I can only hope and pray that this
prejudice will disappear--that my poor country will right
herself some day, and that her people, so far from being
looked upon with scorn and aversion, will receive what they
are entitled to, the respect not only of the civilized world,
but of Englishmen. I, too, am an American citizen, and on
English territory I have committed no crime which makes me
amenable to the crown of England. I have done nothing; and, as
a matter of course, I did expect protection--as this gentleman
(pointing to Allen) has said, the protection of the ambassador
of my government. I am a citizen of the State of Ohio; but
I am sorry to say my name is not Shore. My name is Edward
O'Meagher Condon. I belong to Ohio, and there are loving
hearts there that will be sorry for this. I have nothing but
my best wishes to send them, and my best feelings, and assure
them I can die as a Christian and an Irishman; and that I
am not ashamed or afraid of anything I have done, or the
consequences, before God or man. They would be ashamed of me
if I was in the slightest degree a coward, or concealed my
opinions. The unfortunate divisions of our countrymen in
America, have, to a certain extent, neutralized the efforts
that we have made either in one direction or another for
the liberation of our country.
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