From John Brown’s Address to the Virginia Court at Charles Town, Virginia on November 2, 1859:
Unattributed, 19th Century drawing from the Virginia Military Institute archive.
“[…] I have another objection; and that is, it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case), had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends, either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class, and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.
This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to “remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.” I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done as I have always freely admitted I have done in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit; so let it be done!”
“An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people until he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the attempt which ends in little else than his own execution.”
Abraham Lincoln
“I have no doubt that our seeming disaster will ultimately result in the most glorious success. I have been whipped, but I am sure I can recover all the lost capital by only hanging a few moments by the neck.”
John Brown
David Bustill Bowser, John Brown, oil, 1860, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. African American, Philadelphia artist, Bowser executed this sympathetic portrait of Brown the year after he was executed. Bowser’s portrait was used by many others who showed Brown, alternately, as a crazed agitator bent on ruining the country or a sainted martyr defending the nation’s most fundamental principles.
Comments
15 responses to “Brown’s Address to the Virginia Court”
I’m so glad I stumbled across this blog – it’s full of useful information and I’m sure I’ll be referring to it often.
This blog is full of great ideas and I’m so inspired by it!
I appreciate the time and effort you put into responding to comments and engaging with your audience.
Hi there, the whole thing is going sound here
and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s actually fine,
keep up writing.
Your blog’s approachable tone and conversational style make me feel like we’re old friends. I enjoy reading your posts as much as catching up with a dear companion.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up and the
rest of the website is really good.
Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make
my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your
design. Thanks a lot
There is certainly a lot to find out about this
issue. I love all the points you made.
It’s an amazing piece of writing for all the online users; they will get benefit from it I am sure.
Spot on with this write-up, I actually think this site needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be back again to
see more, thanks for the information!
Wonderful beat ! I would like to apprentice at the
same time as you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for
a weblog site? The account helped me a applicable deal.
I were a little bit familiar of this your broadcast offered vibrant transparent concept
Educators must adapt pedagogical approaches to harness the benefits of technology while ensuring that the human element of teaching remains central to the learning experience.
Superb, what a weblog it is! This website provides useful data to us,
keep it up.
Today, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iPad
and tested to see if it can survive a twenty five foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad
is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is
entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My website has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either created
myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web
without my permission. Do you know any solutions to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d truly appreciate it.