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September, 1860.   DOUGLASS' MONTHLY.   331
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[From the Liberator.]
[[bold]] CELEBRATION AT NORTH ELBA.
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The 4th of July among the Adirondacks.
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   THE JOURNEY TO JOHN BROWN'S HOUSE.
  Into the 'enchanted land of the Adirondacks,' as this region has been fitly called by Mr. Higginson, our little party passed on the 3d of July. We crossed Lake Champlain at Burlington, to Port-Kent, Essex County, N.Y., thence by stage to Keeseville, some four miles distant. Here we engaged an open wagon and pair of horses. Our route lay through one of the most romantic regions on this continent—up the valley of the Au Sable, a dark and swift mountain stream which for the first dozen miles flowed gently over its gravelly bed, meandering through a broad valley of placid beauty. The distant mountains, blue with mist in the morning, grew more and more distinct as their proportions loomed up. Rate vistas through the many ranges of hills were constantly opening, affording glimpses of green valleys and broad intervales.
  After the first dozen miles, the scenery grew more wild and romantic. 'Old Whiteface' became more distinct. The hills came down steep and precipitous almost to the water's edge. The bed of the stream was narrow and rocky. The turbulent waters thundered along, breaking at short intervals into miniature cataracts and falls, while occasionally a genuine torrent thundered over a ledge of rocks high enough to make one think of the sublimity of Nature. The road wound close to the river, sometimes cut from the side of a sheer precipice, along which there seemed barely room enough to pass. Below, fifty or a hundred feet, roared the river; above, the dark pines, firs and cedars found scanty subsistence in the overhanging masses of rock, which looked as if ready to fall each moment upon our heads. Word cannot pain the wild grandeur of the scene. Passing through what is known as the 'Narrows,' where the 'Whiteface mountain' rises up on the one hand, and on the other the iron gray wall of rock shoots up sheet and precipitous for hundreds of feet, until you have to look overhead to catch the gleam from the sky; the dark masses of evergreen clinging to and clothing the steeps with sombre beauty; the foaming torrent, boiling in the rapids which just below break over a ledge of rocks—all these make a scene such as can only be surpassed in the Alps or Andes.
  It was near sundown when we reached the hamlet of North Elba. The home of Capt. Brown was about a mile beyond. We reached it in good season, and found a hearty welcome. It is a modest farm-house, which has been somewhat enlarged during the past season, but yet not too comfortable for the severe winters of this region. In answer to our inquiries, we learned that all of the family had arrived. While supper was being prepared, the writer stole off for a few moments' self-communion by the grave which contained the remains of the hero whom he loved. About one hundred and fifty feet from the door stands a huge granite boulder—a primeval relic—which seemed to have been upheaved from the farthest depths of earth, in the convulsions of some mythical age. There it stands, stern and strong, an emblem of the character of him whose body moulders in its shadow. Such a resting-place fitly became the hero. On the side of the rock facing the house, swells the mound which tells of him who lies beneath. It is a simple turfed hillock, carefully banked and tended. The revolutionary gray grave-stone stands in simple modesty at the head of the mound.—How unpretending! how touching! yet how significant the inscription! On the one side it reads :—
  'In memory of Capt. JOHN BROWN, who died at New York, Sept ye 1776, in ye 48 year of his age.
  JOHN BROWN, born May 9, 1800, was executed at Charlestown, Va., Dec. 2, 1859.

OLIVER BROWN, born March 9, 1839, was killed at Harper's Ferry, Oct. 7, 1859.'
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  On other other wise is inscribed the following:
  'In memory of FREDERICK, song of John and Dianthe Brown, born Dec. 21, 1830, and murdered at Osawatomie, Kansas. Aug. 30, 1856, for his adherence to the cause of freedom.
  WATSON BROWN, born Oct. 7, 1836, was wounded at Harper's Ferry, Oct. 17, and died Oct. 19, 1859.'
  What a commentary! 'Murdered for adherence to the cause of freedom!' With head uncovered, we sat before that lowly grave.—What passed in our mind words could not tell, but the memory will never be obliterated. Preparations had been made for the speaking. A rude platform and desk were placed on the granite, and the speakers stood looking down on that grave. Beyond, rude seats were arranged for the audience. That night was spent at the house of Henry and Ruth Thompson, in company with the elder members of the family from Ohio, Miss Dunbar, and other friends.

        THE MEETING.

  The day rose clear and bright. Very early the people began te gather in, and it soon became evident that the assemblage would be large. By ten o'clock, a thousand persons were present. The meeting was called to order, and the Rev. MATTHEW WARDNER, of Essex County, chosen President. R.J. HINTON was nominated as Secretary.
  The President opened the proceedings with some introductory remarks, alluding to the events which had brought the assemblage together, and contrasting this celebration with others going on simultaneously throughout the land.
   Rev. C. G. PRINDLE then read the Declaration of Independence, in a full and clear voice. As the list of grievances fell upon the ears of those present, many, whose eyes were resting on the grave before them, were making a stirring commentary upon the sounding periods.
  Prayer was then offered by the Rev. LYMAN PRINDLE. It was worthy of the occasion.
  John Brown's favorite hymn— 'Blow ye the trumpet, blow !' was then sung by the choir and the meeting—the stirring strains swelling up until the listening hills seemed to echo back the strains.
  On motion W.F.M. Arny, of Kansas, Wendell Lancing, editor of the Republican paper at Keeseville, and the Rev. Lyman Prindle of Mooers, Clinton Co., N.Y., were appointed a Committee to prepare resolutions for submission to the meeting.
  The President then introduced the Orator of the Day, as one of the oldest anti slavery workers—the Rev. Dr. LUTHER LEE, or Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio—who delivered an Address, the length of which will prevent its insertion here.
  At the close of the Oration, another appropriate hymn was sung by the choir.
  Mr. Arny, from the Committee on Resolutions, then made the following report, which was read :—

  PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS

  Whereas this being the 84th Anniversary of the American Independence from the tyrannical control of the King and Government of Great Britain; and whereas, the principles enunciated in that immortal declaration assert the sacred right of each member of the human family to the possession of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;' and whereas, there are now held in the most degrading bondage in one half of this boasted land of freedom, four millions of persons who are deprived of all the essential requisites which constitute individual, civil and religious liberty; and whereas it would seem as if this nation, in the fullness of intemperate pride, glories in the shame which renders the land infamous, branding with the name of 'felon' those who, believing in the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence, dared to put into DEEDS the words of Jesus, and in their lives practise what Bunker Hill and Yorktown taught the race, finding no place for the noblest of men but the prison and the scaffold; therefore,
  Resolved, That we, here assembled, standing around the mound which covers all that was mortal of our late friend, neighbor, and fellow-citizen, John Brown, of immortal memory—
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with the glorious events of his long life of self-sacrifice and martyr heroism fresh in our mind, and remembering, as he did, 'those in bonds as bound with them'—do re-affirm our unalterable faith in the principles of Universal Freedom, and reiterate our determination, by ALL and EVERY means to aid the slave to become free, leaving to each individual conscience the sole right of determining in what manner and at what time these principles shall be translated into acts.
  Resolved, That we extend a warm and cordial greeting to those of the immortal twenty-one who followed John Brown to Virginia, and have survived that scene—the Bunker Hill of the enslaved race—and to-day are in safety with us. It is fitting in this presence, and on this anniversary, that our welcome should be earnest, and our thanks hearty and warm, to those who, by a spirit of heroic sacrifice, have renewed our faith in humanity and our trust in the eternal justice of God.
  Resolved, That we, the men and women of Essex County here assembled, extend a hearty welcome and cordial greeting to our noble fellow-citizen, Thaddeus Hyatt, whose recent incarceration within a loathesome prison and slave pen at Washington City, because he would not permit tyranny to be consummated in his person, by submission to an unconstitutional usurpation by the U.S. Senate, deserves, and we hope will receive, in the persons of the recreant Senators who allowed the iniquity to be consummated, the strongest condemnation of the people of the free States; and for the noble spirit with which our friend met the issue, we return our heartfelt thanks, and assure him he has won the gratitude of both the present and future.
  After the reading of the resolutions, the Secretary, Mr. R.J. Hinton, read the following letters from gentlemen whose presence had been anticipated; prefacing the reading of them by some remarks relative to the occasion that had called them together.
  Mr. Hinton then said, the first letter is from the pen of one of New England's noblest sons, a man of large intellect, of great culture; but above all, possessing a broad and manly nature, of undaunted courage, and yet with a tender, womanly heart—one whom John Brown esteemed most highly—I mean Thos. Wentworth Higginson :—
  [[italics]] Worcester [[/italics]], Mass., June 29,1860.
  DEAR MRS. BROWN :—How much pleasure it would give me to accept the kind invitation to be with you on the 4th of July. How beautiful will all that region be in its summer verdure, and how greatly will you enjoy the meeting with your sons. The memories of the blest departed will hallow your meeting, but not, I trust, sadden it. I shall always count it one of the chief honors of my life to have been admitted to your husband's confidence; and I am glad to be counted worthy to attend a meeting of his family.
  I was sorry not to see you and your daughter Isabella when you were here; but I was only in Boston one day, and then could not find you. I believe Isabella, John and Jason are the only members of your family whom I have not seen; and I desire to send cordial regards to them and to all.
  Yours, with sincere regard,
       THOS. WENTWORTH HIGGINSON.

The next letters are from two members of the race for whom John Brown died. The first is from one of the most eloquent and gifted young men with whom it has been my fortune of late to meet. The name is of both good and evil omen; yet the odds are on the side of truth, even in this respect—freedom having two Douglasses, slavery but one. The letter is addressed to Messrs. Redpath and Hinton :—
        [[italics]] Boston [[/italics]], John 29, 1860.

  GENTLEMEN:—Your note, inviting me to be present at your gathering at North Elba, on the 4th of July, is received. I return to you, and the family of our much lamented friend, a thousand thanks. Be assured, that nothing but a previous engagement, from which I cannot very well be relieved, prevents me from meeting with the dear good men and women of Old Essex around the grave of the martyr, saint and hero—John Brown.
  Your meeting will be a glorious epoch in American history, and I trust will do much to redeem the day from the damning sacrilege of priestly cant and political mockery. I would suggest that you, gentlemen, who knew the old CHRISTIAN best, should put the ball in motion
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