The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-11-03

self sacrifice Of political aspirants b refteshins,
and shows that the republic viii not be ruined
for the want Of governors to regulateit
The Hsrper's Ferry A2AiE-Who arc tho
Responsibls Partisss
II Is impossible for any rational man 70 be-
lieve that the responsibility to the country for
this late dreadful affair ct Harper's Ferry stops
with aOld Brown" and his invading revolu-
tionary gang Of fourteen white and ave black alb
clifton fanatios The legal responsibility, We APP
prehend, extends to higher game, and the moral
responsibility PROFESSIONALLY involves every
politician Of every party actively concerned In
the mischievous agitation Of the slavery quea-
ton during the last ton or fifteen years. But Of
all these mischievous agitators we have do
nounced Vim. 81. Seward as most guilty Of these
bloody instructions Of treason, insurrection
and MURDER" as practically interpreted by "Old
Brown" while we have commended that these
things and all our sectional discords Of the last
iiye years are directly chArgeable to that reck-
less Presidential clectio0eering experiment, the
Kansas Nebraska bill.
We find, however, that upon detached edl-
torial fragment from our columns, the Chevar
lier Webb, Of the Courier and Enquirer, has
thought proper to regale his readers with ono
of his peculiar rigmaroles against the admin
istration, and against the HERALD, as "Mr. Bu-
chanan's principal organ" Thus we are told
that John Brown "will not be hung"-that
"neither Gov. Wise nor Mr.. Buchanan dare
permit any such outrage upon the feelings OF
the people," and that "the HERALD has been In
structed to prepare the public mind for oon-
mutation of his (Brown's) punishment into inn
prisonment for life." Nor Is this all; for 1t ap-
pears that our recent article, urging the admin
istration to search out and prosecute as for
treason W. II. Seward, and oil other parties be-
lieved to be guilty Of instigating or aiding and
comforting this late venture Of "Old Brown"
or guilty Of keeping his secrets was intended,
according to Webb, as "a home thrust" at the
Cabinet. And wherefores "In return for the
short memories Of the Cabinet upon the subject
of the Paris mission"
Such are the points of this chapter of wretch
ed twaddle from the Chevalier Webb; and we
shall very briefly dispose of him. First-The
New York HERALD is not the organ of Mr.. Blu
chanan's administration; 1t is not the organ Of
any man, Of any party, but it is the organ of
truth, justice and patriotism, without reference
to our political parties. Secondly The HERALD
has received no instructions In reference to
Brown, and does not expect any, and does not
want any. Thirdly-The overstraIned conclu-
sions of poor Webb, touching the Paris mis-
sion, may be simply set down as the crudest
nonsense. Let him be patient with regard to
the Paris mission; for we dare say that, when
Mr.. Buchanan shall have filed it, the news will
be published to the world.
Returning to the main question Of the respon-
sible parties for this abolition raid of "Old
Brown" we may 60 step or two behind the
repeal of the Missouri compromise. We all
know that Mr.. Buchanan stood by that compro-
mise to the last; that he was in favor of extend
ing that line of So 80 to the Pacific ocean, that he
was opposed to the Kansas Nebraska bill, and
that it was because his hands were clean Of any
contact with that desperate Southern
electioneering Job that he was nomi-
mated and elected President In 1856. But
we say that behind that Kansas-N Nebraska bill
there is some responsibility on the other side.
|. We find 1t among the nulli6ers of the Fugitive
Slave law Of 1850, and among the engineers of
the Underground railroad" and their name
Is legion. We may also trace the responsibility
Of the later slavery agitation and its conse-
quences to David Wilmot, Preston King and
others, with their proviso In ls4s for the prohi-
bition Of slavery in all the Territories south az
we'll as north of the Missouri line, Thus the
contempt In which the anti-slavefy leaders Of
the North in Congress regarded the Missouri
compromise from 1916 to 1850 prepared the
way for Pierce, Douglas, Atchison and Com
pany, with their bill for Its repeal
The immediate moral, and the immediate le-
gal, responsibility for the bloody affair at Har.
per's Ferry rests, we believe, upon W. 81.
Seward and his teachings of incessant war upon
slavery; for is not Seward the great Apollo of
the republican party, and was not Brown only
one Of its faithful instruments In his Kansas
work." We say again, let the government
prosecute its inquiries in this direction, and let
justice be done, according to the facts which
may be disclosed Surely, while Beecher and
Phillips and many other leaders and organs
of the anti-slavery cause, abolition and repub-
hcan, are Boosting Of and glorying In "Old
Brown" and daring and defying the Virginia
or federal authorities to hang him, surely there
must be some laid and comfort" In the back
ground well worth looking after and bringing
to Judgment
OH Brown AND HIS NORTHERN FR1ENDs.-It
Is good commentary upon the course Of the
abolitionists Of the North that since their hero
Gold BROWN has been lying in bonds, the only
offer that he has received Of aid and comfort
came from woman. The Garrisons, Quin-
cys, Phillipses, Jays, and other pharisaical ad-
vocates of insurrection, have been perfectly