Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-01-24
Admirable Reply.

ana graphic, us SarcasnS. elegant ana hecnI
and it breathes a genial American spirit.
In publishing this letter, we feel it our duty
to state, upon the very high authority of a gen
tleman who was present during the whole tria
OF Brown, that Mrs. SIS concessum that Brown
had five painful wounds, and that his mattres.
was filled with the blood that flowed from
them, has no foundation in truth. Veto,
Hugo must have invoked his fancy, before ht
thought he had ascertaincd such a fact. And
as to Browns being brought into the Court
room upon a mattress, it was seen to be Sc
transparent a trick to obtain outside sympathy
that it brought u smile of contempt for tho
pretended hero Of the l~larper's Ferry murders
upon the face of every one who saw it:
- -sa From the y. Y. Express.
A Just and WeN-Timed Hebu!tc.
We invite the especial attention o: the reader To The al
mirable address We publish elsewhere To Victor hugo. II
answer 10 The letter recently written 10 The 'Loiid"n ai"ih
Ing Star by that distinguished romancer, in lelsrence u
old JOHN brown. II CONES from Que whose name orenIds:
RS honorable u position i'll AMERICAN. us his In tFeiieh' ite
nature; and who Is, therefore, US vel entitled 10 Is hei,i:t
on his eide VI the Atlantic rs on ours. The 'uJeit Is al
Irritating one, hut, Ia discussing 1t. our Fair correspondent
displays excellent temper aud. while its argument. on thr
main 1n.ktiou are of n Kind WlIrh tie IuIlur II Esinc
rnlda will fud II Gfiicuitto answer. he cannot hut :, eesn ~
Ia II the spirit Of Il true woman, who Is Il friend U! huiha'i
It's us well rs u lover Of her country. Moreover, !h"u:i
addressed to a foreigner, there Is much Ia What Is sam
which cuinmrndS itself with equal force 10 he r"nslhtrt
ton Of n &C. lain class Of minds in tbs county. w'ich 'ie
mischierouss opli,trie- AMI sentimental synra'iies OF Just
such phi!oso. hers rs Victor lluso ue calculated but tou
easily to impress.
To Victor Hugo.
- c.. Vo,r lot FOR m th. Ioplon Star has fDllDu
its way into the American Press, for which it
was doubtless intended. If ardent enthusiasm
could win Justice from her strict course, yours
might have had some effect upon the destiny oil
John Brown. But all the cloquencc OF genius
cannot take the blackness from treason, or the
crimson stain from murder. 1t requires some.
thing more than an outburst of fine poetry to
turn crime into Notwithstanding more
than impetuouS denunciatiuns TO check the So
lemn footsteps of Justice.
Before this time you will have learned that
Virginia has vindicated the majesty Of her laws;
and that John Brown and his unhappy conftde-
rates have passed to a higher tribunal for juds-
ment. You will learn, also. that out Of nearly
thirty millions of people, spreading over a great
continent, there is but a handful Of men and
women who have received the news Of this ex-
ecution with disapproyal. North and South,
the great body Of our people acquIeSce in the
fate Of John Brown, as an inevitable necessity
a solemn obligation TO the laws. Like you, we
may feel compassion for the man who was brave
even in his crimes but he was q great criini-
nal, and so persisted. God have mercy upon
his soul!
The impulses Of humanity which prompted
your letter meet with sympathy from every
true heart. But no outburSt Of compassion,
no Remuneration from abroad, is likely to III
1ucnce q people who have learned to govern
their passions while they protect their rights.
When, in the ardor of your fancy, Washing
ton stood before you-imnortal with heavenly
preatness-your intellect should have gone 4
step farther, and Informed itself more correctly
regarding the Constitution, 10 establish which
he gave the best years Of a glorious life. You
would have learned that each State Of this
Union is sovereign in itsclf-in its laws and in
its power to punish crimes committed OF its soil.
10 establish the distinct sovereignty Of these
States and link them in one beautiful c0nfedcra-
ton, concessions were made and obligations OF
forbcarance were entered upon to which the
sacred honor Of our Revolutionary Fathers was
pledsed-not for themselves alone, but for their
children and children's children. These obi
cations make slavery with lis a forbidden sub
Ject
Washington himself was born in a slavchold.
ing Sta,e-lived and died the master of slaves.
Neither on the battle field, the floor Of Con-
gress, nor in the Presidential Chair, did he sug-
gest the possibility Of 4 revolt against the So
Tenn compact made in the Constitution.
Had treason, like that OF Old john Brown,
broken out in his time, he would undoubtedly
have done what james Buchanan is doing now.
Maintaining his august position rs the chief Of
a great confederation, our President respects
the rights of L sovereign State, over whose in.
tcrnal laws he has no authority, and leaves TO
her Courts the punishment or pardon Of the
treason which broke out on her territory.
Washington could have done no more than
this, crown him with the halo ofpoe:ry as you
will. .
Virginia a sovereign State. has maintained
her authority. John Brown is dead. Proven
guilty Of Observation-Disclosures for at!ociollS
murdcrs-hc mas atoncd for these crimes on the
1t is impossible for q man TO stand
upon the verge Of eternity, into which he must
be launched by q violent death, without filling
every good heart with grief and compassion.
BILL NnPn liz IL DIdSC~h Z iIiS Iklh w
has been lighted by the lnril torch OF tanall-
cism or ~insanity-such minds as yours. aiiirl.
ent, earnest, and poctica|, may DC expected to
clo,he his crimes in white garm ITS, and, for
getting the murderer in the brave man, sing
prans to the martyr Of a vivid imagination
only. ~. 49,
l am Of a sex and Of \ nature to whom these
feelings are kindred. ! cannot think Of old
John Brown upon the scalfold without a sl'ud-
der through all my being. J cannot think Of
u man made in the image Of his God, suffering
an ignominious death without thrills Of pain.
But | find it impossible to fix my mind on the
scatTold of this old man. 1t goes back to his
victims at l%Iarper's Ferry-.to the women made
widows by the outbreak Of u single morning
Ito the orphans, who had never wronged him,
so cruelty bereayed by his crime. | see the
two sons who blind!y followed his lead fall
martyrs to his rcbelliouS spirit
I look beyond all this, far away into the
beautiful South, and instead of an old IMAM on
the callows, | see thousands Of my " conr-
trywomen, gentle, good and lovely, given up a
pr,.y TO wild insurrection-l see those murder
Gus pixies, manufactured with such cruel fore
thought, piercing their bosoms-l hear tho
cries of children calling for the mothers who
will never answer them again-l see proud,
strong men struggling against the brute
strength of their own household servants
This picture strikes my compassion dumb, and
I can only cover my face and pray God TO have
mercy on the old mans soal!
John Brown vas tried, condemned, and exc
cuted rs a traitor guard of American cltl-
zens stood around the Scaifold, sad at heart. but
steady in their devotion to the laws. The Lr.
s~islature of q great Commonwealth sat, delibe-
rately, after his sentence, and pronounced 1t
Just. The Federal Union, in which thirty lnll-
lions Of souls throb, stor! by in SOLEMN silence,
while the treason Of this man was cXplatcd.
Out Of all these thirty millions Of intelligent,
educated n.en, who make their OWN laws and
abide by them, not one hundred thousand can
be found to join with you in eondemning the
execution Of John Brown, while every good
heart among them must Sympathi<e in the pity
for his fate, which iuingles 20 eloquently with
your dc1iuuciationS.
Some there may be.-nay, certainly are
who would add bitterness to your words, and