Disunion Feed

"And they are themselves mistaken who take him to be a madman. He is a bundle of the best nerves I ever saw — cut and thrust and bleeding and in bonds. He is a man of clear head, of courage, fortitude and simple ingenuousness. [...] He is a fanatic, vain and garrulous, but firm, truthful and intelligent."

The governor preparing to hang Brown vouches for his sanity, nerve, and truthfulness — the assessment that helped make Brown a martyr. Text from the LoC scan of a contemporary reprint, OCR-reconciled (e.g. 'siuipl' -> 'simple'); wording varies slightly across 1859 reprints.

Read it in the original — Orleans Independent Standard, Nov 4, 1859 (LoC scan) ↗

"The Harper's Ferry invasion has advanced the cause of Disunion, more than any other event that has happened since the formation of the Government; it has rallied to that standard men who formerly looked upon it with horror; it has revived, with ten fold strength the desire of a Southern Confederacy."

Semi-official organ of Virginia Democrats; the editorial framed the raid as proof the South could not safely remain in the Union. Wikisource transcription links the scanned original.

Read it in the original — Richmond Enquirer, Oct 25, 1859 ↗