Chapter XXI: Appendix: I

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE LATE D. W. WILDER CONCERNING JOHN BROWN

Topeka, Kansas, Dec. 18th, 1902.

General D. W. Wilder, Hiawatha, Kansas.

MY DEAR GENERAL:

I would like to have you kindly tell me something valuable
about John Brown. I listened to your tribute to his memory,
read before the Historical Society on the 2nd inst. It
recalled the admiration which I entertained for the "Old
Hero" throughout the many years of my life; from young
manhood up to about four years ago; when I attempted to
write a sketch of his life. It was in reading up to obtain
data for this sketch that the idol, which my credulity, I
suppose, or imagination had set up, went utterly to pieces
in my hands. I read faithfully what his biographers,
Sanborn, and Redpath, and the other fellows, have written
about him, but none of them give up any valuable facts.
They all seem to be long on eulogy. They do overtime on
that. The whole performance is a continuous eulogium; but
historical facts, upon which to predicate a story, or upon
which his "immortal fame" is supposed to rest, are
painfully lacking.... These are some of the things which I
went up against when I tried in good faith to write about
him, and they broke me all up, so I had to quit. John
Brown, the "Hero" and "Martyr," is a creation--Charlestown
furnished a simple text and the genius of his generation
did the rest. The brilliant minds of this age have
exploited him in literary effects, in prose, in poetry and
oratory. They have placarded him "upon the walls of time";
but I am compelled to believe that his fame thus acquired,
will not survive. The "why" may "repel the philosophic
searcher," but it cannot "defy" the historical searchers.
History has no enigmas.

I will be very glad indeed to have your opinions on this
business.

Very truly yours,
HILL P. WILSON.

In this letter the writer asked Mr. Wilder for his opinion upon Brown's motives in their relation to several incidents that occurred in his life. His reply is as follows:[514]

Hiawatha, Kansas, Dec. 20, 1902.

MY DEAR WILSON:

... You have stood on various platforms and made many
political speeches. Did any of them endorse the sentiments
you now hold? The elder Booth, a man of genius, once
staggered up to the footlights and said to the crowded
house: "You are all drunk," and staggered off.

You think the people of your county, your state, your
country and of the civilized world, including its noblest
spirits, do not know a hero, an emancipator--first of his
state, then of his nation. Only one Kansan has made a
speech that thrilled the world and is immortal. You never
read it. Only one Kansan lives in poetry, in song, in human
hearts, and is the constant theme of the historian, the
dramatist, the man of letters. You think he was a fool. The
whole world has pronounced its verdict on John Brown.

Yours truly,
D. W. WILDER.

To this letter the writer replied:

Topeka, Kans., January 3, 1903.

MY DEAR GENERAL:

Your letter of the 20th ult., is received. I told you that
I had gone the limit of my vocabulary in expressing my
admiration of John Brown. I read the "speech that thrilled
the world." I have read the poetry and have sung the songs.
I make the point that the speeches, the poetry, and the
songs are all there is behind John Brown. When I asked you
about some historical facts, you gave me more oratory. It
seems to have become a habit. If you ever analyze this
man's character, you will reverse your estimate of him.

The world sees Brown fighting, heroically, in the
engine-house at Harper's Ferry, but it does not inquire how
he came to be there. It was his death, and not his life,
that gave him renown. Usually it is a man's life--his
actions, that determine his place among men. If it be true
that one unimpeachable fact will set aside the most
plausible opposing theory, then Brown's fame will not
survive. The facts of his life impeach the popular verdict.

Very truly yours,
HILL P. WILSON.

General D. W. Wilder, Hiawatha, Kansas.