Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-11-18

his Acknowledged offences. Hut the truth 10, shat
when Cook first visited Col. Washington's house,
and received from him various acts Of kindness,
the thought that soon no was 20 be ordered back
over that threshold, in hostile manner. had nav
or entered his brain, The oct was not Cooks, but
Browns. The mere soldier 10 never punished for
the outragea Of his commander. And when you
allow that the prisoners great error was his en-
listmeut under the leadership Of Brown In the
first place, then you must admit that everything
else has followed in logical sequence. Obedience
and fidelity To leader 10 q false and pernicious
cause are entitled to Offset. In some measure, at
least, the evil that has flowed from them. But the
prisoner took certain weapons, hallowsd BY great
and sacred associations, from the possession Of
Col. Washington. All in this he 10 once more
consistent with the visionary aud dreamy cast OF
his mind. The act was not plumber, for he pledg-
ed their safe return 10 their owner and has faith
fully kept that pledge TO the full extent of his pow
or. But his wayward fancy was caught with the
idea that spell of enchantmont hung around
them, and that. ike the relics of saint. they
would bless and prosper any cause in which they
were invoked. The sword Of Frederick the Great
and the pistols Of Lafayette linked to the name
and family Of Washington. With what q charm
snch associations would strike the poetic tempera-
ment Of young enthusi ast embarked In an enter
prise presenting to his perverted imagination the
incentives Of danger and glory; and IL a new order
of things was TO he inaugurated and storm and
revolution were to shake the country and the
world like the heart of the Bruce or ,he eagles OF
Napoleon, these warlke incentives OF heroes were
to fascnate and allure followers, ana hallow the
battles in which they were lifted. The mind Of
tho prisoner is fully capable Of dreaming such
creams and nursing such Visions"
In tho concluding portions Of his speech, which
we give entire. Mr.. Voorhees, shows that the real
responsibility If tho lIarper's Ferry outbreak rest
cd with the an,islavery agitn,ors Of the North.
Up To this point l have followed tho prisoner,
and traced his immediate connexon with this Had
affair. YOU have everything before you. You
have heard his own account nf his strange and in
fatuated wandrrings up and d ,wn tho earth with
John Brown and his coad tutors how like fiction
il all seems and yet how lanontab!y true; how
real 70 minds like ours; how like tho fever-dream
oi mind warped and disorderod to the borders Of
insanity does the part which tho prisoner has
played seem to every practical judgment! Ia there
nothing in 1t all that affords you the dearest prv
lege which man has on earth-the privilege OF be-
ing mcrciiuli Why, the very thief ON the cross.
for II single moments repentance over his crimes,
received absolute forgiveness and was rewarded
with paradise. But, gentlemen, in estimating the
magnitude Of this young mans guilt. tnoro is ono
fact " hch is proven in his behalf by the current
history If tho day which you cannot fail to con
slider. Shall John Z. Cook perish, and tho real
criminals who for twenty ycnrs hnvo taught the
princpl es,on which he acted hear voice on this
spot Shall no mark be placed on themf Shall
this occasion pass away, aud the prime telons who
| attacked your soil and murdered your citizens ut
| IIarner's Forty cscape2 The indictment before us
saws that the prisoner soduccd by the fnlse and
mniigpant rouisela Of other trnitorous persons.--
| Never WAS sentence written more Just and true
| "False and malignant eounses" have bcen drop
ping for years. deadly and bliGhting Ms the poi
sou of the I}ohun Upns tree, from tho tongues of
e, and traitor us persons in that section OF the
| Union to which the prisoner belongs. They have
scdured not only his mind, but many others. hon.
est and misguided like him, To regard tho crime
at lIarpers Ferrya4 no crime your right as unmit-
! icated wrongs and the Constitution of tho country
| NJ IL league with hell and n covenant with DEATH
On the skirts of the leaders of abolition fanaticsm
in tho North il every drop Of the blood shed in the
conflict at lIarpcr's Fsrry their souls rests the
crime of murder for every life sthere lost and all
! tho waters If the ocean could not wash the stains
! of slaughter from their treacaerous and guilty
| hands.
| Tho chief Of these men, the leader Of great par
| ty n Senator Of long standing. has announced t.
| the couutry that there is higher law than tho
Constitution, which guarantees to each man the
| full exercise of hisown inclination, The prisoner
| before you has simply acted on the Inv OF VIM. III.
Seward, and not the Inv Of his father lilo has fol-
! Lived the Mahon,et of an incendiary faith. Come
forth ye sages Of abolitionism, who now cower and
skulk under hnsty denials Of your compcity
with tho bloody result of your wicked and unholy
doctrines and take your places on the witness
| stand. Tell tho world why this thing has hap
pencd. Tell the jury why they are trying Jno. Il.
| Cuok for his ife You ldviscd his conduct and
taught him that he was doing right. You taught
him higher law and then pointed out to him the
| field Of action.
| An old man. and for long years member of Tho
National Congress from Ohio next shall testify
here before you that hc taught tho prisoner tho
terrible error which now involves bis life. Servilo
insurrectons have forever been On the tongue and
!, lips Of Joshua X. Giddngs. lie says that when
| the contest shall come. when the thunder shall
roll and the lightning fash, and when the slaves
shall rise in the South in imitation Of the horrid
| scenes of the West Indies, when the Southern
man shall turn pale and trimblc, whom, yonr
dwellings, shall smoke with the torch Of the inccn-
! diary, and dlsmay sit on each countenance, he
will hail it the approaching dawn of that poiti-
| cal and moral millennium which he is well assur
ed will come upon the world" The atrocity Of
these sentiments chills the blood Of honest pa
triots and no party of the pri onerss equals their
| bloody i'm ,ort. Shall the old leader escape and
the young follower die ?-Shall the teacher whose
! doctrines told tho prisoner that what he did was
| right 70 unscathed Of the lightning which he ~
unclaimed. If so. Justice has fed from her
| temples earth. and awaits US only on high to
! measure out what is right between man and man.
| The men who have misled this boy to his ruin
shall here receive my maledictions. They shrink
| back from him now in the hour OF his calamity
| They lift up their hands and say. Amen! 10 the
bloody spectacle which thor internal organs have
| summoned up. You hear them all over the land
calculating through false. pale coward lips.
| Thou canst not say did it," when their hands
are reeking with al the blood that has been shed
and which yet awaits the extreme penalty Of the
law. False Heetipg perjured traitors false 70
those who have acted upon your principles; false
to friends well as country, and perjured before
| the Constitution Of the Repubic--,ninistors who
| nrofess 10 be of God Tho told this boy here 70