Complete Works of Frederick Douglass, page 135
Nothing was attempted by Brown in this matter till after the Kansas difficulty was settled. The two men continued friends from their very first acquaintance, and frequently exchanged visits. Just after the Kansas trouble Brown came to Rochester and remained with Mr. Douglass several weeks. While there he prepared a constitution which he intended should govern those associated with him. Mr. Douglass has now a copy of this constitution in Brown’s own handwriting. It had been Brown’s purpose to begin work in 1858, but, on account of the exposure of his plans by an Englishman whom he had met in Kansas, operations were postponed a year later.
This year brought some changes in the original plans. Three weeks before he made his raid on Harper’s Ferry, he wrote to Mr. Douglass to come to Chambersburg, Penn., as he wished to confer with him. The place selected for the meeting was an old stone quarry in the suburbs of the city. Thither Mr. Douglass went, taking with him Shields Green, a fugitive slave from South Carolina whom Brown had met at Mr. Douglass’ house in Rochester. What took place in that memorable conference August 19, we will set forth in the exact language of Mr. Douglass as he has himself related it: “When I reached Chambersburg, a good deal of surprise was expressed (for I was instantly recognized), that I should come there unannounced, and I was pressed to make a speech to them, with which invitation I readily complied. Meanwhile, I called upon Mr. Henry Watson, a simple-minded and warm-hearted man, to whom Captain Brown had imparted the secret of my visit, to show me the road to the appointed rendezvous. Watson was very busy in his barber’s shop, but he dropped all and put me on the right track. I approached the old quarry very cautiously, for John Brown was generally well armed and regarded strangers with suspicion. He was there under the ban of the government, and heavy rewards were offered for his arrest, for offenses said to have been committed in Kansas. He was passing under the name of John Smith. As I came near, he regarded me rather suspiciously, but soon recognized me, and received me cordially. He had in his hand when I met him, a fishing-tackle, with which he had apparently been fishing in a stream hard by; but I saw no fish, and I did not suppose he cared much for his ‘fisherman’s luck.’ The fishing was simply a disguise, and was certainly a good one. He looked every way like a man of the neighborhood, and as much at home as any of the farmers around there. His hat was old, and storm beaten, and his clothing was about the color of the stone quarry itself — his then present hiding place.
“His face wore an anxious expression, and he was much worn by thought and exposure. I felt that I was on a dangerous mission, and I was as little desirous of discovery as himself, though no reward had been offered for me.
“We — Mr. Kagi, Captain Brown, Shields Green, and myself — sat down among the rocks and talked over the enterprise which was about to be undertaken. The taking of Harper’s Ferry, of which Captain Brown had merely hinted before, was now declared as his settled purpose, and he wanted to know what I thought of it. I at once opposed the measure with all the arguments at my command. To me, such a measure would be fatal to running off slaves (as was the original plan), and fatal to all engaged in doing so. It would be an attack upon the federal government, and would array the whole country against us. Captain Brown did most of the talking on the other side of the question. He did not at all object to rousing the nation; it seemed to him that something startling was just what the nation needed. He had completely renounced his old plan, and thought that the capture of Harper’s Ferry would serve as notice to the slaves that their friends had come, and as a trumpet to rally them to his standard. He described the place as to its means of defense, and how impossible it would be to dislodge him if once in possession. Of course I was no match for him in such matters, but I told him, and these were my words, that all his arguments, and all his descriptions of the place, convinced me that he was going into a perfect steel trap, and that once in he would never get out alive; that he would be surrounded at once and escape would be impossible. He was not to be shaken by anything I could say, but treated my views respectfully, replying that even if surrounded he would find means for cutting his way out; but that would not be forced upon him; he should have a number of the best citizens of the neighborhood as his prisoners at the start, and that holding them as hostages, he should be able if worse came to worse, to dictate terms of egress from the town. I looked at him with some astonishment that he could rest upon a reed so weak and broken, and told him that Virginia would blow him and his hostages sky-high, rather than that he should hold Harper’s Ferry an hour. Our talk was long and earnest; we spent the most of Saturday and a part of Sunday in this debate — Brown for Harper’s Ferry, and I against it; he for striking a blow which should instantly rouse the country, and I for the policy of gradually and unaccountably drawing off slaves to the mountains, as at first suggested and proposed by him. When I found that he had fully made up his mind and could not be dissuaded, I turned to Shields Green and told him he heard what Captain Brown had said; his old plan was changed, and that I should return home, and if he wished to go with me he could do so. Captain Brown urged us both to go with him, but I could not do so, and could but feel that he was about to rivet the fetters more firmly than ever on the limbs of the enslaved. In parting he put his arms around me in a manner more than friendly, and said: ‘Come with me, Douglass, I will defend you with my life. I want you for a special purpose. When I strike, the bees will begin to swarm, and I shall want you to help hive them.’ But my discretion or my cowardice made me proof against the dear old man’s eloquence — perhaps it was something of both which determined my course. When about to leave I asked Green what he had decided to do, and was surprised by his coolly saying in his broken way, ‘I b’leve I’ll go wid de ole man.’ Here we separated; they to go to Harper’s Ferry, and I to Rochester.”
On their way to Chambersburg Mr. Douglass and Shields Green stopped at Mrs. E. A. Gloucester’s in Brooklyn, August 18, who sent through Mr. Douglass to Captain Brown a letter and a small amount of money. The following is a copy of a letter signed by colored citizens of Philadelphia, which was found among the papers at the Kennedy farm, Brown’s headquarters before moving on to Harper’s Ferry, and was sent to Mr. Douglass at Rochester in September: “F. D., Esq., Dear Sir, — The undersigned feel it to be of the utmost importance that our class be properly represented in a convention to come off right away (near) Chambersburg, in this state. We think you are the man of all others to represent us; and we severally pledge ourselves that in case you will come right on we will see your family well provided for during your absence, or until your safe return to them. Answer to us and to John Henrie, Esq., Chambersburg, Penn., at once. We are ready to make you a remittance, if you go. We have now quite a number of good but not very intelligent representatives collected. Some of our numbers are ready to go on with you.” It was never known why this letter was sent to Mr. Douglass. He thinks, however, that the sending of it was prompted by Kagi, who was present at the Chambersburg interview, and had heard him say that he could not go to Harper’s Ferry in the way proposed. Kagi probably thought a letter signed as this was would induce Mr. Douglass to reconsider his determination and at last consent to accompany Brown.
The report of the capture of Harper’s Ferry was received by Mr. Douglass in Philadelphia. Information soon followed to the effect that Brown had been captured, and that a carpet bag had been found containing letters from abolitionists, among which were some from Mr. Douglass. Leaving the city upon the advice of friends, Mr. Douglass went to New York. There he learned that the government intended to arrest all who had been in any way connected with the raid at Harper’s Ferry. Alarmed at this intelligence he sent a message to his son Lewis at home to secure the important papers which were in his “high desk.” Arriving at Rochester, he ascertained through Lieutenant Governor Selden, his neighbor, that the governor of New York would surrender him upon legal demand by the governor of Virginia. Mr. Selden advised him to leave the country without delay. Canada being the nearest refuge, he went thither. Governor Wise, hearing that he had gone to Michigan, made a demand upon the governor of that state for his detention and surrender to the Virginia authorities. The following letter, which was sent to Mr. Douglass by the historian, B. J. Lossing, after the war, shows that he acted wisely at the time in taking the advice of friends and thus putting himself beyond the danger of apprehension: —
(Confidential.)
To His Excellency, James Buchanan, President of the United States, and to the Honorable Postmaster-General of the United States: —
GENTLEMEN, — I have information such as has caused me, upon proper affidavit, to make requisition upon the executive of Michigan for the delivery up of the person of Frederick Douglass, a negro man, supposed now to be in Michigan, charged with murder, robbery, and inciting servile insurrection in the state of Virginia. My agents for the arrest and reclamation of the person so charged are Benjamin M. Morris and William N. Kelly. The latter has the requisition, and will wait on you to the end of obtaining nominal authority as post office agent. They need be very secretive in this matter, and some pretext for traveling through the dangerous section for the execution of the law in this behalf, and some protection against obtrusive, unruly, or lawless violence. If it be proper so to do, will the postmaster-general be pleased to give to Mr. Kelly, for each of these men, a permit and authority to act as detectives for the post office department, without pay, but to pass and repass without question, delay, or hindrance?
Respectfully submitted by
Your obedient servant,
HENRY A. WISE.
It was evident that Mr. Douglass could not hope for a fair trial before a Virginia jury. He also doubtless felt that even in Canada he was not safe, for there was danger of being kidnaped and brought back to the United States; hence he left for England on the 12th of the same month. He remained abroad six months, speaking upon anti-slavery and other subjects in England and Scotland, at the end of which time he was summoned home by the death of his daughter Annie.
Some were disposed to criticise Mr. Douglass for the course he pursued in the Harper’s Ferry affair, and went so far as to assert that he deserted Brown on that occasion. It is no doubt true that these criticisms grew out of the reports telegraphed over the country, after the capture of Brown, in which Cook, one of Brown’s men, was made to say that Mr. Douglass had promised to be present in person on this famous expedition. Mr. Douglass, before taking his departure for Europe, wrote a letter which was published in the Rochester Democrat and American, in which he emphatically denied these statements, thus attributed to Cook. The one sentence I quote is characteristic of the whole letter: “I therefore declare that there is no man living and no man dead who, if living, could truthfully say that I ever promised him or anybody else, either conditionally or otherwise, that I would be present in person at the Harper’s Ferry insurrection.” Mr. Douglass, in this letter quoted from, also promised at the proper time, when it could be done without compromising the friends of the slaves, to tell all he knew of the attempt of John Brown to liberate the bondmen of Virginia and Maryland. As the country knows, he has faithfully kept that promise in a published statement giving all the facts as far as he knew them. Subsequent history also verifies what he wrote to the Rochester Democrat and American while in Canada. The recent publication of the Life and Letters of John Brown, by his friend, F. B. Sanborn, in which all the particulars of the foray at Harper’s Ferry are given to the public, coincides with what Mr. Douglass has said. I quote Mr. Sanborn, page 418: —
“John Brown’s long meditated plan of action in Virginia was wholly his own, as he more than once declared, and it was not until he had long formed and matured it, that he made it known to the few friends outside of his own household who shared his confidence in that matter. I cannot say how numerous these were, but beyond his family and the armed followers who accompanied him, I have never supposed that his Virginia plan was known to fifty persons. Even to those few it was not fully communicated, though they knew that he meant to fortify himself somewhere in the mountains of Virginia or Tennessee, and from that fastness, with his band of soldiers, sally out and emancipate slaves, seize hostages, and levy contributions on the slaveholders. Moreover, from the time he first matured it, there were several changes, amounting at last to an entire modification of the scheme. As he declared it to me in 1858 in the house of Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, it was very different from the plan he had unfolded to Thomas and to that other Maryland freedman, Frederick Douglass, at Brown’s own house in Springfield in 1847.”
I believe there is no one who, in the light of developments, will say that Mr. Douglass acted in bad faith to John Brown. The interview at Chambersburg shows that Brown never lost confidence in his friend. Mr. Douglass never saw Cook, had no communication with him whatever. Even if Cook did say what was imputed to him, it can be shown by Brown himself that he was not always truthful. Brown, on his way to the scaffold, said to Cook, who had made a confession, “You have made false statements — that I sent you to Harper’s Ferry; you know I protested against your coming.”
The following statement, which recently appeared in a leading journal, will throw additional light upon the facts connected with the hurried departure of Mr. Douglass for Canada just after John Brown was taken at Harper’s Ferry. “ ‘Yes, sir; I am the man who saved Fred. Douglass’ life when “Old John Brown” was captured at Harper’s Ferry. I suppressed a dispatch addressed to the sheriff of Philadelphia, instructing him to arrest Douglass, who was then in that city, as proofs of his complicity in the memorable raid were discovered when John Brown was taken into custody.’
“Seated on the doorstep of his cozy cottage, a few miles outside of Vineland, New Jersey, was John W. Hurn, a pleasant, gray-bearded man of sixty, who, when questioned, answered as above respecting the aid rendered by him to the noted abolitionist.
“ ‘At that time I was a telegraph operator located in Philadelphia,’ continued Mr. Hurn, ‘and when I received the dispatch I was frightened nearly out of my wits. As I was an ardent admirer of the great ex-slave, I resolved to warn Douglass of his impending fate, no matter what the result might be to me. The news had just been spread throughout the country of the bold action of John Brown in taking Harper’s Ferry. Everybody was excited and public feeling ran high. Before the intelligence came that Brown had been captured, the dispatch I have mentioned was sent by the sheriff of Franklin county, Penn., to the sheriff of Philadelphia, informing him that Douglass had been one of the leading conspirators, and requesting that he should be immediately apprehended.
“ ‘Though I knew it was illegal to do so, I quietly put the dispatch in my pocket, and, asking another operator to take my place, started on my search for Fred. Douglass. I went directly to Miller McKim, the secretary of the contraband, underground, fugitive railway office in Philadelphia, and inquired for my man. Mr. McKim hesitated to tell me, whereupon I showed him the dispatch and promised him not to allow it to be delivered within three hours. I told him I would not do this unless he agreed to get Mr. Douglass out of the states. This he readily assented to, for it was his business to spirit escaped slaves beyond the reach of the authorities. I returned to the telegraph office and kept a sharp lookout for similar dispatches. None arrived, however, and when the allotted time expired I sent the belated message to its destination.
“ ‘In the mean time those intrusted with my secret saw Mr. Douglass and urged him to leave the town as quickly as possible. He was loath to do so at first, but the expostulation of his friends overcame his objections, and in an hour he left on a railroad train. He reached his home in Rochester, New York, in safety, destroying the compromising documents, and then packed his gripsack and started for Canada. It was fortunate for him that he left so soon as he did, for immediately after his departure from Rochester his home was surrounded by officers.’”
We take the liberty of quoting in this connection for the information of the reader an incident which occurred in the early acquaintance of Mr. Douglass with Brown, related by a writer who styles himself the “Rambler,” in an article published in a New England paper.
“In the spring of ‘57, just after the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court, the Rambler (being then a resident of Worcester, Mass., fondly called by the citizens `The Heart of the Commonwealth’) was getting up a lecture for Frederick Douglass. He secured the then mayor of the city to preside, it being the first time that the mayor of an American city had presided at an address of Mr. Douglass. The Rambler called at the house of Hon. Eli Thayer, then member of Congress from the ninth district, to ask him to sit on the platform. Here he found a stranger, a man of tall, gaunt form, with a face smooth shaven, destitute of the full beard that later became a part of history. The children were climbing over his knees; he said, `The children always come to me.’ The Rambler was introduced to John Brown of Ossawatomie. How little one imagined then that, within less than three years, the name of this plain, homespun man would fill America and Europe.
“Mr. Brown kindly consented to occupy a place on the platform, and at the urgent request of the audience spoke briefly. It is one of the curious facts, that many men who can do it are utterly unable to tell about it. John Brown, a flame of fire in action, was dull in speech. How many men are a living flame on the platform, who are nowhere in action. John Brown taught the world one lesson among others. If a man fully, absolutely, believes what he says, and if he has laid aside all fear, so that death has no terrors for him, that man is a power, that man is to be feared.”
CHAPTER IV. SECOND VISIT TO ENGLAND. — THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
