n and murder. They had a fair
trial, and indeed the case admitted of no doubt. They were sentenced to
be hanged, and the sentence was carried out, within six weeks of their
act.

At the North, Brown was widely honored as a hero and a martyr. No one
defended his act,--a slave insurrection, in whatever form, found no
public justification. Probably a considerable majority of the community,
including all the more conservative political elements, condemned the
man and his deed, and perhaps justified his execution. But wherever
anti-slavery feeling was strong, and with a multitude who, apart from
such feeling, were sensitive to striking qualities of manhood, there was
great admiration and sympathy for Brown and sorrow for his fate. John A.
Andrew spoke a common feeling when he said: "Whatever may be thought of
John Brown's acts, John Brown himself was right." Emerson eulogized him
in daring words. If, he said, John Brown is hung, he will glorify the
gallows as Jesus glorified the cross. On the day of his death the church
bells were tolled in many a Northern town. Said the _Springfield
Republican_ the next morning: "There need be no tears for him. Few men
die so happily, so satisfied with time, place, and circumstance, as did
he.... A Christian man hung by Christians for acting upon his
convictions of duty,--a brave man hung for a chivalrous and
self-sacrificing deed of humanity,--a philanthropist hung for seeking
the liberty of oppressed men. No outcry about violated law can cover up
the essential enormity of a deed like this."

Never was a man dealt with more generously by posthumous fame. In the
Civil War, two lines of verse, fitted to a stirring melody, became the
marching song of the Union armies:

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave
His soul is marching on!

This was the last touch of the apotheosis; John Brown became to the
popular imagination the forerunner and martyr of the cause of Union and
freedom.

At the North, one immediate and lasting effect of the tragedy was to
intensify the conviction of the essential wrong of slavery. However
mistaken was Brown's way of attack, it was felt that nothing short of an
organized system of injustice and cruelty could have inspired such a man
to such an attempt. The very logic of facts, which compelled Virginia in
self-defense to hang him, showed the character of the institution which
needed such defense. Yes, it was necessary to hang him,--but what was