A dangerous fanatic or lunatic, he was
called, and, with the aid of a few poor negroes whom he had stolen from
slavery, he defied the power of this whole slave-catching United
States. A little square brick building, once a sort of car-shop,
stands near the railway station in the town of Harper's Ferry, with the
mountain wall not far behind it, and the Potomac River running below.
And from this building was fired the shot which pierced the heart of
slavery. And the Governor of Virginia captured this man, and took him
out and hung him, and laid his body in the grave, where it still lies
moldering. But there was part of him not in the jurisdiction of
Virginia, a part which they could neither hang nor bury; and, to the
infinite surprise of the Governor of Virginia, his soul went marching
on.
[Illustration: John Brown.]
When they heard in Concord that John Brown had been captured, and was
soon to be hung, Thoreau sent notice through the city that he would
speak in the public hall on the condition and character of John Brown,
on Sunday evening, and invited all to be present.
The Republican Committee and the Committee of the Abolitionists sent
word to him that this was no time to speak; to discuss such matters
then was premature and inadvisable.
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