Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-12-07
BURG WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER7. 1859.


penalties Of his crimes. which had their origin in
this very sympathy. A sympathy which saw his
insanity too late to snatch from his hands the
pous 1t had placed there's too late to save the lives
taken by its own Indictment; and too late to save
him from falen's fats. 5#
By our laws, the plea Of insanity could avnil at
ut any time, in any sage OF trial, and after co.,
viciion, bsore sentence Of the COURT aud after the
judical tribunals were done with the prisoners
and they were turned over to the executi0ner, the
executive authority could tnrefend the laws SEN
tcnco upon the insane. If either could show or
prove insanity, either on trial he could not
be executed as long M am the Governor of tho
Commonwealth, until cured in an asylum; aud If
insane at the time of committing the offence, he
could not be executed, cured or not cured Mt all.
But these men needed no mental cure theirs
was moral malady Of devils. which no power but
divine could cast out. They wero deliberate,
cunning. malignant malefactors, desperately hent
un mischief, with malice alurethought, gangrened
by sectional and social habitual hatred to us and
ours. Their vengeance was whetted by previous
collisions hundreds OF miles from US, aud il whet-
ted Jagged edges spears which it brought the hun-
dresls Of miles for our destruction. They came
few, like thieves in the night, did their deeds Of
death and were easily crushed; but they vera
prompted by an evil spirit of incondiarism which
demoralizes IL numerous host Of enemies behind
them, who now blatantly sympathiEe with their
deeds ia npen day before the world. These hired
them TO be assaasins, robbers, murderers and trni
tors, without themselves mourning tho risk Of
their crimes and it is no wonder that they now
sympathise with them even to madness, and that
John Brown despised the hypocrticnl cant Of their
prctencc that he was insane.
Tho details Of this conspiracy and of ills de-
nouementat Ilarper's Ferry are gven in the va
rious accompanying reports. Much of the cores
pondcnce aud many Of the papers Of the culp
were found. have had them collected and cop
led hy competent amanuenscs, and they are here
to appended. Suffice it to say, In reference to my
own official ucson. that the first intelligence of
the outbreak reached me in the morning of the
18th October, and was very vague. Orders were
dispatched immediately TO Col. Gibson OF Jefferson
TO call out the necessary force OF his own and al
jacent regiments. But late in the evening of the
sans day; abo.t7 o'clock the telegraph announced
more serious and precise cause of danger. Tho
news was that $50 marauders bad seizol the ar
seLal at Harper's Ferry, with all its arms and
munitions, and were arming the slaves, and that
actual murder was done, and several citizens
were killed and wo ounded. Immediately called
out the lst regiment oi volunteers, and us many
men Of the l19,h regiment of militia as could get
ready TO move by the first train the following
morning. And in one hour, ut P. NJ. on the
18th, departed in person with Company r,
Can't. Cary, f,r tie scene At Washington was
joined by Capt. Marye of the Alexandria rifles.
and proceeded with ninety-one men and officers.
At tho Relay House in Maryland received intel
igence the 18th that no more force was neces-
sarv, and ordered back the force under Col.
August. And from that place tolegraphed Col.
Lee to make no terms with the insurgents. BY
O'clock on the 18th arrived with the fhrco under
my command Col. Lee made no terms and bad
subiued the insurgents before my arrival. im-
mediateIy examined the lender, Brown, his lieu
tenant. Stevens white man named Coppoc ,and
q negro from Canada. They made full contest
ions. Brown repelled tho idea that his design
was to run negro slaves off from their masters.
Ho defantly avowed that his purpose was to arm
them and make them fight by bis side in de-
fence of their freedom il assailed by their owners
or any one else /; aud he said his purpose espe-
cislly Was war upon the shareholders, and to levy
upon their own property to pay the expense Of
emancpatng their slaves. lie nvowed that he
expected to be joined by the slaves an by nume-
rous white persons from many Of the slave rs well
as free States. There was nothing for me to do
but to arrest those who had escaped, ~ search
for their hidden nrms and plunder, to try to re-
capture the slaves they had takcn to get all their
papers which coald be found. and to have them
proceeded against according to law. Had reach
ed the place before they SURRENDERED, would
have proclaimed martial law. have stormed them
in the quickest time possible, shown them no
quarter have tried the survivors, if any. by court
martial. and have shot the condemned on the
spot. But owing to the delay Of the at
Washington and the Relay House, and to the slow
travel from the latter place to the Ferry, was
too late.
When I arrived they were subdued: they were
prisoners and some Of them wounded, and was
bound tn protect them. | took them under the Ju-
rsdiction Of Virginia; they were guarded from all
violence; foad and rcfreshment and sur sical aid
and cvery comfnrt at my command were given
them; they proceeded against regularly by
the civil authority, under civil process from both
State and Federal governments, and went in per-
son with them under military guard to Charles
town. and saw them safely lodged in Jail 10 custo-
dy of the sheriff. under civil and military guard.
! remained Anight to sec that no violence was Mt
tempted from may quarter, and the next morning.
after giving necessary orders to Col Gibson and
furnishing him with arms, returned to lIarper's
Ferry The services of counsel to assist the Com
onwcaltbs Attorney were engaged BY me for the
State. Seeing. OH. the morning of the 18th that
the United States marines were ordered away
from IIarpers Ferry, | ordered police military
guard Tor the confines around the Arsenal. did
not remove the prisoners further into the interior,
hscause was determined to show no spprehen-
sion Of rescue; and if the Jail of Jefferson had
been on the line of the State, they should have
been kept there, t show that they could be kept
anywhere chosen in our limits. Soon after re-
turned to Richmond l notified the President of
the United States that tho reason 30 few men had
captured the Arsenal of the United States was
that there no military guard there. and that
had organized guard to protect our frontier,
and, incidentally. to protect tho property Of the
United States. neglected Arsenal had been
made positive danger to us we had been inya-
ded by lawess bands from other States, against
which the United States were bound to defend US;
We had been obliged to call out troops to defend
the Federal property, and at last bad 70 guard it.
Thus the affair passed for the time being from
the military to the civil authority. And here /
cannot express too strongly what is due to the
militia for the mDti itude with which thew vol
unteered for duty and obeyed my orders. The
Jefferson, Berkeley and Shepherdstown militia
were first at the scene. and manifested good
courage and did some service; but they we've