378 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
friend and ardent admirer of and deep
sympathizer with John Brown.
He wrote her a letter the night before
his execution, expressing his
appreciation of her long friendship and
his perfect resignation to his
fate. Well do we remember, though at
that time but a child of eight,
how on the morning of December 2, after
the breakfast meal, that
mother at the morning invocation, broke
forth in a fervent prayer that
Divine Providence would sustain John
Brown in the ordeal through
which, in a few hours he was to pass,
and bless the cause for which he
was to die. Thousands of such petitions
ascended throughout the land.
John Brown's execution was a triumphant
apotheosis. He suffered
death upon the scaffold. It was an
unparalleled exhibition of consecrated
heroism in behalf of the cause of
freedom. His soul went marching on
and led the armies of liberty and
humanity to the sublimest victory
the world has ever witnessed.
John Brown is one of the great
characters of history. He had a
prophetic soul, the fortitude and faith
of the Christian martyrs. His
life and deeds will shine brighter and
brighter throughout the ages. The
story of his life, with all its
undercurrents and its subtle influences and
tendencies, has not yet been told. Mr.
Von Hoist has touched upon
the philisophy of his life. Mr. Sanborn
has thrown much light upon
the events of his career. Mr. Redpath
has concisely related the main
facts. But the proper historian of John
Brown has not yet appeared, per-
haps he is not yet born. Mr. Connelley's
book admirably accomplishes
the purpose for which it was put forth.
It should be read by all students
of John Brown. It is published by Crane
& Co., Topeka, Kansas.
BURKE AARON HINSDALE.
Burke Aaron Hinsdale, born at Wadsworth,
Ohio, March 31, 1837,
died at Atlanta, Georgia, November 29,
1900. His ancestors were New
England Puritans. His parents came from
Connecticut to the Western
Reserve in 1812. Burke was raised upon
the farm. He had an irre-
sistible desire for scholarship. At the
age of sixteen he made his way
to Hiram Hill, where the Western Reserve
Eclectic Institute (afterwards
Hiram College) had been opened three
years before. For thirty years,
as student and professor, Mr. Hinsdale
was identified with this insti-
tution. Young Garfield was a fellow
student, and there sprang up be-
tween them a firm and sympathetic
friendship, broken only by the tragic
death of Garfield. Professor Hinsdale
was a close and accurate scholar.
Possessed of a remarkable memory and an
omniverous reader, he be-
came a man of most extensive and useful
information. He was a
natural educator. He became President of
Hiram College (1870), was
ordained to the Christian ministery. For
years associate editor of the
Christian Standard. His capacity for
work and powers of endurance,
almost incredible. He lectured,
preached, edited, talked and wrote books
Comments, Notes and Reviews. 379
to an astonishing extent. In 1882 he was
made superintendent of the
schools of Cleveland. He became famous
throughout the country as au-
thority upon the questions touching our
public schools, their manage-
ment, the courses of study, discipline
of the pupils and general training
of the youth. In 1888 he was called to
the chair of the Science and Art
of Teaching at the University of Michigan.
This position he filled with
great ability until the time of his
death. Some of his published works
are "The Genuineness and
Authenticity of the Gospels," "The Jewish
Christian Church,"
"Ecclesiastical Traditions," "Schools and Studies,"
"Campaign Text Book for 1880,"
"President Garfield and Education,"
"Garfield's Life and Works" (2
Vols.), "The Old Northwest," "The
American Government," "How to
Teach and Study History," "Jesus as
a Teacher," "Teaching the
Language Arts," "Studies in Education,"
"Civil Government of Ohio,"
"Life of Horace Mann," "The Art of
Study," "A History of the
University of Michigan." A monograph on
the "Training of Teachers"
which he wrote was awarded a medal at the
late Paris Exposition. Besides the above
he contributed extensively to
educational journals and reviews.
Several valuable articles in the early
numbers of the Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Publications, were
from his pen. He took a deep and
constant interest in this Society, and
only a short time before his death, did
the writer of these lines receive
a letter from Prof. Hinsdale concerning
some work he wished to do for us.
He was a veritable encyclopedia upon the
events of the early history of
Ohio. He received academic honors from
Williams College, Bethany Col-
lege, Hiram College, Ohio University and
Ohio State University. He
was a member of many educational,
historical and literary societies. He
was a most genial and companionable man;
a most entertaining con-
versationalist, brimming over with
information upon almost any topic.
The writer has spent many a delightful
hour in his company. He was
deep in sympathy with young men, their
struggles, their difficulties, their
aims, their triumphs. To his pupils he
was always warm-hearted, help-
ful and encouraging. He was the true
tutor, not only informing, but
inspiring. There are few whose lives are
so rounded out and so fruitful
as was that of Burke Aaron Hinsdale.
OUR SOCIETY LIBRARY is much enriched by
a complete set of the Old
South Leaflets. These leafllets are reprints of important original
papers
(lectures and essays), accompanied by
useful historical and bibliograph-
ical notes. They are edited by Edwin D.
Mead, the wellknown au-
thor and scholar. They are published
under the auspices of the Direc-
tors of the Old South Work, Old South
Meeting House, Boston, Mass.
These leaflets now embrace a hundred
different subjects, each one of them
of importance and interest in American
History, chiefly of the New Eng-
land pioneer period. They may be
obtained in single leafllets for five