OCR Text |
Show ) 100 \ 1ictor Hugo. l cr1111_c:;hot wntnHl in hi;-:; arm, onP in l1i ...; loin:-', two WOillH ::\ - :1 n · . . . · 1 1 ·t t,,.0 1 ' 11 the }t<':Hl - :1 lmo...;t ht·r1·fL of ltr·;u·mrr, 1 n t H' l ' H':-; , o 1.1 1· tl 11 )·11 hi · m·1 ttr<'"~ thP . pirit:-:; of hi:-; l \\'O <1<-:Hl son: u ('t'l ttl~ 11'0 ~.., :-. ' . ' ' att <'1Hti;1,..,. 11im ; bi:i four fl'll ow-pt·i~oner:-; <'1'<1\V Ii ng around ,., 1 T . '' . I ltim; St<•ph<'ns with f(H tr ~ al>rc w o ttn< ;-;; • • tbiH't' tn a lltlTJ to hast' <lone wilh the casr ; nn attOI'IH')'. llt tnt <' r, dvmanding tl1at it. be tl <>s pat<:lted with 1dtarp ~ rwe<l ; a .Jtl{lge, Parker, n ~s<· nt in g ; the dvl(•nee cut ~lwrt ; . care ·ly ~my tlvl:1y allow(;d; ii>rgcd or garl> il'tl (loeuments put i:1 CYidcnce; rlw witn ('s::;es for thf' pri:'oner shut out; the defence l·lo~g<·d ; two guns, lo:ule<l with grapr, brought into the court, " ·illt ~111 ordPr to the jailers to shoot the prisoners in case of an ntt 'lll J>l at r<'s<·ue; forty minutes' <klilwrat ion ; three sen tenet's to dt>:1th. I aHirm, on my honor, that all this took place, not in T urk<·y, but in Amcri<·a. S uch thin ,rr.~ nrc not done with impunity in the fil ('l' of the civili ze<l world. The uni vr r:-::11 <'O il~ei e n ce o f' m nnkind is an C\·cr-wntchf'nl ey e. I.Jct the Judge or Uhn rll'~tow n , and IIuntcr, nn<l Park r, n.n<l the . bYe-holding juror;-;, nntl tho whole populntion of Virginia, potHkr it. w<•ll : t it")' :we S<'<'n! Th<•y arc not alone in the world. At tbi:') momt 11t the gaze of E mope is fixed on A mcricn. J olm Brown, cotHlcmtw<.l to die, wns to hn ve ht•en hanged on the 2<1 of Decembt'r - this v('ry tlny. B ut H l' \Ys It a' litis instant r<'aelt tl n::;. A r cspit is grante<l him. lt is not until the 16th that he i to die. The int c r·r~1 l is short. Il:ts n cry of nwrey time to make itself hcan1? No matter. l t is a duty to li ft up the voirc. P(• rhnp ~ a :-;<'CO rH1 rC'~ pit<' rnny lH' g ran tC'<l. Anwri<':t i ~ a noble lancl. T lt C' ;:;en tirn C'nt of humanity is soon qu il'kt'ned among n f ree peopl<•. "re hope• that Brown m:1_y l>P snved. Jf it were ot herwise- if Brown ~ l toul<1 el i<' on t hP :--t:nfl(>l\1 on the 16Lh of' Decemb ' I' - w l1at a l<'n ible calamity! The <'xecutioner of B rown - let us avow it openly (for the day of the king · i~ past, and the tl:ty of tile proplc dawn~ and Victor Hugo. 101 to the Jll'ople w nrc u01mcl fra nkly to sprnk the truth) -the executi oner of' B rown would \)(~ neitll(' L' tl tc Attorney Hunter, nor tIre .T udge P ark<'l·, 11or tlte Uov •mor "\Vise, nor the Stale of Yirgin ia; it woul tl lw, we ~:ty it, aml we think it wi th a shudde r, tltc whole A llle rican Hl' puLJic. T it • more one loves, tlt ' more one admire~, the more one r ever •s the H<·publi c, the more IH' arL-s ick one feel::; at ::;uch a cn.ta ·trophc. A single ~ ' tat e ought 110t to have the power to di shonor all the rest, an(1 in this ca~c f ·dentl intervention is a clear ri ght. Othcrwi sP, hy ltt•::.it:tting to inte rf ' rc when it might pr ·v nt a crime, the Union be 'Omcs an accomplice. ~ o matt ' l' how intense may Lc the indio·nation of the generous Northern St at e~, tit<' Southern S tate. associate tltrm ,rith the <.I it:.grare of' this m u nl ' r. A ll of us, w Ito. ocv 'r we may be- for whorn tlte <l <'mocratic c:Hl:-'e i-> a comnton countryfeel onrseh:rs in a JII H. llll •r compt·omisc<l and hurt. If' the seaflold .ltould be n eetccl orr tire Hith of' December, tire incorruptible voices of hi :-, tory would tl1encefon var<.l testi(y that the au gu ~t confe(leralion of the N •w \\Torl<l had add(•<.l to all its tie: of holy brotherhood a brotherhood of blood, an<.l the f asces of tlrat spl •ndid Republic would be bound together with the running noo:'e that., hung from the gibbet of Brown. This is a l>ond that kills. "\Vlten we refl c• ·t on what Brown, the liberator, the champion of' ClrriKt, has stri\' ·n to cfred, and wl1cn we r em ml>cr tha t he is abo ttt to die, shlllglrt<:n •<l by the Amcriean H<'publi r, tltc crime as .... ;unH'S the pro port ions or the Nation which connnih it ; and wlrcn W<' ~ ay to ourse lves that this Nntion j~ a g 1ory of' tltc· lttttltat t r:H'<'; thnt - like Franer, like Englnnd, like G<•rmany - f;llC is one or the organs of civili zation ; that she some times 'VCn out-march<'s Europe by the ~ ublim e a\l(laeity of her progress; that ~h e is the qu 'Cn of an ntire worl(l; and that she bears on her brow an immense light of freedom ; we a1Iirm that John Brown will not die; for we recoil, horror-. truck, f'rom the idea of . o g rc·at a crime com· mitted by so great a People. 9* |