JOHN BROWN OF OSSAWATOMIE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 209, 15 September 1879, Page 4

JOHN BROWN OF OSSAWATOMIE.

HW EXICUTIOK DSBORIBKD BT AN EYEWITNESS. (From the Cincinnati Enquirer.) By the kindness of the gentleman to *fcom I had fatten, I was the only

oewepaper man inside the guards thai surrounded tbe scaffold. The uewspsper reporter were placed on a slight rise of ground, in perfect view, hut where they could hear nothing. The reeeon assigned for this was th»t Brown ha"? determined to make a speech of an iorendifry character. To prevent this they determined, if speech be made, it would be to tbe military end to the officials who would be within hearing tMsfincr. It was thought best that eome oce of the northern residents in the fch&pt) of a newspaper cot respondent should be present, to the en<i that if a speech was concocted for BrowD, and published ns if he had spoken it, there might be written evidence of its faltsity. I happened to he the peirson selected, aoJ stood within a fevr f ee t of the gallows when the execution took place. Brown was brought to the place of execution — an open 6tM near the town — in a waggee, 6Ca4td on hie coffin. tie was neatly dreesed id bis t, very-day eppare'. His long, whitf> beard end his fine face — for be had a fine on? — gave him a truly patriarchal appearance. No one seeing him at (hst moment could believe him to be a bouod malefactor on bis way to the gallows, with out hope of a reprieve. None of tbe early martyrs of the Christian Church ever met d?ath with more of seem in 2 stoical indifference. Brought up with a fixed and firm belief that he bad been doing God's work, he believed the course he pursued, the shedding of innocent blood,"tbe taking of tha property of his enemies, and the death he would die h&d been traced by the Almighty hand in the beginning, and nought could change that decree ; and hence he would pass from earth to heaven as one that God had selected for this particular work, and the change from earth to bliss immortal would more than compensate him for the pain of strangulation. The gallows was surrounded in front by the cadets of the Military Institute, the "West Point of Virginia. They were fine looking youths of from 16 to 20 years of age, dressed in blue pants and red flannel shirts. Behind them were I picked companies of volunteer infantry, other companies forming the sides and rear of the hollow square, in the centre of which was the gallows. At proper points the artillery was placed in position, the guns loaded and pointed at a portion of the field occupied exclusively by strangers and those suspected of not being true to the Old Dominion. In case of an emeute or hostile disturbance, the cadets had orders to shoot Brown, so as to prevent a rescue, while the cannoneers and infantry were to fire upon the suspected crowd. The outlying pickets and a reserve guard, stationed within proper distance, were to flank the rescuers, and the cavalry to charge upon them, and to finish those that the cannon and musketry

failed to send to kingdom •come. If Brown anticipated a rescue, a glance at the field was sufficient to convince him it would be folly to attempt it. That he intended to make a speech is more than probable. When the eyes of the doomed man took in the full situation a ehade of disappointment seemed to flit across his face; but it was for a moment. The Bhade passed from his brow and he was himself again. He stood on the gallows, gazing with unblanched cheek upon the preparations. He was asked by the sheriff if he wished to drop a handkerchief when he was ready. His reply in a firm loud voice, was — " No; keep me no longer than is necessary." The cap was drawn over his face, the rope cut, and John Brown whs left dangling in the air. His neck was broken by the fall. He suffered but lifcte, and soon hung a lifeless corpse. The sensation was great; no voice epoke, no sound was heard, while the awful scene from life to death was enacted.