rious facts," he wrote, "that many men who do it are utterly unable to tell about it. John Brown, a flame of fire in action, was dull in speech." 41 Emerson, on the other hand, in recording in his diary Brown's speech at Concord, said he gave,

"a good account of himself in the Town Hall last night to a meeting of citizens. One of his good points was the folly of the peace party in Kansas, who believed that their strength lay in the greatness of their wrongs, and so discountenanced resistance. He wished to know if their wrong was greater than the negro's, and what kind of strength that gave to the negro."

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Later, Emerson wrote this tribute to Brown's powers as a speaker:

"For himself, he is so transparent that all men see him through. He is a man to make friends wherever on earth courage and integrity are esteemed, the rarest of heroes, a pure idealist, with no byends of his own. Many of you have seen him, and everyone who has heard him speak has been impressed alike by his simple, artless goodness joined with his sublime courage.'

11 43

The financial results of the Worcester meetings were slim. But Eli Thayer gave him five hundred dollars' worth of weapons — a cannon and a rifle — while Ethan Allen and Company also contributed a rifle." March ended for Brown with a flying trip to Easton, Pennsylvania, in company with Frank Sanborn and Martin Conway, as representatives of the Massachusetts Kansas Committee, in a fruitless effort to induce ex-Governor Reeder to return to Kansas and assume the leadership of the Free State party. But Mr. Reeder was too happily situated at Easton; he was, however, so heartily in sympathy with Brown's plan that the latter wrote to him for aid on his return to Springfield, explaining that the only difference between them was as to the number of men needed, and hoping that Mr. Reeder would soon discern the necessity of "going out to Kansas this spring."" It was on this visit to the Massasoit House that Brown found a letter from his wife telling him of his sons' decision to fight no more. To this he replied on March 31:

"I have only to say as regards the resolution of the boys to ‘learn and practice war no more,' that it was not at my solicitation that they engaged in it at the first- that while I may perhaps feel no