{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_62799/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_62799","id":"gutenberg_62799","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62799","summary":null,"tags":["Abolitionists -- United States -- Biography","African Americans -- Civil rights -- Philosophy","Brown, John, 1800-1859","Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: History - Religious"],"text":"AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES\n\n Edited by\n\n Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph. D.\n\n\n\n\n The American Crisis Biographies\n\n\nEdited by Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph.D. With the counsel and advice of\nProfessor John B. McMaster, of the University of Pennsylvania.\n\nEach 12mo, cloth, with frontispiece portrait. Price $1.25 net; by mail,\n$1.37.\n\n These biographies will constitute a complete and comprehensive\n history of the great American sectional struggle in the form of\n readable and authoritative biography. The editor has enlisted the\n co-operation of many competent writers, as will be noted from the\n list given below. An interesting feature of the undertaking is that\n the series is to be impartial, Southern writers having been assigned\n to Southern subjects and Northern writers to Northern subjects, but\n all will belong to the younger generation of writers, thus assuring\n freedom from any suspicion of war-time prejudice. The Civil War will\n not be treated as a rebellion, but as the great event in the history\n of our nation, which, after forty years, it is now clearly\n recognized to have been.\n\n Now ready:\n\n =Abraham Lincoln.= By ELLIS PAXSON OBERHOLTZER.\n =Thomas H. Benton.= By JOSEPH M. ROGERS.\n =David G. Farragut.= By JOHN R. SPEARS.\n =William T. Sherman.= By EDWARD ROBINS.\n =Frederick Douglass.= By BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.\n =Judah P. Benjamin.= By PIERCE BUTLER.\n =Robert E. Lee.= By PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE.\n =Jefferson Davis.= By PROF. W. E. DODD.\n =Alexander H. Stephens.= By LOUIS PENDLETON.\n =John C. Calhoun.= By GAILLARD HUNT.\n =\u201cStonewall\u201d Jackson.= By HENRY ALEXANDER WHITE.\n =John Brown.= By W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS.\n\n In preparation:\n\n =Daniel Webster.= By PROF. C. H. VAN TYNE.\n =William Lloyd Garrison.= By LINDSAY SWIFT.\n =Charles Sumner.= By Prof. GEORGE H. HAYNES.\n =William H. Seward.= By EDWARD EVERETT HALE, Jr.\n =Stephen A. Douglas.= By PROF. HENRY PARKER WILLIS.\n =Thaddeus Stevens.= By PROF. J. A. WOODBURN.\n =Andrew Johnson.= By PROF. WALTER L. FLEMING.\n =Henry Clay.= By THOMAS H. CLAY.\n =Ulysses S. Grant.= By PROF. FRANKLIN S. EDMONDS.\n =Edwin M. Stanton.= By EDWIN S. CORWIN.\n =Jay Cooke.= By ELLIS PAXSON OBERHOLTZER.\n\n[Illustration: John Brown]\n\n AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES\n\n\n\n\n JOHN BROWN\n\n\n by\n\n W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS, Ph. D.\n\n _Professor of Sociology, Atlanta University_\n\n Author of \u201cThe Suppression of the African Slave Trade,\u201d \u201cThe\n Philadelphia Negro,\u201d \u201cThe Souls of Black Folk,\u201d etc.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n PHILADELPHIA\n GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY\n PUBLISHERS\n\n\n\n\n COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY\n GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY\n _Published September, 1909_\n\n\n _All rights reserved_\n Printed in U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\n _To\n the memory of\n ELIZABETH_\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n PREFACE\n\n\nAfter the work of Sanborn, Hinton, Connelley, and Redpath, the only\nexcuse for another life of John Brown is an opportunity to lay new\nemphasis upon the material which they have so carefully collected, and\nto treat these facts from a different point of view. The view-point\nadopted in this book is that of the little known but vastly important\ninner development of the Negro American. John Brown worked not simply\nfor Black Men\u2014he worked with them; and he was a companion of their daily\nlife, knew their faults and virtues, and felt, as few white Americans\nhave felt, the bitter tragedy of their lot. The story of John Brown,\nthen, cannot be complete unless due emphasis is given this phase of his\nactivity. Unfortunately, however, few written records of these\nfriendships and this long continued intimacy exist, so that little new\nmaterial along these lines can be adduced. For the most part one must be\ncontent with quoting the authors mentioned (and I have quoted them\nfreely), and other writers like Anderson, Featherstonhaugh, Barry,\nHunter, Boteler, Douglass and Hamilton. But even in the absence of\nspecial material the great broad truths are clear, and this book is at\nonce a record of and a tribute to the man who of all Americans has\nperhaps come nearest to touching the real souls of black folk.\n\n W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n\n CHRONOLOGY 11\n\n I. AFRICA AND AMERICA 15\n\n II. THE MAKING OF THE MAN 21\n\n III. THE WANDERJAHRE 28\n\n IV. THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP 48\n\n V. THE VISION OF THE DAMNED 75\n\n VI. THE CALL OF KANSAS 123\n\n VII. THE SWAMP OF THE SWAN 145\n\n VIII. THE GREAT PLAN 198\n\n IX. THE BLACK PHALANX 235\n\n X. THE GREAT BLACK WAY 273\n\n XI. THE BLOW 308\n\n XII. THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX 338\n\n XIII. THE LEGACY OF JOHN BROWN 365\n\n BIBLIOGRAPHY 397\n\n INDEX 401\n\n\n\n\n CHRONOLOGY\n\n\n BOYHOOD AND YOUTH\n\n 1800\u2014 John Brown is born in Torrington, Conn., May 9th. Attempted\n insurrection of slaves under Gabriel in Virginia, in\n September.\n\n 1805\u2014 The family migrates to Ohio.\n\n 1812\u2014 John Brown meets a slave boy.\n\n 1816\u2014 He joins the church.\n\n 1819\u2014 He attends school at Plainfield, Mass.\n\n\n THE TANNER\n\n 1819\u20131825\u2014 John Brown works as a tanner at Hudson, O.\n\n 1821\u2014 He marries Dianthe Lusk, June 21st.\n\n 1822\u2014 Attempted slave insurrection in South Carolina in June.\n\n 1825\u20131835\u2014 He works as a tanner at Randolph, Pa., and is postmaster.\n\n 1831\u2014 Nat Turner\u2019s insurrection, in Virginia, August 21st.\n\n 1832\u2014 His first wife dies, August 10th.\n\n 1833\u2014 He marries Mary Ann Day, July 11th.\n\n 1834\u2014 He outlines his plan for Negro education, November 21st.\n\n 1835\u20131840\u2014 He lives in and near Hudson, O., and speculates in land.\n\n 1837\u2014 He loses heavily in the panic.\n\n 1839\u2014 He and his family swear blood-feud with slavery.\n\n 1840\u2014 He surveys Virginia lands for Oberlin College, and proposes\n buying 1,000 acres.\n\n\n THE SHEPHERD\n\n 1841\u2014 John Brown begins sheep-farming.\n\n 1842\u2014 He goes into bankruptcy.\n\n 1843\u2014 He loses four children in September.\n\n 1844\u2014 He forms the firm of \u201cPerkins and Brown, wool-merchants.\u201d\n\n 1845\u201351\u2014 He is in charge of the Perkins and Brown warehouse,\n Springfield, O.\n\n 1846\u2014 Gerrit Smith offers Adirondack farms to Negroes, August 1st.\n\n 1847\u2014 Frederick Douglass visits Brown and hears his plan for a\n slave raid.\n\n 1849\u2014 He goes to Europe to sell wool, and visits France and\n Germany, August and September.\n\n 1849\u2014 First removal of his family to North Elba, N. Y.\n\n 1850\u2014 The new Fugitive Slave Law is passed.\n\n 1851\u20131854\u2014 Winding up of the wool business.\n\n 1851\u2014 He founds the League of Gileadites, January 15th.\n\n\n IN KANSAS\n\n 1854\u2014 Kansas and Nebraska Bill becomes a law, May 30th. Five sons\n start for Kansas in October.\n\n 1855\u2014 John Brown at the Syracuse convention of Abolitionists in\n June. He starts for Kansas with a sixth son and his\n son-in-law in September. Two sons take part in Big Springs\n convention in September. John Brown arrives in Kansas,\n October 6th. He helps to defend Lawrence in December.\n\n 1856\u2014 He attends a mass meeting at Osawatomie in April. He visits\n Buford\u2019s camp in May. The sacking of Lawrence, May 21st.\n The Pottawatomie murders, May 23\u201326th. Arrest of two sons,\n May 28th. Battle of Black Jack, June 2d. Goes to Iowa with\n his wounded son-in-law and joins Lane\u2019s army, July and\n August. Joins in attacks to rid Lawrence of surrounding\n forts, August. Battle of Osawatomie, August 30th.\n Missouri\u2019s last invasion of Kansas, September 15th. Geary\n arrives and induces Brown to leave Kansas, September.\n Brown starts for the East with his sons, September 20th.\n\n\n THE ABOLITIONIST\n\n 1857\u2014 John Brown is in Boston in January. He attends the New York\n meeting of the National Kansas Committee, in January.\n Before the Massachusetts legislature in February. Tours\n New England to raise money, March and April. Contracts for\n 1,000 pikes in Connecticut.\n\n 1857\u2014 He starts West, May. He is at Tabor, I., August and\n September. He founds a military school in Iowa, December.\n\n 1858\u2014 John Brown returns to the East, January. He is at Frederick\n Douglass\u2019s house, February. He reveals his plan to Sanborn\n in February. He is in Canada, April. Forbes\u2019 disclosures,\n May. Chatham convention, May 8\u201310th. Hamilton\u2019s massacre\n in Kansas, May 19th. Plans postponed, May 20th. John Brown\n starts West, June 3d. He arrives in Kansas, June 25th.\n He is in South Kansas, co\u00f6perating with Montgomery,\n July-December. The raid into Missouri for slaves, December\n 20th.\n\n\n THE HARPER\u2019S FERRY RAID\n\n 1859\u2014 John Brown starts with fugitives for Canada, January 20th.\n He arrives in Canada, March 12th. He speaks in Cleveland,\n March 23d. Last visit of John Brown to the East, April and\n May. He starts for Harper\u2019s Ferry, June. He and three\n companions arrive at Harper\u2019s Ferry, July 3d. He gathers\n twenty-two men and munitions, June-October. He starts on\n the foray, Sunday, October 16th at 8 P. M. The town and\n arsenal are captured, Monday, October 17th at 4 A. M.\n Gathering of the militia, Monday, October 17th at 7 A. M.\n to 12 M. Brown\u2019s party is hemmed in, Monday, October 17th\n at 12 M. He withdraws to the engine-house, Monday, October\n 17th at 12 M. Kagi\u2019s party is killed and captured, Monday,\n October 17th at 3 P. M. Lee and 100 marines arrive,\n Monday, October 17th at 12 P. M. Brown is captured,\n Tuesday, October 18th at 8 A. M.\n\n 1859\u2014 Preliminary examination, October 25th. Trial at Charleston\n (then Virginia, now West Virginia), October 27th-November\n 4th. Forty days in prison, October 16th-December 2d.\n Execution of John Brown at Charleston, December 2d. Burial\n of John Brown at North Elba, N. Y., December 8th.\n\n\n\n\n JOHN BROWN\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n AFRICA AND AMERICA\n\n \u201cThat it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the\n prophet saying, \u2018Out of Egypt have I called My son.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nThe mystic spell of Africa is and ever was over all America. It has\nguided her hardest work, inspired her finest literature, and sung her\nsweetest songs. Her greatest destiny\u2014unsensed and despised though it\nbe,\u2014is to give back to the first of continents the gifts which Africa of\nold gave to America\u2019s fathers\u2019 fathers.\n\nOf all inspiration which America owes to Africa, however, the greatest\nby far is the score of heroic, men whom the sorrows of these dark\nchildren called to unselfish devotion and heroic self-realization:\nBenezet, Garrison and Harriet Stowe; Sumner, Douglass and Lincoln\u2014these\nand others, but above all, John Brown.\n\nJohn Brown was a stalwart, rough-hewn man, mightily yet tenderly carven.\nTo his making went the stern justice of a Cromwellian \u201cIronside,\u201d the\nfreedom-loving fire of a Welsh Celt, and the thrift of a Dutch\nhousewife. And these very things it was\u2014thrift, freedom, and\njustice\u2014that early crossed the unknown seas to find asylum in America.\nYet they came late, for before they came greed, and greed brought black\nslaves from Africa.\n\nThe Negroes came on the heels, if not on the very ships of Columbus.\nThey followed De Soto to the Mississippi; saw Virginia with D\u2019Ayllon,\nMexico with Cortez, Peru with Pizarro; and led the western wanderings of\nCoronado in his search for the Seven Cities of Cibola. Something more\nthan a a decade after the Cavaliers, and a year before the Pilgrims,\nthey set lasting foot on the North American continent.\n\nThese black men came not of their willing, but because of the hasty\ngreed of new America selfishly and half thoughtlessly sought to revive\nin the New World the dying but unforgotten custom of enslaving the\nworld\u2019s workers. So with the birth of wealth and liberty west of the\nseas, came slavery, and slavery all the more cruel and hideous because\nit gradually built itself on a caste of race and color, thus breaking\nthe common bonds of human fellowship and weaving artificial barriers of\nbirth and appearance.\n\nThe result was evil, as all injustice must be. At first, the black men\nwrithed and struggled and died in their bonds, and their blood reddened\nthe paths across the Atlantic and around the beautiful isles of the\nWestern Indies. Then as the bonds gripped them closer and closer, they\nsuccumbed to sullen indifference or happy ignorance, with only here and\nthere flashes of wild red vengeance.\n\nFor, after all, these black men were but men, neither more nor less\nwonderful than other men. In build and stature, they were for the most\npart among the taller nations and sturdily made. In their mental\nequipment and moral poise, they showed themselves full brothers to all\nmen\u2014\u201cintensely human\u201d; and this too in their very modifications and\npeculiarities\u2014their warm brown and bronzed color and crisp curled hair\nunder the heat and wet of Africa; their sensuous enjoyment of the music\nand color of life; their instinct for barter and trade; their strong\nfamily life and government. Yet these characteristics were bruised and\nspoiled and misinterpreted in the rude uprooting of the slave trade and\nthe sudden transplantation of this race to other climes, among other\npeoples. Their color became a badge of servitude, their tropical habit\nwas deemed laziness, their worship was thought heathenish, their family\ncustoms and the government were ruthlessly overturned and debauched;\nmany of their virtues became vices, and much of their vice, virtue.\n\nThe price of repression is greater than the cost of liberty. The\ndegradation of men costs something both to the degraded and those who\ndegrade. While the Negro slaves sank to listless docility and vacant\nignorance, their masters found themselves whirled in the eddies of\nmighty movements: their system of slavery was twisting them backward\ntoward darker ages of force and caste and cruelty, while forward swirled\nswift currents of liberty and uplift.\n\nThey still felt the impulse of the wonderful awakening of culture from\nits barbaric sleep of centuries which men call the Renaissance; they\nwere own children of the mighty stirring of Europe\u2019s conscience which we\ncall the Reformation; and they and their children were to be prime\nactors in laying the foundations of human liberty in a new a century and\nnew land. Already the birth pains of the new freedom were felt in that\nland. Old Europe was begetting in the new continent a vast longing for\nspiritual space. So it was builded into America the thrift of the\nsearchers of wealth, the freedom of the Renaissance and the stern\nmorality of the Reformation.\n\nThree lands typified these three things which time planted in the New\nWorld: England sent Puritanism, the last white flower of the Lutheran\nrevolt; Holland sent the new vigor and thrift of the Renaissance; while\nCeltic lands and bits of lands like France and Ireland and Wales, sent\nthe passionate desire for personal freedom. These three elements came,\nand came more often than not in the guise of humble men\u2014an English\ncarpenter on the _Mayflower_, an Amsterdam tailor seeking a new\nancestral city, and a Welsh wanderer. From three such men sprang in the\nmarriage of years, John Brown.\n\nTo the unraveling of human tangles, we would gladly believe that God\nsends especial men\u2014chosen vessels that come to the world\u2019s deliverance.\nAnd what could be more fitting than that the human embodiments of\nfreedom, Puritanism and trade\u2014the great new currents sweeping across the\nback eddies of slavery, should give birth to the man who in years to\ncome pointed the way to liberty and realized that the cost of liberty\nwas less than the price of repression? So it was. In bleak December\n1620, a carpenter and a weaver landed at Plymouth\u2014Peter and John Brown.\nThis carpenter Peter came from goodly stock, possibly, though not sure,\nfrom that very John Brown of the early sixteenth century whom bluff King\nHenry VIII of England burned for his Puritanism, and whose son was all\ntoo near the same fate. Thirty years after Peter Brown had landed, came\nthe Welshman, John Owen, to Windsor, Conn., to help in the building of\nthat commonwealth, and near him settled Peter Mills, the tailor of\nHolland. The great-grandson of Peter Brown, born in Connecticut in 1700,\nhad for a son a Revolutionary soldier, who married one of the Welshman\u2019s\ngrandchildren and had in turn a son, Owen Brown, the father of John\nBrown, in February of 1771. This Owen Brown a neighbor remembers \u201cvery\ndistinctly, and that he was very much respected and esteemed by my\nfather. He was an earnestly devout and religious man, of the old\nConnecticut fashion; and one peculiarity of his impressed his name and\nperson indelibly upon my memory: he was inveterate and most painful\nstammerer\u2014the first specimen of that infirmity that I had ever seen,\nand, according to my recollection, the worst that I had ever known to\nthis day. Consequently, though we removed from Hudson to another\nsettlement early in the summer of 1807, and returned to Connecticut in\n1812, so that I rarely saw any of that family afterward, I have never to\nthis day seen a man struggling and half strangled with a word stuck to\nhis throat, without remembering good Mr. Owen Brown, who could not speak\nwithout stammering, except in prayer.\u201d[1]\n\nIn 1800, May 9th, wrote this Owen Brown: \u201cJohn was born, one hundred\nyears after his great-grandfather. Nothing else very uncommon.\u201d[2]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n THE MAKING OF THE MAN\n\n \u201cThere was a man called of God and his name was John.\u201d\n\n\nA tall big boy of twelve or fifteen, \u201cbarefoot and bareheaded, with\nbuckskin breeches, suspended often with one leather strap over his\nshoulder\u201d[3] roamed in the forests of northern Ohio. He remembered the\ndays of his coming to the strange wild land\u2014the lowing oxen, the great\nwhite wagon that wandered from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and over the\nswelling hills and mountains, where the wide-eyed urchin of five sat\nstaring at the new world of a wild beast and the wilder brown men. Then\ncame life itself in its realness\u2014the driving of cows and the killing of\nrattlesnakes, and swift free rides on great mornings alone with earth\nand tree and the sky. He became \u201ca rambler in the wild new country,\nfinding birds and squirrels and sometimes a wild turkey\u2019s nest.\u201d At\nfirst, the Indians filled him with a strange fear. But his kindly old\nfather thought of Indians as neither vermin nor property and this fear\n\u201csoon wore off and he used to hang about them quite as much as was\nconsistent with good manners.\u201d\n\nThe tragedy and comedy of this broad silent life turned on things\nstrangely simple and primitive\u2014the stealing of \u201cthree large brass pins\u201d;\nthe disappearance of the wonderful yellow marble which an Indian boy had\ngiven him; the love and losing of a little bob-tailed squirrel for which\nhe wept and hunted the world in vain; finally the shadow of death which\nis ever here\u2014the death of a ewe-lamb and the death of the boy\u2019s mother.\n\nAll these things happened before he was eight and they were his main\neducation. He could dress leather and make whip-lashes; he could herd\ncattle and talk Indian; but of books and formal schooling he had little.\n\n\u201cJohn was never quarrelsome, but was excessively fond of the hardest and\nroughest kind of plays, and could never get enough of them. Indeed when\nfor a short time, he was sometimes sent to school, the opportunity it\nafforded to wrestle and snowball and run and jump and knock off old\nseedy wool hats, offered to him almost the only compensation for the\nconfinements and restraints of school.\n\n\u201cWith such a feeling and but little chance of going to school at all, he\ndid not become much of a scholar. He would always choose to stay at home\nand work hard rather than be sent to school.\u201d Consequently, \u201che learned\nnothing of grammar, nor did he get at school so much knowledge of common\narithmetic as the four ground rules.\u201d\n\nAlmost his only reading at the age of ten was a little history to which\nthe open bookcase of an old friend tempted him. He knew nothing of games\nor sports; he had few or no companions, but, \u201cto be sent off through the\nwilderness alone to very considerable distances was particularly his\ndelight.... By the time he was twelve years old he was sent off more\nthan a hundred miles with companies of cattle.\u201d So his soul grew apart\nand alone and yet untrammeled and unconfined, knowing all the depths of\nsecret self-abasement, and the heights of confident self-will. With\nothers he was painfully diffident and bashful, and little sins that\nsmaller souls would laugh at and forget loomed large and awful to his\nheart-searching vision. John had \u201ca very bad foolish habit.... I mean\ntelling lies, generally to screen himself from blame or from\npunishment,\u201d because \u201che could not well endure to be reproached and I\nnow think had he been oftener encouraged to be entirely frank ... he\nwould not have been so often guilty of this fault, nor have been (in\nafter life) obliged to struggle so long with so mean a habit.\u201d\n\nSuch a nature was in its very essence religious, even mystical, but\nnever superstitious nor blindly trustful in half-known creeds and\nformulas. His family was not rigidly Puritan in its thought and\ndiscipline but had rather fallen into the mild heathenism of the\nhard-working frontier until just before John\u2019s birth. Then, his father\nrelates in quaint Calvinistic _patois_: \u201cI lived at home in 1782; this\nwas a memorable year, as there was a great revival of religion in the\ntown of Canton. My mother and my older sisters and brother John dated\ntheir hopes of salvation from that summer\u2019s revival under the ministry\nof the Rev. Edward Mills. I cannot say as I was a subject of the work;\nbut this I can say that I then began to hear preaching. I can now\nrecollect most if not all of those I heard preach, and what their texts\nwere. The change in our family was great; family worship set up by\nbrother John was ever afterward continued. There was a revival of\nsinging in Canton and our family became singers. Conference meetings\nwere kept up constantly and singing meetings\u2014all of which brought our\nfamily into a very good association\u2014a very great aid of restraining\ngrace.\u201d\n\nThus this young freeman of the woods was born into a religious\natmosphere; not that of stern, intellectual Puritanism, but of a milder\nand a more sensitive type. Even this, however, the naturally skeptical\nbent of his mind did not receive unquestioningly. The doctrines of his\nday and church did not wholly satisfy him and he became only \u201cto some\nextent a convert to Christianity.\u201d One answer to his questionings did\ncome, however, bearing its own wonderful credentials\u2014and credentials all\nthe more wonderful to the man of few books and narrow knowledge of the\nworld of thought\u2014the English Bible. He grew to be \u201ca firm believer in\nthe divine authenticity of the Bible. With this book he became very\nfamiliar.\u201d He read and reread it; he committed long passages to memory;\nhe copied the simple vigor of its English, and wove into the very\nessence of his being, its history, poetry, philosophy and truth. To him\nthe cruel grandeur of the Old Testament was as true as the love and\nsacrifice of the New, and both mingled to mold his soul. \u201cThis will give\nyou some general idea of the first fifteen years of his life, during\nwhich time he became very strong and large of his age, and ambitious to\nperform the full labor of a man at almost any kind of hard work.\u201d\n\nYoung John Brown\u2019s first broad contact with life and affairs came with\nthe War of 1812, during which Hull\u2019s disastrous campaign brought the\nscene of fighting near his western home. His father, a simple wandering\nold soul, thrifty without foresight, became a beef contractor, and the\nboy drove his herds of cattle and hung about the camp. He met men of\nposition, was praised for his prowess and let listen to talk that seemed\nfar beyond his years. Yet he was not deceived. The war he felt was real\nwar and not the war of fame and fairy tale. He saw shameful defeat,\nheard treason broached, and knew of cheating and chicanery. Disease and\ndeath left its slimy trail as it crept homeward through the town of\nHudson from Detroit: \u201cThe effect of what he saw during the war went so\nfar to disgust him with military affairs that he would neither train nor\ndrill.\u201d\n\nBut in all these early years of the making of this man, one incident\nstands out as foretaste and prophecy\u2014an incident of which we know only\nthe indefinite outline, and yet one which unconsciously foretold to the\nboy the life deed of the man. It was during the war that a certain\nlandlord welcomed John to his home whither the boy had ridden with\ncattle, a hundred miles through the wilderness. He praised the big,\ngrave and bashful lad to his guests and made much of him. John, however,\ndiscovered something far more interesting than praise and good food in\nthe landlord\u2019s parlor, and that was another boy in the landlord\u2019s yard.\nFellow souls were scarce with this backwoodsman and his diffidence\nwarmed to the kindly welcome of the stranger, especially because he was\nblack, half-naked, and wretched. In John\u2019s very ears the kind voices of\nthe master and his folk turned to harsh abuse with this black boy. At\nnight the slave lay in the bitter cold and once they beat the wretched\nthing before John\u2019s very eyes with an iron shovel, and again and again\nstruck him with any weapon that chanced. In wide-eyed silence John\nlooked on and questioned, Was the boy bad or stupid? No, he was active,\nintelligent and with the great warm sympathy of his race did the\nstranger \u201cnumerous little acts of kindness,\u201d so that John readily, in\nhis straightforward candor, acknowledged him \u201cfully if not more than his\nequal.\u201d That the black worked and worked hard and steadily was in John\u2019s\neyes no hardship\u2014rather a pleasure. Was not the world work? But that\nthis boy was fatherless and motherless, and that all slaves must of\nnecessity be fatherless and motherless with none to protect them or\nprovide for them, save at the will or caprice of the master\u2014this was to\nthe half-grown man a thing of fearful portent and he asked, \u201cIs God\ntheir Father?\u201d And what he asked, a million and a half black bondmen\nwere asking through the land.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n THE WANDERJAHRE\n\n \u201cWhere is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell\n asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the\n creation.\u201d\n\n\nIn 1819 a tall, sedate, dignified young man named John Brown was entered\namong the students of the Rev. Moses Hallock at Plainfield, Mass., where\nmen were prepared for Amherst College. He was beginning his years of\nwandering\u2014spiritual searching for the way of life, physical wandering in\nthe wilderness where he must earn his living. In after years he wrote to\na boy:\n\n\u201cI wish you to have some definite plan. Many seem to have none; others\nnever stick to any that they do form. This was not the case with John.\nHe followed up with great tenacity whatever he set about as long as it\nanswered his general purpose; hence he rarely failed in some degree to\neffect the things he undertook. This was so much the case that he\nhabitually expected to succeed in his undertakings.\u201d[4] In this case he\nexpected to get an education and he came to his task equipped with that\nrare mixture of homely thrift and idealism which characterized his whole\nlife. His father could do little to help him, for the war was followed\nby the \u201chard times\u201d which are the necessary fruit of fighting. As the\nfather wrote: \u201cMoney became scarce, property fell and that which I\nthought well bought would not bring its cost. I had made three or four\nlarge purchases, in which I was a heavy loser.\u201d\n\nIt was therefore as a poor boy ready to work his way that John started\nout at Plainfield. The son of the principal tells how \u201che brought with\nhim a piece of sole leather about a foot square, which he had himself\ntanned for seven years, to resole his boots. He had also a piece of\nsheepskin which he had tanned, and of which he cut some strips about an\neighth of an inch wide, for other students to pull upon. Father took one\nstring, and winding it around his finger said with a triumphant turn of\nthe eye and mouth, \u2018I shall snap it.\u2019 The very marked, yet kind\nimmovableness of the young man\u2019s face on seeing father\u2019s defeat,\nfather\u2019s own look, and the position of the people and the things in the\nold kitchen somehow gave me a fixed recollection of this little\nincident.\u201d[5]\n\nBut all his thrift and planning here were doomed to disappointment. He\nwas, one may well believe, no brilliant student, and his only chance of\nsuccess lay in long and steady application. This he was prepared to make\nwhen inflammation of the eyes set in, of so grave a type that all hopes\nof long study must be given up. Several times before he had attempted\nregular study, but for the most part these excursions to New England\nschools had been but tentative flashes on a background of hard work in\nhis father\u2019s Hudson tannery: \u201cFrom fifteen to twenty years of age he\nspent most of his time working at the tanner\u2019s and currier\u2019s trade;\u201d and\nyet, naturally, ever looking here and there in the world to find his\nplace. And that place, he came gradually to decide in his quiet firm\nway, was to be an important one. He felt he could do things; he grew\nused to guiding and commanding men. He kept his own lonely home and was\nboth foreman and cook in the tannery. His \u201cclose attention to business\nand success in its management, together with the way he got along with a\ncompany of men and boys, made him quite a favorite with the serious and\nmore intelligent portion of older persons. This was so much the case and\nsecured for him so many little notices from those he esteemed, that his\nvanity was very much fed by it, and he came forward to manhood quite\nfull of self-conceit and self-confidence, notwithstanding his extreme\nbashfulness. The habit so early formed of being obeyed rendered him in\nafter life too much disposed to speak in an imperious or dictating\nway.\u201d[6] Thus he spoke of himself, but others saw only that peculiar\nconsciousness of strength and quiet self-confidence, which characterized\nhim later on.\n\nJust how far his failure to get a college training was a disappointment\nto John Brown one is not able to say with certainty. It looks, however,\nas if his attempts at higher training were rather the obedient following\nof the conventional path, by a spirit which would never have found in\nthose fields congenial pasture. One suspects that the final decision\nthat college was impossible came to this strong free spirit with a\ncertain sense of relief\u2014a relief marred only by the perplexity of\nknowing what ought to be the path for his feet, if the traditional way\nto accomplishment and distinction was closed.\n\nThat he meant to be not simply a tanner was disclosed in all his doing\nand thinking. He undertook to study by himself, mastering common\narithmetic and becoming in time an expert surveyor. He \u201cearly in life\nbegan to discover a great liking to fine cattle, horses, sheep, and\nswine.\u201d Meantime, however, the practical economic sense of his day and\noccupation pointed first of all to marriage, as his father, who had had\nthree wives and sixteen or more children, was at pains to impress upon\nhim. Nor was John Brown himself disinclined. He was as he quaintly says,\n\u201cnaturally fond of females, and withal extremely diffident.\u201d One can\neasily imagine the deep disappointment of this grave young man in his\nfirst unfortunate love affair, when he felt With many another unloved\nheart, this old world through, \u201ca steady, strong desire to die.\u201d\n\nBut youth is stronger even than first love, and the widow who came to\nkeep house for him had a grown daughter, a homely, good-hearted and\nsimple-minded country lass; the natural result was that John Brown was\nmarried at the age of twenty to Dianthe Lusk, whom he describes as \u201ca\nremarkably plain, but neat, industrious and economical girl, of\nexcellent character, earnest piety and practical common sense.\u201d[7]\n\nThen ensued a period of life which puzzles the casual onlooker with its\nseemingly aimless changing character, its wandering restlessness, its\nplanless wavering. He was now a land surveyor, now a tanner and now a\nlumber dealer; a postmaster, a wool-grower, a stock-raiser, a shepherd,\nand a farmer. He lived at Hudson, at Franklin and at Richfield in Ohio;\nin Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. And yet in all this\nwavering and wandering, there were certain great currents of growth,\npurpose and action. First of all he became the father of a family: in\nthe eleven years from 1821 to 1832, seven children were born\u2014six sons\nand one girl. The patriarchal ideal of family life handed down by his\nfathers, strengthened by his own saturation in Hebrew poetry, and by his\nown bent, grew up in his home.\n\nHis eldest son and daughter tell many little incidents illustrating his\nfamily government: \u201cOur house, on a lane which connects two main roads,\nwas built under father\u2019s direction in 1824, and still stands much as he\nbuilt it with the garden and orchard around it which he laid out. In the\nrear of the house was then a wood, now gone, on a knoll leading down to\nthe brook which supplied the tan-pits.\u201d[8]\n\n\u201cFather used to hold all his children while they were little at night\nand sing his favorite songs,\u201d says the eldest daughter. \u201cThe first\nrecollection I have of father was being carried through a piece of woods\non Sunday to attend a meeting held at a neighbor\u2019s house. After we had\nbeen at the house a little while, father and mother stood up and held\nus, while the minister put water on our faces. After we sat down father\nwiped my face with a brown silk handkerchief with yellow spots on it in\ndiamond shape. It seemed beautiful to me and I thought how good he was\nto wipe my face with that pretty handkerchief. He showed a great deal of\ntenderness in that and other ways. He sometimes seemed very stern and\nstrict with me, yet his tenderness made me forget he was stern....\n\n\u201cWhen he would come home at night tired out with labor, he would before\ngoing to bed, ask some of the family to read chapters (as was his usual\ncourse night and morning); and would almost always say: \u2018Read one of\nDavid\u2019s Psalms.\u2019...\n\n\u201cWhenever he and I were alone, he never failed to give me the best of\nadvice, just such as a true and anxious mother would give a daughter. He\nalways seemed interested in my work, and would come around and look at\nit when I was sewing or knitting; and when I was learning to spin he\nalways praised me if he saw that I was improving. He used to say: \u2018Try\nto do whatever you do in the very best possible manner.\u2019\u201d[9]\n\n\u201cFather had a rule not to threaten one of his children. He commanded and\nthere was obedience,\u201d writes his eldest son. \u201cMy first apprenticeship to\nthe tanning business consisted of a three years\u2019 course at grinding bark\nwith a blind horse. This, after months and years, became slightly\nmonotonous. While the other children were out at play in the sunshine,\nwhere the birds were singing, I used to be tempted to let the old horse\nhave a rather long rest, especially when father was absent from home;\nand I would then join the others at their play. This subjected me to\nfrequent admonitions and to some corrections for eye-service as father\ntermed it.... He finally grew tired of these frequent slight admonitions\nfor my laziness and other shortcomings, and concluded to adopt with me a\nsort of book-account something like this:\n\n \u201cJohn, Jr.,\n \u201cFor disobeying mother\u20148 lashes.\n \u201cFor unfaithfulness at work\u20143 lashes.\n \u201cFor telling a lie\u20148 lashes.\n\n\u201cThis account he showed to me from time to time. On a certain Sunday\nmorning he invited me to accompany him from the house to the tannery,\nsaying that he had concluded it was time for a settlement. We went into\nthe upper or finishing room, and after a long and tearful talk over my\nfaults, he again showed me my account, which exhibited a fearful footing\nup of debits. I had no credits or offsets and was of course bankrupt. I\nthen paid about one-third of the debt, reckoned in strokes from a nicely\nprepared blue-beach switch, laid on \u2018masterly.\u2019 Then to my utter\nastonishment, father stripped off his shirt and seating himself on a\nblock gave me the whip and bade me lay it on to his bare back. I dared\nnot refuse to obey, but at first I did not strike hard. \u2018Harder,\u2019 he\nsaid, \u2018harder, harder!\u2019 until he received the balance of the account.\nSmall drops of blood showed on his back where the tip end of the\ntingling beach cut through. Thus ended the account and settlement, which\nwas also my first practical illustration of the doctrine of the\natonement.\u201d[10]\n\nEven the girls did not escape whipping. \u201cHe used to whip me often for\ntelling lies,\u201d says a daughter, \u201cbut I can\u2019t remember his ever punishing\nme but once when I thought I didn\u2019t deserve, and then he looked at me so\nstern that I didn\u2019t dare to tell the truth. He had such a way of saying,\n\u2018Tut, tut!\u2019 if he saw the first sign of a lie in us, that he often\nfrightened us children.\n\n\u201cWhen I first began to go to school,\u201d she continues, \u201cI found a piece of\ncalico one day behind one of the benches\u2014it was not large, but seemed\nquite a treasure to me, and I did not show it to any one until I got\nhome. Father heard me then telling about it and said, \u2018Don\u2019t you know\nwhat girl lost it?\u2019 I told him I did not. \u2018Well, when you go to school\nto-morrow take it with you and find out if you can who lost it. It is a\ntrifling thing but always remember that if you should lose anything you\nvalued, no matter how small, you would want the person who found it to\ngive it back to you.\u2019\u201d He \u201cshowed a great deal of tenderness to me,\u201d\ncontinues the daughter, \u201cand one thing I always noticed was my father\u2019s\npeculiar tenderness and devotion to his father. In cold weather he\nalways tucked the bedclothes around grandfather when he went to bed, and\nwould get up in the night to ask him if he slept warm\u2014always seeming so\nkind and loving to him that his example was beautiful to see.\u201d\n\nEspecially were his sympathy and devotion evident in sickness: \u201cWhen his\nchildren were ill with scarlet fever, he took care of us himself and if\nhe saw persons coming to the house, would go to the gate and meet them,\nnot wishing them to come in, for fear of spreading the disease.[11]...\nWhen any of the family were sick he did not often trust watchers to care\nfor the sick one, but sat up himself and was like a tender mother. At\none time he sat up every night for two weeks while mother was sick, for\nfear he would oversleep if he went to bed, and then the fire would go\nout and she take cold.\u201d[12]\n\nThe death of one little girl shows how deeply he could be moved: \u201cHe\nspared no pains in doing all that medical skill could do for her\ntogether with the tenderest care and nursing. The time that he could be\nat home was mostly spent in caring for her. He sat up nights to keep an\neven temperature in the room, and to relieve mother from the constant\ncare which she had through the day. He used to walk with the child and\nsing to her so much that she soon learned his step. When she heard him\ncoming up the steps to the door, she would reach out her hands and cry\nfor him to take her. When his business at the wool store crowded him so\nmuch that he did not have time to take her, he would steal around\nthrough the wood-shed into the kitchen to eat his dinner, and not go\ninto the dining-room where she could see or hear him. I used to be\ncharmed myself with his singing to her. He noticed a change in her one\nmorning and told us he thought she would not live through the day, and\ncame home several times to see her. A little before noon he came home\nand looked at her and said, \u2018She is almost gone.\u2019 She heard him speak,\nopened her eyes and put up her little wasted hands with such a pleading\nlook for him to take her that he lifted her up from the cradle with the\npillows she was lying on, and carried her until she died. He was very\ncalm, closed her eyes, folded her hands and laid her in her cradle. When\nshe was buried father broke down completely and sobbed like a\nchild.\u201d[13]\n\nDianthe Lusk, John Brown\u2019s first wife, died in childbirth, August 10,\n1832, having borne him seven children, two of whom died very young. On\nJuly 11, 1833, now thirty-three years of age, he married Mary Ann Day, a\ngirl of seventeen, only five years older than his oldest child. She bore\nhim thirteen children, seven of whom died young. Thus seven sons and\nfour daughters grew to maturity and his wife, Mary, survived him\ntwenty-five years. It was, all told, a marvelous family\u2014large and\nwell-disciplined, yet simple almost to poverty, and hard-working. No\nsooner were the children grown than the wise father ceased to command\nand simply asked or advised. He wrote to his eldest son when first he\nstarted in life in characteristic style:\n\n\u201cI think the situation in which you have been placed by Providence at\nthis early period of your life will afford to yourself and others some\nlittle test of the sway you may be expected to exert over minds in after\nlife and I am glad on the whole to have you brought in some measure to\nthe test in your youth. If you cannot now go into a disorderly country\nschool and gain its confidence and esteem, and reduce it to good order\nand waken up the energies and the very soul of every rational being in\nit\u2014yes, of every mean, ill-behaved, ill-governed boy and girl that\ncompose it, and secure the good-will of the parents,\u2014then how are you to\nstimulate asses to attempt a passage of the Alps? If you run with\nfootmen and they should weary you, how should you contend with horses?\nIf in the land of peace they have wearied you, then how will you do in\nthe swelling of Jordan? Shall I answer the question myself? \u2018If any man\nlack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth\nnot.\u2019\u201d[14]\n\nNot that Brown was altogether satisfied with his method of dealing with\nhis children; he said to his wife: \u201cIf the large boys do wrong, call\nthem alone into your room and expostulate with them kindly, and see if\nyou cannot reach them by a kind but powerful appeal to their honor. I do\nnot claim that such a theory accords very well with my practice; I\nfrankly confess it does not; but I want your face to shine even if my\nown should be dark and cloudy.\u201d[15]\n\nThe impression which he made on his own family was marvelous. A\ngranddaughter writes me of him, saying: \u201cThe attitude of John Brown\u2019s\nfamily and descendants has always been one of exceeding reverence toward\nhim. This speaks for something. Stern, unyielding, Puritanic, requiring\nhis wife and daughters to dress in sober brown, disliking show and\nrequesting that mourning colors be not worn for him\u2014a custom which still\nobtains with us\u2014laying the rod heavily upon his boys for their boyish\npranks, he still was wonderfully tender\u2014would invariably walk up hill\nrather than burden his horse, loved his family devotedly, and when\nsickness occurred, always installed himself as nurse.\u201d\n\nIn his personal habits he was austere: severely clean, sparing in his\nfood so far as to count butter an unnecessary luxury; once a moderate\nuser of cider and wine\u2014then a strong teetotaler; a lover of horses with\nharassing scruples as to breeding race-horses. All this gave an air of\nsedateness and maturity to John Brown\u2019s earlier manhood which belied his\nyears. Having married at twenty, he was but twenty-one years older than\nhis eldest son; and while his many children and his varied occupations\nmade him seem prematurely aged, he was, in fact, during this period,\nduring the years from twenty to forty, experiencing the great formative\ndevelopment of his spiritual life. This development was most interesting\nand fruitful.\n\nHe was not a man of books: he had Rollins\u2019 _Ancient History_, Josephus\nand Plutarch and lives of Napoleon and Cromwell. With these went\nBaxter\u2019s _Saints\u2019 Rest_, Henry _On Meekness_ and _Pilgrim\u2019s Progress_.\n\u201cBut above all others the Bible was his favorite volume and he had such\nperfect knowledge of it that when any person was reading he would\ncorrect the least mistake.\u201d[16]\n\nInto John Brown\u2019s religious life entered two strong elements; the sense\nof overruling inexorable fate, and the mystery and promise of death. He\npored over the Old Testament until the freer religious skepticism of his\nearlier youth became more formal and straight. The brother of his first\nwife says, \u201cBrown was an austere fellow,\u201d and when the young man called\non the sister and mother Sundays, as his only holiday, Brown said to\nhim: \u201cMilton, I wish you would not make your visits here on the\nSabbath.\u201d\n\nWhen the panic of 1837 nearly swept Brown from his feet, he saw behind\nit the image of the old Hebrew God and wrote his wife: \u201cWe all must try\nto trust in Him who is very gracious and full of compassion and of\nalmighty power; for those that do will not be made ashamed. Ezra the\nprophet prayed and afflicted himself before God, when himself and the\nCaptivity were in a strait and I have no doubt you will join with me\nunder similar circumstances. Don\u2019t get discouraged, any of you, but hope\nin God, and try all to serve Him with a perfect heart.\u201d[17]\n\nWhen Napoleon III seized France and Kossuth came to America, Brown\nlooked with lofty contempt on the \u201cgreat excitement\u201d which \u201cseems to\nhave taken all by surprise.\u201d \u201cI have only to say in regard to those\nthings, I rejoice in them from the full belief that God is carrying out\nHis eternal purpose in them all.\u201d[18]\n\nThe gloom and horror of life settled early on John Brown. His childhood\nhad had little formal pleasure, his young manhood had been serious and\nfilled with responsibility, and almost before he himself knew the full\nmeaning of life, he was trying to teach it to his children. The iron of\nbitterness entered his soul with the coming of death, and a deep\nreligious fear and foreboding bore him down as it took away member after\nmember of his family. In 1831 he lost a boy of four and in 1832 his\nfirst wife died insane, and her infant son was buried with her. In 1843\nfour children varying in ages from one to nine years were swept away.\nTwo baby girls went in 1846 and 1859 and an infant boy in 1852. The\nstruggle of a strong man to hold his faith is found in his words, \u201cGod\nhas seen fit to visit us with the pestilence and four of our number\nsleep in the dust; four of us that are still living have been more or\nless unwell.... This has been to us all a bitter cup indeed and we have\ndrunk deeply; but still the Lord reigneth and blessed be His holy name\nforever.\u201d Again three years later he writes his wife from the edge of a\nnew-made grave: \u201cI feel assured that notwithstanding that God has\nchastised us often and sore, yet He has not entirely withdrawn Himself\nfrom us nor forsaken us utterly. The sudden and dreadful manner in which\nHe has seen fit to call our dear little Kitty to take her leave of us,\nis, I need not tell you how much, in my mind. But before Him I will bow\nmy head in submission and hold my peace.... I have sailed over a\nsomewhat stormy sea for nearly half a century, and have experienced\nenough to teach me thoroughly that I may most reasonably buckle up and\nbe prepared for the tempest. Mary, let us try to maintain a cheerful\nself-command while we are tossing up and down, and let our motto still\nbe action, action,\u2014as we have but one life to live.\u201d[19]\n\nHis soul gropes for light in the great darkness: \u201cSometimes my\nimagination follows those of my family who have passed behind the\nscenes; and I would almost rejoice to be permitted to make them a\npersonal visit. I have outlived nearly half of all my numerous family,\nand I ought to realize that in any event a large proportion of my life\nis traveled over.\u201d[20]\n\nThen there rose grimly, as life went on in its humdrum round of failure\nand trouble, the thought that in some way his own sin and shortcomings\nwere bringing upon him the vengeful punishment of God. He laments the\nfact that he has done little to help others and the world: \u201cI feel\nconsiderable regret by turns that I have lived so many years and have in\nreality done so little to increase the amount of human happiness. I\noften regret that my manner is not more kind and affectionate to those I\nreally love and esteem. But I trust my friends will overlook my harsh\nrough ways, when I cease to be in their way as an occasion of pain and\nunhappiness.\u201d[21]\n\nThe death of a friend fills him with self-reproach: \u201cYou say he expected\nto die, but do not say how he felt in regard to the change as it drew\nnear. I have to confess my unfaithfulness to my friend in regard to his\nmost important interest.... When I think how very little influence I\nhave even tried to use with my numerous acquaintances and friends in\nturning their minds toward God and heaven, I feel justly condemned as a\nmost wicked and slothful servant; and the more so as I have very seldom\nhad any one refuse to listen when I earnestly called him to hear. I\nsometimes have dreadful reflections about having fled to go down to\nTarshish.\u201d[22]\n\nEspecially did the religious skepticism of his children, so like his own\nearlier wanderings, worry and dismay the growing man until it loomed\nbefore his vision as his great sin, calling for mighty atonement. He\npleads with his older children continually:\n\n\u201cMy attachments to this world have been very strong and divine\nProvidence has been cutting me loose, one cord after another. Up to the\npresent time notwithstanding I have so much to remind me that all ties\nmust soon be severed, I am still clinging like those who have hardly\ntaken a single lesson. I really hope some of my family may understand\nthat this world is not the home of man, and act in accordance. Why may I\nnot hope this for you? When I look forward as regards the religious\nprospects of my numerous family\u2014the most of them,\u2014I am forced to say,\nand feel too, that I have little\u2014very little to cheer. That this should\nbe so is, I perfectly well understand, the legitimate fruit of my own\nplanting; and that only increases my punishment. Some ten or twelve\nyears ago I was cheered with the belief that my elder children had\nchosen the Lord to be their God and I relied much on their influence and\nexample in atoning for my deficiency and bad example with the younger\nchildren. But where are we now? Several have gone where neither a good\nnor a bad example from me will better their condition or prospects or\nmake them worse. I will not dwell longer on this distressing subject but\nonly say that so far as I have gone it is from no disposition to reflect\non any one but myself. I think I can clearly discover where I wandered\nfrom the road. How now to get on it with my family is beyond my ability\nto _see_ or my courage to _hope_. God grant you thorough conversion from\nsin, and full purpose of heart to continue steadfast in His way through\nthe very short season you will have to pass.\u201d[23]\n\nAnd again he writes: \u201cOne word in regard to the religious belief of\nyourself and the ideas of several of my children. My affections are too\ndeep-rooted to be alienated from them; but \u2018my gray hairs must go down\nin sorrow to the grave\u2019 unless the true God forgive their denial and\nrejection of Him and open their eyes.\u201d\n\nAnd again: \u201cI would fain hope that the spirit of God has not done\nstriving in our hard hearts. I sometimes feel encouraged to hope that my\nsons will give up their miserable delusions and believe in God and in\nHis Son, our Saviour.\u201d[24]\n\nAll this is evidence of a striving soul, of a man to whom the world was\na terribly earnest thing. Here was neither the smug content of the man\nbeyond religious doubt, nor the carelessness of the unharassed\nconscience. To him the world was a mighty drama. God was an actor in the\nplay and so was John Brown. But just what his part was to be his soul in\nthe long agony of years tried to know, and ever and again the chilling\ndoubt assailed him lest he be unworthy of his place or had missed the\ncall. Often the brooding masculine mind which demanded \u201cAction! Action!\u201d\nsought to pierce the mystic veil. His brother-in-law became a\nspiritualist, and he himself hearkened for voices from the Other Land.\nOnce or twice he thought he heard them. Did not the spirit of Dianthe\nLusk guide him again and again in his perplexity? He once said it did.\n\nAnd so this saturation in Hebrew prophecy, the chastisement of death,\nthe sense of personal sin and shortcoming and the voices from nowhere,\ndeepened, darkened and broadened his religious life. Yet with all this\nthere went a peculiar common sense, a spirit of thrift and stickling for\ndetail, a homely shrewd attention to all the little facts of daily\nexistence. Sometimes this prosaic tinkering with things burdened, buried\nand submerged the spiritual life and striving. There was nothing left\nexcept the commonplace, unstable tanner, but ever as one is tempted thus\nto fix his place in the world, there wells up surging spiritual life out\nof great unfathomed depths\u2014the intellectual longing to see, the moral\nwistfulness of the hesitating groping doer. This was the deeper, truer\nman, although it was not the whole man. \u201cCertainly I never felt myself\nin the presence of a stronger religious influence than while in this\nman\u2019s house,\u201d said Frederick Douglass in 1847.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n THE SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP\n\n \u201cAnd there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,\n keeping watch over their flock by night.\n\n \u201cAnd, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the\n Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.\u201d\n\n\nThe vastest physical fact in the life of John Brown was the Alleghany\nMountains\u2014that beautiful mass of hill and crag which guards the sombre\nmajesty of the Maine coast, crumples the rivers on the rocky soil of New\nEngland, and rolls and leaps down through busy Pennsylvania to the misty\npeaks of Carolina and the red foothills of Georgia. In the Alleghanies\nJohn Brown was all but born; their forests were his boyhood wonderland;\nin their villages he married his wives and begot his clan. On the sides\nof the Alleghanies, he tended his sheep and dreamed of his terrible\ndream. It was the mystic, awful voice of the mountains that lured him to\nliberty, death and martyrdom within their wildest fastness, and in their\nbosom he sleeps his last sleep.\n\nSo, too, in the development of the United States from the War of 1812 to\nthe Civil War, it was the Alleghanies that formed the industrial centre\nof the land and lured young men to their waters and mines, valleys and\nfactories, as they lured John Brown. His life from 1805 to 1854 was\nalmost wholly spent on the western slope of the Alleghanies in a small\narea of Ohio and Pennsylvania, beginning eighty miles north of Pittsburg\nand ending twenty-five miles southeast of Cleveland. Here in a\nhalf-dozen small towns, but chiefly in Hudson, O., he worked in his\nyoung manhood to support his growing family. From 1819 to 1825, he was a\ntanner at Hudson. Then he moved seventy miles westward toward the crests\nof the Alleghanies in Pennsylvania, where he set up his tannery again\nand became a man of importance in the town. John Quincy Adams made him\npostmaster, the village school was held at his log house and the new\nfeverish prosperity of the post-bellum period began to stir him as it\nstirred this whole western world. Indeed, the economic history of the\nland from the War of 1812 to the Civil War covers a period of\nextraordinary developments\u2014so much so that no man\u2019s life which fell in\nthese years may be written without knowledge of and allowance for the\nbattling of gigantic social forces and welding of material, out of which\nthe present United States was designed.\n\nThree phases roughly mark these days: First, the slough of despond\nfollowing the war, when England forced her goods upon us at nominal\nprices to kill the new-sprung infant industries; secondly, the new\nprotection from the competition of foreign goods from 1816 to 1857,\nrising high in the prohibitory schedules of 1828, and falling to the\nlower duties of the forties and the free trade of the fifties, and\nstimulating irregularly and spasmodically but tremendously the cotton,\nwoolen and iron manufactories; and finally, the three whirlwinds of\n1819, 1837\u20131839, and 1857, marking frightful maladjustments in the\nmushroom growth of our industrial life.\n\nJohn Brown, coming to full industrial manhood in the buoyant prosperity\nof 1825, soon began to sense the new spirit. After ten years\u2019 work in\nPennsylvania, he again removed westward, nearer the projected\ntransportation lines between East and West. He began to invest his\nsurplus in land along the new canal routes, became a director in one of\nthe rapidly multiplying banks and was currently rated to be worth\n$20,000 in 1835. But his prosperity, like that of his neighbors, and\nindeed, of the whole country, was partly fictitious, and built on a fast\nexpanding credit which was far outstretching the rapid industrial\ndevelopment. Jackson\u2019s blind tinkering with banking precipitated the\ncrisis. The storm broke in 1837. Over six hundred banks failed, ten\nthousand employees were thrown out of work, money disappeared and prices\nwent down to a specie level. John Brown, his tannery and his land\nspeculations, were sucked into the maelstrom.\n\nThe overthrow was no ordinary blow to a man of thirty-seven with eight\nchildren, who had already trod the ways of spiritual doubt and unrest.\nFor three or four years he seemed to flounder almost hopelessly,\ncertainly with no settled plan or outlook. He bred race-horses till his\nconscience troubled him; he farmed and did some surveying; he inquired\ninto the commission business in various lines, and still did some\ntanning. Then gradually he began to find himself. He was a lover of\nanimals. In 1839 he took a drove of cattle to Connecticut and wrote to\nhis wife: \u201cI have felt distressed to get my business done and return\never since I left home, but know of no way consistent with duty but to\nmake thorough work of it while there is any hope. Things now look more\nfavorable than they have but I may still be disappointed.\u201d[25] His diary\nshows that he priced certain farms for sale, but especially did he\ninquire carefully into sheep-raising and its details, and eventually\nbought a flock of sheep, which he drove home to Ohio. This marked the\nbeginning of a new occupation, that of shepherd, \u201cbeing a calling for\nwhich in early life he had a kind of enthusiastic longing.\u201d He began\nsheep-farming near Hudson, keeping his own and a rich merchant\u2019s sheep\nand also buying wool on commission.\n\nThis industry in the United States had at that time passed through many\nvicissitudes. The change from household to factory economy and the\nintroduction of effective machinery had been slow, and one of the chief\ndrawbacks was ever the small quantity of good wool. Consequently our\nchief supply came from England until the embargo and war cut off that\nsupply and stimulated domestic manufacture. Between 1810 and 1815 the\nvalue of the manufacture increased five-fold, but after the war, when\nEngland sent goods over here below the price, Americans rightly clamored\nfor tariff protection. This they got, but their advantage was nearly\nupset by the wool farmers who also got protection on the commodity,\nalthough less on low than on better qualities; and it was the low grades\nthat America produced. From 1816 to 1832 the tariff wall against wool\nand woolens rose steadily until it reached almost prohibitive figures,\nsave on the cheapest kind. In this way the wool manufacture had by 1828\nrecovered its war-time prosperity; by 1840 the mills were sending out\ntwenty and a half million dollars\u2019 worth of goods yearly, and nearly\nfifty millions by 1860 even though meanwhile the tariff wall was\nweakening. Thus by 1841 when John Brown turned his attention to\nsheep-farming, there was a large and growing demand for wool, especially\nof the better grades, and by the abolition of the English tariff in\n1824, there was even a chance of invading England.\n\nBecause, then, of his natural liking for the work, and the growing\nprosperity of the wool trade, John Brown chose this line of employment.\nBut not for this alone. His spirit was longing for air and space. He\nwanted to think and read; time was flying and his life as yet had been\nlittle but a mean struggle for bread and that, too, only partially\nsuccessful. Already he had had a vision of vast service. Already he had\nbroached the matter to friends and family, and at the age of thirty-nine\nhe entered his new life distinctly and clearly with \u201cthe idea that as a\nbusiness it bid fair to afford him the means of carrying out his\ngreatest or principal object.\u201d[26]\n\nHis first idea was to save enough from the wreck of his fortune to buy\nand stock a large sheep farm, and in accordance with his already forming\nplans as to Negro emancipation, he wanted this farm in or near the\nSouth. A chance seemed opening when through his father, a trustee of\nOberlin College, he learned of the Virginia lands lately given that\ninstitution by Gerrit Smith, whom Brown came to know better. Oberlin\nCollege was dear to John Brown\u2019s heart, for it had almost from the\nbeginning taken a strong anti-slavery stand. The titles to the Virginia\nland, however, were clouded by the fact of many squatters being in\npossession, which gave ample prospects of costly lawsuits. Brown wrote\nthe trustees early in 1840, proposing to survey the lands for a nominal\nprice, provided he could be allowed to buy on reasonable terms and\nestablish his family there. He also spoke of school facilities which he\nproposed for Negroes as well as whites, according to a long cherished\nplan. The college records in April, 1840, say: \u201cCommunication from\nBrother John Brown of Hudson was presented and read by the secretary,\ncontaining a proposition to visit, survey and make the necessary\ninvestigation respecting boundaries, etc., of those lands, for one\ndollar per day and a moderate allowance for necessary expenses; said\npaper frankly expressing also his design of viewing the lands as a\npreliminary step to locating his family upon them, should the opening\nprove a favorable one; whereupon, _voted_ that said proposition be\nacceded to, and that a commission and needful outfit be furnished by the\nsecretary and treasurer.\u201d[27] The treasurer sent John Brown fifty\ndollars and wrote his father, as a trustee of Oberlin, commending the\nson\u2019s purpose and hoping \u201cfor a favorable issue both for him and the\ninstitution.\u201d He added, \u201cShould he succeed in clearing up titles without\ndifficulty or lawsuits, it would be easy, as it appears to me, to make\nprovision for religious and school privileges and by proper efforts with\nthe blessing of God, soon see that wilderness bud and blossom as the\nrose.\u201d[28]\n\nThus John Brown first saw Virginia and looked upon the rich and heavy\nland which rolls westward to the misty Blue Ridge. That he visited\nHarper\u2019s Ferry on this trip is doubtful but possible. The lands of\nOberlin, however, lay two hundred miles westward in the foothills and\nalong the valley of the Ohio. He wrote home from Ripley, Va., in April\n(for he had gone immediately): \u201cI like the country as well as I\nexpected, and its inhabitants rather better; and I have seen the spot\nwhere if it be the will of Providence, I hope one day to live with my\nfamily.... Were the inhabitants as resolute and industrious as the\nNorthern people and did they understand how to manage as well, they\nwould become rich.\u201d[29]\n\nBy the summer of 1840 his work was accomplished with apparent success.\nHe had about selected his dwelling-place, having \u201cfound on the right\nbranch of Big Battle a valuable spring, good stone-coal, and excellent\nbottoms, good timber, sugar orchard, good hill land and beautiful\nsituation for dwelling\u2014all right. Course of this branch at the forks is\nsouth twenty-one degrees west from a beautiful white oak on which I\nmarked my initials, 23d April.\u201d[30]\n\nThe Oberlin trustees in August, \u201cvoted, that the Prudential Committee be\nauthorized to perfect negotiations and convey by deed to Brother John\nBrown of Hudson, one thousand acres of our Virginia land on the\nconditions suggested in the correspondence which has already transpired\nbetween him and the committee.\u201d[31]\n\nHere, however, negotiations stopped, for the renewal of the panic in\n1839 overthrew all business calculations until 1842 and later, and\nforced John Brown to take refuge in formal bankruptcy in 1842. This\nstep, his son says, was wholly \u201cowing to his purchase of land on\ncredit\u2014including the Haymaker farm at Franklin, which he bought in\nconnection with Seth Thompson, of Hartford, Trumbull County, Ohio, and\nhis individual purchase of three rather large adjoining farms in Hudson.\nWhen he bought those farms, the rise in value of his place in Franklin\nwas such that good judges estimated his property worth fully twenty\nthousand dollars. He was then thought to be a man of excellent business\njudgment and was chosen one of the directors of a bank at Cayahoga\nFalls.\u201d[32] Probably after the crash of 1837, Brown hoped to extricate\nenough to buy land in Virginia and move there, but things went from bad\nto worse. Through endorsing a note for a friend, one of his best pieces\nof farm property was attached, put up at auction and bought by a\nneighbor. Brown, on legal advice, sought to retain possession, but was\narrested and placed in the Akron jail. The property was lost. Legal\nbankruptcy followed in October, 1842, but Brown would not take the full\nadvantage of it. He gave the New England Woolen Company of Rockville,\nConn., a note declaring that \u201cwhereas I, John Brown, on or about the\n15th day of June, A. D. 1839, received of the New England Company\n(through their agent, George Kellogg, Esq.) the sum of twenty-eight\nhundred dollars for the purchase of wool for said company, and\nimprudently pledged the same for my own benefit and could not redeem it;\nand whereas I have been legally discharged from my obligations by the\nlaws of the United States\u2014I hereby agree (in consideration of the great\nkindness and tenderness of said company toward me in my calamity, and\nmore particularly of the moral obligation I am under to render to all\ntheir due) to pay the same and the interest thereon from time to time as\ndivine Providence shall enable me to do.\u201d[33]\n\nHe wrote Mr. Kellogg at the same time: \u201cI am sorry to say that in\nconsequence of the unforeseen expense of getting the discharge, the loss\nof an ox, and the destitute condition in which a new surrender of my\neffects has placed me, with my numerous family, I fear this year must\npass without my effecting in the way of payment what I have encouraged\nyou to expect.\u201d[34] He was still paying this debt when he died and left\nfifty dollars toward it in his will.\n\nIt was a labyrinth of disaster in which the soul of John Brown was\nwell-nigh choked and lost. We hear him now and then gasping for breath:\n\u201cI have been careful and troubled with so much serving that I have in a\ngreat measure neglected the one thing needful, and pretty much stopped\nall correspondence with heaven.\u201d[35] He goes on to tell his son: \u201cMy\nworldly business has borne heavily and still does; but we progress some,\nhave our sheep sheared, and have done something at our haying. Have our\ntanning business going on in about the same proportion\u2014that is, we are\npretty fairly behind in business and feel that I must nearly or quite\ngive up one or the other of the branches for want of regular troops on\nwhom to depend.\u201d[36] He again tells his son: \u201cI would send you some\nmoney, but I have not yet received a dollar from any source since you\nleft. I should not be so dry of funds, could I but overtake my\nwork;\u201d[37] and then follows the teeth-gritting word of a man whose grip\nis slipping: \u201cBut all is well; all is well.\u201d[38]\n\nGradually matters began to mend. His tannery, perhaps never wholly\nabandoned, was started again and his wool interests increased. Early in\n1844 \u201cwe seem to be overtaking our business in the tannery,\u201d he says,\nand \u201cI have lately entered into a co-partnership with Simon Perkins,\nJr., of Akron, with a view of carrying on the sheep business\nextensively. He is to furnish all the feed and shelter for wintering, as\na set-off against our taking all the care of the flock. All other\nexpenses we are to share equally, and to divide the property equally.\u201d\nJohn Brown and his family were to move to Akron and he says: \u201cI think\nthat is the most comfortable and the most favorable arrangement of my\nworldly concerns that I ever had and calculated to afford us more\nleisure for improvement by day and by night than any other. I do hope\nthat God has enabled us to make it in mercy to us, and not that He\nshould send leanness into our souls. Our time will all be at our own\ncommand, except the care of the flock. We have nothing to do with\nproviding for them in the winter, excepting harvesting rutabagas and\npotatoes. This I think will be considered no mean alliance for our\nfamily and I most earnestly hope they will have wisdom given to make the\nmost of it. It is certainly endorsing the poor bankrupt and his family,\nthree of whom were but recently in Akron jail in a manner quite\nunexpected, and proves that notwithstanding we have been a company of\n\u2018belted knights,\u2019 our industrious and steady endeavors to maintain our\nintegrity and our character have not been wholly overlooked.\u201d[39]\n\nIndeed, the offer seemed to John Brown a flood of light: a beloved\noccupation with space and time to think, to study and to dream, to get\nacquainted with himself and the world after the long struggle for bread\nand butter and the deep disappointment of failure almost in sight of\nsuccess. By July, 1844, Brown was reporting 560 lambs raised and 2,700\npounds of wool, for which he had been offered fifty-six cents a pound,\nshowing it to be of high grade. He began closing up his tanning\nbusiness. \u201cThe general aspect of our worldly affairs is favorable. Hope\nwe do not entirely forget God,\u201d[40] he writes.\n\nHis daughter says: \u201cAs a shepherd, he showed the same watchful care over\nhis sheep. I remember one spring a great many of his sheep had a disease\ncalled \u2018grub in the head,\u2019 and when the lambs came, the ewes would not\nown them. For two weeks he did not go to bed, but sat up or slept an\nhour or two at a time in his chair, and then would take a lantern, go\nout and catch the ewes, and hold them while the lambs sucked. He would\nvery often bring in a little dead-looking lamb, and put it in warm water\nand rub it until it showed signs of life, and then wrap it in a warm\nblanket, feed it warm milk with a teaspoon, and work over it with such\ntenderness that in a few hours it would be capering around the room. One\nMonday morning I had just got my white clothes in a nice warm suds in\nthe wash-tub, when he came in bringing a little dead-looking lamb. There\nseemed to be no sign of life about it. Said he, \u2018Take out your clothes\nquick, and let me put this lamb in the water.\u2019 I felt a little vexed to\nbe hindered with my washing, and told him I didn\u2019t believe he could make\nit live; but in an hour or two he had it running around the room, and\ncalling loudly for its mother. The next year he came from the barn and\nsaid to me, \u2018Ruth, that lamb I hindered you with when you were washing,\nI have just sold for one hundred dollars.\u2019 It was a pure-blooded Saxony\nlamb.\u201d[41]\n\nBy 1845 wealth again seemed all but within the grasp of John Brown. The\ncountry was entering fully upon one of the most remarkable of many\nnote-worthy periods of industrial expansion and the situation in the\nwool business was particularly favorable. The flock of Saxony sheep\nowned by Perkins and Brown was \u201csaid to be the finest and most perfect\nflock in the United States and worth about $20,000.\u201d The only apparent\ndanger to the prosperity of the western wool-growers was the increasing\npower of the manufacturers and their desire for cheap wool. The tariff\non woolen goods was lower than formerly, but until war-time, remained at\nabout twenty to thirty per cent. _ad valorem_, which afforded sufficient\nprotection. The tariff on cheap wool decreased until, in 1857, all wool\ncosting less than twenty cents a pound came in free and in 1854 Canadian\nwool of all grades was admitted without duty. This meant practically\nfree trade in wool. The manufacturers of hosiery and carpets increased\nand the demand for domestic wool was continually growing. There were,\nhowever, many difficulties in realizing just prices for domestic wool:\nit was bought up by the manufacturer\u2019s agents, dealing with isolated,\nuntrained farmers and offering the lowest prices; it was bought in bulk\nungraded and as wool differs enormously in quality and price, the lowest\ngrade often set the price for all. No sooner did John Brown grasp the\ndetails of the wool business than he began to work out plans of\namelioration. And he conceived of this amelioration not as measured\nsimply in personal wealth. To him business was a philanthropy. We have\nnot even to-day reached this idea, but, urged on by the Socialists, we\nare faintly perceiving it. Brown proposed nothing Quixotic or\nunpractical, but he did propose a more equitable distribution of the\nreturns of the whole wool business between the producers of the raw\nmaterial and the manufacturers. He proceeded first to arouse and\norganize the wool-growers. He traveled extensively among the farmers of\nPennsylvania and Ohio. \u201cI am out among the wool-growers, with a view to\nnext summer\u2019s operations,\u201d he writes March 24, 1846; \u201cour plan seems to\nmeet with general favor.\u201d And then thinking of greater plans he adds:\n\u201cOur unexampled success in minor affairs might be a lesson to us of what\nunity and perseverance might do in things of some importance.\u201d[42] For\nwhat indeed were sheep as compared with men, and money weighed with\nliberty?\n\nThe plan outlined by Brown before a convention of wool-growers involved\nthe placing of a permanent selling agent in the East, the grading and\nwarehousing of the wool, and a pooling of profits according to the\nquality of the fleece. The final result was that in 1846 Perkins and\nBrown sent out a circular, saying: \u201cThe undersigned, commission\nwool-merchants, wool-graders, and exporters, have completed arrangements\nfor receiving wool of growers and holders, and for grading and selling\nthe same for cash at its real value, when quality and condition are\nconsidered.\u201d[43]\n\nJohn Brown was put in special charge of this business while his son ran\nthe sheep farm in Ohio. The idea underlying this movement was excellent\nand it was soon started successfully. John Brown went to live in\nSpringfield with his family. In December, 1846, he writes: \u201cWe are\ngetting along with our business slowly, but prudently, I trust, and as\nwell as we could reasonably expect under all the circumstances; and so\nfar as we can discover, we are in favor with this people, and also with\nthe many we have had to do business with.\u201d[44]\n\nIn two weeks during 1847 he has \u201cturned about four thousand dollars\u2019\nworth of wool into cash since I returned; shall probably make it up to\nseven thousand by the 16th.\u201d[45]\n\nYet great as was this initial prosperity, the business eventually failed\nand was practically given up in 1851. Why? It was because of one of\nthose strange economic paradoxes which bring great moral questions into\nthe economic realm;\u2014questions which we evaded yesterday and are trying\nto evade to-day, but which we must answer to-morrow. Here was a man\ndoing what every one knew was for the best interests of a great\nindustry,\u2014grading and improving the quality of its raw material and\nsystematizing its sale. His methods were absolutely honest, his\ntechnical knowledge was unsurpassed and his organization efficient. Yet\na combination of manufacturers forced him out of business in a few\nmonths. Why? The ordinary answer of current business ethics would be\nthat John Brown was unable to \u201ccorner\u201d the wool market against the\nmanufacturers. But this he never tried to do. Such a policy of financial\nfree-booting never occurred to him, and he would have repelled it\nindignantly if it had. He wished to force neither buyer nor seller. He\nwas offering worthy goods at a fair price and making a just return for\nthem. That this system was best for the whole trade every one knew, yet\nit was weak. It was weak in the same sense that the merchants of the\nMiddle Ages were weak against the lawless onslaughts of robber barons.\nAny compact organization of manufacturers could force John Brown to take\nlower prices for his wool\u2014that is, to allow the farmer a smaller\nproportion of the profit of the business of clothing human beings. In\nother words, well-organized industrial highwaymen could hold up the wool\nfarmer and make him hand over some of his earnings. But John Brown knew,\nas did, indeed, the manufacturing gentlemen of the road that the farmers\nwere getting only moderate returns. It was the millmen who made\nfortunes. Now it was possible to oppose the highwaymen\u2019s demand by\ncounter organization like the Middle-Age Hanse. The difficulty here\nwould be to bring all the threatened parties into an organization. They\ncould be forced in by killing off or starving out the ignorant or\nrecalcitrant. This is the modern business method. Its result is arraying\ntwo industrial armies in a battle whose victims are paupers and\nprostitutes, and whose victory comes by compromising, whereby a\nhalf-dozen millionaires are born to the philanthropic world.\n\nOn the other hand, to offer no opposition to organized economic\naggression is to depend on the simple justice of your cause in an\nindustrial world that recognizes no justice. It means industrial death\nand that was what it meant to John Brown. The Tariff of 1846 had cut the\nmanufacturers\u2019 profits. The growing woolen trade would more than recoup\nthem in a few years, but they \u201cwere not in business for their health\u201d;\nthat is, they recognized no higher moral law than money-making and\ntherefore determined to keep present profits where they were, and add\npossible future profits to them. They continued their past efforts to\nforce down the price of wool and got practical free trade in wool by\n1854. Meantime local New England manufacturers began to boycott John\nBrown. They expected him to see his danger and lower his prices on the\nreally fine grades he carried. He was obdurate. His prices were right\nand he thought justice counted in the wool business. The manufacturers\nobjected. He was not playing according to the rules of the game. He was,\nas a fellow merchant complained, \u201cno _trader_: he waited until his wools\nwere graded and then fixed a price; if this suited the manufacturers\nthey took the fleeces; if not, they bought elsewhere.... Yet he was a\nscrupulously honest and upright man\u2014hard and inflexible, but everybody\nhad just what belonged to him. Brown was in a position to make a fortune\nand a regular bred merchant would have done so.\u201d[46]\n\nThereupon the combination turned the screws a little closer. Brown\u2019s\nclerks were bribed, and other \u201ccompetitive\u201d methods resorted to. But\nBrown was inflexible and serene. The prospect of great wealth did not\ntempt but rather repelled him. Indeed this whole warehouse business,\nsuccessful and important as it had hitherto been, was drawing him away\nfrom his plans of larger usefulness. It took his time and thought, and\nhis surroundings more and more made it mere money-getting. The\nmanufacturers were after dollars, of course; his clients were waiting\nsimply for returns, and his partner was ever anxiously scanning the\nbalance-sheet. This whole aspect of things more and more disquieted\nBrown. He therefore writes soberly in December, 1847:\n\n\u201cOur business seems to be going on middling well and will not probably\nbe any the worse for the pinch in the money concerns. I trust that\ngetting or losing money does not entirely engross our attention; but I\nam sensible that it quite occupies too large a share in it. To get a\nlittle property together to leave, as the world would have done, is\nreally a low mark to be firing at through life.\n\n \u201c\u2018A nobler toil may I sustain,\n A nobler satisfaction gain.\u2019\u201d[47]\n\nThe next year, however, came a severe money pressure, \u201cone of the\nseverest known for many years. The consequence to us has been, that some\nof those who have contracted for wool of us are as yet unable to pay for\nand take the wool as they agreed, and we are on that account unable to\nclose our business.\u201d[48] This brought a fall in the price and complaint\non all sides: on the part of the wool-growers, because their profits\nwere not continuing to rise; and from manufacturers who demurred more\nand more clamorously at the prices demanded by Brown.\n\nHe writes early in 1849: \u201cWe have been selling wool middling fast of\nlate, on contract, at 1847 prices;\u201d but he adds, scenting the coming\nstorm: \u201cWe have in this part of the country the strongest proofs that\nthe great majority have made gold their hope, their only hope.\u201d[49]\n\nEvidently a crisis was approaching. The boycott against the firm was\nmore evident and the impatience of wool farmers growing. The latter kept\ncalling for advances on their stored wool. If they had been willing to\nwait quietly, there was still a chance, for Perkins and Brown had\nundoubtedly the best in the American market and as good as the better\nEnglish grades. But the growers were restive and in some cases poor. The\nresult was shown in the balance-sheet of 1849. Brown had bought 130,000\npounds of wool and paid for it, including freight and commissions,\n$57,884.48. His sales had amounted to $49,902.67, leaving him $7,981.81\nshort, and 200,000 pounds of wool in the warehouse.[50] Perkins\nafterward thought Brown was stubborn. It would have been easily possible\nfor them to have betrayed the growers and accepted a lower price. Their\ncommissions would have been larger, the manufacturers were friendly, and\nthe sheepmen too scattered and poor to protest. Indeed, low prices and\ncash pleased them better than waiting. But John Brown conceived that a\nprinciple was at stake. He knew that his wool was worth even more than\nhe asked. He knew that English wool of the same grade sold at good\nprices. Why not, then, he argued, take the wool to England and sell it,\nthus opening up a new market for a great American product? Then, too, he\nhad other and, to him, better reasons for wishing to see Europe. He\ndecided quickly and in August, 1849, he took his 200,000 pounds of wool\nto England. He had graded every bit himself, and packed it in new sacks:\n\u201cThe bales were firm, round, hard and true, almost as if they had been\nturned out in a lathe.\u201d[51]\n\nIn this English venture John Brown showed one weakness of his character:\nhe did not know or recognize the subtler twistings of human nature. He\njudged it ever from his own simple, clear standpoint and so had a sort\nof prophetic vision of the vaster and the eternal aspects of the human\nsoul. But of its kinks and prejudices, its little selfishnesses and\njealousies and dishonesties, he knew nothing. They always came to him as\na sort of surprise, uncalculated for and but partially comprehended. He\ncould fight the devil and his angels, and he did, but he could not cope\nwith the million misbirths that hover between heaven and hell.\n\nThus to his surprise he found his calculations all at fault in England.\nHis wool was good, his knowledge of the technique of sorting and grading\nunsurpassed and yet because Englishmen believed it was not possible to\nraise good wool in America, they obstinately refused to take the\nevidence of their own senses. They \u201cseemed highly pleased\u201d; they said\nthat they \u201chad never seen superior wools\u201d and that they \u201cwould see me\nagain\u201d but they did not offer decent prices. Then, too, American woolen\nmen had long arms and they were tipped with gold. They fingered busily\nacross the seas about this prying Yankee, and English wool-growers\nresponded very willingly, so that John Brown acknowledged mournfully\nlate in September, \u201cI have a great deal of stupid obstinate prejudice to\ncontend with, as well as conflicting interests both in this country and\nfrom the United States.\u201d[52] In the end the wool was sacrificed at\nprices fifty per cent. below its American value and some of it actually\nresold in America. The American woolen men chuckled audibly:\n\n\u201cA little incident occurred in 1850. Perkins and Brown\u2019s clip had come\nforward, and it was beautiful; the little compact Saxony fleeces were as\nnice as possible. Mr. Musgrave of the Northampton Woolen Mill, who was\nmaking shawls and broadcloths, wanted it, and offered Uncle John [Brown]\nsixty cents a pound for it. \u2018No, I am going to send it to London.\u2019\nMusgrave, who was a Yorkshire man, advised Brown not to do it, for\nAmerican wool would not sell in London,\u2014not being thought good. He tried\nhard to buy it, but without avail.... Some little time after, long\nenough for the purpose, news came that it was sold in London, but the\nprice was not stated. Musgrave came into my counting-room one forenoon\nall aglow, and said he wanted me to go with him,\u2014he was going to have\nsome fun. Then he went to the stairs and called Uncle John, and told him\nhe wanted him to go over to the Hartford depot and see a lot of wool he\nhad bought. So Uncle John put on his coat, and we started. When we\narrived at the depot, and just as we were going into the freight-house,\nMusgrave says: \u2018Mr. Brune, I want you to tell me what you think of this\nlot of wull that stands me in just fifty-two cents a pund.\u2019 One glance\nat the bags was enough. Uncle John wheeled, and I can see him now as he\n\u2018put back\u2019 to the lofts, his brown coat-tails floating behind him, and\nthe nervous strides fairly devouring the way. It was his own clip, for\nwhich Musgrave, some three months before, had offered him sixty cents a\npound as it lay in the loft. It had been graded, new bagged, shipped by\nsteamer to London, sold, and reshipped, and was in Springfield at eight\ncents in the pound less than Musgrave offered.\u201d[53]\n\nIt was a great joke and it made American woolen men smile.\n\nThis English venture was a death-blow to the Perkins and Brown wool\nbusiness. It was not entirely wound up until four years later, but in\n1849 Brown removed his family from Springfield up to the silent forests\nof the farthest Adirondacks, where the great vision of his life unfolded\nitself. It was, however, not easy for him to extricate himself from the\nweb wound about him. Two currents set for his complete undoing: the\nwool-growers whom he had over-advanced and who did not deliver the\npromised wool; and certain manufacturers to whom the firm had contracted\nto deliver this wool which they could not get. Claims and damages to the\namount of $40,000 appeared and some of these got into court; while, on\nthe other hand, the scattered and defaulting wool-growers were scarcely\nworth suing by the firm. Long drawn-out legal battles ensued, intensely\ndistasteful to Brown\u2019s straightforward nature and seemingly endless.\nCollections and sales continued hard and slow and Perkins began to get\nrestless. John Brown sighed for the older and simpler life of his young\nmanhood with its love and dreams: \u201cI can look back to our log cabin at\nthe centre of Richfield with a supper of porridge and johnny cake as a\nplace of far more interest to me than the Massasoit of Springfield.\u201d[54]\nHe says to his children on the Ohio sheep farm: \u201cI am much pleased with\nthe reflection that you are all three once more together, and all\nengaged in the same calling that the old patriarchs followed. I will say\nbut one word more on that score, and that is taken from their history:\n\u2018See that ye fall not out by the way; and all will be exactly right in\nthe end.\u2019 I should think matters were brightening a little in this\ndirection in regard to our claims, but I have not yet been able to get\nany of them to a final issue. I think, too, that the prospect for the\nfine wool business rather improves. What burdens me most of all is the\napprehension that Mr. Perkins expects of me in the way of bringing\nmatters to a close, what no living man can possibly bring about in a\nshort time and that he is getting out of patience and becoming\ndistrustful.\u201d[55]\n\nMeantime Brown was racing from court to court in Boston, New York, Troy\nand elsewhere, seeking to settle up the business and know where he stood\nfinancially, and, above all, to keep peace with and do justice to his\npartner. Cases were now settled and now appealed and the progress was\n\u201cmiserably slow. My journeys back and forth this winter have been very\ntedious.\u201d Then, too, his mind was elsewhere. The nation was in turmoil\nand so was he. At the time Anthony Burns was arrested in Boston he was\nadvising with his lawyers at Troy. Redpath says:\n\n\u201cThe morning after the news of the Burns affair reached here, Brown went\nat his work immediately after breakfast; but in a few minutes started up\nfrom his chair, walked rapidly across the room several times, then\nsuddenly turned to his counsel, and said, \u2018I am going to Boston.\u2019 \u2018Going\nto Boston!\u2019 said the astonished lawyer. \u2018Why do you want to go to\nBoston?\u2019 Old Brown continued walking vigorously, and replied, \u2018Anthony\nBurns must be released, or I will die in the attempt.\u2019 The counsel\ndropped his pen in consternation. Then he began to remonstrate; told him\nthe suit had been in progress a long time, and a verdict just gained. It\nwas appealed from, and that appeal must be answered in so many days, or\nthe whole labor would be lost; and no one was sufficiently familiar with\nthe whole case except himself. It took a long earnest talk with old\nBrown to persuade him to remain. His memory and acuteness in that long\nand tedious lawsuit\u2014not yet ended, I am told\u2014often astonished his\ncounsel. While here he wore an entire suit of snuff-colored cloth, the\ncoat of a decidedly Quakerish cut in collar and skirt. He wore no beard,\nand was a clean-shaven, scrupulously neat, well-dressed, quiet old\ngentleman. He was, however, notably resolute in all that he did.\u201d[56]\n\nHe spent the time not taken up by his lawsuits at Akron, and in the\nmanner of a patriarch of old, temporarily brought his family back to\nOhio. \u201cI wrote you last week that the family is on the road: the boys\nare driving on the cattle, and my wife and little girls are at Oneida\ndepot waiting for me to go on with them.\u201d[57] He returned to farming\nagain with interest, taking prizes for his stock at state fairs and\nraising many sheep. He had 550 lambs in 1853 and Perkins is urging him\nto continue with him, but things changed and on January 25, 1854, he\nwrites: \u201cThis world is not yet freed from real malice and envy. It\nappears to be well settled now that we go back to North Elba in the\nspring. I have had a good-natured talk with Mr. Perkins about going away\nand both families are now preparing to carry out that plan.\u201d[58] His\ndeparture was delayed a year, but he was finally able to remove with a\nlittle surplus on hand.\n\nBack then to the crests and forests of the Alleghanies came John Brown\nat the age of fifty-four. \u201cA tall, gaunt, dark-complexioned man ... a\ngrave, serious man ... with a marked countenance and a natural dignity\nof manner,\u2014that dignity which is unconscious, and comes from a superior\nhabit of mind.\u201d[59]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n THE VISION OF THE DAMNED\n\n \u201cRemember them that are in bonds as bound with them.\u201d\n\n\nThere was hell in Hayti in the red waning of the eighteenth century, in\nthe days when John Brown was born. The dark wave of the French\nRevolution had raised the brilliant sinister Napoleon to its crest.\nAlready he had stretched greedy arms toward American empire in the rich\nvale of the Mississippi, when in a flash, out of the dirt and sloth and\nslavery of the West Indies, the black inert and heavy cloud of African\ndegradation writhed to sudden life and lifted up the dark figure of\nToussaint. Ten thousand Frenchmen gasped and died in the fever-haunted\nhills, while the black men in sudden frenzy fought like devils for their\nfreedom and won it. Napoleon saw his gateway to the Mississippi closed;\narmed Europe was at his back. What was this wild and empty America to\nhim, anyway? So he sold Louisiana for a song and turned to the shame of\nTrafalgar and the glory of Austerlitz.\n\nJohn Brown was born just as the shudder of Hayti was running through all\nthe Americas, and from his earliest boyhood he saw and felt the price of\nrepression\u2014the fearful cost that the western world was paying for\nslavery. From his earliest boyhood he had dimly conceived, and the\nconception grew with his growing, that the cost of liberty was less than\nthe price of repression. Perhaps he was so near the humanistic\nenthusiasm of the French Revolution that he undervalued the cost of\nliberty. But yet he was right, for it was scarce possible to overrate\nthe price of repression. True, in these latter days men and women of the\nSouth, and honest ones, too, have striven feverishly to paint Negro\nslavery in bright alluring colors. They have told of childlike devotion,\nfaithful service and light-hearted irresponsibility, in the fine old\naristocracy of the plantation. Much they have said is true. But when all\nis said and granted, the awful fact remains congealed in law and\nindisputable record that American slavery was the foulest and filthiest\nblot on nineteenth century civilization. As a school of brutality and\nhuman suffering, of female prostitution and male debauchery; as a\nmockery of marriage and defilement of family life; as a darkening of\nreason, and spiritual death, it had no parallel in its day. It took\nmillions upon millions of men\u2014human men and lovable, light and\nliberty-loving children of the sun, and threw them with no sparing of\nbrutality into one rigid mold: humble, servile, dog-like devotion,\nsurrender of body, mind and soul, and unaspiring animal content\u2014toward\nthis ideal the slave might strive, and did. Wonderful, even beautiful\nexamples of humble service he brought forth and made the eternal\nheritage of men. But beyond this there was nothing. All were crushed to\nthis mold and of them that did not fit, the sullen were cowed, the\ncareless brutalized and the rebellious killed. Four things make life\nworthy to most men: to move, to know, to love, to aspire. None of these\nwas for Negro slaves. A white child could halt a black man on the\nhighway and send him slinking to his kennel. No black slave could\nlegally learn to read. And love? If a black slave loved a lass, there\nwas not a white man from the Potomac to the Rio Grande that could not\nprostitute her to his lust. Did the proud sons of Virginia and Carolina\nstoop to such bestial tyranny? Ask the grandmothers of the two million\nmulattoes that dot the states to-day. Ask the suffering and humiliated\nwives of the master caste. If a Negro married a wife, there was not a\nmaster in the land that could not take her from him.\n\nJohn Brown\u2019s father, Owen Brown, saw such a power stretched all the way\nfrom Virginia to Connecticut. A Southern slaveholding minister, Thomson\nby name, had brought his slaves North and preached in the local church.\nThen he attempted to take the unwilling chattels back South. Of what\nfollowed, Owen Brown says: \u201cThere was some excitement amongst the\npeople, some in favor and some against Mr. Thomson; there was quite a\ndebate, and large numbers to hear. Mr. Thomson said he should carry the\nwoman and children, whether he could get the man or not. An old man\nasked him if he would part man and wife, contrary to their minds. He\nsaid: \u2018I married them myself, and did not enjoin obedience on the\nwoman.\u2019\u201d Owen Brown added, \u201cEver since I have been an Abolitionist.\u201d[60]\n\nIf a slave begat children, there was not a law south of the Ohio that\ncould stop their eventual sale to any brute with the money. Aspiration\nin a slave was suspicious, dangerous, fatal. For him there was no\ninviting future, no high incentive, no decent reward. The highest\nambition to which a black woman could aspire was momentarily to supplant\nthe white man\u2019s wife as a concubine; and the ambition of black men ended\nwith the carelessly tossed largess of a kinglet. To reduce the slave to\nthis groveling, what was the price which the master paid? Tyranny,\nbrutality, and lawlessness reigned and to some extent still reign in the\nSouth. The sweeter, kindlier feelings were blunted: brothers sold\nsisters to serfdom and fathers debauched even their own dark daughters.\nThe arrogant, strutting bully, who shot his enemy and thrashed his dogs\nand his darkies, became a living, moving ideal from the cotton-patch to\nthe United States Senate from 1808 onward. No worthy art nor literature,\nnor even the commerce of daily life could thrive in this atmosphere.\n\nSociety there was of a certain type\u2014courtly and lavish, but quarrelsome;\nseductive and lazy; with a half Oriental sheen and languor spread above\npeculiar poverty of resource; a fineness and delicacy in certain\ndetails, coupled with coarseness and self-indulgence in others; a\nmingling of the sexes only in play and seldom in work, with its\nconcomitant tendency toward seclusion and helplessness among its whiter\nwomen. Withal a society strong indeed, but wholly without vigor or\ninvention.\n\nIt was not all as dark as it might have been. Human life, thank God, is\nnever as bad as it may be, but it is too often desperately bad. Nor do\nmen easily realize how bad life about them is. The full have scant\nsympathy with the empty,\u2014the rich know all the faults of the poor, and\nthe master sees the horrors of slavery with unseeing eyes. True, there\nwere flashes of light and longing here and there\u2014noble sacrifice, eager\nhelp, determined emancipation. But all this was local, spasmodic and\nexceptional. The unrelenting dead brutality of human bondage to a\nthousand tyrants, petty wills and caprice was the rule from Florida to\nMissouri and from the Mississippi to the sea. Under it the wretched\nwrithed like some great black and stricken beast. The flaming fury of\ntheir mad attempts at vengeance echoes all down the blood-swept path of\nslavery. In Jamaica they upturned the government and harried the land\nuntil England crept and sued for peace. In the Danish Isles they started\na whirlwind of slaughter; in Hayti they drove their masters into the\nsea; and in South Carolina they rose twice like a threatening wave\nagainst the terror-stricken whites, but were betrayed. Such outbreaks\nhere and there foretold the possibility of co\u00f6rdinate action and organic\ndevelopment. To be sure, the successful outbreaks were few and\nspasmodic; but the flare of Hayti lighted the night and made the world\nremember that these, too, were men.\n\nAmong these black men, changes significant and momentous, were coming.\nThe native born Africans were passing away, with their native tongues\nand their wild customs. Such were the slaves of John Brown\u2019s father\u2019s\ntime. \u201cWhen I was a child four or five years old,\u201d writes Owen Brown,\n\u201cone of the nearest neighbors had a slave that was brought from Guinea.\nIn the year 1776 my father was called into the army at New York, and\nleft his work undone. In August, our good neighbor, Captain John Fast,\nof West Simsbury, let my mother have the labor of his slave to plough a\nfew days. I used to go out into the field with this slave,\u2014called\nSam,\u2014and he used to carry me on his back, and I fell in love with him.\nHe worked but a few days, and went home sick with the pleurisy, and died\nvery suddenly. When told that he would die, he said he should go to\nGuinea, and wanted victuals put up for the journey. As I recollect, this\nwas the first funeral I ever attended in the days of my youth.\u201d\n\nSuch slaves and others went into the Revolutionary army and three\nthousand of them fought for their masters\u2019 freedom. After the war, their\nbravery, the upheaval in Hayti, and the new enthusiasm for human rights,\nled to a wave of emancipation which started in Vermont during the\nRevolution and swept through New England and Pennsylvania, ending\nfinally in New York and New Jersey early in the nineteenth century. This\nfreeing of the Northern slaves led to new complications, for in the\nSouth, after a hesitating pause, the opposite course was pursued and the\nthumbscrews were applied; the plantations were isolated, the roads were\nguarded, the refractory were whipped till they screamed and crawled, and\nthe ringleaders were lynched. A long awful process of selection chose\nout the listless, ignorant, sly, and humble and sent to heaven the\nproud, the vengeful and the daring. The old African warrior spirit died\naway of violence and a broken heart.\n\nThus the great black mass of Southern slaves were cowed, but they were\nnot conquered. Stretched as they were over wide miles of land, and\nisolated; guarded in speech and religion; peaceful and light-hearted as\nwas their nature, still the fire of liberty burned in them. In Louisiana\nand Tennessee and twice in Virginia they raised the night cry of revolt,\nand once slew fifty Virginians, holding the state for weeks at bay there\nin those same Alleghanies which John Brown loved and listened to. On the\nships of the sea they rebelled and murdered; to Florida they fled and\nturned like beasts on their pursuers till whole armies dislodged them\nand did them to death in the everglades; and again and again over them\nand through them surged and quivered a vast unrest which only the\neternal vigilance of the masters kept down. Yet the fear of that great\nbound beast was ever there\u2014a nameless, haunting dread that never left\nthe South and never ceased, but ever nerved the remorseless cruelty of\nthe master\u2019s arm.\n\nOne thing saved the South from the blood-sacrifice of Hayti\u2014not, to be\nsure, from so successful a revolt, for the disproportion of races was\nless, but from a desperate and bloody effort\u2014and that was the escape of\nthe fugitive.\n\nAlong the Great Black Way stretched swamps and rivers, and the forests\nand crests of the Alleghanies. A widening, hurrying stream of fugitives\nswept to the havens of refuge, taking the restless, the criminal and the\nunconquered\u2014the natural leaders of the more timid mass. These men saved\nslavery and killed it. They saved it by leaving it to a false seductive\ndream of peace and the eternal subjugation of the laboring class. They\ndestroyed it by presenting themselves before the eyes of the North and\nthe world as living specimens of the real meaning of slavery. What was\nthe system that could enslave a Frederick Douglass? They saved it too by\njoining the free Negroes of the North, and with them organizing\nthemselves into a great black phalanx that worked and schemed and paid\nand finally fought for the freedom of black men in America.\n\nThus it was that John Brown, even as a child, saw the puzzling anomalies\nand contradictions in human right and liberty all about him. Ever and\nagain he saw this in the North, leading to concerted action among the\nfree Negroes, especially in cities where they were brought in contact\nwith one another, and had some chance of asserting their nominal\nfreedom. Just at the close of the eighteenth century, first in\nPhiladelphia and then in New York, small groups of them withdrew from\nthe white churches to escape disgraceful discrimination and established\nchurches of their own, which still live with millions of adherents. In\nthe year of John Brown\u2019s birth, 1800, Gabriel planned his formidable\nuprising in Virginia, and the year after his marriage, 1821, Denmark\nVesey of South Carolina went grimly to the scaffold, after one of the\nshrewdest Negro plots that ever frightened the South into hysterics. Of\nall this John Brown, the boy and young man, knew little. In after years\nhe learned of Gabriel and Vesey and Turner, and told of their exploits\nand studied their plans; but at the time he was far off from the world,\ncarrying on his tannery and marrying a wife. Perhaps as a lad he heard\nsome of the oratory that celebrated the act of 1808, stopping the slave\ntrade, as the beginning of the end of slavery. Perhaps not, for the act\ndid little good until it was re\u00ebnforced in 1820. All the time, however,\nJohn Brown\u2019s keen eyes were searching for the way of life and his tender\nheart was sensitive to injustice and wrong everywhere. Indeed, it is not\nunlikely that the first black folk to gain his aid and sympathies and\ndirect his thoughts to what afterward became his life-work, were the\nfugitive slaves from the South.\n\nThree paths were opened to the slaves: to submit, to fight or to run\naway. Most of them submitted as do most people everywhere to force and\nfate. To fight singly meant death and to fight together meant plot and\ninsurrection\u2014a difficult thing but one often tried. Easiest of all was\nto run away, for the land was wide and bare and the slaves were many. At\nfirst, they ran to the swamps and mountains, and starved and died. Then\nthey ran to the Indians and in Florida founded a nation to overthrow\nwhich cost the United States $20,000,000 and more in slave raids known\nas Seminole \u201cwars.\u201d Then gradually, after the War of 1812 had used so\nmany black sailors to fight for free trade that the Negroes learned of\nthe North and Canada as cities of refuge, they fled northward. While\nJohn Brown was a tanner at Hudson, he began helping these dark panting\nrefugees who flitted by in the night. His eldest son says:\n\n\u201cWhen I was four or five years old, and probably no later than 1825,\nthere came one night a fugitive slave and his wife to father\u2019s\ndoor\u2014sent, perhaps, by some townsman who knew John Brown\u2019s compassion\nfor such wayfarers, then but few. They were the first colored people I\nhad seen; and when the woman took me upon her knee and kissed me, I ran\naway as quick as I could, and rubbed my face \u2018to get the black off\u2019; for\nI thought she would \u2018crock\u2019 me, like mother\u2019s kettle. Mother gave the\npoor creatures some supper; but they thought themselves pursued and were\nuneasy. Presently father heard the trampling of horses crossing a bridge\non one of the main roads, half a mile off; so he took his guests out the\nback door and down into the swamp near the brook to hide, giving them\narms to defend themselves, but returning to the house to await the\nevent. It proved a false alarm; the horsemen were people of the\nneighborhood going to Hudson village. Father then went out into the dark\nwood,\u2014for it was night,\u2014and had some difficulty in finding his\nfugitives; finally he was guided to the spot by the sound of the man\u2019s\nheart throbbing for fear of capture. He brought them into the house\nagain, sheltered them a while, and sent them on their way.\u201d[61]\n\nThe atmosphere in these days was becoming more and more charged with the\nslavery problem. That same Louisiana which Toussaint had given America,\nwas gradually filling with settlers until the question of admitting\nparts of it as states faced the nation, and led to the Missouri\nCompromise. The discussion of the measure was fierce in John Brown\u2019s\nneighborhood, and it must have strengthened his dislike of slavery and\nturned his earnest mind more and more toward the Negroes.\n\nIn the very year that death first entered his family and took a boy of\nfour, and just before the sombre days when his earnest young wife died\ndemented in childbirth and was buried with her babe, occurred the Nat\nTurner insurrection in Virginia, the most successful and bloody of slave\nuprisings since Hayti.\n\nSquire Hudson, the father of the town where John Brown lived and one of\nthe founders of Western Reserve University, heard the news in stern joy;\na neighbor met him \u201cone day in September, 1831, coming from his\npost-office, and reading a newspaper he had just received, which seemed\nto excite him very much as he read. As Mr. Wright came within hearing,\nthe old Calvinist was exclaiming, \u2018Thank God for that! I am glad of it!\nThank God they have risen at last!\u2019 Inquiring what the news was, Squire\nHudson replied, \u2018Why, the slaves have risen down in Virginia, and are\nfighting for their freedom as we did for ours. I pray God that they may\nget it.\u2019\u201d[62]\n\nThey did not get freedom but death. And yet there on the edge of Dismal\nSwamp they slaughtered fifty whites, held the land in terror for more\nthan a month, and set going a tremendous wave of reaction. In the South,\nNegro churches and free Negro schools were sternly restricted, just at\nthe time Great Britain was freeing her West Indian slaves. In the North,\ncame two movements: a determined anti-slavery campaign, and an opposing\nmovement which disfranchised Negroes, burned their churches and schools,\nand robbed them of their friends. The Negroes rushed together for\ncounsel and defense, and held their first national meeting in\nPhiladelphia, where they deliberated earnestly on migration to Canada\nand on schools. But schools for Negroes were especially feared North as\nwell as South, and in John Brown\u2019s native state of Connecticut a white\nwoman was shamefully persecuted for attempting to teach Negroes. All\nthis aroused John Brown\u2019s antipathy to slavery and made it more definite\nand purposeful. In November of the year which witnessed the burning of\nPrudence Crandall\u2019s school, and a year after his second marriage, he\nwrote to his brother:\n\n\u201cSince you have left me, I have been trying to devise some means whereby\nI might do something in a practical way for my poor fellow men who are\nin bondage; and having fully consulted the feelings of my wife and my\nthree boys, we have agreed to get at least one Negro boy or youth, and\nbring him up as we do our own,\u2014viz., give him a good English education,\nlearn him what we can about the history of the world, about business,\nabout general subjects, and, above all, try to teach him the fear of\nGod. We think of three ways to obtain one: First, to try to get some\nChristian slaveholder to release one to us. Second, to get a free one,\nif no one will let us have one that is a slave. Third, if that does not\nsucceed, we have all agreed to submit to considerable privation in order\nto buy one. This we are now using means in order to effect, in the\nconfident expectation that God is about to bring them all out of the\nhouse of bondage.\n\n\u201cI will just mention that when this subject was first introduced, Jason\nhad gone to bed; but no sooner did he hear the thing hinted, than his\nwarm heart kindled, and he turned out to have a part in the discussion\nof a subject of such exceeding interest. I have for years been trying to\ndevise some way to get a school a-going here for blacks, and I think\nthat on many accounts it would be a most favorable location. Children\nhere would have no intercourse with vicious people of their own kind,\nnor with openly vicious persons of any kind. There would be no powerful\nopposition influence against such a thing; and should there be any, I\nbelieve the settlement might be so effected in future as to have almost\nthe whole influence of the place in favor of such a school. Write me how\nyou would like to join me, and try to get on from Hudson and thereabouts\nsome first-rate Abolitionist families with you. I do honestly believe\nthat our united exertions alone might soon, with the good hand of our\nGod upon us, effect it all.\u201d[63]\n\nNothing came of this project, except that John Brown grew more deeply\ninterested. He was now worth $20,000, a man of influence and he felt\nmore and more moved toward definite action to help the Negroes. They\nwere keeping up their conventions and the stream of fugitives was\naugmenting. The problem, however, was not simply one of slavery. The\nplight of the free Negro was particularly pitiable. He was liable to be\nseized and sold South whether an actual slave or not; he was\ndiscriminated against and despised in all walks. This was bad enough in\nevery-day life, but to a straightforward religious soul like John Brown\nit was simply intolerable in the church of God. His eldest daughter\nsays:\n\n\u201cOne evening after he had been singing to me, he asked me how I would\nlike to have some poor little black children that were slaves\n(explaining to me the meaning of slaves) come and live with us; and\nasked me if I would be willing to divide my food and clothes with them.\nHe made such an impression on my sympathies, that the first colored\nperson that I ever saw (it was a man I met on the street in Meadville,\nPa.) I felt such pity for, that I wanted to ask him if he did not want\nto come and live at our house. When I was six or seven years old, a\nlittle incident took place in the church at Franklin, O. (of which all\nthe older part of our family were members), which caused quite an\nexcitement.\u201d[64]\n\nHis son tells the details of this incident:\n\n\u201cAbout 1837, mother, Jason, Owen and I, joined the Congregational Church\nat Franklin, the Rev. Mr. Burritt, pastor. Shortly after, the other\nsocieties, including Methodists and Episcopalians, joined ours in an\nundertaking to hold a protracted meeting under the special management of\nan evangelist preacher from Cleveland, named Avery. The house of the\nCongregationalists being the largest, it was chosen as the place for\nthis meeting. Invitations were sent out to church folks in adjoining\ntowns to \u2018come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty;\u2019 and soon\nthe house was crowded, the assembly occupying by invitation the pews of\nthe church generally. Preacher Avery gave us in succession four sermons\nfrom one text,\u2014\u2018Cast ye up, cast ye up! Prepare ye the way of the Lord;\nmake His paths straight!\u2019 Soon lukewarm Christians were heated up to a\nmelting condition, and there was a bright prospect of a good shower of\ngrace. There were at that time in Franklin a number of free colored\npersons and some fugitive slaves. These became interested and came to\nthe meetings, but were given seats by themselves, where the stove had\nstood, near the door,\u2014not a good place for seeing ministers or singers.\nFather noticed this, and when the next meeting (which was at evening)\nhad fairly opened, he arose and called attention to the fact that, in\nseating the colored portion of the audience, a discrimination had been\nmade, and said that he did not believe God \u2018is a respecter of persons.\u2019\nHe then invited the colored people to occupy his slip. The blacks\naccepted, and all of our family took their vacated seats. This was a\nbombshell, and the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Pastor Burritt and\nDeacon Beach at once gave up His place to another tenant. The next day\nfather received a call from the deacons to admonish him and \u2018labor\u2019 with\nhim; but they returned with new views of Christian duty. The blacks\nduring the remainder of that protracted meeting continued to occupy our\nslip, and our family the seats around the stove. We soon after moved to\nHudson, and though living three miles away, became regular attendants at\nthe Congregational Church in the centre of the town. In about a year we\nreceived a letter from good Deacon Williams, informing us that our\nrelations with the church in Franklin were ended in accordance with a\nrule made by the church since we left, that \u2018any member being absent a\nyear without reporting him or herself to that church should be cut off.\u2019\nThis was the first intimation we had of the existence of the rule.\nFather, on reading the letter, became white with anger. This was my\nfirst taste of the pro-slavery diabolism that had intrenched itself in\nthe church, and I shed a few uncalled for tears over the matter, for\ninstead I should have rejoiced in my emancipation. From that day my\ntheological shackles were a good deal broken, and I have not worn them\nsince (to speak of),\u2014not even for ornament.\u201d[65]\n\nThe years of 1837 and 1838 were the years of persecution for the\nAbolition cause. Lovejoy was murdered in Illinois and mobs raged in\nMassachusetts and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, was\nburned, and Marlborough Chapel in Boston, where John Brown himself seems\nto have been present fighting back the people, was sacked. Indeed, as he\nafterward said, he had seen some of the \u201cprincipal Abolition mobs.\u201d\n\nWhatever John Brown may have wished to do at this time was frustrated by\nthe panic, which swept away his fortune, and left him bankrupt. Yet\nsomething he must do\u2014he must at least promise God that he and his family\nwould eternally oppose slavery. How, he did not know\u2014he was not sure\u2014but\nsomehow he was determined, and his old idea of educating youth was still\nuppermost.\n\nIt was in 1839, when a Negro preacher named Fayette was visiting Brown,\nand bringing his story of persecution and injustice, that this great\npromise was made. Solemnly John Brown arose; he was then a man of nearly\nforty years, tall, dark and clean-shaven; by him sat his young wife of\ntwenty-two and his oldest boys of eighteen, sixteen and fifteen. Six\nother children slept in the room back of the dark preacher. John Brown\ntold them of his purpose to make active war on slavery, and bound his\nfamily in solemn and secret compact to labor for emancipation. And then,\ninstead of standing to pray, as was his wont, he fell upon his knees and\nimplored God\u2019s blessing on his enterprise.\n\nThis marks a turning-point in John Brown\u2019s life: in his boyhood he had\ndisliked slavery and his antipathy toward it grew with his years; yet of\nnecessity it occupied but little of a life busy with breadwinning.\nGradually, however, he saw the gathering of the mighty struggle about\nhim; the news of the skirmish battles of the greatest moral war of the\ncentury aroused and quickened him, and all the more when they struck the\ntender chords of his acquaintanceships and sympathies. He saw his\nfriends hurt and imposed on until at last, gradually, then suddenly, it\ndawned upon him that he must fight this monster slavery. He did not now\nplan physical warfare\u2014he was yet a non-resistant, hating war, and did\nnot dream of Harper\u2019s Ferry; but he set his face toward the goal and\nwhithersoever the Lord led, he was ready to follow. He still, too, had\nhis living to earn\u2014his family to care for. Slavery was not yet the sole\nobject of his life, but as he passed on in his daily duties he was\ndetermined to seize every opportunity to strike it a blow.\n\nThis, at least it seems to me, is a fair interpretation of John Brown\u2019s\nthought and action from the evidence at hand. Some have believed that\nJohn Brown planned Harper\u2019s Ferry or something similar in 1839; others\nhave doubted whether he had any plans against slavery before 1850. The\ntruth probably lies between these extreme views. Human purposes grow\nslowly and in curious ways; thought by thought they build themselves\nuntil in their full panoplied vigor and definite outline not even the\nthinker can tell the exact process of the growing, or say that here was\nthe beginning or there the ending. Nor does this slow growth and\ngathering make the end less wonderful or the motive less praiseworthy.\nFew Americans recognized in 1839 that the great central problem of\nAmerica was slavery; and of that few, fewer still were willing to fight\nit as they knew it should be fought. Of this lesser number, two men\nstood almost alone, ready to back their faith by action\u2014William Lloyd\nGarrison and John Brown.\n\nThese men did not then know each other\u2014they had in these early days\nscarcely heard each other\u2019s names. They never came to be friends or\nsympathizers. When John Brown was in Boston he never went to _The\nLiberator_ office, and in after years, now and then, he dropped words\nvery like contempt for \u201cnon-resistants\u201d; while Garrison flayed the\nleader of the Harper\u2019s Ferry raid. They were alike only in their intense\nhatred of slavery, and spiritually they crossed each other\u2019s paths in\ncurious fashion, Garrison drifting from a willingness to fight slavery\nin all ways or in any way to a fateful attitude of non-resistance and\nwithdrawal from the contamination of slaveholders; John Brown drifting\nfrom non-resistance to the red path of active warfare.\n\nNowhere did the imminence of a great struggle show itself more clearly\nthan among the Negroes themselves. Organized insurrection ceased in the\nSouth, not because of the increased rigors of the slave system, but\nbecause the great safety-valve of escape northward was opened wider and\nwider, and the methods were gradually co\u00f6rdinated into that mysterious\nsystem known as the Underground Railroad. The slaves and freedmen\nstarted the work and to the end bore the brunt of danger and hardship;\nbut gradually they more and more secured the co\u00f6peration of men like\nJohn Brown, and of others less radical but just as sympathetic. Here and\nthere the free Negroes in the North began to gain economic footing as\nservants in cities, as farmers in Ohio and even as _entrepreneurs_ in\nthe great catering business of Philadelphia and New York.\n\nThe schools were still for the most part closed to them. They made\nstrenuous efforts to counteract this and established dozens of schools\nof their own all over the land. At last in 1839 Oberlin was founded and\ncertain earnest students of Cincinnati, disgusted with the color line at\nLane College, seceded to Oberlin and brought the color question there.\nIt was fairly met and Negroes were admitted.\n\nIt was the establishment of Oberlin College in 1839 and the appointment\nof his father as trustee that gave John Brown a new vision of life and\nusefulness\u2014of a life which would at once combine the pursuit of a great\nmoral ideal and the honest earning of a good living for a family. Brown\nproposed to survey the Virginia lands of Oberlin, as we have shown,\nlocate a large farm for himself and settle there with his family. Here\nhe undoubtedly expected to carry out the plan previously laid before his\nbrother Frederick. He consulted the Oberlin authorities concerning\n\u201cprovision for religious and school privileges\u201d and they thought it\npossible to have these, although nothing was said specifically of\nNegroes. The position was strategic and John Brown knew it: in the\nnon-slaveholding portion of a slave state, near the river and not far\nfrom the foothills of mountains, beyond which lay the Great Black Way,\nwas formed a highway for the Underground Railroad and a place for\nexperiment in the uplift of black men. That he would meet opposition,\nand strong opposition, John Brown must have known, but probably at this\ntime he counted on the prevalence of law and justice and the stern\nprinciples of his religion rather than on the sword of Gideon, which was\nhis later reliance. But it was not the \u201cwill of Providence\u201d as we have\nseen, that Brown should then settle in Virginia, since his increasing\nfinancial straits and final bankruptcy overthrew all plans of purchasing\nthe one thousand acres for which he had already bargained.\n\nThe slough of despond through which John Brown passed in the succeeding\nyears, from 1842 to 1846, was never fully betrayed by this stern,\nself-repressing Puritan. Yet the loss of a fortune and the shattering of\na dream, the bankruptcy and imprisonment, and the death of five\nchildren, while around him whirled the struggle of the churches with\nslavery and Abolition mobs, all dropped a sombre brooding veil of stern\ninexorable fate over his spirit\u2014a veil which never lifted. The dark\nmysterious tragedy of life gripped him with awful intensity\u2014the iron\nentered his soul. He became sterner and more silent. He brooded and\nlistened for the voice of the avenging God, and girded up his loins in\nreadiness.\n\n\u201cMy husband always believed,\u201d said his wife in after years, \u201cthat he was\nto be an instrument in the hands of Providence, and I believed it\ntoo.... Many a night he had lain awake and prayed concerning it.\u201d[66]\n\nIt began to dawn upon him that he had sinned in the selfish pursuit of\npetty ends: that he must be about his Father\u2019s business of giving the\ndeath-blow to that \u201csum of all villanies\u2014slavery.\u201d He had erred in\nmaking his great work a side object\u2014a secondary thing; it must be his\nfirst and only duty, and let God attend to the nurture of his family. As\nhis conception of his own relation to slavery thus broadened and\ndeepened, so too did his plan of attacking the system become clearer and\nmore definite and he spent hours discussing the matter. In Springfield,\n\u201che used to talk much on the subject, and had the reputation of being\nquite ultra. His bookkeeper tells me that he and his eldest son used to\ndiscuss slavery by the hour in his counting-room, and he used to say\nthat it was right for slaves to kill their masters and escape, and\nthought slaveholders were guilty of a very great wickedness.\u201d[67]\n\nHe studied the census returns and the distribution of the Negroes and\nmade maps of fugitive slave routes with roads, plantations, and\nsupplies. He learned of Isaac, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner and the\nCumberland region insurrections in South Carolina, Virginia, and\nTennessee; he knew of the organized resistance to slave-catchers in\nPennsylvania, and the history of Hayti and Jamaica.\n\nIt needed, as he soon saw, something more radical than schools and moral\nsuasion; so deep-seated and radical a disease demanded \u201cAction! Action!\u201d\nHe welcomed his new and long-loved calling of shepherd because of the\nleisure it gave him to study out his great moral problem. He sought and\ngained the acquaintance of Negro leaders like Garnet, Loguen, Gloucester\nand McCune Smith. As his sheep business broadened, he traveled about and\nprobably at this time first saw Harper\u2019s Ferry\u2014the mighty pass where\nPotomac and Shenandoah, hurling aside the mountain masses, rush to their\nsingular wedding.\n\nThus the distraction of the Springfield wool business came to John Brown\nalmost in the guise of a temptation to be shunned. For a moment about\n1845 he looked again on the lure of wealth and dreamed how useful it\nwould be to what was now his great life object. But only for a moment,\nfor when he realized the price he must pay\u2014the time, the chicanery, the\npetty detail\u2014he turned from it in disgust. It was at this time that he\nstudied the history of insurrection and became familiar with the\nAbolition movement; as early as 1846 his Harper\u2019s Ferry project began to\nform itself more or less clearly in his mind.\n\nOne thing alone reconciled him to his Springfield sojourn and that was\nthe Negroes whom he met there. He had met black men singly here and\nthere all his life, but now he met a group. It was not one of the\nprincipal Negro groups of the day\u2014they were in Philadelphia and New\nYork, Cincinnati and Boston, and in Canada, working largely alone with\nonly imperfect intercommunication, but working manfully and effectively\nfor emancipation and full freedom. The Springfield group was a smaller\nbody without conspicuous leadership, and on that account more nearly\napproximated the great mass of their enslaved race. He sought them in\nhome and church and out on the street, and he hired them in his\nbusiness. He came to them on a plane of perfect equality\u2014they sat at his\ntable and he at theirs. He neither descended upon them from above nor\nwallowed with their lowest, and the result was that as Redpath says,\n\u201cCaptain Brown had a higher notion of the capacity of the Negro race\nthan most white men. I have often heard him dwell on this subject, and\nmention instances of their fitness to take care of themselves, saying,\nin his quaint way, that \u2018they behaved so much like \u201cfolks\u201d that he\nalmost thought they were so.\u2019 He thought that perhaps a forcible\nseparation of the connection between master and slave was necessary to\neducate the blacks for self-government; but this he threw out as a\nsuggestion merely.\u201d[68]\n\nNor did this appreciation of the finer qualities and capacity of the\nNegroes blind him to their imperfections. He found them \u201cintensely\nhuman,\u201d but with their human frailties weakened by slavery and caste;\nand with perfect faith in their ability to rise above their faults, he\ncriticized and inspired them. In his quaint essay on \u201cSambo\u2019s Mistakes,\u201d\nputting himself in the black man\u2019s place, he enumerates his errors: His\nfailure to improve his time in good reading; his waste of money in\nindulgent luxuries and societies and consequent lack of capital; his\nservile occupations; his talkativeness and inaptitude for organization;\nhis sectarian bias. In part of his arraignment, which will bear\nthoughtful reading to-day by black men as well as white, he makes his\nSambo say:\n\n\u201cAnother trifling error of my life has been, that I have always expected\nto secure the favor of the whites by tamely submitting to every species\nof indignity, contempt, and wrong, instead of nobly resisting their\nbrutal aggressions from principle, and taking my place as a man, and\nassuming the responsibilities of a man, a citizen, a husband, a father,\na brother, a neighbor, a friend,\u2014as God requires of every one (if his\nneighbor will allow him to do it); but I find that I get, for all my\nsubmission, about the same reward that the Southern slaveocrats render\nto the dough-faced statesmen of the North, for being bribed and browbeat\nand fooled and cheated, as Whigs and Democrats love to be, and think\nthemselves highly honored if they may be allowed to lick up the spittle\nof a Southerner. I say to get the reward. But I am uncommon\nquick-sighted; I can see in a minute where I missed it.\u201d[69]\n\nNo one knew better than John Brown how slavery had contributed to these\nfaults: for how many slaves could read anything, or when had they been\ntaught the use of money or the A. B. C. of organization? Not in\ncondemnation but in faith was this excellent paper written and\ndelicately worded as from one who has learned his own faults and will\nnot repeat those of others.\n\nNot only did John Brown thus criticize, but he led these black folk. As\nearly as 1846 he revealed something of his final plans to Thomas Thomas,\nhis black porter and friend, with whom he once was photographed in\nmutual friendly embrace, holding the sign \u201cS. P. W.\u201d\u2014\u201cSubterranean Pass\nWay\u201d of slaves to freedom.\n\n\u201cHow early shall I come to-morrow?\u201d asked Thomas one morning.\n\n\u201cWe begin work at seven,\u201d answered John Brown. \u201cBut I wish you would\ncome around earlier so that I can talk with you.\u201d Then Brown disclosed a\nplan of increasing and systematizing the work of the Underground\nRailroad by running off larger bodies of slaves. This was the first form\nof his Harper\u2019s Ferry plan and it rapidly grew in detail, so that its\ndisclosure to Douglass in 1847 showed thought and advance.\n\nThe first national Negro leader, Frederick Douglass, had delivered his\nwonderful salutatory in New Bedford in 1844. After publishing his\nbiography, he went to England for safety, but returned in 1847, ransomed\nfrom slavery and ready to launch his paper, _The North Star_. No sooner\nhad he landed than the black Wise Men of New York told him of the new\nStar in the East, whispering of the strange determined man of\nSpringfield who flitted silently here and there among the groups of\nblack folk and whose life was devoted to eternal war upon slavery. Both\nwere eager to meet each other\u2014John Brown to become acquainted with the\ngreatest leader of the race which he aimed to free; Frederick Douglass\nto know an intense foe of slavery. The historic meeting took place in\nSpringfield and is best told in Douglass\u2019 own words:\n\n\u201cAbout the time I began my enterprise [_i. e._, his newspaper] in\nRochester, I chanced to spend a night and a day under the roof of a man\nwhose character and conversation, and whose objects and aims in life,\nmade a very deep impression upon my mind and heart. His name had been\nmentioned to me by several prominent colored men; among whom were the\nRev. Henry Highland Garnet and J. W. Loguen. In speaking of him their\nvoices would drop to a whisper, and what they said of him made me very\neager to see and to know him. Fortunately, I was invited to see him at\nhis own house. At the time to which I now refer this man was a\nrespectable merchant in a populous and thriving city, and our first\nplace of meeting was at his store. This was a substantial brick building\non a prominent, busy street. A glance at the interior, as well as at the\nmassive walls without, gave me the impression that the owner must be a\nman of considerable wealth. My welcome was all that I could have asked.\nEvery member of the family, young and old, seemed glad to see me, and I\nwas made much at home in a very little while. I was, however, a little\ndisappointed with the appearance of the house and its location. After\nseeing the fine store I was prepared to see a fine residence in an\neligible locality, but this conclusion was completely dispelled by\nactual observation. In fact, the house was neither commodious nor\nelegant, nor its situation desirable. It was a small wooden building on\na back street, in a neighborhood chiefly occupied by laboring men and\nmechanics; respectable enough, to be sure, but not quite the place, I\nthought, where one would look for the residence of a flourishing and\nsuccessful merchant.\n\n\u201cPlain as was the outside of this man\u2019s house, the inside was plainer.\nIts furniture would have satisfied a Spartan. It would take longer to\ntell what was not in this house than what was in it. There was an air of\nplainness about it which almost suggested destitution. My first meal\npassed under the misnomer of tea, though there was nothing about it\nresembling the usual significance of that term. It consisted of\nbeef-soup, cabbage, and potatoes\u2014a meal such as a man might relish after\nfollowing the plow all day or performing a forced march of a dozen miles\nover a rough road in frosty weather. Innocent of paint, veneering,\nvarnish, or table-cloth, the table announced itself unmistakably of pine\nand of the plainest workmanship. There was no hired help visible. The\nmother, daughters, and sons did the serving, and did it well. They were\nevidently used to it, and had no thought of any impropriety or\ndegradation in being their own servants. It is said that a house in some\nmeasure reflects the character of its occupants; this one certainly did.\nIn it there were no disguises, no illusions, no make-believes.\nEverything implied stern truth, solid purpose, and rigid economy. I was\nnot long in company with the master of this house before I discovered\nthat he was indeed the master of it, and was likely to become mine too\nif I stayed long enough with him. His wife believed in him, and his\nchildren observed him with reverence. Whenever he spoke his words\ncommanded earnest attention. His arguments, which I ventured at some\npoints to oppose, seemed to convince all; his appeals touched all, and\nhis will impressed all. Certainly I never felt myself in the presence of\na stronger religious influence than while in this man\u2019s house.\n\n\u201cIn person he was lean, strong, and sinewy, of the best New England\nmold, built for times of trouble and fitted to grapple with the\nflintiest hardships. Clad in plain American woolen, shod in boots of\ncowhide leather, and wearing a cravat of the same substantial material,\nunder six feet high, less than 150 pounds in weight, aged about fifty,\nhe presented a figure straight and symmetrical as a mountain pine. His\nbearing was singularly impressive. His head was not large, but compact\nand high. His hair was coarse, strong, slightly gray and closely\ntrimmed, and grew low on his forehead. His face was smoothly shaved, and\nrevealed a strong, square mouth, supported by a broad and prominent\nchin. His eyes were bluish gray, and in conversation they were full of\nlight and fire. When on the street, he moved with a long, springing,\nracehorse step, absorbed by his own reflections, neither seeking nor\nshunning observation. Such was the man whose name I had heard in\nwhispers; such was the spirit of his house and family; such was the\nhouse in which he lived; and such was Captain John Brown, whose name has\nnow passed into history, as that of one of the most marked characters\nand greatest heroes known to American fame.\n\n\u201cAfter the strong meal already described, Captain Brown cautiously\napproached the subject which he wished to bring to my attention; for he\nseemed to apprehend opposition to his views. He denounced slavery in\nlook and language fierce and bitter; thought that slaveholders had\nforfeited their right to live; that the slaves had the right to gain\ntheir liberty in any way they could; did not believe that moral suasion\nwould ever liberate the slave, or that political action would abolish\nthe system. He said that he had long had a plan which could accomplish\nthis end, and he had invited me to his house to lay that plan before me.\nHe said he had been for some time looking for colored men to whom he\ncould safely reveal his secret, and at times he had almost despaired of\nfinding such men; but that now he was encouraged, for he saw heads of\nsuch rising up in all directions. He had observed my course at home and\nabroad, and he wanted my co\u00f6peration. His plan as it then lay in his\nmind had much to commend it. It did not, as some suppose, contemplate a\ngeneral rising among the slaves, and a general slaughter of the\nslave-masters. An insurrection, he thought, would only defeat the\nobject; but his plan did contemplate the creating of an armed force\nwhich should act the very heart of the South. He was not averse to the\nshedding of blood, and thought the practice of carrying arms would be a\ngood one for the colored people to adopt, as it would give them a sense\nof their manhood. No people, he said, could have self-respect, or be\nrespected, who would not fight for their freedom. He called my attention\nto a map of the United States, and pointed out to me the far-reaching\nAlleghanies, which stretch away from the borders of New York into the\nSouthern states.\n\n\u201c\u2018These mountains,\u2019 he said, \u2018are the basis of my plan. God has given\nthe strength of the hills to freedom; they were placed here for the\nemancipation of the Negro race; they are full of natural forts, where\none man for defense will be equal to a hundred for attack; they are full\nalso of good hiding-places, where large numbers of brave men could be\nconcealed, and baffle and elude pursuit for a long time. I know these\nmountains well, and could take a body of men into them and keep them\nthere despite of all efforts of Virginia to dislodge them. The true\nobject to be sought is first of all to destroy the money value of\nslavery property; and that can only be done by rendering such property\ninsecure. My plan, then, is to take at first about twenty-five picked\nmen, and begin on a small scale; supply them with arms and ammunition\nand post them in squads of fives on a line of twenty-five miles. The\nmost persuasive and judicious of these shall go down to the fields from\ntime to time, as opportunity offers, and induce the slaves to join them,\nseeking and selecting the most restless and daring.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe saw that in this part of the work the utmost care must be used to\navoid treachery and disclosure. Only the most conscientious and skilful\nshould be sent on this perilous duty. With care and enterprise he\nthought he could soon gather a force of one hundred hardy men, men who\nwould be content to lead the free and adventurous life to which he\nproposed to train them; when these were properly drilled, and each man\nhad found the place for which he was best suited, they would begin work\nin earnest; they would run off the slaves in large numbers, retain the\nbrave and strong ones in the mountains, and send the weak and timid to\nthe North by the Underground Railroad. His operations would be enlarged\nwith increasing numbers and would not be confined to one locality.\n\n\u201cWhen I asked him how he would support these men, he said emphatically\nthat he would subsist them upon the enemy. Slavery was a state of war,\nand the slave had a right to anything necessary to his freedom. \u2018But,\u2019\nsaid I, \u2018suppose you succeed in running off a few slaves, and thus\nimpress the Virginia slaveholders with a sense of insecurity in their\nslaves further south.\u2019 \u2018That,\u2019 he said, \u2018will be what I want first to\ndo; then I would follow them up. If we could drive slavery out of one\ncounty, it would be a great gain; it would weaken the system throughout\nthe state.\u2019 \u2018But they would employ bloodhounds to hunt you out of the\nmountains.\u2019 \u2018That they might attempt,\u2019 said he, \u2018but the chances are, we\nshould whip them, and when we should have whipped one squad, they would\nbe careful how they pursued.\u2019 \u2018But you might be surrounded and cut off\nfrom your provisions or means of subsistence.\u2019 He thought that this\ncould not be done so that they could not cut their way out; but even if\nthe worst came he could but be killed, and he had no better use for his\nlife than to lay it down in the cause of the slave. When I suggested\nthat we might convert the slaveholders, he became much excited, and said\nthat could never be. He knew their proud hearts and they would never be\ninduced to give up their slaves, until they felt a big stick about their\nheads.\n\n\u201cHe observed that I might have noticed the simple manner in which he\nlived, adding that he had adopted this method in order to save money to\ncarry out his purposes. This was said in no boastful tone, for he felt\nthat he had delayed already too long, and had no room to boast either\nhis zeal or his self-denial. Had some men made such display of rigid\nvirtue, I should have rejected it as affected, false, and hypocritical,\nbut in John Brown, I felt it to be real as iron or granite. From this\nnight spent with John Brown in Springfield, Mass., 1847, while I\ncontinued to write and speak against slavery, I became all the same less\nhopeful of its peaceful abolition. My utterances became more and more\ntinged by the color of this man\u2019s strong impressions.\u201d[70]\n\nTremendously impressed as was Douglass in mind and heart with John Brown\nand his plan, his reason was never convinced even up to the last; and\nnaturally because here two radically opposite characters saw slavery\nfrom opposite sides of the shield. Both hated it with all their\nstrength, but one knew its physical degradation, its tremendous power\nand the strong sympathies and interests that buttressed it the world\nover; the other felt its moral evil and knowing simply that it was\nwrong, concluded that John Brown and God could overthrow it. That was\nall\u2014a plain straightforward path; but to the subtler darker man, more\nworldly-wise and less religious, the arm of the Lord was not revealed,\nwhile the evil of this world had seared his vitals. He uncovered himself\nif not reverently, certainly respectfully before the Seer; he gave him\nmuch help and information; he turned almost imperceptibly but surely\ntoward Brown\u2019s darker view of the blood-sacrifice of slavery, but he\ncould never quite believe that John Brown\u2019s tremendous plan was humanly\npossible. And this attitude of Douglass was in various degrees and\nstrides the attitude of the leading Negroes of his day. They believed in\nJohn Brown but not in his plan. They knew he was right, but they knew\nthat for any failure in his project they, the black men, would probably\npay the cost. And the horror of that cost none knew as they.\n\nIf John Brown was to carry out his idea as he had now definitely\nconceived it, he must first find the men who could help him. On this\npoint there seems to have been deliberation and development of plan,\nparticularly as he consulted Douglass and the Negro leaders. His earlier\nscheme probably looked toward the use of Negro allies almost exclusively\noutside his own family. This was eminently fitting but impractical, as\nDouglass and his fellows must have urged. White men could move where\nthey would in the United States, but to introduce an armed band\nexclusively or mainly of Negroes from the North into the South was\ndifficult, if not impossible. Nevertheless, some Negroes of the right\ntype were needed and to John Brown\u2019s mind the Underground Railroad was\nbringing North the very material he required. It could not, however, be\nproperly trained in cities whither it drifted both for economic reasons\nand for self-protection. Brown therefore heard of Gerrit Smith\u2019s offer\nof August 1, 1846, with great interest. This wealthy leader of the New\nYork Abolition group took occasion at the celebration of the twelfth\nanniversary of British emancipation to offer free Negroes 100,000 acres\nof his lands in the Adirondack region on easy terms. It was not a well\nthought-out scheme: the climate was bleak for Negroes, the methods of\nculture then suitable, were unknown to them; while the surveyor who laid\nout these farms cheated them as cheerily as though philanthropy had no\nconcern with the project. The Gerrit Smith offer was not wholly a\nfailure. It turned out some good Negro farmers, gave some of its best\nNegro citizens of to-day to northern New York, and trained a bishop of\nthe British African Church. But it did far less than it might have done\nif better planned, and much if not all of its success was due to John\nBrown. He saw possibilities here both to shelter his family when he\nturned definitely to what was now his single object in life, and to\ntrain men to help him. He went to Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, N. Y., in\nApril, 1848, and said: \u201cI am something of a pioneer; I grew up among the\nwoods and wild Indians of Ohio and am used to the climate and the way of\nlife that your colony find so trying. I will take one of your farms\nmyself, clear it up and plant it, and show my colored neighbors how such\nwork should be done; will give them work as I have occasion, look after\nthem in all needful ways and be a kind of father to them.\u201d[71]\n\nHis offer was gladly accepted and he moved his family there the\nfollowing year. It was a wild, lonely place. Thomas Wentworth Higginson\nwrote once: \u201cThe Notch seems beyond the world, North Elba and its\nhalf-dozen houses are beyond the Notch, and there is a wilder little\nmountain road which rises beyond North Elba. But the house we seek is\nnot even on that road, but behind it and beyond it; you ride a mile or\ntwo, then take down a pair of bars; beyond the bars faith takes you\nacross a half-cleared field, through the most difficult of wood-paths,\nand after half a mile of forest you come out upon a clearing. There is a\nlittle frame house, unpainted, set in a girdle of black stumps, and with\nall heaven about it for a wider girdle; on a high hillside, forests on\nnorth and west,\u2014the glorious line of the Adirondacks on the east, and on\nthe south one slender road leading off to Westport, a road so straight\nthat you could sight a United States marshal for five miles.\u201d[72]\n\nTo his family John Brown\u2019s word was usually not merely law but wish.\nThey went to North Elba cheerfully and with full knowledge of the import\nof the change, for the father was frank. The daughter Ruth writes:\n\u201cWhile we were living in Springfield, our house was plainly furnished,\nbut very comfortably, all excepting the parlor. Mother and I had often\nexpressed a wish that the parlor might be furnished too, and father\nencouraged us that it should be; but after he made up his mind to go to\nNorth Elba he began to economize in many ways. One day he called us\nolder ones to him and said: \u2018I want to plan with you a little; and I\nwant you all to express your minds. I have a little money to spare; and\nnow shall we use it to furnish the parlor, or spend it to buy clothing\nfor the colored people who may need help in North Elba another year?\u2019 We\nall said, \u2018Save the money.\u2019\u201d[73]\n\nIt was no paradise, even for the enthusiast. Redpath says: \u201cIt is too\ncold to raise corn there; they can scarcely, in the most favorable\nseasons, obtain a few ears for roasting. Stock must be wintered there\nnearly six months in every year. I was there on the first of November,\nthe ground was snowy, and winter had apparently begun\u2014and it would last\ntill the middle of May. They never raise anything to sell off that farm,\nexcept sometimes a few fleeces. It was well, they said, if they raised\ntheir own provisions, and could spin their own wool for clothing.\u201d[74]\n\nMeantime the scattered isolated eddies of the anti-slavery battles were\nswirling to one great current, and more and more John Brown was becoming\nthe man of one idea. Impatiently he neglected his pressing wool\nbusiness. Instead of keeping his eye on his critical London venture, he\nhastened across Europe perfecting military observations. He returned to\nAmerica in time to hear all the feverish discussion of the Fugitive\nSlave Law and see its final passage. In November, 1850, he writes his\nwife from Springfield: \u201cIt now seems that the Fugitive Slave Law was to\nbe the means of making more Abolitionists than all the lectures we have\nhad for years. It really looks as if God had His hand on this wickedness\nalso. I of course keep encouraging my colored friends to \u2018trust in God\nand keep their powder dry.\u2019 I did so to-day at Thanksgiving meeting\npublicly.\u201d[75]\n\nHis Springfield meetings led to the formation of his \u201cLeague of\nGileadites,\u201d the first of his steps toward the armed organization of\nNegroes. Forty-four Negroes signed the following agreement:\n\n\u201cAs citizens of the United States of America, trusting in a just and\nmerciful God, whose spirit and all-powerful aid we humbly implore, we\nwill ever be true to the flag of our beloved country, always acting\nunder it. We, whose names are hereunto affixed, do constitute ourselves\na branch of the United States League of Gileadites. That we will provide\nourselves at once with suitable implements, and will aid those who do\nnot possess the means, if any such are disposed to join us. We invite\nevery colored person whose heart is engaged in the performance of our\nbusiness, whether male or female, old or young. The duty of the aged,\ninfirm, and young members of the League shall be to give instant notice\nto all members in case of an attack upon any of our people. We agree to\nhave no officers except a treasurer and secretary pro tem., until after\nsome trial of courage and talent of able-bodied members shall enable us\nto elect officers from those who shall have rendered the most important\nservices. Nothing but wisdom and undaunted courage, efficiency, and\ngeneral good conduct shall in any way influence us in electing\nofficers.\u201d[76]\n\nTo this was added exhortation and advice by John Brown.\n\n\u201cNothing so charms the American people as personal bravery,\u201d he wrote.\n\u201cWitness the case of Cinques, of everlasting memory, on board the\n_Amistad_. The trial for life of one bold and to some extent successful\nman, for defending his rights in good earnest, would arouse more\nsympathy throughout the nation than the accumulated wrongs and\nsufferings of more than three millions of our submissive colored\npopulation. We need not mention the Greeks struggling against the\noppressive Turks, the Poles against Russia, nor the Hungarians against\nAustria and Russia combined, to prove this. No jury can be found in the\nNorthern states that would convict a man for defending his rights to the\nlast extremity. This is well understood by Southern congressmen, who\ninsisted that the right of trial by jury should not be granted to the\nfugitive. Colored people have ten times the number of fast friends among\nthe whites than they suppose, and would have ten times the number they\nhave now were they but half as much in earnest to secure their dearest\nrights as they are to ape the follies and extravagances of their white\nneighbors, and to indulge in idle show, in ease and luxury. Just think\nof the money expended by individuals in your behalf for the last twenty\nyears! Think of the number who have been mobbed and imprisoned on your\naccount! Have any of you seen the branded hand? Do you remember the\nnames of Lovejoy and Torrey?\u201d[77]\n\nHe then gives definite advice as to procedure in case the arrest and the\ndeportation of a fugitive slave were attempted:\n\n\u201cShould one of your number be arrested, you must collect together as\nquickly as possible, so as to outnumber your adversaries, who are taking\nan active part against you. Let no able-bodied man appear on the ground\nunequipped, or with his weapons exposed to view: let that be understood\nbeforehand. Your plans must be known only to yourself, and with the\nunderstanding that all traitors must die, wherever caught and proven to\nbe guilty. \u2018Whosoever is fearful or afraid, let him return and depart\nearly from Mount Gilead\u2019 (Judges 7:3; Deut. 20:8). Give all cowards an\nopportunity to show it on condition of holding their peace. Do not delay\none moment after you are ready; you will lose all your resolution if you\ndo. Let the first blow be the signal for all to engage; and when engaged\ndo not do your work in halves, but make clean work with your\nenemies,\u2014and be sure you meddle not with any others. By going about your\nbusiness quietly, you will get the job disposed of before the number\nthat an uproar would bring together can collect; and you will have the\nadvantage of those who come out against you, for they will be wholly\nunprepared with either equipments or matured plans; all with them will\nbe confusion and terror. Your enemies will be slow to attack you after\nyou have done up the work nicely; and if they should, they will have to\nencounter your white friends as well as you; for you may safely\ncalculate on a division of the whites, and may by that means get to an\nhonorable parley.\n\n\u201cBe firm, determined, and cool; but let it be understood that you are\nnot to be driven to desperation without making it an awful dear job to\nothers as well as to you. Give them to know distinctly that those who\nlive in wooden houses should not throw fire, and that you are just as\nable to suffer as your white neighbors. After effecting a rescue, if you\nare assailed, go into the houses of your most prominent and influential\nwhite friends with your wives; and that will effectually fasten upon\nthem the suspicion of being connected with you, and will compel them to\nmake a common cause with you, whether they would otherwise live up to\ntheir profession or not. This would leave them no choice in the matter.\n\n\u201cSome would doubtless prove themselves true of their own choice; others\nwould flinch. That would be taking them at their own words. You may make\na tumult in the court room where a trial is going on by burning\ngunpowder freely in paper packages, if you cannot think of any better\nway to create a momentary alarm, and might possibly give one or more of\nyour enemies a hoist. But in such case the prisoner will need to take\nthe hint at once, and bestir himself; and so should his friends improve\nthe opportunity for a general rush. A lasso might possibly be applied to\na slave-catcher for once with good effect. Hold on to your weapons, and\nnever be persuaded to leave them, part with them, or have them far away\nfrom you. Stand by one another and by your friends, while a drop of\nblood remains; and be hanged if you must, but tell no tales out of\nschool. Make no confession. Union is strength. Without some well\ndigested arrangements, nothing to any good purpose is likely to be done,\nlet the demand be never so great. Witness the case of Hamlet and Long in\nNew York, when there was no well defined plan of operations or suitable\npreparation beforehand. The desired end may be effectually secured by\nthe means proposed; namely, the enjoyment of our inalienable\nrights.\u201d[78]\n\nThere is evidence that this league did effective rescue work, as did\nother groups of Negroes in Boston, Philadelphia, Albany, New York and\nelsewhere. In this service the Negroes could not act alone\u2014it would have\nmeant mob violence on purely racial lines;\u2014but given a few determined\nwhite men to join in, they could and did bear the brunt of the fighting.\n\nJohn Brown himself was active in such rescue work. He helped in the\nrelease of \u201cJerry\u201d in Syracuse, and writes in 1851 from Springfield:\n\u201cSince the sending off to slavery of Long from New York, I have improved\nmy leisure hours quite busily with colored people here, in advising them\nhow to act, and in giving them all the encouragement in my power. They\nvery much need encouragement and advice; and some of them are so alarmed\nthat they tell me they cannot sleep on account of either themselves or\ntheir wives and children. I can only say I think I have been able to do\nsomething to revive their broken spirits. I want all my family to\nimagine themselves in the same dreadful condition. My only spare time\nbeing taken up (often till late hours at night) in the way I speak of,\nhas prevented me from the gloomy homesick feelings which had before so\nmuch oppressed me: not that I forget my family at all.\u201d[79]\n\nHis hateful lawsuits hung like a weight about John Brown\u2019s neck, and a\nfeverish impatience was seizing him: \u201cFather did not close up his wool\nbusiness in Springfield when he went to North Elba, and had to make\nseveral journeys back and forth in 1819\u201350. He was at Springfield in\nJanuary, 1851, soon after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, and\nwent around among his colored friends there, who had been fugitives,\nurging them to resist the law, no matter by what authority it should be\nenforced. He told them to arm themselves with revolvers, men and women,\nand not to be taken alive. When he got to North Elba, he told us about\nthe Fugitive Slave Law, and bade us resist any attempt that might be\nmade to take any fugitive from our town, regardless of fine or\nimprisonment. Our faithful boy Cyrus was one of that class; and our\nfeelings were so aroused that we would all have defended him, though the\nwomen folks had resorted to hot water. Father at this time said, \u2018Their\ncup of iniquity is almost full.\u2019 One evening as I was singing, \u2018The\nSlave Father Mourning for his Children,\u2019 containing these words,\u2014\n\n \u201c\u2018Ye\u2019re gone from me, my gentle ones,\n With all your shouts of mirth;\n A silence is within my walls,\n A darkness round my hearth,\u2019\u2014\n\nfather got up and walked the floor, and before I could finish the song,\nhe said, \u2018O Ruth! Don\u2019t sing any more; it is too sad!\u2019\u201d[80]\n\nAt the same time his thrifty careful attention to minuti\u00e6 did not desert\nhim. He keeps his eye on North Elba even after his wife and part of the\nfamily returned to Akron and writes: \u201cThe colored families appear to be\ndoing well, and to feel encouraged. They all send much love to you. They\nhave constant preaching on the Sabbath; and intelligence, morality and\nreligion appear to be all on the advance.\u201d[81]\n\nHis daughter says: \u201cHe did not lose interest in the colored people of\nNorth Elba, and grieved over the sad fate of one of them, Mr. Henderson,\nwho was lost in the woods in the winter of 1852 and perished with the\ncold. Mr. Henderson was an intelligent and good man, and was very\nindustrious and father thought much of him.\u201d[82]\n\nOnce we find him saying: \u201cIf you find it difficult for you to pay for\nDouglass\u2019 paper, I wish you would let me know, as I know I took\nliberty in ordering it continued. You have been very kind in helping\nme and I do not mean to make myself a burden.\u201d And again he writes: \u201cI\nam much rejoiced at the news of a religious kind in Ruth\u2019s letter and\nwould be still more rejoiced to learn that all the sects who hear the\nChristian name would have no more to do with that mother of all\nabominations\u2014man-stealing.\u201d[83]\n\nAnd the sects were thinking. All men were thinking. A great unrest was\non the land. It was not merely moral leadership from above\u2014it was the\npush of physical and mental pain from beneath;\u2014not simply the cry of the\nAbolitionist but the up-stretching of the slave. The vision of the\ndamned was stirring the western world and stirring black men as well as\nwhite. Something was forcing the issue\u2014call it what you will, the Spirit\nof God or the spell of Africa. It came like some great grinding ground\nswell,\u2014vast, indefinite, immeasurable but mighty, like the dark low\nwhispering of some infinite disembodied voice\u2014a riddle of the Sphinx. It\ntore men\u2019s souls and wrecked their faith. Women cried out as cried once\nthat tall black sibyl, Sojourner Truth:\n\n\u201cFrederick, is God dead?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d thundered the Douglass, towering above his Salem audience. \u201cNo,\nand because God is not dead, slavery can only end in blood.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n THE CALL OF KANSAS\n\n \u201cCry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my\n people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.\u201d\n\n\nJust three hundred years before John Brown pledged his family to warfare\nagainst slavery, a black man stood on the plains of the Southwest\nlooking toward Kansas. It was the Negro Steven, once slave of Dorantes,\nnow leader and interpreter of the Fray Marcos explorers, and the first\nman of the Old World to look upon the great Southwest, if not upon\nKansas itself. Whiter men have since ignored and ridiculed his work,\nsensualists have charged him with sensuality, lords of greed have called\nhim greedy, and yet withal the plain truth remains: he led the\nexpedition that foreran Coronado, reported back the truth of what he saw\nand then returned to lay down his life among the savages.[84]\n\nThe land he looked upon in those young years of the sixteenth century\nwas big with the tragic fate of his people. Planted far to the eastward\na century later, their dark faces traveled fast westward until slavery\nwas secure in the valley of the Mississippi and in the lower Southwest.\nThen the slave barons looked behind them, and saw to their own dismay\nthat there could be no backward step. The slavery of the new Cotton\nKingdom in the nineteenth century must either die or conquer a nation\u2014it\ncould not hesitate or pause. It was an industrial system built on\nignorance, force and the cotton plant. The slaves must be curbed with an\niron hand. A moment of relaxation and lo! they would be rising either in\nrevenge or ambition. And slavery had made revenge and ambition one. Such\na system could not compete with intelligence, nor with individual\nfreedom, nor with miscellaneous and care-demanding crops. It could not\ndivide territory with these things;\u2014to do so meant economic death and\nthe sudden, perhaps revolutionary upheaval of a whole social system.\nThis the South saw as it looked backward in the years from 1820 to 1840.\nThen its bolder vision pressed the gloom ahead, and dreamed a dazzling\ndream of empire. It saw the slave system triumphant in the great\nSouthwest\u2014in Mexico, in Central America and the islands of the sea. Its\nsofter souls, timid with a fear prophetic of failure, still held\nhalfheartedly back, but bolder leaders like Davis, Toombs and Floyd went\nrelentlessly, ruthlessly on. Three steps they and their forerunners took\nin that great western wilderness, and other steps were planned. Three\nsteps\u2014that cost uncounted treasure in gold and blood: the first in 1820,\nwhen they set foot beyond the Mississippi into Missouri; the second and\nbolder when they set their seal on the spoils of raped Mexico and made\nit possible slave soil; and the third and boldest, when on the soil of\nKansas they fought to enslave all territory of the Union.\n\nThat these steps would cost much the leaders knew, but they did not\nrightly reckon how much. They risked the upheaval of parties, the enmity\nof sections and the angry agitation of visionaries. If worse came to\nworst, they held the trump-card of disrupting the nation and founding a\nmighty slave aristocracy to stretch from the Ohio to Venezuela and from\nCuba to Texas. One thing alone they did not count upon and that was\narmed force.\n\nThe three steps did raise tremendous opposition. The enslaving of\nMissouri gave birth to the early Abolitionists\u2014the conscience of the\nnation awakened to find slavery not dead or dying but growing and\naggressive; and in these days John Brown, typifying one phase of that\nterrible conscience, swore blood-feud with this \u201csum of all villanies.\u201d\nThus the first step cost.\n\nThe second step went some ways awry since California was lost to\nslavery, but a new law to catch runaways brought compensation and\nbrought too redoubled cost, for it raised in opposition to the whole\nslave system not only Abolitionists, but Free Soilers\u2014those who hated\nnot slavery but slaves. This was a costlier move, for the sneers that\nchecked philanthropy were powerless against democracy, and when the\nechoes of this step reached the ears of John Brown, he laid aside all\nand became the man of one idea, and that idea the extinction of slavery\nin the United States.\n\nBut it was the third step that was costliest\u2014the step that sought to\nimpose slavery by law and blood on free labor lands despite the lands\u2019\nwish. Of all the steps it was the wildest and most foolish, for it\narrayed against slavery not only philanthropy and democracy, but all the\nworld-old forces of plain justice. It compelled those who loved the\nright to meet law and force by force and lawlessness, and one man that\nled that lawless fight on the plains of Kansas and struck its bloodiest\nblow, was John Brown.\n\nJohn Brown\u2019s decision to go to Kansas was sudden. Unexpectedly the\ncentre of the slavery battle had swung westward. A shrewd bidder for the\npresidency offered the South the unawaited bribe of Kansas territory for\ntheir votes and they eagerly sprang at the offer. Stephen Douglas drove\nthe bill through Congress, and Kansas stood ready for its slave\npopulation. But not only for slaves\u2014also for freemen as Eli Thayer\nquickly saw, and the representations of him and his associates aroused\nthe sons of John Brown.\n\nJohn Brown himself looked on with interest, but he had other plans. He\nwrote to his son John: \u201cIf you or any of my family are disposed to go to\nKansas or Nebraska with a view to help defeat Satan and his legions in\nthat direction, I have not a word to say; but I feel committed to\noperate in another part of the field. If I were not so committed, I\nwould be on my way this fall.\u201d[85]\n\nJohn Brown\u2019s plans were in the Alleghanies. At North Elba lay his\nnorthern stronghold, and at Harper\u2019s Ferry lay the gates to the Great\nBlack Way. Here he was convinced was the keystone of the slavery arch\nand here he must strike. So in former years Gabriel and Turner believed;\nso in after years others believed; but it was not till Grant floated\ndown this path in a sea of blood that slavery finally fell.\n\nThe sons of John Brown were, however, greatly attracted by the new\nwestern lands. His eldest son writes:\n\n\u201cDuring the years of 1853 and 1854, most of the leading Northern\nnewspapers were not only full of glowing accounts of the extraordinary\nfertility, healthfulness, and beauty of the territory of Kansas, then\nnewly opened for settlement, but of urgent appeals to all lovers of\nfreedom who desired homes in a new region to go there as settlers, and\nby their votes save Kansas from the curse of slavery. Influenced by\nthese considerations, in the month of October, 1854, five of the sons of\nJohn Brown,\u2014John, Jr., Jason, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon,\u2014then\nresidents of the state of Ohio, made their arrangements to emigrate to\nKansas. Their combined property consisted chiefly of eleven head of\ncattle, mostly young, and three horses. Ten of this number were valuable\non account of the breed. Thinking these especially desirable in a new\ncountry, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon took them by way of the lakes to\nChicago, thence to Meridosia, Ill., where they were wintered; and in the\nfollowing spring drove them into Kansas to a place selected by these\nbrothers for settlement, about eight miles west of the town of\nOsawatomie. My brother Jason and his family, and I with my family\nfollowed at the opening of navigation in the spring of 1855, going by\nway of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis. There we purchased two\nsmall tents, a plough, and some smaller farming tools, and a hand-mill\nfor grinding corn. At this period there were no railroads west of St.\nLouis; our journey must be continued by boat on the Missouri at a time\nof extremely low water, or by stage at great expense. We chose the river\nroute, taking passage on the steamer _New Lucy_ which too late we found\ncrowded with passengers, mostly men from the South bound for Kansas.\nThat they were from the South was plainly indicated by their language\nand dress; while their drinking, profanity, and display of revolvers and\nbowie-knives\u2014openly worn as an essential part of their make-up\u2014clearly\nshowed the class to which they belonged, and that their mission was to\naid in establishing slavery in Kansas.\n\n\u201cA box of fruit trees and grape-vines which my brother Jason had brought\nfrom Ohio, our plough, and the few agricultural implements we had on the\ndeck of that steamer looked lonesome; for these were all we could see\nwhich were adapted to the occupation of peace. Then for the first time\narose in our minds the query: Must the fertile prairies of Kansas,\nthrough a struggle at arms, be first secured to freedom before freemen\ncan sow and reap? If so, how poorly we were prepared for such work will\nbe seen when I say that for arms five of us brothers had only two small\nsquirrel rifles and one revolver. But before we reached our destination,\nother matters claimed our attention. Cholera, which then prevailed to\nsome extent at St. Louis, broke out among our passengers, a number of\nwhom died. Among these brother Jason\u2019s son, Austin, aged four years, the\nelder of his two children, fell a victim to this scourge; and while our\nboat lay by for repair of a broken rudder at Waverly, Mo., we buried him\nat night near the panic-stricken town, our lonely way illumined only by\nthe lightning of a furious thunderstorm. True to his spirit of hatred of\nNorthern people, our captain, without warning to us on shore, cast off\nhis lines and left us to make our way by stage to Kansas City to which\nplace we had already paid our fare by boat. Before we reached there,\nhowever, we became very hungry, and endeavored to buy food at various\nfarmhouses on the way; but the occupants, judging from our speech that\nwe were not from the South, always denied us, saying, \u2018We have nothing\nfor you.\u2019 The only exception to this answer was at the stage house at\nIndependence, Mo.\n\n\u201cArrived in Kansas, her lovely prairies and wooded streams seemed to us\nindeed like a haven of rest. Here in prospect we saw our cattle\nincreased to hundreds and possibly to thousands, fields of corn,\norchards and vineyards. At once we set about the work through which only\nour visions of prosperity could be realized. Our tents would suffice to\nshelter until we could plough our land, plant corn and other crops,\nfruit trees, and vines, cut and secure as hay enough of the waving grass\nto supply our stock the coming winter. These cheering prospects beguiled\nour labors through the late spring until midsummer, by which time nearly\nall of our number were prostrated by fever and ague that would not stay\ncured; the grass cut for hay mouldered in the wet for the want of the\ncare we could not bestow, and our crop of corn wasted by cattle we could\nnot restrain. If these minor ills and misfortunes were all, they could\nbe easily borne; but now began to gather the dark clouds of war.\n\n\u201cAn election for a first territorial legislature had been held on the\n30th of March of this year. On that day the residents of Missouri along\nthe borders came into Kansas by thousands, and took forcible possession\nof the polls. In the words of Horace Greeley, \u2018There was no disguise, no\npretense of legality, no regard for decency. On the evening before and\nthe day of the election, nearly a thousand Missourians arrived at\nLawrence in wagons and on horseback, well armed with rifles, pistols and\nbowie-knives, and two pieces of cannon loaded with musket balls.\nAlthough but 831 legal electors in the Territory voted, there were no\nless than 6,320 votes polled. They elected all the members of the\nlegislature, with a single exception in either house,\u2014the two Free\nSoilers being chosen from a remote district which the Missourians\noverlooked or did not care to reach.\u2019\n\n\u201cEarly in the spring and summer of this year the actual settlers at\ntheir convention repudiated this fraudulently chosen legislature, and\nrefused to obey its enactments. Upon this, the border papers of Missouri\nin flaming appeals urged the ruffian horde that had previously invaded\nKansas to arm, and otherwise prepare to march again into the territory\nwhen called upon, as they soon would be, to \u2018aid in enforcing laws.\u2019 War\nof some magnitude, at least, now appeared to us brothers to be\ninevitable; and I wrote to our father, whose home was in North Elba, N.\nY., asking him to procure and send us, if he could, arms and ammunition,\nso that we could be better prepared to defend ourselves and our\nneighbors.\u201d[86]\n\nJohn Brown hesitated. His fighting blood was stirred and yet there was\nthe plan of years yet unrealized. Then a new vision dawned in his mind.\nPerhaps this was the call of the Lord and the path to Virginia might lie\nthrough Kansas. He hurriedly consulted his friends\u2014Douglass, McCune\nSmith, the cultured Negro physician of New York, and Gerrit Smith, and\nin November, 1854, wrote home: \u201cI feel still pretty much determined to\ngo back to North Elba; but expect Owen and Frederick will set out for\nKansas on Monday next, with cattle belonging to John, Jason and\nthemselves, intending to winter somewhere in Illinois.... Gerrit Smith\nwishes me to go back to North Elba; from Douglass and Dr. McCune Smith I\nhave not yet heard.\u201d[87]\n\nHis business delayed him in Ohio and he still wrote of his going to\nNorth Elba. Then followed the Syracuse convention of Abolitionists and a\nnew revelation to John Brown. For the first time he came into contact\nwith the great Abolition movement. He found that money was forthcoming.\nHere were men willing to pay if others would work. It was the call of\nGod and he answered: \u201cHere am I.\u201d\n\nRedpath says: \u201cWhen in session John Brown appeared in that convention\nand made a very fiery speech, during which he said he had four sons in\nKansas, and had three others who were desirous of going there, to aid in\nfighting the battles of freedom. He could not consent to go unless he\ncould go armed, and he would like to arm all his sons; but his poverty\nprevented him from doing so. Funds were contributed on the spot;\nprincipally by Gerrit Smith.\u201d[88]\n\nHe writes joyfully home:\n\n\u201cDear wife and children,\u2014I reached here on the first day of the\nconvention, and I have reason to bless God that I came; for I have met\nwith a most warm reception from all, so far as I know, and except by a\nfew sincere, honest, peace friends, a most hearty approval of my\nintention of arming my sons and other friends in Kansas. I received\nto-day donations amounting to a little over sixty dollars,\u2014twenty from\nGerrit Smith, five from an old British officer; others giving smaller\nsums with such earnest and affectionate expression of their good wishes\nas did me more good than money even. John\u2019s two letters were introduced,\nand read with such effect by Gerrit Smith as to draw tears from numerous\neyes in the great collection of people present. The convention has been\none of the most interesting meetings I ever attended in my life; and I\nmade a great addition to the number of warm-hearted and honest\nfriends.\u201d[89]\n\nThe die was cast and John Brown left for Kansas. Instead of sending the\nmoney and arms, says his son John, \u201che came on with them himself,\naccompanied by his brother-in-law, Henry Thompson, and my brother\nOliver. In Iowa he bought a horse and covered wagon; concealing the arms\nin this and conspicuously displaying his surveying implements, he\ncrossed into Missouri near Waverly, and at that place disinterred the\nbody of his grandson, and brought all safely through to our settlement,\narriving there about the 6th of October, 1855.\u201d[90]\n\nHis daughter says: \u201cOn leaving us finally to go to Kansas that summer,\nhe said, \u2018If it is so painful for us to part with the hope of meeting\nagain, how dreadful must be the feelings of hundreds of poor slaves who\nare separated for life.\u2019\u201d[91]\n\nSo John Brown reached Kansas to strike the blow for freedom. Not that he\nwas the central figure of Kansas territorial history so far as casual\neyes could see, or the acknowledged leader of men and measures; rather\nhe seemed and was but a humble coworker, appearing and disappearing here\nand there,\u2014now startling men with the grim decision of his actions, now\nlost and hidden from public view. But it is not always the apparent\nleaders who do the world\u2019s work. More often those who sit in high\nplaces, whom men see and hear, do but represent or mask public opinion\nand the social conscience, while down in the blood and dust of battle\nstoop those who delivered the master-stroke\u2014the makers of the thoughts\nof men. So in Kansas Robinson, Lane, Atchison and Geary were the\nconspicuous public leaders: Robinson, the canny Yankee, whose astute\nreading of the signs of the times proved in the end wise and correct but\nleft him always the opportunist and politician; Lane, whose impetuous\ndaring and rough devotion led thousands of immigrants out of the North\nand drove hundreds of slaveholders back to Missouri; Atchison, who led\nthe determination and ruffianism of the South; and Geary, who voiced the\nsaner nation. And yet one cannot read Kansas history without feeling\nthat the man who in all this bewildering broil was least the puppet of\ncircumstances\u2014the man who most clearly saw the real crux of the\nconflict, most definitely knew his own convictions and was readiest at\nthe crisis for decisive action, was a man whose leadership lay not in\nhis office, wealth or influence, but in the white flame of his utter\ndevotion to an ideal.\n\nTo comprehend this, one must pick from the confused tangle of Kansas\nterritorial history the main thread of its unraveling and then show how\nBrown\u2019s life twined with it. And this is no easy task. Some time before\nor after 1850 Southern leaders had tacitly fixed the westward extension\nof the Compromise line of 1820 at the northern line of Missouri. When,\nthen, the bill for organizing this western territory appeared innocently\nin Congress, it was hustled back to committee, and appeared finally as\nthe celebrated Kansas-Nebraska Bill which formed two territories, Kansas\nand Nebraska. It was the secret understanding of the promoters of the\nbill that Kansas would become slave territory and Nebraska free, and\nthis tacit compact was expressed in the formula that the people of each\nterritory should have the right \u201cto form and regulate their domestic\ninstitutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the\nUnited States.\u201d But the game was so easy, and the price so cheap that\nthe Southern leaders and their office-hunting Northern tools were not\nsatisfied, even with the gain of territory, and so juggled the bill as\nvirtually to leave all territory open to slavery even against the will\nof its people, while eventually they fortified their daring by a Supreme\nCourt decision.\n\nThe North, on the other hand, angry enough at even the necessity of\ndisputing slavery north of the long established line, nevertheless began\nin good faith to prepare to vote slavery out of Kansas by pouring in\nfree settlers.\n\nThereupon ensued one of the strangest duels of modern times\u2014a political\nbattle between two economic systems: On the one side were all the\nmachinery of government, close proximity to the battle-field and a\ndeep-seated social ideal which did not propose to abide by the rules of\nthe game; on the other hand were strong moral conviction, pressing\neconomic necessity and capacity for organization. It took four years to\nfight the battle\u2014from the middle of 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Bill\nwas passed and the Indians were hustled out of their rights, until 1858,\nwhen the pro-slavery constitution was definitely buried under free state\nvotes.\n\nIn the beginning, the fall of 1854, the fatal misunderstanding of the\ntwo sections was clear: The New England Emigrant Aid Society assumed\nthat the contest was simply a matter of votes, and that if they hurried\nsettlers to Kansas from the North a majority for freedom was reasonably\ncertain. Missouri and the South, on the other hand, assumed that Kansas\nwas already of right a slave state and resented as an impertinence the\nattempt to make it free by any means. Thus at Lawrence, on August 1st,\nthe bewildered and unarmed Northern settlers and their immediate\nsuccessors, such as John Brown\u2019s sons, were literally pounced upon by\nthe furious Missourians, who crossed the border like an invading army.\n\u201cTo those who have qualms of conscience as to violating laws, state or\nnational, the time has come when such impositions must be disregarded,\nas your rights and property are in danger,\u201d cried Stringfellow of\nMissouri. Thereupon 5,000 Missourians proceeded to elect a pro-slavery\nlegislature and Congressional delegate; and led by what Sumner called\n\u201chirelings, picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy\ncivilization,\u201d flourished their pistols and bowie-knives, driving some\nof the free state immigrants back home and the rest into apprehensive\ninaction and silence.\n\nSnatching thus the whip-hand, with pro-slavery governor, judges, marshal\nand legislature, they then proceeded in 1855 to deliver blow upon blow\nto the free state cause until it seemed inevitable that Kansas should\nbecome a slave state, with a code of laws which made even an assertion\nagainst the right of slaveholding a felony punishable with imprisonment.\n\nThe free state settlers hesitatingly began to take serious counsel. They\nfound themselves in three parties: a few who hated slavery, more who\nhated Negroes, and many who hated slaves. Easily the political\n_finesse_, afterward unsuccessfully attempted, might now have pitted the\nparties against one another in such irreconcilable difference as would\nslip even slavery through. But unblushing force and fraud united them to\nan appeal for justice at Big Springs in the fall of 1855\u2014where John\nBrown\u2019s sons were present and active\u2014and a declaration of passive, with\na threat of active, resistance to the \u201cbogus\u201d legislature. A peace\nprogram was laid down: they would ignore the patent fraud, organize a\nstate and appeal to Congress and the nation. This they did in October\nand November, 1855, making Topeka their nominal and Lawrence their real\ncapital.\n\nThe pro-slavery party, however, was quick to see the weakness of this\nprogram and they took the first opportunity to force the free state men\ninto collision with the authorities. A characteristic occasion soon\narose: a peaceful free state settler was brutally killed and instead of\narresting the murderer, the pro-slavery sheriff arrested the chief\nwitness against him. A few of the bolder free state neighbors released\nthe prisoner and took him to Lawrence. Immediately the sheriff gathered\nan army of 1,500 deputies from Missouri, and surrounded 500 free state\nmen in Lawrence just after John Brown arrived in Kansas. Things looked\nserious enough even to the drunken governor, and with the aid of some\nartifice, liquor and stormy weather, the threatened clash was\ntemporarily averted. The wild and ice-bound winter that fell on Kansas\ngave a moment\u2019s pause, but with the opening spring the pro-slavery\nforces gathered themselves for a last crushing blow. Armed bands came\nout of the South with flying banners, the Missouri River was blockaded\nto Northern immigrants, and the border ruffians rode unhindered over the\nMissouri line. The free state men, alarmed, appealed to the East and\nimmigrants were hurried forward; but slavery \u201cwith the chief justice,\nthe tamed and domesticated chief justice who waited on him like a\nfamiliar spirit,\u201d declared the passive resistance movement \u201cconstructive\ntreason\u201d and the pro-slavery marshal arrested the free state leaders\nfrom the governor down, and clapped them into prison. Two thousand\nMissourians then surrounded Lawrence and while the hesitating free state\nmen were striving to keep the peace, sacked and half burned the town on\nthe day before Brooks broke Sumner\u2019s head in the Senate chamber, for\ntelling the truth about Kansas.\n\nThe deed was done. Kansas was a slave territory. The free state program\nhad been repudiated by the United States government and had broken like\na reed before the assaults of the pro-slavery party. There were\nmutterings in the East but the cause of freedom was at its lowest ebb.\nThen suddenly there came the flash of an awful stroke\u2014a deed of\nretaliation from the free state side so bloody, relentless and cruel\nthat it sent a shudder through all Kansas and Missouri, and aroused the\nnation. In one black night, John Brown, four of his sons, a son-in-law\nand two others, the chosen executors of the boldest free state leaders,\nseized and killed five of the worst of the border ruffians who were\nharrying the free state settlers, and practically swept out of existence\nthe \u201cDutch Henry\u201d pro-slavery settlement in the Swamp of the Swan. The\nrank and file of the free state men themselves recoiled at first in\nconsternation and loudly, then faintly, disclaimed the deed. Suddenly\nthey saw and laid the lie aside, and seized their Sharps rifles. There\nwas war in Kansas\u2014a quick sweeping change from the passive appeal to law\nand justice which did not respond, to the appeal to force and blood. The\ndeed did not make Kansas free\u2014no one, least of all John Brown, dreamed\nthat it would. But it brought to the fore in free state councils the men\nwho were determined to fight for freedom, and it meant the end of\npassive resistance. The carnival of crime and rapine that ensued was a\ndisgrace to civilization but it was the cost of freedom, and it was less\nthan the price of repression. There were pitched battles, the building\nand besieging of forts, the burning of homes, stealing of property,\nraping of women and murder of men, until the scared governor signed a\ntruce, exchanged prisoners and fled for his life. The wildest\npro-slavery elements, now loosed from all restraint, planned a last\ndesperate blow. Nearly 3,000 men were mustered in Missouri. The new\ngovernor, whose _cort\u00e8ge_ barely escaped highway robbery, found\n\u201cdesolation and ruin\u201d on every hand; \u201chomes and firesides were deserted;\nthe smoke of burning dwellings darkened the atmosphere; women and\nchildren, driven from their habitations, wandered over the prairies and\namong the woodlands, or sought refuge and protection even among the\nIndian tribes; the highways were infested with numerous predatory bands,\nand the towns were fortified and garrisoned by armies of conflicting\npartisans, each excited almost to frenzy, and determined upon mutual\nextermination.\u201d Not only that, but the territorial \u201ctreasury was\nbankrupt, there were no pecuniary resources within herself to meet the\nexigencies of the time; the Congressional appropriations intended to\ndefray the expenses of a year, were insufficient to meet the demands of\na fortnight; the laws were null, the courts virtually suspended and the\ncivil arm of the government almost entirely powerless.\u201d[92]\n\nGovernor Geary came in the nick of time and he came with peremptory\norders from the frightened government at Washington, who saw that they\nmust either check the whirlwind they had raised, or lose the\npresidential election of 1856. For not only was there \u201chell in Kansas\u201d\nbut the North was aflame\u2014the very thing which John Brown and Lane and\ntheir fellows designed. A great convention met at Buffalo and\nmass-meetings were held everywhere. Clothes, money, arms, and men began\nto pour out of the North. It was no longer a program of peaceful voting;\nit was fight. The Southern party was certain to be swamped by an army of\nmen, who, though most of them had few convictions as to slavery, did not\npropose to settle among slaves. The wilder pro-slavery men did not heed.\nWhen Shannon ran away and before Geary came, they planned to strike\ntheir blow at the free state forces. An army of nearly three thousand\nwas collected; one wing sacked Osawatomie and the main body was to\ncapture and destroy Lawrence. No sooner was this done than the force of\nthe United States army was to be called in to keep the conquered down.\nThe success of the plan at this juncture might have precipitated Civil\nWar in 1856 instead of 1861, and Geary hurried breathlessly to ward off\nthe mad blow. He succeeded, and by strenuous exertions he was able with\nsome truth to report in Washington before election time: \u201cPeace now\nreigns in Kansas.\u201d\n\nThe news, though it helped to elect Buchanan, was received but coldly in\nWashington, for the Southerners knew how high a price Geary had paid. So\nevidently was the governor out of favor that before the spring of 1857,\nthe third governor fled in mad haste from his post because of the enmity\nof his own supporters. It was clear to Washington that Geary\u2019s\nrecognition of the free state cause, with the heavy immigration, had\nalready destroyed the possibility of making Kansas a slave state. There\nwere still, however, certain possibilities for _finesse_ and political\nmaneuvering. Slaves were already in Kansas and the Dred Scott Decision\non March 6, 1857, legalized them there. Moreover, southeast Kansas,\nthanks to one of the most brutal raids in its history, in the fall of\n1856, was still strongly pro-slavery. The constitutional convention was\nalso in that party\u2019s hands. By gracefully yielding the legislature\ntherefore to the patent free state majority, it seemed possible that\npolitical manipulation might legalize the slaves already in the state.\nOnce this was conceded, there was still a chance to make Kansas a slave\nstate. The pro-slavery men, however, trained in the upheaval of 1856,\nwere poor material to follow and support the astute Governor Walker.\nThey itched for the law of the club, and made but bungling work of the\nLecompton constitution. Then too the more determined spirits in the\nTerritory, together with many naturally lawless elements, saw the\npro-slavery danger in southeast Kansas, and proceeded to wage guerrilla\nwarfare against the squatters on claims whence free state men had been\ndriven. It was a cruel relentless battle on both sides with murder and\nrapine\u2014the last expiring flame of the four years\u2019 war dying down to\nsullen peace in the fall of 1858, after the English bill with its bribe\nof land for slaves had been killed in the spring.\n\nSo Kansas was free. In vain did the sullen Senate in Washington fume and\nthreaten and keep the young state knocking for admission; the game had\nbeen played and lost and Kansas was free. Free because the slave barons\nplayed for an imperial stake in defiance of modern humanity and economic\ndevelopment. Free because strong men had suffered and fought not against\nslavery but against slaves in Kansas. Above all, free because one man\nhated slavery and on a terrible night rode down with his sons among the\nshadows of the Swamp of the Swan\u2014that long, low-winding and sombre\nstream \u201cfringed everywhere with woods\u201d and dark with bloody memory.\nForty-eight hours they lingered there, and then of a pale May morning\nrode up to the world again. Behind them lay five twisted, red and\nmangled corpses. Behind them rose the stifled wailing of widows and\nlittle children. Behind them the fearful driver gazed and shuddered. But\nbefore them rode a man, tall, dark, grim-faced and awful. His hands were\nred and his name was John Brown. Such was the cost of freedom.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n THE SWAMP OF THE SWAN\n\n \u201cAnd his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the\n sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his\n hands hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cDid you go out under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society?\u201d asked\nthe Inquisition of John Brown in after years. He answered grimly: \u201cNo,\nsir, I went out under the auspices of John Brown.\u201d In broad outline the\nstory of his coming to Kansas has been told in the last chapter, but the\npicture needs now to be filled in with the details of his personal\nfortunes, and a more careful study of the development of his personal\ncharacter in this critical period of his career. The place of his coming\nwas storied and romantic. French-fathered Indians wheeling onward in\ntheir swift canoes saw stately birds in the reedy lowlands of eastern\nKansas and called the marsh the Swamp of the Swan. Up from the dark\nsluggish rivers rose rolling goodly lands over which John Brown\u2019s\nbrother Edward had passed to California in 1849, and on which his\nbrother-in-law had settled as early as 1854. Here, too, naturally had\nfollowed the five pioneering sons in April, 1855. They came hating\nslavery and yet peacefully, unarmed, and in all good faith, with cattle\nand horses and trees and vines to settle in a free land. In Missouri\nthey met hatred and inhospitality, and in Kansas sickness and freezing\nweather. Nevertheless they were stout-hearted and hopeful, and went\nbravely to work until the political storm broke, when they wrote home\nhastily for arms to defend themselves. John Brown, as we have seen,\nbrought the arms himself, taking his son Oliver and his son-in-law Henry\nwith him. \u201cWe reached the place where the boys are located one week ago,\nlate at night,\u201d he wrote October 13, 1855. \u201cWe had between us all, sixty\ncents in cash when we arrived. We found our folks in a most\nuncomfortable situation, with no houses to shelter one of them, no hay\nor corn fodder of any account secured, shivering over their little\nfires, all exposed to the dreadful cutting winds, morning, evening and\nstormy days.\u201d All went to work to build cabins and secure fodder,\nkeeping at the same time a careful eye on the political developments. On\nfree state election day, October 9th, \u201chearing that there was a prospect\nof difficulty, we all turned out most thoroughly armed,\u201d but \u201cno enemy\nappeared\u201d and Brown was encouraged to think that the prospect of Kansas\nbecoming free \u201cis brightening every day.\u201d\n\nBy November the settlers, he wrote, \u201chave made but little progress, but\nwe have made a little. We have got a shanty three logs high, chinked and\nmudded, and roofed with our tent, and a chimney so far advanced that we\ncan keep a fire in it for Jason. John has his shanty a little better\nfixed than it was, but miserable enough now; and we have got their\nlittle crop of beans secured, which together with johnny cake, mush and\nmilk, pumpkins and squashes, constitute our fare.\u201d And he adds, \u201cAfter\nall God\u2019s tender mercies are not taken from us.... I feel more and more\nconfident that slavery will soon die out here\u2014and to God be the praise!\u201d\n\nOn November 23d he writes: \u201cWe have got both families so sheltered that\nthey need not suffer hereafter; have got part of the hay (which had been\nin cocks) secured; made some progress in preparation to build a house\nfor John and Owen; and Salmon has caught a prairie wolf in a steel trap.\nWe continue to have a good deal of stormy weather\u2014rains with severe\nwinds, and forming into ice as they fall, together with cold nights that\nfreeze the ground considerably. Still God has not forsaken us!\u201d[93]\n\nIt was thus that John Brown came to Kansas and stood ready to fight for\nfreedom. No sooner had he stepped on Kansas soil, however, than it was\nplain to him and to others that the cause for which he was fighting was\nfar different from that for which most of the settlers were willing to\nrisk life and property. The difference came out at the first meeting of\nsettlers in the little Osawatomie township. Redpath says: \u201cThe\npoliticians of the neighborhood were carefully pruning resolutions so as\nto suit every variety of anti-slavery extensionists; and more especially\nthat class of persons whose opposition to slavery was founded on\nexpediency\u2014the selfishness of race, and caste, and interest: men who\nwere desirous that Kansas should be consecrated to free white labor\nonly, not to freedom for all and above all.\u201d The resolution which\naroused the old man\u2019s anger declared that Kansas should be a free white\nstate, thereby favoring the exclusion of Negroes and mulattoes, whether\nslave or free. He rose to speak, and soon alarmed and disgusted the\npoliticians by asserting the manhood of the Negro race, and expressing\nhis earnest, anti-slavery convictions with a force and vehemence little\nlikely to suit the hybrids.[94]\n\nNothing daunted by the cold reception of his radical ideas here, Brown\nstrove to extend them when a larger opportunity came at the first\nbeleaguering of Lawrence. It was in December, 1855, when rumors of the\nsurrounding of Lawrence by the governor and his pro-slavery followers\ncame to the Browns. The old man wrote home: \u201cThese reports appeared to\nbe well authenticated, but we could get no further accounts of the\nmatters; and I left this for the place where the boys are settled, at\nevening, intending to go to Lawrence to learn the facts the next day.\nJohn was, however, started on horseback; but before he had gone many\nrods, word came that our help was immediately wanted. On getting this\nlast news, it was at once agreed to break up at John\u2019s camp, and take\nWealthy and Johnnie to Jason\u2019s camp (some two miles off), and that all\nthe men but Henry, Jason, and Oliver should at once set off for Lawrence\nunder arms; those three being wholly unfit for duty. We then set about\nproviding a little corn bread and meat, blankets, and cooking utensils,\nrunning bullets and loading all our guns, pistols, etc. The five set off\nin the afternoon, and after a short rest in the night (which was quite\ndark), continued our march until after daylight; next morning, when we\ngot our breakfast, started again, and reached Lawrence in the forenoon,\nall of us more or less lamed by our tramp.\u201d[95]\n\nThe band approached the town at sunset, looming strangely on the\nhorizon: an old horse, a homely wagon and seven stalwart men armed with\npikes, swords, pistols and guns. John Brown was immediately put in\ncommand of a company. He found that already \u201cnegotiations had commenced\nbetween Governor Shannon (having a force of some fifteen or sixteen\nhundred men) and the principal leaders of the free state men, they\nhaving a force of some five hundred men at that time. These were busy,\nnight and day, fortifying the town with embankments and circular\nearthworks, up to the time of the treaty with the governor, as an attack\nwas constantly looked for, notwithstanding the negotiations then\npending. This state of things continued from Friday until Sunday\nevening,\u201d[96] when Governor Shannon was induced to enter the town and\nafter some parley a treaty was announced. Immediately Brown\u2019s suspicions\nwere aroused. He surmised that the governor\u2019s party had not thus lightly\ngiven up the fight for slavery, and he feared that the leading free\nstate politicians had sacrificed the principles for which he was\nfighting for the sake of the temporary truce. Already the drunken\ngovernor was making conciliatory remarks to the crowd in front of the\nfree state hotel, the free state Governor Robinson replying, when John\nBrown, mounting a piece of timber at the corner of the house, began a\nfiery speech. \u201cHe said that the people of Missouri had come to Kansas to\ndestroy Lawrence; that they had beleaguered the town for two weeks,\nthreatening its destruction; that they came for blood; that he believed,\n\u2018without the shedding of blood there is no remission\u2019; and asked for\nvolunteers to go under his command, and attack the pro-slavery camp\nstationed near Franklin, some four miles from Lawrence.... He demanded\nto know what the terms were. If he understood Governor Shannon\u2019s speech,\nsomething had been conceded, and he conveyed the idea that the\nterritorial laws were to be observed. Those laws he denounced and spit\nupon, and would never obey\u2014no! The crowd was fired by his earnestness\nand a great echoing shout arose: \u2018No! No! Down with the bogus laws. Lead\nus out to fight first!\u2019 For a moment matters looked serious to the free\nstate leaders who had so ingeniously engineered the compromise, and they\nhastened to assure Brown that he was mistaken; that there had been no\nsurrendering of principles on their side.\u201d[97] The real terms of the\ntreaty were kept secret, but Brown with his usual loyalty accepted their\nword as true and wrote exultingly home: \u201cSo ended this last Kansas\ninvasion,\u2014the Missourians returning with flying colors, after incurring\nheavy expenses, suffering great exposure, hardships, and privations, not\nhaving fought any battles, burned or destroyed any infant towns or\nAbolition presses; leaving the free state men organized and armed, and\nin full possession of the Territory; not having fulfilled any of all\ntheir dreadful threatenings, except to murder one unarmed man, and to\ncommit some robberies and waste of property upon the defenseless\nfamilies, unfortunately within their power. We learn by their papers\nthat they boast of a great victory over the Abolitionists; and well they\nmay. Free state men have only hereafter to retain the footing they have\ngained, and Kansas is free.\u201d[98]\n\nThe Wakarusa \u201ctreaty,\u201d however, was but a winter\u2019s truce as John Brown\nsoon saw; his distrust of the compromisers and politicians grew, and he\ntried to get his own channels of news from the seat of government at\nWashington. \u201cWe are very anxious to know what Congress is doing. We hear\nthat Frank Pierce means to crush the men of Kansas. I do not know how\nwell he may succeed, but I think he may find his hands full before it is\nall over.\u201d[99] And Joshua R. Giddings assures him that the President\n\u201cnever will dare to employ the troops of the United States to shoot the\ncitizens of Kansas.\u201d[100] Yet the President did dare. Not only were\nregular troops put into the hands of the Kansas slave power, but armed\nbands from the South appeared, and one in particular from Georgia\nencamped on the Swamp of the Swan near the Brown settlement. John\nBrown\u2019s procedure was characteristic. With his surveying instruments in\nhand one May morning, he sauntered into their camp. He was immediately\ntaken for a government surveyor and consequently \u201csound on the goose,\u201d\nfor \u201cevery governor sent here, every secretary, every judge, every\nIndian agent, every land surveyor, every clerk in every office, believed\nin making Kansas a slave state. All the money sent here by the national\ngovernment was disbursed by pro-slavery officials to pro-slavery\nmenials.\u201d[101] Brown took with him, his son says, \u201cfour of my\nbrothers,\u2014Owen, Frederick, Salmon, and Oliver,\u2014as chain carriers, axman,\nand marker, and found a section line which, on following, led through\nthe camp of these men. The Georgians indulged in the utmost freedom of\nexpression. One of them, who appeared to be the leader of the company,\nsaid: \u2018We\u2019ve come here to stay. We won\u2019t make no war on them as minds\ntheir own business; but all the Abolitionists, such as them damned\nBrowns over there, we\u2019re going to whip, drive out, or kill,\u2014any way to\nget shut of them, by God!\u2019\u201d[102]\n\nMany of the intended victims were openly mentioned, and every word said\nwas calmly written down in John Brown\u2019s surveyor\u2019s book. Soon this\ninformation was corroborated by the Southern camp being moved nearer the\nBrown settlement. Secret marauding and stealing began. Brown warned the\nintended victims, and, at a night meeting, it seems to have been decided\nthat at the first sign of a move on the part of the \u201cborder ruffians\u201d\nthe ringleaders should be seized and lynched. Not only was this the\nopinion at Osawatomie, but secret councils throughout the state were\nbeginning to lose faith in conciliation and compromise, and to listen to\nmore radical advice. From Lawrence, too, there came encouragement to\nJohn Brown to take the lead in this darker forward movement. There was\nlittle open talk or explicit declaration, but it was generally\nunderstood that the next aggressive move in the Swamp of the Swan meant\nretaliation and that John Brown would strike the blow.\n\nWhile, however, the free state leaders were willing to let this radical\nhater of slavery thus defend the frontiers of their cause, they\nthemselves deemed it wise still to stick to the policy of passive\nresistance, and their wisdom cost them dear. On the 21st of May the\npro-slavery forces swooped on Lawrence, and burned and sacked it, while\nits citizens stood trembling by and raised no hand in its defense. John\nBrown knew nothing of this until it was too late to help.\nNotwithstanding, he hurried to the scene, and sat down by the smoldering\nashes in grim anger. He was \u201cindignant that there had been no\nresistance; that Lawrence was not defended; and denounced the members of\nthe committee and leading free state men as cowards, or worse.\u201d It\nseemed to Brown nothing less than a crime for men thus to lie down and\nbe kicked by ruffians. \u201cCaution, caution, sir!\u201d he burst out at a\ndiscreet old gentleman, \u201cI am eternally tired of hearing that word\ncaution\u2014it is nothing but the word of cowardice.\u201d[103] Yet there seemed\nnothing to do then, and he was about to break camp when a boy came up\nriding swiftly. The ruffians at Dutch Henry\u2019s crossing, he said, had\nbeen warning the defenseless women in the Brown settlement that the free\nstate families must leave by Saturday or Sunday, else they would be\ndriven out. The Brown women, hastily gathering up their children and\nvaluables, had fled by ox-cart to the house of a kinsman farther away.\nTwo houses and a store in the German settlement had been burned.\n\nJohn Brown arose. \u201cI will attend to those fellows,\u201d he said grimly.\n\u201cSomething must be done to show these barbarians that we too have\nrights!\u201d[104] He called four of his sons, Watson, Frederick, Owen and\nOliver, his son-in-law, Henry Thompson, and a German, whose home lay in\nashes. A neighbor with wagon and horses offered to carry the band, and\nthe cutlasses were carefully sharpened. An uneasy feeling crept through\nthe onlookers. They knew that John Brown was going to strike a blow for\nfreedom in Kansas, but they did not understand just what that blow would\nbe. There were hesitation and whispering, and one at least ventured a\nmild remonstrance, but Brown shook him off in disgust. As the wagon\nmoved off, a cheer arose from the company left behind.\n\nIt was two o\u2019clock on Friday afternoon that the eight men started toward\nthe Swamp of the Swan. Arriving in the neighborhood they spent Saturday\nin quietly and secretly investigating the situation, and in gathering\nevidence of the intentions of the \u201cborder ruffians.\u201d Although the exact\nfacts have never all been told, it seems clear that a meeting of the\nintended victims was secured at which John Brown himself presided.\nProbably it was then decided that the seven ringleaders of the projected\ndeviltry must be killed, and John Brown was appointed to see that the\ndeed was done. The men condemned were among the worst of their kind. One\nwas a liquor dealer in whose disreputable dive the United States court\nwas held. His brother, a giant of six feet four, was a thief and a bully\nwhose pastime was insulting free state women. The third was the\npostmaster, who managed to avoid direct complicity in the crime, but\nshared the spoils. Next came the probate judge, who harried the free\nstate men with warrants of all sorts; and lastly, three miserable\ndrunken tools, formerly slave-chasers who had come to Kansas with their\nbloodhounds and were ready for any kind of evil.\n\nThese were not the leaders of the pro-slavery party in Kansas, but\nrather the dogs which were to worry the free state men to death. The\nringleaders sat securely hedged back of United States bayonets and the\nMissouri militia, but their tools depended for their safety on\nterrorizing the localities wherein they lived. Here then, said John\nBrown, was the spot to strike and, once sentence of death had been\nformally passed, the band hurried to its task. The saloon lay on the\ncreek where the great highway from Leavenworth in the northeastern part\nof the state crossed on its way to Fort Scott. Around it within an\nhour\u2019s walk were the cabins of the others. In all cases the proceeding\nwas similar: a silent approach and a quick sharp knocking in the night.\nThe inmates leapt startled from their beds, for midnight rappings were\nominous there. They hesitated to open the door, but the demand was\nperemptory and the door was frail. Then the dark room was filled with\nshadowy figures, the man dressed quickly, the woman whimpered and\nlistened, but the footsteps died away and all was still. Three homes\nwere visited thus; two of the number could not be found, but five men\nwent out into the darkness with their captors and never returned. They\nwere led quickly into the woods and surrounded. John Brown raised his\nhand and at the signal the victims were hacked to death with\nbroadswords.\n\nThe deed inflamed Kansas. The timid rushed to disavow the deed. The free\nstate people were silent and the pro-slavery party was roused to fury.\nEven the silent co-conspirators of Pottawatomie rushed to pledge\nthemselves \u201cindividually and collectively, to prevent a recurrence of a\nsimilar tragedy, and to ferret out and hand over to the criminal\nauthorities the perpetrators for punishment.\u201d But they took no steps to\nlay hands on John Brown and as he said, their cowardice did not protect\nthem. Four times in four years the wrath of the avengers flamed in the\nSwamp of the Swan, and swept the land in fire and blood, and the last\nred breath of the expiring war in Kansas glowed in these dark ravines.\n\nTo this day men differ as to the effect of John Brown\u2019s blow. Some say\nit freed Kansas, while others say it plunged the land back into civil\nwar. Truth lies in both statements. The blow freed Kansas by plunging it\ninto civil war, and compelling men to fight for freedom which they had\nvainly hoped to gain by political diplomacy. At first it was hard to see\nthis, and even those sons of John Brown whom he had not taken with him,\nrecoiled at the news. One son says: \u201cOn the afternoon of Monday, May\n26th, a man came to us at Liberty Hill, ... his horse reeking with\nsweat, and said, \u2018five men have been killed on the Pottawatomie,\nhorribly cut and mangled; and they say old John Brown did it.\u2019 Hearing\nthis, I was afraid it was true, and it was the most terrible shock that\never happened to my feelings in my life; but brother John took a\ndifferent view. The next day as we were on the east side of Middle\nCreek, I asked father, \u2018Did you have any hand in the killing?\u2019 He said,\n\u2018I did not, but I stood by and saw it.\u2019 I did not ask further for fear I\nshould hear something I did not wish to hear. Frederick said, \u2018I could\nnot feel as if it was right;\u2019 but another of the party said it was\njustifiable as a means of self-defense and the defense of others. What I\nsaid against it seemed to hurt father very much; but all he said was,\n\u2018God is my judge,\u2014we were justified under the circumstances.\u2019\u201d[105]\n\nThis was as much as John Brown usually said of the matter, although in\nlater years a friend relates: \u201cI finally said, \u2018Captain Brown, I want to\nask you one question, and you can answer it or not as you please, and I\nshall not be offended.\u2019 He stopped his pacing, looked me square in the\nface, and said, \u2018What is it?\u2019 Said I, \u2018Captain Brown, did you kill those\nfive men on the Pottawatomie, or did you not?\u2019 He replied, \u2018I did not;\nbut I do not pretend to say that they were not killed by my order; and\nin doing so I believe I was doing God\u2019s service.\u2019 My wife spoke and\nsaid, \u2018Then, captain, you think that God uses you as an instrument in\nHis hands to kill men?\u2019 Brown replied, \u2018I think He has used me as an\ninstrument to kill men; and if I live, I think He will use me as an\ninstrument to kill a good many more!\u2019\u201d[106]\n\nNo sooner was the deed known than John Brown became a hunted outlaw. Two\nof his sons who had not been with him at the murders were arrested on\nLecompte\u2019s \u201cconstructive treason\u201d warrants because they had affiliated\nwith the free state movement. Horror at his father\u2019s deed and the\ncruelty of his captors drove the eldest son temporarily insane, while\nthe life of the other was saved only by a scrap of paper which said, \u201cI\nam aware that you hold my two sons, John and Jason, prisoners\u2014John\nBrown.\u201d[107] The old man never wavered. He wrote home: \u201cJason started to\ngo and place himself under the protection of the government troops; but\non his way he was taken prisoner by the bogus men, and is yet a\nprisoner, I suppose. John tried to hide for several days; but from\nfeelings of the ungrateful conduct of those who ought to have stood by\nhim, excessive fatigue, anxiety, and constant loss of sleep, he became\nquite insane, and in that situation gave up, or, as we are told, was\nbetrayed at Osawatomie into the hands of the bogus men. We do not know\nall the truth about this affair. He has since, we are told, been kept in\nirons, and brought to a trial before bogus court, the result of which we\nhave not yet learned. We have great anxiety both for him and Jason, and\nnumerous other prisoners with the enemy (who have all the while had the\ngovernment troops to sustain them). We can only commend them to\nGod.\u201d[108]\n\nWithdrawing to the forests, John Brown now began to organize his\nfollowers. Thirty-five of them adopted this covenant in the summer of\n1856:\n\n\u201cWe whose names are found on these and the next following pages, do\nhereby enlist ourselves to serve in the free state cause under John\nBrown as commander, during the full period of time affixed to our names\nrespectively and we severally pledge our word and our sacred honor to\nsaid commander, and to each other, that during the time for which we\nhave enlisted, we will faithfully and punctually perform our duty (in\nsuch capacity or place as may be assigned to us by a majority of all the\nvotes of those associated with us, or of the companies to which we may\nbelong as the case may be) as a regular volunteer force for the\nmaintenance of the rights and liberties of the free state citizens of\nKansas: and we further agree; that as individuals we will conform to the\nby-laws of this organization and that we will insist on their regular\nand punctual enforcement as a first and a last duty: and, in short, that\nwe will observe and maintain a strict and thorough military discipline\nat all times until our term of service expires.\u201d[109]\n\nA score of by-laws were added, providing for electing officers, trial by\njury, disposal of captured property, etc. Then follow these articles:\n\n\u201cArt. XIV. All uncivil, ungentlemanly, profane, vulgar talk or\nconversation shall be discountenanced.\n\n\u201cArt. XV. All acts of petty theft, needless waste of property of the\nmembers or of citizens are hereby declared disorderly; together with all\nuncivil, or unkind treatment of citizens or of prisoners.\n\n\u201cArt. XX. No person after having first surrendered himself a prisoner\nshall be put to death, or subjected to corporeal punishment, without\nfirst having had the benefit of an impartial trial.\n\n\u201cArt. XXI. The ordinary use or introduction into the camp of any\nintoxicating liquor, as a beverage, is hereby declared disorderly.\u201d[110]\n\nNor was this ideal of discipline merely on paper. The reporter of the\nNew York _Tribune_ stumbled on the camp which the authorities did not\ndare to find:\n\n\u201cI shall not soon forget the scene that here opened to my view. Near the\nedge of the creek a dozen horses were tied, all ready saddled for a ride\nfor life, or a hunt after Southern invaders. A dozen rifles and sabres\nwere stacked against the trees. In an open space, amid the shady and\nlofty woods, there was a great blazing fire with a pot on it; a woman,\nbareheaded, with an honest sunburnt face, was picking blackberries from\nthe bushes; three or four armed men were lying on red and blue blankets\non the grass; and two fine-looking youths were standing, leaning on\ntheir arms, on guard near by. One of them was the youngest son of old\nBrown, and the other was \u2018Charley,\u2019 the brave Hungarian, who was\nsubsequently murdered at Osawatomie. Old Brown himself stood near the\nfire, with his shirt sleeves rolled up, and a large piece of pork in his\nhand. He was cooking a pig. He was poorly clad, and his toes protruded\nfrom his boots. The old man received me with great cordiality, and the\nlittle band gathered about me. But it was a moment only; for the captain\nordered them to renew their work. He respectfully but firmly forbade\nconversation on the Pottawatomie affair; and said that, if I desired any\ninformation from the company in relation to their conduct or intentions,\nhe, as their captain, would answer for them whatever it was proper to\ncommunicate.\n\n\u201cIn this camp no manner of profane language was permitted; no man of\nimmoral character was allowed to stay, excepting as a prisoner of war.\nHe made prayers in which all the company united, every morning and\nevening; and no food was ever tasted by his men until the divine\nblessing had been asked on it. After every meal, thanks were returned to\nthe Bountiful Giver. Often, I was told, the old man would retire to the\ndensest solitudes, to wrestle with his God in secret prayer. One of his\ncompany subsequently informed me that, after these retirings, he would\nsay that the Lord had directed him in visions what to do; that for\nhimself he did not love warfare, but peace,\u2014only acting in obedience to\nthe will of the Lord, and fighting God\u2019s battles for His children\u2019s\nsake.\n\n\u201cIt was at this time that the old man said to me: \u2018I would rather have\nthe smallpox, yellow fever, and cholera all together in my camp, than a\nman without principles. It\u2019s a mistake, sir,\u2019 he continued, \u2018that our\npeople make, when they think that bullies are the best fighters, or that\nthey are the men fit to oppose those Southerners. Give me men of good\nprinciples; God-fearing men; men who respect themselves; and, with a\ndozen of them, I will oppose any hundred such men as these Buford\nruffians.\u2019\n\n\u201cI remained in the camp about an hour. Never before had I met such a\nband of men. They were not earnest but earnestness incarnate.\u201d[111]\n\nA member of the band says:\n\n\u201cWe stayed here up to the morning of Sunday, the first of June, and\nduring these few days I fully succeeded in understanding the exalted\ncharacter of my old friend. He exhibited at all times the most\naffectionate care for each of us. He also attended to cooking. We had\ntwo meals daily, consisting of bread made of flour, baked in skillets;\nthis was washed down with creek water, mixed with a little ginger and a\nspoon of molasses to each pint. Nevertheless we kept in excellent\nspirits; we considered ourselves as one family, allied to one another by\nthe consciousness that it was our duty to undergo all these privations\nto further the good cause; had determined to share any danger with one\nanother, that victory or death might find us together. We were united as\na band of brothers by the love and affection toward the man who with\ntender words and wise counsel, in the depth of the wilderness of Ottawa\nCreek, prepared a handful of young men for the work of laying the\nfoundation of a free commonwealth. His words have ever remained firmly\nengraved in my mind. Many and various were the instructions he gave\nduring the days of our compulsory leisure in this camp. He expressed\nhimself to us that we should never allow ourselves to be tempted by any\nconsideration to acknowledge laws and institutions to exist as of right,\nif our conscience and reason condemned them. He admonished us not to\ncare whether a majority, no matter how large, opposed our principles and\nopinions. The largest majorities were sometimes only organized mobs,\nwhose howlings never changed black into white, or night into day. A\nminority conscious of its rights, based on moral principles, would,\nunder a republican government, sooner or later become the majority.\nRegarding the curse and crimes of the institution of slavery, he\ndeclared that the outrages committed in Kansas to further its extension\nhad directed the attention of all intelligent citizens of the United\nStates and of the world to the necessity of its abolishment, as a\nstumbling-block in the path of nineteenth century civilization; that\nwhile it was true that the pro-slavery people and their aiders and\nabettors had the upper hand at present, and the free state organization\ndwindled to a handful hid in the brush, nevertheless, we ought to be of\ngood cheer, and start the ball to rolling at the first opportunity, no\nmatter whether its starting motion would even crush us to death. We were\nunder a protection of a wise Providence, which might use our feeble\nefforts.\n\n\u201cOccasionally Captain Brown also gave us directions for our conduct\nduring a fight, for attack and retreat. Time and again he entreated us\nnever to follow the example of the border ruffians, who took a delight\nin destruction; never to burn houses or fences, so often done by the\nenemy. Free state people could use them to advantage. Repeatedly he\nadmonished us not to take human life except when absolutely necessary.\nPlunder taken from the enemy should be common property, to be used for\ncontinuance of the struggle; horses to go to recruits, cattle and\nprovision to poor free state people.\u201d[112]\n\nTo this band of men the surrounding country, which was already feeling\nthe first retaliatory blows of the pro-slavery party, now looked for\naid, and Brown stood ever ready. His men, however, could form but the\nnucleus of a spirited defense and for a time the settlers hesitated to\njoin the band until Brown threatened to withdraw. \u201cWhy did you send\nCarpenter after us? I am not willing to sacrifice my men without having\nsome hope of accomplishing something,\u201d[113] he demanded of a hesitating\nemissary, and turning to his men he said: \u201cIf the cowardice and\nindifference of the free state people compel us to leave Kansas, what do\nyou say, men, if we start south, for instance to Louisiana, and get up a\nNegro insurrection, and thereby compel them to let go their grip on\nKansas, and so bring relief to our friends here?\u201d Frederick Brown jumped\nup and said: \u201cI am ready.\u201d[114]\n\nThe petty outrages of the Georgia guerrillas now so increased in\nboldness and in frequency that a company was hastily formed which called\nBrown\u2019s men to the defense of a neighboring village. \u201cWe will be with\nyou,\u201d cried Brown, and thus he told the story of what followed to the\nfolks at home:\n\n\u201cThe cowardly mean conduct of Osawatomie and vicinity did not save them;\nfor the ruffians came on them, made numerous prisoners, fired their\nbuildings, and robbed them. After this a picked party of the bogus men\nwent to Brown\u2019s Station, burned John\u2019s and Jason\u2019s houses, and their\ncontents to ashes; in which burning we have all suffered more or less.\nOrson and boy have been prisoners, but we soon set them at liberty. They\nare well, and have not been seriously injured. Owen and I have just come\nhere for the first time to look at the ruins. All looks desolate and\nforsaken,\u2014the grass and weeds fast covering up the signs that these\nplaces were lately the abodes of quiet families. After burning the\nhouses, this self-same party of picked men, some forty in number, set\nout as they supposed, and as was the fact, on the track of my little\ncompany, boasting with awful profanity, that they would have our scalps.\nThey, however, passed the place where we hid, and robbed a little town\nsome four or five miles beyond our camp in the timber. I had omitted to\nsay that some murders had been committed at the time Lawrence was\nsacked.\n\n\u201cOn learning that this party was in pursuit of us, my little company,\nnow increased to ten in all, started after them in company of a Captain\nShore, with eighteen men, he included (June 1st). We were all mounted as\nwe traveled. We did not meet them on that day, but took five prisoners,\nfour of whom were of their scouts, and well armed. We were out all\nnight, but could find nothing of them until about six o\u2019clock next\nmorning, when we prepared to attack them at once, on foot, leaving\nFrederick and one of Captain Shore\u2019s men to guard the horses. As I was\nmuch older than Captain Shore, the principal direction of the fight\ndevolved on me. We got to within about a mile of their camp before being\ndiscovered by their scouts, and then moved at a brisk pace, Captain\nShore and men forming our left, and my company the right. When within\nabout sixty rods of the enemy, Captain Shore\u2019s men halted by mistake in\na very exposed situation, and continued the fire, both his men and the\nenemy being armed with Sharps rifles. My company had no long shooters.\nWe (my company) did not fire a gun until we gained the rear of a bank,\nabout fifteen or twenty rods to the right of the enemy, where we\ncommenced, and soon compelled them to hide in a ravine. Captain Shore,\nafter getting one man wounded, and exhausting his ammunition, came with\npart of his men to the right of my position, much discouraged. The\nbalance of his men, including the one wounded, had left the ground. Five\nof Captain Shore\u2019s men came boldly down and joined my company, and all\nbut one man, wounded, helped to maintain the fight until it was over. I\nwas obliged to give my consent that he should go after more help, when\nall his men left but eight, four of whom I persuaded to remain in a\nsecure position, and there busied them in the horses and mules of the\nenemy, which served for a show of fight. After the firing had continued\nfor some two to three hours, Captain Pate with twenty-three men, two\nbadly wounded, laid down their arms to nine men, myself included,\u2014four\nof Captain Shore\u2019s men and four of my own. One of my men (Henry\nThompson) was badly wounded, and after continuing his fire for an hour\nlonger, was obliged to quit the ground. Three others of my company (but\nnot of my family) had gone off. Salmon was dreadfully wounded by\naccident, soon after the fight; but both he and Henry are fast\nrecovering.\n\n\u201cA day or two after the fight, Colonel Sumner of the United States army\ncame suddenly upon us, while fortifying our camp and guarding our\nprisoners (which, by the way, it had been agreed mutually should be\nexchanged for as many free state men, John and Jason included), and\ncompelled us to let go our prisoners without being exchanged, and to\ngive up their horses and arms. They did not go more than two or three\nmiles before they began to rob and injure free state people. We consider\nthis in good keeping with the cruel and unjust course of the\nadministration and its tools throughout this whole Kansas difficulty.\nColonel Sumner also compelled us to disband; and we, being only a\nhandful, were obliged to submit.\n\n\u201cSince then we have, like David of old, had our dwellings with the\nserpents of the rocks and wild beasts of the wilderness, being obliged\nto hide away from our enemies. We are not disheartened, though nearly\ndestitute of food, clothing, and money. God, who has not given us over\nto the will of our enemies, but has moreover delivered them into our\nhand, will, we humbly trust, still keep and deliver us. We feel assured\nthat He who sees not as men see, does not lay the guilt of innocent\nblood to our charge.\u201d[115]\n\nIt was John Brown\u2019s hope that the courage engendered by the striking\nsuccess of the fight at Black Jack, would spread the spirit of\nresistance to the whole free state party. Lawrence, then the capital,\nwas still surrounded by a chain of forts held by bands of pro-slavery\nmarauders: one at Franklin just east of the city; another just south and\nknown as Fort Saunders; and a third between Lawrence and the pro-slavery\ncapital, Lecompton, known as Fort Titus. When it was rumored that the\nUnited States troops would disperse the free state legislature about to\nmeet at Topeka, John Brown hurried thither, hoping that resistance would\nbegin here and sweep the Territory. One of the free state leaders met\nhim at Lawrence and journeyed with him toward Topeka. Brown and he took\nthe main road as far as Big Springs, he says, and continues:\n\n\u201cThere we left the road, going in a southwesterly direction for a mile,\nwhen we halted on a hill, and the horses were stripped of their saddles,\nand picketed out to graze. The grass was wet with dew. The men ate of\nwhat provision they had with them, and I received a portion from the\ncaptain,\u2014dry beef (which was not so bad), and bread made from corn\nbruised between stones, then rolled in balls and cooked in the ashes of\nthe camp-fire. Captain Brown observed that I nibbled it very gingerly,\nand said, \u2018I am afraid you will be hardly able to eat a soldier\u2019s harsh\nfare.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe next placed our two saddles together, so that our heads lay only a\nfew feet apart. Brown spread his blanket on the wet grass, and when we\nlay together upon it, mine was spread over us. It was past eleven\no\u2019clock, and we lay there until two in the morning, but we slept none.\nHe seemed to be as little disposed to sleep as I was, and we talked; or\nrather he did, for I said little. I found that he was a thorough\nastronomer; he pointed out the different constellations and their\nmovements. \u2018Now,\u2019 he said, \u2018it is midnight,\u2019 as he pointed to the\nfinger-marks of his great clock in the sky. The whispering of the wind\non the prairie was full of voices to him, and the stars as they shone in\nthe firmament of God seemed to inspire him. \u2018How admirable is the\nsymmetry of the heaven; how grand and beautiful! Everything moves in\nsublime harmony in the government of God. Not so with us poor creatures.\nIf one star is more brilliant than others, it is continually shooting in\nsome erratic way into space.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe criticized both parties in Kansas. Of the pro-slavery men he said\nthat slavery besotted everything, and made men more brutal and\ncoarse\u2014nor did the free state men escape his sharp censure. He said that\nwe had many noble and true men, but too many broken-down politicians\nfrom the older states, who would rather pass resolutions than act, and\nwho criticized all who did real work. A professional politician, he went\non, you never could trust; for even if he had convictions, he was always\nready to sacrifice his principles for his advantage. One of the most\ninteresting things in his conversation that night, and one that marked\nhim as a theorist, was his treatment of our forms of social and\npolitical life. He thought that society ought to be organized on a less\nselfish basis; for while material interests gained something by the\ndeification of pure selfishness, men and women lost much by it. He said\nthat all great reforms, like the Christian religion, were based on\nbroad, generous, self-sacrificing principles. He condemned the sale of\nland as a chattel, and thought that there was an indefinite number of\nwrongs to right before society would be what it should be, but that in\nour country slavery was the \u2018sum of all villanies,\u2019 and its abolition\nthe first essential work. If the American people did not take courage\nand end it speedily, human freedom and republican liberty would soon be\nempty names in these United States.\u201d\n\nEarly next morning the party pressed on until they came in sight of the\ntown. Brown would not enter but sent a messenger ahead, and the narrator\ncontinues:\n\n\u201cAs he wrung my hand at parting, he urged that we should have the\nlegislature meet, resist all who should interfere with it, and fight, if\nnecessary, even the United States troops. He had told me the night\nbefore of his visit to many of the fortifications in Europe, and\ncriticized them sharply, holding that modern warfare did away with them,\nand that a well-armed brave soldier was the best fortification. He\ncriticized all the arms then in use, and showed me a fine\nrepeating-rifle which he said would carry eight hundred yards; but he\nadded, \u2018The way to fight is to press to close quarters.\u2019\u201d[116]\n\nThe Topeka journey was in vain. The legislature quietly dispersed at the\ncommand of Colonel Sumner, and John Brown saw that his only hope of\nstirring up effective resistance lay in Lane\u2019s \u201carmy\u201d of immigrants,\nthen approaching the northern boundaries of Kansas, with whom was his\nson-in-law\u2019s brother. Taking, therefore, his wounded son-in-law and\nleaving his band, he pressed forward alone on a dangerous and wearisome\nway of one hundred and fifty miles through the enemy\u2019s country. Hinton\nsaw him as he rode into one of the camps and says:\n\n\u201c\u2018Have you a man in your camp named William Thompson? You are from\nMassachusetts, young man, I believe, and Mr. Thompson joined you at\nBuffalo.\u2019 These words were addressed to me by an elderly man, riding a\nworn-looking, gaunt gray horse. It was on a late July day, and in its\nhottest hours. I had been idly watching a wagon and one horse, toiling\nslowly northward across the prairie, along the emigrant trail that had\nbeen marked out by free state men under command of \u2018Sam\u2019 Walker and\nAaron D. Stevens, who was then known as \u2018Colonel Whipple.\u2019 John Brown,\nwhose name the young and ardent had begun to conjure with and swear by,\nhad been described to me. So, as I heard the question, I looked up and\nmet the full, strong gaze of a pair of luminous, questioning eyes.\nSomehow I instinctively knew this was John Brown, and with that name I\nreplied, saying that Thompson was in our company. It was a long,\nrugged-featured face I saw. A tall, sinewy figure, too (he had\ndismounted), five feet eleven, I estimated, with square shoulders,\nnarrow flank, sinewy and deep-chested. A frame full of nervous power,\nbut not impressing one especially with muscular vigor. The impression\nleft by the pose and the figure was that of reserve, endurance, and\nquiet strength. The questioning voice-tones were mellow, magnetic, and\ngrave. On the weather-worn face was a stubby, short, gray beard,\nevidently of recent growth.... This figure,\u2014unarmed, poorly clad, with\ncoarse linen trousers tucked into high, heavy cowhide boots, with heavy\nspurs on their heels, a cotton shirt opened at the throat, a long torn\nlinen duster, and a bewrayed chip straw hat he held in his hand as he\nwaited for Thompson to reach us, made up the outward garb and appearance\nof John Brown when I first met him. In ten minutes his mounted figure\ndisappeared over the north horizon.\u201d[117]\n\nPushing on northward, Brown found asylum for his wounded follower at\nTabor, Ia. Returning, he joined the main body of Lane\u2019s men at Nebraska\nCity. Here again arose divided counsels. Radical leaders like Lane and\nBrown were proscribed men, and United States troops stood on the borders\nof Iowa to prevent the entrance of armed bodies. It was decided,\ntherefore, that Lane must not enter with the immigrants, and a letter to\nthis effect was brought to him by Samuel Walker, a free state leader.\nWalker says:\n\n\u201cAfter reading it he sat for a long time with his head bowed and the\ntears running down his cheeks. Finally he looked up and said: \u2018Walker,\nif you say the people of Kansas don\u2019t want me, it\u2019s all right, and I\u2019ll\nblow my brains out. I can never go back to the states, and look the\npeople in the face, and tell them that as soon as I got these Kansas\nfriends of mine fairly into danger I had to abandon them. I can\u2019t do it.\nNo matter what I say in my own defense, no one will believe it. I\u2019ll\nblow my brains out and end the thing right here.\u2019 \u2018General,\u2019 said I,\n\u2018the people of Kansas would rather have you than all the party at\nNebraska City. I have got fifteen good boys that are my own. If you will\nput yourself under my orders I\u2019ll take you through all right.\u2019\u201d[118]\n\nThus Walker, Lane, and John Brown with a party of thirty stole into\nKansas and started anew the flame of civil war.\n\nBrown\u2019s old company, organized early in 1858, was mounted and brought to\nthe front, and a systematic effort was made by Lane to free Lawrence\nfrom its beleaguering forts. The first attack was directed against\nFranklin on the night of August 12th, and as ex-Senator Atchison of\nMissouri indignantly reported: \u201cThree hundred Abolitionists, under this\nsame Brown, attacked the town of Franklin, robbed, plundered and burned,\ntook all the arms in town, broke open and destroyed the post-office,\ncaptured the old cannon \u2018Sacramento,\u2019 which our gallant Missourians\ncaptured in Mexico, and are now turning its mouth against our\nfriends.\u201d[119] Two days later the little army turned southward to Fort\nSaunders. Lane deployed his forces before it with John Brown\u2019s cavalry\non his right wing. A charge was ordered and the garrison fled to the\nwoods, leaving an untasted dinner and large stores of goods. On August\n16th, Fort Titus on the road to Lecompton was besieged with cannon, and\nfinally fired by a load of hay; Colonel Titus, a Georgian, was captured\nand John Brown and other leaders wanted to hang him, for he was one of\nthe most brutal of the border-ruffian commanders. Sam Walker, however,\nsaved his neck.\n\nSo furious had been this short campaign that the pro-slavery party sued\nfor a truce. Walker tells how \u201con the following day Governor Shannon and\nMajor Sedgwick came to Lawrence to negotiate an exchange of prisoners.\nThey held about thirty of our men and we forty of theirs. It was agreed\nto \u2018swap even,\u2019 we surrendering all their men, including Titus; they to\nhand over all our men and cannon they had captured at the sacking of\nLawrence. I insisted very strongly on this last point of the contract,\nfor when the gun was taken I swore I would have it back within six\nmonths. I had the pleasure of escorting our prisoners to Sedgwick\u2019s\ncamp, and receiving the cannon and the prisoners held by the enemy\nthere, in exchange.\u201d[120]\n\nThe whirlwind of guerrilla warfare now swept back to the dark ravines of\nthe Swamp of the Swan. After the murders of May came the first counter\nattack of early June, culminating in the battle of Black Jack. This\ncheck quelled the pro-slavery party a while and they began manning the\nforts around Lawrence. On August 5th the free state men struck a\nretaliating blow while John Brown was absent in Nebraska, although he\nwas credited with being present by the Missouri newspapers. Similar\nskirmishes followed, and the advantage was now so completely with the\nfree state forces, that a final crushing blow was planned by the slave\nparty of Missouri. Manifestoes swept the state, and \u201cNo quarter\u201d was the\nmotto. The Missourians responded with alacrity and a great mass crossed\nthe border divided into two wings. The lesser attacked Osawatomie and a\nnewspaper in Missouri said:\n\n\u201cThe attack on Osawatomie was by part of an army of eleven hundred and\nfifty men, of whom Atchison was major-general. General Reid with two\nhundred and fifty men and one piece of artillery, moved on to attack\nOsawatomie; he arrived near that place and was attacked by two hundred\nAbolitionists under the command of the notorious John Brown, who\ncommenced firing upon Reid from a thick chaparral four hundred yards\noff. General Reid made a successful charge, killing thirty-one, and\ntaking seven prisoners. Among the killed was Frederick Brown. The\nnotorious John Brown was also killed, by a pro-slavery man named White,\nin attempting to cross the Marais des Cygnes. The pro-slavery party have\nfive wounded. On the same day Captain Hays, with forty men, attacked the\nhouse of the notorious Ottawa Jones, burned it, and killed two\nAbolitionists. Jones fled to the cornfield, was shot by Hays, and is\nbelieved to be dead.\u201d[121]\n\nBut John Brown was not dead and was ever after known as \u201cOsawatomie\u201d\nBrown. He wrote home September 7th saying:\n\n\u201cI have one moment to write to you, to say that I am yet alive, that\nJason and family were well yesterday; John and family, I hear, are well\n(he being yet a prisoner). On the morning of the 30th of August an\nattack was made by the ruffians on Osawatomie, numbering some four\nhundred, by whose scouts our dear Frederick was shot dead without\nwarning,\u2014he supposing them to be free state men, as near as we can\nlearn. One other man, a cousin of Mr. Adair, was murdered by them about\nthe same time that Frederick was killed, and one badly wounded at the\nsame time. At this time I was about three miles off, where I had some\nfourteen or fifteen men over night that I had just enlisted to serve\nunder me as regulars. These I collected as well as I could, with some\ntwelve or fifteen more; and in about three-quarters of an hour I\nattacked them from a wood with thick undergrowth. With this force we\nthrew them into confusion for about fifteen or twenty minutes, during\nwhich time we killed or wounded from seventy to eighty of the enemy,\u2014as\nthey say,\u2014and then we escaped as well as we could, with one killed while\nescaping, two or three wounded, and as many more missing. Four or five\nfree state men were butchered during the day in all. Jason fought\nbravely by my side during the fight, and escaped with me, he being\nunhurt. I was struck by a partly-spent grape, canister, or rifle shot,\nwhich bruised me some, but did not injure me seriously. Hitherto the\nLord has helped me.\u201d[122]\n\nA cheer went up from all free Kansas over this vigorous defense, and for\nonce there was unanimity among the leaders of the free state cause.\nRobinson, the wariest of them, wrote: \u201cI cheerfully accord to you my\nheartfelt thanks for your prompt, efficient, and timely action against\nthe invaders of our rights and the murderers of our citizens. History\nwill give your name a proud place on her pages, and posterity will pay\nhomage to your heroism in the cause of God and humanity.\u201d[123]\n\nMeantime the Missourians, after their hard-won victory, hastened back to\njoin the larger wing of the invaders, and so disconcerting was their\nreport, that when Lane made a feint against them, they started to\nretreat. Governor Woodson\u2019s call for the \u201cterritorial militia,\u201d however,\nheartened them and gave them legal standing. By September 15th they were\nthreatening Kansas again with nearly 3,000 men. The nation, however, was\nnow aroused and the new governor, Geary, with orders to make peace at\nall costs, was hurrying forward. Among the first whom he summoned to\nsecret conference was John Brown. Brown came to Lawrence and was\nleaving, satisfied with Geary\u2019s promises, when the invading army of\nMissourians suddenly appeared before the city. He immediately returned\nto the town, where there were only 200 fighting men. He was asked to\ntake command of the defense but declined, preferring to act with his\nusual independence. About five o\u2019clock Monday, the 15th, he mounted a\ndry-goods box on Main Street opposite the post-office and spoke to the\npeople:\n\n\u201cGentlemen,\u2014it is said that there are twenty-five hundred Missourians\ndown at Franklin, and that they will be here in two hours. You can see\nfor yourselves the smoke they are making by setting fire to the houses\nin that town. Now is probably the last opportunity you will have of\nseeing a fight, so that you had better do your best. If they should come\nup and attack us, don\u2019t yell and make a great noise, but remain\nperfectly silent and still. Wait until they get within twenty-five yards\nof you; get a good object; be sure you see the hind sight of your\ngun,\u2014then fire. A great deal of powder and lead and very precious time\nis wasted by shooting too high. You had better aim at their legs than at\ntheir heads. In either case, be sure of the hind sights of your guns. It\nis from this reason that I myself have so many times escaped; for if all\nthe bullets which have ever been aimed at me had hit me, I would have\nbeen as full of holes as a riddle.\u201d[124]\n\nIt was a desperate situation. The free state forces were scattered,\nleaving but a handful to face an army. But in that handful was John\nBrown, and the invaders knew it, and advanced cautiously. Redpath who\nwas with Brown says: \u201cAbout five o\u2019clock in the afternoon, their\nadvance-guard, consisting of four hundred horsemen, crossed the\nWakarusa, and presented themselves in sight of the town, about two miles\noff, when they halted, and arrayed themselves for battle, fearing,\nperhaps, to come within too close range of Sharps rifle balls. Brown\u2019s\nmovement now was a little on the offensive order; for he ordered out all\nthe Sharps riflemen from every part of the town,\u2014in all not more than\nforty or fifty,\u2014marched them a half mile into the prairie, and arranged\nthem three paces apart, in a line parallel with that of the enemy; and\nthen they lay down upon their faces in the grass, awaiting the order to\nfire.\u201d[125]\n\nThe invaders hesitated, halted and then retired. John Brown says:\n\n\u201cI know of no possible reason why they did not attack and burn that\nplace except that about one hundred free state men volunteered to go out\non the open plain before the town and there give them the offer of a\nfight, which they declined after getting some few scattering shots from\nour men, and then retreated back toward Franklin. I saw that whole\nthing. The government troops at this time were with Governor Geary at\nLecompton, a distance of twelve miles only from Lawrence, and,\nnotwithstanding several runners had been to advise him in good time of\nthe approach or of the setting out of the enemy, who had to march some\nforty miles to reach Lawrence, he did not on that memorable occasion get\na single soldier on the ground until after the enemy had retreated back\nto Franklin, and had been gone for about five hours. He did get the\ntroops there about midnight afterward; and that is the way he saved\nLawrence, as he boasts of doing in his message to the bogus legislature!\n\n\u201cThis was just the kind of protection the administration and its tools\nhave afforded the free state settlers of Kansas from the first. It has\ncost the United States more than a half million, for a year past, to\nharass poor free state settlers in Kansas, and to violate all law, and\nall right, moral and constitutional, for the sole and only purpose of\nforcing slavery upon that territory. I challenge this whole nation to\nprove before God or mankind the contrary. Who paid this money to enslave\nthe settlers of Kansas and worry them out? I say nothing in this\nestimate of the money wasted by Congress in the management of this\nhorrible, tyrannical, and damnable affair.\u201d[126]\n\nThe withdrawal, however, was but temporary and it seems hardly possible\nthat Lawrence could have escaped a second capture and burning had not\nGeary thrown himself into the breach with great earnestness. As he\nreported: \u201cFully appreciating the awful calamities that were impending,\nI hastened with all possible dispatch to the encampment, assembled the\nofficers of the militia, and in the name of the President of the United\nStates demanded a suspension of hostilities. I had sent, in advance, the\nsecretary and adjutant-general of the Territory, with orders to carry\nout the letter and spirit of my proclamations; but up to the time of my\narrival, these orders had been unheeded, and I discovered but little\ndisposition to obey them. I addressed the officers in command at\nconsiderable length, setting forth the disastrous consequences of such a\ndemonstration as was contemplated, and the absolute necessity of more\nlawful and conciliatory measures to restore peace, tranquillity, and\nprosperity to the country. I read my instructions from the President,\nand convinced them that my whole course of procedure was in accordance\ntherewith, and called upon them to aid me in my efforts, not only to\ncarry out these instructions, but to support and enforce the laws and\nthe Constitution of the United States.\u201d[127]\n\nWithout doubt Geary especially emphasized the fact that another sacking\nof Lawrence would possibly defeat Buchanan and elect Fr\u00e9mont. What\nchance would there be then for the pro-slavery party?\n\nThe Missourians were thus induced to retreat, partly by Geary\u2019s logic,\npartly perhaps by John Brown\u2019s resolute handling of his patently\ninadequate but nevertheless efficient force. They marched back home,\nleaving a trail of flame and ashes\u2014the last and largest Missouri\ninvasion of Kansas, the culmination and failure of the pro-slavery\npolicy of force.\n\nGeary now began successfully to cope with the Kansas situation. His most\npuzzling problem was John Brown and his ilk. His experience soon led him\nto see the righteousness of the free state cause, but he had to insist\non law and order even under the \u201cbogus\u201d laws, promising equitable\ntreatment in the future. Immediately the free state party split into its\nold divisions: the small body of irreconcilables like John Brown, who\nwere fighting slavery in Kansas and everywhere; and the far larger mass\nof compromisers like Robinson, whose only object was to make a free\nstate of Kansas, and who were willing to concede all else. Under such\ncircumstances the best move was to get rid of John Brown. To have sought\nto arrest him would have precipitated civil war again. Could he not be\ninduced quietly to leave on promise of immunity? Accordingly, Geary\nissued a warrant against Brown, but gave it into the hands of the\nfriendly Samuel Walker whom he had previously asked to warn the old man.\nBrown was not loath. His work in Kansas, so far as he could then see,\nwas done. The state was bound to be free and further than that few\nKansans cared. They had no enmity toward slavery as such which called\nthem to a crusade; far from regarding Negroes as brothers, they disliked\nthem and were willing to disfranchise them and crowd them from the\nstate.\n\nAmong such folk there was no place for John Brown. His greater mission\ncalled him. Kansas had been an interlude only, although for a time he\nhoped to make it the chief battle-ground. Now he knew better and again\nthe Alleghanies beckoned. To be sure, he owed Kansas much. Here he had\npassed through his baptism of fire, and had offered the sacrifice of\nblood to his God. He was sterner stuff now, ready to go whithersoever\nthe Master called; and he heard Him calling. Not only had he learned a\nmethod of warfare in Kansas\u2014he had learned to know a band of simple\nhonest young fellows, hot with the wine of youth, hero-worshipers ready\nto do and dare in a great cause. Thus the worst difficulties of the past\ndisappeared and the way lay clear. Only one thing oppressed him\u2014he was\nold and sick, a tired, toil-racked man. Could he live and do the Lord\u2019s\nwill?\n\nHis company of regulators was formally disbanded but left spiritually\nintact, and he started north late in September, 1856, taking with him\nhis four sons, John, Jr., who had at last been released, Jason, Salmon,\nand Oliver, and also, true to his cause, a fugitive slave whom he had\nchanced upon. As he moved northward the United States troops, unaware of\nGeary\u2019s diplomacy, shadowed and all but captured him. Yet he passed\nsafely through their very midst with his old wagon and cow and the\nhidden slave, displaying his surveyor\u2019s instruments. Thus silently John\nBrown disappeared from Kansas, and for a year nothing was heard of him\nin his former haunts. Only his near friends knew that he had gone\neastward, and a few of them hinted at his great mission. Matters moved\nswiftly in Kansas. There was more and more evident a free state\nmajority. But would the pro-slavery administration let it be counted?\nThe new governor was trying to save something for his masters, but the\nirreconcilables of the Lane and John Brown type doubted it.\n\n\u201cI bless God,\u201d wrote Brown in April, \u201cthat He has not left the free\nstate men of Kansas to pollute themselves by the foul and loathsome\nembrace.... I have been trembling all along lest they might \u2018back down\u2019\nfrom the high and holy ground they had taken. I say in view of the\nwisdom, firmness and patience of my friends and fellow sufferers in the\ncause of humanity, let the Lord\u2019s name be eternally praised!\u201d[128]\nNotwithstanding this attitude of many of the free state party, they were\nprevailed upon to vote in the state election of October, 1857. As a\nconcession, however, Lane was appointed to guard the ballot-boxes and,\nhearing that John Brown was back again in Iowa, he sent for him in hot\nhaste. His messengers found the old man sick and disappointed among his\nstaunch Quaker friends at Tabor. Brown offered to come if supplied with\n\u201cthree good teams, with well-covered wagons, and ten really ingenious,\nindustrious (not gassy) men, with about one hundred and fifty dollars in\ncash.\u201d[129] These demands were not met until too late, so that Brown\nreturned the money and did not appear in Kansas until the election was\nover, and the free state forces had triumphed. This had now but passing\ninterest for him. He had other objects in Kansas and flitted noiselessly\nabout among the picked men who had promised their aid. Then he\ndisappeared again. Eight months passed away, when suddenly another\nKansas outrage startled the nation. It was the last vengeful echo of\nthat first night of murder in the Swamp of the Swan. In 1856 Linn and\nBourbon counties, some miles below the original Brown settlement, had\nbeen cleared of free state settlers. In 1857 these settlers ventured to\nreturn and found the pro-slavery forces centred at Fort Scott, waiting\nfor Congress to pass the Lecompton constitution. Thus in 1857 and 1858\nthe expiring horror of Kansas guerrilla warfare centred in southeast\nKansas. The pro-slavery forces saw the state slipping from them, but\nthey determined by desperate blows to plant slavery so deeply in the\ncounties next to Missouri that no free state majority could possibly\nuproot it. To accomplish this it was necessary again to drive off the\nfree state settlers. The settlers objected and led by James Montgomery,\nthere ensued a series of bloody reprisals culminating in May, 1858, two\nyears after the first May massacre. A Georgian with a remnant of\nBuford\u2019s band again rode down amid the calm silent beauty of the Swamp\nof the Swan. They gathered eleven unarmed farmers from their fields and\nhomes and marched them to a gloomy ravine near Snyder\u2019s blacksmith shop;\nthere the party killed four and badly wounded six others, leaving them\nall for dead.\n\nThe echoes of this last desperate blow had scarcely died before John\nBrown appeared on the scene and attempted to buy and fortify the very\nblacksmith shop where the murders were done. He writes to Eastern\nfriends:\n\n\u201cI am here with about ten of my men, located on the same quarter-section\nwhere the terrible murders of the 19th of May were committed, called the\nHamilton or trading-post murders. Deserted farms and dwellings lie in\nall directions for some miles along the line, and the remaining\ninhabitants watch every appearance of persons moving about, with anxious\njealousy and vigilance. Four of the persons wounded or attacked on that\noccasion are staying with me. The blacksmith Snyder, who fought the\nmurderers, with his brother and son are of the number. Old Mr.\nHairgrove, who was terribly wounded at the same time, is another. The\nblacksmith returned here with me and intends to bring back his family on\nto his claim within two or three days. A constant fear of new trouble\nseems to prevail on both sides of the line, and on both sides are\ncompanies of armed men. Any little affair may open the quarrel afresh.\nTwo murders and cases of robbery are reported of late. I have also a man\nwith me who fled from his family and farm in Missouri but a day or two\nsince, his life being threatened on account of being accused of\ninforming Kansas men of the whereabouts of one of the murderers, who was\nlately taken and brought to this side. I have concealed the fact of my\npresence pretty much, lest it should tend to create excitement; but it\nis getting leaked out, and will soon be known to all. As I am not here\nto seek or secure revenge, I do not mean to be the first to reopen the\nquarrel. How soon it may be raised against me, I cannot say; nor am I\nover-anxious.\u201d[130]\n\nHe quickly had fifteen of his former companions in arms organized as\n\u201cShubel Morgan\u2019s Company\u201d under the old regulations, and he eagerly\nsought out and co\u00f6perated with Captain Montgomery. The vigil was long\nand wearisome. \u201cI had lain every night without shelter,\u201d he writes,\n\u201csuffering from cold rains and heavy dews, together with the oppressive\nheat of the days.\u201d[131] Hinton met Brown at this time and found him not\nonly unwell but \u201csomewhat more impatient and nervous in his manner than\nI had ever before observed. Soon after my arrival, he remarked again in\nconversation as to the various public men in the Territory. Captain\nMontgomery\u2019s name was introduced, and I inquired how Mr. Brown liked\nhim. The captain was quite enthusiastic in praise of him, avowing a most\nperfect confidence in his integrity and purposes. \u2018Captain Montgomery,\u2019\nhe said, \u2018is the only soldier I have met among the prominent Kansas men.\nHe understands my system of warfare exactly. He is a natural chieftain,\nand knows how to lead.\u2019\n\n\u201cOf his own early treatment at the hands of ambitious \u2018leaders,\u2019 to\nwhich I alluded in bitter terms, he said:\n\n\u201c\u2018They acted up to their instincts, as politicians. They thought every\nman wanted to lead, and therefore supposed I might be in the way of\ntheir schemes. While they had this feeling, of course they opposed me.\nMany men did not like the manner in which I conducted warfare, and they\ntoo opposed me. Committees and councils could not control my movements;\ntherefore they did not like me. But politicians and leaders soon found\nthat I had different purposes and forgot their jealousy. They have all\nbeen kind to me since.\u2019\n\n\u201cFurther conversation ensued relative to the free state struggle, in\nwhich I, criticizing the management of it from an anti-slavery point of\nview, pronounced it, \u2018an abortion.\u2019 Captain Brown looked at me with a\npeculiar expression in the eyes, as if struck by the word and in a\nmusing manner remarked, \u2018Abortion!\u2014yes, that\u2019s the word!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018For twenty years,\u2019 he said, \u2018I have never made any business\narrangement which would prevent me at any time answering the call of the\nLord. I have kept my business in such a condition, that in two weeks I\ncould always wind up my affairs, and be ready to obey the call. I have\npermitted nothing to be in the way of my duty, neither my wife,\nchildren, nor worldly goods. Whenever the occasion offered, I was ready.\nThe hour is very near at hand, and all who are willing to act should be\nready.\u2019\u201d[132]\n\nDuring the fall John Brown co\u00f6perated with Montgomery in his guerrilla\nwarfare, and laid out miniature fortifications with his men. While he\nhimself was not personally present in Montgomery\u2019s fights, he usually\nhelped plan them and sent his men along. Meantime winter set in and John\nBrown knew that hostilities would cease. Once again he turned to his\nlong and exasperatingly interrupted life-work. Just after the famous\nraid on Fort Scott, he had a chance not only to begin his greater work\nbut to strike a blow at slavery right in Kansas. Hinton says: \u201cOn the\nSunday following the expedition of Fort Scott, as I was scouting down\nthe line, I ran across a colored man, whose ostensible purpose was the\nselling of brooms. He soon solved the problem as to the propriety of\nmaking a confidant of me, and I found that his name was Jim Daniels;\nthat his wife, self, and babies belonged to an estate, and were to be\nsold at administrator\u2019s sale in the immediate future. His present\nbusiness was not selling of brooms particularly, but to find help to get\nhimself, family, and a few friends in the vicinity away from these\nthreatened conditions. Daniels was a fine-looking mulatto. I immediately\nhunted up Brown, and it was soon arranged to go the following night and\ngive what assistance we could. I am sure that Brown, in his mind, was\njust waiting for something to turn up; or, in his way of thinking, was\nexpecting or hoping that God would provide him a basis of action. When\nthis came, he hailed it as heaven-sent.\u201d[133]\n\nJohn Brown himself told the story in the New York _Tribune_:\n\n\u201cNot one year ago eleven quiet citizens of this neighborhood,\u2014William\nRobertson, William Colpetzer, Amos Hall, Austin Hall, John Campbell, Asa\nSnyder, Thomas Stillwell, William Hairgrove, Asa Hairgrove, Patrick\nRoss, and B. L. Reed,\u2014were gathered up from their work and their homes\nby an armed force under one Hamilton, and without trial or opportunity\nto speak in their own defense were formed into line, and all but one\nshot,\u2014five killed and five wounded. One fell unharmed, pretending to be\ndead. All were left for dead. The only crime charged against them was\nthat of being free state men. Now, I inquire what action has ever, since\nthe occurrence in May last, been taken by either the President of the\nUnited States, the governor of Missouri, the governor of Kansas, or any\nof their tools, or by any pro-slavery or administration man, to ferret\nout and punish the perpetrators of this crime.\n\n\u201cNow for the other parallel. On Sunday, December 19th, a Negro man\ncalled Jim came over to Osage settlement, from Missouri, and stated that\nhe, together with his wife, two children, and another Negro man, was to\nbe sold within a day or two, and begged for help to get away. On Monday\n(the following) night, two small companies were made up to go to\nMissouri and forcibly liberate the five slaves, together with other\nslaves. One of these companies I assumed to direct. We proceeded to the\nplace, surrounding the buildings, liberated the slaves, and also took\ncertain property supposed to belong to the estate. We, however, learned\nbefore leaving that a portion of the articles we had belonged to a man\nliving on the plantation as a tenant, and who was supposed to have no\ninterest in the estate. We promptly returned to him all we had taken. We\nthen went to another plantation, where we found five more slaves, took\nsome property and two white men. We all moved slowly away into the\nTerritory for some distance, and then sent the white men back, telling\nthem to follow us as soon as they chose to do so. The other company\nfreed one female slave, took some property, and, as I am informed,\nkilled one white man (the master), who fought against the liberation.\n\n\u201cNow for comparison. Eleven persons are forcibly restored to their\nnatural and inalienable rights, with but one man killed, and all \u2018hell\nis stirred from beneath.\u2019 It is currently reported that the governor of\nMissouri has made a requisition upon the governor of Kansas for the\ndelivery of all such as were concerned in the last named \u2018dreadful\noutrage.\u2019 The marshal of Kansas is said to be collecting a posse of\nMissouri (not Kansas) men at West Point, in Missouri, a little town\nabout ten miles distant, to \u2018enforce the laws.\u2019 All pro-slavery,\nconservative, free state, and dough-face men and administration tools\nare filled with holy horror.\u201d[134]\n\nOne of the slaves, Samuel Harper, afterward told of this wonderful\n_katabasis_ of a thousand miles in the teeth of the elements and in\ndefiance of the law:\n\n\u201cIt was mighty slow traveling. You see there were several different\nparties amongst our band, and our masters had people looking all over\nfor us. We would ride all night, and then maybe, we would have to stay\nseveral days in one house to keep from getting caught. In a month we had\nonly got to a place near Topeka, which was about forty miles from where\nwe started. There was twelve of us at the one house of a man named\nDoyle, besides the captain and his men, when there came along a gang of\nslave-hunters. One of Captain Brown\u2019s men, Stevens, he went down to them\nand said:\u2014\u2018Gentlemen, you look as if you were looking for somebody or\nsomething.\u2019 \u2018Aye, yes!\u2019 says the leader, \u2018we think as how you have some\nof our slaves up yonder in that there house.\u2019 \u2018Is that so?\u2019 says\nStevens. \u2018Well, come on right along with me, and you can look them over\nand see.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe were watching this here conversation all the time, and when we see\nStevens coming up to the house with that there man, we just didn\u2019t know\nwhat to make of it. We began to get scared that Stevens was going to\ngive us to them slave-hunters. But the looks of things changed when\nStevens got up to the house. He just opened the door long enough for to\ngrab a double-barreled gun. He pointed it at the slave-hunter, and says:\n\u2018You want to see your slaves, does you? Well, just look up them barrels\nand see if you can find them.\u2019 That man just went all to pieces. He\ndropped his gun, his legs went trembling, and the tears most started\nfrom his eyes. Stevens took and locked him up in the house. When the\nrest of his crowd seen him captured, they ran away as fast as they could\ngo.\n\n\u201cCaptain Brown went to see the prisoner, and says to him, \u2018I\u2019ll show you\nwhat it is to look after slaves, my man.\u2019 That frightened the prisoner\nawful. He was a kind of old fellow and when he heard what the captain\nsaid, I suppose he thought he was going to be killed. He began to cry\nand beg to be let go. The captain he only smiled a little bit, and\ntalked some more to him, and the next day he was let go.\n\n\u201cA few days afterward, the United States marshal came up with another\ngang to capture us. There was about seventy-five of them, and they\nsurrounded the house, and we was all afraid we was going to be took for\nsure. But the captain he just said, \u2018Get ready, boys, and we\u2019ll whip\nthem all.\u2019 There was only fourteen of us altogether, but the captain was\na terror to them, and when he stepped out of the house and went for them\nthe whole seventy-five of them started running. Captain Brown and Kagi\nand some others chased them, and captured five prisoners. There was a\ndoctor and lawyer amongst them. They all had nice horses. The captain\nmade them get down. Then he told five of us slaves to mount the beasts\nand we rode them while the white men had to walk. It was early in the\nspring, and the mud on the roads was away over their ankles. I just tell\nyou it was mighty tough walking, and you can believe those fellows had\nenough of slave-hunting. The next day the captain let them all go.\n\n\u201cOur masters kept spies watching till we crossed the border. When we got\nto Springdale, Ia., a man came to see Captain Brown, and told him there\nwas a lot of friends down in a town in Kansas that wanted to see him.\nThe captain said he did not care to go down, but as soon as the man\nstarted back, Captain Brown followed him. When he came back, he said\nthere was a whole crowd coming up to capture us. We all went up to the\nschoolhouse and got ourselves ready to fight.\n\n\u201cThe crowd came and hung around the schoolhouse a few days, but they\ndidn\u2019t try to capture us. The governor of Kansas, he telegraphed to the\nUnited States marshal at Springdale: \u2018Capture John Brown, dead or\nalive.\u2019 The marshal he answered: \u2018If I try to capture John Brown it\u2019ll\nbe dead, and I\u2019ll be the one that\u2019ll be dead.\u2019 Finally those Kansas\npeople went home, and then that same marshal put us in a car and sent us\nto Chicago. It took us over three months to get to Canada.... What kind\nof a man was Captain Brown? He was a great big man, over six feet tall,\nwith great big shoulders, and long hair, white as snow. He was a very\nquiet man, awful quiet. He never even laughed. After we was free we was\nwild of course, and we used to cut up all kinds of foolishness. But the\ncaptain would always look as solemn as a graveyard. Sometimes he just\nlet out the tiniest bit of a smile, and says: \u2018You\u2019d better quit your\nfooling and take up your book.\u2019\u201d[135]\n\nOn the 12th of March, 1859, nearly three months after the starting, John\nBrown landed his fugitives safely in Canada \u201cunder the lion\u2019s paw.\u201d The\nold man lifted his hands and said: \u201cLord, permit Thy servant to die in\npeace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation! I could not brook the\nthought that any ill should befall you,\u2014least of all, that you should be\ntaken back to slavery. The arm of Jehovah protected us.\u201d[136]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n THE GREAT PLAN\n\n \u201cIs not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of\n wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go\n free, and that ye break every yoke?\u201d\n\n\n\u201cSir, the angel of the Lord will camp round about me,\u201d said John Brown\nwith stern eyes when the timid foretold his doom.[137] With a steadfast\nalmost superstitious faith in his divine mission, the old man had walked\nunscathed out of Kansas in the fall of 1856, two years and a half before\nthe slave raid into Missouri related in the last chapter. In his mind\nlay a definitely matured plan for attacking slavery in the United States\nin such a way as would shake its very foundations. The plan had been\nlong forming, and changing in shape from 1828, when he proposed a Negro\nschool in Hudson, until 1859 when he finally fixed on Harper\u2019s Ferry. At\nfirst he thought to educate Negroes in the North and let them leaven the\nlump of slaves. Then, moving forward a step, he determined to settle in\na border state and educate slaves openly or clandestinely and send them\nout as emissaries. As gradually he became acquainted with the great work\nand wide ramifications of the Underground Railroad, he conceived the\nidea of central depots for running off slaves in the inaccessible\nportions of the South, and he began studying Southern geography with\nthis in view. He noted the rivers, swamps and mountains, and more\nespecially, the great struggling heights of the Alleghanies, which swept\nfrom his Pennsylvania home down to the swamps of Virginia, Carolina and\nGeorgia. His Kansas experiences suggested for a time the southwest\npathway to Louisiana by the swamps of the Red and Arkansas Rivers, but\nthis was but a passing thought; he soon reverted to the great spur of\nthe Alleghanies.\n\n\u201cI never shall forget,\u201d writes Thomas Wentworth Higginson, \u201cthe quiet\nway in which he once told me that \u2018God had established the Alleghany\nMountains from the foundation of the world that they might one day be a\nrefuge for fugitive slaves.\u2019 I did not know then that his own home was\namong the Adirondacks.\u201d[138]\n\nMore and more, as he thought and worked, did his great plan present\nitself to him clearly and definitely until finally it stood in 1858 as\nKagi told it to Hinton:\n\n\u201cThe mountains of Virginia were named as the place of refuge, and as a\ncountry admirably adapted in which to carry on guerrilla warfare. In the\ncourse of the conversation, Harper\u2019s Ferry was mentioned as a point to\nbe seized, but not held,\u2014on account of the arsenal. The white members of\nthe company were to act as officers of different guerrilla bands, which,\nunder the general command of John Brown, were to be composed of Canadian\nrefugees, and the Virginia slaves who would join them. A different time\nof the year was mentioned for the commencement of the warfare from that\nwhich had lately been chosen. It was not anticipated that the first\nmovement would have any other appearance to the masters than a slave\nstampede, or local insurrection, at most. The planters would pursue\ntheir chattels and be defeated. The militia would then be called out,\nand would also be defeated. It was not intended that the movement should\nappear to be of large dimension, but that, gradually increasing in\nmagnitude, it should, as it opened, strike terror into the heart of the\nslave states by the amount of the organization it would exhibit, and the\nstrength it gathered. They anticipated, after the first blow had been\nstruck, that, by the aid of the free and Canadian Negroes who would join\nthem, they could inspire confidence in the slaves, and induce them to\nrally. No intention was expressed of gathering a large body of slaves,\nand removing them to Canada. On the contrary, Kagi clearly stated, in\nanswer to my inquiries, that the design was to make the fight in the\nmountains of Virginia, extending it to North Carolina, and Tennessee,\nand also to the swamps of South Carolina if possible. Their purpose was\nnot the extradition of one or a thousand slaves, but their liberation in\nthe states wherein they were born, and were now held in bondage. \u2018The\nmountains and swamps of the South were intended by the Almighty,\u2019 said\nJohn Brown to me afterward, \u2018for a refuge for the slave, and a defense\nagainst the oppressor.\u2019 Kagi spoke of having marked out a chain of\ncounties extending continuously through South Carolina, Georgia,\nAlabama, and Mississippi. He had traveled over a large portion of the\nregion indicated, and from his own personal knowledge, and with the\nassistance of Canadian Negroes who had escaped from those states, they\nhad arranged a general plan of attack.\n\n\u201cThe counties he named were those which contained the largest proportion\nof slaves, and would, therefore, be the best in which to strike. The\nblow struck at Harper\u2019s Ferry was to be in the spring, when the planters\nwere busy, and the slaves most needed. The arms in the arsenal were to\nbe taken to the mountains, with such slaves that joined. The telegraph\nwires were to be cut, and the railroad tracks torn up in all directions.\nAs fast as possible other bands besides the original ones were to be\nformed, and a continuous chain of posts established in the mountains.\nThey were to be supported by provisions taken from the farms of the\noppressors. They expected to be speedily and constantly re\u00ebnforced;\nfirst, by the arrival of those men, who, in Canada, were anxiously\nlooking and praying for the time of deliverance, and then by the slaves\nthemselves. The intention was to hold the egress to the free states as\nlong as possible, in order to retreat when that was advisable. Kagi,\nhowever, expected to retreat southward, not in the contrary direction.\nThe slaves were to be armed with pikes, scythes, muskets, shotguns, and\nother simple instruments of defense; the officers, white or black, and\nsuch of the men as were skilled and trustworthy, to have the use of the\nSharps rifles and revolvers. They anticipated procuring provisions\nenough for subsistence by forage, as also arms, horses, and ammunition.\nKagi said one of the reasons that induced him to go into the enterprise\nwas a full conviction that at no very distant day forcible efforts for\nfreedom would break out among the slaves, and that slavery might be more\nspeedily abolished by such efforts, than by any other means. He knew by\nobservation in the South, that in no point was the system so vulnerable\nas in its fear of slave-rising. Believing that such a blow would soon be\nstruck, he wanted to organize it so as to make it more effectual, and\nalso, by directing and controlling the Negroes, to prevent some of the\natrocities that would necessarily arise from the sudden upheaval of such\na mass as the Southern slaves.\u201d[139]\n\nThe knowledge of the country was obtained by personal inspection. Kagi\nand others of Brown\u2019s lieutenants went out on trips; the old man himself\nhad been in western, northern and southern Virginia, and his Negro\nfriends especially knew these places and routes. One of Brown\u2019s men\nwrites:\n\n\u201cMy object in wishing to see Mr. Reynolds, who was a colored man (very\nlittle colored, however), was in regard to a military organization\nwhich, I had understood, was in existence among the colored people. He\nassured me that such was the fact, and that its ramifications extended\nthrough most, or nearly all, of the slave states. He, himself, I think,\nhad been through many of the slave states visiting and organizing. He\nreferred me to many references in the Southern papers, telling of this\nand that favorite slave being killed or found dead. These, he asserted,\nmust be taken care of, being the most dangerous element they had to\ncontend with. He also asserted that they were only waiting for Brown, or\nsome one else to make a successful initiative move when their forces\nwould be put in motion. None but colored persons could be admitted to\nmembership, and, in part to corroborate his assertions, he took me to\nthe room in which they held their meetings and used as their arsenal. He\nshowed me a fine collection of arms. He gave me this under the pledge of\nsecrecy which we gave to each other at the Chatham Convention.\n\n\u201cOn my return to Cleveland he passed me through the organization, first\nto J. J. Pierce, colored, at Milan, who paid my bill over night at the\nEagle Hotel, and gave me some money, and a note to E. Moore, at Norwalk,\nwho in turn paid my hotel bill and purchased a railroad ticket through\nto Cleveland for me.\u201d[140]\n\nSpeaking of this league, Hinton also says:\n\n\u201cAs one may naturally understand, looking at conditions then existing,\nthere existed something of an organization to assist fugitives and for\nresistance to their masters. It was found all along the borders from\nSyracuse, New York, to Detroit, Michigan. As none but colored men were\nadmitted into direct and active membership with this \u2018League of\nFreedom,\u2019 it is quite difficult to trace its workings or know how far\nits ramifications extended. One of the most interesting phases of slave\nlife, so far as the whites were enabled to see or impinge upon it, was\nthe extent and rapidity of communication among them. Four geographical\nlines seem to have been chiefly followed. One was that of the coast\nsouth of the Potomac, whose almost continuous line of swamps from the\nvicinity of Norfolk, Va., to the northern border of Florida afforded a\nrefuge for many who could not escape and became \u2018marooned\u2019 in their\ndepths, while giving facility to the more enduring to work their way out\nto the North Star Land. The great Appalachian range and its abutting\nmountains were long a rugged, lonely, but comparatively safe route to\nfreedom. It was used, too, for many years. Doubtless a knowledge of that\nfact, for John Brown was always an active Underground Railroad man, had\nvery much to do, apart from its immediate use strategically considered,\nwith the captain\u2019s decision to begin operations therein. Harriet Tubman,\nwhom John Brown met for the first time at St. Catherines in March or\nApril, 1858, was a constant user of the Appalachian route.\u201d[141]\n\nThe trained leadership John Brown found in his Kansas experience, and\nhis wide acquaintance with colored men; the organization of the Negroes\nculminated in a convention at Chatham, Canada. The raising of money for\nthis work, as time went on, was more and more the object of his various\noccupations and commercial ventures. These visions of personal wealth to\nbe expended for great deeds failed because the pressure of work for the\nideal overcame the pressure of work for funds to finance it. When once\nhe discovered at Syracuse men of means, ready to pay the expenses of men\nof deeds, he dropped all further thought of his physical necessities,\ngave himself to the cause and called on them for money. In his earlier\ncalls he regards this not as charity but as wages. He said once: \u201cFrom\nabout the 20th of May of last year hundreds of men like ourselves lost\ntheir whole time, and entirely failed of securing any kind of crop\nwhatever. I believe it safe to say that five hundred free state men lost\neach one hundred and twenty-five days, at $1.50 per day, which would be,\nto say nothing of attendant losses, $90,000. I saw the ruins of many\nfree state men\u2019s houses at different places in the Territory, together\nwith stacks of grain wasted and burning, to the amount of, say $50,000;\nmaking, in lost time and destruction of property, more than\n$150,000.\u201d[142]\n\nAnd again: \u201cJohn Brown has devoted the service of himself and two minor\nsons to the free state cause for more than a year; suffered by the fire\nbefore named and by robbery; has gone at his own cost for that period,\nexcept that he and his company together have received forty dollars in\ncash, two sacks of flour, thirty-five pounds bacon, thirty-five pounds\nsugar, and twenty pounds rice.\n\n\u201cI propose to serve hereafter in the free state cause (provided my\nneedful expenses can be met), should that be desired; and to raise a\nsmall regular force to serve on the same condition. My own means are so\nfar exhausted that I can no longer continue in the service at present\nwithout the means of defraying my expenses are furnished me.\u201d[143]\n\nFinally, however, he had to appeal more directly to philanthropy. He was\nespecially encouraged by the Kansas committees. These committees had\nsprung up in various ways and places in 1854, but had nearly all united\nin Thayer\u2019s New England Emigrant Aid Company in 1855. This company\nproposed to aid free state emigration as an investment, but it failed in\nthis respect because of the political troubles, and the panic of 1857.\nIt did, however, arouse great interest throughout the nation. The\nNational Kansas Committee, formed after the sacking of Lawrence, was\nmore belligerent than philanthropic in its projects, while the Boston\nRelief Committee was distinctly radical. John Brown had some connection\nwith Thayer\u2019s company, but his hopes were especially built on the\nNational Kansas Committee, which Lane had done so much to bring into\nbeing, and to which Gerrit Smith contributed many thousands of dollars.\n\nLeaving Kansas secretly in October, 1856, John Brown hastened to the\nChicago headquarters of this National Kansas Committee with a proposal\nthat they equip a company for him. The Chicago committee referred this\nproposal to a full meeting of the members to be held in New York in\nJanuary. John Brown immediately started East, clad in new clothes which\nthe committee furnished and armed with letters from the governors of\nKansas and Ohio. Gerrit Smith welcomed him and said: \u201cCaptain John\nBrown,\u2014you did not need to show me letters from Governor Chase and\nGovernor Robinson to let me know who and what you are. I have known you\nfor many years, and have highly esteemed you as long as I have known\nyou. I know your unshrinking bravery, your self-sacrificing benevolence,\nyour devotion to the cause of freedom, and have long known them. May\nHeaven preserve your life and health, and prosper your noble\npurpose!\u201d[144]\n\nBut his half-brother in Ohio wrote:\n\n\u201cSince the trouble growing out of the settlement of the Kansas\nTerritory, I have observed a marked change in brother John. Previous to\nthis, he devoted himself entirely to business; but since these troubles\nhe has abandoned all business, and has become wholly absorbed by the\nsubject of slavery. He had property left him by his father, and of which\nI had the agency. He has never taken a dollar of it for the benefit of\nhis family, but has called for a portion of it to be expended in what he\ncalled the Service. After his return to Kansas he called on me, and I\nurged him to go home to his family and attend to his private affairs;\nthat I feared his course would prove his destruction and that of his\nboys.... He replied that he was sorry that I did not sympathize with\nhim; that he knew that he was in the line of his duty, and he must\npursue it, though it should destroy him and his family. He stated to me\nthat he was satisfied that he was a chosen instrument in the hands of\nGod to war against slavery. From his manner and from his conversation at\nthis time, I had no doubt he had become insane upon the subject of\nslavery, and gave him to understand that this was my opinion of\nhim!\u201d[145]\n\nMrs. George L. Stearns, the wife of the Massachusetts anti-slavery\nleader, writes:\n\n\u201cAt this juncture, Mr. Stearns wrote to John Brown, that if he would\ncome to Boston and consult with the friends of freedom, he would pay his\nexpenses. They had never met, but \u2018Osawatomie Brown\u2019 had become a\ncherished household name during the anxious summer of 1856. Arriving in\nBoston they were introduced to each other in the street by a Kansas man,\nwho chanced to be with Mr. Stearns on his way to the committee rooms in\nNilis\u2019s Block, School Street. Captain Brown made a profound impression\non all who came within the sphere of his moral magnetism. Emerson called\nhim \u2018the most ideal of men, for he wanted to put all his ideas into\naction.\u2019 His absolute superiority to all selfish aims and narrowing\npride of opinion touched an answering chord in the self-devotion of Mr.\nStearns. A little anecdote illustrates the modest estimate of the work\nhe had in hand. After several efforts to bring together certain friends\nto meet Captain Brown at his home, in Medford, he found that Sunday was\nthe only day that would serve their several conveniences, and being a\nlittle uncertain how it might strike his ideas of religious propriety,\nhe prefaced his invitation with something like an apology. With\ncharacteristic promptness came the reply: \u2018Mr. Stearns, I have a little\newe-lamb that I want to pull out of the ditch, and the Sabbath will be\nas good a day as any to do it.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt may not be out of place to describe the impression he made upon the\nwriter on this first visit. When I entered the parlor, he was sitting\nnear the hearth, where glowed a bright, open fire. He rose to greet me,\nstepping forward with such an erect, military bearing, such fine\ncourtesy of demeanor and grave earnestness, that he seemed to my instant\nthought some old Cromwellian hero suddenly dropped down before me; a\nsuggestion which was presently strengthened by his saying (proceeding\nwith the conversation my entrance had interrupted), \u2018Gentlemen, I\nconsider the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence one and\ninseparable; and it is better that a whole generation of men, women,\nchildren should be swept away than that this crime of slavery should\nexist one day longer.\u2019 These words were uttered like rifle balls; in\nsuch emphatic tones and manner that our little Carl, not three years\nold, remembered it in manhood as one of his earliest recollections. The\nchild stood perfectly still, in the middle of the room, gazing with his\nbeautiful eyes on this new sort of a man, until his absorption arrested\nthe attention of Captain Brown, who soon coaxed him to his knee, though\nthe look and childlike wonder remained. His dress was of some dark brown\nstuff, quite coarse, but its exactness and neatness produced a singular\nair of refinement. At dinner, he declined all dainties, saying that he\nwas unaccustomed to luxuries, even to partaking of butter.\n\n\u201cThe \u2018friends of freedom,\u2019 with whom Mr. Stearns had invited John Brown\nto consult, were profoundly impressed with his sagacity, integrity, and\ndevotion; notably among these were R. W. Emerson, Theodore Parker, H. D.\nThoreau, A. Bronson Alcott, F. B. Sanborn, Dr. S. G. Howe, Col. T. W.\nHigginson, Governor Andrew, and others.\u201d[146]\n\nSanborn says:\n\n\u201cHe came to me with a note of introduction from George Walker of\nSpringfield\u2014both of us being Kansas committee men, working to maintain\nthe freedom of that Territory, and Brown had been one of the fighting\nmen there in the summer of 1856, just before. His theory required\nfighting in Kansas; it was the only sure way, he thought, to keep that\nregion free from the curse of slavery. His mission now was to levy war\non it, and for that to raise and equip a company of a hundred well-armed\nmen who should resist aggression in Kansas, or occasionally carry the\nwar into Missouri. Behind that purpose, but not yet disclosed, was his\nintention to use the men thus put into the field for incursions into\nVirginia or other slave states. Our State Kansas Committee, of which I\nwas secretary, had a stock of arms that Brown wished to use for this\ncompany, and these we voted to him. They had been put in the custody of\nthe National Committee at Chicago, and it was needful to follow up our\nvote by similar action in the National Committee. For this purpose I was\nsent to a meeting of that committee at the Astor House, in New York, as\nthe proxy of Dr. Howe and Dr. Samuel Cabot\u2014both members of the National\nCommittee. I met Brown there, and aided him in obtaining from the\nmeeting an appropriation of $5,000 for his work in Kansas, of which,\nhowever, he received only $500. The committee also voted to restore the\ncustody of two hundred rifles to the Massachusetts committee which\nbought them, well knowing that we should turn them over to John Brown,\nas we did. He found them at Tabor, Ia., in the following September, and\ntook possession; it was with part of these rifles that he entered\nVirginia two years later.\n\n\u201cAt this Astor House meeting Brown was closely questioned by some of the\nNational Committee, particularly by Mr. Hurd of Chicago, as to what he\nwould do with money and arms. He refused to pledge himself to use them\nsolely in Kansas, and declared that his past record ought to be a\nsufficient guarantee that he should employ them judiciously. If we chose\nto trust him, well and good, but he would neither make pledges nor\ndisclose his plans. Mr. Hurd had some inkling that Brown would not\nconfine his warfare to Kansas, but the rest of us were willing to trust\nBrown, and the money was voted.\u201d[147]\n\nJohn Brown immediately made a careful estimate of the cost of the\nnecessary equipment which with \u201ctwo weeks of provisions for men and\nhorses\u201d amounted to $1,774. The funds of the committee, however, were\nlow and the officers suspicious; in April they informed Brown: \u201cThe\ncommittee are at present out of money, and compelled to decline sending\nyou the five hundred dollars you speak of. They are sorry this has\nbecome the case, but it was unavoidable. I need not state to you all the\nreasons why. The country has stopped sending us contributions, and we\nhave no means of replenishing our treasury. We shall need to have aid\nfrom some quarter to enable us to meet our present engagements.\u201d[148]\n\nImmediately Brown set out to raise his own funds and for three months\nworked fervently. Just before the Dred Scott Decision he spoke to the\nMassachusetts legislature from which his friends hoped to secure an\nappropriation for Kansas. This failed, and Brown started on a tour in\nNew England. He spoke at his old home and made a contract for securing\none thousand pikes near there. He showed a Kansas bowie-knife and said:\n\u201cSuch a blade as this, mounted upon a strong shaft, or handle, would\nmake a cheap and effective weapon. Our friends in Kansas are without\narms or money to get them; and if I could put such weapons into their\nhands, they could make them very useful. A resolute woman, with such a\npike, could defend her cabin door against man or beast.\u201d[149]\n\nIn Hartford he spoke and said:\n\n\u201cI am trying to raise from twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars in the\nfree states to enable me to continue my efforts in the cause of freedom.\nWill the people of Connecticut, my native state, afford me some aid in\nthis undertaking? Will the gentlemen and ladies of Hartford, where I\nmake my appeal in this state, set the example of an earnest effort? Will\nsome gentleman or lady take hold and try what can be done by small\ncontributions from counties, cities, towns, societies, or churches, or\nin some other way? I think the little beggar children in the street are\nsufficiently interested to warrant their contributing, if there was any\nneed of it, to secure the object.\n\n\u201cI was told that the newspapers in a certain city were dressed in\nmourning on hearing that I was killed and scalped in Kansas, but I did\nnot know of it until I reached the place. Much good it did me. In the\nsame place I met a more cool reception than in any other place where I\nhave stopped. If my friends will hold up my hands while I live, I will\nfreely absolve them from any expense over me when I am dead. I do not\nask for pay, but shall be most grateful for all the assistance I can\nget.\u201d[150]\n\nOn the day that Buchanan was inaugurated and two days before the Dred\nScott Decision, he published a similar appeal in the New York _Tribune_\n\u201cwith no little sacrifice of personal feeling.\u201d Once he writes: \u201cI am\nadvised that one of Uncle Sam\u2019s hounds is on my track, and I have kept\nmyself hid for a few days to let my track get cold. I have no idea of\nbeing taken, and intend (if God will) to go back with irons in, rather\nthan upon, my hands.\u201d[151]\n\nDr. Wayland met him in Worcester where a Frederick Douglass meeting was\nbeing arranged just after Taney\u2019s decision and says: \u201cI called at the\nhouse of Eli Thayer, afterward member of Congress from that district, to\nask him to sit on the platform. Here I found a stranger, a man of tall,\ngaunt form, with a face smooth-shaven, destitute of full beard, that\nlater became a part of history. The children were climbing over his\nknees; he said, \u2018The children always come to me.\u2019 I was then introduced\nto John Brown of Osawatomie. How little one imagined then that in less\nthan three years the name of this plain homespun man would fill America\nand Europe! Mr. Brown consented to occupy a place on the platform, and\nat the urgent request of the audience, spoke briefly. It is one of the\ncurious facts, that many men who _do_ it are utterly unable to _tell_\nabout it. John Brown, a flame of fire in action, was dull in\nspeech.\u201d[152]\n\nLater in the same month Brown accompanied Sanborn and Conway to\nex-Governor Reeder\u2019s home in Pennsylvania to induce him to return to\nKansas, but he declined. April 1st found Brown back in Massachusetts,\nwhere for a week or more he was again in hiding from United States\nofficers, probably among his Negro friends in Springfield. It was in\nApril, too, that he took another step in his plan, namely, toward\nsecuring military training for his band. He stated according to Realf\nthat, \u201cfor twenty or thirty years the idea had possessed him like a\npassion of giving liberty to the slaves; that he made a journey to\nEngland, during which he made a tour upon the European continent,\ninspecting all fortifications, and especially all earthwork forts which\nhe could find, with a view of applying the knowledge thus gained, with\nmodifications and inventions of his own, to a mountain warfare in the\nUnited States. He stated that he had read all the books upon\ninsurrectionary warfare, that he could lay his hands on: the Roman\nwarfare, the successful opposition of the Spanish chieftains during the\nperiod when Spain was a Roman province,\u2014how, with ten thousand men,\ndivided and subdivided into small companies, acting simultaneously, yet\nseparately, they withstood the whole consolidated power of the Roman\nEmpire through a number of years. In addition to this he had become very\nfamiliar with the successful warfare waged by Schamyl, the Circassian\nchief, against the Russians; he had posted himself in relation to the\nwars of Toussaint L\u2019Ouverture; he had become thoroughly acquainted with\nthe wars in Hayti and the islands round about.\u201d[153]\n\nDespite his own knowledge, however, he felt the need of expert advice,\nand meeting a former lieutenant of Garibaldi, one Hugh Forbes, he was\ncaptivated by him, and forthwith hired him to drill his men. Forbes was\nan excitable, ill-balanced Englishman, who had fought in Italy and at\nlast landed penniless in New York. He thought Brown simply an agent of\nwealthy and powerful interests and that the whole North was ready to\nattack slavery. He proposed translating and publishing a manual of\nguerrilla warfare and John Brown gave him $600 for this work. He was\nthen to join the leader and they would together go to the West and\ngather and drill a company. This large outlay left John Brown but little\nin his purse, for, after all, his efforts had been disappointing, and he\ndeparted from New England with a quaint half-sarcastic \u201cFarewell to the\nPlymouth Rocks, Bunker Hill monuments, Charter Oaks and Uncle Tom\u2019s\nCabins.\u201d He wrote:\n\n\u201cHe has left for Kansas; has been trying since he came out of the\nTerritory to secure an outfit, or, in other words, the means of arming\nand thoroughly equipping his regular minutemen, who are mixed up with\nthe people of Kansas. And he leaves the states with the deepest sadness,\nthat after exhausting his own small means, and with his family and with\nhis brave men suffering hunger, cold, nakedness, and some of them\nsickness, wounds, imprisonment in irons with extreme cruel treatment,\nand others death; that, lying on the ground for months in the most\nsickly, unwholesome, and uncomfortable places, some of the time with the\nsick and wounded, destitute of shelter, hunted like wolves, and\nsustained in part by Indians; that after all this, in order to sustain a\ncause which every citizen of this \u2018glorious Republic\u2019 is under equal\nmoral obligation to do, and for the neglect of which he will be held\naccountable by God,\u2014a cause in which every man, woman, and child of the\nentire human family has a deep and awful interest,\u2014that when no wages\nare asked or expected, he cannot secure, amid all wealth, luxury, and\nextravagance of this \u2018heaven-exalted\u2019 people, even the necessary\nsupplies of the common soldier. \u2018How are the mighty fallen!\u2019\n\n\u201cI am destitute of horses, baggage wagons, tents, harness, saddles,\nbridles, holsters, spurs, and belts; camp equipage, such as cooking and\neating utensils, blankets, knapsacks, intrenching tools, axes, shovels,\nspades, mattocks, crowbars; have not a supply of ammunition; have not\nmoney sufficient to pay freight and traveling expenses; and left my\nfamily poorly supplied with common necessaries.\u201d[154]\n\nForbes also disappointed him by his delay, lingering in New York and not\nappearing in Iowa until August. Brown, who had been sick again, was\nnevertheless pushing matters among his Kansas friends. He wrote in June:\n\u201cThere are some half-dozen men I want a visit from at Tabor, Ia., to\ncome off in the most quiet way; ... I have some very important matters\nto confer with some of you about. Let there be no words about it.\u201d[155]\n\nArriving at Tabor early in August, Brown\u2019s first business was to secure\nthe arms voted him. Because of a previous failure to equip emigrants at\npoints further east, the Massachusetts Kansas State Committee had sent\n200 Sharps rifles to Tabor, Ia. Here they were stored in a minister\u2019s\nbarn until John Brown called for and removed them. Hugh Forbes finally\narrived August 9th, bringing with him copies of his \u201cManual for the\nPatriotic Volunteer.\u201d Brown wrote home that he and his son Owen were\n\u201cbeginning to take lessons and have, we think, a capable teacher.\u201d\n\nDifferences, however, soon arose. Forbes wanted $100 per month in\naddition to the $600 previously paid, while Brown apparently considered\nthat he had already advanced a half year\u2019s wage. Then too matters were\non a meaner scale than Forbes had dreamed; there was no money, few\nfollowers and little glory in sight. He felt himself duped; he despised\nBrown\u2019s ability and proposed taking full command himself, projecting\nslave raids into Missouri and other states. Brown was obdurate, and\nearly in November, the foreign tactician suddenly left for the East.\nThis disturbed Brown\u2019s plans. He had intended to establish two or three\nmilitary schools, one in Iowa, one in northern Ohio and one in Canada.\nForbes\u2019s desertion made him determine to give up the Iowa school and\nhasten to Ohio. He therefore passed quickly to Kansas, arriving in the\nvicinity of Lawrence, November 5, 1857.\n\nCook says:\n\n\u201cI met him at the house of E. B. Whitman, about four miles from\nLawrence, K. T., which, I think, was about the first of November\nfollowing. I was told that he intended to organize a company for the\npurpose of putting a stop to the aggressions of the pro-slavery men. I\nagreed to join him and was asked if I knew of any other young men who\nwere perfectly reliable whom I thought would join also. I recommended\nRichard Realf, L. F. Parsons, and R. J. Hinton. I received a note on the\nnext Sunday morning, while at breakfast in the Whitney House, from\nCaptain Brown, requesting me to come up that day, and to bring Realf,\nParsons, and Hinton with me. Realf and Hinton were not in town, and\ntherefore I could not extend to them the invitation. Parsons and myself\nwent and had a long talk with Captain Brown. A few days afterward I\nreceived another note from Captain Brown, which read, as near as I can\nrecollect, as follows:\n\n\u201c\u2018CAPTAIN COOK:\u2014Dear Sir\u2014You will please get everything ready to join me\nat Topeka by Monday night next. Come to Mrs. Sheridan\u2019s, two miles south\nof Topeka, and bring your arms, ammunition, clothing and other articles\nyou may require. Bring Parsons with you if he can get ready in time.\nPlease keep very quiet about this matter. Yours, etc.,\n\n JOHN BROWN.\u2019\n\n\u201cI made all my arrangements for starting at the time appointed. Parsons,\nRealf, and Hinton could not get ready. I left them at Lawrence, and\nstarted in a carriage for Topeka. Stopped at a hotel over night, and\nleft early next morning for Mrs. Sheridan\u2019s to meet Captain Brown. Staid\na day and a half at Mrs. S.\u2019s\u2014then left for Topeka, at which place we\nwere joined by Whipple, Moffett, and Kagi. Left Topeka for Nebraska\nCity, and camped at night on the prairie northeast of Topeka. Here, for\nthe first, I learned that we were to leave Kansas to attend a military\nschool during the winter. It was the intention of the party to go to\nAshtabula County, Ohio.\u201d[156]\n\nIn this way Brown enlisted John E. Cook, whom he had met about the time\nof the turn of the battle of Black Jack; Luke F. Parsons, who was a\nmember of his old Kansas company; and Richard Realf, a newspaper man. At\nTopeka Aaron D. Stevens, a veteran free state fighter, joined, with\nCharles W. Moffett, an Iowa man, and John Henry Kagi, who became his\nright hand. With these six he returned to Tabor, where he found William\nH. Seeman and Charles Plummer Tidd, two of his former followers; Richard\nRichardson, an intelligent Negro fugitive; and his son Owen. This party\nof eleven started hurriedly for Ashtabula, O., late in November.\n\u201cGood-bye,\u201d said John Brown, \u201cyou will hear from me. We\u2019ve had enough\ntalk about \u2018bleeding Kansas.\u2019 I will make a bloody spot at another point\nto be talked about.\u201d[157]\n\nSo the band started and pressed on their lonely way over two hundred and\nfifty miles across the wild wastes of Iowa until they came to the\nvillage of Springdale, about fifty miles from the Missouri. This was a\nlittle settlement intensely anti-slavery in sentiment. Here Brown had\nplanned to stop long enough to sell his teams and then proceed by\nrailroad, eastward. The panic of this year, beginning late in August,\nwas by December in full swing, and he found himself without funds, and\nwith no remittances from the East. He therefore decided to have his men\nspend the winter at Springdale while he went East alone. The Quakers\nreceived them gladly and they were quartered at a farmhouse three miles\nfrom the village, where they paid only a dollar a week for board. The\nwinter passed pleasantly but busily.\n\nStevens was made drill-master; all arose at five, breakfasted, studied\nuntil ten and drilled from ten to twelve. In the afternoon they\npracticed gymnastics and shooting at targets. Five nights in the week a\nmock legislature was held either at the home or in the schoolhouse near\nby. Sometimes Realf and others listened to the townspeople, and there\nwas much visiting. Before John Brown left for the East, he revealed his\nplans in part to his landlord and two other citizens of Springdale.\n\n\u201cSome time toward spring, John Brown came to my house one Sunday\nafternoon,\u201d said this man. \u201cHe informed me that he wished to have some\nprivate talk with me; we went into the parlor. He then told me his plans\nfor the future. He had not then decided to attack the armory at Harper\u2019s\nFerry, but intended to take some fifty to one hundred men into the hills\nnear the Ferry and remain there until he could get together quite a\nnumber of slaves, and then take what conveyances were needed to\ntransport the Negroes and their families to Canada. And in a short time\nafter the excitement had abated, to make a strike in some other Southern\nstate; and to continue on making raids, as opportunity offered, until\nslavery ceased to exist. I did my best to convince him that the\nprobabilities were that all would be killed. He said that, as for\nhimself, he was willing to give his life for the slaves. He told me\nrepeatedly, while talking, that he believed he was an instrument in the\nhands of God through which slavery would be abolished. I said to him:\n\u2018You and your handful of men cannot cope with the whole South.\u2019 His\nreply was: \u2018I tell you, Doctor, it will be the beginning of the end of\nslavery.\u2019 He also told me that but two of his men, Kagi and Stevens,\nknew what his intentions were.\u201d[158]\n\nThe landlord several times sat late into the night arguing with Brown\nabout his plans. Some of the neighbors were persuaded to join the band,\namong them the two Coppocs, and George B. Gill, a Canadian. Stewart\nTaylor also enlisted there. Hinton, however, still supposed the\nbattle-ground would be Kansas. He says:\n\n\u201cThere was no attempt to make a secret of their drilling, and as Gill\nshows and Cook stated in his \u2018confession,\u2019 the neighborhood folks all\nunderstood that this band of earnest young men were preparing for\nsomething far out of the ordinary. Of course Kansas was presumed to be\nthe objective point. But generally the impression prevailed that when\nthe party moved again, it would be somewhere in the direction of the\nslave states. The atmosphere of those days was charged with disturbance.\nIt is difficult to determine how many of the party actually knew that\nJohn Brown designed to invade Virginia. All the testimony goes to show\nthat it is most probable that not until after the assembling at the\nMaryland farm in 1859 was there a full, definite announcement of\nHarper\u2019s Ferry as the objective point. That he fully explained his\npurpose to make reprisals on slavery wherever the opportunity offered is\nwithout question, but except to Owen, who was vowed to work in his early\nyouth, and Kagi, who informed me at Osawatomie in July, 1858, that Brown\ngave him his fullest confidence upon their second interview at Topeka in\n1857, there is every reason to believe that among the men the details of\nthe intended movement were matters of after confidence. My own\nexperience illustrates this. I was absent from Lawrence when John Brown\nrecruited his little company. He had left already for Iowa before I\nreturned. I met Realf just as he was leaving, and we talked without\nreserve, he assuring me that the purpose was just to prepare a fighting\nnucleus for resisting the enforcement of the Lecompton Constitution,\nwhich it was then expected Congress might try to impose upon us. Through\nthis, advantage was to be taken of the agitation to prepare for a\nmovement against slavery in Missouri, Arkansas, the Indian Territory and\npossibly Louisiana. At Kagi\u2019s request (with whom I maintained for nearly\ntwo years an important, if irregular, correspondence), I began a\nsystematic investigation of the conditions, roads and topography of the\nSouthwest, visiting a good deal of the Indian Territory, with portions\nof southwest Missouri, western Arkansas, and northern Texas, also, under\nthe guise of examining railroad routes, etc.\u201d[159]\n\nForbes in the meantime hurried East, nursing his wrath. He had all of a\nforeigner\u2019s difficulty in following the confused threads of another\nnation\u2019s politics at a critical time. He classed Seward, Wilson, Sumner,\nPhillips and John Brown together as anti-slavery men who were ready to\nattack the institution _vi et armis_. This movement which he proposed to\nlead had been started, and then, as he supposed, shamelessly neglected\nby its sponsors while he had been thrust upon the tender mercies of John\nBrown. He was angry and penniless and he intended to have reparation. He\nfirst sought out Frederick Douglass, but was received coldly. He appears\nto have been more successful with McCune Smith and the New York group of\nNegro leaders. He immediately, too, began to address letters to\nprominent Republicans.\n\nJohn Brown was annoyed at Forbes\u2019s behavior but seems at first not to\nhave taken it seriously. He left his men at Springdale, and started East\nin January, arriving at Douglass\u2019s Rochester home in February. Douglass\nsays:\n\n\u201cHe desired to stop with me several weeks, but added, \u2018I will not stay\nunless you will allow me to pay board.\u2019 Knowing that he was no trifler,\nbut meant all he said, and desirous of retaining him under my roof, I\ncharged him three dollars a week. While here he spent most of his time\nin correspondence. He wrote often to George L. Stearns, of Boston,\nGerrit Smith, of Peterboro, and many others, and received many letters\nin return. When he was not writing letters, he was writing and revising\na constitution, which he meant to put in operation by means of the men\nwho should go with him in the mountains. He said that to avoid anarchy\nand confusion there should be a regularly constituted government, which\neach man who came with him should be sworn to honor and support.... His\nwhole time and thought were given to this subject. It was the first\nthing in the morning and the last thing at night till, I confess, it\nbegan to be something of a bore to me. Once in a while he would say he\ncould, with a few resolute men, capture Harper\u2019s Ferry and supply\nhimself with arms belonging to the government at that place; but he\nnever announced his intention to do so.\n\n\u201cIt was, however, very evidently passing in his mind as a thing that he\nmight do. I paid but little attention to such remarks, although I never\ndoubted that he thought just what he said. Soon after his coming to me\nhe asked me to get for him two smoothly planed boards, upon which he\ncould illustrate, with a pair of dividers, by a drawing, the plan of\nfortification which he meant to adopt in the mountains. These forts were\nto be so arranged as to connect one with the other by secret passages,\nso that if one was carried, another could easily be fallen back upon,\nand be the means of dealing death to the enemy at the very moment when\nhe might think himself victorious. I was less interested in these\ndrawings than my children were; but they showed that the old man had an\neye to the means as well as to the end, and was giving his best thought\nto the work he was about to take in hand.\u201d[160]\n\nFrom Rochester went letters sounding his friends, as he was uncertain of\nthe real devotion of the many types of Abolitionists. He wrote Theodore\nParker:\n\n\u201cI am again out of Kansas and at this time concealing my whereabouts;\nbut for very different reasons, however, from those I had for doing so\nat Boston last spring. I have nearly perfected arrangements for carrying\nout an important measure in which the world has a deep interest, as well\nas Kansas; and only lack from five to eight hundred dollars to do\nso,\u2014the same object for which I asked for the secret-service money last\nfall. It is my only errand here; and I have written to some of my mutual\nfriends in regard to it, but they none of them understand my views so\nwell as you do, and I cannot explain without their first committing\nthemselves more than I know of their doing. I have heard that Parker\nPillsbury, and some others in your quarters hold out ideas similar to\nthose on which I act; but I have no personal acquaintance with them, and\nknow nothing of their influence or means. Cannot you either by direct or\nindirect action do something to further me? Do you know of some parties\nwhom you could induce to give their Abolition theories a thoroughly\npractical shape? I hope that this will prove to be the last time I shall\nbe driven to harass a friend in such a way. Do you think any of my\nGarrisonian friends, either at Boston, Worcester, or any other place,\ncan be induced to supply a little \u2018straw,\u2019 if I will absolutely make\n\u2018brick\u2019? I have written George L. Stearns, of Medford, and Mr. F. B.\nSanborn, of Concord; but I am not informed as to how deeply-dyed\nAbolitionists those friends are, and must beg you to consider this\ncommunication strictly confidential, unless you know of parties who will\nfeel and act, and hold their peace. I want to bring the thing about\nduring the next sixty days.\u201d[161]\n\nTo Higginson he wrote: \u201cRailroad business on a somewhat extended scale\nis the identical object for which I am trying to get means. I have been\nconnected with that business, as commonly conducted, from my childhood,\nand never let an opportunity slip. I have been operating to some purpose\nthe past season; but I know I have a measure on foot that I feel sure\nwould awaken in you something more than a common interest if you could\nunderstand it. I have just written to my friends G. L. Stearns, and F.\nB. Sanborn, asking them to meet me for consultation at Peterboro, N. Y.\nI am very anxious to have you come along, as I feel certain that you\nwill never regret having been one of the council.\u201d[162]\n\nThe Boston folk hesitated and suggested that Brown come there. He\ndemurred on account of his being too well known. Finally Sanborn alone\nwent to meet Brown and thus relates his experience:\n\n\u201cAfter dinner, and after a few minutes spent with our guests in the\nparlor, I went with Mr. Smith, John Brown, and my classmate Morton, to\nthe room of Mr. Morton in the third story. Here, in the long winter\nevening which followed, the whole outline of Brown\u2019s campaign in\nVirginia was laid before our little council, to the astonishment and\nalmost the dismay of those present. The constitution which he had drawn\nfor the government of his men, and of such territory as they might\noccupy, was exhibited by Brown, its provisions recited and explained,\nthe proposed movements of his men indicated, and the middle of May was\nnamed as the time of the attack. To begin his hazardous adventure he\nasked for but eight hundred dollars, and would think himself rich with a\nthousand. Being questioned and opposed by his friends, he laid before\nthem in detail his methods of organization and fortification; of\nsettlement in the South, if that were possible, and of retreat through\nthe North, if necessary; and his theory of the way in which such an\ninvasion would be received in the country at large. He desired from his\nfriends a patient hearing of his statements, a candid opinion concerning\nhis plan, and, if that were favorable, then such aid in money and\nsupport as we could give him. We listened until after midnight,\nproposing objections and raising difficulties; but nothing could shake\nthe purpose of the old Puritan. Every difficulty had been foreseen and\nprovided against in some manner; the grand difficulty of all,\u2014the\nmanifest hopelessness of undertaking anything so vast with such slender\nmeans,\u2014was met with the text of Scripture: \u2018If God be for us, who can be\nagainst us?\u2019 He had made nearly all his arrangements: he had so many men\nenlisted, so many hundred weapons; all he now wanted was the small sum\nof money. With that he would open his campaign in the spring, and he had\nno doubt that the enterprise \u2018would pay\u2019 as he said.\n\n\u201cOn the 23d of February the discussion was renewed, and, as usually\nhappened when he had time enough, Captain Brown began to prevail over\nthe objections of his friends. At any rate, they saw that they must\neither stand by him, or leave him to dash himself alone against the\nfortress he was determined to assault. To withhold aid would only delay,\nnot prevent him; nothing short of betraying him to the enemy would do\nthat. As the sun was setting over the snowy hills of the region where we\nmet, I walked for an hour with Gerrit Smith among those woods and fields\n(then included in his broad manor) which his father had purchased of the\nIndians and bequeathed to him. Brown was left at home by the fire,\ndiscussing the points of theology with Charles Stewart, an old captain\nunder Wellington, who also happened to be visiting at the house. Mr.\nSmith restated in his eloquent way the daring propositions of Brown,\nwhose import he understood fully; and then said in substance: \u2018You see\nhow it is; our dear old friend has made up his mind to this course, and\ncannot be turned from it. We cannot give him up to die alone; we must\nsupport him. I will raise so many hundred dollars for him; you must lay\nthe case before your friends in Massachusetts and perhaps they will do\nthe same. I see no other way.\u2019 For myself, I had reached the same\nconclusion, and engaged to bring the scheme at once to the attention of\nthe three Massachusetts men to whom Brown had written, and also of Dr.\nS. G. Howe, who had sometimes favored action almost as extreme as this\nproposed by Brown. I returned to Boston on the 25th of February, and on\nthe same day communicated the enterprise to Theodore Parker and\nWentworth Higginson. At the suggestion of Parker, Brown, who had gone to\nBrooklyn, N. Y., was invited to visit Boston secretly, and did so on the\n4th of March, taking a room at the American House, in Hanover Street,\nand remaining for the most part in his room during the four days of his\nstay. Mr. Parker was deeply interested in the project, but not very\nsanguine of its success. He wished to see it tried, believing that it\nmust do good even if it failed. Brown remained at the American House\nuntil Monday, March 8th, when he departed for Philadelphia.\u201d\n\nOn the 6th of March he wrote to his son John from Boston: \u201cMy call here\nhas met with a hearty response, so that I feel assured of at least\ntolerable success. I ought to be thankful for this. All has been\neffected by quiet meeting of a few choice friends, it being scarcely\nknown that I have been in the city.\u201d[163]\n\nLeaving the money-raising to Sanborn and Smith, Brown turned to his\nNegro friends, saying to his eldest son, meantime: \u201cI have been thinking\nthat I would like to have you make a trip to Bedford, Chambersburg,\nGettysburg, and Uniontown in Pennsylvania, traveling slowly along, and\ninquiring of every man on the way, or every family of the right stripe,\nand getting acquainted with them as much as you could. When you look at\nthe location of those places, you will readily perceive the advantage of\ngetting some acquaintance in those parts.\u201d[164]\n\nAnd then he wrote two touching letters; one to his eldest daughter and\none to his staunch friend, Sanborn.\n\nTo Ruth Brown he wrote: \u201cThe anxiety I feel to see my wife and children\nonce more I am unable to describe. I want exceedingly to see my big baby\nRuth\u2019s baby, and to see how that little company of sheep look about this\ntime. The cries of my poor sorrow-strieken, despairing children, whose\n\u2018tears on their cheeks\u2019 are ever in my eyes, and whose sighs are ever in\nmy ears, may however prevent my enjoying the happiness I so much desire.\nBut, courage, courage, courage!\u2014the great work of my life (the unseen\nhand that \u2018guided me, and who had indeed holden my right hand, may hold\nit still,\u2019 though I have not known Him at all as I ought) I may yet see\naccomplished (God helping), and be permitted to return, and \u2018rest at\nevening.\u2019\n\n\u201cOh, my daughter Ruth! Could any plan be devised whereby you could let\nHenry go \u2018to school\u2019 (as you expressed it in your letter to him while in\nKansas), I would rather now have him \u2018for another term\u2019 than to have a\nhundred average scholars. I have a particular and very important, but\nnot dangerous, place for him to fill in the \u2018school,\u2019 and I know of no\nman living so well adapted to fill it. I am quite confident some way can\nbe devised so that you and your children could be with him, and be quite\nhappy even, and safe; but God forbid me to flatter you in trouble!\u201d[165]\n\nTo his friend Sanborn he said: \u201cI believe when you come to look at the\nample field I labor in, and the rich harvest which not only this entire\ncountry but the whole world during the present and future generations\nmay reap from its successful cultivation, you will feel that you are in\nit, an entire unit. What an inconceivable amount of good you might so\neffect by your counsel, your example, your encouragement, your natural\nand acquired ability for active service! And then, how very little we\ncan possibly lose! Certainly the cause is enough to live for, if not\nto\u2014for. I have only had this one opportunity, in a life of nearly sixty\nyears; and could I be continued ten times as long again, I might not\nagain have another equal opportunity. God has honored but comparatively\na very small part of mankind with any possible chance for such mighty\nand soul-satisfying rewards. But, my dear friend, if you should make up\nyour mind to do so, I trust it will be wholly from the promptings of\nyour own spirit, after having thoroughly counted the cost. I would\nflatter no man into such a measure, if I could do it ever so easily.\n\n\u201cI expect nothing but to endure hardness; but I expect to effect a\nmighty conquest, even though it be like the last victory of Samson. I\nfelt for a number of years, in earlier life, a steady, strong desire to\ndie; but since I saw any prospect of becoming a \u2018reaper\u2019 in the great\nharvest, I have not only felt quite willing to live, but have enjoyed\nlife much; and am now rather anxious to live for a few years more.\u201d[166]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n THE BLACK PHALANX\n\n \u201cAwake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion.\u201d\n\n\nThe decade 1830 to 1840 was one of the severest seasons of trial through\nwhich the black American ever passed. The great economic change which\nmade slavery the corner-stone of the cotton kingdom was definitely\nfinished and all the subtle moral adjustments which follow were in full\naction. New immigrants took advantage of the growing prejudice which\nfound a profitable place for the Negro in slavery, and was determined to\nkeep him in it. They began to crowd the free Northern Negro in a fierce\neconomic battle. With a precarious social foothold, little economic\norganization, and no support in public opinion, the Northern free Negro\nwas forced to yield. In Philadelphia from 1829 to 1849 six mobs of\nhoodlums and foreigners cowed and murdered the Negroes. In the Middle\nWest and, especially in Ohio, severe Black Laws had been enacted in 1804\nto 1807 providing that (_a_) No Negro should be allowed to settle in\nOhio unless he could within twenty days give bond to the amount of $500\nsigned by two bondsmen, who should guarantee his good behavior and\nsupport; (_b_) The fine for harboring or concealing a fugitive was at\nfirst $50, then $100, one-half to go to the informer and one-half to the\noverseer of the poor in the district; (_c_) No Negro was allowed to give\nevidence in any case where a white man was a party.[167]\n\nThese laws, however, were dead letters until 1829, when increased Negro\nimmigration induced the Cincinnati authorities to enforce them. The\nNegroes obtained a respite of thirty days and sent a deputation to\nCanada. They were absent for sixty days, and when the whites saw no\neffort to enforce the law further, they organized a riot. For three days\nNegroes were killed in the streets until they barricaded their homes and\nshot back. Meantime the governor of upper Canada sent word that he\n\u201cwould extend to them a cordial welcome.\u201d He said: \u201cTell the republicans\non your side of the line that we royalists do not know men of their\ncolor. Should you come to us you will be entitled to all the privileges\nof the rest of His Majesty\u2019s subjects.\u201d[168]\n\nOn receipt of this, fully two thousand Negroes went to Canada and\nfounded Wilberforce; while a national convention of Negroes was called\nin Philadelphia in 1830\u2014the first of its kind. This convention at an\nadjourned session in 1831 addressed the public as follows:\n\n\u201cThe cause of general emancipation is gaining powerful and able friends\nabroad. Britain and Denmark have performed such deeds as will\nimmortalize them for their humanity, in the breasts of the\nphilanthropists of the present day; whilst as a just tribute to their\nvirtues, after-ages will yet erect imperishable monuments to their\nmemory. (Would to God we could say thus of our own native soil.)\n\n\u201cAnd it is only when we look to our own native land, to the birthplace\nof our fathers, to the land for whose prosperity their blood and our\nsweat have been shed and cruelty extorted, that the convention has had\ncause to hang its head and blush. Laws as cruel in themselves as they\nwere unconstitutional and unjust, have in many places been enacted\nagainst our poor unfriended and unoffending brethren; laws (without a\nshadow of provocation on our part) at whose bare recital the very savage\ndraws him up for fear of the contagion, looks noble, and prides himself\nbecause he bears not the name of a Christian. But the convention would\nnot wish to dwell long on this subject, as it is one that is too\nsensibly felt to need description....\n\n\u201cThis spirit of persecution was the cause of our convention. It was this\nthat induced us to seek an asylum in the Canadas; and the convention\nfeels happy to report to its brethren, that our efforts to establish a\nsettlement in that province have not been made in vain. Our prospects\nare cheering; our friends and funds are daily increasing; wonders have\nbeen performed far exceeding our most sanguine expectations; already\nhave our brethren purchased eight hundred acres of land\u2014and two thousand\nof them have left the soil of their birth, crossed the lines, and laid\nthe foundation for a structure which promises to prove an asylum for the\ncolored population of these United States. They have erected two hundred\nlog-houses, and have five hundred acres under cultivation.\u201d\n\nA college \u201con the manual labor system\u201d was planned: \u201cFor the present\nignorant and degraded condition of many of our brethren in these United\nStates (which has been a subject of much concern to the convention) can\nexcite no astonishment (although used by our enemies to show our\ninferiority in the scale of human beings); for, what opportunities have\nthey possessed for mental cultivation or improvement? Mere ignorance,\nhowever, in a people divested of the means of acquiring information by\nbooks, or an extensive connection with the world, is no just criterion\nof their intellectual incapacity; and it has been actually seen, in\nvarious remarkable instances, that the degradation of the mind and\ncharacter, which has been too hastily imputed to a people kept, as we\nare, at a distance from those sources of knowledge which abound in\ncivilized and enlightened communities, has resulted from no other causes\nthan our unhappy situation and circumstances.\u201d[169]\n\nThe convention met again in 1833 and resolved on further plans for\nsettling in Canada. These conventions continued to assemble annually for\nfive years, when they were succeeded by the convention of the American\nMoral Reform Society which met two years longer. Meantime Nat Turner had\nterrorized Virginia and the South and sent a wave of repression over the\nNorth that led to the disfranchisement of Pennsylvania Negroes in 1837.\n\nNotwithstanding all this the Negroes were struggling on. Beside the\ngeneral conventions arose the Ph\u0153nix Societies, which \u201cplanned an\norganization of the colored people in their municipal subdivisions with\nthe special object of the promotion of their improvement in morals,\nliterature and the mechanic arts.\u201d Lewis Tappan refers to them in his\nbiography. The \u201cMental Feast,\u201d which was a social feature, survived\nthirty years later in some of the interior towns of Pennsylvania and the\nWest.[170]\n\nThe first Negro paper, _Freedom\u2019s Journal_, had been established in 1827\nand organizations like the Massachusetts General Colored Association\nwere co\u00f6perating with the Abolitionists. The news of emancipation in the\nBritish West Indies cheered the Negroes, and indeed without the long\neffective and self-sacrificing efforts of the Northern freed Negroes,\nthe Abolition movement in the United States could not have been\nsuccessful. Garrison\u2019s first subscriber to _The Liberator_ was a black\nman of Philadelphia, and before and after the Negroes were admitted to\nmembership in the anti-slavery societies, their aid was invaluable. In\nthe West, despite proscription, a fight for schools was carried on from\n1830 to 1840, which finally resulted in a wide system of Negro schools\npartially supported by public funds. Toward 1840 signs of promise began\ngradually to appear. A West Indian endowed a Negro school in\nPhiladelphia in 1837. The Negro population increased from two and\none-third to two and nine-tenths millions in the decade, and evidences\nof economic success were seen among the free Negroes. Philadelphia had\nin 1838 one hundred small beneficial societies; Ohio Negroes owned ten\nthousand acres of land in 1840, while the Canada refugees were beginning\nto prosper. The mutiny on the _Creole_, the establishment of the Negro\nOdd Fellows, and the doubling, in ten years, of the membership of the\nAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church, all pointed to an awakening after\nthe long period of distress.\n\nThe decade of 1840 to 1850 was a new era\u2014an era of self-assertion and\nrapid advance for the free Northern Negro. For the first time conscious\nleadership of undoubted ability appeared. In Boston there was De Grasse,\na physician, trained in this country and in France and a member of the\nMassachusetts Medical Society. Robert Morris was a member of the bar, as\nwas E. R. Walker, whose \u201cAppeal\u201d in 1829 startled the country. William\nWells Brown and William Nell were writing, while Charles Lennox Remond\nwas one of the first of the Abolition orators. In New York were the\ngifted preacher, Henry Highland Garnet; the teachers, Reason and\nPeterson who made the Negro schools effective; and the physician, McCune\nSmith, one of the best trained men of his day. In Philadelphia were\nRobert Purvis, the Abolitionist; William Still, of the Underground\nRailroad; the three men who made the catering business\u2014Dorsey, Jones and\nMinton; and the rich Negro lumber merchant, Stephen Smith, whose\nmagnificent endowment for aged Negroes stands to-day at the corner of\nGirard and Belmont Avenues and is valued at $400,000. In western\nPennsylvania were Vashon and Woodson, and in the West were Day,\nlibrarian of the Cleveland library; the three Langstons of Oberlin, and\nthe merchants Boyd and Wilcox of Cincinnati. Elsewhere appeared the\nunlettered, but brave and shrewd leaders of the fugitive slaves. It is\nsaid that 500 black messengers of this sort were passing backward and\nforward between the slave and the free states in this decade, and\nnoticeable among them were Harriet Tubman and Josiah Henson, who brought\nthousands to the North and to Canada. Foremost of all came Frederick\nDouglass, born in 1817 and reborn to freedom in 1838. He made his first\nspeech in 1841 and took a prominent part in the anti-slavery campaign of\nthe next decade. In 1845\u20136, he was in England and, returning in 1847, he\nestablished his paper and met John Brown. From that time on he was\nBrown\u2019s chief Negro confidant, and in his house Brown\u2019s Eastern campaign\nwas started and largely carried on. The churches also were training men\nin social leadership in the persons of their bishops, like John Brown\u2019s\nfriend Loguen and the noble Daniel Payne.\n\nAbout 1847 new life appeared in the free Negro group. The Odd Fellows,\nunder Peter Ogden, maintained their independence against aggressions of\nthe whites, and the first of a new series of national colored\nconventions assembled at Troy, N. Y. \u201cThe first article in the first\nnumber of Frederick Douglass\u2019s _North Star_, published January, 1848,\nwas an extended notice of this convention held at the Liberty Street\nChurch, Troy, N. Y., 1847.\u201d\n\nThe next year, 1848, Cleveland welcomed a similar national convention.\nNearly seventy delegates assembled there on September 6th, \u201cthe sessions\nalternating between the Court-House and the Tabernacle. Frederick\nDouglass was chosen president. As in previous conventions education was\nencouraged, the importance of statistical information stated and\ntemperance societies urged.\u201d[171]\n\nThe representative character of the delegates was shown by the fact that\nprinters, carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, engineers, dentists,\ngunsmiths, farmers, physicians, plasterers, masons, college students,\nclergymen, barbers, hair-dressers, laborers, coopers, livery-stable\nkeepers, bath-house keepers and grocers were among the members who were\npresent.[172]\n\nThe same year Frederick Douglass attended a Free Soil convention at\nBuffalo, N. Y., and writes: \u201cI was not the only colored man well known\nto the country who was present at this convention. Samuel Ringgold Ward,\nHenry Highland Garnet, Charles L. Remond, and Henry Bibb were there and\nmade speeches which were received with surprise and gratification by the\nthousands there assembled. As a colored man I felt greatly encouraged\nand strengthened for my cause while listening to these men, in the\npresence of the ablest men of the Caucasian race. Mr. Ward especially\nattracted attention at that convention. As an orator and thinker he was\nvastly superior, I thought, to any of us, and being perfectly black and\nof unmixed African descent, the splendors of his intellect went directly\nto the glory of race. In depth of thought, fluency of speech, readiness\nof wit, logical exactness, and general intelligence, Samuel R. Ward has\nleft no successor among the colored men amongst us, and it was a sad day\nfor our cause when he was laid low in the soil of a foreign\ncountry.\u201d[173]\n\nThe next decade opened with over three and one-half millions of Negroes\nin the United States\u2014an enormous increase since 1840\u2014and a remarkable\nindication of virility and prosperity despite the new Fugitive Slave\nLaw. The Canadian Negroes were being organized in the Elgin and other\nsettlements, the colored Baptists reported 150,000 members, and the\nNegroes of New York, replying to the Black Law recommendations of\nGovernor Ward Hunt, proved unincumbered ownership of $1,160,000 worth of\nproperty. The escape of fugitive slaves was now systematized in the\nUnderground Railroad and in the secret organization known to outsiders\nvariously as the \u201cLeague of Freedom,\u201d \u201cLiberty League,\u201d or \u201cAmerican\nMysteries.\u201d To these were added the fourteen Canadian \u201cTrue Bands\u201d with\nseveral hundred members each.\n\nState conventions were called in many instances, and the most\nrepresentative and intelligent national convention held up to that time\nmet in Rochester, N. Y., Douglass\u2019s home, in 1853. This convention\ndeveloped definite opposition to any hope of permanent relief for the\ncolored freeman through schemes of emigration. On the contrary, it\ndirected its energies to affirmative constructive action and planned\nthree measures:\n\n(1) An industrial college \u201con the manual labor plan.\u201d Harriet Beecher\nStowe, who was to make a visit to England at the instance of friends in\nthat country, was authorized to receive funds in the name of the colored\npeople of the country for that purpose. \u201cThe successful establishment\nand conduct of such an institution of learning would train youth to be\nself-reliant and skilled workmen, fitted to hold their own in the\nstruggle of life on the conditions prevailing here.\u201d\n\n(2) A registry of colored mechanics, artisans, and business men\nthroughout the Union, and also, \u201cof all the persons willing to employ\ncolored men in business, to teach colored boys mechanic trades, liberal\nand scientific professions and farming; also a registry of colored men\nand youth seeking employment or instruction.\u201d\n\n(3) A committee on publication \u201cto collect all facts, statistics and\nstatements; all laws and historical records and biographies of the\ncolored people and all books by colored authors.\u201d This committee was\nfurther authorized \u201cto publish replies of any assaults worthy of note,\nmade upon the character or condition of the colored people.\u201d[174]\n\nThe radical stand of this assembly against emigration caused a call for\na distinct emigration Negro convention in 1854. This convention was held\nunder the presidency of the same man who afterward presided at the\nChatham conclave of John Brown, and with some of the same Negroes\npresent. The account of it continues:\n\n\u201cThere were three parties in the emigration convention, ranged according\nto the foreign fields they preferred to emigrate to. Dr. Delaney headed\nthe party that desired to go to the Niger Valley in Africa, Whitfield\nthe party which preferred to go to Central America, and Holly the party\nwhich preferred to go to Haiti.\n\n\u201cAll these parties were recognized and embraced by the convention. Dr.\nDelaney was given a commission to go to Africa, in the Niger Valley,\nWhitfield to go to Central America, and Holly to Haiti, to enter into\nnegotiations with the authorities of these various countries for Negro\nemigrants and to report to future conventions. Holly was the first to\nexecute his mission, going down to Haiti in 1855, when he entered into\nrelations with the Minister of the Interior, the father of the late\nPresident Hyppolite, and by him was presented to Emperor Faustin I. The\nnext emigration convention was held at Chatham, Canada West, in 1856,\nwhen the report on Haiti was made. Dr. Delaney went off on his mission\nto the Niger Valley, Africa, via England, in 1858. There he concluded a\ntreaty signed by himself and eight kings, offering inducements to Negro\nemigrants to their territories. Whitfield went to California, intending\nlater to go thence to Central America, but died in San Francisco before\nhe could do so. Meanwhile [James] Redpath went to Haiti as a John\nBrownist after the Harper\u2019s Ferry raid, and reaped the first fruits of\nHolly\u2019s mission by being appointed Haitian Commissioner of Emigration in\nthe United States by the Haitian government, but with the express\ninjunction that Rev. Holly should be called to co\u00f6perate with him. On\nRedpath\u2019s arrival in the United States, he tendered Rev. Holly a\ncommission from the Haitian government at $1,000 per annum and traveling\nexpenses to engage emigrants to go to Haiti. The first load of emigrants\nwere from Philadelphia in 1861.\u201d[175]\n\nIn 1853 when the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed, Negroes like\nPurvis and Barbadoes, trained in the Negro convention movement, were\namong its founders. By 1856 the African Methodist Church had 20,000\nmembers and $425,000 worth of property.\n\nOf all this development John Brown knew far more than most white men and\nit was on this great knowledge that his great faith was based. To most\nAmericans the inner striving of the Negro was a veiled and an unknown\ntale: they had heard of Douglass, they knew of fugitive slaves, but of\nthe living, organized, struggling group that made both these phenomena\npossible they had no conception.\n\nFrom his earliest interest in Negroes, John Brown sought to know\nindividuals among them intimately and personally. He invited them to his\nhome and he went to theirs. He talked to them, and listened to the\nhistory of their trials, advised them and took advice from them. His\ndream was to enlist the boldest and most daring spirits among them in\nhis great plan.\n\nWhen, therefore, John Brown came East in January, 1858, his object was\nnot simply to further his campaign for funds, but more especially\ndefinitely to organize the Negroes for his work. Already he had\ndisclosed his intentions to Thomas Thomas of Springfield and to\nFrederick Douglass. He now determined to enlist a larger number and he\nparticularly had in mind the Negroes of New York and Philadelphia, and\nthose in Canada. At no time, however, did John Brown plan to begin his\nforay with many Negroes. He knew that he must gain the confidence of\nblack men first by a successful stroke, and that after initial success\nhe could count on large numbers. His object then was to interest a few\nleaders like Douglass, organize societies with wide ramifications, and\nafter the first raid to depend on these societies for aid and recruits.\n\nDuring his stay with Douglass in February, 1858, he wrote to many\ncolored leaders: Henry Highland Garnet and James N. Gloucester in New\nYork; John Jones in Chicago, and J. W. Loguen of the Zion Church. The\naddresses of Downing of Rhode Island, and Martin R. Delaney were also\nnoted. On February 23d, after he had been in Boston and Peterboro he\nnotes writing to Loguen, one of the closest of his Negro friends: \u201cThink\nI shall be ready to go with him [to Canada] by the first of March or\nabout that time.\u201d[176]\n\nOn March 10th, John Brown and his eldest son, Henry Highland Garnet,\nWilliam Still and others met at the house of Stephen Smith, the rich\nNegro lumber merchant, of 921 Lombard Street, Philadelphia. Brown seems\nto have stayed nearly a week in that city, and probably had long\nconferences with all the chief Philadelphia Negro leaders. On March\n18th, he was in New Haven where he wrote Frederick Douglass and J. W.\nLoguen, saying: \u201cI expect to be on the way by the 28th or 30th inst.\u201d\nAfter a flying visit home, involving a long walk to save expense, he\nappeared again at Douglass\u2019s in April. Gloucester collected a little\nmoney for him in New York and he probably received some in Philadelphia;\nat last he turned his face toward Canada.\n\nHe had long wished to see Canada, and had planned a visit as far back as\n1846. Hither he had sent one of the earliest of his North Elba refugees,\nWalter Hawkins, who became Bishop of the British African Church. On\nApril 8th, John Brown writes his son: \u201cI came on here direct with J. W.\nLoguen the day after you left Rochester. I am succeeding, to all\nappearance, beyond my expectations. Harriet Tubman hooked on his whole\nteam at once. He (Harriet) is the most of a man, naturally, that I ever\nmet with. There is the most abundant material, and of the right quality,\nin this quarter, beyond all doubt. Do not forget to write Mr. Case (near\nRochester) at once about hunting up every person and family of the\nreliable kind about, at, or near Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, and\nCarlisle, in Pennsylvania, and also Hagerstown and vicinity, Maryland,\nand Harper\u2019s Ferry, Va.\u201d[177]\n\nHe stayed at St. Catherines until the 14th or 15th, chiefly in\nconsultation with that wonderful woman, Harriet Tubman, and sheltered in\nher home. Harriet Tubman was a full-blooded African, born a slave on the\neastern shore of Maryland in 1820. When a girl she was injured by having\nan iron weight thrown on her head by an overseer, an injury that gave\nher wild, half-mystic ways with dreams, rhapsodies and trances. In her\nearly womanhood she did the rudest and hardest man\u2019s work, driving,\ncarting and plowing. Finally the slave family was broken up in 1849,\nwhen she ran away. Then began her wonderful career as a rescuer of\nfugitive slaves. Back and forth she traveled like some dark ghost until\nshe had personally led over three hundred blacks to freedom, no one of\nwhom was ever lost while in her charge. A reward of $10,000 for her,\nalive or dead, was offered, but she was never taken. A dreamer of dreams\nas she was, she ever \u201claid great stress on a dream which she had had\njust before she met Captain Brown in Canada. She thought she was in \u2018a\nwilderness sort of place, all full of rocks, and bushes,\u2019 when she saw a\nserpent raise its head among the rocks, and as it did so, it became the\nhead of an old man with a long white beard, gazing at her, \u2018wishful\nlike, jes as ef he war gwine to speak to me,\u2019 and then two other heads\nrose up beside him, younger than he,\u2014and as she stood looking at them,\nand wondering what they could want with her, a great crowd of men rushed\nin and struck down the younger heads, and then the head of the old man,\nstill looking at her so \u2018wishful!\u2019 This dream she had again and again,\nand could not interpret it; but when she met Captain Brown, shortly\nafter, behold he was the very image of the head she had seen. But still\nshe could not make out what her dream signified, till the news came to\nher of the tragedy of Harper\u2019s Ferry, and then she knew the two other\nheads were his two sons.\u201d[178]\n\nIn this woman John Brown placed the utmost confidence. Wendell Phillips\nsays: \u201cThe last time I ever saw John Brown was under my own roof, as he\nbrought Harriet Tubman to me, saying: \u2018Mr. Phillips, I bring you one of\nthe best and bravest persons on this continent\u2014General Tubman, as we\ncall her.\u2019 He then went on to recount her labors and sacrifices in\nbehalf of her race.\u201d[179]\n\nOnly sickness, brought on by her toil and exposure, prevented Harriet\nTubman from being present at Harper\u2019s Ferry.\n\nFrom St. Catherines John Brown went to Ingersoll, Hamilton and Chatham.\nHe also visited Toronto, holding meetings with Negroes in Temperance\nHall, and at the house of the \u201clate Mr. Holland, a colored man, on Queen\nStreet West. On one occasion Captain Brown remained as a guest with his\nfriend, Dr. A. M. Ross, who is distinguished as a naturalist, as well as\nan intrepid Abolitionist, who risked his life on several occasions in\nexcursions into the South to enable slaves to flee to Canada!\u201d[180]\n\nHaving finally perfected plans for a convention, Brown hurried back to\nIowa for his men. During his three months\u2019 absence they had been working\nand drilling in the Quaker settlement of Springdale, Ia., as most\npersons supposed, for future troubles in \u201cbleeding Kansas.\u201d On John\nBrown\u2019s arrival they all hurriedly packed up\u2014Owen Brown, Realf, Kagi,\nCook, Stevens, Tidd, Leeman, Moffett, Parsons, and the colored man\nRichardson, together with their recruits, Gill and Taylor. The Coppocs\nwere to come later. \u201cThe leave-taking between them and the people of\nSpringdale was one of tears. Ties which had been knitting through many\nweeks were sundered, and not only so, but the natural sorrow at parting\nwas intensified by the consciousness of all that the future was full of\nhazard for Brown and his followers. Before quitting the house and home\nof Mr. Maxon, where they had spent so long a time, each of Brown\u2019s band\nwrote his name in pencil on the wall of the parlor, where the writing\nstill can be seen by the interested traveler.\u201d They all immediately\nstarted for Canada by way of Chicago and Detroit. At Chicago they had to\nwait twelve hours, and the first hotel refused to accommodate Richardson\nat the breakfast table. John Brown immediately sought another place. The\ncompany arrived shortly in Chatham and stopped at a hotel kept by Mr.\nBarber, a colored man. While at Chatham, John Brown, as Anderson\nrelates, \u201cmade a profound impression upon those who saw or became\nacquainted with him. Some supposed him to be a staid but modernized\n\u2018Quaker\u2019; others a solid business man, from \u2018somewhere,\u2019 and without\nquestion a philanthropist. His long white beard, thoughtful and reverent\nbrow and physiognomy, his sturdy, measured tread, as he circulated about\nwith hands, portrayed in the best lithograph, under the pendant\ncoat-skirt of plain brown tweed, with other garments to match, revived\nto those honored with his acquaintance and knowing his history the\nmemory of a Puritan of the most exalted type.\u201d[181]\n\nJohn Brown\u2019s choice of Canada as a centre of Negro culture, was wise.\nThere were nearly 50,000 Negroes there, and the number included many\nenergetic, intelligent and brave men, with some wealth. Settlements had\ngrown up, farms had been bought, schools established and an intricate\nsocial organization begun. Negroes like Henson had been loyally assisted\nby white men like King, and fugitives were welcomed and succored. Near\nBuxton, where King and the Elgin Association were working, was Chatham,\nthe chief town of the county of Kent, with a large Negro population of\nfarmers, merchants and mechanics; they had a graded school, Wilberforce\nInstitute, several churches, a newspaper, a fire-engine company and\nseveral organizations for social intercourse and uplift. One of the\ninhabitants said:\n\n\u201cMr. Brown did not overestimate the state of education of the colored\npeople. He knew that they would need leaders, and require training. His\ngreat hope was that the struggle would be supported by volunteers from\nCanada, educated and accustomed to self-government. He looked on our\nfugitives as picked men of sufficient intelligence, which, combined with\na hatred for the South, would make them willing abettors of any\nenterprise destined to free their race.\u201d\n\nThere were many white Abolitionists near by, but they distrusted Brown\nand in this way he gained less influence among the Negroes than he\notherwise might have had. Martin R. Delaney, who was a fervid African\nemigrationist, was just about to start to Africa, bearing the mandate of\nthe last Negro convention, when John Brown appeared. \u201cOn returning home\nfrom a professional visit in the country, Mrs. Delaney informed him that\nan old gentleman had called to see him during his absence. She described\nhim as having a long, white beard, very gray hair, a sad but placid\ncountenance. In speech he was peculiarly solemn. She added, \u2018He looked\nlike one of the old prophets. He would neither come in nor leave his\nname, but promised to be back in two weeks\u2019 time.\u2019\u201d\n\nFinally Delaney met John Brown who said:\n\n\u201c\u2018I come to Chatham expressly to see you, this being my third visit on\nthe errand. I must see you at once, sir,\u2019 he continued, with emphasis,\n\u2018and that, too, in private, as I have much to do and but little time\nbefore me. If I am to do nothing here, I want to know it at once.\u2019\u201d\n\nDelaney continues:\n\n\u201cGoing directly to the private parlor of a hotel near by, he at once\nrevealed to me that he desired to carry out a great project in his\nscheme of Kansas emigration, which, to be successful, must be aided and\ncountenanced by the influence of a general convention or council. That\nhe was unable to effect in the United States, but had been advised by\ndistinguished friends of his and mine, that, if he could but see me, his\nobject could be attained at once. On my expressing astonishment at the\nconclusion to which my friends and himself had arrived, with a nervous\nimpatience, he exclaimed, \u2018Why should you be surprised? Sir, the people\nof the Northern states are cowards; slavery has made cowards of them\nall. The whites are afraid of each other, and the blacks are afraid of\nthe whites. You can effect nothing among such people,\u2019 he added, with\ndecided emphasis. On assuring him if a council was all that was desired,\nhe could readily obtain it, he replied, \u2018That is all; but that is a\ngreat deal to me. It is men I want, and not money; money I can get\nplentiful enough, but no men. Money can come without being seen, but men\nare afraid of identification with me, though they favor my measures.\nThey are cowards, sir! Cowards!\u2019 he reiterated. He then fully revealed\nhis designs. With these I found no fault, but fully favored and aided in\ngetting up the convention.\u201d[182]\n\nMeantime John Brown proceeded carefully to sound public opinion, got the\nviews of others, and, while revealing few of his own plans, set about\ngetting together a body who were willing to ratify his general aims. He\nconsulted the leading Negroes in private, and called a series of small\nconferences to thresh out preliminary difficulties. In these meetings\nand in the personal visits, many points arose and were settled. A member\nof the convention says:\n\n\u201cOne evening the question came up as to what flag should be used; our\nEnglish colored subjects, who had been naturalized, said they would\nnever think of fighting under the hated \u2018Stars and Stripes.\u2019 Too many of\nthem thought they carried their emblem on their backs. But Brown said\nthe old flag was good enough for him; under it freedom had been won from\nthe tyrants of the Old World, for white men; now he intended to make it\ndo duty for the black men. He declared emphatically that he would not\ngive up the Stars and Stripes. That settled the question.\n\n\u201cSome one proposed admitting women as members, but Brown strenuously\nopposed this, and warned the members not to intimate, even to their\nwives, what was done.\n\n\u201cOne day in my shop I told him how utterly hopeless his plans would be\nif he persisted in making an attack with the few at his command, and\nthat we could not afford to spare white men of his stamp, ready to\nsacrifice their lives for the salvation of black men. While I was\nspeaking, Mr. Brown walked to and fro, with his hands behind his back,\nas was his custom when thinking on his favorite subject. He stopped\nsuddenly and bringing down his right hand with great force, exclaimed:\n\u2018Did not my Master Jesus Christ come down from Heaven and sacrifice\nHimself upon the altar for the salvation of the race, and should I, a\nworm, not worthy to crawl under His feet, refuse to sacrifice myself?\u2019\nWith a look of determination, he resumed his walk. In all the\nconversations I had with him during his stay in Chatham of nearly a\nmonth, I never once saw a smile light upon his countenance. He seemed to\nbe always in deep and earnest thought.\u201d[183]\n\nThe preliminary meeting was held in a frame cottage on Princess Street,\nsouth of King Street, then known as the \u201cKing Street High School.\u201d Some\nmeetings were also held in the First Baptist Church on King Street. In\norder to mislead the inquisitive, it was pretended that the persons\nassembling were organizing a Masonic Lodge of colored people. The\nimportant proceedings took place in \u201cNo. 3 Engine House,\u201d a wooden\nbuilding near McGregor\u2019s Creek, erected by Mr. Holden and other colored\nmen.\n\nThe regular invitations were issued on the fifth:\n\n \u201c_Chatham, Canada, May 5, 1858._\n\n \u201cMY DEAR FRIEND:\n\n \u201cI have called a quiet convention in this place of true friends of\n freedom. Your attendance is earnestly requested....\n\n \u201cYour friend,\n \u201cJOHN BROWN.\u201d\n\nThe convention was called together at 10 A. M., Saturday, May 8th, and\nopened without ceremony. There were present the following Negroes:\nWilliam Charles Monroe, a Baptist clergyman, formerly president of the\nemigration convention and elected president of this assembly; Martin R.\nDelaney, afterward major in the United States Army in the Civil War;\nAlfred Whipper, of Pennsylvania; William Lambert and I. D. Shadd, of\nDetroit, Mich.; James H. Harris, of Cleveland, O., after the war a\nrepresentative in Congress for two terms from North Carolina; G. J.\nReynolds, an active Underground Railroad leader of Sandusky City; J. C.\nGrant, A. J. Smith, James M. Jones, a gunsmith and engraver, graduate of\nOberlin College, 1849; M. F. Bailey, S. Hunton, John J. Jackson,\nJeremiah Anderson, James M. Bell, Alfred Ellisworth, James W. Purnell,\nGeorge Aiken, Stephen Dettin, Thomas Hickerson, John Cannel, Robinson\nAlexander, Thomas F. Cary, Thomas M. Kinnard, Robert Van Vauken, Thomas\nStringer, John A. Thomas, believed by some to be John Brown\u2019s earlier\nconfidant and employee at Springfield, Mass., afterward employed by\nAbraham Lincoln in his Illinois home and at the White House also; Robert\nNewman, Charles Smith, Simon Fislin, Isaac Holden, a merchant and\nsurveyor and John Brown\u2019s host; James Smith, and Richard Richardson.\n\nHinton says: \u201cThere is no evidence to show that Douglass, Loguen,\nGarnet, Stephen Smith, Gloucester, Langston, or others of the prominent\nmen of color in the states who knew John Brown, were invited to the\nChatham meeting. It is doubtful if their appearance would have been\nwise, as it would assuredly have been commented on and aroused\nsuspicion.\u201d[184]\n\nThe white men present were: John and Owen Brown, father and son; John\nHenri Kagi, Aaron Dwight Stevens, still known as Charles Whipple; John\nEdwin Cook, Richard Realf, George B. Gill, Charles Plummer Tidd, William\nHenry Leeman, Charles W. Moffett, Luke F. Parsons, all of Kansas; and\nSteward Taylor of Canada, twelve in all. It has been usually assumed\nthat Jeremiah Anderson was white but the evidence makes it possible that\nhe was a mulatto. John J. Jackson called the meeting to order and Monroe\nwas chosen president. Delaney then asked for John Brown, and Brown spoke\nat length, followed by Delaney and others.\n\nThe constitution was brought forward and, after a solemn parole of\nhonor, was read. It proved to be a frame of government based on the\nnational Constitution, but much simplified and adapted to a moving band\nof guerrillas. The first forty-five articles were accepted without\ndebate. The next article was: \u201cThe foregoing articles shall not be so as\nin any way to encourage the overthrow of any state government, or the\ngeneral government of the United States, and look to no dissolution of\nthe Union, but simply to amendment and repeal, and our flag shall be the\nsame that our fathers fought for under the Revolution.\u201d\n\nTo this Reynolds, the \u201ccoppersmith,\u201d one of the strongest men in the\nconvention, objected. He felt no allegiance to the nation that had\nrobbed and humiliated him. Brown, Delaney, Kagi and others, however,\nearnestly advocated the article and it passed. Saturday afternoon the\nconstitution was finally adopted and signed. Brown induced James M.\nJones, who had not attended all the sittings, to come to this one, as\nthe constitution must be signed, and he wished his name to be on the\nroll of honor. As the paper was presented for signature, Brown said,\n\u201cNow, friend Jones, give us John Hancock bold and strong.\u201d\n\nThe account continues:\n\n\u201cDuring one of the sittings, Mr. Jones had the floor, and discussed the\nchances of the success or failure of the slaves rising to support the\nplan proposed. Mr. Brown\u2019s scheme was to fortify some place in the\nmountains, and call the slaves to rally under his colors. Jones\nexpressed fear that he would be disappointed, because the slaves did not\nknow enough to rally to his support. The American slaves, Jones argued,\nwere different from those of the West India Island of San Domingo, whose\nsuccessful uprising is a matter of history, as they had there imbibed\nsome of the impetuous character of their French masters, and were not so\noverawed by white men. \u2018Mr. Brown, no doubt thought,\u2019 says Mr. Jones,\n\u2018that I was making an impression on some of the members, if not on him,\nfor he arose suddenly and remarked, \u201cFriend Jones, you will please say\nno more on that side. There will be a plenty to defend that side of the\nquestion.\u201d A general laugh took place.\u2019\n\n\u201cA question as to the time for making the attack came up in the\nconvention. Some advocated that we should wait until the United States\nbecame involved in war with some first-class power; that it would be\nnext to madness to plunge into a strife for the abolition of slavery\nwhile the government was at peace with other nations. Mr. Brown listened\nto the argument for some time, then slowly arose to his full height, and\nsaid: \u2018I would be the last one to take the advantage of my country in\nthe face of a foreign foe.\u2019 He seemed to regard it as a great insult.\nThat settled the matter in my mind that John Brown was not insane.\u201d[185]\n\nAt 6 P. M. the election of officers under the constitution took place,\nand was finished Monday, the tenth. John Brown was elected\ncommander-in-chief; Kagi, secretary of war; Realf, secretary of state;\nOwen Brown, treasurer; and George B. Gill, secretary of the treasury.\nMembers of congress chosen were Alfred Ellisworth and Osborne P.\nAnderson, colored.\n\nAfter appointing a committee to fill other offices, the convention\nadjourned. Another and a larger body was also organized, as Delaney\nsays: \u201cThis organization was an extensive body, holding the same\nrelation to his movements as a state or national executive committee\nholds to its party principles, directing their adherence to fundamental\nprinciples.\u201d[186]\n\nThis committee still existed at the time of the Harper\u2019s Ferry raid.\nWith characteristic reticence Brown revealed his whole plan to no one,\nand many of those close to him received quite different impressions, or\nrather read their own ideas into Brown\u2019s careful speech. One of his\nKansas band says: \u201cI am sure that Brown did not communicate the details\nof his plans to the members of the convention, more than in a very\ngeneral way. Indeed, I do not now remember that he gave them any more\nthan the impressions which they could gather from the methods of\norganization. From those who were directly connected with his movements\nhe solicited plans and methods\u2014including localities\u2014of operations in\nwriting. Of course, we had almost precise knowledge of his methods, but\nall of us perhaps did not know just the locality selected by him, or, if\nknowing, did not comprehend the resources and surroundings.\u201d[187]\n\n\u201cJohn Brown, never, I think,\u201d said Mr. Jones, \u201ccommunicated his whole\nplan, even to his immediate followers. In his conversations with me he\nled me to think that he intended to sacrifice himself and a few of his\nfollowers for the purpose of arousing the people of the North from the\nstupor they were in on this subject. He seemed to think such sacrifice\nnecessary to awaken the people from the deep sleep that had settled upon\nthe minds of the whites of the North. He well knew that the sacrifice of\nany number of Negroes would have no effect. What he intended to do, so\nfar as I could gather from his conversation, from time to time, was to\nemulate Arnold Winkelried, the Swiss chieftain, when he threw himself\nupon the Austrian spearmen, crying, \u2018Make way for Liberty.\u2019\u201d[188]\nDelaney in his own bold, original way assumed that Brown intended\nanother Underground Railway terminating in Kansas. Delaney himself was\non his way to Africa and could take no active part in the movement.\n\nThe constitution adopted by the convention was an instrument designed\nfor the government of a band of isolated people fighting for liberty.\nThe preamble said:\n\n\u201cWhereas slavery, throughout its entire existence in the United States,\nis none other than a most barbarous, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of\none portion of its citizens upon another portion\u2014the only conditions of\nwhich are perpetual imprisonment and hopeless servitude or absolute\nextermination\u2014in utter disregard and violation of those eternal and\nself-evident truths set forth in our Declaration of Independence:\n\n\u201cTherefore, we, citizens of the United States, and the oppressed people\nwho, by a recent decision of the Supreme Court, are declared to have no\nrights which the white man is bound to respect, together with all other\npeople degraded by the laws thereof, do, for the time being, ordain and\nestablish ourselves the following provisional constitution and\nordinances, the better to protect our persons, property, lives, and\nliberties, and to govern our actions.\u201d[189]\n\nThe Declaration of Independence referred to was probably designed to be\nadopted July 4, 1858, when, as originally planned, the blow was to be\nactually struck. It was a paraphrase of the original declaration and\nended by saying:\n\n\u201cDeclaring that we will serve them no longer as slaves, knowing that the\n\u2018Laborer is worthy of his hire,\u2019 We therefore, the Representatives of\nthe circumscribed citizens of the United States of America, in General\nCongress assembled, appealing to the supreme Judge of the World, for the\nrectitude of our intentions, Do in the name, & by authority of the\noppressed Citizens of the Slave States, Solemnly publish and Declare:\nthat the Slaves are, & of right ought to be as free & as independent as\nthe unchangeable Law of God requires that All Men Shall be. That they\nare absolved from all allegiance to those Tyrants, who still persist in\nforcibly subjecting them to perpetual \u2018Bondage,\u2019 and that all friendly\nconnection between them and such Tyrants, is & ought to be totally\ndissolved, And that as free and independent citizens of these states,\nthey have a perfect right, a sufficient and just cause, to defend\nthemselves against the Tyrrany of their oppressors. To solicit aid from\n& ask the protection of all true friends of humanity and reform, of\nwhatever nation, & wherever found; A right to contract all Alliances, &\nto do all other acts and things which free independent Citizens may of\nright do. And for the support of the Declaration, with a firm reliance\non the protection of divine Providence: We mutually pledge to each\nother, Our Lives, and Our sacred Honor.\u201d[190]\n\nThe constitution consisted of forty-eight articles. All persons of\nmature age were admitted to membership and there was established a\ncongress with one house of five to ten members, a president and\nvice-president and a court of five members, each one of whom held\ncircuit courts. All these officials were to unite in selecting a\ncommander-in-chief, treasurer, secretaries, and other officials. All\nproperty was to be in common and no salaries were to be paid. All\npersons were to labor. All indecent behavior was forbidden: \u201cThe\nmarriage relation shall be at all times respected, and families kept\ntogether, as far as possible; and broken families encouraged to reunite,\nand intelligence offices established for that purpose. Schools and\nchurches established, as soon as may be, for the purpose of religious\nand other instructions; and the first day of the week regarded as a day\nof rest, and appropriated to moral and religions instruction and\nimprovement, relief of the suffering, instruction of the young and\nignorant, and the encouragement of personal cleanliness; nor shall any\nperson be required on that day to perform ordinary manual labor, unless\nin extremely urgent cases.\u201d[191] All persons were to carry arms but not\nconcealed. There were special provisions for the capture of prisoners,\nand protection of their persons and property.\n\nJohn Brown was well pleased with his work and wrote home: \u201cHad a good\nAbolition convention here, from different parts, on the 8th and 10th\ninst. Constitution slightly amended and adopted, and society\norganized.\u201d[192]\n\nJust now as everything seemed well started, came disquieting news from\nthe East. Forbes had been there since November, growing more and more\npoverty-stricken and angry, and his threats, hints and visits were\nbecoming frequent and annoying. He complained to Senator Wilson, to\nCharles Sumner, to Hale, Seward and Horace Greeley, and to the Boston\ncoterie. He could not understand why these leaders of the movement\nagainst slavery, as he supposed, should leave the real power in the\nhands of John Brown, and neglect an experienced soldier like himself\nafter raising false expectations. John Brown had dealt with Forbes\ngently but firmly, and had sought to conciliate him, but in vain. Brown\nwas apparently determined to outwit him by haste; he had written his\nMassachusetts friends to join him at the Chatham Convention, but Sanborn\nand Howe had already received threatening letters from Forbes which\nalarmed them. He evidently had careful information of Brown\u2019s movements\nand was bent on making trouble. He probably was at this time in the\nconfidence of McCune Smith and the able Negro group of New York who had\ndeveloped a not unnatural distrust of whites, and a desire to foster\nrace pride. Using information thus obtained, Forbes sought to put\npressure on Republican leaders to organize more effective warfare on\nslavery, and to discredit John Brown. Sanborn wrote hastily: \u201cIt looks\nas if the project must, for the present, be deferred, for I find by\nreading Forbes\u2019s epistles to the doctor that he knows the details of the\nplan, and even knows (what very few do) that the doctor, Mr. Stearns,\nand myself are informed of it. How he got this knowledge is a mystery.\nHe demands that Hawkins [John Brown] be dismissed as agent, and himself\nor some other be put in his place, threatening otherwise to make the\nbusiness public.\u201d[193] Gerrit Smith concluded, \u201cBrown must go no\nfurther.\u201d But Higginson wisely demurred. \u201cI regard any postponement,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cas simply abandoning the project; for if we give it up now, at\nthe command or threat of H. F., it will be the same next year. The only\nway is to circumvent the man somehow (if he cannot be restrained in his\nmalice). When the thing is well started, who cares what he says?\u201d[194]\n\nFurther efforts were made to conciliate Forbes but he wrote wildly: \u201cI\nhave been grossly defrauded in the name of humanity and anti-slavery....\nI have for years labored in the anti-slavery cause, without wanting or\nthinking of a recompense. Though I have made the least possible parade\nof my work, it has nevertheless not been entirely without fruit....\nPatience and mild measures having failed, I reluctantly have recourse to\nharshness. Let them not flatter themselves that I shall eventually\nbecome weary and shall drop the subject; it is as yet quite at its\nbeginning.\u201d[195]\n\n\u201cTo go on in face of this is madness,\u201d wrote Sanborn, and John Brown was\nurged to come to New York to meet Stearns and Howe. Brown had already\nbeen delayed nearly a month at Chatham by this trouble, but he obeyed\nthe summons. Sanborn says: \u201cWhen, about May 20th, Mr. Stearns met Brown\nin New York, it was arranged that hereafter the custody of the Kansas\nrifles should be in Brown\u2019s hands as the agent, not of this committee,\nbut of Mr. Stearns alone. It so happened that Gerrit Smith, who seldom\nvisited Boston, was coming there late in May.... He arrived and took\nrooms at the Revere House, where, on the 24th of May, 1858, the secret\ncommittee (organized in March, and consisting of Smith, Parker, Howe,\nHigginson, Stearns, and Sanborn) held a meeting to consider the\nsituation. It had already been decided to postpone the attack, and the\narms had been placed under a temporary interdict, so that they could\nonly be used, for the present, in Kansas. The questions remaining were\nwhether Brown should be required to go to Kansas at once, and what\namount of money should be raised for him in the future. Of the six\nmembers of the committee only one (Higginson) was absent.... It was\nunanimously resolved that Brown ought to go to Kansas at once.\u201d\n\nAs soon as possible after this, on May 21st, Brown visited Boston, and\nwhile there held a conversation with Higginson, who made a record of it\nat the time. He states that Brown was full of regret at the decision of\nthe Revere House council to postpone the attack till the winter or\nspring of 1859, when the secret committee would raise for Brown two or\nthree thousand dollars; he meantime was to blind Forbes by going to\nKansas, and to transfer the property so as to relieve the Kansas\ncommittee of responsibility, they in future not to know his plans.\n\n\u201cOn probing Brown,\u201d Higginson goes on, \u201cI found that he ... considered\ndelay very discouraging to his thirteen men, and to those in Canada.\nImpossible to begin in autumn; and he would not lose a day (he finally\nsaid) if he had three hundred dollars; it would not cost twenty-five\ndollars apiece to get his men from Ohio, and that was all he needed. The\nknowledge that Forbes could give of his plan would be injurious, for he\nwished his opponents to underrate him; but still ... the increased\nterror produced would perhaps counterbalance this, and it would not make\nmuch difference. If he had the means he would not lose a day. He\ncomplained that some of his Eastern friends were not men of action; that\nthey were intimidated by Wilson\u2019s letter, and magnified the obstacles.\nStill, it was essential that they should not think him reckless, he\nsaid; and as they held the purse, he was powerless without them, having\nspent nearly everything received this campaign, on account of delay,\u2014a\nmonth at Chatham, etc.\u201d[196]\n\nThere was nothing now for Brown but to conceal his arms, scatter his men\nand hide a year in Kansas. It was a bitter necessity and it undoubtedly\nhelped ruin the success of the foray. The Negroes in Canada fell away\nfrom the plan when it did not materialize and doubted Brown\u2019s\ndetermination and wisdom. His son hid the arms in northern Ohio in a\nhaymow.\n\nMeantime, a part of the company\u2014Stevens, Cook, Tidd, Gill, Taylor and\nOwen Brown\u2014immediately after the adjournment of the convention, had gone\nto Cleveland, O., and had found work in the surrounding country. Brown\nwrote from Canada at the time:\n\n\u201cIt seems that all but three have managed to stop their board bills, and\nI do hope the balance will follow the manlike and noble example of\npatience and perseverance set them by the others, instead of being\neither discouraged or out of humor. The weather is so wet here that no\nwork can be obtained. I have only received $15 from the East, and such\nhas been the effect of the course taken by F. [Col. Forbes], on our\nEastern friends, that I have some fears that we shall be compelled to\ndelay further action for the present. They [his Eastern friends] urge us\nto do so, promising us liberal assistance after a while. I am in hourly\nexpectation of help sufficient to pay off our bills here, and to take us\non to Cleveland, to see and advise with you, which we shall do at once\nwhen we shall get the means. Suppose we do have to defer our direct\nefforts; shall great and noble minds either indulge in useless\ncomplaint, or fold their arms in discouragement, or sit in idleness,\nwhen we may at least avoid losing ground? It is in times of difficulty\nthat men show what they are; it is in such times that men mark\nthemselves. Are our difficulties such as to make us give up one of the\nnoblest enterprises in which men ever were engaged?\u201d[197]\n\nTwo weeks later the rest of the party, except Kagi, followed to\nCleveland, John Brown going East to meet Stearns. Kagi, who was an\nexpert printer, went to Hamilton, Canada, where he set up and printed\nthe constitution, arriving in Cleveland about the middle of June when\nBrown returned from the East. Realf says that Brown did not have much\nmoney, but sent him to New York and Washington to watch Forbes and\npossibly regain his confidence. Realf, however, had become timid and\nlukewarm in the cause and sailed away to England. The rest of the men\nscattered. Owen Brown went to Akron, O. Cook left Cleveland for the\nneighborhood of Harper\u2019s Ferry; Gill secured work in a Shaker\nsettlement, probably Lebanon, O., where Tidd was already employed;\nSteward Taylor went to Illinois; Stevens awaited Brown at Cleveland;\nwhile Leeman got some work in Ashtabula County. John Brown left Boston,\non the 3rd of June, proceeding to the North Elba home for a short visit.\nThen he, Kagi, Stevens, Leeman, Gill, Parsons, Moffett, and Owen were\ngathered together and the party went to Kansas, arriving late in June.\n\nThus suddenly ended John Brown\u2019s attempt to organize the Black Phalanx.\nHis intimate friends understood that the great plan was only postponed,\nbut the postponement had, as Higginson predicted, a dampening effect,\nand Brown\u2019s chances of enlisting a large Canadian contingent were\nmaterially lessened. Nevertheless, seed had been sown. And there were\nmillions of human beings to whom the last word of the Chatham\nDeclaration of Independence was more than mere rhetoric: \u201cNature is\nmourning for its murdered and afflicted children. Hung be the Heavens in\nscarlet!\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n THE GREAT BLACK WAY\n\n \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because of the Lord hath\n anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to\n bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and\n the opening of the prison to them that are bound.\u201d\n\n\nHalf-way between Maine and Florida, in the Heart of the Alleghanies, a\nmighty gateway lifts its head and discloses a scene which, a century and\na a quarter ago, Thomas Jefferson said was \u201cworth a voyage across the\nAtlantic.\u201d He continues: \u201cYou stand on a very high point of land; on\nyour right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the\nmountain a hundred miles to find a vent; on your left approaches the\nPotomac, in quest of a passage also. In the moment of their junction\nthey rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off\nto the sea.\u201d[198]\n\nThis is Harper\u2019s Ferry and this was the point which John Brown chose for\nhis attack on American slavery. He chose it for many reasons. He loved\nbeauty: \u201cWhen I met Brown at Peterboro in 1858,\u201d writes Sanborn, \u201cMorton\nplayed some fine music to us in the parlor,\u2014among other things\nSchubert\u2019s _Serenade_, then a favorite piece,\u2014and the old Puritan, who\nloved music and sang a good part himself, sat weeping at the air.\u201d[199]\nHe chose Harper\u2019s Ferry because a United States arsenal was there and\nthe capture of this would give that dramatic climax to the inception of\nhis plan which was so necessary to its success. But both these were\nminor reasons. The foremost and decisive reason was that Harper\u2019s Ferry\nwas the safest natural entrance to the Great Black Way. Look at the map\n(page 274). The shaded portion is \u201cthe black belt\u201d of slavery where\nthere were massed in 1859 at least three of the four million slaves. Two\npaths led southward toward it in the East:\u2014the way by Washington,\nphysically broad and easy, but legally and socially barred to bondsmen;\nthe other way, known to Harriet Tubman and all fugitives, which led to\nthe left toward the crests of the Alleghanies and the gateway of\nHarper\u2019s Ferry. One has but to glance at the mountains and swamps of the\nSouth to see the Great Black Way. Here, amid the mighty protection of\noverwhelming numbers, lay a path from slavery to freedom, and along that\npath were fastnesses and hiding-places easily capable of becoming\npermanent fortified refuges for organized bands of determined armed men.\n\nThe exact details of Brown\u2019s plan will never be fully known. As Realf\nsaid: \u201cJohn Brown was a man who would never state more than it was\nabsolutely necessary for him to do. No one of his most intimate\nassociates and I was one of the most intimate was possessed of more than\nbarely sufficient information to enable Brown to attach such companion\nto him.\u201d[200]\n\n[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE GREAT BLACK WAY]\n\nA glance at the map shows clearly that John Brown intended to operate in\nthe Blue Ridge mountains rising east of the Shenandoah and known at\nHarper\u2019s Ferry as Loudoun Heights. The Loudoun Heights rise boldly 500\nto 700 feet above the village of Harper\u2019s Ferry and 1,000 feet above the\nsea. They run due south and then southwest, dipping down a little the\nfirst three miles, then rising to 1,500 feet, which level is practically\nmaintained until twenty-five miles below Harper\u2019s Ferry where the\nmountains broaden to a dense and labyrinthical wilderness, and rise to a\nheight of 2,000 or more feet. Right at this high point and insight of\nHigh Knob (a peak of 2,400 feet) began, in Fauquier County, the Great\nBlack Way. In this county in 1850 were over 10,000 slaves, and 650 free\nNegroes, as compared with 9,875 whites. From this county to the southern\nboundary of Virginia was a series of black counties with a majority of\nslaves, containing in 1850 at least 260,000 Negroes. From here the Great\nBlack Way went south as John Brown indicated in his diary and\nundoubtedly in the marked maps, which Virginia afterward hastily\ndestroyed.\n\nThe easiest way to get to these heights was from Harper\u2019s Ferry. An\nhour\u2019s climb from the arsenal grounds would easily have hidden a hundred\nmen in inaccessible fastnesses, provided they were not overburdened; and\neven with arms, ammunition and supplies, they could have repelled,\nwithout difficulty, attacks on the retreat. Forts and defenses could be\nprepared in these mountains, and before the raid they had been pretty\nthoroughly explored and paths marked. In Harper\u2019s Ferry just at the\ncrossing of the main road from Maryland lay the arsenal. The plan\nwithout a doubt was first, to collect men and arms on the Maryland side\nof the Potomac; second, to attack the arsenal suddenly and capture it;\nthird, to bring up the arms and ammunition and, together with those\ncaptured, to cross the Shenandoah to Loudoun Heights and hide in the\nmountain wilderness; fourth, thence to descend at intervals to release\nslaves and get food, and retreat southward. Most writers have apparently\nsupposed that Brown intended to retreat from the arsenal across the\nPotomac. A moment\u2019s thought will show the utter absurdity of this plan.\nBrown knew guerrilla warfare, and the failure of Harper\u2019s Ferry raid\ndoes not prove it a blunder from the start. The raid was not a foray\n_from_ the mountains, which failed because its retreat was cut off, but\nit was a foray _to_ the mountains with the village and arsenal on the\nway, which was defeated apparently because the arms and ammunition train\nfailed to join the advance-guard.\n\nThis then was the great plan which John Brown had been slowly\nelaborating and formulating for twenty years\u2014since the day when kneeling\nbeside a Negro minister he had sworn his sons to blood-feud with\nslavery.\n\nThe money resources with which John Brown undertook his project are not\nexactly known. Sanborn says: \u201cBrown\u2019s first request in 1858 was for a\nfund of a thousand dollars only; with this in the hand he promised to\ntake the field either in April or May. Mr. Stearns acted as treasurer of\nthis fund, and before the 1st of May nearly the whole the amount had\nbeen paid in or subscribed,\u2014Stearns contributing three hundred dollars,\nand the rest of our committee smaller sums. It soon appeared, however,\nthat the amount named would be too small, and Brown\u2019s movements were\nembarrassed from the lack of money before the disclosures of Forbes came\nto his knowledge.\u201d[201] From first to last George L. Stearns gave in\ncash and arms about $7,500, and Gerrit Smith contributed more than\n$1,000. Merriam brought with him $600 in gold in October. Between March\n10th and October 16th, Brown expended at least $2,500. In all Sanborn\nraised $4,000 for Brown. Hinton says: \u201cAs near as can be estimated, the\nmoney received by Brown could not have exceeded $12,000, while the\nsupplies, arms, etc., furnished may have cost $10,000 more. Of course,\nthere were smaller contributions and support coming in, but if the total\nestimate be placed at $25,000, for the period between the 15th of\nSeptember, 1856, when he left Lawrence, Kan., and the 16th of October,\n1859, when he moved on Harper\u2019s Ferry, Va., with twenty-one men, it will\ncertainly cover all of the outlay except that of time, labor, and\nlives.\u201d[202]\n\nThis total, however, does not include a fund of $1,000 raised for his\nfamily.\n\nThe civic organization under which Brown intended to work has been\nspoken of. The military organization was based on his Kansas experience\nand his reading. In his diary is this entry:\n\n \u201cCircassia has about 550,000\n Switzerland 2,037,030\n\n Guerrilla warfare See Life of Lord Wellington\n\n Page 71 to Page 75 (Mina)\n\n See also Page 102 some valuable hints in the Same Book. See also\n Page 196 some most important instructions to officers.\n\n See also same Book Page 235 these words deep, and\n\n narrow defiles where 300 men would suffice to check an army.\n\n See also Page 236 on top of Page \u201d\n\nThis life of Wellington, W. P. Garrison states,[203] was Stocqueler\u2019s\nand the pages referred to tell of the Spanish guerrillas under Mina in\n1810, and of methods of cooking and discipline. In one place the author\nsays: \u201cHere we have a chaos of mountains, where we meet at every step\nhuge fallen masses of rock and earth, yawning fissures, deep and narrow\ndefiles, where 300 men would suffice to check an army.\u201d The Alleghanies\nin Virginia and Carolina was similar in topography and, for the\noperation here, Brown proposed a skeleton army which could work together\nor in small units of any size:\n\n\u201cA company will consist of fifty-six privates, twelve non-commissioned\nofficers, eight corporals, four sergeants and three commissioned\nofficers (two lieutenants, a captain), and a surgeon.\n\n\u201cThe privates shall be divided into bands or messes of seven each,\nnumbering from one to eight, with a corporal to each, numbered like his\nband.\n\n\u201cTwo bands will comprise a section. Sections will be numbered from one\nto four.\n\n\u201cA sergeant will be attached to each section, and numbered like it.\n\n\u201cTwo sections will comprise a platoon. Platoons will be numbered one and\ntwo, and each commanded by a lieutenant designed by like number.\u201d[204]\n\nFour companies composed a battalion, four battalions a regiment, and\nfour regiments a brigade.\n\nSo much for his resources and plans. Now for the men whom he chose as\nco-workers. The number of those who took part in the Harper\u2019s Ferry raid\nis not known. Perhaps, including active slave helpers, there were about\nfifty. Seventeen Negroes, reported as probably killed, are wholly\nunknown, and those slaves who helped and escaped are also unknown. This\nleaves the twenty-two men usually regarded as making the raid. They\nfall, of course, into two main groups, the Negroes and the whites. Six\nor seven of the twenty-two were Negroes.\n\nFirst in importance came Osborne Perry Anderson, a free-born\nPennsylvania mulatto, twenty-four years of age. He was a printer by\ntrade, \u201cwell educated, a man of natural dignity, modest, simple in\ncharacter and manners.\u201d He met John Brown in Canada. He wrote the most\ninteresting and reliable account of the raid, and afterward fought in\nthe Civil War.\n\nNext came Shields Green, a full-blooded Negro from South Carolina,\nwhence he had escaped from slavery, after his wife had died, leaving a\nliving boy still in bondage. He was about twenty-four years old, small\nand active, uneducated but with natural ability and absolutely fearless.\nHe met Brown at the home of Frederick Douglass, who says: \u201cWhile at my\nhouse, John Brown made the acquaintance of a colored man who called\nhimself by different names\u2014sometimes \u2018Emperor,\u2019 at other times, \u2018Shields\nGreen\u2019.... He was a fugitive slave, who had made his escape from\nCharleston, S. C.; a state from which a slave found it no easy matter to\nrun away. But Shields Green was not one to shrink from hardships or\ndangers. He was a man of few words and his speech was singularly broken;\nbut his courage and self-respect made him quite a dignified character.\nJohn Brown saw at once what \u2018stuff\u2019 Green \u2018was made of,\u2019 and confided to\nhim his plans and purposes. Green easily believed in Brown, and promised\nto go with him whenever he should be ready to move.\u201d[205]\n\nDangerfield Newby was a free mulatto from the neighborhood of Harper\u2019s\nFerry. He was thirty years of age, tall and well built, with a pleasant\nface and manner; he had a wife and seven children in slavery about\nthirty miles south of Harper\u2019s Ferry. The wife was about to be sold\nsouth at this time, and was sold immediately after the raid. Newby was\nthe spy who gave general information to the party, and lived out in the\ncommunity until the night of the attack.\n\nJohn A. Copeland was born of free Negro parents in North Carolina,\nreared in Oberlin and educated at Oberlin College. He was a\nstraight-haired mulatto, twenty-two years old, of medium size, and a\ncarpenter by trade. Hunter, the prosecuting attorney of Virginia, says:\n\u201cFrom my intercourse with him I regarded him as one of the most\nrespectable prisoners that we had.... He was a copper-colored Negro,\nbehaved himself with as much firmness as any of them, and with far more\ndignity. If it had been possible to recommend a pardon for any of them,\nit would have been for this man Copeland, as I regretted as much, if not\nmore, at seeing him executed than any other one of the party!\u201d[206]\n\nLewis Sherrard Leary was born in slavery in North Carolina and also\nreared in Oberlin, where he worked as a harness-maker. An Oberlin friend\ntestified: \u201cHe called again afterward, and told me he would like to keep\nto the amount I had given him, and would like a certain amount more for\na certain purpose, and was very chary in his communications to me as to\nhow he was to use it, except that he did inform me that he wished to use\nit in aiding slaves to escape. Circumstances just then transpired which\nhad interested me contrary to any thought I ever had in my mind before.\nI had had exhibited to me a daguerreotype of a young lady, a beautiful\nappearing girl, who I was informed was about eighteen years of\nage....\u201d[207] But here Senator Mason of the Inquisition scented danger,\nand we can only guess the reasons that sent Leary to his death. He was\nsaid to be Brown\u2019s first recruit outside the Kansas band.\n\nJohn Anderson, a free Negro from Boston, was sent by Lewis Hayden and\nstarted for the front. Whether he arrived and was killed, or was too\nlate has never been settled.\n\nThe seventh man of possible Negro blood was Jeremiah Anderson. He is\nlisted with the Negroes in all the original reports of the Chatham\nConvention and was, as a white Virginian who saw him says, \u201cof middle\nstature, very black hair and swarthy complexion. He was supposed by some\nto be a Canadian mulatto.\u201d[208] He was descended from Virginia\nslaveholders who had moved north and was born in Indiana. He was\ntwenty-six years old.\n\nOf the white men there were, first of all, John Brown and his family,\nconsisting of three sons, and two brothers of his eldest daughter\u2019s\nhusband, William and Dauphin Thompson.\n\nOliver Brown was a boy not yet twenty-one, though tall and muscular, and\nhad just been married. Watson was a man of twenty-five, tall and\nathletic; while Owen was a large, red-haired prematurely aged man of\nthirty-five, partially crippled, good-tempered and cynical. The\nThompsons were neighbors of John Brown and part of a brood of twenty\nchildren. The Brown family and their intermarried Anne Brown says that\nWilliam, who was twenty-six years of age, was \u201ckind, generous-hearted,\nand helpful to others.\u201d Dauphin, a boy of twenty-two, was, she writes,\n\u201cvery quiet, with a fair, thoughtful face, curly blonde hair, and\nbaby-blue eyes. He always seemed like a very good girl.\u201d[209]\n\nThe three notable characters of the band were Kagi, Stevens and Cook,\nthe reformer, the soldier, and the poet. Kagi\u2019s family came from the\nShenandoah Valley. He was twenty-four, had a good English education and\nwas a newspaper reporter in Kansas, where he earnestly helped the free\nstate cause. He had strong convictions on the subject of slavery and was\nwilling to risk all for them. \u201cYou will all be killed,\u201d cried a friend\nwho heard his plan. \u201cYes, I know it, Hinton, but the result will be\nworth the sacrifice.\u201d Hinton adds: \u201cI recall my friend as a man of\npersonal beauty, with a fine, well-shaped head, a voice of quiet, sweet\ntones, that could be penetrating and cutting, too, almost to\nsharpness.\u201d[210] Anderson writes that Kagi \u201cleft home when a youth, an\nenemy to slavery, and brought as his gift offering to freedom three\nslaves, whom he piloted to the North. His innate hatred of the\ninstitution made him a willing exile from the state of his birth, and\nhis great abilities, natural and acquired, entitled him to the position\nhe held in Captain Brown\u2019s confidence. Kagi was indifferent to personal\nappearance; he often went about with slouched hat, one leg of his\npantaloons properly adjusted, and the other partly tucked into his high\nboot-top; unbrushed, unshaven, and in utter disregard of \u2018the latest\nstyle.\u2019\u201d[211]\n\nStevens was a handsome six-foot Connecticut soldier of twenty-eight\nyears of age, who had thrashed his major for mistreating a fellow\nsoldier and deserted from the United States army. He was active in\nKansas and soon came under John Brown\u2019s discipline.\n\n\u201cWhy did you come to Harper\u2019s Ferry?\u201d asked a Virginian.\n\nHe replied: \u201cIt was to help my fellow men out of bondage. You know\nnothing of slavery\u2014I know, a great deal. It is the crime of crimes. I\nhate it more and more the longer I live. Even since I have been lying in\nthis cell, I have heard the crying of 3 slave-children torn from their\nparents.\u201d[212]\n\nCook was also a Connecticut man of twenty-nine years, tall, blue-eyed,\ngolden-haired and handsome, but a far different type from Stevens. He\nwas talkative, impulsive and restless, eager for adventure but hardly\nsteadfast. He followed John Brown as he would have followed anyone else\nwhom he liked, dreaming his dreams, rushing ahead in the face of danger\nand shrinking back appalled and pitiful before the grim face of death.\nHe was the most thoroughly human figure in the band.\n\nOne other deserves mention because it was probably his slowness or\nobstinacy that ruined the success of John Brown\u2019s raid. This was Charles\nP. Tidd. He was from Maine, twenty-seven years old, trained in Kansas\nwarfare\u2014a nervous, overbearing and quarrelsome man. He bitterly opposed\nthe plan of capturing Harper\u2019s Ferry when it was finally revealed, and\nas Anne Brown said, \u201cgot so warm that he left the farm and went down to\nCook\u2019s dwelling near Harper\u2019s Ferry to let his wrath cool off.\u201d A week\npassed before he sullenly gave in.\n\nBesides these, there were six other men of more or less indistinct\npersonalities. Five were young Kansas settlers from Maine, the Middle\nWest and Canada, trained in guerrilla warfare under Brown and Montgomery\nand thoroughly disliking the slave system which they had seen. They were\npersonal admirers of Brown and lovers of adventure. The last recruit,\nMerriam, was a New England aristocrat turned crusader, fighting the\nworld\u2019s ills blindly but devotedly. The Negro Lewis Hayden met him in\nBoston, \u201cand, after a few words, said, \u2018I want five hundred dollars and\nmust have it.\u2019 Merriam, startled at the manner of the request, replied,\n\u2018If you have a good cause, you shall have it.\u2019 Hayden then told Merriam\nbriefly what he had learned from John Brown, Jr.: that Captain Brown was\nat Chambersburg, or could be heard of there; that he was preparing to\nlead a party of liberators into Virginia, and that he needed money; to\nwhich Merriam replied: \u2018If you tell me John Brown is there, you can have\nmy money and me along with it.\u2019\u201d[213]\n\nThese were the men\u2014idealists, dreamers, soldiers and avengers, varying\nfrom the silent and thoughtful to the quick and impulsive; from the cold\nand bitter to the ignorant and faithful. They believed in God, in\nspirits, in fate, in liberty. To them, the world was a wild, young\nunregulated thing, and they were born to set it right. It was a\nveritable band of crusaders, and while it had much of weakness and\nextravagance, it had nothing nasty or unclean. On the whole, they were\nan unusual set of men. Anne Brown who lived with them said: \u201cTaking them\nall together, I think they would compare well [she is speaking of\nmanners, etc.] with the same number of men in any station of life I have\never met.\u201d[214]\n\nThey were not men of culture or great education, although Kagi had had a\nfair schooling. They were intellectually bold and inquiring\u2014several had\nbeen attracted by the then rampant Spiritualism; nearly all were\nskeptical of the world\u2019s social conventions. They had been trained\nmostly in the rough school of frontier life, had faced death many times,\nand were eager, curious, and restless. Some of them were musical, others\ndabbled in verse. Their broadest common ground of sympathy lay in the\npersonality of John Brown\u2014him they revered and loved. Through him, they\nhad come to hate slavery, and for him and for what he believed, they\nwere willing to risk their lives. They themselves, had convictions on\nslavery and other matters, but John Brown narrowed down their dreaming\nto one intense deed.\n\nFinally, there was John Brown himself. His appearance has been often\ndescribed\u2014several times in these pages. In 1859 he was the same striking\nfigure with whitening hair, burning eyes, and the great white beard\nwhich hardly hid the pendulous side lips of Olympian Jove. One thing,\nhowever, must not be forgotten. John Brown was at this time a sick man.\nFrom 1856 to 1859, scarce a mouth passed without telling of illness. His\nhealth was \u201csome improved\u201d in May 1857, but soon he lost a week \u201cwith\nague and fever and left home feeble.\u201d In August he wrote of \u201cill health\u201d\nand \u201crepeated returns of fever and ague.\u201d In September and October, his\nhealth was \u201cpoor.\u201d The spring and summer of 1858 found him \u201cnot very\nstout,\u201d and in July and August, he was \u201cdown with ague\u201d and \u201ctoo sick\u201d\nto write. In September he was \u201cstill weak,\u201d and, although \u201csome\nimproved\u201d in December, the following spring found him \u201cnot very strong.\u201d\nIn April, amid the feverish activity of his fatal year, he was \u201cquite\nprostrated,\u201d with \u201cthe difficulty in my head and ear and with the ague\nin consequence.\u201d Late in July, he was \u201cdelayed with sickness\u201d and there\ncan be little doubt that it was an illness and pain-racked body which\nhis indomitable will forced into the raid of Harper\u2019s Ferry.\n\nHaving collected a part of the funds and organized the band, John Brown\nwas about to strike his blow in the early summer of 1858, as we have\nseen, when the Forbes disclosures compelled him to hide in Kansas, where\nthe last massacre on the Swamp of the Swan invited him. He left Canada\nfor Kansas in June, 1858. Cook, somewhat against the wishes of Brown who\nfeared his garrulity, went to Harper\u2019s Ferry, worked as a booking agent\nand canal keeper, made love to a maid and married her and then acted as\nadvance agent awaiting the main band. Ten months after leaving Canada,\nand in mid-March, 1859, John Brown appeared again in Canada (as has been\ntold in Chapter VII) with twelve rescued slaves as an earnest of the\nfeasibility of his plan. He stayed long enough to spread the news and\nthen went to northern Ohio where he spoke in public of Kansas and\nslavery. \u201cHe said that he had never lifted a finger toward any one whom\nhe did not know was a violent persecutor of the free state men. He had\nnever killed anybody; although, on some occasions, he had shown the\nyoung men with him how some things might be done as well as others, and\nthey had done the business. He had never destroyed the value of an ear\nof corn, and had never set fire to any pro-slavery man\u2019s house or\nproperty. He had never by his action driven out pro-slavery men from the\nTerritory; but if the occasion demanded it, he would drive them into the\nground, like fence stakes, where they would remain permanent settlers.\n\n\u201cBrown remarked that he was an outlaw, the governor of Missouri has\noffered a reward of $3,000, and James Buchanan $250 more, for him. He\nquietly remarked, parenthetically, that John Brown would give two\ndollars and fifty cents for the safe delivery of the body of James\nBuchanan in any jail of the free states. He would never submit to an\narrest, as he had nothing to gain from submission; but he should settle\nall questions on the spot if any attempt was made to take him. The\nliberation of those slaves was meant as a direct blow to slavery, and he\nlaid down his platform that he had considered it his duty to break the\nfetters from any slave when he had an opportunity. He was a thorough\nAbolitionist.\u201d[215]\n\nThen, he went East to see his family and visit Douglass (where he met\nand persuaded Shields Green), and to consult with Gerrit Smith and\nSanborn. Alcott at Concord wrote:\n\n\u201cThis evening I heard Captain Brown speak at the town hall on Kansas\naffairs and the part took by them in the late troubles there. He tells\nhis story with surpassing simplicity and sense, impressing us all deeply\nby his courage and religious earnestness. Our best people listen to his\nwords,\u2014Emerson, Thoreau, Judge Hoar, my wife; and some of them\ncontribute something in aid of his plans without asking particulars,\nsuch confidence does he inspire in his integrity and abilities. I have a\nfew words with him after his speech, and find him superior to legal\ntraditions, and a disciple of the Right in ideality and the affairs of\nthe state. He is Sanborn\u2019s guest and stays for a day only. A young man\nnamed Anderson accompanies him. They go armed, I am told, and will\ndefend themselves, if necessary. I believe they are now on their way to\nConnecticut and farther south, but the captain leaves us much in the\ndark concerning his destination and designs for the coming months. Yet\nhe does not conceal his hatred of slavery, nor his readiness to strike a\nblow for freedom at the proper moment. I infer he intends to run off as\nmany slaves as he can, and so render that property insecure to the\nmaster. I think him equal to anything he dares,\u2014the man to do the deed,\nif it must be done, and with the martyr\u2019s temper and purpose. Nature was\ndeeply intent in the making of him. He is of imposing appearance,\npersonally\u2014tall, with square shoulders and standing; eyes of deep gray,\nand couchant, as if ready to spring at the least rustling, dauntless yet\nkindly; his hair shooting backward from low down on his forehead; nose\ntrenchant and Romanesque; set lips, his voice suppressed yet metallic,\nsuggesting deep reserves; decided mouth; the countenance and frame\ncharged with power throughout. Since here last he has added a flowing\nbeard, which gives the soldierly air and the port of an apostle. Though\nsixty years old he is agile and alert and ready for any audacity, in any\ncrisis. I think him about the manliest man I have ever seen,\u2014the type\nand synonym of the Just.\u201d[216]\n\nThe month of May, John Brown spent in Boston collecting funds, and in\nNew York consulting his Negro friends, with a trip to Connecticut to\nhurry the making of his thousand pikes. Sickness intervened, but at last\non June 20th, the advance-guard of five\u2014Brown and two of his sons, Jerry\nAnderson and Kagi\u2014started southward. They stayed several days at\nChambersburg, where Kagi, co\u00f6perating with a faithful Negro barber,\nWatson, was established as a general agent to forward men, mail, and\nfreight. Then passing through Hagerstown, they appeared at Harper\u2019s\nFerry on July 4th. Here they met Cook, who had been selling maps,\nkeeping the canal-lock near the arsenal, and sending regular information\nto Brown. Brown and his sons wandered about at first, and a local farmer\ngreeted them cheerily: \u201cGood-morning, gentlemen, how do you do?\u201d They\nreturned the greeting pleasantly. The conversation is recounted as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cI said, \u2018Well, gentlemen,\u2019 after saluting them in that form, \u2018I suppose\nyou are out hunting minerals, gold, and silver?\u2019 His answer was, \u2018No, we\nare not, we are out looking for land; we want to buy land; we have a\nlittle money, but we want to make it go as far as we can.\u2019 He asked me\nabout the price of the land. I told him that it ranged from fifteen\ndollars to thirty dollars in the neighborhood. He remarked, \u2018That is\nhigh; I thought I could buy land here for about a dollar or two dollars\nper acre.\u2019 I remarked to him, \u2018No, sir; if you expect to get land for\nthat price, you will have to go further west, to Kansas, or some of\nthose Territories where there is government land.\u2019 ... I then asked him\nwhere they came from. His answer was, \u2018From the northern part of the\nstate of New York.\u2019 I asked him what he followed there. He said farming\nand the frost had been so heavy lately, that it cut off their crops\nthere; that he could not make anything, and sold out, and thought he\nwould come further south and try it awhile.\u201d[217]\n\nThrough this easy-going, inquisitive farmer, Brown learned of a farm for\nrent, which he hired for nine months for thirty-five dollars. It was on\nthe main road between Harper\u2019s Ferry, Chambersburg, and the North, about\nfive miles from the Ferry and in a quiet secluded place. The house stood\nabout 300 yards back from the Boonesborough pike, in plain sight. About\n600 yards away on the other side of the road was another cabin of one\nroom and a garret, which was largely hidden from view by the shrubbery.\nHere Brown settled and gradually collected his men and material. The\narms were especially slow in coming. Most of the guns arrived at\nChambersburg from Connecticut about August, but the pikes did not come\nuntil a month later. Then to the men were gathered slowly. They were at\nthe four ends of the country, in all sorts of employment and different\nfinancial conditions, and they were not certain just when the raid would\ntake place. All this delayed Brown from July until October and greatly\nincreased the cost of maintenance. A daughter, Anne, and Oliver\u2019s girl\nwife came and kept the house from July 16th to October 1st.\n\nAt this critical juncture, Harriet Tubman fell sick\u2014a grave loss to the\ncause\u2014and there were other delays. By August 1st, there were at Harper\u2019s\nFerry the two Brown daughters and three sons, and the two brothers of a\nson-in-law, besides the two Coppocs, Tidd, Jerry Anderson, and Stevens.\nHazlett, Leeman, and Taylor came soon after. Kagi was still at\nChambersburg and John Brown himself \u201clabored and traveled night and day,\nsometimes on old Dolly, his brown mule, and sometimes in the wagon. He\nwould start directly after night, and travel the fifty miles between the\nfarm and Chambersburg by daylight the next morning; and he otherwise\nkept open communication between headquarters and the latter place, in\norder that matters might be arranged in due season.\u201d[218]\n\nIn the North John Brown, Jr., was shipping the arms and gathering men\nand money. He was in Boston August 10th, at Douglass\u2019s home, soon after,\nand later in Canada with Loguen. All the chief branches of the League\nwere visited and then northern Ohio. The result was meagre; not because\nof a lack of men but lack of the kind of men wanted at this time. There\nwere thousands of Negroes ready to fight for liberty in the ranks. But\nmost of these John Brown could not use at present. No considerable band\nof armed black men could have been introduced into the South without\nimmediate discovery and civil war. It was therefore picked leaders like\nDouglass, Reynolds, Holden and Delaney that Brown wanted at\nfirst\u2014discreet and careful men of influence, who, as he said to\nDouglass, could hive the swarming bees both North and South. To get\nthese picked men interested was, however, difficult. Each had his work\nand his theory of racial salvation; they were widely scattered. A number\nof them had been convinced in 1858, but the postponement had given time\nfor reflection and doubt. In many ways, the original enthusiasm had\nwaned, but it was not dead. The cause was just as great and all that was\nneeded was to convince men that this was a real chance to strike an\neffective blow. They required the magic of Brown\u2019s own presence to\nimpress this fact upon them. They were not sure of his agents. Men\ncontinued to come, however, others began to prepare and still, others\nwere almost persuaded. An urgent summons went to Kansas to white fellow\nworkers, and the response there was similarly small. Brown knew that his\nability to command the services of a large number of Northern Negroes\ndepended to some degree on Frederick Douglass\u2019s attitude. He was the\nfirst great national Negro leader\u2014a man of ability, _finesse_, and\ncourage. If he followed John Brown, who could hesitate? If he refused,\nwas it not for the best of reasons? Thus John Brown continually urged\nDouglass and as a last appeal arranged for a final conference on August\n19th at Chambersburg in an abandoned stone quarry. Douglass says:\n\n\u201cAs I came near, he regarded me rather suspiciously, but soon recognized\nme, and received me cordially. He had in his hand when I met him a\nfishing-tackle, with which he had been fishing in a stream hard by, but\nI saw no fish and did not suppose he cared much for his \u2018fisherman\u2019s\nluck.\u2019 The fishing was simply a disguise and was certainly a good one.\nHe looked every way like a man of the neighborhood, and as much at home\nas any of the farmers around there. His hat was old and storm-beaten,\nand his clothing was about the color of the stone quarry itself\u2014his then\npresent dwelling-place.\n\n\u201cHis face wore an anxious expression, and he was much worn by thought\nand exposure. I felt that I was on a dangerous mission, and was as\nlittle desirous of discovery as himself, though no reward had been\noffered for me. We\u2014Mr. Kagi, Captain Brown, Shields Green, and\nmyself\u2014sat down among the rocks and talked over the enterprise which was\nabout to be undertaken. The taking of Harper\u2019s Ferry, of which Captain\nBrown had merely hinted before, was now declared as his settled purpose,\nand he wanted to know what I thought of it. I at once opposed the\nmeasure with all the arguments at my command. To me, such a measure\nwould be fatal to running off slaves (as was the original plan), and\nfatal to all engaged in doing so. It would be an attack upon The federal\ngovernment and would array the whole country against us. Captain Brown\ndid most of the talking on the other side of the question. He did not at\nall object to rousing the nation; it seemed to him that something\nstartling was just what the nation needed.... Our talk was long and\nearnest; we spent the most of Saturday and a part of Sunday in this\ndebate\u2014Brown for Harper\u2019s Ferry, and I against it; he for striking a\nblow which should instantly rouse the country, and I for the policy of\ngradually and unaccountably drawing off the slaves to the mountains, as\nat first suggested and proposed by him. When I found that he had fully\nmade up his mind and could not be dissuaded, I turned to Shields Green\nand told him he heard what Captain Brown had said; his old plan was\nchanged, and that I should return home, and if he wished to go with me\nhe could do so. Captain Brown urged us both to go with him, but I could\nnot do so, and could but feel that he was about to rivet the fetters\nmore firmly than ever on the limbs of the enslaved. In parting, he put\nhis arms around me in a manner more than friendly and said: \u2018Come with\nme, Douglass; I will defend you with my life. I want you for a special\npurpose. When I strike, the bees will begin to swarm, and I shall want\nyou to help hive them.\u2019 But my discretion or my cowardice made me proof\nagainst the dear old man\u2019s eloquence\u2014perhaps it was something of both\nthat determined my course. When about to leave, I asked Green what he\nhad decided to do, and was surprised by his coolly saying, in his broken\nway, \u2018I b\u2019lieve I\u2019ll go wid de ole man.\u2019 Here we separated; they to go\nto Harper\u2019s Ferry, I to Rochester.\u201d[219]\n\nDouglass\u2019s decision undoubtedly kept many Negroes from joining Brown.\nShields Green, however, started south. The slave-catchers followed him\nand made him and Owen Brown swim a river. Only their journeying\nsouthward instead of northward saved them from capture.\n\nLife at the farm during this time was curious. Anderson says:\n\n\u201cThere was no milk and water sentimentality\u2014no offensive contempt for\nthe Negro, while working in his cause; the pulsations of every heart\nbeat in harmony for the suffering and pleading slave. I thank God that I\nhave been permitted to realize to its furthest, fullest extent, the\nmoral, mental, physical, social harmony of an anti-slavery family,\ncarrying out to the letter the principles of its antitype, the\nanti-slavery cause. In John Brown\u2019s house, and in John Brown\u2019s presence,\nmen from widely different parts of the continent met and united into one\ncompany, wherein no hateful prejudice dared intrude its ugly self\u2014no\nghost of distinction found space to enter....\n\n\u201cTo a passer-by, the house and its surroundings presented but\nindifferent attractions. Any log tenement of equal dimensions would be\nas likely to arrest a stray glance. Rough, unsightly, and aged, it was\nonly for those privileged to enter and tarry for a long time, and to\npenetrate the mysteries of the two rooms it contained\u2014kitchen, parlor,\ndining-room below, and the spacious chamber, attic, storeroom, prison,\ndrilling-room, comprised in the loft above\u2014who could tell how we lived\nat Kennedy Farm.\n\n\u201cEvery morning, when the noble old man was at home, he called the family\naround, read from his Bible, and offered to God most fervent and\ntouching supplications for all flesh; and especially pathetic were his\npetitions in behalf of the oppressed. I never heard John Brown pray,\nthat he did not make strong appeals to God for the deliverance of the\nslave. This duty over, the men went to the loft, there to remain all day\nlong; few only could be seen about, as the neighbors were watchful and\nsuspicious. It was also important to talk but little among ourselves, as\nvisitors to the house might be curious. Besides the daughter and\ndaughter-in-law, who superintended the work, some one or other of the\nmen was regularly detailed to assist in the cooking, washing, and other\ndomestic work. After the ladies left, we did all the work, no one being\nexempt, because of age or official grade in the organization.\n\n\u201cThe principal employment of the prisoners, as we severally were when\ncompelled to stay in the loft, was to study Forbes\u2019s Manual, and to go\nthrough a quiet, though rigid drill, under the training of Captain\nStevens, at some times. At other times we applied a preparation for\nbronzing our gun-barrels-discussed subjects of reform\u2014related our\npersonal history; but when our resources became pretty well exhausted,\nthe _ennui_ from confinement, imposed silence, etc., would make the men\nalmost desperate. At such times, neither slavery nor slaveholders were\ndiscussed mincingly. We were, while the ladies remained, often relieved\nof much of the dullness growing out of restraint by their kindness. As\nwe could not circulate freely, they would bring in wild fruit and\nflowers from the woods and fields.\u201d[220]\n\nAnne, the young daughter, says: \u201cOne day, a short time after I went down\nthere, father was sitting at the table writing. I was nearby sewing (he\nand I being alone in the room), when two little wrens that had a nest\nunder the porch came flying in at the door, fluttering and twittering;\nthen they flew back to their nest and again to us several times,\nseemingly trying to attract our attention. They appeared to be in great\ndistress. I asked father what he thought was the matter with the little\nbirds. He asked if I had ever seen them act so before; I told him no.\n\u2018Then let us go and see,\u2019 he said. We went out and found that a snake\nhad crawled up the post and was just ready to devour the little ones in\nthe nest. Father killed the snake; and then the old birds sat on the\nrailing and sang as if they would burst. It seemed as if they were\ntrying to express their joy and gratitude to him for saving their little\nones. After we went back into the room, he said he thought it very\nstrange the way the birds asked him to help them, and asked if I thought\nit an omen of his success. He seemed very much impressed with that idea.\nI do not think he was superstitious, but you know he always thought and\nfelt that God called him to that work; and seemed to place himself, or\nrather to imagine himself, in the position of the figure in the old seal\nof Virginia, with the tyrant under her foot.\u201d[221]\n\nThe men discussed religion and slavery freely, read Paine\u2019s _Age of\nReason_ and the Baltimore _Sun_. John Brown himself was careful to\ncultivate the good-will of his neighbors, attending with skill the sick\namong animals and men, so much so that he and his sons became prime\nfavorites. Owen had long conversations with the people, while Cook was\nalso moving about the country selling maps. A little Dunker chapel was\nnear with non-resistant, anti-slavery principles; here John Brown often\nworshiped and preached. Yet with all this caution and care, suspicion\nlurked about them, and discovery was always imminent.\n\nBrown\u2019s daughter relates that \u201cthere was a family of poor people who\nlived nearby and who had rented the garden on the Kennedy place,\ndirectly back of the house. The little barefooted woman and four small\nchildren (she carried the youngest in her arms) would all come trooping\nover to the garden at all hours of the day, and, at times, several times\nduring the day. Nearly always they would come up the steps and into the\nhouse and stay a short time. This made it very troublesome for us,\ncompelling the men, when she came insight at meal-times, to gather up\nthe victuals and table-cloth and quietly disappear up-stairs.\n\n\u201cOne Saturday father and I went to a religious (Dunker) meeting that was\nheld in a grove near the schoolhouse and the folks left at home forgot\nto keep a sharp lookout for Mrs. Heiffmaster, and she stole into the\nhouse before they saw her, and saw Shields Green (that must have been in\nSeptember), Barclay Coppoc, and Will Lemnian. And another time after\nthat she saw C. P. Tidd standing on the porch. She thought these\nstrangers were running off negroes to the North. I used to give her\neverything she wanted or asked for to keep her on good terms, but we\nwere in constant fear that she was either a spy or would betray us. It\nwas like standing on a powder magazine after a slow match had been\nlighted.\u201d[222]\n\nDespite all precautions, a rumor began to get in the air. A Prussian\nPole was among the Kansas cooperators invited. He had been in Kansas in\n1856 and was known to Brown and Kagi. After hearing from Brown in August\n1859, the Pole disclosed their plans to Edmund Babb, a correspondent of\nthe Cincinnati _Gazette_. It was probably Babb who thereupon wrote to\nthe United States Secretary of War: \u201cI have discovered the existence of\na secret association, having for its object the liberation of the slaves\nat the South and by a general insurrection. The leader of the movement\nis one \u2018old John Brown,\u2019 late of Kansas.\u201d Approximately correct details\nof the plot followed, but Secretary Floyd was lolling at a summer resort\nand had some little conspiracies of his own in hand not unconnected with\nUnited States arsenals. Being, therefore, as he said magniloquently,\n\u201csatisfied in my mind that a scheme of such wickedness and outrage could\nnot be entertained by any citizens of the United States, I put the\nletter away, and thought no more of it until the raid broke out.\u201d[223]\n\nGerrit Smith, too, with little discretion, addressed to Negro audience\nwords which plainly showed he shortly expected a slave insurrection.\nEven among Harper\u2019s Ferry party forced inaction led to disputes and\ndisaffection. John Brown sharply rebuked the letter-writing and\ngossiping about his men. \u201cAny person is a stupid fool,\u201d he told Kagi,\n\u201cwho expects his friends to keep for him that which he cannot keep\nhimself. All our friends have each got their special friends; and they\nagain have theirs, and it would not be right to lay the burden of\nkeeping a secret on any one at the end of a long string. I could tell\nyou of reasons I have for feeling rather keenly on this point.\u201d[224]\n\nThe men, on the other hand, were dissatisfied with Brown\u2019s plans as they\nwere finally disclosed. Anne Brown writes that they generally \u201cdid not\nknow that the raid on the government works was a part of the \u2018plan\u2019\nuntil after they arrived at the farm in the beginning of August.\u201d[225]\nThey wanted simply to repeat the Missouri raid on a larger scale and not\ntry to capture the arsenal. Tidd was especially stubborn and\nirreconcilable. The discussion became so warm that John Brown at one\ntime resigned, but he was immediately re\u00eblected and this formal letter\nwas sent to him:\n\n\u201cDEAR SIR\u2014We have all agreed to sustain your decisions, until you have\nproved incompetent, and many of us will adhere to your decisions so long\nas you will.\u201d[226]\n\nIn these ways Brown was compelled to hurry and accordingly he urged his\neldest son, who replied: \u201cThrough those associations which I formed in\nCanada, I am able to reach each individual member at the shortest notice\nby letter. I am devoting my whole time to our company business. I shall\nimmediately go out organizing and raising funds. From what I even had\nunderstood, I had supposed you would not think it best to commence\nopening the coal banks before spring unless circumstances should make it\nimperative. However, I suppose the reasons are satisfactory to you, and\nif so, those who own smaller shares ought not to object. I hope we shall\nbe able to get on in season some of those old miners of whom I wrote\nyou. I shall strain every nerve to accomplish this. You may be assured\nthat what you say to me will reach those who may be benefited thereby,\nand those who would take stock, in the shortest possible time; so don\u2019t\nfail to keep me posted.\u201d[227]\n\nAs late as October 6th Brown expected to \u201cmove about the end of the\nmonth\u201d and made a hurried trip to Philadelphia. There he met a large\ngroup of Negroes, and Dorsey the caterer with whom he stayed, at 1221\nLocust Street, is said to have given him $300. In some way, he was\ndisappointed with the visit. Anderson says he went \u201con the business of\ngreat importance. How important, men there and elsewhere now know. How\naffected by, and affecting the main features of the enterprise, we at\nthe farm knew full after their return, as the old captain, in the\nfullness of his overflowing, saddened heart, detailed point after point\nof interest\u201d[228] Perhaps he was still trying to persuade Douglass and\nthe leaders of the Philadelphia and New York groups.\n\nThe women left the farm late in September and O. P. Anderson, Copeland,\nand Leary arrived. Merriam joined Brown while he was on the Philadelphia\ntrip and was sent to Baltimore to buy caps for the guns. Others were\ncoming when suddenly Brown fixed on October 17th as the date of the\nraid. This hurried change was probably because officials and neighbors\nwere getting inquisitive, and arms were being removed from the arsenal\nto man Southern stations. Yet it was unfortunate, as Anderson says:\n\u201cCould other parties, waiting for the word, have reached the\nheadquarters in time for the outbreak when it took place, the taking of\nthe armory, engine-house, and rifle factory, would have been quite\ndifferent. But the men at the farm had been so closely confined, that\nthey went out about the house and farm in the daytime during that week,\nand so indiscreetly exposed their numbers to the prying neighbors, who\nthereupon took steps to have a search instituted in the early part of\nthe coming week. Captain Brown was not seconded in another quarter, as\nhe expected, at the time of the action, but could the fears of the\nneighbors have been allayed for a few days, the disappointment in the\nformer respect would not have been of much weight.\u201d[229]\n\nOnly the nearest of the slaves round about who awaited the word could be\ncommunicated with and several recruits like Hinton were left stranded on\nthe way, unable to get through in time. So the great day dawned: \u201cOn\nSunday morning, October 16th, Captain Brown arose earlier than usual,\nand called his men down to worship. He read a chapter from the Bible,\napplicable to the condition of the slaves, and our duty as their\nbrethren, and then offered up a fervent prayer to God to assist in the\nliberation of the bondmen in that slaveholding land. The services were\nimpressive.\u201d[230]\n\nA council was held, over which O. P. Anderson, the colored man,\npresided. In the afternoon the final orders were given and at night just\nbefore setting out, John Brown said: \u201cAnd now, gentlemen, let me impress\nthis one thing upon your minds. You all know how dear life is to you,\nand how dear life is to your friends. And in remembering that, consider\nthat the lives of others areas dear to them as yours are to you. Do not,\ntherefore, take the life of anyone, if you can possibly avoid it, but if\nit is necessary to take life to save your own, then make sure work of\nit.\u201d[231]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n THE BLOW\n\n \u201cWoe unto them that call evil, good; and good, evil.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt eight o\u2019clock on Sunday evening, Captain Brown said: \u2018Men, get on\nyour arms; we will proceed to the Ferry.\u2019 His horse and wagon were\nbrought out before the door, and some pikes, a sledge-hammer and a\ncrowbar were placed in it. The captain then put on his old Kansas cap,\nand said: \u2018Come, boys!\u2019 when we marched out of the camp behind him, into\nthe lane leading down the hill to the main road.\u201d[232]\n\nThe orders given commanded Owen Brown, Merriam and Barclay Coppoc to\nwatch the house and arms until ordered to bring them toward the Ferry.\nTidd and Cook were to cut the telegraph lines and Kagi and Stephens to\ndetain the bridge guard. Watson Brown and Taylor were to hold the bridge\nover the Potomac, and Oliver Brown and William Thompson the bridge over\nthe Shenandoah. Jerry Anderson and Dauphin Thompson were to occupy the\nengine-house in the arsenal yard, while Hazlett and Edwin Coppoc were to\nhold the armory.\n\nDuring the night Kagi and Copeland were to seize and guard the rifle\nfactory, and others were to go out in the country and bring in certain\nmasters and their slaves.\n\nIt was a cold dark night when the band started. Ahead was John Brown in\nhis one-horse farm-wagon, with pikes, a sledge-hammer and a crowbar.\nBehind him marched the men silently and at intervals, Cook and Tidd\nleading. They had five miles to go, over rolling hills and through woods\nand then down to a narrow road between the cliffs and the Cincinnati and\nOhio canal. As they approached the railroad, Cook and Tidd cut the\ntelegraph wires which led to Baltimore and Washington. At the bridge\nthey halted and made ready their arms. At ten o\u2019clock William Williams,\none of the watchmen there, was surprised to find himself a prisoner in\nthe hands of Kagi and Stevens, who took him through the covered\nstructure to the town, leaving Watson Brown and Steward Taylor to guard\nthe bridge. The rest of the company entered Harper\u2019s Ferry.\n\nThe land between the rivers is itself high, though dwarfed by the\nmountains and running down to a low point where the rivers join. At this\nplace the bridge leads to Maryland. After crossing the bridge to\nVirginia, about sixty yards up the street, running parallel to the\nPotomac, was the gate of the armory where the arms were made. On the\nShenandoah side about sixty yards from the armory gate is the arsenal,\nwhere the arms were stored. The company proceeded to the armory gate.\nThe watchman tells how the place was captured:\n\n\u201c\u2018Open the gate,\u2019 said they; I said, \u2018I could not if I was stuck,\u2019 and\none of them jumped up on the pier of the gate over my head, and another\nfellow ran and put his hand on me and caught me by the coat and held me;\nI was inside and they were outside, and the fellow standing over my head\nupon the pier, and then when I would not open the gate for them, five or\nsix ran in from the wagon, clapped their guns against my breast, and\ntold me I should deliver up the key; I told them I could not; and\nanother fellow made an answer and said they had not time now to be\nwaiting for the key, but to go to the wagon and bring out the crowbar\nand large hammer, and they would soon get in; they went to the little\nwagon and brought a large crowbar out of it; there is a large chain\naround the two sides of the wagon-gate going in; they twisted the\ncrowbar in the chain and they opened it, and in they ran and got in the\nwagon; one fellow took me; they all gathered about me and looked in my\nface; I was nearly scared to death with so many guns about me.\u201d[233]\n\n[Illustration: MAP OF HARPER\u2019S FERRY, SHOWING POINTS FIGURING IN THE\nRAID]\n\nThe two captured watchmen, Anderson says, \u201cwere left in the custody of\nJerry Anderson and Dauphin Thompson, and A. D. Stevens arranged the men\nto take possession of the armory and rifle factory. About this time,\nthere was apparently much excitement. People were passing back and forth\nin the town, and before we could do much, we had to take several\nprisoners. After the prisoners were secured, we passed to the opposite\nside of the street and took the armory, and Albert Hazlett and Edwin\nCoppoc were ordered to hold it for the time being.\u201d[234]\n\nThe other fourteen men quickly dispersed through the village. Oliver\nBrown and William Thompson seized and guarded the bridge across the\nShenandoah. This bridge was sixty rods from the railway bridge up the\nriver and was the direct route to Loudoun Heights, the slave-filled\nlower valley, and the Great Black Way. It was, however, not the only way\nacross the Shenandoah: a little more than half a mile farther up were\nthe rifle works, where the stream could be easily forded. Kagi and\nCopeland went there, captured the watchman and took possession.\n\n\u201cThese places were all taken, and the prisoners secured, without the\nsnap of a gun, or any violence whatever,\u201d says Anderson, and he\ncontinues: \u201cThe town being taken, Brown, Stevens, and the men who had no\npost in charge, returned to the engine-house, where council was held,\nafter which Captain Stevens, Tidd, Cook, Shields Green, Leary and myself\nwent to the country. On the road we met some colored men, to whom we\nmade known our purpose, when they immediately agreed to join us. They\nsaid they had been long waiting for an opportunity of the kind. Stevens\nthen asked them to go around among the colored people and circulate the\nnews, when each started off in a different direction. The result was\nthat many colored men gathered to the scene of action. The first\nprisoner taken by us was Colonel Lewis Washington [a relative of George\nWashington]. When we neared his house, Captain Stevens placed Leary and\nShields Green to guard the approaches to the house, the one at the side,\nand the other in front. We then knocked, but no one answering, although\nfemales were looking from upper windows, we entered the building and\ncommenced a search for the proprietor. Colonel Washington opened his\nroom door, and begged us not to kill him. Captain Stevens replied, \u2018You\nare our prisoner,\u2019 when he stood as if speechless or petrified. Stevens\nfurther told him to get ready to go to the Ferry; that he had come to\nabolish slavery, not to take life but in self-defense, but that he must\ngo along. The colonel replied: \u2018You can have my slaves, if you will let\nme remain.\u2019 \u2018No,\u2019 said the captain, \u2018you must go along too; so get\nready.\u2019\u201d[235]\n\nHe and his male slaves were thus taken, together with a large four-horse\nwagon and some arms, including the Lafayette sword. Away the party went\nand after capturing another planter and his slaves, arrived at the Ferry\nbefore daybreak.\n\nMeantime the citizens of the Ferry, returning late from protracted\nMethodist meeting, were being taken prisoners and about one o\u2019clock in\nthe morning the east-bound Baltimore and Ohio train arrived. This was\ndetained and the local colored porter shot dead by Brown\u2019s guards on the\nbridge. The passengers were greatly excited, but at first thought it was\na strike of some kind. After sunrise the train was allowed to proceed,\nJohn Brown himself walking ahead across the bridge to reassure the\nconductor. So Monday, October 17th, began and Anderson says it \u201cwas a\ntime of stirring and exciting events. In consequence of the movements of\nthe night before, we were prepared for commotion and tumult, but\ncertainly not for more than we beheld around us. Gray dawn and yet\nbrighter daylight revealed great confusion, and as the sun arose, the\npanic spread like wild-fire. Men, women and children could be seen\nleaving their homes in every direction; some seeking refuge among\nresidents, and in quarters further away; others climbing up the\nhillsides, and hurrying off in various directions, evidently impelled by\na sudden fear, which was plainly visible in their countenances or in\ntheir movements.\n\n\u201cCaptain Brown was all activity, though I could not help thinking that\nat times he appeared somewhat puzzled. He ordered Lewis Sherrard Leary\nand four slaves, and a free man belonging in the neighborhood, to join\nJohn Henry Kagi and John Copeland at the rifle factory, which they\nimmediately did.... After the departure of the train, quietness\nprevailed for a short time; a number of prisoners were already in the\nengine-house, and of the many colored men living in the neighborhood,\nwho had assembled in the town, a number were armed.\u201d[236]\n\nUp to this point everything in John Brown\u2019s plan had worked like\nclockwork, and there had been but one death. The armory was captured,\nfrom twenty-five to fifty slaves had been armed, several masters were in\ncustody and the next move was to get the arms and ammunition from the\nfarm. Cook says that when the party returned from the country at dawn,\n\u201cI stayed a short while in the engine-house to get warm, as I was\nchilled through. After I got warm, Captain Brown ordered me to go with\nC. P. Tidd, who was to take William H. Leeman, and, I think, four slaves\n[Anderson says fourteen slaves] with him, in Colonel Washington\u2019s large\nwagon, across the river, and to take Terrence Burns and his brother and\ntheir slaves prisoners. My orders were to hold Burns and brother as\nprisoners at their own house, while Tidd and the slaves who accompanied\nhim were to go to Captain Brown\u2019s house and to load in arms and bring\nthem down to the schoolhouse, stopping for the Burnses and their guard.\nWilliam H. Leeman remained with me to guard the prisoners. On return of\nthe wagon, in compliance with orders, we all started for the\nschoolhouse. When we got there, I was to remain, by Captain Brown\u2019s\norders, with one of the slaves to guard the arms, while C. P. Tidd, with\nthe other Negroes, was to go back for the rest of the arms, and Burns\nwas to be sent with William H. Leeman to Captain Brown at the armory. It\nwas at this time that William Thompson came up from the Ferry and\nreported that everything was all right, and then hurried on to overtake\nWilliam H. Leeman. A short time after the departure of Tidd, I heard a\ngood deal of firing and became anxious to know the cause, but my orders\nwere strict to remain in the schoolhouse and guard the arms, and I\nobeyed the orders to the letter. About four o\u2019clock in the evening C. P.\nTidd came with the second load.\u201d[237]\n\nHere, in all probability, was the fatal hitch. The farm was not over\nthree miles from the schoolhouse, and there was a heavy farm-wagon with\nfour large strong horses and a dozen men or more to help. The fact that\nit took these men eleven hours to move two wagon-loads of material less\nthan three miles is the secret of the extraordinary failure of Brown\u2019s\nforay at a time when victory was in his grasp. That Cook was needlessly\ndilatory in the moving is certain. He sat down in Byrnes\u2019s house and\nmade a speech on human equality. Then Tidd went on to the farm with the\nwagon and brought a load of arms, which he deposited at the point where\nthe Kennedy farm road meets the Potomac almost at right angles, about\nthree miles or less from the Ferry. The schoolhouse stood here and the\nchildren were frightened half to death. Cook stopped at this place and\nunloaded the wagon, and then Leeman went with Byrnes to the guard-house,\nlingering and actually sitting beside the road. Even then they arrived\nbefore ten o\u2019clock. With haste it is certain that, despite the muddy\nroad, the first load of arms could have been at the schoolhouse before\neight o\u2019clock in the morning, and the whole of the stores by ten\no\u2019clock. That Brown expected this is shown by his sending William\nThompson to reassure the men at the farm of his safety and probably to\nurge haste; yet when the second load of arms appeared, it was four\no\u2019clock in the afternoon, at least three hours after Brown had been\ncompletely surrounded. Judging from Cook\u2019s narrative, it is likely that\nThompson did not see Tidd at all. It was this inexcusable delay on the\npart of Tidd and Cook and, possibly, William Thompson that undoubtedly\nmade the raid a failure. To be sure, John Brown never said so\u2014never\nhinted that any one was to blame but himself. But that was John Brown\u2019s\nway.\n\nEvents in the town had moved quickly. After Cook had departed, Brown\nordered O. P. Anderson \u201cto take the pikes out of the wagon in which he\nrode to the Ferry, and to place them in the hands of the colored men who\nhad come with us from the plantations, and others who had come forward\nwithout having had communication with any of our party.\u201d[238]\n\nThe citizens were \u201cwild with fright and excitement.... The prisoners\nwere also terror-stricken. Some wanted to go home to see their families,\nas if for the last time. The privilege was granted them, under escort,\nand they were brought back again. Edwin Coppoc, one of the sentinels at\nthe armory gate, was fired at by one of the citizens, but the ball did\nnot reach him, when one of the insurgents close by put up his rifle, and\nmade the enemy bite the dust. Among the arms taken from Colonel\nWashington was one double-barreled gun. This weapon was loaded by Leeman\nwith buckshot, and placed in the hands of an elderly slave man, early in\nthe morning. After the cowardly charge upon Coppoc, this old man was\nordered by Captain Stevens to arrest a citizen. The old man ordered him\nto halt, which he refused to do, when instantly the terrible load was\ndischarged into him, and he fell, and expired without a struggle.\u201d[239]\n\nThe next step which John Brown had in mind is unknown, but there were\ntwo safe movements at 9 A. M. Monday morning:\n\n(_a_) The arms could have been brought across the Potomac bridge and\nthen across the Shenandoah, and so up Londoun Heights. The men from the\nMaryland side could have joined, and Brown and his men covered their\nretreat by compelling the hostages to march with them. Kagi and his men,\nby wading the Shenandoah, could have supported them.\n\n(_b_) The arms could have been taken down to the Potomac from the\nschoolhouse, ferried across and moved over to Kagi. Brown and his men\ncould have joined the party there and all retreated up Loudoun Heights.\nFrom the fact that Brown had the arms stopped at the schoolhouse, this\nseems probably to have been the thought in his mind.\n\nOn the other hand, the plan usually attributed to Brown is unthinkable;\nviz., that he intended retreating across the Potomac into the Maryland\nmountains. First, he had just come out of the Maryland mountains and had\nmoved down his arms and ammunition; and second, this man\u0153uvre would have\ncut his band off from the Great Black Way to the South unless he\ncaptured the Ferry a second time. Manifestly this, then, was not Brown\u2019s\nidea. It has, however, been suggested that the arms had been moved down\nto the schoolhouse to be placed in the hands of slaves there. But why\nwere they left on the Maryland side? In the whole Maryland country west\nof the mountains were less than a thousand able-bodied Negroes, of whom\nnot a tenth could have been cognizant of the uprising, while Brown had\narms for 1,200 men or more. No, Brown intended to move the arms in bulk.\nHe had perhaps a ton, or a ton and a half of baggage. He wished it moved\nfirst to the schoolhouse, and then if all was well to the Ferry, or\nstraight across to the mountains. Cook started before five o\u2019clock in\nthe morning, and Brown no doubt expected to hear that the arms were at\nthe schoolhouse by ten. At eleven o\u2019clock he dispatched William Thompson\nto Kennedy farm. Anderson thinks that Thompson\u2019s message made the farm\nparty even more leisurely because it told of success so far. This is\nsurely impossible. The veriest tyro must have known that minutes were\ngolden despite the tremendous fortune of the expedition. Did Thompson\nmisapprehend his message? Was the delay Tidd\u2019s and what was Owen Brown\nthinking and doing? It is a curious puzzle, but it is the puzzle of the\nforay. If the party with the arms had arrived at the bridge any time\nbefore noon, the raid would have been successful. Even as it was, Brown\nstill had three courses open to him, all of which promised a measure of\nsuccess:\n\n(_a_) He could have gotten his band and crossed back to\nMaryland,\u2014although this meant the abandonment of the main features of\nhis whole plan. As time waned Stevens and Kagi urged this but Brown\nrefused.\n\n(_b_) He could have gone to Loudoun Heights, but this would have\ninvolved abandoning his arms and stores and above all, one of his sons,\nCook, Tidd, Merriam, Coppoc and the slaves. This was unthinkable.\n\n(_c_) He could have used his hostages to force terms. For not doing this\nhe afterward repeatedly blamed himself, but characteristically blamed no\none else for anything.\n\nMeantime every minute of delay aroused the country and brought the\ncitizens to their senses. \u201cThe train that left Harper\u2019s Ferry carried a\npanic to Virginia, Maryland and Washington with it. The passengers,\ntaking all the paper they could find, wrote accounts of the\ninsurrection, which they threw from the windows as the train rushed\nonward.\u201d[240]\n\nA local physician says: \u201cI went back to the hillside then, and tried to\nget the citizens together, to see what we could do to get rid of these\nfellows. They seemed to be very troublesome. When I got on the hill I\nlearned that they had shot Boerly. That was probably about seven\no\u2019clock.... I had ordered the Lutheran church bell to be rung to get the\ncitizens together to see what sort of arms they had. I found one or two\nsquirrel rifles and a few shotguns. I had sent a messenger to\nCharlestown in the meantime for Captain Rowan, commander of a volunteer\ncompany there. I also sent messengers to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad\nto stop the trains coming east, and not let them approach the Ferry, and\nalso a messenger to Shepherdstown.\u201d[241]\n\nAnother eye-witness adds: \u201cThere was unavoidable delay in the\npreparations for a fight, because of the scarcity of weapons; for only a\nfew squirrel guns and fowling-pieces could be found. There were then at\nHarper\u2019s Ferry thousands and tens of thousands of muskets and rifles of\nthe most approved patterns, but they were all boxed up in the arsenal,\nand the arsenal was in the hands of the enemy. And such, too, was the\nscarcity of the ammunition that, after using up the limited supply of\nlead found in the village stores, pewter plates and spoons had to be\nmelted and molded into bullets for the occasion.\n\n\u201cBy nine o\u2019clock a number of indifferently armed citizens assembled on\nCamp Hill and decided that the party, consisting of half a dozen men,\nshould cross the Potomac a short distance above the Ferry, and, going\ndown the tow-path of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal as far as the railway\nbridge, should attack the two sentinels stationed there, who, by the\nway, had been re\u00ebnforced by four more of Brown\u2019s party. Another small\nparty under Captain Medler was to cross the Shenandoah and take position\nopposite the rifle works, while Captain Avis, with a sufficient force,\nshould take possession of the Shenandoah bridge, and Captain Roderick,\nwith some of the armorers, should post themselves on the Baltimore and\nOhio Railway west of the Ferry just above the armories.\u201d[242]\n\nAt last the militia commenced to arrive and the movements to cut off\nBrown\u2019s men began. The Jefferson Guards crossed the Potomac, came down\nto the Maryland side and seized the Potomac bridge. The local company\nwas sent to take the Shenandoah bridge, leave a guard and march to the\nrear of the arsenal, while another local company was to seize the houses\nin front of the arsenal.\n\n\u201cAs strangers poured in,\u201d says Anderson, \u201cthe enemy took positions round\nabout, so as to prevent any escape, within shooting distance of the\nengine-house and arsenal. Captain Brown, seeing their man\u0153uvres, said,\n\u2018We will hold on to our three positions, if they are unwilling to come\nto terms, and die like men.\u2019\u201d[243]\n\nThe attack came at noon from the Jefferson Guards, who started across\nthe Potomac bridge from Maryland. This is Anderson\u2019s story:\n\n\u201cIt was about twelve o\u2019clock in the day when we were first attacked by\nthe troops. Prior to that, Captain Brown, in anticipation of further\ntrouble, had girded to his side the famous sword taken from Colonel\nLewis Washington the night before, and with that memorable weapon, he\ncommanded his men against General Washington\u2019s own state. When the\ncaptain received the news that the troops had entered the bridge from\nthe Maryland side, he, with some of his men, went into the street, and\nsent a message to the arsenal for us to come forth also. We hastened to\nthe street as ordered, when he said\u2014\u2018The troops are on the bridge,\ncoming into town; we will give them a warm reception.\u2019 He then walked\naround amongst us, giving us words of encouragement, in this wise:\u2014\u2018Men!\nbe cool! Don\u2019t waste your powder and shot! Take aim, and make every shot\ncount!\u2019 \u2018The troops will look for us to retreat on their first\nappearance; be careful to shoot first.\u2019 Our men were well supplied with\nfirearms, but Captain Brown had no rifle at that time; his only weapon\nwas the sword before mentioned.\n\n\u201cThe troops soon came out of the bridge, and up the street facing us, we\noccupying an irregular position. When they got within sixty or seventy\nyards, Captain Brown said, \u2018Let go upon them!\u2019 which we did, when\nseveral of them fell. Again and again the dose was repeated. There was\nnow consternation among the troops. From marching in solid martial\ncolumns, they became scattered. Some hastened to seize upon and bear up\nthe wounded and dying,\u2014several lay dead upon the ground. They seemed not\nto realize, at first, that we would fire upon them, but evidently\nexpected that we would be driven out by them without firing. Captain\nBrown seemed fully to understand the matter, and hence, very properly\nand in our defense, undertook to forestall their movements. The\nconsequence of their unexpected reception was, after leaving several of\ntheir dead on the field, they beat a confused retreat into the bridge,\nand there stayed under cover until reinforcements came to the Ferry. On\nthe retreat of the troops, we were ordered back to our former\nposts.\u201d[244]\n\nAt this time the Negro, Newby, was killed and his assailant shot in turn\nby Green. Two slaves also died fighting. Now \u201cthere was comparative\nquiet for a time, except that the citizens seemed to be wild with\nterror. Men, women and children forsook the place in great haste,\nclimbing up hillsides, and scaling the mountains. The latter seemed to\nbe alive with white fugitives, fleeing from their doomed city. During\nthis time, William Thompson, who was returning from his errand to the\nKennedy farm, was surrounded on the bridge by railroad men, who next\ncame up, and taken a prisoner to the Wager house.\u201d[245]\n\nIt was now one o\u2019clock in the day and while things were going against\nBrown, his cause was not desperate. His Maryland men might yet attack\nthe disorganized Jefferson Guards in the rear and the arsenal was full\nof hostages. But militia and citizens kept pouring into the town and by\nthree o\u2019clock \u201ccould be seen coming from every direction.\u201d Kagi sent\nword to Brown, urging retreat; but Brown faced a difficult dilemma:\nShould he go to Loudoun Heights and lose half his men and all his\nmunitions? or should he retreat to Maryland? This latter path lay open,\nhe was sure, by means of his hostages. Meantime the Maryland party might\nappear at any moment. Indeed, the Jefferson Guards had once been\nmistaken for them. On this account the message was sent back to Kagi \u201cto\nhold out for a few minutes, when we would all evacuate the place.\u201d Still\nthe Maryland party lingered with the stubborn Tidd somewhere up the\nroad, and Cook idly kicking his heels at the schoolhouse.\n\nThe messenger, Jerry Anderson, was fired on and mortally wounded before\nhe reached Kagi, and the latter\u2019s party was attacked by a large force\nand driven into the river.\n\n\u201cThe river at that point runs rippling over a rocky bed,\u201d writes a\nVirginian, \u201cand at ordinary stages of the water is easily forded. The\nraiders, finding their retreat to the opposite shore intercepted by\nMedler\u2019s men, made for a large flat rock near the middle of the stream.\nBefore reaching it, however, Kagi fell and died in the water, apparently\nwithout a struggle. Four others reached the rock, where, for a while,\nthey made an ineffectual stand, returning the fire of the citizens. But\nit was not long before two of them were killed outright and another\nprostrated by a mortal wound, leaving Copeland, a mulatto, standing\nalone unharmed upon their rock of refuge.\n\n\u201cThereupon, a Harper\u2019s Ferry man, James H. Holt, dashed into the river,\ngun in hand, to capture Copeland, who, as he approached him, made a show\nof fight by pointing his gun at Holt, who halted and leveled his; but,\nto the surprise of the lookers-on, neither of their weapons were\ndischarged, both having been rendered temporarily useless, as I\nafterward learned, from being wet. Holt, however, as he again advanced,\ncontinued to snap his gun, while Copeland did the same.\u201d[246]\n\nCopeland was taken alive and Leeman, with a second message from Kagi to\nBrown, was killed. Matters were now getting desperate, but the armory\nwas full of prisoners and therein lay John Brown\u2019s final hope. Easily as\na last resort he could use these citizens as a screen and so escape to\nthe mountains. In attempting this, however, some of the prisoners were\nbound to be killed and Brown hesitated at sacrificing innocent blood to\nsave himself. He thought that the same end might be accomplished by\nnegotiation. His first move, therefore, was to withdraw all his force\nand the important prisoners to a small brick building near the armory\ngate called the \u201cengine-house.\u201d Captain Daingerfield, one of the\nprisoners, says: \u201cHe entered the engine-house, carrying his prisoners\nalong, or rather part of them, for he made selections. After getting\ninto the engine-house he made this speech: \u2018Gentlemen, perhaps you\nwonder why I have selected you from the others. It is because I believe\nyou to be the most influential; and I have only to say now, that you\nwill have to share precisely the same fate that your friends extend to\nmy men.\u2019 He began at once to bar the doors and windows, and to cut\nport-holes through the brick wall.\u201d[247]\n\nThis evident weakening of the raiders let pandemonium loose. The\ncitizens realized how small a force Brown had and were filled with fury\nat his presumption. His men began to fight desperately for their lives.\n\n\u201cAbout the time when Brown immured himself,\u201d a narrator reports, \u201ca\ncompany of Berkeley County militia arrived from Martinsburg who, with\nsome citizens of Harper\u2019s Ferry and the surrounding country, made a rush\non the armory and released the great mass of the prisoners outside of\nthe engine-house, not, however, without suffering some loss from a\ngalling fire kept up by the enemy from \u2018the fort.\u2019\u201d[248]\n\nThis released the arms and one of the Virginia watchmen says: \u201cThe\npeople, who came pouring into town, broke into liquor saloons, filled\nup, and then got into the arsenal, arming themselves with United States\nguns and ammunition. They kept shooting at random and howling.\u201d[249]\n\nThe prisoners within the engine-house heard \u201ca terrible firing from\nwithout, at every point from which the windows could be seen, and in a\nfew minutes every window was shattered, and hundreds of balls came\nthrough the doors. These shots were answered from within whenever the\nattacking party could be seen. This was kept up most of the day, and,\nstrange to say, not a prisoner was hurt, though thousands of balls were\nimbedded in the walls, and holes shot in the doors almost large enough\nfor a man to creep through.\u201d[250]\n\nThe doomed raiders saw \u201cvolley upon volley\u201d discharged, while \u201cthe\nechoes from the hills, the shrieks of the townspeople, and the groans of\ntheir wounded and dying, all of which filled the air, were truly\nfrightful.\u201d Yet \u201cno powder and ball were wasted. We shot from under\ncover, and took deadly aim. For an hour before the flag of truce was\nsent out, the firing was uninterrupted, and one and another of the enemy\nwere constantly dropping to the earth.\u201d[251]\n\nOliver Brown was shot and died without a word and Taylor was mortally\nwounded. The mayor of the city ventured out, unarmed, to reconnoitre and\nwas killed. Immediately the son of Andrew Hunter, who afterward was\nstate\u2019s attorney against Brown, rushed into the hotel after the prisoner\nWilliam Thompson:\n\n\u201cWe burst into the room where he was, and found several around him, but\nthey offered only a feeble resistance; we brought our guns down to his\nhead repeatedly,\u2014myself and another person,\u2014for the purpose of shooting\nhim in the room.\n\n\u201cThere was a young lady there, the sister of Mr. Fouke, the\nhotel-keeper, who sat in this man\u2019s lap, covered his face with her arms,\nand shielded him with her person whenever we brought our guns to bear.\nShe said to us, \u2018For God\u2019s sake, wait and let the law take its course.\u2019\nMy associate shouted to kill him. \u2018Let us shed his blood,\u2019 were his\nwords. All round were shouting, \u2018Mr. Beckham\u2019s life was worth ten\nthousand of these vile Abolitionists.\u2019 I was cool about it, and\ndeliberate. My gun was pushed by some one who seized the barrel, and I\nthen moved to the back part of the room, still with purpose unchanged,\nbut with a view to divert attention from me, in order to get an\nopportunity, at some moment when the crowd would be less dense, to shoot\nhim. After a moment\u2019s thought it occurred to me that that was not the\nproper place to kill him. We then proposed to take him out and hang him.\nSome portion of our band then opened a way to him, and first pushing\nMiss Fouke aside, we slung him out-of-doors. I gave him a push, and many\nothers did the same. We then shoved him along the platform and down to\nthe trestle work of the bridge; he begged for his life all the time,\nvery piteously at first.\u201d[252]\n\nThus he was shot to death as he crawled in the trestle work. The\nprisoners in the engine-house now urged Brown to make terms with the\ncitizens, representing that this was possible and that he and his men\ncould escape. Brown sent out his son Watson with a white flag, but the\nmaddened citizens paid no attention to it and shot him down. A lull in\nthe fighting came a little later, and Stevens took a second flag of\ntruce, but was captured and held prisoner. Daingerfield says:\n\n\u201cAt night the firing ceased, for we were in total darkness, and nothing\ncould be seen in the engine-house. During the day and night I talked\nmuch with Brown. I found him as brave as a man could be, and sensible\nupon all subjects except slavery. He believed it was his duty to free\nthe slaves, even if in doing so he lost his own life. During a sharp\nfight one of Brown\u2019s sons was killed. He fell; then trying to raise\nhimself, he said, \u2018It is all over with me,\u2019 and died instantly. Brown\ndid not leave his post at the port-hole; but when the fighting was over\nhe walked to his son\u2019s body, straightened out his limbs, took off his\ntrappings, and then, turning to me, said, \u2018This is the third son I have\nlost in this cause.\u2019 Another son had been shot in the morning, and was\nthen dying, having been brought in from the street. Often during the\naffair at the engine-house, when his men would want to fire upon some\none who might be seen passing, Brown would stop them, saying, \u2018Don\u2019t\nshoot; that man is unarmed.\u2019 The firing was kept up by our men all day\nand until late at night, and during this time several of his men were\nkilled, but none of the prisoners were hurt, though in great danger.\nDuring the day and night many propositions, pro and con, were made,\nlooking to Brown\u2019s surrender and the release of the prisoners, but\nwithout result.\u201d[253]\n\nAnother eye-witness says:\n\n\u201cA little before night Brown asked if any of his captives would\nvolunteer to go out among the citizens and induce them to cease firing\non the fort, as they were endangering the lives of their friends\u2014the\nprisoners. He promised on his part that, if there was no more firing on\nhis men, there should be none by them on the besiegers. Mr. Israel\nRussel undertook the dangerous duty; the risk arose from the excited\nstate of the people who would be likely to fire on anything seen\nstirring around the prison-house, and the citizens were persuaded to\nstop firing in consideration of the danger incurred of injuring the\nprisoners....\n\n\u201cIt was now dark and the wildest excitement existed in the town,\nespecially among the friends of the killed, wounded and prisoners of the\ncitizens\u2019 party. It had rained some little all day and the atmosphere\nwas raw and cold. Now, a cloudy and moonless sky hung like a pall over\nthe scene of war, and, on the whole, a more dismal night cannot be\nimagined. Guards were stationed round the engine-house to prevent\nBrown\u2019s escape and, as forces were constantly arriving from Winchester,\nFrederick City, Baltimore and other places to help the Harper\u2019s Ferry\npeople, the town soon assumed quite a military appearance. The United\nStates authorities in Washington had been notified in the meantime, and,\nin the course of the night, Colonel Robert E. Lee, afterward the famous\nGeneral Lee of the Southern Confederacy, arrived with a force of United\nStates marines, to protect the interests of the government, and kill or\ncapture the invaders.\u201d[254]\n\nMeantime Cook had awakened to the fact that something was wrong. He left\nTidd at the schoolhouse and started toward the Ferry; finding it\nsurrounded, he fired one volley from a tree and fled. He found no one at\nthe schoolhouse, but met Tidd, and the whole farm guard, and one Negro\non the road beyond. They all turned and fled north, Tidd and Cook\nquarreling. They wandered fourteen days in rain and snow, and finally\nall escaped except Cook who went into a town for food and was arrested.\n\nRobert E. Lee, with 100 marines, arrived just before midnight on Monday\nand one of the prisoners tells the story of the last stand:\n\n\u201cWhen Colonel Lee came with the government troops in the night, he at\nonce sent a flag of truce by his aid, J. E. B. Stuart, to notify Brown\nof his arrival, and in the name of the United States to demand his\nsurrender, advising him to throw himself on the clemency of the\ngovernment. Brown declined to accept Colonel Lee\u2019s terms, and determined\nto await the attack. When Stuart was admitted and a light brought, he\nexclaimed, \u2018Why, aren\u2019t you old Osawatomie Brown of Kansas, whom I once\nhad there as my prisoner?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 was the answer, \u2018but you did not keep\nme.\u2019 This was the first intimation we had of Brown\u2019s real name. When\nColonel Lee advised Brown to trust to the clemency of the government,\nBrown responded that he knew what that meant,\u2014a rope for his men and\nhimself; adding, \u2018I prefer to die just here.\u2019 Stuart told him he would\nreturn at early morning for his final reply, and left him. When he had\ngone, Brown at once proceeded to barricade the doors, windows, etc.,\nendeavoring to make the place as strong as possible. All this time no\none of Brown\u2019s men showed the slightest fear, but calmly awaited the\nattack, selecting the best situations to fire from, and arranging their\nguns and pistols so that a fresh one could be taken up as soon as one\nwas discharged....\n\n\u201cWhen Lieutenant Stuart came in the morning for the final reply to the\ndemand to surrender, I got up and went to Brown\u2019s side to hear his\nanswer. Stuart asked, \u2018Are you ready to surrender, and trust to the\nmercy of the government?\u2019 Brown answered, \u2018No, I prefer to die here.\u2019\nHis manner did not betray the least alarm. Stuart stepped aside and made\na signal for the attack, which was instantly begun with sledge-hammers\nto break down the door. Finding it would not yield, the soldiers seized\na long ladder for a battering-ram, and commenced beating the door with\nthat, the party within firing incessantly. I had assisted in the\nbarricading, fixing the fastenings so that I could remove them on the\nfirst effort to get in. But I was not at the door when the battering\nbegan, and could not get to the fastenings till the ladder was used. I\nthen quickly removed the fastenings; and, after two or three strokes of\nthe ladder, the engine rolled partially back, making a small aperture,\nthrough which Lieutenant Green of the marines forced his way, jumped on\ntop of the engine, and stood a second, amidst a shower of balls, looking\nfor John Brown. When he saw Brown, he sprang about twelve feet at him,\ngiving an under-thrust of his sword, striking Brown about midway the\nbody, and raising him completely from the ground. Brown fell forward,\nwith his head between his knees, while Green struck him several times\nover the head, and, as I then supposed, split his skull at every stroke.\nI was not two feet from Brown at that time. Of course, I got out of the\nbuilding as soon as possible, and did not know till some time later that\nBrown was not killed. It seems that Green\u2019s sword, in making the thrust,\nstruck Brown\u2019s belt and did not penetrate the body. The sword was bent\ndouble. The reason that Brown was not killed when struck on the head\nwas, that Green was holding his sword in the middle, striking with the\nhilt, and making only scalp wounds.\u201d[255]\n\nAfter the attack on the troops at the bridge, Brown had ordered O. P.\nAnderson, Hazlett and Green back to the arsenal. But Green saw the\ndesperate strait of Brown and chose voluntarily to go into the\nengine-house and fight until the last. Anderson and Hazlett, when they\nsaw the door battered in, went to the back of the arsenal, climbed the\nwall and fled along the railway that goes up the Shenandoah. Here in the\ncliffs they had a skirmish with the troops but finally escaped in the\nnight, crossed the town and the Potomac and so got into Maryland and\nwent to the farm. It was deserted and pillaged. Then they came back to\nthe schoolhouse and found that empty. In the morning they heard firing\nand Anderson\u2019s narrative continues:\n\n\u201cHazlett thought it must be Owen Brown and his men trying to force their\nway into the town, as they had been informed that a number of us had\nbeen taken prisoners, and we started down along the ridge to join them.\nWhen we got in sight of the Ferry, we saw the troops firing across the\nriver to the Maryland side with considerable spirit. Looking closely, we\nsaw, to our surprise, that they were firing upon a few of the colored\nmen, who had been armed the day before by our men, at the Kennedy farm,\nand stationed down at the schoolhouse by C. P. Tidd. They were in the\nbushes on the edge of the mountains, dodging about, occasionally\nexposing themselves to the enemy. The troops crossed the bridge in\npursuit of them, but they retreated in different directions. Being\nfurther in the mountains, and more secure, we could see without personal\nharm befalling us. One of the colored men came toward where we were,\nwhen we hailed him, and inquired the particulars. He said that one of\nhis comrades had been shot, and was lying on the side of the mountains;\nthat they thought the men who had armed them the day before must be in\nthe Ferry. That opinion, we told him, was not correct. We asked him to\njoin with us in hunting up the rest of the party, but he declined, and\nwent his way.\n\n\u201cWhile we were in this part of the mountains, some of the troops went to\nthe schoolhouse, and took possession of it. On our return along up the\nridge, from our position, screened by the bushes, we could see them as\nthey invested it. Our last hope of shelter, or of meeting our\ncompanions, now being destroyed, we concluded to make our escape\nnorth.\u201d[256]\n\nAnderson managed to get away, but Hazlett was captured in Pennsylvania\nand was returned to Virginia. Thus John Brown\u2019s raid ended. Seven of the\nmen\u2014John Brown himself, Shields Green, Edwin Coppoc, Stevens and\nCopeland and eventually Cook and Hazlett\u2014were captured and hanged.\nWatson and Oliver Brown, the two Thompsons, Kagi, Jerry Anderson,\nTaylor, Newby, Leary, and John Anderson, ten in all, were killed in the\nfight, and six others\u2014Owen Brown, Tidd, Leeman, Barclay Coppoc, Merriam\nand O. Anderson escaped.\n\nAt high noon on Tuesday, October 18th, the raid was over. John Brown lay\nwounded and bloodstained on the floor and the governor of Virginia bent\nover him.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cMy name is John Brown; I have been well known as old John Brown of\nKansas. Two of my sons were killed here to-day, and I\u2019m dying too. I\ncame here to liberate slaves, and was to receive no reward. I have acted\nfrom a sense of duty, and am content to await my fate; but I think the\ncrowd have treated me badly. I am an old man. Yesterday I could have\nkilled whom I chose; but I had no desire to kill any person, and would\nnot have killed a man had they not tried to kill me and my men. I could\nhave sacked and burned the town, but did not; I have treated the persons\nwhom I took as hostages kindly, and I appeal to them for the truth of\nwhat I say. If I had succeeded in running off slaves this time, I could\nhave raised twenty times as many men as I have now, for a similar\nexpedition. But I have failed.\u201d[257]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX\n\n \u201cSurely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we\n did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.\n\n \u201cBut He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our\n iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His\n stripes we are healed.\u201d\n\n\nThe deed was done. The next day the world knew and the world sat in\npuzzled amazement. It was ever so and ever will be. When a prophet like\nJohn Brown appears, how must we of the world receive him? Must we follow\nout the drear, dread logic of surrounding facts, as did the South, even\nif they crucify a clean and pure soul, simply because consistent\nallegiance to our cherished, chosen ideal demands it? If we do, the\nshame will brand our latest history. Shall we hesitate and waver before\nhis clear white logic, now helping, now fearing to help, now believing,\nnow doubting? Yes, this we must do so long as the doubt and hesitation\nare genuine; but we must not lie. If we are human, we must thus hesitate\nuntil we know the right. How shall we know it? That is the Riddle of the\nSphinx. We are but darkened groping souls, that know not light often\nbecause of its very blinding radiance. Only in time is truth revealed.\nTo-day at last we know: John Brown was right.\n\nYet there are some great principles to guide us. That there are in this\nworld matters of vast human import which are eternally right or\neternally wrong, all men believe. Whether that great right comes, as the\nsimpler, clearer minded think, from the spoken word of God, or whether\nit is simply another way of saying: this deed makes for the good of\nmankind, or that, for the ill\u2014however it may be, all men know that there\nare in this world here and there and again and again great partings of\nthe ways\u2014the one way wrong, the other right, in some vast and eternal\nsense. This certainly is true at times\u2014in the mighty crises of lives and\nnations. On the other hand, it is also true, as human experience again\nand again shows, that the usual matters of human debate and difference\nof opinion are not so vitally important, or so easily classified; that\nin most cases there is much of right and wrong on both sides and, so\nusual is it to find this true, that men tend to argue it always so.\nTheir life morality becomes always a wavering path of expediency, not\nnecessarily the best or the worst path, as they freely even smilingly\nadmit, but a good path, a safe path, a path of little resistance and one\nthat leads to the good if not to the theoretical (but usually\nimpracticable) best. Such philosophy of the world\u2019s ways is common, and\nprobably it is well that thus it is. And yet we all feel its temporary,\ntentative character; we instinctively distrust its comfortable tone, and\nlisten almost fearfully for the greater voice; its better is often so\nfar below that which we feel is a possible best, that its present\ntemporizing seems evil to us, and ever and again after the world has\ncomplacently dodged and compromised with, and skilfully evaded a great\nevil, there shines, suddenly, a great white light\u2014an unwavering,\nunflickering brightness, blinding by its all-seeing brilliance, making\nthe whole world simply a light and a darkness\u2014a right and a wrong. Then\nmen tremble and writhe and waver. They whisper, \u201cBut\u2014but\u2014of course;\u201d\n\u201cthe thing is plain, but it is too plain to be true\u2014it is true but truth\nis not the only thing in the world.\u201d Thus they hide from the light, they\nburrow and grovel, and yet ever in, and through, and on them blazes that\nmighty light with its horror of darkness and behind it peals the\nvoice\u2014the Riddle of the Sphinx, that must be answered.\n\nSuch a light was the soul of John Brown. He was simple, exasperatingly\nsimple; unlettered, plain, and homely. No casuistry of culture or of\nlearning, of well-being or tradition moved him in the slightest degree:\n\u201cSlavery is wrong,\u201d he said,\u2014\u201ckill it.\u201d Destroy it\u2014uproot it, stem,\nblossom, and branch; give it no quarter, exterminate it and do it now.\nWas he wrong? No. The forcible staying of human uplift by barriers of\nlaw, and might, and tradition is the most wicked thing on earth. It is\nwrong, eternally wrong. It is wrong, by whatever name it is called, or\nin whatever guise it lurks, and whenever it appears. But it is\nespecially heinous, black, and cruel when it masquerades in the robes of\nlaw and justice and patriotism. So was American slavery clothed in 1859,\nand it had to die by revolution, not by milder means. And this men knew.\nThey had known it a hundred years. Yet they shrank and trembled. From\nround about the white and blinding path of this soul flew equivocations,\nlies, thievings and red murders. And yet all men instinctively felt that\nthese things were not of the light but of the surrounding darkness. It\nis at once surprising, baffling and pitiable to see the way in which\nmen\u2014honest American citizens\u2014faced this light. Many types met and\nanswered the argument, John Brown (for he did not use argument, he was\nhimself an argument). First there was the Western American\u2014the typical\nAmerican, like Charles Robinson\u2014one to whose imagination the empire of\nthe vale of the Mississippi appealed with tremendous force. Then there\nwas the Abolitionist\u2014shading away from him who held slavery an incubus\nto him who saw its sin, of whom Gerrit Smith was a fair type. Then there\nwas the lover of men, like Dr. Howe, and the merchant-errant like\nStearns. Finally, there were the two great fateful types\u2014the master and\nthe slave.\n\nTo Robinson, Brown was simply a means to an end\u2014beyond that he was\nwhatever prevailing public opinion indicated. When the gratitude of\nOsawatomie swelled high, Brown was fit to be named with Jesus Christ;\nwhen the wave of Southern reaction subjugated the nation, he was\nsomething less than a fanatic. But whatever he was, he was the sword on\nwhich struggling Kansas and its leaders could depend, the untarnished\ndoer of its darker deeds, when they that knew them necessary cowered and\nheld their hands. Brown\u2019s was not the only hand that freed Kansas, but\nhis hand was indispensable, and not the first time, nor the last, has a\ncool and skilful politician, like Robinson, climbed to power on the\nheads of those helpers of his, whose half-realized ideals he bartered\nfor present possibilities\u2014human freedom for statehood. For the\nAbolitionist of the Garrison type Brown had a contempt, as undeserved as\nit was natural to his genius. To recognize an evil and not strike it was\nto John Brown sinful. \u201cTalk, talk, talk,\u201d he said derisively. Nor did he\nrightly gauge the value of spiritual as contrasted with physical blows,\nuntil the day when he himself struck the greatest on the Charleston\nscaffold.\n\nBut if John Brown failed rightly to gauge the movement of the\nAbolitionists, few of them failed to appreciate him when they met him.\nInstinctively they knew him as one who grasped the very pith and kernel\nof the evil which they fought. They asked no proofs or credentials; they\nasked John Brown. So it was with Gerrit Smith. He saw Brown and believed\nin him. He entertained him at his house. He heard his detailed plans for\nstriking slavery a heart blow. He gave him in all over a thousand\ndollars, and bade him Godspeed! Yet when the blow was struck, he was\nfilled with immeasurable consternation. He equivocated and even denied\nknowledge of Brown\u2019s plans. To be sure, he, his family, his fortune were\nin the shadow of danger\u2014but where was John Brown? So with Dr. Howe,\nwhose memory was painfully poor on the witness stand and who fluttered\nfrom enthusiastic support of Brown to a weak wavering when once he had\ntasted the famous Southern hospitality. He found slavery, to his own\nintense surprise, human: not ideally and horribly devilish, but only\nhumanly bad. Was a bad human institution to be attacked _vi et armis_?\nOr was it not rather to be met with persuasive argument in the soft\nshade of a Carolina veranda? Dr. Howe inclined to the latter thought,\nafter his Cuban visit, and he was exceedingly annoyed and scared after\nthe raid. He fled precipitately to Canada. Of the Boston committee only\nStearns stood up and out in the public glare and said unequivocally,\nthen and there: \u201cI believe John Brown to be the representative man of\nthis century, as Washington was of the last\u2014the Harper\u2019s Ferry affair,\nand the capacity shown by the Italians for self-government, the great\nevents of this age. One will free Europe and the other America.\u201d[258]\n\nThe attitude of the black man toward John Brown is typified by Frederick\nDouglass and Shields Green. Said Douglass: \u201cOn the evening when the news\ncame that John Brown had taken and was then holding the town of Harper\u2019s\nFerry, it so happened that I was speaking to a large audience in\nNational Hall, Philadelphia. The announcement came upon us with the\nstartling effect of an earthquake. It was something to make the boldest\nhold his breath.\u201d[259]\n\nWise and Buchanan started immediately on Douglass\u2019s track and he fled to\nCanada and eventually to England. Why did not Douglass join John Brown?\nBecause, first, he was of an entirely different cast of temperament and\nmind; and because, secondly, he knew, as only a Negro slave can know,\nthe tremendous might and organization of the slave power. Brown\u2019s plan\nnever in the slightest degree appealed to Douglass\u2019s reason. That the\nUnderground Railroad methods could be enlarged and systematized,\nDouglass believed, but any further plan he did not think possible. Only\nnational force could dislodge national slavery. As it was with Douglass,\nso it was practically with the Negro race. They believed in John Brown\nbut not in his plan. He touched their warm loving hearts but not their\nhard heads. The Canadian Negroes, for instance, were men who knew what\nslavery meant. They had suffered its degradation, its repression and its\nstill more fatal license. They knew the slave system. They had been\nslaves. They had risked life to help loved ones to escape its\nfar-reaching tentacles. They had reached a land of freedom and had begun\nto taste the joy of being human. Their little homes were clustering\nabout\u2014they had their churches, lodges, social gatherings, and newspaper.\nThen came the call. They loved the old man and cherished him, helped and\nforwarded his work in a thousand little ways. But the call? Were they\nasked to sacrifice themselves to free their fellow-slaves? Were they not\nquite ready? No\u2014to do that they stood ever ready. But here they were\nasked to sacrifice themselves for the sake of possibly freeing a few\nslaves and certainly arousing the nation. They saw what John Brown did\nnot fully realize until the last: the tremendous meaning of sacrifice\neven though his enterprise failed and they were sure it would fail. Yet\nin truth it need not have failed. History and military science prove its\nessential soundness. But the Negro knew little of history and military\nscience. He did know slavery and the slave power, and they loomed large\nand invincible in his fertile imagination. He could not conceive their\noverthrow by anything short of the direct voice of God. That a supreme\nsacrifice of human beings on the altar of Moloch might hasten the day of\nemancipation was possible, but were they called to give their lives to\nthis forlorn hope? Most of them said no, as most of their fellows, black\nand white, ever answer to the \u201cvoice, without reply.\u201d They said it\nreluctantly, slowly, even hesitatingly, but they said it even as their\nleader Douglass said it. And why not, they argued? Was not their whole\nlife already a sacrifice? Were they called by any right of God or man to\ngive more than they already had given? What more did they owe the world?\nDid not the world owe them an unpayable amount?\n\nThen, too, the sacrifice demanded of black men in this raid was far more\nthan that demanded of whites. In 1859 it was a crime for a free black\nman even to set foot on Virginia soil, and it was slavery or death for a\nfugitive to return. If worse came to worst, the Negro stood the least\nchance of escape and the least consideration on capture. Yet despite all\nthis and despite the terrible training of slavery in cowardice,\nsubmission and fatality; the systematic elimination, by death and\ncruelty, of strength and self-respect and bravery, there were in Canada\nand in the United States scores of Negroes ready for the sacrifice. But\nthe necessary secrecy, vagueness and intangibility of the summons, the\nrepeated changes of date, the difficulty of communication and the\npoverty of black men, all made effective co\u00f6peration exceedingly\ndifficult.\n\nEven as it was, fifteen or twenty Negroes had enlisted and would\nprobably have been present had they had the time. Five, probably six,\nactually came in time, and thirty or forty slaves actively helped.\nConsidering the mass of Negroes in the land and the character of the\nleader, this was an insignificant number. But what it lacked in number\nit made up in characters like Shields Green. He was a poor, unlettered\nfugitive, ignorant by the law of the land, stricken in life and homely\nin body. He sat and listened as Douglass and Brown argued amid the\nboulders of that old Chambersburg quarry. Some things he understood,\nsome he did not. But one thing he did understand and that was the soul\nof John Brown, so he said, \u201cI guess I\u2019ll go with the old man.\u201d Again in\nthe sickening fury of that fatal Monday, a white man and a black man\nfound themselves standing with freedom before them. The white man was\nJohn Brown\u2019s truest companion and the black man was Shields Green. \u201cI\ntold him to come,\u201d said the white man afterward, \u201cthat we could do\nnothing more,\u201d but he simply said, \u201cI must go down to the old man.\u201d And\nhe went down to John Brown and to death.\n\nIf this was the attitude of the slave, what was that of the master? It\nwas when John Brown faced the indignant, self-satisfied and arrogant\nslave power of the South, flanked by its Northern Vallandighams, that\nthe mighty paradox and burning farce of the situation revealed itself.\nPicture the situation: An old and blood-bespattered man, half-dead from\nthe wounds inflicted but a few hours before; a man lying in the cold and\ndirt, without sleep for fifty-five nerve-wrecking hours, without food\nfor nearly as long, with the dead bodies of two sons almost before his\neyes, the piled corpses of his seven slain comrades near and afar, a\nwife and a bereaved family listening in vain, and a Lost Cause, the\ndream of a lifetime, lying dead in his heart. Around him was a group of\nbitter, inquisitive Southern aristocrats and their satellites, headed by\none of the foremost leaders of subsequent secession.\n\n\u201cWho sent you\u2014who sent you?\u201d these inquisitors insisted.\n\n\u201cNo man sent me\u2014I acknowledge no master in human form!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat was your object in coming?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe came to free the slaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you justify your acts?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are guilty of a great wrong against God and humanity and it would\nbe perfectly right for any one to interfere with you so far as to free\nthose you wilfully and wickedly hold in bondage. I think I did right;\nand that others will do right who interfere with you at any time and at\nall times. I hold that the Golden Rule, \u2018Do unto others as ye would that\nothers should do unto you,\u2019 applies to all who would help others to gain\ntheir liberty.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut don\u2019t you believe in the Bible?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, I do.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you consider this a religious movement?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is in my opinion the greatest service man can render to God.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you consider yourself an instrument in the hands of Providence?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do.\u201d\n\n\u201cUpon what principles do you justify your acts?\u201d\n\n\u201cUpon the Golden Rule. I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help\nthem. That is why I am here; not to gratify any personal animosity,\nrevenge, or vindictive spirit. It is my sympathy with the oppressed and\nthe wronged, that are as good as you and as precious in the sight of\nGod.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly. But why take the slaves against their will?\u201d\n\n\u201cI never did.\u201d...\n\n\u201cWho are your advisers in this movement?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have numerous sympathizers throughout the entire North.... I want you\nto understand that I respect the rights of the poorest and the weakest\nof colored people, oppressed by the slave system, just as much as I do\nthose of the most wealthy and powerful. That is the idea that has moved\nme, and that alone. We expected no reward except satisfaction of\nendeavoring to do for those in distress and greatly oppressed as we\nwould be done by. The cry of distress of the oppressed is my reason, and\nthe only thing that prompted me to come here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy did you do it secretly?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I thought that necessary to success; no other reason.... I\nagree with Mr. Smith that moral suasion is hopeless. I don\u2019t think the\npeople of the slave states will ever consider the subject of slavery in\nits true light till some other argument is resorted to than moral\nsuasion.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you expect a general rising of the slaves in case of your success?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, sir; nor did I wish it. I expected to gather them up from time to\ntime, and set them free.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you expect to hold possession here till then?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou overrate your strength in supposing I could have been taken if I\nhad not allowed it. I was too tardy after commencing the open attack\u2014in\ndelaying my movements through Monday night, and up to the time I was\nattacked by the government troops.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere did you get arms?\u201d\n\n\u201cI bought them.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn what state?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I will not state. I have nothing to say, only that I claim to be\nhere in carrying out a measure I believe perfectly justifiable, and not\nto act the part of an incendiary or ruffian, but to aid those suffering\ngreat wrong. I wish to say, furthermore, that you had better\u2014all you\npeople at the South\u2014prepare yourselves for a settlement of this\nquestion, that must come up for settlement sooner than you are prepared\nfor it. The sooner you are prepared the better. You may dispose of me\nvery easily,\u2014I am nearly disposed of now, but this question is still to\nbe settled,\u2014this Negro question, I mean; the end of that is not yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cBrown, suppose you had every nigger in the United States, what would\nyou do with them?\u201d\n\n\u201cSet them free.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour intention was to carry them off and free them?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo set them free would sacrifice the life of every man in this\ncommunity.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not think so.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it; I think you are fanatical.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I think you are fanatical. Whom the gods would destroy they first\nmake mad, and you are mad.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas it your only object to free the Negroes?\u201d\n\n\u201cAbsolutely our only object.\u201d...\n\n\u201cYou are a robber,\u201d cried some voice in the crowd.\n\n\u201cYou slaveholders are robbers,\u201d retorted Brown.\n\nBut Governor Wise interrupted: \u201cMr. Brown, the silver of your hair is\nreddened by the blood of crime, and you should eschew these hard words\nand think upon eternity. You are suffering from wounds, perhaps fatal;\nand should you escape death from these causes, you must submit to a\ntrial which may involve death. Your confessions justify the presumption\nthat you will be found guilty; and even now you are committing a felony\nunder the laws of Virginia, by uttering sentiments like these. It is\nbetter you should turn your attention to your eternal future than be\ndealing in denunciations which can only injure you.\u201d\n\nJohn Brown replied: \u201cGovernor, I have from all appearances not more than\nfifteen or twenty years the start of you in the journey to that eternity\nof which you kindly warn me; and whether my time here shall be fifteen\nmonths, or fifteen days, or fifteen hours, I am equally prepared to go.\nThere is an eternity behind and an eternity before; and this little\nspeck in the centre, however long, is but comparatively a minute. The\ndifference between your tenure and mine is trifling, and I therefore\ntell you to be prepared. I am prepared. You have a heavy responsibility,\nand it behooves you to prepare more than it does me.\u201d[260]\n\nThus from the day John Brown was captured to the day he died, and after,\nit was the South and slavery that was on trial\u2014not John Brown. Indeed,\nthe dilemma into which John Brown\u2019s raid threw the state of Virginia was\nperfect. If his foray was the work of a handful of fanatics, led by a\nlunatic and repudiated by the slaves to a man, then the proper procedure\nwould have been to ignore the incident, quietly punish the worst\noffenders and either pardon the misguided leader, or send him to an\nasylum. If, on the other hand, Virginia faced a conspiracy that\nthreatened her social existence, aroused dangerous unrest in her slave\npopulation, and was full of portent for the future, then extraordinary\nprecaution, swift and extreme punishment, and bitter complaint were only\nnatural. But both these situations could not be true\u2014both horns of the\ndilemma could not be logically seized. Yet this was precisely what the\nSouth and Virginia sought. While insisting that the raid was too\nhopelessly and ridiculously small to accomplish anything, and saying,\nwith Andrew Hunter, that \u201cnot a single one of the slaves\u201d joined John\nBrown \u201cexcept by coercion,\u201d the state nevertheless spent $250,000 to\npunish the invaders, stationed from one to three thousand soldiers in\nthe vicinity and threw the nation into turmoil. When the inconsistency\nof this action struck various minds, the attempt was made to exaggerate\nthe danger of the invading white men. The presiding judge at the trial\nwrote, as late as 1889, that the number in Brown\u2019s party was proven by\nwitnesses to have been seventy-five to one hundred and he \u201cexpected\nlarge reinforcements\u201d; while Andrew Hunter, the state\u2019s attorney, saw\nnation-wide conspiracies.\n\nWhat, then, was the truth about the matter? It was as Frederick Douglass\nsaid twenty-two years later on the very spot: \u201cIf John Brown did not end\nthe war that ended slavery, he did, at least, begin the war that ended\nslavery. If we look over the dates, places, and men for which this honor\nis claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia, not Fort\nSumter, but Harper\u2019s Ferry and the arsenal, not Major Anderson, but John\nBrown began the war that ended American slavery, and made this a free\nrepublic. Until this blow was struck, the prospect for freedom was dim,\nshadowy, and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one of words,\nvotes, and compromises. When John Brown stretched forth his arm the sky\nwas cleared,\u2014the armed hosts of freedom stood face to face over the\nchasm of a broken Union, and the clash of arms was at hand.\u201d[261]\n\nThe paths by which John Brown\u2019s raid precipitated civil war were these:\nIn the first place, he aroused the Negroes of Virginia. How far the\nknowledge of his plan had penetrated is of course only to be\nconjectured. Evidently few knew that the foray would take place on\nOctober 17th. But when the movement had once made a successful start,\nthere is no doubt that Osborne Anderson knew whereof he spoke, when he\nsaid that slaves were ready to co\u00f6perate. His words were proven by the\n200,000 black soldiers in the Civil War. That something was wrong was\nshown, too, by five incendiary fires in a single week after the raid.\nHunter sought to attribute these to \u201cNorthern emissaries,\u201d but this\ncharge was unproven and extremely improbable. The only other possible\nperpetrators were slaves and free Negroes. That Virginians believed this\nis shown by Hinton\u2019s declaration that the loss in 1859 by the sale of\nVirginia slaves alone was $10,000,000.[262] A lady who visited John\nBrown said, \u201cIt was hard for me to forget the presence of the jailer (I\nhad that morning seen his advertisement of \u2018fifty Negroes for\nsale\u2019).\u201d[263] It is impossible to prove the extent of this clearing-out\nof suspected slaves but the census reports indicate something of it. The\nNegro population of Maryland and Virginia increased a little over four\nper cent. between 1850 and 1860. But in the three counties bordering on\nHarper\u2019s Ferry\u2014Loudoun and Jefferson in Virginia and Washington in\nMaryland, the 17,647 slaves of 1850 had shrunk to 15,996 in 1860, a\ndecrease of nearly ten per cent. This means a disappearance of 2,400\nslaves and is very significant.\n\nSecondly, long before John Brown appeared at Harper\u2019s Ferry, Southern\nleaders like Mason, the author of the Fugitive Slave Bill, and chairman\nof the Harper\u2019s Ferry investigating committee; Jefferson Davis, who was\na member of this committee; Wise, Hunter and other Virginians, had set\ntheir faces toward secession as the only method of protecting slavery.\nInto the mouths of these men John Brown put a tremendous argument and a\nfearful warning. The argument they used, the warning they suppressed and\nhushed. The argument was: This is Abolitionism; this is the North. This\nis the kind of treatment which the South and its cherished institution\ncan expect unless it resorts to extreme measures. Proceeding along these\nlines, they emphasized and enlarged the raid so far as its white\nparticipants and Northern sympathizers were concerned. Governor Wise, on\nNovember 25th, issued a burning manifesto for the ears of the South and\nthe eyes of President Buchanan, and the majority report of the Senate\nCommittee closed with ominous words. On the other hand, the warning of\nJohn Brown\u2019s raid\u2014the danger of Negro insurrection, was but whispered.\n\nThird, and this was the path that led to Civil War and far beyond: The\nraid aroused and directed the conscience of the nation. Strange it was\nto watch its work. Some, impulsive, eager to justify themselves, rushed\ninto print. To Garrison, the non-resistant, the sword of Gideon was\nabhorrent; Beecher thundered against John Brown and Seward bitterly\ntraduced him. Then came an ominous silence in the land while his voice,\nin his own defense, was heard over the whole country. A great surging\nthrob of sympathy arose and swept the world. That John Brown was legally\na lawbreaker and a murderer all men knew. But wider and wider circles\nwere beginning dimly and more clearly to recognize that his lawlessness\nwas in obedience to the highest call of self-sacrifice for the welfare\nof his fellow men. They began to ask themselves, What is this cause that\ncan inspire such devotion? The reiteration of the simple statement of\n\u201cthe brother in bonds\u201d could not help but attract attention. The beauty\nof the conception despite its possible unearthliness and\nimpracticability attracted poet and philosopher and common man.\n\nTo be sure, the nation had long been thinking over the problem of the\nblack man, but never before had its attention been held by such deep\ndramatic and personal interest as in the forty days from mid-October to\nDecember, 1859. This arresting of national attention was due to Virginia\nand to John Brown:\u2014to Virginia by reason of its exaggerated plaint; to\nJohn Brown whose strength, simplicity and acumen made his trial,\nincarceration and execution the most powerful Abolition argument yet\noffered. The very processes by which Virginia used John Brown to \u201cfire\nthe Southern heart\u201d were used by John Brown to fire the Northern\nconscience. Andrew Hunter, the prosecuting state\u2019s attorney, of right\ndemanded that the trial should be short and the punishment swift and in\nthis John Brown fully agreed. He had no desire to escape the\nconsequences of his act or to clog the wheels of Virginia justice. After\na certain moral bewilderment there in the old engine-house at his\nfailure on the brink of success, the true significance of his mission of\nsacrifice slowly rose before him. In the face of proposals to rescue him\nhe said at first thoughtfully: \u201cI do not know that I ought to encourage\nany attempt to save my life. I am not sure that it would not be better\nfor me to die at this time. I am not incapable of error, and I may be\nwrong; but I think that perhaps my object would be nearer fulfilment if\nI should die. I must give it some thought.\u201d[264] And more and more this\nconviction seized and thrilled him, and he began to say decisively: \u201cI\nthink I cannot now better serve the cause I love so much than to die for\nit; and in my death I may do more than in my life.\u201d[265]\n\nAnd again: \u201cI can trust God with both the time and the manner of my\ndeath, believing, as I now do, that for me at this time to seal my\ntestimony for God and humanity with my blood will do vastly more toward\nadvancing the cause I have earnestly endeavored to promote, than all I\nhave done in my life before.\u201d And then finally came that last great hymn\nof utter sacrifice: \u201cI feel astonished that one so vile and unworthy as\nI am would even be suffered to have a place anyhow or anywhere amongst\nthe very least of all who when they came to die (as all must) were\npermitted to pay the debt of nature in defense of the right and of God\u2019s\neternal and immutable truth.\u201d[266]\n\nThe trial was a difficult experience. Virginia attempted to hold scales\nof even justice between mob violence and the world-wide sympathy of all\ngood men. To defend its domestic institutions, it must try a man for\nmurder when that very man, sitting as self-appointed judge of those very\ninstitutions, had convicted them before a jury of mankind. To defend the\ngood name of the state, Virginia had to restrain the violent blood\nvengeance of men whose kin had been killed in the raid, and who had\nsworn that no prisoner should escape the extreme penalty. The trial was\nlegally fair but pressed to a conclusion in unseemly haste, and in\nobedience to a threatening public opinion and a great hovering dread.\nOnly against this unfair haste did John Brown protest, for he wanted the\nworld to understand why he had done the deed. On the other hand, Hunter\nnot only feared the local mob but the slowly arising sentiment for this\nwhite-haired crusader. He therefore pushed the proceedings legally, but\nwith almost brutal pertinacity. The prisoner was arraigned while wounded\nand in bed; the lawyers, hurriedly chosen, were given scant time for\nconsultation or preparation. John Brown was formally committed to jail\nat Charlestown, the county seat, on October 20th, had a preliminary\nexamination October 25th, and was indicted by the grand jury October\n26th, for \u201cconspiracy with slaves for the purpose of insurrection; with\ntreason against the commonwealth of Virginia; and with murder in the\nfirst degree.\u201d\n\nThursday, October 27th, his trial was begun. A jury was impaneled\nwithout challenge and Brown\u2019s lawyers, ignoring his outline of defense,\nbrought in the plea of insanity. The old man arose from his couch and\nsaid: \u201cI look upon it as a miserable artifice and pretext of those who\nought to take a different course in regard to me, if they took any at\nall, and I view it with contempt more than otherwise.... I am perfectly\nunconscious of insanity, and I reject, so far as I am capable, any\nattempts to interfere in my behalf on that score.\u201d[267]\n\nOn Friday a Massachusetts lawyer arrived to help in the trial and also\nprivately to suggest methods of escape. John Brown quietly refused to\ncontemplate any such attempt, but was glad to accept the aid of this\nlawyer and two others, who were sent by John A. Andrew and his friends.\nThe judge curtly refused these men any time to prepare their case, but\nin spite of this it ran over until Monday when the jury retired. Late\nMonday afternoon they returned. Redpath says:\n\n\u201cAt this moment the crowd filled all the space from the couch inside the\nbar, around the prisoner, beyond the railing in the body of the court,\nout through the wide hall, and beyond the doors. There stood the anxious\nbut perfectly silent and attentive populace, stretching head and neck to\nwitness the closing scene of old Brown\u2019s trial.\u201d\n\nThe clerk of the court read the indictment and asked: \u201cGentlemen of the\njury, what say you? Is the prisoner at the bar, John Brown, guilty or\nnot guilty?\u201d\n\n\u201cGuilty,\u201d answered the foreman.\n\n\u201cGuilty of treason, and conspiring and advising with slaves and others\nto rebel, and murder in the first degree?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\nRedpath continues: \u201cNot the slightest sound was heard in this vast crowd\nas this verdict was thus returned and read. Not the slightest expression\nof elation or triumph was uttered from the hundreds present, who, a\nmoment before, outside the court, joined in heaping threats and\nimprecations on his head; nor was this strange silence interrupted\nduring the whole of the time occupied by the forms of the court. Old\nBrown himself said not even a word, but, as on any previous day, turned\nto adjust his pallet, and then composedly stretched himself upon\nit.\u201d[268]\n\nThe following Wednesday John Brown was sentenced. Moving with painful\nsteps and pale face, he took his seat under the gaslight in the great\nsquare room and remained motionless. The judge read his decision on the\npoints of exception and the clerk asked: \u201cHave you anything to say why\nsentence of death should not be passed upon you?\u201d Then rising and\nleaning forward, John Brown made that last great speech, in a voice at\nonce gentle and firm:\n\n\u201cI have, may it please the court, a few words to say.\n\n\u201cIn the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along\nadmitted,\u2014the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly\nto have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I\nwent into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun\non either side, moved them through the country and finally left them in\nCanada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale.\nThat was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the\ndestruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or\nto make insurrection.\n\n\u201cI have another objection; and that is, it is unjust that I should\nsuffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and\nwhich I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and\ncandor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in\nthis case),\u2014had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the\nintelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their\nfriends,\u2014either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or\nany of that class,\u2014and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this\ninterference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court\nwould have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.\n\n\u201cThis court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God.\nI see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least\nthe New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would\nthat men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me,\nfurther, to \u2018remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.\u2019 I\nendeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to\nunderstand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have\ninterfered as I have done\u2014as I have always freely admitted I have\ndone\u2014in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if\nit is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance\nof the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my\nchildren and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose\nrights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments,\u2014I\nsubmit; so let it be done! Let me say one word further.\n\n\u201cI feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my\ntrial. Considering all the circumstances, it has been more generous than\nI expected. But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from the\nfirst what was my intention, and what was not. I never had any design\nagainst the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason,\nor excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never\nencouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that\nkind.\n\n\u201cLet me say, also, a word in regard to the statements made by some of\nthose connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that\nI have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say\nthis to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one\nof them but that joined me of his own accord, and the greater part at\ntheir own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of\nconversation with, till the day they came to me; and that was for the\npurpose I have stated.\n\n\u201cNow I have done.\u201d[269]\n\nThe day of his dying, December 2d, dawned glorious; twenty-four hours\nbefore he had kissed his wife good-bye, and on this morning he visited\nhis doomed companions\u2014Shields Green and Copeland first; then the\nwavering Cook and Coppoc and the unmovable Stevens. At last he turned\ntoward the place of his hanging. Since early morning three thousand\nsoldiers had been marching and counter-marching around the scaffold,\nwhich had been erected a half mile from Charlestown, encircling it for\nfifteen miles; a hush sat on the hearts of men. John Brown rode out into\nthe morning. \u201cThis is a beautiful land,\u201d he said. It was beautiful.\nWide, glistening, rolling fields flickered in the sunlight. Beyond, the\nShenandoah went rolling northward, and still afar rose the mighty masses\nof the Blue Ridge, where Nat Turner had fought and died, where Gabriel\nhad looked for refuge and where John Brown had builded his awful dream.\nSome say he kissed a Negro child as he passed, but Andrew Hunter\nvehemently denies it. \u201cNo Negro could get access to him,\u201d he says, and\nhe is probably right; and yet all about him as he hung there knelt the\nfuneral guard he prayed for when he said:\n\n\u201cMy love to all who love their neighbors. I have asked to be spared from\nhaving any weak or hypocritical prayers made over me when I am publicly\nmurdered, and that my only religious attendants be poor little dirty,\nragged, bareheaded, and barefooted slave boys and girls, led by some\ngray-headed slave mother. Farewell! Farewell!\u201d[270]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n THE LEGACY OF JOHN BROWN\n\n \u201cHo, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that\n hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk\n without money and without price.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cI, John Brown, am quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land\nwill never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly,\nflattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.\u201d\n\nThese were the last written words of John Brown, set down the day he\ndied\u2014the culminating of that wonderful message of his forty days in\nprison, which all in all made the mightiest Abolition document that\nAmerica has known. Uttered in chains and solemnity, spoken in the very\nshadow of death, its dramatic intensity after that wild and puzzling\nraid, its deep earnestness as embodied in the character of the man, did\nmore to shake the foundations of slavery than any single thing that ever\nhappened in America. Of himself he speaks simply and with satisfaction:\n\u201cI should be sixty years old were I to live to May 9, 1860. I have\nenjoyed much of life as it is, and have been remarkably prosperous,\nhaving early learned to regard the welfare and prosperity of others as\nmy own. I have never, since I can remember, required a great amount of\nsleep; so that I conclude that I have already enjoyed full an average\nnumber of working hours with those who reach their threescore years and\nten. I have not yet been driven to the use of glasses, but can see to\nread and write quite comfortably. But more than that, I have generally\nenjoyed remarkably good health. I might go on to recount unnumbered and\nunmerited blessings, among which would be some very severe afflictions\nand those the most needed blessings of all. And now, when I think how\neasily I might be left to spoil all I have done or suffered in the cause\nof freedom, I hardly dare wish another voyage even if I had the\nopportunity.\u201d[271]\n\nAfter a surging, trouble-tossed voyage he is at last at peace in body\nand mind. He asserts that he is and has been in his right mind: \u201cI may\nbe very insane; and I am so, if insane at all. But if that be so,\ninsanity is like a very pleasant dream to me. I am not in the least\ndegree conscious of my ravings, of my fears, or of any terrible visions\nwhatever; but fancy myself entirely composed, and that my sleep, in\nparticular, is as sweet as that of a healthy, joyous little infant. I\npray God that He will grant me a continuance of the same calm but\ndelightful dream, until I come to know of those realities which eyes\nhave not seen and which ears have not heard. I have scarce realized that\nI am in prison or in irons at all. I certainly think I was never more\ncheerful in my life.\u201d[272]\n\nTo his family he hands down the legacy of his faith and works: \u201cI\nbeseech you all to live in habitual contentment with moderate\ncircumstances and gains of worldly store, and earnestly to teach this to\nyour children and children\u2019s children after you, by example as well as\nprecept.\u201d And again: \u201cBe sure to remember and follow my advice, and my\nexample too, so far as it has been consistent with the holy religion of\nJesus Christ, in which I remain a most firm and humble believer. Never\nforget the poor, nor think anything you bestow on them to be lost to\nyou, even though they may be black as Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian eunuch,\nwho cared for Jeremiah in the pit of the dungeon; or as black as the one\nto whom Philip preached Christ. Be sure to entertain strangers, for\nthereby some have.... Remember them that are in bonds as bound with\nthem.\u201d[273]\n\nOf his own merit and desert he is modest but firm: \u201cThe great bulk of\nmankind estimate each other\u2019s actions and motives by the measure of\nsuccess or otherwise that attends them through life. By that rule, I\nhave been one of the worst and one of the best of men. I do not claim to\nhave been one of the latter, and I leave it to an impartial tribunal to\ndecide whether the world has been the worse or the better for my living\nand dying in it.\u201d[274]\n\nHe has no sense of shame for his action: \u201cI feel no consciousness of\nguilt in that matter, nor even mortification on account of my\nimprisonment and irons; I feel perfectly sure that very soon no member\nof my family will feel any possible disposition to blush on my\naccount.\u201d[275]\n\n\u201cI do not feel conscious of guilt in taking up arms; and had it been in\nbehalf of the rich and powerful, the intelligent, the great (as men\ncount greatness), or those who form enactments to suit themselves and\ncorrupt others, or some of their friends, that I interfered, suffered,\nsacrificed, and fell, it would have been doing very well. But enough of\nthis. These light afflictions, which endure for a moment, shall but work\nfor me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.\u201d[276]\n\nWith desperate faith he clings to his belief in the providence of an\nall-wise God: \u201cUnder all these terrible calamities, I feel quite\ncheerful in the assurance that God reigns and will overrule all for His\nglory and the best possible good.\u201d[277]\n\nTrue is it that the night is dark and his faith at first wavers, yet it\nrises ever again triumphant: \u201cAs I believe most firmly that God reigns,\nI cannot believe that anything I have done, suffered, or may yet suffer,\nwill be lost to the cause of God or of humanity. And before I began my\nwork at Harper\u2019s Ferry, I felt assured that in the worst event it would\ncertainly pay. I often expressed that belief; and I can now see no\npossible cause to alter my mind. I am not as yet, in the main, at all\ndisappointed, I have been a good deal disappointed as it regards myself\nin not keeping up to my own plans; but I now feel entirely reconciled to\nthat, even,\u2014for God\u2019s plan was infinitely better, no doubt, or I should\nhave kept to my own.\u201d[278]\n\nHe is, after all, the servant and instrument of the Almighty: \u201cIf you do\nnot believe I had a murderous intention (while I know I had not), why\ngrieve so terribly on my account? The scaffold has but few terrors for\nme. God has often covered my head in the day of battle, and granted me\nmany times deliverances that were almost so miraculous that I can scarce\nrealize their truth; and now, when it seems quite certain that He\nintends to use me in a different way, shall I not most cheerfully\ngo?\u201d[279]\n\n\u201cI have often passed under the rod of Him whom I call my Father,\u2014and\ncertainly no son ever needed it oftener; and yet I have enjoyed much of\nlife, as I was enabled to discover the secret of this somewhat early. It\nhas been in making the prosperity and happiness of others my own; so\nthat really I have had a great deal of prosperity. I am very prosperous\nstill; and looking forward to a time when \u2018peace on earth and good-will\nto men\u2019 shall everywhere prevail, I have no murmuring thoughts or\nenvious feelings to fret my mind. I\u2019ll praise my Maker with my\nbreath.\u201d[280]\n\n\u201cSuccess is in general the standard of all merit I have passed my time\nquite cheerfully; still trusting that neither my life nor my death will\nprove a total loss. As regards both, however, I am liable to mistake. It\naffords me some satisfaction to feel conscious of having at least tried\nto better the condition of those who are always on the under-hill side,\nand am in hopes of being able to meet the consequences without a murmur.\nI am endeavoring to get ready for another field of action, where no\ndefeat befalls the truly brave. That \u2018God reigns,\u2019 and most wisely, and\ncontrols all events, might, it would seem, reconcile those who believe\nit to much that appears to be very disastrous. I am one who has tried to\nbelieve that, and still keep trying.\u201d[281]\n\n\u201cI cannot remember a night so dark as to have hindered the coming day,\nnor a storm so furious or dreadful as to prevent the return of warm\nsunshine and a cloudless sky.\u201d[282]\n\nMore and more his eyes pierce the gloom and see the vast plan for which\nGod has used him and the glory of his sacrifice:\n\n\u201c\u2018He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.\u2019\nThis was said of a poor erring servant many years ago; and for many\nyears I have felt a strong impression that God had given me powers and\nfaculties, unworthy as I was, that He intended to use for a similar\npurpose. This most unmerited honor He has seen fit to bestow; and\nwhether, like the same poor frail man to whom I allude, my death may not\nbe of vastly more value than my life is, I think quite beyond all human\nforesight.\u201d[283]\n\n\u201cI think I feel as happy as Paul did when he lay in prison. He knew if\nthey killed him, it would greatly advance the cause of Christ; that was\nthe reason he rejoiced so. On that same ground \u2018I do rejoice, yea, and\nwill rejoice.\u2019 Let them hang me; I forgive them, and may God forgive\nthem, for they know not what they do. I have no regret for the\ntransaction for which I am condemned. I went against the laws of men, it\nis true, but \u2018whether it be right to obey God or men, judge ye.\u2019\u201d[284]\n\n\u201cWhen and in what form death may come is but of small moment. I feel\njust as content to die for God\u2019s eternal truth and for suffering\nhumanity on the scaffold as in any other way; and I do not say this from\ndisposition to \u2018brave it out.\u2019 No; I would readily own my wrong were I\nin the least convinced of it. I have now been confined over a month,\nwith a good opportunity to look the whole thing as \u2018fair in the face\u2019 as\nI am capable of doing; and I feel it most grateful that I am counted in\nthe least possible degree worthy to suffer for the truth.\u201d[285]\n\n\u201cI can trust God with both the time and the manner of my death,\nbelieving, as I now do, that for me at this time to seal my testimony\nfor God and humanity with my blood will do vastly more toward advancing\nthe cause I have earnestly endeavored to promote, than all I have done\nin my life before.\u201d[286]\n\n\u201cMy whole life before had not afforded me one-half the opportunity to\nplead for the right. In this, also, I find much to reconcile me to both\nmy present condition and my immediate prospect.\u201d[287]\n\nAgainst slavery his face is set like flint: \u201cThere are no ministers of\nChrist here. These ministers who profess to be Christian, and hold\nslaves or advocate slavery, I cannot abide them. My knees will not bend\nin prayer with them, while their hands are stained with the blood of\nsouls.\u201d[288] He said to one Southern clergyman: \u201cI will thank you to\nleave me alone; your prayers would be an abomination to God.\u201d To another\nhe said, \u201cI would not insult God by bowing down in prayer with any one\nwho had the blood of the slave on his skirts.\u201d\n\nAnd to a third who argued in favor of slavery as \u201ca Christian\ninstitution,\u201d John Brown replied impatiently: \u201cMy dear sir, you know\nnothing about Christianity; you will have to learn its A, B, C; I find\nyou quite ignorant of what the word Christianity means.... I respect you\nas a gentleman, of course; but it is as a heathen gentleman.\u201d[289]\n\nTo his children he wrote: \u201cBe determined to know by experience, as soon\nas may be, whether Bible instruction is of divine origin or not. Be sure\nto owe no man anything, but to love one another. John Rogers wrote his\nchildren, \u2018Abhor that arrant whore of Rome.\u2019 John Brown writes to his\nchildren to abhor, with undying hatred also, that sum of all\nvillanies,\u2014slavery.\u201d[290]\n\nAnd finally he rejoiced: \u201cMen cannot imprison, or chain, or hang the\nsoul. I go joyfully in behalf of millions that \u2018have no rights\u2019 that\nthis great and glorious, this Christian republic \u2018is bound to respect.\u2019\nStrange change in morals, political as well as Christian, since\n1776.\u201d[291]\n\n\u201cNo formal will can be of use,\u201d he wrote on his doomsday, \u201cwhen my\nexpressed wishes are made known to my dutiful and beloved family.\u201d[292]\n\nThis was the man. His family is the world. What legacy did he leave? It\nwas soon seen that his voice was a call to the great final battle with\nslavery.\n\nIn the spring of 1861 the Boston Light Infantry was sent to Fort Warren\nin Boston harbor to drill. A quartette was formed among the soldiers to\nsing patriotic songs and for them was contrived the verses,\n\n \u201cJohn Brown\u2019s body lies a-mouldering in the grave,\n His soul is marching on,\u201d etc.\n\nThis was set to the music of an old camp-meeting tune\u2014possibly of Negro\norigin\u2014called, \u201cSay, Brother, Will You Meet Us?\u201d The regiment learned it\nand first sang it publicly when it came up from Fort Warren and marched\npast the scene where Crispus Attucks fell. Gilmore\u2019s Band learned and\nplayed it and thus \u201cthe song of John Brown was started on its eternal\nway!\u201d\n\nWas John Brown simply an episode, or was he an eternal truth? And if a\ntruth, how speaks that truth to-day? John Brown loved his neighbor as\nhimself. He could not endure therefore to see his neighbor, poor,\nunfortunate or oppressed. This natural sympathy was strengthened by a\nsaturation in Hebrew religion which stressed the personal responsibility\nof every human soul to a just God. To this religion of equality and\nsympathy with misfortune, was added the strong influence of the social\ndoctrines of the French Revolution with its emphasis on freedom and\npower in political life. And on all this was built John Brown\u2019s own\ninchoate but growing belief in a more just and a more equal distribution\nof property. From this he concluded,\u2014and acted on that conclusion\u2014that\nall men are created free and equal, and that the cost of liberty is less\nthan the price of repression.\n\nUp to the time of John Brown\u2019s death this doctrine was a growing,\nconquering, social thing. Since then there has come a change and many\nwould rightly find reason for that change in the coincidence that the\nyear in which John Brown suffered martyrdom was the year that first\npublished the _Origin of Species_. Since that day tremendous scientific\nand economic advance has been accompanied by distinct signs of moral\nretrogression in social philosophy. Strong arguments have been made for\nthe fostering of war, the utility of human degradation and disease, and\nthe inevitable and known inferiority of certain classes and races of\nmen. While such arguments have not stopped the efforts of the advocates\nof peace, the workers for social uplift and the believers in human\nbrotherhood, they have, it must be confessed, made their voices falter\nand tinged their arguments with apology.\n\nWhy is this? It is because the splendid scientific work of Darwin,\nWeissman, Galton and others has been widely interpreted as meaning that\nthere is essential and inevitable inequality among men and races of men,\nwhich no philanthropy can or ought to eliminate; that civilization is a\nstruggle for existence whereby the weaker nations and individuals will\ngradually succumb, and the strong will inherit the earth. With this\ninterpretation has gone the silent assumption that the white European\nstock represents the strong surviving peoples, and that the swarthy,\nyellow and black peoples are the ones rightly doomed to eventual\nextinction.\n\nOne can easily see what influence such a doctrine would have on the race\nproblem in America. It meant moral revolution in the attitude of the\nnation. Those that stepped into the pathway marked by men like John\nBrown faltered and large numbers turned back. They said: He was a good\nman\u2014even great, but he has no message for us to-day\u2014he was a \u201cbelated\nCovenanter,\u201d an anachronism in the age of Darwin, one who gave his life\nto lift not the unlifted but the unliftable. We have consequently the\npresent reaction\u2014a reaction which says in effect, Keep these black\npeople in their places, and do not attempt to treat a Negro simply as a\nwhite man with a black face; to do this would mean the moral\ndeterioration of the race and the nation\u2014a fate against which a divine\nracial prejudice is successfully fighting. This is the attitude of the\nlarger portion of our thinking people.\n\nIt is not, however, an attitude that has brought mental rest or social\npeace. On the contrary, it is to-day involving a degree of moral strain\nand political and social anomaly that gives the wisest pause. The chief\ndifficulty has been that the natural place in which by scientific law\nthe black race in America should stay, cannot easily be determined. To\nbe sure, the freedmen did not, as the philanthropists of the sixties\napparently expected, step in forty years from slavery to nineteenth\ncentury civilization. Neither, on the other hand, did they, as the\nex-masters confidently predicted, retrograde and die. Contrary to both\nthese views, they chose a third and apparently quite unawaited way. From\nthe great, sluggish, almost imperceptibly moving mass, they sent off\nlarger and larger numbers of faithful workmen and artisans, some\nmerchants and professional men, and even men of educational ability and\ndiscernment. They developed no world geniuses, no millionaires, no great\ncaptains of industry, no artists of the first rank; but they did in\nforty years get rid of the greater part of their total illiteracy,\naccumulate a half-billion dollars of property in small homesteads, and\ngain now and then respectful attention in the world\u2019s ears and eyes. It\nhas been argued that this progress of the black man in America is due to\nthe exceptional men among them and does not measure the ability of the\nmass. Such an admission is, however, fatal to the whole argument. If the\ndoomed races of men are going to develop exceptions to the rule of\ninferiority, then no rule, scientific or moral, should or can proscribe\nthe race as such.\n\nTo meet this difficulty in racial philosophy, a step has been taken in\nAmerica fraught with the gravest social consequences to the world, and\nthreatening not simply the political but the moral integrity of the\nnation: that step is denying in the case of black men the validity of\nthose evidences of culture, ability, and decency which are accepted\nunquestionably in the ease of other people; and by vague assertions,\nunprovable assumptions, unjust emphasis, and now and then by deliberate\nuntruth, aiming to secure not only the continued proscription of all\nthese people, but, by caste distinction, to shut in the faces of their\nrising classes many of the paths to further advance.\n\nWhen a social policy, based on a supposed scientific sanction, leads to\nsuch a moral anomaly, it is time to examine rather carefully the logical\nfoundations of the argument. And as soon as we do this many things are\nclear: first, assuming the truth of the unproved dictum that there are\nstocks of human beings whose elimination the best welfare of the world\ndemands it is certainly questionable if these stocks include the\nmajority of mankind; and it is indefensible and monstrous to pretend\nthat we know to-day with any reasonable assurance which these stocks\nare. We can point to degenerate individuals and families here and there\namong all races, but there is not the slightest warrant for assuming\nthat there does not lie among the Chinese and Hindus, the African Bantus\nand American Indians as lofty possibilities of human culture as any\nEuropean race has ever exhibited. It is, to be sure, puzzling to know\nwhy the Soudan should linger a thousand years in culture behind the\nvalley of the Seine, but it is no more puzzling than the fact that the\nvalley of the Thames was miserably backward as compared with the banks\nof the Tiber. Climate, human contact, facilities of communication and\nwhat we call accident, have played a great part in the rise of culture\namong nations: to ignore these and assert dogmatically that the present\ndistribution of culture is a fair index of the distribution of human\nability and desert, is to make an assertion for which there is not the\nslightest scientific warrant.\n\nWhat the age of Darwin has done is to add to the eighteenth century idea\nof individual worth the complementary idea of physical immortality. And\nthis, far from annulling or contracting the idea of human freedom,\nrather emphasizes its necessity and eternal possibility\u2014the\nboundlessness and endlessness of human achievement. Freedom has come to\nmean not individual caprice or aberration, but social self-realization\nin an endless chain of selves; and freedom for such development is not\nthe denial but the central assertion of the evolutionary theory. So,\ntoo, the doctrine of human equality passes through the fire of\nscientific inquiry, not obliterated but transfigured: not equality of\npresent attainment but equality of opportunity, for unbounded future\nattainment is the rightful demand of mankind.\n\nWhat now does the present hegemony of the white races threaten? It\nthreatens by means of brute force a survival of some of the worst stocks\nof mankind. It attempts to people the best parts of the earth and put in\nabsolute authority over the rest, not usually (and indeed not mainly)\nthe culture of Europe but its greed and degradation\u2014not only some\nrepresentatives of the best stocks of the West End of London, upper New\nYork and the Champs Elys\u00e9es, but also, in as large if not larger\nnumbers, the worst stocks of Whitechapel, the East Side and Montmartre;\nand it essays to make the slums of white society in all cases and under\nall circumstances the superior of any colored group, no matter what its\nability or culture. To be sure, this outrageous program of wholesale\nhuman degeneration is not outspoken yet, save in the backward\ncivilizations of the Southern United States, South Africa and Australia.\nBut its enunciation is listened to with respect and tolerance in\nEngland, Germany, and the Northern states by those very persons who\naccuse philanthropy with seeking to degrade holy white blood by an\ninfiltration of colored strains. And the average citizen is voting ships\nand guns to carry out this program.\n\nThis movement gathered force and strength; during the latter half of the\nnineteenth century and reached its culmination when France, Germany,\nEngland and Russia began the partition of China and the East. With the\nsudden self-assertion of Japan, its wildest dreams collapsed, but it is\nstill to-day a living, virile, potent force and motive, the most subtle\nand dangerous enemy of world peace and the dream of human brotherhood.\nIt has a whole vocabulary of its own: the strong races, superior\npeoples, race preservation, the struggle for survival and a variety of\nterms meaning the right of white men of any kind to beat blacks into\nsubmission, make them surrender their wealth and the use of their women\nand submit to dictation without murmur, for the sake of being swept off\nthe fairest portions of the earth or held there in perpetual serfdom or\nguardianship. Ignoring the fact that the era of physical struggle for\nsurvival has passed away among human beings, and that there is plenty of\nroom accessible on earth for all, this theory makes the possession of\nKrupp guns the main criterion of mental stamina and moral fitness.\n\nEven armed with this morality of the club, and every advantage of modern\nculture, the white races have been unable to possess the earth. Many\nsigns of degeneracy have appeared among them: their birth-rate is\nfalling, their average ability is not increasing, their physical stamina\nis impaired, and their social condition is not reassuring. Lacking the\nphysical ability to take possession of the world, they are to-day\nfencing in America, Australia, and South Africa and declaring that no\ndark race shall occupy or develop the land which they themselves are\nunable to use. And all this on the plea that their stock is threatened\nwith deterioration from without, when in reality its most dangerous\nthreat is deterioration from within.\n\nWe are, in fact, to-day repeating in our intercourse between races all\nthe former evils of class distinction within the nation: personal hatred\nand abuse, mutual injustice, unequal taxation and rigid caste.\nIndividual nations outgrew these fatal things by breaking down the\nhorizontal barriers between classes. We are bringing them back by\nseeking to erect vertical barriers between races. Men were told that\nabolition of compulsory class distinction meant leveling down,\ndegradation, disappearance of culture and genius and the triumph of the\nmob. As a matter of fact, it has been the salvation of European\ncivilization. Some deterioration and leveling there was but it was more\nthan balanced by the discovery of new reservoirs of ability and\nstrength. So to-day we are told that free racial contact\u2014or \u201csocial\nequality\u201d as Southern _patois_ has it\u2014means contamination of blood and\nlowering of ability and culture. It need mean nothing of the sort.\nAbolition of class distinction did not mean universal intermarriage of\nstocks, but rather the survival of the fittest by peaceful, personal and\nsocial selection\u2014a selection all the more effective because free\ndemocracy and equality of opportunity allow the best to rise to their\nrightful place. The same is true in racial contact. Vertical race\ndistinctions are even more emphatic hindrances to human evolution than\nhorizontal class distinctions, and their tearing away involves fewer\nchances of degradation and greater opportunities of human betterment\nthan in case of class lines. On the other hand, persistence in racial\ndistinction spells disaster sooner or later. The earth is growing\nsmaller and more accessible. Race contact will become in the future\nincreasingly inevitable not only in America, Asia, and Africa but even\nin Europe. The color line will mean not simply a return to the\nabsurdities of class as exhibited in the sixteenth and seventeenth\ncenturies, but even to the caste of ancient days. This, however, the\nJapanese, the Chinese, the East Indians and the Negroes are going to\nresent in just such proportion as they gain the power; and they are\ngaining the power, and they cannot be kept from gaining more power. The\nprice of repression will then be hypocrisy and slavery and blood.\n\nThis is the situation to-day. Has John Brown no message\u2014no legacy, then,\nto the twentieth century? He has and it is this great word: the cost of\nliberty is less than the price of repression. The price of repressing\nthe world\u2019s darker races is shown in a moral retrogression and an\neconomic waste unparalleled since the age of the African slave trade.\nWhat would be the cost of liberty? What would be the cost of giving the\ngreat stocks of mankind every reasonable help and incentive to\nself-development\u2014opening the avenues of opportunity freely, spreading\nknowledge, suppressing war and cheating, and treating men and women as\nequals the world over whenever and wherever they attain equality? It\nwould cost something. It would cost something in pride and prejudice,\nfor eventually many a white man would be blacking black men\u2019s boots; but\nthis cost we may ignore\u2014its greatest cost would be the new problems of\nracial intercourse and intermarriage which would come to the front.\nFreedom and equal opportunity in this respect would inevitably bring\nsome intermarriage of whites and yellows and browns and blacks. This\nmight be a good thing and it might not be. We do not know. Our belief on\nthe matter may be strong and even frantic, but it has no adequate\nscientific foundation. If such marriages are proven inadvisable, how\ncould they be stopped? Easily. We associate with cats and cows, but we\ndo not fear intermarriage with them, even though they be given all\nfreedom of development. So, too, intelligent human beings can be trained\nto breed intelligently without the degradation of such of their fellows\nas they may not wish to breed with. In the Southern United States, on\nthe contrary, it is assumed that unwise marriages can be stopped only by\nthe degradation of the blacks\u2014the classing of all darker women with\nprostitutes, the loading of a whole race with every badge of public\nisolation, degradation and contempt, and by burning offenders at the\nstake. Is this civilization? No. The civilized method of preventing\nill-advised marriage lies in the training of mankind in the ethics of\nsex and child-bearing. We cannot ensure the survival of the best blood\nby the public murder and degradation of unworthy suitors, but we can\nsubstitute a civilized human selection of husbands and wives which shall\nensure the survival of the fittest. Not the methods of the jungle, not\neven the careless choices of the drawing-room, but the thoughtful\nselection of the schools and laboratory is the ideal of future marriage.\nThis will cost something in ingenuity, self-control and toleration, but\nit will cost less than forcible repression.\n\nNot only is the cost of repression to-day large\u2014it is a continually\nincreasing cost: the procuring of coolie labor, the ruling of India, the\nexploitation of Africa, the problem of the unemployed, and the curbing\nof the corporations, are a tremendous drain on modern society with no\nnear end in sight. The cost is not merely in wealth but in social\nprogress and spiritual strength, and it tends ever to explosion, murder,\nand war. All these things but increase the difficulty of beginning a\nr\u00e9gime of freedom in human growth and development\u2014they raise the cost of\nliberty. Not only that but the very explosions, like the Russo-Japanese\nWar, which bring partial freedom, tend in the complacent current\nphilosophy to prove the Wisdom of repression. \u201cBlood will tell,\u201d men\nsay. \u201cThe fit will survive; step up the tea-kettle and eventually the\nsteam will burst the iron,\u201d and therefore only the steam that bursts is\nworth the generating; only organized murder proves the fitness of a\npeople for liberty. This is a fearful and dangerous doctrine. It\nencourages wrong leadership and perverted ideals at the very time when\nloftiest and most unselfish striving is called for\u2014as witness Japan\nafter her emancipation, or America after the Civil War. Conversely, it\nleads the shallow and unthinking to brand as demagogue and radical every\ngroup leader who in the day of slavery and struggle cries out for\nfreedom.\n\nFor such reasons it is that the memory of John Brown stands to-day as a\nmighty warning to his country. He saw, he felt in his soul the wrong and\ndanger of that most daring and insolent system of human repression known\nas American slavery. He knew that in 1700 it would have cost something\nto overthrow slavery and establish liberty; and that by reason of\ncowardice and blindness the cost in 1800 was vastly larger but still not\nunpayable. He felt that by 1900 no human hand could pluck the vampire\nfrom the body of the land without doing the nation to death. He said, in\n1859, \u201cNow is the accepted time.\u201d Now is the day to strike for a free\nnation. It will cost something\u2014even blood and suffering, but it will not\ncost as much as waiting. And he was right. Repression bred\nrepression\u2014serfdom bred slavery, until in 1861 the South was farther\nfrom freedom than in 1800.\n\nThe edict of 1863 was the first step in emancipation and its cost in\nblood and treasure was staggering. But that was not all\u2014it was only a\nfirst step. There were other bills to pay of material reconstruction,\nsocial regeneration, mental training and moral uplift. These the nation\nstarted to meet in the Fifteenth Amendment, the Freedman\u2019s Bureau, the\ncrusade of school-teachers and the Civil Rights Bill. But the effort was\ngreat and the determination of the South to pay no single cent or deed\nfor past error save by force, led in the revolution of 1876 to the\ntriumph of reaction. Reaction meant and means a policy of state, society\nand individual, whereby no American of Negro blood shall ever come into\nthe full freedom of modern culture. In the carrying out of this program\nby certain groups and sections, no pains have been spared\u2014no expenditure\nof money, ingenuity, physical or moral strength. The building of\nbarriers around these black men has been pushed with an energy so\ndesperate and unflagging that it has seriously checked the great\noutpouring of benevolence and sympathy that greeted the freedman in\n1863. It has come so swathed and gowned in graciousness as to disarm\nphilanthropy and chill enthusiasm. It has used double-tongued argument\nwith deadly effect. Has the Negro advanced? Beware his further strides.\nHas the Negro retrograded? It is his fate, why seek to help him? Thus\nhas the spirit of repression gained attention, complacent acquiescence,\nand even co\u00f6peration. To be sure, there still stand staunch souls who\ncannot yet believe the doctrine of human repression, and who pour out\ntheir wealth for Negro training and freedom in the face of the common\ncry. But the majority of Americans seem to have forgotten the foundation\nprinciples of their government and the recklessly destructive effect of\nthe blows meant to bind and tether their fellows. We have come to see a\nday here in America when one citizen can deprive another of his vote at\nhis discretion; can restrict the education of his neighbors\u2019 children as\nhe sees fit; can with impunity load his neighbor with public insult on\nthe king\u2019s highway; can deprive him of his property without due process\nof law; can deny him the right of trial by his peers, or of any trial\nwhatsoever if he can get a large enough group of men to join him; can\nrefuse to protect or safeguard the integrity of the family of some men\nwhom he dislikes; finally, can not only close the door of opportunity in\ncommercial and social lines in a fully competent neighbor\u2019s face, but\ncan actually count on the national and state governments to help and\nmake effective this discrimination.\n\nSuch a state of affairs is not simply disgraceful; it is deeply and\nincreasingly dangerous. Not only does the whole nation feel already the\nloosening of joints which these vicious blows on human liberty have\ncaused\u2014lynching, lawlessness, lying and stealing, bribery and\ndivorce\u2014but it can look for darker deeds to come.\n\nAnd this not merely because of the positive harm of this upbuilding of\nbarriers, but above all because within these bursting barriers are\nmen\u2014human forces which no human hand can hold. It is human force and\naspiration and endeavor which are moving there amid the creaking of\ntimbers and writhing of souls. It is human force that has already done\nin a generation the work of many centuries. It has saved over a\nhalf-billion dollars in property, bought and paid for landed estate half\nthe size of all England, and put homes thereon as good and as pure as\nthe homes of any corresponding economic class the world around; it has\ncrowded eager children through a wretched and half-furnished school\nsystem until from an illiteracy of seventy per cent., two-thirds of the\nliving adults can read and write. These proscribed millions have 50,000\nprofessional men, 200,000 men in trade and transportation, 275,000\nartisans and mechanics, 1,250,000 servants and 2,000,000 farmers working\nwith the nation to earn its daily bread. These farmers raise yearly on\ntheir own and hired farms over 4,000,000 bales of cotton, 25,000,000\npounds of rice, 10,000,000 bushels of potatoes, 90,000,000 pounds of\ntobacco and 100,000,000 bushels of corn, besides that for which they\nlabor on the farms of others. They have given America music, inspired\nart and literature, made its bread, dug its ditches, fought its battles,\nand suffered in its misfortunes. The great mass of these men is becoming\ndaily more thoroughly organized, more deeply self-critical, more\nconscious of its power. Threatened though it has been naturally, as a\nproletariat, with degeneration and disease, it is to-day reducing its\ndeath-rate and beginning organized rescue of its delinquents and\ndefectives. The mass can still to-day be called ignorant, poor and but\nmoderately efficient, but it is daily growing better trained, richer and\nmore intelligent. And as it grows it is sensing more and more the\nvantage-ground which it holds as a defender of the right of the freedom\nof human development for black men in the midst of a centre of modern\nculture. It sees its brothers in yellow, black and brown held physically\nat arms\u2019 length from civilization lest they become civilized and less\nliable to conquest and exploitation. It sees the world-wide effort to\nbuild an aristocracy of races and nations on a foundation of darker\nhalf-enslaved and tributary peoples. It knows that the last great battle\nof the West is to vindicate the right of any man of any nation, race, or\ncolor to share in the world\u2019s goods and thoughts and efforts to the\nextent of his effort and ability.\n\nThus to-day the Negro American faces his destiny and doggedly strives to\nrealize it. He has his tempters and temptations. There are ever those\nabout him whispering: \u201cYou are nobody; why strive to be somebody? The\nodds are overwhelming against you\u2014wealth, tradition, learning and guns.\nBe reasonable. Accept the dole of charity and the cant of missionaries\nand sink contentedly to your place as humble servants and helpers of the\nwhite world.\u201d If this has not been effective, threats have been used:\n\u201cIf you continue to complain, we will withdraw all aid, boycott your\nlabor, cease to help support your schools and let you die and disappear\nfrom the land in ignorance, crime and disease.\u201d Still the black man has\npushed on, has continued to protest, has refused to die out and\ndisappear, and to-day stands as physically the most virile element in\nAmerica, intellectually among the most promising, and morally the most\ntremendous and insistent of the social problems of the New World. Not\neven the silence of his friends, or of those who ought to be the friends\nof struggling humanity, has silenced him. Not even the wealth of modern\nGolconda has induced him to believe that life without liberty is worth\nliving.\n\nOn the other side heart-searching is in order. It is not well with this\nland of ours: poverty is certainly not growing less, wealth is being\nwantonly wasted, business honesty is far too rare, family integrity is\nthreatened, bribery is poisoning our public life, theft is honeycombing\nour private business, and voting is largely unintelligent. Not that\nthese evils are unopposed. There are brave men and women striving for\nsocial betterment, for the curbing of the vicious power of wealth, for\nthe uplift of women and the downfall of thieves. But their battle is\nhard, and how much harder because of the race problem\u2014because of the\ncalloused conscience of caste, the peonage of black labor hands, the\ninsulting of black women, and the stealing of black votes? How far are\nbusiness dishonesty and civic degradation in America the direct result\nof racial prejudice?\n\nWell do I know that many persons defend their treatment of undeveloped\npeoples on the highest grounds. They say, as Jefferson Davis intimated,\nthat liberty is for the full-grown, not for children. It was during\nSenator Mason\u2019s inquisition after the hanging of John Brown, whereby the\nSouthern leader hoped to entrap the Abolitionists. Joshua R. Giddings,\nkeen, impetuous and fiery, was on the rack. Senator Davis, pale, sallow\nand imperturbable, with all the aristocratic poise and dignity built on\nthe unpaid toil of two centuries of slaves, said:\n\n\u201cDid you, in inculcating, by popular lectures, the doctrine of a law\nhigher than that of the social compact, make your application\nexclusively to Negro slaves, or did you also include minors, convicts,\nand lunatics, who might be restrained of their liberty by the laws of\nthe land?\u201d\n\nMr. Giddings smiled. \u201cPermit me,\u201d he said, \u201c... with all due deference,\nto suggest, so that I may understand you, do you intend to inquire\nwhether those lectures would indicate whether your slaves of the slave\nstates had a right at all times to their liberty?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will put the question in that form if you like it,\u201d answered Davis,\nand then Giddings flashed:\n\n\u201cMy lectures, in all instances, would indicate the right of every human\nsoul in the enjoyment of reason, while he is charged with no crime or\noffense, to maintain his life, his liberty, the pursuit of his own\nhappiness; that this has reference to the enslaved of all the states as\nmuch as it had reference to our own people while enslaved by the\nAlgerines in Africa.\u201d\n\nBut Mr. Davis suavely pressed his point: \u201cThen the next question is,\nwhether the same right was asserted for minors and apprentices, being\nmen in good reason, yet restrained of their liberty by the laws of the\nland.\u201d\n\nGiddings replied: \u201cI will answer at once that the proposition or\ncomparison is conflicting with the dictates of truth. The minor is, from\nthe law of nature, under the restraints of parental affection for the\npurposes of nurture, of education, of preparing him to secure and\nmaintain the very rights to which I refer.\u201d[293]\n\nThis debate is not yet closed. It was not closed by the Civil War. Men\nstill maintain that East Indians and Africans and others ought to be\nunder the restraint and benevolent tutelage of stronger and wiser\nnations for their own benefit. Well and good. Is the tutelage really\nbenevolent? Then it is training in liberty. Is it training in slavery?\nThen it is not benevolent. Liberty trains for liberty. Responsibility is\nthe first step in responsibility.\n\nEven the restraints imposed in the training of men and children are\nrestraints that will in the end make greater freedom possible. Is the\nbenevolent expansion of to-day of such a character? Is England trying to\nsee how soon and how effectively the Indians can be trained for\nself-government or is she willing to exploit them just so long as they\ncan be cajoled or quieted into submission? Is Germany trying to train\nher Africans to modern citizenship or to modern \u201cwork without\ncomplaint\u201d? Is the South trying to make the Negroes responsible,\nself-reliant freemen of a republic, or the dumb driven cattle of a great\nindustrial machine?\n\nNo sooner is the question put this way than the defenders of modern\ncaste retire behind a more defensible breastwork. They say: \u201cYes, we\nexploit nations for our own advantage purposely\u2014even at times brutally.\nBut only in that way can the high efficiency of the modern industrial\nprocess be maintained, and in the long run it benefits the oppressed\neven more than the oppressor.\u201d This doctrine is as wide-spread as it is\nfalse and mischievous. It is true that the bribe of greed will\nartificially hasten economic development, but it does so at fearful\ncost, as America itself can testify. We have here a wonderful industrial\nmachine, but a machine quickly rather than carefully built, formed of\nforcing rather than of growth, involving sinful and unnecessary expense.\nBetter smaller production and more equitable distribution; better fewer\nmiles of railway and more honor, truth, and liberty; better fewer\nmillionaires and more contentment. So it is the world over, where force\nand fraud and graft have extorted rich reward from writhing millions.\nMoreover, it is historically unprovable that the advance of undeveloped\npeoples has been helped by wholesale exploitation at the hands of their\nricher, stronger, and more unscrupulous neighbors. This idea is a legend\nof the long exploded doctrine of inevitable economic harmonies in all\nbusiness life. True it is that adversity and difficulties make for\ncharacter, but the real and inevitable difficulties of life are numerous\nenough for genuine development without the aid of artificial hindrances.\nThe inherent and natural difficulties of raising a people from ignorant\nunmoral slavishness to self-reliant modern manhood are great enough for\npurposes of character-building without the aid of murder, theft, caste,\nand degradation. Not because of but in spite of these latter hindrances\nhas the Negro American pressed forward.\n\nThis, then, is the truth: the cost of liberty is less than the price of\nrepression, even though that cost be blood. Freedom of development and\nequality of opportunity is the demand of Darwinism and this calls for\nthe abolition of hard and fast lines between races, just as it called\nfor the breaking down of barriers between classes. Only in this way can\nthe best in humanity be discovered and conserved, and only thus can\nmankind live in peace and progress. The present attempt to force all\nwhites above all darker peoples is a sure method of human degeneration.\nThe cost of liberty is thus a decreasing cost, while the cost of\nrepression ever tends to increase to the danger point of war and\nrevolution. Revolution is not a test of capacity; it is always a loss\nand a lowering of ideals.\n\nJohn Brown taught us that the cheapest price to pay for liberty is its\ncost to-day. The building of barriers against the advance of\nNegro-Americans hinders but in the end cannot altogether stop their\nprogress. The excuse of benevolent tutelage cannot be urged, for that\ntutelage is not benevolent that does not prepare for free responsible\nmanhood. Nor can the efficiency of greed as an economic developer be\nproven\u2014it may hasten development but it does so at the expense of\nsolidity of structure, smoothness of motion, and real efficiency. Nor\ndoes selfish exploitation help the undeveloped; rather it hinders and\nweakens them.\n\nIt is now full fifty years since this white-haired old man lay weltering\nin the blood which he spilled for broken and despised humanity. Let the\nnation which he loved and the South to which he spoke, reverently listen\nagain to-day to those words, as prophetic now as then:\n\n\u201cYou had better\u2014all you people of the South\u2014prepare yourselves for a\nsettlement of this question. It must come up for settlement sooner than\nyou are prepared for it, and the sooner you commence that preparation,\nthe better for you. You may dispose of me very easily\u2014I am nearly\ndisposed of now; but this question is still to be settled\u2014this Negro\nquestion, I mean. The end of that is not yet.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n BIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n\n _For the general reader the following works are indispensable_:\n\n SANBORN, FRANKLIN BENJAMIN. The Life and Letters of John Brown,\n Liberator of Kansas, and Martyr of Virginia. 1885. (The most\n complete collection of John Brown letters.)\n\n HINTON, RICHARD JOSIAH. John Brown and His Men, with some account of\n the roads they traveled to reach Harper\u2019s Ferry. 1894.\n (Valuable for its treatment of Kansas and its lives of\n Brown\u2019s companions.)\n\n REDPATH, JAMES. Public Life of Captain John Brown, with autobiography\n of his childhood and youth. (The best contemporary account.)\n\n CONNELLEY, WILLIAM ELSEY. John Brown. 1900, (Valuable for Kansas life\n of Brown.)\n\n To the above may be added the shorter estimate by H. E. von Holst,\n 1899, and some may like Chamberlain\u2019s pert essay (Beacon\n Biographies, 1889).\n\n\n_Students must add to these the following books and articles which\ncontain many of the original sources of our knowledge_:\n\n ANDERSON, OSBORNE P. A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry. A narrative of\n events at Harper\u2019s Ferry; with incidents prior and\n subsequent to its capture by John Brown and his men. 1861.\n (The best account of the raid by a participant.)\n\n MANUSCRIPT DIARY of John Brown in the Boston Public Library. (2\n volumes.) 1838\u20131844, 1855\u20131859.\n\n GARRISON, WENDELL PHILLIPS. The Preludes of Harper\u2019s Ferry. In the\n _Andover Review_, December, 1890, and January, 1891.\n\n JOSEPHUS, JR. (Joseph Barry). The Brown Raid. In his annals of\n Harper\u2019s Ferry, 1872. (Excellent local account.)\n\n UNITED STATES CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS. Report of the select committee of\n the Senate appointed to inquire into John Brown\u2019s invasion\n and the seizure of the public property at Harper\u2019s Ferry.\n Thirty-sixth Congress, first session. Senate Reports of\n Committees.\n\n TRANSACTIONS of the Kansas State Historical Society, together with\n addresses, etc., Volumes I-IX. (Contains many personal\n narratives.)\n\n CALENDAR of Virginia State papers, Volume XI, pp. 269\u2013349. (A large\n amount of the Brown data copied from the papers found in his\n carpetbag at Harper\u2019s Ferry.)\n\n VIRGINIA SENATE Journal and Documents for the session of 1859\u201360:\n Report of the joint committee of the Senate and House of\n Delegates, appointed to consider the Harper\u2019s Ferry affair\n by Alexander H. Stuart, the chairman of the committee.\n\n VIRGINIA, Journal of House of Delegates of Virginia, 1859\u201360,\n containing messages of the governor, the trial and\n publication of John Brown\u2019s papers.\n\n FEATHERSTONHAUGH, THOMAS. Bibliography of John Brown, Part I.\n Publications of the Southern History Association, Volume I,\n pp. 196\u2013202.\n\n \u2014\u2014 John Brown\u2019s Men; the lives of those killed at Harper\u2019s Ferry, with\n a supplementary bibliography of John Brown. In Southern\n History Association publications. Volume 3, pp. 281\u2013306.\n (The best bibliography.)\n\n DOUGLASS, FREDERICK. John Brown, an address at the fourteenth\n anniversary of Storer College, 1881.\n\n \u2014\u2014 Life and Times of. 1892.\n\n REDPATH, JAMES. Echoes of Harper\u2019s Ferry. 1860.\n\n HUNTER, ANDREW. John Brown\u2019s Raid. In Southern History Association\n publications. Volume I, pp. 165\u2013195. 1897. (The story of the\n prosecuting attorney.)\n\n HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH. A Visit to John Brown\u2019s Household in\n 1859. (In \u201cContemporaries,\u201d 1899.)\n\n WRIGHT, HARRY A. John Brown in Springfield. _New England Magazine_,\n pp. 272\u2013281.\n\n WEBB, RICHARD D., Editor. The Life and Letters of Captain John Brown,\n who was executed at Charlestown, Va, December 2, 1859, for\n an armed attack upon American slavery; with notices of some\n of his confederates. 1861.\n\n BOTELER, ALEXANDER L. Recollections of the John Brown Raid. _Century._\n July, 1883. Comment by F. B. Sanborn.\n\n DAINGERFIELD, JOHN E. P. John Brown at Harper\u2019s Ferry. _Century._\n June. 1885, pp. 265\u2013267. (The story of an engine-house\n prisoner.)\n\n VOORHEES, DANIEL W. Argument delivered at Charleston, Va., November 8,\n 1859, upon the trial of John E. Cook. Richmond, Va., 1861.\n\n HAMILTON, JAMES CLELAND. John Brown in Canada. Illustrated.\n Republished from _Canadian Magazine_, December, 1894.\n\n _The purely controversial literature raging around John Brown is\n endless. Those interested might read_:\n\n UTTER, DAVID N. John Brown of Osawatomie. _North American Review_,\n November, 1883.\n\n NICOLAY, JOHN G. and HAY, JOHN. Abraham Lincoln, a history. 1890.\n (Volume two contains history of John Brown and Harper\u2019s\n Ferry Raid.)\n\n ROBINSON, CHARLES. The Kansas Conflict. 1892.\n\n BROWN, GEORGE WASHINGTON, M. D. False claims of Kansas historians\n truthfully corrected. Principally a refutation of the claim\n that the rescue of Kansas from slavery was due to John\n Brown. Rockford, Ill. The author. 1902.\n\n \u2014\u2014 Reminiscences of Old John Brown. Thrilling instances of border life\n in Kansas. With appendix by Eli Thayer. Rockford, Ill. 1880.\n Printed by Eli Smith.\n\n WRIGHT, MARCUS JOSEPH. Trial of John Brown. Its impartiality and\n decorum vindicated. Southern History Society Papers, Vol.\n XVI, pp. 357\u2013363.\n\n SPRING, L. W. Kansas. 1885.\n\n WILLIAMS, G. W. History of Negro Race in America. 1883. Two volumes.\n (For John Brown, see volume two, pp. 213\u2013227.)\n\n THAYER, ELI. The Kansas Crusade. 1889.\n\n HUGO, VICTOR. John Brown. 1861.\n\n WISE, BARTON H. The Life of Henry S. Wise. 1899.\n\n\n\n\n INDEX\n\n\n Abolitionists, 86, 91, 93, 96, 125, 341\u2013342.\n\n Adams, John Quincy, 49.\n\n Adirondack farm, the, 12, 199.\n\n Alcott, A. Bronson, 210, 290\u2013291.\n\n Alleghany Mountains, 48, 106, 127, 275, 279, 299.\n\n Anderson, Jeremiah, 258, 282\u2013283, 324, 325, 336.\n\n Anderson, John, 282.\n\n Anderson, Osborne Perry, 280, 305, 334, 336.\n\n Atchison, Senator, 134, 175.\n\n\n Black Jack, battle of, 166\u2013169, 221.\n\n Brown, Anne, 286, 300, 301.\n\n Brown, Edward, 145.\n\n Brown, Frederick (the brother), 95.\n\n Brown, Frederick (the son), 128, 152, 155, 166, 167, 178.\n\n Brown, Jason, 87, 128, 146, 149, 159, 160, 186.\n\n Brown, John, Jr., 127, 146, 147, 159, 186.\n\n Brown, John, ancestry of, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20;\n boyhood and youth of, 21\u201323, 25, 31;\n as tanner, 31;\n marriage of, 32;\n occupations of, 32;\n family life of, 33\u201337;\n second marriage of, 38;\n in panic of 1837, 41;\n as shepherd, 52\u201360;\n as wool merchant, 61\u201368;\n in England, 68\u201371;\n lawsuits of, 71\u201374;\n and fugitive slaves, 84, 85;\n first plan against slavery, 87\u201388;\n and Negroes in, 89\u201391;\n and mobs, 91;\n and oath vs. slavery, 92, 93;\n and Abolitionists, 91\u201394;\n and settlement in Virginia, 95;\n and black men, 97\u2013121;\n and Frederick Douglass, 102\u2013109;\n in the Adirondacks, 111\u2013113;\n in Kansas, 126\u2013134, 139\u2013140, 143\u2013144, 145\u2013197;\n developing plans of, 198\u2013206;\n trip eastward of, 197, 207\u2013218;\n meets Forbes, 216;\n return westward, 218;\n securing arms and men, 218\u2013225;\n second trip eastward, 225\u2013251;\n at Douglass\u2019 home, 225\u2013227;\n revelation of, 229\u2013231;\n trip to Canada of, 15, 248\u2013251;\n meets Harriet Tubman, 249\u2013251;\n return to Iowa of, 251\u2013253;\n third trip eastward of, 252;\n return to Canada, 252;\n Chatham convention, 253\u2013266;\n betrayal of, by Forbes, 266\u2013269;\n in New England and New York, 268\u2013270;\n third return westward, 270\u2013272;\n Harper\u2019s Ferry plans of, 274\u2013277;\n financial resources of, 277\u2013278;\n military organizations of, 106, 116, 149, 160\u2013169, 175\u2013179, 181\u2013182,\n 188\u2013189, 191, 226\u2013227, 278\u2013279;\n Negro companions of, 280\u2013283;\n white companions\n of, 283\u2013287;\n health of, 288;\n seventh trip eastward, 288\u2013291;\n starts South, 291;\n arrives at Harper\u2019s Ferry, 292;\n perfecting arrangements, 293\u2013307;\n meets Douglass, 295\u2013297;\n life at Kennedy Farm, 298\u2013302;\n betrayal of plans of, 302\u2013303;\n raid of, at Harper\u2019s Ferry, 308\u2013337;\n capture of, 333\u2013334;\n fate of companions of, 336;\n results, 338;\n trial of, 356\u2013364;\n execution of, 363\u2013364;\n last letters of, 365\u2013373;\n and present Negro problem, 373\u2013396;\n character of, 15, 16, 22\u201323, 26\u201347, 300\u2013301, 338\u2013358;\n descriptions of, 21, 28, 73, 74, 92, 104, 173\u2013174, 197, 287;\n family of, 31\u201339, 42, 44, 45, 58, 71, 73, 74, 87, 88, 89, 92, 95,\n 102\u2013104, 112, 119, 120, 121;\n letters of, 42\u201346, 53\u201360, 62\u201363, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74, 87\u201388, 113,\n 118, 132, 146\u2013149, 151, 152, 159, 166\u2013169, 178, 179, 182, 186,\n 187, 188\u2013189, 218, 220, 227, 228, 232\u2013234, 248, 249, 257, 266,\n 267, 270, 271, 304, 357, 365\u2013373;\n reading of, 40;\n religion of, 23, 25, 40\u201341, 42, 47, 365\u2013373;\n speeches of, 132, 150, 180\u2013182, 213\u2013214;\n song of, 334.\n\n Brown, Oliver, 133, 146, 149, 152, 155, 283.\n\n Brown, Owen, 19, 20, 77, 78, 128, 147, 152, 155, 186, 252, 259, 272,\n 283, 319, 329, 335, 336.\n\n Brown, Peter, 19.\n\n Brown, Salmon, 128, 137, 152\u2013168, 186.\n\n Brown, Watson, 155, 283.\n\n Buchanan, President, 142, 214.\n\n Burns, Anthony, 72.\n\n\n Canada, the Negroes in, 236\u2013238, 253\u2013254, 270.\n\n Caste and the Negro, 76\u201378, 81, 235\u2013247, 377\u2013380, 387, 388, 391\u2013393.\n\n Catchers, slave, 97.\n\n Charleston, Va. (W. Va.), 13.\n\n Committee, National Kansas, New York meeting of, 13, 207.\n\n Constitution, articles of Brown\u2019s, 265, 266.\n\n Constitution, pro-slavery, of Kansas, 136.\n\n Constitution, Lecompton of Kansas, 143, 187, 224.\n\n Contact of races, 380, 382.\n\n Convention, address of Philadelphia, 236\u2013238.\n\n Convention, Big Springs, Kansas, 12.\n\n Convention, Chatham, 203, 257, 267.\n\n Convention, Syracuse, of Abolitionists, 12, 132, 133.\n\n Cook, John E., 219, 220, 252, 259, 315, 316, 318, 319, 324, 331, 336.\n\n Copeland, John A., 281\u2013305, 325, 336.\n\n Coppoc, Barclay, 223, 319, 336.\n\n Coppoc, Edwin, 223, 336.\n\n Coronado, 16, 123.\n\n Covenant and by-laws of John Brown\u2019s followers, 160\u2013161.\n\n Crandall, Prudence, 87.\n\n\n Daingerfield, Captain, 326.\n\n Daniels, Jim, 192.\n\n Davis, Jefferson, 124, 391\u2013393.\n\n Day, Mary Ann, 11, 38, 241.\n\n Decision, Dred Scott, 142, 213.\n\n Delaney, Martin R., 245\u2013246, 248, 254, 258.\n\n Diary, John Brown\u2019s, 278.\n\n Douglass, Frederick, 7, 12, 13, 15, 47, 101, 102\u2013109, 121, 122, 131,\n 132, 214, 225, 241, 247, 258, 342, 344\u2013346, 353.\n\n Douglas, Stephen A., 126.\n\n Dutch Henry\u2019s Crossing, 134, 154.\n\n\n Emancipation, 386\u2013387.\n\n Engine-house at Harper\u2019s Ferry, 326, 334.\n\n\n Fight at Harper\u2019s Ferry, 322\u2013326.\n\n Floyd, John, Secretary of War, 124.\n\n Forbes, Hugh, 73;\n meets Brown, 216\u2013217;\n goes West, 218\u2013219;\n returns East, 219;\n betrays plans, 225;\n complaints of, 266, 268.\n\n Franklin, Kansas, attack on, 175\u2013176.\n\n Freedom, League of, 244.\n\n Free Soilers, 131.\n\n Fugitive Slave Law, 12, 236.\n\n Fugitive slaves, 82, 84, 85, 88, 94, 106\u2013108, 203\u2013204, 241.\n\n\n Gabriel, 11, 83, 127.\n\n Garnet, H. H., 98, 102, 240, 243, 248, 258.\n\n Garrison, William Lloyd, 15, 93, 342.\n\n Geary, Governor of Kansas, 13, 141\u2013180, 183\u2013184.\n\n Giddings, Joshua, 152, 391\u2013392.\n\n Gill, George B., 223, 259.\n\n Gloucester, Negro minister, 98, 248, 258.\n\n Great Black Way, the, 273.\n\n Greeley, Horace, 130, 266.\n\n Green, Shields, 280, 323, 334, 336, 343\u2013347.\n\n\n Hall, Pennsylvania, 91.\n\n Hamilton\u2019s massacre, 188, 192\u2013194.\n\n Harper\u2019s Ferry raid:\n the place 273\u2013274;\n plans of, 274\u2013276;\n financial resources of, 277\u2013278;\n military organizations of, 278\u2013280;\n participants of, 280\u2013288;\n depot at Chambersburg, 291\u2013292;\n preparations, 293\u2013307;\n beginning of foray, 308;\n capture of armory, 310;\n capture of town, 311;\n capture of Colonel Washington, 311\u2013312;\n halting of train, 313;\n bringing up the arms, 314\u2013316;\n further plans, 317\u2013319;\n gathering of militia, 320\u2013322;\n dislodging of Kagi, 324\u2013325;\n retreat of engine-house, 326;\n killing of Brown\u2019s men, 327\u2013329;\n arrival of Lee, 331;\n parleying, 330\u2013333;\n capture of Brown, 333\u2013334;\n capture and escape of others, 334\u2013336.\n\n Harper, Samuel, 194\u2013195.\n\n Hayti, 75, 97.\n\n Hazlett, Albert, 334, 336.\n\n Henson, Josiah, 241, 253.\n\n Hinton, R. J., 7, 173, 181, 189, 204, 207, 222, 258, 277, 284.\n\n Holden, Isaac, 257, 258, 277, 284.\n\n Howe, Dr. S. G., 210, 231, 267, 341, 343.\n\n Hunter, Andrew, 352, 353, 356.\n\n\n Independence, Chatham Declaration of, 272.\n\n Insurrection, Cumberland region, 97.\n\n Insurrection in Virginia, 81.\n\n Insurrection of slaves, 79, 80, 83, 85, 97, 105\u2013106.\n\n Insurrection, proposed Negro, 166.\n\n Intermarriage of races, 382, 384, 385.\n\n Isaac, insurrection of, 97.\n\n\n Jackson, President, 50.\n\n Jamaica, 79, 97.\n\n Jones, Henry, 241.\n\n Jones, John, 248.\n\n Jones, J. M., 256, 258.\n\n Jones, Ottawa, 178.\n\n _Journal, Freedom\u2019s_, 239.\n\n\n Kagi, J. H., 13, 196, 199, 200, 201, 202, 252, 259, 317, 318, 324, 325.\n\n Kansas, 123;\n Brown\u2019s sons in, 127\u2013131;\n and slavery, 126, 134, 138, 144;\n John Brown and, 125, 126\u2013127, 131\u2013134, 139, 143\u2013197.\n\n Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 13, 135, 136, 219\u2013221.\n\n Kennedy Farm, 319.\n\n\n Lane, General James, 134, 141, 173\u2013176, 186.\n\n Lane\u2019s Army, 13, 173\u2013176.\n\n Lane College, 95.\n\n Langston brothers, 241, 258.\n\n Law, Fugitive Slave, 12, 113, 119.\n\n Lawrence, Kansas, 12, 167, 170;\n sacking of, 153\u2013154;\n last attack on, 180\u2013184.\n\n League, Liberty, 244.\n\n League of Gileadites, 12, 114.\n\n Leary, Lewis Sherrard, 282\u2013305.\n\n Lee, Robert E., 13, 331, 332.\n\n Leeman, William H., 221, 252, 259, 325, 336.\n\n _Liberator, The_, 94, 239.\n\n Liberty Hall, 158.\n\n Loudoun Heights, at Harper\u2019s Ferry, 275, 318.\n\n L\u2019Ouverture, Toussaint, 75, 216.\n\n Lovejoy, 91, 115.\n\n Lusk, Dianthe, 11, 32, 38.\n\n\n Marlborough Chapel, 91.\n\n Massacre at Dutch Henry\u2019s Crossing, 139\u2013140, 143\u2013144, 154\u2013159.\n\n Maxon farm, Iowa, 252.\n\n Merriam, F. J., 286, 305, 336.\n\n Middle Creek, Kansas, 158.\n\n Military organization of Brown\u2019s men, 106, 146, 149, 160\u2013169, 175\u2013179,\n 181\u2013182, 188\u2013189, 191, 226\u2013227, 278\u2013279.\n\n Mills, Peter, 19.\n\n Missouri slave raid, 191\u2013197.\n\n Mobs, abolition, 91.\n\n Mobs against Negroes, 235.\n\n Moffett, Charles W., 221, 252, 259.\n\n Montgomery, Captain, 188, 189, 190, 191.\n\n \u201cMorgan, Shubel,\u201d 189.\n\n Mulattoes, 77.\n\n Mysteries, American, 244.\n\n\n Negro character, 17.\n\n Negro conventions, 236, 237, 238, 239, 242, 244, 245\u2013246.\n\n Negro emigration, 245\u2013246.\n\n Negro insurgents, 318, 353\u2013354.\n\n Negro insurrections, 79\u201380, 83, 85, 97, 105\u2013106.\n\n Negro leaders, 97, 98, 101, 102, 110, 240, 241\u2013243, 246, 258, 259, 294,\n 295.\n\n Negro, Northern, 235.\n\n Negro organizations, 203\u2013204, 244.\n\n Negro progress, 1830\u20131840, 235;\n 1840\u20131850, 240;\n 1850\u20131860, 243.\n\n Negro slavery, 76\u201384.\n\n Negroes, 12, 16.\n\n Negroes in America, 16, 17;\n in Canada, 236\u2013238.\n\n Negroes, increase of, in ten years, 243.\n\n Negroes and John Brown, 343, 344, 347.\n\n Negroes of Springfield, 98, 99.\n\n Negroes, present condition of, 389.\n\n Newby, Dangerfield, 281, 323.\n\n North Elba, New York, 12.\n\n _North Star_, 101, 242.\n\n\n Oberlin College, 11, 53, 55, 95, 258, 281, 283.\n\n Oberlin College lands in Virginia, 53\u201355, 95.\n\n Odd Fellows, Negro, 240.\n\n Osawatomie, Kansas, 12, 128, 142, 147, 152, 159, 162, 166, 177, 224.\n\n Owen, John, 19.\n\n\n Panic of 1837, 11, 50, 55, 91.\n\n Parker, Theodore, 210, 227, 231.\n\n Parsons, L. L., 220\u2013221, 252, 259.\n\n Perkins, Simon, 58, 68.\n\n Perkins and Brown, wool-merchants, 62, 67.\n\n Pierce, President, 151.\n\n Plans at Harper\u2019s Ferry, 101, 318, 319, 324, 326.\n\n Plans of John Brown, 106\u2013107, 260, 276.\n\n Pottawatomie Creek, 12, 157, 158, 162.\n\n Purvis, Robert, 241, 246.\n\n\n Raid at Harper\u2019s Ferry, see Harper\u2019s Ferry.\n\n Realf, Richard, 215\u2013220, 252, 259.\n\n Redpath, James, 7, 72, 99, 132, 147, 181, 246.\n\n Reeder, Governor of Kansas, 215.\n\n Reynolds, G. J., 208, 258, 260.\n\n Richardson, Richard, 221, 252, 258.\n\n Robinson, Charles, Governor of Kansas, 134, 150, 184, 207, 341, 342.\n\n Rochester, N. Y., state convention, 244\u2013245.\n\n Ross, Dr. A. M., 251, 257.\n\n Routes, Fugitive Slave, 97.\n\n\n \u201cSambo\u2019s Mistakes,\u201d 99.\n\n Sanborn, Frank B., 7, 13, 210, 228, 267.\n\n Schools for Negroes, 87, 94, 95.\n\n Shannon, Governor of Kansas, 141, 149, 150, 176.\n\n Shore, Captain, 167\u2013168.\n\n \u201cShubel Morgan\u2019s\u201d Company, 189.\n\n Slave insurrections, 79\u201380, 83, 85, 97, 105\u2013106.\n\n Slavery, 75\u201389, 124\u2013126, 235.\n\n Smith, Gerrit, 12, 53, 131, 132, 133, 207, 226, 303, 341.\n\n Smith, J. McCune, 98, 131, 132, 225, 240, 267.\n\n Smith, Stephen, 241, 248, 258.\n\n Societies, Ph\u0153nix, 239.\n\n Society, American Anti-slavery, 246.\n\n Society, American Moral Reform, 238.\n\n Society, New England Emigrant Aid, 136, 145.\n\n Song of \u201cJohn Brown\u2019s Body,\u201d 374.\n\n Southern bands in Kansas, 152, 166, 188.\n\n Spell of Africa, 121.\n\n Springdale, Iowa, John Brown in, 221\u2013224.\n\n Stephens, Aaron D., 173, 194, 195\u2013222, 252, 259, 336.\n\n Stearns, George L., 208\u2013210, 226, 228, 277, 341.\n\n Still, William, 241, 248.\n\n Stuart, J. E. B., 332, 333.\n\n \u201cSubterranean Pass Way,\u201d 214.\n\n Sumner, Colonel, 15, 137, 139, 168\u2013169, 225, 266.\n\n Survey of Virginia lands, 53\u201355.\n\n Swamp, Dismal, 86.\n\n Swamp of the Swan, 134, 145, 177, 188, 288.\n\n Sword of Gideon, 96.\n\n\n Tariff and wool, 61.\n\n Tariff of 1846, the, 65.\n\n Taylor, Stewart, 223, 259.\n\n Thayer, Eli, 126, 214.\n\n Thomas, John A., 258.\n\n Thomas, Thomas, 101, 247.\n\n Thompson, Henry, 113, 155\u2013168.\n\n Thompson, William, 77, 173, 315, 316, 319, 324, 328, 329.\n\n Tidd, C. P., 221, 252, 259, 315, 316, 319, 324, 331, 335, 336.\n\n Tubman, Harriet, 204, 241, 249, 251, 293.\n\n Turner, Nat, 11, 85, 97, 127, 239.\n\n\n Underground Railroad, 94, 101, 107, 110, 198, 243, 263.\n\n University, Western Reserve, 86.\n\n\n Vesey, Denmark, 83, 97.\n\n Virginia, 16.\n\n\n Wakarusa war and treaty, 151.\n\n War, Civil, 48, 142.\n\n War in Kansas, 140, 142.\n\n War of 1812, 25, 48\u201349.\n\n Ward, Samuel Ringgold, 242, 243.\n\n Wars, Seminole, 84.\n\n Washington, Colonel Lewis, 317, 322.\n\n Wilberforce University, 236, 253.\n\n Wilson, Senator, 225, 226.\n\n Wise, Governor of Virginia, 336, 355.\n\n Woodson, Governor of Missouri, 180, 241.\n\n Wool-growers\u2019 convention, 62.\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n Redpath, _Public Life of Captain John Brown_, p. 25.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n Autobiography of Owen Brown in Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John\n Brown_, p. 7.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n The quotations in this chapter are from John Brown\u2019s Autobiography,\n Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, pp. 12\u201317.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n John Brown\u2019s Autobiography, Sanborn, p. 16.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n Heman Hallock, in the New York _Journal of Commerce_, quoted in\n Sanborn, p. 32.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n John Brown\u2019s Autobiography, Sanborn, p. 16.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n John Brown\u2019s Autobiography, Sanborn, pp. 16, 17.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 34.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 37\u201339.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 91\u201393.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 93\u201394.\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 104.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n Ruth Brown in Sanborn, p. 44.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1841, in Sanborn, p. 139.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1844, in Sanborn, p. 61.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n Ruth Brown in Sanborn, pp. 38\u201339.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1839, in Sanborn, p. 69.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1851, in Sanborn, p. 146.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1846, in Sanborn, p. 142.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n Letter to his daughter, 1847, in Sanborn, p. 142.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1844, in Sanborn, pp. 60\u201361.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n Letter to his father, 1846, in Sanborn, pp. 21, 22.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n Letter to his daughter, 1852, in Sanborn, p. 45.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1852, and to his children, 1853, in\n Sanborn, pp. 151 and 155.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1839, in Sanborn, p. 68.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n Sanborn, p. 58.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n Records of Oberlin College, quoted in Sanborn, pp. 134\u2013135.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n Levi Burnell to Owen Brown, 1840, in Sanborn, p. 135.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n Letter to his family, 1840, in Sanborn, p. 134.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n MS. Diary, Boston Public Library. Vol. I. p. 65.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n Records of the Board of Trustees, Oberlin College, Aug. 28, 1840,\n quoted in Sanborn, p. 135.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p 87.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n Agreement quoted in Sanborn, pp. 55\u201356.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n Letter to George Kellogg, 1844, in Sanborn, p. 56.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1843, in Sanborn, p. 58.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1843, in Sanborn, pp. 58\u201359.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 59.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 59.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1844, in Sanborn, pp. 59\u201360.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 61.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n Ruth Brown in Sanborn, p. 95.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1846, in Sanborn, p. 62.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n Circular issued in 1846, quoted in Sanborn, p. 63.\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n Letter to Owen Brown, 1846, in Sanborn, p. 22.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1847, in Sanborn, p. 143.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n E. C. Leonard in Sanborn, p. 65.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n Letter to Owen Brown, 1847, in Sanborn, pp. 23\u201324.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n Letter to Owen Brown, 1849, in Sanborn, p. 25.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n _Ibid._\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n Memoranda by John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 65; Redpath, p. 56\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 67\u201368.\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1849, Sanborn, p. 73.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n E. C. Leonard, in Sanborn, pp. 67\u201368.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1850, in Sanborn, p. 107.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n Letter to his children, 1850, in Sanborn, pp. 75\u201376.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n Redpath, p. 58.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n Letter to his son, in Sanborn, p. 145.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n Letter to his children, 1854, in Sanborn, p. 155.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n R. H. Dana, in the _Atlantic Monthly_, 1871.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n Owen Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 10\u201311.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 35.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n Sanborn, p. 34.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n Letter to his brother Frederick, 1834, in Sanborn, pp. 40\u201341.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n Ruth Brown, in Sanborn, p. 37.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 52\u201353.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n Redpath, p. 65.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n Redpath, pp. 53\u201354.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n Redpath, pp. 59\u201360.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n From \u201cSambo\u2019s Mistakes,\u201d published in the _Ram\u2019s Horn_ and printed in\n Sanborn, p. 130.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ (1892), Chap. 8, Part\n II, pp. 337\u2013342.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n Sanborn, p. 97.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n Redpath, p. 61.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n Ruth Brown, in Sanborn. p. 100.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n Redpath, p. 62.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1850, in Sanborn, pp. 106\u2013107.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in\n Sanborn, pp. 124\u2013127.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in\n Sanborn, pp. 124\u2013127.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n Letter of instructions, agreement and resolutions, as given in\n Sanborn, pp. 124\u2013127.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n Sanborn, p. 132.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n Ruth Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 131\u2013132.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1852, in Sanborn, pp. 108\u2013109.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n Ruth Brown, in Sunburn, p. 104.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n Letters to his children, 1852\u20131853, in Sanborn, pp. 110 and 148.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n Compare the _American Anthropologist_, Vol. 4, No. 2, April-June,\n 1902.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1854, in Sanborn, p. 191.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 188\u2013190.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n Letter to his children, 1854, in Sanborn, pp. 110\u2013111.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n Redpath, p. 81.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 193\u2013194.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, pp. 190\u2013191.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n Ruth Thompson, in Sanborn, p. 105.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n Farewell address of Governor Geary, _Transactions_ of the Kansas State\n Historical Society, Vol. IV, p. 739.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n Letters to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 201 and 205.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n Redpath, pp. 103\u2013104.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n Letter to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217\u2013221.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n Letter to his wife, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217\u2013221.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n G. W. Brown, _Reminiscences of Old John Brown_, p. 8; Phillips,\n _History of Kansas_, quoted in Redpath, p. 90.\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n Letter to his family, 1855, in Sanborn, pp. 217\u2013221.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n Letter to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, p. 223.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n Letter of Giddings to John Brown, 1856, in Sanborn, p. 224.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n D. W. Wilder, in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical\n Society, Vol. 6, p. 337.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n E. A. Coleman, in Sanborn, p. 260.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n James Hanway, in Hinton, _John Brown and His Men_, p. 695.\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n Bondi in _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society, Vol.\n 8, p. 279; Spring, _Kansas_, p. 143.\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n Jason Brown, in Sanborn, p. 273.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n E. A. Coleman, in Sanborn, p. 259.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n John Brown, Jr., in Sanborn, p. 278.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n Letter to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. 236\u2013241.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 287\u2013288.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 288\u2013290.\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n Redpath, pp. 112\u2013114.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n Bondi in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society,\n Vol. 8, pp. 282\u2013284.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n Bondi in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society,\n Vol. 8, p. 285.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 284.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n Bondi in the _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical Society,\n Vol. 8, p. 286; John Brown to his family, 1856, in Sanborn, pp.\n 236\u2013241.\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n W. A. Phillips, in Sanborn, pp. 306\u2013308.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n Hinton, pp. 201\u2013204.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n Samuel Walker in _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical\n Society, Vol. 6, p. 267.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n Appeal to the citizens of Lafayette County, Mo., Sanborn, p. 309.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n Samuel Walker in _Transactions_ of the Kansas State Historical\n Society, Vol. 6, pp. 272\u2013273.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n Quoted in Sanborn, p. 321.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n John Brown to his family, 1856, Sanborn, pp. 317\u2013318.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n Charles Robinson to John Brown, 1856, in Sanborn, pp. 330\u2013331.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n Speech of John Brown, Redpath, pp. 163\u2013164.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n Redpath, pp. 164\u2013165.\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n Paper by John Brown, Sanborn, pp. 332\u2013333.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n Executive minutes of Governor Geary in _Transactions_ of the Kansas\n State Historical Society, Vol. 4, p. 537.\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n Letter to Augustus Wattles, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 391.\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n Correspondence of Lane and Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 401\u2013402.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n Letter to F. B. Sanborn and others, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 474\u2013477.\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n _Ibid._\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n Hinton in Redpath, pp. 199\u2013206.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n George B. Gill in Hinton, p. 218.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 481\u2013483.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, pp. 4\u20135.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n Sanborn, p. 491.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n Redpath, p. 48.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n Redpath, p. 71.\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n Hinton in Redpath, pp. 203\u2013205.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n Reminiscences of George B. Gill, Hinton, pp. 732\u2013733.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n Hinton, pp. 171\u2013172.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n Notes by John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 244.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n Paper by John Brown, in Sanborn, pp. 241\u2013242.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n Letter from Gerrit Smith to John Brown, in Sanborn, p. 364.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n Jeremiah Brown in Redpath, pp. 174\u2013175.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n Reminiscences of Mrs. Mary E. Stearns, in Hinton, pp. 719\u2013727.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n Sanborn, _John Brown and his Friends_, p. 8.\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n Letter of H. B. Hurd to John Brown, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 367.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 375\u2013376.\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n Speech of John Brown, Sanborn. p. 379.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n Letter to Eli Thayer, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 382.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n Reminiscences of Dr. Wayland, Sanborn, p. 381.\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. 278,\n Testimony of Richard Realf, p. 96.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n Hinton, pp. 614\u2013615.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n Letter to Augustus Wattles, 1857, in Sanborn, p. 393.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n Confession of John E. Cook in Hinton, pp. 700\u2013701.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n Richman, _John Brown Among the Quakers_, pp. 20\u201321.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n Richman, pp. 28\u201329.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n Hinton, pp. 156\u2013157.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_, pp. 385\u2013386.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n Letter to Theodore Parker, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 434\u2013435.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n Letter to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, p. 436.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 438\u2014440.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 450\u2013451.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n Letter to his family, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 440\u2013441.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n Letter to F. B. Sanborn, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 444\u2013445.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n Hickok, _The Negro in Ohio_, p. 42.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 44.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n Williams, _Negro Race in America_, Vol. 2, pp. 65\u201367.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, p. 10.\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, p. 15.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n _Ibid._, No. 9, p. 16.\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ (1892), p. 345.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, pp. 16\u201319.\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n Occasional Papers of the American Negro Academy, No. 9, pp. 20\u201321.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n Manuscript Diary of John Brown, Boston Public Library, Vol. 2, p. 35.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n Letter to John Brown, Jr., 1858, in Sanborn, p. 452.\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n Bradford, _Harriet, the Moses of Her People_, pp. 118\u2013119.\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n Letter of Wendell Phillips, printed in Bradford, _Harriet, the Moses\n of Her People_, pp. 155\u2013156.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, p. 10.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 9.\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n Rollins, _Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney_, pp. 85\u201390.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, pp.\n 14\u201315.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n Hinton, p. 178.\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, pp.\n 14 and 16.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n Rollins, _Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney_, pp. 85\u201390.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n Reminiscences of George B. Gill, in Hinton, p. 185.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n Reminiscences of J. M. Jones, in Hamilton, _John Brown in Canada_, p.\n 16.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n Hinton, pp. 619\u2013633.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n Hinton, pp. 642\u2013643.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n Provisional Constitution, Art. 42.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n Letter to his family, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 455\u2013456.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n Letter from Sanborn to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, p. 458.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n Letter from Higginson to Theodore Parker, in Sanborn, p. 459.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n Letter from Forbes to Higginson, 1858, in Sanborn, pp. 460\u2013461.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n Sanborn, pp. 463\u2013464.\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n Letter to Owen Brown, 1858, in Richman, _John Brown Among the\n Quakers_, pp. 40\u201341.\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n Jefferson, _Notes on Virginia_.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n Sanborn, p. 467.\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No. 278;\n Testimony of Richard Realf, p. 100.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n Sanborn, p. 457.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n Hinton, pp. 130\u2013131.\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n W. P. Garrison in the _Andover Review_, Dec., 1890, and Jan., 1891.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n General Orders, Oct. 10, 1859, Hinton, pp. 646\u2013647.\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_, p. 387.\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n Hunter, _John Brown\u2019s Raid_, republished in the Publications of the\n Southern History Association, Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 188.\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of Ralph Plumb, p. 181.\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n Barry, _The Strange Story of Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 93.\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n Anne Brown in Hinton, pp. 529\u2013530.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n Hinton, p. 453.\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 15.\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n Hinton, pp. 496\u2013497.\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n Sanborn in the _Atlantic Monthly_, Hinton, p. 570.\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 450.\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n From the newspaper report of the speech at Cleveland, March 22d,\n Redpath, pp. 239\u2013240.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n Diary of A. Bronson Alcott, Sanborn, pp. 504\u2013505.\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of John C. Unseld, pp. 1\u20132.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 19.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_, pp. 388\u2013391.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 23\u201325.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n Anne Brown in Sanborn, p. 531.\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 265.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of John B. Floyd, pp. 250\u2013252.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n Letter to Kagi, 1859, in Hinton, pp. 257\u2013258.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n Anne Brown in Hinton, p. 260.\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n Letter of Owen to John Brown, 1850, in Hinton, p. 259.\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n John Brown, Jr., to Kagi, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 547\u2013548.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 26.\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 27.\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n _Ibid._, p. 23.\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 29.\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n Anderson. _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 31\u201332.\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of Daniel Wheeler, pp. 21\u201322.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 33.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 33\u201334.\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 36\u201337.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n Statement by John Edwin Cook in Hinton, pp. 700\u2013718.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 37.\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 37\u201338.\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n Redpath, p. 249.\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of John D. Starry, p. 25.\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n Boteler, \u201cRecollections of the John Brown Raid\u201d in the _Century\n Magazine_, July, 1883, p. 405.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 42.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 39\u201340.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 40.\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n Boteler, \u201cRecollections of the John Brown Raid\u201d in the _Century\n Magazine_, July, 1883, p. 407.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885.\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n Barry, _Strange Story of Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 67.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n Patrick Higgins in Hinton, p. 290.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885.\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 42.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n Testimony of Henry Hunter in Redpath, pp. 320\u2013321.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885.\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n Berry, _Strange Story of Harper\u2019s Ferry_, pp. 70\u201371.\n\nFootnote 255:\n\n Daingerfield in the _Century Magazine_, June, 1885.\n\nFootnote 256:\n\n Anderson, _A Voice from Harper\u2019s Ferry_, p. 52.\n\nFootnote 257:\n\n John Brown in Sanborn, pp. 560\u2013661.\n\nFootnote 258:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of George L. Stearns, pp. 241\u2013242.\n\nFootnote 259:\n\n Douglass, _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ (1892), p. 376.\n\nFootnote 260:\n\n Correspondence of the New York _Herald_, Sanborn, pp. 562\u2013571.\n\nFootnote 261:\n\n Frederick Douglass in a speech at Storer College at Harper\u2019s Ferry,\n May, 1882.\n\nFootnote 262:\n\n Hinton, pp. 325\u2013326.\n\nFootnote 263:\n\n Mrs. Spring in Redpath, p. 377.\n\nFootnote 264:\n\n Newspaper report in Redpath, p. 376.\n\nFootnote 265:\n\n Mrs. Spring in Redpath, p. 377.\n\nFootnote 266:\n\n Letter to his sister, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 607\u2013609.\n\nFootnote 267:\n\n Remarks by John Brown in Redpath, p. 309.\n\nFootnote 268:\n\n Newspaper report quoted by Redpath, p. 337.\n\nFootnote 269:\n\n Redpath, pp. 340\u2013342.\n\nFootnote 270:\n\n Letter to Mrs. George L. Stearns, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 610\u2013611.\n\nFootnote 271:\n\n Letter to his cousin, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 594\u2013595.\n\nFootnote 272:\n\n Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609\u2013610.\n\nFootnote 273:\n\n Letters to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579\u2013580, 613\u2013615.\n\nFootnote 274:\n\n Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609\u2013610.\n\nFootnote 275:\n\n Letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579\u2013580.\n\nFootnote 276:\n\n Letter to a friend, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 582\u2013583.\n\nFootnote 277:\n\n Letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 579\u2013580.\n\nFootnote 278:\n\n Letter to H. L. Vaill, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 589\u2013591.\n\nFootnote 279:\n\n Letter to Rev. Dr. Humphrey, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 603\u2013605.\n\nFootnote 280:\n\n Letter to H. L. Vaill, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 590\u2013591.\n\nFootnote 281:\n\n Letter to Miss Stearns, Sanborn, p. 607.\n\nFootnote 282:\n\n Postscript of letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 585\u2013587.\n\nFootnote 283:\n\n Letter to Rev. Dr. Humphrey, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 603\u2013605.\n\nFootnote 284:\n\n Letter to Mr. McFarland, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 598\u2013599.\n\nFootnote 285:\n\n Letter to his younger children, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 596\u2013597.\n\nFootnote 286:\n\n Letter to his wife and children in Sanborn, pp. 585\u2013587.\n\nFootnote 287:\n\n Letter to D. R. Tilden in Sanborn, pp. 609\u2013610.\n\nFootnote 288:\n\n Letter to Mr. McFarland, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 598\u2013599.\n\nFootnote 289:\n\n Redpath, pp. 382\u2013383. c\n\nFootnote 290:\n\n Last letter to his family, 1859, in Sanborn, pp. 614\u2013615.\n\nFootnote 291:\n\n Letter to F. B. Musgrave, 1859, in Sanborn, p. 593.\n\nFootnote 292:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of Joshua R. Giddings, pp. 147\u2013156.\n\nFootnote 293:\n\n Report: Reports of Senate Committees, 36th Congress, 1st Session, No.\n 278; Testimony of Joshua R. Giddings pp. 147\u2013156.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n 1. P. 34, changed \u201cJohn, Dr.\u201d to \u201cJohn, Jr.\u201d.\n 2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.\n 3. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.\n 4. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at\n the end of the last chapter.\n 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.\n 6. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.","title":"John Brown","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":100775}