I deem it unnecessary here to give an account of
the life of John Brown. The world knows of his
birth, early training, his occupation and the great
events in which he took part. But of his ideas,
there seems to be considerable differences of opinion;
not, indeed, as to their purpose, but their sanity and
practicability. After carefully studying his character
as found in various records, I have imagined that
the thoughts and feelings expressed in these verses
were the views and meditations that engaged his
life. I have, therefore, represented him on the four
great occasions of his career. First, as leader of the
Anti-Slavery men in their fight with the Pro-Slavery
men in Kansas; secondly, when after the Kansas
struggles he met his men in Iowa, and there determined
to attack Harpers Ferry; thirdly, the night
of the attack, and fourthly, before he goes to the gallows.
As this is a work solely of the imagination, I
here quote, for the attention of those who may criticise
me, the words of Lord Macaulay when he was
about to put forth a work of a similar nature:
“The judgment passed both by the learned and by
the unlearned on a work of the imagination will
always depend much more on the general character
and spirit of such a work than on minute details.”
Edward W. Williams, July 11th. Washington, D. C.
