"So much has been said and written on the subject of the late affair at
Fulton, that the Public by this time must have had nearly _quantum
sufficit_; yet I deem it not improper on my own behalf to add a remark
or two. I shall not undertake to describe in detail, the murderous
outrage intended to be inflicted on a quiet and unoffending man--that is
not of much consequence now.

"I wish now simply to show the public, that those who made the onslaught
upon me on Sabbath evening, a week ago, acted no less like a pack of
fools than a pack of devils; and this can be shown almost in a single
word, by stating that the whole story of my intention of being married
on the evening in question, or that I went to Fulton intending to
consummate an affair of the kind at any period of my recent visit there,
is a fabrication from the beginning to the end. The wretch who 'fixed
up' just such a story as he thought would inflame the rabble to take my
life, will yet, I trust, meet with deserved scorn and contempt from a
community who, whatever may be their prejudice against my color, have,
nevertheless, a high sense of what belongs to their own honor and
dignity, and to the character and reputation of their village.

"I make this statement with regard to this matter of marriage, not
because I regard myself as amenable to the public to state to them
_whom_ or _when_ I shall marry, but that since so much has been said
upon the subject, I am quite willing they should know the truth as it
is. They are tyrants, and very little-hearted, and exceedingly
muddy-headed ones at that, who will presume to take a matter of this
kind out of the hands of the parties to whom it specifically belongs,
and who are acting law-abidingly and honorably in the premises.