The people whom he had assaulted with intent to kill, the people againstwhom he had incited5 slaves to rise in bloody6 insurrection, the kinsmenof the dead whom his rifles had slain7, stood in line on the street andwatched him pass into the building manacled to one of his disciples8.
They did not hoot9, nor hiss10, nor curse. They watched him walk in silencebetween the tall granite11 pillars of the House of Justice.
The behavior of this crowd was highwater mark in the development ofSouthern character. The structure of their society rested on thesanctity of Law. It was being put to the supreme12 test.
A Northern crowd under similar conditions, had they followed theprinciples which John Brown preached, would have torn those prisoners topieces without the formality of a trial.
It was precisely13 this trait of character in his enemies on which Brownrelied for the martyrdom he so passionately15 desired. When the witnessesat the preliminary hearing had testified to his guilt16 and the Court hadordered the trial set, he was asked if he had counsel.
He rose from his seat and addressed the nation, not the Court:
"Virginians, I did not ask for any quarter at the time I was taken.
I did not ask to have my life spared. The Governor of the State ofVirginia tenders me his assurance that I shall have a fair trial, butunder no circumstances whatever will I be able to have a fair trial. Ifyou seek my blood, you can have it at any moment, without this mockeryof a trial. I have no counsel. I am ready for my fate. I do not wish atrial. I have now little further to ask, other than that I may not befoolishly insulted, as cowardly barbarians17 insult those who fall intotheir power."The posing martyr14 was courting insults which had not been offeredhim. He was grieved that he could not bring the charge of barbaroustreatment. He had been treated by Colonel Lee with the utmostconsideration. His wounds had been dressed. He had received the bestmedical care. He had eaten wholesome18 food. His jailer had provenfriendly and sympathetic.
He went out of his way to insult the Court and the people and inviteabuse. He demanded that he be executed without trial.
The Court calmly assigned him two of the ablest lawyers in the county,and ordered the trial to proceed.
At noon the following day the Grand Jury returned a true bill againsteach of the prisoners for treason to the commonwealth, and forconspiring with slaves to commit both treason and murder, and formurder.
Captain Avis, the kindly19 jailer, was ordered to bring his prisoners intoCourt. He found old Brown in bed, pretending to be ill. He refused torise. He was determined20 to get the effect of an arraignment of hisprostrate body in the court room. He had foreseen the effect of thispicture on the imagination of the North. The crowd of eager reporters atthe preliminary hearing had given him the cue.
He was carried into the court room exactly as he had desired, on a cot.
While the hearing proceeded he lay with his eyes closed as if in deepsuffering. He had carefully prepared a plea for delay which he knewwould not be granted. Its effect on the mob mind of the North was whathe sought. The press would give it wings.
He lifted himself on his elbow and asked Judge Parker to allow him tomake a protest:
"I have been promised a fair trial. I am not now in circumstances thatenable me to attend a trial, owing to the state of my health. I have asevere wound in the back, or rather in one kidney which enfeebles mevery much. But I am doing well, and I only ask for a very short delayof my trial, that I may be able to listen to it! And I merely ask thisthat, as the saying is, the devil may have his dues, no more. I wish tosay further that my hearing is impaired21 by wounds I have about my head.
I could not hear what the Court said this morning. I would be glad tohear what is said at my trial. Any short delay would be all I would ask.
I do not presume to ask more than a very short delay so that I may insome degree recover and be able at least to listen to my trial."Dr. Mason the attending physician, swore that he had examined Brown,and that his wounds had effected neither his hearing nor his mind. Hefurther swore that he was not seriously disabled.
Brown knew that this was true, but he had entered his plea. His wordswould flash over the nation. The effect was what he foresaw. Although hehad defied the laws of God and man, he dared demand more than justiceunder the laws which he had spit upon. And, however inconsistent hisposition, he knew that as the poison of the Blood Feud22 which he wasraising filled the souls of the people through the press, he would beglorified from day to day and new power given to every word he mightutter.
He had already composed his last message destined23 to sway the minds ofmillions. The response of the radical24 press to his pose of illness wasquick and sharp. The Lawrence, Kansas, _Republican_ voiced the feelingsof thousands:
"We defy an instance to be shown in any civilized25 community where aprisoner has been forced to trial for his life, when so disabled bysickness or ghastly wounds as to be unable even to sit up during theproceedings, and compelled to be carried to the judgment27 hall upon alitter. Such a proceeding26 shames the name of Justice, and only finds acongenial place amid the records of the bloody Inquisition."Even so conservative a paper as the Boston _Transcript_ said:
"Whatever may be his guilt or folly28, a man convicted under suchcircumstances, and, especially, a man executed after such a trial, willbe the most terrible fruit that Slavery has ever borne, and will excitethe execration29 of the civilized world."The canny30 old poseur31 was on his way to an immortal32 martyrdom. He knewthat every article of the Virginia Code was being scrupulously33 obeyed.
He knew that the Grand Jury was in session and that the trial was setat the first term of the court following the crime. There had been nohaste. He also knew that the impartial34 Judge who was presiding was thesoul of justice in his dealings both with the clamorous35 people, theprosecution and the counsel appointed for the defense37. But he also knewthat the mob mind to whom he was appealing would not believe that heknew this. In appeals to the crowd he was a past master. In this appealhe knew that facts would count for nothing--beliefs, illusions foreverything.
He played each opportunity for all it was worth.
When the Court opened the following morning, his counsel, Mr. Botts,amazed the prisoner and the prosecution36 by reading a telegram from Ohioasking a delay on the ground that important affidavits38 were on the wayto prove legally that John Brown was insane. Before the old man couldstop him he gave to the Court the substance of these sworn statements.
His friends and relatives in Ohio had sworn that Brown had been alwaysa monomaniac and had been intermittently40 insane for twenty years. Oneswore that he had been plainly insane for a quarter of a century. On thefamily record of insanity41 the affidavits all agreed. His grandmother washopelessly insane for six years and died insane. His uncles and aunts,two sons and two daughters had been intermittently insane for years,while one of his daughters had died a hopeless maniac39. His only sister,her daughter and one of his brothers were insane at intervals42. Two ofhis first cousins were occasionally mad. Two had been committed to theState Insane Asylum43 repeatedly and two others were at that time in closerestraint.
Brown refused to allow this plea to be entered. He bitterly denouncedthe counsel assigned to him as traitors44, and at their request thefollowing day they were allowed to withdraw from the case. No sooner hadhe finished his denunciation of his counsel than Hoyt, the young allegedattorney, sent by Higginson to defend him, sprang to his feet and askeda delay, as he was unprepared to proceed without assistance.
The Judge adjourned45 the Court until the following morning at teno'clock.
The young spy knew nothing of law but he bluffed46 it through until thearrival of two able attorneys, Samuel Chilton of Washington, and HiramGrismer of Cleveland.
Botts, the dismissed counsel, who had sought to save Brown's life by theplea of insanity, put his notes and his office at the disposal of Hoytand sat up all night with him preparing his work for the following day.
When the new lawyers appeared the old man made another play at illnessto gain delay. The Court ordered him to be brought in on his cot. Again,the physician swore he was lying, that he was gaining in strength daily.
The Judge, however, granted a delay of two days.
The moment the order was issued for an adjournment47 Brown deliberatelyrose from his cot and walked back to jail.
The trial was closed on Monday by the speeches of the prosecution andthe defense. The judge charged the jury and in three-quarters of an hourthey filed back into the jury box.
The crowd jammed every inch of space in the old Court House, the wideentrance hall, and overflowed48 into the street.
The foreman solemnly pronounced him guilty.
The old man merely pulled the covers of his cot up and stretched hislegs, as if he had no interest in the verdict. Entirely49 recovered fromevery effect of his wounds, as able to walk as ever, he had refused towalk and had been carried again into the court room. He had determinedto receive his sentence on a bed. He knew the effect of this picture onthe gathering50 mob.
The silence of death fell on the crowded room. Not a single cry oftriumph from the kindred of the dead. Not a single cheer from the menwhose wives and children had been saved from the horrors of massacre51.
Chilton made his motion for an arrest of judgment and the judge orderedthe motion to stand over until the next day. Brown heard the argumentsthe following day again lying on his cot. The judge reserved hisdecision and the final scene of the drama was enacted52 on Novembersecond.
The clerk asked John Brown if he had anything to say concerning whysentence should not be pronounced upon him.
The crowd stared as they saw the wiry figure of the old man quicklyrise. He fixed53 his eagle eye on them, not on the judge.
Over their heads he talked to the gathering mob of his countrymen. Brownhad been a habitual54 liar55 from boyhood. In this speech, made on the eveof the sentence of death, he lied in every paragraph. He lied as he hadwhen he grew a beard to play the role of "Shubel Morgan." He lied as hehad lied to his victims when posing as a surveyor on the Pottawattomie.
He lied as he had done when he crept through the darkness of the nighton his sleeping prey56. He lied as he had a hundred times about thosegruesome murders. He lied for his Sacred Cause.
He lied without stint57 and without reservation. He lied with suchconviction that he convinced himself in the end that he was a hero--amartyr of human liberty and progress. And that he was telling the solemntruth.
"I have, may it please the court, a few words to say:
"In the first place I deny everything but what I have already admitted:
of a design on my part to free slaves. I intended certainly to have madea clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter when I went intoMissouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on eitherside, moving them through the country and finally leading them intoCanada. I designed to have done the thing again on a larger scale.
That was all I intended. I never did intend murder or treason, or thedestruction of property, or to excite or to incite4 slaves to rebellion,or to make insurrection.
"Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit58 my life for thefurtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle59 my blood further withthe blood of my children--and with the blood of millions in this slavecountry whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel and unjusttreatment--I say let it be done."David Cruise was not there to tell of the bullet that crashed throughhis heart in Missouri. Frederick Douglas was not there to tell that heabandoned Brown in the old stone quarry60 outside Chambersburg, preciselybecause he had changed the plan of carrying off slaves as in Missouri toa scheme of treason, wholesale61 murders and insurrection.
Cruise was in his grave and Douglas on his way to Europe. There was noone to contradict his statements. The mob mind never asks for facts. Itasks only for assertions. John Brown gave them what he knew they wishedto hear and believe.
They heard and they believed.
With due solemnity, the Judge pronounced the sentence of death and fixedthe date on December the second, thirty days in the future.
The old man's eyes flamed with hidden fires at the unexpected grant of amonth in which to complete the raising of the Blood Feud so gloriouslybegun. He was a master in the coming of mystic phrases in letters. Hegloried in religious symbols. Within thirty days he could work with hispen the miracle that would transform a nation into the puppets of hiswill.
He walked beside the jailer, his eyes glittering, his head uplifted.
The Judge ordered the crowd to keep their seats until the prisoner wasremoved. In silence he marched through the throng62 without a hiss or ataunt.
点击收听单词发音
1 commonwealth | |
n.共和国,联邦,共同体 | |
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2 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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3 arraignment | |
n.提问,传讯,责难 | |
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4 incite | |
v.引起,激动,煽动 | |
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5 incited | |
刺激,激励,煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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7 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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8 disciples | |
n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 );门徒;耶稣的信徒;(尤指)耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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9 hoot | |
n.鸟叫声,汽车的喇叭声; v.使汽车鸣喇叭 | |
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10 hiss | |
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满 | |
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11 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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12 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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13 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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14 martyr | |
n.烈士,殉难者;vt.杀害,折磨,牺牲 | |
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15 passionately | |
ad.热烈地,激烈地 | |
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16 guilt | |
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责 | |
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17 barbarians | |
n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 );外国人;粗野的人;无教养的人 | |
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18 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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19 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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20 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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21 impaired | |
adj.受损的;出毛病的;有(身体或智力)缺陷的v.损害,削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 feud | |
n.长期不和;世仇;v.长期争斗;世代结仇 | |
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23 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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24 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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25 civilized | |
a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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26 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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27 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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28 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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29 execration | |
n.诅咒,念咒,憎恶 | |
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30 canny | |
adj.谨慎的,节俭的 | |
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31 poseur | |
n.装模作样的人 | |
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32 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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33 scrupulously | |
adv.一丝不苟地;小心翼翼地,多顾虑地 | |
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34 impartial | |
adj.(in,to)公正的,无偏见的 | |
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35 clamorous | |
adj.吵闹的,喧哗的 | |
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36 prosecution | |
n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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37 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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38 affidavits | |
n.宣誓书,(经陈述者宣誓在法律上可采作证据的)书面陈述( affidavit的名词复数 ) | |
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39 maniac | |
n.精神癫狂的人;疯子 | |
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40 intermittently | |
adv.间歇地;断断续续 | |
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41 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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42 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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43 asylum | |
n.避难所,庇护所,避难 | |
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44 traitors | |
卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 ); 叛徒; 背叛者; 背信弃义的人 | |
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45 adjourned | |
(使)休会, (使)休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46 bluffed | |
以假象欺骗,吹牛( bluff的过去式和过去分词 ); 以虚张声势找出或达成 | |
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47 adjournment | |
休会; 延期; 休会期; 休庭期 | |
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48 overflowed | |
溢出的 | |
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49 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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50 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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51 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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52 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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54 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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55 liar | |
n.说谎的人 | |
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56 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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57 stint | |
v.节省,限制,停止;n.舍不得化,节约,限制;连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 | |
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58 forfeit | |
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物 | |
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59 mingle | |
vt.使混合,使相混;vi.混合起来;相交往 | |
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60 quarry | |
n.采石场;v.采石;费力地找 | |
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61 wholesale | |
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售 | |
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62 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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