John Brown to Secret Six Members, April 8, 1857

    Source citation
    Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin, ed. The Life and Letters of John Brown, Liberator of Kansas,
    and Martyr of Virginia.
    Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1885, p. 391.
    Author (from)
    John Brown (Under alias of Nelson Hawkins)
    Recipient (to)
    Wattles, Augustus
    Type
    Letter
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Transcriber
    Leah Suhrstedt
    Transcription date
    The following text is presented here in complete form, as it originally appeared in print.  Spelling and other typographical errors have been preserved as in the original.
    BOSTON, MASS., April 8, 1857.

    MY DEAR SIR,- Your favor of the 15th March, and that of friend Holmes of the 16th, I have just received. I cannot express my gratitude for them both. They give me just that kind of news I was most of all things anxious to hear. I bless God that he has not left the Free-State men of Kansas to pollute themselves by the foul and loathsome embrace of the old rotten whore. I have been trembling all along lest they might “back down” from the high and hold ground they had taken. I say, in view of the wisdom, firmness, and patience of my friends and fellow-sufferers in the cause of humanity, let God’s name be eternally praised! I would most gladly give my hand to all whose “garments are not defiled:” and I humbly trust that I shall soon again have opportunity to rejoice (or suffer further if need be) with you in the strife between heaven and hell. I wish you and friend Holmes both to accept this for the moment; may write soon again, and hope to hear from you both at Tabor, Fremont County, Iowa,- care of Jonas Jones, Esq.

    Your sincere friend,

    NELSON HAWKINS.
    How to Cite This Page: "John Brown to Secret Six Members, April 8, 1857," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/223.