EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.

Born at Hartford, Conn: 1833—

HOW OLD BROWN TOOK HARPER'S FERRY.

JOHN BROWN in Kansas settled, like a steadfast Yankee farmer,

Brave and godly, with four sons, all stalwart men of might.

There he spoke aloud for freedom, and the Border-strife grew warmer,

Till the Rangers fired his dwelling, in his absence, in the night;

And Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Came homeward in the morning-to find his house burn'd down.

Then he grasp'd his trusty rifle and boldly fought for freedom;

Smote from border unto border the fierce, invading band; And he and his brave boys vow'd-so might Heaven help and speed 'em!—

They would save those grand old prairies from the curse that blights the land;

And Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Said, "Boys, the Lord will aid us!" and he shoved his ramrod down.

And the Lord did aid these men, and they labour'd day and even,

Saving Kansas from its peril; and their very lives seem'd charm'd,

Till the ruffians kill'd one son, in the blessed light of Heaven,

In cold blood the fellows slew him, as he journey'd all unarm'd;

Then Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

Shed not a tear, but shut his teeth, and frown'd a terrible frown!

Then they seized another brave boy,-not amid the heat

of battle,

But in peace, behind his ploughshare, and they loaded him with chains,

And with pikes, before their horses, even as they goad their cattle,

Drove him cruelly, for their sport, and at last blew out his brains;

Then Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Raised his right hand up to Heaven, calling Heaven's vengeance down.

And he swore a fearful oath, by the name of the Almighty,

He would hunt this ravening evil that had scathed and torn him so;

He would seize it by the vitals; he would crush it day and night; he

Would so pursue its footsteps, so return it blow for blow,

That Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Should be a name to swear by, in backwoods or in town!

Then his beard became more grizzled, and his wild blue eye grew wilder,

And more sharply curved his hawk's-nose, snuffing battle from afar;

And he and the two boys left, though the Kansas strife wax'd milder,

Grew more sullen, till was over the bloody Border War,
And Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Had gone crazy, as they reckon'd by his fearful glare and frown.

So he left the plains of Kansas and their bitter woes behind him,

Slipt off into Virginia, where the statesmen all are born, Hired a farm by Harper's Ferry, and no one knew where to find him,

Or whether he'd turn'd parson, or was jacketed and shorn;

For Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

Mad as he was, knew texts enough to wear a parson's gown.

He bought no ploughs and harrows, spades and shovels, and such trifles;

But quietly to his rancho there came, by every train, Boxes full of pikes and pistols, and his well-beloved Sharp's rifles;

And eighteen other madmen join'd their leader there again.

Says Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

"Boys! we've got an army large enough to march and take the town.

"Take the town, and seize the muskets, free the negroes and then arm them;

Carry the County and the State, ay! and all the potent South.

On their own heads be the slaughter, if their victims rise to harm them

These Virginians! who believed not, nor would heed the warning mouth!"

Says Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

“The world shall see a Republic, or my name is not John Brown!"

"Twas the sixteenth of October, on the evening of a Sunday:

"This good work"-declared the captain-"shall be on a holy night!"

It was on a Sunday evening, and before the noon of Monday,

With two sons, and Captain Stephens, fifteen privatesblack and white,

Captain Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

March'd across the bridged Potomac, and knock'd the sentry down;

Took the guarded armoury-building, and the muskets and the cannon;

Captured all the county majors and the colonels, one by

one;

Scared to death each gallant scion of Virginia they ran on, And before the noon of Monday, I say, the deed was done.

Mad Old Brown,
Osawatomie Brown,

With his eighteen other crazy men, went in and took the town.

Very little noise and bluster, little smell of powder made

he;

It was all done in the midnight, like the Emperor's coup d'état.

"Cut the wires! Stop the rail-cars! Hold the streets and bridges!" said he;

Then declared the new Republic, with himself for guiding star ::

This Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown;

And the bold two thousand citizens ran off and left the

town.

Then was riding and railroading and expressing here and

thither;

And the Martinsburg Sharpshooters and the Charlestown Volunteers

And the Shepherdstown and Winchester Militia hasten'd whither

Old Brown was said to muster his ten thousand grenadiers.

General Brown!

Osawatomie Brown!!

Behind whose rampant banner all the North was pouring down.

But at last, 'tis said, some prisoners escaped from Old Brown's durance,

And the effervescent valour of the Chivalry broke out, When they learn'd that nineteen madmen had the marvellous assurance—

Only nineteen-thus to seize the place and drive them straight about;

And Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

Found an army come to take him, encamp'd around the town.

But to storm, with all the forces I have mention'd, was too risky;

So they hurried off to Richmond for the Government Marines,

Tore them from their weeping matrons, fired their souls with Bourbon whiskey,

Till they batter'd down Brown's castle with their ladders and machines;

And Old Brown,

Osawatomie Brown,

Received three bayonet stabs, and a cut on his brave old

crown.