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

know nothing of her rules, and do mot care to
learn Taey are as widely asunder 10 all that con
stitutex guilt he poles Of the eirth, and should
b. dealt with accordingly 1t is in your power to
do So ami by the principles by which you your
selves willing to be judged hereafter, implore
you to do it!
Come with me. however, gentlemen, and let us
approach the spot where the tragedy of the 18th OF
October occurred aud anaiyze the conduct of the
prisoner there. 1t il not true that he came Is
citizen to year State and gained home in our
midst to betrxy you. II. ordered to take his
position at Harp.r's Ferry in advance Of his party
for the sole purpose of asccrtsining whether Col.
Forbes, of New York had divuigcd the plan. This
order csme from John Brown, the Commander
IN Chief, and was doubtless a matter of as much
interest to others Of prominent station as to him
self. Cook simply obeycG no more. There is rot
particle of evidence that he tempered With your
slaves during bis temporary residence. Tn the
contrary, It Is admitted on all hands Tat he did
not. His position thereis ell deHp-d Nor was
he from undcr the culd. stern ere Of his leader.
F:om the top of the mountain BIS chicfl down
upon him, and held him as within a charmed cir
Gle. Would Cook have lived day had he tried to
break the meshes which enyironed him (? Happy
the hour in which ne had made the attempt even
had he persisted, but, in fixing the measure of his
guilt. the circumstances by which he was surround
ed must all be weighed. At every step we see him
as the Instrument in the hands of other men, and
not originating or advising anything. His con-
duet towards that eeA ant.and excellent gentleman
Col Washington, is matter Of regret to his
friends and also to himself. 1t is the act most
difficult OF all others to reconcile with the yell
known character of the man. But even there his
offence is paiated by the dictatorship which gov
erned him. At first glance we see high toned
gentleman's hospitality abused. This has been
used to aggravate his acknowledged offences But
the truth is, that when Cook first visited Colonel
Washington's house and received from him various
Ach of kindness, the thought that soon he was to
be ordered back over that threshold in a hostile
manner had never entered his brain. The act was
not Cocks, but Browns. The nero soldier is new
or punished for the outrages of his commander
And when you allow that the prisoners great error
was his enlistment under the leadership of Brown
In the first place, then you must admit that every
thing else has followed in logica! sequence. Obo-
dicncc and fidelity upon leader in false and per-
nicous cause entitled to offsett, in some meas
nrc at least, the evil that has flown from them.-
but the prisoner took certain weapons hallowed by
great and sacred ASSOCIATE from the possession Of
Col Washington. All in this he is once more CT n
sstent with the visionary and dreamy cast of bis
mind. The act was not plumber, for he pledged
their safe return to their owner, and has faithfully
kept that pledge to the full extent of his power
Bat ais maynard fancy was caught with the idea
stat spell OF enchantment hung around them, and
that like the relics o. saint they would bless and
prosper any cause in which they were invoked
Thesword of Frederick the Great and the pistols
of Lafayette linked to the name and family of
W ashinSton l. With what charm such associa-
tinns would strike the poetic temperament of
young enthusiast embarked in an enterprise pre-
scnting to his perverted imagination the incentives
Of danger and glory; and if new order of things
vas to be inaugurated, and storm and revolution
we're to shake tho country and the world, like the
heart OF the Bruce the eagles of Napoleon, these
warlike incentives of heroes were to fascinate and
allure followers, and haltow the battles in which
they lifted. The mind of the prisoner is fully
capable of dreaming such dreams and nursing such
visions.
But it is said that Cook left the scene at Harpers
Ferry at an early hour to avoid the danger of the
= - r -skl.. 49, - 49,
in wrong. Even this is wholly untrue. Again we
find the faithful, obedient subaltern carrying out
&he orders of his chief, and VIXEN he had crossed
the river and fulfilled tie commands of Brown, he
did what Browns own son would not do-by retur-
ming and exposing himself to the fire of the soldiers
and citizens for the relief of Brown and his party
We see much, alas too much, to condemn in his
conduct, but nothing to despise; we look in vain
Tor an act tat belongs to base malignant nature
Let the hand of CT astisement fall gently on the
rors Of such as him, and reserve your heavy blows
for such commit crime from motives of deprayi-
~. Up to this point have followed the risoner
and traced his immediate connection with this sad
affair. You have every thing before you. You have
heard his own account of his strange and nfatua-
ted wandcrings up and down the earth with John
Brown and his coadjutors; how like fiction it all
seems, and yet how lamentaby true; how unreal to
minds like ours: how like the fever dream of mind
warped and disordered to the borders Of insanity
does the part which the prisoner has played seem
70 every practical Judgment! Is there nothing in it
all that affords you the dearest privilege which man
has on earth-the privilege of being merci. I'll p
Why the very thief ON the cross, for single mo-
ment's repentance over his crimes, received abso-
Lutte forgiveness and was rewarded with paradise.
But, gentlemen, in estimating the magnitude this
young mans guilt, there's one fact which is proven
in his behalf by the current history of the day
which you cannot fail to consider. Shall John +.
Cook perish. and the zeal criminals who for twenty
years have taught the principles on which be acted
hear voice from this spot? Shall no mark be
IT LIN Al. !.
and the prime felons who alta .ked your soil and
murdered your citizens at Harrer's Ferry escape
The indictment before says that the prisoner was
seduced by the false and malignant ccunsels Of 9TH
er traitorous persons. Never was sentf ace writ
ten more just and true. .sFalse and malignant
counsels" have been dropping for years, as deadly
and blghting as the poison of the Bohun Upas tree
from the tongues of evil and traitorous persons in
that section of the Union to which the prisoner be-
longs. They have seduced not only his mind, ut
many others, honest ard misguided like him, to re-
gard the crime at Harper's Ferry crime, your
right as unmitigatee wrongs, and the Constitution
of the country as league with hell and covenant
with death. On the skirts of the leaders of aboli
ton fanatcism in the North is every drop of blood
shed IN the conflict al Harper's Ferry; on their
souls rests the crime of murder for every life there
lost; and all the waters of the ocean could not wash
the stains of slaughter from their treacherous and
guilty hands. A noted Boston abolitionist, (Wen-
dell Phillips,) a few days ago, at Brooklyn, New
York, in the presence OF thousands speaking of this
tragic occurrence, says "It is the natural result
of nti-sayery teaching. For one, | accept it. |
expected it." |, too, accept it i'll the same light,
and so will the country. Those who taught, and
not those who believed and acted, are the men Of
crime in the sight of God. And to guard other
young men. far as in my power, from the fatal
snare which has been frightened around the hopes
and destiny of John Il. Cook, and to show who are
fully responsible for his conduct, intend to lin k
with this trial the names of wiser and older men
than he; and if he is to be punished and consigned
to wretched do m, they shall stand beside him in
the public Stocks they sha be pilloried forever in
public shame the evil and tratorous persons who
seduccd him to his ruin BY their false and malig
nant counsels.
The chief Of these men, the leader of
great party, Senator of long standing has
announced to the country that there is
higher Law than the Constitution, which
guarantees to each man the full exercise of
his own inclination. The prisoner before
you has simply acted on the law Of William
II. Seward, and not the law of his fathers.
He has followed the Mahomet of an inccn-
diary faith. Come forth, ye sages of aboli-
tionism, who now cover and skulk under
hasty dcnials Of your completely with the
bloody result Of your wicked and unholy
doctrines, and take your places on the wit
ness stand. Tell the world why this thing
has happened. Tell this jury why they are
trying John E. Cook for his life. You ad-
vised his conduct and taught him that be
was doing right. You taught him high
er law and then pointed out to him the field
uf action Let facts he cuhm;ttaI NJ