injunction so as to give no cause to excite the inflamable part of this community or to injure the feelings of the wounded and sorrowfull portion I truly deprecate and sincerely lament the awful outrage upon the Messrs Smith at it is a catastrophe sufficent to cause the (as such) to mourn, tis a Bloody deed unparralleld and when this generation shall have passed away twill remain an everlasting indelible Bloody stain in our s escutcheon, and a dark spot in the history of our for the latest & last generation of the to shudd[e]r and shrink from with deep regret when contrasted with the chivalrous deeds of our forefathers. The law has been barely trampeled upon the authorities set at defiance the peace of this community broken up and the names of the Smiths immortalized in Bloody Tragedy, the subject cannot be forgot nor their names buried they live and that forever, would to God the Horible catastrophe could have been averted but alas tis done and for its own bloodstaind honour may cry alas— in my own behalf I have nothing to say but can bring indisputable testimony to prove my absence & innocence in this affair I knew not [p. [4]]