The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-03-16

This was enlarged and republished in Boston
in 1860, and had much influence in molding
public opinion in the north. In 1859, also, he
assisted in preparing an elaborate Handbook
to Kansas Territory" to aid in the settling
Of that long disputed region. Not long after
his enthusiasm led him to join the ILL
advised movement of John Brown. All
the facts of his connection with that wild
raid are not yet known; but it is certain that
he sympathized fully with the movement,
and, like Brown, was fanatic enough to be-
Heve that an insurrection could be excited
and be successful in the mountains Of Vir-
ginia-a region where slavery probably as
sumed milder form than in any other Sec
ton, where if anywhere it was truly pa
triarchal, where whites outnumbered blacks
three or four to one and the military force
of the state and United States could be con-
centrated in q few hours. He took the sword.
but did not perish by the sword; he was on
another mission when the attack was made,
and the matter involved no more for him
than few months seclusion.
The next year he wrote and published the
"Life Of Capt. John Brown" !" and followed
it with several articles and pamphlets on the
subject, the last issued in London in 1862
and entitled John Brown, the Hero of Har-
per's Ferry" These works were widely read,
and in the heat of the civil war were ac-
cepted as the correct presentation of the
case; hence sort of halo was spread about
the memory of Brown, and in time he be-
came the object of a fierce hero worship OF
course this could not endure and later re-
searches, since passion died away, have led
the people to very different view of the
"Brown Raid.''
Mr. Redpath took up the idea, very preva-
lent for some years, that the West Indies
would furnish the colored people point of
national development, and wrote "Guide
to Hayti." He also wrote and talked much
on social reforms and the struggles for lib
erty and national unity in Italy, France and
Germany. Soon after tho war he organized
the Redpath Lecture bureau, which was for
some years decided success. He then re-
turned to journalism, more radical than ever.
The case of Ireland interested him, and he
remained many months in that island, CORE
spending with American papers and dealing
out most trenchant criticisms of the British
government On his return to the United
States he set up a regular Irish Patriot Lit
erary bureau, and devoted all his time and
talents to enlightening Americans on the
character of the Irish people and their griev-
ances. Not content with the political issues,
he attacked the British writer's on historical
and chronological grounds. He ridiculed the
current idea that the English are an Anglo
Saxon nation; presented facts to prove that
the Celts Original Britons) were neither ex-
lied nor exterminated, and urged the con-
clusion that the basis of British and Ameri-
can character is essentially Celtic. In short,
carrying all his old enthusiasm into their
defense, he became, as the old saying had it,
''more Irish than the Irish themselves"
Soon after he became involved in the dis
cussion of moral and social questions con-
nected with so called liberal religion, which
did not add anything to his reputation.
Overwork produced exhaustion; he disap-
peared from journalism end was believed to
be in perfect seclusion in the West Indies
Soon, however, he reappeared, active and
radical as ever. At length he became one
of the editors Of The North American Re-
view, and worked so jncessantly for year
or two that brain exhaustion resulted. Early
in 1887 it was announced that his situation
was precarious; but he was literally COM
PEELED to abandon his work, and long rest
brought partial restoration. It was only
partial, however; the mental machine had
suffered too long and too severe strain, and
the opening days of 1883 found him COM
pletely prostrated. He is now, however, con-
Mr.. Redpath's personal history is romantic.
He was born Aug. %, 1888, at Berwick-on-
Tweed, that ancient town so long in dispute
between England and Scotland. Until quite
4 recent period acts of the British parlia-
ment specified that they were to be in force
in "the kingdom of England, Scotland and
Ireland, the principality of Wales and the
Town of Berwick-on-T Tweed" Mr.. Redpath
;ays: 81 was born without a country and |
forged one for myself"
His father moved to the United States in |
L849 and settled in the backwoods of Michi-
gan; soon after James left home and worked !
IS a printer in various western cities, finally
coating in New York. At the age of 10 he
vas a regular writer for The New York
Tribune, a colleague Of such men as Greeley
md Dana. Taking a vacation on account Of
lis weak eyes, he made his tour of the gulf
as as correspondent of The st. Louis Globe
Democrat. His letters on the struggle there
we're widely read and copied. After that the
var, the lecture bureau and the Irish ques-
ion employed his energies.
Though very radical reformer, Mr.. Red
ath maintains that all needed changes can
9 made by voters in the method prescribed
y the Constitution of the United States,
lnly once in his life has he consented to the
Sc of force-in the John Brown raid-and
9 is the determined opponent of all such
chemes as those of the Anarchists. He is, in
hort, q radical reformer without being in
ne least a revolutionist. j. B. HANSON.