There have been earlier biographies of John Brown, the martyr of Virginia; but by none of them have his character and acts been told so fully and judged so fairly as now by Mr. Sanborn.[6] His later biographer, furthermore, has had access to all the papers and letters, that remain, bearing on Brown's life, and of these he has made the very best possible use. In the arrangement of the materials at his command, Mr. Sanborn has shown admirable taste and judgment, and, without seeming to be a eulogist, has contented himself with allowing his hero to speak for himself, or rather to plead his own case. Viewing the case as a whole, with its back-ground of antecedent history, no fair-minded person can longer regard John Brown as either an adventurer or as a madman. He was by nature, however, enthusiastic; he believed that he had a mission in this world to fulfil, and that, the freedom of the slaves. This mission he cherished uppermost in his mind, for its accomplishment he labored and suffered incessantly, and for it he died. He lacked one quality,--discretion. His pioneer life in New York, his thrilling adventures in Kansas, where he fought slavery so fiercely that he saved that state from being branded with the curse, his unwise but conscientiously-conceived and carefully planned attack on Harper's Ferry, his capture, trial and death, as told in Mr. Sanborn's pages make up the warp and woof of a story, which surpasses in interest anything of the nature of a biography that has been published for many a day. John Brown has been dead a full quarter of a century; the object of his ambition has been accomplished, but by other hands and brains; the prophetic visions of his stalwart mind have been more than fulfilled. History will do him justice, even if the book now before us has not already done so, as we think. Immediately after the execution, the body of the martyr was borne to North Elba, N.Y., and, on the 8th of November, 1859, it was laid away to rest. Mr. Sanborn gives only the briefest account of these last services, and omits, for some unaccountable reason, to furnish even an extract from that pathetic and pointed address, which came from Wendell Phillips, while standing by the open grave. If Mr. Phillips ever spoke more beautifully than he did, on that memorable day, we have never known it. We sincerely hope that, in a future edition, Mr. Sanborn may be led to insert the address in the pages where they so properly belong. [Footnote 6: The Life and Letters of John Brown, Liberator of Kansas, and Martyr of Virginia. Edited by F.B. Sanborn, Boston: Roberts Bros. Price, $3.00] * * * * *