Hill Peebles Wilson

THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT

Fear made the Gods; audacity, has made kings.
—Crebillon

Before leaving Springdale for the East, Brown forwarded the ordnance stores to his son John, at Conneaut, Ohio, who carefully concealed them. Proceeding to Rochester, New York, he stopped at the home of Mr. Douglass, where he remained until February 15th. From there he commenced his correspondence with the men whom he hoped he could induce to advance the necessary money to float, or to initiate, the revolution; and it was at the Douglass home that he wrote and revised the constitution for the Provisional Government which he intended to attempt to set up in the Southern States. Mr. Douglass stated to Mr. Sanborn[288] that he had a copy of this Constitution in Brown's own hand writing, "prepared by himself at my house."

February 2d, he wrote to the Rev. Theodore Parker that he had nearly perfected arrangements for carrying out an important measure in which the "world had a deep interest, as well as Kansas," and that he only lacked from five hundred to eight hundred dollars to enable him "to do it." Also that it was the "same object for which he had asked for secret service money last fall"; that he had written to some of their mutual friends concerning the matter but that none of them understood his "views as well as you do"; and that he could not explain them without their committing themselves further than he knew of their doing, closing with the question, "Do you know some parties whom you could induce to give their abolition theories a thoroughly practical shape?... Do you think any of my Garrisonian friends at Boston, Worcester, or any other place, can be induced to supply a little 'straw' if I will absolutely make 'bricks'?"[289]

He wrote letters in a similar vein to Gerrit Smith, to Mr. Stearns, to Mr. Sanborn, and to Mr. Higginson, and sought to have a meeting with these gentlemen at Mr. Smith's home on February 23d, at which he intended to submit to them as much of his plans as he thought it advisable for them to know, for their consideration and approval. Mr. Sanborn alone responded to his call; he arrived at Peterboro on Monday evening, February 22d. Brown had arrived there on the preceding Thursday, and had gone over the scheme with Mr. Smith. During the night of the 22d, Mr. Sanborn says, the whole outline of the campaign in Virginia was laid before the little council. "In astonishment and almost in dismay," they listened to the reading of the constitution that he had prepared for the government of the territory which he proposed to conquer; and to a recital of the details of the hazardous adventure. In the discussion, he explained his "plan of organization, of fortification, of occupation, and of settlement in the South" and of his "retreat through the North," if retreat became necessary. He had foreseen every difficulty they could suggest, and had provided for it "in some manner." And then he had "God on his side." "If God be for us who can be against us." All he asked for, in addition to the equipment which he then had, was "but eight hundred dollars, and would think himself rich with a thousand." With that he would open his campaign in the spring, and he had no doubt that the enterprise "would pay" as he said.[290]

The next day Mr. Smith and Mr. Sanborn took up Brown's proposition for final consideration and agreed to sustain him in it. They reasoned in this way:

To withhold aid would only delay, not prevent him; nothing short of betraying him to the enemy would do that. Mr. Smith restated in his eloquent way the daring propositions of Brown, the import of which he understood fully; and then said in substance: "You see how it is; our dear old friend has made up his mind to this course and cannot be turned from it. We cannot give him up to die alone; we must support him. I will raise so many hundred dollars for him; you must lay the case before your friends in Massachusetts, and perhaps they will do the same. I see no other way."[291] For myself I had reached the same conclusion, and engaged to bring the scheme at once to the attention of the three Massachusetts men to whom Brown had written, and also to Dr. S. G. Howe, who had sometimes favored action almost as extreme as this proposed by Brown.

As to Mr. Smith, he had approved of Colonel Forbes, to whom he gave one hundred and fifty dollars, and thought that he would "make himself very useful in our sacred Kansas work." He approved of Brown's "effort to seduce the soldiers of the Union" and thought his tract, "The Duty of the Soldier," very well written. After his declaration to Thaddeus Hyatt:[292] "We must not shrink from fighting for Liberty—& if the Federal troops fight against her we must fight against them," he had not far to go to approve of the insurrection and invasion which Brown now contemplated.

The outcome of the Peterboro conference was satisfactory. Brown skillfully put his public affairs in the hands of a committee—a war committee, composed of friends who, he had reason to believe, would finance his adventure. He therefore directed his energies to the task of strengthening his organization for the work before him. Among those whom he sought to enlist under his banner was Mr. Sanborn. To him he wrote from Peterboro February 24th:[293]

It is inconsistent with the tenor of this letter, to draw from it the conclusion that the "mighty conquest" was a profitless "foray," or a "raid," that Brown thus invited Mr. Sanborn to engage in; nor did the latter so understand it. On the contrary he took the proposal seriously, and was deeply impressed with the broad significance of the undertaking herein dimly foreshadowed. Commenting thereon he, consistently, said:

One might venture to suggest, in this connection, that Mr. Sanborn's failure to catch any note of a "clear and certain call" during his months of doubt and anxiety, might be due, possibly, to facts or conditions existing in the Omnipotent economy. God, "whose mercy endureth forever," may not have desired that a "generation should pass off the face of the earth," at that time, "by a violent death." Also, the absence of any evidence of the Divine approval of Brown's scheme, raises a question of doubt, that the Lord had really appointed "this aged poor man as his chosen champion." While, on the other hand, the lamentable failure of the expedition undertaken in the accomplishment of this enterprise; and the overwhelming wreck and ruin of those who engaged in it, point to the theory that God, if he took any active participation in the matter at all, was opposed to Brown—that he was on the other side—on the side of the generation of men, women, and children, who, trusting in His mercy, lived in innocent ignorance of Brown's plot to destroy them.

Leaving Peterboro on the 24th, Brown began a tour among the colored people to unite them in support of his campaign. February 26th, to March 3d, he was at Brooklyn at the home of Dr. and Mrs. J. N. Gloucester, wealthy colored people, and sought their assistance. From Brooklyn he went to Boston. From there, March 4th, he wrote to his son John:[295] "As it may require some time to hunt out friends at Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Hagerstown, Md. or even Harper's Ferry, Va., I would like to have you arrange your business so as to set out very soon." March 6th, he was again at Boston, and on the 15th, at Philadelphia again, where he met Rev. Stephen Smith, Frederick Douglass, Rev. Henry H. Garnett, William Sill, and other colored men. His son John met him there by appointment and thence they went to New York, New Haven, and to North Elba, where they arrived March 23d. April 2d, they were at Peterboro for consultation with Gerrit Smith, and from there they went to Rochester, where they separated. From Rochester, Brown went to St. Catherine, Canada, in company with a colored man—J. W. Loguen—where they met, by appointment, Mrs. Harriet Tubman, colored, known as the "Moses of her People." Brown was cordially received by the Canadian negroes. They listened to his statement of the things that he intended to do for their race, and gave him encouragement to believe that many of them would enter his service.

Believing the money which had been pledged would be promptly furnished, Brown launched his enterprise, and called a constitutional convention to meet at Chatham, Canada, to formally adopt a "Provisional Constitution and Ordinances, for the people of the United States." He then proceeded to Springdale to report the situation to his captains.

The war party left Springdale April 27th, and arrived at Chatham on the 29th, Brown stopping at the home of James M. Bell, a colored man. Notices calling the convention were immediately sent out; the form, as drawn by Cook, was as follows:

The convention was represented, at Chatham, as being a meeting for the purpose of organizing a Masonic (colored) lodge; it met May 8th, at 10 o'clock a. m. Only Brown's party and thirty-four colored men were present. Richard Realf, in his testimony before the Mason Committee, said that Brown opened the convention with an explanation of the purposes for which it had been called. That he spoke of the manner in which he had qualified himself for leadership—by a tour of the European continent, inspecting all fortifications, especially all earthwork forts, that he could find, intending to apply such knowledge, with modifications and inventions of his own, to the warfare he now proposed to undertake. "He spoke of his studies of Roman warfare, and of Schamyal the Circassian chief, and of his knowledge of conditions in Hayti, and of Toussaint L'Ouverture." He said that he expected all the free negroes in the Northern States to flock to his standard, as well as the negroes of the Southern States. Mr. Realf further stated that "no salaries were to be paid to the officers" under this constitution. That it was "purely out of that which we supposed to be philanthropy—love for the slave."[296]

After the address Brown produced a copy of the "Provisional Constitution." The articles were read and adopted unanimously. Each person present then signed the constitution, and swore allegiance to the Provisional Government.[297] The nature and purposes of Brown's invasion of Virginia, in October, 1859, are disclosed in the forty-eight articles contained in this remarkable historical document.[298]

At a meeting held in the evening, John Brown was elected commander-in-chief and John H. Kagi. secretary of war. The balloting for offices was continued on Monday, May 10th, and Richard Realf was elected secretary of state, George B. Gill, secretary of the treasury, Owen Brown, treasurer, and Osborn P. Anderson and Alfred M. Ellsworth, colored, were elected members of Congress.

Article I, of the constitution, provides for qualification of membership, and includes "all persons of mature age whether proscribed, oppressed, and enslaved citizens, or of proscribed and oppressed races of the United States, who shall agree to sustain and enforce the Provisional Constitution and ordinances of organization, together with all minor children of such persons, shall be held to be fully entitled to protection under the same." Articles II, III, IV, and V relate to the branches of government: Legislative, executive and judicial. A number of articles relate to the trial of officers, impeachment, or recall of judges, army appointments, etc., etc. Article XXVIII treats of "Property." It recites that "All captured or confiscated property, and all property the product of the labor of those belonging to this organization and of their families, shall be held as the property of the whole, equally, without distinction and may be used for the common benefit, or disposed of for the same object." Article XXXVI is especially instructive. It reads as follows:

"The entire personal and real property of all persons known to be acting, either directly or indirectly, with or for the enemy, or found in arms with them, or found willfully holding slaves, shall be confiscated and taken whenever and wherever it may be found, in either Free or Slave States."

Mr. Sanborn says this constitution will be found "well suited to its purpose—the government of a territory in revolt, of which the chief occupants should be escaped slaves," an opinion which assumes that the white population had, in some manner, been eliminated from the "territory in revolt."

The plan of government was written by Brown, and was adopted in a solemn manner by sane men, who signed it; and copies of this Constitution and Ordinances, Brown took with him to Harper's Ferry; and on the 18th of October, 1859, personally referred to it as an exhibit of his purposes for being there; and stated that it had been his intention to have a large number of copies of it printed, and distributed "at large," so that all might know the character of his invasion. And yet, after the lapse of fifty years, comes an oracular disquisitor, who, with an assurance de luxe, asserts that Brown and his followers did not intend to establish a Provisional Government in the South, or to do any of the things provided for in this infallible utterance; that his invasion of Virginia was not an invasion, but a "raid" to carry off some slaves, which, if successful, would be followed by further guerrilla warfare in the mountains of Virginia.

Referring, with undisguised impatience, to the irrelation of the "Constitution and Ordinances" to his conception of what Brown's purposes were, or to what he desires the historian to declare Brown's purposes to have been, he says, that "it actually contemplates not merely the government of forces in armed insurrection against sovereign States," but that it "actually goes so far as to establish courts, a regular judiciary and a Congress." And, "as if that were not enough it provides for" such heresies in guerrilla warfare as "schools for that same training of the freed slaves in manual labor which is today so widely hailed as the readiest solution of the negro problem. Churches too were to be 'established as soon as may be'—as if anything could be more inconsistent with his fundamental plan"; which Mr. Villard then magisterially states was to "break his forces up into small bands hidden in mountain fastnesses, subsisting as well as possible off the land, and probably unable to communicate with each other. At this and at other points," he says, "the whole scheme forbids discussion as a practical plan of government for such an uprising as was to be carried out by a handful of whites and droves of utterly illiterate and ignorant blacks, and may stand as a chief indictment of Brown's saneness of judgment and of his reasoning powers"; admitting however, that "as a chart for the course of a State about to secede from the Union and to maintain itself during a regular revolution, the document was also not without its admirable features."

Commenting upon the condition of Brown's mind at the time he wrote this paper, Mr. Villard says that it was "fanatical, concentrated on one idea to the danger point, but still it remained a mind capable of expressing itself with rare clearness and force, focussing itself with intense vigor on the business in hand and going straight to the end in view."[299]

The preceding clause is in itself a refutation of the author's criticism. If it be true that when Brown drew up this paper "his mind was capable of expressing itself with clearness, focussing itself with vigor on the business in hand and of going straight to the end in view," then it must be admitted that the document which he penned was not intended to serve a purpose so trifling as a raid, but that it was what it purported to be—a form of government or charter for a state during a period of revolution.

It will be observed that it is not the practicability of a revolution, such as the provisions of this document would be consistent with, that constitutes the indictment of Brown's saneness and reasoning powers; but the fact that the provisions of the constitution are inconsistent with this author's invention of what Brown's plans were: "A plan of government for small forces of whites and runaway slaves acting separately as guerilla bands in mountain fastnesses." It is strictly true that the provisions of the constitution are so inconsistent with this fiction as to forbid discussion; but that fact should not constitute an indictment of Brown's sanity. It merely emphasizes the fact that there is disagreement between John Brown and his biographer of fifty years after, concerning the purpose for which Brown wrote the provisional constitution and ordinances, and suggests, as a bare possibility of the case, that the assumptions of the biographer as to what that purpose was may be inconsistent with the tenor of the constitution. If this biographer had been less eager to confirm in history the theory that it was a foray or a raid that Brown sought to execute at Harper's Ferry, he would have discovered that Brown intended to organize a thorough-going army there,[300] instead of sporadic guerrilla bands; and that he intended to extend the jurisdiction of this Provisional Government over the State of Virginia and the South.

It was Brown's intention to begin his campaign at once, May 15th being the date named; and something, probably, would have happened if he had received the one thousand dollars promptly, that had been pledged in his support. Realf, on his arrival at Chatham, wrote that they would remain there until they had perfected their plans, "which will be in about ten days or two weeks," after which they would "start for China."[301] Cook also had something to say. He wrote to some young ladies at Springdale:

The seance closed abruptly on the 10th, owing to a collapse of the exchequer; whereupon the cabinet officials and officers of the general staff were furloughed, without pay, until such time as they would be called upon to report to the commander-in-chief for service. They went to Cleveland, Ohio, and it is said that some of them chafed under the hardships and inconveniences of earning a living; with the result that a spasm of "philanthropy and love for the slave" became imminent among them. So pronounced were the symptoms that the honorable secretary of state, Mr. Realf, on May 23d, in an official note to the commander-in-chief, declared that unless "relief" were provided speedily, those affected might be so inspired by philanthropy and love for the slave as to "go South and raid by themselves."[303]

The failure to finance the Provisional Government was a result of a flurry on the bourse, that had its origin in the activities of Colonel Forbes. He was threatening the rear of Brown's communications. About the last of April, he wrote from Washington to Mr. Sanborn and to Dr. Howe, declaring his intention to give publicity to Brown's scheme. A "hurry call" was accordingly sent out for a meeting of the war committee. At a conference, May 2d, Mr. Parker and Mr. Steams thought "the plan" should be "deferred till another year." Dr. Howe thought differently, while Mr. Sanborn, whose mind was not working forcefully, was in a state of doubt, which he expressed, May 5th, in a letter to Mr. Higginson.[304] Gerrit Smith voted with Stearns and Parker. He wrote May 7th: "It seems to me that in these circumstances Brown must go no further; and I so write him."[305] May 9th, Higginson voted with Howe. He wrote: "I regard any postponement as simply abandoning the project." A letter of the 9th from Hon. Henry Wilson to Dr. Howe, settled the question. He went into the matter a little deeper, and suggested that their actions might involve others. He pointed out that if the arms in Brown's possession were used for any other purpose than to "arm some force in Kansas for defense, it might be of disadvantage to the men who were induced to contribute to that very foolish movement"; and advised them to "get the arms out of Brown's control, and keep clear of him, at least for the present."[306] To this letter Dr. Howe replied on the 12th:

May 15th, he wrote Mr. Wilson, relating to the arms, that "prompt measures have been taken and will be resolutely followed up to prevent any such monstrous perversion of a trust as would be the application of means raised for the defense of Kansas, to a purpose which the subscribers of the fund would disapprove and violently condemn."[308]

Because of these letters Dr. Howe has been severely criticised; and by Rear Admiral Chadwick unjustly charged with "gross prevarication."[309] But, in a time of war, would the distinguished admiral hesitate to deceive the enemy in a similar manner? The things which the Doctor said were, of course, untrue, but in saying them he did not intend to wrong the Senator or to deceive him to his disadvantage. The correspondence was not personal; Senator Wilson was an intermediary, or a medium of communication between Colonel Forbes and Brown's war committee. Howe, acting-for the committee, had the right to deceive the enemy—Forbes—in this manner. The letters he wrote were a stratagem of the war it was promoting. Brown would have disposed of Forbes in a more heroic manner. He wrote from Chatham: "We have those who are thoroughly posted up" (professional assassins) "to put upon his track and we beg to be allowed to do so."[310]

On May 14th, Mr. Stearns wrote to Brown enclosing a copy of Senator Wilson's letter, also notifying him officially, as chairman of the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee, that the arms in his care belonging to the committee must not be used for any other purpose than for the defense of Kansas.[311] He then forestalled any possibility of future complication relating to the arms by foreclosing a lien, which he is said to have held, on all the property of the committee; and having thus obtained the title to the arms, he placed them in Brown's possession as his personal agent. By this arrangement, Mr. Sanborn says,

But as to the character of the transaction he was not quite assured. "It is still a little difficult," he said, "to explain this transaction without leaving a suspicion that there was somewhere a breach of trust." It was also agreed between them that Brown should not further inform the members of the war committee of his plans in detail, nor "burden them with knowledge that would be to them both needless and inconvenient."[312] May 15th, Mr. Stearns wrote to Brown asking him to come to New York during the next week for consultation; but for reasons that have not been stated the meeting did not take place; it was probably called off because arrangements were made for a more interesting function.

Then as now, there was a Peace Society in existence. Mr. Gerrit Smith was coming to Boston to deliver an address at its anniversary; and it was decided to take advantage of his presence in the city, to have a full meeting of the secret war committee which, Mr. Sanborn says, had been organized in March, and consisted of Gerrit Smith, Theodore Parker, Doctor Howe, T. W. Higginson, George L. Stearns, and himself. Mr. Smith arrived and took lodgings at the Revere House. The committee held its meeting, at his rooms, on the 24th of May. At this council it was finally decided to postpone the campaign until the winter or spring of 1859, when the committee would raise for Brown "two or three thousand dollars."[313]

Mr. Smith, because of his great zeal in the promotion of peace, had the honor of being chosen to deliver the address at the anniversary of the Peace Society, and, because of a similar zeal in the promotion of war, he had the honor of being chosen to preside, as chairman, over the Revere House deliberations of the war committee. It may be assumed, because of his versatility, that he acquitted himself creditably in both of these positions.

The impossibility of harmonizing the public professions of these apostles of peace, with their secret undertakings as ministers of war, discourages analyzation of their philosophy; and for the same reason, discussion of questions of moral obliquity, or of commercial irregularity in their actions or in the actions of any of them, in juggling with the liability for Brown's war equipment, and in financing an assault upon a State of this Union, may be dismissed as being without profit.

May 31st, Brown returned to Boston full of regret because of the postponement of the invasion; but with the arms securely in his possession and with the $500 in gold in his pockets, which his committee gave him as a salve to soothe his wounded hope; and with the decision of the Revere House council to raise "two or three thousand dollars" for his campaign the next spring, his spirits rose, and he left Boston for North Elba well satisfied with the outcome of the flurry.

June 20th, he went to Cleveland and disposed of the staff, dividing with them the $500, and making such arrangements for them as circumstances permitted. Cook was sent to Harper's Ferry, to reconnoiter the field, and obtain statistics and other information. It is also probable that Brown would have joined him and begun the work of agitating the slaves for the coming revolt, if the news from Kansas had not offered an opportunity for "other occupations." The "disturbances" there, culminating in the tragedy on the Marias des Cygnes, May 19th, appealed to him with irresistible force. They "were the immediate cause of his return to Kansas."[314]