feel what such men as he who stands
in that dock deserves from humanity and natural justice; for, alas! I
cannot say, from the laws of his country, under the protection of which,
and in the name of which, he and those who resemble him have deluged
that country with innocent blood, laid waste the cabin of the widow and
the orphan, and carried death and desolation wherever they went. But,
gentlemen, I shall stop here, as I do not wish to inflict unnecessary
pain upon you, even by this mitigated view of atrocities which have
taken place before your own eyes; yet I cannot close this portion of
my address without, referring to so large a number of our
fellow-Protestants with pride, as I am sure their Roman Catholic friends
do with gratitude. Who were those who, among the Protestant party, threw
the shield of their name and influence over their Catholic neighbors
and friends? Who, need I ask? The pious, the humane, the charitable,
the liberal, the benevolent, and the enlightened. Those were they who,
overlooking the mere theological distinctions of particular doctrines,
united in the great and universal creed of charity, held by them as a
common principle on which they might meet and understand and love each
other. And indeed, gentlemen of the jury, there cannot be a greater
proof of the oppressive spirit which animates this penal and inhuman
code than the fact that so many of those, for whose benefit it
was enacted, resisted its influence, on behalf of their Catholic
fellow-subjects, as far as they could, and left nothing undone to
support the laws of humanity against those of injustice and oppression.
When the persecuted Catholic could not invest his capital in the
purchase of property, the generous Protestant came forward, purchased
the property in his own name, became the _bona fide_ proprietor, and
then transferred its use and advantages to his Catholic friend. And
again, under what roof did the hunted Catholic priest first take refuge
from those bloodhounds of persecution? In most cases under that of his
charitable and Christian brother, the Protestant clergyman. Gentlemen,
could there be a bitterer libel upon the penal laws than the notorious
facts which I have the honor of stating to you?

"The facts which have placed the prisoner at the bar before you are
these, and in detailing them I feel myself placed in circumstances of
great difficulty, and also of peculiar delicacy. The discharge, however,
of a public duty, wh