THE 
 
 PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 O F 
 
 CAPT. JOHN BROWN, 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES REDPATH, 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF HIS 
 
 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 THAYER AND ELDRIDGE, 
 
 114 AND >;i6 WASHINGTON ST. 
 1860. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 
 
 JAMES REDPATH, 
 In the Clerk s Office of the District Court of tho District of Massachusetts. 
 
 mi.VTEU BT 
 OEOROE C. RAND b AVERT. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO 
 
 WENDELL PHILLIPS, RALPH WALDO EMERSON, 
 AND HENRY D. THOREAU, 
 
 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITHFUL, 
 
 WHO, WHEN THE MOB SHOUTED, "MADMAN!" SAID, " SAINT 1" 
 I HUMBLY AND GRATEFULLY 
 
 gebicate ibis S&ork. 
 
 JAMES REDPATH. 
 
 M181841 
 
"THE Saint, whose fate yet hangs in suspense, but whose mar 
 tyrdom, if it shall be perfected, will make the gallows glorious like 
 the Cross." Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 "He was one who recognized no unjust human laws, but resisted 
 them as he was bid. No man in America has ever stood up so per 
 sistently for the dignity of human nature, knowing himself for man, 
 and the equal of any and all governments. He could not have been 
 tried by his peers, for his peers did not exist." Henry D. TJwreau. 
 
 " God makes him the text, and all he asks of our comparatively 
 cowardly lips is to preach the sermon, and say to the American people 
 that, whether that old man succeeded in a worldly sense or not, he 
 stood a representative of law, of government, of right, of justice, of 
 religion, and they were pirates that gathered about him, and sought 
 to wreak vengeance by taking his life. The banks of the Potomac, 
 doubly dear now to History and to Man ! The dust of Washington 
 rests there ; and History will see forever on that river side the brave 
 old man on his pallet, whose dust, when God calls him hence, the 
 Father of his Country would be proud to make room for beside his 
 own." Wendell Phillips. 
 
PUBLISHERS CARD. 
 
 IN presenting this work, the publishers deem it proper 
 to congratulate themselves and the public on having 
 secured as the biographer of Captain John Brown, a gen 
 tleman so well qualified, both by personal knowledge and 
 literary ability, for the task, and whose previous life has 
 been so identified in feeling and character with the career 
 of the sainted hero, as to enable him to do that justice to 
 his motives and acts which a less friendly pen would fail 
 to render. 
 
 They would also call the attention of the public to 
 the fact that a large percentage on each copy sold is 
 secured by contract to the family of Captain John Brown, 
 and every purchaser thereby becomes a contributor to a 
 charitable object, which appeals to all freemen -with a 
 force that is irresistible. 
 
 The publishers would remind the public, and especially 
 the press, that the work is copyrighted, and any reprint 
 ing of the Autobiography, or the chapter entitled " The 
 Father of the Man," will be prosecuted as an infringe 
 ment, as it is the desire of the friends who contribute 
 1* (5) 
 
6 Publifhers Card. 
 
 it that it should appear exclusively in this volume, for 
 the benefit of the family. 
 
 The work is published with the sanction and approval 
 of the family of Captain Brown, as may be seen by the 
 following letters : 
 
 NORTH ELBA, Dec., 1859. 
 Messrs. Thayer & Eldridge. 
 
 Dear Friends : I am satisfied that Mr. Redpath is 
 THE man to write the life of my beloved husband, as he 
 was personally acquainted with him, and I think will do 
 him justice. ... I think that the portrait is a very 
 good one. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 MARY A. BROWN. 
 
 NORTH ELBA, Dec., 1859. 
 Messrs. Thayer & Eldridge. 
 
 Dear Sirs : I was somewhat acquainted with James 
 Redpath in Kansas. I am also familiar with his writings, 
 and I consider him an able biographer, and THE MAN 
 ABOVE ALL OTHERS to write the life of my beloved father. 
 I believe him to be a man of undoubted veracity, and 
 fully believe he will do justice to the work he has under 
 taken. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 SALMON BROWN. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN the news of the arrest of John Brown reached 
 Boston, I could neither work nor sleep ; for I loved and 
 reverenced the noble old man, and had perfect confidence 
 in his plan of emancipation. I knew him to be one of 
 earth s worthiest souls the last of the Puritans; and yet 
 I heard, on every side, people calling him a madman, and 
 sneering at his " crazy scheme." Now, or never, was the 
 time to defend my friend, when no voice, however faint, 
 was heard to praise him. An opportunity offered ; I 
 indorsed John Brown. A few years hence this will seem 
 absurd ; as ridiculous, now, as an indorsement of Warren ; 
 but necessary in October last and pronounced insane ! 
 I heard of no one man who fully approved my doctrines 
 or defence when my first article appeared ; but, before the 
 series that I had contemplated was finished, I turned 
 again to other work for already the highest talent of 
 the nation was marshalling to the rescue of the conquering 
 prisoner of Charlestown Jail. Like Samson, in a single 
 day, if not with the jawbone of an ass, yet with the help 
 of that of a Member of Congress, the mighty man of valor 
 had smitten his enemies, hip and thigh, " from Dan even 
 unto Beersheba, and all the region round about." Now 
 
 (7) 
 
8 Preface. 
 
 that the most skilful trained soldiers of Freedom were 
 in the field to encounter the reserve forces of the enemy, 
 I withdrew myself from the conflict for a time for, a 
 guerilla skirmisher only, unfitted both by habit and na 
 ture for a place in any regular army, I did not care to 
 fight under any General, or to fire except where I wanted 
 to kill. 
 
 A publisher of New York asked me to write a Life of 
 John Brown. He wanted it as a Republican campaign 
 document. I declined. I would not help to light cigars 
 from the fire above the altar. The publishers of this 
 book made a nobler request ; they believed in John 
 Brown ; they wished to do him justice ; and they desired 
 to assist his destitute family. This volume is the result 
 of their request. 
 
 I have written this book, because I could not resist it. 
 Equally at war with the cant of conservatism, of politics, 
 and of non-resistance, and a firm believer in the faith 
 that made Bunker Hill classic, I think that John Brown 
 did right in invading Virginia and attempting to liberate 
 her slaves. I hold God in infinitely greater reverence 
 than Congress, and His holy laws than its enactments. 
 I would as soon think of vindicating Washington for 
 resisting the British Government to the death, as to apol 
 ogize for John Brown in assailing the Slave Power with 
 the only weapons that it fears. 
 
 Therefore, reader, if you think that white makes light, 
 or might makes right, or if the opposite doctrine is abhor 
 rent to you, lay this volume aside at once, for I will not 
 promise that I shall try to avoid giving you offence. 
 
Preface. g 
 
 I have no apology to make for this book ; not because I 
 am unconscious of its defects, but because it is the best that I 
 I could write in the allotted time, and because nowhere 
 else can so correct a biography of John Brown be found. 
 It is compiled from hundreds of sources newspapers, 
 books, correspondence, and conversations. Much of it, 
 also, is the record of my personal knowledge. Materials 
 came to me from all quarters; and not always in the 
 order of time. Thus, the third chapter of the first book 
 was written two weeks after the account of his execution ; 
 the history of his Kansas exploits before I obtained the 
 autobiographical sketch of his childhood and youth. 
 Hence, if there be occasional repetitions, whether of fact 
 or idea, the just or generous reader will overlook this 
 defect. I do not think that there are such iterations ; but 
 it is a possibility that I desire to explain in advance. 
 
 Writing in this way, the volume grew faster than I 
 foresaw. I had intended to write the Life of John Brown, 
 private and public, and biographies of his men, also. But 
 Kansas, and Harper s Ferry, and Charlestown, and an un 
 expected gift of materials from North Elba, compelled me 
 to defer the biographies of John Brown s men, as well as 
 a minuter record of his own private life and correspond 
 ence. For, on the return of my wife from the home of 
 John Brown, I found myself in possession, in trust, of 
 hundreds of private letters, every one that has been 
 preserved, written during the long and active career of 
 the illustrious Liberator, which exhibit his daily life in its 
 every relation, and the exceeding beauty of the religion 
 which inspired its actions. These records, with other 
 
10 Preface. 
 
 memorials of him, will be published, in due time, in a sup 
 plementary volume. 
 
 The latest telegraphic news makes one correction 
 necessary. I have spoken of Richard Realf as dead. I 
 thought that he died a natural death on the ocean. It 
 appears that he still lives in the body ; but dead to honor, 
 the voice of conscience, and the cries of the poor. He 
 has chosen the part of Judas, and promises to play it well. 
 
 I am indebted to several friends for valuable aid in the 
 preparation of this volume first, to every one whom I 
 have mentioned in the notes, or text, or whose letters I 
 have quoted ; and to Dr. Thomas H. Webb, of Boston, 
 Richard J. Hinton, of Kansas, and, lastly, but not least 
 among them, to "a nearer one still and a dearer one" for 
 her visit to North Elba and its results. 
 
 I still desire information, (whether anecdotes, letters, 
 or conversational remarks,) respecting John Brown and 
 his heroic associates, and will be greatly obliged for all 
 such contributions. 
 
 How unworthy soever this book may be, I shall not 
 regard it as a useless work, if, in the minds of its destined 
 readers, it shall arouse the inquiries : 
 
 How far, as men, have we strayed from the Mount 
 where Jesus taught ? and 
 
 How far, as citizens, have we wandered from the Hill 
 where Warren fell ? 
 
 MALDEN, MASS., December 25, 1859. 
 
Jfirsi 
 
 HE KEEPETH THE SHEEP. 
 
1 1 . And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children : And 
 ne said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold he keepeth the 
 sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him ; for we will 
 not sit down till he come hither. 
 
 12. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and 
 withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the 
 Lord said, Arise, anoint him : for this is he. I Samuel, Chapter xvi. 
 
I. 
 
 THE CHILD AND HIS ANCESTORS. 
 
 DECEMBER 2, 1859. 
 
 HOW, worthily, write the Life of worthy John 
 Brown ? The task is as difficult as the man was 
 heroic. In every part and phase of it, numerous and 
 serious obstacles present themselves. For to-day 
 John Brown was hanged by a semi-barbarous Com 
 monwealth, as a traitor, murderer, and robber, and 
 fifteen despotic States are rejoicing at his death ; while, 
 in the free North, every noble heart is sighing at his 
 fate, or admiring his devotion to the principles of jus 
 tice, or cursing the executioners of their warrior-saint. 
 Thus opposite are the views men have of him ; and 
 this is the first difficulty that confronts his biographer. 
 But putting it aside, by utterly disregarding the 
 opinions and denunciations of the mob, looking steadily 
 at the old man only, and drawing him as he strove to 
 be and was, a warrior of the Lord and of Gideon : to 
 satisfy the public expectation, and, at the same time, 
 to do justice to the hero of their hearts, is a far more 
 important, and a still more embarrassing task. For an 
 immediate publication is demanded ; and it is impos- 
 2 (13) 
 
i 4 The "Child and his Anceftors. 
 
 sible, at once, to collate all the facts that should be told 
 of him. But one alternative remains to do the best 
 that is possible for the present day, and, if a still more 
 extended biography be demanded, to endeavor, at 
 another time, to supply that want. 
 
 PATERNAL ANCESTRY OP JOHN BROWN. 
 
 Among the group of godly exiles who knelt at 
 Plymouth Rock, on the 22d of December, 1620, and 
 returned thanks to the Almighty for His goodness to 
 them in preserving them from the dangers of the 
 VDeep, was an unmarried English Puritan, a carpenter 
 by trade, of whose personal history all that now can 
 N/be known is, that his name was Peter Brown. That 
 he came over in the Mayflower, is evidence enough 
 that he feared his God, respected himself, and 
 strove prayerfully to obey the divine commands ; 
 choosing rather to sacrifice the comforts of English 
 civilization, and enjoy in the wilderness his inherent 
 rights, than calmly contemplate the perpetration of 
 wrong by sinners in high places, or to rest satisfied 
 with the sophistical belief, that, by the philosophy of 
 an enlightened selfishness, or the diffusion of correct 
 principles of political economy, all the evils of the age 
 would peacefully be rectified in a century or two ! 
 He died in 1633. 
 
 Peter Brown, the second, was born in 1632. A 
 monument in the churchyard of Windsor, Connecti 
 cut, is his only biography. It tells us that he mar 
 ried Mary Gillett in 1658, and died October 16, 1692. 
 
 He had four boys : the second-born named John 
 Brown ; who, in his turn, married Elizabeth Loomis in 
 
The Child and his Ancestors. 15 
 
 1692, had eight daughters and three sons, the eldest of 
 tfhom was his namesake. 
 
 John, the second, had seven girls and two boys, of 
 whom the first-born son became the third of the name 
 in the family. He died in 1790, at the age of ninety, 
 Having been the husband of Mary Eggleston, (who pre 
 ceded him twelve months to the spirit world,) for the 
 long period of sixty-five years. Mary, the eldest child 
 of this marriage, remained a spinster till her death at 
 the age of one hundred. 
 
 John, the third, was born November 4, 1728 ; mar- > 
 ried Hannah Owen in 1758 ; * was the father of John, 
 Frederick, Owen, and Abiel Brown ; and the honored 
 grandfather of Captain John Brown, the hero of Kan 
 sas and of Harper s Ferry. John Brown, the third, at 
 the outbreak of the revolutionary war, was chosen 
 Captain of the West Simsbury (now Canton f) train 
 band ; and, in the spring of 1776, joined the forces 
 of the continental army at New York. His commis 
 sion from Governor Trumbull is dated May 23, 1776. 
 After a service of two months duration, he fell a 
 victim to the prevailing epidemic of the camp, at the 
 age of forty-eight years. J He died in a barn, attended 
 only by a faithful subordinate, a few miles north of 
 
 * John Owen, the ancestor of Hannah, was a native of Wales. 
 He was among the first settlers of Windsor, where he was married 
 in 1650. 
 
 f In 1806, West Simsbury, with a narrow strip of New Hartford, 
 was incorporated, by act of legislature, into a township named 
 Canton. 
 
 J He served under Colonel Jonathan Pettibone. 
 
16 The Child and his Anceitors. 
 
 New York City, where the continental army was at 
 that time encamped. His body was buried on the 
 Highlands, near the web tern, bank of the East River. 
 On a marble monument in the graveyard of Canton 
 Centre, this inscription may be seen : 
 
 "In memory of Captain John Brown, who died in the revolution 
 ary army, at New York, September 3, 1776. He was of the fourth 
 generation, in regular descent, from Peter Brown, one of the Pilgrim 
 Fathers, who landed from the Mayflower, at Plymouth, Massachu 
 setts, December 22, 1620." 
 
 Thus far we see that same spirit of resistance to 
 wrong, which, recently, nay, at this very hour, 
 men are branding as insane ! Why did Captain John 
 Brown, " of the fourth generation, in regular descent," 
 risk his life "throw it away," as our politicians 
 phrase it by opposing it to the hitherto resistless 
 strength of a mighty empire ? Why not wait until, by 
 the aid of a " constitutional republican party," the evils 
 then endured should have been peacefully abolished? 
 What was he to Massachusetts, or Massachusetts to 
 him, that he should leave his family and fight her bat 
 tles ? Personal liberty he had ; his house was his cas 
 tle ; no power on earth dared molest his property, or 
 wife, or children. It was only a petty question of tax 
 ation that called him to the field, but in it there lay 
 embodied a political right ; and, rather than submit to 
 an infringement of it, he resolved to " throw his life 
 away," if need be. We now honor him for it ; for we 
 see in it the spirit of the first Peter Brown, who would 
 not wait for the convenient season of corrupt and 
 heartless demagogue.:, but chose rather to abandon his 
 
The Child and his Ancestors. 17 
 
 native land, and enjoy his liberty at once. But it is 
 far nobler than the first Peter s conduct; for it is 
 not solely for himself, as in the Puritan s case, that he 
 abandons home and friends. It is for a neighboring 
 colony, and the rights of his race, rather than for his 
 personal immunities. Only one step further was pos 
 sible on the ladder of disinterested benevolence to 
 fight for a race, poor, despised, friendless, and inferior ; 
 and this crowning glory to the family of Peter Brown,; 
 the Puritan, was reserved for the grandson of the 
 revolutionary captain. 
 
 Captain John Brown, the third, left a widow and 
 eleven children, of whom the eldest daughter was 
 eighteen years of age, and the first son nine years only. 
 " They were reared by his widow, with singular tact 
 and judgment, to habits of industry and principles of 
 virtue, and all became distinguished citizens in the 
 communities in which they resided. One of the sons 
 became a judge in one of the courts of Ohio. One of 
 the daughters had the honor of giving to one of our 
 most flourishing New England colleges a president for 
 twenty years, in the person of her son." * 
 
 " She was a woman of great energy and economy," 
 writes a descendant, f " the economy being a needful 
 
 * My authority is William H. Hallock, of Canton Centre. The 
 preceding facts were chiefly furnished by Lancet Foote, Selden H. 
 Brown, of the same place, and by a pamphlet, now out of print, 
 entitled, "Genealogical History, with Short Sketches and Family 
 Records of the Early Settlers of West Simsbury, &c., by Abiel 
 Brown," an uncle of the liberator. 
 
 f Professor C. F. Hudson, a distinguished theological author. 
 
 2* 
 
2o The Child and his Anceftors. 
 
 This stout-hearted Puritan left three sons and *4iree 
 daughters. Elizabeth and Faithe were married twice, 
 and Anna was the third wife of the Reverend William 
 Robinson. The biography of Jedediah is brief enough : 
 " Born in 1755-6 married Miss Wells." 
 
 Rev. Samuel Mills, second son of the Rev. Gideon 
 Mills, graduated at Yale College in 1776, " with a 
 view to the gospel ministry." 
 
 " Being full of the patriotism prevalent at that time, he entered the 
 American army as lieutenant in the cavalry. In one of those actions 
 which took place in 1777, this young officer received a wound from a 
 horseman s sword in the forehead, was taken prisoner, and conveyed 
 into Philadelphia with a deep and dangerous wound, the scar of which 
 he carried through the remainder of his life. The sick and wounded 
 prisoners in Philadelphia experienced far different treatment from that 
 which those unfortunate American prisoners received from the British 
 and tories in New York in 1776. A kind Providence furnished a 
 goodly number of ministering angels, (if the expression may be allow 
 able,) in the persons of some of the most accomplished ladies of Phil 
 adelphia. Those of superior rank and refinement took it upon them 
 to visit and minister to the wants of the suffering prisoners. Among 
 those worthy ladies was Miss Sarah Gilpin, a person of high refine 
 ment and accomplishments. Her labors of benevolence brought her 
 and Lieutenant Samuel to an acquaintance which eventuated in his 
 obtaining her hand and heart. He pursued and finished his theologi 
 cal studies, and was married to Miss Gilpin, and was settled pastor 
 over the church and society of Chester, then a part of Saybrook." 
 
 -Gideon, the eldest son of the Rev. Gideon Mills, and 
 the grandfather of John Brown, the liberator, was also 
 a lieutenant in the American army, and died in 1813, 
 at Barkhamsted, Connecticut, at the age of sixty-four. 
 He left two sons and four daughters, of whom Rutty 
 the eldest child, married Owen Brown, the father of 
 
The Child and his Anceftors. 21 
 
 JOHN BROWN BORN. 
 
 The town records of Torriugton supply these dates : 
 
 "Owen Brown, now of Torrington, late of Simsbury, was married 
 at Simsbury, on the llth day of February, A. D. 1793. 
 
 " Anna Ruth Brown, daughter of Owen and Iluth Brown, was 
 born in the town of Norfolk, the 5th day of July, 1798. 
 \/ " John Brown, son of Oicen and Rufh Brown, was born in Torrington, 
 the 9th day of May, 1800. 
 
 " Salmon Brown, son of Owen and Ruth Brown, was born on the 
 30th day of April, 1802. 
 
 " Oliver Owen Brown, son of Owen and Ruth Brown, was born 
 the 26th day of October, A. D. 1804." 
 
 John Brown, therefore, was born in the year 1800, 
 at Torrington, Connecticut, where he lived, " about a 
 mile north-west of the meeting house," until the age 
 of five, when his father emigrated to Hudson, Ohio ; 
 where, we are told, " he became one of the principal 
 pioneer settlers of that then new town, ever respected 
 for his probity and decision of character ; " was " com 
 monly called Squire Brown, and was one of the Board 
 of Trustees of Oberliu College ; " was " endowed with 
 energy and enterprise, and went down to his grave 
 honored and respected, about the year 1852 or 1853, 
 at the age of eighty-seven." 
 
2o The Child and his Anceftors. 
 
 This stout-hearted Puritan left three sons and -hree 
 daughters. Elizabeth and Faithe were married twice, 
 and Anna was the third wife of the Reverend William 
 Robinson. The biography of Jedediah is brief enough : 
 " Born in 1755-6 married Miss Wells." 
 
 Rev. Samuel Mills, second son of the Rev. Gideon 
 Mills, graduated at Yale College in 1776, " with a 
 view to the gospel ministry." 
 
 "Being full of the patriotism prevalent at that time, he entered the 
 American army as lieutenant in the cavalry. In one of those actions 
 which took place in 1777, this young officer received a wound from a 
 horseman s sword in the forehead, was taken prisoner, and conveyed 
 into Philadelphia with a deep and dangerous wound, the scar of which 
 he carried through the remainder of his life. The sick and wounded 
 prisoners in Philadelphia experienced far different treatment from that 
 which those unfortunate American prisoners received from the British 
 and tories in New York in 1776. A kind Providence furnished a 
 goodly number of ministering angels, (if the expression may be allow 
 able,) in the persons of some of the most accomplished ladies of Phil 
 adelphia. Those of superior rank and refinement took it upon them 
 to visit and minister to the wants of the suffering prisoners. Among 
 those worthy ladies was Miss Sarah Gilpin, a person of high refine 
 ment and accomplishments. Her labors of benevolence brought her 
 and Lieutenant Samuel to an acquaintance which eventuated in his 
 obtaining her hand and heart. He pursued and finished his theologi 
 cal studies, and was married to Miss Gilpin, and was settled pastor 
 over the church and society of Chester, then a part of Saybrook." 
 
 -Gideon, the eldest son of the Rev. Gideon Mills, and 
 the grandfather of John Brown, the liberator, was also 
 a lieutenant in the American army, and died in 1813, 
 at Barkhamsted, Connecticut, at the age of sixty-four. 
 He left two sons and four daughters, of whom Rutty; 
 the eldest child, married Owen Brown, the father of 
 
The Child and his Anceftors. 21 
 
 JOHN BROWN BORN. 
 
 The town records of Torriiigtou supply these dates : 
 
 "Owen Brown, now of Torrington, late of Simsbury, was married 
 at Simsbury, on the llth day of February, A. D. 1793. 
 
 " Anna Ruth Brown, daughter of Owen and Ruth Brown, was 
 
 /orn in the town of Norfolk, the 5th day of July, 1798. 
 "John Brown, son of Given and Ruth Brown, was born in Torrington, 
 the 9th day of May, 1800. 
 
 " Salmon Brown, son of Owen and Ruth Brown, was born on the 
 30th day of April, 1802. 
 
 "Oliver Owen Brown, son of Owen and Ruth Brown, was born 
 the 26th day of October, A. D. 1804." 
 
 John Brown, therefore, was born in the year 1800, 
 at Torrington, Connecticut, where he lived, " about a 
 mile north-west of the meeting house," until the age 
 of five, when his father emigrated to Hudson, Ohio ; 
 where, we are told, " he became one of the principal 
 pioneer settlers of that then new town, ever respected 
 for his probity and decision of character ; " was " com 
 monly called Squire Brown, and was one of the Board 
 of Trustees of Oberliu College ; " was " endowed with 
 energy and enterprise, and went down to his grave 
 honored and respected, about the year 1852 or 1853, 
 at the age of eighty-seven." 
 
II. 
 
 THE FATHER OF THE MAN. 
 
 TRULY says the poet, that the child is father of the 
 man. This is why every incident of the childhood 
 of great men is so eagerly sought and cherished by 
 their friends and admirers. When the fruit is glorious, 
 we desire to see the blossom, too. Happily, in the case 
 of Captain John Brown, this desire can be amply grati 
 fied and in a way, and by the pen, of all others the 
 best fitted to do justice to it. Gladly I here step aside 
 for the old hero ; to permit him, in his own inimitable 
 style, to narrate the history of his infancy, and early 
 manhood. 
 
 All that it becomes me to write, by way of preface, 
 is a brief statement of the story of this autobiography. 
 
 When John Brown was in Boston, in the winter of 
 1857, among other noble friends of freedom here, he 
 made the acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. Stearns, of 
 Medford ; who, recognizing him at once as an historic 
 character, although clad in a plain suit of clothes 
 only, and with a leathern strap for a neck-tie, received 
 him at their hospitable home with all the honor justly 
 due to a hero and a saint. Their children soon learned 
 
 (22) 
 
The Father of the Man. 23 
 
 to love the old warrior ; for, like all godlike men, he 
 loved little children ; and, like all young souls, they 
 instinctively recognized the true hero. One of them 
 asked him many questions about his childhood, and he 
 recounted, with great interest, the incidents of his 
 infancy and boyish days. When the old man was pre 
 paring to return to Kansas, Master Henry (to whom 
 the Letter is addressed) asked his father s permission 
 to give all his pocket money to Captain Brown. The 
 permission was readily granted, and the old hero received 
 the money. He promised, at the same time, if he 
 should ever find the leisure for it, to write out for 
 his young friend an account of his own early life. 
 
 When crossing the State of Iowa, with military sup 
 plies, in the month of July following, he himself 
 driving a team, he was detained for some time by 
 the failure of certain parties to fulfil their promises to 
 send him money. He then fulfilled his promise, and 
 wrote this autobiographical sketch. I have copied it 
 with the fidelity of a Chinese artist : Italics, punctua 
 tion, orthography, and omissions. I add a few notes 
 only, and divide it into paragraphs. It fills six pages 
 of letter-paper in the original manuscript, which is 
 very closely written, and contains two paragraphs only 
 the Letter and the postscript. 
 
 It is hardly necessary for me to say that the internal 
 evidences of its perfect fidelity are overwhelming : for 
 we see throughout it the same grand traits in the bare-! 
 footed, bareheaded boy, clad in "buckskin breeches^ 
 suspended often with one leather strap and sometimes 
 with two ; " who idolized the " bobtail squirrel," and 
 
24 The Father of the Man. 
 
 had " a mourning season " at its death ; and who, at 
 the age of twelve, swore eternal war against slavery ; 
 which, when in the jail and the Court room and on the 
 gallows of Charlestown, Virginia, astonished and de 
 lighted the world. 
 This is the Letter : 
 
 RED ROCK, IOWA, loth July, 1857. 
 
 MR HENRY L. STEARNS 
 
 My Dear Young Friend 
 
 I have not forgotten my promise to write you ; hut 
 my constant care, & anxiety have obliged me put it 
 off a long time. I do not flatter myself that I can 
 write any thing that will very much interest you : hut 
 have concluded to send you a short story of a certain 
 boy of my acquaintance : & for convenience and short 
 ness of name, I will call him John. His story will be 
 mainly a naration of follies and errors ; which it is 
 to be hoped you may avoid; but there is one thing 
 connected with it, which will be calculated to encour 
 age any young person to persevering effort: & that 
 is the degree of success in accomplishing his objects 
 which to a great extent marked the course of this boy 
 throughout my entire acquaintance with him ; notwith 
 standing his moderate capacity ; & still more mod 
 erate acquirements. 
 
 John was born May 9th 1800, at Torrington, Litch- 
 field Co, Connecticut ; of poor but respectable parents : 
 a decendant on the side of his father of one of the com 
 pany of the Mayflower who landed at Plymouth 1620. 
 His mother was decended from a man who came at an 
 early period to New England from Amsterdam, in Hoi- 
 
The Father of the Man. 25 
 
 land. Both his Father s & his Mother s Fathers served 
 in the war of the revolution : His Father s Father ; 
 died in a barn at New York while in the service, in 
 1776 
 
 I cannot tell you of any thing in the first Four years 
 of John s life worth mentioning save that at that early 
 age he was tempted by Three large Brass Pins belong 
 ing to a girl who lived in the family & stole them. 
 Ir. this he was detected by his Mother ; & after having 
 a full day to think of the wrong : received from her a 
 thorough whipping. When he was Five years old his 
 Father * moved to Ohio ; then a wilderness filled with 
 wild beasts, & Indians. During the long journey which 
 was performed in part or mostly with an ox team ; he 
 was called on by turns to assist a boy Five years older 
 (who had been adopted by his Father & Mother) & 
 learned to think he could accomplish smart thing s in 
 driving the Cows ; and riding the horses. Sometimes he 
 met with Rattle Snakes which were very large ; & which 
 some of the company generally managed to kill. After 
 getting to Ohio in 1805 he was for some time rather 
 
 * A correspondent thus writes of John Brown s father : " My recollections of John 
 Brown begin in the winter of 1806-7. I was then five years old. My father s family 
 lived that winter at Hudson, Ohio, which was then one of the remotest of the settle 
 ments made by Connecticut people on their Western Rtserve. One of our nearest neigh 
 bors there was Mr. Owen Brown, who had removed to Hudson, not long before, from 
 Connecticut. I remember him ver> 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 an inveterate and most painful stammerer the 
 first specimen of that infirmity that I had evr seen, and, according to my recollection, 
 the worst that I had ever known to this day ; consequently, thoxigh we removed from 
 Hudson to another settlement early in the summer of 1807, and returned to Connect! 
 cut in 1812, so that I rarely saw any of that family afterwards, I have never to this 
 day seen a man struggling and half strangled with a word stuck in his throat, without 
 remembering good Mr. Owen Brown, who could not speak without stammering, except 
 in prayer" 
 
 8 
 
26 The Father of the Man. 
 
 afraid of the Indians, & of their Eifles ; but this soon 
 wore off: & he used to hang about them quite as much 
 as was consistent with good manners ; & learned .a 
 trifle of their talk. His Father learned to dress Deer 
 Skins, & at 6 years old John was installed a young 
 Buck Skin He was perhaps rather observing as he 
 ever after remembered the entire process of Deer Skin 
 dressing- ; so that he could at any time dress his own 
 leather such as Squirel, Raccoon, Cat, Wolf or Dog 
 Skins ; & also learned to make Whip Lashes : which 
 brought him some change at times ; & was of con 
 siderable service in many ways. At Six years old 
 John began to be quite a rambler in the wild new 
 country finding birds & Squirels, & sometimes a wild 
 Turkey s nest. But about this period he was placed 
 in the school of adversity : which my young friend was 
 a most necessary part of his early training. You may 
 laugh when you come to read about it ; but these were 
 sore trials to John : whose earthly treasures were very 
 few & small. These were the beginning of a severe 
 but much needed course of discipline which he after 
 wards was to pass through ; & which it is to be hoped 
 has learned him before this time that the Heavenly 
 Father sees it best to take all the little things out of his 
 hands which he has ever placed in them. When John 
 was in his Sixth year a poor Indian boy gave him a 
 Yellow Marble the first he had ever seen. This he 
 thought a great deal of; & kept it a good while ; but 
 at last he lost it beyond recovery. It took years to heat 
 the icound ; & I think he cried at times about it. About 
 Five months after this he caught a young Squirrel 
 
The Father of the Man. 
 
 tearing off his tail in doing it ; & getting si verely bit 
 ten at the same time himself. He however held on to 
 the little bob tail Squirrel; & finally got him perfectly 
 tamed, so that he almost idolized his pet. This too he 
 lost; by its wandering away; or by getting killed : & 
 for a year or Two John was in mourning-; and looking 
 at all the Squirrels he could see to try & discover 
 Bob tail, if possible. Ijnust not neglect to tell you of 
 a very bad 4* foolish babbit to which John was some 
 
 what addicted. I mean telling lies : generally to screen 
 himself from blame ; or from punishment. He could 
 not well endure to be reproached ; & I now think had 
 f Be been__oftener encouraged to Iffi ^ntiraly frank ; by 
 making frankness a kind of atonement, for some of his 
 faults ; he would not haje been__so,Q&en, guilty joL this 
 fault; nor have been obliged to struggle so long- in 
 after life with so mean a habit. John was never quar- 
 elsome ; but was excessively fond of the hardest 8f 
 roughest kind of plays ; & could never get enough [of] 
 them. 
 
 Indeed when for a short time he was sometimes sent 
 to School the opportunity it afforded to wrestle & 
 Snow ball & run & jump & knock off old seedy wool 
 hats ; offered to him almost the only compensation 
 for the confinement, & restraints of school. I need 
 not tell you that with such a feeling & but little 
 chance of going to school at all : he did not become 
 much of a schollar.* He would always choose to stay j 
 
 f * "He did not go to Harvard. Ho was not fed on the pap that is there fur- 
 I nished. As he phrased it, I know no more grammar than one of your calves But\ 
 I he went to the University of the West, whero he studied the science of Liberty ; and, \ 
 V having taken his degrees, he finally commenced the public practice of humanity in \ 
 
 Kansas. Such were his humanities he would have left a Greek accent slanting th 
 
 wrong way, and righted up a falling man." HENRY D. THOREAC. 
 
28 The Father of the Man. 
 
 at home & work hard rather than be sent to school ; 
 & during the warm season might generally be seen 
 barefooted 8f bareheaded: with Buck skin Breeches 
 suspended often with one leather strap over his shoulder 
 but sometimes with Two. To be sent off through the 
 wilderness alone to very considerable distances was par 
 ticularly his delight ; & in this he was often indulged so 
 that by the time he was Twelve years old he was sent off 
 more than a Hundred Miles with companies of cattle ; 
 & he would have thought his character much injured 
 had he been obliged to be helped in any such job. 
 This was a boyish kind of feeling but characteristic 
 however.* 
 
 At Eight years old John was left a Motherless 
 boy which loss was complete & permanent, for not 
 withstanding his Father again married to a sensible, iu- 
 teligent, & on many accounts a very estimable wo 
 man : yet he never addopted her in feeling : but 
 continued to pine after his own Mother for years. This 
 opperated very unfavourably uppon him ; as he was 
 
 * A friend, referring to a later period, thus writes of John Brown s woodmanship: 
 " In his early manhood he had been a surveyor, and as such had traversed a large part 
 of Ohio and Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, and was thus in some degree familiar 
 with the locality where, it would seem, he intended to operate. This life in the woods, 
 to which he was trained from a boy, gave him the habits and the keen senses of a 
 hunter or an Indian. He told me he had been remarkably clear-sighted and quick of 
 ear, and that he had smelled the frying of doughnuts at five miles distance ; but this 
 was when extremely hungry. He knew all the devices of woodcraft; declared ho 
 could make a dinner for forty men out of the hide of one ox, and thought he under 
 stood how to provide for an army s subsistence." 
 
 Last Spring, when in Boston, John Brown asked me where he could learn to " make 
 crackers in a rough way," in ovens, to be burrowed out in hill-sides; and where, also, 
 he could be taught how to manufacture beef-meal. He had often found it inconven 
 ient, he said, to keep a herd of oxen, as they required too many men to tend them, 
 and could n<>t always be concealed. He wanted to know how to boil a herd down into 
 a few barrels of beef-flour, so as to be ready for a speedy transportation, and to keep his 
 men employed when not engaged in other duties. I believe be learned the process 
 ere 
 

 
 The Father of the Man. 29 
 
 both naturally fond of females ; & withall extremely 
 diffident ; & deprived him of a suitable connecting 
 link between the different sexes ; the want of which 
 might under some circumstances have proved his ruin. 
 
 When the war broke out with England* his Father 
 soon commenced furnishing the troops with beef cattle, 
 the collecting & driving of which afforded him some 
 opportunity for the chase (on foot) of wild steers & 
 other cattle through the woods. During this war he 
 had some chance to form his own boyish judgment of / 
 men fy measures : & to become somewhat familiarlyv 
 acquainted with some who have figured before the 
 country since that time.f The effect of what he saw 
 during the war was to so far disgust him with military 
 affairs that he would neither train, or drill ; but paid 
 fines ; & got along like a Quaker untill his age finally 
 has cleared him of Military duty. 
 
 During the war with England a circumstance oc 
 curred that in the end made him a most determined , 
 Abolitionist : & led him to declare, or Swear : Eter~ 
 nal war with Slavery. He was staying for a short time 
 
 * " He accompanied his father to the camp, and assisted him in his employment, see 
 ing considerable of military life, more, perhaps, than if ho had been a soldier, for he 
 was often present at the councifs of the officers. lie learned by experience how 
 armies are supplied and maintained in the field. He saw enough of military life to 
 disgust him with it, and to excite in him a great abhorrence of it. Though tempted 
 by the offer of some petty office in the army, when about eighteen, he not only declined 
 to accept this, but refused to train, and was fined in consequence. He then resolved 
 that he would have nothing to do with any war unless it were a war for liberty." 
 HENRY D. THOREAU. 
 
 f A friend, in his "Reminiscences of John Brown," thus writes of this period: 
 " As a boy he was present at Hull s surrender, in 1812, and overheard conversations 
 between Cass, McArthur, and other subordinate officers of that General, which, he said, 
 if he could have reported them to the proper persons at Washington, would have 
 branded them as mutineers. To their disorderly conduct he ascribe^. f lie surrender, 
 and thought great injustice had been done to Hull, who, though an old maa, and unfit 
 for such a command, was brave and honest." 
 
 3* 
 
 
 
go The Father of the Man. 
 
 with a very gentlemanly landlord once a United States 
 Marshall who held a slave hoy near his own age very 
 active, intelligent and good feeling ; & to whom John 
 was under considerable obligation for numerous little 
 acts of kindness. The master made a great pet of 
 John : brought him to table with his first company ; 
 & friends ; called their attention to every little smart 
 thing he said, or did : & to the fact of his being more 
 than a hundred miles from home with a company of 
 cattle alone ; while the negro boy (who was fully if 
 not more than his equal *) was badly clothed, poorly 
 fed ; fy- lodged in cold weather : & beaten before his 
 eyes with Iron Shovels or any other thing that came 
 first to hand. This brought John to reflect on the 
 wretched ; hopeless condition, of Fatherless & Moth 
 erless slave children: for such children have neither 
 Fathers nor Mothers to protect, & provide for them. 
 He sometimes ould raise the question is God their 
 Father ? 
 
 At the age of Ten years an old friend induced him 
 to read a little history ; & offered him the free iise of 
 a good library ; by ; which he acquired some taste for 
 reading : which formed the principle part of his early 
 education : & diverted him in a great measure from 
 bad company. He by this means grew to be very fond 
 of the company, & conversation of old & intelligent 
 persons. He never attempted to dance in his life ; nor 
 did he ever learn to know one of a pack of cards from 
 another. He learned nothing of Grammer ; nor did 
 
 * This early fact is as characteristic of his modesty as humanity : both distinguish 
 ing traits of his old age. 
 
The Father of the Man. 31 
 
 he get at school so much knowledge of common Arith 
 metic as the Four ground rules. This will give you 
 some general idea of the first Fifteen years of his life ; 
 during which time he became very strong & large of 
 his age & ambitious to perform the full labour of a 
 man ; at almost any kind of hard work. By reading 
 the lives of great, wise & good men their sayings, 
 and writings ; he grew to a dislike of vain & frivo 
 lous conversation 8f persons; & was often greatly 
 obliged by the kind manner in which older & more 
 inteligent persons treated him at their houses ; & in 
 conversation ; which was a great relief on account of 
 his extreme bashfulness.* 
 
 He very early in life became ambitious to excel in >/ 
 doing any thing he undertook to perform. This kind 
 of feeling I would recommend to all young persons 
 both male 8f female : as it will certainly tend to se 
 cure admission to the company of tiij more inteligent; 
 & better portion of erery community. By all means 
 endeavor to excel in some laudable pursuit. 
 
 I had like to have forgotten to tell you of one of 
 John s misfortunes which set rather hard on him while 
 a young boy. He had by some means perhaps by gift 
 of his Father become the owner of a little Ewe Lamb A 
 which did finely till it was about Two Thirds grown ; * 
 & then sickened & died. This brought another pro- 
 
 * " lie told me," writes a distant relative of John Brown, " that when a lad, say of 
 fourteen, he bad been at work on the road along with a man who should have been 
 above mere trifling and nonsense, but who talked nothing else. Returning home at 
 evening with the company in the ox-cart, as the convenient custom was, he dropped 
 Borne expression of contempt for this man. This led my paternal grandfather to take 
 special notice of him as a thoughtful boy, and to improve every opportunity to advise 
 and instruct him as he might." 
 
32 The Father of the Man. 
 
 tracted mourning- season: not that he felt the pecu 
 niary loss so much : for that was never his disposi- 
 tion : but so strong & earnest were his atachments. 
 
 John had been taught from earliest childhood to 
 "fear God & keep his commandments;" & though 
 quite skeptical he had always by turns felt much seri 
 ous doubt as to his future well being ; & about this 
 time became to some extent a convert to Christianity 
 & ever after a firm believer in the divine authenticity 
 of the Bible.* With this book he became very famil 
 iar, & possessed a most unusual memory of its entire 
 contents. 
 
 Now some of the things I have been telling of; were 
 
 just such as I would recommend to you: & I w d 
 
 like to know that you had selected these out ; & 
 
 adopted them as part of your own plan of life ; & 1 
 
 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 tenacity whatever he set about so long as it 
 
 answered his general purpose : & hence he rarely 
 
 failed in some good degree to effect the things he 
 
 /undertook. This was so much the case that he habitu- 
 
 I ally expected to succeed in his undertakings. With 
 
 V this feeling should be coupled; the consciousness that 
 
 our plans are right in themselves. 
 
 During the period I have named John had acquired 
 a. kind of ownership to certain animals of some little 
 
 * He joined the Congregational church in Hudson, Ohio, at the age of sixteen. Ten 
 years later, on moving to Pennsylvania, he transferred his membership to the Presby 
 terian hurch, with which he remained connected till the day of his martyrdom. 
 
The Father of the Man. 
 
 33 
 
 value but as he had come to understand that the title 
 of minors might be a little imperfect ; he had recourse 
 to various means in order to secure a more indcpend- 
 ant; & perfect right of property. One of those means 
 was to exchange with his Father for some thing of far 
 less value. Another was by trading with other persons 
 for something his Father had never owned. Older 
 persons have some times found difficulty with titles. 
 
 From Fifteen to Twenty years old, he spent most of 
 his time working at the Tanner & Currier s trade keep 
 ing Bachelors hall ; & he officiating as Cook ; & for 
 most of the time as forman of the establishment under 
 his Father. During this period he found much trouble 
 with some of the bad habits I have mentioned & with 
 some that I have not told you off: his concience urging 
 him forward with great power in this matter : but his 
 close attention to business ; & success in its manage 
 ment ; together with the way he got along with a com 
 pany of men, &> boys ; made him quite a favorite with^ 
 the serious & mare.iateligent portion of older persons.^ 
 This was so much the case ; & secured for him so man} r 
 little notices from those he esteemed ; that his vanityw 
 was very much fed by it : & he came forward to man 
 hood quite full of self-conceit ; & self-confident ; not 
 withstanding his extreme bashfulness. A younger 
 brother used sometimes to remind him of this : & to 
 repeat to him this expression which you may somewhere 
 find, " A King against whom there is no rising up.M , 
 $?he habit so early formed of being obeyed rendered 
 /him in after life too much disposed to speak in an 
 Umperious & dictating way. From Fifteen years & 
 
 r 
 
34 The Father of the Man. 
 
 upwajd he felt a good deal of anxiety to learn ; but 
 coulci only read & studdy a little ; both for want of 
 time ; & on account of inflammation of the eyes. He 
 however managed by the help of books to make himself 
 tolerably well acquainted with common arithmetic ; & 
 Surveying: which he practiced more or less after he 
 was Twenty years old. 
 
 At a little past Twenty years led by his own incli 
 nation 4* prompted also by his Father, he married a 
 remarkably plain ; but neat industrious & economical 
 girl ; of excellent character ; earnest piety ; & good 
 practical common sense ; about one year younger than 
 himself. This woman by her mild, frank, & more than 
 all else : by her very consistent conduct ; acquired & 
 ever while she lived maintained a most powerful ; & 
 good influence over him. Her plain but kind admoni- 
 i ,tions generally had the right effect ; without arousing 
 /{his haughty obstinate temper. John began early in life 
 to discover a great liking to fine Cattle, Horses, Sheep, 
 & Swine : & as soon as circumstances would enable him 
 he began to be a practical Shepherd : it being- a calling 
 j > for which in early life he had a kind of enthusiastic 
 i longing : * together with the idea that as a business it 
 bid fair to afford him the means of carrying out his 
 greatest or principle object. I have now given you a 
 kind of general idea of the early life of this boy ; & if 
 I believed it would be worth the trouble : or afford 
 
 * A friend writes: " So keen was his observation, that, as was told me, he knew 
 when a strange sheep had got into his flock of two or three thousand head. He was a 
 great lover of good stock of all kinds cattle, sheep, swine, and horses, and cared ten 
 derly for all the beasts he owned or used." 
 
The Father of the Man. 35 
 
 much interest to any good feeling person : I might be 
 tempted to tell you something of his course in after life ; 
 or manhood. I do not say that I will do it. 
 
 You will discover that in using up my half sheets to 
 save paper ; I have written Two pages, so that one docs 
 not follow the other as it should. I have no time to 
 write it over ; & but for unavoidable hindrances in 
 traveling I can hardly say when I should have written 
 what I have. With an honest desire for your best 
 good, I subscribe myself, Your Friend 
 
 J. BROWN. 
 
 P. S. I had like to have forgotten to acknowledge 
 your contribution in aid of the cause in which I serve. 
 God Allmighty bless you; my son. J. B. 
 
 HE STUDIES FOB THE MINISTRY. 
 
 To this autobiographical sketch, there is one impor 
 tant incident of John Brown s early life to be added. 
 " At the age of eighteen or twenty," writes a reliable 
 authority, " he left Hudson, Ohio, and came East, with 
 the design of acquiring a liberal education through 
 some of our New England colleges. His ultimate 
 design was the gospel ministry. In pursuance of this 
 object he consulted and conferred with the Rev. Jere 
 miah Hallock, then clergyman at Canton, Connecticut, 
 and in accordance with advice there obtained, proceeded 
 to Plainfield, Massachusetts, where, under the instruc 
 tion of the late Rev. Moses Hallock, he was fitted or 
 nearly fitted for college." 
 
 The youngest brother of this clergyman thus de 
 scribes John Brown : 
 
36 The Father of the Man. 
 
 " He was a tall, sedate, dignified young man. He had been a tan 
 ner, and relinquished a prosperous business for the purpose of intel 
 lectual improvement, but with what ultimate end I do not now know. 
 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 fingers, said, I 
 shall snap it. The very marked, yet kind unmovableness of the 
 young man s face on seeing father s defeat father s own look, and the 
 position of the people and things in the old kitchen somehow gave 
 me a fixed recollection of this little incident. How long John Brown 
 lived at our house, or at what period, I do not know. I think it must 
 have been in 1819 or 1820. I have the name John Brown on my list 
 of father s students. It is said that he was a relative of uncle Jer 
 emiah Hallock s wife, and that uncle J. directed him to Plainfield." 
 
 "While pursuing his studies," says the first writer: 
 
 "He was attacked with inflammation of the eyes, which ultimately 
 became chronic, and precluded him from the possibility of the further 
 pursuit of his studies, when he returned to Ohio. Had not this in 
 flammation supervened John Brown would not have died a Virginia 
 culprit on a Virginia gallows, but in all probability would have died 
 on a feather bed with D. D. affixed to his name.". 
 
 God had higher work for this sedate, dignified young 
 man than to write and deliver sermons to a parish. HE 
 was raising him up as a deliverer of captives and a 
 teacher of righteousness to a nation ; as the conserve!* 
 of the light of true Christianity, when it was threatened 
 with extinction, under the rubbish of creeds and con 
 stitutions, and iniquities enacted into laws. 
 
III. 
 
 THE MAN. 
 
 I DO NOT propose, in the presentjyqlume, to minute 
 ly trace the liie of JoImBrown from thedate of his 
 first marriage in 1 821 , iip to the time of his removal to 
 in 184Q t Although this period embraces 
 
 twenty-five years, its incidents do not form an essential 
 ^art of his public career ;~nor is a knowledge of them 
 requisite to correctly comprehend the illustrious ac 
 tions of his later age. Every record of this quarter of 
 a century, let it suffice for me to state, exhibits to us 
 the same earnest, pious, and heroic character, which, 
 by its unusual manifestations diiring_J,he" last two~ 
 months, has thrilled the pulses of sixteen States. The 
 keeper of sheep, the humble farmer and tanner, ap 
 pears, by the writings he has left behind him, and the 
 testimony of all who knew him, equally as courageous 
 and devout a personage as the Liberator of Kansas, the 
 Invader of Virginia, and the_^risoner_o.-thft Jail of 
 Charlestown. 
 
 The last chapter, indeed, is a prophecy of what his 
 future life would be, too faithful in its outline, and too 
 minute in its details, to render any record of its fulfil- 
 
 4 W 
 
38 The Man. 
 
 ment, in every varying phase of his business career, 
 essential to a just conception of his character. It 
 would be easy and safe enough to pass over these 
 twenty-five years, without looking at a solitary inci 
 dent of them, and yet to know that he would, and 
 how he would, pour them full to the brim of the living 
 waters of earnest deeds. Given : a stern inflexibility 
 of purpose, and an earnestness of nature so intense 
 that it did not seem to exist, as wheels that revolve 
 with the velocity of lightning, hardly seem to the look 
 er-on to be moving at all ; adding to them an infinite 
 faith in God, and man, and freedom, growing out of a 
 soul of the utmost integrity, self-reliance, modesty, and 
 almost child-like simplicity, transfused with the teach 
 ings of Jesus Christ, and inspired by the examples of 
 the Old Testament: putting this rare creation into 
 the walks of lowly life, at the head of a loyal and patri 
 archal household, and in a nation which, in its eager 
 hunt after gold, too often extinguishes the Holy Lamp 
 placed by the hand of Deity in the human soul ; and 
 one can readily foresee how, wherever it shall move, 
 common men at times must stand aghast at it smil 
 ing sometimes in derision oftener speaking in a pity 
 begotten of involuntary admiration for the poor " mon 
 omaniac," who is so erratic as to follow his Heaven- 
 implanted instincts, "no matter how ridiculous" in 
 the eyes of fools they may be, " or how inconvenient to 
 himself;" and " without the intellect to comprehend 
 the necessities, the nature, and the obligations arising 
 out of civil society." * To understand John Brown, the 
 
 * These phrases are quoted from conservative Republican journals. I spare th 
 ditors the misfortune of their uamee. 
 
The Man. 39 
 
 first thing needed is, to know what earnest sincerity ( 
 means. Do you believe in God ? Do you believe the y 
 Bible ? John Brown believed in Jehovah and His Word. 
 Sincerely, for nothing was permitted to stand between 
 the commandments of Jehovah and his obedience to 
 them ; sincerely, for while our scribes and pharisees 
 derided him, he translated his belief into earnest deeds, 
 and thereby proved how vain and false were their loud 
 professions. He was the last of the old Puritan type"} 
 of Christians. Gideon to him, and Joshua, and Moses, 
 were not interesting historic characters merely, as, 
 judging from their acts, modern Christians regard 
 them, but holy examples set before us, by Deity him 
 self, for our imitation and our guidance. Is the Bible 
 true ? Yes, say many modern Christians, never doubt 
 ing their own sincerity, and then denounce any forci 
 ble emancipation of God s enslaved poor. If the Bible 
 is the true Word, it follows that it is right to slay 
 God s enemies, if it be necessary thus to deliver God s 
 persecuted people. In John Brown s eyes, what Josh 
 ua did, and Jehovah sanctioned, could not be wrong. 
 And so with every doctrine. Between the command 
 of the Lord of Hosts and implicit obedience to it, he 
 permitted neither Creed nor Platform, Constitution nor 
 Law, to intervene. Did the Fathers of the Republic 
 intend to tolerate slavery ? He might admit the his 
 toric fact ; but still would he obey the divine command 
 and interfere with slavery. Most men have a Third 
 Heaven of Abstract Theories, while their civil actions 
 form the pillars of a Hell. John Brown s acts were 
 in harmony with his God-inspired creed, 
 
40 The Man. 
 
 It was thus in every relation of his private life, dur 
 ing this long period of twenty-five years, over which 
 we will now hurriedly pass, in order that we -may the 
 sooner come to those gigantic cameras Harper s Fer 
 ry, and the Jail of Charlestown in which, for forty 
 days, every line and lineament of the old Puritan s 
 noble soul were drawn with the unvarying fidelity 
 of Nature. 
 
 THE FAMILY RECORD. 
 
 John Brown was married to his first wife, Dianthe 
 Lusk, June 21, 1820, at Hudson, in Ohio. In order 
 to make no interruptions in the narrative, or confusion 
 of dates, I subjoin here the family record as it stood at 
 John Brown s death. 
 
 By his first wife, John Brown had seven children : 
 
 JOHN BROWN, junior, July 25, 1821, at Hudson, Ohio ; married 
 Wealthy C. Hotchkiss, Jul}*, 1847. He now lives in Ashtabula County, 
 Ohio ; now fully recovered from his once dangerous malady. 
 
 JASON BROWN, January 19, 1823, Hudson, Ohio ; married Ellen 
 Sherboudy, July, 1847. 
 
 OWEN BROWN, November 4, 1824, Hudson, Ohio ; he escaped from 
 Harper s Ferry. 
 
 FREDERICK BROWN, (1st,) January 9, 1827, Richmond, Pennsyl 
 vania ; died March 31, 1831. 
 
 RUTH BROWN, February 18, 1829, Richmond, Pennsylvania; mar 
 ried Henry Thompson, September 26, 1850. 
 
 FREDERICK BROWN, (2d,) December 21, 1830, Richmond, Pennsyl 
 vania; murdered at Osawatomie by Rev. -Martin White, August 30, 
 1856. 
 
 An INFANT SON, born August 7, 1832, was buried with his mother 
 three days after his birth. 
 
 By his second wife, Mary A. Day, to whom he was 
 married at Meadville, Pennsylvania, (while he was 
 living at Richmond, in Crawford County,) he had 
 thirteen children : 
 
 SARAH BROWN, born May 11, 1834, at Richmond, Pennsylvania; 
 di&sl September 23, 1843. 
 
The Man. 41 
 
 WATSON BROWN, October 7, 1835, Franklin, Ohio ; married Isa- 
 oella M.Thompson, September, 1856; wounded at Harper s Ferry, 
 October 17, while bearing a flag of truce; died October 19, 1859. 
 
 SALMON BROWN, October 2, 1836, Hudson, Ohio ; married Abbie C. 
 Hinckley, October 15, 1856 ; lives at North Elba. 
 
 CHARLES BROWN, November 3, 1837, Hudson, Ohio ; died Sep 
 tember 11, 1843. 
 
 OLIVER BROWN, March 9, 1839, Franklin, Ohio ; married Martha 
 E. Brewster, April 17, 1858 ; killed at Harper s Ferry, October 17, 
 1859. 
 
 PETER BROWN, December 7, 1840, Hudson, Ohio ; died September 
 22, 1843. 
 
 AUSTIN BROWN, September 14, 1842, Richfield, Ohio; died Sep 
 tember 27, 1843. 
 
 ANNE BROWN, December 23, 1843, Richfield, Ohio. 
 
 AMELIA BROWN, June 22, 1845, Akron, Ohio ; died October 30, 
 1846. 
 
 SARAH BROWN, (2d,) September 11, 1846, Akron, Ohio. 
 
 ELLEN BROWN, (1st,) May 20, 1848, Springfield, Massachusetts; 
 died April 30, 1849. 
 
 INFANT SON, April 26, 1852, Akron, Ohio; died May 17, aged 
 21 days. 
 
 ELLEN BROWN, (2d,) September 25, 1854, Akron, Ohio. 
 
 Tims, eight children now survive ; four by each wife. 
 
 THE YOUNG TANNER. 
 
 From his twenty-first to his twenty-sixth year, John 
 Brown was engaged in the tanning business, and as a 
 farmer, in Ohio. 
 
 In 1826, he went to Richmond, Richland township, 
 Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where he carried on 
 the old business till 1835. One of his apprentices at 
 this period informs us that he was characterized for 
 singular probity of life, and by his strong and " eccen 
 tric " benevolent impulses. He would refuse to sell \ 
 leather until the last drop of moisture had been dried 
 from it, " lest he should sell his customers water, and 
 reap the gain." 
 
 4* 
 
42 The Man. 
 
 " He is said to have caused a man to be arrested, or 
 rearrested, for some small offence, not easily substan 
 tiated to a jury, or who had already passed a prelimi 
 nary examination without effect, although he had sus 
 tained no personal injury, but simply because he 
 thought the crime should be punished ; and his benev 
 olence induced him to supply the wants of the offender 
 out of his private means, and to provide for the family 
 until the trial."* 
 
 That stern old English sense of justice ; that grand 
 Puritan spirit of inflexible integrity how beautifully 
 *N do they bloom out, thus early, in the life of this illus 
 trious man ! Evidently, in honor of this bright trait, 
 history will place John Brown, in her American Pan 
 theon, not among Virginia s culprits, but as high, at 
 least, as Virginia s greatest chief, whose best sayings 
 and achievements that young man just, was afterwards 
 to be slaughtered by Washington s native State, for 
 attempting to carry out to their legitimate results. 
 
 CHANGES OF RESIDENCE. 
 
 In 1835, he removed to Franklin Mills, Portage 
 County, Ohio, where, until 1841, he was engaged in the 
 tanning trade, and speculating in real estate. He made 
 several unfortunate investments, and lost a considera 
 ble amount of money. 
 
 In March, 1839, he started from Ohio for Connecti 
 cut, with a drove of cattle. He returned in July of 
 the same year, and brought back with him a few sheep, 
 Jus first purchases in that business, in which he after 
 wards was so largely interested. 
 
 * This incident is related by a citizen of Warren, Pennsylvania, who knew him well, 
 and regarded him at that time as an exemplary and highly Christian man. 
 
The Man. 43 
 
 In 1840, he went to Hudson, Ohio, and engaged in 
 the wool business with Mr. Oviatt, of Richfield ; to which 
 place, in 1842, John Brown removed, and remained 
 two years, when he entered into a partnership with 
 Colonel Perkins. During his residence in Richfield, 
 he lost four children, all of them within eleven days ; 
 and three were carried out together and interred in 
 the same grave. " From boyhood," writes Mr. Oviatt, 
 " I have known him through manhood ; and through 
 life he has been distinguished for his truthfulness and 
 integrity ; he has ever been esteemed, by those who 
 have known him, as a very conscientious man." 
 / It was in 1839 that he conceived the idea of becom- 
 Uno- a. T.il^rntnr nf the Southern . slaves . He had seen , 
 during the twenty-five years that had elapsed since he 
 became an Abolitionist, every right of human nature, 
 and of the Northern States, ruthlessly trodden under 
 the feet of the tyrannical Slave Power. Her"SftW it^J 
 blighting and blasting the manhood of the nation ; and 
 he listened to " the voice of the poor that cried." He 
 heard Lafayette loudly praised ; but he saw no helper 
 of the bondman. He saw the people building the sep 
 ulchres of the fathers of 76, but lynching and murdering 
 the prophets that were sent unto them. He believed that, 
 
 " Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow." 
 
 But the slaves, scattered ; closely watched ; prevented 
 from assembling to conspire ; without arms ; apparently 
 overpowered ; at the mercy of every traitor ; knowing 
 the white man only as their foe ; seeing, every where 
 and always, that (as the Haytian proverb pithily ex- 
 
44 The Man. 
 
 presses it,) "Zie blanc, bouille negues" the eyes ot 
 the whites burn up the negroes in order to arise and 
 strike a blow for liberty, needed a positive sign that 
 they had friends among the dominant race, who sym 
 pathized with them, believed in their right to freedom, 
 and were ready to aid them in their attempt to obtain 
 it. John Brown determined to let them know that 
 they had friends, and prepared himself to lead them to/ 
 liberty. From the moment that he formed this resolu 
 tion, he engaged in no commercial speculations, which 
 he could not, without loss to his friends and family, 
 wind up in fourteen days. He waited patiently. 
 " LEARN TO WAIT : I have waited twenty years," he 
 often said to the young men of principle and talent, 
 who loved and flocked around him when in Kansas. 
 
 In 1844, John Brown removed to Akron, Ohio ; in 
 1846, he went to Springfield, Massachusetts ; where, 
 in the following year, his family joined him. 
 
 A few life notes now are all that can be given here. \ 
 JOHN BROWN S FAVORITE BOOKS, TEXTS, AND HY 
 " My dear father s favorite books, of an historical char 
 acter," writes a daughter, " were Rollings Ancient Histo 
 ry, Josephus s Works, Napoleon and his Marshals, and 
 the Life of Oliver Cromwell. Of religious books : Bax 
 ter s Saints Rest, (in speaking of this work, at one time, 
 he said he could not see how any person could read it 
 through carefully without becoming a Christian,) the 
 Pilgrim s Progress, Henry on Meekness ; but above all 
 others, the BIBLE was his favorite volume, and ho had 
 such a perfect knowledge of it, that when any person was 
 reading it, he would correct the least mistake. His favor 
 ite passages were these, as nearly as I can remember : 
 
The Man. 45 
 
 Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them. 
 1 Whoso stoppcth his ear at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry 
 himself, but shall not be heard. 
 
 1 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed ; for he giveth his 
 bread to the poor. 
 
 14 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving 
 \ favor rather than silver and gold. 
 \ " Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker, and he that is 
 
 glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. 
 
 \ " He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that 
 which he hath given will he pay him again. 
 
 44 4 Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that woiild borrow 
 of thee turn not thou away. 
 
 " A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender 
 ; mercies of the wicked are cruel. 
 
 44 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the 
 power of thine hand to do it. 
 
 44 4 Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it ; 
 \ except the Lord keep the city, the watchman walketh in vain. 
 44 * I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. 
 
 " The last chapter of Ecclesiasticus was a favorite 
 one, and on Fast days and Thanksgivings he used very 
 often to read the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. 
 
 "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 most always say, Read 
 one of David s Psalms. 
 
 " His favorite hymns (Watts s) were these I give 
 the first lines only : 
 
 44 4 Blow ye the trumpet, blow. 
 
 44 4 Sweet is Thy work, my God, my King. 
 
 44 4 I ll praise my Maker with my breath. 
 
 44 4 O, happy is the man who hears. 
 
 44 4 Why should we start, and fear to die. 
 
 44 4 With songs and honors sounding loud. 
 
 44 4 Ah, lovely appearance of death. " 
 
 He was a great admirer of Oliver Cromwell. Of 
 
4.6 The Man. 
 
 colored heroes, Nat Turner and Cinques stood first in 
 his esteem. " How often," writes a daughter, " have I 
 heard him speak in admiration of Cinques character 
 and management in carrying his points with so little 
 bloodshed! " Of American writings, he chiefly admired 
 the sayings of Franklin, and the Farewell Address of 
 Washington. 
 
 I do not see how any one could draw the character 
 of John Brown better than by referring the reader to 
 his favorite books. The Bible, first and above all other 
 volumes, inspired every action of his life. He searched 
 it continually to find there the words of eternal life. 
 Nay, years hence, Christendom will recognize in John 
 Brown a translation of the Old Testament, not into 
 English words, but American flesh and blood. 
 
 As a father he was tenderly austere ; as a husband 
 devotedly faithful and kind. 
 
 He brought up his family as the Hebrew patriarchs 
 reared their children. The law of God was their ear 
 liest and most constant study ; unbounded and willing 
 obedience to it, their first and chief lesson. They 
 bended their knees every morning and evening at God s 
 altar ; daily read the sacred volume, and sung psalms 
 and hymns, and spiritual songs. Grace before and after 
 meat sanctified their board. The patriarchal principle 
 of filial reverence was in this family a distinguishing 
 trait. Self-sacrifice was their idea of earthly life. 
 
 " The Puritan idea," here it was out-lived ; no 
 where else was the grandest thing brought over in 
 the Mayflower so sacredly preserved. Some descend 
 ants of the passengers in that classic ship have chairs, 
 
The Man. 47 
 
 and tables, and other material evidences of her voyage 
 to America ; but this great family had the Idea that she 
 personifies, not pompously displayed in parlors or muse- 
 , but modestly, unconsciously, in their daily lives. 
 
 The sayings of Franklin, as will be seen in another 
 chapter, were exhibited in daily life in the household of 
 John Brown. And the Declaration of Independence 
 we will see how it was incarnated when we find the 
 old man and his sons in Kansas and Virginia. 
 
 " One of his favorite verses was," says a daughter, 
 
 T Count that day lost whose low- descending sun 
 i Yiews from thy hand no worthy action done." 
 
 Here, although in advance of the time, two incidents 
 may be related, which show how the ideas of the Bible 
 interpenetrated his whole being. 
 
 " I asked him," says a child, " how he felt when he 
 left the eleven slaves, taken from Missouri, safe in Can 
 ada ? His answer was, " Lord, permit now thy ser 
 vant to depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy 
 salvation." I could not brook the idea that any ill 
 should befall them, or they be taken back to slavery. 
 The arm of Jehovah protected iis. 
 
 The next anecdote, related since the old man s cap 
 tivity, by a distinguished citizen of Pennsylvania, is no 
 less characteristic : 
 
 " lie has elements of character, which, under circumstances favor 
 able to their proper development and right direction, would have made 
 him one of the great men of the world. Napoleon himself had no 
 more blind and trusting confidence in his own destiny and resources ; 
 his iron will and unbending purpose were equal to that of any man, 
 living or dead ; his religious enthusiasm and sense of duty (exagger 
 ated and false though it was) were yet earnest and sincere, and not 
 excelled by that of Oliver Cromwell or any of his followers ; while no 
 
48 The Man. 
 
 danger could for a moment alarm or disturb him. Though doubtless 
 his whole nature was subject to, and almost constantly, for the last 
 three or four years, pervaded by the deepest excitement, his exterior 
 was always calm and cool. His manner, though conveying the idea 
 of a stern and self-sustaining man, was yet gentle and courteous, and 
 marked by frequent and decided manifestations of kindness ; and it 
 can probably be said of him, with truth, that, amid all his provoca 
 tions, he never perpetrated an act of wanton or unnecessary cruelty. 
 He was scrupulously honest, moral, and temperate, and never gave 
 utterance to a boast. Upon one occasion, when one of the ex-Govern 
 ors of Kansas said to him that he was a marked man, and that the 
 Missourians were determined, sooner or later, to take his scalp, the 
 old man straightened himself up, with a glance of enthusiasm and 
 defiance in his gray eye, Sir, said he, the angel of the Lord will camp 
 round about me. " 
 
 His self-sacrificing spirit, his devotion to the Ameri 
 can idea, in its spirit "which giveth life," not in its 
 letter "which is death," may be clearly seen in a 
 single sentence from one of his family : 
 
 " On leaving us the first time that he went to Kansas, 
 he said, If it is so painful for us to part, with the hope 
 of meeting again, how dreadful must be the separation 
 for life of hundreds of poor slaves ! : 
 
 He inspired every one of his family with this heroic 
 Christianity. His sons were all young fathers ; John 
 Browns, junior, every .one. His son-in-law, also, was 
 touched with the holy fire from the altar of the old 
 man s soul. 
 
 " When William Thompson,"* writes a sister-in-law, 
 " talked of going to Harper s Ferry, his wife begged of 
 him not to go, telling him that she was afraid he would 
 be murdered : he said, Mary, you do not think of 
 any thing but self ! What is my life in comparison to 
 thousands of poor slaves in bondage ? : 
 
 * He whom the " party of Virginia gentlemen " murdered in cold blood. 
 
The Man. 
 
 49 
 
 For John Brown s habits a few words will suffice. 
 He was a very early riser, and a very hard worker. 
 His dress was extremely plain ; never in the fashion, 
 and never made of fine cloth. But he was always scru 
 pulously clean and tidy in his personal appearance. 
 "When first I saw him in his camp at Kansas, although 
 his clothing was patched and old, and he was almost 
 barefooted, he was as tidy, both in person and dress, 
 as any gentleman of Boston. He was noted for his 
 orderly and systematic business habits. His account 
 books and correspondence (which have been sacredly 
 preserved) are models of systematic arrangement. 
 Even to the day of his death, he regularly filed his 
 letters, writing the name of the correspondent, and the 
 word " Answered," or " Not time to read," or " No an 
 swer needed," on every one of them. His food was 
 always plain and simple. He never used tobacco in 
 any form, or wine or spirits on any pretence whatever. 
 When at home, he drank milk, or water only. It was 
 not till within a few years before his death, that he 
 ever tasted tea or coffee. He relinquished this habit 
 only from the desire to give no trouble to others ; for 
 he found that in travelling, it sometimes annoyed good 
 people to see their guests drink water instead of tea. 
 He never ate cheese or butter. " When a little boy, 
 ten years of age, he was sent of an errand, where a 
 lady gave him a piece of bread and butter. He was so 
 bashful, that he did not dare to tell her he never ate 
 butter ; and as soon as he got out of the house, he ran 
 as fast as he could for a long distance, and then threw 
 the gift out of sight " 
 5 
 
50 The Man. 
 
 Mr. Doolittle, of Ohio, Mr. Weeks and Mr. Hallock, 
 of Connecticut, were his favorite pastors. Although a 
 rigid Puritan, he loved Theodore Parker. " I am free 
 to say," lie once told me, " that I do not agree with 
 Mr. Parker in religious matters ; I think he is mistaken 
 in most of his views ; but I like him, sir ; he is a good 
 man." 
 
 " Captain Brown," writes a friend, " was extremely 
 fond of music. I once saw him sit listening with the 
 most rapt attention to Schubert s Serenade, played by 
 a mutual friend, and, when the music ceased, tears 
 were in the old man s eyes. He was indeed most 
 tender-hearted ( fond of children and pet creatures, 
 and always enlisted on the weaker side. ) The last 
 time I saw him in Boston, he had been greatly annoyed 
 by overhearing in the street some rude language ad 
 dressed to a black girl, who, he said, would never have 
 been insulted if she had been white. To him might 
 well be applied the words of the old Scotch ballad : 
 
 " Douglas, Douglas, tender and true. " 
 
 Of the different members of John Brown s family I 
 cannot write now ; but, on another occasion, I shall try 
 to do justice to the old hero as a father. I think, from 
 what I know of him, that John Brown by his wifj s chair 
 and the cradle of his children, was even a greater man 
 than John Brown at Osawatomie, and on the scaffold 
 of Charlestown. 
 
 Mrs. Brown, the present widow, was a fit mate for 
 her husband. Is it necessary to say more ? If it be, I 
 cannot write it. His first wife s character he himself 
 has drawn, and the reader has seen the portrait. 
 
The Man. 51 
 
 I have a few testimonials of John Brown s character 
 during this long period, from men who knew him well. 
 Mr. Baldwin, of Ohio, who has known him from 1814, 
 " considered him a man of rigid integrity and of ardent 
 temperament." Mr. George Leech, who knew him from 
 early boyhood, says that he " always appeared strictly 
 conscientious and honest,(but of strong impulses andV 
 strong religious feelings. ) Mr. William S. C. Otis writes,^ 
 " I became acquainted with John Brown about the year 
 1836 ; soon after my removal to Akron, he became a 
 client of mine ; subsequently a resident of the town 
 ship in which the town of Akron is situated ; and, dur 
 ing a portion of the latter time, a member of a Bible 
 class taught by me. In these relations which I sus 
 tained to Mr. Brown, I had a good opportunity to be 
 come acquainted with his mental, moral, and religious 
 character. I always regarded him as a man of more 
 than ordinary mental capacity, of very ardent and 
 excitable temperament, of unblemished moral charac 
 ter ; a kind neighbor, a good Christian, deeply imbued 
 with religious feelings and sympathies. In a business 
 point of view, his ardent and excitable temperament 
 led him into pecuniary difficulties ; but I never knew 
 his integrity questioned by any person whatever." 
 
 Since the foregoing chapter was stereotyped, I have found among 
 the North Elba manuscripts the following " Phrenological Descrip 
 tion of John Brown, as given by O. S. Fowler." It is dated New 
 York, February 27, 1847 : 
 
 JOHN BROWN PHRENOLOGICALLY DESCRIBED. 
 
 You have a brain of good size, and a physical organization of much more than 
 ordinary strength to sustain it. I should judge that you were from a long-lived ances 
 try, and that you yourself have inherited such a constitution as would enable you, 
 under ordinary circumstances, to live to a good old age. Your mind did not mature 
 
52 The Man. 
 
 as early as the majority of persons, but it is of the kind that is continually expanding 
 and improving, and will continue to augment in power to a more advanced age than that 
 of most persons. You are very active, both physically and mentally are positive in 
 your likes and dislikes, go the whole figure or nothing, and want others to do the 
 same. Your first ideas and impressions are your best; and, as a general thing, you 
 will find them a more safe guide than your after deliberations. You have the faculty 
 to take in all the various conditions of a thing at once, and hence the reason for the 
 correctness of your first impressions. You are quick and clear in your perceptions, 
 have good judgment of the quality and value of property, are a great observer, and 
 want to sec. You are more known for your practical off-hand talent than for depth 
 and profundity of comprehension have a discriminating mind, are quick to draw in 
 ferences, and are quite disposed to criticise. You reason more by analogy than from ab 
 stract principles, and are more practical than theoretical. You have a remarkable mem 
 ory of faces and places, but poor of names and dates. You can measure well by your eye, 
 and are annoyed if you see any thing out of proportion, or not exactly plumb have an 
 excellent memory of shape, outline, and size of whatever you see are a systematic, 
 methodical man : like to have a place for things, and things in their places. Your ability 
 to reckon figures mentally is naturally good you have a great deal of mechanical inge 
 nuity, are just the man to set others at work, to make bargains, and do up the out-door 
 business. You have a pretty good opinion of yourself would rather lead than be led 
 have great sense of honor, and would sccrn to do any thing mean or disgraceful. 
 In making up your mind you are careful and judicious, but are firm as the hills when 
 once decided. You might be persuaded, but to drive you would be impossible. You 
 like to have your own way, and to think and act for yourself are quite independent 
 and dignified, yet candid, open, and plain ; say just what you think, and most heartily 
 despise hypocrisy and artificiality ; yet you value the good opinion of others, though 
 you would not stoop to gain applause. You are quite cautious and prudent, and gen 
 erally look out for breakers ahead, and realize quite as much as you expect. It would 
 , be an advantage to you if you had a little more hope, and would allow yourself to 
 y look more on the bright side of things. ^As a religious man, you would be more in 
 clined to deal justly and love mercy than to pay much regard to forms and ceremonies. 
 You have not enough devotional feeling, nor of what we term spirituality of mind, 
 to give harmony and balance to the moral sentiments. They should be cultivated. 
 You believe what can be incontestably proved, and nothing else. You like to do busi 
 ness on a large scale, and can make money better than save it you want it for its 
 uses, in one form or another, rather than for its own sake. Yoi:r ability to read the 
 characters of others is excellent, but you have little tact in adapting yourself to them. 
 You are too blunt and free-spoken you often find that your motives are not under 
 stood, and that you give offence when you .do not intend to. When you criticise, you 
 are apt to do it in such a plain, pointed manner that it does not produce so good an 
 effect as it would if you should do it in a more bland and affable way. You have 
 strong domestic feelings, are very fond of children, home, and friends ; you may be 
 irritable, but are not contentious. You do not like to plod over one subject for a length 
 of time; but, on the contrary, like variety and change. Your thoughts and feelings 
 are more rapid and lasting. In your character and actions you are more original than 
 imitative, and have more taste for the useful than the beautiful and ornamental." 
 
IV. 
 
 PERKINS AND BROWN, WOOL FACTORS. 
 
 JOHN BROWN went to Springfield, Massachusetts, 
 in 1846. The following extract from a private 
 letter by an eminent citizen of that place, to whom, 
 when in prison, he wrote for legal assistance, will show 
 the estimation in which he was held by the conserva 
 tive men with whom he came in contact in his business 
 relations there. 
 
 JOHN BROWN IN SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 " Your letter asking for such information as I am able to give you 
 respecting John Brown is received, and in ordar to enable me to 
 answer it more fully than I could otherwise have done, I have called 
 upon a man who was his bookkeeper when he lived here. This person 
 informs me that he came here from Akron, Ohio, in the spring of 
 1816, and engaged in the business of wool-dealing. He was after 
 wards associated in business with a Mr. Perkins, of Ohio, and their 
 firm was Perkins and Brown. They sold large quantities of wool on 
 commission ; most of it was for farmers living in Western Pennsyl 
 vania. Mr. Brown left here in LSoO or ,1851. and removed with his 
 family to North Elba, Essex County, New York. This person says 
 (jerrui Smith gave him a large tract of land there. He says he knows 
 it because he saw the deed. . . . Mr. Brown s integrity was never 
 doubted, and he was honorable in all his dealings, but peculiar in 
 many orins notions, and adhering to them with great ob.^tiiKU y. Mr. 
 Wft8 ft qUiet and peaceable p.itizpn. and a religious man. Rev. 
 
 Mr. Conklin, who was settled here in the North Congregational 
 Church, and who separated himself in a^great measure from Tomer ram- 
 
54 Perkins and Brown, Wool Factors. 
 
 isters because he thought them culpably indifferent to the gin of 
 slavery, was intimate -with Mr. Brown, and they sympathized in their 
 anti-slavery ideas. Mr. Brown 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 that he used to say that it wa^ right for slaves to 
 kill their masters and escape, and thought slaveholders were guilty of 
 a very great wiekednessA He says Brown had lived in Ohio forty 
 years, and had been out there from Connecticut several times on foot ; 
 that he was familiar with the region about Harper s Ferry, and knew 
 the wool growers in all that part of the country. 
 
 Since -Brown went to Kansas he has been in town several times. 
 1 have seen him repeatedly. Once he called on me to inquire whether 
 the Emigrant Aid Company would assist him to purchase arms for the 
 protection of himself and his neighbors. I told him he could get no 
 aid from them. I understood he afterwards solicited subscriptions 
 from individuals. I never knew how he succeeded. He was here 
 again last summer, and called on me, and told me what he had been 
 doing in Kansas. His story was such that I told him I did not think 
 he had done wrong. He professed to have acted solely for the protec 
 tion of himself and his neighbors, and said he went to Missouri to help 
 the slaves escape, merely to frighten the Missourians, and keep them 
 from going to Kansas to disturb the people, and that he was successful 
 in it. I cannot learn that he spoke to any one in this region of his 
 Harper s Ferry enterprise, and do not believe that he did. A lady 
 here asked him if he was not going to lead a quiet life hereafter, and 
 he replied that he should unless he had a call from the Lord."" 
 
 A local journalist thus writes of John Brown s char 
 acter in Springfield : 
 
 "While a resident of this city Brown was respected by all who 
 knew him for his perfect integrity of character. . . .^ He is so con 
 stituted that when he gets possessed of an idea he carries it out with 
 i unflinching fidelity to all its logical consequences, as they" seem to him, 
 .., .:,.*: * ., absurdity, and deterred by no unpleasant consequences 
 
 1 kositating at no ab 
 \ jo himself.*^. Brc 
 Hie talked freely wi 
 
 Brown was here about a year ago, and spent several days, 
 talked freely with his friends in respect to his running off slaves from 
 Missouri. I He seemed to feel that he had a special mission in respect 
 to slavery, and he justified the running off of slaves, not on the ground 
 \ of personal vengeance for the bitter wrongs he had received, but as an 
 
 ^ * This statement was advanced as a proof that John Brown was n monomaniac! I 
 Ihink it is the bitterest satire on the age that I have ever read an unconscious and 
 no Tetfs tf&plfeiident efUWgiuin on fhe clraratftPr of my ft ieuS. 
 
Perkins and Brown, Wool Factors. 55 
 
 effective mode of operation against the institution itself. His theory 
 was then, and it was the secret of his Harper s Ferry movement, that 
 his mission was to make the institution insecure, to increase the gen 
 eral feeling of its insecurity at the South, and thus to act upon the 
 fear and prudence of the slaveholders.^) In all this he was deliberate, 
 calm, and conscientious. Doubtless his personal wrongs had con 
 tributed to the establishment of this fixed purpose of his life ; but his 
 vengeance was directed not against slaveholders, but against the insti 
 tution itself. [It was a matter of religion with him.) He is a Presby 
 terian in his faith, and feels that it is for this very purpose that God 
 raised him up."* 
 
 HIS FAILURE IN WOOL SPECULATIONS. 
 
 There are conflicting accounts of the reasons that 
 induced John Brown to remove to Springfield. The best 
 authenticated records, thus far produced, go to show 
 that it was the result of that (same spirit of resistance 
 to organized wrong^that had distinguished itself in his 
 own history and the history of his ancestry. A half- 
 friendly writer says : 
 
 " John Brown initiated the system of grading wools a system at 
 this day universally adopted, and with perfect success ; but the New 
 England manufacturers combined against him. He had at Springfield, 
 Massachusetts, a large deposit of graded Western wools, and he warred 
 against the combination of New England manufacturers, who, having 
 
 * A correspondent who visited Springfield in 1847, and saw John Brown there, thus 
 records an incident illustrative of his great strength of memory : 
 
 "In the summer of 1847, it happened to me that I spent a Sunday at the American 
 House, in Springfield, Mass. A stranger who had seen my name on the register of the 
 hotel, came to my room and claimed acquaintance with me. He was a plain man, 
 intelligent in his appearance, with something of that independent air which so natu 
 rally characterizes Western men, his head beginning to he whitened, (if I remember 
 correctly,) but his upright frame still perfectly firm and sinewy. As I was quite unable 
 to recognize him, he told me ho was John Brown, and made me remember, at last, that 
 we were schoolfellows more than fifty years before, when I was one of the least of the 
 pupils in the little log-cabin school at Hudson. I cannot recollect distinctly what ho 
 told me about his residence, his occupation, or his history ; but I remember clearly the 
 impression that he was an earnestly religious man, with somewhat more of the old 
 Puritan sternness than is common in these days, and with some tendency to that 
 eccentricity of opinion and of action which in modern phrase is called ultraism. I 
 am not sure that slavery was spoken of between us ; but it was evident that his men 
 tal and moral idiosyncrasy would place him among men to whom extreme opinions on 
 euch a subject are most natural*" 
 
56 Perkins and Brown, Wool Factors. 
 
 had the wool buying all their own way, did not fancy that a party 
 should step in between them and the producers to show the latter what 
 was for their interest, and to prevent the practice of imposition upon 
 them. The combination was successful, and Brown, impetuous and 
 indignant, shipped his wools to England, to find out that the price in 
 Massachusetts was better than in Europe." 
 
 Another writer says : 
 
 "In 1848 we find him in a large woollen warehouse in Springfield, 
 Massachusetts, where he was known as a quiet, modest man, of un 
 swerving integrity. Indeed, hundreds of wool-growers in Northern 
 Ohio consigned their stock to him to be sold at discretion. A com 
 bination of Eastern manufacturers, who wished to have no such stern 
 and unflinching man between themselves and the wool-growers, formed 
 in league against him, and forced him to send his wool to Europe for 
 a market, which resulted in a second disaster, and Brown was again 
 reduced to poverty." 
 
 The amount thus taken to Europe was two hundred 
 thousand pounds, which was sold in London for half 
 its value, and then reshipped to Boston. 
 
 JOHN BROWN IN EUROPE. 
 
 Of John Brown s travels in Europe, the only record 
 in existence, as far as the writer can ascertain, is the 
 following extract from reminiscences of conversations 
 with him (already quoted) by a noted friend of freedom 
 in Massachusetts : 
 
 " I heard from him an account of his travels in Europe, and his expe 
 rience as a wool-grower. He had chiefly noticed in Europe the agri 
 cultural and military equipment of the several countries he visited. 
 He watched reviews of the French, English, and German armies, and 
 made his own comments on their military systems. He thought a 
 standing army the greatest curse to a country, because it drained off 
 the best of the young men and left farming and the industrial arts to be 
 managed by inferior men. The German armies he thought slow and 
 umvieldy ; the German farming was bad husbandry, because there the 
 farmers did not live on their land, but in towns, and so wasted the 
 natural manures which should go back to the soil. England he 
 thought the best cultivated country he had ever seen, but the seats of 
 the English gentry he thought inferior to those of the wealthy among 
 us. He visited several of the famous battle grounds of Napoleon, 
 whose career he had followed with great interest ; but he thought him 
 
Perkins and Brown, Wool Factors. 57 
 
 wrong in several points of strategy, particularly in his choice of 
 ground for a strong position ; which Captain Brown maintained should 
 be a ravine rather than a hill top. In riding ivith him in an adjoining 
 county, he pointed out several such ravines, which, he said, could be 
 held by a few men against a large force, adding that he had acted on 
 this principle in Kansas, and never suffered from it. He ascribed his 
 winning the battle of Black Jack to his choice of ground.* (He thought 
 no American could visit Europe without coming home more in love 
 with our own country, for which he had a most ardent affection, while 
 he so cordially hated its greatest curse SLAVERY.) >/ 
 
 "He was noted for his skill in testing and recognizing different 
 qualities of wool. Give him two samples of wool, one grown in Ohio 
 and the other in Vermont, and he would distinguish each of them in 
 the dark. I have heard this story told of him while in England, where 
 he went to consult wool-merchants and wool-growers. One evening, 
 in company with several of these persons, each of whom had brought 
 samples of wool in his pocket, Captain Brown was giving his opinion 
 as to the best use to be made of certain varieties of wool, when one of 
 the party, wishing to play a trick on the Yankee farmer, handed him 
 a sample, and asked him what he would do with such wool as that ? 
 His eyes and fingers were then so good, that he had only to touch it 
 to know that it had not the minute hooks by which the fibres of wool 
 are attached to each other. Gentlemen, said he, if you have any 
 machinery that will work up dog s hair, I would advise you to put this 
 into it. The jocose Briton had sheared a poodle and brought the hair 
 in his pocket, but the laugh went against him ; and Captain Brown, in 
 spite of some peculiarities of dress and manner, soon won the respect 
 of all whom he met." 
 
 When in England at tins time, John Brown di 
 vulged his plan of liberation to several prominent 
 anti-slavery men ; but there, as elsewhere, while they 
 felt and professed an unbounded sympathy for the 
 slave, they neither countenanced nor approved of the 
 very earnest scheme of this dreadfully-in-earnest ab 
 olitionist. The Peters had but little sympathy with 
 the Richards the Heralds of Freedom, although an 
 earnest people, looked with suspicion and distrust on 
 the equally earnest Crusaders. Singular that the 
 
 * John Brown had undoubtedly great skill in choosing his ground and in erecting 
 rude fortifications. Many of them still exist in Southern Kansas. 
 
58 Perkins and Brown, Wool Factors. 
 
 preachers of the word should only half welcome the 
 actors of it! Both are noble, and needed, and God- 
 commissioned ; but the greatest of the Heralds, I 
 think, was not worthy to untie the latchet of John 
 Brown s shoes. 
 
 JOHN BROWN AND ANTHONY BURNS. 
 
 In the course of the partnership of Perkins and 
 Brown, a lawsuit arose, which is thus described by a 
 correspondent at Vernon, near Utica: 
 
 " During the years 1852, 3, and 4, Mr. Brown was one of the 
 firm of Perkins & Brown, doing a large wool trade, buying and selling, 
 in Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts. The sale of a large quantity 
 of wool to parties in Troy, N. Y., brought on a lawsuit between 
 Perkins & Brown and those parties. Mr. Brown s counsel resided in 
 Yernon, and he was here many times during those years. He prose 
 cuted that suit with all the vigor and pertinacity which he is said to 
 have since displayed in other matters. He obtained a verdict in his 
 favor, just before the Anthony Burns affair in Boston I think in 
 1853. The Trojans appealed from their verdict, and Brown then 
 spent some weeks here in looking over the testimony with his counsel, 
 and preparing an answer. 
 
 "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 walk 
 ing vigorously, and replied, Anthony Burns must be released, or I 
 will die in the attempt. The counsel dropped his pen in consterna 
 tion. 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. I took a long and 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." 
 
V. 
 
 NORTH ELBA. 
 
 JOHN BROWN and his family removed to North 
 f) Elba, in Essex County, New York, in 1849. It 
 was about this time that Mr. Gerritt Smith, the emi 
 nent philanthropist, offered to colored settlers his wild 
 lands in that district of the Adirondack wilderness. 
 Many of them accepted the offer, and wont there to 
 make the experiment. 
 
 "At this period," writes a friend, John Brown appeared one day 
 at Peterboro , and said to Mr. Smith: I see, by the newspapers, 
 that you have offered so many acres of wild land to each of the col 
 ored men, on condition that they cultivate them. Now, they are 
 mostly inexperienced in this kind of work, and unused to the climate, 
 while I am familiar with both. I propose, therefore, to take a farm 
 there myself, clear it and plant it, showing the negroes how such 
 work should be done. I will also employ some of them on my land, / 
 and will look after them in all ways, and will be a(kind of father to 
 them.\ Mr. Smith accepted the generous proposal, gave John Brown 
 the land, and allowed him to make the experiment, although he had 
 never before seen him." 
 
 So far as the negroes were concerned, this proved a 
 failure, but through no fault of John Brown s. He 
 did his part faithfully by them. 
 
 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 sub 
 ject, and mention instances of their fitness to take care of themselves, 
 
 (59) 
 
60 North Elba. 
 
 /saying, in his quaint way, that "they behaved so much like folks that 
 Nhe almost thought they were so." \He thought that perhaps a forcible 
 separation of the connection between master and slave icas necessary to 
 educate~the blacks for self-government ; *] but this he threw out as a sug 
 gestion merely." 
 
 The home of John Brown, and the romantic region 
 around it, have been visited by a scholar worthy of the 
 original, whose translation of their grandeur, physical 
 and moral, into the English language, makes the jour 
 ney henceforward unnecessary, save only for "in 
 struction in godliness." We see both the glory of the 
 mountains, and the grandeur of the faith that animates 
 its greatest family, in the vivid and touching descri}> 
 tion of a visit to the home of John Brown, herewith 
 subjoined, from the true and worthy pen of Thomas 
 VWentworth Higginson. No woman can read it without 
 being deeply moved ; and if there be a man who can 
 do so God pity him. 
 
 THE ROUTE TO NORTH ELBA. 
 
 "The traveller into the enchanted land of the Adirondack has his 
 choice of two routes from Keeseville to the Lower Saranac Lake, 
 where his out-door life is to begin. The one least frequented and 
 most difficult should be selected, for it has the grandest mountain 
 pass that the Northern States can show. After driving twenty-two 
 miles of mountain road from Keeseville, past wild summits bristling 
 with stumps, and through villages where every other man is black 
 from the iron foundery, and every alternate one black from the char 
 coal pit, your pathway makes a turn at the little hamlet of Wilming 
 ton, and you Boon find yourself facing a wall of mountain, with only 
 glimpses of one wild gap through which you must penetrate. In two 
 miles more you have passed the last house this side the Notch, and 
 you then drive on over a rugged way, constantly ascending, with no 
 companion but the stream which ripples and roars below. Soon the 
 last charcoal clearing is past, and thick woods of cedar and birch 
 
 * There is a terrible truth wrapped up in this suggestion. To obtain a recognition 
 of their equality in countries where negro slavery has existed, the blacks must either 
 fight the whites and dtftat them, or seek to establish a separate nationality elsewhere. 
 
North Elba. 61 
 
 close around you the high mountain on your right comes nearer 
 and nearer, and close beside, upon your left, are glimpses of a wall, 
 black and bare as iron, rising sheer for four hundred feet above your 
 head. Coming from the soft marble country of Vermont, and from 
 the pale granite of Massachusetts, there seems something weird and 
 forbidding in this utter blackness. On your left the giant wall now 
 appears nearer now retreats again ; on your right foams the merry 
 stream, breaking into graceful cascades and across it the great moun 
 tain Whiteface, seamed with slides. Now the woods upon your left 
 are displaced by the iron wall, almost touching the road-side ; against 
 its steep abruptness scarcely a shrub can cling, scarcely a fern flutter ; 
 it takes your breath away ; but five miles of perilous driving conduct 
 you through it ; and beyond this stern passway, this cave of iron, lie 
 the lovely lakes and mountains of the Adirondack, and the homestead 
 of JOHN Buowx. 
 
 THE HOMESTEAD AND ITS ORNAMENTS. 
 
 " 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 
 Leaven about it for a wider girdle ; on a high hill-side, 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. 
 
 "There stands the little house, with no ornament nor relief about 
 it it needs none with the setting of mountain horizon. Yes, there 
 is one decoration which at once takes the eye, and which, stern and 
 misplaced as it would seem elsewhere, seems appropriate here. It is a 
 strange thing to see any thing so old, where all the works of man are 
 new ! but it is an old, mossy, time worn tombstone not marking any 
 grave, not set in the ground but resting against the house as if its 
 time were either past or not yet come. Both are true it has a past 
 duty and a future one. It bears the name of Captain John Brown, 
 who died during the Revolution, eighty -three years ago ; it was his 
 tombstone brought hither by his grandson bearing the same name and 
 title ; the latter caused to be inscribed upon it, also, the name of his 
 son Frederick, murdered at Osawatomie for his adherence to the 
 cause of freedom, (so reads the inscription ;) and he himself has 
 said, for years, that no other tombstone should mark his grave, 
 6 
 
62 North Elba. 
 
 "For two years, now, that stone has stood there no oath has 
 been taken upon it, no curses been invoked upon it it marks the 
 abode of a race who do not curse. But morning and noon, as the 
 sons have gone out to their work on that upland farm, they have 
 passed by it ; the early light over the Adirondacks has gilded it, the 
 red reflection of sunset has glowed back upon it ; its silent appeal has 
 perpetually strengthened and sanctified that home and as the two 
 lately wedded sons went forth joyfully on their father s call to keep 
 their last pledge at Harper s Ferry, they issued from that doorway 
 between their weeping wives on the one side and that ancestral stone 
 upon the other. 
 
 THE FARM, AND WHY JOHN BROWN BOUGHT IT. 
 
 "The farm is a wild place ; cold and bleak. 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 any thing to sell of? 
 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. 
 
 " Do you ask why they lived in sxich a bleak spot ? With John 
 Brown and his family there is a reason for every thing, and it is always 
 the same reason. Strike into their lives any where, and you find the 
 game firm purpose at bottom, and to the widest questioning the same 
 prompt .answer comes ringing back, the very motto of the tomb- 
 J Btone (For adherence to the cause of freedom. } The same purpose, 
 nay, the selfsame project that sent John Brown to Harper s Ferry, 
 Bent him to the Adirondack. 
 
 " Twenty years ago, John Brown made up his mind that there was 
 an irrepressible conflict between Freedom and Slavery, and that in 
 that conflict he must take his share. He saw at a glance, moreover, 
 what the rest of us are only beginning to see, even now that Slavery 
 must be met, first or last, on its own ground. The time has come to 
 tell the whole truth now that John Brown s whole Kansas life was v 
 the result of this self-imposed mission, not the cause of it. Let us do ) 
 this man justice ; he was not a vindictive guerilla, nor a maddened { 
 Indian ; nor was he of so shallow a nature that it took the death of 
 a son to convince him that right was right, and wrong was wrong. 
 He had long before made up his mind to sacrifice every son he ever 
 had, if necessary, in fighting Slavery. If it was John Brown against 
 the world, no matter ; for, as his friend Frederick Douglass had truly 
 said, "In the right, one io a majority." On this conviction, therefore, 
 
North Elba. 63 
 
 he deliberately determined, twenty years ago this summer, that at 
 some future period he would organize an armed party, go into a Slave 
 State, and liberate a large number of slaves. Soon after, surveying 
 professionally in the mountains of Virginia, he chose the very ground 
 for his purpose. Visiting Europe afterwards, he studied military 
 strategy for this purpose, even making designs (which I have seen) 
 for a new style of forest fortification, simple and ingenious, to be used 
 by parties of fugitive slaves when brought to bay. He knew the 
 ground, he knew his plans, he knew himself ; but where should he find 
 his men ? He came to the Adirondack to look for them. 
 
 " Ten years ago, Gerritt Smith gave to a number of colored men 
 tracts of ground in the Adirondack Mountains. The emigrants were 
 grossly defrauded by a cheating surveyor, who, being in advance of 
 his age, practically anticipated Judge Taney s opinion, that black men 
 have no rights which white men are bound to respect. By his vil- 
 lany the colony was almost ruined in advance ; nor did it ever recover 
 itself; though some of the best farms which I have seen in that region 
 are still in the hands of colored men. John BroAvn heard of this ; he 
 himself was a surveyor, and he would have gone to the Adirondack, 
 or any where else, merely to right this wrong. But he had another 
 object ; he thought that among these men he should find coadjutors in 
 his cherished plan. He was not wholly wrong, and yet he afterwards 
 learned something more. Such men as he needed are not to be found 
 ^ordinarily ; they must be reared. John Brown did not merely look 
 for men, therefore ; he reared them in his sons. During long years of 
 waiting and postponement, he found others ; but his sons and their 
 friends (the Thompsons) formed the nucleus of his force in all his 
 enterprises. What services the females of his family may have ren 
 dered, it is not yet time to tell ; but it is a satisfaction to think that he 
 was repaid for his early friendship to these New York colored men, 
 by some valuable aid from freed slaves and fugitive slaves at Harper s 
 Ferry ; especially from Dangerfield Newby, who, poor fellow ! had a 
 slave wife and nine slave children to fight for, all within thirty miles 
 of that town. 
 
 " To appreciate the character of the family, it is necessary to know 
 these things ; to understand that they have all been trained from child 
 hood on this one principle, and for this one special project % taught to 
 believe in it as they believed in their God or their father A It has given 
 them a wider perspective than the Adirondacks. Vive years before, 
 when they first went to Kansas, the father and sons had a plan of 
 going to Louisiana, trying this same project, and then retreating into 
 Texas with the liberated slaves. Nurtured on it so long, for years 
 sacrificing to it all the other objects of life, the thought of its failure 
 
64 North Elba. 
 
 never crossed their minds ; and it is an extraordinary fact that when 
 the disastrous news first came to North Elba, the family utterly refused 
 to believe it, and were saved from suffering by that incredulity till the 
 arrival of the next weekly mail." 
 
 A PAUSE AT THE THRESHOLD. 
 
 " I had left the world outside, to raise the latch of this humble door 
 amid the mountains ; and now my pen falters on the threshold, as my 
 steps did then. This house is a home of sacred sorrow. How shall 
 we enter it ? Its inmates are bereft and ruined men and women, as the 
 world reckons; what can we say to them ? Do not shrink ; you are 
 not near the world ; you are near John Brown s household. In the 
 world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good cheer : they have 
 overcome the world. 
 
 " It had been my privilege to live in the best society all my life 
 namely, that of abolitionists and fugitive slaves. I had seen the most 
 eminent persons of the age : several men on whose heads tens of thou 
 sands of dollars had been set ; a black woman, who, after escaping 
 from slavery herself, had gone back secretly eight times into the jaws 
 of death to bring out persons whom she had never seen ; and a white 
 man, who, after assisting away fugitives by the thousand, had twice 
 been stripped of every dollar of his property in fines, and when 
 taunted by the Court, had mildly said, Friend, if thee knows any 
 poor fugitive in need of a breakfast, send him to Thomas Garrett s 
 door. I had known these, and such as these ; but I had not known 
 the Browns. Nothing short of knowing them can be called a liberal 
 education. Lord Byron could not help clinging to Shelley, because he 
 said he was the only person in whom he saw any thing like disinter 
 ested benevolence. He really believed that that man would give his life 
 for another. Poor Byron ! he might well have exchanged his wealth, 
 his peerage, and his genius for a brief training at North Elba. 
 
 " Let me pause a moment, and enumerate the members of the fam 
 ily. John Brown was born in 1800, and his wife in 1816, though both 
 might have been supposed older than the ages thus indicated. He 
 has had in all twenty children seven being the offspring of his first 
 wife, thirteen of his second. Four of each race are living eight in 
 all. The elder division of the surviving family are John and Jason, 
 both married, and living in Ohio ; Owen, unmarried, who escaped from 
 Harper s Ferry, and Ruth, the wife of Henry Thompson, who lives 
 on an adjoining farm at North Elba, an intelligent and noble woman. 
 The younger division consists of Salmon, aged twenty-three, who 
 resides with his young wife in his mother s house, and three unmar 
 ried daughter?, Anne, (sixteen,) Sarah, (thirteen,) and Ellen, (five.) 
 
North Elba, 65 
 
 In the same house dwell also the widows of the two slain sons 
 young girls, aged but sixteen and twenty. The latter is the sister of 
 Henry Thompson, and of the two Thompsons who were killed at 
 Harper s Ferry ; they also lived in the same vicinity, and one of them 
 also has left a widow. Thus complicated and intertangled is this 
 genealogy of sorrow. 
 
 All these young men went deliberately from North Elba for no 
 other purpose than to join in this enterprise. They could not, 
 they told their mother and their wives, live for themselves alone ; 
 and so they went. One young wife, less submissive than the others, 
 prevailed 011 her husband to remain ; and this is the only reason why 
 Salmon Brown survives. Oliver Brown, the youngest son, only 
 twenty, wrote back to his wife from Harper s Ferry in a sort of pre 
 monition of what was coming, If I can do a single good action, my 
 life will not have been all a failure. " 
 
 THE FAMILY OF JOHN BROWN. 
 
 < Having had the honor of Captain Brown s acquaintance for some 
 years, I was admitted into the confidence of the family, though I could 
 see them observing me somewhat suspiciously as I approached the 
 door. Every thing that was said of the absent father and husband 
 bore testimony to the same simple, upright character. Though they 
 had been much separated from him for the last few years, they all felt it 
 to be a necessary absence, and had not only no complaint to make, but 
 cordially approved it. Mrs. Brown had been always the sharer of his 
 plans. /Her husband always believed, she said, that he was to be 
 an instrument in the hands of Providence, and she believed it too. 
 This plan had occupied his thoughts and prayers for twenty years. 
 * Many a night he had lain awake, and prayed concerning it. Even 
 now, she did not doubt, he felt satisfied, because he thought it would 
 be overruled by Providence for the best. For herself, she said, 
 she had always prayed that her husband might be killed in fight 
 rather than fall alive into the hands of slaveholders ; but she could 
 not regret it now, in view of the noble words of freedom which it had 
 been his privilege to utter, ) When, the next day, on the railway, I 
 was compelled to put into ner hands the newspaper containing the 
 death warrant of her husband, I felt no fears of her exposing herself 
 to observation by any undue excitement. She read it, and then the 
 tall, strong woman bent her head for a few minutes on the seat before 
 us ; then she raised it, and spoke calmly as before. 
 
 "I thought that I had learned the lesson once for all in Kansas, 
 which no one ever learns from books of history alone, of the read 
 iness with which danger and death fit into ^ie ordinary grooves of 
 daily life, so that on the day of a battle, for instance, all may go on as 
 
66 North Elba. 
 
 usual ; breakfast and dinner are provided, children cared for, and all 
 external existence has the same smoothness that one observes at Niag 
 ara, just above the American Fall ; but it impressed me anew on visit 
 ing this household at this time. Here was a family out of which four 
 noble young men had, within a fortnight, been killed. I say nothing 
 of a father under sentence of death, and a brother fleeing for his life, 
 but only speak of those killed. Now that word killed is a word Avhich 
 one hardly cares to mention in a mourning household circle, even under 
 all mitigating circumstances, when sad unavailing kisses and tender 
 funeral rites have softened the last memories ; how much less here, 
 then, where it suggested not merely wounds, and terror, and agony, 
 but also coffinless graves in a hostile land, and the last ignominy of 
 the dissecting room. 
 
 "Yet there was not one of that family who could not pronounce 
 that awful word with perfect quietness ; never, of course, lightly, but 
 always quietly. For instance, as I sat that evening, with the women 
 busily sewing around me, preparing the mother for her sudden de 
 parture with me on the morrow, some daguerreotypes were brought 
 out to show me, and some one said, This is Oliver, one of those who 
 were killed at Harper s Ferry. I glanced up sidelong at the young, 
 fair-haired girl, who sat near me by the little table a wife at fifteen, 
 a widow at sixteen; and this was her husband, and he was KILLED. 
 As the words were spoken in her hearing, not a muscle quivered, and 
 her finger did not tremble as she drew the thread. For her life had 
 become too real to leave room for wincing at mere words. She had 
 lived through, beyond the word, to the sterner fact, and having con 
 fronted that, language was an empty shell. To the Browns, killing 
 means simply dying nothing more ; one gate into heaven, and that 
 one a good deal frequented by their family ; that is all. 
 
 " There was no hardness about all this, no mere stoicism of will; 
 only God had inured them to the realities of things. They were not 
 supported by any notions of worldly honor or applause, nor by that 
 chilly reflection of it, the hope of future fame. In conversing with 
 the different members of this family, I cannot recall a single instance of 
 any heroics of that description. There, in that secluded home among 
 the mountains, what have they to do with the world s opinion, even 
 now, still less next century ? You remember Carlyle and his French 
 man, to whom he was endeavoring to expound the Scottish Covenant 
 ers. These poor, persecuted people, said Carlyle, they made 
 their appeal. Yes, interrupted the Frenchman, they appealed 
 to posterity, no doubt. Not a bit of it, quoth Carlyle ; they 
 appealed to the Eternal God ! So with these whom I visited. I was 
 :he first person who had penetrated their solitude from the outer 
 
North Elba. 67 
 
 world since the thunderbolt had fallen. Do not imagine that they y 
 asked, What is the world saying of us ? Will justice be done to the 
 memory of our martyrs ? Will men build the tombs of the prophets ? 
 Will the great thinkers of the age affirm that our father < makes the 
 gallows glorious, like the cross ? * Not at all ; they asked but one 
 question after I had told them how little hope there was of acquittal 
 or rescue, f Does it seem as if freedom were to gain or lose by this ? I 
 That was all. Their mother spoke the spirit of them all to me, next 
 day, when she said, I have had thirteen children, and only four are 
 left ; but if I am to see the ruin of my house, I cannot but hope that 
 Providence may bring out of it some benefit to the poor slaves. 
 
 "No; this family work for a higher price than fame. You know 
 it is said that in all Wellington s despatches you never meet with the 
 word Glory ; it is always DUTY. In Napoleon s you never meet with 
 the word Duty ; it is always Glory. The race of John Brown is of 
 the Wellington type, principle is the word I brought away with me 
 as most familiar in their vocabulary. That is their standard of classi 
 fication. A man may be brave, ardent, generous ; no matter if he is 
 not all this from principle, it is nothing. 1 ) The daughters, who knew 
 all the Harper s Ferry men, had no confidence in Cook, because < he 
 was not a man of principle. They would trust Stevens round the 
 world, because he was a man of principle. He tries the hardest to 
 be good, said Annie Brown, in her simple way, of any man I ever 
 saw. 
 
 "It is pleasant to add that this same brave-hearted girl, who had 
 known most of her father s associates, recognized them all but Cook 
 as being men of principle. People are surprised, she said, < at 
 father s daring to invade Virginia with only twenty-three men ; but I 
 think if they knew what sort of men they were, there would be less 
 surprise. / never saw such men. f 
 
 " And it pleases me to remember that since this visit, on the day of 
 execution, while our Worcester bells were tolling their melancholy 
 refrain, I took from the post office a letter from this same young girl, 
 expressing pity and sorrow for the. recreant Cook, and uttering the 
 hope that allowances might be made for his conduct, though she 
 could not justify it. And on the same day I read that infuriated let 
 ter of Mrs. Mahala Doyle a -letter which common charity bids us 
 
 * It was Eraorson who uttered this truth of John Brown s death. J. R. 
 
 f It was so in Kansas "I never saw such men " outside of John Brown s camp as 
 I saw when in it. When the old hero was last in Boston, I said of Cook : " He is brave, 
 generous, but too talkative, and without discretion ; he has no moral foundation for his 
 bravery." "You ve hit the nail, exactly, sir," he said. "That s just my opinion of 
 him." J. R. 
 
68 North Elba. 
 
 suppose a forgery, uttering fiendish revenge in regard to a man, 
 against whom, by her own showing, there is not one particle of ev 
 idence to identify him with her wrongs. Nothing impressed me more 
 in my visit to the Brown family, and in subsequent correspondence 
 with them, than the utter absence of the slightest vindictive spirit, 
 even in words." 
 
 JOHN BROWN AMONG HIS CHILDREN. 
 
 " The children spoke of their father as a person of absolute rectitude, 
 thoughtful kindness, unfailing foresight, and inexhaustible activity. 
 On his flying visits to the farm, every moment was used ; he was up 
 at three. A. M., seeing to every thing himself, providing for every 
 thing, and giving heed to the minutest points. It was evident that 
 some of the older ones had stood a little in awe of him in their childish 
 years. < We boys felt a little pleased sometimes, after all, said the 
 son, when father left the farm for a few days. "We girls never 
 did, said the married daughter, reproachfully, the tears gushing to 
 her eyes. Well, said the brother, repenting, < we were always 
 glad to see the old man come back again ; for if we did get more holi 
 days in his absence, we always missed him. 
 
 "Those dramatic points of character in him, which will of course 
 make him the favorite hero of all American romance hereafter, are 
 nowhere appreciated more fully than in his own family. In the midst 
 of all their sorrow, their strong and healthy hearts could enjoy the 
 record of his conversations with the Virginians, and applaud the keen, 
 wise, simple answers which I read to them, selecting here and there 
 from the ample file of newspapers I carried with me. When, for in 
 stance, I read the inquiry, Did you go out under the auspices of the 
 Emigrant Aid Society ? and the answer, ( No, sir ; I went out under 
 the auspices of John Brown,*) three voices eagerly burst in with, 
 That s true, and That s so. And when it was related that the 
 young Virginia volunteer taxed him with want of military foresight in 
 bringing so small a party to conquer Virginia, and the veteran imper- 
 turbably informed the young man that probably their views on mili 
 tary matters would materially differ, there was a general delighted 
 chorus of, That sounds just like father. And his sublimer expres 
 sions of faith and self-devotion produced no excitement or surprise 
 amcng them since they knew in advance all which we now know of 
 him and these things only elicited, at times, a half-stifled sigh a3 
 they reflected that they might never hear that beloved voice again. 
 
 "References to their father were constant. This book he brought 
 them ; the one sitting room had been plastered with the last money he 
 sent ; that desk, that gun, were his ; this was -his daguerreotype ; and 
 at last the rosy little Ellen brought me, with reverend hands, her prima 
 
North Elba. 69 
 
 treasure. It was a morocco case, enclosing a small Bible ; and in the 
 beginning, written in the plain, legible hand I knew so well, the fol 
 lowing inscription, which would alone (in its touching simplicity) 
 have been worthy the pilgrimage to North Elba to see. 
 
 " This Bible, presented to my dearly beloved daughter Ellen Brown, 
 is not intended for common use, but to be carefully preserved for her 
 and by her, in remembrance of her father, (of whose care and atten 
 tions she was deprived in her infancy,) he being absent in the Territory 
 of Kansas from the summer of 1855. 
 
 " May the Holy Spirit of God incline your heart, in earliest child 
 hood, "to receive the truth in the love of it," and to form your 
 thoughts, words, and actions by its wise and holy precepts, is my best 
 wish and most earnest prayer to Him in whose care I leave you. 
 Amen. From your affectionate father, 
 
 " April 2, 1857. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 "This is dated two years ago ; but the principles which dictated it 
 were permanent. Almost on the eve of his last battle, October 1, 
 1859, he wrote home to his daughter Anne, in a letter which I saw, 
 Anne, I want you first of all to become a/sincere, humble, and con 
 sistent Christian and then [this is characteristic] to acquire good 
 and efficient business habits.\ Save this, to remember your father by, 
 Anne. God Almighty bless and save you all. " 
 
 JOHN BROWN S ORTHODOXY. 
 
 " John Brown is almost the only radical abolitionist I have ever 
 known who was not more or less radical in religious matters also. 
 His theology was Puritan, like his practice ; and accustomed as we 
 now are to see Puritan doctrines and Puritan virtues separately exhib 
 ited, it seems quite strange to behold them combined in one person 
 again. He and his wife were regular communicants of the Presby 
 terian church ; but it tried his soul to see the juvenile clerical gen 
 tlemen who came into the pulpits up that way, and dared to call 
 themselves Presbyterians preachers of the gospel with all the hard 
 applications left out. Since they had lived in North Elba, his wife 
 said but twice had the slave been mentioned in the Sunday services, and 
 she had great doubts about the propriety of taking part in such wor 
 ship as that. But when the head of the family made his visits home 
 from Kansas, he commonly held a Sunday meeting in the little church, 
 under the auspices of John Brown, and the Lord heard the slavo 
 mentioned pretty freely then. 
 
 "In speaking of religious opinions, Mrs. Brown mentioned two 
 
o North Elba. 
 
 preachers whose sermons her sons liked to read, and whose anti- 
 slavery principles she enjoyed, though she could not agree with all 
 their doctrines. She seemed to regard their positions as essentially 
 the same. I need not say who the two are the thunders of Brook 
 lyn and of Boston acquire much the same sound as they roll up among 
 the echoes of the Adirondacks." 
 
 POLITICS. 
 
 "In respect to politics, Mrs. Brown told me that her husband had 
 taken little interest in them since the election of Jackson, because he 
 thought tha/politics merely followed the condition of public sentiment 
 on the slavery question, and that this public sentiment was mainly 
 created by actual collisions between slavery and freedom^ Such, at 
 least, was the view which I was led to attribute to him, by combining 
 this fact which she mentioned with my own personal knowledge of 
 his opinions. He had an almost exaggerated aversion to words and 
 speeches, and a profound conviction of the importance of bringing all 
 questions to a direct issue, and subjecting every theory to the test of 
 practical application." 
 
 THE CHARGE OF INSANITY. 
 
 " I did not, of course, insult Mrs. Brown by any reference to that 
 most shallow charge of insanity against her husband, which some even 
 of his friends have, with what seems most cruel kindness, encouraged, 
 thereby doing their best to degrade one of the age s prime heroes 
 into a mere monomaniac, but it may be well to record that she 
 spoke of it with surprise, and said that if her husband were insane, he 
 had been consistent in his insanity from the first moment she knew 
 him." ,^Hf 
 
 PECUNIARY CONDITION OF THE FAMILY. 
 
 "Now that all is over, and we appear to have decided, for the present, 
 not to employ any carnal weapons, such as steel or iron, for the rescue 
 of John Brown, but only to use the safer metals of gold and silver for 
 the aid of his family, it may be natural for those who read this narra 
 tive to ask, What is the pecuniary condition of this household ? It is 
 hard to answer, because the whole standard is different, as to such 
 matters, in North Elba and in Massachusetts. The ordinary condition 
 of the Brown family may be stated as follows : They own the farm, 
 such as it is, without incumbrance, except so far as unfelled forest 
 constitutes one. They have ordinarily enough to eat of what the farm 
 yields, namely, bread and potatoes, pork and mutton not any great 
 abundance of these, but ordinarily enough.* They have ordinarily 
 enoug}- to wear, at least of woollen clothing, spun by themselves. 
 
North Elba. 71 
 
 And they have no money. When I say this I do not merely mean 
 that they have no superfluous cash to go shopping with, but I mean 
 almost literally that they have none. For nearly a whole winter, Mrs. 
 Brown said, they had no money with which to pay postage, except a 
 any treasury which the younger girls had earned for that express 
 object, during the previous summer, by picking berries for a neighbor 
 three miles off. / 
 
 "The reason of these privations simply was, that it cost money to live Y 
 in Kansas in /adherence to the cause of freedom,] (see the tombstone 
 inscription agam,) but not so much to live at Norm Elba ; and there 
 fore the women must stint themselves that the men might continue 
 their Kansas work. But when the father came upon his visits, he 
 never came empty-handed, but brought a little money, some plain 
 household stores, flour, sugar, rice, salt fish ; tea and coffee they do 
 not use. But what their standand of expense is may be seen from 
 the fact that Mrs. Brown seemed to speak as if her youngest widowed 
 daughter were not totally and absolutely destitute, because her hus 
 band had left a property of five sheep, which would belong to her. 
 These sheep, I found on inquiry, were worth, at that place and season, 
 two dollars apiece : a child of sixteen, left a widow in the world, with an 
 estate amounting to ten dollars ! The immediate financial anxieties of 
 Mrs. Brown herself seemed chiefly to relate to a certain formidable tax 
 bill, due at New Year s time ; if they could only weather that, all was 
 clear for the immediate future. How much was it, I asked, rather sur 
 prised that that wild country should produce a high rate of taxation. 
 It was from eight to ten dollars, she gravely said ; and she had put by 
 ten dollars for the purpose, but had had occasion to lend most of it to a 
 poor black woman, with no great hope of repayment. And one of the 
 first things done by her husband, on recovering his money in Virginia, 
 was to send her, through me, fifteen dollars, to make sure of that 
 tax bill. 
 
 " I see, on looking back, how bare and inexpressive this hasty narra 
 tive is ; but I could not bear to suffer such a privilege as this visit to 
 pass away unrecorded. I spent but one night at the house, and drove 
 away with Mrs. Brown, in the early frosty morning, from that breezy 
 mountain home, which her husband loved (as one of them told me) 
 because he seemed to think there was something romantic in that 
 kind of scenery. There was, indeed, always a sort of thrill in John 
 Brown s voice when he spoke of mountains. I never shall forget the 
 quiet way in which he once told me that f 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 then know 
 that his own home was among the Adirondacks. 
 
72 North Elba. 
 
 " Just before we went, I remember, I said something or aher to 
 Salmon Brown about the sacrifices of their family ; and he looked up 
 in a quiet, manly way, which I shall never forget, and said briefly, I 
 sometimes think that is what we came into the world for to make 
 sacrifices. And I know that the murmuring echo of those words 
 went with me all that day, as we came down from the mountains, and 
 out through the iron gorge ; and it seemed to me that any one must be 
 very unworthy the society which I had been permitted to enter who 
 did not come forth from it a wiser and a better man." 
 
 From the family we learn that : 
 
 "In 1851 John Brown and his family returned to Akron, Ohio, 
 where he managed Mr. Perkins s farm, and carried on the wool busi 
 ness. In 185-5, on starting for Kansas, he again moved his house 
 hold to North Elba, where they still reside, and where his body lies 
 buried." 
 
 At the Agricultural Fair of Essex County, for 1850, a great sensation was created by 
 the unlooked-for appearance on the grounds of a beautiful herd of Devon cattle. They 
 were the first that had been exhibited at the county festival, and every one was sur 
 prised and delighted at the incident. The inquiry was universal, Whose are these 
 cattle, and from whence do they come? The surprise and excitement were not dimin 
 ished when it was understood that a certain John Brown was the owner, and that he 
 resided in the town of North Elba. The report of the society for that year contains the 
 following reference to that event: "The appearance upon the grounds of a number 
 of very choice and beautiful Devons, from the herd of Mr. John Brown, residing in ono 
 of our most remote and secluded towns, attracted great attention, and added much to 
 the interest of the fair. The interest and admiration they excited have attracted public 
 attention to the subject, and have already resulted in the introduction of several choice 
 animals into this region. We have no doubt that this influence upon the character 
 of the stock of our county will be permanent and decisive." (Trans. 1850, page 229.) 
 
 The writer of this article soon after opened a correspondence with Brown iu relation 
 to these cattle. His reply is now before me. The letter is written in a strong and 
 vigorous hand, and by its orthography, accurate punctuation, and careful arrangement 
 of paragraphs, evinces far more than ordinary taste and scholarship. I consider it 
 remarkable, not only for the force and precision of the language, for a business letter, 
 and for the distinctness of its statements, but equally for its sound sense and honesty 
 of representation. I think I am not wrong in the impression that an extract will 
 interest your readers, as illustrating the former habits and pursuits of a man -who has 
 impressed an ill-omened episode upon our national history. 
 
 " Your favor of the 30th of September came- on seasonably; but it was during my 
 absence in Ohio, so that I could not reply sooner. In the first place, none of my 
 cattle are pure Devons, but are a mixture of that and a particular favorite stock from 
 Connecticut, a cross of which I much prefer to any pure English cattle after many 
 years experience of different breeds of imported cattle. * * * I was several 
 months in England last season, and saw no one stock on any farm that would average 
 better than niy own, and would like to have you see them all together/ Correspon 
 dence of the New York Observer. 
 
GOLIATH S CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. 
 
 73 
 
26. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, . . . 
 Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of 
 the living God ? 
 
 32. And David said to -Saul, Let no man s heart fail because of 
 him ; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 
 
 42. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he dis 
 dained him. 
 
 43. And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 
 
 44. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me and I will give 
 thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field. 
 
 45. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a 
 sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I come to thee in the 
 name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom 
 thou hast defied. 
 
 46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hands : and I will 
 smite thee, and take thine head from thee ; and I will give the car 
 casses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the ah 
 and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that 
 there is a God in Israel. 
 
 50. Thereupon David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took 
 his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut 
 off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their cham 
 pion was dead, they fled. / Samuel, Chapter xvii. 
 
 74 
 
I. 
 
 THE LORD S FIRST CALL. 
 
j6 The Lord s Firft Call. 
 
 Kansas and Nebraska thrown open for settlement. 
 The vital and moral question of the extension of sla 
 very, it was pretended, in justice to " the people," 
 should be settled solely, and could only constitutionally 
 be determined by the first inhabitants themselves. 
 This atrocious doctrine, so revolting to every Christian 
 or manly heart, was euphoniously designated, in the 
 act of repeal and organization, the right to " form 
 their domestic institutions in their own way, subject 
 only to the constitution of the United States." Thus 
 the nation solemnly repudiated the validity of the will 
 of God, disregarded the principles of the Revolutionary 
 Fathers, and ignored the venerated maxim of the com 
 mon law, that all immoral statutes are void. The 
 enslaving of God s poor children ; the traffic in human 
 souls and bodies ; the forced, frequent, and final sep 
 aration of families ; the violation of all marital obliga 
 tions all the crimes of which slavery is the source, 
 and by which it is supported : the expansion and per 
 petuation of the sum of all villanies, were questions, 
 this instrument declared, which should be settled by 
 the squatters alone, " subject only to the constitution 
 of the United States." For, that the authors of the 
 bill intended nothing else or more, was admitted in all 
 their subsequent discussions ; by the President in his 
 message ; and by the South and the Government, in all 
 their actions. Non-intervention was the order of the 
 day. Great and undisguised was the rejoicing at the 
 South ; for they thought that Kansas was now secured 
 to them forever. 
 
 But, in the North, the indignation of the people, 
 
The Lord s Firft Call. 77 
 
 thus treacherously defrauded of the territorial bribe 
 that had been tendered long ago for the surrender of 
 Missouri, was organized into companies for the en 
 couragement of emigration, and it was every where 
 determined, that, if the pioneers or first denizens of 
 Kansas should pronounce the doom of slavery there, 
 the Free States should have a voice and a vote in the 
 solemn and momentous decision. 
 
 Emigration flowed rapidly into Kansas, both from 
 the North and South. But, for a long time, all the 
 advantages were on the side of slavery. Missouri, 
 her borders on Kansas peopled with semi-barbarous 
 ruffians, was the jealous guardian of the interests, 
 and a fit representative of the Southern States. Every 
 obstacle was soon thrown in the way of the Northern 
 emigrants. They were driven back ; they were tarred 
 and feathered ; their claims were seized ; their cabins 
 were burned down ; they were often ordered, by com 
 mittees of Southern emigrants, or the Missouri rabble, 
 to leave the Territory at once, under penalty of death. 
 A single paragraph from a single speech by one of the 
 acknowledged champions of the South, will better 
 illustrate their early career in Kansas, than even an 
 extended account of their outrages. It is from a 
 speech delivered at St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1854, by 
 General Stringfellow,* a prominent citizen of that van 
 dal state : 
 
 "I tell you to mark every scoundrel among you who is the least 
 tainted with abolitionism, or free soilism, and exterminate him. Nei 
 ther give nor take quarter from the d d rascals. To those who have 
 
 * This is an honorary title ; he had no right to it ; he proved him 
 self a great coward. 
 7* 
 
78 The Lord s Firft Call. 
 
 qualms of conscience as to violating laws, state or national, say, the 
 time has come when such impositions must be disregarded, as your 
 rights and property are in danger. I advise you, one and all, to enter 
 every election district in Kansas, in defiance of Reeder and his myr 
 midons, and vote at the point of the bowie knife and revolver. Nei 
 ther take nor give quarter, as the cause demands it. It is enough that 
 the slaveholding interest wills it, from which there is no appeal." 
 
 This advice, reiterated by every paper and politician 
 in the Platte Purchase, which was preeminently the 
 border ruffian region, was translated into action on 
 the 29th of November, 1854, at the first election ever 
 held in Kansas for a delegate to Congress. Seventeen 
 hundred men from Missouri marched over the border 
 and voted in the Territory for the pro-slavery can 
 didate. 
 
 i / The news of this crime against republican institu- 
 
 / tions jexcited the miewed_indignation of the North. 
 
 / Liberty-loving hearts were every where moved by it. 
 
 Instead of deterring, it incited emigration. Among 
 
 the bravejpulses thus stirred were those of the family 
 
 of old John Brown. 
 
 " In 1854, the four eldest sons of John Brown,* 
 named John, Jr., Jason, Owen, and Frederick, all chil 
 dren by a first wife, then living in Ohio, determined to 
 remove to Kansas. John, Jr., sold his place, a very 
 desirable little property near Akron, in Summit County. 
 The other two sons held no landed property, but both 
 were possessed of some valuable stock, (as were also 
 the two first named,) derived from that of their father, 
 which had been often noticed by liberal premiums, 
 both in the State of New York and also of Ohio. 
 
 * This is a quotation from a manuscript in John Brown s hand- 
 writinsr. found at his hmrafi nf>ar TT;irnp>r*R Ferrv. 
 
The Lord s Firft Call. 79 
 
 " Jason Brown had a very valuable collection of 
 grape vines, and also of choice fruit trees, which he 
 took up and shipped in boxes at a heavy cost. The 
 two first named, John and Jason, had both families. 
 Owen had none. Frederick was engaged to be married, 
 and was to return with his wife. In consequence of 
 an extreme dearth in 1854, the .crops in Northern Ohio 
 were almost an entire failure, and it was decided by 
 the four brothers that the two youngest should take 
 the teams and entire stock, cattle and horses, and move 
 them to South-Western Illinois to winter, and to have 
 them on early in the spring of 1855. This was done 
 at very considerable expense, and with some loss of 
 stock to John, Jr., some of his best stock having been, 
 stolen on the way. 
 
 " The wintering of the animals was attended with 
 great expense, and with no little suffering to the two 
 youngest brothers, one of whom, Owen, being to some 
 extent a cripple from childhood, by an injury of the 
 right arm, and Frederick, though a very stout man, 
 was subject to periodical sickness for many years, 
 attended with insanity. It has been publicly stated 
 that he was idiotic ; nothing could be more false. He 
 had subjected himself to a most dreadful surgical 
 operation but a short time before starting for Kansas, 
 which had well nigh cost him his life ; and was but 
 just through with his confinement when he started on 
 his journey, pale and weak. They were obliged to 
 husk corn all winter, out of doors, in order to obtain 
 fodder for their animals. 
 
 " Solomon Brown, a very strong minor son of the 
 
8o The Lord s Firft Call. 
 
 family, eighteen years of age, was sent forward early 
 in 1855, to assist the two last named, and all three 
 arrived in Kansas early in the spring. During this 
 slow journey with their stock across the entire width 
 of Missouri, they heard much from her people of the 
 stores of wrath and vengeance which were then and 
 there gathering for the free state men and abolitionists 
 gone or going to Kansas, and were themselves often 
 admonished, in no very mild language, to stop ere it 
 should be too late. " 
 
 They settled near the Pottawattomie, a little stream 
 in Southern Kansas, in Lykins County, about eight 
 miles distant from the site of Ossawattomie, which 
 their father subsequently converted into classic ground. 
 Of the hardships they endured, and the outrages in 
 flicted on them by the champions of slavery, their 
 father, in the paper above quoted, gave a detailed 
 account ; but as to have published it would have dam 
 aged the democratic party in the elections then pend 
 ing, we are told that " a portion of the manuscript was 
 lost," and that " the history was of considerable length, 
 but did not further possess special interest." 
 
 " The brothers," writes a friend of the family, 
 " were all free state men in opinion ; but, removing 
 thither with the intention of settling there, went with 
 out arms. They were harassed, plundered, threat 
 ened, and insulted by gangs of marauding border ruf 
 fians, with whom the prime object was plunder ; and 
 noisy pro-slavery partizanship was equivalent to a free 
 charter to do so with impunity. The sons wrote to 
 their father, requesting him to procure such arms as 
 
The Lord s Firft Call. 81 
 
 might enable them, in some degree, to protect ihem- 
 selves, and personally to bring them to Kansas." 
 
 It was not in the nature of John Brown to resist this^, 
 petition. He undoubtedly regarded it as a call from j! 
 the Almighty to gird up his loins and go forth to do // 
 battle " as the warrior of the Lord," as "the warrior/; 
 of the Lord against the mighty," in behalf of His de-( 
 spised poor and His downtrodden people. The moment \. 
 long waited for had at length arrived ; the sign he had | 
 patiently expected had been given ; and the brave old \ 
 soldier of the God of Battles prepared at once to obey ) 
 the summons. 
 
 A meeting of abolitionists was held in a county 
 adjoining Essex, New York, in the summer of 1855. 
 " When in session, John Brown appeared in that con 
 vention, 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 \y? 
 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 ; prin 
 cipally by Gerritt Smith." 
 
 He had only two objects in going to Kansas : first, 
 to begin the work for which, as he believed, he had 
 been set apart, by so acting as to acquire the confidence 
 of the friends of freedom, who might thereby subse 
 quently aid him ; and, secondly, because, to use his 
 own language, " with the exposure, privations, hard 
 ships, and wants of pioneer life, he was familiar, and 
 thought he could benefit his children, and the new j , 
 
82 The Lord s Firft Call. 
 
 beginners from the older parts of the country, and 
 help them to shift and contrive in their new home." 
 
 John Brown did not go to Kansas to settle there. 
 Already, elsewhere, I have made this statement ; and 
 have seen it doubted by men who are friendly to him 
 not from knowledge of his motives, but the dictates 
 of policy because democratic journals and pro-slavery 
 politicians have sought to create a prejudice against 
 
 s ^ s ? and solely 
 
 to fight the^ battles of freedom^ as^if it had been a 
 crime or a disgrace, instead of an illustrious, patriotfc ? 
 and Christian act for a Northern man to defend Xorth- 
 0m rights; for an anti-slaveryVshampion to oppose by 
 tlie sword the armed propagandists of slavery ; for a 
 believer in the Bible to emulate the examples~oF Moses, 
 Joshua, and Gideon, and obey the solemn utterances 
 of the Most High God. Believing God to be a Being 
 infallible and unchangeable ; believing that He once 
 had ordered His enemies to be smitten hip and thigh ; 
 believing that the Ever Just had commanded liberty 
 to be proclaimed " throughout all the land, unto all 
 the inhabitants thereof;" John Brown did not dare 
 to remain tending sheep at North Elba when the 
 American Goliath and his hosts were in the field, 
 defying the little armies of the living Lord, and sowing 
 desolation and great sorrow on the soil set apart 
 for his chosen people. Either Freedom has no rights, 
 and the Bible is a lie, or John Brown, in thus acting, 
 was a patriot and a consistent Christian. 
 
II. 
 
 THE WORK BEGUN. 
 
 BEFORE John Brown reached Kansas, the South 
 had thrown off its flimsy disguises. Its hyp 
 ocritical pretence of enabling the people to determine 
 the nature of " their own domestic institutions " 
 that is to say, in honest English, to establish or pro 
 hibit the cowardly crime of American slavery was 
 ("finally abandoned in the month, and on the fourth, of 
 [March, 1856 ; when, instead of permitting the inhabit- 
 in ts of the Territory " freely " to vote for the members 
 >f their legislature, four thousand nine hundred and 
 sight non-residents, citizens of Missouri, invaded Kan 
 sas, and controlled the elections at every precinct save 
 |)ne.* They elected several men who did not live in 
 Kansas ; who never intended to settle there ; who are 
 itizens of Missouri still. The writer was present at 
 ie first session of the legislature thus chosen, and saw 
 pass laws establishing human slavery, and punishing 
 
 Manhattan. It was distant a hundred miles, and more, from Mis- 
 ri ; and the company elected to control it remained at home, IE. 
 to watch the movements of Colonel Park, until it was too 
 to go to their appointed post. 
 
 83 
 
84 The Work Begun. 
 
 " offences " against it such as liberating negroes 
 with the penalty of death ; prohibiting, by incarceration 
 in the penitentiary, the exercise of the rights of free 
 speech and a free press ; excluding Northern (if anti- 
 slavery) men from the bar, the bench, the ballot box, 
 and the jury chamber ; and many other statutes, 
 transcribed from Southern codes, of equal moral 
 atrocity and despotic character. 
 
 The Free State men declared that they would never 
 recognize the code thus compiled, or obey the executive 
 officers, whom, by an unprecedented usurpation, this 
 legislature had chosen to enforce their statutes. 
 
 During the last week of November, 1855, an inci 
 dent occurred to test the sincerity of the Free State 
 men. A cowardly murder was committed by a person 
 named Coleman, a pro-slavery settler, on Mr. Dow, a 
 quiet New England emigrant. The authorities, instead 
 of arresting the assassin, leagued themselves with him ; 
 and seized an innocent Free State squatter, in order to 
 have him rescued in Lawrence the Boston of the 
 prairies that, thereby, they might have a plausible 
 excuse for calling on Missouri to destroy the town, 
 under the pretence of enforcing the territorial laws. 
 The prisoner was unexpectedly rescued several miles 
 from Lawrence ; but, despite of this accident, the 
 "territorial militia" as the rabble from Missouri 
 was officially styled were called to arms; and, in 
 December, Lawrence was invested by a force of fifteen 
 hundred armed men. 
 
 Not more than seventy-five, at any time, were resi 
 dents of Kansas " Missouri," confessed Governor 
 
The Work Begun. 85 
 
 Shannon, " sent not only her young men, but her gray- 
 haired citizens were there ; the man of seventy winters 
 stood shoulder to shoulder with the youth of sixteen." 
 
 The writer and three companions were taken pris 
 oners at this period a few miles from Lawrence, by a 
 company of eighteen men, who were presently joined 
 by a still larger number ; and not one of them, as their 
 leader confessed, was, or had ever been, a resident of 
 Kansas, or had any social or pecuniary interest in its 
 present or future prosperity. 
 
 To Lawrence at once repaired the fighting men from 
 every district of the Territory. Five hundred Free State 
 men were soon gathered there, drilled daily, and pre 
 pared to defend the town to a " bloody issue." The 
 Southern invaders, although three to one, and armed 
 with United States muskets, although furnished with 
 heavy artillery, and having horsemen in great num 
 bers, were afraid to attack the free men of the North 
 in Lawrence assembled. Governor Shannon, alarmed 
 at the tempest he had raised but could not control, 
 hastened up from the Shawnee Mission to effect a com 
 promise with the leaders of the rebels. He saw hun 
 dreds of ruffians around Lawrence armed with guns, 
 which they acknowledged to have stolen from a 
 United States arsenal in Missouri ; yet he never com 
 plained of them, and none of them have ever been 
 indicted or arrested, although the affidavits attesting 
 the fact of the robbery are in the archives of Govern 
 ment, and the perpetrators of it are well-known per 
 sons, men of influence and position in the border 
 districts. . ; . : 
 
 I 
 
86 The Work Begun. 
 
 This army encamped around Lawrence nearly two 
 weeks. The Free State boys were impatient for a 
 fight. But it was the policy of the leaders to avoid 
 a collision, if possible ; or, at least, to compel the 
 enemy to commence the conflict. 
 
 i^ " When the siege was pending," writes an eye 
 ... witness, " the old man, John Brown, and his four sons, 
 arrived in Lawrence. The balance he reported sick. 
 As they drove up in front of the Free State hotel, they 
 were all standing in a small lumber wagon. To each 
 of their persons was strapped a short, heavy broad 
 sword. Each was supplied with a goodly number of 
 fire-arms and navy revolvers, and poles were standing 
 endwise around the wagon box, with fixed bayonets 
 pointing upwards. They looked really formidable, and 
 were received with great eclat. A small military com 
 pany was organized at once, and the command was 
 given to Old Brown. From that moment, he com 
 menced fomenting difficulties in camp, disregarding 
 the command of superior officers, and trying to induce 
 the men to go down to Franklin, and make an attack 
 upon the pro-slavery forces encamped there. The Com 
 mittee of Public Safety were called upon several times 
 to head off his wild adventure, as the people of Law 
 rence had planted themselves on the law, claiming that 
 they had not been guilty of its infraction, and that no 
 armed body of men should enter the town for any pur 
 pose whatever, and that they would not go out of town 
 to attack any such body. Peace was established, and 
 Old Brown retired in disgust." 
 
 I have quoted this passage rather to contrast it 
 
The Work Begun. 87 
 
 with the ideas of John Brown than for the facts that it 
 contains, and to show the timid spirit of politicians as 
 compared with the undaunted bearing of earnest, truth- 
 devoted men. The Free State party, when it first met, 
 resolved unanimously and with unbounded enthusiasm 
 to resist the enforcement of the invader s code : if need 
 be "to a bloody issue." Now that the test came, 
 the people were armed and ready to translate their res 
 olution into revolution ; to repeat their acclamations 
 of that brave determination through the muzzles of 
 their rifles and with the edges of their swords. But 
 the politicians quibbled ; sought other grounds to stand 
 on ; " planted themselves on the law ; " restrained the 
 ardor of the people which sought to drive the ruffians 
 homeward or to the grave ; saw the good Thomas Bar 
 ber murdered in the open day for the crime of having 
 visited their town ; and yet, with hundreds of invaders 
 of their soil within sight, who were sacking their cabins 
 and robbing and imprisoning their citizens, they calmly 
 " urged them not to allow the daily outrages to drive 
 them to commence hostilities ! " * 
 
 The leading military man made frequent fierce 
 speeches ; but, as the Kansas phrase is, " they all fizzled 
 out" in urging inaction. He loved to have the citi 
 zens under arms, for in tumults he was king ; while 
 the leading politician dreaded war for the sake of the 
 republican party. 
 
 John Brown was not of this spirit. Slavery to him 
 was a heinous crime, and its propagandists the enemies 
 
 * See Conquest of Kansas, by William Phillips, p. 214. 
 
88 The Work Begun. 
 
 of his God ; and with hosts of such men embattled 
 and in view, who added to their championship of sla 
 very the additional crime of invading the soil set apart 
 for freedom, he did not hesitate to express his contempt 
 for the "Committee of Safety" most of them ox- 
 intellects, vainly striving to fill an office fit for lion- 
 hearts only and to denounce the political preachers 
 of peace as recreant to their recent and loudly-vaunted 
 resolutions. He went out once with a dozen men to 
 meet the Missouri invaders " to draw a little blood," 
 as he styled it but, at the earnest entreaties of Gen 
 eral Lane, he returned to the town without doing it. 
 
 Lane sent for him to attend a council of war. The 
 reply was characteristic of the brave old man, who 
 despised all manner of assumptions with no fact be 
 hind them to give them vitality and a title to respect. 
 
 " Tell the General," he said, " that when he wants 
 me to fight, to say so : but that is the only order I will 
 ever obey." * 
 
 Governor Shannon soon arrived in Lawrence, and 
 was duly made drunk by the sagacious Free State 
 leaders. While in this condition, or approaching it, he 
 
 * To better understand John Brown s reasons for despising tlie 
 commands of these so-called " superior officers," it may be necessary 
 for some minds to know his opinions of the two chief leaders : 
 
 " I am sorry for friend Lane," he remarked, as we were speaking of 
 his blustering style of oratory; "I am afraid he does not respect 
 himself." 
 
 Of the other prominent leader, Dr. Robinson, as some radicals were 
 speaking of his subsequent conservatism, he said, "What a pity it is, 
 that men when they begin life, should not get hold of some fixed 
 principled make up their minds that they are right, and then hold 
 on tc. them ! He did not do that. That is his fault." 
 
The Work Begun. 89 
 
 made a treaty with General Lane and Dr. Robinson, in 
 behalf of the "abolition rebels;" and, after guaran 
 teeing that he would disperse the Missourians, or 
 take from them, at least, the cover of legality, he au 
 thorized these gentlemen to " take such measures, and 
 use the enrolled force under their command in such 
 manner, for the preservation of the peace, and protec 
 tion of the persons and property of the people of Law 
 rence and vicinity, as, in their judgment, should best 
 secure that end." * 
 
 This negotiation undoubtedly exhibited both diplo 
 matic tact and Yankee ingenuity ; but John Brown, a 
 prophet by virtue of his purity of life and devotion to 
 ideas, foresaw that it was in fact a coming victory to 
 the South. For what was this enrolment of the Free 
 State men but a tacit acknowledgment of Southern 
 usurpation ? 
 
 Governor Shannon, on recovering from his drunken 
 ness, made a speech to the people assembled in Law 
 rence. - He said, 
 
 "There was a part of the people of this Territory, who denied the 
 validity of the laws of the Territorial Legislature. He was not there 
 to urge that validity, but these laws should be submitted to until a 
 legal tribunal set them aside. He did not see how there was any 
 course but such submission to them, and it certainly was not his part, 
 as an executive officer, to set them aside or disregard them. He was 
 happy to announce that, after having an interview with the officers of 
 their Committee of Safety, he had induced them thus far to respect 
 those laws, they being willing to see them enforced, provided they had 
 the reserved right of testing and escaping from them legally. He 
 
 * Kansas, Its Interior and Exterior Life, &c., by Mrs. Sara T. L. 
 Robinson, p. 154. 
 
go The Work Begun. 
 
 was happy to announce that all difficulties were settled. (Faint 
 cheers.) There was a perfect understanding between the Executive 
 and the Committee." 
 
 Lane uttered a few fiery sentences, " which were 
 cheered heartily," when Dr. Robinson was called for ; 
 who is reported as having " nothing to say but that 
 they had taken an honorable position." 
 
 I now quote the Hook of Mr. William Phillips, the 
 most trustworthy historian of Kansas as to facts : 
 " There was an evident suspicion among the people 
 that the negotiations had been closed too easily, and 
 that their leaders had concealed something. 
 
 " CAPTAIN BROWN got up to address the people ; but 
 a desire was manifested to prevent his speaking. Amid 
 some little disturbance, 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 they denounced and spit upon, and would 
 never obey no ! 
 
 " Here the speaker was interrupted by the almost 
 universal cry, No, no ! Down with the bogus laws. 
 Lead us down to fight first ! 
 
 " Seeing a young revolution on the tapis, the influ 
 ential men assured the people that there had been no 
 concession. They had yielded nothing. They had 
 surrendered nothing to the usurping Legislature. 
 With these assurances the people were satisfied and 
 withdrew. At that time it was determined to keep the 
 treaty secret, but before many days it was sufficiently 
 public." 
 
The Work Begun. 91 
 
 The politicians feared the old man, knowing thatx 
 neither cunning nor duplicity would please him. \ 
 Hence their desire to prevent his speaking ; hence \ 
 their determination to keep the Treaty secret ; hence 
 their unblushing announcement that nothing had been / 
 conceded. 
 
 This Treaty, when published, justified the old man s 
 suspicions. By an adroit but dishonest use of the 
 phrases, " legal process " and " the laws," the Treaty 
 was susceptible of a double interpretation ; the most 
 obvious and honest one, construing them to refer to 
 Territorial enactments and Territorial legal instru 
 ments; while the other, or the Free State translation, 
 rendered it Federal laws and Federal processes only. 
 
 John Brown ever afterwards regretted that he re 
 turned at General Lane s request, and maintained 
 that this Treaty, and the policy which led to it, only 
 served to postpone the inevitable conflict then rapidly 
 approaching, and to demoralize the spirit of the Free 
 State party. It occasioned, he thought, the death of 
 many Northern men, whom, encouraged by this com- * r 
 promising action, the marauders, on their return, mur- f\ 
 dered in cold blood or in desultory warfare. 
 
 " I have often heard him lament," says an able cor 
 respondent of the New York Tribune, " the loss of this 
 chance, with the most earnest sincerity. The odds of 
 five to one he accounted as nothing. What are five 
 to one ? said he, < when our men would be fighting for 
 their wives, their children, their homes and their liber 
 ties against a party, one half of whom were mercenary 
 vagabonds, who enlisted for a mere frolic, lured on by 
 
92 The Work Began. 
 
 the whiskey and the bacon, and a large portion of the 
 others had gone under the compulsion of opinion and 
 proscription, and because they feared being denounced 
 as abolitionists 4f theyVrefused ? 
 
 The politician^* called John Brown an " impractica 
 ble man," but tlifeir own subsequent history, and the 
 history of Lawrence, afford an ample vindication of his 
 conduct at this crisis. His predictions, in less than a 
 year, were historical facts. 
 
 * The following amusing paragraph occurs in a Life of John Brown, 
 written by a Republican politician, and published in the New York 
 Herald. To spare an old acquaintance from ridicule, I omit a few 
 words only. 
 
 "In December, 1855, during the < Shannon war, Brown first made 
 his appearance among the Free State men at Lawrence. His entrance 
 into the place at once attracted the attention of the people towards him. 
 He brought a wagon load of cavalry sabres, and was accompanied by 
 twelve men, seven of whom were his own sons. He nrst_exhibited his 
 e State and pro-slavery parties, under he 
 
 lead of Governor Robinson on one side, and Governor Shannon onjhe 
 other, met to make a treaty of peace. Aftej^Gpvernor :..I^obinso_n_had 
 
 stated_to_ the people who were gathered around the_h.otel. the. terms of 
 the peace, Brown took the stand uninvited, and opposed the terms of 
 the treaty. He was in favor of ignoring all treaties, and such leading 
 men as llobinson, Lane, &c., and, proceeding at once against the bo_r_- 
 dor ruffian invaders, drive them from the soil, or hang them if taken. 
 The chairman of the Committee of Safety ordered Brown under arrest. 
 The latter made no physical resistance, but it icas soon discovered that 
 Jie was altogether too combustible a person to retain as a j>n ,swHT, and a 
 compromise was made with him by the Free State men, and he was re 
 leased. He was informed by the leaders of that party that his remarks 
 were intended to undo what they were trying to accomplish by means 
 of the treaty ; that he was a stranger in Lawrence and Kansas, and 
 ought not, by his rash remarks, to compromise the people of Law 
 rence, until he had known them longer and knew them better." 
 
III. 
 
 "SOUTHERN RIGHTS TO ALL." 
 
 THE siege of Lawrence raised, the ruffians, on re 
 turning homeward, on the 15th of December, 1855, 
 destroyed the Free State ballot box at Leavenworth ; 
 and, on the 20th, threw the press and types of the Ter 
 ritorial Register, the political organ of the author of 
 the Kansas-Nebraska act, into the muddy streets of the 
 little town, and the still muddier bed of the Missouri 
 Elver. The leaders of the riot did the writer of this 
 volume the honor to say that the outrage was occa 
 sioned by an offensive paragraph emanating from his 
 pen, and expressed themselves exceedingly solicitous to 
 see him dangling in the air for daring "freely" to 
 exercise the rights of a free press ! This was my first 
 public honor; a good beginning, I hoped, for a friend 
 of the slave ; and one which, ever since, I have striven 
 to deserve. 
 
 The election, thus riotously interrupted by the ruf 
 fians at Leavenworth, was held under the auspices of 2 
 voluntary political organization ; and the question sub 
 mitted was Shall the Topeka Constitution be re 
 jected or sustained ? 
 
 93 
 
94 "Southern Rights to All." 
 
 The Topeka Constitution, ever intrinsically value 
 less, but sacred as the rallying standard of the Free 
 State men, was an instrument which originated in the 
 ostensible and vaunted principles of the Organic Act 
 the right of a people, inhabiting a Territory, to form 
 their own domestic institutions in their own way ; among 
 which, if there had been any honesty in the framers of the 
 Bill, or the advocates of the doctrine, the right of choos 
 ing a Governor, Judges, Legislators, Executive State 
 officers and municipal functionaries must inevitably 
 have been included. Assuming the good faith of the 
 framers of the Act, the Free State men proceeded to 
 carry out their principles first, by repudiating the 
 code of enactments compiled by the invaders, and de 
 nying the authority of the officers they had elected and 
 appointed to execute them ; and, secondly, by calling 
 on the pioneers to choose representatives to a Conven 
 tion to be held at Topeka, for the purpose of forming a 
 State Constitution. The squatters did so ; the Topeka 
 Constitution was adopted ; and, on the 15th of January, 
 1856, an election under it, for State officers and legis 
 lators, was held throughout the Territory. 
 
 The pro-slavery Mayor at Leavenworth forbade an 
 election being held there. But there was one man, 
 Captain R. P. Brown, as brave a hero as his venera 
 ble namesake who determined to resist this tyranny ; 
 and, on the adjournment of the polls to a neighboring 
 town, went out there with a few friends to defend the 
 rights of free men. The Kickapoo Rangers, a ruffianly 
 gang of Southern desperadoes, marched out there also ; 
 a skirmish ensued ; they were successfully resisted and 
 
" Southern Rights to All." 95 
 
 driven back ; but Captain Brown, on the following day, 
 in returning home, was surrounded by an overwhelm 
 ing force ; and, at the earnest entreaty of his compan 
 ions, although against his own judgment, surrendered 
 under a promise that their persons should be safe. 
 
 " But the moment this was complied with," writes 
 Mr. Phillips, whose every statement I know to be cor 
 rect : 
 
 "The terms were violated. One young man was knocked down, 
 and a ruffian was going to cut him with his hatchet, (the Kickapoo 
 Rangers carried hatchets,) but was prevented by the Captain of the 
 Company. The prisoners were taken back to Easton ; but Brown was 
 separated from them, and put in an adjoining building. A rope was 
 purchased at the store, and was shown to the prisoners, with the inti 
 mation that they should be hanged with it. ... It was fiercely dis 
 cussed for hours what should be done with them ; and meanwhile 
 liquor was drank pretty freely; and they who were brutal enough 
 without any thing to make them more so, became ungovernably fierce. 
 Unwilling that all of these men should be murdered, the Captain 
 allowed the other prisoners to escape. One of them hastened to Fort 
 Leavenworth, in hopes of getting some troops to go and rescue Brown ; 
 but it was a vain attempt such protection was refused. Then fol 
 lowed a scene of atrocity and horror. Captain Brown had surrendered 
 his arms, and was helpless. His enemies, who dared not face him the 
 night before, though they had a superior force, now crowded round 
 him. When they began to strike him, he rose to his feet, and asked to 
 be permitted to fight any one of them. He challenged them to pit him 
 against their best man he would fight for his life ; but not one of the 
 cowards dared thus to give the prisoners a chance. Then he volun 
 teered to fight two, and then three ; but it was in vain. . . . These 
 men, or rather demons, rushed around Brown, and literally hacked him 
 to death with their hatchets. One of the rangers, a large, coarse-look 
 ing wretch named Gibson, inflicted the fatal blow a large hatchet 
 gash in the side of the head, which penetrated the skull and brain manj 
 inches. The gallant Brown fell, and his remorseless enemies jumped 
 on him, while thus prostrate, or kicked him. Desperately wounded 
 
96 "Southern Rights to All." 
 
 though he was, he still lived ; and, as they kicked him, he said, Don t 
 abuse me ; it is useless ; i am dying. It was a vain appeal. * One of 
 the wretches [since a United States Deputy Marshal] stooped over the 
 prostrate man, and, with a refinement of cruelty exceeding the rudest 
 savage, spit tobacco juice in his eyes. Satiated brutality at last went 
 back to its carousals, and it was then that a few of their number, whom 
 a little spark of conscience or a fear of punishment had animated, raised 
 the dying man, still groaning, and, placing him in a wagon, his gaping 
 wounds but poorly sheltered from the bitter cold of that winter s day, 
 drove him to the grocery, where they went through the farce of dress 
 ing his wounds ; but, seeing the hopelessness of his case, took him 
 home to his wife. . . . The pulse of life was ebbing out. She asked 
 him what was the matter, and how he came thus. I have been mur 
 dered by a gang of cowards, in cold blood, without any cause ! he said. 
 And, as the poor wife stooped over the body of her gallant husband, 
 he expired." 
 
 And, as she thus stooped, with a fiendishness truly 
 Southern, one of the ruffians dared to offer her an in 
 sult. 
 
 No notice has ever been taken of this atrocious mur 
 der by the powers that be ; never once did they inter 
 fere to preserve the purity of the ballot box or the right 
 of free speech. The polls were not permitted to be 
 opened either at Kickapoo, or Atchisou, or the other 
 pro-slavery villages; and a clergyman, who, at Atchison, 
 said in a private conversation, that he was a Free State 
 man, was tarred and feathered, and sent down the river 
 on a raft Federal officeholders leading and encour 
 aging the rioters. 
 
 John Brown, Junior, was elected a member of the 
 Topeka Legislature. 
 
 In the month of February, the President, in an offi 
 cial proclamation, denounced the Topeka Legislature 
 as an illegal assembly ; endorsed the code of the in- 
 
"Southern Rights to All." 97 
 
 vaders as the laws of Kansas ; and ordered the Federal 
 troops to aid the Territorial officers in the execution 
 of these infamous enactments. With the opening of 
 navigation on the river came hordes of Southern high 
 waymen from Georgia, the Carolinas, and Alabama, with 
 the avowed intention of exterminating or banishing the 
 Free State men. Organizing into guerilla companies, 
 they soon scattered desolation throughout the Terri 
 tory ; but first were enrolled as Territorial militia, by 
 Governor Shannon, and armed with United States mus 
 kets, the more effectually to enable them to carry out 
 their purpose. An excuse was needed to march against 
 Lawrence, in order to destroy it ; for while it stood, 
 they could hardly hope to succeed in their nefarious 
 mission. A pretext was soon afforded. Sham writs 
 were issued for the arrest of its citizens ; United States 
 troops entered Lawrence to enforce them. To Federal 
 authority no opposition was made ; for the sentiment 
 of devotion to the Union, notwithstanding that to Kan 
 sas the Union was a curse, was in almost every breast 
 an uneradicable prejudice. The Sheriff,- thus protected 
 and unopposed, in order to incite the people to resist 
 him, encamped with bis prisoners in Lawrence over 
 night, and, in coarse and filthy language, abused the 
 Northern citizens and his captives. Tired of the cow 
 ardice of the politicians, and exasperated by the out 
 rages daily committed by the Southern marauders, one 
 brave but wayward boy, on hearing the abusive lan 
 guage of the Sheriff, swore that he would bring matters 
 to a crisis forthwith ; and, in the evening, he and two 
 companions, half drunk, and wholly incensed, fired at 
 9 
 
98 "Southern Rights to All." 
 
 and wounded the insolent officeholder as he stood at 
 the entrance of his tent. 
 
 He was not dangerously wounded ; hut, to subserve 
 the interests of the South, it was reported that he was 
 dead. Missouri, again appealed to, invaded the Terri 
 tory ; the far Southern marauders assembled at Le- 
 compton ; and now, in order that they might march 
 together on devoted Lawrence, " under the shadow of 
 the wings of the Federal eagle," it was determined to 
 arrest Governor Reeder, then the leader of the party, 
 under the pretence of needing him as a witness at 
 Tecumseh. Mr. Reeder, dismissed from his office as 
 Federal Governor, in consequence of his refusal to be 
 the passive instrument of the ruffians, was elected as 
 the Free State delegate to Washington, and was now in 
 Kansas, with the Congressional Committee of Investiga 
 tion, collecting evidence to sustain his claim to a seat 
 in the National House of Representatives. 
 
 Governor Reeder, of course, refused to go, for to 
 have gone would have interrupted his duties, and have 
 forfeited his life. He knew nothing of the case, in 
 which, it was pretended, he was needed as a witness. 
 This refusal was instantly made the pretext for march 
 ing on Lawrence, under the authority of a United 
 Statos Marshal. 
 
 The news spread rapidly, that Lawrence was to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 John Brown, Junior, at the head of sixty men, or 
 more,* marched from Ossawattomie, and offered to 
 
 * My personal recollection is, that there were one hundred and 
 twenty men in his company ; but, as I cannot recall my authority, I 
 
"Southern Rights to All." 99 
 
 defend the town ; but the Committee of Safety, now so 
 odious that it was ironically styled the Safety Yalve, 
 while valiantly declaring that " they would fight first," 
 rather than submit to ignominious terms, and receiv 
 ing from Governor Shannon the very courteous and 
 patriotic answer, "Then war it is, by God!" took 
 no efficient measures for defence, and determined to 
 offer no resistance. John Brown, Junior, marched 
 back to Ossawattomie ; but ere he reached it and dis 
 banded, his father, with a company of seven men, left 
 his camp, and began in right earnest the war of 
 liberty. 
 
 Meanwhile, Messrs. Reeder, Robinson, and others, 
 urged to it by the Congressional Committee, had fled ; 
 but, excepting Reeder, were overtaken, arrested, and 
 imprisoned on a charge of high treason. Their crime 
 consisted in accepting office under the Free State Con 
 stitution ; save one, an editor, whose offence was the 
 publication of a Free State journal.* 
 
 On the 5th of May, the two Free State papers in Law 
 rence, and a hotel erected by the Emigrant Aid Com 
 pany ; as, also, a bridge over a stream to the south of 
 Lawrence, which had been built by a Free State man ; 
 were each indicted by a jury, under the instructions of 
 the Federal Judge, Lecompte, as a public nuisance, and 
 orders for their destruction were issued by the Court. 
 
 On the llth of the same month, the United States 
 Marshal issued a proclamation assembling the " mili 
 tia ; " and from that time, as the writer personally 
 
 * He subsequently sold himself to the Federal Administration. 
 
loo "Southern Rights to All." 
 
 knows, till the 20th instant, in the words of a demo 
 cratic author,* " preparations were going forward, aria 
 vigorously prosecuted, for the sacking of Lawrence. 
 The pro-slavery people were to wipe out this ill-fated 
 town, under authority of law. They had received the 
 countenance of the President, the approbation of the 
 Chief Justice, the favorable presentment of the Grand 
 Jury, the concurrence of the Governor, the order of the 
 Marshal, and were prepared to consummate their pur 
 pose with the arms of the Government, in the hands of 
 a militia force gathered from the remotest sections of 
 the Union. They concentrated their troops in large 
 numbers around the doomed city, stealing, or, as they 
 termed it, pressing into the service all the horses 
 they could find belonging to Free State men ; whose 
 cattle were also slaughtered, without remuneration, to 
 feed the Marshal s forces ; and their stores and dwell 
 ings broken open and robbed of arms, provisions, 
 blankets, and clothing. And all this under the pre 
 tence of i law and order, and in the name and under 
 the sanction of the government of the United States." 
 
 These, and worse outrages, the murdering of the 
 young boys Stewart and Jones, and the ravishing of 
 a mother and a daughter among them, were speedy 
 and infallible illustrations of the spirit of the South ; 
 convincing proofs to every man who would look with 
 his own eyes, instead of using the false mirror of a con 
 servative education, that the American Union is not 
 a Nation, but an unnatural joining of two hostile 
 
 * Gihon. 
 
"Southern Rights to All." 101 
 
 peoples of a free, progressive, tolerant, enlightened, 
 iaw-loving race, on the one hand ; and, on the other, 
 of lawless organized bands of despots, with able but 
 unprincipled leaders, and with a lower class only slight 
 ly in advance of our barbarous semi-civilized Indian 
 tribes of the West. 
 
 On the 20th of May, the United States Marshal, at 
 the head of eight hundred men, entered the town of 
 Lawrence, and made arrests ; and then, with an inge 
 nuity worthy of the South, or Austria, or any other 
 power satanic, dismissed his immense force within the 
 limits of the corporation. Had the army then com 
 mitted any lawless act, how could the Democracy have 
 been held responsible ? The posse comitatus was now 
 a mob. But the shot Sheriff, who so lately had been 
 lamented as dead, stepped forward at this juncture ; 
 reorganized the force as his official staif ; and then, 
 filling the streets with these Southern marauders, de 
 stroyed the presses and offices of the two Northern 
 papers, battered at with cannon, and finally burned 
 down, the recently finished and splendid hotel. In the 
 eyes of the Government, they were " public nuisances." 
 This mob was headed by an ex-Senator and ex-Vice 
 President of the United States ! 
 
 Among the brave young men who saw these out 
 rages committed, were Charley Lenhart and John E 
 Cook. Next day they left the town, to commence 
 reprisals. Nearly two hundred thousand dollars worth 
 of property had been stolen or destroyed, without reck 
 oning, in this amount, nearly two hundred horses that 
 had been " pressed into the service " of the South. 
 9* 
 
102 "Southern Rights to All." 
 
 North of the Kansas River, the conquest of the Terri 
 tory was complete ; and, south of it, several Free State 
 districts had submitted to the power of the invaders. 
 AH the towns on the Missouri River were in their 
 hands ; Lawrence had been sacked, its prosperity 
 checked, and its prestige broken ; while Tecumseh, 
 and Lecompton, Fort Scott, and the far Southern re 
 gion, had always been faithful to the traffic in human 
 souls. On a flag that waved in the ranks of the lawless 
 sheriff s southern force, on that memorable 20th of 
 May, was printed the Goliath-like boast of the embattled 
 propagandists of oppression : 
 
 " You Yankees tremble, and Abolitionists fall ; 
 Our motto is, Southern Rights to All." 
 
 The cause of God, and his servants, and despised 
 poor, looked gloomy ; but there were many hearts, 
 fully conscious that, armed with justice and Sharpens 
 rifles, the right would come uppermost ere long. And 
 among them, encamped in the woods of Southern Kan-, 
 sas, was a stern old man, whose cold blue eye lighted 
 up with a holy lustre, as he read in the Sacred Book, 
 written by the finger of his God and Father : 
 
 " Be strong and courageous; be not afraid nor dismayed for the 
 king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him : for there 
 be more with us *,han with him ; 
 
 " With him is an arm of flesh ; but with us is tl e Lord our God, to 
 help us, and to fight our battles." 
 
IV. 
 
 IN CAUCUS AND CAMP. 
 
 IN CAUCUS. 
 
 first time that I heard of Old Brown was in 
 connection with a caucus at tho town of Ossawat- 
 tomie.* It was shortly after his arrival in the Terri 
 tory. The politicians of the neighborhood were care 
 fully 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 FREE 
 DOM for all and above all. The resolution that 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 
 
 * I had no personal knowledge of his opposition to the Treat* 
 of Peace. 
 
 103 
 
104 In Caucus and Camp. 
 
 then known as Free State Democrats. There were a 
 number of emigrants from Indiana, I was told, whom 
 his speech so shocked that they went over and remained 
 in the pro-slavery party. This was John Brown s first 
 ajid last appearance in a public meeting in Kansas. 
 VLike most men of action, he underrated discussion. 
 He secretly despised even the ablest anti-slavery orators. 
 He could see " no use in this talking," he said. " Talk 
 is a national institution, but it does no manner of good 
 to the slave." He thought it an excuse very well 
 adapted for weak men, with tender consciences. Many 
 abolitionists, too cowardly to fight, and yet too honest 
 to be silent, deceived themselves with the belief that 
 they faithfully discharged their duties to the slave 
 by fiercely denouncing his oppressors. His ideas of 
 duty were far different. /The slaves, in his eyes, were 
 prisoners of war ; their tyrants, he held, had taken the 
 sword, and must perish by it. I 
 
 HIS POLITICAL CREED. 
 
 Here let me speak of his political affinities. It has 
 been asserted that he was a member of the Republican 
 party. It is false. He despised the Republican party. 
 It is true that, like every abolitionist, lie was opposed 
 to the extension of slavery ; and, like the majority of 
 anti-slavery men, in favor, also, of organized political 
 action against it. /But he was too earnest a man, and 
 too devout a Christian, to rest satisfied with the only 
 action against slavery consistent with one s duty as a 
 citizen, according to the usual Republican interpreta 
 tion of the Federal Constitution .) It teaches us that we 
 must content ourselves with resisting the extension of 
 
In Caucus and Camp. 105 
 
 slavery. Where the Republicans said, Halt ! John 
 Brown shouted, Forward ! to the rescue ! ( He was an 
 abolitionist of the Bunker Hill school. He followed 
 neither Garrison nor Seward, Gerritt Smith nor Wen 
 dell Phillips : but the Golden Rule, and the Declara 
 tion of Independence, in the spirit of the Hebrew war 
 riors, and in the God-applauded mode that they 
 adopted. " The Bible story of Gideon," records a 
 man who betrayed him, "had manifestly a great in 
 fluence on his actions." He believed in human 
 brotherhood and in the God of Battles ; he admired 
 Nat Turner, the negro patriot, equally with George 
 Washington, the white American deliverer. He could 
 not see that it was heroic to fight against a petty tax 
 on tea, and war seven long years for a political prin 
 ciple ; yet wrong to restore, by force of arms, to an 
 outraged race, the rights with which their Maker 
 had endowed them, but of which the South, for two 
 centuries, had robbed them. The old man distrusted 
 the republican leaders. He thought that their success, 
 in 1860, would be a serious check to the anti-slavery 
 cause.* His reason was, that the people had confidence 
 in these leaders, and would believe that by their action 
 in Congress they would peacefully and speedily abolish 
 slavery. That the people would be deceived ; that the 
 Republicans would become as conservative of slavery as 
 the Democrats themselves, he sincerely and prophetically 
 believed. Apathy to the welfare of the slave would 
 
 *" The Republicans of 1858 will be the Democrats of 1860" a 
 pithy prophecy found among the manuscripts at Harper s Ferry, is 
 a brief and clear statement of John Brown s ideas. 
 
106 In Caucus and Camp. 
 
 follow ; and hence, to avert this moral and national 
 calamity, he hurried on to Harper s Ferry. 
 
 He was no politician. He despised that class with all 
 the energy of his earnest and determined nature. He 
 was too large a man to stand on any party platform. 
 He planted his feet on the Rock of Ages the Eternal 
 Truth and was therefore never shaken in his policy 
 or principles. 
 
 MY FIRST JOURNEY SOUTH. 
 
 A few days after the sacking of Lawrence, a startling 
 rumor reached us. A messenger from Lecompton 
 stated that a Southern squatter from Pottawattomie 
 had arrived there with despatches for the Governor, 
 which announced that five pro-slavery settlers had been 
 murdered, at midnight, and their bodies shockingly 
 disfigured and mutilated, by a party of Free State 
 men. He brought a request for a body of troops to 
 protect the pro-slavery people there ; Avho, up to this 
 time, had ruled that region with a rod of iron. This 
 fact caused every one to doubt the truth of the report. 
 It was regarded as a pretext for hurrying down the 
 troops to arrest Captain John Brown, Junior, and the 
 Free State force that he commanded. While the 
 people of Lawrence were discussing the news, a body 
 of troops from Lecompton passed the town, and it was 
 discovered that they were destined for Osawatomie. 
 Not a moment was to be lost if John Brown, the 
 younger, and his boys, were to be warned of their com 
 ing and design. I was urged to go down and inform 
 him of the approach of the troops. A horse was hired 
 for me, and I started on the mission at once. Already 
 the troops were several miler ahead, and I was not 
 
In Caucus and Camp. 1O) 
 
 familiar with the road ; for this was my first journey 
 to the country south of the Wakarusa. 
 
 My first object was to overtake the troops ; the sec 
 ond, to pass them, and defeat their design. Of every 
 one whom I met I inquired if, and where, they had 
 seen the soldiery. Just at twilight I rode up a hill ; 
 and, on the opposite side of the brush, heard the noise 
 of the tramp of horses. I rode through it, and found 
 myself in camp. The dragoons were preparing to dis 
 mount and remain there for the night. There were 
 two or three civilians of the ruffian-breed along with 
 them, who, after eyeing me with fierce looks, went and 
 spoke to the captain. He, like the majority of the 
 army officers in Kansas, was an ultra pro-slavery man. 
 He looked steadily at me, and I returned the stare ; 
 but, knowing his character, I did not salute him. 
 Without speaking to any one, I rode out of camp. In 
 five minutes, it was already dark ; and I had not gone 
 half a mile ere I heard two men riding up behind me. 
 I stopped my horse at once ; turned off the road ; and, 
 with my pistol ready for service, halted till they came 
 up to me. They also were heavily armed ; but their 
 pistols were in their belts. I inquired of them the 
 way to Prairie City ; one, in giving directions, tried to 
 ride outside of me. It was no time, I felt, for too ten 
 der a regard for the forms of etiquette ; so I rode still 
 further out, slightly raising my pistol as I did so. We 
 understood each other at once. I rode with them a 
 little distance ; and then, they having separated, I 
 halted until both were out of sight. Prairie City 
 according to their directions, was to be reached by an 
 
io8 In Caucus and Camp. 
 
 Indian trail, which, difficult enough to trace in the 
 daylight, it was impossible for a stranger to find or fol 
 low at night. I rode on to a hamlet of half a do>.en 
 log houses, dignified with the name of the City of Pal 
 myra ; and there, at the cabin of a moderate pro-slavery 
 man, rested till the following morning, when I found 
 that my horse had been stolen, and that my host had 
 suffered with me in the loss of an Indian pony. IT. 
 Clay Pate and his friend Coleman, the murderer, were 
 supposed to be encamped in the neighborhood, and were 
 with reason suspected of having committed this theft. 
 After the battle of Black Jack, and not till then, the 
 horses were discovered and returned. 
 
 I walked over to Prairie City, a municipality which 
 consisted of two log cabins and a well, and from 
 there, having told my errand, a messenger was in 
 stantly despatched to inform John Brown, Junior, of the 
 approach and supposed design of the Federal troops. 
 I remained in Prairie City several days, to ascertain 
 and describe the condition of the country. 
 
 I found that, in this region, when men went out to 
 plough, they always took their rifles with them, and 
 always tilled in companies of from five to ten ; for, 
 whenever they attempted to perform their work sepa 
 rately, the Georgia and Alabama bandits, who were 
 constantly hovering about, were sure to make a sudden 
 descent on them, and carry off their horses and oxen. 
 Every man went armed to the teeth. Guard was kept 
 night and day. Whenever two men approached each 
 other, they came up, pistol in hand, and the first salu 
 tation invariably was : Free State or Pro-Slave ? or its 
 
In Caucus ahu Camp. 109 
 
 equivalent in intent : Whar ye from ? It not unfre- 
 quently happened that the next sound was the report 
 of a pistol. People who wished to travel without such 
 collisions, avoided the necessity of meeting any one, by 
 making a circuit or running away on the first indica 
 tion of pursuit. 
 
 And why this condition of things ? Because the 
 North had consented to compromise with the deadly 
 crime of Southern slavery ; because it had been taught 
 that this stupendous and organized iniquity could have 
 any other right than to be crushed under the feet of 
 Christian freemen. 
 
 ARREST AS A HORSE THIEF. 
 
 On the afternoon of my first day at Prairie City, I 
 was sitting reading a book at the door of the cabin, 
 when, unexpectedly, I saw a company of the dragoons 
 approaching. They were riding, in double file, up to 
 where I sat ; but I did not look at them again until 
 the horse of the captain was about to tread on me. 1 
 knew that it was designed, in revenge for my indiffer 
 ence, on the captain s part ; and to anger him still 
 more, as soon as I stepped aside, instead of saluting 
 him or looking at his men, I reopened my book and re 
 commenced my reading. 
 
 In a voice of stifled anger, he asked me if my name 
 was Redpath ? 
 
 I told him that it was. 
 
 " Then, sir, you are my prisoner ! " he said. 
 
 " Indeed !" I responded. "Why? Where is jour 
 warrant ? " 
 
 "I have none," he answered angrily. 
 10 
 
io8 In Caucus and Camp. 
 
 Indian trail, which, difficult enough to trace in the 
 daylight, it was impossible for a stranger to find or fol 
 low at night. I rode on to a hamlet of half a do>.en 
 log houses, dignified with the name of the City of Pal 
 myra ; and there, at the cabin of a moderate pro-slavery 
 man, rested till the following morning, when I found 
 that my horse had been stolen, and that my host had 
 suffered with me in the loss of an Indian pony. H. 
 Clay Pate and his friend Coleman, the murderer, were 
 supposed to be encamped in the neighborhood, and were 
 with reason suspected of having committed this theft. 
 After the battle of Black Jack, and not till then, the 
 horses were discovered and returned. 
 
 I walked over to Prairie City, a municipality which 
 consisted of two log cabins and a well, and from 
 there, having told my errand, a messenger was in 
 stantly despatched to inform John Brown, Junior, of the 
 approach and supposed design of the Federal troops. 
 I remained in Prairie City several days, to ascertain 
 and describe the condition of the country. 
 
 I found that, in this region, when men went out to 
 plough, they always took their rifles with them, and 
 always tilled in companies of from five to ten ; for, 
 whenever they attempted to perform their work sepa 
 rately, the Georgia and Alabama bandits, who were 
 constantly hovering about, were sure to make a sudden 
 descent on them, and carry off their horses and oxen. 
 Every man went armed to the teeth. Guard was kept 
 night and day. Whenever two men approached each 
 other, they came up, pistol in hand, and the first salu 
 tation invariably was : Free State or Pro-Slave ? or its 
 
In Caucus aim Camp. 109 
 
 equivalent in intent : Whar ye from ? It not imfre- 
 quently happened that the next sound was the report 
 of a pistol. People who wished to travel without such 
 collisions, avoided the necessity of meeting any one, by 
 making a circuit or running away on the first indica 
 tion of pursuit. 
 
 And why this condition of things ? Because the 
 Nortli had consented to compromise with the deadly 
 crime of Southern slavery ; because it had been taught 
 that this stupendous and organized iniquity could have 
 any other right than to be crushed under the feet of 
 Christian freemen. 
 
 ARREST AS A HORSE THIEF. 
 
 On the afternoon of my first day at Prairie City, I 
 was sitting reading a book at the door of the cabin, 
 when, unexpectedly, I saw a company of the dragoons 
 approaching. They were riding, in double file, up to 
 where I sat ; but I did not look at them again until 
 the horse of the captain was about to tread on me. 1 
 knew that it was designed, in revenge for my indiffer 
 ence, on the captain s part ; and to anger him still 
 more, as soon as I stepped aside, instead of saluting 
 him or looking at his men, I reopened my book and re 
 commenced my reading. 
 
 In a voice of stifled anger, he asked me if my name 
 was Redpath ? 
 
 I told him that it was. 
 
 " Then, sir, you are my prisoner ! " he said. 
 
 " Indeed ! " I responded. " Why ? Where is jour 
 warrant ? " 
 
 " I have none," he answered angrily. 
 10 
 
no in Caucus and Camp. 
 
 " Then how can you arrest me ? This is said to be 
 a country of law." 
 
 " We won t discuss that, sir," he said, savagely ; 
 " but you must go with me to my camp. If you are 
 not guilty, you need have nothing to fear." 
 
 " I don t fear, Captain," I interrupted : " I know 
 enough of law to know that Federal troops dare not 
 punish citizens." 
 
 His eyes snapped. I had been trying to provoke 
 him, without giving him an excuse for violence, and I 
 saw that I had thus far been successful in hitting the 
 most sensitive part of dragoon pride the superiority 
 of the civil Bench over the military Saddle. 
 
 " But what is my offence ? " I asked. 
 
 " You are suspected of stealing horses ! You came 
 into our camp last night, acted very strangely, never 
 spoke to any one, and, half an hour after you were 
 gone, two of our best horses were missing." 
 
 I angered the vain dragoon still more by laughing 
 heartily at the accusation, and explaining my reason 
 for sympathizing with him, as well as my willingness to 
 go to his camp, if only to have so good a chance to 
 write an amusing letter. This intimation did not re 
 store him to good humor. 
 
 " Well, sir, I hope you are innocent," he said, and 
 then put his men into marching order. 
 
 I found that the strongest evidence against me was 
 the fact they had discovered, that, on the previous even 
 ing, I had anxiously asked of every one where the 
 soldiers were ! Such is circumstantial evidence ! 
 
 Returning in less than half an hour from the camp 
 
In Caucus and Camp. ill 
 
 of the soldiery, to which the horses, traced by a squat 
 ter, had been returned, I sat down and wrote a descrip 
 tion of the adventure, which I entitled the Confessions 
 of a Horse Thief. Now, how to send it? The mails 
 were not safe ; the country was covered with guerillas ; 
 Leavenworth was in the hands of the ruffians ; to send 
 it from Lawrence was impossible. I heard of an old 
 preacher, who lived a few miles off, and who was going 
 to Kansas City in Missouri. I went to find him. His 
 house was situated on the southern side of a creek, 
 which is two or three miles from Prairie City. I was 
 advised to seek the cabin of Captain Carpenter ; and 
 there, where armed men were constantly on guard, 
 they would lead me to " Old Moore, the minister." 
 
 IN CAMP. 
 
 The creeks of Kansas are all fringed with wood. 1 
 lost my way, or got off the path that crosses the 
 creek above alluded to, when, suddenly, thirty paces 
 before me, I saw a wild-looking man, of fine propor 
 tions, with half a dozen pistols of various sizes stuck in 
 his belt, and a large Arkansas bowie-knife prominent 
 among them. His head was uncovered ; his hair was 
 uncombed ; his face had not been shaved for many 
 months. We were similarly dressed with red-topped 
 boots worn over the pantaloons, a coarse blue shirt, 
 and a pistol belt. This was the usual fashion of the 
 times. 
 
 " Hullo ! " he cried, " you re in our camp ! " 
 He had nothing in his right hand he carried a 
 water-pail in his left ; but, before he could speak again, 
 I had drawn and cocked my eight-inch Colt. 
 
114 In Caucus and Camp. 
 
 It was at this time that the old man said to me : " I 
 
 would rather have the small-pox, yellow fever, and 
 jNi 
 
 cholera all together in my camp, than a man without 
 
 V 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 
 
 ^T these Southerners. Give me men of good principles ; 
 
 r^Xjrod- fearing men ; men who respect themselves ; and, 
 
 S 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 be 
 fore had I met such a band of men. They were not 
 earnest, but earnestness incarnate. Six of them were 
 John Brown s sons. 
 
 I left this sacred spot with a far higher respect for 
 the Great Struggle than ever I had felt before, and 
 with a renewed and increased faith in noble and disin 
 terested champions of the right ; of whose existence 
 since I had seen so much of paltry jealousy, selfishness, 
 and unprincipled ambition among the Free State politi 
 cians I was beginning to doubt, and to regard as a 
 pleasant illusion of my youth. I went away, thought 
 ful, and hopeful for the cause ; for I had seen, for the 
 first time, the spirit of the Ironsides armed and en 
 camped. And I said, also, and thought, that I had seen 
 the predestined leader of the second and the holier 
 American Revolution. 
 
I 
 
 V. 
 
 POTTAWATTOMIE. 
 
 HAYE.- spoken ofL the rumors of midnight murder 
 in the Pottawattomie region, and stated that Cap 
 tain "Brown was accuseH5y^nTelnvaders of havTng^done 
 flie deed. j^jihfirgft is falgft._ It was first made by 
 his enemies, who feared him, and_desired,.to jhjye him 
 outof__the district, ajid subsequently repeated by a rec- 
 reant Free State journalist, who sold himself to the 
 Federal Administration for the paltry bribe of the pub- 
 licprintmg. 
 
 The killing of the ruffians of Pottawattomie was one 
 of those stern acts of summary justice with which the 
 history of the West and of every civil war abounds. 
 Lynch law is one of the early necessities of far-western 
 communities ; and the terrors of it form the only effi 
 cieiit guarantee of tlie~peaceful citizen IrorrT "flieTriif- 
 fianism which distinguishes and curses every new Ter 
 ritory. The true story of Pottawattomie is briefly told, 
 
 In all that region, ever since the opening of the 
 Territory for settlement, the pro-slavery party had 
 been brutally tyrannical. Free State men were dail 
 robbed, beaten, and killed ; their property was stolen 
 openly, before their eyes ; and yet they did not dare 
 
 (115) 
 
1 16 Pottawattomie. 
 
 resist the outrages. One or two families alone were 
 occasionally exempted, by their character for des 
 perate courage, from these daring and unwarrantable 
 assaults. Among them were the sons and son-in-law 
 of Old John Brown ; and even they had repeatedly 
 suffered from the conduct of the ruffians, until the 
 arrival of their father in the autumn, with arms. Then, 
 until the months of April and May, a season of peace 
 was allowed them. But when, in fulfilment of the 
 plan of the Missouri secret lodges, the Territory was to 
 be conquered for slavery, it at once became a question 
 of life, death, or immediate banishment to the settlers 
 in Southern Kansas how they should act against the 
 invading pro-slavery party and their allies among the 
 squatters. Men who have passed their lives in the quiet 
 of New England s valleys, or in Eastern cities, can never 
 know what it is to be in earnest on what is seemingly 
 a mere question of political right or constitutional in 
 terpretation. Hence this chapter may shock them ; 
 but it is my duty, nevertheless, to write it. 
 
 The pro-slavery party, in all the region around Pot 
 tawattomie, renewed their system of aggressions on the 
 Free State men. John Brown began to stir himself 
 and prepare for the defence of his neighborhood. With 
 two sons or friends he went out into the prairies where 
 a number of invaders were encamped, and, pretending 
 to survey the country, drove his imaginary lines 
 through the middle of their camp. All the Govern 
 ment officers in Kansas, from the Governor down to the 
 humblest workmen, were at this time, and for long 
 afterwards, ultr.^ pro-slavery men ; many of them pro- 
 
Pottawattomie. 117 
 
 fessed Secessionists who publicly cursed the Union as a 
 burden to the South. John Brown frequently adopted 
 this plan of entering the camp of the invading forces, 
 and not only never was suspected, but was never asked 
 what his political opinions were. Never doubting that 
 he was a Government surveyor, the Southrons never 
 doubted his political orthodoxy. 
 
 The men in this camp freely told him their plans. 
 There was an old man of the name of Brown, they 
 said, who had several sons here, whom it was necessary 
 to get out of the way, as, if they were driven out or 
 killed, the other settlers would be afraid to offer any 
 further resistance. They told him how "\Vimnson, the \J^ 
 
 oyles, and a Dutchman named Sherman had recently 
 been in Missouri, and succeeded in securing forces to 
 drive out the Browns, and that it was determined to 
 kill them in the latter part of May. They mentioned 
 several other prominent Free State men who were to 
 share this fate. 
 
 John Brown left their camp, and at once notified the 
 settlers who had been marked out for destruction, of 
 the murderous designs of the Missourians. A meeting 
 of the intended victims was held ; and it was deter 
 mined that on the first indication of the massacre, the 
 Doyles, a father and two sons, Wilkinson, and Sher 
 man should be seized, tried by Lynch law, and sum 
 marily killed. 
 
 On the 23d of May, John Brown left the camp of his 
 son, at Osawatomie, with seven or eight men, and 
 from that moment began his guerilla warfare in South 
 ern Kansas. He ordered them to the vicinity of hi* 
 
li8 Pottawattomie. 
 
 home, to be ready for the Missourians when they came. 
 He himself went in a different direction, for the pur 
 pose of obtaining further aid. 
 
 On the night of the 25th of May, the Doyles, Wil 
 kinson, and Sherman were seized, tried, and slain. 
 This act was precipitated by a brutal assault com 
 mitted during the forenoon on a Free State man at 
 the store of Sherman, in which the Doyles were the 
 principal and most ruffianly participators. These 
 wretches, on the same day, called at the houses of the 
 Browns ; and, both in words and by acts, offered the 
 grossest indignities to a daughter and daughter-in-law 
 of the old man. As they went away, they said, " Tell 
 your men that if they don t leave right off, we ll come 
 back to-morrow and kill them." They added, in lan 
 guage too gross for publication, that the women would 
 then suffer still worse indignities. 
 
 What redress could the husbands of these women 
 have received, had they asked the protection of the 
 law ? They would have been obliged to seek it from 
 Wilkinson, one of these ruffians, who was the magis 
 trate of the Pottawattomie District ! This instance had 
 hundreds of parallels. 
 
 I do not know whether New England people will be 
 able to vindicate the summary punishment inflicted on 
 these wretches ; but I do know that nearly every Free 
 State man then in Kansas, when he came to know the 
 cause, privately endorsed it as a righteous act, although 
 many of them, " to save the party," publicly repudiated 
 and condemned it. 
 
 These facts I derived from two squatters who aided 
 
Pottawattomie. lit) 
 
 in the execution, and who were not ashamed of the part 
 they took in it. Neither of them was a son of John 
 Brown. They were settlers in the neighborhood. 
 
 John Brown himself subsequently corroborated their 
 statements, without knowing that they had made them, 
 by his account of the affair and denial of any participa 
 tion in it. " But, remember," he added, " I do not say 
 this to exculpate myself; for, although I took no hand 
 in it, I would have advised it had I known the circum 
 stances ; and I endorsed it as it was." 
 
 ^Time and the honest verdict of posterity," he said / 
 in his Virginia cell, "will approve of every act of 
 mine." ) I think it will also endorse all the acts that 
 he endorsed; and among them this righteous slaughter 
 of the ruffians at Pottawattomie. John Brown did not 
 know that these men were killed until the following 
 day ; for, with one of his sons, he was twenty-five miles j 
 distant at the time. He was at Middle Creek. This j\ 
 fact can be proved by living witnesses. It is false, also, \\ 
 that the ruffians were cruelly killed. They were tried, I 
 made confession, allowed time to pray, and then slain// ; 
 in a second. I / 
 
 The effect of this act was highly beneficial to the 
 security of the Free State men. It gave, indeed, to a 
 preconcerted invasion, an excuse for entering the Ter 
 ritory ; but, by the terror which it inspired, by teach 
 ing the Missourians that the sword of civil war had a 
 double edge, it saved the lives of hundreds who other 
 wise would have fallen the victims of Southern aggrcs. 
 sion. Every one in Kansas at the time admitted that 
 fact, although many of them deny it now. 
 
VI. 
 
 H. CLAY PATE. 
 
 AMONG the unhappy men whom Old John Brown 
 has dragged into an exceedingly undesirable im 
 mortality is H. Clay Pate, author, journalist, and war 
 rior, alike unfortunate in each of these capacities, and 
 in every thing that he has tried and lied and done or 
 hoped for. A man-butterfly, whom no one would have 
 ever thought of disturbing, with the vanity of the fa 
 bled frog he aspired to equal John Brown, and flew 
 against his soul of fire but only to be scorched for 
 his pains, and pinned to a page of history by the stern 
 old Puritan, and then placed, as a curious study, in the 
 cabinet of human imbecilities forevermore. 
 
 By way of a contrast, if for no other reason, he de 
 serves a separate chapter here does H. Clay Pate, of 
 Black Jack and Virginia. 
 
 Pate, by birth a Virginian, first sought to find fame 
 and fortune in the city of Cincinnati. He published 
 " a thin volume of collegiate sketches," and " several 
 pointless, bombastically written stories," which, we are 
 told, " was embellished with the author s portrait and 
 autograph." He failed to get readers or even favorable 
 
 120 
 
H. Clay Pate. 12 1 
 
 reviewers, altnough lie sought to make genial critics by 
 entering into sanctums " armed with a cowhide and 
 revolver." Not even by his next effort, " a large en 
 graved portrait of himself," could the hungerer after 
 literary reputation find satisfaction. 
 
 He then sought fame as a journalist, and again was 
 preeminently unsuccessful. As the parasite of the Prot 
 estant demagogue, Gavazzi, he gained in pocket, but 
 he lost in caste ; arid what he earned in purse he again 
 squandered in publication in a new and equally fruit 
 less effort to win a literary reputation without the intel 
 lect to found it on, or the moral character to dignify 
 and support it. " He had a signboard on his door, 
 inscribed, H. Clay Pate, Author;" but as Heaven had 
 not written this inscription on his forehead, the sign in 
 due time disappeared, and " the author" with it. 
 
 He hurried to the borders to seek notoriety as a 
 champion of the South. He determined at first to be 
 distinguished by his pen ; but, surpassed on every hand 
 as a journalist and writer, he next sought the ever- 
 flying phantom of fame with sword in hand, and on 
 the tented field. 
 
 At Lawrence, when the town was sacked, we arc in 
 formed, " he distinguished himself chiefly by riding 
 about on a fine horse, he being decorated with ribbons." 
 
 What a contrast was this vain Virginian to the stern 
 old Puritan, who always dressed in the plainest cloth 
 ing, regarding the purchase of fine apparel as a robbery 
 of the poor who, only to gratify his most intimate 
 acquaintances, would consent, and then unwillingly, to 
 sit for a daguerreotype ; and who, when an admiring 
 11 
 
122 H. Clay Pate. 
 
 friend, without his permission, inscribed a volume to 
 him, regretted it, lest it should seem to be courting 
 notoriety,, which he said, with simple honesty, is " not 
 in my way." 
 
 The vain, shallow, boasting pro-slavery propagandist, 
 and the modest, thoughtful, humble warrior of the 
 Lord, were destined soon to meet as foes. 
 
 Mr. Pate set out from Westport, Missouri, about the 
 end of May, with the avowed intention of arresting Old 
 Brown, whom the pro-slavery men had charged with the 
 slaughter of the ruffians of Pottawattomie, and for 
 whom already they had a salutary and daily increasing 
 dread. His only fear, he said, was, that he might not 
 find him ! 
 
 Captain Pate s achievements, from the day he left 
 Westport until " Old Moore, the minister," started for 
 Missouri, with my letters from Prairie City, are thus 
 narrated by my friend, Mr. Phillips, in his Conquest of 
 Kansas : 
 
 "While near Osawatomie, he contrived to seize two of the old 
 man s sons Captain John Brown, Jr., and Mr. Jason Brown. These 
 were taken while quietly engaged in their avocations. Captain Brown, 
 Jr., had been up with his company at Lawrence, immediately after the 
 sacking of the place, and at the time the men at Pottawattomie were 
 killed. He had returned home when he saw he could not aid Law 
 rence, and quietly went to work. He and his brother Jason were 
 taken by Pate, charged with murder, kept in irons in their camp, and 
 treated with the greatest indignity and inhumanity. "While Pate was 
 thus taking people prisoners without any legal authority or writs, he 
 was joined by Captain Wood s company of .Dragoons, who, so fai 
 from putting a stop to his violent career, aided him in it, and took 
 from him, at his desire, the two prisoners, keeping them under guard 
 in their camp, heavily ironed and harshly treated. While these com 
 panies were thus travelling close to each other, Captain Pate s com- 
 oany burned the store pi a man named Winer, a German ; the home 
 
H. Clay Pate. 123 
 
 at John Brown, Jr., in which, amongst a variety of household articles, 
 a valuable library was consumed ; and also the house of another of 
 he Browns for the old man had six grown sons ; and also searched 
 houses, men, and Free State settlers, and acted in a violent and lawless 
 manner generally. Not being able to find Captain Brown, senior, at 
 Osawatomie, Pate s company and the troops started back for the 
 Santa Fe road. In the long march that intervened, under a hot sun, 
 the two Browns, now in charge of the Dragoons, and held without 
 even the pretence of bogus law, were driven before the Dragoons, 
 chained like beasts. For twenty-five miles they thus suffered under 
 this outrageous inhumanity. Nor was this all. John Brown, Jr., who 
 had been excited by the wild stories of murder told against his father, 
 by their enemies, and who was of a sensitive mind, was unable to bear 
 up against this and his treatment during the march, and afterwards, 
 while confined in camp, startled his remorseless captors by the wild 
 ravings of a maniac, wh ile he lashed his chains in fury till the dull iron 
 shone like polished steel.* To rescue his two sons from their captors 
 became the determination of Captain Brown. Like a wolf robbed of 
 its young, he stealthily but resolutely watched for his foes, while he 
 skirted through the thickets of the Marais des Cygnes and Ottawa 
 Creeks. Perhaps it was a lurking dread of Captain Brown s rescu 
 ing the prisoners, that made Captain Pate deliver them to the United 
 States Dragoons. The Dragoons, with their prisoners, encamped on 
 Middle Ottawa Creek, while Pate went on with his men to the Santa 
 Fc road, near Hickory Point. On the evening of Saturday, the 31st 
 of May, he encamped on the head of a small branch or ravine, called 
 Black Jack, from the kind of timber growing there." 
 
 * Mrs. Robinson, whose husband was detained at Lecompton on a charge of high 
 treason, thus describes the arrival of John Brown, Jr., in their camp: "On the 23d 
 June, the prisoners received an accession to their numbers in the persons of Captain 
 John Brown, Jr., and H. II. "Williams, likewise dignified with the name of traitors. 
 The former was still insane from the ill-treatment received while in charge of the 
 troops. . . . Captain Brown had a rope tied around his arms so tightly, and drawn 
 behind him, that he will for years bear the marks of the ropes where they wore into 
 his flesh. He was then obliged to hold one end of a rope, the other end being carried 
 by one of the Dragoons ; and for eight miles, in a burning sun, he was driven before 
 them, compelled to go fast enough to keep from being trampled on by the horses. On 
 being taken to Tecumseh, they were chained two and two, with a common trace chain, 
 and padlock at each end. It was so fixed as to clasp tightly around the ankle. On< 
 day they were driven thirty miles, with no food from early morning until night. Th 
 journey, in a hot June day, was most torturing to them. Their chains wore upon 
 their ankles until one of them, unable to go farther, was placed upon a horse." 
 
 This son was detained in camp till the 10th September, although he was never even 
 Indicted I 
 
124 H. Clay Pate. 
 
 As soon as Captain Pate had reached the giound 
 that was destined to witness his failure as a military 
 man, and, at the same time, with a humor almost puri 
 tanic in its grimness, to satisfy his longing s for ex 
 tended fame although, possibly, not the kind of it 
 he most desired his friend Mr. Coleman, the mur 
 derer, and others of his company, marched on Palmyra, 
 sacked a free state store there, and then blew it up 
 with a keg of gunpowder. I heard of this Tobbery and 
 outrage, and wrote an account of it ; which, with my 
 " Confessions," and a note to a lady, I handed to " Old 
 Moore, the minister." I advised him, if he were pur 
 sued, to destroy the large letters, which were intended 
 for publication ; but to preserve the other, the note, 
 as there was nothing in it that could implicate him 
 with pro-slavery men. 
 
 He had not gone many miles before he was seen, 
 and pursued by Clay Pate s scouts. In his excitement 
 he forgot my directions preserved the " incendiary 
 documents," and destroyed the harmless billet-doux ! 
 He was captured, and brought to the camp of the 
 marauders. Pate ordered the letters to be opened, as 
 soon as he learned that they were mine, and appointed 
 Coleman, the murderer whom I had denounced, to read 
 my productions to his men ! 
 
 First, came my humorous " Confessions of a Horse 
 Thief." Captain "Wood, the United States officer who 
 arrested me, was spared the ridicule I had endeavored 
 to tlirow on him ; for Pate threw the letter into the 
 fire! 
 
 Next, came my description of the sacking of Pal- 
 
H. Clay Pate. 125 
 
 myra, and the Saxon names for Pate and his company. 
 Old Moore declared afterwards, that he felt uneasy for 
 his safety when he saw the rage which my letters 
 aroused. It was universally admitted that I ought to 
 be hanged ; and they swore that they would do it, too 
 when the cat was belled. Pate s revenge was charac 
 teristic, lie wrote to the Missouri Republican an 
 account of the arrest of Mr. Moore, by his company, 
 and stated that a number of my incendiary documents 
 had been found on this person. This Redpath, he 
 added, as if parenthetically, was arrested a few days 
 ago by Captain Wood, of the United States army, on a 
 charge of horse stealing ; and was not released until 
 the horses were produced ! This was strictly and lit 
 erally true, and yet, in its inference, such a splendid 
 lie, that I should have admired the highwayman for 
 his ingenuity, and given him credit for it, if he had 
 not shown, by the sentence following, that the con 
 struction of the words was accidental only : " He was 
 only released," he added, "because Captain Wood could 
 not find a magistrate to indict him ! " 
 
 This was his revenge on me ; on Mr. Moore it was 
 more brutal and cowardly, and still more character 
 istic. Some of Pate s company had known the old 
 man in Missouri, and knew that he was strictly tem 
 perate in his habits and his principles. They therefore 
 seized him, and, putting a tin funnel in his mouth, 
 poured liquor down his throat the ruffians swearing 
 that they would make the old minister drunk. 
 
 These were the men whom John Brown was follow* 
 ing to fight. 
 
 11* 
 
VII. 
 
 BATTLE OF BLACK JACK. 
 
 A FEW days after I left the camp of Old Brown, and 
 returned to my post at Lawrence, lie had his 
 long-looked-for fight with Captain Pate s marauders. 
 A friend has so faithfully narrated this action, that 
 I prefer to transcribe his account of it, rather than 
 describe the fight from my own recollections of the 
 event. I make a few additions and corrections only. 
 
 A SABBATH GATHERING. 
 
 " After dinner on Sunday, Pate s men wanted to go 
 over to Prairie City and plunder it. Fancying that it 
 would be easily taken, and that no resistance would be 
 offered, six of Pate s men started on the expedition. 
 At the time this party approached Prairie City, the 
 people of that place and vicinity were congregated in 
 the house of Dr. Graham to hear preaching, the doctor 
 himself being a prisoner in the camp at Black Jack. 
 They could watch as well as pray, however. There 
 were some twenty men present, and most of them, 
 after the old Revolutionary pattern, had gone to church 
 with their guns on their shoulders. It was one of those 
 primitive meetings, which may often be found in the 
 
 126 
 
Battle of Black Jack. 127 
 
 West, with the slight addition of its military aspects : 
 simple and unostentatious garb ; easy and primitive 
 manners ; a log house, the ribbed timbers of which 
 gave a rough-cast look to the simple scene, with here 
 and there the heavy octagon barrel of a long Western 
 rifle, or the smooth barrel of a shot gun, were visible 
 where they leaned against the wall, ready for action. 
 The worshippers were nearly through their devotions, 
 and the closing psalm was echoing through the timbers 
 of that log house to one of those quaint old melodies 
 to be found in the Missouri Harmony, when the sacred 
 strain was snapped by another Missouri harmony. A 
 watcher entered, saying, 
 
 " The Missourians ! They are coming ! " 
 Never was a congregation dismissed on shorter no 
 tice. The holy man forgot the benediction in remem 
 bering his rifle. The six ruffians had galloped up ; 
 when the congregation, suddenly rushing out, sur 
 rounded them. Two of the number, who were a little 
 back, wheeled their horses and galloped off, more than 
 one bullet going whizzing after them ; but, thanks to 
 their fleet steeds, or their enemy s hurried shooting, 
 they got off scathless, and got back to tell a frightful 
 story to Pate about the other men being killed hor 
 ribly ! <fcc. Their less lucky companions were merely 
 taken prisoners of war. One of them, however, had 
 come very near getting his quietus. A son of Dr. 
 Graham, a boy of about eleven years, seized his father s 
 double-barrelled gun at the first alarm, and hurried out 
 to the fence, the Missourians, who were all thus taken 
 aback, being immediately outside of it. The daring 
 
128 Battle of Black Jack. 
 
 boy, with his Kansas blood up, went within three 
 rods of them, and. poking his gun over the fence, took 
 deliberate aim at one of the men, and would have fired 
 thr next moment, for " Bub " was not enlightened 
 in the mysterious "articles of war," when a Free 
 State man put aside his gun, and said, 
 
 " Bub, what are you doing ? " 
 
 " Going to shoot that fellow." 
 
 " You must n t." 
 
 Bub shook his head, and began to put up his gun 
 again, muttering, 
 
 " He s on pap s horse."* 
 
 A SEARCH FOR PATE. 
 
 Through the whole of that Sunday night did Cap 
 tain Brown and Shore s united company hunt for 
 Captain Pate ; but their search was unsuccessful. As 
 the gray dawn of Monday morning, June 2d, glim 
 mered in, they had returned to Prairie City, when 
 two scouts brought the tidings that the enemy was 
 encamped on Black Jack, some four or five miles off. 
 A small party was left to guard the four prisoners, and 
 the remainder immediately took up their line of march 
 for the enemy. Of those who thus left Prairie City, 
 Captain Shore s company numbered twenty men, him 
 self included ; and Captain Brown had nine men be 
 sides himself. They rode towards the Black Jack. 
 
 * A similar incident, illustrating the warlike spirit of the children, 
 during the Kansas conflict, came under my own notice at the same 
 house, a few days only before this occurrence. A scout came in and 
 said tnat a pro-slavery guerilla band was approaching. 
 
 "O," shouted a little girl of five summers, don t I wish I could 
 shoot one of them ! " 
 
Battle of Black Jack. 129 
 
 Arrived within a mile of it, they left their horses, and 
 two of their men to guard them. They despatched 
 two other messengers to distant points for additional 
 assistance, if it should be needed. The remainder, 
 twenty-six men, all told, in two divisions, each cap 
 tain having his own men, marched quietly forward on 
 the enemy. 
 
 On Sunday night, there were sixty men in the pro- 
 slavery camp on the Black Jack. Three or four 
 wagons had been drawn up in a line, as a sort of 
 breastwork, several rods out on the prairie from the 
 ravine, and one of the tents was there. Such was the 
 state of affairs when the outer picket-guard, about 
 seven o clock in the morning, galloped in and re 
 ported, " The abolitionists are coming ! " " Where 
 how many ? " There was a hurrying to and fro, and 
 seizing of arms. " Across the prairie there s a hun 
 dred of them," cried the frightened border ruffians, 
 whose fears had multiplied the approaching force by 
 four, and who probably had never stopped to examine 
 carefully or to count, but had galloped off as soon as 
 he caught the first glimpse of them. 
 
 PATE FOUND AND FOUGHT. 
 
 Captain Pate s position at Black Jack was a very 
 strong one. It afforded shelter for his men, and, 
 except by a force coming up the ravine or stream from 
 the timber at Hickory Point, had to be approached over 
 an open prairie, sloping up from the place where the 
 Missourians were posted. When the alarm was 
 sounded, Captain Pate drew up his men in line behind 
 the breastwork of wagons. 
 
130 Battle of Black Jack. 
 
 When they neared the enemy s position, Capiam 
 Brown wished Shore to go to the left and get into the 
 ravine below them, while he, with his force, would get 
 into the upper or prairie part of the ravine, in the bot 
 tom of which was long grass. As the ravine made a 
 bend, they would thus have got in range of the enemy 
 on both sides, and had them in cross fire, without 
 being in their own fire. Captain Brown, with his nine 
 men, accordingly went to the right. Captain Shore, 
 with more bravery than military skill, approached the 
 foe over the hill, to the west of their camp, marching 
 over the prairie up within good range, fully exposed, 
 and with no means of shelter near them. 
 
 " Who comes there ? What do you want ? " cried 
 Captain Pate. 
 
 " When I get my men in line, I ll show you," 
 cried the gallant Captain Shore ; and, true to his 
 word, without waiting for or wanting any humbug par* 
 ley, the gallant band poured in a volley on the Missou- 
 rians, who were drawn up behind the wagons : the 
 latter instantly returning it. 
 
 Yolley after volley pealed through the air, and 
 echoed through the ravine at Black Jack, away up to 
 the dense timber of Hickory Point. 
 
 Meanwhile, Captain Brown had hurried into the 
 ravine on the right of Captain Shore ; and posting his 
 men well, began to discourse the music of the spheres 
 from that quarter. 
 
 " We re whipped ! we re whipped ! " yelled the Mis- 
 sourians, before the battle had lasted ten minutes ; and, 
 breaking from the wagon, they retreated to the ravine, 
 
Battle of Black Jack. 131 
 
 and concealed themselves there, some seven or eight of 
 them being wounded. One was shot through the 
 mouth by a Sharpe s rifle bullet. He had been squat 
 ted behind the wagon wheel ; the ball hit one of the 
 spokes, shivering it, and the border ruffian, in trying 
 the juggler s feat of catching it in his mouth, got it 
 lodged somewhere away about the root of the tongue 
 or the back of his neck. Another, was shot in the 
 upper part of the breast, or the lower part of his neck, 
 the bullet descending and lodging in his back. An 
 other, a citizen of Westport, as he was galloping off, 
 received a very severe wound in the groin. He, 
 with several others, who were also wounded, left their 
 camp by the eastern side and escaped. 
 
 After Pate s men retreated to the ravine, he en 
 deavored to rally them, and a fire was kept up from the 
 spot where they lay concealed, although the bullets 
 were whistling over their heads at a fearful rate. And 
 soon the position of Captain Shore was found to be 
 hazardous and critical fully exposed to an enemy who 
 could shoot at his men almost without running risk, 
 they began to give way ; and soon they had nearly all 
 retreated some two hundred yards up the slope, to the 
 high ground, where they were out of range. Captain 
 Shore, however, and two or three of his men, went 
 over and joined Brown, where the force lay in the long 
 grass, firing down the ravine. While this firing was 
 going on, to little purpose on either side, Captain 
 Brown went after the boys on the hill. Some few of 
 them had gone off after ammunition ; one or two 
 of them were sitting in th@ grass, fixing their guns. 
 
132 Battle of Black Jack. 
 
 Finding that they could not be brought up again to a 
 charge, he led them rather nearer the enemy, and in 
 duced them to shoot at their horses, which were over 
 the ravine, at long shot. This he did to get up their 
 spirits as most of them were mere boys and to 
 intimidate the, enemy. He returned to the ravine ; the 
 firing was still kept up. It is proper to state that 
 Brown and Shore s men had but four guns of long 
 range ; there were only three or four Sharpe s rifles in 
 both companies. 
 
 PATE S PRISONERS AND THE WOUNDED. 
 While the firing was going on, one of Pate s men 
 got up and swore he would see to the prisoners. A 
 guard had been stationed to watch the three Free State 
 prisoners, the tent in which they were being the most 
 exposed of the camp. This guard was in great trepi 
 dation. The prisoners had thrown themselves on the 
 ground, and the trembling guard also lay down, taking 
 care to get the person of Dr. Graham between his own 
 precious carcass and the enemy. So matters were, 
 when the ruffian to whom I have alluded went to the 
 tent with fierce oaths. Dr. Graham saw him approach 
 with ferocious expression, and, just at that moment, the 
 ruffian raised his pistol, aiming at the Doctor, who gave 
 a spring just as the piece went off, the ball hitting him 
 in the side, and inflicting a flesh wound. Graham 
 sprang into the ditch of the ravine ; and, as he did so, 
 received another ball in his hip. He broke from the 
 camp and fled, fifteen pistol shots being fired after him 
 by the person who first attacked him, assisted by the 
 guard. He got off without further injury, and joined 
 his friends on the hill. 
 
Battle of Black Jack. 133 
 
 The firing had lasted three hours. Only two Free 
 State men were wounded. One of them was shot in 
 tli3 arm,, in the early part of the engagement. The 
 other, a young man, with a great exuberance of spirits, 
 kept springing up in the grass, shouting and firing his 
 gun, when, on one of these occasions, he was struck by 
 a ball in the side. Luckily it glanced off the ribs, or 
 it would have killed him ; as it was, it inflicted a severe 
 wound, and two of his friends had to take him off the 
 field. There were now only nine Free State men in 
 the ravine keeping up a fire ; and about as many more 
 on the hill, three hundred yards from the enemy, who 
 kept firing at the horses and occasionally making a 
 sally, but never near enough to do much mischief. 
 
 CAPTAIN PATE CAPTURED. 
 
 At this juncture, Frederick Brown, who had been left 
 in charge of the horses, becoming excited by the pro 
 longed firing on both sides, suddenly appeared on the 
 top of the hill, midway between the two divisions of 
 the Free State force, and in full view of the enemy ; 
 and, brandishing a sword, shouting, " Come on come 
 on ; I have cut off all communication : the sword of 
 the Lord and of Gideon ! " and other wild expressions, 
 struck the ranks of the marauders with panic. 
 
 The Missourians in the ravine were getting discour 
 aged ; they did not dare to venture out of their shelter ; 
 and the bullets of the Free State men were making it a 
 decidedly uncomfortable shelter. They began to drop 
 off, one by one, by gliding down the ravine till thev 
 were out of range, running to where their horses were 
 tied, and then galloping away. As the Free State men 
 12 
 
134 Battle of Black Jack. 
 
 had no cavalry force in the field, and no men to spare, 
 this prudential policy was very successful. 
 
 At last Captain Pate sent out his lieutenant and a 
 prisoner with a flag of truce. They walked up the 
 slope together to where the Free State men were ; who, 
 seeing them and their flag, ceased their fire. When 
 they reached Captain Brown, he demanded of the Lieu 
 tenant whether he was the Captain of the Company ? 
 
 " No," said the Lieutenant. 
 
 " Then," said the old man, " you stay here with me, 
 and let your companion go and bring him out. I will 
 talk with him." 
 
 Thus summoned, Captain Pate came out ; and as he 
 approached Captain Brown, began to* say that he was 
 an officer under the United States Marshal, and that he 
 wanted to explain this fact ; as, he supposed, the Free 
 State men would not continue to fight against him, if 
 they were aware of that circumstance. He was run 
 ning on in this way, when the old man cut him short : 
 
 " Captain, I understand exactly what you are ; and 
 do not want to hear more about it. Have you a propo 
 sition to make to me ? " 
 
 "Well, no that is 
 
 " Very well, Captain," interrupted the old man, " 1 
 have one to make to you: your unconditional sur 
 render." 
 
 There was no evading this demand, and just as little 
 chance to deceive Old Brown ; who, pistol in hand, re 
 turned with Pate and his Lieutenant to their camp in 
 the ravine, where he repeated his demand for the 
 unconditional surrender of the whole company. They 
 
Battle of Black Jack. 135 
 
 surrendered forthwith ; although there were only nine 
 Free State men in the ravine, or in sight, when the 
 demand was made ; and four of them, by Brown s 
 orders, had remained where they were stationed. Five 
 heroes, therefore, of whom John Brown was one, 
 received the surrender of the arms and persons of 
 twenty-one men, exclusive, too, of the wounded ma 
 rauders. A large number of arms were obtained, many 
 of which had been taken from Lawrence and Palmyra ; 
 twenty-three horses and mules, many of them recently 
 stolen from the Northern squatters ; a portion of the 
 goods plundered at the sacking of the Free State store, 
 two days before ; as well as wagons, ammunition, camp- 
 equipage, and provisions for the men. The wagons 
 were all injured by the bullets. 
 
 The prisoners, being now disarmed, were ranged in 
 file by the slender band of captors. The boys on the 
 hill were induced to come in, thereby swelling the Free 
 State force to sixteen persons. Captain Brown marched 
 with the prisoners and a large portion of the spoils to 
 his own camp. The wounded men were carefully cared 
 for ; and, on their recovery, admonished to do better 
 in the future, and sent home to Missouri. 
 
VIII. 
 
 THE CONQUEST OF KANSAS COMPLETE. 
 
 WHEN the news of the defeat of Clay Pate reached 
 Missouri, a force of twenty-one hundred mounted 
 men, not one of them a citizen of Kansas, set out from 
 the border village of Westport, under the lead of the 
 Territorial delegate to Congress, with the triple purpose 
 of rescuing their brother-highwaymen, seizing Old 
 Brown, and completing the conquest of the disputed 
 land. 
 
 A few days before this invasion they had sent on 
 supplies of provisions to the town of Franklin, with 
 cannon and ammunition for their coming forces ; and 
 there the Georgians began to concentrate, and com 
 mitted robberies and other outrages on the persons and 
 property of the Free State men. To defeat the design 
 of the Missourians, we marched upon Franklin on the 
 night of the 2d of June, only a few days after the 
 fight at Black Jack, and, after two or three hours of 
 firing, chiefly in the dark, drove the ruffians cut and 
 captured their provisions. We then retired to Hickory 
 Point, and there concentrated to oppose the invading 
 force ; which, although doubling us in numbers, we 
 
 136 
 
The Conquest of Kanfas Complete. 137 
 
 saw with great delight, on the 5th of June, in battle 
 array on the prairies near Palmyra. Every one in our 
 camp was exultant at the prospect of obliterating and 
 avenging the disgrace of Lawrence. But the Federal 
 troops hastened down, and induced the Missourians to 
 retire ; which, knowing our readiness to fight, they 
 willingly consented to do ; but not until, in cold blood, 
 they had murdered seven Free State men, not one of 
 whom was armed, when they were taken prisoners by 
 the invading forces. Mr. Cantroll was murdered by a 
 ruffian named Forman, one of Captain Pate s men, 
 who was wounded at Black Jack, carefully nursed at 
 Prairie City, and dismissed by his captors uninjured. 
 Of such were the Southern companies. 
 
 The Captain of the dragoons, when near Prairie 
 City, heard that Old John Brown was in the neighbor 
 hood, and sent a messenger to him, requesting to have 
 an interview. The old man came in response to the 
 call, and voluntarily offered to give up his prisoners, in 
 order that they might be tried for their highway rob 
 beries. But the dragoons insisted that they should be 
 unconditionally surrendered ; as, whatever their offences 
 might be, there was no warrant out against them ; and 
 to receive them as prisoners, as the old man proposed, 
 would be tacitly to admit that civil war existed, which, 
 as a Federal officer, he could not acknowledge. 
 
 John Brown had voluntarily entered the camp of 
 the dragoons, who never could have discovered or 
 dared to penetrate his hiding place ; for, as a Kansas 
 author has truly said, " so carefully could he conceal 
 his quarters, that when you wished to find him, when 
 12* 
 
138 The Conqueft of Kanfas Complete. 
 
 he does not wish it, you might as well hunt for a nee 
 dle in a haystack. He was astonished and indignant 
 when the Federal officer informed him that he must 
 consider himself a prisoner, as a civil functionary, who 
 accompanied the troops, had a warrant out for him 
 which he was there to serve. " Take my advice," said 
 the officer, " and make no resistance." Captain Brown 
 answered that if any territorial official dared to serve a 
 writ on him, he would shoot hkn dead on the spot ; 
 and, fixing his stern glance on the Marshal, convinced 
 that trembling official that the presence of a company 
 of soldiers would not save him from the fate the old 
 man threatened. 
 
 FATE LIBERATED. 
 
 " Colonel S ordered him to stand by his stirrup and lead him 
 
 into camp. Under these circumstances, the dragoons went into the 
 camp of Old Brown. So rapidly and unexpectedly did the thing 
 occur, that there was no opportunity to secure the arms and horses 
 taken at Black Jack. Only fifteen of Brown s men were in the camp 
 
 at the moment they entered it; * but that camp, Colonel S , who 
 
 was astonished at it, afterwards said, a small garrison could have held 
 against a thousand men, as, from the peculiar nature of the ground, 
 artillery could not be brought to bear on it. It is not wonderful that 
 both Colonel S and the Deputy Sheriff should come to the con 
 clusion that the handful of Free State men they saw, with nearly 
 twice their own number of prisoners, were only a part of Brown s 
 force. They believed that a hundred riflemen must be concealed in 
 the thickets around it ; consequently the tone of these gallant officers 
 
 and gentlemen grew more urbane and polite. Colonel S asked 
 
 the Deputy Sheriff if he had not some writs of arrest. Deputy looked 
 carefully around him, fixed his timid, irresolute eyes on the prisoners, 
 and the small band Captain Brown had with him, and at the dense and 
 mysterious looking thickets around him, and said, in a hesitating 
 voice, 
 
 " Well, I believe I don t see any body here against whom I have 
 any writ. 
 
 * Among them was John E. Cook, who, a few days before, after Lenhart s campwaa 
 broken up by the Dragoons, went and joined Old Brown for a time. 
 
The Conqueft of Kanfas Complete. 139 
 
 " You don t ! said Colonel S , indignantly. What did you 
 
 toll me you had for ? What did you mean by getting my help to make 
 arrests, if you have none ? 
 
 " Well, faltered the hesitating Deputy, I don t think there is any 
 body here I want to arrest ! 
 
 " Colonel S , who is rather blunt and off-handed, and not much 
 
 of a believer in humbug, gave the Deputy an objurgatory piece of his 
 mind, which I need not inflict on the reader. He then liberated Cap 
 tain Pate and the other prisoners. These men had been treated ex 
 ceedingly well by Captain Brown. They were allowed to use theii 
 own blankets and camp equipage, which were much better than any 
 thing Brown had ; they also were fed, while thus held captive, much 
 better than Brown was able to feed his own soldiers. Not only did 
 the prisoners get their liberty, but their horses, arms, equipage, and 
 stores ; nearly all that had been taken, and all except what Brown 
 had given to those who came the day of the battle to help, or was in 
 the hands of some others who had been there, and who were not now 
 here. The guns these men had were United States arms. 
 
 " Where did you get these arms? asked Colonel S of Cap 
 tain Pate. 
 
 " We got them from a friend, was the reply.* 
 
 " A friend ! growled S . What friend had a right, or could 
 
 give you United States arms ? 
 
 "In this dilemma, Captain Pate did as many a wise man has done 
 before him evaded the question when he did not feel it advisable to 
 answer it. The arms in question were the public Territorial arms, 
 given in charge of the Federal officers of the Territory, for the use of 
 the Territory, and by them given to the Missourians. This not being 
 exactly a fit story to tell, Pate entered into a. disquisition on the gen 
 eral subject of his imprisonment, and told S that he he was acting 
 
 under orders of Governor Shannon ; and that his being taken prisoner 
 was an outrage. 
 
 " That is false, sir! said Colonel S , sternly; I had a con 
 versation with Governor Shannon about your particular case, and he 
 declared that you had no authority for going about the country with 
 an armed force. 
 
 " There was no replying to this ; and the enraged and silenced Pate 
 bit his lip. Colonel S went on and denounced him for his con 
 duct in language more pointed and succinct than complimentary. 
 He wound up his remarks, however, by allowing Pate to take every 
 
 * A more truthful answer was never given by man. The Government of the United 
 States was the friend of every Missouri highwayman and far-Southern assassin, horse- 
 .aiefj or burglar, who at this period infested Kansas. 
 
140 The Conqueft of Kanfas Complete. 
 
 thing his company had even the public arms. Captain Brown and 
 his company were then ordered to disperse." * 
 
 This was the first instance in which the Missourians 
 were officially reprimanded ; and for this rebuke. Co 
 lonel Sumner, a relative of the distinguished Massa 
 chusetts Senator, was immediately superseded in com 
 mand ! 
 
 SACKING OF OSAWATOMIE. 
 
 The force under Whitfield, although they had given 
 their word of honor to disperse, committed numerous 
 and brutal depredations and outrages ; and on the 7th 
 of June, one division of it entered the town of Osawat- 
 omie without resistance. Lest I should be supposed 
 to be a partisan historian, I will transcribe an account 
 of their proceedings there, as written by a National 
 Democrat, then a Federal officeholder : 
 
 " On the 7th, Reid, with one hundred and seventy men, marched 
 into Osaw atomic, and, without resistance, entered each house, rob 
 bing it of every thing of value. There were but few men in the town, 
 and the women and children were treated with the utmost brutality. 
 Stores and dwellings were alike entered and pillaged. Trunks, boxes, 
 and desks Avere broken open, and their contents appropriated or 
 destroyed. Even rings were rudely pulled from the ears and fingers 
 of the women, and some of the apparel from their persons. The liquor 
 found was freely drank, and served to incite the plunderers to in 
 creased violence in the prosecution of their mischievous work. Hav 
 ing completely stripped the town, they set fire to several houses, and 
 then beat a rapid retreat, carrying off a number of horses, and loudly 
 urging each other to greater haste, as the d d abolitionists were 
 coming ! There are hundreds of well-authenticated accounts of the 
 cruelties practised by this horde of ruffians ; some of them too shock 
 ing and disgusting to relate, or to be accredited if told. The tears 
 and shrieks of terrified women, folded in their foul embrace, failed to 
 touch a chord of mercy in their brutal hearts ; and the mutilated 
 
 * Mr. Phillips, to whom I am indebted for this narrative, received the facts from 
 Captain Brown, Cook, and other witnesses of the scene. 
 
The Conqueft of Kanfas Complete. 141 
 
 bodies of murdered men, hanging upon the trees, or left to rot upon 
 the prairies, or in the deep ravines, or furnish food for vultures and 
 wild beasts, told frightful stories of brutal ferocity, from which the 
 wildest savages might have shrunk with horror." * 
 
 And why ? Because the North had consented to 
 league and compromise with the hideous crime of 
 Southern slavery. 
 
 THE SOUTH TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 Every movement made by the Free State men to 
 defeat and punish the crimes of these organized ma 
 rauders, was thwarted by the Federal troops, who, in 
 an official proclamation, were ordered to disperse " all 
 persons belonging to military companies, unauthorized 
 by law ; " in which were not included the banded 
 Southern invaders, for they, as soon as they crossed 
 over the border, were organized into Territorial militia. 
 The face of Freedom was gloomy ; every where the 
 South was triumphant, or had conquered ; only one 
 additional indignity remained to be inflicted. Topeka 
 had hitherto escaped the ravages of the ruffians. There, 
 Colonel Aaron C. Stevens, a man afterwards destined 
 to be immortally associated in fame with John Brown, 
 had a company of Free State boys, who were ever on 
 the alert to defeat the designs of the invaders, and 
 always ready, at call, to march out against them. 
 
 Up to this time, also, the Free State Constitution 
 had preserved its vitality. On the 4th of July, 1856, 
 the crowning victory of the South was gained not 
 by their own cowardly forces, whom Black Jack, Frank 
 lin, and a series of successful guerilla fights had in- 
 
 * Geary in Kansas. By John H. Gihon, p. 91. 
 
142 The Conquelt of Kanfas Complete. 
 
 spired with a salutary aversion to battles, but by com 
 panies of artillery and dragoons of the United States 
 army, led on by a Federal officer. On that day, when, 
 elsewhere, Americans were celebrating the birth-day 
 of their liberty, the Free State Legislature was broken 
 up by force, and by the command of the Federal 
 Executive. 
 
 This was the last drop of bitterness in the Free State 
 cup ; and this was, also, the culmination of Southern 
 success ; the date, at once, of the death and the resur 
 rection of Freedom in Kansas. 
 
 The Missouri River was closed against Northern em 
 igration ; " the roads were literally strewed with dead 
 bodies;"* the entire Free State population of Leav- 
 enworth had been driven from their homes ; almost 
 every part of Kansas was in the power of the invaders ; 
 the army, and the Government, Federal and Territo 
 rial, the Bench and the Jury box were in the hands of 
 the oppressor ; and our State Organization had been 
 destroyed by the Dragoons ; but this assemblage of eight 
 hundred men at Topeka, on the 4th of July, inspired a 
 feeling of unity and power never known before ; and, 
 slowly coming to the Territory, with a little army, but 
 a mightier influence of inspiring rude men with furi 
 ous passions, was General " Jim Lane ; " while, in the 
 woods near the town, lay John Brown encamped, who 
 did not despair, but was ready to release the prisoners 
 at Lecompton, or attack the Dragoons if the party 
 would advise it. They did not ; and he left the town. 
 
 * Declaration of Governor Shannon. 
 
IX. 
 
 BATTLE OF OSAWATOMIE. 
 
 BROWN, after the fourth of July, re- 
 \J turned to Lawrence. Early in the month of 
 August, General Lane entered Kansas by the way of 
 Nebraska Territory. The confidence that the fighting 
 men felt in his- military ability, made his return an 
 event of historical importance. Several revolting 
 atrocities the mutilation of Major Hoyt, for exam 
 ple, the scalping of Mr. Hopps, and a dastardly out 
 rage on a Northern lady * aroused once more the 
 military ardor of the Free State men. Aggressive hos 
 tilities began. The cowardice that the Southerners, 
 now vigorously assailed, displayed at every point, has 
 never probably been equalled in American history : 
 
 * "On the following morning, a young lady of Bloomington was 
 dragged from her home by a party of merciless wretches, and carried a 
 mile or two into the country, when her tongue was pulled as far as 
 possible from her mouth, and tied with a cord. Her arms were then 
 securely pinioned, and, despite her violent and convulsive struggles 
 But let the reader imagine, if possible, the savage brutality that fol 
 lowed. She had been guilty of the terrible offence of speaking 
 adversely of the institution of slavery." Gilson s Geary in Kan~ 
 sets, p. 98. 
 
 >43 
 
144 Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 excepting recently, indeed, in the very valiant and ven 
 erable State of Virginia. 
 
 Hitherto, the Republican leaders in the East, by 
 every mail and numerous messengers, had earnestly 
 and successfully counselled peace urging the Free 
 State men, for party purposes, to submit to outrage 
 rather than strike an offensive blow. The insult of the 
 Fourth of July, followed up, on the 13th of August, by 
 the Governor s proclamation, which practically called 
 on the Missourians to make a new invasion, ex 
 hausted the patience of the Northern settlers, and. in 
 a rapid series of surprises, they soon, and with un 
 exampled precipitation, drove the Southern invaders 
 from all their inland strongholds. 
 
 Let us follow John Brown during this eventful 
 period. From the 4th of July till the 30th of August, 
 he was neither idle nor inactive. With a wounded 
 son-in-law, who had been shot at the battle of Black 
 Jack, he left Topeka about the end of July ; and, on 
 the 5th of August, entered the camp of the organized 
 Northern companies, then known as Jim Lane s army, 
 at a place four miles from the northern boundary line, 
 which the emigrants had named Plymouth, in honor 
 of the Puritans, who had crossed the sea for the 
 same purpose that they were now crossing the prairie : 
 
 " To make the West as they the East, 
 The Homestead of the Free." 
 
 
 
 A brother of John Brown s wounded son-in-law, on 
 learning of the casualties of Black Jack, at once left 
 North Elba, and joined the second Massachusetts Corn- 
 pan v at Buffalo. Th^ old man rode into camp, and 
 
Battle of Ofkwatomie. 
 
 45 
 
 inquired if Wm. Thompson * was there. He found him, 
 and they left the camp together. The Captain was 
 riding a splendid horse, and was dressed in plain white 
 summer clothing. He wore a large straw hat, and 
 was closely shaven ; every thing about him was scru 
 pulously clean. He made a great impression, by his 
 appearance, on several of the company ; who, without 
 knowing him, at once declared that he must be a " re 
 markable man " in disguise. The old hero and his 
 party then proceeded to Nebraska City, or Tabor, in 
 Iowa, and left the wounded man and his brother there. 
 General Lane was not with his army, but came clown 
 with a few friends, among them Captain Brown, 
 reached Topeka on the night of the 10th of August ; 
 and at once took command of the Free State forces. 
 He immediately started for Lawrence, and, on arriv 
 ing there, found that the Northern boys were pre 
 paring to attack the Georgians, then at Franklin. He 
 and Captain Brown were both present at that skirmish. 
 They proceeded on the same night to Rock Creek, for 
 the purpose of seizing the murderers of Major Hoyt ; 
 and Captain Brown there assumed the command of a 
 small company of cavalry. They encamped near Rock 
 Creek ; the disfigured body of Major Hoyt was discov 
 ered, and decently buried ; and, in the morning, they 
 started for Fort Sanders, on Washington Creek, to find 
 that the Missourians had fled. It is probable that the 
 old man was also at the capture of Fort Titus ; and it 
 is certain that, on the 26th of August, his company 
 was at Middle Creek, at a point now called Battle 
 
 * He fell at Harper s Ferry. 
 
 13 
 
146 Battle of Olawatomie. 
 
 Mound, eight miles from Osawatomie, where there was 
 a camp of one hundred and sixty Southern invaders. 
 The Free State forces, consisting of sixty men, the 
 united companies of John Brown, Captain Shore, and 
 Preacher Steward,* surprised and attacked these 
 marauders at noon, and utterly routed them in a few 
 minutes, killing two of them, and capturing thirteen 
 prisoners, and twenty-nine horses, three wagon loads 
 of provisions, and one hundred stand of arms. 
 
 On the same night, a detachment of this Free State 
 force travelled to a point on the Sugar Creek, fifteen 
 miles distant, and captured over sixty head of cattle, 
 which the Southern marauders had brought into the 
 Territory, or stolen from the settlers. 
 
 A NEW INVASION. 
 
 On the 17th of August, the Missourians, alarmed at 
 the threatening aspect of affairs in the Territory, is 
 sued, at Lexington, an inflammatory appeal for another 
 grand and overwhelming expedition against the North 
 ern men in Kansas. It is so characteristic of the times 
 and the spirit of the Slave States, and indicates so 
 clearly the terro^ which Old Brown had inspired in 
 Missouri, that I subjoin it with a few rhetorical omis 
 sions only : 
 
 To THE CITIZENS OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY : 
 
 It becomes our painful duty to inform you that civil war has again 
 commenced in Kansas. Four hundred abolitionists, under Lane, have 
 actually come into the Territory, and commenced a war of extermina 
 tion upon the pro-slavery settlers. 
 
 * This gentleman -was even more expert with the sword of Gideon than with the 
 sword of the Spirit. He has been in more fights and liberated more slaves than any 
 other man r.5?r in Kansas. Ha has won the honorable title of the Fighting Preacher. 
 He " still lives." 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 147 
 
 On the 6th of August, the notorious Brown, with a party of three 
 hundred abolitionists, made an attack upon a colony of Georgians, 
 numbering about two hundred and twenty-five souls, one hundred 
 and seventy-five of whom were women, children, and slaves. Their 
 houses were burned to the ground, all their property stolen, horses, 
 cattle, clothing, money, provisions, all taken away from them, 
 and their ploughs burned to ashes. This colony came from Georgia 
 to settle peaceably in Kansas, and were quietly cultivating the soil, 
 and disturbing no one. They did not even have arms for defence. 
 They are now driven from the territory, with nothing left but their 
 clothes on their backs indeed, they even took the boots off the men s 
 feet, and put them on their own. Captain Cook, who has charge of 
 the colony, is now here asking for arms and men to aid his colony to 
 settle again in the Territory.* 
 
 August 12. At night three hundred abolitionists, tinder this same 
 Brown, attacked the town of Franklin, robbed, plundered, and burnt, 
 took all the arms in town, broke open and destroyed the post office, 
 carried away the old cannon " Sacramento," which our gallant Missou- 
 rians captured in Mexico, and are now turning its mouth against our 
 friends. Six men were killed, and Mrs. Crane knocked down by an 
 abolitionist. [All false.] 
 
 The same day a Mr. Williams, a settler near St. Bernard, was shot 
 by an abolitionist, who sneaked upon him while he was quietly maul 
 ing rails on his claim. f 
 
 August 13. About fifty abolitionists attacked the house of Mr. 
 White, J in Lykins County, robbed him of every thing, and drove him 
 
 * This "peaceable colony of Georgia men, women, children, and slaves," was really 
 composed of about one hundred and sixty of Buford s Southron invaders, the Georgia 
 contingent of that marauding force. About the beginning of July, they camped near 
 Batters ville, a village of the Wea Indians, on the Reserve belonging to that nation. 
 This place is about eight miles south-east of Osawatomie. They made no improve 
 ments, or took any steps toward a settlement, the fact of camping on the Wea lands 
 being sufficient proof that they had no such intention, for they were not open to set 
 tlement. They lived there in tents, sold whiskey to the Weas and Miamis, with whom 
 they pretended to form some sort of treaty, and plundered and annoyed the Free Stato 
 settlers. About the second of August, they took prisoner Preacher Stewart, robbed 
 him of his horse, and stated that they intended to hang him. Preparatory to the 
 execution of this murderous threat, he was left in charge of two drunken Miami 
 Indians. Stewart, not being desirous of a " suspension," made his escape, and reached 
 Lawrence as speedily as possible. Ho immediately raised a company of ninety Free 
 State men, and started for the Southern camp. They heard of his approach, and left 
 in haste. When the Lawrence " boys " arrived at Battersville, they found some whiskcf 
 and a broken wagon. Captain Brown was on the northern boundary line at the time. 
 Preacher Stewart and Captain Cutler were in command of the Free State men. 
 
 f Mr. Williams was a quiet, peaceable man. He was murdered by a pro-slavery 
 ruffian named McBride, for the crime of being a Missourian and Free State. 
 
 J Preacher White, the murderer of Frederick Brown. This statement also is false. 
 
148 Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 into Missouri. He is a Free State man, but sustains the laws of the 
 Territory. 
 
 August 15. Brown, with four hundred abolitionists, mostly Lane s 
 men, mounted and armed, attacked Treadwell s settlement, in Douglass 
 County, numbering about thirty men. 
 
 They planted the old cannon " Sacramento" towards the colony, 
 and surrounded them. They, being so largely overpowered, attempted 
 to escape ; but as they were on foot, it is feared they have all been 
 taken and murdered. 
 
 # * * * 
 
 Meet at Lexington on WEDNESDAY, August 20, at 12 o clock. 
 BRING YOUR HORSES, YOUR GUNS, AND YOUR CLOTHING all ready to 
 go on to Kansas. Let every man who can possibly leave home, go 
 now to save the lives of our friends. Let those who cannot go hitch 
 up their wagons and throw in a few provisions, and get more as they 
 come along by their neighbors, and bring them to Lexington on 
 Wednesday. Let others bring horses and mules, and saddles and guns, 
 all to come in on Wednesday. We must go immediately. There 
 is no time to spare, and no one must hold back. Let us all do a little, 
 and the job will be light. We want two hundred to three hundred 
 men from this county. Jackson, Johnson, Platte, Clay, Ray, Saline, 
 Carroll, and other counties are now acting in this matter. All of them 
 will send up a company of men, and there will be a concert of action. 
 NEW SANTA FE, Jackson County, will be the place of rendezvous for 
 the whole crowd, and our motto this time will be, "No quarter." 
 Come up, then, on Wednesday, and let us have concert of action. 
 Let no one stay away. We need the old men to advise, the young men to 
 execute. We confidently look for eight hundred to one thousand citi 
 zens to be present. 
 
 At the same time a similar address, more general in 
 its character, was issued from Westport, and dated 
 August 16. It was signed by David R. Atchison, W. 
 H. Russell, A. G. Boone, and B. F. String-fellow. 
 
 Thus appealed to, a force of two thousand men as 
 sembled at the village of Santa Fd, on the border ; and, 
 after entering the Territory, divided into two forces 
 one division, led by Senator Atchison, marching to 
 Bull Creek, and the other wing, under General Reid, 
 advancing to Osawatomie. 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 149 
 
 The force under Atchison fled precipitately on the 
 morning of August 31, on the approach of General 
 Lane, and after a slight skirmish between the advance 
 guards of the Northern and Southern "armies," which 
 occurred about sunset on the previous evening. They 
 fled in company with the division that had just returned 
 from Osawatomie. 
 
 The reception of this force at Osawatomie by Captain 
 John Brown is one of the most brilliant episodes of 
 Kansas history. They were between four and five 
 hundred strong, armed with United States muskets, 
 bayonets, and revolvers, with several pieces of cannon 
 and a large supply of ammunition. When John Brown 
 saw them coming, he resolved, to use his own modest 
 phrase, to " annoy them." 
 
 This is his own account of the way in which lie 
 did it: 
 
 CAPTAIN BROWN S ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 " Early in the morning of the 30th of August, the 
 enemy s scouts approached to within one mile and a 
 half of the western boundary of the town of Osawat 
 omie. At this place my son Frederick K. (who was 
 not attached to my force) had lodged, with some four 
 other young moii from Lawrence, and a young man 
 named Garrison, from Middle Creek. 
 
 " The scouts, led by a pro-slavery preacher named 
 White, shot my son dead in the road, whilst he as I 
 have since ascertained supposed them to be friendly. 
 At the same time they butchered Mr. Garrison, and 
 badly mangled one of the young men from Lawrence, 
 who came with my son, leaving him for dead. 
 13* 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 " This was not far from sunrise. I had stopped dur 
 ing the night about two and one half miles from them, 
 and nearly one mile from Osawatomie. I had no 
 organized force, but only some twelve or fifteen new 
 recruits, who were ordered to leave their preparations 
 for breakfast, and follow me into the town as soon as 
 this news was brought to me. 
 
 " As I had no means of learning correctly the force 
 of the enemy, I placed twelve of the recruits in a log 
 house, hoping we might be able to defend the town. I 
 then gathered some fifteen more men together, whom 
 we armed with guns ; and we started in the direction 
 of the enemy. After going a few rods, we could see 
 them approaching the town in line of battle, about one 
 half a mile off, upon a hill west of the village. I then 
 gave up all idea of doing more than to annoy, from the 
 timber near the town, into which we were all retreated, 
 and which was filled with a thick growth of under 
 brush, but had no time to recall the twelve men in the 
 log house, arid so lost their assistance in the fight. 
 
 " At the point above named, I met with Captain 
 Cline, a very active young man, who had with him 
 some twelve or fifteen mounted men, and persuaded 
 him to go with us into the timber, on the southern 
 shore of the Osage, or Marais-des-Cygnes, a little to the 
 north-west from the village. Here the men, numbering 
 not more than thirty in all, were directed to scatter 
 and secrete themselves as well as they could, and await 
 the approach of the enemy. This was done in full 
 view of them, (who must have seen the whole move 
 ment,) and had to be done in the utmost haste. I 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 believe Captain Cline and some of his men were not 
 even dismounted in the fight, but cannot assert posi 
 tively. When the left wing of the enemy had ap 
 proached to within common rifle shot, we commenced 
 firing ; and very soon threw the northern branch of 
 the enemy s line into disorder. This continued some 
 fifteen or twenty minutes, which gave us an unccm- 
 mon opportunity to annoy them. Captain Cline and 
 his men soon got out of ammunition, and retired 
 across the river. 
 
 " After the enemy rallied, we kept up our fire ; 
 until, by the leaving of one and another, we had but 
 six or seven left. We then retired across the river. 
 
 " We had one man killed a Mr. Powers, from 
 Captain Cline s company in the fight. One of my 
 men a Mr. Partridge was shot in crossing the 
 river. Two or three of the party, who took part in 
 the fight, are yet missing, and may be lost or taken 
 prisoners. Two were wounded, viz., Dr. Updegraff 
 and a Mr. Collis. 
 
 " I cannot speak in too high terms of them, and of 
 many others I have not now time to mention. 
 
 " One of my best men, together with myself, was 
 struck with a partially spent ball from the enemy, in the 
 commencement of the fight, but we were only bruised. 
 The loss I refer to is one of my missing men. Tho 
 loss of the enemy, as we learn by the different state 
 ments of our own, as well as their people, was some 
 thirty-one or two killed, and from forty to fifty wounded. 
 After burning the town to ashes, and killing a Mr. 
 Williams they had taken, whom neither party claimed, 
 
152 Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 they took a hasty leave, carrying their dead and 
 wounded with them. They did not attempt to cross 
 the river, nor to search for us, and have not since 
 returned to look over their work. 
 
 " I give this in great haste, in the midst of constant 
 interruptions. My second son was with me in the 
 fight, and escaped unharmed. This I mention for the 
 benefit of his friends. 
 
 " Old preacher White, I hear, boasts of having killed 
 my son. Of course he is a lion. 
 
 "JOHN BROWN. 
 
 " LAWRENCE, KANSAS, September 7, 1856." 
 
 The brilliancy of this exploit can only faintly be 
 traced in the old hero s modest and characteristic ac 
 count of it. Nearly five hundred men, as the Mis- 
 sourians subsequently admitted, and all of them 
 heavily armed, were arrested in their march of des 
 olation by a little band of sixteen heroes, imperfectly 
 equipped ; for the company of Captain Cline, after 
 firing a few shots, retired from the conflict, in conse 
 quence of being out of ammunition ; and there was 
 only one Sharpe s rifle in Captain Brown s command. 
 The old man stood near a " sapling," which is still 
 pointed out, during the whole of this memorable en 
 gagement, quietly giving directions to his men, and 
 " annoying the enemy" with his own steady rifle, 
 indifferent to the grape shots and balls which whizzed 
 around him, and hewed down the limbs, scattered the 
 foliage, and peeled off the bark from the trees on every 
 side. When the writer visited the site, many months 
 after this event, the wood still bore the marks of that 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 glorious conflict. The General of the invading army 
 afterwards admitted that if Brown had been provided 
 with Sharpe s rifles, nothing could have prevented his 
 men from making an ignominious retreat. 
 
 The fearful slaughter was occasioned by the lawless 
 character of the invading force. Alarmed at being 
 fired at, they refused to obey orders, and foolishly hud 
 dled around the dead and wounded, instead of standing 
 in their ranks and " closing up." Into these panic- 
 stricken groups Old Brown poured a deadly fire ; and, 
 before the officers of the enemy could restore order in 
 their companies, thirty-two men lay dead, and more 
 than fifty wounded. The brave band of Captain Brown 
 saw the whites of the enemy s eyes, ere the old man 
 gave the order to retreat. 
 
 The invaders, true to the Southern instinct, mur 
 dered a wounded prisoner who fell into their hands, 
 arrested and killed a Mr. Williams, who was " claimed 
 by neither party," and who took no part in this or any 
 other conflict ; and, on the following morning, offered 
 " Charley," the Hungarian, a chance for his life, if he 
 should escape their fire a cowardly excuse, as the 
 fearless boy told them, for riddling him with balls. 
 They fired a volley into him, as he faced them de 
 fiantly. 
 
 Erroneously supposing that they had shot Captain 
 Brown, they returned to Missouri, and boasted of their 
 success ; but the large number of corpses and wounded 
 men whom they brought from Osawatomie, and a 
 knowledge of the insignificant force of abolitionists 
 that had opposed them, created a feeling of terror in 
 
1_J4 Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 the State, from which the Missourians never fully re 
 covered. They never afterwards thought, and seldom 
 said, that the Yankees would not fight. Captain Brown 
 first created a dread of the NORTH and her men in the 
 minds of the Missourians ; which, more than any other 
 terror, prevented them from proceeding vigorously with 
 the project of re-conquering Kansas. For General 
 Lane, in the North, with hardly any loss of life, had 
 done what Captain Brown, with this salutary slaughter, 
 had effected in the South of Kansas made it necessary 
 to effect a re-subjugation of the Territory, or to give it 
 up to freedom. Lane frightened the Southern in 
 vaders ; but Brown struck terror into the centre of 
 their souls. 
 
 " OLD PREACHER WHITE." 
 
 Old Preacher White, who shot Frederick Brown 
 through the heart, although his victim was quietly 
 walking along on the road unsuspecting and unarmed, 
 and afterwards, as the corpse lay stiff and bloody on 
 the ground, discharged a loaded pistol into its open 
 mouth, was a " National " Divine, of " the Church 
 South," of course, whose fate deserves a passing notice 
 here. 
 
 In order to make capital against the Northern cor 
 respondents in the Territory, by throwing discredit on 
 their statements of Southern outrage, a pro-slavery man 
 of Westport, Missouri, wrote an account of the recent 
 murder of a person whom he called " Poor Martin 
 White, a Free State preacher of the Gospel." It 
 served its purpose for it was originally published in 
 a Republican paper and widely copied ; when as had 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 been arranged Martin White re-appeared, denied the 
 story of his death, and ridiculed the Republicans for 
 believing such stories. For a long time afterwards, the 
 pro-slavery papers, whenever an outrage was recorded, 
 would sneeringly allude to " Poor Martin White." 
 
 For his services in furthering this stratagem, and as 
 a reward for the murder of Frederick Brown, " Poor 
 Martin White " was elected a member of the Territorial 
 Legislature which assembled at Lecompton. During 
 the course of the session he gave a graphic account of 
 the killing of Frederick ; laughingly described how, 
 when shot, he " toppled over" the honorable mem 
 bers roared at this Southern-Christian phrase and 
 abused my friend Phillips, author of " The Conquest 
 of Kansas," for having spoken of the act as a murder ; 
 when, said the assassin-preacher, calmly, "I was acting 
 as a part of the law and order militia." 
 
 Poor Martin White, when the session was finished, 
 proceeded to his home. But he never reached it. " Ho 
 went to his own place," indeed ; for his corpse was 
 found stiff and cold on the prairie with a rifle ball 
 in it. Poor Martin White ! 
 
 BROWN S ADDRESS TO HIS MEN. 
 
 THEY are coming men, make ready ; 
 
 See their ensigns hear their drum ; 
 See them march with steps unsteady : 
 
 Onward to their graves they come. 
 
 God of Freedom ! ere to-morrow, 
 
 Slavers corpses Thou shalt see ; 
 Georgia maids shall wail in sorrow, 
 
 For my sacrifice to Thee ! 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 
 
 Philistines shall fall the river 
 That meanders through this wood 
 
 Shall be red with blood that never 
 Throbbed for outraged womanhood ; 
 
 Blood of men, who, when their brothers 
 Traffic human flesh for gold, 
 
 Laugh, like arch fiends, as poor mothers 
 Heartstrings break for daughters sold ; 
 
 Men who scoff at higher statutes 
 Than their codes of legal wrong ; 
 
 Men whom only tyrant-rule suits ; 
 Men whom Hell would blush to own : 
 
 I will lay them as on altars, 
 
 Prairies ! on your grasses green : 
 
 Curs6d be the man who falters 
 Better had he never been. 
 
 Brothers ! we are God-appointed 
 
 Soldiers in these holy wars ; 
 Set apart, sealed and anointed 
 
 Children of a Heavenly Mars ! 
 
 Weakness we need not dissemble 
 
 But Jehovah leads us on : 
 "Who is he that dares to tremble, 
 
 Led by God of Gideon ? 
 
 Let them laugh in mad derision 
 
 At our Kttle feeble band 
 God has told me in a vision 
 
 We shall liberate the land. 
 
 Rise, then, brothers ; do not doubt me ; 
 
 I can feel his presence now, 
 Feel his promises about me, 
 
 Like a helmet on my brow. 
 
 We must conquer, we must slaughter ; 
 
 We are God s rod, and his ire 
 Wills their blood shall flow like water : 
 
 In Jehovah s dread name Fire ! 
 
Battle of Ofawatomie. 157 
 
 A KANSAS POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Since the foregoing chapter was stereotyped, an 
 unfriendly Kansas paper has related the following inci 
 dent of the Battle of Osawatomie : 
 
 " We have no disposition to extenuate the crimes 
 recently committed by this noted man. But there is 
 no reason why the acts of kindness and charity which 
 he was wont to perform should be forgotten, now that 
 he is about to suffer the doom of a felon. 
 
 "An instance of this sort fell under our personal 
 observation. At the sacking of Osawatomie, one of 
 the most bitter pro-slavery men in Lykins County was 
 killed. His name was Ed. Timmons. Some time after 
 wards, Brown stopped at the log house where Timmons 
 had lived. His widow and children were there, and in 
 great destitution. He inquired into their wants, re 
 lieved their distresses, and supported them until her 
 friends in Missouri, informed through Brown of the 
 condition of Mrs. Timmons, had time to conie to her 
 and carry her to her former home. Mrs. Timmons 
 fully appreciated the great kindness thus shown her, 
 but never learned that Captain John Brown was her 
 benefactor." 
 
 14 
 
X. 
 
 JOHN BROWN S DEFENCE OF LAWRENCE. 
 
 TT7E next find our hero in the town of Lawrence, 
 VV at the most perilous crisis of its history. His 
 defence of it is still remembered with gratitude by all 
 the brave men who witnessed and participated in it. 
 The writer at that time was in Iowa, in charge of a train 
 of provisions, clothing, and military supplies, furnished 
 for the free state men by the patriotism and philanthropy 
 of the generous North. He has, therefore, no personal 
 knowledge of John Brown s conduct at that eventful 
 period of the history of Lawrence ; but from a friend 
 who was an eye witness, and a brave actor in it under 
 the command of " the mighty man of valor," he has 
 been furnished with the following faithful and graphic 
 narration. Brave like his captain, but, like the old 
 man, modest also, we are not permitted to announce 
 his name: 
 
 " On the 13th day of September, 1856, Jim Lane, 
 with an army of some seventy-five or eighty men, pur 
 sued a number of the " enemy," and compelled them 
 to take shelter in some log houses at Hickory Point. 
 These were so situated on a high, rolling prairie as to 
 
 .58 
 
Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 command a view of the whole country about it ; and 
 being well fortified in them, the besieged considered 
 themselves safe even from the destructive effects of 
 Sharpe s rifles ; and knowing that the besiegers were 
 destitute of cannon, they ran up from the top of their 
 main building a black flag " No Surrender." This 
 was too much for the besiegers, for they were the de 
 scendants of those brave-hearted men who had once 
 intrusted their lives and their fortunes to the May 
 flower and to their God. Immediately despatching a 
 messenger to Lawrence for reinforcements and a small 
 six-pound howitzer, with directions to come via Topeka, 
 Lane withdrew his men a few miles to the west, and 
 encamped for the night near a spring, where he found 
 a copy of the inaugural of Governor Geary, whose 
 arrival in the territory had been announced only a 
 few days before. Upon reading this document, Lane 
 at once became satisfied of the good intentions of 
 Geary towards the people of Kansas, and thereupon 
 disbanded his men ; and after having sent another 
 messenger, also by the way of Topeka, to countermand 
 his previous order for reinforcements, he proceeded 
 in person to the. north line of the territory. But 
 Colonel Harvey, to whom this message was sent, in 
 stead of going by Topeka, commenced his march 
 directly for Hickory Point, on Saturday night, about 
 ten o clock, with about one hundred and fifty men, and 
 one piece of cannon. He arrived there about two 
 o clock on Sunday afternoon ; and being unable to 
 agree upon any terms with the besieged, immediately 
 commenced a cannonade upon their fortresses, and ere 
 
160 Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 the sun set on that Sabbath eve, that black flag was 
 taken down, and a white one run up in its place. 
 The vanquished came to terms, and agreed to leave 
 the territory if Colonel Harvey would graciously per 
 mit them to do so ; which reasonable request, it is 
 hardly necessary to say, was granted. 
 
 But during this transaction, another scene in the 
 Kansas drama was enacted at Lawrence. Brown, who 
 had been up to Topeka, was on his way home, and 
 remained in Lawrence over Sunday. \JETis little army 
 which consisted of some eighteen or twenty men, 
 and probably never exceeded thirty at one timeV- was 
 at Osawatomie, where he lived. This was an inde 
 pendent company so independent, indeed, that they 
 trusted alone for victory to their Sharpe s rifles and to 
 the God of battles. With these brave and resolute 
 men, six of whom were Brown s own sons, he carried 
 on a guerilla warfare ; and whatever may be said of 
 his movements at Harper s Ferry, whether they mili 
 tate against his sanity or his loyalty to our govern 
 ment, his efforts in behalf of free Kansas will not 
 soon be forgotten by those who witnessed them. 
 
 I was up early on Sunday morning, and went down 
 to the river and bathed, and came back to my tent, 
 which was on the west side of Lawrence, and busied 
 myself in the forenoon in writing letters home, and in 
 writing in my journal the proceedings of the last 
 week, for I had been absent that length of time, and 
 my journal had necessarily been neglected. The num 
 ber of men in town on that day was considerably less 
 than was usual ; for, besides those at Hickory Point and 
 
Defence of Lawrence. 161 
 
 Osawatomie, there were several other companies in 
 different parts of the territory, leaving Lawrence un 
 protected by a single company. The number of avail 
 able men citizens, parts of companies, and stran 
 gers that were in town that day, would not, when 
 all told, amount to more than two hundred ; so that it 
 would not have been a very difficult job for a thousand 
 well-armed and well-disciplined troops to have marched 
 into the heart of the city, and burned it, as was par 
 tially done in the month of May previous, by federal 
 authority. It was not, therefore, a very desirable piece 
 of information, on this Sabbath morning, when the 
 church bells should have been tolling the hour for the 
 worship of Almighty God, an hour that is made holy by 
 the long-remembered associations of aged pastors and 
 Sabbath school teachers, whose frail forms are now fast 
 fading from our view the announcement that " twenty- 
 eight hundred Missourians were marching down 
 upon Lawrence, with drums beating, and with eagles 
 upon their banners." Yet such was actually the case. 
 Such an announcement was actually made, with the 
 expectation that we would believe it. Bat we did not ; 
 for we considered it, as we had become accustomed 
 to consider all of like character, only rumors, and 
 gave them no consideration until we should become 
 convinced of their truth. We continued our several 
 occupations, whatever they happened to be, whether 
 reading, writing, cooking, moulding bullets, or clean 
 ing guns, and paid but little attention to rumors, hav 
 ing found by experience that a large majority of them 
 were false alarms. Yet, notwithstanding this seeming 
 14* 
 
162 Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 indifference to danger, messenger after messenger 
 arrived in town during the day, each one bringing 
 additional news of the invading army, and corrob 
 orating the statements of those who had preceded him, 
 viz., that Atchison and Reid were at the head of a 
 large force of Missourians, variously estimated at from 
 fifteen hundred to three thousand, and that Lawrence 
 would be the object of their attack that afternoon. 
 
 At about four o clock in the afternoon of the same 
 day, we were compelled to give credence to these 
 rumors, for we had almost ocular demonstration of 
 their truth ; for we saw the smoke of Franklin, a 
 little town five miles south-east of Lawrence, curling 
 up towards heaven, and mingling with the clouds. 
 There were dwellings, under whose roofs were clus 
 tered many little ones ; the domicile in whose sanctuary 
 are holily kept all the sacred household gods, that 
 receptacle for man s happiness here below, which, by 
 the principles of the great common law, is termed the 
 freeman s castle, was crumbling to ashes before his 
 eyes the work of a horde of incendiaries, who are 
 urged on to their deeds of darkness and death by the 
 influence of that missionary system which a northern 
 contemporary gravely terms " a southern economical 
 interest of paramount magnitude." Then there was 
 " hurrying to and fro," but not in " hot haste," and 
 with " tremblings and tears of distress," but with the 
 cool and determined resolution to repel the invaders, 
 if there was enough virtue in powder to do so. 
 
 I believe it is the first impulse of an unorganized 
 populace, during the impending of such danger as now 
 
Defence of Lawrence. 163 
 
 threatened us, to desire a leader or commander, and to 
 obey his orders. At least, it was so in the present 
 instance ; for it was very evident, that without a con 
 cert of action, and a combination of the different 
 forces that were in town, there would be but little 
 safety in that immediate vicinity. The inquiry was 
 next, Who shall be that leader ? Who can so arrange 
 the effective force of the place as to defend it to the 
 best advantage ? It was no sooner known that Cap 
 tain Brown was in town, than he was unanimously 
 voted general-in-chief for the day. The principal por 
 tion of the people had assembled in Main Street, oppo 
 site the post office ; and Captain Brown, standing upon 
 a dry-goods box in their midst, addressed them some 
 what as follows : 
 
 " Gentlemen, it is said there are twenty-five hun 
 dred 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 till 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 leg& 
 than at their heads. In either case, be sure of the 
 hind sights of your guns. It is from this reason that I 
 nyself have so many times escaped ; for, if all the bul- 
 
164 Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 lets which have ever been aimed at me had hit me, J 
 would have been as full of holes as a riddle." 
 
 Having thus taught them in the arts of war, he 
 commenced his preparations for defence. There were 
 several forts and breastworks, and also one or two un 
 finished churches in the south, south-west, and south- 
 cast sides of the town : these were all manned with as 
 many soldiers as could be spared for them. On the 
 north of the town ran the Kansas River ; on the west was 
 a ravine ; and the enemy were looked for on the south. 
 As for myself, I occupied, with some fifteen or twenty 
 others, a breastwork thrown across the south end of 
 Massachusetts Street a precaution which had been 
 found necessary in the early part of the season. 
 
 Captain Brown was always on the alert, visiting 
 every portion of the town, and all the fortifications, in 
 person, giving directions, and exhorting every man to 
 keep cool, and do his duty, and his reward would be 
 an approving conscience. Among other preparations 
 for a vigorous defence, a number of merchants went 
 into their stores and brought out a large lot of pitch* 
 forks ; and every man who was not provided with a 
 bayonet on his gun was furnished with a fork, which 
 certainly would be no mean weapon, if dexterously 
 handled. 
 
 In the mean time, the invading army had left Frank 
 lin, and were marching towards Lawrence ; and about 
 five o clock in the afternoon, their advance guard, con 
 sisting of four hundred horsemen, crossed the Waka- 
 rusa, and presented themselves in sight of town, about 
 two miles off, when they halted, and arrayed them- 
 
Defence of Lawrence. 165 
 
 selves for battle, fearing, perhaps, to come within too 
 close range of Sharpe s rifle balls. Brown s movement 
 now was a little on the offensive order ; for he ordered 
 out all the Sharpe s riflemen from every part of 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. While occupying this posi 
 tion, a gallant trooper from the enemy s side rode up 
 about half a mile in advance of his comrades to re 
 connoitre ; halting upon a little rise in the road, and 
 while feasting his eyes with a sight of " Lane s Ban 
 ditti," a full mile off, one of them, not having the 
 fear of the Missourians before his eyes, drew a bead on 
 him, and fired at him, waiting with breathless anxiety 
 to see what came of it. In two or three seconds, the 
 ball struck in the road, immediately at the horse s feet, 
 and the rider, satisfied with this demonstration, imme 
 diately wheeled about, and putting spurs to his horse, 
 was soon out of the reach of even Sharpe s rifle balls. 
 
 Brown now changed the position of his men to a 
 rising piece of ground, about a quarter of a mile to 
 the left, which overlooked a small cornfield of eight 
 or ten acres, and there stationed them as before, with 
 their faces to the ground. A simultaneous movement 
 on the part of the enemy brought the two armies face 
 to face, about half a mile apart, and with the cornfield 
 between them. 
 
 It was now just approaching dusk. The shades of 
 evening were fast settling upon all Kansas : and in- 
 
166 Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 stead of there being a Joshua there, to charter a little 
 more of the light of day, the sun, in anticipation of a 
 fratricidal strife, went rapidly down behind the moun 
 tains ; there was no light, even of the moon and stars, 
 for the intervening clouds ; and Night the good 
 angel that she was came and spread her dark man 
 tle over the earth, and concealed the further shedding 
 of blood from those who would weep at sight of it. 
 But during this cover, there were those among us who 
 were to depart and be no more with us forever. They 
 were to 
 
 "lie down 
 
 With patriarchs of the infant world with kings, 
 The powerful of the earth," 
 
 in that grand receptacle for the dead, " the distant 
 Aidenn," on the confines of whose shores there are 
 doubtless worthier and " better " soldiers, as well as 
 elder." 
 
 The distance now between the contending armies 
 was such as to give to Sharpe s rifle balls, that were 
 fired with precision, a deadly effect ; as was evinced by 
 the fact that several horses were found riderless. In a 
 few moments, the firing became general ; and in the 
 darkness, and otherwise stillness of the night, the con 
 tinual flash, flash, flash of those engines of death along 
 that line of living fire, presented a scene the appear 
 ance of which was at once not only terrible, but sub 
 limely beautiful. For fear that the few men detailed 
 to meet the enemy would be surrounded in the dark 
 ness by the superior number of horsemen, and cut to 
 pieces, a twelve-pound brass piece, under guard of 
 
Defence of Lawrence. 167 
 
 twelve men, was sent to their assistance ; but before it 
 had arrived upon the ground, the foe had become 
 panic-stricken and fled. The sons of chivalry and of 
 the sunny South, four hundred strong, well armed and 
 mounted, precipitately fled before thirty or forty 
 footmen. 
 
 That night, T. and I took our blankets and lay 
 down immediately within the breastwork before men 
 tioned, with a stone for a pillow and the clouds for 
 a covering. We had been here for a few moments 
 only, when Captain Brown came along, and said, 
 With your permission, I will be the third one to 
 aid in defending this fortification to-night." We 
 readily granted his request, and he then lay down by 
 our side, and told us of the trials and the wars he 
 had passed through ; that he had settled in Kansas 
 with a large family, having with him six full-grown 
 sons ; that he had taken a claim in Lykins county, and 
 was attending peacefully to the duties of husbandry, 
 when the hordes of wild men came over from Missouri 
 and took possession of all the ballot-boxes, destroyed 
 his corn, stole his horses, and shot down his cattle, and 
 sheep, and hogs, and repeatedly threatened to shoot 
 him, hang him, or burn him, if he did not leave the 
 territory ; and as many times endeavored to put their 
 . threats in force, Jnit were as often prevented by his 
 ^ eternal vigilanceX which he found to be the price of 
 his life, and of those of his family ; that they after 
 wards did kill and murder one of his sons, in cold 
 blood, in his own hearing, and almost in his own sight; 
 and all, forsooth, because he hated slavery ! When he 
 
i68 Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 told me that he held that promising son in his arms as 
 he drew his last breath, and thought of the resem 
 blance he bore to his mother, I thought, in the indig 
 nation of the moment, that had that been my son, I 
 would have sworn, by the blood that crimsoned his 
 face, forever to raise my voice and my arm against the 
 measures and the men who had thus hunted him to an 
 untimely death." 
 
 Another eye witness and participator in this mem" 
 orable action, who was posted with Major Bickerton 
 on Mount Oread, afterwards published a poetical 
 account of it; which, as the writer Richard Realf 
 had engaged to be at Harper s Ferry, but died on his 
 passage from England as he was coming over for that 
 purpose, I subjoin, as well as on account of its histor 
 ical accuracy, literary merit, and an indication of the 
 range of intellect which the brave old hero gathered 
 around him. 
 
 THE DEFENCE OF LAWRENCE. 
 
 All night, upon the guarded hill, 
 
 Until the stars were low, 
 "Wrapped round as with Jehovah s will, 
 
 We waited for the foe ; 
 All night the silent sentinels 
 
 Moved by like gliding ghosts ; 
 All night the fancied warning bells 
 
 Held all men to their posts. 
 
 We heard the sleeping prairies breathe, 
 
 The forest s human moans, 
 The hungry gnashing of the teeth 
 
 Of wolves on bleaching bones ; 
 
Defence of Lawrence. i69 
 
 We marked the roar of rushing fires, 
 
 The neigh of frighted steeds, 
 And voices as of far-off lyres 
 
 Among the river reeds. 
 
 We M t re but thirty- nine who lay 
 
 Beside our rifles then ; 
 We were but thirty-nine, and they 
 
 Were twenty hundred men. 
 Our lean limbs shook and reeled about, 
 
 Our feet were gashed and bare, 
 And all the breezes shredded out 
 
 Our garments in the air. 
 
 Sick, sick, at all the woes which spring 
 
 Where falls the Southron s rod, 
 Our very souls had learned to cling 
 
 To Freedom as to God ; 
 And so we never thought of fear, 
 
 In all those stormy hours, 
 For ever} 7 mother s son stood near 
 
 The awful, unseen powers. 
 
 And twenty hundred men had met, 
 
 And swore an oath of hell 
 That, ere the morrow s sun might set, 
 
 Our smoking homes should tell 
 A tale of ruin and of wrath, 
 
 And damning hate in store, 
 To bar the freeman s western path 
 
 Against him evermore. 
 
 They came : the blessed Sabbath day, 
 
 That soothed our swollen veins, 
 Like God s sweet benediction, lay 
 
 On all the singing plains ; 
 The valleys shouted to the sun, 
 
 The great woods clapped their hands, 
 
 15 
 
Defence of Lawrence. 
 
 And joy and glory seemed to run 
 Like rivers through the lands. 
 
 They came : our daughters and our wivea, 
 
 And men whose heads were white, 
 Rose sudden into kingly lives, 
 
 And walked forth to the fight ; 
 And we drew aim along our guns, 
 
 And calmed our quickening breath ; 
 Then, as is meet for Freedom s sons, 
 
 Shook loving hands with Death. 
 
 And when three hundred of the foe 
 
 Rode up in scorn and pride, 
 "Whoso had watched us then might know 
 
 That God was on our side ; 
 For all at once, a mighty thrill 
 
 Of grandeur through us swept, 
 And strong and swiftly down the hill 
 
 Like Gideons we leapt. 
 
 throughout that Sabbath day 
 
 A wall of fire we stood, 
 And held the baffled foe at bay, 
 
 And streaked the ground with blood ; 
 And when the sun was very low, 
 
 They wheeled their stricken ranks, 
 And passed on, wearily and slow, 
 
 Beyond the river banks. 
 
 Beneath the everlasting stars, 
 
 We bended child-like knees, 
 And thanked God for the shining scars 
 
 Of his large victories ; 
 And some, who lingered, said they heard 
 
 Such wondrous music pass, 
 As though a seraph s voice had stirred 
 
 The pulses of the grass. 
 
XI. 
 
 RETURN TO THE EAST. 
 
 AS soon as the Missourians retreated from Franklin, 
 John Brown, with four sons, left Lawrence for 
 the East, by the way of Nebraska Territory. When at 
 Topeka he found a fugitive slave, whom, covering up 
 in his wagon, he carried along with him. 
 
 He was sick, and travelled slowly. Northern squat 
 ters, at this time, were constantly leaving the Territory 
 in large numbers. In coming down with a train of 
 emigrants, in October, I met two or three hundred of 
 these voluntary exiles all of them having terrible 
 stories of Southern cruelty to tell. 
 
 Not contented with having closed the Missouri River 
 against Northern emigration, the South, through the 
 Government, determined, also, to arrest the emigration 
 from the Free States by the Nebraska route. It was 
 intended to stop and disarm my train ; but a few forced 
 marches defeated that design. It was known that 
 another large party was coming in after me : this train 
 several companies of cavalry and artillery marched 
 northward to arrest. John Brown went up with them, 
 and camped with them every night, although the Mar- 
 
 (171) 
 
172 Return to the Eaft. 
 
 shal, who led the force, had a writ for his arrest ! " He 
 was then acting in the capacity of a surveyor or ap 
 peared as such to them. He had a light wagon and a 
 cow tied behind it. His surveyor s instruments were 
 in the wagon in full sight." 
 
 As soon as the military supplies had been stored, I 
 left Topeka in company with a friend, and overtook the 
 troops a few miles from Lexington, a town site on the 
 prairie, thus named by the Massachusetts companies. 
 Passing them, and travelling twelve miles further, I 
 found, lying sick in bed, at the solitary log hut at 
 Plymouth, the venerable hero of Osawattunie and Law 
 rence. My companion was a physician, who at once 
 prescribed remedies for his fever. I urged the old man 
 to move on, as the troops were approaching, not know 
 ing that he had recently encamped with them. I told 
 him that they intended to remain at Plymouth until 
 the train should arrive there ; and that, as many of the 
 people here knew his name, he might, without inten 
 tional treachery, be discovered and arrested. He 
 thanked me for the advice, and promised to follow it. 
 Leaving the house he remained at, I saw the camp of 
 his little company five men in all, and four of them 
 his sons. I urged on them, also, the importance of 
 moving forward. 
 
 A few hours before we overtook the troops, a young 
 man joined us, and reported that he had recently 
 escaped from the ruffians at Leavenworth. Not sus 
 pecting or doubting his story, as we rode along I ex 
 pressed, in enthusiastic terms, my admiration of the 
 
 * Letter from Joel Grover, of Lawrence. 
 
Return to the Eaft. 
 
 73 
 
 character of Old Brown. Our new acquaintance sud 
 denly pretended to be sick, and as he was, withal, 
 rather a bore to us, we advised him to return to Ply 
 mouth. He seemed to follow our advice, but rode back 
 to the dragoons, who had encamped for the night, and 
 informed them where Old Brown lay sick. A detach 
 ment of the soldiery was instantly sent on to arrest 
 him. Fortunately for the cause of the slave and 
 American honor, they arrived too late. The old man 
 had crossed the Nebraska line, and the officer in com 
 mand did not dare to assume the responsibility of fol 
 lowing him. 
 
 At Tabor, in Iowa, a little village of true friends 
 of freedom, the old man and his sons remained two 
 or three weeks. This village was a colony from Ober- 
 lin, in Ohio, and contributed more money and provis 
 ions, in proportion to its population, than any other 
 community in the Union. 
 
 About the end of November, John Brown reached 
 Chicago, and appeared before the National Kansas Com 
 mittee, from whom, however, the only aid he obtained 
 was a suit of clothes, which, although of the plainest 
 cut and most common material, he did not like, be 
 cause they were too fine, and not strong enough for a 
 man of his simple habits and tastes. In December he 
 was at Albany, urging on the leading friends of Kan 
 sas the necessity of more efficient action against the 
 Southern marauders. 
 
 When on his way to New York, lie staid for a few 
 days at Cleveland. The Herald, of that city, recently 
 eaid of this visit : 
 
 15* 
 
174 Return to the Eaft. 
 
 " He was so demented as to suppose he could raise a regiment of 
 men in Ohio to march into Missouri to make reprisals against the 
 Slave forces, and even asked a friend if the power of the State could 
 not be enlisted in that matter. ( He was then told by many that he 
 was a madman, and the poor man left sorrowing that there was no 
 sympathy here for the oppressed., 
 
 How very demented ! The whole North was shout 
 ing itself hoarse in execrating the Southern invaders of 
 Kansas ; and yet, when an earnest old man proposed 
 to organize this resentment into an effective system of 
 aggressive action, " he was told by many that he was 
 a madman ! " 
 
 His half brother, Jeremiah, seems to have been one 
 of those unfortunate men with whom earnest heroism 
 is synonymous with insanity. When the illustrious 
 old man, who redeemed his name and family from the 
 obscurity of an excessive familiarity, and made the 
 name of JOHN BROWN, hitherto a generic title for the 
 Saxon race, mean the highest Christian military hero 
 ism, this relative, under oath, declared: 
 
 " My brother John, from my earliest recollection, has been an hon 
 est, conscientious man ; and this was his reputation among all who 
 knew him in that section of the country. Since the trouble growing 
 out of the settlement of 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. This was 
 about two years ago. He replied that he was sorry that I did not 
 sympathize with him ; that he knew 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 
 
Return to the Eaft. 175 
 
 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 in 
 sane upon the subject of Slavery, and gave him to understand this was 
 my opinion of him ! " 
 
 With such insane men are the highest heavens peo 
 pled ; and of such are the angels who minister at God s 
 throne. 
 
XII. 
 
 SPEECH TO THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE. 
 
 JOHN BROWN arrived in Boston in January, 185T. 
 At that period there was an effort made, by the 
 friends of freedom in the Commonwealth, to induce 
 the legislature of Massachusetts to vote an appropria 
 tion of ten thousand dollars, for the purpose of pro 
 tecting the interests of the North, and the rights of 
 her citizens in Kansas, if the Territory should be 
 again invaded by organized marauders from the 
 Southern States. 
 
 A Joint Committee was appointed by the General 
 Court to consider the petitions in favor of a State ap 
 propriation. It held its sittings publicly. Eminent 
 champions of freedom in Massachusetts, and men who 
 had distinguished themselves during the conflict in 
 Kansas, were invited to address the Committee. 
 Among the Kansas men was Captain John Brown, 
 who, on the 18th of February, appeared at the capitol 
 to make a statement of his views. 
 
 The writer was present at this sitting, and reported 
 the old man s speech. 
 
 Captain Brown, as he stepped forward, was received 
 
 176 
 
Speech to the Maffachufetts Legiflature. 177 
 
 with applause. He said he intended to speak exclu 
 sively of matters of which he was personally cogni 
 zant ; and, therefore, the committee must excuse him 
 if he should refer more particularly to himself and 
 family than he otherwise would do. 
 
 He then read the following statement in a clear, 
 ringing tone : 
 
 SPEECH TO THE LEGISLATURE. 
 
 " I saw, while in Missouri, in the fall of 1855, large 
 numbers of men going to Kansas to vote, and also 
 returning after they had so done : as they said. 
 
 " Later in the year, I, with four of my sons, was 
 called out, and travelled, mostly on foot and during 
 the night, to help defend Lawrence, a distance of 
 thirty-five miles ; where we were detained, with some 
 five hundred others, or thereabouts, from five to ten 
 days say an average of ten days at a cost of not 
 less than a dollar and a half per day, as wages ; to say 
 nothing of the actual loss and suffering occasioned to 
 many of them, by leaving their families sick, their 
 crops not secured, their houses unprepared for winter, 
 and many without houses at all. This was the case 
 with myself and sons, who could not get houses built 
 after returning. Wages alone would amount to seven 
 thousand five hundred dollars ; loss and suffering can 
 not be estimated. 
 
 " I saw, at that time, the body of the murdered Bar 
 ber, and was present to witness his wife and other 
 friends brought in to see him with his clothes on,. just 
 as he was when killed.* 
 
 * By a federal office-holder, who was afterwards promoted to a more 
 lucrative post. 
 
178 Speech to the Maffachuietts Legiflature. 
 
 " I, with six sons and a son-in-law, was called out, 
 and travelled, most of the way on foot, to try and save 
 Lawrence, May 20 and 21, and much of the way in 
 the night. From that date, neither I nor my sons, 
 nor my son-in-law, could do any work about our 
 homes, but lost our whole time until we left, in Oc 
 tober ; except one of my sons, who had a few weeks 
 to devote to the care of his own and his brother s 
 family, who were then without a home. 
 
 " From about the 20th of May, 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 days, which, at one dollar and 
 a half per day, would be to say nothing of attendant 
 losses ninety thousand dollars. 
 
 " On or about the 30th of May, two of my sons, with 
 several others, were imprisoned without other crime 
 than opposition to bogus legislation, and most barba 
 rously treated for a time, one being held about one 
 month, and the other about four months. Both had 
 their families on the ground. After this, both of them 
 had their houses burned, and all their goods consumed 
 by the Missourians. In this burning all the eight suf 
 fered. One had his oxen stolen, in addition." 
 
 The Captain, laying aside his paper, here said that ho 
 had now at his hotel, and would exhibit to the Com 
 mittee, if they so desired, the chains which one of his 
 sons had worn, when he was driven, beneath a burning 
 sun, by federal troops, to a distant prison, on a charge 
 of treason. , The cruelties he there endured, added to 
 
Speech to the Maffachufetts Legiflature. 179 
 
 the anxieties and sufferings incident to his position, 
 had rendered him, the old man said, as his eye flashed 
 and his voice grew sterner, " a maniac yes, a 
 
 MANIAC." 
 
 He paused a few seconds, wiped a tear from his eye, 
 and continued his narration : 
 
 " At Black Jack, the invading Missourians wounded 
 throe free state men, one of them my son-in-law; and, 
 a few days afterwards, one of my sons was so wounded 
 that he will be a cripple for life. 
 
 " In August, I was present and saw the mangled and 
 disfigured body of the murdered Hoyt, of Deerfield, 
 Massachusetts, brought into our camp. I knew him 
 well. 
 
 " I saw the ruins of many free state men s houses in 
 different parts of the Territory, together with grain in 
 the stack, burning, and wasted in other ways, to the 
 amount, at least, of fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 " I saw several other free state men, besides those I 
 have named, during the summer, who were badly 
 wounded by the invaders of the Territory. 
 
 " I know that for much of the time during the sum 
 mer, the travel over portions of the Territory was 
 entirely cut off, and that none but bodies of armed 
 men dared to move at all. 
 
 " I know that for a considerable time the mails on 
 different routes were entirely stopped ; and notwith 
 standing there were abundant troops in the Territory 
 to escort the mails, I know that such escorts were not 
 furnished, as they ought to have been. 
 
 " I saw while it was standing, and afterwards saw 
 
180 Speech to the MaiTachufetts Legiflature. 
 
 the ruins, of a most valuable house, the property of a 
 highly civilized, intelligent, and exemplary Christian 
 Indian, which was burned to the ground by the ruf 
 fians, because its owner was suspected of favoring the 
 free state men. He is known as Ottawa Jones, or John 
 T. Jones. 
 
 " In September last, I visited a beautiful little free 
 state town called Staunton, on the north side of the 
 Osage, (or Marais-des-Cygnes, as it is sometimes called,) 
 from which every inhabitant had fled for fear of their 
 lives, even after having built a strong log house, or 
 wooden fort, at a heavy expense, for their protection. 
 Many of them had left their effects liable to be de 
 stroyed or carried off, not being able to remove them. 
 This was to me a most gloomy scene, and like a visit 
 to a sepulchre. 
 
 " Deserted houses and cornfields were to be found in 
 almost every direction south of the Kansas River. 
 
 " I have not yet told all I saw in Kansas. 
 
 " I once saw three mangled bodies, two of which 
 were dead, and one alive, but with twenty bullet and 
 buck shot holes in him, after the two murdered men 
 had lain on the ground, to be worked at by flies, for 
 some eighteen hours. One of these young men was 
 my own son" 
 
 The stern old man faltered. He struggled long 
 to suppress all exhibition of his feelings ; and soon, 
 but with a subdued, and in a faltering tone, continued : 
 
 " I saw Mr. Parker, whom I well know, all bruised 
 about the head, and with his throat partly cut, after he 
 had been dragged, sick, frum the house of Ottawa 
 
Speech to the Maffachufetts Legiflature. 181 
 
 Jones, and thrown over the bank of the Ottawa Creek 
 for dead. 
 
 " About the first of September, I, and five sick and 
 wounded sons, and a son-in-law, were obliged to lie on 
 the ground, without shelter, for a considerable time, 
 and at times almost in a state of starvation, and de 
 pendent on the charity of the Christian Indian I have 
 before named, and his wife. 
 
 " I saw Dr. Graham, of Prairie City, who was a 
 prisoner with the ruffians on the 2d of June, and was 
 present when they wounded him, in an attempt to kill 
 him, ss he was trying to save himself from being mur 
 dered by them during the fight at Black Jack. 
 
 " I know that numerous other persons, whose names 
 I cannot now remember, suffered like hardships and 
 exposures to those I have mentioned. 
 
 " I know well that on or about the 14th of Sep 
 tember, 1856, a large force of Missourians and other 
 ruffians, said by Governor Geary to be twenty-seven 
 hundred in number, invaded the Territory, burned 
 Franklin, and, while the smoke of that place was going 
 up behind them, they, on the same day, made their 
 appearance in full view of, and within about a mile of 
 Lawrence ; and I know of no reason why they did not 
 attack that place, except that about one hundred free 
 state men volunteered to go out, and did go out on the 
 open plain before the town, and give them the offer of 
 a fight ; which, after getting scattering shots from our 
 men, they declined, and retreated back towards Frank 
 lin. I saw that whole thing. The government troops, 
 at this time, were at Lecompton, a distance of twelve 
 16 
 
182 Speech to the Maffachufetts Legiflature. 
 
 miles only from Lawrence, with Governor Geary ; and 
 yet, notwithstanding runners had been despatched to 
 advise him, in good time, of the approach and 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 to Franklin, and been gone 
 for more than five hours. This is the way he saved 
 Lawrence. (Laughter.) And it is just the kind of 
 protection the free state men have received from the 
 Administration from the first." 
 
 These things the old man saw in Kansas. 
 
 He concluded his remarks by denouncing the traitors 
 to freedom, who, when a question of this kind was 
 raised, cried out, " Save the people s money ; the dear 
 people s money ! " He made a detailed estimate of 
 how much the National Government had expended in 
 endeavoring to fasten Slavery on Kansas ; and asked 
 why these politicians had never cried out, " Save the 
 people s money ! " when it was expended to trample 
 under the foot of the " peculiar " crime of the south, 
 the rights, lives, and property of the Northern squat 
 ters. They were silent then." (Applause.) 
 
 THE CHAIRMAN Captain Brown, I wish to ask you 
 regarding Buford s men.* Did you ever mingle with 
 them ? And if so, what did you see or hear ? 
 
 CAPTAIN BROWN replied, that he saw a great deal of 
 
 * Colonel Buford was the leader of several companies of Georgia 
 and Alabama bandits, who came to Kansas, in the spring of 1856, 
 with the avowed intention of expelling or exterminating the emi 
 grants from the North 
 
Speech to the Maffachufetts Legiftature. 183 
 
 chem at first ; that they spoke without hesitation before 
 him, because he employed himself as a surveyor ; and, 
 as nearly all the surveyors were pro-slavery men, they 
 probably thought he was " sound on the goose. " * 
 They told him all their plans ; what they intended to 
 do ; how they were determined to drive off the free 
 state men, and possess themselves of the Territory, and 
 make it a Slave State at all hazards : cost what it might. 
 They said that the Yankees could not be whipped, 
 coaxed, nor driven into a fight, and that one pro-slavery 
 man could whip a dozen abolitionists. They said that 
 Kansas must be a Slave State to save Missouri from 
 abolition ; that both must stand or fall together. They 
 did not hesitate to threaten that they would burn, kill, 
 scalp, and drive out the entire free state population of 
 the Territory, if it was necessary to do so to accomplish 
 their object. 
 
 THE CHAIRMAN then asked who commanded the free 
 state men at Lawrence ? 
 
 His answer was characteristic of the man, whose 
 courage was only equalled by his modesty and worth. 
 He explained how bravely our boys acted gave every 
 one the credit but himself. When again asked who 
 commanded them, he said no one ; that he was asked 
 to take the command, but refused, and only acted as 
 their adviser! 
 
 The Captain spoke, in conclusion, about the emi 
 grants needed for Kansas. 
 
 " We want," he said, " good men, industrious men, 
 
 * Western phrase : equivalent to, a reliable friend of slavery. 
 
184 Speech to the Maffachufetts Legiftature. 
 
 men who respect themselves ; who act only from the 
 dictates of conscience ; men who fear God too much to 
 fear any thing human" 
 
 THE CHAIRMAN What is your opinion as . to the 
 probability of a renewal of hostilities in Kansas of 
 another invasion ; and what do you think would be the 
 effect, on the free state men, of an appropriation by 
 Massachusetts ? 
 
 CAPTAIN BROWN Whenever we heard, out in 
 Kansas, that the North was doing any thing for us, we 
 were encouraged and strengthened to struggle on. As 
 to the probability of another invasion, I do not know. 
 We ought to be prepared for the worst. Things do 
 not look one iota more encouraging now, than they did 
 last year at this time. You ought to remember that, 
 from the date of the Shannon treaty till May last, there 
 was perfect quiet in Kansas ; no fear of a renewal of 
 hostilities ; no violence offered to our citizens in Mis 
 souri. I frequently went there myself; was known 
 there ; yet treated with the greatest kindness." 
 
ftfcirb. 
 
 THE SWORD OF GIDEON. 
 
 16* 
 
12. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said, The 
 Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. 
 
 14. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, 
 and thou shalt save Israel from the hands of the Midianites : have not 
 I sent thee ? 
 
 16. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and 
 thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 
 
 27. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord 
 had said unto him : and so it was . . . that he did it by night. 
 
 28. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, be 
 hold, the altar of Baal was cast down. 
 
 29. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing ? And 
 when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath 
 done this thing. (Chapter vi.) 
 
 21. And all the host ran, and cried, and fled. Book of Judges, 
 Chapter vii. 
 
I. 
 
 WHETTING THE Sword. 
 
 ir*VA /\^r,rl IT cTTTr*l tr" L 
 
 far John Brown s action has been exclusively" 
 JL defensive ; even according to the usual but unjust 
 definition of the word. He had never struck a blow 
 but in defence of a threatened party. He had fought 
 
 against the invaders of Free Soil, but never yet in- 
 
 v^ 
 
 l) 
 
 vaded a slave country. 
 
 We are now to see him acting as an aggressor if H 
 we accept the popular interpretation of the phrase, u 
 Rather, in truth, we are now to see him as a defender 1 
 of the faith delivered to the fathers. For error is I 
 always an innovator ever an aggression. It has I 
 supplanted and fills the place that God intended for 
 the truth. / Hence the radical reformer is the only 
 conservative ; and the monomaniac is the man who sup 
 ports any untrue thing, whether creed, party, church, 
 or civil institution. ; 
 
 The North says that slavery is a wrong. Why not, 
 then, destroy it ? The Constitution, the Union, Fed 
 eral laws, State rights, it answers ; refusing to believe 
 that no real good can be gained by nourishing a gigan 
 tic wrong. 
 
 (187) 
 
l88 Whetting the Sword. 
 
 When John Brown walked, he neither turned to the 
 right nor left. With a solemn, earnest countenance, 
 he moved straight on, and every one he met made 
 way for him. So in his ideas. He felt that he was 
 sent here, into this earnest world of ours, not to eat, 
 and sleep, and dress, and die merely, but for a divinely 
 pre-appointed purpose \to see justice done, to help the 
 defenceless, to clear God s earth &f the Devil s lies, in 
 the shortest time and at any cost/ 
 
 He looked over the American field, and saw a huge 
 embodied falsehood there ; a magazine of all manner 
 of ungodliness the sum of all villanies. He heard 
 people call it slavery, and regret its existence ; others 
 style it the peculiar institution, and hope that it might 
 finally disappear. Others he heard loudly cursing it , 
 but not one grappling with it. He was amazed at what 
 he saw and heard ; and, when he said so, people called 
 him a monomaniac. He saw some afraid to assail it, 
 because it was guarded by two lions in the way 
 called the Union, and the Constitution ; while others, 
 seeing the cotton that it belched from its mouth, were 
 so pleased with that performance, that they would not 
 look behind the bales. Some he saw bound with the 
 chains of policy, and others with the manacles of non- 
 resistance. But not one living, dreadfully-in-earnest 
 foe among them all ! 
 
 That is what he saw, or thought he saw. Perhaps, 
 had he seen the hidden mines that some men were 
 digging, he would have changed his opinion of the 
 value of their labor ; but even had he known it, as he 
 was not a miner, but a fighter on the earth, he still 
 
Whetting the Sword. 189 
 
 would have acted as he did act. ^ He marched straight 
 ahead, trampling under foot the rotten stubble of unjust 
 laws and constitutions, that stood between him and his 
 foe. It is true that he finally fell among them ; but 
 not before he proved how very powerless they are to 
 resist a MANJ 
 
 JOHN BROWN S SCHEME. 
 
 John Brown returned to Kansas in the month of 
 November, 1857. 
 
 What had he been doing since January, when we 
 reported him in Boston ? Whetting his sword. And 
 how ? In our free Republic, with its barbaric South 
 ern rulers, it would not be here safe to say how. Only 
 brief traces of his movements, therefore, can, injustice 
 to his noble friends, be recorded at this time. 
 
 It should be stated, first, that at this period there 
 was every prospect of renewed disturbances in Kansas. 
 Our need of officers had been greatly felt in the recent 
 conflict there. One hundred mounted men, well armed 
 and officered, would at any time have swept the inva 
 ders from the Territory. John Brown fully appreciated 
 this necessity, and the terror that his own name had 
 inspired, arose from the dread, he modestly thought, 
 of his military knowledge, as much as from the victo 
 ries he had gained. Hence he desired to have funds 
 to equip a sufficient force for the protection, of the 
 squatters, as well as to drill a select number of the 
 young men of Kansas, who had proved themselves 
 faithful to principle. 
 
 He well knew, from his power over men, that, 
 should the Kansas difficulties cease, the youths thus 
 
, 
 
 190 Whetting the Sword. 
 
 drilled would follow him to Harper s Ferry, which, 
 for many years, he had selected as the grand point of 
 attack on slavery. 
 
 JOHN BROWN IN BOSTON. 
 
 I met John Brown in Boston in January, 1857 ; and 
 many of the facts of this volume he told me at that 
 period. To a gentleman of note in Massachusetts, who 
 made his acquaintance at that time, I am indebted for 
 the reminiscences that follow : 
 
 "He brought me a letter of introduction in January, 1857. His 
 business was to raise money for the purpose of further protecting the 
 Free State men of Kansas ; and for this purpose he desired to equip 
 one hundred mounted men. His son Owen accompanied him. He 
 immediately impressed me as a person of no common order, and every 
 day that I saw him strengthened this impression. . . . His brown coat 
 of the fashion of ten years before, his waistcoat buttoning nearly to 
 the throat, and his wide trousers, gave him the look of a well-to-do 
 farmer in his Sunday dress ; while his patent leather stock, gray 
 surtout, and fur cap, added a military air to his figure. At this time 
 he wore no beard.* 
 
 THE IDEALIST AMONG IDEALISTS. 
 
 I found him frank and decided in his conversation ; expressing his 
 opinions of men and things with a modest firmness, but often in the 
 most striking manner. I think it was in his second call on me that 
 he used the language, \7 believe in the Golden Rule, sir, and the Decla 
 ration of Independence. I think they both mean the same thing ; and it 
 is better that a whole generation should pass off the face of the earth - 
 men, women, and children by a violent death, than that one jot of cither 
 should fail in this country. } I mean exactly so, sir. I have twice or 
 thrice heard him repeat this sentiment, which I particularly noticed at 
 the time. He staid but a short time in Boston ; but returned in Feb 
 ruary, and soon after appeared before a committee of the Massachu 
 setts Legislature. ... In March he visited Concord, and spoke at a 
 public meeting in the Town Hall, where, I am told, he exhibited the 
 chain worn by his son John in Kansas, and, with a gesture and voice 
 never to be forgotten by those who heard him, denounced the admin- 
 
 * The steel engraving which embellishes this volume is from a daguerreotype taken 
 at that time, <id presented to me by the old hero as a token of friendship. 
 
Whetting the Sword. 191 
 
 istration and the South for their work in Kansas. He spent several 
 days in Concord, and made the acquaintance of many of its citizens ; 
 among others, of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry D. Thoreau, 
 who have testified so clearly to his nobility of character. 
 
 " Near the end of March, 1857, being on my way to Washington, I 
 met Capt. Brown in New York City, and spent a night with him at 
 the Metropolitan Hotel. Capt. Brown objected to the show and ex 
 travagance of such an establishment, and said he preferred a plain 
 tavern, where drovers and farmers lodged in a plain way. We went 
 on to Philadelphia, and while there I was taken unwell, and could 
 scarcely sit up. Capt. Brown nursed me as much as I had need of, 
 and showed great skill and tenderness. In May he set out for Kan 
 sas, and I lost sight of him for nearly a year," 
 
 Emerson is reported at this time to have said that 
 John Brown was the truest hero-man he had ever met. 
 Theodore Parker, also, said to a friend of mine, who 
 spoke of Captain Montgomery as a man of more har 
 monious and cultivated intellect than John Brown, 
 "Do you know what you say, sir ? John Brown is 
 one of the most extraordinary men of this age and 
 nation." Henry D. Thoreau styled him a " true tran- 
 scendentalist." 
 
 Mr. Stearns, an active and generous friend of Kan 
 sas, tells two incidents of John Brown s visit to Boston 
 at this time, which are exceedingly characteristic of 
 the old Puritan. 
 
 Shortly after his introduction to him, Mr. Stearns 
 said, one day, half jestingly, "I suppose, Captain 
 Brown, that if Judge Lecompte had fallen into your 
 hands, he would have fared rather hard." 
 
 The old man turned round in his chair, and, in 
 the most earnest tones, said, " If the Lord had deliv 
 ered Judge Lecompte into my hands, I think it would 
 have required the Lord to have taken him out again. * 
 
192 Whetting the Sword. 
 
 A meeting of prominent friends of freedom in Kan 
 sas, was to be held on the Sabbath, as no other day 
 could a full attendance be obtained. Mr. Stearns, not 
 knowing how the old Puritan might regard this use of 
 the day of rest, to him and to us a very holy use of 
 it, inquired if it would be consistent with his religious 
 conviction to give his attendance. 
 
 " Mr. Stearns," said the old man, " I have a poor 
 little ewe that has fallen into the ditch, and I think 
 the Sabbath is as good a day as any to help her out. 
 I will come." 
 
 TRAVELS IN THE EASTERN STATES. 
 
 The winter and spring of 1857 John Brown spent 
 in travelling. He visited North Elba once. He spoke 
 at different cities, and employed all his energies in col 
 lecting money. I believe that a large sum was voted 
 for his use by the National Kansas Committee ; but I 
 know that it is said through the dishonesty of an 
 agent he received only a very trifling portion of it. 
 He published, also, the following appeal, which was 
 widely copied by the press, and undoubtedly liberally 
 responded to : 
 
 To the Friends of Freedom : 
 
 The undersigned, whose individual means were exceedingly limited 
 when he first engaged in the struggle for liberty in Kansas, being now 
 still more destitute, and no less anxious than in times past to con 
 tinue his efforts to sustain that cause, is induced to make this earnest 
 appeal to the friends of freedom throughout the United States, in the 
 firm belief that his call will not go unheeded. 
 
 I ask all honest lovers of liberty and human rights, both male and 
 female, to hold up my hands by contributions of pecuniary aid, either 
 as counties, cities, towns, villages, societies, churches, or individuals. 
 
 I will endeavor to make a judicious and faithful application of all 
 such means as T muy be supplied with. Contributions may be sent, 
 
Whetting the Sword. 
 
 in drafts, to W. H. D. Calender, Cashier State Bank, Hartfoid, Conn. 
 It is my intention to visit as many places as I can during my stay in 
 the States, provided I ain informed of the disposition of the inhab 
 itants to aid me in my efforts, as well as to receive my visit. Infor 
 mation may be communicated to me, (care of Massasoit House,) at 
 Springfield, Mass. Will editors of newspapers, friendly to the cause, 
 kindly second the measure, and also give this some half dozen inser 
 tions ? Will either gentlemen or ladies, or both, volunteer to take up 
 the business ? It is with no little sacrifice of personal feeling I appear 
 in this manner before the public. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 In February, when in Collinsville, Connecticut, he 
 ordered the manufacture of his pikes. I remember 
 that, when in Boston, he spoke with great contempt of 
 Sharpe s rifles as a weapon for inexperienced men, and 
 said that with a pike, or bow and arrows, he could arm 
 recruits more formidably than with patent guns. How 
 he ordered the pikes is thus stated by the maker of 
 them : 
 
 " In the latter part of February, or the early part of March, 1857, 
 Old Brown, as he is familiarly called, came to Collinsville to visit his 
 relatives, and by invitation addressed the inhabitants at a public meet 
 ing. At the close of it, or on the following day, he exhibited some 
 weapons which he claimed to have taken from Capt. H. C. Pate, at 
 the battle of Black Jack. Among others was a bowie knife or dirk, 
 having a blade about eight inches long. Brown remarked that such 
 an instrument, fixed to the end of a pole about six feet long, would be 
 a capital weapon to place in the hands of the settlers in Kansas, to 
 keep in their cabins to defend themselves against border ruffians or 
 wild beasts, and asked me what it woXild be worth to make one 
 thousand. I replied that I would make them for one dollar each, not 
 thinking that it would lead to a contract, or that such an instrument 
 would ever be wanted or put to use in any way, if made ; but, to my 
 surprise, he drew up a contract for one thousand, to be completed 
 within three months, he agreeing to pay me five hundred dollars iu 
 thirty days, and the balance within thirty days thereafter." * 
 
 * Having failed to raise the necessary money, the pikes were left unfinished at 
 this time ; but, in the following year, in the month of June, John Brown was again 
 in Collinsville. and completed the contract, and in August, under the name of J. Smith 
 and Sons, ordered them to be forwarded to Chainbersburg, Pennsylvania, upon which 
 they were transported across the country to Harper s Ferry. 
 
 17 
 
Br 
 
 del 
 
 194 Whetting the Sword. 
 
 In March and April, Captain Brown made an agree 
 ment with a drill-master, named Hugh Forbes, an Eng 
 lishman, and a Revolutionary exile, to instruct a num 
 ber of young Kansas men in military science. Forbes 
 engaged to be at Tabor, in Iowa, in June, to meet John 
 
 rown and his men there. 
 
 In May, John Brown set out for Kansas, but was 
 delayed in the Central States for some time. Here is 
 an incident of his travels, recently published to prove 
 his insanity, by a citizen of Ohio : 
 
 "During the summer of 1857, I met John Brown, in the cars be 
 tween Cleveland and Columbus. He was about to return to Kansas. 
 I sought to gather some information respecting the probable advantage 
 of wool growing in that section ; but found his mind was very restless 
 on wool and sheep husbandry, and soon began to talk with great 
 earnestness of the evil of Slavery, on which he soon became enthu 
 siastic, and claimed that any course, whether stealing or coaxing 
 niggers to run away from their masters, was honorable ; at which I 
 attempted to point out a more conservative course, remarking very 
 kindly to him that Kentucky, in my opinion, would have been a free 
 State ere this, had it not been for the excitement and prejudices engen 
 dered by ultra abolitionists of Ohio. At this remark, he rose to his 
 feet with clinched fist, eyes rolling like an insane man, (as he most 
 assuredly was,) and remarked that the South would become free within 
 one year were it not that there were too many such scoundrels as my 
 self to fivet the chains of Slavery. ... I must, though, in justice to 
 Mr. Brown, state that, when not under excitement or mental derange 
 ment, he has ever manifested to me a kind, benevolent, and humane 
 disposition, as a man of strict integrity, moral and religious worth." * 
 
 Another person, who also met John Brown in the 
 cars at this time, subsequently said that he regarded 
 him as a monomaniac ; and his chief reason was, that 
 the old man " spoke of the Eastern people generally as 
 criminally lukewarm on the subject and sin of slavery, 
 and manifested a very great deal of warmth on the 
 subject " ! 
 
 That it is true that John Brown was not fully satis 
 fied with the results of his trip to the east, may be seen 
 
 * Affidavit of S. N. Goedale, of Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
Whetting the Sword. 195 
 
 by the following characteristic note, which was found 
 in his own handwriting among the papers left at the 
 homestead of North Elba. It is entitled : 
 
 OLD BROWN S FAREWELL 
 
 To the Plymouth Rocks, Bunker Hill Monuments, Charter Oaks, and 
 \ Uncle Thorn s Cabbins. 
 
 / 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 minuet men, who are mixed up 
 with the people of Kansas, and he leaves the States, WITH A FEELING OF 
 DEEPEST SADNESS : that after having exhausted Ms own small means, 
 and with his family and his BRAVE MEN ; suffered hunger, cold, naked 
 ness and some of them sickness, wounds, imprisonment in Irons ; with 
 extreme cruel treatment, and others death: that after lying on the 
 ground for months in the most sickly, unwholesome, and uncom 
 fortable places ; some of the time with sick and wounded destitute of any 
 shelter ; and hunted like wolves ; 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 obligations to do: and for 
 the neglect of ichich, he will be held accountable by God: a cause in which 
 every man, women, and child ; of the entire human family has a DEEP 
 and AWFUL interest ; that when no icages are asked ; or expected ; he 
 cannot secure, amidst all the wealth, luxury and extravagance of this 
 " Heaven exalted " people ; even the necessary supplies of the common 
 soldier. " How are the mighty fallen ? " 
 Boston, April, A. D. 1857. 
 
 The diary of one of the old man s sons, which was 
 found among the papers at the Kennedy Farm, gives 
 an outline of his movements -after starting for the 
 Territory. 
 
 JOURNAL OF ONE OF BROWN S SONS. 
 
 The journal, which opens on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 1857, is contained 
 in an ordinary-sized account book, upon the fly-leaf of which is im 
 pressed a circular stamp, inscribed " Tabor, Fremont County, Iowa," 
 and around the rim the name of " Jason Jones, Notary Public." 
 
 The first entry, of Aiig. 25, states that the writer started at a certain 
 date in June for Tabor, from Akron to Hudson ; got goods at Heii- 
 richs, &c. ; harness ; bought red mail stage at Jerries ; next day went 
 to Cleveland ; shipped chest by express ; staid at Bennett s Temper 
 ance House ; next day went to church through the day and evening. 
 
 July 4, the entry is, " Father left for Iowa City," where he was 
 
196 Whetting the Sword. 
 
 joined by Jason, on the 5th, who records a meeting with Dr. Bowen, 
 Mrs. Bowen, and Jessie and Eliza Horton. 
 
 The entries until the 10th record the purchases of wood for spears, 
 staples, chains for mules, and canvas for wagon cover. A horse and 
 buggy was swapped for two horses on the 13th ; on the 14th tents and 
 tent poles were carefully packed in the wagons, and additional blan 
 kets purchased. 
 
 July 15, the entry is, "The party crossed Iowa River," (Fort des 
 Moines River at Red Rock, from which the autobiography is dated,) 
 " stopped at noon on the stream beyond Six Mile House." 
 
 The entry of Aug. 9 records the "arrival of Col. Forbes," (at 
 Tabor,) who from the frequent mention made of that work, the defer 
 ence which the entries betray for the military judgment of the Colonel, 
 and from the fact of the discovery of several copies of his work among 
 the effects of Old Brown, we suppose to be Hugh Forbes, author of a 
 Manual of the Patriotic Volunteer, the reading of which was the daily 
 occupation of the writer, varied with the "cleaning of rifles and 
 revolvers," and " fired twelve shots, drilled, cleaned guns and loaded, 
 received letters from J. and G. Smith." 
 
 September 23, the record acknowledges the receipt of letters from 
 Redpath and G. Smith ; on the 30th the writer finishes "reading G. 
 Smith s speech," and states that " efforts were made to raise a fund to 
 send cannon and arms to Lane," but adds that they proved a failure. 
 On the 1st of October the journalist visits Nebraska City with "Mr. 
 Jones and Carpenter." 
 
 October 3d proves a lucky date to the writer, who records the 
 receipt then of " seventy-two dollars from friend Sanborn." The 
 succeeding day (Sunday) our journalist improves his leisure by perus 
 ing " speech of Judge Curtis, delivered before the students of Union 
 College, New Jersey, and of Dartmouth College, and at the Normal 
 School Convention, "Westfield, Mass., and at Brown University, 
 R. I. ;" the entry of the same date continues, "Read of the awful dis 
 aster to the Central America, formerly the George Law ; read answer 
 of the Connecticut men to Buchanan, and had to shed a few tears 
 over it." 
 
 On Nov. 4, the journalist rose at "ten minutes before four o clock," 
 elate with the remembrance that he is "thirty-three years old this day." 
 
 John Brown reached Tabor on the 7th of August, 
 and Colonel Forbes, two days after him. They were 
 obliged to remain there, inactive, till the 2d of Novem 
 ber, in consequence of being out of funds. 
 
 "During this interval of suspense," writes Col. Forbes, "Captain 
 Brown advocated the adoption of his plan, and I supported mine of 
 stampedes. The conclusion arrived at was, that he renounced his 
 Harper s Ferry project, and I consented to cooperate in stampedes in 
 Virginia and Maryland instead of the part of the country I indicated 
 as the most suitable. I perceived, however, that his mind constantly 
 wandered back to Harper s Ferry, and it was not till it had been def 
 initely settled that neither of us should do any thing unless under the 
 
Whetting the Sword. 197 
 
 direction or with the consent of a committee, that I felt easy in 
 mind respecting his curious notions of Harper s Ferry. He was very 
 pious, and had been deeply impressed for many years with the bible 
 Story of Gideon, believing that he with a handful of men could strike 
 down Slavery.*! 
 
 On the 2d of November, Colonel Forbes took steam 
 er at Nebraska City for the East, and Captain Brown 
 went down to Kansas by the emigrants road, in a 
 wagon driven by one of his sons. He left two others 
 at Tabor. 
 
 Here Cook s Confession (which, although false in 
 certain particulars, is mainly a correct statement of 
 facts) becomes an authority of historical interest to 
 the biographer of John Brown : 
 
 "... I did not see him again until the fall of 1857, when I met 
 him at the house of E. B. Whitman, about four miles from Lawrence, 
 K. T., which, I think, was about the 1st 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, who, I thought, would join also. I recom 
 mended Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, and R. J. Hinton. I received 
 a note on the next Sunday morning, while at breakfast in the Whit 
 ney 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 invita 
 tion. Parsons and myself went, and had a long talk with Captain 
 Brown. A few days afterwards I received another note from Captain 
 Brown, which read, as near as I can recollect, as follows : 
 
 DATE -- . 
 
 CAPTAIN COOK. Dear Sir : You will please get every thing 
 ready to join me at Topeka by Monday night next. Come to Mrs. 
 Sheridan s, two miles south of Topeka, and bring your arms, ammu 
 nition, clothing, and other articles you may require. Bring Parsons 
 with you if he can get ready in time. Please keep very quiet about 
 the matter. Yours, &c., JOHN BROWN. 
 
 "I made all my arrangements for starting at the time appointed. 
 Parsons, Ilealf, and Hinton could not get ready. I left them at Law 
 rence, and started in a carriage for Topeka. Stopped at the hotel over 
 night, and left early the next morning for Mrs. Sheridan s, to meet 
 Captain Brown. Staid a day and a half at Mrs. Sheridan s then left 
 for Topeka, at which place we were joined by Stephens, Moffi tt, and 
 Kagi. Left Topeka for Nebraska City, and camped at night on the 
 prairie north-east of Topeka. Here, for the first, I learned that we 
 were to leave Kansas to attend a military school during the winter. It 
 
 17* 
 
198 Whetting the Sword. 
 
 was the intention of the party to go to Ashtabula County, Oldo 
 Next morning I was sent back to Lawrence to get a draft of eighty 
 dollars cashed, and to get Parsons, Healf, and Ilinton to go back 
 with me. I got the draft cashed. Captain Brown had given me 
 orders to take boat to St. Joseph, Mo., and stage from there to Tabor, 
 Iowa, where he would remain for a few days. I had to wait for 
 Realf for three or four days ; Hinton, could not leave at that time. I 
 started with Realf and Parsons on a stage for Leavenworth. The 
 boats had stopped running on account of the ice. Staid one day in 
 Leavenworth, and then left for Weston, where we took stage for St. 
 Joseph, and from thence to Tabor. I found C. P. Tidd and Leeman 
 at Tabor. Our party now consisted of Captain John Brown, Owen 
 Brown, A. D. Stephens, Charles Moffitt, C. P. Tidd, Richard Robert 
 son, Col. Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, William Leeman, and myself. 
 We stopped some days at Tabor, making preparations to start. Here 
 ice found that Captain Brown s ultimate destination u-as the State of Vir 
 ginia. Some warm words passed beween him and myself in regard to 
 the plan, which I had supposed was to be confined entirely to Kansas 
 and Missouri. " Realf and Parsons were of the same opinion with me. 
 After a good deal of wrangling we consented to go on, as we had not the 
 means to return, and the rest of the party were so anxious that we 
 should go with them. At Tabor we procured teams for the transpor 
 tation of about two hundred Sharpe s rifles, which had been taken on 
 as far as Tabor, one year before, at which place they had been left, 
 awaiting the order of Captain Brown. There were, also, other 
 stores, consisting of blankets, clothing, boots, ammunition, and about 
 two hundred revolvers of the Massachusetts Arms patent, all of which 
 we transported across the State of Iowa to Springdale, and from there 
 to Liberty, at which place they were shipped for Ashtabula County, 
 Ohio, where they remained till brought to Chambersburg, Pa., and 
 were from there transported to a house in Washington County, Md., 
 which Captain Brown had rented for six months, and which was 
 situated about five miles from Harper s Ferry. It was the intention, 
 of Captain Brown to sell his teams in Springdale, and, with the pro 
 ceeds, to go on with the rest of the company to some place in Ashta 
 bula County, Ohio, where we were to have a good military instructor 
 during the winter ; but he was disappointed in the sale. As he could 
 not get cash for the teams, it was decided we should remain in the 
 neighborhood of Springdale, and that our instructor, Col. II. Forbes, 
 should be sent on. We stopped in Pedee, Iowa, over winter, at Mr. 
 Maxson s, where we pursued a course of military studies. Col. H. 
 Forbes and Captain Brown had some words, and he (Col. F.") did not 
 come on ; consequently, A. D. Stephens was our drill-master. The 
 people of the neighborhood did not know of our purpose. We re 
 mained at Pedee till about the middle of April, when we left for Chat 
 ham, Canada, via Chicago and Detroit." 
 
 Iii this extract there are two false statements ; that 
 " some warm words passed " between Cook and Brown ; 
 and that there was a "good deal of wrangling " be 
 tween the Captain, and Parsons, and Realf. 
 
II. 
 
 SOME SHADOWS BEFORE. 
 
 WE were at supper, on the 25th of June, 1858, at 
 a hotel in Lawrence, Kansas. A stately old man, 
 with a flowing white beard, entered the room and took 
 a seat at the public table. I immediately recognized 
 in the stranger, JOHN BROWN. Yet many persons 
 who had previously known him did not penetrate his 
 patriarchal disguise. A phrenologist, who was convers 
 ing with me, having noticed him, suddenly turned and 
 asked if I knew that man ? Such a head, such devel 
 opments, he said, were infallible indications of " a most 
 remarkable person." 
 
 I had several long conversations with the venerable 
 hero, but do not deem it prudent to disclose their na 
 ture. Instead of relating, therefore, what I heard him 
 say at this time, I subjoin some reminiscences by a 
 friend, who was fully in his confidence, and fully worthy 
 of it. These notes distinctly foreshadow the Libera 
 tor s plans ; and, as they have been so grossly misrep 
 resented, it is due to him, I think, that they should 
 now be published, as far as prudence permits. 
 
 After premising that all the young men of principle 
 
 (199) 
 
2oo Some Shadows Before. 
 
 in Kansas, by the law of attraction or mental affinity, 
 were the devoted friends and admirers of John Brown ; 
 and mentioning that, in November, 1857, Cook, Realf, 
 and Kagi left the Territory for Tabor, in Iowa, in his 
 company ; and recording his arrival in Lawrence under 
 the name of Captain Morgan, on the 25th of June, 
 1858, he thus continues : 
 
 A TALK WITH JOHN BROWN AND KAGI. 
 
 " On Sunday I held a very interesting conversation with Captain 
 Brown, which lasted nearly the whole afternoon. The purport of it 
 was, on his part, inquiries as to various public men in the Territory, 
 and the condition of political affairs. He was very particular in hia 
 inquiries as to the movements and character of Captain Montgomery. 
 The massacre of the Marais-des-Cygnes was then fresh in the minds of 
 the people. I remember an expression which he used. Warmly 
 giving utterance to my detestation of slavery and its minions, and im 
 patiently wishing for some effectual means of injuring it, Captain 
 Brown said, most impressively : 
 
 / " Young men must learn to wait. Patience is the hardest lesson to learn. 
 ( I have waited for twenty years to accomplish my purpose, ^/ 
 ^ " In the course of the conversation he reminded me of a message that 
 I had sent him in 1857,* and said, he hoped I meant what I said, for 
 he should ask the fulfilment of that promise, and that perhaps very 
 soon ; and further added, he wanted to caution me against rash 
 promises. Young men were too apt to make them, and should be 
 very careful. The promise given was of great importance, and I 
 must be prepared to stand by it or disavow it now. My answer 
 need not be stated. 
 
 "In this conversation he gave me no definite idea of his plans, but 
 seemed generally bent on ascertaining the opinions and characters of 
 our men of anti- slavery reputations. 
 
 " Kagi, at the same time, gave me to understand that their visit to 
 Kansas was caused by the betrayal of their plans, by a Colonel Forbes, 
 to the Administration, and that they wished to give a different impres 
 sion from what these disclosures had, by coming to the West. Both 
 stated they intended to stay some time, and that night (Sunday) 
 
 * This message was an expression of regret, in a letter given to Richard Realf for John 
 Brown, that the writer could not then join him, in consequence of other engage 
 ments ; but promising, at any future time, to be read} to obey his call. 
 
Some Shadows Before. 201 
 
 Captain Brown announced they should go South in the morning to 
 see Captain Montgomery, and visit his relatives. The Ilev. Mr. 
 Adair s wife is the hall-sister of Captain Brown. They live near 
 Osawatomie. 
 
 JOHN BROWN IN SOUTHERN KANSAS. 
 
 " Captain Brown started for Southern Kansas, on Monday morning, 
 June 26. I did not see him again until the middle of September, when 
 I met him at Mr. Adair s. Both the Captain and Kagi were sick with 
 the fever and ague, and had been for some time. In the interim, Cap 
 tain Brown had been in Linn and Bourbon Counties, and also visited 
 other parts of Southern Kansas. One of his first acts, after arriving 
 South, was to negotiate with Synder, the blacksmith, upon whose 
 claim the terrible massacre of the Marais-des-Cygnes occurred, for its 
 purchase. This claim is situated about a half mile from the State line. 
 The buildings are located in an admirable position for defence. John 
 Brown saw both the moral and material advantages of the position, 
 and was desirous of obtaining possession. It will be remembered that 
 Synder successfully resisted Hamilton s gang on the day of the mas 
 sacre. Captain Brown stated his object in wishing to obtain posses 
 sion of the land, and Synder agreed to sell. But though a brave, he 
 was not specially an upright man, and, soon after making a bargain 
 with John Brown, having a better offer, he broke the contract. The 
 Captain had, in the interval, w r ith the assistance of Kagi, Ticld, 
 Stephens, Leeman, and another member of his company, prepared a 
 very strong fortification, where they could have successfully resisted a 
 large force. In my journey through the Southern border counties, I 
 found that a general feeling of confidence prevailed among our friends, 
 because John Brown was near. Over the border the Missourians were 
 remarkably quiet from June until October, from the belief that the 
 old hero was in their vicinity. By the bad faith of Synder the farm 
 was abandoned, and Captain Brown and Kagi came to Mr. Adair s, 
 where I met them. The others were living in Linn and Anderson 
 Counties. I called at the house about ten in the morning, and re 
 mained until past three in the afternoon." 
 
 ANOTHER CONVERSATION. 
 
 " Captain Brown had been quite unwell, and was then somewhat 
 more impatient and nervous in his manner than I had before observed. 
 Soon after my arrival, he again engaged in conversation as to various 
 public men in the Territory. Captain Montgomery s name was intro 
 duced, and I inquired how Mr. Brown liked him. The Captain was 
 quite enthusiastic in praise of him, avowing a most perfect confi 
 dence in his integrity and purposes. Captain Montgomery, he 
 
2O2 Some Shadows Before. 
 
 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. The Captain spoke of General 
 Lane, and alluded to the recent slaying of Gaius Jenkins. He said, 
 he would not say one word against Lane in his misfortunes. His 
 only comment was what he told the General himself that he was his 
 own worst enemy. Of his own early treatment at the hands of am 
 bitious leaders, to which I had 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 op 
 posed 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 pol 
 iticians and leaders soon found that I had different purposes, and for 
 got their jealousy. They have all been kind to me since. 
 
 "Further conversation ensued relative to the Free State struggle, in 
 which I, criticising 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. 
 
 "He then spoke of Governor Robinson s actions as being of a 
 weather- cock character, and asked if it was true that Colonel Phil 
 lips had written his first two messages to the Topeka Legislature. I 
 told him my reasons for believing the truth of the statement, among 
 other things mentioning that the first draft of the message sent to the 
 Legislature at Topeka, in June, 1857, as placed in the hands of the 
 printers, w T as in Phillips handwriting. At this John Brown grew 
 angry the only time I ever saw him so. He denounced the act 
 severely, declaring it a deception to which no one should lend him 
 self. I replied that Phillips had done for the best without doubt ; 
 that the Free State men had placed Robinson in the position, and that 
 they must sustain him in it. 
 
 " The Captain answered shortly, All nonsense. No man has a right 
 to lend himself to a deception. Phillips had no business to write the 
 messages. Robinson must be a perfect old woman. John Brown, sir, 
 T -vould, if he was Governor, write his own documents, if they contained 
 but six lines. Kagi interposed, and made some remarks, which calmed 
 down the Captain, and the conversation became more general. 
 
 "The conviction was expressed that trouble would break out again 
 in Southern Kansas. At this time I mentioned my intention of em- 
 barking in a newspaper enterprise. Captain Brown, in an impressive 
 manner, reminded me of my promise to obey his call, and expressed a 
 
Some Shadows Before. 203 
 
 wish that I should not enter into any entangling engagements, refer 
 ring to my letter of 1857. He said that he thought all engagements 
 should be considered sacred, and liked my adhering to the one I had 
 at the time. That was the reason he had not sent to me ; but now he 
 hoped I would keep myself free. In this connection he used words 
 which I have often thought of since. 
 
 " 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 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 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. 
 
 " I was not at this time aware of the precise plans, but had a general 
 conception of his purpose, which, as it dawned upon me, filled my 
 whole being with the radiance of its grandeur, as the July sunrise 
 filleth the heavens with glory. All through that conversation I had 
 the impression that those blue eyes, mild yet inflexible, and beaming 
 with the steady light of a holy purpose, were searching my soul, and 
 that my whole being was as transparent to him as the bosom of one 
 of his own Adirondack Lakes. I shall never forget the look or the 
 expression with which he said : 
 
 " Young men should have a purpose in life, and adhere to it 
 through all trials. They would be sure to succeed if their purpose 
 is such as to deserve the blessing of God. 
 
 KAGI UNFOLDS THE GREAT PLAN. 
 
 "After dinner, Kagi had some conversation with the Captain apart. 
 He then asked me if I would walk down to the Marais-des-Cygnes, as 
 he was going to fish. I acquiesced, and we started. About half way 
 to the river we stopped, and sat on a fence. Kagi asked me what I 
 supposed was the plan of Captain Brown ? My answer was, that I 
 thought it had reference to the Indian Territory and the South 
 western States. He shook his head, and gradually unfolded the 
 whole of their plans, a portion of which only has been elucidated in 
 the Harper s Ferry outbreak. 1 shall not, for obvious reasons, give 
 the full details. A full account of the convention in Canada was made, 
 as well as of the organization, its extent and objects, thereby ef 
 fected. Tlie mountains of Virginia were named as the place of refugp, 
 and as a country admirably adapted in which to carry on a guerilla 
 warfare. In the course of the conversation, Harper s Ferry was 
 mentioned as a point to be seized, but not held, on account of 
 
204 Some Shadows Before. 
 
 the Arsenal. The white members of the company were to act as offi 
 cers of different guerilla 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 
 has 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 piursue their chat 
 tels 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 dimensions, but that, gradually increas 
 ing in magnitude, it should, as it opened, strike terror into the heart 
 of the Slave States by the amount of 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 in 
 duce 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. I Their purpose was not the extradition of one or a thousand 
 , slaves, but\fieir libswtion in the States wherein they were born, and were 
 knew held in bondage^ A The mountains and swamps of the South were 
 ^tended by the Almighty, said John Brown to me afterwards, < for a 
 refuge for the slave, and a defence against the oppressor^ Kagi spoke 
 of having marked out a chain of counties extending continuously 
 through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. He had 
 travelled 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 w-as 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 as joined. The telegraph wires were to be cut, and the rail 
 road 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 ree nforced ; first, by the arrival of those 
 men, who, in Canada, were anxiously looking and praying for the time 
 
Some Shadows Before. 205 
 
 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. Ivagi, however, expected to retreat 
 southicard, not in the contrary direction. The slaves were to be armed 
 with pikes, scythes, muskets, shot guns, and other simple instruments 
 of defence ; the officers, white or black, and such of the men as were 
 skilled and trustworthy, to have the use of the Sharpe s rifles and re 
 volvers. 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 con 
 viction 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 ob 
 servation in the South, that in no point was the system so vulnerable 
 as in its fear of a 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. The Constitution adopted at 
 Chatham was intended as the framework of organization among the 
 emancipationists, to enable the leaders to effect a more complete con 
 trol of their forces. Ignorant men, in fact all men, were more easily 
 managed by the forms of law and organization than without them. 
 This was one of the purposes to be served by the Provisional Govern 
 ment. Another was to alarm the Oligarchy by discipline and the 
 show of organization. In their terror they would imagine the whole 
 North was upon them pell-mell, as well as all their slaves. Kagi said 
 John Brown anticipated that by a system of forbearance to non-slave 
 holders many of them might be induced to join them." 
 
 My friend here explains at great length another well 
 devised plan of an extended insurrection in the South 
 ern States ; but as its publication might prevent its 
 successful execution and of that, or an attempt to 
 fulfil it, there is no doubt in my own mind I deem it 
 more prudent to suppress this portion of his narrative. 
 He thus continues the report of his conversation with 
 Mr. Kagi : 
 
 NO POLITICIANS TRUSTED. 
 
 " One thing I remember distinctly. In answer to an inquiry, 
 Kagi stated that no politician, in the Republican or any other party, 
 
 18 
 
206 Some Shadows Before. 
 
 knew of their plans, and but few of the abolitionists. It was no use 
 talking, he said, of Anti-slavery action to Non-resistant Agitators. 
 That there were men who knew of John Brown s general idea is most 
 true ; but, south of the Canadian Provinces and of North Elba, there 
 were but few who were cognizant of the mode by which he intended 
 to mould those ideas into deeds." 
 
 JOHN BROWN ON INSURRECTION. 
 
 " After a long conversation, the substance of which I have given, 
 we returned to the house. I had some further conversation with John 
 Brown, mostly upon his movements, and the use of arms. The 
 Captain expressed tersely his ideas of forcible emancipation. Of the 
 terror inspired by the fear of slaves rising, he said : 
 
 " Nat Turner, with fifty men, held Virginia five weeks. The same 
 number, well organized and armed, can shake the system out of the 
 State. 
 
 "I remember also these sentences: 
 
 " Give a slave a pike, and you make him a man. Deprive him of 
 the means of resistance, and you keep him down. 
 
 " The land belongs to the bondman. He has enriched it, and 
 been robbed of its fruits. 
 
 / " Any resistance, however bloody, is better than the system which 
 \makes every seventh woman a concubine.y 
 
 " I would not give Sharpe s rifles to more than ten men in a hun 
 dred, and then only when they have learned to use them. It is not 
 every man who knows how to use a rifle. I had one man in my com 
 pany who was the bravest man and worst marksman I ever knew. 
 
 " A ravine is better than a plain. Woods and mountain sides can 
 be held by resolute men against ten times their force. 
 
 " A few men in the right, and knowing they are, can overturn a 
 king. Twenty men in the Alleghanies could break Slavery to pieces 
 Hn two years. / 
 
 " When the bondmen stand like men, the nation will respect them. 
 It is necessary to teach them this. 
 
 Much more was said which I cannot recall. The afternoon had 
 more than half passed before I left for my destination. I rode over 
 the prairies till sunset ; and in the glory of the grand scheme, which 
 had been opened to me, it seemed as if the whole earth had become 
 broader, and the heavens more vast. Since that day, when I stood in 
 the light of those starching eyes, I have known what John Brown 
 meant when he said : 
 
 " "} oung men should have a purpose in life, and adhere to it in all 
 trials. They will be sure to succeed if their purpose is such as to 
 dr serve the blessing of God. " 
 
III. 
 
 FLESHING THE SWORD. 
 
 IN order to understand the reason of John Brown s 
 movements during this his third visit to the Terri 
 tory, it is first necessary briefly to review the history 
 of Kansas from September, 1856, when the old man 
 and his sons left Lawrence, up to the date when the 
 reminiscences of my friend report him at the village 
 of Osawatomie. 
 
 NORTHERN KANSAS. 
 
 In Northern Kansas there were no further disturb 
 ances or outrages committed from the date of the re 
 treat of the Twenty-Seven Hundred Invaders, under 
 General Reid, who, on their return to Missouri, burned 
 the village of Franklin, a Free State hotel, and a num 
 ber of private houses, stole four hundred head of cat 
 tle, and sacked, plundered and devastated the Free 
 State settlements in every direction. Abandoning the 
 agency of force in Northern Kansas, for the immense 
 emigration of the spring of 1857 placed the pro-slavery 
 party there in a hopeless minority, the South and the 
 Federal Administration directed their energies to the 
 formation of a fraudulent Constitution, which, by va- 
 
 1207) 
 
208 Flefliing the Sword. 
 
 rious devices, excluding, for example, by test oaths, 
 the majority of the people from voting, and using the 
 names of the Cincinnati Directory for the purpose 
 of increasing the vote in favor of slavery, they pre 
 tended to adopt, and then carried up to Congress. 
 Its history there is well known. In August, 1858, 
 this Constitution, on being submitted to the vote of 
 the people of Kansas, was voted down by an unprece 
 dented majority. From John Brown s defence of Law 
 rence, therefore, in the autumn of 1856, up to the 
 present hour, the history of Northern Kansas has 
 been a mere record of political intrigues and counter- 
 intrigues, and of a rapid progress in material wealth, 
 population, and civilization. 
 
 SOUTHERN KANSAS. 
 
 In Southern Kansas, also, there were no difficulties 
 until the winter of 1857-8 until shortly after John 
 Brown paid his* visit of three days to Lawrence for the 
 purpose of bringing out his young followers to drill 
 them. 
 
 In the summer of 1856, the entire Free State popula 
 tion of Lynn and Bourbon Counties had been driven 
 from the cabins and claims by organized marauders 
 from Arkansas and the Indian Territory, under the 
 command of General Clarke, a Federal office-holder, and 
 the murderer of Robert Barber. The emigrants thus 
 expelled began to return to their homes in the spring, 
 summer, and autumn of 1857. They found their 
 houses and farms occupied by the Southern ruffians. 
 Instead of driving them out, or hanging them, as, in 
 strict justice, by the squatter code, they would have 
 
Flefhing the Sword. 209 
 
 been justified in doing, the Free State men built other 
 cabins on their claims thus feloniously occupied, and 
 avowed their willingness to abide by the decision of 
 the Land Office, of which the real chief was General 
 Clarke, but from whose decision there was an appeal 
 to Washington. Fort Scott, at this time, was the head 
 quarters of the ruffians in Southern Kansas ; among 
 them, the Hamiltons, the Littles, and Brockett, all of 
 whom had been members of the Lecompton Constitu 
 tional Convention ; Brockett, the Hamiltons, and Clarke 
 having attested their devotion to slavery by murdering 
 Free State citizens in cold blood. In the expectation 
 that the Lecompton Constitution would be passed by 
 Congress, and enforced by the hireling legions of 
 the United States, these leaders formed the plan of re 
 newing the disturbances in Southern Kansas, for the 
 purpose of securing to their Missouri friends the farms 
 and cabins they had stolen, facilitating the reconquest 
 of the soil to slavery, and preventing the stream of 
 Northern emigration from overflowing into the Indian 
 Territory. In November this plan was carried into 
 operation by organized bands of pro-slavery ruffians, 
 who, issuing from Fort Scott, stole cattle, arrested men 
 under false charges, and in other ways annoyed the 
 Northern settlers. A Free State Squatter s Court was 
 formed in November for the trial of these ruffians by 
 the process of Lynch law. In order to inspire terror, 
 the judge of this organization was called Old Brown ; 
 and, although the Captain was in Iowa at t-ne time, the 
 deception was not discovered for many months. It was 
 at this time that Captain James Montgomery, called on 
 18* 
 
2io Flefhing the Sword. 
 
 by the people, took the field. Little, one of the chief 
 ruffians, acting as a deputy United States Marshal, at 
 tempted, with a posse of eighty well-armed men, to 
 arrest this Court. Major Abbott,* with ten Sharpe s 
 riflemen, drove them back in disgrace to Fort Scott. 
 The United States forces marched to their rescue ; Jim 
 Lane went down to call out the Free State militia ; and 
 between these hostile fires the cause of the ruffians 
 fell temporarily to the ground. Neither force fought, 
 but Lane s men frightened ; and the Missourians staid at 
 home. General Lane returned ; but the United States 
 troops remained, and then joined the ruffians. Many 
 of the soldiers, dressed in civilians clothes, participated 
 in their midnight forays. Montgomery organized a 
 force to resist them. Brockett, in one of these noctur 
 nal excursions, murdered two Free State men, and 
 wounded two others. f These events occurred in Feb 
 ruary and March, 1858. The disturbances continued 
 
 * The Major was a spiritualist and peace man when he came to Kansas, but soon 
 took up carnal weapons, and did heroic service in the cause. He deserves honorable 
 mention in every history of Kansas. 
 
 f On the night of the 27th of March, 1858, the ruffians of the fort made a drive on the 
 Free State settlements on the Little Osage, being informed by their spies that the river 
 was unguarded. They first rode up to the house of a Mr. Denton. an inoffensive Free 
 State man, called him out, and after asking a few trifling questions, deliberately 
 shot him. Some five shots were fired at him, two of which took effect. He expired in 
 two hours. Before his death he charged his assassination to two men by the names of 
 Brockett and Hardwick. They then proceeded to the residence of a Mr. Davis, a 
 neighbor of Mr. Denton s, and demanded entrance. Suspecting them of being enemies, 
 JJr. Davis refused to open the door. The ruffians fired several times through the door; 
 one of their shots took effect in his hand, but he was not seriously injured by any of 
 their discharges. The next place visited was the house of a Mr. Hedrick. They ar 
 rived there about two o clock. Mi-. Hedrick was up, waiting on his sick wife. The 
 attending physician was also present and up at the time. A call was made for admit- 
 tance, and as soon as Mr. Iledrick opened the door and stepped into the opening, he was 
 shot down, five buck shot entering his side just below the breast. He never spoke, 
 but fell dead upon the threshold of his dwelling. All these dark deeds were com 
 mitted in one night. WILLIAM TOMUNSON S "Kansas in Eighteen Hundred and 
 Fifty-eight." 
 
Flelhing the Sword. 21 1 
 
 with varying success until the month of April, when 
 Montgomery and his men were pursued by a force of 
 forty dragoons, who were acting with the ruffians of 
 Fort Scott. He had eight men only, but, posting them 
 in a good position, resisted the charge of the soldiery, 
 and drove them back killing one man, wounding 
 four or five others, and leaving a number of horses 
 dead on the field. This was the first time in American 
 history that the Federal troops were resisted by citizens. 
 " Old Captain Brown," we are told by Montgomery s 
 biographer, " when he learned the particulars of the 
 engagement, said that the like had not happened before 
 in the Territory, and that the manner of his availing 
 himself of the strong position that offered, and the 
 skill with which he conducted the engagement, stamped 
 him as one of the first commanders of the age." 
 
 The news of this engagement exasperated Denver, 
 and he declared that Montgomery should be arrested. 
 At this time one of Montgomery s men stopped a mes 
 senger from Fort Scott, and found a letter 011 his per 
 son addressed to the Governor. Montgomery opened 
 it, found an account of the plans laid for his arrest, and 
 then enclosed in it a note to Denver, in which he stated 
 that if the Governor wanted him, he had only to do 
 justice to the Free State men, and recall the troops 
 from Fort Scott. This double letter was then for 
 warded to Lecompton ! 
 
 About this time Hamilton marched into the Terri 
 tory at the head of twenty-five men, and committed the 
 hideous massacre of the Marais-des-Cygnes. This act 
 aroused the most terrible passions. The whole Free 
 
212 Flelhing the Sword. 
 
 State population took up arms. It needed only a leader 
 and a provocation to create a revolution. The leader 
 was there the troops were coming. But, alarmed by 
 these symptoms of a rebellion, Governor Denver recalled 
 the soldiery; and, accompanied by a prominent Free 
 State politician, went down and made a treaty with 
 Montgomery. He agreed that all bygones should be 
 forgotten, and that the troops and obnoxious civil offi 
 cers should be removed. This treaty restored peace. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF JOHN BROWN IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 Up to the middle of September, the movements of 
 John Brown have been given in the preceding chapter. 
 At this time it was reported that he had left the coun 
 try, and the ruffians began to take courage. The vol 
 unteer militia company was dissolved. Now began a 
 new disturbance, created by the Free State democrats ; 
 who, jealous of Montgomery s political influence, de 
 sired to annoy him by prosecutions until he should 
 leave the country. Up to this time, he had been 
 quietly working on his farm ; but he was the real 
 Governor of all the Southern country, nevertheless. 
 On the llth of October, a packed Grand Jury was im 
 panelled at Fort Scott the Marshal and Prosecut 
 ing Attorney being bitter personal enemies of Mont 
 gomery. On the 21st, learning that he and a number 
 of his men had been indicted, in violation of the treaty 
 with Governor Denver, Montgomery visited Fort Scott 
 with a small party, took the Court and Grand Jury 
 prisoners, quietly adjourned it, and made a bonfire of 
 the indictments ! John Brown was not present at this 
 postponement, but " acted as an adviser." Several of 
 
Flefhing the Sword. 213 
 
 the men who fought at Harper s Ferry were there. 
 This proceeding shocked the politicians in Northern 
 Kansas, who were ever ready to indorse any wicked 
 ness if the words Free State preceded it. These men, 
 who had sworn resistance " to a bloody issue " with 
 the Usurpation, but, as soon as they got offices under 
 it, indorsed and defended it, were naturally indignant 
 at this translation of their Big Spring resolutions into 
 Fort Scott actions. 
 
 Early in November, Montgomery s little cabin was 
 surrounded and fired into by a party of marauders. 
 The buck shot from their guns fell on the clothing of 
 the bed in which Mrs. Montgomery was sleeping. She 
 shouted, " 0, we re going to have a fight ! " The ma 
 rauders heard her, and, supposing from the expression 
 that a number of men were inside, turned about and 
 fled fired at, as they ran, by Kagi, who had been 
 lying in another bed. 
 
 During this period Captain Brown, expecting a re 
 newal of disturbances, was busily engaged in building 
 fortifications ; which may still be seen on the Little 
 Osage and Little Sugar Creeks. One of them was u 
 cabin near the Little Sugar Creek, in which the old 
 man and his followers lived. They show great mili 
 tary ability. 
 
 In the month of November, the politicians began 
 to exert themselves to incite a feeling of dissatisfaction 
 among the people against Montgomery and Brown. On 
 the 25th of that month, a meeting for this purpose was 
 held at Mapleton ; but the friends of the two chieftains 
 appeared in great force, and adjourned it to the 30th. 
 
214 Flelhing the Sword. 
 
 On the same day one of Montgomery s men was ar 
 rested, in violation of the treaty, taken to Fort Scott in 
 chains, and imprisoned in a filthy cell. 
 
 ATTACK ON JOHN BROWN S HOUSE. 
 
 On the 29th, Captain Brown left his house for Osa- 
 watomie, and Captain Montgomery for Osage City ; and, 
 at the same time, the Sheriif called out a posse of pro- 
 slavery settlers, Missourians and Free State Democrats, 
 for the purpose of arresting the old man and his boys. 
 On the 30th, the posse assembled at Paris, one hundred 
 strong, and marched to the cabin of John Brown, on 
 the Little Sugar Creek. Stevens and Kagi were its 
 only occupants. As soon as it was known that the 
 posse was approaching, a messenger was sent for Mont 
 gomery, who arrived at midnight with thirteen men. 
 They had previously been reenforced by thirteen neigh 
 bors. In the morning their number was still further 
 increased, although they still numbered only thirty- 
 four men. The Sheriff s posse approached within a 
 quarter of a mile, about one hundred and twenty 
 strong. Stevens and Kagi went out to meet the offi 
 cer, who had ridden up within a few rods of the cabin. 
 
 They asked him what he wanted. 
 
 He replied, " To disarm them and demolish their 
 fort." 
 
 Kagi told him to produce his authority. 
 
 " You are an illegal body, and it is my right to dis 
 perse you," said the Sheriff. "I have no writ, but I 
 must disperse you, as you are more than five armed 
 men ; and if I don t do it, I ll be covered with shame, 
 and have to leave the country." 
 
Fleftiing the Sword. 215 
 
 " We can t help that," retorted Kagi ; " it is no busi 
 ness of ours ; there is no use having any nonsense 
 about this ; if Paris * wants peace, the whole Treaty, 
 amnesty and all, must be observed ; if not, there must 
 be war." 
 
 At this time, the officer could not see more than five 
 armed persons, not knowing that there were thirteen 
 squatters in the cabin, or that Montgomery lay in 
 ambush in a ravine close by, covering the whole wing 
 of the posse, with twenty-one picked men, who were 
 eager for the fight. He was so placed, that, in ten 
 minutes, he could have swept the entire posse from the 
 face of the earth. 
 
 " But you can t resist," said a politician, who ac 
 companied the Sheriff; "look at our force opposed 
 to you." 
 
 Stevens stretched his manly form to its full height, 
 and, raising his right arm, with a defiant glance, in a 
 ringing tone, gave a reply, every word of which the 
 followers of the Sheriff heard, and which evidently 
 made a great impression on them : 
 
 " But, believing we are right, before God, we will 
 resist if the whole Universe is against us ! " 
 
 The posse retired without firing a shot ! On the same 
 day, the Sheriff and his companion were disarmed by 
 two men who fell at Harper s Ferry. 
 
 " Do you know who we are ? " asked the Sheriff. 
 " I am the High Sheriff of this county." 
 
 " To the devil with the High Sheriff of Lynn Coun 
 ty !" said Kagi. " Hand over that gun." 
 
 * The lesser Load-quarters of the ruffians and Democrats. 
 
216 Fleihing the Sword. 
 
 John Brown returned from Osawatomie as soon as 
 he heard of the attack on his house. The pro-slavery 
 men, and Free State sycophants of the Federal Ad 
 ministration, had just again sent for United States 
 troops ; for they now saw that it was impossible to 
 subdue the earnest Republican squatters, or with im 
 punity break treaties made with anti-slavery men. 
 John Brown and James Montgomery, foreseeing fur 
 ther trouble, prepared for a formidable defence ; being 
 resolutely determined to fight all comers, whether 
 troops, pro-slavery ruffians, invaders, or Free State 
 Democrats, who should endeavor to " crush out" the 
 defenders of freedom. John Brown resolved to invade 
 Missouri, and stop at once the incursions from that 
 State, which were now the sole reliance of the friends 
 of Slavery in Kansas. 
 
 Montgomery marched on Fort Scott, on the 15th of 
 December, with one hundred and fifty men, officered 
 by John Brown s followers, Kagi, among others, and 
 Anderson. and rescued his friend whom the ruffians 
 had incarcerated.* 
 
 Governor Medary ordered down four companies of 
 
 * Among the prisoners taken were Epaphroditus Ransom, a very portly Federal offi 
 cial, who had been a Governor of Michigan, and was now a dignitary in the Land 
 Office. On hearing the noise, (it was early in the morning,) he came to the door in his 
 drawers and night dress; when a boy of seventeen years, carrying a musket longer 
 than himself, shouted, "Come out here; you re my prisoner." "What do you mean, 
 sir?" said Ransom; "I am a Federal officer, sir." "Federal officer, eh?" said the 
 boy; " who the devil cares ? Come out here !" Ransom showed no willingness to do 
 BO; whereupon the boy cocked his musket, and the "Federal officer" came out. He 
 ordered him to march to the middle of the square, obliging him to walk dressed as 
 he was at a sharp trot, in order to keep clear of the bayonet, which the boy held 
 in dangerous proximity to his body. The wiggling gait of the portly dignitary, and 
 the ludicrous contrast between captive and capturer, were long afterwards de 
 scribed by all who saw them, as one of the most ludicrous of Kansas incidents. When 
 Ransom reached the place appointed for him, " See what we sons of Freedom can do, 
 old fellow I " said *tir >x>y 
 
Fleiliing the Sword. 217 
 
 United States dragoons ; called out four bodies of 
 militia, consisting chiefly of invaders and pro-slavery 
 settlers ; the Missourians began to assemble on the 
 borders ; every thing gave promise of a renewed civil 
 war ; when, unexpectedly, the aspect of affairs changed 
 by the recall of the troops by order of the Cabinet, 
 and the successful attack, on a Missouri force, by a 
 party of Free State men, led by Captain Snyder, the 
 blacksmith, whose name is inseparably associated with 
 the history of the massacre of the Marais-des-Cygnes. 
 This cabin was the head-quarters of these ruffians. 
 When they saw the Free State men coming they offered 
 fight ; a conflict ensued ; they refused to surrender ; 
 the cabin was fired, and four of the murderers perished 
 in its flames. 
 
 At this time John Brown and his men were at Bain s 
 cabin, in Bourbon County, preparing for any emergency 
 that might demand their aid. Two hundred Missou 
 rians had assembled at Fail s store, eight miles distant / 
 in Missouri, for the purpose of invading the Territory ; 
 but, hearing that Old Brown was recruiting his forces 
 to attack them, they withdrew fifteen miles further from 
 the borders. 
 
 While John Brown was stating his plan of following 
 them, and, by invading Missouri and carrying off slaves, 
 teaching the citizens of that State to attend to their own 
 affairs, a negro man named Jim came over ; and, stating 
 that he and his family and a friend were about to be 
 sold South, implored assistance and deliverance. 
 
 The poor that cried for deliverance from oppression 
 never appealed in vain to the heart of John Brown. 
 19 
 
IV. 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 JOHN BROWN, in January, 1859, wrote a letter in 
 relation to his invasion of Missouri, which, of 
 course, should precede all other accounts of it. It 
 became a celebrated document, and was known as : 
 JOHN BROWN S PARALLELS. 
 
 TRADING POST, KANSAS, January, 1859. 
 
 Gentlemen : You will greatly oblige a humble friend by allowing 
 the use of your columns while I briefly state two parallels, in my 
 poor way. 
 
 Not one year ago, eleven quiet citizens of this neighborhood, viz. : 
 William Robertson, William Colpetzer, Amos Hall, Austin Hall, John 
 Campbell, Asa Snyder, Thomas Stilwell, 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 defence, 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 19, a negro 
 man called Jim came over to the 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 
 
 (218) 
 
Exodus. 219 
 
 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, surrounded 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 taken 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 planta 
 tion, where we found five more slaves, took some property and two 
 white men. We moved all 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 a comparison. Eleven persons are forcibly restored to their j 
 natural and inalienable rights, with buJj^ejsajaJdllad, and all "helll* ^ 
 is stirred from beneath." It is currently reported that the Governor! ; 
 of Missouri has made a requisition upon the Governor of Kansas fo 
 the delivery of all such as were concerned in the last-named " dread- \ 
 ful 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 doughface men, and Administration tools, 
 are filled with holy horror. 
 
 Consider the two cases, and the action of the Administration party. 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 THE INVASION. 
 
 Of these two parties of liberators John Brown and 
 Kagi were the Captains. The old man s force consisted 
 of twelve men ; Kagi s company of eight only. The 
 slaves were to have been removed to Texas on the fol 
 lowing day. Captain Brown went to the house of 
 Hicklan, the master of Jim, and liberated that negro 
 and four others. He then proceeded to the house of 
 Isaac Jarne, another slaveholder, and released five 
 more. Jarne* was taken prisoner and carried into the 
 Territory, to prevent an alarm being given. 
 
222 Exodus. 
 
 dollars. The politicians of Lawrence, of both parties, 
 became alarmed at a movement which defied their 
 pusillanimous policy and men who had only hypo 
 critically cursed when their territory was invaded, now 
 worked in earnest to arrest the schemes of the brave 
 retaliators. Some honest men, also, aided in this effort 
 " to restore tranquillity ; " but it owed its embodiment 
 into a law to the Free State sycophants of the South. 
 That embodiment was the Amnesty Act, which par 
 doned all " political offences " up to that time, and 
 which the Federal Governor was compelled, by the fear 
 of renewed disturbances, to approve, in order to induce 
 Montgomery to disband his organization. 
 
 Montgomery, sent for by the politicians, reached the 
 town of Lawrence while John Brown was on his journey 
 to it, for the purpose of arranging to carry off his ne 
 groes. To save Montgomery from the odium that, his 
 enemies had attempted to cast on him, for his supposed 
 implication in the invasion of Missouri, the old man wrote 
 his parallels from the " Trading Post " in Lynn County. 
 During the absence of Montgomery and Brown, 
 Kagi, who had been left in command, had two or three 
 fights with the invaders. 
 
 BATTLE OF THE SPURS. 
 
 About the 20th of January, John Brown left Law 
 rence for Nebraska, with his emancipated slaves, who 
 had been increased in number by the birtli of a child 
 at Osawatomie. It was named, Captain John Brown. 
 
 When at the third resting place of "Jim Lane s 
 army," which had been named Concord, but which sub 
 sequent settlers called Holton, a party of thirty pro- 
 
Exodus. 223 
 
 slavery men, who had followed them from Lecomp- 
 ton, approached so near that it was necessary to halt 
 and make a defence. The old man had at this time 
 four white companions and three negro men. The 
 whites were Stevens, Tidd, and Anderson, (who fought 
 at Harper s Ferry,) and another Kansas boy. The 
 Captain took possession of two log cabins in the wood, 
 which the pursuers surrounded at a distance, 
 while they sent to Atchison and Lecompton for further 
 aid. From Atchison twelve men arrived ; thus making 
 a force of forty-two men opposed to eight only. The} 
 were preparing for the attack, when Captain Brown 
 and his men issued from the woods for the purpose of 
 offering fight. The Sheriff s Lecompton posse turned 
 and fled! Not a shot was fired, not a drum was 
 heard, as, putting spurs to their horses, they ran panic- 
 stricken across the prairie. Only four men ashamed 
 of the conduct of their comrades stood their ground ; 
 and they were made prisoners forthwith. This inci 
 dent was ironically called the Battle of the Spurs, as 
 those sharp instruments of torture were the only 
 weapons used on the occasion. 
 
 The old man caused them to dismount, and put the 
 negroes on their horses. They swore. He ordered 
 them to be silent, as he would permit no blasphemy in 
 his presence. They swore again. 
 
 " Kneel ! " said the old man, as, with stern earnest 
 ness, he drew his pistol. 
 
 They knelt down, and he ordered them to pray. He 
 detained them for five days, and compelled them to 
 pray night and morning. They never swore again in 
 
224 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 the old man s presence. They returned to Atchison, 1 
 was told, and one of them indiscreetly related the story: 
 the ridicule that overwhelmed them compelled them to 
 leave the town. 
 
 THE OVERLAND JOURNEY. 
 
 Kagi, in the mean time, arrived at Topeka from 
 the South, and found the town in a great commotion. 
 News had just arrived that Old Brown was surrounded. 
 As soon as he appeared, all the fighting boys flocked 
 around him. At the head of forty mounted men, he 
 started at once to rescue his old Captain. He came up 
 just in time to see the last of the posse retreating across 
 the prairie. He advocated the hanging of the captured 
 slave-hunters, but the old man opposed it, and the kid 
 nappers were saved.* 
 
 Seventeen of the " Topeka boys " escorted the party 
 of liberators to Nebraska City. 
 
 The kidnappers, on being released, asked the old man 
 to restore their horses and weapons. 
 
 " No," said John Brown, gravely ; " your legs will 
 carry you as fast as you want to run ; you won t find 
 any more Old Browns between this and Atchison." 
 
 The party reached Tabor in the first week of Feb 
 ruary, and travelled slowly across the State of Iowa. 
 
 As he was performing this journey, men panting for 
 the price of blood closely followed him ; but the sight 
 of his well-armed company prevented an attack on the 
 
 * One of these men, since the capture of Captain Brown at Harper s Ferry, has 
 spoken of him with the greatest admiration; and said, that "although evidently a 
 monomaniac on tlie subject of slavery," he was an honest and brave man. On being 
 jestingly advised to go into mourning for him, he said : he might go into black for many 
 a worse man. This testimony from a kidnapper is not without value. 
 
Exodus. 225 
 
 band of liberators. He stopped at several villages, and 
 was well received by the friends of freedom. From 
 one of his hosts, we have the following letter, which was 
 published at the time : 
 
 CAPTAIN BROWN IN IOWA. 
 
 " Old Captain Brown of Kansas ! I have set my eyes on this old 
 hero, feared by Missouri invaders, and loved by the legions of liberty 
 in Kansas as a father. He had a company of twelve colored people, 
 (who I only guess were once slaves,) en route for Canada, where I trust 
 they are safe. To me he is an historic character. In the family, simple- 
 hearted as a child, he narrates stirring scenes, placing himself in the 
 background of the picture ; while an eye of the most determined ex 
 pression I ever saw at once supplies what the modestv of the narrator 
 has withheld as personal. He is the impersonation of firmness. 
 Among his company, white and black, with a long gray beard and 
 a head frosted with sixty winters, he walks like a patriarch, if that 
 early name implies leadership and devotion. 
 
 " Captain Brown avows his philosophy to be the showing of Border 
 Ruffians that they have enough to do in taking care of slavery in Mis 
 souri, without making a foray on the people of Kansas to establish 
 slavery there against the votes and wishes of the people. As God 
 spares him, he says, he will deliver the poor that cry ; and does 
 not conceal the fact that, in open day, he conducted out those who 
 dreaded, next to death, a more Southern prison house. Two com 
 panies of slave-hunters, headed by a Marshal, looked upon them, but 
 were not ready to lose their lives in a negro hunt. A rewarl of 
 three thousand dollars by the Governor of Missouri, with the value 
 of his company as chattels, has made him quite a lion through the 
 State of Iowa. The dirt-eating Democracy covet the reward, but 
 keep at a good distance from the cold lead, and have no desire to be 
 awed into silence and shame by one glance from the old hero, who 
 feels that God will cover his head in the day of battle. Stranger 
 than fiction have been his escapes and exploits in Kansas. Combining 
 the gentleness of a Christian, the love of a patriot, and the skill and 
 boldness of a commander, whether ending his career in the quiet of 
 home or in bloody strife, the freemen of Kansas will hallow his mem 
 ory, and history will name him the Cromwell of our Border Wars. 
 
 "How unlike the Old Brown sketched by fiendish hate is the man 
 at your fireside ! his mouth unpolluted \vith tobacco, strong drinks 
 abjured, regimen plain, conversation grave, and occupied with pleas 
 ant memories of other days. He drops a tear of gratitude on the 
 
226 Exodus. 
 
 mention of the practical kindness of to him in the hour oi 
 
 extremity. He recurs to the solid principles and hearty affection of 
 Dr. Osgood, of Springfield, on whose ministry he attended for many 
 years. He had a lucrative occupation as wool grower and dealer in 
 Ohio, and gained a medal as exhibitor of wool at the World s Fair ; and 
 now finds himself in the wool business still, in a land where men find 
 more dreaded foes than the young Hebrew shepherd found in the 
 beasts that took a lamb out of the flock. I am well informed that 
 the people at Grinnell took care of the company for two days, furnish 
 ing them food for their journey, and, on Sabbath evening, took up a 
 collection for them as well as on Saturday evening." 
 
 The same writer, in a letter published since the trial 
 of John Brown, gives additional particulars of the old 
 hero s talks when under his roof: 
 
 "Nothing seemed to so much excite him as an intimation that op 
 pression aroused a spirit of revenge. As he spoke in public there 
 was no boasting, nor a display of himself. The wrongs of Kansas, 
 and the atrocities of slavery, he pictured in a clear style, declaring : 
 
 " That it was nothing to die in a good cause, but an eternal disgrace to 
 sit still in the presence of the barbarities of American slavery. 
 
 His logic, with all who were captious as to his course, was like a 
 chain shot argument ; yet he courted no discussion, being then occupied 
 with the safe escape of the eleven supposed chattels from Missouri. 
 
 " < Providence, said he, f has made me an actor, and Slavery an outlaw. 
 
 " A price is on my head, and ichat is life to me? 
 
 " k An old man should have more care to end life well than to live long. 
 
 " Duty is the voice of God, and a man is neither worthy of & good home 
 here, or a heaven, that is not willing to be in peril for a good cause! 
 
 " The loss of my family and the troubles in Kansas have shattered my 
 constitution, and I am nothing to the icorld but to defend the right, and 
 that, by God s help, I have done, and will do. 
 
 "This, in substance, and much more, was said in reply to a wish 
 which I expressed that he would not return to Kansas, but seek that 
 quiet with his family which his health demanded. 
 
 " He scouted the idea of rest while he held a commission direct from 
 God Almighty to act against slavery. 
 
 "He claimed to be responsible for the wise exercises of his powers 
 only, and not for the quality of certain acts. In taking slaves out of 
 Missouri, he said that he would teach those living in glass houses 
 not to throw stones, and tney would have more than they could do 
 to kc-^p slavery in Missouri, without extending it against the will of 
 
Exodus. .227 
 
 Kansas. The battle of Black Jack and others, he was free to say, 
 he thought had scared Missouri, and that was Gen. Lane s opinion. 
 They did not report half the number killed, which they were ashamed 
 to do, nor will it ever be known. I could repeat much that he said 
 which showed a wonderful sagacity, and a bold, undaunted spirit. 
 His whole demeanor was that of a well-bred gentleman, and his nar 
 ratives were given with child-like simplicity. He feared nothing, for 
 said he, 
 
 " < Any icho will try to take me and my company are cowards, and o^e 
 man in the right, ready to die, will chase a thousand. Not less than 
 thirty guns have been discharged at me, but they only touched my hair. 
 
 " A man dies when his time comes, and a man who fears is born out of 
 time. 
 
 " . . . The nation was not worthy of him. Tyranny is relentless 
 as the grave, and its tools want a victim. Cowardice will hang him, 
 but humanity will stand appalled at the sacrifice of such a victim to the 
 cruel Moloch." 
 
 When in Chicago, he sent his men in different direc 
 tions, retaining Kagi and Stevens with him. A gentle 
 man who conversed with him in that city thus writes 
 to me :. 
 
 " There is one thing he charged me to do when I last saw him. It 
 .was this : 
 
 " Do not allow any one to say I acted from revenge. I claim no 
 man has a right to revenge himself. It is a feeling that does not enter 
 into my heart. What I do, I do for the cause of human libert} , and 
 because I regard it as necessary. " 
 
 The party reached Detroit on the 12th of March, and 
 immediately crossed over to Canada. There, free chil 
 dren of the God of the oppressed, the old warrior of 
 the Lord left the people he had snatched from the 
 earthly hell of American slavery. Eight months after 
 wards, when their deliverer lay in prison for endeavor 
 ing to free others of the same despised race, we hear 
 the sobbings of this little group, intermingled with 
 prayers for their benefactor s safety, as they waft across 
 the Lakes to the Southern jail. A Canadian corre 
 spondent thus writes : 
 
JOHN BROWN S COLONY. 
 
 WINDSOR, UPPER CANADA, Nov, 6, 1859. 
 
 As every thing relative to " Old John Brown" is now interesting, I 
 would inform your readers that I have spent a few hours in Windsor, 
 Upper Canada, with seven of the t\velve colored Missourians who are 
 now residing in that place. The other five are living about nine miles 
 in the country. These make the twelve persons taken by Brown last 
 January into Canada. As various reports are afloat concerning them, 
 I wish to inform all parties that those living here are very industrious. 
 Two of the seven are men. They "team," saw wood, and "job 
 round." One, a boy about twelve, helps around generally. Two of 
 the women, who were field hands in Missouri last spring, on arriving 
 at Windsor, hired, for four dollars, an acre of land, and with a spade 
 each, they actually spaded it, planted it wiih corn and potatoes, and 
 attended it well; this crop would challenge any crop I ever saw in 
 Missouri, and not often beaten even in Kansas, w r here soil and climate 
 are superior to most portions of this world; their potatoes are very 
 fine all dug and put up in a secure manner in the garden back of 
 their house for winter ; the corn, of which I brought some away, is 
 beautiful. One of their houses has a small garden attached ; they pay 
 two dollars a month for this. In this little garden they ha\;e grown 
 some very fine onions, carrots, parsnips, and some extraordinary cab 
 bages ; the cabbage are taken up, put together, and covered thick with 
 fodder or straw, rather neatly packed. They have amply sufficient 
 corn, potatoes, &c., for winter. As to meat, they do without, till 
 they have some fit to kill. They have three hogs growing finely, 
 which they paid one dollar each for, and feed them on what they col 
 lect in swill from neighbors, &c. As to clothing, they are neat, with 
 well-patched articles. They say they have twenty dollars salted down. 
 They informed me that, after being here a short time, they were burned 
 out, losing all, or nearly all, of the useful articles given them by 
 friends on their way, while escorted by that man whom they venerate. 
 While I read aloud the sentence of Brown, with his speech, from the 
 paper, to them, O, how affecting to see their tears and hear their sobs 
 Two women declared, if it could be, they would willingly die instead of 
 their liberator. A woman among them remarked, if the Bible was true, 
 John Brown practised most of it here ; so he would be rewarded by 
 "old Master," up higher, with greater happiness. The father, mother, 
 and three children in the country, work a farm on shares ; they have 
 about sixteen acres of corn, potatoes, &c., part of which are theirs ; 
 and they are all anticipating the day when they can get a piece of land 
 of their own. 
 
V. 
 
 ASSEMBLING TO CONSPIRE. 
 
 IN the Canadian Provinces there are thousands of 
 fugitive slaves. They are the picked men of the 
 Southern States. Many of them are intelligent and 
 rich ; and all of them are deadly enemies of the South. 
 Five hundred of them, at least, annually visit the Slave 
 States, passing from Florida to Harper s Ferry, on hero 
 ic errands of mercy and deliverance. They have car 
 ried the Underground Railroad and the Underground 
 Telegraph into nearly every Southern State. Here, 
 obviously, is a power of great importance for a war of 
 liberation. 
 
 Up to the period when the last chapter closes, John 
 Brown, wherever he had lived, had acquired the repu 
 tation of a prudent man. In Kansas, although, by the 
 Missourians, lie was regarded as a reckless desperado, 
 those who best knew him and his plans gave him credit 
 for great caution and foresight. Nothing that he did or 
 tried, however seemingly insane, but, when examined, 
 gave proofs of his prudence no less than his courage. 
 Recently, the nation saw him undertake the conquest 
 of Virginia, with a band, seemingly, of twenty-one fol- 
 20 
 
230 Affembling to Conipire. 
 
 lowers only. People called the attempt an insane one ; 
 but they did not know that many hundreds of men, 
 earnest haters of the Slavery whose terrors they had 
 known, and drilled for the service, were eagerly await 
 ing, in the Canadian Provinces, for the signal to be 
 given at Harper s Ferry, to hasten southward and join 
 the army of Immediate Emancipation. 
 
 To conquer the South, a small band only is needed : 
 but it must have backers in the North, who shall send 
 down recruits from time to time. It is requisite, also, 
 in order to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, for the lib 
 erated negroes to be held under strict control. John 
 Brown knew all these facts. To inspire the Canadian 
 fugitives with confidence in his plan, and, at the ^ame 
 time, to indicate his intentions in order to induce them 
 to participate in it, he called a secret Convention of the 
 friends of freedom at Chatham, in Canada. 
 
 At this time he intended to attack Virginia within a 
 very few months. Cook, in his Confession, thus writes 
 of the Convention : 
 
 "While we were in Chatham, he called a Convention, the purpose 
 of which was to make a complete and thorough organization. He 
 issued a written circular, which he sent to various persons in the 
 United States and Canada. The circular, as near as I can recollect, 
 reads as follows : 
 
 CHATHAM, May , 1858. 
 
 Mr. . Dear Sir : We have issued a call for a very quiet Con 
 vention at this place, to which we shall be happy to see any true friends 
 of freedom, and to which you are most earnestly invited to give your 
 attendance. Yours, respectfully, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 "The names were left blank; but as they were directed by Captain 
 Brown or J. H. Kagi, I do not know the parties to whom they were 
 addressed. I do know, however, that they were sent to none save 
 those whom Captain Brown knew to be radical Abolitionists. I think 
 it was about ten davs from the time the circulars were sent that the 
 
Afiembling to Confpire. 231 
 
 Convention met. The place of meeting was in one of the negro 
 churches in Chatham. The Convention, I think, was called to order 
 by J. H. Kagi. Its object was then stated, which was to complete a 
 thorough organization and the formation of a Constitution. The first 
 business was to elect a President and Secretary. Elder Monroe, a 
 colored minister, was elected President, and J. H. Kagi, Secretary. 
 The next business was to form a Constitution. Captain Brown had 
 already drawn up one, which, on motion, was read by the Secretary. 
 On motion it was ordered that each article of the Constitution be 
 taken up, and separately amended and passed, which was done. On 
 motion, the Constitution was then adopted as a whole. The next 
 business was to nominate a Commander-in-Chief, Secretary of War, 
 and Secretary of State. Captain John Brown was unanimously 
 elected Commander-in-Chief, J. H. Kagi, Secretary of War, and 
 Kichard Realf, Secretary of State. Elder Monroe was to act as Pres 
 ident until another was chosen. A. M. Chapman, I think, was to act 
 as Vice-President. Dr. M. K. Delaney was one of the Correspond 
 ing Secretaries of the Organization. There were some others from the 
 United States, whose names I do not now remember. Most of the 
 delegates to the Convention were from Canada. After the Constitu 
 tion was adopted, the members took their oath to support it. It was 
 then signed by all present. During the interval between the call for 
 the Convention and its assembling, regular meetings were held at 
 Barbour s Hotel, where we were stopping, by those who were known 
 to be true to the cause, at which meetings plans were laid and dis 
 cussed. There were no white men at the Convention, save the mem 
 bers of our company. Men and money had both been promised from 
 Chatham and other parts of Canada. When the Convention broke up, 
 news was received that Colonel H. Forbes, who had joined in the 
 movement, had given information to the Government. This, of 
 course, delayed the time of attack. A day or two afterwards most of 
 our party took the boat to Cleveland J. H. Kagi, Richard Realf, 
 William II. Leeman, Richard Robertson, and Captain Brown remain 
 ing. Captain Brown, however, started in a day or two for the East. 
 Kagi, I think, went to some other town in Canada to set up the type, 
 and to get the Constitution printed, which he completed before he re 
 turned to Cleveland. We remained in Cleveland for some weeks, at 
 which p.ace, for the time being, the company disbanded." 
 
 Another report, which was found among John 
 Brown s papers at Harper s Ferry, gives some addi 
 tioiial information respecting this assembly. The full 
 
232 Affembling to Confpire. 
 
 reports, not only of this public Convention, but of 
 many secret meetings, which are mentioned in Cook s 
 Confession, and were written in phonography, and then 
 translated into a secret cipher by Kagi, have happily 
 not yet been discovered ; or, it is probable that the 
 scheme with which John Brown s name is now forever 
 inseparably united, would have perished with his 
 earthly life at Charlestown. 
 
 CHATHAM, CAXADA WFST, ; 
 Saturday, May 8, 1858 10 A. M. j 
 
 The Convention met in pursuance of a call of John Brown and others, and was 
 called to order by Mr. Jackson, oil whose motion Mr. Win. C. Monroe was chosen Pres 
 ident; when, on motion of Mr. Brown, Mr. J. II. Kagi was elected Secretary. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Delauy, Mr.Urown then proceeded to state the object of the Conven 
 tion at length, and then to explain the general features of the plan of action in exe 
 cution of the project in view by the Convention. Mr. Delany and others spoke in 
 favor of the project and plan, and both were agreed to by a general consent. 
 
 Mr. Brown then presented a plan of organization, entitled Provisional Constitution 
 and Ordinances for the People of the United States, and moved the reading of the 
 same. 
 
 Mr. Kinnard objected to the reading until an oath of secrecy be taken by each mem 
 ber of the Convention, whereupon Mr. Delany moved that the following patiplo of 
 honor be taken by all members of the Convention : 
 
 " I solemnly affirm that I will not, in any way, divulge any of the secrets of this 
 Convention, except to the persons entitled to know the same, on the pain of forfeiting 
 the respect and protection of this organization." 
 
 Which motion was carried. 
 
 The President then proceeded to administer the obligation, after which the question 
 was taken on reading of the plan proposed by Mr. Brown, and the same carried. 
 
 The plan was then read by the Secretary, after which, on motion of Mr. \Vhipple, it 
 was ordered that it be now read by articles for consideration. 
 
 The articles from 1 to 45 were then read and adopted. On reading of the 4fith, 
 Mr. Reynolds moved to strike out the same. Reynolds spoke in favor, and Brown, 
 Monroe, Owen Brown, Delany, Realf, Ken nard, and Page against striking out. The 
 question was then taken and lost, there being hut one vote in the affirmative. The 
 article was then adopted. The 47th and 48th articles, with the schedule, were then 
 adopted in the same manner. It was then moved by Mr. Delany that the title and 
 preamble stand as read. Carried. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Kagi, the Constitution, as a whole, was then unanimously adopted. 
 
 Mr. Whipplo nominated John Brown for Comuiander-in-Chief, who was, on the 
 seconding of Delany, elected by acclamation. 
 
 Mr. Realf nominated J. II. Kagi for Secretary of War, who was elected in the same 
 manner. On motion of Mr. Brown, the Convention adjourned to nine P. M. of Mon 
 day, the 10th. 
 
 MONDAY, May 10th, 1859 9^4 P. M. The Convention assembled and went into 
 balloting for the election of Treasurer and Secretary of Treasury. Owen Brown 
 was elected to the former office, and George B. Gill to tlie latter. 
 
 The following resolution was then introduced by Mr. Brown, and unanimously 
 passed. 
 
 It e.solred, That John Brown, J. II. Kagi, Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, C. II. Tidd, 
 C. "W hippie, C. W. Moffit, John E. Cook, Owen Brown, Steward Taylor, Osborn An 
 derson. A. M. Ellsworth, Richard Richardson, W. II. Leeman, and John Lawrence, be, 
 and are hereby, appointed a Committee, to whom is delegated the power of the Conven- 
 tioi to fill by election all offices specially named in the Provisional Constitution, 
 which may be vacant after the adjournment of the Convention. The Convention then 
 adjou rued sme die. Signed, J. KAGI, Secretary of the Convention 
 
Affembling to Confpire. 233 
 
 Names of the Members of the Convention, written by each Penan. 
 
 Win. Charles Monroe, President of the Convention; G. , 7. Reynold?;, J. C. Grant, 
 A. J. Smith, James M. Jones, Geo. B. Gill, M. F. Bailey, "\Yn>. Lambert, C. W. Mollitt, 
 John J Jackson, J. Anderson, Alfred Whipple, James M. Ue, W. II. Lconmn, Alfred 
 M. Ellsworth, John E. Cook, Stewart Taylor, James W. Pumell, Geo. Akin, Stephen 
 Dettin, Tlios. Hickerson, Jolin Cannet, Kobinson Alexander. Richard Realf, Thomas F. 
 Cary, Richard Richardson, T. T. Parsons, Thos. M. Kinnard, J. II. Delany, Robert 
 Vanranker, Thomas M. Stringer, Charles II. Tidd, John A. Thomas, C. Whipple, J. D. 
 Shadd, Robert Newman, Owen Brown, John Brown. J. II. Harris, Charles Smith, 
 Simon Fislin, Isaac Holley, James Smith. 
 
 Signed, J. II. KAGI, Secretary of the Convention. 
 
 Memorandum Offices filled. 
 
 Commander-in-Chief John Brown. Secretary of War J. II. Kagi. Members of 
 Congress Alfred M. Ellsworth, Osborn Anderson. Treasurer Owen Brown. Sec 
 retary of Treasury Geo. B. Gill. Secretary of State Richard Realf. 
 
 Premising that the plan of the Liberators was not ex 
 tradition into the North, but emancipation in the South, 
 not to run off negroes to Canada, but to free them 
 in Virginia, and to keep them there, the Constitution 
 adopted at this time is at once divested of the ridicule 
 with which it has hitherto been clothed. Special at 
 tention should be paid, as indications of the design of 
 the Liberators, to Article 1st, from 28 to 38, and from 
 43 to 46, of as much of the Constitution as Virginia 
 permitted to be published. It will be seen that, even 
 in this its fragmentary state, it organizes a Govern 
 ment eminently adapted to preserve order amongst In 
 surgent slaves, and to prevent unnecessary suffering and 
 devastation. They sought no offensive warfare against 
 the South, but only to restore to the African Race its 
 inherent rights, by enabling it to demand them of its 
 oppressors, with the power to enforce and maintain the 
 claim. Not revolution, but justice ; not aggression, but 
 defence ; not negro supremacy, but citizenship ; not 
 war against society, but for freedom : such were the 
 beneficent objects which they designed to effect. 
 
 The following document is tho Constitution as mu 
 tilated by the Virginians : 
 20* 
 
232 Affembling to Confpire. 
 
 reports, not only of this public Convention, but ol 
 many secret meetings, which are mentioned in Cook s 
 Confession, and were written in phonography, and^ then 
 translated into a secret cipher by Kagi, have happily 
 not yet been discovered ; or, it is probable that the 
 scheme with which John Brown s name is now forever 
 inseparably united, would have perished with his 
 earthly life at Charlestown. 
 
 , CANADA WFST, I 
 Saturday, May 8, 1858 10 A. M. j 
 
 The Convention met in pursuance of a call of John Brown and others, and \vas 
 called to order by Mr. Jackson, on whose motion Mr. Win. C. Monroe was chosen 1* res 
 ident; when, on motion of Mr. Brown, Mr. J. II. Kagi was elected Secretary. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Delany, Mr. Brown then proceeded to state the object of the Conven 
 tion at length, and then to explain the general features of the plan of action in exe 
 cution of the project in view by the Convention. Mr. Delany and others spoke in 
 favor of the project and plan, and both were agreed to by a general consent. 
 
 Mr. Brown then presented a plan of organization, entitled Provisional Constitution 
 and Ordinances for the People of the United States, and moved the reading of the 
 same. 
 
 Mr. Kinnard objected to the reading until an oath of secrecy be taken by each mem 
 ber of the Convention, whereupon Mr. Delany moved that the following parole of 
 honor be taken by all members of the Convention : 
 
 " I solemnly affirm that I will not, in any way, divulge any of the secrets of this 
 Convention, except to the persons entitled to know the same 5 on the pain of forfeiting 
 the respect and protection of this organization." 
 
 Which motion was carried. 
 
 The President then proceeded to administer the obligation, after which the question 
 was taken on reading of the plan proposed by Mr. Brown, and the same carried. 
 
 The plan was then read by the Secretary, after which, on motion of Mr. Whipple, it 
 was ordered that it be now read by articles for consideration. 
 
 The articles from 1 to 45 were then read and adopted. On reading of the 4fith, 
 Mr. Reynolds moved to strike out the same. Reynolds spoke in favor, and Brown, 
 Monroe, Owen Brown, Delany, Realf, Kennard, and Page against striking out. The 
 question was then taken and lost, there being but one vote in the affirmative. The 
 article was then adapted. The 47th and 48th articles, with the schedule, were then 
 adopted in the same manner. It was then moved by Mr. Delany that the title and 
 preamble stand as read. Carried. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Kagi, the Constitution, as a whole, was then unanimously adopted. 
 
 Mr. Whipplo nominated John Brown for Commander-in-Chief, who was, on the 
 seconding of Delany, elected by acclamation. 
 
 Mr. Realf nominated J. II. Kagi for Secretary of War, who was elected in the same 
 manner. On motion of Mr. Brown, the Convention adjourned to nine P. M. of Mon 
 day, the 10th. 
 
 MONDAY, May 10th, 1859 9% P. M. The Convention assembled and went into 
 balloting for the election of Treasurer and Secretary of Treasury. Owen Brown 
 was elected to the former office, and George B. Gill to the latter. 
 
 The following resolution was then introduced by Mr. Brown, and unanimously 
 passed. 
 
 Kesolved, That John Brown, J. II. Kagi, Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, C. II. Tk!d, 
 C. W hippie, C. W. Moffit, John E. Cook, Owen Brown. Steward Taylor, Osborn An 
 derson. A. M. Ellsworth, Richard Richardson, W. II. Leeman, and John Lawrence, be, 
 and are hereby, appointed a Committee, to whom is delegated the power of the Conven- 
 tioi to fill by election all offices specially named in the Provisional Constitution, 
 which may be vacant after the adjournment of the Convention. The Convention then 
 adjourned .sine die. Signed, J. KAGI, Secretary of the Convention 
 
Affembling to Confpire. 233 
 
 Names of the Members of the Convention, written by each Pcnon. 
 
 Win. Charles Monroe, President of the Convention; G. J. Reynolds, J. C. Grant, 
 A. J. Smith, James M. Jones, Geo. B. Gill, M. F. Bailey, Vim. Lambert, C. Vi. Moflitt, 
 John J Jackson, J. Anderson, Alfred Whipple, James M. Be, W. II. Leeman, Alfred 
 M. Ellsworth, John E. Cook, Stewart Taylor, James W. Pumell, Geo. Akin, Stephen 
 Dettin, Tlios. Hickerson, John Cannet, Robinson Alexander. Richard Realf, Thomas F. 
 Cary, Richard Richardson, T. T. Parsons, Thos. M. Kinnard, J. II. Delany, Robert 
 Vanranker, Thomas M. Stringer, Charles II. Tidd, John A. Thomas, C. Whipple, J. D. 
 Shadd, Robert Newman, Owen Brown, John Brown. J. II. Harris, Charles Smith, 
 Simon Fislin, Isaac Holley, James Smith. 
 
 Signed, J. II. KAGI, Secretary of the Convention. 
 
 Memorandum Offices filled. 
 
 Commander-in-Chief John Brown. Secretary of War J. II. Kagi. Members of 
 Congress Alfred M. Ellsworth, Osborn Anderson. Treasurer Owen Brown. Sec 
 retary of Treasury Geo. B. Gill. Secretary of State Richard Realf. 
 
 Premising that the plan of the Liberators was not ex 
 tradition into the North, but emancipation in the South, 
 not to run off negroes to Canada, but to free them 
 in Virginia, and to keep them there, the Constitution 
 adopted at this time is at once divested of the ridicule 
 with which it has hitherto been clothed. Special at 
 tention should be paid, as indications of the design of 
 the Liberators, to Article 1st, from 28 to 38, and from 
 43 to 46, of as much of the Constitution as Virginia 
 permitted to be published. It will be seen that, even 
 in this its fragmentary state, it organizes a Govern 
 ment eminently adapted to preserve order amongst In 
 surgent slaves, and to prevent unnecessary suffering and 
 devastation. They sought no offensive warfare against 
 the South, but only to restore to the African Race its 
 inherent rights, by enabling it to demand them of its 
 oppressors, with the power to enforce and maintain the 
 claim. Not revolution, but justice ; not aggression, but 
 defence ; not negro supremacy, but citizenship ; not 
 war against society, but for freedom : such were the 
 beneficent objects which they designed to effect. 
 
 The following document is the Constitution as mu 
 tilated by the Virginians : 
 20* 
 
234 Affembling to Confpire. 
 
 Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the People of the United States. 
 
 PREAMBLE. Whereas, Slavery, throughout its entire existence in the United States, 
 is none other than the most barbarous, unprovoked, and unjustifiable war of one por 
 tion of its citizens againsiranother 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, the 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 the other people degraded by the laws 
 thereof, do, for the time being, ordain and establish for ourselves the following Provis 
 ional Constitution and ordinances, the better to protect our people, property, lives, and 
 liberties, and to govern our actions. 
 
 ARTICLE I. Qualifications of Membership. All persons of mature age. whether pro 
 scribed, oppressed, and enslaved citizens, or of proscribed and oppressed races of the 
 United States, who shall agree to sustain and enforce the Provisional Constitution and 
 ordinances of organization, together with all minor children of such persons, shall be 
 held to be fully entitled to protection under the same. 
 
 ART. II. Branches of Oovernment. The Provisional Government of this organiza 
 tion shall consist of three branches, viz.: the Legislative, the Executive, and Judicial. 
 
 ART. III. The Legislature. The Legislative Branch shall be a Congress or House 
 of Representatives, composed of not less than five, nor more than ten members, who 
 shall be elected by all the citizens of mature age and sound mind connected with 
 this organization, and who shall remain in office for three years, unless sooner removed 
 for misconduct, inability, or death. A majority of such members shall constitute a 
 quorum. 
 
 ART. IV. Executive. The Executive Branch of the organization shall consist of a 
 President and Vice-President, who shall be chosen by the citizens or members of this 
 organization, and each of whom shall hold his office for three years, unless sooner re 
 moved by death, or for inability, or for misconduct. 
 
 ART. V. Judicial. The Judicial Branch consists of one Chief Justice of the Su 
 preme Court, and four Associate Judges of the said Court, each of them constituting a 
 Circuit Court. They shall each be chosen in the same manner as tbe President, and 
 shall continue in office until their places have been filled in the same manner by an 
 election of citizens. 
 
 ART. XIII. to XXV. provide for the trial of the President and other officers, and 
 Members of Congress, the impeachment of Judges; the duties of the President and 
 Vice-President, the punishment of crimes, Army appointments, salaries, &c., &c. 
 These articles are not of special interest, and are therefore omitted. 
 
 ART. XXVI. Treaties of Peace. Before any treaty of peace shall take full effect, it 
 shall be signed by the President, Vice-President, Commander-in-Chief. a majority of the 
 House of Representatives, a majority of the Supreme Court, and a majority of the gen 
 eral officers of the army. 
 
 ART. XXVII. Duty of the Military. It shall be the duty of the Commander-in- 
 Chief, and all the officers and soldiers of the army, to afford special protection, when 
 needed, to Congress, or any member thereof, to the Supreme Court, or any member 
 thereof, to the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary of War, and to afford 
 general protection to all civil officers, or other persons having a right to the same. 
 
 ART. XXVIII. Property. All captured or confiscated property, and all the prop 
 erty the product of the labor of those belonging to this organization, and of their fam 
 ilies, shall be held as the property of the whole equally, without distinction, and may 
 be used for the common benefit, or disposed of for the same object. And any person, 
 officer or otherwise, who shall improperly retain, secrete, use, or needlessly destroy 
 such property, or property found, captured, or confiscated, belonging to the eicvny, 01 
 shall wilfully neglect to render a full and fair statement of such property ty him so 
 taken, or held, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be p anibhec 1 
 accordingly. 
 
 ART. XXIX. Safety or Intelligence Fund. All money, plate, watches, or jewelry 
 captured by honorable warfare, found, taken, or confiscated, belonging to the enemy, 
 shall be held sacred, to constitute a liberal safety or intelligence fund ; and any person 
 who shall improperly retain, dispose of, hide, use. or destroy such money or other article 
 above named, contrary to the provisions and spirit of this article, shall be deemed guilty 
 of theft, ami. on conviction thereof, shall be punished accordingly. The Treasurer shall 
 furnish the Commauder-in-Chief at all times with a full statement of the condition of 
 Bnch fund, and its nature. 
 
 ART. XXX. The Conmandcr-in-Chief and the Treasury. The Commander-in- 
 Chief shall havo pow<-r t< draw from the Treasury the money and other property of the 
 fund provided for in Art cle XXIX., but his orders shall be signed also by the Secretary 
 
Affembling to Confpire. 235* 
 
 of W.ir, who shall keep a strict, nccount of the same, subject to examination by any 
 member of Congress or General Officer. 
 
 ART. XXXI. Surplus of the Safety or Iittdligrnce Funa. It shall be the dnty of 
 the Commauder-iu-Cliief to advise the President of any surplus of the Safety or Intelli 
 gence Fund, and he shall have power to draw the same, his order being also signed by 
 the Secretary of State, to enable him to carry on the provisions of Article XXII. 
 
 AET. XXXII. Prisoners. No person, after having surrendered himself a prisoner, 
 and who shall properly demean himself or herself as such, to any officer or private con 
 nected witk this organization, shall afterwards be put to death, or be subjected to any 
 corporeal punishment, without first having had the benefit of a fair and impartial 
 trial ; nor shall any prisoner be treated with any kind of cruelty, disrespect, insult, or 
 needless seventy ; but it shall be the duty of all persons, male and female, connected 
 herewith, at all times, and under all circumstances, to treat all such prisoners with 
 every degree of respect and kindness that the nature of the circumstances will admit 
 of, and insist on a like course of conduct from all others, as in fear of the Almighty 
 God. to whose care and keeping we commit our cause. 
 
 ART. XXXIII. Volunteers All persons who may come forward, and shall volun 
 tarily deliver up slaves, and have their names registered on the books of this organiza 
 tion, shall, so long as they continue at peace, be entitled to the fullest protection in per 
 son and property, though not connected with this organization, and shall be treated as 
 friends, and not merely as persons neutral. 
 
 ART. XXXIV. Neutrals. The persons and property of all non-slaveholders who 
 shall remain absolutely neutral shall be respected so far as circumstances can allow of 
 it, but they shall not be entitled to any active protection. 
 
 ART. XXXV. JVo needless Waste. The needless waste or destruction of any useful 
 property or article by fire, throwing open of fences, fields, buildings, 01 needless 
 killing of animals, or injury of either, shall not be tolerated at any time or place, but 
 shall be promptly and peremptorily punished. 
 
 ART. XXXVI. Property confiscated. The entire personal and real property of all 
 persons known to be acting, either directly or indirectly, with or for the enemy, or found 
 in arms with them, or found wilfully holding slaves, shall be confiscated and taken 
 whenever and wherever it may be found, in either Free or Slave States. 
 
 ART. XXXVII. Desertion. Persons convicted, on impartial trial, of desertion to 
 the enemy after becoming members, acting as spies, of treacherous surrender of prop 
 erty, arms, ammunition, provisions or supplies of any kind, roads, bridges, persons, or 
 fortifications, shall be put to death, and their entire property confiscated. 
 
 ART. XXXVIII. Violation of Parole of Honor. Persons proved to be guilty of taking 
 up arms, after having been set at liberty on parole of honor, or after the same to have 
 taken any active part with or for the enemy, direct or indirect, shall be put to death, 
 and their entire property confiscated. 
 
 ARTS. XXXIX., XL., and XLI. require all labor for the general good, and prohibit 
 immoral actions. 
 
 ART. XLII. The Marriage Relation Schools The Sabbath. Marriage relations 
 shall be at all times respected, and families shall be kept together as far as possible, 
 and broken families encouraged to reunite, and intelligence offices shall be established 
 for that purpose. Schools and churches shall be established as may be, for the purpose 
 of religious and other instruction, and the first day of the week shall be regarded as a 
 day of rest, and appropriated to moral and religious instruction and improvement, to 
 the relief of the suffering, the instruction of the young and ignorant, and the encour 
 agement of personal cleanliness ; nor shall any person be required on that day to per 
 form ordinary manual labor, unless in extremely urgent cases. 
 
 AKT. XLIII. To carry Jlrms openly. All persons known to be of good char 
 acter, and of sound mind and suitable age, who are connected with this organization, 
 whether male or female, shall be encouraged to carry arms openly. 
 
 ART. XLIV. JVo Persons to carry concealed Weapons. No person within tho 
 limits of conquered territory, except regularly appointed policemen, express officers 
 of army, mail carriers, or other fully accredited messengers of Congress, the President, 
 Vice-President, members of the Supreme Court, or commissioned officers of the Army, 
 and those under peculiar circumstances, shall be allowed at any time to carry concealer 1 
 weapons ; and any person not specially authorized so to do, who shall be found so doing, 
 shall be deemed a suspicious person, and may at once be arrested by any officer, 
 soldier, or citizen, without the formality of a complaint or warrant; and may at once 
 be. subjected to thorough search, and shall have his or her case thoroughly investi 
 gated, and be dealt with as circumstances on proof shall require. 
 
 ART. XLV. Persons to be seized. Persons living within the limits of territory 
 holden by this organization, and not connected with this organization, having arms at 
 all, concealed or otherwise, shall be seized at once, or be taken in charge of by some 
 vigilant officer, and their case thoroughly investigated ; and it shall be the duty of all 
 
236 Affembling to Confpire. 
 
 citizens and soldiers, as well as officer?, to arrest such parties as are named in this and 
 the preceding section or article, without formality of complaint or wan ant; ni:d they 
 shall be placed in charge of some proper officer for examination, or for safe keeping. 
 
 ART. XL VI. These Articles not for the Overthrow of Government l^.e foregoing 
 
 articles shall not be construed so as in any way to encourage the overthrow of any 
 State Government, or of the General Government of the United States, and look to no 
 dissolution of the Union, but simply to amendment and repeal, and our Hag shall be 
 the same that our fathers fought under in the Revolution. 
 
 ART. XL VII. JVo Plurality of Offices. No two offices specially provided for by this 
 instrument shall be filled by the same person, at the same time. 
 
 ART. XLVIII. Oath. Every officer, civil or military, connected with this organ 
 ization, shall, bjefore entering upon the duties of office, make a solemn oath or affirma 
 tion to abide by and support the Provisional Constitution and these ordinances. Also, 
 every citizen and soldier, before being recognized as such, shall do the same. 
 
 Schedule. The President of this Convention shall convene, immediately on the 
 adoption of this instrument, a Convention of all such persons as shall have given their 
 adherence by signature to the Constitution, who shall proceed to fill by election all 
 offices specially named in said Constitution the President of this Convention pre 
 siding and issuing commissions to such officers elect ; all such officers being hereafter 
 elected in the manner provided in the body of this instrument. 
 
 There are many things, not yet clear to the public, 
 and sometimes quoted as proofs of insanity, but, 
 rightly understood, giving evidence of a comprehen 
 sive and penetrating intellect, which it is impossible, at 
 this time, fully to explain, in justice to the Cause for 
 which John Brown died, and to the noble friends by 
 whom he was supported. Among these mysteries must 
 be placed some parts of the Constitution ; for, apart 
 from the explanation already given., there are portions 
 of it which still require a further elucidation. The or 
 ganization behind the letter of the Constitution cannot 
 now be described. To persons familiar with it there 
 is neither insanity nor inconsistency in the instrument ; 
 but, on the contrary, every evidence of a judicious and 
 humane statesmanship. The day will yet come when 
 John Brown s name will stand first in the list of 
 American statesmen. 
 
 Why John Brown did not at once proceed to Har 
 per s Ferry, is thus stated by Cook in his Confession : 
 
 " We staid about two weeks in Chatham some of the party staid 
 six or seven -weeks. We left Chatham for Cleveland, and remained 
 thtre until late in June. In the mean time, Captain Brown went East 
 
Affembling to Confpire. 237 
 
 on business ; but, previous to his departure, he had learned that Col 
 onel Forbes had betrayed his plans to some extent. This, together 
 with the scantiness of his funds, induced him to delay the commence 
 ment of his work, and was the means, for the time being, of disband 
 ing the party. He had also received some information which called 
 for his immediate attention in Kansas. I wished to go with him ; but 
 he said that I was too well known there, and requested me and some 
 others to go to Harper s Ferry, Va., to see how things were there, 
 and to gain information. 
 
 " Jn his trip East, he did not realize the amount of money that he 
 expected. The money had been promised bonafide; but, owing to the 
 tightness of the money market, they failed to comply with his de 
 mands. The funds were necessary to the accomplishment of his 
 plans. I afterwards learned that there was a lack of confidence in the 
 success of his scheme. It was, therefore, necessary that a movement 
 sh . d be made in another direction, to demonstrate the practicability 
 of his plan. This he made about a year ago by his invasion of Mis 
 souri, and the taking of about a dozen slaves, together with horses, 
 cattle, &c., into Kansas, in defiance of the United States Marshal and 
 his posse." 
 
 The news of the massacre of the Marais-des-Cygnes 
 was the immediate cause of John Brown s return to 
 Kansas ; although it is also true, that the action of 
 Colonel Forbes rendered it imperatively necessary to 
 divert the attention of the Government from his origi 
 nal plan. 
 
VI. 
 
 MAKING READY. 
 
 FROM the 16th of March, when John Brown was in 
 Canada, up to the 16th of October, when he con 
 quered Virginia, a period of eight months, it would 
 neither be prudent nor just to trace his movements too 
 minutely ; and I do not propose to do so now. From the 
 20th to the 30th of March, he was at Cleveland, with 
 Kagi. An incident of this residence is thus related by 
 Wendell Phillips : 
 
 " Prudence, skill, courage, thrift, knowledge of his time, knowledge 
 of his opponents, undaunted daring in the face of the nation, all 
 these he had. He was the man who could leave Kansas and go into 
 Missouri, and take eleven men and give them to liberty, and bring 
 them off on the horses which he carried with him, and two which he 
 took as tribute from their masters in order to facilitate escape. Then, 
 when he had passed his human protdgds from the vulture of the United 
 States to the safe shelter of the English lion, this is the brave, 
 frank, and sublime trnster in God s right and absolute justice, that 
 entered his name, in the city of Cleveland, John Brown, of Kansas, 
 and advertised there two horses for sale, and stood in front of the 
 auctioneer s stand, notifying all bidders of the defect in the title. But, 
 he added, with nonchalance, when he told the story, They brought a 
 very excellent price. " 
 
 At this time there was great excitement in Cleveland, 
 in consequence of the arrest and imprisonment of a 
 number of prominent citizens of Oberlin, charged with 
 
 (238) 
 
Making Ready. 239 
 
 the manly virtue of liberating a fugitive slave, which, 
 by the laws of the United States, is an indictable and 
 penitentiary offence. On Tuesday, the 22d of March, 
 a large meeting was held in Cleveland, at which Kagi 
 and John Brown were invited to speak. Kagi described 
 the scenes I have endeavored to depict in the chapter 
 entitled, Fleshing the Sword. John Brown was then 
 called on, and made a speech ; but the report preserved 
 of it is exceedingly imperfect. Such as it is, here it is: 
 
 " He prefaced his remarks by saying that he had called for an 
 admission fee that he might use in place of money he had expended 
 upon the slaves on their way to Canada. He remarked that since his 
 last return to Kansas he had had no fight with the pro-slavery ruffians, 
 although he had been threatened abundantly. He wished to say that 
 he had never lifted a finger towards any one whom he did not know 
 was a violent persecutor of the Free State men. He had never killed 
 any body ; 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, and had never by his own action driven out pro-slavery 
 men from the Territory ; but if occasion demanded it, he would ^rive 
 them into the ground, like a fence stake, where they would remain 
 permanent settlers. Further, he had yet to learn of any pro-slavery 
 men being arrested or punished [by the Territorial authorities] for any 
 crime. He related the circumstance of the murder of his son at 
 Osawatomie, who was shot down for the crime of being a Free State 
 man. On the afternoon of the same day the Osawatomie fight oc 
 curred. Mr. Brown remarked that he was an outlaw, the Governor 
 of Missouri having offered a reward of $3000, and James Buchanan 
 $250 more, for him. He quietly remarked, parenthetically, that 
 John Brown would give two dollars and fifty cents for the safe deliv 
 ery 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 considered it his duty to break the fetters from any slave when he 
 
240 Making Ready. 
 
 had an opportunity. He was a thorough abolitionist. The remainder 
 of his speech was a nartatioii of Kansas affairs. 
 
 "At the close of his remarks, the audience, by resolution, in 
 dorsed and approved of his course in Kansas, for which he heartily 
 thanked them." 
 
 Iii the beginning of April, he was in Ashtabula 
 County, sick of the ague. On the 16th, he was at 
 Westport, Essex County, New York near home. On 
 his journey there, he staid over at Peterboro , the 
 residence of Gerritt Smith, and at Rochester, where he 
 delivered a public speech and met the brave negro, 
 Shields Green, or Emperor. In May he was in Boston, 
 New York City, and Rochester. At Boston he learned 
 how to manufacture crackers. 
 
 On the 3d of June he was at Collinsville, and con 
 cluded the contract for the pikes afterwards found on 
 the Kennedy farm. On the 7th he was at Troy, from 
 which he sent a draft of three hundred dollars to pay 
 for the pikes. He then proceeded to Summit, Portage, 
 and Ashtabula Counties, in Ohio. He went from Ohio to 
 Chambersburg, stopping at Pittsburg City and Bedford. 
 He remained at Chambersburg toward the close of 
 June, for several days ; and, on the 30th, with two sons 
 and Captain Anderson, left for Hagerstown, in Mary 
 land. 
 
 The next movements of the party are thus described 
 by a resident of Hagerstown, a pro-slavery man, in a 
 letter written after the arrest of Captain Brown at 
 Harper s Ferry : 
 
 " John Brown, his two sons, and a Captain Anderson spent a night 
 here, at the Washington House, in June, and were taken to Harper s 
 Ferry next day in a hack. When here I was struck with the long 
 beard of one of them, and called over to learn who they were and 
 
Making Ready. 241 
 
 where they came from. Brown registered as < Smith and two sons 
 from Western New York, and told Mr. Singling, the landlord, that 
 they had got tired of farming in that region ; that the frosts had taken 
 vheir crops for two or three years ; that they were going to Virginia 
 to look out a location for raising sheep and growing wool, &c. 
 After looking around Harper s Ferry a few days, and prowling 
 through the mountains in search of minerals, as they said, they came 
 across a large farm with three unoccupied houses the owner, Dr. 
 Booth Kennedy, having died in the spring. These houses they rented 
 from the family till next March, and paid the rent in advance, and 
 also purchased a lot of hogs from the family for cash, and agreed 
 to take care of the stock until a sale could be had ; and they did attend 
 most faithfully to them, and have it all in first-rate order ; were gentle 
 men, and kind to every body. After living there a few weeks, others 
 joined them, until as many as twelve were in these three houses, 
 and every few days a stranger would appear and disappear again with 
 out creating the least surprise." 
 
 A correspondent of a New York paper gives these 
 additional particulars : 
 
 " About five or six miles distant from Harper s Ferry, on the Mary 
 land side, is the Kennedy Farm, which John Brown hired in July at a 
 rent of thirty-five dollars a year. . . . A short time afterwards the party 
 was increased by the arrival of two women, said to be his wife and daugh 
 ter ; and about three weeks ago three men arrived. The house is located 
 in the midst of a thickly-settled neighborhood, five or six families liv 
 ing within hail, and the movements of the strangers were regarded 
 with much curiosity. They seemed to have no settled purpose ; but a 
 large number of boxes and packages were sent to them by railroad, 
 which they carted home, and nearly every day one or more of them 
 paid a visit to the village. They paid for every thing they wanted in 
 hard cash, and were seciable and friendly towards their neighbois. 
 A great deal of their time appeared to be passed in hunting in the 
 mountains, although they never brought home any game.* On one 
 occasion a neighbor remarked to Mr. Smith (as Old Brown was called) 
 that he had observed twigs and branches bent down in a peculiar 
 manner, which Smith explained by stating that it was the habit of the 
 Indians, in travelling through a strange country, to mark their path in 
 that way, so as to find their way back. He had no doubt, he said 
 that Indians passed over these mountains, unknown to the inhab 
 itants." 
 
 * "We strike at higher and wickeder game," said Mr. Hunter acted, Captain 
 Brown 
 
 21 
 
242 Making Ready. 
 
 These statements of conversations with John Brown 
 must not be fully credited ; but the accounts of the 
 hiring of the farm are substantially correct. " The 
 greater part of the men," according to Cook s Confes 
 sion, " kept out of sight during the day, for fear of 
 attracting attention. The arms, munitions, et cetera, 
 were carted from Chambersburg to his rendezvous. 
 The spear heads and guards came in strong boxes, and 
 the shafts passed for fork handles. They were put 
 together by our men at the house, where most of them 
 were afterwards found." 
 
 " During his residence at the Kennedy Farm," writes 
 one who lived with him, " the old man used often to 
 take his Bible, sit down on a stool in the corner near 
 the door, and read a chapter, and then make a prayer. 
 He always did so in the morning. We never ate a 
 meal at head-quarters, until a blessing was asked 
 on it." 
 
 During the period that elapsed from the hiring of his 
 farm till his invasion of Virginia, John Brown had 
 occasion to revisit the North. On the 14th of October 
 he is supposed to have been in Baltimore ; and on the 
 16th he took occasion to report himself at Harper s 
 Ferry. The announcement was made so loudly, that 
 it reached every home in the North, and penetrated 
 every cabin of the Southern plantations. 
 
VII. 
 
 THE BLOW STRUCK. 
 
 IT was the original intention of Captain Brown to 
 seize the Arsenal at Harper s Ferry on the night of 
 the 24th of October, and to take the arms there depos 
 ited to the neighboring mountains, with a number of 
 the wealthier citizens of the vicinity, as hostages, until 
 they should redeem themselves by liberating an equal 
 number of their slaves. When at Baltimore, for satis 
 factory reasons, he determined to strike the blow that 
 was to shake the Slave System to its foundations, on 
 the night of the 17th. One of the men who fought at 
 Harper s Ferry gave me as the chief reason for the 
 precipitate movement, that there was a Judas whom 
 they suspected in their midst. That the reasons were 
 just and important, the prudence that John Brown 
 had always hitherto manifested satisfactorily proves. 
 But this decision, however necessary, was unfortunate; 
 for the men from Canada, Kansas, New England, and 
 the neighboring Free States, who had been told to be 
 prepared for the event on the 24th of October, and 
 were ready to do their duty at Harper s Ferry at that 
 time, were unable to join their Captain at this earlier 
 period. 
 
 (2*3) 
 
244 The #low Struck. 
 
 Many, who started to join the Liberators, halted half 
 way ; for the blow had already been struck, and their 
 Captain made a captive. Had there been no precipi 
 tation, the mountains of Virginia, to-day, would have 
 been peopled with free blacks, properly officered and 
 ready for field action.* 
 
 The negroes, also, in the neighboring counties, who 
 had promised to be ready on the 24th of October, were 
 confused by the precipitate attack ; and, before they 
 could act in concert which they can only do by 
 secret nocturnal meetings were watched, overpow 
 ered, and deprived of every chance to join their heroic 
 liberators. 
 
 Having sent off the women who lived at their cabins 
 Cook s wife and others the neighbors began to 
 talk about the singularity of the proceeding ; and it 
 became necessary, on that account also, to precipitate 
 an attack on Harper s Ferry. 
 
 On Saturday, a meeting of the Liberators was held, 
 and the plan of operations discussed. On Sunday 
 evening, a council was again convened, and the pro 
 gramme of the Captain unanimously approved. " In 
 closing," wrote Cook, " John Brown said : 
 
 " And now, gentlemen, let me press this one thing on ybur minds. 
 You all know how dear life is to you, and how dear your lives are to 
 your friends ; and, in remembering that, consider that the lives of 
 others are as dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, therefore, 
 take the life of any one if you can possibly avoid it ; but if it is neces 
 sary to take life in order to save your own, then make sure work 
 of it." 
 
 * John Brown had engaged a competent military officer to take charge of the liber 
 ated slaves as soon as it became necessary to descend from the mountains, and meet 
 thtt militia forces i v tLe fiald. 
 
The Blow Struck. 245* 
 
 HARPER S FERRY. 
 
 "Fearful and Exciting Intelligence ! Negro Insurrection <it Harper * 
 Ferry ! Extensive Negro Conspiracy in Virginia and Maryland ! Seizure 
 cf the United States Arsenal by the Insurrectionists ! Arms taken and 
 sent into the Interior ! The Bridge fortified and defended by Cannon ! 
 Trains fired into and Stopped! Several Persons killed ! Telegraph Wires 
 cut ! Contributions levied on the Citizens ! Troops despatched against the 
 Insurgents from Washington and Baltimore ! " 
 
 Such were the headings of the first telegraphic 
 reports of John Brown s brave blow at American 
 Slavery. 
 
 Before briefly describing the events that they fore 
 shadow, it is necessary to speak of the place where 
 they occurred. The standard Virginia authority of 
 the day thus writes : 
 
 " Harper s Ferry is situated in Jefferson County, Virginia, at the 
 confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, on a point just op 
 posite the gap through which the united streams pass the Blue Ridge on 
 their way toward the ocean. The Ridge here is about twelve hundred 
 feet in height, showing bare, precipitous cliffs on either side on the 
 river, and exhibiting some of the most beautiful and imposing natural 
 scenery to be found in the country. The town was originally built on 
 two streets stretching along a narrow shelf between the base of the 
 bluff and the rivers, meeting at the point at nearly a right angle, and 
 named respectively Potomac and Shenandoah Streets. To accommo 
 date its increasing population, the town has straggled up the steep 
 bluff, and, in detached villages and scattered residences, occupies the 
 level ground above about four hundred feet above the streams. 
 
 "It has altogether a population of five thousand; is distant from 
 Richmond one hundred and seventy-three miles ; from Washington 
 City fifty-seven miles by turnpike road ; and from Baltimore eighty 
 miles by rail. Here the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crosses the Po 
 tomac by a magnificent covered bridge, nine hundred feet long, and 
 passes along Potomac Street westward, its track lying forty feet above 
 the river. The Winchester and Harper s Ferry Railroad, lying along 
 Shenandoah Street, connects with the Baltimore and Ohio at tbe 
 bridge. Potomac Street is entirely occupied by the workshops tu d 
 offices of the National Armory, and its entrance is enclosed by a hsc d- 
 some <gate and iron railing. Nearly at the angle of junction arc Jhe 
 
 21* 
 
246 The Blow Struck. 
 
 old Arsenal buildings, where usually from one hundred thousand to two 
 hundred thousand stand of arms are stored. The other buildings on 
 the point, and nearer the bridge, are railroad offices, hotels, eating 
 houses, stores, shops, &c. Shenandoah Street contains stores and 
 dv oiling houses for half a mile or more, when we come to Hall s 
 rile- works, situated on a small island in the Shenandoah River." 
 
 Harper s Ferry, by the admission of military men, 
 was admirably chosen as the spot at wjiich to begin a 
 war of liberation. The neighboring mountains, with 
 their inaccessible fastnesses, with every one of which, 
 and every turning of their valleys, John Brown had 
 been familiar for seventeen years, would afford to 
 guerilla forces a protection the most favorable, and 
 a thousand opportunities for a desperate defence or 
 rapid retreats before overwhelming numbers of an 
 enemy. 
 
 THE FIRST NIGHT. 
 
 The first movement of the Liberators was to extin 
 guish the lights of the town, and take possession of 
 the Armory buildings. This they did without opposi 
 tion, or exciting alarm ; although they took the three 
 watchmen prisoners, and locked them up in the Guard 
 House. They were aided, it is believed, by friendly 
 negroes. The number of Liberators in the town was 
 twenty-two only, of whom seventeen were whites, and 
 five blacks and mixed bloods. But, outside of the 
 town, there were others, (who afterwards succeeded in 
 escaping,) to whom were assigned the duty, which 
 they successfully performed, of cutting down the tele 
 graphic wires, and, after the train had passed, of tear 
 ing up the railroad track. 
 
 At half past ten, the watchman at the Potomac 
 
The Blow Struck. 247 
 
 Bridge was arrested and imprisoned. At midnight, 
 his successor, who came down to take his place, was 
 hailed by the sentinels placed there by Captain Brown ; 
 but, supposing that they were robbers, he refused to 
 surrender, and ran off: one shot being fired at him 
 from the bridge. He gave the alarm at the hotel near 
 by, but it produced no immediate action. The train 
 eastward-bound arrived at a quarter past one o clock, 
 and the conductor was made aware of the possession 
 of the bridge by armed men. The officers of the train, 
 accompanied by some passengers, attempted to walk 
 across the bridge, but presently saw the muzzles of 
 four rifles resting on a railing, and prudently turned 
 back. One man, refusing to surrender, was shot in 
 the back and died next morning. It was found that 
 he was a negro porter. At this time there were several 
 shots exchanged between a clerk of the hotel and one 
 or two of the Liberators. The passengers in the train 
 went into the hotel, and remained there, in great alarm, 
 for four or five hours. The conductor, although per 
 mission was granted to him, at three o clock, to pass 
 over with his train, refused to do so till he could see 
 for himself that all was safe. 
 
 " After taking the town," says Cook, "I was placed under Captain 
 Stevens, who received orders to proceed to the house of Colonel 
 Lewis Washington, and to take him prisoner, and to bring his slaves, 
 horses, and arms ; and, as we came back, to take Mr. Alstadtt ard his 
 slaves, and to bring them all to Captain Brown at the Armory." 
 
 his party of six arrived at the house of Colonel 
 Washington shortly after midnight, took him prisoner, 
 seized his arms, horses, and carriage, and liberated his 
 slaves. " It is remarkable," said Governor Wise> 
 
248 The Blow Struck. 
 
 speaking of this event, " that the only thing of mate 
 rial value which they took, besides his slaves, was the 
 sword of Frederick the Great, which was sent to Gen 
 eral Washington. This was taken by Stevens to Brown, 
 and the latter commanded his men with that sword in 
 this fight against the peace and safety of Washington s 
 native State ! " 
 
 In returning to the Armory, Mr. Alstadtt and his 
 son were taken prisoners, and the slaves on their 
 estate were freed. 
 
 " On entering the Armory," said Washington, "I found some eight 
 or ten persons, who recognized me. We were seated together and 
 conversing, when the old man, whom we found by this time to be 
 Brown, after asking our names, said, It is now too dark to write, 
 but when it is sufficiently light, if you have not paper and pens, I will 
 furnish you, and I require that you shall each write to your friends to 
 send a negro man apiece as a ransom. " 
 
 At daylight, every person who appeared in the street 
 was taken prisoner, until they numbered between forty 
 and fifty men. The train was also allowed to proceed, 
 Captain Brown himself walking over the bridge with 
 the conductor. Whenever the Virginians asked the 
 object of their captors, the uniform answer was, " To 
 free the slaves." One of the workmen, we are told, on 
 seeing an armed guard at the gate, asked by what 
 authority they had taken possession of the public prem 
 ises. The guard replied, "By the authority of God 
 Almighty." 
 
VIII. 
 
 SWORD IN HAND. 
 
 train that left Harper s Ferry carried a panic to 
 JL 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. 
 
 At daylight the news spread in Harper s Ferry that 
 the town was in the hands of Abolitionists and the 
 slaves. A terrible panic ensued. Report magnified 
 the numbers of the Invaders forty-fold. The public 
 buildings were already in the hands of the Liberators, 
 and at the bridges, and the corners of the principal 
 streets, armed sentinels, wrapped in blankets, were seen 
 stationed, or walking up and down. Every man who 
 appeared in the street was forthwith arrested and 
 imprisoned in the Armory. Captain Brown and his 
 sons Oliver and Watson, Stevens and two others, were 
 stationed inside of the Armory grounds ; Kagi, with 
 Leeman, Stewart Taylor, Anderson, (black,) and Cope- 
 land, (colored,) held the lower part of the town and 
 the rifle works ; Cook, Owen Brown, Tidd, Merriam. 
 and Barclay Coppoc were stationed at the cabins of 
 
250 Sword in Hand. 
 
 the Kennedy Farm and the school house ; while the 
 remainder were posted as guards at the bridges and at 
 the corners of the streets and the public buildings. 
 
 Early in the morning Captain Brown sent an order 
 to the Wager House for breakfast for forty-five men 
 his hostages and company. By eight o clock the num 
 ber of Virginians thus held was over sixty persons. 
 
 The first firing after daybreak was by a person 
 named Turner, who fired at the guards as they were 
 ordering two citizens to halt. Mr. Boerley, a grocer, 
 fired the second shot. A bullet from a Sharpe s rifle 
 instantly killed him. A number of Virginians then 
 obtained possession of a room overlooking the Armory 
 gates, and fired at a party of the sentinels. One of 
 the Liberators fell dead, and another Watson Brown 
 retired mortally wounded. 
 
 The panic that these proceedings caused in the town 
 is thus described by a Virginia panegyrist of the 
 people : 
 
 " As the sun rose upon the scene, the reported outrages and the 
 bodies of the murdered men showed that, from whatever source the 
 movement came, it was of a serious nature. Sentinels, armed with 
 rifles and pistols, were seen guarding all the public buildings, threat 
 ening death or firing at all who questioned or interfered with them ; 
 and the savage audacity with which they issued their orders gave 
 assurance that the buildings were occupied by large bodies of men. 
 Messages were despatched to all the neighboring towns for military 
 assistance, while panic-stricken citizens seized such arms as they could 
 find, and gathered in small bodies on trn outskirts of the town, and at 
 punts remote from the works. All was confusion and mystery. Even 
 the sight of several armed negroes among the strangers did not at 
 once excite suspicion that it was an anti-slavery movement, and the 
 report of one of the captured slaves, conrirmatory of that fact, was re 
 ceived with doubt and incredulity. Indeed, so averse was the public 
 mind to the acceptance of this belief, that the suggestion was every 
 where received with derision, and every and any other explanation 
 adopted in preference. Some supposed it was a strike among the dis 
 contented armorers, or the laborers on a government dam, who had 
 taken thib means to obtain redress for real or imaginary grievance!. 
 
Sword in Hand. 251 
 
 Others argued thut it was a band of robbers organized in some of the 
 cities for the purpose of robbing the pay-master s strong box, known 
 to contain some thousands of public money ; that the armed negroes 
 were whites in disguise ; that the idea of inciting a servile insurrection 
 was a ruse, put forth to distract the public mind, and enable them to 
 escape with their booty." 
 
 During all the forenoon the Liberators had full pos 
 session of the town. There was a good deal of desultory 
 firing, but no men were reported killed on either side. 
 The prisoners were permitted frequently to visit their 
 families, under guard, in order to quiet the apprehen 
 sion of their wives and children. Had John Brown car 
 ried out his original plan, he would now have retreated 
 to the mountains. He could have done so unopposed. 
 But two reasons seem to have induced him to delay : 
 first, to prove to the people that the prisoners would 
 suffer no cruelty while in his hands ; and, secondly 
 although this we infer only the hope of being joined 
 by the slaves when the night set in. 
 
 The delay was fatal to his plans. For, half an hour 
 after midday, the first detachment of militia, one hun 
 dred strong, arrived at Harper s Ferry from Charles- 
 town. Their movements are thus described by their 
 Colonel in command : 
 
 " I proceeded on, with the few troops we had under arms, on foot 
 to Harper s Ferry, where we arrived about twelve o clock. I found 
 the citizens in very great excitement. By this time the insurgents oc 
 cupied all the lower part of the town, had their sentinels posted on all 
 the different streets, and had shot one of our citizens and a negro man 
 who had charge of the depot on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 1 
 here formed two companies of the citizens, and placed them under the 
 command of Captain Lawson Botts and Captain John Avis. Tbnit 
 forces were variously estimated from three hundred to five hundred 
 strong, armed with Sharpe s rifles and revolvers. 
 
 " I detached the Jefferson Guards, under the command of Captaii 
 Rowan, and ordered them to cross the Potomac River in boats, about 
 two miles above Harper s Ferry, and march down on the Maryland 
 side, and take possession of the bridge, and permit no one to pass, 
 lids order was strictly executed. The command under Captain Botts 
 
252 Sword in Hand. 
 
 was ordered to pass down the hill below Jefferson s Rock and take 
 possession of the Shenandoah Bridge, to leave a strong guard at tha 
 point, and to march down to the Gait House, in rear of the Arsenal 
 building, in which we supposed their men were lodged. Captain 
 A vis s command was ordered to take possession of the houses directly 
 in front of the Arsenal. Both of the above commands were promptly 
 executed. By this movement we prevented any escape." 
 
 The first attack was made by the Charlestown Guards 
 at the Shenandoah Bridge. William Thompson was 
 taken prisoner, unwounded, having just previously re 
 turned from the school house. A companion was 
 killed at the same time. 
 
 The rifle works were then attacked, and, as only five 
 persons were stationed inside, the building was soon 
 carried. Kagi and his men attempted to cross the 
 river, and four of them succeeded in reaching the rock 
 in the middle of it. As soon as they stood on the rock 
 they renewed the fight, drawing on them the fire of 
 two hundred Virginians, who shot at them from both 
 sides of the river. Yet not one of these brave Libera 
 tors cried for quarter, or ceased to keep up the un 
 equal conflict, until the corpse of Kagi, riddled with 
 balls, floated down the river, followed by one of his 
 faithful black comrades, and Leary lay mortally wound 
 ed. Copeland, the unwounded survivor, seeing that 
 the fight was over, yielded himself a prisoner, and, with 
 Leary, who lingered twelve hours in agony, was taken 
 to the town and imprisoned. 
 
 About the same time, or just previous to the taking 
 of the rifle works, William II . Leeman, having proba 
 bly been despatched by Kagi with a message to Captain 
 Brown, was seen, pursued, and attempted to escape by 
 swimming the river. He was the youngest of the 
 party only twenty-two years of age. A dozen shots 
 
Sword in Hand. 253 
 
 were fired at him as he ran ; he partially fell, but rose 
 again, threw away his gun, drew his pistols and tried 
 to shoot, but . both of them snapped. He then un 
 sheathed his bowie-knife, cut off his accoutrements, and 
 plunged into the river. George Schoppart, one of the 
 Virginia militia, waded in after him. Leeman turned 
 round, threw up his hands, and said, "Don t shoot!" 
 Unheeding this cry of surrender, the cowardly Virgin 
 ian fired his pistol in the young man s face, and blew 
 it into bloody fragments. He then cut off the coat- 
 skirts of the corpse, and found in the pockets a Cap 
 tain s commission.* 
 
 While the fight at the rifle works was going on, Cap 
 tain Avis and his company took possession of the houses 
 around the Armory buildings. As they were doing so, 
 Captain Turner, who had opened the fire in the morn 
 ing, was shot dead while in the act of raising his rifle. 
 He was killed by a sentinel at the Arsenal gate. About 
 the same time, Dangerfield Newby, a man of color, and 
 a native of the neighborhood, who still had a wife and 
 nine children in slavery in the vicinity, fell dead as he 
 was bravely fighting for the freedom of his enslaved 
 little ones and their mother. His courage was warmly 
 eulogized by the Liberators who witnessed it. Jim, 
 one of Washington s negroes, was also slain at this 
 period as he, too, was valiantly asserting his man- 
 
 * Whereas, W. II. Leeman has been nominated a Captain in the Army established 
 under the Provisional Constitution ; now, therefore, in pursuance of the authority 
 Vested in me by said Constitution, we do hereby appoint and commission the paiJ 
 VV. II. Leeman, Captain. 
 
 Given at the office of the Secretary of War, the 15th day of October, 1859. 
 
 JOHN BROWN, Commande.r~in-Chv-f. 
 J. II. KAGI, Secretary of War. 
 
 22 
 
254 Sword in Hand. 
 
 > 
 
 hood through the muzzle of a rifle.* A free negro, his 
 companion, who had lived on Washington s estate, was 
 shot for the same virtue at the same hour. 
 
 Shortly after the death of Captain Turner, a stray 
 shot killed Mr. Beckman, the Mayor of the town, who 
 foolishly came within range of the rifles, as the Liber 
 ators and Virginians were exchanging volleys. In the 
 course of this fight, Oliver Brown was shot, retreated 
 inside of the gate, " spoke no word, but yielded calmly 
 to his fate," and died in a few seconds after his 
 entrance. 
 
 At the request of Mr. Kitzmiller, one of John Brown s 
 hostages, Stevens went out of the Arsenal with him, in 
 order to enable him, if he could do so, to " accommo 
 date matters " for the benefit of the prisoners. Stevens 
 carried a flag of truce ; but yet he was shot down, and 
 seized by the ruffianly militia. 
 
 Thompson was then ordered to prepare for death, 
 by a number of young Virginia gentlemen, whose con 
 duct, on this occasion, is a vivid illustration of the 
 effects of slavery on the manners of men. 
 
 " In 1608, an Indian girl flung herself before her 
 father s tomahawk, on the bosom of an English gentle 
 man, and the Indian refrained from touching the Eng 
 lish traveller, whom his daughter s affection protected. 
 Pocahontas lives to-day, the ideal beauty of Virginia, 
 and her proudest names strive to trace their lineage to 
 the brave Indian girl. That was Pagan Virginia, two 
 centuries and a half ago." Far different is the Vir- 
 
 * " He fought like a tiger," said an eye-witness ; and of Ncw iy, another said, 
 " H fovght lik the very doviL Negiees can fij^lit 
 
Sword in Hand. 255 
 
 ginia of 1859. These Virginians tried to murder Mr. 
 Thompson in the parlor where he was detained a pris 
 oner of war ; and were only prevented from doing so 
 by a young lady throwing herself between their rifles 
 and his body. They then dragged him to the bridge, 
 where they killed him in cold blood. They shot him 
 off the bridge ; shot him as he was falling the fearful 
 height of forty feet ; and, some appearance of life still 
 remaining, riddled him with balls as he was seen crawl 
 ing at the base of the pier. Contrast the Virginia 
 savages of the olden time with the Virginia gentlemen 
 of the present day. The contrast does not stop here. 
 Miss Foulke, the modern Pochahontas, when asked 
 why she shielded Mr. Thompson, replied, not that she 
 loathed a murder, but that she " didn t want to have 
 the carpet spoiled ! "* 
 
 While these gallant young Virginians were murder 
 ing an unarmed prisoner, a party of men from Martins- 
 burg arrived, and, led by a railroad conductor, attacked 
 the Armory buildings in the rear. Another detachment 
 of the same company attacked the buildings in front. 
 Seeing them approach on both sides in overwhelming 
 numbers, Captain Brown retreated to the engine house, 
 after exchanging volleys with the advancing forces. 
 The company that attacked the rear broke open sev- 
 
 * Wendell Phillips, in his great speech recently delivered at New York, in which he 
 BO successfully subdued the eatraps of Virginia who had assembled to put him down, 
 lelated another incident of the fight at Harper s Ferry, in which this Miss Foulke was 
 a participator : 
 
 When, in tho midst of the battle of Harper s Ferry, the Mayor s body lay within 
 rat.ce of the rifles of those northern boys, his friends wanted to bring it off, but none 
 of ftem would go. At last the porter of the hotel paid to a lady, if you will stand be 
 tween me and the rifles, I will go; and he went. He knew he could trust the gentle 
 sacredness of woman in the eyes of those brave northern boys. He went and placed 
 the body in a carriage, and, sheltered by her presence, carried it Lack in safety. That 
 ia the difference between Xorthuro blijod auil ioultiei lW 
 
256 Sword in Hand. 
 
 eral windows, which enabled eighteen prisoners to es 
 cape. An attempt to carry the engine house was 
 repulsed with the loss of two men killed and six 
 wounded. The attacking party was fifty strong. 
 
 During the day, three trains had been detained out- 
 side of the town ; reinforcements were constantly ar 
 riving from the surrounding counties ; the telegraph 
 and railroad tracks were under repair ; and the Cabi 
 net at Washington, the Governor of Virginia, and the 
 City of Baltimore, had ordered troops to hasten on to 
 subdue the Liberators. 
 
 The last militia force, under Captain Simrns, from 
 Maryland, arrived at five o clock in the afternoon ; and 
 with the other companies already there, completely 
 surrounded the Armory buildings. He arrived in time 
 to prevent another cowardly murder ; for the Virginia 
 gentlemen, afraid to attack the engine house, and fresh 
 from the murder of Thompson, were exhibiting the 
 nature of their valor by yelling for the blood of the 
 wounded Stevens. 
 
 The united forces were placed under the command 
 of Colonel Baylor. An offer made by Captain Brown 
 to liberate the hostages, if his men were permitted to 
 cross the bridge, was refused by him ; and by this time, 
 as the night had fallen, the firing ceased on both sides. 
 
 The result of the day s fight to the Liberators looked 
 extremely gloomy. In the rivers floated the corpses of 
 Kagi, Leeman, Stewart Taylor, and Wm. Thompson,, 
 Imprisoned, and near to death, lay Lewis Leary and 
 Stevens. Copeland was a captive. On the street lay 
 the dead bodies of Hazlitt and Newby. In the engine 
 
Sword in Hand. 257 
 
 house were the remains of Oliver Brown, and Dauphin 
 Thompson ; while Watson, the Captain s son, lay with 
 out hope of recovery. The only unwoundcd survivors 
 of the Liberators in the engine house were Captain 
 Brown , Jerry Anderson, Edwin Coppoc, and Shields 
 Green, the negro. Eight Virginia hostages, and a 
 small number of armed negroes, were with them. 
 
 Where were the others, and what had they been 
 doing ? John E. Cook, in his Confession, thus stated 
 their position : 
 
 " When we returned from the capture of Washington, I staid a short 
 time 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 II. Leeman, and I think four slaves with him, in 
 Colonel Washington s large wagon across the river, and to take Ter 
 ence 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 the arms and bring them down to the 
 school house, stopping for the Burnses and their guard. William H. 
 Leeman remained with me to guard the prisoners. On return of the 
 \vagon, in compliance with orders, we all started for the school house. 
 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 II. Leeman. to Captain Brown at the Armory. It 
 was at this time that William Thompson came up from the Ferry and 
 reported that every thing was all right, and then hurried on to overtake 
 William H. Leeman. A short time after the departure of Tidd, I 
 neard a good deal of firing, and became anxious to know the cause ; 
 out my orders were strict to remain at the school house 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. I then took one of 
 ;he negroes with me and started for the Ferry. I met a negro woman 
 & short distance below the school house, who informed me they were 
 fighting hard at the Ferry. I hurried on till I came to the lock kept 
 by George Hardy, about a mile above the bridge, where I saw his wife 
 and Mrs. Elizabeth Read, who told me that our men were hemmed in, 
 and that several of them had been shot. I expressed my intention to 
 try to get to them, Avhen Mrs. Hardy asked me to try to get her hus 
 band released from the engine house. I told her I would. Mrs. Read 
 begged of me not to go down to the Ferry. She said I would be shot. 
 I told her I must make an attempt to save my comrades, and passed 
 on down the road. A short distance below the lock I met two boys 
 whom I knew, and they told me that our me* were all hemmed in by 
 99 * 
 
2 5 8 
 
 Sword in Hand. 
 
 troops from Charlestown, Martinsburg, Hagerstown, and Shepherds- 
 town. The negro who was with me had been very much frightened at 
 the first report we received, and as the boys told me the troops were 
 coming up the road after us soon, I sent him (the negro) back to in 
 form Tidd, while I hastened down the road. After going down oppo 
 site the Ferry, I ascended the mountain in order to get a better view 
 of the position of our opponents. 
 
 " I saw that our party were completely surrounded, and as I saw a 
 body of men on High Street firing down upon them, they were about 
 half a mile distant from me, I thought I Avould draw their fire upon 
 myself ; I therefore raised my rifle and took the best aim I could and 
 fired. It had the desired effect, for the very instant the party returned 
 it. Several shots were exchanged. The last one they fired at me cut 
 a small limb I had hold of just below my hand, and gave me a fall of 
 about fifteen feet, by which I was severely bruised, and my flesh 
 somewhat lacerated. I descended from the mountain and passed down 
 the road to the Crane on the back of the canal, about fifty yards from 
 Mr. W. s store. I saw several heads behind the door-post looking at 
 me ; I took a position behind the Crane, and cocking my rifle, beck 
 oned to some of them to come to me. After some hesitation, one of 
 them approached, and then another, both of whom knew me. I asked 
 them if there were any armed men in the store. They pledged me 
 their word and honor that there were none. I then passed down to 
 the lock house, and went down the steps to the lock, where I saw 
 William McGreg, and questioned him in regard to the troops on the 
 other side. He told me that the bridge was filled by our opponents, 
 and that all of our party were dead but seven that two of them 
 were shot while trying to escape across the river. He begged me to 
 leave immediately. After questioning him in regard to the position 
 and number of the troops, and from what sources he received his in 
 formation, I bade him good night, and started up the road at a rapid 
 walk. I stopped at the house of an Irish family at the foot of the hill, 
 and got a cup of coffee and some eatables. I was informed by them 
 that Captain Brown was dead ; that he had been shot about four o clock 
 in the afternoon. At the time I believed this report to be true. I 
 went on up to the school house, and found the shutters and door 
 closed ; called to Tidd and the boys, but received no answer ; cocked 
 my rifle, and then opened the door ; it was dark at the time. Some 
 of the goods had been placed in the middle of the floor, and, in the 
 dark, looked like men crouching. I uncocked my rifle, and drew my 
 revolver, and then struck a match ; saw that there was no one in the 
 school house ; went into the bushes back of the school house, and 
 called for the boys ; receiving no answer, I went across the road into 
 some pines, and again called, but could find no one. I then started 
 up the road towards Captain Brown s house ; I saw a party of men 
 coming down the road ; when within about fifty yards, I ordered them 
 to halt ; they recognized my voice, and called me. I found them to 
 be Charles P. Tidd, Owen Brown, Barclay Coppic, F. J. Merriam, 
 and a negro who belonged to Washington or Alstadtt. They asked 
 me the news, and I gave the information that I received at the canal lock 
 and on the road. It seemed that they thought it would be sheer mad 
 ness in them to attempt a rescue of our comrades, and it was finally 
 determined co return to the house of Captain Brown. I found that Tidd, 
 
Sword in Hand. 259 
 
 before leaving the school house to go for Brown, Coppic, and Merriam, 
 had stationed the negroes in a good position in the timber back of the 
 school house. On his return, however, they could not be found. We 
 therefore left for Captain Brown s house. Here we got a few articles 
 which would be necessary, and then went over into the timber on the 
 side of the mountain, a few yards beyond the house, where the spears 
 were kept. Here we laid down and went to sleep. About three 
 o clock in the morning one of our party awakened, and found that the 
 negro had left us. He immediately aroused the rest of the party, and 
 we concluded to go to the top of the mountain before light. Here we 
 remained for a few hours, and then passed over to the other side of 
 the mountain, where we waited till dark, and then crossed the valley 
 to the other range beyond." 
 
 The town was filled with militia forces, which guarded 
 every street and approach to the Ferry. There were 
 fifteen hundred men under arms. During the night, 
 Colonel Lee, with ninety United States marines, and 
 two pieces of artillery, arriving in the town, took pos 
 session of the Armory guard, in immediate proximity 
 to the engine house. 
 
 The scene in the town is thus described by a corre 
 spondent of the Frederick Herald, a Maryland pro- 
 slavery paper : 
 
 "The dead lay on the streets, and in the river, and were subjected 
 to every indignity that a wild and madly excited people could heap 
 upon them. 
 
 " Curses were freely uttered against them, and kicks and blows in 
 flicted upon them. The huge mulatto that shot Mr. Turner was lying 
 In the gutter in front of the Arsenal, with a terrible wound in his 
 neck, and though dead and gory, vengeance was unsatisfied, and 
 many, as they ran sticks into his wound, or beat him with them, wished 
 that he had a thousand lives, that all of them might be forfeited in ex 
 piation and avengement of the foul deed he had committed. 
 
 " Leeman lay upon a rock in the river, and was made a target for 
 the practice of those who had captured Sharpe s rifles in the fray. 
 Shot after shot was fired at him, and when tired of this sport, a man 
 waded out to where he lay, and set him up, in grotesque attitudes, and 
 finally pushed him off, and he floated down the stream. His body and 
 that of Thompson, which was also in the water, were subsequently 
 brought to shore, and were buried, as were ail of them, except a fev 
 which were taken by some of the physicians. It may be thought that 
 there was cruelty and barbarity in this ; but the state of the public 
 mind had been frenzied by the outrages of these men ; and being out 
 laws, were regarded as food for carrion birds, and not as human crea 
 tures." 
 
IX. 
 
 FALLEN AMONG THIEVES. 
 
 UP to the close of Monday evening, John Brown 
 had successfully maintained his position against 
 the united forces of Virginia and Maryland. With 
 his three surviving followers he was now prepared to 
 oppose the Nation ; and, knowing no fear but the failure 
 to do his duty, he prepared to resist her forces also. 
 
 Hemmed in by an overwhelming force, with the 
 knowledge that, when the morrow s sun should rise, 
 he must fall before its physical superiority, he never 
 once faltered in his resolution, or exhibited the slight 
 est sign of fear. During the live-long night, said one 
 of the hostages, the voice of Brown was heard contin 
 ually repeating, Are you awake, men ? Are you 
 ready ? " And Colonel Washington said that he 
 Brown was the coolest man he ever saw in defying 
 death and danger. With one son dead by his side, 
 and another shot through, he felt the pulse of his 
 dying sou with one hand, and held his rifle with tho 
 other, and commanded his men with the utmost com 
 posure, (encouraging them to be firm, and to sell their 
 
 (260) 
 
Fallen among Thieves. 261 
 
 lives as dearly as possible." * The old man, we are 
 told, spoke freely with Colonel "Washington, and re 
 ferred to his sons. He said he had lost one in Kansas, 
 and two here. He had not pressed them to join him 
 in the expedition, but did not regret their loss they 
 had died in a good cause. 
 
 At seven o clock the preparations for an assault 
 began. Watson Brown lay writhing in agony on the 
 ground, unable to assist in the defence ; but his un 
 daunted comrades stood fearless and ready to defend 
 their lives, arid resist the hireling bands of the oppressor. 
 
 The correspondent of a Baltimore paper thus de 
 scribes the closing scenes : 
 
 "Shortly after seven o clock, Lieutenant E. B. Stuart, of the 1st 
 Cavalry, who was acting as aid for Colonel Lee, advanced to parley 
 with the besieged, Samuel Strider, Esq., an old and respectable citi 
 zen, bearing a flag of truce. They were received at the door by Cap 
 tain Brown. Lieutenant Stuart demanded an unconditional surrender, 
 only promising them protection from immediate violence, and a trial 
 by law. Captain Brown refused all terms but those previously de 
 manded, which were substantially, " That they should be permitted to 
 march out with their men and arms, taking their prisoners with them ; 
 that they should proceed unpursued to the second toll-gate, when they 
 would free their prisoners; the soldiers would then be permitted to 
 pursue them, and they would fight if they could not escape." Of 
 course, this was refused, and Lieutenant Stuart pressed upon Brown 
 his desperate position, and urged a surrender. The expostulation, 
 though beyond earshot, was evidently very earnest. At this moment 
 the interest of the scene was most intense. The volunteers were 
 ranged all around the building, cutting off escape in every direction. 
 The marines, divided in two squads, were ready for a dash at the door. 
 
 "Finally, Lieutenant Stuart, having failed to arrange terms with the 
 determined Captain Brown, walked slowly from the door. 
 
 "Immediately the signal for attack w r as given, and the marines, 
 headed by Major Russell and Lieutenant Green, advanced in two lines 
 on each side of the door. Two powerful fellows sprung between the 
 lines, and with heavy sledge hammers attempted to batter down the 
 door. The door swung and swayed, but appeared to be secured with 
 a rope, the spring of which deadened the effect of the blows. Fail 
 ing thus, they took hold of a ladder, some forty feet long, and, ad 
 vancing at a run, brought it with tremendous effect against the door. 
 At the second blow it gave way, one leaf falling inward in a slanting 
 
 * Speech of Governor Wise, at Richmond, on his return from Harper s Ferry. 
 
262 Fallen among Thieves. 
 
 position. The marines immediately advanced to the breach, Majoi 
 Kussell and Lieutenant Green leading. A marine in front fell. The 
 firing from the interior was rapid and sharp. They fired with delib 
 erate aim, and for a moment the resistance was serious, and desperate 
 enough to excite the spectators to something like a pitch of frenzy. 
 The next moment the marines poured in, the firing ceased, and the 
 work was done. In the assault a private of the marines received a 
 ball in the stomach, and was believed to be fatally wounded. Another 
 received a slight flesh wound." 
 
 One of the Liberators fell dead Jerry Anderson 
 and only three shots were fired ; Brown, Coppoc, and 
 Green each discharging their rifles at the marines on 
 their first assault. 
 
 Before the entrance of the troops, the Liberators 
 ceased firing ; and, therefore, by all the rules of hon 
 orable warfare, should now have been sacredly pro 
 tected from violence. Offering no resistance, every 
 civilized people would have taken them prisoners of 
 war. But not so the assailants in Virginia. 
 
 Before the fight began, John Brown, according to 
 the testimony of Colonel Washington, urged his hos 
 tages to seek places of safety to keep themselves out 
 of harm s way ; while the crowd in the streets, judging 
 the Liberators by their own standard of humanity, sup 
 posed that they were killing them in cold blood. How 
 did the descendant of GEORGE WASHINGTON reciprocate 
 this consideration ? Let his friend and eulogist reply : 
 
 " Colonel Washington, who, through all these trying scenes, had 
 borne himself with an intrepid coolness that excited the admiration 
 of the brigand chief himself, now did important service. The moment 
 the marines entered, he sprang upon one of the engines, told his fel 
 low-prisoners to hold up their hands that they might be recognized as 
 non-combatants, and then rapidly pointed out the outlaws to the vengeance 
 of the soldiers. ... A soldier, seeing Colonel Washington in an 
 active and prominent position, mistook him for one of the outlaws, 
 levelled his piece, and put his finger on the trigger ; but, fortunately 
 remembering the caution in regard to the prisoners, he desi>tcd. 
 Shields Green, alias Emperor, a negro M. C. under the future Pro 
 visional Government, sneaked among the slave prisoners, hoping thus 
 to escape notice and detection ; but, perceived by Colonel Washington, 
 he was hauled forth to meet his doom." 
 
Fallen among Thieves. 263 
 
 Lieutenant Green, as soon as he saw John Brown, 
 although he was unarmed, (according to the testimony 
 of a Virginian,) struck him in the face with his sabre, 
 which instantly knocked him down. Not content with 
 this brutality, the Lieutenant repeated the blow sev 
 eral times, and then another soldier ran a bayonet 
 twice into the prostrate body of the old man.* 
 
 The scenes that followed this assault are so discred 
 itable to Virginia nay, to human riature that I 
 dare not trust myself to describe them ; but will con 
 tent myself with quoting the accounts of two ultra pro- 
 slavery journalists. This is the report of the Baltimore 
 American : 
 
 " "When the insurgents were brought out, some dead and others 
 wounded, they were greeted with execrations, and only the precautions 
 that had been taken saved them from immediate execution. The 
 crowd, nearly every man of which carried a gun, swayed with tumul 
 tuous excitement, and cries of * Shoot them ! shoot them ! rang from 
 every side. The appearance of the liberated prisoners, ali of whom, 
 through the steadiness of the marines, escaped injury, changed the 
 current of feeling, and prolonged cheers took the place of howls and 
 execrations. 
 
 " The lawn in front of the engine house, after the assault, presented 
 a dreadful sight. Lying on it were two bodies of men killed on the 
 previous day, and found inside the house ; three wounded men, one 
 of them just at the last gasp of life, [Anderson ;] and two others 
 groaning in pain. One of the $eact -was Brown s son Oliver. The 
 wounded father and his son Watson were lying on the grass, the old 
 man presenting a gory spectacle. He had a severe bayonet wound in 
 his side, and his face and hair were clotted with blood." 
 
 Porte-Crayon, a Virginia artist and author, and a 
 fiendish historian of the holy Invasion, thus writes of 
 the same infamous scene : 
 
 * In the trial of Copeland, the following dialogue occurred : 
 
 Mr. Sennott. You say that when Brown was down you struck him in the face with 
 J our sabre ? 
 
 Lieut. Green. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Se.nnntt. This was after he was dawn ? 
 
 Lieut. Green. Yes, sir, he was down. 
 
 Mr. Sf.nnM. IIow many times, Lieut. Green, did you strike Brown iu the face after 
 he was down? 
 
 Lieut. Green. Why. sir. he was defending himself with his gun. 
 
 Mr Hunter. I hope the counsel for the defence, will not press such questions as these. 
 
 Mr. Sennvtt. Very well, sir. 
 
264 Fallen among Thieves. 
 
 "The citizen captives, released from their long and trying v/onnnt- 
 ment, hurried out to meet their friends with every demonstration of 
 joy ; -while the bloody carcasses of the dead and dying outlaws were 
 dragged into the lawn amidst the howls and execrations of the people. 
 It was a hideous and ghastly spectacle. Some, stark and stiff, with 
 staring eyes and fallen jaws, were the dead of yesterday ; while others, 
 struck with death wounds, writhed and wallowed in their blood. 
 Two only were brought out unhurt, Coppoc, and Green the negro, 
 and they only escaped immediate death by accident, the soldiers not 
 at once distinguishing them from the captive citizens and slaves." 
 
 There is only one account of the conversation of 
 John Brown, as he lay wounded and bloody on the 
 lawn. It is thus narrated : 
 
 "A short time after Captain Brown was brought out, he revived, 
 and talked earnestly to those about him, defending his course, and 
 avowing that he had done only what was right. He replied to ques 
 tions substantially as follows : 
 
 "/< Are you Captain Brown, of Kansas ? 
 
 T I am sometimes called so. 
 
 " Are you Osawatomie Brown ? 
 A W* 1 tried to do my duty there. 1 " 
 
 j A These two replies are eminently characteristic so 
 
 / manly and so modest. He never himself assumed the 
 
 I /title of Captain, even in Kansas, where titles were as 
 
 | common as proper names. " I tried to do my duty 
 
 there," the sentence was a key to his whole life. 
 
 Neither honor nor glory^noved him ; the voice of duty 
 
 was the only one he h( 
 
 " What was your present 
 
 " To free the slaves from bondage. 
 
 " Were any other persons but those with you now connected with 
 the movement ? 
 
 " No. 
 
 " Did you expect aid from the North ? 
 
 " No; there was no one connected with the movement but those 
 who came with me. 
 
 " Did you expect to kill people in order to carry your point : 
 
 " I did not wish to do so, but you force us to it. 
 
 " Various questions of this kind were put to Captain Brown, which 
 he answered clearly and freely, with seeming anxiety to vindicate 
 himself. 
 
 He urged that he had the town at his mercy ; that he could have 
 burned it, and murdered the inhabitants, but did not ; he had treated 
 the prisoners with courtesy, and complained that he was hunted down 
 like a beast. He spoke of the killing of his son, which he alleged was 
 done while bearing a flag of truce, and seemed very anxious for the 
 safety of his wounded son. His conversation bore the impression of 
 
Fallen among Thieves. 265 
 
 the conviction that whatever he had done to free slaves was right, and 
 that in th" warfare in which he was engaged he was entitled to be 
 treated with all the respect of a prisoner of war. 
 
 "He seemed fully convinced that he was badly treated, and had a 
 right to complain. Although at first considered dying, an examina 
 tion of his wounds proved that they were not necessarily fatal. He 
 expressed a desire to live, and to be tried by his country. In his 
 pockets nearly three hundred dollars were found in gold. Several 
 important papers, found in his possession, were taken charge of by 
 Colonel Lee, on behalf of the government. To another, Brown said it 
 was no part of his purpose to seize the public arms. He had arms 
 and ammunition enough rcshipped from Kansas. He only intended 
 to make the first demonstration at this point, when he expected to 
 receive a rapid increase of the allies from Abolitionists every where 
 settled through Maryland and Virginia, sufficient to take posses 
 sion of both St^es, with all of the negroes they could capture. He 
 did not expect tu encounter the Federal troops. He had only a gen 
 eral idea as to his course ; it was to be a general south-west course 
 through Virginia, varying as circumstances dictated or required. Mr. 
 Washington reports that Brown was remarkably cool during the as 
 sault. He fell under two bayonet wounds one in the groin, and 
 one in the breast and four sabre cuts on the head. During the fight 
 he was supposed to be dead, or doubtless he would have been shot. 
 He was not touched by a ball. The prisoners also state that Browr. 
 was courteous to them, and did not ill-use them, and made no abolition 
 speech to them. Coppoc, one of the prisoners, said he did not want to 
 ioin the expedition, but added, Ah, you gentlemen don t know Cap 
 tain Brown ; when he calls for us we never think of refusing to come. " * 
 
 Captain Brown, after his pockets were rifled, was 
 carried, with his dying son, to the Guard House, and 
 Stevens was soon brought and laid down beside them 
 on the floor. No beds were provided for the prisoners. 
 Coppoc, the brave Iowa boy, thus described, in a letter 
 to their mother, the death of John Brown s sons, and the 
 accommodations provided for them by the Virginians : 
 
 " I was with your sons when they fell. Oliver lived but a very few 
 moments after he was shot. He spoke no word, but yielded calmly to 
 his fate. Watson was shot at ten o clock on Monday morning, and 
 died about three o clock on Wednesday morning. He suffered much. 
 Though mortally wounded at ten o clock, yet at three o clock Monday 
 afternoon he fought bravely against the men who charged on us. 
 When the enemy were repulsed, and the excitement of the charge was 
 over, he began to sink rapidly. After we were taken prisoners, he 
 was placed in the Guard House with me. He complained of the hard 
 ness of the bench on which he was lying. I begged hard for a bed for 
 him, or even a blanket, but could obtain none for him. I took off my 
 coat, and placed it under him, and held his head in my lap, in which 
 position he died, witnout a groan or struggle." 
 
 * These statements are unworthy of belief. 
 
 23 
 
x. 
 
 SPOILS OF WAR. 
 
 SOME time after the capture of the Liberators, a 
 negro, held in bondage by Colonel Washington, 
 reported that Captain Cook was in the mountains, only 
 three miles off. Scouting parties went out in search 
 of him, but all of them returned unsuccessful. From 
 this time until the day of John Brown s death, the whole 
 country around Harper s Ferry and Charlestown was 
 kept in a condition of perpetual alarm. Rumors of 
 invasion, and rescue, and murder letters written by 
 lovers of fun in the North, for the purpose of fright 
 ening the authorities " mysterious Roman lights 
 seen shooting up at night among the mountains " 
 and cows of bellicose propensities, who rebelliously re 
 fused to advance and give the countersign ; all aided to 
 exhibit the exceeding cowardice of Virginia, and how 
 dastardly a spirit her criminal institution has created 
 J among a people once brave and chivalrous^/ The inva- 
 " sion of John Brown, if it had done no more than achieve 
 this object, was an eminent success ; for, more effectu 
 ally than ever all the pens and tongues of eloquent 
 champions of Freedom had done, it tore away the veil 
 
 [386) 
 
Spoils of War. 267 
 
 of decency and courage which hitherto had hidden th 
 enoi-mities of Slavery. 1 
 
 All Virginia was in/ alarm. Her militia forces were 
 every where called out, and all business for the time 
 was suspended. They, who had boasted of the stability 
 of slave society, now acknowledged that its foundations 
 lay in fire, whose irruption they daily feared would 
 overwhelm them with ruin. 
 
 COMPLICITY OP SLAVES. 
 
 At Washington City the military force was increased, 
 and every precaution taken to keep the negroes down. 
 A telegraphic despatch from the Capital, on the 18th 
 the day when John Brown was captured thus por 
 trays their fears and the reason for them : 
 
 " It appears from intelligence received here to-day from various portions of Virginia 
 and Maryland, that a general stampede of slaves has taken place. There must have 
 been an understanding of some nature among them in reference to this affair, for in nu 
 merous instances so I am informed by the slaveholders since this insurrection they 
 have found it almost impossible to control them. The slaves were in many instances 
 insolent to their masters, and even refused to work. It is believed by the slaveholders, 
 since this insurrection, that the slaves -were aware of it, but were afraid to cooperate. 
 This view of the case is corroborated by Brown and other leaders." 
 
 Large numbers of negroes were also reported to huve 
 left the neighborhood of Hagerstown, Maryland, arid 
 Alexandria, Virginia. A reporter of a pro-slavery 
 paper gives additional information with respect to the 
 " complicity " of the slaves : 
 
 " The inhabitants are not by any means easy in their minds, as to the temper of the 
 slaves and free negroes among them. Col. Washington, who was one of Old Brown * 
 hostages, does not spend his nights at home, and we are assured that many olhei 
 wealthy slave owners, whose residences lie at a distance from those of their neighbors, 
 also regard it prudent to lodge elsewhere for the present; and yet the personal courage 
 of these gentlemen cannot be questioned. It has been ascertained, reports to the con 
 trary notwithstanding, that many negroes in the neighborhood, who had been tarn 
 pered with by Cook and others of Brown s gang, had at least cognizance of the plana 
 of the marauders, if they did not sympathize with them. On the night that Col 
 Washington was taken, a free negro, who has a wife on the Colonel s plantation, was 
 spending the night there, and although he might in half an hour have raised nr 
 alarm at Charlestown, only two or three miles distant, he refrained from doing so, 
 
 Jf 
 
268 Spoils of War. 
 
 and the first news of the affair was brought to that village by citizens of Harper s 
 Ferry the next clay. There is no doubt that Washington s negro coachman Jim, whc 
 was chased into the river by citizens and drowned, had joined the rebels with a good 
 will. A pistol was found on him, and he had his pockets filled with ball cartridges 
 when he was fished out of the river. On Sunday evening, before the attack, a gentle 
 man on the way to Harper s Ferry was stopped in a lonely place, three or four miles 
 distant, by a white man, carrying a rifle, and two negroes, armed with axes, who told 
 him there was something going on at Harper s Ferry, and he must turn back. He did 
 so, and the men remained standing there until he was out of sight. Who these parties 
 were, or what their connection with Brown s party, is still a mystery. It is certain 
 that Brown s party was considerably larger when the attack was made than he hat 
 acknowledged, or was at first supposed. There must have been at least thirty men." 
 
 The Richmond Examiner found yet another trace of 
 slave " conspiracy." It says : 
 
 "We are informed by a highly respectable gentleman of this city that he saw, yes 
 terday morning, a letter which Mr. Samuel Gordon took from his negro, which was 
 addressed to a negro from Baltimore, saying that he (the recipient of the letter) was 
 expected in Baltimore by the 13th of this month, that a post had been assigned him, 
 and that he was expected to be there by that time. The letter concluded in these 
 words : And you know what will happen next day. " 
 
 These few and faint indications of sympathy among 
 the slaves struck terror to the hearts of the Virginians. 
 What would they have done, had they known the ter 
 rible facts that now lie buried with the corpse of John 
 Brown ? Not buried eternally, however ; for they will 
 rise again with the slaves. 
 
 CAPTURE OF THE ARMS. 
 
 The Independent Grays of Baltimore, who went out 
 in search of Cook, for the Virginians did not dare to 
 venture beyond the parade ground, returned in two 
 hours with the arms and ammunition found in the school 
 house. The brave exploit by which they captured these 
 arms, which was the most courageous action of the 
 sober militia forces, for the company of the editor, Al- 
 bertus, by their own confession, were intoxicated when 
 they charged on the Armory buildings, is thus de 
 scribed by a native historian, worthy of the heroes 
 whose vaor he ex f .ol^ : 
 
Spoils of War. 
 
 269 
 
 FEARFUL CHARGE ON AN ARMED LOG CABIN. 
 
 "The gallant Gra3 S proceeded at double-quick time, along a constantly ascending 
 and rocky road, to execute the order. About a mile from tlie Ferry, they arrived 
 within sight of the school house, a cabin situated in a gloomy hollow, and, apparently, 
 closely barricaded. Halting for a few moments, the Grays formed into platoons, under 
 .he respective commands of Lieuts. Simpson and Kerchner, and, at a given signal, dash 
 ing down the declivity of the road, and with the butt-ends of their muskets, battered 
 in the doors and windows, through which they entered. The cabin was entirely 
 empty of occupants. Against the front door were piled sixteen long and heavy boxes, 
 one of which, upon being burst open, was found to contain ten newly-finished Sharpe s 
 breech-loading rifles, evidently fresh from the hands of their maker. There was also 
 discovered one large square box, exceedingly heavy, which was suffered to remain un 
 opened : a largo and heavy black trunk, a box filled with bayonets and sabres, and 
 (several boxes of rifle cartridges and ammunition. There were in all twenty-one boxes, 
 several of which were filled with Maynard s large-sized patent revolvers, with powder 
 flasks accompanying. The room was littered with Sharpe s rifles, revolvers, and pikes, 
 evidently distributed with a view to their immediate use, either for the purpose of 
 defence or an aggressive action. After satisfying themselves that the traitors had 
 fled, the gallant Grays proceeded to possess themselves each man of a rifle and a 
 pair of revolvers, the remainder being placed, together with a large number of pikes, 
 &c., upon a large new wagon, (purchased a few days before, by Smith, or Capt. Brown, 
 as he is now known.) to which the captors harnessed a pair of fine horses they caught 
 grazing in the enclosure, and conveyed their valuable prize into town, where they 
 were received with loud cheers by the citizens and military. 
 
 " The captured boxes were placed for safe keeping in the Arsenal of the United 
 States, though the Grays asserted an exclusive right to their possession, as the lawful 
 prize of the captors." 
 
 The stores found in this cabin, are thus classified : 
 
 102 Sharpe s Rifles. 
 12 Mass. Arms Company s Pistols. 
 56 " " " Powder 
 
 4 Large Powder Flasks. [Flasks. 
 10 Kegs Gunpowder. 
 23,000 Percussion Rifle Caps. 
 100,000 Percussion Pistol Caps 
 13,000 Sharpe s Rifle Cartridges, slightly 
 
 damaged by water. 
 160 Sharpe s Primers. 
 14 Ibs. Lead Balls. 
 1 Old Percussion Pistol. 
 1 Major General s Sword. 
 55 Old Bayonets. 
 ]2 Old Artillery Swords. 
 483 Pikes. 
 
 150 Broken Handles for Pikes. 
 16 Picks. 
 40 Shovels. 
 
 [The railroad way bill called for several 
 dozen, showing that more were to come.] 
 1 Tin Powder Case, 
 1 Sack Coat. 
 1 Pair Cloth Pants. 
 
 1 Pair Linen Pants. 
 
 Canvas for Tent. 
 1 Old Porte-monuaie. 
 625 Envelopes. 
 
 1 Pocket Map of Kentucky. 
 
 1 Pocket Map of Delaware. 
 3 Gross Steel Pens. 
 
 5 Inkstands. 
 21 Lead Pencils. 
 34 Pen Holders. 
 
 2 Boxes Wafers. 
 
 47 Small Blank Books. 
 
 2 Papers Pins. 
 
 5 Pocket Small Tooth Combs.* 
 
 1 Ball Hemp Twine. 
 
 1 Ball Cotton Twine. 
 50 Leather Water Caps. 
 
 1 Emery. 
 
 2 Yards Cotton Flannel. 
 
 1 Roll Sticking Plaster for Wounds 
 12 Reams Cartridge Paper. 
 
 2 Bottles Medicine. 
 1 Large Trunk. 
 
 1 Horse Wagon. 
 
 The discovery of these " deadly " implements of domestic warfare, it has been argued, proved 
 incontestably the intention of the Liberators to make war upon the " peculiar institutions " of 
 Virginia. 
 
 23* 
 
2jo Spoils of War. 
 
 JOHN BROWN S CARPET BAG. 
 
 The next military movement must also be described 
 in the glowing language of the friends of the fearless 
 heroes who executed it : 
 
 "The excitement attending this clever exploit [the charge on the deserted school 
 house] had scarcely subsided, when another alarm, was given, that the notorious insur 
 gent leader, Cook, had a few minutes beiore been seen upon the mountains on the 
 Maryland shore. A scouting party, consisting of several members of the Grays, (the 
 ouly foreign corps in the town, quite or nearly all of those present in the forenoon hav 
 ing left for their homes,) some score or more of volunteers, and about twenty United 
 States marines, under command of Capt. J. E. B. Stewart, was instantly formed, and 
 proceeded rapidly in pursuit. Following the same path which the Grays had pursued 
 in making their discoveries, and which is known as the County Road, leading into 
 the heart of "Washington Co., Md., the party continued their course for a distance of 4% 
 miles from the Ferry, until they reached the farm and house bought and occupied by 
 Brown, under the name of John Smith. The dwelling a log house, containing two 
 unpaved basement rooms, used apparently for storage, and in which were several empty 
 gun boxes ; two rooms and a pantry upon the second floor ; and one large attic room in 
 which were six husk mattresses was discovered to be unoccupied, save by a huge 
 pavage-looking mastiff, tied with a rope to the railing of a small piazza outside the 
 house ; but there was abundant evidence of its recent hurried vacation. The floors of 
 all the rooms were littered with books, papers, documents, and wearing apparel of sev 
 eral persons, hastily snatched from eight or ten trunks and an equal number of valises 
 and coarse carpet bags strewn around, the fastenings of all of which had been forcibly 
 broken, as if their violators were too much pressed for time to adopt the tardier method 
 of entrance by looking up keys. In the pantry, which appeared to have been used for 
 kitchen purposes, besides an almost new cooking stove, and an abundance of tin uten 
 sils, were two barrels of flour, a large quantity of sausage meat and cured hams, to 
 gether with several pounds of butter, lard, &c. The fire was yet smouldering in the 
 stove, and the water in the boilers was quite hot at the time of the entrance. But tho 
 most valuable discovery was a trunk belonging to Captain Erown, containing a great 
 number of highly important papers, documents, plans, and letters from private indi 
 viduals throughout the Union all revealing the existence of an extensive and thor 
 oughly organized conspiracy. 
 
 "The telegraphic account of this clever exploit stated that they found a large 
 quantity of blankets, boots, shoes, clothes, tents, and 1500 pikes with large blades 
 affixed. They also discovered a carpet bag, containing documents throwing much 
 light on the affair, printed constitutions and by-laws of an organization showing or 
 indicating ramifications in various States of the Union. " 
 
 In this carpet bag were found various unimportant 
 notes, from prominent persons in different States ; let 
 ters to "J.Henrie," meaning Kagi; and "Friend Isaac," 
 meaning- Captain Brown referring chiefly to the old 
 man s Kansas work ; brief entries, in journals, of sub 
 scriptions received, and journeys made, and hardships 
 endured in Iowa, the Eastern States, and Canada ; 
 
Spoils of War. 271 
 
 copies of the Constitution, and of books of military 
 tactics, with numerous receipts and bills for stock and 
 provisions purchased for the war of liberation. 
 
 In the mean time, now that the fight was over, the 
 valiant Virginians flocked to Harper s Ferry. Gov 
 ernor Wise came down by the midday train, and, after 
 ridiculing the people, visited the prisoners. The in 
 terview lasted several hours. None but the bitterest 
 enemies of the Liberators were present during this con 
 fronting of the representatives of the North and South. 
 The most graphic narrative is written by a Virginia 
 artist, who stands high in the estimation of her people, 
 and is regarded as a true representative of her chivalry. 
 The character of her gentry, therefore, may be judged 
 from the spirit of his description : 
 
 "The midday train of Tuesday brought Governor Wise, accompanied by several hun 
 dred men from Richmond, Alexandria, Baltimore, and elsewhere. There was real dis 
 appointment to find that the fight was all over, and when the Governor was informed 
 of the mere handful of men who had created all this bobbery, he boiled over. In his 
 wrath he said some good things. Indeed it was universally seen and felt that Gov 
 eruor Wiss was just the man for such an occasion. 
 
 " Accompanied by Andrew Hunter, Esq., a distinguished lawyer of Jefferson County, 
 the Governor presently repaired to the guard room where the two wounded prisoners 
 lay, and there had a protracted and interesting conversation with the chief of T;he out 
 laws. It had more the character of a conversation than a legal examination, for the 
 Governor treated the wounded man with a stately courtesy that evidently surprised 
 and affected him. Brown was lying upon the floor with his feet to the fire and his 
 head propped upon pillows on the back of a chair. Ilis hair was a mass of clotted gore, 
 so that I could not distinguish the original color; his eye a pale blue or gray, nose 
 Roman, and beard, originally sandy, was white" and blood-stained. His speech was fre 
 quently interrupted by deep groans, not awakening sympathy like those of the young 
 soldier dying in the adjacent office, but reminding one of the agonized growl of a fero 
 cious beast. 
 
 " A few feet from the leader lay Stevens, a fine-looking fellow, quiet, net ir pain 
 apparently, and conversing in a voice as full and natural as if he were unhurt I low 
 ever, his hands lay folded upon his breast in a child-like, helpless way a position tha 
 I observed was assumed by all those who had died or were dying of their wounds 
 Only those who were shot stone dead lay as they fell. 
 
 " Brown was frank and communicative, answering all questions without reserve, ex 
 cept such as might implicate his immediate associates not yut killed or taken. I append 
 some extracts from notes taken during the conversation by Mr. Hunter : 
 
 li Brown avers that the small pamphlet, many copies of which w-iv found on the 
 persons of the slain, and entitled "Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the 
 People of the United Stakes," was prepared principally by himself, and adopted at a 
 
272 Spoils of War. 
 
 convention of Abolitionists held about two years ago at Chatham, Canada West, where 
 it was printed. That under its provisions he was appointed <; Commander-in-Chief." 
 His two sons and Stevens were each captains, and Coppoc a lieutenant. They each 
 had their commissions, issued by himself. 
 
 He avers that the whole number operating under this organization was but twenty- 
 two, each of whom had taken the oath required by Article XLVIII. ; but he confi 
 dently expected large reinforcements from Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, North and 
 South Carolina, and several other Slave States, besides the Free States taking; it for 
 granted that it was only necessary to seize the public arms and place them ia the hands 
 of the negroes and non-slaveholders to recruit his forces indefinitely. In this calcula 
 tion he reluctantly and indirectly admitted that he had been entirely disappointed. 
 
 " Concluding that the prisoner must be seriously weakened by his vigils and his 
 wounds, the Governor ordered some refreshment to be given him, and appointing a 
 meeting on the following day, took his leave. As some of us lingered, the old man 
 recurred again to his sons, of whom he had spoken several times, asking if we were 
 sure they were both dead. He was assured that it was so. 
 
 " How many bodies did you take from the engine house ? he asked. 
 
 " He was told three. 
 
 " Then, said he, quickly, they are not both dead; there were three dead bodies 
 there last night. Gentlemen, my son is doubtless living and in your power. I wilt 
 ask for him what I would not ask for myself; let him have kind treatment, for he is 
 as pure and noble-hearted a youth as ever breathed the breath of life. 
 
 " There was some show of human feeling in the old felon at last, but his prayer wa* 
 vafci. Both his boys lay stark and bloody by the Armory wall. 
 
 "I had observed Stevens holding a small packet in his folded hands, and feeling 
 some curiosity in regard to it, it was handed to me. It contained miniatures of his 
 sisters ; one, a sweet girlish face of about fourteen, the other more mature, but pretty. 
 What strange reflections these incidents awakened! This old man craves a boon for hi3 
 noble boys which neither pain nor death can bring him to ask for himself. The other 
 clasps to his dying breast a remembrance of his gentle sisters and his father s elm-shaded 
 cottage far away in peaceful Connecticut. Is this pity that thus dims my eyes? a 
 rising sympathy that struggles in my heart? Away with puling weakness. Has not 
 this hoary villain, that prates about his. sons, been for months a deliberate plotter 
 against the lives and happiness of thousands? Did he not train these very boys to aid 
 him in his attempt to waste, with fire and sword, the fairest land under the cope of 
 heaven? And this bloody dupe his follower how many men s sisters did he pro 
 pose to murder? how many social hearths to quench in blood? For what use were 
 those hundreds of deadly rifles, those loads of pikes, those bundles of incendiary 
 fagots ? A felon s death! Almighty Providence! is man indeed so weak that he can 
 inflict no more ? " 
 
 The man whom God had anointed, and the man 
 whom the people had appointed both were too con 
 scious of their earthly position, as they stood in the 
 guard house of Harper s Ferry, to feel that either 
 could do the other a favor. The assertion that John 
 Brown was affected by the conduct of Governor Wise, 
 is one that none but an unheroic pen could make. 
 Coarse brutality and stately courtesy were alike indif- 
 
Spoils of War. 273 
 
 ferent to the venerable warrior. Conscious of having 
 tried to do his duty, he serenely awaited his preap- 
 pointed fate. What was it to him that he would be 
 brutally accused of having sought to lay " waste, with 
 fire and sword, the fairest land under the cope of 
 Heaven ? " of having proposed to murder innocent 
 women, or having conspired against the lives and hap 
 piness of thousands ? Knowing that he had obeyed the 
 Divine behest only by listening to the poor that cried ; 
 that he had done unto others as he would have desired 
 that others should have done unto him ; he was neither 
 to be awed into fear, nor softened into gratitude, to the 
 enemies of his God : and thus he aroused, by the modest 
 manliness of his demeanor, the astonishment almost 
 the veneration of the able but distorted intellect who 
 stood beside him. When Governor Wise, on his return 
 to Richmond, appeared before the people, he thus spoke 
 of the wounded Liberator : 
 
 " They are themselves mistaken who take him to be a madman. He is a bundle 
 of the best nerves I ever saw, cut and thrust, and bleeding and in bonds. He is a 
 man of clear head, of courage, fortitude, and simple ingenuousness. He is cool, col 
 lected, and indomitable, and it is but just to him to say, that he was humane- to his 
 prisoners, as attested to me by Col. Washington and Mr. Mills, and he inspired ma 
 with great trust in his integrity, as a man of truth. He is a fanatic, vain and garru 
 lous, but firm, and truthful, and intelligent. His men, too, who survive, except the 
 free negroes with him, are like him. He professes to be a Christian, in communion 
 with the Congregationalist Church of the North, and openly preaches his purpose of 
 universal emancipation : and the negroes themselves were to be the agents, by means 
 of arms, led on by white commanders. When Col. Washington was taken, his watch, 
 and plate, and jewels, and money were demanded, to create what they call a safety 
 fund, to compensate the liberators for the trouble and expense of taking away his 
 slaves. This, by a law, was to be done with all slaveholders. Washington, of course- 
 refused to deliver up any thing; and it is remarkable, that the only thing of material 
 value which they took, besides his slaves, was the sword of Frederick the Great, which 
 was sent to General "Washington. This was taken by Stevens to Brown, and the lattoi 
 commanded his men with that sword in this fight against the peace and safety o: 
 Washington s native State ! He promised Col. Washington to return it to him when 
 he was done with it. And Col. Washington says that he, Brown, was the coolest and 
 firmest man he ever saw in defying danger and death. With one son dead by his side, 
 and another shot through, he felt the pulse of his dying son with one hand and held 
 his rifle with the other, and commanded his men with the utmost composure, encour 
 aging them to be firm, and to sell their lives as dearly as th^y could." 
 
XL 
 
 THE POLITICAL INQUISITORS. 
 
 AS soon as it was known that John Brown was not 
 dead, and that three of his followers had been 
 safely protected from the fury of the populace, four 
 political inquisitors hastened down to see him ; to 
 extort, if possible, from the lips of the dying chief, or 
 the fears or hopes of the younger captives, confessions 
 that might criminally implicate the champions or friends 
 of the Republican party. From the South came Gov 
 ernor Wise and Senator Mason of Virginia ; from the 
 North, a United States Marshal named Johnson, and 
 Mr. Vallandigham, a member of Congress from Ohio. 
 
 The result of these visits was one of John Brown s 
 greatest victories. From the three published reports 
 of it, carefully compared and corrected, we give the 
 conversation that ensued between the wounded insur 
 rectionists and their cowardly political inquisitors. 
 
 Never before, in the United States, did a recorded 
 conversation produce so sudden and universal a change 
 of opinion. Before its publication, some, who subse 
 quently eulogized John Brown, with fervor and snr- 
 
 (274) 
 
The Political Inquifitors. 275 
 
 passing eloquence, as well as the great body of the press 
 and people who knew not the man, lamented that he 
 should have gone insane, never doubting that he was 
 a maniac ; while, after it, from every corner of tho 
 land came words of wonder, of praise rising to worship, 
 and of gratitude mingling with sincerest prayers for 
 the noble old hero. Enemies and friends were equally 
 amazed at the carriage and sayings of the wounded 
 warrior. " During his conversation," wrote a Southern 
 pro-slavery reporter to a Southern pro-slavery paper, 
 " no signs of weakness were exhibited. In the midst 
 of enemies whose home he had invaded ; wounded and 
 a prisoner ; surrounded by a small army of officials and 
 a more desperate army of angry men ; with the gallows 
 staring him full in the face, Brown lay on the floor, 
 and, in reply to every question gave answers that 
 betokened the spirit that animated him. The language 
 of Governor Wise well expresses his boldness when he 
 said : c He is the gamest man I ever saw. I believe 
 the worthy Executive had hardly expected to cee a 
 man so act in such a trying moment." 
 
 " Such a word as insane" said an eloquent speaker, 
 unconsciously uttering the opinion of the people of the 
 North, " is a mere trope with those who persist in using 
 it ; and I have no doubt that many of them, in silence, 
 have already retracted their words. Read his admirable 
 answers to Mason and others. How they are dwarfed 
 and defeated by the contrast ! On the one side, half- 
 brutish, half-timid questioning; on the other, Truth, 
 clear as lightning, crashing into their obscene temples. 
 They are made to stand as Pilate or Gesler and the 
 Inquisition. Probably all the speeches of all the men 
 
276 The Political Inquifitors. 
 
 whom Massachusetts has sent to Congress for the last 
 few years do not match, for manly directness and force, 
 and for simple truth, the few casual remarks of John 
 Brown on the floor of the Harper s Ferry engine house 
 that man whom you are about to send to the other 
 world ; though not to represent you there. He is too 
 fair a specimen of a man to represent -the like of us. 
 Who, then, were his constituents ? Read his words, 
 understandingly, and you will find out. In his case 
 there is no idle eloquence. Truth is the inspirer and 
 earnestness the polisher of his sentences. He could 
 afford the loss of his Sharpe s rifles while he retained 
 the faculty of speech a rifle of far straighter sight 
 and longer range." 
 
 It is seldom that men of views so opposite meet 
 together, either in the events themselves, or in their 
 subsequent views of those events, as met at Harper s 
 Ferry, when Captain John Brown and Senator Mason 
 the abolitionist and the ex-traditionist the slave 
 liberator in virtue of the higher law, and the slave- 
 holding author of the fugitive slave law gazed at 
 each other face to face ; or when the Baltimore Ameri 
 can and the hermit of Concord united to do honor to 
 the venerable invader of Virginia ! The reader will 
 notice, also, how the two earnest men respected each 
 other ; how Mason, the " fanatic," unlike his compro 
 mising compeer, was courteous to the old man fearless 
 and almost reverential in his questionings. 
 
 THE CONVERSATION. 
 
 Senator Mason. Can you tell us, at least, who furnished money for 
 your expedition ? 
 
 Capt. Brown. I furnished most of it myself. I cannot implicate 
 others. It is by my own folly that I have been taken. I could easily 
 
The Political Inquifitors. 277 
 
 have saved myself from it if I had exercised my own better judgment, 
 rather than yielded to my feelings. I should have gone away, but 
 I had thirty odd prisoners, whose wives and daughters were in tears 
 for their safety, and I felt for th6%i. Besides, I wanted to allay the 
 fears of those who believed we came here to burn and kill. For this 
 reason I allowed the train to pass the bridge, and gave them full lib 
 erty to pass on. I did it only to spare the feelings of those passengers 
 and their families, and to allay the apprehension that you had got here 
 in your vicinity a band of men who had no regard for life and prop 
 erty, nor any feeling of humanity. 
 
 Senator M. But you killed some people passing along the streets 
 quietly. 
 
 Capt. B. Well, sir, if there was any thing of that kind done, it was 
 without my knowledge. Your own citizens, who were my prisoners, 
 will tell you that every possible means were taken to prevent it. I did 
 not allow my men to fire, nor even to return a fire, when there was 
 danger of killing those we regarded as innocent persons, if I could 
 help it. They will tell you that we allowed ourselves to be fired at 
 repeatedly, and did not return it. 
 
 A Bystander. That is not so. You killed an unarmed man at the 
 corner of the house, over there, (at the water tank,) and another 
 besides. 
 
 Capt. B. See here, my friend ; it is useless to dispute or contradict 
 the report of your own neighbors, who were my prisoners. 
 
 Senator M. If you would tell us who sent you here, who pro 
 vided the means, that would be information of some value. 
 
 Capt. B. I will answer freely and faithfully about what concerns 
 myself I will answer anything I can with honor, but not about 
 others. 
 
 Mr. Vallandingham, (member of Congress from Ohio, who had just 
 entered.) Mr. Brown, who sent you here ? 
 
 Capt. B. No man sent me here ; it was my own prompting and that 
 of my Maker, or that of the devil whichever you please to ascribe it to. 
 ] acknowledge no master in human form. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you get up the expedition yourself ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you get up this document called a constitution ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did. They are a constitution and ordinances of my own 
 contriving and getting up. 
 
 Mr. V. How long have you been engaged in this business ? 
 
 Capt. B. From the breaking out of the difficulties in Kansas. Four 
 of my sons had gone there to settle, and they induced me to go. I did 
 not go there to settle, but. because of the difficulties. 
 
 24 
 
2y8 The Political Inquifttors. 
 
 Senator M. How many are engaged in this movement ? I ask 
 these questions for your own safety. 
 
 Capt. B. Any questions that I can honorably answer, I will ; not 
 otherwise. So far as I am myself* concerned, I have told every thing 
 truthfully. I value my word, sir. 
 
 Senator M. What was your object in coming ? 
 
 Capt. B. We came to free the slaves, and only that. 
 
 A Young Man, (in the uniform of a volunteer company.) How 
 many men in all had you ? 
 
 Capt. B. I came to Virginia with eighteen men besides myself. 
 
 Volunteer. What in the world did you suppose you could do here 
 in Virginia with that amount of men ? 
 
 Capt. B. Young man, I don t wish to discuss that question here. 
 
 Volunteer. You could not do any thing. 
 
 Capt. B. Well, perhaps your ideas and mine, on military subjects, 
 would differ materially. 
 
 Senator M. How do you justify your acts ? 
 
 Capt. B. I think, my friend, you are guilty of a great wrong against 
 God and humanity I say it without wishing to be offensive 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 do not say 
 this insultingly. 
 
 Senator M. I understand that. 
 
 Capt. B. I think I did right, and that others will do right who in 
 terfere with you, at any time, and all times. I hold that the golden 
 rule "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto 
 you " applies to all who would help others to gain their liberty. 
 
 Lieutenant Stuart. But you don t believe in the Bible ? 
 
 Capt. B. Certainly I do. 
 
 Mr. V. Where did your men come from ? Did some of them come 
 from Ohio ? 
 
 Capt. B. Some of them. 
 
 Mr. V. From the Western Reserve, of course ! None came from. 
 Southern Ohio ? 
 
 Capt. B. O, yes. I believe one came from Steubenville, -down not 
 far from Wheeling. 
 
 Mr. V. Have you been in Ohio this summer ? 
 
 Capt. B. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. V. How lately ? 
 
 Capt. B. I passed through to Pittsburg on my way, in June. 
 
 Mr. V. Were you at any county or state fair there ? 
 
 Capt. B. I was not there since June. 
 
 Senator M. Did you consider this a military organization in this 
 
The Political Inquiiitors. 279 
 
 paper ? (Showing a copy of John Brown s constitution and ordinance.) 
 I have not yet read it. 
 
 Capt. B. I did in some measure. I wish you would give that 
 paper your close attention. 
 
 Senator M. You considered yourself the commander-in-chief of 
 mis provisional military force ? 
 
 Capt. B. I was chosen, agreeably to the ordinance of a certain doc 
 ument, commander-in-chief of that force. 
 
 Senator M. "What wages did you offer ? 
 
 Capt. B. None. 
 
 Lieut. S. "The wages of sin is death." 
 
 Capt. B. I would not have made such a remark to you, if you had 
 been a prisoner and wounded, in my hands. 
 
 Bystander. Did you not promise a negro in Gettysburg twenty 
 dollars a month ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did not. 
 
 Bystander. He says you did. 
 
 Mr. V. Were you ever in Dayton, Ohio ? 
 
 Capt. B. Yes, I must have been. 
 
 Mr. V. This summer ? 
 
 Capt. B. No ; a year or two since. 
 
 Senator M. Does this talking annoy you at all ? 
 
 Capt. B. Not in the least. 
 
 Mr. V. Have you lived long in Ohio ? 
 
 Capt. B. I went there in 1805. I lived in Summit County, which 
 was then Trumbull County. My native place is York State. 
 
 Mr. V. Do you recollect a man in Ohio named Brown, a noted 
 counterfeiter ? 
 
 Capt. B. I do. I knew him from a boy. His father was Henry 
 Brown, of Irish or Scotch descent. The family was very low. 
 
 Mr. V. Have you ever been in Portage County ? 
 
 Capt. B. I was there in June last. 
 
 Mr. V. When in Cleveland, did you attend the Fugitive Slave- Law 
 Convention there ? 
 
 Capt. B. No. I was there about the time of the sitting of the 
 court to try the Oberlin rescuers. I spoke there, publicly, on that 
 subject. I spoke on the fugitive slave law, and my own rescue. Of 
 course, so far as I had any influence at all, I was disposed to justify 
 the Oberlin people for rescuing the slave, because I have myself forci 
 bly taken slaves from bondage. I was concerned in taking eleven 
 slaves from Missouri to Canada, last winter. I think that I spoke in 
 Cleveland before the Convention. I do not know that I had any con 
 versation with any of the Oberlin rescuers. I was sick part of *he 
 
280 The Political Inquifitors. 
 
 time I was in Ohio. I had the ague. I was part of the <ime in Ash- 
 tabula county. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you see any thing of Joshua R. Giddings there ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did meet him. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you converse with him ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did. I would not tell you, of course, any thing that 
 would implicate Mr. Giddings ; but I certainly met with him, and had 
 a conversation with him. 
 
 Mr. V. About that rescue case ? 
 
 Capt. B. Yes, I did. I heard him express his opinion upon it very 
 freely and frankly. 
 
 Mr. V. Justifying it ? 
 
 Capt. B. Yes, sir. I do not compromise him, certainly, in saying 
 that. 
 
 A Bystander. Did you go out to Kansas under the auspices of the 
 Emigrant Aid Society ? 
 
 Capt. B. No, sir ; I went out under the auspices of John Brown, 
 and nobody else. 
 
 Mr. V. "Will you answer this r Did you talk to Giddings about 
 your expedition here ? 
 
 Capt. B. No, sir ! I won t answer that, because a denial of it 
 I would not make ; and to make an affidavit of it, I should be a great 
 dunce. 
 
 j/r. Y. Have you had any correspondence with parties at the North 
 on the subject of this movement ? 
 
 Capt. B. I have had no correspondence.* 
 
 Bystander. Do you consider this a religious movement ? 
 
 Capt. B. It is, in my opinion, the greatest service a man can render 
 to his God. 
 
 Bystander. Do you consider yourself an instrument in the hands 
 of Providence ? 
 
 Capt. B. I do. 
 
 Bystander. Upon what principle do you justify your acts ? 
 
 Capt. B. Upon the golden rule. I pity the poor in bondage that 
 have none to help them. That is why I am here ; it is not to gratify 
 any personal animosity, or feeling of revenge, or vindictive spirit. It 
 3 my sympathy with the oppressed and the wronged, that are as good 
 as you, and as precious in the sight of God. 
 
 Bystander. Certainly. But why take the slaves against their will ? 
 
 Capt. B. I never did. 
 
 Bystander. You did in one instance, at least. 
 
 Stevens. (To the inquirer, interrupting Brown.) You are right, 
 sir ; in one case (a groan from the wounded man") in one case, I 
 
 * One report reads thus : the other oraits the word " no." 
 
The Political Inquifitors. 281 
 
 know the negro wanted to go back. (To Brown.) Captain, the 
 gentleman is right. 
 
 Bystander. (To Stevens.) Where did you come from ? 
 
 Stevens. I lived in Ashtabula County, Ohio. 
 
 Mr. B. How recently did you leave Ashtabula County ? 
 
 Stevens. Some months ago. I never resided there any length of 
 time. I have often been through there. 
 
 Mr. V. How far did you live from Jefferson ? 
 
 Capt. B. (To Stevens.) 13e very cautious, Stevens, about an an 
 swer to that ; it might commit some friend. I would not answer it 
 at all. 
 
 Stevens, who had been groaning considerably, as if the exer 
 tion necessary to conversation seriously affected him, seemed content 
 to abide by the captain s advice. He turned partially over, with a 
 groan of pain, and was silent. 
 
 Mr. V. (To Capt. Brown.) Who are your advisers in this move 
 ment? 
 
 Capt. B. I cannot answer that. I have numerous sympathizers 
 throughout the entire North. 
 
 Mr. V. In Northern Ohio ? 
 
 Capt. B. No more there than any where else in all the Free States. 
 
 Mr. V. But are you not personally acquainted in Southern Ohio ? 
 
 Capt. B. Not very much. 
 
 Mr. V. (To Stevens.) Were you at the convention last June ? 
 
 Stevens. I was. 
 
 Mr. V. (To Capt. Brown.) , You made a speech there ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did, sir. 
 
 Bystander. Did you ever live in Washington city ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did not. I want you to understand, gentlemen, that 3 
 respect the rights of the poorest and weakest of the 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 the satisfaction of endeavoring 
 to do for those in distress the 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. 
 
 Bystander. Why did you do it secretly ? 
 
 Capt. B. Because I thought that necessary to success, and for no 
 other reason. 
 
 Bystander. And you think that honorable, do you ? Have you 
 read Gerrit Smith s, last letter ? 
 
 Capt. B. What letter do you mean ? 
 
 Bystander. The New York Herald of yesterday, in speaking of this 
 
 24* 
 
282 The Political Inquifitors. 
 
 affair, mentions a letter in which he says, " that it is folly to attempt 
 to strike the shackles off the slave by the force of moral suasion or 
 legal agitation," and predicts that the next movement made in the 
 direction of negro emancipation will be an insurrection in the South. 
 
 Capt. B. I have not seen a New York Herald for some days past ; 
 but I presume, from your remarks about the gist of the letter, that I 
 should concur with it. I agree with Mr. Smith, that moral suasion is 
 hopeless. I don t think the people of the Slave States will ever con 
 sider the subject of slavery in its true light until some other argument 
 is resorted to than moral suasion. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you expect a general rising of the slaves in case of 
 your success ? 
 
 Capt. B. No, sir ; nor did I wish it. I expected to gather strength 
 from time to time ; then I could set them free. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you expect to hold possession here till then ? 
 
 Capt. B. Well, probably I had quite a different idea. I do not 
 know that I ought to reveal my plans. I am here a prisoner, and 
 wounded, because I foolishly allowed myself to be so. You overrate 
 your strength when you suppose I could have been taken if I had not 
 allowed it. I was too tardy, after commencing the open attack, in de 
 laying my movements through Monday night, and up to the time I was 
 attacked by the government troops. It was all occasioned by my de 
 sire to spare the feelings of my prisoners and their families, and the 
 community at large. 
 
 Mr. V. Did you not shoot a negro on the bridge, or did not some 
 of your party ? 
 
 Capt. B. I knew nothing of the shooting of the negro, (Hey- 
 wood.) 
 
 Mr. V. What time did you commence your organization over in 
 Canada ? 
 
 Capt. B. It occurred about two years ago. If I remember right, 
 it was, I think, in 1858. 
 
 Mr. V. Who was the secretary ? 
 
 Capt. B. That I would not tell if I recollected ; but I do not re 
 member. I think the officers were elected in May, 1858. I may 
 answer incorrectly, but not intentionally. My head is a little confused 
 by wounds, and my memory of dates and such like is somewhat 
 confused. 
 
 Dr. Bigys. Were you in the party at Dr. Kennedy s house ? 
 
 Capt. B. I was the head of that party. I occupied the house to 
 matxire my plans. I would state here that I have not been in Balti 
 more to purchase percussion caps. 
 
 Dr. is. What was the number of men at Kennedy i ? 
 
The Political Inquifitors. 283 
 
 Copt. B. I decline to answer that. 
 
 Dr. B. Who lanced that woman s neck on the hill ? 
 
 Copt. B. I did. I have sometimes practised in surgery, when 1 
 thought it a matter of humanity or of necessity when there was no 
 one else to do it ; but I have not studied surgery. 
 
 Dr. B. (To the persons around.) It was done very well and scien 
 tifically. These men have been very clever to the neighbors, I have 
 been told, and we had no reason to suspect them, except that we 
 could not understand their movements. They were represented as 
 eight or nine persons ; on Friday there were thirteen. 
 
 Capt. B. There were more than thirteen. 
 
 Questions were now put in by almost every one in the room. 
 
 Q. Where did you get arms to obtain possession of the armory ? 
 
 Capt. B. I bought them. 
 
 Q. In what state ? 
 
 Capt. B. That I would not state. 
 
 Q. How many guns ? 
 
 Capt. B. Two hundred Sharpe s rifles, and two hundred revolvers 
 
 what is called the Massachusetts Arms Company s revolvers a 
 little under the navy size. 
 
 Q. Why did you not take that swivel you left in the house ? 
 
 Capt. B. I had no occasion for it. It was given to me a year or 
 two ago. 
 
 A Reporter. I do not wish to annoy you ; but if you have any 
 thing else you would like to say, I will report it. 
 
 Capt. B. I do not wish to converse any more ; I have nothing to 
 say. I will only remark to these reporting gentlemen, that I claim to 
 be here in carrying out a measure I believe to be perfectly justifiable, 
 and not to act the part of an incendiary or ruffian ; but, on the con 
 trary, to aid those suffering under a great wrong. I wish to say, fur 
 thermore, that you had better all you people of the South pre 
 pare 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. These wounds were inflicted upon me, both the sabre cut 
 on my head, and the bayonet stabs in the different parts of my body, 
 
 some minutes after I had ceased fighting, and had consented to sur 
 render for the benefit of others, and not for my own benefit. 
 
 (Several persons vehemently denied this statement. Without no 
 ticing the interruption, the old man continued :) 
 
 I believe the Major here (pointing to Lieut. Stuart) would not have 
 
284 The Political Inquifitors. 
 
 been alive but for me. I might have killed him just as easy as I could 
 kill a mosquito, when he came in ; but I supposed that he came in only 
 to receive our surrender. There had been long and loud calls of sur 
 render from us, as loud as men could yell, but in the confusion 
 and excitement I suppose we were not heard. I do not believe the 
 major, or any one else, wanted to butcher us after we had surren 
 dered. 
 
 An officer present here stated that special orders had been given to 
 the marines not to shoot any body ; but when they were fired upon by 
 .Brown s men, and one of them had been killed, 4ind another wounded, 
 they were obliged to return the compliment. 
 
 Captain Brown insisted, with some warmth, that the marines fired 
 first. 
 
 An Officer. Why did you not surrender before the attack ? 
 
 Capt. B. I did not think it was my duty or interest to do so. We 
 assured our prisoners that we did not wish to harm them, and that 
 they should be set at liberty. I exercised my best judgment, not be 
 lieving the people would wantonly sacrifice their own fellow- citizens. 
 When we offered to let them go upon condition of being allowed to 
 change our position about a quarter of a mile, the prisoners agreed by 
 vote among themselves to pass across the bridge with us. We wanted 
 them only as a sort of guarantee for our own safety that we should 
 not be fired into. We took them, in the first place, as hostages, and 
 to keep them from doing any harm. We did kill some men when 
 defending ourselves ; but I saw no one fire except directly in self- 
 defence. Our orders were strict not to harm any one not in arms 
 against us. 
 
 Q. Well, Brown, suppose you had every nigger in the United 
 States, what would you do with them ? 
 
 Capt. B. (In a loud tone, and with emphasis.) Set them free, sir ! 
 
 Q. Yoiir intention was to carry them off and free them ? 
 
 Capt. B. Not at all. 
 
 Bystander. To set them free would sacrifice the life of every man 
 in this community. 
 
 Capt. B. I do not think so. 
 
 Bystander. I knoAv it. I think you are fanatical. 
 
 Capt. B. And I think you are fanatical. " Whom the gods would 
 destroy, they first make mad ; " and you are mad. 
 
 Q. Was your only object to free the negroes ? 
 
 Capt. B. Absolutely our only object. 
 
 Bystander. But you went and took Col. Washington s silver and 
 watch. 
 
 Capt It. 0, yes ; we intended freely to have appropriated the prop- 
 
The Political Inquifitors. 285 
 
 erty of slaveholders, to carry out our object. It was for that, and only 
 that ; and with no design to enrich ourselves with any plunder 
 whatever. 
 
 Q. Did you know Sherrod in Kansas ? I understand you killed 
 him. 
 
 Capt. B. I killed no man except in fair fight. I fought at Black 
 Jack, and at Osawatomie ; and if I killed any body, it was at one of 
 those places. 
 
 During this conversation, the wounded Liberators, 
 we are told by pro-slavery writers, " lay stretched on 
 miserable shake-downs." John Brown s " long gray 
 hair was matted and tangled, and his hands and clothes 
 all smooched and smeared with blood, and begrimed 
 with dirt the effect of continued exposure to the 
 smoke of powder. His manner and conversation were 
 courteous and affable, and he appeared to make a 
 favorable impression upon his auditory." 
 
 Mr. Vallandigham, not ashamed of having at 
 tempted to extort political capital from the lips of a 
 dying man or having inquired if he knew one Brown, 
 a noted counterfeiter, or having striven to bring dis 
 honor on the people of Ohio, in the eyes of the South 
 returned to his native state, and, unconscious UL the 
 immortality of infamy he had gained, publicly and in 
 writing declared that " I have only to regret now that 
 I did not pursue the matter further, asking more ques 
 tions, and making them more specific." Of the old 
 hero he said : 
 
 "It is in vain to underrate either the man or the conspiracy. Cap , 
 John Brown is as brave and resolute a man as ever headed an insur 
 rection, and, in a good cause, and with a sufficient force, would have 
 been a consummate partisan commander. He has coolness, daring 
 persistency, the stoic faith and patience, and a firmness of will ana 
 purpose unconquerable. He is the farthest possible remove from the 
 ordinary ruffian, fanatic, or madman. Certainly it was one of the 
 best planned and best executed conspiracies that ever failed." 
 
XII. 
 
 LODGED IN JAIL. 
 
 AFTER a public exhibition of more than thirty 
 hours, as they lay unattended and bloody on the 
 floor of the guard house, interrogated by unmanly politi 
 cians and insulted by the brutal mob, the surviving Lib 
 erators, on Wednesday evening, October 19, were con 
 veyed to the jail of Charlestown, under an escort of 
 marines. 
 
 A United States Marshal from Ohio, after the politi 
 cal inquisitors had finished with the whites, endeavored 
 to extort from the negroes, Copeland and Green, con 
 fessions to criminate the friends of freedom in his na 
 tive State. He succeeded in procuring no confession 
 whatever, but only a few brief answers to leading 
 questions, which served to show at once his political 
 purpose and his depravity of heart. 
 
 A Virginia journalist thus describes the journey to 
 Charlestown : 
 
 " On Wednesday evening they were conveyed to the jail of Jefferson 
 County, under an escort of marines. Stevens and Brown had to 
 be taken in a wagon, but the negro Green and Coppoc, being unhurt, 
 walked between a file of soldiers, followed by hundreds of excited men, 
 exclaiming, Lynch them ; but Governor Wise, who was standing on 
 the platfrtm of the carj ; said, O, it would be cowardly to do so 
 
 (286) 
 
Lodged in Jail. 287 
 
 now ; and the crowd fell back, and the prisoners were safely placed 
 on the train. Stevens was placed in the bottom of the car, being 
 unable to sit up. Brown was propped up on a seat with pillows, and 
 Coppoc and Green seated in the middle of them ; the former was evi 
 dently much frightened, but looked calm, while the latter was the very 
 impersonation of fear. His nerves were twitching, his eyes wild and 
 almost bursting from their sockets, his whole manner indicating the 
 dreadful apprehensions that filled his mind. This fellow was a mem 
 ber of Congress, under the Provisional Government, had been very 
 daring while guarding the arsenal, and very impudent while in the 
 engine house, but when the marines entered it, he jumped back 
 among the imprisoned, and cried out that he was a prisoner ; but Mr. 
 Washington thrust him forward, and informed the besiegers that he 
 was one of the guerillas, upon which a stab was made at him, but 
 missed him, and he still lives to expiate his guilt on the gallows." 
 
 These statements, with regard to the negroes, are in 
 all probability false. The Virginians, who had not 
 dared to fight them armed, mustered courage to insult 
 them when manacled. 
 
 On the same evening there was another panic at 
 Harper s Ferry : it was Cook, this time, who was mur 
 dering all the people at Sandy Hook ! The marines 
 hastened out to protect the citizens, but found neither 
 Cook nor a broil there. When they returned to Har 
 per s Ferry, the Virginia militia, who had been afraid 
 to follow, now valiantly offered to go out to defend 
 their fellow-citizens. 
 
 But the limits of this volume will not permit me to 
 recount how often and pusillanimously the Virginians 
 acted. From the arrest of the Liberators till the death 
 of their Chief, the shivering chivalry of the once gal 
 lant State of Virginia suffered from a chronic but 
 ludicrously painful fright. 
 
 Governor Wise and Mr. Hunter accompanied the 
 prisoners to Charlestown, where they were lodged in 
 jail, and placed under the charge of Capt. John Avis. 
 Of the jail and jailer a trust-worthy writer says : 
 
2c88 Lodged in Jail. 
 
 " Brown, is as comfortably situated as any uaaii can bo in a jail, lie 
 has a pleasant room, which is shared by Stevens, whose recovery 
 remains doubtful. He has opportunities of occupying himself by 
 writing and reading. His jailer, Avis, was of the party who assisted 
 in capturing him. Brown says, that Avis is one of the bravest men 
 he ever saw, and that his treatment is precisely what he should 
 expect from so brave a fellow. Avis is a just and humane man. He 
 does all for his prisoners that his duty allows him to. I think he has 
 a sincere respect for Brown s undaunted fortitude and fearlessness. 
 Brown is permitted to receive such visitors as he desires to see. He 
 states that he welcomes every one, and that he is preaching, even in 
 jail, with great effect, upon the enormities of Slavery, . and with 
 arguments which every body fails to answer." His wounds, excepting 
 one cut on the back of the head, have all now healed, without sup 
 puration, and the scars are scarcely visible. He attributes his very 
 rapid recovery to his strict abstemious habits through life. He is 
 really a man of imposing appearance, and neither his tattered gar 
 ments, the rents in which were caused by sword cuts, nor his scarred 
 face, can detract from the manliness of his mien. He is always com 
 posed, and every trace of disquietude has left him." 
 
 On the following day Thursday, October 20 the 
 body of Kagi was taken from the river, and the other 
 corpses were buried in a large pit. The body of Wat 
 son Brown, however, was crammed into a box and 
 carried off for medical dissection. The corpses of the 
 negroes were horribly mutilated by the brutal pop 
 ulace. A. D. 1859 YA., U. S. A. ! 
 
AMONG THE PHILISTINES 
 
8. And he smote them hip and thigh, with great slaughter. (Chap 
 ter xv.) 
 
 21. But the Philistines took him and brought him down to Gaza. 
 
 23. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for 
 to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon, their god, and to rejoice : for 
 they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. 
 
 24. And when the people saw him, they praised their god : for 
 they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the 
 destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 
 
 30. The dead which he slew at his death were more than they 
 which he slew in his life. Book of Judges, Chapter xvi. 
 
I. 
 
 THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION. 
 
 THE prisoners were formally committed to jail on the 
 20th of October, by a Justice of the Peace of 
 Charlestown, on the oaths of Henry A. Wise and two 
 others, " for feloniously conspiring with each other-, and 
 other persons unknown, to make an abolition insurrec 
 tion and open war against the Commonwealth of Vir 
 ginia," and for the additional crimes of murder and 
 " conspiring with slaves to rebel and to make insurrec 
 tion." On the same day a warrant was issued to the 
 Sheriff, commanding him to summon eight Justices of 
 the Peace to hold a Preliminary Court of Examination 
 on the 25th of October. 
 
 On the day thus appointed the Preliminary Court 
 assembled ; a person named Colonel Davenport pre 
 siding. At half past ten o clock in the forenoon, the 
 prisoners were conducted from the jail under a guard 
 of eighty armed men. Another military force was sta 
 tioned around " the Court House, which was bristling 
 with bayonets on all sides." 
 
 John Brown and Coppie were manacled together. 
 " The prisoners, as brought into Court," writes a pro- 
 
 291) 
 
292 The Preliminary Examination. 
 
 slavery eye witness, " presented a pitiable sight, Brown 
 and Stevens being unable to stand without assistance. 
 Brown had three sword cuts in his body, and one 
 sabre cut over the head. Stevens had three balls in 
 his head and two in his breast, and one in his arm. 
 He was also cut on the forehead with a rifle bullet, 
 which glanced off, leaving a bad wound. Brown seemed 
 weak and haggard, with eyes swollen from the effects 
 of wounds on the head. Stevens seemed less injured 
 than Brown, but looked haggard and depressed." 
 
 Never before, in our Christian country, or in any 
 other civilized land, were men, thus suffering and dis 
 abled, dragged from their beds of sickness to a Court 
 of Justice, to be tried for a capital offence. Judge 
 Jeffreys, of England, never fully equalled this atrocity ; 
 it needed, for its perpetration, men brutalized by the 
 influence of American slavery. 
 
 Charles B. Harding, attorney for the County of Jef 
 ferson, and Andrew Hunter, counsel for the State, 
 appeared for the prosecution. The Sheriff read the 
 commitment of the prisoners, and the Prosecuting 
 Attorney asked the Court that counsel might be assigned 
 them. The Presiding Magistrate then inquired if the 
 prisoners had counsel. 
 
 John Brown replied : 
 
 FIRST SPEECH IN COURT. 
 
 " Virginians : I did not ask for any quarter at the time I was taken. 
 I did not ask +o have my life spared. The Governor of the State of 
 Virginia te&uered me his assurance that I should have a fair trial ; but 
 under no circumstances whatever, will I be able to attend to my trial, 
 if you seek my blood, you can have it at any moment without this 
 mockery of a trial. 
 
 "I have had no counsel. I have not been able to advise with any 
 
The Preliminary Examination. 293 
 
 one. I Know nothing about the feelings of my fellow-prisoners, and 
 am utterly unable to attend in any way to my own defence. My 
 memory don t serve me. My health is insufficient, although improving. 
 ; If a fair trial is to be allowed us, there are mitigating circum 
 stances, that I would urge in our favor. But, if we are to be forced 
 with a mere form a trial for execution you might spare yourselves 
 that trouble. I am ready for my fate. I do not ask a trial. I beg for 
 no mockery of a trial no insult nothing but that which conscience 
 gives or cowardice would drive you to practise. 
 
 "I ask again to be excused from the mockery of a trial. I do not 
 know what the special design of this examination is. I do not know 
 what is to be the benefit of it to the Commonwealth. I have now little 
 further to ask, other than that I may be not foolishly insulted, only as 
 cowardly barbarians insult those who fall into their power." 
 
 Without paying the slightest attention to this brave 
 speech, calmly delivered in the midst of infuriated 
 enemies, the Court assigned Charles J. Faulkner and 
 Lawsoii Botts, both Virginians and pro-slavery men, 
 as counsel for the defendants. Mr. Faulkner, after 
 consultation with the prisoners, desired to decline the 
 appointment, because he doubted the authority of 
 the Court to order him to defend them ; because John 
 Brown had declared that such a defence would be a 
 mockery; and because, having been at the place of 
 action, and having heard all the admissions of the de 
 fendants, it would be improper and inexpedient for him 
 to be their counsel. But if the Court peremptorily 
 ordered him, and the prisoners consented, he would see 
 that full justice was done them. Mr. Botts accepted. 
 
 "Mr. Harding then asked John Brown if he was willing to accept 
 these gentlemen as counsel. 
 
 John Brown replied: "I wish to say that I have sent for counsel. I 
 did apply, through the advice of some persons here, to some persons 
 whose names I do not now recollect, to act as counsel for me ; and I 
 have sent for other counsel, who have not had time to reach here, and 
 have had no possible opportunity to see me. I wish for counsel, if I 
 am to have a trial ; but if I am to have nothing but the mockery of a 
 
 25* 
 
294 The Preliminary Examination. 
 
 trial, as I said, I do not care any thing about counsel. It is unneces 
 sary to trouble any gentleman with that duty." 
 
 Mr. Harding. " You are to have a fair trial." 
 
 John Broion. " There were certain men I think Mr. Botts was one 
 of them who declined acting as counsel, but I am not positive about 
 it ; I cannot remember whether he was one, because I have heard so 
 many names. I am a stranger here, and do not know the disposition 
 or character of the gentlemen named. I have applied for counsel of 
 my own, and doubtless could have them, if I am not, as I have said 
 before, to be hurried to execution before they can reach here. But if 
 that is the disposition that is to be made of me, all this trouble and 
 expense can be saved." 
 
 Mr. Harding. "The question is, do you desire the aid of Messrs. 
 Faulkner and Botts as your counsel ? Please to answer yes or no." 
 
 John Brown. " I cannot regard this as an examination under any 
 circumstances. I would prefer that they should exercise their own 
 pleasure. I feel it as a matter of little account to me. If they had 
 designed to assist me as counsel, I should have wanted an opportunity 
 to consult with them at my leisure." 
 
 Mr. Harding. "Stevens, are you willing those gentlemen should act 
 as your counsel ? " 
 
 Stevens. "I am willing that gentleman shall," (pointing to Mr. 
 Botts.) 
 
 Mr. Harding. " Do you object to Faulkner ? " 
 
 Stevens. " No ; I am willing to take both." 
 
 Mr. Harding then addressed each of the other prisoners separately, 
 and each stated his willingness to be defended by the counsel named. 
 
 The Court then issued peremptory orders that the press should not 
 publish detailed testimony, as it would render the getting of a jury 
 before the Circuit Court impossible." * 
 
 Eight witnesses were then examined, who testified to 
 the arrest of citizens, the occupation of the armory, the 
 fight, the casualties of the conflict, and the self-avowed 
 object of the liberators. Kitzmillar admitted that Ste 
 vens was fired at and shot while under a flag of truce, 
 with which, accompanied by the witness, and at his re 
 quest, he had left the armory, to permit him to try to 
 " accommodate matters " for the safety of the citizens 
 
 * Telegraphic report of the Associated Press. 
 
The Preliminary Examination. 295 
 
 detained there ; that Brown, while the Virginia pris 
 oners were in his power, treated them with great cour 
 tesy and respect ; and repeatedly stated that his only 
 object was to liberate the negroes, and that, to accom 
 plish it, he was willing to fight the pro-slavery men. 
 The witnesses who were prisoners in the Armory also 
 testified that during the conflict they were requested by 
 the Liberators to keep themselves out of the fire of the 
 marines. One thought that Coppic shot Beckman, and 
 Brown the marine. 
 
 At one stage of the proceedings, Stevens, weak from 
 his wounds, appeared to be fainting, and a mattress was 
 procured for him, on which he reposed during the re 
 mainder of the examination. What a scene for an 
 American Court ! 
 
 The prisoners were of course remanded to the Cir 
 cuit Court for trial. 
 
 The telegraph, although entirely managed by the par 
 tisans of Slavery at this time, involuntarily told truths 
 disgraceful to Virginia, and illustrative of the effect 
 of her iniquitous institution on the character cf her 
 citizens of every rank, as well as of the danger that 
 this criminal tenacity to Human Slavery creates to the 
 stability of Southern society. Two paragraphs will 
 suffice to sustain me. 
 
 " There is an evident intention to hurry the trial through, and exe. 
 cute the prisoners as soon as possible FEARING attempts to rescue them. 
 It is rumored that Brown is desirous of making a full statement of his 
 motives and intentions through the press, but the Court has refused all 
 access to reporters TEARING that he may put forth something calculated 
 to influence the public mind, and to have a bad effect on the slaves" 
 
 The reason given for hurrying the trial is, that the people of the 
 whole country are kept in a state of excitement, and a large armed 
 force is required to prevent attempts at rescue." 
 
II.. 
 
 JUDICIAL ALACRITY. 
 
 TTAKDLY had the Preliminary Court adjourned, ere 
 JLL the Circuit Court assembled. At two o clock the 
 Grand Jury were called, and charged by Judge Rich 
 ard Parker. By way of a contrast to the subsequent 
 proceedings, the plausible yet Jesuitical address of the 
 Judge, which promises and urges a fair trial, but, at 
 the same time, so clearly indicates the spirit of Vir 
 ginia, is deserving of a record here. 
 
 CHARGE TO THE GRAND JURY. 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY : In the state of excitement into which 
 our whole community has been thrown by the recent occurrences in 
 this county, I feel that the charge which I usually deliver to a grand 
 jury would be entirely out of place. These occurrences cannot but 
 force themselves upon your attention. They must necessarily occupy 
 a considerable portion of that time which you will devote to your 
 public duties as a Grand Jury. However guilty the unfortunate men 
 who are now in the hands of justice may prove to be, still they cannot 
 be called upon to answer to the offended laws of our Commonwealth 
 for any of the multifarious crimes with which they are charged, until a 
 Grand Jury, after "dignified" inquiry, shall decide that for these of 
 fences they be put upon their trial. I will vctf permit myself to give 
 expression to any of those feelings which at once spring up in every breast 
 token reflecting upon the enormity of the guilt in which those are involved 
 who invade bij force a peaceful, unsuspecting portion of our common coun- 
 
 (296) 
 
Judicial Alacrity. 297 
 
 try, raise the standard of insurrection amongst us, and shoot down without 
 mercy Virginia citizens defending Virginia soil against their invasion. 
 I must remember, gentlemen, that, as a minister of justice, bound to 
 execute our laws faithfully, and in the very spirit of Justice herself, I 
 must, as to every one accused of crime, hold, as the law holds, that he 
 is innocent until he shall be proved guilty by an honest, an independent, 
 and an impartial jury of his countrymen. And what is obligatory 
 upon me is equally binding upon you, and upon every one who may bo 
 connected with the prosecution and trial of these offenders. In these 
 cases, as in all others, you will be controlled by that oath which each 
 of you has taken, and in which you have solemnly sworn that you 
 will diligently inquire into all offences which may be brought to your 
 knowledge, and that "you will present no one through ill-will," as 
 well as " that you will leave no one unpresented through fear or favor, 
 but in all your presentments you shall present the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth." Do but this, gentlemen, and you 
 will have fulfilled your whole duty. Go beyond this, and, in place of 
 that diligent inquiry and calm investigation which you have sw r orn to 
 make, act upon prejudice or from excitement of passion, and you will 
 have done a wrong to that law in whose service you are engaged. As I 
 before said, these men are now in the hands of justice. They are to have 
 a fair and an impartial trial. We owe it to the cause of justice, as well 
 as to our own characters, that such a trial should be afforded them. If 
 guilty, they will be sure to pay the extreme penalty of their guilt, and the 
 example of punishment, when thus inflicted by virtue of law, will be 
 beyond all comparison more efficacious for our future protection than 
 any torture to which mere passion could subject them. Whether, then, 
 we be in public or private position, let each one of us remember that, as 
 the law r has charge of these alleged offenders, the law alone, through 
 its recognized agents, must deal with them to the last. It can tolerate 
 no interference by others with duties it has assumed to itself. If true to 
 herself, and true she will be, our Commonwealth, through her courts 
 of justice, will be as ready to punish the offence of such interference as 
 she is to punish these grave and serious offences w r ith which she is now 
 about to deal in case these offences be proved by legal testimony to 
 have been perpetrated. Let us all, gentlemen, bear this in mind, and 
 in patience await the result confident that that result will be what 
 ever strict and impartial justice shall determine to be necessary and 
 proper. It would seem, gentlemen, and yet I speak from no evidence, 
 but upon vague rumors which have reached me, that these men who 
 have thrown themselves upon us confidently expected to be joined by 
 our slaves and free negroes, and unfurled the banner of insurrection, 
 
298 Judicial Alacrity. 
 
 and invited this class of our citizens to rally tinder it. And yet, I am 
 told, they are unable to obtain a single recruit.* 
 
 The Preliminary Court reported the result of their 
 examination, and the Grand Jury at once retired with 
 the witnesses. At five o clock they returned, and asked 
 to be discharged for the day. They reassembled at ten 
 o clock on the following forenoon, Wednesday, and, at 
 twelve o clock, reported " a true bill fi against each of 
 the prisoners : First, For conspiring with negroes to 
 produce insurrection ; second, For treason in the Com 
 monwealth, and, third, For murder. The Grand Jury 
 was then discharged. 
 
 This is the indictment of the Grand Jury : 
 
 THE INDICTMENT. 
 
 Judicial Circuit of Virginia, Jefferson County, to wit. The Jurors of the Common 
 wealth of Virginia, in and for the body of the County of Jefferson, duly impanelled, 
 and attending upon the Circuit Court of said county, upon their oaths do present that 
 John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens and Edwin Coppic, win to 
 men, and Shields Green and John Copeland, free negroes, together with divers other 
 evil-minded and traitorous persons to the Jurors unknown, not having the fear of God 
 bufore their eyes, but being moved and seduced by the false and malignant counsel of 
 other evil and traitorous persons, and the instigations of the devil, did, severally, on the 
 sixteenth, sev ,iiteith, and eighteenth days of the mouth of October, in the year of our 
 Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and on divers other days before and after that 
 time, within the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the County of Jefferson aforesaid, and 
 within the jurisdiction of this Court, with other confederates to the Jurors unknown, 
 feloniously and traitorously make rebellion and levy war against the said Commonwealth 
 of Virginia, and to effect, carry out, and fulfil their said wicked and treasonable ends 
 ami purposes did, then and there, as a band of organized soldiers, attack, seize, and hold 
 a certain part and place within the county and State aforesaid, and within the jurisdic 
 tion aforesaid, known and called by the name of Harper s Ferry, and then and there 
 did forcibly capture, make prisoners of. and detain divers good and loyal citizens of said 
 Commonwealth, to wit: Lewis W. Washington. John M. Allstadt, Archibald M. Kitz- 
 iniller, Benjamin J. Mills, John E. P. Ihinger field, Arnistead Ball, John Donoho, and 
 did then and there slay and murder, by shooting with firearms, called Sharpe s rifles, 
 clivers good and loyal citizens of said Commonwealth, to wit: Thomas Boerly, Georgo 
 W. Turner, Fontaine Beckham, together with Luke Qninn, a soldier of the United States, 
 and Haj ward Sheppard. a free negro, and did then and there, in manner aforesaid, wound 
 divers other good and loyal citizens of said Commonwealth, and did then and there felo 
 niously and traitorously establish and set np, without authority of the Legislature of the 
 Commonwealth of Virginia, a government, separate from, and hostile to, the existing 
 Government of said Commonwealth ; and did then and there hold and exercise divers 
 offices under said usurped Government, to wit: the said John Brown as Commander-in 
 Chief of the military forces, the said Aaron C. Stephens alias Aaron D. Stephens, as Cap 
 tain ; the said Edwin Coppic, as Lieutenant, and the said Shields Green and John Cope- 
 
 * It is true that the slaves did not join John Brown. But why? Because they had not time 
 to know his design, and to act, ere their heroic liberators were cither killed or imprisoned. But 
 one negro, I know, a slave of "Washington, whom Governor AVise pretended had probably 
 been killed by Captain Cook in endeavoring to return home, was shot in the river as he. was 
 fighting for freedom. I know this fact from one of John Brown s men who saw him. I have 
 positive knowledge, also, of eixtcen slaves who succeeded in escaping from Harper s Ferry. 
 
Judicial Alacrity 299 
 
 land as soldiers ; and did then and there require and compel obedience to said officers; 
 and then and there did hold and profess allegiance and fidelity to said usurped Govern 
 ment ; and under color of the usurped authority aforesaid, did then and there resist forci 
 bly, and with warlike arms, the execution of the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
 and with firearms did wound and maim divers other good and loyal citizens of said 
 Commonwealth, to the Jurors unknown, when attempting, with lawful authority, to 
 uphold and maintain said Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and 
 for tho purpose, end, and aim of overthrowing and abolishing the Constitution and 
 laws of said Commonwealth, and establishing, in the place thereof, another and differ 
 ent government, and constitution and laws hostile thereto, did then and there feloni 
 ously and traitorously, and in military array, join in open battle and deadly warfare with 
 the civil officers and soldiers in the lawful service of the said Commonwealth of Vir 
 ginia, and did then and there shoot and discharge divers guns and pistols, charged with 
 gunpowder and leaden bullets, against and upon divers parties of the militia and vol 
 unteers embodied and acting under the command of Colonel liobert W. Baylor, and of 
 Colonel John Thomas Gibson, and other officers of said Commonwealth, with lawful 
 authority to quell and subdue the said John Brown. Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. 
 Stephens. Edwin Coppic, Shields Green, and John Copland, and other rebels and 
 traitors assembled, organized, and acting with them, as aforesaid, to the evil example 
 of all others in like case offending, and against the peace and dignity of the Common 
 wealth. 
 
 Second Count. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further pre 
 sent that tho said John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron 1). Stephens, Edwin 
 Coppic, Shields Green, and John Copeland, severally, on the sixteenth, seventeeth, and 
 eighteenth days of October, in the year cf our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, in 
 the said County of Jefferson, and Commonwealth of Virginia, and within the jurisdiction 
 of this Court, not having the fear of God before their eyes, but moved and seduced by 
 the false and malignant counsels of others, and the instigations of the devil, did each 
 severally, maliciously, and feloniously conspire with each other, and with a certain 
 John E. Cook, John Kagi, Charles Tidd, and others to the Jurors unknown, to induce 
 
 certain slaves, to wit, Jirn, Sam, Mason, and Catesby, 
 
 the slaves and property of Lewis W. Washington, and Henry, Levi, Hen, Jerry, Phil, 
 George, and Bill, the slaves and property of John II. Allstadt, and other slaves to the 
 Jurors unknown, to rebel and make insurrection against their masters and owners, 
 and against the Government and the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of 
 Virginia: and then and there did maliciously and feloniously advise said slaves, and 
 other slaves to the Jurors unknown, to rebel and make insurrection against their masters 
 and owners, and against the Government, the Constitution and laws of the Common 
 wealth of Virginia, to the evil example of all others in like cases offending, and against 
 the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Third Count. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforefaid, further present 
 that the said John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, Edwin Coppic, 
 Shields Green, and John Copeland. severally, on the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eigh 
 teenth days of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
 nine, in tho County of Jefferson and the Commonwealth of Virginia aforesaid, and 
 within the jurisdiction aforesaid, in and upon the bodies of Thomas Boerly, George W. 
 Turner, Fontaine Beckham, Luke Quinn, white persons, and Hay ward Sheppc.rd, a free 
 negro, in the peace of the Commonwealth then and there being, feloniously, wilfully, 
 and of their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and with firearms called 
 Sharpe s rifles, and other deadly weapons to the Jurors unknown, then and there, 
 charged with gunpowder and leaden bullets, did then and there feloniously, wilfully, 
 and of their malice aforethought, shoot and discharge the same against the bodies sev 
 erally find respectively of the said Thomas Boerly, George \V. Turner, Fontaine Beck 
 ham, Luke Quinn, and Hayward Sheppard ; and that the said John Brown, Aaron C. 
 Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, Edwin Coppic, Shields Green, and John Copland, 
 with the leaden bullets aforesaid, out of the firearms called Sharpe s rifles, aforesaid, 
 shot and discharged as aforesaid, and with the other deadly weapons to the jurors 
 unknown, as aforesaid, then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice afore 
 thought did strike, penetrate and wound the said Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, 
 Fontaine Beckham, Luke Quinn, Hayward Sheppard, each severally; to wit: the said 
 Thomas Boerly in and upon the left side; the said George W. Turner in and upon the 
 left shoulder; the said Fontaine Beckham in and upon the right breast; the said Luke 
 Quinn in and upon the abdomen, and the said Hayward Sheppard in and upon the back 
 and side, giving to the said Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, Fontaine Beckham, 
 Luke Quinn, Hayward Sheppard, then and there with the leaden bullets, so as afore 
 said shot and discharged by them, severally and respectively out of the Sharpe s rifles 
 aforesaid, and with the other deadly weapons to the Jurors unknown, as aforesaid, each 
 one mortal wound, of which said mortal wounds they the said Thomas Bi,orly, Georjo 
 W. Turner, Fontaine Beckham, Luke Quinn, and Hayward Sheppard each died; and BO 
 
300 Judicial Alacrity. 
 
 the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said John Brown, 
 Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, Edwin Ccppic, Shields Green, and John 
 Copland, then and there, them the said Thomas* Doerly, George W. Turner, Fontaine 
 Beckham, Luke Quinn, and Hay ward Sheppard, in the manner aforesaid, and by the 
 means aforesaid, feloniously, wilfully, and of their, and each of their malice afore 
 thought, did kill and murdter, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Fourth Count. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, further present 
 that the said John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, and Edwin 
 Coppic, and Shields Green, each severally on the seventeenth day of October, in tho 
 year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, in the County of Jefferson and Com 
 monwealth of Virginia aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, in and! upon 
 the bodies of certain Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, and Fontaine Beckham, in 
 the peace of the Commonwealth, then and there being feloniously, wilfully, and of 
 their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and with guns called Sharpe s rifles, 
 then and there charged with gunpowder and leaden bullets, did then and there felo 
 niously, wilfully, and of their, and each of their malice aforethought, shoot and dis 
 charge the same against the bodies of the said Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, and 
 Fontaine Beckham, and that the said John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. 
 Stephens, Edward Coppic, and Shields Green, with leaden bullets aforesaid, shot out 
 of the Sharpe s rifles aforesaid, then and there, feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice 
 aforethought, did strike, penetrate, and wound the said Thomas Boerly, George W. 
 Turner, and Fontaine Beckham, each severally, viz. : The said Thomas Boerly in and 
 upon the left side; the said Georgo W. Turner in and upon the left shoulder and 
 breast, and the said Fontaine Beckham in and upon the right breast, giving to tho 
 said Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, and Fontaine Beckham, then and there, with 
 leaden bullets aforesaid, shot by them severally out of Sharpe s rifles aforesaid, each 
 one mortal wound, of which said mortal wounds they the said Thomas Boerly, George 
 W. Turner, and Fontaine Beckham then and there died: and that the said John Cop 
 land, then and there, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, was present, 
 aiding, helping, abetting, comforting and assisting the said John Brown, Aaron C. 
 Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, Edwin Coppic, and Shields Green in the felony and 
 murder aforesaid? in manner aforesaid to commit. And so the Jurors aforesaid, upon 
 their oaths, do say that the said John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Ste 
 phens. Edwin Coppic, Shields Green, and John Copland, then and there them, the said 
 Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, and Fontaine Beckham, in the manner aforesaid, 
 and by the means aforesaid, feloniously, wilfully, and of their and each of their malice 
 aforethought, did kill and murder, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth 
 of Virginia. 
 
 Lewis W. Washington, John II. Allstadt, John E. I*. Dangerfield, Alexander Kelly, 
 Emaiiuel Spangler, Arm stead M. Ball, Joseph A. Brua, William Johnson, Lewis P. 
 Starry, Archibald H.*Kitzmiller, were sworn in open Court this 26th day of October, 
 1S59, to give evidence to the Grand Jury upon this bill of indictment. 
 
 Teste : KOBERT T. BROWN, Clerk. 
 
 A true copy of said indictment. 
 
 Teste : KOBERT T. BROWN, 
 
 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, in the State of Virginia. 
 
 Which bill of indictment the Grand Jury returned this 26th day of October. 
 
 A true bill. THOMAS RUTHERFORD, Foreman. 
 
 October 26, 1859. 
 
 Before the indictment was read, as Mr. Faulkner 
 had gone home, the Court requested a Mr. Green, a 
 Virginian, to act as assistant counsel for the defend 
 ants. It was understood that all the prisoners were 
 willing that this arrangement should be made. 
 
 APPEAL FOR A DECENT DELAY. 
 
 John Brown then rose and said : 
 
 I do not intend to detain the court, but barely wish to say, as I have 
 been promised a fair trial, that I am not now in circumstances that 
 
Judicial Alacrity. 301 
 
 enable me to attend a trial, owing to the state of my health. I have 
 a severe wound in the back, or rather in one kidney, which enfeebles 
 me very much. But I am doing well, and I only ask for a very short 
 delay of my trial, and I think I may get able to listen to it ; and I 
 merely ask this, that, as the saying is, " the devil may have his due" 
 no more. I wish to say, further, that my hearing is impaired, and 
 rendered indistinct, in consequence of wounds I have about my head. 
 I cannot hear distinctly at all ; I could not hear what the court has 
 said this morning. I would be glad to hear what is said on my trial, 
 and am now doing better than I could expect to be under the circum 
 stances. A very short delay would be all I would ask. I do not 
 presume to ask more than a very short delay, so that I may in some 
 degree recover, and be able at least to listen to my trial, and hear 
 what questions are asked of the citizens, and what their answers are. 
 If that could be allowed me, I should be very much obliged. 
 
 Mr. Hunter said that the request was rather prema 
 ture. The arraignment should be made, and this 
 question could then be considered. 
 
 The Court ordered the indictment to be read, so 
 that the prisoner could plead guilty or not guilty, and 
 it would then consider Mr. Brown s request. 
 
 The indictment was now read, and each of the pris 
 oners pleaded Not Guilty, and demanded to have sepa 
 rate trials. One incident of this scene is so revolting, 
 that I must record it in the language of the enemies 
 of the prisoners : 
 
 "The prisoners were brought into court, accompanied by a body of 
 armed men. Cannon were stationed in front of the court house, and 
 rai armed guard were patrolling round the jail. Brown looked some 
 thing better, and his eye was not so much swollen. Stevens had to 
 1 ? supported, and reclined on a mattress on the floor of the court 
 room evidently unable to sit. He has the appearance of a dying man, 
 breathing with great difficulty. The prisoners were compelled to stand 
 during the indictment, but it was with difficulty, Stevens being held 
 upright by two bailiffs." 
 
 As soon as the prisoners had responded to the ar 
 raignment, Mr. Hunter rose and said, " The State 
 26 
 
302 Judicial Alacrity. 
 
 elects to try John Brown first." A discussion and 
 decision, fit accompaniments to the scene above de 
 scribed, then ensued ; which are thus reported by the 
 partisans of the State : 
 
 Mr. Botts said, I am instructed by Brown to say that he is mentally 
 ji) .-I physically unable to proceed with his trial at this time. He has 
 heard to-day that counsel of his own choice will be here, whom he 
 will, of course, prefer. He only asks for a dehv^.of two or three days. 
 It seems to be but a reasonable request, and I hope the Court will 
 grant it. 
 
 Mr. Hunter said, he did not think it the duty of the prosecutor for 
 the Commonwealth, or for one occupying the position, to oppose any 
 thing that justice required, nor to object to any thing that involved a 
 simple consideration of humanity, where it could be properly allowed ; 
 yet, in regard to this proposition to delay the trial of John Brown two 
 or three days, they deemed it their duty that the Court, before deter 
 mining matters, should be put in possession of facts and circumstances, 
 judicially, that they were aware of in the line of their duties as prose 
 cutors. His own opinion was, that it was not proper to delay the 
 trial of this prisoner a single day, and that there was no necessity for 
 it. He alluded in general terms to the condition of things that sur 
 rounded them. They were such as rendered it dangerous to delay, to 
 say nothing of the exceeding pressure upon the physical resources of the 
 community, growing out of circumstances connected with affairs for 
 which the prisoners were to bo tried. He said our laws, in making 
 provisions for allowing, in the discretion of the Court, briefer time than 
 usual, in cases of conviction, for such offenders, between the condemna 
 tion and execution, evidently indicates, indirectly, the necessity of 
 acting promptly and decisively, though always justly, in proceedings 
 of this kind. In reference to Brown s physical condition, he asked 
 the Court not to receive the unimportant statements of the prisoners 
 as sufficient ground for delay, but that the jailer and physicians be 
 examined. As to expecting counsel from abroad, he said that no im 
 pediment had been thrown in the way of the prisoners procuring such 
 counsel as they desired, but, on the contrary, every facility had been 
 afforded ; able and intelligent counsel had been assigned them here, and 
 he apprehended that there w?s little reason to expect the attendance 
 of those gentlemen from the Xorth who had been written for. There 
 was also a public duty resting upon them to avoid as far as possible, within 
 t/te forms of law, ana with reference to the great and never to be lost sight 
 of principle of giving of a fair and impartial trial to the prisoner the 
 
Judicial Alacrity. 30 j 
 
 ntroduction of any thing likely to iceakcn our present position, and give 
 strength to our enemies abroad, whether it issiies from the jury in time, 
 or whether it comes from the mouths of the prisoners, or any other source. 
 It was their position that had been imperilled and jeopardized, as 
 they supposed, by enemies. 
 
 Mr. Harding concurred in the objection of Mr. Hunter, on the ground 
 of danger in delay, and also because Brown was the leader of the insur 
 rection, and hi? trial ought to be proceeded with on account of the ad 
 vantage thereby accruing in the trial of the others, 
 
 Mr. Green remarked that he had had no opportunity of consulting witli 
 the prisoner, or preparing a defence. The letters for Northern counsel 
 had been sent off, but not sufficient time had been afforded to receive 
 ansicers. Under the circumstances, he thought a short delay desirable. 
 
 Mr. Botts added, that at present the excitement was so great as per 
 haps to deter Northern counsel from coming out ; but now that it had 
 been promised that the prisoners should have a fair and impartial trial, 
 he presumed that they would come and take part in the case. 
 
 The Court stated that, if physical inability were shown, a reasonable 
 delay must be granted. As to the expectation of other counsel, that 
 did not constitute a sufficient cause for delay, as there was no cer 
 tainty about their coming. Under the circumstances in which the 
 prisoners were situated, it was rational that they should seek delay. 
 The brief period remaining before the close of the term of the Court ren 
 dered it necessary to proceed as expeditiously as practicable, and to be 
 cautious about granting delays. He would request the physician who 
 had attended Brown to testify as to his condition. 
 
 Were ever before, in any civilized State, such reasons 
 given for refusing the delay of a few days only to a 
 wounded prisoner, charged with a capital offence, whose 
 sole request was, that time might be allowed for honest 
 counsel, whom he knew, to arrive and defend him ? 
 Even had the old man been unwounded, surrounded as 
 he was by excited enemies, in a county and Common 
 wealth where a verdict of acquital was an impossible 
 event, it would have been a very grave judicial outrage to 
 have tried him until he could obtain proper counsel, 
 or before considering a demand for a change of venue. 
 Because the expense of a trial was great ; because the 
 
304 Judicial Alacrity. 
 
 offences charged on the prisoner were declared to be 
 grave ones by the unjust Virginia code ; because the 
 arrival of Northern counsel might elicit facts unfavora 
 ble to the reputation of the State, but that might tend to 
 exculpate the defendant for this is what Mr. Hunter s 
 last orphic sentence meant ; because there might be 
 danger, if the request was granted, of a second con 
 quest of Virginia by the friends of her first anti- 
 slavery invader ; and because how and why is not yet 
 explained a speedy trial of the leaders would result 
 in a benefit to his followers in jail : these were the rea 
 sons, as extraordinary as inhuman, advanced by the 
 prosecution why a wounded man s request should be 
 refused by a Court of Justice ; not one of them, by all 
 the rules of law, either pertinent or just, and one of 
 them the strongest argument why the case should bs 
 protracted. The graver the crime, the more lenient 
 the law should be in granting opportunities of defence 
 to the accused. The Judge s reply ignores this salu 
 tary rule, and assumes that it was necessary to try the 
 prisoners at that particular term of the Court ! With 
 every faculty undimmed, with every legal facility 
 around him, with able lawyers and a Pardoning 
 Power unpledged against the exercise of his highest 
 prerogatives, the prisoner had a right to demand a post 
 ponement of the trial until the prejudices of the people 
 were less excited against him. 
 
 The physician was called, and swore, of course, that 
 the old man was able to go on with the trial, and did 
 not think that his wounds were such as to affect his 
 mind and recollection. 
 
Judicial Alacrity. 305 
 
 The Court, accordingly, refused to postpone the 
 trial. 
 
 IMPANELLING A JURY. 
 
 The afternoon session, which lasted three hours, was 
 occupied in obtaining a jury. At this time no Repub 
 lican reporters were permitted to enter Charlestown, or 
 had succeeded in obtaining entrance to the prison or 
 Court. Hence, for the only accounts of the trial, we 
 are obliged to accept the statements of John Brown s 
 bitterest foes. This is their report of that afternoon s 
 proceedings : 
 
 " The jailer was ordered to bring Brown into Court. He found him 
 in bed, from which he declared himself unable to rise. He was accord 
 ingly brought into Court on a cot, which was set down within the bar. The 
 prisoner lay most of the time with his eyes closed, and the counter 
 pane drawn up close to his chin. The jury were then called and 
 sworn. The Court excluded those who were present at Harper s Ferry 
 during the insurrection and saw the prisoners perpetrating the act for 
 which they were about to be tried. They were all from distant parts 
 of the country, mostly farmers some of them owning a few slaves, 
 and others none. The examination was continued until twenty-four 
 were decided by the Court and counsel to be competent jurors. Out 
 of these twenty-four, the counsel for the prisoner had a right to strike 
 off eight, and then twelve are drawn by ballot out of the remaining 
 sixteen. The following were the questions put to the jurors ; Were 
 you at Harper s Ferry on Monday or Tuesday ? How long did you 
 remain there ? Did you witness any of the proceedings for which this 
 party is to be tried ? Did you form or express any opinion, from what 
 you saw there, with regard to the guilt or innocence of these people ? 
 Would that opinion disqualify you from giving these men a fair trial ? 
 Did you hear any of the evidence in this case before the Examining 
 Court ? What was your opinion based on ? Was it a decided one, or 
 was it one which would yield to evidence, if the evidence was different 
 from what you supposed ? Are you sure that you can try this case 
 impartially from the evidence alone, without reference to any tiling 
 you have heard or seen of this transaction ? Have you any conscien 
 tious scruples against convicting a party of an offence to which the 
 law assigns the punishment of death, merely because that is the pen. 
 alty assigned ? " 
 
306 Judicial Alacrity. 
 
 But these statements give no just notion of the man 
 ner of impanelling the juries in the trials of the Lib 
 erators. As they were all similarly conducted, it will 
 be proper here to quote, from the graphic sketches of 
 an eye witness, a description of the impanelling of the 
 jury who tried Edwin Coppie. 
 
 Let me endeavor to represent to you how some of the jurors in 
 these cases are qualified. 
 
 A stolid and heavy man stands up before the judge to answer the 
 necessary questions. His countenance is lighted only by the hope of 
 getting a chance to give his voice against the wounded man upon the 
 ground. You can see this as plainly as if he told you. 
 
 Judge. Were you at Harper s Ferry, sir, during these proceedings ? 
 
 Juror. No, sir. 
 
 Judge. You are a freeholder of this county ? 
 
 Juror. Yes, sir. 
 
 Judge. Have you heard the evidence in the other cases ? 
 
 Juror. (Eagerly.) Yes, sir. 
 
 Judge. I mean, if you have heard the evidence, and are likely to 
 be influenced by it, you are disqualified here. Have you heard much 
 of the evidence ? 
 
 Juror. No, sir. 
 
 Judge. Have you expressed any opinion as to the guilt of these 
 parties ? 
 
 Juror. Yes, sir, (eagerly again.) 
 
 Judge. Are you, then, capable of judging this case according to 
 the evidence, without reference to what you have before heard said ? 
 
 Juror. Yes, sir. 
 
 Judge. Have you any conscientious scruples, which will prevent 
 you finding this man guilty, because the death penalty may be his 
 punishment ? 
 
 Juror. Yes, sir, (promptly.) 
 
 Judge. I think you do not understand my question. I ask you if 
 you would hesitate to find this man guilty, because he would be hun* 
 if you did ? 
 
 Juror looks around puzzled, overcome by the abstract nature of th j 
 proposition ? 
 
 Judge. This man will DC hung if you find him guilty. Will that 
 rertainty of his being hung prevent you from finding him guilty, if 
 tho evidence convinces you he is so ? 
 
Judicial Alacrity. 307 
 
 Juror. (Catching the idea.) No, sir no, sir. 
 
 Judge. Very -well, sir ; you can take your seat as a juror." 
 
 Mr. Botts, who had solemnly promised to John Brown 
 to defend him faithfully, did not fulfil this moral and 
 professional obligation, for a jury was obtained without 
 delay and without any objection on his part. The 
 names of these unfortunate men* were announced, 
 but they" were not sworn till the following day. 
 
 At five o clock " the prisoner was carried over to 
 jail on his cot, and the Court adjourned till morning." 
 
 * They were Richard Tirnberlake, Joseph Myers, Thomas Watson, Jr., Isaac Dust, 
 John C. McClure, William llightsdale, Jacob J. Millar, Thomas Osborne, George W. 
 Boyer, John C. Wiltshare, George ^f. Tapp, and "William A. Martin. 
 
III. ,- 
 
 STATE EVIDENCE. 
 
 ON Thursday morning, October 27, the trial began in 
 earnest. John Brown was brought from jail, sup 
 ported on either side for he was too feeble to walk 
 alone, and laid down on his cot within the bar.* The 
 author of the Fugitive Slave Law was present. Did he 
 know that he was witnessing the beginning of the end 
 of the rule of the wicked Power that he represents ? Did 
 he think that the wounded old man on the pallet was un 
 dermining, with his every groan and breath, the founda 
 tions of Human Slavery in America ? As John Brown 
 embodied the Northern religious anti-slavery idea, so 
 Senator Mason, who now gazed at him, incarnated 
 the Southern idolatrous principle of infidelity to man. 
 Yet, seemingly, how reversed did their positions ap 
 pear ! The Slave Liberator with no earthly prospect 
 but a speedy death on the gallows ; and the Slave 
 Extraditionist buoyed up with the hope of soon filling 
 the Presidential Chair ! 
 
 A PLEA OF INSANITY. 
 
 The plea of insanity first advanced by political 
 
 * See the engraving. 
 
 (308) 
 
State Evidence. 309 
 
 monomaniacs in the Northern States, who could not un 
 derstand a heroic action when they saw one, and yet, 
 admiring his spirit, were unwilling to denounce John 
 Brown was brought forward, before the jury were 
 sworn, by the production of a telegraphic despatch from 
 Ohio. It asserted that insanity was hereditary in John 
 Brown s family ; that his mother s sister died with it, 
 and her daughter was now in an insane asylum ; and 
 that three of the children of his maternal uncle were 
 also mentally deranged. 
 
 " Mr. Botts said, that on receiving the above despatch, he went to the 
 jail with his associate, Mr. Green, and read it to Brown, and was de 
 sired by him to say that in his father s family there has never been any 
 insanity at all. On his mother s side there have been repeated instances 
 of it. He adds that his first wife showed symptoms of it, which were 
 also evident in his first and second sons by that wife. Some portions 
 of the statements in the despatch he knows to be correct, and of other 
 portions he is ignorant. He does not know whether his mother s sis 
 ter died in the lunatic asylum ; but he does believe that a daughter of 
 that sister has been two years in the asylum. He also believes that a 
 son and daughter of his mother s brother have been confined in an 
 asylum ; but he is not apprised of the fact that another son of that 
 brother is now insane, and in close confinement. Brown also desires 
 his counsel to say that he does not put in the plea of insanity." * 
 
 John Brown then rose, and spurned the plea thus 
 sought to be introduced. He said : 
 
 "I will add, if the Court will allow me, that 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 eon- 
 tempt more than otherwise. Insane persons, so far as my experience 
 goes, have but little ability to judge of their own sanity ; and if I am 
 insane, of course I should think I knew more than all the rest of the 
 world. But I do not think so. I am perfectly unconscious of insan 
 ity, and I reject, so far as I am capable, any attempts to interfere in my 
 behalf on that score/ 
 
 * Report of Associated Press. 
 
310 State Evidence. 
 
 A DAY S DELAY EEFUSED. 
 
 " The course taken by Brown this morning," writes 
 a pro-slavery correspondent, "makes it evident that he 
 sought no postponement for the mere purpose of de 
 lay." And yet, although the prisoner again asked for 
 a suspension of the proceedings for one day only, until 
 a lawyer in Ohio, to whom he had written, and who 
 had telegraphed a reply, should arrive in Chaiiestown, 
 the Court again refused to grant the request, and or 
 dered the examination to proceed ! Mr. Hunter, in 
 opposing the request, involuntarily showed that he re 
 garded the trial as a form only, a mockery of justice, 
 and expressed his belief that the old man was less 
 solicitous for a fair trial than to give to his friends the 
 time and opportunity to organize a rescue. Mr. Hard 
 ing, with greater brutality, asserted that the prisoner 
 was merely shamming sickness although he could not 
 stand unsupported for any length of time, and was cov 
 ered with wounds, not one of which had healed ! 
 
 The Jury were sworn, and the indictment read. The 
 Court permitted the prisoner, while arraigned, to re 
 main prostrate on his pallet. He did so. The in 
 dictment charged Insurrection, Treason, and Murder < 
 John Brown pleaded Not Guilty. 
 
 ARGUMENTS OP THE COUNSEL. 
 
 Mr, Hunter then stated the facts that he designed to 
 prove by the evidence for the prosecution, and reviewed 
 the laws relating to the offences charged on the pris 
 oner, and concluded by hypocritically 
 
 " Urging the jury to cast aside all prejudices, and give the prisoners 
 a fair and impartial trial, and not to allow their hatred of Abolition 
 ists to influence them against those who have raised the black flag 
 on the soil of this Commonwealth." 
 
State Evidence. 311 
 
 Mr. Green responded, stating what should be proved, 
 and how, to convict of the offences charged : 
 
 1. To establish the charge of treason it must be proven 
 that the prisoner attempted to establish a separate and 
 distinct government within the limits of Yirginia, and 
 the purpose also of any treasonable acts ; and this, not 
 by any confessions of his own, elsewhere made, but by 
 two different witnesses for each and every act. 
 
 2. To establish the charge of a conspiracy with slaves, 
 
 "The jury must be satisfied that such conspiracy was done within 
 the State of Virginia, and within the jurisdiction of this Court. If it 
 was done in Maryland, this Court could not punish the act. If it was 
 done within the limits of the Armory at Harper s Ferry, it was not 
 done within the limits of this State, the Government of the United 
 States holding exclusive jurisdiction within the said grounds. Attor 
 ney General Gushing had decided this point with regard to the Armory 
 grounds at Harper s Fc-rry, which opinion was read to the jury, show 
 ing that persons residing within the limits of the Armory cannot even 
 be taxed by Virginia, and that crimes committed within the said limits 
 are punishable by Federal Courts." 
 
 3. Over murder, (he argued,) if committed within the 
 limits of the Armory, the Court had no jurisdiction ; 
 and, in the case of Mr. Beckham, if he was killed on 
 the railroad bridge, it was committed within the State 
 of Maryland, which claims jurisdiction up to the Armory 
 grounds. 
 
 Mr. Botts followed him, and supported these views. 
 The only noteworthy thing he said was, that 
 
 "It is due to the prisoner to state that he believed himself to be 
 actuated by the highest and noblest feelings that ever cour?^d through 
 a human breast. They could prove by those gentlemen who were 
 prisoners that they were treated with respect, and that they were kept 
 in positions of safety, and that no violence was offered to them. These 
 facts must be taken into consideration, and have their due weight with 
 the jury." 
 
312 State Evidence. 
 
 Mr. Hunter replied. The State law of treason, he 
 argued, was more full than that of the Federal Con 
 stitution. 
 
 " It includes within its definition of treason, the establishing, without 
 the authority of the Legislature, any Government within its limits 
 separate from the existing Government, or the holding or executing, 
 under such Government, of any office, professing allegiance or fidel 
 ity to it, or resisting the execution of law under the color of its 
 authority ; and it goes on to declare that such treason, if proved by 
 the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or by confession 
 in Court, shall be punished with death. Any one of these acts consti 
 tutes treason against this Commonwealth ; and he believed that the 
 prisoner had been guilty of each and all these acts, which would be 
 proven in the clearest manner, not by two, but by a dozen witnesses, 
 unless limited by the lack of time. The prisoner had attempted to 
 break down the existing Government of the Commonwealth, and 
 establish on its ruins a new Government ; he had usurped the office 
 of Commander-in-chief of this new Government, and, together with 
 his whole band, professed allegiance and fidelity to it ; he represented 
 not only the civil authorities of State, but our own military ; he is 
 doubly, trebly, and quaclruply guilty of treason. Mr. Hunter pro 
 ceeded again to the question of jurisdiction over the Armory grounds, 
 and examined the authority, cited on the other side, of Attorney Gen 
 eral Gushing. The latter was an able man ; but he came from a region 
 of country where opinions are very different from ours in relation to 
 the power of the Federal Government as affecting State rights. Our 
 Courts are decidedly adverse^ to Mr. Cushing s views. In. all time 
 past, the jurisdiction of this County of Jefferson in criminal offences 
 committed at Harper s Ferry, has been uninterrupted and unchallenged, 
 whether they were committed on the Government property or not. 
 He cited an instance, twenty-nine years ago, where an atrocious mur 
 der was committed between the very shops in front of which these 
 men fought their battles, and the criminal was tried here, convicted, 
 and executed under our laws. There was a broad difference between 
 the cession of jurisdiction by Virginia to the Federal Government and 
 mere assent of the State that the Federal Government should become a 
 i landholder within its limits. The law of Virginia, by virtue of which 
 ! the grounds at Harper s Ferry were purchased by the Federal Gov 
 ernment, ceded no jurisdiction. Bro\vn was also guilty, on his own 
 notorious confession, in advising conspiracy. In regard to the charge 
 of murder, the proof will be, that this man was not only actually 
 sngaged in murdering our citizens, but that he was the chief director 
 
State Evidence. 313 
 
 of the whole movement. No matter whether he was present on the 
 spot, or a mile off, he is equally guilty." 
 
 EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES. 
 
 The examination of witnesses was commenced at the 
 afternoon session. The conductor of the train was 
 first called, narrated the circumstances of its stoppage 
 on the morning of Monday, October 17, and thus de 
 scribed his interview with Captain Brown : 
 
 " I met a man whom I now recognize as Coppic, and asked what 
 they meant. He replied, "We don t want to injure you or detain 
 your train. You could have gone at three o clock : all we want is to free 
 the negroes. I then asked if my train could now start, and went to 
 the guard at the gate, who said, There is Captain Smith ; he can 
 tell you what you want to know. I went to the engine house, and 
 the guard called Captain Smith. The prisoner at the bar came out, 
 and I asked him if he was captain of these men. He replied he was. 
 I asked him if I could cross the bridge, and he peremptorily re 
 sponded, No, sir. I then asked him what he meant by stopping my 
 train. He replied, Are you the conductor on that train ? I told 
 him I was, and he said, Why, I sent you word at three o clock that you 
 could pass. I told him that, after being stopped by armed men on the 
 bridge. I would not pass with my train. He replied, < My head for it, 
 you will not be hurt ; and said he was very sorry. It was not his in 
 tention that any blood should be spilled ; it was bad management on 
 the part of the men in charge of the bridge. I then asked him what 
 security I would have that my train would pass safely, and asked him 
 if he would walk over the bridge ahead of my train with me. He 
 called a large, stout man to accompany him, and one of my passen 
 gers, Mr. McByrne, asked to accompany me ; but Brown ordered him 
 to get into the train, or he would take them all prisoners in five min 
 utes ; but it was advice more than in the form of a threat. Brown 
 accompanied me ; both had rifles. As we crossed the bridge, the three 
 armed men were still in their places. When we got across, Brown 
 said to me, You, doubtless, wonder that a man of my age should be 
 here with a band of armed men ; but if you knew my past history, 
 you would not wonder at it so much. My train was then through 
 the bridge, and I bade him good morning, jumped on my train, and 
 left him." 
 
 He narrated the conversation between Captain Brown 
 and Governor Wise, when the Liberator was confined 
 
 27 
 
314 State Evidence. 
 
 in the guard house at Harper s Ferry, in which he said 
 that the prisoner stated, in reply to a question, that he 
 thought he had been betrayed to the Secretary of War, 
 but had practised a ruse to prevent suspicion ; yet re 
 fused to inform them whom he believed to be the trai 
 tor, or how he had acted to avert the consequences of 
 the betrayal. 
 
 John Brown thus alluded to Colonel Forbes and his 
 own third visit to Kansas. 
 
 During the examination of this witness, a despatch 
 arrived from Cleveland, announcing that Northern 
 counsel would arrive in Charlestown that evening ; 
 whereupon the Virginia counsel for John Brown, in his 
 name, asked that the cross-examination might be post 
 poned till the following morning. It was already late 
 in the evening, but the prosecuting attorney resisted 
 the request, because : 
 
 "If the cases were not pushed on, the whole balance of the term 
 would not be sufficient to try these men. He thought there was no 
 reason for delay, especially as it teas uncertain ichether the counsel could 
 get here before to-morrow ! " 
 
 The Court, as usual, ordered the case to proceed. 
 
 Colonel Washington described his arrest, and testified 
 that Captain Brown permitted his prisoners to keep in 
 a safe position ; that he never spoke rudely or insult 
 ingly to them ; that he allowed them to go out, to quiet 
 tlieii- families, by assuring them of their personal 
 safety ; that he heard him direct his men, on several 
 occasions, never to fire on an unarmed citizen ; that he 
 assured the captives that they should be treated well, 
 and none of their property destroyed ; and that he 
 overheard a conversation between Stevens and another 
 
State Evidence. 315 
 
 person, on Southern Institutions, in the course of which 
 tnat Liberator asked, " if he was in favor of slavery ? " 
 and, 011 receiving the reply, that, although a non-slave 
 holder, yet, " as a citizen of the South, he would sus 
 tain the cause," immediately answered, " Then you are 
 the first man I would hang ; you deserve it more than 
 a man who is a slaveholder and sustains his interests." 
 He could not swear whether the marines fired after 
 they broke into the engine house ; the noise, he said, 
 was great, and several shouted from the inside that 
 some one had surrendered among the prisoners. 
 
 This evidence ended the proceedings of the Court on 
 Thursday. The official report closed with this extraor 
 dinary announcement : " Orders have been given to 
 the jailers to shoot all the prisoners if an attempt is 
 made for their rescue" 
 
 When it is borne in mind that the only offence of 
 these prisoners was an effort to fulfil two commands of 
 Jesus, " Do unto others as ye would that others should 
 do unto you," and " Remember those in bonds, as bound 
 with them ; " and that, by the laws of every free Com 
 monwealth, the accused man, until convicted of a 
 crime, is held to be guiltless, what a fearful picture 
 of the civilization and Christianity of Virginia does 
 this barbarous and bloody order hold up to our view ! 
 
IV. 
 
 STATE EVIDENCE CLOSED. 
 
 was great exultation in Charlestown on Fri 
 day, October 28. John E. Cook was brought in 
 as a prisoner, by men who, in a Free State, betrayed 
 and seized him, for the price of his blood, previously 
 offered by Governor Wise. But until this record of the 
 outrage called the trial of John Brown be completed, I 
 will not divert the attention of the reader to the fears 
 and hopes, the crimes and prayers which were agitating 
 the world outside of the Court House and the Jail of 
 Chaiiestown. 
 
 On Friday morning, Mr. Hoyt, a young Boston law 
 yer, arrived as a volunteer counsel for John Brown ; 
 and, although declining to act until he obtained a 
 knowledge of the case, was qualified as a member of 
 the bar. 
 
 The testimony for the prosecution was resumed. 
 Colonel Washington, recalled, stated that he heard 
 Captain Brown frequently complain of the bad faith of 
 the people by firing on his men when under a flag of 
 truce ; " but he heard him make no threat, nor utter any 
 vindictiveness against them;" and that, " during the 
 
 (316) 
 
State Evidence Clofed. 317 
 
 day, one of Brown s sons was shot in the breast, the 
 ball passing around to the side ; but he took his weapon 
 again and fired repeatedly before his sufferings com 
 pelled him to retire." 
 
 Mr. Hunter then laid before the Jury the printed 
 Constitution and Ordinance of the Provisional Govern 
 ment, and a large bundle of letters and papers. He 
 asked that the Sheriff, who knew the handwriting of 
 the prisoner, be brought to identify his handwriting. 
 
 John Brown. I will identify any of my handwriting, 
 and save all that trouble. I am ready to face the music. 
 
 Mr. Hunter. I prefer to prove them by Mr. Camp 
 bell. 
 
 John Brown. Either way you please. 
 
 The bundle of letters was then opened ; each was 
 identified by Campbell, and then handed to the pris 
 oner, who, in a firm tone, replied, "Yes that is 
 mine," as soon as he recognized his writing. 
 
 Mr. Hunter presented the form of Government established by the 
 insurgents, and read a list of the members of the Convention. It is 
 headed, "William Charles Morris, President of the Convention, and 
 II. Kagi, Secretary of the Convention." On handing the list to 
 Brown, he exclaimed, with a groan, "That is my signature." 
 
 Mr. Ball, master machinist of the Armory, one of the prisoners 
 made by Captain Brown, testified as to his arrest, and stated that he 
 " was conducted to Captain Brown, who told me his object was to free 
 the slaves, and not the making of war on the people ; that my person 
 and private property would be safe ; that his war wa s against the 
 accursed system of slavery ; that he had power to do it, and would 
 carry it out ; it was no child s play he had undertaken. He then gave 
 me permission to return to my family, to assure them of my safety 
 and get my breakfast ; started back home, and was accompanied by 
 two armed men, who stopped at the door ; breakfast not being ready, 
 went back, and was allowed to return home again, under escort, at a 
 later hour ; on returning again, Captain Brown said it was his determi 
 nation to seize the arms and munitions of the Government, to arm the 
 blacks to defend themselves against their masters." 
 
31 8 State Evidence Clofed. 
 
 He testified, also, as to several incidents narrated 
 in the account of the fight. He added, in his cross- 
 examination, that 
 
 "Brown repeatedly said that he would injure no one but in self- 
 defence, and Coppic frequently urged us to seek places of safety ; but 
 Brown did not he appeared to desire us to take care of ourselves. 
 There were three or four slaves in the engine hotfse ; they had spears, 
 but all seemed badly scared ; Washington Phil was ordered by Brown 
 to cut a port-hole through the brick wall ; he continued until a brisk 
 fire commenced outside, when he said, This is getting too hot for Phil, 
 and he squatted. Brown then took up the tools and finished the 
 hole." 
 
 John Allstadt told how he was brought from his farm 
 by a party of men who declared that their object was 
 to " free the country from slavery ; " described his 
 detention at the engine house, and various incidents of 
 the fight there ; said that " the negroes were placed in 
 the watch house with spears in their hands, but showed 
 no disposition to use them ; that he saw Phil making 
 port-holes by the Captain s order, but that the other 
 negroes did nothing, and had dropped their weapons 
 some of them being asleep nearly all the time ; that 
 John Brown s rifle was always cocked, and that he 
 believed, although he would not swear, that it was the 
 old man himself who shot the marine. 
 
 Alexander Kelly described the manner of Thomas 
 Boerley s death. He was armed with a gun when 
 killed. George W. Turner, also, was killed as he was 
 levelling his rifle. 
 
 Albert Grist described his arrest, by a man armed 
 with a spear, on Sunday night, and his detention in the 
 Armory until he was dismissed by Captain Brown, after 
 delivering a message to the conductor of the train. 
 
State Evidence Clofed. 319 
 
 " Brown," ho said, " declared that his object was to free 
 the slaves. I told him there were not many there. 
 He replied : The good Book says we are all free and 
 equal. " 
 
 At the afternoon session of Friday, three additional 
 witnesses were produced for the State, but their testi 
 mony presented no new facts ; and Henry Hunter, who 
 is described as " a very intelligent young gentleman, 
 apparently about twenty-two years of age, the son of 
 Andrew Hunter, Esq., who conducts the prosecution," 
 was examined as to the murder of Thompson. 
 
 Although, technically, the record of the evidence for 
 the prosecution should here close, it will be seen, by 
 the subsequent proceedings, that, in consequence of the 
 intentional negligence of the prisoner s Virginia coun 
 sel, it was not concluded till the adjournment of the 
 Court. The defence began on the following day. Yet, 
 in this Friday s proceedings, one incident of the conflict 
 at Harper s Ferry, as described by a witness first intro 
 duced by the State, is so characteristic of the spirit 
 engendered by slavery, so faithful a mirror of modern 
 Southern chivalry, that it deserves to be reported in 
 full, and preserved as a contrast to the conduct of the 
 Liberators. 
 
 THE MURDER OF THOMPSON. 
 
 Mr. Green stated to the Court that he desired to bring out testi 
 mony relative to the shooting of Thompson, one of the insurgents, on 
 the bridge ; but the State objected to it, unless Brown had a knowledge 
 of that shooting. 
 
 ?Jr. Hunter said there was a deal of testimony about Brown s for 
 bearance and not shooting citizens, that had no more to do with this 
 case than the dead languages. If he understood the offer, it was tc 
 show that one of those men, named Thompson, a prisoner, was de 
 
320 State Evidence Clofcd. 
 
 spatched after Beckham s death. The circumstances of the deed might be 
 such as he himself might not at all approve. He did not know how 
 that might be, but he desired to avoid any investigation that might be 
 used. Not that it was so designed by the respectable counsel employed 
 in the case, but because he thoiight the object of the prisoner in get 
 ting at it was for out-door effect and influence. He therefore said if 
 the defence could show that this prisoner was aware of these circum 
 stances, and the manner in which that party was killed, and still 
 exerted forbearance, he would not object. But "unless the knowledge 
 of it could be brought home to the prisoner and his after conduct, he 
 could not see its relevancy, 
 
 Mr. Green, counsel for defence, contended that they had a right to 
 infer that Brown had been made aware of it, as it was already proved 
 that communications passed between him and the citizens several times 
 after the killing of Thompson. 
 
 Judge Parker decided that the whole transaction of that day con 
 stituted a part of the res gesta, and might be inquired into. 
 
 Henry Hunter called, examined by counsel for defence. 
 
 Q. Did you witness the death of this man Thompson ? 
 
 A. I witnessed the death of one whose name I have been informed 
 was Thompson. 
 
 Q. The one who was a prisoner ? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Well, sir, what were the circumstances attending it ? 
 
 A. Do you Avish my own connection with it, or simply a description 
 of the circumstances ? Shall I mention the names ? 
 
 Mr. Andreio Hunter. Every bit of it, Henry ; state all you saw. 
 
 Witness. There was a prisoner confined in the parlor of the hotel, 
 and after Mr. Beckham s death he was shot down by a number of us 
 there belonging to this sharp- shooting band. 
 
 Mr. Andreio Hunter. Will you allow him to state, before proceeding 
 further, how he was connected with Mr. Beckham ? 
 
 Mr. Green. Certainly, sir. 
 
 Witness. He was my grand-uncle and my special friend a man 
 I loved above all others. After he was killed, Mr. Chambers and 
 myself moved forward to the hotel for the purpose of taking the pris 
 oner out and hanging him ; we were joined by a number of other 
 persons, Avho cheered us on in that work ; we went up into his room, 
 where he was bound, with the undoubted and undisguised purpose of 
 taking his life ; at the door we were stopped by persons guarding the 
 door, who remonstrated with us, and the excitement was so great that 
 persons who remonstrated with us at one moment would cheer us on 
 the next , we burst into the room where he was, and found several 
 
State Evidence Clofed. 321 
 
 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 delib 
 erate ; my gun was pushed up by some one who seized the barrel, and 
 I then moved to the back part of the room, still with purpose un 
 changed, 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. 
 
 By-the-by, before we took him out of the room, I asked the ques 
 tion what he came here for : he said their only purpose was to free 
 the slaves or die ; then he begged, " Don t take my life a prisoner ; " 
 but I put the gun to him, and he said, " You may kill me, but it will 
 be revenged; there are eighty thousand persons sworn to carry out 
 this work ; " that was his last expression ; we bore him or* on the 
 bridge with the purpose then of hanging him ; we had no rope, and 
 none could be found ; it was a moment of wild excitement ; two of 
 us raised our guns which one was first I do not know and pulled 
 the trigger ; before he had reached the ground, I suppose some five 
 or six shots had been fired into his body ; he fell on the railroad track, 
 his back down to the earth, and his face up ; we then went back for 
 the purpose of getting another one, (Stevens ;) but he was sick or 
 wounded, and persons around him, and I persuaded them myself to 
 let him alone; I said, " Don t let us operate on him, but go around 
 and get some more ; " we did this act with a purpose, thinking it right 
 and justifiable under the circumstances, and fired and excited by the 
 cowardly, savage manner in which Mr. Beckham s life had been 
 taken. 
 
 Mr. Andrezv Hunter. Is that all, gentlemen ? 
 
 Mr. Botts. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr, Andrew Hunter. (To the witness.) Stand aside. 
 
322 State Evidence Clofed. 
 
 This sworn statement of a cold-blooded murder, by 
 one of the perpetrators of it, elicited not one word of 
 condemnation from any journal published in the South 
 ern Slates. 
 
 Wm. M. Williams, the watchman, stated the particulars of his arrest 
 and confinement in the watch house. Capt. Brown told the prisoners 
 to hide themselves, or they would be shot by the people outside ; he 
 said he would not hurt any of them. He told Sir. Grist to tell the 
 people to cease firing, or he would burn the town ; but if they didn t 
 molest him, he wouldn t molest them ; heard two shots on the bridge 
 about the time the express train arrived, but did not see Hayward 
 killed. 
 
 Capt. Brown. State what was said by myself, and not about his 
 being shot. 
 
 Williams. I think you said that if he had taken care of himself, 
 he would not have suffered. 
 
 Reason Cross. I prepared a proposition that Brown should retain 
 the possession of the Armory, that he should release us, and that the 
 firing should stop. 
 
 Capt. Brown. Were there two written propositions drawn up while 
 you were prisoner ? 
 
 Cross. Yes, there was another paper prepared by Kitzmiller and 
 some others. I went out to stop the firing ; a man went with me, 
 and they took him prisoner and tied him ; this was Thompson, who 
 was afterwards taken out and shot; Brown s treatment of me was 
 kind and respectful ; heard him talk roughly to some men who were 
 going in to where the blacks were confined. 
 
 Several witnesses for the defence were then called, 
 but none of them answered to their subpoenas. They 
 had not been returned. There was no doubt, now, 
 that the trial would have been closed at once ; for, 
 up to this period, no earnest effort had been made, by 
 the counsel for the defence, to compel the Court to 
 grant a brief delay ; when, unexpectedly, John Brown 
 arose from his mattress and addressed the Judge. 
 JOHN BROWN S SPEECH. 
 
 May it Please the Court I discover that, notwithstanding all the 
 assurances I have received of a fair trial, nothing like a fair trial 
 
State Evidence Clofed. 323 
 
 is to be given me, as it would seem. I gave the names, as soon 
 HS I could get them, of the persons I wished to have called as wit 
 nesses, and was assured that they would be subpoenaed. I wrote 
 down a memorandum to that effect, saying where these parties were ; 
 but if appears that they have not been subpoenaed, so far as I can 
 learn. And now I ask, if I am to have any thing at all deserving 
 the name and shadow of a fair trial, that this proceeding be deferred 
 until to-morrow morning ; for I have no counsel, as I have before 
 stated, on whom I feel that I can rely ; but I am in hopes counsel 
 may arrive who will attend to seeing that I get the witnesses who are 
 necessary for my defence. I am myself unable to attend to it. I have 
 given all the attention I possibly could to it, but am unable to see or 
 know about them, and can t even find out their names ; and I have 
 nobody to do any errands, for my money was all taken from me 
 when I was sacked and stabbed, and I have not a dime. I had two 
 hundred and fifty or sixty dollars in gold and silver taken from my 
 pocket, and now I have no possible means of getting any body to do 
 my errands for me, and I have not had all the witnesses subpoenaed. 
 They are not within reach, and are not here. I ask at least until 
 to-morrow morning to have something done, if any thing is designed ; 
 if not, I am ready for any thing that may come up. 
 
 The old man lay down again, drew his blanket over 
 him, closed his eyes, and appeared to sink in tranquil 
 slumber. 
 
 This bold speech, with its modest request, (which 
 was seconded by Mr. Hoyt, who, we are told, " arose 
 amid great sensation," and stated that other counsel 
 would arrive to-night,) shamed the unfaithful Virginia 
 advocates into an immediate resignation, and the Court 
 into an adjournment till the following morning. But 
 it is due to the reputation of Mr. Hunter to say, that 
 he resolutely resisted this action. 
 
 "The town," flashed the telegraph, "is greatly 
 excited ; the guard has been increased ; the conduct 
 of Brown is regarded as a trick." The very appear 
 ance of decency alarmed the citizens of Charlestown ! 
 
V. 
 
 THE DEFENCE. 
 
 JOHN BROWN cared little for posthumous fame ; 
 but for his reputation, as a help or hinderance to 
 the cause of the slave, he had a just degree of solici 
 tude. He did not wish to die with the character of a 
 robber or a murderer. He desired to show that he 
 had shed no blood, committed no violence, done no 
 uncourteous act, uttered no unkind or vindictive say 
 ing, beyond what the furtherance of his plan demanded 
 above or outside of the absolute necessities of his 
 holy scheme and dangerous situation. While freely 
 admitting every act that he committed, therefore, and 
 having no hope whatever of a verdict of acquital, or of 
 a pardon, he sought to prove in Court, by the evidence 
 of his enemies, that he had not in any way transcended 
 the obligations of his divinely-appointed mission. This 
 design, of course, was not acceptable to Virginia; and 
 her loyal sons, therefore, Messrs. Botts and Green, 
 although they often stated their determination to see 
 justice done, took no efficient steps to secure its fulfil 
 ment. This is a copy of the brief directions given to 
 them at the commencement of the trial : it is tran- 
 
 (324) 
 
The Defence. 325 
 
 scribed from the original, in the old hero s hand 
 writing : 
 
 JOHN BROWN S DIRECTIONS TO HIS COUNSEL. 
 
 We gave to numerous prisoners perfect liberty. 
 
 Get all their names. 
 
 We allowed numerous other prisoners to visit their families, to quiet 
 their fears. 
 
 Get all their names. 
 
 "VVe allowed the conductor to pass his train over the bridge with all 
 his passengers, I myself crossing the bridge with him, and assuring all 
 the passengers of their perfect safety. 
 
 Get that conductor s name, and the names of the passengers, so far as 
 may be. 
 
 We treated all our prisoners with the utmost kindness and humanity. 
 
 Get all their names, so far as may be. 
 
 Our orders, from the first and throughout, were, that no unarmed 
 person should be injured, under any circumstances whatever. 
 
 Prove that by ALL the prisoners. 
 
 We committed no destruction or waste of property. 
 
 Prove that. 
 
 The Court assembled at ten o clock on Saturday. 
 John Brown was brought in and laid on his pallet. 
 Mr. Samuel Chilton, of Washington City, and Mr. 
 Henry Griswold, of Ohio, appeared as additional coun 
 sel for the prisoner. 
 
 Mr. Chilton rose and said, that, on his arrival in 
 Charlestown, after finding that the counsel whom he 
 had come to assist had retired from the case, he hesi 
 tated about undertaking it ; it was only at the urgent 
 r )licitation of the prisoner and his friends, that he had 
 n ^w consented to do so ; but, not having had time to 
 read the indictment or the evidence already given, it 
 was impossible for him to discharge the full duty of a 
 counsel. So, also, with Mr. Griswold. A short delay 
 a few hours only would enable them to make some 
 preparation. 
 
 28 
 
326 The Defence. 
 
 The Court, as usual, refused the request, and re 
 ferred, with some asperity, to the recent speech of the 
 plain-spoken prisoner. " This term," said the Judge, 
 " will very soon end ; and it is my duty to endeavor to 
 get through with all the cases if possible , in justice to 
 the prisoners, and in justice to the State. The trial 
 must proceed." 
 
 Mr. Hoyt, after objecting to certain papers, (which 
 were withdrawn,) and asking certain questions relative 
 to the witnesses he had summoned, called on John P. 
 Dangerfield, of Harper s Ferry, to testify. From the 
 evidence for the defence, it is unnecessary to quote 
 more than those passages which refer to the object that 
 John Brown had in view, and a few brief incidents of 
 the conflict not elsewhere noted : 
 
 John P. Dangerfield. "Was a prisoner in the hands of Capt. Brown 
 at the engine house. About a dozen black men were there, armed 
 with pikes, which they carried most awkwardly and unwillingly. 
 During the firing they were lying about asleep, some of them having 
 crawled under the engines. From the treatment of Capt. Brown he 
 had no personal fear of him or his men during his confinement. Saw 
 one of John Brown s sons shot in the engine hoiise ; he fell back, ex 
 claiming, " It s all up with me," and died in a few moments. Another 
 son came in and commenced to vomit blood ; he icas icounded while out 
 zvith Mr. Kitzmitller, (carrying a flag of truce.) The prisoner frequently 
 complained that his men were shot down while carrying a flag of 
 truce. 
 
 Mr. Hunter again tried to arrest the production of 
 evidence so disgraceful to the Virginians ; but even 
 the barbarous code of his native State did not prevent 
 the presentation of proof tending to show the absence 
 of malice. The witness was allowed to proceed : 
 
 " Brown promised safety to all descriptions of property except slave 
 property. After the first attack Capt. Brown cried out to surrender. 
 Saw Brown wounded on the hip by a thrust from a sabre, and several 
 
The Defence. 327 
 
 sabre cuts on his head. When the latter wounds icere given, Capt. Brown 
 appeared to be shielding himself with his head doicn, bat making no resist 
 ance. The parties outside appeared to be firing as they pleased." 
 
 Major Mills, master of the armory, was next sworn. 
 
 " Was one of the hostages of Capt. Brown in the engine house. . . . 
 Brown s son went out ivith a flag of truce, and ^vas shot. Heard Brown 
 frequently complain that the citizens had acted in a barbarous manner. 
 He did not appear to have any malicious feeling. His intentions were 
 to shoot nobody unless they were carrying or using arms." 
 
 John Brown here asked whether the witness saw any 
 firing on his part that was not purely defensive. 
 
 " Witness. It might be considered in that light, perhaps ; the balls 
 came into the engine house pretty thick." 
 
 A conversation here ensued between John Brown, 
 lying on his cot, and Mr. Dangerfield, as to the part 
 taken by the prisoner in not unnecessarily exposing his 
 hostages to danger. The witness generally corrob 
 orated the Liberator s version of the circumstances at 
 tending the attack on the engine house, but could not 
 testify to all the incidents that he enumerated. He 
 did not hear him say that he surrendered. The wife 
 and daughter of the witness were permitted to visit 
 him unmolested, and free verbal communication was 
 allowed with those outside. " We were treated kindly, 
 but were compelled to stay where we didn t want to be " 
 
 Samuel Snider, the next witness, corroborated the 
 evidence of Mr. Dangerfield ; asserting that the pris 
 oner honestly endeavored to protect his hostages, and 
 wished to make peace more for their sake than his per 
 sonal safety. 
 
 Mr. Hoyt s sudden indisposition caused the Court to 
 adjourn for ah hour. 
 
 At two o clock in the afternoon, the testimony was 
 
328 The Defence. 
 
 resumed, and the examination conducted Vy Mr. 
 Griswold. 
 
 Captain Simms, commander of the Frederick Vol 
 unteers, was the first witness. 
 
 " Brown complained," he said, " that his men were shot down like 
 dogs while bearing a flag of truce. I told him that they must expect 
 to be shot down like dogs, if they took up arms ia-that way." 
 
 What an appalling declaration for an American cit 
 izen to make that men who interfere in behalf of 
 the heavily oppressed, the despised poor, for whom 
 Jesus suffered on the Cross of Calvary, but whom Vir 
 ginia converts into mere articles of merchandise, 
 "must expect" in a country which boasts of its 
 freedom and devotion to human rights " to be shot 
 down like dogs " ! How horrible, and how horribly 
 true ! 
 
 11 Brown said he knew what he had to undergo when he came there. 
 He had weighed the responsibility, and should not shrink from it ; he 
 said he had full possession of the town, and could have massacred all 
 the inhabitants, had he thought proper to do so ; but, as he had not, he 
 considered himself entitled to some terms. He said he shot no one 
 who had not carried arms. I told him that Mayor Beckham had been 
 killed, and that I knew he was altogether unarmed. He seemed sorry 
 to hear of his death, and said, I fight only those who fight me. I 
 saw Stevens at the hotel after he had been wounded [ while carrying a 
 flag of truce], and shamed some y oung men who were endeavoring to shoot 
 him, as he lay in his bed, apparently dying. . . . He had no sympathy 
 for the acts of the prisoner, but he regarded him as a brave man." 
 
 Two other witnesses corroborated these evidences of 
 the old hero s courage and humanity, and of the cow 
 ardly barbarity of the Virginians. The defence here 
 rested their case. 
 
 LAWYERS TONGUE-FENCING. 
 
 Whereupon, the lawyers began their preliminary 
 
The Defence. 329 
 
 duties to submit various motions and make objec 
 tions thereto. For such as admire this description of 
 debate, I submit the official report of it. 
 A MOTION. 
 
 Mr. Chilian, for the prisoner, rose and submitted a motion that the 
 prosecution in this case be compelled to elect one count of the indict 
 ment and abandon the others. The indictment consists of four counts, 
 and is indorsed thus : An indictment for treason, and advising and 
 conspiring with slaves and others to rebel. The charge of treason is 
 in the first, and the second count alleges a charge different from that 
 which is indorsed on the back of the indictment, and which is upon 
 record. The second count is under the following statute: "If a free 
 person advise or conspire with a slave to rebel or make an insurrec 
 tion, he shall be punished with death, whether such rebellion or insur 
 rection be made or not." But the second count of the indictment is, 
 that these parties, who are charged by the indictment, " conspired, 
 together with other persons, to induce certain slaves, the property of 
 of Messrs. Allstadt and Washington, to make rebellion and insurrec 
 tion." There is a broad distinction between advising and conspiring 
 with slaves to rebel, and conspiring with others to induce slaves to 
 rebel. Whether he was to avail himself of their irregularity by 
 instruction from the Court to the Jury to disregard this second count 
 entirely, or whether it w r ould be proper to wait until the conclusion of 
 the trial, and then move an arrest of judgment, he left his Honor to 
 decide. He proceeded to argue the motion that the prosecution be 
 compelled to elect one count and abandon the others, quoting Archi 
 bald s Criminal Pleading in support of his view. He further alluded 
 to the hardship which rests upon the prisoner to meet various and dis 
 tinct charges in the same trial. From the authority he read, it would 
 be seen that in a case of treason, different descriptions of treason could 
 not be united in the same indictment : high treason could not be asso 
 ciated with other treason. If an inferior grade of the same character 
 could not be included in separate counts, still less can offences of 
 higher grade. Treason in this country is high treason. Treason 
 against the State of Virginia is treason against her sovereignty. We 
 have no other description of treason, because treason can only be com 
 mitted against sovereignty, whether that of the United States c T of a 
 sovereign State. 
 
 OBJECTIONS. 
 
 Mr. Harding could not see the force of the objection made by the 
 learned counsel on the other side. In regard to separate offences 
 
 28* 
 
330 The Defence. 
 
 being charged, these were but different parts of the same ^ransackon. 
 Treason against the Government is properly made the subject of one 
 of the counts. But we also have a count of murder, for it can hardly 
 be supposed that treason can exist without being followed or accom 
 panied by murder. Murder arose out of this treason, and was the 
 natural result of this bloody conspiracy ; yet, after all the evidence has- 
 been given on all these points, the objection is made that we must 
 confine ourselves to a single one of them. He hoped that no such 
 motion would be granted. 
 
 Mr. Hunter, in reply to the argument of Mr. Chilton, said that the 
 discretion of the Court compelling the prosecution to elect on one 
 count in the indictment, is only exercised where great embarrassment 
 would otherwise result to the prisoner. As applied to this particular 
 case, it involved this point, that notwithstanding the transaction, as 
 has been disclosed by the evidence, be one transaction, a continued, 
 closely-connected series of acts, which, according to our apprehension 
 of the law of the land, involves the three great offences of treason, 
 conspiring with and advising slaves to make insurrection, and the per 
 petration of murder ; whether, in a case of this character, it is right 
 and proper for the Court to put the prosecution upon their election, as 
 to one of the three, and bar us from investigation of the two others, 
 although they relate to facts involved in one grand fact. Notwith 
 standing the multiplicity of duties devolving upon the prosecutor and 
 assistant prosecutors, yet we have found time to be guarded and care 
 ful in regard to the mode of framing the indictment. It is my work, 
 and I propose to defend it as right and proper. He then proceeded to 
 quote Chitty s Criminal Law and Robinson s Practice, to prove that 
 the discretion of the Court there spoken of, in reference to the further 
 ing of the great object in view, was the attainment of justice. Where 
 the prisoner is not embarrassed in making his defence, this discretion 
 is not to be exercised by the Court, and no case can be shown where 
 the whole ground of the indictment referred to one and the same trans 
 action. This very case in point would show the absurdity of the prin 
 ciple, if it were as broad as contended for by his learned friend. As 
 to the other point of objection, it was too refined and subtle for his 
 poor intellect. 
 
 KEPLY TO THEM. 
 
 Mr. Chilton responded. In order to ascertain what a party is tried 
 for, we must go to the finding of the Grand Jury. If the Grand Jury 
 return an indictment charging the party with murder, finding a true 
 bill for that, and he should be indicted for manslaughter, or any other 
 offence, the Court would not have jurisdiction to try him on that 
 count in the indictment. And the whole question turns on the con- 
 
The Defence. 331 
 
 struction of the section of the statute which has been read, viz., whether 
 or not advising or conspiring with slaves to rebel is a separate and dis 
 tinct offence from conspiring with other persons to induce it. 
 
 THE DECISION. 
 
 The Court said that the difference might perhaps be taken advantage 
 of to move an arrest of judgment; but the Jury had been charged and 
 had been sworn to try the prisoners on the indictment as drawn. The 
 trial must go on, and counsel could afterwards move an arrest of judg 
 ment. As to the other objection, the Court made this answer : The 
 very fact that the offence can be charged in different counts, varying the 
 language and circumstances, is based upon the idea that distinct 
 offences may be charged in the same indictment. The prisoners are to 
 be tried on the various counts as if they were various circumstances. 
 There is no legal objection against charging various crimes in the same 
 indictment. The practice has been to put a party upon election where 
 the prisoner would be embarrassed in his defence ; but that is not the 
 law. In this case, these offences charged are all part of the same trans 
 action, and no case is made out for the Court to interfere and put the 
 parties upon an election. 
 
 APPEAL FOR TIME. 
 
 Mr. Chilton said he would reserve the motion as a basis for a motion 
 in arrest of judgment. 
 
 Mr. Grisicold remarked that the position of all the present counsel 
 of the prisoner was one of very great embarrassment. They had no 
 disposition to interfere with the course of practice, but it -was the 
 desire of the defendant that the case should be argued. He supposed 
 that counsel could obtain sufficient knowledge of the evidence pre 
 viously taken by reading notes of it. But it was now nearly dark. 
 If it was to be argued at all, he supposed the argument for the Com 
 monwealth would probably occupy the attention of the Court until 
 the xisual time for adjournment, unless it was the intention to continue 
 with a late evening session. From what had heretofore transpired, he 
 felt a delicacy in making any request of the Court ; but knowing that 
 the case was now ended except for mere argument, he did not know 
 that it would be asking too much for the Court to adjourn after the 
 opening argument 011 behalf of the prosecution. 
 
 Mr. Hunter said that he would cheerfully bear testimony to the unex 
 ceptionable manner in which the counsel who had just taken his seat 
 had conducted the examination of witnesses to-day. It would afford 
 him very great pleasure, in all ordinary cases, to agree to the indulgence 
 of such a request as the gentleman had just made, and which was en 
 tirely natural. But he was bound to remember, and respectfully 
 
332 The Defence. 
 
 remind the Court, that this state of things, which places counsel IA a 
 somewhat embarrassing position in conducting the defence, is purely 
 and entirely the act of the prisoner. His counsel will not be respon 
 sible for it ; the Court is not responsible for it ; but the unfortunate 
 prisoner is responsible for his own act in dismissing his faithful, skilful, 
 able, and zealous counsel on yesterday afternoon. He would simply say 
 that not only were the jurors kept away from their families by their 
 delays, but there could not be a female in this county, who, whether with 
 good cause or not, was not trembling with anxiety and apprehension, 
 While their courtesy to the counsel and humanity to the prisoner 
 should have due weight, yet the Commonwealth has its rights, the 
 community has its rights, the Jury have their rights, and it was for his 
 Honor to weigh these in opposite scales, and determine whether we 
 should not go on and bring this case to a close to-night. "We had 
 until twelve o clock to do it in. 
 
 ARGUMENT FOE AND AGAINST A DECENT DELAY. 
 
 Mr. Chilian said their client desired that they should argue his case. 
 It was impossible for him to do so now, and he could not allow him 
 self to make an attempt at argument on a case about which he knew 
 so little. If he were to get up at all, it would be for the unworthy 
 purpose of wasting time. He had no such design ; but having under 
 taken this man s cause, he very much desired to comply with his 
 wishes. He would be the last man in the world to subject the jurors 
 to inconvenience unnecessarily ; but although the prisoner may have 
 been to blame, may have acted foolishly, and may have had an 
 improper purpose in so doing, still he could not see that he should 
 therefore be forced to have his case submitted without argument. In 
 a trial for life and death, ice should not be too precipitate. 
 
 The Covirt here consulted with the jurors, who expressed themselves 
 very anxious to get home. 
 
 His Honor said he was desirous of trying this case precisely as he 
 would try another, without any reference at all to outside feeling. 
 
 Mr. Iloyt remarked that he was physically incapable of speaking to 
 night, even if fully prepared. He had worked very hard last night to 
 get the law points, until he fell unconscious from exhaustion and 
 fatigue. For the last five days and nights he had only slept ten hours, 
 and it seemed to him that justice to the person demanded the allow 
 ance of a little time in a case so extraordinary in all its aspects as 
 this. 
 
 The Court suggested that we might have the opening argument for 
 the prosecution to-night, at any rate. 
 
 Mr. Harding would not like to open the argument now, unless the 
 case was to be finished to-night. He was willing, however, to submit 
 
The Defence. 333 
 
 tue case to the jury without a single word, believing they would do the 
 prisoner justice. The prosecution had been met not only on the thresh 
 old, but at every step, with obstructions to the progress of the case. 
 If th*> case was not to be closed to-night, he would like to ask the same 
 indulgence given to the other side, that he might collate the notes of 
 the evidence he had taken. 
 
 The Court inquired what length of time the defence would require 
 for argument on Monday morning. He could then decide whether to 
 grant the request or not. 
 
 After consultation, Mr. Chilton stated that there would be only two 
 speeches by himself and Mr. Griswold, not occupying more than two 
 hours and a half in all. 
 
 Mr. Hunter again entered an earnest protest against delay. 
 
 The Court then ordered the prosecution to proceed. 
 Mr. Hunter spoke forty minutes, and ridiculed as ab 
 surd the expectation of the prisoner that he should 
 have been dealt with by the rules of honorable war 
 fare ! 
 
 The Court then adjourned till Monday ; and the 
 brave old man, satisfied that his motives were now 
 correctly understood, and that no injury to the Cause 
 would ensue from his heroic unsuccess, was carried 
 back on the pallet to his cell in the prison. ~He re 
 turned there a conqueror. 
 
VI. 
 
 LAWYERS PLEAS. 
 
 Court reassembled early on Monday morning, 
 JL October 31. John Brown was brought from prison 
 between files of armed men, as the practice was, and laid 
 down on his bed within the bar. " He looked better," 
 we are told, " than on the previous day ; his health is 
 evidently improving, and he seemed to be at the most 
 perfect ease of mind." The Court room and every 
 approach to it were densely crowded. 
 
 From the opening of the Court until the afternoon 
 session, the counsel for the defence Messrs. Griswold 
 and Chilton and for the prosecution Messrs. Hun 
 ter and Harding occupied the attention of the jury 
 in arguing for and against the prisoner. I do not in 
 tend to pollute my pages with any sketch of the law 
 yers pleas. They were able, without doubt, and eru 
 dite, and ingenious ; but they were founded, neverthe 
 less, on an atrocious assumption. For they assumed 
 (as all lawyers speeches must) that the statutes of the 
 State were just ; and, therefore, if the prisoner should 
 be proven guilty of offending against them, that it was 
 right thai he should suffer the penalty they inflict. 
 This doctrine every Christian heart must scorn ; John 
 
 (334) 
 
Lawyers Pleas. 335 
 
 Brown, at least, despised it ; and so also, to be faithful 
 to his memory, and my own instincts, must I. Mr. 
 Griswold proved conclusively that, even according to 
 the laws of Virginia, John Brown had not been guilty 
 either of treason, of inciting to insurrection, or of 
 murder with malice prepense ; although, undoubtedly, 
 he had committed other offences against the peace and 
 dignity of that ancient Commonwealth. In any civil 
 ized State in Europe, England, or our North 
 these facts would have resulted in the acquittal of the 
 prisoner ; for, although a person may be proven guilty 
 of murder, if he be arraigned for theft, that indictment 
 in every free country must at once be abandoned. 
 Mr. Chilton s speech is unworthy of further notice than 
 that it began in falsehood and ended in cant. Two 
 quotations will sustain my statement : 
 
 " He desired, and the whole State desired, and the whole South 
 iesired, that the trial should be fair : and it had been fair ! .... 
 He charged the jury to look on this case, as far as the law would 
 allow, with an eye favorable to the prisoner, and when their verdict 
 should be returned no matter what it might be he trusted that 
 every man in the country would acquiesce in it. Unless the majesty of 
 the law were supported, dissolution of the Union must soon ensue, 
 with all the evils that must necessarily follow in its train." 
 
 Mr. Hunter was true to his barbaric instincts to the 
 last ; eulogizing Wise to begin with, filling up his 
 speech with the infamous maxims of iniquitous laws, 
 and closing it with anathemas on godly John Brown. 
 The peroration of his speech is noteworthy from its 
 audacity of assertion : 
 
 "We therefore ask his conviction to vindicate the majesty of the 
 law. While we have patiently borne delays, as well here as outside 
 in the community, in preservation of the character of Virginia, that 
 
336 Lawyers Pleas. 
 
 plumes itself on its moral character, as well as physical, and on its loyaly 
 and its devotion to truth and right, we ask you to discard any thing el&e, 
 mid render your verdict as you are sworn to do. . . . Justice is 
 the centre upon which Deity sits. There is another column which 
 represents its mercy. You have nothing to do with that." 
 
 Mr. Hunter closed his speech at half past one 
 o clock. 
 
 " During most of the arguments to-day, Brown lay on his back, 
 witl) his eyes closed. 
 
 " Mr. Chilton asked the Court to instruct the Jury, if they believed 
 the prisoner was not a citizen of Virginia, but of another State, they 
 cannot convict on a count of treason. 
 
 "The Court declined, saying the Constitution did not give rights 
 and immunities alone, but also imposed responsibilities. 
 
 "Mr. Chilton asked another instruction, that the Jury must be sat 
 isfied that the place where the offence was committed was within the 
 boundaries of Jefferson County, which the Court granted." 
 
 The Jury then retired to consider their verdict, and 
 the Court adjourned for half an hour. 
 
 THE VERDICT. 
 
 Thus far, for our record of the trial, we have been 
 obliged to rely on pro-slavery authority. It was not 
 till the following day that a truthful and impartial re 
 porter succeeded in eluding the cowardly and inquisi 
 torial vigilance of the Virginians, who, in their anxiety 
 to prevent a fair trial or a true report, excluded all 
 Northern men from their City as had been done, a 
 thousand times before, in each of the despotic Com 
 monwealths south of the Potomac, by men who are 
 ever, and in various ways, committing daily violence on 
 the Federal Constitution, and accusing, in the same 
 breath, the Northern men who submit to these infrac 
 tions as guilty of assailing the rights of the South. 
 
 Thu far, then, they have been convicted out of their 
 
Lawyers Pleas. 337 
 
 own mouths ; and, in order to complete their self-con 
 demnation, I will conclude this report with an extract 
 from one of their own journals : 
 
 After an absence of three quarters of an hour, the Jury returned 
 into Court with a verdict. 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 be 
 yond the doors. There stood the anxious but perfectly silent and 
 attentive populace, stretching head and nqck to witness the closing 
 scene of Old Brown s trial. It was terrible to look upon such a 
 crowd of human faces, moved and agitated with but one dreadful ex 
 pectancy to let the eyes rest for a moment upon the only calm and 
 unruffled countenance* there, and to think that he alone of all present 
 was the doomed one, above whose head hung the sword of fate. But 
 there he stood, a man of indomitable will and iron nerve, all collected 
 and unmoved, even while the verdict that consigned him to an igno 
 minious doom was pronounced upon him. After recapitulating his 
 offences set forth in the indictment, the Clerk of the Court said : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Jury, what say you ? Is the prisoner at the bar, 
 John Brown, guilty, or not guilty ? 
 
 Foreman. Guilty. 
 
 Clerk. Guilty of treason, and conspiring and advising with slaves 
 and others to rebel, and murder in the first degree ? 
 
 Foreman. Yes. 
 
 Not the slightest sound was heard in the vast crowd as thj verdict 
 was thus returned and read. Not the slightest expression of elatien 
 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 aiiy previous day, turned to adjust 
 his pallet, and then composedly stretched himself upon it. 
 
 Mr. Chilian moved an arrest of judgment, both on account of errors 
 in the indictment and errors in the verdict. The objection in regard 
 to the indictment has already been stated. The prisoner has been 
 tried for an offence not appearing on the record of the Grand Jury. 
 -^The verdict was not on each count separately, but was a general ver 
 dict on the whole indictment. 
 
 Counsel on both sides being too much exhausted to go on, the mo 
 tion was ordered to stand over till to-morrow, and Brown was again 
 \removed unsentenced to prison. 
 
 " There he stood ! " Alas ! for the honor of the 
 
 29 
 
338 Lawyers Pleas. 
 
 Union, whom Virginia thus disgraced in the eyes of 
 the world, the brave old man was too feeble to stand. 
 " He sat up in his bed when the Jury entered," writes 
 another and more vindictive Virginia journalist, " and, 
 after listening to the rendition of -the verdict, lay down 
 very composedly, without saying a word." The writer 
 adds, intending thereby to eulogize the Virginians, 
 " There was no demonstration of any kind whatever." 
 Thus thoroughly does Slavery corrupt the heart, that 
 the spectacle of an heroic old man, feeble from the loss 
 of blood poured out in behalf of God s despised poor, 
 unable to stand unsupported on his feet, and yet con 
 demned to die on the scaffold, shocked no one South 
 ern conscience excited "no demonstration of any 
 kind whatever." 
 
VII. 
 
 CONDEMNED TO DIE. 
 
 THE first of November was devoted to the trial of 
 Coppoc, which was continued on the following day. 
 No witnesses were called for the defence. Mr. Hard 
 ing for the State, and Messrs. Hoyt and Griswold for 
 the defence, followed by Mr. Hunter, who closed for the 
 prosecution, addressed the jury, who presently retired 
 to appear to consider their pre-determined verdict of 
 GUILTY. 
 
 " During the absence of the Jury in Coppoc s case," 
 says an eye witness, " in order that no time should be 
 wasted, John Brown was brought in from jail to be sen 
 tenced. He walked with considerable difficulty, and 
 every movement appeared to be attended with pain, 
 although his features gave no expression of it. It was 
 late, and the gaslights gave an almost deathly pallor to 
 his face. He seated himself near his counsel, and? 
 after once resting his head upon his right hand, re 
 mained entirely motionless, and for a time appeared 
 unconscious of all that passed around especially un 
 conscious of the execrations audibly whispered by spec 
 tators : < D d black-hearted villain ! heart as black 
 
 (339) 
 
34 Condemned to Die. 
 
 as a stove-pipe ! and many such. While the Judge 
 read his decision on the points of exception which had 
 been submitted, Brown sat very firm, with lips tightly 
 compressed, but with no appearance of affectation of 
 sternness. He was like a block of stone. When the 
 clerk directed him to stand and say why sentence 
 should not be passed upon him, he rose and leaned 
 slightly forward, his hands resting on the table. He 
 spoke timidly hesitatingly, indeed and in a voice 
 singularly gentle and mild. But his sentences came 
 confused from his mouth, and he seemed to be wholly 
 unprepared to speak at this time.* Types can give no 
 intimation of the soft and tender tones, yet calm and 
 manly withal, that filled the Court room, and, I think, 
 touched the hearts of many who had come only to re 
 joice at the heaviest blow their victim was to suffer." 
 
 This is what he said : 
 
 JOHN BROWN S LAST SPEECH. 
 
 " I have, may it please the Court, a few words 
 to say. 
 
 " In the first place, I deny every thing but what I 
 have all along admitted the design on my part to free 
 the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clear 
 thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went 
 into Missouri, and there took slaves without the snap 
 ping 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, 
 
 * It was expected that all the prisoners would be condemned and executed on tho 
 name day Ilence, John Brown was taken by surprise. 
 
Condemned to Die. 341 
 
 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 be 
 half 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 1 
 suppose to be the Bible, or, at least, the New Testa 
 ment. That teaches me that all things i whatsoever I 
 would that men should do unto 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 per 
 sons. 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 futherance 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 
 29* 
 
34 2 Condemned to Die. 
 
 rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust 
 enactments I submit: so let it be done. 
 
 " Let me say one word further. 
 
 - k I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have 
 received on my trial. Considering all the circum 
 stances, 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 dis 
 couraged any idea of that kind. 
 
 " Let me say, also, a word in regard to the state 
 ments made by some of those connected with me. I 
 hear it has been stated by some of them that I have in 
 duced 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 joined me of 
 his own accord, and the greater part at their own ex 
 pense. 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." 
 
 Perfect quiet prevailed while this speech was de 
 livered ; and, when he finished, the Judge proceeded 
 to pass sentence on him. After a few preliminary re 
 marks, he stated that no doubt could exist of the guilt 
 of the prisoner, and sentenced him to be hanged by the 
 neck till he was dead, on Friday, the 2d day of De 
 cember. " At the announcement," said a spectator, 
 
Condemned to Die. 343 
 
 " that, for the sake of example, the execution would be 
 more than usually public, one indecent fellow, behind 
 the Judge s chair, shouted and clapped hands jubi 
 lantly ; but he was indignantly checked, and in a man 
 ner that induced him to believe that he would do best 
 to retire. It is a question, nevertheless, if the general 
 sentiment were not fairly expressed by this action. 
 John Brown was soon after led away again to his place 
 of confinement." 
 
 Was ever such a speech delivered in America so 
 fearless, yet so gentle ; so manly, modest, wise, God s- 
 heart-imbued ? 
 
F 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE CONQUERING PEN. 
 
 the date of his incarceration in the jail of 
 Chaiiestown, till the day of his execution, John. 
 Brown wrote a number of eminently characteristic let- 
 Alters to his friends in different parts of the country. 
 Such of them as we have been able to obtain, are 
 herewith subjoined : 
 
 LETTER FOR COUNSEL. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., Oct. 22, 1859. 
 To THE HON. JUDGE TILDEN. 
 
 Dear Sir : I am here a prisoner, with several sabre cuts in my 
 head, and bayonet stabs in my body. My object in writing is to ob 
 tain able and faithful counsel for myself and fellow-prisoners, five in 
 all, as we have the faith of Virginia pledged through her governor, 
 and numerous prominent citizens, to give us a fair trial. "SYithoiit 
 we can obtain such counsel from without the slave states, neither the 
 facts in our case can come before the world, nor can we have the ben 
 efit of such facts as might be considered mitigating, in the view of 
 others, upon our trial. I have money on hand here to the amount of 
 two hundred and fifty dollars, and personal property sufficient to pay 
 a most liberal fee to yourself, or any able man who will undertake our 
 defence, if I can be allowed the benefit of said property. Can you, or 
 some other good man, come on immediately, for the sake oi the young 
 men prisoners at least ? My wounds are doing well. 
 Do not send an ultra abolitionist. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Jonx BROWN. 
 P. S. The trial is set for "Wednesday next, the 26th instant. 
 
 J. ~VV. CAMPBELL, Sheriff Jefferson Co. 
 (344) 
 
The Conquering Pen. 345 
 
 A noble lady, a worthy friend of John Brown, when 
 the news of his " failure " and imprisonment reached 
 Boston, determined to go on to Virginia to nurse him ; 
 but, prostrated by the shock tnus given to her nervous 
 system, she was prevented, by physical incapacity, from 
 carrying out the generous and heroic impulse. On 
 suggesting the execution of this design to her distin 
 guished relative, Mrs. Child, that lady at once sent a 
 letter to Captain Brown, forwarding it with a note to 
 Governor Wise, in which she asked permission to go 
 on to Charlestown and nurse the old hero. 
 
 LETTER TO CAPTAIN BROWN. 
 
 WAYLAND, MASS., Oct. 26, 1859. 
 
 Dear Captain Brown: Though personally unknown to you, you 
 will recognize in my name an earnest friend of Kansas, when circum- 
 Btances made that territory the battle ground between the antagonis 
 tic principles of slavery and freedom, which politicians so vainly 
 strive to reconcile in the government of the United States. 
 
 Believing in peace principles, I cannot sympathize with the method 
 you chose to advance the cause of freedom ; but I honor your gener 
 ous intentions ; I admire your courage, moral and physical ; I rev 
 erence you for the humanity which tempered your zeal ; I ^sympathize 
 with you in your cruel bereavement, your sufferings, and your 
 wrongs. In brief, I love you and bless you. 
 
 Thousands of hearts are throbbing with sympathy as warm as mine. 
 I think of you night and day, bleeding in prison, surrounded by hos 
 tile faces, sustained only by trust in God and your own strong heart. 
 I long to nurse you to speak to you sisterly words of sympathy and 
 consolation. I have asked the permission of Governor Wise to do so. 
 If the request is not granted, I cherish the hope that these few words 
 may at least reach your hands, and afford you some little solace. 
 May you be strengthened by the conviction that no honest man ever 
 sheds blood for freedom in vain, however much he may be mistaken in 
 his efforts. May God sustain you, and carry you through whatsoever 
 may be in store for you. Yours, with heartfelt respect, sympathy, 
 and affection. L. MARIA CHILD. 
 
 Governor Wise s answer to Mrs. Child s request was 
 respectful, but crafty and characteristic. He would 
 
346 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 forward the letter, he said, to the Commonwealth s 
 Attorney, " with the request that he will ask the per 
 mission of the Court to hand it to the prisoner." After 
 asserting that Virginia and Massachusetts were not 
 involved in a civil war ; that the Federal Constitution 
 gave to citizens of Massachusetts goingf to Virginia the 
 immunities of a citizen of the United States ; that, 
 coming to minister to the captive in prison a mis 
 sion merciful and humane she had the right to visit 
 Charlestown, and would " not only be allowed, but 
 be respected, if not welcomed," the politician added, 
 that " a few unenlightened and inconsiderate persons, 
 fanatical in their modes of thought and action to main 
 tain justice and right, might molest you, or be disposed 
 to do so, and this might suggest the imprudence of 
 risking any experiment upon the peace of a society 
 very much excited by the crimes with whose chief 
 author you seem to sympathize so much." Declaring 
 the readiness of Virginia to protect Mrs. Child against 
 the fury of the populace, the next sentence of the lei> 
 ter was worthy of Mark Antony : " I could not permit 
 an insult, even to woman in her walk of charity among 
 us, though it be to one ivho whetted knives of butchery 
 for our mothers, sisters, daughters, and babes. . . . 
 His attempt was the natural consequence of your sym 
 pathy." He concluded by announcing that whether 
 the lady should see him or not, when she should ar 
 rive in Charlestown, would be for the Court and its 
 officers to say. The Executive, he intimates, and the 
 Judiciary are separate branches of the Government ; a 
 statement that the first attempt to try Stevens will 
 explain. 
 
The Conquering Pen. 347 
 
 The gilded threat of this letter caused Mrs. Child 
 to delay her departure until she should hear from the 
 old hero himself. When his letter came, it prevented 
 her journey. 
 
 JOHN BROWN S LETTER TO MRS. CHILD. 
 
 [No date.] 
 MRS. L. MARIA CHILD. 
 
 My dear Friend : (such you prove to be, though a stranger :) 
 Your most kind letter has reached me, with the kind offer to come 
 here and take care of me. Allow me to express my gratitude for 
 your great sympathy, and at the same time to propose to you a differ 
 ent course, together with my reasons for wishing it. I should cer 
 tainly be greatly pleased to become personally acquainted with one so 
 gifted and so kind ; but I cannot avoid seeing some objections to it, 
 under present circumstances. First, I am in charge of a most humane 
 gentleman, who, with his family, have rendered me every possible 
 attention I have desired, or that could be of the least advantage ; and 
 I am so far recovered from my wounds as no longer to require nurs 
 ing. Then, again, it would subject you to great personal inconven 
 ience and heavy expense, without doing me any good. 
 
 Allow me to name to you another channel through which you may 
 reach me with your sympathies much more effectually. I have at 
 home a wife and three young daughters the youngest but little over 
 five years old, the oldest nearly sixteen. I have also two daughters- 
 in-law, whose husbands have both fallen near me here. There is also 
 another widow, Mrs. Thompson, whose husband fell here. Whether 
 she is a mother or not TL cannot say. All these, my wife included, 
 live at North Elba, Essex County, New York. I have a middle-aged 
 son, who has been, in some degree, a cripple from his childhood, who 
 would have as much as he could well do to earn a living. He was a 
 most dreadful sufferer in Kansas, and lost all he had laid up. He has 
 not enough to clothe himself for the winter comfortably. I have no 
 living son, or son-in-law, who did not suffer terribly in Kansas. 
 
 Now, dear friend, would you not as soon contribute fifty cents 
 now, and a like sum yearly, for the relief of those very poor and 
 deeply afflicted persons, to enable them to supply themselves and 
 their children with bread and very plain clothing, and to enable the 
 children to receive a common English education ? Will you also 
 devote your own energies to induce others to join in giving a like 
 amount, or any other amount, to constitute a little fund for the pur 
 pose named ? V 
 
348 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 I cannot see how your coming here can do me the least good 1 f and 
 I am quite certain you can do me immense good where you are. I 
 am quite cheerful under all my afflicting circumstances and prospects ; 
 having, as I humbly trust, " the peace of God, which passeth all 
 understanding," to rule in my heart. You may make such use of this 
 as you see fit. God Almighty bless and reward you a thousand fold. 
 Yours, in sincerity and truth, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE QUAKER LADY. 
 
 NEWPORT, R. I., Tenth Month, 27th, 1859. 
 CAPT. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 Dear Friend : Since thy arrest, I have often thought of thee, and 
 have wished that, like Elizabeth Fry towards her prison friends, so I 
 might console thee in thy confinement. But that can never be, and so 
 I can only write thee a few lines, which, if they contain any comfort, 
 may come to thee like some little ray of light. You can never know 
 how very many dear friends love thee with all their hearts, for thy 
 brave efforts in behalf of the poor oppressed ; and though we, who 
 are non-resistants, and religiously believe it better to reform by moral, 
 and not by carnal, weapons, could not approve of bloodshed, yet we 
 know thee was animated by the most generous and philanthropic 
 motives. Very many thousands openly approve thy intentions, though 
 most friends would not think it right to take up arms. Thousands 
 pray for thee every day; and, O, I do pray that God will be with thy 
 soul. Posterity will do thee justice. If Moses led out the thousands 
 of Jewish slaves from their bondage, and God destroyed the Egyptians 
 in the sea because they went after the Israelites to bring them back to 
 slavery, then, surely, by the same reasoning, we may judge thee a 
 deliverer who wished to release millions frm a more cruel oppres 
 sion. If the American people honor Washington for resisting with 
 Bloodshed for seven years an unjust tax, how much more ought thou 
 to be honored for seeking to free the poor slaves ! O, I wish I could 
 plead for thee, as some of the other sex can plead ; how I would seek 
 to defend thee ! If I had now the eloquence of Portia ; how I would 
 turn the scale hi thy favor ! But I can only pray, " God bless thee ! " 
 God pardon thee, and, through our Redeemer, give thee safety and 
 happiness now and always. From thy friend, E. B. 
 
 JOHN BROWN S REPLY. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., November 1, 1859. 
 My dear Friend, E. B. of R. I. : Your most cheering letter of 
 27th of October is received, and may the Lord reward you a thousand 
 fold for the kind feeling you express towards me ; but more especially 
 
The Conquering Pen. 349 
 
 for your fidelity to the "poor that cry, and those that have no help." 
 For this I am a prisoner in bonds. It is solely my own fault, in a 
 military point of view, that we met with our disaster I mean that I 
 mingled with our prisoners, and so far sympathized with them and 
 their families, that I neglected my duty in other respects. But God s 
 will, not mine, be done. 
 
 You know that Christ once armed Peter. So also in my case ; I 
 think he put a sword into my hand, and there continued it, so long as 
 he saw best, and then kindly took it from me. I mean when I first 
 went to Kansas. I wish you could know with what cheerfulness I am 
 now wielding the " sword of the Spirit" on the right hand and on the 
 left. I bless God that it proves "mighty to the pulling down of 
 strongholds." I always loved my Quaker friends, and I commend to 
 their kind regard my poor, bereaved, widowed wife, and my daughters 
 and daughters-in-law, whose husbands fell at my side. One is a 
 mother, and the other likely to become so soon. They, as well as my 
 own sorrow-stricken daughter, are left very poor, and have much 
 greater need of sympathy than I, who, through Infinite Grace and the 
 kindness of strangers, am "joyful in all my tribulations." 
 
 Dear sister, write them at North Elba, Essex Co., N. Y., to comfort 
 their sad hearts. Direct to Mary A. Brown, wife of John Brown. 
 There is also another, a widow, wife of Thompson, who fell with my 
 poor boys in the affair at Harper s Ferry, at the same place. 
 
 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, of those who form enactments to suit them 
 selves and corrupt others, or some of their friends, that 1 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 work out 
 for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. I would be 
 very grateful for another letter from you. My wounds are healing. 
 Farewell. God will surely attend to his own cause in the best possible 
 way and time, and he will not forget the work of his own hands. 
 
 Your friend, JOHX BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO HIS FAMILY. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., 8th Nov., 1859. 
 Dear Wife and Children Every One : I will begin by saying that 
 I have in some degree recovered from my wounds, but that I am quite 
 weak in my back, and sore about my left kidney. My appetite has 
 been quite good for most of the time since I was hurt. I am supplied 
 with almost every thing I could desire to make me comfortable, and 
 
 30 
 
350 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 the little I do lack (some articles of clothing, which I lost) I may 
 perhaps soon get again. I am, besides, quite cheerful, having (as I 
 trust) the peace of God, which "passeth all understanding," to "rule 
 in my heart," and the testimony (in some degree) of a good conscience 
 that I have not lived altogether in vain. I can trust God "vith both 
 the time and the manner of my death, believing, as I now dc-, that, for 
 me at this time to seal my testimony (for God and humanity) with my 
 blood, will do vastly more towards advancing the cause I have ear 
 nestly endeavored to promote, than all I have done in my life before. 
 I beg of you all meekly and quietly to submit to this ; not feeling 
 yourselves in the least degraded on that account. Remember, dear 
 wife and children all, that Jesus of Nazareth suffered a most excru 
 ciating death on the cross as a felon, under the most aggravating 
 circumstances. Think, also, of the prophets, and apostles, and Chris 
 tians of former days, who went through greater tribulations than you 
 or I ; and (try to) be reconciled. May God Almighty comfort all 
 your hearts, and soon wipe away all tears from your eyes. To him be 
 endless praise. Think, too, of the crushed millions who "have no 
 comforter." I charge you all never (in your trials) to forget the 
 griefs of " the poor that cry, and of those that have none to help them." 
 I wrote most earnestly to my dear and afflicted wife not to come on 
 for the present at any rate. I will now give her my reasons for doing 
 so. First, it would use up all the scanty means she has, or is at all 
 likely to have, to make herself and children comfortable hereafter. 
 For let me tell you that the sympathy that is now aroused in your 
 behalf may not always follow you. There is but little more of the 
 romantic about helping poor widows and their children than there is 
 about trying to relieve poor " niggers." Again, the little comfort it 
 might afford us to meet again would be dearly bought by the pains of 
 a final separation. We must part, and, I feel assured, for us to meet 
 under such dreadful circumstances would only add to our distress. 
 If she come on here, she must be only a gazing stock throughout the 
 whole journey, to be remarked upon in every look, word, and action, 
 and by all sorts of creatures, and by all sorts of papers throughout the 
 whole country. Again, it is my most decided judgment that in quietly 
 and submissively staying at home, vastly more of generous sympathy 
 "will reach her, without such dreadful sacrifice of feeling as she must 
 put up with if she comes on. The visits of one or two female friends 
 that have come on here have produced great excitement, which is very 
 annoying, and they cannot possibly do me any good. O Mary, do 
 not come ; but patiently wait for the meeting (of those who love God 
 and their fellow-men) where no separation must follow. " They shall 
 go no more out forever." I greatly long to hear from some one of 
 
The Conquering Pen. 351 
 
 you, and to learn any thing that in any way affects your welfare. I 
 sent you ten dollars the other day. Did you get it ? I have also 
 endeavored to stir up Christian friends to visit and write to you in 
 your deep affliction. I have no doubt that some of them at least will 
 heed the call. Write to me, care of Capt. John Avis, Charlestown, 
 Jefferson County, Ya. 
 
 "Finally, my beloved, be of good comfort." May all your names 
 r>e "written on the Lamb s book of life" may you all have the 
 purifying and sustaining influence of the Christian religion is the 
 earnest prayer of your affectionate husband and father. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 P. S. 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. But, beloved ones, 
 do remember that this is not your rest, that in this world you have 
 no abiding place or continuing city. To God and his infinite mercy I. 
 always commend you. J. B. 
 
 Nov. 9. 
 
 LETTER TO HIS HALF BROTHER. 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 12, 1859. 
 
 Dear Brother Jeremiah : Your kind letter of the 9th instant is 
 received, and also one from Mr. Tilden, for both of which I am greatly 
 obliged. You inquire, Can I do any thing for you or your family ? " 
 I would answer that my sons, as well as my wife and daughter, are all 
 very poor, and that any thing that may hereafter be due me from my 
 father s estate I wish paid to them, as I will endeavo^ hereafter to 
 describe, without legal formalities to consume it all. One of my boys 
 has been so entirely used up as very likely to be in want of comfort 
 able clothing for the winter. I have, through the kindness of friends, 
 fifteen dollars to send him, which I will remit shortly. If you know 
 where to reach him, please send him that amount at once, as I shall 
 remit the same to you by a safe conveyance. If I had a plain state 
 ment from Mr. Thompson of the state of my accounts, with the estate 
 of my lather, I should then better know what to say about that mat 
 ter. As it is, I have not the least memorandum left me to refer to. If 
 Mr. Thompson will make me a statement, and charge my dividend fully 
 for his trouble, I would be greatly obliged to him. In that case you 
 can send me any remarks of your own. I am gaining in health slow 
 ly, and am quite cheerful in view of my approaching end, being fully 
 persuaded that I am worth inconceivably more to hang than for any 
 other purpose. God Almighty bless and save you a .l. 
 
 Your affectionate brother, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 P. S. Nov. 13. Say to my poor boys never to grieve for one 
 
352 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 moment on my account ; and should many of you live to see the time 
 when you will not blush to own your relation to Old John Brown, it 
 will not be more strange than many things that have happened. I feeV 
 a thousand times more on account of my sorrowing friends than on 
 my own account. So far as I am concerned, I " count it all joy." " I 
 have fought the good fight," and have, as I trust, "finished my 
 course." Please show this to any of my family that you may see. 
 My love to all ; and may God, hi his infinite mercy, for Christ s sake, 
 bless and save you all. Your affectionate brother, J. BROWN. 
 
 LETTER FROM A CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE. 
 
 WEST NEWTON, MASS., Nov. 5, 1859. 
 CAPT. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 Dear Brother : Withholding any expression of opinion respecting 
 the outbreak at Harper s Ferry, I cannot but admire your bravery and 
 effort to save life during the conflict. But, above all, your unwaver 
 ing faith in God and fidelity to principle, your fearless answers, your 
 faithful testimony against slavery, and your noble, self-sacrificing 
 spirit excite the admiration of all who venerate justice, truth, and 
 humanity. 
 
 While I cannot approve of all your acts, I stand in awe of your 
 position since your capture, and dare not oppose you lest I be found 
 fighting against God ; for you speak as one having authority, and 
 seem to be strengthened from on high. Look only to God for aid in 
 these your trying hours, which if they be brief, may the illumination 
 of his Spirit and of a lifetime be centred in the time allotted you 
 here. If called to ascend the gallows, may you do it joyfully, praising 
 God that you have been counted worthy to die for those ready to per 
 ish ; and, like his Son, may you feel to forgive and bless those who 
 take your life. Many, yes, a multitude, appreciate you now; and 
 were you ambitious of immortal fame, you might now enjoy a fore 
 taste of that which is to come, if you die as you have lived since a 
 prisoner. 
 
 Your family will not be forgotten ; their wants will be attended to 
 abundantly by those who love heroism and integrity to principle, and 
 by the Father who suffers not a sparrow to fall to the ground without 
 his notice. My prayers you have. May God give you strength and 
 resignation, and inspire you to utter words of wisdom, warning, cour 
 age, and love to those you leave. 
 
 I would imprint on your sacred face the kiss of sympathy and love 
 ere you join the multitude of martyrs who have gone before you. But 
 this cannot be. God bless you. I would ask a line from you, but 
 would not tax your brief time ; for never having seen you, I should 
 
The Conquering Pen. 353 
 
 sacredly cherish a line from your hand. Believing God reigns, I feel 
 to view these recent events as his providence, which in time may be 
 fully manifested, although at present inscrutable. A host of friends 
 love and remember you, and I speak for many in my immediate neigh 
 borhood. Farewell, dear brother. God bless you. 
 
 JOHN BROWN S REPLY TO A CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 15, 1859. 
 
 My dear Sir: Your kind mention of some things in my conduct 
 here, which you approve, is very comforting indeed to my mind. Yet 
 I am conscious that you do me no more than justice. I do certainly 
 teel that through divine grace I have endeavored to be "faithful in a 
 very few things," mingling with even these much of imperfection. I 
 am certainly " unworthy even to suffer affliction with the people of 
 God ; " yet in infinite grace he has THUS honored me. May the same 
 grace enable me to serve him in a " new obedience," through my little 
 remainder of this life, and to rejoice in him forever. I cannot feel 
 that God will suffer even the poorest service we may any of us render 
 him or his cause to be lost or in vain. I do feel, " dear brother," 
 that I am wonderfully " strengthened from on high." 
 
 May I use that strength in " showing his strength unto this genera 
 tion," and his power to every one that is to come. I am most grate 
 ful for your assurance that my poor, shattered, heart-broken "family 
 will not be forgotten." I have long triei? to recommend them to " the 
 God of my fathers." I have many opportunities for faithful plain deal 
 ing with the more powerful, influential, and intelligent classes in this 
 region, which, I trust, are not entirely misimproved. I humbly trust 
 that I firmly believe that " God reigns," and I think I can truly say, 
 " Let the earth rejoice." May God take care of his men cause, and of 
 his own great name, as well as of those who love their neighbors. 
 
 Farewell ! Yours, in truth, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 The next letter was addressed to his old school 
 master, in Litchfield, Connecticut, and is thus intro 
 duced by the Rev. L. W. Bacon : 
 
 "My aged friend, the Rev. H. L. Vaill, of this place, remembers 
 John Brown as having been under his instruction in the year 1817, 
 at Morris Academy. He was a godly youth, laboring to recover from 
 his disadvantages of early education, in the hope of entering the min 
 istry of the gospel. Since then, the teacher and pupil have met but 
 once to take a retrospective look over the route by which God had 
 led them. But a short time since, Mr. Vaill wrote to Brown, in his 
 
 30* 
 
354 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 prison, a letter of Christian friendship, to which he has received the 
 following heroic and sublime reply. Has ever such an epistle been 
 written from a condemned cell since the letter < to Timotheus, when 
 Paul was brought before Nero the second time ? 
 
 "I have copied it faithfully from the autograph that lies before me, 
 without the change or omission of a word, except to omit the full name 
 of the friends to whom he sends his message. The words in Italics 
 and capitals are so underscored in the original. The handwriting is 
 clear and firm ; but towards the end of the sheet seems to show that 
 the sick old man s hand was growing weary. The very characters 
 make an appeal to us for our sympathy and prayers. His salutation 
 wii his own hand. Remember his bonds. " 
 
 LETTER TO HIS SCHOOLMASTER. 
 CHARLES-TOWN, JEFFERSON Co., YA., Nov. 15, 1859. 
 REV. H. L. VAILL. 
 
 My dear, steadfast Friend : Your most kind and most welcome 
 letter of the 8th instant reached me in due time. 
 
 I am very grateful for all the good feeling you express, and also for 
 the kind counsels you give, together with your prayers in my behalf. 
 Allow me here to say, that notwithstanding " my soul is amongst 
 lions," still I believe that " God in very deed is with me." You will 
 not, therefore, feel surprised when I tell you that I am " joyful in all 
 my tribulations ; " that I do not feel condemned of Him whose judg 
 ment is just, nor of my own conscience. Nor do I feel degraded by 
 my imprisonment, my chain, or prospect of the gallows. I have not 
 only been (though utterly unworthy) permitted to " suffer affliction 
 with God s people," but have also had a great many rare opportuni 
 ties for " preaching righteousness in the great congregation." I trust 
 it will not all be lost. The jailer (in whose charge I am) and his fam 
 ily and assistants have all been most kind ; and, notwithstanding he 
 was one of the bravest of all who fought me, he is now being abused for 
 his humanity. So far as my observation goes, none but brave men are 
 likely to be humane to a fallen foe. Cowards prove their courage by 
 their ferocity. It may be done in that way with but little risk. 
 
 I wish I could write you about a few only of the interesting times I 
 here experience with different classes of men clergymen among 
 others. Christ, the great Captain of liberty as well as of salvation, 
 and who began his mission, as foretold of him, by proclaiming it, saw 
 fit to take from me a sword of steel after I had carried it for a time ; 
 but he has put another in my hand, (" the sword of the Spirit ; ") and 
 I pray God to make me a faithful soldier wherever he may send me 
 not less on the scaffold than wher. surrounded by my warmest sym 
 pathizers. 
 
The Conquering Pen. 355 
 
 My dear old friend, I do assure you I have not forgotten our last 
 meeting, nor our retrospective look over the route by which God had 
 then led us ; and I bless his name that he has again enabled me to 
 hear your -words of cheering and comfort at a time when I, at least, 
 am on the " brink of Jordan." See Bunyan s Pilgrim. God in in 
 finite mercy grant us soon another meeting on the opposite shore. 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 the 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 every where prevail ; I have no murmur 
 ing thoughts or envious feelings to fret my mind. " I ll praise my 
 Maker with my breath." 
 
 Your assurance of the earnest sympathy of the friends in my native 
 land is very grateful to my feelings ; and allow me to say a word of 
 comfort to them : 
 
 As I believe most firmly that God reigns, I cannot believe that any 
 thing 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 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 w r as infinitely better, no doubt, or I should have kept to my own. 
 Had Samson kept to his determination of not telling Delilah wherein 
 his great strength lay, he would probably have never overturned the 
 house. I did not tell Delilah ; but I was induced to act very contrary 
 to my better judgment ; and I have lost my two noble boys, and other 
 friends, if not my tico eyes. 
 
 But " God s will, not mine, be done." I feel a comfortable hope that 
 like that erring servant of whom I have just been writing, even I may 
 (through infinite mercy in Christ Jesus) yet "die in faith." As to both 
 the time and manner of my death, I have but very little trouble on that 
 score, and am able to be (as you exhort) " of good cheer." 
 
 I send through you my best wishes to Mrs. \V and her son 
 
 George, and to all dear friends. May the God of the poor and op 
 pressed be the God and Saviour of you all. 
 
 Farewell, till we meet again. 
 
 Your friend, in truth, JOHN BROWN. 
 
356 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 LETTER TO HIS WIPE. 
 CHAKLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., 16th Nov., 1859. 
 
 My dear Wife : I write you in answer to a most kind letter, of 
 
 November 13, from dear Mrs. . I owe her ten thousand thanks for 
 
 her kindness to you particularly, and more especially than for what she 
 has done, and is doing, in a more direct way for me personally. 
 Although I feel grateful for every expression of kindness or sympathy 
 towards me, yet nothing can so effectually minister to my comfort as 
 acts of kindness done to relieve the wants or mitigate the sufferings 
 of my poor, distressed family. May God Almighty and their own con 
 sciousness be their eternal rewarders. I am exceedingly rejoiced to 
 have you make the acquaintance, and be surrounded by, such choice 
 friends as I have long known some of those to be, with whom you are 
 staying, by reputation. I am most glad to have you meet with one of a 
 family (or I would rather say of two families) most beloved and never to be 
 
 forgotten by me. I mean dear, gentle . Many and many a time lias 
 
 she, her father, mother, brother, sisters, uncle and aunt (like angels of mercy) 
 ministered to the wants of myself and of my poor sons, both in sick 
 ness and in health. Only last year I lay sick for quite a number of 
 weeks with them, and was cared for by all, as though I had been a 
 most affectionate brother or father. Tell her that I ask God to bless 
 and reward them all forever. " I was a stranger, and they took me in." 
 
 It may possibly be that would like to copy this letter, and 
 
 send it to her home. If so, by all means let her do so. / would write 
 them if I had the power. 
 
 Now let me say a word about the effort to educate our daughters. 
 I am no longer able to provide means to help towards that object, and 
 it therefore becomes me not to dictate in the matter. I shall grate 
 fully submit the direction of the whole thing to those whose gener 
 osity may lead them to undertake it in their behalf, while I give anew 
 a little expression of my own choice respecting it. You, my wife, 
 perfectly well know that I have always expressed a decided preference for 
 a very plain, but perfectly practical, education for both sons and daughters. 
 I do not mean an education so very miserable as that you and I received 
 in early life, nor as some of our children enjoyed. When I say plain, 
 but practical, I mean enough of the learning of the schools to enable 
 them to transact the common business of life comfortably and respect 
 ably, together with that thorough training to good business habits 
 which best prepares both men and women to be useful, though poor, 
 and to meet the stern REALITIES of life with a good grace. You well 
 know that I always claimed that the music of the broom, wash-tub, 
 needle, spindle, loom, axe, scythe, hoe, flail, &c., should first be 
 learned at all events, and that of the piano, &c., AFTERWARDS. I put 
 them in that order as most conductive to health of bodv and mind ; 
 
The Conquering Pen. 357 
 
 and for the obvious reason that, after a life of some experience and of 
 much observation, I have found ten women as*well as ten men who have 
 made their mark in life right, whose early training was of that plain, 
 practical kind, to one who had a more popular and fashionable early 
 training. But enough of this. 
 
 Now, in regard to your coming here : If you feel sure that you can 
 endure the trials and the shock, which will be ^lnavo^dallc, (if you 
 come,) I should be most glad to see you once more ; but when I think 
 of your being insulted on the road, and perhaps while here, and of 
 only seeing your wretchedness made complete, I shrink from it. Your 
 composure and fortitude of mind may be quite equal to it all ; but I 
 am in dreadful doubt of it. If you do come, defer your journey till 
 about the 27th or 28th of this month. The scenes which you will 
 have to pass through on coming here will be any thing but those you 
 now pass, with tender-hearted friends, and kind faces to meet you 
 every where. Do consider the matter well before you make the plunge. 
 I think I had better say no more on this most painful subject. My 
 health improves a little ; my mind is very tranquil, I may say joyous, 
 and I continue to receive every kind attention that I have any possible 
 need of. I wish you to send copies of all my letters to all our poor 
 children. What I write to one must answer for all, till I have more 
 strength. I get numerous kind letters from friends in almost all 
 directions, to encourage me to be of good cheer," and I still have, 
 as I trust, "the peace of God to rule in my heart." May God, for 
 Christ s sake, ever make his face to shine on you all. 
 
 Your affectionate husband, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO A YOUNG FRIEND, 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 17, 1859. 
 My Dear Young Friend : I have just received your most kind and 
 welcome letter of the loth inst., but did not get any other from you. 
 I am under many obligations to you, and to your father, for all the 
 kindness you have shown me, especially since my disaster. May God 
 and your own consciences ever be your rewarders. Tell your father 
 that I am quite cheerful that I do not feel myself in the least c.e- 
 graded by my imprisonment, my chains, or the near prospect of the 
 gallows. 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 ! I look 
 forward to other changes to take place in God s good time, fully 
 believing that the " fashion of this world passeth away." 
 Farewell. May God abundantly bless you all ! 
 
 Your friend, JOHN BROWN. 
 
358 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 LETTER TO HIS SON JASON. 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 22, 1859 
 Dear Children: Your most welcome letters of the 16th inst. I have 
 just received, and I bless God that he has enabled you to bear the 
 heavy tidings of our disaster with so much seeming resignation and 
 composure of mind. That is exactly the thing I have wished you all 
 to do for me to be cheerful and perfectly resigned to the holy will 
 of a wise and good God. I bless his most holy name, that I am, (I 
 trust,) in some good measure, able to do the same. I am even "joy 
 ful in all my tribulations," even since my confinement, and I humbly 
 trust that "I know in whom I have trusted." A calm peace (per 
 haps) like that which your own dear mother felt, in view of her last 
 change, seems to fill my mind by day and by night. Of this, neither 
 the powers of "earth or hell" can deprive me. Do not, dear chil 
 dren, any of you, grieve for a single moment on my account. As I 
 trust my life has not been thrown away, so I also humbly trust that 
 my death shall not be in vain. God can make it to be a thousand 
 times more valuable to his own cause than all the miserable service 
 (at best) that I have rendered it during my life. When I was first 
 taken, I was too feeble to write much ; so I wrote what I could to 
 North Elba, requesting Ruth and Anne to send you copies of all my 
 letters to them. I hope they have done so, and that you, Ellen, will 
 do the same with what I may send to you, as it is still quite a labor 
 for me to write all that I need to. I want your brothers to know what 
 I write, if you know where to reach them. I wrote Jeremiah, a few 
 days since, to supply a trifling assistance, fifteen dollars, to such of 
 you as might be most destitute. I got his letter, but do not know as 
 he got mine. I hope to get another letter from him soon. I also 
 asked him to show you my letter. I know of nothing you can any 
 of you now do for me, unless it is to comfort your own hearts, and 
 cheer and encourage each other to trust in God, and Jesus Christ, 
 whom he hath sent. If you will keep his sayings, you shall certainly 
 " know of his doctrine, whether it be of God or no." Nothing can 
 be more grateful to me than your earnest sympathy, except it be to 
 know that you are fully persuaded to be Christians. And now, dear 
 children, farewell for this time. I hope to be able to write you 
 again. The God of my father take you for his children. 
 
 Your affectionate father, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 NOTE. The remittance referred to was unquestionably intended 
 for Owen Brown, who escaped from Harper s Ferry, but is supposed 
 to be destitute even of a change of clothing. The significant allusion 
 in the letter shows that the father was confident of Owen s safety. 
 Akron (0.) Beacon. 
 
The Conquering Pen. 
 
 LETTER TO AN OHIO CLERGYMAN. 
 
 JAIL, CHARLESTOWN, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 1859. 
 
 McFARLAND. 
 
 Dear Friend : Although you -write to me as a stranger, the spirit 
 you show towards me and the cause for which I am in bonds, makes 
 me feel towards you as a dear friend. I would be glad to have you, 
 or any of my liberty-loving ministerial friends here, to talk and pray 
 with me. I am not a stranger to the way of salvation by Christ. 
 From my youth I have studied much on that subject, and at one time 
 hoped to be a minister myself; but God had another work for me to 
 do. To me it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, 
 but also to suffer for his sake. But while I trust that I have some 
 experimental and saving knowledge of religion, it would be a great 
 pleasure to me to nave some one better qualified than myself to lead 
 my mind in prayor and meditation, now that my time is so near a 
 close. You may wonder, are there no ministers of the gospel here ? 
 I answer, No. There are no ministers of Christ here. These minis 
 ters 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. The subject 
 you mention as having been preaching on, the day before you wrote 
 to me, is one which I have often thought of since my imprisonment. 
 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." Christ told me to remember them that are in bonds, as 
 bound with them, to do towards them as I would wish them to do towards 
 me in similar circumstances. My conscience bade me do that. I 
 tried to do it, but failed. Therefore I have no regret on that score. 
 I have no sorrow either as to the result, only for my poor wife and 
 children. They have suffered much, and it is hard to leave them un- 
 cared for. But God will be a husband to the widow, and a father to 
 the fatherless. 
 
 I have frequently been in Wooster ; and if any of my old friends 
 from about Akron are there, you can show them this letter. I have 
 but a few more days, and I feel anxious to be away, " where the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." Farewell. 
 
 Your friend, and the friend of all friends of liberty, 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
360 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 From a subsequent letter, dated Nov. 24, we make 
 the following extract : 
 
 I have had many interesting visits from pro-slavery persons, almost 
 daily, and I endeavor to improve them faithfully, -plainly, and kindly. 
 I do not think I ever enjoyed life better than since my confinement 
 here. For this I am indebted to Infinite Grace, and kind letters from 
 friends from different quarters. I wish I couM only know that all 
 my poor family were as composed and as happy as I. I think nothing 
 but the Christian religion could ever make any one so composed. 
 " My willing soul would stay 
 In such a frame as this." 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 LETTER TO MR. HOYT. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., YA., Nov. 24, 1859. 
 GEORGE II. HOYT, ESQ. 
 
 Dear Sir : Your kind letter of the 22d inst. is received. I exceed 
 ingly regret my inability to make you some other acknowledgment for 
 all your efforts in my behalf than that which consists merely in words ; 
 but so it is. May God and a good conscience be your continual re 
 ward. I really do not see what you can do with me any further. I 
 commend my poor family to the kind remembrance of all friends, but I 
 well understand that they are not the only poor in our world. I ought 
 to begin to leave off saying our world. I have but very little idea of 
 the charges made against Mr. Griswold, as I get to see but little of 
 what is afloat. I am very sorry for any wrong that may be done him ; 
 but I have no means of contradicting any thing that may be said, not 
 knowing what is said. I cannot see how it should be any more dis 
 honorable for him to receive some compensation for his expenses and 
 service, than for Mr. Chilton, and I am not aware that any blame is 
 attached to him on that score. I am getting more letters constantly 
 than I well know how to answer. My kind friends appear to have 
 very wrong ideas of my condition as regards replying to all the kind 
 communications I receive. 
 
 Your friend, in truth, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 This letter needs a word of comment. Mr. Chilton, 
 " John Brown s chivalrous Southern lawyer," demanded 
 a fee of one thousand dollars, which was paid out of 
 the fund contributed for his family and cause in the 
 New England States. Mr. Griswold accepted a fee of 
 two hundred and fifty dollars for travelling expenses and 
 
The Conquering Pen. 361 
 
 services from John Brown personally ; supposing as 
 every one at Charlestown thought at the time that 
 he was a man of independent fortune. For receiving 
 this fee, Mr. Griswold has been denounced in hundreds 
 of democratic papers, while not one of them has printed 
 a reproachful word against the " distinguished lawyer " 
 from Maryland. Neither is to blame, or both are ; and 
 if to blame, let a fourfold punishment be meted out 
 to Mr. Chilton. 
 
 LETTER TO HIS WIFE EXTRACTS. 
 
 Before Mrs. Brown started from Philadelphia for 
 Charlestown, she received a letter from her husband, 
 dated November 25, in which, after referring to the 
 fact that she was then staying with Lucretia Mott, he 
 says : 
 
 I remember the faithful old lady well, but presume she 
 has no recollection of me. I once set myself to oppose a mob at 
 Boston, where she was. After I interfered, the police immediately 
 took up the matter, and soon put a stop to mob proceedings. The 
 meeting was, I think, in Marlboro Street Church, or Hotel, perhaps. 
 I am glad to have you make the acquaintance of such old " Pioneers " 
 in the cause. I have just received from Mr. John Jay, of New York, 
 a draft for $50 (fifty dollars) for the benefit of my family, and will 
 enclose it made payable to your order. I have also $15 (fifteen dol 
 lars) to send to our crippled and destitute unmarried son ; when I can, 
 I intend to send you, by express, two or three little articles to carry 
 home. Should you happen to meet with Mr. Jay, say to him that 
 you fully appreciate his great kindness both to me and my family. 
 God bless all such friends. It is out of my power to reply to all the 
 kind and encouraging letters I get ; I wish I could do so. I have been 
 so much relieved from my lameness for the last three or four days as 
 to be able to sit up to read and write pretty much all day, as well as 
 part of the night ; and I do assure you and all other friends that I am 
 quite busy, and none the less happy on that account. The time passes 
 quite pleasantly, and the near approach of my great change is not the 
 occasion of any particular dread. 
 
 I trust that God, who has sustained me so long, will not forsake me 
 
 31 
 
362 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 when I most feel my need of Fatherly aid and support. Should Ha 
 hide His face, my spirit will droop and die ; but not otherwise, be 
 assured. My only anxiety is to be properly assured of my fitness for 
 the company of those who are " washed from all filthiness," and for 
 the presence of Him who is infinitely pure. I certainly think I do 
 have some "hunger and thirst after righteousness." If it be only 
 genuine, I make no doubt I " shall be filled." Please let all our 
 friends read my letters when you can ; and ask them to accept of it as 
 in part for them. I am inclined to think you will not be likely to 
 succeed well about getting away the bodies of your family ; but should 
 that be so, do not let that grieve you. It can make but little difference 
 what is done with them. 
 
 You can well remember the changes you have passed through. 
 Life is made up of a series of changes, and let us try to meet them 
 in the best manner possible. You will not wish to make yourself and 
 children any more burdensome to friends than you are really compelled 
 to do. I would not. 
 
 I will close this by saying that, if you now feel that you are equal 
 to the undertaking, do exactly as you feel disposed to do about coming 
 to see me before I suffer. I am entirely willing. 
 
 Your affectionate husband, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO THADDEUS HYATT. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 27, 1859. 
 THADDEUS HYATT, ESQ. 
 
 My dear Sir : Your very acceptable letter of the 24th instant has 
 just been handed to me. I am certainly most obliged to you for it, 
 and for all your efforts in behalf of my family and myself. ... It, 
 your effort, at any rate, takes from my mind the greatest burden I have 
 felt since my imprisonment, to feel assured that, in some way, my 
 shattered and broken-hearted wife and children would be so far re 
 lieved as to save them from great physical suffering. Others may have 
 devised a better way of doing it. I had no advice in regard to it, and 
 felt very grateful to know, while I was yet living, of almost any active 
 measure being taken. I hope no offence is taken at yourself or me in 
 the matter. I am beginning to familiarize my mind with new and 
 very different scenes. Am very cheerful. 
 
 Farewell, my friend. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO A YOUNG LADY. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 27, 1859. 
 
 My dear Miss : Your most kind and cheering letter of the 18th 
 
 instant is received. Although I have not been at all low-spirited nor 
 
The Conquering Pen. 363 
 
 cast down in feeling since being imprisoned and under sentence, which 
 I am fully aware is soon to be carried out, it is exceedingly gratifying 
 to learn from friends that there are not wanting in this generation 
 some to sympathize with me and appreciate my motive, even now that 
 I am whipped. Success is in general the standard of all merit. I 
 have passed my time here quite cheerfully ; still trusting that neither 
 my life nor my death will prove a total loss. As regards both, how 
 ever, 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 hope 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 have tried to believe 
 that, and still keep trying. Those who die for the truth may prove to 
 be courageous at last ; so I continue " hoping on," till I shall find that 
 the truth must finally prevail. I do not feel in the least degree de 
 spondent nor degraded by my circumstances, and I entreat my friends 
 not to grieve on my account. You Avill please excuse a very poor and 
 short letter, as I get more than I can possibly answer. I send my 
 best wishes to your kind mother, and to all the family, and to all the 
 true friends of humanity. And now, dear friends, God be with you 
 all, and ever guide and bless you. 
 
 Your friend, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO JUDGE TILDEtt. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Monday, Nov. 28, 1859. 
 HON. D. R. TILDEN. 
 
 My dear Sir : Your most kind and comforting letter of the 23d inst. 
 is received. 
 
 I have no language to express the feelings of gratitude and obliga 
 tion I am under for your kind interest in my behalf ever since my 
 disaster. 
 
 The great bulk of mankind estimate each other s actions and mo 
 tives 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 of my living and dying in it. My present great anxiety is 
 to get as near in readiness for a different field of action as I well can, 
 since being in a good measure relieved from the fear that my poor, 
 broken-hearted wife and children would come to immediate want. May 
 God reward, a thousand fold, all the kind efforts made in their behalf. 
 
364 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 I have enjoyed remarkable cheerfulness and composure of mind ever since 
 my confinement ; and it is a great comfort to feel assured that I nm 
 permitted to die (for a cause) not merely to pay the debt of nature, (as 
 all must.) I feel myself to be most unworthy of so great distinction. 
 The particular manner of dying assigned to me, gives me but very little 
 uneasiness. I wish I had the time and the ability to give you (my dear 
 friend) some little idea of what is daily, and, 7 jnight almost say, hourly, 
 passing within my prison icalls ; and could my friends but witness only 
 a few of those scenes just as they occur, I think they would feel very 
 well reconciled to my being here just what J am, and just as / am. 
 My ichole 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. I may be very in 
 sane, (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 cheer 
 ful in my life. I intend to take the liberty of sending, by express, to 
 your care, some trifling articles for those of my family who may be in 
 Ohio, which you can hand to my brother JEREMIAH, when you may 
 see him, together with fifteen dollars I have asked him to advance 
 to them. Please excuse me so often troubling you with my letters, or 
 any of my matters. Please also remember me most kindly to MR. 
 GRISWOLD, and to all others who love their neighbors. I write JER 
 EMIAH to your care. Your friend, in truth, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO MR. SEWALL. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 29, 1859. 
 S. E. SEWALL, ESQ. 
 
 My dear Sir : Your most kind letter of the 24th inst. is received. 
 It does, indeed, give me "pleasure," and the greatest encouragement 
 to know of any efforts that have been made in behalf of my poor and 
 deeply afflicted family. It takes from my mind the greatest cause of 
 sadness I have experienced during my imprisonment here. I feel quite 
 cheerful, and ready to die. I can only say, for want of time, may the 
 God of" the oppressed and the poor, in great mercy, remember all those to 
 whom we are so deeply indebted. 
 
 Farewell. Your friend, JOHN BROWN. 
 
The Conquering Pen. 365 
 
 JOHN BROWN S LAST LETTER TO HIS FAMILY. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN PRISON, JEFFERSOX Co., VA., Nov. 30, 1859. 
 
 My dearly beloved Wife, Sons and Daughters, Every One : As 
 I noAV begin what is probably the last letter I shall ever write to any 
 of you, I conclude to write to all at the same time. I will mention 
 some little matters particularly applicable to little property concerns 
 in another place. 
 
 I recently received a letter from my wife, from near Philadelphia, 
 dated Nov. 22, by which it would seem that she was about giving up 
 the idea of seeing me again. I had written her to come on if she felt 
 equal to the undertaking, but I do not know that she will get my letter 
 in time. It was on her own account chiefly that I asked her to stay 
 back. At first I had a most strong desire to see her again, but there 
 appeared to be very serious objections ; and should we never meet in 
 this life, I trust that she will in the end be satisfied it was for the best 
 at least, if not most for her comfort. I enclosed in my last letter to her 
 a draft of $50 from John Jay, made payable to her order. I have now 
 another to send her, from my excellent old friend Edward Harris of 
 Woonsocket, K. I., for $100, which I shall also make payable to her 
 order. 
 
 I am waiting the hour of my public murder with great composure 
 of mind and cheerfulness, feeling the strong assurance that in no other 
 possible way could I be used to so much advantage to the catise of God 
 and of humanity, and that nothing that either I or all my family 
 have sacrificed or suffered will be lost. The reflection that a wise and 
 merciful, as well as just and holy God rules not only the affairs of this 
 world, but of all worlds, is a rock to set our feet upon under all cir 
 cumstances even those more severely trying ones into which our 
 own feelings and wrongs have placed us. I have now no doubt but 
 that our seeming disaster will ultimately result in the most glorious 
 success. So, my dear shattered and broken family, be of good cheer, 
 and believe and trust in God with all your heart, and with all your 
 soul, for he doeth all things well. Do not feel ashamed on my 
 account, nor for one moment despair of the cause or grow weary of 
 well doing. I bless God I never felt stronger confidence in the cer 
 tain and near approach of a bright morning and glorious day than 
 I have felt, and do now feel, since my confinement here. I am en 
 deavoring to return, like a poor prodigal as I am, to my Father, 
 against whom I have always sinned, in the hope that he may kindly 
 and forgivingly meet me, though a very great way off. 
 
 O, my dear wife and children, would to God you could know how 
 I have been travailing in birth for you all, that no one of you may 
 fail of the grace of God through Jesus Christ ; that no one of you 
 
 81* 
 
366 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 may be blind to the truth and glorious light of his Word, in which 
 life and immortality are brought to light. I beseech you, every one, to 
 make the Bible your daily and nightly study, -with a child-like, honest, 
 candid, teachable spirit of love and respect for your husband and 
 father. 
 
 And I beseech the God of my fathers to open all your eyes to the 
 discovery of the truth. You cannot imagine hpw much you may 
 soon need the consolations of the Christian religion. Circumstances 
 like my own, for more than a month past, have convinced me beyond 
 all doubt of our great need of some theories treasured up when our 
 prejudices are excited, our vanity worked up to the highest pitch. 
 O, do not trust your eternal all upon the boisterous ocean without 
 even a helm or compass to aid you in steering. I do not ask of vou 
 to throw away your reason ; I only ask you to make a candid, sober 
 use of your reason. 
 
 My dear young children, will you listen to this last poor admonition 
 of one who can only love you ? 0, be determined at once to give 
 your whole heart to God, and let nothing shake or alter that resolu 
 tion. You need have no fears of regretting it. Do not be vain and 
 thoughtless, but sober-minded ; and let me entreat you all to love the 
 whole remnant of our once great family. Try and build up again 
 your broken w-alls, and to make the utmost of every stone that is left. 
 Nothing can so tend to make life a blessing as the consciousness that 
 your life and example bless and leave you the stronger. Still, it is 
 ground of the utmost comfort to my mind to know that so many of 
 you as have had the opportunity have given some proof of your 
 fidelity to the great family of men. Be faithful unto death ; from the 
 exercise of habitual love to man it cannot be very hard to love his 
 Maker. 
 
 I must yet insert the reason for my firm belief in the divine inspira 
 tion of the Bible, notwithstanding I am, perhaps, naturally sceptical ; 
 certainly not credulous. I wish all to consider it most thoroughly 
 when you read that blessed book, and see whether you cannot discover 
 such evidence yourselves. It is the purity of heart, filling our minds 
 as well as work and actions, which is every where insisted on, that dis 
 tinguishes it from all the other teachings, that commends it to my con 
 science. Whether my heart be willing and obedient or not, the induce 
 ment that it holds out is another reason of my convictions of its truth 
 and genuineness ; but I do not here omit this my last argument on the 
 Bible, that eternal life is what my soul is panting after this moment. 
 I mention this as a reason for endeavoring to leave a valuable copy 
 of the Bible, to be carefully preserved in remembrance of me, to so 
 many of my posterity, instead of some other book at equal cost. 
 
 I beseech you all to live in habitual contentment with moderate 
 
The Conquering Pen. 367 
 
 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. 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 any thing, but to love one another. John llogers wrote to 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. Ilemember, he that is slow to anger is better than 
 the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. 
 Remember, also, that they, being wise, shall shine, and they that turn 
 many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever. 
 
 And now, dearly beloved family, to God and the work of his grace 
 I commend you all. 
 
 Your affectionate husband and father, JOHN Buowx. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Dec. 1, 1859. 
 
 I give to my son John Brown, Jr., my surveyor s compass and other 
 surveyor s articles if found ; also, my old granite monument, now at 
 North Elba, N. Y., to receive upon its two sides a further inscription, 
 as 1 will hereafter direct ; said stone monument, however, to remain 
 at North Elba so long as any of my children and my wife may remain 
 there as residents. 
 
 I give to my son Jason Brown my silver watch with my name en 
 graved on inner case. 
 
 I give to my son Owen Brown my double-spring opera-glass, and 
 my rifle gun, (if found,) presented to me at Worcester, Mass. It is 
 globe-sighted and new. I give also to the same son fifty dollars in 
 cash, to be paid him from the proceeds of my father s estate, in con 
 sideration of his terrible suffering in Kansas, and his crippled condition 
 from his childhood. 
 
 I give to my son Solomon Brown fifty dollars in cash, to be paid 
 him from my father s estate, as an offset to the first two cases above 
 named. 
 
 I give to my daughter Ruth Thompson my large old Bible, con 
 taining the family record. 
 
 I give to each of my sons, and to each of my other daughters, my 
 son-in-law Henry Thompson, and to each of my daughters-in-law, 
 as good a copy of the Bible as can be purchased at some bookstore in 
 New York or Boston, at a cost of five dollars each in cash, to be paid 
 out of the proceeds of my father s estate. 
 
 I give to each of my grandchildren that may be living when my 
 father s estate is settled, as good a copy of the Bible as can be pur 
 chased (as above) at a cost of three dollars each. 
 
368 The Conquering Pen: 
 
 All the Bibles to be purchased at one and the same time, for cash, 
 on the best terms. 
 
 I desire to have ($50) fifty dollars each paid out of the final proceeds 
 of my father s estate to the following named persons, to wit : To Allen 
 Hammond, Esq., of Rockville, Tolland County, Conn., or to George 
 Kellogg, Esq., former agent of the New England Company at that 
 place, for the use and benefit of that company. Also, fifty dollars to 
 Silas Havens, formerly of Lewisburg, Summit County, O., if he can 
 be found; also, fifty dollars to a man of Storck County, O., at Can 
 ton, who sued my father in his lifetime, through Judge Humphrey 
 and Mr. Upson of Akron, to be paid by J. E,. Brown to the man in 
 person, if he can be found. His name I cannot remember. My 
 father made a compromise Avith the man by taking our house and lot 
 at Manneville. I desire that any remaining balance that may become 
 my due from my father s estate may be paid in equal amounts to my 
 wife, and to each of my children, and to the widows of Watson and 
 Owen Brown, by my brother. 
 
 JOHN Avis, Witness. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 A FINAL CODICIL. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., T A., Dec. 2, 1859. 
 It is my desire that my wife have all my personal property not pre 
 viously disposed of by me, and the entire use of all my landed prop 
 erty during her natural life ; and that, after her death, the proceeds 
 of such land be equally divided between all my then living children ; 
 and that what w r ould be a child s share be given to the children of 
 each of my two sons who fell at Harper s Ferry, and that a child s 
 share be divided among the children of my now living children who 
 may die before their mother, (my present beloved wife.) No formal 
 will can be of use when my expressed wishes are made known to my 
 dutiful and beloved family. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 My dear Wife : I have time to enclose the within and the above, 
 which I forgot yesterday, and to bid you another farewell. " Be of 
 good cheer," and God Almighty bless, save, comfort, guide, and keep 
 you to " the end." Your affectionate husband, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO JAMES FORMAN. 
 
 CHARLESTOWN PRISON, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Dec. 1, 1859. 
 JAMES FORMAN, ESQ. 
 
 My dear Friend : I have only time to say I got your kind letter of 
 the 26th Nov. this evening. Am very grateful for all the good feel 
 ing expressed by yourself and wife. May God abundantly bless and 
 save you all. I am very cheerful, in hopes of entering on a better 
 
The Conquering Pen. 369 
 
 state of existence, in a few hours, through infinite grace in " Christ 
 Jesus, my Lord." Remember the "poor that cry," and " them that 
 are in bonds as bound with them." 
 
 Your friend as ever, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 LETTER TO MR. HUNTER. 
 
 CIIARLESTOWN, VA., Nov. 22, 1859. 
 ANDREW HUNTER, ESQ., Present. 
 
 Dear Sir : I have just had my attention called to a seeming conflic- 
 tion between the statement I at first made to Governor Wise and that 
 which I made at the time I received my sentence, regarding my inten 
 tions respecting the slaves we took about the Ferry. There need be 
 no such confliction, and a few words of explanation will, I think, be 
 quite sufficient. I had given Governor Wise a full and particular 
 account of that ; and when called in court to say whether I had any 
 thing further to urge, I was taken wholly by surprise, as I did not 
 expect my sentence before the others. In the hurry of the moment, I 
 forgot much that I had before intended to say, and did not consider 
 the full bearing of what I then said. I intended to convey this idea : 
 that it was my intention to place the slaves in a condition to defend 
 their liberties if they would, without any bloodshed, but not that I 
 intended to run them out of the Slave States. I was not aware of 
 any such apparent confliction until my attention was called to it, and 
 I do not suppose that a man in my then circumstances should be 
 superhuman in respect to the exact purport of every word he might 
 utter. What I said to Governor Wise was spoken with all the delib 
 eration I was master of, and was intended for truth ; and what I said 
 in court was equally intended for truth, but required a more full ex 
 planation than I there gave. Please make such use of this as you 
 think calculated to correct any wrong impression I may have given. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 The three following letters have never hitherto been 
 published : 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Oct. 31, 1859. 
 My dear Wife and Children, Every One : I suppose you have learned 
 before this by the newspapers that two weeks ago to-day we were 
 fighting for our lives at Harper s Ferry ; that during the fight Watson 
 was mortally wounded, Oliver killed, Wm. Thompson killed, and 
 Dauphin slightly wounded ; that on the following day I was taken 
 prisoner, immediately after which I received several sabre cuts in my 
 head, and bayonet stabs in my body. As nearly as I can learn, Wat- 
 
370 The Conquering Pen. 
 
 son died of his wound on Wednesday the second, or on Thursday the 
 third day after I was taken. Dauphin was killed when I was taken, 
 and Anderson, I suppose, also. I have since been tried, and found 
 guilty of treason, &c., and of murder in the first degree. I have not 
 yet received my sentence. No others of the company with whom you 
 were acquainted were, so far as I can learn, either killed or taken. 
 Under all these terrible calamities, I feel quite cheerful in the as 
 surance that God reigns, and will overrule all for his glory and the 
 best possible good. I feel no consciousness of guilt in the matter, nor 
 even mortification on account of my imprisonment and iron ; and I 
 feel perfectly assured that very soon no member of my family will feel 
 any possible disposition to " blush on my account." Already dear 
 friends at a distance, with kindest sympathy, are cheering me with the 
 assurance that posterity at least will do me justice. I shall commend 
 you all together, with my beloved, but bereaved, daughters-in-law, to 
 their sympathies, which I have no doubt will soon reach you. I also 
 commend you all to Him " whose mercy endureth forever " to the 
 God of my fathers, "whose I am, and whom I serve." "-He will 
 never leave you or forsake you " unless you forsake Him. Finally, 
 my dearly beloved, be of good comfort. Be sure to remember and to 
 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 any thing you 
 bestow on them to be lost to you, even though they may be as 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 * Remem 
 ber them that are in bonds as bound with them." I am in charge of 
 a jailer like the one who took charge of " Paul and Silas ; " and you 
 may rest assured that both kind hearts and kind faces are more or less 
 about me, whilst thousands are thirsting for my blood. " These light 
 afflictions, which are \yutfor a moment, shall work out for us a. far more 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory." I hope to be able to write you 
 again. My wounds are doing well. Copy this, and send it to your 
 sorrow-stricken brothers, Ruth, to comfort them. Write me a few 
 words in regard to the welfare of all. God Almighty bless you all, 
 and make you "joyful in the midst of all your tribulations." Write to 
 John Brown, Charlestown, Jefferson Co., Va., care of Captain John 
 Avis. Your affectionate husband and father. JOHN Bitowx. 
 
 Nov. 3, 1859. 
 
 P. S. Yesterday, Nov. 2, I was sentenced to be hanged on Dec. 
 2d next. Do not grieve on my account. I am still quite cheerful. 
 God bless you. Yours ever, JOHN BHOWN. 
 
The Conquering Pen. 371 
 
 LETTER TO HIS WIFE. 
 CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 12, 1859. 
 
 My dear Wife : Your most welcome letter of the 13th instant I got 
 yesterday. I am very glad to learn from yourself that you feel so 
 much resigned to your circumstances, so much confidence in a wise 
 and good Providence, and such composure of mind in the midst of all 
 your deep afflictions. This is "just as it should be ; " and let me still 
 say, "Be of good cheer;" for we shall soon "come out of all our 
 great tribulations," and very soon (if we trust in him) "God shall 
 wipe away all tears from our eyes." Soon " we shall be satisfied when 
 we are awake in his likeness." There is now here a source of much 
 disquietude to me, viz., the fires which are almost of daily and nightly 
 occurrence in this immediate neighborhood. Whilst I well know that 
 no one of them is the work of our friends, I know at the same time 
 that by more or less of the inhabitants we shall be charged whh them, 
 the same as with the ominous and threatening letters to Governor 
 Wise. In the existing state of public feeling, I can easily see a further 
 objection to your coming here at present ; but I did not intend saying 
 , another word to you on that subject. Why will you not say to me 
 whether you had any crops mature this season ? If so, what ones ? 
 Although I may never more intermeddle with your worldly affairs, I 
 have not yet lost all interest in them. A little history of your success 
 or of your failures, I should very much prize ; and I would gratify you 
 and other friends some way were it in my power. I am still quite 
 cheerful, and by no means " cast down." I "remember that the time 
 is short." The little trunk and all its contents (so far as I can judge) 
 reached me safe. May God reward all the contributors. I wrote 
 you under cover to our excellent friend Mrs. Spring on the 16th instant. 
 I presxime you have it before now. When you return, it is most likely 
 the Lake will not be open ; so you must get your ticket at Troy for 
 Moreau Station, or Glens Falls, (for Glens Falls if you can get owe,) or 
 get one for Vergennes in Vermont, and take your chance of crossing 
 over on the ice to Westport. If you go soon, the route by Glens 
 Falls to Elizabethtown will probably be the best. I have just learned 
 that our poor Watson lingered with his wound until Wednesday about 
 noon of the 19th Oct. Oliver died near my side in a few moments 
 after he was shot. Dauphin died the next morning after Oliver and 
 William were killed, viz., Monday. He died almost instantly was by 
 my side. William was shot by several persons. Anderson was killed 
 vith Dauphin. 
 
 Keep this letter to refer to. God Almighty bless and keep you all. 
 Your affectionate husband, JOHN BROWN. 
 
 Pear Mrs. Spring : I send this to your care, because I am at a loss 
 where it will reach my wife. Your friend, in truth, J. BROWN. 
 
The Conquering Pen. 
 
 LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN. 
 CHARLESTOWX, JEFFERSON Co., VA., Nov. 22, 1859. 
 
 Dear Children All : I address this letter to you, supposing that 
 your mother is not yet with you. She has not yet come here, as I 
 have requested her not to do at present, if at all. She may think it 
 best for her not to come at all. She has, (or will,) I presume, written 
 you before this. Annie s letter to us both of the 9th has but just 
 reached me. I am very glad to get it, alad to learn that you are in any 
 measure cheerful. This is the greatest comfort I can have, except that 
 it would be to know that you are all Christians. God in mercy grant 
 you all may be so. That is what you all will certainly need. When 
 and in what/orw death may come is of but small moment. I feel just 
 as content to die for God s Eternal Truth, and for suffering humanity s, on 
 the scaffold as in any other way ; and I do not say this from any dispo 
 sition 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 now feel it most grateful that I am 
 counted (in the least possible degree} worthy to suffer for the truth. I 
 want you all to "be of good cheer." This life is intended as a season 
 of training, chastisement, temptation, affliction, and trial, and " the 
 righteous shall come out of" it all. O my dear children, let me 
 again entreat you all to "forsake the foolish and live" What can you 
 possibly lose by such a course? "Godliness with contentment is 
 great gain, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which 
 is to come." " Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt tliou dwell in 
 the land ; and verily thou shalt be fed." I have enjoyed life much ; 
 why should I complain on leaving it ? I want some of you to write 
 me a little more particularly about all that concerns your welfare. I 
 intend to write you as often as I can. To God and the word of his 
 grace I commend you all." 
 
 Your affectionate father, JOUST BROWN. 
 
 P. S. I am very grateful to all our friends. 
 
 Yours, J. B. 
 
IX. 
 
 FORTY DAYS IN CHAINS. 
 
 
 
 T1JE old man was imprisoned in the jail of Charles- 
 town for forty-two days. The preceding~ctnipter 
 contams~"the ...jprlnginal letters that he wrote during 
 this IrmojierioiLof confinement. His conduct while in 
 jail was in keeping with his previous character. He^ 
 never wavered in his faith ; never faltered in the pres 
 ence of any man^ From his first commitnient, on the 
 19th of October, till the 7th of November, no clean 
 clothing wasjgiyen fo him; he lay a? fre had fallen at 
 Harper s Ferry, .in Jiia_dirty and blood-stained gar- 
 monte. 
 
 Such brief notes as have been published of his life in 
 prison, from reliable authorities, I will now record in 
 their chronological order. 
 
 DURING THE TRIAL. 
 
 The first is a telegraphic despatch to the Associated 
 Press, of October 26 : 
 
 " Brown has made no confession; but, on the contrary, says he has 
 full confidence in the goodness of God, and is confident that he will 
 rescue him from the perils that surround him. He says he has had 
 rifles levelled at him, knives at his throat, and his life in as great 
 peril as it is now, but that God has always been at his side. He 
 knows God is with him, and fears nothing." 
 
 QO (373) 
 
374 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 On the 2d of November, Judge Russell, of Boston, 
 and bis wife,* arrived in Cbarlestown, and bad an in 
 terview with John Brown. The Judge spoke of the 
 charge preferred by an administration journalist in 
 Kansas against the Captain, which charged him with 
 having killed the ruffians of Pottawattomie. The old 
 man declared that he did not, in any way, participate 
 in their execution ; but thought here, in jail, as he had 
 believed in Kansas, that the act was just and necessary. 
 A reliable writer, who was admitted to the cell on the 
 same day, thus speaks of the old man : 
 
 "He is permitted to receive such visitors as he desires to see. He 
 states that he welcomes every one, and that he is preaching, even in 
 jail, with great effect, upon the enormities of slavery, and with argu 
 ments that every body fails to answer." 
 
 Another newspaper correspondent who visited him 
 at this time the days of his sentence says : 
 
 "He said that Captain Avis, his jailer, showed as much kindness in 
 treating him, as he had shown courage in attacking him. It is what 
 I should expect from a brave man. Seeing that one of the deputy 
 jailers was present, he added : I don t say this to flatter ; it isn t 
 my way. I say it because it is true/ Capt. Brown appears perfectly 
 fearless in all respects, says that he has no feeling about death on a 
 scaffold, and believes that every act, even all the follies that led to 
 this disaster, were decreed to happen ages before the world was made. 
 The only anxiety he expressed was in regard to the circumstances of 
 his family. He asked and obtained leave to add a postscript to a letter 
 to his wife, telling her that he was to be hanged on the second of 
 December, and requested that it should be directed to Mrs. John 
 Brown, for there are some other widow Browns in North Elba. 
 He speaks highly of his medical attendants, but rejects the offered 
 counsel of all ministers who believe that slavery is right. He will die 
 as fearlessly as he has lived." 
 
 * " When that Boston wife went, down to John Brown s prison, and stood mending 
 the sabre cut of his coat, a young Virginian, doubtless of the first families, who had on 
 a uniform, although requested by a friend to retire for the purpose of letting her and 
 Brown talk of old times alone, looked in through the window. But the wit of the 
 woman got rid of him ; for, having finished her needlework, she turned round and said , 
 Young man, get me a brush to clean this coat with; but the chivalry of the old 
 State was so livid hot with rage at being asked to do any thing useful, that he went 
 off, and was not seen again for half an hour. Now, that is a specimen of this whit* 
 race in working." Speech of Wendell Phillips, New York, December 15. 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 375 
 
 The visit of Judge Russell and his wife was not 
 liked hy the self-styled hospitable Virginians, but they 
 were permitted to visit the jail unmolested by the pop 
 ulace, and were not uncourteously received. 
 
 AFTER THE TRIAL. 
 
 The next Northern visitor a Boston sculptor 
 who had come to take a likeness and a measure of John 
 Brown s head, was less tenderly treated by the author 
 ities. Captain Brown refused, at first, to permit the 
 measurements to be made ; but, when told that a lady, 
 who had been a friend to him in other days, requested 
 it as a personal favor, he at once expressed his willing 
 ness to permit it to be done. But the judicial, offi 
 cial, and jail authorities interposed, and the sculptor 
 was refused all access to him. A reporter who had 
 access to the cell on the same day November 3 
 writes : 
 
 " Brown s cheerfulness never fails him. He converses with all who 
 visit him in a manner so free from restraint and with so much uncon 
 cern, that none can doubt his real convictions of self-approval. His 
 daring courage has strongly impressed tRe people, and I have more 
 than once heard public avowals of admiration of his fearlessness in 
 spite of ominous murmurs of disapprobation from bystanders. A 
 telegraphic despatch, dated Boston, was this morning received from 
 T. W. Higginson. It said, John Brown s wife wishes to go on and 
 see him. Can you obtain permission for her ? This was answered 
 affirmatively ; but when the matter was mentioned to Brown, he 
 directed that this message should be immediately sent : Do not, for 
 God s sake, come here now. John Brown. " 
 
 In his next letter he adds : 
 
 " November 4. Certain Northern papers convey the impressions of a 
 very general belief in John Brown s safety from execution. They 
 assume, that, for political or other reasons, Governor Wise will be 
 induced to show clemency to this condemned man. Such ideas are 
 received here with indignation. It is evident that any attempt to 
 remove him alive from this town would fail. The people say that a 
 regiment of soldiers, with the Governor at their head, could not 
 accomplish it. You, at a distance, can hardly form an impression 
 of the rage for vengeance which is felt by the citizens of this place. 
 
376 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 When Brown was in court on trial, there were always faces burning 
 with hatred hanging over him, fiercely watching every movement 
 that he made. In the event of an attempt to rescue, which has been 
 the great fear all along, the jailers have been instructed to shoot him. 
 The populace are resolute in their determination that their victims 
 shall never be taken from them, and it does not seem that this deter 
 mination is to be shaken by any expedient. 
 
 11 Brown s own ideas on the subject are characteristic. He tran 
 quilly says, 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. There is no insincerity about 
 this, you may be sure. Brown does not value his life ; or, at least, is 
 wholly unmoved at the prospect of losing it. He was never more 
 firm than at this moment. The only compunctions he expresses are 
 in relation to his management at Harper s Ferry, by which he lost 
 not only himself, but sacrificed his associates. He sometimes says 
 that if he had pursued his original plan of immediate escape to the 
 mountains, he could never have been taken, for he and his men had 
 studied the vicinity thoroughly, and knew it a hundred times better 
 than any of the inhabitants. It was, he says, his weakness in yield 
 ing to the entreaties of his prisoners, and delaying his departure, that 
 ruined him. It was the first time, are his own words, that I ever 
 lost command of myself, and now I am punished for it. 
 
 "The reason Brown has given for asking his wife to remain away, 
 is also characteristic. He knows it would cause great suffering, and 
 will, possibly, shatter his composure in a manner which he is resolved 
 against, lest his captors should esteem it an evidence of regret for 
 what he has done. The despatch which I told you was sent to 
 Mrs. Brown did not reach her, and to-day another was received, an 
 nouncing that she was about to leave Philadelphia for this town. 
 Brown will still make another effort to check her. Nothing seems to 
 give Brown greater annoyance than hearing of those threatening 
 anonymous letters that are continually sent to Governor Wise, and 
 to the authorities of Charlestown, respecting his fate. He protests 
 against them, and feels unwilling to believe that they proceed from his 
 own friends." 
 
 A pro-slavery reporter of the New York Herald vis 
 ited John Brown on the same days, and thus records 
 the results of the interview : 
 
 " I have just seen Old Captain Brown. I inquired after his health 
 and condition ; he replied that his recent wounds had caused some 
 inflammation in an old one, received, doubtless, in some of his Kan 
 sas work ; with that exception he was easy in mind and body, and 
 thought he had done his duty to God and man. If it was decreed 
 that he should suffer for it, very well ; it was of but small conse 
 quence to him. He cared but little, any way. I asked him if he 
 had no regret for the valuable lives he had destroyed. The old sin 
 ner replied he had not intended that. In answer to the query, * If 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 377 
 
 he thought his designs could be carried out without bloodshed ? he 
 replied, It had been done in Missouri. Just at that point the inter 
 view terminated. 
 
 "The prisoners are still guarded with the greatest vigilance. Hun 
 dreds of men all the time under arms are stationed at the jail, which, 
 by the way, in its external appearance looks much more like a private i 
 residence than a jail, with its curtained windows and porch or stoop, / 
 to speak in Yankee parlance, leading out on the street but it is very I 
 strong and secure within." 
 
 On the 5th of November, a Northern lady Mrs. 
 Spring arrived in Charlestown to nurse John Brown; 
 and, on the following day, was admitted to his cell. 
 From her account of this interview, all that has not 
 hitherto been published is subjoined : 
 
 " On our way we spent a night at Harper s Ferry. In the parlor 
 we heard a young lady describing to a gentleman the horrors of the 
 night of terror. I wished, she said, I could shoot them all. She 
 told the story of poor Thompson, brought wounded into the hotel, 
 followed by the infuriated people, protected for a time by Mr. Foulke s 
 sister, at last dragged out and killed on the bridge. She said, It was 
 dreadful to drag him out so ; but-* they did right to kill him. I 
 would. . . . 
 
 " Between Mr. Brown and his jailer there has grown up a most 
 friendly feeling. Captain Avis, who is too brave to be afraid to be 
 kind, has done all he could for the prisoners, and been cursed accord 
 ingly. Still their condition was very cheerless, and Mr. Brown was 
 in the same clothes in which he was taken. A cloth under his head 
 was much stained with blood from a still open wound. It was hard 
 for me to forget the presence of the jailer, (I had that morning seen his 
 advertisement of fifty negroes for sale ; ) but I soon lost all thought 
 of him in listening to Mr. Brown, who spoke at once of his plans and 
 his failure. Twenty years he has labored, and waited, and suffered, 
 and at last he believed the time of fulfilment had come. But he failed ; 
 and instead of being free on the mountains, strong to break every 
 yoke, and let the oppressed go free, he was shorn of his strength, with 
 prison walls about him. But, he said, I do not now reproach 
 myself; I did what I could. I said, The Lord often leads us in 
 strange ways. Yes, he answered; and / think I cannot noic 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 pleasant smile came over his face when I 
 exclaimed, Then you will be our martyr ! I continued, I want 
 to ask one question for others, not for myself Have you been actu 
 ated by any feeling of revenge ? He raised his head, and gave me a 
 surprised look ; then, lying back, he answered slowly, but firmly, 
 I am not conscious of having had a feeling of the kind. No, not in 
 all the wrong done to me and my family in Kansas, have I had a feel 
 ing of revenge. That would not sustain you now, I remarked. 
 No, indeed, he replied quickly ; but I sleep peacefully as an 
 infant, or if I am wakeful, glorious thoughts come to me, entertaining 
 
 32* 
 
378 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 my mind. Presently he added, The sentence they tave pronounced 
 against me did not disturb me in the least ; it is not the first time that 
 I have looked death in the face. It is not the hardest thing for a 
 brave man to die, I answered ; but how will it be in the long days 
 before you, shut up here ? If you can be true to yourself in all this, 
 how glad we shall be 1 I cannot say, he responded, * but I do not 
 believe I shall deny my Lord and Master, Jesus Christ; and I should be if 
 I denied my principles against slavery. Why, I preach^ against it all the 
 time Captain Avis knows I do. The jailer smiled, and said, Yes. 
 We spoke of those who, in times of trial, forgot themselves, and he 
 said, * There seems to be just that difference in people ; some can bear 
 more than others, and i. ot suffer so much. He had been through all 
 kinds of hardships, and did not mind them. My son remarked it 
 was a great thing to have confidence in one s own strength. I did 
 not mean to say that, was the answer. It was only a constitutional 
 difference, and I have been trained to hardships. When twelve years 
 old he went with his father to furnish the American army with cattle. 
 This had led him far away from home, and subjected him to much 
 exposure. Sometimes he slept in graveyards, but without any super 
 stitious fears,/ and in forests a hundred miles from human habitations, 
 surrounded by hostile English and Indians. But, he added, smiling, 
 I have one unconquerable weakness ; 1 have ahvays been more afraid 
 of being taken into an evening party of ladies and gentlemen than of 
 meeting a company of men with guns. I think he is still more 
 afraid of giving trouble to others. - He seems to me to be purely unself 
 ish, and in all that he has done to have never thought of himself, but 
 always of others. In a noble letter to his wife, which I brought away 
 with me, he entreats his dear wife and children, every one, Never in 
 all your trials forget the poor that cry, and him that hath none to help 
 him 
 
 "While he was talking to me with deepest solicitude of his family, 
 the rabble, ever hanging about the Court House and prison, fearful 
 that we were plotting treason inside, became restless. The sheriff was 
 frightened, and called the jailer, so that I had only a moment to speak 
 to Stevens, and to say farewell to Mr. Brown, who stood upx to take 
 leave of us, saying, The Lord will bless you for coming here. 
 
 "There was, I learned afterwards, an angry mob outside the jail, 
 but I did not see it. In a moment we reached the hotel, and at once 
 recorded all we could remember of this interesting visit. That night 
 there were rumors of an attack on the jail, and it was thought best 
 that I should not repeat my visit. 
 
 " But the evening before we left Charlestown, a telegram announced 
 to me that Mrs. Brown was in Philadelphia \ and I was anxious there 
 fore to have another interview with her husband. In the morning 
 I sent for the Judge, who went with us to the prison door. Mr. 
 Brown was sitting at the table, where he had just finished a letter to 
 his wife, and a note to me. He looked better, and brighter, and hap 
 pier than at my first visit, and Stevens also looked better. The old 
 man said little except about his family, whom he commended to the 
 kindness of good people." 
 
 The next account that we have, is from the corre 
 spondence of a pro-slavery paper, the New York 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 379 
 
 Herald, and from so very prejudiced a source, jt is 
 an important testimony to John Brown s character and 
 
 "A person visiting Brown in jail, and seeing him for the first time, 
 -\vith an estimate formed of the man from his conduct during the trial 
 and the speeches there delivered by him, would find his preconceived 
 opinions rapidly disappear before the subject of them. It is true that, 
 acting under excitement and from the consciousness that he was sur 
 rounded by his enemies, Brown frequently indulged in irascible remarks, 
 feeling somewhat secure in the protection of the law whose victim he 
 must be, while, at the same time, he dared, and, indeed, seemed to 
 court, the worst his foes could do, thinking, perhaps, that he might 
 sscape the slower and more vengeful process of the law. In this state 
 of feeling, sensitive as an enthusiast in giving to the world the motives 
 of an act which, to his own diseased mind, was great and good, but 
 which the world must condemn, he claimed with petulance and impa 
 tience those delays in the administration of the law which neither l\is 
 crimes nor the circumstances of the court could fairly admit of. Ilia 
 object in this was, as he himself said, to give the world a fair oppor 
 tunity of judging of his motives. If this opportunity was to be 
 denied him, a summary quietus from one of the Sharpe s rifles in the 
 hands of his enemies was all he next most desired. Now that he has 
 received at the hands of justice and fair play all the delay that he 
 could possibly hope for a trial protracted over five days with the 
 fullest publicity given to the statements of those witnesses who testfied 
 most directly and generously to his humanity to his prisoners in the 
 Armory at Harper s Ferry, he is satisfied, and awaits the result with 
 that en 1m firmness which is the sure characteristic of a brave man. 
 
 " What Brown was most anxious to establish in the eyes of the 
 world, during the trial, was his claim to being considered humane and 
 merciful from his conduct to his prisoners. Whatever good quality a 
 man possesses in any marked degree he is most anxious to have ac 
 knowledged at a time when circumstances point the other way ; and. 
 so it was with Brown. Though his deeds in the Kansas border wars 
 did not entitle him to be considered either as humane, or as averse to 
 the shedding of blood, certainly his prisoners at Harper s Ferry had no 
 fault to find with him on that score. They frankly acknowledged his 
 humanity and courtesy towards them. At all events, the opinions 
 formed of the man from the darker features of hi:, life would fade 
 before the influence of a personal interview \vith him in prison. Now 
 that his fate has been decided by the just and proper process of law, 
 he feels resigned to it. He no longer indulges in complaints and in 
 vectives. He rarely adverts to his trial ; but whenever he does, he 
 pays a tribute to all concerned Judge, counsel, and witnesses. He 
 speaks freely upon all subjects but one, and that is the death of his 
 sons. From his taciturnity he has been adjudged as entirely callous 
 as to the fate of his sons and the other unfortunate victims of his mad 
 enterprise ; but this is a very great mistake, and arises from ignorance 
 of the human heart. He avoids the subject, it is true, but in waiv 
 ing it, should it be started, the observer can mark and understand 
 the feeling which confines it to his own heart. He speaks freely 
 
380 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 enough of his wife and daughters, and he has been some time consid 
 ering the propriety of allowing them to visit him. They are now on 
 their way to visit him, although he had resolved on avoiding an inter 
 view with them until some few days previous to that fixed for his 
 death, and which he ha*s not the slightest hope of seeing put off a 
 single hour. 
 
 " Mrs. Russell, wife of Judge Russell, visited him the other day, 
 nnd had a long chat with him. He appears! v -ry much pleased with 
 the lady s manner, and was very communicative with her. In illustrat 
 ing his own character, he said that he had never known what fear 
 w.as when brought into opposition or collision with his fellowsman, 
 but that he had a strange feeling of that nature on his first introduc 
 tion to the higher class of men with whom his peculiar and wayward 
 life brought him into contact. This feeling, he said, was very awk 
 ward, and very painful, also, when entering the society of women. 
 The interview with Mrs. Russell seemed to touch the old man s heart, 
 and no woman could turn from him, so full of trials and sorrow 
 for woman at such a moment rarely looks back to first causes with 
 out emotion. 
 
 "Brown frequently indulges in amusing narratives of his encoun 
 ters with his border enemies of Kansas and Missouri. He related to 
 me that upon one occasion he had succeeded in running away with a 
 party of slaves from Missouri, but that he was so hotly pursued that 
 some stratagem was necessary to prevent them from being overtaken, 
 in the event of which a severe fight and consequent sacrifice of life 
 must be the result. To avoid this, Brown himself turned off the 
 track of the retreating party, and having completely disguised him 
 self, joined as an amateur the pursuers. With them he remained a 
 day and a night, entering into their counsels and effectually control 
 ling their motions, so that he turned them off the right track, and gave 
 his friends an opportunity to escape. The old man laughed as he 
 recalled the scene, and said, I never was good at a disguise, butthat 
 time I deceived several in the party who had seen and known me 
 before. With all who come in a kindly spirit to visit him Brown is 
 exceedingly free and open. He esteems such as friends, and seems to 
 view their leave-taking with regret. But these visits are but as angels - 
 visits, few and far between, for the jealousy and suspicion with which 
 the people of Charlestown regard all who are likely to feel for and 
 sympathize with the prisoner in fact, all strangers keep barred 
 the prison doors. It is not so, however, in regard to those about 
 whose eai-nest hostility to all abolition movements there is no doubt 
 entertained. They enter in flocks, and gape, and stare, and follow 
 the jailer in and out. He is in the same cell with Stevens, at whose 
 bedside he is constantly found sitting, with the Bible (just closed as 
 the visitor enters) placed upon his knees. This is the Bible he always 
 carried with him. It was found, after the final attack and recapture 
 of Harper s Ferry, in the Armory, and was by some kind person re 
 stored to its owner in captivity. It is almost needless to say that 
 Brown awaits death with that resignation and tranquillity which dis 
 arm the dreaded phantom of all terror." 
 
 A republican correspondent, writing under date of 
 November 8, informs us that, 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 381 
 
 Brown s conversation is singularly attractive. His manner is 
 magnetic. It attracts every one who approaches him, and while he 
 talks he reigns. The other prisoners venerate him. Stevens sits in 
 his bed, usually with his face away from the window, and listens all 
 day to the Captain s words, seldom offering a syllable except when 
 called upon. Sometimes he gets a little ejxcited, and springs forward 
 to make clear some point about which < the Captain is in doubt ; but 
 his five bullets, in head and breast, weigh him do.wn, and he is soon 
 exhausted. As for the other men, Copeland, Green, and Coppic, 
 they are always sending messages to the Captain, assuring him that 
 it was not they who confessed, and he mustn t growl at them, but at 
 Cook. I cannot forget hearing Brown express himself on the subject 
 of the threatening anonymous letters that have been received by Gov. 
 Wise relating to his case. Well, gentlemen, he said, I tell you what 
 I think of them. They come from no friends of mine. I have noth 
 ing to do with such friends. Why, gentlemen, of all the things in the 
 world that I despise, anonymous letters are the worst. If I had a 
 little job to do, I would sooner take one half the men I brought down 
 here to help me than as many of these fellows as could fill all Jef 
 ferson County, standing close upon every inch. If I don t get out 
 of this jail before such people as they are take me out, I shan t go 
 very soon. " 
 
 During all this time, John Brown received large 
 numbers of letters daily. All anonymous notes he 
 burned without reading. He replied to as many of 
 the others as he had time to answer. Previous to this 
 date, also, two militia companies paid him a visit, 
 the Continentals and the Frederickburg Guards. He 
 received them cordially ; but objected, he said, " to be 
 made a monkey show of." He told the Continentals 
 that he had seen their uniform on the border during 
 the war of 1812. 
 
 WRIT OF ERROR REFUSED. 
 
 On November 16, says the New York Tribune, 
 
 " John Brown, by counsel, made his last appeal to a Virginia tri 
 bunal. Within a few hours time, the five judges of the Supreme 
 Court of Appeals uttered their unanimous opinion that the judgment 
 of the Jefferson County Court, under which the old man awaits death 
 by hanging on the 2d day of December, was right ; and therefore they 
 denied his petition for a writ of error. The indictment upon which 
 Brown was tried contained four counts for treason, for advising and 
 conspiring with slaves and others to rebel, and for murder. Charged 
 jointly with others, he was tried alone. One general judgment of 
 death was entered upon the whole of it. The grounds of his applica- 
 
382 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 tion for a writ of error were few. He claimed, first, that the judgment 
 against him was erroneous, because it was not averred in the treason 
 count, that at the time of the offence charged he was a citizen of the 
 State of Virginia or of the United States. The law is well settled, 
 that treason is a breach of allegiance, and can be committed only by 
 one who owes allegiance, either temporary or perpetual. Brown ap 
 pealed to the Court, that if the judgment against him on all the counts, 
 including this defective one of treason, was to stand, he would be put 
 out of all possible reach of the Executive clemency. That clemency 
 could have reached him, on the contrary, if the judgment had only 
 been on the other counts of the indictment. Secondly, he claimed that 
 the judgment under which he now awaits death was erroneous, in that 
 the Court below denied his application that the prosecution be made 
 to elect some one count upon which to try him, and abandon the rest. 
 He was entitled to that election : First, Because the offence of treason 
 is not pardonable by the Governor of Virginia, and therefore a count 
 charging it should not have been united in an indictment with counts 
 for offencas thc\t are pardonable. Second, Because the punishment 
 upon conviction upon each of the counts was not necessarily the 
 same ; that while it was inevitably capital upon one of them, upon 
 the others he might have been found guilty only of a misdemeanor, 
 or of a simple manslaughter. Thirdly, he insisted that the Court be 
 low should have instructed the Jury that if they believed, from the 
 evidence, that at the time of the committing of the acts charged in the 
 count for treason, he was not a citizen of Virginia, but of another 
 State, he could not be convicted under it. Fourthly, he claimed that 
 the finding by the Jury upon the counts for conspiring with slaves to 
 rebel, and for killing four white men and one free negro, < in manner 
 and form as aforesaid, was too uncertain and inconsistent to warrant 
 a judgment of death. Briefly, and without any delay painful to the 
 tense expectation of the Virginia mind, did the five Judges of the 
 Appeals Court say to John Brown, through his counsel, c The judg 
 ment under which you are to be hung by the neck until you are dead, 
 is plainly right. His counsel ivere not allowed to be heard." 
 
 JOHN BROWN AND THE SOUTHERN CLERGY. 
 
 John Brown had frequent calls from the Virginia 
 clergy, but with none of them would he bow the knee 
 to their Baal. Mr. Lowry, an old neighbor, who visited 
 him in prison, states that : 
 
 " Mr. Brown is a member of the Old- School Presbyterian Church, 
 and a decidedly religious man, though he strictly and sternly refuses 
 to be aided in his prayers by the pro-slavery divines of Virginia. 
 One of these gentlemen, in conversation with me, said that he had 
 called on Brown to pray with him. He said that Brown asked if he 
 was ready to fight, if necessity required it, for the freedom of the 
 slave. On his answering in the negative, Brown said that he would 
 thank him to retire from his cell ; that his prayers would be an abom 
 ination to his God. To another clergyman he said that he would not 
 insult his God by bowing down with any one who had the blood of 
 the slava upon his skirts." 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 383 
 
 A correspondent of the Baltimore American gives 
 this additional testimony to John Brown s fidelity : 
 
 " Captain Brown has also recovered, and is getting quite active. 
 He refuses to receive any ministers who countenance slavery, telling 
 them to go home and read their Bibles. Rev. Alfred Griffith had 
 an interview with him a few days since, which lasted for nearly an 
 hour, principally on the subject of slavery. They quoted Scripture 
 to sustain their views, and had quite a clashing time of it ; but neither 
 was able to convince the other of the correctness of their peculiar 
 doctrines." 
 
 Another writer says : 
 
 " Brown was visited yesterday by Rev. James H. March, of the M. 
 E. Church. The reverend gentleman having advanced an argument in 
 favor of the institution of slavery as it now exists, Brown replied to 
 him, saying, My dear sir, you know nothing about Christianity ; you 
 Avill have to learn the A B C s in the lesson of Christianity, as I find 
 you entirely ignorant of the meaning of the word. I, of course, re 
 spect you as a gentleman ; but it is as a heathen gentleman. The rev 
 erend gentleman here thought it best to draw such a discussion to a 
 close, and therefore withdrew." 
 
 Let the churches of America blush in shame in pres 
 ence of the faithful Christian of Charlestown jail. Was 
 ever testimony against slavery so firmly or so worthily 
 borne ? The effect of it was noteworthy. The clergy 
 men of Charlestown refused to pray for John Brown 
 before his execution, although that custom is immemo 
 rial, and Christianity enjoins the duty of praying even 
 for our enemies. 
 
 To Mr. Lowry, in speaking of the Pottawattomie 
 executions, and the person who accused him of having 
 killed the ruffians, he said that he was mistaken in 
 supposing that the charge needed any refutation from 
 him. " Time and the honest verdict of posterity," he 
 said, " will approve of every act of mine to prevent 
 slavery from being established in Kansas. I never shed 
 the blood of a fellow-man, except in self-defence or in 
 promotion of a righteous cause." Mr. Lowry adds : 
 
384 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 " During our conversation, the martial music (where Governor Wise 
 was reviewing his army near the prison) made a great noise, and, 
 thinking it must annoy him, I asked him if it did not. No, said the 
 man ; it is inspiring ! 
 
 " And here, as I parted with him, telling him I would see him 
 again, if possible, he repeated to me : Tell those without that I am 
 cheerful. My time was up, and I was invited to leave." 
 
 During this week five fires, caused J)y incendiaries, 
 occurred within a circuit of fifteen miles. The fright 
 ened Virginians attributed them to anti-slavery inva 
 ders ; but the planters, knowing the feelings of their 
 slaves, slept every night in the town. A cow ap 
 proached the guards, one evening, and, refusing to give 
 the countersign, was shot. In a few days afterwards, 
 companies of infantry and artillery arrived from Peters 
 burg and Richmond, to protect the citizens. 
 
 On their arrival in Charlestown, on November 22, 
 these protectors of Virginia from her graminivorous 
 enemies paid a visit to the old man in prison ; but no 
 one cared or was permitted to describe the interview. 
 Governor Wise, who accompanied them to Charles- 
 town, had a conversation with John Brown, who "jus 
 tified and defended his course." 
 
 On the 24th, the militia Colonel hitherto in command 
 was superseded by General Taliaferro, and martial law 
 was at once proclaimed. The telegraph was seized by 
 the Government of Virginia, and every train that en 
 tered the State was searched and put under guard. 
 The Austrian passport system was inaugurated for 
 the first time in American history. 
 
 The next and only published record of John Brown s 
 life in his cell, until the day preceding his sublime 
 victory over death, is from the pen of a very prejudiced 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 385 
 
 authority, but bears, nevertherless, internal evidences 
 of its truthfulness : 
 
 " Colonel Smith, of the Virginia Military Institute, paid a visit to 
 John Brown to-day, in company with Mr. O. Jennings Wise, son of 
 Governor Wise, who is attached to Company F, of Richmond. I had 
 an interview with one of the jail officials who was present at the con 
 versation that took place between Captain Brown and these gentlemen, 
 a nd I give you, word for word, what transpired during our interview : 
 
 Reporter. Did Colonel Smith question Brown as to whether he had 
 any desire to have a clergyman to administer to him the consolations 
 of religion ? 
 
 Jail Official. Yes, he did ; but Brown said he did not recognize any 
 slaveholder, lay or clerical, or any man sympathizing with slavery, as 
 a Christian. He gave the same reason yesterday for his refusal to 
 accept the services of some clergymen Avho called upon him. He also 
 said he would as soon be attended to the scaffold by blacklegs or rob 
 bers of the worst kind as by slavcholding ministers, or ministers sym 
 pathizing with slavery, and that if he had his choice he would prefer 
 being followed to the scaffold by barefooted, barelegged, ragged 
 negro children, and their old gray-headed slave-mother, than by cler 
 gymen of this Character. He would feel, he said, much prouder of 
 such an escort, and wished he could have it. 
 
 Reporter. Has he said any thing on the subject of religion to the 
 clergymen who have called upon him ? 
 
 Official. Yes, he argues with them ; but winds up frequently by 
 telling them that they, and all slaveholders and sympathizers with 
 slavery, have far more need of prayers themselves than he has, and he 
 accordingly ndvises them to pray for themselves, and exhibit no con 
 cern about him. While making these remarks, he requests that he 
 would not be understood as designing to offer any insult. 
 
 Reporter. Does his health seem impaired by the anxiety which he 
 must necessarily feel in view of his impending fate ? 
 
 Official. No, sir ; he looks much better to-day than he did at any 
 period since his imprisonment. He eats his meals regularl} , and 
 seems to be in. better spirits this morning than he has been for ten 
 days. 
 
 Reporter. Does he make any reference to his sons who were shot at 
 Harper s Ferry ? 
 
 Official. He expressed some anxiety to get the bodies of his sons 
 together, and requested the jailer to give his wife any assistance in his 
 power to get them together. 
 
 Reporter. What does he mean by getting them together ? 
 
 Official. He is aware that the body of one of his sons was taken to 
 the Winchester Medical College for dissection, and in using the words 
 getting them together he meant to have their bones collected and given 
 to his wife. He also expressed a desire to have the bones of two men, 
 named Thompson, from his neighborhood, Avho were shot at Harper s 
 Ferry, given to his wife. He expressed an. idea that it would be well 
 to have the flesh burned off the bodies of all, and their bones boxed 
 up, so that they might be carried home with more convenience. In 
 expressing this wish he remarked that he meant to do no violence to 
 
 33 
 
386 Forty Days in Chains. 
 
 the feelings or Christian sentiments of the people of Virginia. His 
 sole object was to prevent inconvenience in their transportation, and 
 avoid any disagreeable odor. 
 
 Reporter. There was a rumor on the streets during yesterday that 
 he was engaged in writing out, or had written, his autobiography. Is 
 there any truth in the rumor ? 
 
 Official. No, sir ; there is no truth in it. He is, however, writing 
 u Lo ng communication to his family.* 
 
 Reporter. Does he exhibit much concern about his wife -and chil 
 dren ? 
 
 Official. Some time since he felt deeply concerned lest they may be 
 reduced to want. Now, however, he has less concern on that head, 
 doubtless because of the assurance he received of a purpose to make 
 provision for them. He often speaks of his three youngest daughters, 
 the eldest of whom, he says, is rising sixteen, and the youngest six. 
 
 Reporter. Does he say any thing relative to Governor Wise ? 
 
 Official. He speaks of him in the highest terms, and expressed him 
 self .much pleased at seeing his son to-day, on account of his father s 
 treatment of him. He observed that the Governor treated him much 
 better than he expected he would have done under the circumstances. 
 
 Reporter. Does he seek to justify himself for the murder of the men 
 at Pottawattomie Creek, when questioned upon the subject ? 
 
 Official. He says he did not kill any of them, but that he approved 
 of their being killed. 
 
 Reporter. Has he any intercourse with the rest of his confederates 
 now in jail ? 
 
 Official. He has not, except with Stevens, who occupies the same 
 cell with him. 
 
 Reporter. Did he seem pleased when he was informed that the 
 Governor agreed to hand over his body to his wife ? 
 
 Official. He was very much pleased when he read the Governor s 
 letter to the Sheriff, requesting his body to be given to his wife after 
 execution. 
 
 At this stage of the dialogue a Presbyterian clergyman of this town, 
 named Dutton, entered the jailer s dwelling, and requested to have his 
 name reported to Mr. Brown, with a request for an interview if con 
 venient. The message was delivered, but Mr. Brown declined an 
 interview, on the ground that he was then too busy. Mr. Dutton 
 then left. 
 
 Reporter. "What is it keeps him busy ? 
 
 Official. He is engaged in reading about two dozen letters, sent to 
 him this morning. In declining an interview with Mr. Dutton, he 
 desired that he (Mr. D.) be informed of his (Brown s) willingness to 
 see him in the course of the day, and argue with him on the subject of 
 religion. 
 
 Reporter. What is generally the character of the letters sent to him ? 
 
 Official. They are generally letters of sympathy and condolence. 
 ^ Reporter. Does he receive any assuring him of a purpose to rescue 
 him ? 
 
 Official. Yes ; several. These, however, are mostly anonymous, 
 and he invariably commits them to the flames. I have observed him 
 
 * Which they never received. 
 
Forty Days in Chains. 387 
 
 throwing them into the fire upon finding them to be anonymous. 
 Recently he reads no anonymous letter. Any communication, how 
 ever, applauding him as a martyr to the anti- slavery cause, he care 
 fully files away. Referring to his execution this morning, during his 
 conversation with Mr. O. J. Wise and Colonel Smith, he said he was 
 not to be executed, but publicly murdered. 
 
 Reporter. Does he profess any religion ? 
 
 Official. Yes ; he says he is a member of the Congregationalist 
 Church, and represents himself as a good Christian. 
 
 Reporter. Have you any idea whether he has written, or intends to 
 write, any thing which he would wish to have published ? 
 
 Official. He has written nothing that I am aware of, except a short 
 note to a gentleman across the street, stating that his commentaries on 
 Beecher s sermon were not published as he gave them. Some of his 
 commentaries, he said, were omitted, while others were materially 
 altered. 
 
 Reporter. Does he exhibit any lack of firmness when spoken, to on 
 the subject of his approaching doom ? 
 
 Official. I remarked to him this morning that the question was fre 
 quently asked, "Whether there was any caving in on his part," and 
 his reply was, that there was no caving in about him ; that he would 
 hold up to the last moment as he did at the start. 
 
 Reporter. What does he say regarding the prospects of his rescue ? 
 
 Official. He said he was sure his sons could hardly contemplate his 
 fate without using some efforts to rescue him ; but this, he presumed, 
 they would only do if he was allowed to remain in jail without any 
 thing more than ordinary precaution to prevent his escape or rescue 
 being exercised. He said, however, that such an attempt would not 
 be made in view of the precautions now taken. He had no idea that 
 any attempt at rescue would be made with so large a military force aa 
 he understood was now present. 
 
 Reporter. Is he aware that he will not be permitted to make any 
 speech from the scaffold ? 
 
 Official. Yes, he is ; and when informed of that fact, he said he did 
 not care about saying any thing." 
 
 " In all his conversation," wrote another reporter, 
 "Brown showed the utmost gentleness and tranquil 
 lity, and a quiet courtesy withal, that contrasted rather 
 strongly with the bearing of some of his visitors." 
 
X. 
 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 
 
 MRS. BROWN, on her return to Philadelphia from 
 Baltimore, wrote a letter to Governor Wise, ask 
 ing for the bodies of her slain sons, and of her husband, 
 after his execution. He sent her the orders for them, 
 addressed to the Sheriff and the General in command. 
 On Wednesday evening, Mrs. Brown, carrying these sad 
 certificates, arrived at Harper s Ferry, under the escort 
 of two gentlemen from Philadelphia. She intended to 
 have gone to Charlestown with them, on the following 
 morning, to have her last earthly interview with her 
 husband. When the morning came, a despatch from 
 head-quarters ordered the officers to detain the sorrow- 
 stricken wife and her friends until further orders. A 
 trustworthy correspondent says : 
 
 "I learned at Charlestown that for several hours a triangular cor 
 respondence by telegraph -was going on between Charlestown, Rich 
 mond, and Harper s Ferry, which ultimated in a despatch from General 
 Taliaferro, saying that he had sent a file of dragoons to escort Mrs. 
 Brown, but not the others. The mortification of the citizens of Har 
 per s Ferry was not less than that of Mrs. Brown, and her friends, at 
 so cruel and unlooked-for an act on the part of the chivalrous sons of 
 Virginia. But as a cow will frighten a private doing sentry duty, one 
 
 (388) 
 
Hufband and Wife. 389 
 
 live Northern woman and two Northern men might reasonably be ex 
 pected to intimidate a Virginia army. 
 
 "The escort consisted of a file of eight moiinted riflemen, under a 
 sergeant. Captain Moore, of the Montgomery Guards, stationed at 
 this place, very kindly offered his own services as a personal escort to 
 Mrs. Brown, and she gladly accepted it. 
 
 "The Captain referred frequently, as they came along, to the unfor 
 tunate situation of her husband. She exhibited no sorrow or regret, 
 so far as he could observe." 
 
 The gallant Captain had the brutality to attempt to 
 argue with a wife, thus circumstanced, in favor of that 
 great crime against God and man, for assailing whose 
 power her husband was doomed to die. 
 
 The writer, above quoted, continues : 
 
 "I was in sight when the formidable cavalcade arrived. The mili 
 tary went through manoeuvres in Scott s Manual, named and nameless, 
 and which were well calculated to impress the beholder with the won 
 derful effectiveness of a Virginia regiment at a general muster, but in 
 a no more sanguinary conflict. At last, however, Mrs. Brown was 
 admitted. She was kindly received by Captain and Mrs. Avis. Mrs. 
 Avis, by order of the powers that be, conducted Mrs. Brown into a 
 private apartment, where her clothing was searched for concealed 
 weapons, or other means which the morbid suspicion of the Vir 
 ginia army of occupation suggested Mrs. Brown might surreptitiously 
 convey to her husband. 
 
 " In the mean time Captain Brown had been informed that his wife 
 had arrived. The announcement was made by General Taliaferro, 
 when the following dialogue took place : 
 
 " Captain Brown, how long do you desire this interview to last? 
 asked the Virginian. 
 
 " Not long ; three or four hours will do, said Captain Brown. 
 
 " I am very sorry, Captain Brown, said the Virginia General, 
 that I shall not be able to oblige you. Mrs. Brown must return 
 to-night to Harper s Ferry. 
 
 " General, execute your orders; I have no favors to ask of the 
 State of Virginia, was the brave old man s reply. 
 
 "This fact was related to an acquaintance of mine by a Virginia 
 gentleman, as an illustration of Captain Brown s courage and bravery. 
 He did not see in it the scathing rebuke to the pusillanimity of a great 
 State, which, with a cordon of twenty-five hundred men, would not 
 protract the last interview between a brave man and his sorrow- 
 stricken wife." 
 
 33* 
 
390 Hufband and Wife. 
 
 Mrs. Brown, we are told, was led into the cell by the 
 jailer. Her husband rose, and, as she entered, received 
 her in his arms. For some minutes they stood speech 
 less, Mrs. Brown resting her head upon her hus 
 band s breast, and clasping his neck jwith her arms. 
 At length they sat down and spoke ; and from Captain 
 Avis, who was the only witness of that sorrowful scene, 
 (his fellow-prisoner, Stevens, having been placed in an 
 adjoining cell before the entrance of the wife,) the fol 
 lowing record comes : 
 
 John Brown spoke first. " Wife, I am glad to see you," he said. 
 
 " My dear husband, it is a hard fate." 
 
 "Well, well; cheer up, cheer up, Mary. We must all bear it in 
 the best manner we can. I believe it is all for the best." 
 
 " Our poor children God help them." 
 
 " Those that are dead to this world are angels in another. How arc 
 all those still living ? Tell them their father died without a single re 
 gret for the course he has pursued that he is satisfied he is right in 
 the eyes of God and of all just men." 
 
 Mrs. Brown then spoke of their remaining children and their home. 
 Brown s voice, as he alluded to the bereavements of his family, was 
 broken with emotion. After a brief pause, Brown said : 
 
 "Mary, I would like you to get the bodies of our two boys who 
 were killed at Harper s Ferry, also the bodies of the two Thompsons, 
 and, after I am dead, place us all together on a wood pile, and set fire 
 to the wood ; burn the flesh, then collect our bones and put them in 
 a large box, then have the box carried to our farm in Essex County, 
 and there bury us." 
 
 Mrs. Brown said, " I really cannot consent to do this. I hope you 
 will change your mind on this subject. I do not think permission 
 would be granted to do any such thing. For my sake, think no more 
 of such an idea." 
 
 " Well, well," Brown answered, " do not worry or fret about it; I 
 thought the plan would save considerable expense, and was the best." 
 
 Mrs. Brown observed a chain about the ankles of her husband. To 
 avoid its galling his limbs, he had put on two pairs of woollen socks. 
 Mrs. Brown said she was desirous of procuring the chain as a family 
 relic. She had already at her home the one with which the limbs of 
 John Brown, Jr., were inhumanly shackled in Kansas, and in which 
 
Hufband and Wife. 391 
 
 he was goaded on by the Border devils until he was mad, and the 
 chain had worn through his flesh to the bone ; and this, too, she de 
 sired. Captain Brown said he had himself asked that it be given to 
 his family, and had been refused. 
 
 The conversation then turned upon matters of business, which 
 Brown desired to have arranged after his death. lie gave his wife all 
 the letters and papers which were needed for this purpose, and read to 
 her the will which had been drawn up for him by Mr. Hunter, care 
 fully explaining every portion of it. 
 
 Speaking of the parties to Avhom sums are directed to be paid, he 
 said: "Dear Mary, if you can find these, pay them personally; but 
 do not pay any one who may present himself as their attorneys, for if 
 it gets into the hands of attorneys, we do not know what will become 
 of it." 
 
 Subsequently he requested his wife to make a denial of the state 
 ment that had gained publicity, that he had said in his interview with 
 Governor Wise that he had been actuated by feelings of revenge. He 
 denied that he had ever made such statement, and wished his denial 
 made known ; and he denied further that any such base motives had 
 ever been his incentive action. 
 
 After this conversation they took supper together. This occupied 
 only a few minutes. Their last sorrowful meal being concluded, and 
 the time approaching at which they must part, Mrs. Brown asked to 
 be permitted to speak to the other prisoners. But Gen. Taliafcrro s 
 orders forbade this, though Capt. Avis expres&^d a willingness to per 
 mit her to see them even at the risk of violating orders. She declined 
 to see them under the circumstances. 
 
 Brown then touched upon business affairs, until an order was re 
 ceived from the Commander-in- Chief, saying that the interview must 
 terminate. Brown then said, " Mary, I hope you will always live in 
 Essex County. I hope you will be able to get all our children together, 
 and impress the inculcation of the right principles to each succeeding 
 generation. I give you all the letters and papers which have been sent 
 me since my arrest. I wish you also to take all my clothes that are 
 here, and carry them home. Good by, good by. God bless you ! " 
 
 Mrs. Brown was escorted back to Harper s Ferry, 
 and reached there, greatly exhausted, at nine o clock. 
 
 THREE STRAY FACTS. 
 
 The rope with which the old man was to be hanged 
 was publicly exhibited several days before the date of 
 his official murder. South Carolina sent one, Missouri 
 
392 Hufband and Wife. 
 
 another, and Kentucky a third rope, with frhich to 
 strangle the fearless man who had dared to beard the 
 lion which the nation dreaded in its oldest and strongest 
 den. The gifts of South Carolina and Missouri were 
 found to be wanting in strength ; and Kentucky had 
 the infamous preference in this choice of the neces 
 sities of assassination. 
 
 A forged letter, purporting to be written by Mrs. 
 Doyle, the widow of one of the ruffians of Pottawatto- 
 mie, was published before John Brown s execution, in 
 order to avert from Virginia the indignation which the 
 slaughter of a hero would inevitably excite in every 
 manly heart in Christendom. It was a fit expedient 
 for its authors ; but it failed to effect its purpose. It 
 proved the brutality of Slavery ; not the crime of its 
 pure-hearted assailant. 
 
 On this day, also, the old man presented to a mer 
 chant of Charlestown, who had shown him great kind 
 ness, a copy of the Bible, bearing on the fly-leaf this 
 dedication : 
 
 " With the best wishes of the undersigned, and his sincere thanks for 
 many acts of kindness received. There is no Commentary in the 
 world so good in order to a right understanding of this Blessed Book 
 as an honest, child-like, and teachable spirit. JOHN BROWN. 
 
 " Charlestown, 29th November, 1859." 
 
 The opposite page was thus inscribed : 
 
 " John Brown. The leaves were turned down and marked by him 
 w r hile in prison at Charlestown, Va. But a small portion of those 
 passages, which in the most positive terms condemn oppression and 
 violence, are marked." 
 
 " Many hundred passages," writes a correspondent of a Southern 
 paper, " which can by any possibility of interpretation be tortured into 
 a support of his peculiar theory, are carefully marked, both by having 
 the corner of the pages turned over, and by being surrounded by 
 heavy pencil marks." 
 
XL 
 
 THE VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 T^HE sun rose clear and bright on the 2d of Decem 
 ber. A haze, that presently veiled it, soon disap 
 peared ; and ere the hour appointed for the hero s 
 death, not a cloud was to be seen in the ethereal ex 
 panse. The temperature was so exceedingly genial, 
 that, until late in the afternoon, the windows of all 
 the houses were open. 
 
 THE SCAFFOLD. 
 
 On the previous evening, the timber for the scaffold 
 had been removed from " the enclosure of the new 
 Baptist church," to a field about half a mile distant 
 from the jail, which had been fixed on by the General 
 in command, and marked out with white flags on short 
 stakes, to indicate the position the several sentries 
 should occupy. At seven o clock the carpenters began 
 the work of erecting the scaffold. When finished, it was 
 about six feet high, twelve wide, and fifteen or eigh 
 teen in length. A hand rail extended around three 
 sides and down the flight of steps. On the other side, 
 stout uprights, with a cross beam, which was supported 
 by strong braces. In the centre of the cross beam was 
 an iron hook, from which the rope was suspended. 
 The trap beneath was arranged to swing on hinges, 
 attached to the platform so slightly as to break from 
 
 (393) 
 
394 
 
 The Victory over Death. 
 
 it when the cord was cut that upheld the trap. The 
 cord, knotted at the end, passed through a hole m the 
 trap, through another hole in the cross beam, over the 
 corner, and down the upright, to a hook near the 
 ground, to which it was tied. Thus, the weight of a 
 man being placed on it, when the cord near the hook 
 was cut, the trap would fall at once. 
 
 THE MILITARY PARADE. 
 
 At eight o clock the troops began to arrive ; and at 
 nine the first company took position. Horsemen clothed 
 in scarlet jackets were posted around the field at fifty 
 feet apart, and a double line of sentries was stationed 
 farther in. As each company arrived, it took its allotted 
 position. The following diagram will explain the posi 
 tion of the military forces : 
 
 
 *#*##### 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 * 
 
 N < 
 
 it 
 
 
 
 I 4 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 B 1 
 K. C 
 
 J H of 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 ^r E .1 
 
 
 
 # 
 
 
 
 
 PUBLIC ROAD. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE FIELD. A, Scaffold; B, Generals and Staff ; (Virginia Cadets; 
 
 nd Conm 
 
 , Cadet Howitzers, with cannon pointed at scaffold; )% Richmond Conmeay > ^f f , Win 
 chester Continentals (jj^f auquier Cavalry ; JJf Company A of Richmond i.Ly Alexandria 
 lliflemen/JKj/Riflemen, and part of Capt. Ashby s Cavalry, to keep order in the small 
 crowd. JTlIunters Guard, at entrance gate, supported by a piece of Artillery under 
 command of Lieut. Green of tho United States Marines ; L, Woods scoured by the 
 Woodis Rifles, to have the first brush at the enemy, if approaching from Harper s 
 Ferry ; M M M M, Pick;ets of the Faiiquier Cavalry ; N N N, Two lines of Sentries ; 0, 
 Petersburg Grays as Body Guard to prisoner in wagon. 
 
The Victory over Death. 395 
 
 The first companies of infantry and cavalry having 
 taken their position, the artillery then arrived, with a 
 huge brass cannon, which was so placed and pointed 
 that, in the event of an attempted rescue, the prisoner 
 might be blown into shreds by the heavy charge of 
 grape shot that lay hidden in it. Other cannon were 
 stationed, with equal care, to sweep the jail and every 
 approach to it. From eight o clock till ten, the mili 
 tary were in constant motion. The extent of these 
 precautions may be inferred from the fact that lines 
 of pickets and patrols encircled the field of death for 
 fifteen miles, and that over five hundred troops were 
 posted about the scaffold. Nearly three thousand 
 militia soldiers were on the ground. There were not 
 more than four hundred citizens present ; for the fears 
 of a servile insurrection, or an anti-slavery invasion, 
 had kept them at home to watch the movements of 
 their slaves. 
 
 IN JAIL. 
 
 Jo4n Brown rose at daybreak, resumed his corre 
 spondence with undiminished energy, and continued to 
 write till half past ten o clock, when the Sheriff, Jailer, 
 and assistants entered, and told him that he must pre 
 pare to die. 
 
 The Sheriff bade him farewell in his cell. The old 
 man quietly thanked him for his kindness, and spoke 
 of Captain Avis, his jailer, as a brave man. He was 
 then led to the cell of Copeland and Green. This 
 interview is thus reported : 
 
 " He told them to stand up like men, and not betray their friends. 
 He then handed them a quarter of a dollar each, saying he had no 
 more use for money, and bade them adieu. He then visited Cook and 
 
396 The Victory over Death. 
 
 Coppoc, who were chained together, and remarked to Cook: < You 
 have made false statements. 
 
 " Cook asked : < What do you mean ? 
 
 " Brown answered : < Why, by stating that I sent you to Harper s 
 Ferry. 
 
 " Cook replied: Did you not tell me in Pittsburg to come to Har 
 per s Ferry and see if Forbes had made any disclosures ? 
 
 " Brown : No, sir ; you knew I protested against your coming. 
 
 " Cook replied : Captain Brown, we remember differently, at the 
 same time dropping his head. 
 
 " Brown then turned to Coppic and said : Coppoc, you also made 
 false statements, but I am glad to hear you have contradicted them. 
 Stand up like a man. He also handed him a quarter. He shook both 
 by the hand, and they parted. 
 
 "The prisoner w r as then taken to Stevens s cell, and they kindly 
 interchanged greetings. 
 
 " Stevens : Good by, Captain; I know you are going to a better 
 land. 
 
 " Brown replied : I know I am. Brown told him to bear up, 
 and not betray his friends, giving him a quarter. 
 
 " He did not visit Hazlett, as he has always persisted in denying 
 any knowledge of him." 
 
 How ton chin gly manly, and yet what childlike sim 
 plicity ! " I know I am " " he gave them a quarter," 
 are both equally characteristic of the man. 
 
 A TRIUMPHAL MARCH. 
 
 At eleven o clock, John Brown came out of jail. 
 An eye witness said of his appearance at this solemn 
 moment: "He seemed to walk out of the Gates of 
 Fame ; his countenance was radiant ; he walked with 
 the step of a conqueror." Another spectator every 
 one, in truth, who saw the old man corroborated 
 this report : On leaving the jail, he wrote, John Brown 
 had on his face an expression of calmness and serenity 
 characteristic of the patriot who is about to die, with a 
 living consciousness that he is laying down his life for 
 the good of his fellow-creatures. His face was even 
 joyous, and a forgiving smile rested upon his lips. 
 
The Victory over Death. 397 
 
 His was the lightest heart, among friend or foe, in the 
 whole of Charlestown that day ; and not a word was 
 spoken that was not an intuitive appreciation of his 
 manly courage. Firmly, with elastic step, he moved 
 forward. No flinching of a coward s heart there. He 
 stood in the midst of that organized mob, from whose 
 despotic hearts petty tyranny seemed for the nonce 
 eliminated by the admiration they had on once behold 
 ing A MAN ; for John Brown was there every inch a man. 
 
 As he stepped out of the door, a black woman, with a 
 little child in her arms, stood near his way. The twain 
 were of the despised race for whose emancipation and 
 elevation to the dignity of children of God he was 
 about to lay down his life. His thoughts at that 
 moment none can know except as his acts interpret 
 them. He stopped for a moment in his course, stooped 
 over, and with the tenderness of one whose love is as 
 broad as the brotherhood of man, kissed it affectionately. 
 That mother will be proud of that mark of distinction 
 for her offspring ; and some day, when over the ashes 
 of John Brown the temple of Virginia liberty is reared, 
 she may join in the joyful song of praise which on that 
 soil will do justice to his memory. As he passed along, 
 a black woman with a child in her arms, ejaculated, 
 " God bless you, old man ; I wish I could help you, 
 1 ut I cannot." He heard her, and, as he looked at 
 her, a tear stood in his eye. 
 
 The vehicle which was to convey John Brown to the 
 scaffold was a furniture wagon. On the front seat was 
 the driver, a man named Hawks,* said to be a native 
 
 * Reader, is not this symbolical 1 Thiiik and say and act accordingly. 
 
 34 
 
398 The Victory over Death. 
 
 of Massachusetts, but for many years a resident of Vir 
 ginia, and by his side was seated Mr. Saddler, the 
 undertaker. In the box was placed the coffin, made of 
 black walnut, enclosed in a poplar box with a flat lid, 
 in which coffin and remains were to be transported to 
 the North. John Brown mounted the wagon, and took 
 his place in the seat with Captain Avis, the jailer, whose 
 admiration of his prisoner is of the profoundest nature. 
 Mr. Saddler, too, was one of John Brown s stanchest 
 friends in his confinement, and pays a noble tribute to 
 his manly qualities. 
 
 He mounted the wagon with perfect calmness. It 
 was immediately surrounded with cavalry. This mil 
 itary escort of the warrior of the Lord to the scene of 
 his last earthly victory, consisted of Captain Scott s 
 company of cavalry, one company of Major Loring s 
 battalion of defensibles, Captain Williams s Montpelier 
 Guard, Captain Scott s Petersburg Greys, Company D, 
 Captain Miller, of the Virginia Volunteers, and the 
 Young Guard, Captain Rady ; the whole under the com 
 mand of Colonel T. P. August, assisted by Major Loring 
 the cavalry at the head and rear of the column. 
 
 The wagon was drawn by two white horses. From 
 the time of leaving jail until he mounted the gallows 
 stairs, he wore a smile upon his countenance, and his 
 keen eye took in every detail of the scene. There was 
 no blenching, nor the remotest approach to cowardice 
 nor nervousness. As he was leaving jail, when asked 
 if he thought he could endure his fate, he said, " I can 
 endure almost any thing but parting from friends ; that 
 is very hard." On the road to the scaffold, he said, in 
 
The Victory over Death. 399 
 
 reply to an inquiry, " It has been a characteristic of 
 me, from infancy, not to suffer from physical fear. I 
 have suffered a thousand times more from bashfulness 
 than from fear." 
 
 " I was very near the old man," writes an eye wit 
 ness, " and scrutinized him closely. He seemed to 
 take in the whole scene at a glance ; and he straight 
 ened himself up proudly, as if to set to the soldiers an 
 example of a soldier s courage. The only motion he 
 made, beyond a swaying to and fro of his body, was 
 that same patting of his knees with his hands that we 
 noticed throughout his trial and while in jail. As he 
 came upon an eminence near the gallows, he cast his 
 eye over the beautiful landscape, and followed the 
 windings of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. 
 He looked up earnestly at the sun, and sky, and all 
 about, and then remarked, This is a beautiful coun 
 try. I have not cast my eyes over it before that is, 
 while passing through the field. 
 
 " Yes," was the sad reply of the brave Captain Avis. 
 
 " You are a game man, Captain Brown," said Mr. 
 Saddler. 
 
 " Yes," he said, " I was so trained up ; it was one of 
 the lessons of my mother ; but it is hard to part from 
 friends, though newly made." 
 
 " You are more cheerful than I am, Captain Brown," 
 responded Mr. Saddler. 
 
 " Yes," said the hero, " I ought to be." 
 
 THE FIELD OF DEATH. 
 
 By this time, the wagon had reached the field of 
 death the warrior s last battle ground. It is thus 
 described : 
 
400 The Victory over Death. 
 
 "The field contained about forty acres, I should say, part of it in 
 corn stubble, but the greater part in grass. The surface is undulating, 
 and a broad hillock near the public road was selected as the site for 
 the gallows, because it would afford the distant spectators a fair view, 
 and place the prisoner so high that if compelled to fire upon him, 
 the soldiers need not shoot each other or the civilians. The field was 
 bounded on the south by the road, on the north by a pretty bit of 
 woodland, and on the remaining two sides by enclosed fields." 
 
 The sun shone with great splendor as the condemned 
 hero s escort came up, and afar off could be seen the 
 bright gleaming muskets and bayonets of his body 
 guard, hedging him in, in close ranks, all about. On 
 the field the several companies glittered with the same 
 sparkle of guns and trappings ; and the gay colors of 
 their uniforms, made more intense in the glare, came 
 out into strong relief, with the dead tints of sod and 
 woods. Away off to the east and south, the splendid 
 mass of the Blue Ridge loomed against the sky and 
 shut in the horizon. Over the woods towards the north 
 east, long, thin stripes of cloud had gradually accumu 
 lated, and foreboded the storm that came in due time ; 
 while, looking towards the south, the eye took in an 
 undulating fertile country, stretching out to the dis 
 tant mountains. All nature seemed at peace, and the 
 shadow of the approaching solemnity seemed to have 
 been cast over the soldiers, for there was not a, sound to 
 be heard as the column came slowly up the road. There 
 was no band of musicians to heighten the effect of the 
 scene by playing the march of the dead, but with 
 solemn tread the heavy footfalls came as of those of one 
 man. Thus they passed to their station to the easterly 
 side of the scaffold. 
 
 As the procession entered the field, the old hero, as 
 
The Victory over Death. 401 
 
 if surprised at the absence of the people, remarked : 
 " I see no citizens here where are they ? " 
 
 "The citizens are not allowed to be present none 
 but the troops," was the reply. 
 
 " That ought not to be," said the old man ; " citizens 
 should be allowed to be present as well as others." 
 
 THE MARTYR CROWNED. 
 
 The wagon halted. The troops composing the escort 
 took up their assigned position ; but the Petersburg 
 Greys, as the immediate body guard, remained as 
 before, closely hemming the old hero in as if still as 
 afraid of his sword of Gideon, as the State had proved 
 itself to be of his sword of the Lord, by preventing the 
 people from listening to his last words. They finally 
 opened ranks to let him pass out; when, with the 
 assistance of two men, he descended from the wagon. 
 Mr. Hunter and Mayor Green were standing near by. 
 " Gentlemen, good by," the old r^an said in an unfal 
 tering tone ; and then, with firm step and erect form, 
 he calmly walked past jailers, sheriff, and officers, and 
 mounted the scaffold steps. He was the first man that 
 stood on it. As he quietly awaited the necessary 
 arrangements, he surveyed the scenery unmoved, look 
 ing principally in the direction of the people in the far 
 distance. " There is no faltering in his step," wrote 
 one who saw him, " but firmly and erect he stands 
 amid the almost breathless lines of soldiery that sur 
 round him. With a graceful motion of his pinioned 
 right arm he takes the slouched hat from his head and 
 carelessly casts it upon the platform by his side." " I 
 know," said another witness, " that every one within 
 34* 
 
402 The Victory over Death. 
 
 view was greatly impressed with the dignity of his 
 bearing. I have since heard men of the South say that 
 his courageous fortitude and insensibility to fear filled 
 them with amazement." 
 
 The hour had now come. The officer approached 
 him. To Captain Avis he said : " I have no words to 
 thank you for all your kindness to me." 
 
 His elbows and ankles are pinioned, the white cap 
 is drawn over his eyes, the hangman s rope is adjusted 
 around his neck. John Brown is ready to be ushered 
 into the land of the hereafter. 
 
 "Captain Brown," said the Sheriff, "you are not 
 standing on the drop. Will you come forward ? " 
 
 " I can t see, gentlemen," was the old man s answer, 
 unfalteringly spoken, " you must lead me." 
 
 The Sheriff led his prisoner forward to the centre of 
 the drop. 
 
 " Shall I give you a handkerchief," asked the Sheriff, 
 " and let you drop it as a signal ? " 
 
 " No ; I am ready at any time ; but do not keep me 
 needlessly waiting." 
 
 This was the last of John Brown s requests of Vir 
 ginia ; and this, like all the others, was refused. When 
 he pleaded for delay during the progress of his trial, 
 the State refused it, and hurried him to his doom ; and 
 now, when he asked, standing on the gallows, blind 
 folded, and with the rope that was to strangle him 
 around his neck, for no unnecessary delay, the demo 
 niacal spirit of slavery again turned a deaf ear to his 
 request. Instead of permitting the execution to be at 
 once consummated, the proceedings were checked by the 
 
The Victory over Death. 403 
 
 martial order "Not ready yet;" and the hideous 
 mockery of a vast military display began. For ten 
 minutes at least, under the orders of the commanding 
 officer, the troops trod heavily over the ground, hither 
 and thither, now advancing towards the gallows, now 
 turning about in sham defiance of an imaginary enemy. 
 
 Each moment to every humane man seemed an 
 hour, and some of the people, unable to restrain an 
 expression of their sense of the outrage, murmured 
 Shame ! Shame ! 
 
 At last the order was given, and the rope was severed 
 with a hatchet. As the trap fell, its hinges gave a wail 
 ing sort of screak, that could be heard at every point 
 on the fields.* 
 
 John Brown is slowly strangling for the shortness 
 of the rope prevents a speedy death. 
 
 " There was but one spasmodic effort of the hands 
 to clutch at the neck, but for nearly five minutes the 
 limbs jerked and quivered. He seemed to retain an 
 extraordinary hold upon life. One who has seen num 
 bers of men hung before, told me he had never seen 
 so hard a struggle. After the body had dangled in mid 
 air for twenty minutes, it was examined by the surgeons 
 for signs of life. First the Charlestown physicians 
 went up and made their examination, and after them 
 the military surgeons, the prisoner being executed by 
 the civil power, and with military assistance as well. 
 To see them lifting up the arms, now powerless, that 
 
 * "Was this symbolic," asks an able writer, "of the wail of grief that went up at 
 the moment from thousands of. friends to the cause of emancipation throughout the 
 land? In the dead stillness of the hour it went to my heart like the wail for tho 
 departed that may be heard in some highland glen." 
 
404 The Victory over Death. 
 
 once were so strong, and placing their ears to the breast 
 of the corpse, holding it steady by passing an arm 
 around it, was revolting in the extreme. And so the 
 body dangled and swung by its neck, turning to this 
 side or that when moved by the surgeons,,and swinging 
 pendulum like, from the force of the south wind that 
 was blowing, until, after thirty-eight minutes from the 
 time of swinging off, it was ordered to be cut down, 
 the authorities being quite satisfied that their dreaded 
 enemy was dead. The body was lifted upon the scaf 
 fold, and fell into a heap. It was then put into the 
 black walnut coffin, the body guard closed in about the 
 wagon, the cavalry led the van, and the mournful pro 
 cession moved off." 
 
 There was another procession at that moment un 
 seen by the Virginians : a procession of earth s holiest 
 martyrs before the Throne of God : and from among 
 them came a voice, which said : 
 
 " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king 
 dom prepared for you from the foundations of the 
 world. . . . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
 least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 
 The soul of John Brown stood at the right hand of 
 the Eternal. He had fought the good fight, and now 
 wore the crown of victory. 
 
 V^y 
 
 In the prison of Charlestown a plaintive wail was 
 heard. Sustained by no religious convictions, one 
 prisoner was in great agony of mind. The scaffold 
 from which the stainless soul of John Brown leaped from 
 
The Victory over Death. 405 
 
 earth into the bosom of the God of the oppressed, was 
 only half a mile behind the jail in which his body had 
 been confined. " From the windows of his cell Cook 
 nad an unobstructed view of the whole proceedings. 
 He watched his old Captain until the trap fell and his 
 body swung into mid air, when he turned away and 
 gave vent to his feelings." 
 
 With his sword and his voice John Brown had de 
 monstrated the unutterable villany of slavery. His 
 corpse was destined to continue the lesson. The sur 
 geons pronounced the old man dead ; they declared 
 that his spinal column had been ruptured ; they said 
 that the countenance was now purple and distorted ; 
 they knew that the cord had cut a finger s depth into 
 the neck of the strangled corpse. 
 
 Yet, as the animal heat still remained in the body, 
 it was not permitted to be taken away until it should 
 cool. Even this precaution against an earthly resurrec 
 tion did not satisfy the hearts corrupted by slavery. 
 
 " I heard it suggested by a Captain," writes a wit 
 ness of unquestioned veracity, " that a good dose of 
 arsenic should be administered to the corpse to make 
 sure work ; and many others wished that at least the 
 head might be cut off and retained by them, since 
 the body was to be embalmed, and, on gorgeous cata 
 falques, carried in procession through Northern cities. 
 This bloodthirstiness is on a par," the writer adds, 
 " with that of the students at the Winchester Medical 
 College, who have skinned the body of one o f Brown s 
 sons, separated the nervous and muscular and venous 
 
406 The Victory over Death. 
 
 systems, dried and varnished, and have the whole hung 
 up as a nice anatomical illustration. Some of the stu 
 dents wished to stuff the skin ; others to make it into 
 game pouches." 
 
 Such is the spirit of Southern Slavery ! 
 
 " The body once in its coffin and on its way back to 
 the jail," wrote a correspondent, " the field was quickly 
 deserted, the cannon, limbered up again, rumbled away, 
 and the companies of infantry and troops of cavalry in 
 solid column marched away. The body had not left 
 the field before the carpenters began to take the scaffold 
 to pieces, that it might be stored up against the 16th 
 instant, when it will be used to hang Cook and Cop- 
 pic together. A separate gallows will be built for the 
 two negroes." 
 
 " The night after the execution has set in dark and 
 stormy. The south wind has brought up a violent 
 storm." 
 
 The body of John Brown was delivered to his widow 
 at Harper s Ferry, and by her it was carried to North 
 Elba, where it now lies at rest on the bosom of the 
 majestic mountain region that he loved when living. 
 It was interred as only dead heroes should be buried. 
 There was no vast assemblage of " the so-called great;" 
 no pompous parade ; no gorgeous processions ; but loyal 
 worth and noble genius stood at the grave of departed 
 heroism ; for his friends and his family wept as the 
 Heaven-inspired soul of Wendell Phillips pronounced 
 the eulogium of John Brown, the latest and our 
 greatest martyr to the teachings of the Bible and the 
 American Idea. 
 
The Victory over Death. 
 
 407 
 
 As the coffin was lowered into the grave, a clergy 
 man, with prophetic voice, repeated these words of the 
 Apostle Paul : 
 
 " I have fought the good fight ; I have finished my 
 course ; I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid 
 up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
 the righteous Judge, shall give me ; and not to me 
 only, but unto all that love his appearing." 
 
SAMSON AGONISTES. 
 DECEMBER 2, 1859. 
 
 YOU bound and made your fport of him, Philiftia ! 
 
 You fet your fons at him to flout and jeer ; 
 You loaded down his limbs with heavy fetters ; 
 
 Your mildeft mercy was a fmiling fneer. 
 
 One man, among a thoufand who defied him, 
 
 One man from whom his awful ftrength had fled 
 
 You brought him out to lafh him with your vengeance; 
 Ten thoufand curfes on one hoary head ! 
 
 You think his eyes are clofed and blind forever, 
 Becaufe you feared them to this mortal day ; 
 
 You draw a longer breath of exultation, 
 
 Becaufe your conqueror s power is torn away. 
 
 Oh fools ! his arms are round your temple pillars : 
 Oh blind ! his ftrength divine begins to wake, 
 
 Hark ! the great roof-tree trembles from its centre 
 Hark ! how the rafters bend, and fwerve, and make ! 
 
 

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