B OOKS.

CAPTAIN JOHN BROWN.*

Tins little book has many merits as a biography. It is plain, modest, and carefully put together, is written with a-hearty and intelligent sympathy for the man of whom it speaks, and the cause for which he lived and died, and allows him to speak as much as possible in his own words, and tell his own story, without lumbering the narrative with a mass of irrelevant gossip and so-called contemporary his- tory. Besides the chief figure, the book gives a slight but vivid and truthful sketch of a group of families, of a type which cannot per- haps now be paralleled in any other part of the world ; of good de- scent, and gentle in blood and manners, poor in this world's goods and with no desire for wealth, and living a primitive and patriarchal life ; a simple, God-fearing society, tilling and subduing the earth quietly, until they are brought face to face with the great question which is tearing their nation in pieces, and then taking their part in a spirit of the noblest heroism and self-sacrifice. The whole story carries us back near three thousand years, and we can almost fancy ourselves standing by the herdsman of Tekoa, and hearing his answer to King Amaziah, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit ; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and said unto me, 'Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.'"

The book, too, is singularly well timed. We are full of scorn and disgust at the panics, the exaggeration, the coarse bluster and pur- poseless action of the Americans. It is well that we should get this glimpse into the heart of New England; and never was there a time when Englishmen had more need to fix their eyes steadily on any example, come from what quarter it. will, of faith which goes beneath wrangling and speculation, and holds ease, and goods, and name, and life as a trust to be used, kept, or cast away at the call of Him who has bestowed them.

We will give a short sketch of the life of Captain John Brown in the hope of leading readers to the book itself. John Brown was born in 1800, in Connecticut. He was sixth in descent from Peter Brown, one of the pilgrim fathers, and both his grandfathers had been officers in the revolutionary war. His father moved west when he was five, and was one of the first pioneers in Ohio. John would always sooner stay at home and work hard than go to school, and at twelve, "to be sent off alone through the wilder- ness, sometimes more than a hundred miles with companies of cattle was his great delight, barefooted and bareheaded, with buckskin breeches suspended often with, one leather strap over his shoulder, but sometimes with two." When war broke out with England, his father supplied beef to the army. John visited the camp, and was so disgusted with what he saw, that he refused to drill for the militia, and paid fines for exemption until past the age for service. On this occasion he saw a negro boy of his own age, who had done him numerous little acts of kindness, brutally used, beaten with an iron shovel by a man in whose house be was staying, and who made a great pet of Brown. To this he himself attributed his first hatred of slavery, which grew into a belief that "he had a commission direct from God to act against it." Unlike many abolitionists, he had a high opinion of the negroes, who, he said quaintly, "behaved so much like folks, he almost thought they were so." But until past middle life he had no opportunity of doing more than helping indi- viduals ; at last in 1849, the opening he had been so long waiting for presented itself. Up to that time, Ile had been a well-to-do farmer and tanner, rigidly upright in his dealings, and skilful in business, though he never accumulated much money. He was twice married, and the father of fourteen sons and six daughters, who had been reared in his own strong faith, and intense hatred of slavery. In 1819, Mr. Gerrit Smith, of New York, a rich and well-known abolitionist, offered plots of ground in the Adirondack mountains to coloured settlers, and Brown wrote to him : "I see by the newspapers that you have offered so many acres of land to each of the coloured men on condi- tion they cultivate them. Now, they are mostly inexperienced in this kind of work, and unused to the climate, while I am familiar with both. I propose, therefore, to take a farm there myself, clear and plant it, showing the negroes how such work should be done. I will also employ some of them on my land, and will look after them in all ways, and be a kind of father to them." His proposal was accepted, and he moved to the black farm of North Elba, in the Adirondacks, where his family still live, where corn will not grow, and cattle have to be housed six mouths in the year. Before this time, however—in fact as early as 1839—he had made up his mind that slavery could not be put down without a fight, and had studied drill and military works to prepare himself for the struggle which he foresaw, and would never engage in any business which could not be wound up honourably on short notice.

In May, 1854, the "territory" of Kansas, in defiance of the Missouri compromise, was thrown open to slaveholders, and was at once invaded by bands of "border ruffians," as they soon came to be called (and rejoiced in the name themselves), who passed over into Kansas from Missouri and other slave states. The temper of these men may be judged from their leaders. General Stringfellow, speak- ing in Missouri to a force of them about to start for Kansas, exhorts them thus: "I tell you to mark every scoundrel among you who is the least tainted with abolitionist or free-soilism, and exterminate him. Neither give nor take quarter from the damned rascals. To

• We and Letters of Captain John Brown. Smith and Elden

those who have qualms of conscience as to violating laws, state or national, I say the time has come when such impositions must be disregarded, as your rights and property are in danger. I advise you, one and all, to enter every election district in Kansas, in defiance of Reeder (the Governor of Kansas appointed by the United States) and his myrmidons, and vote at the point of the bowie-knife and revolver. Neither take nor give quarter, as the cause demands it. It is enough that the slaveholding interest wills it, from which there is no appeal." General Stringfellow was mistaken. There were several appeals open to the Kansas free settlers to the United States Government, to their own friends at home, and to the Judge of all the earth. They carried their cause to each of these courts, failed in the first, and were successful in the other two. Amongst others, four sons of John Brown were on their way to Kansas. They had no arms with them. On their arrival they found "border ruffian" law prevailing, and were plundered and insulted. They wrote to their father "to procure such arms as might enable them in some degree to protect themselves, and personally bring them to Kansas."

John Brown procured arms, started at once, and arrived in Kansas in the autumn of 1855. Pierce, the then President of the Union, now openly sided with the slaveholders, who thus gained the upper hand for a time. In October, at the elections, a crowd of ruffians, "the Missouri mud scarcely dry on their boots," with rifles in their hands, knives in their belts, bottles in their pockets, and whisky in their bellies, swaggered round the polls, drinking and shouting in exultation over their triumph." The free state settlers were not yet thoroughly roused. Attempts were made on Lawrence, the strong- hold of the free state settlers in the winter. In May 1856, the United States Marshal at the head of 800 men, entered the town on pretence of making arrests. The arrests were submitted to peaceably, the marshal dismissed his men, by whom in twenty-four hours the town was sacked. From this time civil war raged, and the free settlers formed themselves into companies :—one at Prairie City, under John Brown, described by Mr. Redpath, is worth looking at as a contrast to the Missouri ruffians : "Brown himself stood near the fire with his shirt-sleeves rolled up, and a large slice of pork in his hand. He was cooking a pig. He was poorly clad and his toes protruded from his boots. . . . . In this camp no profane language was permitted, no man of immoral character was allowed to stay, except as a pri- soner of war. He made prayers in which all the company united every morning and evening, and no food was ever tasted by his men until the Divine blessing had been asked on it. Often, I was told, he returned to the densest solitudes to wrestle with God in prayer." . . . . "He said to me, I would rather have the small-pox, yellow fever, and cholera altogether in my camp than a man without prin- ciples. It's a mistake, sir, that our people make when they think bullies are the best fighters, or that they are the men fit to oppose these Southerners; give me God-fearing men—men who respect themselves—and with a dozen of them I will oppose any hundred such men as those Buford ruffians."

Not the sort of men, these, one would care to be fighting with. So their enemies found; they soon were marked men. A. certain Captain Pate and his company captured two of Brown's sons, sacked and burnt their houses, and treated them so brutally that one of them went mad. Within a few days Brown, with 23 men, at- tacked Pate's company of 60, entrenched in a strong position, with a ravine behind and a breastwork of waggons in front, and completely routed them, taking Pate and 21 men, besides wounded, prisoners.

In August, Captain Brown and "preacher Steward," another free leader, united their companies, and, with 60 men, attacked a camp of 160 Missourians with the like result, taking 13 prisoners, their whole baggage, and 100 stand of arms. On the 30th, a detachment of 500 Missourians under General Reid, marched suddenly on the town of Ossowatomie, near which Captain Brown's camp lay. They shot his son Frederick in cold blood on their way. He had just time to throw himself with 30 men (half of whom were almost without am- munition and retired early in the fight) into the wood in front of the town. Before they were driven back across the river with a loss of 2 killed and 3 wounded, they had left 32 dead and 50 wounded of the enemy on the field. The Missourians sacked Ossowatomie and re- turned in triumph to their own state ; but, it is said, that the sight of the killed and wounded, when the number of Brown's men who had fought them crept out, spread a feeling of terror through Mis- souri which had no small influence in freeing Kansas. The tide was turning ; Lane and Stevens were victorious in other parts of Kansas, but again Lawrence was threatened, while only 200 men could be mustered for the defence. Brown was in the town, and they unanimously voted him the command. He mounted on a pack- ina-case, and addressed his men : "Gentlemen,—It is said there are 2500 Missourians down at Franklin, and that they will be here in two hours. You can see for yourselves the smoke they are making by setting fire to the houses in that town. This is probably the last opportunity you will have of seeing a fight, so that you had better do your best. If they should come up to attack us, don't yell and make a great noise, but remain perfectly silent and still. Wait till they net within 25 yards of you, get a good object, be sure you see the hind sight of your gun, then fire. A great deal of powder, and lead, and very precious time is wasted by shooting too high. You had better aim at their legs than their heads, but in either case be sure of the hind sight of your gun.". After which characteristic speech he led out the 100 men who had rifles, routed the advanced guard of 400, and the rest drew off.

In October, 1856, "the ruffians" having retired from Kansan, Brown visited the Eastern States, to get funds for properly arming and equipping 100 mounted men, and for purchasing arms and am-

munition. The object of his journey, to a great extent, failed. He left again for Kansas, in April, 1857, in deep sadness ; a paper in his handwriting:, entitled "Old Brown's Farewell to the Plymouth Rocks,' 'Bunker Hill Monuments,' 'Charter Oaks,' and Uncle Tom's Cabin," shows how bitterly he felt this failure. But his spirit was as brave as ever. His brother "urged him to go home to his family, and attend to his private affairs. I feared his course would prove his destruction, and that of his boys." He replied "he was sorry I did not sympathize with him. That Ile knew that it was in the line of his duty, and must pursue it, though it should destroy him and his family." To another influential abolitionist who helped him, he re- marked, "I believe in the Golden Rule, sir, and the Declaration of In- dependence. I think theyboth mean the same thing; and it is better that a whole generation should pass off the face of the earth—men, women, and children—by a violent death, than that one jot of either should fail in the country. I mean exactly so, sir." And in this temper the old man went back to Kansas in the spring, where he had already lost one son, had another son and son-in-law desperately wounded, and a third son driven mad by ill-usage, and where he and his had lost their whole disposable property.

He found Kansas comparatively quiet, and on his return the Mis- sourians who had been threatening the border withdrew. He at once organized a raid into Missouri to free slaves, and teach the men of that State to mind their own affairs. He and his lieutenant, Kagi, crossed the border with 20 men, liberated and carried off four families of slaves, asking them how much their services had been worth, and taking property to that amount ; which feat created such a panic in Missouri, that in a few days the two border counties were cleared of slaves. The Governor of Missouri offered 3000 dollars for the arrest of Brown, to which President Buchanan added 250; but he carried his convoy safe to Canada. The story of his march of three months is full of comic and pathetic incident; but too long to be given here. The result of it was the complete confirmation of his belief that "a few men in the right, and knowing they are, can overturn a king. Twenty men in the Alleghanies could break slavery to pieces in two years. An old man," he said, "should have more care to end life well than to live long;" and with this faith set to work on his long-meditated attack on Harper's Ferry.

"Mr. Brown was sanguine of success," said his wife to the two friends who brought the news of defeat to the family of North Elba; "we all looked to it as fulfilling the hopes of many years. For he has borne the yoke of the oppressed, as if upon his own neck, for these thirty years." It is needless to dwell on the story of how those twenty-two men, on Sunday, October 16th, 1859, entered a town of 5000 inhabitants containing an arsenal, and took and held it for nearly three days. Little as Englishmen in general know of or care for American affairs, that story, at least, is well known to them. We, as a nation, believe that it was the act of mad fanatics, made respect- able by the fact that they went through with their work and gave their lives when they failed. We have no space here to discuss the plan, which was, indeed, never carried out. The attack was made a week before the appointed day, and with only a small portion of the force which Brown had organized for the work. His own view of the matter in the letters written just before his execution, is, per- haps, worth our consideration: "As I believe most firmly that God reigns, I cannot believe that anything I have done, suffered, or may yet suffer, will be lost to the cause of God or humanity. Before I began my work at Harper's Ferry, I felt assured that in the worst event it would surely pay. I often expressed that belief, and can now see no possible reason to alter my mind. I have been a good deal disappointed as regards myself, in not keeping up to my own plans; but I now feel entirely reconciled even to that, for God's plan was infinitely better, no doubt, or I should have kept to my own.

I can trust God with the time and manner of my death, be- lieving, as I now do, that for me at this time to seal my testimony for God and humanity with my blood will do vastly more towards advancing the cause I have earnestly endeavoured to promote, than all I have done in my life before. I beg of you all" (his wife and children) "meekly and quietly to submit to this, not feeling yourself the least degraded on that account." To his brother he writes : "I am gaining in health slowly, and am quite cheerful in view of my approaching end, being fully persuaded that I am worth inconceivably more to bang than,for any other purpose." But the spirit in which the attempt was made has never, that we know of, been fairly known in England till now. It may be gathered from Brown's last words to his men : "And now, gentlemen, let me press one thing on your minds. You all know how dear life is to you, and how dear your lives are to your friends; and, in remembering that, consider that the lives of others are as dear to them as yours are to you.. Do not, therefore, take the life of any man if you can possibly avoid it; but if it is necessary to take life in order to save your own, then make sure work of it." The testimony of all the prisoners who were in the power of Brown and his men during the three days, and of those who fought against him, agree in showing how thoroughly this counsel was acted out.

Ten of the band were killed in the fight, including two out of three of Brown's sons who were with him; six besides himself were taken and executed ; the remaining five, his son Owen amongst them, escaped. The conduct of all the prisoners, at their trial and on the scaffold, was in keeping with their lives. An attempt was made to plead insanity, which Brown, lying on his cot within the bar, at once interfered to reject. "Insane persons," he said, "so far as my. experience goes, have but little ability to jud_ge of their own sanity; and if I am insane, of course I should think I knew more than all the rest of the world. But I do not think so. I am perfectly

unconscious of insanity, and I reject, so far as I am capable, any at- tempts to interfere on my behalf on that score."

In the whole five weeks which passed between his sentence and execution, he had to endure the constant visits of citizens curious to look on the chained lion, or interested in trying to extract from him something which should implicate their political enemies. He never seems to have lost temper or heart, or to have given way to repining or boasting. But to every visitor he bore the same witness : "You had better—all you people of the South—prepare yourselves for a settlement of this question.It must come up for settlement sooner than you are prepared for it, and the sooner you commence that preparation the better for you. You may dispose of me very easily. I am nearly disposed of now; but this question is still to be settled —this negro question, I mean." While devoting great part of his time to prayer and reading his Bible, he sternly refused to see any clergyman who approved of slavery, and none other offered them- selves. To one who tried to force on him an argument, he said, "My dear sir, you know nothing about Christianity. Of course I respect you. as a gentleman, but it is as a heathen gentleman." The rest of his spare time he spent in answering the letters of his friends and writing to his wife and children. These letters are as interesting as any part of the book, and show throughout the same strong, practical, business-like mind, and the faith which had supported him throughout burning brighter at the last. "I have enjoyed remarkable cheerfulness and composure of mind," he says, in one of the last, "ever since my confinement.; and it is a great comfort to feel assured that I am permitted to die for a cause—not merely to pay the debt of nature as all must."

On December 2nd he was led out for execution, after taking leave of his five men who were still in prison. Near the door of the prison stood a black woman with a child in her arms, and he stooped and kissed the child tenderly. He had been kindly treated while in prison. "You are a game man, Captain Brown," said one of those who rode in the waggon with, and was watching him. "Yes," he said; "I was so trained up ; it was one of the lessons of my mother; but it is hard to part from friends though newly made." "This is a beautiful country," he said, as they ascended the hill on which the gallows stood. "I have not cast my eyes over it before." And so, with 3000 troops to guard the ground, the men of Virginia hanged the old New England farmer ; and now the question which he ex- horted them to prepare to meet has come up for decision.