son kept to his determination of not telling Delilah
wherein his great strength lay, he would probably have never
overturned the house. _I did not tell Delilah_; but I was induced
to act very _contrary to my better judgment_.'[69]

* * * * *

"It is idle to endeavor to explain, by any methods of the
_understanding_, any rules of worldly wisdom, or prudence, this
influx of the Divine Will, which has made John Brown already an
ideal character. 'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and we hear
the sound thereof; but know not whence it cometh, or whither it
goeth.' So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Man works in
the midst of laws which execute themselves, more especially, if
by virtue of obedience he has lost sight of all selfish aims, and
perceives that Truth and Right alone can claim allegiance.
Emerson says: 'Divine intelligence carries on its administration
by good men; that great men are they who see that the spiritual
are greater than any material forces; and that really there never
was any thing great accomplished but under religious impulse.'

"The deadly _Atheism_ of Slavery was rolling its car of
Juggernaut all over the beautiful Republic, and one pure soul was
inspired to confront it by a practical interpretation of the
Golden Rule.

"That Virginia would hang John Brown was a foregone conclusion.
The Moloch of Slavery would have nothing less. His friends
exerted themselves to secure the best counsel which could be
induced to undertake the _formality_ of a defense, foremost among
whom was Mr. Stearns. A well-organized plan was made to rescue
him, conducted by a brave man from Kansas, Col. James Montgomery,
but a message came from the prisoner, that he should not feel at
liberty to walk out, if the doors were left open; a sense of
honor to his jailer (Captain Acvis) forbidding any thing of the
kind.

"Not a little anxiety was felt lest certain of his adherents
might be summoned as witnesses, whose testimony would lessen the
chances of acquittal, and possibly involve their own lives. John
A. Andrew (afterward Gov. Andrew) gave it as his opinion, after
an exhaustive search of the records, that Virginia would have no
right to summon these persons from Massachusetts, but
subsequently chang