Had my early life and associations been such as to predispose me
towards such criminal proceedings, still the want of motive remains.
I can show that no motive did exist. Those who knew me personally can
see that it could not have been avarice, for whenever I possessed even
a small surplus of ready money, those whom I was owing or friends in
need of same could always receive the most or all I possessed. Any
ungovernable temper is excluded, for I do not possess it. Appetence
cannot be ascribed as a motive, age and other circumstances to a great
extent excluding same. The principal motive thus far ascribed, namely,
that I had first involved my alleged victims in, or made them parties
to, dishonest transactions can be excluded, from the fact that all such
transactions are matters of recent date, and almost without exception
they are found to have done nothing criminal. Either one of the
foregoing I should prefer having my supposed shortcomings attributed
to than the only remaining motive I can think of, namely, insanity, to
which, either hereditary or acquired, I can plead not guilty, and be
substantiated in so doing by a sufficient number of medical experts,
whose testimony cannot be lightly overlooked.
Of the three more important cases, first that of the Williams sisters.
Nannie Williams was wholly without means. The following account will
show that had I given Hatch the $500 he wished to borrow of me in
Burlington, there would have been little due Nannie Williams; nothing
in fact, if I had included various small sums paid her from time to
time, of which no account was kept. It should also be borne in mind
that she still holds the title to the $10,000 Wilmette property, which,
on this account, is valueless to me.