Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-09-08

LETTER FROM HENRY G. WRIGHT.

LETTER FROM HENRY c. WRIGHT.
The Remoral ofhe Remains Of John Brorn to
Mount AUBURN as u testimony against Slarery.
NORTH ELBA, IN. W Aug. IA, 1860.
DEAR GARRISON | am in the family Of John
Brown, who died a martyr to redeem four millions
6f American slaves. am close by tie grave in
which lies his body. Mrs. Brown, a woman of a
warm and humane heart, of sterling sense, quiet
selEpossession, and true self reliance, is at home,
with one Of her sons and two of her daughters,
This 10 a region of wild romance aud grandeur.
There. close by me, beside a large rock, lie the
remains of what was the material form Of one des
tined to live on the historic page as the William
Wallace of the American bondman. Virginia, that
corporate band of american corsairs, hung the
body that rests beneath this mound, but they
could not hang John Brown, the stern enemy Of
slavery, and the friend of freedom.
When the weapon Of steel was taken from him,
and be was consigned to a dungeon, how sublime
In his simplicity How puissant before the nation.
with his shield Of faith, his breast plate of right
eeusness, his sword of the Spirit, and his helmet
of salvation How terrible his words to divide
asunder the bodies aad souls of his slaveholding,
slave breeding murderersi How slave'tCading
priests aud politicians stood agbast at his piercing
words of rebuke Even in his prison, before his
mArtyrdom, he saw of the travel of his soul, and
was satisfied. When led forth to execution, how
august his martyrdom As he cheorfnlly, fear
lsssly, with slacrity, stepped upon The scafOld, his
tread shook the world, and millions heard, and
did homage to the hero. As he stood on the drop,
during that twenty minutes, while Virginia, to ex-
sort from him some sign of faltering, or relenting,
or Of cowardliness, affected to perform her militia
~ evolutions, using every frivolous pretence to
prolong the fatal moment, hoping to subdue, by
snch refined torture, that mighty soul, how calm
his mien, how firm his nerves, how dauntless and
heroic his spirit When that drop fell, the nations
heart had but one feeling, the nations tongue but
one word, i. e., CoNQUEsT BY SUFFERING VIC.
TORY BY DEATH! He died a martyr, to re-
deem four millions Of slaves. John Brown is not
dead, but live.h ; and he lives but to free the
slave.
AS I sit here by the martyrs grave, and look
of upon the glorious panorama of mountains
around, l do not wonder that he wished to have
his body rest in this spot, by this rock the wild
grandeur of his nature being true to itself in the
hour Of his martyrdom.
Bot must the body OF John Brown rest here
as a ~6nality ? Ought it to be left here ? 1t would
not be difficult to raise the means to remove ii, and
give it q place and a monument in Mount Auburn.
The widow and the children are willing it should
be removed. They will probably leave this place
at no distant day. Though a wild, grand, and al
together tae most interesting portion of the State,
to risa, as a means of recreation, it is a cold,
hard place to live in. and to earn a living. As a
mountain and lake scenery including lakes George
and Champlain, not far Of, for wildness and TO-
nance it is not surpassed in the United States 4;
but as an agricultural country, it is, like Jordan
q hard road to travel, l believe
But, cui bono? What use in removing the body
to Mount Auburn? l think not of it as a testi.
mony of respect to the memory of John Brown.
No monument that money could purchase, or hu-
man ingenuity contriye, or art execute, could 50
6tly and SO grandly perpetuate the memory of such
. man, as the bold, stern, defiant mountains that
now sncircle his body /; for he lived but to incar'
nate their sternness, their boldness and defiance,
and bring these qualities practically to bear against
American slavery. Such a soul as his, whether
in the body or out Of it, cannot but glory in such
q scene as this. John Brown needs no such tes-
timony from corporeal men and women. But cor
poreal men, women and children, centuries hence,
will need to emember bis spirit and his instruc,
sions-not his military spirit and teachings, for
these will pass away, and will aud ought to be for
Ro.ten-but his gentleness, his tenderness, hi:
sympathy, and readiness to die, for the enslayed
the d~espised and the outcast his sublime scorI
and contempt for human &C Institutions and laws
for the eusctmsnts Of Congress and the decisions
af oorrts for conventional usa0as and raIioions
dogmas, and priesrly and ecclesiastical a~nathemas
when these we're on the side Of slaye-breeders and
shareholders his sublime consistency and moral
heroism before the court, in the dungeon and on
the seaffOld, aud his simplicity and grandeur OF
devotion to what he deemed 10 be the will of God
to what be considered the demands Of justice, mer-
cy and humanity these. all Who struggle for lib
erty to the enslaved. and death to the power Of the
enslaVers, will need TO remember. Human beings,
in ell coming ages and nations, in their irrepressi-
bls conflict with oppression, cannot afford to for
get bis simple faith in, and heroic devotion 10,
what he deemed just and right. They can nc
more afford to forget the moral heroism and mar
tyrdom of John Brown, than the moral heroisu
and martyrdom of Jesus Of Nazareth.
That his love and devotion to the cause of free
dom, and his abhorrence Of slavery, may be KEEP
alive, let his remains be deposited in Mount Au
burn, and a suitable monument be erected oyel
them and on it let his inspired words before thu
court be engraVen, and such other sayings Of his
in the dungeon to his family and friends, as are
best adapted to teach the coming ages how most
successfully to wage war against oppression. Let
tbs facts relating to his trial and execution, that
20 70 show the essential inhumanity and barbar.
lam Of slavery, be engraven on that marble. Let
texts Of Antislavery, that Gospel Of Humanity, he
snRraVen on IL, from which tAs poets, orators, au.