Brown (1800-59) was an American abolitionist who believed and advocated that armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the USA. Following several earlier attacks, in 1859 he led a raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry to start a liberation movement among the slaves there, intending to arm the slaves with the weapons from the arsenal. The attack failed, leaving seven killed and ten or more injured, and Brown was tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the murder of five men and inciting a slave insurrection. He was found guilty on all counts and hanged. This short work published in 1905 is based on the author's personal recollections of how he, as a young man in the turbulent period of 1856-7, came under Brown's influence. With three illustrations.