his slaves likewise proclaimed free. Several other prisoners were also brought in, some of whom interrogated Brown as to the object of the proceedings, to which he answered, "To free the slaves;" and when asked by whose authority the reply was, "By the authority of God Almighty.'

At the usual hour the mail train on the Baltimore & Ohio road arrived, but was warned not to pass over the bridge, but after considerable detention was permitted to proceed. So quietly had everything been managed that the town was not aroused until after daybreak, when it was discovered that the government buildings were in possession of a band of insurgents, who, with armed sentinels, guarded every approach to the town, thus rendering its inhabitants prisoners. At daylight the workmen engaged on the buildings, not yet aware of the proceedings, went as as usual to their work and were made prisoners and confined in a large building in the yard; the other prisoners being confined in the engine-house which the invaders after made their chief fortress.

When the true state of affairs became known the wildest confusion prevailed; messages were hastened off to the surrounding towns, and by noon military companies began to arrive. Colonel Baylor, with a company of Charlestown troops, was the first to arrive; they made a dash toward the bridge, the invaders falling back and taking refuge in the armory, where they checked the military and compelled them to fall back; a desultory fire was kept up during the remainder of the day, by which Mr. Beckham, mayor of the town, was killed; also Brown's son, Oliver, Kagi, his secretary, and Leeman, one of his captives, fell within the armory. In the evening a considerable force arrived from Martinsburg, which at once stormed and carried the building in which the workmen were imprisoned; they were all liberated and an attack was then made upon the engine-house, which was repulsed with considerable loss.

Brown had taken the precaution to have the wires cut, so that the outside world should not be aware of his proceedings until he should have firmly established himself; but late in the evening messengers bore dispatches beyond the damage to the wires, and transmitted them to Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, and other points, at all of which the intelligence produced the wildest excitement and throughout the South it amounted to almost a "reign of terror." Col..Robert E. Lee, with one hundred United States marines and two pieces of artillery, was at once dispatched from Washington to the scene of action, and upon the arrival Colonel Lee sent Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart to demand an unconditional surrender; only promising the insurgents protection from immediate violence, and a trial under the civil laws, but Brown refused to capitulate on any terms other than these: "That they should be permitted to march out with their men and arms, taking their prisoners with

them; that they should proceed, unpursued, to the toll-gate, when they would free their prisoners; the soldiers would then be permitted to pursue them, and they would fight if they could not escape." To these terms Lieutenant Stuart could not consent; he withdrew, and an attack was at once made which resulted in the capture of Brown and several of his followers, all of whom were forced to surrender only at the point of the bayonet. One of the soldiers struck Brown, after he had thrown down his arms, in the face with his saber, and another soldier ran a bayonet twice into his body.

Captain Brown was carried out into the yard, where he soon revived, and talked freely to those around him, defending his action, and declaring that he had done only what was right. The following conversation took place between himself and one of the officers:

"Are you Captain Brown of Kansas?"

"I am sometimes called so."

"Are you Ossawattamie Brown?"

I tried to do my duty there."

"What is your present object?" "To free the slaves from bondage."

"Were any other persons but those with you now, connected with the movement?

"No."

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'Did you expect aid from the North?"

"No; there was no one connected with the movement but those who came with me."

"Did you expect to kill people in order to carry your point?" "I did not wish to do so, but you have forced us to do it."

An indictment for treason and murder was at once found against Brown by the authorities of Virginia, and from this time until his trial, he was closely confined in prison. Several of his followers were also confined to await trial, all of whom demanded to be tried separately; the authorities consented, and Brown was placed on trial for his life, upon the charge preferred in the indictment. The case came up for hearing on the 26th of October, at Charlestown, Virginia. He asked for a continuance because of his severe wounds, but it was denied him. Throughout the trial, being unable to sit, he lay upon a mattress. The trial continued three days; a verdict of guilty upon all the charges preferred was found against him, and he was sentenced to be hanged on the 2d of December.

During the period of Brown's confinement from the time his sentence was pronounced until the day of his execution, he was visited by many distinguished persons, and letters of sympathy and condolence from eminent editors and politicians poured in upon him. When the day of his execution arrived he walked forth from the jail with a calm expression

upon his face, and a firm and steady step; mounted the wagon which was to convey him to the gallows, and seated himself between Mr. Avis, the jailer, and Mr. Saddler, the undertaker. On the way to the gallows he conversed as cheerfully as if he had only been taking a morning drive with the object of viewing the surrounding mountain scenery. Arrived at the place of execution, he descended from the wagon and mounted the scaffold, the first man to stand upon it. A white cap was then drawn over his eyes and the fatal noose adjusted. Said the sheriff: "Captain Brown, you are not standing upon the drop; will you step forward?" Brown replied: "I can not see; you must lead me." Sheriff Avis then led him to the center of the drop; the fatal signal was given and the body was dangling in the air. After hanging thirty-eight minutes it was cut down, given to the undertaker, who placed it in a walnut coffin, after which it was conveyed to North Elba, New York, where an eloquent eulogy was pronounced over it by Wendell Phillips. That thus died a fanatic, a victim to a delusion which entirely possessed him, none will deny; but that he was a brave man, possessing determined resolution, we have the testimony of Governor Henry A. Wise, who said of him "Brown was as brave a man as ever headed an insurrection. He is the farthest possible remove from the ordinary ruffian, rake or madman."

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Six of Brown's companions were also executed: Cook, Coppoc, Copeland and Green, on the 16th of December, and Stephens and Haslitt on the 16th of the following March. Thus ended the most tragic scene in the history of Virginia.

THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.

We have followed the fortunes of Virginia through the old French and Indian war; through two hundred years of border warfare; through the stormy scenes of the Revolution; through the second war with Great Britain; we know how her sons marched with alacrity to the distant fields of Mexico; but now we are to see her plunged into a civil war, the equal of which has not been recorded in the annals of nations. Virginia, owing to her geographical position, was destined to become one great battle-field. On her soil was to be marshaled the hosts of the contending armies, and her mountains and valleys were to be crimsoned with the best blood of the nation. Within her domain was to arise a new commonwealth, and both the mother and the daughter were to reside upon the ancient estate. The year 1861 found Virginia in a state of civil commotion, unparalleled in history except it be France in the early days of the French revolution.

On the one hand lay the States still composing the Federal Union, while on the other were those which had cast their fortunes with the Southern Confederacy. Virginia hesitated long. A majority of her people in the east favored secession, while in the west, a large majority was opposed to such action. But the time for final action had come. Early in the year Governor John Letcher, influenced by the pressure of the times, issued a proclamation, convening the State Legislature in extra session; and, in obedience to the summons, that body convened in the city of Richmond, January 7, 1861. Then commenced the stormiest session in the history of that body.

Seven days after the meeting, a bill was passed calling for a convention of the people of Virginia, the delegates to which were to be chosen in the manner prescribed for the election of members of the legislature. The convention was to consist of one hundred and fifty-two members equal to the number of members composing the house of delegates.

In compliance with the above act, the election of delegates was held on the 4th day of February, 1861, and the convention met at Richmond on the 13th of the same month.

THE CONVENTION.

Never before, in the history of the State, had a body convened presenting such an array of talent. Among its members sat John Tyler, ex-president of the United States; Henry A. Wise, ex-governor of Virginia, and many others who had held positions of cabinet ministers in the Federal government, or had been representatives in the councils of the nation. There sat her most renowned jurists by the side of her profoundest philosophers and literary characters.

That body organized by electing John Taney, Esq., a delegate from Loudoun county, president of the convention, and John L. Eubank secretary of the same. A committee on Federal Relations was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Robert Y. Conrad, A. H. H. Stewart, Henry A. Wise, Robert E. Scott, W. B. Preston, Lewis L. Harvie, Sherrard Clemens, W. H. McFarland. William McComas, R. L. Montague, Samuel Price, Valentine W. Southall, Waitman T. Willey, James C. Bruce, W. W. Boyd, James Barbour, S. C. Williams, William C. Rives, Samuel McD. Moore, George Blow, Jr., and Peter C. Johnson. Stewart and Clemens asked to be, and were, excused from serving.

On the 18th day of February there appeared before the convention the commissioners on the part of South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi, to ask the co-operation of Virginia in establishing an independent government for the seceded States. The first speaker was the Hon. Fulton

Anderson, of Mississippi, followed by Hon. Henry L. Benning, from Georgia. Then came the commissioner from South Carolina. All, in speeches resplendent with rhetorical flourish and literary excellence, held up to view a new government, of a new union, in which Virginia, should she pass an ordinance of secession, would become the chief corner-stone. The effect produced by this visit of the commissioners was truly powerful, and, in fact, determined the future action of the convention.

On the 9th of March, the committee on Federal Relations submitted a lengthy report, in which it was set forth that any State had a constitutional right to withdraw from the federative union whenever a majority of the people of that State chose to do so. One of the most spirited debates of modern times now began, and continued until the 17th of April, when the ordinance of secession was voted upon. The vote stood eighty-one for, and fifty-one against it. Nearly all the delegates voting against it were from the western part of the State. The following is a verbatim copy of that document, now the most remarkable State paper in the archives of Virginia:

"AN ORDINANCE, To repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United States by the State of Virginia, and to resume all the rights and powers granted under the said constitution.

THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA, in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, adopted by them in convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers granted under the constitution were derived from the people of the United States, and might be resumed whenever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppression, and the Federal Government having perverted said powers, not only to the injury of the PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA but the oppression of the Southern slave-holding States:

"Now, therefore, we, the People of Virginia, do DECLARE and ORDAIN, That the ordinance adopted by the people of this State in convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified; and all the acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying or adopting amendments to said constitution are hereby repealed and abrogated; that the union between the State of Virginia and the States under the constitution aforesaid, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Virginia is in the full possession and exercise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State. And they do further declare, that said Constitution of the United States of America is no longer binding on any of the citizens of this State.

"This ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this day, when ratified by a majority of the votes of the people of this State cast at a poll