Captain Brown

“ Who is it whose safety requires that Captain Brown be hung? Is it indispensable to any Northern man? Is there no resource but to cast this man also to the Minotaur? If you do not wish it, say so distinctly. While these things are being done, beauty stands veiled and music is a screeching lie. Think of him,--of his rare qualities!--such a man as it takes ages to make, and ages to understand; no mock hero, nor the representative of any party. A man such as the sun may not rise upon again in this benighted land. ”

“ Elder (Captain) Brown exhibited the nobility and generosity of soul characteristic of the man. There is an amusing anecdote told of Captain Brown, as follows: He owned a ferry on the Weber River at the time when the "Gold Diggers" were rushing through the country, some of whom were bitterly hostile to the "Mormons," and availed themselves of every occasion to vent their spite in the presence and hearing of the captain, in the following style: "Whoa haw, old Brigham," "Gee up there, old Heber," at the same time flourishing and cracking their long ox whips. ”

“ It was not long before Captain Brown found out the mate’s defect in vision, and at about the same time he was convinced that he was also the greatest liar afloat. After this he used to amuse us by calling out “Ship ahoy!” and gazing steadfastly at a part of the blank horizon. Then, if Garnett was near, he would discuss the ship in detail, and the mate would swear positively, with great emphasis, “My God! but that’s the old Moose,” or some other vessel he had sailed in; and then the skipper would suddenly break off and begin to walk fore and aft with rapid and excited strides. ”

“ I am aware that I anticipate a little, that he was still, at the last accounts, alive in the hands of his foes; but that being the case, I have all along found myself thinking and speaking of him as physically dead.
I do not believe in erecting statues to those who still live in our hearts, whose bones have not yet crumbled in the earth around us, but I would rather see the statue of Captain Brown in the Massachusetts State-House yard, than that of any other man whom I know. I rejoice that I live in this age, that I am his contemporary. ”

“ January 7th, armed with his congratulatory letter from Governor Robinson, he called upon Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, who wrote of him, admiringly, as follows:
Captain Brown, the old partisan hero of Kansas warfare, came to see me. I had a long talk with him. He is a calm, temperate, and pious man, but when roused he is a dreadful foe. He appears about sixty years old. His severe simplicity of habits, his determined energy, his heroic courage in time of trial, all based on a deep religious faith, make him a true representative of the Puritanic warrior. ”

“ Rushing up the gangway again to the upper deck, he met Captain Osborne of the ship and his own Colonel coming down.
"You look alarmed, Harold!" cried Sir George. "Ammunition all right?"
"Yes, sir," he stammered, "but I am looking for my wife. She went on deck at nine bells, and I've not seen her since."
"Oh, she's safe somewhere," was the reassuring answer. "You could not lose a woman on the North King."
"You might lose one off, though, in a storm like this," said the captain, chaffing the young benedict. "I've known more than one woman to drop overboard—and men by the dozen." ”

“ Only think of your cousin, poor James Ross, who fell from the main-mast and was killed, the very first day out.”
“Well, mother, perhaps he would have died if he had been at home. Captain Rhines says, when God wants a man, he’ll call him; and anybody is just as safe on the royal yard as on deck, or at home in his bed. Isn’t that so, mother?”
“I don’t know, my dear; I think I should a great deal rather have you at home in this bed. Suppose you are sick at sea. There is no one to take care of you.”
“Yes, mother, Captain Brown and Walter will.” ”

“ At that season and on that coast, these sudden commotions are especially treacherous and full of peril. Coming, as it were from nowhere, either on the heels of fog or calm, their advent is doubly dreaded by the unwary mariner. When the blast struck the schooner, over she heeled, and in a trice the lee scuppers were seething with brine. Each man clung to something for life, as the deck sloped like a house roof.
"Ease her! Ease her!" roared the captain from the main weather bobstays. "For your lives, men! Shove her nose up in the wind." ”

“ Captain Brown loved the fullest expression of opinion from his men, and not seldom, when a subject was being severely scrutinized by Kagi, Oliver, or others of the party, the old gentleman would be one of the most interested and earnest hearers. Frequently his views were severely criticised, when no one would be in better spirits than himself. He often remarked that it was gratifying to see young men grapple with moral and other important questions, and express themselves independently ”

“ Some hastened to seize upon and bear up the wounded and dying,—several lay dead upon the ground. They seemed not to realize, at first, that we would fire upon them, but evidently expected that we would be driven out by them without firing. Captain Brown seemed fully to understand the matter, and hence, very properly and in our defense, undertook to forestall their movements. The consequence of their unexpected reception was, after leaving several of their dead on the field, they beat a confused retreat into the bridge, and there stayed under cover until reinforcements came to the Ferry. ”

“ We all went up to the schoolhouse and got ourselves ready to fight.
"The crowd came and hung around the schoolhouse a few days, but they didn't try to capture us. The governor of Kansas, he telegraphed to the United States marshal at Springdale: 'Capture John Brown, dead or alive.' The marshal he answered: 'If I try to capture John Brown it'll be dead, and I'll be the one that'll be dead.' Finally those Kansas people went home, and then that same marshal put us in a car and sent us to Chicago. It took us over three months to get to Canada. . . . What kind of a man was Captain Brown? ”

“ Out there, [Pg 170] there’s no danger of going aground again on the bar.”
“Then why doesn’t Captain Ward stop so we can get on board?” demanded Bunny.
“That’s what I’ve been wondering,” said the sailor, Will, as he rested on his oars, for both men had been pulling hard. “It looks like to me, sir,” he said to Mr. Brown, “that they’re going on faster. They aren’t going to drop anchor, nor yet turn around and come back for us.”
“It does seem so,” said Mr. Brown, and again he had that worried, curious look on his face.
“Oh, they must stop! They must stop and come back for us!” ”

“ The poor man, some time or other, had been heard to express the intention of winning “Captain Brown to a better way of life.” . . . “Bag Gentleman Brown for Glory”—as a leery-eyed loafer expressed it once—“just to let them see up above what a Western Pacific trading skipper looks like.” And this was the man, too, who had run off with a dying woman, and had shed tears over her body. “Carried on like a big baby,” his then mate was never tired of telling, “and where the fun came in may I be kicked to death by diseased Kanakas if I know. Why, gents! ”

“ The three vessels of Captain Brown's squadron spent the trading season of 1793 on the northwest coast and at the end of the season all of them went to the Hawaiian Islands for the usual refreshments. From there Captain Brown sent the Butterworth on her way toward England, by way of Cape Horn, "with directions to fish for whales and seals in passing through the Pacific Ocean, and at Staten Land, where Mr. Brown had formed a temporary establishment." Captain Brown himself with the Jackal and Prince Lee Boo sailed to Canton. ”

“ Instead of adopting resolutions and presenting them to Captain John Brown, Jr., congratulating him upon the prompt and splendid achievements of his father's expedition, a drum-head court martial was convened in the camp of the Pottawatomie Rifles, which stripped him of his command and dismissed him in disgrace from the company; First Lieutenant H. H. Williams being elected captain to succeed him. Jason Brown said:
This information caused great excitement and fear among the men of our company and a feeling arose against John and myself that led the men all to desert us. ”

“ At eight o'clock on Sunday evening, Captain Brown said: 'Men, get on your arms; we will proceed to the Ferry.' His horse and wagon were brought out before the door, and some pikes, a sledge-hammer and a crowbar were placed in it. ”

“ As they sat side by side, the old gentleman with the child on his knee, Captain Rhines said,—
“I don’t see how anybody who ever saw Charlie could harbor any doubt about Mr. Bell’s being his father—they favor each other so much.”
“Ah, captain,” was the reply, “put an old, faded, red shirt on me, all stained up with osier sap, a tarpaulin hat, a bundle of baskets on my back, and, more than all, the heart-broken look I wore then, you yourself couldn’t have found much resemblance.” ”

“ The señor recovered his hand from Brown after it had been given a series of pump-handle shakes.
"What me and the Cap'n did for your folks the night of the freshet gave us as much pleasure as it did them," Brown continued in a mincing way, as if the occasion demanded some special effort from him.
"I regret that I did not have opportunity that night to thank you and your captain."
Brown wagged his head in a friendly way. "Curious feller is the Cap'n. Mind, he's a decent chap to work for and all that. I like him better all the time; but his ways are past finding out, you bet." ”

“ Such was the great and accomplished captain whose loss the Army has now, in common with their fellow-citizens of all classes, to deplore. While indulging the kindly impulses of nature and yielding the tribute of a tear upon his grave, let it not be permitted to close upon his bright example as it must upon his mortal remains. ”

“ It would seem that Captain Brown's family were equal to the tasks generally required of youth and of early man and womanhood; for he was the father of ten robust, spirited daughters, each six feet in hight, [sic] not one of whom feared to do a man's work if it were necessary. ”

“ They crowded in the alleyway like sheep.
“Here they are, sir,” said Herrick.
For some time the captain continued to face the stern; then turned with ferocious suddenness on the crew, and seemed to enjoy their shrinking.
“Now,” he said, twisting his cigar in his mouth and toying with the spokes of the wheel. “I’m Captain Brown. I command this ship. This is Mr. Hay, first officer. The other white man is cabin steward, but he’ll stand watch and do his trick. My orders shall be obeyed smartly. You savvy, ‘smartly’? There shall be no growling about the kaikai, which will be above allowance. ”

“ Sanborn patly quotes Edwin Coppoc's remark to the authorities at Harper's Ferry: "Ah, gentlemen, you don't know Captain Brown: when he wants a man to do a thing, he does it." Brown knew his die was cast. He did not go to North Elba for two months, but visited Boston (whence he carried five hundred dollars in gold) , New York and Philadelphia, turning various stones to forward his plans. He wrote to his daughter Euth, imploring her to let her husband, Henry Thompson, who had fought with him in Kansas, join him again ”

“ Well, Captain Kidd was cruising along this coast, with his ship full of treasure. He had been enjoying great luck on his last voyage. That means, of course, that a great many other people had been most unlucky. In those days about the unluckiest thing that could happen to anybody was to meet Captain Kidd on the high seas. Pirates were such greedy, cruel fellows,—I beg your pardon! I forgot that nearly every one here is a pirate. How careless of me!
Captain Kidd was a long way from shore when he ran into a fog,—a thick Maine fog; the kind that Islanders know so well. ”

“ It's fun when you know daddy is coming," said the little boy.
In a short time the motor boat reached the drifting Fairy. Mr. Brown and Captain Ross went on board, and you can just imagine how glad Bunny and Sue were to see them.
"Guess you'll have to tow us back," said Captain Ross to Mr. Brown. "The motor of my boat needs fixing. That's one reason why I tied up at your dock. There isn't enough wind to blow us back against the tide that's running out now." ”

“ Brown took a glass, and on looking, told me he thought she looked like a man of war: he ran down to the Captain, and I went and called all the officers: when I got on deck again I looked through my glass, and plainly discovered two ships, with all sail set, very close to us, yet I could scarce make them out with the naked eye. All hands were immediately called, and we in vain (it being calm) attempted to escape the enemy, who were coming up fast, with a fine land breeze: we made the private night signal, but they returned no answer. ”

“ Be ready, men!"
In another minute the American vessel gracefully swept around, setting every sail in good position for the conflict. Then the captain signalled for a round from the larboard guns. Instantly the big cannon bellowed forth their messenger of death. But it was none too soon, for at the same moment smoke issued from the bow of the frigate, and a twenty pound ball plunged through the ranks on the deck of the North King, shattering one of the boats to pieces.
"A good shot," said the captain quietly, as his men carried off a dead seaman and a couple of wounded soldiers. ”

“ Captain John Brown,—you did not need to show me letters from Governor Chase and Governor Robinson to let me know who and what you are. I have known you for many years, and have highly esteemed you as long as I have known you. I know your unshrinking bravery, your self-sacrificing benevolence, your devotion to the cause of freedom, and have long known them. May Heaven preserve your life and health, and prosper your noble purpose! ”