Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-11-25
NUMBER AZ

ted the fierce tempest. he sowed the wind
that he might, reap the whirlwihd. He in
voked the lightning and gloried in its de-
vastation. Sixty summers and winters had
passed over his head, and planted the seeds
Of spring. apd gathered the .latTests of au-
tum in the fields of his experience. He was
the hero, too, of battles there. If laurels
coul2 be gained in such fratricidal war as
ragged in Kansas he had then on his brow.
Ossawatomie was given to him, and added
to his name by the insanity of the crazy crew
of the North, as Napoleon conferred the ma
mes Of battle fields on hisfavorite marshals
The action Of BLACK JACK, TOO. gave him
consideration, circumstance, and condition
with philanthropists of bastard quality car
pet-knight heroes in Boston, and servile fol-
lowers Of fanaticism throughout the country.
His courage is now lauded to the skies BY
men who have none of it themselves. This
virtue, I admit, he has-linked, however,
with a thousand crimes An iron will, with
which to accomplish evil under the skillful
guise of good, [ also admit to be in his pos.
session-rendering his influence over the
young all the more desbotic and dangerous,
Imagine, ifyou please, the bark on which
this young man at the bar and all his hopes
were freightcd, laid alongside of the old
weather-beaten and murderous man-of-war
whose character have placed before you.
The one was stern and bent upon fatal
voyage. aGrim-visaged war, civil comma.
ton, pillagc and death, disunion and uni
versal desolation throhged through the mind
of John Brown. To him law was nothing,
the Union was nothing, the peace and well
fare of the country were nothing, the lives
of the citizens of Virginia were nothing -
Though red sea Of blood rolled before him
yet he lifted up his hand and cried. t'Fms
ward Shall he now shrink from his prom
inence and attempt to shrival back to the
grade of his recruits and subalterns? Shall
he deny his bad prominence and say that
rhe did not ineite the revolt which has invol-
we'd his followers in ruin !? Shall he stand
before this Court and before the country and
deny that he was the master-spirit, and
gathered together the young men who fol-
lowed him to the death il this mad expedi-
ton ? No ! his own hand signs himself
COMMANDMENT Chief" Ind shows the
proper distinction which should, be. made be-,
tween Himself and the men who, in an evil
moment, obeyed his orders. Now turn to
the contrast again and behold the prisoner.
Young, and new to the rough ways of life,
his unsandalled foot tender and unused to the
journey before him, waif on the ocean, at
the mercy Of the current which might assail
him, and unfortunately endowed with thas
fearful gift which causes one to walk as in
dream through all the Yicissitudes Of life
time; severed and wandering from the sus-.
tanning and protecting ties of kindred he
gave, without knowing his destination or
purpose, pledge of military obedience to
John Brown, .'Commander-in- CHEF, 4
Gentlemen of the jury, there is one char
acter which, in the economy of Gods Prov
idence, hassbeeh placed upon the earth, but
perhaps. has never been fully drawn, and is
most difficult to draw 1t is the character
of him who glides down the stream Of life
ina trance, dreams as, he floats along, and
sees visions on either shore. Realities exist
IN this world, no doubt Practical views
ere certainly the best. But that impalpable,
airy, and unsubstantia Creations ofth busy
imaginations .corie now and then and lure
the children Of men to chase the "Will-o'-.
the7Wisp" over the dangerous morass oflife
is as true as that we have our allotted pill
grlmage Of three score years and ten. Who
has not beheld the young man Of strict NOR.
al culture, impressed with high principles
of right, and gifted with good intellect start
out upon til, dusty and well-beaten highway
which millions have trod before him, only
to turn aside at tie first inviting grove Of
pleasure, the first call ofsome fanciful wood
nymph, or to follow ever. the falls of ruin
and death some meandering stream whose
beautiful surface caught his eve? TO such
one right and wrong are utter, distractions
and have no relation whatever to things that
exist. Give to such mind promise. how
ever false, and from it will spring castle
in the air with proportions as true and Just
as the most faultless architecture ever fri.
med by mathematical skill.
Some lay the foundation Of their actions on the
rock and are never overthrown. Some build upon
the shifting sand, and fall when the storm comes.
But In each instance the building may be the same
mind. All depends, not upon the reasoning b n
upon the basis on which thought rests, and which
supports the editice of eur conclusions The on;
thusast and visionary takes his stand point. and.
fixes the premises eof his conduct from caprice and
the circumstances which haze obtained the ascen
dancy over his mind. That such has been tfs
character and SUCH the conduct of the prisoner,
without one spsrk'of malignty of heart, or sim
gle impulse of depravity all she evidence in this
case clearly establishes. Some general ideas piId
ed over by the Turing title of freedom, were held
out to him by Brown and formed the basis of what
SCENE to him duty and honor. fever man charg
ed with crime was lifted up by the evidence of 6is
case above the igno5e traits Of TIE ordinary felon
the prisoner is thus distinguished Insteai Of the
eager and willing bandit, anxious to ioin boarv,
leader bent on mischief-instead of the outlaw in
mind and character gloomly end fereely PONDER
ing revenge against his fetlcw.nen for ianoied or,
real juries-wc see from the evidetos a kind
though hayward heart, cheerful obliging. though
visionary mind. With children everywhere he has
been tavorte; and since little children crept upon
the knee OF the Saviour eighteen hundred years
ago, they have been TIE most infalble judges of a.
gentle and aAectonate heart. Availability and
sweetness of temper he has carried with him tbro,
the world, and he brings that trait now before Won
to show that strong Inducements and powerful in
centives must have been brought to bear IN order
engage him in enterprise SO despere tie as that
for which his lite is now sadly imperiled What
motive controlled him to this action :? a crime
without motive cannot exist Was it the motive
w as it the motive of disloyaty to a government
cemented by the blood of his ancestors, and defen
ded by all who are near to him BY the ties of kin
dred? Not syllable of proof warrants sucb a con-
cluslon. Was his motive robbery and ufholy gain?
Other fields are more inviting to the land pirate:
but the thought OF plumber never crossed a mind
like his. One answer, and one alone is To he riv
on tO all these nupStiOns Ioh,