Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1894-05-11
= ACKNOWLEDGEMENT under oath in the sight

| lie acknowledgement under oath in the sight
of God, of the Court and of the country.
| As to the numberless charges made by those
! who have conspired to destroy me, enter my
| indignant protest; against the malice which
has coined, the Glendacity which has fabrica
| ted, and the enmity that has uttered, the num-
berless lies against me, in the presence of
you, my friends ard constituents, with all the
| memories that cluster about me and surge up
on nle as | speak to-day, [ protest in the name
Of God and Of honor. For those who have
fabricated and uttered these lies, who, for
low and ignoble motives, have given them
currency who do use them to my hurt, have
only boundless scorn and contempt. l defy
their malice as loathe their mendacity; and
I bring them this day to the bar Of public
! opinion, and in the presence of these witness
es and of this district charge them as base
conspirators. fabricating ISLANDERS for foul
and ignoble ends, and am ready to meet that
issue whenever and wherever it may be de-
sired.
| no DEFENSE TO MAKE.
| But l do not wish this district to conceive
| that have any defense to make for what
| have done, and of which have been guilty
| Entangled by weakness, by passion by sin,
| in coils which it was almost impossible to
break, did everything that was within my
power to prevent a public scandal, except the
| one thing which for no moment ever entered
my mind.
| Your reelection Of me can neither take
| from nor add to the punishment have suffer
ed. 1t has not been hypocrisy that my life
has not been consistently wrong. / knew the
! secret SIM l tried to atone for it in ways that
f, it is not becoming in me to more than allude
to. How many kind words did this atone
ment produce to others? How much of self
control and how much of self-sacrifice? How
much of earnestness and labor in aid of good
things and to good causes? When came to
make public utterance under any circum-
stances to any audience, how cautious was
that no word of mine might tempt others to
be guilty as l was guilty; that in what would
say no trace of what was not noble could he
| found.
| thank God that in the almost numberless
utterances which have made, whether upon
the stump to the most miscellaneous audien-
ces, or to the most select audiences in the most
select places, no word was ever uttered that
would not help the weary and the struggling
wrong doer, that would not give hope to him
when he was downcast. Now that exposure
has come there is an clement Of gladness in
| it. care not now what letters come in my
mail; care not now for the closet door to be
opened-there is no skeleton there; and | can
go into the clear sunlight out of mystery and
look up through the blue skies into the upper
world with tile feeling that there is no cloud
/ there. l am not afraid that from the horizon
will suddenly come clap of thunder and a
flash of lightning that will destroy me and
mine. This is Of the past. will wear with
me the scars but will not longer carry the
dread. l will come out of that storm, how
ever long it may last, in some respects con-
| conqueror. Sweet domestic relations which 1
absolutely need, and out of which have no
life, are mine.
Theloyalty and the devotion of the children
given to Ne have not been lost. Learned pro-
fessors, in vituperative language, in the name
of God, may wantonly wound the hearts of
those who love me; they cannot estrange them
from me. They who speak in the name of the
crucfied Savior, whose mission it was to bind
up the broken heart and to wipe away the
tears, may make the wounds bleed afresh,
but they cannot take from me the comfort Of
their daily ministration, nor remove from me
the precious consolation OF their love. I enter
the future with unimpaired physical health;
l am able to do the labor that may be required
Of me- 1 enter it, too, with unimpaired men
tai vigor. l have passed through the fire,
and in that future those who still love me
will be vindicated for their constancy, and
those who conspred to destroy me will feel
glad that their conspiracy was unsuccessful.
The extent Of my guilt was truthfully con-
fessed by me to it's uttermost boundaries, with
out justification OF palliatOn. To that extent
was guilty; beyond that was innocent
Whatever charge of any kind made against
me by any person, not confessed in that SOL
emn testimony, for the truth of which APP
pealed to God, is false. I desire this acknowl-
edgement and denial to be fully understood.
that there may be no misunderstanding here
after In your presence to-day, and in the
presence Of the district, repeat that for that
sin of which was guilty, l have no justitica-
ton, no palliation, and | ask no conformation.
When David fled from Jerusalem to meet
the Instruction of Absolom, as he came to
Baburim, Shimei, the son of Cara, came forth
and cursed him as he came and cast stones at
him. May l, who have been cursed, at whom
somewhat of the consolation which David
took? He had sinned, he had confessed that
sin, he had bowed himself into the dust be-
fore Him who had crowned him with inesti-
mable and numberleSs benedictions, but who
had not deposed him from the Thrones who
| had not set him aside for inferior and less
worthy men; who still trusted him with the
government Of his chosen and peculiar people;
and now to those around him he stilled their
wrath and those who had cursed him, with the
fruitful declaration cit may he that the
Lord will look on mine affection, aud that the
| Lord will reGuite me coed for his cursing this
day.
Ifelt that here was the proper place for me
to first speak in the canvass which is APP
preaching and after what has occurred. For
nine months have borne in silence all that
has been said against me. Here, among the
people who have known me since my boy
hood l tender once more to the district which
has honored me my service as its representa-
tive. During the terms have held your com
mission, as to all that was PUBLIC, as to every
thing that pertained to the services of the
country and to you, [ can, with clear con-
science and with uplifted face. declare that
have performed those duties to the very best
of my ability.
! AS to all that have no defence or apollo
gy. Nor has the guilt which have acknoWl-
! edged robbed me of my manhood, of my
courage, of my earnestness to aid good causes
OF of my capacity to do good labor 1t has not
diminished my loyalty to my friends, my al
legiance to truth OF my devotion to prnci-
pie. 1t has not weakened my love for you
and this precious district, for the state with
which my destin;es are enwrapped, for the
country whose glory is dear to my heart nor
has it obliterated the passionate love for my
feilow-men which has always dominated me-
II some one in your midst can better do the
,Nnrk ut done a renrnSnnta a