The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-12-13

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Uaisn Speeches!
q, tne issA day Of October, 1852, the country
wss stArtIed BY tAs premature explosion o. =
mine u HArpsr's Ferry, TO which slow match.
- haA pssn laid from nearly every free state
~ the Union. which had been preparing with
perfect seerssy FOR years, aud 70 which
acme Of the leading statesmen OF the North,
fncludinr VIZ. II. SEWARD, were privy, ac-
cordiae % the testimony OF one Of the prfnci-
nal conspiratcrs, Col. FoRnrs, --testimony
found in the shape Of q letter seized In his
frank. and written long before the final aud
aprelaing dssosemssf Of the plot. We say
shat on the Isth Of October, the country was
startled by the rrematars explosion oi '"'S
mine, because, according to subsequent devei-
opments. Il appears that it was in'ended 10
have occurred on the 2lth, and then to nave
occuyred simultaneously At three dinerent
,,oin,s In the South, instead OF at an isolated
r,o,nt IN tho State Of Virginia. The letter pub
ltshsd from BRowS's Sgentin Tennessee ana
Ark.r.a. declaring that he had secured those
S,..es thoroughly, and that the negro popula-
ton was ready tor instruction. the representa-
,,ops OF Cook 70 the came effect from Virgin
IA. the preparation OF twelve hundred pixies
and the seizure Of an Armory containing
hundred thousand stand of arms, the saga
cious. circumspect and practical character
Of JOHN BRowN and his anal injunction 10
his comrades no. TO betray their confederates,
all. taken In connection with Mr.. Stewards
prediction Of an airrepressible conflict" and
the HELPER book, invoking the seryile popu-
lation to instruction, endorsed by the Gov
eruor Of New York and sixty-eight members
of Congress--aii 90 to show that the attempt
1t Harpsr's Ferry was premature explosion
of . dsep-laid plot for lighting the flames OF
Instruction aud revolution throughout the
whole Of the Southern States.
II any man, q week before the Harper's Fer
y demonstration, had predicted such thing,
ae would have been shut up in an insane 'asy-
Ium. Instantly, 3 commission de laadi'co III
oxiy,xdo. would have been issued, and, if DR..
SrnfpLrNG had any vacant room, the prophet
Of Harper's Ferry would have had the first
room, BY the first train, after his prediction
was uttered. As we write in this bright,
cloudless morning, it is difficult to realize the
drenching and depressing weather OF last week,
or to feel that clouds shall come again, and
rain and storm. The Harper's Ferry tornado
has come and gone. "Can such things be, and
o.ercome us like summer cloud, without our
special wonder ~
Wshaye said that the explosion of the plot was
premature. What was that plot itself, what the
known and unknown, what the result aimed
II In the book which has been recommended
BIZ the Governor of New York and sixty-eight
members of Congress, Mr.. EVERETT has set
forth IN his late speech in letters of living
light, in characters which he who runs may
read and which should never fade from the
vision of any man in the South, who has
property. who has mother and father, who
has wife aud children, who has life to lose and
honor to defend. "The plot of JOHN BROWN,
says EDWARD EVERETT, "was an attempt To
do On a vast scale what was done in ST. Do
mngo in 1891, when the coiored population
was about equal 10 that of Virginia aud if
any one would form distinct idea what such
an operation is, let him see it-not as matter
of vague conceptions crude project in the
mind of o heated fanatic; but As it showed it,
self in the sober pages of history that record
the revolt in that island the midnight burn
ings the wholesale massacres; the merciless
fortunes; the denominations not to be named by
Christian lip. in the hearing of Chris tan ears
some Of which, too unutterably atrocious
for the English language, are of necessity veil
ed in the obscurity Of the Latin tongue
1t was on the 18th of October that blow
was struck which was to produce such scenes
Is the "sober records Of history have de-
scribed in St. Domingo, records with which
every intelligent man North and South was
familiar, and it was six weeks before a single
public meeting in the North sent one word of
cheer and sympathy to Virginia! The silence
that followed the explosion was more solemn
than the explosion itself. The thnnderboIt had
fallen, but not one drop ofrain descended from
the Northern sky to temper the fierceness of the
fash. On the contrary, as soon rs the strings
OF their tongues were loosed, every voice cried
for mercy upon the man who was seeking to
bring upon the Sou tn the scenes of ST. Do
mingo. Even the conservative journals, in
GLIDING the New York Journal of Commerce.
declared that 1t would be impolitic and mex
pedient to execute Old BROWN. Letters by
hundreds poured in upon the Governor of the
Commonwealth. conservatives begging on the
ground of policy that he might be pardoned.
Aboiitionists threatening to take the Governor
life il he persisted in executing the law One OF
the conservative letters, written from Ne-S
York, by very observing and intelligent
man. said in substance to Governor WISE
"Sir, If you were Oh the ground here and
could see the state of public sentiment, YOU
would lead Old BROWN out with rope
around his neck, as if for execution, and then
let him 20, and it would make you the mex t
PRESIDENT of the United States" But Virginia
held on her way calmly, firmly, if-reliant-
ly-she said: 'On the I'd of December JOHN
BRowN will be hung, and am ready to meet
the consequences Time elapsed, Brown
was hung, the majesty Of the law vindicated.
our timid friends at the North were emboid-
ened by the majestic and fearless front of
Virgins, and somewhat late ia the day, but
"better late than never" Union meetings have
peen held, and the plot,er of such scenes as
EDWARD EvERKrr has described in ST. Do
miIgo, has been denounced in appropriate
xords.
We have always maint ained that there is a
strong conservative element in the North, if it
can only be brought into action. We have paid
our warmest tribute Of gratitude to the EVER
Errs, tho CusHISGs, (whose noble speech we
give day. the INGRRsoLLs and others. But
this we believe: 1t is the attitude of the South
which has developed the conservatism of the
North; not alone the military action, for he
who snpposes the North is lacking in courage.
IL ignorant Of the whole history of every war
by sea and land, in which the United States
has ever been engaged but the moral dignity
Virginia has exhibited, and, above all, the man.
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