The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-03-18

make the last use Of that life in doing
justice TO that reputation which Is to
live after me, and which is the only
legacy / can leave TO those honor and
love, and for whom | am proud 10
perish
As men, my lord, we must appear at
the great day at one common tribunal,
and it will then remain for the Search
er of all hearts to show a collective
universe who was engaged in the most
virtuous actions, or actuated by the
purest motives, my co1ntrys oppressor
Or
Here he i0as interrupted, and told 10
listen 10 the sentence Of the lqV
My lord, will dying msn be denied
the legal privilege of exculpating him
self, in the eyes of the community, of
an undeserved reproach thrown upon
him during his trial, by charging him
with ambition, and attempting to cast
away, for s paltry consideration, the
liberties Of his country Why did
your lordship insult me- or rather why
insult injustice, in demanding of me
why sentence Of death should not be
pronounced
l know, my lord, that form prescribes
that you should ask the question; the
form also presumes q right of answer
ing. This, no doubt, may be dispensed
with, and so might the whole ceremo-
ny of trial, since sentence was already
pronounced at the castle, before your
jury was impanneled; your loTdships
are but the priests of the oracle, and
submit; but insist on the whole Of the
forms Here the court desired him to
proceed
am charged with being an emissary
of France An ernissary of France
and for what end2 1t is alleged that
wished to sell the independence of my
country And for what end2 Was this
the object of my ambition2 And is
this tie mode by which tribunal of
Justice reconciles contradictions No
am no emissary; and my ambition
was to hold a place among the deliy-
erers of my country; not in power, nor
in profit, but in the glory of the achieve
ment
Sell my country's independence to
Francel And for what2 Was it for a
change of masters2 Mol But for am
bition o, my country, was it personal
ambition that could influence? had it
been the soul of my actions, could l
not by my education and fortune, by
the rank and consideration of my fami-
ly, have placed myself among the
proudest of my oppressors? My coun-
try was my idol to it / sacrificed every
selfish, every endearing sentiment; and
for it l now offer up my life.
o God No, my lord, | acted as an
Irishman, determined on delivering
my country from the yoke of a foreign
and unrelenting tyranny, and from the
more CALLING yoke Of domestic fac
ton, which is its joint partner and per
petrator in the parricide, for the igno-
miny of existing with an exterior Of
splendor and of conscious depravity.
1t was the wish of my heart TO extri-
cate my country from this dOubly riy-
eted despotism. / wished TO place her
independence beyond the reach of any
power on earth; | wished to exalt you
to that proud station in the world.
have been charged with that i'm
portance in the efforts to emancipate
my country, as to be considered the
key stone of the combination of Irish.
men; or, as your lordship expressed it,
"the blood of conspiracy" You do me
honor oVer-much. You have given TO
the subaltern all the credit of supe-
rior. There sire men engaged in this
conspiracy, which are not only superior
70 me, but even to your own concep-
tions of yourself my lord; men, before
the splendor of whose genius and vir-
tues | should bow with respectful defer
ence, and who would think themselves
dishonored to be called your friend,
who would not disgrace themselves by
shaking your blood-stained hand
Here he loaS interrupted
What, my lord, shall you tell me, on
the passage to that scafiold, which that
tyranny, of which you are only the in
termediary executioner, has erected
for my murder, that | am accountable
for all the blood that has. aud will be
shed in this struggle of the oppressed
against the oppressor shall you tell
me this, and must / be so very n slave
as not to repel it?
do not fear to approach the omnip-
otent Judge, TO answer for the conduct
of my whole life; and am ] to be apN
! palled and falsiiied by mere remnant
of mortality here2 By you, too, who,
if it were possible to collect all the in
nccent blood that you have shed in
your unhsllowed ministry in one great
reservoir, your lordship might swim in
it.
Here the Judge iHteyfTed
Let no man dare, when | am dead
! to charge me with dishonor; let no man
attRint my memory by believing that
could have engaged in any cause but
that of my country's liberty and indie
. pendence; or that could have become
3 the plant minion of power in the op
t preston or the miseries of my country
J men. The proclamation of the pro
9 visionsl government speaks for oul
D views no inference can be tortured
D from it to cOuntenance barbarity or de
D basement at home, or subsection, hu
a initiation, or treachery from abroad
l would not have submitted TO foreign
, oppressor, for the same reason that
g would resist the foreign and domestic
5 oppressor; in the dignity of freedom
j would have fought upon the threshold
D of my country, and its enemy should
$ enter only by passing over my hielesi
a corpse.
Am |, who lived but for my country
y and who have subjected myself TO the
dangers of the Jealous and watchful
n oppressor, and the bondage of the grave
J. only to give my countrymen theil
r rights and my country her indepen
v dence, snd | am to be loaded with eel
/. umny, and not suffered to resent2 No
+ God forbid
If the spirits Of the ilustTious deaC
/ participate in the concerns and cares oi
q those who are dear To them in thi.
transitOry life, O, ever dear and venera
e ted shade of my departed father, look
/ down with scrutiny upon the conduci
e of your suffering son, and If ! have
% even for a moment deyiated from those
IS principles Of morality and patriotism
A. which it was your care to instill intC
o my youthful mind, and for which ! an
o now to offer up my life
ls Ny lords you are impatient for the
A. sacrifice the blood which you seek II
n not concealed by the artificial terror
which surround your victim; it circu
" lates warmly and unrufiled through
"a the channels which God created 70
n noble purposes, but which you are de-
r. termined to destroy, for purposes g
n grievous, that they cry TO heaven b
10 vet patient have bat 3 few word
ot more 10 say. am going 70 my col'
To and silent grave my lamp Of life i
Of nearly extinguished; mysrace lis run
n. the grave opens to receive me, and
>. s;rlr into It's bosom
a. have but one request 10 ssk at m.
departure from this world; it is th'
a. charity Of its silence Let no maj
Is write ny epitaph; for as no man VIII
n knows my motives daTa aog Vindicst
10 them. let not prejudice or ignorans
~ asperse them Let them and me re
,e pose in obseurity and peace, and N
=. tomb remain uninscFibed, until othe
In times. and atber men, can do justice &
nav character When ny countr
n. takes Der place among the nations c
of tae earth, then, and not till then, le
N ray epitaph be written have dOn'
re The Senate Committee on Foreig
&c Relations has determined - repol
fsVorably on the nomination Of les