Excerpt from Speech of Robert Wickliffe, in Reply to the Rev. R. J. Breckenridge: Delivered in the Court House, in Lexington, on Monday, the 9th November, 1840 As these are a summary of the personal attacks upon me, exclusive Of what he has connected with what he intended to pass for his defence; and as the gentleman refused tg'ctffiimence his argument until 3 o'clock. (though the house was tendered to him at 12, by the Courtfl with a view of escaping a reply from me, I will, late as it is, endeavor to dis pose of his assaults upon my character, before you who have heard him. And who can't be here to-mnrrow shall depart And before I adduce the damning records of his guilt and turpitude, I must again call your 'at tention to the conduct of this individual. He'came here, or has b brought, as he with uplifted hands and eyes declares, by the Providence of God, to defend. Himself against gross slanders on his pure and im maculate charaeter and his beloeed Church. And how does this sai'nt commence? Why, by bringing up my private and individual affairs be fore you, What is it to his innocence, if I am an abolitionist-an amal What is it to his character. Or to his pay my debts, and plead thelstatute of limita church, 101' to him, that I meanly refuse quarrelled with a, president of a turnpike, and sued the When is it to this parson'pry, that I have, by deed, authorized my wife to lib erate certain family slaves, by her last will or deed, after my death? Were all he has said true, and I guilty of all and each of the ofl'ences he has indicted me for, does it avail to prove that he is not a base slanderer and fabricator'i How indignant should every honorable man feel at the conduct of this, reverend slanderer! Under pretence of de fending himself, he has dragged before the public the private economy and domestic life of his adversary. My private relations with the dead and the living, my domestic and conjugal arrangements are all invaded by this pious gentleman, after prayerfully' seeking guidance from above. Very well, reverend sir, I shall meet you upon each and every point on which you have assailed me, and nail you to the counter as a counter feit Christian, and a gross fabricator. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.