1. extenuate, palliate, mitigate -- (lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of; "The circumstances extenuate the crime")
2. relieve, alleviate, palliate, assuage -- (provide physical relief, as from pain; "This pill will relieve your headaches")
1.
"Yes, yes, you are right," said he "I have plenty of faults of my own I know it, and I don't wish to palliate them, I assure you. - from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte