"I am, sir."
"You are pro-Slavery?"
"I hate the sight and sound of a slave."
"But you believe in the institution?"
"I hate it, I tell you."
Brown paused as if his brain had received a shock. The answer had been utterly unexpected. The man was in earnest. He meant what he said. And he was conscious of the solemnity of the trial on which his life hung.
Brown came back to his cross examination, determined to convict him on the grounds he had fixed beforehand.
"What do you mean when you say that you hate the institution of
Slavery?"
"Exactly what I say."
"You do not believe in owning slaves?"