I have been asked what became of Brown’s carbine. That I do not know. My sword was left in Washington, among people with whom I lived, and I lost trace of it. A few years ago, after having come out of the war and gone west to Dakota, where I now live, I received a letter from a gentleman in Washington, saying that he knew where the sword was, and that it was still bent double, as it was left by the thrust upon Brown’s breast. He said that it was now a relic of great historic value, and asked me to assent to the selling of it upon the condition that I should receive a portion of the price of the weapon. To me the matter had very little interest, and I replied indifferently. Since then I have heard nothing of the matter. I presume the saber could be found somewhere in Washington. SELECTED READING LIST Joseph Barry, _The Strange Story of Harper’s Ferry With Legends of The Surrounding Country_, Martinsburg, W. Va., 1903. Richard O. Boyer, _The Legend of John Brown: A Biography and A History_, New York, 1973. Louis Filler, _The Crusade Against Slavery, 1830-1860_, New York, 1960. Stephen B. Oates, _To Purge This Land With Blood: A Biography of John Brown_, New York, 1970. Louis Ruchames, ed., _John Brown: The Making of a Revolutionary_, New York, 1969. (Originally published under the title _A John Brown Reader_.) Franklin B. Sanborn, _Life and Letters of John Brown_, Boston, 1885. Kenneth M. Stampp, _The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South_, New York, 1956. Edward Stone, ed., _Incident at Harper’s Ferry_, Englewood Cliffs, 1956. Oswald Garrison Villard, _John Brown, 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After_, Boston and New York, 1911 (2d edition, 1943). PICTURE CREDITS Harpers Ferry National Historical Park: Title page, 8-9, 16-17, 24 (right), 26 (drawing), 28 (inset), 31, 32-33, 37 (drawing), 40-41, 45, 47 (drawing), 48, 53, 54-55, 56, 58-59; Library of Congress: 2, 3, 6, 19, 20, 21, 22 (left & center), 24 (left), 26 (portraits), 28, 36, 37 (inset), 39, 42, 44, 46, 50, 51, 52, 57; Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka: 4, 5, 22 (right); U.S. Marine Corps Museum: 47 (portrait); Boyd B. Stutler Collection, through the courtesy of Stephen B. Oates: 11 (Howe & Stearns); John Brown Collection, Columbus University Libraries: 11 (Sanborn & Parker); Public Library, City of Boston: 11 (Smith); Boston Atheneum: 11 (Higginson); Robert Lautman: cover (John Brown’s Fort). ★U.S. Government Printing Office 1973 0 521 267 Reprint 1990 Footnotes [1]Originally published in _The North American Review_, December 1885. Transcriber’s Notes —Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. —Added a Table of Contents.