Under the authority of this letter, Mrs. Brown, in company with Mrs. McKim and Mr. Hector Tyndale, arrived at Harper's Ferry, November 30th. There she received a telegram from the Governor giving her permission to visit her husband, alone, on the following day, stipulating that she return to Harper's Ferry the same evening. She was, accordingly, driven to Charlestown the next afternoon in care of an escort—a sergeant and eight men—of the Fauquier Cavalry, a captain of infantry occupying a seat beside her. When the time came for her to return. Brown begged that her visit might be extended until morning, but, under his orders, the general in command could not grant this request. The hour for the final parting had come; the heart-broken woman, with her grief, returned to Harper's Ferry to await the tragedy of the tomorrow.
December 2d, about an hour before his execution. Brown disposed of the wreckage of his campaign supplies in a "will and codicil" which were written for him by Mr. Hunter.[492] It provided that all his property, being personal property, "which is scattered about in the States of Virginia and Maryland," should be carefully gathered up by his executor and "disposed of to the best advantage and the proceeds thereof paid over to his beloved wife, Mary A. Brown." He trusted that his right to such articles as were not of a "war-like character" and all other property that he might be entitled to might be respected. He appointed Sheriff James W. Campbell, "Executor of this my true last Will, hereby revoking all others." The document was sealed, and witnessed by John Avis, the jailer, and Andrew Hunter.
At 10:30 Brown was notified by the sheriff to prepare for the execution. He then visited his late companions in arms. To all, except Hazlett and Cook, he gave such adieux as he could, in view of the painful circumstances into which he had led them. Hazlett he had refused to recognize when he was first brought before him in the prison, and continued to the end to deny that he had been a member of his band. As to Cook, the relations between them were not cordial. He had stated in his "confession" that Brown had sent him to Harper's Ferry in June, 1858. This Brown denied; and charged Cook with having made false statements, saying, "you know I protested against your coming." To which Cook replied: "Captain Brown, you and I remember differently." Cook may have asked for the Harper's Ferry detail, but Brown must have consented to the arrangement, for he furnished the money to defray the expenses of his going thereto. Cook secured valuable information there, which he reported to Brown, including, among other things, a census of the slave population of that vicinity.[493]
The spectacle which met Brown's gaze as he stepped upon the porch from the door of the jail on his way to the scaffold, could not otherwise than recall to his mind the dreams of conquest and of military glory which he had cherished. Three thousand men—infantry, cavalry, and artillery—were under arms. In admiration of the display—for the "street was full of marching men," he said: "I had no idea that Governor Wise considered my execution so important,"[494] and for that reason, Mr. Villard says, "no little slave-child was held up for the benison of his lips, for none but soldiery was near."
The undertaker's wagon, a two seated vehicle, drawn by two white horses, stood near, the driver and undertaker occupying the front seat. Brown took his place in the second seat between the sheriff—Campbell—and his jailer, Avis. The party then moved to the place of execution. The escort, under the command of Colonel T. P. August, consisted of a company of cavalry under Captain Scott, and a battalion of infantry under Major Loring. On the way to the field, Brown spoke only of unimportant things, the weather and the scenery. "This is a beautiful country," he is reported to have said, "I never had the pleasure of seeing it before." It was a solemn procession, and was void of any effects in heroic phraseology.
The time was ripe for the final metamorphosis of John Brown. A blow of a hatchet cut the cord that linked him to earthly things: The Soldier of Fortune became the historical Soldier of the Cross.
[CHAPTER XVII]
"YET SHALL HE LIVE"