Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-02-25
Cincinnati, o., Feb, 10. go.
RICHARD REALF ON JOHN BROWN.

REALt YIN JUdN bRUWN.
TRichard Realf, the Secretary Of State under
John Browns Provisional Government, in a letter
to the N. Y. Tribune thus speaks of bis former
and associate.
John Brown in his heart despiscd the Republi-
can party, whether rigbtfully or wrongfully, Of
course | do not undertake 70 say. lie called it a
party who had assumed the name Of Liberty, and
it to base pur poses lie said it de-
ulared all men to be flee, equal, entitled to liberty,
the pursuit of happiness. and yet deprecated
any interference with Slavery in the States where
existed; a raven.hcartednoss which met only
with his contempt. 50, putting no faith in the
of that party he undertook to abolish
Slavery himself.
They who assert that, in this enterprise, he was
moved rather by hatred Of the stakeholder than at
lection for the slave, do HE memory most foul
wrong. The love Of his heart com prehended and
encom passed both. lie believed that unless the
interference Ct some third party should anticipate
and thus prevent the interference Of slaves them
selves, these latter would, one day, overthrow the
Institution by a bloody war of determination
against their masters; and it was to prevent the
havoc and carnage which, as he conceived. threat
ened the South. that he entered upon his Inflated
For, he argued, the same elements OF
resistance to opp which would result in all
bloody excuses if not wisely and properly direc-
ted, might be made subserVient to the accomplish
meut Of high purposes Of humanity, if the govern
ing intelligence was at their side. Wherefore, in
order to supply that intellectual sagaci,y which
tbo sl,yas n oh cd an1 tina on hla than IN achinvp
their Freedom, while restraining them from the
crueliies into which their instincts would hurry
them, he gave himself to this enterprise.
In regard to bis personal character. l must,
though l reside in the South, where I expect to
live and die, be permitted to say that j. has been
most studicusly and deliberately misrepresented.
There never lived a man whose desire g aromote
human welfare and human happine;s Ewas moro
inextinguishable. Men have grown hoarse with
eliminating his memory, who were never wor-
thy to unlocse the latchet of his shoes. Venal
politicians, grown sleek upon public t%lunder, AID
men who cannot perform an act that is not stain
ed with some deadly sin, have lifted up their hands
in holy horror, and yelled out their eyecrable exc
crations against his name. John Brown was no
tongue-hero-no virtue-prattler. lie was a reti.
cent man; and when he did speak, the utterance
was from his heart, and not his lungs. His faith
was very simple. lie desired society to be pure,
free, unselfsh-full Of liberty and love. He be.
lieved it capable of such realization. The whole
history of his life is that Of an upward endeaYor.
Liberty = that was the key to his soul; the mas.
ter-passion which controlled all his other ambi
tons, personal, social, or political. 1t swayed
him like a frenzy. But he had too much individ
ualism Of character, and he was too sensitive t.
the suff.rings of others to be able to reason calm
y on the everyday concerns Of life, where abstrac
right is modified by a thousand conditions Of expe
diency; and he was too indignant against all form
of wrong to be able to discriminate between q the
ory and its practice; and thus, by his very self
denial, his benevolence, his moral courage, he wa
precipitated upon the deed which brought him /
the scafold. Seized by this principle of liberty
be proceeded. as be thought, to carry it out; neve
, stopping to think how it was limited and restrain
ed on all sides by other principles; thus drawin
his purpose so near the eye as to shut down al
other things; and thus. too, becoming a monoma
, MAC, mistaking his own conscientiousness for
3 call unto him from Heaven.
have new a word to say in relation to my
self. 1t is known that / was formerly associate
with John Brown, and it is known that | now r,
side in the South. That which follows is in r,
gard thereto. There was n time when I though
! our contemplated Instruction to DO absoiutel
d right. l had occasion to alter my opinion thu
e the evidence upon which | committed myself
4 that enterprise was available only in the court
}, conscience. Now in the depths of nv being, eve
below the law Of distinct consciousness there lurl
ed the instinct and impulse of another law tn
d forbade the exercise of those feelings which wouI
connect themselves with such q deed. With til
impulse. thus diuly working, the promises ha
lie made came in conflict; and my conscience. diyid,
against itself, plueked me on and plucked me O
suggesting the resolution but preventing the pc
iormance. However much | multiplied reasol
and motives in favor oftho deed, tn ere vet sp,u
a up from a depth in my nature, which reflect,
has never fathomed, an impulse against it wifi
| could neither account fJr nor resist. I could n
re translate that which appeared to be an outwa
call of duty into a free, spontaneous moral il
pulse; and, as | could no: perform il until I h,
SO translated it, of course il was not performed
all.
Upon returning from Europe, l passed into i
s%outhero States, for the purpose Of investigate
the nature and character of that Institution, to o
pose which, the faculties and resources of nv /
ing have been SO taxed and strained. | have o
own thoughts. my own feelings. 10 relation the,
to and 1t may chance that in the end. II will a
pear have not been as unmindful of nv duti
to humanity as have some Of those who, at 1
safe distance Of q thousand miles. are 50 profu
in hr.phiianthropy. Bot | have gained ono Il
son which thought never to have learned. Th