I do not intend to pollute my pages with any sketch of the lawyers' pleas. They were able, without doubt, and erudite, and ingenious; but they were founded, nevertheless, on an atrocious assumption. For they assumed that the statutes of the State were just; and, therefore if the prisoner should be proven guilty of offending against them, that it was right that he should suffer the penalty they inflict. This doctrine every Christian heart must scorn; John Brown, at least, despised it; and so also, to be faithful to his memory, and my own instincts, must I.[465]
On November 1st the Court heard Mr. Chilton's motion in arrest of judgment; reserving its decision upon it until the next day. During the afternoon of November 2d, Brown was brought into court for the final scene of the trial. After Mr. Chilton's motion had been overruled. Brown was ordered to rise, and when asked by the clerk if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon him, he delivered the following address:[466]
I have, may it please the Court, a few words to say. In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted,—the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.
I have another objection: and that is, it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case),—had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends,—either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class,—and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.
This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to "remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them." I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done—as I have always freely admitted I have done—in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments,—I submit; so let it be done!
Let me say one word further.
I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my trial. Considering all the circumstances, it has been more generous that I expected. But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from the first what was my intention, and what was not. I never had any design against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, or excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that kind.
Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements made by some of those connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one of them but joined me of his own accord, and the greater part of them at their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation with, till the day they came to me; and that was for the purpose I have stated.
Now I have done.
Judge Parker then pronounced the sentence of death upon Brown, fixing the 2d of December, 1859, as the date for the execution of it, and directing that the execution should be public. He then ordered all persons present to remain in their seats until the prisoner was removed. "There was prompt obedience and John Brown reached his cell unharmed, without even hearing a taunt."[467]
There is conflict between the "authorities" as to the manner in which Brown delivered his speech to the Court. In describing the scene, Mr. Villard gave rein to his bias in this choice flight:
Drawing himself up to his full stature, with flashing eagle eyes and calm, clear and distinct tones, John Brown again addressed, not the men who surrounded him but the whole body of his countrymen, North, South, East and West.[468]
Mr. Redpath, who has not, in this history, overlooked any favorable opportunity to indulge his penchant, is not a bit dramatic in his statement of what occurred. He says that when the clerk directed Brown to stand and say why sentence should not be passed upon him, that "he rose and leaned slightly forward, his hands resting on the table. He spoke timidly—hesitatingly, indeed—and in a voice singularly gentle and mild. But his sentences came confused from his mouth, and he seemed to be wholly unprepared to speak at this time. Types can give no intimation of the soft and tender tones, yet calm and manly withal, that filled the Court room, and, I think touched the hearts of many who had come only to rejoice at the heaviest blow their victim was to suffer."[469]
It appears then, that Mr. Villard has framed and given out an exaggeration of the performance; but it is unfortunate that the subject-matter of the speech, fails to measure up to the height of the exalted standard which has been set for the occasion. When one to whom a prodigal biographer has attributed a pair of flashing eagle eyes, drawls himself up to his full stature, and addresses the whole body of his countrymen, he ought to be truthful as well as dramatic. It is bad form for an orator under such circumstances, to make statements which are not true; it mars the dignity of his utterances, and dwarfs the stateliness of his eloquence. Also, it is embarrassing for a hero to be compelled to retract his more heroic periods, as in this case, after they have "thrilled the world."
On the 18th of October, Brown, in answer to a question, had distinctly stated to Governor Wise and others, that it was not his purpose to run the slaves out of the country; but that he "designed to put arms in their hands to defend themselves against their masters, and to maintain their position in Virginia and in the South. That, in the first instance, he expected they and the non-slave-holding whites would flock to his standard as soon as he got a footing there, at Harper's Ferry; and, as his strength increased, he would gradually enlarge the area under his control, furnishing a refuge for the slaves, and a rendezvous for all whites who were disposed to aid him, until eventually he overrun the whole South...."[470]
Later, when Governor Wise called Brown's attention to the discrepancy between these statements and the statement which he had made in the opening paragraph of his speech to the Court on November 2d, he retracted what he had said to the Court, and wrote the following letter, to Mr. Hunter, explaining the dereliction:[471]
Charlestown, Jefferson County, Va.
November 22, 1859.
Dear Sir: I have just had my attention called to a seeming confliction between the statement I made to Governor Wise and that which I made at the time I received my sentence, regarding my intentions respecting the slaves we took about the Ferry. There need be no such confliction, and a few words of explanation will, I think, be quite sufficient. I had given Governor Wise a full and particular account of that, and when called in court to say whether I had anything further to urge, I was taken wholly by surprise, as I did not expect my sentence before the others. In the hurry of the moment, I forgot much that I had before intended to say, and did not consider the full bearing of what I then said. I intended to convey the idea, that it was my object to place the slaves in a condition to defend their liberties, if they would, without any bloodshed, but not that I intended to run them out of the slave States. I was not aware of any such apparent confliction until my attention was called to it, and I do not suppose that a man in my then circumstances should be superhuman in respect to the exact purport of every word he might utter. What I said to Governor Wise was spoken with all the deliberation I was master of, and was intended for the truth; and what I said in court was equally intended for truth, but required a more full explanation than I then gave. Please make such use of this as you think calculated to correct any wrong impressions I may have given.
Very respectfully yours,
John Brown.
Andrew Hunter, Esq., Present.
Mr. Emerson, in his oration at the funeral services of Abraham Lincoln, held at Concord, April 19th, 1865, saw fit to compare Brown's discredited speech with the greatest orations of time. He said:
His speech at Gettysburg will not easily be surpassed by words on any recorded occasion. This and one other American speech, that of John Brown to the court that tried him, and a part of Kossuth's speech at Birmingham, can only be compared with each other, and with no fourth.[472]
But is this comparison really relevant? Will the historian accept Mr. Emerson's comparison of this exhibit of Brown's prevarication, with the immortal words of the immortal Lincoln? The speeches are characteristic of the men who uttered them. Mr. Lincoln did not begin his sublime oration with a falsehood. Brown made a speech October 25th, which was truly an heroic utterance and deserving of a place in history.[473] His words on that occasion, were hurled at his enemies, the "Virginians" whom he addressed. That speech was as characteristic of his splendid courage, as his speech of November 2d, was of his craftiness, for John Brown was as brave as he was crafty.
In a letter to Governor Wise, Mr. Fernando Wood commended him for the firmness and moderation which had characterized the Governor's course in the emergency, and asked, if he dared to "do a bold thing and temper justice with mercy? Have you nerve enough to send Brown to State's Prison instead of hanging him?" He thought Brown should not be hung, "though Seward should, and would be if he could catch him." The Governor replied that he had nerve enough to send him to prison and would do so if he didn't think he ought to be hung and that he would be inexcusable for mitigating his punishment. "I could do it," he said, "without flinching, without a quiver of a muscle against a universal clamor for his life." Continuing he said: "He shall be executed as the law sentences him, and his body shall be delivered over to surgeons, and await the resurrection without a grave in our soil. I have shown him all the mercy which humanity can claim."[474]
Immediately after Brown's incarceration, a movement was started by Mr. Higginson to have Mrs. Brown go to Harper's Ferry to visit her husband. But when the information reached Brown, he peremptorily forbade her coming; wiring Mr. Higginson: "For God's sake don't let Mrs. Brown come. Send her word by telegraph wherever she is."[475]
This arbitrary action should not excite surprise. There was no atonement that Brown could make for the ruin which he had wrought: for the dead who would never return. There were no words that he could say which would carry consolation to this woman's stricken heart, nor was it possible for him to make any rift in the clouds of her unutterable woe. He shrank, instinctively, from a presence of the bleeding heart of the woman whom he had wronged. November 9th, he wrote to Mr. Higginson:
If my wife were to come here just now it would only tend to distract her mind TEN FOLD; and would only add to my affliction; and can not possibly do me any good. It will also use up the scanty means she has to supply Bread & cheap but comfortable clothing, fuel, &c. for herself & children through the winter. DO PERSUADE her to remain at home for a time (at least) till she can learn further from me. She will receive a thousand times the consolation AT HOME that she can possibly find elsewhere. I have just written her there & will write her CONSTANTLY. Her presence here would deepen my affliction a thousand fold. I beg of her to be calm and submissive; & not to go wild on my account. I lack for nothing & was feeling quite cheerful before I heard she talked of coming on—I ask her to compose her mind & to remain quiet till the last of this month; out of pity to me. I can certainly judge better in the matter than any one ELSE. My warmest thanks to yourself and all other kind friends.
God bless you all. Please send this line to my afflicted wife by first possible conveyance.[476]
In a letter addressed to his wife and children, dated November 8th, he said:[477]
... I wrote most earnestly to my dear and afflicted wife not to come on for the present, at any rate. I will now give her my reasons for doing so. First, it would use up all scanty means she has, or is at all likely to have, to make herself and children comfortable hereafter. For let me tell you that the sympathy that is now aroused in your behalf may not always follow you. There is but little more of the romantic about helping poor widows and their children than there is about trying to relieve poor "niggers." Again, the little comfort it might afford us to meet again would be dearly bought by the pains of a final separation. We must part; and I feel assured for us to meet under such dreadful circumstances would only add to our distress. If she comes on here, she must be only a gazing-stock throughout the whole journey, to be remarked upon in every look, word, and action, and by all sorts of creatures, and by all sorts of papers, throughout the whole country. Again, it is my most decided judgment that in quietly and submissively staying at home vastly more of generous sympathy will reach her, without such dreadful sacrifice of feeling as she must put up with if she comes on. The visits of one or two female friends that have come on here have produced great excitement, which is very annoying; and they cannot possibly do me any good. Oh, Mary! do not come, but patiently wait for the meeting of those who love God and their fellow-men, where no separation must follow. "They shall go no more out forever." I greatly long to hear from some one of you, and to learn anything that in any way affects your welfare. I sent you ten dollars the other day; did you get it? I have also endeavored to stir up Christian friends to visit and write to you in your deep affliction. I have no doubt that some of them, at least, will heed the call. Write to me, care of Captain John Avis, Charlestown, Jefferson County, Virginia....
The thirty days ensuing November 2d, were days of great anxiety for the Virginia authorities. It was natural that they should suspect that schemes would be formed to rescue Brown from his impending fate. In this they were not mistaken. In fact the planning to effect his rescue was begun as soon as it became known that he was not seriously wounded; and it is probable that something in this direction might have been attempted, if the schemers had received any encouragement from the prisoner. But to the man who had planned and dreamed of conquest, as Brown had planned, and dreamed, their scheming was the merest of trifling; they had no conception of daring and striving, as he had dared and striven. As to heroics, he was blasé. In the collapse of his great undertaking he had had a surfeit of tragedies and disappointments. The heart of the man of iron was subdued. And there can be no doubt that, at this supreme hour in his life, the world looked small to John Brown. He had toyed with it as with a bauble, and was ready to throw it away. Besides, he had too often measured situations, and calculated the chances for success against formidable odds, to waste any time with adventures such as, in his opinion, his rescuers were capable of executing. Hence, when Mr. Hoyt informed Brown, October 28th, that a plan was being formed to storm the jail and set the prisoners free, he promptly refused to encourage the attempt. Conveying Brown's reply to Mr. Le Barnes, October 30th, Mr. Hoyt wrote:
There is no chance of his (Brown's) ultimate escape: there is nothing but the most unmitigated failure, and the saddest consequences which it is possible to conjure, to ensue upon an attempt at rescue. The country all around is guarded by armed patrols and a large body of troops are constantly under arms. If you hear anything about such an attempt, for Heaven's sake do not fail to restrain the enterprise.
The planning for his rescue, however, did not cease because Brown disapproved of any attempt being made to execute such plans. Mr. Villard, on pages 511 to 528, gives a full and very interesting account of various schemes that were proposed to accomplish something, by force, in Brown's behalf; as well as of the precautionary measures that were taken by the Virginians to prevent the possibility of a rescue.
Mr. Stearns, thinking that Charles Jennison was a co-philanthropist, sought to enlist him and James Stewart in one of these schemes. Naturally he received no reply. The plan for another Kansas rescue measure was to be communicated to Brown by a young Kansas woman—Miss Mary Partridge. She was to visit Brown in his cell at Charlestown; embrace him affectionately and, incidentally, put a paper containing the plan of the rescue into his mouth.[478]
Mr. Lysander Spooner, of Boston, proposed to kidnap Governor Wise, carry him out to sea on a fast-going boat, and hold him as a hostage for Brown. Mr. Le Barnes worked out the scheme. He found the man who would undertake to execute the job; and a boat that would steam fifteen to eighteen knots an hour could be had for $5,000 to $7,000. The expedition would cost $10,000 to $15,000. But the necessary funds were not forthcoming and the scheme failed. Another plan was for an open invasion of Jefferson County, Virginia. The volunteer forces that were coming from Kansas under Colonel Hinton, as reported by rumor, were to be consolidated with smaller forces that were being organized in Ohio, under John Brown, Jr., and to these were to be added the "volunteers from New York City and Boston." They were all to unite near Charlestown; "make a cross country rush on that town and, after freeing the prisoners, they were to seize the horses of the cavalry companies and escape." "Dr. Howe," it is said, "suggested that they be armed with 'Orisini' bombs and hand-grenades, in lieu of artillery." Money was wanted for this campaign, "fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars by Tuesday morning the 29th, and five hundred or a thousand dollars the day after." Mr. Le Barnes, Mr. James Redpath, and Mr. Sanborn seem to have been at the front, in the promotion of these visionary schemes. Mr. Hoyt, in the meantime, returned from a fruitless mission to Ohio, to raise funds, and reported that no money could be had in that quarter. Upon receiving this report Mr. Sanborn "gave up the undertaking and wired Le Barnes to return."
October 31st, Brown wrote the following letter to his family:[479]
My Dear Wife, & Children Every One
I suppose you have learned before this by the newspapers that Two weeks ago today we were fighting for our lives at Harpers ferry: that during the fight Watson was mortally wounded; Oliver killed, Wm. Thompson killed, & Dauphin slightly wounded. That on the following day I was taken prisoner immediately after which I received several Sabre-cuts in my head; & Bayonet stabs in my body. As nearly as I can learn Watson died of his wound on Wednesday the 2d or on Thursday the 3d day after I was taken.
Dauphin was killed when I was taken; & Anderson I suppose also. I have since been tried, & found guilty of Treason, etc; and of murder in the first degree. I have not yet received my sentence. No others of the company with whom you were acquainted were, so far as I can learn, either killed or taken. Under all these terrible calamities; I feel quite cheerful in the assurance that God reigns; & will overrule all for his glory; & the best possible good. I feel no consciousness of guilt in the matter; nor even mortification on account of my imprisonment; & irons; & I feel perfectly sure that very soon no member of my family will feel any possible disposition to "blush on my account." Already dear friends at a distance with kindest sympathy are cheering me with the assurance that posterity at least will do me justice. I shall commend you all together, with my beloved; but bereaved daughters in law, to their sympathies which I do not doubt will reach you.
I also commend you all to Him "whose mercy endureth forever:" to the God of my fathers "whose I am; & whom I serve." "He will never leave you nor forsake you," unless you forsake Him. Finally my dearly beloved be of good comfort. Be sure to remember & to follow my advice & my example too: so far as it has been consistent with the holy religion of Jesus Christ in which I remain a most firm, & humble believer. Never forget the poor nor think anything you bestow on them to be lost, to you even though they may be as black as Ebedmelch the Ethiopean eunuch who cared for Jeremiah in the pit of the dungeon; or as black as the one to whom Phillip preached Christ. Be sure to entertain strangers, for thereby some have—"Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them." I am in charge of a jailor like the one who took charge of "Paul & Silas"; & you may rest assured that both kind hearts & kind faces are more or less about me; whilst thousands are thirsting for my blood. "These light afflictions which are but for a moment shall work out for us a far more exceeding & eternal weight of Glory." I hope to be able to write you again. My wounds are doing well. Copy this and send it to your sorrow stricken brothers, Ruth; to comfort them. Write me a few words in regard to the welfare of all. God Allmighty bless you all; & "make you joyful in the midst of all your tribulations." Write to John Brown Charlestown Jefferson Co. Va, care of Capt John Avis.
Your affectionate Husband and Father,
John Brown.
P. S. Yesterday Nov 2d. I was sentenced to be hanged on Decem 2d next. Do not grieve on my account. I am still quite cheerful. God bless you all.
Yours ever J. Brown.
This letter is written in the soft language and in the apparently consecrated spirit that is characteristic of Brown's domestic and social correspondence. But the beauty of his lines is marred, and the sincerity of his purpose in putting them forth, as well as his claims to a Christian character, are discredited by the falsehoods contained in the opening paragraph. Brown was not seriously hurt at Harper's Ferry. He received two wounds, a light dress-sword cut, on the neck and head, and a sword thrust in the body[480] and these he received, not after he had been taken prisoner, but while he was yet bravely fighting. Evidence of what he was doing, when he was struck down, appears in a letter which he wrote November 29th, to Mr. J. G. Anderson concerning one of his captains. He said:[481]
Jeremiah G. Anderson was fighting bravely by my side at Harper's Ferry up to the moment when I fell wounded, and I took no further notice of what passed for a little time....
Brown may have written "the truth concerning his own spirit and composure, in this his first letter from the jail to his family,"[482] but he did not write the truth concerning the character of his wounds, and the conditions under which he received them.
With the freedom of correspondence that was granted to him came Brown's great opportunity, and the masterful manner in which he quickly turned it to his advantage is one of the marvels of this history. Equipped with a vocabulary of devotional phrases and an ample magazine of biblical quotations, this caged soldier of fortune, the would-be Catiline of his generation, stormed the heights of public opinion; and disarming righteousness of its opposition to wrong, won a moral victory as marvelous as it was triumphant. These beautifully devotional letters, that stand as monuments, certifying to an humble Christian character, like flights in oratory, were written with regard for the effect which he desired to accomplish, but without regard for the truth of what he uttered.
The opinion that the letters, which crowned Brown's character with a dignity akin to sanctity, were artfully written, and were not characteristic of him, is not based merely upon a vulgar suspicion. It finds ample justification in the reckless disregard for the truth which prevails throughout the entire series; and in direct evidence. The invasion had failed. Wounded, and a prisoner in irons, with the gallows for his portion, Brown had the opportunity which solitude affords, to contemplate the terrible disaster which had befallen him: the wreck of his hopes; the ruin of his family; their utter wretchedness, and the shame and humiliation which they suffered because of him. In his extremity, he planned how best to meet the problems of his environment; and, substituting the mightier pen for the sword of the great Frederick, which had been stricken from his hand, he began a systematic campaign for a martyr's crown, and for pecuniary assistance for his family, whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself.
November 10th, he disclosed to his wife the plan of this, his final conception: "I have been whipped as the saying is," he said, "but I am sure I can recover all the lost capital occasioned by the disaster; by only hanging a few moments by the neck; & I feel determined to make the utmost possible out of a defeat. I am dayly & hourly striving to gather up what little I may from the wreck."[483]
In reply to a letter from a kinsman, the Rev. Dr. Humphrey of Pottsfield, Massachusetts, he wrote November 25th:[484]
I discover that you labor under a mistaken impression as to some important facts which my peculiar circumstances will in all probability prevent the possibility of my removing; and I do not propose to take up any argument to prove that any motion or act of my life is right. But I will here state that I know it to be wholly my own fault as a leader that caused our disaster....
If you do not believe I had a murderous intention (while I know I had not) why grieve so terribly on my account? The scaffold has but few terrors for me. God has often covered my head in the day of battle, and granted me many times deliverances that were almost so miraculous that I can scarce realize the truth; and now, when it seems quite certain that he intends to use me shall I not most cheerfully go? I may be deceived, but I humbly trust that he will not forsake me "till I have showed his favor to this generation and his strength to every one that is to come...."
October 27th, a Quaker lady wrote to Brown from Newport, Rhode Island:[485]
Captain John Brown.
Dear Friend:—Since thy arrest I have often thought of thee, and have wished that, like Elizabeth Fry toward her prison friends, so I might console thee in thy confinement. But that can never be; and so I can only write thee a few lines which, if they contain any comfort, may come to thee like some little ray of light....
Oh, I wish I could plead for thee as some of the other sex can plead, how I would seek to defend thee! If I now had the eloquence of Portia, how I would turn the scale in thy favor! But I can only pray "God bless thee!" God pardon thee and through our Redeemer give thee safety and happiness now and always!
From thy friend, E. B.
Posing as if in the shadow of the sheltering wings of the Almighty, answering this letter, Brown asserted that he had been the special instrument on earth of a militant Christ, to execute the divine will in Kansas; and incidentally solicited a contribution for his family. He said:[486]
... You know that Christ once armed Peter. So also in my case I think he put a sword into my hand and there continued it so long as he saw best, and then kindly took it from me. I mean when I first went to Kansas. I wish you could know with what cheerfulness I am now wielding the "sword of the spirit" on the right hand and on the left. I bless God that it proves "mighty to the pulling down of strongholds." I always loved my Quaker friends and I commend to their regard my poor bereaved widowed wife and my daughters and daughters-in-law, whose husbands fell at my side. One is a mother and the other likely to become so soon. They, as well as my own sorrow stricken daughters, are left very poor, and have much greater need of sympathy than I, who through Infinite Grace, and the great kindness of strangers, am "joyful in all my tribulations."
Dear Sister, write to them at North Elba, Essex County, N. Y., to comfort their sad hearts. Direct to Mary A. Brown, wife of John Brown....
It may be said of this unsophisticated woman, whose heart was touched by a sympathy undeserved, that if she had known what took place at the humble cabin of the Doyles on the night of May 24, 1856, when the murderous sword, which Brown says Christ placed in his hands, was run through Doyle's breast, (while others of the party secured the helpless widow's and orphans' horses) she would not have made her contribution to this history. Also, Brown's letter to this woman may be taken as an exhibit or sample of the sacrilege and artful dissimulation that is characteristic of his prison correspondence. And, since his claims to sincerity of purpose, and a devotion to humanity depend largely upon this correspondence, it discloses the fiction, wherewith his fame has been promoted. November 29th he wrote to his friend, Mrs. George L. Stearns:[487]
My Dear Friend,—No letter I have received since my imprisonment here, has given me more satisfaction, or comfort, than yours of the 8, instant. I am quite cheerful; & was never more happy. Have only time to write a word. May God forever reward you & all yours. My love to All who love their neighbors. I have asked to be spared from having any mock; or hypocritical prayers made over me, when I am publicly murdered: & that my only religious attendants be poor little, dirty, ragged, bareheaded & barefooted Slave Boys; & Girls led by some old gray-headed Slave Mother. Farewell. Farewell.
The last paper written by John Brown was handed to one of his guards in the jail on the morning of his execution. It read:[488]
I John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.
November 24th Governor Wise wrote to General Taliaferro, giving him directions as follows:
Keep full guard on the line of the frontier from Martinsburg to Harpers Ferry, on the day of 2d. Dec. Warn the inhabitants to arm and keep guard and patrol on that day and for days beforehand. These orders are necessary to prevent seizures of hostages. Warn the inhabitants to stay away and especially to keep the women and children at home. Prevent all strangers, and especially all parties of strangers, from proceeding to Charlestown on 2d of Dec. To this end station a guard at Harper's Ferry sufficient to control crowds on the cars from the East and West. Form two concentric squares around the gallows, and have a strong guard at the jail and for escort to execution. Let no crowd be near enough to the prisoner to hear any speech he may attempt. Allow no more visitors to be admitted to the jail.[489]
Appealing to the President for troops Governor Wise stated that he had reason to believe that an attempt would "be made to rescue the prisoners, and if that fails then to seize citizens of this State as hostages and victims in case of execution."[490]
In addition to the Virginia militia assembled at Charlestown December 2d, were a detachment, 264 men, from the Artillery Corps, United States army, and the corps of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington. These organizations were commanded, respectively, by two men who were soon to win great renown; whose names were to become famous in the world's history for deeds of military glory: Colonel Robert E. Lee and Prof. Thomas J. Jackson.
From the home of Mr. J. M. McKim, in Philadelphia, November 21st, Mrs. Brown addressed a letter to the Governor asking for the "mortal remains of my husband and his sons" for burial, to which he replied as follows:[491]
I am happy, Madam, that you seem to have the wisdom and virtue to appreciate my position of duty. Would to God that "public considerations could avert his doom," for The Omniscient knows that I take not the slightest pleasure in the execution of any whom the laws condemn. May He have mercy on the erring and the afflicted.
Enclosed is an order to Major Genl. Wm. B. Taliaferro, in command at Charlestown, Va. to deliver to your order, the mortal remains of your husband "when all shall be over"; to be delivered to your agent at Harper's Ferry; and if you attend the reception in person, to guard you sacredly in your solemn mission.
With Tenderness and Truth, I am
Very respectfully, your humble servant,
Henry A. Wise.
Under the authority of this letter, Mrs. Brown, in company with Mrs. McKim and Mr. Hector Tyndale, arrived at Harper's Ferry, November 30th. There she received a telegram from the Governor giving her permission to visit her husband, alone, on the following day, stipulating that she return to Harper's Ferry the same evening. She was, accordingly, driven to Charlestown the next afternoon in care of an escort—a sergeant and eight men—of the Fauquier Cavalry, a captain of infantry occupying a seat beside her. When the time came for her to return. Brown begged that her visit might be extended until morning, but, under his orders, the general in command could not grant this request. The hour for the final parting had come; the heart-broken woman, with her grief, returned to Harper's Ferry to await the tragedy of the tomorrow.
December 2d, about an hour before his execution. Brown disposed of the wreckage of his campaign supplies in a "will and codicil" which were written for him by Mr. Hunter.[492] It provided that all his property, being personal property, "which is scattered about in the States of Virginia and Maryland," should be carefully gathered up by his executor and "disposed of to the best advantage and the proceeds thereof paid over to his beloved wife, Mary A. Brown." He trusted that his right to such articles as were not of a "war-like character" and all other property that he might be entitled to might be respected. He appointed Sheriff James W. Campbell, "Executor of this my true last Will, hereby revoking all others." The document was sealed, and witnessed by John Avis, the jailer, and Andrew Hunter.
At 10:30 Brown was notified by the sheriff to prepare for the execution. He then visited his late companions in arms. To all, except Hazlett and Cook, he gave such adieux as he could, in view of the painful circumstances into which he had led them. Hazlett he had refused to recognize when he was first brought before him in the prison, and continued to the end to deny that he had been a member of his band. As to Cook, the relations between them were not cordial. He had stated in his "confession" that Brown had sent him to Harper's Ferry in June, 1858. This Brown denied; and charged Cook with having made false statements, saying, "you know I protested against your coming." To which Cook replied: "Captain Brown, you and I remember differently." Cook may have asked for the Harper's Ferry detail, but Brown must have consented to the arrangement, for he furnished the money to defray the expenses of his going thereto. Cook secured valuable information there, which he reported to Brown, including, among other things, a census of the slave population of that vicinity.[493]
The spectacle which met Brown's gaze as he stepped upon the porch from the door of the jail on his way to the scaffold, could not otherwise than recall to his mind the dreams of conquest and of military glory which he had cherished. Three thousand men—infantry, cavalry, and artillery—were under arms. In admiration of the display—for the "street was full of marching men," he said: "I had no idea that Governor Wise considered my execution so important,"[494] and for that reason, Mr. Villard says, "no little slave-child was held up for the benison of his lips, for none but soldiery was near."
The undertaker's wagon, a two seated vehicle, drawn by two white horses, stood near, the driver and undertaker occupying the front seat. Brown took his place in the second seat between the sheriff—Campbell—and his jailer, Avis. The party then moved to the place of execution. The escort, under the command of Colonel T. P. August, consisted of a company of cavalry under Captain Scott, and a battalion of infantry under Major Loring. On the way to the field, Brown spoke only of unimportant things, the weather and the scenery. "This is a beautiful country," he is reported to have said, "I never had the pleasure of seeing it before." It was a solemn procession, and was void of any effects in heroic phraseology.
The time was ripe for the final metamorphosis of John Brown. A blow of a hatchet cut the cord that linked him to earthly things: The Soldier of Fortune became the historical Soldier of the Cross.
"YET SHALL HE LIVE"
Much ado about nothing.
—Shakespeare
John Brown's fame is an unearned increment. It was secured by misrepresentations put forth by himself and members of his family, and by the Disunionists—"Union-splitters"—of his time, who inspired his final actions. Through these agencies he acquired a creditable rating in history; not because of the things which he did; nor because of the things which he sought to do; but because of the things which were said about him; and because of the things which were done to him. His fame is the result of an exploitation, in eloquent phrases, of virtues, purposes, and motives, which were attributed to him. It has thus been overcapitalized. The stock was watered. In respect to the truth of history, his fame is all "water." It was not based upon fact, but upon fancy; upon untenable conclusions concerning his character, and wildly extravagant and irrelevant assumptions concerning his emotions. These are the sole assets to be found in the appraisement of his public estate.
Of him Mr. Redpath said, in part:
He was too large a man to stand on any platform. He planted his feet on the Rock of Ages—the Eternal truth—and was therefore never shaken in his policy or principles.
He scouted the idea of rest while he held a commission direct from God Almighty to act against Slavery....
Where the Republicans said, Halt! John Brown shouted, Forward! to the rescue! He was an abolitionist of the Bunker Hill school.
It did not concern Mr. Redpath that the "Bunker Hill" school of abolitionists were themselves slave-holders.
Mr. Thoreau, who was also a Union-splitter, said: