The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-11-05
Though the great ssinsurrection of slaves in fl

Though the great ''insurrection of slaves in the
'tneighborhood of Harper Ferry" which the tele-
graph announced to the country some three weeks
ago gradually shrunk into the smaller proportions
q of q border foray, it continues to excite the in
terest of people elsewhere, and to elicit the COM
ments of the press. We have been so much
absorbed in our own local affairs that the marau-
ders on trial in Virginia have been almost forgotten,
and yet the occurrence itself, and the subsequent
trial of BRowN, afford much matter for further
comment. The wretched mistake which this man
and his deluded followers made about the feelings
OF the negroes, and the opinions of the non-slave
j, holding portion of the population, is one common
to - large number of the residents of the Northern
ug itates. The sooner they are set right the better
apps, as Brown and Cook do not seem to have dis
"VTto"ered their error, although they lived some
months upon the spot where they were ultimately
to suffer fort tits also possible that the truth may
be overlooked by those who are disposed to sympa-
thise with them, unless it is pressed upon their
notice. These men entered Virginia utterly igno-
rant of the practical workings of the system they
desired to overthrow, and they apparently troubled
themselves very little to understand it. Surprising
that every held in slavery would rise at the first
summons, and Selling the proffered weapon, would
battle to the death for his freedom, they thought
unnecessary to run the risk of being BETRAYED
by endeavoring to organize them, or even by
fomenting disatfection. They seem also to have
believed that every non-saveholder was not only
jealous Of those who owned slaves, but that they
would rush with aacrity to the assistance of those
who sought to strip the latter Of those possessions
which made them envied or hated by their poorer
neighbors How grossly Brown misiudged the
condition Of the society by which he was sur
rounded the sequel has shown him. and many
circumstances which could not have been given in
evidence upon his trial, because not relevant to
to the issue before the Jury, could be adduced to
satisfy those who take the same view of the
Southern people of the faacy of their
conclusions regarding us. Not only did the ne
groes fail to make any movement whatever, when
the news spread through the county that their
fellows were in arms at Harper's Ferry, but
during the panic which followed close upon the
exaggerated reports which were flying in every
direction they were, in many instances
relied upon 10 defend their masters
should the necessity arise. Men heard of
the difficulty when miles away from home
and started at once for the scene, leaving their
servants and families together without q thought
OF danger. One farmer armed his slaves, and this
was the only case in which they willingly accept
ed weapons. Most of them sought the dwelling
houses OF the whites at the first alarm, as if these
were their safest places of refuge and the five who
were captured and employed by Cook on the
Maryland side the day, after the seizure of the Ar
senal in transporting rifles from BRowN's farm to
the school-house, Runaway from him that night
and made their way to their homes, excepting one,
who was drowned in the effort to cross the river.
All these things are worth the serious considera-
ton of those of our counrymen who have been
taught to believe that slavery and chains are sy-
nonymous terms, and who, therefore, assist or
sympathise with the widest schemes that are set
on foot to abolish them. Fanaticism will not and
cannot be moved by appeals to reason; but those
who have not yet permitted Judgment to be over
mastered by passion should consider whether they
have not mistaken the nature Of the disease for
which they propose such desperate remedies. They
may never be convinced that slavery is anything
but an evil, but if they will honestly weigh indis-
putabe facts they may find that the condition of
the negroes of Maryland and Virginia is, in the
main, more comfortable and happier than is the
lot OF the laborng population in any quarter of
Europe. If this is so, philanthropsts of the North
ought to see that they are fighting against a
shadow rather than against substantial thing.
and though they might desire to suppress even
the of slavery, still it is not worth while to
uproot society itself to accomplish that purpose