In acceding to the request which has been made to me from various and opposite quarters to publish the following speed), or perhaps I should rather say statement, in a form as accurate as possible, I find it necessary to prefix one or two remarks.
The lateness of the hour at which it was delivered, the promiscuous and discursive nature of the allegations which it was intended to meet, and the number and variety of topics properly belonging to the subject, made it necessary to study compression wherever it could be done without the greatest injustice to my purpose. For this reason I made many references from memory while I had the originals in my hands, and in some, perhaps frequent instances, gave to my statements the appearance of being unsupported, while they were, in fact, of the most authentic description. Omissions of this description I have endeavoured partially to supply, while collecting, as faithfully as was in my power, the substance of the speech, by the aid of such necessarily brief reports as the newspapers have supplied.
