been mistaken in his views as to matters of human right;
but, as to violating what he believed to be duty, there
is not the slightest evidence that such was his
character, but abundance to the contrary. He is found
under circumstances that make him amenable to the law;
let him be tried,--I do not gainsay that; but let him
have the common sentiments of humanity extended toward
him, even if he be guilty.

"The point urged against him with such earnestness--I
may say vehemence--is, not that he took the slaves
merely, but that he took them with design to steal. His
confessions are dwelt upon, stated and overstated, as
you will recollect. But consider under what
circumstances these alleged confessions were made. There
are circumstances which make such statements very
fallacious. Consider his excitement--his state of
health; for it is in evidence that he had been out of
health, suffering with some disorder which required his
head to be shaved. Consider the armed men that
surrounded him, and the imminent peril in which he
believed his life to be. It is great injustice to brand
him with the foul epithet of liar for any little
discrepancies, if such there were, in statements made
under such circumstances. Other matters have been forced
in, of a most extraordinary character, to prejudice his
case in your eyes. It has been suggested--the idea has
been thrown out, again and again--that, under pretence
of helping them to freedom, he meant to sell these
negroes. This suggestion, which outruns all reason and