ie," after he had been executed. His |
| was a stirring life. Having conceived the idea of becoming the |
| liberator of the negro slaves in the Southern States of North America, |
| he emigrated in 1855 from Ohio to Kansas, where he took an active part |
| in the contest against the pro-slavery party. He gained, in August |
| 1856, a victory at Ossawatomie over a superior number of Missourians |
| who had invaded Kansas (whence the surname "Ossawatomie"). On the |
| night of October 16, 1859, he seized the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, |
| Virginia, at the head of a small band of followers with a view to |
| arming the negroes and inciting an insurrection. He was captured |
| October 18th, was tried by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and was |
| executed at Charlestown, December 2, 1859. |
| |
| Mr Newton has been at pains to inform himself from every available |
| source upon which it was possible to draw for a biography of John |
| Brown. The result is a most exhaustive work, in which the part Brown |
| took in the Kansas border wars, all his preparations for Harper's |
| Ferry and what occurred there, and his trial are fully related. |
| Practically no day between Brown's condemnation and his |
| execution--nearly a month--is ignored, and many most interesting |
| particulars are given of Brown's family. The judgments of his great |
| countrymen, Whittier, Thoreau and Emerson, as well as that of the |
| great romancer, Victor Hugo, are related, and interesting sketches are |
| given of many prominent men of all parties with whom Brown came in |
| contact. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. WANTED: A MAN--THE MAN FOUND 1

II. THE ERA OF FREEDOM--REALISING THAT KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 16

III. OFF TO HAMPTON--WAS HE A LIKELY CANDIDATE? 32

IV. GENERAL ARMSTRONG--HIS PREDECESSORS AND COLLABORATORS--PIONEERS
OF THE NEW ERA 41

V. UPS AND DOWNS--PROGRESS AS A STUDENT--BEGINNING TO TEA