"The Greatness of Christ," and other Sermons. Crummell (Rev. Alexander, D.D.). T. Whittaker, 2 and 3 Bible House, New York, 1882.
"Not a Man and Yet a Man." Whitman (A. A.).
"Mixed Races." Sampson (John P.). Hampton, Va., 1881.
"Poems." Wheatley (Phillis). London, England, 1773.
"As a Slave and as a Freeman." Loguen (Bishop, J. W.).
CHAPTER XIII.
THE JOHN BROWN MEN.
The subjoined correspondence was published in the Republican, J. K. Rukenbrod, editor, at Salem, Ohio, Wednesday, December 28, 1859. The beautiful spirit of self-sacrifice, the lofty devotion to the sublime principles of universal liberty, and the heroic welcome to the hour of martyrdom, invest these letters with intrinsic historic value.
LETTER FROM EDWIN COPPOCK TO HIS UNCLE JOSHUA COPPOCK.
Charleston, Va., December 13, 1859.
My Dear Uncle: I seat myself by the stand to write for the last time, to thee and thy family. Though far from home, and overtaken by misfortune, I have not forgotten you. Your generous hospitality toward me during my short stay with you last Spring is stamped indelibly upon my heart; and also the generosity bestowed upon my poor brother, at the same time, who now wanders an outcast from his native land. But thank God he is free, and I am thankful it is I who have to suffer instead of him.
The time may come when he will remember me. And the time may come when he will still further remember the cause in which I die. Thank God the principles of the cause in which we were engaged will not die with me and my brave comrades. They will spread wider and wider, and gather strength with each hour that passes.
The voice of truth will echo through our land, bringing conviction to the erring, and adding numbers to that glorious Army who will enlist under its banner. The cause of everlasting truth and justice will go on "conquering and to conquer," until our broad and beautiful land shall rest beneath the banner of freedom. I had hoped to live to see the dawn of that glorious day. I had hoped to live to see the principles of the Declaration of our Independence fully realized. I had hoped to see the dark stain of slavery blotted from our land, and the libel of our boasted freedom erased; when we can say in truth that our beloved country is "the land of the free, and the home of the brave."—But this cannot be. I have heard my sentence passed, my doom is sealed. But two brief days between me and eternity. At the expiration of those two days, I shall stand upon the scaffold to take my last look at earthly scenes. But that scaffold has but little dread for me; for I honestly believe I am innocent of any crime justifying such punishment.
But by the taking of my life, and the lives of my comrades, Virginia is but hastening on that glorious day, when the slave will rejoice in his freedom; when he can say that I too am a man, and am groaning no more under the yoke of oppression. But I must now close. Accept this short scrawl as a remembrance of me. Remember me to my relatives and friends. And now Farewell.
From thy nephew,
EDWIN COPPOCK.
P. S. I will say for I know it will be a satisfaction to all of you, that we are all kindly treated, and I hope the North will not fail to give Sheriff Campbell and Captain Avis due acknowledgment for their kind and noble actions.
E.