because it would have been spoken?
A. Yes; the substance was spoken to me a day or two afterward
in Mr. Moulton's bedchlamber.
Q. You say if you had been present it would not have been
written 
A. Yes.
THE APOLOGY UNSOLICITED.
Q. That letter is not addressed to yotl, is it?
A. It was addressed to Mr. Moulton, lu. it was brought to meon
the authority of Mr. Beecher himself. It was brought to me greatly
to my surprise. Mr. Moulton put it before me as evidence tihat I
~should maintain peace.  I did not a,k for it; it came un,nlicited.
50
It 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Q. You quote a letter dated on the 7th of January, to you from
Mr. Beecher; was your suit with Bowen then pending?
A  My suit with Bowen was pending from the 1st of January to
the middle of the next year; I think it was in April, 1872; I never
sued him; Mr. Moulton  wanted to assume the management of my
affairs with Mr. Bowen; Mr. Moulton, when sick, summoned us to
him, and aid, " I want to keep you on record, and  bind you to
good will."
Q. You had a controversy?
A. I had a controversy. I had agreed not to do anything but at
Moulton's discretion. Mr. Bowen owed me$7,000; and Frank
said, "He has got to pay that; but I would ratlihei pay it myself
than it should bring Mr. Beeclher in collision; and I will agree that
you shall have it, if I have to pay it myself, therefore, let this thing
remain with me as long as I like-a year or ten years. Frank was
determined that peace should be kept.
Q. Were there any proceedings to perpetuate testimony taken?
A. Frank thought Mr. Bowen ought to come to a settlement, and
said, "I think I will put this in court," and Mr. Ward instituted
some proceedings. It was the mere suggestion of a suit, done without my knowledge.  I think it was to perpetuate Mr. Johnson's testimony. I have forgotten.
Q. Was that in 1872?
A. Yes, it must have been in March.
Q. You say you put the management of your matter against
Bowen in the hands of Moulton?
A. I did.
Q. Did not he represent to you that it was absolutely indispensable, or material, that you and Mr. Beecher should keep on friendly
terms in reference to this controversy with Bowen?
A. No. The sum and essence of his management was the management of my relations to Mr. Beecher. He regarded Mr. Bowen
as an incident. I could not afford to lose my office, and Mr. Moulton said: "You have got to keep peace with Mr. Beecher for the
sake of yourself and family." Mr. Moulton always made Mr.
Bowen subsidiary to Mr. Beecher-and me also, till I revolted, after
Dr. Bacon's letter.
BOWE''S[ HATRID OF BEECHER.
Q. Do you mean to say that it was never regarded as important
that friendly relations should be maintained between youa and Mr.
Beecher, having reference to your difficulty with Bowen?
A. Not a particle. The more I quarreled with Mr. Beecher, the
better Mr. Bowen liked it.  If, as a result of the controversy, Mr.
Beecher should be dead,Mr. Bowen would not be one of the mournners, but one who would uplift the horn of gladness.   He never
wanted peace with Mr. Beecher. He always wanted war with Mr.
Beecher. Hle is an enemy of Mr. Beeclher, and would rejoice in his
downfall. Perhaps I ought not to say that; it is speaking of the motives of people, but it is true.
Q. The tripartite treaty was not signed untill after Feb. 7,
1871?
A. No.
Q. Was not your letter to Mr. Moulton of that date Written for
the purpose of calling out a reply from him.
A. No; I wrote it because Frank insisted upon it. Frank had an
51 
TIL'TTON'8 CROSS-EXAMINATION.
idea that if I gave my word hlie would have me bound.   Hle wanted me to write thie utmost of what I could of good will in this letter.
Q. And did lie get a corresponding answer from Mr. Beecher?
A. Perhaps so; I do not think that hlie informed me that he was
going to get an answer from Mr. Beecher.
Q. He informed you that lie had got all answer froga him afterwards, did lie not?
A. Yes, he showed it to me, and I copied it.
Q. Do you say that your letter was not written in older to draw
out an answer from Mr. Beecher?
A. No; I wrote ft to please Frank, because hlie wantedl me to; perliaps there may be a sense in which I was to write what I could of
good will, and Mr. Beecher what hlie could of good will; perhaps
tiiere may be correctness in your phrase; there was no collusion oii
my part with Mr. Beecher; it was Mr. Moulton's iron-like waty of
cominpelling things to go on in peace and hlaimony; hlie is a man of
desperate strengthl of will.
Q. Now, will you produce all the letteas which you quote oni
pages 113 and  114 of your comimunication beginIing  "My dear
Frank: I am determined to make no more resistance.   Thleodore's
temperament is such, that the future, even if temporally earned,
would be absolutely worthless, and rendering me liable at any time
of day, etc?
A. I cannot; Mr. Moulton can.
Qu Have you a copy of it?
A. Yes; I think I am not wrong.
COPYING EVERYTHING.
Q. Can yolu produce a copy?
A. I do not know; I am sorry I cannot tell you; I have a mass of
phonographic notes, whenever these letters came, whenever there
was anything in them that Frank wanted me to see, lie would read
them to me; whenever Mr. Beecher said anything that he thought,
being read to me, would gratify my feelings and conduce to acompromise or peace between us, speaking of the kindness with which
I treated him, or of his difficulties, Frank read them to me, and as
I wrote shorthand, I always used to make a copy of them.
Q. And is tlhalt the only copy that you have of these papers?
A. It is the only copy I have of Frank's papers.
Q. Copies in shorthand being read and never being compared'
with the originals?
A. When Frank read to me three or four or five sentences, I
woul(i write them down.
By Mi. Hall.-Did you compare tlhem with the originals?
A. What do you mean by comparing them with the originals?
Q. Do you know that they are the exact transcript of the origi tnals?
A. Yes.
Q. You wrote them from your phonographic notes?
A. You will find these extracts all perfectly correct, every one absolutely.
By Mr. Winslow.-Do you remember the purportof what you left
out?
A. My impression is that this one of Mr.  Beeclier's letters to
Frank was very long. It would certainly occupy four pages on a
52 
TILTON'S CROSS.EXAMINATION.
sheet of foolscap. There was a long argument in it to show what
difficulties lie was in.  If I had quoited the whole it would have
made this statement mnuchl stronger, but it would hleave made it a
cumbered document.
Q. Is there some that you have not quoted?
A. A great deal; but there is notihing in thlat quotation that
violates the whole spirit of tile letter.
Q. I-Had you no reason for omitting what you did except to avoid
length?
A. No.  Only it alluded to interviews, for instance, in this way:
"I am greatlydistressed withl  wllat the deacon said," or "'l The
Brooklyn Eagle must not go on in this way." Many tlhing.s might
be added that are unimportant in this exhibit, )lt  that were  important at the time.
FRAGMENTS OF LETTERS.
Q. On page 103.'*No man  can see the diffictl ties tltt environ
me etc.," did you quote thile whole of that letter?
A. Only a friagment of it. There is not awliole-letter in all these
quotations.
Q. In making those quotations I see no stars?
A. I do not know whether it is the omission of tihe printer, but I
put in stars to show where the connection was broken off.  Where
I took a paragraph which was long, and it was  coiitiiiioui.s fromr beginning to end, there is no need of stars.
Q. Your letter, " To g complaining friend;" tliat was Rublislied,
to whom was that written? 
A. That was written to nobody; everybody  was snaying: "You
oughlt to answer the Wooidhull scandal," and I put my wits together
to frame a possible answer.
Q. Thien you say that the letter, "To  a complaiiinig friend,    "
was a fiction?
A. Yes; it was written on purpose as a public card.
Q. How long after the Woodhull scandal was that?
A. It was published a long time after that date.; not longerl tian
tivo or three weeks.  I think, perhaps not ten days. My impression
is that it was not published until a long time after. I thought I had
written an ingenious card, but it did not amount to anything. Wendell Phillips said: "It is a fine tling, but for one thing; you ought
to have said that your wife was not guilty;" but I could not say
that, and the card went for nothing; it was one of a number of ingenious subterfuges; I wrote it thinking that it would please
Elizabeth; I read it to her before it was printed, and she liked it;
afterward she spoke to. me violently about it, and said it was another
way of perpetuating the scandal.
Q. And charged you with publishing it for that purpose?9
A. No; not that.
Q. But did not she say that the effect of that publication would
be to perpetuate the scandal and revive it.
A. Yes, after it was published.
Q. The Woodhlull scandal was dying out of the minds of the people, was it not, then, when that was published?
A. I think not; I did not know the time when it was; it is a death
whichi I have had no notice yet; I thought I did a crafty thing of
in the card, but it failed.
Q. I asked whether the Wood hull scandal was not dying out of
58 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
the mlill(ds of thle people, and whether it would not have died out but
for that?
A. Well, I don't know; you are a better jtudge of that than I am;
I think I heard less of it..
i EVERYTHING REVIVES THE SCANDAL."
Q. Do you not know tiat the publication of that letter revived
the talk and the scandal?
A. Yes, yes, everything revives the talk.  Tile appointment of an
investigating committee revived it in the same way, in general
terms.
Q. What other ])ublications have you made since the publication
of the Woodhull scandal and the letter " To a Complaining Friend,"
and the Bacon letter, and letters to the Council?
A. The letter "To a Comnplaining Friend "I was put in the Eagle
with a forocious comment.  If it had not been printed with  a bad
comment, I think it would have had a good effect, but the letter did
h~arm.
Q. You mean to say that it revived or perpetuated the scandal instead of allaying it?
A. It did harm in the sense that it purported to be a denial, looked
as if it was meant for a denial which did not deny, and it left about
this impression-that Mr. Tilton, a direct man, who knows.what lhe
means and could say it, if hlie could have denied this squarely would
have done it.  The impression was that it w as written to deny, but
that it did not deny.
Q. Did it not carry in it a strong inmplication of guilt?
A. Well, perhaps in a sense you  might inferentially say so.  I
think you might say that.  I think if I had never said a word on the
subject at all, from the beginning down, it would have been a great
deal better.
Q. The scandal would hlave died out lonig ago, would it not-it
has only been kept alive by your writings?
A. I have acted like a fool, I admit.
By Mr. Tracy.-We will concede that, and  do not need  to call
witnesses to prove it.
Q. Now; when the council was in session, thlat took the form, did
it not, of an ecclesiastical controversy in which the scandal proper
dropped out of sight?
A. There is no scandal proper.
Q. Well, this scandal itself dropped out of sight, and the controversy was over an ecclesiastical question, was it not?.
A. In a technical sense; but everybody said that that council relived the'business.
LETTERS TO BACON.
Q. Did not you know that your letters revived the scandal?
A. Yes; or it did not need reviving, it had life in it.
Q. Did not your letters to the council largely call out the letters
by Dr. Bacon?
A. I think Dr. Bacon took a sublime indifference to my letters in
the first place.   He sent them back from the council.   I do not
now recollect that there was any extract from  my letters to the
council that were introduced at all by Dr. Bacon; perhaps there
was.  If he made any allusion at all to tlhem it was a most  unimportant one.
54
I 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Q. You knew that the effect of your letters to the council would
be to revive the scandal, did you not?
A. No, I did not.  I wrote them to vindicate myself.  I did not
care whether they revived the scandal or not.
Q. Di(] you not know what the effect would be?
A. I thoughlt of vindicating myself.  I lhad been attacked, andl
I wrote a defense; the scandal had to take care of itself. I was not
so tender toward the scandal that I should refrain from defending
myself if it would revive it even.
Q. That is evident.  Mrs. Tilton's letter to you, quoted Feb. 9,
1868, and commencing,  "Ah! did angel ever love so grandly as
my beloved." In that letter, on page 164, this sentence occurs:
"And the dear friends who love us." You originally wrote it, and
you have erased us and put in me.  Do you know which is correct?
What is in the original?
A. I think it is me? It is me (examining the first draft of the
communication).
Q. How camine Mrs. Tilton to write that letter to Moulton, denying that she ever thought of.separating from you?
A. Frank, as soon as he undertook to make the compromise between us, undertook to straighten out whatever was wrong,.  There
was a story that Mrs. Morse set afloat about my being divorced, and
Frank wrote a note to her, or went to see her, and she wrote this
note.
Q. Did not she write it at your suggestion?
A. I do not think she did.  I think she wrote it at Frank's suggestion.  I had forgotten that paper until I found it among the
papers.
By Mr.' Hill.-Did not you make any suggestion to her about writing that letter?
A. I do not recollect distinctly. It may be that I did. I do not
know. I co-operated with Frank.
A DECEPTIVE LI,ETTER.
Gen. Tracy-Has she not during this controversy signed letters
that you have written for her?
A. No; she wrote a letter. to Dr. Storrs, a part of which I suggested the plhraseology, of a delicate statement of her relations to
Mr. Beecher, which, while it was not false, did not convey more than
half the truth. The remainder she wrote herself. She was going
t4) state too nui hi in it.
Q. Is there any other letter thlat she hlas ever written at your dictation, and siglhned after you lhad written it in tlhis controversy?
A. Well, I do not know; I do not recollect any at present.
Q. Do you remember a letter she wrote to Mr.  Moulton,  commencing, " Dear Francis, I told you a falsehood last night?"
A. I never saw it.
Q. Do you remember that Mr. Moulton reported to you, on any
<)ccasion, that she had made a statement that what you claimed was
her confession that she had made at your solicitation and instance,
and at a time when you were also confessing to her, or anything of
that description, and that you were angry about it, and took Moulton to your house to have hiim see whether she would make such a
statement or not, and that Mr. Moulton coming, and repeating the
statement in your presence. you asked her whether she had ever
55 
TILTON'S CROS-XIAMINATION.
sad so, and she said she had not, and you turned to Moulton, and
said, "Then you see who is the liar?"
A. I do not remember any such phrase as that. Frank Moultoni
said to me, as nearly as I can recollect (his memory is better than
mine), that Elizabeth, in a mood of criticism on me (which she did
not very often have), had said that I made to her confessions against
myself corresponding with the confession which she had made to
me against herself, which was not true; and Frank asked her
squarely if it was so.
Q. Did he ask her or did yout
A. I do not remember.
Q. What did she say?
A. She said " no," and then Frank afterward told ile shle said
the opposite.
Q. Now did you not know that the very next morning she wrote
to Mr. Moulton a letter beginning, "Dear Francis, I told  you two
falsehoods," and proceeded to say in substance:' Tile fact is tlhat
when I am in the presence of Mr. Tilton hlie lhas such a control over
me that I am not responsible for what I say," or' iI anm obliged to
say whatever lihe wills that I should say. But the truth is that I had
reported the story just as you had heard it."
A. I do not. I know that she had some conversations with him
which she reported to me as being greatly like a see-saw-saying
one thing and unsaying it.
A POSITIVE ANSWER.
Q. Have you ever had doubts of her sanity?
A. No.
Q. Never?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have you ever threatened to put her in an asylum?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have you ever circulated the story among her acquaintances
or friends that she was becoming insane?
A. No; but that her mother was.  There was one time about then
when she was a little delirious.
Q. When?
A. I do not remember; hler mind wandered a little in sickness;
she has never hlad a taint of insanity; you know that we have a customary  phrase; "You say an extravagant thing, my friend; you are
insane," that is the only possible way in which Elizabethl  has been
insane; shle is not insaniie at ill.
Q. Mr. Tilton, you have quoted the letters of your wife here to
prove what the character of your home was in the beginning of 1868
and thlrougtll 1868?
A. I quoted thiem to show what it was previous to her surrender
to him.
Q. You have stated, Mr. Tilton, that there were acts of criminality, first at Mr. Beeclier's house, and secondly at your own house;
do you pretend to have a personal knowledge of those acts?
A. Only the knowledge of Mrs. Tilton's confession-that is all.
I was absent at the timne.
Q. Mr. Moulton was in college with you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He has always been your friend from your college days?
A. Yes, sil, and I hlope lie will be to the end of nmy life.
u 
'l1'T,ON'# CROSlS-EXAMI NATIO0  N.
Q. Your novel is dedicated to him?
A. Yes; but hlie has not done me the lioner of reading it. 1 will
never dedicate another.
Q. You say that you had not reported this scandal to the Wood hull women or woman; but you do not deny that you liad frequent ly spoken.harshly of Mr. Beeclher to her?
A. Oh, not harshly.  I have spoken often critically of him, but
always with a view to do no lharm to him. I expressed iiy opinion
about him.
Q. How came she and Mr. Beecher to have an interview?
A. I do not remember the circumstances.  I think Frank Moul ton devised it.  Mr. Beeclher had a number of iiiterviews witlh hler
at Frank's house; and one at mine.
Q. Was not the object to get Mr. Beeclher coimmitted to lier views
of free love?
A. No; to her views of the Fourteenth and Fifteenthl Amend nients of Woman's Suffrage.  Mr. Butler and I cihampioned it, and
we wanted Mr. Beeclher to do the same.
Q. Was it not to get him to p)reside at Steinway Hall?
A. That was not at my hlouse, bit at Frank's; I think at mine it
was in regard to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
A THREAT FROM COL. BLOOD.
Q. Well, an effort was made to get him to l)reside there and in troduce her at Steinway Hall, and an expl)osition of this scantdal was
threatened if hlie did not preside there?
A. Frank received a letter from Col. Blood that lie tliouglht was
a threat; it angered Frank a good deal.
By Mr. Winslow. -Did you see the letter fromi  Col. Blood, in
which it was threatened that this scandal would lee exposed if 3Mr.
Beecher did not preside at the Steinway Hall meeting?
A. I do not think that is so.  If it was, I did not kniow.  I lo
not think there was any truth in it.
Q. SMr. Beecher lhad been importuned to preside, liad lie not?
A. Yes; there came a note from Col. Blood about the Woodhulls
not being received in some hotel; they said it was because they
were unpopular, and they wanted Mr. Beecl-ier's help; there.;vas
something in the letter which Frank regarded as unhandsome, and
I knew hlie was angry and expressed himself strongly about it, and
said it looked like blackmail. It was the first indication of their
attempting to use us.
Q. Do you not know that Mr. Beecher was threatened that in
caise he did not preside at that meeting this scandal should be published?
A. It is the first time I have heard it suggested.
Q. Was he not threatened by Mrs. Woodliull?
A. Not that I have any knowledge of.
Q. Was not the very object of soliciting Mr. Beeclher to preside at
the Steinway Hall meeting on the part of youl and Mr. Moulton, in
order to place Mrs. Woodhull under obligations, so that she should
not make the publication?
A. Precicely so; we did not know there was to be a publication;
we wanted to keep her on our side, and wanted to take every possible occasion to do it; her liusl)and had spent considerable length of
time to devise this Steinway Hall speech; what it was about I do
not know; slhe gave nie and Frank the proofs; and he put them im
37 
TILT'ON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
his d-awer; I never looked at them; it was our folly that we did
not, for I might have known what was in that speech.  She wanted
Mr. Beecher to preside; I told Mr. Beeclher that however unpopular
she was, lie might go and preside; and I sketched a little sort of a
speech (and I think Frank sketched one) that, if he could see his
way to do it, hemighlt make:  "Fellow-citizens, here is a woman
who is going to speak. She will probably speak on what you do not
believe, but that is no reason why she should not be heard.. It is because I disagree with her that I would introduce her.   I like free
speech.  I have the honor of presenting her." I said to him that
he was able to carry a little speech of that sort, and I felt that if he
went and presided, it would put her under the same obligation to
him, as I fancied I had put her under to me in writing her biography. I considered that I had secured her good will by writing that
and other things, and I thought that if Mr. Beecher would do some
signal service of that kind, which he could do, and which would be
noted as such,it would fix her under gratitude, and we would all be
fixed; Frank had done her some service,Frank had been very friendly to her, he had done her many services, and he had great respect
for her.
PRESSING THE ARGUMENT.
Q. You pressed that argument on Mr. Beecher?
A. Yes, and Frank also.
Q. As a matter of safety?
A. Yes, I said: "Think it over, and if you find that you can, go
and do it."
Q. Do you know whether the letter from Colonel Blood had beea
received at that time?
A. I do not know.
Q. Mr. Beecher rejected your argumnents and refused to presidet
A. He did not refuse, but said that if he saw his way clear he
would come and let us know.
Q. But he did not let you know?
A. He did not let us know.
Q. And you presided instead?
A. I did not want to; but I had no idea of what the speech was
going to be.
Q. Although the proofs were in your hands and you might have
known?
A. Yes, but I never did know.  The proofs had been brought to
Frank's study. I may have had the idea that they were for Mr.
Beecher to see the speech; but it was not the printed speech that
did the damage; it was the interjected remarks in response to the
audience; she said violent things.
Q. Had you written her life at that time?
A. Yes, I had; I am pretty certain of it.
Q. What other things had you done to put her under obligations?
A. I will tell you what I did; I wrote that idea of the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments, and spent three of the solidest,weeks
of my life in working it into an argument and printing it into a
tract. It was her idea; but she did not know how to expose it, and
I worked it up in one of the most elaborate pieces of writing that
I ever did. That was one of the great services. The second was
58 
TILTON'S CROSS.EXAMINATION.
the writing of a sketch. Thlen, also, when Senator Carpenter attacked that proposition, I mtade an elaborate reply.
MRS. WOODIULL'S MEETING.
Q. You went to the meeting yourself, and deliberately intended
to go?
A. No,  I  did   not.  Frank  came   to   the  (7olden  Age
office.  It rained and it was late, 7:30 o'clock, and I went to
see who was to preside.  There wis no expectation that I would
preside at all. We got there at 7.30, and the crowd was so great that
we could not get in at the front way, and we went to the rear and
went to a large ante-room, and there was Mrs.  Woodhull,  flushed
and excited, because there was not a brave man il the circle of the
two cities to preside at her meeting. Mr. Beecher did not come,
and one or two others that had been invited were not there. Site
felt that there was no courage in men; and she was going on alone,
and I said; "I will preside at your meeting." It was with not more
than ten minutes, I do not believe five minutes, forethought. I went
on the platform and made a few remarks, and introduced her.
That's the way it came about.
. You quote letters from your wife in 1868 to show the affection she bore for you at that time; and then you say that in 1870
you thought you discovered that her mind  was absorbed in Mr.
Beecher to too great an extent.  Between the begini-ning of 1868
and the spring of 1870 had there been any act on y(olr part calculated to disturb the happiness of your lZome, or alienate the affections
of your wife?
A. Not that I remember.
Q. Had there been no affection of a marked character existing
between you and another lady which was calculated to disturb the
happiness of a wife?
A. No, I think not.
[Here followed a series of circumstantial inquiries concerning Mr.
Tilton's relations with diffrent woumen, and equally circumstantial
denials on his part of anything improper, or of any connection between these stories and his wife's estrangement from him.]
WHY BOWEN DISCHARGED TILTON.
Q. Do you know that   made charges against you and that that
was one of the reasons why Mr. Bowen discharged you?
A. I cannot say what operated on Mr. Bowen.
Q. That was one of the things discussed, was it not?
A. Yes, the only thing discussed; but, Mr. Tracy, I decline thiis
exaiuination.  You have introduced names lhere, and you must take
thle consequences. There are charges against one of the names. I
took pains to introduce no names. There are written charges made
and filed concerning a lady whom you have named.  Now, I do not
take the responsibility of reviving it.
Gen. Tracy.-We have to mention names here, but I think they
won't be mentioned in the record.
Q. What is the character of the charges that       made against
you?
A. I never knew  that         made  any until afterwards.   Mr.
Bowen said there had been a story told, prejudicial to me. He
would not tell me by whom, and lie would not tell me the story.  I
said: "If there is any story prejudicial to me, bring the person who
59, 
TI'1L'ON'S CROSS-EXAMINATI'ON.
tells the story face to face with me."  Mr. Bowen said: "ThJat is
fair." After tlhat I heard that she wrote a letter.
Q. Was there any other lady that was in the hiabit of seeing you
at your house?
A. If there was, do you suppose I would be little enough, as a
gentlemen, to name it? I am not a miniister.
Gen. Tracy.-Ti)en )perliaps you miglht mention it?
A. I should not.  There are ladies whlom 1 know and hionor, and
I should scorn to answer such a question.
Q. I asked you Whether there were any other ladies wlho were in
the habit of visitingt your hlouse, and whose visits disturbed tlhe
quiet and lhappiness of your wife?
A. You may ask her, and take her answer. I scorn to answer.
Elizabeth shiall have the benefit of any statement slhe pleases to
make concerning names.  Tlhis examiration I understand thle point
of perfectly well.  There is no woman that I have respected or lionored whom I have not brouglht to my house, which is not the practice always of men in their relations w*itih ladies.  If Elizabetli lIas
been troubled concerning my attentions to any lady, take lher testiniony upon that subject.
THE CAUSE OF AI.L1E'RATION.
Gen. Tracy.-I will do that, ai)d I sia1ll do it because you leave
brought into the controversy the clharacter of y-our home. You have
said that her affections were alienated; antd it is pro])er and essential that we should show tlhat tlhat was not thle cause to which you
attributed it.
Mr. Tilton.-I say if Elizabetli'.s change of mind was due in lher
opinion to the fact that I liad loves and affections for other ladies,
take her testimony for thlat fact; I will not deny) her..
Q. You are confident shle will state tlhe truthl of that?
A. She will state whlat si)e wants to liave appear; and tlhat slhe
is welcome to.
By Mr. Hill.-Won't you say generally wlet)lier you had affections
for otherladies which your wife knew of?
No answer.
By Gen. Tracy.-Do you refuse to be examined on that point?
A. No; I don't refuse to be exanmined on that pbint.
Q. Then state whether thlere are not othler ladles who Ilave beet
intimate with you and in your society at your  house often and repeatedly, and in a manner calculated to disturb the quiet and peace
of mind of your wife?
A. I think I brought Miss Anthlony tlere.  She h-ated Ler, but it
was because she thought she was a radical, and so on.
Q. Did you ever hear it stated or intimated that you lad undue
familiarifies with ladies at your house?
A. No, no.
Gen. Tracy. -I don't mean criminal familiarities, but undue familiarities, suchl as visiting iii their room before thley were dressed?
A. No, I didn't; I cannot imnagine any reason wh)y anybody
should.
MRS. WOODHITLL's ANlNOYANCE.
Q. Was there any other lady besides those tlhat yotu lave mlentioned who annoyed i Elizal)et I?
A. 3rs. Woodhullalways annoyed' her when S1-e canie.  Eliza
beth always took fire at every person who did( not conte within the
eo 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAMINATION.
limit of the orthlodox ordinances.  She always loved all the women
who were connected with the church. My life was outside, and it
gradually happened that nearly all my public friends were radical
in one way or another, andt she could not bear it, and it annoyed
her.
Q. Don't you know of the visits:ii(i attentions of another lady
that disturbed your wife very nmudc!?
A. No.
[A series of questions then followed concerning another lady,
which Mr. Tilton answered frankly, and afterward with anger,
claiming that the lady was an intimate and valued  friend of his
wife as well as himself.
OTHERft SCANDALS.
General Tracy. —Do you know that about th)e time of your quitting the Union in 1869, your name and  -'s were associated together by public rumor?
A. By Hlenry Ward Beecher; a(nd lie wrote an apology to Mr.
Bowen, which I possess, recalling it; it was his slander, and I canr
produce it; the first thing Mr. Beeclier did within a week after his
apology on the 4th of January, was to write to Mr. Bowen a retraction of vlwhat lie had said in regard to  Q. Wlien was it that hlie said it?
A. I never heard of it until lie lthad unsaid it; it was a voluntary
thing; in making his retraction hlie confessed thie fact; I had never
heard that he had spoken unhandsomely until he apologized to me
and wrote the retraction; that retraction was put into my hands.
Q. -You mean to say that public rumor did not eonnect your name
and's at the time you were on the Union, or about that time?
[Mlr. Tilton admitted that there was a paragraph in one of the
New York papers that they were going to elope together.'He was
then on the Uzion.  Other questions followed concerning his visits
to the lady, etc., which he explained as natural and proer.]
Q. Did it come to the knowledge of your wife?
A. I carried it to the knowledge of my wife. It was: during the
summer of 1870, when I edited the Union.  I only edited it eight
nionthlis.  It never was a good paper before or since-begging pardon for improprieties.
Q. Afterward you made the acquaintance of Mrs. Woodhull, did
you not?
A. The next year, 1871.
Q. Did you ever express your attachment for -     in the presence
of your wife?
A. Ask my wife; take her answer; you may depend that I never'
said to -     or any other laay, in the absence of my wife, what  I
would not have said in her presence; I have no secrets from Mrs.
1ilton, I never had any, and never should have had any but for this
break-up; I never had any secrets from Mrs. Tilton until within
this last year or two, during which we have not harmonized as in
former years.
Q. Have you ever admitted to her that you had committed adultery?
A. I never admitted to her anything of the kind.
Q  But you don't mean to say that you have not, do you?
A. Mr. Tracy, talk to meas one getitlemfit to allotler.
61 
TILTON'S CROSS-EXAM1NATION.
Q. Gen. Tracy.-You charge your wife with having committed
adultery; I mean to ask you whether you have or not?
A. I say, let my wife make the charge, if she wishes to.
Q. I ask you the question?
A. You may ask it till doomsday.
Q. You decline to answer?
A. I do not; I say I will take my wife's answer.
DECLINING TO ANSWER.
Q. How could she know that you had,if you had not confessed it
to her? I ask you whether you have been guilty of the crime?
A. I decline to hold a conversation with you on such a subject.
Q. Have you admitted to others your commission of adultery?
A. Mr. Tracy, have you committed adultery?
Gen. Tracy.-I have not charged my wife with that crime.
Mr. Tilton.-If I am to be charged with the crime of adultery in
this business, I wish to know it; I wishl my wife, in whose interest
you speak, to make the charge if she chooses. Now let i her choose.
If you, gentlemen, suppose that you are to fight this battle in reference to my character, I will make it it tep times harder than you see.
Yesterday we were on the edge of peace; but if you mean to draw
the sword, the sword shall be drawn.
Mr. Hill.-Don't you think it is pretty well out?
Mr. Tilton.-There is one thing that I was born for, and that is
war.
Q  Did you make the acquaintance of Mrs. Woodhull in the abence oft
A. I don't remember whether she was absent or present.
Q. Don't you remember whether it was while she was at home or
not that you were associating with Mrs. Woodhull?
A. I knew Mrs. Woodhull a whole year.
Q. [After several questions involving reference to another
woman]-Do you know whether or not information was communicated to your wife that you were living with Mrs. Woodhullt
A. I never lived with her.
Q. Do you remember whether your wife was told that you were
living with hert
A. I never heard of it till now.  I saw something the day before
yesterday in a salacious newspaper.
Q. The Chicago Tims?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you read it?
A. Yes.
MRS. CLALIN'S TALK.
Q. Don't you know that informatida of precisely the character
then published was communicated to your wife by the mother of
Mrs. Woodhull during your intimacy withi Mrs. Woodhull?
A. I never heard of such a thing; I remember that Mrs. Morse
was with Mrs. Claflin; the old clazy woman came at the foot of her
stairs one night, and made a hideous racket of some sort of trash;
Mrs. Morse quoted that and got quite frightened about it.
General Tracy.-I hope all the mothers of your friends are not
insane. Dor,'t you know that Mrs. Clafin at the same time communicated that to your wife?
A. I did not know that she saw my wife.  I understood that that
(y2 
MR. TILTON'S CHALLENGE.
woman made a visit to Mrs. Morse's. It may be perhlaps' that Mrs.
Tilton was there at that time.
Q. Don't you know that your wife's mind has been disturbed in
regard to your own infidelity to her by your associations with public
women?
A. No, sir. If that pretense is made, Mr. Tracy, on your part, it
is unmanly; if it is made on her part, it is false.  I have never associated with public women.
General Tracy.-I don't mean prostitutes; I mean  reformers?
A. Oh, yes; I said before that Elizabeth had been annoyed, over
and over again, by my associations with al'l persons out of'hle realm
of religious orthodox ideas.
Q. In that class of people, whom among your lady acquaintances
do you include?
A. I include Miss Anthony and others, though I have not seen
those people since Elizabeth ordered them out of the house; beyond
those persons I don't know; Lucy Stone was one; she lived in Boston; she dici not come very often; Elizabeth was a reformer at one
time, and had tile getting up of women's rights meetings, and had
the children take the tickets; she arranged the campaign; but now
be can't endure them.
Sesi    of July 23, 1874.
At the session all the members were present, and examined with
Mr. Tilton, who was also present, the letter from his wife which he
had quoted in his statement.  The other letters which he quoted
from, lihe said were in the hands of Mr. Frank Moulton. After some
*onversation the committee adjourned.
-:0:
Mr. Tiutoen Challenges the Committee to take the scane
dal to the Courts.'
prom the Brooldyn Argo.
A gentleman called on Mr. Tilton this morning at his residence
in Livingston street, and asked him if hlis examination before the
eommittee had been concluded.  Mr. Tilton replied that he didnot
know.  He had promised to go before the committee as often as
they sent for him. He had been before them already four times.
Whether they would want him any more he could not say, but he
Bid he had never failed to respond to their summons, and if they
should ask for him forty times in succession he would be certain to
appear.
Upon being asked whether the reports whichll have appeared in
pretending to give accounts of his cross-examination before the committee were correct, Mr. Tilton said:
"I have never yet seen one that was correct. They all bear evidence of being one-sided and hlalf-malicious p4resentations of my examination, furnished to the reporters by the counsel to the committee.  The committee themselves are not responsible for these
misrepresentations.  Iama journalistand know the reporters.  The
reporters thlemselves have informed me that these travesties of the
truth come to them by design from Mr. Tracy and 1r. Hill.  These
68 
MR. TIb'rOsN'S CiALLIEN(4'E.
two gentremen would deny this fact; but a number of my friends
on the press have communicated to me in confidence that Mr. Tracy
aitd Mr. Hill are directly responsible for these misrepresentations of
my examination.  Please do not understand that I o1)ject at this
juncture, to be misrepresented either by the press or by tMr. Beecher's
counsel.
HIS RIGHT OF DEFENSE.
"The more I ams misrepresented(l, the more right I have to defend
myself. Mr. Tracy and Mr. Hill, the counsel for Ml. Beechlier, al  ready have as little influence with the committee as they have with 
the public. I have just ground of accusation against Mr. Tracy,
and I have been advised by far more eminent counsel than himself
that his course would not be sustained if submitted to the bar.  I
do not wisli to press it, b)ecause the committee themnselves, or at
least a few of them, are of too much dignity of character and moral
integrity to be tossed up aud down like a ball on a fountain by the
gushing leakages of Mr. Tracy and Mr. Hill. The committee them selves have a grave case on their hands, and they are men wise
enough to acknowledge its gravity; but the committee's counsel are
full of tricks and stratagems to belittle it, to distort it, and to play
upon the public with it.
"So far as the committee themselves are concerned-I mean the
six men who compose it-they exhibit a sad and grieved willing ness to listen to the truth.
I The substance of the examination up to the present time, so far
as I am concerned, is briefly this; Gen. Tracy asked me if I com mitted adultery.  I asked Gen. Tracy if he had coinmitted adultery.
But neither Gen. Tracy, nor Mr. Hill, nor anybody in the commit tee, has yet asked me wlhetlher Mr. Beeclier committed adultery.
ALLEGED MI SRF.PRESENTATION.
Mr. Tilton's visitor remarked:'These reports, then, seem to
misrepresent you?"..      -
rI'r. Tilton.-'Yes; but do  ot misn.derstand me.  There are certain gentlemen on this committee who would not willingly misrepresent any one; but the counsel are playing a mad frolic with the
facts, and will in the end be the two worst  beaten attorneys who
ever conducted a case.
"You think, then, that they have male blunders?"
Mr. Tilton.-Yes; and they have made one hideous blunder.
" What is it?"
Mr. Tilton.-They have diverted their examination from the facts
at issue, into an inquiry into the names and characters of my female
acquaintances-particularly those who, as writers or speakers on various reforms, have attained( eminence in public life.  The
animus of this inquiry was obvious; its design was to associate me
with the extreme and radical sentiment against which the conservative class in the community are arrayed in large majority.  I, myself, did not object to this inquiry, though I, myself,  would not
have begun aly such line of policy in this case.  Gen. Tracy'. supremie blunder has been thatin instituting that inquiry into the standing of the ladies of my acqulailntance, he gives me the right to institute a counter inquiry into the standing of the ladies of Mr. Beechler's
acquaintance. I informed the comnnittee yesterday that I deprecated
such a plan of battle, but that if it was forced upon me by the committee's coun.sel; I could draw a sword with two edges to their one.
64 
MR. TILTON'S CHALILENG E.
If tils new aspect wliclh Gen. Tracy flings upon the case  like a sha   dow is to chlaracterise the remainder of the controversy, it will be tlhe
better for Gen. Tracy's chief client that hlie liad never been born.
NEW SCANDALS HINTED AT.
Reporter.-I perceive that Mr. Tracy questioned you concerning
your acquaintance with Mrs. Woodhull?
Mr. Tilton.-Yes; but Mr. Tracy was careful not to elicit the
fact that Mr. Beeclier's apology addressed to me through Mr. Moul  ton was written half a year before I ever saw the face of Mrs. Wood  hull. He was careful also not to elicit the fact that Mr. Beechlier
hIiimself had had private interviews with Mrs. Woodhull, and that
that lady had taken far more pains to associate herself with him
and he with her than ever I had done.
Reporter.-In what other respects have the reports of your exam  ination misrepresented you?
Mr. Tilton.-Well, on the day after I presented my sworn state  Dient, I met the committee and held an interview with them which
was described in the next day's journals as a pitiful spectacle —my
having broken down on cross-examination. The truth is there was
DO cross-examination whatever on that day  by the counsel, and
notiiing but a kindly interchange of talk between the committee and
niyself.  I have my faults, and many of theni, but I have  never
uisfd the  seltimental, declamatory and  ungrammatical English
Gen. Tracy and Mr. Hill have emitted to their reportorial friends
as coinig from me.  The report which I am criticising says that I
admitted that I was the author of the Woodhull scandal-wliicll was
a falsehood.  Have you a knife in your pocket?
Reporter. -Yes.
Mr. Tilton. -Please cut out thle following extract.
The reporter then took his penknife and cut out the following
paragraplhs:
The following question was put to Tilton by Mr. Tracy:
Mr. Tilton. —have you any evidence of Mr. Beecher's adultery ex cept what you say your wife told you?
Tilton.-I have none whatever.
MR. BEECHERt'S CONFESSIONS
" I wish you would do me the favor tosay, through the eolumns of
the Argus, that though I have hitherto declined being interviewed
concerning my appearance before the committee, and have steadily
remained silent conicerning the proceedings in the commttee, yet the
ablove report, coming as it does from the committee's counsel, is an
absolute fabrication. I told the committee distinctly, that Mr. Beecher had confessed his adultery to me; that hlie had confessed to Mr.
Moulton, that lie had confessed it to other persons whom I named,
and furthermore, I gave the names of several persona'lio for the
last four years have been perfectly %we!l aware t)hatt Mr. Moulton's entire conection with this case, from beginning to end, has been based
on the one and only corner stone of Mr. Beeclier's criminality. I ask
that all these persons be produced before thie committee.
"I ask, futrtlhermore, for the privilege of being present to cross-examine Mr. Beeclher and the other witnesses.  I still fulrtler suggested that the case hlad come to be of sacli mlagnitude tlhat it would be
better for the committee to di.miss this informal examination, in
which no one but myself has thus far spoken undler oath, and adjourn to meet in court.  I expressed a willingness to be sued for li
65 
66    MRS. WOODHULL APPEARS ON THE SCENE.
bel, or to be put in any other way before a tribunal which could compel witnesses to testify under oath, and which could punish perjury
with the state prison. If this case, with all the facts which lie behlind it, revealed and unrevealed, were now before a criminal court
instead of a voluntary committee, and if Mr. Beeclier's printed statement h)ad been made under oath, subject to cross-questioning and
overthrow, he would indeed be compelled to "step down and out."
I feel at liberty to speak freely, because Mr. Beeclhe's counsel has faTsified me to the world, and I have no recourse but to smite them in
the face."
:o:
~lrs. Woodhull Appears on the scene.
From the News.
Mrs. Victoria Woodhull arrived yesterday morning from Chicago.
She has improved wonderfully in personal appearance, and her wanlooking features, that were so conspicuous on the trial in General
Sessions, have given place to rosy cheeks and well-rounded form.
When the reporter accosted her she smilingly said:
"You come in regard to the Tilton-Beecher matter, I suppose?"
Reporter. —Yes, madam.
Mrs. Woodhlull.-I am very sorry, then, but I have determined
not to say anything about it at present.  What I shall say will be in
my own paper.
Reporter.-But you have been interviewed in the west in regard
to the matter.
Mrs. Woodhlull.-No, sir; although I have been persistently followed by reporters all the way from San Francisco, I have steadily
refused to say anything.  I understood on my arrival this morning
thal the Chicago Times published what purported to be an interview
with me, in which I inculpated Beeclher and exonerated Tilton. It
is not so.  Tile Times reporter followed me from Aurora in a carriage for the purpose of talking to me, but I told him what I tell you
now.
Reporter.-Have you read Ms. Tilton's statement published this
morning?
Mrs. Woodhull (hastily)-Yes, sir, I have, and I know it is not true.
Mrs. Tilton should be honest and tell all she knows. Let her tell
the public what she bas told me at her own tea-table, and then see
who falls.
Reporter.-Then I suppose you are no believer in spiritual love?
Mirs. Woodhti.-Faugh! Spiritual love! Henry Ward Beecher
talk of spiritual love! Why, the man's whole physique is full of
sensuousness.
Reporter.-What do you think of MIr. Tilton's charges of adul tery?
Mrs. Woodhull.-I believe them true, every word.  You know
whatI have suffered in this matter.  I have not been spared by
Plymouth Church.  I have been hounded down, incarcerated in
jail, my bondsmen worked upon to surrender me, and all for exposing a hypocrite. 
THE HOME OF MR. BEECHER.
Reporter.-Have you ever talked to Mr. Beeclher on this subjects
Mrs. Woodhlull. —Yes, sir, often. I have told him, time and time
again, "Mr. Beecher, why don't you p)leaclh what you practice?" His
reply has been: "Why, Mrs. Woodhlull, niy church would be6 empty
in a day. I dare not." Then I lhave said to him: " You would preach
to 60,000 when you speak to 600."
Reporter.-Will you appear at all before the investigating  com mittee of Plymouth Church?
Mrs. Woodhul.-Of what use is it?  They are Mr. Beecher's selected friends.   Three of them  have sat at my own  table.  They
know well enough that what I long ago charged is true.
Reporter —Would you be kind cnough to tell me to which member
of the committee you refer?
Mrs. Wooodhull.-Well, I don't care to say; I will tell you, however, that Mr. Cluflin is one.
Reporter. -I see it stated that the investigation will close probably this week.
Mrs. Woodhull.-What  (surprised)l withi only the statements
they hlave already taken? That is decidedly unfair. Why don't
they call Mr. Bowen  and Mr. Carpenter? Ah, yes; and a dozen others who were visitors it 3Ir. Tilton's and Mr. Beechler's houses. Let
the trial be thorough and conclusive.
Reporter. -Mi. Moulton's testimony is said to be important.
Mrs. Woodhull.-Yes; and when it is made public you will be
surprised.  If Frank Moulton tells all lie knows,  he  will swamp
Beecher.  And  Frank is one of  nature's noblemen.  I amn  conviaced that hle can sustain all the allegations in Mr. Tilton's statement, and (significantly) more too if lihe desires.
Reporter.-You have other facts in connection with the scandal,
I suppose, that you have not already published.
Mrs. Woodhull.-Yes;  but as I said before, I do not care to disclose them just yet.  I am waitingt until all the evidence is in, and
the investigation closed, then (triumphantly) I will sum up the case.
:0:
The Roinme of Mr. Beecher.
A brown-stone, three-story house at 124 Columbia Hights, only
three blocks from Plymouth Chlurchl, is Mr. Beechler's residence. He
has owned it and lived there for many years. It is one of i row of
nearly like structures, and the property in the neighborhood is very
valuable. " The Highlts" is the Murray Hill of Brooklyn, and Mr.
Beecher's place is just within the limits of thle district covered by
that designation.  The door has a plate inscribed,  "H. W. Beech er."  Just inside the hall stands an old fashioned hat rack with a
mirror in it. Along the wall of tile stairway leading to the second
floor hang many framed engravings. Tile parlor opens off the hall,
and the door is always open. Looking in, one sees an apartment
which has no counterpart as to odd variety of contents.  It is long
and wide, and an old style in finish.  Tile walls are divided into
panels by projecting posts and by a wooden ledge that runsentirely
around the room ab)out four feet from the floor. Bunches and fes
67 
THE HOME OFi MR. BEECHER.
toons of autumni leaves are hung plentifully about, and there are
enou,lgh pictures, from oil paintings to cheap ferrotypes, to leave
but litttle of the walls uncovered. The furniture is a chaos of styles.
A sofa is high-backed and mushy-bottomed, nverging into the softness of second childhood. A concert grand piano is new &nd sliiny. A
nondescript cabint, huge and time-worn, is in a corner. A contrasting new bookcase is full of fresh, gilt-backed volumes.   Two yellow geographlical globes, on high pedestals, stand like sentinels at
the corners of the fireplace. A table is covered with a brown woollen spread.  Everything is littered with big and little olrnatmental
articles, as tliough the tokens of all tile Beecliers' birthdays and
Christmases were there preserved.  Hniidsomne bronzes, plaster figures, china articles, countless things impossible to describe as to
material or intent, are on the carved brackets.  Lackinig any senimblace of method or taste in its furniture, the apartment gains in an
air of careless comfort.
lBack of the parlor and coinnected by wide doors is Mr. Beeclier.'
study.  bitting atone of tile large windowsone can look down upor
the harbor, upon New. York city, or over into Jersey City and
Hoboken.  The view is one of busy life and commerce spread out
like a diorama.  A  large, flat-topped  writing desk, with many
drawers, stands in thle middle of the room.  Paintings-better than
any in the parlor-liang on the parts of the wall that are not covered
by book shelves.  Camp chairs and a lounge furnish ample seating
capacity for visitors. A stuffed easy chair provides for the owner.                                                       l
The late occurrences have changed  Mr. Beeclier's home  habits.
Formerly, when not away on his farm, his hours for visitors were
from 2 to 4 every afternoon, and he saw everybody whlo called. The
odd parlor was his reception room, and at 2 o'cloak it usually held
not less than half a dozen visitors.  To everybody, high or low, he
nas courteous and unstilted.  His manner was off-hland and undignified. " How are you, old fellow," was his usual salutation to
acquaintances. His study was the rendezvous for Plymouthl's leaders, and many of the Brooklyn clergymen were frequent loungers
there.  Indeed, that floor of the house was much like the offices of
,a business man, the family occupying the twp more secluded upper
stories.
-,"
68
:o:I
I
I. 
]EECHER'S AND MOULTON'S LETTERS.
Beecher Demanding the Original Letters from the Mu.
tual Friend Frank Moulton.
From the.Vew York Sun.
JULY 24, 18Y4.
MY DEAR MR. MOULTON:  I am making out a statement, and I need the letters
and papers in your hands.  Will you send me by Tracy all the originals of my papers? Let them be numbered and an inventory taken, and I will return them to you
as soon as I can see and compare, get dates, make extracts or copies, as the case
may be.
Will you also send me Bowen's "Heads of Difficulty," and all letters of my sister
if any are with you.
I heard you were sick-are you about again?   God grant you to  eee peaceful
times.                          Yours gratefully,                H. W. BEECHER.
F. D. MouLTON.
As no answer was received to this, a messenger was sent to Narragansett, near
where Mr. Moulton has a summer residence, with the following.
LETTER FROM MR. BEECHER.
BROOKLYN, July 29. 1874.
MY DEAR FRiEND:  The Committee of Investigation are waiting mainly for you
before closing their labors.  I, too, earnestly wish that you would come, and clear
your mind and memory of everything that can beat on the case.  I pray you also to
bring all letters and papers relating to it which will throw light upon it, and bring
to a result this protracted case.
I trust that Mrs. M. has been reinvigorated, and that her need of your care Awill not
be so great as to detain you.
Truly Yours,                H. W. BEF.CHnER.
F. D. MOULTON, Esq.
The messenger traced Mr. Moulton to a Boston depot, and after a vain search for
him returned to Brooklyn, and late on Tuesday night took the above to Mr-. Moulton's house. The first letter having been received earlier in the day, Mr. Mi oulton
replied as follows:
MR. MOULTON TO MR. BEEBCHER.
49 REMSEN STREET, BROOKLYN, Aug. 4, 18;4.
MY DEAR MR. BRECHER:  I received your note of July 24, informing me  that you
are making a statement and need the letters and papers in my hands, and asling me
to send to you for the purpose of having extracts or copies made from them, as the
case may be, that you may use them in your controversy with Mr. Tilton.
I should be very glad to do anything that I may do, consistent with my sense of
what is due to justice and right, to aid you; but if you reflect that I hold all the important papers entrusted to'me at the desire and request, and in the confidence of
both parties to this unhappy affair, you will see thatI cannot in honor give them or
any of them to either party to aid him as against the other. I have not given or
shown to Mr. Tilton any documents or papers relating to your affairs sirce the renewal of your controversy which had been once adjusted.
I niieed not tell you how deeply I regret your position as foes each to the other after
my long and, as you, I have no doubt, fully believe, honest and faithful effort to have
you otherwise.
I will sacredly hold all the papers atid information I have until both parties shall
request me to make them public, or to deliver them into the hands of either or both,
or to lay them before the committee, or I am compelled in a comt of justice to produce them. if I can be so compelled.
My regret that I am compelled to this course is softened by my belief that you waill
not be substantially injured by it in this regard; for all the facts are of course known
to you, and I am bound to believe and assume that in the statement you are preparing you will only set forth the exact facts; and if so. the documents, when produced.
will only confirm, and cannot contradict, what'you may state, so that you will suffer
no loss.
If, on the contrary-which  I cannot presume-you desire the possession of the
documents in order that you may prove your statement in a manner not to be con
e9
I 
70              BEECHER'S AND MOULTON'S LETTERS.
travened by the facts set forth in them to the disadvantage of Mr. Tilton, I should
be then aiding you in doing that which I cannot believe the strictest and firmest
friendship for you calls upon me to do. With grateful recollections of your kind
confidence and trust in me, I am very truly yours,                  F. D. MOULTON.
l1EV. HENRY WARD BEECHER, Brooklyn, N.Y.
MR. BEECHER'S REPLY.
F. D. Moulton, Esq. 
SIR: Your letter bearing date Aug, 4, 1874, is this moment received. Allow me to
express my regret and astonishment that you refuse me permission even to see certain letters and papers in your possession, relating to charges made against me by
Theodore Tilton, and at the reasons given for the refusal.
On your solemn and repeated assurances of personal friendship, and in the unquestionin confidence with which you inspired me of your honor and fidelity, I placed
in your hands for safe keeping various letters addressed to me from my b)rother, my
mister and various other parties; also memoranda of affairs not immediately connected with Mr. Tilton's matters. I also from time to time addressed you confidential notes relating to my own self, as one friend would write to another. These papers were never placed in your house to be held for two parties, nor to be used in
any way.  They were to be h Id for me.  I did not wish them to be subject to risk
of loss or scattering from my careless habit in the matter of preserving documents.
They were to be held for me.  In so far as these papers were concerned, you were
only a friendly trustee, holding papers subject to my wishes.
Mir. Tilton has made a deadly assault upon me  and has used letters and fragments
of lett rs purporting to be copies of these papels.  Are these extracts genuine? Are
they garbled? What are their dates? What, If anything, has been left out, and what
putin?
You refuse my demand for these papers on the various pleas, that if I speak the
truth in my statement I do not need them; that if I make a Successful use of them
it will be an inj cry to Mr. Tilton, a d that you, as afriendof both parties, arc bound
not to aid either in any act that shall injure the other.
But I do not desire to injure anyone, but to repel ali injury attempted upon me by
the use of paper  committed sacredly to your care.  These documents have been
seen and copied; they have been hawked for:ale in New York newspaper  offices;
what purport to be my confidential notes to you are on the market.
But when I demand a sight of the originals of papers of which you arc only a trustee, that I may defend myself you refuse, because you are the friend of both parties!
Mr. Tilton has access to your depository of materials with which to strike me; but
I am not permitted to use them in defending myself.
I did not ask you to place before the committee any papers which Mr. Tilton may
have given you. But I do demand that you forthwith place before the committee every
paper which I have written or deposited with you.
Truly yours,               H. W. BEECHER.
MR. MOULTON'S ANSWER TO MR. BEECHER.
46 REMSEN STREET, BROOKLYN, Aug. 5,1874.
_eev. ifenry Ward Beeche.,
MY DEAR SIR: In all our acquaintance and friendship I have never received from
you a letter of the tone of yours of Aug 4. It seems unlike yourself, and to have
been inspired by the same ill-advisers who had so lamentably carried your private
affairs before a committee of your church and thence before the public.
In reply let me remind you that during the whole of the past four years all the documents, notes, and memoranda, which you and Mr. Tilton have intrusted to me
have been so ilntrusted because thev had a reference to your mutual differences. I
holdno papers, either f yoursor his except such as bear on this case. You speak of
memoranda of affairs Lot immediately connected with the Tilton matter."  You
probably allude to the memoranda of your difficulties with Mr. Bowen,but these have
a direct reference to your present case with Mr. Tilton, and were deposited with n'
by you because of such reference.  You speak also of a letter or two from your brother and sister, andI am sur, you have not forgotten the apprehension which we entertained lest Mrs. Hooker should fulfil a design which she foreshadowed to invade
your pulpit and read to your congregation a confession of your intimacy with Mrs.
Tilton.
You speak of other papers whichI hold "subject to your wishes." I hold none
such, nor do I hold any subject to Mr. Tilton's wishes  The papers which I hold
both yours and hi.-,werenot given to be subject to the wishes of either of the parties.
But the very object of my holding them has been, and still is, to prevent the wish of
one party from being inijuriously exercised against the othe'-.
You are iucor-ect in saying that Mr. Tilton hal access to my "depository of mate
BROoir,LYN, Aug. 4,1874. 
BEECHER'S AND MOULTON'S LETTERS.                               71
rials," on the contrary I have refused Mr. Tilton such access. During the preparation of his sworn statement he came to mne and said his case would bc incomplete unless I permitted him to use all the documents, but I refused; and all he could rely upon were such notes as he had made fromaime to time from writings of yours which
you had written to me to read to him, and passages of which he caught from my lips
in shorthand.  Mr. Tilton has seen only a part of the papers in my possession, and
would be more surprised to learn the entire facts of the case than you can possibly
be.
What idle rumors m y have existed in newspaper offices I know not; but they
have not come from me.
In closing your lettar you say, " I do not ask you to p'ace before the committee
any papers which Mr. Tilton may have given you; but I demanut that you forthwith
place before the committee every paper which I have written o0 deposited with you."
In reply I can only say that I cannot justly place before the committee the pape s
of one of the parties without doing th, same with the papers of the other, and I
cannot do this honorably except either by legal process compelling me,or else by consent in writing, not only of you self, but of Mr. Tilton, with whom I shall confer on
the subject as speedily as possible.
You will, I trust, see a greater spirit of justice in this reply than you have infused
into your unusual letter of Aug. 4.
Very respectfully,               FRANcis D. MOULTON.
MR. MOULTON TO MR. TILTON.
MB. MOULTON TO MR. TILTON.
BROOKLYN, Aug 5, 1874.
T/leodore Tilton, Esq.
MY DEAR SiR: I have received under date of July 28 a letter from the Rev. Henry
Ward Beechcr, i, which he expresses the wish that I would go before the investigating committee and" clear my mind and memory of everything that can bear on
this case "-referring of cou se to the controversy between you and him.
I cannot, in v'ew of my confidential relations with you, in ke any statement before the investigating committee, unless you ielease nme, as Mr. Beecher has done,
explicitlyfrommy obligation to maintain your confidence.
If you will express to me clearly a request that I should go before the investigating committee and state any and all facts within my knowledge concerning your
case wi h Mr. Be cheq-, and to exhibit to them any or all documents in my  possessionrelating thereto,'l shall in view of Mr. Beecher's letter. consider myself at liberty to accede to the request of the committee, to state such facts and to exhibit such
document.s.
Very respectfully,               FRANCIS D. MOULTON.
MR. TILTON TO MR. MOULTUN.
~Francis -D. foitlo~, Esq.               BROOKLYNi, Aug 5, 1874.
.Francis D..M2outo~b, Esq.' 
MY DEAR SIR: In response to your note of this day mentioning Mr. Beecher's request that you should exhibit to the committee the facts and documents hitherto
held in confidence by you touching hi i difference with me, I hereby give you notice
that you have my own consent and request to do the same.
Truly yours,              THEODORE TILTOl.
t
,> 
AMOULTOY'S STATEMENT.
Moulton's Statement.
IN making his statement, Mr. Moulton addressed a lengthy card to the
,ublic.  The substance of which was a history of how  he came connected
wvith the matter, and his efforts for four years to arrange the affair. We have
deemed it proper to omit his card, as it does not seemn material to the question at issue between Tilton and Beecher.  In the statemlent itself there is
much that has reference to outside issues that have all only indirect bearing
on the great scandal. These we thought proper to omit. The following is
the first letter that passed between the parties:
Henry Ward Beecher.                   I 
Sm: I demand that, for the reasons which you explicitly understand, you im
mediately cease from the ministry of Plymouth Church,e and that you quit the city of
Brooklyn as a residence.
(Signed,)              THEOD)oR  TinTOr.
The above was written at the suggestioln of Henry  C. Bowen, who  Mr.
Moulton believes was using Mr. Tilton for his own purpose. The next fully
explains itself.
JMr. Henry C. Bowen. 
SR:  I received last evening your sudden notices breaking my two contracts-one
with the Independent, the other with the Brooklyn Union.
With reference to this act of yours I will make a plain statement of facts.
It was during the early part of the rebellion (if I recollect aright) when you first
Intimated to me that the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher had committed acts of adultry
for which, if you should expose him, be would be driven from his pulpit. From
that time onward your references to this subject were frequent, and always accom panied with the exhibition of a deep-seated injury to your heai t.
Ili a letter which vou addressed to me from Woodstock, Jui,e, 16, 1863, referring to
this subject, you said: "I sometimes feel that I maet break silence, that I must no
longer suffer as a dumb man, and be made to bear a load of grief most unijstl,.  One
word from me would make a revolution tlhroughout, Christendom,I had almost said and yot know it. * * * You have just a little of the evidence from the great vo lume in my possession.  * *  *  I am not pursuing a phauIom, but solemnlybrood ingover an awful reality."
The underscorings in this extract are your own.  Subsequently to the date of
this letter, and at frequent intzrvals from then till now you have repeated the state ment that you could at any momrent expel Henry Ward Beecher from Brooklyn. You
have reiterated the same thing not only to me but to others.
Moreover, during the year just closed, your allusions to the subject were uttered
with more feeling than heretofore, and were not unfrequently coupled with your emphatic declaratio i that Mr. Beecher ought not to be allowed to hold a public posi tion as a Christian preacher and teacher.
On the 26th of December, 1870, at an interview in your house. at which Mr. Oliver
Johnson and I were present,  you spoke frequently and indignantly against Mr.
Beecher as -n unsafe visitor among the families of his congregation. You alluded
by name to         a woman, now a widow, whose husband's death you had no doubt was
hastened by his knowledge that Mr. Beecher had maintained with her au improper
intimacy.  You avowed your knowledge of several other cases of Mr. Beecher's adul
teries. Moreover, as if to leave no doubt on the mind of either Mr. Johnson or myself, you informed us that Mr. Beecher had made to you a confession of his guilt,
andimplored your forgiveness.  After Mr. Johnson retired from this interview, you
related to me the case of a young woman whom you said (aa nearly as I can recall
your words) that * * *
During the recital of the tale you were full of anger towar(ls Mr. Beecher. You
said with terrible emphasis that he ought not to remain a week longer in his pulpit.
You immediately suggest that a demand should be made upon him to quit his sacred office,  You volunteered tobear to him sucha demand in the form of an open
letter, which you would present tohim with your own hand; and you pledged yourself to sustain         the demand which tis letter should make-namely, that he should,
for reasons which he explicitly knew immediately cease from  the minist;v of Ply
mouth Church and retire from Brooklyn.
72
Dec. 26, 1870-BnooKLYN.
BROOF.LYW, Ta,-i 1, 1871. 
MOUL TO,'S 85 TA-1'+,,'ffENT.
The first draft of the letter did not contain the phrase "for reasons which he expllcitlvo knew," and these words (or words to this effect) were incorporated in a slcoud, at your motion.  You urged furthermore (and very emphatically) that the letter should demand not only Mr. Beecher-'s abdication of his pulpit, laut cessation of
his writing for the Christian Uinion, a pointon which youwereoverruled.  This letter you presented to Mr. Beecher at Mr. Freeland's house.  Shortly after its presentation you sought an interview with me in the editorial office of the Brooklyn Union
during which. with unaccountable t motion in your manner, your face livid with
rage, you threatened with a loud voice that if I ever should inform Mr. Beecher of
the statements you had made concerning his adultry, or should compel you to adduco the evidence on which you agreed to sustain the demand for Mr. Beecher's withdrawal from Brooklyn, you would immediate deprive me of my engagement to write
forthe Independent and to edit the Brooklyn Union, and that in case I-should ever attempt to enter the offices of those journals, you would have me ejected by force.
I told you that I should inform Mr. Beecher or anybody else, according to the dictate of my judgment, uninfluenced bY any threat from my employer.  You then excitedly retired from my presence.  Hardly had your violent words ceased ringing in
my ears, when I received your summary notice breaking my contracts with the IlndepenLdent and the Brooklyn Unioni. To the foregoing narrative of tacts I have only to
add my surprise and regret at the sudden interruption, by your own act, of what has
been, on my part towards you, a faithful friendship of fifteen years. Truly yours,
(Signed)              Tzionomz TriTOx.
In this letter I have omitted the sentence quoted as the words of Mr. Bo,weii, after the words, "as nearly as I can recall your words, that" simply
desiring to say that it contairned a charge of a rape, or s(mething very nearly like ravishment, of a woman other than Mrs. Tilton, told in words  that
are unfit to be spread upon the record, but, if desired, the original is for the
inspection of the committee.
MRS. TILTON'S CONrFESS8ION.
On Friday evening, tlhe 30th of December, being the night of the Plymouth
Church prayer-meeting, Tilton came to me and said, in substance, that by
his wife's request he had determined to see Beecher,  in order to show to
Beecher a confession of his wife of the intercourse between them, which he
(Tilton) had never up to that time mentioned to him (Beecher), and the fact
of the confession, of which his wife had told him  that she had  never t(old
Beecher, although her confession had been made in July previous in writ ing, which writing he (Tilton) hlad afterward destroyed; but that his wife,
fearinig that if the Bowen accusations against Beecher were made public, the
whole matter would be known, and her own conduct with Beecher become
exposed, had renewed her confession in her own  handwriting, which he
handed me to read, which was the first knowledge I had of its existence.
Tilton did' not tell me how his wife came to make the confession in July,
nor did I at that time or ever after ask.  Indeed I may state here,'olice for
all, that I refrained from asking confessions of the acts of all the parties furtiher than they chose to make them to me voluntarily for the purpose for
which I was acting.
Tilton wanted me to go down and ask Beecher to come up and see him at
my house, which I did.  I saidl to Mr. Beecher, "Mr. Tilton wants you to
come and see him at my house immediately." Hle asked, "' What for? " I
replied, "He' wants to make some statement to you ill reference to your ilelatiolis with his family."  He then called( to some one in the back room  to
go down and say that he should not be at the prayer.meeting, and we welt
out together.
It was storming at the time, whell hlie remarked, "There is an appropiiateness in this storm," and asked me, "What can I do.' what  can I do'"
I said, "Mr. Beecher, I am not a Christian, but if you wish, I will show you
how well a heathen can serve you."  We  then went to my house, and I
showed himi imt') the chamber over the parlor, where Mr. Tilton was,  alndl
left them together.  In about an hour Mr. Beecher came down and asked 1me
if I had seen the confession of Elizabeth. I said I had. Said hlie. "This
will kill me," and asked me to walk out with him.  I did so, and we walk
,3 
AMO UL TO N'S STA TAE ME, T.
ed to Mr. Tilton's house together, and he went in.  On  the way he said,
"This is a terrible catastrophe: it comes upon me as if struck by lightning."
He went into Tilton's house and I returned home. Within an hour he returned to my house, and we left my house again together and I walked with
him to his house. Tilton remained at my house while Beecher was absent
at Tiltol's house, and when he returned there was no conversation between
them.  When we arrived at Beecher's house, he walnted me to stand'by him
in this emergency and procure a reconciliation if possible. I told him I
would, because the interests of women, children, and families were involved,
if for no other reason.  That ended the interview that night.  During this
evening nothing was said by Beecher as to the truth orfalsity ofMrs. Tilton's
confession, nor did he iniiform me that he had obtained from her any recantation of the confession, which I afterward learned he had done.  The next
morning as I was leaving home fir business Tilton came to my house, and
with great anger said that Beecher had done a mean act; that he had gone
from that interview of last night to his house and procured from Elizabeth a
recantation and retraction of her confession.  He said for that act he would
smite him; that there could be no peace.  He said: "You see that awhat I
have told you of the meanness of that man is now evident." Tilton said that
Beecher at the interview of last night had asked his permission to go and
see Elizabeth, and he told him he might go, which statement was confirmed
by Beecher himself, and Beecher left him for that purpose. I said to Tiltoni;
"Now, don't get angry; let us see if even this cannIot be arranged.  I will
go down and get that retraction from him."
I was then going to my business, so that I was unable to go that morning, but went that evening, saw Beecher, and told him that Ithought he had
been doing a very mean and treacherous act-treachlerous, first, toward me,
from whom he wanted help, in that he did not tell me  on our way to his
house last night what hehad procured from Mrs. Tilton, and that he could
not expect my friendship in this matter unless hlie acted truthfully and honorably toward me.  I further said: "Mr. Beechelr, you have had criminal
intercourse with Mrs. Tilton; you have done great ilnjury to Tilton otherwise.  Now when you are confronted with it you ask permission of the man
to again visit his house, and you get from that woman  who  has  confessed
you have ruined her a recantation and retraction of the truth for your mere
per sonal safety.  That won't save you."
At that interview he admitted with grief and sorrow the fact of his sexual
relations with Mrs. Tilton, expressed some indignation that she had not
told him that she had told her husband, and that in consequence of being in
ig)oralice of that fact he had been walking upon a volcano..
MRS. TILTON'S RECANTATION.
DEc. 30, 1870.-Wearied with importunity, and weakened with sickness, I gave a
letter inculpating my friend, Henry Ward Beecher, u(nder assurances that that would
remove all difficulties betwe n me ard 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 statements.
MRS. TILTON'S RETRACTION OF HER RECANTATION.
DECEMBER 30, 1870-Midnight.
lvy DEAR IRUSBAND: I desire to leave with you before going to sleep a statement
that Mr. Henry Ward Beecher called upon me this evening, asked me if I would defend him against any accusation in a council of ministers, and I replied solemnly that
I would in case the accuser was any other person than my husband.  He (H. W.B.)
dictated a letter which I copied as m  own, to be used by him as against any other
accuser except my husband.  This  etter was designed to vindicate Mr. Beecher
against all other persons save only yourself. I was ready to gil e him this letter he
'74
(Signed)
E. R. TILTON. 
MOULTON'S STATEMENT
cansusc he said with pain that my letterin your hands addressed to him, dated Dec. 2,
" had struck him dead and ended his *sefuliness."
You and I both are pledged to avoid publicity.  God grant a speedy end to all fur
zher anxieties.  Affectionately,
ELIZABETH.
On the Sunday following, January let, Beecher and Moulton had an interview.  Moulton says:
He took me into his study, and then told me again of his great surprise
that Elizabeth should have made the confession of his criminnl commerce
with her to her husband without letting him (B.) know anything about it,
making his destruction at any moment possible, and without warning to
him. He expressed his great grief at this wrong which he had done as a
minister, and friend to Theodore, and at his request [ took pen and papelr,
and he dictated to me the following paper, all of which is in my handwriting
except the words: "I have trusted this to Moulton in confidence," and the
signature, which latter are in Mir. Beecher's. It is here produced and marked "F."
LETTER OF CONTRITION.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 1, 1871.
1b thrust wieth. D. Moulton.
MY DEAR FRIEND MOULTON:  I ask through you Theodore Tilton's forgiveness
and I humblemyself before him as I do before my God. He would have been a better man in my circumstances than I have been.   Ican ask nothing except that he
will remember all the other hearts that would ache.  I will not plead for myself. I
even wish 1 were dead;  but others must live and siuffer.
I will die before anyone but myself shall be implicated. All my thoughts are ruw.ning toward my friends, toward the poor child lying there and praying with her folded hands.  She isguiltless-sinned against; bearing the transgresslonof another.
Her forgiveness I have. I humbly pray to God that he may put it into the heart of
her husband to forgive me.
I have trusted this to Moulton in confidence.
(Signed)               H. W. BIEEcHER.
This was intrusted to me in confidence, to be shown only to Tilton, which
I did.  It hati reference to no other fact or act than the confession of sexual
intercourse between Mr. Beecher and Mrs. Tilton, which he at that interview
confessed, and denied not, but confessed.  He also at other interviews  subsequently held between 11s in relation to this unfortunate affair unqualifiedly
confessed that he had been guilty of adultery with Mrs. Tilton, and always
in a spiit of grief and sorrow at the enormnity of. the crime he had committed against Mr. Tilton's family.
At this point, Mr. Moultoih's statement is devoted to the details of a misunderstanding between Beecher and Bowen, in which Tilton's name figures.
The next document is one that Moulton says is so full and clear that he does
not need to add a word.
MRS. HOOEER TO BEECHER.
HARTFORD, NOV. 1, 1872.
DEAR BROTHER: In reply to your words "if you still believe in that woman,"
.&c., let me say that from her personally I have never heard a word on this subject,
and nearly a year ago, I heard that when in this city she said she had expected you
to introduce her to-Steinway, 1 wrote her a most indignant and lebuking letter, to
which she replied in a manner that astounded me by its calm assertion that she considered you as true a friend to her as I, myself.
I enclosed this letter to Mr. Tilton,asking him t~ show it to you if he thought best
and to write me what it all meant.  He never replied or returned the letter to me as
I requested; but I have a copy of it at your service. In the month of February, after that, on returning from Washington, I went to Mrs, Stantoh's to spend Sunday.
At Jersey City I met MrsW., wle hadcome on in the same train with me, it seemed.
and who urged me in a flisty way to bring Mrs. Stanton over on Monday far a
sufferage consultation as to a spring convention. Remembering her assertion of the
friendship between you, and of her meeting you occasionally atIr. Moulton's hou,:c
.(I think that is the name), I thought I would put this to test, and replied that if I
75
(Signed) 
1(0 UL-_;'O0A.N' *E:1'.4,i':.MI'.~:i
could be sure of seeing you at the same time I would come. She promised to se cure you if possible, and I fully meant to keep my appointment, but on Sunday I re membered an appointment at New Haven whic. Ic bould miss if I stopped in New
Yolk, and so I passed by, dropping her a letter-by the way.  Curiously enough sis ter Catherine, who was staying at your house at this time, said to me here, casually,
the latter of that same week: "Belle, Henry went over to New York to see you last
Monday, but couldn't find you." Of course my inference was that Mrs. W. either
had power over you, or you were secretly friends. During that Sunday Mrs. Stan ton had told me precisely whatMr. Tilton had said to her, when in the rage of dis covery he fled to the house oW Mrs.-, and before them both narrated the story of
his own infidelities as confessed to his wife, andof hers as confessed to him.  She
added that not long after she went to Mr. Moulton's and met you coming d(,wn the
front st ps, and on entering met Tilton and Moulton, who said: "We have just had
Plymouth Chuich at our feet, and here is his confession."-showing amanuscript.
She added that Mrs. Tilton had made- similar statements to Miss Anthony, and I
have since received from Kiss A. a corroboration of this, although she refuses to give
me Particular. being bound in confidence, she thinks.  Fr, m that day to this I havoe
carred a heavy load you may be sure. I could not share it with my husband,because
he was already overburdenedand alarmingly affected brain-wise,but I resolved that
if he went abroad, as he probably must, I would notgo with him, leaving you alone
as it were, to bear whatever might come of revelation..1 withstood the intreaties of
my husband to the last and sent Mary in my stead, and at the last moment I
confided to her all that I knew and felt and feared, that she might be prepared to
sustain her father should trial overtake them. By reading the accompanying lettei
from them you will perceive that from outside evidence alone he had come to the
conclusions which Ireachedonly through the most reliable testimony that could
well be furnished in any case aLd against every predisposition of my own soul.
Fearing that they would hasten home to me and thuslose all the benefit of the journey (for, owing to this and other anxieties of business, John had grown worse rather
than better up to that very time. though the air of the high Alps was beginning to
promote sleep and restoration), I telegraphed by cable, "No trouble here-go to
I taly." and by recent letters I amrejoicedto hear of them in Milan in comiortable
health and spirits. From the days those letters came the matter has not been out
of my thoughts an hour, it seems to me, and an unceasing prayer has ascended that
I mightbe guided by wisdom and truth.  But what is the truth I am further from
understanding this morning than ever.  The tale as published is essentially the same
as told to me-lu fact, it isimpossible but that Mr.-Tilton is the authority for'it,
since I recognize a veisimilitude and, as I understand it, Mrs. T. was the sole revelator. The only reply I made to irs. Stanton was that, if true, you had a philosophy
of the relation of the sexes so far ahead of the times that you dared not announce it, though you consented to live by it. That  this was,in my judgment,wrong,
and God wouldbring all secret things to light in His own time and fashion, and I
could only wait.  I added that I had come to see that haman laws were an imper.tinence, but could not get no further, though 1 could see glimpses ofta possible new
science of life that at present was revolting to my feelings and my judgment: tlat
I should keep myself open to conviction, -owever, and should converse with men.
and especially with women, on the whole subject, and as fast as I kne   the truth I
should stand by it with no attempt at concealment.  I think that Dr. Channing
probably agrees with you in theory but he had the courage to announce his convictions before acting upon them. Ae refused intercourse with an uncongenial wife
for a long time, and then left her and married a woman whom he still loves, leaving
a darling daughter with her mother, and to-day he pays photographers to keep him
Aupplied with her pictures as often as they can be procured.  I send you the article
he wrote when,.bandoned by all their friends he and his wife went to theWest and
stayed for years. Crushed by calumny and abuse, to-day they are esteemed more
highly than ever, and he is in positions of public trust in Providence.
You will perceive my situation, and, by all that I have suffe,red and am willing to,
suffer for your sake Ibeg you to confide to me the whole truth.  Then I can help
you as no one else in the world can. The moment that I can know this matter as
God knows it, He will help you and me to bring everlasting good out of this esteemin evil. If I'could say truthefu:ly that I believe this story to be a fabrication of Mr.
and Mrs. Tilton's impos      ed upon a credulous woman-mere medium, whose susceptibility to impressions from spirits in the flesh and out of it is to be taken into account always-the whole thing dies.  But if it is essentially true there is but one
honorable way to meet it in my judgment, and the precise method occurred to-me in
bed this morning, and I was about writing you to suggest it when your letter
came.
I will write you a sisterly letter expressing my deep conviction that this whole
subject needs the most earnest and chaste discussion-that my own mind  h,,s long
been occupied with it, but is still in doubt on many points-that I have observed
for years that your reading and thinking have been profound on this and kindred
subjects, and now the time has come for you to give the  world. through your
own paper  the conclusions you have reached andt the reasons therefor. If you
choose I -Ill then reply to each letter, giving the woman's view (for there is surely
a man's a- d a woman's side to this beyond everywhere else), and by this means attention will be divertedfrom personalities and concentrated on social philosophythe one subject that now ought to occupy al thinking minds.
'6
it 
MOUL7'OC  0'S,l', X       E M EI'.!i
It Heems to me that God has be ni preparing me for this wors, and you also, for
Years and years. I send you a reply that I sent to Dr. Todd long ago, and which I
could never get published without my name (which for the sake of my daughters I
wished to withold), although Godkin of the Nktion, Holbrook of the Herald ojHealth,
Ward of the Independent, and to every mother to whom I have read it, all told me
it was the best thing ever written on the subject, and the men said they v. ould publish it if they dared, while Mrs.- urged me  to give my name  and publish, and
said she would rather have written it than anything else of i 8 length in the world.
and if it were hers she would print i without hesitation. I send also a letter I wrote
John Stuart Mill on his sendi g me an carly copy of his "Subjection of Women,"and his reply.  I am sure that nearly all the thinking men and woman are
somewhere near you, and will rally to your supportif you are bold, frank, and absolutely truthful in stating your convictions.  Mrs. Burleigh told Dr. Channing that
t,he was ready to avow her belief in social freedom when the time came;  she was
weary nowand glad of a reprieve, but should stand true to her convictions when she
must. My own conviction is that the one radical mistake you have made is supposing you are so much ahead of your time, ard in daring to attempt to 1 ad when you
have anything toconceal,  Do not, I pray you  dece've yourself with the hope that
the loe of your church, or any otherlove, human or divine, can compensate the
loss of absolute truthfulness to your own mental convictions.  I have not told you
the half I have suffered slilce Fcblrary; but you can imagine, knowing what my
hn.,3bandis to me, that it is no common love Ihave for you and for the tru th, and for
all mankind, women as well as men, when I decided to nearly break his heart, already
lacerated by the course I was compelled to pursue, by sending him awty to die, perhaps, without me at his side.
l wish you would come here in the evening sometime (to the Burlon cottage), or I
will meetyou anywhere in New York you appoint, and at any time.
Ever yours,               BELLE.
Read theletters from John and Mary in the order I have placed them. 1 will send
these now and the other documents I have mentioned arother day, waiting til I
know whether you will meet me.
Oii the 3d of the same month Mirs. Hooker  addresswed  a letter to her
brother, the Rev. Thomas  K. Beecier, which  I produce,  marked "N 6.
'MRS. HOOKER TO MR. THOMAS K BEER.
[Please return this letter to me when you have done with it.]
HARTFORD, Sunday, Nov.,187i.
VAIs BRoTOEM  TOm:  The blow has fallen, and I hope you are better prepa ed
for it than you might have been but for our interview. Iwrote H. a singleline last
week, thus.: "Can I help you?" and here is his reply: "If you still believe in that
woman you can't help me. If you think of hebr as I do you can, perhaps  though I
do not need much help. I tread the falsehoods into the dirtfrom whence they sprmg.
and go on my way rejoicing.  My people are thus far heroic, and would give mtheir
hlves for me. Their love and conildence would make me willing to bear far more
than I have. Meanwhile the Lord has a pavilion in which to hide me until the storm
be overpast.  I abide in peace, committing myself to Him who gave Himself for me.
I trust you give neither countenance or credence to the ab minable coinage that has
been put aloat. The specks of truth are mere spangles upon a garment of falsehood.  Thetruthitself is madetolie. Thank you for love and truth and silence,
but think of the barbarity of dragging a poor dear child of a woman into this slough,
"Yours truly."
Nlqow, Tom, so far as I can see it ishe who has dragged the dear child into the
alcugh and left her there, and who is now sending another woman to prison who is
innocent to all crime but a fanaticism for the tiuth ao revealed to her, and I, by my
silence am consenting unto her death.
Read the little note she sent me long ago, when, in a burst of enthusiasm over a
public letter of hers which seemed wondtrful to me, I told her how it affected me,
and mark its prophetic words:
"NEw YcRx, Aug. 8, 1871,
"MY DEAR, DEAN FRIEND):  I was never more happy in all my life than I am this
morning, and made so by you, N-hom I have learned to love so much.  From you,
from whom I had expected ceneure, I receive the first deep, pure words of approval
endlove.  Iknow mycourse has often b(cn contrary to yourwishes, and it has
been my greatest grief to know that itixvas Eo, ince you have so nobly been my
defender.  But all the time I knew it Was not I for whom you spoke, but all wo
manhood, and I was the more proud of you that your love was general and not personal. I am often compelled to do things from which my sensiti e soul shrinks, and
for which I endure the the censure of most of my  friends. But I obey a Power
7, 
MO UL TONS STA TE ME T.
which knows better than they or I can know, and which has never left me stranded
and without hope.  I should be a faithless servant indeed were I to falter nlow when
required to do what I do not fully understand, yet in the issue of which I have
full faith. None of the scenes in which I have enacted a part were what I would
have selfishly chosen for my own happiness.  I love my home, my children, mv husband, and could live a sanctified life with them,aandnever desire contact with
the wide world.  Butsuchis not to be mymission. I know what is to come, though
I cannot yet divulge it. My daily prayer is that heaven may vouchsafe me strength
to meet evexy chiug which I know must be encountered and overcome.  My heart is,
however, too Cull to write you all I wish.  I see the near approach of the grandest
revelation the world has yet known, and for the part you will play in it thousands
will rise up and call you blessed. It was not for nothing that T ou and Imet so singularly. Let us watch and pray, that we faint not by the wayside before we reach the
consummation. We shall then look back with exceeding great joy to all we have
been called upon to suffer for the sake of a cause more holy than has yet come upon
earth. Again I bless you for') our letter. Affectionately and faithfully yours,
"VICTORIA C. WOODRULL.'
Oh, my dear brother, I fear the awful struggle to live according to law has wrought
an absolute demoralization as to truthfulness, and so he can talk about "Spangles on
a garment of falsehood," when thegarment is truth and the specks are the falsehood.
His first letter to me was so different to this. I read it to you, but will copy it lest
you have forgotten its character:
APRIL 25, 1872.
" MY DEAR BELLE: I'was sorry when I met you at Bridgeport not to have had a
longer taik with you about the meeting in May. I do not intend to make any speeches
on any topic during anniversary week.  Indeed I shall be out of tiwn.  I do not
want you to take whty ground this year except upon sufferage. You know my sympathy with you Probably you and I are nearer together than any of our family. I
cannot give reason now. I am clear; still, you will follow your own judgment, I
thank you for your letter. Of some things I neither talk, nor will I be talked with
For love and sympathy, I am deeply thankful. The only help that can be grateful to
me or useful is silence and a silencing influence on all others. A day may come for
converse. It is not now. Living or dead, my dear sister Belle, love me, and do not
talk about me or suffer others to in your presence. God love and keep you. God
keep us all. Your loving brother,                                   "HI. W. B."
The underscoring is his own, and when I read in that horrible story that he begged a few hours' notice, that he might kill himself my mind flew back to this sentence, which suggested suicide to me the moment i read it; "Living or dead,  my
dear sister Bell-, love me." and I believed even that.
Now, Tom  can't you go to brother Edward at once and give him these letters of
mine, and tell him what I told you; and when you have counselled together as brothers should, counsel me also, and come to me if you can.  It looks as if he hoped
to buy my silence with my love. At present, of course, I shall keep silence, but
truth is dearer than all things else, and if he will not speak it in some way I cannot
always stand as consenting to a lie.  "God help us all."
If you don't come to me send Edward. I am utterly alone, and my heart aches
for that woman even as for my own flesh and blood. I do not understand her, but
I know her to be pure and unselfish and absolutely driven by some power foreign
to herself to these strange utterances which are always in behalf of freedom, purity
-truth, as she understands it- always to befriend the poor and outcast, and bring
low only the proud, the hypocrites in high places.  The word about meeting at Mr.
Phelps's house I have added to the copy. If you see Henry tell him of this.
The reply to this letter b)y the Rev. Thomas K. Beecher to his sister is as
follows, and needs but a single remark-the thought of a good  man as to
the value of testimony in this case.  I refer to the last sentence of the postscript.
THE REV. THOMAS K. BEECHER TO HIS SISTER.
ELMIRA, NOV. 5, 1872.
DEAR BELLE: TO allow the devil himself to be crushed for speaking the truth is
unspeakably cowardly and contemptible. I respect, as at present advised, Mrs.. Woodhull, while I abhor her philosophy.  She only carries out Henry's philosophy,
against whichI recorded my protest twenty years ago, and parted (lovingly and achingly) from him, saying:  "We cannot work together."  He has drifted, and I have.
'i.s
I
Yours in love,
BELLE. 
MOULTOYS STIATEMENT                                    79
hardened like a crystal till I am  sharp-cornered and exacting.  I cannot help hi -
except by prayer.  I cannot help him through Edward.  In my judgment, Henry is
following his slippery doctrines of expediency, and in his cry of progress and the
Lobleless of human nature has sacrificed clear. exact, ideal iutegrity.  Hands off,
until he is down, and then my pulpit, my home, my church, and my purse and heart
are at his service. Of the two, Woodhuil is my hero and Henry my coward, a at
present advied.  But I protest against the whole batch and all its belongings. I was
not anti-slavery; I am not anti-family.  But as I wrote years ago, whenever I assault slavery because of its abominations, I shall assail the Church,'he State, the
family, and all other institutions of selfish usage
I return the plpers.  Yors cannot help Henry.  You must be true to Woodhall.  I
am out of the circle as yet, and am glad of it. When the storm-line include me I
shall suffer as a Christian, saying:  "Cease ye from man."
Don't write to me.  Follow the truth, and when you need me cry out.  Yours lovingly,     (Signed)                                                        Tom.
P. S.-I am so overworked and hurried that I see upon review that my letter
souizds hard-because of its sententiousness.  But believe me dear Bella, that I see
and suffer with you. You are in a tight place. But having chosen your principles I
can only counsel you to be true and take the consequences.  For years, you know I
have been apart from all of you except in love.  I think you all in the wrong as to
anthropology and social scieLce.  But I honor and love them who  suffer for conviction's sake.  My turn to suffer will come in due time.  In this world all Christians
shall suffer tribulation. So eat, sleep, pray, take good aim and shoot, and when the
ache comes say even hereunto wewerecalled.  But I repeat-You can't help Henry
at present.
. S.-I unseal my letter to enclose print and add:  You have no proof as yet of
any offense on Henry's part.  Your testimony would be allowed in no court.  Tilton, wife, Moulton & Co., are witnesses. Even Mrs. Stanton can only declare hearsay.  So ff you move, remember that you are standing on uncertain information, and
we shall not probably everget the facts, and I'm glad of it.  If Mr. and Mirs, Tilton
are brought into court nothiig will be revealed.  Perjury for good reason is with
advanced thinkers no sin.
MRS. HOOKER TO BEECHER.
HARTFORD Wednesday 27th, 1872.
DEAR BROTHER: Read the encloseed, clipped from the Times of this city last
evening.  [See enclosure below.]  I can endure no louger.  I must see you and
perae  you to write a paper which I will read, going alone to your pulpit and
taking sole charge of the services. I shall leave here on 8 A.M. trai    riday
morning, and unless you meet me at Forty-second street station, I shall go to
Mrs.- -'s house, opposite the Young Men's Christian Association, No. -
Twenty-third street, where I shall  hope to see you during the day.  Mrs.
kindly said to me, when last in New York, " My daughter and I am now widows,
living quietly in our pleasant home, and 1 want you to come there, without
warning, whenever you are in New York, unless you have other friends whom
you prefer to visit. "
So I shall o as if on a shopping trip, and stay as long as it seems best.
I would piefer going to Mrs. Tilton's to anywhere else, but I hesitate to ask
her to receive me.
I feel sure, however, that words from her should go into the paper, and with
her consent I could write as one commissioned from on high.
Do not fail me, I pray you; meet me at noon on Friday as you hope to meet
your own mother in Heaven!  In her name I beseech you, and I will take no
denial.
Ever yours in love unspeakable,  (signed.)                 BELLE.
[Enclosure mentioned in above letter.]
BEECHER AND. MRS TILTON.
"Eli Perkin's," of the New York Commercial, a prominent Republican paper,
has this to say:
"Nast's very boldness-his terrible aggressiveness-is what challenges admiration and makes Harper's Weekly a success.
" W hen I asked him if he didn't think it a great undertaking to attack Mr.
Greeley, he said:
"' Yes; but I knew he wo an old humbug.  I knew I was right, and I knew
right would win hi the end.  I was almost alone, too.  The people were fooled
with Greeley, as they are fooled with Beecher, and he will tumble further than
Greeley yet.' 
MOULTO.N'S STA l'EM-ENI.
" We had. talk about Beecliher and Tilton, and puttinig thiswith other conversations with personal friends of Mr. Tilton, an  with newspaper men in New
*York, I am satisfied that a terrible downfall surely awaits the onewho has erred
and conceals it."
Beecher then informed nme of his apprehension that his sister, in her  anIx iety that he should do hiis duty in preseniting this truth as she understood
it, and in protecting Mrs. Woodhull firom the consequences of llavilng pub li3shed the truth. from which she was theni suffering, would go into his pul pit and insist upon declaring that the Woodhull publication was substan tially true; and lie desired me to do what in me lay to prevent such a dis aster.  I suggested to him that le should see Mrs Hooker, speak to lbel
kildly, aid exhort fier not to take this course, and that Tilton should see
her and so tar shake her confidence in the truth of the story as to induce
her to doubt whether she would be safe in making the statement public.  In
this course Beeclher agreed, and such arguments and inducements were
brought to bear upon Mrs. Hooker as were in the power of all three of us,
to prevent her from doing that which would have certain'y brought on an
exposure of the whole business. During the consultation between Beecher
and myself as to the means of meeting Mrs. HIlooker's intentions, no suggy
tion was ever made on the part of Mr. Beecher that his sister was then oI
ever had been at other time insane.
Moulton says Beecher was exceedingly anxious that Tilton should repudi ate the statement published by Woodhull. and denounce herfor its publication,
and adds:
Beecher told me to say to Tilton, substantiallv:! Theodore may for his
own purpose, if he choose, say that all his misfortune has come upon him
on account of his dismissal from the Union and the Indept, and on account of the offence which I committed against him.  He may take the position against me and Bowen that he does; yet the fact is that his advocacy
of Mrs. Woodhull and her theories has done him the injury which prevents
his rising.  Now, in order to get support from  me and from Plymouth
Church, and in order to obtain the sympathy of the whole community lihe
niust publish this card; and unless he does it hlie cannot rise."   He  also
said the same thing to Tilloti in my presence.
To this Tilton answered, in substance, to Mr.  Beecher: "You know why
I sought Mrs. Woodhull's acquaintance. It was to save my family and
yours from the consequences of your acts, the facts about which had become
known to her. They have now been published, and I will not denounce
that woman to save you from the consequences (of what you yourself have
done."
BEECHER TO MOULTON.
FaBRtuAT 7, 1871.
MT DEtAR Mm MOULTON: I am glad to send you a book which yoiiu will relish, or which a man on a sick bed ought to relish. I wish I had more like it, and
that I could send you one every day, not as a repayment of your great kindness
to me-for that can never be repayed, not even by love, wbick I give you
freely.
Many, many friends has God raised up to me; but to none of them has he given
the opportunity and the wisdom so to serve me as you have.  My trust in you
Does Gioit. Yook  have also proved yourself Theodore's friend and Elizabeth'a.
Does God look dowry from Heaven on three unhappy creatures that more need
a fiiend than these 
Is it not an intimation of God's intent of mercy to all, that each one of these
has in you a tried and proved friend I  But only in you are we three united.
Would to God, whe orders all hearts, that byvyour kind meditation Theodore,
Elizabeth and I could be made friends again.  Theodore will have the hardet
task in such a case; but has he not proved himself capable of the noble"
thingsI
I wonder if Elizabeth knows how generously he has carried himself toward
me I Of ourse, I can never ipeak with her again, except with his perminion, 
,.mo,Li, autoaoHia
~~/                              /        1 
I
N 
MOULTO,A~S STA TEN X7':
and I do not know that even then it would be best.  My earnest longing is to
see her in the full sympathy of her natture at rest in him, and to see hlim once
more trusting in her, and loving her with evenii a better than the old love. I am
always sad in such thoughts.  Is there any way out of this.night?  Mty not e
day-star arise?
Truly yours always, with trust and love,
(Signed)
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
On the same day there was conveyed to me from Beecher a request to Tilton that Beecher might write to Mrs. Tilton, because all parties haa then come
to the conclusioui that there should be no communication between Beecher
and Mrs. Tilton, or Beecher and Tilton, except wtth my knowledge and
consent, and I had exacted a promise from Beecher that he would not communicate with Mrs. Tilton, or allow her to communicate with him, unless
I saw the communication, which promise, I believe, was, on his part, faithfully kept, but, as I soon found, was not on the part of Mrs. Tilton.
Permission was given to Beecher to write to Mrs. Tilton, and the following is his letter, here produced, marked "P:
BEECHER TO MRS. TILTON.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 7,1871.
MY D.EAiR MRS. TILTON: When I saw you last I did not expect ever to see
you again or to be alive many days.  God was kinder to me than were my own
thoughts.  The friend whom God sent to me (Mr. Moulton) has proved, above
all friends that ever I had, able and willing to help me in this terribe emergency
of my life.  His hand it was that tied up the storm that was ready to burst upon our head.   I am not the less disposed to trust him from finding that he has
your welfare most deeply and tenderly at heart.  You have no friend (Theodore
excepted) who has it in his power to serve you so vitally, and who will do it
with so much delicacy and honor.  I beseech of you, if my wishes have yet any
influence, let my deliberate judgment in this matter weigh with you.  It does
my sore heart good to see in Mr. Moulton an unfeigned respect and honor for
you.  It would kill me if he thought otherwise.   He will be as true a friend to
your honor and happiness as a brother could be to a sister's.  In him we have a
common ground.  You and I may meet in him.  The past is ended.  But is there
no future? no wiser, higher, holier future? May not this friend stand as a priest
in the new sanctuary of reconciliation, and mediate and bless you, Theodore, and
my most unhappy self? Do not let my earnestness fail of its end; you believe
in my judgment.  I have put myself wholly and gladly in Moulton's hands and
there I must meet you. This is sent with theodore's consent, but he has not
read it. Will you return it to me by his has ds? I am very earnest in this wish
for all our sakes, as such a letter ought not to be subject to even a chance of
miscarriage.
Youl unhappy friend,
At that time Moulton says:
Beecher was very anxious to ascertain through me the exact condition of
Tilton's feelings toward him, and how far the reconciliation was real, and to
get a statement in writing that would  seem to free  him (Beecher) from
imputation thereafter. I more than once applied to Tilton to get a statement of his feelings toward Beecher, and received firom hirt, on the 7th of
Februaryv, 1871, the folldwing letter, which I produce, marked "AA":
TILTON TO MOULTON.
BROOKLYN, February 7, 1871.
MIY VERY DEAR FRIEND: In several conversations with me vou have asked
about my  feelings toward Mr. Beecher, and yesterday you said the time had
come when you would like to receive from me an expression of them in writing
I say.therefore, very cheerfully, that notwithstanding the great suffering which
he has caused Elizabeth and myself, I bear him no ma.lice. shall do him no wrong,
St
i
H. W. BEEICHER.
(Sigy.ted) 
82                    1MOULTOI~'S 8STATEMENi'.
shall discountenance every project (by whomsoever p          roposed) for any exposure
of his secret to the public.  and (if  know my self at all) shal endeavor to act
toward Mr. Beecher as I would have him in similar circumstancesact toward
me.
I ought to add that your own good offices in this case have led me to a higher
moral feeling than I might otherwise leave reached.  Ever yours affectionately,
(Signed)                                       THEODORE  TILTON.
To FRANK MOULTON.
From that time everything was quiet.  Nothing  occurred( to mar the hlarmony existing between Tilton and Beecher, or the kindly relations betweet
Tilton and Mrs. Tilton, during the summer of 1871, except idle gossip which
floated about the city of Brooklyn, and sometimes was hinted at in the niewspapers, but which received no support ill ally facts known to the gossiper or
the writer, or through any communication of Mr. and Mrs. Tilton or Mr.
Beecher.
I have already stated that I had, as a necessary precaution to the peace
of the family and the parties interested, interdicted all the parties from having any communication with each other-except the husband and  wifeunless that communication was known no me, and the letters sent through
me or shown to me. Mr. Tilton and Mr Beecher, as I have before stated,
both faithfully complied with their promise in that regard, so far as I know.
I was away sick in the spring of 1871, as before stated, and Wenit to Florida.
Soon after my return, Beecher placed in my hands an unsigned letter from
Mrs. Tilton, in her hand-writing, undated, but marked in his handwriting,.
"Received March 8, 1871." I here produce it, marked "FF":
MRS. TILTON TO BEECHER.
WEDNESDAY.
MY DEAR FRIEND: Does your heart bound towards all as it used? So does
mine! I am myself again.  I did not dare to tell you till I was sure; but the
bird has sung iln my heart these fotur weeks, and he has covenanted with me
never again to leave.  "Spring has come."  Because I thought it would gladden you to know this, and not to trouble or embarrass you in any way, I now
write. Of course I should like to share with you my joy; but can wait for the
Bevond.
When dear Frank says I may once again go to old Plymouth, I will thank the
dear Father.
Such a communication firom Mrs. Tilton to her pastor, under the circumstances and her promise, seemed to me to be a breach of good faith.  But
desirous to have the peace kept, and hoping that if unanswered it might
not be repeated, I did not show it to Tilton, or inform him of its existence.
On Friday, April 21, 1871, Mr. Beecher received another letter ofthat
date, unsigned, from Mrs. Tilton, which he gave to me.  It is here produced,
marked "GG." as follows:
MRS. TILTON TO BEECHER.
FRIDAY, April 21, 1871.
MR. BEECHER: As Mr. Moulton has returned, will you use your influence to
have tlhe papers in his possession destroyed? My heart bleeds night and day
at the injustice of their existence.
As I could not comply with  this request for reasons before stated, I did
not show this letter to Tilton, nor did I call Mrs. Tilton's attention to it.
On the 3d of May Mr. Beecher handed me still another letter, unsigned,
but in Mrs. Tilton's handwriting, of that date, which is here produced,
marked "HH."
II
i 
MO LITO'20S STATEMLETT
MRS. TILTON TO BEECHER.
BRoOKLYN, May 3, 1871.
MIR. BEECHER: My  future, either for life or death, would he happier could I
but feel that you forgave while you forget me.   In all the sad complications of
the past year, my endeavor was to entirely keep from yout all suffering; to bear
myself alone, leaving you forever ignorant of it.  My weapons were  love, a
large, untiring generosity, and nest-htidig!  That I have failed utterly we both
know. But now I ask Ibrgiveness.
The contents of this letter were so remarkable that I queried within my
own mind whether I ought no,t to show it to Tilton; but as I was assured
by Beecher, and verily believed, and  now  believe, that  they were uuaiswered by him, I thought it best to retain it in my own possession, as I
have done until now.  But from the hour of its reception what remained of
faith in Mrs. Tilton's character for truth or propriety of conduct was wholly
lost, and from that time forth I had no thought or careforher reputation only
so far as it affected that of her children.
MRS. TILTON'S STATEMENT.
DEC. 16, 1872.
In July, 1870, prompted by my duty, I informed my husband that Mr.  H. W.
Beecher, my friend and pastor had solicited me to be a wife to him, together
with all that this implied. Six months afterward my husband felt impelled by
the circumstances of a conspiracy against him, in which Mrs. Beecher had taken
part, to have an interview with Mir. Beecher.
In order that Mr. B. might know exactly what  I had said to my  husband, I
wrote a brief statement (I have forgotten in what form), which my husband showed to Mr. Beecher.  Late the same evening Mri. B. came to me (lying very sick at
the time), and filled me with distress, saying I had ruined him-andwanting to
know if I meant to appear against him.  This I certailily did not mean to do, aid
the thought wasagonizing tome.  I thcn signed a paper which he  wrote, to
clear him in case of a trial.  In this instance, as in most others, when absorbed
by one great interest or feeling, the harmony of my mind is entirely disturbed,
and I found on reflection that this paper wais so drawn as to place me most unjustly against my husband, and on the sdeof Mr. Bcecher.  So in order to r'epair
so cruel a blow to my long-suffering husband, I wrote an explanation of the first
paper and mysignature.   Mr.  moulton procured from  ir. B. the statement
which I gave to him in my agitation and excitement, and now holds it.
This ends my connection with the case.
(Signed)                                        ELIZAiETH R.  TILTON.
P. S.-This statement is made at the request of Mr. Carpenter, that it may be
shown confidentially to Dr. Storrs and other friends, with whom my husband
and I are consulting.
This paper was delivered to me, and the theory of the confession then was
that Mr. and Mrs. Tilton should admit Ilo more than the solicitation; but
that endeavor to make an explanation of the business fell through, and
after it was shown to those interested, as I was told, the paper remained
with me.
MRS. WOODHULL TO BEECHER.
15 EAsT Thirty-Eighth Street, 10th, 11th, 1871.
Rev. H. W. Beehef.
Dear Sir: For reasons in which youx are deeply interested as well as myself
and the cause of truth, I desire to have an interview with you, without fail, at
some hour to-morrow. Two of your sisters have gone out of their way to assail my character and purposes, both by the means of the public press and by
numerous private letters written to various persons with whom they seek to injure me, and thus to defeat the political ends at which I aim.
You doubtless know that it is in my power to strike back, and in ways more
disastrous than anything that can come to me; but I do not desire to do this.  I
simply desire justice from those from whom I have a right to expect it; and a
Rxeasonable course on your part will assist me to it.  I speak guardedly, but I1
83
I 
84          NO MULTOm'S STATEME,' T.
hink you sill understand me.  I repeat that I must have an interview to-morTow, since I am to speak to-morrow evening at Steinway Hall, and what I shal
or shall not say will depend largely upon the result of the interview.   Yore
very truly.
(Signed)                                       VICTORIA  q. WOODHULL.
P. S.-Please return answer by bearer.
The foregoing letter occasioned Mr. Tilton much anxiety lest Mrs. Woodhull, in proceeding against Mr. Beecher and his sisters, would thereby  involve Mrs. Tilton.
Accordingly, knowing that Mr. Beecher and Mrs. Woodhull were to have
an interview at my house on the next day, hlie came to it, uninvited, and,
ur ed Mr. Beecher to preside on that evening at Steiliway Hall.  After Mrs.
W. left, Tilton repeated this urgency to Beecher.
On that evening I went to Steinway Hall with Tilton; and finding no
one there to preside. Tilton volunteered to preside himself, which I believe,
had the effect of preventing Mrs. Woodhliull's proposed attack on the Beech er family at that time.  On the 30thl of December, 1871, Mrs. Woodhull al  so sent a letter to Beecher, desiring that he would speak at a
woman's suffrage convention in Washliiiigton, to be held on the 10th, 11th,
and 12th of January following.  Thatletter Reecher forwarded to me, with
thefollowing note of the date of 2d of January, 1872, herewith  produced
and marked'I"N:"
BEECHER TO MOULTON.
BROOKLYN, Tuesday Evenring, Jan. 2d, 1872.
MY DEAR MOULTON: 1. I send you V. W's. letter toq me, and a reply which I
submit to your judgment.  Tell me what you think.  Is it too long?  Will she
use it for publishing?  I do not wish to have it so used. I do not mean to speak
on the platform of either of the two suffrage societies.  What influence  I exert
I prefer to do on my own hook: and I do not mean to trails with either party,
and it will not be fair to press me ir. where I do not wish to go. But I leave it
for oit. Judge for me.  I have leaned on you hitherto., and  never been sorry
for it.
2. I was mnistaken about the Ch. Uition coming out so earIv that I could not
get a notice of G. Aqe in it.  It wasjitst the other way to be delayved. and I send
you a rough proof of the first page, and the Star article.
In the paper to-morrow a line or so will be inserted to soften-a little the touch
about the Lib. Christian.
3. Do you think I ought to keep a copy of any letters to V. W.? Do you think
it would be better to write it again, and not say so much? Will you keep the
letter to me, and send the other if you judge it wise?
4. Will you send a line to my house.al the moriiIq saving what you conclude?
I am fullI of company.
Yours truly and affectionately.
(Signed)                                                     H. W. B.
MOULTON TO BEECHER.
MY DEAR SIR: First with reference to Mrs. Woodhull's letter and your anawer: I think that you would have done better to accept the invitation to speak
in Washington, but if lecture interferes, your letter in reply is good enough, and
will bear publication.
With relation to your notice in the Goldes Age I tell you frankly, as your
friend, that I am ashamed of it, and would rather you had written nothing. Your
early associations with and vour present knowledge of the man who edits that
paper are grounds upon which you might  have so written that no reader would
ave doubted that in your opinion Theodore Tilton's putblicand private integrity
was unquestionable. If the article had been written to compliment the In)dependct it would have received my unqualified approval.
On the 5th of Februarv, 1872, I received from Mr. Beecher the letter which
] hor?'md-.ce, of this date, and marked "PP.:"
t 
MO ULTON'S STA TEMfENT.
Mr DEAR FRIEND:  I leave town to-day, and expect to pass through from
Philadelphia to New Haven.  Shall not be here till Friday.
About three weeks ago I met T. in the cars going to B.  Ie was kind.. We
talked much. At the end he told me to go onil with my work without the least
anxiety, in so far as his feelings and actions were the occasion of apprehension.
On returning home from New Havsen (where I am three days in the week, de
livering a course of lectures to the theological students), I found a note from E.
Esaying that T. felt hard towards me, and was going to see or write me before leav  ilg for the West.
She kindly added, "Do not be cast down.  I bear this almost always, but the
God in whom we trust will deliver ts all safely. I know you do and are willing
abuntantly to help him, and I also know your embarrassments." These were
words of warning, but also of consolation; for I believe E. is beloved of God,
and that her prayers for me are soonier heard than mine for myself or her.  But
it seems that a change has come to T. since I saw him in the cars. Indeed, ever
since he has felt more intensely the force of feeling in society and the humnilia  tions which environ his enterprise, he has growingly felt that I had a power to
help which I did not develop, and I believe that you have participated in this
feeling. It is natural to you that you should. T. is dearer to you than Ican be.
He is with you.  All his trials lie open to your eye daily.  But I see you but sel dom, and my personal relations, environments, necessites, limitations, dangers,
and perplexities you cannot see or imagine. If I had not gone through this great
year of sorrow I would not have believed that any one could pass through my ex perience and be alive or san    I have been the center of three distinct circles,
each one of which required clear-mindedness and peculiarly. inventive or origina ting power, viz:
1. The g eat church.
2. The newspaper.
3. The book.
The first I could neither get out of nor slight.  The seiativeitess of so m.lVy of
my people would have made any appearance of ti ouble or any remission of lorce
an occasion of alarm and notice andiave excited wvhen it was important that riu mors should die and everything be quieted.
The newspaper I did roll oft doing but little except give general directions
and in so doing I was continually spurred and exhorted by those in interest.  It
could not be helped.
The " Life of Christ," long delayed, had locked up the capital of the firm. and
was likely to sink them-finished it must be.  Was ever book born of such sor'ow as that was? The interior historv of it will never be written.
Diring all this time you, literally, were all my stay a:dcomforLt. I should have
fallen on the way but for the courage which you inspired and the hope which
you breathed.
My vacation was profitable.  I came back, hoping that the bitterness of death
was passed.  But T.'s trouble brought back the cloud, with even severer sufferiug.  For all this fall and winter I have felt that you did not feel satisfied with
me, and that I seemed, both to you and T., as contenting myself with a cautious
or sluggish policy, willing to sa;ve myself but not to risk anything for T.  I have
again and again probed my heart to see whether I was trnly liable to such feeling, and the response is unequivocal that I am not.  No man can see the difficulties that environ me unless he stands where I do.
To say that I have a church on my hands is simple enough-but to have the
hundreds and thousands of men pressing me, each one with his keen suspicion,
or anxiety, or zeal; to see tendencies which, if not stopped, would break out into ruinous defense of me; to stop them without seeming to do it; to prevent allny
one Questioning me; to meet and allay prejudices against T. which had their bee
ginnin  years before this; to keep serene, as if I was not alarmed or disturbed,
to be cheertul at home and among friends when I was suffering the torments of
the damned; to pass sleepless nights often, and yet to come up fresh and fuill foiSunday-all this may be talked about, but the real thing cannot be understood
from the outside, nor its wearing and grinding on the nervous system.
God knows that I have put more thought, and judgment, and earnest desire into my efforts to prepare a way for T. and E. than ever I did for myself a lundred-fold.  As to the outside public I have never lost an opportunity to soften
BEECHER TO MOULTON.
MONDAY, Fe). I) l.7'2.
8 5
0 
MOULTON'S STATEMENT.
prejudices, to refute falsehoods, and to excite kindlv feeling among all whom  r
met.  I ani thrown among clergymen, public men, and generally the makers of
public opinipn, and I have used every ratioiial endeavor to repair the evils which
have been visited upon T., and with lncereasing success.
But the roots of this prejudice are long. The catastrophe which precipitated
him from his place only disclosed feelings that had existed long.  Neither he nor
you can be aware of the feelings of classes ill society, on other grounds than late
rumors   I mention this to explain why I knotw with absolute certainty that no
mere statement, lettel, testimony, or affirmation will reach the root of affairs and
reinstate them.  TIME and WORK WILL.
But chronic evil requires ch/onic 9-emedies.  If my destruction would place him
all right, that shall not stand in the way.   I am willing to step down and out.
No one can offer more than that.  That I do offer.  Sacrifice me without hesitation, if you can clearly see your way to his safety and happiness thereby.   I do
not think that anything would be gained by it.  I should be destroved, but he
would not be saved. X E. and the children would have their future clouded.   In
one point of view I could desire the sacrifice on my part.  Nothing  can possibly
be so bad as the horror of great darkness in which Ispend much of my time.   I
look upon death as sweeter-faced than any friend I have in the world.  Life
would be pleasant if I could see that rebuilt that is shattered.    But to live
on the sharp edge of anxiety, remorse, fear, despair, and yet to put on all the
appearance of serenitv and happiness, cannot be endured much longer.
I amn well nigh discouraged.  If you, too, cease to trust mne-to love me-I am
alone; I have not another person in the world to whom  I could go.
Well, to God I commit all.  Whatever  it may  be here, it shall be well
there. With sincere gratitude for your heroic friendship, and with sincere af fection, even though you love me not, I am yours (though unknown to you).
H. W. B.
This letter was to let me know that Elizabeth had written Ihim, contrary
to her promise, without my permission, and also to iiifoirm me of his fears as
to the change in Tilton's mind, and its clear statement of the case as it then
stood cannot be further elucidated by me.
After Tilton had written a campaign document against Grant's Administration, and in favor of Mr. Greeley's election, Beecher discussed with me
the position taken by Tilton.  Beeclher also gave me a copy of his (Beecher's) speech openilg the Gralnt campaign in Brooklynll. After the speech was
delivered he sent me the following note of May 17, 1872, which I here produce, marked " ER ":
BEECHER TO MOULTON
MAY 17, 1872.
MY DEAR FRANK:   I send you the only copy I have of my speech at the
Academiy of Music on Grant, and have marked the passage that we spoke about
last night, and you will see just what I said, and that I argued then just as I do
siow.
PPray send it back, or I shall be left without a speech!
I read Theodore's on Grant.  I do not think it julst.  It is ably written; it is a
ease of gaope-shot.  Yet, I think it will overact; it is too strong-will be likely
to produce a feeling among those not already intense, that it is excessive.  Yours
sincerely and ever.
H. W. B.
Don't forget to send back my speeca: 
About the time of this occurrenice Beeclihei and Tiltoiin mniet at my house on
firiendly terms. Iii fact I cannot exhibit better the tone of Tilton's mind in
the winter and sprilig of 1871-2 than to produce here a letter, written to me
at that time without date, but I can fix the date as early as that. It is here
produced, and marked "S  ":
f36
(Signed)
i 
MOULTON'S STATEME1N.                                   87
TILTON TO MOULTON.
HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD, Monday Morning.
MY DEAR FRANK: I am writing while the train is in motion-which ac counts for the apparent drunkenness of this shaken chirography.  Mrs. Beecher
sits in the next seat. We are almost elbow to elbow in the palace car. She is
white haired and looks a dozen years older than when I last had a near view of
her.  My heart has been full of'pity for her, notwithstanding the cruel way in
which she has treated my good name.  Her face is written over with many
volumes of human suffering.  I do not think she has been aware of my presence,
for she has been absorbed in thought-her eyes rooted to one spot.
A suggestion has occurred to me, which I hasten to communicate. She is
going to Florida, and may never return alive. If I am ever to be vindicated
friom the slanders which she has circulated, or which Mr. Bowen pretends to
have derived from her and Mrs. Morse, why would it not be well to get from
her and Mrs. Morse a statement under oath (by such a process as last eveniig's
documents make easy and harmless) of the exact narrations which they made to
him and to others.
It would be well to have them say what they said betore he gets a cnance to
say what they said to him.  Speak to Mr. Ward about it.  Of course I leave the
matter wholly to you and him.
I am unusually heavy-hearted this morning.  My sullen neighbor keeps the
dark and lurid past vividly before my mind.  If she actually knew the conduct
which her priestly husbaud has been guilty of, I believe she would shed his
blood —or perhaps saving him, she would wreak her wrath on his victims. There
is a look of desperation in her eve to-day as if she were competent to anything
bitter or revengeful.  But perhaps I misjudge her mind.  I hope I do.
I shall not be home till Thursday afternooin instead of morning, as I said-leavijg for Washington at 9 P. M. that evening.  Ever yours,
THEODORE.
On the 3d of June, 1872, Beecher received fiom Mrs. Woodhull the following letter of that date, which I here produce, marked "TT":
MRS. WOODHULL TO BEECHER.
48 BROAD STREET, June 3, 187.
-Rev. Hrenry Woard Beecher.
MY DEAR SIR: The social fight against me. being now waged in this city is
becoming rather hotter than I can well endure longer, standing unsupported
and alone as I have until now. Within the past two weeks I have been shut
out of hotel after hotel, and am now, after having obtained a place, hunted down
by a set of males and females, who are determined that I shall not be permitted
to live even if they can prevent it.
Now  I want your assistance.  I want to be sustained in my position in the
Gilsey House, fiom which I am ordered out, and from which I do not wish to
go-and all this simply because I am Victoria C. Woodhull, the advocate of
social freedom.  I have submitted to this persecution just so longas I can endure
to;        my business, my projects in fact everything for which I live suffers from
it, and it must cease.  Will you lend me you raid in this?  Yours very truly,
VICTORIA C. WOODHULL.
The above letter was sent to me enclosed in a note from Beecher of the
same date, which is here produced and marked "UU ":
BEECHER TO MOULTON.
MONDAY EVENING, June 3, 1872.
MY DEAR MR. MOULTON: Will you answer this? IOr will you see that she
is to understand that I can do nothing?  I certainly shall not, at any and all
hazards, take a single step in that direction, and if it brings trouble-it must
come. 
8MOULTO.YS STATEMEK T.
p me a line to say thrt all is right-if ill your judgment all is right,
H. W. B.
This letter of Mrs. Woodhull, together with those before produced asking
Beecher to speak at a suffrage conveiitiou, are all the letters I have from
her to Beecher.  To this letter no reply was made.
BEECHER TO MOULTON.
SUNDAY MORNING. June I, 1873.
MY DEAR FRANK: The whole earth is tranquil and the heaven is serene, as
befits one who has about finished his world-life.  I could do nothing on Saturday
-my headwas confused.  Butagood sleep has made it like crystal.  Ihavedetermined to make no more resistance.  Theodore's temperament is such that the
future, even if temporarily eari ed. would he absoliteiy worthless, filled with
abrupt charges, and rendering me liable at any hour or day to be obliged to stultify all the devices by which we have saved ourselves.  It is only fair that he
should know that tlie publication of the card which he proposes would  leave
him far worse off than before.
The aqreement was made after my letter through you was written.  He had
had it a year.  He had condoned his wife's fault.  He  had  enjoined upon me
with the utmost earnestness and solemnity not to betray his wife nor leave his
children to a blight.  1 had honestly and earnestly joined in the purpose.  Then
this settlement was made and signed by him. It was not my making. He revised his part so that it should wholly suit him, and signed it.  It stood unquestioned and unblamed for more than a year. Then it was published. Nothing but
that. That which he did in private when made public excited him  to fury,
and he charges me with niaki?g htm appear as graciously pardoned by me!   It
was his own deliberate act, with which h was  perfectly content till others saw
it, and then he charges a grievous wrong home on me!
My mind is clear. I am not in haste. I shall write for the public a statetnent that will bear the lights of the judgment day. God will take care of me
and mine. When I look on earth it is deep night. When I look on the Heavens above I see the morning breaking. But, oh! that I could put in golden
letters my deep sense of your faithfuil, earnest. undying fidelity, your disenterested friendship! Your noble wife, too. has been to me one of God's comforters. It
is such as hethat renews a waning faith in womanhood. Now, Frank, I would not
have you waste any more energy on hopeless task. With such a man as T.T.there
is no possible salvation for any that depend upon him.  With a strong nature he
does not know how to govern it.  With generous impulses, the undercurrent
that rules him is self.  With ardent affections, he cannot love long that which
does not repay him with admiration and praise. With a strong, theatric nature,
he is constantly imposed upon with the idea that a position, a great stroke, a
coup d'etat. is the way to success.
Besides these he has a hundred good things about him, but these named traits
make him absolutely unreliable.
Therefore there is no use in further trying. I have a strong feeling upon me,
and it brings great peace with it, that I am spending my last Sun,day and preaching my last sermon.
Dear, good God, I thank Thee, I am indeed beginning to see rest and triumph.
The pain of life is but a moment; the glory of everlasting emancipation is worldless, inconceiveable, full of beckoning glory.  Oh, my beloved Frank, I shalll
know you there, and forever hold fellowship with you, and look back and smilo
at the past.  Your loving,                                           H. W. B.
I have now produced to the committee all the letters and documents bearing upon the subject-matter of this inquiry which I ]ve in my possession
either from Beecher, Tilton, or Mrs. Tilton, previous to the Bacon letter, and
there is but one collateral matter of which I desire to speak.
I saw questions put in the cross examination of Tilton, as published in
the Brooklyn Eagle, and also published in the newspapers-with how much
of  truth I know  not-that Mr.  Samuel Wilkeson had  charged that
Tiltoli's case in controversy with Bowen was for the purpose of blackmailing
him and Beecher, and that he (Wilkeson) knew that there had been no
crime committed against Tilton or his household by Beecher. Beecher never
intimated to me that he thought there was any desire on Tilton's part  to
88
. Traly youris, 
MO ULTON'S S1'ATEMENT.
blackmail him; and as I had the sole manaagement of the money controver-sy
between Tilton and Bowen, which I have already fully explained, I know
there. was no attempt on Tilton's part to blackmail or get anything more
than what I believed his just due friom Bowen. So that I am certain that
Mr. Wilkeson is wholly mistaken in that regard.
The question whether Wilkeson knew or believed that any offense had
been committed will depend upon the fact whether he knew of anything that
had been done by Beecher or Tilton's wife which called for apology at the
time hewrote the tripartite covenant.  It will be remembered that the tripartite covenantwas made solely in reference to the disclosures which Bowen
had made to Tilton and Tilton had made to Bowen; and Tilton's letter sets
forth that the only disclosure he made to Bowen of Beecher's acts toward
himself were of improper advances made to his wife, and he so limited his
charge in order to save the honor of his wife. These questions will be answered by the production ofthe letter of April 2, 1872, written by Samuel
Wilkeson.
WILKESON TO MOULTON.
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, )
SECRETARY'S OFFICE 120 BROADWAY,
NEW YORK, April 2, 1872. )
MY DEAR MOULTON: Now for the closing act of justice and duty.
Let Theodore pass into your hand the written apology which he holds for the
improper advances, and do you pass it into the flames of the friendly fire in your
room of reconciliation.  Then let Theodore talk to Oliver Johnson.
I hear that he and Carpenter, the artist, have made this whole affair the subject of conversation in the clubs. Sincerely yours,
SAMUEL WILKESON.
This letter, it will be observed, contains no protest against blackmailing, eith
er on Tilton's part or my own, upon Beecher or Bowen, and is of the date of the
tripartite covenant.  Wilkeson, also, hearing of Tilton's troubles, kindly offered
to procure him a very lucrative employment in a large enterprise with which
he was connected, as appears from a letter dated Jan. 11, 1871, which I herewith produce, marked "BBB 1;"
WILKESON TO TILTON.
NORTHERN PACIFIC  RAILIROAD COMPANY.
January11, 1871.
DEAR TILTON: You are in trouble.  I come to you with a letter just mailed
from Jay Cooke, advising him to secure your services as a platform speaker, to
turn New England, Old England, or the great West upside down about our
Northern Pacific.
Pluck up heart! You shan't be trampled down. Keep quiet. Don't talk.
DON'T PUJBLISH. Abide your time and it will be a very good time. Take
my word for it.
SAMUEL WILKESON.
It will be observed that this letter was dated after the letter of apology, and
after the letter of Tilton to Bowen, and Wilkeson could hardly have  desired to
employ in so grave an enterprise one whom he then knew or believed to be attemptmg to blackmail his employer. And besides, his kindly expressions and
advice to Tilton seem to me wholly inconsistent with such an allegation.
I think itjust, in this connection, to state a fact which bears in my mind upon
this subject. On the 3d of May, 1873, I knew that Tilton was in want of moiey,
and I took leave, without consulting him, to send him my check for a thousand
dollars, and a due bill for that amount to be signed by him, enclosed in a letter
which I here produce, marked "BBB2," all of which he returned to me  with
an endorsement thereon. The following is the document 
89..
i 
.HO ULTOYS STA TEMENT.
MOULTON TO TILTON.
NEW YORK, May 3. 1873.
DEAR THEODORE: I enclose to you a check for one thousand dollars, for
which please sign the enclosed. Yours,
F. D. MOULTON.
[Endorsement on above by Tilton.]
DEAR FRANK:  I can't borrow any money-for I see no way of returning it.
Hastily.
T. T.
After the above paper was returned to me, on the same day I sent him the
thousand dollars, leaving it to be a matter as between ourselves, end not a money transaction.
I know to the contrary of this so far as Beecher is concerned, that Tilton never made  any demand on him for money  or pecuniary aid in any way or
form.  He asked only than Bcecher shouldinterpose his influences and power
to protect him from I he slanders of those who claimed to be Beecher's fliends,
while Beecher himself, with generosity and kindness toward Tilton which had
always characterized his act during the whole of this unhappy controversy, of
his own motion insisted, through me, in aiding Tilton in establishing his enterprise of the Golden Age, for which purpose he gave me the sum of five thousand
dollars, which I was to expend in such manner as I deemed judicious to keep
the enterprise along, and if Tilton was at any time in need personally, to aid
him.  It was understood between myself and B3eecher that this money shouldgo
to Tilton as if it came from my own voluntary contributions for his beniefit, and
that he should not know-and he does not know until he reads this statement,
for I do not believe he has derived it from any other source-that this money
came from Beecher, or thinks that he is in any way indebted to him for it. I
annex an account of the receipt and expenditure of that sum, so far as it has
been expended, in a paper marked "CCC":                        I
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT
1873.
May 2, received.......................................................$5,000
May 3, paid...............................................$1,000
July 11, paid...................................................650......
August 15, paid........................................................ 250
Sept. 12. paid........................................................... 500
Sept. 30, paid.......................................................... 500
Dec. 16, p a i d.......................................................... 200
1874.
Feb. 24, p a i d.......................................................... 500
March 30, paid............................................... 400
May 2, paid................................................    250
May 26, paid...........................................................  300
Total...............................................................$4,550
I annex also two letters of March 30, 1874, from the publishers of the Golden
Aqe, which will tend to vouch the expenditure of a part of the above amount.
They are marked "DDD" and "EEE   respectveily:
RULAND TO MOULTON.
THE GOLDEN AGE, New York, March 30, 1874.
i,,A~~~~ [Private.]
IJEAR MR. MOULTON: We are in a tight spot. Mr.              is away. and we
have no money and no paper.  Can't get the latter without the former.  We
90
t
I
t 
MtO ULTO.N"'S STATEMENT.
,we about $400 for paper, and the firm we have been ordering from refuse to
let us have anymore without money. Haven't any paper for this week's issue.
Truly yours,                             O. W. R ULAND.
If you can do anything for us I trust you will, to help us ride over the chasm.
FROM SAME TO SAME.
THE GOLDEN AGE, New York, March 30, 1874.
DEAR MR. MOULTON: I am more grateful than I can tell you for the noble
and generous way you came to the rescue of the Golden Age this afternoon.
Truly your friend,                 O. W. RUL.&ND.
I think proper to add further that Tilton' more than once said to me that he
could and would receive nothing from Beecher in the way of pecuniiary  assistalice.  I remember one special instance in which the subject was discussed between us.  Beecher had told me that he was willing to furnish money  to pay
the expences of Tilton and his family in traveling al)road, in order that Tilton
might be saved fiom the constant state of irritation which arose from  the rumors he was daily hearing.  I rather hinted than informed Tilton of this fact
and he replied even the intimation of such a thing with the utmost indignation
and anger.  Therefore  I only und ertook the disbursement of this sum at
the most earnest and voluntary request of Beecher.
Inl closing his statement, Mr. Moulton uses this language;
Having retained th, friendship of the principal parties to this controversy
down to to-day,I have not thought it proper to produce herewith any letters
that I have received from either of them except the single one exonerating
me firom blame and showing Mrs. Tilton's confidence in me,v which I thought
was due to myself to do because of the peculiai statement attributed to her;
nor have I produced any papers or proposals for a settlement of this controversy since it has broken out afresh, and since the publication of Tilton'a
letter to Dr. Baconi, and the call of Beecher for a committee; nor have I
since then furnished to either party, although called upon by both, any docunienlts in my possession that one might use the same against the other. I
have endeavored to hold myself strictly as a mediator between thenm, and my
endeavor has been, even down to the very latest hour, to have all the scandals arising out of the publication of the fact of their controversies and
wrongs hurried out of sight, deeming it best that it should be se done,  not
,only for the good of the parties concerned and their families, but that of the
community at large.
If any evidence were needed that, in the interest of the parties, and especially of Beecher, I was endeavoring to the latest hour to prevent the publication of these documents and this testimony, and that I retained the confidence of at least one of the parties in that endeavor.  I produce a letter of
July 13, 1874, being a note arranging a meeting between myself and Beech
er in regard to this controversy.  It is marked " JJJ."
BEECHER TO MOULTON.
JULY 13, 1874.
MT Dr  FRANxK: I will be with you at 7 or a little before.  I am ashamed to put
a straw more upon you; and have but a single consolation-that the matter cannot
distress you long, as it must soon end; that is,'here will be no more anxiety about
the future, whatever regret there may be for the past.
Truly yours and ever,              H. W. BEEcHL.
If there is any paper or fact supposed by either of these parties, or by the
-ommittee, to be in my possession which will throw any fiurther light upon
the subject of your inquiry, I shall be most happy to produce if I have it,
although I do not believe there are any such; and I am ready to answer
any proper question which shall be put to me in the way of cross-examina
91 
MO UL TO.Y'S ST.1i4EME'.N'.i I
tion by any of the parties concerned, or their counsel, as full as my memory
or any data I have willserve, so that all the facts mey be known. For it
any part of them be known, I (decem it but just to truth and right that all
should be known. As, however, controversy has already arisen as to tile
correctness of the reports of eviden(.e' taken before. the committee, I mnust
ask leave, if any cross-examninatiotn is to be had orally, to be  accompaiied
by my own stenographer, who shall take down the evidence I may give as
a necessary measure for my own protection
Leaving to your committee, without  comment, the fact and doeIments
herewith presented.
I have the honor to remain, yours truly,
FRANCIS D. MOULI,TON.
The Investigating Committee's Report.
To the Examini2g Commlittee of Plynowtth Chatrcl.
DEAR BRETHREN:  The pastor of Plymouthl  Church, the Rev.  Henry
Ward Beecher, addressed to us a letter, June 27, 1874, of which the following is a copy:
BROOKLYN, Juine 27, 1874.
ECNTLEIEEN: Inl the present state of the public feeling, I owe it to my  friends
and to the Church and the Society over which I am pastor to have eome proper investigation made of the rumors, insinuations, or char;es made respecting my conduct as compromised by the late publications made by Mr. Tilton. I have thought
that both the Church and the Society should be represented, and I take the liberty
of asking the followinggentlemen to servein this inquiry, and to do that which tI ruth
and justice require.  Ibeg that each of the gentlemen named will consider this as if
it had been separately and personally sent to him, namely:
From the Church-HenryW. Sage, Augustus Storrs, Henry M. Cleveland.
From the Society-Horace B. Claflin, John Winslow, S. V. White.
I desire you, when you have satisfied yourselves by an impartial and thorough cx
amination of all sources of evidence, to communicate to the Examining Committee,or to the Church, such actions as then may seem to you right and wise.
HENRY WARD BERCRER.
The committee named having signified their willingness to serve in the grave
matters so referred to them, Mr. Beecher sent the following letter to the ExaminingCommittee of Plymouth Church:
JULY 6, 1874.
DEAR BRETHREN:  I enclosed to you a letter in which I have requested three
gentlemen from the Church, and three from the Society of Plymouth Church (gen.
tlemenofunimpeachable repute, and who have not been involved in any of the
trials through which we have passed during the year) to make a thorough and impartial examination of all charges or insinuations against my good name, and to
reportthe sametoyou; andI now respectfully request thatyouwill give to this
committee  the authority to act in your behalf also.  It seemed wise to me3 that
the request should proceed from me,and without your foregoing knowledge,and that
you should give to it authority to act in your behalf in so far as a thorough investigation of the facts shouldbe concerned.
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Thereupon the Examining Committee duly authorized the committee named  1it
the letter of June 27 to act in their behalf also.
Second-Your committee cannot here refrain from referring to the inexpressible regret which they in common with all good men feel, that uncontrollable circumstan.ces have made it necessary to discuss in the most public manner the unhappy scandal which is the subject of the present inquiry. 
But accepting the situation as we found it when we entered upon the high and
solemn trust thus imposed, we have been profoundlv impressed from the beginulnng
with the grave importance of the work before us.
912
I 
4THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT,
ing difficulties, Moulton again called on him.  His manner was kind and conciliatory.  He professed, however, to believe that Mr. Beecher had been seeking
Tiltonl's downfall; had leagued with Mr. Bowen against him, and by his advice
had come near destroying Tilton's family.  Mr. Beecher expressed many and
strong regrets at the misfortunes of that family. Moulton caugt up some of'these.
expressions and wrote them down, saying that if Tilton could see them there
would be no trouble in procuring a reconciliation.  This paper, which is dated
Jan. 1, 1871, was intrusted by Mr. Beecher to Mr.  Moulton's keeping without
reading it, nor was it read to him.  This paper-sm,netimes called the  aptlogy,
and sometimes the confession-is in no proper sense  Mr. Beecher's production,
or a correct report of what he said. No man will believe, for instance, that Mr.
Beecher said: "I humble myself before him (Tilton) as I do before my God."
Another sentence, " Her forgiveness I have." Mr. Beecher states that it was not
said, nor the semblance of it. Pausing here, a very importantquestion arises in
this connection.  To what does the apology reier?  It declares Mrs. Tilton
"guiltless, " and yet Tilton says it refers to adultery which Mr. Beecher denies.
Without now considering the weight of credit to which the respective parties
are entitled where there is a conflict between them, we believe, and prop)ose to
show from the evidence, that the original charge was improper advances, and
that as time passed, and the conspiracy deepene4, it was enlarged into adultery.
EXPLAINING MR. BEECHER'S LETTERS.
Much has been said, and not without some justice, of the extraordinary words
and tenor of Mr. Beecher's letters. But in interpreting these letters it must be
remembered: First, that Mr. Beecher, under the excitement of deep/eling. uses
strong words and emotional expressions. This is, and always has been, a
marked quality of his mind.  Second, in this sore trouble he was dealing with
Tilton, who had shown himself at times fi,kle, malicious, revengeful, and mercenary. In the light of these facts there is not a letter from 4ir. Beecher, nor
an act of his, however ill-judged, through three or four years of anxiety and
grief, that cannot be accounted for upon the plain theory that he was fighting to
supm ress an outrageous scandal which consisted of a false accusation against him
maoe by a reputable woman; and, further, that he was endeavoring to help a
man whom he felt he had unduly injured in businiiess matters upon representations which he was afterward made to believe, chiefly by Moulton, were not
well founded.
The statement of this branch of the case would not be complete without refference to the fact that Mr. Beecher had a warm friendship for Mrs. Tiltoli which
began in her early womanhood, and that Mrs. Tilton, reciprocating this friend
ship, began, as her domestic troubles came on, to look more than ever to Mr.
Beecher for sympathy and advice. That this feeling on Mrs. Tilton's part became, under the circumstances, so strong as to diminish the proper influence that
belongs to every good husband is not unlikely.
GREENLEAF'S OPINION.
Greenleaffurther illustrates the kind of evidence required to prove adultery, as
follows:
Adultery of the wife may be proved by the birth of a child and non-access of the
husband, he being out of the realm. Adultery of the husband may be proved by
habits of adulterous intercourse and  by the birth, maintenance and acknowledgment of a child. A marricd man'going into a known brothel raises a suspicion of
adultery, to be rebutted only by the very best evidence. His Lro'ng there and remaining alone for some sime in a room with a common prostitute is sufficient proof
of the crime. The circumstance of a woman going to such a place with a man furnishes similar proof of adultery.
These citations are pointed but useful.
Under the guidance of these precedents and principles it is essential to observe
that there is nothing whatever disclosed by the evidence that proves that the
parties have ever been found together under anlly suspicious circumstances, such,
as in some unusual house or place, or consulting together in some secret way
to avoid observation and exposure.  There is no proof of clandestine correspondence, nor attempts in that direction.  Mr. Beecher's letters were, as a rule
opened, arranged and read by his wife.  She testifies that she had read and answered as manv as one thousand in three months. Such as reached the Cliristia2
Union office were opened by others, and those that went to the church were
I
94
i 
90)'i.E COGMMITTEE'S REPORT.
proper remark, proffer, or solicitation to her of any kind or description whatever.
ThIRD-If this were a question of errors of judgment on the part of Mr.
Beecher, is would be easy to criticise, especially in the light of recent events. In
such criticism, even to the extent of regret and censure, we are sure no man
would join moI-e sincerely than Mr. Beecher himself.
FOURTH-We find nothing whatever in the evidence that should impair the
perfect confidence of Plymouth Church or the world in the Christian character
and integrity of Henry Ward Beecher.
And now let the peace of God that padseth all understanding rest and abide
with Plymouth Church and her beloved and eminent pastor, so much and solong
afflicted.
HENRY W. SAGE,
AUGUSTUS STORRS.
HENRY M. CLEVELAND,    Committee of
HORACE B. CLAFLIN.       Investigation.
JoUHIN WINSLOW,
S. V. WHITE.
fated, BROOKLYN, August 27, 1874.
WHAT MOULTON SAYS OF THE MEETING.
It was the most disgusting instance o0.           ical cowardice," he said, "I
ever witnessed.  1 was in a minoritv of  -  it two thousand, and they
need hardly have been afraid to allow wm in.          I had a right to do so for
tworeasons: firstlv, as a representative of.. wi*  vho is a member of Plymouth
Church; and secondly, in my own defer             nt a perfectly inoffensive note
to the chairman of the commit'ee askin,  be:ilowed to say a few words, but
thev refused to hear me.  Hr -r, I I           s iatisfaction of voting, and though
I seemed to be in a minori+        the.i  le there who voted right.  I don't
think I am a man to be v,.;.    i..,   aporings, and if I showed any
lack of nerve I am                  H    -..n permitted to speak I should not
have referred to t':',;:., bet,:. chel and and Mis. Tilton but I
should certainly.a:,..:i.    of at,  casionwhen Mr. Beecher came to
my house and,;i m  a rape, ommitted upon another woman, who
threatened o,.    i.  I asked   i.        -,.,t kind of a man  he supposed me to
be that h.. -.... to me wuit., le lie that. He said he wanted my assistane.,,;i       ised him to o' (.  a r- traction, if possible, fiom the woman.
He, t  t        getting a pap( a    -i:.,e,ating him aidlbrought it to me.  That
r-Arv;i,J;Ere now in my -lf -ion  I did niiot produce it before the com.t!i!, s-,i   shall show it to t,.]ge of the Supreme Court when the proper
:   some further remark  d' a       e report of the committee, whichMr.
c- Eion thought would do.? moe harm than good with the public,
spoke of the pastors state;,(
"He says I am a lover of;'   remark of Lady Montague might be
applied to me: that 1 could i,       A a abbage unless I stole upon it from be
hind and did it by stealth.  I sh, i',.l. eciate the wit of this quotation more
thoroughly if I hadn't heard Mr. i erh.  use it qefore, both with reference to'
Mr. Sherman and Mr. Cleveland."
~o-tr, ~ of!:~: - - ~v   a.
'~..~.....:....                thin the reh of all.
- jq ~ = -...h X -a; 0 - -,thin the reach of all.
( I @
l
I-)'
If.1
.-EP p  
, 61 - i21 
THE COMMITTEE'S.REPORT.                                95
opened by the direction of Mr. Beecher, by the clerk, before being placed on
the desk. No sort of restrictions were imposed as to his letters. The usual
facts and circumstances suggestive of wrong-doing are utterly wanting ill this
case.  What, then, does the case, as put by the accuser, rest upon?  We answer, upon mere words and assertions, supported by no circumstances whatever
that are the usual indications of adultery.
POOR MRS. TILTON.
It is not for the committee to defend the course of Mrs. Tilton. Her conduct
upon any theory of human responsibility, is indefensible.  Our hope is that it
it may be made clear, as the testimony affords much reason to believe it may be,
that this distressed woman was so beset by her designing husband, when in
states of mind differing little, if at all, from  mental aberration, brought on by
illniess and domestic sorrow and gloom, as to induce her, at least passively, to
make a charge of improper adyances by Mr. Beecherl.  But when her attention
was pointedly called to the great wrong she had done, she quickly took it back
in sorrow and penitence, as follows:
DECEXMBER 30, 1870.- Wearied with importunity and weakened by sickness I
gave a letter implicating my friend Henry Ward Beecher, under assurances that that
would remove all difficulties between me and my husband. That letter I now re voke. I was persuaded to it-almost forced-when I was in a weakened state of
mind.  I regret it and recall all its statements.
E. R. TnToN.
I desire to say explicitly, Mr. Beecher has never offered me any improper solicita tion, but has always treated me in a manner becoming a Christian and a gentle man.
ELIZABETH R. TILTON.
There is medical testimony before the committee, given by two eminent physi cians, Drs. Minton and Corey. to the effect that suchi cases of mental power and
domination by a husband of strong will over a wife weakened by disease and
domestic trouble are not infrequent.  Dr. Corey, who  is eminent and has had
large experience in mental diseases and phenomena, says such conduct on the
part of Mrs. Tilton, when  subjected to the influences referred to, is even con sistent with an honest mind.
MRS. TILTON'S SUFFERINGS.
It is not for us to pass judgment on Mrs. Tilton uncharitably.  She has suf fered unparalleled trials. Moulton quotes her as saying in a letter to him, as we
have seen, that it was physically impossible for her to tell the truth in her husband's presence.  It will    noted that the pretended confession was obtained in
that presence; and further, it was when shb was away from him and froumhome
at Schoharie that she stated her sin to be like that of Catherine Gaunt, an undue
affection for her pastor.   In this letter to her husband she says:  "I felt unfalteringly that the love I felt and received haime(l no one, not even you, until the
heavenly vision dawned upon me." And again: "Oh. my dear Theodore, though
your opinions are not restful or congenial to my soul, yet niy integrity and purity
are a sacred and holy thing to me. Bless Gcd, ith me for Cathariue Guant, andall
the pure leadings of an allwise and loving.Providence."  This letter was written
June 29, 1871, about a year after, the pretended confession.  In no sense can its
words be construed as referring to adulte ry. Tilton, when before the committee,
when reference was first made to this Schoharie letter, seemed to think that the
offense in the story of Griffith Gaunt wah adultery, and accordingly relied upon
this letter as incontrovertible evidence ot,,his charge.  In this he was mistaken.
We herewith submit a complete stenog aphic copy of all the evidence before
the committee, with some unimportant o irrelevant exceptionis.
STATEMENT  OF (ONCLUSlONS.
FIRS-We find from th evyidence th:'-'                       d Beecher did not
commit adultery with Mrs. Elbh:-.,      ~   times, place
or places, set forth in the third and fourth;';! ~:t!:- >?.:t ent,
nor at any other time or place whatever.::?
SscorWe find from the evidence that Mr.  Beecher has~  E              mmy
any unchaste or improper act with Mrs. Tilton, nor made any unchaste or sa
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