JOHN BROWN cared little for posthumous fame;
but for his reputation, as a help or hinderance to
the cause of the slave, be had a just degree of solici-
tude. He did not wish to die with the character of a
robber or a murderer. He desired to show that he
had shed no blood, committed no violence, done no
uncourteous act, uttered no unkind or vindictive say-
ing, beyond what the furtherance of his plan demanded
-- above or outside of the absolute necessities of his
holy scheme and dangerous situation. While freely
admitting every act that he committed, therefore, and
having no hope whatever of a verdict of acquital, or of
a pardon, he sought to prove in Court, by the evidence
of his enemies, that he had not in any way transcended
the obligations of his divinely-appointed mission. This
design, of course, was not acceptable to Virginia; and
her loyal sons, therefore, -- Messrs. Botts and Green,--
although they often stated their determination to see
justice done, took no efficient steps to secure its fulfil-
ment. This is a copy of the brief directions given to
them at the commencement of the trial: it is tran-

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