"I was born in England in humble circumstances, and had little early education. For some years I devoted my life to religious work, being an authorized lay preacher in the Methodist denomination. I came to this country and settled in Chicago. At all times I was obedient to the law and conducted myself as a good citizen. I was a teamster and worked hard for my daily bread. My personal conduct and my domestic life were beyond reproach. "Some three years or more ago I was deeply stirred by the condition of the working classes, and sought to do what I could for their betterment. I did this honestly, and with no sinister motive. I never sought any personal advantage out of the agitation in which I was engaged. I was gifted, as I was flattered and led to believe, with the faculty of stirring an audience with my words, and it was said that I was eloquent. I began delivering addresses to assemblages of the working classes, and spoke of their wrongs as I saw them. None of my speeches were prepared nor in any sense studied, and often they were born in an hour of intense excitement. It is true that I have said things in such heat that in calmer moments I should not have said. I made violent speeches. I suggested the use of force as a means for righting the wrongs which seemed to me to be apparent. "I cannot admit that I used all of the words imputed to me by the State, nor can I pretend to remember the actual phrases I did utter. I am conscious, however, as I have said, that I was frequently aroused to a pitch of excitement which made me in a sense irresponsible. I was intoxicated with the applause of my hearers, and the more violent my language the more applause I received. My audience and myself mutually excited each other. I think, however, it is true that, for sensational or other purposes, words were put into my mouth and charged to me which I never uttered; but, whether this be true or not, I say now that I no longer believe it proper that any class of society should attempt to right its own wrongs by violence. I can now see that much that I said under excitement was unwise, and all this I regret. It is not true, however, that I ever consciously attempted to incite any man to the commission of crime. Although I do admit that I belonged to an organization which was engaged at one time in preparing for a social revolution, I was not engaged in any conspiracy to manufacture or throw bombs. I never owned or carried a revolver in my life and did not fire one at the Haymarket. I had not the slightest idea that the meeting at the Haymarket would be other than a peaceable and orderly one, such as I had often addressed in this city, and was utterly astounded at its bloody outcome,