Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-11-05

truth unto thousands of generations of them
that fear him and keep his commandments; "
that after the lapse of long forgotten years, a
Reynolds and a Kelly have once again been
thrown into mortal conflict; if, behind the high
and secure position of sacred and holy minister
ial character, and long esteemed accuracy and
correctness of moral and christian department;
and under cover of the midnight darkness OF pre-
judice against pretended hsnattc "-preten-
ded as a screen for brutal, obscene wite-abuser,
and wOuld-be-cOrruptOr of maiden chastity; II
under this cover, and from the midst of this Sc
curity, it should yet turn out that wanton and
vengeful blows all unseen and unsupported OF
men have been rained upon the naked and de-
fenceless soul of one in the weakening grasp OF
subtle mind-fevers; disarmed by broken heart
and yeaTning affection for his assailants from any
power of resistance except that to be found IN
the earnest and afectiOnate pleading ofa strange
ly unsupported intellect; these blows continued
after he down fainting from the loss ofmOral
life blood, sympathy, and helplessly at their
mercy, so long as the least breath of life appear
ed in his character; if il should turn out that all
this again happened between a Reynolds and
Kelley, then it may turn out too, that with the
nearing approach of morning light upon this
dark night of prejudice, with the sounding Of
the GOd-appOinted heralds of day, startled hearts
may be saying . boys its day, we must be off,
children may give the alarm and convey the
news of the maddening outrage to the world;
and the sharp, terrific storm of 'public indigna-
ton" hitherto so fearfully welded and directed
against the victim, may once more execute the
fat of GseertaiRed justice, " as lightning does
the will of God"
And now, fellow-eitizens, shall descendant of
revolutionary sire, who, in spite of the influence
of near British and Tory relatives, labored and
bled for the liberties we possess; giving the
whole products of his industry for seven long
years to the cause of his country, refusing cent
of compensation from its exhausted treasures;
extending unhagging hospitality and good cheer
ing to his country defenders, and who in conse-
quence of malice thus excited in the breasts Of
traitors, suffered the attempt at assassination
with long night-tortures detailed before: and
the entailment of a disease worse than death
upon the wife of his bosom, her children and de-
scendants, and which disease thus entailed one of
your number you have long known in presence
of that All-searching Eye, which penetrates
every heart he has made, solemnly affirms his
undOubting belief, to have been his only crime,
if crime it be, of which he has been guilty in fact,
or contemplation in deed or intention in relation
to the matters of which he stands charged; shall
one of your number thus circumstanced, have
fair opportunity to present his case, along with
matters Of great interest to others, before you.
And shall he be relieved in advance OF those humi-
liating disabilities attaching to pretended
lunatie" Provided, he can show with unshadOw-
ed elearness that the simple human frailty Of
interested witnesses, upon whom he was forced
solely to rely for facts to rebut aud defeat their
own determined positions has been the sole cause
of his failure hitherto to establish to the I'M
doubling common sense of every one the unhappy
condition his mind, has been in, show this, especi-
ally in regard to certain Individually true facts,
which, according to the express and emphatic
declaration of the Court, in its decision of the
case, if true, then there was undoubtedly" a
case of mental disease. Facts it was impossible
to fOresee, the prosecution would attempt to I'M
pugn forming as they did, large basis of their
cause of action, or ample testimony could easily
have been adduced to establish them beyond the
possibility of question.
But, under all the painful circumstances that
surrounded the case, the sins involved in the
frailty in question, however deplorable their re
suits, he feels may have been of that nature upon
which Angels might well afford to "drOp tear
and blot them out forever And Heaven forbid
that so frail himself should seek to hold
up the shortcomings of others to the frowns OF
men, so long as the ends of justice, of controlling
and imperative right may be attained by other
means He earnestly desires to do no harm to
any, but largely the reverse to all, and being
keenly aware that however implicitly the calm
dispassiOnate judgment of the public mind may
be relied upon for justice excited resentment, or
"public Indignation" is not so manageable a
thing to rely upon to administer it, or is to be
fully trusted to stop short with its exact metelng
out it is therefore, his intention to spare, il
possible, the seusibilites of others, the pain Of
publishing an account of the testimony alluded
to, by drawing up, and first submitting to those
interested, statement of the points at issue, the
facts involved, and their own words under oath
IN regard 10 Iheu, burnt ana craven lnQeluDly
for all time, as those words were, upon the table
of an accurate memory" And now that the
feelings of the occasion have had time to COO
down, and calm reason and memory to resume
their sway he doubts not but the recollection
that they could have made such answers to such
questions will excite something of the same as
constituent and modification in their own minds
that they did in his, and that they certainly would
in the minds of others when placed in juxtaposi-
ton with the facts to which the interrogatories
referred.
With faculties wearied with the unusual labor
of promptly preparing and throwing before the
world the matters involved in these cOmmunica-
tions he must claim few days indulgence for
preparing the statement in question. He hopes
it will not be long. But when this statement of
facts shall have been prepared and submitted,
and sufficient time given to reflect thereon, he is
impelled by every principle of manhood, by every
consideration of truth and justice, and personal
right due to all, to demand public acknowledge
ment, unTeserved and entire of the fact, that but
for the fralty in question (and the resulting be-
wilderngly Fesentful feelings that, from mistak-
ing his condition, were allowed to become eX-
tfefHeiy excited against u supposed abuseT of
beloved daughter and sister, all unaware, per-
haps, or disregarding the weird, wild tenderness
and melting affection haplessly mingled with
those ''abuses;'O the unhappy condition of his
mind would have been clearly and ''undoubted-
ly'' established before the Circuit Court In the
suit for divorce, which human frailty or the re-
eu4LluR eAClLculeiii anu btIouB EeseulLueHk ne IS
perfectly willing to concede to have been as nat
ural and human under the circumstances, as il was
mistaken aud erroneous, aud which the wild ex-
cesses of mental disease mistakngiy held to a
moral personal accountability, could alone
give a colorado provOcatiOn for; and in the
conelusionthat tCth this mistake it tcas thus ex-
cusable he is more than willing all should rest
with entire unanimity.
This acknowled gmeut, which he knows to be
justly his due upon every principle of honor and
truth, and which is necessary to free him from
the stain upon his veracity and competency to
state facts and events, indispensably prerequisite
TO the work he has before him, and which the
charge of pretended lunacy," coming from so
respectable source, necessarily impugns, will
likewise tend as he coneeives, to relieve all from
embarrassing positions. Especially will this be
so, If the public" should by any accident, hap
pen to take a notion, of its own somewhat wilful
head, to hereafter extend 10 the writer any de-
gree Of kindness or respect.
He cannot find it in his heart to say any thing
particularly about those charges pertaining 20
time antecedent to that during which he claims
20 have been Of unsound mind. Charges only az
frmed on the belief of the witness. Though so
strongly aud emphatcally thus affirmed, with
construed corrobOrative circumstances, that pro-
badly no one present but himself observed this
feature. He leaves this matter entirely to their
own generosity, and could cheerfully commit il
TO the same principle in the breasts of others.
Much should be pardoned TO the strong neeessi-
" the prosecution was under, 70 show, II posi-
ble antecedents 20 kind OF "moFal attributes"
that in some way might be considered sanely ca
pablo Of those wild excuses upon which WAS
based The PRAYER for divorce. With these re-
marks he disrisses the subject, together with all
those monstrous OF silly perversions and exag
gara fions affoat in the community and Ia which