New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-09-27
NEW PUBLICATIONS,
o.NpoRN,s Holm BROWN.

sANBORNs JOHN BROWN
TIE LIFE AND LETTERS or II virsinia Edited by
erator Of Kansas ana Marty o nm IL Gas. Roberts
-. o.-horn makes the impressive statement Ia
..as.on that ne has been at work on this DOCK
- those dismal years when the southern on,
sarobv and their humble followers al .ne No,'n
All, controlled our degraded politics" quai,oi
30 century is long enoughfor the composition VI
rrettv good biography, but go"o oiosi@ ,p'',
yohn Brown cannot be written even III ina. "'o.s'
time by man on his hands and knees .ne "'
80 - Mr.. Sanborn toward his subJect Is de-
s,s~.a IN two or three emphatic sentences In the
ransos war John Brown not only believed mmsen
- ~ INIT "in fact was, div1nely inspired" ln MS
a.. 5ovs eft was directly revealed to HIM thaI
a. aeath was 10 be his greatest victory. IL was
s.ravaa,edn to Mr. Sanborn himself tnat the Loru
Md chosen John Brown as his champion, ana tna'
no confidence could be too great to repoSe III nim'
these statements are so important II true anu 80
,,,erest;no ANYHOW, that Mr. Sanborn's neglect 10
80 ETH the evidence for them is to be lamented
sr bo snre ne informs us, with respect to mnseii,
chat Divine Providence has been In the KIM hao''
NJ ending him by omens and ieadlngs ior u iohs
x;,,e: but even this ingenious avowai neeus W 20
substantlated To all such allegations OIL speciai
supernatural action, the world Will ask. 10" uo
Won known 1t is easy to be deceived ABOUT revoNa-
sions end insnirations and 1t may be that Mr. San
born is not an expert in these matters. oa'ii no
srhmits the proof that he has been favored with
.on6dantial communications from the other world
we must take the liberty of treating his work as
,roduct of the unaided human intellect
Assuming therefore that the Life and Letters OF
Jobn Brown" is not inspired, we shall complain
that this labor of twenty-fve years shows marks OF
,,ndne haste. The narrative is put together WIFI
OF kiIl events are told out of their proper order'
incidents are repeated, letters are misplaced the
story shambes back and forth with SO many
soublings obscurites, omissions ana superhui'io''
that il becomes matter of some Difficulty 10 trace
abe hero's career; and the last great dran"'io
acenes. at Harpers Ferry and Chariestowh' arc
managed with singular feebeness. The account Oh
the fight is far from complete, and such as IL A'
the paste-pot has done more OF Ii than tine pen
Nothing is said of the fate of most OF Browns COM
panions in the attack; there Is no history Vi the
trial Though Browns speech before sentence Is rc-
prnted: we are not told the title OF the court nor
even the name of the judges and there is no lhdca-
tion of the line of defence We do not Kno" Vi
biography which falls to pieces so pauiy at tne
clmar In fact before reaching the end OF his
twertv-fve years work Mr. Sanborn seems to have
felt tired. Anybody would feel tired after spend
;no TWENTY-FIVE years with this book The author
ouuht to have rested decade or 50. and finished
the task with his second wind.
The character of John Brown was so strong and
nan that little art was required to describe it, ana
AR. sauborn has presented clearly enough the same
portrait of the resolute old fighting Calvinst with
winch we have long been familiar He was wise to
attempt no elaborate analysis of what dehes analy-
sis by its very simplicity. The most important
part of his task the publication OF Browns
private letters and the revelation OF certain de-
tails long kept secret of the connection OF Browns
Northern friends with the affair at Harpers Ferry
For both these functions his equipmentwa ample
and while we cannot take him seriously In all re-
spects we are glad to recognize the substantial
value of the materials which he has spread before
us. The letters of John Brown number about one
hundred and fifty, most of them being now pub
l;shed for the first time They fall into three cate
gories The first includes correspondence with MS
family preyious to mis- removal to Kansas Brown
often declared toward the close Of his life, that he
had cherished his plan for the liberation of the
slaves for more than twenty years Mr.. Sanborn
assures us that this scheme was his permanent
Guiding principle, and that all his business enter
prises as tanner sheep-ralser. woo-dealer, land
speculator, and SO on, were conducted for the ex-
press purpose of raising funds for the great work
1t is remarkable that trace of this Interior object
appears In the domestic letters now printed, nor
are the letters by any means indicative OF the stat
vart enthusiast the Old Testament prophet belated
from an age whose Lord was man OF war. They
are fun of the strong and somewhat savage re-
ligous sentiment which the world observed in
John Brown afterward, but they do not betray his
heroic fanaticsm. This, however, Is not really
surprising pen cramps the expression OF the
man who has not learned to use 1t easily. He can
fasr, 90 Inv
life the state of the crops the prices OF cattle, and
the household ailments; but it is only under the
impulse Of some extraordinary excitement that he
can record upon paper the deepest emotions of his
hear. "Dear son John" our hero writes in 1874
eve are all in health; amongst the number is a
new sister. about three weeks old. i know OF no
one of our friends that is not in good health
have inst met with father; he was with us few
DAYS since, and all were then well in Hudson. Ou
flock Is well, and we seem to be overtaking GU
business in the tannery. Divine Providence seem
TO smile on our works at this time; hope we shall
not prove unthankful for any favor, nor forget TIN
piver. II have gone to sleep great many time
while writing the above.)" This we dare say is
rood sample of thousands of letters which every da,
are penned laboriousy by stif fingers, while tn
writers are glowing with tender emotions whicl
they cannot utter, and high thoughts which the.
do not know how TO put INTO words. Only CERTAIN
religious phraseology. familiar to them from nue.
church-going and reading of the Bible. minge
naturally with the cruder language of the farm am
the shop. Such letters quaint and curious a
tvpes of q homey literature of which much
written and little printed; but they have not til
same meaning as illustrations of character whic
belongs to the correspondence of a more cultivate
class Their most marked trait is pal nful reserv,
Once, however, among these early letters. we fin
a communication of much higher sort. 1t is frol
John Brown TO his brother Frederick, and is date
mt Randolph. Penn. in 1884. No one can fail to
struck by the unwonted force and facility whic
the writer's style suddenly assumes under conceI
trated emotioni