^ // ^/^ <^( ^^ZC^/X MEMOIR OK JAMES BROWN; WITH OBITUARY NOTICES AND TRIBUTES OF RESPECT FROM PUBLIC BODIES. BY GEORGE STILLMAN HILLARD. B O S 1 O N : PRIVATELY PRINTED. 1856. v: • • • Riverside, Cambridge, Printed by H. O. HoUGHTON & Co. • • Kb ti « ••••;••• i , • •• • • J I ( < > > • t* • • • • • • -»• • b «.t » - - - " • ... I*. ••• . • •• •. ; 'j\''.'j'' .• . . . ... «. «•• I CO CM r— I D_ UJ CO CT" PREFACE. The late James Brown was a man so much respected by the community, and so much be- loved by his friends, that after the first sharp sense of the bereavement occasioned by his death had passed away, there was a general wish ex- pressed that some memorial of him might be prepared — not for the public, but for those who honored and loved him — which should contain a sketch of his life and a selection from the va- i:; rious tributes and expressions which were called ^ forth at the time of his death. To meet this 6- t wish, this volume has been prepared ; and it is ^^ commended by the editor to the friends of its lamented subject, in the assurance that they will feel that it has been prepared in tlie spirit ot truth as well as the spirit of love. G. S. H. Boston, October 20. 1856. 2?A9H4 CONTENTS Life of James Brown i Obituary Notice from the Boston- Daily Advertiser of March 20, 1855 71 Obituary Notice from the Boston Atlas of March 13, 1855 89 Extract from a Discourse delivered in the Unitarian Church at West Cambridge, on Sunday, March 18, 1855 97 Proceedings of the Boston Natural History Society 103 Proceedings of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society.. 109 Proceedings af the Trade Sale in New York 113 Proceedings of the Booksellers of Boston 119 Proceedings of the Trustees of the Boston ATHENituM... . 123 Donation to the Boston Athen^cum in 1853 127 Letter from George Livermore, Esq^ 133 MEMOIR. LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. James Brown was born in Acton, in Massachu- setts, May 19, 1800. He sprang from that class from which so much of the moral worth and intel- lectual distinction of the country has proceeded, — the rural population of New England, — made up of men who cultivate their own farms with their own hands, whose characters are strengthened by the daily exercise of economy and self-denial, but whose spirits are rarely darkened by hopeless pov- erty, and never crushed by the consciousness of inability to rise. His father, Joseph Brown, born in Stow, in Massachusetts, about IT-^l, was the youngest son of a numerous family that came from Rhode Island some years before the date of his son's birth. He was one of the first to offer his services to his country at the breaking out of the Revolution ; and at the battle of Bunker Hill he was wounded by a bullet, which passed through one of his legs and lodged in the other. When the 1 2 LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. lead was extracted, he put it into his pocket, saying that they should have it again. He rejoined the army as soon as his wound was healed, and served till the end of the war ; rising to the rank of captain. He was with the northern division of the army, and took part in the operations which led to the capture of Burgoyne ; and there, and on other occasions, gave proof of courage and conduct. When the war was over, he settled upon a small farm in Acton, and resided there till his death, in 1813. He held for many years the offices of con- stable and collector of taxes. His life was the com- mon life of a New England farmer and householder ; he worked upon his farm, read the newspapers, dis- cussed the political men and measures of his time, took part in town and parish aflfairs, faithfully per- formed the modest duties of the offices which he held ; and thus his days were usefully and happily filled. Capt. Brown was twice married. By his first wife, whose name was Dorothy Barker, he had five children, none of whom are now living. His second wife was Abigail Putnam, daughter of Deacon Sanmel Putnam of Danvers, in Massachusetts. She was a woman of an excellent understanding, and had been well educated for that period. She had been employed for some time previous to her mar- riage as a teacher of youth ; a good preparation, it may be remarked, for household trusts and the care ot a family. Slie was also a woman of nmch moral wortb, a good wife and mother, and faithful to all LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. g the duties devolved upon her. She brouglit up her children in virtuous habits, and was especially earnest in imbuing- them with a love of truth. She was accustomed to devote a part of every Sunday to the moral and religious teaching of her household — a good old New England custom which it is to be feared the establishment of Sunday schools has caused somewhat to decline. If so, these schools have proved to be by no means an unmixed good. The children of the second marriage were eight in number. Of these, two only now survive ; namely, Luke, born in 179-5, now residing in the western part of Massachusetts; and Eunice, born in 1802, the wife of Mr. J. G. Lyon, residing at Rockton, in Illinois. James Brown was the fourth son and sixth child of the second marriage. Unlike his elder brothers, — unlike what would have been supposed by those who knew him in his robust and vigorous manhood, — he was a delicate and sickly child ; and on this account he was the object of peculiar care to an affectionate mother, and was in some degree exempted from the rougher labors of the farm. From his earliest years he showed a love of knowledge and a love of books ; and those of his friends who believe that " the child is father of the man," and who remember the pleasure he took in his well-chosen library, may deem it not unworthy of record that the first great grief of his childhood arose from the loss, in his third year, of a little picture-book, his solitary possession of the kind. 4 LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. He could only be comforted by the gift of a new book, then not easily or readily procured. His early years were by no nieans destitute of the means of intellectual improvement. Besides such instruction as he could pick up at the district school, taught in the winter by a male, and in the summer by a female teacher, he had access to a good circulating library, which was kept at the minister's house ; and he was a diligent reader of such books as were suited to his age. There was also the society of an intelligent and well-educated mother, who had among her own possessions a closet full of books ; among which those who are conversant with the literary tastes of the last century will not be surprised to hear were Young's Night Thoughts and Hervey's Medi- tations. Nor should we overlook, in summing up the influ- ences which acted upon his mind and character, those elements which grow out of the very constitution of New England society, and were found, in a greater or less degree, in every New England town. Life was more quiet and monotonous fifty years ago than it now is ; there were fewer books and fewer news- papers ; the means of communication were far inferior ; but everywhere there was the pulse of vitality and the consciousness of belonging to a growing and progressive community. The newspaper arrived two or tiiree times a week, and the stage-coach kept up a regular communication with the metropolis. State and national |)()liticK were discussed with partisan zeal. LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. 5 and to\vn affairs were often fruitful in matters which led to controversy and debate. Thoug^h books were fewer, and newspapers more meagre than now, they were both read and re-read with a patient deliberation which is now becoming obsolete. All these things would act upon the mind and character of an intelH- gent and observing boy, who had eyes to see, and ears to hear, what was going on around him — who would listen to the discussions in tow'n and parish meetings, and hear his elders talking about the move- ments of Bonaparte and the policy of Jefferson, and gunboats, and the embargo, and the orders in council, and the Berlin and Milan decrees — and though all that fell upon the ear was not comprehended, it was none the less calculated to quicken the faculties and keep the life-blood of the mind in circulation. James Brown was a diligent reader of such books as he could procure ; and he read them understand- ingly. His sister, Mrs. Lyon, remembers his having, when only eight or nine years old, prepared a full abstract of Rollin's account of the seven wonders of the world, and of adding to it a description of all the other remarkable objects he had read of, which seemed to him worthy of being placed in the same class. This was read aloud to the family circle in the evening and received A\dth great favor. A gentleman, now living in Boston, a native of Acton, and a school-fellow of James Bro\\ni, has given me some recollections of him in his boyhood. He describes him as having been a general favorite from Q LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. his amiable disposition and the sweetness of his tem- per. At school, he was a good though not a brilliant scholar ; and was especially remarkable for the correct- ness of his deportment ; never having been punished, and rarely reproved. He had a vein of grave drollery, and was a good mimic; frequently entertaining the boys by the exercise of this power. His sense and enjoyment of the ludicrous went with him to the end of life, but in his maturer years he laid aside the habit of mimicry. My informant also remembers him as a boy of rather slender and loosely compacted frame — not possessed of much bodily activity — and never taking a leading part in the athletic sports of early life. Although of a cheerful spirit, he was rather grave and conteiuj)lative, but never dependent upon others for lia|)j)iness or occupation. From his farm, and the proceeds of the town offices wliicli he held, Capt. Brown was able to maintain his faniily in comfort and respectability ; but upon his d«'atli, in 1818, the widow's means were not enough to nialdc her to keep all her household together ; and tlic younger sons were obliged to go from home in search of enij)loyment and subsistence. James went to liv(^ with a farmer in Acton, and remained with liiiii for soin(? time ; taking part in such farm labors as were suited to his years and strength. It was while living with Mr. Noyes that his first visit to Boston was made ; — an event which was looked forward to witb gn^at interest, and long remembered from the LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. H distinctness of the impressions which it left. Some- time in the year 1815, he went to Cambridge, in search of employment ; probaldy attracted to tliat place by his love of books, and a sort of undefined feeling- that it was something to breathe even the air of learning ; and perhaps by a faint hope that some of the crumbs of knowledge which fell from that ample board might drop into his lap. Immediately upon arriving in Cambridge, he found a situation as a domestic in the family of the late Professor Hedge. The fastidious spirit of our times and our country shrinks from the contemplation of a position like this, as if there were something in it of humiliation and pain ; but such a feeling flows from the weakness, and not the strength, of our nature. The relation of master and servant is one which the world is not likely to outgrow; and like every other relation between man and man, it may be elevated and dignified by the spirit which animates, and the motives which govern it. In the present case, we may be assured that all its duties, on both sides, were faithfully discharged. Young Brown was a conscientious and intelligent lad, whose spirit was docile and whose temper was without a flaw. It need hardly be said to those who knew the late Dr. Hedge at all, that he was a just, a good, and a benevolent man ; and those who knew him well were aware that under a plain exterior he concealed much tenderness and delicacy of feeling. Every member of his household felt the influence and encouragement of g LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. his gentle and >)enignant nature ; and the friendless youth from the country began at once to breathe the genial atmosphere of home. By the surviving members of Dr. Hedge's family he is well remem- bered as a well-grown stripling, but of a slender frame and pallid complexion, bearing the aspect of delicate health, and holding out no promise of that vigorous tread, erect bearing, and ample presence which he afterwards attained. He was perfectly amiable in temper, irreproachable in moral conduct, of an obliging disposition and cheerful spirit, and especially remarkable for his insatiable love of knowledge — reading everything in the shape of a book he could lay his hands upon, and by the ener- gies of a healthy mind drawing nutriment from all. Dr. Hedge himself, seeing his taste and aptitude for knowledge, gave him private instruction in mathe- matics and the Latin language ; and the plan of his entering college was entertained and discussed, and might have been carried into effect but for a subse- (jueut change in his position and prospects. Tlie whole period of Mr. Brown's residence with Dr. Hedge, extending through three or four years, was highly favorable to the growth of his mind and character. The light services required in a simple household h*ft him both time and energy to gratify his love of knowledge ; and in this praiseworthy pursuit he }>ad not merely the sympathy, but the aid of his niij)loyer. Living too under the roof of a scholar, he was never without the means of obtaining books, LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. (J the first want of an expanding- mind. But in a gentle and sensitive nature like his these intellectual advan- tages would have home hut little fruit, had they not heen attended, as they were, with a spirit of kindness, with a readiness to acknowledge cheerful and faithful service, and with a considerate thoughtfulness which laid no needless burdens upon him. In Dr. Hedge's family he was never tried with unreasonable requi- sitions, or capricious exactions, or harsh language ; and always had the assurance that so long as he did his duty he might rely upon their friendly regard and substantial good-will. Mr. Brown's feeling and judgment upon this part of his life were characteristic of the simple dignity of his nature. He never wished to conceal it, or keep it out of sight, or remove it from the contemplation of his own thoughts as if there was anything humili- ating or mortifying in it. Nor, on the other hand, had he, in regard to it, that subtle vanity which Dickens so well delineates in the character of Mr. Bounderby, which delights to make a coarse and noisy proclama- tion of early disadvantages, and to find food for self- esteem in the contrast between present glories and past shadows. It was with Mr. Brown an episode in his life — no more and no less — not to be put out of sight and out of mind as something to be ashamed of; and not to be flauntingly displayed in order to challenge admiration and applause. Sometime during the year 1818, as Mr. Brown was walking through the streets of Cambridge, on a 10 LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. Sunday, he was met by the late Mr. WilHam Hilliard, and asked by him if he would like to enter his service as a salesman and general assistant. Such a pro- posal was a piece of good fortune as unexpected as it was gratifying ; and it was very gladly accepted. For this offer on the part of Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Brown was indebted to the thoughtful and considerate kindness of Dr. Hedo-e, who, seeing the moral worth and intellect- ual tastes of his young 'protege, had warmly recom- mended him to Mr. Hilliard as an assistant, when- ever any vacancy should occur in his business. Mr. Hilliard was at that time largely and actively engaged as a publisher and bookseller. He was an intelligent and estimable man ; and had his love of money and care of small things been equal to his general capacity and enterprise, he could hardly have failed to accumu- late an ample property. Mr. Brown at once went into Mr. Hilliard's service, and entered upon an untried occupation. His position was at first rather difficult and perplexing. Besides ojuMiiiig and shutting the store, going on errands, attending to the wants of customers, he was employed (luring a portion of every day in pressing the sheets tli.it cinic from the ])rinting-office ; a labor that tasked severely iiis physical powers. Mr. Hilliard spent a portion of every day in Boston ; and his former assist- :inf. who had been expected to initiate Mr. Brown into liis new duties, immediately left his post, without w .lining, as soon as the; new comer arrived; jmd he was tliii^ 1( It to grope lils way, with very imperfect LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. XI guidance, over an unkno^^^l path. But liis natural quickness, aided by resolute industry, qualified him to meet the claims made uj)on him ; and his duties were soon fulfilled with ease to himself and satisfaction to his employer. Mr. Brown's engaging- in the service of Mr. Hil- liard was the decisive fact of his life, and from that moment his progress, though slow at first, was sure and uninterrupted. But there were no unexpected incidents, no sudden turns, no lucky windfalls in his career. It was all substantially moulded of the same elements ; each por- tion bound by natural relation to what had gone before. His subsequent prosperity was as much the inevitable result of the qualities which he showed in the very first week of his engagement with Mr. Hilliard, as the oak is of the acorn. He had found an occupation which suited his tastes and for which his faculties and capacities were singularly well fitted. He was fond of books ; he liked not merely to read them but to see them, to handle them, and to have them about him. He was orderly and methodical in his habits ; never idle, and never in a hurry ; never permitting his busi- ness to get ahead of him ; possessed of a most reten- tive memory, always knowing whether he had a book or not, and if he had it, able to put his hand upon it in the dark. For some years his principal occupation was that of selling books at retail. The success of a salesman, as is well known among men of business, depends 22 LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. mainly upon certain natural endowments which may- be improved by culture, but can neither be taught nor learned ; they are innate, and dependent upon organization and temperament. But in a person who sells books, and thus deals with scholars and men of letters, these qualities must be more nicely tempered and harmonized, than in one who sells shoes or domes- tic goods to country customers. In Mr, Brown the elements were happily mingled for this object. He was born with the feelings and instincts of a gentle- man. He had an unerring power of observation and a delicate tact that never failed him. His manners were winning because they were the natural language of a good heart and a sweet temper ; and their effect was increased by the open and ingenuous expression of his countenance. But his success in this depart- ment came mainly from those sources from which the whole success of his life was derived — from his entire truthfulness and perfect honesty. Nothing is more difficult to assume than the simplicity of truth. An artful man may make his manners fine, but hardly natural. But every one who dealt with Mr. Brown h'k tbat he was dealing with a thoroughly honest man, and tiiat every word that fell from him could be taken at its full value, with no qualifications and reservations. In his intercourse with those who came to buy of him tlu'H' was no alloy of coaxing or wheedling or fawn- ing ; no subtle flattery ; no politic use of weaknesses ; no disingenuous concealments; and no loud vaunting of tbr mrrits of bis merchandise. LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. 13 During the period of his residence in Cambridge, Mr. Brown, though zealous in business, was by no means ascetic in his habits ; but he gladly sought the society of congenial friends, and did not deny himself such amusements as did not interfere with the main objects on which his thoughts were fixed. He founded a sort of social meeting which, in imitation of a well- known society in college, was called the Hasty-pudding Club, at the meetings of which a subject was discussed and afterwards the members partook of a simple repast. On one occasion the subject of discussion was : " How may eminence in life be attained ; " and after the other members had given their views, Mr. Brown took a piece of chalk from the table, and made a mark on the wall so high that no others could reach it, saying at the same time, " make your chalk high enough." At one time he was in the habit of meeting with some of his friends to make a thorough study of the principles of grammar. He also read much, and his favorite reading lay among the English poets. He occasionally indulged himself in shooting and fishing, but never allowing his amusements to encroach upon the hours of business. He thus acquired some practical knowledge of ornithology, and was able to assist his friend Mr. Nuttall in the preparation of his work on the birds of America. On one of these sporting occasions, an incident occurred which showed his self-possession and presence of mind. He was with his friend Mr. N. J. Wyeth, his usual companion J4, LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. on these expeditions. They were oWiged to cross a decayed dam. Mr. Wyeth got safely over, but Mr. Brown slipi)ed and fell into the water, where it was of considerable depth. He disappeared for a moment, but soon emerged dripping like a water-god ; and as he scrambled up the bank, his friend noticing that he had his boots in one hand and his gun in the other, asked him why he did not let them go ; to which Mr. Bro^vn, with the utmost composure replied : " Because I thought I should want to use them again." At this period of his life, as soon as the burden of business was removed, he was overflowing with animal spirits and as full of frolic as a schoolboy on a holi- day. His joyous temperament sometimes broke out in practical jokes ; but they were of a kind that never wounded the feelings, nor left a sting in the memory. Mr. Browni continued in the service of Mr. Hilliard till 1826, constantly growing in the confidence of his employer, and gradually assuming a larger share of tlie management of the business. In that year the relations between them were substantially, though not a])|)arently changed, by the formation of a copartner- ship. The articles were dated September 4th ; and the (•(•partnership was to continue for five years. In May, 1832, soon after the co})artnership with Mr. Hilliard had expired by limitation, Mr. Brown formed a new connection with the late Mr. Harrison Gray and Mr, .John H, Wilkins, under the style of Hilliard, (iray and Company, In June, 1832, a copartnership was formed between Mr. Lemuel Shattuck, on the one LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. 15 part, and the firm of Hilliard, Gray and Company, on the other, under the style of Brown, Shattuck and Company, which liad its place of husiness in Cam- bridge ; and its management was under the personal superintendence of Mr. Brown. In August, 18S!2, Mr. Wilkins withdrew from the firm of Hilliard, Gray and Company, and Mr. Gray and Mr. Bro^vn contin- ued to carry on the husiness under the same name, until March, 1833, when Mr. Charles Browne was admitted a member of the firm, no change taking place in its designation. The firm of Brown, Shattuck and Company continued till sometime in the year 1834, In August, 1837, Mr. James Bro\vn withdrew from the firm of Hilliard, Gray and Company, and entered into copartnership with Mr. Charles C. Little, under the style of Charles C. Little and Company,^ the new firm taking the law books and foreign books of Hilliard, Gray and Company. In this business con- nection Mr. Brown continued till his death ; Mr. Au- gustus Flagg, and his son, Mr. James Perry Brown, subsequently becoming members of the firm. These dates and facts complete the record of Mr. Brown's business life. We turn back to resume his personal biography, and to set doAvn those events by which his character was ripened, his mind expanded, and his affections quickened and deepened. 1 The name of the firm always known as Little and Brown. The appeared in the imprint of books present style is Little, Brown and as Charles C. Little and James Company. Brown ; and it was also popularly 2g LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. In May, 1825, he married Miss Mary Anne Perry, daughter of Mr. James Perry of West Cambridge, a lady to whom he had been for sometime attached, and with whom he united his fortunes, as soon as he felt that his position and prospects justified his assuming the care of a family. A nature -and a heart like his would be sure to form an early but not a rash mar- riage. His affectionate temper, and his need of quick and constant sympathy, drew him strongly towards domestic life ; and for domestic life he was well fit- ted by his loving and gentle spirit, his refinement of feeling, his taste for quiet pleasures, and his perfect good temper. In this last quality — so large an ele- ment in the happiness of a happy home — Mr. Brown could hardly be surpassed. There are men who, by vigorous exercise of the habit of self-command, can repress the sallies of an impatient spirit; but the effort cannot be concealed from an observant eye, and the enforced virtue has not the grace and sweetness of the natural growth. Mr. Brown had no rebellious impulses to subdue, for the pure gold of his temper never contracted the slightest stain of irritability, and Ins gentle and gracious bearing had all the charm of spontaneous movement. Mr. Brown resided in Cambridge from the time of bis marriage till 1829, when he removed to West (Cambridge, and took a house upon Wellington Hill, now (»(cn|)ied by his second son, Mr. Edward Wyeth Thrown. In 188.5, he came into Boston and lived for a year or two in a house upon Washington Place, LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. IJ Fort Hill, but his love of rural pleasures and rural occupations was too strong to make him contented in a city, and he returned to his former residence upon Wellington Hill, where he remained till IS^O, when he moved into the house in Watertown which he built, and in which he continued to reside till his death. The children of his marriage were five in num- ber, three sons and two daughters ; and they formed an affectionate and a happy household. Mr. Brown was a kind and indulgent father ; winning from the first the confidence of his children ; never repelling their young hearts by coldness or sternness, nor darkening them by the shadow of fear. Nor did he live — as is often the case with men absorbed by the cares of a prosperous and increasing business — in practical ignorance of the minds and characters of his children. He was a conscientious as well as a loving father, and faithfully discharged the trusts of a parent by his care as well as his tenderness. When he first set up housekeeping he had very little property and but a moderate income, and was obliged to live frugally and in a plain way. But love makes all sacrifices light; and looking at life from the beginning to the end, it is beyond question a gain, in happiness even, to start under the rule of strict economy and self-sacrifice. Hope is the sun- shine of the heart ; and those young people who begin life with a free gratification of wants, and a full sense of prosperity, lose the fine relish that comes 2 jg LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. with each new and hard-earned indulgence, and the deho-ht of adiKne: to another's pleasure by self-sacri- fice and renunciation. They may well be pitied for not knowing the enjoyment of gradual progress through their own power and perseverance. Mr. Brown's business career was uniformly pros- perous. For some years after his marriage his progress was not very rapid ; nor were his gains large. He was not of a scheming and speculating turn : the foundations of his success were laid slowly and deeply in industry, economy, sagacity, and a rigid adherence to plain and safe rules in the con- duct of business. He was thus spared the corrod- ing anxieties and the wasting cares that haunt the path, and murder the sleep, of reckless and daring spirits. In common with the whole business com- munity, he passed through more than one of those periods of pecuniary pressure which recur from time to time in our country; and there were doubtless moments of grave examination into his affairs, not unmingled with uneasiness; but he never suffered serious einbarrassment or long-continued perplexity. The clouds never darkened round him so as to shut out the light. And from the time of his entering into partnership with Mr. Little, success flowed in uiKni him in a deeper and broader stream. In the management of the business of this new firm each |)artiu'r i'ound the distinct sphere which was in unison ^vifh his tastes and his capacities ; neither interfering with the other, and both working harmoniously to- gether. LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. jg In seeking- the causes which led to Mr. Brown's success in husiness, — and which contributed to the success of the copartnerships of which he was a member, — we find them in a combination of quahties not so rare in themselves as in their harmonious union. They may be briefly sunnned up by saying that he had the tastes of a scholar, the manners of a gentleman, and the habits of a man of business. He was born with the instincts and perceptions of good breeding ; and he had nothing to learn or to forget in order to qualify him to stand in the high- est social place. He was born, too, with a strong love of knowledge, and consequently a strong love of books ; and having had more than common opportunities in his youth for indulging this taste, he began active life with an amount of literary and miscellaneous acquisition not common among men who have not had what is usually termed a liberal education. These acquirements were of daily use to him as a publisher and a seller of books. He understood books as a scholar, as a bibliographer, and as a tradesman ; he knew their substantial worth, their factitious or artificial value in the eyes of collectors, and their popular estimation. But these scholarly accomplishments would have been of doubtful value had they not been tempered and con- trolled by a sound practical understanding. Book- sellers and book publishers sometimes fail of success because they love books not wisely but too well ; because they push the scholar's tastes and habits 0Q LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. into the region of pure business, and regard the contents of their shelves more as a hbrary than as a stock in trade. Mr. Brown was a man of accu- rate and careful habits of business as well as a lover of books. These habits did not, perhaps, so much belong to his original constitution as did his literary- tastes, but a strong sense of duty and a resolute will gave them all the energy of natural impulse. The principal part of the business of the firm of Little and B^o^\^l consisted in the publication and sale of law books, and in the importation and sale of foreigTi books. Their publications in general literature have been, for the most part, of a grave, solid, and substantial character, such as works in theology, history, politics, political economy, and bio- graphy — rarely meddling with those lighter and more ephemeral publications that come with the leaves of spring and go with the leaves of autumn. In their sales of law books they were, it is be- lieved, the first to apply that well-known rule in political economy, that in articles of permanent de- mand the increase of purchasers is greater, in pro- portion, than the decrease of price. It was for- merly the usage to print a small edition of a law book, and to sell the copies at a high price — a custom transmitted from England, and there founded on the limited demand presented by a bar neither numerous nor rapidly increasing. But Messrs. Little .•111(1 ]5ro^\^l had the sagacity to perceive that the lawyers m our country were a numerous body, that LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. 21 their increase would keep pace with the progress of the country ; and they drew the ready inference tliat if they could offer them at three dollars such hooks as had formerly cost five, the difl^erence in price would be more than made up in the difference in sales. The result justified their enterprise ; and thus they and the members of the legal profession were alike benefited. For obvious reasons, the price of law books must always be more than that of works in general literature ; but in the legal publications of Messrs. Little and Brown the diflterence is less than that which the profession were previously accus- tomed to. The importation and sale of foreign books was the department of their business which came under Mr. Brown's especial control. For this he was par- ticularly well fitted by his tastes and accomplishments. He knew the worth and the value of books ; and he had an intuitive sagacity in discerning what the public wanted. This branch of their business was much increased during the latter years of his life, and after his successive visits to Europe. His tem- perament was hopeful and sanguine ; and he bought very largely both of old works and new editions. The result did credit to his judgment and discern- ment ; but his latest purchases were on a scale be- yond which he could hardly have gone with safety. During the last fourteen years of his life, Mr. Brown made five voyages to Europe. With the ex- ception of his second visit, in 1845, he had always 22 LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. the companionship of one or more members of his family. The formation or extension of his business connections was the main inducement to these excur- sions, and London and Paris were his chief points of interest ; but he allowed himself time to visit many places interesting from associations or attrac- tive from natural beauty. He saw England and Scotland more thoroughly and deliberately than most American tourists ; and he visited Ireland, Holland, Belgium, North Germany, the Rhine country, Swit- zerland, and parts of France. These brief trips to Europe were sources of high enjoyment to him. His good health and his stock of animal spirits made him sensitive to the pleasures of travelling and in- difi'erent to its discomforts. He took great delight in examining places and objects familiar to him in books. His simple, cordial manners, and the un- affected worth and intelligence which they expressed, made him everpvhere welcome; and many of his transatlantic acquaintances ripened into enduring and valuable friends. The London publishers and book- sellers with whom he was brought in contact — a shrewd and observant body of men — at once recog- nized liis claims as a man and as a man of busi- ness ; and the favorable relations he established with them were due not merely to the ample pecuniary credit he commanded, but also to the confidence in- sj)ired by his presence. His first visit to Europe was in 184<1. He was absent about four months; leaving Boston in June LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. 23 and returning- in October. He was accompanied by Mrs. BroAvn ; and on this account, and from the fact that his children were too young for any thing- more than brief communications, there are no memorials of this tour to be found among his papers. Much of his time and thoughts were given to business, and to the establishment of his relations with European publishers. During this visit he made the acquaint- ance of that eminent publisher, the late Mr. John Murray. By this gentleman — a sagacious observer of men and manners — Mr. Brouni was treated with a cordial and hospitable kindness which was in itself a compliment, and which was always warmly and gratefully remembered. His youngest son — born after his return — received the name of John Murray, in honor of his transatlantic friend. Upon his return home, Mr. Brown wrote a brief account of his tour to a friend in the western coun- try. His letter appeared, but without the writer's name, in the Cincinnati Daily Republican of October 1^7, 1841, and is here reprinted. Boston, October 17, 1841. We left Boston in the Caledonia, on the first of June, and reached Halifax in forty hours. Halifax harbor looks pretty as you approach it, but is as dull a city within, as was ever built of shingles or inhabited by Blue Noses. We remained only a few hours, and set sail with a fine wind and smooth sea for Liverpool. Excepting some trilling sea-sickness 24. LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. we were well, and enjoyed the remainder of the voyage as well as any one can on shipboard; for after all it is a most uncomfortable life at sea, and it was well said that "it is a poor home that is not better than a ship." On the eleventh morning we saw Mizen Head, in Ireland, and the next the shores and mountains of Wales, and on the thirteenth were safely landed in Liverpool. This is a fine city, full of activity, and about the size of New York. On the morning of the fourteenth, we took our seats in the cars, and, passing through a most delightful country, arrived at London, a distance of two hundred and twenty miles, in the evening. In the course of the day, we went through Birmingham and several other large manufacturing towns ; but the charm of the ride was the rich agricultural country, and espec- ially the Vale of Aylesbury, a spot unequalled for rural beauty perhaps in the world. I made direct for the London Coffee House, Lud- gate Hill, of course. Besides being one of the best houses in London, it is the place where Frank- lin lived, and I sat in the very stall where he and Strahan used to dine and hold their political discus- sions. This house, too, is within a stone's thrpw of St. Paul's, Paternoster Row, Fleet Street, and in fact is in the very heart of Old London. I called several times at Dr. Johnson's old home in Bolt Court, and drank a glass of ale to his memory. In tlic same dingy, dirty lane, is the Printing Office where Franklin worked journevwork, if you know LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. g5 what that means. The building is occupied for the same purpose now. I looked into Wills and But- ton's also, and did not forget the Boar's Head, nor the Saracen's, made classic by Dickens, as the haunt of the hero of Dotheboys Hall. Paternoster Row I was greatly disappointed in. Instead of a fine street, full of splendid booksellers' shops, it is a n[u- row lane (not even a thoroughfare) barely admitting a carriage, dirty, dark, full of foul odors, gloomy, and disgusting. It is for the most part filled with book- sellers ; but what gives a character to the whole lane is a large tallow-chandler's establishment, and the beef market. It resembles in size Bromfield Street, in Boston, but is perhaps twenty rods longer, and narrower than any of your streets in Cincinnati, that I saw last ^vinter. In this mean street, however, as you know, are sold more fine books than in any other in the world. Here, too, booksellers with their families live, and here, as elsewhere in London, you meet the bookseller's wife assisting in the labors of the shop, — busy with the pen, or assorting parcels for distant customers, and in the retail shops, dis- cussing the comparative value of the different editions of Bayle and Domat ; and if you call to dine with her, you will find her at home also in all matters which with us are thought to be a woman's exclu- sive province — the management of household affairs. The bookselling business is much more subdivided than with us. Law booksellers sell only law books. Medical booksellers only medical books, &c. None oyQ LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. of them keep what with us is called "an assort- ment." If you want several books, you call on your bookseller and give him a list, and he procures them. No single bookseller, as with us, pretends to keep every book, new and old. At a dinner given by one of the trade, I became acquainted with Mr. Murray, the justly celebrated publisher. He is now about seventy, but still in good health and the full enjoyment of a green old age. I afterwards dined with him and his family at Albemarle Street, and spent a Sunday with them at Twickenham, at a delightful country residence on the Thames, within a few rods of Pope's house, and ten minutes walk from Strawberry Hill, where Horace Walpole wrote his charming letters. In the afternoon we rode down the Thames to Richmond, walked over the celebrated Park, and enjoyed the richest view in the world — the valley of the Thames, Windsor Castle, a glimpse of the Gothic towers of Eton College, and the thousand delightful palaces and country seats which are imbedded in the deep green fields and woods of Old England. Mr. Murray has published for most of the cele- brated authors of England, from the time of Sheridan to the present, and he has a rich fund of anecdote which he might, and I hope will, embody in a book, that would be as interesting a one as has been given to the world in that eventful period in hterary his- tory. He told me many which I have not time or room to give you. He doubtless knows as much of LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. oy Byron's private life as any other person alive, and his publications are among the best, and their style infinitely superior to that of any of his contempo- raries. His splendid editions of Lockhart's Ballads and of Childe Harold, now just before the pubHc, bear full testimony to this fact. He has a delightful family, and lives in the exercise of that hospitality peculiar, I believe, to Old England — the perfect per- sonification of the "Old English Gentleman," — the finest character on earth. Bound on business, I had not time to go into the details of England. I went to Eton College, and Windsor, and Virginia Water ; to Oxford, Hampton Court, and Bushy Park and Palace ; Chelsea, Green- wich, &c. ; to Edmonton, and in the city spent a day or two visiting Westminster Abbey, the Tower, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Hall, the Courts, the Tunnel under the Thames, the Galleries, &c., &c. After passing five weeks in London, we went by Southampton to Havre, and thence up the Seine, by Rouen, to Paris ; remained ten days ; thence by diligence through Coutrai, Cambrai, &c., to Leige ; thence to Brussels, Antwerp, Waterloo, &c. ; thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, and then up the Rhine to Ehrenbreitstein, Coblentz, and Mayence; thence to Frankfort-on-the-Maine, which was the end of our journey. From that place we retraced our steps to the Rhine, and down through Holland to Rotterdam ; remained there a day, and took steamer to London ; thence to York, Newcastle, Alnwick Castle, &c., to 23 LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. Edinburgh and Glasgow. From Glasgow I went to Ayrshire and saw the birthplace of Burns, followed Tarn O'Shanter from Ayr to the Bridge of Doon, by old Kirk Alloway ; saw the grand monument to Burns on the banks of Doon, &c. ; returned by An- drossan to Fleetwood in England ; thence to Liver- pool, and here I am. Though driven by business, I saw much, and enjoyed myself to the full extent of my capacity. Within the last eight months, and since I saw you in Cincinnati, I bave travelled at least fifteen thou- sand miles, and seen all sorts of " life and manners," from the interior of Arkansas to Paris ; from the swamps of Georgia to the gardens of England and Belgium. I can hardly realize that I have gathered cotton and moss from the fields and woods of the Mississippi, wheat from Waterloo, and roses and relics from "the banks and braes of bonny Doon," in so short a time. But so it is ; they are all before me, and here I am without accident — not even the loss of a farthing. In October, 1844, a severe affliction fell upon him in the death of his wife, who had been for some time in declining health. Mrs. Brown was an amia- ble and affectionate woman, of retiring manners and rather delicate health, who found her happiness in the faithful discharge of her duties as a wife and mother. Mn- husband was tenderly attached to her, and she d(!served all the love and confidence she enjoyed. LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. gQ Here it may not be inappropriate to introduce a portion of a letter written to his three youngest children, during a brief absence from home, which shows his kindly and playful temper, as well as the warm and expressive affection which marked his do- mestic relations. t I Washington, January 28, 1843. My dear Children, — I wrote a letter from this place last summer to your brothers and now I shall try to write something to you. Last Tuesday I wrote to your mother and gave her some account of my journey up to that time. On Thursday I left Philadelphia on the railroad for Baltimore and Washington. The weather was fine, and has been during all my journey. The ride through Pennsyl- vania and Delaware was very pleasant, though not new to me, as I have been over the ground many times before Here I have been about selling books and looking at the curiosities, &c. From the western part of the Capitol you can see the Potomac River far down — almost to Mount Vernon, where Washington lived, and where his tomb is. You also have a fine view of Alexandria and Georgetown as well as Washington City. The weather is very warm here and the ne- groes are ploughing in the fields. Sometimes I have counted ten or twelve all driving their horses and ploughs round a great field. They are very merry, and sing and laugh as loud as a fish-horn. gQ LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. In the market are plenty of deer, duck, and fish ; also spinach, sweet potatoes, &c., and the little neg-roes bring mocking'-birds in abundance. They bring- their chickens alive. One negro woman had half a dozen cackling hens in one hand, and a baby almost as big as John Murray, and as black as the shiniest blacking, in the other, and cried who '11 buy ? I dont know which she meant to sell, but I thought I would not buy the baby because your mother said, some time ago, she had enough of them. This afternoon I had to go from the Treasury Office to the Capitol ; so, as I was tired, I asked a negro coachman what he would carry me for. " Oh, Massa," he said, "for two levies," (twenty-five cents.) "That's too much," I said, "it is hard times." "Oh, Massa," he said, "hard times for poor nigger, but Massa, he no hard times for you. You neber see hard times nor you neber will ; you dont look like him." So I had to give him his two levies. There are rows of carriages all down the great street, and as a great many of them have little to do, the drivers, all negroes, have a plenty of fun. They sing queer negro songs, and I suppose by their laughing, tell very funny stories. They are very polite to the ladies. Several of them met this morning in front of our hotel and made more bows and curtesies than your dancing parties make in a whole evening, though all of them had either baskets of marketing or something else in their hands. To-morrow morning, if it does not storm badly, I LIFE OF JAMES BROWN. 31 shall go back to Philadelphia, and on Monday hope to be in New York, where I shall have to stay a day or two, and then shtdl come home, where I hope to be on Thursday or Friday. Your affectionate father, James Brown. In 1845, Mr. Bro\Aii made a second visit to Eu- rope, leaving home in the steamer of April first, and returning in that of July nineteenth. This was the only occasion on which he was entirely alone during these foreign excursions. To relieve the irksome- ness of the solitude which was always distasteful to his genial and social nature, he kept an ample journal of his movements and observations, some extracts from which are here appended. It is an unstudied record of his daily life, hastily jotted down in such brief intervals as he could snatch from his many engagements and occupations; but it will in- terest his friends alike from the ease and animation of the style, and from the unconscious revelations which it makes of his own amiable and kindly nature. April 14