. Miss Anthony had
been for many years on intimate terms with all the parties in this
unfortunate affair, and there was a persistent rumor that she had at
one time received a confession from Mrs. Tilton which, if given by her
to the public, would settle the vexed question beyond a doubt. It is
scarcely possible to describe the pressure brought to bear to force her
to disclose what she knew. During her lecture tours of that summer and
fall, while the trial was in progress before the church committee, she
never entered a railroad car, an omnibus or a hotel but there was
somebody ready to question her. In every town and city she was called
upon for an interview before she had time to brush off the dust of
travel. One of the New York papers detailed a reporter to follow her
from point to point, catch every word she uttered, ferret out all she
said to her friends and in some way extort what was wanted. She often
remarked that "in this case men proved themselves the champion gossips
of the world."

Papers which had befriended her and her cause reminded her of this fact
and urged her to return the favor by telling them what she knew.
Telegrams and letters poured in upon her from strangers and friends,
some commending and begging her to continue silent; others censuring
and urging her to tell the whole story. Lawyers connected with the case
wrote her the shrewdest of pleas, telling her how the other side were
trying to defame her character and urging her to speak in self-defense;
but it is a significant fact that she received no official summons
either during the church committee investigation or the trial in court.

The Chicago Tribune, having failed to secure an interview, said: "Miss
Anthony keeps her own counsel in this matter with a resolution which
would do credit to General Grant." Several papers manufactured
interviews with her out of whole cloth. Everybody else, man or woman,
who had the slightest knowledge of the affair, rushed into print, but
under all the pressure she remained as immovable and silent as the
granite mountains amid which she was born. The universal desire to have
her speak was because of the value placed upon her integrity and
veracity. John Hooker, the eminent lawyer of Hartford, Conn.,
brother-in-law of Mr. Beecher, voiced the opinion of her friends when
he wrote under date of November 9, 1874: "A more truthful person does
not live. The whole world could not get her to go into a conspiracy
against