Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1859-11-25

not do it for David thy fathers sake"
The K,gg, who was forgiven, and
spale-fTa. not merely his life, bat his king
dom Also, and his glory during his life
Whine because of the loyalty of his father
who had gone before him, was old and
very wise and full of experience. The
prisoner before you has done no more
than to dsobey your covenants ard stat
utes, and pleads that it has been done in
the early morning of life, his first offence
and under baneful influence of schoo
Of philosophy which he once thought
sascere NM rigt$. bat which he now here
once aud forever, to you, and before tht
world, renounces as false, pernicious, anC
pestilential. Shall man be more intol
Grant than God ? Shall you be less mer.
ciful than He, in whose presence your
only plea will be mercy mercy! mercy
Will you say you dare not recommend
mercy to John Il. Cook when divine OK.
amples and the appeals of your own con-
sciences are on your side? I will never
believe it until the appalling fact is an
ncunced by you.
But let us advance. / have spoken
of Cook, his parentage and connections.
Again comes the question, who is he {
And now | proceed to answer it with
reference to the transactions at Harper
Ferry, and with reference to the facts of
the case. Let us spread broad and wide
before us moving panorama of evil
which reaches its denouement Mt Harper
Ferry. There are hearts and feelings
woven in the destiny Of the prisoner
which shall be relieved and solaced as
far as truth dragged up from the depth
of this misfortune can relieve and solace
them. In an evil hcur-and may it be
forever accused John Il. Cook met
John Brown on the prosttuted plains of
Kansas. On that field of fanaticism,
three years ago, this fair and gentle youth
was thrown into contact with the pirate
and robber of civil warfare. TO others
whose sympathies he has enlisted | will
leave the task of transmitting John
Brown as a myrtyr and hero to posterity
In my eyes he stands the chief of Grim
mails, the thief of property stolen --hor-
ses and slaves--from the citizens Of Mis-
souri,, q falsiGcr here in this court as |
shall yet show, and murderer not only
of your citizens, but Of the young men
who have already lost their lives in his
bloody foray on your border. This is
not pleasant to say. but it is the truth
aud as such ought to be and shall be said
You have seen John Brown, the leader
Now look on john Cook, the follower
He is in evidence before you Never
did | plead for face that / was more
willing to show. If evil is there, have
not seen it. If murder is there, ] am
to learn to mark the lines Of the murderer
anew. If the assassin is in that young
face, then commend me to the look of
an assassin. No, gentlemen, it is face
for a mother to love, and sister to idol
ize, and in which the natural goodness Of
bis heart pleads rumpet-tongued against
the deep damnation that estranged him
from home and its principles. Let us
look at the meeting of these two men 49,
Place them side by side. Put the young
face by the old face the young head by
the old head We have seen somewhat
of the history of the young man. Look
now for moment at the history Of the
old man. He did not 90 to Kansas as a
pcaceable settler with his interests linked
to the legitimate growth and prosperity
Of that Inflated Territory. Tie went
there, in the language of one who has
spoken for him since his confinement
here, as the Moses Of the slaves deliver
aace. He went there TO fulfil dream,
which had tortured bis brain for thirty
years, that he was to be the leader Of a
sacred Exodus from bondage. lie went
there for war, and not for peace. He
went there to call around him the way
ward and unstable elements Of society
in which the bonds of order, law, and
religion were loosenod, and the angry
demon Of discord was unclaimed. Storm
was his element by bis own showing 49,
lie courtcd the fierce tempest. lie SOW
cd the wind that he might reap the whirl-
wind. lie invoked the lightning and
gloried in its devastation. Sixty sum-
lners and winters had passed over his
Eead, and planted the seeds of spring and
gathered the harvests Of autumn in the
fields of his experience. He was the
hero, too, of battles there If laurels
could be gained in such fratricidal war
as ragged in Kansas, be had them on his
brow Ossawattomie was given to him,
and added to his name by the insanity Of
the crazy crew of the North as Napoleon
conferred the names Of battle-felGs on
his fayoritc marshals The action of
BLACK JACK, too, gave him consideration,
circumstance, and condition with phil
anthropists of bastard quality, carpet
night heroes in Boston, and seryile fol-
lowers Of fanatieism throughoutthe coun-
try. His courage is now Landed to the
skies by men who have none Of it them
selves. This virtue, / admit, he has
linked, however, with thousand crimes.
An iron will, with which to accomplish
evil under the skilful euise Of good, ]
also admit 10 be in his possession
dering his influence over the young all
the more despotic ard dangerous. I'm
agine, If you please, the bark on which
this young man at the bar aud all his
hopes were frcighted. laid alongside Of
the old weather-beaten and murderous
man-of-war whose character / have pa-
ccd before you The one was stern aRd
bent upon fatal voyage. Grirn-visaged
war, civil commotion, pillagc and death,
disunion and universal desolation throng-
ed through the mind Of JoHS BaowS.---