New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-02-09
r
interesting Letter from tsd fsrovvn.x xsere-
tary or gsafc

IL
ihes following is COPY Of q letter from Richard
heaH old Browns Secretary of STATE. 10 the
ufosher-in law Of Cook who " aa execu4ed s,r mar.
ticipasing in the Brown raid 81 r.
ed IN eaTe os s Sel ssvsr q te z7til inst. address
is received, and Hasten ID ass,Irs vss ~ [
pathy and condolences with yourself ana fa,.;5 T.. =;
/ yoaf reeens sgrfewiul bereavement. Yea viii 4
am sure pardon me fov saying that in reation t.
/ your deceaseA brother, leannot Consent ~ sont
my own the sentiments with which var, as.s,ss,-
to regard hins. cannot that is, consent d call
him unfortunate Doubtlesslife ie dear and yhertv
sweet, and to die by the exesutIoBers hand 4 ay,
ignoninious doom; YET WHEN I'M fhe lapse Of time
the deed for when John Edwin Cook incurred the
extreme penalty of the law shall be seen in srr
proportions, and saim analysis shall be substitzted
for loud -mouthed horror, and the motives which
impelled to the aes shall, they Will determine
the verdict upon it, the name an8 memory of your
dead brother may be5ome unto uaj glorious NJ
heritance forever. take no shame unto myself n
that dissolved my connection with that miatakers
and lilfated enterprise and yet Justice to the
solemn dead, must confess that ths spirit of be-
neyolence, and sefsaerafce, and high autacity Of
courage upon which it rested, eclipse 50 surpass-
ngly my careful prudence and polite cautf0n that
though the result has confirmed the Justice of my
Judicious fears, cannot chs0se bat do homage 10
their memories as beings who, in all noble attri-
butes Of character, were infinitely aboye myself.
The fatal error Of John Brown consisted in TAX
ing for granted the premises upon which his move
ment was predcated, aud without the absolute
correctness of which it could not possibly suseeed
1t was based on the mistaken snpposition tha4 the
slaves themselves were ansiously awaiting an OPP
portunity OF striking for their freedom and John
Brown labored under iHfatuasion Of Intellectual
obtusity in attempting to execute his project be-
fore having thoroughly assured himself that he
might rely upon their cooperation He was swaYed
by other errors. He confounded hH own infererices
as to duty with duty ITSELF believing that the con-
cnsions which bound his conscience were binding
on the conscences of all other men, and he trans-
aSofh haa,~ <
tions of his 1diosyneracies to be command unto
him from Heaven.
These things impaired his reason, and prevented
him either from thinking impartiaIIy or Judging
accurately and wisely. But az he possessed that
strange power which enables one man to infict
many with his views, he so psychological his asso-
ciates that, seeing only through his medium of vis
ion, they consequently were unable to controvert
his theories therefore the movement went blindly
| on. For myself, too, it is certain that had not
been sent to New fork, where. out Of the reach Of
4 his great mesmeric influence, could in some sort
master the questions involved, Il should have been
| with the enterprise down to the bitter end
/ should, indeed, have had no other choice. Had
John Brown sent man on an errand to Hades he
must have started thither, for he was one of God
4 own commanders.
knew your brother We have been friends.
Permit me to say Of him that his faults were such
as belong to warm, impulsive, chYalrous nature.
/ He was quick-hearted, swift-blooded, brave unto
| reeklessness generous unto pTedigality. We have
i been together on the stump in the solitude Of the
far prairies, in the social CIRCLE in the retirement
/ of our own homes, and | never knew MIN other
1 than that which have stated. In the history of
/ Kansas he bore an honorable part, and leaves an
4 honorable record; and you must not ia your sor-
| row at the manner OF his recent death, forget to
consider the causes that led thereto for so shall
\ you be comforted and consoled by the reflection
that all the elamorous noise and passion which the
insurrection has engendered the sure and true in
depreciation it will receive from time is even now
being rendered, and that too, in the spirit which,
sooner or later, causes ever the truth to come
rUlng mr. Qtnc tnrt1a l..l
I With much respect, yours truly.
RICHARD REALF.