The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-05-21

path to pity fellow mortal and then
starting forth again felt you were
more of an object of pity than the
one you would pity! If not you have
not been permitted to have view of
the grand mastery of soul over the
frailty of its surroundings. That
mastery is a real one. 1t is not q
fancy or within. Men cannot say l
pitied, and let pity cause me to see
what perhaps was not there. Truth
is, we pity oft because we Judge after
appearances, and we fall captive to a
force which brushes pity and rises in
superiority to it.
"Little Bonnie Stewart" so in ten
der terms, SO, if you will, in general
terms, he has been and will be spoken
of, whose form we are to see in the
future only in memory. God forbid
that l should take an iota of mean
ing from that dear diminutive as thus
used, but want you to take another
view. The body is here, the pure spir-
it is in heaven. A young man has died
in this home. A young man strong
in mind, pure in life. would not
have you deprecate the advantages he
has enjoyed. They were not like
ours whose health has been fairly
good, yet they have not been small
by any means. They have been as
extensive as his health would permit.
His companionship has been with
those who would shield him as with
their very lives if needed, and have
done it.
His school life was very brief, being
less than eight months. In his diary
under date of Sept. s, 1885, he says,
81 have commenced school to.day'"
The last entry is under date of April
goth, 1886. Here he says, 81 have
taken up my Algebra in school. l
am now in the.terrors of long divi-
sion." His studies in the home had
been various, and his application to
them was marked. He had practiced
with great care and diligence stenog-
raphy, having worked with unabating
zeal for nearly two years at 1t. GO
ing 10 school as l do, for the first
time, l have new views and thoughts
of life. l find that true life is made
up of work." So he wrote Jan. 27.
If we are to Judge the young man by
his school life, taking as our standard
punctuality, or studiousness, or de-
pertinent, or recitation, there is but
one word to make hat report with
perfect. He attended every school
day till his last illness. He was
studious to anxiety. His department
was complete. He never failed in
answering question which he should
have been prepared on in a lesson.
Nor was lis simply memoritor work.
1t was the result Ct work, careful,
patient work, in the outcome ofwhich
he was justly proud. "Worked sew
eral hours on an arithmetic example.
Eureka: got it at last" is one of the
items find recorded. Let me read
you this conclusion which he arrived |
at from the study of the question. 81
find that, though John Brown was
certainly rash in attempting to over
throw such a great institution as slav-
cry was at that time in the Southern
states, he was entirely honest and
straightforward. 1t seems to me that
from legal point of view, his arrest
and subsequent execution was justified
as slavery was at that time established
by law in the South, yet do not
doubt that he was entirely sincere,
and his acts cannot but be approved,
by us in the North as done in the
cause of universal freedom and hui
mainly" l ask you to forget, if you
can, his bodily weakness, and think
of him as young man of less than
seventeen years of age. Now note
the careful discrimination between
the legal and the moral phase of the
question, and between the sentiments
of the people who had been reared
into divergent views of the great
problem at issue. Will not his views,
as here expressed. do him honor with
out word which seeks for charity
toward him2 have have been quot
ing from his diary. Wendell Phillips
on one occasion called uEon the
people to beware of the man who
kept a diary. Why? may not anyone
keep such a thing? Yes; but how
many have either power of observation
sufficient to see anything to write, or
the patience to write what may tran
spire? Show me young man of his
age with these elements combined in
himself, and l will show you one who
has real greatness. Permit me 10
call attention to one days record-a
day of great uneventfulness: "Noth-
ing transpired worthy of note to-day.
But as l have heard that life is made
up of little things, suppose this is
life." He had opinions on most
matters, yet was docile learner. His
diary reveals an undertone of keen
wit, and of good humor, coupled with |