THE REVOLT IN VIRGINIA.

WE take from our English and American papers, the following further particulars respecting the attempt at Harper's Ferry, and its consequences. The half "rowdy" swaggering of "Governor Wise," seems to establish the fact that he was "the right man in the right place" as Governor of a Slave State, while the whole demeanour of the victim, Brown, is marked by the characteristics of a hero.

The reporter of the Baltimore Sun draws the following sketch of Governor Wise at Harper's Ferry:—

"The Governor expressed his mortification at the disgrace which had been brought upon the State. He would rather have lost both his legs and both arms from his shoulders and hips, than such a disgrace should have been cast upon it, that fourteen white men and five negroes should have captured the Government works and all Harper's Ferry, and have been able to retain them for one hour. Colonel Lee, with twelve marines, settled the matter in ten minutes. That nineteen men should capture one hundred prisoners was something like the policeman who captured ten men, and said "Faith, I surrounded them." They should read Shakspeare and study Falstaff's oaths.  A prisoner remarked, that there were ten of them (laughter) prisoners, and nine insurgents, but that the latter were each armed with three Sharp's rifles and two Colt's revolvers. 'We were,' said he, 'huddled in like flock of sheep.' 'Yes,' said the Governor 'you were in a corner, and you were very much like sheep. They certainly cornered all Harper's Ferry.'

" The leader, Brown, said that if he had had five hundred men with a bundle of nerves like his own, he would have given them trouble. Brown's, only hurt is a few stabs ; turn him loose and he would be like a Bedouin. Like Sam Patch, Brown wanted to shew them that some things could be done as well as others.

" The Governor said to some citizens when they complained that they had no arms, that it was their fault their militia had not been organised. He could not send them arms unless they were organised ; and as not one company in ten had reported to the State authorities, it would be throwing them away to do so. He would see that the district under his control should be protected, whether the General Government protected its property or not. The like scene should never happen again.

" On Friday, after his return to Richmond Governor Wise made a speech, which says he has a bushel of Brown's correspondence, but not all of it, for a carpet-bag full of it was taken to Baltimore and improperly used. The letters in his possession proved that prominent men at the North were implicated in the affair. Whether our sister States at the North will allow such men to remain among them unrebuked or unpunished remains to be seen. 'If any one should smuggle off Gerrit Smith some night, and bring him to me, I would read him a moral lecture, and then send him home.' He had remained at Harper's Ferry to prevent lynch law in Virginia. There was no question of jurisdiction to be settled, as he had made up his mind fully; and after determining that the prisoners should be tried in Virginia, he would not have obeyed an order to the contrary from the President of the United States. He was ready to to weep when he heard that the outlaws comprised only twelve men, and that they had taken the town in ten minutes. There was no cowardice on the part of the people there, because their unguarded citizens were prisoners; but he told them that they had made a mistake, and that if General Washington had been a prisoner, and his life imperilled by an attack, he would have risked his own and others as well, in making an attack without delay. This Kansas border ruffian made a great mistake as to the disposition of the slaves to fly to his standard ; the Abolitionists cannot comprehend that they are held among us as by a patriarchal tenure. The Governor urged the importance of the organisation of the military throughout the State, and the exercise of vigilance to guard against the disgrace of a similar surprise."

The reporter of the Baltimore American, who gives a lengthened account of a conversation with Captain Brown, in which senator Mason and Messrs. Faulkner and Vollandigham took part, prefaces his report with the following sketch of the prisoner :—"After some little delay we were introduced in the room where Brown and Stevens lay. We found the former to be a six-footer, although as he lay he had the appearance of being some six inches shorter than that. He has a rather peculiar shaped headlong grey hair, which at this time was matted, the sabre cut in his head having caused blood to flow freely, to the complete disfigurement of his face, which, like his hands, was begrimed with dirt, evidently the result of continued exposure to the smoke of powder. His eyes are of a pale blue, or perhaps a sharp grey—much such an eye as I remember his brother filibuster, Walker, to have. During his conversation, hereafter reported, no sign of weakness, was exhibited. In the midst of enemies, whose home he had invaded; wounded and a prisoner, surrounded by a small army of officials, and a more desperate army of angry men ; with the gallows staring him full in the face, he lay on the floor, and, in reply, to every question, gave answers that betokened the spirit that animated him. The language of Governor Wise well expresses his boldness when he said, 'He is the gamest man I ever saw.' I believe the worthy Executive had hardly expected to see a man so act in such a trying moment.

" Stevens is a fine-looking specimen of the genus homo. He is the only one of the lot that I have seen, excepting, of course, the negroes, who had not light hair. His hair and long beard are of a fine black ; his face partakes of the handsome and noble ; his eye, though rest less, has a sharp brilliancy ; and he, too, is a six-footer. A stout, strong man, whose condition lying upon the floor, obedient to the last to the commands of "my captain," as he called him ; wounded with three or four gun-shot wounds, two in the head and one in the breast; certain of death, I could not but pity. Several hearts grew sad at the recollection of his wife, far away ; probably unaware of his sad situation looking and longing for his return. He, too, showed a marvellous courage. Ever and anon groaning with excessive pain, he did not, however, forget himself for one instant, but calmly although in such pain, listened to the conversation as it progressed, on at least one occasion correcting a remark of Brown's.

" Both men seem prepared for death seemed to court it rather ; perhaps under the plea that they will be acknowledged martyrs, but more possibly under the conviction of having performed a sacred duty. However much the writer here of may differ from them, there must arise a feeling of respect for them in their bold rashness.

With further reference to the remarkable man who made this attempt, and whom it is impossible for all the abuse of the Home Press to confound with the vulgar ruffian, the Chicago Press has the following :—

" In person, Brown is about five feet eight inches in height. He has short, grey hair, and diversifies his appearance with iron-gray whiskers and moustache, to suit the dangerous exigencies of his situation. His appearance is that of intense peacefulness, combined with hopeless verdancy. To the casual observer, he is the most inoffensive man that could be met with in a day's ride through Arcadia. His rural exterior has enabled him to pass unscathed through scores of perils, where his life would have paid the forfeit of his discovery. It is believed by many of those who knew him in Kansas that the butchery of his son Frederick made him a monomaniac on the subject of Slavery, and that he had made a vow to wreak a great revenge on the system of society which had wrought so deep a wrong on him. But Brown himself repudiated this idea, contending that revenge was no part of his composition, and claiming to be guided strictly by the principles of Holy Writ. He seems to have been labouring under a religious hallucination—to the effect that he was the appointed instrument of the Almighty for putting an end to human slavery. What time he and his handful of men in Kansas were not marching or fighting, they were praying and singing psalms—Brown himself passing many hours wrestling in secret prayer. His evident hallucination caused all the clear-headed men in Kansas to avoid him or to have as little as possible to do with him. The same feeling made him dreaded by the Missourians as a supernatural being. His name inspired the same terror on the border, as the 'Nick of the Woods' among the Indians of Kentucky, or that of the Cid among the Moorish hordes of Spain.". . . .


A despatch from Charleston states that after the jury had returned their verdict of " Guilty" against Brown, the prisoner rose and, in a clear distinct voice, said :—

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 ; of a design on my part to free 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, moving them through the country, and finally leaving them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again on a larger scale. That was all I intended to do. 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 that 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 candour of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified to this case—had I an 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 too, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament, which 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 bonds as bound with me. I endeavoured to act up in that instruction. I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respector of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done, as I have always freely, admitted I have done, on behalf of His despised poor is no 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 say 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 than 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 liberty 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 something, also, in regard to the statements made by some of those who were connected with me. I fear it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me ; but the contrary if true, I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. Not one but joined me of his own accord, and the greater part 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.

While Mr. Brown was speaking perfect quiet prevailed; and when he had finished the Judge proceeded : to pronounce sentence upon him. After a few preliminary remarks/he said that no reasonable doubt could exist of the guilt of the prisoner, and sentenced him to be hung in public on Friday, the 2nd December next.

Mr. Brown received his sentence with composure.

Since the occurrence of the affair at Harper's Ferry, there have been more outspoken words uttered in the United States on the subject of Slavery in one day than had been the case before in ten years. People previously spoke of the matter in whispers, even in the free States. That portion of the Press which was in favour of the abolition of slavery, seldom alluded to the question in direct terms. Of those who dared to do so, many were murdered ; some, tarred and feathered ; and many more had to fly for their lives. Others more cautious were looked upon with ill-concealed suspicion and distrust. The subject was completely tabooed. The man who had acquired the name of an "abolitionist," was placed beyond the pale of society and of the law. To a great extent, this is so no longer. People have plucked up courage from the example of old Brown's quiet during to express themselves with some degree of freedom on the subject. This has been particularly the case in the pulpit. The New York Tribune states:—

On Sunday evening, the Rev. Henry Highland Garnet delivered an eloquent discourse, in Shiloh Presbyterian Church, Prince street (of which he is pastor) on the "Weakness and final doom of American Slavery, as illustrated in the conflict at Harper's Ferry. A week ago, some lovers of liberty on the shores of Maryland made an effort to rid the oppressed from the hands of the oppressor. It was pleasant to revert to the fact that in this effort there was no plundering of property— none of the outrages which are sometimes attendant upon outbreaks for less laudable causes had been perpetrated by any of the 10 men who had struck for the liberty of the captive. Nor was there any blood shed except in self-defence. Their only object was to give liberty to the captive, to proclaim a jubilee to those who were in bondage. On account of these nineteen men the military of Virginia and Maryland was called out, and they came, but not till the danger was over. Then the President, and the Secretary of War, and the United States District Attorney, and the Attorney-General—all consulted as to the disposal of events at Harper's Ferry, and all this tumult, this array of invocation of military and executive power to arrest the progress of nineteen men in search of freedom. There was nothing which shewed so palpably the weakness of the slave power. If all this ado—this tempest about the doings of nineteen men—how would it be when 19,000, or 50,000, or 1,000,000 of human beings should strike for liberty, and strike to win it or to die in their effort? A question was suggested, and within the past week had been frequently urged, " Were these men right?" Mr. Garnet said that if John Brown and his party had succeeded, their names would have been placed alongside of the great, the patriotic, and the heroic. If George Washington and his party had failed, their names would have descended to us as traitors, but they succeeded, and their names were to-day high in the hearts of the people. George Washington was right, and John Brown was not the less so on account of his failure. But this spirit of liberty would not die with John Brown or his noble effort. It would not be crushed out—it would not be smothered. It was destined to live, and they who tried to avert the day of its power were only running up a hill with the Almighty. The only right which Slavery had, was the right to die. But it was asked : " What good has all this done?" It would set slave-holders thinking. Governor Wise had thought differently during the past week than he had ever thought in his life before. The circumstance had shewn us on what foundation Slavery rested, and how easily it was made to tremble. It would also call the slave population to consider their own rights, and that they had sympathisers all over the country. He desired that Slavery might have a peaceable termination by the power of the Gospel, but if the word of God was contemned, and popular sentiment defied, then let the slave power take its chances in the general wreck which was as certain as the sunshine. The slave power is guilty of all the blood that was shed at Harper's Ferry.

An Independent minister, a Rev. George B.Noyes, thus alluded, in his sermon, to the same engrossing subject :—" The community had been thrilled with the news of an insurrection. It was a terrible thing that our brethren should be shot down in the streets. If Virginia could by this event be raised to the very extreme of fear, what a half-extinguished volcano must that State rest upon, and even here our citizens had become excited upon this subject, and men did not hesitate to say that they would send any outspoken opponents of Slavery to a felon's doom, who, by the expression of their views, added fuel to the flame, which was, ere long, to desolate the South. But while they talked about this tragedy of to-day should they forget the tragedy of this hundred years, which had been enacted in the South ; when they thought of those brethren slain in the streets at Harper's Ferry, should they forget the desolation, and misery, and outrage, and oppression, more than death, which had been laying its heavy hand on the Southern slave for these many years. The American people had become so accustomed to this fearful story of wrong, that its ear had become deafened, and it was only when some tragedy like that at Harper's Ferry awakened public attention, that we saw the two antagonistic forces of Freedom on the one hand and Slavery on the other. He pitied these misguided men from the bottom of his heart, but they of the North had an actual duty to perform in this matter—a religious duty upon this question of Slavery. He did not stand here to give utterance to excited feelings. There were several propositions offered by those with whom he had conversed on this question. One was that it was the duty of the North to let it alone. But God had enacted that this question should not be let alone—that fire and gunpowder should not live together without explosion ; that there should be eternal hostility between antagonistic principles, and that men must take side on the one side or the other."

Mr. Noyes concluded by advocating the founding of a religious public opinion against Slavery, which would make men conscientiously work for the extinction of Slavery.

Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Tuesday 17 January 1860, page 2