...the panic Mr. Brown with his
handful of deluded followers created in Maryland
and Virginia was not at all creditable
to the people or authorities of the vicinity.
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THE HARPER'S FERRY AFFAIR.
A Gentleman from New Hampshire,
who has been on a tour through the western and central parts
of the Union, was in the vicinity of Harper's
Ferry, during the late difficulties, and was a witness
to the closing scenes of that affair. According to his
representations, the panic Mr. Brown with his
handful of deluded followers created in Maryland
and Virginia was not at all creditable
to the people or authorities of the vicinity. They showed the
"white feather" in a manner to plainly reveal the inherent
weakness of society where slavery is tolerated and free labor
regarded as degrading. The fact almost exceeds belief, that
seventeen white men and five blacks -- only twenty-two persons
in all -- should not only be able to take possession of the
Armory of the United States,
but retain it for hours, and not be driven therefrom
until the arrival of the military from abroad. The gentleman above
named expresses the opinion that five resolute men could have
dislodged "the revolutionists" in five minutes. But terror seems
to have seized upon all classes of persons in the immediate
vicinity, and the population behaved as madly and wildly as the
residents of the interior of New England,
where a great fire does not occur more than once in half a century,
do, when a large conflagration occurs. To use the word "chivalry"
in connection with such cowardice as the Virginians displayed,
is to be guilty of the severest sarcasm. The compliments
Gov. Wise lavished upon the citizens of
Harper's Ferry when he ascertained the true
state of the case, savored rather of strength than of righteousness.
Well may the Baltimore American say:
Gathering all the facts and rumors concerning the late affair at
Harper's Ferry together, it is difficult
to decide whether it should be called a ludicrous tragedy or a solemn
farce.
Transcribed and reverse-order proofed by Lloyd Benson,
Furman University, from the Boston, Massachusetts, Daily Evening Transcript,
24 October 1859.
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