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JOHN BROWN: A RETROSPECT.

BY ALFRED S. ROE.

Read before The Worcester Society of Antiquity, Dec. 2, 1884.

WORCESTER, MASS.:
PRIVATE PRESS OF FRANKLIN P. RICE.
MDCCCLXXXV.

JOHN BROWN: A RETROSPECT.

Nearly two thousand years ago, at the hour of noon, a motley throng of
people might have been seen pouring forth from the gates of a far
Eastern city and moving towards a hill called Calvary. Amidst soldiers
and civilians, both friends and foes, the central figure is that of a
man scarcely more than thirty years of age. He has all the attributes,
in form and features, of true manliness. A disinterested judge has
just declared that he finds nothing amiss in him; but the rabble cry
out, all the more, "crucify him." While ardently loved by a devoted
few in that tumultuous crowd, he is, to all the rest, an object of
severest scorn, the butt of ribald jest. Wearing his crown of thorns,
he is made to bear, till he faints under his burden, the very
instrument of his torture. His Roman executioners, giving to him the
punishment accorded to thieves and robbers, have imposed upon him the
ignominious fate possible,--death upon the cross.

A century before, Cicero had said: "It is an outrage to bind a Roman
citizen; to scourge him is an atrocious crime; to put him to death is
almost parricide; but to _crucify_ him--what shall I call it?"

The place of crucifixion is reached. The dread tragedy is enacted. The
vail of the Temple is rent in twain; but upon the trembling earth the
cross stands firm; from the consequent darkness it shines forth,
resplendent by the halo of its precious burden. The Saviour of men is
taken thence to lie in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea; his disciples
and brethren wander away disconsolate; his tormentors go their many
and devious ways; but the cross remains. It will ever remain; the
object of reproach and derision to the ancients, to the moderns it has
become the symbol of all that is true and good. The scenes of that
day, on which the son of man was lifted up have sanctified for all
time the instrument on which he suffered; transformed and radiant, it
has become a beacon for all mankind.

Twenty-five years ago to-day, at noon, nearly, another crowd took its
course from prison doors to a place of execution. We see a white
h