assisted in the construction of the Illinois and Michigan
Canal. He has been for some years past a prominent dealer in
grain, has acquired a competency by enterprise and industry,
and is considered one of the most upright and intelligent
citizens in the community. The following Plea, made by him
before the Court, evinces true nobility of soul, the highest
moral integrity, the most generous humanity, and genuine
manly eloquence. Let it be read in every household, so that
the execution of the infamous Fugitive Slave Act, in every
part of the North, shall be rendered impracticable by a
regenerated public sentiment.]

MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT:

I have a few words to say why sentence should not be pronounced
against me. I am found guilty of a violation of the Fugitive Slave
Law, and it may appear strange to your Honor that I have no sense of
guilt. I came, Sir, from the tyranny of the Old World, when but a lad,
and landed upon the American shores, having left my kindred and native
land in pursuit of some place where men of toil would not be crushed
by the property-holding class. Commencing the struggle of life at the
tender age of twelve years, a stranger in a strange land, having to
earn my bread by the sweat of my brow, your Honor will bear with me.
Unaccustomed as I am to appear in Courts, much less to address them,
I have feared that I might fail in bearing myself on this occasion
worthy of the place and the position I occupy, and the great
principles involved in the case before you. I say to your Honor,
therefore, if I fail in observing the usual forms of the place, it
will be from a want of judgment and error of the head, and not of the
heart. Therefore I do not think I shall fare worse at the hands of