Year: 1859

Wlrn THE PERMISSION OF TIE COURT
Gentlemen Of the Jury: The place
occupy in standing before you at this
time is one clothed with iresponsi.
bllty as weighty and as delicate as
was ever assigned to an advocate in
behalf of an unfortunate tellow.man.
No language that can employ could
give any additional force to the cir.
cunstances by which am surrounded
and which press so heavily on the
public mind as well as on my own.--
] come, too, as a stranger to each one
Of you. Your faces know only by the;
common image we bear to our Maker
but, in your exalted character of citi>
zens of the ancient and proud Com.
monwealth of Virginia, and of the
American Union, | bear to you pass.
port oi friendship and letter of in
PRODUCTION.


come from the sunset side of your
Western mountains--lrom beyond tho
rivers that now skirt the borders of
your great State; bat leone not as the
alien to foreign land, but rather as
one who returns to the home of his
ancestors, and to the household from
which he sprang. | come here not as
an enemy, but as a friend; with inter.
ests common with yourselves, hoping
for your hopes, and praying that the
prosperity and glory of Virginia may
be perpetual. Nor do | forget that
the very soil on which live in my
Western home was once owned by
the venerable Commonwealth as much
as the soil on which now stand.--
Her laws there once prevailed, and
all her institutions were there estab.
Iished as they Are here. Not only my
own State Of Indiana, but also four
other great States in the Northwest,
stand as enduring and lofty monu.
mcnts 70 Virginia's M gnanimity and
princely liberality. Her donation to
the general government made them
sovereign States; and since God gave
the fruitful land ofCanaan to Moses and
Israel, such a gift Of present and fu.
ture empire has never been made to
any people. Coming from the bosom
of one of these S ates, can forget
the fcally and duty which owe to the
Gsa4ty and duty which'l owe to the su-
prcmacy of your laws, the sacrcdness
of your citizenship, or the sovereignty
Of your State. Rather may the child
forget its parent and smite with un-
natural hand the author of its being.


The mission on which have visited
your State is to me, and to those who
are with me, one full of the bitter
ness and poison of calamity and gricl.
The high, the sacred, the holy duty of
private friendship for family fondly
beloved by all who have ever wit
messed their illustrations of the purest
social virtues, commands, andsalonc
commands my presence here. And,
while they are overwhelmed by the
terrible blow which has fallen upon
them through the action of the mis- Z.
guided young man at the bar, yet !
speak their sentiments as well as my
own when say that one qualification
pure and unalloyed, has been afforded
since our melancholy arrival in your
midst. 1t has been to witness the
progress of this court from day to
day, surrounded by all that is calcula-
ted to bias the minds Of men. but
pursuing with calmness, with dignity,
and impartiality the true course Of the
law and the even pathway of justice.
| would not be true to the dictates OF
my own heart and judgment did ] not
bear voluntary and emphatic witness
to the wisdom and patient kindness Of
his honor on the bench, the manly and
generous spirit which has characters
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