The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1865-07-06

| fall of 1S59--cOmmoniy knOun at Me
John Brown RAID"
The honorable Senator from Wiscon-
sin, Mr.. Doolttlc] - and | confess that
am surprised at him-after condemn
! ing the abstract offenses of murder and
treason in old John Brown, went on 20
state:
Under what circumstances do you
hear of him ? One of his sons is taken
by Captain Pate, bound with thongs,
driven in front of horses on foot, with
out food or water, until from furnishing
he becomes a maniac and he has new.
er recovered from his insanity to this
day. In presence Of the house Of old
John Brown, another son of his, but
half .witted boy, is shot down, Then it
is that we begin to hear of old John
Brown as leader of a band of a free
State men in Kansas Then it was that
the iron entered the old mans soul !;
and frou that hour up to the moment of
his death he swore eternal hostility, and
from that hour was ready not only to
give his own life, but to take the lives
of other men, in order to give liberty
to those who were enslaved."
Now, what is that calculated to do :?
| will not assume what it was intended
to do. l presume that the Senator's
motive was entirely correct; but what
effect is such language calculated to
have? 1t is to heighten the idea Of
this old felon to every fanatic who may
read it. Then it was, after these afro
cities in the presence. that the iron en- .
ed into the old mans soul This is
rendered as an excuse for John Brown
having committed murder, treason, and
robbery. The iron entered into his
soul Then he became stole; then he
became a patriot; then he became care
less of consequences Well, now
suppose that these things had taken
place in the manner the Senator seems
to infer that they did occur. We as
sumo this to be Christian community,
and if it was true that his sons were bad.
ly maltreated, was that any excuse for
his violating all the laws Of humanity
aud of God ? He was in a Christian
country ; he had his remedy without
resorting to the means to which he had
recourse. We have all read "Whoso
sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his
blood be she'd" And also, "Thou
shalt not kill" 1t seems we have some
new born Christians who are making
John Brown their leader, who are try
to canonize him and make him a great
apostle and martyr Were these the
elements of Christian and a Christian
martyr? How do the facts stand in
this case? When was old man Browns
son killed, and when did he commit
these atrocities ? Even admitting the
truth of the statement OF the Senator
from Wisconsin, they are not justifia.
BILE but when we show that the facts
are different they are less so. The cir.
cumstauces are stated in the evidence of
Mr.. Harris, wl;ch will be found in q
report made by committee of Congress,
and repuklished to the Herald Of Free
dom of kansas-a paper that has at
its head for President, the name ofa Re.
publican, Mr., Chase of Ohio, and Mr..
Banks Of Massachusetts,, for Vice Presi.
dent:
"The circumstances attending Viii
liam Sherman's assassination are testi-
fled to by James Harris, Of Franklin
county, Kansas,
Mr.. Sherman was staying over night
at the house of Harris. when, on the
24th OF May, at about 2 o'clock, Capt,
Jno. Brown and party came there, and
after taking some property, and ques-
tioning Harris and others, Sherman was
asked to walk out Mr.. Harris, in his
affidavit, says Old man Brown asked
Mr.. Sherman to 90 out with him, and
Sherman then went out with Brown. l
heard nothing more for about fifteen
minutes. Two of the "northern army"
as they styled themselves, stayed with
us until a cap burst, and then these two
men left. Next morning, about ten
o'clock, 1 found William Sherman dead,
in the creek near my house. l was
looking for him; as he had not come
back, l thought he was murdered. |
took Mr.. VIM, Sherman's body out of
the creek and examined it. Mrs.
Whiteman was with me. Sherman's
skull was split open in two places, and
some OF his brains were washed out by
the water; large hole was cut in his
breast, and his left hand was cut off, ex.
cept bit of skin on one side"
This was the Gath of May. l will
read from the same paper another ex.
tract.
"When the news of the threatened
seige of Lawrence reached John Brown,
ir., who was a member of the Topeka
Legislature, he organized a company OF
about sixty men and marched towards
Lawrence. Arriving at Palmyra, he
learned of the town, and the position of
ths naonle Ha raoonuoiterad foy q