diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-04 02:22:14 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-04 02:22:14 -0800 |
| commit | 704e5e764faf11aed50d748cfd0f7581418a392e (patch) | |
| tree | ae73deb899de1ecd6f02c2af88145e32b9ea7cde | |
| parent | 5f7b43fc1066ee85c52f1f88ab810c5ca1d34aa7 (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-0.txt | 11506 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-0.zip | bin | 238279 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h.zip | bin | 1086526 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h/62799-h.htm | 14587 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 174597 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h/images/i_004.jpg | bin | 221608 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h/images/i_277.jpg | bin | 158914 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h/images/i_315.jpg | bin | 259330 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62799-h/images/i_titlepage-detail.jpg | bin | 26715 -> 0 bytes |
12 files changed, 17 insertions, 26093 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1ab085 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62799 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62799) diff --git a/old/62799-0.txt b/old/62799-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 08be25a..0000000 --- a/old/62799-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11506 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Brown, by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: John Brown - -Author: W. E. Burghardt Du Bois - -Editor: Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer - -Release Date: August 1, 2020 [EBook #62799] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN BROWN *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Mary Glenn Krause, Jim Adcock -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by the Library of Congress) - - - - - - - - - - AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES - - Edited by - - Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph. D. - - - - - The American Crisis Biographies - - -Edited by Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph.D. With the counsel and advice of -Professor John B. McMaster, of the University of Pennsylvania. - -Each 12mo, cloth, with frontispiece portrait. Price $1.25 net; by mail, -$1.37. - - These biographies will constitute a complete and comprehensive - history of the great American sectional struggle in the form of - readable and authoritative biography. The editor has enlisted the - co-operation of many competent writers, as will be noted from the - list given below. An interesting feature of the undertaking is that - the series is to be impartial, Southern writers having been assigned - to Southern subjects and Northern writers to Northern subjects, but - all will belong to the younger generation of writers, thus assuring - freedom from any suspicion of war-time prejudice. The Civil War will - not be treated as a rebellion, but as the great event in the history - of our nation, which, after forty years, it is now clearly - recognized to have been. - - Now ready: - - =Abraham Lincoln.= By ELLIS PAXSON OBERHOLTZER. - =Thomas H. Benton.= By JOSEPH M. ROGERS. - =David G. Farragut.= By JOHN R. SPEARS. - =William T. Sherman.= By EDWARD ROBINS. - =Frederick Douglass.= By BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. - =Judah P. Benjamin.= By PIERCE BUTLER. - =Robert E. Lee.= By PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE. - =Jefferson Davis.= By PROF. W. E. DODD. - =Alexander H. Stephens.= By LOUIS PENDLETON. - =John C. Calhoun.= By GAILLARD HUNT. - =“Stonewall” Jackson.= By HENRY ALEXANDER WHITE. - =John Brown.= By W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS. - - In preparation: - - =Daniel Webster.= By PROF. C. H. VAN TYNE. - =William Lloyd Garrison.= By LINDSAY SWIFT. - =Charles Sumner.= By Prof. GEORGE H. HAYNES. - =William H. Seward.= By EDWARD EVERETT HALE, Jr. - =Stephen A. Douglas.= By PROF. HENRY PARKER WILLIS. - =Thaddeus Stevens.= By PROF. J. A. WOODBURN. - =Andrew Johnson.= By PROF. WALTER L. FLEMING. - =Henry Clay.= By THOMAS H. CLAY. - =Ulysses S. Grant.= By PROF. FRANKLIN S. EDMONDS. - =Edwin M. Stanton.= By EDWIN S. CORWIN. - =Jay Cooke.= By ELLIS PAXSON OBERHOLTZER. - -[Illustration: John Brown] - - AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES - - - - - JOHN BROWN - - - by - - W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS, Ph. D. - - _Professor of Sociology, Atlanta University_ - - Author of “The Suppression of the African Slave Trade,” “The - Philadelphia Negro,” “The Souls of Black Folk,” etc. - - -[Illustration] - - - PHILADELPHIA - GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY - GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY - _Published September, 1909_ - - - _All rights reserved_ - Printed in U. S. A. - - - - - _To - the memory of - ELIZABETH_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE - - -After the work of Sanborn, Hinton, Connelley, and Redpath, the only -excuse for another life of John Brown is an opportunity to lay new -emphasis upon the material which they have so carefully collected, and -to treat these facts from a different point of view. The view-point -adopted in this book is that of the little known but vastly important -inner development of the Negro American. John Brown worked not simply -for Black Men—he worked with them; and he was a companion of their daily -life, knew their faults and virtues, and felt, as few white Americans -have felt, the bitter tragedy of their lot. The story of John Brown, -then, cannot be complete unless due emphasis is given this phase of his -activity. Unfortunately, however, few written records of these -friendships and this long continued intimacy exist, so that little new -material along these lines can be adduced. For the most part one must be -content with quoting the authors mentioned (and I have quoted them -freely), and other writers like Anderson, Featherstonhaugh, Barry, -Hunter, Boteler, Douglass and Hamilton. But even in the absence of -special material the great broad truths are clear, and this book is at -once a record of and a tribute to the man who of all Americans has -perhaps come nearest to touching the real souls of black folk. - - W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHRONOLOGY 11 - - I. AFRICA AND AMERICA 15 - - II. THE MAKING OF THE MAN 21 - - III. THE WANDERJAHRE 28 - - IV. THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP 48 - - V. THE VISION OF THE DAMNED 75 - - VI. THE CALL OF KANSAS 123 - - VII. THE SWAMP OF THE SWAN 145 - - VIII. THE GREAT PLAN 198 - - IX. THE BLACK PHALANX 235 - - X. THE GREAT BLACK WAY 273 - - XI. THE BLOW 308 - - XII. THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX 338 - - XIII. THE LEGACY OF JOHN BROWN 365 - - BIBLIOGRAPHY 397 - - INDEX 401 - - - - - CHRONOLOGY - - - BOYHOOD AND YOUTH - - 1800— John Brown is born in Torrington, Conn., May 9th. Attempted - insurrection of slaves under Gabriel in Virginia, in - September. - - 1805— The family migrates to Ohio. - - 1812— John Brown meets a slave boy. - - 1816— He joins the church. - - 1819— He attends school at Plainfield, Mass. - - - THE TANNER - - 1819–1825— John Brown works as a tanner at Hudson, O. - - 1821— He marries Dianthe Lusk, June 21st. - - 1822— Attempted slave insurrection in South Carolina in June. - - 1825–1835— He works as a tanner at Randolph, Pa., and is postmaster. - - 1831— Nat Turner’s insurrection, in Virginia, August 21st. - - 1832— His first wife dies, August 10th. - - 1833— He marries Mary Ann Day, July 11th. - - 1834— He outlines his plan for Negro education, November 21st. - - 1835–1840— He lives in and near Hudson, O., and speculates in land. - - 1837— He loses heavily in the panic. - - 1839— He and his family swear blood-feud with slavery. - - 1840— He surveys Virginia lands for Oberlin College, and proposes - buying 1,000 acres. - - - THE SHEPHERD - - 1841— John Brown begins sheep-farming. - - 1842— He goes into bankruptcy. - - 1843— He loses four children in September. - - 1844— He forms the firm of “Perkins and Brown, wool-merchants.” - - 1845–51— He is in charge of the Perkins and Brown warehouse, - Springfield, O. - - 1846— Gerrit Smith offers Adirondack farms to Negroes, August 1st. - - 1847— Frederick Douglass visits Brown and hears his plan for a - slave raid. - - 1849— He goes to Europe to sell wool, and visits France and - Germany, August and September. - - 1849— First removal of his family to North Elba, N. Y. - - 1850— The new Fugitive Slave Law is passed. - - 1851–1854— Winding up of the wool business. - - 1851— He founds the League of Gileadites, January 15th. - - - IN KANSAS - - 1854— Kansas and Nebraska Bill becomes a law, May 30th. Five sons - start for Kansas in October. - - 1855— John Brown at the Syracuse convention of Abolitionists in - June. He starts for Kansas with a sixth son and his - son-in-law in September. Two sons take part in Big Springs - convention in September. John Brown arrives in Kansas, - October 6th. He helps to defend Lawrence in December. - - 1856— He attends a mass meeting at Osawatomie in April. He visits - Buford’s camp in May. The sacking of Lawrence, May 21st. - The Pottawatomie murders, May 23–26th. Arrest of two sons, - May 28th. Battle of Black Jack, June 2d. Goes to Iowa with - his wounded son-in-law and joins Lane’s army, July and - August. Joins in attacks to rid Lawrence of surrounding - forts, August. Battle of Osawatomie, August 30th. - Missouri’s last invasion of Kansas, September 15th. Geary - arrives and induces Brown to leave Kansas, September. - Brown starts for the East with his sons, September 20th. - - - THE ABOLITIONIST - - 1857— John Brown is in Boston in January. He attends the New York - meeting of the National Kansas Committee, in January. - Before the Massachusetts legislature in February. Tours - New England to raise money, March and April. Contracts for - 1,000 pikes in Connecticut. - - 1857— He starts West, May. He is at Tabor, I., August and - September. He founds a military school in Iowa, December. - - 1858— John Brown returns to the East, January. He is at Frederick - Douglass’s house, February. He reveals his plan to Sanborn - in February. He is in Canada, April. Forbes’ disclosures, - May. Chatham convention, May 8–10th. Hamilton’s massacre - in Kansas, May 19th. Plans postponed, May 20th. John Brown - starts West, June 3d. He arrives in Kansas, June 25th. - He is in South Kansas, coöperating with Montgomery, - July-December. The raid into Missouri for slaves, December - 20th. - - - THE HARPER’S FERRY RAID - - 1859— John Brown starts with fugitives for Canada, January 20th. - He arrives in Canada, March 12th. He speaks in Cleveland, - March 23d. Last visit of John Brown to the East, April and - May. He starts for Harper’s Ferry, June. He and three - companions arrive at Harper’s Ferry, July 3d. He gathers - twenty-two men and munitions, June-October. He starts on - the foray, Sunday, October 16th at 8 P. M. The town and - arsenal are captured, Monday, October 17th at 4 A. M. - Gathering of the militia, Monday, October 17th at 7 A. M. - to 12 M. Brown’s party is hemmed in, Monday, October 17th - at 12 M. He withdraws to the engine-house, Monday, October - 17th at 12 M. Kagi’s party is killed and captured, Monday, - October 17th at 3 P. M. Lee and 100 marines arrive, - Monday, October 17th at 12 P. M. Brown is captured, - Tuesday, October 18th at 8 A. M. - - 1859— Preliminary examination, October 25th. Trial at Charleston - (then Virginia, now West Virginia), October 27th-November - 4th. Forty days in prison, October 16th-December 2d. - Execution of John Brown at Charleston, December 2d. Burial - of John Brown at North Elba, N. Y., December 8th. - - - - - JOHN BROWN - - - - - CHAPTER I - AFRICA AND AMERICA - - “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the - prophet saying, ‘Out of Egypt have I called My son.’” - - -The mystic spell of Africa is and ever was over all America. It has -guided her hardest work, inspired her finest literature, and sung her -sweetest songs. Her greatest destiny—unsensed and despised though it -be,—is to give back to the first of continents the gifts which Africa of -old gave to America’s fathers’ fathers. - -Of all inspiration which America owes to Africa, however, the greatest -by far is the score of heroic, men whom the sorrows of these dark -children called to unselfish devotion and heroic self-realization: -Benezet, Garrison and Harriet Stowe; Sumner, Douglass and Lincoln—these -and others, but above all, John Brown. - -John Brown was a stalwart, rough-hewn man, mightily yet tenderly carven. -To his making went the stern justice of a Cromwellian “Ironside,” the -freedom-loving fire of a Welsh Celt, and the thrift of a Dutch -housewife. And these very things it was—thrift, freedom, and -justice—that early crossed the unknown seas to find asylum in America. -Yet they came late, for before they came greed, and greed brought black -slaves from Africa. - -The Negroes came on the heels, if not on the very ships of Columbus. -They followed De Soto to the Mississippi; saw Virginia with D’Ayllon, -Mexico with Cortez, Peru with Pizarro; and led the western wanderings of -Coronado in his search for the Seven Cities of Cibola. Something more -than a a decade after the Cavaliers, and a year before the Pilgrims, -they set lasting foot on the North American continent. - -These black men came not of their willing, but because of the hasty -greed of new America selfishly and half thoughtlessly sought to revive -in the New World the dying but unforgotten custom of enslaving the -world’s workers. So with the birth of wealth and liberty west of the -seas, came slavery, and slavery all the more cruel and hideous because -it gradually built itself on a caste of race and color, thus breaking -the common bonds of human fellowship and weaving artificial barriers of -birth and appearance. - -The result was evil, as all injustice must be. At first, the black men -writhed and struggled and died in their bonds, and their blood reddened -the paths across the Atlantic and around the beautiful isles of the -Western Indies. Then as the bonds gripped them closer and closer, they -succumbed to sullen indifference or happy ignorance, with only here and -there flashes of wild red vengeance. - -For, after all, these black men were but men, neither more nor less -wonderful than other men. In build and stature, they were for the most -part among the taller nations and sturdily made. In their mental -equipment and moral poise, they showed themselves full brothers to all -men—“intensely human”; and this too in their very modifications and -peculiarities—their warm brown and bronzed color and crisp curled hair -under the heat and wet of Africa; their sensuous enjoyment of the music -and color of life; their instinct for barter and trade; their strong -family life and government. Yet these characteristics were bruised and -spoiled and misinterpreted in the rude uprooting of the slave trade and -the sudden transplantation of this race to other climes, among other -peoples. Their color became a badge of servitude, their tropical habit -was deemed laziness, their worship was thought heathenish, their family -customs and the government were ruthlessly overturned and debauched; -many of their virtues became vices, and much of their vice, virtue. - -The price of repression is greater than the cost of liberty. The -degradation of men costs something both to the degraded and those who -degrade. While the Negro slaves sank to listless docility and vacant -ignorance, their masters found themselves whirled in the eddies of -mighty movements: their system of slavery was twisting them backward -toward darker ages of force and caste and cruelty, while forward swirled -swift currents of liberty and uplift. - -They still felt the impulse of the wonderful awakening of culture from -its barbaric sleep of centuries which men call the Renaissance; they -were own children of the mighty stirring of Europe’s conscience which we -call the Reformation; and they and their children were to be prime -actors in laying the foundations of human liberty in a new a century and -new land. Already the birth pains of the new freedom were felt in that -land. Old Europe was begetting in the new continent a vast longing for -spiritual space. So it was builded into America the thrift of the -searchers of wealth, the freedom of the Renaissance and the stern -morality of the Reformation. - -Three lands typified these three things which time planted in the New -World: England sent Puritanism, the last white flower of the Lutheran -revolt; Holland sent the new vigor and thrift of the Renaissance; while -Celtic lands and bits of lands like France and Ireland and Wales, sent -the passionate desire for personal freedom. These three elements came, -and came more often than not in the guise of humble men—an English -carpenter on the _Mayflower_, an Amsterdam tailor seeking a new -ancestral city, and a Welsh wanderer. From three such men sprang in the -marriage of years, John Brown. - -To the unraveling of human tangles, we would gladly believe that God -sends especial men—chosen vessels that come to the world’s deliverance. -And what could be more fitting than that the human embodiments of -freedom, Puritanism and trade—the great new currents sweeping across the -back eddies of slavery, should give birth to the man who in years to -come pointed the way to liberty and realized that the cost of liberty -was less than the price of repression? So it was. In bleak December -1620, a carpenter and a weaver landed at Plymouth—Peter and John Brown. -This carpenter Peter came from goodly stock, possibly, though not sure, -from that very John Brown of the early sixteenth century whom bluff King -Henry VIII of England burned for his Puritanism, and whose son was all -too near the same fate. Thirty years after Peter Brown had landed, came -the Welshman, John Owen, to Windsor, Conn., to help in the building of -that commonwealth, and near him settled Peter Mills, the tailor of -Holland. The great-grandson of Peter Brown, born in Connecticut in 1700, -had for a son a Revolutionary soldier, who married one of the Welshman’s -grandchildren and had in turn a son, Owen Brown, the father of John -Brown, in February of 1771. This Owen Brown a neighbor remembers “very -distinctly, and that he was very much respected and esteemed by my -father. He was an earnestly devout and religious man, of the old -Connecticut fashion; and one peculiarity of his impressed his name and -person indelibly upon my memory: he was inveterate and most painful -stammerer—the first specimen of that infirmity that I had ever seen, -and, according to my recollection, the worst that I had ever known to -this day. Consequently, though we removed from Hudson to another -settlement early in the summer of 1807, and returned to Connecticut in -1812, so that I rarely saw any of that family afterward, I have never to -this day seen a man struggling and half strangled with a word stuck to -his throat, without remembering good Mr. Owen Brown, who could not speak -without stammering, except in prayer.”[1] - -In 1800, May 9th, wrote this Owen Brown: “John was born, one hundred -years after his great-grandfather. Nothing else very uncommon.”[2] - - - - - CHAPTER II - THE MAKING OF THE MAN - - “There was a man called of God and his name was John.” - - -A tall big boy of twelve or fifteen, “barefoot and bareheaded, with -buckskin breeches, suspended often with one leather strap over his -shoulder”[3] roamed in the forests of northern Ohio. He remembered the -days of his coming to the strange wild land—the lowing oxen, the great -white wagon that wandered from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and over the -swelling hills and mountains, where the wide-eyed urchin of five sat -staring at the new world of a wild beast and the wilder brown men. Then -came life itself in its realness—the driving of cows and the killing of -rattlesnakes, and swift free rides on great mornings alone with earth -and tree and the sky. He became “a rambler in the wild new country, -finding birds and squirrels and sometimes a wild turkey’s nest.” At -first, the Indians filled him with a strange fear. But his kindly old -father thought of Indians as neither vermin nor property and this fear -“soon wore off and he used to hang about them quite as much as was -consistent with good manners.” - -The tragedy and comedy of this broad silent life turned on things -strangely simple and primitive—the stealing of “three large brass pins”; -the disappearance of the wonderful yellow marble which an Indian boy had -given him; the love and losing of a little bob-tailed squirrel for which -he wept and hunted the world in vain; finally the shadow of death which -is ever here—the death of a ewe-lamb and the death of the boy’s mother. - -All these things happened before he was eight and they were his main -education. He could dress leather and make whip-lashes; he could herd -cattle and talk Indian; but of books and formal schooling he had little. - -“John was never quarrelsome, but was excessively fond of the hardest and -roughest kind of plays, and could never get enough of them. Indeed when -for a short time, he was sometimes sent to school, the opportunity it -afforded to wrestle and snowball and run and jump and knock off old -seedy wool hats, offered to him almost the only compensation for the -confinements and restraints of school. - -“With such a feeling and but little chance of going to school at all, he -did not become much of a scholar. He would always choose to stay at home -and work hard rather than be sent to school.” Consequently, “he learned -nothing of grammar, nor did he get at school so much knowledge of common -arithmetic as the four ground rules.” - -Almost his only reading at the age of ten was a little history to which -the open bookcase of an old friend tempted him. He knew nothing of games -or sports; he had few or no companions, but, “to be sent off through the -wilderness alone to very considerable distances was particularly his -delight.... By the time he was twelve years old he was sent off more -than a hundred miles with companies of cattle.” So his soul grew apart -and alone and yet untrammeled and unconfined, knowing all the depths of -secret self-abasement, and the heights of confident self-will. With -others he was painfully diffident and bashful, and little sins that -smaller souls would laugh at and forget loomed large and awful to his -heart-searching vision. John had “a very bad foolish habit.... I mean -telling lies, generally to screen himself from blame or from -punishment,” because “he could not well endure to be reproached and I -now think had he been oftener encouraged to be entirely frank ... he -would not have been so often guilty of this fault, nor have been (in -after life) obliged to struggle so long with so mean a habit.” - -Such a nature was in its very essence religious, even mystical, but -never superstitious nor blindly trustful in half-known creeds and -formulas. His family was not rigidly Puritan in its thought and -discipline but had rather fallen into the mild heathenism of the -hard-working frontier until just before John’s birth. Then, his father -relates in quaint Calvinistic _patois_: “I lived at home in 1782; this -was a memorable year, as there was a great revival of religion in the -town of Canton. My mother and my older sisters and brother John dated -their hopes of salvation from that summer’s revival under the ministry -of the Rev. Edward Mills. I cannot say as I was a subject of the work; -but this I can say that I then began to hear preaching. I can now -recollect most if not all of those I heard preach, and what their texts -were. The change in our family was great; family worship set up by -brother John was ever afterward continued. There was a revival of -singing in Canton and our family became singers. Conference meetings -were kept up constantly and singing meetings—all of which brought our -family into a very good association—a very great aid of restraining -grace.” - -Thus this young freeman of the woods was born into a religious -atmosphere; not that of stern, intellectual Puritanism, but of a milder -and a more sensitive type. Even this, however, the naturally skeptical -bent of his mind did not receive unquestioningly. The doctrines of his -day and church did not wholly satisfy him and he became only “to some -extent a convert to Christianity.” One answer to his questionings did -come, however, bearing its own wonderful credentials—and credentials all -the more wonderful to the man of few books and narrow knowledge of the -world of thought—the English Bible. He grew to be “a firm believer in -the divine authenticity of the Bible. With this book he became very -familiar.” He read and reread it; he committed long passages to memory; -he copied the simple vigor of its English, and wove into the very -essence of his being, its history, poetry, philosophy and truth. To him -the cruel grandeur of the Old Testament was as true as the love and -sacrifice of the New, and both mingled to mold his soul. “This will give -you some general idea of the first fifteen years of his life, during -which time he became very strong and large of his age, and ambitious to -perform the full labor of a man at almost any kind of hard work.” - -Young John Brown’s first broad contact with life and affairs came with -the War of 1812, during which Hull’s disastrous campaign brought the -scene of fighting near his western home. His father, a simple wandering -old soul, thrifty without foresight, became a beef contractor, and the -boy drove his herds of cattle and hung about the camp. He met men of -position, was praised for his prowess and let listen to talk that seemed -far beyond his years. Yet he was not deceived. The war he felt was real -war and not the war of fame and fairy tale. He saw shameful defeat, -heard treason broached, and knew of cheating and chicanery. Disease and -death left its slimy trail as it crept homeward through the town of -Hudson from Detroit: “The effect of what he saw during the war went so -far to disgust him with military affairs that he would neither train nor -drill.” - -But in all these early years of the making of this man, one incident -stands out as foretaste and prophecy—an incident of which we know only -the indefinite outline, and yet one which unconsciously foretold to the -boy the life deed of the man. It was during the war that a certain -landlord welcomed John to his home whither the boy had ridden with -cattle, a hundred miles through the wilderness. He praised the big, -grave and bashful lad to his guests and made much of him. John, however, -discovered something far more interesting than praise and good food in -the landlord’s parlor, and that was another boy in the landlord’s yard. -Fellow souls were scarce with this backwoodsman and his diffidence -warmed to the kindly welcome of the stranger, especially because he was -black, half-naked, and wretched. In John’s very ears the kind voices of -the master and his folk turned to harsh abuse with this black boy. At -night the slave lay in the bitter cold and once they beat the wretched -thing before John’s very eyes with an iron shovel, and again and again -struck him with any weapon that chanced. In wide-eyed silence John -looked on and questioned, Was the boy bad or stupid? No, he was active, -intelligent and with the great warm sympathy of his race did the -stranger “numerous little acts of kindness,” so that John readily, in -his straightforward candor, acknowledged him “fully if not more than his -equal.” That the black worked and worked hard and steadily was in John’s -eyes no hardship—rather a pleasure. Was not the world work? But that -this boy was fatherless and motherless, and that all slaves must of -necessity be fatherless and motherless with none to protect them or -provide for them, save at the will or caprice of the master—this was to -the half-grown man a thing of fearful portent and he asked, “Is God -their Father?” And what he asked, a million and a half black bondmen -were asking through the land. - - - - - CHAPTER III - THE WANDERJAHRE - - “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell - asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the - creation.” - - -In 1819 a tall, sedate, dignified young man named John Brown was entered -among the students of the Rev. Moses Hallock at Plainfield, Mass., where -men were prepared for Amherst College. He was beginning his years of -wandering—spiritual searching for the way of life, physical wandering in -the wilderness where he must earn his living. In after years he wrote to -a boy: - -“I wish you to have some definite plan. Many seem to have none; others -never stick to any that they do form. This was not the case with John. -He followed up with great tenacity whatever he set about as long as it -answered his general purpose; hence he rarely failed in some degree to -effect the things he undertook. This was so much the case that he -habitually expected to succeed in his undertakings.”[4] In this case he -expected to get an education and he came to his task equipped with that -rare mixture of homely thrift and idealism which characterized his whole -life. His father could do little to help him, for the war was followed -by the “hard times” which are the necessary fruit of fighting. As the -father wrote: “Money became scarce, property fell and that which I -thought well bought would not bring its cost. I had made three or four -large purchases, in which I was a heavy loser.” - -It was therefore as a poor boy ready to work his way that John started -out at Plainfield. The son of the principal tells how “he brought with -him a piece of sole leather about a foot square, which he had himself -tanned for seven years, to resole his boots. He had also a piece of -sheepskin which he had tanned, and of which he cut some strips about an -eighth of an inch wide, for other students to pull upon. Father took one -string, and winding it around his finger said with a triumphant turn of -the eye and mouth, ‘I shall snap it.’ The very marked, yet kind -immovableness of the young man’s face on seeing father’s defeat, -father’s own look, and the position of the people and the things in the -old kitchen somehow gave me a fixed recollection of this little -incident.”[5] - -But all his thrift and planning here were doomed to disappointment. He -was, one may well believe, no brilliant student, and his only chance of -success lay in long and steady application. This he was prepared to make -when inflammation of the eyes set in, of so grave a type that all hopes -of long study must be given up. Several times before he had attempted -regular study, but for the most part these excursions to New England -schools had been but tentative flashes on a background of hard work in -his father’s Hudson tannery: “From fifteen to twenty years of age he -spent most of his time working at the tanner’s and currier’s trade;” and -yet, naturally, ever looking here and there in the world to find his -place. And that place, he came gradually to decide in his quiet firm -way, was to be an important one. He felt he could do things; he grew -used to guiding and commanding men. He kept his own lonely home and was -both foreman and cook in the tannery. His “close attention to business -and success in its management, together with the way he got along with a -company of men and boys, made him quite a favorite with the serious and -more intelligent portion of older persons. This was so much the case and -secured for him so many little notices from those he esteemed, that his -vanity was very much fed by it, and he came forward to manhood quite -full of self-conceit and self-confidence, notwithstanding his extreme -bashfulness. The habit so early formed of being obeyed rendered him in -after life too much disposed to speak in an imperious or dictating -way.”[6] Thus he spoke of himself, but others saw only that peculiar -consciousness of strength and quiet self-confidence, which characterized -him later on. - -Just how far his failure to get a college training was a disappointment -to John Brown one is not able to say with certainty. It looks, however, -as if his attempts at higher training were rather the obedient following -of the conventional path, by a spirit which would never have found in -those fields congenial pasture. One suspects that the final decision -that college was impossible came to this strong free spirit with a -certain sense of relief—a relief marred only by the perplexity of -knowing what ought to be the path for his feet, if the traditional way -to accomplishment and distinction was closed. - -That he meant to be not simply a tanner was disclosed in all his doing -and thinking. He undertook to study by himself, mastering common -arithmetic and becoming in time an expert surveyor. He “early in life -began to discover a great liking to fine cattle, horses, sheep, and -swine.” Meantime, however, the practical economic sense of his day and -occupation pointed first of all to marriage, as his father, who had had -three wives and sixteen or more children, was at pains to impress upon -him. Nor was John Brown himself disinclined. He was as he quaintly says, -“naturally fond of females, and withal extremely diffident.” One can -easily imagine the deep disappointment of this grave young man in his -first unfortunate love affair, when he felt With many another unloved -heart, this old world through, “a steady, strong desire to die.” - -But youth is stronger even than first love, and the widow who came to -keep house for him had a grown daughter, a homely, good-hearted and -simple-minded country lass; the natural result was that John Brown was -married at the age of twenty to Dianthe Lusk, whom he describes as “a -remarkably plain, but neat, industrious and economical girl, of -excellent character, earnest piety and practical common sense.”[7] - -Then ensued a period of life which puzzles the casual onlooker with its -seemingly aimless changing character, its wandering restlessness, its -planless wavering. He was now a land surveyor, now a tanner and now a -lumber dealer; a postmaster, a wool-grower, a stock-raiser, a shepherd, -and a farmer. He lived at Hudson, at Franklin and at Richfield in Ohio; -in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. And yet in all this -wavering and wandering, there were certain great currents of growth, -purpose and action. First of all he became the father of a family: in -the eleven years from 1821 to 1832, seven children were born—six sons -and one girl. The patriarchal ideal of family life handed down by his -fathers, strengthened by his own saturation in Hebrew poetry, and by his -own bent, grew up in his home. - -His eldest son and daughter tell many little incidents illustrating his -family government: “Our house, on a lane which connects two main roads, -was built under father’s direction in 1824, and still stands much as he -built it with the garden and orchard around it which he laid out. In the -rear of the house was then a wood, now gone, on a knoll leading down to -the brook which supplied the tan-pits.”[8] - -“Father used to hold all his children while they were little at night -and sing his favorite songs,” says the eldest daughter. “The first -recollection I have of father was being carried through a piece of woods -on Sunday to attend a meeting held at a neighbor’s house. After we had -been at the house a little while, father and mother stood up and held -us, while the minister put water on our faces. After we sat down father -wiped my face with a brown silk handkerchief with yellow spots on it in -diamond shape. It seemed beautiful to me and I thought how good he was -to wipe my face with that pretty handkerchief. He showed a great deal of -tenderness in that and other ways. He sometimes seemed very stern and -strict with me, yet his tenderness made me forget he was stern.... - -“When he would come home at night tired out with labor, he would before -going to bed, ask some of the family to read chapters (as was his usual -course night and morning); and would almost always say: ‘Read one of -David’s Psalms.’... - -“Whenever he and I were alone, he never failed to give me the best of -advice, just such as a true and anxious mother would give a daughter. He -always seemed interested in my work, and would come around and look at -it when I was sewing or knitting; and when I was learning to spin he -always praised me if he saw that I was improving. He used to say: ‘Try -to do whatever you do in the very best possible manner.’”[9] - -“Father had a rule not to threaten one of his children. He commanded and -there was obedience,” writes his eldest son. “My first apprenticeship to -the tanning business consisted of a three years’ course at grinding bark -with a blind horse. This, after months and years, became slightly -monotonous. While the other children were out at play in the sunshine, -where the birds were singing, I used to be tempted to let the old horse -have a rather long rest, especially when father was absent from home; -and I would then join the others at their play. This subjected me to -frequent admonitions and to some corrections for eye-service as father -termed it.... He finally grew tired of these frequent slight admonitions -for my laziness and other shortcomings, and concluded to adopt with me a -sort of book-account something like this: - - “John, Jr., - “For disobeying mother—8 lashes. - “For unfaithfulness at work—3 lashes. - “For telling a lie—8 lashes. - -“This account he showed to me from time to time. On a certain Sunday -morning he invited me to accompany him from the house to the tannery, -saying that he had concluded it was time for a settlement. We went into -the upper or finishing room, and after a long and tearful talk over my -faults, he again showed me my account, which exhibited a fearful footing -up of debits. I had no credits or offsets and was of course bankrupt. I -then paid about one-third of the debt, reckoned in strokes from a nicely -prepared blue-beach switch, laid on ‘masterly.’ Then to my utter -astonishment, father stripped off his shirt and seating himself on a -block gave me the whip and bade me lay it on to his bare back. I dared -not refuse to obey, but at first I did not strike hard. ‘Harder,’ he -said, ‘harder, harder!’ until he received the balance of the account. -Small drops of blood showed on his back where the tip end of the -tingling beach cut through. Thus ended the account and settlement, which -was also my first practical illustration of the doctrine of the -atonement.”[10] - -Even the girls did not escape whipping. “He used to whip me often for -telling lies,” says a daughter, “but I can’t remember his ever punishing -me but once when I thought I didn’t deserve, and then he looked at me so -stern that I didn’t dare to tell the truth. He had such a way of saying, -‘Tut, tut!’ if he saw the first sign of a lie in us, that he often -frightened us children. - -“When I first began to go to school,” she continues, “I found a piece of -calico one day behind one of the benches—it was not large, but seemed -quite a treasure to me, and I did not show it to any one until I got -home. Father heard me then telling about it and said, ‘Don’t you know -what girl lost it?’ I told him I did not. ‘Well, when you go to school -to-morrow take it with you and find out if you can who lost it. It is a -trifling thing but always remember that if you should lose anything you -valued, no matter how small, you would want the person who found it to -give it back to you.’” He “showed a great deal of tenderness to me,” -continues the daughter, “and one thing I always noticed was my father’s -peculiar tenderness and devotion to his father. In cold weather he -always tucked the bedclothes around grandfather when he went to bed, and -would get up in the night to ask him if he slept warm—always seeming so -kind and loving to him that his example was beautiful to see.” - -Especially were his sympathy and devotion evident in sickness: “When his -children were ill with scarlet fever, he took care of us himself and if -he saw persons coming to the house, would go to the gate and meet them, -not wishing them to come in, for fear of spreading the disease.[11]... -When any of the family were sick he did not often trust watchers to care -for the sick one, but sat up himself and was like a tender mother. At -one time he sat up every night for two weeks while mother was sick, for -fear he would oversleep if he went to bed, and then the fire would go -out and she take cold.”[12] - -The death of one little girl shows how deeply he could be moved: “He -spared no pains in doing all that medical skill could do for her -together with the tenderest care and nursing. The time that he could be -at home was mostly spent in caring for her. He sat up nights to keep an -even temperature in the room, and to relieve mother from the constant -care which she had through the day. He used to walk with the child and -sing to her so much that she soon learned his step. When she heard him -coming up the steps to the door, she would reach out her hands and cry -for him to take her. When his business at the wool store crowded him so -much that he did not have time to take her, he would steal around -through the wood-shed into the kitchen to eat his dinner, and not go -into the dining-room where she could see or hear him. I used to be -charmed myself with his singing to her. He noticed a change in her one -morning and told us he thought she would not live through the day, and -came home several times to see her. A little before noon he came home -and looked at her and said, ‘She is almost gone.’ She heard him speak, -opened her eyes and put up her little wasted hands with such a pleading -look for him to take her that he lifted her up from the cradle with the -pillows she was lying on, and carried her until she died. He was very -calm, closed her eyes, folded her hands and laid her in her cradle. When -she was buried father broke down completely and sobbed like a -child.”[13] - -Dianthe Lusk, John Brown’s first wife, died in childbirth, August 10, -1832, having borne him seven children, two of whom died very young. On -July 11, 1833, now thirty-three years of age, he married Mary Ann Day, a -girl of seventeen, only five years older than his oldest child. She bore -him thirteen children, seven of whom died young. Thus seven sons and -four daughters grew to maturity and his wife, Mary, survived him -twenty-five years. It was, all told, a marvelous family—large and -well-disciplined, yet simple almost to poverty, and hard-working. No -sooner were the children grown than the wise father ceased to command -and simply asked or advised. He wrote to his eldest son when first he -started in life in characteristic style: - -“I think the situation in which you have been placed by Providence at -this early period of your life will afford to yourself and others some -little test of the sway you may be expected to exert over minds in after -life and I am glad on the whole to have you brought in some measure to -the test in your youth. If you cannot now go into a disorderly country -school and gain its confidence and esteem, and reduce it to good order -and waken up the energies and the very soul of every rational being in -it—yes, of every mean, ill-behaved, ill-governed boy and girl that -compose it, and secure the good-will of the parents,—then how are you to -stimulate asses to attempt a passage of the Alps? If you run with -footmen and they should weary you, how should you contend with horses? -If in the land of peace they have wearied you, then how will you do in -the swelling of Jordan? Shall I answer the question myself? ‘If any man -lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth -not.’”[14] - -Not that Brown was altogether satisfied with his method of dealing with -his children; he said to his wife: “If the large boys do wrong, call -them alone into your room and expostulate with them kindly, and see if -you cannot reach them by a kind but powerful appeal to their honor. I do -not claim that such a theory accords very well with my practice; I -frankly confess it does not; but I want your face to shine even if my -own should be dark and cloudy.”[15] - -The impression which he made on his own family was marvelous. A -granddaughter writes me of him, saying: “The attitude of John Brown’s -family and descendants has always been one of exceeding reverence toward -him. This speaks for something. Stern, unyielding, Puritanic, requiring -his wife and daughters to dress in sober brown, disliking show and -requesting that mourning colors be not worn for him—a custom which still -obtains with us—laying the rod heavily upon his boys for their boyish -pranks, he still was wonderfully tender—would invariably walk up hill -rather than burden his horse, loved his family devotedly, and when -sickness occurred, always installed himself as nurse.” - -In his personal habits he was austere: severely clean, sparing in his -food so far as to count butter an unnecessary luxury; once a moderate -user of cider and wine—then a strong teetotaler; a lover of horses with -harassing scruples as to breeding race-horses. All this gave an air of -sedateness and maturity to John Brown’s earlier manhood which belied his -years. Having married at twenty, he was but twenty-one years older than -his eldest son; and while his many children and his varied occupations -made him seem prematurely aged, he was, in fact, during this period, -during the years from twenty to forty, experiencing the great formative -development of his spiritual life. This development was most interesting -and fruitful. - -He was not a man of books: he had Rollins’ _Ancient History_, Josephus -and Plutarch and lives of Napoleon and Cromwell. With these went -Baxter’s _Saints’ Rest_, Henry _On Meekness_ and _Pilgrim’s Progress_. -“But above all others the Bible was his favorite volume and he had such -perfect knowledge of it that when any person was reading he would -correct the least mistake.”[16] - -Into John Brown’s religious life entered two strong elements; the sense -of overruling inexorable fate, and the mystery and promise of death. He -pored over the Old Testament until the freer religious skepticism of his -earlier youth became more formal and straight. The brother of his first -wife says, “Brown was an austere fellow,” and when the young man called -on the sister and mother Sundays, as his only holiday, Brown said to -him: “Milton, I wish you would not make your visits here on the -Sabbath.” - -When the panic of 1837 nearly swept Brown from his feet, he saw behind -it the image of the old Hebrew God and wrote his wife: “We all must try -to trust in Him who is very gracious and full of compassion and of -almighty power; for those that do will not be made ashamed. Ezra the -prophet prayed and afflicted himself before God, when himself and the -Captivity were in a strait and I have no doubt you will join with me -under similar circumstances. Don’t get discouraged, any of you, but hope -in God, and try all to serve Him with a perfect heart.”[17] - -When Napoleon III seized France and Kossuth came to America, Brown -looked with lofty contempt on the “great excitement” which “seems to -have taken all by surprise.” “I have only to say in regard to those -things, I rejoice in them from the full belief that God is carrying out -His eternal purpose in them all.”[18] - -The gloom and horror of life settled early on John Brown. His childhood -had had little formal pleasure, his young manhood had been serious and -filled with responsibility, and almost before he himself knew the full -meaning of life, he was trying to teach it to his children. The iron of -bitterness entered his soul with the coming of death, and a deep -religious fear and foreboding bore him down as it took away member after -member of his family. In 1831 he lost a boy of four and in 1832 his -first wife died insane, and her infant son was buried with her. In 1843 -four children varying in ages from one to nine years were swept away. -Two baby girls went in 1846 and 1859 and an infant boy in 1852. The -struggle of a strong man to hold his faith is found in his words, “God -has seen fit to visit us with the pestilence and four of our number -sleep in the dust; four of us that are still living have been more or -less unwell.... This has been to us all a bitter cup indeed and we have -drunk deeply; but still the Lord reigneth and blessed be His holy name -forever.” Again three years later he writes his wife from the edge of a -new-made grave: “I feel assured that notwithstanding that God has -chastised us often and sore, yet He has not entirely withdrawn Himself -from us nor forsaken us utterly. The sudden and dreadful manner in which -He has seen fit to call our dear little Kitty to take her leave of us, -is, I need not tell you how much, in my mind. But before Him I will bow -my head in submission and hold my peace.... I have sailed over a -somewhat stormy sea for nearly half a century, and have experienced -enough to teach me thoroughly that I may most reasonably buckle up and -be prepared for the tempest. Mary, let us try to maintain a cheerful -self-command while we are tossing up and down, and let our motto still -be action, action,—as we have but one life to live.”[19] - -His soul gropes for light in the great darkness: “Sometimes my -imagination follows those of my family who have passed behind the -scenes; and I would almost rejoice to be permitted to make them a -personal visit. I have outlived nearly half of all my numerous family, -and I ought to realize that in any event a large proportion of my life -is traveled over.”[20] - -Then there rose grimly, as life went on in its humdrum round of failure -and trouble, the thought that in some way his own sin and shortcomings -were bringing upon him the vengeful punishment of God. He laments the -fact that he has done little to help others and the world: “I feel -considerable regret by turns that I have lived so many years and have in -reality done so little to increase the amount of human happiness. I -often regret that my manner is not more kind and affectionate to those I -really love and esteem. But I trust my friends will overlook my harsh -rough ways, when I cease to be in their way as an occasion of pain and -unhappiness.”[21] - -The death of a friend fills him with self-reproach: “You say he expected -to die, but do not say how he felt in regard to the change as it drew -near. I have to confess my unfaithfulness to my friend in regard to his -most important interest.... When I think how very little influence I -have even tried to use with my numerous acquaintances and friends in -turning their minds toward God and heaven, I feel justly condemned as a -most wicked and slothful servant; and the more so as I have very seldom -had any one refuse to listen when I earnestly called him to hear. I -sometimes have dreadful reflections about having fled to go down to -Tarshish.”[22] - -Especially did the religious skepticism of his children, so like his own -earlier wanderings, worry and dismay the growing man until it loomed -before his vision as his great sin, calling for mighty atonement. He -pleads with his older children continually: - -“My attachments to this world have been very strong and divine -Providence has been cutting me loose, one cord after another. Up to the -present time notwithstanding I have so much to remind me that all ties -must soon be severed, I am still clinging like those who have hardly -taken a single lesson. I really hope some of my family may understand -that this world is not the home of man, and act in accordance. Why may I -not hope this for you? When I look forward as regards the religious -prospects of my numerous family—the most of them,—I am forced to say, -and feel too, that I have little—very little to cheer. That this should -be so is, I perfectly well understand, the legitimate fruit of my own -planting; and that only increases my punishment. Some ten or twelve -years ago I was cheered with the belief that my elder children had -chosen the Lord to be their God and I relied much on their influence and -example in atoning for my deficiency and bad example with the younger -children. But where are we now? Several have gone where neither a good -nor a bad example from me will better their condition or prospects or -make them worse. I will not dwell longer on this distressing subject but -only say that so far as I have gone it is from no disposition to reflect -on any one but myself. I think I can clearly discover where I wandered -from the road. How now to get on it with my family is beyond my ability -to _see_ or my courage to _hope_. God grant you thorough conversion from -sin, and full purpose of heart to continue steadfast in His way through -the very short season you will have to pass.”[23] - -And again he writes: “One word in regard to the religious belief of -yourself and the ideas of several of my children. My affections are too -deep-rooted to be alienated from them; but ‘my gray hairs must go down -in sorrow to the grave’ unless the true God forgive their denial and -rejection of Him and open their eyes.” - -And again: “I would fain hope that the spirit of God has not done -striving in our hard hearts. I sometimes feel encouraged to hope that my -sons will give up their miserable delusions and believe in God and in -His Son, our Saviour.”[24] - -All this is evidence of a striving soul, of a man to whom the world was -a terribly earnest thing. Here was neither the smug content of the man -beyond religious doubt, nor the carelessness of the unharassed -conscience. To him the world was a mighty drama. God was an actor in the -play and so was John Brown. But just what his part was to be his soul in -the long agony of years tried to know, and ever and again the chilling -doubt assailed him lest he be unworthy of his place or had missed the -call. Often the brooding masculine mind which demanded “Action! Action!” -sought to pierce the mystic veil. His brother-in-law became a -spiritualist, and he himself hearkened for voices from the Other Land. -Once or twice he thought he heard them. Did not the spirit of Dianthe -Lusk guide him again and again in his perplexity? He once said it did. - -And so this saturation in Hebrew prophecy, the chastisement of death, -the sense of personal sin and shortcoming and the voices from nowhere, -deepened, darkened and broadened his religious life. Yet with all this -there went a peculiar common sense, a spirit of thrift and stickling for -detail, a homely shrewd attention to all the little facts of daily -existence. Sometimes this prosaic tinkering with things burdened, buried -and submerged the spiritual life and striving. There was nothing left -except the commonplace, unstable tanner, but ever as one is tempted thus -to fix his place in the world, there wells up surging spiritual life out -of great unfathomed depths—the intellectual longing to see, the moral -wistfulness of the hesitating groping doer. This was the deeper, truer -man, although it was not the whole man. “Certainly I never felt myself -in the presence of a stronger religious influence than while in this -man’s house,” said Frederick Douglass in 1847. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP - - “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, - keeping watch over their flock by night. - - “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the - Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.” - - -The vastest physical fact in the life of John Brown was the Alleghany -Mountains—that beautiful mass of hill and crag which guards the sombre -majesty of the Maine coast, crumples the rivers on the rocky soil of New -England, and rolls and leaps down through busy Pennsylvania to the misty -peaks of Carolina and the red foothills of Georgia. In the Alleghanies -John Brown was all but born; their forests were his boyhood wonderland; -in their villages he married his wives and begot his clan. On the sides -of the Alleghanies, he tended his sheep and dreamed of his terrible -dream. It was the mystic, awful voice of the mountains that lured him to -liberty, death and martyrdom within their wildest fastness, and in their -bosom he sleeps his last sleep. - -So, too, in the development of the United States from the War of 1812 to -the Civil War, it was the Alleghanies that formed the industrial centre -of the land and lured young men to their waters and mines, valleys and -factories, as they lured John Brown. His life from 1805 to 1854 was -almost wholly spent on the western slope of the Alleghanies in a small -area of Ohio and Pennsylvania, beginning eighty miles north of Pittsburg -and ending twenty-five miles southeast of Cleveland. Here in a -half-dozen small towns, but chiefly in Hudson, O., he worked in his -young manhood to support his growing family. From 1819 to 1825, he was a -tanner at Hudson. Then he moved seventy miles westward toward the crests -of the Alleghanies in Pennsylvania, where he set up his tannery again -and became a man of importance in the town. John Quincy Adams made him -postmaster, the village school was held at his log house and the new -feverish prosperity of the post-bellum period began to stir him as it -stirred this whole western world. Indeed, the economic history of the -land from the War of 1812 to the Civil War covers a period of -extraordinary developments—so much so that no man’s life which fell in -these years may be written without knowledge of and allowance for the -battling of gigantic social forces and welding of material, out of which -the present United States was designed. - -Three phases roughly mark these days: First, the slough of despond -following the war, when England forced her goods upon us at nominal -prices to kill the new-sprung infant industries; secondly, the new -protection from the competition of foreign goods from 1816 to 1857, -rising high in the prohibitory schedules of 1828, and falling to the -lower duties of the forties and the free trade of the fifties, and -stimulating irregularly and spasmodically but tremendously the cotton, -woolen and iron manufactories; and finally, the three whirlwinds of -1819, 1837–1839, and 1857, marking frightful maladjustments in the -mushroom growth of our industrial life. - -John Brown, coming to full industrial manhood in the buoyant prosperity -of 1825, soon began to sense the new spirit. After ten years’ work in -Pennsylvania, he again removed westward, nearer the projected -transportation lines between East and West. He began to invest his -surplus in land along the new canal routes, became a director in one of -the rapidly multiplying banks and was currently rated to be worth -$20,000 in 1835. But his prosperity, like that of his neighbors, and -indeed, of the whole country, was partly fictitious, and built on a fast -expanding credit which was far outstretching the rapid industrial -development. Jackson’s blind tinkering with banking precipitated the -crisis. The storm broke in 1837. Over six hundred banks failed, ten -thousand employees were thrown out of work, money disappeared and prices -went down to a specie level. John Brown, his tannery and his land -speculations, were sucked into the maelstrom. - -The overthrow was no ordinary blow to a man of thirty-seven with eight -children, who had already trod the ways of spiritual doubt and unrest. -For three or four years he seemed to flounder almost hopelessly, -certainly with no settled plan or outlook. He bred race-horses till his -conscience troubled him; he farmed and did some surveying; he inquired -into the commission business in various lines, and still did some -tanning. Then gradually he began to find himself. He was a lover of -animals. In 1839 he took a drove of cattle to Connecticut and wrote to -his wife: “I have felt distressed to get my business done and return -ever since I left home, but know of no way consistent with duty but to -make thorough work of it while there is any hope. Things now look more -favorable than they have but I may still be disappointed.”[25] His diary -shows that he priced certain farms for sale, but especially did he -inquire carefully into sheep-raising and its details, and eventually -bought a flock of sheep, which he drove home to Ohio. This marked the -beginning of a new occupation, that of shepherd, “being a calling for -which in early life he had a kind of enthusiastic longing.” He began -sheep-farming near Hudson, keeping his own and a rich merchant’s sheep -and also buying wool on commission. - -This industry in the United States had at that time passed through many -vicissitudes. The change from household to factory economy and the -introduction of effective machinery had been slow, and one of the chief -drawbacks was ever the small quantity of good wool. Consequently our -chief supply came from England until the embargo and war cut off that -supply and stimulated domestic manufacture. Between 1810 and 1815 the -value of the manufacture increased five-fold, but after the war, when -England sent goods over here below the price, Americans rightly clamored -for tariff protection. This they got, but their advantage was nearly -upset by the wool farmers who also got protection on the commodity, -although less on low than on better qualities; and it was the low grades -that America produced. From 1816 to 1832 the tariff wall against wool -and woolens rose steadily until it reached almost prohibitive figures, -save on the cheapest kind. In this way the wool manufacture had by 1828 -recovered its war-time prosperity; by 1840 the mills were sending out -twenty and a half million dollars’ worth of goods yearly, and nearly -fifty millions by 1860 even though meanwhile the tariff wall was -weakening. Thus by 1841 when John Brown turned his attention to -sheep-farming, there was a large and growing demand for wool, especially -of the better grades, and by the abolition of the English tariff in -1824, there was even a chance of invading England. - -Because, then, of his natural liking for the work, and the growing -prosperity of the wool trade, John Brown chose this line of employment. -But not for this alone. His spirit was longing for air and space. He -wanted to think and read; time was flying and his life as yet had been -little but a mean struggle for bread and that, too, only partially -successful. Already he had had a vision of vast service. Already he had -broached the matter to friends and family, and at the age of thirty-nine -he entered his new life distinctly and clearly with “the idea that as a -business it bid fair to afford him the means of carrying out his -greatest or principal object.”[26] - -His first idea was to save enough from the wreck of his fortune to buy -and stock a large sheep farm, and in accordance with his already forming -plans as to Negro emancipation, he wanted this farm in or near the -South. A chance seemed opening when through his father, a trustee of -Oberlin College, he learned of the Virginia lands lately given that -institution by Gerrit Smith, whom Brown came to know better. Oberlin -College was dear to John Brown’s heart, for it had almost from the -beginning taken a strong anti-slavery stand. The titles to the Virginia -land, however, were clouded by the fact of many squatters being in -possession, which gave ample prospects of costly lawsuits. Brown wrote -the trustees early in 1840, proposing to survey the lands for a nominal -price, provided he could be allowed to buy on reasonable terms and -establish his family there. He also spoke of school facilities which he -proposed for Negroes as well as whites, according to a long cherished -plan. The college records in April, 1840, say: “Communication from -Brother John Brown of Hudson was presented and read by the secretary, -containing a proposition to visit, survey and make the necessary -investigation respecting boundaries, etc., of those lands, for one -dollar per day and a moderate allowance for necessary expenses; said -paper frankly expressing also his design of viewing the lands as a -preliminary step to locating his family upon them, should the opening -prove a favorable one; whereupon, _voted_ that said proposition be -acceded to, and that a commission and needful outfit be furnished by the -secretary and treasurer.”[27] The treasurer sent John Brown fifty -dollars and wrote his father, as a trustee of Oberlin, commending the -son’s purpose and hoping “for a favorable issue both for him and the -institution.” He added, “Should he succeed in clearing up titles without -difficulty or lawsuits, it would be easy, as it appears to me, to make -provision for religious and school privileges and by proper efforts with -the blessing of God, soon see that wilderness bud and blossom as the -rose.”[28] - -Thus John Brown first saw Virginia and looked upon the rich and heavy -land which rolls westward to the misty Blue Ridge. That he visited -Harper’s Ferry on this trip is doubtful but possible. The lands of -Oberlin, however, lay two hundred miles westward in the foothills and -along the valley of the Ohio. He wrote home from Ripley, Va., in April -(for he had gone immediately): “I like the country as well as I -expected, and its inhabitants rather better; and I have seen the spot -where if it be the will of Providence, I hope one day to live with my -family.... Were the inhabitants as resolute and industrious as the -Northern people and did they understand how to manage as well, they -would become rich.”[29] - -By the summer of 1840 his work was accomplished with apparent success. -He had about selected his dwelling-place, having “found on the right -branch of Big Battle a valuable spring, good stone-coal, and excellent -bottoms, good timber, sugar orchard, good hill land and beautiful -situation for dwelling—all right. Course of this branch at the forks is -south twenty-one degrees west from a beautiful white oak on which I -marked my initials, 23d April.”[30] - -The Oberlin trustees in August, “voted, that the Prudential Committee be -authorized to perfect negotiations and convey by deed to Brother John -Brown of Hudson, one thousand acres of our Virginia land on the -conditions suggested in the correspondence which has already transpired -between him and the committee.”[31] - -Here, however, negotiations stopped, for the renewal of the panic in -1839 overthrew all business calculations until 1842 and later, and -forced John Brown to take refuge in formal bankruptcy in 1842. This -step, his son says, was wholly “owing to his purchase of land on -credit—including the Haymaker farm at Franklin, which he bought in -connection with Seth Thompson, of Hartford, Trumbull County, Ohio, and -his individual purchase of three rather large adjoining farms in Hudson. -When he bought those farms, the rise in value of his place in Franklin -was such that good judges estimated his property worth fully twenty -thousand dollars. He was then thought to be a man of excellent business -judgment and was chosen one of the directors of a bank at Cayahoga -Falls.”[32] Probably after the crash of 1837, Brown hoped to extricate -enough to buy land in Virginia and move there, but things went from bad -to worse. Through endorsing a note for a friend, one of his best pieces -of farm property was attached, put up at auction and bought by a -neighbor. Brown, on legal advice, sought to retain possession, but was -arrested and placed in the Akron jail. The property was lost. Legal -bankruptcy followed in October, 1842, but Brown would not take the full -advantage of it. He gave the New England Woolen Company of Rockville, -Conn., a note declaring that “whereas I, John Brown, on or about the -15th day of June, A. D. 1839, received of the New England Company -(through their agent, George Kellogg, Esq.) the sum of twenty-eight -hundred dollars for the purchase of wool for said company, and -imprudently pledged the same for my own benefit and could not redeem it; -and whereas I have been legally discharged from my obligations by the -laws of the United States—I hereby agree (in consideration of the great -kindness and tenderness of said company toward me in my calamity, and -more particularly of the moral obligation I am under to render to all -their due) to pay the same and the interest thereon from time to time as -divine Providence shall enable me to do.”[33] - -He wrote Mr. Kellogg at the same time: “I am sorry to say that in -consequence of the unforeseen expense of getting the discharge, the loss -of an ox, and the destitute condition in which a new surrender of my -effects has placed me, with my numerous family, I fear this year must -pass without my effecting in the way of payment what I have encouraged -you to expect.”[34] He was still paying this debt when he died and left -fifty dollars toward it in his will. - -It was a labyrinth of disaster in which the soul of John Brown was -well-nigh choked and lost. We hear him now and then gasping for breath: -“I have been careful and troubled with so much serving that I have in a -great measure neglected the one thing needful, and pretty much stopped -all correspondence with heaven.”[35] He goes on to tell his son: “My -worldly business has borne heavily and still does; but we progress some, -have our sheep sheared, and have done something at our haying. Have our -tanning business going on in about the same proportion—that is, we are -pretty fairly behind in business and feel that I must nearly or quite -give up one or the other of the branches for want of regular troops on -whom to depend.”[36] He again tells his son: “I would send you some -money, but I have not yet received a dollar from any source since you -left. I should not be so dry of funds, could I but overtake my -work;”[37] and then follows the teeth-gritting word of a man whose grip -is slipping: “But all is well; all is well.”[38] - -Gradually matters began to mend. His tannery, perhaps never wholly -abandoned, was started again and his wool interests increased. Early in -1844 “we seem to be overtaking our business in the tannery,” he says, -and “I have lately entered into a co-partnership with Simon Perkins, -Jr., of Akron, with a view of carrying on the sheep business -extensively. He is to furnish all the feed and shelter for wintering, as -a set-off against our taking all the care of the flock. All other -expenses we are to share equally, and to divide the property equally.” -John Brown and his family were to move to Akron and he says: “I think -that is the most comfortable and the most favorable arrangement of my -worldly concerns that I ever had and calculated to afford us more -leisure for improvement by day and by night than any other. I do hope -that God has enabled us to make it in mercy to us, and not that He -should send leanness into our souls. Our time will all be at our own -command, except the care of the flock. We have nothing to do with -providing for them in the winter, excepting harvesting rutabagas and -potatoes. This I think will be considered no mean alliance for our -family and I most earnestly hope they will have wisdom given to make the -most of it. It is certainly endorsing the poor bankrupt and his family, -three of whom were but recently in Akron jail in a manner quite -unexpected, and proves that notwithstanding we have been a company of -‘belted knights,’ our industrious and steady endeavors to maintain our -integrity and our character have not been wholly overlooked.”[39] - -Indeed, the offer seemed to John Brown a flood of light: a beloved -occupation with space and time to think, to study and to dream, to get -acquainted with himself and the world after the long struggle for bread -and butter and the deep disappointment of failure almost in sight of -success. By July, 1844, Brown was reporting 560 lambs raised and 2,700 -pounds of wool, for which he had been offered fifty-six cents a pound, -showing it to be of high grade. He began closing up his tanning -business. “The general aspect of our worldly affairs is favorable. Hope -we do not entirely forget God,”[40] he writes. - -His daughter says: “As a shepherd, he showed the same watchful care over -his sheep. I remember one spring a great many of his sheep had a disease -called ‘grub in the head,’ and when the lambs came, the ewes would not -own them. For two weeks he did not go to bed, but sat up or slept an -hour or two at a time in his chair, and then would take a lantern, go -out and catch the ewes, and hold them while the lambs sucked. He would -very often bring in a little dead-looking lamb, and put it in warm water -and rub it until it showed signs of life, and then wrap it in a warm -blanket, feed it warm milk with a teaspoon, and work over it with such -tenderness that in a few hours it would be capering around the room. One -Monday morning I had just got my white clothes in a nice warm suds in -the wash-tub, when he came in bringing a little dead-looking lamb. There -seemed to be no sign of life about it. Said he, ‘Take out your clothes -quick, and let me put this lamb in the water.’ I felt a little vexed to -be hindered with my washing, and told him I didn’t believe he could make -it live; but in an hour or two he had it running around the room, and -calling loudly for its mother. The next year he came from the barn and -said to me, ‘Ruth, that lamb I hindered you with when you were washing, -I have just sold for one hundred dollars.’ It was a pure-blooded Saxony -lamb.”[41] - -By 1845 wealth again seemed all but within the grasp of John Brown. The -country was entering fully upon one of the most remarkable of many -note-worthy periods of industrial expansion and the situation in the -wool business was particularly favorable. The flock of Saxony sheep -owned by Perkins and Brown was “said to be the finest and most perfect -flock in the United States and worth about $20,000.” The only apparent -danger to the prosperity of the western wool-growers was the increasing -power of the manufacturers and their desire for cheap wool. The tariff -on woolen goods was lower than formerly, but until war-time, remained at -about twenty to thirty per cent. _ad valorem_, which afforded sufficient -protection. The tariff on cheap wool decreased until, in 1857, all wool -costing less than twenty cents a pound came in free and in 1854 Canadian -wool of all grades was admitted without duty. This meant practically -free trade in wool. The manufacturers of hosiery and carpets increased -and the demand for domestic wool was continually growing. There were, -however, many difficulties in realizing just prices for domestic wool: -it was bought up by the manufacturer’s agents, dealing with isolated, -untrained farmers and offering the lowest prices; it was bought in bulk -ungraded and as wool differs enormously in quality and price, the lowest -grade often set the price for all. No sooner did John Brown grasp the -details of the wool business than he began to work out plans of -amelioration. And he conceived of this amelioration not as measured -simply in personal wealth. To him business was a philanthropy. We have -not even to-day reached this idea, but, urged on by the Socialists, we -are faintly perceiving it. Brown proposed nothing Quixotic or -unpractical, but he did propose a more equitable distribution of the -returns of the whole wool business between the producers of the raw -material and the manufacturers. He proceeded first to arouse and -organize the wool-growers. He traveled extensively among the farmers of -Pennsylvania and Ohio. “I am out among the wool-growers, with a view to -next summer’s operations,” he writes March 24, 1846; “our plan seems to -meet with general favor.” And then thinking of greater plans he adds: -“Our unexampled success in minor affairs might be a lesson to us of what -unity and perseverance might do in things of some importance.”[42] For -what indeed were sheep as compared with men, and money weighed with -liberty? - -The plan outlined by Brown before a convention of wool-growers involved -the placing of a permanent selling agent in the East, the grading and -warehousing of the wool, and a pooling of profits according to the -quality of the fleece. The final result was that in 1846 Perkins and -Brown sent out a circular, saying: “The undersigned, commission -wool-merchants, wool-graders, and exporters, have completed arrangements -for receiving wool of growers and holders, and for grading and selling -the same for cash at its real value, when quality and condition are -considered.”[43] - -John Brown was put in special charge of this business while his son ran -the sheep farm in Ohio. The idea underlying this movement was excellent -and it was soon started successfully. John Brown went to live in -Springfield with his family. In December, 1846, he writes: “We are -getting along with our business slowly, but prudently, I trust, and as -well as we could reasonably expect under all the circumstances; and so -far as we can discover, we are in favor with this people, and also with -the many we have had to do business with.”[44] - -In two weeks during 1847 he has “turned about four thousand dollars’ -worth of wool into cash since I returned; shall probably make it up to -seven thousand by the 16th.”[45] - -Yet great as was this initial prosperity, the business eventually failed -and was practically given up in 1851. Why? It was because of one of -those strange economic paradoxes which bring great moral questions into -the economic realm;—questions which we evaded yesterday and are trying -to evade to-day, but which we must answer to-morrow. Here was a man -doing what every one knew was for the best interests of a great -industry,—grading and improving the quality of its raw material and -systematizing its sale. His methods were absolutely honest, his -technical knowledge was unsurpassed and his organization efficient. Yet -a combination of manufacturers forced him out of business in a few -months. Why? The ordinary answer of current business ethics would be -that John Brown was unable to “corner” the wool market against the -manufacturers. But this he never tried to do. Such a policy of financial -free-booting never occurred to him, and he would have repelled it -indignantly if it had. He wished to force neither buyer nor seller. He -was offering worthy goods at a fair price and making a just return for -them. That this system was best for the whole trade every one knew, yet -it was weak. It was weak in the same sense that the merchants of the -Middle Ages were weak against the lawless onslaughts of robber barons. -Any compact organization of manufacturers could force John Brown to take -lower prices for his wool—that is, to allow the farmer a smaller -proportion of the profit of the business of clothing human beings. In -other words, well-organized industrial highwaymen could hold up the wool -farmer and make him hand over some of his earnings. But John Brown knew, -as did, indeed, the manufacturing gentlemen of the road that the farmers -were getting only moderate returns. It was the millmen who made -fortunes. Now it was possible to oppose the highwaymen’s demand by -counter organization like the Middle-Age Hanse. The difficulty here -would be to bring all the threatened parties into an organization. They -could be forced in by killing off or starving out the ignorant or -recalcitrant. This is the modern business method. Its result is arraying -two industrial armies in a battle whose victims are paupers and -prostitutes, and whose victory comes by compromising, whereby a -half-dozen millionaires are born to the philanthropic world. - -On the other hand, to offer no opposition to organized economic -aggression is to depend on the simple justice of your cause in an -industrial world that recognizes no justice. It means industrial death -and that was what it meant to John Brown. The Tariff of 1846 had cut the -manufacturers’ profits. The growing woolen trade would more than recoup -them in a few years, but they “were not in business for their health”; -that is, they recognized no higher moral law than money-making and -therefore determined to keep present profits where they were, and add -possible future profits to them. They continued their past efforts to -force down the price of wool and got practical free trade in wool by -1854. Meantime local New England manufacturers began to boycott John -Brown. They expected him to see his danger and lower his prices on the -really fine grades he carried. He was obdurate. His prices were right -and he thought justice counted in the wool business. The manufacturers -objected. He was not playing according to the rules of the game. He was, -as a fellow merchant complained, “no _trader_: he waited until his wools -were graded and then fixed a price; if this suited the manufacturers -they took the fleeces; if not, they bought elsewhere.... Yet he was a -scrupulously honest and upright man—hard and inflexible, but everybody -had just what belonged to him. Brown was in a position to make a fortune -and a regular bred merchant would have done so.”[46] - -Thereupon the combination turned the screws a little closer. Brown’s -clerks were bribed, and other “competitive” methods resorted to. But -Brown was inflexible and serene. The prospect of great wealth did not -tempt but rather repelled him. Indeed this whole warehouse business, -successful and important as it had hitherto been, was drawing him away -from his plans of larger usefulness. It took his time and thought, and -his surroundings more and more made it mere money-getting. The -manufacturers were after dollars, of course; his clients were waiting -simply for returns, and his partner was ever anxiously scanning the -balance-sheet. This whole aspect of things more and more disquieted -Brown. He therefore writes soberly in December, 1847: - -“Our business seems to be going on middling well and will not probably -be any the worse for the pinch in the money concerns. I trust that -getting or losing money does not entirely engross our attention; but I -am sensible that it quite occupies too large a share in it. To get a -little property together to leave, as the world would have done, is -really a low mark to be firing at through life. - - “‘A nobler toil may I sustain, - A nobler satisfaction gain.’”[47] - -The next year, however, came a severe money pressure, “one of the -severest known for many years. The consequence to us has been, that some -of those who have contracted for wool of us are as yet unable to pay for -and take the wool as they agreed, and we are on that account unable to -close our business.”[48] This brought a fall in the price and complaint -on all sides: on the part of the wool-growers, because their profits -were not continuing to rise; and from manufacturers who demurred more -and more clamorously at the prices demanded by Brown. - -He writes early in 1849: “We have been selling wool middling fast of -late, on contract, at 1847 prices;” but he adds, scenting the coming -storm: “We have in this part of the country the strongest proofs that -the great majority have made gold their hope, their only hope.”[49] - -Evidently a crisis was approaching. The boycott against the firm was -more evident and the impatience of wool farmers growing. The latter kept -calling for advances on their stored wool. If they had been willing to -wait quietly, there was still a chance, for Perkins and Brown had -undoubtedly the best in the American market and as good as the better -English grades. But the growers were restive and in some cases poor. The -result was shown in the balance-sheet of 1849. Brown had bought 130,000 -pounds of wool and paid for it, including freight and commissions, -$57,884.48. His sales had amounted to $49,902.67, leaving him $7,981.81 -short, and 200,000 pounds of wool in the warehouse.[50] Perkins -afterward thought Brown was stubborn. It would have been easily possible -for them to have betrayed the growers and accepted a lower price. Their -commissions would have been larger, the manufacturers were friendly, and -the sheepmen too scattered and poor to protest. Indeed, low prices and -cash pleased them better than waiting. But John Brown conceived that a -principle was at stake. He knew that his wool was worth even more than -he asked. He knew that English wool of the same grade sold at good -prices. Why not, then, he argued, take the wool to England and sell it, -thus opening up a new market for a great American product? Then, too, he -had other and, to him, better reasons for wishing to see Europe. He -decided quickly and in August, 1849, he took his 200,000 pounds of wool -to England. He had graded every bit himself, and packed it in new sacks: -“The bales were firm, round, hard and true, almost as if they had been -turned out in a lathe.”[51] - -In this English venture John Brown showed one weakness of his character: -he did not know or recognize the subtler twistings of human nature. He -judged it ever from his own simple, clear standpoint and so had a sort -of prophetic vision of the vaster and the eternal aspects of the human -soul. But of its kinks and prejudices, its little selfishnesses and -jealousies and dishonesties, he knew nothing. They always came to him as -a sort of surprise, uncalculated for and but partially comprehended. He -could fight the devil and his angels, and he did, but he could not cope -with the million misbirths that hover between heaven and hell. - -Thus to his surprise he found his calculations all at fault in England. -His wool was good, his knowledge of the technique of sorting and grading -unsurpassed and yet because Englishmen believed it was not possible to -raise good wool in America, they obstinately refused to take the -evidence of their own senses. They “seemed highly pleased”; they said -that they “had never seen superior wools” and that they “would see me -again” but they did not offer decent prices. Then, too, American woolen -men had long arms and they were tipped with gold. They fingered busily -across the seas about this prying Yankee, and English wool-growers -responded very willingly, so that John Brown acknowledged mournfully -late in September, “I have a great deal of stupid obstinate prejudice to -contend with, as well as conflicting interests both in this country and -from the United States.”[52] In the end the wool was sacrificed at -prices fifty per cent. below its American value and some of it actually -resold in America. The American woolen men chuckled audibly: - -“A little incident occurred in 1850. Perkins and Brown’s clip had come -forward, and it was beautiful; the little compact Saxony fleeces were as -nice as possible. Mr. Musgrave of the Northampton Woolen Mill, who was -making shawls and broadcloths, wanted it, and offered Uncle John [Brown] -sixty cents a pound for it. ‘No, I am going to send it to London.’ -Musgrave, who was a Yorkshire man, advised Brown not to do it, for -American wool would not sell in London,—not being thought good. He tried -hard to buy it, but without avail.... Some little time after, long -enough for the purpose, news came that it was sold in London, but the -price was not stated. Musgrave came into my counting-room one forenoon -all aglow, and said he wanted me to go with him,—he was going to have -some fun. Then he went to the stairs and called Uncle John, and told him -he wanted him to go over to the Hartford depot and see a lot of wool he -had bought. So Uncle John put on his coat, and we started. When we -arrived at the depot, and just as we were going into the freight-house, -Musgrave says: ‘Mr. Brune, I want you to tell me what you think of this -lot of wull that stands me in just fifty-two cents a pund.’ One glance -at the bags was enough. Uncle John wheeled, and I can see him now as he -‘put back’ to the lofts, his brown coat-tails floating behind him, and -the nervous strides fairly devouring the way. It was his own clip, for -which Musgrave, some three months before, had offered him sixty cents a -pound as it lay in the loft. It had been graded, new bagged, shipped by -steamer to London, sold, and reshipped, and was in Springfield at eight -cents in the pound less than Musgrave offered.”[53] - -It was a great joke and it made American woolen men smile. - -This English venture was a death-blow to the Perkins and Brown wool -business. It was not entirely wound up until four years later, but in -1849 Brown removed his family from Springfield up to the silent forests -of the farthest Adirondacks, where the great vision of his life unfolded -itself. It was, however, not easy for him to extricate himself from the -web wound about him. Two currents set for his complete undoing: the -wool-growers whom he had over-advanced and who did not deliver the -promised wool; and certain manufacturers to whom the firm had contracted -to deliver this wool which they could not get. Claims and damages to the -amount of $40,000 appeared and some of these got into court; while, on -the other hand, the scattered and defaulting wool-growers were scarcely -worth suing by the firm. Long drawn-out legal battles ensued, intensely -distasteful to Brown’s straightforward nature and seemingly endless. -Collections and sales continued hard and slow and Perkins began to get -restless. John Brown sighed for the older and simpler life of his young -manhood with its love and dreams: “I can look back to our log cabin at -the centre of Richfield with a supper of porridge and johnny cake as a -place of far more interest to me than the Massasoit of Springfield.”[54] -He says to his children on the Ohio sheep farm: “I am much pleased with -the reflection that you are all three once more together, and all -engaged in the same calling that the old patriarchs followed. I will say -but one word more on that score, and that is taken from their history: -‘See that ye fall not out by the way; and all will be exactly right in -the end.’ I should think matters were brightening a little in this -direction in regard to our claims, but I have not yet been able to get -any of them to a final issue. I think, too, that the prospect for the -fine wool business rather improves. What burdens me most of all is the -apprehension that Mr. Perkins expects of me in the way of bringing -matters to a close, what no living man can possibly bring about in a -short time and that he is getting out of patience and becoming -distrustful.”[55] - -Meantime Brown was racing from court to court in Boston, New York, Troy -and elsewhere, seeking to settle up the business and know where he stood -financially, and, above all, to keep peace with and do justice to his -partner. Cases were now settled and now appealed and the progress was -“miserably slow. My journeys back and forth this winter have been very -tedious.” Then, too, his mind was elsewhere. The nation was in turmoil -and so was he. At the time Anthony Burns was arrested in Boston he was -advising with his lawyers at Troy. Redpath says: - -“The morning after the news of the Burns affair reached here, Brown went -at his work immediately after breakfast; but in a few minutes started up -from his chair, walked rapidly across the room several times, then -suddenly turned to his counsel, and said, ‘I am going to Boston.’ ‘Going -to Boston!’ said the astonished lawyer. ‘Why do you want to go to -Boston?’ Old Brown continued walking vigorously, and replied, ‘Anthony -Burns must be released, or I will die in the attempt.’ The counsel -dropped his pen in consternation. Then he began to remonstrate; told him -the suit had been in progress a long time, and a verdict just gained. It -was appealed from, and that appeal must be answered in so many days, or -the whole labor would be lost; and no one was sufficiently familiar with -the whole case except himself. It took a long earnest talk with old -Brown to persuade him to remain. His memory and acuteness in that long -and tedious lawsuit—not yet ended, I am told—often astonished his -counsel. While here he wore an entire suit of snuff-colored cloth, the -coat of a decidedly Quakerish cut in collar and skirt. He wore no beard, -and was a clean-shaven, scrupulously neat, well-dressed, quiet old -gentleman. He was, however, notably resolute in all that he did.”[56] - -He spent the time not taken up by his lawsuits at Akron, and in the -manner of a patriarch of old, temporarily brought his family back to -Ohio. “I wrote you last week that the family is on the road: the boys -are driving on the cattle, and my wife and little girls are at Oneida -depot waiting for me to go on with them.”[57] He returned to farming -again with interest, taking prizes for his stock at state fairs and -raising many sheep. He had 550 lambs in 1853 and Perkins is urging him -to continue with him, but things changed and on January 25, 1854, he -writes: “This world is not yet freed from real malice and envy. It -appears to be well settled now that we go back to North Elba in the -spring. I have had a good-natured talk with Mr. Perkins about going away -and both families are now preparing to carry out that plan.”[58] His -departure was delayed a year, but he was finally able to remove with a -little surplus on hand. - -Back then to the crests and forests of the Alleghanies came John Brown -at the age of fifty-four. “A tall, gaunt, dark-complexioned man ... a -grave, serious man ... with a marked countenance and a natural dignity -of manner,—that dignity which is unconscious, and comes from a superior -habit of mind.”[59] - - - - - CHAPTER V - THE VISION OF THE DAMNED - - “Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.” - - -There was hell in Hayti in the red waning of the eighteenth century, in -the days when John Brown was born. The dark wave of the French -Revolution had raised the brilliant sinister Napoleon to its crest. -Already he had stretched greedy arms toward American empire in the rich -vale of the Mississippi, when in a flash, out of the dirt and sloth and -slavery of the West Indies, the black inert and heavy cloud of African -degradation writhed to sudden life and lifted up the dark figure of -Toussaint. Ten thousand Frenchmen gasped and died in the fever-haunted -hills, while the black men in sudden frenzy fought like devils for their -freedom and won it. Napoleon saw his gateway to the Mississippi closed; -armed Europe was at his back. What was this wild and empty America to -him, anyway? So he sold Louisiana for a song and turned to the shame of -Trafalgar and the glory of Austerlitz. - -John Brown was born just as the shudder of Hayti was running through all -the Americas, and from his earliest boyhood he saw and felt the price of -repression—the fearful cost that the western world was paying for -slavery. From his earliest boyhood he had dimly conceived, and the -conception grew with his growing, that the cost of liberty was less than -the price of repression. Perhaps he was so near the humanistic -enthusiasm of the French Revolution that he undervalued the cost of -liberty. But yet he was right, for it was scarce possible to overrate -the price of repression. True, in these latter days men and women of the -South, and honest ones, too, have striven feverishly to paint Negro -slavery in bright alluring colors. They have told of childlike devotion, -faithful service and light-hearted irresponsibility, in the fine old -aristocracy of the plantation. Much they have said is true. But when all -is said and granted, the awful fact remains congealed in law and -indisputable record that American slavery was the foulest and filthiest -blot on nineteenth century civilization. As a school of brutality and -human suffering, of female prostitution and male debauchery; as a -mockery of marriage and defilement of family life; as a darkening of -reason, and spiritual death, it had no parallel in its day. It took -millions upon millions of men—human men and lovable, light and -liberty-loving children of the sun, and threw them with no sparing of -brutality into one rigid mold: humble, servile, dog-like devotion, -surrender of body, mind and soul, and unaspiring animal content—toward -this ideal the slave might strive, and did. Wonderful, even beautiful -examples of humble service he brought forth and made the eternal -heritage of men. But beyond this there was nothing. All were crushed to -this mold and of them that did not fit, the sullen were cowed, the -careless brutalized and the rebellious killed. Four things make life -worthy to most men: to move, to know, to love, to aspire. None of these -was for Negro slaves. A white child could halt a black man on the -highway and send him slinking to his kennel. No black slave could -legally learn to read. And love? If a black slave loved a lass, there -was not a white man from the Potomac to the Rio Grande that could not -prostitute her to his lust. Did the proud sons of Virginia and Carolina -stoop to such bestial tyranny? Ask the grandmothers of the two million -mulattoes that dot the states to-day. Ask the suffering and humiliated -wives of the master caste. If a Negro married a wife, there was not a -master in the land that could not take her from him. - -John Brown’s father, Owen Brown, saw such a power stretched all the way -from Virginia to Connecticut. A Southern slaveholding minister, Thomson -by name, had brought his slaves North and preached in the local church. -Then he attempted to take the unwilling chattels back South. Of what -followed, Owen Brown says: “There was some excitement amongst the -people, some in favor and some against Mr. Thomson; there was quite a -debate, and large numbers to hear. Mr. Thomson said he should carry the -woman and children, whether he could get the man or not. An old man -asked him if he would part man and wife, contrary to their minds. He -said: ‘I married them myself, and did not enjoin obedience on the -woman.’” Owen Brown added, “Ever since I have been an Abolitionist.”[60] - -If a slave begat children, there was not a law south of the Ohio that -could stop their eventual sale to any brute with the money. Aspiration -in a slave was suspicious, dangerous, fatal. For him there was no -inviting future, no high incentive, no decent reward. The highest -ambition to which a black woman could aspire was momentarily to supplant -the white man’s wife as a concubine; and the ambition of black men ended -with the carelessly tossed largess of a kinglet. To reduce the slave to -this groveling, what was the price which the master paid? Tyranny, -brutality, and lawlessness reigned and to some extent still reign in the -South. The sweeter, kindlier feelings were blunted: brothers sold -sisters to serfdom and fathers debauched even their own dark daughters. -The arrogant, strutting bully, who shot his enemy and thrashed his dogs -and his darkies, became a living, moving ideal from the cotton-patch to -the United States Senate from 1808 onward. No worthy art nor literature, -nor even the commerce of daily life could thrive in this atmosphere. - -Society there was of a certain type—courtly and lavish, but quarrelsome; -seductive and lazy; with a half Oriental sheen and languor spread above -peculiar poverty of resource; a fineness and delicacy in certain -details, coupled with coarseness and self-indulgence in others; a -mingling of the sexes only in play and seldom in work, with its -concomitant tendency toward seclusion and helplessness among its whiter -women. Withal a society strong indeed, but wholly without vigor or -invention. - -It was not all as dark as it might have been. Human life, thank God, is -never as bad as it may be, but it is too often desperately bad. Nor do -men easily realize how bad life about them is. The full have scant -sympathy with the empty,—the rich know all the faults of the poor, and -the master sees the horrors of slavery with unseeing eyes. True, there -were flashes of light and longing here and there—noble sacrifice, eager -help, determined emancipation. But all this was local, spasmodic and -exceptional. The unrelenting dead brutality of human bondage to a -thousand tyrants, petty wills and caprice was the rule from Florida to -Missouri and from the Mississippi to the sea. Under it the wretched -writhed like some great black and stricken beast. The flaming fury of -their mad attempts at vengeance echoes all down the blood-swept path of -slavery. In Jamaica they upturned the government and harried the land -until England crept and sued for peace. In the Danish Isles they started -a whirlwind of slaughter; in Hayti they drove their masters into the -sea; and in South Carolina they rose twice like a threatening wave -against the terror-stricken whites, but were betrayed. Such outbreaks -here and there foretold the possibility of coördinate action and organic -development. To be sure, the successful outbreaks were few and -spasmodic; but the flare of Hayti lighted the night and made the world -remember that these, too, were men. - -Among these black men, changes significant and momentous, were coming. -The native born Africans were passing away, with their native tongues -and their wild customs. Such were the slaves of John Brown’s father’s -time. “When I was a child four or five years old,” writes Owen Brown, -“one of the nearest neighbors had a slave that was brought from Guinea. -In the year 1776 my father was called into the army at New York, and -left his work undone. In August, our good neighbor, Captain John Fast, -of West Simsbury, let my mother have the labor of his slave to plough a -few days. I used to go out into the field with this slave,—called -Sam,—and he used to carry me on his back, and I fell in love with him. -He worked but a few days, and went home sick with the pleurisy, and died -very suddenly. When told that he would die, he said he should go to -Guinea, and wanted victuals put up for the journey. As I recollect, this -was the first funeral I ever attended in the days of my youth.” - -Such slaves and others went into the Revolutionary army and three -thousand of them fought for their masters’ freedom. After the war, their -bravery, the upheaval in Hayti, and the new enthusiasm for human rights, -led to a wave of emancipation which started in Vermont during the -Revolution and swept through New England and Pennsylvania, ending -finally in New York and New Jersey early in the nineteenth century. This -freeing of the Northern slaves led to new complications, for in the -South, after a hesitating pause, the opposite course was pursued and the -thumbscrews were applied; the plantations were isolated, the roads were -guarded, the refractory were whipped till they screamed and crawled, and -the ringleaders were lynched. A long awful process of selection chose -out the listless, ignorant, sly, and humble and sent to heaven the -proud, the vengeful and the daring. The old African warrior spirit died -away of violence and a broken heart. - -Thus the great black mass of Southern slaves were cowed, but they were -not conquered. Stretched as they were over wide miles of land, and -isolated; guarded in speech and religion; peaceful and light-hearted as -was their nature, still the fire of liberty burned in them. In Louisiana -and Tennessee and twice in Virginia they raised the night cry of revolt, -and once slew fifty Virginians, holding the state for weeks at bay there -in those same Alleghanies which John Brown loved and listened to. On the -ships of the sea they rebelled and murdered; to Florida they fled and -turned like beasts on their pursuers till whole armies dislodged them -and did them to death in the everglades; and again and again over them -and through them surged and quivered a vast unrest which only the -eternal vigilance of the masters kept down. Yet the fear of that great -bound beast was ever there—a nameless, haunting dread that never left -the South and never ceased, but ever nerved the remorseless cruelty of -the master’s arm. - -One thing saved the South from the blood-sacrifice of Hayti—not, to be -sure, from so successful a revolt, for the disproportion of races was -less, but from a desperate and bloody effort—and that was the escape of -the fugitive. - -Along the Great Black Way stretched swamps and rivers, and the forests -and crests of the Alleghanies. A widening, hurrying stream of fugitives -swept to the havens of refuge, taking the restless, the criminal and the -unconquered—the natural leaders of the more timid mass. These men saved -slavery and killed it. They saved it by leaving it to a false seductive -dream of peace and the eternal subjugation of the laboring class. They -destroyed it by presenting themselves before the eyes of the North and -the world as living specimens of the real meaning of slavery. What was -the system that could enslave a Frederick Douglass? They saved it too by -joining the free Negroes of the North, and with them organizing -themselves into a great black phalanx that worked and schemed and paid -and finally fought for the freedom of black men in America. - -Thus it was that John Brown, even as a child, saw the puzzling anomalies -and contradictions in human right and liberty all about him. Ever and -again he saw this in the North, leading to concerted action among the -free Negroes, especially in cities where they were brought in contact -with one another, and had some chance of asserting their nominal -freedom. Just at the close of the eighteenth century, first in -Philadelphia and then in New York, small groups of them withdrew from -the white churches to escape disgraceful discrimination and established -churches of their own, which still live with millions of adherents. In -the year of John Brown’s birth, 1800, Gabriel planned his formidable -uprising in Virginia, and the year after his marriage, 1821, Denmark -Vesey of South Carolina went grimly to the scaffold, after one of the -shrewdest Negro plots that ever frightened the South into hysterics. Of -all this John Brown, the boy and young man, knew little. In after years -he learned of Gabriel and Vesey and Turner, and told of their exploits -and studied their plans; but at the time he was far off from the world, -carrying on his tannery and marrying a wife. Perhaps as a lad he heard -some of the oratory that celebrated the act of 1808, stopping the slave -trade, as the beginning of the end of slavery. Perhaps not, for the act -did little good until it was reënforced in 1820. All the time, however, -John Brown’s keen eyes were searching for the way of life and his tender -heart was sensitive to injustice and wrong everywhere. Indeed, it is not -unlikely that the first black folk to gain his aid and sympathies and -direct his thoughts to what afterward became his life-work, were the -fugitive slaves from the South. - -Three paths were opened to the slaves: to submit, to fight or to run -away. Most of them submitted as do most people everywhere to force and -fate. To fight singly meant death and to fight together meant plot and -insurrection—a difficult thing but one often tried. Easiest of all was -to run away, for the land was wide and bare and the slaves were many. At -first, they ran to the swamps and mountains, and starved and died. Then -they ran to the Indians and in Florida founded a nation to overthrow -which cost the United States $20,000,000 and more in slave raids known -as Seminole “wars.” Then gradually, after the War of 1812 had used so -many black sailors to fight for free trade that the Negroes learned of -the North and Canada as cities of refuge, they fled northward. While -John Brown was a tanner at Hudson, he began helping these dark panting -refugees who flitted by in the night. His eldest son says: - -“When I was four or five years old, and probably no later than 1825, -there came one night a fugitive slave and his wife to father’s -door—sent, perhaps, by some townsman who knew John Brown’s compassion -for such wayfarers, then but few. They were the first colored people I -had seen; and when the woman took me upon her knee and kissed me, I ran -away as quick as I could, and rubbed my face ‘to get the black off’; for -I thought she would ‘crock’ me, like mother’s kettle. Mother gave the -poor creatures some supper; but they thought themselves pursued and were -uneasy. Presently father heard the trampling of horses crossing a bridge -on one of the main roads, half a mile off; so he took his guests out the -back door and down into the swamp near the brook to hide, giving them -arms to defend themselves, but returning to the house to await the -event. It proved a false alarm; the horsemen were people of the -neighborhood going to Hudson village. Father then went out into the dark -wood,—for it was night,—and had some difficulty in finding his -fugitives; finally he was guided to the spot by the sound of the man’s -heart throbbing for fear of capture. He brought them into the house -again, sheltered them a while, and sent them on their way.”[61] - -The atmosphere in these days was becoming more and more charged with the -slavery problem. That same Louisiana which Toussaint had given America, -was gradually filling with settlers until the question of admitting -parts of it as states faced the nation, and led to the Missouri -Compromise. The discussion of the measure was fierce in John Brown’s -neighborhood, and it must have strengthened his dislike of slavery and -turned his earnest mind more and more toward the Negroes. - -In the very year that death first entered his family and took a boy of -four, and just before the sombre days when his earnest young wife died -demented in childbirth and was buried with her babe, occurred the Nat -Turner insurrection in Virginia, the most successful and bloody of slave -uprisings since Hayti. - -Squire Hudson, the father of the town where John Brown lived and one of -the founders of Western Reserve University, heard the news in stern joy; -a neighbor met him “one day in September, 1831, coming from his -post-office, and reading a newspaper he had just received, which seemed -to excite him very much as he read. As Mr. Wright came within hearing, -the old Calvinist was exclaiming, ‘Thank God for that! I am glad of it! -Thank God they have risen at last!’ Inquiring what the news was, Squire -Hudson replied, ‘Why, the slaves have risen down in Virginia, and are -fighting for their freedom as we did for ours. I pray God that they may -get it.’”[62] - -They did not get freedom but death. And yet there on the edge of Dismal -Swamp they slaughtered fifty whites, held the land in terror for more -than a month, and set going a tremendous wave of reaction. In the South, -Negro churches and free Negro schools were sternly restricted, just at -the time Great Britain was freeing her West Indian slaves. In the North, -came two movements: a determined anti-slavery campaign, and an opposing -movement which disfranchised Negroes, burned their churches and schools, -and robbed them of their friends. The Negroes rushed together for -counsel and defense, and held their first national meeting in -Philadelphia, where they deliberated earnestly on migration to Canada -and on schools. But schools for Negroes were especially feared North as -well as South, and in John Brown’s native state of Connecticut a white -woman was shamefully persecuted for attempting to teach Negroes. All -this aroused John Brown’s antipathy to slavery and made it more definite -and purposeful. In November of the year which witnessed the burning of -Prudence Crandall’s school, and a year after his second marriage, he -wrote to his brother: - -“Since you have left me, I have been trying to devise some means whereby -I might do something in a practical way for my poor fellow men who are -in bondage; and having fully consulted the feelings of my wife and my -three boys, we have agreed to get at least one Negro boy or youth, and -bring him up as we do our own,—viz., give him a good English education, -learn him what we can about the history of the world, about business, -about general subjects, and, above all, try to teach him the fear of -God. We think of three ways to obtain one: First, to try to get some -Christian slaveholder to release one to us. Second, to get a free one, -if no one will let us have one that is a slave. Third, if that does not -succeed, we have all agreed to submit to considerable privation in order -to buy one. This we are now using means in order to effect, in the -confident expectation that God is about to bring them all out of the -house of bondage. - -“I will just mention that when this subject was first introduced, Jason -had gone to bed; but no sooner did he hear the thing hinted, than his -warm heart kindled, and he turned out to have a part in the discussion -of a subject of such exceeding interest. I have for years been trying to -devise some way to get a school a-going here for blacks, and I think -that on many accounts it would be a most favorable location. Children -here would have no intercourse with vicious people of their own kind, -nor with openly vicious persons of any kind. There would be no powerful -opposition influence against such a thing; and should there be any, I -believe the settlement might be so effected in future as to have almost -the whole influence of the place in favor of such a school. Write me how -you would like to join me, and try to get on from Hudson and thereabouts -some first-rate Abolitionist families with you. I do honestly believe -that our united exertions alone might soon, with the good hand of our -God upon us, effect it all.”[63] - -Nothing came of this project, except that John Brown grew more deeply -interested. He was now worth $20,000, a man of influence and he felt -more and more moved toward definite action to help the Negroes. They -were keeping up their conventions and the stream of fugitives was -augmenting. The problem, however, was not simply one of slavery. The -plight of the free Negro was particularly pitiable. He was liable to be -seized and sold South whether an actual slave or not; he was -discriminated against and despised in all walks. This was bad enough in -every-day life, but to a straightforward religious soul like John Brown -it was simply intolerable in the church of God. His eldest daughter -says: - -“One evening after he had been singing to me, he asked me how I would -like to have some poor little black children that were slaves -(explaining to me the meaning of slaves) come and live with us; and -asked me if I would be willing to divide my food and clothes with them. -He made such an impression on my sympathies, that the first colored -person that I ever saw (it was a man I met on the street in Meadville, -Pa.) I felt such pity for, that I wanted to ask him if he did not want -to come and live at our house. When I was six or seven years old, a -little incident took place in the church at Franklin, O. (of which all -the older part of our family were members), which caused quite an -excitement.”[64] - -His son tells the details of this incident: - -“About 1837, mother, Jason, Owen and I, joined the Congregational Church -at Franklin, the Rev. Mr. Burritt, pastor. Shortly after, the other -societies, including Methodists and Episcopalians, joined ours in an -undertaking to hold a protracted meeting under the special management of -an evangelist preacher from Cleveland, named Avery. The house of the -Congregationalists being the largest, it was chosen as the place for -this meeting. Invitations were sent out to church folks in adjoining -towns to ‘come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty;’ and soon -the house was crowded, the assembly occupying by invitation the pews of -the church generally. Preacher Avery gave us in succession four sermons -from one text,—‘Cast ye up, cast ye up! Prepare ye the way of the Lord; -make His paths straight!’ Soon lukewarm Christians were heated up to a -melting condition, and there was a bright prospect of a good shower of -grace. There were at that time in Franklin a number of free colored -persons and some fugitive slaves. These became interested and came to -the meetings, but were given seats by themselves, where the stove had -stood, near the door,—not a good place for seeing ministers or singers. -Father noticed this, and when the next meeting (which was at evening) -had fairly opened, he arose and called attention to the fact that, in -seating the colored portion of the audience, a discrimination had been -made, and said that he did not believe God ‘is a respecter of persons.’ -He then invited the colored people to occupy his slip. The blacks -accepted, and all of our family took their vacated seats. This was a -bombshell, and the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Pastor Burritt and -Deacon Beach at once gave up His place to another tenant. The next day -father received a call from the deacons to admonish him and ‘labor’ with -him; but they returned with new views of Christian duty. The blacks -during the remainder of that protracted meeting continued to occupy our -slip, and our family the seats around the stove. We soon after moved to -Hudson, and though living three miles away, became regular attendants at -the Congregational Church in the centre of the town. In about a year we -received a letter from good Deacon Williams, informing us that our -relations with the church in Franklin were ended in accordance with a -rule made by the church since we left, that ‘any member being absent a -year without reporting him or herself to that church should be cut off.’ -This was the first intimation we had of the existence of the rule. -Father, on reading the letter, became white with anger. This was my -first taste of the pro-slavery diabolism that had intrenched itself in -the church, and I shed a few uncalled for tears over the matter, for -instead I should have rejoiced in my emancipation. From that day my -theological shackles were a good deal broken, and I have not worn them -since (to speak of),—not even for ornament.”[65] - -The years of 1837 and 1838 were the years of persecution for the -Abolition cause. Lovejoy was murdered in Illinois and mobs raged in -Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, was -burned, and Marlborough Chapel in Boston, where John Brown himself seems -to have been present fighting back the people, was sacked. Indeed, as he -afterward said, he had seen some of the “principal Abolition mobs.” - -Whatever John Brown may have wished to do at this time was frustrated by -the panic, which swept away his fortune, and left him bankrupt. Yet -something he must do—he must at least promise God that he and his family -would eternally oppose slavery. How, he did not know—he was not sure—but -somehow he was determined, and his old idea of educating youth was still -uppermost. - -It was in 1839, when a Negro preacher named Fayette was visiting Brown, -and bringing his story of persecution and injustice, that this great -promise was made. Solemnly John Brown arose; he was then a man of nearly -forty years, tall, dark and clean-shaven; by him sat his young wife of -twenty-two and his oldest boys of eighteen, sixteen and fifteen. Six -other children slept in the room back of the dark preacher. John Brown -told them of his purpose to make active war on slavery, and bound his -family in solemn and secret compact to labor for emancipation. And then, -instead of standing to pray, as was his wont, he fell upon his knees and -implored God’s blessing on his enterprise. - -This marks a turning-point in John Brown’s life: in his boyhood he had -disliked slavery and his antipathy toward it grew with his years; yet of -necessity it occupied but little of a life busy with breadwinning. -Gradually, however, he saw the gathering of the mighty struggle about -him; the news of the skirmish battles of the greatest moral war of the -century aroused and quickened him, and all the more when they struck the -tender chords of his acquaintanceships and sympathies. He saw his -friends hurt and imposed on until at last, gradually, then suddenly, it -dawned upon him that he must fight this monster slavery. He did not now -plan physical warfare—he was yet a non-resistant, hating war, and did -not dream of Harper’s Ferry; but he set his face toward the goal and -whithersoever the Lord led, he was ready to follow. He still, too, had -his living to earn—his family to care for. Slavery was not yet the sole -object of his life, but as he passed on in his daily duties he was -determined to seize every opportunity to strike it a blow. - -This, at least it seems to me, is a fair interpretation of John Brown’s -thought and action from the evidence at hand. Some have believed that -John Brown planned Harper’s Ferry or something similar in 1839; others -have doubted whether he had any plans against slavery before 1850. The -truth probably lies between these extreme views. Human purposes grow -slowly and in curious ways; thought by thought they build themselves -until in their full panoplied vigor and definite outline not even the -thinker can tell the exact process of the growing, or say that here was -the beginning or there the ending. Nor does this slow growth and -gathering make the end less wonderful or the motive less praiseworthy. -Few Americans recognized in 1839 that the great central problem of -America was slavery; and of that few, fewer still were willing to fight -it as they knew it should be fought. Of this lesser number, two men -stood almost alone, ready to back their faith by action—William Lloyd -Garrison and John Brown. - -These men did not then know each other—they had in these early days -scarcely heard each other’s names. They never came to be friends or -sympathizers. When John Brown was in Boston he never went to _The -Liberator_ office, and in after years, now and then, he dropped words -very like contempt for “non-resistants”; while Garrison flayed the -leader of the Harper’s Ferry raid. They were alike only in their intense -hatred of slavery, and spiritually they crossed each other’s paths in -curious fashion, Garrison drifting from a willingness to fight slavery -in all ways or in any way to a fateful attitude of non-resistance and -withdrawal from the contamination of slaveholders; John Brown drifting -from non-resistance to the red path of active warfare. - -Nowhere did the imminence of a great struggle show itself more clearly -than among the Negroes themselves. Organized insurrection ceased in the -South, not because of the increased rigors of the slave system, but -because the great safety-valve of escape northward was opened wider and -wider, and the methods were gradually coördinated into that mysterious -system known as the Underground Railroad. The slaves and freedmen -started the work and to the end bore the brunt of danger and hardship; -but gradually they more and more secured the coöperation of men like -John Brown, and of others less radical but just as sympathetic. Here and -there the free Negroes in the North began to gain economic footing as -servants in cities, as farmers in Ohio and even as _entrepreneurs_ in -the great catering business of Philadelphia and New York. - -The schools were still for the most part closed to them. They made -strenuous efforts to counteract this and established dozens of schools -of their own all over the land. At last in 1839 Oberlin was founded and -certain earnest students of Cincinnati, disgusted with the color line at -Lane College, seceded to Oberlin and brought the color question there. -It was fairly met and Negroes were admitted. - -It was the establishment of Oberlin College in 1839 and the appointment -of his father as trustee that gave John Brown a new vision of life and -usefulness—of a life which would at once combine the pursuit of a great -moral ideal and the honest earning of a good living for a family. Brown -proposed to survey the Virginia lands of Oberlin, as we have shown, -locate a large farm for himself and settle there with his family. Here -he undoubtedly expected to carry out the plan previously laid before his -brother Frederick. He consulted the Oberlin authorities concerning -“provision for religious and school privileges” and they thought it -possible to have these, although nothing was said specifically of -Negroes. The position was strategic and John Brown knew it: in the -non-slaveholding portion of a slave state, near the river and not far -from the foothills of mountains, beyond which lay the Great Black Way, -was formed a highway for the Underground Railroad and a place for -experiment in the uplift of black men. That he would meet opposition, -and strong opposition, John Brown must have known, but probably at this -time he counted on the prevalence of law and justice and the stern -principles of his religion rather than on the sword of Gideon, which was -his later reliance. But it was not the “will of Providence” as we have -seen, that Brown should then settle in Virginia, since his increasing -financial straits and final bankruptcy overthrew all plans of purchasing -the one thousand acres for which he had already bargained. - -The slough of despond through which John Brown passed in the succeeding -years, from 1842 to 1846, was never fully betrayed by this stern, -self-repressing Puritan. Yet the loss of a fortune and the shattering of -a dream, the bankruptcy and imprisonment, and the death of five -children, while around him whirled the struggle of the churches with -slavery and Abolition mobs, all dropped a sombre brooding veil of stern -inexorable fate over his spirit—a veil which never lifted. The dark -mysterious tragedy of life gripped him with awful intensity—the iron -entered his soul. He became sterner and more silent. He brooded and -listened for the voice of the avenging God, and girded up his loins in -readiness. - -“My husband always believed,” said his wife in after years, “that he was -to be an instrument in the hands of Providence, and I believed it -too.... Many a night he had lain awake and prayed concerning it.”[66] - -It began to dawn upon him that he had sinned in the selfish pursuit of -petty ends: that he must be about his Father’s business of giving the -death-blow to that “sum of all villanies—slavery.” He had erred in -making his great work a side object—a secondary thing; it must be his -first and only duty, and let God attend to the nurture of his family. As -his conception of his own relation to slavery thus broadened and -deepened, so too did his plan of attacking the system become clearer and -more definite and he spent hours discussing the matter. In Springfield, -“he used to talk much on the subject, and had the reputation of being -quite ultra. His bookkeeper tells me that he and his eldest son used to -discuss slavery by the hour in his counting-room, and he used to say -that it was right for slaves to kill their masters and escape, and -thought slaveholders were guilty of a very great wickedness.”[67] - -He studied the census returns and the distribution of the Negroes and -made maps of fugitive slave routes with roads, plantations, and -supplies. He learned of Isaac, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner and the -Cumberland region insurrections in South Carolina, Virginia, and -Tennessee; he knew of the organized resistance to slave-catchers in -Pennsylvania, and the history of Hayti and Jamaica. - -It needed, as he soon saw, something more radical than schools and moral -suasion; so deep-seated and radical a disease demanded “Action! Action!” -He welcomed his new and long-loved calling of shepherd because of the -leisure it gave him to study out his great moral problem. He sought and -gained the acquaintance of Negro leaders like Garnet, Loguen, Gloucester -and McCune Smith. As his sheep business broadened, he traveled about and -probably at this time first saw Harper’s Ferry—the mighty pass where -Potomac and Shenandoah, hurling aside the mountain masses, rush to their -singular wedding. - -Thus the distraction of the Springfield wool business came to John Brown -almost in the guise of a temptation to be shunned. For a moment about -1845 he looked again on the lure of wealth and dreamed how useful it -would be to what was now his great life object. But only for a moment, -for when he realized the price he must pay—the time, the chicanery, the -petty detail—he turned from it in disgust. It was at this time that he -studied the history of insurrection and became familiar with the -Abolition movement; as early as 1846 his Harper’s Ferry project began to -form itself more or less clearly in his mind. - -One thing alone reconciled him to his Springfield sojourn and that was -the Negroes whom he met there. He had met black men singly here and -there all his life, but now he met a group. It was not one of the -principal Negro groups of the day—they were in Philadelphia and New -York, Cincinnati and Boston, and in Canada, working largely alone with -only imperfect intercommunication, but working manfully and effectively -for emancipation and full freedom. The Springfield group was a smaller -body without conspicuous leadership, and on that account more nearly -approximated the great mass of their enslaved race. He sought them in -home and church and out on the street, and he hired them in his -business. He came to them on a plane of perfect equality—they sat at his -table and he at theirs. He neither descended upon them from above nor -wallowed with their lowest, and the result was that as Redpath says, -“Captain Brown had a higher notion of the capacity of the Negro race -than most white men. I have often heard him dwell on this subject, and -mention instances of their fitness to take care of themselves, saying, -in his quaint way, that ‘they behaved so much like “folks” that he -almost thought they were so.’ He thought that perhaps a forcible -separation of the connection between master and slave was necessary to -educate the blacks for self-government; but this he threw out as a -suggestion merely.”[68] - -Nor did this appreciation of the finer qualities and capacity of the -Negroes blind him to their imperfections. He found them “intensely -human,” but with their human frailties weakened by slavery and caste; -and with perfect faith in their ability to rise above their faults, he -criticized and inspired them. In his quaint essay on “Sambo’s Mistakes,” -putting himself in the black man’s place, he enumerates his errors: His -failure to improve his time in good reading; his waste of money in -indulgent luxuries and societies and consequent lack of capital; his -servile occupations; his talkativeness and inaptitude for organization; -his sectarian bias. In part of his arraignment, which will bear -thoughtful reading to-day by black men as well as white, he makes his -Sambo say: - -“Another trifling error of my life has been, that I have always expected -to secure the favor of the whites by tamely submitting to every species -of indignity, contempt, and wrong, instead of nobly resisting their -brutal aggressions from principle, and taking my place as a man, and -assuming the responsibilities of a man, a citizen, a husband, a father, -a brother, a neighbor, a friend,—as God requires of every one (if his -neighbor will allow him to do it); but I find that I get, for all my -submission, about the same reward that the Southern slaveocrats render -to the dough-faced statesmen of the North, for being bribed and browbeat -and fooled and cheated, as Whigs and Democrats love to be, and think -themselves highly honored if they may be allowed to lick up the spittle -of a Southerner. I say to get the reward. But I am uncommon -quick-sighted; I can see in a minute where I missed it.”[69] - -No one knew better than John Brown how slavery had contributed to these -faults: for how many slaves could read anything, or when had they been -taught the use of money or the A. B. C. of organization? Not in -condemnation but in faith was this excellent paper written and -delicately worded as from one who has learned his own faults and will -not repeat those of others. - -Not only did John Brown thus criticize, but he led these black folk. As -early as 1846 he revealed something of his final plans to Thomas Thomas, -his black porter and friend, with whom he once was photographed in -mutual friendly embrace, holding the sign “S. P. W.”—“Subterranean Pass -Way” of slaves to freedom. - -“How early shall I come to-morrow?” asked Thomas one morning. - -“We begin work at seven,” answered John Brown. “But I wish you would -come around earlier so that I can talk with you.” Then Brown disclosed a -plan of increasing and systematizing the work of the Underground -Railroad by running off larger bodies of slaves. This was the first form -of his Harper’s Ferry plan and it rapidly grew in detail, so that its -disclosure to Douglass in 1847 showed thought and advance. - -The first national Negro leader, Frederick Douglass, had delivered his -wonderful salutatory in New Bedford in 1844. After publishing his -biography, he went to England for safety, but returned in 1847, ransomed -from slavery and ready to launch his paper, _The North Star_. No sooner -had he landed than the black Wise Men of New York told him of the new -Star in the East, whispering of the strange determined man of -Springfield who flitted silently here and there among the groups of -black folk and whose life was devoted to eternal war upon slavery. Both -were eager to meet each other—John Brown to become acquainted with the -greatest leader of the race which he aimed to free; Frederick Douglass -to know an intense foe of slavery. The historic meeting took place in -Springfield and is best told in Douglass’ own words: - -“About the time I began my enterprise [_i. e._, his newspaper] in -Rochester, I chanced to spend a night and a day under the roof of a man -whose character and conversation, and whose objects and aims in life, -made a very deep impression upon my mind and heart. His name had been -mentioned to me by several prominent colored men; among whom were the -Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and J. W. Loguen. In speaking of him their -voices would drop to a whisper, and what they said of him made me very -eager to see and to know him. Fortunately, I was invited to see him at -his own house. At the time to which I now refer this man was a -respectable merchant in a populous and thriving city, and our first -place of meeting was at his store. This was a substantial brick building -on a prominent, busy street. A glance at the interior, as well as at the -massive walls without, gave me the impression that the owner must be a -man of considerable wealth. My welcome was all that I could have asked. -Every member of the family, young and old, seemed glad to see me, and I -was made much at home in a very little while. I was, however, a little -disappointed with the appearance of the house and its location. After -seeing the fine store I was prepared to see a fine residence in an -eligible locality, but this conclusion was completely dispelled by -actual observation. In fact, the house was neither commodious nor -elegant, nor its situation desirable. It was a small wooden building on -a back street, in a neighborhood chiefly occupied by laboring men and -mechanics; respectable enough, to be sure, but not quite the place, I -thought, where one would look for the residence of a flourishing and -successful merchant. - -“Plain as was the outside of this man’s house, the inside was plainer. -Its furniture would have satisfied a Spartan. It would take longer to -tell what was not in this house than what was in it. There was an air of -plainness about it which almost suggested destitution. My first meal -passed under the misnomer of tea, though there was nothing about it -resembling the usual significance of that term. It consisted of -beef-soup, cabbage, and potatoes—a meal such as a man might relish after -following the plow all day or performing a forced march of a dozen miles -over a rough road in frosty weather. Innocent of paint, veneering, -varnish, or table-cloth, the table announced itself unmistakably of pine -and of the plainest workmanship. There was no hired help visible. The -mother, daughters, and sons did the serving, and did it well. They were -evidently used to it, and had no thought of any impropriety or -degradation in being their own servants. It is said that a house in some -measure reflects the character of its occupants; this one certainly did. -In it there were no disguises, no illusions, no make-believes. -Everything implied stern truth, solid purpose, and rigid economy. I was -not long in company with the master of this house before I discovered -that he was indeed the master of it, and was likely to become mine too -if I stayed long enough with him. His wife believed in him, and his -children observed him with reverence. Whenever he spoke his words -commanded earnest attention. His arguments, which I ventured at some -points to oppose, seemed to convince all; his appeals touched all, and -his will impressed all. Certainly I never felt myself in the presence of -a stronger religious influence than while in this man’s house. - -“In person he was lean, strong, and sinewy, of the best New England -mold, built for times of trouble and fitted to grapple with the -flintiest hardships. Clad in plain American woolen, shod in boots of -cowhide leather, and wearing a cravat of the same substantial material, -under six feet high, less than 150 pounds in weight, aged about fifty, -he presented a figure straight and symmetrical as a mountain pine. His -bearing was singularly impressive. His head was not large, but compact -and high. His hair was coarse, strong, slightly gray and closely -trimmed, and grew low on his forehead. His face was smoothly shaved, and -revealed a strong, square mouth, supported by a broad and prominent -chin. His eyes were bluish gray, and in conversation they were full of -light and fire. When on the street, he moved with a long, springing, -racehorse step, absorbed by his own reflections, neither seeking nor -shunning observation. Such was the man whose name I had heard in -whispers; such was the spirit of his house and family; such was the -house in which he lived; and such was Captain John Brown, whose name has -now passed into history, as that of one of the most marked characters -and greatest heroes known to American fame. - -“After the strong meal already described, Captain Brown cautiously -approached the subject which he wished to bring to my attention; for he -seemed to apprehend opposition to his views. He denounced slavery in -look and language fierce and bitter; thought that slaveholders had -forfeited their right to live; that the slaves had the right to gain -their liberty in any way they could; did not believe that moral suasion -would ever liberate the slave, or that political action would abolish -the system. He said that he had long had a plan which could accomplish -this end, and he had invited me to his house to lay that plan before me. -He said he had been for some time looking for colored men to whom he -could safely reveal his secret, and at times he had almost despaired of -finding such men; but that now he was encouraged, for he saw heads of -such rising up in all directions. He had observed my course at home and -abroad, and he wanted my coöperation. His plan as it then lay in his -mind had much to commend it. It did not, as some suppose, contemplate a -general rising among the slaves, and a general slaughter of the -slave-masters. An insurrection, he thought, would only defeat the -object; but his plan did contemplate the creating of an armed force -which should act the very heart of the South. He was not averse to the -shedding of blood, and thought the practice of carrying arms would be a -good one for the colored people to adopt, as it would give them a sense -of their manhood. No people, he said, could have self-respect, or be -respected, who would not fight for their freedom. He called my attention -to a map of the United States, and pointed out to me the far-reaching -Alleghanies, which stretch away from the borders of New York into the -Southern states. - -“‘These mountains,’ he said, ‘are the basis of my plan. God has given -the strength of the hills to freedom; they were placed here for the -emancipation of the Negro race; they are full of natural forts, where -one man for defense will be equal to a hundred for attack; they are full -also of good hiding-places, where large numbers of brave men could be -concealed, and baffle and elude pursuit for a long time. I know these -mountains well, and could take a body of men into them and keep them -there despite of all efforts of Virginia to dislodge them. The true -object to be sought is first of all to destroy the money value of -slavery property; and that can only be done by rendering such property -insecure. My plan, then, is to take at first about twenty-five picked -men, and begin on a small scale; supply them with arms and ammunition -and post them in squads of fives on a line of twenty-five miles. The -most persuasive and judicious of these shall go down to the fields from -time to time, as opportunity offers, and induce the slaves to join them, -seeking and selecting the most restless and daring.’ - -“He saw that in this part of the work the utmost care must be used to -avoid treachery and disclosure. Only the most conscientious and skilful -should be sent on this perilous duty. With care and enterprise he -thought he could soon gather a force of one hundred hardy men, men who -would be content to lead the free and adventurous life to which he -proposed to train them; when these were properly drilled, and each man -had found the place for which he was best suited, they would begin work -in earnest; they would run off the slaves in large numbers, retain the -brave and strong ones in the mountains, and send the weak and timid to -the North by the Underground Railroad. His operations would be enlarged -with increasing numbers and would not be confined to one locality. - -“When I asked him how he would support these men, he said emphatically -that he would subsist them upon the enemy. Slavery was a state of war, -and the slave had a right to anything necessary to his freedom. ‘But,’ -said I, ‘suppose you succeed in running off a few slaves, and thus -impress the Virginia slaveholders with a sense of insecurity in their -slaves further south.’ ‘That,’ he said, ‘will be what I want first to -do; then I would follow them up. If we could drive slavery out of one -county, it would be a great gain; it would weaken the system throughout -the state.’ ‘But they would employ bloodhounds to hunt you out of the -mountains.’ ‘That they might attempt,’ said he, ‘but the chances are, we -should whip them, and when we should have whipped one squad, they would -be careful how they pursued.’ ‘But you might be surrounded and cut off -from your provisions or means of subsistence.’ He thought that this -could not be done so that they could not cut their way out; but even if -the worst came he could but be killed, and he had no better use for his -life than to lay it down in the cause of the slave. When I suggested -that we might convert the slaveholders, he became much excited, and said -that could never be. He knew their proud hearts and they would never be -induced to give up their slaves, until they felt a big stick about their -heads. - -“He observed that I might have noticed the simple manner in which he -lived, adding that he had adopted this method in order to save money to -carry out his purposes. This was said in no boastful tone, for he felt -that he had delayed already too long, and had no room to boast either -his zeal or his self-denial. Had some men made such display of rigid -virtue, I should have rejected it as affected, false, and hypocritical, -but in John Brown, I felt it to be real as iron or granite. From this -night spent with John Brown in Springfield, Mass., 1847, while I -continued to write and speak against slavery, I became all the same less -hopeful of its peaceful abolition. My utterances became more and more -tinged by the color of this man’s strong impressions.”[70] - -Tremendously impressed as was Douglass in mind and heart with John Brown -and his plan, his reason was never convinced even up to the last; and -naturally because here two radically opposite characters saw slavery -from opposite sides of the shield. Both hated it with all their -strength, but one knew its physical degradation, its tremendous power -and the strong sympathies and interests that buttressed it the world -over; the other felt its moral evil and knowing simply that it was -wrong, concluded that John Brown and God could overthrow it. That was -all—a plain straightforward path; but to the subtler darker man, more -worldly-wise and less religious, the arm of the Lord was not revealed, -while the evil of this world had seared his vitals. He uncovered himself -if not reverently, certainly respectfully before the Seer; he gave him -much help and information; he turned almost imperceptibly but surely -toward Brown’s darker view of the blood-sacrifice of slavery, but he -could never quite believe that John Brown’s tremendous plan was humanly -possible. And this attitude of Douglass was in various degrees and -strides the attitude of the leading Negroes of his day. They believed in -John Brown but not in his plan. They knew he was right, but they knew -that for any failure in his project they, the black men, would probably -pay the cost. And the horror of that cost none knew as they. - -If John Brown was to carry out his idea as he had now definitely -conceived it, he must first find the men who could help him. On this -point there seems to have been deliberation and development of plan, -particularly as he consulted Douglass and the Negro leaders. His earlier -scheme probably looked toward the use of Negro allies almost exclusively -outside his own family. This was eminently fitting but impractical, as -Douglass and his fellows must have urged. White men could move where -they would in the United States, but to introduce an armed band -exclusively or mainly of Negroes from the North into the South was -difficult, if not impossible. Nevertheless, some Negroes of the right -type were needed and to John Brown’s mind the Underground Railroad was -bringing North the very material he required. It could not, however, be -properly trained in cities whither it drifted both for economic reasons -and for self-protection. Brown therefore heard of Gerrit Smith’s offer -of August 1, 1846, with great interest. This wealthy leader of the New -York Abolition group took occasion at the celebration of the twelfth -anniversary of British emancipation to offer free Negroes 100,000 acres -of his lands in the Adirondack region on easy terms. It was not a well -thought-out scheme: the climate was bleak for Negroes, the methods of -culture then suitable, were unknown to them; while the surveyor who laid -out these farms cheated them as cheerily as though philanthropy had no -concern with the project. The Gerrit Smith offer was not wholly a -failure. It turned out some good Negro farmers, gave some of its best -Negro citizens of to-day to northern New York, and trained a bishop of -the British African Church. But it did far less than it might have done -if better planned, and much if not all of its success was due to John -Brown. He saw possibilities here both to shelter his family when he -turned definitely to what was now his single object in life, and to -train men to help him. He went to Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, N. Y., in -April, 1848, and said: “I am something of a pioneer; I grew up among the -woods and wild Indians of Ohio and am used to the climate and the way of -life that your colony find so trying. I will take one of your farms -myself, clear it up and plant it, and show my colored neighbors how such -work should be done; will give them work as I have occasion, look after -them in all needful ways and be a kind of father to them.”[71] - -His offer was gladly accepted and he moved his family there the -following year. It was a wild, lonely place. Thomas Wentworth Higginson -wrote once: “The Notch seems beyond the world, North Elba and its -half-dozen houses are beyond the Notch, and there is a wilder little -mountain road which rises beyond North Elba. But the house we seek is -not even on that road, but behind it and beyond it; you ride a mile or -two, then take down a pair of bars; beyond the bars faith takes you -across a half-cleared field, through the most difficult of wood-paths, -and after half a mile of forest you come out upon a clearing. There is a -little frame house, unpainted, set in a girdle of black stumps, and with -all heaven about it for a wider girdle; on a high hillside, forests on -north and west,—the glorious line of the Adirondacks on the east, and on -the south one slender road leading off to Westport, a road so straight -that you could sight a United States marshal for five miles.”[72] - -To his family John Brown’s word was usually not merely law but wish. -They went to North Elba cheerfully and with full knowledge of the import -of the change, for the father was frank. The daughter Ruth writes: -“While we were living in Springfield, our house was plainly furnished, -but very comfortably, all excepting the parlor. Mother and I had often -expressed a wish that the parlor might be furnished too, and father -encouraged us that it should be; but after he made up his mind to go to -North Elba he began to economize in many ways. One day he called us -older ones to him and said: ‘I want to plan with you a little; and I -want you all to express your minds. I have a little money to spare; and -now shall we use it to furnish the parlor, or spend it to buy clothing -for the colored people who may need help in North Elba another year?’ We -all said, ‘Save the money.’”[73] - -It was no paradise, even for the enthusiast. Redpath says: “It is too -cold to raise corn there; they can scarcely, in the most favorable -seasons, obtain a few ears for roasting. Stock must be wintered there -nearly six months in every year. I was there on the first of November, -the ground was snowy, and winter had apparently begun—and it would last -till the middle of May. They never raise anything to sell off that farm, -except sometimes a few fleeces. It was well, they said, if they raised -their own provisions, and could spin their own wool for clothing.”[74] - -Meantime the scattered isolated eddies of the anti-slavery battles were -swirling to one great current, and more and more John Brown was becoming -the man of one idea. Impatiently he neglected his pressing wool -business. Instead of keeping his eye on his critical London venture, he -hastened across Europe perfecting military observations. He returned to -America in time to hear all the feverish discussion of the Fugitive -Slave Law and see its final passage. In November, 1850, he writes his -wife from Springfield: “It now seems that the Fugitive Slave Law was to -be the means of making more Abolitionists than all the lectures we have -had for years. It really looks as if God had His hand on this wickedness -also. I of course keep encouraging my colored friends to ‘trust in God -and keep their powder dry.’ I did so to-day at Thanksgiving meeting -publicly.”[75] - -His Springfield meetings led to the formation of his “League of -Gileadites,” the first of his steps toward the armed organization of -Negroes. Forty-four Negroes signed the following agreement: - -“As citizens of the United States of America, trusting in a just and -merciful God, whose spirit and all-powerful aid we humbly implore, we -will ever be true to the flag of our beloved country, always acting -under it. We, whose names are hereunto affixed, do constitute ourselves -a branch of the United States League of Gileadites. That we will provide -ourselves at once with suitable implements, and will aid those who do -not possess the means, if any such are disposed to join us. We invite -every colored person whose heart is engaged in the performance of our -business, whether male or female, old or young. The duty of the aged, -infirm, and young members of the League shall be to give instant notice -to all members in case of an attack upon any of our people. We agree to -have no officers except a treasurer and secretary pro tem., until after -some trial of courage and talent of able-bodied members shall enable us -to elect officers from those who shall have rendered the most important -services. Nothing but wisdom and undaunted courage, efficiency, and -general good conduct shall in any way influence us in electing -officers.”[76] - -To this was added exhortation and advice by John Brown. - -“Nothing so charms the American people as personal bravery,” he wrote. -“Witness the case of Cinques, of everlasting memory, on board the -_Amistad_. The trial for life of one bold and to some extent successful -man, for defending his rights in good earnest, would arouse more -sympathy throughout the nation than the accumulated wrongs and -sufferings of more than three millions of our submissive colored -population. We need not mention the Greeks struggling against the -oppressive Turks, the Poles against Russia, nor the Hungarians against -Austria and Russia combined, to prove this. No jury can be found in the -Northern states that would convict a man for defending his rights to the -last extremity. This is well understood by Southern congressmen, who -insisted that the right of trial by jury should not be granted to the -fugitive. Colored people have ten times the number of fast friends among -the whites than they suppose, and would have ten times the number they -have now were they but half as much in earnest to secure their dearest -rights as they are to ape the follies and extravagances of their white -neighbors, and to indulge in idle show, in ease and luxury. Just think -of the money expended by individuals in your behalf for the last twenty -years! Think of the number who have been mobbed and imprisoned on your -account! Have any of you seen the branded hand? Do you remember the -names of Lovejoy and Torrey?”[77] - -He then gives definite advice as to procedure in case the arrest and the -deportation of a fugitive slave were attempted: - -“Should one of your number be arrested, you must collect together as -quickly as possible, so as to outnumber your adversaries, who are taking -an active part against you. Let no able-bodied man appear on the ground -unequipped, or with his weapons exposed to view: let that be understood -beforehand. Your plans must be known only to yourself, and with the -understanding that all traitors must die, wherever caught and proven to -be guilty. ‘Whosoever is fearful or afraid, let him return and depart -early from Mount Gilead’ (Judges 7:3; Deut. 20:8). Give all cowards an -opportunity to show it on condition of holding their peace. Do not delay -one moment after you are ready; you will lose all your resolution if you -do. Let the first blow be the signal for all to engage; and when engaged -do not do your work in halves, but make clean work with your -enemies,—and be sure you meddle not with any others. By going about your -business quietly, you will get the job disposed of before the number -that an uproar would bring together can collect; and you will have the -advantage of those who come out against you, for they will be wholly -unprepared with either equipments or matured plans; all with them will -be confusion and terror. Your enemies will be slow to attack you after -you have done up the work nicely; and if they should, they will have to -encounter your white friends as well as you; for you may safely -calculate on a division of the whites, and may by that means get to an -honorable parley. - -“Be firm, determined, and cool; but let it be understood that you are -not to be driven to desperation without making it an awful dear job to -others as well as to you. Give them to know distinctly that those who -live in wooden houses should not throw fire, and that you are just as -able to suffer as your white neighbors. After effecting a rescue, if you -are assailed, go into the houses of your most prominent and influential -white friends with your wives; and that will effectually fasten upon -them the suspicion of being connected with you, and will compel them to -make a common cause with you, whether they would otherwise live up to -their profession or not. This would leave them no choice in the matter. - -“Some would doubtless prove themselves true of their own choice; others -would flinch. That would be taking them at their own words. You may make -a tumult in the court room where a trial is going on by burning -gunpowder freely in paper packages, if you cannot think of any better -way to create a momentary alarm, and might possibly give one or more of -your enemies a hoist. But in such case the prisoner will need to take -the hint at once, and bestir himself; and so should his friends improve -the opportunity for a general rush. A lasso might possibly be applied to -a slave-catcher for once with good effect. Hold on to your weapons, and -never be persuaded to leave them, part with them, or have them far away -from you. Stand by one another and by your friends, while a drop of -blood remains; and be hanged if you must, but tell no tales out of -school. Make no confession. Union is strength. Without some well -digested arrangements, nothing to any good purpose is likely to be done, -let the demand be never so great. Witness the case of Hamlet and Long in -New York, when there was no well defined plan of operations or suitable -preparation beforehand. The desired end may be effectually secured by -the means proposed; namely, the enjoyment of our inalienable -rights.”[78] - -There is evidence that this league did effective rescue work, as did -other groups of Negroes in Boston, Philadelphia, Albany, New York and -elsewhere. In this service the Negroes could not act alone—it would have -meant mob violence on purely racial lines;—but given a few determined -white men to join in, they could and did bear the brunt of the fighting. - -John Brown himself was active in such rescue work. He helped in the -release of “Jerry” in Syracuse, and writes in 1851 from Springfield: -“Since the sending off to slavery of Long from New York, I have improved -my leisure hours quite busily with colored people here, in advising them -how to act, and in giving them all the encouragement in my power. They -very much need encouragement and advice; and some of them are so alarmed -that they tell me they cannot sleep on account of either themselves or -their wives and children. I can only say I think I have been able to do -something to revive their broken spirits. I want all my family to -imagine themselves in the same dreadful condition. My only spare time -being taken up (often till late hours at night) in the way I speak of, -has prevented me from the gloomy homesick feelings which had before so -much oppressed me: not that I forget my family at all.”[79] - -His hateful lawsuits hung like a weight about John Brown’s neck, and a -feverish impatience was seizing him: “Father did not close up his wool -business in Springfield when he went to North Elba, and had to make -several journeys back and forth in 1819–50. He was at Springfield in -January, 1851, soon after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, and -went around among his colored friends there, who had been fugitives, -urging them to resist the law, no matter by what authority it should be -enforced. He told them to arm themselves with revolvers, men and women, -and not to be taken alive. When he got to North Elba, he told us about -the Fugitive Slave Law, and bade us resist any attempt that might be -made to take any fugitive from our town, regardless of fine or -imprisonment. Our faithful boy Cyrus was one of that class; and our -feelings were so aroused that we would all have defended him, though the -women folks had resorted to hot water. Father at this time said, ‘Their -cup of iniquity is almost full.’ One evening as I was singing, ‘The -Slave Father Mourning for his Children,’ containing these words,— - - “‘Ye’re gone from me, my gentle ones, - With all your shouts of mirth; - A silence is within my walls, - A darkness round my hearth,’— - -father got up and walked the floor, and before I could finish the song, -he said, ‘O Ruth! Don’t sing any more; it is too sad!’”[80] - -At the same time his thrifty careful attention to minutiæ did not desert -him. He keeps his eye on North Elba even after his wife and part of the -family returned to Akron and writes: “The colored families appear to be -doing well, and to feel encouraged. They all send much love to you. They -have constant preaching on the Sabbath; and intelligence, morality and -religion appear to be all on the advance.”[81] - -His daughter says: “He did not lose interest in the colored people of -North Elba, and grieved over the sad fate of one of them, Mr. Henderson, -who was lost in the woods in the winter of 1852 and perished with the -cold. Mr. Henderson was an intelligent and good man, and was very -industrious and father thought much of him.”[82] - -Once we find him saying: “If you find it difficult for you to pay for -Douglass’ paper, I wish you would let me know, as I know I took -liberty in ordering it continued. You have been very kind in helping -me and I do not mean to make myself a burden.” And again he writes: “I -am much rejoiced at the news of a religious kind in Ruth’s letter and -would be still more rejoiced to learn that all the sects who hear the -Christian name would have no more to do with that mother of all -abominations—man-stealing.”[83] - -And the sects were thinking. All men were thinking. A great unrest was -on the land. It was not merely moral leadership from above—it was the -push of physical and mental pain from beneath;—not simply the cry of the -Abolitionist but the up-stretching of the slave. The vision of the -damned was stirring the western world and stirring black men as well as -white. Something was forcing the issue—call it what you will, the Spirit -of God or the spell of Africa. It came like some great grinding ground -swell,—vast, indefinite, immeasurable but mighty, like the dark low -whispering of some infinite disembodied voice—a riddle of the Sphinx. It -tore men’s souls and wrecked their faith. Women cried out as cried once -that tall black sibyl, Sojourner Truth: - -“Frederick, is God dead?” - -“No,” thundered the Douglass, towering above his Salem audience. “No, -and because God is not dead, slavery can only end in blood.” - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE CALL OF KANSAS - - “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my - people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” - - -Just three hundred years before John Brown pledged his family to warfare -against slavery, a black man stood on the plains of the Southwest -looking toward Kansas. It was the Negro Steven, once slave of Dorantes, -now leader and interpreter of the Fray Marcos explorers, and the first -man of the Old World to look upon the great Southwest, if not upon -Kansas itself. Whiter men have since ignored and ridiculed his work, -sensualists have charged him with sensuality, lords of greed have called -him greedy, and yet withal the plain truth remains: he led the -expedition that foreran Coronado, reported back the truth of what he saw -and then returned to lay down his life among the savages.[84] - -The land he looked upon in those young years of the sixteenth century -was big with the tragic fate of his people. Planted far to the eastward -a century later, their dark faces traveled fast westward until slavery -was secure in the valley of the Mississippi and in the lower Southwest. -Then the slave barons looked behind them, and saw to their own dismay -that there could be no backward step. The slavery of the new Cotton -Kingdom in the nineteenth century must either die or conquer a nation—it -could not hesitate or pause. It was an industrial system built on -ignorance, force and the cotton plant. The slaves must be curbed with an -iron hand. A moment of relaxation and lo! they would be rising either in -revenge or ambition. And slavery had made revenge and ambition one. Such -a system could not compete with intelligence, nor with individual -freedom, nor with miscellaneous and care-demanding crops. It could not -divide territory with these things;—to do so meant economic death and -the sudden, perhaps revolutionary upheaval of a whole social system. -This the South saw as it looked backward in the years from 1820 to 1840. -Then its bolder vision pressed the gloom ahead, and dreamed a dazzling -dream of empire. It saw the slave system triumphant in the great -Southwest—in Mexico, in Central America and the islands of the sea. Its -softer souls, timid with a fear prophetic of failure, still held -halfheartedly back, but bolder leaders like Davis, Toombs and Floyd went -relentlessly, ruthlessly on. Three steps they and their forerunners took -in that great western wilderness, and other steps were planned. Three -steps—that cost uncounted treasure in gold and blood: the first in 1820, -when they set foot beyond the Mississippi into Missouri; the second and -bolder when they set their seal on the spoils of raped Mexico and made -it possible slave soil; and the third and boldest, when on the soil of -Kansas they fought to enslave all territory of the Union. - -That these steps would cost much the leaders knew, but they did not -rightly reckon how much. They risked the upheaval of parties, the enmity -of sections and the angry agitation of visionaries. If worse came to -worst, they held the trump-card of disrupting the nation and founding a -mighty slave aristocracy to stretch from the Ohio to Venezuela and from -Cuba to Texas. One thing alone they did not count upon and that was -armed force. - -The three steps did raise tremendous opposition. The enslaving of -Missouri gave birth to the early Abolitionists—the conscience of the -nation awakened to find slavery not dead or dying but growing and -aggressive; and in these days John Brown, typifying one phase of that -terrible conscience, swore blood-feud with this “sum of all villanies.” -Thus the first step cost. - -The second step went some ways awry since California was lost to -slavery, but a new law to catch runaways brought compensation and -brought too redoubled cost, for it raised in opposition to the whole -slave system not only Abolitionists, but Free Soilers—those who hated -not slavery but slaves. This was a costlier move, for the sneers that -checked philanthropy were powerless against democracy, and when the -echoes of this step reached the ears of John Brown, he laid aside all -and became the man of one idea, and that idea the extinction of slavery -in the United States. - -But it was the third step that was costliest—the step that sought to -impose slavery by law and blood on free labor lands despite the lands’ -wish. Of all the steps it was the wildest and most foolish, for it -arrayed against slavery not only philanthropy and democracy, but all the -world-old forces of plain justice. It compelled those who loved the -right to meet law and force by force and lawlessness, and one man that -led that lawless fight on the plains of Kansas and struck its bloodiest -blow, was John Brown. - -John Brown’s decision to go to Kansas was sudden. Unexpectedly the -centre of the slavery battle had swung westward. A shrewd bidder for the -presidency offered the South the unawaited bribe of Kansas territory for -their votes and they eagerly sprang at the offer. Stephen Douglas drove -the bill through Congress, and Kansas stood ready for its slave -population. But not only for slaves—also for freemen as Eli Thayer -quickly saw, and the representations of him and his associates aroused -the sons of John Brown. - -John Brown himself looked on with interest, but he had other plans. He -wrote to his son John: “If you or any of my family are disposed to go to -Kansas or Nebraska with a view to help defeat Satan and his legions in -that direction, I have not a word to say; but I feel committed to -operate in another part of the field. If I were not so committed, I -would be on my way this fall.”[85] - -John Brown’s plans were in the Alleghanies. At North Elba lay his -northern stronghold, and at Harper’s Ferry lay the gates to the Great -Black Way. Here he was convinced was the keystone of the slavery arch -and here he must strike. So in former years Gabriel and Turner believed; -so in after years others believed; but it was not till Grant floated -down this path in a sea of blood that slavery finally fell. - -The sons of John Brown were, however, greatly attracted by the new -western lands. His eldest son writes: - -“During the years of 1853 and 1854, most of the leading Northern -newspapers were not only full of glowing accounts of the extraordinary -fertility, healthfulness, and beauty of the territory of Kansas, then -newly opened for settlement, but of urgent appeals to all lovers of -freedom who desired homes in a new region to go there as settlers, and -by their votes save Kansas from the curse of slavery. Influenced by -these considerations, in the month of October, 1854, five of the sons of -John Brown,—John, Jr., Jason, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon,—then -residents of the state of Ohio, made their arrangements to emigrate to -Kansas. Their combined property consisted chiefly of eleven head of -cattle, mostly young, and three horses. Ten of this number were valuable -on account of the breed. Thinking these especially desirable in a new -country, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon took them by way of the lakes to -Chicago, thence to Meridosia, Ill., where they were wintered; and in the -following spring drove them into Kansas to a place selected by these -brothers for settlement, about eight miles west of the town of -Osawatomie. My brother Jason and his family, and I with my family -followed at the opening of navigation in the spring of 1855, going by -way of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis. There we purchased two -small tents, a plough, and some smaller farming tools, and a hand-mill -for grinding corn. At this period there were no railroads west of St. -Louis; our journey must be continued by boat on the Missouri at a time -of extremely low water, or by stage at great expense. We chose the river -route, taking passage on the steamer _New Lucy_ which too late we found -crowded with passengers, mostly men from the South bound for Kansas. -That they were from the South was plainly indicated by their language -and dress; while their drinking, profanity, and display of revolvers and -bowie-knives—openly worn as an essential part of their make-up—clearly -showed the class to which they belonged, and that their mission was to -aid in establishing slavery in Kansas. - -“A box of fruit trees and grape-vines which my brother Jason had brought -from Ohio, our plough, and the few agricultural implements we had on the -deck of that steamer looked lonesome; for these were all we could see -which were adapted to the occupation of peace. Then for the first time -arose in our minds the query: Must the fertile prairies of Kansas, -through a struggle at arms, be first secured to freedom before freemen -can sow and reap? If so, how poorly we were prepared for such work will -be seen when I say that for arms five of us brothers had only two small -squirrel rifles and one revolver. But before we reached our destination, -other matters claimed our attention. Cholera, which then prevailed to -some extent at St. Louis, broke out among our passengers, a number of -whom died. Among these brother Jason’s son, Austin, aged four years, the -elder of his two children, fell a victim to this scourge; and while our -boat lay by for repair of a broken rudder at Waverly, Mo., we buried him -at night near the panic-stricken town, our lonely way illumined only by -the lightning of a furious thunderstorm. True to his spirit of hatred of -Northern people, our captain, without warning to us on shore, cast off -his lines and left us to make our way by stage to Kansas City to which -place we had already paid our fare by boat. Before we reached there, -however, we became very hungry, and endeavored to buy food at various -farmhouses on the way; but the occupants, judging from our speech that -we were not from the South, always denied us, saying, ‘We have nothing -for you.’ The only exception to this answer was at the stage house at -Independence, Mo. - -“Arrived in Kansas, her lovely prairies and wooded streams seemed to us -indeed like a haven of rest. Here in prospect we saw our cattle -increased to hundreds and possibly to thousands, fields of corn, -orchards and vineyards. At once we set about the work through which only -our visions of prosperity could be realized. Our tents would suffice to -shelter until we could plough our land, plant corn and other crops, -fruit trees, and vines, cut and secure as hay enough of the waving grass -to supply our stock the coming winter. These cheering prospects beguiled -our labors through the late spring until midsummer, by which time nearly -all of our number were prostrated by fever and ague that would not stay -cured; the grass cut for hay mouldered in the wet for the want of the -care we could not bestow, and our crop of corn wasted by cattle we could -not restrain. If these minor ills and misfortunes were all, they could -be easily borne; but now began to gather the dark clouds of war. - -“An election for a first territorial legislature had been held on the -30th of March of this year. On that day the residents of Missouri along -the borders came into Kansas by thousands, and took forcible possession -of the polls. In the words of Horace Greeley, ‘There was no disguise, no -pretense of legality, no regard for decency. On the evening before and -the day of the election, nearly a thousand Missourians arrived at -Lawrence in wagons and on horseback, well armed with rifles, pistols and -bowie-knives, and two pieces of cannon loaded with musket balls. -Although but 831 legal electors in the Territory voted, there were no -less than 6,320 votes polled. They elected all the members of the -legislature, with a single exception in either house,—the two Free -Soilers being chosen from a remote district which the Missourians -overlooked or did not care to reach.’ - -“Early in the spring and summer of this year the actual settlers at -their convention repudiated this fraudulently chosen legislature, and -refused to obey its enactments. Upon this, the border papers of Missouri -in flaming appeals urged the ruffian horde that had previously invaded -Kansas to arm, and otherwise prepare to march again into the territory -when called upon, as they soon would be, to ‘aid in enforcing laws.’ War -of some magnitude, at least, now appeared to us brothers to be -inevitable; and I wrote to our father, whose home was in North Elba, N. -Y., asking him to procure and send us, if he could, arms and ammunition, -so that we could be better prepared to defend ourselves and our -neighbors.”[86] - -John Brown hesitated. His fighting blood was stirred and yet there was -the plan of years yet unrealized. Then a new vision dawned in his mind. -Perhaps this was the call of the Lord and the path to Virginia might lie -through Kansas. He hurriedly consulted his friends—Douglass, McCune -Smith, the cultured Negro physician of New York, and Gerrit Smith, and -in November, 1854, wrote home: “I feel still pretty much determined to -go back to North Elba; but expect Owen and Frederick will set out for -Kansas on Monday next, with cattle belonging to John, Jason and -themselves, intending to winter somewhere in Illinois.... Gerrit Smith -wishes me to go back to North Elba; from Douglass and Dr. McCune Smith I -have not yet heard.”[87] - -His business delayed him in Ohio and he still wrote of his going to -North Elba. Then followed the Syracuse convention of Abolitionists and a -new revelation to John Brown. For the first time he came into contact -with the great Abolition movement. He found that money was forthcoming. -Here were men willing to pay if others would work. It was the call of -God and he answered: “Here am I.” - -Redpath says: “When in session John Brown appeared in that convention -and made a very fiery speech, during which he said he had four sons in -Kansas, and had three others who were desirous of going there, to aid in -fighting the battles of freedom. He could not consent to go unless he -could go armed, and he would like to arm all his sons; but his poverty -prevented him from doing so. Funds were contributed on the spot; -principally by Gerrit Smith.”[88] - -He writes joyfully home: - -“Dear wife and children,—I reached here on the first day of the -convention, and I have reason to bless God that I came; for I have met -with a most warm reception from all, so far as I know, and except by a -few sincere, honest, peace friends, a most hearty approval of my -intention of arming my sons and other friends in Kansas. I received -to-day donations amounting to a little over sixty dollars,—twenty from -Gerrit Smith, five from an old British officer; others giving smaller -sums with such earnest and affectionate expression of their good wishes -as did me more good than money even. John’s two letters were introduced, -and read with such effect by Gerrit Smith as to draw tears from numerous -eyes in the great collection of people present. The convention has been -one of the most interesting meetings I ever attended in my life; and I -made a great addition to the number of warm-hearted and honest -friends.”[89] - -The die was cast and John Brown left for Kansas. Instead of sending the -money and arms, says his son John, “he came on with them himself, -accompanied by his brother-in-law, Henry Thompson, and my brother -Oliver. In Iowa he bought a horse and covered wagon; concealing the arms -in this and conspicuously displaying his surveying implements, he -crossed into Missouri near Waverly, and at that place disinterred the -body of his grandson, and brought all safely through to our settlement, -arriving there about the 6th of October, 1855.”[90] - -His daughter says: “On leaving us finally to go to Kansas that summer, -he said, ‘If it is so painful for us to part with the hope of meeting -again, how dreadful must be the feelings of hundreds of poor slaves who -are separated for life.’”[91] - -So John Brown reached Kansas to strike the blow for freedom. Not that he -was the central figure of Kansas territorial history so far as casual -eyes could see, or the acknowledged leader of men and measures; rather -he seemed and was but a humble coworker, appearing and disappearing here -and there,—now startling men with the grim decision of his actions, now -lost and hidden from public view. But it is not always the apparent -leaders who do the world’s work. More often those who sit in high -places, whom men see and hear, do but represent or mask public opinion -and the social conscience, while down in the blood and dust of battle -stoop those who delivered the master-stroke—the makers of the thoughts -of men. So in Kansas Robinson, Lane, Atchison and Geary were the -conspicuous public leaders: Robinson, the canny Yankee, whose astute -reading of the signs of the times proved in the end wise and correct but -left him always the opportunist and politician; Lane, whose impetuous -daring and rough devotion led thousands of immigrants out of the North -and drove hundreds of slaveholders back to Missouri; Atchison, who led -the determination and ruffianism of the South; and Geary, who voiced the -saner nation. And yet one cannot read Kansas history without feeling -that the man who in all this bewildering broil was least the puppet of -circumstances—the man who most clearly saw the real crux of the -conflict, most definitely knew his own convictions and was readiest at -the crisis for decisive action, was a man whose leadership lay not in -his office, wealth or influence, but in the white flame of his utter -devotion to an ideal. - -To comprehend this, one must pick from the confused tangle of Kansas -territorial history the main thread of its unraveling and then show how -Brown’s life twined with it. And this is no easy task. Some time before -or after 1850 Southern leaders had tacitly fixed the westward extension -of the Compromise line of 1820 at the northern line of Missouri. When, -then, the bill for organizing this western territory appeared innocently -in Congress, it was hustled back to committee, and appeared finally as -the celebrated Kansas-Nebraska Bill which formed two territories, Kansas -and Nebraska. It was the secret understanding of the promoters of the -bill that Kansas would become slave territory and Nebraska free, and -this tacit compact was expressed in the formula that the people of each -territory should have the right “to form and regulate their domestic -institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the -United States.” But the game was so easy, and the price so cheap that -the Southern leaders and their office-hunting Northern tools were not -satisfied, even with the gain of territory, and so juggled the bill as -virtually to leave all territory open to slavery even against the will -of its people, while eventually they fortified their daring by a Supreme -Court decision. - -The North, on the other hand, angry enough at even the necessity of -disputing slavery north of the long established line, nevertheless began -in good faith to prepare to vote slavery out of Kansas by pouring in -free settlers. - -Thereupon ensued one of the strangest duels of modern times—a political -battle between two economic systems: On the one side were all the -machinery of government, close proximity to the battle-field and a -deep-seated social ideal which did not propose to abide by the rules of -the game; on the other hand were strong moral conviction, pressing -economic necessity and capacity for organization. It took four years to -fight the battle—from the middle of 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Bill -was passed and the Indians were hustled out of their rights, until 1858, -when the pro-slavery constitution was definitely buried under free state -votes. - -In the beginning, the fall of 1854, the fatal misunderstanding of the -two sections was clear: The New England Emigrant Aid Society assumed -that the contest was simply a matter of votes, and that if they hurried -settlers to Kansas from the North a majority for freedom was reasonably -certain. Missouri and the South, on the other hand, assumed that Kansas -was already of right a slave state and resented as an impertinence the -attempt to make it free by any means. Thus at Lawrence, on August 1st, -the bewildered and unarmed Northern settlers and their immediate -successors, such as John Brown’s sons, were literally pounced upon by -the furious Missourians, who crossed the border like an invading army. -“To those who have qualms of conscience as to violating laws, state or -national, the time has come when such impositions must be disregarded, -as your rights and property are in danger,” cried Stringfellow of -Missouri. Thereupon 5,000 Missourians proceeded to elect a pro-slavery -legislature and Congressional delegate; and led by what Sumner called -“hirelings, picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy -civilization,” flourished their pistols and bowie-knives, driving some -of the free state immigrants back home and the rest into apprehensive -inaction and silence. - -Snatching thus the whip-hand, with pro-slavery governor, judges, marshal -and legislature, they then proceeded in 1855 to deliver blow upon blow -to the free state cause until it seemed inevitable that Kansas should -become a slave state, with a code of laws which made even an assertion -against the right of slaveholding a felony punishable with imprisonment. - -The free state settlers hesitatingly began to take serious counsel. They -found themselves in three parties: a few who hated slavery, more who -hated Negroes, and many who hated slaves. Easily the political -_finesse_, afterward unsuccessfully attempted, might now have pitted the -parties against one another in such irreconcilable difference as would -slip even slavery through. But unblushing force and fraud united them to -an appeal for justice at Big Springs in the fall of 1855—where John -Brown’s sons were present and active—and a declaration of passive, with -a threat of active, resistance to the “bogus” legislature. A peace -program was laid down: they would ignore the patent fraud, organize a -state and appeal to Congress and the nation. This they did in October -and November, 1855, making Topeka their nominal and Lawrence their real -capital. - -The pro-slavery party, however, was quick to see the weakness of this -program and they took the first opportunity to force the free state men -into collision with the authorities. A characteristic occasion soon -arose: a peaceful free state settler was brutally killed and instead of -arresting the murderer, the pro-slavery sheriff arrested the chief -witness against him. A few of the bolder free state neighbors released -the prisoner and took him to Lawrence. Immediately the sheriff gathered -an army of 1,500 deputies from Missouri, and surrounded 500 free state -men in Lawrence just after John Brown arrived in Kansas. Things looked -serious enough even to the drunken governor, and with the aid of some -artifice, liquor and stormy weather, the threatened clash was -temporarily averted. The wild and ice-bound winter that fell on Kansas -gave a moment’s pause, but with the opening spring the pro-slavery -forces gathered themselves for a last crushing blow. Armed bands came -out of the South with flying banners, the Missouri River was blockaded -to Northern immigrants, and the border ruffians rode unhindered over the -Missouri line. The free state men, alarmed, appealed to the East and -immigrants were hurried forward; but slavery “with the chief justice, -the tamed and domesticated chief justice who waited on him like a -familiar spirit,” declared the passive resistance movement “constructive -treason” and the pro-slavery marshal arrested the free state leaders -from the governor down, and clapped them into prison. Two thousand -Missourians then surrounded Lawrence and while the hesitating free state -men were striving to keep the peace, sacked and half burned the town on -the day before Brooks broke Sumner’s head in the Senate chamber, for -telling the truth about Kansas. - -The deed was done. Kansas was a slave territory. The free state program -had been repudiated by the United States government and had broken like -a reed before the assaults of the pro-slavery party. There were -mutterings in the East but the cause of freedom was at its lowest ebb. -Then suddenly there came the flash of an awful stroke—a deed of -retaliation from the free state side so bloody, relentless and cruel -that it sent a shudder through all Kansas and Missouri, and aroused the -nation. In one black night, John Brown, four of his sons, a son-in-law -and two others, the chosen executors of the boldest free state leaders, -seized and killed five of the worst of the border ruffians who were -harrying the free state settlers, and practically swept out of existence -the “Dutch Henry” pro-slavery settlement in the Swamp of the Swan. The -rank and file of the free state men themselves recoiled at first in -consternation and loudly, then faintly, disclaimed the deed. Suddenly -they saw and laid the lie aside, and seized their Sharps rifles. There -was war in Kansas—a quick sweeping change from the passive appeal to law -and justice which did not respond, to the appeal to force and blood. The -deed did not make Kansas free—no one, least of all John Brown, dreamed -that it would. But it brought to the fore in free state councils the men -who were determined to fight for freedom, and it meant the end of -passive resistance. The carnival of crime and rapine that ensued was a -disgrace to civilization but it was the cost of freedom, and it was less -than the price of repression. There were pitched battles, the building -and besieging of forts, the burning of homes, stealing of property, -raping of women and murder of men, until the scared governor signed a -truce, exchanged prisoners and fled for his life. The wildest -pro-slavery elements, now loosed from all restraint, planned a last -desperate blow. Nearly 3,000 men were mustered in Missouri. The new -governor, whose _cortège_ barely escaped highway robbery, found -“desolation and ruin” on every hand; “homes and firesides were deserted; -the smoke of burning dwellings darkened the atmosphere; women and -children, driven from their habitations, wandered over the prairies and -among the woodlands, or sought refuge and protection even among the -Indian tribes; the highways were infested with numerous predatory bands, -and the towns were fortified and garrisoned by armies of conflicting -partisans, each excited almost to frenzy, and determined upon mutual -extermination.” Not only that, but the territorial “treasury was -bankrupt, there were no pecuniary resources within herself to meet the -exigencies of the time; the Congressional appropriations intended to -defray the expenses of a year, were insufficient to meet the demands of -a fortnight; the laws were null, the courts virtually suspended and the -civil arm of the government almost entirely powerless.”[92] - -Governor Geary came in the nick of time and he came with peremptory -orders from the frightened government at Washington, who saw that they -must either check the whirlwind they had raised, or lose the -presidential election of 1856. For not only was there “hell in Kansas” -but the North was aflame—the very thing which John Brown and Lane and -their fellows designed. A great convention met at Buffalo and -mass-meetings were held everywhere. Clothes, money, arms, and men began -to pour out of the North. It was no longer a program of peaceful voting; -it was fight. The Southern party was certain to be swamped by an army of -men, who, though most of them had few convictions as to slavery, did not -propose to settle among slaves. The wilder pro-slavery men did not heed. -When Shannon ran away and before Geary came, they planned to strike -their blow at the free state forces. An army of nearly three thousand -was collected; one wing sacked Osawatomie and the main body was to -capture and destroy Lawrence. No sooner was this done than the force of -the United States army was to be called in to keep the conquered down. -The success of the plan at this juncture might have precipitated Civil -War in 1856 instead of 1861, and Geary hurried breathlessly to ward off -the mad blow. He succeeded, and by strenuous exertions he was able with -some truth to report in Washington before election time: “Peace now -reigns in Kansas.” - -The news, though it helped to elect Buchanan, was received but coldly in -Washington, for the Southerners knew how high a price Geary had paid. So -evidently was the governor out of favor that before the spring of 1857, -the third governor fled in mad haste from his post because of the enmity -of his own supporters. It was clear to Washington that Geary’s -recognition of the free state cause, with the heavy immigration, had -already destroyed the possibility of making Kansas a slave state. There -were still, however, certain possibilities for _finesse_ and political -maneuvering. Slaves were already in Kansas and the Dred Scott Decision -on March 6, 1857, legalized them there. Moreover, southeast Kansas, -thanks to one of the most brutal raids in its history, in the fall of -1856, was still strongly pro-slavery. The constitutional convention was -also in that party’s hands. By gracefully yielding the legislature -therefore to the patent free state majority, it seemed possible that -political manipulation might legalize the slaves already in the state. -Once this was conceded, there was still a chance to make Kansas a slave -state. The pro-slavery men, however, trained in the upheaval of 1856, -were poor material to follow and support the astute Governor Walker. -They itched for the law of the club, and made but bungling work of the -Lecompton constitution. Then too the more determined spirits in the -Territory, together with many naturally lawless elements, saw the -pro-slavery danger in southeast Kansas, and proceeded to wage guerrilla -warfare against the squatters on claims whence free state men had been -driven. It was a cruel relentless battle on both sides with murder and -rapine—the last expiring flame of the four years’ war dying down to -sullen peace in the fall of 1858, after the English bill with its bribe -of land for slaves had been killed in the spring. - -So Kansas was free. In vain did the sullen Senate in Washington fume and -threaten and keep the young state knocking for admission; the game had -been played and lost and Kansas was free. Free because the slave barons -played for an imperial stake in defiance of modern humanity and economic -development. Free because strong men had suffered and fought not against -slavery but against slaves in Kansas. Above all, free because one man -hated slavery and on a terrible night rode down with his sons among the -shadows of the Swamp of the Swan—that long, low-winding and sombre -stream “fringed everywhere with woods” and dark with bloody memory. -Forty-eight hours they lingered there, and then of a pale May morning -rode up to the world again. Behind them lay five twisted, red and -mangled corpses. Behind them rose the stifled wailing of widows and -little children. Behind them the fearful driver gazed and shuddered. But -before them rode a man, tall, dark, grim-faced and awful. His hands were -red and his name was John Brown. Such was the cost of freedom. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - THE SWAMP OF THE SWAN - - “And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the - sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his - hands hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.” - - -“Did you go out under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society?” asked -the Inquisition of John Brown in after years. He answered grimly: “No, -sir, I went out under the auspices of John Brown.” In broad outline the -story of his coming to Kansas has been told in the last chapter, but the -picture needs now to be filled in with the details of his personal -fortunes, and a more careful study of the development of his personal -character in this critical period of his career. The place of his coming -was storied and romantic. French-fathered Indians wheeling onward in -their swift canoes saw stately birds in the reedy lowlands of eastern -Kansas and called the marsh the Swamp of the Swan. Up from the dark -sluggish rivers rose rolling goodly lands over which John Brown’s -brother Edward had passed to California in 1849, and on which his -brother-in-law had settled as early as 1854. Here, too, naturally had -followed the five pioneering sons in April, 1855. They came hating -slavery and yet peacefully, unarmed, and in all good faith, with cattle -and horses and trees and vines to settle in a free land. In Missouri -they met hatred and inhospitality, and in Kansas sickness and freezing -weather. Nevertheless they were stout-hearted and hopeful, and went -bravely to work until the political storm broke, when they wrote home -hastily for arms to defend themselves. John Brown, as we have seen, -brought the arms himself, taking his son Oliver and his son-in-law Henry -with him. “We reached the place where the boys are located one week ago, -late at night,” he wrote October 13, 1855. “We had between us all, sixty -cents in cash when we arrived. We found our folks in a most -uncomfortable situation, with no houses to shelter one of them, no hay -or corn fodder of any account secured, shivering over their little -fires, all exposed to the dreadful cutting winds, morning, evening and -stormy days.” All went to work to build cabins and secure fodder, -keeping at the same time a careful eye on the political developments. On -free state election day, October 9th, “hearing that there was a prospect -of difficulty, we all turned out most thoroughly armed,” but “no enemy -appeared” and Brown was encouraged to think that the prospect of Kansas -becoming free “is brightening every day.” - -By November the settlers, he wrote, “have made but little progress, but -we have made a little. We have got a shanty three logs high, chinked and -mudded, and roofed with our tent, and a chimney so far advanced that we -can keep a fire in it for Jason. John has his shanty a little better -fixed than it was, but miserable enough now; and we have got their -little crop of beans secured, which together with johnny cake, mush and -milk, pumpkins and squashes, constitute our fare.” And he adds, “After -all God’s tender mercies are not taken from us.... I feel more and more -confident that slavery will soon die out here—and to God be the praise!” - -On November 23d he writes: “We have got both families so sheltered that -they need not suffer hereafter; have got part of the hay (which had been -in cocks) secured; made some progress in preparation to build a house -for John and Owen; and Salmon has caught a prairie wolf in a steel trap. -We continue to have a good deal of stormy weather—rains with severe -winds, and forming into ice as they fall, together with cold nights that -freeze the ground considerably. Still God has not forsaken us!”[93] - -It was thus that John Brown came to Kansas and stood ready to fight for -freedom. No sooner had he stepped on Kansas soil, however, than it was -plain to him and to others that the cause for which he was fighting was -far different from that for which most of the settlers were willing to -risk life and property. The difference came out at the first meeting of -settlers in the little Osawatomie township. Redpath says: “The -politicians of the neighborhood were carefully pruning resolutions so as -to suit every variety of anti-slavery extensionists; and more especially -that class of persons whose opposition to slavery was founded on -expediency—the selfishness of race, and caste, and interest: men who -were desirous that Kansas should be consecrated to free white labor -only, not to freedom for all and above all.” The resolution which -aroused the old man’s anger declared that Kansas should be a free white -state, thereby favoring the exclusion of Negroes and mulattoes, whether -slave or free. He rose to speak, and soon alarmed and disgusted the -politicians by asserting the manhood of the Negro race, and expressing -his earnest, anti-slavery convictions with a force and vehemence little -likely to suit the hybrids.[94] - -Nothing daunted by the cold reception of his radical ideas here, Brown -strove to extend them when a larger opportunity came at the first -beleaguering of Lawrence. It was in December, 1855, when rumors of the -surrounding of Lawrence by the governor and his pro-slavery followers -came to the Browns. The old man wrote home: “These reports appeared to -be well authenticated, but we could get no further accounts of the -matters; and I left this for the place where the boys are settled, at -evening, intending to go to Lawrence to learn the facts the next day. -John was, however, started on horseback; but before he had gone many -rods, word came that our help was immediately wanted. On getting this -last news, it was at once agreed to break up at John’s camp, and take -Wealthy and Johnnie to Jason’s camp (some two miles off), and that all -the men but Henry, Jason, and Oliver should at once set off for Lawrence -under arms; those three being wholly unfit for duty. We then set about -providing a little corn bread and meat, blankets, and cooking utensils, -running bullets and loading all our guns, pistols, etc. The five set off -in the afternoon, and after a short rest in the night (which was quite -dark), continued our march until after daylight; next morning, when we -got our breakfast, started again, and reached Lawrence in the forenoon, -all of us more or less lamed by our tramp.”[95] - -The band approached the town at sunset, looming strangely on the -horizon: an old horse, a homely wagon and seven stalwart men armed with -pikes, swords, pistols and guns. John Brown was immediately put in -command of a company. He found that already “negotiations had commenced -between Governor Shannon (having a force of some fifteen or sixteen -hundred men) and the principal leaders of the free state men, they -having a force of some five hundred men at that time. These were busy, -night and day, fortifying the town with embankments and circular -earthworks, up to the time of the treaty with the governor, as an attack -was constantly looked for, notwithstanding the negotiations then -pending. This state of things continued from Friday until Sunday -evening,”[96] when Governor Shannon was induced to enter the town and -after some parley a treaty was announced. Immediately Brown’s suspicions -were aroused. He surmised that the governor’s party had not thus lightly -given up the fight for slavery, and he feared that the leading free -state politicians had sacrificed the principles for which he was -fighting for the sake of the temporary truce. Already the drunken -governor was making conciliatory remarks to the crowd in front of the -free state hotel, the free state Governor Robinson replying, when John -Brown, mounting a piece of timber at the corner of the house, began a -fiery speech. “He said that the people of Missouri had come to Kansas to -destroy Lawrence; that they had beleaguered the town for two weeks, -threatening its destruction; that they came for blood; that he believed, -‘without the shedding of blood there is no remission’; and asked for -volunteers to go under his command, and attack the pro-slavery camp -stationed near Franklin, some four miles from Lawrence.... He demanded -to know what the terms were. If he understood Governor Shannon’s speech, -something had been conceded, and he conveyed the idea that the -territorial laws were to be observed. Those laws he denounced and spit -upon, and would never obey—no! The crowd was fired by his earnestness -and a great echoing shout arose: ‘No! No! Down with the bogus laws. Lead -us out to fight first!’ For a moment matters looked serious to the free -state leaders who had so ingeniously engineered the compromise, and they -hastened to assure Brown that he was mistaken; that there had been no -surrendering of principles on their side.”[97] The real terms of the -treaty were kept secret, but Brown with his usual loyalty accepted their -word as true and wrote exultingly home: “So ended this last Kansas -invasion,—the Missourians returning with flying colors, after incurring -heavy expenses, suffering great exposure, hardships, and privations, not -having fought any battles, burned or destroyed any infant towns or -Abolition presses; leaving the free state men organized and armed, and -in full possession of the Territory; not having fulfilled any of all -their dreadful threatenings, except to murder one unarmed man, and to -commit some robberies and waste of property upon the defenseless -families, unfortunately within their power. We learn by their papers -that they boast of a great victory over the Abolitionists; and well they -may. Free state men have only hereafter to retain the footing they have -gained, and Kansas is free.”[98] - -The Wakarusa “treaty,” however, was but a winter’s truce as John Brown -soon saw; his distrust of the compromisers and politicians grew, and he -tried to get his own channels of news from the seat of government at -Washington. “We are very anxious to know what Congress is doing. We hear -that Frank Pierce means to crush the men of Kansas. I do not know how -well he may succeed, but I think he may find his hands full before it is -all over.”[99] And Joshua R. Giddings assures him that the President -“never will dare to employ the troops of the United States to shoot the -citizens of Kansas.”[100] Yet the President did dare. Not only were -regular troops put into the hands of the Kansas slave power, but armed -bands from the South appeared, and one in particular from Georgia -encamped on the Swamp of the Swan near the Brown settlement. John -Brown’s procedure was characteristic. With his surveying instruments in -hand one May morning, he sauntered into their camp. He was immediately -taken for a government surveyor and consequently “sound on the goose,” -for “every governor sent here, every secretary, every judge, every -Indian agent, every land surveyor, every clerk in every office, believed -in making Kansas a slave state. All the money sent here by the national -government was disbursed by pro-slavery officials to pro-slavery -menials.”[101] Brown took with him, his son says, “four of my -brothers,—Owen, Frederick, Salmon, and Oliver,—as chain carriers, axman, -and marker, and found a section line which, on following, led through -the camp of these men. The Georgians indulged in the utmost freedom of -expression. One of them, who appeared to be the leader of the company, -said: ‘We’ve come here to stay. We won’t make no war on them as minds -their own business; but all the Abolitionists, such as them damned -Browns over there, we’re going to whip, drive out, or kill,—any way to -get shut of them, by God!’”[102] - -Many of the intended victims were openly mentioned, and every word said -was calmly written down in John Brown’s surveyor’s book. Soon this -information was corroborated by the Southern camp being moved nearer the -Brown settlement. Secret marauding and stealing began. Brown warned the -intended victims, and, at a night meeting, it seems to have been decided -that at the first sign of a move on the part of the “border ruffians” -the ringleaders should be seized and lynched. Not only was this the -opinion at Osawatomie, but secret councils throughout the state were -beginning to lose faith in conciliation and compromise, and to listen to -more radical advice. From Lawrence, too, there came encouragement to -John Brown to take the lead in this darker forward movement. There was -little open talk or explicit declaration, but it was generally -understood that the next aggressive move in the Swamp of the Swan meant -retaliation and that John Brown would strike the blow. - -While, however, the free state leaders were willing to let this radical -hater of slavery thus defend the frontiers of their cause, they -themselves deemed it wise still to stick to the policy of passive -resistance, and their wisdom cost them dear. On the 21st of May the -pro-slavery forces swooped on Lawrence, and burned and sacked it, while -its citizens stood trembling by and raised no hand in its defense. John -Brown knew nothing of this until it was too late to help. -Notwithstanding, he hurried to the scene, and sat down by the smoldering -ashes in grim anger. He was “indignant that there had been no -resistance; that Lawrence was not defended; and denounced the members of -the committee and leading free state men as cowards, or worse.” It -seemed to Brown nothing less than a crime for men thus to lie down and -be kicked by ruffians. “Caution, caution, sir!” he burst out at a -discreet old gentleman, “I am eternally tired of hearing that word -caution—it is nothing but the word of cowardice.”[103] Yet there seemed -nothing to do then, and he was about to break camp when a boy came up -riding swiftly. The ruffians at Dutch Henry’s crossing, he said, had -been warning the defenseless women in the Brown settlement that the free -state families must leave by Saturday or Sunday, else they would be -driven out. The Brown women, hastily gathering up their children and -valuables, had fled by ox-cart to the house of a kinsman farther away. -Two houses and a store in the German settlement had been burned. - -John Brown arose. “I will attend to those fellows,” he said grimly. -“Something must be done to show these barbarians that we too have -rights!”[104] He called four of his sons, Watson, Frederick, Owen and -Oliver, his son-in-law, Henry Thompson, and a German, whose home lay in -ashes. A neighbor with wagon and horses offered to carry the band, and -the cutlasses were carefully sharpened. An uneasy feeling crept through -the onlookers. They knew that John Brown was going to strike a blow for -freedom in Kansas, but they did not understand just what that blow would -be. There were hesitation and whispering, and one at least ventured a -mild remonstrance, but Brown shook him off in disgust. As the wagon -moved off, a cheer arose from the company left behind. - -It was two o’clock on Friday afternoon that the eight men started toward -the Swamp of the Swan. Arriving in the neighborhood they spent Saturday -in quietly and secretly investigating the situation, and in gathering -evidence of the intentions of the “border ruffians.” Although the exact -facts have never all been told, it seems clear that a meeting of the -intended victims was secured at which John Brown himself presided. -Probably it was then decided that the seven ringleaders of the projected -deviltry must be killed, and John Brown was appointed to see that the -deed was done. The men condemned were among the worst of their kind. One -was a liquor dealer in whose disreputable dive the United States court -was held. His brother, a giant of six feet four, was a thief and a bully -whose pastime was insulting free state women. The third was the -postmaster, who managed to avoid direct complicity in the crime, but -shared the spoils. Next came the probate judge, who harried the free -state men with warrants of all sorts; and lastly, three miserable -drunken tools, formerly slave-chasers who had come to Kansas with their -bloodhounds and were ready for any kind of evil. - -These were not the leaders of the pro-slavery party in Kansas, but -rather the dogs which were to worry the free state men to death. The -ringleaders sat securely hedged back of United States bayonets and the -Missouri militia, but their tools depended for their safety on -terrorizing the localities wherein they lived. Here then, said John -Brown, was the spot to strike and, once sentence of death had been -formally passed, the band hurried to its task. The saloon lay on the -creek where the great highway from Leavenworth in the northeastern part -of the state crossed on its way to Fort Scott. Around it within an -hour’s walk were the cabins of the others. In all cases the proceeding -was similar: a silent approach and a quick sharp knocking in the night. -The inmates leapt startled from their beds, for midnight rappings were -ominous there. They hesitated to open the door, but the demand was -peremptory and the door was frail. Then the dark room was filled with -shadowy figures, the man dressed quickly, the woman whimpered and -listened, but the footsteps died away and all was still. Three homes -were visited thus; two of the number could not be found, but five men -went out into the darkness with their captors and never returned. They -were led quickly into the woods and surrounded. John Brown raised his -hand and at the signal the victims were hacked to death with -broadswords. - -The deed inflamed Kansas. The timid rushed to disavow the deed. The free -state people were silent and the pro-slavery party was roused to fury. -Even the silent co-conspirators of Pottawatomie rushed to pledge -themselves “individually and collectively, to prevent a recurrence of a -similar tragedy, and to ferret out and hand over to the criminal -authorities the perpetrators for punishment.” But they took no steps to -lay hands on John Brown and as he said, their cowardice did not protect -them. Four times in four years the wrath of the avengers flamed in the -Swamp of the Swan, and swept the land in fire and blood, and the last -red breath of the expiring war in Kansas glowed in these dark ravines. - -To this day men differ as to the effect of John Brown’s blow. Some say -it freed Kansas, while others say it plunged the land back into civil -war. Truth lies in both statements. The blow freed Kansas by plunging it -into civil war, and compelling men to fight for freedom which they had -vainly hoped to gain by political diplomacy. At first it was hard to see -this, and even those sons of John Brown whom he had not taken with him, -recoiled at the news. One son says: “On the afternoon of Monday, May -26th, a man came to us at Liberty Hill, ... his horse reeking with -sweat, and said, ‘five men have been killed on the Pottawatomie, -horribly cut and mangled; and they say old John Brown did it.’ Hearing -this, I was afraid it was true, and it was the most terrible shock that -ever happened to my feelings in my life; but brother John took a -different view. The next day as we were on the east side of Middle -Creek, I asked father, ‘Did you have any hand in the killing?’ He said, -‘I did not, but I stood by and saw it.’ I did not ask further for fear I -should hear something I did not wish to hear. Frederick said, ‘I could -not feel as if it was right;’ but another of the party said it was -justifiable as a means of self-defense and the defense of others. What I -said against it seemed to hurt father very much; but all he said was, -‘God is my judge,—we were justified under the circumstances.’”[105] - -This was as much as John Brown usually said of the matter, although in -later years a friend relates: “I finally said, ‘Captain Brown, I want to -ask you one question, and you can answer it or not as you please, and I -shall not be offended.’ He stopped his pacing, looked me square in the -face, and said, ‘What is it?’ Said I, ‘Captain Brown, did you kill those -five men on the Pottawatomie, or did you not?’ He replied, ‘I did not; -but I do not pretend to say that they were not killed by my order; and -in doing so I believe I was doing God’s service.’ My wife spoke and -said, ‘Then, captain, you think that God uses you as an instrument in -His hands to kill men?’ Brown replied, ‘I think He has used me as an -instrument to kill men; and if I live, I think He will use me as an -instrument to kill a good many more!’”[106] - -No sooner was the deed known than John Brown became a hunted outlaw. Two -of his sons who had not been with him at the murders were arrested on -Lecompte’s “constructive treason” warrants because they had affiliated -with the free state movement. Horror at his father’s deed and the -cruelty of his captors drove the eldest son temporarily insane, while -the life of the other was saved only by a scrap of paper which said, “I -am aware that you hold my two sons, John and Jason, prisoners—John -Brown.”[107] The old man never wavered. He wrote home: “Jason started to -go and place himself under the protection of the government troops; but -on his way he was taken prisoner by the bogus men, and is yet a -prisoner, I suppose. John tried to hide for several days; but from -feelings of the ungrateful conduct of those who ought to have stood by -him, excessive fatigue, anxiety, and constant loss of sleep, he became -quite insane, and in that situation gave up, or, as we are told, was -betrayed at Osawatomie into the hands of the bogus men. We do not know -all the truth about this affair. He has since, we are told, been kept in -irons, and brought to a trial before bogus court, the result of which we -have not yet learned. We have great anxiety both for him and Jason, and -numerous other prisoners with the enemy (who have all the while had the -government troops to sustain them). We can only commend them to -God.”[108] - -Withdrawing to the forests, John Brown now began to organize his -followers. Thirty-five of them adopted this covenant in the summer of -1856: - -“We whose names are found on these and the next following pages, do -hereby enlist ourselves to serve in the free state cause under John -Brown as commander, during the full period of time affixed to our names -respectively and we severally pledge our word and our sacred honor to -said commander, and to each other, that during the time for which we -have enlisted, we will faithfully and punctually perform our duty (in -such capacity or place as may be assigned to us by a majority of all the -votes of those associated with us, or of the companies to which we may -belong as the case may be) as a regular volunteer force for the -maintenance of the rights and liberties of the free state citizens of -Kansas: and we further agree; that as individuals we will conform to the -by-laws of this organization and that we will insist on their regular -and punctual enforcement as a first and a last duty: and, in short, that -we will observe and maintain a strict and thorough military discipline -at all times until our term of service expires.”[109] - -A score of by-laws were added, providing for electing officers, trial by -jury, disposal of captured property, etc. Then follow these articles: - -“Art. XIV. All uncivil, ungentlemanly, profane, vulgar talk or -conversation shall be discountenanced. - -“Art. XV. All acts of petty theft, needless waste of property of the -members or of citizens are hereby declared disorderly; together with all -uncivil, or unkind treatment of citizens or of prisoners. - -“Art. XX. No person after having first surrendered himself a prisoner -shall be put to death, or subjected to corporeal punishment, without -first having had the benefit of an impartial trial. - -“Art. XXI. The ordinary use or introduction into the camp of any -intoxicating liquor, as a beverage, is hereby declared disorderly.”[110] - -Nor was this ideal of discipline merely on paper. The reporter of the -New York _Tribune_ stumbled on the camp which the authorities did not -dare to find: - -“I shall not soon forget the scene that here opened to my view. Near the -edge of the creek a dozen horses were tied, all ready saddled for a ride -for life, or a hunt after Southern invaders. A dozen rifles and sabres -were stacked against the trees. In an open space, amid the shady and -lofty woods, there was a great blazing fire with a pot on it; a woman, -bareheaded, with an honest sunburnt face, was picking blackberries from -the bushes; three or four armed men were lying on red and blue blankets -on the grass; and two fine-looking youths were standing, leaning on -their arms, on guard near by. One of them was the youngest son of old -Brown, and the other was ‘Charley,’ the brave Hungarian, who was -subsequently murdered at Osawatomie. Old Brown himself stood near the -fire, with his shirt sleeves rolled up, and a large piece of pork in his -hand. He was cooking a pig. He was poorly clad, and his toes protruded -from his boots. The old man received me with great cordiality, and the -little band gathered about me. But it was a moment only; for the captain -ordered them to renew their work. He respectfully but firmly forbade -conversation on the Pottawatomie affair; and said that, if I desired any -information from the company in relation to their conduct or intentions, -he, as their captain, would answer for them whatever it was proper to -communicate. - -“In this camp no manner of profane language was permitted; no man of -immoral character was allowed to stay, excepting as a prisoner of war. -He made prayers in which all the company united, every morning and -evening; and no food was ever tasted by his men until the divine -blessing had been asked on it. After every meal, thanks were returned to -the Bountiful Giver. Often, I was told, the old man would retire to the -densest solitudes, to wrestle with his God in secret prayer. One of his -company subsequently informed me that, after these retirings, he would -say that the Lord had directed him in visions what to do; that for -himself he did not love warfare, but peace,—only acting in obedience to -the will of the Lord, and fighting God’s battles for His children’s -sake. - -“It was at this time that the old man said to me: ‘I would rather have -the smallpox, yellow fever, and cholera all together in my camp, than a -man without principles. It’s a mistake, sir,’ he continued, ‘that our -people make, when they think that bullies are the best fighters, or that -they are the men fit to oppose those Southerners. Give me men of good -principles; God-fearing men; men who respect themselves; and, with a -dozen of them, I will oppose any hundred such men as these Buford -ruffians.’ - -“I remained in the camp about an hour. Never before had I met such a -band of men. They were not earnest but earnestness incarnate.”[111] - -A member of the band says: - -“We stayed here up to the morning of Sunday, the first of June, and -during these few days I fully succeeded in understanding the exalted -character of my old friend. He exhibited at all times the most -affectionate care for each of us. He also attended to cooking. We had -two meals daily, consisting of bread made of flour, baked in skillets; -this was washed down with creek water, mixed with a little ginger and a -spoon of molasses to each pint. Nevertheless we kept in excellent -spirits; we considered ourselves as one family, allied to one another by -the consciousness that it was our duty to undergo all these privations -to further the good cause; had determined to share any danger with one -another, that victory or death might find us together. We were united as -a band of brothers by the love and affection toward the man who with -tender words and wise counsel, in the depth of the wilderness of Ottawa -Creek, prepared a handful of young men for the work of laying the -foundation of a free commonwealth. His words have ever remained firmly -engraved in my mind. Many and various were the instructions he gave -during the days of our compulsory leisure in this camp. He expressed -himself to us that we should never allow ourselves to be tempted by any -consideration to acknowledge laws and institutions to exist as of right, -if our conscience and reason condemned them. He admonished us not to -care whether a majority, no matter how large, opposed our principles and -opinions. The largest majorities were sometimes only organized mobs, -whose howlings never changed black into white, or night into day. A -minority conscious of its rights, based on moral principles, would, -under a republican government, sooner or later become the majority. -Regarding the curse and crimes of the institution of slavery, he -declared that the outrages committed in Kansas to further its extension -had directed the attention of all intelligent citizens of the United -States and of the world to the necessity of its abolishment, as a -stumbling-block in the path of nineteenth century civilization; that -while it was true that the pro-slavery people and their aiders and -abettors had the upper hand at present, and the free state organization -dwindled to a handful hid in the brush, nevertheless, we ought to be of -good cheer, and start the ball to rolling at the first opportunity, no -matter whether its starting motion would even crush us to death. We were -under a protection of a wise Providence, which might use our feeble -efforts. - -“Occasionally Captain Brown also gave us directions for our conduct -during a fight, for attack and retreat. Time and again he entreated us -never to follow the example of the border ruffians, who took a delight -in destruction; never to burn houses or fences, so often done by the -enemy. Free state people could use them to advantage. Repeatedly he -admonished us not to take human life except when absolutely necessary. -Plunder taken from the enemy should be common property, to be used for -continuance of the struggle; horses to go to recruits, cattle and -provision to poor free state people.”[112] - -To this band of men the surrounding country, which was already feeling -the first retaliatory blows of the pro-slavery party, now looked for -aid, and Brown stood ever ready. His men, however, could form but the -nucleus of a spirited defense and for a time the settlers hesitated to -join the band until Brown threatened to withdraw. “Why did you send -Carpenter after us? I am not willing to sacrifice my men without having -some hope of accomplishing something,”[113] he demanded of a hesitating -emissary, and turning to his men he said: “If the cowardice and -indifference of the free state people compel us to leave Kansas, what do -you say, men, if we start south, for instance to Louisiana, and get up a -Negro insurrection, and thereby compel them to let go their grip on -Kansas, and so bring relief to our friends here?” Frederick Brown jumped -up and said: “I am ready.”[114] - -The petty outrages of the Georgia guerrillas now so increased in -boldness and in frequency that a company was hastily formed which called -Brown’s men to the defense of a neighboring village. “We will be with -you,” cried Brown, and thus he told the story of what followed to the -folks at home: - -“The cowardly mean conduct of Osawatomie and vicinity did not save them; -for the ruffians came on them, made numerous prisoners, fired their -buildings, and robbed them. After this a picked party of the bogus men -went to Brown’s Station, burned John’s and Jason’s houses, and their -contents to ashes; in which burning we have all suffered more or less. -Orson and boy have been prisoners, but we soon set them at liberty. They -are well, and have not been seriously injured. Owen and I have just come -here for the first time to look at the ruins. All looks desolate and -forsaken,—the grass and weeds fast covering up the signs that these -places were lately the abodes of quiet families. After burning the -houses, this self-same party of picked men, some forty in number, set -out as they supposed, and as was the fact, on the track of my little -company, boasting with awful profanity, that they would have our scalps. -They, however, passed the place where we hid, and robbed a little town -some four or five miles beyond our camp in the timber. I had omitted to -say that some murders had been committed at the time Lawrence was -sacked. - -“On learning that this party was in pursuit of us, my little company, -now increased to ten in all, started after them in company of a Captain -Shore, with eighteen men, he included (June 1st). We were all mounted as -we traveled. We did not meet them on that day, but took five prisoners, -four of whom were of their scouts, and well armed. We were out all -night, but could find nothing of them until about six o’clock next -morning, when we prepared to attack them at once, on foot, leaving -Frederick and one of Captain Shore’s men to guard the horses. As I was -much older than Captain Shore, the principal direction of the fight -devolved on me. We got to within about a mile of their camp before being -discovered by their scouts, and then moved at a brisk pace, Captain -Shore and men forming our left, and my company the right. When within -about sixty rods of the enemy, Captain Shore’s men halted by mistake in -a very exposed situation, and continued the fire, both his men and the -enemy being armed with Sharps rifles. My company had no long shooters. -We (my company) did not fire a gun until we gained the rear of a bank, -about fifteen or twenty rods to the right of the enemy, where we -commenced, and soon compelled them to hide in a ravine. Captain Shore, -after getting one man wounded, and exhausting his ammunition, came with -part of his men to the right of my position, much discouraged. The -balance of his men, including the one wounded, had left the ground. Five -of Captain Shore’s men came boldly down and joined my company, and all -but one man, wounded, helped to maintain the fight until it was over. I -was obliged to give my consent that he should go after more help, when -all his men left but eight, four of whom I persuaded to remain in a -secure position, and there busied them in the horses and mules of the -enemy, which served for a show of fight. After the firing had continued -for some two to three hours, Captain Pate with twenty-three men, two -badly wounded, laid down their arms to nine men, myself included,—four -of Captain Shore’s men and four of my own. One of my men (Henry -Thompson) was badly wounded, and after continuing his fire for an hour -longer, was obliged to quit the ground. Three others of my company (but -not of my family) had gone off. Salmon was dreadfully wounded by -accident, soon after the fight; but both he and Henry are fast -recovering. - -“A day or two after the fight, Colonel Sumner of the United States army -came suddenly upon us, while fortifying our camp and guarding our -prisoners (which, by the way, it had been agreed mutually should be -exchanged for as many free state men, John and Jason included), and -compelled us to let go our prisoners without being exchanged, and to -give up their horses and arms. They did not go more than two or three -miles before they began to rob and injure free state people. We consider -this in good keeping with the cruel and unjust course of the -administration and its tools throughout this whole Kansas difficulty. -Colonel Sumner also compelled us to disband; and we, being only a -handful, were obliged to submit. - -“Since then we have, like David of old, had our dwellings with the -serpents of the rocks and wild beasts of the wilderness, being obliged -to hide away from our enemies. We are not disheartened, though nearly -destitute of food, clothing, and money. God, who has not given us over -to the will of our enemies, but has moreover delivered them into our -hand, will, we humbly trust, still keep and deliver us. We feel assured -that He who sees not as men see, does not lay the guilt of innocent -blood to our charge.”[115] - -It was John Brown’s hope that the courage engendered by the striking -success of the fight at Black Jack, would spread the spirit of -resistance to the whole free state party. Lawrence, then the capital, -was still surrounded by a chain of forts held by bands of pro-slavery -marauders: one at Franklin just east of the city; another just south and -known as Fort Saunders; and a third between Lawrence and the pro-slavery -capital, Lecompton, known as Fort Titus. When it was rumored that the -United States troops would disperse the free state legislature about to -meet at Topeka, John Brown hurried thither, hoping that resistance would -begin here and sweep the Territory. One of the free state leaders met -him at Lawrence and journeyed with him toward Topeka. Brown and he took -the main road as far as Big Springs, he says, and continues: - -“There we left the road, going in a southwesterly direction for a mile, -when we halted on a hill, and the horses were stripped of their saddles, -and picketed out to graze. The grass was wet with dew. The men ate of -what provision they had with them, and I received a portion from the -captain,—dry beef (which was not so bad), and bread made from corn -bruised between stones, then rolled in balls and cooked in the ashes of -the camp-fire. Captain Brown observed that I nibbled it very gingerly, -and said, ‘I am afraid you will be hardly able to eat a soldier’s harsh -fare.’ - -“We next placed our two saddles together, so that our heads lay only a -few feet apart. Brown spread his blanket on the wet grass, and when we -lay together upon it, mine was spread over us. It was past eleven -o’clock, and we lay there until two in the morning, but we slept none. -He seemed to be as little disposed to sleep as I was, and we talked; or -rather he did, for I said little. I found that he was a thorough -astronomer; he pointed out the different constellations and their -movements. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘it is midnight,’ as he pointed to the -finger-marks of his great clock in the sky. The whispering of the wind -on the prairie was full of voices to him, and the stars as they shone in -the firmament of God seemed to inspire him. ‘How admirable is the -symmetry of the heaven; how grand and beautiful! Everything moves in -sublime harmony in the government of God. Not so with us poor creatures. -If one star is more brilliant than others, it is continually shooting in -some erratic way into space.’ - -“He criticized both parties in Kansas. Of the pro-slavery men he said -that slavery besotted everything, and made men more brutal and -coarse—nor did the free state men escape his sharp censure. He said that -we had many noble and true men, but too many broken-down politicians -from the older states, who would rather pass resolutions than act, and -who criticized all who did real work. A professional politician, he went -on, you never could trust; for even if he had convictions, he was always -ready to sacrifice his principles for his advantage. One of the most -interesting things in his conversation that night, and one that marked -him as a theorist, was his treatment of our forms of social and -political life. He thought that society ought to be organized on a less -selfish basis; for while material interests gained something by the -deification of pure selfishness, men and women lost much by it. He said -that all great reforms, like the Christian religion, were based on -broad, generous, self-sacrificing principles. He condemned the sale of -land as a chattel, and thought that there was an indefinite number of -wrongs to right before society would be what it should be, but that in -our country slavery was the ‘sum of all villanies,’ and its abolition -the first essential work. If the American people did not take courage -and end it speedily, human freedom and republican liberty would soon be -empty names in these United States.” - -Early next morning the party pressed on until they came in sight of the -town. Brown would not enter but sent a messenger ahead, and the narrator -continues: - -“As he wrung my hand at parting, he urged that we should have the -legislature meet, resist all who should interfere with it, and fight, if -necessary, even the United States troops. He had told me the night -before of his visit to many of the fortifications in Europe, and -criticized them sharply, holding that modern warfare did away with them, -and that a well-armed brave soldier was the best fortification. He -criticized all the arms then in use, and showed me a fine -repeating-rifle which he said would carry eight hundred yards; but he -added, ‘The way to fight is to press to close quarters.’”[116] - -The Topeka journey was in vain. The legislature quietly dispersed at the -command of Colonel Sumner, and John Brown saw that his only hope of -stirring up effective resistance lay in Lane’s “army” of immigrants, -then approaching the northern boundaries of Kansas, with whom was his -son-in-law’s brother. Taking, therefore, his wounded son-in-law and -leaving his band, he pressed forward alone on a dangerous and wearisome -way of one hundred and fifty miles through the enemy’s country. Hinton -saw him as he rode into one of the camps and says: - -“‘Have you a man in your camp named William Thompson? You are from -Massachusetts, young man, I believe, and Mr. Thompson joined you at -Buffalo.’ These words were addressed to me by an elderly man, riding a -worn-looking, gaunt gray horse. It was on a late July day, and in its -hottest hours. I had been idly watching a wagon and one horse, toiling -slowly northward across the prairie, along the emigrant trail that had -been marked out by free state men under command of ‘Sam’ Walker and -Aaron D. Stevens, who was then known as ‘Colonel Whipple.’ John Brown, -whose name the young and ardent had begun to conjure with and swear by, -had been described to me. So, as I heard the question, I looked up and -met the full, strong gaze of a pair of luminous, questioning eyes. -Somehow I instinctively knew this was John Brown, and with that name I -replied, saying that Thompson was in our company. It was a long, -rugged-featured face I saw. A tall, sinewy figure, too (he had -dismounted), five feet eleven, I estimated, with square shoulders, -narrow flank, sinewy and deep-chested. A frame full of nervous power, -but not impressing one especially with muscular vigor. The impression -left by the pose and the figure was that of reserve, endurance, and -quiet strength. The questioning voice-tones were mellow, magnetic, and -grave. On the weather-worn face was a stubby, short, gray beard, -evidently of recent growth.... This figure,—unarmed, poorly clad, with -coarse linen trousers tucked into high, heavy cowhide boots, with heavy -spurs on their heels, a cotton shirt opened at the throat, a long torn -linen duster, and a bewrayed chip straw hat he held in his hand as he -waited for Thompson to reach us, made up the outward garb and appearance -of John Brown when I first met him. In ten minutes his mounted figure -disappeared over the north horizon.”[117] - -Pushing on northward, Brown found asylum for his wounded follower at -Tabor, Ia. Returning, he joined the main body of Lane’s men at Nebraska -City. Here again arose divided counsels. Radical leaders like Lane and -Brown were proscribed men, and United States troops stood on the borders -of Iowa to prevent the entrance of armed bodies. It was decided, -therefore, that Lane must not enter with the immigrants, and a letter to -this effect was brought to him by Samuel Walker, a free state leader. -Walker says: - -“After reading it he sat for a long time with his head bowed and the -tears running down his cheeks. Finally he looked up and said: ‘Walker, -if you say the people of Kansas don’t want me, it’s all right, and I’ll -blow my brains out. I can never go back to the states, and look the -people in the face, and tell them that as soon as I got these Kansas -friends of mine fairly into danger I had to abandon them. I can’t do it. -No matter what I say in my own defense, no one will believe it. I’ll -blow my brains out and end the thing right here.’ ‘General,’ said I, -‘the people of Kansas would rather have you than all the party at -Nebraska City. I have got fifteen good boys that are my own. If you will -put yourself under my orders I’ll take you through all right.’”[118] - -Thus Walker, Lane, and John Brown with a party of thirty stole into -Kansas and started anew the flame of civil war. - -Brown’s old company, organized early in 1858, was mounted and brought to -the front, and a systematic effort was made by Lane to free Lawrence -from its beleaguering forts. The first attack was directed against -Franklin on the night of August 12th, and as ex-Senator Atchison of -Missouri indignantly reported: “Three hundred Abolitionists, under this -same Brown, attacked the town of Franklin, robbed, plundered and burned, -took all the arms in town, broke open and destroyed the post-office, -captured the old cannon ‘Sacramento,’ which our gallant Missourians -captured in Mexico, and are now turning its mouth against our -friends.”[119] Two days later the little army turned southward to Fort -Saunders. Lane deployed his forces before it with John Brown’s cavalry -on his right wing. A charge was ordered and the garrison fled to the -woods, leaving an untasted dinner and large stores of goods. On August -16th, Fort Titus on the road to Lecompton was besieged with cannon, and -finally fired by a load of hay; Colonel Titus, a Georgian, was captured -and John Brown and other leaders wanted to hang him, for he was one of -the most brutal of the border-ruffian commanders. Sam Walker, however, -saved his neck. - -So furious had been this short campaign that the pro-slavery party sued -for a truce. Walker tells how “on the following day Governor Shannon and -Major Sedgwick came to Lawrence to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. -They held about thirty of our men and we forty of theirs. It was agreed -to ‘swap even,’ we surrendering all their men, including Titus; they to -hand over all our men and cannon they had captured at the sacking of -Lawrence. I insisted very strongly on this last point of the contract, -for when the gun was taken I swore I would have it back within six -months. I had the pleasure of escorting our prisoners to Sedgwick’s -camp, and receiving the cannon and the prisoners held by the enemy -there, in exchange.”[120] - -The whirlwind of guerrilla warfare now swept back to the dark ravines of -the Swamp of the Swan. After the murders of May came the first counter -attack of early June, culminating in the battle of Black Jack. This -check quelled the pro-slavery party a while and they began manning the -forts around Lawrence. On August 5th the free state men struck a -retaliating blow while John Brown was absent in Nebraska, although he -was credited with being present by the Missouri newspapers. Similar -skirmishes followed, and the advantage was now so completely with the -free state forces, that a final crushing blow was planned by the slave -party of Missouri. Manifestoes swept the state, and “No quarter” was the -motto. The Missourians responded with alacrity and a great mass crossed -the border divided into two wings. The lesser attacked Osawatomie and a -newspaper in Missouri said: - -“The attack on Osawatomie was by part of an army of eleven hundred and -fifty men, of whom Atchison was major-general. General Reid with two -hundred and fifty men and one piece of artillery, moved on to attack -Osawatomie; he arrived near that place and was attacked by two hundred -Abolitionists under the command of the notorious John Brown, who -commenced firing upon Reid from a thick chaparral four hundred yards -off. General Reid made a successful charge, killing thirty-one, and -taking seven prisoners. Among the killed was Frederick Brown. The -notorious John Brown was also killed, by a pro-slavery man named White, -in attempting to cross the Marais des Cygnes. The pro-slavery party have -five wounded. On the same day Captain Hays, with forty men, attacked the -house of the notorious Ottawa Jones, burned it, and killed two -Abolitionists. Jones fled to the cornfield, was shot by Hays, and is -believed to be dead.”[121] - -But John Brown was not dead and was ever after known as “Osawatomie” -Brown. He wrote home September 7th saying: - -“I have one moment to write to you, to say that I am yet alive, that -Jason and family were well yesterday; John and family, I hear, are well -(he being yet a prisoner). On the morning of the 30th of August an -attack was made by the ruffians on Osawatomie, numbering some four -hundred, by whose scouts our dear Frederick was shot dead without -warning,—he supposing them to be free state men, as near as we can -learn. One other man, a cousin of Mr. Adair, was murdered by them about -the same time that Frederick was killed, and one badly wounded at the -same time. At this time I was about three miles off, where I had some -fourteen or fifteen men over night that I had just enlisted to serve -under me as regulars. These I collected as well as I could, with some -twelve or fifteen more; and in about three-quarters of an hour I -attacked them from a wood with thick undergrowth. With this force we -threw them into confusion for about fifteen or twenty minutes, during -which time we killed or wounded from seventy to eighty of the enemy,—as -they say,—and then we escaped as well as we could, with one killed while -escaping, two or three wounded, and as many more missing. Four or five -free state men were butchered during the day in all. Jason fought -bravely by my side during the fight, and escaped with me, he being -unhurt. I was struck by a partly-spent grape, canister, or rifle shot, -which bruised me some, but did not injure me seriously. Hitherto the -Lord has helped me.”[122] - -A cheer went up from all free Kansas over this vigorous defense, and for -once there was unanimity among the leaders of the free state cause. -Robinson, the wariest of them, wrote: “I cheerfully accord to you my -heartfelt thanks for your prompt, efficient, and timely action against -the invaders of our rights and the murderers of our citizens. History -will give your name a proud place on her pages, and posterity will pay -homage to your heroism in the cause of God and humanity.”[123] - -Meantime the Missourians, after their hard-won victory, hastened back to -join the larger wing of the invaders, and so disconcerting was their -report, that when Lane made a feint against them, they started to -retreat. Governor Woodson’s call for the “territorial militia,” however, -heartened them and gave them legal standing. By September 15th they were -threatening Kansas again with nearly 3,000 men. The nation, however, was -now aroused and the new governor, Geary, with orders to make peace at -all costs, was hurrying forward. Among the first whom he summoned to -secret conference was John Brown. Brown came to Lawrence and was -leaving, satisfied with Geary’s promises, when the invading army of -Missourians suddenly appeared before the city. He immediately returned -to the town, where there were only 200 fighting men. He was asked to -take command of the defense but declined, preferring to act with his -usual independence. About five o’clock Monday, the 15th, he mounted a -dry-goods box on Main Street opposite the post-office and spoke to the -people: - -“Gentlemen,—it is said that there are twenty-five hundred Missourians -down at Franklin, and that they will be here in two hours. You can see -for yourselves the smoke they are making by setting fire to the houses -in that town. Now is probably the last opportunity you will have of -seeing a fight, so that you had better do your best. If they should come -up and attack us, don’t yell and make a great noise, but remain -perfectly silent and still. Wait until they get within twenty-five yards -of you; get a good object; be sure you see the hind sight of your -gun,—then fire. A great deal of powder and lead and very precious time -is wasted by shooting too high. You had better aim at their legs than at -their heads. In either case, be sure of the hind sights of your guns. It -is from this reason that I myself have so many times escaped; for if all -the bullets which have ever been aimed at me had hit me, I would have -been as full of holes as a riddle.”[124] - -It was a desperate situation. The free state forces were scattered, -leaving but a handful to face an army. But in that handful was John -Brown, and the invaders knew it, and advanced cautiously. Redpath who -was with Brown says: “About five o’clock in the afternoon, their -advance-guard, consisting of four hundred horsemen, crossed the -Wakarusa, and presented themselves in sight of the town, about two miles -off, when they halted, and arrayed themselves for battle, fearing, -perhaps, to come within too close range of Sharps rifle balls. Brown’s -movement now was a little on the offensive order; for he ordered out all -the Sharps riflemen from every part of the town,—in all not more than -forty or fifty,—marched them a half mile into the prairie, and arranged -them three paces apart, in a line parallel with that of the enemy; and -then they lay down upon their faces in the grass, awaiting the order to -fire.”[125] - -The invaders hesitated, halted and then retired. John Brown says: - -“I know of no possible reason why they did not attack and burn that -place except that about one hundred free state men volunteered to go out -on the open plain before the town and there give them the offer of a -fight, which they declined after getting some few scattering shots from -our men, and then retreated back toward Franklin. I saw that whole -thing. The government troops at this time were with Governor Geary at -Lecompton, a distance of twelve miles only from Lawrence, and, -notwithstanding several runners had been to advise him in good time of -the approach or of the setting out of the enemy, who had to march some -forty miles to reach Lawrence, he did not on that memorable occasion get -a single soldier on the ground until after the enemy had retreated back -to Franklin, and had been gone for about five hours. He did get the -troops there about midnight afterward; and that is the way he saved -Lawrence, as he boasts of doing in his message to the bogus legislature! - -“This was just the kind of protection the administration and its tools -have afforded the free state settlers of Kansas from the first. It has -cost the United States more than a half million, for a year past, to -harass poor free state settlers in Kansas, and to violate all law, and -all right, moral and constitutional, for the sole and only purpose of -forcing slavery upon that territory. I challenge this whole nation to -prove before God or mankind the contrary. Who paid this money to enslave -the settlers of Kansas and worry them out? I say nothing in this -estimate of the money wasted by Congress in the management of this -horrible, tyrannical, and damnable affair.”[126] - -The withdrawal, however, was but temporary and it seems hardly possible -that Lawrence could have escaped a second capture and burning had not -Geary thrown himself into the breach with great earnestness. As he -reported: “Fully appreciating the awful calamities that were impending, -I hastened with all possible dispatch to the encampment, assembled the -officers of the militia, and in the name of the President of the United -States demanded a suspension of hostilities. I had sent, in advance, the -secretary and adjutant-general of the Territory, with orders to carry -out the letter and spirit of my proclamations; but up to the time of my -arrival, these orders had been unheeded, and I discovered but little -disposition to obey them. I addressed the officers in command at -considerable length, setting forth the disastrous consequences of such a -demonstration as was contemplated, and the absolute necessity of more -lawful and conciliatory measures to restore peace, tranquillity, and -prosperity to the country. I read my instructions from the President, -and convinced them that my whole course of procedure was in accordance -therewith, and called upon them to aid me in my efforts, not only to -carry out these instructions, but to support and enforce the laws and -the Constitution of the United States.”[127] - -Without doubt Geary especially emphasized the fact that another sacking -of Lawrence would possibly defeat Buchanan and elect Frémont. What -chance would there be then for the pro-slavery party? - -The Missourians were thus induced to retreat, partly by Geary’s logic, -partly perhaps by John Brown’s resolute handling of his patently -inadequate but nevertheless efficient force. They marched back home, -leaving a trail of flame and ashes—the last and largest Missouri -invasion of Kansas, the culmination and failure of the pro-slavery -policy of force. - -Geary now began successfully to cope with the Kansas situation. His most -puzzling problem was John Brown and his ilk. His experience soon led him -to see the righteousness of the free state cause, but he had to insist -on law and order even under the “bogus” laws, promising equitable -treatment in the future. Immediately the free state party split into its -old divisions: the small body of irreconcilables like John Brown, who -were fighting slavery in Kansas and everywhere; and the far larger mass -of compromisers like Robinson, whose only object was to make a free -state of Kansas, and who were willing to concede all else. Under such -circumstances the best move was to get rid of John Brown. To have sought -to arrest him would have precipitated civil war again. Could he not be -induced quietly to leave on promise of immunity? Accordingly, Geary -issued a warrant against Brown, but gave it into the hands of the -friendly Samuel Walker whom he had previously asked to warn the old man. -Brown was not loath. His work in Kansas, so far as he could then see, -was done. The state was bound to be free and further than that few -Kansans cared. They had no enmity toward slavery as such which called -them to a crusade; far from regarding Negroes as brothers, they disliked -them and were willing to disfranchise them and crowd them from the -state. - -Among such folk there was no place for John Brown. His greater mission -called him. Kansas had been an interlude only, although for a time he -hoped to make it the chief battle-ground. Now he knew better and again -the Alleghanies beckoned. To be sure, he owed Kansas much. Here he had -passed through his baptism of fire, and had offered the sacrifice of -blood to his God. He was sterner stuff now, ready to go whithersoever -the Master called; and he heard Him calling. Not only had he learned a -method of warfare in Kansas—he had learned to know a band of simple -honest young fellows, hot with the wine of youth, hero-worshipers ready -to do and dare in a great cause. Thus the worst difficulties of the past -disappeared and the way lay clear. Only one thing oppressed him—he was -old and sick, a tired, toil-racked man. Could he live and do the Lord’s -will? - -His company of regulators was formally disbanded but left spiritually -intact, and he started north late in September, 1856, taking with him -his four sons, John, Jr., who had at last been released, Jason, Salmon, -and Oliver, and also, true to his cause, a fugitive slave whom he had -chanced upon. As he moved northward the United States troops, unaware of -Geary’s diplomacy, shadowed and all but captured him. Yet he passed -safely through their very midst with his old wagon and cow and the -hidden slave, displaying his surveyor’s instruments. Thus silently John -Brown disappeared from Kansas, and for a year nothing was heard of him -in his former haunts. Only his near friends knew that he had gone -eastward, and a few of them hinted at his great mission. Matters moved -swiftly in Kansas. There was more and more evident a free state -majority. But would the pro-slavery administration let it be counted? -The new governor was trying to save something for his masters, but the -irreconcilables of the Lane and John Brown type doubted it. - -“I bless God,” wrote Brown in April, “that He has not left the free -state men of Kansas to pollute themselves by the foul and loathsome -embrace.... I have been trembling all along lest they might ‘back down’ -from the high and holy ground they had taken. I say in view of the -wisdom, firmness and patience of my friends and fellow sufferers in the -cause of humanity, let the Lord’s name be eternally praised!”[128] -Notwithstanding this attitude of many of the free state party, they were -prevailed upon to vote in the state election of October, 1857. As a -concession, however, Lane was appointed to guard the ballot-boxes and, -hearing that John Brown was back again in Iowa, he sent for him in hot -haste. His messengers found the old man sick and disappointed among his -staunch Quaker friends at Tabor. Brown offered to come if supplied with -“three good teams, with well-covered wagons, and ten really ingenious, -industrious (not gassy) men, with about one hundred and fifty dollars in -cash.”[129] These demands were not met until too late, so that Brown -returned the money and did not appear in Kansas until the election was -over, and the free state forces had triumphed. This had now but passing -interest for him. He had other objects in Kansas and flitted noiselessly -about among the picked men who had promised their aid. Then he -disappeared again. Eight months passed away, when suddenly another -Kansas outrage startled the nation. It was the last vengeful echo of -that first night of murder in the Swamp of the Swan. In 1856 Linn and -Bourbon counties, some miles below the original Brown settlement, had -been cleared of free state settlers. In 1857 these settlers ventured to -return and found the pro-slavery forces centred at Fort Scott, waiting -for Congress to pass the Lecompton constitution. Thus in 1857 and 1858 -the expiring horror of Kansas guerrilla warfare centred in southeast -Kansas. The pro-slavery forces saw the state slipping from them, but -they determined by desperate blows to plant slavery so deeply in the -counties next to Missouri that no free state majority could possibly -uproot it. To accomplish this it was necessary again to drive off the -free state settlers. The settlers objected and led by James Montgomery, -there ensued a series of bloody reprisals culminating in May, 1858, two -years after the first May massacre. A Georgian with a remnant of -Buford’s band again rode down amid the calm silent beauty of the Swamp -of the Swan. They gathered eleven unarmed farmers from their fields and -homes and marched them to a gloomy ravine near Snyder’s blacksmith shop; -there the party killed four and badly wounded six others, leaving them -all for dead. - -The echoes of this last desperate blow had scarcely died before John -Brown appeared on the scene and attempted to buy and fortify the very -blacksmith shop where the murders were done. He writes to Eastern -friends: - -“I am here with about ten of my men, located on the same quarter-section -where the terrible murders of the 19th of May were committed, called the -Hamilton or trading-post murders. Deserted farms and dwellings lie in -all directions for some miles along the line, and the remaining -inhabitants watch every appearance of persons moving about, with anxious -jealousy and vigilance. Four of the persons wounded or attacked on that -occasion are staying with me. The blacksmith Snyder, who fought the -murderers, with his brother and son are of the number. Old Mr. -Hairgrove, who was terribly wounded at the same time, is another. The -blacksmith returned here with me and intends to bring back his family on -to his claim within two or three days. A constant fear of new trouble -seems to prevail on both sides of the line, and on both sides are -companies of armed men. Any little affair may open the quarrel afresh. -Two murders and cases of robbery are reported of late. I have also a man -with me who fled from his family and farm in Missouri but a day or two -since, his life being threatened on account of being accused of -informing Kansas men of the whereabouts of one of the murderers, who was -lately taken and brought to this side. I have concealed the fact of my -presence pretty much, lest it should tend to create excitement; but it -is getting leaked out, and will soon be known to all. As I am not here -to seek or secure revenge, I do not mean to be the first to reopen the -quarrel. How soon it may be raised against me, I cannot say; nor am I -over-anxious.”[130] - -He quickly had fifteen of his former companions in arms organized as -“Shubel Morgan’s Company” under the old regulations, and he eagerly -sought out and coöperated with Captain Montgomery. The vigil was long -and wearisome. “I had lain every night without shelter,” he writes, -“suffering from cold rains and heavy dews, together with the oppressive -heat of the days.”[131] Hinton met Brown at this time and found him not -only unwell but “somewhat more impatient and nervous in his manner than -I had ever before observed. Soon after my arrival, he remarked again in -conversation as to the various public men in the Territory. Captain -Montgomery’s name was introduced, and I inquired how Mr. Brown liked -him. The captain was quite enthusiastic in praise of him, avowing a most -perfect confidence in his integrity and purposes. ‘Captain Montgomery,’ -he said, ‘is the only soldier I have met among the prominent Kansas men. -He understands my system of warfare exactly. He is a natural chieftain, -and knows how to lead.’ - -“Of his own early treatment at the hands of ambitious ‘leaders,’ to -which I alluded in bitter terms, he said: - -“‘They acted up to their instincts, as politicians. They thought every -man wanted to lead, and therefore supposed I might be in the way of -their schemes. While they had this feeling, of course they opposed me. -Many men did not like the manner in which I conducted warfare, and they -too opposed me. Committees and councils could not control my movements; -therefore they did not like me. But politicians and leaders soon found -that I had different purposes and forgot their jealousy. They have all -been kind to me since.’ - -“Further conversation ensued relative to the free state struggle, in -which I, criticizing the management of it from an anti-slavery point of -view, pronounced it, ‘an abortion.’ Captain Brown looked at me with a -peculiar expression in the eyes, as if struck by the word and in a -musing manner remarked, ‘Abortion!—yes, that’s the word!’ - -“‘For twenty years,’ he said, ‘I have never made any business -arrangement which would prevent me at any time answering the call of the -Lord. I have kept my business in such a condition, that in two weeks I -could always wind up my affairs, and be ready to obey the call. I have -permitted nothing to be in the way of my duty, neither my wife, -children, nor worldly goods. Whenever the occasion offered, I was ready. -The hour is very near at hand, and all who are willing to act should be -ready.’”[132] - -During the fall John Brown coöperated with Montgomery in his guerrilla -warfare, and laid out miniature fortifications with his men. While he -himself was not personally present in Montgomery’s fights, he usually -helped plan them and sent his men along. Meantime winter set in and John -Brown knew that hostilities would cease. Once again he turned to his -long and exasperatingly interrupted life-work. Just after the famous -raid on Fort Scott, he had a chance not only to begin his greater work -but to strike a blow at slavery right in Kansas. Hinton says: “On the -Sunday following the expedition of Fort Scott, as I was scouting down -the line, I ran across a colored man, whose ostensible purpose was the -selling of brooms. He soon solved the problem as to the propriety of -making a confidant of me, and I found that his name was Jim Daniels; -that his wife, self, and babies belonged to an estate, and were to be -sold at administrator’s sale in the immediate future. His present -business was not selling of brooms particularly, but to find help to get -himself, family, and a few friends in the vicinity away from these -threatened conditions. Daniels was a fine-looking mulatto. I immediately -hunted up Brown, and it was soon arranged to go the following night and -give what assistance we could. I am sure that Brown, in his mind, was -just waiting for something to turn up; or, in his way of thinking, was -expecting or hoping that God would provide him a basis of action. When -this came, he hailed it as heaven-sent.”[133] - -John Brown himself told the story in the New York _Tribune_: - -“Not one year ago eleven quiet citizens of this neighborhood,—William -Robertson, William Colpetzer, Amos Hall, Austin Hall, John Campbell, Asa -Snyder, Thomas Stillwell, William Hairgrove, Asa Hairgrove, Patrick -Ross, and B. L. Reed,—were gathered up from their work and their homes -by an armed force under one Hamilton, and without trial or opportunity -to speak in their own defense were formed into line, and all but one -shot,—five killed and five wounded. One fell unharmed, pretending to be -dead. All were left for dead. The only crime charged against them was -that of being free state men. Now, I inquire what action has ever, since -the occurrence in May last, been taken by either the President of the -United States, the governor of Missouri, the governor of Kansas, or any -of their tools, or by any pro-slavery or administration man, to ferret -out and punish the perpetrators of this crime. - -“Now for the other parallel. On Sunday, December 19th, a Negro man -called Jim came over to Osage settlement, from Missouri, and stated that -he, together with his wife, two children, and another Negro man, was to -be sold within a day or two, and begged for help to get away. On Monday -(the following) night, two small companies were made up to go to -Missouri and forcibly liberate the five slaves, together with other -slaves. One of these companies I assumed to direct. We proceeded to the -place, surrounding the buildings, liberated the slaves, and also took -certain property supposed to belong to the estate. We, however, learned -before leaving that a portion of the articles we had belonged to a man -living on the plantation as a tenant, and who was supposed to have no -interest in the estate. We promptly returned to him all we had taken. We -then went to another plantation, where we found five more slaves, took -some property and two white men. We all moved slowly away into the -Territory for some distance, and then sent the white men back, telling -them to follow us as soon as they chose to do so. The other company -freed one female slave, took some property, and, as I am informed, -killed one white man (the master), who fought against the liberation. - -“Now for comparison. Eleven persons are forcibly restored to their -natural and inalienable rights, with but one man killed, and all ‘hell -is stirred from beneath.’ It is currently reported that the governor of -Missouri has made a requisition upon the governor of Kansas for the -delivery of all such as were concerned in the last named ‘dreadful -outrage.’ The marshal of Kansas is said to be collecting a posse of -Missouri (not Kansas) men at West Point, in Missouri, a little town -about ten miles distant, to ‘enforce the laws.’ All pro-slavery, -conservative, free state, and dough-face men and administration tools -are filled with holy horror.”[134] - -One of the slaves, Samuel Harper, afterward told of this wonderful -_katabasis_ of a thousand miles in the teeth of the elements and in -defiance of the law: - -“It was mighty slow traveling. You see there were several different -parties amongst our band, and our masters had people looking all over -for us. We would ride all night, and then maybe, we would have to stay -several days in one house to keep from getting caught. In a month we had -only got to a place near Topeka, which was about forty miles from where -we started. There was twelve of us at the one house of a man named -Doyle, besides the captain and his men, when there came along a gang of -slave-hunters. One of Captain Brown’s men, Stevens, he went down to them -and said:—‘Gentlemen, you look as if you were looking for somebody or -something.’ ‘Aye, yes!’ says the leader, ‘we think as how you have some -of our slaves up yonder in that there house.’ ‘Is that so?’ says -Stevens. ‘Well, come on right along with me, and you can look them over -and see.’ - -“We were watching this here conversation all the time, and when we see -Stevens coming up to the house with that there man, we just didn’t know -what to make of it. We began to get scared that Stevens was going to -give us to them slave-hunters. But the looks of things changed when -Stevens got up to the house. He just opened the door long enough for to -grab a double-barreled gun. He pointed it at the slave-hunter, and says: -‘You want to see your slaves, does you? Well, just look up them barrels -and see if you can find them.’ That man just went all to pieces. He -dropped his gun, his legs went trembling, and the tears most started -from his eyes. Stevens took and locked him up in the house. When the -rest of his crowd seen him captured, they ran away as fast as they could -go. - -“Captain Brown went to see the prisoner, and says to him, ‘I’ll show you -what it is to look after slaves, my man.’ That frightened the prisoner -awful. He was a kind of old fellow and when he heard what the captain -said, I suppose he thought he was going to be killed. He began to cry -and beg to be let go. The captain he only smiled a little bit, and -talked some more to him, and the next day he was let go. - -“A few days afterward, the United States marshal came up with another -gang to capture us. There was about seventy-five of them, and they -surrounded the house, and we was all afraid we was going to be took for -sure. But the captain he just said, ‘Get ready, boys, and we’ll whip -them all.’ There was only fourteen of us altogether, but the captain was -a terror to them, and when he stepped out of the house and went for them -the whole seventy-five of them started running. Captain Brown and Kagi -and some others chased them, and captured five prisoners. There was a -doctor and lawyer amongst them. They all had nice horses. The captain -made them get down. Then he told five of us slaves to mount the beasts -and we rode them while the white men had to walk. It was early in the -spring, and the mud on the roads was away over their ankles. I just tell -you it was mighty tough walking, and you can believe those fellows had -enough of slave-hunting. The next day the captain let them all go. - -“Our masters kept spies watching till we crossed the border. When we got -to Springdale, Ia., a man came to see Captain Brown, and told him there -was a lot of friends down in a town in Kansas that wanted to see him. -The captain said he did not care to go down, but as soon as the man -started back, Captain Brown followed him. When he came back, he said -there was a whole crowd coming up to capture us. We all went up to the -schoolhouse and got ourselves ready to fight. - -“The crowd came and hung around the schoolhouse a few days, but they -didn’t try to capture us. The governor of Kansas, he telegraphed to the -United States marshal at Springdale: ‘Capture John Brown, dead or -alive.’ The marshal he answered: ‘If I try to capture John Brown it’ll -be dead, and I’ll be the one that’ll be dead.’ Finally those Kansas -people went home, and then that same marshal put us in a car and sent us -to Chicago. It took us over three months to get to Canada.... What kind -of a man was Captain Brown? He was a great big man, over six feet tall, -with great big shoulders, and long hair, white as snow. He was a very -quiet man, awful quiet. He never even laughed. After we was free we was -wild of course, and we used to cut up all kinds of foolishness. But the -captain would always look as solemn as a graveyard. Sometimes he just -let out the tiniest bit of a smile, and says: ‘You’d better quit your -fooling and take up your book.’”[135] - -On the 12th of March, 1859, nearly three months after the starting, John -Brown landed his fugitives safely in Canada “under the lion’s paw.” The -old man lifted his hands and said: “Lord, permit Thy servant to die in -peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation! I could not brook the -thought that any ill should befall you,—least of all, that you should be -taken back to slavery. The arm of Jehovah protected us.”[136] - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE GREAT PLAN - - “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of - wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go - free, and that ye break every yoke?” - - -“Sir, the angel of the Lord will camp round about me,” said John Brown -with stern eyes when the timid foretold his doom.[137] With a steadfast -almost superstitious faith in his divine mission, the old man had walked -unscathed out of Kansas in the fall of 1856, two years and a half before -the slave raid into Missouri related in the last chapter. In his mind -lay a definitely matured plan for attacking slavery in the United States -in such a way as would shake its very foundations. The plan had been -long forming, and changing in shape from 1828, when he proposed a Negro -school in Hudson, until 1859 when he finally fixed on Harper’s Ferry. At -first he thought to educate Negroes in the North and let them leaven the -lump of slaves. Then, moving forward a step, he determined to settle in -a border state and educate slaves openly or clandestinely and send them -out as emissaries. As gradually he became acquainted with the great work -and wide ramifications of the Underground Railroad, he conceived the -idea of central depots for running off slaves in the inaccessible -portions of the South, and he began studying Southern geography with -this in view. He noted the rivers, swamps and mountains, and more -especially, the great struggling heights of the Alleghanies, which swept -from his Pennsylvania home down to the swamps of Virginia, Carolina and -Georgia. His Kansas experiences suggested for a time the southwest -pathway to Louisiana by the swamps of the Red and Arkansas Rivers, but -this was but a passing thought; he soon reverted to the great spur of -the Alleghanies. - -“I never shall forget,” writes Thomas Wentworth Higginson, “the quiet -way in which he once told me that ‘God had established the Alleghany -Mountains from the foundation of the world that they might one day be a -refuge for fugitive slaves.’ I did not know then that his own home was -among the Adirondacks.”[138] - -More and more, as he thought and worked, did his great plan present -itself to him clearly and definitely until finally it stood in 1858 as -Kagi told it to Hinton: - -“The mountains of Virginia were named as the place of refuge, and as a -country admirably adapted in which to carry on guerrilla warfare. In the -course of the conversation, Harper’s Ferry was mentioned as a point to -be seized, but not held,—on account of the arsenal. The white members of -the company were to act as officers of different guerrilla bands, which, -under the general command of John Brown, were to be composed of Canadian -refugees, and the Virginia slaves who would join them. A different time -of the year was mentioned for the commencement of the warfare from that -which had lately been chosen. It was not anticipated that the first -movement would have any other appearance to the masters than a slave -stampede, or local insurrection, at most. The planters would pursue -their chattels and be defeated. The militia would then be called out, -and would also be defeated. It was not intended that the movement should -appear to be of large dimension, but that, gradually increasing in -magnitude, it should, as it opened, strike terror into the heart of the -slave states by the amount of the organization it would exhibit, and the -strength it gathered. They anticipated, after the first blow had been -struck, that, by the aid of the free and Canadian Negroes who would join -them, they could inspire confidence in the slaves, and induce them to -rally. No intention was expressed of gathering a large body of slaves, -and removing them to Canada. On the contrary, Kagi clearly stated, in -answer to my inquiries, that the design was to make the fight in the -mountains of Virginia, extending it to North Carolina, and Tennessee, -and also to the swamps of South Carolina if possible. Their purpose was -not the extradition of one or a thousand slaves, but their liberation in -the states wherein they were born, and were now held in bondage. ‘The -mountains and swamps of the South were intended by the Almighty,’ said -John Brown to me afterward, ‘for a refuge for the slave, and a defense -against the oppressor.’ Kagi spoke of having marked out a chain of -counties extending continuously through South Carolina, Georgia, -Alabama, and Mississippi. He had traveled over a large portion of the -region indicated, and from his own personal knowledge, and with the -assistance of Canadian Negroes who had escaped from those states, they -had arranged a general plan of attack. - -“The counties he named were those which contained the largest proportion -of slaves, and would, therefore, be the best in which to strike. The -blow struck at Harper’s Ferry was to be in the spring, when the planters -were busy, and the slaves most needed. The arms in the arsenal were to -be taken to the mountains, with such slaves that joined. The telegraph -wires were to be cut, and the railroad tracks torn up in all directions. -As fast as possible other bands besides the original ones were to be -formed, and a continuous chain of posts established in the mountains. -They were to be supported by provisions taken from the farms of the -oppressors. They expected to be speedily and constantly reënforced; -first, by the arrival of those men, who, in Canada, were anxiously -looking and praying for the time of deliverance, and then by the slaves -themselves. The intention was to hold the egress to the free states as -long as possible, in order to retreat when that was advisable. Kagi, -however, expected to retreat southward, not in the contrary direction. -The slaves were to be armed with pikes, scythes, muskets, shotguns, and -other simple instruments of defense; the officers, white or black, and -such of the men as were skilled and trustworthy, to have the use of the -Sharps rifles and revolvers. They anticipated procuring provisions -enough for subsistence by forage, as also arms, horses, and ammunition. -Kagi said one of the reasons that induced him to go into the enterprise -was a full conviction that at no very distant day forcible efforts for -freedom would break out among the slaves, and that slavery might be more -speedily abolished by such efforts, than by any other means. He knew by -observation in the South, that in no point was the system so vulnerable -as in its fear of slave-rising. Believing that such a blow would soon be -struck, he wanted to organize it so as to make it more effectual, and -also, by directing and controlling the Negroes, to prevent some of the -atrocities that would necessarily arise from the sudden upheaval of such -a mass as the Southern slaves.”[139] - -The knowledge of the country was obtained by personal inspection. Kagi -and others of Brown’s lieutenants went out on trips; the old man himself -had been in western, northern and southern Virginia, and his Negro -friends especially knew these places and routes. One of Brown’s men -writes: - -“My object in wishing to see Mr. Reynolds, who was a colored man (very -little colored, however), was in regard to a military organization -which, I had understood, was in existence among the colored people. He -assured me that such was the fact, and that its ramifications extended -through most, or nearly all, of the slave states. He, himself, I think, -had been through many of the slave states visiting and organizing. He -referred me to many references in the Southern papers, telling of this -and that favorite slave being killed or found dead. These, he asserted, -must be taken care of, being the most dangerous element they had to -contend with. He also asserted that they were only waiting for Brown, or -some one else to make a successful initiative move when their forces -would be put in motion. None but colored persons could be admitted to -membership, and, in part to corroborate his assertions, he took me to -the room in which they held their meetings and used as their arsenal. He -showed me a fine collection of arms. He gave me this under the pledge of -secrecy which we gave to each other at the Chatham Convention. - -“On my return to Cleveland he passed me through the organization, first -to J. J. Pierce, colored, at Milan, who paid my bill over night at the -Eagle Hotel, and gave me some money, and a note to E. Moore, at Norwalk, -who in turn paid my hotel bill and purchased a railroad ticket through -to Cleveland for me.”[140] - -Speaking of this league, Hinton also says: - -“As one may naturally understand, looking at conditions then existing, -there existed something of an organization to assist fugitives and for -resistance to their masters. It was found all along the borders from -Syracuse, New York, to Detroit, Michigan. As none but colored men were -admitted into direct and active membership with this ‘League of -Freedom,’ it is quite difficult to trace its workings or know how far -its ramifications extended. One of the most interesting phases of slave -life, so far as the whites were enabled to see or impinge upon it, was -the extent and rapidity of communication among them. Four geographical -lines seem to have been chiefly followed. One was that of the coast -south of the Potomac, whose almost continuous line of swamps from the -vicinity of Norfolk, Va., to the northern border of Florida afforded a -refuge for many who could not escape and became ‘marooned’ in their -depths, while giving facility to the more enduring to work their way out -to the North Star Land. The great Appalachian range and its abutting -mountains were long a rugged, lonely, but comparatively safe route to -freedom. It was used, too, for many years. Doubtless a knowledge of that -fact, for John Brown was always an active Underground Railroad man, had -very much to do, apart from its immediate use strategically considered, -with the captain’s decision to begin operations therein. Harriet Tubman, -whom John Brown met for the first time at St. Catherines in March or -April, 1858, was a constant user of the Appalachian route.”[141] - -The trained leadership John Brown found in his Kansas experience, and -his wide acquaintance with colored men; the organization of the Negroes -culminated in a convention at Chatham, Canada. The raising of money for -this work, as time went on, was more and more the object of his various -occupations and commercial ventures. These visions of personal wealth to -be expended for great deeds failed because the pressure of work for the -ideal overcame the pressure of work for funds to finance it. When once -he discovered at Syracuse men of means, ready to pay the expenses of men -of deeds, he dropped all further thought of his physical necessities, -gave himself to the cause and called on them for money. In his earlier -calls he regards this not as charity but as wages. He said once: “From -about the 20th of May of last year hundreds of men like ourselves lost -their whole time, and entirely failed of securing any kind of crop -whatever. I believe it safe to say that five hundred free state men lost -each one hundred and twenty-five days, at $1.50 per day, which would be, -to say nothing of attendant losses, $90,000. I saw the ruins of many -free state men’s houses at different places in the Territory, together -with stacks of grain wasted and burning, to the amount of, say $50,000; -making, in lost time and destruction of property, more than -$150,000.”[142] - -And again: “John Brown has devoted the service of himself and two minor -sons to the free state cause for more than a year; suffered by the fire -before named and by robbery; has gone at his own cost for that period, -except that he and his company together have received forty dollars in -cash, two sacks of flour, thirty-five pounds bacon, thirty-five pounds -sugar, and twenty pounds rice. - -“I propose to serve hereafter in the free state cause (provided my -needful expenses can be met), should that be desired; and to raise a -small regular force to serve on the same condition. My own means are so -far exhausted that I can no longer continue in the service at present -without the means of defraying my expenses are furnished me.”[143] - -Finally, however, he had to appeal more directly to philanthropy. He was -especially encouraged by the Kansas committees. These committees had -sprung up in various ways and places in 1854, but had nearly all united -in Thayer’s New England Emigrant Aid Company in 1855. This company -proposed to aid free state emigration as an investment, but it failed in -this respect because of the political troubles, and the panic of 1857. -It did, however, arouse great interest throughout the nation. The -National Kansas Committee, formed after the sacking of Lawrence, was -more belligerent than philanthropic in its projects, while the Boston -Relief Committee was distinctly radical. John Brown had some connection -with Thayer’s company, but his hopes were especially built on the -National Kansas Committee, which Lane had done so much to bring into -being, and to which Gerrit Smith contributed many thousands of dollars. - -Leaving Kansas secretly in October, 1856, John Brown hastened to the -Chicago headquarters of this National Kansas Committee with a proposal -that they equip a company for him. The Chicago committee referred this -proposal to a full meeting of the members to be held in New York in -January. John Brown immediately started East, clad in new clothes which -the committee furnished and armed with letters from the governors of -Kansas and Ohio. Gerrit Smith welcomed him and said: “Captain John -Brown,—you did not need to show me letters from Governor Chase and -Governor Robinson to let me know who and what you are. I have known you -for many years, and have highly esteemed you as long as I have known -you. I know your unshrinking bravery, your self-sacrificing benevolence, -your devotion to the cause of freedom, and have long known them. May -Heaven preserve your life and health, and prosper your noble -purpose!”[144] - -But his half-brother in Ohio wrote: - -“Since the trouble growing out of the settlement of the Kansas -Territory, I have observed a marked change in brother John. Previous to -this, he devoted himself entirely to business; but since these troubles -he has abandoned all business, and has become wholly absorbed by the -subject of slavery. He had property left him by his father, and of which -I had the agency. He has never taken a dollar of it for the benefit of -his family, but has called for a portion of it to be expended in what he -called the Service. After his return to Kansas he called on me, and I -urged him to go home to his family and attend to his private affairs; -that I feared his course would prove his destruction and that of his -boys.... He replied that he was sorry that I did not sympathize with -him; that he knew that he was in the line of his duty, and he must -pursue it, though it should destroy him and his family. He stated to me -that he was satisfied that he was a chosen instrument in the hands of -God to war against slavery. From his manner and from his conversation at -this time, I had no doubt he had become insane upon the subject of -slavery, and gave him to understand that this was my opinion of -him!”[145] - -Mrs. George L. Stearns, the wife of the Massachusetts anti-slavery -leader, writes: - -“At this juncture, Mr. Stearns wrote to John Brown, that if he would -come to Boston and consult with the friends of freedom, he would pay his -expenses. They had never met, but ‘Osawatomie Brown’ had become a -cherished household name during the anxious summer of 1856. Arriving in -Boston they were introduced to each other in the street by a Kansas man, -who chanced to be with Mr. Stearns on his way to the committee rooms in -Nilis’s Block, School Street. Captain Brown made a profound impression -on all who came within the sphere of his moral magnetism. Emerson called -him ‘the most ideal of men, for he wanted to put all his ideas into -action.’ His absolute superiority to all selfish aims and narrowing -pride of opinion touched an answering chord in the self-devotion of Mr. -Stearns. A little anecdote illustrates the modest estimate of the work -he had in hand. After several efforts to bring together certain friends -to meet Captain Brown at his home, in Medford, he found that Sunday was -the only day that would serve their several conveniences, and being a -little uncertain how it might strike his ideas of religious propriety, -he prefaced his invitation with something like an apology. With -characteristic promptness came the reply: ‘Mr. Stearns, I have a little -ewe-lamb that I want to pull out of the ditch, and the Sabbath will be -as good a day as any to do it.’ - -“It may not be out of place to describe the impression he made upon the -writer on this first visit. When I entered the parlor, he was sitting -near the hearth, where glowed a bright, open fire. He rose to greet me, -stepping forward with such an erect, military bearing, such fine -courtesy of demeanor and grave earnestness, that he seemed to my instant -thought some old Cromwellian hero suddenly dropped down before me; a -suggestion which was presently strengthened by his saying (proceeding -with the conversation my entrance had interrupted), ‘Gentlemen, I -consider the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence one and -inseparable; and it is better that a whole generation of men, women, -children should be swept away than that this crime of slavery should -exist one day longer.’ These words were uttered like rifle balls; in -such emphatic tones and manner that our little Carl, not three years -old, remembered it in manhood as one of his earliest recollections. The -child stood perfectly still, in the middle of the room, gazing with his -beautiful eyes on this new sort of a man, until his absorption arrested -the attention of Captain Brown, who soon coaxed him to his knee, though -the look and childlike wonder remained. His dress was of some dark brown -stuff, quite coarse, but its exactness and neatness produced a singular -air of refinement. At dinner, he declined all dainties, saying that he -was unaccustomed to luxuries, even to partaking of butter. - -“The ‘friends of freedom,’ with whom Mr. Stearns had invited John Brown -to consult, were profoundly impressed with his sagacity, integrity, and -devotion; notably among these were R. W. Emerson, Theodore Parker, H. D. -Thoreau, A. Bronson Alcott, F. B. Sanborn, Dr. S. G. Howe, Col. T. W. -Higginson, Governor Andrew, and others.”[146] - -Sanborn says: - -“He came to me with a note of introduction from George Walker of -Springfield—both of us being Kansas committee men, working to maintain -the freedom of that Territory, and Brown had been one of the fighting -men there in the summer of 1856, just before. His theory required -fighting in Kansas; it was the only sure way, he thought, to keep that -region free from the curse of slavery. His mission now was to levy war -on it, and for that to raise and equip a company of a hundred well-armed -men who should resist aggression in Kansas, or occasionally carry the -war into Missouri. Behind that purpose, but not yet disclosed, was his -intention to use the men thus put into the field for incursions into -Virginia or other slave states. Our State Kansas Committee, of which I -was secretary, had a stock of arms that Brown wished to use for this -company, and these we voted to him. They had been put in the custody of -the National Committee at Chicago, and it was needful to follow up our -vote by similar action in the National Committee. For this purpose I was -sent to a meeting of that committee at the Astor House, in New York, as -the proxy of Dr. Howe and Dr. Samuel Cabot—both members of the National -Committee. I met Brown there, and aided him in obtaining from the -meeting an appropriation of $5,000 for his work in Kansas, of which, -however, he received only $500. The committee also voted to restore the -custody of two hundred rifles to the Massachusetts committee which -bought them, well knowing that we should turn them over to John Brown, -as we did. He found them at Tabor, Ia., in the following September, and -took possession; it was with part of these rifles that he entered -Virginia two years later. - -“At this Astor House meeting Brown was closely questioned by some of the -National Committee, particularly by Mr. Hurd of Chicago, as to what he -would do with money and arms. He refused to pledge himself to use them -solely in Kansas, and declared that his past record ought to be a -sufficient guarantee that he should employ them judiciously. If we chose -to trust him, well and good, but he would neither make pledges nor -disclose his plans. Mr. Hurd had some inkling that Brown would not -confine his warfare to Kansas, but the rest of us were willing to trust -Brown, and the money was voted.”[147] - -John Brown immediately made a careful estimate of the cost of the -necessary equipment which with “two weeks of provisions for men and -horses” amounted to $1,774. The funds of the committee, however, were -low and the officers suspicious; in April they informed Brown: “The -committee are at present out of money, and compelled to decline sending -you the five hundred dollars you speak of. They are sorry this has -become the case, but it was unavoidable. I need not state to you all the -reasons why. The country has stopped sending us contributions, and we -have no means of replenishing our treasury. We shall need to have aid -from some quarter to enable us to meet our present engagements.”[148] - -Immediately Brown set out to raise his own funds and for three months -worked fervently. Just before the Dred Scott Decision he spoke to the -Massachusetts legislature from which his friends hoped to secure an -appropriation for Kansas. This failed, and Brown started on a tour in -New England. He spoke at his old home and made a contract for securing -one thousand pikes near there. He showed a Kansas bowie-knife and said: -“Such a blade as this, mounted upon a strong shaft, or handle, would -make a cheap and effective weapon. Our friends in Kansas are without -arms or money to get them; and if I could put such weapons into their -hands, they could make them very useful. A resolute woman, with such a -pike, could defend her cabin door against man or beast.”[149] - -In Hartford he spoke and said: - -“I am trying to raise from twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars in the -free states to enable me to continue my efforts in the cause of freedom. -Will the people of Connecticut, my native state, afford me some aid in -this undertaking? Will the gentlemen and ladies of Hartford, where I -make my appeal in this state, set the example of an earnest effort? Will -some gentleman or lady take hold and try what can be done by small -contributions from counties, cities, towns, societies, or churches, or -in some other way? I think the little beggar children in the street are -sufficiently interested to warrant their contributing, if there was any -need of it, to secure the object. - -“I was told that the newspapers in a certain city were dressed in -mourning on hearing that I was killed and scalped in Kansas, but I did -not know of it until I reached the place. Much good it did me. In the -same place I met a more cool reception than in any other place where I -have stopped. If my friends will hold up my hands while I live, I will -freely absolve them from any expense over me when I am dead. I do not -ask for pay, but shall be most grateful for all the assistance I can -get.”[150] - -On the day that Buchanan was inaugurated and two days before the Dred -Scott Decision, he published a similar appeal in the New York _Tribune_ -“with no little sacrifice of personal feeling.” Once he writes: “I am -advised that one of Uncle Sam’s hounds is on my track, and I have kept -myself hid for a few days to let my track get cold. I have no idea of -being taken, and intend (if God will) to go back with irons in, rather -than upon, my hands.”[151] - -Dr. Wayland met him in Worcester where a Frederick Douglass meeting was -being arranged just after Taney’s decision and says: “I called at the -house of Eli Thayer, afterward member of Congress from that district, to -ask him to sit on the platform. Here I found a stranger, a man of tall, -gaunt form, with a face smooth-shaven, destitute of full beard, that -later became a part of history. The children were climbing over his -knees; he said, ‘The children always come to me.’ I was then introduced -to John Brown of Osawatomie. How little one imagined then that in less -than three years the name of this plain homespun man would fill America -and Europe! Mr. Brown consented to occupy a place on the platform, and -at the urgent request of the audience, spoke briefly. It is one of the -curious facts, that many men who _do_ it are utterly unable to _tell_ -about it. John Brown, a flame of fire in action, was dull in -speech.”[152] - -Later in the same month Brown accompanied Sanborn and Conway to -ex-Governor Reeder’s home in Pennsylvania to induce him to return to -Kansas, but he declined. April 1st found Brown back in Massachusetts, -where for a week or more he was again in hiding from United States -officers, probably among his Negro friends in Springfield. It was in -April, too, that he took another step in his plan, namely, toward -securing military training for his band. He stated according to Realf -that, “for twenty or thirty years the idea had possessed him like a -passion of giving liberty to the slaves; that he made a journey to -England, during which he made a tour upon the European continent, -inspecting all fortifications, and especially all earthwork forts which -he could find, with a view of applying the knowledge thus gained, with -modifications and inventions of his own, to a mountain warfare in the -United States. He stated that he had read all the books upon -insurrectionary warfare, that he could lay his hands on: the Roman -warfare, the successful opposition of the Spanish chieftains during the -period when Spain was a Roman province,—how, with ten thousand men, -divided and subdivided into small companies, acting simultaneously, yet -separately, they withstood the whole consolidated power of the Roman -Empire through a number of years. In addition to this he had become very -familiar with the successful warfare waged by Schamyl, the Circassian -chief, against the Russians; he had posted himself in relation to the -wars of Toussaint L’Ouverture; he had become thoroughly acquainted with -the wars in Hayti and the islands round about.”[153] - -Despite his own knowledge, however, he felt the need of expert advice, -and meeting a former lieutenant of Garibaldi, one Hugh Forbes, he was -captivated by him, and forthwith hired him to drill his men. Forbes was -an excitable, ill-balanced Englishman, who had fought in Italy and at -last landed penniless in New York. He thought Brown simply an agent of -wealthy and powerful interests and that the whole North was ready to -attack slavery. He proposed translating and publishing a manual of -guerrilla warfare and John Brown gave him $600 for this work. He was -then to join the leader and they would together go to the West and -gather and drill a company. This large outlay left John Brown but little -in his purse, for, after all, his efforts had been disappointing, and he -departed from New England with a quaint half-sarcastic “Farewell to the -Plymouth Rocks, Bunker Hill monuments, Charter Oaks and Uncle Tom’s -Cabins.” He wrote: - -“He has left for Kansas; has been trying since he came out of the -Territory to secure an outfit, or, in other words, the means of arming -and thoroughly equipping his regular minutemen, who are mixed up with -the people of Kansas. And he leaves the states with the deepest sadness, -that after exhausting his own small means, and with his family and with -his brave men suffering hunger, cold, nakedness, and some of them -sickness, wounds, imprisonment in irons with extreme cruel treatment, -and others death; that, lying on the ground for months in the most -sickly, unwholesome, and uncomfortable places, some of the time with the -sick and wounded, destitute of shelter, hunted like wolves, and -sustained in part by Indians; that after all this, in order to sustain a -cause which every citizen of this ‘glorious Republic’ is under equal -moral obligation to do, and for the neglect of which he will be held -accountable by God,—a cause in which every man, woman, and child of the -entire human family has a deep and awful interest,—that when no wages -are asked or expected, he cannot secure, amid all wealth, luxury, and -extravagance of this ‘heaven-exalted’ people, even the necessary -supplies of the common soldier. ‘How are the mighty fallen!’ - -“I am destitute of horses, baggage wagons, tents, harness, saddles, -bridles, holsters, spurs, and belts; camp equipage, such as cooking and -eating utensils, blankets, knapsacks, intrenching tools, axes, shovels, -spades, mattocks, crowbars; have not a supply of ammunition; have not -money sufficient to pay freight and traveling expenses; and left my -family poorly supplied with common necessaries.”[154] - -Forbes also disappointed him by his delay, lingering in New York and not -appearing in Iowa until August. Brown, who had been sick again, was -nevertheless pushing matters among his Kansas friends. He wrote in June: -“There are some half-dozen men I want a visit from at Tabor, Ia., to -come off in the most quiet way; ... I have some very important matters -to confer with some of you about. Let there be no words about it.”[155] - -Arriving at Tabor early in August, Brown’s first business was to secure -the arms voted him. Because of a previous failure to equip emigrants at -points further east, the Massachusetts Kansas State Committee had sent -200 Sharps rifles to Tabor, Ia. Here they were stored in a minister’s -barn until John Brown called for and removed them. Hugh Forbes finally -arrived August 9th, bringing with him copies of his “Manual for the -Patriotic Volunteer.” Brown wrote home that he and his son Owen were -“beginning to take lessons and have, we think, a capable teacher.” - -Differences, however, soon arose. Forbes wanted $100 per month in -addition to the $600 previously paid, while Brown apparently considered -that he had already advanced a half year’s wage. Then too matters were -on a meaner scale than Forbes had dreamed; there was no money, few -followers and little glory in sight. He felt himself duped; he despised -Brown’s ability and proposed taking full command himself, projecting -slave raids into Missouri and other states. Brown was obdurate, and -early in November, the foreign tactician suddenly left for the East. -This disturbed Brown’s plans. He had intended to establish two or three -military schools, one in Iowa, one in northern Ohio and one in Canada. -Forbes’s desertion made him determine to give up the Iowa school and -hasten to Ohio. He therefore passed quickly to Kansas, arriving in the -vicinity of Lawrence, November 5, 1857. - -Cook says: - -“I met him at the house of E. B. Whitman, about four miles from -Lawrence, K. T., which, I think, was about the first of November -following. I was told that he intended to organize a company for the -purpose of putting a stop to the aggressions of the pro-slavery men. I -agreed to join him and was asked if I knew of any other young men who -were perfectly reliable whom I thought would join also. I recommended -Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, and R. J. Hinton. I received a note on the -next Sunday morning, while at breakfast in the Whitney House, from -Captain Brown, requesting me to come up that day, and to bring Realf, -Parsons, and Hinton with me. Realf and Hinton were not in town, and -therefore I could not extend to them the invitation. Parsons and myself -went and had a long talk with Captain Brown. A few days afterward I -received another note from Captain Brown, which read, as near as I can -recollect, as follows: - -“‘CAPTAIN COOK:—Dear Sir—You will please get everything ready to join me -at Topeka by Monday night next. Come to Mrs. Sheridan’s, two miles south -of Topeka, and bring your arms, ammunition, clothing and other articles -you may require. Bring Parsons with you if he can get ready in time. -Please keep very quiet about this matter. Yours, etc., - - JOHN BROWN.’ - -“I made all my arrangements for starting at the time appointed. Parsons, -Realf, and Hinton could not get ready. I left them at Lawrence, and -started in a carriage for Topeka. Stopped at a hotel over night, and -left early next morning for Mrs. Sheridan’s to meet Captain Brown. Staid -a day and a half at Mrs. S.’s—then left for Topeka, at which place we -were joined by Whipple, Moffett, and Kagi. Left Topeka for Nebraska -City, and camped at night on the prairie northeast of Topeka. Here, for -the first, I learned that we were to leave Kansas to attend a military -school during the winter. It was the intention of the party to go to -Ashtabula County, Ohio.”[156] - -In this way Brown enlisted John E. Cook, whom he had met about the time -of the turn of the battle of Black Jack; Luke F. Parsons, who was a -member of his old Kansas company; and Richard Realf, a newspaper man. At -Topeka Aaron D. Stevens, a veteran free state fighter, joined, with -Charles W. Moffett, an Iowa man, and John Henry Kagi, who became his -right hand. With these six he returned to Tabor, where he found William -H. Seeman and Charles Plummer Tidd, two of his former followers; Richard -Richardson, an intelligent Negro fugitive; and his son Owen. This party -of eleven started hurriedly for Ashtabula, O., late in November. -“Good-bye,” said John Brown, “you will hear from me. We’ve had enough -talk about ‘bleeding Kansas.’ I will make a bloody spot at another point -to be talked about.”[157] - -So the band started and pressed on their lonely way over two hundred and -fifty miles across the wild wastes of Iowa until they came to the -village of Springdale, about fifty miles from the Missouri. This was a -little settlement intensely anti-slavery in sentiment. Here Brown had -planned to stop long enough to sell his teams and then proceed by -railroad, eastward. The panic of this year, beginning late in August, -was by December in full swing, and he found himself without funds, and -with no remittances from the East. He therefore decided to have his men -spend the winter at Springdale while he went East alone. The Quakers -received them gladly and they were quartered at a farmhouse three miles -from the village, where they paid only a dollar a week for board. The -winter passed pleasantly but busily. - -Stevens was made drill-master; all arose at five, breakfasted, studied -until ten and drilled from ten to twelve. In the afternoon they -practiced gymnastics and shooting at targets. Five nights in the week a -mock legislature was held either at the home or in the schoolhouse near -by. Sometimes Realf and others listened to the townspeople, and there -was much visiting. Before John Brown left for the East, he revealed his -plans in part to his landlord and two other citizens of Springdale. - -“Some time toward spring, John Brown came to my house one Sunday -afternoon,” said this man. “He informed me that he wished to have some -private talk with me; we went into the parlor. He then told me his plans -for the future. He had not then decided to attack the armory at Harper’s -Ferry, but intended to take some fifty to one hundred men into the hills -near the Ferry and remain there until he could get together quite a -number of slaves, and then take what conveyances were needed to -transport the Negroes and their families to Canada. And in a short time -after the excitement had abated, to make a strike in some other Southern -state; and to continue on making raids, as opportunity offered, until -slavery ceased to exist. I did my best to convince him that the -probabilities were that all would be killed. He said that, as for -himself, he was willing to give his life for the slaves. He told me -repeatedly, while talking, that he believed he was an instrument in the -hands of God through which slavery would be abolished. I said to him: -‘You and your handful of men cannot cope with the whole South.’ His -reply was: ‘I tell you, Doctor, it will be the beginning of the end of -slavery.’ He also told me that but two of his men, Kagi and Stevens, -knew what his intentions were.”[158] - -The landlord several times sat late into the night arguing with Brown -about his plans. Some of the neighbors were persuaded to join the band, -among them the two Coppocs, and George B. Gill, a Canadian. Stewart -Taylor also enlisted there. Hinton, however, still supposed the -battle-ground would be Kansas. He says: - -“There was no attempt to make a secret of their drilling, and as Gill -shows and Cook stated in his ‘confession,’ the neighborhood folks all -understood that this band of earnest young men were preparing for -something far out of the ordinary. Of course Kansas was presumed to be -the objective point. But generally the impression prevailed that when -the party moved again, it would be somewhere in the direction of the -slave states. The atmosphere of those days was charged with disturbance. -It is difficult to determine how many of the party actually knew that -John Brown designed to invade Virginia. All the testimony goes to show -that it is most probable that not until after the assembling at the -Maryland farm in 1859 was there a full, definite announcement of -Harper’s Ferry as the objective point. That he fully explained his -purpose to make reprisals on slavery wherever the opportunity offered is -without question, but except to Owen, who was vowed to work in his early -youth, and Kagi, who informed me at Osawatomie in July, 1858, that Brown -gave him his fullest confidence upon their second interview at Topeka in -1857, there is every reason to believe that among the men the details of -the intended movement were matters of after confidence. My own -experience illustrates this. I was absent from Lawrence when John Brown -recruited his little company. He had left already for Iowa before I -returned. I met Realf just as he was leaving, and we talked without -reserve, he assuring me that the purpose was just to prepare a fighting -nucleus for resisting the enforcement of the Lecompton Constitution, -which it was then expected Congress might try to impose upon us. Through -this, advantage was to be taken of the agitation to prepare for a -movement against slavery in Missouri, Arkansas, the Indian Territory and -possibly Louisiana. At Kagi’s request (with whom I maintained for nearly -two years an important, if irregular, correspondence), I began a -systematic investigation of the conditions, roads and topography of the -Southwest, visiting a good deal of the Indian Territory, with portions -of southwest Missouri, western Arkansas, and northern Texas, also, under -the guise of examining railroad routes, etc.”[159] - -Forbes in the meantime hurried East, nursing his wrath. He had all of a -foreigner’s difficulty in following the confused threads of another -nation’s politics at a critical time. He classed Seward, Wilson, Sumner, -Phillips and John Brown together as anti-slavery men who were ready to -attack the institution _vi et armis_. This movement which he proposed to -lead had been started, and then, as he supposed, shamelessly neglected -by its sponsors while he had been thrust upon the tender mercies of John -Brown. He was angry and penniless and he intended to have reparation. He -first sought out Frederick Douglass, but was received coldly. He appears -to have been more successful with McCune Smith and the New York group of -Negro leaders. He immediately, too, began to address letters to -prominent Republicans. - -John Brown was annoyed at Forbes’s behavior but seems at first not to -have taken it seriously. He left his men at Springdale, and started East -in January, arriving at Douglass’s Rochester home in February. Douglass -says: - -“He desired to stop with me several weeks, but added, ‘I will not stay -unless you will allow me to pay board.’ Knowing that he was no trifler, -but meant all he said, and desirous of retaining him under my roof, I -charged him three dollars a week. While here he spent most of his time -in correspondence. He wrote often to George L. Stearns, of Boston, -Gerrit Smith, of Peterboro, and many others, and received many letters -in return. When he was not writing letters, he was writing and revising -a constitution, which he meant to put in operation by means of the men -who should go with him in the mountains. He said that to avoid anarchy -and confusion there should be a regularly constituted government, which -each man who came with him should be sworn to honor and support.... His -whole time and thought were given to this subject. It was the first -thing in the morning and the last thing at night till, I confess, it -began to be something of a bore to me. Once in a while he would say he -could, with a few resolute men, capture Harper’s Ferry and supply -himself with arms belonging to the government at that place; but he -never announced his intention to do so. - -“It was, however, very evidently passing in his mind as a thing that he -might do. I paid but little attention to such remarks, although I never -doubted that he thought just what he said. Soon after his coming to me -he asked me to get for him two smoothly planed boards, upon which he -could illustrate, with a pair of dividers, by a drawing, the plan of -fortification which he meant to adopt in the mountains. These forts were -to be so arranged as to connect one with the other by secret passages, -so that if one was carried, another could easily be fallen back upon, -and be the means of dealing death to the enemy at the very moment when -he might think himself victorious. I was less interested in these -drawings than my children were; but they showed that the old man had an -eye to the means as well as to the end, and was giving his best thought -to the work he was about to take in hand.”[160] - -From Rochester went letters sounding his friends, as he was uncertain of -the real devotion of the many types of Abolitionists. He wrote Theodore -Parker: - -“I am again out of Kansas and at this time concealing my whereabouts; -but for very different reasons, however, from those I had for doing so -at Boston last spring. I have nearly perfected arrangements for carrying -out an important measure in which the world has a deep interest, as well -as Kansas; and only lack from five to eight hundred dollars to do -so,—the same object for which I asked for the secret-service money last -fall. It is my only errand here; and I have written to some of my mutual -friends in regard to it, but they none of them understand my views so -well as you do, and I cannot explain without their first committing -themselves more than I know of their doing. I have heard that Parker -Pillsbury, and some others in your quarters hold out ideas similar to -those on which I act; but I have no personal acquaintance with them, and -know nothing of their influence or means. Cannot you either by direct or -indirect action do something to further me? Do you know of some parties -whom you could induce to give their Abolition theories a thoroughly -practical shape? I hope that this will prove to be the last time I shall -be driven to harass a friend in such a way. Do you think any of my -Garrisonian friends, either at Boston, Worcester, or any other place, -can be induced to supply a little ‘straw,’ if I will absolutely make -‘brick’? I have written George L. Stearns, of Medford, and Mr. F. B. -Sanborn, of Concord; but I am not informed as to how deeply-dyed -Abolitionists those friends are, and must beg you to consider this -communication strictly confidential, unless you know of parties who will -feel and act, and hold their peace. I want to bring the thing about -during the next sixty days.”[161] - -To Higginson he wrote: “Railroad business on a somewhat extended scale -is the identical object for which I am trying to get means. I have been -connected with that business, as commonly conducted, from my childhood, -and never let an opportunity slip. I have been operating to some purpose -the past season; but I know I have a measure on foot that I feel sure -would awaken in you something more than a common interest if you could -understand it. I have just written to my friends G. L. Stearns, and F. -B. Sanborn, asking them to meet me for consultation at Peterboro, N. Y. -I am very anxious to have you come along, as I feel certain that you -will never regret having been one of the council.”[162] - -The Boston folk hesitated and suggested that Brown come there. He -demurred on account of his being too well known. Finally Sanborn alone -went to meet Brown and thus relates his experience: - -“After dinner, and after a few minutes spent with our guests in the -parlor, I went with Mr. Smith, John Brown, and my classmate Morton, to -the room of Mr. Morton in the third story. Here, in the long winter -evening which followed, the whole outline of Brown’s campaign in -Virginia was laid before our little council, to the astonishment and -almost the dismay of those present. The constitution which he had drawn -for the government of his men, and of such territory as they might -occupy, was exhibited by Brown, its provisions recited and explained, -the proposed movements of his men indicated, and the middle of May was -named as the time of the attack. To begin his hazardous adventure he -asked for but eight hundred dollars, and would think himself rich with a -thousand. Being questioned and opposed by his friends, he laid before -them in detail his methods of organization and fortification; of -settlement in the South, if that were possible, and of retreat through -the North, if necessary; and his theory of the way in which such an -invasion would be received in the country at large. He desired from his -friends a patient hearing of his statements, a candid opinion concerning -his plan, and, if that were favorable, then such aid in money and -support as we could give him. We listened until after midnight, -proposing objections and raising difficulties; but nothing could shake -the purpose of the old Puritan. Every difficulty had been foreseen and -provided against in some manner; the grand difficulty of all,—the -manifest hopelessness of undertaking anything so vast with such slender -means,—was met with the text of Scripture: ‘If God be for us, who can be -against us?’ He had made nearly all his arrangements: he had so many men -enlisted, so many hundred weapons; all he now wanted was the small sum -of money. With that he would open his campaign in the spring, and he had -no doubt that the enterprise ‘would pay’ as he said. - -“On the 23d of February the discussion was renewed, and, as usually -happened when he had time enough, Captain Brown began to prevail over -the objections of his friends. At any rate, they saw that they must -either stand by him, or leave him to dash himself alone against the -fortress he was determined to assault. To withhold aid would only delay, -not prevent him; nothing short of betraying him to the enemy would do -that. As the sun was setting over the snowy hills of the region where we -met, I walked for an hour with Gerrit Smith among those woods and fields -(then included in his broad manor) which his father had purchased of the -Indians and bequeathed to him. Brown was left at home by the fire, -discussing the points of theology with Charles Stewart, an old captain -under Wellington, who also happened to be visiting at the house. Mr. -Smith restated in his eloquent way the daring propositions of Brown, -whose import he understood fully; and then said in substance: ‘You see -how it is; our dear old friend has made up his mind to this course, and -cannot be turned from it. We cannot give him up to die alone; we must -support him. I will raise so many hundred dollars for him; you must lay -the case before your friends in Massachusetts and perhaps they will do -the same. I see no other way.’ For myself, I had reached the same -conclusion, and engaged to bring the scheme at once to the attention of -the three Massachusetts men to whom Brown had written, and also of Dr. -S. G. Howe, who had sometimes favored action almost as extreme as this -proposed by Brown. I returned to Boston on the 25th of February, and on -the same day communicated the enterprise to Theodore Parker and -Wentworth Higginson. At the suggestion of Parker, Brown, who had gone to -Brooklyn, N. Y., was invited to visit Boston secretly, and did so on the -4th of March, taking a room at the American House, in Hanover Street, -and remaining for the most part in his room during the four days of his -stay. Mr. Parker was deeply interested in the project, but not very -sanguine of its success. He wished to see it tried, believing that it -must do good even if it failed. Brown remained at the American House -until Monday, March 8th, when he departed for Philadelphia.” - -On the 6th of March he wrote to his son John from Boston: “My call here -has met with a hearty response, so that I feel assured of at least -tolerable success. I ought to be thankful for this. All has been -effected by quiet meeting of a few choice friends, it being scarcely -known that I have been in the city.”[163] - -Leaving the money-raising to Sanborn and Smith, Brown turned to his -Negro friends, saying to his eldest son, meantime: “I have been thinking -that I would like to have you make a trip to Bedford, Chambersburg, -Gettysburg, and Uniontown in Pennsylvania, traveling slowly along, and -inquiring of every man on the way, or every family of the right stripe, -and getting acquainted with them as much as you could. When you look at -the location of those places, you will readily perceive the advantage of -getting some acquaintance in those parts.”[164] - -And then he wrote two touching letters; one to his eldest daughter and -one to his staunch friend, Sanborn. - -To Ruth Brown he wrote: “The anxiety I feel to see my wife and children -once more I am unable to describe. I want exceedingly to see my big baby -Ruth’s baby, and to see how that little company of sheep look about this -time. The cries of my poor sorrow-strieken, despairing children, whose -‘tears on their cheeks’ are ever in my eyes, and whose sighs are ever in -my ears, may however prevent my enjoying the happiness I so much desire. -But, courage, courage, courage!—the great work of my life (the unseen -hand that ‘guided me, and who had indeed holden my right hand, may hold -it still,’ though I have not known Him at all as I ought) I may yet see -accomplished (God helping), and be permitted to return, and ‘rest at -evening.’ - -“Oh, my daughter Ruth! Could any plan be devised whereby you could let -Henry go ‘to school’ (as you expressed it in your letter to him while in -Kansas), I would rather now have him ‘for another term’ than to have a -hundred average scholars. I have a particular and very important, but -not dangerous, place for him to fill in the ‘school,’ and I know of no -man living so well adapted to fill it. I am quite confident some way can -be devised so that you and your children could be with him, and be quite -happy even, and safe; but God forbid me to flatter you in trouble!”[165] - -To his friend Sanborn he said: “I believe when you come to look at the -ample field I labor in, and the rich harvest which not only this entire -country but the whole world during the present and future generations -may reap from its successful cultivation, you will feel that you are in -it, an entire unit. What an inconceivable amount of good you might so -effect by your counsel, your example, your encouragement, your natural -and acquired ability for active service! And then, how very little we -can possibly lose! Certainly the cause is enough to live for, if not -to—for. I have only had this one opportunity, in a life of nearly sixty -years; and could I be continued ten times as long again, I might not -again have another equal opportunity. God has honored but comparatively -a very small part of mankind with any possible chance for such mighty -and soul-satisfying rewards. But, my dear friend, if you should make up -your mind to do so, I trust it will be wholly from the promptings of -your own spirit, after having thoroughly counted the cost. I would -flatter no man into such a measure, if I could do it ever so easily. - -“I expect nothing but to endure hardness; but I expect to effect a -mighty conquest, even though it be like the last victory of Samson. I -felt for a number of years, in earlier life, a steady, strong desire to -die; but since I saw any prospect of becoming a ‘reaper’ in the great -harvest, I have not only felt quite willing to live, but have enjoyed -life much; and am now rather anxious to live for a few years more.”[166] - - - - - CHAPTER IX - THE BLACK PHALANX - - “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion.” - - -The decade 1830 to 1840 was one of the severest seasons of trial through -which the black American ever passed. The great economic change which -made slavery the corner-stone of the cotton kingdom was definitely -finished and all the subtle moral adjustments which follow were in full -action. New immigrants took advantage of the growing prejudice which -found a profitable place for the Negro in slavery, and was determined to -keep him in it. They began to crowd the free Northern Negro in a fierce -economic battle. With a precarious social foothold, little economic -organization, and no support in public opinion, the Northern free Negro -was forced to yield. In Philadelphia from 1829 to 1849 six mobs of -hoodlums and foreigners cowed and murdered the Negroes. In the Middle -West and, especially in Ohio, severe Black Laws had been enacted in 1804 -to 1807 providing that (_a_) No Negro should be allowed to settle in -Ohio unless he could within twenty days give bond to the amount of $500 -signed by two bondsmen, who should guarantee his good behavior and -support; (_b_) The fine for harboring or concealing a fugitive was at -first $50, then $100, one-half to go to the informer and one-half to the -overseer of the poor in the district; (_c_) No Negro was allowed to give -evidence in any case where a white man was a party.[167] - -These laws, however, were dead letters until 1829, when increased Negro -immigration induced the Cincinnati authorities to enforce them. The -Negroes obtained a respite of thirty days and sent a deputation to -Canada. They were absent for sixty days, and when the whites saw no -effort to enforce the law further, they organized a riot. For three days -Negroes were killed in the streets until they barricaded their homes and -shot back. Meantime the governor of upper Canada sent word that he -“would extend to them a cordial welcome.” He said: “Tell the republicans -on your side of the line that we royalists do not know men of their -color. Should you come to us you will be entitled to all the privileges -of the rest of His Majesty’s subjects.”[168] - -On receipt of this, fully two thousand Negroes went to Canada and -founded Wilberforce; while a national convention of Negroes was called -in Philadelphia in 1830—the first of its kind. This convention at an -adjourned session in 1831 addressed the public as follows: - -“The cause of general emancipation is gaining powerful and able friends -abroad. Britain and Denmark have performed such deeds as will -immortalize them for their humanity, in the breasts of the -philanthropists of the present day; whilst as a just tribute to their -virtues, after-ages will yet erect imperishable monuments to their -memory. (Would to God we could say thus of our own native soil.) - -“And it is only when we look to our own native land, to the birthplace -of our fathers, to the land for whose prosperity their blood and our -sweat have been shed and cruelty extorted, that the convention has had -cause to hang its head and blush. Laws as cruel in themselves as they -were unconstitutional and unjust, have in many places been enacted -against our poor unfriended and unoffending brethren; laws (without a -shadow of provocation on our part) at whose bare recital the very savage -draws him up for fear of the contagion, looks noble, and prides himself -because he bears not the name of a Christian. But the convention would -not wish to dwell long on this subject, as it is one that is too -sensibly felt to need description.... - -“This spirit of persecution was the cause of our convention. It was this -that induced us to seek an asylum in the Canadas; and the convention -feels happy to report to its brethren, that our efforts to establish a -settlement in that province have not been made in vain. Our prospects -are cheering; our friends and funds are daily increasing; wonders have -been performed far exceeding our most sanguine expectations; already -have our brethren purchased eight hundred acres of land—and two thousand -of them have left the soil of their birth, crossed the lines, and laid -the foundation for a structure which promises to prove an asylum for the -colored population of these United States. They have erected two hundred -log-houses, and have five hundred acres under cultivation.” - -A college “on the manual labor system” was planned: “For the present -ignorant and degraded condition of many of our brethren in these United -States (which has been a subject of much concern to the convention) can -excite no astonishment (although used by our enemies to show our -inferiority in the scale of human beings); for, what opportunities have -they possessed for mental cultivation or improvement? Mere ignorance, -however, in a people divested of the means of acquiring information by -books, or an extensive connection with the world, is no just criterion -of their intellectual incapacity; and it has been actually seen, in -various remarkable instances, that the degradation of the mind and -character, which has been too hastily imputed to a people kept, as we -are, at a distance from those sources of knowledge which abound in -civilized and enlightened communities, has resulted from no other causes -than our unhappy situation and circumstances.”[169] - -The convention met again in 1833 and resolved on further plans for -settling in Canada. These conventions continued to assemble annually for -five years, when they were succeeded by the convention of the American -Moral Reform Society which met two years longer. Meantime Nat Turner had -terrorized Virginia and the South and sent a wave of repression over the -North that led to the disfranchisement of Pennsylvania Negroes in 1837. - -Notwithstanding all this the Negroes were struggling on. Beside the -general conventions arose the Phœnix Societies, which “planned an -organization of the colored people in their municipal subdivisions with -the special object of the promotion of their improvement in morals, -literature and the mechanic arts.” Lewis Tappan refers to them in his -biography. The “Mental Feast,” which was a social feature, survived -thirty years later in some of the interior towns of Pennsylvania and the -West.[170] - -The first Negro paper, _Freedom’s Journal_, had been established in 1827 -and organizations like the Massachusetts General Colored Association -were coöperating with the Abolitionists. The news of emancipation in the -British West Indies cheered the Negroes, and indeed without the long -effective and self-sacrificing efforts of the Northern freed Negroes, -the Abolition movement in the United States could not have been -successful. Garrison’s first subscriber to _The Liberator_ was a black -man of Philadelphia, and before and after the Negroes were admitted to -membership in the anti-slavery societies, their aid was invaluable. In -the West, despite proscription, a fight for schools was carried on from -1830 to 1840, which finally resulted in a wide system of Negro schools -partially supported by public funds. Toward 1840 signs of promise began -gradually to appear. A West Indian endowed a Negro school in -Philadelphia in 1837. The Negro population increased from two and -one-third to two and nine-tenths millions in the decade, and evidences -of economic success were seen among the free Negroes. Philadelphia had -in 1838 one hundred small beneficial societies; Ohio Negroes owned ten -thousand acres of land in 1840, while the Canada refugees were beginning -to prosper. The mutiny on the _Creole_, the establishment of the Negro -Odd Fellows, and the doubling, in ten years, of the membership of the -African Methodist Episcopal Church, all pointed to an awakening after -the long period of distress. - -The decade of 1840 to 1850 was a new era—an era of self-assertion and -rapid advance for the free Northern Negro. For the first time conscious -leadership of undoubted ability appeared. In Boston there was De Grasse, -a physician, trained in this country and in France and a member of the -Massachusetts Medical Society. Robert Morris was a member of the bar, as -was E. R. Walker, whose “Appeal” in 1829 startled the country. William -Wells Brown and William Nell were writing, while Charles Lennox Remond -was one of the first of the Abolition orators. In New York were the -gifted preacher, Henry Highland Garnet; the teachers, Reason and -Peterson who made the Negro schools effective; and the physician, McCune -Smith, one of the best trained men of his day. In Philadelphia were -Robert Purvis, the Abolitionist; William Still, of the Underground -Railroad; the three men who made the catering business—Dorsey, Jones and -Minton; and the rich Negro lumber merchant, Stephen Smith, whose -magnificent endowment for aged Negroes stands to-day at the corner of -Girard and Belmont Avenues and is valued at $400,000. In western -Pennsylvania were Vashon and Woodson, and in the West were Day, -librarian of the Cleveland library; the three Langstons of Oberlin, and -the merchants Boyd and Wilcox of Cincinnati. Elsewhere appeared the -unlettered, but brave and shrewd leaders of the fugitive slaves. It is -said that 500 black messengers of this sort were passing backward and -forward between the slave and the free states in this decade, and -noticeable among them were Harriet Tubman and Josiah Henson, who brought -thousands to the North and to Canada. Foremost of all came Frederick -Douglass, born in 1817 and reborn to freedom in 1838. He made his first -speech in 1841 and took a prominent part in the anti-slavery campaign of -the next decade. In 1845–6, he was in England and, returning in 1847, he -established his paper and met John Brown. From that time on he was -Brown’s chief Negro confidant, and in his house Brown’s Eastern campaign -was started and largely carried on. The churches also were training men -in social leadership in the persons of their bishops, like John Brown’s -friend Loguen and the noble Daniel Payne. - -About 1847 new life appeared in the free Negro group. The Odd Fellows, -under Peter Ogden, maintained their independence against aggressions of -the whites, and the first of a new series of national colored -conventions assembled at Troy, N. Y. “The first article in the first -number of Frederick Douglass’s _North Star_, published January, 1848, -was an extended notice of this convention held at the Liberty Street -Church, Troy, N. Y., 1847.” - -The next year, 1848, Cleveland welcomed a similar national convention. -Nearly seventy delegates assembled there on September 6th, “the sessions -alternating between the Court-House and the Tabernacle. Frederick -Douglass was chosen president. As in previous conventions education was -encouraged, the importance of statistical information stated and -temperance societies urged.”[171] - -The representative character of the delegates was shown by the fact that -printers, carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, engineers, dentists, -gunsmiths, farmers, physicians, plasterers, masons, college students, -clergymen, barbers, hair-dressers, laborers, coopers, livery-stable -keepers, bath-house keepers and grocers were among the members who were -present.[172] - -The same year Frederick Douglass attended a Free Soil convention at -Buffalo, N. Y., and writes: “I was not the only colored man well known -to the country who was present at this convention. Samuel Ringgold Ward, -Henry Highland Garnet, Charles L. Remond, and Henry Bibb were there and -made speeches which were received with surprise and gratification by the -thousands there assembled. As a colored man I felt greatly encouraged -and strengthened for my cause while listening to these men, in the -presence of the ablest men of the Caucasian race. Mr. Ward especially -attracted attention at that convention. As an orator and thinker he was -vastly superior, I thought, to any of us, and being perfectly black and -of unmixed African descent, the splendors of his intellect went directly -to the glory of race. In depth of thought, fluency of speech, readiness -of wit, logical exactness, and general intelligence, Samuel R. Ward has -left no successor among the colored men amongst us, and it was a sad day -for our cause when he was laid low in the soil of a foreign -country.”[173] - -The next decade opened with over three and one-half millions of Negroes -in the United States—an enormous increase since 1840—and a remarkable -indication of virility and prosperity despite the new Fugitive Slave -Law. The Canadian Negroes were being organized in the Elgin and other -settlements, the colored Baptists reported 150,000 members, and the -Negroes of New York, replying to the Black Law recommendations of -Governor Ward Hunt, proved unincumbered ownership of $1,160,000 worth of -property. The escape of fugitive slaves was now systematized in the -Underground Railroad and in the secret organization known to outsiders -variously as the “League of Freedom,” “Liberty League,” or “American -Mysteries.” To these were added the fourteen Canadian “True Bands” with -several hundred members each. - -State conventions were called in many instances, and the most -representative and intelligent national convention held up to that time -met in Rochester, N. Y., Douglass’s home, in 1853. This convention -developed definite opposition to any hope of permanent relief for the -colored freeman through schemes of emigration. On the contrary, it -directed its energies to affirmative constructive action and planned -three measures: - -(1) An industrial college “on the manual labor plan.” Harriet Beecher -Stowe, who was to make a visit to England at the instance of friends in -that country, was authorized to receive funds in the name of the colored -people of the country for that purpose. “The successful establishment -and conduct of such an institution of learning would train youth to be -self-reliant and skilled workmen, fitted to hold their own in the -struggle of life on the conditions prevailing here.” - -(2) A registry of colored mechanics, artisans, and business men -throughout the Union, and also, “of all the persons willing to employ -colored men in business, to teach colored boys mechanic trades, liberal -and scientific professions and farming; also a registry of colored men -and youth seeking employment or instruction.” - -(3) A committee on publication “to collect all facts, statistics and -statements; all laws and historical records and biographies of the -colored people and all books by colored authors.” This committee was -further authorized “to publish replies of any assaults worthy of note, -made upon the character or condition of the colored people.”[174] - -The radical stand of this assembly against emigration caused a call for -a distinct emigration Negro convention in 1854. This convention was held -under the presidency of the same man who afterward presided at the -Chatham conclave of John Brown, and with some of the same Negroes -present. The account of it continues: - -“There were three parties in the emigration convention, ranged according -to the foreign fields they preferred to emigrate to. Dr. Delaney headed -the party that desired to go to the Niger Valley in Africa, Whitfield -the party which preferred to go to Central America, and Holly the party -which preferred to go to Haiti. - -“All these parties were recognized and embraced by the convention. Dr. -Delaney was given a commission to go to Africa, in the Niger Valley, -Whitfield to go to Central America, and Holly to Haiti, to enter into -negotiations with the authorities of these various countries for Negro -emigrants and to report to future conventions. Holly was the first to -execute his mission, going down to Haiti in 1855, when he entered into -relations with the Minister of the Interior, the father of the late -President Hyppolite, and by him was presented to Emperor Faustin I. The -next emigration convention was held at Chatham, Canada West, in 1856, -when the report on Haiti was made. Dr. Delaney went off on his mission -to the Niger Valley, Africa, via England, in 1858. There he concluded a -treaty signed by himself and eight kings, offering inducements to Negro -emigrants to their territories. Whitfield went to California, intending -later to go thence to Central America, but died in San Francisco before -he could do so. Meanwhile [James] Redpath went to Haiti as a John -Brownist after the Harper’s Ferry raid, and reaped the first fruits of -Holly’s mission by being appointed Haitian Commissioner of Emigration in -the United States by the Haitian government, but with the express -injunction that Rev. Holly should be called to coöperate with him. On -Redpath’s arrival in the United States, he tendered Rev. Holly a -commission from the Haitian government at $1,000 per annum and traveling -expenses to engage emigrants to go to Haiti. The first load of emigrants -were from Philadelphia in 1861.”[175] - -In 1853 when the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed, Negroes like -Purvis and Barbadoes, trained in the Negro convention movement, were -among its founders. By 1856 the African Methodist Church had 20,000 -members and $425,000 worth of property. - -Of all this development John Brown knew far more than most white men and -it was on this great knowledge that his great faith was based. To most -Americans the inner striving of the Negro was a veiled and an unknown -tale: they had heard of Douglass, they knew of fugitive slaves, but of -the living, organized, struggling group that made both these phenomena -possible they had no conception. - -From his earliest interest in Negroes, John Brown sought to know -individuals among them intimately and personally. He invited them to his -home and he went to theirs. He talked to them, and listened to the -history of their trials, advised them and took advice from them. His -dream was to enlist the boldest and most daring spirits among them in -his great plan. - -When, therefore, John Brown came East in January, 1858, his object was -not simply to further his campaign for funds, but more especially -definitely to organize the Negroes for his work. Already he had -disclosed his intentions to Thomas Thomas of Springfield and to -Frederick Douglass. He now determined to enlist a larger number and he -particularly had in mind the Negroes of New York and Philadelphia, and -those in Canada. At no time, however, did John Brown plan to begin his -foray with many Negroes. He knew that he must gain the confidence of -black men first by a successful stroke, and that after initial success -he could count on large numbers. His object then was to interest a few -leaders like Douglass, organize societies with wide ramifications, and -after the first raid to depend on these societies for aid and recruits. - -During his stay with Douglass in February, 1858, he wrote to many -colored leaders: Henry Highland Garnet and James N. Gloucester in New -York; John Jones in Chicago, and J. W. Loguen of the Zion Church. The -addresses of Downing of Rhode Island, and Martin R. Delaney were also -noted. On February 23d, after he had been in Boston and Peterboro he -notes writing to Loguen, one of the closest of his Negro friends: “Think -I shall be ready to go with him [to Canada] by the first of March or -about that time.”[176] - -On March 10th, John Brown and his eldest son, Henry Highland Garnet, -William Still and others met at the house of Stephen Smith, the rich -Negro lumber merchant, of 921 Lombard Street, Philadelphia. Brown seems -to have stayed nearly a week in that city, and probably had long -conferences with all the chief Philadelphia Negro leaders. On March -18th, he was in New Haven where he wrote Frederick Douglass and J. W. -Loguen, saying: “I expect to be on the way by the 28th or 30th inst.” -After a flying visit home, involving a long walk to save expense, he -appeared again at Douglass’s in April. Gloucester collected a little -money for him in New York and he probably received some in Philadelphia; -at last he turned his face toward Canada. - -He had long wished to see Canada, and had planned a visit as far back as -1846. Hither he had sent one of the earliest of his North Elba refugees, -Walter Hawkins, who became Bishop of the British African Church. On -April 8th, John Brown writes his son: “I came on here direct with J. W. -Loguen the day after you left Rochester. I am succeeding, to all -appearance, beyond my expectations. Harriet Tubman hooked on his whole -team at once. He (Harriet) is the most of a man, naturally, that I ever -met with. There is the most abundant material, and of the right quality, -in this quarter, beyond all doubt. Do not forget to write Mr. Case (near -Rochester) at once about hunting up every person and family of the -reliable kind about, at, or near Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, and -Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, and also Hagerstown and vicinity, Maryland, -and Harper’s Ferry, Va.”[177] - -He stayed at St. Catherines until the 14th or 15th, chiefly in -consultation with that wonderful woman, Harriet Tubman, and sheltered in -her home. Harriet Tubman was a full-blooded African, born a slave on the -eastern shore of Maryland in 1820. When a girl she was injured by having -an iron weight thrown on her head by an overseer, an injury that gave -her wild, half-mystic ways with dreams, rhapsodies and trances. In her -early womanhood she did the rudest and hardest man’s work, driving, -carting and plowing. Finally the slave family was broken up in 1849, -when she ran away. Then began her wonderful career as a rescuer of -fugitive slaves. Back and forth she traveled like some dark ghost until -she had personally led over three hundred blacks to freedom, no one of -whom was ever lost while in her charge. A reward of $10,000 for her, -alive or dead, was offered, but she was never taken. A dreamer of dreams -as she was, she ever “laid great stress on a dream which she had had -just before she met Captain Brown in Canada. She thought she was in ‘a -wilderness sort of place, all full of rocks, and bushes,’ when she saw a -serpent raise its head among the rocks, and as it did so, it became the -head of an old man with a long white beard, gazing at her, ‘wishful -like, jes as ef he war gwine to speak to me,’ and then two other heads -rose up beside him, younger than he,—and as she stood looking at them, -and wondering what they could want with her, a great crowd of men rushed -in and struck down the younger heads, and then the head of the old man, -still looking at her so ‘wishful!’ This dream she had again and again, -and could not interpret it; but when she met Captain Brown, shortly -after, behold he was the very image of the head she had seen. But still -she could not make out what her dream signified, till the news came to -her of the tragedy of Harper’s Ferry, and then she knew the two other -heads were his two sons.”[178] - -In this woman John Brown placed the utmost confidence. Wendell Phillips -says: “The last time I ever saw John Brown was under my own roof, as he -brought Harriet Tubman to me, saying: ‘Mr. Phillips, I bring you one of -the best and bravest persons on this continent—General Tubman, as we -call her.’ He then went on to recount her labors and sacrifices in -behalf of her race.”[179] - -Only sickness, brought on by her toil and exposure, prevented Harriet -Tubman from being present at Harper’s Ferry. - -From St. Catherines John Brown went to Ingersoll, Hamilton and Chatham. -He also visited Toronto, holding meetings with Negroes in Temperance -Hall, and at the house of the “late Mr. Holland, a colored man, on Queen -Street West. On one occasion Captain Brown remained as a guest with his -friend, Dr. A. M. Ross, who is distinguished as a naturalist, as well as -an intrepid Abolitionist, who risked his life on several occasions in -excursions into the South to enable slaves to flee to Canada!”[180] - -Having finally perfected plans for a convention, Brown hurried back to -Iowa for his men. During his three months’ absence they had been working -and drilling in the Quaker settlement of Springdale, Ia., as most -persons supposed, for future troubles in “bleeding Kansas.” On John -Brown’s arrival they all hurriedly packed up—Owen Brown, Realf, Kagi, -Cook, Stevens, Tidd, Leeman, Moffett, Parsons, and the colored man -Richardson, together with their recruits, Gill and Taylor. The Coppocs -were to come later. “The leave-taking between them and the people of -Springdale was one of tears. Ties which had been knitting through many -weeks were sundered, and not only so, but the natural sorrow at parting -was intensified by the consciousness of all that the future was full of -hazard for Brown and his followers. Before quitting the house and home -of Mr. Maxon, where they had spent so long a time, each of Brown’s band -wrote his name in pencil on the wall of the parlor, where the writing -still can be seen by the interested traveler.” They all immediately -started for Canada by way of Chicago and Detroit. At Chicago they had to -wait twelve hours, and the first hotel refused to accommodate Richardson -at the breakfast table. John Brown immediately sought another place. The -company arrived shortly in Chatham and stopped at a hotel kept by Mr. -Barber, a colored man. While at Chatham, John Brown, as Anderson -relates, “made a profound impression upon those who saw or became -acquainted with him. Some supposed him to be a staid but modernized -‘Quaker’; others a solid business man, from ‘somewhere,’ and without -question a philanthropist. His long white beard, thoughtful and reverent -brow and physiognomy, his sturdy, measured tread, as he circulated about -with hands, portrayed in the best lithograph, under the pendant -coat-skirt of plain brown tweed, with other garments to match, revived -to those honored with his acquaintance and knowing his history the -memory of a Puritan of the most exalted type.”[181] - -John Brown’s choice of Canada as a centre of Negro culture, was wise. -There were nearly 50,000 Negroes there, and the number included many -energetic, intelligent and brave men, with some wealth. Settlements had -grown up, farms had been bought, schools established and an intricate -social organization begun. Negroes like Henson had been loyally assisted -by white men like King, and fugitives were welcomed and succored. Near -Buxton, where King and the Elgin Association were working, was Chatham, -the chief town of the county of Kent, with a large Negro population of -farmers, merchants and mechanics; they had a graded school, Wilberforce -Institute, several churches, a newspaper, a fire-engine company and -several organizations for social intercourse and uplift. One of the -inhabitants said: - -“Mr. Brown did not overestimate the state of education of the colored -people. He knew that they would need leaders, and require training. His -great hope was that the struggle would be supported by volunteers from -Canada, educated and accustomed to self-government. He looked on our -fugitives as picked men of sufficient intelligence, which, combined with -a hatred for the South, would make them willing abettors of any -enterprise destined to free their race.” - -There were many white Abolitionists near by, but they distrusted Brown -and in this way he gained less influence among the Negroes than he -otherwise might have had. Martin R. Delaney, who was a fervid African -emigrationist, was just about to start to Africa, bearing the mandate of -the last Negro convention, when John Brown appeared. “On returning home -from a professional visit in the country, Mrs. Delaney informed him that -an old gentleman had called to see him during his absence. She described -him as having a long, white beard, very gray hair, a sad but placid -countenance. In speech he was peculiarly solemn. She added, ‘He looked -like one of the old prophets. He would neither come in nor leave his -name, but promised to be back in two weeks’ time.’” - -Finally Delaney met John Brown who said: - -“‘I come to Chatham expressly to see you, this being my third visit on -the errand. I must see you at once, sir,’ he continued, with emphasis, -‘and that, too, in private, as I have much to do and but little time -before me. If I am to do nothing here, I want to know it at once.’” - -Delaney continues: - -“Going directly to the private parlor of a hotel near by, he at once -revealed to me that he desired to carry out a great project in his -scheme of Kansas emigration, which, to be successful, must be aided and -countenanced by the influence of a general convention or council. That -he was unable to effect in the United States, but had been advised by -distinguished friends of his and mine, that, if he could but see me, his -object could be attained at once. On my expressing astonishment at the -conclusion to which my friends and himself had arrived, with a nervous -impatience, he exclaimed, ‘Why should you be surprised? Sir, the people -of the Northern states are cowards; slavery has made cowards of them -all. The whites are afraid of each other, and the blacks are afraid of -the whites. You can effect nothing among such people,’ he added, with -decided emphasis. On assuring him if a council was all that was desired, -he could readily obtain it, he replied, ‘That is all; but that is a -great deal to me. It is men I want, and not money; money I can get -plentiful enough, but no men. Money can come without being seen, but men -are afraid of identification with me, though they favor my measures. -They are cowards, sir! Cowards!’ he reiterated. He then fully revealed -his designs. With these I found no fault, but fully favored and aided in -getting up the convention.”[182] - -Meantime John Brown proceeded carefully to sound public opinion, got the -views of others, and, while revealing few of his own plans, set about -getting together a body who were willing to ratify his general aims. He -consulted the leading Negroes in private, and called a series of small -conferences to thresh out preliminary difficulties. In these meetings -and in the personal visits, many points arose and were settled. A member -of the convention says: - -“One evening the question came up as to what flag should be used; our -English colored subjects, who had been naturalized, said they would -never think of fighting under the hated ‘Stars and Stripes.’ Too many of -them thought they carried their emblem on their backs. But Brown said -the old flag was good enough for him; under it freedom had been won from -the tyrants of the Old World, for white men; now he intended to make it -do duty for the black men. He declared emphatically that he would not -give up the Stars and Stripes. That settled the question. - -“Some one proposed admitting women as members, but Brown strenuously -opposed this, and warned the members not to intimate, even to their -wives, what was done. - -“One day in my shop I told him how utterly hopeless his plans would be -if he persisted in making an attack with the few at his command, and -that we could not afford to spare white men of his stamp, ready to -sacrifice their lives for the salvation of black men. While I was -speaking, Mr. Brown walked to and fro, with his hands behind his back, -as was his custom when thinking on his favorite subject. He stopped -suddenly and bringing down his right hand with great force, exclaimed: -‘Did not my Master Jesus Christ come down from Heaven and sacrifice -Himself upon the altar for the salvation of the race, and should I, a -worm, not worthy to crawl under His feet, refuse to sacrifice myself?’ -With a look of determination, he resumed his walk. In all the -conversations I had with him during his stay in Chatham of nearly a -month, I never once saw a smile light upon his countenance. He seemed to -be always in deep and earnest thought.”[183] - -The preliminary meeting was held in a frame cottage on Princess Street, -south of King Street, then known as the “King Street High School.” Some -meetings were also held in the First Baptist Church on King Street. In -order to mislead the inquisitive, it was pretended that the persons -assembling were organizing a Masonic Lodge of colored people. The -important proceedings took place in “No. 3 Engine House,” a wooden -building near McGregor’s Creek, erected by Mr. Holden and other colored -men. - -The regular invitations were issued on the fifth: - - “_Chatham, Canada, May 5, 1858._ - - “MY DEAR FRIEND: - - “I have called a quiet convention in this place of true friends of - freedom. Your attendance is earnestly requested.... - - “Your friend, - “JOHN BROWN.” - -The convention was called together at 10 A. M., Saturday, May 8th, and -opened without ceremony. There were present the following Negroes: -William Charles Monroe, a Baptist clergyman, formerly president of the -emigration convention and elected president of this assembly; Martin R. -Delaney, afterward major in the United States Army in the Civil War; -Alfred Whipper, of Pennsylvania; William Lambert and I. D. Shadd, of -Detroit, Mich.; James H. Harris, of Cleveland, O., after the war a -representative in Congress for two terms from North Carolina; G. J. -Reynolds, an active Underground Railroad leader of Sandusky City; J. C. -Grant, A. J. Smith, James M. Jones, a gunsmith and engraver, graduate of -Oberlin College, 1849; M. F. Bailey, S. Hunton, John J. Jackson, -Jeremiah Anderson, James M. Bell, Alfred Ellisworth, James W. Purnell, -George Aiken, Stephen Dettin, Thomas Hickerson, John Cannel, Robinson -Alexander, Thomas F. Cary, Thomas M. Kinnard, Robert Van Vauken, Thomas -Stringer, John A. Thomas, believed by some to be John Brown’s earlier -confidant and employee at Springfield, Mass., afterward employed by -Abraham Lincoln in his Illinois home and at the White House also; Robert -Newman, Charles Smith, Simon Fislin, Isaac Holden, a merchant and -surveyor and John Brown’s host; James Smith, and Richard Richardson. - -Hinton says: “There is no evidence to show that Douglass, Loguen, -Garnet, Stephen Smith, Gloucester, Langston, or others of the prominent -men of color in the states who knew John Brown, were invited to the -Chatham meeting. It is doubtful if their appearance would have been -wise, as it would assuredly have been commented on and aroused -suspicion.”[184] - -The white men present were: John and Owen Brown, father and son; John -Henri Kagi, Aaron Dwight Stevens, still known as Charles Whipple; John -Edwin Cook, Richard Realf, George B. Gill, Charles Plummer Tidd, William -Henry Leeman, Charles W. Moffett, Luke F. Parsons, all of Kansas; and -Steward Taylor of Canada, twelve in all. It has been usually assumed -that Jeremiah Anderson was white but the evidence makes it possible that -he was a mulatto. John J. Jackson called the meeting to order and Monroe -was chosen president. Delaney then asked for John Brown, and Brown spoke -at length, followed by Delaney and others. - -The constitution was brought forward and, after a solemn parole of -honor, was read. It proved to be a frame of government based on the -national Constitution, but much simplified and adapted to a moving band -of guerrillas. The first forty-five articles were accepted without -debate. The next article was: “The foregoing articles shall not be so as -in any way to encourage the overthrow of any state government, or the -general government of the United States, and look to no dissolution of -the Union, but simply to amendment and repeal, and our flag shall be the -same that our fathers fought for under the Revolution.” - -To this Reynolds, the “coppersmith,” one of the strongest men in the -convention, objected. He felt no allegiance to the nation that had -robbed and humiliated him. Brown, Delaney, Kagi and others, however, -earnestly advocated the article and it passed. Saturday afternoon the -constitution was finally adopted and signed. Brown induced James M. -Jones, who had not attended all the sittings, to come to this one, as -the constitution must be signed, and he wished his name to be on the -roll of honor. As the paper was presented for signature, Brown said, -“Now, friend Jones, give us John Hancock bold and strong.” - -The account continues: - -“During one of the sittings, Mr. Jones had the floor, and discussed the -chances of the success or failure of the slaves rising to support the -plan proposed. Mr. Brown’s scheme was to fortify some place in the -mountains, and call the slaves to rally under his colors. Jones -expressed fear that he would be disappointed, because the slaves did not -know enough to rally to his support. The American slaves, Jones argued, -were different from those of the West India Island of San Domingo, whose -successful uprising is a matter of history, as they had there imbibed -some of the impetuous character of their French masters, and were not so -overawed by white men. ‘Mr. Brown, no doubt thought,’ says Mr. Jones, -‘that I was making an impression on some of the members, if not on him, -for he arose suddenly and remarked, “Friend Jones, you will please say -no more on that side. There will be a plenty to defend that side of the -question.” A general laugh took place.’ - -“A question as to the time for making the attack came up in the -convention. Some advocated that we should wait until the United States -became involved in war with some first-class power; that it would be -next to madness to plunge into a strife for the abolition of slavery -while the government was at peace with other nations. Mr. Brown listened -to the argument for some time, then slowly arose to his full height, and -said: ‘I would be the last one to take the advantage of my country in -the face of a foreign foe.’ He seemed to regard it as a great insult. -That settled the matter in my mind that John Brown was not insane.”[185] - -At 6 P. M. the election of officers under the constitution took place, -and was finished Monday, the tenth. John Brown was elected -commander-in-chief; Kagi, secretary of war; Realf, secretary of state; -Owen Brown, treasurer; and George B. Gill, secretary of the treasury. -Members of congress chosen were Alfred Ellisworth and Osborne P. -Anderson, colored. - -After appointing a committee to fill other offices, the convention -adjourned. Another and a larger body was also organized, as Delaney -says: “This organization was an extensive body, holding the same -relation to his movements as a state or national executive committee -holds to its party principles, directing their adherence to fundamental -principles.”[186] - -This committee still existed at the time of the Harper’s Ferry raid. -With characteristic reticence Brown revealed his whole plan to no one, -and many of those close to him received quite different impressions, or -rather read their own ideas into Brown’s careful speech. One of his -Kansas band says: “I am sure that Brown did not communicate the details -of his plans to the members of the convention, more than in a very -general way. Indeed, I do not now remember that he gave them any more -than the impressions which they could gather from the methods of -organization. From those who were directly connected with his movements -he solicited plans and methods—including localities—of operations in -writing. Of course, we had almost precise knowledge of his methods, but -all of us perhaps did not know just the locality selected by him, or, if -knowing, did not comprehend the resources and surroundings.”[187] - -“John Brown, never, I think,” said Mr. Jones, “communicated his whole -plan, even to his immediate followers. In his conversations with me he -led me to think that he intended to sacrifice himself and a few of his -followers for the purpose of arousing the people of the North from the -stupor they were in on this subject. He seemed to think such sacrifice -necessary to awaken the people from the deep sleep that had settled upon -the minds of the whites of the North. He well knew that the sacrifice of -any number of Negroes would have no effect. What he intended to do, so -far as I could gather from his conversation, from time to time, was to -emulate Arnold Winkelried, the Swiss chieftain, when he threw himself -upon the Austrian spearmen, crying, ‘Make way for Liberty.’”[188] -Delaney in his own bold, original way assumed that Brown intended -another Underground Railway terminating in Kansas. Delaney himself was -on his way to Africa and could take no active part in the movement. - -The constitution adopted by the convention was an instrument designed -for the government of a band of isolated people fighting for liberty. -The preamble said: - -“Whereas slavery, throughout its entire existence in the United States, -is none other than a most barbarous, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of -one portion of its citizens upon another portion—the only conditions of -which are perpetual imprisonment and hopeless servitude or absolute -extermination—in utter disregard and violation of those eternal and -self-evident truths set forth in our Declaration of Independence: - -“Therefore, we, citizens of the United States, and the oppressed people -who, by a recent decision of the Supreme Court, are declared to have no -rights which the white man is bound to respect, together with all other -people degraded by the laws thereof, do, for the time being, ordain and -establish ourselves the following provisional constitution and -ordinances, the better to protect our persons, property, lives, and -liberties, and to govern our actions.”[189] - -The Declaration of Independence referred to was probably designed to be -adopted July 4, 1858, when, as originally planned, the blow was to be -actually struck. It was a paraphrase of the original declaration and -ended by saying: - -“Declaring that we will serve them no longer as slaves, knowing that the -‘Laborer is worthy of his hire,’ We therefore, the Representatives of -the circumscribed citizens of the United States of America, in General -Congress assembled, appealing to the supreme Judge of the World, for the -rectitude of our intentions, Do in the name, & by authority of the -oppressed Citizens of the Slave States, Solemnly publish and Declare: -that the Slaves are, & of right ought to be as free & as independent as -the unchangeable Law of God requires that All Men Shall be. That they -are absolved from all allegiance to those Tyrants, who still persist in -forcibly subjecting them to perpetual ‘Bondage,’ and that all friendly -connection between them and such Tyrants, is & ought to be totally -dissolved, And that as free and independent citizens of these states, -they have a perfect right, a sufficient and just cause, to defend -themselves against the Tyrrany of their oppressors. To solicit aid from -& ask the protection of all true friends of humanity and reform, of -whatever nation, & wherever found; A right to contract all Alliances, & -to do all other acts and things which free independent Citizens may of -right do. And for the support of the Declaration, with a firm reliance -on the protection of divine Providence: We mutually pledge to each -other, Our Lives, and Our sacred Honor.”[190] - -The constitution consisted of forty-eight articles. All persons of -mature age were admitted to membership and there was established a -congress with one house of five to ten members, a president and -vice-president and a court of five members, each one of whom held -circuit courts. All these officials were to unite in selecting a -commander-in-chief, treasurer, secretaries, and other officials. All -property was to be in common and no salaries were to be paid. All -persons were to labor. All indecent behavior was forbidden: “The -marriage relation shall be at all times respected, and families kept -together, as far as possible; and broken families encouraged to reunite, -and intelligence offices established for that purpose. Schools and -churches established, as soon as may be, for the purpose of religious -and other instructions; and the first day of the week regarded as a day -of rest, and appropriated to moral and religions instruction and -improvement, relief of the suffering, instruction of the young and -ignorant, and the encouragement of personal cleanliness; nor shall any -person be required on that day to perform ordinary manual labor, unless -in extremely urgent cases.”[191] All persons were to carry arms but not -concealed. There were special provisions for the capture of prisoners, -and protection of their persons and property. - -John Brown was well pleased with his work and wrote home: “Had a good -Abolition convention here, from different parts, on the 8th and 10th -inst. Constitution slightly amended and adopted, and society -organized.”[192] - -Just now as everything seemed well started, came disquieting news from -the East. Forbes had been there since November, growing more and more -poverty-stricken and angry, and his threats, hints and visits were -becoming frequent and annoying. He complained to Senator Wilson, to -Charles Sumner, to Hale, Seward and Horace Greeley, and to the Boston -coterie. He could not understand why these leaders of the movement -against slavery, as he supposed, should leave the real power in the -hands of John Brown, and neglect an experienced soldier like himself -after raising false expectations. John Brown had dealt with Forbes -gently but firmly, and had sought to conciliate him, but in vain. Brown -was apparently determined to outwit him by haste; he had written his -Massachusetts friends to join him at the Chatham Convention, but Sanborn -and Howe had already received threatening letters from Forbes which -alarmed them. He evidently had careful information of Brown’s movements -and was bent on making trouble. He probably was at this time in the -confidence of McCune Smith and the able Negro group of New York who had -developed a not unnatural distrust of whites, and a desire to foster -race pride. Using information thus obtained, Forbes sought to put -pressure on Republican leaders to organize more effective warfare on -slavery, and to discredit John Brown. Sanborn wrote hastily: “It looks -as if the project must, for the present, be deferred, for I find by -reading Forbes’s epistles to the doctor that he knows the details of the -plan, and even knows (what very few do) that the doctor, Mr. Stearns, -and myself are informed of it. How he got this knowledge is a mystery. -He demands that Hawkins [John Brown] be dismissed as agent, and himself -or some other be put in his place, threatening otherwise to make the -business public.”[193] Gerrit Smith concluded, “Brown must go no -further.” But Higginson wisely demurred. “I regard any postponement,” he -said, “as simply abandoning the project; for if we give it up now, at -the command or threat of H. F., it will be the same next year. The only -way is to circumvent the man somehow (if he cannot be restrained in his -malice). When the thing is well started, who cares what he says?”[194] - -Further efforts were made to conciliate Forbes but he wrote wildly: “I -have been grossly defrauded in the name of humanity and anti-slavery.... -I have for years labored in the anti-slavery cause, without wanting or -thinking of a recompense. Though I have made the least possible parade -of my work, it has nevertheless not been entirely without fruit.... -Patience and mild measures having failed, I reluctantly have recourse to -harshness. Let them not flatter themselves that I shall eventually -become weary and shall drop the subject; it is as yet quite at its -beginning.”[195] - -“To go on in face of this is madness,” wrote Sanborn, and John Brown was -urged to come to New York to meet Stearns and Howe. Brown had already -been delayed nearly a month at Chatham by this trouble, but he obeyed -the summons. Sanborn says: “When, about May 20th, Mr. Stearns met Brown -in New York, it was arranged that hereafter the custody of the Kansas -rifles should be in Brown’s hands as the agent, not of this committee, -but of Mr. Stearns alone. It so happened that Gerrit Smith, who seldom -visited Boston, was coming there late in May.... He arrived and took -rooms at the Revere House, where, on the 24th of May, 1858, the secret -committee (organized in March, and consisting of Smith, Parker, Howe, -Higginson, Stearns, and Sanborn) held a meeting to consider the -situation. It had already been decided to postpone the attack, and the -arms had been placed under a temporary interdict, so that they could -only be used, for the present, in Kansas. The questions remaining were -whether Brown should be required to go to Kansas at once, and what -amount of money should be raised for him in the future. Of the six -members of the committee only one (Higginson) was absent.... It was -unanimously resolved that Brown ought to go to Kansas at once.” - -As soon as possible after this, on May 21st, Brown visited Boston, and -while there held a conversation with Higginson, who made a record of it -at the time. He states that Brown was full of regret at the decision of -the Revere House council to postpone the attack till the winter or -spring of 1859, when the secret committee would raise for Brown two or -three thousand dollars; he meantime was to blind Forbes by going to -Kansas, and to transfer the property so as to relieve the Kansas -committee of responsibility, they in future not to know his plans. - -“On probing Brown,” Higginson goes on, “I found that he ... considered -delay very discouraging to his thirteen men, and to those in Canada. -Impossible to begin in autumn; and he would not lose a day (he finally -said) if he had three hundred dollars; it would not cost twenty-five -dollars apiece to get his men from Ohio, and that was all he needed. The -knowledge that Forbes could give of his plan would be injurious, for he -wished his opponents to underrate him; but still ... the increased -terror produced would perhaps counterbalance this, and it would not make -much difference. If he had the means he would not lose a day. He -complained that some of his Eastern friends were not men of action; that -they were intimidated by Wilson’s letter, and magnified the obstacles. -Still, it was essential that they should not think him reckless, he -said; and as they held the purse, he was powerless without them, having -spent nearly everything received this campaign, on account of delay,—a -month at Chatham, etc.”[196] - -There was nothing now for Brown but to conceal his arms, scatter his men -and hide a year in Kansas. It was a bitter necessity and it undoubtedly -helped ruin the success of the foray. The Negroes in Canada fell away -from the plan when it did not materialize and doubted Brown’s -determination and wisdom. His son hid the arms in northern Ohio in a -haymow. - -Meantime, a part of the company—Stevens, Cook, Tidd, Gill, Taylor and -Owen Brown—immediately after the adjournment of the convention, had gone -to Cleveland, O., and had found work in the surrounding country. Brown -wrote from Canada at the time: - -“It seems that all but three have managed to stop their board bills, and -I do hope the balance will follow the manlike and noble example of -patience and perseverance set them by the others, instead of being -either discouraged or out of humor. The weather is so wet here that no -work can be obtained. I have only received $15 from the East, and such -has been the effect of the course taken by F. [Col. Forbes], on our -Eastern friends, that I have some fears that we shall be compelled to -delay further action for the present. They [his Eastern friends] urge us -to do so, promising us liberal assistance after a while. I am in hourly -expectation of help sufficient to pay off our bills here, and to take us -on to Cleveland, to see and advise with you, which we shall do at once -when we shall get the means. Suppose we do have to defer our direct -efforts; shall great and noble minds either indulge in useless -complaint, or fold their arms in discouragement, or sit in idleness, -when we may at least avoid losing ground? It is in times of difficulty -that men show what they are; it is in such times that men mark -themselves. Are our difficulties such as to make us give up one of the -noblest enterprises in which men ever were engaged?”[197] - -Two weeks later the rest of the party, except Kagi, followed to -Cleveland, John Brown going East to meet Stearns. Kagi, who was an -expert printer, went to Hamilton, Canada, where he set up and printed -the constitution, arriving in Cleveland about the middle of June when -Brown returned from the East. Realf says that Brown did not have much -money, but sent him to New York and Washington to watch Forbes and -possibly regain his confidence. Realf, however, had become timid and -lukewarm in the cause and sailed away to England. The rest of the men -scattered. Owen Brown went to Akron, O. Cook left Cleveland for the -neighborhood of Harper’s Ferry; Gill secured work in a Shaker -settlement, probably Lebanon, O., where Tidd was already employed; -Steward Taylor went to Illinois; Stevens awaited Brown at Cleveland; -while Leeman got some work in Ashtabula County. John Brown left Boston, -on the 3rd of June, proceeding to the North Elba home for a short visit. -Then he, Kagi, Stevens, Leeman, Gill, Parsons, Moffett, and Owen were -gathered together and the party went to Kansas, arriving late in June. - -Thus suddenly ended John Brown’s attempt to organize the Black Phalanx. -His intimate friends understood that the great plan was only postponed, -but the postponement had, as Higginson predicted, a dampening effect, -and Brown’s chances of enlisting a large Canadian contingent were -materially lessened. Nevertheless, seed had been sown. And there were -millions of human beings to whom the last word of the Chatham -Declaration of Independence was more than mere rhetoric: “Nature is -mourning for its murdered and afflicted children. Hung be the Heavens in -scarlet!” - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE GREAT BLACK WAY - - “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because of the Lord hath - anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to - bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and - the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” - - -Half-way between Maine and Florida, in the Heart of the Alleghanies, a -mighty gateway lifts its head and discloses a scene which, a century and -a a quarter ago, Thomas Jefferson said was “worth a voyage across the -Atlantic.” He continues: “You stand on a very high point of land; on -your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the -mountain a hundred miles to find a vent; on your left approaches the -Potomac, in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction -they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off -to the sea.”[198] - -This is Harper’s Ferry and this was the point which John Brown chose for -his attack on American slavery. He chose it for many reasons. He loved -beauty: “When I met Brown at Peterboro in 1858,” writes Sanborn, “Morton -played some fine music to us in the parlor,—among other things -Schubert’s _Serenade_, then a favorite piece,—and the old Puritan, who -loved music and sang a good part himself, sat weeping at the air.”[199] -He chose Harper’s Ferry because a United States arsenal was there and -the capture of this would give that dramatic climax to the inception of -his plan which was so necessary to its success. But both these were -minor reasons. The foremost and decisive reason was that Harper’s Ferry -was the safest natural entrance to the Great Black Way. Look at the map -(page 274). The shaded portion is “the black belt” of slavery where -there were massed in 1859 at least three of the four million slaves. Two -paths led southward toward it in the East:—the way by Washington, -physically broad and easy, but legally and socially barred to bondsmen; -the other way, known to Harriet Tubman and all fugitives, which led to -the left toward the crests of the Alleghanies and the gateway of -Harper’s Ferry. One has but to glance at the mountains and swamps of the -South to see the Great Black Way. Here, amid the mighty protection of -overwhelming numbers, lay a path from slavery to freedom, and along that -path were fastnesses and hiding-places easily capable of becoming -permanent fortified refuges for organized bands of determined armed men. - -The exact details of Brown’s plan will never be fully known. As Realf -said: “John Brown was a man who would never state more than it was -absolutely necessary for him to do. No one of his most intimate -associates and I was one of the most intimate was possessed of more than -barely sufficient information to enable Brown to attach such companion -to him.”[200] - -[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE GREAT BLACK WAY] - -A glance at the map shows clearly that John Brown intended to operate in -the Blue Ridge mountains rising east of the Shenandoah and known at -Harper’s Ferry as Loudoun Heights. The Loudoun Heights rise boldly 500 -to 700 feet above the village of Harper’s Ferry and 1,000 feet above the -sea. They run due south and then southwest, dipping down a little the -first three miles, then rising to 1,500 feet, which level is practically -maintained until twenty-five miles below Harper’s Ferry where the -mountains broaden to a dense and labyrinthical wilderness, and rise to a -height of 2,000 or more feet. Right at this high point and insight of -High Knob (a peak of 2,400 feet) began, in Fauquier County, the Great -Black Way. In this county in 1850 were over 10,000 slaves, and 650 free -Negroes, as compared with 9,875 whites. From this county to the southern -boundary of Virginia was a series of black counties with a majority of -slaves, containing in 1850 at least 260,000 Negroes. From here the Great -Black Way went south as John Brown indicated in his diary and -undoubtedly in the marked maps, which Virginia afterward hastily -destroyed. - -The easiest way to get to these heights was from Harper’s Ferry. An -hour’s climb from the arsenal grounds would easily have hidden a hundred -men in inaccessible fastnesses, provided they were not overburdened; and -even with arms, ammunition and supplies, they could have repelled, -without difficulty, attacks on the retreat. Forts and defenses could be -prepared in these mountains, and before the raid they had been pretty -thoroughly explored and paths marked. In Harper’s Ferry just at the -crossing of the main road from Maryland lay the arsenal. The plan -without a doubt was first, to collect men and arms on the Maryland side -of the Potomac; second, to attack the arsenal suddenly and capture it; -third, to bring up the arms and ammunition and, together with those -captured, to cross the Shenandoah to Loudoun Heights and hide in the -mountain wilderness; fourth, thence to descend at intervals to release -slaves and get food, and retreat southward. Most writers have apparently -supposed that Brown intended to retreat from the arsenal across the -Potomac. A moment’s thought will show the utter absurdity of this plan. -Brown knew guerrilla warfare, and the failure of Harper’s Ferry raid -does not prove it a blunder from the start. The raid was not a foray -_from_ the mountains, which failed because its retreat was cut off, but -it was a foray _to_ the mountains with the village and arsenal on the -way, which was defeated apparently because the arms and ammunition train -failed to join the advance-guard. - -This then was the great plan which John Brown had been slowly -elaborating and formulating for twenty years—since the day when kneeling -beside a Negro minister he had sworn his sons to blood-feud with -slavery. - -The money resources with which John Brown undertook his project are not -exactly known. Sanborn says: “Brown’s first request in 1858 was for a -fund of a thousand dollars only; with this in the hand he promised to -take the field either in April or May. Mr. Stearns acted as treasurer of -this fund, and before the 1st of May nearly the whole the amount had -been paid in or subscribed,—Stearns contributing three hundred dollars, -and the rest of our committee smaller sums. It soon appeared, however, -that the amount named would be too small, and Brown’s movements were -embarrassed from the lack of money before the disclosures of Forbes came -to his knowledge.”[201] From first to last George L. Stearns gave in -cash and arms about $7,500, and Gerrit Smith contributed more than -$1,000. Merriam brought with him $600 in gold in October. Between March -10th and October 16th, Brown expended at least $2,500. In all Sanborn -raised $4,000 for Brown. Hinton says: “As near as can be estimated, the -money received by Brown could not have exceeded $12,000, while the -supplies, arms, etc., furnished may have cost $10,000 more. Of course, -there were smaller contributions and support coming in, but if the total -estimate be placed at $25,000, for the period between the 15th of -September, 1856, when he left Lawrence, Kan., and the 16th of October, -1859, when he moved on Harper’s Ferry, Va., with twenty-one men, it will -certainly cover all of the outlay except that of time, labor, and -lives.”[202] - -This total, however, does not include a fund of $1,000 raised for his -family. - -The civic organization under which Brown intended to work has been -spoken of. The military organization was based on his Kansas experience -and his reading. In his diary is this entry: - - “Circassia has about 550,000 - Switzerland 2,037,030 - - Guerrilla warfare See Life of Lord Wellington - - Page 71 to Page 75 (Mina) - - See also Page 102 some valuable hints in the Same Book. See also - Page 196 some most important instructions to officers. - - See also same Book Page 235 these words deep, and - - narrow defiles where 300 men would suffice to check an army. - - See also Page 236 on top of Page ” - -This life of Wellington, W. P. Garrison states,[203] was Stocqueler’s -and the pages referred to tell of the Spanish guerrillas under Mina in -1810, and of methods of cooking and discipline. In one place the author -says: “Here we have a chaos of mountains, where we meet at every step -huge fallen masses of rock and earth, yawning fissures, deep and narrow -defiles, where 300 men would suffice to check an army.” The Alleghanies -in Virginia and Carolina was similar in topography and, for the -operation here, Brown proposed a skeleton army which could work together -or in small units of any size: - -“A company will consist of fifty-six privates, twelve non-commissioned -officers, eight corporals, four sergeants and three commissioned -officers (two lieutenants, a captain), and a surgeon. - -“The privates shall be divided into bands or messes of seven each, -numbering from one to eight, with a corporal to each, numbered like his -band. - -“Two bands will comprise a section. Sections will be numbered from one -to four. - -“A sergeant will be attached to each section, and numbered like it. - -“Two sections will comprise a platoon. Platoons will be numbered one and -two, and each commanded by a lieutenant designed by like number.”[204] - -Four companies composed a battalion, four battalions a regiment, and -four regiments a brigade. - -So much for his resources and plans. Now for the men whom he chose as -co-workers. The number of those who took part in the Harper’s Ferry raid -is not known. Perhaps, including active slave helpers, there were about -fifty. Seventeen Negroes, reported as probably killed, are wholly -unknown, and those slaves who helped and escaped are also unknown. This -leaves the twenty-two men usually regarded as making the raid. They -fall, of course, into two main groups, the Negroes and the whites. Six -or seven of the twenty-two were Negroes. - -First in importance came Osborne Perry Anderson, a free-born -Pennsylvania mulatto, twenty-four years of age. He was a printer by -trade, “well educated, a man of natural dignity, modest, simple in -character and manners.” He met John Brown in Canada. He wrote the most -interesting and reliable account of the raid, and afterward fought in -the Civil War. - -Next came Shields Green, a full-blooded Negro from South Carolina, -whence he had escaped from slavery, after his wife had died, leaving a -living boy still in bondage. He was about twenty-four years old, small -and active, uneducated but with natural ability and absolutely fearless. -He met Brown at the home of Frederick Douglass, who says: “While at my -house, John Brown made the acquaintance of a colored man who called -himself by different names—sometimes ‘Emperor,’ at other times, ‘Shields -Green’.... He was a fugitive slave, who had made his escape from -Charleston, S. C.; a state from which a slave found it no easy matter to -run away. But Shields Green was not one to shrink from hardships or -dangers. He was a man of few words and his speech was singularly broken; -but his courage and self-respect made him quite a dignified character. -John Brown saw at once what ‘stuff’ Green ‘was made of,’ and confided to -him his plans and purposes. Green easily believed in Brown, and promised -to go with him whenever he should be ready to move.”[205] - -Dangerfield Newby was a free mulatto from the neighborhood of Harper’s -Ferry. He was thirty years of age, tall and well built, with a pleasant -face and manner; he had a wife and seven children in slavery about -thirty miles south of Harper’s Ferry. The wife was about to be sold -south at this time, and was sold immediately after the raid. Newby was -the spy who gave general information to the party, and lived out in the -community until the night of the attack. - -John A. Copeland was born of free Negro parents in North Carolina, -reared in Oberlin and educated at Oberlin College. He was a -straight-haired mulatto, twenty-two years old, of medium size, and a -carpenter by trade. Hunter, the prosecuting attorney of Virginia, says: -“From my intercourse with him I regarded him as one of the most -respectable prisoners that we had.... He was a copper-colored Negro, -behaved himself with as much firmness as any of them, and with far more -dignity. If it had been possible to recommend a pardon for any of them, -it would have been for this man Copeland, as I regretted as much, if not -more, at seeing him executed than any other one of the party!”[206] - -Lewis Sherrard Leary was born in slavery in North Carolina and also -reared in Oberlin, where he worked as a harness-maker. An Oberlin friend -testified: “He called again afterward, and told me he would like to keep -to the amount I had given him, and would like a certain amount more for -a certain purpose, and was very chary in his communications to me as to -how he was to use it, except that he did inform me that he wished to use -it in aiding slaves to escape. Circumstances just then transpired which -had interested me contrary to any thought I ever had in my mind before. -I had had exhibited to me a daguerreotype of a young lady, a beautiful -appearing girl, who I was informed was about eighteen years of -age....”[207] But here Senator Mason of the Inquisition scented danger, -and we can only guess the reasons that sent Leary to his death. He was -said to be Brown’s first recruit outside the Kansas band. - -John Anderson, a free Negro from Boston, was sent by Lewis Hayden and -started for the front. Whether he arrived and was killed, or was too -late has never been settled. - -The seventh man of possible Negro blood was Jeremiah Anderson. He is -listed with the Negroes in all the original reports of the Chatham -Convention and was, as a white Virginian who saw him says, “of middle -stature, very black hair and swarthy complexion. He was supposed by some -to be a Canadian mulatto.”[208] He was descended from Virginia -slaveholders who had moved north and was born in Indiana. He was -twenty-six years old. - -Of the white men there were, first of all, John Brown and his family, -consisting of three sons, and two brothers of his eldest daughter’s -husband, William and Dauphin Thompson. - -Oliver Brown was a boy not yet twenty-one, though tall and muscular, and -had just been married. Watson was a man of twenty-five, tall and -athletic; while Owen was a large, red-haired prematurely aged man of -thirty-five, partially crippled, good-tempered and cynical. The -Thompsons were neighbors of John Brown and part of a brood of twenty -children. The Brown family and their intermarried Anne Brown says that -William, who was twenty-six years of age, was “kind, generous-hearted, -and helpful to others.” Dauphin, a boy of twenty-two, was, she writes, -“very quiet, with a fair, thoughtful face, curly blonde hair, and -baby-blue eyes. He always seemed like a very good girl.”[209] - -The three notable characters of the band were Kagi, Stevens and Cook, -the reformer, the soldier, and the poet. Kagi’s family came from the -Shenandoah Valley. He was twenty-four, had a good English education and -was a newspaper reporter in Kansas, where he earnestly helped the free -state cause. He had strong convictions on the subject of slavery and was -willing to risk all for them. “You will all be killed,” cried a friend -who heard his plan. “Yes, I know it, Hinton, but the result will be -worth the sacrifice.” Hinton adds: “I recall my friend as a man of -personal beauty, with a fine, well-shaped head, a voice of quiet, sweet -tones, that could be penetrating and cutting, too, almost to -sharpness.”[210] Anderson writes that Kagi “left home when a youth, an -enemy to slavery, and brought as his gift offering to freedom three -slaves, whom he piloted to the North. His innate hatred of the -institution made him a willing exile from the state of his birth, and -his great abilities, natural and acquired, entitled him to the position -he held in Captain Brown’s confidence. Kagi was indifferent to personal -appearance; he often went about with slouched hat, one leg of his -pantaloons properly adjusted, and the other partly tucked into his high -boot-top; unbrushed, unshaven, and in utter disregard of ‘the latest -style.’”[211] - -Stevens was a handsome six-foot Connecticut soldier of twenty-eight -years of age, who had thrashed his major for mistreating a fellow -soldier and deserted from the United States army. He was active in -Kansas and soon came under John Brown’s discipline. - -“Why did you come to Harper’s Ferry?” asked a Virginian. - -He replied: “It was to help my fellow men out of bondage. You know -nothing of slavery—I know, a great deal. It is the crime of crimes. I -hate it more and more the longer I live. Even since I have been lying in -this cell, I have heard the crying of 3 slave-children torn from their -parents.”[212] - -Cook was also a Connecticut man of twenty-nine years, tall, blue-eyed, -golden-haired and handsome, but a far different type from Stevens. He -was talkative, impulsive and restless, eager for adventure but hardly -steadfast. He followed John Brown as he would have followed anyone else -whom he liked, dreaming his dreams, rushing ahead in the face of danger -and shrinking back appalled and pitiful before the grim face of death. -He was the most thoroughly human figure in the band. - -One other deserves mention because it was probably his slowness or -obstinacy that ruined the success of John Brown’s raid. This was Charles -P. Tidd. He was from Maine, twenty-seven years old, trained in Kansas -warfare—a nervous, overbearing and quarrelsome man. He bitterly opposed -the plan of capturing Harper’s Ferry when it was finally revealed, and -as Anne Brown said, “got so warm that he left the farm and went down to -Cook’s dwelling near Harper’s Ferry to let his wrath cool off.” A week -passed before he sullenly gave in. - -Besides these, there were six other men of more or less indistinct -personalities. Five were young Kansas settlers from Maine, the Middle -West and Canada, trained in guerrilla warfare under Brown and Montgomery -and thoroughly disliking the slave system which they had seen. They were -personal admirers of Brown and lovers of adventure. The last recruit, -Merriam, was a New England aristocrat turned crusader, fighting the -world’s ills blindly but devotedly. The Negro Lewis Hayden met him in -Boston, “and, after a few words, said, ‘I want five hundred dollars and -must have it.’ Merriam, startled at the manner of the request, replied, -‘If you have a good cause, you shall have it.’ Hayden then told Merriam -briefly what he had learned from John Brown, Jr.: that Captain Brown was -at Chambersburg, or could be heard of there; that he was preparing to -lead a party of liberators into Virginia, and that he needed money; to -which Merriam replied: ‘If you tell me John Brown is there, you can have -my money and me along with it.’”[213] - -These were the men—idealists, dreamers, soldiers and avengers, varying -from the silent and thoughtful to the quick and impulsive; from the cold -and bitter to the ignorant and faithful. They believed in God, in -spirits, in fate, in liberty. To them, the world was a wild, young -unregulated thing, and they were born to set it right. It was a -veritable band of crusaders, and while it had much of weakness and -extravagance, it had nothing nasty or unclean. On the whole, they were -an unusual set of men. Anne Brown who lived with them said: “Taking them -all together, I think they would compare well [she is speaking of -manners, etc.] with the same number of men in any station of life I have -ever met.”[214] - -They were not men of culture or great education, although Kagi had had a -fair schooling. They were intellectually bold and inquiring—several had -been attracted by the then rampant Spiritualism; nearly all were -skeptical of the world’s social conventions. They had been trained -mostly in the rough school of frontier life, had faced death many times, -and were eager, curious, and restless. Some of them were musical, others -dabbled in verse. Their broadest common ground of sympathy lay in the -personality of John Brown—him they revered and loved. Through him, they -had come to hate slavery, and for him and for what he believed, they -were willing to risk their lives. They themselves, had convictions on -slavery and other matters, but John Brown narrowed down their dreaming -to one intense deed. - -Finally, there was John Brown himself. His appearance has been often -described—several times in these pages. In 1859 he was the same striking -figure with whitening hair, burning eyes, and the great white beard -which hardly hid the pendulous side lips of Olympian Jove. One thing, -however, must not be forgotten. John Brown was at this time a sick man. -From 1856 to 1859, scarce a mouth passed without telling of illness. His -health was “some improved” in May 1857, but soon he lost a week “with -ague and fever and left home feeble.” In August he wrote of “ill health” -and “repeated returns of fever and ague.” In September and October, his -health was “poor.” The spring and summer of 1858 found him “not very -stout,” and in July and August, he was “down with ague” and “too sick” -to write. In September he was “still weak,” and, although “some -improved” in December, the following spring found him “not very strong.” -In April, amid the feverish activity of his fatal year, he was “quite -prostrated,” with “the difficulty in my head and ear and with the ague -in consequence.” Late in July, he was “delayed with sickness” and there -can be little doubt that it was an illness and pain-racked body which -his indomitable will forced into the raid of Harper’s Ferry. - -Having collected a part of the funds and organized the band, John Brown -was about to strike his blow in the early summer of 1858, as we have -seen, when the Forbes disclosures compelled him to hide in Kansas, where -the last massacre on the Swamp of the Swan invited him. He left Canada -for Kansas in June, 1858. Cook, somewhat against the wishes of Brown who -feared his garrulity, went to Harper’s Ferry, worked as a booking agent -and canal keeper, made love to a maid and married her and then acted as -advance agent awaiting the main band. Ten months after leaving Canada, -and in mid-March, 1859, John Brown appeared again in Canada (as has been -told in Chapter VII) with twelve rescued slaves as an earnest of the -feasibility of his plan. He stayed long enough to spread the news and -then went to northern Ohio where he spoke in public of Kansas and -slavery. “He said that he had never lifted a finger toward any one whom -he did not know was a violent persecutor of the free state men. He had -never killed anybody; although, on some occasions, he had shown the -young men with him how some things might be done as well as others, and -they had done the business. He had never destroyed the value of an ear -of corn, and had never set fire to any pro-slavery man’s house or -property. He had never by his action driven out pro-slavery men from the -Territory; but if the occasion demanded it, he would drive them into the -ground, like fence stakes, where they would remain permanent settlers. - -“Brown remarked that he was an outlaw, the governor of Missouri has -offered a reward of $3,000, and James Buchanan $250 more, for him. He -quietly remarked, parenthetically, that John Brown would give two -dollars and fifty cents for the safe delivery of the body of James -Buchanan in any jail of the free states. He would never submit to an -arrest, as he had nothing to gain from submission; but he should settle -all questions on the spot if any attempt was made to take him. The -liberation of those slaves was meant as a direct blow to slavery, and he -laid down his platform that he had considered it his duty to break the -fetters from any slave when he had an opportunity. He was a thorough -Abolitionist.”[215] - -Then, he went East to see his family and visit Douglass (where he met -and persuaded Shields Green), and to consult with Gerrit Smith and -Sanborn. Alcott at Concord wrote: - -“This evening I heard Captain Brown speak at the town hall on Kansas -affairs and the part took by them in the late troubles there. He tells -his story with surpassing simplicity and sense, impressing us all deeply -by his courage and religious earnestness. Our best people listen to his -words,—Emerson, Thoreau, Judge Hoar, my wife; and some of them -contribute something in aid of his plans without asking particulars, -such confidence does he inspire in his integrity and abilities. I have a -few words with him after his speech, and find him superior to legal -traditions, and a disciple of the Right in ideality and the affairs of -the state. He is Sanborn’s guest and stays for a day only. A young man -named Anderson accompanies him. They go armed, I am told, and will -defend themselves, if necessary. I believe they are now on their way to -Connecticut and farther south, but the captain leaves us much in the -dark concerning his destination and designs for the coming months. Yet -he does not conceal his hatred of slavery, nor his readiness to strike a -blow for freedom at the proper moment. I infer he intends to run off as -many slaves as he can, and so render that property insecure to the -master. I think him equal to anything he dares,—the man to do the deed, -if it must be done, and with the martyr’s temper and purpose. Nature was -deeply intent in the making of him. He is of imposing appearance, -personally—tall, with square shoulders and standing; eyes of deep gray, -and couchant, as if ready to spring at the least rustling, dauntless yet -kindly; his hair shooting backward from low down on his forehead; nose -trenchant and Romanesque; set lips, his voice suppressed yet metallic, -suggesting deep reserves; decided mouth; the countenance and frame -charged with power throughout. Since here last he has added a flowing -beard, which gives the soldierly air and the port of an apostle. Though -sixty years old he is agile and alert and ready for any audacity, in any -crisis. I think him about the manliest man I have ever seen,—the type -and synonym of the Just.”[216] - -The month of May, John Brown spent in Boston collecting funds, and in -New York consulting his Negro friends, with a trip to Connecticut to -hurry the making of his thousand pikes. Sickness intervened, but at last -on June 20th, the advance-guard of five—Brown and two of his sons, Jerry -Anderson and Kagi—started southward. They stayed several days at -Chambersburg, where Kagi, coöperating with a faithful Negro barber, -Watson, was established as a general agent to forward men, mail, and -freight. Then passing through Hagerstown, they appeared at Harper’s -Ferry on July 4th. Here they met Cook, who had been selling maps, -keeping the canal-lock near the arsenal, and sending regular information -to Brown. Brown and his sons wandered about at first, and a local farmer -greeted them cheerily: “Good-morning, gentlemen, how do you do?” They -returned the greeting pleasantly. The conversation is recounted as -follows: - -“I said, ‘Well, gentlemen,’ after saluting them in that form, ‘I suppose -you are out hunting minerals, gold, and silver?’ His answer was, ‘No, we -are not, we are out looking for land; we want to buy land; we have a -little money, but we want to make it go as far as we can.’ He asked me -about the price of the land. I told him that it ranged from fifteen -dollars to thirty dollars in the neighborhood. He remarked, ‘That is -high; I thought I could buy land here for about a dollar or two dollars -per acre.’ I remarked to him, ‘No, sir; if you expect to get land for -that price, you will have to go further west, to Kansas, or some of -those Territories where there is government land.’ ... I then asked him -where they came from. His answer was, ‘From the northern part of the -state of New York.’ I asked him what he followed there. He said farming -and the frost had been so heavy lately, that it cut off their crops -there; that he could not make anything, and sold out, and thought he -would come further south and try it awhile.”[217] - -Through this easy-going, inquisitive farmer, Brown learned of a farm for -rent, which he hired for nine months for thirty-five dollars. It was on -the main road between Harper’s Ferry, Chambersburg, and the North, about -five miles from the Ferry and in a quiet secluded place. The house stood -about 300 yards back from the Boonesborough pike, in plain sight. About -600 yards away on the other side of the road was another cabin of one -room and a garret, which was largely hidden from view by the shrubbery. -Here Brown settled and gradually collected his men and material. The -arms were especially slow in coming. Most of the guns arrived at -Chambersburg from Connecticut about August, but the pikes did not come -until a month later. Then to the men were gathered slowly. They were at -the four ends of the country, in all sorts of employment and different -financial conditions, and they were not certain just when the raid would -take place. All this delayed Brown from July until October and greatly -increased the cost of maintenance. A daughter, Anne, and Oliver’s girl -wife came and kept the house from July 16th to October 1st. - -At this critical juncture, Harriet Tubman fell sick—a grave loss to the -cause—and there were other delays. By August 1st, there were at Harper’s -Ferry the two Brown daughters and three sons, and the two brothers of a -son-in-law, besides the two Coppocs, Tidd, Jerry Anderson, and Stevens. -Hazlett, Leeman, and Taylor came soon after. Kagi was still at -Chambersburg and John Brown himself “labored and traveled night and day, -sometimes on old Dolly, his brown mule, and sometimes in the wagon. He -would start directly after night, and travel the fifty miles between the -farm and Chambersburg by daylight the next morning; and he otherwise -kept open communication between headquarters and the latter place, in -order that matters might be arranged in due season.”[218] - -In the North John Brown, Jr., was shipping the arms and gathering men -and money. He was in Boston August 10th, at Douglass’s home, soon after, -and later in Canada with Loguen. All the chief branches of the League -were visited and then northern Ohio. The result was meagre; not because -of a lack of men but lack of the kind of men wanted at this time. There -were thousands of Negroes ready to fight for liberty in the ranks. But -most of these John Brown could not use at present. No considerable band -of armed black men could have been introduced into the South without -immediate discovery and civil war. It was therefore picked leaders like -Douglass, Reynolds, Holden and Delaney that Brown wanted at -first—discreet and careful men of influence, who, as he said to -Douglass, could hive the swarming bees both North and South. To get -these picked men interested was, however, difficult. Each had his work -and his theory of racial salvation; they were widely scattered. A number -of them had been convinced in 1858, but the postponement had given time -for reflection and doubt. In many ways, the original enthusiasm had -waned, but it was not dead. The cause was just as great and all that was -needed was to convince men that this was a real chance to strike an -effective blow. They required the magic of Brown’s own presence to -impress this fact upon them. They were not sure of his agents. Men -continued to come, however, others began to prepare and still, others -were almost persuaded. An urgent summons went to Kansas to white fellow -workers, and the response there was similarly small. Brown knew that his -ability to command the services of a large number of Northern Negroes -depended to some degree on Frederick Douglass’s attitude. He was the -first great national Negro leader—a man of ability, _finesse_, and -courage. If he followed John Brown, who could hesitate? If he refused, -was it not for the best of reasons? Thus John Brown continually urged -Douglass and as a last appeal arranged for a final conference on August -19th at Chambersburg in an abandoned stone quarry. Douglass says: - -“As I came near, he regarded me rather suspiciously, but soon recognized -me, and received me cordially. He had in his hand when I met him a -fishing-tackle, with which he had been fishing in a stream hard by, but -I saw no fish and did not suppose he cared much for his ‘fisherman’s -luck.’ The fishing was simply a disguise and was certainly a good one. -He looked every way like a man of the neighborhood, and as much at home -as any of the farmers around there. His hat was old and storm-beaten, -and his clothing was about the color of the stone quarry itself—his then -present dwelling-place. - -“His face wore an anxious expression, and he was much worn by thought -and exposure. I felt that I was on a dangerous mission, and was as -little desirous of discovery as himself, though no reward had been -offered for me. We—Mr. Kagi, Captain Brown, Shields Green, and -myself—sat down among the rocks and talked over the enterprise which was -about to be undertaken. The taking of Harper’s Ferry, of which Captain -Brown had merely hinted before, was now declared as his settled purpose, -and he wanted to know what I thought of it. I at once opposed the -measure with all the arguments at my command. To me, such a measure -would be fatal to running off slaves (as was the original plan), and -fatal to all engaged in doing so. It would be an attack upon The federal -government and would array the whole country against us. Captain Brown -did most of the talking on the other side of the question. He did not at -all object to rousing the nation; it seemed to him that something -startling was just what the nation needed.... Our talk was long and -earnest; we spent the most of Saturday and a part of Sunday in this -debate—Brown for Harper’s Ferry, and I against it; he for striking a -blow which should instantly rouse the country, and I for the policy of -gradually and unaccountably drawing off the slaves to the mountains, as -at first suggested and proposed by him. When I found that he had fully -made up his mind and could not be dissuaded, I turned to Shields Green -and told him he heard what Captain Brown had said; his old plan was -changed, and that I should return home, and if he wished to go with me -he could do so. Captain Brown urged us both to go with him, but I could -not do so, and could but feel that he was about to rivet the fetters -more firmly than ever on the limbs of the enslaved. In parting, he put -his arms around me in a manner more than friendly and said: ‘Come with -me, Douglass; I will defend you with my life. I want you for a special -purpose. When I strike, the bees will begin to swarm, and I shall want -you to help hive them.’ But my discretion or my cowardice made me proof -against the dear old man’s eloquence—perhaps it was something of both -that determined my course. When about to leave, I asked Green what he -had decided to do, and was surprised by his coolly saying, in his broken -way, ‘I b’lieve I’ll go wid de ole man.’ Here we separated; they to go -to Harper’s Ferry, I to Rochester.”[219] - -Douglass’s decision undoubtedly kept many Negroes from joining Brown. -Shields Green, however, started south. The slave-catchers followed him -and made him and Owen Brown swim a river. Only their journeying -southward instead of northward saved them from capture. - -Life at the farm during this time was curious. Anderson says: - -“There was no milk and water sentimentality—no offensive contempt for -the Negro, while working in his cause; the pulsations of every heart -beat in harmony for the suffering and pleading slave. I thank God that I -have been permitted to realize to its furthest, fullest extent, the -moral, mental, physical, social harmony of an anti-slavery family, -carrying out to the letter the principles of its antitype, the -anti-slavery cause. In John Brown’s house, and in John Brown’s presence, -men from widely different parts of the continent met and united into one -company, wherein no hateful prejudice dared intrude its ugly self—no -ghost of distinction found space to enter.... - -“To a passer-by, the house and its surroundings presented but -indifferent attractions. Any log tenement of equal dimensions would be -as likely to arrest a stray glance. Rough, unsightly, and aged, it was -only for those privileged to enter and tarry for a long time, and to -penetrate the mysteries of the two rooms it contained—kitchen, parlor, -dining-room below, and the spacious chamber, attic, storeroom, prison, -drilling-room, comprised in the loft above—who could tell how we lived -at Kennedy Farm. - -“Every morning, when the noble old man was at home, he called the family -around, read from his Bible, and offered to God most fervent and -touching supplications for all flesh; and especially pathetic were his -petitions in behalf of the oppressed. I never heard John Brown pray, -that he did not make strong appeals to God for the deliverance of the -slave. This duty over, the men went to the loft, there to remain all day -long; few only could be seen about, as the neighbors were watchful and -suspicious. It was also important to talk but little among ourselves, as -visitors to the house might be curious. Besides the daughter and -daughter-in-law, who superintended the work, some one or other of the -men was regularly detailed to assist in the cooking, washing, and other -domestic work. After the ladies left, we did all the work, no one being -exempt, because of age or official grade in the organization. - -“The principal employment of the prisoners, as we severally were when -compelled to stay in the loft, was to study Forbes’s Manual, and to go -through a quiet, though rigid drill, under the training of Captain -Stevens, at some times. At other times we applied a preparation for -bronzing our gun-barrels-discussed subjects of reform—related our -personal history; but when our resources became pretty well exhausted, -the _ennui_ from confinement, imposed silence, etc., would make the men -almost desperate. At such times, neither slavery nor slaveholders were -discussed mincingly. We were, while the ladies remained, often relieved -of much of the dullness growing out of restraint by their kindness. As -we could not circulate freely, they would bring in wild fruit and -flowers from the woods and fields.”[220] - -Anne, the young daughter, says: “One day, a short time after I went down -there, father was sitting at the table writing. I was nearby sewing (he -and I being alone in the room), when two little wrens that had a nest -under the porch came flying in at the door, fluttering and twittering; -then they flew back to their nest and again to us several times, -seemingly trying to attract our attention. They appeared to be in great -distress. I asked father what he thought was the matter with the little -birds. He asked if I had ever seen them act so before; I told him no. -‘Then let us go and see,’ he said. We went out and found that a snake -had crawled up the post and was just ready to devour the little ones in -the nest. Father killed the snake; and then the old birds sat on the -railing and sang as if they would burst. It seemed as if they were -trying to express their joy and gratitude to him for saving their little -ones. After we went back into the room, he said he thought it very -strange the way the birds asked him to help them, and asked if I thought -it an omen of his success. He seemed very much impressed with that idea. -I do not think he was superstitious, but you know he always thought and -felt that God called him to that work; and seemed to place himself, or -rather to imagine himself, in the position of the figure in the old seal -of Virginia, with the tyrant under her foot.”[221] - -The men discussed religion and slavery freely, read Paine’s _Age of -Reason_ and the Baltimore _Sun_. John Brown himself was careful to -cultivate the good-will of his neighbors, attending with skill the sick -among animals and men, so much so that he and his sons became prime -favorites. Owen had long conversations with the people, while Cook was -also moving about the country selling maps. A little Dunker chapel was -near with non-resistant, anti-slavery principles; here John Brown often -worshiped and preached. Yet with all this caution and care, suspicion -lurked about them, and discovery was always imminent. - -Brown’s daughter relates that “there was a family of poor people who -lived nearby and who had rented the garden on the Kennedy place, -directly back of the house. The little barefooted woman and four small -children (she carried the youngest in her arms) would all come trooping -over to the garden at all hours of the day, and, at times, several times -during the day. Nearly always they would come up the steps and into the -house and stay a short time. This made it very troublesome for us, -compelling the men, when she came insight at meal-times, to gather up -the victuals and table-cloth and quietly disappear up-stairs. - -“One Saturday father and I went to a religious (Dunker) meeting that was -held in a grove near the schoolhouse and the folks left at home forgot -to keep a sharp lookout for Mrs. Heiffmaster, and she stole into the -house before they saw her, and saw Shields Green (that must have been in -September), Barclay Coppoc, and Will Lemnian. And another time after -that she saw C. P. Tidd standing on the porch. She thought these -strangers were running off negroes to the North. I used to give her -everything she wanted or asked for to keep her on good terms, but we -were in constant fear that she was either a spy or would betray us. It -was like standing on a powder magazine after a slow match had been -lighted.”[222] - -Despite all precautions, a rumor began to get in the air. A Prussian -Pole was among the Kansas cooperators invited. He had been in Kansas in -1856 and was known to Brown and Kagi. After hearing from Brown in August -1859, the Pole disclosed their plans to Edmund Babb, a correspondent of -the Cincinnati _Gazette_. It was probably Babb who thereupon wrote to -the United States Secretary of War: “I have discovered the existence of -a secret association, having for its object the liberation of the slaves -at the South and by a general insurrection. The leader of the movement -is one ‘old John Brown,’ late of Kansas.” Approximately correct details -of the plot followed, but Secretary Floyd was lolling at a summer resort -and had some little conspiracies of his own in hand not unconnected with -United States arsenals. Being, therefore, as he said magniloquently, -“satisfied in my mind that a scheme of such wickedness and outrage could -not be entertained by any citizens of the United States, I put the -letter away, and thought no more of it until the raid broke out.”[223] - -Gerrit Smith, too, with little discretion, addressed to Negro audience -words which plainly showed he shortly expected a slave insurrection. -Even among Harper’s Ferry party forced inaction led to disputes and -disaffection. John Brown sharply rebuked the letter-writing and -gossiping about his men. “Any person is a stupid fool,” he told Kagi, -“who expects his friends to keep for him that which he cannot keep -himself. All our friends have each got their special friends; and they -again have theirs, and it would not be right to lay the burden of -keeping a secret on any one at the end of a long string. I could tell -you of reasons I have for feeling rather keenly on this point.”[224] - -The men, on the other hand, were dissatisfied with Brown’s plans as they -were finally disclosed. Anne Brown writes that they generally “did not -know that the raid on the government works was a part of the ‘plan’ -until after they arrived at the farm in the beginning of August.”[225] -They wanted simply to repeat the Missouri raid on a larger scale and not -try to capture the arsenal. Tidd was especially stubborn and -irreconcilable. The discussion became so warm that John Brown at one -time resigned, but he was immediately reëlected and this formal letter -was sent to him: - -“DEAR SIR—We have all agreed to sustain your decisions, until you have -proved incompetent, and many of us will adhere to your decisions so long -as you will.”[226] - -In these ways Brown was compelled to hurry and accordingly he urged his -eldest son, who replied: “Through those associations which I formed in -Canada, I am able to reach each individual member at the shortest notice -by letter. I am devoting my whole time to our company business. I shall -immediately go out organizing and raising funds. From what I even had -understood, I had supposed you would not think it best to commence -opening the coal banks before spring unless circumstances should make it -imperative. However, I suppose the reasons are satisfactory to you, and -if so, those who own smaller shares ought not to object. I hope we shall -be able to get on in season some of those old miners of whom I wrote -you. I shall strain every nerve to accomplish this. You may be assured -that what you say to me will reach those who may be benefited thereby, -and those who would take stock, in the shortest possible time; so don’t -fail to keep me posted.”[227] - -As late as October 6th Brown expected to “move about the end of the -month” and made a hurried trip to Philadelphia. There he met a large -group of Negroes, and Dorsey the caterer with whom he stayed, at 1221 -Locust Street, is said to have given him $300. In some way, he was -disappointed with the visit. Anderson says he went “on the business of -great importance. How important, men there and elsewhere now know. How -affected by, and affecting the main features of the enterprise, we at -the farm knew full after their return, as the old captain, in the -fullness of his overflowing, saddened heart, detailed point after point -of interest”[228] Perhaps he was still trying to persuade Douglass and -the leaders of the Philadelphia and New York groups. - -The women left the farm late in September and O. P. Anderson, Copeland, -and Leary arrived. Merriam joined Brown while he was on the Philadelphia -trip and was sent to Baltimore to buy caps for the guns. Others were -coming when suddenly Brown fixed on October 17th as the date of the -raid. This hurried change was probably because officials and neighbors -were getting inquisitive, and arms were being removed from the arsenal -to man Southern stations. Yet it was unfortunate, as Anderson says: -“Could other parties, waiting for the word, have reached the -headquarters in time for the outbreak when it took place, the taking of -the armory, engine-house, and rifle factory, would have been quite -different. But the men at the farm had been so closely confined, that -they went out about the house and farm in the daytime during that week, -and so indiscreetly exposed their numbers to the prying neighbors, who -thereupon took steps to have a search instituted in the early part of -the coming week. Captain Brown was not seconded in another quarter, as -he expected, at the time of the action, but could the fears of the -neighbors have been allayed for a few days, the disappointment in the -former respect would not have been of much weight.”[229] - -Only the nearest of the slaves round about who awaited the word could be -communicated with and several recruits like Hinton were left stranded on -the way, unable to get through in time. So the great day dawned: “On -Sunday morning, October 16th, Captain Brown arose earlier than usual, -and called his men down to worship. He read a chapter from the Bible, -applicable to the condition of the slaves, and our duty as their -brethren, and then offered up a fervent prayer to God to assist in the -liberation of the bondmen in that slaveholding land. The services were -impressive.”[230] - -A council was held, over which O. P. Anderson, the colored man, -presided. In the afternoon the final orders were given and at night just -before setting out, John Brown said: “And now, gentlemen, let me impress -this one thing upon your minds. You all know how dear life is to you, -and how dear life is to your friends. And in remembering that, consider -that the lives of others areas dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, -therefore, take the life of anyone, if you can possibly avoid it, but if -it is necessary to take life to save your own, then make sure work of -it.”[231] - - - - - CHAPTER XI - THE BLOW - - “Woe unto them that call evil, good; and good, evil.” - -“At eight o’clock on Sunday evening, Captain Brown said: ‘Men, get on -your arms; we will proceed to the Ferry.’ His horse and wagon were -brought out before the door, and some pikes, a sledge-hammer and a -crowbar were placed in it. The captain then put on his old Kansas cap, -and said: ‘Come, boys!’ when we marched out of the camp behind him, into -the lane leading down the hill to the main road.”[232] - -The orders given commanded Owen Brown, Merriam and Barclay Coppoc to -watch the house and arms until ordered to bring them toward the Ferry. -Tidd and Cook were to cut the telegraph lines and Kagi and Stephens to -detain the bridge guard. Watson Brown and Taylor were to hold the bridge -over the Potomac, and Oliver Brown and William Thompson the bridge over -the Shenandoah. Jerry Anderson and Dauphin Thompson were to occupy the -engine-house in the arsenal yard, while Hazlett and Edwin Coppoc were to -hold the armory. - -During the night Kagi and Copeland were to seize and guard the rifle -factory, and others were to go out in the country and bring in certain -masters and their slaves. - -It was a cold dark night when the band started. Ahead was John Brown in -his one-horse farm-wagon, with pikes, a sledge-hammer and a crowbar. -Behind him marched the men silently and at intervals, Cook and Tidd -leading. They had five miles to go, over rolling hills and through woods -and then down to a narrow road between the cliffs and the Cincinnati and -Ohio canal. As they approached the railroad, Cook and Tidd cut the -telegraph wires which led to Baltimore and Washington. At the bridge -they halted and made ready their arms. At ten o’clock William Williams, -one of the watchmen there, was surprised to find himself a prisoner in -the hands of Kagi and Stevens, who took him through the covered -structure to the town, leaving Watson Brown and Steward Taylor to guard -the bridge. The rest of the company entered Harper’s Ferry. - -The land between the rivers is itself high, though dwarfed by the -mountains and running down to a low point where the rivers join. At this -place the bridge leads to Maryland. After crossing the bridge to -Virginia, about sixty yards up the street, running parallel to the -Potomac, was the gate of the armory where the arms were made. On the -Shenandoah side about sixty yards from the armory gate is the arsenal, -where the arms were stored. The company proceeded to the armory gate. -The watchman tells how the place was captured: - -“‘Open the gate,’ said they; I said, ‘I could not if I was stuck,’ and -one of them jumped up on the pier of the gate over my head, and another -fellow ran and put his hand on me and caught me by the coat and held me; -I was inside and they were outside, and the fellow standing over my head -upon the pier, and then when I would not open the gate for them, five or -six ran in from the wagon, clapped their guns against my breast, and -told me I should deliver up the key; I told them I could not; and -another fellow made an answer and said they had not time now to be -waiting for the key, but to go to the wagon and bring out the crowbar -and large hammer, and they would soon get in; they went to the little -wagon and brought a large crowbar out of it; there is a large chain -around the two sides of the wagon-gate going in; they twisted the -crowbar in the chain and they opened it, and in they ran and got in the -wagon; one fellow took me; they all gathered about me and looked in my -face; I was nearly scared to death with so many guns about me.”[233] - -[Illustration: MAP OF HARPER’S FERRY, SHOWING POINTS FIGURING IN THE -RAID] - -The two captured watchmen, Anderson says, “were left in the custody of -Jerry Anderson and Dauphin Thompson, and A. D. Stevens arranged the men -to take possession of the armory and rifle factory. About this time, -there was apparently much excitement. People were passing back and forth -in the town, and before we could do much, we had to take several -prisoners. After the prisoners were secured, we passed to the opposite -side of the street and took the armory, and Albert Hazlett and Edwin -Coppoc were ordered to hold it for the time being.”[234] - -The other fourteen men quickly dispersed through the village. Oliver -Brown and William Thompson seized and guarded the bridge across the -Shenandoah. This bridge was sixty rods from the railway bridge up the -river and was the direct route to Loudoun Heights, the slave-filled -lower valley, and the Great Black Way. It was, however, not the only way -across the Shenandoah: a little more than half a mile farther up were -the rifle works, where the stream could be easily forded. Kagi and -Copeland went there, captured the watchman and took possession. - -“These places were all taken, and the prisoners secured, without the -snap of a gun, or any violence whatever,” says Anderson, and he -continues: “The town being taken, Brown, Stevens, and the men who had no -post in charge, returned to the engine-house, where council was held, -after which Captain Stevens, Tidd, Cook, Shields Green, Leary and myself -went to the country. On the road we met some colored men, to whom we -made known our purpose, when they immediately agreed to join us. They -said they had been long waiting for an opportunity of the kind. Stevens -then asked them to go around among the colored people and circulate the -news, when each started off in a different direction. The result was -that many colored men gathered to the scene of action. The first -prisoner taken by us was Colonel Lewis Washington [a relative of George -Washington]. When we neared his house, Captain Stevens placed Leary and -Shields Green to guard the approaches to the house, the one at the side, -and the other in front. We then knocked, but no one answering, although -females were looking from upper windows, we entered the building and -commenced a search for the proprietor. Colonel Washington opened his -room door, and begged us not to kill him. Captain Stevens replied, ‘You -are our prisoner,’ when he stood as if speechless or petrified. Stevens -further told him to get ready to go to the Ferry; that he had come to -abolish slavery, not to take life but in self-defense, but that he must -go along. The colonel replied: ‘You can have my slaves, if you will let -me remain.’ ‘No,’ said the captain, ‘you must go along too; so get -ready.’”[235] - -He and his male slaves were thus taken, together with a large four-horse -wagon and some arms, including the Lafayette sword. Away the party went -and after capturing another planter and his slaves, arrived at the Ferry -before daybreak. - -Meantime the citizens of the Ferry, returning late from protracted -Methodist meeting, were being taken prisoners and about one o’clock in -the morning the east-bound Baltimore and Ohio train arrived. This was -detained and the local colored porter shot dead by Brown’s guards on the -bridge. The passengers were greatly excited, but at first thought it was -a strike of some kind. After sunrise the train was allowed to proceed, -John Brown himself walking ahead across the bridge to reassure the -conductor. So Monday, October 17th, began and Anderson says it “was a -time of stirring and exciting events. In consequence of the movements of -the night before, we were prepared for commotion and tumult, but -certainly not for more than we beheld around us. Gray dawn and yet -brighter daylight revealed great confusion, and as the sun arose, the -panic spread like wild-fire. Men, women and children could be seen -leaving their homes in every direction; some seeking refuge among -residents, and in quarters further away; others climbing up the -hillsides, and hurrying off in various directions, evidently impelled by -a sudden fear, which was plainly visible in their countenances or in -their movements. - -“Captain Brown was all activity, though I could not help thinking that -at times he appeared somewhat puzzled. He ordered Lewis Sherrard Leary -and four slaves, and a free man belonging in the neighborhood, to join -John Henry Kagi and John Copeland at the rifle factory, which they -immediately did.... After the departure of the train, quietness -prevailed for a short time; a number of prisoners were already in the -engine-house, and of the many colored men living in the neighborhood, -who had assembled in the town, a number were armed.”[236] - -Up to this point everything in John Brown’s plan had worked like -clockwork, and there had been but one death. The armory was captured, -from twenty-five to fifty slaves had been armed, several masters were in -custody and the next move was to get the arms and ammunition from the -farm. Cook says that when the party returned from the country at dawn, -“I stayed a short while in the engine-house to get warm, as I was -chilled through. After I got warm, Captain Brown ordered me to go with -C. P. Tidd, who was to take William H. Leeman, and, I think, four slaves -[Anderson says fourteen slaves] with him, in Colonel Washington’s large -wagon, across the river, and to take Terrence Burns and his brother and -their slaves prisoners. My orders were to hold Burns and brother as -prisoners at their own house, while Tidd and the slaves who accompanied -him were to go to Captain Brown’s house and to load in arms and bring -them down to the schoolhouse, stopping for the Burnses and their guard. -William H. Leeman remained with me to guard the prisoners. On return of -the wagon, in compliance with orders, we all started for the -schoolhouse. When we got there, I was to remain, by Captain Brown’s -orders, with one of the slaves to guard the arms, while C. P. Tidd, with -the other Negroes, was to go back for the rest of the arms, and Burns -was to be sent with William H. Leeman to Captain Brown at the armory. It -was at this time that William Thompson came up from the Ferry and -reported that everything was all right, and then hurried on to overtake -William H. Leeman. A short time after the departure of Tidd, I heard a -good deal of firing and became anxious to know the cause, but my orders -were strict to remain in the schoolhouse and guard the arms, and I -obeyed the orders to the letter. About four o’clock in the evening C. P. -Tidd came with the second load.”[237] - -Here, in all probability, was the fatal hitch. The farm was not over -three miles from the schoolhouse, and there was a heavy farm-wagon with -four large strong horses and a dozen men or more to help. The fact that -it took these men eleven hours to move two wagon-loads of material less -than three miles is the secret of the extraordinary failure of Brown’s -foray at a time when victory was in his grasp. That Cook was needlessly -dilatory in the moving is certain. He sat down in Byrnes’s house and -made a speech on human equality. Then Tidd went on to the farm with the -wagon and brought a load of arms, which he deposited at the point where -the Kennedy farm road meets the Potomac almost at right angles, about -three miles or less from the Ferry. The schoolhouse stood here and the -children were frightened half to death. Cook stopped at this place and -unloaded the wagon, and then Leeman went with Byrnes to the guard-house, -lingering and actually sitting beside the road. Even then they arrived -before ten o’clock. With haste it is certain that, despite the muddy -road, the first load of arms could have been at the schoolhouse before -eight o’clock in the morning, and the whole of the stores by ten -o’clock. That Brown expected this is shown by his sending William -Thompson to reassure the men at the farm of his safety and probably to -urge haste; yet when the second load of arms appeared, it was four -o’clock in the afternoon, at least three hours after Brown had been -completely surrounded. Judging from Cook’s narrative, it is likely that -Thompson did not see Tidd at all. It was this inexcusable delay on the -part of Tidd and Cook and, possibly, William Thompson that undoubtedly -made the raid a failure. To be sure, John Brown never said so—never -hinted that any one was to blame but himself. But that was John Brown’s -way. - -Events in the town had moved quickly. After Cook had departed, Brown -ordered O. P. Anderson “to take the pikes out of the wagon in which he -rode to the Ferry, and to place them in the hands of the colored men who -had come with us from the plantations, and others who had come forward -without having had communication with any of our party.”[238] - -The citizens were “wild with fright and excitement.... The prisoners -were also terror-stricken. Some wanted to go home to see their families, -as if for the last time. The privilege was granted them, under escort, -and they were brought back again. Edwin Coppoc, one of the sentinels at -the armory gate, was fired at by one of the citizens, but the ball did -not reach him, when one of the insurgents close by put up his rifle, and -made the enemy bite the dust. Among the arms taken from Colonel -Washington was one double-barreled gun. This weapon was loaded by Leeman -with buckshot, and placed in the hands of an elderly slave man, early in -the morning. After the cowardly charge upon Coppoc, this old man was -ordered by Captain Stevens to arrest a citizen. The old man ordered him -to halt, which he refused to do, when instantly the terrible load was -discharged into him, and he fell, and expired without a struggle.”[239] - -The next step which John Brown had in mind is unknown, but there were -two safe movements at 9 A. M. Monday morning: - -(_a_) The arms could have been brought across the Potomac bridge and -then across the Shenandoah, and so up Londoun Heights. The men from the -Maryland side could have joined, and Brown and his men covered their -retreat by compelling the hostages to march with them. Kagi and his men, -by wading the Shenandoah, could have supported them. - -(_b_) The arms could have been taken down to the Potomac from the -schoolhouse, ferried across and moved over to Kagi. Brown and his men -could have joined the party there and all retreated up Loudoun Heights. -From the fact that Brown had the arms stopped at the schoolhouse, this -seems probably to have been the thought in his mind. - -On the other hand, the plan usually attributed to Brown is unthinkable; -viz., that he intended retreating across the Potomac into the Maryland -mountains. First, he had just come out of the Maryland mountains and had -moved down his arms and ammunition; and second, this manœuvre would have -cut his band off from the Great Black Way to the South unless he -captured the Ferry a second time. Manifestly this, then, was not Brown’s -idea. It has, however, been suggested that the arms had been moved down -to the schoolhouse to be placed in the hands of slaves there. But why -were they left on the Maryland side? In the whole Maryland country west -of the mountains were less than a thousand able-bodied Negroes, of whom -not a tenth could have been cognizant of the uprising, while Brown had -arms for 1,200 men or more. No, Brown intended to move the arms in bulk. -He had perhaps a ton, or a ton and a half of baggage. He wished it moved -first to the schoolhouse, and then if all was well to the Ferry, or -straight across to the mountains. Cook started before five o’clock in -the morning, and Brown no doubt expected to hear that the arms were at -the schoolhouse by ten. At eleven o’clock he dispatched William Thompson -to Kennedy farm. Anderson thinks that Thompson’s message made the farm -party even more leisurely because it told of success so far. This is -surely impossible. The veriest tyro must have known that minutes were -golden despite the tremendous fortune of the expedition. Did Thompson -misapprehend his message? Was the delay Tidd’s and what was Owen Brown -thinking and doing? It is a curious puzzle, but it is the puzzle of the -foray. If the party with the arms had arrived at the bridge any time -before noon, the raid would have been successful. Even as it was, Brown -still had three courses open to him, all of which promised a measure of -success: - -(_a_) He could have gotten his band and crossed back to -Maryland,—although this meant the abandonment of the main features of -his whole plan. As time waned Stevens and Kagi urged this but Brown -refused. - -(_b_) He could have gone to Loudoun Heights, but this would have -involved abandoning his arms and stores and above all, one of his sons, -Cook, Tidd, Merriam, Coppoc and the slaves. This was unthinkable. - -(_c_) He could have used his hostages to force terms. For not doing this -he afterward repeatedly blamed himself, but characteristically blamed no -one else for anything. - -Meantime every minute of delay aroused the country and brought the -citizens to their senses. “The train that left Harper’s Ferry carried a -panic to Virginia, Maryland and Washington with it. The passengers, -taking all the paper they could find, wrote accounts of the -insurrection, which they threw from the windows as the train rushed -onward.”[240] - -A local physician says: “I went back to the hillside then, and tried to -get the citizens together, to see what we could do to get rid of these -fellows. They seemed to be very troublesome. When I got on the hill I -learned that they had shot Boerly. That was probably about seven -o’clock.... I had ordered the Lutheran church bell to be rung to get the -citizens together to see what sort of arms they had. I found one or two -squirrel rifles and a few shotguns. I had sent a messenger to -Charlestown in the meantime for Captain Rowan, commander of a volunteer -company there. I also sent messengers to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad -to stop the trains coming east, and not let them approach the Ferry, and -also a messenger to Shepherdstown.”[241] - -Another eye-witness adds: “There was unavoidable delay in the -preparations for a fight, because of the scarcity of weapons; for only a -few squirrel guns and fowling-pieces could be found. There were then at -Harper’s Ferry thousands and tens of thousands of muskets and rifles of -the most approved patterns, but they were all boxed up in the arsenal, -and the arsenal was in the hands of the enemy. And such, too, was the -scarcity of the ammunition that, after using up the limited supply of -lead found in the village stores, pewter plates and spoons had to be -melted and molded into bullets for the occasion. - -“By nine o’clock a number of indifferently armed citizens assembled on -Camp Hill and decided that the party, consisting of half a dozen men, -should cross the Potomac a short distance above the Ferry, and, going -down the tow-path of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal as far as the railway -bridge, should attack the two sentinels stationed there, who, by the -way, had been reënforced by four more of Brown’s party. Another small -party under Captain Medler was to cross the Shenandoah and take position -opposite the rifle works, while Captain Avis, with a sufficient force, -should take possession of the Shenandoah bridge, and Captain Roderick, -with some of the armorers, should post themselves on the Baltimore and -Ohio Railway west of the Ferry just above the armories.”[242] - -At last the militia commenced to arrive and the movements to cut off -Brown’s men began. The Jefferson Guards crossed the Potomac, came down -to the Maryland side and seized the Potomac bridge. The local company -was sent to take the Shenandoah bridge, leave a guard and march to the -rear of the arsenal, while another local company was to seize the houses -in front of the arsenal. - -“As strangers poured in,” says Anderson, “the enemy took positions round -about, so as to prevent any escape, within shooting distance of the -engine-house and arsenal. Captain Brown, seeing their manœuvres, said, -‘We will hold on to our three positions, if they are unwilling to come -to terms, and die like men.’”[243] - -The attack came at noon from the Jefferson Guards, who started across -the Potomac bridge from Maryland. This is Anderson’s story: - -“It was about twelve o’clock in the day when we were first attacked by -the troops. Prior to that, Captain Brown, in anticipation of further -trouble, had girded to his side the famous sword taken from Colonel -Lewis Washington the night before, and with that memorable weapon, he -commanded his men against General Washington’s own state. When the -captain received the news that the troops had entered the bridge from -the Maryland side, he, with some of his men, went into the street, and -sent a message to the arsenal for us to come forth also. We hastened to -the street as ordered, when he said—‘The troops are on the bridge, -coming into town; we will give them a warm reception.’ He then walked -around amongst us, giving us words of encouragement, in this wise:—‘Men! -be cool! Don’t waste your powder and shot! Take aim, and make every shot -count!’ ‘The troops will look for us to retreat on their first -appearance; be careful to shoot first.’ Our men were well supplied with -firearms, but Captain Brown had no rifle at that time; his only weapon -was the sword before mentioned. - -“The troops soon came out of the bridge, and up the street facing us, we -occupying an irregular position. When they got within sixty or seventy -yards, Captain Brown said, ‘Let go upon them!’ which we did, when -several of them fell. Again and again the dose was repeated. There was -now consternation among the troops. From marching in solid martial -columns, they became scattered. Some hastened to seize upon and bear up -the wounded and dying,—several lay dead upon the ground. They seemed not -to realize, at first, that we would fire upon them, but evidently -expected that we would be driven out by them without firing. Captain -Brown seemed fully to understand the matter, and hence, very properly -and in our defense, undertook to forestall their movements. The -consequence of their unexpected reception was, after leaving several of -their dead on the field, they beat a confused retreat into the bridge, -and there stayed under cover until reinforcements came to the Ferry. On -the retreat of the troops, we were ordered back to our former -posts.”[244] - -At this time the Negro, Newby, was killed and his assailant shot in turn -by Green. Two slaves also died fighting. Now “there was comparative -quiet for a time, except that the citizens seemed to be wild with -terror. Men, women and children forsook the place in great haste, -climbing up hillsides, and scaling the mountains. The latter seemed to -be alive with white fugitives, fleeing from their doomed city. During -this time, William Thompson, who was returning from his errand to the -Kennedy farm, was surrounded on the bridge by railroad men, who next -came up, and taken a prisoner to the Wager house.”[245] - -It was now one o’clock in the day and while things were going against -Brown, his cause was not desperate. His Maryland men might yet attack -the disorganized Jefferson Guards in the rear and the arsenal was full -of hostages. But militia and citizens kept pouring into the town and by -three o’clock “could be seen coming from every direction.” Kagi sent -word to Brown, urging retreat; but Brown faced a difficult dilemma: -Should he go to Loudoun Heights and lose half his men and all his -munitions? or should he retreat to Maryland? This latter path lay open, -he was sure, by means of his hostages. Meantime the Maryland party might -appear at any moment. Indeed, the Jefferson Guards had once been -mistaken for them. On this account the message was sent back to Kagi “to -hold out for a few minutes, when we would all evacuate the place.” Still -the Maryland party lingered with the stubborn Tidd somewhere up the -road, and Cook idly kicking his heels at the schoolhouse. - -The messenger, Jerry Anderson, was fired on and mortally wounded before -he reached Kagi, and the latter’s party was attacked by a large force -and driven into the river. - -“The river at that point runs rippling over a rocky bed,” writes a -Virginian, “and at ordinary stages of the water is easily forded. The -raiders, finding their retreat to the opposite shore intercepted by -Medler’s men, made for a large flat rock near the middle of the stream. -Before reaching it, however, Kagi fell and died in the water, apparently -without a struggle. Four others reached the rock, where, for a while, -they made an ineffectual stand, returning the fire of the citizens. But -it was not long before two of them were killed outright and another -prostrated by a mortal wound, leaving Copeland, a mulatto, standing -alone unharmed upon their rock of refuge. - -“Thereupon, a Harper’s Ferry man, James H. Holt, dashed into the river, -gun in hand, to capture Copeland, who, as he approached him, made a show -of fight by pointing his gun at Holt, who halted and leveled his; but, -to the surprise of the lookers-on, neither of their weapons were -discharged, both having been rendered temporarily useless, as I -afterward learned, from being wet. Holt, however, as he again advanced, -continued to snap his gun, while Copeland did the same.”[246] - -Copeland was taken alive and Leeman, with a second message from Kagi to -Brown, was killed. Matters were now getting desperate, but the armory -was full of prisoners and therein lay John Brown’s final hope. Easily as -a last resort he could use these citizens as a screen and so escape to -the mountains. In attempting this, however, some of the prisoners were -bound to be killed and Brown hesitated at sacrificing innocent blood to -save himself. He thought that the same end might be accomplished by -negotiation. His first move, therefore, was to withdraw all his force -and the important prisoners to a small brick building near the armory -gate called the “engine-house.” Captain Daingerfield, one of the -prisoners, says: “He entered the engine-house, carrying his prisoners -along, or rather part of them, for he made selections. After getting -into the engine-house he made this speech: ‘Gentlemen, perhaps you -wonder why I have selected you from the others. It is because I believe -you to be the most influential; and I have only to say now, that you -will have to share precisely the same fate that your friends extend to -my men.’ He began at once to bar the doors and windows, and to cut -port-holes through the brick wall.”[247] - -This evident weakening of the raiders let pandemonium loose. The -citizens realized how small a force Brown had and were filled with fury -at his presumption. His men began to fight desperately for their lives. - -“About the time when Brown immured himself,” a narrator reports, “a -company of Berkeley County militia arrived from Martinsburg who, with -some citizens of Harper’s Ferry and the surrounding country, made a rush -on the armory and released the great mass of the prisoners outside of -the engine-house, not, however, without suffering some loss from a -galling fire kept up by the enemy from ‘the fort.’”[248] - -This released the arms and one of the Virginia watchmen says: “The -people, who came pouring into town, broke into liquor saloons, filled -up, and then got into the arsenal, arming themselves with United States -guns and ammunition. They kept shooting at random and howling.”[249] - -The prisoners within the engine-house heard “a terrible firing from -without, at every point from which the windows could be seen, and in a -few minutes every window was shattered, and hundreds of balls came -through the doors. These shots were answered from within whenever the -attacking party could be seen. This was kept up most of the day, and, -strange to say, not a prisoner was hurt, though thousands of balls were -imbedded in the walls, and holes shot in the doors almost large enough -for a man to creep through.”[250] - -The doomed raiders saw “volley upon volley” discharged, while “the -echoes from the hills, the shrieks of the townspeople, and the groans of -their wounded and dying, all of which filled the air, were truly -frightful.” Yet “no powder and ball were wasted. We shot from under -cover, and took deadly aim. For an hour before the flag of truce was -sent out, the firing was uninterrupted, and one and another of the enemy -were constantly dropping to the earth.”[251] - -Oliver Brown was shot and died without a word and Taylor was mortally -wounded. The mayor of the city ventured out, unarmed, to reconnoitre and -was killed. Immediately the son of Andrew Hunter, who afterward was -state’s attorney against Brown, rushed into the hotel after the prisoner -William Thompson: - -“We burst into the room where he was, and found several around him, but -they offered only a feeble resistance; we brought our guns down to his -head repeatedly,—myself and another person,—for the purpose of shooting -him in the room. - -“There was a young lady there, the sister of Mr. Fouke, the -hotel-keeper, who sat in this man’s lap, covered his face with her arms, -and shielded him with her person whenever we brought our guns to bear. -She said to us, ‘For God’s sake, wait and let the law take its course.’ -My associate shouted to kill him. ‘Let us shed his blood,’ were his -words. All round were shouting, ‘Mr. Beckham’s life was worth ten -thousand of these vile Abolitionists.’ I was cool about it, and -deliberate. My gun was pushed by some one who seized the barrel, and I -then moved to the back part of the room, still with purpose unchanged, -but with a view to divert attention from me, in order to get an -opportunity, at some moment when the crowd would be less dense, to shoot -him. After a moment’s thought it occurred to me that that was not the -proper place to kill him. We then proposed to take him out and hang him. -Some portion of our band then opened a way to him, and first pushing -Miss Fouke aside, we slung him out-of-doors. I gave him a push, and many -others did the same. We then shoved him along the platform and down to -the trestle work of the bridge; he begged for his life all the time, -very piteously at first.”[252] - -Thus he was shot to death as he crawled in the trestle work. The -prisoners in the engine-house now urged Brown to make terms with the -citizens, representing that this was possible and that he and his men -could escape. Brown sent out his son Watson with a white flag, but the -maddened citizens paid no attention to it and shot him down. A lull in -the fighting came a little later, and Stevens took a second flag of -truce, but was captured and held prisoner. Daingerfield says: - -“At night the firing ceased, for we were in total darkness, and nothing -could be seen in the engine-house. During the day and night I talked -much with Brown. I found him as brave as a man could be, and sensible -upon all subjects except slavery. He believed it was his duty to free -the slaves, even if in doing so he lost his own life. During a sharp -fight one of Brown’s sons was killed. He fell; then trying to raise -himself, he said, ‘It is all over with me,’ and died instantly. Brown -did not leave his post at the port-hole; but when the fighting was over -he walked to his son’s body, straightened out his limbs, took off his -trappings, and then, turning to me, said, ‘This is the third son I have -lost in this cause.’ Another son had been shot in the morning, and was -then dying, having been brought in from the street. Often during the -affair at the engine-house, when his men would want to fire upon some -one who might be seen passing, Brown would stop them, saying, ‘Don’t -shoot; that man is unarmed.’ The firing was kept up by our men all day -and until late at night, and during this time several of his men were -killed, but none of the prisoners were hurt, though in great danger. -During the day and night many propositions, pro and con, were made, -looking to Brown’s surrender and the release of the prisoners, but -without result.”[253] - -Another eye-witness says: - -“A little before night Brown asked if any of his captives would -volunteer to go out among the citizens and induce them to cease firing -on the fort, as they were endangering the lives of their friends—the -prisoners. He promised on his part that, if there was no more firing on -his men, there should be none by them on the besiegers. Mr. Israel -Russel undertook the dangerous duty; the risk arose from the excited -state of the people who would be likely to fire on anything seen -stirring around the prison-house, and the citizens were persuaded to -stop firing in consideration of the danger incurred of injuring the -prisoners.... - -“It was now dark and the wildest excitement existed in the town, -especially among the friends of the killed, wounded and prisoners of the -citizens’ party. It had rained some little all day and the atmosphere -was raw and cold. Now, a cloudy and moonless sky hung like a pall over -the scene of war, and, on the whole, a more dismal night cannot be -imagined. Guards were stationed round the engine-house to prevent -Brown’s escape and, as forces were constantly arriving from Winchester, -Frederick City, Baltimore and other places to help the Harper’s Ferry -people, the town soon assumed quite a military appearance. The United -States authorities in Washington had been notified in the meantime, and, -in the course of the night, Colonel Robert E. Lee, afterward the famous -General Lee of the Southern Confederacy, arrived with a force of United -States marines, to protect the interests of the government, and kill or -capture the invaders.”[254] - -Meantime Cook had awakened to the fact that something was wrong. He left -Tidd at the schoolhouse and started toward the Ferry; finding it -surrounded, he fired one volley from a tree and fled. He found no one at -the schoolhouse, but met Tidd, and the whole farm guard, and one Negro -on the road beyond. They all turned and fled north, Tidd and Cook -quarreling. They wandered fourteen days in rain and snow, and finally -all escaped except Cook who went into a town for food and was arrested. - -Robert E. Lee, with 100 marines, arrived just before midnight on Monday -and one of the prisoners tells the story of the last stand: - -“When Colonel Lee came with the government troops in the night, he at -once sent a flag of truce by his aid, J. E. B. Stuart, to notify Brown -of his arrival, and in the name of the United States to demand his -surrender, advising him to throw himself on the clemency of the -government. Brown declined to accept Colonel Lee’s terms, and determined -to await the attack. When Stuart was admitted and a light brought, he -exclaimed, ‘Why, aren’t you old Osawatomie Brown of Kansas, whom I once -had there as my prisoner?’ ‘Yes,’ was the answer, ‘but you did not keep -me.’ This was the first intimation we had of Brown’s real name. When -Colonel Lee advised Brown to trust to the clemency of the government, -Brown responded that he knew what that meant,—a rope for his men and -himself; adding, ‘I prefer to die just here.’ Stuart told him he would -return at early morning for his final reply, and left him. When he had -gone, Brown at once proceeded to barricade the doors, windows, etc., -endeavoring to make the place as strong as possible. All this time no -one of Brown’s men showed the slightest fear, but calmly awaited the -attack, selecting the best situations to fire from, and arranging their -guns and pistols so that a fresh one could be taken up as soon as one -was discharged.... - -“When Lieutenant Stuart came in the morning for the final reply to the -demand to surrender, I got up and went to Brown’s side to hear his -answer. Stuart asked, ‘Are you ready to surrender, and trust to the -mercy of the government?’ Brown answered, ‘No, I prefer to die here.’ -His manner did not betray the least alarm. Stuart stepped aside and made -a signal for the attack, which was instantly begun with sledge-hammers -to break down the door. Finding it would not yield, the soldiers seized -a long ladder for a battering-ram, and commenced beating the door with -that, the party within firing incessantly. I had assisted in the -barricading, fixing the fastenings so that I could remove them on the -first effort to get in. But I was not at the door when the battering -began, and could not get to the fastenings till the ladder was used. I -then quickly removed the fastenings; and, after two or three strokes of -the ladder, the engine rolled partially back, making a small aperture, -through which Lieutenant Green of the marines forced his way, jumped on -top of the engine, and stood a second, amidst a shower of balls, looking -for John Brown. When he saw Brown, he sprang about twelve feet at him, -giving an under-thrust of his sword, striking Brown about midway the -body, and raising him completely from the ground. Brown fell forward, -with his head between his knees, while Green struck him several times -over the head, and, as I then supposed, split his skull at every stroke. -I was not two feet from Brown at that time. Of course, I got out of the -building as soon as possible, and did not know till some time later that -Brown was not killed. It seems that Green’s sword, in making the thrust, -struck Brown’s belt and did not penetrate the body. The sword was bent -double. The reason that Brown was not killed when struck on the head -was, that Green was holding his sword in the middle, striking with the -hilt, and making only scalp wounds.”[255] - -After the attack on the troops at the bridge, Brown had ordered O. P. -Anderson, Hazlett and Green back to the arsenal. But Green saw the -desperate strait of Brown and chose voluntarily to go into the -engine-house and fight until the last. Anderson and Hazlett, when they -saw the door battered in, went to the back of the arsenal, climbed the -wall and fled along the railway that goes up the Shenandoah. Here in the -cliffs they had a skirmish with the troops but finally escaped in the -night, crossed the town and the Potomac and so got into Maryland and -went to the farm. It was deserted and pillaged. Then they came back to -the schoolhouse and found that empty. In the morning they heard firing -and Anderson’s narrative continues: - -“Hazlett thought it must be Owen Brown and his men trying to force their -way into the town, as they had been informed that a number of us had -been taken prisoners, and we started down along the ridge to join them. -When we got in sight of the Ferry, we saw the troops firing across the -river to the Maryland side with considerable spirit. Looking closely, we -saw, to our surprise, that they were firing upon a few of the colored -men, who had been armed the day before by our men, at the Kennedy farm, -and stationed down at the schoolhouse by C. P. Tidd. They were in the -bushes on the edge of the mountains, dodging about, occasionally -exposing themselves to the enemy. The troops crossed the bridge in -pursuit of them, but they retreated in different directions. Being -further in the mountains, and more secure, we could see without personal -harm befalling us. One of the colored men came toward where we were, -when we hailed him, and inquired the particulars. He said that one of -his comrades had been shot, and was lying on the side of the mountains; -that they thought the men who had armed them the day before must be in -the Ferry. That opinion, we told him, was not correct. We asked him to -join with us in hunting up the rest of the party, but he declined, and -went his way. - -“While we were in this part of the mountains, some of the troops went to -the schoolhouse, and took possession of it. On our return along up the -ridge, from our position, screened by the bushes, we could see them as -they invested it. Our last hope of shelter, or of meeting our -companions, now being destroyed, we concluded to make our escape -north.”[256] - -Anderson managed to get away, but Hazlett was captured in Pennsylvania -and was returned to Virginia. Thus John Brown’s raid ended. Seven of the -men—John Brown himself, Shields Green, Edwin Coppoc, Stevens and -Copeland and eventually Cook and Hazlett—were captured and hanged. -Watson and Oliver Brown, the two Thompsons, Kagi, Jerry Anderson, -Taylor, Newby, Leary, and John Anderson, ten in all, were killed in the -fight, and six others—Owen Brown, Tidd, Leeman, Barclay Coppoc, Merriam -and O. Anderson escaped. - -At high noon on Tuesday, October 18th, the raid was over. John Brown lay -wounded and bloodstained on the floor and the governor of Virginia bent -over him. - -“Who are you?” he asked. - -“My name is John Brown; I have been well known as old John Brown of -Kansas. Two of my sons were killed here to-day, and I’m dying too. I -came here to liberate slaves, and was to receive no reward. I have acted -from a sense of duty, and am content to await my fate; but I think the -crowd have treated me badly. I am an old man. Yesterday I could have -killed whom I chose; but I had no desire to kill any person, and would -not have killed a man had they not tried to kill me and my men. I could -have sacked and burned the town, but did not; I have treated the persons -whom I took as hostages kindly, and I appeal to them for the truth of -what I say. If I had succeeded in running off slaves this time, I could -have raised twenty times as many men as I have now, for a similar -expedition. But I have failed.”[257] - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX - - “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we - did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. - - “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our - iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His - stripes we are healed.” - - -The deed was done. The next day the world knew and the world sat in -puzzled amazement. It was ever so and ever will be. When a prophet like -John Brown appears, how must we of the world receive him? Must we follow -out the drear, dread logic of surrounding facts, as did the South, even -if they crucify a clean and pure soul, simply because consistent -allegiance to our cherished, chosen ideal demands it? If we do, the -shame will brand our latest history. Shall we hesitate and waver before -his clear white logic, now helping, now fearing to help, now believing, -now doubting? Yes, this we must do so long as the doubt and hesitation -are genuine; but we must not lie. If we are human, we must thus hesitate -until we know the right. How shall we know it? That is the Riddle of the -Sphinx. We are but darkened groping souls, that know not light often -because of its very blinding radiance. Only in time is truth revealed. -To-day at last we know: John Brown was right. - -Yet there are some great principles to guide us. That there are in this -world matters of vast human import which are eternally right or -eternally wrong, all men believe. Whether that great right comes, as the -simpler, clearer minded think, from the spoken word of God, or whether -it is simply another way of saying: this deed makes for the good of -mankind, or that, for the ill—however it may be, all men know that there -are in this world here and there and again and again great partings of -the ways—the one way wrong, the other right, in some vast and eternal -sense. This certainly is true at times—in the mighty crises of lives and -nations. On the other hand, it is also true, as human experience again -and again shows, that the usual matters of human debate and difference -of opinion are not so vitally important, or so easily classified; that -in most cases there is much of right and wrong on both sides and, so -usual is it to find this true, that men tend to argue it always so. -Their life morality becomes always a wavering path of expediency, not -necessarily the best or the worst path, as they freely even smilingly -admit, but a good path, a safe path, a path of little resistance and one -that leads to the good if not to the theoretical (but usually -impracticable) best. Such philosophy of the world’s ways is common, and -probably it is well that thus it is. And yet we all feel its temporary, -tentative character; we instinctively distrust its comfortable tone, and -listen almost fearfully for the greater voice; its better is often so -far below that which we feel is a possible best, that its present -temporizing seems evil to us, and ever and again after the world has -complacently dodged and compromised with, and skilfully evaded a great -evil, there shines, suddenly, a great white light—an unwavering, -unflickering brightness, blinding by its all-seeing brilliance, making -the whole world simply a light and a darkness—a right and a wrong. Then -men tremble and writhe and waver. They whisper, “But—but—of course;” -“the thing is plain, but it is too plain to be true—it is true but truth -is not the only thing in the world.” Thus they hide from the light, they -burrow and grovel, and yet ever in, and through, and on them blazes that -mighty light with its horror of darkness and behind it peals the -voice—the Riddle of the Sphinx, that must be answered. - -Such a light was the soul of John Brown. He was simple, exasperatingly -simple; unlettered, plain, and homely. No casuistry of culture or of -learning, of well-being or tradition moved him in the slightest degree: -“Slavery is wrong,” he said,—“kill it.” Destroy it—uproot it, stem, -blossom, and branch; give it no quarter, exterminate it and do it now. -Was he wrong? No. The forcible staying of human uplift by barriers of -law, and might, and tradition is the most wicked thing on earth. It is -wrong, eternally wrong. It is wrong, by whatever name it is called, or -in whatever guise it lurks, and whenever it appears. But it is -especially heinous, black, and cruel when it masquerades in the robes of -law and justice and patriotism. So was American slavery clothed in 1859, -and it had to die by revolution, not by milder means. And this men knew. -They had known it a hundred years. Yet they shrank and trembled. From -round about the white and blinding path of this soul flew equivocations, -lies, thievings and red murders. And yet all men instinctively felt that -these things were not of the light but of the surrounding darkness. It -is at once surprising, baffling and pitiable to see the way in which -men—honest American citizens—faced this light. Many types met and -answered the argument, John Brown (for he did not use argument, he was -himself an argument). First there was the Western American—the typical -American, like Charles Robinson—one to whose imagination the empire of -the vale of the Mississippi appealed with tremendous force. Then there -was the Abolitionist—shading away from him who held slavery an incubus -to him who saw its sin, of whom Gerrit Smith was a fair type. Then there -was the lover of men, like Dr. Howe, and the merchant-errant like -Stearns. Finally, there were the two great fateful types—the master and -the slave. - -To Robinson, Brown was simply a means to an end—beyond that he was -whatever prevailing public opinion indicated. When the gratitude of -Osawatomie swelled high, Brown was fit to be named with Jesus Christ; -when the wave of Southern reaction subjugated the nation, he was -something less than a fanatic. But whatever he was, he was the sword on -which struggling Kansas and its leaders could depend, the untarnished -doer of its darker deeds, when they that knew them necessary cowered and -held their hands. Brown’s was not the only hand that freed Kansas, but -his hand was indispensable, and not the first time, nor the last, has a -cool and skilful politician, like Robinson, climbed to power on the -heads of those helpers of his, whose half-realized ideals he bartered -for present possibilities—human freedom for statehood. For the -Abolitionist of the Garrison type Brown had a contempt, as undeserved as -it was natural to his genius. To recognize an evil and not strike it was -to John Brown sinful. “Talk, talk, talk,” he said derisively. Nor did he -rightly gauge the value of spiritual as contrasted with physical blows, -until the day when he himself struck the greatest on the Charleston -scaffold. - -But if John Brown failed rightly to gauge the movement of the -Abolitionists, few of them failed to appreciate him when they met him. -Instinctively they knew him as one who grasped the very pith and kernel -of the evil which they fought. They asked no proofs or credentials; they -asked John Brown. So it was with Gerrit Smith. He saw Brown and believed -in him. He entertained him at his house. He heard his detailed plans for -striking slavery a heart blow. He gave him in all over a thousand -dollars, and bade him Godspeed! Yet when the blow was struck, he was -filled with immeasurable consternation. He equivocated and even denied -knowledge of Brown’s plans. To be sure, he, his family, his fortune were -in the shadow of danger—but where was John Brown? So with Dr. Howe, -whose memory was painfully poor on the witness stand and who fluttered -from enthusiastic support of Brown to a weak wavering when once he had -tasted the famous Southern hospitality. He found slavery, to his own -intense surprise, human: not ideally and horribly devilish, but only -humanly bad. Was a bad human institution to be attacked _vi et armis_? -Or was it not rather to be met with persuasive argument in the soft -shade of a Carolina veranda? Dr. Howe inclined to the latter thought, -after his Cuban visit, and he was exceedingly annoyed and scared after -the raid. He fled precipitately to Canada. Of the Boston committee only -Stearns stood up and out in the public glare and said unequivocally, -then and there: “I believe John Brown to be the representative man of -this century, as Washington was of the last—the Harper’s Ferry affair, -and the capacity shown by the Italians for self-government, the great -events of this age. One will free Europe and the other America.”[258] - -The attitude of the black man toward John Brown is typified by Frederick -Douglass and Shields Green. Said Douglass: “On the evening when the news -came that John Brown had taken and was then holding the town of Harper’s -Ferry, it so happened that I was speaking to a large audience in -National Hall, Philadelphia. The announcement came upon us with the -startling effect of an earthquake. It was something to make the boldest -hold his breath.”[259] - -Wise and Buchanan started immediately on Douglass’s track and he fled to -Canada and eventually to England. Why did not Douglass join John Brown? -Because, first, he was of an entirely different cast of temperament and -mind; and because, secondly, he knew, as only a Negro slave can know, -the tremendous might and organization of the slave power. Brown’s plan -never in the slightest degree appealed to Douglass’s reason. That the -Underground Railroad methods could be enlarged and systematized, -Douglass believed, but any further plan he did not think possible. Only -national force could dislodge national slavery. As it was with Douglass, -so it was practically with the Negro race. They believed in John Brown -but not in his plan. He touched their warm loving hearts but not their -hard heads. The Canadian Negroes, for instance, were men who knew what -slavery meant. They had suffered its degradation, its repression and its -still more fatal license. They knew the slave system. They had been -slaves. They had risked life to help loved ones to escape its -far-reaching tentacles. They had reached a land of freedom and had begun -to taste the joy of being human. Their little homes were clustering -about—they had their churches, lodges, social gatherings, and newspaper. -Then came the call. They loved the old man and cherished him, helped and -forwarded his work in a thousand little ways. But the call? Were they -asked to sacrifice themselves to free their fellow-slaves? Were they not -quite ready? No—to do that they stood ever ready. But here they were -asked to sacrifice themselves for the sake of possibly freeing a few -slaves and certainly arousing the nation. They saw what John Brown did -not fully realize until the last: the tremendous meaning of sacrifice -even though his enterprise failed and they were sure it would fail. Yet -in truth it need not have failed. History and military science prove its -essential soundness. But the Negro knew little of history and military -science. He did know slavery and the slave power, and they loomed large -and invincible in his fertile imagination. He could not conceive their -overthrow by anything short of the direct voice of God. That a supreme -sacrifice of human beings on the altar of Moloch might hasten the day of -emancipation was possible, but were they called to give their lives to -this forlorn hope? Most of them said no, as most of their fellows, black -and white, ever answer to the “voice, without reply.” They said it -reluctantly, slowly, even hesitatingly, but they said it even as their -leader Douglass said it. And why not, they argued? Was not their whole -life already a sacrifice? Were they called by any right of God or man to -give more than they already had given? What more did they owe the world? -Did not the world owe them an unpayable amount? - -Then, too, the sacrifice demanded of black men in this raid was far more -than that demanded of whites. In 1859 it was a crime for a free black -man even to set foot on Virginia soil, and it was slavery or death for a -fugitive to return. If worse came to worst, the Negro stood the least -chance of escape and the least consideration on capture. Yet despite all -this and despite the terrible training of slavery in cowardice, -submission and fatality; the systematic elimination, by death and -cruelty, of strength and self-respect and bravery, there were in Canada -and in the United States scores of Negroes ready for the sacrifice. But -the necessary secrecy, vagueness and intangibility of the summons, the -repeated changes of date, the difficulty of communication and the -poverty of black men, all made effective coöperation exceedingly -difficult. - -Even as it was, fifteen or twenty Negroes had enlisted and would -probably have been present had they had the time. Five, probably six, -actually came in time, and thirty or forty slaves actively helped. -Considering the mass of Negroes in the land and the character of the -leader, this was an insignificant number. But what it lacked in number -it made up in characters like Shields Green. He was a poor, unlettered -fugitive, ignorant by the law of the land, stricken in life and homely -in body. He sat and listened as Douglass and Brown argued amid the -boulders of that old Chambersburg quarry. Some things he understood, -some he did not. But one thing he did understand and that was the soul -of John Brown, so he said, “I guess I’ll go with the old man.” Again in -the sickening fury of that fatal Monday, a white man and a black man -found themselves standing with freedom before them. The white man was -John Brown’s truest companion and the black man was Shields Green. “I -told him to come,” said the white man afterward, “that we could do -nothing more,” but he simply said, “I must go down to the old man.” And -he went down to John Brown and to death. - -If this was the attitude of the slave, what was that of the master? It -was when John Brown faced the indignant, self-satisfied and arrogant -slave power of the South, flanked by its Northern Vallandighams, that -the mighty paradox and burning farce of the situation revealed itself. -Picture the situation: An old and blood-bespattered man, half-dead from -the wounds inflicted but a few hours before; a man lying in the cold and -dirt, without sleep for fifty-five nerve-wrecking hours, without food -for nearly as long, with the dead bodies of two sons almost before his -eyes, the piled corpses of his seven slain comrades near and afar, a -wife and a bereaved family listening in vain, and a Lost Cause, the -dream of a lifetime, lying dead in his heart. Around him was a group of -bitter, inquisitive Southern aristocrats and their satellites, headed by -one of the foremost leaders of subsequent secession. - -“Who sent you—who sent you?” these inquisitors insisted. - -“No man sent me—I acknowledge no master in human form!” - -“What was your object in coming?” - -“We came to free the slaves.” - -“How do you justify your acts?” - -“You are guilty of a great wrong against God and humanity and it would -be perfectly right for any one to interfere with you so far as to free -those you wilfully and wickedly hold in bondage. I think I did right; -and that others will do right who interfere with you at any time and at -all times. I hold that the Golden Rule, ‘Do unto others as ye would that -others should do unto you,’ applies to all who would help others to gain -their liberty.” - -“But don’t you believe in the Bible?” - -“Certainly, I do.” - -“Do you consider this a religious movement?” - -“It is in my opinion the greatest service man can render to God.” - -“Do you consider yourself an instrument in the hands of Providence?” - -“I do.” - -“Upon what principles do you justify your acts?” - -“Upon the Golden Rule. I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help -them. That is why I am here; not to gratify any personal animosity, -revenge, or vindictive spirit. It is my sympathy with the oppressed and -the wronged, that are as good as you and as precious in the sight of -God.” - -“Certainly. But why take the slaves against their will?” - -“I never did.”... - -“Who are your advisers in this movement?” - -“I have numerous sympathizers throughout the entire North.... I want you -to understand that I respect the rights of the poorest and the weakest -of colored people, oppressed by the slave system, just as much as I do -those of the most wealthy and powerful. That is the idea that has moved -me, and that alone. We expected no reward except satisfaction of -endeavoring to do for those in distress and greatly oppressed as we -would be done by. The cry of distress of the oppressed is my reason, and -the only thing that prompted me to come here.” - -“Why did you do it secretly?” - -“Because I thought that necessary to success; no other reason.... I -agree with Mr. Smith that moral suasion is hopeless. I don’t think the -people of the slave states will ever consider the subject of slavery in -its true light till some other argument is resorted to than moral -suasion.” - -“Did you expect a general rising of the slaves in case of your success?” - -“No, sir; nor did I wish it. I expected to gather them up from time to -time, and set them free.” - -“Did you expect to hold possession here till then?” - -“You overrate your strength in supposing I could have been taken if I -had not allowed it. I was too tardy after commencing the open attack—in -delaying my movements through Monday night, and up to the time I was -attacked by the government troops.” - -“Where did you get arms?” - -“I bought them.” - -“In what state?” - -“That I will not state. I have nothing to say, only that I claim to be -here in carrying out a measure I believe perfectly justifiable, and not -to act the part of an incendiary or ruffian, but to aid those suffering -great wrong. I wish to say, furthermore, that you had better—all you -people at the South—prepare yourselves for a settlement of this -question, that must come up for settlement sooner than you are prepared -for it. The sooner you are prepared the better. You may dispose of me -very easily,—I am nearly disposed of now, but this question is still to -be settled,—this Negro question, I mean; the end of that is not yet.” - -“Brown, suppose you had every nigger in the United States, what would -you do with them?” - -“Set them free.” - -“Your intention was to carry them off and free them?” - -“Not at all.” - -“To set them free would sacrifice the life of every man in this -community.” - -“I do not think so.” - -“I know it; I think you are fanatical.” - -“And I think you are fanatical. Whom the gods would destroy they first -make mad, and you are mad.” - -“Was it your only object to free the Negroes?” - -“Absolutely our only object.”... - -“You are a robber,” cried some voice in the crowd. - -“You slaveholders are robbers,” retorted Brown. - -But Governor Wise interrupted: “Mr. Brown, the silver of your hair is -reddened by the blood of crime, and you should eschew these hard words -and think upon eternity. You are suffering from wounds, perhaps fatal; -and should you escape death from these causes, you must submit to a -trial which may involve death. Your confessions justify the presumption -that you will be found guilty; and even now you are committing a felony -under the laws of Virginia, by uttering sentiments like these. It is -better you should turn your attention to your eternal future than be -dealing in denunciations which can only injure you.” - -John Brown replied: “Governor, I have from all appearances not more than -fifteen or twenty years the start of you in the journey to that eternity -of which you kindly warn me; and whether my time here shall be fifteen -months, or fifteen days, or fifteen hours, I am equally prepared to go. -There is an eternity behind and an eternity before; and this little -speck in the centre, however long, is but comparatively a minute. The -difference between your tenure and mine is trifling, and I therefore -tell you to be prepared. I am prepared. You have a heavy responsibility, -and it behooves you to prepare more than it does me.”[260] - -Thus from the day John Brown was captured to the day he died, and after, -it was the South and slavery that was on trial—not John Brown. Indeed, -the dilemma into which John Brown’s raid threw the state of Virginia was -perfect. If his foray was the work of a handful of fanatics, led by a -lunatic and repudiated by the slaves to a man, then the proper procedure -would have been to ignore the incident, quietly punish the worst -offenders and either pardon the misguided leader, or send him to an -asylum. If, on the other hand, Virginia faced a conspiracy that -threatened her social existence, aroused dangerous unrest in her slave -population, and was full of portent for the future, then extraordinary -precaution, swift and extreme punishment, and bitter complaint were only -natural. But both these situations could not be true—both horns of the -dilemma could not be logically seized. Yet this was precisely what the -South and Virginia sought. While insisting that the raid was too -hopelessly and ridiculously small to accomplish anything, and saying, -with Andrew Hunter, that “not a single one of the slaves” joined John -Brown “except by coercion,” the state nevertheless spent $250,000 to -punish the invaders, stationed from one to three thousand soldiers in -the vicinity and threw the nation into turmoil. When the inconsistency -of this action struck various minds, the attempt was made to exaggerate -the danger of the invading white men. The presiding judge at the trial -wrote, as late as 1889, that the number in Brown’s party was proven by -witnesses to have been seventy-five to one hundred and he “expected -large reinforcements”; while Andrew Hunter, the state’s attorney, saw -nation-wide conspiracies. - -What, then, was the truth about the matter? It was as Frederick Douglass -said twenty-two years later on the very spot: “If John Brown did not end -the war that ended slavery, he did, at least, begin the war that ended -slavery. If we look over the dates, places, and men for which this honor -is claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia, not Fort -Sumter, but Harper’s Ferry and the arsenal, not Major Anderson, but John -Brown began the war that ended American slavery, and made this a free -republic. Until this blow was struck, the prospect for freedom was dim, -shadowy, and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one of words, -votes, and compromises. When John Brown stretched forth his arm the sky -was cleared,—the armed hosts of freedom stood face to face over the -chasm of a broken Union, and the clash of arms was at hand.”[261] - -The paths by which John Brown’s raid precipitated civil war were these: -In the first place, he aroused the Negroes of Virginia. How far the -knowledge of his plan had penetrated is of course only to be -conjectured. Evidently few knew that the foray would take place on -October 17th. But when the movement had once made a successful start, -there is no doubt that Osborne Anderson knew whereof he spoke, when he -said that slaves were ready to coöperate. His words were proven by the -200,000 black soldiers in the Civil War. That something was wrong was -shown, too, by five incendiary fires in a single week after the raid. -Hunter sought to attribute these to “Northern emissaries,” but this -charge was unproven and extremely improbable. The only other possible -perpetrators were slaves and free Negroes. That Virginians believed this -is shown by Hinton’s declaration that the loss in 1859 by the sale of -Virginia slaves alone was $10,000,000.[262] A lady who visited John -Brown said, “It was hard for me to forget the presence of the jailer (I -had that morning seen his advertisement of ‘fifty Negroes for -sale’).”[263] It is impossible to prove the extent of this clearing-out -of suspected slaves but the census reports indicate something of it. The -Negro population of Maryland and Virginia increased a little over four -per cent. between 1850 and 1860. But in the three counties bordering on -Harper’s Ferry—Loudoun and Jefferson in Virginia and Washington in -Maryland, the 17,647 slaves of 1850 had shrunk to 15,996 in 1860, a -decrease of nearly ten per cent. This means a disappearance of 2,400 -slaves and is very significant. - -Secondly, long before John Brown appeared at Harper’s Ferry, Southern -leaders like Mason, the author of the Fugitive Slave Bill, and chairman -of the Harper’s Ferry investigating committee; Jefferson Davis, who was -a member of this committee; Wise, Hunter and other Virginians, had set -their faces toward secession as the only method of protecting slavery. -Into the mouths of these men John Brown put a tremendous argument and a -fearful warning. The argument they used, the warning they suppressed and -hushed. The argument was: This is Abolitionism; this is the North. This -is the kind of treatment which the South and its cherished institution -can expect unless it resorts to extreme measures. Proceeding along these -lines, they emphasized and enlarged the raid so far as its white -participants and Northern sympathizers were concerned. Governor Wise, on -November 25th, issued a burning manifesto for the ears of the South and -the eyes of President Buchanan, and the majority report of the Senate -Committee closed with ominous words. On the other hand, the warning of -John Brown’s raid—the danger of Negro insurrection, was but whispered. - -Third, and this was the path that led to Civil War and far beyond: The -raid aroused and directed the conscience of the nation. Strange it was -to watch its work. Some, impulsive, eager to justify themselves, rushed -into print. To Garrison, the non-resistant, the sword of Gideon was -abhorrent; Beecher thundered against John Brown and Seward bitterly -traduced him. Then came an ominous silence in the land while his voice, -in his own defense, was heard over the whole country. A great surging -throb of sympathy arose and swept the world. That John Brown was legally -a lawbreaker and a murderer all men knew. But wider and wider circles -were beginning dimly and more clearly to recognize that his lawlessness -was in obedience to the highest call of self-sacrifice for the welfare -of his fellow men. They began to ask themselves, What is this cause that -can inspire such devotion? The reiteration of the simple statement of -“the brother in bonds” could not help but attract attention. The beauty -of the conception despite its possible unearthliness and -impracticability attracted poet and philosopher and common man. - -To be sure, the nation had long been thinking over the problem of the -black man, but never before had its attention been held by such deep -dramatic and personal interest as in the forty days from mid-October to -December, 1859. This arresting of national attention was due to Virginia -and to John Brown:—to Virginia by reason of its exaggerated plaint; to -John Brown whose strength, simplicity and acumen made his trial, -incarceration and execution the most powerful Abolition argument yet -offered. The very processes by which Virginia used John Brown to “fire -the Southern heart” were used by John Brown to fire the Northern -conscience. Andrew Hunter, the prosecuting state’s attorney, of right -demanded that the trial should be short and the punishment swift and in -this John Brown fully agreed. He had no desire to escape the -consequences of his act or to clog the wheels of Virginia justice. After -a certain moral bewilderment there in the old engine-house at his -failure on the brink of success, the true significance of his mission of -sacrifice slowly rose before him. In the face of proposals to rescue him -he said at first thoughtfully: “I do not know that I ought to encourage -any attempt to save my life. I am not sure that it would not be better -for me to die at this time. I am not incapable of error, and I may be -wrong; but I think that perhaps my object would be nearer fulfilment if -I should die. I must give it some thought.”[264] And more and more this -conviction seized and thrilled him, and he began to say decisively: “I -think I cannot now better serve the cause I love so much than to die for -it; and in my death I may do more than in my life.”[265] - -And again: “I can trust God with both the time and the manner of my -death, believing, as I now do, that for me at this time to seal my -testimony for God and humanity with my blood will do vastly more toward -advancing the cause I have earnestly endeavored to promote, than all I -have done in my life before.” And then finally came that last great hymn -of utter sacrifice: “I feel astonished that one so vile and unworthy as -I am would even be suffered to have a place anyhow or anywhere amongst -the very least of all who when they came to die (as all must) were -permitted to pay the debt of nature in defense of the right and of God’s -eternal and immutable truth.”[266] - -The trial was a difficult experience. Virginia attempted to hold scales -of even justice between mob violence and the world-wide sympathy of all -good men. To defend its domestic institutions, it must try a man for -murder when that very man, sitting as self-appointed judge of those very -institutions, had convicted them before a jury of mankind. To defend the -good name of the state, Virginia had to restrain the violent blood -vengeance of men whose kin had been killed in the raid, and who had -sworn that no prisoner should escape the extreme penalty. The trial was -legally fair but pressed to a conclusion in unseemly haste, and in -obedience to a threatening public opinion and a great hovering dread. -Only against this unfair haste did John Brown protest, for he wanted the -world to understand why he had done the deed. On the other hand, Hunter -not only feared the local mob but the slowly arising sentiment for this -white-haired crusader. He therefore pushed the proceedings legally, but -with almost brutal pertinacity. The prisoner was arraigned while wounded -and in bed; the lawyers, hurriedly chosen, were given scant time for -consultation or preparation. John Brown was formally committed to jail -at Charlestown, the county seat, on October 20th, had a preliminary -examination October 25th, and was indicted by the grand jury October -26th, for “conspiracy with slaves for the purpose of insurrection; with -treason against the commonwealth of Virginia; and with murder in the -first degree.” - -Thursday, October 27th, his trial was begun. A jury was impaneled -without challenge and Brown’s lawyers, ignoring his outline of defense, -brought in the plea of insanity. The old man arose from his couch and -said: “I look upon it as a miserable artifice and pretext of those who -ought to take a different course in regard to me, if they took any at -all, and I view it with contempt more than otherwise.... I am perfectly -unconscious of insanity, and I reject, so far as I am capable, any -attempts to interfere in my behalf on that score.”[267] - -On Friday a Massachusetts lawyer arrived to help in the trial and also -privately to suggest methods of escape. John Brown quietly refused to -contemplate any such attempt, but was glad to accept the aid of this -lawyer and two others, who were sent by John A. Andrew and his friends. -The judge curtly refused these men any time to prepare their case, but -in spite of this it ran over until Monday when the jury retired. Late -Monday afternoon they returned. Redpath says: - -“At this moment the crowd filled all the space from the couch inside the -bar, around the prisoner, beyond the railing in the body of the court, -out through the wide hall, and beyond the doors. There stood the anxious -but perfectly silent and attentive populace, stretching head and neck to -witness the closing scene of old Brown’s trial.” - -The clerk of the court read the indictment and asked: “Gentlemen of the -jury, what say you? Is the prisoner at the bar, John Brown, guilty or -not guilty?” - -“Guilty,” answered the foreman. - -“Guilty of treason, and conspiring and advising with slaves and others -to rebel, and murder in the first degree?” - -“Yes.” - -Redpath continues: “Not the slightest sound was heard in this vast crowd -as this verdict was thus returned and read. Not the slightest expression -of elation or triumph was uttered from the hundreds present, who, a -moment before, outside the court, joined in heaping threats and -imprecations on his head; nor was this strange silence interrupted -during the whole of the time occupied by the forms of the court. Old -Brown himself said not even a word, but, as on any previous day, turned -to adjust his pallet, and then composedly stretched himself upon -it.”[268] - -The following Wednesday John Brown was sentenced. Moving with painful -steps and pale face, he took his seat under the gaslight in the great -square room and remained motionless. The judge read his decision on the -points of exception and the clerk asked: “Have you anything to say why -sentence of death should not be passed upon you?” Then rising and -leaning forward, John Brown made that last great speech, in a voice at -once gentle and firm: - -“I have, may it please the court, a few words to say. - -“In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along -admitted,—the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly -to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I -went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun -on either side, moved them through the country and finally left them in -Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale. -That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the -destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or -to make insurrection. - -“I have another objection; and that is, it is unjust that I should -suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and -which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and -candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in -this case),—had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the -intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their -friends,—either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or -any of that class,—and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this -interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court -would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment. - -“This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. -I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least -the New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would -that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, -further, to ‘remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.’ I -endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to -understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have -interfered as I have done—as I have always freely admitted I have -done—in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if -it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance -of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my -children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose -rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments,—I -submit; so let it be done! Let me say one word further. - -“I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my -trial. Considering all the circumstances, it has been more generous than -I expected. But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from the -first what was my intention, and what was not. I never had any design -against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, -or excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never -encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that -kind. - -“Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements made by some of -those connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that -I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say -this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one -of them but that joined me of his own accord, and the greater part at -their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of -conversation with, till the day they came to me; and that was for the -purpose I have stated. - -“Now I have done.”[269] - -The day of his dying, December 2d, dawned glorious; twenty-four hours -before he had kissed his wife good-bye, and on this morning he visited -his doomed companions—Shields Green and Copeland first; then the -wavering Cook and Coppoc and the unmovable Stevens. At last he turned -toward the place of his hanging. Since early morning three thousand -soldiers had been marching and counter-marching around the scaffold, -which had been erected a half mile from Charlestown, encircling it for -fifteen miles; a hush sat on the hearts of men. John Brown rode out into -the morning. “This is a beautiful land,” he said. It was beautiful. -Wide, glistening, rolling fields flickered in the sunlight. Beyond, the -Shenandoah went rolling northward, and still afar rose the mighty masses -of the Blue Ridge, where Nat Turner had fought and died, where Gabriel -had looked for refuge and where John Brown had builded his awful dream. -Some say he kissed a Negro child as he passed, but Andrew Hunter -vehemently denies it. “No Negro could get access to him,” he says, and -he is probably right; and yet all about him as he hung there knelt the -funeral guard he prayed for when he said: - -“My love to all who love their neighbors. I have asked to be spared from -having any weak or hypocritical prayers made over me when I am publicly -murdered, and that my only religious attendants be poor little dirty, -ragged, bareheaded, and barefooted slave boys and girls, led by some -gray-headed slave mother. Farewell! Farewell!”[270] - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - THE LEGACY OF JOHN BROWN - - “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that - hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk - without money and without price.” - - -“I, John Brown, am quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land -will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly, -flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.” - -These were the last written words of John Brown, set down the day he -died—the culminating of that wonderful message of his forty days in -prison, which all in all made the mightiest Abolition document that -America has known. Uttered in chains and solemnity, spoken in the very -shadow of death, its dramatic intensity after that wild and puzzling -raid, its deep earnestness as embodied in the character of the man, did -more to shake the foundations of slavery than any single thing that ever -happened in America. Of himself he speaks simply and with satisfaction: -“I should be sixty years old were I to live to May 9, 1860. I have -enjoyed much of life as it is, and have been remarkably prosperous, -having early learned to regard the welfare and prosperity of others as -my own. I have never, since I can remember, required a great amount of -sleep; so that I conclude that I have already enjoyed full an average -number of working hours with those who reach their threescore years and -ten. I have not yet been driven to the use of glasses, but can see to -read and write quite comfortably. But more than that, I have generally -enjoyed remarkably good health. I might go on to recount unnumbered and -unmerited blessings, among which would be some very severe afflictions -and those the most needed blessings of all. And now, when I think how -easily I might be left to spoil all I have done or suffered in the cause -of freedom, I hardly dare wish another voyage even if I had the -opportunity.”[271] - -After a surging, trouble-tossed voyage he is at last at peace in body -and mind. He asserts that he is and has been in his right mind: “I may -be very insane; and I am so, if insane at all. But if that be so, -insanity is like a very pleasant dream to me. I am not in the least -degree conscious of my ravings, of my fears, or of any terrible visions -whatever; but fancy myself entirely composed, and that my sleep, in -particular, is as sweet as that of a healthy, joyous little infant. I -pray God that He will grant me a continuance of the same calm but -delightful dream, until I come to know of those realities which eyes -have not seen and which ears have not heard. I have scarce realized that -I am in prison or in irons at all. I certainly think I was never more -cheerful in my life.”[272] - -To his family he hands down the legacy of his faith and works: “I -beseech you all to live in habitual contentment with moderate -circumstances and gains of worldly store, and earnestly to teach this to -your children and children’s children after you, by example as well as -precept.” And again: “Be sure to remember and follow my advice, and my -example too, so far as it has been consistent with the holy religion of -Jesus Christ, in which I remain a most firm and humble believer. Never -forget the poor, nor think anything you bestow on them to be lost to -you, even though they may be black as Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian eunuch, -who cared for Jeremiah in the pit of the dungeon; or as black as the one -to whom Philip preached Christ. Be sure to entertain strangers, for -thereby some have.... Remember them that are in bonds as bound with -them.”[273] - -Of his own merit and desert he is modest but firm: “The great bulk of -mankind estimate each other’s actions and motives by the measure of -success or otherwise that attends them through life. By that rule, I -have been one of the worst and one of the best of men. I do not claim to -have been one of the latter, and I leave it to an impartial tribunal to -decide whether the world has been the worse or the better for my living -and dying in it.”[274] - -He has no sense of shame for his action: “I feel no consciousness of -guilt in that matter, nor even mortification on account of my -imprisonment and irons; I feel perfectly sure that very soon no member -of my family will feel any possible disposition to blush on my -account.”[275] - -“I do not feel conscious of guilt in taking up arms; and had it been in -behalf of the rich and powerful, the intelligent, the great (as men -count greatness), or those who form enactments to suit themselves and -corrupt others, or some of their friends, that I interfered, suffered, -sacrificed, and fell, it would have been doing very well. But enough of -this. These light afflictions, which endure for a moment, shall but work -for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”[276] - -With desperate faith he clings to his belief in the providence of an -all-wise God: “Under all these terrible calamities, I feel quite -cheerful in the assurance that God reigns and will overrule all for His -glory and the best possible good.”[277] - -True is it that the night is dark and his faith at first wavers, yet it -rises ever again triumphant: “As I believe most firmly that God reigns, -I cannot believe that anything I have done, suffered, or may yet suffer, -will be lost to the cause of God or of humanity. And before I began my -work at Harper’s Ferry, I felt assured that in the worst event it would -certainly pay. I often expressed that belief; and I can now see no -possible cause to alter my mind. I am not as yet, in the main, at all -disappointed, I have been a good deal disappointed as it regards myself -in not keeping up to my own plans; but I now feel entirely reconciled to -that, even,—for God’s plan was infinitely better, no doubt, or I should -have kept to my own.”[278] - -He is, after all, the servant and instrument of the Almighty: “If you do -not believe I had a murderous intention (while I know I had not), why -grieve so terribly on my account? The scaffold has but few terrors for -me. God has often covered my head in the day of battle, and granted me -many times deliverances that were almost so miraculous that I can scarce -realize their truth; and now, when it seems quite certain that He -intends to use me in a different way, shall I not most cheerfully -go?”[279] - -“I have often passed under the rod of Him whom I call my Father,—and -certainly no son ever needed it oftener; and yet I have enjoyed much of -life, as I was enabled to discover the secret of this somewhat early. It -has been in making the prosperity and happiness of others my own; so -that really I have had a great deal of prosperity. I am very prosperous -still; and looking forward to a time when ‘peace on earth and good-will -to men’ shall everywhere prevail, I have no murmuring thoughts or -envious feelings to fret my mind. I’ll praise my Maker with my -breath.”[280] - -“Success is in general the standard of all merit I have passed my time -quite cheerfully; still trusting that neither my life nor my death will -prove a total loss. As regards both, however, I am liable to mistake. It -affords me some satisfaction to feel conscious of having at least tried -to better the condition of those who are always on the under-hill side, -and am in hopes of being able to meet the consequences without a murmur. -I am endeavoring to get ready for another field of action, where no -defeat befalls the truly brave. That ‘God reigns,’ and most wisely, and -controls all events, might, it would seem, reconcile those who believe -it to much that appears to be very disastrous. I am one who has tried to -believe that, and still keep trying.”[281] - -“I cannot remember a night so dark as to have hindered the coming day, -nor a storm so furious or dreadful as to prevent the return of warm -sunshine and a cloudless sky.”[282] - -More and more his eyes pierce the gloom and see the vast plan for which -God has used him and the glory of his sacrifice: - -“‘He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.’ -This was said of a poor erring servant many years ago; and for many -years I have felt a strong impression that God had given me powers and -faculties, unworthy as I was, that He intended to use for a similar -purpose. This most unmerited honor He has seen fit to bestow; and -whether, like the same poor frail man to whom I allude, my death may not -be of vastly more value than my life is, I think quite beyond all human -foresight.”[283] - -“I think I feel as happy as Paul did when he lay in prison. He knew if -they killed him, it would greatly advance the cause of Christ; that was -the reason he rejoiced so. On that same ground ‘I do rejoice, yea, and -will rejoice.’ Let them hang me; I forgive them, and may God forgive -them, for they know not what they do. I have no regret for the -transaction for which I am condemned. I went against the laws of men, it -is true, but ‘whether it be right to obey God or men, judge ye.’”[284] - -“When and in what form death may come is but of small moment. I feel -just as content to die for God’s eternal truth and for suffering -humanity on the scaffold as in any other way; and I do not say this from -disposition to ‘brave it out.’ No; I would readily own my wrong were I -in the least convinced of it. I have now been confined over a month, -with a good opportunity to look the whole thing as ‘fair in the face’ as -I am capable of doing; and I feel it most grateful that I am counted in -the least possible degree worthy to suffer for the truth.”[285] - -“I can trust God with both the time and the manner of my death, -believing, as I now do, that for me at this time to seal my testimony -for God and humanity with my blood will do vastly more toward advancing -the cause I have earnestly endeavored to promote, than all I have done -in my life before.”[286] - -“My whole life before had not afforded me one-half the opportunity to -plead for the right. In this, also, I find much to reconcile me to both -my present condition and my immediate prospect.”[287] - -Against slavery his face is set like flint: “There are no ministers of -Christ here. These ministers who profess to be Christian, and hold -slaves or advocate slavery, I cannot abide them. My knees will not bend -in prayer with them, while their hands are stained with the blood of -souls.”[288] He said to one Southern clergyman: “I will thank you to -leave me alone; your prayers would be an abomination to God.” To another -he said, “I would not insult God by bowing down in prayer with any one -who had the blood of the slave on his skirts.” - -And to a third who argued in favor of slavery as “a Christian -institution,” John Brown replied impatiently: “My dear sir, you know -nothing about Christianity; you will have to learn its A, B, C; I find -you quite ignorant of what the word Christianity means.... I respect you -as a gentleman, of course; but it is as a heathen gentleman.”[289] - -To his children he wrote: “Be determined to know by experience, as soon -as may be, whether Bible instruction is of divine origin or not. Be sure -to owe no man anything, but to love one another. John Rogers wrote his -children, ‘Abhor that arrant whore of Rome.’ John Brown writes to his -children to abhor, with undying hatred also, that sum of all -villanies,—slavery.”[290] - -And finally he rejoiced: “Men cannot imprison, or chain, or hang the -soul. I go joyfully in behalf of millions that ‘have no rights’ that -this great and glorious, this Christian republic ‘is bound to respect.’ -Strange change in morals, political as well as Christian, since -1776.”[291] - -“No formal will can be of use,” he wrote on his doomsday, “when my -expressed wishes are made known to my dutiful and beloved family.”[292] - -This was the man. His family is the world. What legacy did he leave? It -was soon seen that his voice was a call to the great final battle with -slavery. - -In the spring of 1861 the Boston Light Infantry was sent to Fort Warren -in Boston harbor to drill. A quartette was formed among the soldiers to -sing patriotic songs and for them was contrived the verses, - - “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, - His soul is marching on,” etc. - -This was set to the music of an old camp-meeting tune—possibly of Negro -origin—called, “Say, Brother, Will You Meet Us?” The regiment learned it -and first sang it publicly when it came up from Fort Warren and marched -past the scene where Crispus Attucks fell. Gilmore’s Band learned and -played it and thus “the song of John Brown was started on its eternal -way!” - -Was John Brown simply an episode, or was he an eternal truth? And if a -truth, how speaks that truth to-day? John Brown loved his neighbor as -himself. He could not endure therefore to see his neighbor, poor, -unfortunate or oppressed. This natural sympathy was strengthened by a -saturation in Hebrew religion which stressed the personal responsibility -of every human soul to a just God. To this religion of equality and -sympathy with misfortune, was added the strong influence of the social -doctrines of the French Revolution with its emphasis on freedom and -power in political life. And on all this was built John Brown’s own -inchoate but growing belief in a more just and a more equal distribution -of property. From this he concluded,—and acted on that conclusion—that -all men are created free and equal, and that the cost of liberty is less -than the price of repression. - -Up to the time of John Brown’s death this doctrine was a growing, -conquering, social thing. Since then there has come a change and many -would rightly find reason for that change in the coincidence that the -year in which John Brown suffered martyrdom was the year that first -published the _Origin of Species_. Since that day tremendous scientific -and economic advance has been accompanied by distinct signs of moral -retrogression in social philosophy. Strong arguments have been made for -the fostering of war, the utility of human degradation and disease, and -the inevitable and known inferiority of certain classes and races of -men. While such arguments have not stopped the efforts of the advocates -of peace, the workers for social uplift and the believers in human -brotherhood, they have, it must be confessed, made their voices falter -and tinged their arguments with apology. - -Why is this? It is because the splendid scientific work of Darwin, -Weissman, Galton and others has been widely interpreted as meaning that -there is essential and inevitable inequality among men and races of men, -which no philanthropy can or ought to eliminate; that civilization is a -struggle for existence whereby the weaker nations and individuals will -gradually succumb, and the strong will inherit the earth. With this -interpretation has gone the silent assumption that the white European -stock represents the strong surviving peoples, and that the swarthy, -yellow and black peoples are the ones rightly doomed to eventual -extinction. - -One can easily see what influence such a doctrine would have on the race -problem in America. It meant moral revolution in the attitude of the -nation. Those that stepped into the pathway marked by men like John -Brown faltered and large numbers turned back. They said: He was a good -man—even great, but he has no message for us to-day—he was a “belated -Covenanter,” an anachronism in the age of Darwin, one who gave his life -to lift not the unlifted but the unliftable. We have consequently the -present reaction—a reaction which says in effect, Keep these black -people in their places, and do not attempt to treat a Negro simply as a -white man with a black face; to do this would mean the moral -deterioration of the race and the nation—a fate against which a divine -racial prejudice is successfully fighting. This is the attitude of the -larger portion of our thinking people. - -It is not, however, an attitude that has brought mental rest or social -peace. On the contrary, it is to-day involving a degree of moral strain -and political and social anomaly that gives the wisest pause. The chief -difficulty has been that the natural place in which by scientific law -the black race in America should stay, cannot easily be determined. To -be sure, the freedmen did not, as the philanthropists of the sixties -apparently expected, step in forty years from slavery to nineteenth -century civilization. Neither, on the other hand, did they, as the -ex-masters confidently predicted, retrograde and die. Contrary to both -these views, they chose a third and apparently quite unawaited way. From -the great, sluggish, almost imperceptibly moving mass, they sent off -larger and larger numbers of faithful workmen and artisans, some -merchants and professional men, and even men of educational ability and -discernment. They developed no world geniuses, no millionaires, no great -captains of industry, no artists of the first rank; but they did in -forty years get rid of the greater part of their total illiteracy, -accumulate a half-billion dollars of property in small homesteads, and -gain now and then respectful attention in the world’s ears and eyes. It -has been argued that this progress of the black man in America is due to -the exceptional men among them and does not measure the ability of the -mass. Such an admission is, however, fatal to the whole argument. If the -doomed races of men are going to develop exceptions to the rule of -inferiority, then no rule, scientific or moral, should or can proscribe -the race as such. - -To meet this difficulty in racial philosophy, a step has been taken in -America fraught with the gravest social consequences to the world, and -threatening not simply the political but the moral integrity of the -nation: that step is denying in the case of black men the validity of -those evidences of culture, ability, and decency which are accepted -unquestionably in the ease of other people; and by vague assertions, -unprovable assumptions, unjust emphasis, and now and then by deliberate -untruth, aiming to secure not only the continued proscription of all -these people, but, by caste distinction, to shut in the faces of their -rising classes many of the paths to further advance. - -When a social policy, based on a supposed scientific sanction, leads to -such a moral anomaly, it is time to examine rather carefully the logical -foundations of the argument. And as soon as we do this many things are -clear: first, assuming the truth of the unproved dictum that there are -stocks of human beings whose elimination the best welfare of the world -demands it is certainly questionable if these stocks include the -majority of mankind; and it is indefensible and monstrous to pretend -that we know to-day with any reasonable assurance which these stocks -are. We can point to degenerate individuals and families here and there -among all races, but there is not the slightest warrant for assuming -that there does not lie among the Chinese and Hindus, the African Bantus -and American Indians as lofty possibilities of human culture as any -European race has ever exhibited. It is, to be sure, puzzling to know -why the Soudan should linger a thousand years in culture behind the -valley of the Seine, but it is no more puzzling than the fact that the -valley of the Thames was miserably backward as compared with the banks -of the Tiber. Climate, human contact, facilities of communication and -what we call accident, have played a great part in the rise of culture -among nations: to ignore these and assert dogmatically that the present -distribution of culture is a fair index of the distribution of human -ability and desert, is to make an assertion for which there is not the -slightest scientific warrant. - -What the age of Darwin has done is to add to the eighteenth century idea -of individual worth the complementary idea of physical immortality. And -this, far from annulling or contracting the idea of human freedom, -rather emphasizes its necessity and eternal possibility—the -boundlessness and endlessness of human achievement. Freedom has come to -mean not individual caprice or aberration, but social self-realization -in an endless chain of selves; and freedom for such development is not -the denial but the central assertion of the evolutionary theory. So, -too, the doctrine of human equality passes through the fire of -scientific inquiry, not obliterated but transfigured: not equality of -present attainment but equality of opportunity, for unbounded future -attainment is the rightful demand of mankind. - -What now does the present hegemony of the white races threaten? It -threatens by means of brute force a survival of some of the worst stocks -of mankind. It attempts to people the best parts of the earth and put in -absolute authority over the rest, not usually (and indeed not mainly) -the culture of Europe but its greed and degradation—not only some -representatives of the best stocks of the West End of London, upper New -York and the Champs Elysées, but also, in as large if not larger -numbers, the worst stocks of Whitechapel, the East Side and Montmartre; -and it essays to make the slums of white society in all cases and under -all circumstances the superior of any colored group, no matter what its -ability or culture. To be sure, this outrageous program of wholesale -human degeneration is not outspoken yet, save in the backward -civilizations of the Southern United States, South Africa and Australia. -But its enunciation is listened to with respect and tolerance in -England, Germany, and the Northern states by those very persons who -accuse philanthropy with seeking to degrade holy white blood by an -infiltration of colored strains. And the average citizen is voting ships -and guns to carry out this program. - -This movement gathered force and strength; during the latter half of the -nineteenth century and reached its culmination when France, Germany, -England and Russia began the partition of China and the East. With the -sudden self-assertion of Japan, its wildest dreams collapsed, but it is -still to-day a living, virile, potent force and motive, the most subtle -and dangerous enemy of world peace and the dream of human brotherhood. -It has a whole vocabulary of its own: the strong races, superior -peoples, race preservation, the struggle for survival and a variety of -terms meaning the right of white men of any kind to beat blacks into -submission, make them surrender their wealth and the use of their women -and submit to dictation without murmur, for the sake of being swept off -the fairest portions of the earth or held there in perpetual serfdom or -guardianship. Ignoring the fact that the era of physical struggle for -survival has passed away among human beings, and that there is plenty of -room accessible on earth for all, this theory makes the possession of -Krupp guns the main criterion of mental stamina and moral fitness. - -Even armed with this morality of the club, and every advantage of modern -culture, the white races have been unable to possess the earth. Many -signs of degeneracy have appeared among them: their birth-rate is -falling, their average ability is not increasing, their physical stamina -is impaired, and their social condition is not reassuring. Lacking the -physical ability to take possession of the world, they are to-day -fencing in America, Australia, and South Africa and declaring that no -dark race shall occupy or develop the land which they themselves are -unable to use. And all this on the plea that their stock is threatened -with deterioration from without, when in reality its most dangerous -threat is deterioration from within. - -We are, in fact, to-day repeating in our intercourse between races all -the former evils of class distinction within the nation: personal hatred -and abuse, mutual injustice, unequal taxation and rigid caste. -Individual nations outgrew these fatal things by breaking down the -horizontal barriers between classes. We are bringing them back by -seeking to erect vertical barriers between races. Men were told that -abolition of compulsory class distinction meant leveling down, -degradation, disappearance of culture and genius and the triumph of the -mob. As a matter of fact, it has been the salvation of European -civilization. Some deterioration and leveling there was but it was more -than balanced by the discovery of new reservoirs of ability and -strength. So to-day we are told that free racial contact—or “social -equality” as Southern _patois_ has it—means contamination of blood and -lowering of ability and culture. It need mean nothing of the sort. -Abolition of class distinction did not mean universal intermarriage of -stocks, but rather the survival of the fittest by peaceful, personal and -social selection—a selection all the more effective because free -democracy and equality of opportunity allow the best to rise to their -rightful place. The same is true in racial contact. Vertical race -distinctions are even more emphatic hindrances to human evolution than -horizontal class distinctions, and their tearing away involves fewer -chances of degradation and greater opportunities of human betterment -than in case of class lines. On the other hand, persistence in racial -distinction spells disaster sooner or later. The earth is growing -smaller and more accessible. Race contact will become in the future -increasingly inevitable not only in America, Asia, and Africa but even -in Europe. The color line will mean not simply a return to the -absurdities of class as exhibited in the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries, but even to the caste of ancient days. This, however, the -Japanese, the Chinese, the East Indians and the Negroes are going to -resent in just such proportion as they gain the power; and they are -gaining the power, and they cannot be kept from gaining more power. The -price of repression will then be hypocrisy and slavery and blood. - -This is the situation to-day. Has John Brown no message—no legacy, then, -to the twentieth century? He has and it is this great word: the cost of -liberty is less than the price of repression. The price of repressing -the world’s darker races is shown in a moral retrogression and an -economic waste unparalleled since the age of the African slave trade. -What would be the cost of liberty? What would be the cost of giving the -great stocks of mankind every reasonable help and incentive to -self-development—opening the avenues of opportunity freely, spreading -knowledge, suppressing war and cheating, and treating men and women as -equals the world over whenever and wherever they attain equality? It -would cost something. It would cost something in pride and prejudice, -for eventually many a white man would be blacking black men’s boots; but -this cost we may ignore—its greatest cost would be the new problems of -racial intercourse and intermarriage which would come to the front. -Freedom and equal opportunity in this respect would inevitably bring -some intermarriage of whites and yellows and browns and blacks. This -might be a good thing and it might not be. We do not know. Our belief on -the matter may be strong and even frantic, but it has no adequate -scientific foundation. If such marriages are proven inadvisable, how -could they be stopped? Easily. We associate with cats and cows, but we -do not fear intermarriage with them, even though they be given all -freedom of development. So, too, intelligent human beings can be trained -to breed intelligently without the degradation of such of their fellows -as they may not wish to breed with. In the Southern United States, on -the contrary, it is assumed that unwise marriages can be stopped only by -the degradation of the blacks—the classing of all darker women with -prostitutes, the loading of a whole race with every badge of public -isolation, degradation and contempt, and by burning offenders at the -stake. Is this civilization? No. The civilized method of preventing -ill-advised marriage lies in the training of mankind in the ethics of -sex and child-bearing. We cannot ensure the survival of the best blood -by the public murder and degradation of unworthy suitors, but we can -substitute a civilized human selection of husbands and wives which shall -ensure the survival of the fittest. Not the methods of the jungle, not -even the careless choices of the drawing-room, but the thoughtful -selection of the schools and laboratory is the ideal of future marriage. -This will cost something in ingenuity, self-control and toleration, but -it will cost less than forcible repression. - -Not only is the cost of repression to-day large—it is a continually -increasing cost: the procuring of coolie labor, the ruling of India, the -exploitation of Africa, the problem of the unemployed, and the curbing -of the corporations, are a tremendous drain on modern society with no -near end in sight. The cost is not merely in wealth but in social -progress and spiritual strength, and it tends ever to explosion, murder, -and war. All these things but increase the difficulty of beginning a -régime of freedom in human growth and development—they raise the cost of -liberty. Not only that but the very explosions, like the Russo-Japanese -War, which bring partial freedom, tend in the complacent current -philosophy to prove the Wisdom of repression. “Blood will tell,” men -say. “The fit will survive; step up the tea-kettle and eventually the -steam will burst the iron,” and therefore only the steam that bursts is -worth the generating; only organized murder proves the fitness of a -people for liberty. This is a fearful and dangerous doctrine. It -encourages wrong leadership and perverted ideals at the very time when -loftiest and most unselfish striving is called for—as witness Japan -after her emancipation, or America after the Civil War. Conversely, it -leads the shallow and unthinking to brand as demagogue and radical every -group leader who in the day of slavery and struggle cries out for -freedom. - -For such reasons it is that the memory of John Brown stands to-day as a -mighty warning to his country. He saw, he felt in his soul the wrong and -danger of that most daring and insolent system of human repression known -as American slavery. He knew that in 1700 it would have cost something -to overthrow slavery and establish liberty; and that by reason of -cowardice and blindness the cost in 1800 was vastly larger but still not -unpayable. He felt that by 1900 no human hand could pluck the vampire -from the body of the land without doing the nation to death. He said, in -1859, “Now is the accepted time.” Now is the day to strike for a free -nation. It will cost something—even blood and suffering, but it will not -cost as much as waiting. And he was right. Repression bred -repression—serfdom bred slavery, until in 1861 the South was farther -from freedom than in 1800. - -The edict of 1863 was the first step in emancipation and its cost in -blood and treasure was staggering. But that was not all—it was only a -first step. There were other bills to pay of material reconstruction, -social regeneration, mental training and moral uplift. These the nation -started to meet in the Fifteenth Amendment, the Freedman’s Bureau, the -crusade of school-teachers and the Civil Rights Bill. But the effort was -great and the determination of the South to pay no single cent or deed -for past error save by force, led in the revolution of 1876 to the -triumph of reaction. Reaction meant and means a policy of state, society -and individual, whereby no American of Negro blood shall ever come into -the full freedom of modern culture. In the carrying out of this program -by certain groups and sections, no pains have been spared—no expenditure -of money, ingenuity, physical or moral strength. The building of -barriers around these black men has been pushed with an energy so -desperate and unflagging that it has seriously checked the great -outpouring of benevolence and sympathy that greeted the freedman in -1863. It has come so swathed and gowned in graciousness as to disarm -philanthropy and chill enthusiasm. It has used double-tongued argument -with deadly effect. Has the Negro advanced? Beware his further strides. -Has the Negro retrograded? It is his fate, why seek to help him? Thus -has the spirit of repression gained attention, complacent acquiescence, -and even coöperation. To be sure, there still stand staunch souls who -cannot yet believe the doctrine of human repression, and who pour out -their wealth for Negro training and freedom in the face of the common -cry. But the majority of Americans seem to have forgotten the foundation -principles of their government and the recklessly destructive effect of -the blows meant to bind and tether their fellows. We have come to see a -day here in America when one citizen can deprive another of his vote at -his discretion; can restrict the education of his neighbors’ children as -he sees fit; can with impunity load his neighbor with public insult on -the king’s highway; can deprive him of his property without due process -of law; can deny him the right of trial by his peers, or of any trial -whatsoever if he can get a large enough group of men to join him; can -refuse to protect or safeguard the integrity of the family of some men -whom he dislikes; finally, can not only close the door of opportunity in -commercial and social lines in a fully competent neighbor’s face, but -can actually count on the national and state governments to help and -make effective this discrimination. - -Such a state of affairs is not simply disgraceful; it is deeply and -increasingly dangerous. Not only does the whole nation feel already the -loosening of joints which these vicious blows on human liberty have -caused—lynching, lawlessness, lying and stealing, bribery and -divorce—but it can look for darker deeds to come. - -And this not merely because of the positive harm of this upbuilding of -barriers, but above all because within these bursting barriers are -men—human forces which no human hand can hold. It is human force and -aspiration and endeavor which are moving there amid the creaking of -timbers and writhing of souls. It is human force that has already done -in a generation the work of many centuries. It has saved over a -half-billion dollars in property, bought and paid for landed estate half -the size of all England, and put homes thereon as good and as pure as -the homes of any corresponding economic class the world around; it has -crowded eager children through a wretched and half-furnished school -system until from an illiteracy of seventy per cent., two-thirds of the -living adults can read and write. These proscribed millions have 50,000 -professional men, 200,000 men in trade and transportation, 275,000 -artisans and mechanics, 1,250,000 servants and 2,000,000 farmers working -with the nation to earn its daily bread. These farmers raise yearly on -their own and hired farms over 4,000,000 bales of cotton, 25,000,000 -pounds of rice, 10,000,000 bushels of potatoes, 90,000,000 pounds of -tobacco and 100,000,000 bushels of corn, besides that for which they -labor on the farms of others. They have given America music, inspired -art and literature, made its bread, dug its ditches, fought its battles, -and suffered in its misfortunes. The great mass of these men is becoming -daily more thoroughly organized, more deeply self-critical, more -conscious of its power. Threatened though it has been naturally, as a -proletariat, with degeneration and disease, it is to-day reducing its -death-rate and beginning organized rescue of its delinquents and -defectives. The mass can still to-day be called ignorant, poor and but -moderately efficient, but it is daily growing better trained, richer and -more intelligent. And as it grows it is sensing more and more the -vantage-ground which it holds as a defender of the right of the freedom -of human development for black men in the midst of a centre of modern -culture. It sees its brothers in yellow, black and brown held physically -at arms’ length from civilization lest they become civilized and less -liable to conquest and exploitation. It sees the world-wide effort to -build an aristocracy of races and nations on a foundation of darker -half-enslaved and tributary peoples. It knows that the last great battle -of the West is to vindicate the right of any man of any nation, race, or -color to share in the world’s goods and thoughts and efforts to the -extent of his effort and ability. - -Thus to-day the Negro American faces his destiny and doggedly strives to -realize it. He has his tempters and temptations. There are ever those -about him whispering: “You are nobody; why strive to be somebody? The -odds are overwhelming against you—wealth, tradition, learning and guns. -Be reasonable. Accept the dole of charity and the cant of missionaries -and sink contentedly to your place as humble servants and helpers of the -white world.” If this has not been effective, threats have been used: -“If you continue to complain, we will withdraw all aid, boycott your -labor, cease to help support your schools and let you die and disappear -from the land in ignorance, crime and disease.” Still the black man has -pushed on, has continued to protest, has refused to die out and -disappear, and to-day stands as physically the most virile element in -America, intellectually among the most promising, and morally the most -tremendous and insistent of the social problems of the New World. Not -even the silence of his friends, or of those who ought to be the friends -of struggling humanity, has silenced him. Not even the wealth of modern -Golconda has induced him to believe that life without liberty is worth -living. - -On the other side heart-searching is in order. It is not well with this -land of ours: poverty is certainly not growing less, wealth is being -wantonly wasted, business honesty is far too rare, family integrity is -threatened, bribery is poisoning our public life, theft is honeycombing -our private business, and voting is largely unintelligent. Not that -these evils are unopposed. There are brave men and women striving for -social betterment, for the curbing of the vicious power of wealth, for -the uplift of women and the downfall of thieves. But their battle is -hard, and how much harder because of the race problem—because of the -calloused conscience of caste, the peonage of black labor hands, the -insulting of black women, and the stealing of black votes? How far are -business dishonesty and civic degradation in America the direct result -of racial prejudice? - -Well do I know that many persons defend their treatment of undeveloped -peoples on the highest grounds. They say, as Jefferson Davis intimated, -that liberty is for the full-grown, not for children. It was during -Senator Mason’s inquisition after the hanging of John Brown, whereby the -Southern leader hoped to entrap the Abolitionists. Joshua R. Giddings, -keen, impetuous and fiery, was on the rack. Senator Davis, pale, sallow -and imperturbable, with all the aristocratic poise and dignity built on -the unpaid toil of two centuries of slaves, said: - -“Did you, in inculcating, by popular lectures, the doctrine of a law -higher than that of the social compact, make your application -exclusively to Negro slaves, or did you also include minors, convicts, -and lunatics, who might be restrained of their liberty by the laws of -the land?” - -Mr. Giddings smiled. “Permit me,” he said, “... with all due deference, -to suggest, so that I may understand you, do you intend to inquire -whether those lectures would indicate whether your slaves of the slave -states had a right at all times to their liberty?” - -“I will put the question in that form if you like it,” answered Davis, -and then Giddings flashed: - -“My lectures, in all instances, would indicate the right of every human -soul in the enjoyment of reason, while he is charged with no crime or -offense, to maintain his life, his liberty, the pursuit of his own -happiness; that this has reference to the enslaved of all the states as -much as it had reference to our own people while enslaved by the -Algerines in Africa.” - -But Mr. Davis suavely pressed his point: “Then the next question is, -whether the same right was asserted for minors and apprentices, being -men in good reason, yet restrained of their liberty by the laws of the -land.” - -Giddings replied: “I will answer at once that the proposition or -comparison is conflicting with the dictates of truth. The minor is, from -the law of nature, under the restraints of parental affection for the -purposes of nurture, of education, of preparing him to secure and -maintain the very rights to which I refer.”[293] - -This debate is not yet closed. It was not closed by the Civil War. Men -still maintain that East Indians and Africans and others ought to be -under the restraint and benevolent tutelage of stronger and wiser -nations for their own benefit. Well and good. Is the tutelage really -benevolent? Then it is training in liberty. Is it training in slavery? -Then it is not benevolent. Liberty trains for liberty. Responsibility is -the first step in responsibility. - -Even the restraints imposed in the training of men and children are -restraints that will in the end make greater freedom possible. Is the -benevolent expansion of to-day of such a character? Is England trying to -see how soon and how effectively the Indians can be trained for -self-government or is she willing to exploit them just so long as they -can be cajoled or quieted into submission? Is Germany trying to train -her Africans to modern citizenship or to modern “work without -complaint”? Is the South trying to make the Negroes responsible, -self-reliant freemen of a republic, or the dumb driven cattle of a great -industrial machine? - -No sooner is the question put this way than the defenders of modern -caste retire behind a more defensible breastwork. They say: “Yes, we -exploit nations for our own advantage purposely—even at times brutally. -But only in that way can the high efficiency of the modern industrial -process be maintained, and in the long run it benefits the oppressed -even more than the oppressor.” This doctrine is as wide-spread as it is -false and mischievous. It is true that the bribe of greed will -artificially hasten economic development, but it does so at fearful -cost, as America itself can testify. We have here a wonderful industrial -machine, but a machine quickly rather than carefully built, formed of -forcing rather than of growth, involving sinful and unnecessary expense. -Better smaller production and more equitable distribution; better fewer -miles of railway and more honor, truth, and liberty; better fewer -millionaires and more contentment. So it is the world over, where force -and fraud and graft have extorted rich reward from writhing millions. -Moreover, it is historically unprovable that the advance of undeveloped -peoples has been helped by wholesale exploitation at the hands of their -richer, stronger, and more unscrupulous neighbors. This idea is a legend -of the long exploded doctrine of inevitable economic harmonies in all -business life. True it is that adversity and difficulties make for -character, but the real and inevitable difficulties of life are numerous -enough for genuine development without the aid of artificial hindrances. -The inherent and natural difficulties of raising a people from ignorant -unmoral slavishness to self-reliant modern manhood are great enough for -purposes of character-building without the aid of murder, theft, caste, -and degradation. Not because of but in spite of these latter hindrances -has the Negro American pressed forward. - -This, then, is the truth: the cost of liberty is less than the price of -repression, even though that cost be blood. Freedom of development and -equality of opportunity is the demand of Darwinism and this calls for -the abolition of hard and fast lines between races, just as it called -for the breaking down of barriers between classes. Only in this way can -the best in humanity be discovered and conserved, and only thus can -mankind live in peace and progress. The present attempt to force all -whites above all darker peoples is a sure method of human degeneration. -The cost of liberty is thus a decreasing cost, while the cost of -repression ever tends to increase to the danger point of war and -revolution. Revolution is not a test of capacity; it is always a loss -and a lowering of ideals. - -John Brown taught us that the cheapest price to pay for liberty is its -cost to-day. The building of barriers against the advance of -Negro-Americans hinders but in the end cannot altogether stop their -progress. The excuse of benevolent tutelage cannot be urged, for that -tutelage is not benevolent that does not prepare for free responsible -manhood. Nor can the efficiency of greed as an economic developer be -proven—it may hasten development but it does so at the expense of -solidity of structure, smoothness of motion, and real efficiency. Nor -does selfish exploitation help the undeveloped; rather it hinders and -weakens them. - -It is now full fifty years since this white-haired old man lay weltering -in the blood which he spilled for broken and despised humanity. Let the -nation which he loved and the South to which he spoke, reverently listen -again to-day to those words, as prophetic now as then: - -“You had better—all you people of the South—prepare yourselves for a -settlement of this question. It must come up for settlement sooner than -you are prepared for it, and the sooner you commence that preparation, -the better for you. You may dispose of me very easily—I am nearly -disposed of now; but this question is still to be settled—this Negro -question, I mean. The end of that is not yet.” - - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - _For the general reader the following works are indispensable_: - - SANBORN, FRANKLIN BENJAMIN. The Life and Letters of John Brown, - Liberator of Kansas, and Martyr of Virginia. 1885. (The most - complete collection of John Brown letters.) - - HINTON, RICHARD JOSIAH. John Brown and His Men, with some account of - the roads they traveled to reach Harper’s Ferry. 1894. - (Valuable for its treatment of Kansas and its lives of - Brown’s companions.) - - REDPATH, JAMES. Public Life of Captain John Brown, with autobiography - of his childhood and youth. (The best contemporary account.) - - CONNELLEY, WILLIAM ELSEY. John Brown. 1900, (Valuable for Kansas life - of Brown.) - - To the above may be added the shorter estimate by H. E. von Holst, - 1899, and some may like Chamberlain’s pert essay (Beacon - Biographies, 1889). - - -_Students must add to these the following books and articles which -contain many of the original sources of our knowledge_: - - ANDERSON, OSBORNE P. A Voice from Harper’s Ferry. A narrative of - events at Harper’s Ferry; with incidents prior and - subsequent to its capture by John Brown and his men. 1861. - (The best account of the raid by a participant.) - - MANUSCRIPT DIARY of John Brown in the Boston Public Library. (2 - volumes.) 1838–1844, 1855–1859. - - GARRISON, WENDELL PHILLIPS. The Preludes of Harper’s Ferry. In the - _Andover Review_, December, 1890, and January, 1891. - - JOSEPHUS, JR. (Joseph Barry). The Brown Raid. In his annals of - Harper’s Ferry, 1872. (Excellent local account.) - - UNITED STATES CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS. Report of the select committee of - the Senate appointed to inquire into John Brown’s invasion - and the seizure of the public property at Harper’s Ferry. - Thirty-sixth Congress, first session. Senate Reports of - Committees. - - TRANSACTIONS of the Kansas State Historical Society, together with - addresses, etc., Volumes I-IX. (Contains many personal - narratives.) - - CALENDAR of Virginia State papers, Volume XI, pp. 269–349. (A large - amount of the Brown data copied from the papers found in his - carpetbag at Harper’s Ferry.) - - VIRGINIA SENATE Journal and Documents for the session of 1859–60: - Report of the joint committee of the Senate and House of - Delegates, appointed to consider the Harper’s Ferry affair - by Alexander H. Stuart, the chairman of the committee. - - VIRGINIA, Journal of House of Delegates of Virginia, 1859–60, - containing messages of the governor, the trial and - publication of John Brown’s papers. - - FEATHERSTONHAUGH, THOMAS. Bibliography of John Brown, Part I. - Publications of the Southern History Association, Volume I, - pp. 196–202. - - —— John Brown’s Men; the lives of those killed at Harper’s Ferry, with - a supplementary bibliography of John Brown. In Southern - History Association publications. Volume 3, pp. 281–306. - (The best bibliography.) - - DOUGLASS, FREDERICK. John Brown, an address at the fourteenth - anniversary of Storer College, 1881. - - —— Life and Times of. 1892. - - REDPATH, JAMES. Echoes of Harper’s Ferry. 1860. - - HUNTER, ANDREW. John Brown’s Raid. In Southern History Association - publications. Volume I, pp. 165–195. 1897. (The story of the - prosecuting attorney.) - - HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH. A Visit to John Brown’s Household in - 1859. (In “Contemporaries,” 1899.) - - WRIGHT, HARRY A. John Brown in Springfield. _New England Magazine_, - pp. 272–281. - - WEBB, RICHARD D., Editor. The Life and Letters of Captain John Brown, - who was executed at Charlestown, Va, December 2, 1859, for - an armed attack upon American slavery; with notices of some - of his confederates. 1861. - - BOTELER, ALEXANDER L. Recollections of the John Brown Raid. _Century._ - July, 1883. Comment by F. B. Sanborn. - - DAINGERFIELD, JOHN E. P. John Brown at Harper’s Ferry. _Century._ - June. 1885, pp. 265–267. (The story of an engine-house - prisoner.) - - VOORHEES, DANIEL W. Argument delivered at Charleston, Va., November 8, - 1859, upon the trial of John E. Cook. Richmond, Va., 1861. - - HAMILTON, JAMES CLELAND. John Brown in Canada. Illustrated. - Republished from _Canadian Magazine_, December, 1894. - - _The purely controversial literature raging around John Brown is - endless. Those interested might read_: - - UTTER, DAVID N. John Brown of Osawatomie. _North American Review_, - November, 1883. - - NICOLAY, JOHN G. and HAY, JOHN. Abraham Lincoln, a history. 1890. - (Volume two contains history of John Brown and Harper’s - Ferry Raid.) - - ROBINSON, CHARLES. The Kansas Conflict. 1892. - - BROWN, GEORGE WASHINGTON, M. D. False claims of Kansas historians - truthfully corrected. Principally a refutation of the claim - that the rescue of Kansas from slavery was due to John - Brown. Rockford, Ill. The author. 1902. - - —— Reminiscences of Old John Brown. Thrilling instances of border life - in Kansas. With appendix by Eli Thayer. Rockford, Ill. 1880. - Printed by Eli Smith. - - WRIGHT, MARCUS JOSEPH. Trial of John Brown. Its impartiality and - decorum vindicated. Southern History Society Papers, Vol. - XVI, pp. 357–363. - - SPRING, L. W. Kansas. 1885. - - WILLIAMS, G. W. History of Negro Race in America. 1883. Two volumes. - (For John Brown, see volume two, pp. 213–227.) - - THAYER, ELI. The Kansas Crusade. 1889. - - HUGO, VICTOR. John Brown. 1861. - - WISE, BARTON H. The Life of Henry S. Wise. 1899. - - - - - INDEX - - - Abolitionists, 86, 91, 93, 96, 125, 341–342. - - Adams, John Quincy, 49. - - Adirondack farm, the, 12, 199. - - Alcott, A. Bronson, 210, 290–291. - - Alleghany Mountains, 48, 106, 127, 275, 279, 299. - - Anderson, Jeremiah, 258, 282–283, 324, 325, 336. - - Anderson, John, 282. - - Anderson, Osborne Perry, 280, 305, 334, 336. - - Atchison, Senator, 134, 175. - - - Black Jack, battle of, 166–169, 221. - - Brown, Anne, 286, 300, 301. - - Brown, Edward, 145. - - Brown, Frederick (the brother), 95. - - Brown, Frederick (the son), 128, 152, 155, 166, 167, 178. - - Brown, Jason, 87, 128, 146, 149, 159, 160, 186. - - Brown, John, Jr., 127, 146, 147, 159, 186. - - Brown, John, ancestry of, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20; - boyhood and youth of, 21–23, 25, 31; - as tanner, 31; - marriage of, 32; - occupations of, 32; - family life of, 33–37; - second marriage of, 38; - in panic of 1837, 41; - as shepherd, 52–60; - as wool merchant, 61–68; - in England, 68–71; - lawsuits of, 71–74; - and fugitive slaves, 84, 85; - first plan against slavery, 87–88; - and Negroes in, 89–91; - and mobs, 91; - and oath vs. slavery, 92, 93; - and Abolitionists, 91–94; - and settlement in Virginia, 95; - and black men, 97–121; - and Frederick Douglass, 102–109; - in the Adirondacks, 111–113; - in Kansas, 126–134, 139–140, 143–144, 145–197; - developing plans of, 198–206; - trip eastward of, 197, 207–218; - meets Forbes, 216; - return westward, 218; - securing arms and men, 218–225; - second trip eastward, 225–251; - at Douglass’ home, 225–227; - revelation of, 229–231; - trip to Canada of, 15, 248–251; - meets Harriet Tubman, 249–251; - return to Iowa of, 251–253; - third trip eastward of, 252; - return to Canada, 252; - Chatham convention, 253–266; - betrayal of, by Forbes, 266–269; - in New England and New York, 268–270; - third return westward, 270–272; - Harper’s Ferry plans of, 274–277; - financial resources of, 277–278; - military organizations of, 106, 116, 149, 160–169, 175–179, 181–182, - 188–189, 191, 226–227, 278–279; - Negro companions of, 280–283; - white companions - of, 283–287; - health of, 288; - seventh trip eastward, 288–291; - starts South, 291; - arrives at Harper’s Ferry, 292; - perfecting arrangements, 293–307; - meets Douglass, 295–297; - life at Kennedy Farm, 298–302; - betrayal of plans of, 302–303; - raid of, at Harper’s Ferry, 308–337; - capture of, 333–334; - fate of companions of, 336; - results, 338; - trial of, 356–364; - execution of, 363–364; - last letters of, 365–373; - and present Negro problem, 373–396; - character of, 15, 16, 22–23, 26–47, 300–301, 338–358; - descriptions of, 21, 28, 73, 74, 92, 104, 173–174, 197, 287; - family of, 31–39, 42, 44, 45, 58, 71, 73, 74, 87, 88, 89, 92, 95, - 102–104, 112, 119, 120, 121; - letters of, 42–46, 53–60, 62–63, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74, 87–88, 113, - 118, 132, 146–149, 151, 152, 159, 166–169, 178, 179, 182, 186, - 187, 188–189, 218, 220, 227, 228, 232–234, 248, 249, 257, 266, - 267, 270, 271, 304, 357, 365–373; - reading of, 40; - religion of, 23, 25, 40–41, 42, 47, 365–373; - speeches of, 132, 150, 180–182, 213–214; - song of, 334. - - Brown, Oliver, 133, 146, 149, 152, 155, 283. - - Brown, Owen, 19, 20, 77, 78, 128, 147, 152, 155, 186, 252, 259, 272, - 283, 319, 329, 335, 336. - - Brown, Peter, 19. - - Brown, Salmon, 128, 137, 152–168, 186. - - Brown, Watson, 155, 283. - - Buchanan, President, 142, 214. - - Burns, Anthony, 72. - - - Canada, the Negroes in, 236–238, 253–254, 270. - - Caste and the Negro, 76–78, 81, 235–247, 377–380, 387, 388, 391–393. - - Catchers, slave, 97. - - Charleston, Va. (W. Va.), 13. - - Committee, National Kansas, New York meeting of, 13, 207. - - Constitution, articles of Brown’s, 265, 266. - - Constitution, pro-slavery, of Kansas, 136. - - Constitution, Lecompton of Kansas, 143, 187, 224. - - Contact of races, 380, 382. - - Convention, address of Philadelphia, 236–238. - - Convention, Big Springs, Kansas, 12. - - Convention, Chatham, 203, 257, 267. - - Convention, Syracuse, of Abolitionists, 12, 132, 133. - - Cook, John E., 219, 220, 252, 259, 315, 316, 318, 319, 324, 331, 336. - - Copeland, John A., 281–305, 325, 336. - - Coppoc, Barclay, 223, 319, 336. - - Coppoc, Edwin, 223, 336. - - Coronado, 16, 123. - - Covenant and by-laws of John Brown’s followers, 160–161. - - Crandall, Prudence, 87. - - - Daingerfield, Captain, 326. - - Daniels, Jim, 192. - - Davis, Jefferson, 124, 391–393. - - Day, Mary Ann, 11, 38, 241. - - Decision, Dred Scott, 142, 213. - - Delaney, Martin R., 245–246, 248, 254, 258. - - Diary, John Brown’s, 278. - - Douglass, Frederick, 7, 12, 13, 15, 47, 101, 102–109, 121, 122, 131, - 132, 214, 225, 241, 247, 258, 342, 344–346, 353. - - Douglas, Stephen A., 126. - - Dutch Henry’s Crossing, 134, 154. - - - Emancipation, 386–387. - - Engine-house at Harper’s Ferry, 326, 334. - - - Fight at Harper’s Ferry, 322–326. - - Floyd, John, Secretary of War, 124. - - Forbes, Hugh, 73; - meets Brown, 216–217; - goes West, 218–219; - returns East, 219; - betrays plans, 225; - complaints of, 266, 268. - - Franklin, Kansas, attack on, 175–176. - - Freedom, League of, 244. - - Free Soilers, 131. - - Fugitive Slave Law, 12, 236. - - Fugitive slaves, 82, 84, 85, 88, 94, 106–108, 203–204, 241. - - - Gabriel, 11, 83, 127. - - Garnet, H. H., 98, 102, 240, 243, 248, 258. - - Garrison, William Lloyd, 15, 93, 342. - - Geary, Governor of Kansas, 13, 141–180, 183–184. - - Giddings, Joshua, 152, 391–392. - - Gill, George B., 223, 259. - - Gloucester, Negro minister, 98, 248, 258. - - Great Black Way, the, 273. - - Greeley, Horace, 130, 266. - - Green, Shields, 280, 323, 334, 336, 343–347. - - - Hall, Pennsylvania, 91. - - Hamilton’s massacre, 188, 192–194. - - Harper’s Ferry raid: - the place 273–274; - plans of, 274–276; - financial resources of, 277–278; - military organizations of, 278–280; - participants of, 280–288; - depot at Chambersburg, 291–292; - preparations, 293–307; - beginning of foray, 308; - capture of armory, 310; - capture of town, 311; - capture of Colonel Washington, 311–312; - halting of train, 313; - bringing up the arms, 314–316; - further plans, 317–319; - gathering of militia, 320–322; - dislodging of Kagi, 324–325; - retreat of engine-house, 326; - killing of Brown’s men, 327–329; - arrival of Lee, 331; - parleying, 330–333; - capture of Brown, 333–334; - capture and escape of others, 334–336. - - Harper, Samuel, 194–195. - - Hayti, 75, 97. - - Hazlett, Albert, 334, 336. - - Henson, Josiah, 241, 253. - - Hinton, R. J., 7, 173, 181, 189, 204, 207, 222, 258, 277, 284. - - Holden, Isaac, 257, 258, 277, 284. - - Howe, Dr. S. G., 210, 231, 267, 341, 343. - - Hunter, Andrew, 352, 353, 356. - - - Independence, Chatham Declaration of, 272. - - Insurrection, Cumberland region, 97. - - Insurrection in Virginia, 81. - - Insurrection of slaves, 79, 80, 83, 85, 97, 105–106. - - Insurrection, proposed Negro, 166. - - Intermarriage of races, 382, 384, 385. - - Isaac, insurrection of, 97. - - - Jackson, President, 50. - - Jamaica, 79, 97. - - Jones, Henry, 241. - - Jones, John, 248. - - Jones, J. M., 256, 258. - - Jones, Ottawa, 178. - - _Journal, Freedom’s_, 239. - - - Kagi, J. H., 13, 196, 199, 200, 201, 202, 252, 259, 317, 318, 324, 325. - - Kansas, 123; - Brown’s sons in, 127–131; - and slavery, 126, 134, 138, 144; - John Brown and, 125, 126–127, 131–134, 139, 143–197. - - Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 13, 135, 136, 219–221. - - Kennedy Farm, 319. - - - Lane, General James, 134, 141, 173–176, 186. - - Lane’s Army, 13, 173–176. - - Lane College, 95. - - Langston brothers, 241, 258. - - Law, Fugitive Slave, 12, 113, 119. - - Lawrence, Kansas, 12, 167, 170; - sacking of, 153–154; - last attack on, 180–184. - - League, Liberty, 244. - - League of Gileadites, 12, 114. - - Leary, Lewis Sherrard, 282–305. - - Lee, Robert E., 13, 331, 332. - - Leeman, William H., 221, 252, 259, 325, 336. - - _Liberator, The_, 94, 239. - - Liberty Hall, 158. - - Loudoun Heights, at Harper’s Ferry, 275, 318. - - L’Ouverture, Toussaint, 75, 216. - - Lovejoy, 91, 115. - - Lusk, Dianthe, 11, 32, 38. - - - Marlborough Chapel, 91. - - Massacre at Dutch Henry’s Crossing, 139–140, 143–144, 154–159. - - Maxon farm, Iowa, 252. - - Merriam, F. J., 286, 305, 336. - - Middle Creek, Kansas, 158. - - Military organization of Brown’s men, 106, 146, 149, 160–169, 175–179, - 181–182, 188–189, 191, 226–227, 278–279. - - Mills, Peter, 19. - - Missouri slave raid, 191–197. - - Mobs, abolition, 91. - - Mobs against Negroes, 235. - - Moffett, Charles W., 221, 252, 259. - - Montgomery, Captain, 188, 189, 190, 191. - - “Morgan, Shubel,” 189. - - Mulattoes, 77. - - Mysteries, American, 244. - - - Negro character, 17. - - Negro conventions, 236, 237, 238, 239, 242, 244, 245–246. - - Negro emigration, 245–246. - - Negro insurgents, 318, 353–354. - - Negro insurrections, 79–80, 83, 85, 97, 105–106. - - Negro leaders, 97, 98, 101, 102, 110, 240, 241–243, 246, 258, 259, 294, - 295. - - Negro, Northern, 235. - - Negro organizations, 203–204, 244. - - Negro progress, 1830–1840, 235; - 1840–1850, 240; - 1850–1860, 243. - - Negro slavery, 76–84. - - Negroes, 12, 16. - - Negroes in America, 16, 17; - in Canada, 236–238. - - Negroes, increase of, in ten years, 243. - - Negroes and John Brown, 343, 344, 347. - - Negroes of Springfield, 98, 99. - - Negroes, present condition of, 389. - - Newby, Dangerfield, 281, 323. - - North Elba, New York, 12. - - _North Star_, 101, 242. - - - Oberlin College, 11, 53, 55, 95, 258, 281, 283. - - Oberlin College lands in Virginia, 53–55, 95. - - Odd Fellows, Negro, 240. - - Osawatomie, Kansas, 12, 128, 142, 147, 152, 159, 162, 166, 177, 224. - - Owen, John, 19. - - - Panic of 1837, 11, 50, 55, 91. - - Parker, Theodore, 210, 227, 231. - - Parsons, L. L., 220–221, 252, 259. - - Perkins, Simon, 58, 68. - - Perkins and Brown, wool-merchants, 62, 67. - - Pierce, President, 151. - - Plans at Harper’s Ferry, 101, 318, 319, 324, 326. - - Plans of John Brown, 106–107, 260, 276. - - Pottawatomie Creek, 12, 157, 158, 162. - - Purvis, Robert, 241, 246. - - - Raid at Harper’s Ferry, see Harper’s Ferry. - - Realf, Richard, 215–220, 252, 259. - - Redpath, James, 7, 72, 99, 132, 147, 181, 246. - - Reeder, Governor of Kansas, 215. - - Reynolds, G. J., 208, 258, 260. - - Richardson, Richard, 221, 252, 258. - - Robinson, Charles, Governor of Kansas, 134, 150, 184, 207, 341, 342. - - Rochester, N. Y., state convention, 244–245. - - Ross, Dr. A. M., 251, 257. - - Routes, Fugitive Slave, 97. - - - “Sambo’s Mistakes,” 99. - - Sanborn, Frank B., 7, 13, 210, 228, 267. - - Schools for Negroes, 87, 94, 95. - - Shannon, Governor of Kansas, 141, 149, 150, 176. - - Shore, Captain, 167–168. - - “Shubel Morgan’s” Company, 189. - - Slave insurrections, 79–80, 83, 85, 97, 105–106. - - Slavery, 75–89, 124–126, 235. - - Smith, Gerrit, 12, 53, 131, 132, 133, 207, 226, 303, 341. - - Smith, J. McCune, 98, 131, 132, 225, 240, 267. - - Smith, Stephen, 241, 248, 258. - - Societies, Phœnix, 239. - - Society, American Anti-slavery, 246. - - Society, American Moral Reform, 238. - - Society, New England Emigrant Aid, 136, 145. - - Song of “John Brown’s Body,” 374. - - Southern bands in Kansas, 152, 166, 188. - - Spell of Africa, 121. - - Springdale, Iowa, John Brown in, 221–224. - - Stephens, Aaron D., 173, 194, 195–222, 252, 259, 336. - - Stearns, George L., 208–210, 226, 228, 277, 341. - - Still, William, 241, 248. - - Stuart, J. E. B., 332, 333. - - “Subterranean Pass Way,” 214. - - Sumner, Colonel, 15, 137, 139, 168–169, 225, 266. - - Survey of Virginia lands, 53–55. - - Swamp, Dismal, 86. - - Swamp of the Swan, 134, 145, 177, 188, 288. - - Sword of Gideon, 96. - - - Tariff and wool, 61. - - Tariff of 1846, the, 65. - - Taylor, Stewart, 223, 259. - - Thayer, Eli, 126, 214. - - Thomas, John A., 258. - - Thomas, Thomas, 101, 247. - - Thompson, Henry, 113, 155–168. - - Thompson, William, 77, 173, 315, 316, 319, 324, 328, 329. - - Tidd, C. P., 221, 252, 259, 315, 316, 319, 324, 331, 335, 336. - - Tubman, Harriet, 204, 241, 249, 251, 293. - - Turner, Nat, 11, 85, 97, 127, 239. - - - Underground Railroad, 94, 101, 107, 110, 198, 243, 263. - - University, Western Reserve, 86. - - - Vesey, Denmark, 83, 97. - - Virginia, 16. - - - Wakarusa war and treaty, 151. - - War, Civil, 48, 142. - - War in Kansas, 140, 142. - - War of 1812, 25, 48–49. - - Ward, Samuel Ringgold, 242, 243. - - Wars, Seminole, 84. - - Washington, Colonel Lewis, 317, 322. - - Wilberforce University, 236, 253. - - Wilson, Senator, 225, 226. - - Wise, Governor of Virginia, 336, 355. - - Woodson, Governor of Missouri, 180, 241. - - Wool-growers’ convention, 62. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - Redpath, _Public Life of Captain John Brown_, p. 25. - -Footnote 2: - - Autobiography of Owen Brown in Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John - Brown_, p. 7. - -Footnote 3: - - The quotations in this chapter are from John Brown’s Autobiography, - Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, pp. 12–17. - -Footnote 4: - - John Brown’s Autobiography, Sanborn, p. 16. - -Footnote 5: - - Heman Hallock, in the New York _Journal of Commerce_, quoted in - Sanborn, p. 32. - -Footnote 6: - - John Brown’s Autobiography, Sanborn, p. 16. - -Footnote 7: - - John Brown’s Autobiography, Sanborn, pp. 16, 17. - -Footnote 8: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 34. - -Footnote 9: - - Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 37–39. - -Footnote 10: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 91–93. - -Footnote 11: - - Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 93–94. - -Footnote 12: - - _Ibid._, p. 104. - -Footnote 13: - - Ruth Brown in Sanborn, p. 44. - -Footnote 14: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1841, in Sanborn, p. 139. - -Footnote 15: - - Letter to his wife, 1844, in Sanborn, p. 61. - -Footnote 16: - - Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 38–39. - -Footnote 17: - - Letter to his wife, 1839, in Sanborn, p. 69. - -Footnote 18: - - Letter to his wife, 1851, in Sanborn, p. 146. - -Footnote 19: - - Letter to his wife, 1846, in Sanborn, p. 142. - -Footnote 20: - - Letter to his daughter, 1847, in Sanborn, p. 142. - -Footnote 21: - - Letter to his wife, 1844, in Sanborn, pp. 60–61. - -Footnote 22: - - Letter to his father, 1846, in Sanborn, pp. 21, 22. - -Footnote 23: - - Letter to his daughter, 1852, in Sanborn, p. 45. - -Footnote 24: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1852, and to his children, 1853, in - Sanborn, pp. 151 and 155. - -Footnote 25: - - Letter to his wife, 1839, in Sanborn, p. 68. - -Footnote 26: - - Sanborn, p. 58. - -Footnote 27: - - Records of Oberlin College, quoted in Sanborn, pp. 134–135. - -Footnote 28: - - Levi Burnell to Owen Brown, 1840, in Sanborn, p. 135. - -Footnote 29: - - Letter to his family, 1840, in Sanborn, p. 134. - -Footnote 30: - - MS. Diary, Boston Public Library. Vol. I. p. 65. - -Footnote 31: - - Records of the Board of Trustees, Oberlin College, Aug. 28, 1840, - quoted in Sanborn, p. 135. - -Footnote 32: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p 87. - -Footnote 33: - - Agreement quoted in Sanborn, pp. 55–56. - -Footnote 34: - - Letter to George Kellogg, 1844, in Sanborn, p. 56. - -Footnote 35: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1843, in Sanborn, p. 58. - -Footnote 36: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1843, in Sanborn, pp. 58–59. - -Footnote 37: - - _Ibid._, p. 59. - -Footnote 38: - - _Ibid._, p. 59. - -Footnote 39: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1844, in Sanborn, pp. 59–60. - -Footnote 40: - - _Ibid._, p. 61. - -Footnote 41: - - Ruth Brown in Sanborn, p. 95. - -Footnote 42: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1846, in Sanborn, p. 62. - -Footnote 43: - - Circular issued in 1846, quoted in Sanborn, p. 63. - -Footnote 44: - - Letter to Owen Brown, 1846, in Sanborn, p. 22. - -Footnote 45: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1847, in Sanborn, p. 143. - -Footnote 46: - - E. C. Leonard in Sanborn, p. 65. - -Footnote 47: - - Letter to Owen Brown, 1847, in Sanborn, pp. 23–24. - -Footnote 48: - - Letter to Owen Brown, 1849, in Sanborn, p. 25. - -Footnote 49: - - _Ibid._ - -Footnote 50: - - Memoranda by John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 65; Redpath, p. 56 - -Footnote 51: - - Sanborn, pp. 67–68. - -Footnote 52: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1849, Sanborn, p. 73. - -Footnote 53: - - E. C. Leonard, in Sanborn, pp. 67–68. - -Footnote 54: - - Letter to his wife, 1850, in Sanborn, p. 107. - -Footnote 55: - - Letter to his children, 1850, in Sanborn, pp. 75–76. - -Footnote 56: - - Redpath, p. 58. - -Footnote 57: - - Letter to his son, in Sanborn, p. 145. - -Footnote 58: - - Letter to his children, 1854, in Sanborn, p. 155. - -Footnote 59: - - R. H. Dana, in the _Atlantic Monthly_, 1871. - -Footnote 60: - - Owen Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 10–11. - -Footnote 61: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 35. - -Footnote 62: - - Sanborn, p. 34. - -Footnote 63: - - Letter to his brother Frederick, 1834, in Sanborn, pp. 40–41. - -Footnote 64: - - Ruth Brown, in Sanborn, p. 37. - -Footnote 65: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 52–53. - -Footnote 66: - - Redpath, p. 65. - -Footnote 67: - - Redpath, pp. 53–54. - -Footnote 68: - - Redpath, pp. 59–60. - -Footnote 69: - - From “Sambo’s Mistakes,” published in the _Ram’s Horn_ and printed in - Sanborn, p. 130. - -Footnote 70: - - Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ (1892), Chap. 8, Part - II, pp. 337–342. - -Footnote 71: - - Sanborn, p. 97. - -Footnote 72: - - Redpath, p. 61. - -Footnote 73: - - Ruth Brown, in Sanborn. p. 100. - -Footnote 74: - - Redpath, p. 62. - -Footnote 75: - - Letter to his wife, 1850, in Sanborn, pp. 106–107. - -Footnote 76: - - Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in - Sanborn, pp. 124–127. - -Footnote 77: - - Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in - Sanborn, pp. 124–127. - -Footnote 78: - - Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in - Sanborn, pp. 124–127. - -Footnote 79: - - Sanborn, p. 132. - -Footnote 80: - - Ruth Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 131–132. - -Footnote 81: - - Letter to his wife, 1852, in Sanborn, pp. 108–109. - -Footnote 82: - - Ruth Brown, in Sunburn, p. 104. - -Footnote 83: - - Letters to his children, 1852–1853, in Sanborn, pp. 110 and 148. - -Footnote 84: - - Compare the _American Anthropologist_, Vol. 4, No. 2, April-June, - 1902. - -Footnote 85: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1854, in Sanborn, p. 191. - -Footnote 86: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 188–190. - -Footnote 87: - - Letter to his children, 1854, in Sanborn, pp. 110–111. - -Footnote 88: - - Redpath, p. 81. - -Footnote 89: - - Letter to his wife, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 193–194. - -Footnote 90: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 190–191. - -Footnote 91: - - Ruth Thompson, in Sanborn, p. 105. - -Footnote 92: - - Farewell address of Governor Geary, _Transactions_ of the Kansas State - Historical Society, Vol. IV, p. 739. - -Footnote 93: - - Letters to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 201 and 205. - -Footnote 94: - - Redpath, pp. 103–104. - -Footnote 95: - - Letter to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217–221. - -Footnote 96: - - Letter to his wife, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217–221. - -Footnote 97: - - G. W. Brown, _Reminiscences of Old John Brown_, p. 8; Phillips, - _History of Kansas_, quoted in Redpath, p. 90. - -Footnote 98: - - Letter to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217–221. - -Footnote 99: - - Letter to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, p. 223. - -Footnote 100: - - Letter of Giddings to John Brown, 1856, in Sanborn, p. 224. - -Footnote 101: - - D. W. Wilder, in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical - Society, Vol. 6, p. 337. - -Footnote 102: - - E. A. Coleman, in Sanborn, p. 260. - -Footnote 103: - - James Hanway, in Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, p. 695. - -Footnote 104: - - Bondi in _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society, Vol. - 8, p. 279; Spring, _Kansas_, p. 143. - -Footnote 105: - - Jason Brown, in Sanborn, p. 273. - -Footnote 106: - - E. A. Coleman, in Sanborn, p. 259. - -Footnote 107: - - John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 278. - -Footnote 108: - - Letter to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. 236–241. - -Footnote 109: - - Sanborn, pp. 287–288. - -Footnote 110: - - Sanborn, pp. 288–290. - -Footnote 111: - - Redpath, pp. 112–114. - -Footnote 112: - - Bondi in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society, - Vol. 8, pp. 282–284. - -Footnote 113: - - Bondi in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society, - Vol. 8, p. 285. - -Footnote 114: - - _Ibid._, p. 284. - -Footnote 115: - - Bondi in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society, - Vol. 8, p. 286; John Brown to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. - 236–241. - -Footnote 116: - - W. A. Phillips, in Sanborn, pp. 306–308. - -Footnote 117: - - Hinton, pp. 201–204. - -Footnote 118: - - Samuel Walker in _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical - Society, Vol. 6, p. 267. - -Footnote 119: - - Appeal to the citizens of Lafayette County, Mo., Sanborn, p. 309. - -Footnote 120: - - Samuel Walker in _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical - Society, Vol. 6, pp. 272–273. - -Footnote 121: - - Quoted in Sanborn, p. 321. - -Footnote 122: - - John Brown to his family, 1856, Sanborn, pp. 317–318. - -Footnote 123: - - Charles Robinson to John Brown, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. 330–331. - -Footnote 124: - - Speech of John Brown, Redpath, pp. 163–164. - -Footnote 125: - - Redpath, pp. 164–165. - -Footnote 126: - - Paper by John Brown, Sanborn, pp. 332–333. - -Footnote 127: - - Executive minutes of Governor Geary in _Transactions_ of the Kansas - State Historical Society, Vol. 4, p. 537. - -Footnote 128: - - Letter to Augustus Wattles, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 391. - -Footnote 129: - - Correspondence of Lane and Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 401–402. - -Footnote 130: - - Letter to F. B. Sanborn and others, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 474–477. - -Footnote 131: - - _Ibid._ - -Footnote 132: - - Hinton in Redpath, pp. 199–206. - -Footnote 133: - - George B. Gill in Hinton, p. 218. - -Footnote 134: - - Sanborn, pp. 481–483. - -Footnote 135: - - Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, pp. 4–5. - -Footnote 136: - - Sanborn, p. 491. - -Footnote 137: - - Redpath, p. 48. - -Footnote 138: - - Redpath, p. 71. - -Footnote 139: - - Hinton in Redpath, pp. 203–205. - -Footnote 140: - - Reminiscences of George B. Gill, Hinton, pp. 732–733. - -Footnote 141: - - Hinton, pp. 171–172. - -Footnote 142: - - Notes by John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 244. - -Footnote 143: - - Paper by John Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 241–242. - -Footnote 144: - - Letter from Gerrit Smith to John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 364. - -Footnote 145: - - Jeremiah Brown in Redpath, pp. 174–175. - -Footnote 146: - - Reminiscences of Mrs. Mary E. Stearns, in Hinton, pp. 719–727. - -Footnote 147: - - Sanborn, _John Brown and his Friends_, p. 8. - -Footnote 148: - - Letter of H. B. Hurd to John Brown, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 367. - -Footnote 149: - - Sanborn, pp. 375–376. - -Footnote 150: - - Speech of John Brown, Sanborn. p. 379. - -Footnote 151: - - Letter to Eli Thayer, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 382. - -Footnote 152: - - Reminiscences of Dr. Wayland, Sanborn, p. 381. - -Footnote 153: - - Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. 278, - Testimony of Richard Realf, p. 96. - -Footnote 154: - - Hinton, pp. 614–615. - -Footnote 155: - - Letter to Augustus Wattles, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 393. - -Footnote 156: - - Confession of John E. Cook in Hinton, pp. 700–701. - -Footnote 157: - - Richman, _John Brown Among the Quakers_, pp. 20–21. - -Footnote 158: - - Richman, pp. 28–29. - -Footnote 159: - - Hinton, pp. 156–157. - -Footnote 160: - - Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_, pp. 385–386. - -Footnote 161: - - Letter to Theodore Parker, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 434–435. - -Footnote 162: - - Letter to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, p. 436. - -Footnote 163: - - Sanborn, pp. 438—440. - -Footnote 164: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 450–451. - -Footnote 165: - - Letter to his family, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 440–441. - -Footnote 166: - - Letter to F. B. Sanborn, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 444–445. - -Footnote 167: - - Hickok, _The Negro in Ohio_, p. 42. - -Footnote 168: - - _Ibid._, p. 44. - -Footnote 169: - - Williams, _Negro Race in America_, Vol. 2, pp. 65–67. - -Footnote 170: - - Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, p. 10. - -Footnote 171: - - Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, p. 15. - -Footnote 172: - - _Ibid._, No. 9, p. 16. - -Footnote 173: - - Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ (1892), p. 345. - -Footnote 174: - - Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, pp. 16–19. - -Footnote 175: - - Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, pp. 20–21. - -Footnote 176: - - Manuscript Diary of John Brown, Boston Public Library, Vol. 2, p. 35. - -Footnote 177: - - Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1858, in Sanborn, p. 452. - -Footnote 178: - - Bradford, _Harriet, the Moses of Her People_, pp. 118–119. - -Footnote 179: - - Letter of Wendell Phillips, printed in Bradford, _Harriet, the Moses - of Her People_, pp. 155–156. - -Footnote 180: - - Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, p. 10. - -Footnote 181: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 9. - -Footnote 182: - - Rollins, _Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney_, pp. 85–90. - -Footnote 183: - - Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, pp. - 14–15. - -Footnote 184: - - Hinton, p. 178. - -Footnote 185: - - Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, pp. - 14 and 16. - -Footnote 186: - - Rollins, _Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney_, pp. 85–90. - -Footnote 187: - - Reminiscences of George B. Gill, in Hinton, p. 185. - -Footnote 188: - - Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, p. - 16. - -Footnote 189: - - Hinton, pp. 619–633. - -Footnote 190: - - Hinton, pp. 642–643. - -Footnote 191: - - Provisional Constitution, Art. 42. - -Footnote 192: - - Letter to his family, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 455–456. - -Footnote 193: - - Letter from Sanborn to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, p. 458. - -Footnote 194: - - Letter from Higginson to Theodore Parker, in Sanborn, p. 459. - -Footnote 195: - - Letter from Forbes to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 460–461. - -Footnote 196: - - Sanborn, pp. 463–464. - -Footnote 197: - - Letter to Owen Brown, 1858, in Richman, _John Brown Among the - Quakers_, pp. 40–41. - -Footnote 198: - - Jefferson, _Notes on Virginia_. - -Footnote 199: - - Sanborn, p. 467. - -Footnote 200: - - Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. 278; - Testimony of Richard Realf, p. 100. - -Footnote 201: - - Sanborn, p. 457. - -Footnote 202: - - Hinton, pp. 130–131. - -Footnote 203: - - W. P. Garrison in the _Andover Review_, Dec., 1890, and Jan., 1891. - -Footnote 204: - - General Orders, Oct. 10, 1859, Hinton, pp. 646–647. - -Footnote 205: - - Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_, p. 387. - -Footnote 206: - - Hunter, _John Brown’s Raid_, republished in the Publications of the - Southern History Association, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 188. - -Footnote 207: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of Ralph Plumb, p. 181. - -Footnote 208: - - Barry, _The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry_, p. 93. - -Footnote 209: - - Anne Brown in Hinton, pp. 529–530. - -Footnote 210: - - Hinton, p. 453. - -Footnote 211: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 15. - -Footnote 212: - - Hinton, pp. 496–497. - -Footnote 213: - - Sanborn in the _Atlantic Monthly_, Hinton, p. 570. - -Footnote 214: - - Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 450. - -Footnote 215: - - From the newspaper report of the speech at Cleveland, March 22d, - Redpath, pp. 239–240. - -Footnote 216: - - Diary of A. Bronson Alcott, Sanborn, pp. 504–505. - -Footnote 217: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of John C. Unseld, pp. 1–2. - -Footnote 218: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 19. - -Footnote 219: - - Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_, pp. 388–391. - -Footnote 220: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 23–25. - -Footnote 221: - - Anne Brown in Sanborn, p. 531. - -Footnote 222: - - Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 265. - -Footnote 223: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of John B. Floyd, pp. 250–252. - -Footnote 224: - - Letter to Kagi, 1859, in Hinton, pp. 257–258. - -Footnote 225: - - Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 260. - -Footnote 226: - - Letter of Owen to John Brown, 1850, in Hinton, p. 259. - -Footnote 227: - - John Brown, Jr., to Kagi, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 547–548. - -Footnote 228: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 26. - -Footnote 229: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 27. - -Footnote 230: - - _Ibid._, p. 23. - -Footnote 231: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 29. - -Footnote 232: - - Anderson. _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 31–32. - -Footnote 233: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of Daniel Wheeler, pp. 21–22. - -Footnote 234: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 33. - -Footnote 235: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 33–34. - -Footnote 236: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 36–37. - -Footnote 237: - - Statement by John Edwin Cook in Hinton, pp. 700–718. - -Footnote 238: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 37. - -Footnote 239: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 37–38. - -Footnote 240: - - Redpath, p. 249. - -Footnote 241: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of John D. Starry, p. 25. - -Footnote 242: - - Boteler, “Recollections of the John Brown Raid” in the _Century - Magazine_, July, 1883, p. 405. - -Footnote 243: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 42. - -Footnote 244: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 39–40. - -Footnote 245: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 40. - -Footnote 246: - - Boteler, “Recollections of the John Brown Raid” in the _Century - Magazine_, July, 1883, p. 407. - -Footnote 247: - - Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885. - -Footnote 248: - - Barry, _Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry_, p. 67. - -Footnote 249: - - Patrick Higgins in Hinton, p. 290. - -Footnote 250: - - Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885. - -Footnote 251: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 42. - -Footnote 252: - - Testimony of Henry Hunter in Redpath, pp. 320–321. - -Footnote 253: - - Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885. - -Footnote 254: - - Berry, _Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry_, pp. 70–71. - -Footnote 255: - - Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885. - -Footnote 256: - - Anderson, _A Voice from Harper’s Ferry_, p. 52. - -Footnote 257: - - John Brown in Sanborn, pp. 560–661. - -Footnote 258: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of George L. Stearns, pp. 241–242. - -Footnote 259: - - Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ (1892), p. 376. - -Footnote 260: - - Correspondence of the New York _Herald_, Sanborn, pp. 562–571. - -Footnote 261: - - Frederick Douglass in a speech at Storer College at Harper’s Ferry, - May, 1882. - -Footnote 262: - - Hinton, pp. 325–326. - -Footnote 263: - - Mrs. Spring in Redpath, p. 377. - -Footnote 264: - - Newspaper report in Redpath, p. 376. - -Footnote 265: - - Mrs. Spring in Redpath, p. 377. - -Footnote 266: - - Letter to his sister, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 607–609. - -Footnote 267: - - Remarks by John Brown in Redpath, p. 309. - -Footnote 268: - - Newspaper report quoted by Redpath, p. 337. - -Footnote 269: - - Redpath, pp. 340–342. - -Footnote 270: - - Letter to Mrs. George L. Stearns, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 610–611. - -Footnote 271: - - Letter to his cousin, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 594–595. - -Footnote 272: - - Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609–610. - -Footnote 273: - - Letters to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579–580, 613–615. - -Footnote 274: - - Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609–610. - -Footnote 275: - - Letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579–580. - -Footnote 276: - - Letter to a friend, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 582–583. - -Footnote 277: - - Letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579–580. - -Footnote 278: - - Letter to H. L. Vaill, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 589–591. - -Footnote 279: - - Letter to Rev. Dr. Humphrey, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 603–605. - -Footnote 280: - - Letter to H. L. Vaill, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 590–591. - -Footnote 281: - - Letter to Miss Stearns, Sanborn, p. 607. - -Footnote 282: - - Postscript of letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 585–587. - -Footnote 283: - - Letter to Rev. Dr. Humphrey, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 603–605. - -Footnote 284: - - Letter to Mr. McFarland, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 598–599. - -Footnote 285: - - Letter to his younger children, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 596–597. - -Footnote 286: - - Letter to his wife and children in Sanborn, pp. 585–587. - -Footnote 287: - - Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609–610. - -Footnote 288: - - Letter to Mr. McFarland, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 598–599. - -Footnote 289: - - Redpath, pp. 382–383. c - -Footnote 290: - - Last letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 614–615. - -Footnote 291: - - Letter to F. B. Musgrave, 1859, in Sanborn, p. 593. - -Footnote 292: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of Joshua R. Giddings, pp. 147–156. - -Footnote 293: - - Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. - 278; Testimony of Joshua R. Giddings pp. 147–156. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. P. 34, changed “John, Dr.” to “John, Jr.”. - 2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 3. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - 4. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at - the end of the last chapter. - 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - 6. Enclosed bold font in =equals=. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Brown, by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN BROWN *** - -***** This file should be named 62799-0.txt or 62799-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/7/9/62799/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Mary Glenn Krause, Jim Adcock -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by the Library of Congress) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/62799-0.zip b/old/62799-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 94d3657..0000000 --- a/old/62799-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62799-h.zip b/old/62799-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a963cd9..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62799-h/62799-h.htm b/old/62799-h/62799-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 9147526..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h/62799-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14587 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> - <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of American Crisis Biographies, Edited by Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } - h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; } - h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; } - h3 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; } - .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; - text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; - border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; - font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } - p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: justify; } - sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } - .fss { font-size: 75%; } - .sc { font-variant: small-caps; } - .large { font-size: large; } - .xlarge { font-size: x-large; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .lg-container-b { text-align: center; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-b { clear: both; } } - .lg-container-l { text-align: left; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-l { clear: both; } } - .lg-container-r { text-align: right; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-r { clear: both; } } - .linegroup { display: inline-block; text-align: left; } - @media handheld { .linegroup { display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; } } - .linegroup .group { margin: 1em auto; } - .linegroup .line { text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; } - div.linegroup > :first-child { margin-top: 0; } - .linegroup .in12 { padding-left: 9.0em; } - .linegroup .in4 { padding-left: 5.0em; } - .linegroup .in6 { padding-left: 6.0em; } - .index li {text-indent: -1em; padding-left: 1em; } - .index ul {list-style-type: none; padding-left: 0; } - ul.index {list-style-type: none; padding-left: 0; } - .dl_1 dd { text-align: left; padding-top: .5em; margin-left: 6.2em; - text-indent: -1em; } - .dl_1 dt { float: left; clear: left; text-align: left; width: 5.0em; - padding-top: .5em; padding-right: .5em; } - .ol_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; } - @media handheld { .dl_1 dt { float: left; clear: left; text-align: left; - width: 5.0em; padding-top: .5em; padding-right: .5em; } } - dl.dl_1 { margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em; } - ol.ol_1 {padding-left: 0; margin-left: 2.78%; margin-top: .5em; - margin-bottom: .5em; list-style-type: decimal; } - div.footnote > :first-child { margin-top: 1em; } - div.footnote p { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - div.pbb { page-break-before: always; } - hr.pb { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 1em; } - @media handheld { hr.pb { display: none; } } - .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .figcenter { clear: both; max-width: 100%; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; } - div.figcenter p { text-align: center; text-indent: 0; } - .figcenter img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } - .id001 { width:30%; } - .id002 { width:10%; } - .id003 { width:60%; } - @media handheld { .id001 { margin-left:35%; width:30%; } } - @media handheld { .id002 { margin-left:45%; width:10%; } } - @media handheld { .id003 { margin-left:20%; width:60%; } } - .ic003 { width:100%; } - .ig001 { width:100%; } - .table0 { margin: auto; margin-top: 2em; } - .nf-center { text-align: center; } - .nf-center-c0 { text-align: left; margin: 0.5em 0; } - .c000 { margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c001 { margin-top: 4em; } - .c002 { margin-top: 1em; } - .c003 { margin-top: 2em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c004 { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c005 { font-size: .9em; text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; - margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c006 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em; } - .c007 { margin-top: 2em; } - .c008 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 4em; } - .c009 { vertical-align: top; text-align: right; padding-right: 1em; } - .c010 { vertical-align: top; text-align: left; text-indent: -1em; - padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; } - .c011 { vertical-align: top; text-align: right; } - .c012 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 2em; } - .c013 { margin-top: 2em; font-size: .9em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; - } - .c014 { text-decoration: none; } - .c015 { margin-top: 1em; font-size: .9em; } - .c016 { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c017 { font-size: .9em; } - .c018 { margin-left: 8.33%; margin-right: 5.56%; text-indent: -2.78%; } - .c019 { margin-left: 8.33%; margin-right: 5.56%; text-indent: -2.78%; - margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c020 { margin-left: 16.67%; text-indent: -13.89%; margin-top: 0.5em; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c021 { margin-top: .5em; } - .c022 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; width: 10%; margin-left: 0; - margin-top: 1em; text-align: left; } - div.tnotes { padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;background-color:#E3E4FA; - border:1px solid silver; margin:2em 10% 0 10%; font-family: Georgia, serif; - } - .covernote { visibility: hidden; display: none; } - div.tnotes p { text-align:left; } - @media handheld { .covernote { visibility: visible; display: block;} } - .section { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .ol_1 li {font-size: .9em; } - @media handheld {.ol_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: 0em; } } - body {font-family: serif, 'DejaVu Sans'; text-align: justify; } - table {font-size: .9em; margin-top: 1.5em; page-break-inside: avoid; clear: both; } - .footnote {font-size: .9em; } - div.footnote p {text-indent: 2em; margin-bottom: .5em; } - div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; } - div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } - .figcenter {font-size: .9em; page-break-inside: avoid; max-height: 100%; - max-width: 100%; } - .ph1 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; - margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } - .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; - page-break-before: always; } - .box {border-style: solid; border-width: medium; padding: 1em; margin: 0em auto; - page-break-inside: avoid; max-width: 50%; } - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Brown, by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: John Brown - -Author: W. E. Burghardt Du Bois - -Editor: Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer - -Release Date: August 1, 2020 [EBook #62799] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN BROWN *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Mary Glenn Krause, Jim Adcock -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by the Library of Congress) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='section ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES</div> - <div class='c002'>Edited by</div> - <div class='c002'>Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph. D.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='box'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>The American Crisis Biographies</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c003'>Edited by Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph.D. With the -counsel and advice of Professor John B. McMaster, of -the University of Pennsylvania.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Each 12mo, cloth, with frontispiece portrait. Price -$1.25 net; by mail, $1.37.</p> - -<p class='c005'>These biographies will constitute a complete and comprehensive -history of the great American sectional struggle in the form of readable -and authoritative biography. The editor has enlisted the co-operation -of many competent writers, as will be noted from the list given below. -An interesting feature of the undertaking is that the series is to be impartial, -Southern writers having been assigned to Southern subjects and -Northern writers to Northern subjects, but all will belong to the younger -generation of writers, thus assuring freedom from any suspicion of war-time -prejudice. The Civil War will not be treated as a rebellion, but as -the great event in the history of our nation, which, after forty years, it -is now clearly recognized to have been.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in4'><span class='small'>Now ready:</span></div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><b>Abraham Lincoln.</b> By <span class='sc'>Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Thomas H. Benton.</b> By <span class='sc'>Joseph M. Rogers</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>David G. Farragut.</b> By <span class='sc'>John R. Spears</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>William T. Sherman.</b> By <span class='sc'>Edward Robins</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Frederick Douglass.</b> By <span class='sc'>Booker T. Washington</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Judah P. Benjamin.</b> By <span class='sc'>Pierce Butler</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Robert E. Lee.</b> By <span class='sc'>Philip Alexander Bruce</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Jefferson Davis.</b> By <span class='sc'>Prof. W. E. Dodd</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Alexander H. Stephens.</b> By <span class='sc'>Louis Pendleton</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>John C. Calhoun.</b> By <span class='sc'>Gaillard Hunt</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>“Stonewall” Jackson.</b> By <span class='sc'>Henry Alexander White</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>John Brown.</b> By <span class='sc'>W. E. Burghardt Dubois</span>.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in4'><span class='small'>In preparation:</span></div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><b>Daniel Webster.</b> By <span class='sc'>Prof. C. H. Van Tyne</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>William Lloyd Garrison.</b> By <span class='sc'>Lindsay Swift</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Charles Sumner.</b> By Prof. <span class='sc'>George H. Haynes</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>William H. Seward.</b> By <span class='sc'>Edward Everett Hale</span>, Jr.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Stephen A. Douglas.</b> By <span class='sc'>Prof. Henry Parker Willis</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Thaddeus Stevens.</b> By <span class='sc'>Prof. J. A. Woodburn</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Andrew Johnson.</b> By <span class='sc'>Prof. Walter L. Fleming</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Henry Clay.</b> By <span class='sc'>Thomas H. Clay</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Ulysses S. Grant.</b> By <span class='sc'>Prof. Franklin S. Edmonds</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Edwin M. Stanton.</b> By <span class='sc'>Edwin S. Corwin</span>.</div> - <div class='line'><b>Jay Cooke.</b> By <span class='sc'>Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer</span>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_004.jpg' alt='John Brown' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div class='box'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='box'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c006'><span class='sc'>John Brown</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c007'> - <div>by</div> - <div class='c002'><span class='large'>W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS, Ph. D.</span></div> - <div class='c002'><em>Professor of Sociology, Atlanta University</em></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>Author of “The Suppression of the African Slave Trade,” “The Philadelphia Negro,” “The Souls of Black Folk,” etc.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='box'> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_titlepage-detail.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='box'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c007'> - <div>PHILADELPHIA</div> - <div>GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY</div> - <div>PUBLISHERS</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1909, by</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>George W. Jacobs & Company</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><em>Published September, 1909</em></span></div> - <div class='c007'><span class='small'><em>All rights reserved</em></span></div> - <div><span class='small'>Printed in U. S. A.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><em>To</em></div> - <div><em>the memory of</em></div> - <div><em>ELIZABETH</em></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span> - <h2 class='c008'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c003'>After the work of Sanborn, Hinton, Connelley, -and Redpath, the only excuse for another life -of John Brown is an opportunity to lay new emphasis -upon the material which they have so carefully -collected, and to treat these facts from a different -point of view. The view-point adopted in -this book is that of the little known but vastly important -inner development of the Negro American. -John Brown worked not simply for Black Men—he -worked with them; and he was a companion of -their daily life, knew their faults and virtues, and -felt, as few white Americans have felt, the bitter -tragedy of their lot. The story of John Brown, -then, cannot be complete unless due emphasis is -given this phase of his activity. Unfortunately, -however, few written records of these friendships -and this long continued intimacy exist, so that -little new material along these lines can be adduced. -For the most part one must be content with quoting -the authors mentioned (and I have quoted them -freely), and other writers like Anderson, Featherstonhaugh, -Barry, Hunter, Boteler, Douglass and -Hamilton. But even in the absence of special material - the great broad truths are clear, and this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>book is at once a record of and a tribute to the man -who of all Americans has perhaps come nearest to -touching the real souls of black folk.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>W. E. Burghardt Du Bois.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c009'> </td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Chronology</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>I.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Africa and America</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_15'>15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>II.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Making of the Man</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_21'>21</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>III.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Wanderjahre</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>IV.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Shepherd of the Sheep</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>V.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Vision of the Damned</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_75'>75</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>VI.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Call of Kansas</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_123'>123</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>VII.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Swamp of the Swan</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_145'>145</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>VIII.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Great Plan</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_198'>198</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>IX.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Black Phalanx</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_235'>235</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>X.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Great Black Way</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_273'>273</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>XI.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Blow</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_308'>308</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>XII.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Riddle of the Sphinx</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_338'>338</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>XIII.</td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Legacy of John Brown</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_365'>365</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'> </td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Bibliography</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_397'>397</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'> </td> - <td class='c010'><span class='sc'>Index</span></td> - <td class='c011'><a href='#Page_401'>401</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHRONOLOGY</h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c012'><span class='sc'>Boyhood and Youth</span></h3> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1800—</dt> - <dd>John Brown is born in Torrington, Conn., May 9th. Attempted insurrection of slaves under - Gabriel in Virginia, in September. - </dd> - <dt>1805—</dt> - <dd>The family migrates to Ohio. - </dd> - <dt>1812—</dt> - <dd>John Brown meets a slave boy. - </dd> - <dt>1816—</dt> - <dd>He joins the church. - </dd> - <dt>1819—</dt> - <dd>He attends school at Plainfield, Mass. - </dd> - </dl> - -<h3 class='c012'><span class='sc'>The Tanner</span></h3> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1819–1825—</dt> - <dd>John Brown works as a tanner at Hudson, O. - </dd> - <dt>1821—</dt> - <dd>He marries Dianthe Lusk, June 21st. - </dd> - <dt>1822—</dt> - <dd>Attempted slave insurrection in South Carolina in June. - </dd> - <dt>1825–1835—</dt> - <dd>He works as a tanner at Randolph, Pa., and is postmaster. - </dd> - <dt>1831—</dt> - <dd>Nat Turner’s insurrection, in Virginia, August 21st. - </dd> - <dt>1832—</dt> - <dd>His first wife dies, August 10th. - </dd> - <dt>1833—</dt> - <dd>He marries Mary Ann Day, July 11th. - </dd> - <dt>1834—</dt> - <dd>He outlines his plan for Negro education, November 21st. - </dd> - <dt>1835–1840—</dt> - <dd>He lives in and near Hudson, O., and speculates in land. - </dd> - <dt>1837—</dt> - <dd>He loses heavily in the panic. - </dd> - <dt>1839—</dt> - <dd>He and his family swear blood-feud with slavery. - </dd> - <dt>1840—</dt> - <dd>He surveys Virginia lands for Oberlin College, and proposes buying 1,000 acres. - </dd> - </dl> - -<h3 class='c012'><span class='sc'>The Shepherd</span></h3> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1841—</dt> - <dd>John Brown begins sheep-farming. -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span></div> - </dd> - <dt>1842—</dt> - <dd>He goes into bankruptcy. - </dd> - <dt>1843—</dt> - <dd>He loses four children in September. - </dd> - <dt>1844—</dt> - <dd>He forms the firm of “Perkins and Brown, wool-merchants.” - </dd> - <dt>1845–51—</dt> - <dd>He is in charge of the Perkins and Brown warehouse, Springfield, O. - </dd> - <dt>1846—</dt> - <dd>Gerrit Smith offers Adirondack farms to Negroes, August 1st. - </dd> - <dt>1847—</dt> - <dd>Frederick Douglass visits Brown and hears his plan for a slave raid. - </dd> - <dt>1849—</dt> - <dd>He goes to Europe to sell wool, and visits France and Germany, August and September. - </dd> - <dt>1849—</dt> - <dd>First removal of his family to North Elba, N. Y. - </dd> - <dt>1850—</dt> - <dd>The new Fugitive Slave Law is passed. - </dd> - <dt>1851–1854—</dt> - <dd>Winding up of the wool business. - </dd> - <dt>1851—</dt> - <dd>He founds the League of Gileadites, January 15th. - </dd> - </dl> - -<h3 class='c012'><span class='sc'>In Kansas</span></h3> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1854—</dt> - <dd>Kansas and Nebraska Bill becomes a law, May 30th. Five sons start for Kansas in October. - </dd> - <dt>1855—</dt> - <dd>John Brown at the Syracuse convention of Abolitionists in June. He starts for Kansas with - a sixth son and his son-in-law in September. Two sons take part in Big Springs convention - in September. John Brown arrives in Kansas, October 6th. He helps to defend Lawrence in - December. - </dd> - <dt>1856—</dt> - <dd>He attends a mass meeting at Osawatomie in April. He visits Buford’s camp in May. The - sacking of Lawrence, May 21st. The Pottawatomie murders, May 23–26th. Arrest of two sons, - May 28th. Battle of Black Jack, June 2d. Goes to Iowa with his wounded son-in-law and - joins Lane’s army, July and August. Joins in attacks to rid Lawrence of surrounding - forts, August. Battle of Osawatomie, August 30th. Missouri’s last invasion of Kansas, - September 15th. Geary arrives and induces Brown to leave Kansas, September. Brown starts - for the East with his sons, September 20th. - </dd> - </dl> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span> - <h3 class='c012'><span class='sc'>The Abolitionist</span></h3> -</div> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1857—</dt> - <dd>John Brown is in Boston in January. He attends the New York meeting of the National - Kansas Committee, in January. Before the Massachusetts legislature in February. Tours New - England to raise money, March and April. Contracts for 1,000 pikes in Connecticut. - </dd> - <dt>1857—</dt> - <dd>He starts West, May. He is at Tabor, I., August and September. He founds a military - school in Iowa, December. - </dd> - <dt>1858—</dt> - <dd>John Brown returns to the East, January. He is at Frederick Douglass’s house, February. - He reveals his plan to Sanborn in February. He is in Canada, April. Forbes’ disclosures, - May. Chatham convention, May 8–10th. Hamilton’s massacre in Kansas, May 19th. Plans - postponed, May 20th. John Brown starts West, June 3d. He arrives in Kansas, June 25th. He - is in South Kansas, coöperating with Montgomery, July-December. The raid into Missouri - for slaves, December 20th. - </dd> - </dl> - -<h3 class='c012'><span class='sc'>The Harper’s Ferry Raid</span></h3> - - <dl class='dl_1 c002'> - <dt>1859—</dt> - <dd>John Brown starts with fugitives for Canada, January 20th. He arrives in Canada, March - 12th. He speaks in Cleveland, March 23d. Last visit of John Brown to the East, April and - May. He starts for Harper’s Ferry, June. He and three companions arrive at Harper’s - Ferry, July 3d. He gathers twenty-two men and munitions, June-October. He starts on the - foray, Sunday, October 16th at 8 <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">P. M.</span></span> The town and arsenal - are captured, Monday, October 17th at 4 <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A. M.</span></span> Gathering of - the militia, Monday, October 17th at 7 <span class='fss'>A. M.</span> to 12 <span - class='fss'>M.</span> Brown’s party is hemmed in, Monday, October 17th at 12 <span - class='fss'>M.</span> He withdraws to the engine-house, Monday, October 17th at 12 <span - class='fss'>M.</span> Kagi’s party is killed and captured, Monday, October 17th at 3 - <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">P. M.</span></span> Lee and 100 marines arrive, Monday, October 17th at - 12 <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">P. M.</span></span> Brown is captured, Tuesday, October 18th at 8 - <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A. M.</span></span> - </dd> - <dt>1859—</dt> - <dd>Preliminary examination, October 25th. Trial at Charleston (then Virginia, now West - Virginia), October 27th-November 4th. Forty days in prison, October 16th-December 2d. - Execution of John Brown at Charleston, December 2d. Burial of John Brown at North Elba, - N. Y., December 8th. - </dd> - </dl> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span></div> -<div class='section ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>JOHN BROWN</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER I<br /> <span class='large'>AFRICA AND AMERICA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c013'>“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by -the prophet saying, ‘Out of Egypt have I called My son.’”</p> - -<p class='c003'>The mystic spell of Africa is and ever was over -all America. It has guided her hardest work, inspired -her finest literature, and sung her sweetest -songs. Her greatest destiny—unsensed and despised -though it be,—is to give back to the first of continents -the gifts which Africa of old gave to America’s -fathers’ fathers.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Of all inspiration which America owes to Africa, -however, the greatest by far is the score of heroic, -men whom the sorrows of these dark children -called to unselfish devotion and heroic self-realization: -Benezet, Garrison and Harriet Stowe; -Sumner, Douglass and Lincoln—these and others, -but above all, John Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown was a stalwart, rough-hewn man, -mightily yet tenderly carven. To his making went -the stern justice of a Cromwellian “Ironside,” the -freedom-loving fire of a Welsh Celt, and the thrift -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>of a Dutch housewife. And these very things it -was—thrift, freedom, and justice—that early crossed -the unknown seas to find asylum in America. Yet -they came late, for before they came greed, and -greed brought black slaves from Africa.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The Negroes came on the heels, if not on the very -ships of Columbus. They followed De Soto to the -Mississippi; saw Virginia with D’Ayllon, Mexico -with Cortez, Peru with Pizarro; and led the western -wanderings of Coronado in his search for the -Seven Cities of Cibola. Something more than a -a decade after the Cavaliers, and a year before the -Pilgrims, they set lasting foot on the North American -continent.</p> - -<p class='c004'>These black men came not of their willing, -but because of the hasty greed of new America selfishly -and half thoughtlessly sought to revive in the -New World the dying but unforgotten custom of -enslaving the world’s workers. So with the birth -of wealth and liberty west of the seas, came slavery, -and slavery all the more cruel and hideous because -it gradually built itself on a caste of race -and color, thus breaking the common bonds of -human fellowship and weaving artificial barriers -of birth and appearance.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The result was evil, as all injustice must be. At -first, the black men writhed and struggled and died -in their bonds, and their blood reddened the paths -across the Atlantic and around the beautiful isles of -the Western Indies. Then as the bonds gripped -them closer and closer, they succumbed to sullen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>indifference or happy ignorance, with only here and -there flashes of wild red vengeance.</p> - -<p class='c004'>For, after all, these black men were but men, -neither more nor less wonderful than other men. -In build and stature, they were for the most part -among the taller nations and sturdily made. In -their mental equipment and moral poise, they -showed themselves full brothers to all men—“intensely -human”; and this too in their very modifications -and peculiarities—their warm brown and -bronzed color and crisp curled hair under the heat -and wet of Africa; their sensuous enjoyment of the -music and color of life; their instinct for barter and -trade; their strong family life and government. -Yet these characteristics were bruised and spoiled -and misinterpreted in the rude uprooting of the -slave trade and the sudden transplantation of this -race to other climes, among other peoples. Their -color became a badge of servitude, their tropical - habit was deemed laziness, their worship was -thought heathenish, their family customs and -the government were ruthlessly overturned and debauched; -many of their virtues became vices, and -much of their vice, virtue.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The price of repression is greater than the cost of -liberty. The degradation of men costs something -both to the degraded and those who degrade. While -the Negro slaves sank to listless docility and vacant -ignorance, their masters found themselves whirled -in the eddies of mighty movements: their system -of slavery was twisting them backward toward -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>darker ages of force and caste and cruelty, while -forward swirled swift currents of liberty and uplift.</p> - -<p class='c004'>They still felt the impulse of the wonderful -awakening of culture from its barbaric sleep of -centuries which men call the Renaissance; they -were own children of the mighty stirring of Europe’s -conscience which we call the Reformation; and -they and their children were to be prime actors in -laying the foundations of human liberty in a new -a century and new land. Already the birth pains -of the new freedom were felt in that land. Old -Europe was begetting in the new continent a vast -longing for spiritual space. So it was builded -into America the thrift of the searchers of wealth, -the freedom of the Renaissance and the stern morality -of the Reformation.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Three lands typified these three things which -time planted in the New World: England sent -Puritanism, the last white flower of the Lutheran -revolt; Holland sent the new vigor and thrift of -the Renaissance; while Celtic lands and bits of lands -like France and Ireland and Wales, sent the passionate -desire for personal freedom. These three -elements came, and came more often than not in -the guise of humble men—an English carpenter on -the <em>Mayflower</em>, an Amsterdam tailor seeking a new -ancestral city, and a Welsh wanderer. From three -such men sprang in the marriage of years, John -Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To the unraveling of human tangles, we would -gladly believe that God sends especial men—chosen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>vessels that come to the world’s deliverance. And -what could be more fitting than that the human embodiments -of freedom, Puritanism and trade—the -great new currents sweeping across the back eddies -of slavery, should give birth to the man who in -years to come pointed the way to liberty and realized -that the cost of liberty was less than the price of -repression? So it was. In bleak December 1620, -a carpenter and a weaver landed at Plymouth—Peter -and John Brown. This carpenter Peter came from -goodly stock, possibly, though not sure, from -that very John Brown of the early sixteenth century -whom bluff King Henry VIII of England burned -for his Puritanism, and whose son was all too near -the same fate. Thirty years after Peter Brown had -landed, came the Welshman, John Owen, to -Windsor, Conn., to help in the building of that -commonwealth, and near him settled Peter Mills, -the tailor of Holland. The great-grandson of Peter -Brown, born in Connecticut in 1700, had for a son -a Revolutionary soldier, who married one of the -Welshman’s grandchildren and had in turn a son, -Owen Brown, the father of John Brown, in February -of 1771. This Owen Brown a neighbor remembers -“very distinctly, and that he was very much respected -and esteemed by my father. He was -an earnestly devout and religious man, of the old Connecticut -fashion; and one peculiarity of his impressed -his name and person indelibly upon my -memory: he was inveterate and most painful -stammerer—the first specimen of that infirmity that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>I had ever seen, and, according to my recollection, -the worst that I had ever known to this day. Consequently, -though we removed from Hudson to another -settlement early in the summer of 1807, and returned -to Connecticut in 1812, so that I rarely saw any of -that family afterward, I have never to this day -seen a man struggling and half strangled with a -word stuck to his throat, without remembering good -Mr. Owen Brown, who could not speak without -stammering, except in prayer.”<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c014'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In 1800, May 9th, wrote this Owen Brown: -“John was born, one hundred years after his great-grandfather. -Nothing else very uncommon.”<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c014'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER II<br /> <span class='large'>THE MAKING OF THE MAN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c013'>“There was a man called of God and his name was John.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>A tall big boy of twelve or fifteen, “barefoot -and bareheaded, with buckskin breeches, suspended -often with one leather strap over his shoulder”<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c014'><sup>[3]</sup></a> -roamed in the forests of northern Ohio. He remembered -the days of his coming to the strange -wild land—the lowing oxen, the great white wagon -that wandered from Connecticut to Pennsylvania -and over the swelling hills and mountains, where -the wide-eyed urchin of five sat staring at the new -world of a wild beast and the wilder brown men. -Then came life itself in its realness—the driving of -cows and the killing of rattlesnakes, and swift free -rides on great mornings alone with earth and tree -and the sky. He became “a rambler in the wild new -country, finding birds and squirrels and sometimes -a wild turkey’s nest.” At first, the Indians filled -him with a strange fear. But his kindly old father -thought of Indians as neither vermin nor property -and this fear “soon wore off and he used to hang -about them quite as much as was consistent with -good manners.”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>The tragedy and comedy of this broad silent life -turned on things strangely simple and primitive—the -stealing of “three large brass pins”; the disappearance -of the wonderful yellow marble which -an Indian boy had given him; the love and losing -of a little bob-tailed squirrel for which he wept and -hunted the world in vain; finally the shadow -of death which is ever here—the death of a ewe-lamb -and the death of the boy’s mother.</p> - -<p class='c004'>All these things happened before he was eight -and they were his main education. He could dress -leather and make whip-lashes; he could herd cattle -and talk Indian; but of books and formal schooling -he had little.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“John was never quarrelsome, but was excessively -fond of the hardest and roughest kind of plays, -and could never get enough of them. Indeed when -for a short time, he was sometimes sent to school, -the opportunity it afforded to wrestle and snowball -and run and jump and knock off old seedy wool -hats, offered to him almost the only compensation -for the confinements and restraints of school.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“With such a feeling and but little chance of going -to school at all, he did not become much of a -scholar. He would always choose to stay at home -and work hard rather than be sent to school.” -Consequently, “he learned nothing of grammar, -nor did he get at school so much knowledge of -common arithmetic as the four ground rules.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Almost his only reading at the age of ten was a -little history to which the open bookcase of an old -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>friend tempted him. He knew nothing of games or -sports; he had few or no companions, but, “to be -sent off through the wilderness alone to very considerable -distances was particularly his delight.... -By the time he was twelve years -old he was sent off more than a hundred miles with -companies of cattle.” So his soul grew apart and -alone and yet untrammeled and unconfined, knowing -all the depths of secret self-abasement, and the -heights of confident self-will. With others he was -painfully diffident and bashful, and little sins that -smaller souls would laugh at and forget loomed -large and awful to his heart-searching vision. -John had “a very bad foolish habit.... I -mean telling lies, generally to screen himself from -blame or from punishment,” because “he could -not well endure to be reproached and I now think -had he been oftener encouraged to be entirely -frank ... he would not have been so often -guilty of this fault, nor have been (in after life) -obliged to struggle so long with so mean a habit.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Such a nature was in its very essence religious, even -mystical, but never superstitious nor blindly trustful -in half-known creeds and formulas. His family -was not rigidly Puritan in its thought and discipline -but had rather fallen into the mild heathenism -of the hard-working frontier until just before -John’s birth. Then, his father relates in quaint -Calvinistic <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">patois</span></i>: “I lived at home in 1782; this -was a memorable year, as there was a great revival -of religion in the town of Canton. My mother and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>my older sisters and brother John dated their hopes -of salvation from that summer’s revival under the -ministry of the Rev. Edward Mills. I cannot say -as I was a subject of the work; but this I can say -that I then began to hear preaching. I can now -recollect most if not all of those I heard preach, -and what their texts were. The change in our -family was great; family worship set up by -brother John was ever afterward continued. There -was a revival of singing in Canton and our family -became singers. Conference meetings were kept up -constantly and singing meetings—all of which -brought our family into a very good association—a -very great aid of restraining grace.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus this young freeman of the woods was born -into a religious atmosphere; not that of stern, intellectual -Puritanism, but of a milder and a more -sensitive type. Even this, however, the naturally -skeptical bent of his mind did not receive unquestioningly. -The doctrines of his day and church -did not wholly satisfy him and he became only “to -some extent a convert to Christianity.” One -answer to his questionings did come, however, -bearing its own wonderful credentials—and credentials -all the more wonderful to the man of few -books and narrow knowledge of the world of -thought—the English Bible. He grew to be “a -firm believer in the divine authenticity of the Bible. -With this book he became very familiar.” He -read and reread it; he committed long passages to -memory; he copied the simple vigor of its English, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>and wove into the very essence of his being, its -history, poetry, philosophy and truth. To him the -cruel grandeur of the Old Testament was as true as -the love and sacrifice of the New, and both mingled -to mold his soul. “This will give you some general -idea of the first fifteen years of his life, during -which time he became very strong and large of his -age, and ambitious to perform the full labor of a -man at almost any kind of hard work.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Young John Brown’s first broad contact with -life and affairs came with the War of 1812, during -which Hull’s disastrous campaign brought the scene -of fighting near his western home. His father, a -simple wandering old soul, thrifty without foresight, -became a beef contractor, and the boy drove -his herds of cattle and hung about the camp. He -met men of position, was praised for his prowess -and let listen to talk that seemed far beyond his -years. Yet he was not deceived. The war he felt -was real war and not the war of fame and fairy tale. -He saw shameful defeat, heard treason broached, and -knew of cheating and chicanery. Disease and death -left its slimy trail as it crept homeward through the -town of Hudson from Detroit: “The effect of -what he saw during the war went so far to disgust -him with military affairs that he would neither -train nor drill.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>But in all these early years of the making of -this man, one incident stands out as foretaste and -prophecy—an incident of which we know only the -indefinite outline, and yet one which unconsciously -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>foretold to the boy the life deed of the man. It was -during the war that a certain landlord welcomed -John to his home whither the boy had ridden with -cattle, a hundred miles through the wilderness. He -praised the big, grave and bashful lad to his guests -and made much of him. John, however, discovered -something far more interesting than praise and good -food in the landlord’s parlor, and that was another -boy in the landlord’s yard. Fellow souls were scarce -with this backwoodsman and his diffidence warmed -to the kindly welcome of the stranger, especially -because he was black, half-naked, and wretched. -In John’s very ears the kind voices of the master -and his folk turned to harsh abuse with this black -boy. At night the slave lay in the bitter cold and -once they beat the wretched thing before John’s -very eyes with an iron shovel, and again and again -struck him with any weapon that chanced. In -wide-eyed silence John looked on and questioned, -Was the boy bad or stupid? No, he was active, intelligent -and with the great warm sympathy of his -race did the stranger “numerous little acts of kindness,” -so that John readily, in his straightforward -candor, acknowledged him “fully if not more than -his equal.” That the black worked and worked -hard and steadily was in John’s eyes no hardship—rather -a pleasure. Was not the world work? But -that this boy was fatherless and motherless, and that -all slaves must of necessity be fatherless and motherless -with none to protect them or provide for them, -save at the will or caprice of the master—this was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>to the half-grown man a thing of fearful portent and -he asked, “Is God their Father?” And what he -asked, a million and a half black bondmen were -asking through the land.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER III<br /> <span class='large'>THE WANDERJAHRE</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers -fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning -of the creation.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>In 1819 a tall, sedate, dignified young man named -John Brown was entered among the students of the -Rev. Moses Hallock at Plainfield, Mass., where men -were prepared for Amherst College. He was beginning -his years of wandering—spiritual searching -for the way of life, physical wandering in the wilderness -where he must earn his living. In after -years he wrote to a boy:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I wish you to have some definite plan. Many -seem to have none; others never stick to any that -they do form. This was not the case with John. -He followed up with great tenacity whatever he set -about as long as it answered his general purpose; -hence he rarely failed in some degree to effect the -things he undertook. This was so much the case -that he habitually expected to succeed in his undertakings.”<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c014'><sup>[4]</sup></a> -In this case he expected to get an education -and he came to his task equipped with that -rare mixture of homely thrift and idealism which -characterized his whole life. His father could do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>little to help him, for the war was followed by the -“hard times” which are the necessary fruit of fighting. -As the father wrote: “Money became scarce, -property fell and that which I thought well bought -would not bring its cost. I had made three or four -large purchases, in which I was a heavy loser.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was therefore as a poor boy ready to work his -way that John started out at Plainfield. The son -of the principal tells how “he brought with him a -piece of sole leather about a foot square, which he -had himself tanned for seven years, to resole his -boots. He had also a piece of sheepskin which he -had tanned, and of which he cut some strips about -an eighth of an inch wide, for other students to pull -upon. Father took one string, and winding it around -his finger said with a triumphant turn of the eye -and mouth, ‘I shall snap it.’ The very marked, yet -kind immovableness of the young man’s face on seeing -father’s defeat, father’s own look, and the position -of the people and the things in the old kitchen -somehow gave me a fixed recollection of this little -incident.”<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c014'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>But all his thrift and planning here were doomed -to disappointment. He was, one may well believe, -no brilliant student, and his only chance of success -lay in long and steady application. This he was -prepared to make when inflammation of the eyes -set in, of so grave a type that all hopes of long study -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>must be given up. Several times before he had attempted -regular study, but for the most part these -excursions to New England schools had been but -tentative flashes on a background of hard work in -his father’s Hudson tannery: “From fifteen to -twenty years of age he spent most of his time working -at the tanner’s and currier’s trade;” and yet, -naturally, ever looking here and there in the world -to find his place. And that place, he came gradually -to decide in his quiet firm way, was to be an -important one. He felt he could do things; he -grew used to guiding and commanding men. He -kept his own lonely home and was both foreman -and cook in the tannery. His “close attention to -business and success in its management, together -with the way he got along with a company of men -and boys, made him quite a favorite with the serious -and more intelligent portion of older persons. This -was so much the case and secured for him so many -little notices from those he esteemed, that his vanity -was very much fed by it, and he came forward to -manhood quite full of self-conceit and self-confidence, -notwithstanding his extreme bashfulness. -The habit so early formed of being obeyed rendered -him in after life too much disposed to speak in an -imperious or dictating way.”<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c014'><sup>[6]</sup></a> Thus he spoke of -himself, but others saw only that peculiar consciousness -of strength and quiet self-confidence, which -characterized him later on.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Just how far his failure to get a college training -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>was a disappointment to John Brown one is not -able to say with certainty. It looks, however, as -if his attempts at higher training were rather the -obedient following of the conventional path, by a -spirit which would never have found in those fields -congenial pasture. One suspects that the final decision -that college was impossible came to this -strong free spirit with a certain sense of relief—a relief -marred only by the perplexity of knowing what -ought to be the path for his feet, if the traditional -way to accomplishment and distinction was closed.</p> - -<p class='c004'>That he meant to be not simply a tanner was -disclosed in all his doing and thinking. He undertook -to study by himself, mastering common arithmetic -and becoming in time an expert surveyor. He -“early in life began to discover a great liking to -fine cattle, horses, sheep, and swine.” Meantime, -however, the practical economic sense of his day -and occupation pointed first of all to marriage, as -his father, who had had three wives and sixteen or -more children, was at pains to impress upon him. -Nor was John Brown himself disinclined. He was -as he quaintly says, “naturally fond of -females, and withal extremely diffident.” One -can easily imagine the deep disappointment of this -grave young man in his first unfortunate love affair, -when he felt With many another unloved heart, -this old world through, “a steady, strong desire to -die.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>But youth is stronger even than first love, -and the widow who came to keep house for him had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>a grown daughter, a homely, good-hearted and -simple-minded country lass; the natural result was -that John Brown was married at the age of twenty -to Dianthe Lusk, whom he describes as “a remarkably -plain, but neat, industrious and economical -girl, of excellent character, earnest piety and practical -common sense.”<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c014'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Then ensued a period of life which puzzles the -casual onlooker with its seemingly aimless changing -character, its wandering restlessness, its planless -wavering. He was now a land surveyor, now a -tanner and now a lumber dealer; a postmaster, a -wool-grower, a stock-raiser, a shepherd, and a -farmer. He lived at Hudson, at Franklin and at -Richfield in Ohio; in Pennsylvania, New York, and -Massachusetts. And yet in all this wavering and -wandering, there were certain great currents of -growth, purpose and action. First of all he became -the father of a family: in the eleven years from -1821 to 1832, seven children were born—six sons -and one girl. The patriarchal ideal of family life -handed down by his fathers, strengthened by his -own saturation in Hebrew poetry, and by his own -bent, grew up in his home.</p> - -<p class='c004'>His eldest son and daughter tell many little incidents -illustrating his family government: “Our -house, on a lane which connects two main roads, -was built under father’s direction in 1824, and still -stands much as he built it with the garden and -orchard around it which he laid out. In the rear -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>of the house was then a wood, now gone, on a knoll -leading down to the brook which supplied the tan-pits.”<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c014'><sup>[8]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“Father used to hold all his children while they -were little at night and sing his favorite songs,” -says the eldest daughter. “The first recollection I -have of father was being carried through a piece of -woods on Sunday to attend a meeting held at a -neighbor’s house. After we had been at the house -a little while, father and mother stood up and held -us, while the minister put water on our faces. After -we sat down father wiped my face with a brown -silk handkerchief with yellow spots on it in diamond -shape. It seemed beautiful to me and I -thought how good he was to wipe my face with that -pretty handkerchief. He showed a great deal of -tenderness in that and other ways. He sometimes -seemed very stern and strict with me, yet his tenderness -made me forget he was stern....</p> - -<p class='c004'>“When he would come home at night tired out -with labor, he would before going to bed, ask some -of the family to read chapters (as was his usual -course night and morning); and would almost -always say: ‘Read one of David’s Psalms.’...</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Whenever he and I were alone, he never failed -to give me the best of advice, just such as a true and -anxious mother would give a daughter. He always -seemed interested in my work, and would come -around and look at it when I was sewing or knitting; -and when I was learning to spin he always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>praised me if he saw that I was improving. He -used to say: ‘Try to do whatever you do in the -very best possible manner.’”<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c014'><sup>[9]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“Father had a rule not to threaten one of his -children. He commanded and there was obedience,” -writes his eldest son. “My first apprenticeship -to the tanning business consisted of a three -years’ course at grinding bark with a blind horse. -This, after months and years, became slightly monotonous. -While the other children were out at play -in the sunshine, where the birds were singing, I -used to be tempted to let the old horse have a rather -long rest, especially when father was absent from -home; and I would then join the others at their -play. This subjected me to frequent admonitions -and to some corrections for eye-service as father -termed it.... He finally grew tired of these -frequent slight admonitions for my laziness and -other shortcomings, and concluded to adopt with me -a sort of book-account something like this:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“John, Jr.,<a id='t34'></a></div> - <div class='line in4'>“For disobeying mother—8 lashes.</div> - <div class='line in4'>“For unfaithfulness at work—3 lashes.</div> - <div class='line in4'>“For telling a lie—8 lashes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“This account he showed to me from time to time. -On a certain Sunday morning he invited me to accompany -him from the house to the tannery, saying -that he had concluded it was time for a settlement. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>We went into the upper or finishing room, -and after a long and tearful talk over my faults, he -again showed me my account, which exhibited a -fearful footing up of debits. I had no credits or offsets -and was of course bankrupt. I then paid about -one-third of the debt, reckoned in strokes from a -nicely prepared blue-beach switch, laid on ‘masterly.’ -Then to my utter astonishment, father -stripped off his shirt and seating himself on a block -gave me the whip and bade me lay it on to his bare -back. I dared not refuse to obey, but at first I did -not strike hard. ‘Harder,’ he said, ‘harder, -harder!’ until he received the balance of the account. -Small drops of blood showed on his back -where the tip end of the tingling beach cut through. -Thus ended the account and settlement, which was -also my first practical illustration of the doctrine of -the atonement.”<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c014'><sup>[10]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Even the girls did not escape whipping. “He -used to whip me often for telling lies,” says a -daughter, “but I can’t remember his ever punishing -me but once when I thought I didn’t deserve, and -then he looked at me so stern that I didn’t dare to -tell the truth. He had such a way of saying, ‘Tut, -tut!’ if he saw the first sign of a lie in us, that he -often frightened us children.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“When I first began to go to school,” she continues, -“I found a piece of calico one day behind -one of the benches—it was not large, but seemed -quite a treasure to me, and I did not show it to any -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>one until I got home. Father heard me then telling -about it and said, ‘Don’t you know what girl lost -it?’ I told him I did not. ‘Well, when you go to -school to-morrow take it with you and find out if you -can who lost it. It is a trifling thing but always remember -that if you should lose anything you valued, -no matter how small, you would want the person -who found it to give it back to you.’” He -“showed a great deal of tenderness to me,” continues -the daughter, “and one thing I always noticed -was my father’s peculiar tenderness and devotion to -his father. In cold weather he always tucked the -bedclothes around grandfather when he went to -bed, and would get up in the night to ask him if he -slept warm—always seeming so kind and loving to -him that his example was beautiful to see.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Especially were his sympathy and devotion evident -in sickness: “When his children were ill -with scarlet fever, he took care of us himself and -if he saw persons coming to the house, would go -to the gate and meet them, not wishing them to -come in, for fear of spreading the disease.<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c014'><sup>[11]</sup></a>... -When any of the family were sick he did not often -trust watchers to care for the sick one, but sat up -himself and was like a tender mother. At one time -he sat up every night for two weeks while mother -was sick, for fear he would oversleep if he went -to bed, and then the fire would go out and she take -cold.”<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c014'><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The death of one little girl shows how deeply he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>could be moved: “He spared no pains in doing -all that medical skill could do for her together with -the tenderest care and nursing. The time that he -could be at home was mostly spent in caring for her. -He sat up nights to keep an even temperature in -the room, and to relieve mother from the constant -care which she had through the day. He used to -walk with the child and sing to her so much that -she soon learned his step. When she heard him -coming up the steps to the door, she would reach -out her hands and cry for him to take her. When -his business at the wool store crowded him so much -that he did not have time to take her, he would -steal around through the wood-shed into the kitchen -to eat his dinner, and not go into the dining-room -where she could see or hear him. I used to be -charmed myself with his singing to her. He noticed -a change in her one morning and told us he -thought she would not live through the day, and -came home several times to see her. A little before -noon he came home and looked at her and said, -‘She is almost gone.’ She heard him speak, opened -her eyes and put up her little wasted hands with -such a pleading look for him to take her that he -lifted her up from the cradle with the pillows she -was lying on, and carried her until she died. He -was very calm, closed her eyes, folded her hands -and laid her in her cradle. When she was buried -father broke down completely and sobbed like a -child.”<a id='r13' /><a href='#f13' class='c014'><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>Dianthe Lusk, John Brown’s first wife, died in -childbirth, August 10, 1832, having borne him -seven children, two of whom died very young. On -July 11, 1833, now thirty-three years of age, he -married Mary Ann Day, a girl of seventeen, only -five years older than his oldest child. She bore -him thirteen children, seven of whom died young. -Thus seven sons and four daughters grew to maturity -and his wife, Mary, survived him twenty-five years. -It was, all told, a marvelous family—large and -well-disciplined, yet simple almost to poverty, and -hard-working. No sooner were the children grown -than the wise father ceased to command and simply -asked or advised. He wrote to his eldest son when -first he started in life in characteristic style:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I think the situation in which you have been -placed by Providence at this early period of your -life will afford to yourself and others some little test -of the sway you may be expected to exert over -minds in after life and I am glad on the whole to -have you brought in some measure to the test in -your youth. If you cannot now go into a disorderly -country school and gain its confidence and esteem, -and reduce it to good order and waken up the energies -and the very soul of every rational being in it—yes, -of every mean, ill-behaved, ill-governed boy -and girl that compose it, and secure the good-will -of the parents,—then how are you to stimulate asses -to attempt a passage of the Alps? If you run with -footmen and they should weary you, how should -you contend with horses? If in the land of peace -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>they have wearied you, then how will you do in the -swelling of Jordan? Shall I answer the question -myself? ‘If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of -God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not.’”<a id='r14' /><a href='#f14' class='c014'><sup>[14]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Not that Brown was altogether satisfied with his -method of dealing with his children; he said to his -wife: “If the large boys do wrong, call them -alone into your room and expostulate with them -kindly, and see if you cannot reach them by a kind -but powerful appeal to their honor. I do not claim -that such a theory accords very well with my practice; -I frankly confess it does not; but I want your -face to shine even if my own should be dark and -cloudy.”<a id='r15' /><a href='#f15' class='c014'><sup>[15]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The impression which he made on his own family -was marvelous. A granddaughter writes me of -him, saying: “The attitude of John Brown’s -family and descendants has always been one of exceeding -reverence toward him. This speaks for -something. Stern, unyielding, Puritanic, requiring -his wife and daughters to dress in sober brown, disliking -show and requesting that mourning colors be -not worn for him—a custom which still obtains with -us—laying the rod heavily upon his boys for their -boyish pranks, he still was wonderfully tender—would -invariably walk up hill rather than burden -his horse, loved his family devotedly, and when -sickness occurred, always installed himself as -nurse.”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>In his personal habits he was austere: severely -clean, sparing in his food so far as to count butter -an unnecessary luxury; once a moderate user of -cider and wine—then a strong teetotaler; a lover -of horses with harassing scruples as to breeding -race-horses. All this gave an air of sedateness and -maturity to John Brown’s earlier manhood which -belied his years. Having married at twenty, he -was but twenty-one years older than his eldest son; -and while his many children and his varied occupations -made him seem prematurely aged, he -was, in fact, during this period, during the years -from twenty to forty, experiencing the great -formative development of his spiritual life. -This development was most interesting and fruitful.</p> - -<p class='c004'>He was not a man of books: he had Rollins’ -<cite>Ancient History</cite>, Josephus and Plutarch and lives of -Napoleon and Cromwell. With these went Baxter’s -<cite>Saints’ Rest</cite>, Henry <cite>On Meekness</cite> and <cite>Pilgrim’s Progress</cite>. -“But above all others the Bible was his -favorite volume and he had such perfect knowledge -of it that when any person was reading he would -correct the least mistake.”<a id='r16' /><a href='#f16' class='c014'><sup>[16]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Into John Brown’s religious life entered two -strong elements; the sense of overruling inexorable -fate, and the mystery and promise of death. He -pored over the Old Testament until the freer -religious skepticism of his earlier youth became -more formal and straight. The brother of his first -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>wife says, “Brown was an austere fellow,” and -when the young man called on the sister and -mother Sundays, as his only holiday, Brown said -to him: “Milton, I wish you would not make -your visits here on the Sabbath.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>When the panic of 1837 nearly swept Brown from -his feet, he saw behind it the image of the old -Hebrew God and wrote his wife: “We all must -try to trust in Him who is very gracious and full of -compassion and of almighty power; for those that -do will not be made ashamed. Ezra the prophet -prayed and afflicted himself before God, when himself -and the Captivity were in a strait and I have -no doubt you will join with me under similar circumstances. -Don’t get discouraged, any of you, but -hope in God, and try all to serve Him with a perfect -heart.”<a id='r17' /><a href='#f17' class='c014'><sup>[17]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>When Napoleon III seized France and Kossuth -came to America, Brown looked with lofty contempt -on the “great excitement” which “seems to have -taken all by surprise.” “I have only to say in regard -to those things, I rejoice in them from the full -belief that God is carrying out His eternal purpose -in them all.”<a id='r18' /><a href='#f18' class='c014'><sup>[18]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The gloom and horror of life settled early on -John Brown. His childhood had had little formal -pleasure, his young manhood had been serious and -filled with responsibility, and almost before he -himself knew the full meaning of life, he was trying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>to teach it to his children. The iron of bitterness -entered his soul with the coming of death, -and a deep religious fear and foreboding bore him -down as it took away member after member of his -family. In 1831 he lost a boy of four and in 1832 -his first wife died insane, and her infant son was -buried with her. In 1843 four children varying in -ages from one to nine years were swept away. Two -baby girls went in 1846 and 1859 and an infant boy -in 1852. The struggle of a strong man to hold his -faith is found in his words, “God has seen fit to -visit us with the pestilence and four of our number -sleep in the dust; four of us that are still living -have been more or less unwell.... This has -been to us all a bitter cup indeed and we have -drunk deeply; but still the Lord reigneth and -blessed be His holy name forever.” Again three -years later he writes his wife from the edge of a new-made -grave: “I feel assured that notwithstanding -that God has chastised us often and sore, yet He -has not entirely withdrawn Himself from us nor -forsaken us utterly. The sudden and dreadful -manner in which He has seen fit to call our dear -little Kitty to take her leave of us, is, I need not -tell you how much, in my mind. But before Him -I will bow my head in submission and hold my -peace.... I have sailed over a somewhat -stormy sea for nearly half a century, and have experienced -enough to teach me thoroughly that I -may most reasonably buckle up and be prepared -for the tempest. Mary, let us try to maintain a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>cheerful self-command while we are tossing up and -down, and let our motto still be action, action,—as -we have but one life to live.”<a id='r19' /><a href='#f19' class='c014'><sup>[19]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His soul gropes for light in the great darkness: -“Sometimes my imagination follows those of my -family who have passed behind the scenes; and I -would almost rejoice to be permitted to make them -a personal visit. I have outlived nearly half of all -my numerous family, and I ought to realize that in -any event a large proportion of my life is traveled -over.”<a id='r20' /><a href='#f20' class='c014'><sup>[20]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Then there rose grimly, as life went on in its -humdrum round of failure and trouble, the thought -that in some way his own sin and shortcomings -were bringing upon him the vengeful punishment -of God. He laments the fact that he has done little -to help others and the world: “I feel considerable -regret by turns that I have lived so many -years and have in reality done so little to increase -the amount of human happiness. I often regret -that my manner is not more kind and affectionate -to those I really love and esteem. But I trust my -friends will overlook my harsh rough ways, when -I cease to be in their way as an occasion of pain and -unhappiness.”<a id='r21' /><a href='#f21' class='c014'><sup>[21]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The death of a friend fills him with self-reproach: -“You say he expected to die, but do not say how he -felt in regard to the change as it drew near. I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>have to confess my unfaithfulness to my friend in -regard to his most important interest.... -When I think how very little influence I have even -tried to use with my numerous acquaintances and -friends in turning their minds toward God and -heaven, I feel justly condemned as a most wicked -and slothful servant; and the more so as I have -very seldom had any one refuse to listen when I -earnestly called him to hear. I sometimes have -dreadful reflections about having fled to go down to -Tarshish.”<a id='r22' /><a href='#f22' class='c014'><sup>[22]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Especially did the religious skepticism of his -children, so like his own earlier wanderings, worry -and dismay the growing man until it loomed before -his vision as his great sin, calling for mighty -atonement. He pleads with his older children continually:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“My attachments to this world have been very -strong and divine Providence has been cutting me -loose, one cord after another. Up to the present -time notwithstanding I have so much to remind me -that all ties must soon be severed, I am still clinging -like those who have hardly taken a single lesson. I -really hope some of my family may understand that -this world is not the home of man, and act in accordance. -Why may I not hope this for you? When I -look forward as regards the religious prospects of my -numerous family—the most of them,—I am forced -to say, and feel too, that I have little—very little -to cheer. That this should be so is, I perfectly well -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>understand, the legitimate fruit of my own planting; -and that only increases my punishment. Some -ten or twelve years ago I was cheered with the belief -that my elder children had chosen the Lord to -be their God and I relied much on their influence -and example in atoning for my deficiency and bad -example with the younger children. But where -are we now? Several have gone where neither a -good nor a bad example from me will better their -condition or prospects or make them worse. I will -not dwell longer on this distressing subject but only -say that so far as I have gone it is from no disposition -to reflect on any one but myself. I think -I can clearly discover where I wandered from the -road. How now to get on it with my family is -beyond my ability to <em>see</em> or my courage to <em>hope</em>. -God grant you thorough conversion from sin, and -full purpose of heart to continue steadfast in His -way through the very short season you will have to -pass.”<a id='r23' /><a href='#f23' class='c014'><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>And again he writes: “One word in regard to -the religious belief of yourself and the ideas of -several of my children. My affections are too deep-rooted -to be alienated from them; but ‘my gray hairs -must go down in sorrow to the grave’ unless the -true God forgive their denial and rejection of Him -and open their eyes.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>And again: “I would fain hope that the spirit of -God has not done striving in our hard hearts. I -sometimes feel encouraged to hope that my sons -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>will give up their miserable delusions and believe -in God and in His Son, our Saviour.”<a id='r24' /><a href='#f24' class='c014'><sup>[24]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>All this is evidence of a striving soul, of a man to -whom the world was a terribly earnest thing. -Here was neither the smug content of the man -beyond religious doubt, nor the carelessness of the -unharassed conscience. To him the world was a -mighty drama. God was an actor in the play and -so was John Brown. But just what his part was to -be his soul in the long agony of years tried to know, -and ever and again the chilling doubt assailed him -lest he be unworthy of his place or had missed the -call. Often the brooding masculine mind which -demanded “Action! Action!” sought to pierce the -mystic veil. His brother-in-law became a spiritualist, -and he himself hearkened for voices from the -Other Land. Once or twice he thought he heard -them. Did not the spirit of Dianthe Lusk guide -him again and again in his perplexity? He once -said it did.</p> - -<p class='c004'>And so this saturation in Hebrew prophecy, the -chastisement of death, the sense of personal sin -and shortcoming and the voices from nowhere, -deepened, darkened and broadened his religious -life. Yet with all this there went a peculiar -common sense, a spirit of thrift and stickling for -detail, a homely shrewd attention to all the little -facts of daily existence. Sometimes this prosaic -tinkering with things burdened, buried and submerged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>the spiritual life and striving. There was -nothing left except the commonplace, unstable -tanner, but ever as one is tempted thus to fix his -place in the world, there wells up surging spiritual -life out of great unfathomed depths—the intellectual -longing to see, the moral wistfulness of the -hesitating groping doer. This was the deeper, -truer man, although it was not the whole man. -“Certainly I never felt myself in the presence of a -stronger religious influence than while in this man’s -house,” said Frederick Douglass in 1847.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <span class='large'>THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in -the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and -the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore -afraid.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>The vastest physical fact in the life of John -Brown was the Alleghany Mountains—that beautiful -mass of hill and crag which guards the sombre -majesty of the Maine coast, crumples the rivers on -the rocky soil of New England, and rolls and leaps -down through busy Pennsylvania to the misty -peaks of Carolina and the red foothills of Georgia. -In the Alleghanies John Brown was all but born; -their forests were his boyhood wonderland; in their -villages he married his wives and begot his clan. -On the sides of the Alleghanies, he tended his sheep -and dreamed of his terrible dream. It was the mystic, -awful voice of the mountains that lured him to liberty, -death and martyrdom within their wildest -fastness, and in their bosom he sleeps his last sleep.</p> - -<p class='c004'>So, too, in the development of the United States -from the War of 1812 to the Civil War, it was the -Alleghanies that formed the industrial centre of the -land and lured young men to their waters and mines, -valleys and factories, as they lured John Brown. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>His life from 1805 to 1854 was almost wholly spent -on the western slope of the Alleghanies in a small -area of Ohio and Pennsylvania, beginning eighty -miles north of Pittsburg and ending twenty-five -miles southeast of Cleveland. Here in a half-dozen -small towns, but chiefly in Hudson, O., he worked -in his young manhood to support his growing family. -From 1819 to 1825, he was a tanner at Hudson. -Then he moved seventy miles westward toward the -crests of the Alleghanies in Pennsylvania, where he -set up his tannery again and became a man of importance -in the town. John Quincy Adams made -him postmaster, the village school was held at his -log house and the new feverish prosperity of the -post-bellum period began to stir him as it stirred -this whole western world. Indeed, the economic -history of the land from the War of 1812 to the -Civil War covers a period of extraordinary developments—so -much so that no man’s life which fell -in these years may be written without knowledge -of and allowance for the battling of gigantic social -forces and welding of material, out of which the -present United States was designed.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Three phases roughly mark these days: First, -the slough of despond following the war, when England -forced her goods upon us at nominal prices -to kill the new-sprung infant industries; secondly, -the new protection from the competition of foreign -goods from 1816 to 1857, rising high in the -prohibitory schedules of 1828, and falling to the -lower duties of the forties and the free trade of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>fifties, and stimulating irregularly and spasmodically -but tremendously the cotton, woolen and -iron manufactories; and finally, the three whirlwinds -of 1819, 1837–1839, and 1857, marking frightful -maladjustments in the mushroom growth of our -industrial life.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown, coming to full industrial manhood -in the buoyant prosperity of 1825, soon began to -sense the new spirit. After ten years’ work in -Pennsylvania, he again removed westward, nearer -the projected transportation lines between East and -West. He began to invest his surplus in land along -the new canal routes, became a director in one of -the rapidly multiplying banks and was currently -rated to be worth $20,000 in 1835. But his prosperity, -like that of his neighbors, and indeed, of the -whole country, was partly fictitious, and built on a -fast expanding credit which was far outstretching -the rapid industrial development. Jackson’s blind -tinkering with banking precipitated the crisis. The -storm broke in 1837. Over six hundred banks -failed, ten thousand employees were thrown out of -work, money disappeared and prices went down to -a specie level. John Brown, his tannery and his -land speculations, were sucked into the maelstrom.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The overthrow was no ordinary blow to a man of -thirty-seven with eight children, who had already -trod the ways of spiritual doubt and unrest. For -three or four years he seemed to flounder almost -hopelessly, certainly with no settled plan or outlook. -He bred race-horses till his conscience troubled -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>him; he farmed and did some surveying; he inquired -into the commission business in various -lines, and still did some tanning. Then gradually -he began to find himself. He was a lover of animals. -In 1839 he took a drove of cattle to Connecticut -and wrote to his wife: “I have felt distressed -to get my business done and return ever -since I left home, but know of no way consistent -with duty but to make thorough work of it while -there is any hope. Things now look more favorable -than they have but I may still be disappointed.”<a id='r25' /><a href='#f25' class='c014'><sup>[25]</sup></a> -His diary shows that he priced certain farms for sale, -but especially did he inquire carefully into sheep-raising -and its details, and eventually bought a -flock of sheep, which he drove home to Ohio. -This marked the beginning of a new occupation, -that of shepherd, “being a calling for which in -early life he had a kind of enthusiastic longing.” -He began sheep-farming near Hudson, keeping his -own and a rich merchant’s sheep and also buying -wool on commission.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This industry in the United States had at that -time passed through many vicissitudes. The change -from household to factory economy and the introduction -of effective machinery had been slow, and -one of the chief drawbacks was ever the small quantity -of good wool. Consequently our chief supply -came from England until the embargo and war cut -off that supply and stimulated domestic manufacture. -Between 1810 and 1815 the value of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>manufacture increased five-fold, but after the war, -when England sent goods over here below the price, -Americans rightly clamored for tariff protection. -This they got, but their advantage was nearly upset -by the wool farmers who also got protection on -the commodity, although less on low than on better -qualities; and it was the low grades that America -produced. From 1816 to 1832 the tariff wall against -wool and woolens rose steadily until it reached almost -prohibitive figures, save on the cheapest kind. -In this way the wool manufacture had by 1828 recovered -its war-time prosperity; by 1840 the mills -were sending out twenty and a half million dollars’ -worth of goods yearly, and nearly fifty millions by -1860 even though meanwhile the tariff wall -was weakening. Thus by 1841 when John Brown -turned his attention to sheep-farming, there was a -large and growing demand for wool, especially of -the better grades, and by the abolition of the English -tariff in 1824, there was even a chance of invading -England.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Because, then, of his natural liking for the work, -and the growing prosperity of the wool trade, John -Brown chose this line of employment. But not for -this alone. His spirit was longing for air and space. -He wanted to think and read; time was flying and -his life as yet had been little but a mean struggle -for bread and that, too, only partially successful. -Already he had had a vision of vast service. Already -he had broached the matter to friends and -family, and at the age of thirty-nine he entered his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>new life distinctly and clearly with “the idea -that as a business it bid fair to afford him the -means of carrying out his greatest or principal -object.”<a id='r26' /><a href='#f26' class='c014'><sup>[26]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His first idea was to save enough from the wreck of -his fortune to buy and stock a large sheep farm, and -in accordance with his already forming plans as to -Negro emancipation, he wanted this farm in or near -the South. A chance seemed opening when through -his father, a trustee of Oberlin College, he learned -of the Virginia lands lately given that institution -by Gerrit Smith, whom Brown came to know better. -Oberlin College was dear to John Brown’s heart, -for it had almost from the beginning taken a strong -anti-slavery stand. The titles to the Virginia land, -however, were clouded by the fact of many squatters -being in possession, which gave ample prospects -of costly lawsuits. Brown wrote the trustees early -in 1840, proposing to survey the lands for a nominal -price, provided he could be allowed to buy on -reasonable terms and establish his family there. -He also spoke of school facilities which he proposed -for Negroes as well as whites, according to a long -cherished plan. The college records in April, 1840, -say: “Communication from Brother John Brown -of Hudson was presented and read by the secretary, -containing a proposition to visit, survey and make -the necessary investigation respecting boundaries, -etc., of those lands, for one dollar per day and a -moderate allowance for necessary expenses; said -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>paper frankly expressing also his design of viewing -the lands as a preliminary step to locating his family -upon them, should the opening prove a favorable -one; whereupon, <em>voted</em> that said proposition be acceded -to, and that a commission and needful outfit -be furnished by the secretary and treasurer.”<a id='r27' /><a href='#f27' class='c014'><sup>[27]</sup></a> -The treasurer sent John Brown fifty dollars and -wrote his father, as a trustee of Oberlin, commending -the son’s purpose and hoping “for a favorable -issue both for him and the institution.” He -added, “Should he succeed in clearing up titles -without difficulty or lawsuits, it would be easy, as -it appears to me, to make provision for religious -and school privileges and by proper efforts with the -blessing of God, soon see that wilderness bud and -blossom as the rose.”<a id='r28' /><a href='#f28' class='c014'><sup>[28]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus John Brown first saw Virginia and looked -upon the rich and heavy land which rolls westward -to the misty Blue Ridge. That he visited Harper’s -Ferry on this trip is doubtful but possible. The -lands of Oberlin, however, lay two hundred miles -westward in the foothills and along the valley of the -Ohio. He wrote home from Ripley, Va., in April -(for he had gone immediately): “I like the country -as well as I expected, and its inhabitants rather -better; and I have seen the spot where if it be the -will of Providence, I hope one day to live with my -family.... Were the inhabitants as resolute -and industrious as the Northern people and did -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>they understand how to manage as well, they would -become rich.”<a id='r29' /><a href='#f29' class='c014'><sup>[29]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>By the summer of 1840 his work was accomplished -with apparent success. He had about selected his -dwelling-place, having “found on the right branch -of Big Battle a valuable spring, good stone-coal, and -excellent bottoms, good timber, sugar orchard, good -hill land and beautiful situation for dwelling—all -right. Course of this branch at the forks is south -twenty-one degrees west from a beautiful white oak -on which I marked my initials, 23d April.”<a id='r30' /><a href='#f30' class='c014'><sup>[30]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The Oberlin trustees in August, “voted, that the -Prudential Committee be authorized to perfect negotiations -and convey by deed to Brother John -Brown of Hudson, one thousand acres of our Virginia -land on the conditions suggested in the correspondence -which has already transpired between -him and the committee.”<a id='r31' /><a href='#f31' class='c014'><sup>[31]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Here, however, negotiations stopped, for the renewal -of the panic in 1839 overthrew all business -calculations until 1842 and later, and forced John -Brown to take refuge in formal bankruptcy in 1842. -This step, his son says, was wholly “owing to his -purchase of land on credit—including the Haymaker -farm at Franklin, which he bought in connection -with Seth Thompson, of Hartford, Trumbull -County, Ohio, and his individual purchase of three -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>rather large adjoining farms in Hudson. When he -bought those farms, the rise in value of his place in -Franklin was such that good judges estimated his -property worth fully twenty thousand dollars. He -was then thought to be a man of excellent business -judgment and was chosen one of the directors of a -bank at Cayahoga Falls.”<a id='r32' /><a href='#f32' class='c014'><sup>[32]</sup></a> Probably after the -crash of 1837, Brown hoped to extricate enough to -buy land in Virginia and move there, but things -went from bad to worse. Through endorsing a note -for a friend, one of his best pieces of farm property -was attached, put up at auction and bought -by a neighbor. Brown, on legal advice, sought -to retain possession, but was arrested and placed -in the Akron jail. The property was lost. Legal -bankruptcy followed in October, 1842, but Brown -would not take the full advantage of it. He gave -the New England Woolen Company of Rockville, -Conn., a note declaring that “whereas I, John -Brown, on or about the 15th day of June, <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A. D.</span></span> -1839, received of the New England Company (through -their agent, George Kellogg, Esq.) the sum of twenty-eight -hundred dollars for the purchase of wool for -said company, and imprudently pledged the same -for my own benefit and could not redeem it; and -whereas I have been legally discharged from my -obligations by the laws of the United States—I -hereby agree (in consideration of the great kindness -and tenderness of said company toward me in -my calamity, and more particularly of the moral -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>obligation I am under to render to all their due) to -pay the same and the interest thereon from time to -time as divine Providence shall enable me to -do.”<a id='r33' /><a href='#f33' class='c014'><sup>[33]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He wrote Mr. Kellogg at the same time: “I am -sorry to say that in consequence of the unforeseen -expense of getting the discharge, the loss of an ox, -and the destitute condition in which a new surrender -of my effects has placed me, with my numerous -family, I fear this year must pass without my -effecting in the way of payment what I have encouraged -you to expect.”<a id='r34' /><a href='#f34' class='c014'><sup>[34]</sup></a> He was still paying this -debt when he died and left fifty dollars toward it in -his will.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was a labyrinth of disaster in which the soul -of John Brown was well-nigh choked and lost. -We hear him now and then gasping for breath: -“I have been careful and troubled with so much -serving that I have in a great measure neglected -the one thing needful, and pretty much stopped all -correspondence with heaven.”<a id='r35' /><a href='#f35' class='c014'><sup>[35]</sup></a> He goes on to tell -his son: “My worldly business has borne heavily -and still does; but we progress some, have our -sheep sheared, and have done something at our -haying. Have our tanning business going on in -about the same proportion—that is, we are pretty -fairly behind in business and feel that I must nearly -or quite give up one or the other of the branches -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>for want of regular troops on whom to depend.”<a id='r36' /><a href='#f36' class='c014'><sup>[36]</sup></a> -He again tells his son: “I would send you some -money, but I have not yet received a dollar from any -source since you left. I should not be so dry of funds, -could I but overtake my work;”<a id='r37' /><a href='#f37' class='c014'><sup>[37]</sup></a> and then follows -the teeth-gritting word of a man whose grip is slipping: -“But all is well; all is well.”<a id='r38' /><a href='#f38' class='c014'><sup>[38]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Gradually matters began to mend. His tannery, -perhaps never wholly abandoned, was started again -and his wool interests increased. Early in 1844 “we -seem to be overtaking our business in the tannery,” -he says, and “I have lately entered into a co-partnership -with Simon Perkins, Jr., of Akron, with a -view of carrying on the sheep business extensively. -He is to furnish all the feed and shelter for wintering, -as a set-off against our taking all the care of -the flock. All other expenses we are to share -equally, and to divide the property equally.” -John Brown and his family were to move to Akron -and he says: “I think that is the most comfortable -and the most favorable arrangement of my -worldly concerns that I ever had and calculated to -afford us more leisure for improvement by day and -by night than any other. I do hope that God has -enabled us to make it in mercy to us, and not that -He should send leanness into our souls. Our time -will all be at our own command, except the care of -the flock. We have nothing to do with providing -for them in the winter, excepting harvesting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>rutabagas and potatoes. This I think will be considered -no mean alliance for our family and I most -earnestly hope they will have wisdom given to make -the most of it. It is certainly endorsing the poor -bankrupt and his family, three of whom were but -recently in Akron jail in a manner quite unexpected, -and proves that notwithstanding we have -been a company of ‘belted knights,’ our industrious -and steady endeavors to maintain our integrity and -our character have not been wholly overlooked.”<a id='r39' /><a href='#f39' class='c014'><sup>[39]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Indeed, the offer seemed to John Brown a flood -of light: a beloved occupation with space and time -to think, to study and to dream, to get acquainted -with himself and the world after the long struggle -for bread and butter and the deep disappointment -of failure almost in sight of success. By July, -1844, Brown was reporting 560 lambs raised and -2,700 pounds of wool, for which he had been offered -fifty-six cents a pound, showing it to be of high -grade. He began closing up his tanning business. -“The general aspect of our worldly affairs is favorable. -Hope we do not entirely forget God,”<a id='r40' /><a href='#f40' class='c014'><sup>[40]</sup></a> he -writes.</p> - -<p class='c004'>His daughter says: “As a shepherd, he showed -the same watchful care over his sheep. I remember -one spring a great many of his sheep had a disease -called ‘grub in the head,’ and when the lambs -came, the ewes would not own them. For two -weeks he did not go to bed, but sat up or slept an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>hour or two at a time in his chair, and then would -take a lantern, go out and catch the ewes, and hold -them while the lambs sucked. He would very often -bring in a little dead-looking lamb, and put it in -warm water and rub it until it showed signs of life, -and then wrap it in a warm blanket, feed it warm -milk with a teaspoon, and work over it with such -tenderness that in a few hours it would be capering -around the room. One Monday morning I had just -got my white clothes in a nice warm suds in the -wash-tub, when he came in bringing a little dead-looking -lamb. There seemed to be no sign of life -about it. Said he, ‘Take out your clothes quick, -and let me put this lamb in the water.’ I felt a -little vexed to be hindered with my washing, and -told him I didn’t believe he could make it live; but -in an hour or two he had it running around the -room, and calling loudly for its mother. The next -year he came from the barn and said to me, ‘Ruth, -that lamb I hindered you with when you were -washing, I have just sold for one hundred dollars.’ -It was a pure-blooded Saxony lamb.”<a id='r41' /><a href='#f41' class='c014'><sup>[41]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>By 1845 wealth again seemed all but within the -grasp of John Brown. The country was entering -fully upon one of the most remarkable of many note-worthy -periods of industrial expansion and the -situation in the wool business was particularly -favorable. The flock of Saxony sheep owned by -Perkins and Brown was “said to be the finest and -most perfect flock in the United States and worth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>about $20,000.” The only apparent danger to the -prosperity of the western wool-growers was the -increasing power of the manufacturers and their -desire for cheap wool. The tariff on woolen goods -was lower than formerly, but until war-time, remained -at about twenty to thirty per cent. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ad -valorem</span></i>, which afforded sufficient protection. The -tariff on cheap wool decreased until, in 1857, all -wool costing less than twenty cents a pound came -in free and in 1854 Canadian wool of all grades -was admitted without duty. This meant practically -free trade in wool. The manufacturers of -hosiery and carpets increased and the demand for -domestic wool was continually growing. There -were, however, many difficulties in realizing just -prices for domestic wool: it was bought up by the -manufacturer’s agents, dealing with isolated, untrained -farmers and offering the lowest prices; it -was bought in bulk ungraded and as wool differs -enormously in quality and price, the lowest grade -often set the price for all. No sooner did John -Brown grasp the details of the wool business than -he began to work out plans of amelioration. And -he conceived of this amelioration not as measured -simply in personal wealth. To him business -was a philanthropy. We have not even to-day -reached this idea, but, urged on by the Socialists, -we are faintly perceiving it. Brown proposed -nothing Quixotic or unpractical, but he did propose -a more equitable distribution of the returns -of the whole wool business between the producers of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>the raw material and the manufacturers. He proceeded -first to arouse and organize the wool-growers. -He traveled extensively among the farmers of -Pennsylvania and Ohio. “I am out among the -wool-growers, with a view to next summer’s operations,” -he writes March 24, 1846; “our plan seems -to meet with general favor.” And then thinking -of greater plans he adds: “Our unexampled success -in minor affairs might be a lesson to us of what -unity and perseverance might do in things of some -importance.”<a id='r42' /><a href='#f42' class='c014'><sup>[42]</sup></a> For what indeed were sheep as -compared with men, and money weighed with -liberty?</p> - -<p class='c004'>The plan outlined by Brown before a convention -of wool-growers involved the placing of a permanent -selling agent in the East, the grading and -warehousing of the wool, and a pooling of profits -according to the quality of the fleece. The final -result was that in 1846 Perkins and Brown sent -out a circular, saying: “The undersigned, commission -wool-merchants, wool-graders, and exporters, -have completed arrangements for receiving wool of -growers and holders, and for grading and selling -the same for cash at its real value, when quality and -condition are considered.”<a id='r43' /><a href='#f43' class='c014'><sup>[43]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown was put in special charge of this -business while his son ran the sheep farm in Ohio. -The idea underlying this movement was excellent -and it was soon started successfully. John Brown -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>went to live in Springfield with his family. In -December, 1846, he writes: “We are getting -along with our business slowly, but prudently, I -trust, and as well as we could reasonably expect under -all the circumstances; and so far as we can discover, -we are in favor with this people, and also with the -many we have had to do business with.”<a id='r44' /><a href='#f44' class='c014'><sup>[44]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In two weeks during 1847 he has “turned about -four thousand dollars’ worth of wool into cash since -I returned; shall probably make it up to seven -thousand by the 16th.”<a id='r45' /><a href='#f45' class='c014'><sup>[45]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Yet great as was this initial prosperity, the business -eventually failed and was practically given up -in 1851. Why? It was because of one of those -strange economic paradoxes which bring great -moral questions into the economic realm;—questions -which we evaded yesterday and are trying to -evade to-day, but which we must answer to-morrow. -Here was a man doing what every one knew -was for the best interests of a great industry,—grading -and improving the quality of its raw material -and systematizing its sale. His methods -were absolutely honest, his technical knowledge was -unsurpassed and his organization efficient. Yet a -combination of manufacturers forced him out of -business in a few months. Why? The ordinary -answer of current business ethics would be that -John Brown was unable to “corner” the wool -market against the manufacturers. But this he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>never tried to do. Such a policy of financial free-booting -never occurred to him, and he would have -repelled it indignantly if it had. He wished to -force neither buyer nor seller. He was offering -worthy goods at a fair price and making a just return -for them. That this system was best for the -whole trade every one knew, yet it was weak. It -was weak in the same sense that the merchants of -the Middle Ages were weak against the lawless onslaughts -of robber barons. Any compact organization -of manufacturers could force John Brown to -take lower prices for his wool—that is, to allow the -farmer a smaller proportion of the profit of the -business of clothing human beings. In other -words, well-organized industrial highwaymen could -hold up the wool farmer and make him hand over -some of his earnings. But John Brown knew, as -did, indeed, the manufacturing gentlemen of the -road that the farmers were getting only moderate -returns. It was the millmen who made fortunes. -Now it was possible to oppose the highwaymen’s -demand by counter organization like the Middle-Age -Hanse. The difficulty here would be to bring -all the threatened parties into an organization. -They could be forced in by killing off or starving -out the ignorant or recalcitrant. This is the modern -business method. Its result is arraying two industrial -armies in a battle whose victims are paupers -and prostitutes, and whose victory comes by compromising, -whereby a half-dozen millionaires are -born to the philanthropic world.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>On the other hand, to offer no opposition to organized -economic aggression is to depend on the -simple justice of your cause in an industrial world -that recognizes no justice. It means industrial -death and that was what it meant to John Brown. -The Tariff of 1846 had cut the manufacturers’ -profits. The growing woolen trade would more -than recoup them in a few years, but they “were -not in business for their health”; that is, they recognized -no higher moral law than money-making -and therefore determined to keep present profits -where they were, and add possible future profits to -them. They continued their past efforts to force -down the price of wool and got practical free trade -in wool by 1854. Meantime local New England -manufacturers began to boycott John Brown. They -expected him to see his danger and lower his prices -on the really fine grades he carried. He was obdurate. -His prices were right and he thought justice -counted in the wool business. The manufacturers -objected. He was not playing according -to the rules of the game. He was, as a fellow -merchant complained, “no <em>trader</em>: he waited until -his wools were graded and then fixed a price; if this -suited the manufacturers they took the fleeces; if -not, they bought elsewhere.... Yet he was a -scrupulously honest and upright man—hard and inflexible, -but everybody had just what belonged to -him. Brown was in a position to make a fortune -and a regular bred merchant would have done so.”<a id='r46' /><a href='#f46' class='c014'><sup>[46]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>Thereupon the combination turned the screws a -little closer. Brown’s clerks were bribed, and other -“competitive” methods resorted to. But Brown -was inflexible and serene. The prospect of great -wealth did not tempt but rather repelled him. Indeed -this whole warehouse business, successful and -important as it had hitherto been, was drawing him -away from his plans of larger usefulness. It took -his time and thought, and his surroundings more -and more made it mere money-getting. The manufacturers -were after dollars, of course; his clients -were waiting simply for returns, and his partner -was ever anxiously scanning the balance-sheet. -This whole aspect of things more and more disquieted -Brown. He therefore writes soberly in -December, 1847:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Our business seems to be going on middling well -and will not probably be any the worse for the -pinch in the money concerns. I trust that getting -or losing money does not entirely engross our attention; -but I am sensible that it quite occupies too -large a share in it. To get a little property together -to leave, as the world would have done, is really a -low mark to be firing at through life.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘A nobler toil may I sustain,</div> - <div class='line'>A nobler satisfaction gain.’”<a id='r47' /><a href='#f47' class='c014'><sup>[47]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>The next year, however, came a severe money -pressure, “one of the severest known for many -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>years. The consequence to us has been, that some -of those who have contracted for wool of us are as -yet unable to pay for and take the wool as they -agreed, and we are on that account unable to close -our business.”<a id='r48' /><a href='#f48' class='c014'><sup>[48]</sup></a> This brought a fall in the price -and complaint on all sides: on the part of the wool-growers, -because their profits were not continuing -to rise; and from manufacturers who demurred -more and more clamorously at the prices demanded -by Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>He writes early in 1849: “We have been selling -wool middling fast of late, on contract, at 1847 -prices;” but he adds, scenting the coming storm: -“We have in this part of the country the strongest -proofs that the great majority have made gold their -hope, their only hope.”<a id='r49' /><a href='#f49' class='c014'><sup>[49]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Evidently a crisis was approaching. The boycott -against the firm was more evident and the impatience -of wool farmers growing. The latter kept -calling for advances on their stored wool. If they -had been willing to wait quietly, there was still a -chance, for Perkins and Brown had undoubtedly -the best in the American market and as good as the -better English grades. But the growers were -restive and in some cases poor. The result was -shown in the balance-sheet of 1849. Brown had -bought 130,000 pounds of wool and paid for it, including -freight and commissions, $57,884.48. His -sales had amounted to $49,902.67, leaving him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>$7,981.81 short, and 200,000 pounds of wool in the -warehouse.<a id='r50' /><a href='#f50' class='c014'><sup>[50]</sup></a> Perkins afterward thought Brown was -stubborn. It would have been easily possible for -them to have betrayed the growers and accepted a -lower price. Their commissions would have been -larger, the manufacturers were friendly, and the -sheepmen too scattered and poor to protest. Indeed, -low prices and cash pleased them better than -waiting. But John Brown conceived that a principle -was at stake. He knew that his wool was -worth even more than he asked. He knew that -English wool of the same grade sold at good prices. -Why not, then, he argued, take the wool to England -and sell it, thus opening up a new market for a -great American product? Then, too, he had other -and, to him, better reasons for wishing to see -Europe. He decided quickly and in August, 1849, -he took his 200,000 pounds of wool to England. -He had graded every bit himself, and packed it in -new sacks: “The bales were firm, round, hard and -true, almost as if they had been turned out in a -lathe.”<a id='r51' /><a href='#f51' class='c014'><sup>[51]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In this English venture John Brown showed one -weakness of his character: he did not know or recognize -the subtler twistings of human nature. He -judged it ever from his own simple, clear standpoint -and so had a sort of prophetic vision of the vaster -and the eternal aspects of the human soul. But of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>its kinks and prejudices, its little selfishnesses and -jealousies and dishonesties, he knew nothing. They -always came to him as a sort of surprise, uncalculated -for and but partially comprehended. He -could fight the devil and his angels, and he did, but -he could not cope with the million misbirths that -hover between heaven and hell.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus to his surprise he found his calculations all -at fault in England. His wool was good, his knowledge -of the technique of sorting and grading unsurpassed -and yet because Englishmen believed it -was not possible to raise good wool in America, -they obstinately refused to take the evidence of -their own senses. They “seemed highly pleased”; -they said that they “had never seen superior -wools” and that they “would see me again” but -they did not offer decent prices. Then, too, American -woolen men had long arms and they were tipped -with gold. They fingered busily across the seas -about this prying Yankee, and English wool-growers -responded very willingly, so that John -Brown acknowledged mournfully late in September, -“I have a great deal of stupid obstinate prejudice -to contend with, as well as conflicting interests -both in this country and from the United -States.”<a id='r52' /><a href='#f52' class='c014'><sup>[52]</sup></a> In the end the wool was sacrificed at -prices fifty per cent. below its American value and -some of it actually resold in America. The American -woolen men chuckled audibly:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A little incident occurred in 1850. Perkins -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>and Brown’s clip had come forward, and it was -beautiful; the little compact Saxony fleeces were as -nice as possible. Mr. Musgrave of the Northampton -Woolen Mill, who was making shawls and broadcloths, -wanted it, and offered Uncle John [Brown] -sixty cents a pound for it. ‘No, I am going to send -it to London.’ Musgrave, who was a Yorkshire -man, advised Brown not to do it, for American wool -would not sell in London,—not being thought good. -He tried hard to buy it, but without avail.... -Some little time after, long enough for the purpose, -news came that it was sold in London, but the price -was not stated. Musgrave came into my counting-room -one forenoon all aglow, and said he wanted -me to go with him,—he was going to have some -fun. Then he went to the stairs and called Uncle -John, and told him he wanted him to go over to the -Hartford depot and see a lot of wool he had bought. -So Uncle John put on his coat, and we started. -When we arrived at the depot, and just as we were -going into the freight-house, Musgrave says: ‘Mr. -Brune, I want you to tell me what you think of this -lot of wull that stands me in just fifty-two cents a -pund.’ One glance at the bags was enough. Uncle -John wheeled, and I can see him now as he ‘put -back’ to the lofts, his brown coat-tails floating behind -him, and the nervous strides fairly devouring -the way. It was his own clip, for which Musgrave, -some three months before, had offered him -sixty cents a pound as it lay in the loft. It had -been graded, new bagged, shipped by steamer to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>London, sold, and reshipped, and was in Springfield -at eight cents in the pound less than Musgrave -offered.”<a id='r53' /><a href='#f53' class='c014'><sup>[53]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It was a great joke and it made American woolen -men smile.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This English venture was a death-blow to the -Perkins and Brown wool business. It was not entirely -wound up until four years later, but in 1849 -Brown removed his family from Springfield up to -the silent forests of the farthest Adirondacks, where -the great vision of his life unfolded itself. It was, -however, not easy for him to extricate himself from -the web wound about him. Two currents set for -his complete undoing: the wool-growers whom he -had over-advanced and who did not deliver the -promised wool; and certain manufacturers to whom -the firm had contracted to deliver this wool which -they could not get. Claims and damages to the -amount of $40,000 appeared and some of these got -into court; while, on the other hand, the scattered -and defaulting wool-growers were scarcely worth -suing by the firm. Long drawn-out legal battles -ensued, intensely distasteful to Brown’s straightforward -nature and seemingly endless. Collections and -sales continued hard and slow and Perkins began to -get restless. John Brown sighed for the older and -simpler life of his young manhood with its love and -dreams: “I can look back to our log cabin at the -centre of Richfield with a supper of porridge and -johnny cake as a place of far more interest to me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>than the Massasoit of Springfield.”<a id='r54' /><a href='#f54' class='c014'><sup>[54]</sup></a> He says to his -children on the Ohio sheep farm: “I am much -pleased with the reflection that you are all three -once more together, and all engaged in the same -calling that the old patriarchs followed. I will say -but one word more on that score, and that is taken -from their history: ‘See that ye fall not out by the -way; and all will be exactly right in the end.’ I -should think matters were brightening a little in -this direction in regard to our claims, but I have -not yet been able to get any of them to a final issue. -I think, too, that the prospect for the fine wool -business rather improves. What burdens me most -of all is the apprehension that Mr. Perkins expects -of me in the way of bringing matters to a close, what -no living man can possibly bring about in a short -time and that he is getting out of patience and becoming -distrustful.”<a id='r55' /><a href='#f55' class='c014'><sup>[55]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime Brown was racing from court to court -in Boston, New York, Troy and elsewhere, seeking -to settle up the business and know where he stood -financially, and, above all, to keep peace with and -do justice to his partner. Cases were now settled -and now appealed and the progress was “miserably -slow. My journeys back and forth this winter have -been very tedious.” Then, too, his mind was elsewhere. -The nation was in turmoil and so was he. At -the time Anthony Burns was arrested in Boston he -was advising with his lawyers at Troy. Redpath says:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>“The morning after the news of the Burns affair -reached here, Brown went at his work immediately -after breakfast; but in a few minutes started up -from his chair, walked rapidly across the room several -times, then suddenly turned to his counsel, and said, -‘I am going to Boston.’ ‘Going to Boston!’ said the -astonished lawyer. ‘Why do you want to go to -Boston?’ Old Brown continued walking vigorously, -and replied, ‘Anthony Burns must be released, or I -will die in the attempt.’ The counsel dropped his -pen in consternation. Then he began to remonstrate; -told him the suit had been in progress a long time, -and a verdict just gained. It was appealed from, -and that appeal must be answered in so many days, -or the whole labor would be lost; and no one was -sufficiently familiar with the whole case except himself. -It took a long earnest talk with old Brown to -persuade him to remain. His memory and acuteness -in that long and tedious lawsuit—not yet ended, -I am told—often astonished his counsel. While -here he wore an entire suit of snuff-colored cloth, -the coat of a decidedly Quakerish cut in collar and -skirt. He wore no beard, and was a clean-shaven, -scrupulously neat, well-dressed, quiet old gentleman. -He was, however, notably resolute in all that he -did.”<a id='r56' /><a href='#f56' class='c014'><sup>[56]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He spent the time not taken up by his lawsuits at -Akron, and in the manner of a patriarch of old, -temporarily brought his family back to Ohio. “I -wrote you last week that the family is on the road: -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>the boys are driving on the cattle, and my wife and -little girls are at Oneida depot waiting for me to go -on with them.”<a id='r57' /><a href='#f57' class='c014'><sup>[57]</sup></a> He returned to farming again with -interest, taking prizes for his stock at state fairs -and raising many sheep. He had 550 lambs in 1853 -and Perkins is urging him to continue with him, but -things changed and on January 25, 1854, he writes: -“This world is not yet freed from real malice and -envy. It appears to be well settled now that we go -back to North Elba in the spring. I have had a -good-natured talk with Mr. Perkins about going -away and both families are now preparing to carry -out that plan.”<a id='r58' /><a href='#f58' class='c014'><sup>[58]</sup></a> His departure was delayed a year, -but he was finally able to remove with a little surplus -on hand.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Back then to the crests and forests of the Alleghanies -came John Brown at the age of fifty-four. “A tall, -gaunt, dark-complexioned man ... a grave, -serious man ... with a marked countenance -and a natural dignity of manner,—that dignity which -is unconscious, and comes from a superior habit of -mind.”<a id='r59' /><a href='#f59' class='c014'><sup>[59]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER V<br /> <span class='large'>THE VISION OF THE DAMNED</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>There was hell in Hayti in the red waning of the -eighteenth century, in the days when John Brown -was born. The dark wave of the French Revolution -had raised the brilliant sinister Napoleon to its crest. -Already he had stretched greedy arms toward -American empire in the rich vale of the Mississippi, -when in a flash, out of the dirt and sloth and slavery -of the West Indies, the black inert and heavy cloud -of African degradation writhed to sudden life and -lifted up the dark figure of Toussaint. Ten thousand -Frenchmen gasped and died in the fever-haunted -hills, while the black men in sudden frenzy -fought like devils for their freedom and won it. -Napoleon saw his gateway to the Mississippi closed; -armed Europe was at his back. What was this wild -and empty America to him, anyway? So he sold -Louisiana for a song and turned to the shame of -Trafalgar and the glory of Austerlitz.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown was born just as the shudder of Hayti -was running through all the Americas, and from his -earliest boyhood he saw and felt the price of repression—the -fearful cost that the western world was -paying for slavery. From his earliest boyhood he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>had dimly conceived, and the conception grew with -his growing, that the cost of liberty was less than -the price of repression. Perhaps he was so near the -humanistic enthusiasm of the French Revolution -that he undervalued the cost of liberty. But yet he -was right, for it was scarce possible to overrate the -price of repression. True, in these latter days men -and women of the South, and honest ones, too, have -striven feverishly to paint Negro slavery in bright -alluring colors. They have told of childlike devotion, -faithful service and light-hearted irresponsibility, -in the fine old aristocracy of the plantation. -Much they have said is true. But when all is said -and granted, the awful fact remains congealed in law -and indisputable record that American slavery was -the foulest and filthiest blot on nineteenth century -civilization. As a school of brutality and human -suffering, of female prostitution and male debauchery; -as a mockery of marriage and defilement of -family life; as a darkening of reason, and spiritual -death, it had no parallel in its day. It took millions -upon millions of men—human men and lovable, -light and liberty-loving children of the sun, and -threw them with no sparing of brutality into one -rigid mold: humble, servile, dog-like devotion, surrender -of body, mind and soul, and unaspiring animal -content—toward this ideal the slave might -strive, and did. Wonderful, even beautiful examples -of humble service he brought forth and made -the eternal heritage of men. But beyond this there -was nothing. All were crushed to this mold and of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>them that did not fit, the sullen were cowed, the -careless brutalized and the rebellious killed. Four -things make life worthy to most men: to move, to -know, to love, to aspire. None of these was for -Negro slaves. A white child could halt a black man -on the highway and send him slinking to his kennel. -No black slave could legally learn to read. And -love? If a black slave loved a lass, there was not a -white man from the Potomac to the Rio Grande that -could not prostitute her to his lust. Did the proud -sons of Virginia and Carolina stoop to such bestial -tyranny? Ask the grandmothers of the two million -mulattoes that dot the states to-day. Ask the suffering -and humiliated wives of the master caste. If -a Negro married a wife, there was not a master in -the land that could not take her from him.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown’s father, Owen Brown, saw such a -power stretched all the way from Virginia to Connecticut. -A Southern slaveholding minister, Thomson -by name, had brought his slaves North and -preached in the local church. Then he attempted -to take the unwilling chattels back South. Of what -followed, Owen Brown says: “There was some excitement -amongst the people, some in favor and -some against Mr. Thomson; there was quite a debate, -and large numbers to hear. Mr. Thomson -said he should carry the woman and children, -whether he could get the man or not. An old -man asked him if he would part man and wife, -contrary to their minds. He said: ‘I married -them myself, and did not enjoin obedience on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>woman.’” Owen Brown added, “Ever since I have -been an Abolitionist.”<a id='r60' /><a href='#f60' class='c014'><sup>[60]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>If a slave begat children, there was not a law -south of the Ohio that could stop their eventual -sale to any brute with the money. Aspiration in -a slave was suspicious, dangerous, fatal. For him -there was no inviting future, no high incentive, no -decent reward. The highest ambition to which a -black woman could aspire was momentarily to supplant -the white man’s wife as a concubine; and -the ambition of black men ended with the carelessly -tossed largess of a kinglet. To reduce the slave to -this groveling, what was the price which the -master paid? Tyranny, brutality, and lawlessness -reigned and to some extent still reign in the South. -The sweeter, kindlier feelings were blunted: brothers -sold sisters to serfdom and fathers debauched -even their own dark daughters. The arrogant, -strutting bully, who shot his enemy and thrashed -his dogs and his darkies, became a living, moving -ideal from the cotton-patch to the United States -Senate from 1808 onward. No worthy art nor -literature, nor even the commerce of daily life could -thrive in this atmosphere.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Society there was of a certain type—courtly and -lavish, but quarrelsome; seductive and lazy; with a -half Oriental sheen and languor spread above -peculiar poverty of resource; a fineness and -delicacy in certain details, coupled with coarseness -and self-indulgence in others; a mingling of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>sexes only in play and seldom in work, with its -concomitant tendency toward seclusion and helplessness -among its whiter women. Withal a society -strong indeed, but wholly without vigor or invention.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was not all as dark as it might have been. -Human life, thank God, is never as bad as it may -be, but it is too often desperately bad. Nor do -men easily realize how bad life about them is. The -full have scant sympathy with the empty,—the rich -know all the faults of the poor, and the master sees -the horrors of slavery with unseeing eyes. True, -there were flashes of light and longing here and -there—noble sacrifice, eager help, determined -emancipation. But all this was local, spasmodic -and exceptional. The unrelenting dead brutality -of human bondage to a thousand tyrants, petty -wills and caprice was the rule from Florida to -Missouri and from the Mississippi to the sea. Under -it the wretched writhed like some great black -and stricken beast. The flaming fury of their mad -attempts at vengeance echoes all down the blood-swept -path of slavery. In Jamaica they upturned -the government and harried the land until England -crept and sued for peace. In the Danish Isles they -started a whirlwind of slaughter; in Hayti they -drove their masters into the sea; and in South -Carolina they rose twice like a threatening wave -against the terror-stricken whites, but were betrayed. -Such outbreaks here and there foretold -the possibility of coördinate action and organic development. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>To be sure, the successful outbreaks -were few and spasmodic; but the flare of Hayti -lighted the night and made the world remember -that these, too, were men.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Among these black men, changes significant -and momentous, were coming. The native born -Africans were passing away, with their native -tongues and their wild customs. Such were the -slaves of John Brown’s father’s time. “When I -was a child four or five years old,” writes Owen -Brown, “one of the nearest neighbors had a slave -that was brought from Guinea. In the year 1776 -my father was called into the army at New York, -and left his work undone. In August, our good -neighbor, Captain John Fast, of West Simsbury, let -my mother have the labor of his slave to plough a -few days. I used to go out into the field with this -slave,—called Sam,—and he used to carry me on -his back, and I fell in love with him. He worked -but a few days, and went home sick with the pleurisy, -and died very suddenly. When told that he -would die, he said he should go to Guinea, and -wanted victuals put up for the journey. As I -recollect, this was the first funeral I ever attended -in the days of my youth.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Such slaves and others went into the Revolutionary -army and three thousand of them fought for -their masters’ freedom. After the war, their -bravery, the upheaval in Hayti, and the new enthusiasm -for human rights, led to a wave of emancipation -which started in Vermont during the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>Revolution and swept through New England and -Pennsylvania, ending finally in New York and -New Jersey early in the nineteenth century. This -freeing of the Northern slaves led to new complications, -for in the South, after a hesitating pause, the -opposite course was pursued and the thumbscrews -were applied; the plantations were isolated, the -roads were guarded, the refractory were whipped -till they screamed and crawled, and the ringleaders -were lynched. A long awful process of selection -chose out the listless, ignorant, sly, and humble -and sent to heaven the proud, the vengeful and the -daring. The old African warrior spirit died away -of violence and a broken heart.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus the great black mass of Southern slaves -were cowed, but they were not conquered. -Stretched as they were over wide miles of land, and -isolated; guarded in speech and religion; peaceful -and light-hearted as was their nature, still the fire of -liberty burned in them. In Louisiana and Tennessee -and twice in Virginia they raised the night cry -of revolt, and once slew fifty Virginians, holding -the state for weeks at bay there in those same -Alleghanies which John Brown loved and listened -to. On the ships of the sea they rebelled and -murdered; to Florida they fled and turned like -beasts on their pursuers till whole armies dislodged -them and did them to death in the everglades; and -again and again over them and through them -surged and quivered a vast unrest which only the -eternal vigilance of the masters kept down. Yet -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>the fear of that great bound beast was ever there—a -nameless, haunting dread that never left the -South and never ceased, but ever nerved the remorseless -cruelty of the master’s arm.</p> - -<p class='c004'>One thing saved the South from the blood-sacrifice -of Hayti—not, to be sure, from so successful a -revolt, for the disproportion of races was less, but -from a desperate and bloody effort—and that was -the escape of the fugitive.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Along the Great Black Way stretched swamps and -rivers, and the forests and crests of the Alleghanies. -A widening, hurrying stream of fugitives swept to -the havens of refuge, taking the restless, the -criminal and the unconquered—the natural leaders -of the more timid mass. These men saved slavery -and killed it. They saved it by leaving it to a false -seductive dream of peace and the eternal subjugation -of the laboring class. They destroyed it by presenting -themselves before the eyes of the North and the -world as living specimens of the real meaning of -slavery. What was the system that could enslave a -Frederick Douglass? They saved it too by joining -the free Negroes of the North, and with them organizing -themselves into a great black phalanx that -worked and schemed and paid and finally fought -for the freedom of black men in America.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus it was that John Brown, even as a child, -saw the puzzling anomalies and contradictions in -human right and liberty all about him. Ever and -again he saw this in the North, leading to concerted -action among the free Negroes, especially in cities -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>where they were brought in contact with one another, -and had some chance of asserting their -nominal freedom. Just at the close of the eighteenth -century, first in Philadelphia and then in New -York, small groups of them withdrew from the -white churches to escape disgraceful discrimination -and established churches of their own, which still -live with millions of adherents. In the year of -John Brown’s birth, 1800, Gabriel planned his -formidable uprising in Virginia, and the year after -his marriage, 1821, Denmark Vesey of South Carolina -went grimly to the scaffold, after one of the -shrewdest Negro plots that ever frightened the South -into hysterics. Of all this John Brown, the boy and -young man, knew little. In after years he learned -of Gabriel and Vesey and Turner, and told of their -exploits and studied their plans; but at the time he -was far off from the world, carrying on his tannery -and marrying a wife. Perhaps as a lad he heard -some of the oratory that celebrated the act of 1808, -stopping the slave trade, as the beginning of the end -of slavery. Perhaps not, for the act did little good -until it was reënforced in 1820. All the time, however, -John Brown’s keen eyes were searching for the -way of life and his tender heart was sensitive to injustice -and wrong everywhere. Indeed, it is not unlikely -that the first black folk to gain his aid and -sympathies and direct his thoughts to what afterward -became his life-work, were the fugitive slaves from -the South.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Three paths were opened to the slaves: to submit, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>to fight or to run away. Most of them submitted as -do most people everywhere to force and fate. To -fight singly meant death and to fight together meant -plot and insurrection—a difficult thing but one -often tried. Easiest of all was to run away, for the -land was wide and bare and the slaves were many. -At first, they ran to the swamps and mountains, and -starved and died. Then they ran to the Indians and -in Florida founded a nation to overthrow which -cost the United States $20,000,000 and more in slave -raids known as Seminole “wars.” Then gradually, -after the War of 1812 had used so many black -sailors to fight for free trade that the Negroes -learned of the North and Canada as cities of refuge, -they fled northward. While John Brown was a tanner -at Hudson, he began helping these dark panting -refugees who flitted by in the night. His eldest son -says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“When I was four or five years old, and probably -no later than 1825, there came one night a -fugitive slave and his wife to father’s door—sent, -perhaps, by some townsman who knew John Brown’s -compassion for such wayfarers, then but few. They -were the first colored people I had seen; and when -the woman took me upon her knee and kissed me, I -ran away as quick as I could, and rubbed my face -‘to get the black off’; for I thought she would -‘crock’ me, like mother’s kettle. Mother gave the -poor creatures some supper; but they thought themselves -pursued and were uneasy. Presently father -heard the trampling of horses crossing a bridge on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>one of the main roads, half a mile off; so he took -his guests out the back door and down into the -swamp near the brook to hide, giving them arms -to defend themselves, but returning to the house to -await the event. It proved a false alarm; the horsemen -were people of the neighborhood going to -Hudson village. Father then went out into the dark -wood,—for it was night,—and had some difficulty -in finding his fugitives; finally he was guided to -the spot by the sound of the man’s heart throbbing -for fear of capture. He brought them into the house -again, sheltered them a while, and sent them on their -way.”<a id='r61' /><a href='#f61' class='c014'><sup>[61]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The atmosphere in these days was becoming -more and more charged with the slavery problem. -That same Louisiana which Toussaint had given -America, was gradually filling with settlers until -the question of admitting parts of it as states faced -the nation, and led to the Missouri Compromise. -The discussion of the measure was fierce in John -Brown’s neighborhood, and it must have strengthened -his dislike of slavery and turned his earnest -mind more and more toward the Negroes.</p> - -<p class='c004'>In the very year that death first entered his -family and took a boy of four, and just before the -sombre days when his earnest young wife died -demented in childbirth and was buried with her -babe, occurred the Nat Turner insurrection in Virginia, -the most successful and bloody of slave uprisings -since Hayti.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>Squire Hudson, the father of the town where -John Brown lived and one of the founders of Western -Reserve University, heard the news in stern -joy; a neighbor met him “one day in September, -1831, coming from his post-office, and reading a -newspaper he had just received, which seemed to -excite him very much as he read. As Mr. Wright -came within hearing, the old Calvinist was exclaiming, -‘Thank God for that! I am glad of it! Thank -God they have risen at last!’ Inquiring what the -news was, Squire Hudson replied, ‘Why, the slaves -have risen down in Virginia, and are fighting for -their freedom as we did for ours. I pray God that -they may get it.’”<a id='r62' /><a href='#f62' class='c014'><sup>[62]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>They did not get freedom but death. And yet -there on the edge of Dismal Swamp they slaughtered -fifty whites, held the land in terror for more than -a month, and set going a tremendous wave of reaction. -In the South, Negro churches and free Negro -schools were sternly restricted, just at the time -Great Britain was freeing her West Indian slaves. -In the North, came two movements: a determined -anti-slavery campaign, and an opposing movement -which disfranchised Negroes, burned their churches -and schools, and robbed them of their friends. The -Negroes rushed together for counsel and defense, -and held their first national meeting in Philadelphia, -where they deliberated earnestly on migration to -Canada and on schools. But schools for Negroes -were especially feared North as well as South, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>in John Brown’s native state of Connecticut a white -woman was shamefully persecuted for attempting to -teach Negroes. All this aroused John Brown’s antipathy -to slavery and made it more definite and -purposeful. In November of the year which witnessed -the burning of Prudence Crandall’s school, -and a year after his second marriage, he wrote to -his brother:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Since you have left me, I have been trying to -devise some means whereby I might do something -in a practical way for my poor fellow men who are -in bondage; and having fully consulted the feelings -of my wife and my three boys, we have agreed to -get at least one Negro boy or youth, and bring him -up as we do our own,—viz., give him a good English -education, learn him what we can about the history -of the world, about business, about general subjects, -and, above all, try to teach him the fear of God. -We think of three ways to obtain one: First, to try -to get some Christian slaveholder to release one to -us. Second, to get a free one, if no one will let us -have one that is a slave. Third, if that does not -succeed, we have all agreed to submit to considerable -privation in order to buy one. This we are now -using means in order to effect, in the confident expectation -that God is about to bring them all out of -the house of bondage.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I will just mention that when this subject was -first introduced, Jason had gone to bed; but no -sooner did he hear the thing hinted, than his warm -heart kindled, and he turned out to have a part in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>the discussion of a subject of such exceeding interest. -I have for years been trying to devise some way to -get a school a-going here for blacks, and I think that -on many accounts it would be a most favorable location. -Children here would have no intercourse -with vicious people of their own kind, nor with -openly vicious persons of any kind. There would -be no powerful opposition influence against such a -thing; and should there be any, I believe the settlement -might be so effected in future as to have almost -the whole influence of the place in favor of such a -school. Write me how you would like to join me, -and try to get on from Hudson and thereabouts some -first-rate Abolitionist families with you. I do honestly -believe that our united exertions alone might -soon, with the good hand of our God upon us, effect -it all.”<a id='r63' /><a href='#f63' class='c014'><sup>[63]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Nothing came of this project, except that John -Brown grew more deeply interested. He was now -worth $20,000, a man of influence and he felt -more and more moved toward definite action to -help the Negroes. They were keeping up their conventions -and the stream of fugitives was augmenting. -The problem, however, was not simply one of -slavery. The plight of the free Negro was particularly -pitiable. He was liable to be seized and sold -South whether an actual slave or not; he was discriminated -against and despised in all walks. This -was bad enough in every-day life, but to a straightforward -religious soul like John Brown it was simply -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>intolerable in the church of God. His eldest -daughter says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“One evening after he had been singing to -me, he asked me how I would like to have -some poor little black children that were slaves (explaining -to me the meaning of slaves) come and live -with us; and asked me if I would be willing to -divide my food and clothes with them. He made -such an impression on my sympathies, that the first -colored person that I ever saw (it was a man I met -on the street in Meadville, Pa.) I felt such pity -for, that I wanted to ask him if he did not want to -come and live at our house. When I was six or -seven years old, a little incident took place in the -church at Franklin, O. (of which all the older part -of our family were members), which caused quite an -excitement.”<a id='r64' /><a href='#f64' class='c014'><sup>[64]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His son tells the details of this incident:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“About 1837, mother, Jason, Owen and I, joined -the Congregational Church at Franklin, the Rev. -Mr. Burritt, pastor. Shortly after, the other societies, -including Methodists and Episcopalians, joined ours -in an undertaking to hold a protracted meeting under -the special management of an evangelist preacher -from Cleveland, named Avery. The house of the -Congregationalists being the largest, it was chosen -as the place for this meeting. Invitations were sent -out to church folks in adjoining towns to ‘come up -to the help of the Lord against the mighty;’ and -soon the house was crowded, the assembly occupying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>by invitation the pews of the church generally. -Preacher Avery gave us in succession four sermons -from one text,—‘Cast ye up, cast ye up! Prepare -ye the way of the Lord; make His paths straight!’ -Soon lukewarm Christians were heated up to a melting -condition, and there was a bright prospect of a -good shower of grace. There were at that time in -Franklin a number of free colored persons and some -fugitive slaves. These became interested and came -to the meetings, but were given seats by themselves, -where the stove had stood, near the door,—not a good -place for seeing ministers or singers. Father noticed -this, and when the next meeting (which was at -evening) had fairly opened, he arose and called attention -to the fact that, in seating the colored portion -of the audience, a discrimination had been -made, and said that he did not believe God ‘is a -respecter of persons.’ He then invited the colored -people to occupy his slip. The blacks accepted, -and all of our family took their vacated seats. This -was a bombshell, and the Holy Spirit in the hearts -of Pastor Burritt and Deacon Beach at once gave up -His place to another tenant. The next day father -received a call from the deacons to admonish him -and ‘labor’ with him; but they returned with new -views of Christian duty. The blacks during the remainder -of that protracted meeting continued to occupy -our slip, and our family the seats around the -stove. We soon after moved to Hudson, and though -living three miles away, became regular attendants -at the Congregational Church in the centre of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>town. In about a year we received a letter from -good Deacon Williams, informing us that our relations -with the church in Franklin were ended in accordance -with a rule made by the church since we -left, that ‘any member being absent a year without -reporting him or herself to that church should be -cut off.’ This was the first intimation we had of the -existence of the rule. Father, on reading the letter, -became white with anger. This was my first taste -of the pro-slavery diabolism that had intrenched itself -in the church, and I shed a few uncalled for -tears over the matter, for instead I should have rejoiced -in my emancipation. From that day my theological -shackles were a good deal broken, and I -have not worn them since (to speak of),—not even -for ornament.”<a id='r65' /><a href='#f65' class='c014'><sup>[65]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The years of 1837 and 1838 were the years of persecution -for the Abolition cause. Lovejoy was -murdered in Illinois and mobs raged in Massachusetts -and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Hall, in -Philadelphia, was burned, and Marlborough Chapel -in Boston, where John Brown himself seems to have -been present fighting back the people, was sacked. -Indeed, as he afterward said, he had seen some of -the “principal Abolition mobs.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Whatever John Brown may have wished to do -at this time was frustrated by the panic, which -swept away his fortune, and left him bankrupt. -Yet something he must do—he must at least promise -God that he and his family would eternally oppose -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>slavery. How, he did not know—he was not sure—but -somehow he was determined, and his old idea -of educating youth was still uppermost.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was in 1839, when a Negro preacher named -Fayette was visiting Brown, and bringing his story -of persecution and injustice, that this great promise -was made. Solemnly John Brown arose; he was -then a man of nearly forty years, tall, dark and -clean-shaven; by him sat his young wife of twenty-two -and his oldest boys of eighteen, sixteen and -fifteen. Six other children slept in the room back -of the dark preacher. John Brown told them of his -purpose to make active war on slavery, and bound -his family in solemn and secret compact to labor -for emancipation. And then, instead of standing -to pray, as was his wont, he fell upon his knees and -implored God’s blessing on his enterprise.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This marks a turning-point in John Brown’s life: -in his boyhood he had disliked slavery and his -antipathy toward it grew with his years; yet of necessity -it occupied but little of a life busy with -breadwinning. Gradually, however, he saw the -gathering of the mighty struggle about him; the -news of the skirmish battles of the greatest moral -war of the century aroused and quickened him, -and all the more when they struck the tender chords -of his acquaintanceships and sympathies. He saw -his friends hurt and imposed on until at last, gradually, -then suddenly, it dawned upon him that he -must fight this monster slavery. He did not now -plan physical warfare—he was yet a non-resistant, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>hating war, and did not dream of Harper’s Ferry; -but he set his face toward the goal and whithersoever -the Lord led, he was ready to follow. He still, -too, had his living to earn—his family to care for. -Slavery was not yet the sole object of his life, but -as he passed on in his daily duties he was determined -to seize every opportunity to strike it a blow.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This, at least it seems to me, is a fair interpretation -of John Brown’s thought and action from the -evidence at hand. Some have believed that John -Brown planned Harper’s Ferry or something similar -in 1839; others have doubted whether he had -any plans against slavery before 1850. The truth -probably lies between these extreme views. Human -purposes grow slowly and in curious ways; thought -by thought they build themselves until in their full -panoplied vigor and definite outline not even the -thinker can tell the exact process of the growing, -or say that here was the beginning or there the ending. -Nor does this slow growth and gathering -make the end less wonderful or the motive less -praiseworthy. Few Americans recognized in 1839 -that the great central problem of America was -slavery; and of that few, fewer still were willing to -fight it as they knew it should be fought. Of this -lesser number, two men stood almost alone, ready to -back their faith by action—William Lloyd Garrison -and John Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>These men did not then know each other—they -had in these early days scarcely heard each other’s -names. They never came to be friends or sympathizers. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>When John Brown was in Boston he never -went to <cite>The Liberator</cite> office, and in after years, now -and then, he dropped words very like contempt for -“non-resistants”; while Garrison flayed the leader -of the Harper’s Ferry raid. They were alike only -in their intense hatred of slavery, and spiritually -they crossed each other’s paths in curious fashion, -Garrison drifting from a willingness to fight slavery -in all ways or in any way to a fateful attitude of -non-resistance and withdrawal from the contamination -of slaveholders; John Brown drifting from -non-resistance to the red path of active warfare.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Nowhere did the imminence of a great struggle -show itself more clearly than among the Negroes -themselves. Organized insurrection ceased in the -South, not because of the increased rigors of the -slave system, but because the great safety-valve of -escape northward was opened wider and wider, and -the methods were gradually coördinated into that -mysterious system known as the Underground Railroad. -The slaves and freedmen started the work -and to the end bore the brunt of danger and hardship; -but gradually they more and more secured the -coöperation of men like John Brown, and of others -less radical but just as sympathetic. Here and -there the free Negroes in the North began to gain -economic footing as servants in cities, as farmers in -Ohio and even as <em>entrepreneurs</em> in the great catering -business of Philadelphia and New York.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The schools were still for the most part closed to -them. They made strenuous efforts to counteract -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>this and established dozens of schools of their own -all over the land. At last in 1839 Oberlin was -founded and certain earnest students of Cincinnati, -disgusted with the color line at Lane College, -seceded to Oberlin and brought the color question -there. It was fairly met and Negroes were admitted.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was the establishment of Oberlin College in -1839 and the appointment of his father as trustee -that gave John Brown a new vision of life and usefulness—of -a life which would at once combine the -pursuit of a great moral ideal and the honest earning -of a good living for a family. Brown proposed -to survey the Virginia lands of Oberlin, as we have -shown, locate a large farm for himself and settle -there with his family. Here he undoubtedly expected -to carry out the plan previously laid before -his brother Frederick. He consulted the Oberlin -authorities concerning “provision for religious and -school privileges” and they thought it possible to -have these, although nothing was said specifically -of Negroes. The position was strategic and John -Brown knew it: in the non-slaveholding portion of a -slave state, near the river and not far from the foothills -of mountains, beyond which lay the Great -Black Way, was formed a highway for the Underground -Railroad and a place for experiment in the -uplift of black men. That he would meet opposition, -and strong opposition, John Brown must have -known, but probably at this time he counted on -the prevalence of law and justice and the stern -principles of his religion rather than on the sword -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>of Gideon, which was his later reliance. But it -was not the “will of Providence” as we have seen, -that Brown should then settle in Virginia, since -his increasing financial straits and final bankruptcy -overthrew all plans of purchasing the one thousand -acres for which he had already bargained.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The slough of despond through which John -Brown passed in the succeeding years, from 1842 to -1846, was never fully betrayed by this stern, self-repressing -Puritan. Yet the loss of a fortune and the -shattering of a dream, the bankruptcy and imprisonment, -and the death of five children, while -around him whirled the struggle of the churches -with slavery and Abolition mobs, all dropped a -sombre brooding veil of stern inexorable fate over -his spirit—a veil which never lifted. The dark -mysterious tragedy of life gripped him with awful -intensity—the iron entered his soul. He became -sterner and more silent. He brooded and listened -for the voice of the avenging God, and girded up -his loins in readiness.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“My husband always believed,” said his wife in -after years, “that he was to be an instrument -in the hands of Providence, and I believed it -too.... Many a night he had lain awake and -prayed concerning it.”<a id='r66' /><a href='#f66' class='c014'><sup>[66]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It began to dawn upon him that he had sinned in -the selfish pursuit of petty ends: that he must be -about his Father’s business of giving the death-blow -to that “sum of all villanies—slavery.” He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>had erred in making his great work a side object—a -secondary thing; it must be his first and only -duty, and let God attend to the nurture of his -family. As his conception of his own relation to -slavery thus broadened and deepened, so too did -his plan of attacking the system become clearer and -more definite and he spent hours discussing the -matter. In Springfield, “he used to talk much on -the subject, and had the reputation of being quite -ultra. His bookkeeper tells me that he and his eldest -son used to discuss slavery by the hour in his -counting-room, and he used to say that it was right -for slaves to kill their masters and escape, and -thought slaveholders were guilty of a very great -wickedness.”<a id='r67' /><a href='#f67' class='c014'><sup>[67]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He studied the census returns and the distribution -of the Negroes and made maps of fugitive -slave routes with roads, plantations, and supplies. -He learned of Isaac, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner -and the Cumberland region insurrections in South -Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee; he knew of the -organized resistance to slave-catchers in Pennsylvania, -and the history of Hayti and Jamaica.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It needed, as he soon saw, something more radical -than schools and moral suasion; so deep-seated -and radical a disease demanded “Action! -Action!” He welcomed his new and long-loved -calling of shepherd because of the leisure it gave -him to study out his great moral problem. He -sought and gained the acquaintance of Negro leaders -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>like Garnet, Loguen, Gloucester and McCune Smith. -As his sheep business broadened, he traveled about -and probably at this time first saw Harper’s Ferry—the -mighty pass where Potomac and Shenandoah, -hurling aside the mountain masses, rush to their -singular wedding.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus the distraction of the Springfield wool business -came to John Brown almost in the guise of a -temptation to be shunned. For a moment about 1845 -he looked again on the lure of wealth and dreamed -how useful it would be to what was now his great -life object. But only for a moment, for when he realized -the price he must pay—the time, the chicanery, -the petty detail—he turned from it in disgust. -It was at this time that he studied the history -of insurrection and became familiar with the Abolition -movement; as early as 1846 his Harper’s -Ferry project began to form itself more or less -clearly in his mind.</p> - -<p class='c004'>One thing alone reconciled him to his Springfield -sojourn and that was the Negroes whom he met -there. He had met black men singly here and there -all his life, but now he met a group. It was not -one of the principal Negro groups of the day—they -were in Philadelphia and New York, Cincinnati -and Boston, and in Canada, working largely -alone with only imperfect intercommunication, but -working manfully and effectively for emancipation -and full freedom. The Springfield group was a -smaller body without conspicuous leadership, and -on that account more nearly approximated the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>great mass of their enslaved race. He sought them -in home and church and out on the street, and he -hired them in his business. He came to them on a -plane of perfect equality—they sat at his table and -he at theirs. He neither descended upon them from -above nor wallowed with their lowest, and the result -was that as Redpath says, “Captain Brown had a -higher notion of the capacity of the Negro race than -most white men. I have often heard him dwell on -this subject, and mention instances of their fitness -to take care of themselves, saying, in his quaint -way, that ‘they behaved so much like “folks” that -he almost thought they were so.’ He thought that -perhaps a forcible separation of the connection between -master and slave was necessary to educate -the blacks for self-government; but this he threw -out as a suggestion merely.”<a id='r68' /><a href='#f68' class='c014'><sup>[68]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Nor did this appreciation of the finer qualities -and capacity of the Negroes blind him to their imperfections. -He found them “intensely human,” -but with their human frailties weakened by slavery -and caste; and with perfect faith in their ability to -rise above their faults, he criticized and inspired -them. In his quaint essay on “Sambo’s Mistakes,” -putting himself in the black man’s place, he enumerates -his errors: His failure to improve his time -in good reading; his waste of money in indulgent -luxuries and societies and consequent lack of capital; -his servile occupations; his talkativeness and -inaptitude for organization; his sectarian bias. In -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>part of his arraignment, which will bear thoughtful -reading to-day by black men as well as white, he -makes his Sambo say:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Another trifling error of my life has been, that -I have always expected to secure the favor of the -whites by tamely submitting to every species of indignity, -contempt, and wrong, instead of nobly resisting -their brutal aggressions from principle, and -taking my place as a man, and assuming the responsibilities -of a man, a citizen, a husband, a father, a -brother, a neighbor, a friend,—as God requires of -every one (if his neighbor will allow him to do it); -but I find that I get, for all my submission, about -the same reward that the Southern slaveocrats render -to the dough-faced statesmen of the North, for being -bribed and browbeat and fooled and cheated, as -Whigs and Democrats love to be, and think themselves -highly honored if they may be allowed to -lick up the spittle of a Southerner. I say to get the -reward. But I am uncommon quick-sighted; I can -see in a minute where I missed it.”<a id='r69' /><a href='#f69' class='c014'><sup>[69]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>No one knew better than John Brown how slavery -had contributed to these faults: for how many slaves -could read anything, or when had they been taught -the use of money or the A. B. C. of organization? -Not in condemnation but in faith was this excellent -paper written and delicately worded as from one -who has learned his own faults and will not repeat -those of others.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>Not only did John Brown thus criticize, but he -led these black folk. As early as 1846 he revealed -something of his final plans to Thomas Thomas, his -black porter and friend, with whom he once was -photographed in mutual friendly embrace, holding -the sign “S. P. W.”—“Subterranean Pass Way” -of slaves to freedom.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“How early shall I come to-morrow?” asked -Thomas one morning.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We begin work at seven,” answered John -Brown. “But I wish you would come around -earlier so that I can talk with you.” Then Brown -disclosed a plan of increasing and systematizing the -work of the Underground Railroad by running off -larger bodies of slaves. This was the first form of -his Harper’s Ferry plan and it rapidly grew in -detail, so that its disclosure to Douglass in 1847 -showed thought and advance.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The first national Negro leader, Frederick Douglass, -had delivered his wonderful salutatory in New -Bedford in 1844. After publishing his biography, -he went to England for safety, but returned in 1847, -ransomed from slavery and ready to launch his -paper, <cite>The North Star</cite>. No sooner had he landed -than the black Wise Men of New York told him of -the new Star in the East, whispering of the strange -determined man of Springfield who flitted silently -here and there among the groups of black folk and -whose life was devoted to eternal war upon slavery. -Both were eager to meet each other—John Brown to -become acquainted with the greatest leader of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>race which he aimed to free; Frederick Douglass to -know an intense foe of slavery. The historic meeting -took place in Springfield and is best told in -Douglass’ own words:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“About the time I began my enterprise [<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">i. e.</span></i>, his -newspaper] in Rochester, I chanced to spend a night -and a day under the roof of a man whose character -and conversation, and whose objects and aims in -life, made a very deep impression upon my mind -and heart. His name had been mentioned to me by -several prominent colored men; among whom were -the Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and J. W. Loguen. -In speaking of him their voices would drop to a -whisper, and what they said of him made me very -eager to see and to know him. Fortunately, I was -invited to see him at his own house. At the time -to which I now refer this man was a respectable -merchant in a populous and thriving city, and our -first place of meeting was at his store. This was a -substantial brick building on a prominent, busy -street. A glance at the interior, as well as at the -massive walls without, gave me the impression that -the owner must be a man of considerable wealth. -My welcome was all that I could have asked. -Every member of the family, young and old, seemed -glad to see me, and I was made much at home in a -very little while. I was, however, a little disappointed -with the appearance of the house and its -location. After seeing the fine store I was prepared -to see a fine residence in an eligible locality, but this -conclusion was completely dispelled by actual observation. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>In fact, the house was neither commodious -nor elegant, nor its situation desirable. It was -a small wooden building on a back street, in a -neighborhood chiefly occupied by laboring men and -mechanics; respectable enough, to be sure, but not -quite the place, I thought, where one would look -for the residence of a flourishing and successful -merchant.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Plain as was the outside of this man’s house, the -inside was plainer. Its furniture would have -satisfied a Spartan. It would take longer to tell -what was not in this house than what was in it. -There was an air of plainness about it which almost -suggested destitution. My first meal passed under -the misnomer of tea, though there was nothing -about it resembling the usual significance of that -term. It consisted of beef-soup, cabbage, and potatoes—a -meal such as a man might relish after following -the plow all day or performing a forced -march of a dozen miles over a rough road in frosty -weather. Innocent of paint, veneering, varnish, or -table-cloth, the table announced itself unmistakably -of pine and of the plainest workmanship. There -was no hired help visible. The mother, daughters, -and sons did the serving, and did it well. They -were evidently used to it, and had no thought of -any impropriety or degradation in being their own -servants. It is said that a house in some measure -reflects the character of its occupants; this one certainly -did. In it there were no disguises, no illusions, -no make-believes. Everything implied stern -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>truth, solid purpose, and rigid economy. I was not -long in company with the master of this house before -I discovered that he was indeed the master of -it, and was likely to become mine too if I stayed -long enough with him. His wife believed in him, -and his children observed him with reverence. -Whenever he spoke his words commanded earnest attention. -His arguments, which I ventured at some -points to oppose, seemed to convince all; his appeals -touched all, and his will impressed all. Certainly -I never felt myself in the presence of a -stronger religious influence than while in this man’s -house.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“In person he was lean, strong, and sinewy, of -the best New England mold, built for times of -trouble and fitted to grapple with the flintiest hardships. -Clad in plain American woolen, shod in -boots of cowhide leather, and wearing a cravat of -the same substantial material, under six feet high, -less than 150 pounds in weight, aged about fifty, he -presented a figure straight and symmetrical as a -mountain pine. His bearing was singularly impressive. -His head was not large, but compact and -high. His hair was coarse, strong, slightly gray -and closely trimmed, and grew low on his forehead. -His face was smoothly shaved, and revealed a -strong, square mouth, supported by a broad and -prominent chin. His eyes were bluish gray, and in -conversation they were full of light and fire. When -on the street, he moved with a long, springing, racehorse -step, absorbed by his own reflections, neither -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>seeking nor shunning observation. Such was the -man whose name I had heard in whispers; such was -the spirit of his house and family; such was the -house in which he lived; and such was Captain -John Brown, whose name has now passed into -history, as that of one of the most marked -characters and greatest heroes known to American -fame.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“After the strong meal already described, Captain -Brown cautiously approached the subject which -he wished to bring to my attention; for he seemed -to apprehend opposition to his views. He denounced -slavery in look and language fierce and -bitter; thought that slaveholders had forfeited their -right to live; that the slaves had the right to gain -their liberty in any way they could; did not believe -that moral suasion would ever liberate the slave, or -that political action would abolish the system. He -said that he had long had a plan which could accomplish -this end, and he had invited me to his -house to lay that plan before me. He said he had -been for some time looking for colored men to whom -he could safely reveal his secret, and at times he had -almost despaired of finding such men; but that now -he was encouraged, for he saw heads of such rising -up in all directions. He had observed my course at -home and abroad, and he wanted my coöperation. -His plan as it then lay in his mind had much to -commend it. It did not, as some suppose, contemplate -a general rising among the slaves, and a general -slaughter of the slave-masters. An insurrection, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>he thought, would only defeat the object; but -his plan did contemplate the creating of an armed -force which should act the very heart of the -South. He was not averse to the shedding of -blood, and thought the practice of carrying arms -would be a good one for the colored people to adopt, -as it would give them a sense of their manhood. -No people, he said, could have self-respect, or be -respected, who would not fight for their freedom. -He called my attention to a map of the United -States, and pointed out to me the far-reaching Alleghanies, -which stretch away from the borders of -New York into the Southern states.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘These mountains,’ he said, ‘are the basis of -my plan. God has given the strength of the hills to -freedom; they were placed here for the emancipation -of the Negro race; they are full of natural -forts, where one man for defense will be equal to a -hundred for attack; they are full also of good hiding-places, -where large numbers of brave men could -be concealed, and baffle and elude pursuit for a long -time. I know these mountains well, and could take -a body of men into them and keep them there despite -of all efforts of Virginia to dislodge them. -The true object to be sought is first of all to destroy -the money value of slavery property; and that can -only be done by rendering such property insecure. -My plan, then, is to take at first about twenty-five -picked men, and begin on a small scale; supply -them with arms and ammunition and post them in -squads of fives on a line of twenty-five miles. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>most persuasive and judicious of these shall go -down to the fields from time to time, as opportunity -offers, and induce the slaves to join them, seeking -and selecting the most restless and daring.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“He saw that in this part of the work the utmost -care must be used to avoid treachery and disclosure. -Only the most conscientious and skilful should be sent -on this perilous duty. With care and enterprise -he thought he could soon gather a force of one hundred -hardy men, men who would be content to lead -the free and adventurous life to which he proposed -to train them; when these were properly drilled, -and each man had found the place for which he was -best suited, they would begin work in earnest; they -would run off the slaves in large numbers, retain -the brave and strong ones in the mountains, and -send the weak and timid to the North by the Underground -Railroad. His operations would be enlarged -with increasing numbers and would not be -confined to one locality.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“When I asked him how he would support these -men, he said emphatically that he would subsist -them upon the enemy. Slavery was a state of war, -and the slave had a right to anything necessary to -his freedom. ‘But,’ said I, ‘suppose you succeed -in running off a few slaves, and thus impress the -Virginia slaveholders with a sense of insecurity in -their slaves further south.’ ‘That,’ he said, ‘will -be what I want first to do; then I would follow -them up. If we could drive slavery out of one -county, it would be a great gain; it would weaken -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>the system throughout the state.’ ‘But they would -employ bloodhounds to hunt you out of the mountains.’ -‘That they might attempt,’ said he, ‘but the -chances are, we should whip them, and when we -should have whipped one squad, they would be -careful how they pursued.’ ‘But you might be -surrounded and cut off from your provisions or -means of subsistence.’ He thought that this could -not be done so that they could not cut their way -out; but even if the worst came he could but be -killed, and he had no better use for his life than to -lay it down in the cause of the slave. When I suggested -that we might convert the slaveholders, he -became much excited, and said that could never be. -He knew their proud hearts and they would never -be induced to give up their slaves, until they felt a -big stick about their heads.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“He observed that I might have noticed the -simple manner in which he lived, adding that he -had adopted this method in order to save money to -carry out his purposes. This was said in no boastful -tone, for he felt that he had delayed already too -long, and had no room to boast either his zeal or his -self-denial. Had some men made such display of -rigid virtue, I should have rejected it as affected, -false, and hypocritical, but in John Brown, I felt -it to be real as iron or granite. From this night -spent with John Brown in Springfield, Mass., 1847, -while I continued to write and speak against -slavery, I became all the same less hopeful of its -peaceful abolition. My utterances became more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>and more tinged by the color of this man’s strong -impressions.”<a id='r70' /><a href='#f70' class='c014'><sup>[70]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Tremendously impressed as was Douglass in mind -and heart with John Brown and his plan, his reason -was never convinced even up to the last; and naturally -because here two radically opposite characters -saw slavery from opposite sides of the shield. -Both hated it with all their strength, but one knew -its physical degradation, its tremendous power -and the strong sympathies and interests that buttressed -it the world over; the other felt its moral -evil and knowing simply that it was wrong, concluded -that John Brown and God could overthrow -it. That was all—a plain straightforward path; -but to the subtler darker man, more worldly-wise -and less religious, the arm of the Lord was not revealed, -while the evil of this world had seared his -vitals. He uncovered himself if not reverently, certainly -respectfully before the Seer; he gave him -much help and information; he turned almost imperceptibly -but surely toward Brown’s darker view -of the blood-sacrifice of slavery, but he could never -quite believe that John Brown’s tremendous plan -was humanly possible. And this attitude of Douglass -was in various degrees and strides the attitude -of the leading Negroes of his day. They believed -in John Brown but not in his plan. They knew he -was right, but they knew that for any failure in his -project they, the black men, would probably pay -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>the cost. And the horror of that cost none knew -as they.</p> - -<p class='c004'>If John Brown was to carry out his idea as he -had now definitely conceived it, he must first find -the men who could help him. On this point there -seems to have been deliberation and development -of plan, particularly as he consulted Douglass and -the Negro leaders. His earlier scheme probably -looked toward the use of Negro allies almost exclusively -outside his own family. This was eminently -fitting but impractical, as Douglass and his -fellows must have urged. White men could move -where they would in the United States, but to introduce -an armed band exclusively or mainly of -Negroes from the North into the South was difficult, -if not impossible. Nevertheless, some Negroes of -the right type were needed and to John Brown’s -mind the Underground Railroad was bringing North -the very material he required. It could not, however, -be properly trained in cities whither it drifted -both for economic reasons and for self-protection. -Brown therefore heard of Gerrit Smith’s offer of -August 1, 1846, with great interest. This wealthy -leader of the New York Abolition group took occasion -at the celebration of the twelfth anniversary -of British emancipation to offer free Negroes 100,000 -acres of his lands in the Adirondack region on easy -terms. It was not a well thought-out scheme: the -climate was bleak for Negroes, the methods of culture -then suitable, were unknown to them; while -the surveyor who laid out these farms cheated them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>as cheerily as though philanthropy had no concern -with the project. The Gerrit Smith offer was not -wholly a failure. It turned out some good Negro -farmers, gave some of its best Negro citizens of to-day -to northern New York, and trained a bishop -of the British African Church. But it did far less -than it might have done if better planned, and much -if not all of its success was due to John Brown. He -saw possibilities here both to shelter his family when -he turned definitely to what was now his single object -in life, and to train men to help him. He went -to Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, N. Y., in April, 1848, -and said: “I am something of a pioneer; I grew -up among the woods and wild Indians of Ohio and -am used to the climate and the way of life that your -colony find so trying. I will take one of your farms -myself, clear it up and plant it, and show my colored -neighbors how such work should be done; -will give them work as I have occasion, look after -them in all needful ways and be a kind of father to -them.”<a id='r71' /><a href='#f71' class='c014'><sup>[71]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His offer was gladly accepted and he moved his -family there the following year. It was a wild, -lonely place. Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote -once: “The Notch seems beyond the world, North -Elba and its half-dozen houses are beyond the Notch, -and there is a wilder little mountain road which -rises beyond North Elba. But the house we seek -is not even on that road, but behind it and beyond -it; you ride a mile or two, then take down a pair -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>of bars; beyond the bars faith takes you across -a half-cleared field, through the most difficult of -wood-paths, and after half a mile of forest you come -out upon a clearing. There is a little frame house, -unpainted, set in a girdle of black stumps, and with -all heaven about it for a wider girdle; on a high -hillside, forests on north and west,—the glorious -line of the Adirondacks on the east, and on the -south one slender road leading off to Westport, a -road so straight that you could sight a United States -marshal for five miles.”<a id='r72' /><a href='#f72' class='c014'><sup>[72]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To his family John Brown’s word was usually not -merely law but wish. They went to North Elba -cheerfully and with full knowledge of the import of -the change, for the father was frank. The daughter -Ruth writes: “While we were living in Springfield, -our house was plainly furnished, but very -comfortably, all excepting the parlor. Mother and -I had often expressed a wish that the parlor might -be furnished too, and father encouraged us that it -should be; but after he made up his mind to go to -North Elba he began to economize in many ways. -One day he called us older ones to him and said: -‘I want to plan with you a little; and I want you -all to express your minds. I have a little money to -spare; and now shall we use it to furnish the parlor, -or spend it to buy clothing for the colored people -who may need help in North Elba another year?’ -We all said, ‘Save the money.’”<a id='r73' /><a href='#f73' class='c014'><sup>[73]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It was no paradise, even for the enthusiast. Redpath -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>says: “It is too cold to raise corn there; they -can scarcely, in the most favorable seasons, obtain -a few ears for roasting. Stock must be wintered -there nearly six months in every year. I was there -on the first of November, the ground was snowy, -and winter had apparently begun—and it would -last till the middle of May. They never raise anything -to sell off that farm, except sometimes a few -fleeces. It was well, they said, if they raised their -own provisions, and could spin their own wool for -clothing.”<a id='r74' /><a href='#f74' class='c014'><sup>[74]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime the scattered isolated eddies of the anti-slavery -battles were swirling to one great current, -and more and more John Brown was becoming the -man of one idea. Impatiently he neglected his -pressing wool business. Instead of keeping his eye -on his critical London venture, he hastened across -Europe perfecting military observations. He returned -to America in time to hear all the feverish -discussion of the Fugitive Slave Law and see its -final passage. In November, 1850, he writes his -wife from Springfield: “It now seems that the -Fugitive Slave Law was to be the means of making -more Abolitionists than all the lectures we have had -for years. It really looks as if God had His hand on -this wickedness also. I of course keep encouraging -my colored friends to ‘trust in God and keep their -powder dry.’ I did so to-day at Thanksgiving -meeting publicly.”<a id='r75' /><a href='#f75' class='c014'><sup>[75]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>His Springfield meetings led to the formation of -his “League of Gileadites,” the first of his steps -toward the armed organization of Negroes. Forty-four -Negroes signed the following agreement:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“As citizens of the United States of America, -trusting in a just and merciful God, whose spirit and -all-powerful aid we humbly implore, we will ever be -true to the flag of our beloved country, always acting -under it. We, whose names are hereunto affixed, -do constitute ourselves a branch of the United -States League of Gileadites. That we will provide -ourselves at once with suitable implements, and will -aid those who do not possess the means, if any such -are disposed to join us. We invite every colored -person whose heart is engaged in the performance -of our business, whether male or female, old or -young. The duty of the aged, infirm, and young -members of the League shall be to give instant notice -to all members in case of an attack upon any of -our people. We agree to have no officers except a -treasurer and secretary pro tem., until after some -trial of courage and talent of able-bodied members -shall enable us to elect officers from those who shall -have rendered the most important services. Nothing -but wisdom and undaunted courage, efficiency, -and general good conduct shall in any way influence -us in electing officers.”<a id='r76' /><a href='#f76' class='c014'><sup>[76]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To this was added exhortation and advice by John -Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>“Nothing so charms the American people as personal -bravery,” he wrote. “Witness the case of -Cinques, of everlasting memory, on board the -<em>Amistad</em>. The trial for life of one bold and to some -extent successful man, for defending his rights in -good earnest, would arouse more sympathy throughout -the nation than the accumulated wrongs and -sufferings of more than three millions of our submissive -colored population. We need not mention -the Greeks struggling against the oppressive Turks, -the Poles against Russia, nor the Hungarians against -Austria and Russia combined, to prove this. No -jury can be found in the Northern states that would -convict a man for defending his rights to the last -extremity. This is well understood by Southern -congressmen, who insisted that the right of trial by -jury should not be granted to the fugitive. Colored -people have ten times the number of fast friends -among the whites than they suppose, and would -have ten times the number they have now were they -but half as much in earnest to secure their dearest -rights as they are to ape the follies and extravagances -of their white neighbors, and to indulge in -idle show, in ease and luxury. Just think of the -money expended by individuals in your behalf for -the last twenty years! Think of the number who -have been mobbed and imprisoned on your account! -Have any of you seen the branded hand? Do you -remember the names of Lovejoy and Torrey?”<a id='r77' /><a href='#f77' class='c014'><sup>[77]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>He then gives definite advice as to procedure -in case the arrest and the deportation of a fugitive -slave were attempted:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Should one of your number be arrested, you -must collect together as quickly as possible, so as to -outnumber your adversaries, who are taking an -active part against you. Let no able-bodied man -appear on the ground unequipped, or with his -weapons exposed to view: let that be understood -beforehand. Your plans must be known only to -yourself, and with the understanding that all traitors -must die, wherever caught and proven to be -guilty. ‘Whosoever is fearful or afraid, let him -return and depart early from Mount Gilead’ (Judges -7:3; Deut. 20:8). Give all cowards an opportunity -to show it on condition of holding their peace. -Do not delay one moment after you are ready; you -will lose all your resolution if you do. Let the first -blow be the signal for all to engage; and when engaged -do not do your work in halves, but make -clean work with your enemies,—and be sure you -meddle not with any others. By going about your -business quietly, you will get the job disposed of -before the number that an uproar would bring together -can collect; and you will have the advantage -of those who come out against you, for they will be -wholly unprepared with either equipments or matured -plans; all with them will be confusion and -terror. Your enemies will be slow to attack you -after you have done up the work nicely; and if they -should, they will have to encounter your white -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>friends as well as you; for you may safely calculate -on a division of the whites, and may by that means -get to an honorable parley.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Be firm, determined, and cool; but let it be -understood that you are not to be driven to desperation -without making it an awful dear job to others -as well as to you. Give them to know distinctly -that those who live in wooden houses should not -throw fire, and that you are just as able to suffer as -your white neighbors. After effecting a rescue, if -you are assailed, go into the houses of your most -prominent and influential white friends with your -wives; and that will effectually fasten upon them -the suspicion of being connected with you, and will -compel them to make a common cause with you, -whether they would otherwise live up to their profession -or not. This would leave them no choice in -the matter.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Some would doubtless prove themselves true of -their own choice; others would flinch. That would -be taking them at their own words. You may make -a tumult in the court room where a trial is going on -by burning gunpowder freely in paper packages, if -you cannot think of any better way to create a -momentary alarm, and might possibly give one or -more of your enemies a hoist. But in such case the -prisoner will need to take the hint at once, and bestir -himself; and so should his friends improve the opportunity -for a general rush. A lasso might possibly -be applied to a slave-catcher for once with -good effect. Hold on to your weapons, and never -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>be persuaded to leave them, part with them, or have -them far away from you. Stand by one another -and by your friends, while a drop of blood remains; -and be hanged if you must, but tell no tales out of -school. Make no confession. Union is strength. -Without some well digested arrangements, nothing -to any good purpose is likely to be done, let the demand -be never so great. Witness the case of Hamlet -and Long in New York, when there was no well defined -plan of operations or suitable preparation beforehand. -The desired end may be effectually -secured by the means proposed; namely, the enjoyment -of our inalienable rights.”<a id='r78' /><a href='#f78' class='c014'><sup>[78]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>There is evidence that this league did effective -rescue work, as did other groups of Negroes in -Boston, Philadelphia, Albany, New York and elsewhere. -In this service the Negroes could not act -alone—it would have meant mob violence on purely -racial lines;—but given a few determined white men -to join in, they could and did bear the brunt of the -fighting.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown himself was active in such rescue -work. He helped in the release of “Jerry” in -Syracuse, and writes in 1851 from Springfield: -“Since the sending off to slavery of Long from New -York, I have improved my leisure hours quite -busily with colored people here, in advising them -how to act, and in giving them all the encouragement -in my power. They very much need encouragement -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>and advice; and some of them are so -alarmed that they tell me they cannot sleep on account -of either themselves or their wives and children. -I can only say I think I have been able to do -something to revive their broken spirits. I want -all my family to imagine themselves in the same -dreadful condition. My only spare time being -taken up (often till late hours at night) in the -way I speak of, has prevented me from the -gloomy homesick feelings which had before so -much oppressed me: not that I forget my family -at all.”<a id='r79' /><a href='#f79' class='c014'><sup>[79]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His hateful lawsuits hung like a weight about John -Brown’s neck, and a feverish impatience was seizing -him: “Father did not close up his wool business in -Springfield when he went to North Elba, and had to -make several journeys back and forth in 1819–50. -He was at Springfield in January, 1851, soon after -the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, and went -around among his colored friends there, who had -been fugitives, urging them to resist the law, no -matter by what authority it should be enforced. He -told them to arm themselves with revolvers, men -and women, and not to be taken alive. When he -got to North Elba, he told us about the Fugitive -Slave Law, and bade us resist any attempt that -might be made to take any fugitive from our town, -regardless of fine or imprisonment. Our faithful -boy Cyrus was one of that class; and our feelings -were so aroused that we would all have defended -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>him, though the women folks had resorted to hot -water. Father at this time said, ‘Their cup of -iniquity is almost full.’ One evening as I was singing, -‘The Slave Father Mourning for his Children,’ -containing these words,—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘Ye’re gone from me, my gentle ones,</div> - <div class='line'>With all your shouts of mirth;</div> - <div class='line'>A silence is within my walls,</div> - <div class='line'>A darkness round my hearth,’—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>father got up and walked the floor, and before I -could finish the song, he said, ‘O Ruth! Don’t -sing any more; it is too sad!’”<a id='r80' /><a href='#f80' class='c014'><sup>[80]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>At the same time his thrifty careful attention to -minutiæ did not desert him. He keeps his eye on -North Elba even after his wife and part of the -family returned to Akron and writes: “The -colored families appear to be doing well, and to feel -encouraged. They all send much love to you. -They have constant preaching on the Sabbath; and -intelligence, morality and religion appear to be all -on the advance.”<a id='r81' /><a href='#f81' class='c014'><sup>[81]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His daughter says: “He did not lose interest in -the colored people of North Elba, and grieved over -the sad fate of one of them, Mr. Henderson, who -was lost in the woods in the winter of 1852 and -perished with the cold. Mr. Henderson was an intelligent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>and good man, and was very industrious -and father thought much of him.”<a id='r82' /><a href='#f82' class='c014'><sup>[82]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Once we find him saying: “If you find it difficult -for you to pay for Douglass’ paper, I wish you would -let me know, as I know I took liberty in ordering -it continued. You have been very kind in helping -me and I do not mean to make myself a burden.” -And again he writes: “I am much rejoiced at the -news of a religious kind in Ruth’s letter and would -be still more rejoiced to learn that all the sects who -hear the Christian name would have no more to do with -that mother of all abominations—man-stealing.”<a id='r83' /><a href='#f83' class='c014'><sup>[83]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>And the sects were thinking. All men were -thinking. A great unrest was on the land. It was -not merely moral leadership from above—it was the -push of physical and mental pain from beneath;—not -simply the cry of the Abolitionist but the up-stretching -of the slave. The vision of the damned -was stirring the western world and stirring black -men as well as white. Something was forcing the -issue—call it what you will, the Spirit of God or the -spell of Africa. It came like some great grinding -ground swell,—vast, indefinite, immeasurable but -mighty, like the dark low whispering of some infinite -disembodied voice—a riddle of the Sphinx. It -tore men’s souls and wrecked their faith. Women -cried out as cried once that tall black sibyl, -Sojourner Truth:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>“Frederick, is God dead?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“No,” thundered the Douglass, towering above -his Salem audience. “No, and because God is not -dead, slavery can only end in blood.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER VI<br /> <span class='large'>THE CALL OF KANSAS</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and -shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob -their sins.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>Just three hundred years before John Brown -pledged his family to warfare against slavery, a -black man stood on the plains of the Southwest looking -toward Kansas. It was the Negro Steven, once -slave of Dorantes, now leader and interpreter of the -Fray Marcos explorers, and the first man of the Old -World to look upon the great Southwest, if not upon -Kansas itself. Whiter men have since ignored and -ridiculed his work, sensualists have charged him -with sensuality, lords of greed have called him -greedy, and yet withal the plain truth remains: he -led the expedition that foreran Coronado, reported -back the truth of what he saw and then returned to -lay down his life among the savages.<a id='r84' /><a href='#f84' class='c014'><sup>[84]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The land he looked upon in those young years of -the sixteenth century was big with the tragic fate of -his people. Planted far to the eastward a century -later, their dark faces traveled fast westward until -slavery was secure in the valley of the Mississippi -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>and in the lower Southwest. Then the slave -barons looked behind them, and saw to their own -dismay that there could be no backward step. The -slavery of the new Cotton Kingdom in the nineteenth -century must either die or conquer a nation—it -could not hesitate or pause. It was an industrial -system built on ignorance, force and the cotton -plant. The slaves must be curbed with an iron -hand. A moment of relaxation and lo! they would -be rising either in revenge or ambition. And -slavery had made revenge and ambition one. Such -a system could not compete with intelligence, nor -with individual freedom, nor with miscellaneous -and care-demanding crops. It could not divide -territory with these things;—to do so meant -economic death and the sudden, perhaps revolutionary -upheaval of a whole social system. This -the South saw as it looked backward in the years -from 1820 to 1840. Then its bolder vision pressed -the gloom ahead, and dreamed a dazzling dream of -empire. It saw the slave system triumphant in -the great Southwest—in Mexico, in Central America -and the islands of the sea. Its softer souls, timid -with a fear prophetic of failure, still held halfheartedly -back, but bolder leaders like Davis, -Toombs and Floyd went relentlessly, ruthlessly on. -Three steps they and their forerunners took in that -great western wilderness, and other steps were -planned. Three steps—that cost uncounted treasure -in gold and blood: the first in 1820, when they -set foot beyond the Mississippi into Missouri; the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>second and bolder when they set their seal on the -spoils of raped Mexico and made it possible slave -soil; and the third and boldest, when on the soil of -Kansas they fought to enslave all territory of the -Union.</p> - -<p class='c004'>That these steps would cost much the leaders -knew, but they did not rightly reckon how much. -They risked the upheaval of parties, the enmity of -sections and the angry agitation of visionaries. If -worse came to worst, they held the trump-card of -disrupting the nation and founding a mighty slave -aristocracy to stretch from the Ohio to Venezuela -and from Cuba to Texas. One thing alone they did -not count upon and that was armed force.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The three steps did raise tremendous opposition. -The enslaving of Missouri gave birth to the early -Abolitionists—the conscience of the nation awakened -to find slavery not dead or dying but growing -and aggressive; and in these days John Brown, -typifying one phase of that terrible conscience, -swore blood-feud with this “sum of all villanies.” -Thus the first step cost.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The second step went some ways awry since California -was lost to slavery, but a new law to catch -runaways brought compensation and brought too -redoubled cost, for it raised in opposition to the -whole slave system not only Abolitionists, but Free -Soilers—those who hated not slavery but slaves. -This was a costlier move, for the sneers that checked -philanthropy were powerless against democracy, -and when the echoes of this step reached the ears of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>John Brown, he laid aside all and became the man -of one idea, and that idea the extinction of slavery -in the United States.</p> - -<p class='c004'>But it was the third step that was costliest—the -step that sought to impose slavery by law and blood -on free labor lands despite the lands’ wish. Of all -the steps it was the wildest and most foolish, for it -arrayed against slavery not only philanthropy and -democracy, but all the world-old forces of plain -justice. It compelled those who loved the right to -meet law and force by force and lawlessness, and -one man that led that lawless fight on the plains of -Kansas and struck its bloodiest blow, was John -Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown’s decision to go to Kansas was sudden. -Unexpectedly the centre of the slavery battle -had swung westward. A shrewd bidder for the -presidency offered the South the unawaited bribe of -Kansas territory for their votes and they eagerly -sprang at the offer. Stephen Douglas drove the -bill through Congress, and Kansas stood ready for -its slave population. But not only for slaves—also -for freemen as Eli Thayer quickly saw, and the representations -of him and his associates aroused the -sons of John Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown himself looked on with interest, but -he had other plans. He wrote to his son John: -“If you or any of my family are disposed to go -to Kansas or Nebraska with a view to help defeat -Satan and his legions in that direction, I have not -a word to say; but I feel committed to operate in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>another part of the field. If I were not so committed, -I would be on my way this fall.”<a id='r85' /><a href='#f85' class='c014'><sup>[85]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown’s plans were in the Alleghanies. At -North Elba lay his northern stronghold, and at -Harper’s Ferry lay the gates to the Great Black -Way. Here he was convinced was the keystone of -the slavery arch and here he must strike. So in -former years Gabriel and Turner believed; so in -after years others believed; but it was not till -Grant floated down this path in a sea of blood that -slavery finally fell.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The sons of John Brown were, however, greatly -attracted by the new western lands. His eldest son -writes:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“During the years of 1853 and 1854, most of the -leading Northern newspapers were not only full of -glowing accounts of the extraordinary fertility, -healthfulness, and beauty of the territory of Kansas, -then newly opened for settlement, but of urgent -appeals to all lovers of freedom who desired homes -in a new region to go there as settlers, and by their -votes save Kansas from the curse of slavery. Influenced -by these considerations, in the month of -October, 1854, five of the sons of John Brown,—John, -Jr., Jason, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon,—then -residents of the state of Ohio, made their arrangements -to emigrate to Kansas. Their combined -property consisted chiefly of eleven head of cattle, -mostly young, and three horses. Ten of this number -were valuable on account of the breed. Thinking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>these especially desirable in a new country, Owen, -Frederick, and Salmon took them by way of the -lakes to Chicago, thence to Meridosia, Ill., where -they were wintered; and in the following spring -drove them into Kansas to a place selected by these -brothers for settlement, about eight miles west of the -town of Osawatomie. My brother Jason and his -family, and I with my family followed at the opening -of navigation in the spring of 1855, going by -way of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis. -There we purchased two small tents, a plough, and -some smaller farming tools, and a hand-mill for -grinding corn. At this period there were no railroads -west of St. Louis; our journey must be continued -by boat on the Missouri at a time of extremely -low water, or by stage at great expense. We chose -the river route, taking passage on the steamer <em>New -Lucy</em> which too late we found crowded with passengers, -mostly men from the South bound for -Kansas. That they were from the South was plainly -indicated by their language and dress; while their -drinking, profanity, and display of revolvers and -bowie-knives—openly worn as an essential part of -their make-up—clearly showed the class to which -they belonged, and that their mission was to aid in -establishing slavery in Kansas.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A box of fruit trees and grape-vines which my -brother Jason had brought from Ohio, our plough, -and the few agricultural implements we had on the -deck of that steamer looked lonesome; for these -were all we could see which were adapted to the occupation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>of peace. Then for the first time arose in -our minds the query: Must the fertile prairies of -Kansas, through a struggle at arms, be first secured -to freedom before freemen can sow and reap? If so, -how poorly we were prepared for such work will be -seen when I say that for arms five of us brothers -had only two small squirrel rifles and one revolver. -But before we reached our destination, other matters -claimed our attention. Cholera, which then prevailed -to some extent at St. Louis, broke out among -our passengers, a number of whom died. Among -these brother Jason’s son, Austin, aged four years, -the elder of his two children, fell a victim to this -scourge; and while our boat lay by for repair of a -broken rudder at Waverly, Mo., we buried him at -night near the panic-stricken town, our lonely way -illumined only by the lightning of a furious thunderstorm. -True to his spirit of hatred of Northern -people, our captain, without warning to us on shore, -cast off his lines and left us to make our way by -stage to Kansas City to which place we had already -paid our fare by boat. Before we reached there, -however, we became very hungry, and endeavored -to buy food at various farmhouses on the way; but -the occupants, judging from our speech that we were -not from the South, always denied us, saying, ‘We -have nothing for you.’ The only exception to this -answer was at the stage house at Independence, Mo.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Arrived in Kansas, her lovely prairies and -wooded streams seemed to us indeed like a haven -of rest. Here in prospect we saw our cattle increased -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>to hundreds and possibly to thousands, fields of -corn, orchards and vineyards. At once we set about -the work through which only our visions of prosperity -could be realized. Our tents would suffice to -shelter until we could plough our land, plant corn -and other crops, fruit trees, and vines, cut and secure -as hay enough of the waving grass to supply our -stock the coming winter. These cheering prospects -beguiled our labors through the late spring until -midsummer, by which time nearly all of our number -were prostrated by fever and ague that would not -stay cured; the grass cut for hay mouldered in the -wet for the want of the care we could not bestow, -and our crop of corn wasted by cattle we could not -restrain. If these minor ills and misfortunes were -all, they could be easily borne; but now began to -gather the dark clouds of war.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“An election for a first territorial legislature had -been held on the 30th of March of this year. On -that day the residents of Missouri along the borders -came into Kansas by thousands, and took forcible -possession of the polls. In the words of Horace -Greeley, ‘There was no disguise, no pretense of legality, -no regard for decency. On the evening before -and the day of the election, nearly a thousand Missourians -arrived at Lawrence in wagons and on -horseback, well armed with rifles, pistols and bowie-knives, -and two pieces of cannon loaded with musket -balls. Although but 831 legal electors in the -Territory voted, there were no less than 6,320 votes -polled. They elected all the members of the legislature, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>with a single exception in either house,—the -two Free Soilers being chosen from a remote district -which the Missourians overlooked or did not care -to reach.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Early in the spring and summer of this year the -actual settlers at their convention repudiated this -fraudulently chosen legislature, and refused to obey -its enactments. Upon this, the border papers of -Missouri in flaming appeals urged the ruffian horde -that had previously invaded Kansas to arm, and -otherwise prepare to march again into the territory -when called upon, as they soon would be, to ‘aid in -enforcing laws.’ War of some magnitude, at least, -now appeared to us brothers to be inevitable; and I -wrote to our father, whose home was in North Elba, -N. Y., asking him to procure and send us, if he -could, arms and ammunition, so that we could be -better prepared to defend ourselves and our neighbors.”<a id='r86' /><a href='#f86' class='c014'><sup>[86]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown hesitated. His fighting blood was -stirred and yet there was the plan of years yet unrealized. -Then a new vision dawned in his mind. -Perhaps this was the call of the Lord and the path -to Virginia might lie through Kansas. He hurriedly -consulted his friends—Douglass, McCune -Smith, the cultured Negro physician of New York, -and Gerrit Smith, and in November, 1854, wrote -home: “I feel still pretty much determined to go -back to North Elba; but expect Owen and Frederick -will set out for Kansas on Monday next, with cattle -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>belonging to John, Jason and themselves, intending -to winter somewhere in Illinois.... Gerrit -Smith wishes me to go back to North Elba; from -Douglass and Dr. McCune Smith I have not yet -heard.”<a id='r87' /><a href='#f87' class='c014'><sup>[87]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His business delayed him in Ohio and he still -wrote of his going to North Elba. Then followed -the Syracuse convention of Abolitionists and a new -revelation to John Brown. For the first time he -came into contact with the great Abolition movement. -He found that money was forthcoming. -Here were men willing to pay if others would work. -It was the call of God and he answered: “Here -am I.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Redpath says: “When in session John Brown -appeared in that convention and made a very fiery -speech, during which he said he had four sons in -Kansas, and had three others who were desirous of -going there, to aid in fighting the battles of freedom. -He could not consent to go unless he could -go armed, and he would like to arm all his sons; -but his poverty prevented him from doing so. -Funds were contributed on the spot; principally by -Gerrit Smith.”<a id='r88' /><a href='#f88' class='c014'><sup>[88]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He writes joyfully home:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Dear wife and children,—I reached here on the -first day of the convention, and I have reason to -bless God that I came; for I have met with a most -warm reception from all, so far as I know, and except -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>by a few sincere, honest, peace friends, a most -hearty approval of my intention of arming my sons -and other friends in Kansas. I received to-day -donations amounting to a little over sixty dollars,—twenty -from Gerrit Smith, five from an old British -officer; others giving smaller sums with such earnest -and affectionate expression of their good wishes as -did me more good than money even. John’s two -letters were introduced, and read with such effect -by Gerrit Smith as to draw tears from numerous -eyes in the great collection of people present. The -convention has been one of the most interesting -meetings I ever attended in my life; and I made a -great addition to the number of warm-hearted and -honest friends.”<a id='r89' /><a href='#f89' class='c014'><sup>[89]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The die was cast and John Brown left for Kansas. -Instead of sending the money and arms, says his -son John, “he came on with them himself, accompanied -by his brother-in-law, Henry Thompson, and -my brother Oliver. In Iowa he bought a horse and -covered wagon; concealing the arms in this and conspicuously -displaying his surveying implements, he -crossed into Missouri near Waverly, and at that -place disinterred the body of his grandson, and -brought all safely through to our settlement, arriving -there about the 6th of October, 1855.”<a id='r90' /><a href='#f90' class='c014'><sup>[90]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>His daughter says: “On leaving us finally to -go to Kansas that summer, he said, ‘If it is so painful -for us to part with the hope of meeting again, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>how dreadful must be the feelings of hundreds of -poor slaves who are separated for life.’”<a id='r91' /><a href='#f91' class='c014'><sup>[91]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>So John Brown reached Kansas to strike the blow -for freedom. Not that he was the central figure of -Kansas territorial history so far as casual eyes could -see, or the acknowledged leader of men and measures; -rather he seemed and was but a humble coworker, -appearing and disappearing here and there,—now -startling men with the grim decision of his -actions, now lost and hidden from public view. But -it is not always the apparent leaders who do the -world’s work. More often those who sit in high -places, whom men see and hear, do but represent -or mask public opinion and the social conscience, -while down in the blood and dust of battle stoop -those who delivered the master-stroke—the makers -of the thoughts of men. So in Kansas Robinson, -Lane, Atchison and Geary were the conspicuous -public leaders: Robinson, the canny Yankee, -whose astute reading of the signs of the times -proved in the end wise and correct but left him always -the opportunist and politician; Lane, whose -impetuous daring and rough devotion led thousands -of immigrants out of the North and drove hundreds -of slaveholders back to Missouri; Atchison, who -led the determination and ruffianism of the South; -and Geary, who voiced the saner nation. And yet -one cannot read Kansas history without feeling that -the man who in all this bewildering broil was least -the puppet of circumstances—the man who most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>clearly saw the real crux of the conflict, most definitely -knew his own convictions and was readiest -at the crisis for decisive action, was a man whose -leadership lay not in his office, wealth or influence, but -in the white flame of his utter devotion to an ideal.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To comprehend this, one must pick from the confused -tangle of Kansas territorial history the main -thread of its unraveling and then show how Brown’s -life twined with it. And this is no easy task. Some -time before or after 1850 Southern leaders had tacitly -fixed the westward extension of the Compromise line -of 1820 at the northern line of Missouri. When, -then, the bill for organizing this western territory -appeared innocently in Congress, it was hustled -back to committee, and appeared finally as the celebrated -Kansas-Nebraska Bill which formed two territories, -Kansas and Nebraska. It was the secret -understanding of the promoters of the bill that -Kansas would become slave territory and Nebraska -free, and this tacit compact was expressed in the -formula that the people of each territory should -have the right “to form and regulate their domestic -institutions in their own way, subject only to the -Constitution of the United States.” But the game -was so easy, and the price so cheap that the Southern -leaders and their office-hunting Northern tools -were not satisfied, even with the gain of territory, -and so juggled the bill as virtually to leave all territory -open to slavery even against the will of its -people, while eventually they fortified their daring -by a Supreme Court decision.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>The North, on the other hand, angry enough at -even the necessity of disputing slavery north of the -long established line, nevertheless began in good -faith to prepare to vote slavery out of Kansas by -pouring in free settlers.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thereupon ensued one of the strangest duels of -modern times—a political battle between two economic -systems: On the one side were all the machinery -of government, close proximity to the -battle-field and a deep-seated social ideal which did -not propose to abide by the rules of the game; on -the other hand were strong moral conviction, pressing -economic necessity and capacity for organization. -It took four years to fight the battle—from -the middle of 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Bill -was passed and the Indians were hustled out of their -rights, until 1858, when the pro-slavery constitution -was definitely buried under free state votes.</p> - -<p class='c004'>In the beginning, the fall of 1854, the fatal misunderstanding -of the two sections was clear: The -New England Emigrant Aid Society assumed that -the contest was simply a matter of votes, and that if -they hurried settlers to Kansas from the North a -majority for freedom was reasonably certain. Missouri -and the South, on the other hand, assumed -that Kansas was already of right a slave state and resented -as an impertinence the attempt to make it free -by any means. Thus at Lawrence, on August 1st, -the bewildered and unarmed Northern settlers and -their immediate successors, such as John Brown’s -sons, were literally pounced upon by the furious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>Missourians, who crossed the border like an invading -army. “To those who have qualms of conscience -as to violating laws, state or national, the -time has come when such impositions must be -disregarded, as your rights and property are in -danger,” cried Stringfellow of Missouri. Thereupon -5,000 Missourians proceeded to elect a pro-slavery -legislature and Congressional delegate; and led by -what Sumner called “hirelings, picked from the -drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy civilization,” -flourished their pistols and bowie-knives, driving -some of the free state immigrants back home and -the rest into apprehensive inaction and silence.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Snatching thus the whip-hand, with pro-slavery -governor, judges, marshal and legislature, they then -proceeded in 1855 to deliver blow upon blow to the -free state cause until it seemed inevitable that -Kansas should become a slave state, with a code of -laws which made even an assertion against the right -of slaveholding a felony punishable with imprisonment.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The free state settlers hesitatingly began to take -serious counsel. They found themselves in three -parties: a few who hated slavery, more who hated -Negroes, and many who hated slaves. Easily the -political <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">finesse</span></i>, afterward unsuccessfully attempted, -might now have pitted the parties against one another -in such irreconcilable difference as would slip -even slavery through. But unblushing force and -fraud united them to an appeal for justice at Big -Springs in the fall of 1855—where John Brown’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>sons were present and active—and a declaration of -passive, with a threat of active, resistance to the -“bogus” legislature. A peace program was laid -down: they would ignore the patent fraud, organize -a state and appeal to Congress and the nation. -This they did in October and November, 1855, -making Topeka their nominal and Lawrence their -real capital.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The pro-slavery party, however, was quick to see -the weakness of this program and they took the -first opportunity to force the free state men into -collision with the authorities. A characteristic occasion -soon arose: a peaceful free state settler was -brutally killed and instead of arresting the murderer, -the pro-slavery sheriff arrested the chief witness -against him. A few of the bolder free state neighbors -released the prisoner and took him to Lawrence. -Immediately the sheriff gathered an army of 1,500 -deputies from Missouri, and surrounded 500 free -state men in Lawrence just after John Brown arrived -in Kansas. Things looked serious enough even to -the drunken governor, and with the aid of some -artifice, liquor and stormy weather, the threatened -clash was temporarily averted. The wild and ice-bound -winter that fell on Kansas gave a moment’s -pause, but with the opening spring the pro-slavery -forces gathered themselves for a last crushing blow. -Armed bands came out of the South with flying banners, -the Missouri River was blockaded to Northern -immigrants, and the border ruffians rode unhindered -over the Missouri line. The free state men, alarmed, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>appealed to the East and immigrants were hurried -forward; but slavery “with the chief justice, the -tamed and domesticated chief justice who waited on -him like a familiar spirit,” declared the passive resistance -movement “constructive treason” and the -pro-slavery marshal arrested the free state leaders -from the governor down, and clapped them into -prison. Two thousand Missourians then surrounded -Lawrence and while the hesitating free state men -were striving to keep the peace, sacked and half -burned the town on the day before Brooks broke -Sumner’s head in the Senate chamber, for telling -the truth about Kansas.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The deed was done. Kansas was a slave territory. -The free state program had been repudiated -by the United States government and had broken -like a reed before the assaults of the pro-slavery -party. There were mutterings in the East but the -cause of freedom was at its lowest ebb. Then suddenly -there came the flash of an awful stroke—a deed -of retaliation from the free state side so bloody, -relentless and cruel that it sent a shudder through -all Kansas and Missouri, and aroused the nation. -In one black night, John Brown, four of his sons, a -son-in-law and two others, the chosen executors of -the boldest free state leaders, seized and killed five -of the worst of the border ruffians who were harrying -the free state settlers, and practically swept out -of existence the “Dutch Henry” pro-slavery settlement -in the Swamp of the Swan. The rank and -file of the free state men themselves recoiled at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>first in consternation and loudly, then faintly, disclaimed -the deed. Suddenly they saw and laid the -lie aside, and seized their Sharps rifles. There -was war in Kansas—a quick sweeping change from -the passive appeal to law and justice which did not -respond, to the appeal to force and blood. The -deed did not make Kansas free—no one, least of all -John Brown, dreamed that it would. But it brought -to the fore in free state councils the men who were -determined to fight for freedom, and it meant the -end of passive resistance. The carnival of crime -and rapine that ensued was a disgrace to civilization -but it was the cost of freedom, and it was less than -the price of repression. There were pitched battles, -the building and besieging of forts, the burning of -homes, stealing of property, raping of women and -murder of men, until the scared governor signed a -truce, exchanged prisoners and fled for his life. The -wildest pro-slavery elements, now loosed from all restraint, -planned a last desperate blow. Nearly -3,000 men were mustered in Missouri. The new -governor, whose <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">cortège</span></i> barely escaped highway -robbery, found “desolation and ruin” on every -hand; “homes and firesides were deserted; the -smoke of burning dwellings darkened the atmosphere; -women and children, driven from their habitations, -wandered over the prairies and among the -woodlands, or sought refuge and protection even -among the Indian tribes; the highways were infested -with numerous predatory bands, and the -towns were fortified and garrisoned by armies of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>conflicting partisans, each excited almost to frenzy, -and determined upon mutual extermination.” Not -only that, but the territorial “treasury was bankrupt, -there were no pecuniary resources within herself -to meet the exigencies of the time; the Congressional -appropriations intended to defray the expenses -of a year, were insufficient to meet the demands -of a fortnight; the laws were null, the courts -virtually suspended and the civil arm of the government -almost entirely powerless.”<a id='r92' /><a href='#f92' class='c014'><sup>[92]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Governor Geary came in the nick of time and he -came with peremptory orders from the frightened -government at Washington, who saw that they -must either check the whirlwind they had raised, -or lose the presidential election of 1856. For not -only was there “hell in Kansas” but the North -was aflame—the very thing which John Brown and -Lane and their fellows designed. A great convention -met at Buffalo and mass-meetings were held -everywhere. Clothes, money, arms, and men began -to pour out of the North. It was no longer a program -of peaceful voting; it was fight. The Southern -party was certain to be swamped by an army of men, -who, though most of them had few convictions as to -slavery, did not propose to settle among slaves. -The wilder pro-slavery men did not heed. When -Shannon ran away and before Geary came, they -planned to strike their blow at the free state forces. -An army of nearly three thousand was collected; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>one wing sacked Osawatomie and the main body -was to capture and destroy Lawrence. No sooner -was this done than the force of the United States -army was to be called in to keep the conquered -down. The success of the plan at this juncture -might have precipitated Civil War in 1856 instead -of 1861, and Geary hurried breathlessly to ward off -the mad blow. He succeeded, and by strenuous exertions -he was able with some truth to report in -Washington before election time: “Peace now -reigns in Kansas.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>The news, though it helped to elect Buchanan, -was received but coldly in Washington, for the -Southerners knew how high a price Geary had paid. -So evidently was the governor out of favor that before -the spring of 1857, the third governor fled in -mad haste from his post because of the enmity of -his own supporters. It was clear to Washington -that Geary’s recognition of the free state cause, with -the heavy immigration, had already destroyed the -possibility of making Kansas a slave state. There -were still, however, certain possibilities for <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">finesse</span></i> -and political maneuvering. Slaves were already in -Kansas and the Dred Scott Decision on March 6, -1857, legalized them there. Moreover, southeast -Kansas, thanks to one of the most brutal raids in -its history, in the fall of 1856, was still strongly -pro-slavery. The constitutional convention was -also in that party’s hands. By gracefully yielding -the legislature therefore to the patent free state -majority, it seemed possible that political manipulation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>might legalize the slaves already in the -state. Once this was conceded, there was still a -chance to make Kansas a slave state. The pro-slavery -men, however, trained in the upheaval of -1856, were poor material to follow and support the -astute Governor Walker. They itched for the law -of the club, and made but bungling work of the -Lecompton constitution. Then too the more determined -spirits in the Territory, together with -many naturally lawless elements, saw the pro-slavery -danger in southeast Kansas, and proceeded -to wage guerrilla warfare against the squatters on -claims whence free state men had been driven. It -was a cruel relentless battle on both sides with -murder and rapine—the last expiring flame of the -four years’ war dying down to sullen peace in the -fall of 1858, after the English bill with its bribe of -land for slaves had been killed in the spring.</p> - -<p class='c004'>So Kansas was free. In vain did the sullen Senate -in Washington fume and threaten and keep the -young state knocking for admission; the game -had been played and lost and Kansas was free. -Free because the slave barons played for an imperial -stake in defiance of modern humanity and -economic development. Free because strong men -had suffered and fought not against slavery but -against slaves in Kansas. Above all, free because -one man hated slavery and on a terrible night rode -down with his sons among the shadows of the -Swamp of the Swan—that long, low-winding and -sombre stream “fringed everywhere with woods” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>and dark with bloody memory. Forty-eight hours -they lingered there, and then of a pale May morning -rode up to the world again. Behind them lay -five twisted, red and mangled corpses. Behind them -rose the stifled wailing of widows and little children. -Behind them the fearful driver gazed and -shuddered. But before them rode a man, tall, dark, -grim-faced and awful. His hands were red and -his name was John Brown. Such was the cost of -freedom.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER VII<br /> <span class='large'>THE SWAMP OF THE SWAN</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save -the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into -his hands hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>“Did you go out under the auspices of the Emigrant -Aid Society?” asked the Inquisition of John -Brown in after years. He answered grimly: “No, -sir, I went out under the auspices of John Brown.” -In broad outline the story of his coming to Kansas -has been told in the last chapter, but the picture -needs now to be filled in with the details of his personal -fortunes, and a more careful study of the development -of his personal character in this critical -period of his career. The place of his coming was -storied and romantic. French-fathered Indians -wheeling onward in their swift canoes saw stately -birds in the reedy lowlands of eastern Kansas and -called the marsh the Swamp of the Swan. Up from -the dark sluggish rivers rose rolling goodly lands -over which John Brown’s brother Edward had -passed to California in 1849, and on which his -brother-in-law had settled as early as 1854. Here, -too, naturally had followed the five pioneering sons -in April, 1855. They came hating slavery and yet -peacefully, unarmed, and in all good faith, with -cattle and horses and trees and vines to settle in a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>free land. In Missouri they met hatred and inhospitality, -and in Kansas sickness and freezing -weather. Nevertheless they were stout-hearted and -hopeful, and went bravely to work until the political -storm broke, when they wrote home hastily for -arms to defend themselves. John Brown, as we -have seen, brought the arms himself, taking his son -Oliver and his son-in-law Henry with him. “We -reached the place where the boys are located one -week ago, late at night,” he wrote October 13, 1855. -“We had between us all, sixty cents in cash when -we arrived. We found our folks in a most uncomfortable -situation, with no houses to shelter one of -them, no hay or corn fodder of any account secured, -shivering over their little fires, all exposed -to the dreadful cutting winds, morning, evening -and stormy days.” All went to work to build cabins -and secure fodder, keeping at the same time a careful -eye on the political developments. On free state -election day, October 9th, “hearing that there was a -prospect of difficulty, we all turned out most thoroughly -armed,” but “no enemy appeared” and -Brown was encouraged to think that the prospect -of Kansas becoming free “is brightening every -day.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>By November the settlers, he wrote, “have made -but little progress, but we have made a little. We -have got a shanty three logs high, chinked and -mudded, and roofed with our tent, and a chimney -so far advanced that we can keep a fire in it for -Jason. John has his shanty a little better fixed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>than it was, but miserable enough now; and we -have got their little crop of beans secured, which -together with johnny cake, mush and milk, pumpkins -and squashes, constitute our fare.” And he -adds, “After all God’s tender mercies are not taken -from us.... I feel more and more confident -that slavery will soon die out here—and to God be -the praise!”</p> - -<p class='c004'>On November 23d he writes: “We have got -both families so sheltered that they need not suffer -hereafter; have got part of the hay (which had been -in cocks) secured; made some progress in preparation -to build a house for John and Owen; and Salmon -has caught a prairie wolf in a steel trap. We -continue to have a good deal of stormy weather—rains -with severe winds, and forming into ice as -they fall, together with cold nights that freeze -the ground considerably. Still God has not forsaken -us!”<a id='r93' /><a href='#f93' class='c014'><sup>[93]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It was thus that John Brown came to Kansas and -stood ready to fight for freedom. No sooner had he -stepped on Kansas soil, however, than it was plain -to him and to others that the cause for which he -was fighting was far different from that for which -most of the settlers were willing to risk life and -property. The difference came out at the first -meeting of settlers in the little Osawatomie township. -Redpath says: “The politicians of the neighborhood -were carefully pruning resolutions so as to -suit every variety of anti-slavery extensionists; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>more especially that class of persons whose opposition -to slavery was founded on expediency—the -selfishness of race, and caste, and interest: men who -were desirous that Kansas should be consecrated to -free white labor only, not to freedom for all and above -all.” The resolution which aroused the old man’s -anger declared that Kansas should be a free white -state, thereby favoring the exclusion of Negroes and -mulattoes, whether slave or free. He rose to speak, -and soon alarmed and disgusted the politicians by -asserting the manhood of the Negro race, and expressing -his earnest, anti-slavery convictions with a -force and vehemence little likely to suit the hybrids.<a id='r94' /><a href='#f94' class='c014'><sup>[94]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Nothing daunted by the cold reception of his -radical ideas here, Brown strove to extend them -when a larger opportunity came at the first beleaguering -of Lawrence. It was in December, 1855, -when rumors of the surrounding of Lawrence by the -governor and his pro-slavery followers came to the -Browns. The old man wrote home: “These reports -appeared to be well authenticated, but we -could get no further accounts of the matters; and I -left this for the place where the boys are settled, at -evening, intending to go to Lawrence to learn the -facts the next day. John was, however, started on -horseback; but before he had gone many rods, word -came that our help was immediately wanted. On -getting this last news, it was at once agreed to break -up at John’s camp, and take Wealthy and Johnnie -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>to Jason’s camp (some two miles off), and that all -the men but Henry, Jason, and Oliver should at -once set off for Lawrence under arms; those three -being wholly unfit for duty. We then set about -providing a little corn bread and meat, blankets, -and cooking utensils, running bullets and loading -all our guns, pistols, etc. The five set off in the -afternoon, and after a short rest in the night (which -was quite dark), continued our march until after -daylight; next morning, when we got our breakfast, -started again, and reached Lawrence in the forenoon, -all of us more or less lamed by our tramp.”<a id='r95' /><a href='#f95' class='c014'><sup>[95]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The band approached the town at sunset, looming -strangely on the horizon: an old horse, a homely -wagon and seven stalwart men armed with pikes, -swords, pistols and guns. John Brown was immediately -put in command of a company. He -found that already “negotiations had commenced -between Governor Shannon (having a force of some -fifteen or sixteen hundred men) and the principal -leaders of the free state men, they having a force -of some five hundred men at that time. These -were busy, night and day, fortifying the town with -embankments and circular earthworks, up to the -time of the treaty with the governor, as an attack -was constantly looked for, notwithstanding the -negotiations then pending. This state of things -continued from Friday until Sunday evening,”<a id='r96' /><a href='#f96' class='c014'><sup>[96]</sup></a> -when Governor Shannon was induced to enter the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>town and after some parley a treaty was announced. -Immediately Brown’s suspicions were aroused. He -surmised that the governor’s party had not thus -lightly given up the fight for slavery, and he feared -that the leading free state politicians had sacrificed -the principles for which he was fighting for the -sake of the temporary truce. Already the drunken -governor was making conciliatory remarks to the -crowd in front of the free state hotel, the free state -Governor Robinson replying, when John Brown, -mounting a piece of timber at the corner of the house, -began a fiery speech. “He said that the people of -Missouri had come to Kansas to destroy Lawrence; -that they had beleaguered the town for two weeks, -threatening its destruction; that they came for -blood; that he believed, ‘without the shedding of -blood there is no remission’; and asked for volunteers -to go under his command, and attack the pro-slavery -camp stationed near Franklin, some four -miles from Lawrence.... He demanded to -know what the terms were. If he understood -Governor Shannon’s speech, something had been -conceded, and he conveyed the idea that the territorial -laws were to be observed. Those laws he denounced -and spit upon, and would never obey—no! -The crowd was fired by his earnestness and -a great echoing shout arose: ‘No! No! Down -with the bogus laws. Lead us out to fight first!’ -For a moment matters looked serious to the free -state leaders who had so ingeniously engineered the -compromise, and they hastened to assure Brown -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>that he was mistaken; that there had been no surrendering -of principles on their side.”<a id='r97' /><a href='#f97' class='c014'><sup>[97]</sup></a> The real -terms of the treaty were kept secret, but Brown -with his usual loyalty accepted their word as true -and wrote exultingly home: “So ended this last -Kansas invasion,—the Missourians returning with -flying colors, after incurring heavy expenses, suffering -great exposure, hardships, and privations, -not having fought any battles, burned or destroyed -any infant towns or Abolition presses; leaving the -free state men organized and armed, and in full -possession of the Territory; not having fulfilled any -of all their dreadful threatenings, except to murder -one unarmed man, and to commit some robberies -and waste of property upon the defenseless families, -unfortunately within their power. We learn by -their papers that they boast of a great victory -over the Abolitionists; and well they may. Free -state men have only hereafter to retain the footing -they have gained, and Kansas is free.”<a id='r98' /><a href='#f98' class='c014'><sup>[98]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The Wakarusa “treaty,” however, was but a -winter’s truce as John Brown soon saw; his distrust -of the compromisers and politicians grew, and -he tried to get his own channels of news from the -seat of government at Washington. “We are very -anxious to know what Congress is doing. We hear -that Frank Pierce means to crush the men of -Kansas. I do not know how well he may succeed, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>but I think he may find his hands full before it is -all over.”<a id='r99' /><a href='#f99' class='c014'><sup>[99]</sup></a> And Joshua R. Giddings assures him -that the President “never will dare to employ the -troops of the United States to shoot the citizens of -Kansas.”<a id='r100' /><a href='#f100' class='c014'><sup>[100]</sup></a> Yet the President did dare. Not only -were regular troops put into the hands of the Kansas -slave power, but armed bands from the South appeared, -and one in particular from Georgia encamped -on the Swamp of the Swan near the Brown settlement. -John Brown’s procedure was characteristic. -With his surveying instruments in hand one May -morning, he sauntered into their camp. He was -immediately taken for a government surveyor and -consequently “sound on the goose,” for “every -governor sent here, every secretary, every judge, -every Indian agent, every land surveyor, every -clerk in every office, believed in making Kansas a -slave state. All the money sent here by the -national government was disbursed by pro-slavery -officials to pro-slavery menials.”<a id='r101' /><a href='#f101' class='c014'><sup>[101]</sup></a> Brown took -with him, his son says, “four of my brothers,—Owen, -Frederick, Salmon, and Oliver,—as chain -carriers, axman, and marker, and found a section -line which, on following, led through the camp of -these men. The Georgians indulged in the utmost -freedom of expression. One of them, who appeared -to be the leader of the company, said: ‘We’ve -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>come here to stay. We won’t make no war on -them as minds their own business; but all the -Abolitionists, such as them damned Browns over -there, we’re going to whip, drive out, or kill,—any -way to get shut of them, by God!’”<a id='r102' /><a href='#f102' class='c014'><sup>[102]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Many of the intended victims were openly -mentioned, and every word said was calmly written -down in John Brown’s surveyor’s book. Soon this -information was corroborated by the Southern -camp being moved nearer the Brown settlement. -Secret marauding and stealing began. Brown -warned the intended victims, and, at a night meeting, -it seems to have been decided that at the first -sign of a move on the part of the “border ruffians” -the ringleaders should be seized and lynched. Not -only was this the opinion at Osawatomie, but -secret councils throughout the state were beginning -to lose faith in conciliation and compromise, and -to listen to more radical advice. From Lawrence, -too, there came encouragement to John Brown to -take the lead in this darker forward movement. -There was little open talk or explicit declaration, -but it was generally understood that the next -aggressive move in the Swamp of the Swan meant -retaliation and that John Brown would strike the -blow.</p> - -<p class='c004'>While, however, the free state leaders were willing -to let this radical hater of slavery thus defend -the frontiers of their cause, they themselves deemed -it wise still to stick to the policy of passive resistance, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>and their wisdom cost them dear. On the -21st of May the pro-slavery forces swooped on -Lawrence, and burned and sacked it, while its -citizens stood trembling by and raised no hand in -its defense. John Brown knew nothing of this until -it was too late to help. Notwithstanding, he -hurried to the scene, and sat down by the smoldering -ashes in grim anger. He was “indignant that -there had been no resistance; that Lawrence was -not defended; and denounced the members of the -committee and leading free state men as cowards, -or worse.” It seemed to Brown nothing less than a -crime for men thus to lie down and be kicked by -ruffians. “Caution, caution, sir!” he burst out at a -discreet old gentleman, “I am eternally tired of -hearing that word caution—it is nothing but the -word of cowardice.”<a id='r103' /><a href='#f103' class='c014'><sup>[103]</sup></a> Yet there seemed nothing to -do then, and he was about to break camp when a -boy came up riding swiftly. The ruffians at Dutch -Henry’s crossing, he said, had been warning the -defenseless women in the Brown settlement that the -free state families must leave by Saturday or Sunday, -else they would be driven out. The Brown -women, hastily gathering up their children and -valuables, had fled by ox-cart to the house of a -kinsman farther away. Two houses and a store in -the German settlement had been burned.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown arose. “I will attend to those fellows,” -he said grimly. “Something must be done to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>show these barbarians that we too have rights!”<a id='r104' /><a href='#f104' class='c014'><sup>[104]</sup></a> -He called four of his sons, Watson, Frederick, Owen -and Oliver, his son-in-law, Henry Thompson, and a -German, whose home lay in ashes. A neighbor -with wagon and horses offered to carry the band, -and the cutlasses were carefully sharpened. An -uneasy feeling crept through the onlookers. They -knew that John Brown was going to strike a blow -for freedom in Kansas, but they did not understand -just what that blow would be. There were hesitation -and whispering, and one at least ventured a -mild remonstrance, but Brown shook him off in disgust. -As the wagon moved off, a cheer arose from -the company left behind.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was two o’clock on Friday afternoon that the -eight men started toward the Swamp of the Swan. -Arriving in the neighborhood they spent Saturday -in quietly and secretly investigating the situation, -and in gathering evidence of the intentions of the -“border ruffians.” Although the exact facts have -never all been told, it seems clear that a meeting of -the intended victims was secured at which John -Brown himself presided. Probably it was then decided -that the seven ringleaders of the projected -deviltry must be killed, and John Brown was appointed -to see that the deed was done. The men -condemned were among the worst of their kind. -One was a liquor dealer in whose disreputable dive -the United States court was held. His brother, a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>giant of six feet four, was a thief and a bully whose -pastime was insulting free state women. The third -was the postmaster, who managed to avoid direct -complicity in the crime, but shared the spoils. -Next came the probate judge, who harried the free -state men with warrants of all sorts; and lastly, -three miserable drunken tools, formerly slave-chasers -who had come to Kansas with their bloodhounds -and were ready for any kind of evil.</p> - -<p class='c004'>These were not the leaders of the pro-slavery -party in Kansas, but rather the dogs which were to -worry the free state men to death. The ringleaders -sat securely hedged back of United States bayonets -and the Missouri militia, but their tools depended -for their safety on terrorizing the localities wherein -they lived. Here then, said John Brown, was the -spot to strike and, once sentence of death had been -formally passed, the band hurried to its task. The -saloon lay on the creek where the great highway -from Leavenworth in the northeastern part of the -state crossed on its way to Fort Scott. Around it -within an hour’s walk were the cabins of the others. -In all cases the proceeding was similar: a silent approach -and a quick sharp knocking in the night. -The inmates leapt startled from their beds, for midnight -rappings were ominous there. They hesitated -to open the door, but the demand was peremptory -and the door was frail. Then the dark room was -filled with shadowy figures, the man dressed quickly, -the woman whimpered and listened, but the footsteps -died away and all was still. Three homes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>were visited thus; two of the number could not be -found, but five men went out into the darkness with -their captors and never returned. They were led -quickly into the woods and surrounded. John -Brown raised his hand and at the signal the victims -were hacked to death with broadswords.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The deed inflamed Kansas. The timid rushed to -disavow the deed. The free state people were silent -and the pro-slavery party was roused to fury. -Even the silent co-conspirators of Pottawatomie -rushed to pledge themselves “individually and collectively, -to prevent a recurrence of a similar -tragedy, and to ferret out and hand over to the -criminal authorities the perpetrators for punishment.” -But they took no steps to lay hands on -John Brown and as he said, their cowardice did -not protect them. Four times in four years the -wrath of the avengers flamed in the Swamp of the -Swan, and swept the land in fire and blood, and the -last red breath of the expiring war in Kansas glowed -in these dark ravines.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To this day men differ as to the effect of John -Brown’s blow. Some say it freed Kansas, while -others say it plunged the land back into civil war. -Truth lies in both statements. The blow freed -Kansas by plunging it into civil war, and compelling men -to fight for freedom which they had vainly -hoped to gain by political diplomacy. At first it -was hard to see this, and even those sons of John -Brown whom he had not taken with him, recoiled -at the news. One son says: “On the afternoon of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>Monday, May 26th, a man came to us at Liberty -Hill, ... his horse reeking with sweat, and -said, ‘five men have been killed on the Pottawatomie, -horribly cut and mangled; and they say old -John Brown did it.’ Hearing this, I was afraid it -was true, and it was the most terrible shock that -ever happened to my feelings in my life; but -brother John took a different view. The next day -as we were on the east side of Middle Creek, I asked -father, ‘Did you have any hand in the killing?’ -He said, ‘I did not, but I stood by and saw it.’ I -did not ask further for fear I should hear something -I did not wish to hear. Frederick said, ‘I could -not feel as if it was right;’ but another of the party -said it was justifiable as a means of self-defense and -the defense of others. What I said against it -seemed to hurt father very much; but all he said -was, ‘God is my judge,—we were justified under -the circumstances.’”<a id='r105' /><a href='#f105' class='c014'><sup>[105]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This was as much as John Brown usually said of -the matter, although in later years a friend relates: -“I finally said, ‘Captain Brown, I want to ask you -one question, and you can answer it or not as you -please, and I shall not be offended.’ He stopped -his pacing, looked me square in the face, and -said, ‘What is it?’ Said I, ‘Captain Brown, did -you kill those five men on the Pottawatomie, or did -you not?’ He replied, ‘I did not; but I do not -pretend to say that they were not killed by my -order; and in doing so I believe I was doing God’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>service.’ My wife spoke and said, ‘Then, captain, -you think that God uses you as an instrument in -His hands to kill men?’ Brown replied, ‘I think -He has used me as an instrument to kill men; and -if I live, I think He will use me as an instrument to -kill a good many more!’”<a id='r106' /><a href='#f106' class='c014'><sup>[106]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>No sooner was the deed known than John Brown -became a hunted outlaw. Two of his sons who had -not been with him at the murders were arrested on -Lecompte’s “constructive treason” warrants because -they had affiliated with the free state movement. -Horror at his father’s deed and the cruelty -of his captors drove the eldest son temporarily insane, -while the life of the other was saved only by -a scrap of paper which said, “I am aware that you -hold my two sons, John and Jason, prisoners—John -Brown.”<a id='r107' /><a href='#f107' class='c014'><sup>[107]</sup></a> The old man never wavered. He wrote -home: “Jason started to go and place himself under -the protection of the government troops; but on -his way he was taken prisoner by the bogus men, -and is yet a prisoner, I suppose. John tried to -hide for several days; but from feelings of the ungrateful -conduct of those who ought to have stood -by him, excessive fatigue, anxiety, and constant loss -of sleep, he became quite insane, and in that situation -gave up, or, as we are told, was betrayed at -Osawatomie into the hands of the bogus men. We -do not know all the truth about this affair. He has -since, we are told, been kept in irons, and brought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>to a trial before bogus court, the result of which we -have not yet learned. We have great anxiety both -for him and Jason, and numerous other prisoners -with the enemy (who have all the while had the -government troops to sustain them). We can only -commend them to God.”<a id='r108' /><a href='#f108' class='c014'><sup>[108]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Withdrawing to the forests, John Brown now began -to organize his followers. Thirty-five of them -adopted this covenant in the summer of 1856:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We whose names are found on these and the -next following pages, do hereby enlist ourselves to -serve in the free state cause under John Brown as -commander, during the full period of time affixed to -our names respectively and we severally pledge our -word and our sacred honor to said commander, and -to each other, that during the time for which we -have enlisted, we will faithfully and punctually perform -our duty (in such capacity or place as may be -assigned to us by a majority of all the votes of those -associated with us, or of the companies to which we -may belong as the case may be) as a regular volunteer -force for the maintenance of the rights and liberties -of the free state citizens of Kansas: and we -further agree; that as individuals we will conform to -the by-laws of this organization and that we will insist -on their regular and punctual enforcement as a first -and a last duty: and, in short, that we will observe -and maintain a strict and thorough military discipline -at all times until our term of service expires.”<a id='r109' /><a href='#f109' class='c014'><sup>[109]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>A score of by-laws were added, providing for -electing officers, trial by jury, disposal of captured -property, etc. Then follow these articles:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Art. XIV. All uncivil, ungentlemanly, profane, -vulgar talk or conversation shall be discountenanced.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Art. XV. All acts of petty theft, needless waste -of property of the members or of citizens are hereby -declared disorderly; together with all uncivil, or unkind -treatment of citizens or of prisoners.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Art. XX. No person after having first surrendered -himself a prisoner shall be put to death, -or subjected to corporeal punishment, without first -having had the benefit of an impartial trial.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Art. XXI. The ordinary use or introduction -into the camp of any intoxicating liquor, as a beverage, -is hereby declared disorderly.”<a id='r110' /><a href='#f110' class='c014'><sup>[110]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Nor was this ideal of discipline merely on paper. -The reporter of the New York <cite>Tribune</cite> stumbled on -the camp which the authorities did not dare to -find:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I shall not soon forget the scene that here opened -to my view. Near the edge of the creek a dozen -horses were tied, all ready saddled for a ride for life, -or a hunt after Southern invaders. A dozen rifles -and sabres were stacked against the trees. In an -open space, amid the shady and lofty woods, there -was a great blazing fire with a pot on it; a woman, -bareheaded, with an honest sunburnt face, was picking -blackberries from the bushes; three or four -armed men were lying on red and blue blankets on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>the grass; and two fine-looking youths were standing, -leaning on their arms, on guard near by. One -of them was the youngest son of old Brown, and the -other was ‘Charley,’ the brave Hungarian, who -was subsequently murdered at Osawatomie. Old -Brown himself stood near the fire, with his shirt -sleeves rolled up, and a large piece of pork in his -hand. He was cooking a pig. He was poorly clad, -and his toes protruded from his boots. The old -man received me with great cordiality, and the little -band gathered about me. But it was a moment -only; for the captain ordered them to renew their -work. He respectfully but firmly forbade conversation -on the Pottawatomie affair; and said that, if -I desired any information from the company in relation -to their conduct or intentions, he, as their -captain, would answer for them whatever it was -proper to communicate.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“In this camp no manner of profane language -was permitted; no man of immoral character was -allowed to stay, excepting as a prisoner of war. He -made prayers in which all the company united, every -morning and evening; and no food was ever tasted -by his men until the divine blessing had been asked -on it. After every meal, thanks were returned to -the Bountiful Giver. Often, I was told, the old man -would retire to the densest solitudes, to wrestle with -his God in secret prayer. One of his company subsequently -informed me that, after these retirings, he -would say that the Lord had directed him in visions -what to do; that for himself he did not love warfare, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>but peace,—only acting in obedience to the will of -the Lord, and fighting God’s battles for His children’s -sake.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It was at this time that the old man said to me: -‘I would rather have the smallpox, yellow fever, -and cholera all together in my camp, than a man -without principles. It’s a mistake, sir,’ he continued, -‘that our people make, when they think that -bullies are the best fighters, or that they are the men -fit to oppose those Southerners. Give me men of -good principles; God-fearing men; men who respect -themselves; and, with a dozen of them, I will oppose -any hundred such men as these Buford ruffians.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I remained in the camp about an hour. Never -before had I met such a band of men. They were -not earnest but earnestness incarnate.”<a id='r111' /><a href='#f111' class='c014'><sup>[111]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>A member of the band says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We stayed here up to the morning of Sunday, -the first of June, and during these few days I fully -succeeded in understanding the exalted character of -my old friend. He exhibited at all times the most -affectionate care for each of us. He also attended -to cooking. We had two meals daily, consisting of -bread made of flour, baked in skillets; this was -washed down with creek water, mixed with a little -ginger and a spoon of molasses to each pint. Nevertheless -we kept in excellent spirits; we considered -ourselves as one family, allied to one another by the -consciousness that it was our duty to undergo all -these privations to further the good cause; had determined -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>to share any danger with one another, that -victory or death might find us together. We were -united as a band of brothers by the love and affection -toward the man who with tender words and -wise counsel, in the depth of the wilderness of -Ottawa Creek, prepared a handful of young men -for the work of laying the foundation of a free commonwealth. -His words have ever remained firmly -engraved in my mind. Many and various were the -instructions he gave during the days of our compulsory -leisure in this camp. He expressed himself -to us that we should never allow ourselves to be -tempted by any consideration to acknowledge laws -and institutions to exist as of right, if our conscience -and reason condemned them. He admonished us -not to care whether a majority, no matter how -large, opposed our principles and opinions. The -largest majorities were sometimes only organized -mobs, whose howlings never changed black into -white, or night into day. A minority conscious of -its rights, based on moral principles, would, under -a republican government, sooner or later become -the majority. Regarding the curse and crimes of -the institution of slavery, he declared that the outrages -committed in Kansas to further its extension -had directed the attention of all intelligent citizens -of the United States and of the world to the necessity -of its abolishment, as a stumbling-block in the -path of nineteenth century civilization; that while -it was true that the pro-slavery people and their -aiders and abettors had the upper hand at present, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>and the free state organization dwindled to a handful -hid in the brush, nevertheless, we ought to be -of good cheer, and start the ball to rolling at the -first opportunity, no matter whether its starting -motion would even crush us to death. We were -under a protection of a wise Providence, which -might use our feeble efforts.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Occasionally Captain Brown also gave us directions -for our conduct during a fight, for attack and -retreat. Time and again he entreated us never -to follow the example of the border ruffians, who -took a delight in destruction; never to burn houses -or fences, so often done by the enemy. Free state -people could use them to advantage. Repeatedly -he admonished us not to take human life except -when absolutely necessary. Plunder taken from -the enemy should be common property, to be used -for continuance of the struggle; horses to go to -recruits, cattle and provision to poor free state -people.”<a id='r112' /><a href='#f112' class='c014'><sup>[112]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To this band of men the surrounding country, -which was already feeling the first retaliatory -blows of the pro-slavery party, now looked for aid, -and Brown stood ever ready. His men, however, -could form but the nucleus of a spirited defense and -for a time the settlers hesitated to join the band -until Brown threatened to withdraw. “Why did -you send Carpenter after us? I am not willing to -sacrifice my men without having some hope of accomplishing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>something,”<a id='r113' /><a href='#f113' class='c014'><sup>[113]</sup></a> he demanded of a hesitating -emissary, and turning to his men he said: -“If the cowardice and indifference of the free state -people compel us to leave Kansas, what do you say, -men, if we start south, for instance to Louisiana, -and get up a Negro insurrection, and thereby compel -them to let go their grip on Kansas, and so bring -relief to our friends here?” Frederick Brown -jumped up and said: “I am ready.”<a id='r114' /><a href='#f114' class='c014'><sup>[114]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The petty outrages of the Georgia guerrillas now -so increased in boldness and in frequency that a -company was hastily formed which called Brown’s -men to the defense of a neighboring village. “We -will be with you,” cried Brown, and thus he told -the story of what followed to the folks at home:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The cowardly mean conduct of Osawatomie -and vicinity did not save them; for the ruffians -came on them, made numerous prisoners, fired their -buildings, and robbed them. After this a picked -party of the bogus men went to Brown’s Station, -burned John’s and Jason’s houses, and their contents -to ashes; in which burning we have all suffered -more or less. Orson and boy have been prisoners, -but we soon set them at liberty. They are -well, and have not been seriously injured. Owen -and I have just come here for the first time to look -at the ruins. All looks desolate and forsaken,—the -grass and weeds fast covering up the signs that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>these places were lately the abodes of quiet families. -After burning the houses, this self-same party of -picked men, some forty in number, set out as they -supposed, and as was the fact, on the track of my -little company, boasting with awful profanity, that -they would have our scalps. They, however, passed -the place where we hid, and robbed a little town -some four or five miles beyond our camp in the -timber. I had omitted to say that some murders had -been committed at the time Lawrence was sacked.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“On learning that this party was in pursuit of -us, my little company, now increased to ten in all, -started after them in company of a Captain Shore, -with eighteen men, he included (June 1st). We were -all mounted as we traveled. We did not meet them -on that day, but took five prisoners, four of whom -were of their scouts, and well armed. We were out -all night, but could find nothing of them until -about six o’clock next morning, when we prepared -to attack them at once, on foot, leaving Frederick -and one of Captain Shore’s men to guard the horses. -As I was much older than Captain Shore, the principal -direction of the fight devolved on me. We -got to within about a mile of their camp before -being discovered by their scouts, and then moved -at a brisk pace, Captain Shore and men forming -our left, and my company the right. When within -about sixty rods of the enemy, Captain Shore’s -men halted by mistake in a very exposed situation, -and continued the fire, both his men and the -enemy being armed with Sharps rifles. My company -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>had no long shooters. We (my company) -did not fire a gun until we gained the rear of a -bank, about fifteen or twenty rods to the right of -the enemy, where we commenced, and soon compelled -them to hide in a ravine. Captain Shore, -after getting one man wounded, and exhausting his -ammunition, came with part of his men to the -right of my position, much discouraged. The -balance of his men, including the one wounded, -had left the ground. Five of Captain Shore’s men -came boldly down and joined my company, and all -but one man, wounded, helped to maintain the -fight until it was over. I was obliged to give my -consent that he should go after more help, when -all his men left but eight, four of whom I persuaded -to remain in a secure position, and there busied -them in the horses and mules of the enemy, which -served for a show of fight. After the firing had -continued for some two to three hours, Captain -Pate with twenty-three men, two badly wounded, -laid down their arms to nine men, myself included,—four -of Captain Shore’s men and four of my own. -One of my men (Henry Thompson) was badly -wounded, and after continuing his fire for an hour -longer, was obliged to quit the ground. Three -others of my company (but not of my family) had -gone off. Salmon was dreadfully wounded by accident, -soon after the fight; but both he and Henry -are fast recovering.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A day or two after the fight, Colonel Sumner -of the United States army came suddenly upon us, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>while fortifying our camp and guarding our prisoners -(which, by the way, it had been agreed mutually -should be exchanged for as many free state men, -John and Jason included), and compelled us to let -go our prisoners without being exchanged, and to -give up their horses and arms. They did not go -more than two or three miles before they began to -rob and injure free state people. We consider this -in good keeping with the cruel and unjust course -of the administration and its tools throughout this -whole Kansas difficulty. Colonel Sumner also -compelled us to disband; and we, being only a -handful, were obliged to submit.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Since then we have, like David of old, had our -dwellings with the serpents of the rocks and wild -beasts of the wilderness, being obliged to hide -away from our enemies. We are not disheartened, -though nearly destitute of food, clothing, and -money. God, who has not given us over to the -will of our enemies, but has moreover delivered -them into our hand, will, we humbly trust, still -keep and deliver us. We feel assured that He who -sees not as men see, does not lay the guilt of innocent -blood to our charge.”<a id='r115' /><a href='#f115' class='c014'><sup>[115]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It was John Brown’s hope that the courage engendered -by the striking success of the fight at -Black Jack, would spread the spirit of resistance -to the whole free state party. Lawrence, then the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>capital, was still surrounded by a chain of forts -held by bands of pro-slavery marauders: one at -Franklin just east of the city; another just south -and known as Fort Saunders; and a third between -Lawrence and the pro-slavery capital, Lecompton, -known as Fort Titus. When it was rumored that -the United States troops would disperse the free -state legislature about to meet at Topeka, John -Brown hurried thither, hoping that resistance would -begin here and sweep the Territory. One of the -free state leaders met him at Lawrence and journeyed -with him toward Topeka. Brown and he -took the main road as far as Big Springs, he says, -and continues:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“There we left the road, going in a southwesterly -direction for a mile, when we halted on a hill, and -the horses were stripped of their saddles, and picketed -out to graze. The grass was wet with dew. -The men ate of what provision they had with them, -and I received a portion from the captain,—dry -beef (which was not so bad), and bread made from -corn bruised between stones, then rolled in balls -and cooked in the ashes of the camp-fire. Captain -Brown observed that I nibbled it very gingerly, -and said, ‘I am afraid you will be hardly able to -eat a soldier’s harsh fare.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We next placed our two saddles together, so -that our heads lay only a few feet apart. Brown -spread his blanket on the wet grass, and when we -lay together upon it, mine was spread over us. It -was past eleven o’clock, and we lay there until two -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>in the morning, but we slept none. He seemed to -be as little disposed to sleep as I was, and we -talked; or rather he did, for I said little. I found -that he was a thorough astronomer; he pointed out -the different constellations and their movements. -‘Now,’ he said, ‘it is midnight,’ as he pointed to -the finger-marks of his great clock in the sky. The -whispering of the wind on the prairie was full of -voices to him, and the stars as they shone in the -firmament of God seemed to inspire him. ‘How -admirable is the symmetry of the heaven; how -grand and beautiful! Everything moves in sublime -harmony in the government of God. Not so with -us poor creatures. If one star is more brilliant -than others, it is continually shooting in some -erratic way into space.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“He criticized both parties in Kansas. Of the -pro-slavery men he said that slavery besotted everything, -and made men more brutal and coarse—nor -did the free state men escape his sharp censure. -He said that we had many noble and true men, but -too many broken-down politicians from the older -states, who would rather pass resolutions than act, -and who criticized all who did real work. A professional -politician, he went on, you never could -trust; for even if he had convictions, he was always -ready to sacrifice his principles for his advantage. -One of the most interesting things in his conversation -that night, and one that marked him as -a theorist, was his treatment of our forms of social -and political life. He thought that society ought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>to be organized on a less selfish basis; for while -material interests gained something by the deification -of pure selfishness, men and women lost much -by it. He said that all great reforms, like the -Christian religion, were based on broad, generous, -self-sacrificing principles. He condemned the sale -of land as a chattel, and thought that there was -an indefinite number of wrongs to right before -society would be what it should be, but that in our -country slavery was the ‘sum of all villanies,’ and -its abolition the first essential work. If the American -people did not take courage and end it speedily, -human freedom and republican liberty would soon -be empty names in these United States.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Early next morning the party pressed on until -they came in sight of the town. Brown would not -enter but sent a messenger ahead, and the narrator -continues:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“As he wrung my hand at parting, he urged that -we should have the legislature meet, resist all who -should interfere with it, and fight, if necessary, -even the United States troops. He had told me the -night before of his visit to many of the fortifications -in Europe, and criticized them sharply, holding -that modern warfare did away with them, and that -a well-armed brave soldier was the best fortification. -He criticized all the arms then in use, and showed -me a fine repeating-rifle which he said would carry -eight hundred yards; but he added, ‘The way to -fight is to press to close quarters.’”<a id='r116' /><a href='#f116' class='c014'><sup>[116]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>The Topeka journey was in vain. The legislature -quietly dispersed at the command of Colonel -Sumner, and John Brown saw that his only hope -of stirring up effective resistance lay in Lane’s -“army” of immigrants, then approaching the -northern boundaries of Kansas, with whom was -his son-in-law’s brother. Taking, therefore, his -wounded son-in-law and leaving his band, he pressed -forward alone on a dangerous and wearisome way -of one hundred and fifty miles through the enemy’s -country. Hinton saw him as he rode into one of the -camps and says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘Have you a man in your camp named William -Thompson? You are from Massachusetts, young -man, I believe, and Mr. Thompson joined you at -Buffalo.’ These words were addressed to me by -an elderly man, riding a worn-looking, gaunt gray -horse. It was on a late July day, and in its hottest -hours. I had been idly watching a wagon and one -horse, toiling slowly northward across the prairie, -along the emigrant trail that had been marked out -by free state men under command of ‘Sam’ Walker -and Aaron D. Stevens, who was then known as -‘Colonel Whipple.’ John Brown, whose name the -young and ardent had begun to conjure with and -swear by, had been described to me. So, as I -heard the question, I looked up and met the full, -strong gaze of a pair of luminous, questioning eyes. -Somehow I instinctively knew this was John Brown, -and with that name I replied, saying that Thompson -was in our company. It was a long, rugged-featured -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>face I saw. A tall, sinewy figure, too -(he had dismounted), five feet eleven, I estimated, -with square shoulders, narrow flank, sinewy and -deep-chested. A frame full of nervous power, but -not impressing one especially with muscular vigor. -The impression left by the pose and the figure was -that of reserve, endurance, and quiet strength. -The questioning voice-tones were mellow, magnetic, -and grave. On the weather-worn face was a stubby, -short, gray beard, evidently of recent growth.... -This figure,—unarmed, poorly clad, with coarse -linen trousers tucked into high, heavy cowhide -boots, with heavy spurs on their heels, a cotton -shirt opened at the throat, a long torn linen duster, -and a bewrayed chip straw hat he held in his hand -as he waited for Thompson to reach us, made up -the outward garb and appearance of John Brown -when I first met him. In ten minutes his mounted -figure disappeared over the north horizon.”<a id='r117' /><a href='#f117' class='c014'><sup>[117]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Pushing on northward, Brown found asylum for -his wounded follower at Tabor, Ia. Returning, he -joined the main body of Lane’s men at Nebraska -City. Here again arose divided counsels. Radical -leaders like Lane and Brown were proscribed men, -and United States troops stood on the borders of -Iowa to prevent the entrance of armed bodies. It -was decided, therefore, that Lane must not enter -with the immigrants, and a letter to this effect was -brought to him by Samuel Walker, a free state -leader. Walker says:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>“After reading it he sat for a long time with his -head bowed and the tears running down his cheeks. -Finally he looked up and said: ‘Walker, if you -say the people of Kansas don’t want me, it’s all -right, and I’ll blow my brains out. I can never go -back to the states, and look the people in the face, -and tell them that as soon as I got these Kansas -friends of mine fairly into danger I had to abandon -them. I can’t do it. No matter what I say in -my own defense, no one will believe it. I’ll blow -my brains out and end the thing right here.’ -‘General,’ said I, ‘the people of Kansas would -rather have you than all the party at Nebraska -City. I have got fifteen good boys that are my -own. If you will put yourself under my orders -I’ll take you through all right.’”<a id='r118' /><a href='#f118' class='c014'><sup>[118]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus Walker, Lane, and John Brown with a -party of thirty stole into Kansas and started anew -the flame of civil war.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Brown’s old company, organized early in 1858, -was mounted and brought to the front, and a systematic -effort was made by Lane to free Lawrence -from its beleaguering forts. The first attack was -directed against Franklin on the night of August -12th, and as ex-Senator Atchison of Missouri indignantly -reported: “Three hundred Abolitionists, -under this same Brown, attacked the town of -Franklin, robbed, plundered and burned, took all -the arms in town, broke open and destroyed the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>post-office, captured the old cannon ‘Sacramento,’ -which our gallant Missourians captured in Mexico, -and are now turning its mouth against our friends.”<a id='r119' /><a href='#f119' class='c014'><sup>[119]</sup></a> -Two days later the little army turned southward to -Fort Saunders. Lane deployed his forces before it -with John Brown’s cavalry on his right wing. A -charge was ordered and the garrison fled to the -woods, leaving an untasted dinner and large stores -of goods. On August 16th, Fort Titus on the road -to Lecompton was besieged with cannon, and finally -fired by a load of hay; Colonel Titus, a Georgian, -was captured and John Brown and other leaders -wanted to hang him, for he was one of the most -brutal of the border-ruffian commanders. Sam -Walker, however, saved his neck.</p> - -<p class='c004'>So furious had been this short campaign that the -pro-slavery party sued for a truce. Walker tells -how “on the following day Governor Shannon and -Major Sedgwick came to Lawrence to negotiate -an exchange of prisoners. They held about thirty -of our men and we forty of theirs. It was agreed -to ‘swap even,’ we surrendering all their men, including -Titus; they to hand over all our men and -cannon they had captured at the sacking of -Lawrence. I insisted very strongly on this last -point of the contract, for when the gun was -taken I swore I would have it back within six -months. I had the pleasure of escorting our prisoners -to Sedgwick’s camp, and receiving the cannon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>and the prisoners held by the enemy there, in -exchange.”<a id='r120' /><a href='#f120' class='c014'><sup>[120]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The whirlwind of guerrilla warfare now swept -back to the dark ravines of the Swamp of the Swan. -After the murders of May came the first counter -attack of early June, culminating in the battle of -Black Jack. This check quelled the pro-slavery -party a while and they began manning the forts -around Lawrence. On August 5th the free state -men struck a retaliating blow while John Brown -was absent in Nebraska, although he was credited -with being present by the Missouri newspapers. -Similar skirmishes followed, and the advantage was -now so completely with the free state forces, that a -final crushing blow was planned by the slave party -of Missouri. Manifestoes swept the state, and -“No quarter” was the motto. The Missourians -responded with alacrity and a great mass crossed -the border divided into two wings. The lesser attacked -Osawatomie and a newspaper in Missouri -said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The attack on Osawatomie was by part of an -army of eleven hundred and fifty men, of whom -Atchison was major-general. General Reid with -two hundred and fifty men and one piece of artillery, -moved on to attack Osawatomie; he arrived -near that place and was attacked by two hundred -Abolitionists under the command of the notorious -John Brown, who commenced firing upon Reid from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>a thick chaparral four hundred yards off. General -Reid made a successful charge, killing thirty-one, -and taking seven prisoners. Among the killed was -Frederick Brown. The notorious John Brown was -also killed, by a pro-slavery man named White, in -attempting to cross the Marais des Cygnes. The -pro-slavery party have five wounded. On the same -day Captain Hays, with forty men, attacked the -house of the notorious Ottawa Jones, burned it, and -killed two Abolitionists. Jones fled to the cornfield, -was shot by Hays, and is believed to be dead.”<a id='r121' /><a href='#f121' class='c014'><sup>[121]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>But John Brown was not dead and was ever after -known as “Osawatomie” Brown. He wrote -home September 7th saying:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I have one moment to write to you, to say that I -am yet alive, that Jason and family were well yesterday; -John and family, I hear, are well (he being -yet a prisoner). On the morning of the 30th of -August an attack was made by the ruffians on -Osawatomie, numbering some four hundred, by -whose scouts our dear Frederick was shot dead -without warning,—he supposing them to be free -state men, as near as we can learn. One other -man, a cousin of Mr. Adair, was murdered by them -about the same time that Frederick was killed, -and one badly wounded at the same time. At this -time I was about three miles off, where I had some -fourteen or fifteen men over night that I had just -enlisted to serve under me as regulars. These I -collected as well as I could, with some twelve or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>fifteen more; and in about three-quarters of an -hour I attacked them from a wood with thick undergrowth. -With this force we threw them into -confusion for about fifteen or twenty minutes, during -which time we killed or wounded from seventy -to eighty of the enemy,—as they say,—and then we -escaped as well as we could, with one killed while -escaping, two or three wounded, and as many more -missing. Four or five free state men were butchered -during the day in all. Jason fought bravely by -my side during the fight, and escaped with me, he -being unhurt. I was struck by a partly-spent -grape, canister, or rifle shot, which bruised me -some, but did not injure me seriously. Hitherto -the Lord has helped me.”<a id='r122' /><a href='#f122' class='c014'><sup>[122]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>A cheer went up from all free Kansas over this -vigorous defense, and for once there was unanimity -among the leaders of the free state cause. Robinson, -the wariest of them, wrote: “I cheerfully accord -to you my heartfelt thanks for your prompt, efficient, -and timely action against the invaders of our -rights and the murderers of our citizens. History -will give your name a proud place on her pages, and -posterity will pay homage to your heroism in the -cause of God and humanity.”<a id='r123' /><a href='#f123' class='c014'><sup>[123]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime the Missourians, after their hard-won -victory, hastened back to join the larger wing of -the invaders, and so disconcerting was their report, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>that when Lane made a feint against them, they -started to retreat. Governor Woodson’s call for -the “territorial militia,” however, heartened them -and gave them legal standing. By September 15th -they were threatening Kansas again with nearly -3,000 men. The nation, however, was now aroused -and the new governor, Geary, with orders to make -peace at all costs, was hurrying forward. Among -the first whom he summoned to secret conference -was John Brown. Brown came to Lawrence and -was leaving, satisfied with Geary’s promises, when -the invading army of Missourians suddenly appeared -before the city. He immediately returned -to the town, where there were only 200 fighting -men. He was asked to take command of the defense -but declined, preferring to act with his usual -independence. About five o’clock Monday, the -15th, he mounted a dry-goods box on Main Street -opposite the post-office and spoke to the people:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Gentlemen,—it is said that there are twenty-five -hundred Missourians down at Franklin, and -that they will be here in two hours. You can -see for yourselves the smoke they are making -by setting fire to the houses in that town. Now is -probably the last opportunity you will have of seeing -a fight, so that you had better do your best. If -they should come up and attack us, don’t yell and -make a great noise, but remain perfectly silent and -still. Wait until they get within twenty-five yards -of you; get a good object; be sure you see the -hind sight of your gun,—then fire. A great deal of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>powder and lead and very precious time is wasted -by shooting too high. You had better aim at their -legs than at their heads. In either case, be sure of -the hind sights of your guns. It is from this reason -that I myself have so many times escaped; for if all -the bullets which have ever been aimed at me had hit -me, I would have been as full of holes as a riddle.”<a id='r124' /><a href='#f124' class='c014'><sup>[124]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It was a desperate situation. The free state -forces were scattered, leaving but a handful to face -an army. But in that handful was John Brown, -and the invaders knew it, and advanced cautiously. -Redpath who was with Brown says: “About five -o’clock in the afternoon, their advance-guard, consisting -of four hundred horsemen, crossed the -Wakarusa, and presented themselves in sight of the -town, about two miles off, when they halted, and -arrayed themselves for battle, fearing, perhaps, to -come within too close range of Sharps rifle balls. -Brown’s movement now was a little on the offensive -order; for he ordered out all the Sharps -riflemen from every part of the town,—in all not -more than forty or fifty,—marched them a half -mile into the prairie, and arranged them three -paces apart, in a line parallel with that of the -enemy; and then they lay down upon their faces in -the grass, awaiting the order to fire.”<a id='r125' /><a href='#f125' class='c014'><sup>[125]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The invaders hesitated, halted and then retired. -John Brown says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I know of no possible reason why they did not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>attack and burn that place except that about one -hundred free state men volunteered to go out on the -open plain before the town and there give them the -offer of a fight, which they declined after getting -some few scattering shots from our men, and then -retreated back toward Franklin. I saw that whole -thing. The government troops at this time were -with Governor Geary at Lecompton, a distance of -twelve miles only from Lawrence, and, notwithstanding -several runners had been to advise him in -good time of the approach or of the setting out of the -enemy, who had to march some forty miles to reach -Lawrence, he did not on that memorable occasion -get a single soldier on the ground until after the -enemy had retreated back to Franklin, and had -been gone for about five hours. He did get the -troops there about midnight afterward; and that -is the way he saved Lawrence, as he boasts of doing -in his message to the bogus legislature!</p> - -<p class='c004'>“This was just the kind of protection the administration -and its tools have afforded the free state -settlers of Kansas from the first. It has cost the -United States more than a half million, for a year -past, to harass poor free state settlers in Kansas, -and to violate all law, and all right, moral and constitutional, -for the sole and only purpose of forcing -slavery upon that territory. I challenge this whole -nation to prove before God or mankind the contrary. -Who paid this money to enslave the settlers -of Kansas and worry them out? I say nothing in -this estimate of the money wasted by Congress in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>the management of this horrible, tyrannical, and -damnable affair.”<a id='r126' /><a href='#f126' class='c014'><sup>[126]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The withdrawal, however, was but temporary and -it seems hardly possible that Lawrence could have -escaped a second capture and burning had not Geary -thrown himself into the breach with great earnestness. -As he reported: “Fully appreciating the -awful calamities that were impending, I hastened -with all possible dispatch to the encampment, assembled -the officers of the militia, and in the name -of the President of the United States demanded a -suspension of hostilities. I had sent, in advance, -the secretary and adjutant-general of the Territory, -with orders to carry out the letter and spirit of my -proclamations; but up to the time of my arrival, -these orders had been unheeded, and I discovered -but little disposition to obey them. I addressed the -officers in command at considerable length, setting -forth the disastrous consequences of such a demonstration -as was contemplated, and the absolute necessity -of more lawful and conciliatory measures to -restore peace, tranquillity, and prosperity to the -country. I read my instructions from the President, -and convinced them that my whole course of -procedure was in accordance therewith, and called -upon them to aid me in my efforts, not only to carry -out these instructions, but to support and enforce -the laws and the Constitution of the United States.”<a id='r127' /><a href='#f127' class='c014'><sup>[127]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>Without doubt Geary especially emphasized the -fact that another sacking of Lawrence would possibly -defeat Buchanan and elect Frémont. What -chance would there be then for the pro-slavery -party?</p> - -<p class='c004'>The Missourians were thus induced to retreat, -partly by Geary’s logic, partly perhaps by John -Brown’s resolute handling of his patently inadequate -but nevertheless efficient force. They marched -back home, leaving a trail of flame and ashes—the -last and largest Missouri invasion of Kansas, the -culmination and failure of the pro-slavery policy of -force.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Geary now began successfully to cope with the -Kansas situation. His most puzzling problem was -John Brown and his ilk. His experience soon led -him to see the righteousness of the free state cause, -but he had to insist on law and order even under -the “bogus” laws, promising equitable treatment -in the future. Immediately the free state party -split into its old divisions: the small body of irreconcilables -like John Brown, who were fighting -slavery in Kansas and everywhere; and the far -larger mass of compromisers like Robinson, whose -only object was to make a free state of Kansas, and -who were willing to concede all else. Under such -circumstances the best move was to get rid of John -Brown. To have sought to arrest him would have -precipitated civil war again. Could he not be induced -quietly to leave on promise of immunity? -Accordingly, Geary issued a warrant against Brown, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>but gave it into the hands of the friendly Samuel -Walker whom he had previously asked to warn the -old man. Brown was not loath. His work in -Kansas, so far as he could then see, was done. The -state was bound to be free and further than that -few Kansans cared. They had no enmity toward -slavery as such which called them to a crusade; far -from regarding Negroes as brothers, they disliked -them and were willing to disfranchise them and -crowd them from the state.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Among such folk there was no place for John -Brown. His greater mission called him. Kansas -had been an interlude only, although for a time he -hoped to make it the chief battle-ground. Now he -knew better and again the Alleghanies beckoned. -To be sure, he owed Kansas much. Here he had -passed through his baptism of fire, and had offered -the sacrifice of blood to his God. He was sterner -stuff now, ready to go whithersoever the Master -called; and he heard Him calling. Not only had -he learned a method of warfare in Kansas—he had -learned to know a band of simple honest young fellows, -hot with the wine of youth, hero-worshipers -ready to do and dare in a great cause. Thus the -worst difficulties of the past disappeared and the -way lay clear. Only one thing oppressed him—he -was old and sick, a tired, toil-racked man. Could -he live and do the Lord’s will?</p> - -<p class='c004'>His company of regulators was formally disbanded -but left spiritually intact, and he started north late -in September, 1856, taking with him his four sons, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>John, Jr., who had at last been released, Jason, -Salmon, and Oliver, and also, true to his cause, a -fugitive slave whom he had chanced upon. As he -moved northward the United States troops, unaware -of Geary’s diplomacy, shadowed and all but captured -him. Yet he passed safely through their very -midst with his old wagon and cow and the hidden -slave, displaying his surveyor’s instruments. Thus -silently John Brown disappeared from Kansas, and -for a year nothing was heard of him in his former -haunts. Only his near friends knew that he had -gone eastward, and a few of them hinted at his great -mission. Matters moved swiftly in Kansas. There -was more and more evident a free state majority. -But would the pro-slavery administration let it be -counted? The new governor was trying to save -something for his masters, but the irreconcilables -of the Lane and John Brown type doubted it.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I bless God,” wrote Brown in April, “that He -has not left the free state men of Kansas to pollute -themselves by the foul and loathsome embrace.... -I have been trembling all along lest they -might ‘back down’ from the high and holy ground -they had taken. I say in view of the wisdom, firmness -and patience of my friends and fellow sufferers -in the cause of humanity, let the Lord’s name be -eternally praised!”<a id='r128' /><a href='#f128' class='c014'><sup>[128]</sup></a> Notwithstanding this attitude -of many of the free state party, they were prevailed -upon to vote in the state election of October, -1857. As a concession, however, Lane was appointed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>to guard the ballot-boxes and, hearing that -John Brown was back again in Iowa, he sent for -him in hot haste. His messengers found the old -man sick and disappointed among his staunch -Quaker friends at Tabor. Brown offered to come -if supplied with “three good teams, with well-covered -wagons, and ten really ingenious, industrious -(not gassy) men, with about one hundred and fifty -dollars in cash.”<a id='r129' /><a href='#f129' class='c014'><sup>[129]</sup></a> These demands were not met -until too late, so that Brown returned the money -and did not appear in Kansas until the election was -over, and the free state forces had triumphed. This -had now but passing interest for him. He had -other objects in Kansas and flitted noiselessly about -among the picked men who had promised their aid. -Then he disappeared again. Eight months passed -away, when suddenly another Kansas outrage -startled the nation. It was the last vengeful echo -of that first night of murder in the Swamp of the -Swan. In 1856 Linn and Bourbon counties, some -miles below the original Brown settlement, had been -cleared of free state settlers. In 1857 these settlers -ventured to return and found the pro-slavery forces -centred at Fort Scott, waiting for Congress to pass -the Lecompton constitution. Thus in 1857 and 1858 -the expiring horror of Kansas guerrilla warfare centred -in southeast Kansas. The pro-slavery forces -saw the state slipping from them, but they determined -by desperate blows to plant slavery so deeply -in the counties next to Missouri that no free state majority -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>could possibly uproot it. To accomplish this -it was necessary again to drive off the free state -settlers. The settlers objected and led by James -Montgomery, there ensued a series of bloody reprisals -culminating in May, 1858, two years after -the first May massacre. A Georgian with a remnant -of Buford’s band again rode down amid the -calm silent beauty of the Swamp of the Swan. They -gathered eleven unarmed farmers from their fields -and homes and marched them to a gloomy ravine -near Snyder’s blacksmith shop; there the party -killed four and badly wounded six others, leaving -them all for dead.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The echoes of this last desperate blow had scarcely -died before John Brown appeared on the scene and -attempted to buy and fortify the very blacksmith -shop where the murders were done. He writes to -Eastern friends:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I am here with about ten of my men, located on -the same quarter-section where the terrible murders -of the 19th of May were committed, called the Hamilton -or trading-post murders. Deserted farms and -dwellings lie in all directions for some miles along -the line, and the remaining inhabitants watch every -appearance of persons moving about, with anxious -jealousy and vigilance. Four of the persons -wounded or attacked on that occasion are staying -with me. The blacksmith Snyder, who fought the -murderers, with his brother and son are of the number. -Old Mr. Hairgrove, who was terribly wounded -at the same time, is another. The blacksmith returned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>here with me and intends to bring back his -family on to his claim within two or three days. A -constant fear of new trouble seems to prevail on both -sides of the line, and on both sides are companies -of armed men. Any little affair may open the -quarrel afresh. Two murders and cases of robbery -are reported of late. I have also a man with me -who fled from his family and farm in Missouri but -a day or two since, his life being threatened on account -of being accused of informing Kansas men of -the whereabouts of one of the murderers, who was -lately taken and brought to this side. I have concealed -the fact of my presence pretty much, lest it -should tend to create excitement; but it is getting -leaked out, and will soon be known to all. As I -am not here to seek or secure revenge, I do not -mean to be the first to reopen the quarrel. How -soon it may be raised against me, I cannot say; nor -am I over-anxious.”<a id='r130' /><a href='#f130' class='c014'><sup>[130]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He quickly had fifteen of his former companions in -arms organized as “Shubel Morgan’s Company” -under the old regulations, and he eagerly sought -out and coöperated with Captain Montgomery. -The vigil was long and wearisome. “I had lain -every night without shelter,” he writes, “suffering -from cold rains and heavy dews, together with the -oppressive heat of the days.”<a id='r131' /><a href='#f131' class='c014'><sup>[131]</sup></a> Hinton met Brown -at this time and found him not only unwell but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>“somewhat more impatient and nervous in his -manner than I had ever before observed. Soon -after my arrival, he remarked again in conversation -as to the various public men in the Territory. Captain -Montgomery’s name was introduced, and I inquired -how Mr. Brown liked him. The captain -was quite enthusiastic in praise of him, avowing a -most perfect confidence in his integrity and purposes. -‘Captain Montgomery,’ he said, ‘is the -only soldier I have met among the prominent -Kansas men. He understands my system of warfare -exactly. He is a natural chieftain, and knows -how to lead.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Of his own early treatment at the hands of ambitious -‘leaders,’ to which I alluded in bitter terms, -he said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘They acted up to their instincts, as politicians. -They thought every man wanted to lead, and therefore -supposed I might be in the way of their schemes. -While they had this feeling, of course they opposed -me. Many men did not like the manner in -which I conducted warfare, and they too opposed -me. Committees and councils could not control my -movements; therefore they did not like me. But -politicians and leaders soon found that I had different -purposes and forgot their jealousy. They have -all been kind to me since.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Further conversation ensued relative to the free -state struggle, in which I, criticizing the management -of it from an anti-slavery point of view, pronounced -it, ‘an abortion.’ Captain Brown looked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>at me with a peculiar expression in the eyes, as if -struck by the word and in a musing manner remarked, -‘Abortion!—yes, that’s the word!’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘For twenty years,’ he said, ‘I have never -made any business arrangement which would prevent -me at any time answering the call of the Lord. -I have kept my business in such a condition, that -in two weeks I could always wind up my affairs, -and be ready to obey the call. I have permitted -nothing to be in the way of my duty, neither my -wife, children, nor worldly goods. Whenever the -occasion offered, I was ready. The hour is very -near at hand, and all who are willing to act should -be ready.’”<a id='r132' /><a href='#f132' class='c014'><sup>[132]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>During the fall John Brown coöperated with -Montgomery in his guerrilla warfare, and laid out -miniature fortifications with his men. While he -himself was not personally present in Montgomery’s -fights, he usually helped plan them and sent his -men along. Meantime winter set in and John -Brown knew that hostilities would cease. Once -again he turned to his long and exasperatingly interrupted -life-work. Just after the famous raid on -Fort Scott, he had a chance not only to begin his -greater work but to strike a blow at slavery right -in Kansas. Hinton says: “On the Sunday following -the expedition of Fort Scott, as I was scouting -down the line, I ran across a colored man, -whose ostensible purpose was the selling of brooms. -He soon solved the problem as to the propriety of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>making a confidant of me, and I found that his -name was Jim Daniels; that his wife, self, and -babies belonged to an estate, and were to be sold at -administrator’s sale in the immediate future. His -present business was not selling of brooms particularly, -but to find help to get himself, family, -and a few friends in the vicinity away from these -threatened conditions. Daniels was a fine-looking -mulatto. I immediately hunted up Brown, and it -was soon arranged to go the following night and -give what assistance we could. I am sure that -Brown, in his mind, was just waiting for something -to turn up; or, in his way of thinking, was expecting -or hoping that God would provide him a basis -of action. When this came, he hailed it as heaven-sent.”<a id='r133' /><a href='#f133' class='c014'><sup>[133]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown himself told the story in the New -York <cite>Tribune</cite>:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Not one year ago eleven quiet citizens of this -neighborhood,—William Robertson, William Colpetzer, -Amos Hall, Austin Hall, John Campbell, -Asa Snyder, Thomas Stillwell, William Hairgrove, -Asa Hairgrove, Patrick Ross, and B. L. Reed,—were -gathered up from their work and their homes -by an armed force under one Hamilton, and without -trial or opportunity to speak in their own defense -were formed into line, and all but one shot,—five -killed and five wounded. One fell unharmed, -pretending to be dead. All were left for dead. The -only crime charged against them was that of being -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>free state men. Now, I inquire what action has -ever, since the occurrence in May last, been taken -by either the President of the United States, the -governor of Missouri, the governor of Kansas, or -any of their tools, or by any pro-slavery or administration -man, to ferret out and punish the perpetrators -of this crime.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Now for the other parallel. On Sunday, December -19th, a Negro man called Jim came over to -Osage settlement, from Missouri, and stated that -he, together with his wife, two children, and -another Negro man, was to be sold within a day or -two, and begged for help to get away. On Monday -(the following) night, two small companies were -made up to go to Missouri and forcibly liberate the -five slaves, together with other slaves. One of these -companies I assumed to direct. We proceeded to -the place, surrounding the buildings, liberated the -slaves, and also took certain property supposed to -belong to the estate. We, however, learned before -leaving that a portion of the articles we had belonged -to a man living on the plantation as a -tenant, and who was supposed to have no interest -in the estate. We promptly returned to him all we -had taken. We then went to another plantation, -where we found five more slaves, took some -property and two white men. We all moved -slowly away into the Territory for some distance, -and then sent the white men back, telling them to -follow us as soon as they chose to do so. The other -company freed one female slave, took some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>property, and, as I am informed, killed one white -man (the master), who fought against the liberation.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Now for comparison. Eleven persons are forcibly -restored to their natural and inalienable -rights, with but one man killed, and all ‘hell is -stirred from beneath.’ It is currently reported that -the governor of Missouri has made a requisition -upon the governor of Kansas for the delivery of all -such as were concerned in the last named ‘dreadful -outrage.’ The marshal of Kansas is said to be collecting -a posse of Missouri (not Kansas) men at -West Point, in Missouri, a little town about ten -miles distant, to ‘enforce the laws.’ All pro-slavery, -conservative, free state, and dough-face men and -administration tools are filled with holy horror.”<a id='r134' /><a href='#f134' class='c014'><sup>[134]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>One of the slaves, Samuel Harper, afterward told -of this wonderful <em>katabasis</em> of a thousand miles in -the teeth of the elements and in defiance of the law:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It was mighty slow traveling. You see there -were several different parties amongst our band, -and our masters had people looking all over for us. -We would ride all night, and then maybe, we would -have to stay several days in one house to keep from -getting caught. In a month we had only got to a -place near Topeka, which was about forty miles -from where we started. There was twelve of us at -the one house of a man named Doyle, besides the -captain and his men, when there came along a gang -of slave-hunters. One of Captain Brown’s men, -Stevens, he went down to them and said:—‘Gentlemen, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>you look as if you were looking for somebody -or something.’ ‘Aye, yes!’ says the leader, ‘we -think as how you have some of our slaves up yonder -in that there house.’ ‘Is that so?’ says -Stevens. ‘Well, come on right along with me, and -you can look them over and see.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We were watching this here conversation all the -time, and when we see Stevens coming up to the -house with that there man, we just didn’t know what -to make of it. We began to get scared that Stevens -was going to give us to them slave-hunters. But -the looks of things changed when Stevens got up to -the house. He just opened the door long enough -for to grab a double-barreled gun. He pointed -it at the slave-hunter, and says: ‘You want to -see your slaves, does you? Well, just look up -them barrels and see if you can find them.’ That -man just went all to pieces. He dropped his gun, -his legs went trembling, and the tears most started -from his eyes. Stevens took and locked him up in -the house. When the rest of his crowd seen him -captured, they ran away as fast as they could go.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Captain Brown went to see the prisoner, and -says to him, ‘I’ll show you what it is to look after -slaves, my man.’ That frightened the prisoner -awful. He was a kind of old fellow and when he -heard what the captain said, I suppose he thought -he was going to be killed. He began to cry and -beg to be let go. The captain he only smiled a -little bit, and talked some more to him, and the -next day he was let go.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>“A few days afterward, the United States -marshal came up with another gang to capture us. -There was about seventy-five of them, and they surrounded -the house, and we was all afraid we was going -to be took for sure. But the captain he just said, -‘Get ready, boys, and we’ll whip them all.’ There -was only fourteen of us altogether, but the captain -was a terror to them, and when he stepped out of the -house and went for them the whole seventy-five of -them started running. Captain Brown and Kagi -and some others chased them, and captured five -prisoners. There was a doctor and lawyer amongst -them. They all had nice horses. The captain -made them get down. Then he told five of us -slaves to mount the beasts and we rode them while -the white men had to walk. It was early in the -spring, and the mud on the roads was away over -their ankles. I just tell you it was mighty tough -walking, and you can believe those fellows had -enough of slave-hunting. The next day the captain -let them all go.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Our masters kept spies watching till we crossed -the border. When we got to Springdale, Ia., a -man came to see Captain Brown, and told him there -was a lot of friends down in a town in Kansas that -wanted to see him. The captain said he did not -care to go down, but as soon as the man started -back, Captain Brown followed him. When he -came back, he said there was a whole crowd coming -up to capture us. We all went up to the schoolhouse -and got ourselves ready to fight.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>“The crowd came and hung around the schoolhouse -a few days, but they didn’t try to capture us. -The governor of Kansas, he telegraphed to the -United States marshal at Springdale: ‘Capture -John Brown, dead or alive.’ The marshal he -answered: ‘If I try to capture John Brown it’ll -be dead, and I’ll be the one that’ll be dead.’ Finally -those Kansas people went home, and then that -same marshal put us in a car and sent us to -Chicago. It took us over three months to get to -Canada.... What kind of a man was Captain -Brown? He was a great big man, over six -feet tall, with great big shoulders, and long hair, -white as snow. He was a very quiet man, awful -quiet. He never even laughed. After we was free -we was wild of course, and we used to cut up all -kinds of foolishness. But the captain would always -look as solemn as a graveyard. Sometimes he just -let out the tiniest bit of a smile, and says: ‘You’d -better quit your fooling and take up your book.’”<a id='r135' /><a href='#f135' class='c014'><sup>[135]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>On the 12th of March, 1859, nearly three months -after the starting, John Brown landed his fugitives -safely in Canada “under the lion’s paw.” The old -man lifted his hands and said: “Lord, permit Thy -servant to die in peace; for mine eyes have seen -Thy salvation! I could not brook the thought that -any ill should befall you,—least of all, that you -should be taken back to slavery. The arm of -Jehovah protected us.”<a id='r136' /><a href='#f136' class='c014'><sup>[136]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER VIII<br /> <span class='large'>THE GREAT PLAN</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the -bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the -oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”</p> - -<p class='c003'>“Sir, the angel of the Lord will camp round -about me,” said John Brown with stern eyes when -the timid foretold his doom.<a id='r137' /><a href='#f137' class='c014'><sup>[137]</sup></a> With a steadfast -almost superstitious faith in his divine mission, the -old man had walked unscathed out of Kansas in the -fall of 1856, two years and a half before the slave -raid into Missouri related in the last chapter. In -his mind lay a definitely matured plan for attacking -slavery in the United States in such a way as -would shake its very foundations. The plan had -been long forming, and changing in shape from -1828, when he proposed a Negro school in Hudson, -until 1859 when he finally fixed on Harper’s Ferry. -At first he thought to educate Negroes in the North -and let them leaven the lump of slaves. Then, -moving forward a step, he determined to settle in -a border state and educate slaves openly or clandestinely -and send them out as emissaries. As gradually -he became acquainted with the great work and -wide ramifications of the Underground Railroad, he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>conceived the idea of central depots for running off -slaves in the inaccessible portions of the South, and -he began studying Southern geography with this -in view. He noted the rivers, swamps and mountains, -and more especially, the great struggling -heights of the Alleghanies, which swept from his -Pennsylvania home down to the swamps of Virginia, -Carolina and Georgia. His Kansas experiences -suggested for a time the southwest pathway to -Louisiana by the swamps of the Red and Arkansas -Rivers, but this was but a passing thought; -he soon reverted to the great spur of the Alleghanies.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I never shall forget,” writes Thomas Wentworth -Higginson, “the quiet way in which he once told -me that ‘God had established the Alleghany Mountains -from the foundation of the world that they -might one day be a refuge for fugitive slaves.’ I -did not know then that his own home was among -the Adirondacks.”<a id='r138' /><a href='#f138' class='c014'><sup>[138]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>More and more, as he thought and worked, did his -great plan present itself to him clearly and definitely -until finally it stood in 1858 as Kagi told it to -Hinton:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The mountains of Virginia were named as -the place of refuge, and as a country admirably -adapted in which to carry on guerrilla warfare. In -the course of the conversation, Harper’s Ferry was -mentioned as a point to be seized, but not held,—on -account of the arsenal. The white members of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>the company were to act as officers of different -guerrilla bands, which, under the general command -of John Brown, were to be composed of Canadian -refugees, and the Virginia slaves who would join -them. A different time of the year was mentioned -for the commencement of the warfare from that -which had lately been chosen. It was not anticipated -that the first movement would have any other appearance -to the masters than a slave stampede, or -local insurrection, at most. The planters would -pursue their chattels and be defeated. The militia -would then be called out, and would also be defeated. -It was not intended that the movement -should appear to be of large dimension, but that, -gradually increasing in magnitude, it should, as it -opened, strike terror into the heart of the slave -states by the amount of the organization it would -exhibit, and the strength it gathered. They anticipated, -after the first blow had been struck, that, by -the aid of the free and Canadian Negroes who would -join them, they could inspire confidence in the -slaves, and induce them to rally. No intention was -expressed of gathering a large body of slaves, and -removing them to Canada. On the contrary, Kagi -clearly stated, in answer to my inquiries, that the -design was to make the fight in the mountains of -Virginia, extending it to North Carolina, and -Tennessee, and also to the swamps of South -Carolina if possible. Their purpose was not the -extradition of one or a thousand slaves, but their -liberation in the states wherein they were born, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>were now held in bondage. ‘The mountains and -swamps of the South were intended by the Almighty,’ -said John Brown to me afterward, ‘for a -refuge for the slave, and a defense against the oppressor.’ -Kagi spoke of having marked out a chain -of counties extending continuously through South -Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. He -had traveled over a large portion of the region indicated, -and from his own personal knowledge, and -with the assistance of Canadian Negroes who had -escaped from those states, they had arranged a general -plan of attack.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The counties he named were those which contained -the largest proportion of slaves, and would, -therefore, be the best in which to strike. The blow -struck at Harper’s Ferry was to be in the spring, -when the planters were busy, and the slaves most -needed. The arms in the arsenal were to be taken -to the mountains, with such slaves that joined. -The telegraph wires were to be cut, and the railroad -tracks torn up in all directions. As fast as possible -other bands besides the original ones were to be -formed, and a continuous chain of posts established -in the mountains. They were to be supported by -provisions taken from the farms of the oppressors. -They expected to be speedily and constantly reënforced; -first, by the arrival of those men, who, -in Canada, were anxiously looking and praying for -the time of deliverance, and then by the slaves -themselves. The intention was to hold the egress -to the free states as long as possible, in order -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>to retreat when that was advisable. Kagi, however, -expected to retreat southward, not in the -contrary direction. The slaves were to be armed -with pikes, scythes, muskets, shotguns, and other -simple instruments of defense; the officers, white -or black, and such of the men as were skilled and -trustworthy, to have the use of the Sharps rifles -and revolvers. They anticipated procuring provisions -enough for subsistence by forage, as also -arms, horses, and ammunition. Kagi said one of -the reasons that induced him to go into the enterprise -was a full conviction that at no very distant -day forcible efforts for freedom would break out -among the slaves, and that slavery might be more -speedily abolished by such efforts, than by any -other means. He knew by observation in the -South, that in no point was the system so vulnerable -as in its fear of slave-rising. Believing that such a -blow would soon be struck, he wanted to organize -it so as to make it more effectual, and also, by -directing and controlling the Negroes, to prevent -some of the atrocities that would necessarily arise -from the sudden upheaval of such a mass as the -Southern slaves.”<a id='r139' /><a href='#f139' class='c014'><sup>[139]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The knowledge of the country was obtained by -personal inspection. Kagi and others of Brown’s -lieutenants went out on trips; the old man himself -had been in western, northern and southern -Virginia, and his Negro friends especially knew -these places and routes. One of Brown’s men writes:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>“My object in wishing to see Mr. Reynolds, who -was a colored man (very little colored, however), -was in regard to a military organization which, I had -understood, was in existence among the colored people. -He assured me that such was the fact, and that -its ramifications extended through most, or nearly -all, of the slave states. He, himself, I think, had -been through many of the slave states visiting and -organizing. He referred me to many references in -the Southern papers, telling of this and that favorite -slave being killed or found dead. These, he asserted, -must be taken care of, being the most dangerous -element they had to contend with. He also -asserted that they were only waiting for Brown, or -some one else to make a successful initiative move -when their forces would be put in motion. None -but colored persons could be admitted to membership, -and, in part to corroborate his assertions, he -took me to the room in which they held their meetings -and used as their arsenal. He showed me a -fine collection of arms. He gave me this under the -pledge of secrecy which we gave to each other at -the Chatham Convention.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“On my return to Cleveland he passed me through -the organization, first to J. J. Pierce, colored, at -Milan, who paid my bill over night at the Eagle -Hotel, and gave me some money, and a note to E. -Moore, at Norwalk, who in turn paid my hotel bill -and purchased a railroad ticket through to Cleveland -for me.”<a id='r140' /><a href='#f140' class='c014'><sup>[140]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>Speaking of this league, Hinton also says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“As one may naturally understand, looking at -conditions then existing, there existed something of -an organization to assist fugitives and for resistance -to their masters. It was found all along the borders -from Syracuse, New York, to Detroit, Michigan. -As none but colored men were admitted into -direct and active membership with this ‘League of -Freedom,’ it is quite difficult to trace its workings -or know how far its ramifications extended. One -of the most interesting phases of slave life, so far as -the whites were enabled to see or impinge upon it, -was the extent and rapidity of communication -among them. Four geographical lines seem to -have been chiefly followed. One was that of the -coast south of the Potomac, whose almost continuous -line of swamps from the vicinity of Norfolk, -Va., to the northern border of Florida afforded -a refuge for many who could not escape and -became ‘marooned’ in their depths, while giving -facility to the more enduring to work their -way out to the North Star Land. The great -Appalachian range and its abutting mountains were -long a rugged, lonely, but comparatively safe route -to freedom. It was used, too, for many years. -Doubtless a knowledge of that fact, for John Brown -was always an active Underground Railroad man, -had very much to do, apart from its immediate use -strategically considered, with the captain’s decision -to begin operations therein. Harriet Tubman, whom -John Brown met for the first time at St. Catherines -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>in March or April, 1858, was a constant user of the -Appalachian route.”<a id='r141' /><a href='#f141' class='c014'><sup>[141]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The trained leadership John Brown found in his -Kansas experience, and his wide acquaintance with -colored men; the organization of the Negroes culminated -in a convention at Chatham, Canada. The -raising of money for this work, as time went on, -was more and more the object of his various occupations -and commercial ventures. These visions of -personal wealth to be expended for great deeds failed -because the pressure of work for the ideal overcame -the pressure of work for funds to finance it. When -once he discovered at Syracuse men of means, ready -to pay the expenses of men of deeds, he dropped all -further thought of his physical necessities, gave -himself to the cause and called on them for money. -In his earlier calls he regards this not as charity but -as wages. He said once: “From about the 20th of -May of last year hundreds of men like ourselves lost -their whole time, and entirely failed of securing any -kind of crop whatever. I believe it safe to say that -five hundred free state men lost each one hundred -and twenty-five days, at $1.50 per day, which would -be, to say nothing of attendant losses, $90,000. I -saw the ruins of many free state men’s houses at different -places in the Territory, together with stacks of -grain wasted and burning, to the amount of, say -$50,000; making, in lost time and destruction of -property, more than $150,000.”<a id='r142' /><a href='#f142' class='c014'><sup>[142]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>And again: “John Brown has devoted the service -of himself and two minor sons to the free state -cause for more than a year; suffered by the fire -before named and by robbery; has gone at his own -cost for that period, except that he and his company -together have received forty dollars in cash, two -sacks of flour, thirty-five pounds bacon, thirty-five -pounds sugar, and twenty pounds rice.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I propose to serve hereafter in the free state -cause (provided my needful expenses can be met), -should that be desired; and to raise a small regular -force to serve on the same condition. My own -means are so far exhausted that I can no longer continue -in the service at present without the means -of defraying my expenses are furnished me.”<a id='r143' /><a href='#f143' class='c014'><sup>[143]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Finally, however, he had to appeal more directly -to philanthropy. He was especially encouraged by -the Kansas committees. These committees had -sprung up in various ways and places in 1854, but -had nearly all united in Thayer’s New England -Emigrant Aid Company in 1855. This company -proposed to aid free state emigration as an investment, -but it failed in this respect because of the -political troubles, and the panic of 1857. It did, -however, arouse great interest throughout the nation. -The National Kansas Committee, formed after the -sacking of Lawrence, was more belligerent than philanthropic -in its projects, while the Boston Relief -Committee was distinctly radical. John Brown had -some connection with Thayer’s company, but his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>hopes were especially built on the National Kansas -Committee, which Lane had done so much to bring -into being, and to which Gerrit Smith contributed -many thousands of dollars.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Leaving Kansas secretly in October, 1856, John -Brown hastened to the Chicago headquarters of this -National Kansas Committee with a proposal that -they equip a company for him. The Chicago committee -referred this proposal to a full meeting of the -members to be held in New York in January. -John Brown immediately started East, clad in new -clothes which the committee furnished and armed -with letters from the governors of Kansas and Ohio. -Gerrit Smith welcomed him and said: “Captain -John Brown,—you did not need to show me letters -from Governor Chase and Governor Robinson to let -me know who and what you are. I have known -you for many years, and have highly esteemed you -as long as I have known you. I know your unshrinking -bravery, your self-sacrificing benevolence, -your devotion to the cause of freedom, and -have long known them. May Heaven preserve -your life and health, and prosper your noble purpose!”<a id='r144' /><a href='#f144' class='c014'><sup>[144]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>But his half-brother in Ohio wrote:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Since the trouble growing out of the settlement -of the Kansas Territory, I have observed a marked -change in brother John. Previous to this, he devoted -himself entirely to business; but since these -troubles he has abandoned all business, and has become -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>wholly absorbed by the subject of slavery. -He had property left him by his father, and of -which I had the agency. He has never taken a -dollar of it for the benefit of his family, but has -called for a portion of it to be expended in what -he called the Service. After his return to Kansas -he called on me, and I urged him to go home to his -family and attend to his private affairs; that I -feared his course would prove his destruction and -that of his boys.... He replied that he was -sorry that I did not sympathize with him; that he -knew that he was in the line of his duty, and he -must pursue it, though it should destroy him and -his family. He stated to me that he was satisfied -that he was a chosen instrument in the hands of -God to war against slavery. From his manner and -from his conversation at this time, I had no doubt -he had become insane upon the subject of slavery, -and gave him to understand that this was my opinion -of him!”<a id='r145' /><a href='#f145' class='c014'><sup>[145]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Mrs. George L. Stearns, the wife of the Massachusetts -anti-slavery leader, writes:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“At this juncture, Mr. Stearns wrote to John -Brown, that if he would come to Boston and consult -with the friends of freedom, he would pay his -expenses. They had never met, but ‘Osawatomie -Brown’ had become a cherished household name -during the anxious summer of 1856. Arriving in -Boston they were introduced to each other in the -street by a Kansas man, who chanced to be with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>Mr. Stearns on his way to the committee rooms in -Nilis’s Block, School Street. Captain Brown made -a profound impression on all who came within the -sphere of his moral magnetism. Emerson called -him ‘the most ideal of men, for he wanted to put -all his ideas into action.’ His absolute superiority -to all selfish aims and narrowing pride of opinion -touched an answering chord in the self-devotion -of Mr. Stearns. A little anecdote illustrates the -modest estimate of the work he had in hand. After -several efforts to bring together certain friends to -meet Captain Brown at his home, in Medford, he -found that Sunday was the only day that would -serve their several conveniences, and being a little -uncertain how it might strike his ideas of religious -propriety, he prefaced his invitation with something -like an apology. With characteristic promptness -came the reply: ‘Mr. Stearns, I have a little -ewe-lamb that I want to pull out of the ditch, -and the Sabbath will be as good a day as any to do -it.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It may not be out of place to describe the impression -he made upon the writer on this first visit. -When I entered the parlor, he was sitting near the -hearth, where glowed a bright, open fire. He rose -to greet me, stepping forward with such an erect, -military bearing, such fine courtesy of demeanor -and grave earnestness, that he seemed to my instant -thought some old Cromwellian hero suddenly -dropped down before me; a suggestion which was -presently strengthened by his saying (proceeding -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>with the conversation my entrance had interrupted), -‘Gentlemen, I consider the Golden Rule and the Declaration -of Independence one and inseparable; and -it is better that a whole generation of men, women, -children should be swept away than that this crime -of slavery should exist one day longer.’ These -words were uttered like rifle balls; in such emphatic -tones and manner that our little Carl, not -three years old, remembered it in manhood as one -of his earliest recollections. The child stood perfectly -still, in the middle of the room, gazing with -his beautiful eyes on this new sort of a man, until -his absorption arrested the attention of Captain -Brown, who soon coaxed him to his knee, though -the look and childlike wonder remained. His -dress was of some dark brown stuff, quite coarse, -but its exactness and neatness produced a singular -air of refinement. At dinner, he declined all -dainties, saying that he was unaccustomed to luxuries, -even to partaking of butter.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The ‘friends of freedom,’ with whom Mr. -Stearns had invited John Brown to consult, were -profoundly impressed with his sagacity, integrity, -and devotion; notably among these were R. W. Emerson, -Theodore Parker, H. D. Thoreau, A. Bronson -Alcott, F. B. Sanborn, Dr. S. G. Howe, Col. -T. W. Higginson, Governor Andrew, and others.”<a id='r146' /><a href='#f146' class='c014'><sup>[146]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Sanborn says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“He came to me with a note of introduction from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>George Walker of Springfield—both of us being -Kansas committee men, working to maintain the -freedom of that Territory, and Brown had been one -of the fighting men there in the summer of 1856, -just before. His theory required fighting in -Kansas; it was the only sure way, he thought, to -keep that region free from the curse of slavery. -His mission now was to levy war on it, and for -that to raise and equip a company of a hundred -well-armed men who should resist aggression in -Kansas, or occasionally carry the war into Missouri. -Behind that purpose, but not yet disclosed, was his -intention to use the men thus put into the field for -incursions into Virginia or other slave states. Our -State Kansas Committee, of which I was secretary, -had a stock of arms that Brown wished to use for -this company, and these we voted to him. They -had been put in the custody of the National Committee -at Chicago, and it was needful to follow up -our vote by similar action in the National Committee. -For this purpose I was sent to a meeting -of that committee at the Astor House, in New York, -as the proxy of Dr. Howe and Dr. Samuel Cabot—both -members of the National Committee. I met -Brown there, and aided him in obtaining from the -meeting an appropriation of $5,000 for his work in -Kansas, of which, however, he received only $500. -The committee also voted to restore the custody of -two hundred rifles to the Massachusetts committee -which bought them, well knowing that we should -turn them over to John Brown, as we did. He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>found them at Tabor, Ia., in the following September, -and took possession; it was with part of -these rifles that he entered Virginia two years -later.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“At this Astor House meeting Brown was -closely questioned by some of the National Committee, -particularly by Mr. Hurd of Chicago, as to -what he would do with money and arms. He refused -to pledge himself to use them solely in Kansas, -and declared that his past record ought to be a -sufficient guarantee that he should employ them -judiciously. If we chose to trust him, well and -good, but he would neither make pledges nor disclose -his plans. Mr. Hurd had some inkling that -Brown would not confine his warfare to Kansas, -but the rest of us were willing to trust Brown, and -the money was voted.”<a id='r147' /><a href='#f147' class='c014'><sup>[147]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown immediately made a careful estimate -of the cost of the necessary equipment which with -“two weeks of provisions for men and horses” -amounted to $1,774. The funds of the committee, -however, were low and the officers suspicious; -in April they informed Brown: “The committee -are at present out of money, and compelled to decline -sending you the five hundred dollars you -speak of. They are sorry this has become the -case, but it was unavoidable. I need not state to -you all the reasons why. The country has stopped -sending us contributions, and we have no means of -replenishing our treasury. We shall need to have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>aid from some quarter to enable us to meet our -present engagements.”<a id='r148' /><a href='#f148' class='c014'><sup>[148]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Immediately Brown set out to raise his own funds -and for three months worked fervently. Just before -the Dred Scott Decision he spoke to the Massachusetts -legislature from which his friends hoped to -secure an appropriation for Kansas. This failed, -and Brown started on a tour in New England. He -spoke at his old home and made a contract for -securing one thousand pikes near there. He showed -a Kansas bowie-knife and said: “Such a blade as -this, mounted upon a strong shaft, or handle, would -make a cheap and effective weapon. Our friends -in Kansas are without arms or money to get them; -and if I could put such weapons into their hands, -they could make them very useful. A resolute -woman, with such a pike, could defend her cabin -door against man or beast.”<a id='r149' /><a href='#f149' class='c014'><sup>[149]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In Hartford he spoke and said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I am trying to raise from twenty to twenty-five -thousand dollars in the free states to enable me to -continue my efforts in the cause of freedom. Will -the people of Connecticut, my native state, afford -me some aid in this undertaking? Will the gentlemen -and ladies of Hartford, where I make my appeal -in this state, set the example of an earnest -effort? Will some gentleman or lady take hold and -try what can be done by small contributions from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>counties, cities, towns, societies, or churches, or in -some other way? I think the little beggar children -in the street are sufficiently interested to warrant -their contributing, if there was any need of it, to -secure the object.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I was told that the newspapers in a certain city -were dressed in mourning on hearing that I was -killed and scalped in Kansas, but I did not know -of it until I reached the place. Much good it did -me. In the same place I met a more cool reception -than in any other place where I have stopped. If -my friends will hold up my hands while I live, I -will freely absolve them from any expense over me -when I am dead. I do not ask for pay, but shall -be most grateful for all the assistance I can get.”<a id='r150' /><a href='#f150' class='c014'><sup>[150]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>On the day that Buchanan was inaugurated and -two days before the Dred Scott Decision, he published -a similar appeal in the New York <cite>Tribune</cite> -“with no little sacrifice of personal feeling.” Once -he writes: “I am advised that one of Uncle Sam’s -hounds is on my track, and I have kept myself hid -for a few days to let my track get cold. I have no -idea of being taken, and intend (if God will) to go -back with irons in, rather than upon, my hands.”<a id='r151' /><a href='#f151' class='c014'><sup>[151]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Dr. Wayland met him in Worcester where a -Frederick Douglass meeting was being arranged -just after Taney’s decision and says: “I called at -the house of Eli Thayer, afterward member of Congress -from that district, to ask him to sit on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>platform. Here I found a stranger, a man of tall, -gaunt form, with a face smooth-shaven, destitute of -full beard, that later became a part of history. The -children were climbing over his knees; he said, -‘The children always come to me.’ I was then introduced -to John Brown of Osawatomie. How little -one imagined then that in less than three years -the name of this plain homespun man would fill -America and Europe! Mr. Brown consented to -occupy a place on the platform, and at the urgent -request of the audience, spoke briefly. It is one of -the curious facts, that many men who <em>do</em> it are -utterly unable to <em>tell</em> about it. John Brown, a -flame of fire in action, was dull in speech.”<a id='r152' /><a href='#f152' class='c014'><sup>[152]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Later in the same month Brown accompanied -Sanborn and Conway to ex-Governor Reeder’s home -in Pennsylvania to induce him to return to Kansas, -but he declined. April 1st found Brown back -in Massachusetts, where for a week or more he was -again in hiding from United States officers, probably -among his Negro friends in Springfield. It was in -April, too, that he took another step in his plan, -namely, toward securing military training for his -band. He stated according to Realf that, “for -twenty or thirty years the idea had possessed him -like a passion of giving liberty to the slaves; that -he made a journey to England, during which he -made a tour upon the European continent, inspecting -all fortifications, and especially all earthwork -forts which he could find, with a view of applying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>the knowledge thus gained, with modifications and -inventions of his own, to a mountain warfare in the -United States. He stated that he had read all the -books upon insurrectionary warfare, that he could -lay his hands on: the Roman warfare, the successful -opposition of the Spanish chieftains during the -period when Spain was a Roman province,—how, -with ten thousand men, divided and subdivided -into small companies, acting simultaneously, yet -separately, they withstood the whole consolidated -power of the Roman Empire through a number of -years. In addition to this he had become very -familiar with the successful warfare waged by -Schamyl, the Circassian chief, against the Russians; -he had posted himself in relation to the wars of -Toussaint L’Ouverture; he had become thoroughly -acquainted with the wars in Hayti and the islands -round about.”<a id='r153' /><a href='#f153' class='c014'><sup>[153]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Despite his own knowledge, however, he felt the -need of expert advice, and meeting a former lieutenant -of Garibaldi, one Hugh Forbes, he was captivated -by him, and forthwith hired him to drill -his men. Forbes was an excitable, ill-balanced -Englishman, who had fought in Italy and at last -landed penniless in New York. He thought Brown -simply an agent of wealthy and powerful interests -and that the whole North was ready to attack -slavery. He proposed translating and publishing -a manual of guerrilla warfare and John Brown gave -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>him $600 for this work. He was then to join the -leader and they would together go to the West -and gather and drill a company. This large outlay -left John Brown but little in his purse, for, after -all, his efforts had been disappointing, and he departed -from New England with a quaint half-sarcastic -“Farewell to the Plymouth Rocks, Bunker -Hill monuments, Charter Oaks and Uncle Tom’s -Cabins.” He wrote:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“He has left for Kansas; has been trying since -he came out of the Territory to secure an outfit, or, -in other words, the means of arming and thoroughly -equipping his regular minutemen, who are mixed -up with the people of Kansas. And he leaves the -states with the deepest sadness, that after exhausting -his own small means, and with his family and -with his brave men suffering hunger, cold, nakedness, -and some of them sickness, wounds, imprisonment -in irons with extreme cruel treatment, and -others death; that, lying on the ground for months -in the most sickly, unwholesome, and uncomfortable -places, some of the time with the sick and -wounded, destitute of shelter, hunted like wolves, -and sustained in part by Indians; that after all this, -in order to sustain a cause which every citizen of this -‘glorious Republic’ is under equal moral obligation -to do, and for the neglect of which he will be -held accountable by God,—a cause in which every -man, woman, and child of the entire human family -has a deep and awful interest,—that when no wages -are asked or expected, he cannot secure, amid all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>wealth, luxury, and extravagance of this ‘heaven-exalted’ -people, even the necessary supplies of the -common soldier. ‘How are the mighty fallen!’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I am destitute of horses, baggage wagons, tents, -harness, saddles, bridles, holsters, spurs, and belts; -camp equipage, such as cooking and eating utensils, -blankets, knapsacks, intrenching tools, axes, -shovels, spades, mattocks, crowbars; have not a -supply of ammunition; have not money sufficient -to pay freight and traveling expenses; and left my -family poorly supplied with common necessaries.”<a id='r154' /><a href='#f154' class='c014'><sup>[154]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Forbes also disappointed him by his delay, -lingering in New York and not appearing in Iowa -until August. Brown, who had been sick again, -was nevertheless pushing matters among his Kansas -friends. He wrote in June: “There are some -half-dozen men I want a visit from at Tabor, Ia., to -come off in the most quiet way; ... I have -some very important matters to confer with some of -you about. Let there be no words about it.”<a id='r155' /><a href='#f155' class='c014'><sup>[155]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Arriving at Tabor early in August, Brown’s first -business was to secure the arms voted him. Because -of a previous failure to equip emigrants at -points further east, the Massachusetts Kansas State -Committee had sent 200 Sharps rifles to Tabor, Ia. -Here they were stored in a minister’s barn until -John Brown called for and removed them. Hugh -Forbes finally arrived August 9th, bringing with -him copies of his “Manual for the Patriotic Volunteer.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>Brown wrote home that he and his son -Owen were “beginning to take lessons and have, -we think, a capable teacher.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Differences, however, soon arose. Forbes wanted -$100 per month in addition to the $600 previously -paid, while Brown apparently considered that he -had already advanced a half year’s wage. Then -too matters were on a meaner scale than Forbes had -dreamed; there was no money, few followers and -little glory in sight. He felt himself duped; he -despised Brown’s ability and proposed taking full -command himself, projecting slave raids into -Missouri and other states. Brown was obdurate, -and early in November, the foreign tactician suddenly -left for the East. This disturbed Brown’s -plans. He had intended to establish two or three -military schools, one in Iowa, one in northern -Ohio and one in Canada. Forbes’s desertion made -him determine to give up the Iowa school and -hasten to Ohio. He therefore passed quickly to -Kansas, arriving in the vicinity of Lawrence, -November 5, 1857.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Cook says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I met him at the house of E. B. Whitman, -about four miles from Lawrence, K. T., which, I -think, was about the first of November following. I -was told that he intended to organize a company -for the purpose of putting a stop to the aggressions -of the pro-slavery men. I agreed to join him and -was asked if I knew of any other young men who -were perfectly reliable whom I thought would join -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>also. I recommended Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, -and R. J. Hinton. I received a note on the -next Sunday morning, while at breakfast in the -Whitney House, from Captain Brown, requesting -me to come up that day, and to bring Realf, Parsons, -and Hinton with me. Realf and Hinton -were not in town, and therefore I could not extend -to them the invitation. Parsons and myself went -and had a long talk with Captain Brown. A few -days afterward I received another note from Captain -Brown, which read, as near as I can recollect, -as follows:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘<span class='sc'>Captain Cook</span>:—Dear Sir—You will please -get everything ready to join me at Topeka by -Monday night next. Come to Mrs. Sheridan’s, two -miles south of Topeka, and bring your arms, ammunition, -clothing and other articles you may require. -Bring Parsons with you if he can get ready -in time. Please keep very quiet about this matter. -Yours, etc.,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>John Brown</span>.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“I made all my arrangements for starting at the -time appointed. Parsons, Realf, and Hinton could -not get ready. I left them at Lawrence, and -started in a carriage for Topeka. Stopped at a -hotel over night, and left early next morning for -Mrs. Sheridan’s to meet Captain Brown. Staid a -day and a half at Mrs. S.’s—then left for Topeka, -at which place we were joined by Whipple, Moffett, -and Kagi. Left Topeka for Nebraska City, -and camped at night on the prairie northeast of -Topeka. Here, for the first, I learned that we were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>to leave Kansas to attend a military school during -the winter. It was the intention of the party to go -to Ashtabula County, Ohio.”<a id='r156' /><a href='#f156' class='c014'><sup>[156]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In this way Brown enlisted John E. Cook, -whom he had met about the time of the turn of the -battle of Black Jack; Luke F. Parsons, who was a -member of his old Kansas company; and Richard -Realf, a newspaper man. At Topeka Aaron D. -Stevens, a veteran free state fighter, joined, with -Charles W. Moffett, an Iowa man, and John Henry -Kagi, who became his right hand. With these six -he returned to Tabor, where he found William H. -Seeman and Charles Plummer Tidd, two of his -former followers; Richard Richardson, an intelligent -Negro fugitive; and his son Owen. This -party of eleven started hurriedly for Ashtabula, O., -late in November. “Good-bye,” said John Brown, -“you will hear from me. We’ve had enough talk -about ‘bleeding Kansas.’ I will make a bloody spot -at another point to be talked about.”<a id='r157' /><a href='#f157' class='c014'><sup>[157]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>So the band started and pressed on their lonely -way over two hundred and fifty miles across the wild -wastes of Iowa until they came to the village of -Springdale, about fifty miles from the Missouri. -This was a little settlement intensely anti-slavery in -sentiment. Here Brown had planned to stop long -enough to sell his teams and then proceed by railroad, -eastward. The panic of this year, beginning -late in August, was by December in full swing, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>he found himself without funds, and with no remittances -from the East. He therefore decided to have -his men spend the winter at Springdale while he -went East alone. The Quakers received them gladly -and they were quartered at a farmhouse three miles -from the village, where they paid only a dollar a -week for board. The winter passed pleasantly but -busily.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Stevens was made drill-master; all arose at five, -breakfasted, studied until ten and drilled from ten -to twelve. In the afternoon they practiced gymnastics -and shooting at targets. Five nights in the -week a mock legislature was held either at the home -or in the schoolhouse near by. Sometimes Realf and -others listened to the townspeople, and there was -much visiting. Before John Brown left for the East, -he revealed his plans in part to his landlord and two -other citizens of Springdale.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Some time toward spring, John Brown came to -my house one Sunday afternoon,” said this man. -“He informed me that he wished to have some private -talk with me; we went into the parlor. He -then told me his plans for the future. He had not -then decided to attack the armory at Harper’s -Ferry, but intended to take some fifty to one hundred -men into the hills near the Ferry and remain -there until he could get together quite a number of -slaves, and then take what conveyances were needed -to transport the Negroes and their families to Canada. -And in a short time after the excitement had abated, -to make a strike in some other Southern state; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>to continue on making raids, as opportunity offered, -until slavery ceased to exist. I did my best to convince -him that the probabilities were that all would -be killed. He said that, as for himself, he was willing -to give his life for the slaves. He told me repeatedly, -while talking, that he believed he was an -instrument in the hands of God through which slavery -would be abolished. I said to him: ‘You and -your handful of men cannot cope with the whole -South.’ His reply was: ‘I tell you, Doctor, it will -be the beginning of the end of slavery.’ He also -told me that but two of his men, Kagi and Stevens, -knew what his intentions were.”<a id='r158' /><a href='#f158' class='c014'><sup>[158]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The landlord several times sat late into the night -arguing with Brown about his plans. Some of the -neighbors were persuaded to join the band, among -them the two Coppocs, and George B. Gill, a Canadian. -Stewart Taylor also enlisted there. Hinton, -however, still supposed the battle-ground would be -Kansas. He says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“There was no attempt to make a secret of their -drilling, and as Gill shows and Cook stated in his -‘confession,’ the neighborhood folks all understood -that this band of earnest young men were preparing -for something far out of the ordinary. Of course -Kansas was presumed to be the objective point. But -generally the impression prevailed that when the -party moved again, it would be somewhere in the -direction of the slave states. The atmosphere of -those days was charged with disturbance. It is difficult -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>to determine how many of the party actually -knew that John Brown designed to invade Virginia. -All the testimony goes to show that it is most probable -that not until after the assembling at the Maryland -farm in 1859 was there a full, definite announcement -of Harper’s Ferry as the objective point. That -he fully explained his purpose to make reprisals on -slavery wherever the opportunity offered is without -question, but except to Owen, who was vowed -to work in his early youth, and Kagi, who informed -me at Osawatomie in July, 1858, that Brown gave -him his fullest confidence upon their second interview -at Topeka in 1857, there is every reason to believe -that among the men the details of the intended -movement were matters of after confidence. My -own experience illustrates this. I was absent from -Lawrence when John Brown recruited his little company. -He had left already for Iowa before I returned. -I met Realf just as he was leaving, and we -talked without reserve, he assuring me that the purpose -was just to prepare a fighting nucleus for resisting -the enforcement of the Lecompton Constitution, -which it was then expected Congress might try -to impose upon us. Through this, advantage was to -be taken of the agitation to prepare for a movement -against slavery in Missouri, Arkansas, the Indian -Territory and possibly Louisiana. At Kagi’s -request (with whom I maintained for nearly two -years an important, if irregular, correspondence), I -began a systematic investigation of the conditions, -roads and topography of the Southwest, visiting a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>good deal of the Indian Territory, with portions of -southwest Missouri, western Arkansas, and northern -Texas, also, under the guise of examining railroad -routes, etc.”<a id='r159' /><a href='#f159' class='c014'><sup>[159]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Forbes in the meantime hurried East, nursing his -wrath. He had all of a foreigner’s difficulty in following -the confused threads of another nation’s -politics at a critical time. He classed Seward, -Wilson, Sumner, Phillips and John Brown together -as anti-slavery men who were ready to attack the -institution <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">vi et armis</span></i>. This movement which he -proposed to lead had been started, and then, as he -supposed, shamelessly neglected by its sponsors while -he had been thrust upon the tender mercies of John -Brown. He was angry and penniless and he intended -to have reparation. He first sought out -Frederick Douglass, but was received coldly. He -appears to have been more successful with McCune -Smith and the New York group of Negro leaders. -He immediately, too, began to address letters to -prominent Republicans.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown was annoyed at Forbes’s behavior -but seems at first not to have taken it seriously. -He left his men at Springdale, and started East in -January, arriving at Douglass’s Rochester home in -February. Douglass says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“He desired to stop with me several weeks, but -added, ‘I will not stay unless you will allow me to -pay board.’ Knowing that he was no trifler, but -meant all he said, and desirous of retaining him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>under my roof, I charged him three dollars a week. -While here he spent most of his time in correspondence. -He wrote often to George L. Stearns, -of Boston, Gerrit Smith, of Peterboro, and many -others, and received many letters in return. When -he was not writing letters, he was writing and revising -a constitution, which he meant to put in -operation by means of the men who should go with -him in the mountains. He said that to avoid -anarchy and confusion there should be a regularly -constituted government, which each man who came -with him should be sworn to honor and support.... -His whole time and thought were -given to this subject. It was the first thing in the -morning and the last thing at night till, I confess, -it began to be something of a bore to me. Once in -a while he would say he could, with a few resolute -men, capture Harper’s Ferry and supply himself -with arms belonging to the government at that -place; but he never announced his intention to -do so.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It was, however, very evidently passing in his -mind as a thing that he might do. I paid but little -attention to such remarks, although I never doubted -that he thought just what he said. Soon after his -coming to me he asked me to get for him two -smoothly planed boards, upon which he could -illustrate, with a pair of dividers, by a drawing, -the plan of fortification which he meant to adopt in -the mountains. These forts were to be so arranged -as to connect one with the other by secret passages, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>so that if one was carried, another could easily be -fallen back upon, and be the means of dealing death -to the enemy at the very moment when he might -think himself victorious. I was less interested in -these drawings than my children were; but they -showed that the old man had an eye to the means as -well as to the end, and was giving his best thought -to the work he was about to take in hand.”<a id='r160' /><a href='#f160' class='c014'><sup>[160]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>From Rochester went letters sounding his friends, -as he was uncertain of the real devotion of the many -types of Abolitionists. He wrote Theodore Parker:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I am again out of Kansas and at this time concealing -my whereabouts; but for very different -reasons, however, from those I had for doing so at -Boston last spring. I have nearly perfected arrangements -for carrying out an important measure -in which the world has a deep interest, as well as -Kansas; and only lack from five to eight hundred -dollars to do so,—the same object for which I asked -for the secret-service money last fall. It is my only -errand here; and I have written to some of my -mutual friends in regard to it, but they none of -them understand my views so well as you do, and I -cannot explain without their first committing themselves -more than I know of their doing. I have -heard that Parker Pillsbury, and some others in -your quarters hold out ideas similar to those on -which I act; but I have no personal acquaintance -with them, and know nothing of their influence or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>means. Cannot you either by direct or indirect -action do something to further me? Do you know -of some parties whom you could induce to give their -Abolition theories a thoroughly practical shape? I -hope that this will prove to be the last time I shall -be driven to harass a friend in such a way. Do you -think any of my Garrisonian friends, either at Boston, -Worcester, or any other place, can be induced to -supply a little ‘straw,’ if I will absolutely make -‘brick’? I have written George L. Stearns, of -Medford, and Mr. F. B. Sanborn, of Concord; but -I am not informed as to how deeply-dyed Abolitionists -those friends are, and must beg you to consider -this communication strictly confidential, unless -you know of parties who will feel and act, and -hold their peace. I want to bring the thing about -during the next sixty days.”<a id='r161' /><a href='#f161' class='c014'><sup>[161]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To Higginson he wrote: “Railroad business on -a somewhat extended scale is the identical object -for which I am trying to get means. I have been -connected with that business, as commonly conducted, -from my childhood, and never let an opportunity -slip. I have been operating to some -purpose the past season; but I know I have a -measure on foot that I feel sure would awaken in -you something more than a common interest if you -could understand it. I have just written to my -friends G. L. Stearns, and F. B. Sanborn, asking -them to meet me for consultation at Peterboro, N. Y. -I am very anxious to have you come along, as I feel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>certain that you will never regret having been one -of the council.”<a id='r162' /><a href='#f162' class='c014'><sup>[162]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The Boston folk hesitated and suggested that -Brown come there. He demurred on account of -his being too well known. Finally Sanborn alone -went to meet Brown and thus relates his experience:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“After dinner, and after a few minutes spent with -our guests in the parlor, I went with Mr. Smith, -John Brown, and my classmate Morton, to the -room of Mr. Morton in the third story. Here, in -the long winter evening which followed, the whole -outline of Brown’s campaign in Virginia was laid -before our little council, to the astonishment and -almost the dismay of those present. The constitution -which he had drawn for the government of his -men, and of such territory as they might occupy, -was exhibited by Brown, its provisions recited and -explained, the proposed movements of his men indicated, -and the middle of May was named as the -time of the attack. To begin his hazardous adventure -he asked for but eight hundred dollars, -and would think himself rich with a thousand. -Being questioned and opposed by his friends, he -laid before them in detail his methods of organization -and fortification; of settlement in the South, -if that were possible, and of retreat through the -North, if necessary; and his theory of the way in -which such an invasion would be received in the -country at large. He desired from his friends a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>patient hearing of his statements, a candid opinion -concerning his plan, and, if that were favorable, -then such aid in money and support as we could -give him. We listened until after midnight, proposing -objections and raising difficulties; but nothing -could shake the purpose of the old Puritan. -Every difficulty had been foreseen and provided -against in some manner; the grand difficulty of -all,—the manifest hopelessness of undertaking anything -so vast with such slender means,—was met -with the text of Scripture: ‘If God be for us, who -can be against us?’ He had made nearly all his -arrangements: he had so many men enlisted, so -many hundred weapons; all he now wanted was -the small sum of money. With that he would -open his campaign in the spring, and he had no -doubt that the enterprise ‘would pay’ as he said.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“On the 23d of February the discussion was -renewed, and, as usually happened when he had -time enough, Captain Brown began to prevail over -the objections of his friends. At any rate, they -saw that they must either stand by him, or leave -him to dash himself alone against the fortress he -was determined to assault. To withhold aid would -only delay, not prevent him; nothing short of betraying -him to the enemy would do that. As the -sun was setting over the snowy hills of the region -where we met, I walked for an hour with Gerrit -Smith among those woods and fields (then included -in his broad manor) which his father had purchased -of the Indians and bequeathed to him. Brown was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>left at home by the fire, discussing the points of -theology with Charles Stewart, an old captain under -Wellington, who also happened to be visiting at the -house. Mr. Smith restated in his eloquent way the -daring propositions of Brown, whose import he -understood fully; and then said in substance: -‘You see how it is; our dear old friend has made -up his mind to this course, and cannot be turned -from it. We cannot give him up to die alone; we -must support him. I will raise so many hundred -dollars for him; you must lay the case before your -friends in Massachusetts and perhaps they will do -the same. I see no other way.’ For myself, I had -reached the same conclusion, and engaged to bring -the scheme at once to the attention of the three -Massachusetts men to whom Brown had written, -and also of Dr. S. G. Howe, who had sometimes -favored action almost as extreme as this proposed -by Brown. I returned to Boston on the 25th of -February, and on the same day communicated the -enterprise to Theodore Parker and Wentworth -Higginson. At the suggestion of Parker, Brown, -who had gone to Brooklyn, N. Y., was invited to -visit Boston secretly, and did so on the 4th of -March, taking a room at the American House, in -Hanover Street, and remaining for the most part -in his room during the four days of his stay. Mr. -Parker was deeply interested in the project, but -not very sanguine of its success. He wished to see -it tried, believing that it must do good even if it -failed. Brown remained at the American House -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>until Monday, March 8th, when he departed for -Philadelphia.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>On the 6th of March he wrote to his son John -from Boston: “My call here has met with a -hearty response, so that I feel assured of at least -tolerable success. I ought to be thankful for this. -All has been effected by quiet meeting of a few -choice friends, it being scarcely known that I have -been in the city.”<a id='r163' /><a href='#f163' class='c014'><sup>[163]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Leaving the money-raising to Sanborn and Smith, -Brown turned to his Negro friends, saying to his -eldest son, meantime: “I have been thinking that -I would like to have you make a trip to Bedford, -Chambersburg, Gettysburg, and Uniontown in -Pennsylvania, traveling slowly along, and inquiring -of every man on the way, or every family -of the right stripe, and getting acquainted with -them as much as you could. When you look at -the location of those places, you will readily perceive -the advantage of getting some acquaintance -in those parts.”<a id='r164' /><a href='#f164' class='c014'><sup>[164]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>And then he wrote two touching letters; one to -his eldest daughter and one to his staunch friend, -Sanborn.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To Ruth Brown he wrote: “The anxiety I feel -to see my wife and children once more I am unable -to describe. I want exceedingly to see my big baby -Ruth’s baby, and to see how that little company of -sheep look about this time. The cries of my poor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>sorrow-strieken, despairing children, whose ‘tears -on their cheeks’ are ever in my eyes, and whose -sighs are ever in my ears, may however prevent my -enjoying the happiness I so much desire. But, -courage, courage, courage!—the great work of my -life (the unseen hand that ‘guided me, and who had -indeed holden my right hand, may hold it still,’ -though I have not known Him at all as I ought) I -may yet see accomplished (God helping), and be -permitted to return, and ‘rest at evening.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Oh, my daughter Ruth! Could any plan be -devised whereby you could let Henry go ‘to school’ -(as you expressed it in your letter to him while in -Kansas), I would rather now have him ‘for another -term’ than to have a hundred average scholars. I -have a particular and very important, but not dangerous, -place for him to fill in the ‘school,’ and I -know of no man living so well adapted to fill it. I -am quite confident some way can be devised so that -you and your children could be with him, and be -quite happy even, and safe; but God forbid me to -flatter you in trouble!”<a id='r165' /><a href='#f165' class='c014'><sup>[165]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To his friend Sanborn he said: “I believe when -you come to look at the ample field I labor in, and -the rich harvest which not only this entire country -but the whole world during the present and future -generations may reap from its successful cultivation, -you will feel that you are in it, an entire unit. -What an inconceivable amount of good you might -so effect by your counsel, your example, your encouragement, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>your natural and acquired ability for -active service! And then, how very little we can -possibly lose! Certainly the cause is enough to -live for, if not to—for. I have only had this -one opportunity, in a life of nearly sixty years; and -could I be continued ten times as long again, I -might not again have another equal opportunity. -God has honored but comparatively a very small -part of mankind with any possible chance for such -mighty and soul-satisfying rewards. But, my dear -friend, if you should make up your mind to do so, -I trust it will be wholly from the promptings of -your own spirit, after having thoroughly counted -the cost. I would flatter no man into such a measure, -if I could do it ever so easily.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I expect nothing but to endure hardness; but I -expect to effect a mighty conquest, even though it -be like the last victory of Samson. I felt for a -number of years, in earlier life, a steady, strong -desire to die; but since I saw any prospect of becoming -a ‘reaper’ in the great harvest, I have not -only felt quite willing to live, but have enjoyed life -much; and am now rather anxious to live for a few -years more.”<a id='r166' /><a href='#f166' class='c014'><sup>[166]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER IX<br /> <span class='large'>THE BLACK PHALANX</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c013'>“Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>The decade 1830 to 1840 was one of the severest -seasons of trial through which the black American -ever passed. The great economic change which -made slavery the corner-stone of the cotton kingdom -was definitely finished and all the subtle moral -adjustments which follow were in full action. New -immigrants took advantage of the growing prejudice -which found a profitable place for the Negro in -slavery, and was determined to keep him in it. -They began to crowd the free Northern Negro in a -fierce economic battle. With a precarious social -foothold, little economic organization, and no support -in public opinion, the Northern free Negro was -forced to yield. In Philadelphia from 1829 to 1849 -six mobs of hoodlums and foreigners cowed and -murdered the Negroes. In the Middle West and, -especially in Ohio, severe Black Laws had been enacted -in 1804 to 1807 providing that (<em>a</em>) No Negro -should be allowed to settle in Ohio unless he could -within twenty days give bond to the amount of $500 -signed by two bondsmen, who should guarantee his -good behavior and support; (<em>b</em>) The fine for harboring -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>or concealing a fugitive was at first $50, then -$100, one-half to go to the informer and one-half to -the overseer of the poor in the district; (<em>c</em>) No -Negro was allowed to give evidence in any case -where a white man was a party.<a id='r167' /><a href='#f167' class='c014'><sup>[167]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>These laws, however, were dead letters until 1829, -when increased Negro immigration induced the Cincinnati -authorities to enforce them. The Negroes -obtained a respite of thirty days and sent a deputation -to Canada. They were absent for sixty days, -and when the whites saw no effort to enforce the -law further, they organized a riot. For three days -Negroes were killed in the streets until they barricaded -their homes and shot back. Meantime the -governor of upper Canada sent word that he -“would extend to them a cordial welcome.” He -said: “Tell the republicans on your side of the -line that we royalists do not know men of their -color. Should you come to us you will be entitled -to all the privileges of the rest of His Majesty’s subjects.”<a id='r168' /><a href='#f168' class='c014'><sup>[168]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>On receipt of this, fully two thousand Negroes -went to Canada and founded Wilberforce; while a -national convention of Negroes was called in Philadelphia -in 1830—the first of its kind. This convention -at an adjourned session in 1831 addressed the -public as follows:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The cause of general emancipation is gaining -powerful and able friends abroad. Britain and -Denmark have performed such deeds as will immortalize -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>them for their humanity, in the breasts of -the philanthropists of the present day; whilst as a -just tribute to their virtues, after-ages will yet erect -imperishable monuments to their memory. (Would -to God we could say thus of our own native soil.)</p> - -<p class='c004'>“And it is only when we look to our own native -land, to the birthplace of our fathers, to the land -for whose prosperity their blood and our sweat -have been shed and cruelty extorted, that the convention -has had cause to hang its head and blush. -Laws as cruel in themselves as they were unconstitutional -and unjust, have in many places been enacted -against our poor unfriended and unoffending brethren; -laws (without a shadow of provocation on our -part) at whose bare recital the very savage draws him -up for fear of the contagion, looks noble, and prides -himself because he bears not the name of a Christian. -But the convention would not wish to -dwell long on this subject, as it is one that is too -sensibly felt to need description....</p> - -<p class='c004'>“This spirit of persecution was the cause of our -convention. It was this that induced us to seek an -asylum in the Canadas; and the convention feels -happy to report to its brethren, that our efforts to -establish a settlement in that province have not -been made in vain. Our prospects are cheering; -our friends and funds are daily increasing; wonders -have been performed far exceeding our most sanguine -expectations; already have our brethren -purchased eight hundred acres of land—and two -thousand of them have left the soil of their birth, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>crossed the lines, and laid the foundation for a -structure which promises to prove an asylum for -the colored population of these United States. -They have erected two hundred log-houses, and -have five hundred acres under cultivation.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>A college “on the manual labor system” was -planned: “For the present ignorant and degraded -condition of many of our brethren in these United -States (which has been a subject of much concern to -the convention) can excite no astonishment (although -used by our enemies to show our inferiority -in the scale of human beings); for, what opportunities -have they possessed for mental cultivation or -improvement? Mere ignorance, however, in a -people divested of the means of acquiring information -by books, or an extensive connection with the -world, is no just criterion of their intellectual incapacity; -and it has been actually seen, in various -remarkable instances, that the degradation of the -mind and character, which has been too hastily -imputed to a people kept, as we are, at a distance -from those sources of knowledge which abound in -civilized and enlightened communities, has resulted -from no other causes than our unhappy situation -and circumstances.”<a id='r169' /><a href='#f169' class='c014'><sup>[169]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The convention met again in 1833 and resolved -on further plans for settling in Canada. These -conventions continued to assemble annually for five -years, when they were succeeded by the convention -of the American Moral Reform Society which met -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>two years longer. Meantime Nat Turner had terrorized -Virginia and the South and sent a wave of -repression over the North that led to the disfranchisement -of Pennsylvania Negroes in 1837.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Notwithstanding all this the Negroes were struggling -on. Beside the general conventions arose the -Phœnix Societies, which “planned an organization -of the colored people in their municipal subdivisions -with the special object of the promotion of -their improvement in morals, literature and the -mechanic arts.” Lewis Tappan refers to them in -his biography. The “Mental Feast,” which was a -social feature, survived thirty years later in some of -the interior towns of Pennsylvania and the West.<a id='r170' /><a href='#f170' class='c014'><sup>[170]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The first Negro paper, <cite>Freedom’s Journal</cite>, had -been established in 1827 and organizations like the -Massachusetts General Colored Association were -coöperating with the Abolitionists. The news of -emancipation in the British West Indies cheered -the Negroes, and indeed without the long effective -and self-sacrificing efforts of the Northern -freed Negroes, the Abolition movement in the -United States could not have been successful. -Garrison’s first subscriber to <cite>The Liberator</cite> was a -black man of Philadelphia, and before and after the -Negroes were admitted to membership in the anti-slavery -societies, their aid was invaluable. In the -West, despite proscription, a fight for schools was -carried on from 1830 to 1840, which finally resulted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>in a wide system of Negro schools partially supported -by public funds. Toward 1840 signs of promise -began gradually to appear. A West Indian endowed -a Negro school in Philadelphia in 1837. -The Negro population increased from two and -one-third to two and nine-tenths millions in the decade, -and evidences of economic success were seen -among the free Negroes. Philadelphia had in 1838 -one hundred small beneficial societies; Ohio -Negroes owned ten thousand acres of land in 1840, -while the Canada refugees were beginning to prosper. -The mutiny on the <em>Creole</em>, the establishment -of the Negro Odd Fellows, and the doubling, in -ten years, of the membership of the African Methodist -Episcopal Church, all pointed to an awakening -after the long period of distress.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The decade of 1840 to 1850 was a new era—an era -of self-assertion and rapid advance for the free -Northern Negro. For the first time conscious leadership -of undoubted ability appeared. In Boston there -was De Grasse, a physician, trained in this country -and in France and a member of the Massachusetts -Medical Society. Robert Morris was a member of the -bar, as was E. R. Walker, whose “Appeal” in 1829 -startled the country. William Wells Brown and -William Nell were writing, while Charles Lennox -Remond was one of the first of the Abolition orators. -In New York were the gifted preacher, Henry Highland -Garnet; the teachers, Reason and Peterson who -made the Negro schools effective; and the physician, -McCune Smith, one of the best trained men of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>his day. In Philadelphia were Robert Purvis, the -Abolitionist; William Still, of the Underground -Railroad; the three men who made the catering -business—Dorsey, Jones and Minton; and the rich -Negro lumber merchant, Stephen Smith, whose magnificent -endowment for aged Negroes stands to-day -at the corner of Girard and Belmont Avenues and is -valued at $400,000. In western Pennsylvania were -Vashon and Woodson, and in the West were Day, librarian -of the Cleveland library; the three Langstons -of Oberlin, and the merchants Boyd and Wilcox -of Cincinnati. Elsewhere appeared the unlettered, -but brave and shrewd leaders of the fugitive -slaves. It is said that 500 black messengers of this -sort were passing backward and forward between the -slave and the free states in this decade, and noticeable -among them were Harriet Tubman and Josiah -Henson, who brought thousands to the North and to -Canada. Foremost of all came Frederick Douglass, -born in 1817 and reborn to freedom in 1838. He made -his first speech in 1841 and took a prominent part in -the anti-slavery campaign of the next decade. In -1845–6, he was in England and, returning in 1847, he -established his paper and met John Brown. From -that time on he was Brown’s chief Negro confidant, -and in his house Brown’s Eastern campaign was -started and largely carried on. The churches also -were training men in social leadership in the persons -of their bishops, like John Brown’s friend Loguen -and the noble Daniel Payne.</p> - -<p class='c004'>About 1847 new life appeared in the free Negro -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>group. The Odd Fellows, under Peter Ogden, maintained -their independence against aggressions of the -whites, and the first of a new series of national colored -conventions assembled at Troy, N. Y. “The -first article in the first number of Frederick Douglass’s -<cite>North Star</cite>, published January, 1848, was -an extended notice of this convention held at the -Liberty Street Church, Troy, N. Y., 1847.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>The next year, 1848, Cleveland welcomed a similar -national convention. Nearly seventy delegates -assembled there on September 6th, “the sessions -alternating between the Court-House and the Tabernacle. -Frederick Douglass was chosen president. -As in previous conventions education was encouraged, -the importance of statistical information stated -and temperance societies urged.”<a id='r171' /><a href='#f171' class='c014'><sup>[171]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The representative character of the delegates was -shown by the fact that printers, carpenters, blacksmiths, -shoemakers, engineers, dentists, gunsmiths, -farmers, physicians, plasterers, masons, college students, -clergymen, barbers, hair-dressers, laborers, -coopers, livery-stable keepers, bath-house keepers -and grocers were among the members who were -present.<a id='r172' /><a href='#f172' class='c014'><sup>[172]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The same year Frederick Douglass attended a Free -Soil convention at Buffalo, N. Y., and writes: “I was -not the only colored man well known to the country -who was present at this convention. Samuel Ringgold -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>Ward, Henry Highland Garnet, Charles L. -Remond, and Henry Bibb were there and made -speeches which were received with surprise and -gratification by the thousands there assembled. As -a colored man I felt greatly encouraged and strengthened -for my cause while listening to these men, in -the presence of the ablest men of the Caucasian race. -Mr. Ward especially attracted attention at that convention. -As an orator and thinker he was vastly -superior, I thought, to any of us, and being perfectly -black and of unmixed African descent, the -splendors of his intellect went directly to the glory -of race. In depth of thought, fluency of speech, -readiness of wit, logical exactness, and general intelligence, -Samuel R. Ward has left no successor -among the colored men amongst us, and it was a sad -day for our cause when he was laid low in the soil -of a foreign country.”<a id='r173' /><a href='#f173' class='c014'><sup>[173]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The next decade opened with over three and one-half millions -of Negroes in the United States—an -enormous increase since 1840—and a remarkable indication -of virility and prosperity despite the new -Fugitive Slave Law. The Canadian Negroes were -being organized in the Elgin and other settlements, -the colored Baptists reported 150,000 members, and -the Negroes of New York, replying to the Black -Law recommendations of Governor Ward Hunt, -proved unincumbered ownership of $1,160,000 worth -of property. The escape of fugitive slaves was now -systematized in the Underground Railroad and in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>secret organization known to outsiders variously as -the “League of Freedom,” “Liberty League,” or -“American Mysteries.” To these were added the -fourteen Canadian “True Bands” with several hundred -members each.</p> - -<p class='c004'>State conventions were called in many instances, -and the most representative and intelligent national -convention held up to that time met in Rochester, -N. Y., Douglass’s home, in 1853. This convention -developed definite opposition to any hope of permanent -relief for the colored freeman through -schemes of emigration. On the contrary, it directed -its energies to affirmative constructive action and -planned three measures:</p> - -<p class='c004'>(1) An industrial college “on the manual labor -plan.” Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was to make a -visit to England at the instance of friends in that -country, was authorized to receive funds in the -name of the colored people of the country for that -purpose. “The successful establishment and conduct -of such an institution of learning would train -youth to be self-reliant and skilled workmen, fitted -to hold their own in the struggle of life on the conditions -prevailing here.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>(2) A registry of colored mechanics, artisans, -and business men throughout the Union, and also, -“of all the persons willing to employ colored men -in business, to teach colored boys mechanic trades, -liberal and scientific professions and farming; also -a registry of colored men and youth seeking employment -or instruction.”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>(3) A committee on publication “to collect all -facts, statistics and statements; all laws and historical -records and biographies of the colored people -and all books by colored authors.” This committee -was further authorized “to publish replies -of any assaults worthy of note, made upon the character -or condition of the colored people.”<a id='r174' /><a href='#f174' class='c014'><sup>[174]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The radical stand of this assembly against -emigration caused a call for a distinct emigration -Negro convention in 1854. This convention was -held under the presidency of the same man who -afterward presided at the Chatham conclave of John -Brown, and with some of the same Negroes present. -The account of it continues:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“There were three parties in the emigration convention, -ranged according to the foreign fields they -preferred to emigrate to. Dr. Delaney headed the -party that desired to go to the Niger Valley in -Africa, Whitfield the party which preferred to go -to Central America, and Holly the party which preferred -to go to Haiti.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“All these parties were recognized and embraced -by the convention. Dr. Delaney was given a commission -to go to Africa, in the Niger Valley, Whitfield -to go to Central America, and Holly to Haiti, to -enter into negotiations with the authorities of these -various countries for Negro emigrants and to report -to future conventions. Holly was the first to execute -his mission, going down to Haiti in 1855, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>when he entered into relations with the Minister of -the Interior, the father of the late President Hyppolite, -and by him was presented to Emperor Faustin I. -The next emigration convention was held at Chatham, -Canada West, in 1856, when the report on -Haiti was made. Dr. Delaney went off on his mission -to the Niger Valley, Africa, via England, in -1858. There he concluded a treaty signed by himself -and eight kings, offering inducements to Negro -emigrants to their territories. Whitfield went to -California, intending later to go thence to Central -America, but died in San Francisco before he -could do so. Meanwhile [James] Redpath went -to Haiti as a John Brownist after the Harper’s -Ferry raid, and reaped the first fruits of Holly’s -mission by being appointed Haitian Commissioner -of Emigration in the United States by the Haitian -government, but with the express injunction that -Rev. Holly should be called to coöperate with him. -On Redpath’s arrival in the United States, he -tendered Rev. Holly a commission from the Haitian -government at $1,000 per annum and traveling expenses -to engage emigrants to go to Haiti. The -first load of emigrants were from Philadelphia -in 1861.”<a id='r175' /><a href='#f175' class='c014'><sup>[175]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In 1853 when the American Anti-Slavery Society -was formed, Negroes like Purvis and Barbadoes, -trained in the Negro convention movement, were -among its founders. By 1856 the African Methodist -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>Church had 20,000 members and $425,000 worth of -property.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Of all this development John Brown knew far -more than most white men and it was on this great -knowledge that his great faith was based. To most -Americans the inner striving of the Negro was a -veiled and an unknown tale: they had heard of -Douglass, they knew of fugitive slaves, but of the -living, organized, struggling group that made both -these phenomena possible they had no conception.</p> - -<p class='c004'>From his earliest interest in Negroes, John -Brown sought to know individuals among them -intimately and personally. He invited them to his -home and he went to theirs. He talked to them, -and listened to the history of their trials, advised -them and took advice from them. His dream was -to enlist the boldest and most daring spirits among -them in his great plan.</p> - -<p class='c004'>When, therefore, John Brown came East in January, -1858, his object was not simply to further his -campaign for funds, but more especially definitely -to organize the Negroes for his work. Already he -had disclosed his intentions to Thomas Thomas of -Springfield and to Frederick Douglass. He now determined -to enlist a larger number and he particularly -had in mind the Negroes of New York and -Philadelphia, and those in Canada. At no time, -however, did John Brown plan to begin his foray -with many Negroes. He knew that he must gain -the confidence of black men first by a successful -stroke, and that after initial success he could count -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>on large numbers. His object then was to interest -a few leaders like Douglass, organize societies with -wide ramifications, and after the first raid to depend -on these societies for aid and recruits.</p> - -<p class='c004'>During his stay with Douglass in February, 1858, -he wrote to many colored leaders: Henry Highland -Garnet and James N. Gloucester in New York; -John Jones in Chicago, and J. W. Loguen of the -Zion Church. The addresses of Downing of Rhode -Island, and Martin R. Delaney were also noted. -On February 23d, after he had been in Boston and -Peterboro he notes writing to Loguen, one of the -closest of his Negro friends: “Think I shall be -ready to go with him [to Canada] by the first of -March or about that time.”<a id='r176' /><a href='#f176' class='c014'><sup>[176]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>On March 10th, John Brown and his eldest son, -Henry Highland Garnet, William Still and others -met at the house of Stephen Smith, the rich Negro -lumber merchant, of 921 Lombard Street, Philadelphia. -Brown seems to have stayed nearly a week -in that city, and probably had long conferences -with all the chief Philadelphia Negro leaders. On -March 18th, he was in New Haven where he wrote -Frederick Douglass and J. W. Loguen, saying: -“I expect to be on the way by the 28th or 30th -inst.” After a flying visit home, involving a long -walk to save expense, he appeared again at Douglass’s -in April. Gloucester collected a little money -for him in New York and he probably received -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>some in Philadelphia; at last he turned his face toward -Canada.</p> - -<p class='c004'>He had long wished to see Canada, and had -planned a visit as far back as 1846. Hither he had -sent one of the earliest of his North Elba refugees, -Walter Hawkins, who became Bishop of the British -African Church. On April 8th, John Brown writes -his son: “I came on here direct with J. W. Loguen -the day after you left Rochester. I am succeeding, -to all appearance, beyond my expectations. Harriet -Tubman hooked on his whole team at once. He -(Harriet) is the most of a man, naturally, that I -ever met with. There is the most abundant material, -and of the right quality, in this quarter, beyond -all doubt. Do not forget to write Mr. Case -(near Rochester) at once about hunting up every -person and family of the reliable kind about, at, or -near Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, and Carlisle, -in Pennsylvania, and also Hagerstown and -vicinity, Maryland, and Harper’s Ferry, Va.”<a id='r177' /><a href='#f177' class='c014'><sup>[177]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He stayed at St. Catherines until the 14th or 15th, -chiefly in consultation with that wonderful woman, -Harriet Tubman, and sheltered in her home. Harriet -Tubman was a full-blooded African, born a -slave on the eastern shore of Maryland in 1820. -When a girl she was injured by having an iron -weight thrown on her head by an overseer, an injury -that gave her wild, half-mystic ways with -dreams, rhapsodies and trances. In her early -womanhood she did the rudest and hardest man’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>work, driving, carting and plowing. Finally the -slave family was broken up in 1849, when she ran -away. Then began her wonderful career as a rescuer -of fugitive slaves. Back and forth she traveled -like some dark ghost until she had personally led -over three hundred blacks to freedom, no one of -whom was ever lost while in her charge. A reward -of $10,000 for her, alive or dead, was offered, but -she was never taken. A dreamer of dreams as she -was, she ever “laid great stress on a dream which -she had had just before she met Captain Brown in -Canada. She thought she was in ‘a wilderness sort -of place, all full of rocks, and bushes,’ when she -saw a serpent raise its head among the rocks, and -as it did so, it became the head of an old man with -a long white beard, gazing at her, ‘wishful like, -jes as ef he war gwine to speak to me,’ and then two -other heads rose up beside him, younger than he,—and -as she stood looking at them, and wondering -what they could want with her, a great crowd of -men rushed in and struck down the younger heads, -and then the head of the old man, still looking at -her so ‘wishful!’ This dream she had again and -again, and could not interpret it; but when she met -Captain Brown, shortly after, behold he was the -very image of the head she had seen. But still she -could not make out what her dream signified, till -the news came to her of the tragedy of Harper’s -Ferry, and then she knew the two other heads were -his two sons.”<a id='r178' /><a href='#f178' class='c014'><sup>[178]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>In this woman John Brown placed the utmost -confidence. Wendell Phillips says: “The last -time I ever saw John Brown was under my own -roof, as he brought Harriet Tubman to me, saying: -‘Mr. Phillips, I bring you one of the best and -bravest persons on this continent—General Tubman, -as we call her.’ He then went on to recount -her labors and sacrifices in behalf of her race.”<a id='r179' /><a href='#f179' class='c014'><sup>[179]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Only sickness, brought on by her toil and exposure, -prevented Harriet Tubman from being -present at Harper’s Ferry.</p> - -<p class='c004'>From St. Catherines John Brown went to Ingersoll, -Hamilton and Chatham. He also visited -Toronto, holding meetings with Negroes in Temperance -Hall, and at the house of the “late Mr. Holland, -a colored man, on Queen Street West. -On one occasion Captain Brown remained as a guest -with his friend, Dr. A. M. Ross, who is distinguished -as a naturalist, as well as an intrepid Abolitionist, -who risked his life on several occasions in -excursions into the South to enable slaves to flee to -Canada!”<a id='r180' /><a href='#f180' class='c014'><sup>[180]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Having finally perfected plans for a convention, -Brown hurried back to Iowa for his men. During -his three months’ absence they had been working -and drilling in the Quaker settlement of Springdale, Ia., -as most persons supposed, for future -troubles in “bleeding Kansas.” On John Brown’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>arrival they all hurriedly packed up—Owen Brown, -Realf, Kagi, Cook, Stevens, Tidd, Leeman, Moffett, -Parsons, and the colored man Richardson, -together with their recruits, Gill and Taylor. The -Coppocs were to come later. “The leave-taking -between them and the people of Springdale was -one of tears. Ties which had been knitting through -many weeks were sundered, and not only so, but -the natural sorrow at parting was intensified by -the consciousness of all that the future was full of -hazard for Brown and his followers. Before quitting -the house and home of Mr. Maxon, where -they had spent so long a time, each of Brown’s -band wrote his name in pencil on the wall of the -parlor, where the writing still can be seen by the -interested traveler.” They all immediately started -for Canada by way of Chicago and Detroit. At -Chicago they had to wait twelve hours, and the -first hotel refused to accommodate Richardson at the -breakfast table. John Brown immediately sought -another place. The company arrived shortly in -Chatham and stopped at a hotel kept by Mr. Barber, -a colored man. While at Chatham, John Brown, -as Anderson relates, “made a profound impression -upon those who saw or became acquainted with -him. Some supposed him to be a staid but modernized -‘Quaker’; others a solid business man, from -‘somewhere,’ and without question a philanthropist. -His long white beard, thoughtful and reverent brow -and physiognomy, his sturdy, measured tread, as -he circulated about with hands, portrayed in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>best lithograph, under the pendant coat-skirt of -plain brown tweed, with other garments to match, -revived to those honored with his acquaintance and -knowing his history the memory of a Puritan of -the most exalted type.”<a id='r181' /><a href='#f181' class='c014'><sup>[181]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown’s choice of Canada as a centre of -Negro culture, was wise. There were nearly 50,000 -Negroes there, and the number included many -energetic, intelligent and brave men, with some -wealth. Settlements had grown up, farms had -been bought, schools established and an intricate -social organization begun. Negroes like Henson -had been loyally assisted by white men like King, -and fugitives were welcomed and succored. Near -Buxton, where King and the Elgin Association -were working, was Chatham, the chief town of the -county of Kent, with a large Negro population of -farmers, merchants and mechanics; they had a -graded school, Wilberforce Institute, several -churches, a newspaper, a fire-engine company and -several organizations for social intercourse and uplift. -One of the inhabitants said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Mr. Brown did not overestimate the state of -education of the colored people. He knew that -they would need leaders, and require training. His -great hope was that the struggle would be supported -by volunteers from Canada, educated and accustomed -to self-government. He looked on our -fugitives as picked men of sufficient intelligence, -which, combined with a hatred for the South, would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>make them willing abettors of any enterprise destined -to free their race.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>There were many white Abolitionists near by, -but they distrusted Brown and in this way he gained -less influence among the Negroes than he otherwise -might have had. Martin R. Delaney, who was a -fervid African emigrationist, was just about to start -to Africa, bearing the mandate of the last Negro convention, -when John Brown appeared. “On returning -home from a professional visit in the country, -Mrs. Delaney informed him that an old gentleman -had called to see him during his absence. She described -him as having a long, white beard, very -gray hair, a sad but placid countenance. In speech -he was peculiarly solemn. She added, ‘He looked -like one of the old prophets. He would neither -come in nor leave his name, but promised to be -back in two weeks’ time.’”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Finally Delaney met John Brown who said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘I come to Chatham expressly to see you, this -being my third visit on the errand. I must see -you at once, sir,’ he continued, with emphasis, -‘and that, too, in private, as I have much to do and -but little time before me. If I am to do nothing -here, I want to know it at once.’”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Delaney continues:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Going directly to the private parlor of a hotel -near by, he at once revealed to me that he desired -to carry out a great project in his scheme of Kansas -emigration, which, to be successful, must be aided -and countenanced by the influence of a general convention -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>or council. That he was unable to effect -in the United States, but had been advised by distinguished -friends of his and mine, that, if he -could but see me, his object could be attained at -once. On my expressing astonishment at the conclusion -to which my friends and himself had arrived, -with a nervous impatience, he exclaimed, -‘Why should you be surprised? Sir, the people -of the Northern states are cowards; slavery has -made cowards of them all. The whites are afraid -of each other, and the blacks are afraid of the -whites. You can effect nothing among such -people,’ he added, with decided emphasis. On -assuring him if a council was all that was desired, -he could readily obtain it, he replied, ‘That is all; -but that is a great deal to me. It is men I want, -and not money; money I can get plentiful enough, -but no men. Money can come without being seen, -but men are afraid of identification with me, -though they favor my measures. They are cowards, -sir! Cowards!’ he reiterated. He then fully revealed -his designs. With these I found no fault, -but fully favored and aided in getting up the -convention.”<a id='r182' /><a href='#f182' class='c014'><sup>[182]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime John Brown proceeded carefully to -sound public opinion, got the views of others, and, -while revealing few of his own plans, set about getting -together a body who were willing to ratify his -general aims. He consulted the leading Negroes in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>private, and called a series of small conferences to -thresh out preliminary difficulties. In these meetings -and in the personal visits, many points arose -and were settled. A member of the convention -says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“One evening the question came up as to what -flag should be used; our English colored subjects, -who had been naturalized, said they would never -think of fighting under the hated ‘Stars and -Stripes.’ Too many of them thought they carried -their emblem on their backs. But Brown said the -old flag was good enough for him; under it freedom -had been won from the tyrants of the Old -World, for white men; now he intended to make it -do duty for the black men. He declared emphatically -that he would not give up the Stars and -Stripes. That settled the question.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Some one proposed admitting women as members, -but Brown strenuously opposed this, and -warned the members not to intimate, even to their -wives, what was done.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“One day in my shop I told him how utterly -hopeless his plans would be if he persisted in making -an attack with the few at his command, and -that we could not afford to spare white men of his -stamp, ready to sacrifice their lives for the salvation -of black men. While I was speaking, Mr. -Brown walked to and fro, with his hands behind -his back, as was his custom when thinking on his -favorite subject. He stopped suddenly and bringing -down his right hand with great force, exclaimed: -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>‘Did not my Master Jesus Christ come down -from Heaven and sacrifice Himself upon the altar -for the salvation of the race, and should I, a worm, -not worthy to crawl under His feet, refuse to sacrifice -myself?’ With a look of determination, he resumed -his walk. In all the conversations I had -with him during his stay in Chatham of nearly a -month, I never once saw a smile light upon his -countenance. He seemed to be always in deep -and earnest thought.”<a id='r183' /><a href='#f183' class='c014'><sup>[183]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The preliminary meeting was held in a frame -cottage on Princess Street, south of King Street, -then known as the “King Street High School.” -Some meetings were also held in the First Baptist -Church on King Street. In order to mislead the -inquisitive, it was pretended that the persons assembling -were organizing a Masonic Lodge of -colored people. The important proceedings took -place in “No. 3 Engine House,” a wooden building -near McGregor’s Creek, erected by Mr. Holden -and other colored men.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The regular invitations were issued on the fifth:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<em>Chatham, Canada, May 5, 1858.</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>My Dear Friend</span>:</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>“I have called a quiet convention in this place -of true friends of freedom. Your attendance is -earnestly requested....</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Your friend,</div> - <div class='line in12'>“<span class='sc'>John Brown</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>The convention was called together at 10 <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A. M.</span></span>, -Saturday, May 8th, and opened without ceremony. -There were present the following Negroes: William -Charles Monroe, a Baptist clergyman, formerly -president of the emigration convention and elected -president of this assembly; Martin R. Delaney, -afterward major in the United States Army in the -Civil War; Alfred Whipper, of Pennsylvania; -William Lambert and I. D. Shadd, of Detroit, -Mich.; James H. Harris, of Cleveland, O., after the -war a representative in Congress for two terms -from North Carolina; G. J. Reynolds, an active -Underground Railroad leader of Sandusky City; -J. C. Grant, A. J. Smith, James M. Jones, a gunsmith -and engraver, graduate of Oberlin College, -1849; M. F. Bailey, S. Hunton, John J. Jackson, -Jeremiah Anderson, James M. Bell, Alfred Ellisworth, -James W. Purnell, George Aiken, Stephen -Dettin, Thomas Hickerson, John Cannel, Robinson -Alexander, Thomas F. Cary, Thomas M. Kinnard, -Robert Van Vauken, Thomas Stringer, John A. -Thomas, believed by some to be John Brown’s earlier -confidant and employee at Springfield, Mass., afterward -employed by Abraham Lincoln in his Illinois -home and at the White House also; Robert Newman, -Charles Smith, Simon Fislin, Isaac Holden, a -merchant and surveyor and John Brown’s host; -James Smith, and Richard Richardson.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Hinton says: “There is no evidence to show -that Douglass, Loguen, Garnet, Stephen Smith, -Gloucester, Langston, or others of the prominent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>men of color in the states who knew John Brown, -were invited to the Chatham meeting. It is doubtful -if their appearance would have been wise, as it -would assuredly have been commented on and -aroused suspicion.”<a id='r184' /><a href='#f184' class='c014'><sup>[184]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The white men present were: John and Owen -Brown, father and son; John Henri Kagi, Aaron -Dwight Stevens, still known as Charles Whipple; -John Edwin Cook, Richard Realf, George B. Gill, -Charles Plummer Tidd, William Henry Leeman, -Charles W. Moffett, Luke F. Parsons, all of Kansas; -and Steward Taylor of Canada, twelve in all. It -has been usually assumed that Jeremiah Anderson -was white but the evidence makes it possible that -he was a mulatto. John J. Jackson called the -meeting to order and Monroe was chosen president. -Delaney then asked for John Brown, and -Brown spoke at length, followed by Delaney and -others.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The constitution was brought forward and, after -a solemn parole of honor, was read. It proved to -be a frame of government based on the national -Constitution, but much simplified and adapted -to a moving band of guerrillas. The first forty-five -articles were accepted without debate. The -next article was: “The foregoing articles shall -not be so as in any way to encourage the overthrow -of any state government, or the general government -of the United States, and look to no dissolution -of the Union, but simply to amendment -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>and repeal, and our flag shall be the same that -our fathers fought for under the Revolution.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>To this Reynolds, the “coppersmith,” one of the -strongest men in the convention, objected. He felt -no allegiance to the nation that had robbed and -humiliated him. Brown, Delaney, Kagi and others, -however, earnestly advocated the article and it -passed. Saturday afternoon the constitution was -finally adopted and signed. Brown induced James -M. Jones, who had not attended all the sittings, -to come to this one, as the constitution must be -signed, and he wished his name to be on the roll -of honor. As the paper was presented for signature, -Brown said, “Now, friend Jones, give us John -Hancock bold and strong.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>The account continues:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“During one of the sittings, Mr. Jones had the -floor, and discussed the chances of the success or -failure of the slaves rising to support the plan proposed. -Mr. Brown’s scheme was to fortify some -place in the mountains, and call the slaves to rally -under his colors. Jones expressed fear that he -would be disappointed, because the slaves did not -know enough to rally to his support. The American -slaves, Jones argued, were different from those -of the West India Island of San Domingo, whose -successful uprising is a matter of history, as they -had there imbibed some of the impetuous character -of their French masters, and were not so overawed -by white men. ‘Mr. Brown, no doubt thought,’ -says Mr. Jones, ‘that I was making an impression on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>some of the members, if not on him, for he arose -suddenly and remarked, “Friend Jones, you will -please say no more on that side. There will be a -plenty to defend that side of the question.” A general -laugh took place.’</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A question as to the time for making the attack -came up in the convention. Some advocated that -we should wait until the United States became involved -in war with some first-class power; that it -would be next to madness to plunge into a strife for -the abolition of slavery while the government was -at peace with other nations. Mr. Brown listened to -the argument for some time, then slowly arose to -his full height, and said: ‘I would be the last one -to take the advantage of my country in the face of a -foreign foe.’ He seemed to regard it as a great insult. -That settled the matter in my mind that -John Brown was not insane.”<a id='r185' /><a href='#f185' class='c014'><sup>[185]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>At 6 <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">P. M.</span></span> the election of officers under the constitution -took place, and was finished Monday, the -tenth. John Brown was elected commander-in-chief; -Kagi, secretary of war; Realf, secretary of -state; Owen Brown, treasurer; and George B. -Gill, secretary of the treasury. Members of congress -chosen were Alfred Ellisworth and Osborne -P. Anderson, colored.</p> - -<p class='c004'>After appointing a committee to fill other offices, -the convention adjourned. Another and a larger -body was also organized, as Delaney says: “This -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>organization was an extensive body, holding the -same relation to his movements as a state or national -executive committee holds to its party principles, directing -their adherence to fundamental principles.”<a id='r186' /><a href='#f186' class='c014'><sup>[186]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This committee still existed at the time of the -Harper’s Ferry raid. With characteristic reticence -Brown revealed his whole plan to no one, and -many of those close to him received quite different -impressions, or rather read their own ideas into -Brown’s careful speech. One of his Kansas band -says: “I am sure that Brown did not communicate -the details of his plans to the members of the convention, -more than in a very general way. Indeed, -I do not now remember that he gave them any more -than the impressions which they could gather from -the methods of organization. From those who were -directly connected with his movements he solicited -plans and methods—including localities—of operations -in writing. Of course, we had almost precise -knowledge of his methods, but all of us perhaps did -not know just the locality selected by him, or, if -knowing, did not comprehend the resources and -surroundings.”<a id='r187' /><a href='#f187' class='c014'><sup>[187]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“John Brown, never, I think,” said Mr. Jones, -“communicated his whole plan, even to his immediate -followers. In his conversations with me -he led me to think that he intended to sacrifice -himself and a few of his followers for the purpose -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>of arousing the people of the North from the stupor -they were in on this subject. He seemed to think -such sacrifice necessary to awaken the people from -the deep sleep that had settled upon the minds of -the whites of the North. He well knew that the -sacrifice of any number of Negroes would have no -effect. What he intended to do, so far as I could -gather from his conversation, from time to time, -was to emulate Arnold Winkelried, the Swiss -chieftain, when he threw himself upon the Austrian -spearmen, crying, ‘Make way for Liberty.’”<a id='r188' /><a href='#f188' class='c014'><sup>[188]</sup></a> Delaney -in his own bold, original way assumed that -Brown intended another Underground Railway -terminating in Kansas. Delaney himself was on -his way to Africa and could take no active part in -the movement.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The constitution adopted by the convention was an -instrument designed for the government of a band of -isolated people fighting for liberty. The preamble -said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Whereas slavery, throughout its entire existence -in the United States, is none other than a most -barbarous, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of one -portion of its citizens upon another portion—the only -conditions of which are perpetual imprisonment and -hopeless servitude or absolute extermination—in utter -disregard and violation of those eternal and -self-evident truths set forth in our Declaration of -Independence:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>“Therefore, we, citizens of the United States, and -the oppressed people who, by a recent decision of -the Supreme Court, are declared to have no rights -which the white man is bound to respect, together -with all other people degraded by the laws thereof, -do, for the time being, ordain and establish ourselves -the following provisional constitution and -ordinances, the better to protect our persons, property, -lives, and liberties, and to govern our -actions.”<a id='r189' /><a href='#f189' class='c014'><sup>[189]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The Declaration of Independence referred to was -probably designed to be adopted July 4, 1858, when, -as originally planned, the blow was to be actually -struck. It was a paraphrase of the original declaration -and ended by saying:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Declaring that we will serve them no longer as -slaves, knowing that the ‘Laborer is worthy of his -hire,’ We therefore, the Representatives of the circumscribed -citizens of the United States of America, -in General Congress assembled, appealing to the -supreme Judge of the World, for the rectitude of -our intentions, Do in the name, & by authority of -the oppressed Citizens of the Slave States, Solemnly -publish and Declare: that the Slaves are, & of right -ought to be as free & as independent as the unchangeable -Law of God requires that All Men Shall -be. That they are absolved from all allegiance to -those Tyrants, who still persist in forcibly subjecting -them to perpetual ‘Bondage,’ and that all friendly -connection between them and such Tyrants, is & -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>ought to be totally dissolved, And that as free and -independent citizens of these states, they have a -perfect right, a sufficient and just cause, to defend -themselves against the Tyrrany of their oppressors. -To solicit aid from & ask the protection of all true -friends of humanity and reform, of whatever nation, -& wherever found; A right to contract all Alliances, -& to do all other acts and things which free independent -Citizens may of right do. And for the support -of the Declaration, with a firm reliance on the -protection of divine Providence: We mutually -pledge to each other, Our Lives, and Our sacred -Honor.”<a id='r190' /><a href='#f190' class='c014'><sup>[190]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The constitution consisted of forty-eight articles. -All persons of mature age were admitted to membership -and there was established a congress with -one house of five to ten members, a president and -vice-president and a court of five members, each one -of whom held circuit courts. All these officials -were to unite in selecting a commander-in-chief, -treasurer, secretaries, and other officials. All property -was to be in common and no salaries were to be -paid. All persons were to labor. All indecent behavior -was forbidden: “The marriage relation shall -be at all times respected, and families kept together, -as far as possible; and broken families encouraged -to reunite, and intelligence offices established for -that purpose. Schools and churches established, as -soon as may be, for the purpose of religious and -other instructions; and the first day of the week regarded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>as a day of rest, and appropriated to moral -and religions instruction and improvement, relief of -the suffering, instruction of the young and ignorant, -and the encouragement of personal cleanliness; nor -shall any person be required on that day to perform -ordinary manual labor, unless in extremely urgent -cases.”<a id='r191' /><a href='#f191' class='c014'><sup>[191]</sup></a> All persons were to carry arms but not concealed. -There were special provisions for the capture -of prisoners, and protection of their persons -and property.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown was well pleased with his work and -wrote home: “Had a good Abolition convention -here, from different parts, on the 8th and 10th inst. -Constitution slightly amended and adopted, and society -organized.”<a id='r192' /><a href='#f192' class='c014'><sup>[192]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Just now as everything seemed well started, came -disquieting news from the East. Forbes had been -there since November, growing more and more -poverty-stricken and angry, and his threats, hints -and visits were becoming frequent and annoying. -He complained to Senator Wilson, to Charles Sumner, -to Hale, Seward and Horace Greeley, and to -the Boston coterie. He could not understand why -these leaders of the movement against slavery, as he -supposed, should leave the real power in the hands -of John Brown, and neglect an experienced soldier -like himself after raising false expectations. John -Brown had dealt with Forbes gently but firmly, and -had sought to conciliate him, but in vain. Brown -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>was apparently determined to outwit him by haste; -he had written his Massachusetts friends to join him -at the Chatham Convention, but Sanborn and Howe -had already received threatening letters from Forbes -which alarmed them. He evidently had careful information -of Brown’s movements and was bent on -making trouble. He probably was at this time in -the confidence of McCune Smith and the able Negro -group of New York who had developed a not unnatural -distrust of whites, and a desire to foster -race pride. Using information thus obtained, -Forbes sought to put pressure on Republican leaders -to organize more effective warfare on slavery, -and to discredit John Brown. Sanborn wrote -hastily: “It looks as if the project must, for the -present, be deferred, for I find by reading Forbes’s -epistles to the doctor that he knows the details of -the plan, and even knows (what very few do) that -the doctor, Mr. Stearns, and myself are informed of -it. How he got this knowledge is a mystery. He -demands that Hawkins [John Brown] be dismissed -as agent, and himself or some other be put in his -place, threatening otherwise to make the business -public.”<a id='r193' /><a href='#f193' class='c014'><sup>[193]</sup></a> Gerrit Smith concluded, “Brown must -go no further.” But Higginson wisely demurred. -“I regard any postponement,” he said, “as simply -abandoning the project; for if we give it up now, -at the command or threat of H. F., it will be the -same next year. The only way is to circumvent -the man somehow (if he cannot be restrained in his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>malice). When the thing is well started, who cares -what he says?”<a id='r194' /><a href='#f194' class='c014'><sup>[194]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Further efforts were made to conciliate Forbes -but he wrote wildly: “I have been grossly defrauded -in the name of humanity and anti-slavery.... -I have for years labored in the anti-slavery -cause, without wanting or thinking of a recompense. -Though I have made the least possible parade of my -work, it has nevertheless not been entirely without -fruit.... Patience and mild measures having -failed, I reluctantly have recourse to harshness. -Let them not flatter themselves that I shall eventually -become weary and shall drop the subject; it -is as yet quite at its beginning.”<a id='r195' /><a href='#f195' class='c014'><sup>[195]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“To go on in face of this is madness,” wrote Sanborn, -and John Brown was urged to come to New -York to meet Stearns and Howe. Brown had already -been delayed nearly a month at Chatham by -this trouble, but he obeyed the summons. Sanborn -says: “When, about May 20th, Mr. Stearns met -Brown in New York, it was arranged that hereafter -the custody of the Kansas rifles should be in -Brown’s hands as the agent, not of this committee, -but of Mr. Stearns alone. It so happened that Gerrit -Smith, who seldom visited Boston, was coming -there late in May.... He arrived and took -rooms at the Revere House, where, on the 24th of -May, 1858, the secret committee (organized in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>March, and consisting of Smith, Parker, Howe, -Higginson, Stearns, and Sanborn) held a meeting -to consider the situation. It had already been decided -to postpone the attack, and the arms had been -placed under a temporary interdict, so that they -could only be used, for the present, in Kansas. -The questions remaining were whether Brown -should be required to go to Kansas at once, and -what amount of money should be raised for him in -the future. Of the six members of the committee -only one (Higginson) was absent.... It was -unanimously resolved that Brown ought to go to -Kansas at once.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>As soon as possible after this, on May 21st, Brown -visited Boston, and while there held a conversation -with Higginson, who made a record of it at the -time. He states that Brown was full of regret at -the decision of the Revere House council to postpone -the attack till the winter or spring of 1859, when -the secret committee would raise for Brown two -or three thousand dollars; he meantime was to blind -Forbes by going to Kansas, and to transfer the -property so as to relieve the Kansas committee of -responsibility, they in future not to know his plans.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“On probing Brown,” Higginson goes on, “I -found that he ... considered delay very discouraging -to his thirteen men, and to those in Canada. -Impossible to begin in autumn; and he would not -lose a day (he finally said) if he had three hundred -dollars; it would not cost twenty-five dollars apiece -to get his men from Ohio, and that was all he needed. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>The knowledge that Forbes could give of his plan -would be injurious, for he wished his opponents to -underrate him; but still ... the increased -terror produced would perhaps counterbalance this, -and it would not make much difference. If he had -the means he would not lose a day. He complained -that some of his Eastern friends were not men of action; -that they were intimidated by Wilson’s letter, -and magnified the obstacles. Still, it was essential -that they should not think him reckless, he said; -and as they held the purse, he was powerless without -them, having spent nearly everything received this -campaign, on account of delay,—a month at Chatham, -etc.”<a id='r196' /><a href='#f196' class='c014'><sup>[196]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>There was nothing now for Brown but to conceal -his arms, scatter his men and hide a year in Kansas. -It was a bitter necessity and it undoubtedly helped -ruin the success of the foray. The Negroes in Canada -fell away from the plan when it did not materialize -and doubted Brown’s determination and wisdom. -His son hid the arms in northern Ohio in a -haymow.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime, a part of the company—Stevens, Cook, -Tidd, Gill, Taylor and Owen Brown—immediately -after the adjournment of the convention, had gone to -Cleveland, O., and had found work in the surrounding country. -Brown wrote from Canada at the time:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It seems that all but three have managed to stop -their board bills, and I do hope the balance will follow -the manlike and noble example of patience and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>perseverance set them by the others, instead of being -either discouraged or out of humor. The -weather is so wet here that no work can be obtained. -I have only received $15 from the East, and such has -been the effect of the course taken by F. [Col. Forbes], -on our Eastern friends, that I have some fears that -we shall be compelled to delay further action for the -present. They [his Eastern friends] urge us to do so, -promising us liberal assistance after a while. I am -in hourly expectation of help sufficient to pay off -our bills here, and to take us on to Cleveland, to -see and advise with you, which we shall do at once -when we shall get the means. Suppose we do have -to defer our direct efforts; shall great and noble -minds either indulge in useless complaint, or fold -their arms in discouragement, or sit in idleness, -when we may at least avoid losing ground? It is in -times of difficulty that men show what they are; it -is in such times that men mark themselves. Are -our difficulties such as to make us give up one of the -noblest enterprises in which men ever were engaged?”<a id='r197' /><a href='#f197' class='c014'><sup>[197]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Two weeks later the rest of the party, except Kagi, -followed to Cleveland, John Brown going East to -meet Stearns. Kagi, who was an expert printer, -went to Hamilton, Canada, where he set up and -printed the constitution, arriving in Cleveland about -the middle of June when Brown returned from the -East. Realf says that Brown did not have much -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>money, but sent him to New York and Washington -to watch Forbes and possibly regain his confidence. -Realf, however, had become timid and -lukewarm in the cause and sailed away to England. -The rest of the men scattered. Owen Brown went -to Akron, O. Cook left Cleveland for the neighborhood -of Harper’s Ferry; Gill secured work in a -Shaker settlement, probably Lebanon, O., where -Tidd was already employed; Steward Taylor went -to Illinois; Stevens awaited Brown at Cleveland; -while Leeman got some work in Ashtabula -County. John Brown left Boston, on the 3rd of -June, proceeding to the North Elba home for a short -visit. Then he, Kagi, Stevens, Leeman, Gill, Parsons, -Moffett, and Owen were gathered together and -the party went to Kansas, arriving late in June.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus suddenly ended John Brown’s attempt to -organize the Black Phalanx. His intimate friends -understood that the great plan was only postponed, -but the postponement had, as Higginson predicted, -a dampening effect, and Brown’s chances of enlisting -a large Canadian contingent were materially lessened. -Nevertheless, seed had been sown. And -there were millions of human beings to whom the -last word of the Chatham Declaration of Independence -was more than mere rhetoric: “Nature is -mourning for its murdered and afflicted children. -Hung be the Heavens in scarlet!”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER X<br /> <span class='large'>THE GREAT BLACK WAY</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because of the Lord -hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He -hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty -to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are -bound.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>Half-way between Maine and Florida, in the -Heart of the Alleghanies, a mighty gateway lifts its -head and discloses a scene which, a century and a -a quarter ago, Thomas Jefferson said was “worth -a voyage across the Atlantic.” He continues: -“You stand on a very high point of land; on your -right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along -the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to find a -vent; on your left approaches the Potomac, in quest -of a passage also. In the moment of their junction -they rush together against the mountain, rend it -asunder, and pass off to the sea.”<a id='r198' /><a href='#f198' class='c014'><sup>[198]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This is Harper’s Ferry and this was the point -which John Brown chose for his attack on American -slavery. He chose it for many reasons. He -loved beauty: “When I met Brown at Peterboro -in 1858,” writes Sanborn, “Morton played some -fine music to us in the parlor,—among other things -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>Schubert’s <cite>Serenade</cite>, then a favorite piece,—and the -old Puritan, who loved music and sang a good part -himself, sat weeping at the air.”<a id='r199' /><a href='#f199' class='c014'><sup>[199]</sup></a> He chose -Harper’s Ferry because a United States arsenal was -there and the capture of this would give that dramatic -climax to the inception of his plan which was so -necessary to its success. But both these were -minor reasons. The foremost and decisive reason -was that Harper’s Ferry was the safest natural entrance -to the Great Black Way. Look at the map -(page 274). The shaded portion is “the black -belt” of slavery where there were massed in 1859 -at least three of the four million slaves. Two paths -led southward toward it in the East:—the way by -Washington, physically broad and easy, but legally -and socially barred to bondsmen; the other way, -known to Harriet Tubman and all fugitives, which -led to the left toward the crests of the Alleghanies -and the gateway of Harper’s Ferry. One has but to -glance at the mountains and swamps of the South -to see the Great Black Way. Here, amid the mighty -protection of overwhelming numbers, lay a path from -slavery to freedom, and along that path were fastnesses -and hiding-places easily capable of becoming -permanent fortified refuges for organized bands of -determined armed men.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The exact details of Brown’s plan will never be -fully known. As Realf said: “John Brown was -a man who would never state more than it was -absolutely necessary for him to do. No one of his -most intimate associates and I was one of the -most intimate was possessed of more than barely -sufficient information to enable Brown to attach -such companion to him.”<a id='r200' /><a href='#f200' class='c014'><sup>[200]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_277.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='sc'>Map Showing the Great Black Way</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>A glance at the map shows clearly that John -Brown intended to operate in the Blue Ridge -mountains rising east of the Shenandoah and known -at Harper’s Ferry as Loudoun Heights. The -Loudoun Heights rise boldly 500 to 700 feet above -the village of Harper’s Ferry and 1,000 feet above -the sea. They run due south and then southwest, -dipping down a little the first three miles, then rising -to 1,500 feet, which level is practically maintained -until twenty-five miles below Harper’s Ferry where -the mountains broaden to a dense and labyrinthical -wilderness, and rise to a height of 2,000 or more -feet. Right at this high point and insight of High -Knob (a peak of 2,400 feet) began, in Fauquier -County, the Great Black Way. In this county in -1850 were over 10,000 slaves, and 650 free Negroes, -as compared with 9,875 whites. From this county -to the southern boundary of Virginia was a series -of black counties with a majority of slaves, containing -in 1850 at least 260,000 Negroes. From here the -Great Black Way went south as John Brown indicated -in his diary and undoubtedly in the marked -maps, which Virginia afterward hastily destroyed.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The easiest way to get to these heights was from -Harper’s Ferry. An hour’s climb from the arsenal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>grounds would easily have hidden a hundred men -in inaccessible fastnesses, provided they were not -overburdened; and even with arms, ammunition -and supplies, they could have repelled, without difficulty, -attacks on the retreat. Forts and defenses -could be prepared in these mountains, and before -the raid they had been pretty thoroughly explored -and paths marked. In Harper’s Ferry just at -the crossing of the main road from Maryland lay the -arsenal. The plan without a doubt was first, to collect -men and arms on the Maryland side of the -Potomac; second, to attack the arsenal suddenly -and capture it; third, to bring up the arms and ammunition -and, together with those captured, to cross -the Shenandoah to Loudoun Heights and hide in -the mountain wilderness; fourth, thence to descend -at intervals to release slaves and get food, and retreat -southward. Most writers have apparently -supposed that Brown intended to retreat from the -arsenal across the Potomac. A moment’s thought -will show the utter absurdity of this plan. Brown -knew guerrilla warfare, and the failure of Harper’s -Ferry raid does not prove it a blunder from the -start. The raid was not a foray <em>from</em> the mountains, -which failed because its retreat was cut off, but it -was a foray <em>to</em> the mountains with the village and -arsenal on the way, which was defeated apparently -because the arms and ammunition train failed to -join the advance-guard.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This then was the great plan which John Brown -had been slowly elaborating and formulating for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>twenty years—since the day when kneeling beside -a Negro minister he had sworn his sons to blood-feud with slavery.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The money resources with which John Brown -undertook his project are not exactly known. -Sanborn says: “Brown’s first request in 1858 was -for a fund of a thousand dollars only; with this in -the hand he promised to take the field either in April -or May. Mr. Stearns acted as treasurer of this -fund, and before the 1st of May nearly the whole -the amount had been paid in or subscribed,—Stearns -contributing three hundred dollars, and the rest -of our committee smaller sums. It soon appeared, -however, that the amount named would be too -small, and Brown’s movements were embarrassed -from the lack of money before the disclosures of -Forbes came to his knowledge.”<a id='r201' /><a href='#f201' class='c014'><sup>[201]</sup></a> From first to -last George L. Stearns gave in cash and arms about -$7,500, and Gerrit Smith contributed more than -$1,000. Merriam brought with him $600 in gold in -October. Between March 10th and October 16th, -Brown expended at least $2,500. In all Sanborn -raised $4,000 for Brown. Hinton says: “As -near as can be estimated, the money received -by Brown could not have exceeded $12,000, while -the supplies, arms, etc., furnished may have cost -$10,000 more. Of course, there were smaller contributions - and support coming in, but if the total -estimate be placed at $25,000, for the period between -the 15th of September, 1856, when he left -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>Lawrence, Kan., and the 16th of October, 1859, -when he moved on Harper’s Ferry, Va., with -twenty-one men, it will certainly cover all of the -outlay except that of time, labor, and lives.”<a id='r202' /><a href='#f202' class='c014'><sup>[202]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This total, however, does not include a fund of -$1,000 raised for his family.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The civic organization under which Brown intended -to work has been spoken of. The military -organization was based on his Kansas experience -and his reading. In his diary is this entry:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c018'> - <div>“Circassia has about 550,000</div> - <div>Switzerland 2,037,030</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Guerrilla warfare See Life of Lord Wellington</p> - -<p class='c019'>Page 71 to Page 75 (Mina)</p> - -<p class='c019'>See also Page 102 some valuable hints -in the Same Book. See also Page 196 some -most important instructions to officers.</p> - -<p class='c019'>See also same Book Page 235 these words -deep, and</p> - -<p class='c019'>narrow defiles where 300 men would suffice -to check an army.</p> - -<p class='c019'>See also Page 236 on top of Page ”</p> - -<p class='c004'>This life of Wellington, W. P. Garrison states,<a id='r203' /><a href='#f203' class='c014'><sup>[203]</sup></a> -was Stocqueler’s and the pages referred to tell of -the Spanish guerrillas under Mina in 1810, and -of methods of cooking and discipline. In one place -the author says: “Here we have a chaos of mountains, -where we meet at every step huge fallen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>masses of rock and earth, yawning fissures, deep -and narrow defiles, where 300 men would suffice to -check an army.” The Alleghanies in Virginia -and Carolina was similar in topography and, for -the operation here, Brown proposed a skeleton army -which could work together or in small units of any -size:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A company will consist of fifty-six privates, -twelve non-commissioned officers, eight corporals, -four sergeants and three commissioned officers (two -lieutenants, a captain), and a surgeon.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The privates shall be divided into bands or -messes of seven each, numbering from one to eight, -with a corporal to each, numbered like his band.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Two bands will comprise a section. Sections -will be numbered from one to four.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A sergeant will be attached to each section, and -numbered like it.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Two sections will comprise a platoon. Platoons -will be numbered one and two, and each commanded -by a lieutenant designed by like number.”<a id='r204' /><a href='#f204' class='c014'><sup>[204]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Four companies composed a battalion, four battalions -a regiment, and four regiments a brigade.</p> - -<p class='c004'>So much for his resources and plans. Now for -the men whom he chose as co-workers. The -number of those who took part in the Harper’s -Ferry raid is not known. Perhaps, including -active slave helpers, there were about fifty. Seventeen -Negroes, reported as probably killed, are -wholly unknown, and those slaves who helped and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>escaped are also unknown. This leaves the twenty-two -men usually regarded as making the raid. -They fall, of course, into two main groups, the -Negroes and the whites. Six or seven of the twenty-two -were Negroes.</p> - -<p class='c004'>First in importance came Osborne Perry Anderson, -a free-born Pennsylvania mulatto, twenty-four -years of age. He was a printer by trade, “well -educated, a man of natural dignity, modest, simple -in character and manners.” He met John Brown -in Canada. He wrote the most interesting and reliable -account of the raid, and afterward fought in -the Civil War.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Next came Shields Green, a full-blooded Negro -from South Carolina, whence he had escaped from -slavery, after his wife had died, leaving a living boy -still in bondage. He was about twenty-four years -old, small and active, uneducated but with natural -ability and absolutely fearless. He met Brown at -the home of Frederick Douglass, who says: “While -at my house, John Brown made the acquaintance -of a colored man who called himself by different -names—sometimes ‘Emperor,’ at other times, -‘Shields Green’.... He was a fugitive slave, -who had made his escape from Charleston, S. C.; a -state from which a slave found it no easy matter to -run away. But Shields Green was not one to shrink -from hardships or dangers. He was a man of few -words and his speech was singularly broken; but his -courage and self-respect made him quite a dignified -character. John Brown saw at once what ‘stuff’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>Green ‘was made of,’ and confided to him his plans -and purposes. Green easily believed in Brown, and -promised to go with him whenever he should be -ready to move.”<a id='r205' /><a href='#f205' class='c014'><sup>[205]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Dangerfield Newby was a free mulatto from the -neighborhood of Harper’s Ferry. He was thirty -years of age, tall and well built, with a pleasant face -and manner; he had a wife and seven children in -slavery about thirty miles south of Harper’s Ferry. -The wife was about to be sold south at this time, -and was sold immediately after the raid. Newby -was the spy who gave general information to the -party, and lived out in the community until the -night of the attack.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John A. Copeland was born of free Negro parents -in North Carolina, reared in Oberlin and educated -at Oberlin College. He was a straight-haired mulatto, -twenty-two years old, of medium size, and a -carpenter by trade. Hunter, the prosecuting attorney -of Virginia, says: “From my intercourse with -him I regarded him as one of the most respectable -prisoners that we had.... He was a copper-colored -Negro, behaved himself with as much firmness -as any of them, and with far more dignity. If -it had been possible to recommend a pardon for any -of them, it would have been for this man Copeland, -as I regretted as much, if not more, at seeing him -executed than any other one of the party!”<a id='r206' /><a href='#f206' class='c014'><sup>[206]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>Lewis Sherrard Leary was born in slavery in -North Carolina and also reared in Oberlin, where -he worked as a harness-maker. An Oberlin friend -testified: “He called again afterward, and told -me he would like to keep to the amount I had given -him, and would like a certain amount more for a -certain purpose, and was very chary in his communications -to me as to how he was to use it, except -that he did inform me that he wished to use it -in aiding slaves to escape. Circumstances just then -transpired which had interested me contrary to any -thought I ever had in my mind before. I had -had exhibited to me a daguerreotype of a young -lady, a beautiful appearing girl, who I was informed -was about eighteen years of age....”<a id='r207' /><a href='#f207' class='c014'><sup>[207]</sup></a> -But here Senator Mason of the Inquisition scented -danger, and we can only guess the reasons that sent -Leary to his death. He was said to be Brown’s -first recruit outside the Kansas band.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Anderson, a free Negro from Boston, was -sent by Lewis Hayden and started for the front. -Whether he arrived and was killed, or was too late -has never been settled.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The seventh man of possible Negro blood was -Jeremiah Anderson. He is listed with the Negroes -in all the original reports of the Chatham Convention -and was, as a white Virginian who saw him -says, “of middle stature, very black hair and -swarthy complexion. He was supposed by some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>to be a Canadian mulatto.”<a id='r208' /><a href='#f208' class='c014'><sup>[208]</sup></a> He was descended -from Virginia slaveholders who had moved north -and was born in Indiana. He was twenty-six years -old.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Of the white men there were, first of all, John -Brown and his family, consisting of three sons, and -two brothers of his eldest daughter’s husband, -William and Dauphin Thompson.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Oliver Brown was a boy not yet twenty-one, -though tall and muscular, and had just been married. -Watson was a man of twenty-five, tall and athletic; -while Owen was a large, red-haired prematurely -aged man of thirty-five, partially crippled, good-tempered -and cynical. The Thompsons were neighbors -of John Brown and part of a brood of twenty -children. The Brown family and their intermarried -Anne Brown says that William, who was -twenty-six years of age, was “kind, generous-hearted, -and helpful to others.” Dauphin, a boy -of twenty-two, was, she writes, “very quiet, with a -fair, thoughtful face, curly blonde hair, and baby-blue -eyes. He always seemed like a very good -girl.”<a id='r209' /><a href='#f209' class='c014'><sup>[209]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The three notable characters of the band were -Kagi, Stevens and Cook, the reformer, the soldier, -and the poet. Kagi’s family came from the Shenandoah -Valley. He was twenty-four, had a good -English education and was a newspaper reporter in -Kansas, where he earnestly helped the free state -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>cause. He had strong convictions on the subject of -slavery and was willing to risk all for them. “You -will all be killed,” cried a friend who heard his -plan. “Yes, I know it, Hinton, but the result will -be worth the sacrifice.” Hinton adds: “I recall -my friend as a man of personal beauty, with a fine, -well-shaped head, a voice of quiet, sweet tones, that -could be penetrating and cutting, too, almost to -sharpness.”<a id='r210' /><a href='#f210' class='c014'><sup>[210]</sup></a> Anderson writes that Kagi “left -home when a youth, an enemy to slavery, and -brought as his gift offering to freedom three slaves, -whom he piloted to the North. His innate hatred -of the institution made him a willing exile from the -state of his birth, and his great abilities, natural -and acquired, entitled him to the position he held -in Captain Brown’s confidence. Kagi was indifferent -to personal appearance; he often went about -with slouched hat, one leg of his pantaloons properly -adjusted, and the other partly tucked into his -high boot-top; unbrushed, unshaven, and in utter -disregard of ‘the latest style.’”<a id='r211' /><a href='#f211' class='c014'><sup>[211]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Stevens was a handsome six-foot Connecticut soldier -of twenty-eight years of age, who had thrashed -his major for mistreating a fellow soldier and deserted -from the United States army. He was active -in Kansas and soon came under John Brown’s discipline.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Why did you come to Harper’s Ferry?” asked -a Virginian.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>He replied: “It was to help my fellow men out -of bondage. You know nothing of slavery—I know, -a great deal. It is the crime of crimes. I hate it -more and more the longer I live. Even since I have -been lying in this cell, I have heard the crying of -3 slave-children torn from their parents.”<a id='r212' /><a href='#f212' class='c014'><sup>[212]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Cook was also a Connecticut man of twenty-nine -years, tall, blue-eyed, golden-haired and handsome, -but a far different type from Stevens. He was -talkative, impulsive and restless, eager for adventure -but hardly steadfast. He followed John -Brown as he would have followed anyone else -whom he liked, dreaming his dreams, rushing -ahead in the face of danger and shrinking back -appalled and pitiful before the grim face of death. -He was the most thoroughly human figure in the -band.</p> - -<p class='c004'>One other deserves mention because it was probably -his slowness or obstinacy that ruined the success -of John Brown’s raid. This was Charles P. -Tidd. He was from Maine, twenty-seven years old, -trained in Kansas warfare—a nervous, overbearing -and quarrelsome man. He bitterly opposed the -plan of capturing Harper’s Ferry when it was -finally revealed, and as Anne Brown said, “got so -warm that he left the farm and went down to Cook’s -dwelling near Harper’s Ferry to let his wrath cool off.” -A week passed before he sullenly gave in.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Besides these, there were six other men of more -or less indistinct personalities. Five were young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>Kansas settlers from Maine, the Middle West and -Canada, trained in guerrilla warfare under Brown -and Montgomery and thoroughly disliking the slave -system which they had seen. They were personal -admirers of Brown and lovers of adventure. The -last recruit, Merriam, was a New England aristocrat -turned crusader, fighting the world’s ills blindly -but devotedly. The Negro Lewis Hayden met him -in Boston, “and, after a few words, said, ‘I want -five hundred dollars and must have it.’ Merriam, -startled at the manner of the request, replied, ‘If -you have a good cause, you shall have it.’ Hayden -then told Merriam briefly what he had learned from -John Brown, Jr.: that Captain Brown was at Chambersburg, -or could be heard of there; that he was -preparing to lead a party of liberators into Virginia, -and that he needed money; to which Merriam -replied: ‘If you tell me John Brown is there, you -can have my money and me along with it.’”<a id='r213' /><a href='#f213' class='c014'><sup>[213]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>These were the men—idealists, dreamers, soldiers -and avengers, varying from the silent and thoughtful -to the quick and impulsive; from the cold and -bitter to the ignorant and faithful. They believed -in God, in spirits, in fate, in liberty. To them, -the world was a wild, young unregulated thing, -and they were born to set it right. It was a -veritable band of crusaders, and while it had much -of weakness and extravagance, it had nothing nasty -or unclean. On the whole, they were an unusual -set of men. Anne Brown who lived with them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>said: “Taking them all together, I think they -would compare well [she is speaking of manners, -etc.] with the same number of men in any station -of life I have ever met.”<a id='r214' /><a href='#f214' class='c014'><sup>[214]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>They were not men of culture or great education, -although Kagi had had a fair schooling. They -were intellectually bold and inquiring—several had -been attracted by the then rampant Spiritualism; -nearly all were skeptical of the world’s social conventions. -They had been trained mostly in the -rough school of frontier life, had faced death many -times, and were eager, curious, and restless. Some -of them were musical, others dabbled in verse. -Their broadest common ground of sympathy lay -in the personality of John Brown—him they revered -and loved. Through him, they had come to hate -slavery, and for him and for what he believed, -they were willing to risk their lives. They themselves, -had convictions on slavery and other matters, -but John Brown narrowed down their dreaming -to one intense deed.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Finally, there was John Brown himself. His -appearance has been often described—several -times in these pages. In 1859 he was the -same striking figure with whitening hair, burning -eyes, and the great white beard which hardly hid -the pendulous side lips of Olympian Jove. One -thing, however, must not be forgotten. John -Brown was at this time a sick man. From 1856 to -1859, scarce a mouth passed without telling of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>illness. His health was “some improved” in -May 1857, but soon he lost a week “with ague and -fever and left home feeble.” In August he wrote -of “ill health” and “repeated returns of fever and -ague.” In September and October, his health was -“poor.” The spring and summer of 1858 found -him “not very stout,” and in July and August, -he was “down with ague” and “too sick” to write. -In September he was “still weak,” and, although -“some improved” in December, the following -spring found him “not very strong.” In April, -amid the feverish activity of his fatal year, he was -“quite prostrated,” with “the difficulty in my -head and ear and with the ague in consequence.” -Late in July, he was “delayed with sickness” and -there can be little doubt that it was an illness and pain-racked -body which his indomitable will forced -into the raid of Harper’s Ferry.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Having collected a part of the funds and organized -the band, John Brown was about to strike his -blow in the early summer of 1858, as we have seen, -when the Forbes disclosures compelled him to hide -in Kansas, where the last massacre on the Swamp -of the Swan invited him. He left Canada for -Kansas in June, 1858. Cook, somewhat against -the wishes of Brown who feared his garrulity, went -to Harper’s Ferry, worked as a booking agent and canal -keeper, made love to a maid and married her and -then acted as advance agent awaiting the main -band. Ten months after leaving Canada, and in -mid-March, 1859, John Brown appeared again in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>Canada (as has been told in Chapter VII) with -twelve rescued slaves as an earnest of the feasibility -of his plan. He stayed long enough to spread the -news and then went to northern Ohio where he -spoke in public of Kansas and slavery. “He said -that he had never lifted a finger toward any one -whom he did not know was a violent persecutor of -the free state men. He had never killed anybody; -although, on some occasions, he had shown the -young men with him how some things might be -done as well as others, and they had done the -business. He had never destroyed the value -of an ear of corn, and had never set fire to -any pro-slavery man’s house or property. He -had never by his action driven out pro-slavery -men from the Territory; but if the occasion demanded -it, he would drive them into the ground, like fence -stakes, where they would remain permanent settlers.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Brown remarked that he was an outlaw, the -governor of Missouri has offered a reward of -$3,000, and James Buchanan $250 more, for him. -He quietly remarked, parenthetically, that John -Brown would give two dollars and fifty cents for -the safe delivery of the body of James Buchanan in -any jail of the free states. He would never submit -to an arrest, as he had nothing to gain from submission; -but he should settle all questions on the -spot if any attempt was made to take him. The -liberation of those slaves was meant as a direct -blow to slavery, and he laid down his platform that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>he had considered it his duty to break the fetters -from any slave when he had an opportunity. He -was a thorough Abolitionist.”<a id='r215' /><a href='#f215' class='c014'><sup>[215]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Then, he went East to see his family and visit -Douglass (where he met and persuaded Shields -Green), and to consult with Gerrit Smith and Sanborn. -Alcott at Concord wrote:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“This evening I heard Captain Brown speak at -the town hall on Kansas affairs and the part took -by them in the late troubles there. He tells his -story with surpassing simplicity and sense, impressing -us all deeply by his courage and religious -earnestness. Our best people listen to his words,—Emerson, -Thoreau, Judge Hoar, my wife; and -some of them contribute something in aid of his -plans without asking particulars, such confidence -does he inspire in his integrity and abilities. I -have a few words with him after his speech, and -find him superior to legal traditions, and a disciple -of the Right in ideality and the affairs of the state. -He is Sanborn’s guest and stays for a day only. A -young man named Anderson accompanies him. -They go armed, I am told, and will defend themselves, -if necessary. I believe they are now on -their way to Connecticut and farther south, but -the captain leaves us much in the dark concerning -his destination and designs for the coming months. -Yet he does not conceal his hatred of slavery, nor -his readiness to strike a blow for freedom at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>proper moment. I infer he intends to run -off as many slaves as he can, and so render that -property insecure to the master. I think him equal -to anything he dares,—the man to do the deed, if it -must be done, and with the martyr’s temper and -purpose. Nature was deeply intent in -the making of him. He is of imposing appearance, -personally—tall, with square shoulders and -standing; eyes of deep gray, and couchant, as if -ready to spring at the least rustling, dauntless yet -kindly; his hair shooting backward from low down -on his forehead; nose trenchant and Romanesque; -set lips, his voice suppressed yet metallic, suggesting -deep reserves; decided mouth; the countenance -and frame charged with power throughout. Since -here last he has added a flowing beard, which gives -the soldierly air and the port of an apostle. Though -sixty years old he is agile and alert and ready for -any audacity, in any crisis. I think him about the -manliest man I have ever seen,—the type and -synonym of the Just.”<a id='r216' /><a href='#f216' class='c014'><sup>[216]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The month of May, John Brown spent in Boston -collecting funds, and in New York consulting his -Negro friends, with a trip to Connecticut to hurry -the making of his thousand pikes. Sickness intervened, -but at last on June 20th, the advance-guard - of five—Brown and two of his sons, Jerry -Anderson and Kagi—started southward. They -stayed several days at Chambersburg, where Kagi, -coöperating with a faithful Negro barber, Watson, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>was established as a general agent to forward men, -mail, and freight. Then passing through Hagerstown, -they appeared at Harper’s Ferry on July 4th. -Here they met Cook, who had been selling maps, -keeping the canal-lock near the arsenal, and sending -regular information to Brown. Brown and his -sons wandered about at first, and a local farmer -greeted them cheerily: “Good-morning, gentlemen, -how do you do?” They returned the greeting -pleasantly. The conversation is recounted as -follows:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I said, ‘Well, gentlemen,’ after saluting them -in that form, ‘I suppose you are out hunting minerals, -gold, and silver?’ His answer was, ‘No, we -are not, we are out looking for land; we want to -buy land; we have a little money, but we want to -make it go as far as we can.’ He asked me about the -price of the land. I told him that it ranged from -fifteen dollars to thirty dollars in the neighborhood. -He remarked, ‘That is high; I thought I could buy -land here for about a dollar or two dollars per acre.’ -I remarked to him, ‘No, sir; if you expect to get -land for that price, you will have to go further -west, to Kansas, or some of those Territories where -there is government land.’ ... I then asked -him where they came from. His answer was, -‘From the northern part of the state of New -York.’ I asked him what he followed there. -He said farming and the frost had been so heavy -lately, that it cut off their crops there; that he -could not make anything, and sold out, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>thought he would come further south and try it -awhile.”<a id='r217' /><a href='#f217' class='c014'><sup>[217]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Through this easy-going, inquisitive farmer, -Brown learned of a farm for rent, which he hired -for nine months for thirty-five dollars. It was on -the main road between Harper’s Ferry, Chambersburg, -and the North, about five miles from the Ferry -and in a quiet secluded place. The house stood -about 300 yards back from the Boonesborough -pike, in plain sight. About 600 yards away on -the other side of the road was another cabin of one -room and a garret, which was largely hidden from -view by the shrubbery. Here Brown settled and -gradually collected his men and material. The -arms were especially slow in coming. Most of the -guns arrived at Chambersburg from Connecticut -about August, but the pikes did not come until a -month later. Then to the men were gathered -slowly. They were at the four ends of the country, -in all sorts of employment and different financial -conditions, and they were not certain just when the -raid would take place. All this delayed Brown -from July until October and greatly increased the -cost of maintenance. A daughter, Anne, and Oliver’s -girl wife came and kept the house from July 16th -to October 1st.</p> - -<p class='c004'>At this critical juncture, Harriet Tubman fell sick—a -grave loss to the cause—and there were other -delays. By August 1st, there were at Harper’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>Ferry the two Brown daughters and three sons, and -the two brothers of a son-in-law, besides the two -Coppocs, Tidd, Jerry Anderson, and Stevens. -Hazlett, Leeman, and Taylor came soon after. -Kagi was still at Chambersburg and John Brown -himself “labored and traveled night and day, -sometimes on old Dolly, his brown mule, and sometimes -in the wagon. He would start directly after -night, and travel the fifty miles between the farm -and Chambersburg by daylight the next morning; and -he otherwise kept open communication between -headquarters and the latter place, in order that -matters might be arranged in due season.”<a id='r218' /><a href='#f218' class='c014'><sup>[218]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In the North John Brown, Jr., was shipping the -arms and gathering men and money. He was in -Boston August 10th, at Douglass’s home, soon after, -and later in Canada with Loguen. All the chief -branches of the League were visited and then northern -Ohio. The result was meagre; not because -of a lack of men but lack of the kind of men wanted -at this time. There were thousands of Negroes -ready to fight for liberty in the ranks. But most -of these John Brown could not use at present. -No considerable band of armed black men could -have been introduced into the South without immediate -discovery and civil war. It was therefore -picked leaders like Douglass, Reynolds, Holden and -Delaney that Brown wanted at first—discreet and -careful men of influence, who, as he said to Douglass, -could hive the swarming bees both North and South. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>To get these picked men interested was, however, -difficult. Each had his work and his theory of -racial salvation; they were widely scattered. A -number of them had been convinced in 1858, but -the postponement had given time for reflection and -doubt. In many ways, the original enthusiasm had -waned, but it was not dead. The cause was just as -great and all that was needed was to convince men -that this was a real chance to strike an effective -blow. They required the magic of Brown’s own presence -to impress this fact upon them. They were not -sure of his agents. Men continued to come, however, -others began to prepare and still, others were almost -persuaded. An urgent summons went to Kansas to -white fellow workers, and the response there was -similarly small. Brown knew that his ability to -command the services of a large number of Northern -Negroes depended to some degree on Frederick -Douglass’s attitude. He was the first great national -Negro leader—a man of ability, <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">finesse</span></i>, and courage. -If he followed John Brown, who could hesitate? If -he refused, was it not for the best of reasons? Thus -John Brown continually urged Douglass and as a -last appeal arranged for a final conference on August -19th at Chambersburg in an abandoned stone -quarry. Douglass says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“As I came near, he regarded me rather suspiciously, -but soon recognized me, and received me -cordially. He had in his hand when I met him a -fishing-tackle, with which he had been -fishing in a stream hard by, but I saw no fish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>and did not suppose he cared much for his ‘fisherman’s -luck.’ The fishing was simply a disguise -and was certainly a good one. He looked every -way like a man of the neighborhood, and as much -at home as any of the farmers around there. His -hat was old and storm-beaten, and his clothing was -about the color of the stone quarry itself—his then -present dwelling-place.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“His face wore an anxious expression, and he was -much worn by thought and exposure. I felt that I -was on a dangerous mission, and was as little desirous -of discovery as himself, though no reward -had been offered for me. We—Mr. Kagi, Captain -Brown, Shields Green, and myself—sat down among -the rocks and talked over the enterprise which was -about to be undertaken. The taking of Harper’s -Ferry, of which Captain Brown had merely hinted -before, was now declared as his settled purpose, and -he wanted to know what I thought of it. I at once -opposed the measure with all the arguments at my -command. To me, such a measure would be fatal to -running off slaves (as was the original plan), and -fatal to all engaged in doing so. It would be an attack -upon The federal government and would array -the whole country against us. Captain Brown did -most of the talking on the other side of the question. -He did not at all object to rousing the nation; it -seemed to him that something startling was just what -the nation needed.... Our talk was long -and earnest; we spent the most of Saturday and a -part of Sunday in this debate—Brown for Harper’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>Ferry, and I against it; he for striking a blow -which should instantly rouse the country, and I for -the policy of gradually and unaccountably drawing -off the slaves to the mountains, as at first suggested -and proposed by him. When I found that he had -fully made up his mind and could not be dissuaded, -I turned to Shields Green and told him he heard -what Captain Brown had said; his old plan was -changed, and that I should return home, and if he -wished to go with me he could do so. Captain Brown -urged us both to go with him, but I could not do so, -and could but feel that he was about to rivet the fetters -more firmly than ever on the limbs of the enslaved. -In parting, he put his arms around me in a -manner more than friendly and said: ‘Come with -me, Douglass; I will defend you with my life. I -want you for a special purpose. When I strike, the -bees will begin to swarm, and I shall want you to help -hive them.’ But my discretion or my cowardice made -me proof against the dear old man’s eloquence—perhaps -it was something of both that determined -my course. When about to leave, I asked Green -what he had decided to do, and was surprised by his -coolly saying, in his broken way, ‘I b’lieve I’ll go -wid de ole man.’ Here we separated; they to go -to Harper’s Ferry, I to Rochester.”<a id='r219' /><a href='#f219' class='c014'><sup>[219]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Douglass’s decision undoubtedly kept many -Negroes from joining Brown. Shields Green, however, -started south. The slave-catchers followed -him and made him and Owen Brown swim a river. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>Only their journeying southward instead of northward -saved them from capture.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Life at the farm during this time was curious. -Anderson says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“There was no milk and water sentimentality—no -offensive contempt for the Negro, while working -in his cause; the pulsations of every heart -beat in harmony for the suffering and pleading -slave. I thank God that I have been permitted to -realize to its furthest, fullest extent, the moral, -mental, physical, social harmony of an anti-slavery -family, carrying out to the letter the principles of its -antitype, the anti-slavery cause. In John Brown’s -house, and in John Brown’s presence, men from -widely different parts of the continent met and -united into one company, wherein no hateful prejudice -dared intrude its ugly self—no ghost of distinction -found space to enter....</p> - -<p class='c004'>“To a passer-by, the house and its surroundings -presented but indifferent attractions. Any log -tenement of equal dimensions would be as likely to -arrest a stray glance. Rough, unsightly, and aged, -it was only for those privileged to enter and tarry -for a long time, and to penetrate the mysteries of -the two rooms it contained—kitchen, parlor, dining-room -below, and the spacious chamber, attic, storeroom, -prison, drilling-room, comprised in the loft -above—who could tell how we lived at Kennedy -Farm.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Every morning, when the noble old man was at -home, he called the family around, read from his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>Bible, and offered to God most fervent and touching -supplications for all flesh; and especially -pathetic were his petitions in behalf of the oppressed. -I never heard John Brown pray, that he -did not make strong appeals to God for the deliverance -of the slave. This duty over, the men went to -the loft, there to remain all day long; few only -could be seen about, as the neighbors were watchful -and suspicious. It was also important to talk but -little among ourselves, as visitors to the house -might be curious. Besides the daughter and -daughter-in-law, who superintended the work, -some one or other of the men was regularly detailed -to assist in the cooking, washing, and other -domestic work. After the ladies left, we did all -the work, no one being exempt, because of age or -official grade in the organization.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The principal employment of the prisoners, as -we severally were when compelled to stay in the -loft, was to study Forbes’s Manual, and to go -through a quiet, though rigid drill, under the -training of Captain Stevens, at some times. At -other times we applied a preparation for bronzing -our gun-barrels-discussed subjects of reform—related -our personal history; but when our resources -became pretty well exhausted, the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ennui</span></i> from confinement, -imposed silence, etc., would make the -men almost desperate. At such times, neither -slavery nor slaveholders were discussed mincingly. -We were, while the ladies remained, often relieved -of much of the dullness growing out of restraint by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>their kindness. As we could not circulate freely, -they would bring in wild fruit and flowers from the -woods and fields.”<a id='r220' /><a href='#f220' class='c014'><sup>[220]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Anne, the young daughter, says: “One day, -a short time after I went down there, father was sitting -at the table writing. I was nearby sewing (he -and I being alone in the room), when two little -wrens that had a nest under the porch came flying -in at the door, fluttering and twittering; then they -flew back to their nest and again to us several -times, seemingly trying to attract our attention. -They appeared to be in great distress. I asked -father what he thought was the matter with -the little birds. He asked if I had ever seen them -act so before; I told him no. ‘Then let us go and -see,’ he said. We went out and found that a snake -had crawled up the post and was just ready to devour -the little ones in the nest. Father killed the -snake; and then the old birds sat on the railing -and sang as if they would burst. It seemed as if -they were trying to express their joy and gratitude -to him for saving their little ones. After we went -back into the room, he said he thought it very -strange the way the birds asked him to help them, -and asked if I thought it an omen of his success. -He seemed very much impressed with that idea. I -do not think he was superstitious, but you know -he always thought and felt that God called him to -that work; and seemed to place himself, or rather -to imagine himself, in the position of the figure in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>the old seal of Virginia, with the tyrant under her -foot.”<a id='r221' /><a href='#f221' class='c014'><sup>[221]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The men discussed religion and slavery freely, -read Paine’s <cite>Age of Reason</cite> and the Baltimore <cite>Sun</cite>. -John Brown himself was careful to cultivate the -good-will of his neighbors, attending with skill -the sick among animals and men, so much so that -he and his sons became prime favorites. Owen -had long conversations with the people, while Cook -was also moving about the country selling maps. -A little Dunker chapel was near with non-resistant, -anti-slavery principles; here John Brown -often worshiped and preached. Yet with all this -caution and care, suspicion lurked about them, and -discovery was always imminent.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Brown’s daughter relates that “there was a family -of poor people who lived nearby and who had -rented the garden on the Kennedy place, directly -back of the house. The little barefooted woman -and four small children (she carried the youngest -in her arms) would all come trooping over to the -garden at all hours of the day, and, at times, several -times during the day. Nearly always they -would come up the steps and into the house and -stay a short time. This made it very troublesome -for us, compelling the men, when she came insight -at meal-times, to gather up the victuals and table-cloth -and quietly disappear up-stairs.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“One Saturday father and I went to a religious -(Dunker) meeting that was held in a grove near the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>schoolhouse and the folks left at home forgot to keep -a sharp lookout for Mrs. Heiffmaster, and she stole -into the house before they saw her, and saw Shields -Green (that must have been in September), Barclay -Coppoc, and Will Lemnian. And another time after -that she saw C. P. Tidd standing on the porch. She -thought these strangers were running off negroes to -the North. I used to give her everything she wanted -or asked for to keep her on good terms, but we were -in constant fear that she was either a spy or would -betray us. It was like standing on a powder magazine -after a slow match had been lighted.”<a id='r222' /><a href='#f222' class='c014'><sup>[222]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Despite all precautions, a rumor began to get in the -air. A Prussian Pole was among the Kansas cooperators -invited. He had been in Kansas in 1856 -and was known to Brown and Kagi. After hearing -from Brown in August 1859, the Pole disclosed -their plans to Edmund Babb, a correspondent of the -Cincinnati <cite>Gazette</cite>. It was probably Babb who -thereupon wrote to the United States Secretary of -War: “I have discovered the existence of a secret -association, having for its object the liberation of -the slaves at the South and by a general insurrection. -The leader of the movement is one ‘old John -Brown,’ late of Kansas.” Approximately correct -details of the plot followed, but Secretary Floyd -was lolling at a summer resort and had some little -conspiracies of his own in hand not unconnected -with United States arsenals. Being, therefore, as he -said magniloquently, “satisfied in my mind -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>that a scheme of such wickedness and outrage could -not be entertained by any citizens of the United -States, I put the letter away, and thought no more -of it until the raid broke out.”<a id='r223' /><a href='#f223' class='c014'><sup>[223]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Gerrit Smith, too, with little discretion, addressed -to Negro audience words which plainly showed he -shortly expected a slave insurrection. Even among -Harper’s Ferry party forced inaction led to disputes -and disaffection. John Brown sharply rebuked -the letter-writing and gossiping about his men. -“Any person is a stupid fool,” he told Kagi, “who -expects his friends to keep for him that which he cannot -keep himself. All our friends have each got -their special friends; and they again have theirs, -and it would not be right to lay the burden of keeping -a secret on any one at the end of a long string. -I could tell you of reasons I have for feeling rather -keenly on this point.”<a id='r224' /><a href='#f224' class='c014'><sup>[224]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The men, on the other hand, were dissatisfied with -Brown’s plans as they were finally disclosed. Anne -Brown writes that they generally “did not know -that the raid on the government works was a part of -the ‘plan’ until after they arrived at the farm in the -beginning of August.”<a id='r225' /><a href='#f225' class='c014'><sup>[225]</sup></a> They wanted simply to -repeat the Missouri raid on a larger scale and not -try to capture the arsenal. Tidd was especially -stubborn and irreconcilable. The discussion became -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>so warm that John Brown at one time resigned, but -he was immediately reëlected and this formal letter -was sent to him:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Sir</span>—We have all agreed to sustain your -decisions, until you have proved incompetent, and -many of us will adhere to your decisions so long as -you will.”<a id='r226' /><a href='#f226' class='c014'><sup>[226]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>In these ways Brown was compelled to hurry and -accordingly he urged his eldest son, who replied: -“Through those associations which I formed in Canada, -I am able to reach each individual member at -the shortest notice by letter. I am devoting my -whole time to our company business. I shall immediately -go out organizing and raising funds. From -what I even had understood, I had supposed you -would not think it best to commence opening the -coal banks before spring unless circumstances should -make it imperative. However, I suppose the reasons -are satisfactory to you, and if so, those who own -smaller shares ought not to object. I hope we shall -be able to get on in season some of those old miners -of whom I wrote you. I shall strain every nerve to -accomplish this. You may be assured that what -you say to me will reach those who may be benefited -thereby, and those who would take stock, in -the shortest possible time; so don’t fail to keep me -posted.”<a id='r227' /><a href='#f227' class='c014'><sup>[227]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>As late as October 6th Brown expected to “move -about the end of the month” and made a hurried -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>trip to Philadelphia. There he met a large group -of Negroes, and Dorsey the caterer with whom he -stayed, at 1221 Locust Street, is said to have given -him $300. In some way, he was disappointed with the -visit. Anderson says he went “on the business of great -importance. How important, men there and elsewhere now know. -How affected by, and affecting -the main features of the enterprise, we at the farm -knew full after their return, as the old captain, in -the fullness of his overflowing, saddened heart, detailed -point after point of interest”<a id='r228' /><a href='#f228' class='c014'><sup>[228]</sup></a> Perhaps he -was still trying to persuade Douglass and the leaders -of the Philadelphia and New York groups.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The women left the farm late in September and -O. P. Anderson, Copeland, and Leary arrived. -Merriam joined Brown while he was on the Philadelphia trip -and was sent to Baltimore to buy caps -for the guns. Others were coming when suddenly -Brown fixed on October 17th as the date of the -raid. This hurried change was probably because -officials and neighbors were getting inquisitive, and -arms were being removed from the arsenal to man -Southern stations. Yet it was unfortunate, as -Anderson says: “Could other parties, waiting -for the word, have reached the headquarters in -time for the outbreak when it took place, the taking -of the armory, engine-house, and rifle factory, -would have been quite different. But the men at -the farm had been so closely confined, that they -went out about the house and farm in the daytime -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>during that week, and so indiscreetly exposed their -numbers to the prying neighbors, who thereupon -took steps to have a search instituted in the early -part of the coming week. Captain Brown was not -seconded in another quarter, as he expected, at the -time of the action, but could the fears of the neighbors -have been allayed for a few days, the disappointment -in the former respect would not have been -of much weight.”<a id='r229' /><a href='#f229' class='c014'><sup>[229]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Only the nearest of the slaves round about who -awaited the word could be communicated with and -several recruits like Hinton were left stranded on -the way, unable to get through in time. So -the great day dawned: “On Sunday morning, October -16th, Captain Brown arose earlier than usual, and -called his men down to worship. He read a -chapter from the Bible, applicable to the condition -of the slaves, and our duty as their brethren, and -then offered up a fervent prayer to God to assist in -the liberation of the bondmen in that slaveholding -land. The services were impressive.”<a id='r230' /><a href='#f230' class='c014'><sup>[230]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>A council was held, over which O. P. Anderson, -the colored man, presided. In the afternoon the -final orders were given and at night just before -setting out, John Brown said: “And now, -gentlemen, let me impress this one thing upon -your minds. You all know how dear life is to you, -and how dear life is to your friends. And in remembering -that, consider that the lives of others -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>areas dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, -therefore, take the life of anyone, if you can -possibly avoid it, but if it is necessary to take -life to save your own, then make sure -work of it.”<a id='r231' /><a href='#f231' class='c014'><sup>[231]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER XI<br /> <span class='large'>THE BLOW</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c007'> - <div><span class='small'>“Woe unto them that call evil, good; and good, evil.”</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“At eight o’clock on Sunday evening, Captain -Brown said: ‘Men, get on your arms; we will proceed -to the Ferry.’ His horse and wagon were -brought out before the door, and some pikes, a -sledge-hammer and a crowbar were placed in it. -The captain then put on his old Kansas cap, and -said: ‘Come, boys!’ when we marched out of -the camp behind him, into the lane leading down -the hill to the main road.”<a id='r232' /><a href='#f232' class='c014'><sup>[232]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The orders given commanded Owen Brown, -Merriam and Barclay Coppoc to watch the house -and arms until ordered to bring them toward the -Ferry. Tidd and Cook were to cut the telegraph -lines and Kagi and Stephens to detain the bridge -guard. Watson Brown and Taylor were to hold -the bridge over the Potomac, and Oliver Brown -and William Thompson the bridge over the Shenandoah. -Jerry Anderson and Dauphin Thompson -were to occupy the engine-house in the arsenal -yard, while Hazlett and Edwin Coppoc were to hold -the armory.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>During the night Kagi and Copeland were to -seize and guard the rifle factory, and others were -to go out in the country and bring in certain masters -and their slaves.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It was a cold dark night when the band started. -Ahead was John Brown in his one-horse farm-wagon, -with pikes, a sledge-hammer and a crowbar. -Behind him marched the men silently and at intervals, -Cook and Tidd leading. They had five miles -to go, over rolling hills and through woods and -then down to a narrow road between the cliffs and -the Cincinnati and Ohio canal. As they approached -the railroad, Cook and Tidd cut the telegraph -wires which led to Baltimore and Washington. -At the bridge they halted and made ready -their arms. At ten o’clock William Williams, one -of the watchmen there, was surprised to find himself -a prisoner in the hands of Kagi and Stevens, -who took him through the covered structure to the -town, leaving Watson Brown and Steward Taylor to -guard the bridge. The rest of the company entered -Harper’s Ferry.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The land between the rivers is itself high, though -dwarfed by the mountains and running down to a -low point where the rivers join. At this place the -bridge leads to Maryland. After crossing the bridge -to Virginia, about sixty yards up the street, running -parallel to the Potomac, was the gate of the -armory where the arms were made. On the -Shenandoah side about sixty yards from the armory -gate is the arsenal, where the arms were stored. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>The company proceeded to the armory gate. The -watchman tells how the place was captured:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“‘Open the gate,’ said they; I said, ‘I could not -if I was stuck,’ and one of them jumped up on -the pier of the gate over my head, and another -fellow ran and put his hand on me and caught me -by the coat and held me; I was inside and they -were outside, and the fellow standing over my head -upon the pier, and then when I would not open the -gate for them, five or six ran in from the wagon, -clapped their guns against my breast, and told me -I should deliver up the key; I told them I could -not; and another fellow made an answer and said -they had not time now to be waiting for the key, but -to go to the wagon and bring out the crowbar and -large hammer, and they would soon get in; they -went to the little wagon and brought a large crowbar - out of it; there is a large chain around the -two sides of the wagon-gate going in; they twisted -the crowbar in the chain and they opened it, and in -they ran and got in the wagon; one fellow took me; -they all gathered about me and looked in my face; -I was nearly scared to death with so many guns -about me.”<a id='r233' /><a href='#f233' class='c014'><sup>[233]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_315.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic003'> -<p><span class='sc'>Map of Harper’s Ferry, Showing Points Figuring in the Raid</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>The two captured watchmen, Anderson says, -“were left in the custody of Jerry Anderson and -Dauphin Thompson, and A. D. Stevens arranged -the men to take possession of the armory and rifle -factory. About this time, there was apparently -much excitement. People were passing back and -forth in the town, and before we could do much, we -had to take several prisoners. After the prisoners -were secured, we passed to the opposite side of the -street and took the armory, and Albert Hazlett and -Edwin Coppoc were ordered to hold it for the time -being.”<a id='r234' /><a href='#f234' class='c014'><sup>[234]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The other fourteen men quickly dispersed through -the village. Oliver Brown and William Thompson -seized and guarded the bridge across the Shenandoah. -This bridge was sixty rods from the railway bridge -up the river and was the direct route to Loudoun -Heights, the slave-filled lower valley, and the Great -Black Way. It was, however, not the only way -across the Shenandoah: a little more than half a -mile farther up were the rifle works, where the -stream could be easily forded. Kagi and Copeland -went there, captured the watchman and took possession.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“These places were all taken, and the prisoners -secured, without the snap of a gun, or any violence -whatever,” says Anderson, and he continues: “The -town being taken, Brown, Stevens, and the men -who had no post in charge, returned to the engine-house, -where council was held, after which Captain -Stevens, Tidd, Cook, Shields Green, Leary and myself -went to the country. On the road we met -some colored men, to whom we made known our -purpose, when they immediately agreed to join us. -They said they had been long waiting for an opportunity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>of the kind. Stevens then asked them to -go around among the colored people and circulate -the news, when each started off in a different direction. -The result was that many colored men -gathered to the scene of action. The first prisoner -taken by us was Colonel Lewis Washington [a relative -of George Washington]. When we neared his -house, Captain Stevens placed Leary and Shields -Green to guard the approaches to the house, the -one at the side, and the other in front. We then -knocked, but no one answering, although females -were looking from upper windows, we entered the -building and commenced a search for the proprietor. -Colonel Washington opened his room door, and -begged us not to kill him. Captain Stevens replied, -‘You are our prisoner,’ when he stood as if speechless -or petrified. Stevens further told him to get -ready to go to the Ferry; that he had come to -abolish slavery, not to take life but in self-defense, -but that he must go along. The colonel replied: -‘You can have my slaves, if you will let me remain.’ -‘No,’ said the captain, ‘you must go along -too; so get ready.’”<a id='r235' /><a href='#f235' class='c014'><sup>[235]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He and his male slaves were thus taken, together -with a large four-horse wagon and some arms, including -the Lafayette sword. Away the party went -and after capturing another planter and his slaves, -arrived at the Ferry before daybreak.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime the citizens of the Ferry, returning late -from protracted Methodist meeting, were being -<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>taken prisoners and about one o’clock in the morning -the east-bound Baltimore and Ohio train arrived. -This was detained and the local colored -porter shot dead by Brown’s guards on the bridge. -The passengers were greatly excited, but at first -thought it was a strike of some kind. After sunrise -the train was allowed to proceed, John Brown -himself walking ahead across the bridge to reassure -the conductor. So Monday, October 17th, began -and Anderson says it “was a time of stirring and exciting -events. In consequence of the movements of -the night before, we were prepared for commotion -and tumult, but certainly not for more than we beheld -around us. Gray dawn and yet brighter daylight -revealed great confusion, and as the sun arose, -the panic spread like wild-fire. Men, women and -children could be seen leaving their homes in every -direction; some seeking refuge among residents, -and in quarters further away; others climbing up -the hillsides, and hurrying off in various directions, -evidently impelled by a sudden fear, which was -plainly visible in their countenances or in their -movements.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Captain Brown was all activity, though I could -not help thinking that at times he appeared somewhat -puzzled. He ordered Lewis Sherrard Leary and -four slaves, and a free man belonging in the neighborhood, -to join John Henry Kagi and John Copeland -at the rifle factory, which they immediately -did.... After the departure of the train, -quietness prevailed for a short time; a number of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span>prisoners were already in the engine-house, and of -the many colored men living in the neighborhood, -who had assembled in the town, a number were -armed.”<a id='r236' /><a href='#f236' class='c014'><sup>[236]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Up to this point everything in John Brown’s -plan had worked like clockwork, and there had -been but one death. The armory was captured, -from twenty-five to fifty slaves had been armed, -several masters were in custody and the next move -was to get the arms and ammunition from the farm. -Cook says that when the party returned from the -country at dawn, “I stayed a short while in the -engine-house to get warm, as I was chilled through. -After I got warm, Captain Brown ordered me to go -with C. P. Tidd, who was to take William H. Leeman, -and, I think, four slaves [Anderson says fourteen -slaves] with him, in Colonel Washington’s -large wagon, across the river, and to take Terrence -Burns and his brother and their slaves prisoners. -My orders were to hold Burns and brother as -prisoners at their own house, while Tidd and the -slaves who accompanied him were to go to Captain -Brown’s house and to load in arms and bring them -down to the schoolhouse, stopping for the Burnses -and their guard. William H. Leeman remained -with me to guard the prisoners. On return of the -wagon, in compliance with orders, we all started -for the schoolhouse. When we got there, I was to -remain, by Captain Brown’s orders, with one of the -slaves to guard the arms, while C. P. Tidd, with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>other Negroes, was to go back for the rest of the -arms, and Burns was to be sent with William H. -Leeman to Captain Brown at the armory. It was -at this time that William Thompson came up from -the Ferry and reported that everything was all right, -and then hurried on to overtake William H. Leeman. -A short time after the departure of Tidd, I -heard a good deal of firing and became anxious to -know the cause, but my orders were strict to -remain in the schoolhouse and guard the arms, -and I obeyed the orders to the letter. About four -o’clock in the evening C. P. Tidd came with the -second load.”<a id='r237' /><a href='#f237' class='c014'><sup>[237]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Here, in all probability, was the fatal hitch. -The farm was not over three miles from the -schoolhouse, and there was a heavy farm-wagon -with four large strong horses and a dozen men -or more to help. The fact that it took these men -eleven hours to move two wagon-loads of material -less than three miles is the secret of the extraordinary -failure of Brown’s foray at a time when victory -was in his grasp. That Cook was needlessly -dilatory in the moving is certain. He sat down -in Byrnes’s house and made a speech on human -equality. Then Tidd went on to the farm with the -wagon and brought a load of arms, which he deposited -at the point where the Kennedy farm road meets -the Potomac almost at right angles, about three -miles or less from the Ferry. The schoolhouse -stood here and the children were frightened half to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>death. Cook stopped at this place and unloaded the -wagon, and then Leeman went with Byrnes to the -guard-house, lingering and actually sitting beside -the road. Even then they arrived before ten o’clock. -With haste it is certain that, despite the muddy road, -the first load of arms could have been at the schoolhouse -before eight o’clock in the morning, and the -whole of the stores by ten o’clock. That Brown expected -this is shown by his sending William Thompson -to reassure the men at the farm of his safety and -probably to urge haste; yet when the second load of -arms appeared, it was four o’clock in the afternoon, -at least three hours after Brown had been completely -surrounded. Judging from Cook’s narrative, it is -likely that Thompson did not see Tidd at all. It -was this inexcusable delay on the part of Tidd and -Cook and, possibly, William Thompson that undoubtedly -made the raid a failure. To be sure, -John Brown never said so—never hinted that any one -was to blame but himself. But that was John -Brown’s way.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Events in the town had moved quickly. After -Cook had departed, Brown ordered O. P. Anderson -“to take the pikes out of the wagon in which he -rode to the Ferry, and to place them in the hands of -the colored men who had come with us from the -plantations, and others who had come forward without -having had communication with any of our -party.”<a id='r238' /><a href='#f238' class='c014'><sup>[238]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The citizens were “wild with fright and excitement.... -<span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>The prisoners were also terror-stricken. -Some wanted to go home to see their families, -as if for the last time. The privilege was -granted them, under escort, and they were brought -back again. Edwin Coppoc, one of the sentinels at -the armory gate, was fired at by one of the citizens, -but the ball did not reach him, when one of the insurgents -close by put up his rifle, and made the -enemy bite the dust. Among the arms taken from -Colonel Washington was one double-barreled gun. -This weapon was loaded by Leeman with buckshot, -and placed in the hands of an elderly slave man, -early in the morning. After the cowardly charge -upon Coppoc, this old man was ordered by Captain -Stevens to arrest a citizen. The old man ordered -him to halt, which he refused to do, when instantly -the terrible load was discharged into him, and he -fell, and expired without a struggle.”<a id='r239' /><a href='#f239' class='c014'><sup>[239]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The next step which John Brown had in mind is -unknown, but there were two safe movements at -9 <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A. M.</span></span> Monday morning:</p> - -<p class='c004'>(<em>a</em>) The arms could have been brought across the -Potomac bridge and then across the Shenandoah, -and so up Londoun Heights. The men from the -Maryland side could have joined, and Brown and -his men covered their retreat by compelling the -hostages to march with them. Kagi and his men, -by wading the Shenandoah, could have supported -them.</p> - -<p class='c004'>(<em>b</em>) The arms could have been taken down to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>Potomac from the schoolhouse, ferried across and -moved over to Kagi. Brown and his men could -have joined the party there and all retreated up Loudoun -Heights. From the fact that Brown had the -arms stopped at the schoolhouse, this seems probably -to have been the thought in his mind.</p> - -<p class='c004'>On the other hand, the plan usually attributed to -Brown is unthinkable; viz., that he intended retreating -across the Potomac into the Maryland -mountains. First, he had just come out of the -Maryland mountains and had moved down his arms -and ammunition; and second, this manœuvre -would have cut his band off from the Great Black -Way to the South unless he captured the Ferry a -second time. Manifestly this, then, was not -Brown’s idea. It has, however, been suggested -that the arms had been moved down to the schoolhouse -to be placed in the hands of slaves there. -But why were they left on the Maryland side? In -the whole Maryland country west of the mountains -were less than a thousand able-bodied Negroes, of -whom not a tenth could have been cognizant of the -uprising, while Brown had arms for 1,200 men or -more. No, Brown intended to move the arms in -bulk. He had perhaps a ton, or a ton and a half of -baggage. He wished it moved first to the schoolhouse, -and then if all was well to the Ferry, or -straight across to the mountains. Cook started before -five o’clock in the morning, and Brown no -doubt expected to hear that the arms were at the -schoolhouse by ten. At eleven o’clock he dispatched -<span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>William Thompson to Kennedy farm. -Anderson thinks that Thompson’s message made -the farm party even more leisurely because it told -of success so far. This is surely impossible. The -veriest tyro must have known that minutes were -golden despite the tremendous fortune of the expedition. -Did Thompson misapprehend his message? -Was the delay Tidd’s and what was Owen -Brown thinking and doing? It is a curious puzzle, -but it is the puzzle of the foray. If the party with -the arms had arrived at the bridge any time -before noon, the raid would have been successful. -Even as it was, Brown still had three courses -open to him, all of which promised a measure of -success:</p> - -<p class='c004'>(<em>a</em>) He could have gotten his band and crossed -back to Maryland,—although this meant the -abandonment of the main features of his whole -plan. As time waned Stevens and Kagi urged this -but Brown refused.</p> - -<p class='c004'>(<em>b</em>) He could have gone to Loudoun Heights, -but this would have involved abandoning his arms -and stores and above all, one of his sons, Cook, -Tidd, Merriam, Coppoc and the slaves. This was -unthinkable.</p> - -<p class='c004'>(<em>c</em>) He could have used his hostages to force -terms. For not doing this he afterward repeatedly -blamed himself, but characteristically blamed no -one else for anything.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime every minute of delay aroused the -country and brought the citizens to their senses. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>“The train that left Harper’s Ferry carried a -panic to Virginia, Maryland and Washington -with it. The passengers, taking all the paper -they could find, wrote accounts of the insurrection, -which they threw from the windows as the train -rushed onward.”<a id='r240' /><a href='#f240' class='c014'><sup>[240]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>A local physician says: “I went back to the -hillside then, and tried to get the citizens together, -to see what we could do to get rid of these fellows. -They seemed to be very troublesome. When I got -on the hill I learned that they had shot Boerly. -That was probably about seven o’clock.... I -had ordered the Lutheran church bell to be rung to -get the citizens together to see what sort of arms -they had. I found one or two squirrel rifles and a -few shotguns. I had sent a messenger to Charlestown -in the meantime for Captain Rowan, commander -of a volunteer company there. I also sent -messengers to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to -stop the trains coming east, and not let them approach -the Ferry, and also a messenger to Shepherdstown.”<a id='r241' /><a href='#f241' class='c014'><sup>[241]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Another eye-witness adds: “There was unavoidable -delay in the preparations for a fight, -because of the scarcity of weapons; for only a few -squirrel guns and fowling-pieces could be found. -There were then at Harper’s Ferry thousands and -tens of thousands of muskets and rifles of the most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span>approved patterns, but they were all boxed up in -the arsenal, and the arsenal was in the hands of -the enemy. And such, too, was the scarcity of the -ammunition that, after using up the limited supply -of lead found in the village stores, pewter plates -and spoons had to be melted and molded into bullets -for the occasion.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“By nine o’clock a number of indifferently armed -citizens assembled on Camp Hill and decided that -the party, consisting of half a dozen men, should -cross the Potomac a short distance above the Ferry, -and, going down the tow-path of the Chesapeake -and Ohio Canal as far as the railway bridge, should -attack the two sentinels stationed there, who, by the -way, had been reënforced by four more of Brown’s -party. Another small party under Captain Medler -was to cross the Shenandoah and take position opposite -the rifle works, while Captain Avis, with a sufficient -force, should take possession of the Shenandoah -bridge, and Captain Roderick, with some of the -armorers, should post themselves on the Baltimore -and Ohio Railway west of the Ferry just above the -armories.”<a id='r242' /><a href='#f242' class='c014'><sup>[242]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>At last the militia commenced to arrive and the -movements to cut off Brown’s men began. The Jefferson -Guards crossed the Potomac, came down to the -Maryland side and seized the Potomac bridge. The -local company was sent to take the Shenandoah -bridge, leave a guard and march to the rear of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_322'>322</span>arsenal, while another local company was to seize -the houses in front of the arsenal.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“As strangers poured in,” says Anderson, “the -enemy took positions round about, so as to prevent -any escape, within shooting distance of the engine-house -and arsenal. Captain Brown, seeing their -manœuvres, said, ‘We will hold on to our three positions, -if they are unwilling to come to terms, and -die like men.’”<a id='r243' /><a href='#f243' class='c014'><sup>[243]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The attack came at noon from the Jefferson Guards, -who started across the Potomac bridge from Maryland. -This is Anderson’s story:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It was about twelve o’clock in the day when we -were first attacked by the troops. Prior to that, -Captain Brown, in anticipation of further trouble, -had girded to his side the famous sword taken from -Colonel Lewis Washington the night before, and with -that memorable weapon, he commanded his men -against General Washington’s own state. When the -captain received the news that the troops had entered -the bridge from the Maryland side, he, with -some of his men, went into the street, and sent a message -to the arsenal for us to come forth also. We -hastened to the street as ordered, when he said—‘The -troops are on the bridge, coming into town; we -will give them a warm reception.’ He then walked -around amongst us, giving us words of encouragement, -in this wise:—‘Men! be cool! Don’t waste -your powder and shot! Take aim, and make every -shot count!’ ‘The troops will look for us to retreat -<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>on their first appearance; be careful to shoot -first.’ Our men were well supplied with firearms, -but Captain Brown had no rifle at that time; his -only weapon was the sword before mentioned.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The troops soon came out of the bridge, and -up the street facing us, we occupying an irregular -position. When they got within sixty or seventy -yards, Captain Brown said, ‘Let go upon them!’ -which we did, when several of them fell. Again -and again the dose was repeated. There was now -consternation among the troops. From marching -in solid martial columns, they became scattered. -Some hastened to seize upon and bear up the -wounded and dying,—several lay dead upon the -ground. They seemed not to realize, at first, that -we would fire upon them, but evidently expected -that we would be driven out by them without firing. -Captain Brown seemed fully to understand the matter, -and hence, very properly and in our defense, -undertook to forestall their movements. The consequence -of their unexpected reception was, after -leaving several of their dead on the field, they beat -a confused retreat into the bridge, and there stayed -under cover until reinforcements came to the Ferry. -On the retreat of the troops, we were ordered back -to our former posts.”<a id='r244' /><a href='#f244' class='c014'><sup>[244]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>At this time the Negro, Newby, was killed and -his assailant shot in turn by Green. Two slaves also -died fighting. Now “there was comparative quiet -for a time, except that the citizens seemed to be wild -<span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>with terror. Men, women and children forsook the -place in great haste, climbing up hillsides, and scaling -the mountains. The latter seemed to be alive -with white fugitives, fleeing from their doomed city. -During this time, William Thompson, who was returning -from his errand to the Kennedy farm, was -surrounded on the bridge by railroad men, who -next came up, and taken a prisoner to the Wager -house.”<a id='r245' /><a href='#f245' class='c014'><sup>[245]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>It was now one o’clock in the day and while things -were going against Brown, his cause was not desperate. -His Maryland men might yet attack the disorganized -Jefferson Guards in the rear and the -arsenal was full of hostages. But militia and citizens -kept pouring into the town and by three o’clock -“could be seen coming from every direction.” -Kagi sent word to Brown, urging retreat; but Brown -faced a difficult dilemma: Should he go to Loudoun -Heights and lose half his men and all his munitions? -or should he retreat to Maryland? This latter path -lay open, he was sure, by means of his hostages. -Meantime the Maryland party might appear at any -moment. Indeed, the Jefferson Guards had once -been mistaken for them. On this account the message -was sent back to Kagi “to hold out for a few -minutes, when we would all evacuate the place.” -Still the Maryland party lingered with the stubborn -Tidd somewhere up the road, and Cook idly kicking -his heels at the schoolhouse.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The messenger, Jerry Anderson, was fired on and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>mortally wounded before he reached Kagi, and -the latter’s party was attacked by a large force and -driven into the river.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“The river at that point runs rippling over a -rocky bed,” writes a Virginian, “and at ordinary -stages of the water is easily forded. The raiders, -finding their retreat to the opposite shore intercepted -by Medler’s men, made for a large flat rock near the -middle of the stream. Before reaching it, however, -Kagi fell and died in the water, apparently -without a struggle. Four others reached the rock, -where, for a while, they made an ineffectual stand, -returning the fire of the citizens. But it was not -long before two of them were killed outright and -another prostrated by a mortal wound, leaving -Copeland, a mulatto, standing alone unharmed upon -their rock of refuge.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Thereupon, a Harper’s Ferry man, James H. -Holt, dashed into the river, gun in hand, to capture -Copeland, who, as he approached him, made a show -of fight by pointing his gun at Holt, who halted -and leveled his; but, to the surprise of the lookers-on, -neither of their weapons were discharged, both -having been rendered temporarily useless, as I afterward -learned, from being wet. Holt, however, as -he again advanced, continued to snap his gun, while -Copeland did the same.”<a id='r246' /><a href='#f246' class='c014'><sup>[246]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Copeland was taken alive and Leeman, with a -second message from Kagi to Brown, was killed. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span>Matters were now getting desperate, but the armory -was full of prisoners and therein lay John Brown’s -final hope. Easily as a last resort he could use -these citizens as a screen and so escape to the -mountains. In attempting this, however, some of -the prisoners were bound to be killed and Brown -hesitated at sacrificing innocent blood to save himself. -He thought that the same end might be accomplished -by negotiation. His first move, therefore, -was to withdraw all his force and the important -prisoners to a small brick building near the -armory gate called the “engine-house.” Captain -Daingerfield, one of the prisoners, says: “He -entered the engine-house, carrying his prisoners -along, or rather part of them, for he made selections. -After getting into the engine-house he made -this speech: ‘Gentlemen, perhaps you wonder -why I have selected you from the others. It is because -I believe you to be the most influential; and I -have only to say now, that you will have to share -precisely the same fate that your friends extend to -my men.’ He began at once to bar the doors and -windows, and to cut port-holes through the brick -wall.”<a id='r247' /><a href='#f247' class='c014'><sup>[247]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This evident weakening of the raiders let pandemonium -loose. The citizens realized how small a -force Brown had and were filled with fury at his -presumption. His men began to fight desperately -for their lives.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“About the time when Brown immured himself,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span>a narrator reports, “a company of Berkeley -County militia arrived from Martinsburg who, -with some citizens of Harper’s Ferry and the -surrounding country, made a rush on the armory -and released the great mass of the prisoners outside -of the engine-house, not, however, without suffering -some loss from a galling fire kept up by the enemy -from ‘the fort.’”<a id='r248' /><a href='#f248' class='c014'><sup>[248]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This released the arms and one of the Virginia -watchmen says: “The people, who came pouring -into town, broke into liquor saloons, filled up, and -then got into the arsenal, arming themselves with -United States guns and ammunition. They kept -shooting at random and howling.”<a id='r249' /><a href='#f249' class='c014'><sup>[249]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The prisoners within the engine-house heard “a -terrible firing from without, at every point from -which the windows could be seen, and in a few -minutes every window was shattered, and hundreds -of balls came through the doors. These shots were -answered from within whenever the attacking party -could be seen. This was kept up most of the day, -and, strange to say, not a prisoner was hurt, -though thousands of balls were imbedded in the -walls, and holes shot in the doors almost large -enough for a man to creep through.”<a id='r250' /><a href='#f250' class='c014'><sup>[250]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The doomed raiders saw “volley upon volley” -discharged, while “the echoes from the hills, the -shrieks of the townspeople, and the groans of their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>wounded and dying, all of which filled the air, were -truly frightful.” Yet “no powder and ball were -wasted. We shot from under cover, and took -deadly aim. For an hour before the flag of truce -was sent out, the firing was uninterrupted, and one -and another of the enemy were constantly dropping -to the earth.”<a id='r251' /><a href='#f251' class='c014'><sup>[251]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Oliver Brown was shot and died without a word -and Taylor was mortally wounded. The mayor of -the city ventured out, unarmed, to reconnoitre and -was killed. Immediately the son of Andrew Hunter, -who afterward was state’s attorney against Brown, -rushed into the hotel after the prisoner William -Thompson:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We burst into the room where he was, and -found several around him, but they offered only a -feeble resistance; we brought our guns down to his -head repeatedly,—myself and another person,—for -the purpose of shooting him in the room.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“There was a young lady there, the sister of Mr. -Fouke, the hotel-keeper, who sat in this man’s lap, -covered his face with her arms, and shielded him -with her person whenever we brought our guns to -bear. She said to us, ‘For God’s sake, wait and -let the law take its course.’ My associate shouted to -kill him. ‘Let us shed his blood,’ were his words. -All round were shouting, ‘Mr. Beckham’s life was -worth ten thousand of these vile Abolitionists.’ I -was cool about it, and deliberate. My gun was -pushed by some one who seized the barrel, and I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>then moved to the back part of the room, still with -purpose unchanged, but with a view to divert attention -from me, in order to get an opportunity, at -some moment when the crowd would be less dense, -to shoot him. After a moment’s thought it occurred -to me that that was not the proper place to -kill him. We then proposed to take him out and -hang him. Some portion of our band then opened a -way to him, and first pushing Miss Fouke aside, we -slung him out-of-doors. I gave him a push, and -many others did the same. We then shoved him -along the platform and down to the trestle work of -the bridge; he begged for his life all the time, very -piteously at first.”<a id='r252' /><a href='#f252' class='c014'><sup>[252]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus he was shot to death as he crawled in the -trestle work. The prisoners in the engine-house -now urged Brown to make terms with the citizens, -representing that this was possible and that he and -his men could escape. Brown sent out his son -Watson with a white flag, but the maddened -citizens paid no attention to it and shot him down. -A lull in the fighting came a little later, and -Stevens took a second flag of truce, but was -captured and held prisoner. Daingerfield says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“At night the firing ceased, for we were in total -darkness, and nothing could be seen in the -engine-house. During the day and night I talked -much with Brown. I found him as brave as a man -could be, and sensible upon all subjects except -slavery. He believed it was his duty to free the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>slaves, even if in doing so he lost his own life. -During a sharp fight one of Brown’s sons was -killed. He fell; then trying to raise himself, he -said, ‘It is all over with me,’ and died instantly. -Brown did not leave his post at the port-hole; but -when the fighting was over he walked to his son’s -body, straightened out his limbs, took off his -trappings, and then, turning to me, said, ‘This is -the third son I have lost in this cause.’ Another son -had been shot in the morning, and was then dying, -having been brought in from the street. Often -during the affair at the engine-house, when his men -would want to fire upon some one who might be -seen passing, Brown would stop them, saying, -‘Don’t shoot; that man is unarmed.’ The firing -was kept up by our men all day and until late at -night, and during this time several of his men were -killed, but none of the prisoners were hurt, though -in great danger. During the day and night many -propositions, pro and con, were made, looking to -Brown’s surrender and the release of the prisoners, -but without result.”<a id='r253' /><a href='#f253' class='c014'><sup>[253]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Another eye-witness says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“A little before night Brown asked if any of his -captives would volunteer to go out among the -citizens and induce them to cease firing on the fort, -as they were endangering the lives of their friends—the -prisoners. He promised on his part that, if -there was no more firing on his men, there should -be none by them on the besiegers. Mr. Israel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span>Russel undertook the dangerous duty; the risk -arose from the excited state of the people who would -be likely to fire on anything seen stirring around -the prison-house, and the citizens were persuaded -to stop firing in consideration of the danger incurred -of injuring the prisoners....</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It was now dark and the wildest excitement -existed in the town, especially among the friends -of the killed, wounded and prisoners of the citizens’ -party. It had rained some little all day and the -atmosphere was raw and cold. Now, a cloudy and -moonless sky hung like a pall over the scene of -war, and, on the whole, a more dismal night cannot -be imagined. Guards were stationed round the -engine-house to prevent Brown’s escape and, as -forces were constantly arriving from Winchester, -Frederick City, Baltimore and other places to help -the Harper’s Ferry people, the town soon assumed -quite a military appearance. The United States -authorities in Washington had been notified in the -meantime, and, in the course of the night, Colonel -Robert E. Lee, afterward the famous General Lee -of the Southern Confederacy, arrived with a force of -United States marines, to protect the interests of the -government, and kill or capture the invaders.”<a id='r254' /><a href='#f254' class='c014'><sup>[254]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Meantime Cook had awakened to the fact that -something was wrong. He left Tidd at the schoolhouse -and started toward the Ferry; finding it -surrounded, he fired one volley from a tree and -fled. He found no one at the schoolhouse, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_332'>332</span>met Tidd, and the whole farm guard, and one -Negro on the road beyond. They all turned and -fled north, Tidd and Cook quarreling. They -wandered fourteen days in rain and snow, and -finally all escaped except Cook who went into a -town for food and was arrested.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Robert E. Lee, with 100 marines, arrived just -before midnight on Monday and one of the prisoners -tells the story of the last stand:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“When Colonel Lee came with the government -troops in the night, he at once sent a flag of truce -by his aid, J. E. B. Stuart, to notify Brown of his -arrival, and in the name of the United States to -demand his surrender, advising him to throw himself -on the clemency of the government. Brown -declined to accept Colonel Lee’s terms, and determined -to await the attack. When Stuart was -admitted and a light brought, he exclaimed, ‘Why, -aren’t you old Osawatomie Brown of Kansas, -whom I once had there as my prisoner?’ ‘Yes,’ -was the answer, ‘but you did not keep me.’ This -was the first intimation we had of Brown’s real -name. When Colonel Lee advised Brown to trust -to the clemency of the government, Brown responded -that he knew what that meant,—a rope -for his men and himself; adding, ‘I prefer to die -just here.’ Stuart told him he would return at -early morning for his final reply, and left him. -When he had gone, Brown at once proceeded to -barricade the doors, windows, etc., endeavoring to -make the place as strong as possible. All this time -<span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>no one of Brown’s men showed the slightest fear, -but calmly awaited the attack, selecting the best -situations to fire from, and arranging their guns -and pistols so that a fresh one could be taken up as -soon as one was discharged....</p> - -<p class='c004'>“When Lieutenant Stuart came in the morning for -the final reply to the demand to surrender, I got up -and went to Brown’s side to hear his answer. Stuart -asked, ‘Are you ready to surrender, and trust to -the mercy of the government?’ Brown answered, -‘No, I prefer to die here.’ His manner did not -betray the least alarm. Stuart stepped aside and -made a signal for the attack, which was instantly -begun with sledge-hammers to break down the -door. Finding it would not yield, the soldiers -seized a long ladder for a battering-ram, and commenced -beating the door with that, the party within -firing incessantly. I had assisted in the barricading, -fixing the fastenings so that I could remove -them on the first effort to get in. But I was not at -the door when the battering began, and could not -get to the fastenings till the ladder was used. I -then quickly removed the fastenings; and, after -two or three strokes of the ladder, the engine rolled -partially back, making a small aperture, through -which Lieutenant Green of the marines forced his -way, jumped on top of the engine, and stood a -second, amidst a shower of balls, looking for John -Brown. When he saw Brown, he sprang about -twelve feet at him, giving an under-thrust of his -sword, striking Brown about midway the body, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>and raising him completely from the ground. -Brown fell forward, with his head between his -knees, while Green struck him several times over -the head, and, as I then supposed, split his skull -at every stroke. I was not two feet from Brown at -that time. Of course, I got out of the building -as soon as possible, and did not know till some time -later that Brown was not killed. It seems that -Green’s sword, in making the thrust, struck Brown’s -belt and did not penetrate the body. The sword -was bent double. The reason that Brown was not -killed when struck on the head was, that Green was -holding his sword in the middle, striking with the -hilt, and making only scalp wounds.”<a id='r255' /><a href='#f255' class='c014'><sup>[255]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>After the attack on the troops at the bridge, -Brown had ordered O. P. Anderson, Hazlett and -Green back to the arsenal. But Green saw the -desperate strait of Brown and chose voluntarily to -go into the engine-house and fight until the last. -Anderson and Hazlett, when they saw the door battered -in, went to the back of the arsenal, climbed -the wall and fled along the railway that goes up -the Shenandoah. Here in the cliffs they had a -skirmish with the troops but finally escaped in the -night, crossed the town and the Potomac and so -got into Maryland and went to the farm. It was -deserted and pillaged. Then they came back to -the schoolhouse and found that empty. In the -morning they heard firing and Anderson’s narrative -continues:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span>“Hazlett thought it must be Owen Brown and -his men trying to force their way into the town, as -they had been informed that a number of us had -been taken prisoners, and we started down along -the ridge to join them. When we got in sight of -the Ferry, we saw the troops firing across the river -to the Maryland side with considerable spirit. -Looking closely, we saw, to our surprise, that they -were firing upon a few of the colored men, who had -been armed the day before by our men, at the -Kennedy farm, and stationed down at the schoolhouse -by C. P. Tidd. They were in the bushes on -the edge of the mountains, dodging about, occasionally -exposing themselves to the enemy. The troops -crossed the bridge in pursuit of them, but they -retreated in different directions. Being further in -the mountains, and more secure, we could see without -personal harm befalling us. One of the colored -men came toward where we were, when we hailed -him, and inquired the particulars. He said that -one of his comrades had been shot, and was lying -on the side of the mountains; that they thought the -men who had armed them the day before must be -in the Ferry. That opinion, we told him, was not -correct. We asked him to join with us in hunting -up the rest of the party, but he declined, and went -his way.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“While we were in this part of the mountains, -some of the troops went to the schoolhouse, and -took possession of it. On our return along up the -ridge, from our position, screened by the bushes, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span>we could see them as they invested it. Our last -hope of shelter, or of meeting our companions, now -being destroyed, we concluded to make our escape -north.”<a id='r256' /><a href='#f256' class='c014'><sup>[256]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Anderson managed to get away, but Hazlett was -captured in Pennsylvania and was returned to Virginia. -Thus John Brown’s raid ended. Seven of -the men—John Brown himself, Shields Green, Edwin -Coppoc, Stevens and Copeland and eventually -Cook and Hazlett—were captured and hanged. -Watson and Oliver Brown, the two Thompsons, -Kagi, Jerry Anderson, Taylor, Newby, Leary, and -John Anderson, ten in all, were killed in the fight, -and six others—Owen Brown, Tidd, Leeman, Barclay -Coppoc, Merriam and O. Anderson escaped.</p> - -<p class='c004'>At high noon on Tuesday, October 18th, the raid -was over. John Brown lay wounded and bloodstained -on the floor and the governor of Virginia -bent over him.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Who are you?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“My name is John Brown; I have been well -known as old John Brown of Kansas. Two of my -sons were killed here to-day, and I’m dying too. I -came here to liberate slaves, and was to receive no -reward. I have acted from a sense of duty, and am -content to await my fate; but I think the crowd -have treated me badly. I am an old man. Yesterday -I could have killed whom I chose; but I had -no desire to kill any person, and would not have -killed a man had they not tried to kill me and my -<span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>men. I could have sacked and burned the town, -but did not; I have treated the persons whom I took -as hostages kindly, and I appeal to them for the -truth of what I say. If I had succeeded in running -off slaves this time, I could have raised twenty -times as many men as I have now, for a similar expedition. -But I have failed.”<a id='r257' /><a href='#f257' class='c014'><sup>[257]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER XII<br /> <span class='large'>THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; -yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised -for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; -and with His stripes we are healed.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>The deed was done. The next day the world -knew and the world sat in puzzled amazement. It -was ever so and ever will be. When a prophet like -John Brown appears, how must we of the world receive -him? Must we follow out the drear, dread -logic of surrounding facts, as did the South, even if -they crucify a clean and pure soul, simply because -consistent allegiance to our cherished, chosen ideal -demands it? If we do, the shame will brand our -latest history. Shall we hesitate and waver before -his clear white logic, now helping, now fearing to -help, now believing, now doubting? Yes, this we -must do so long as the doubt and hesitation are -genuine; but we must not lie. If we are human, we -must thus hesitate until we know the right. How -shall we know it? That is the Riddle of the Sphinx. -We are but darkened groping souls, that know not -light often because of its very blinding radiance. -Only in time is truth revealed. To-day at last we -know: John Brown was right.</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>Yet there are some great principles to guide us. -That there are in this world matters of vast human -import which are eternally right or eternally wrong, -all men believe. Whether that great right comes, -as the simpler, clearer minded think, from the -spoken word of God, or whether it is simply another -way of saying: this deed makes for the good -of mankind, or that, for the ill—however it may be, -all men know that there are in this world here and -there and again and again great partings of the -ways—the one way wrong, the other right, in some -vast and eternal sense. This certainly is true at -times—in the mighty crises of lives and nations. -On the other hand, it is also true, as human experience -again and again shows, that the usual matters -of human debate and difference of opinion are not -so vitally important, or so easily classified; that in -most cases there is much of right and wrong on both -sides and, so usual is it to find this true, that men -tend to argue it always so. Their life morality becomes -always a wavering path of expediency, not -necessarily the best or the worst path, as they freely -even smilingly admit, but a good path, a safe path, -a path of little resistance and one that leads to the -good if not to the theoretical (but usually impracticable) -best. Such philosophy of the world’s ways -is common, and probably it is well that thus it is. -And yet we all feel its temporary, tentative character; -we instinctively distrust its comfortable tone, -and listen almost fearfully for the greater voice; its -better is often so far below that which we feel is a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>possible best, that its present temporizing seems -evil to us, and ever and again after the world has -complacently dodged and compromised with, and -skilfully evaded a great evil, there shines, suddenly, -a great white light—an unwavering, unflickering -brightness, blinding by its all-seeing brilliance, -making the whole world simply a light and a darkness—a -right and a wrong. Then men tremble and -writhe and waver. They whisper, “But—but—of -course;” “the thing is plain, but it is too plain to -be true—it is true but truth is not the only thing in -the world.” Thus they hide from the light, they -burrow and grovel, and yet ever in, and through, -and on them blazes that mighty light with its horror -of darkness and behind it peals the voice—the Riddle -of the Sphinx, that must be answered.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Such a light was the soul of John Brown. He -was simple, exasperatingly simple; unlettered, plain, -and homely. No casuistry of culture or of learning, -of well-being or tradition moved him in the slightest -degree: “Slavery is wrong,” he said,—“kill it.” -Destroy it—uproot it, stem, blossom, and branch; -give it no quarter, exterminate it and do it now. -Was he wrong? No. The forcible staying of -human uplift by barriers of law, and might, and -tradition is the most wicked thing on earth. It is -wrong, eternally wrong. It is wrong, by whatever -name it is called, or in whatever guise it lurks, and -whenever it appears. But it is especially heinous, -black, and cruel when it masquerades in the robes -of law and justice and patriotism. So was American -<span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>slavery clothed in 1859, and it had to die by revolution, -not by milder means. And this men knew. -They had known it a hundred years. Yet they -shrank and trembled. From round about the white -and blinding path of this soul flew equivocations, -lies, thievings and red murders. And yet all men instinctively -felt that these things were not of the light -but of the surrounding darkness. It is at once surprising, -baffling and pitiable to see the way in which -men—honest American citizens—faced this light. -Many types met and answered the argument, John -Brown (for he did not use argument, he was himself -an argument). First there was the Western American—the -typical American, like Charles Robinson—one -to whose imagination the empire of the vale of the -Mississippi appealed with tremendous force. Then -there was the Abolitionist—shading away from him -who held slavery an incubus to him who saw its sin, -of whom Gerrit Smith was a fair type. Then there -was the lover of men, like Dr. Howe, and the merchant-errant -like Stearns. Finally, there were the -two great fateful types—the master and the slave.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To Robinson, Brown was simply a means to an -end—beyond that he was whatever prevailing public -opinion indicated. When the gratitude of Osawatomie -swelled high, Brown was fit to be named -with Jesus Christ; when the wave of Southern reaction -subjugated the nation, he was something less -than a fanatic. But whatever he was, he was the -sword on which struggling Kansas and its leaders -could depend, the untarnished doer of its darker -<span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>deeds, when they that knew them necessary cowered -and held their hands. Brown’s was not the only -hand that freed Kansas, but his hand was indispensable, -and not the first time, nor the last, has a cool -and skilful politician, like Robinson, climbed to -power on the heads of those helpers of his, whose -half-realized ideals he bartered for present possibilities—human -freedom for statehood. For the Abolitionist -of the Garrison type Brown had a contempt, -as undeserved as it was natural to his genius. To -recognize an evil and not strike it was to John Brown -sinful. “Talk, talk, talk,” he said derisively. -Nor did he rightly gauge the value of spiritual as -contrasted with physical blows, until the day when -he himself struck the greatest on the Charleston -scaffold.</p> - -<p class='c004'>But if John Brown failed rightly to gauge the -movement of the Abolitionists, few of them failed to -appreciate him when they met him. Instinctively -they knew him as one who grasped the very pith and -kernel of the evil which they fought. They asked -no proofs or credentials; they asked John Brown. -So it was with Gerrit Smith. He saw Brown and -believed in him. He entertained him at his house. -He heard his detailed plans for striking slavery a -heart blow. He gave him in all over a thousand -dollars, and bade him Godspeed! Yet when the -blow was struck, he was filled with immeasurable -consternation. He equivocated and even denied -knowledge of Brown’s plans. To be sure, he, his -family, his fortune were in the shadow of danger—but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>where was John Brown? So with Dr. Howe, -whose memory was painfully poor on the witness -stand and who fluttered from enthusiastic support of -Brown to a weak wavering when once he had tasted -the famous Southern hospitality. He found slavery, -to his own intense surprise, human: not ideally and -horribly devilish, but only humanly bad. Was a -bad human institution to be attacked <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">vi et armis</span></i>? -Or was it not rather to be met with persuasive argument -in the soft shade of a Carolina veranda? Dr. -Howe inclined to the latter thought, after his -Cuban visit, and he was exceedingly annoyed and -scared after the raid. He fled precipitately to Canada. -Of the Boston committee only Stearns stood up -and out in the public glare and said unequivocally, -then and there: “I believe John Brown to be the -representative man of this century, as Washington -was of the last—the Harper’s Ferry affair, and the -capacity shown by the Italians for self-government, -the great events of this age. One will free Europe -and the other America.”<a id='r258' /><a href='#f258' class='c014'><sup>[258]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The attitude of the black man toward John Brown -is typified by Frederick Douglass and Shields Green. -Said Douglass: “On the evening when the news -came that John Brown had taken and was then holding -the town of Harper’s Ferry, it so happened that -I was speaking to a large audience in National -Hall, Philadelphia. The announcement came upon -us with the startling effect of an earthquake. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span>It was something to make the boldest hold his -breath.”<a id='r259' /><a href='#f259' class='c014'><sup>[259]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Wise and Buchanan started immediately on -Douglass’s track and he fled to Canada and eventually -to England. Why did not Douglass join John -Brown? Because, first, he was of an entirely different -cast of temperament and mind; and because, -secondly, he knew, as only a Negro slave can know, -the tremendous might and organization of the slave -power. Brown’s plan never in the slightest degree -appealed to Douglass’s reason. That the Underground -Railroad methods could be enlarged and -systematized, Douglass believed, but any further -plan he did not think possible. Only national force -could dislodge national slavery. As it was with -Douglass, so it was practically with the Negro race. -They believed in John Brown but not in his plan. -He touched their warm loving hearts but not their -hard heads. The Canadian Negroes, for instance, -were men who knew what slavery meant. They -had suffered its degradation, its repression and its -still more fatal license. They knew the slave system. -They had been slaves. They had risked life -to help loved ones to escape its far-reaching tentacles. -They had reached a land of freedom and -had begun to taste the joy of being human. Their -little homes were clustering about—they had their -churches, lodges, social gatherings, and newspaper. -Then came the call. They loved the old -man and cherished him, helped and forwarded his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>work in a thousand little ways. But the call? -Were they asked to sacrifice themselves to free their -fellow-slaves? Were they not quite ready? No—to -do that they stood ever ready. But here they -were asked to sacrifice themselves for the sake of -possibly freeing a few slaves and certainly arousing -the nation. They saw what John Brown did not -fully realize until the last: the tremendous meaning -of sacrifice even though his enterprise failed -and they were sure it would fail. Yet in truth it -need not have failed. History and military science -prove its essential soundness. But the Negro knew -little of history and military science. He did know -slavery and the slave power, and they loomed large -and invincible in his fertile imagination. He could -not conceive their overthrow by anything short of -the direct voice of God. That a supreme sacrifice -of human beings on the altar of Moloch might hasten -the day of emancipation was possible, but were they -called to give their lives to this forlorn hope? -Most of them said no, as most of their fellows, -black and white, ever answer to the “voice, without -reply.” They said it reluctantly, slowly, even -hesitatingly, but they said it even as their leader -Douglass said it. And why not, they argued? -Was not their whole life already a sacrifice? Were -they called by any right of God or man to give -more than they already had given? What more -did they owe the world? Did not the world owe -them an unpayable amount?</p> - -<p class='c004'>Then, too, the sacrifice demanded of black men -<span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span>in this raid was far more than that demanded of -whites. In 1859 it was a crime for a free black man -even to set foot on Virginia soil, and it was slavery -or death for a fugitive to return. If worse came to -worst, the Negro stood the least chance of escape -and the least consideration on capture. Yet despite -all this and despite the terrible training of slavery -in cowardice, submission and fatality; the systematic -elimination, by death and cruelty, of -strength and self-respect and bravery, there were in -Canada and in the United States scores of Negroes -ready for the sacrifice. But the necessary secrecy, -vagueness and intangibility of the summons, the -repeated changes of date, the difficulty of communication -and the poverty of black men, all made effective -coöperation exceedingly difficult.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Even as it was, fifteen or twenty Negroes had enlisted -and would probably have been present had they -had the time. Five, probably six, actually came -in time, and thirty or forty slaves actively helped. -Considering the mass of Negroes in the land and -the character of the leader, this was an insignificant -number. But what it lacked in number it made up -in characters like Shields Green. He was a poor, -unlettered fugitive, ignorant by the law of the land, -stricken in life and homely in body. He sat and -listened as Douglass and Brown argued amid the -boulders of that old Chambersburg quarry. Some -things he understood, some he did not. But one -thing he did understand and that was the soul of -John Brown, so he said, “I guess I’ll go with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>old man.” Again in the sickening fury of that fatal -Monday, a white man and a black man found themselves -standing with freedom before them. The -white man was John Brown’s truest companion and -the black man was Shields Green. “I told him to -come,” said the white man afterward, “that we -could do nothing more,” but he simply said, “I -must go down to the old man.” And he went down -to John Brown and to death.</p> - -<p class='c004'>If this was the attitude of the slave, what was -that of the master? It was when John Brown faced -the indignant, self-satisfied and arrogant slave -power of the South, flanked by its Northern Vallandighams, -that the mighty paradox and burning farce -of the situation revealed itself. Picture the situation: -An old and blood-bespattered man, half-dead -from the wounds inflicted but a few hours before; a -man lying in the cold and dirt, without sleep for -fifty-five nerve-wrecking hours, without food for -nearly as long, with the dead bodies of two sons almost -before his eyes, the piled corpses of his seven -slain comrades near and afar, a wife and a bereaved -family listening in vain, and a Lost Cause, -the dream of a lifetime, lying dead in his heart. -Around him was a group of bitter, inquisitive -Southern aristocrats and their satellites, headed by -one of the foremost leaders of subsequent secession.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Who sent you—who sent you?” these inquisitors -insisted.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“No man sent me—I acknowledge no master in -human form!”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>“What was your object in coming?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“We came to free the slaves.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“How do you justify your acts?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“You are guilty of a great wrong against God and -humanity and it would be perfectly right for any -one to interfere with you so far as to free those you -wilfully and wickedly hold in bondage. I think I -did right; and that others will do right who interfere -with you at any time and at all times. I hold -that the Golden Rule, ‘Do unto others as ye would -that others should do unto you,’ applies to all who -would help others to gain their liberty.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“But don’t you believe in the Bible?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Certainly, I do.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Do you consider this a religious movement?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“It is in my opinion the greatest service man can -render to God.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Do you consider yourself an instrument in the -hands of Providence?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I do.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Upon what principles do you justify your acts?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Upon the Golden Rule. I pity the poor in -bondage that have none to help them. That is why -I am here; not to gratify any personal animosity, -revenge, or vindictive spirit. It is my sympathy -with the oppressed and the wronged, that are as -good as you and as precious in the sight of God.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Certainly. But why take the slaves against -their will?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I never did.”...</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Who are your advisers in this movement?”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span>“I have numerous sympathizers throughout the -entire North.... I want you to understand -that I respect the rights of the poorest and the -weakest of colored people, oppressed by the slave -system, just as much as I do those of the most -wealthy and powerful. That is the idea that -has moved me, and that alone. We expected no -reward except satisfaction of endeavoring to do for -those in distress and greatly oppressed as we would -be done by. The cry of distress of the oppressed -is my reason, and the only thing that prompted me -to come here.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Why did you do it secretly?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Because I thought that necessary to success; no -other reason.... I agree with Mr. Smith that -moral suasion is hopeless. I don’t think the people -of the slave states will ever consider the subject of -slavery in its true light till some other argument is -resorted to than moral suasion.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Did you expect a general rising of the slaves in -case of your success?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“No, sir; nor did I wish it. I expected to -gather them up from time to time, and set them -free.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Did you expect to hold possession here till then?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“You overrate your strength in supposing I could -have been taken if I had not allowed it. I was too -tardy after commencing the open attack—in delaying -my movements through Monday night, and up -to the time I was attacked by the government -troops.”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span>“Where did you get arms?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I bought them.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“In what state?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“That I will not state. I have nothing to say, only -that I claim to be here in carrying out a measure I -believe perfectly justifiable, and not to act the part of -an incendiary or ruffian, but to aid those suffering -great wrong. I wish to say, furthermore, that you -had better—all you people at the South—prepare -yourselves for a settlement of this question, that -must come up for settlement sooner than you are -prepared for it. The sooner you are prepared the -better. You may dispose of me very easily,—I am -nearly disposed of now, but this question is still to -be settled,—this Negro question, I mean; the end of -that is not yet.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Brown, suppose you had every nigger in the -United States, what would you do with them?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Set them free.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Your intention was to carry them off and free -them?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Not at all.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“To set them free would sacrifice the life of every -man in this community.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I do not think so.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I know it; I think you are fanatical.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“And I think you are fanatical. Whom the -gods would destroy they first make mad, and you -are mad.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Was it your only object to free the Negroes?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Absolutely our only object.”...</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>“You are a robber,” cried some voice in the -crowd.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“You slaveholders are robbers,” retorted Brown.</p> - -<p class='c004'>But Governor Wise interrupted: “Mr. Brown, -the silver of your hair is reddened by the blood of -crime, and you should eschew these hard words and -think upon eternity. You are suffering from -wounds, perhaps fatal; and should you escape -death from these causes, you must submit to a trial -which may involve death. Your confessions justify -the presumption that you will be found guilty; and -even now you are committing a felony under the -laws of Virginia, by uttering sentiments like these. -It is better you should turn your attention to your -eternal future than be dealing in denunciations -which can only injure you.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown replied: “Governor, I have from all -appearances not more than fifteen or twenty years -the start of you in the journey to that eternity of -which you kindly warn me; and whether my time -here shall be fifteen months, or fifteen days, or fifteen -hours, I am equally prepared to go. There is an -eternity behind and an eternity before; and this -little speck in the centre, however long, is but comparatively -a minute. The difference between your -tenure and mine is trifling, and I therefore tell you -to be prepared. I am prepared. You have a -heavy responsibility, and it behooves you to prepare -more than it does me.”<a id='r260' /><a href='#f260' class='c014'><sup>[260]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span>Thus from the day John Brown was captured to -the day he died, and after, it was the South and -slavery that was on trial—not John Brown. Indeed, -the dilemma into which John Brown’s raid -threw the state of Virginia was perfect. If his -foray was the work of a handful of fanatics, led by -a lunatic and repudiated by the slaves to a man, -then the proper procedure would have been to -ignore the incident, quietly punish the worst -offenders and either pardon the misguided leader, -or send him to an asylum. If, on the other hand, -Virginia faced a conspiracy that threatened her -social existence, aroused dangerous unrest in her -slave population, and was full of portent for the -future, then extraordinary precaution, swift and -extreme punishment, and bitter complaint were only -natural. But both these situations could not be -true—both horns of the dilemma could not be -logically seized. Yet this was precisely what the -South and Virginia sought. While insisting that -the raid was too hopelessly and ridiculously small to -accomplish anything, and saying, with Andrew -Hunter, that “not a single one of the slaves” -joined John Brown “except by coercion,” the state -nevertheless spent $250,000 to punish the invaders, -stationed from one to three thousand soldiers in the -vicinity and threw the nation into turmoil. When -the inconsistency of this action struck various -minds, the attempt was made to exaggerate the -danger of the invading white men. The presiding -judge at the trial wrote, as late as 1889, that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>number in Brown’s party was proven by witnesses -to have been seventy-five to one hundred and he -“expected large reinforcements”; while Andrew -Hunter, the state’s attorney, saw nation-wide conspiracies.</p> - -<p class='c004'>What, then, was the truth about the matter? It -was as Frederick Douglass said twenty-two years -later on the very spot: “If John Brown did not -end the war that ended slavery, he did, at least, -begin the war that ended slavery. If we look over -the dates, places, and men for which this honor is -claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia, -not Fort Sumter, but Harper’s Ferry and -the arsenal, not Major Anderson, but John Brown -began the war that ended American slavery, and -made this a free republic. Until this blow was -struck, the prospect for freedom was dim, shadowy, -and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one -of words, votes, and compromises. When John -Brown stretched forth his arm the sky was cleared,—the -armed hosts of freedom stood face to face over -the chasm of a broken Union, and the clash of arms -was at hand.”<a id='r261' /><a href='#f261' class='c014'><sup>[261]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The paths by which John Brown’s raid precipitated -civil war were these: In the first place, -he aroused the Negroes of Virginia. How far -the knowledge of his plan had penetrated is of -course only to be conjectured. Evidently few knew -that the foray would take place on October 17th. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span>But when the movement had once made a successful -start, there is no doubt that Osborne Anderson -knew whereof he spoke, when he said that slaves -were ready to coöperate. His words were proven -by the 200,000 black soldiers in the Civil War. -That something was wrong was shown, too, by five -incendiary fires in a single week after the raid. -Hunter sought to attribute these to “Northern -emissaries,” but this charge was unproven and extremely -improbable. The only other possible perpetrators -were slaves and free Negroes. That -Virginians believed this is shown by Hinton’s -declaration that the loss in 1859 by the sale of -Virginia slaves alone was $10,000,000.<a id='r262' /><a href='#f262' class='c014'><sup>[262]</sup></a> A lady -who visited John Brown said, “It was hard for me -to forget the presence of the jailer (I had that -morning seen his advertisement of ‘fifty Negroes for -sale’).”<a id='r263' /><a href='#f263' class='c014'><sup>[263]</sup></a> It is impossible to prove the extent of this -clearing-out of suspected slaves but the census reports -indicate something of it. The Negro population -of Maryland and Virginia increased a little -over four per cent. between 1850 and 1860. But in -the three counties bordering on Harper’s Ferry—Loudoun -and Jefferson in Virginia and Washington -in Maryland, the 17,647 slaves of 1850 had shrunk -to 15,996 in 1860, a decrease of nearly ten per cent. -This means a disappearance of 2,400 slaves and is -very significant.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Secondly, long before John Brown appeared at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>Harper’s Ferry, Southern leaders like Mason, the -author of the Fugitive Slave Bill, and chairman of -the Harper’s Ferry investigating committee; Jefferson -Davis, who was a member of this committee; -Wise, Hunter and other Virginians, had set their -faces toward secession as the only method of protecting -slavery. Into the mouths of these men -John Brown put a tremendous argument and a -fearful warning. The argument they used, the -warning they suppressed and hushed. The argument -was: This is Abolitionism; this is the North. -This is the kind of treatment which the South and -its cherished institution can expect unless it resorts -to extreme measures. Proceeding along these lines, -they emphasized and enlarged the raid so far as its -white participants and Northern sympathizers were -concerned. Governor Wise, on November 25th, -issued a burning manifesto for the ears of the South -and the eyes of President Buchanan, and the -majority report of the Senate Committee closed -with ominous words. On the other hand, the -warning of John Brown’s raid—the danger of -Negro insurrection, was but whispered.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Third, and this was the path that led to Civil -War and far beyond: The raid aroused and -directed the conscience of the nation. Strange it -was to watch its work. Some, impulsive, eager to -justify themselves, rushed into print. To Garrison, -the non-resistant, the sword of Gideon was abhorrent; -Beecher thundered against John Brown -and Seward bitterly traduced him. Then came -<span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>an ominous silence in the land while his voice, in -his own defense, was heard over the whole country. -A great surging throb of sympathy arose and swept -the world. That John Brown was legally a lawbreaker -and a murderer all men knew. But wider -and wider circles were beginning dimly and more -clearly to recognize that his lawlessness was in -obedience to the highest call of self-sacrifice for -the welfare of his fellow men. They began to ask -themselves, What is this cause that can inspire such -devotion? The reiteration of the simple statement -of “the brother in bonds” could not help but -attract attention. The beauty of the conception -despite its possible unearthliness and impracticability -attracted poet and philosopher and common -man.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To be sure, the nation had long been thinking -over the problem of the black man, but never before -had its attention been held by such deep dramatic -and personal interest as in the forty days from mid-October -to December, 1859. This arresting of -national attention was due to Virginia and to John -Brown:—to Virginia by reason of its exaggerated -plaint; to John Brown whose strength, simplicity -and acumen made his trial, incarceration and execution -the most powerful Abolition argument yet -offered. The very processes by which Virginia -used John Brown to “fire the Southern heart” -were used by John Brown to fire the Northern conscience. -Andrew Hunter, the prosecuting state’s -attorney, of right demanded that the trial should -<span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>be short and the punishment swift and in this John -Brown fully agreed. He had no desire to escape -the consequences of his act or to clog the wheels -of Virginia justice. After a certain moral bewilderment -there in the old engine-house at his failure on -the brink of success, the true significance of his -mission of sacrifice slowly rose before him. In the -face of proposals to rescue him he said at first -thoughtfully: “I do not know that I ought to -encourage any attempt to save my life. I am not -sure that it would not be better for me to die at -this time. I am not incapable of error, and I may -be wrong; but I think that perhaps my object -would be nearer fulfilment if I should die. I must -give it some thought.”<a id='r264' /><a href='#f264' class='c014'><sup>[264]</sup></a> And more and more this -conviction seized and thrilled him, and he began -to say decisively: “I think I cannot now better -serve the cause I love so much than to die for it; -and in my death I may do more than in my life.”<a id='r265' /><a href='#f265' class='c014'><sup>[265]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>And again: “I can trust God with both the time -and the manner of my death, believing, as I now do, -that for me at this time to seal my testimony for -God and humanity with my blood will do vastly -more toward advancing the cause I have earnestly -endeavored to promote, than all I have done in -my life before.” And then finally came that last -great hymn of utter sacrifice: “I feel astonished -that one so vile and unworthy as I am would even -be suffered to have a place anyhow or anywhere -<span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span>amongst the very least of all who when they came -to die (as all must) were permitted to pay the debt -of nature in defense of the right and of God’s -eternal and immutable truth.”<a id='r266' /><a href='#f266' class='c014'><sup>[266]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The trial was a difficult experience. Virginia -attempted to hold scales of even justice between -mob violence and the world-wide sympathy of all -good men. To defend its domestic institutions, it -must try a man for murder when that very man, -sitting as self-appointed judge of those very institutions, -had convicted them before a jury of mankind. -To defend the good name of the state, Virginia -had to restrain the violent blood vengeance -of men whose kin had been killed in the raid, -and who had sworn that no prisoner should escape -the extreme penalty. The trial was legally fair but -pressed to a conclusion in unseemly haste, and in -obedience to a threatening public opinion and a -great hovering dread. Only against this unfair -haste did John Brown protest, for he wanted the -world to understand why he had done the deed. -On the other hand, Hunter not only feared the local -mob but the slowly arising sentiment for this white-haired -crusader. He therefore pushed the proceedings -legally, but with almost brutal pertinacity. -The prisoner was arraigned while wounded -and in bed; the lawyers, hurriedly chosen, were -given scant time for consultation or preparation. -John Brown was formally committed to jail at -Charlestown, the county seat, on October 20th, had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span>a preliminary examination October 25th, and was -indicted by the grand jury October 26th, for “conspiracy -with slaves for the purpose of insurrection; -with treason against the commonwealth -of Virginia; and with murder in the first degree.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thursday, October 27th, his trial was begun. A -jury was impaneled without challenge and Brown’s -lawyers, ignoring his outline of defense, brought in -the plea of insanity. The old man arose from his -couch and said: “I look upon it as a miserable -artifice and pretext of those who ought to take a -different course in regard to me, if they took any -at all, and I view it with contempt more than -otherwise.... I am perfectly unconscious of -insanity, and I reject, so far as I am capable, any -attempts to interfere in my behalf on that score.”<a id='r267' /><a href='#f267' class='c014'><sup>[267]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>On Friday a Massachusetts lawyer arrived to help -in the trial and also privately to suggest methods of -escape. John Brown quietly refused to contemplate -any such attempt, but was glad to accept the aid of -this lawyer and two others, who were sent by John -A. Andrew and his friends. The judge curtly refused -these men any time to prepare their case, but -in spite of this it ran over until Monday when the -jury retired. Late Monday afternoon they returned. -Redpath says:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“At this moment the crowd filled all the space -from the couch inside the bar, around the prisoner, -beyond the railing in the body of the court, out -<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>through the wide hall, and beyond the doors. There -stood the anxious but perfectly silent and attentive -populace, stretching head and neck to witness the -closing scene of old Brown’s trial.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>The clerk of the court read the indictment and -asked: “Gentlemen of the jury, what say you? Is -the prisoner at the bar, John Brown, guilty or not -guilty?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Guilty,” answered the foreman.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Guilty of treason, and conspiring and advising -with slaves and others to rebel, and murder in the -first degree?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Redpath continues: “Not the slightest sound -was heard in this vast crowd as this verdict was thus -returned and read. Not the slightest expression of -elation or triumph was uttered from the hundreds -present, who, a moment before, outside the court, -joined in heaping threats and imprecations on his -head; nor was this strange silence interrupted during -the whole of the time occupied by the forms of -the court. Old Brown himself said not even a -word, but, as on any previous day, turned to adjust -his pallet, and then composedly stretched himself -upon it.”<a id='r268' /><a href='#f268' class='c014'><sup>[268]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The following Wednesday John Brown was sentenced. -Moving with painful steps and pale face, -he took his seat under the gaslight in the great -square room and remained motionless. The judge -read his decision on the points of exception and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>clerk asked: “Have you anything to say why sentence -of death should not be passed upon you?” -Then rising and leaning forward, John Brown made -that last great speech, in a voice at once gentle and -firm:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I have, may it please the court, a few words to -say.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“In the first place, I deny everything but what I -have all along admitted,—the design on my part to -free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made -a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, -when I went into Missouri and there took slaves -without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved -them through the country and finally left them in -Canada. I designed to have done the same thing -again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. -I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction -of property, or to excite or incite slaves to -rebellion, or to make insurrection.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I have another objection; and that is, it is unjust -that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered -in the manner which I admit, and which I -admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the -truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of -the witnesses who have testified in this case),—had -I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the -intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of -their friends,—either father, mother, brother, sister, -wife, or children, or any of that class,—and suffered -and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it -would have been all right; and every man in this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span>court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward -rather than punishment.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the -validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed -here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least -the New Testament. That teaches me that all -things whatsoever I would that men should do to -me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, -further, to ‘remember them that are in bonds, as -bound with them.’ I endeavored to act up to that -instruction. I say, I am yet too young to understand -that God is any respecter of persons. I believe -that to have interfered as I have done—as I -have always freely admitted I have done—in behalf -of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. -Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit -my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, -and mingle my blood further with the blood of my -children and with the blood of millions in this slave -country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, -cruel, and unjust enactments,—I submit; so let it -be done! Let me say one word further.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I -have received on my trial. Considering all the circumstances, -it has been more generous than I expected. -But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I -have stated from the first what was my intention, -and what was not. I never had any design against -the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit -treason, or excite slaves to rebel, or make any -general insurrection. I never encouraged any man -<span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that -kind.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements -made by some of those connected with me. -I hear it has been stated by some of them that I -have induced them to join me. But the contrary is -true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting -their weakness. There is not one of them -but that joined me of his own accord, and the -greater part at their own expense. A number of -them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation -with, till the day they came to me; and that -was for the purpose I have stated.</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Now I have done.”<a id='r269' /><a href='#f269' class='c014'><sup>[269]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>The day of his dying, December 2d, dawned glorious; -twenty-four hours before he had kissed his -wife good-bye, and on this morning he visited his -doomed companions—Shields Green and Copeland -first; then the wavering Cook and Coppoc and the -unmovable Stevens. At last he turned toward the -place of his hanging. Since early morning three -thousand soldiers had been marching and counter-marching -around the scaffold, which had been -erected a half mile from Charlestown, encircling it for -fifteen miles; a hush sat on the hearts of men. John -Brown rode out into the morning. “This is a beautiful -land,” he said. It was beautiful. Wide, glistening, -rolling fields flickered in the sunlight. Beyond, -the Shenandoah went rolling northward, and -still afar rose the mighty masses of the Blue Ridge, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>where Nat Turner had fought and died, where -Gabriel had looked for refuge and where John -Brown had builded his awful dream. Some say he -kissed a Negro child as he passed, but Andrew -Hunter vehemently denies it. “No Negro could -get access to him,” he says, and he is probably -right; and yet all about him as he hung there knelt -the funeral guard he prayed for when he said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“My love to all who love their neighbors. I have -asked to be spared from having any weak or hypocritical -prayers made over me when I am publicly -murdered, and that my only religious attendants be -poor little dirty, ragged, bareheaded, and barefooted -slave boys and girls, led by some gray-headed slave -mother. Farewell! Farewell!”<a id='r270' /><a href='#f270' class='c014'><sup>[270]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CHAPTER XIII<br /> <span class='large'>THE LEGACY OF JOHN BROWN</span></h2> -</div> -<p class='c013'>“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he -that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy -wine and milk without money and without price.”</p> - -<p class='c003'>“I, John Brown, am quite certain that the -crimes of this guilty land will never be purged -away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly, -flattered myself that without very much bloodshed -it might be done.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>These were the last written words of John Brown, -set down the day he died—the culminating of that -wonderful message of his forty days in prison, which -all in all made the mightiest Abolition document -that America has known. Uttered in chains and -solemnity, spoken in the very shadow of death, its dramatic -intensity after that wild and puzzling raid, its -deep earnestness as embodied in the character of the -man, did more to shake the foundations of slavery -than any single thing that ever happened in America. -Of himself he speaks simply and with satisfaction: -“I should be sixty years old were I to -live to May 9, 1860. I have enjoyed much of life -as it is, and have been remarkably prosperous, having -early learned to regard the welfare and prosperity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>of others as my own. I have never, since -I can remember, required a great amount of sleep; -so that I conclude that I have already enjoyed full -an average number of working hours with those -who reach their threescore years and ten. I have -not yet been driven to the use of glasses, but can -see to read and write quite comfortably. But more -than that, I have generally enjoyed remarkably -good health. I might go on to recount unnumbered -and unmerited blessings, among which would be -some very severe afflictions and those the most -needed blessings of all. And now, when I think -how easily I might be left to spoil all I have done -or suffered in the cause of freedom, I hardly dare -wish another voyage even if I had the opportunity.”<a id='r271' /><a href='#f271' class='c014'><sup>[271]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>After a surging, trouble-tossed voyage he is at last -at peace in body and mind. He asserts that he is -and has been in his right mind: “I may be very -insane; and I am so, if insane at all. But if that be -so, insanity is like a very pleasant dream to me. I -am not in the least degree conscious of my ravings, -of my fears, or of any terrible visions whatever; -but fancy myself entirely composed, and that my -sleep, in particular, is as sweet as that of a healthy, -joyous little infant. I pray God that He will grant -me a continuance of the same calm but delightful -dream, until I come to know of those realities which -eyes have not seen and which ears have not heard. -I have scarce realized that I am in prison or in irons -<span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span>at all. I certainly think I was never more cheerful -in my life.”<a id='r272' /><a href='#f272' class='c014'><sup>[272]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To his family he hands down the legacy of his -faith and works: “I beseech you all to live in -habitual contentment with moderate circumstances -and gains of worldly store, and earnestly to teach -this to your children and children’s children after -you, by example as well as precept.” And again: -“Be sure to remember and follow my advice, and -my example too, so far as it has been consistent -with the holy religion of Jesus Christ, in which I -remain a most firm and humble believer. Never -forget the poor, nor think anything you bestow on -them to be lost to you, even though they may be black -as Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian eunuch, who cared -for Jeremiah in the pit of the dungeon; or as black -as the one to whom Philip preached Christ. Be -sure to entertain strangers, for thereby some have.... -Remember them that are in bonds as bound -with them.”<a id='r273' /><a href='#f273' class='c014'><sup>[273]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Of his own merit and desert he is modest but -firm: “The great bulk of mankind estimate each -other’s actions and motives by the measure of success -or otherwise that attends them through life. -By that rule, I have been one of the worst and one -of the best of men. I do not claim to have been -one of the latter, and I leave it to an impartial -tribunal to decide whether the world has been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span>the worse or the better for my living and dying -in it.”<a id='r274' /><a href='#f274' class='c014'><sup>[274]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He has no sense of shame for his action: “I -feel no consciousness of guilt in that matter, nor -even mortification on account of my imprisonment -and irons; I feel perfectly sure that very soon no -member of my family will feel any possible disposition -to blush on my account.”<a id='r275' /><a href='#f275' class='c014'><sup>[275]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“I do not feel conscious of guilt in taking up -arms; and had it been in behalf of the rich and -powerful, the intelligent, the great (as men count -greatness), or those who form enactments to suit -themselves and corrupt others, or some of their -friends, that I interfered, suffered, sacrificed, and -fell, it would have been doing very well. But -enough of this. These light afflictions, which endure -for a moment, shall but work for me a far -more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”<a id='r276' /><a href='#f276' class='c014'><sup>[276]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>With desperate faith he clings to his belief in the -providence of an all-wise God: “Under all these -terrible calamities, I feel quite cheerful in the -assurance that God reigns and will overrule all for -His glory and the best possible good.”<a id='r277' /><a href='#f277' class='c014'><sup>[277]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>True is it that the night is dark and his faith at -first wavers, yet it rises ever again triumphant: -“As I believe most firmly that God reigns, I cannot -believe that anything I have done, suffered, or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>may yet suffer, will be lost to the cause of God or -of humanity. And before I began my work at -Harper’s Ferry, I felt assured that in the worst -event it would certainly pay. I often expressed -that belief; and I can now see no possible cause to -alter my mind. I am not as yet, in the main, at -all disappointed, I have been a good deal disappointed -as it regards myself in not keeping up to -my own plans; but I now feel entirely reconciled -to that, even,—for God’s plan was infinitely better, -no doubt, or I should have kept to my own.”<a id='r278' /><a href='#f278' class='c014'><sup>[278]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>He is, after all, the servant and instrument of -the Almighty: “If you do not believe I had a -murderous intention (while I know I had not), why -grieve so terribly on my account? The scaffold has -but few terrors for me. God has often covered my -head in the day of battle, and granted me many times -deliverances that were almost so miraculous that I can -scarce realize their truth; and now, when it seems -quite certain that He intends to use me in a different -way, shall I not most cheerfully go?”<a id='r279' /><a href='#f279' class='c014'><sup>[279]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“I have often passed under the rod of Him whom -I call my Father,—and certainly no son ever needed -it oftener; and yet I have enjoyed much of life, as I -was enabled to discover the secret of this somewhat -early. It has been in making the prosperity and -happiness of others my own; so that really I have -had a great deal of prosperity. I am very prosperous -<span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>still; and looking forward to a time when -‘peace on earth and good-will to men’ shall everywhere -prevail, I have no murmuring thoughts or -envious feelings to fret my mind. I’ll praise my -Maker with my breath.”<a id='r280' /><a href='#f280' class='c014'><sup>[280]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“Success is in general the standard of all merit -I have passed my time quite cheerfully; still trusting -that neither my life nor my death will prove a -total loss. As regards both, however, I am liable -to mistake. It affords me some satisfaction to feel -conscious of having at least tried to better the condition -of those who are always on the under-hill -side, and am in hopes of being able to meet the consequences -without a murmur. I am endeavoring to -get ready for another field of action, where no defeat -befalls the truly brave. That ‘God reigns,’ -and most wisely, and controls all events, might, it -would seem, reconcile those who believe it to -much that appears to be very disastrous. I am one -who has tried to believe that, and still keep trying.”<a id='r281' /><a href='#f281' class='c014'><sup>[281]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“I cannot remember a night so dark as to have -hindered the coming day, nor a storm so furious or -dreadful as to prevent the return of warm sunshine -and a cloudless sky.”<a id='r282' /><a href='#f282' class='c014'><sup>[282]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>More and more his eyes pierce the gloom and see -the vast plan for which God has used him and the -glory of his sacrifice:</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>“‘He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the -hands of the Philistines.’ This was said of a poor -erring servant many years ago; and for many years -I have felt a strong impression that God had given -me powers and faculties, unworthy as I was, that He -intended to use for a similar purpose. This most -unmerited honor He has seen fit to bestow; and -whether, like the same poor frail man to whom I -allude, my death may not be of vastly more value -than my life is, I think quite beyond all human -foresight.”<a id='r283' /><a href='#f283' class='c014'><sup>[283]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“I think I feel as happy as Paul did when he lay -in prison. He knew if they killed him, it would -greatly advance the cause of Christ; that was the -reason he rejoiced so. On that same ground ‘I do -rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.’ Let them hang me; -I forgive them, and may God forgive them, for they -know not what they do. I have no regret for the -transaction for which I am condemned. I went -against the laws of men, it is true, but ‘whether it -be right to obey God or men, judge ye.’”<a id='r284' /><a href='#f284' class='c014'><sup>[284]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“When and in what form death may come is but -of small moment. I feel just as content to die for -God’s eternal truth and for suffering humanity on -the scaffold as in any other way; and I do not say -this from disposition to ‘brave it out.’ No; I -would readily own my wrong were I in the least -convinced of it. I have now been confined over a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span>month, with a good opportunity to look the whole -thing as ‘fair in the face’ as I am capable of doing; -and I feel it most grateful that I am counted in the -least possible degree worthy to suffer for the -truth.”<a id='r285' /><a href='#f285' class='c014'><sup>[285]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“I can trust God with both the time and the -manner of my death, believing, as I now do, that -for me at this time to seal my testimony for God -and humanity with my blood will do vastly more toward -advancing the cause I have earnestly endeavored -to promote, than all I have done in my life before.”<a id='r286' /><a href='#f286' class='c014'><sup>[286]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“My whole life before had not afforded me one-half -the opportunity to plead for the right. In -this, also, I find much to reconcile me to both my -present condition and my immediate prospect.”<a id='r287' /><a href='#f287' class='c014'><sup>[287]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>Against slavery his face is set like flint: “There -are no ministers of Christ here. These ministers -who profess to be Christian, and hold slaves or advocate -slavery, I cannot abide them. My knees -will not bend in prayer with them, while their -hands are stained with the blood of souls.”<a id='r288' /><a href='#f288' class='c014'><sup>[288]</sup></a> He -said to one Southern clergyman: “I will thank you -to leave me alone; your prayers would be an abomination -to God.” To another he said, “I would -not insult God by bowing down in prayer with any -one who had the blood of the slave on his skirts.”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>And to a third who argued in favor of slavery as -“a Christian institution,” John Brown replied impatiently: -“My dear sir, you know nothing about -Christianity; you will have to learn its A, B, C; I -find you quite ignorant of what the word Christianity -means.... I respect you as a gentleman, -of course; but it is as a heathen gentleman.”<a id='r289' /><a href='#f289' class='c014'><sup>[289]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>To his children he wrote: “Be determined to -know by experience, as soon as may be, whether -Bible instruction is of divine origin or not. Be -sure to owe no man anything, but to love one another. -John Rogers wrote his children, ‘Abhor -that arrant whore of Rome.’ John Brown writes to -his children to abhor, with undying hatred also, -that sum of all villanies,—slavery.”<a id='r290' /><a href='#f290' class='c014'><sup>[290]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>And finally he rejoiced: “Men cannot imprison, -or chain, or hang the soul. I go joyfully in behalf -of millions that ‘have no rights’ that this great and -glorious, this Christian republic ‘is bound to respect.’ -Strange change in morals, political as well -as Christian, since 1776.”<a id='r291' /><a href='#f291' class='c014'><sup>[291]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>“No formal will can be of use,” he wrote on his -doomsday, “when my expressed wishes are made -known to my dutiful and beloved family.”<a id='r292' /><a href='#f292' class='c014'><sup>[292]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This was the man. His family is the world. -What legacy did he leave? It was soon seen that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>his voice was a call to the great final battle with -slavery.</p> - -<p class='c004'>In the spring of 1861 the Boston Light Infantry -was sent to Fort Warren in Boston harbor to drill. -A quartette was formed among the soldiers to sing -patriotic songs and for them was contrived the -verses,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c015'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave,</div> - <div class='line in6'>His soul is marching on,” etc.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>This was set to the music of an old camp-meeting tune—possibly -of Negro origin—called, “Say, Brother, -Will You Meet Us?” The regiment learned it and -first sang it publicly when it came up from Fort -Warren and marched past the scene where Crispus -Attucks fell. Gilmore’s Band learned and played -it and thus “the song of John Brown was started -on its eternal way!”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Was John Brown simply an episode, or was he -an eternal truth? And if a truth, how speaks -that truth to-day? John Brown loved his neighbor -as himself. He could not endure therefore -to see his neighbor, poor, unfortunate or oppressed. -This natural sympathy was strengthened -by a saturation in Hebrew religion which stressed -the personal responsibility of every human soul to -a just God. To this religion of equality and sympathy -with misfortune, was added the strong influence -of the social doctrines of the French Revolution -with its emphasis on freedom and power in political -<span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span>life. And on all this was built John Brown’s -own inchoate but growing belief in a more just and -a more equal distribution of property. From this -he concluded,—and acted on that conclusion—that -all men are created free and equal, and that the -cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Up to the time of John Brown’s death this doctrine -was a growing, conquering, social thing. Since -then there has come a change and many would rightly -find reason for that change in the coincidence that -the year in which John Brown suffered martyrdom -was the year that first published the <cite>Origin -of Species</cite>. Since that day tremendous scientific -and economic advance has been accompanied by -distinct signs of moral retrogression in social philosophy. -Strong arguments have been made for the -fostering of war, the utility of human degradation -and disease, and the inevitable and known inferiority -of certain classes and races of men. While -such arguments have not stopped the efforts of the -advocates of peace, the workers for social uplift and -the believers in human brotherhood, they have, it -must be confessed, made their voices falter and -tinged their arguments with apology.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Why is this? It is because the splendid scientific -work of Darwin, Weissman, Galton and others has -been widely interpreted as meaning that there is -essential and inevitable inequality among men and -races of men, which no philanthropy can or ought -to eliminate; that civilization is a struggle for -existence whereby the weaker nations and individuals -<span class='pageno' id='Page_376'>376</span>will gradually succumb, and the strong will -inherit the earth. With this interpretation has -gone the silent assumption that the white European -stock represents the strong surviving peoples, and -that the swarthy, yellow and black peoples are the -ones rightly doomed to eventual extinction.</p> - -<p class='c004'>One can easily see what influence such a doctrine -would have on the race problem in America. It -meant moral revolution in the attitude of the -nation. Those that stepped into the pathway -marked by men like John Brown faltered and -large numbers turned back. They said: He was -a good man—even great, but he has no message for -us to-day—he was a “belated Covenanter,” an -anachronism in the age of Darwin, one who gave his -life to lift not the unlifted but the unliftable. We -have consequently the present reaction—a reaction -which says in effect, Keep these black people in -their places, and do not attempt to treat a Negro -simply as a white man with a black face; to do -this would mean the moral deterioration of the race -and the nation—a fate against which a divine racial -prejudice is successfully fighting. This is the -attitude of the larger portion of our thinking -people.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It is not, however, an attitude that has brought -mental rest or social peace. On the contrary, it is -to-day involving a degree of moral strain and -political and social anomaly that gives the wisest -pause. The chief difficulty has been that the -natural place in which by scientific law the black -<span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>race in America should stay, cannot easily be -determined. To be sure, the freedmen did not, as -the philanthropists of the sixties apparently expected, -step in forty years from slavery to nineteenth -century civilization. Neither, on the other hand, -did they, as the ex-masters confidently predicted, -retrograde and die. Contrary to both these views, -they chose a third and apparently quite unawaited -way. From the great, sluggish, almost imperceptibly -moving mass, they sent off larger and -larger numbers of faithful workmen and artisans, -some merchants and professional men, and even men -of educational ability and discernment. They developed -no world geniuses, no millionaires, no -great captains of industry, no artists of the first -rank; but they did in forty years get rid of the -greater part of their total illiteracy, accumulate a -half-billion dollars of property in small homesteads, -and gain now and then respectful attention in the -world’s ears and eyes. It has been argued that -this progress of the black man in America is due -to the exceptional men among them and does not -measure the ability of the mass. Such an admission is, -however, fatal to the whole argument. If -the doomed races of men are going to develop exceptions -to the rule of inferiority, then no rule, -scientific or moral, should or can proscribe the race -as such.</p> - -<p class='c004'>To meet this difficulty in racial philosophy, a -step has been taken in America fraught with the -gravest social consequences to the world, and threatening -<span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>not simply the political but the moral integrity -of the nation: that step is denying in the case -of black men the validity of those evidences of culture, -ability, and decency which are accepted unquestionably -in the ease of other people; and by -vague assertions, unprovable assumptions, unjust -emphasis, and now and then by deliberate untruth, -aiming to secure not only the continued proscription -of all these people, but, by caste distinction, to shut -in the faces of their rising classes many of the paths -to further advance.</p> - -<p class='c004'>When a social policy, based on a supposed scientific -sanction, leads to such a moral anomaly, it is -time to examine rather carefully the logical foundations -of the argument. And as soon as we do -this many things are clear: first, assuming the -truth of the unproved dictum that there are stocks -of human beings whose elimination the best welfare -of the world demands it is certainly questionable -if these stocks include the majority of mankind; -and it is indefensible and monstrous to pretend -that we know to-day with any reasonable -assurance which these stocks are. We can point to -degenerate individuals and families here and there -among all races, but there is not the slightest warrant -for assuming that there does not lie among the -Chinese and Hindus, the African Bantus and -American Indians as lofty possibilities of human -culture as any European race has ever exhibited. -It is, to be sure, puzzling to know why the Soudan -should linger a thousand years in culture behind the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>valley of the Seine, but it is no more puzzling than -the fact that the valley of the Thames was miserably -backward as compared with the banks of the Tiber. -Climate, human contact, facilities of communication -and what we call accident, have played a -great part in the rise of culture among nations: to -ignore these and assert dogmatically that the present -distribution of culture is a fair index of the -distribution of human ability and desert, is to make -an assertion for which there is not the slightest -scientific warrant.</p> - -<p class='c004'>What the age of Darwin has done is to add to -the eighteenth century idea of individual worth the -complementary idea of physical immortality. And -this, far from annulling or contracting the idea of -human freedom, rather emphasizes its necessity -and eternal possibility—the boundlessness and endlessness -of human achievement. Freedom has come -to mean not individual caprice or aberration, but -social self-realization in an endless chain of selves; -and freedom for such development is not the denial -but the central assertion of the evolutionary theory. -So, too, the doctrine of human equality passes -through the fire of scientific inquiry, not obliterated -but transfigured: not equality of present -attainment but equality of opportunity, for unbounded -future attainment is the rightful demand -of mankind.</p> - -<p class='c004'>What now does the present hegemony of the -white races threaten? It threatens by means of -brute force a survival of some of the worst stocks of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span>mankind. It attempts to people the best parts of the -earth and put in absolute authority over the rest, -not usually (and indeed not mainly) the culture -of Europe but its greed and degradation—not only -some representatives of the best stocks of the West -End of London, upper New York and the Champs -Elysées, but also, in as large if not larger numbers, -the worst stocks of Whitechapel, the East Side and -Montmartre; and it essays to make the slums of white -society in all cases and under all circumstances the -superior of any colored group, no matter what its ability -or culture. To be sure, this outrageous program -of wholesale human degeneration is not outspoken -yet, save in the backward civilizations of the Southern -United States, South Africa and Australia. -But its enunciation is listened to with respect and -tolerance in England, Germany, and the Northern -states by those very persons who accuse philanthropy -with seeking to degrade holy white blood by -an infiltration of colored strains. And the average -citizen is voting ships and guns to carry out this -program.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This movement gathered force and strength; -during the latter half of the nineteenth century and -reached its culmination when France, Germany, -England and Russia began the partition of China -and the East. With the sudden self-assertion of -Japan, its wildest dreams collapsed, but it is still -to-day a living, virile, potent force and motive, -the most subtle and dangerous enemy of world -peace and the dream of human brotherhood. It -<span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>has a whole vocabulary of its own: the strong -races, superior peoples, race preservation, the -struggle for survival and a variety of terms meaning -the right of white men of any kind to beat -blacks into submission, make them surrender their -wealth and the use of their women and submit to -dictation without murmur, for the sake of being -swept off the fairest portions of the earth or held -there in perpetual serfdom or guardianship. Ignoring -the fact that the era of physical struggle for -survival has passed away among human beings, and -that there is plenty of room accessible on earth for -all, this theory makes the possession of Krupp guns -the main criterion of mental stamina and moral fitness.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Even armed with this morality of the club, and -every advantage of modern culture, the white races -have been unable to possess the earth. Many signs -of degeneracy have appeared among them: their -birth-rate is falling, their average ability is not increasing, -their physical stamina is impaired, and -their social condition is not reassuring. Lacking -the physical ability to take possession of the world, -they are to-day fencing in America, Australia, and -South Africa and declaring that no dark race shall -occupy or develop the land which they themselves -are unable to use. And all this on the plea that -their stock is threatened with deterioration from -without, when in reality its most dangerous threat is -deterioration from within.</p> - -<p class='c004'>We are, in fact, to-day repeating in our intercourse -<span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span>between races all the former evils of class -distinction within the nation: personal hatred and -abuse, mutual injustice, unequal taxation and rigid -caste. Individual nations outgrew these fatal things -by breaking down the horizontal barriers between -classes. We are bringing them back by seeking to -erect vertical barriers between races. Men were -told that abolition of compulsory class distinction -meant leveling down, degradation, disappearance of -culture and genius and the triumph of the mob. -As a matter of fact, it has been the salvation of -European civilization. Some deterioration and -leveling there was but it was more than balanced -by the discovery of new reservoirs of ability and -strength. So to-day we are told that free racial -contact—or “social equality” as Southern <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">patois</span></i> -has it—means contamination of blood and lowering -of ability and culture. It need mean nothing of the -sort. Abolition of class distinction did not mean -universal intermarriage of stocks, but rather the -survival of the fittest by peaceful, personal and -social selection—a selection all the more effective because -free democracy and equality of opportunity -allow the best to rise to their rightful place. The -same is true in racial contact. Vertical race distinctions -are even more emphatic hindrances to -human evolution than horizontal class distinctions, -and their tearing away involves fewer chances of -degradation and greater opportunities of human -betterment than in case of class lines. On the -other hand, persistence in racial distinction spells -<span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span>disaster sooner or later. The earth is growing -smaller and more accessible. Race contact will -become in the future increasingly inevitable not -only in America, Asia, and Africa but even in -Europe. The color line will mean not simply a return -to the absurdities of class as exhibited in the -sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but even to the -caste of ancient days. This, however, the Japanese, -the Chinese, the East Indians and the Negroes are -going to resent in just such proportion as they gain -the power; and they are gaining the power, and -they cannot be kept from gaining more power. -The price of repression will then be hypocrisy and -slavery and blood.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This is the situation to-day. Has John Brown no -message—no legacy, then, to the twentieth century? -He has and it is this great word: the cost of liberty -is less than the price of repression. The price of -repressing the world’s darker races is shown in a -moral retrogression and an economic waste unparalleled -since the age of the African slave trade. -What would be the cost of liberty? What would be -the cost of giving the great stocks of mankind every -reasonable help and incentive to self-development—opening -the avenues of opportunity freely, spreading -knowledge, suppressing war and cheating, and -treating men and women as equals the world over -whenever and wherever they attain equality? It -would cost something. It would cost something in -pride and prejudice, for eventually many a white -man would be blacking black men’s boots; but this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>cost we may ignore—its greatest cost would be the -new problems of racial intercourse and intermarriage -which would come to the front. Freedom and -equal opportunity in this respect would inevitably -bring some intermarriage of whites and yellows -and browns and blacks. This might be a good -thing and it might not be. We do not know. Our -belief on the matter may be strong and even frantic, -but it has no adequate scientific foundation. If -such marriages are proven inadvisable, how could -they be stopped? Easily. We associate with cats -and cows, but we do not fear intermarriage with -them, even though they be given all freedom of -development. So, too, intelligent human beings -can be trained to breed intelligently without the -degradation of such of their fellows as they may not -wish to breed with. In the Southern United States, -on the contrary, it is assumed that unwise marriages -can be stopped only by the degradation of the blacks—the -classing of all darker women with prostitutes, -the loading of a whole race with every badge of -public isolation, degradation and contempt, and by -burning offenders at the stake. Is this civilization? -No. The civilized method of preventing ill-advised -marriage lies in the training of mankind in the -ethics of sex and child-bearing. We cannot ensure -the survival of the best blood by the public murder -and degradation of unworthy suitors, but we can -substitute a civilized human selection of husbands -and wives which shall ensure the survival of the -fittest. Not the methods of the jungle, not even -<span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>the careless choices of the drawing-room, but the -thoughtful selection of the schools and laboratory is -the ideal of future marriage. This will cost something -in ingenuity, self-control and toleration, but -it will cost less than forcible repression.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Not only is the cost of repression to-day large—it -is a continually increasing cost: the procuring of -coolie labor, the ruling of India, the exploitation of -Africa, the problem of the unemployed, and the -curbing of the corporations, are a tremendous drain -on modern society with no near end in sight. The -cost is not merely in wealth but in social progress -and spiritual strength, and it tends ever to explosion, -murder, and war. All these things but increase the -difficulty of beginning a régime of freedom in human -growth and development—they raise the cost of liberty. -Not only that but the very explosions, like the -Russo-Japanese War, which bring partial freedom, -tend in the complacent current philosophy to prove -the Wisdom of repression. “Blood will tell,” men -say. “The fit will survive; step up the tea-kettle -and eventually the steam will burst the iron,” and -therefore only the steam that bursts is worth the -generating; only organized murder proves the fitness -of a people for liberty. This is a fearful and dangerous -doctrine. It encourages wrong leadership and -perverted ideals at the very time when loftiest and -most unselfish striving is called for—as witness Japan -after her emancipation, or America after the Civil -War. Conversely, it leads the shallow and unthinking -to brand as demagogue and radical every group -<span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>leader who in the day of slavery and struggle cries -out for freedom.</p> - -<p class='c004'>For such reasons it is that the memory of John -Brown stands to-day as a mighty warning to his -country. He saw, he felt in his soul the wrong -and danger of that most daring and insolent system -of human repression known as American slavery. -He knew that in 1700 it would have cost something -to overthrow slavery and establish liberty; and that -by reason of cowardice and blindness the cost in -1800 was vastly larger but still not unpayable. He -felt that by 1900 no human hand could pluck the -vampire from the body of the land without doing -the nation to death. He said, in 1859, “Now is the -accepted time.” Now is the day to strike for a free -nation. It will cost something—even blood and -suffering, but it will not cost as much as waiting. -And he was right. Repression bred repression—serfdom -bred slavery, until in 1861 the South was -farther from freedom than in 1800.</p> - -<p class='c004'>The edict of 1863 was the first step in emancipation -and its cost in blood and treasure was staggering. -But that was not all—it was only a first step. -There were other bills to pay of material reconstruction, -social regeneration, mental training and -moral uplift. These the nation started to meet in -the Fifteenth Amendment, the Freedman’s Bureau, -the crusade of school-teachers and the Civil Rights -Bill. But the effort was great and the determination -of the South to pay no single cent or deed for -past error save by force, led in the revolution of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_387'>387</span>1876 to the triumph of reaction. Reaction meant -and means a policy of state, society and individual, -whereby no American of Negro blood shall ever -come into the full freedom of modern culture. In -the carrying out of this program by certain groups -and sections, no pains have been spared—no expenditure -of money, ingenuity, physical or moral -strength. The building of barriers around these -black men has been pushed with an energy so desperate -and unflagging that it has seriously checked -the great outpouring of benevolence and sympathy -that greeted the freedman in 1863. It has come so -swathed and gowned in graciousness as to disarm -philanthropy and chill enthusiasm. It has used -double-tongued argument with deadly effect. Has -the Negro advanced? Beware his further strides. -Has the Negro retrograded? It is his fate, why -seek to help him? Thus has the spirit of repression -gained attention, complacent acquiescence, and even -coöperation. To be sure, there still stand staunch -souls who cannot yet believe the doctrine of human -repression, and who pour out their wealth for Negro -training and freedom in the face of the common cry. -But the majority of Americans seem to have forgotten -the foundation principles of their government -and the recklessly destructive effect of the blows -meant to bind and tether their fellows. We have -come to see a day here in America when one citizen -can deprive another of his vote at his discretion; -can restrict the education of his neighbors’ children -as he sees fit; can with impunity load his neighbor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_388'>388</span>with public insult on the king’s highway; can deprive -him of his property without due process of -law; can deny him the right of trial by his peers, -or of any trial whatsoever if he can get a large -enough group of men to join him; can refuse to -protect or safeguard the integrity of the family of -some men whom he dislikes; finally, can not only -close the door of opportunity in commercial and -social lines in a fully competent neighbor’s face, but -can actually count on the national and state governments -to help and make effective this discrimination.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Such a state of affairs is not simply disgraceful; -it is deeply and increasingly dangerous. Not only -does the whole nation feel already the loosening of -joints which these vicious blows on human liberty -have caused—lynching, lawlessness, lying and -stealing, bribery and divorce—but it can look for -darker deeds to come.</p> - -<p class='c004'>And this not merely because of the positive harm -of this upbuilding of barriers, but above all because -within these bursting barriers are men—human -forces which no human hand can hold. It is -human force and aspiration and endeavor which -are moving there amid the creaking of timbers and -writhing of souls. It is human force that has -already done in a generation the work of many -centuries. It has saved over a half-billion dollars -in property, bought and paid for landed estate half -the size of all England, and put homes thereon as -good and as pure as the homes of any corresponding -<span class='pageno' id='Page_389'>389</span>economic class the world around; it has -crowded eager children through a wretched and -half-furnished school system until from an illiteracy -of seventy per cent., two-thirds of the living adults -can read and write. These proscribed millions have -50,000 professional men, 200,000 men in trade and -transportation, 275,000 artisans and mechanics, -1,250,000 servants and 2,000,000 farmers working -with the nation to earn its daily bread. These -farmers raise yearly on their own and hired farms -over 4,000,000 bales of cotton, 25,000,000 pounds -of rice, 10,000,000 bushels of potatoes, 90,000,000 -pounds of tobacco and 100,000,000 bushels of -corn, besides that for which they labor on the -farms of others. They have given America -music, inspired art and literature, made its bread, -dug its ditches, fought its battles, and suffered in -its misfortunes. The great mass of these men is -becoming daily more thoroughly organized, more -deeply self-critical, more conscious of its power. -Threatened though it has been naturally, as a -proletariat, with degeneration and disease, it is to-day -reducing its death-rate and beginning organized -rescue of its delinquents and defectives. The mass -can still to-day be called ignorant, poor and but -moderately efficient, but it is daily growing better -trained, richer and more intelligent. And as it -grows it is sensing more and more the vantage-ground -which it holds as a defender of the right of -the freedom of human development for black -men in the midst of a centre of modern culture. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_390'>390</span>It sees its brothers in yellow, black and brown held -physically at arms’ length from civilization lest they -become civilized and less liable to conquest and exploitation. -It sees the world-wide effort to build -an aristocracy of races and nations on a foundation -of darker half-enslaved and tributary peoples. It -knows that the last great battle of the West is to -vindicate the right of any man of any nation, race, -or color to share in the world’s goods and thoughts -and efforts to the extent of his effort and ability.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Thus to-day the Negro American faces his -destiny and doggedly strives to realize it. He has -his tempters and temptations. There are ever -those about him whispering: “You are nobody; -why strive to be somebody? The odds are overwhelming -against you—wealth, tradition, learning -and guns. Be reasonable. Accept the dole of -charity and the cant of missionaries and sink contentedly -to your place as humble servants and -helpers of the white world.” If this has not been -effective, threats have been used: “If you continue -to complain, we will withdraw all aid, boycott -your labor, cease to help support your schools -and let you die and disappear from the land in -ignorance, crime and disease.” Still the black -man has pushed on, has continued to protest, has refused -to die out and disappear, and to-day stands as -physically the most virile element in America, intellectually -among the most promising, and morally -the most tremendous and insistent of the social -problems of the New World. Not even the silence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_391'>391</span>of his friends, or of those who ought to be the -friends of struggling humanity, has silenced him. -Not even the wealth of modern Golconda has induced -him to believe that life without liberty is -worth living.</p> - -<p class='c004'>On the other side heart-searching is in order. It -is not well with this land of ours: poverty is certainly -not growing less, wealth is being wantonly -wasted, business honesty is far too rare, family -integrity is threatened, bribery is poisoning our -public life, theft is honeycombing our private business, -and voting is largely unintelligent. Not that -these evils are unopposed. There are brave men and -women striving for social betterment, for the curbing -of the vicious power of wealth, for the uplift of -women and the downfall of thieves. But their battle -is hard, and how much harder because of the -race problem—because of the calloused conscience -of caste, the peonage of black labor hands, the insulting -of black women, and the stealing of black -votes? How far are business dishonesty and civic -degradation in America the direct result of racial -prejudice?</p> - -<p class='c004'>Well do I know that many persons defend their -treatment of undeveloped peoples on the highest -grounds. They say, as Jefferson Davis intimated, -that liberty is for the full-grown, not for children. -It was during Senator Mason’s inquisition after the -hanging of John Brown, whereby the Southern -leader hoped to entrap the Abolitionists. Joshua -R. Giddings, keen, impetuous and fiery, was on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_392'>392</span>rack. Senator Davis, pale, sallow and imperturbable, -with all the aristocratic poise and dignity -built on the unpaid toil of two centuries of slaves, -said:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“Did you, in inculcating, by popular lectures, -the doctrine of a law higher than that of the social -compact, make your application exclusively to Negro -slaves, or did you also include minors, convicts, -and lunatics, who might be restrained of their liberty -by the laws of the land?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>Mr. Giddings smiled. “Permit me,” he said, -“... with all due deference, to suggest, so -that I may understand you, do you intend to inquire -whether those lectures would indicate whether your -slaves of the slave states had a right at all times to -their liberty?”</p> - -<p class='c004'>“I will put the question in that form if you like -it,” answered Davis, and then Giddings flashed:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“My lectures, in all instances, would indicate the -right of every human soul in the enjoyment of reason, -while he is charged with no crime or offense, -to maintain his life, his liberty, the pursuit of his -own happiness; that this has reference to the enslaved -of all the states as much as it had reference -to our own people while enslaved by the Algerines -in Africa.”</p> - -<p class='c004'>But Mr. Davis suavely pressed his point: “Then -the next question is, whether the same right was -asserted for minors and apprentices, being men in -good reason, yet restrained of their liberty by the -laws of the land.”</p> - -<p class='c004'><span class='pageno' id='Page_393'>393</span>Giddings replied: “I will answer at once that -the proposition or comparison is conflicting with -the dictates of truth. The minor is, from the law -of nature, under the restraints of parental affection -for the purposes of nurture, of education, of preparing -him to secure and maintain the very rights to -which I refer.”<a id='r293' /><a href='#f293' class='c014'><sup>[293]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c004'>This debate is not yet closed. It was not closed -by the Civil War. Men still maintain that East -Indians and Africans and others ought to be under -the restraint and benevolent tutelage of stronger -and wiser nations for their own benefit. Well and -good. Is the tutelage really benevolent? Then it -is training in liberty. Is it training in slavery? -Then it is not benevolent. Liberty trains for liberty. -Responsibility is the first step in responsibility.</p> - -<p class='c004'>Even the restraints imposed in the training of -men and children are restraints that will in the end -make greater freedom possible. Is the benevolent -expansion of to-day of such a character? Is England -trying to see how soon and how effectively the -Indians can be trained for self-government or is she -willing to exploit them just so long as they can be -cajoled or quieted into submission? Is Germany -trying to train her Africans to modern citizenship -or to modern “work without complaint”? Is the -South trying to make the Negroes responsible, self-reliant -<span class='pageno' id='Page_394'>394</span>freemen of a republic, or the dumb driven -cattle of a great industrial machine?</p> - -<p class='c004'>No sooner is the question put this way than the -defenders of modern caste retire behind a more defensible -breastwork. They say: “Yes, we exploit -nations for our own advantage purposely—even at -times brutally. But only in that way can the high -efficiency of the modern industrial process be maintained, -and in the long run it benefits the oppressed -even more than the oppressor.” This doctrine is as -wide-spread as it is false and mischievous. It is -true that the bribe of greed will artificially hasten -economic development, but it does so at fearful -cost, as America itself can testify. We have here a -wonderful industrial machine, but a machine -quickly rather than carefully built, formed of forcing -rather than of growth, involving sinful and unnecessary -expense. Better smaller production and -more equitable distribution; better fewer miles of -railway and more honor, truth, and liberty; better -fewer millionaires and more contentment. So it is -the world over, where force and fraud and graft -have extorted rich reward from writhing millions. -Moreover, it is historically unprovable that the advance -of undeveloped peoples has been helped by -wholesale exploitation at the hands of their richer, -stronger, and more unscrupulous neighbors. This -idea is a legend of the long exploded doctrine of inevitable -economic harmonies in all business life. -True it is that adversity and difficulties make for -character, but the real and inevitable difficulties of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_395'>395</span>life are numerous enough for genuine development -without the aid of artificial hindrances. The inherent -and natural difficulties of raising a people from -ignorant unmoral slavishness to self-reliant modern -manhood are great enough for purposes of character-building -without the aid of murder, theft, caste, and -degradation. Not because of but in spite of these -latter hindrances has the Negro American pressed -forward.</p> - -<p class='c004'>This, then, is the truth: the cost of liberty is less -than the price of repression, even though that cost -be blood. Freedom of development and equality of -opportunity is the demand of Darwinism and this -calls for the abolition of hard and fast lines between -races, just as it called for the breaking down of barriers -between classes. Only in this way can the -best in humanity be discovered and conserved, and -only thus can mankind live in peace and progress. -The present attempt to force all whites above all -darker peoples is a sure method of human degeneration. -The cost of liberty is thus a decreasing cost, -while the cost of repression ever tends to increase -to the danger point of war and revolution. Revolution -is not a test of capacity; it is always a loss -and a lowering of ideals.</p> - -<p class='c004'>John Brown taught us that the cheapest price to -pay for liberty is its cost to-day. The building of -barriers against the advance of Negro-Americans -hinders but in the end cannot altogether stop their -progress. The excuse of benevolent tutelage cannot -be urged, for that tutelage is not benevolent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_396'>396</span>that does not prepare for free responsible manhood. -Nor can the efficiency of greed as an economic -developer be proven—it may hasten development -but it does so at the expense of solidity of structure, -smoothness of motion, and real efficiency. Nor does -selfish exploitation help the undeveloped; rather it -hinders and weakens them.</p> - -<p class='c004'>It is now full fifty years since this white-haired -old man lay weltering in the blood which he -spilled for broken and despised humanity. Let the -nation which he loved and the South to which he -spoke, reverently listen again to-day to those words, -as prophetic now as then:</p> - -<p class='c004'>“You had better—all you people of the South—prepare -yourselves for a settlement of this question. -It must come up for settlement sooner than you are -prepared for it, and the sooner you commence -that preparation, the better for you. You may -dispose of me very easily—I am nearly disposed -of now; but this question is still to be settled—this -Negro question, I mean. The end of that is -not yet.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_397'>397</span> - <h2 class='c008'>BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c013'><em>For the general reader the following works are indispensable</em>:</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin.</span> The Life and Letters of -John Brown, Liberator of Kansas, and Martyr of -Virginia. 1885. (The most complete collection of -John Brown letters.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Hinton, Richard Josiah.</span> John Brown and His Men, with -some account of the roads they traveled to reach -Harper’s Ferry. 1894. (Valuable for its treatment -of Kansas and its lives of Brown’s companions.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Redpath, James.</span> Public Life of Captain John Brown, with -autobiography of his childhood and youth. (The -best contemporary account.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Connelley, William Elsey.</span> John Brown. 1900, (Valuable -for Kansas life of Brown.)</p> - -<p class='c020'>To the above may be added the shorter estimate -by H. E. von Holst, 1899, and some may like -Chamberlain’s pert essay (Beacon Biographies, -1889).</p> - -<p class='c003'><em>Students must add to these the following books and articles -which contain many of the original sources of our knowledge</em>:</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Anderson, Osborne P.</span> A Voice from Harper’s Ferry. A -narrative of events at Harper’s Ferry; with incidents -prior and subsequent to its capture by John -Brown and his men. 1861. (The best account -of the raid by a participant.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Manuscript Diary</span> of John Brown in the Boston Public -Library. (2 volumes.) 1838–1844, 1855–1859.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Garrison, Wendell Phillips.</span> The Preludes of Harper’s -Ferry. In the <cite>Andover Review</cite>, December, 1890, -and January, 1891.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_398'>398</span><span class='sc'>Josephus, Jr.</span> (Joseph Barry). The Brown Raid. In his -annals of Harper’s Ferry, 1872. (Excellent local -account.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>United States Congressional Reports.</span> Report of the -select committee of the Senate appointed to -inquire into John Brown’s invasion and the -seizure of the public property at Harper’s -Ferry. Thirty-sixth Congress, first session. -Senate Reports of Committees.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Transactions</span> of the Kansas State Historical Society, together -with addresses, etc., Volumes I-IX. (Contains -many personal narratives.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Calendar</span> of Virginia State papers, Volume XI, pp. 269–349. -(A large amount of the Brown data copied from the -papers found in his carpetbag at Harper’s Ferry.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Virginia Senate</span> Journal and Documents for the session of -1859–60: Report of the joint committee of the -Senate and House of Delegates, appointed to consider -the Harper’s Ferry affair by Alexander H. -Stuart, the chairman of the committee.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Virginia</span>, Journal of House of Delegates of Virginia, 1859–60, -containing messages of the governor, the trial and -publication of John Brown’s papers.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Featherstonhaugh, Thomas.</span> Bibliography of John Brown, -Part I. Publications of the Southern -History Association, Volume I, pp. 196–202.</p> - -<p class='c020'>—— John Brown’s Men; the lives of those -killed at Harper’s Ferry, with a supplementary -bibliography of John Brown. -In Southern History Association publications. -Volume 3, pp. 281–306. (The -best bibliography.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Douglass, Frederick.</span> John Brown, an address at the fourteenth -anniversary of Storer College, 1881.</p> - -<p class='c020'>—— Life and Times of. 1892.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Redpath, James.</span> Echoes of Harper’s Ferry. 1860.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_399'>399</span><span class='sc'>Hunter, Andrew.</span> John Brown’s Raid. In Southern -History Association publications. Volume I, pp. -165–195. 1897. (The story of the prosecuting -attorney.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Higginson, Thomas Wentworth.</span> A Visit to John Brown’s -Household in 1859. (In “Contemporaries,” 1899.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Wright, Harry A.</span> John Brown in Springfield. <cite>New England -Magazine</cite>, pp. 272–281.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Webb, Richard D.</span>, Editor. The Life and Letters of Captain -John Brown, who was executed at Charlestown, Va, -December 2, 1859, for an armed attack upon American -slavery; with notices of some of his confederates. 1861.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Boteler, Alexander L.</span> Recollections of the John Brown -Raid. <cite>Century.</cite> July, 1883. Comment by F. B. -Sanborn.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Daingerfield, John E. P.</span> John Brown at Harper’s Ferry. -<cite>Century.</cite> June. 1885, pp. 265–267. (The -story of an engine-house prisoner.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Voorhees, Daniel W.</span> Argument delivered at Charleston, -Va., November 8, 1859, upon the trial of John E. -Cook. Richmond, Va., 1861.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Hamilton, James Cleland.</span> John Brown in Canada. Illustrated. -Republished from <cite>Canadian Magazine</cite>, -December, 1894.</p> - -<p class='c005'><em>The purely controversial literature raging around John Brown is -endless. Those interested might read</em>:</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Utter, David N.</span> John Brown of Osawatomie. <cite>North -American Review</cite>, November, 1883.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Nicolay, John G.</span> and <span class='sc'>Hay, John</span>. Abraham Lincoln, a -history. 1890. (Volume two contains history of -John Brown and Harper’s Ferry Raid.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Robinson, Charles.</span> The Kansas Conflict. 1892.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Brown, George Washington</span>, M. D. False claims of -Kansas historians truthfully corrected. Principally -a refutation of the claim that the rescue of Kansas -from slavery was due to John Brown. Rockford, Ill. -The author. 1902.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_400'>400</span>—— Reminiscences of Old John Brown. Thrilling instances -of border life in Kansas. With appendix -by Eli Thayer. Rockford, Ill. 1880. Printed by -Eli Smith.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Wright, Marcus Joseph.</span> Trial of John Brown. Its impartiality -and decorum vindicated. Southern History -Society Papers, Vol. XVI, pp. 357–363.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Spring, L. W.</span> Kansas. 1885.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Williams, G. W.</span> History of Negro Race in America. 1883. -Two volumes. (For John Brown, see volume two, -pp. 213–227.)</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Thayer, Eli.</span> The Kansas Crusade. 1889.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Hugo, Victor.</span> John Brown. 1861.</p> - -<p class='c020'><span class='sc'>Wise, Barton H.</span> The Life of Henry S. Wise. 1899.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_401'>401</span> - <h2 class='c008'>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class='index c007'> - <li class='c021'>Abolitionists, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>–342.</li> - <li class='c021'>Adams, John Quincy, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Adirondack farm, the, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Alcott, A. Bronson, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a>–291.</li> - <li class='c021'>Alleghany Mountains, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Anderson, Jeremiah, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>–283, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Anderson, John, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Anderson, Osborne Perry, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Atchison, Senator, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Black Jack, battle of, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>–169, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Anne, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>, <a href='#Page_300'>300</a>, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Edward, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Frederick (the brother), <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Frederick (the son), <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Jason, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, John, Jr., <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, John, ancestry of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>; - <ul> - <li>boyhood and youth of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>–23, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>;</li> - <li>as tanner, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>;</li> - <li>marriage of, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>;</li> - <li>occupations of, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>;</li> - <li>family life of, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>–37;</li> - <li>second marriage of, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li> - <li>in panic of 1837, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li> - <li>as shepherd, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>–60;</li> - <li>as wool merchant, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>–68;</li> - <li>in England, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>–71;</li> - <li>lawsuits of, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>–74;</li> - <li>and fugitive slaves, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>;</li> - <li>first plan against slavery, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>–88;</li> - <li>and Negroes in, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>–91;</li> - <li>and mobs, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>;</li> - <li>and oath vs. slavery, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li> - <li>and Abolitionists, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>–94;</li> - <li>and settlement in Virginia, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li> - <li>and black men, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>–121;</li> - <li>and Frederick Douglass, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>–109;</li> - <li>in the Adirondacks, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>–113;</li> - <li>in Kansas, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>–134, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>–140, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>–144, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>–197;</li> - <li>developing plans of, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>–206;</li> - <li>trip eastward of, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>–218;</li> - <li>meets Forbes, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>;</li> - <li>return westward, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>;</li> - <li>securing arms and men, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>–225;</li> - <li>second trip eastward, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>–251;</li> - <li>at Douglass’ home, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>–227;</li> - <li>revelation of, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>–231;</li> - <li>trip to Canada of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>–251;</li> - <li>meets Harriet Tubman, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>–251;</li> - <li>return to Iowa of, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>–253;</li> - <li>third trip eastward of, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> - <li>return to Canada, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>;</li> - <li>Chatham convention, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>–266;</li> - <li>betrayal of, by Forbes, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>–269;</li> - <li>in New England and New York, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>–270;</li> - <li>third return westward, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>–272;</li> - <li>Harper’s Ferry plans of, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>–277;</li> - <li>financial resources of, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>–278;</li> - <li>military organizations of, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>–169, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>–179, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>–182, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>–189, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>–227, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>–279;</li> - <li>Negro companions of, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>–283;</li> - <li>white companions</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_402'>402</span>of, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>–287; - <ul> - <li>health of, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>;</li> - <li>seventh trip eastward, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>–291;</li> - <li>starts South, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>;</li> - <li>arrives at Harper’s Ferry, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>;</li> - <li>perfecting arrangements, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>–307;</li> - <li>meets Douglass, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>–297;</li> - <li>life at Kennedy Farm, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>–302;</li> - <li>betrayal of plans of, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a>–303;</li> - <li>raid of, at Harper’s Ferry, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>–337;</li> - <li>capture of, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>–334;</li> - <li>fate of companions of, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>;</li> - <li>results, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>;</li> - <li>trial of, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a>–364;</li> - <li>execution of, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a>–364;</li> - <li>last letters of, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>–373;</li> - <li>and present Negro problem, <a href='#Page_373'>373</a>–396;</li> - <li>character of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>–23, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>–47, <a href='#Page_300'>300</a>–301, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>–358;</li> - <li>descriptions of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>–174, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>;</li> - <li>family of, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>–39, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>–104, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li> - <li>letters of, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>–46, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>–60, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>–63, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>–88, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>–149, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>–169, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>–189, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a>–234, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a>, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>–373;</li> - <li>reading of, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li> - <li>religion of, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>–41, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_365'>365</a>–373;</li> - <li>speeches of, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>–182, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>–214;</li> - <li>song of, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Oliver, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Owen, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_329'>329</a>, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Peter, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Salmon, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>–168, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Brown, Watson, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Buchanan, President, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Burns, Anthony, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Canada, the Negroes in, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>–238, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>–254, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Caste and the Negro, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>–78, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>–247, <a href='#Page_377'>377</a>–380, <a href='#Page_387'>387</a>, <a href='#Page_388'>388</a>, <a href='#Page_391'>391</a>–393.</li> - <li class='c021'>Catchers, slave, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Charleston, Va. (W. Va.), <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Committee, National Kansas, New York meeting of, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Constitution, articles of Brown’s, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Constitution, pro-slavery, of Kansas, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Constitution, Lecompton of Kansas, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Contact of races, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a>, <a href='#Page_382'>382</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Convention, address of Philadelphia, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>–238.</li> - <li class='c021'>Convention, Big Springs, Kansas, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Convention, Chatham, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Convention, Syracuse, of Abolitionists, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Cook, John E., <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_331'>331</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Copeland, John A., <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>–305, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Coppoc, Barclay, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Coppoc, Edwin, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Coronado, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Covenant and by-laws of John Brown’s followers, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>–161.</li> - <li class='c021'>Crandall, Prudence, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Daingerfield, Captain, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Daniels, Jim, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Davis, Jefferson, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>, <a href='#Page_391'>391</a>–393.</li> - <li class='c021'>Day, Mary Ann, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_403'>403</span>Decision, Dred Scott, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Delaney, Martin R., <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>–246, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Diary, John Brown’s, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Douglass, Frederick, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>–109, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>–346, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Douglas, Stephen A., <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Dutch Henry’s Crossing, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Emancipation, <a href='#Page_386'>386</a>–387.</li> - <li class='c021'>Engine-house at Harper’s Ferry, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Fight at Harper’s Ferry, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a>–326.</li> - <li class='c021'>Floyd, John, Secretary of War, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Forbes, Hugh, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>; - <ul> - <li>meets Brown, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>–217;</li> - <li>goes West, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>–219;</li> - <li>returns East, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>;</li> - <li>betrays plans, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>;</li> - <li>complaints of, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>Franklin, Kansas, attack on, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>–176.</li> - <li class='c021'>Freedom, League of, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Free Soilers, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Fugitive Slave Law, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Fugitive slaves, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>–108, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>–204, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Gabriel, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Garnet, H. H., <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Garrison, William Lloyd, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Geary, Governor of Kansas, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>–180, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>–184.</li> - <li class='c021'>Giddings, Joshua, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_391'>391</a>–392.</li> - <li class='c021'>Gill, George B., <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Gloucester, Negro minister, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Great Black Way, the, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Greeley, Horace, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Green, Shields, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#Page_323'>323</a>, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>–347.</li> - <li class='c007'>Hall, Pennsylvania, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Hamilton’s massacre, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>–194.</li> - <li class='c021'>Harper’s Ferry raid: - <ul> - <li>the place 273–274;</li> - <li>plans of, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>–276;</li> - <li>financial resources of, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>–278;</li> - <li>military organizations of, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>–280;</li> - <li>participants of, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>–288;</li> - <li>depot at Chambersburg, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>–292;</li> - <li>preparations, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>–307;</li> - <li>beginning of foray, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>;</li> - <li>capture of armory, <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>;</li> - <li>capture of town, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a>;</li> - <li>capture of Colonel Washington, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a>–312;</li> - <li>halting of train, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>;</li> - <li>bringing up the arms, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>–316;</li> - <li>further plans, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>–319;</li> - <li>gathering of militia, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a>–322;</li> - <li>dislodging of Kagi, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>–325;</li> - <li>retreat of engine-house, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>;</li> - <li>killing of Brown’s men, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>–329;</li> - <li>arrival of Lee, <a href='#Page_331'>331</a>;</li> - <li>parleying, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>–333;</li> - <li>capture of Brown, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>–334;</li> - <li>capture and escape of others, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>–336.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>Harper, Samuel, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>–195.</li> - <li class='c021'>Hayti, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Hazlett, Albert, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Henson, Josiah, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Hinton, R. J., <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Holden, Isaac, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Howe, Dr. S. G., <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Hunter, Andrew, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Independence, Chatham Declaration of, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_404'>404</span>Insurrection, Cumberland region, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Insurrection in Virginia, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Insurrection of slaves, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>–106.</li> - <li class='c021'>Insurrection, proposed Negro, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Intermarriage of races, <a href='#Page_382'>382</a>, <a href='#Page_384'>384</a>, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Isaac, insurrection of, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Jackson, President, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Jamaica, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Jones, Henry, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Jones, John, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Jones, J. M., <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Jones, Ottawa, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><cite>Journal, Freedom’s</cite>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Kagi, J. H., <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>, <a href='#Page_200'>200</a>, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Kansas, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>; - <ul> - <li>Brown’s sons in, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>–131;</li> - <li>and slavery, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>;</li> - <li>John Brown and, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>–127, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>–134, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>–197.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>Kansas-Nebraska Bill, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>–221.</li> - <li class='c021'>Kennedy Farm, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Lane, General James, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>–176, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Lane’s Army, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>–176.</li> - <li class='c021'>Lane College, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Langston brothers, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Law, Fugitive Slave, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Lawrence, Kansas, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>; - <ul> - <li>sacking of, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>–154;</li> - <li>last attack on, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>–184.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>League, Liberty, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>League of Gileadites, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Leary, Lewis Sherrard, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>–305.</li> - <li class='c021'>Lee, Robert E., <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_331'>331</a>, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Leeman, William H., <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><cite>Liberator, The</cite>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Liberty Hall, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Loudoun Heights, at Harper’s Ferry, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>L’Ouverture, Toussaint, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Lovejoy, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Lusk, Dianthe, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Marlborough Chapel, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Massacre at Dutch Henry’s Crossing, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>–140, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>–144, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>–159.</li> - <li class='c021'>Maxon farm, Iowa, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Merriam, F. J., <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Middle Creek, Kansas, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Military organization of Brown’s men, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>–169, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>–179, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>–182, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>–189, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>–227, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>–279.</li> - <li class='c021'>Mills, Peter, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Missouri slave raid, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>–197.</li> - <li class='c021'>Mobs, abolition, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Mobs against Negroes, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Moffett, Charles W., <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Montgomery, Captain, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>“Morgan, Shubel,” <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Mulattoes, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Mysteries, American, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Negro character, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro conventions, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>–246.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro emigration, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>–246.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro insurgents, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>–354.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro insurrections, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>–80, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>–106.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro leaders, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>–243, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_405'>405</span>Negro, Northern, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro organizations, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>–204, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negro progress, 1830–1840, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>; - <ul> - <li>1840–1850, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>;</li> - <li>1850–1860, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>Negro slavery, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>–84.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negroes, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negroes in America, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>; - <ul> - <li>in Canada, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>–238.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c021'>Negroes, increase of, in ten years, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negroes and John Brown, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negroes of Springfield, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Negroes, present condition of, <a href='#Page_389'>389</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Newby, Dangerfield, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#Page_323'>323</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>North Elba, New York, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><cite>North Star</cite>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Oberlin College, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Oberlin College lands in Virginia, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>–55, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Odd Fellows, Negro, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Osawatomie, Kansas, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Owen, John, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Panic of 1837, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Parker, Theodore, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Parsons, L. L., <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>–221, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Perkins, Simon, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Perkins and Brown, wool-merchants, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Pierce, President, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Plans at Harper’s Ferry, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Plans of John Brown, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>–107, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Pottawatomie Creek, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Purvis, Robert, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Raid at Harper’s Ferry, see Harper’s Ferry.</li> - <li class='c021'>Realf, Richard, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>–220, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Redpath, James, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Reeder, Governor of Kansas, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Reynolds, G. J., <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Richardson, Richard, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Robinson, Charles, Governor of Kansas, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Rochester, N. Y., state convention, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>–245.</li> - <li class='c021'>Ross, Dr. A. M., <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Routes, Fugitive Slave, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>“Sambo’s Mistakes,” <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Sanborn, Frank B., <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Schools for Negroes, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Shannon, Governor of Kansas, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_149'>149</a>, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Shore, Captain, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>–168.</li> - <li class='c021'>“Shubel Morgan’s” Company, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Slave insurrections, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>–80, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>–106.</li> - <li class='c021'>Slavery, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>–89, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>–126, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Smith, Gerrit, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#Page_303'>303</a>, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Smith, J. McCune, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Smith, Stephen, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Societies, Phœnix, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Society, American Anti-slavery, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Society, American Moral Reform, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'><span class='pageno' id='Page_406'>406</span>Society, New England Emigrant Aid, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Song of “John Brown’s Body,” <a href='#Page_374'>374</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Southern bands in Kansas, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Spell of Africa, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Springdale, Iowa, John Brown in, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>–224.</li> - <li class='c021'>Stephens, Aaron D., <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>–222, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Stearns, George L., <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>–210, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Still, William, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Stuart, J. E. B., <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>“Subterranean Pass Way,” <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Sumner, Colonel, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>–169, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Survey of Virginia lands, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>–55.</li> - <li class='c021'>Swamp, Dismal, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Swamp of the Swan, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Sword of Gideon, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Tariff and wool, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Tariff of 1846, the, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Taylor, Stewart, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Thayer, Eli, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Thomas, John A., <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Thomas, Thomas, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Thompson, Henry, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>–168.</li> - <li class='c021'>Thompson, William, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_173'>173</a>, <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a>, <a href='#Page_329'>329</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Tidd, C. P., <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>, <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a>, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>, <a href='#Page_331'>331</a>, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Tubman, Harriet, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Turner, Nat, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Underground Railroad, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>University, Western Reserve, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Vesey, Denmark, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Virginia, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c007'>Wakarusa war and treaty, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>War, Civil, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>War in Kansas, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>War of 1812, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>–49.</li> - <li class='c021'>Ward, Samuel Ringgold, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Wars, Seminole, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Washington, Colonel Lewis, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Wilberforce University, <a href='#Page_236'>236</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Wilson, Senator, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Wise, Governor of Virginia, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Woodson, Governor of Missouri, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</li> - <li class='c021'>Wool-growers’ convention, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<hr class='c022' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. Redpath, <cite>Public Life of Captain John Brown</cite>, p. 25.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. Autobiography of Owen Brown in Sanborn, <cite>Life and Letters -of John Brown</cite>, p. 7.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. The quotations in this chapter are from John Brown’s -Autobiography, Sanborn, <cite>Life and Letters of John Brown</cite>, pp. -12–17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. John Brown’s Autobiography, Sanborn, p. 16.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. Heman Hallock, in the New York <cite>Journal of Commerce</cite>, -quoted in Sanborn, p. 32.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. John Brown’s Autobiography, Sanborn, p. 16.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. John Brown’s Autobiography, Sanborn, pp. 16, 17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 34.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 37–39.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 91–93.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 93–94.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 104.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. Ruth Brown in Sanborn, p. 44.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1841, in Sanborn, p. 139.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. Letter to his wife, 1844, in Sanborn, p. 61.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 38–39.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. Letter to his wife, 1839, in Sanborn, p. 69.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. Letter to his wife, 1851, in Sanborn, p. 146.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. Letter to his wife, 1846, in Sanborn, p. 142.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. Letter to his daughter, 1847, in Sanborn, p. 142.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. Letter to his wife, 1844, in Sanborn, pp. 60–61.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. Letter to his father, 1846, in Sanborn, pp. 21, 22.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. Letter to his daughter, 1852, in Sanborn, p. 45.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1852, and to his children, 1853, -in Sanborn, pp. 151 and 155.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. Letter to his wife, 1839, in Sanborn, p. 68.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. Sanborn, p. 58.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f27'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. Records of Oberlin College, quoted in Sanborn, pp. 134–135.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f28'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. Levi Burnell to Owen Brown, 1840, in Sanborn, p. 135.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f29'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r29'>29</a>. Letter to his family, 1840, in Sanborn, p. 134.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f30'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r30'>30</a>. MS. Diary, Boston Public Library. Vol. I. p. 65.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f31'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r31'>31</a>. Records of the Board of Trustees, Oberlin College, Aug. -28, 1840, quoted in Sanborn, p. 135.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f32'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r32'>32</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p 87.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f33'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r33'>33</a>. Agreement quoted in Sanborn, pp. 55–56.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f34'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r34'>34</a>. Letter to George Kellogg, 1844, in Sanborn, p. 56.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f35'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r35'>35</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1843, in Sanborn, p. 58.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f36'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r36'>36</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1843, in Sanborn, pp. 58–59.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f37'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r37'>37</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 59.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f38'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r38'>38</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 59.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f39'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r39'>39</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1844, in Sanborn, pp. 59–60.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f40'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r40'>40</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 61.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f41'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r41'>41</a>. Ruth Brown in Sanborn, p. 95.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f42'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r42'>42</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1846, in Sanborn, p. 62.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f43'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r43'>43</a>. Circular issued in 1846, quoted in Sanborn, p. 63.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f44'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r44'>44</a>. Letter to Owen Brown, 1846, in Sanborn, p. 22.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f45'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r45'>45</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1847, in Sanborn, p. 143.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f46'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r46'>46</a>. E. C. Leonard in Sanborn, p. 65.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f47'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r47'>47</a>. Letter to Owen Brown, 1847, in Sanborn, pp. 23–24.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f48'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r48'>48</a>. Letter to Owen Brown, 1849, in Sanborn, p. 25.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f49'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r49'>49</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f50'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r50'>50</a>. Memoranda by John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 65; Redpath, p. 56</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f51'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r51'>51</a>. Sanborn, pp. 67–68.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f52'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r52'>52</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1849, Sanborn, p. 73.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f53'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r53'>53</a>. E. C. Leonard, in Sanborn, pp. 67–68.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f54'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r54'>54</a>. Letter to his wife, 1850, in Sanborn, p. 107.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f55'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r55'>55</a>. Letter to his children, 1850, in Sanborn, pp. 75–76.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f56'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r56'>56</a>. Redpath, p. 58.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f57'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r57'>57</a>. Letter to his son, in Sanborn, p. 145.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f58'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r58'>58</a>. Letter to his children, 1854, in Sanborn, p. 155.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f59'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r59'>59</a>. R. H. Dana, in the <cite>Atlantic Monthly</cite>, 1871.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f60'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r60'>60</a>. Owen Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 10–11.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f61'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r61'>61</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 35.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f62'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r62'>62</a>. Sanborn, p. 34.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f63'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r63'>63</a>. Letter to his brother Frederick, 1834, in Sanborn, pp. 40–41.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f64'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r64'>64</a>. Ruth Brown, in Sanborn, p. 37.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f65'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r65'>65</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 52–53.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f66'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r66'>66</a>. Redpath, p. 65.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f67'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r67'>67</a>. Redpath, pp. 53–54.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f68'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r68'>68</a>. Redpath, pp. 59–60.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f69'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r69'>69</a>. From “Sambo’s Mistakes,” published in the <cite>Ram’s Horn</cite> -and printed in Sanborn, p. 130.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f70'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r70'>70</a>. Douglass, <cite>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</cite> (1892), -Chap. 8, Part II, pp. 337–342.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f71'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r71'>71</a>. Sanborn, p. 97.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f72'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r72'>72</a>. Redpath, p. 61.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f73'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r73'>73</a>. Ruth Brown, in Sanborn. p. 100.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f74'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r74'>74</a>. Redpath, p. 62.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f75'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r75'>75</a>. Letter to his wife, 1850, in Sanborn, pp. 106–107.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f76'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r76'>76</a>. Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in -Sanborn, pp. 124–127.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f77'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r77'>77</a>. Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given -in Sanborn, pp. 124–127.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f78'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r78'>78</a>. Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given -in Sanborn, pp. 124–127.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f79'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r79'>79</a>. Sanborn, p. 132.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f80'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r80'>80</a>. Ruth Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 131–132.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f81'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r81'>81</a>. Letter to his wife, 1852, in Sanborn, pp. 108–109.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f82'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r82'>82</a>. Ruth Brown, in Sunburn, p. 104.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f83'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r83'>83</a>. Letters to his children, 1852–1853, in Sanborn, pp. 110 and -148.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f84'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r84'>84</a>. Compare the <cite>American Anthropologist</cite>, Vol. 4, No. 2, April-June, -1902.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f85'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r85'>85</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1854, in Sanborn, p. 191.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f86'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r86'>86</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 188–190.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f87'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r87'>87</a>. Letter to his children, 1854, in Sanborn, pp. 110–111.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f88'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r88'>88</a>. Redpath, p. 81.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f89'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r89'>89</a>. Letter to his wife, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 193–194.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f90'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r90'>90</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 190–191.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f91'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r91'>91</a>. Ruth Thompson, in Sanborn, p. 105.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f92'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r92'>92</a>. Farewell address of Governor Geary, <cite>Transactions</cite> of the -Kansas State Historical Society, Vol. IV, p. 739.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f93'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r93'>93</a>. Letters to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 201 and 205.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f94'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r94'>94</a>. Redpath, pp. 103–104.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f95'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r95'>95</a>. Letter to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217–221.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f96'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r96'>96</a>. Letter to his wife, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217–221.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f97'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r97'>97</a>. G. W. Brown, <cite>Reminiscences of Old John Brown</cite>, p. 8; -Phillips, <cite>History of Kansas</cite>, quoted in Redpath, p. 90.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f98'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r98'>98</a>. Letter to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217–221.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f99'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r99'>99</a>. Letter to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, p. 223.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f100'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r100'>100</a>. Letter of Giddings to John Brown, 1856, in Sanborn, p. 224.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f101'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r101'>101</a>. D. W. Wilder, in the <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical -Society, Vol. 6, p. 337.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f102'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r102'>102</a>. E. A. Coleman, in Sanborn, p. 260.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f103'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r103'>103</a>. James Hanway, in Hinton, <cite>John Brown and His Men</cite>, p. -695.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f104'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r104'>104</a>. Bondi in <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical Society, -Vol. 8, p. 279; Spring, <cite>Kansas</cite>, p. 143.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f105'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r105'>105</a>. Jason Brown, in Sanborn, p. 273.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f106'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r106'>106</a>. E. A. Coleman, in Sanborn, p. 259.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f107'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r107'>107</a>. John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 278.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f108'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r108'>108</a>. Letter to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. 236–241.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f109'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r109'>109</a>. Sanborn, pp. 287–288.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f110'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r110'>110</a>. Sanborn, pp. 288–290.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f111'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r111'>111</a>. Redpath, pp. 112–114.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f112'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r112'>112</a>. Bondi in the <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical -Society, Vol. 8, pp. 282–284.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f113'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r113'>113</a>. Bondi in the <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical Society, -Vol. 8, p. 285.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f114'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r114'>114</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 284.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f115'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r115'>115</a>. Bondi in the <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical -Society, Vol. 8, p. 286; John Brown to his family, 1856, in -Sanborn, pp. 236–241.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f116'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r116'>116</a>. W. A. Phillips, in Sanborn, pp. 306–308.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f117'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r117'>117</a>. Hinton, pp. 201–204.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f118'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r118'>118</a>. Samuel Walker in <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical -Society, Vol. 6, p. 267.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f119'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r119'>119</a>. Appeal to the citizens of Lafayette County, Mo., Sanborn, p. -309.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f120'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r120'>120</a>. Samuel Walker in <cite>Transactions</cite> of the Kansas State Historical -Society, Vol. 6, pp. 272–273.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f121'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r121'>121</a>. Quoted in Sanborn, p. 321.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f122'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r122'>122</a>. John Brown to his family, 1856, Sanborn, pp. 317–318.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f123'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r123'>123</a>. Charles Robinson to John Brown, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. -330–331.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f124'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r124'>124</a>. Speech of John Brown, Redpath, pp. 163–164.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f125'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r125'>125</a>. Redpath, pp. 164–165.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f126'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r126'>126</a>. Paper by John Brown, Sanborn, pp. 332–333.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f127'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r127'>127</a>. Executive minutes of Governor Geary in <cite>Transactions</cite> of the -Kansas State Historical Society, Vol. 4, p. 537.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f128'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r128'>128</a>. Letter to Augustus Wattles, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 391.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f129'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r129'>129</a>. Correspondence of Lane and Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 401–402.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f130'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r130'>130</a>. Letter to F. B. Sanborn and others, 1858, in Sanborn, -pp. 474–477.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f131'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r131'>131</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f132'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r132'>132</a>. Hinton in Redpath, pp. 199–206.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f133'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r133'>133</a>. George B. Gill in Hinton, p. 218.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f134'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r134'>134</a>. Sanborn, pp. 481–483.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f135'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r135'>135</a>. Hamilton, <cite>John Brown in Canada</cite>, pp. 4–5.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f136'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r136'>136</a>. Sanborn, p. 491.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f137'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r137'>137</a>. Redpath, p. 48.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f138'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r138'>138</a>. Redpath, p. 71.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f139'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r139'>139</a>. Hinton in Redpath, pp. 203–205.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f140'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r140'>140</a>. Reminiscences of George B. Gill, Hinton, pp. 732–733.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f141'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r141'>141</a>. Hinton, pp. 171–172.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f142'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r142'>142</a>. Notes by John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 244.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f143'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r143'>143</a>. Paper by John Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 241–242.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f144'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r144'>144</a>. Letter from Gerrit Smith to John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 364.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f145'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r145'>145</a>. Jeremiah Brown in Redpath, pp. 174–175.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f146'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r146'>146</a>. Reminiscences of Mrs. Mary E. Stearns, in Hinton, pp. 719–727.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f147'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r147'>147</a>. Sanborn, <cite>John Brown and his Friends</cite>, p. 8.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f148'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r148'>148</a>. Letter of H. B. Hurd to John Brown, 1857, in Sanborn, -p. 367.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f149'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r149'>149</a>. Sanborn, pp. 375–376.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f150'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r150'>150</a>. Speech of John Brown, Sanborn. p. 379.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f151'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r151'>151</a>. Letter to Eli Thayer, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 382.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f152'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r152'>152</a>. Reminiscences of Dr. Wayland, Sanborn, p. 381.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f153'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r153'>153</a>. Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, -No. 278, Testimony of Richard Realf, p. 96.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f154'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r154'>154</a>. Hinton, pp. 614–615.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f155'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r155'>155</a>. Letter to Augustus Wattles, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 393.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f156'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r156'>156</a>. Confession of John E. Cook in Hinton, pp. 700–701.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f157'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r157'>157</a>. Richman, <cite>John Brown Among the Quakers</cite>, pp. 20–21.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f158'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r158'>158</a>. Richman, pp. 28–29.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f159'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r159'>159</a>. Hinton, pp. 156–157.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f160'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r160'>160</a>. Douglass, <cite>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</cite>, pp. 385–386.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f161'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r161'>161</a>. Letter to Theodore Parker, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 434–435.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f162'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r162'>162</a>. Letter to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, p. 436.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f163'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r163'>163</a>. Sanborn, pp. 438—440.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f164'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r164'>164</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 450–451.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f165'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r165'>165</a>. Letter to his family, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 440–441.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f166'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r166'>166</a>. Letter to F. B. Sanborn, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 444–445.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f167'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r167'>167</a>. Hickok, <cite>The Negro in Ohio</cite>, p. 42.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f168'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r168'>168</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 44.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f169'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r169'>169</a>. Williams, <cite>Negro Race in America</cite>, Vol. 2, pp. 65–67.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f170'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r170'>170</a>. Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, -p. 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f171'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r171'>171</a>. Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, -p. 15.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f172'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r172'>172</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, No. 9, p. 16.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f173'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r173'>173</a>. Douglass, <cite>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</cite> (1892), p. 345.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f174'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r174'>174</a>. Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, -pp. 16–19.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f175'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r175'>175</a>. Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, -pp. 20–21.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f176'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r176'>176</a>. Manuscript Diary of John Brown, Boston Public Library, -Vol. 2, p. 35.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f177'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r177'>177</a>. Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1858, in Sanborn, p. 452.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f178'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r178'>178</a>. Bradford, <cite>Harriet, the Moses of Her People</cite>, pp. 118–119.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f179'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r179'>179</a>. Letter of Wendell Phillips, printed in Bradford, <cite>Harriet, -the Moses of Her People</cite>, pp. 155–156.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f180'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r180'>180</a>. Hamilton, <cite>John Brown in Canada</cite>, p. 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f181'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r181'>181</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 9.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f182'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r182'>182</a>. Rollins, <cite>Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney</cite>, -pp. 85–90.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f183'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r183'>183</a>. Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, <cite>John Brown in -Canada</cite>, pp. 14–15.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f184'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r184'>184</a>. Hinton, p. 178.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f185'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r185'>185</a>. Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, <cite>John Brown in -Canada</cite>, pp. 14 and 16.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f186'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r186'>186</a>. Rollins, <cite>Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney</cite>, pp. -85–90.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f187'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r187'>187</a>. Reminiscences of George B. Gill, in Hinton, p. 185.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f188'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r188'>188</a>. Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, <cite>John Brown in -Canada</cite>, p. 16.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f189'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r189'>189</a>. Hinton, pp. 619–633.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f190'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r190'>190</a>. Hinton, pp. 642–643.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f191'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r191'>191</a>. Provisional Constitution, Art. 42.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f192'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r192'>192</a>. Letter to his family, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 455–456.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f193'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r193'>193</a>. Letter from Sanborn to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, p. 458.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f194'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r194'>194</a>. Letter from Higginson to Theodore Parker, in Sanborn, p. 459.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f195'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r195'>195</a>. Letter from Forbes to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 460–461.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f196'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r196'>196</a>. Sanborn, pp. 463–464.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f197'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r197'>197</a>. Letter to Owen Brown, 1858, in Richman, <cite>John Brown -Among the Quakers</cite>, pp. 40–41.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f198'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r198'>198</a>. Jefferson, <cite>Notes on Virginia</cite>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f199'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r199'>199</a>. Sanborn, p. 467.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f200'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r200'>200</a>. Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, -No. 278; Testimony of Richard Realf, p. 100.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f201'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r201'>201</a>. Sanborn, p. 457.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f202'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r202'>202</a>. Hinton, pp. 130–131.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f203'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r203'>203</a>. W. P. Garrison in the <cite>Andover Review</cite>, Dec., 1890, and Jan., -1891.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f204'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r204'>204</a>. General Orders, Oct. 10, 1859, Hinton, pp. 646–647.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f205'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r205'>205</a>. Douglass, <cite>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</cite>, p. 387.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f206'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r206'>206</a>. Hunter, <cite>John Brown’s Raid</cite>, republished in the Publications -of the Southern History Association, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 188.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f207'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r207'>207</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of Ralph Plumb, p. 181.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f208'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r208'>208</a>. Barry, <cite>The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 93.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f209'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r209'>209</a>. Anne Brown in Hinton, pp. 529–530.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f210'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r210'>210</a>. Hinton, p. 453.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f211'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r211'>211</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 15.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f212'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r212'>212</a>. Hinton, pp. 496–497.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f213'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r213'>213</a>. Sanborn in the <cite>Atlantic Monthly</cite>, Hinton, p. 570.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f214'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r214'>214</a>. Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 450.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f215'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r215'>215</a>. From the newspaper report of the speech at Cleveland, March -22d, Redpath, pp. 239–240.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f216'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r216'>216</a>. Diary of A. Bronson Alcott, Sanborn, pp. 504–505.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f217'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r217'>217</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of John C. Unseld, pp. 1–2.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f218'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r218'>218</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 19.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f219'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r219'>219</a>. Douglass, <cite>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</cite>, pp. 388–391.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f220'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r220'>220</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 23–25.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f221'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r221'>221</a>. Anne Brown in Sanborn, p. 531.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f222'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r222'>222</a>. Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 265.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f223'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r223'>223</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of John B. Floyd, pp. 250–252.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f224'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r224'>224</a>. Letter to Kagi, 1859, in Hinton, pp. 257–258.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f225'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r225'>225</a>. Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 260.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f226'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r226'>226</a>. Letter of Owen to John Brown, 1850, in Hinton, p. 259.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f227'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r227'>227</a>. John Brown, Jr., to Kagi, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 547–548.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f228'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r228'>228</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 26.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f229'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r229'>229</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 27.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f230'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r230'>230</a>. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</span></i>, p. 23.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f231'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r231'>231</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 29.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f232'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r232'>232</a>. Anderson. <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 31–32.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f233'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r233'>233</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of Daniel Wheeler, pp. 21–22.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f234'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r234'>234</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 33.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f235'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r235'>235</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 33–34.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f236'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r236'>236</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 36–37.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f237'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r237'>237</a>. Statement by John Edwin Cook in Hinton, pp. 700–718.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f238'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r238'>238</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 37.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f239'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r239'>239</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 37–38.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f240'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r240'>240</a>. Redpath, p. 249.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f241'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r241'>241</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, -1st Session, No. 278; Testimony of John D. Starry, p. 25.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f242'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r242'>242</a>. Boteler, “Recollections of the John Brown Raid” in the -<cite>Century Magazine</cite>, July, 1883, p. 405.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f243'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r243'>243</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 42.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f244'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r244'>244</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 39–40.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f245'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r245'>245</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 40.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f246'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r246'>246</a>. Boteler, “Recollections of the John Brown Raid” in the -<cite>Century Magazine</cite>, July, 1883, p. 407.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f247'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r247'>247</a>. Daingerfield in the <cite>Century Magazine</cite>, June, 1885.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f248'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r248'>248</a>. Barry, <cite>Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 67.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f249'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r249'>249</a>. Patrick Higgins in Hinton, p. 290.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f250'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r250'>250</a>. Daingerfield in the <cite>Century Magazine</cite>, June, 1885.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f251'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r251'>251</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 42.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f252'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r252'>252</a>. Testimony of Henry Hunter in Redpath, pp. 320–321.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f253'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r253'>253</a>. Daingerfield in the <cite>Century Magazine</cite>, June, 1885.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f254'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r254'>254</a>. Berry, <cite>Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry</cite>, pp. 70–71.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f255'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r255'>255</a>. Daingerfield in the <cite>Century Magazine</cite>, June, 1885.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f256'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r256'>256</a>. Anderson, <cite>A Voice from Harper’s Ferry</cite>, p. 52.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f257'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r257'>257</a>. John Brown in Sanborn, pp. 560–661.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f258'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r258'>258</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of George L. Stearns, pp. 241–242.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f259'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r259'>259</a>. Douglass, <cite>Life and Times of Frederick Douglass</cite> (1892), p. 376.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f260'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r260'>260</a>. Correspondence of the New York <cite>Herald</cite>, Sanborn, pp. -562–571.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f261'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r261'>261</a>. Frederick Douglass in a speech at Storer College at Harper’s -Ferry, May, 1882.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f262'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r262'>262</a>. Hinton, pp. 325–326.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f263'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r263'>263</a>. Mrs. Spring in Redpath, p. 377.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f264'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r264'>264</a>. Newspaper report in Redpath, p. 376.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f265'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r265'>265</a>. Mrs. Spring in Redpath, p. 377.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f266'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r266'>266</a>. Letter to his sister, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 607–609.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f267'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r267'>267</a>. Remarks by John Brown in Redpath, p. 309.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f268'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r268'>268</a>. Newspaper report quoted by Redpath, p. 337.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f269'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r269'>269</a>. Redpath, pp. 340–342.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f270'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r270'>270</a>. Letter to Mrs. George L. Stearns, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 610–611.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f271'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r271'>271</a>. Letter to his cousin, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 594–595.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f272'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r272'>272</a>. Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609–610.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f273'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r273'>273</a>. Letters to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579–580, 613–615.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f274'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r274'>274</a>. Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609–610.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f275'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r275'>275</a>. Letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579–580.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f276'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r276'>276</a>. Letter to a friend, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 582–583.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f277'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r277'>277</a>. Letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579–580.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f278'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r278'>278</a>. Letter to H. L. Vaill, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 589–591.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f279'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r279'>279</a>. Letter to Rev. Dr. Humphrey, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 603–605.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f280'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r280'>280</a>. Letter to H. L. Vaill, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 590–591.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f281'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r281'>281</a>. Letter to Miss Stearns, Sanborn, p. 607.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f282'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r282'>282</a>. Postscript of letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 585–587.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f283'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r283'>283</a>. Letter to Rev. Dr. Humphrey, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 603–605.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f284'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r284'>284</a>. Letter to Mr. McFarland, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 598–599.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f285'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r285'>285</a>. Letter to his younger children, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 596–597.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f286'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r286'>286</a>. Letter to his wife and children in Sanborn, pp. 585–587.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f287'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r287'>287</a>. Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609–610.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f288'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r288'>288</a>. Letter to Mr. McFarland, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 598–599.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f289'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r289'>289</a>. Redpath, pp. 382–383. c</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f290'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r290'>290</a>. Last letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 614–615.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f291'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r291'>291</a>. Letter to F. B. Musgrave, 1859, in Sanborn, p. 593.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f292'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r292'>292</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of Joshua R. Giddings, pp. -147–156.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f293'> -<p class='c004'><a href='#r293'>293</a>. Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st -Session, No. 278; Testimony of Joshua R. Giddings pp. -147–156.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c007'> - <li>P. <a href='#t34'>34</a>, changed “John, Dr.” to “John, Jr.”. - - </li> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - - </li> - <li>Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the last - chapter. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Brown, by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN BROWN *** - -***** This file should be named 62799-h.htm or 62799-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/7/9/62799/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, Mary Glenn Krause, Jim Adcock -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by the Library of Congress) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - - </body> - <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57c on 2020-07-31 22:08:35 GMT --> -</html> diff --git a/old/62799-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/62799-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 152ca34..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62799-h/images/i_004.jpg b/old/62799-h/images/i_004.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ca32bf3..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h/images/i_004.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62799-h/images/i_277.jpg b/old/62799-h/images/i_277.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 5893958..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h/images/i_277.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62799-h/images/i_315.jpg b/old/62799-h/images/i_315.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f1ab9ed..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h/images/i_315.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62799-h/images/i_titlepage-detail.jpg b/old/62799-h/images/i_titlepage-detail.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4ea2552..0000000 --- a/old/62799-h/images/i_titlepage-detail.jpg +++ /dev/null |
