Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-09-21
Confession of Henry L. Valance.

| great law of right owes to his fellow
men. 1t has been my lot to be con-
cemed in an event, the noise Of which
has filed the whole land, and whose
effects are even now felt in the politics
of this great country. | allude to the
abduction and murder of the ill-fated
WILLIAM MORGAN, who fell vic
tim to mistaken sense of duty on the
part Of few persons, and for whose
"taking-off" all the members Of a vast
and time-honored and most useful insti-
tuition were held responsible by an eX-
asperated people Ny object is to make
a FULL CONFESSION, not in the belief
that any good canresult to myself from
such procedure, but to do an act of
simple Justice to others, and to express
my contrition that | ever should have
been engaged in so lawless and high
handed a deed. 1t is all that | can do,
and l perform my part with emotions
Of the most livelyregTet that it is not in
my power to accomplish mOre,-to re-
turn life to the murdered, a husband to
the wife, and father to desolate and
helpless orphans.
1t is not my intention to trouble the
world with IN account Of my life pre-
yious to my being engaged in the un-
hallowed deed which has for years
poisoned my existence, and the effects
Of which now weigh upon my heart,
cauSingmc to tremble from the dread
Of that "iudgmcnt to come" which
awaits Us all, which must harrow up
the feelings of the innocent man, and
therefore must be thousand times
more terrible to those whose hands are
ensangumcd with the innocent blood
The world would not probably thank
me for my confidence, wereit bestowed;
and perhaps my strength would not
admit Of my doing the subject justice,
and | am warned that the sands in my
Iife's glass are fast running out. Let it
suffice, that my name is HENRY /.
/ VALANCE, that | am an Engi>hmm
by birth, and that | had the good for
tune to belong to class in life to which
are opened the full advantages Of edu-
cation; advantages which | improved
to considerable extent, and which
might have been the means OF render
ING me an honored member Of the soci-
ctv, rather than Its enemy. Nor shall |
dwell upon the acts OF my life previous
to my concern in the murder of Morgan;
it needs only that should say, that |
had led an unsettled career, and had
taken part in variety Of adventures
not calculated to increase the strength
Of any idea that Knight originally have
entertained of the sacrcdnesS Of life
The state of the world from about the
time that | became legally Of age down
to the wear that | came to America,WaS
favorable to all who were fond of an
adventurous life. Such was my imcli-
nation, and in different quarters of the
globe it happened to me to perform
parts in important events, and mt a pc
p riod Of life when men are ordinarily
not freed from home influences. | had
seen not "A few OF the most noted rcvo-
, lutioniSts of the a@e-mcn who have
won names in history, while the subor-
dinate players have been, even if they
were ever heard of, utterly forgotten.
; was twcuty-niuc wears Of age when
came to America This was in 1S22
lived in Canada, but in what part Of
that country | shall not particularly
state Nv life there was more settled
than it had been, and | was in a fair
way Of becoming as good amm rs most
of those whom we commonly find in
the world, when circumstances occur
red which resulted in my being outlaw
ed, and made the enemy of all who re-
gard the obligations of morals and Of
society, as they in turn were made my
enemies For some wears had been a
member Of the Masonic Fraternity, in
which | had attained to the honorable
degree Of Master Mason. have no
hesitation in saving, that the effect of
this association on me had been good.
and that had | construed my obli@a-
tionS in the spirit which marked then
:, administration. and which Is ALWAYS
incuIcatcd in Masonic mcetings,I should
never been guilty Of that terrible career
] never heard, either in the lodge or
from individual members thereof. any
thing that would have warranted the
. pcrpctration of crime. The object OF
0 the fraternity was always explained t,
bc promotion Of good among men by
the practice of benevolent acts. 1t l.
s true that the imperative necessity of
observing our obligations was Otter
dweIt upon, bat never-no, never-wa>
anything uttered that the most Jesuit
icaIlv inclined intellect could with {
shadow Of reason have interpreted into
either permission or Justification OF
l. blood-guiltiness. l say this in justice
to the men who have been made to sui
fer through the mad folly Of mySel
~ and few other misguided men, Mis-
guided, | mean, by a blind zeal in be
. half ofn order to which they were ut
e tached, and to maintain the aScendency
of which they believed would warrant
. the preparation Of the foulest wrong
= which one man, or society, can suffer
at the hands Of human beings.
In the early part of the summer OF
y 1896, it was rumOred among MasOn>
= that the order was about to be assaileC
by one Of its members, who, from the
mere desire Of making money, was tax
/, ing measures for publishing to the worlC
d all that constituted its secrets. 1t wa.
in the United States that this injury t
" the craft was to be perpetrated, but thi
did not prevent the occurrence of con
siderable sensation on the subiec
among Canadian MasonS, especial,
among those of their number who liveC
u near to the American line, which untor
tunately happened to be my case. Va
rious opinions were expressed i'll tn
conversations that grew out of the mat
ter. BY far the largest number were O
opinion that Morgan and his publication
should be treated with silent contempt
in the hope that thereby the worl,
would fall into the belief that it ha,
been imposed upon. They argued tha
all that could be published must nece,
i. Sarily fall so greatly short of popula
expectation, that if Masons regarde,
the book with silence, and moved no
to the injury of its author, people woul
soon come to the conclusion that the
had been imposed upon, and woul
sufficiently punish the man who ha
+ been false to his obligations. They fol
- titled their argument by reference t
the small weight that had been attache
to previous disclosures Of Masonic 81
crets, to which mankind had absolutel
refused to give credence, utterly dish,
lieving that the secrets of the orde
consisted only i'll its ceremonies, pas
- words, &c. Others, however, were o
" opinion that the perpetration of littl
= violence against the liberty of Morga
les les would be justified by the nature of til
q case, though they expressly disclaime