Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements made by some of those connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one of them but joined me of his own accord, and the greater part of them at their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation with, till the day they came to me; and that was for the purpose I have stated.
Now I have done.
Judge Parker then pronounced the sentence of death upon Brown, fixing the 2d of December, 1859, as the date for the execution of it, and directing that the execution should be public. He then ordered all persons present to remain in their seats until the prisoner was removed. "There was prompt obedience and John Brown reached his cell unharmed, without even hearing a taunt."[467]
There is conflict between the "authorities" as to the manner in which Brown delivered his speech to the Court. In describing the scene, Mr. Villard gave rein to his bias in this choice flight:
Drawing himself up to his full stature, with flashing eagle eyes and calm, clear and distinct tones, John Brown again addressed, not the men who surrounded him but the whole body of his countrymen, North, South, East and West.[468]
Mr. Redpath, who has not, in this history, overlooked any favorable opportunity to indulge his penchant, is not a bit dramatic in his statement of what occurred. He says that when the clerk directed Brown to stand and say why sentence should not be passed upon him, that "he rose and leaned slightly forward, his hands resting on the table. He spoke timidly—hesitatingly, indeed—and in a voice singularly gentle and mild. But his sentences came confused from his mouth, and he seemed to be wholly unprepared to speak at this time. Types can give no intimation of the soft and tender tones, yet calm and manly withal, that filled the Court room, and, I think touched the hearts of many who had come only to rejoice at the heaviest blow their victim was to suffer."[469]
It appears then, that Mr. Villard has framed and given out an exaggeration of the performance; but it is unfortunate that the subject-matter of the speech, fails to measure up to the height of the exalted standard which has been set for the occasion. When one to whom a prodigal biographer has attributed a pair of flashing eagle eyes, drawls himself up to his full stature, and addresses the whole body of his countrymen, he ought to be truthful as well as dramatic. It is bad form for an orator under such circumstances, to make statements which are not true; it mars the dignity of his utterances, and dwarfs the stateliness of his eloquence. Also, it is embarrassing for a hero to be compelled to retract his more heroic periods, as in this case, after they have "thrilled the world."
On the 18th of October, Brown, in answer to a question, had distinctly stated to Governor Wise and others, that it was not his purpose to run the slaves out of the country; but that he "designed to put arms in their hands to defend themselves against their masters, and to maintain their position in Virginia and in the South. That, in the first instance, he expected they and the non-slave-holding whites would flock to his standard as soon as he got a footing there, at Harper's Ferry; and, as his strength increased, he would gradually enlarge the area under his control, furnishing a refuge for the slaves, and a rendezvous for all whites who were disposed to aid him, until eventually he overrun the whole South...."[470]
Later, when Governor Wise called Brown's attention to the discrepancy between these statements and the statement which he had made in the opening paragraph of his speech to the Court on November 2d, he retracted what he had said to the Court, and wrote the following letter, to Mr. Hunter, explaining the dereliction:[471]
Charlestown, Jefferson County, Va.
November 22, 1859.