of purposes, he saw not the
power of the Government intervening, and perhaps, in his intensity, it
would have made no difference if he had. Certain, however, is the
statement, that the one grand idea over-towering all others in his
mind, was that of liberty for the slaves; and for that idea men of his
own and subsequent days have done him reverence.

Why review the scenes of those hours of attack and fierce defence at
Harper's Ferry? Poorly informed, indeed, must be that American man or
woman, boy or girl, who has not repeatedly read the events of those
less than twenty-four hours of condensed history. They furnish the
prelude to every account of the War of the Rebellion. No matter how
vivid the scenes of later days, somewhere in the background we get
these earlier details over again. The blow once struck, and there
arose from Maine to Texas cries ranging through all the variations of
surprise, exultation, and fiercest denunciation. I am speaking as a
Northern man to Northern people, and it is natural that we should look
upon the acts of John Brown with quite different feelings from those
held by the people who saw in them the uprooting of all the traditions
and customs of their society. For the present, however, I will confine
myself to the opinions of those who from the north side of Mason and
Dixon's Line, heard the "clash of resounding arms." There were many
men who had in various ways assisted Brown in his work without knowing
just what his plans were. It sufficed for them to know that he was to
harry the Institution, leaving to him the perfecting and executing of
details. The telegraphic dispatches on that Monday morning of October
17th, carried consternation into other homes than those of the South.
It seemed reasonable to the Government that men who had contributed in
any way to the support of John Brown must have been privy to his
plans. However much we may pride ourselves now that such and such men
assisted the movement, then the barest suspicion of complicity made
many households look to their hearths. Some, whose names had been
mingled with his, sought refuge in Canada, as Dr. S.G. Howe, Frederick
Douglass and F.B. Sanborn. Gerrit Smith of New York, worn out by
previous hard work, was by this final burden reduced to a condition
necessitating his removal to the Utica Asylum. Now that the affair is
all over and past, it seems very strange that men like those mentioned
before, who were known to be intimate wit