St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-02-09
VOLUME 46---NUMBER 2376.

/ ds dbONC lut WHICH,
great soul appears, whose goodness
shines as transcendently above the
common, as the electric candle surpass-
es the gas-iet when genius casts
abroad its brilliant, though sometimes
erratic ray, the world is ready to cry,
"Mad as a March hare" 1t was so
with Sherman, who, at the beginning
of the war, for making well-considered
estimate of the number of men re-
quired to occupy Kentucky, which es-
innate was afterwards found to be pro-
phetic in its correctness, gained among
fools the sObriquet of "Crazy Sher-
man." and half the people of the coun-
try expected at any moment that they
should read in the morning papers that
he had been put in straight jacket.
For all that he marched to the sea,
and the reason why some of his sense
less critics have not been placed in
Warehouses;, is that ''the Lord never
taketh away what he doth not give"
But there is testimony from an enc
my, which expresses more clearly than
any words of mine John Browns men
tai condition at the time of his cap
ture. The witness is Governor Henry
A. Wise of Virginia, who, upon his
return to Richmond, after his visit to
the wounded captain, thus publicly
spoke concerning him:
"They are themselves mistaken who
take him to be a madman. He is Il
bundle of the best nerves | ever saw,
cut and thrust, and bleeding and in
bonds. He is n man of clear head, of
courage, fOrtitude, and ample ingenu-
BUSINESS. He is cool, collected and in
dOmitable, and it is but fair to him to
say that he was human TO his prison
ers, as attested to me by Col. Washing
ton and he inspired me with great
trust in his integrity as IA man of truth.
He processes to he ii Christian in COM
muniOn with the Congregational
Church of the North, and openly
breaches his purpose of universal eman-
cipation, and the negroes themselves
were to be the agents by means of
arms, led on by white commanders.
And Colonel Washington says he was
the coolest and firmesr man he ever
saw in defying danger and death. With
one son dead by his side and another
shot through, he felt the pulse of his
dying son, and held his rife with the
other, and commanded his men with
the utmost cOmposure, encouraging
them to be firm, and sell their lives as
dearly as they could. He is the gam
est man | ever saw"
And what said Vallandigham, who
was one of the first Northern men to
visit Harper's Ferry, after an interview
with the Captain, as he lay on the
| floor of the engine-hOuse, all grimed
and smutched with pOwder-smOke,
wounded, his hair and beard matted
and tangled with blood
at is vain to underrate either the
man or the conspiracy. Captain John
Brown is as brave n man as has ever
headed an insurrectiOn and, in good
cause, with Il sufficient force, would
| have been Il cOnSummate partisan
commander. He has GOODNESS, daring,
persistency, the stole faith and patience,
and tirmness of will and purpose un-
cOnquerable. He is the fdrthereSt pos
| Sible remOUe from the ordinary rutfian,
fanatic, or madman. Certainly, it was
one of the best planned and best exc
cuted cOnspiracies that ever failed"
John Brown was no candidate for
Bedlam. His was the mems sana in
cOrpOre sanO. If he was 4 hero, he
should not be pitied by fools as a luna
tic. If he was not understood he
should not without protest, be SLAM
dered as insane. John Brown knew
what he was about. The oppressed
peoples of the earth should never for
get their obligations to their champi-
Ons. France alone of all the nations
has reared fitting monument to the
martyr John Brown. And Victor
Hugo, Frenchman, has rendered him
the nOblest literary tribute. The time
will come, perhaps years hence, per-
haps centuries hence, when the cul-
tured, polished, refined, enlightened
descendants of the sable race John
Brown fought and died to liberate,
shall, in marble and bronze, in song, in
tragedy, in romance, glorify his
achievements. His statues shall look
from their pedestals in the market
places. His words shall be cherished
in willing memories; his deeds en-
graved on grateful hearts. His body
will then, as now, lie ''mOuldering in
the grave" but his soul will still ego
marching on The Californian.