One  by  one  his  followers  joined  him  there,  and
stealthily  gathered  pikes  and  other  weapons,
wilh  ammunition,  for  the  purpose  of  first  arm-
ing the  insurgent  slaves  of  Virginia.  On  a  very
dark  night,  Brown,  with  seventeen  white  men
and  five  negroes,  stole  into  the  village  of  Har-
per's FeiTy,  put  out  the  street-lights,  seized  the
government  armory  aud  the  railway  -  bridge
there,  and  quietly  arrested  and  imprisoned  in
the  governmeut  buildings  every  citizen  found
ill  the  street  at  the  earlier  hours  of  the  nest
morning,  each  one  ignorant  of  what  else  had
happened.  These  invaders  had  seized  Colonel
Washington,  living  a  few  miles  from  the  Ferry,
with  his  arms  aud  horses,  aud  liberated  his
slaves ;  and  at  eight  o'clock  ou  Monday  morn-
ing, Oct.  17,  Brown  and  his  followers  (among
whom  were  two  of  his  sons)  had  full  possession
of  the  village  and  the  government  works.  He
liad  felt  assured  that  when  the  first  blow  should
be  stnick  the  negroes  of  the  suiTounding  couu-
tiy  would  rise  aud  flock  to  his  standard,  that
a  general  uprising  of  the  slaves  throughout  the
Union  would  follow,  aud  that  he  would  win  the
satisfaction  and  the  honors  of  a  great  liberator.
When  asked  what  was  his  purpose,  and  by  what
authority  he  acted,  he  replied.  "To  free  the
■slaves;  and  by  the  authority  of  God  Almighty."
News  of  this  affair  went  swiftly  abroad,  and  be-
fore night  a  large  number  of  Virginia  militia
had  gathered  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Struggles  be-
tween these  and  Brown's  followers  ensued,  in
which  the  two  sons  of  the  former  perished.  The
invaders  were  finally  driven  into  a  fire-engine
house,  where  Brown  bravely  defended  himself.
