Has eye, and by the vigor of his stout right arm, he has spell-bound two Though the structure of a tyrant's throne Headlong it turns, and drives upon destruction." An honest, God-fearing old man, one who "loved righteousness and hated iniquity," had for many years noted the fact that a certain class of his fellow-creatures had, in an evil hour, "fallen among thieves." And, robbed of all their God-given rights and privileges, scarred and deformed at the will of their cruel task-masters, they found no deliverer to undertake their cause! The recreant Priests of the nation, intent on theological controversies, busied with trifles, but "omitting the weightier matters of the law-judgment, mercy and faith"-though they had seen again and again the sad condition of their wounded brethren, had "passed by on the other side." The herd of unfeeling Statesmen, anxious to mount to high office and to secure national plunder, and fearing to meddle with or denounce odious laws and shameful compromises, had also "passed by on the other side.' And the plaintive, wailing cry of the bruised and stricken ones was echoed throughout the land. Then the sorrow of the old man was stirred within him; and "while he was musing the fire burned." He thought of his duty to his God, of his duty to his neighbor. And the question, "Who Is my neighbor?" rang incessantly in his ears. Then, from the swelling tide of human woes, and from the Throne of the Eternal, came bounding back the answer: "Thy neighbor? It is he whom thou Whose aching heart and burning brow Thy neighbor? Yonder toiling Slave, Whose hopes are all beyond the grave— Go thou, and ransom him!" And he resolved to go and help his crushed and bleeding brethren; to deliver them from the burdens, too heavy to bear, which had so long bowed them to the ground; and to bring them out of the house of worse than Egyptian bondage. Of this man, and of his actions, I am now to speak. In memory of this "good Samaritan" I have resolved to preach a "Funeral sermon. It is not often that a funeral sermon is preached over one whose spirit goes to the eternal world from the GALLOWS-over one who was charged with the crimes of "treason, robbery and murder!" But, notwithstanding the malice of his enemies, and the silence of those who profess to be his friends, I rejoice that I have this opportunity of bearing testimony to the truth, and of paying my feeble tribute to the memory of that honest, valiant, noble man, who "counted not his life dear unto him, so that he might finish his course with joy." I stand not here to advocate deeds of violence and bloodshed, or to vindicate war in any of its forms. Neither, on the other hand, do I intend to condemn the acts of the deceased, or to impugn the motives which led him to those acts. He has already been arraigned before one human tribunal, and now his soul has gone to appear in the presence of the righteous Judge of all the earth. But I shall speak of him as I find him; review his character in the light of reason and revelation; and then leave you to decide whether I am successful in proving him, in the language of the text, "a just man that perished in his righteousness." And may Heavenly grace descend into our hearts, so that we may profit by the subject now before us, and be led fervently to pray, "Let me die the death of the righteous!" As to the LIFE of the deceased, a short and necessarily imperfect sketch only can be presented. No authentic memoir has yet been published, and all we know of him is from the items which have appeared in the various journals of the day. But I have gathered enough to serve as an outline for the present occasion; enough to show that the lamented hero came of good old stock; and that amid all the vicissitudes of what was indeed "a chequered life," he proved himself to be a worthy descendant of worthy ancestors, one of nature's true noblemen, and a credit to any name, or family, or age, or nation. 66 JOHN BROWN was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, in the year 1800. He was the sixth in descent from Peter Brown, one of the Mayflower" Pilgrims, who landed at Plymouth in 1620. John's father, Owen Brown, was a contractor to the army during the war of 1812. His grandfather was a Captain in the army of the Revolution. John Brown's ancestors were farmers-sturdy, honest yeomen, ready at all times to serve their country, and to stand up for the right. And John himself seems to have paid more attention to farming than to anything else-though he was at various times a surveyor, a tanner, a wool-dealer, and latterly a WARRIOR. Before his appearance in the far West he had resided in Connecticut, in Ohio, in Pennsylvania, in Massachusetts, and in New York. Then, in 1855, he made his first appearance in Kansas. A public meeting was in progress at Ossawatomie, at which the politicians of the territory were carefully adjusting a series of resolutions so as to suit every variety of "Free State men." A motion was offered in favor of excluding all "negroes" from the territory. This called out John Brown, who at once scattered alarm and dis-. cord in the council, by asserting the manhood and rights of the colored race, and by expressing his anti-slavery opinions in a manner not at all soothing or acceptable to the audience. Brown went to Kansas, it seems, not to settle there, but to assist his sons; and, it may be, to aid in defending that territory from the encroachments of the Slave power. He soon began to suffer for his steady opposition to tyranny. His assailants plotted against him, and he experienced many losses and much ill-treatment at their hands. One son was killed in cold blood, and while unarmed! Another son was seized, while ploughing, loaded with chains, and driven for many long and weary miles, with such malignant cruelty as to destroy his reason! His house, and those of his sons, were destroyed by fire! The women of the family were insulted; a price was set upon the old man's head; and every indignity that Missouri barbarity could devise was heaped upon him! But he was himself preserved, almost miraculously, from the schemes of his enemies. He seemed to bear a charmed life, and he was "a wonder unto many." Then, seeing the desperate state of affairs, he resolved to fight the battles of Freedom. He determined to be a hero and a leader in the warfare between Truth and Error, the struggle between Right and Wrong. "Like Napoleon, he had unbounded confidence in his own destiny and resources. Like Cromwell, he trusted in God, and kept his powder dry." He prayed fervently, dealt blows lustily, and thanked God heartily for victory! For two years he resisted bravely the minions of Slavery, and his name became a terror to the whole race of "Border Ruffians." His hand was against every pro-slavery man, and every pro-slavery man's hand was against him. Having resisted the intruders at every point, having also been instrumental in rescuing numerous slaves, and knowing that Kansas was secured to freedom, Brown removed to the neighborhood of Harper's Ferry, in Virginia. He had, it seems, formed a design to enter the State at that place, to rescue large numbers of the slaves, and to escape with them, from time to time, to the mountains. At intervals he visited other localities and enlisted recruits, especially from amongst those who had fought with him in Kansas. The sequel is well known. His seizure of the Arsenal; his long-protracted defence against such fearful odds; the loss of his two sons and most of his gallant followers; the bayonet and sabre wounds inflicted on him with such savage cruelty by his pursuers; his capture, trial, imprisonment and death-are facts too familiar to be recounted here in detail. By his heroic but fatal adventure he has become "the observed of all observers;" and by his deeds of daring he has rendered "Harper's Ferry" as renowned as ancient Thermopyla! By his noble life and glorious death he has won imperishable fame! And as the friends of the oppressed look with sad hearts but strong hopes into the hero's grave, and then turn away to engage with renewed zeal in the struggle against tyranny, they may well exclaim: We will think of thee, O brother, and thy sainted name shall be— The time is not yet come, even for John Brown's friends, to understand thoroughly, to present clearly-in all its minute detailsthe CHARACTER of that wondrous man. Such differences of opinion are maintained with reference to him, and prejudice has so warped the mind and distorted the vision, that it is not an easy task to attempt an analysis of his character, or to group together the broken and scattered facts available for the purpose in hand. By one class of persons he is regarded as a monster, a criminal, a murderer; by another, a fanatic or a madman; and by another, and I trust not au inconsiderable class, he is esteemed a hero, a saint, a martyr! And yet from the facts already stated, and from others now to be named, we shall be able, I trust, to gain some insight into his true character, and to point out some of the more prominent features which distinguished him. John Brown was A BRAVE MAN! To this fact all, even his enemies, will testify. So great was his courage, so marvelous his strength, that it seems as if some long-buried hero of the olden time had risen from his silent grave to astonish the world with deeds of mighty prowess! His was not the bragging, tinseled bravery which spends itself in words! His was bravery in action! He went to work with a will; and he rested not till he had accomplished what he thought to be his duty, no matter how severe the task should prove. His daring deeds in Kansas, his conduct at the Arsenal, his fortitude in captivity, his demeanor on the scaffold, all prove him to have been "a mighty valiant man." He evidently believed that, engaged in the right cause, battling on the Lord's side, "one would be able to chase a thousand, and two to put ten thousand to flight." And when we hear of the panic he caused in Virginia and the surrounding States, we cannot but think he was not far astray in his belief. It was the consciousness that he was on the side of truth, of justice, of God, that nerved him for his unequal conflicts. It was the love which "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things," that sustained and soothed him amid all his trials and persecutions, enabling him to look upward "with an unfaltering trust," and to approach his grave exclaiming, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." John Brown was A MAN OF STERN INTEGRITY! His conscientiousness in all his transactions was apparent to every one with whom he came in contact. His honesty in his religion, in his business, and in his battles, had become proverbial, had distinguished him wherever his lot was cast. Much of this unbending integrity seems to have been inherited; for it was often remarked, "Whoever can get the promise of a Brown of that breed considers himself secure." He was at all times, and in all the relations of life, trustworthy, truthful, promise-keeping. It was said of him that "in Kansas he was the great living test of principle in the politicians; the more corrupt the man, the more he denounced John Brown." And it was well known that he would not gather around him, if he could prevent it, any but honest and upright men. was heard to say, "I would rather have the small-pox, the yellowfever and the cholera, all together, in my camp, than a man without principle." This devotion to principle, this reverence for truth and uprightness, furnishes us with the key to his philanthropy, solves the mystery that would otherwise enshroud some of his actions, and explains why he was a terror and a scourge to evil-doers-why he sacrificed his life for the sake of the oppressed. He And this leads me to the consideration of what was, amid all his other virtues, the crowning excellence and glory of his characterthat feature by which we may the more readily test his claim to be considered a servant of God. I refer to his true and tried PHILANTHROPY, his pure and unselfish BENEVOLENCE! This gives him a higher claim to our sympathy and esteem than any other plea that can be set up. He had a stout arm, a strong will, an honest inten-tion, but, more than all, A TRUE AND LOVING HEART- -a heart whose every pulsation beat in unison with the great heart of humanity! This prompted him to relieve the distressed, to pity those "who had no comforter"-to stand up for those who had no helper. His sympathies were world-wide. He aimed at impartial justice to all, and was the generous friend of all, no matter of what color, or creed, or condition. He was a firm believer in that famous, though incendiary document, "the Declaration of Independence"--that inval- |