Existing comment:
In 1859, the public recognized in John Brown a fanatic, but one of those fanatics who, by their readiness to sacrifice their lives, are forever advancing the world... The story of John Brown will ever confront the spirit of despotism, when men are struggling to throw off the shackles of social or political or physical slavery.
-- Oswald Garrison Villard, John Brown, 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After, 1910 |