{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_12973/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_12973","id":"gutenberg_12973","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12973","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Kansas -- History -- 1854-1861"],"text":"[Frontispiece: Pardee Butler]\n\n\nPERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS\n\nOF\n\nPARDEE BUTLER\n\nWITH REMINISCENCES, BY\nHIS DAUGHTER,\n\nMRS. ROSETTA B. HASTINGS\n\nAND ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS\n\nELD. JOHN BOGGS AND ELD. J. B. MCCLEERY.\n\nCINCINNATI\n\nSTANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY\n\n\n1889\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\nI have not attempted to write a complete biography of my father,\nbut merely to supplement his \"Recollections\" with a few of my own\nreminiscences. He was a man who said little in his family about his\nearly years, or about any of the occurrences of his eventful life. Nor\ndid he ever keep any journal, or any account of his meetings, or of the\nnumber that he baptized. He seldom reported his meetings to the\nnewspapers. I think it was only during the few years that he was\nemployed by missionary societies, that he ever made reports of what he\naccomplished. He had even destroyed the most of his old letters. And so,\nfor nearly all information outside of my own recollections, I have been\nindebted to the kindness of relatives and friends.\n\nThe later chapters have been written by men who knew my father\nintimately, and men whose reputations are such as to give weight to\ntheir testimony.\n\nTo all of these friends I now offer my thanks for their kind assistance.\n\nAnd to the public I offer this book, not for its literary merit, but as\nthe tribute of a daughter to a loved father, whose earnest devotion to\nduty was worthy of imitation.\n\nMRS. ROSETTA B. HASTINGS.\n\n_Farmington, Kansas, April 23,1889._\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nIn this country inherited fortunes, or ancestral honors, have little\neffect on a man's reputation; but inherited disposition and early\nsurroundings have much effect on his character.\n\nMy father's ancestors were from New England. His father, Phineas Butler,\ncame from Saybrook, Connecticut, where the Congregational Churches\nframed the Saybrook platform. His mother's people, the Pardees, came\nfrom Norfork, Connecticut. The Pardees were said to have been\ndescendants of the French Huguenots. Ebenezer Pardee emigrated to\nMarcellus, now known as Skaneateles, Onondaga Co., New York. There he\ndied in 1811, leaving his wife Ann Pardee, (known for many years as\ngrandmother Pardee) a widow, with nine sons and two daughters. The\neldest daughter, Sarah Pardee, was there married in 1813, to Phineas\nButler; and there my father, who was the second of seven children, was\nborn, March 9, 1816.\n\nIn the autumn of 1818, Phineas Butler, of whom I shall hereafter speak\nas grandfather Butler, went to Wadsworth, Medina Co., Ohio. There a\nsettlement had been begun three years before in the heavy timber, and\nthere were only a few small clearings here and there in the woods.\n\nMy grandmother came on with her brother the following spring. She had\nthree small children, but they made the journey in a sled, in bad\nweather, cutting their own roads, and camping in the woods at night.\nGrandmother Pardee came on later. She was a woman of great energy, and\nbrought up her sons so well that they all became leading men in the\ncommunities in which they lived. Grandmother Butler was also a capable,\nfearless woman, and so calm and firm that it was said no vexation was\never known to ruffle her temper.\n\nTheir cabins were built of logs, with hewed puncheon floors and doors;\nand on the roof, in the place of nailed shingles, were split shakes,\nfastened on with poles and wooden pins. But grandfather had brought a\nfew nails (made by a blacksmith) from New York, and used them in his\nhouse. When a neighbor died they hewed out puncheons to make a coffin,\nand finding only eighteen nails in the neighborhood, grandfather, by\ntorchlight, pulled fourteen more out of his house to finish the coffin.\n\nTheir lives were full of hardship and privation. Grandfather was a\nfamous hunter, and his well aimed rifle sometimes furnished game that\nkept the neighborhood from starvation. He was dependent on bartering\nfurs at some distant trading post, for his supplies of salt, needles,\nammunition and other necessary articles that could not be made at home.\n\nOften, after a hard day's work, he hunted half of the night to obtain\ncoonskins and other furs. Father said that one night grandfather and\nOrin Loomis were out hunting coons with the dogs, having taken their\naxes to chop down coon trees, but no guns, when they found a bear, on a\nsmall island, in the middle of a swamp. But I find his bear story so\nwell told in the \"_Wadsworth Memorial_\" that I will quote from\nthat:\n\n\"In the fall of 1823, as Butler and Loomis were returning after midnight\nfrom one of their hunts, and had arrived within a mile or two of home it\nwas noticed that the dogs were missing. Presently a noise was heard, far\nback in the rear.\n\n\"'Hark! What was that?' said Loomis. They listened awhile, and agreed it\nwas dogs, sure.\n\n\"'Orr, let's go back,' said Butler.\n\n\"'No, it is too late,' answered Loomis.\n\n\"'But,' said Butler, 'I'll warrant the dogs are after a bear; don't\nyou hear old Beaver? It sounds to me like the bark of old Beaver when he\nis after a bear.'\n\n\"Butler was bound to go back, and so they started. The scene of the\ndisturbance was finally reached, after traveling two or three miles. The\ndogs had found a bear; but it was in the middle of Long Swamp, and the\nalders were so thick that there was scarcely room for man, dog or bear\nto get through. This did not deter Phin. Butler, however. They got near\nenough to find that the bear was stationed on a spot a little drier than\nthe main swamp, surrounded by alder bushes, and that she was determined\nnot to leave it. The dogs would bay up close, when the old bear would\nrun out after them. They would retreat, and then she would run back to\nher nest again.\n\n\"'We can't kill her to-night,' said Loomis, 'we will have to go home and\ncome down again in the morning.'\n\n\"'No,' replied Butler, 'I am afraid she will get away. We can kill her\nto-night, I guess. You can go and hiss on the dogs on one side, and I\nwill come up on the other; and when she runs out after them, I'll cut\nher back-bone off with the ax.'\n\n\"They concluded to try this plan, and came very near succeeding. As the\nold bear rushed past, Butler put the whole bit of the ax into her back,\nbut failed to cut the back-bone by an inch or two. Enraged and\ndesperate, she sprang upon the dogs, who, emboldened by the presence of\ntheir masters, came too close. With one of her enormous paws she came\ndown on old Beaver, making a large wound in his side, which nearly\nkilled him. He was hardly able to crawl out of the swamp.\n\n\"The fight was then abandoned until morning, as without Beaver to lead\nthe dogs it was useless to proceed. It was difficult to get the old dog\nhome, but he finally got well. Early in the morning the hunters were on\nthe ground. This time they had their guns with them, but found the old\nbear was gone. On examining her nest of the night before, her unusual\nferocity was explained. She had a litter of cubs, which, however, she\nhad succeeded in removing, and must have carried them off in her mouth.\nIn a short time the dogs had tracked her out. She was found a half mile\nlower down the swamp, where she had a new nest. Butler's rifle soon\ndispatched her; but her cubs, four in number, and not more than three or\nfour weeks old, were taken alive, and kept for pets.\"\n\nFather said that he could remember when they brought the bears home,\ngrowling, snarling--the crossest little things he ever saw.\n\nStrange as it may seem, my father did not inherit grandfather's love for\nhunting. I never saw him shoot a gun, and he has never owned one within\nmy recollection.\n\nOrin Loomis was often heard to say that Phin. Butler was the most\ncourageous man he ever knew. He was quick-tempered, but warm-hearted,\nand full of fun, and as honest and sincere as he was bold and fearless.\nOne time he was traveling, and stopped at a tavern. The strangers\npresent were discussing the statement that every man has his price, and\neach man was telling what was the least price for which he would tell a\nlie. Finally one man said that he would tell a lie for five dollars.\nGrandfather's impetuous nature could stand it no longer, and he burst\nout scornfully: \"Tell a lie! Tell a lie for five dollars! Sell your\nmanhood! Sell your soul for five dollars! You must rate yourself very\ncheap!\" And then, they said, he fairly preached them a sermon on the\nnobility of perfect truthfulness, and the littleness and meanness of\nlying and deceitfulness.\n\nMy grandmother was also very conscientious, which was illustrated by the\nfact that on her death-bed, after giving some good advice to her\ndaughters, she charged them to carry home a cup of coffee that she had\nborrowed.\n\nAn old Wadsworth friend, writing to us since father's death, says of\nhim: \"From a boy Pardee was remarkable for his uprightness, and bold and\nstrict honesty, and it was a maxim among the boys to say, 'As honest as\nPard, Butler.' He and his father before him were specimens of\npuritanical honesty and courage, and had they lived in the days of\nCromwell and in England, would doubtless have been in Cromwell's army.\"\n\nScarcely was the settlement begun when a school was taught in one room\nof a log dwelling-house. When but three years old, father was a pupil in\nthe first school that was taught in the new school-house, by Miss Lodema\nSackett, and continued to attend school a part of every year. Books were\nscarce, but he was fond of reading, and read, over and over, all that he\ncould obtain.\n\nThe Western Reserve was settled mainly by New Englanders, who were\nintelligent and God-fearing men; and religious meetings were held from\nthe first; printed sermons being read aloud when there was no preacher.\nA Sunday-school was organized in Wadsworth in 1820.\n\nThe most influential man in the neighborhood was Judge Brown, an uncle\nof \"John Brown of Ossawatomie.\" He was noted for the purity of his\nlife, the dignity of his demeanor, and the firmness with which he\ndefended his views. He was a bitter opponent of slavery, and, what was\nstrange in those days, a strong temperance man. Before leaving\nConnecticut he had heard Lyman Beecher deliver his famous temperance\nsermons, and he came to Wadsworth with his soul ablaze with temperance\nzeal. The community was strongly influenced by him, and father said that\nhe was much indebted to Judge Brown for his temperance and anti-slavery\nprinciples.\n\nEven in those early days Wadsworth contained a public library, a lyceum\nwhere the young men discussed the questions of the day, and an academy.\nFather took part in the lyceum debates, though he was said to be slow of\nspeech; and attended the Wadsworth Academy from its beginning, in 1830.\nOne of its most successful teachers was a shrewd Scotchman named John\nMcGregor. Father and several young men from a distance, who boarded at\ngrandfather's and attended this school, spent their evenings studying\ntheir lessons, or reading and discussing some good book. Dick's\nscientific works were among the books thus read.\n\nThere were many Lutherans, Dutch Reformers, and Mennonites near\nWadsworth, and there was a perfect ferment of religious discussion.\n\nDuring father's boyhood, Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott had been\npreaching the union of Christians on the Bible alone, and there was\ngreat enthusiasm.\n\nEld. Newcomb, an honored Baptist preacher, together with my grandfather,\nand Samuel Green--the father of Almon B. Green and Philander Green--had\nbeen reading the writings of A. Campbell for several years. Almon B.\nGreen had been made skeptical by the unintelligible orthodox preaching.\nBut one day, after reading the first four books of the New Testament, he\nexclaimed, \"No uninspired man ever wrote that book.\" He read on until he\ncame to Acts ii. 38, which he took to Eld. Newcomb, asking him its\nmeaning. \"It means what it says,\" was his reply. In a few days Almon was\nbaptized by Eld. Newcomb, simply on his confession of faith in Christ,\nwithout telling any experience, as usually required by the Baptists.\nSoon afterwards four families, the New-combs, Greens, Butlers and\nBonnels, all Baptists, united to form a church on the apostolic pattern.\nThen William Hayden came with his fiery eloquence and wondrous songs;\nthe people were stirred up, opposition aroused, the various creeds were\ndiscussed with renewed energy, and the church grew and multiplied.\n\nBut father and his uncle Aaron, who was eight years older than himself,\nhad been made skeptical by orthodox mysticism and the disputes of so\nmany wrangling churches.\n\nIn September, 1833, A. Campbell came to Wadsworth to attend a great\nyearly meeting held in William Eyle's barn. The following account of\nan incident that occurred at that time, I quote from \"History of the\nDisciples on the Western Reserve.\"\n\n\"An incident occurred at this time which displays Mr Campbell's\ncharacter for discernment and candor. Aaron Pardee, a gentleman residing\nin the vicinity, an unbeliever in the gospel, attracted by Campbell's\nabilities as a reasoner, and won by his fairness in argument, resolved\nto obtain an interview and propose freely his difficulties. Mr. Campbell\nreceived him with such frankness that he opened his case at once,\nsaying, 'I discover, Mr. Campbell, you are well prepared in the\nargument and defenses of the Christian religion. I confess to you\nfrankly there are some difficulties in my mind which prevent my\nbelieving the Bible, particularly the Old Testament.'\n\n\"Mr. Campbell replied, 'I acknowledge freely, Mr. Pardee, there are\ndifficulties in the Bible--difficulties not easy to explain, and some,\nperhaps, which in our present state of information can not be cleared\nup. But, my dear sir, when I consider the overwhelming testimony in its\nfavor, so ample, complete and satisfactory, I can not resist the\nconviction of its divine origin. The field of prophetic inspiration is\nso varied and full, and the internal evidence so conclusive, that, with\nall the difficulties, the preponderance of evidence is overwhelming in\nits favor.' This reply, so fair and manly, and so different from the\npulpit denunciations of 'skeptics,' 'infidels,' etc., to which he had\nbeen accustomed, quite disarmed him, and led him to hear the truth and\nits evidence in a much more rational state of mind. Within a year he\nbecame fully satisfied of the truthfulness of the Holy Scriptures, and\napprehending clearly their testimony to the claims of Jesus of Nazareth\nas the anointed Son of God, he was prepared to yield to him the\nobedience of his life.\"\n\nMy father was present with his uncle Aaron at that interview with Mr.\nCampbell, and he too was led by it to listen favorably to Mr. Campbell's\nclear and powerful presentation of divine truth. He followed Mr.\nCampbell to other meetings, and listened, read, and investigated until\nhe, too, became convinced of the truth of the Bible.\n\nHis uncle Aaron, who is still living, said in a recent letter: \"I\nremember going to meeting with Pardee sometime about a year before I was\nimmersed, when he put some questions to me on the subject of religion,\nwhich were very difficult to answer.\"\n\nIn June, 1835, at a meeting held in Mr. Clark's new barn, my father and\nhis uncle, Aaron Pardee, confessed their Saviour, and were baptized by\nElder Newcomb in a stream on Elder Newcomb's farm. A brother and sister\nof A. B. Green, and a sister of Holland Brown, were baptized at the same\ntime. Holland Brown had been baptized the previous week. He walked down\nto the water with father, and remembers hearing him exclaim, on the way\nto the water, \"Lord, I believe! Help thou mine unbelief.\" He also\nremembers hearing Elder Newcomb remark, \"Now we can take everything; we\nhave Bro. Butler and Bro. Pardee to fight the infidels, and the Browns\nto fight the Universalists.\" Holland Brown's brother, Leonard, and his\nwife--he had married my father's eldest sister, Ann Butler--had been\nbaptized not far from that time.\n\nHolland Brown relates the following incident, which occurred some time\nafterward:\n\n\"Bro. Butler was away from home, and driving a horse, which, though of\nfine appearance, was badly wind-broken. At times the horse appeared\nperfectly sound, and at one of those times Bro. Butler was offered a\nhandsome sum for him.\n\n\"No,\" said Bro. Butler, \"I can not take that sum for the horse, he is\nbadly wind-broken.\"\n\n\"Why didn't you take it? the man was a jockey, anyhow;\" asked some one\nin my hearing.\n\n\"'Because,' was the ringing answer, 'I think less of the price of a\nhorse than of my own soul.'\"\n\nAbout that time father began teaching school in neighboring districts,\nwhich he followed for several years. But all of his spare time was spent\nin studying the Bible, church history, the writings of A. Campbell, and\nother religious books. It was at that time that he began committing the\nNew Testament to memory.\n\nGrandfather Butler and Samuel Green were the leaders of the new\norganization, as they had been of the Baptist Church, in Eld. Newcomb's\nabsence--for he was away evangelizing much of the time. They called on\nthe young people to take part in their social meetings on the Lord's\nday, at first only asking them to read a passage of Scripture, afterward\nto talk and pray, and, as they gained confidence in themselves, they\nwere asked to lead the meetings. Thus there grew, in that church, one\nafter the other, within a few years, eight preachers: A. B. Green, Wm.\nMoody, Holland Brown, Leonard Brown, Philander Green, B. F. Perky,\nPardee Butler and L. L. Carpenter.\n\nA. B. Green had been preaching a year or more before father was baptized,\nbut I do not know which of the others began first, nor do I know the\nexact time when father began to preach, but it was about 1837 or 1838.\nHe was not ordained at Wadsworth, for the church at that time doubted\nwhether there was any Scriptural authority for ordination. He was\nordained some six or seven years afterward, in 1844, at Sullivan.\n\nIn such times of religious excitement it was not necessary for a man to\nhave a college education, to become an acceptable preacher. But father\nsaw the advantages of a good education, and resolved to attend A.\nCampbell's school, then known as Buffalo Academy, but which was soon\nchanged to Bethany College. But the means to acquire an education must\nbe obtained by his own exertions.\n\nAbout the year 1839 grandfather sold his place in Wadsworth, and moved\nto the Sandusky Plains, a level, marshy prairie, in northwestern Ohio.\nPart of the Plains belonged to the Wyandotte Indian Reservation, and was\nopened to settlement, a few years afterward, by the removal of the\nIndians to Wyandotte, Kansas.\n\nFather and grandfather made sheep-raising their business while there.\nFather herded sheep in summer and taught school in winter. And, while\nherding sheep, he finished committing the New Testament to memory. He\ncould repeat it from beginning to end, and even in his later years he\nremembered it so well that he could repeat whole chapters at once. I\nnever saw the time that any one could repeat a verse in the New\nTestament to him, but that he could tell the book, and nearly always the\nchapter in which it was found.\n\nHe and his father's family put their membership into the church at\nLetimberville, some miles distant; and there he occasionally preached.\n\nHe sometimes went back to Wadsworth, and on the way back and forth\nstopped and preached for the little church at Sullivan, Ashland Co.\nThere he made the acquaintance of Sibjl S. Carleton, the daughter of\nJoseph Carleton, one of the leading members of the church. They were\nmarried August 17, 1843; and he never had cause to regret his choice,\nfor she proved to him a helpmeet indeed.\n\nWhile living there, at the solicitation of his neighbors, he held a\ndebate with a Universalist preacher, to the satisfaction of his friends\nand the discomfiture of his opponent.\n\nMany parts of the Plains were covered with water, and were musical with\nfrogs in the spring, but in hot weather they dried up, leaving here and\nthere a stagnant pond. I have heard father tell how one of his neighbors\ntried to break a field by beginning on the outside, and plowing farther\nin as the land dried up. But the snakes and frogs grew thicker and\nthicker, as he neared the center. At length the grass seemed almost\nalive with snakes, and his big ox-team became wild with fright, and ran\naway, and he could not get them back there again.\n\nOf course, such a country was unhealthful, and father's family was much\ntroubled with sickness. His parents both died; my mother was nearly worn\nout with the ague; and he not only suffered from poor general health,\nbut from a sore throat, and had to quit preaching. He moved to Sullivan,\nbut without any permanent benefit to his health. He did not at that time\nattribute his sore throat entirely to the climate, but thought it a\nchronic derangement that would utterly unfit him for a preacher. Many\nyears afterward he wrote of that disappointment as follows: \"For five\nyears I saw myself sitting idly by the wayside, hopeless and\ndiscouraged. I felt somewhat like a traveler, parched with thirst, on a\nwide and weary desert, who sees the mirage of green trees and springs of\ncool water that has mocked his vision, slowly fade away out of his\nsight. So seemed to perish my castles in the air. At that time making\nproclamation of the ancient gospel was too vigorous a work, and too full\nof hardship and exposure to be undertaken by any except those possessing\nstalwart good health. If I had been predestinated to the life I have\nactually lived, and if it were necessary that I should be chastened to\nbear with patience all its disabilities, then, I suppose, this\ndiscipline I actually got might be considered good and useful. If I have\nbeen able to bear provocation with patience, and to labor cheerfully\nwithout wages, and at every personal sacrifice, this lesson was learned\nwhen I saw all my hope dashed in pieces.\"\n\nIn the spring of 1850 father sold his property and decided to go to\nIowa. Shortly before the time of starting, my little sister and baby\nbrother took the scarlet fever and, ere long, they were both laid in the\nold graveyard. Heart-broken as my parents were, they did not give up the\nlong, lonely journey. Father bought a farm in Iowa, and built a log\nhouse on it, intending to become a farmer. He and mother united with the\nnearest church, at Long Grove, sixteen miles distant. Father did not\ntell them at first that he had been a preacher, but they questioned him\nand learned the facts. As his health improved he occasionally preached\nfor them.\n\nEld. N. A. McConnell gives the following account of his preaching in\nIowa:\n\n\"I first met him at his temporary home in Posten's Grove, in the fall of\n1850. During that winter he taught a school in Dewitt, Clinton Co., and\npreached occasionally at Long Grove. The next spring he attended a\nco-operation meeting at Walnut Grove, Jones Co., at which he was\nemployed to labor with me in what was called District No. 2. His\ndistrict included the counties of Scott, Clinton, Jackson, Jones, Cedar,\nJohnson, a part of Muscatine, Linn and Benton, and west to the Missouri\nriver. He preached at LeClaire, Long Grove, Allen's Grove, Simpson's,\nBig Rock, Green's School-house, Walnut Grove, Marion, Dry Creek,\nPleasant Grove, Burlison's, Maquoketa and Posten's Grove, as well as at\nnumerous school-houses scattered over a large district of the country.\nHe did excellent work in preaching the word. He was not a revivalist,\nnor was his co-laborer, yet there were a goodly number added to the Lord\nduring the year. I think not less than one hundred. The next year, 1852,\nthe annual meeting of the co-operation was held at Dewitt, Clinton Co.\nAt that meeting the district was divided into East and West No. 2. Your\nfather was assigned to the eastern division and I took the western. His\nfield included Davenport, Long Grove and Allen's Grove, in Scott Co.;\nMaquoketa and Burlison's in Jackson Co., and Dewitt in Clinton Co. He\nlabored also in Cedar Co., and did a grand work, not so much in the\nnumbers added as in the sowing the good seed of the Kingdom, and\nrecommending our plea to the more intelligent and better informed of the\nvarious communities where he labored. You will remember that he held in\nmind nearly the entire New Testament, so that he could quote it most\naccurately. I think he had also the clearest and most minute details of\nthe Old Testament history, of any man I ever knew. Nor was his reading\nand recollection limited to Bible details; for he was very familiar With\nother history, both sacred and profane.\n\n\"I call to mind two sermons that he delivered. One was based on the\nlanguage of Christ addressed to the Woman of Samaria, at Jacob's\nwell--John iv.: 'Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship;\nfor salvation is of the Jews.' In this sermon he detailed the history of\nIsrael to the revolt under Jereboam, the history of Jereboam and his\nsuccessors until the overthrow of the ten tribes, and the formation of\nthe mongrel nation called Samaritans. In this he showed that God's\npromise--Ex. xx., 'In all places where I record my name, I will meet\nwith you and bless you,' was fully realized by the people of God, and\nthat a disregard of the law in harmony with this promise was followed by\nmost disastrous results. And that the same is true under the\nGospel--where his name is recorded, and only there, he now meets and\nblesses his people.\n\n\"The second sermon was on the subject of Justification by faith.' This\nwas doubtless one of the very best efforts of his life. I will not\ntrouble you with the details of this grand effort, since it was\npublished in full in the _Evangelist_ in 1852. The sermon was\npublished, not by his request, but by the unanimous voice of the State\nMeeting held in Davenport that year.\n\n\"I am sorry that I can not give more of the details of his grand work in\nIowa.\"\n\nThe winter of 1851-2 was very cold, but father did not stop for bad\nweather. I remember that when he started to his appointment one cold\nmorning mother cried for fear he would freeze to death. The mail-carrier\ndid freeze to death that day, but father kept from freezing by walking.\nThe next summer was very rainy, and mother was always anxious when there\nwere high waters, for there were no bridges, and father always swam his\nhorse across streams, although he could not swim a stroke.\n\nThen he preached for several years in Illinois, and was gone for months\nat a time.\n\nIn July, 1854, my little sister--for by that time I had another brother\nand sister--after a brief illness, closed her eyes in death. Fortunately\nfather was at home, to mingle his tears with mother's, over the little\ncoffin.\n\nThe next spring father sold his Iowa farm.\n\nBefore leaving there an incident occurred that I distinctly remember.\nThe Iowa Legislature had passed some kind of temperance law, and the\npeople were to vote on it at the spring election. Our country lyceum\nformed itself into a mock court, and tried King Alcohol for various\ncrimes and misdemeanors. Father was appointed prosecuting attorney, and\nhe went at it in earnest, as he always did at anything he undertook.\nHe sent for every man in the vicinity who ever drank, or who had good\nopportunities to observe the effect of drink on others, to appear as\na witness against King Alcohol. The trial lasted three evenings, with\nIncreasing crowds. Father's adroitness in drawing facts from\nwitnesses--often against their will--kept the Audience laughing and\napplauding. I remember hearing people say that he had mistaken his\ncalling; that he ought to have been a lawyer. On the last evening, When\nhe addressed the jury, he became eloquent. He pictured the terrible\neffects of intemperance, the ruined homes, the weeping wives, the ragged\nchildren. He denounced King Alcohol as guilty of every known crime--of\nstealing the bread from the mouths of children, of robbing helpless\nwomen of everything they valued most, of brutally shedding the blood of\nthousands, and of filling the whole earth with violence, until the cries\nof widows and orphans reached to high heaven. When he finished, the\nhouse rang with applause. The attorney for the defense tried to reply,\nbut the boys said Mr. Butler had spoiled his speech. The jury brought in\na verdict of guilty. The election came off soon afterwards, and people\nsaid that it was strongly influenced, in that township, by father's\nspeech.\n\nThe next May, mother, my little brother, and I, went to my uncle\nGorham's, near Canton, Illinois; while father went to Kansas to buy\nland, intending, however, to live several years at Mt. Sterling,\nIllinois, before moving to Kansas.\n\nMRS. ROSETTA B. HASTINGS.\n\n\n\n\nPERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nI came to Kansas in the spring of 1855, having been preaching in that\npart of Illinois known as the Military Tract, during the three preceding\nyears; but my residence was in Cedar County, Iowa, one hundred and fifty\nmiles from my field of labor, and twenty-six miles to the northwest of\nthe city of Davenport. I had been employed for one year in Iowa as a\nco-laborer with Bro. N. A. McConnell; but the church at Davenport, which\nwas the strongest and richest church in the Cooperation, determined to\nsustain a settled pastor, and this left the churches too poor to support\ntwo preachers, and I was left to find another field of labor.\n\nWhen I first came to Cedar County I came simply as a farmer; and there\nwere but nine families in the township in which we settled. But when the\ncountry came to be settled up the result was not favorable to the\nexpectation that we should have prosperous churches in that region.\nThose who have watched the progress of the temperance reform in Iowa\nhave noticed that, while the prohibitory law is enforced almost\nthroughout the State, there are yet exceptions in the cities of\nDavenport and Muscatine and the adjacent counties. Here the law is set\nat defiance. This is owing to the presence of a German,\nlager-beer-drinking, law-defying population, Godless and Christless,\nand that turn the Lord's day into a holiday. This tendency had begun\nto be apparent before I left Iowa.\n\nWhen it became manifest that I could not any longer find a field of\nlabor in Southeastern Iowa, I was recommended to the churches in the\ncounties of Schuyler and Brown, in the Military Tract, Illinois.\n\nMy first introduction among them was dramatic, if, indeed, we could give\nto an incident almost frivolous and laughable, the dignity of a dramatic\nincident; and yet the matter had a serious side to it. I had been\ncommended by Bro. Bates, editor of the _Iowa Christian Evangelist_, to\nthe church at Rushville, where I held a meeting of days. The meetings\ngrew in interest, there were some important additions, and the church\nwas greatly revived. Twelve miles from Rushville was the town of Ripley,\na small village, where the people were engaged in the business of\nmanufacturing pottery ware. Here two Second Adventist preachers, a Mr.\nChapman and his wife, were holding forth. This Mr. Chapman was a devout,\npious, and earnest man, and a good exhorter, and had an unfaltering\nfaith that the Lord was immediately to appear. But his wife was the\nsmartest one in the family. She was fluent and voluble. She had an\nunabashed forehead and a bitter and defiant tongue. It was her hobby to\ndeclaim against the popular idea of the existence of the human spirit\napart from the body. With her this was equivalent to a witch riding on a\nbroomstick or going to heaven on a moonbeam. Spirit is breath--so she\ndogmatically affirmed--and when a man breathes out his last breath his\nspirit leaves his body. But it was her especial delight to declaim\nagainst the Pagan notion of the immortality of the soul, and to affirm\nthat the Bible says nothing of the immortality of the soul. A Bro.\nMcPherson undertook to contest the matter with her, but, not finding the\nscripture he was looking for, she exclaimed with bitter and vixenish\nspeech, \"Ah! You can't find it! You can't find it! It isn't there! I\ntold you so!\" And thus this couple were fast demoralizing the church,\nBilly Greenwell, the richest man in the church, being wholly carried\naway with this fanaticism. John Brown lived half way between Ripley and\nRushville, but was a member of the church at Rushville. Bro. Brown was a\nman of good sense, excellent character, and had been a member of the\nLegislature. He attended our meeting at Rushville, and, in the intervals\nof the meeting, was full of questions concerning this heresy that had\nbeen sprung on them at Ripley.\n\nOur meeting at Rushville came to a close. It had been a good meeting;\nthe church had been revived, and there had been important additions. I\ntook dinner with Bro. Brown, and in the afternoon we rode toward Ripley.\nOn crossing the ferry at Crooked Creek, \"Old Rob Burton,\" the ferryman,\na tall, stalwart Kentuckian, looking down on me, asked, \"Are you the\nman that's goin' to preach at Ripley to-night?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Wall, don't you know thar's a woman thar that's goin' to skin you?\"\n\n\"Well, I don't know. We shall see how it will be?\"\n\nAt Rushville I had done my best, and now, being withdrawn from the\nexcitement of the meeting, felt exhausted; and determined not to touch\nany debatable question that night. The house was crowded with eager and\nexpectant listeners. My fame had gone before me, and the \"woman\npreacher\" was present, ready for a fight. But, alas! My sermon was a\nbucket of cold water poured on the heads of my brethren. At any other\ntime it would have been accepted as a good and edifying exhortation; but\nnow, how untimely! The meeting was dismissed and the buzzing was as if a\nhive of bees had just been ready to swarm. The woman's disciples were\njubilant; and, above the din and hurly-burly, I heard a thin, squeaking\nvoice say, \"Give that woman a Bible, and she would say more in five\nminutes than that man has said in his whole dis-c-o-u-rse.\" This was\nBilly Greenwell.\n\nBrother Brown said nothing that night; but the next morning he said to\nme:\n\n\"Bro. B., the people were disappointed with you last night.\"\n\n\"Why, Bro. B., was it not a good sermon?\"\n\n\"Yes; but it was not what the people expected.\"\n\n\"Bro. B., did the people expect me, uninvited, to pitch into a quarrel\nwith which I have nothing whatever to do?\"\n\n\"Oh, is that it? Well, wait a little and you shall have an invitation.\"\n\nBro. Brown went out, and soon returned with a request that I should\ndiscuss the question that Mr. Chapman and his wife had been debating. I\nsat down and wrote out a statement of the subjects on which I proposed\nto speak in all the evenings of the coming week. The first commanded\nuniversal attention: \"Does the spirit die when the body dies?\" They had\nnever thought of that. They had been thunderstruck when this woman told\nthem that the Bible says nothing about the immortality of the soul, but\nbeyond this they had never gone. There was probably more Bible reading\nthat day in Ripley than any day before or since.\n\nAt night the house was jammed, and \"the woman\" was there, Bible in hand.\nI began: \"The Bible speaks of a man as composed of body, soul and\nspirit. The body is that material tabernacle in which a man dwells, and\nwhich Paul hoped to put off that he might be clothed with a house not\nmade with hands, eternal in the heavens. The soul is that animal life we\nhave in common with all living and material things. Thus Jesus is said\nto have poured out his soul unto death. But what of the spirit? God is\nspirit, and God can not die. The angels are spirits, and the angels can\nnot die; Jesus says so. Man has a spirit, and can man's spirit die? But\nspirit sometimes means breath. Yes, and heaven sometimes means the\nfirmament above our heads, where the birds fly. But does it never mean\nmore than this? Paradise sometimes means the happy garden where Adam and\nEve dwelt; but does it never mean more than that? So, granting that\nspirit sometimes means breath, may it not also mean more than that?\n\n\"When Jesus said, 'Into thy hands I commend my spirit,' did he mean,\n'Into thy hands I commend my breath'? So, when the disciples saw Jesus\nwalking on the water and cried out, 'It is a spirit,' did Jesus say to\nthem, 'This is an old wives' fable; there is no such thing as a spirit'?\nDid he not rather say to them,--'It is I; be not afraid.' So, also, when\nhe appeared to them in a room, the doors being shut, and they cried out,\n'It is a spirit,' he said to them, 'Handle me and see; for a spirit\nhath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.' In all this Jesus\nencouraged the disciples to hold the idea which was then popular among\nthe Jews, that the spirit may exist apart from the body, and after the\nbody is dead.\"\n\nI thus discoursed to them for one hour in development of the Bible\nteachings concerning human spirits; and in my turn ridiculed the persons\nthat had ridiculed the ideas that had evidently been held by Jesus and\nthe apostles.\n\nMrs. Chapman had always invited objections; but she was sure to make an\nendless talk over them. I said, \"We will not have an endless\nconfabulation to-night; but I will quote one passage of Scripture, and\non that I will rest my case. Any other person may then quote one passage\nof Scripture and on that rest the case. I have preached one sermon; the\nother party has preached twenty. So far we will count ourselves even,\nand it only remains that I should quote my Scripture, and let the other\nparty quote the one Scripture on the opposite side, and then we will be\ndismissed.\" I gave the views of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees as\ndetailed by Josephus, and then quoted Luke in the Acts of Apostles: \"The\nSadducees say there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but\nthe Pharisees confess both.\" And Paul says, \"Men and brethren, I am a\nPharisee, the son of a Pharisee.\" So I also say, I am a Pharisee, the\nson of a Pharisee, and hold to the existence of human and angelic\nspirits.\n\nWhen I announced that I should call for objections, I saw Mrs. Chapman\ntake up her Bible in a flutter and nervously turn over its leaves. When\nI sat down all eyes were turned on her, and there was a death-like\nstillness in the house. Then she rose up, and in a moment was out of the\nhouse. She left the town the next morning and never came back. Then it\nwas \"Old Bob Burton's\" turn to speak. He said to Billy Green, \"Your\nchest is locked, and the key is lost in the bottom of the sea.\"\n\nThe brethren were gratified that the power of this \"soul-sleeping\"\ndelusion was broken. Billy Green never recovered from his infatuation.\nHe afterwards built a house that, in the number of rooms it contained,\nwas wholly beyond his necessities. But he thought that when the Lord\nshould come, and he should own all the land that joined him, and should\nhave children to his heart's desire, then he would need all the room.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nFrom Ripley I went to Mt. Sterling, the county-seat of Brown County.\nThis church had fallen into decay for want of the care of a competent\nevangelist. Here I remained some weeks; and the church was very much\nrevived, and there was a large ingathering. This was originally the home\nof Bro. Archie Glenn, now conspicuous in building up the University at\nWichita. From the first Bro. Glenn, though modest and unobtrusive, was\nknown as a solid and helpful member of the church. He always had the\nconfidence of the people of Brown County, and was by them elected to\nvarious public offices, at last becoming Lieutenant-Governor of the\nState. But his business not prospering to suit him, he removed to\nWichita, which was at that time a straggling village of uncertain\nfortunes, situated on a river of doubtful reputation, and located in a\ncountry concerning which the public were debating whether it should be\ncalled \"The Great American Desert,\" or a decent place, where civilized\nmen could live and thrive.\n\nBut Bro. Glenn did not lose faith in the Lord nor in his country. He\nwent to his new home to be a live man. Wichita has decided to be a city,\nand not a straggling village of doubtful and cow-boy reputation; the\nArkansas River has agreed to behave itself and to co-operate with human\nhands in giving fertility to its valley, and the geographers have\nunanimously agreed to strike the \"Great American Desert\" from the map of\nthe United States. Sister Shields has grown up since these old days to\nbe a woman, then a widow, and now a true yoke-fellow with her father in\nthese great undertakings.\n\nBro. Lewis Brockman was pointed out to me, when first I came to Mt.\nSterling, as a disaffected member; but, on a better acquaintance, it\nbecame apparent that his disaffection was that the church members had\nmade a solemn vow to keep the ordinances of the Lord's house, and did\nnot do it. When better order was obtained, he was once more in harmony\nwith the church; came to Atchison County, Kansas, and died, a pattern of\nfidelity to his conscience and to every known duty.\n\nDuring the period of three years in which I remained preaching in the\nMilitary Tract, I visited almost all its churches. The number of\ndisciples was large. They had a large amount of wealth at their\ndisposal, and were not averse to using it to promote the advancement of\nthe cause. But the children of this world are, in their generation,\nwiser than the children of light, and there is a certain practical\nwisdom that has been abundantly learned by other religious communities\nthat has only come to our churches through a sore and bitter experience;\nand it was through the fire of this experience they were passing at the\ntime of which we write. \"Billy Brown\" had been a notable evangelist\namong them. Indeed, he had been the father in the gospel of the churches\nin Brown and Schuyler Counties. He was popularly described as having a\nhead \"as big as a half bushel,\" surmounted by a great shock of hair. He\nwas an iconoclast, and devoted his life to the business of\nimage-breaking, and, of course, the breaking in pieces of the idols of\nthe people created a great tumult. There was this difference, and only\nthis difference, between the work of Billy Brown and Sam Jones; Sam\nJones declaims against sins already condemned by the popular conscience,\nbut Billy Brown assailed convictions enshrined in the innermost\nsanctuary of the hearts of the people. He did so because these popular\nsuperstitions stood in the way of the acceptance by the people of the\napostolic gospel. Of course, the work of such a man carried with it an\ninconceivable excitement. At Mt. Sterling a man in the audience made\nsome objection.\n\n\"What is your name?\" said Billy Brown.\n\n\"My name, sir, is Trotter.\"\n\n\"Well, come forward, and I will knock your _trotters_ out from under\nyou.\"\n\nBut Billy himself sometimes found his match. At Ripley he had been\npreaching after his accustomed style, and riding away from the place of\nmeeting--it was in the spring of the year when the mud was deep--he saw\nan old man painfully and with difficulty making his way through the mud.\nKnowing that he was a preacher from his white cravat, his broad-brimmed\nhat and single-breasted coat, he said to him:\n\n\"Well, old Daddy, how did you like the preaching?\"\n\n\"Haven't heard any,\" stiffly replied the old gentleman.\n\nBut when the tumult and excitement of this conflict had passed away, and\nhis converts were brought face to face with the grave duties of a\nreligious life, and with the serious work of keeping the ordinances of\nthe Lord's house, they did not know how; they had been born in a\nwhirlwind and could only live in a tempest. Notwithstanding, they loved\nthe Lord's cause, and they trembled for themselves and their children,\nif they should not be found faithful.\n\nIf these churches are not able at the present time to exhibit a growth\nadequate to their opportunities, it must be remembered, on their behalf,\nthat they have sent to the West an incredibly large number of disciples\nto serve as the nuclei for other churches throughout that mighty empire\nthat within the past thirty years has grown up between the Missouri\nRiver and the Pacific Ocean.\n\nThe days I spent in these churches are the golden days of my life. There\nhas been no field in which my labor as an evangelist has yielded a\nricher harvest; none in which there have been bestowed on me more\nflattering or more kindly attentions. It was the bright and joyous\nsunshine of a spring morning, before the bursting of the storm.\n\nThough each year increased my attachment to the people, and apparently\nadded their good-will to myself, there had been coming to the front a\ndifficulty that could not any longer be thrust aside or disregarded. I\nwas one hundred and fifty miles away from home, and from my wife and\nchildren. On holding a council of war to consider our future tactics, in\nwhich Mrs. Butler, was commander-in-chief, and myself, second in\ncommand, she said to me, \"Pardee, I am willing to go wherever you say,\nonly when we go there we must go to stay. We must not put our house on\nwheels. We must not leave our children without settled employment,\nexposed to all the hazards of a city life, or a life without a permanent\nhabitation.\"\n\nUnder such circumstances the settling on a home in reference to which it\ncould be said, \"Here we are to stay,\" was not an easy matter. The\npeople of the Military Tract were, almost all of them, Kentuckians.\nThere were evidently impending storms in the political horizon. I could\nnot bend my sails to suit every favoring gale; and if, in the future,\nthere should come a time that my conscience should lie in one direction,\nand my popularity and pecuniary interest in the other, I did not like to\ninvite such a temptation. At any rate, I did not like to place myself in\nsuch a position that to bring down on my head popular odium would be to\ninvite pecuniary ruin. These counties in the Military Tract were old\nsettled counties, and land was high; and I was not rich. At this time\nthe Kansas-Nebraska bill had been adopted by Congress, and Kansas had\nbeen opened for settlement. It was certain that Eastern Kansas, in the\nmatter of fertility of soil, and all the elements of agricultural\nwealth, would be a desirable location.\n\n\"But there might be a political and social conflict.\" Yes, and there\nmight be a political and social conflict in Illinois; or, for the matter\nof that, it might cover the West as with a blanket. It was certain that\nEastern Kansas would be early settled from Missouri; and in no State was\nthere a larger percentage of the people known as Disciples. I would,\ntherefore, be among my brethren; and, if I had kept the peace for three\nyears with Kentuckians in Illinois, could I not do the same thing with\nMissourians in Kansas? In any case, there was a fair prospect of gaining\nin Kansas a position of pecuniary independence; and any man can see that\nsuch a position was worth all the world to Alexander Campbell, when he\nwas constrained by his conscience to bring down on his own head the\nutmost wrath of his Baptist brethren.\n\nI started in the spring of 1855 to ride on horseback through Missouri;\nbut was soon made to feel that there were more things in this world than\nwere known in my philosophy. I had determined to remain over Sunday in\nLinnville, Linn County, Missouri, the county-seat of the county, as here\nwas a congregation of Disciples; and called on a merchant of the place,\nwho had been mentioned as one of the leading members. He remarked that\nhe had become acquainted with me through the _Christian Evangelist_,\npublished by Bro. Bates, in Iowa; but, on learning my destination,\nseemed strangely oblivious that anything more should be due from him to\nme. And so, having waited patiently about for a goodly time, I mounted\nmy horse and rode on till dark; then seeing a light, and having called\nat the house, I found an old man who kindly received and lodged me. In\nthe morning it appeared that his house was surrounded by negro cabins.\nHaving inquired my destination, he began to talk to me concerning the\nsubject that seemed to be in every man's heart. I replied, submitting to\nhim such views as were held by a majority of Northern men. To my\nsurprise he flared up in anger, and said:\n\n\"If you talk that way when you get to Kansas you will never come back\nagain; they will hang you.\"\n\nThe thing was so absurd I only laughed in the old man's face,\nand said to him:\n\n\"Well, you can not teach an old dog new tricks. I have spoken my mind so\nlong that I shall continue to do it if they do hang me,\" and so bade him\ngood-bye.\n\nIt was Sunday morning, and it was eighteen miles to Chillicothe.\nArriving at the hotel, the people were getting ready for meeting. On\nquestioning them where they were going, the landlord replied:\n\n\"To the Christian Church. Will you not go along with us?\"\n\nOn asking my name he said:\n\n\"O yes; I have seen your name in the _Christian Evangelist._ You have\nbeen preaching in Illinois. I will introduce you to our preacher, and we\nwill make an appointment for you this afternoon.\"\n\nThis landlord was a brother to that Congressman Graves that shot Cilley,\na member of Congress from Maine, in a duel with rifles, at Washington.\nThe people described \"mine host\" as one of \"fighting stock \"; and spoke\nof him as being as thoughtful of the comfort, health and welfare of his\nslaves as of his own children. To me he seemed simply a genial, jovial,\nfriendly and traditional \"Boniface,\" chiefly intent on furnishing\ncomfortable fare and an enjoyable place for his guest.\n\nBy the members of the Christian Church I was kindly received, and was\ninvited to take dinner with the preacher. After dinner two brethren came\nin, to whom I had been introduced at the meeting-house. After some\ndesultory talk, they asked me:\n\n\"_Are you an abolitionist_?\"\n\nI was both angry and confounded. I had never in my life made myself\nconspicuous in this controversy that was going on between North and\nSouth, and why should I be insulted with such a question. I did not\nanswer yes or no, but proceeded to give my views on the subject in\ngeneral. They listened and remarked that they did not see anything\noffensive in such views; then made this apology for their seeming\nrudeness: An old man, a preacher, whom they called Father Clark, had\ncome from Pennsylvania to Chillicothe to live with a married daughter,\nand had said something concerning slavery offensive to the people, and\nthey had called a meeting of the citizens, and he had been driven out of\ntown and ordered never to return. They had, furthermore, resolved that\nno abolitionist should thereafter be allowed to preach in the city.\nThese brethren explained that, as I would be called on and interrogated\nby a committee, they thought it would be better that this should be done\nby friends, than that I should be questioned by strangers.\n\n\"_Are You an Abolitionist_?\"\n\nI was angry with myself for having consented to preach a sermon after\nbeing met with such a question. But by mine host, Bro. Graves, I was\ntreated with the most frank and manly courtesy, albeit that he was\nbrother to the man that shot a brother congressman in a duel with\nrifles. He seemed to feel like the town clerk at Ephesus: \"What man is\nthere that knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of\nthe great goddess Diana, and of the image that fell down from Jupiter?\nSeeing then that these things can not be spoken against, ye ought to be\nquiet and do nothing rashly.\"\n\nThe Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was just being located through the\ncity, yet the town was a dead town, though it was surrounded by a\nfertile and prosperous country. Bro. Graves seemed awake to all its\nadvantages, and pressed me to remain, pointing out the rapid advance\nthat must take place in the value of its property. But I kept thinking\nof the question: \"Are you an abolitionist?\" and bade him farewell.\n\nAt nightfall I found myself beyond Gallatin, on the road to St. Joseph.\nAs there were no hotels I called at a private house and was hospitably\nreceived. This man, on whom I had called, had come from the State of\nPennsylvania, and had grown to a prosperous farmer. There seemed to be\nno books or newspapers about the house; but he was shrewd and sagacious\nto a proverb, and was eager to hear from the land of his fathers, and of\nwhat was the cause of all this din and clamor and excitement of the\npeople about him. What was the meaning of the Kansas-Nebraska bill? What\nwere the intentions of the Black Republicans? What was the _New York\nTribune_ doing, that it should raise such a tumult? And what were the\npurposes of the Emigrant Aid Society that it should be such an offense\nto the people in Missouri?\n\nOn my own part, I also had much to learn from this man, so shrewd and\nwell-informed, and yet so ignorant. What did it mean that citizens of\nMissouri should go over in force and vote in the Territory of Kansas? We\nhad heard something of this in Illinois, but supposed it was something\ndone by that turbulent and somewhat lawless element that gathers along\nthe borders of civilization; but now it was apparent that this movement\nwas under control of leading citizens of Missouri, and had been\nparticipated in by conscientious men, members of the various churches of\nMissouri, who would in no wise knowingly do anything wrong. What did it\nmean?\n\nThe reader will not be surprised that we should sit up to a late hour of\nthe night, nor that we should renew the subject again in the morning.\nWhen I had got ready to leave this man, who had so hospitably\nentertained me, he explained that he had business on the road on which I\nwas traveling, and that he would accompany me a number of miles.\n\nThis emigrant from Pennsylvania, now a citizen of Missouri, who carried\nhis library in his brain and read his books when he conversed with men,\nand kept his own counsel and lived in peace with his neighbors, was now\nabout to say farewell. With some hesitation he said: \"Mr. Butler, I\nthank you for all you have told me. I feel just as you do; but I must\nadvise you to be careful how you talk to other men as you have talked to\nme. There are many in this country that would shoot such a man as you\nare. Good-bye.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nIt is said, \"There are two sides to every question.\" In my association\nwith men in the free States I had learned one side of this question; now\nI was learning the other side, and began to be able to put in\nintelligible shape to myself those reasonings by which these men\njustified their action. They reasoned thus: \"War is a state of violence\nand always involves a trenching upon what we call natural rights; and\nits decisions depend not so much on who is right or wrong, as on who\nwields the longest sword and commands the heaviest battalions. And if in\ncarrying on a war some evil comes to innocent parties, this is only one\nof its necessary consequences, and is justified by the final result;\nprovided always that the war, as a whole, is right and just. And in such\na strained and unnatural condition of affairs men can not be governed by\nthe same scrupulous regard for others' rights by which they are governed\nin time of peace. But the North and South are already practically in a\nstate of war. This comes of the mistakes made at the formation of our\ngovernment. Thomas Jefferson and the fathers of the Revolution were\nmistaken in holding slavery wrong. It is a rightful and natural\nrelation, as between an inferior and superior race. The black race is\nfar better off here in America, in slavery, than they would be in\nAfrica, in freedom and in paganism; and if there is something of\nhardship in their lot, it is only because there is hardship in the lot\nof every human being.\"\n\nThese men also said: \"Consequent on these erroneous views held by Thomas\nJefferson and others, the settlement made as between the North and South\nhas been wrong, from the beginning, It was wrong to close the Northwest\nTerritory, embracing Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, against\nslavery. So also it was wrong to close Kansas against this institution\nby what was called the Missouri Compromise Line, agreed upon on the\nadmission of Missouri into the Union.\"\n\nSo these men reasoned, and they said: \"Now we propose to go and take by\nthe strong hand those rights of which we have been wrongfully deprived\nsince the beginning of the American Government. A little severity now--a\nresolute seizing on our rights now, in this golden opportunity--will be\nworth more than the shedding of rivers of blood by and by. Therefore the\nprimary and rudimental legislation of this infant Territory will be\nworth everything to us in the final settlement of this question. It is\ncertain that the law is against us; but the law itself is wrong, and has\nbeen wrong from the beginning. The right that belongs to us is the\nmaterial and inalienable right of revolution.\"\n\nWe have no right to assume that a majority of the people of Missouri\nheld the sentiments we have here indicated: probably they did not. But\nthe dissent was generally unspoken. The men of this stamp commonly\nadopted the policy of the man with whom I had just parted. But there was\ndissent in some cases, bitter and vehement, followed sometimes by\nbloodshed.\n\nBefore I had gone to Iowa, and while I yet lived in Ohio, I had visited\nKentucky. An Ohio colony had gone down into Kentucky and located in the\ncounties of Wayne and Pulaski, on the Cumberland River. A brother of\nmine had gone with them, and I had made him a visit. I thought then, and\nthink now, that there is no region on which the sun shines, more\ndesirable to live in than the region of the Cumberland Mountains. At\nCrab Orchard I found a man that was born in the State of New York. He\nhad been a soldier at Hull's surrender, at Detroit, in the war of 1812,\nwith Great Britain. From Detroit he had made his way into Kentucky, had\nmarried a rich wife with many slaves, and had become a vehement partisan\nfor slavery. But because he was born in the same State with myself, and\nbecause I could tell him much about that people that were once his\npeople, he was glad to have me stop with him. Being old and choleric, he\nwould go off into a fierce passion against the abolitionists. He would\nsay: \"These men are thieves! Our niggers are our property, and they\nsteal our property. They might as well steal our horses.\" After awhile\nhe would begin to talk about his children. He would say: \"These niggers\nare ruining my children! My girls are good for nothing! They can not\nhelp themselves! They are so helpless they can not even pick up a\nneedle. And my boys! These niggers are ruining my boys! My boys won't\nwork!\" And then he would _go_ on to tell the nameless vices the young\nmen of the city were drawn into through their intimacy with the blacks.\nI thought, but did not say, \"My dear sir, if slavery is working such a\nruin on your own children, would not the abolitionists be doing you a\nkindness if they would steal every nigger you have got?\"\n\nBut there was a still graver aspect that this question was beginning to\nassume: A woman that is a slave has neither the motive nor the power to\nprotect her own virtue; and the land was threatened to be filled with a\nnation of mulattoes. But this mixed race would possess all the pride,\nambition and talent of the superior race; at the same time they would\nfeel all that undying hatred that a subject people feel toward the men\nby whom they are subjugated. We would then be sleeping on a volcano,\nsuch as may at any hour engulf the empire of Russia.\n\nAll this I pondered in my heart as I slowly made my way toward St.\nJoseph, on the Missouri River, which flows along the western border of\nKansas. And now this question was coming to the front and forcing a\nsettlement, and in Kansas would be the first real conflict. In Congress\nthey had only paltried with, it; now the people were to try their hand.\nAnd what should I do? Had I any right as a Christian and as an American\ncitizen, when providentially called to this work, to withdraw myself\nfrom aiding in its settlement? And should I turn my horse in the\nopposite direction, go back to my Bro. Graves at Chillicothe, and say to\nhim: \"You are a man of undoubted courage, but I am a paltroon and a\ncoward, and I am going to hunt a hole and hide myself, where I will be\nout of danger when this battle is fought between freedom and slavery.\"\n\nI did not turn back, but revolving all these matters in my mind, reached\nthe city of St. Joseph. Here I had been commended by a friend to a\nmerchant in the city, a member of the Christian Church. He received me\nkindly and treated me courteously, but his partner in business did not\nseem to be of that mind. He was all out of sorts, and gruffly said,\n\"Kansas is a humbug. It will not be settled in thirty years.\"\n\nIn revolutions men live fast. I had been ten days on my journey, and the\nman that now crossed the Missouri River at St. Joseph was not just the\nman that ten days before crossed the Mississippi at Quincy. He was a\nwiser and a sadder man.\n\nOn the Kansas side the first company I met was a two-horse wagon load of\nmen that had been exploring the Territory and were returning. They\nseemed thoroughly disgusted, and said: \"The wind blows so hard in\nKansas, it would blow a chicken up against the side of a barn and hold\nit there for twenty-four hours.\"\n\n\"Kansas will not be settled in thirty years.\" So said my not very\namiable friend in St. Joseph. It is now somewhat more than thirty years,\nand Kansas has more than a million of inhabitants. But the State has a\nhigher boast to make than that it has so increased in wealth and\npopulation. It has been the first State in the Union--indeed, it has\nbeen the first government in the world--to incorporate prohibition into\nits fundamental law; and this is the best possible criticism by which to\nmark its comparative progress in a Christian civilization.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nAfter crossing the Missouri River I visited some of the principal\nsettlements in the Territory, such as Atchison, Leaven worth, Lawrence\nand Topeka. Lawrence, Topeka and Manhattan were settlements made by men\nfrom free States, and with an eye single to making Kansas a free State.\nThere was no town located on the Missouri River, and no settlement made\nin the counties bordering on the Missouri River, that were properly free\nState settlements. I thought this was a mistake. These counties had by\nfar the largest population, and as these counties would go, the\nTerritory would go; and I thought that no considerations of personal\ndanger ought to hinder, that these counties should have respectable\nsettlements of avowed Free State men among them.\n\nWhat is now the city of Atchison was then a small village that was being\nbuilt among--the cottonwood trees on the banks of the Missouri River,\nabout twenty miles below St. Joseph, and the same distance above Fort\nLeavenworth. It had been named after the notable David R. Atchison, who\nhad been a Senator from Missouri, and acting Vice-President of the\nUnited States. D. R. Atchison and Gen. B. F. Stringfellow had at this\ntime won a national notoriety in this struggle now going on in Kansas;\nand both were leading members in the Atchison town company. Dr.\nStringfellow was deputed to act as editor-in-chief of the _Squatter\nSovereign_, a paper at that time started in Atchison; but the editor was\nRobert S. Kelly. Bob Kelly, as he was popularly called, was a born\nleader among such a population as at that time filled Western Missouri.\nThe towns along the Missouri River were the outfitting points for that\nimmense overland freighting business, that was at that time carried on\nacross the western plains, to Santa Fe in Mexico and to Salt Lake,\nOregon and California; and here congregated a multitude of that wild,\nlawless, law-defying and law-breaking mob of men, that accompanied these\nexpeditions, and were the habitues of these western plains, or were\namong the gold seekers of California.\n\nBob Kelly was left an orphan at an early age, and was from his youth\nsurrounded with such a population. In person he was handsome as an\nApollo, broad-shouldered and muscular, with fair complexion and blue\neyes, and was the natural chief of the dangerous men that were drawn to\nhim by his personal magnetism. Moreover, he possessed so much native\neloquence, and such an ability to make passionate appeals, as made him a\nfit person to fire the hearts of these men to deeds of violence,\n\nI obtained a claim to 160 acres of land, twelve miles from Atchison, and\non the banks of the Stranger Creek. This claim I would be at liberty to\nbuy, at government price, if I should continue to live on it until it\nshould come into market. My nearest neighbor was Caleb May, a Disciple,\nand a squatter, from the other side of the river. Bro. May was in his\nway as much a character as Bob Kelly. He gloried, like John Randolph, of\nRoanoke, in being descended from. Pocahontas, and that he therefore had\nIndian blood in his veins. Born and reared on the frontier, tall,\nmuscular, and raw-boned, an utter stranger to fear, a dead shot with\npistol or rifle, cool and self-possessed in danger, he had become known\nfar and near as a desperate and dangerous man when meddled with. But he\nhad been converted, and had become a member of the Christian Church, and\naccording to the light that was in him he did his best to conform his\nlife to the maxims of the New Testament, and conscientiously sought to\nconfine all exhibition of \"physical force\" to such occasions as those in\nwhich he might be compelled to defend himself. Then it was not likely to\nbe a healthy business for his antagonist.\n\nAfter securing my claim, and commencing to build a cabin, I began to\nlook around me. Fully three-fourths of the squatters of this whole\nregion were from the border counties of Missouri. But in Western\nMissouri the percentage of Disciples was perhaps larger than in any\nother portion of the United States, consequently I had brethren on every\nside of me. These men certainly were not refined and educated men, as\nthe phrase goes, still they had the qualities that our Lord found in the\nfisherman of Galilee.\n\nOne thought was in every man's heart, and on every man's tongue. The\nname _Squatter Sovereign,_ that had been given to the Atchison\nnewspaper, indicated the trend of public opinion. They had been\nflattered with the idea that if they would come to Kansas they should be\n\"Squatter Sovereigns,\" that the domestic institutions of the infant\nTerritory should be determined not by the nation, nor by Congress, but\nby themselves. And yet, when the election day came, every election\nprecinct in the Territory, except one, was taken possession of by bodies\nof men from Missouri, and the elections had been carried, not by _bona\nside_ citizens, but by an outside invasion. With pain and shame, and\nbitter resentment, my neighbors told me how they had driven their wagons\nto the place of voting, on the prairie, and hitched their horses to\ntheir wagons, and were quietly going about their business, when with a\ngreat whoop and hurrah, which frightened their horses and made them\nbreak loose from their wagons, a company of men came in sight, and with\nswagger and bluster, took possession of the polls, and proceeded to do\nthe voting. Meantime whisky flowed like water, and the men, far gone in\nliquor, turned the place into a bedlam. In utter humiliation and disgust\nmany of the squatters went home. Caleb May did not get into the\nneighborhood till afternoon. Before he got to the place of voting, he\nmet Joseph Potter, and on hearing what was done he threw his hat on the\nground, and in a towering rage protested he would no longer vote with a\nparty that would treat the people of the Territory in such a way as\nthat. This was done in March, but so far as any public expression of\nsentiment was concerned, the people seemed dumb. No public meeting was\ncalled in the way of protest till the next September, and that meeting\nwas held at Big Springs, sixty miles from Atchison.\n\nBut if there was no public protest, there was plenty of it in private.\nThe men from the State of Missouri grew sick at heart. It was a deep,\nunspoken, bitter and shame-faced feeling, for it was their old neighbors\nthat had done this.\n\nI often asked myself, Can it be hoped that an election can be held that\nshall fairly express the real sentiment of the people, if they allow\nthemselves to be held down under such a reign of terror?\n\nThe prevalent sentiment of the squatters from Missouri was, \"We will\nmake Kansas a free white State; we will admit no negroes into it.\" These\nmen regarded the negro as an enemy to themselves. They said: \"We were\nborn to the lowly lot of toil, and the negro has made labor a disgrace.\nNeither ourselves nor our children have had opportunity for education,\nand the negro is the cause of it. Moreover, an aristocracy at the South\nhas assumed control of public affairs, and the negro is the cause of\nthat. Now we propose to make Kansas a free white State, and shut out the\nnegro, who has been the cause of all our calamities.\"\n\nThere was, however, a class of men among them that had pity for the\nnegro. I will repeat one story, as it was told me by Bro. Silas Kirkham.\nBro. Kirkham belongs to that family of Kirkhams so well known to our\nbrethren in Southeastern Iowa. Bro. Kirkham was raised in a slave State.\nHe said: \"When I was a boy I had never thought of slavery as being\nwrong. There was a black boy in the settlement named Jim. Jim was so\ngood-natured, faithful and well-behaved that we all liked him. Jim\nmarried a black girl and they had twins--boys--bright, likely little\nfellows, and Jim's wife and twin babies were all the treasure he had in\nthe world.\"\n\nBro. Kirkham said: \"One day I found Jim in the woods, where he had been\nsent to split rails. He was sitting down with his face buried in his\nhands, apparently asleep. I thought I would crawl slyly up to him, and\nspring suddenly on him, and frighten him. I did so, but Jim was not\nasleep at all, but lifted up his head with such a look of unutterable\nwoe that I was frightened myself, and said: 'Why, Jim, what is the\nmatter?' Jim cried out: 'O, my boys! my boys! Massa sold my boys!'\"\n\nBro. Kirkham said: \"_I_ have vowed everlasting enmity to an institution\nthat will legalize such treatment of a human being.\"\n\nBut while these ominous mutterings were heard in so many of the Kansas\nsquatter cabins, little did the high and mighty Atchison Town Company,\nor the editorial staff of the _Squatter Sovereign_, or the puissant\nTerritorial Legislature, reck that so soon they must take up the sad\nrefrain of Cardinal Woolsey:\n\n    Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!\n    This is the state of man: To-day he puts forth\n    The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,\n    And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;\n    The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,\n    And--when he thinks, good easy man, full surely\n    His greatness is a-ripening--nips his root;\n    And then he falls, as I do.\n\nThe following extract, from an editorial that appeared at this time in\nthe _Squatter Sovereign_, will show what a rose-colored view these\ngentlemen took of the situation:\n\nSLAVERY IN KANSAS.\n\nWe receive letters, by nearly every mail, asking our\nopinion as regards the security of slave property in\nKansas Territory. We can truly say that no Territory in\nUncle Sam's dominion can be found where the slave' can be\nmade more secure, or his work command a higher price. Our\nslave population is gradually increasing by the arrival of\nemigrants and settlers from the slave States, who, having\nan eye to making a fortune, have wisely concluded to\nsecure a farm in Kansas, and stock it well with valuable\nslaves. Situated as Missouri is, being surrounded by free\nStates, we would advise the removal of negroes from the\nfrontier counties to Kansas, where they will be\ncomparatively safe. Abolitionists too well know the\ncharacter of the Kansas squatter to attempt to carry out\nthe nefarious schemes of the underground railroad\ncompanies.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nImmediately on obtaining my claim, brethren had sought me out and made\nmy acquaintance, and soon it appeared that there were enough Disciples\nin the settlement to constitute a church. But the times were stormy, and\nwe delayed making any movement in that direction. It had now come to be\nthe month of June. There had been refreshing showers. The singing birds\nhad come, and the bright sunshine. The prairie had put on its royal\nrobes, the forest its richest garments, and the people had become\nimpatient with their long isolation from religious meetings. The Lord's\nday was almost ceasing to be the Lord's day to them, and they demanded a\nsermon. We, therefore, came together in the timbered bottoms of Caleb\nMay's claim, on the banks of the Stranger Creek. The gathering was\nprimitive and peculiar, like the gathering at a Western\ncamp-meeting--footmen, and men and women on horseback, and whole\nfamilies in two-horse lumber wagons. Some were dressed in\nKentucky-jeans, and some in broadcloth; there were smooth-shaven men and\nbearded men; there were hats and bonnets of every form and fashion; all\nwere dressed in such ways as best suited their convenience or\nnecessities. In this crowd were those that, as the years should go by,\nwere destined to grow in wealth, in understanding, in popularity and\nhigh position, and they should be known as the first in the land.\n\nThe singing was not in the highest style of the musical art, but it\nwas hearty and sincere.\n\nLooking up at the thick branches of the spreading elms above our heads\nI said:\n\nMY FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--I have never seen trees\nclothed with leaves of so rich a green as the trees above\nour heads, I have never seen prairies robed in richer\nverdure than the prairies around us.\n\nSince the year of 1832, it has been known that what is\ncalled the \"Platte Purchase,\" in Missouri, is the garden\nspot of the West; and now it is apparent that we have here\non the west side of the Missouri River what is the exact\ncounterpart of the Platte Purchase on the east side. It is\nthe same in genial suns, refreshing rains, and unequalled\nfertility of soil. It is, moreover, true that, owing to\nthe peculiar circumstances under which this Territory will\nbe settled we shall have a population inferior to no\npopulation on the face of the earth.\n\nAfter the deluge was past, God promised enlargement to the\nsons of Japheth. \"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall\ndwell in the tents of Shem;\" and more than 3,000 years the\nsons of Japheth have been fulfilling their destiny. They\ncame originally from the mountain regions around Mount\nArarat, and moving westward, they have filled all Europe;\nand these tribes coming from the east have created the\nmodern European nations. The last and westernmost\nsettlement was made on the island of Great Britain, and\nhere they were stopped from further progress by the\nAtlantic Ocean; and here, after many generations of war,\nthey coalesced and mingled their blood together, and thus\nbecame the British nation; and thus out of the commingling\nof the blood of the most enterprising races that came out\nof the loins of Japheth has grown that nation, that in all\nlands has vindicated its right to be known as the foremost\nnation of the world.\n\nChristopher Columbus discovered America, and now new\ncauses began to operate that called for the planting of\nnew colonies here in America. Martin Luther asserted the\nright of a man to stand immediately in the presence of the\nLord, to be answerable directly to the Lord, and to\nconfess his sins to the Lord alone, and from the Lord to\nreceive pardon, without the intervention of any pope,\npriest, or ghostly mediator. This was counted by the\nCatholic Church a horrible blasphemy, and the Diet of\nWorms was called, and Luther was commanded to appear\nbefore it and recant. Presiding over this Diet was Charles\nV., Emperor of Germany; here were Electors, Princes and\ncrowned heads, popish priests, bishops and cardinals,\ntogether with the principal nobility of Catholic\nEurope--these all came together to compel the recantation\nof Friar Martin Luther. But Luther said; \"Unless I be\nconvinced by Scripture and reason, I neither can nor dare\nretract anything for my conscience is a captive to God's\nWord, and it is neither safe nor right to go against\nconscience,\" and a great multitude of men in Germany,\nFrance, Switzerland, and Great Britain stood beside Luther\nand protested that they were amenable to the Lord alone,\nand that they could do nothing against conscience. But\nthese Protestant governments stopped midway between popery\nand Protestantism; for each of these nations, while\nrenouncing the Pope of Rome, assumed that it was the\nbusiness of the king to instruct the people what to\nbelieve; and so instead of having one pope they had many\npopes, consequently many Protestant sects; and these took\nthe place of that one apostolic church originally\nestablished by the apostles. Notwithstanding, there were\nsome, in all lands that remained steadfast to the\nprinciple enunciated by Martin Luther: \"Unless I be\nconvinced by Scripture and reason, I neither can nor dare\nretract\"; and so it came to pass that there were\nProtestant persecutions as well as Catholic persecutions;\nand so also it came to pass that men became wearied with\nthis intolerance, and determined to seek beyond the\nAtlantic Ocean a place where they could worship God\naccording to the dictates of their own consciences, with\nnone to molest them or make them afraid. It was for such\ncause that the Puritans settled in New England, the\nQuakers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Scotch and\nIrish Presbyterians in North Carolina; and it was for this\ncause that the French Huguenots, driven out of France by\nthe French king, came to South Carolina. The most notable\ncause that induced the planting of the thirteen original\ncolonies here in North America was religious persecution\nin the Old World. And as the oak grows out of the acorn,\nso out of these colonies has grown this nation of which we\nare so proud.\n\nGreat Britain became more Lutheran than Germany, the\nnative land of Luther, and God lifted the British nation\nup to become the chiefest nation of the world; the United\nStates of North America became more Lutheran than Great\nBritain, and the eyes of the world are fixed on us in\nadmiration and astonishment. God blessed the house of\nObededom, and all that he had, because the ark of God was\nin it.\n\nBut there are spots on the sun, and there are exceeding\nblemishes in our Protestantism, notwithstanding the fact\nthat the glory of the American people has grown out of it.\nThe image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream had feet\nand toes, part of iron and part of potter's clay, partly\nstrong and partly broken. So it is with our Protestant\nsectarianism, and because of it we are partly strong and\npartly broken. Compare the Protestant United States with\nCatholic Mexico, or compare Protestant Great Britain with\nCatholic Spain, and compared with these nations we have\nthe strength of iron, but judged by our sectarianism we\nhave the weakness of miry clay.\n\nMy friends and fellow citizens, I have the honor to\nrepresent to you a people that have said we will go back\nto that order of things originally established by Jesus\nand the apostles--we will make no vow of loyalty to any\nbut Jesus, and we will have no bond of union save the\ntestimonies and commandments of the Lord as given to us by\nthe Lord himself and the holy apostles. Out of this we\nhope may grow such a union of God's people as Jesus prayed\nfor when he prayed that all Christians might be one. We\nare striving for such an order of things that Protestants\nmay present a united front against the world, the flesh\nand the devil, and against all disloyalty to Jesus.\n\nTo this appeal men often make reply: \"We can not break\nloose from our religious surroundings, dear to us through\nlife-long and most tender associations.\" But, my friends,\nthis objection can have no weight with this audience,\nassembled here on this glorious Lord's day, and on this\nour first religious meeting. Here we have already broken\nloose from these associations. These ties, how dear so\never to us, we have already sundered. The people with whom\nwe once met, and with whom we once took sweet counsel, the\nchurches in which we once worshiped, shall know us no more\nforever. Here we are free to act, and to correct the\nmistakes that have been unwittingly made by the churches\nwith which we have formerly been connected, just as our\nAmerican fathers were free to frame a better government\nthan the government of the nations out of which they came.\n\nMay I not appeal to you, my friends, and say you owe it to\nyourselves, you owe it to Christians in every land, you\nowe it to your Lord, you owe it to the future State of\nKansas, to so act as to free the Christian profession from\nthe trammels that have hindered its progress and glory\never since the days when our divisions began. If\nProtestantism seas done so much in spite of all its\ndivisions, what will it not do if these hindrances are\ntaken out of the way?\n\nKansas is certainly predestinated to be a great State. The\nfertility of its soil, the healthfulness of its\natmosphere, and the fact that its population is to be made\nup from the bravest, most daring and most enterprising men\nin the nation, all look in this direction; you ought,\nthen, my friends, to see to it that as far as your\ninfluence may go its religion shall be nothing less than\nprimitive and apostolic Christianity.\n\nIn ascertaining what is primitive and apostolic\nChristianity, we shall pay supreme respect to the time\nwhen the old or Jewish dispensation came to an end, and\nwhen the new or Christian dispensation began. The first,\nor Jewish dispensation, Jesus took out of the way, nailing\nit to the cross. The second, or Christian dispensation,\nbegan after Jesus arose from the dead and ascended up on\nhigh, far above the thrones, dominions, principalities and\npowers of the world of light, and became the Head over all\nthings to the church. This was the proposition with which\nPeter closed his sermon on the day of Pentecost:\n\"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,\nthat God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have\ncrucified, both Lord and Christ.\" To this agree the words\nof Jesus after his resurrection, as recorded in the close\nof Matthew's gospel: \"All authority is given to me in\nheaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and disciple all\nnations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and\nof the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.\"\n\nLuke records some things which Matthew does not record:\n\"Thus it is written, and thus it behooved the Messiah to\nsuffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that\nrepentance and remission of sins might be preached in his\nname among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and ye are\nwitnesses of these things.\" But Mark records some things\nthat neither Matthew nor Luke have recorded: \"Go ye into\nall the, world and preach the gospel to every creature. He\nthat believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that\nbelieveth not shall be damned.\" In carrying out this\ncommission, thus recorded by these three evangelists, if\nwe find an ignorant pagan that knows nothing of Jesus we\nshall say to him, as Paul said to the Philippian jailer,\nignorant pagan that he was: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus\nChrist and thou shalt be saved and thy house.\"\n\nBut if we find men who already believe, as did the three\nthousand who were pierced in the heart on the day of\nPentecost, we shall say to them, as Peter did: \"Repent and\nbe baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ\nfor remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of\nthe Holy Spirit.\" If, however, we find a man that not only\nbelieves, but is a penitent believer, such as Saul of\nTarsus was when Ananias found him, we shall say, as\nAnanias said: \"And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be\nbaptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of\nthe Lord.\"\n\nIn all this there is nothing human, nothing schismatical.\nAll can accept it who are willing to accept the Word of\nthe Lord. In the baptism we administer, we will give no\ncause for schism: it shall be a burial, and this, so far\nas the action of baptism is concerned, will meet the\nconscience of the Greek Church, the Roman Catholic Church,\nand of all Protestant churches.\n\nDo not, my friends, attempt to turn aside this appeal\nwhich I now make to you with a laugh or a sneer. This is\nthe Lord's word, and the word of the Lord is not to be put\naside with a sneer. Do not scoff at this as a water of\nsalvation. You certainly will not scoff at the word of the\nLord.\n\nAnd now, my friends, will you not demean yourselves worthy\nof the high place that God has given you? Adam and Eve\ncarried in their hands the weal or woe of the unnumbered\nmillions of their children that should come after them.\nAbraham, because of his great faith and because of his\nhigh integrity, sent down a blessing upon his fleshly seed\nfor fifty generations; and for the same cause was\nconstituted the spiritual father of a spiritual seed as\nnumerous as the stars of heaven or as the sand upon the\nseashore. A few Galileean fishermen have filled the world\nwith the glory of the Lord. Luther drove back the darkness\nof the dark ages and has filled the world with the light\nof God's Word. And now, my friends, you are laying the\nfoundations of many generations, and will you not take\nheed how these foundations are laid? Can you repent if you\ntake God at his word and do as did the apostles and the\nprimitive Christians?\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nThat sermon was preached almost thirty-three years ago. It was an\nextemporaneous discourse, and no notes were preserved. Nevertheless,\nthere were circumstances attending its delivery, that have indelibly\nimpressed its leading points on the memory of the writer.\n\nS. J. H. Snyder was a Lutheran from Pennsylvania, and at that time was a\nresident of Atchison county. He had traveled to see the world, and was a\nwriter of books. He heard the sermon, and was greatly taken with it. He\nwrote out a report of it, and handed his report to me for criticism and\ncorrection. He intended to send it for publication to a paper in\nPennsylvania. I said to him that his report left out the most essential\nand vital part of the sermon, and proposed myself to write out an\nabstract of it for his use. This I did, but my friend Mr. Snyder\nconcluded: \"This is a hard saying, who can hear it?\" He was not willing\nto be counted unsound in the faith by his brethren in Pennsylvania, and\nforwarded the original manuscript.\n\nThere were also in the audience two young gentlemen, recently come from\nthe New England States to seek their fortune. They were just of that age\nto think that what they did not know, or at least what the people of New\nEngland did not know, was not worth knowing. Such a meeting in the open\nair; such an audience, in which the dress of every man and woman was got\nup according to their own notions, and that, too, without consulting\nMrs. Grundy; _such a preacher! and such a sermon_! Certainly these all\nwere new to them, and did not command their highest admiration. These\nyoung gentlemen kept up a sort of running commentary between themselves,\non what they saw going on, until, becoming tired of their misbehavior, I\nturned and said to them in effect: \"Young gentlemen, you profess to be\nmen of good breeding, and it is understood that well-bred people will\nbehave themselves in meeting.\" They were very angry, and one of them\nwrote me a saucy letter about it. But finding little sympathy in the\nsettlement, they went to Atchison, and there they found abundant\nsympathy and open ears to hear. A man who was a preacher, and a\npronounced free State man, had come from Illinois and had settled on the\nStranger Creek; and who could tell the mischief he might do to his\nbrethren who were squatters from Missouri? When these same New England\ngentlemen were in their turn stripped of all they were worth by the\n\"Border Ruffians\" it changed their feelings toward their free State\nbrethren \"mightily.\"\n\nAnd now that feeling of dissatisfaction that had been all along\nfestering in the hearts of the people, began to come to the surface. An\ninside view would have revealed a perpetual murmur of discontent. The\nTerritorial Legislature was now in session, and doing its work, and\ncopies of the laws they had enacted were coming into circulation. No\nlegislature in America had ever been elected as they had been, and we\nhave already learned what a thrill of horror and pain this caused in\nthe hearts of the squatters. It would have been a dictate of the most\nobvious common sense that a body of men whose claim to be a Territorial\nLegislature rested on such a basis should proceed with the utmost\nmoderation. But they were intoxicated with success. It is an old and a\nwise saw, that whom the gods wish to destroy they first deprive of their\nreason, and these men were smitten with judicial blindness. No slave\nState had ever enacted such savage and bloody laws--laws of such\nbarbarous and inhuman severity, for the protection of slave property.\nAnd now the people were reading copies of these laws, and nothing could\nlong suppress the evidences of discontent. The following editorial is\nalso copied from the _Squatter Sovereign_:\n\nWATCH THE ABOLITIONISTS.\n\nCircumstances have transpired within a few weeks past, in\nthis neighborhood, which place beyond a doubt the\nexistence of an organized band of Abolitionists in our\nmidst. We counsel our friends who have slave property to\nkeep a sharp lookout, lest their valuable slaves may be\ninduced to commit acts which might, jeopardize their\nlives.\n\nMr. Grafton Thomasson lost a valuable negro a week ago,\nand we have not the least doubt that she was persuaded by\none of this lawless gang to destroy herself rather than\nremain in slavery. In fact, one of this gang was heard to\nremark that she did perfectly right in drowning herself,\nand just what he would have done, or what every negro who\nis held in bondage should do. We ask, Shall a man\nexpressing such sentiments be permitted to reside in our\nmidst? Be permitted to run at large among our slaves,\nsowing the seeds of discord and discontent, jeopardizing\nour lives and property?\n\nIn another instance we hear of a servant being tampered\nwith, and induced to believe that she was illegally held\nin bondage; since which time she has been unruly, and\nshows evidence of discontent. Such is the effect produced\nby permitting the _convicts_ and _criminals_ of the\nEastern cities shipped out here by the aid societies to\nreside in our midst.\n\nThe depredations of this fanatical sect do not stop here.\nTheir crimes are more numerous and their acts more bold.\nIt is well known that on Independence and Walnut Creeks,\nwithin a few miles of this place, a great number of free\nslaves and Abolitionists are settled whose thieving\npropensities are well known. We honestly believe that an\norganized band of these outlaws exists, whose objects are\npecuniary gain and spite, to rob us of our property, drive\noff our cattle and horses, incite our slaves to rebellion,\nand, when opportunity afford them facilities for escaping,\nto aid them.\n\nWithin a short time about one hundred and fifty head of\ncattle have been stolen from this neighborhood, driven\noff, and sold. Eight or nine horses and several mules have\nbeen taken out of the emigrants' camp, driven to parts\nunknown, and the money is now jingling in the pockets of\nthe Abolitionists. Occurrences of this kind were never\nbefore known in this neighborhood, and prior to the\nshipment of the _filth_ and _scum_ of the Eastern cities\nour property was secure and our slaves were contented and\nhappy.\n\nThe enormity of these offenses, and the great loss of\nproperty, should open the eyes of our citizens to their\ntrue situation. We can not feel safe while the air of\nKansas is polluted with the breath of a single\nFree-soiler. We are not safe, and self-preservation\nrequires the total extermination of this set. Let us act\nimmediately, and with such decision as will convince these\ndesperadoes that it is our fixed determination to keep\ntheir feet from polluting the soil of Kansas.\n\n\nWe published in a former chapter the letter of recommendation this\nsame Robert S. Kelley had written, certifying to the good behavior of\nthe people of the county, and the facts of the case were not altered\nnow; save and only this, that a black woman, the slave of Grafton\nThomasson, had drowned herself. This said Thomasson was a drinking\nman, and when in drink was desperate and dangerous. What passed\nbetween this man, when intoxicated, and this slave woman the public\nhave never been informed. An altercation grew out of this between\nThomasson and J. W. B. Kelly, Esq., a young lawyer from Cincinnati, in\nwhich Thomasson, a great big bully, flogged Kelly, who was a small\nman, of slender build, and weak in body. A public meeting was called,\nin which resolutions were adopted praising this big bully for flogging\nthis weak and helpless man; and then this Kelly was ordered to leave,\nand was not seen in Kansas afterwards. Beyond this, if there was any\nof this high-handed stealing and robbery we never heard anything of it\nafterwards.\n\nDuring the month of July, an event occurred destined to have lasting\ninfluence on the Christian cause in Northeastern Kansas. A church was\norganized at Mt. Pleasant. It is now known as the Round Prairie Church.\nThis church, after passing through varied fortunes, has finally issued\nin being one of the best and most active churches in Kansas. The last\nact in his public ministry was the organizing of this church by Elder\nDuke Young, father of Judge William Young. Duke Young was one of the\npioneer preachers of Western Missouri. When in his manhood's prime he\nwas abundant in labors, and though he was without any scholastic\nattainments he had a keen mother wit, good sense, and good natural gifts\nas a public speaker; and, working in poverty, exposure, hardship,\nmisrepresentation, and implacable opposition, he was one of the men\nthat laid the foundations of the cause in Western Missouri. Becoming\nold, he came with his son, William Young, to Kansas, and after\norganizing the church at Mt. Pleasant, he failed in health, and ceased\nhis work in the ministry.\n\nConnected with this church was Numeris Humber. Bro. Humber and his wife\nwere among the excellent of the earth. Sister Humber was a matronly\nwoman, comely in person, greatly beloved, and a queen of song. When D.\nS. Burnett afterwards held a protracted meeting at this place, it was\nthe songs of Sister Humber and Stephen Sales, as much as the preaching\nof D. S. Burnett, that made the meeting a wonderful success, and one\nlong to be remembered. Bro. Humber and Bro. Young were slave-holders.\nBro. Humber was also an emancipationist in his views of slave-holding,\nand often said that if a position could be secured suitable for\nemancipated slaves he would gladly set his slaves free. When at last\nthey were made free by the results of the war, and went to Leavenworth\nto live, it was always a burden on Bro. Humber's heart to watch over\nthem, and try and save them from the temptations that were laid for\ntheir feet in that wicked city.\n\nIt will be readily seen that no scandal would be created in Atchison by\norganizing a church at Mt. Pleasant with such men to take the lead in\nit.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nIt was now the middle of August. My cabin was completed, and I was ready\nto go back and bring Mrs. Butler and the children to Kansas. Bro.\nElliott accompanied me to Atchison, where I intended to take a steamboat\nto St. Louis, thence going up the Illinois River to Fulton county,\nIllinois, where Mrs. Butler had been stopping with her sister.\n\nThe things that had been happening in the Territory had been so strange\nand unheard of, and the threats of the _Squatter Sovereign_ had been so\nsavage and barbarous, that I wanted to carry back to my friends in\nIllinois some evidence of what was going on. I went, therefore, with\nBro. Elliott to the _Squatter Sovereign_ printing office to purchase\nextra copies of that paper. I was waited on by Robert S. Kelley. After\npaying for my papers I said to him: \"I should have become a subscriber\nto your paper some time ago only there is one thing I do not like about\nit.\" Mr. Kelley did not know me, and asked: \"What is it?\"\n\nI replied: \"I do not like the spirit of violence that characterizes\nit.\"\n\nHe said: \"I consider all Free-soilers rogues, and they are to be treated\nas such.\"\n\nI looked him for a moment steadily in the face, and then said to him:\n\"Well, sir, I am a Free-soiler; and I intend to vote for Kansas to be a\nfree State.\"\n\nHe fiercely replied: \"You will not be allowed to vote.\"\n\nWhen Bro. Elliott and myself had left the house, and were in the open\nair, he clutched me nervously by the arm and said: \"Bro. Butler! Bro.\nButler! You must not do such things; they will kill you!\"\n\nI replied: \"If they do I can not help it.\"\n\nBro. E. was now to go home. But before going he besought me with earnest\nentreaty not to bring down on my own head the vengeance of these men. I\nthanked him for his regard for me, and we bade each other good-by.\n\nBro. E. had come to feel that my life was precious to the Christian\nbrethren in Atchison county. Except myself they had no preacher, and\nthey needed a preacher.\n\nThe steamboat bound for St. Louis that day had been detained, and would\nnot arrive until the next day. I must, therefore, stay over night in\nAtchison. I conversed freely with the people that afternoon, and said to\nthem: \"Under the Kansas-Nebraska bill, we that are free State men have\nas good a right to come to Kansas as you have; and we have as good a\nright to speak our sentiments as you have.\"\n\nA public meeting was called that night to consider my case, but I did\nnot know it. The steamboat was expected about noon the next day. I had\nbeen sitting writing letters at the head of the stairs, in the chamber\nof the boarding-house where I had slept, and heard some one call my\nname, and rose up to go down stairs; but was met by six men, bristling\nwith revolvers and bowie-knives, who came up stairs and into my room.\nThe leader was Robert S. Kelley. They presented me a string of\nresolutions, denouncing free State men in unmeasured terms, and demanded\nthat I should sign them. I felt my heart flutter, and knew if I should\nundertake to speak my voice would tremble, and determined to gain time.\nSitting down I pretended to read the resolutions--they were familiar to\nme, having been already printed in the _Squatter Sovereign_--and finally\nI began to read them aloud. But these men were impatient, and said: \"We\njust want to know will you sign these resolutions?\" I had taken my seat\nby a window, and looking out and down into the street, had seen a great\ncrowd assembled, and determined to get among them. Whatever should be\ndone-would better be done in the presence of witnesses. I said not a\nword, but going to the head of the stairs, where was my writing-stand\nand pen and ink, I laid the paper down and quickly walked down stairs\nand into the street. Here they caught me by the wrists, from behind, and\ndemanded, \"Will you sign?\" I answered, \"_No_,\" with emphasis. I had got\nmy voice by that time. They dragged me down to the Missouri River,\ncursing me, and telling me they were going to drown me. But when we had\ngot to the river they seemed to have got to the end of their programme,\nand there we stood. Then some little boys, anxious to see the fun go on,\ntold me to get on a large cotton-wood stump close by and defend myself.\nI told the little fellows I did not know what I was accused of yet. This\nbroke the silence, and the men that had me in charge asked:\n\n\"Did the Emigrant Aid Society send you here?\"\n\n\"No; I have no connection with the Emigrant Aid Society.\"\n\n\"Well, what did you come for?\"\n\n\"I came because I had a mind to come. What did you come for?\"\n\n\"Did you come to make Kansas a free State?\"\n\n\"No, not primarily; but I shall vote to make Kansas a free State.\"\n\n\"Are you a correspondent of the _New York Tribune_?\"\n\n\"No; I have not written a line to the _Tribune_ since I came to Kansas.\"\n\nBy this time a great crowd had gathered around, and each man took his\nturn in cross-questioning me, while I replied, as best I could, to this\nstorm of questions, accusations and invectives. We went over the whole\nground. We debated every issue that had been debated in Congress. They\nalleged the joint ownership the South had with the North in the common\nTerritories of the nation; that slaves are property, and that they had a\nnatural and inalienable right to take their property into any part of\nthe national Territory, _and there to protect it by the strong right arm\nof power_, while I urged the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and\nthat under it free State men have a right to come into the Territory,\nand by their votes to make it a free State, if their votes will make it\nso.\n\nAt length an old man came near to me, and dropping his voice to a\nhalf-whisper, said in a confidential tone: \"N-e-ow, Mr. Butler, I want\nto advise you as a friend, and for your own good, _when you get away,\njust keep away._\"\n\nI knew this man was a Yankee, for I am a Yankee myself. His name was Ira\nNorris. He had been given an office in Platte county, Mo., and must\nneeds be a partisan for the peculiar institution. I gave my friend\nNorris to understand that I would try to attend to my own business.\n\nOthers sought to persuade me to promise to leave the country and not\ncome back. Then when no good result seemed to come from our talk, I said\nto them: \"Gentlemen, there is no use in keeping up this debate any\nlonger; if I live anywhere, I shall live in Kansas. Now do your duty as\nyou understand it, and I will do mine as I understand it. I ask no\nfavors of you.\"\n\nThen the leaders of this business went away by themselves and held a\nconsultation. Of course I did not know what passed among them, but Dr.\nStringfellow afterwards made the following statement to a gentleman who\nwas getting up a history of Kansas:\n\nA vote was taken upon the mode of punishment which ought to be accorded\nto him, and to this day it is probably known but to few persons that a\ndecided verdict of death by hanging was rendered; and furthermore, that\nMr. Kelley, the teller, by making false returns to the excited mob,\nsaved Mr. Butler's life. Mr. Kelley is now a resident of Montana, and\nvolunteered this information several years ago, while stopping at St.\nJoe with the former senior editor of the _Squatter Sovereign_, Dr. J. H.\nStringfellow. At the time the pro-slavery party decided to send Mr.\nButler down the Missouri River on a raft, Dr. Stringfellow was absent as\na member of the Territorial Legislature.\n\nThe crowd had now to be pacified and won over to an arrangement that\nshould give me a chance for my life. A Mr. Peebles, a dentist from\nLexington, Mo., who was working at the business of dentistry in\nAtchison, and himself a slave-holder, was put forward to do this work.\nHe said: \"My friends, we must not hang this man; he is not an\nAbolitionist, he is what they call a Free-soiler. The Abolitionists\nsteal our niggers, but the Free-soilers do not do this. They intend to\nmake Kansas a free State by legal methods. But in the outcome of the\nbusiness, there is not the value of a picayune of difference between a\nFree-soiler and an Abolitionist; for if the Free-soilers succeed in\nmaking Kansas a free State, and thus surround Missouri with a cordon of\nfree States, our slaves in Missouri will not be worth a dime apiece.\nStill we must not hang this man; and I propose that we make a raft and\nsend him down the river as an example.\"\n\nAnd so to him they all agreed. Then the question came up, What kind of\na raft shall it be? [1] Some said, \"One log\"; but the crowd decided it\nshould be two logs fastened together. When the raft was completed I\nwas ordered to take my place on it, after they had painted the letter\nR. on my forehead with black paint. This letter stood for _Rogue_. I\nhad in my pocket a purse of gold, which I proffered to a merchant of\nthe place, an upright business man, with the request that he would\nsend it to my wife; but he declined to take it. He afterwards\nexplained to me that he himself was afraid of the mob. They took a\nskiff and towed the raft out into the middle of the Missouri River. As\nwe swung away from the bank, I rose up and said: \"Gentlemen, if I am\ndrowned I forgive you; but I have this to say to you: If you are not\nashamed of your part in this transaction, I am not ashamed of mine.\nGood-by.\"\n\nFloating down the river, alone and helpless, I had opportunity to look\nabout me. I had noticed that they had put up a flag on my raft, but\nhad paid no attention to it; now I looked at it and it charged me with\nstealing negroes; and it was thought by many to be no sin to shoot a\n\"nigger thief.\" Down that flag must come; and then I remembered that\nthey had said they would follow me down the river and shoot me if I\ndid pull it down. The picture on the flag was that of a white man\nriding at full gallop, on horseback, with a negro behind him. The flag\nbore this inscription: \"GREELEY TO THE RESCUE: I HAVE A NIGGER. THE\nREV. MR. BUTLER, AGENT FOR THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.\"\n\nThis flag I pulled down, cut off the flag with my pen-knife, and made\na paddle of the flag staff, which was a small sapling which they had\ncut out of the brush, and was forked at the upper end. Between these\nforks they had carefully sewed this flag with twine, and this part of\nthe canvas I left and made it serve as the blade of my paddle; and so\nin due time I paddled to the Kansas shore. The river was rapid, and\nthere were in the river heaps of drift-wood, called \"rack-heaps,\"\ndangerous places into which the water rushed with great violence; but\nfrom these I was mercifully saved, and though I could not swim, I\nlanded a few miles below Atchison without harm or accident, and made\nmy way to Port William, a small town about twelve miles down the\nriver.\n\n[Illustration: The flag placed on Pardee Butler's raft.]\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nAt Port William I had already become acquainted with a Bro. Hartman. He\nhad leased a saw-mill, and was running it, and I had bought lumber of\nhim. Having reached Port William, I went to Bro. H. and said, \"I want to\nobtain lodging of you to-night; but as I do not want to betray any man\ninto trouble, I must first tell you what has befallen me.\" I then told\nhim my mishap at Atchison, and said: \"Now if you do not want to lodge\nsuch a man, please say so, and I will go somewhere else.\" He replied:\n\"You shall lodge with me if it cost me every cent I am worth.\" He then\nwent on to say that he had leased that mill of men who were very bitter,\nand very ultra in their views, and that they might be angry with him,\nand turn him out of the mill. But at last he said: \"There is Bro.\nOliphant living in the bluffs; he is under no such embarrassment,\" and\nBro. Hartman took me there. The next day was the Lord's day, and Oliver\nSteele was to preach the first sermon in that little village on that\nday. Oliver Steele was a notable citizen of Platte county, Missouri. His\nname appears in the early days of the _Millennial Harbinger_ as a\ncitizen of Madison county, Kentucky. Bro. Steele complains of the\nReformers of Kentucky, that they are too much wedded to Old Baptist\nusages to be true to the primitive and apostolic order of things. Then\nBro. Steele came to Platte county, Missouri, and had become one of its\nmost wealthy and influential citizens. He was an eminent example of a\ncourtly and courteous \"Old Virginia gentleman,\" and was loved by the\nrich and loved by the poor, he was loved by white folks and black; loved\nby the mothers and their babies; and the people patronized his\npreaching, not because he was a great preacher, for he certainly was\nnot, but because they loved the man. He was an old Henry Clay Whig, and\nlike that great Kentucky statesman was an Emancipationist. Bro. S. was\nto come over the river and preach the first sermon in this new town, and\nit was a great event to the people. On returning to Port William in the\nmorning Bro. Hartman said that I must take dinner with him, and he would\nintroduce me to Bro. Steele. It was not until twenty-five years\nafterwards, and only after Sister Hartman had died, that Bro. Hartman\ntold me what so much altered his feelings. She was a sweet Christian\nwoman, and when Bro. H. went to her she said to him: \"Husband, don't you\nknow that in the last great day the Lord will say, 'I was a stranger and\nye took me in'; and don't you remember how the good Samaritan showed\nmercy to the man that fell among thieves? Now we believe that this man\nis an innocent man; and what will the Lord say to us if we turn him out\nof doors?\"\n\nAt dinner, at the house of Bro. Hartman, was also Dr. Oliphant, father\nof the Bro. Oliphant with whom I had lodged. He was a brusque,\nblunt-spoken, honest, anti-slavery Northern Methodist preacher. He said\nbluntly at the table: \"Well, Mr. Butler, they treated you rather roughly\nat At-Atchison, did they not?\" I said, \"Yes--\" attempted to say more,\nbroke down and left the table, and went out of the house. My heart was\nnot as hard here, among sympathizing friends, as it had been the day\nbefore, when I had to face a raging mob. When I returned no mother could\nbe more tender seeking out the hurt of her boy bruised in a rough\nencounter with his fellows, than was Oliver Steele. He would hear the\nwhole story, sighed over these \"evil days,\" and listened with approval\nto the vindication I made of the purposes of the free State men. How\nmany men that, through a sense of bitter wrong, are in danger to become\ndesperate, could be won to a better temper the world has never fully\ntried.\n\nThe news of what had been done at Atchison flew like wild-fire through\nthe country. This proved the last feather that broke the camel's back.\nIt became apparent that the country was full of men that were ready to\nfight. As for my friend Caleb May, he went into Atchison and said:\n\"_I am a free State man: now raft me_!\" As no one seemed inclined to\nundertake that job, he faithfully promised them that if there was any\nmore of that business done he would go over into Missouri and raise a\ncompany of men and clean out the town.\n\nMeantime my friends at Port William provided means to send me down to\nWeston, there to take the steamboat Polar Star, bound for St. Louis.\n\"Boycotting\" was a word unknown to the English language at that time;\nand yet I was \"boycotted\" on board the steamboat. I heard nothing--not\na word; and yet I could feel it. I had hoped to be a total stranger, but\nit was evident I was not, and the most comfort I could find was to keep\nmy state-room, and employ my time writ ing out the appeal I intended to\nmake to the people, through the _Missouri Democrat_, published in St.\nLouis. At length my work was done, and yet we were only half way to St.\nLouis. The reader will believe that my reflections were not cheerful.\nWhat would become of myself? What would become of my wife and children?\nWhat would become of Kansas, or of the United States?\n\nAt Jefferson City a man had come aboard of the boat who seemed almost as\nmuch alone as myself. Still the captain and officers of the boat paid\nhim marked attention. One thing I noticed, he abounded in newspapers,\nand I wanted something to read that should save me from my own\nreflections. I ventured to ask him for the loan of some of his papers;\nthen when I returned them he went to his trunk and took out a book of\ntravels and gave it to me, saying: \"Take that, please. It will amuse\nyou.\" At length we could see the smoke of the city of St. Louis, and I\ngave back to this stranger the book he had loaned me. He said: \"No,\nthank you.\" I was startled, and said with some surprise: \"I do not know\nwhy you should do this to a stranger.\" He laughed and said: \"You are not\nso much a stranger as you think. Your name is Butler, is it not?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"And they mobbed you at Atchison?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Well, please call on me at the office of the _Missouri Democrat.\"_\n\n\"And what is your name?\"\n\n\"_They call me B. Gratz Brown_\".\n\nAnd so Providence had prepared the way for making my appeal to the\npeople. B. Gratz Brown had the preceding winter, at Jefferson City,\neither given or accepted a challenge to fight a duel; but the public\nauthorities had interfered, and some business connected with this matter\nhad called him to Jefferson City. But whence had he his knowledge of\nthe mobbing at Atchison? The _Squatter Sovereign_ had been issued\nimmediately after they had put me on the raft, and had contained the\nfollowing editorial:\n\nOn Thursday last [it was Friday], one Pardee Butler arrived in town with\na view of starting for the East, probably with the purpose of getting a\nfresh supply of Free-soilers from the penitentiaries and pestholes in\nthe Northern States. Finding it inconvenient to depart before the\nmorning, he took lodgings at the hotel and proceeded to visit numerous\nportions of our town, everywhere avowing himself a Free-soiler, and\npreaching Abolition heresies. He declared the recent action of our\ncitizens in regard to J. W. B. Kelley the infamous proceedings of a mob,\nat the same time stating that many persons in Atchison who were\nFree-soilers at heart had been intimidated thereby, and prevented from\navowing their true sentiments; but that he (Butler) would express his\nviews in defiance of the whole community.\n\nOn the ensuing morning our townsmen assembled _en masse_, and, deeming\nthe presence of such a person highly prejudicial to the safety of our\nslave population, appointed a committee to wait on Mr. Butler and\nrequest his signature to the resolutions passed at the late pro-slavery\nmeeting. After perusing the resolutions, Mr. B. positively declined\nsigning them, and was instantly arrested by the committee.\n\nAfter various plans for his disposal had been considered, it was finally\ndecided to place him on a raft composed of two logs firmly lashed\ntogether, that his baggage and a loaf of bread be given him, and having\nattached a flag to his primitive bark, Mr. Butler was set adrift in the\ngreat Missouri, with the letter \"R\" legibly painted on his forehead.\n\nHe was escorted some distance down the river by several of our citizens,\nwho, seeing him pass several rock-heaps in quite a skillful manner, bade\nhim adieu and returned to Atchison.\n\nSuch treatment may be expected by all scoundrels visiting our town for\nthe purpose of interfering with our time-honored institutions, and the\nsame punishment we will be happy to award to all Free-soilers and\nAbolitionists.\n\nThe _Missouri Democrat_ was what was known as the \"Tom Ben ton\" paper of\nMissouri, and was not ostensibly a _Free-soil_ paper, yet it vehemently\ninveighed against the ruffianism with which free State men had been\ntreated. Of course there was sympathy in the office of the _Missouri\nDemocrat_, that made some amends for the rough treatment I had got at\nthe hands of citizens of Missouri.\n\nHaving completed my business in St. Louis I turned my face toward my old\nfield of labor in the \"Military Tract,\" _via_ the Illinois River. The\nreader will believe that my reflections were full of anxieties. What\nwould the brethren say of me? Were my prospects blighted from this time\nforward?\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nThe brethren in Illinois were at the first amazed at what they heard,\nand did not know what to think or say. Before they could make up their\nminds, the following editorial appeared in the _Schuyler County\nDemocrat_, published at Rushville:\n\nELDER PARDEE BUTLER,\n\nThe gentleman who was placed on a raft in the Missouri\nRiver, with a proper uniform for a Northern fanatic, is in\nRushville. We saw handbills posted around town stating\nthat he would hold a meeting in the Christian Church. We\nare informed he will deliver a series of lectures, in\nwhich, _of course_, he will give vent to his indignation\ntoward the people of Kansas, Judge Douglas and the\nAdministration. We thought Schuyler county was the last\nplace which a _Northern fanatic_ would visit for sympathy.\nWe hope that those that go to hear his lectures, which\ndiffer with him in their sentiments, will not interrupt\nhim or give him any pretext by which he could denounce our\ncitizens.\n\n\nTo the above notice of myself I made the following reply:\n\n[For the Prairie Telegraph.]\n\nMESSRS. EDITORS: _Sirs_--I find the above notice of myself\nin the last issue of the _Schuyler Democrat_.\n\nWhile in Kansas I diligently worked six days of the week,\nand on Lord's day spoke to my neighbors, not in reference\nto affairs in Kansas, but in reference to our common\ninterest in a better and heavenly country. I do not know\nthat I indicated my political proclivities, in any word or\nallusion, on any such occasion, But I did, in private\nconversations with my neighbors, avow my intention to vote\nfor Kansas to be a free State, and gave my reasons for so\ndoing. _This was my only offence._\n\nWhat must you think of yourself, sir, in this notice you\ntake of this transaction? And you pretend to be a\nconservator of public morals! If there is in town a\nclergyman that will consent to teach you a few lessons\nupon the items of justice and gentlemanly behavior, I\nsuggest it may be to your advantage to put yourself under\nhis tuition. You may perhaps learn that it is neither just\nnor gentlemanly gratuitously to insult a man, because you\nhave _surmised_ that he will show some resentment at the\nruffianism of a Kansas mob, with which you seem to\nsympathize.\n\nSince I came into Illinois I have steadily declined to\nmake any statement of this affair in any public address.\nStill it is perhaps due to the world to know some\nadditional facts. How the mob deliberated among themselves\n. . .\n\nI have never yet made war on Judge Douglas. It is true\nthat the Missouri Compromise, being a time-honored\ncovenant of peace between North and South, I would much\nrather it had been suffered to remain; but now I am rather\nindignant at the clear and palpable violation of the\nprinciples of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, in the attempt\nmade by border ruffians to drive out peaceable citizens\nfrom the free States. I am still more indignant that a\nNorthern editor can be found to wink at such flagrant and\nunquestionable wrong. Judge Douglas may well exclaim,\n\"Save me from my friends!\"\n\nPerhaps, upon reflection, you may be convinced of three\nthings: First, that I am not a fanatic, and have not\ndeserved the treatment I have received; second, that your\nfriends may be trusted not to create any disturbance at my\nmeetings; and, third, that instead of seeking to stir up\nagainst me the prejudices of ignorant partisans, you may\nsafely devote yourselves to the more honorable employment\nof seeking to restore in our unhappy country the supremacy\nof law. Very faithfully,\n\nPARDEE BUTLER.\nRUSHVILLE, Sept. 11, 1855.\n\n\nThe final result was much more favorable than could have been expected,\nand the brethren gave me an invitation to remain with them through the\nwinter.\n\nI tarried six weeks in Illinois, and then returned to Kansas with Mrs.\nButler and our two children, of whom the eldest is now Mrs. Rosetta B.\nHastings. Milo Carleton had already reached the Territory, direct from\nthe Western Reserve, Ohio. He was Mrs. Butler's brother, and it was\ndetermined that the two families should spend the winter together, while\nI should return to Illinois.\n\nWe will now pause in our personal narrative and tell what had been going\non the preceding summer in other parts of the Territory. A delegate\nconvention had been called by the free State men to meet during the\npreceding September at a place called Big Springs, on the Santa Fe\ntrail, midway between Lawrence and Topeka. Here the free State men\nagreed on a plan, to which they steadily adhered through all the\nsickening horrors that gave to \"bleeding\" Kansas a world-wide and\nthankless notoriety. They resolved that they would not in any way, shape\nor manner, recognize the legality of this so-called Territorial\nLegislature, nor the machinery it should call into being for the\ngovernment of the Territory. They would bring no suits in its courts;\nthey would attend no elections called by its authority; they would pay\nno attention to its county organizations; and yet, as far as in them\nlay, they would do no act that might make them liable to the penalty of\nits laws. In short, they would be like the Quaker, who, when drafted\ninto the army, replies: \"Thee-must not expect me to fight with carnal\nweapons;\" and when amerced in a fine for non-compliance with the laws,\nmakes the reply, \"Thee must not expect me to pay money for such carnal\nuses, but thee can take my property.\" Nevertheless, there was superadded\nto these peaceful resolutions an un-Quaker-like intimation that under\ncertain contingencies they would fight.\n\nBeyond the Wakarusa, and about eight miles from Lawrence, was a placed\ncalled Hickory point. Here were some timber claims, and here resided\nJacob Branson, a peaceful and harmless free State man. Beside him lay a\nvacant timber claim, and he invited a young man named Dow to take it,\nDow boarded with Branson. When the Missourians came into Kansas the\npreceding March, many of them staked out a claim which they pretended to\nhold. One William White, of Westport, Mo., pretended, in his way, to\nhold this claim. There was not a particle of legality in his proceeding.\nNotwithstanding, certain pro-slavery men, among whom were Coleman,\nHargis and Buckley, determined to drive off Branson and Dow. They sent\nthreatening letters to Branson, and cut timber on Dow's claim; and this\nmade bad blood. One day an altercation took place between Dow and the\nabove-named pro-slavery men at a blacksmith shop, and Coleman followed\nDow and shot him. Dow was unarmed, and held up his hands and cried,\n\"Don't shoot,\" but Coleman lodged a load of buckshot in his breast, and\nhe fell dead, and his body lay in the road till sundown. Then Branson\ncame and took up the body and buried it. This murder created a\nprodigious sensation; and a public meeting was called, at which there\nwas violent and threatening talk by the free State men. The three\nabove-named pro-slavery men were all present when the murder was\ncommitted. They fled, and their dwellings were burned. Coleman went to\nWestport and gave himself up to \"Sheriff Jones.\" This introduces us to\nthe man that was able to achieve an infamous pre-eminence among that\nband of conspirators that put in motion a train of causes that issued in\nthe death of half a million of American citizens, and which covered the\nland with mourning from Maine to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the\nPacific Ocean. This Jones is described by the free State men as a bully\nand a braggart, as only brave when he was not in danger, and as one of\nthe most noisy and obstreperous of the pro-slavery leaders. Though\nliving in Westport, Mo., he was made sheriff of Douglas county, fifty\nmiles from his place of residence. Buckley swore out a peace warrant\nagainst Branson--he swore that his life was in danger. Sheriff Jones\ntook with him these three men, who were parties in the murder of Dow,\nand arrested Branson, dragging him out of his bed at night. He had also\nassociated with himself eleven other men. The news spread like wild-fire\namong the free State men. This Jones was supposed to be capable of any\natrocity, however horrible, and a company of sixteen men was gathered up\nfor the rescue of Branson. Of this company Sam Wood, of Lawrence, was\nthe leader. They met Jones and his company at Blanton's Bridge, on the\nWakarusa River, where Jones was crossing to go to Lecompte, and called a\nhalt. Jones demanded: \"What's up?\"\n\nSam Wood replied: \"That's what we want to know.\"\n\nWood asked: \"Is Jacob Branson in this crowd?\"\n\nBranson replied: \"Yes, I am here and a prisoner.\"\n\nWood replied: \"Well, come out here among your friends.\"\n\nJones threatened with oaths and imprecations to shoot. The rescuing\nparty leveled their guns and said: \"Well, we can shoot, too.\" Nobody was\nhurt, no gun was fired, and Jacob Branson, coming out from among his\ncaptors, walked away.\n\nIt will be seen that this was a clear and palpable violation of the plan\nof procedure which the free State men had agreed upon among themselves,\nand this act made Kansas for three years a dark and bloody ground, and\nconcentrated on this Territory the eyes of the whole nation. Of the\nrescuing party only three were citizens of Lawrence. Sam Wood was in his\nelement. He was a man overflowing with patriotism, yet succeeded in\ndoing more harm to his friends than to his enemies. He possessed\nunmistakable talent; he was a clown and a born actor, and as a public\nspeaker was sure to bring down the house; he was a pronounced free State\nman; yet in this act he made himself the marplot of his party.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nSheriff Jones went away, vowing that he would have revenge, and sent\nthe following dispatch to Gov. Shannon:\n\nDOUGLAS CO., K. T., NOV. 27, 1855.\n\nSIR:--Last night I, with a posse of ten men, arrested one\nJacob Branson, by virtue of a peace warrant regularly\nissued, who, on our return, was rescued by a party of\n_forty men_ who rushed upon us suddenly from behind a\nhouse by the roadside, all armed to the teeth with\nSharpe's rifles.\n\nYou may consider an open rebellion as already having\ncommenced, and I call upon you for THREE THOUSAND MEN to\ncarry out the laws. Mr. Hargis, the bearer of this letter,\nwill give you more particularly the circumstances. Most\nrespectfully,\n\nSAMUEL J. JONES,\nSheriff Douglas County.\n\n\nTo His EXCELLENCY, WILSON SHANNON, GOVERNOR KANSAS TERRITORY.\n\nOn receipt of the above dispatch, Gov. Shannon wrote to\nMajor-General William P. Richardson, reciting the story\ntold him by Sheriff Jones, together with additional\nstories (equally false), told him by Hargis, and closed\nhis letter with the following order:\n\nYou are therefore hereby commanded to collect together as\nlarge a force as you can in your division, and repair,\nwithout delay, to Lecompton, and report to S. J. Jones,\nSheriff of Douglas County, together with the number of\nyour forces, and render him all the aid and assistance in\nyour power in the execution of any legal process in his\nhands. The forces under your command are to be used for\nthe sole purpose of aiding the Sheriff in executing the\nlaw, and for no other purpose.\n\nI have the honor to be\nYour obedient servant,\n\nWILSON SHANNON.\n\n\nGov. Shannon knew, as well as he knew his name was Wilson Shannon, that\nthis meant another invasion of Kansas Territory. There was no organized\nmilitia in Kansas. Gen. Richardson did not live in Kansas; he lived in\nMissouri, and it meant Missouri militia and not Kansas militia.\nMoreover, the Governor knew, or at least ought to have known, what an\nunreliable man this Sheriff Jones was. Jones was Postmaster at Westport,\nand Shannon was living at Shawnee Mission, in the neighborhood of\nWestport. And yet, without one moment's inquiry, he placed the issues of\nlife and death of this infant Territory in the hands of this lying\nscoundrel.\n\nThere was a rallying of the clans of the blue lodges of Missouri. The\nfollowing appeal, sent by Brig. Gen. Eastin, editor of the _Leavenworth\nHerald_, and commander of the second brigade, Kansas militia, must serve\nas a sample of the dispatches that were scattered broadcast through the\nborder Missouri counties:\n\n\"TO ARMS!  TO ARMS!\"\n\nIt is expected that every lover of _law and order_ will\nrally at Leavenworth on Saturday, December 1, 1855,\nprepared to march at once to _the scene of rebellion_ to\nput down the outlaws of Douglas county, who are committing\ndepredations upon persons and property, burning down houses\nand declaring open hostility to the laws, and have forcibly\nrescued a prisoner from the Sheriff. Come one, come all!\nThe outlaws are armed to the teeth, and number 1,000 men.\nEveryman should bring his rifle and ammunition, and it\nwould be well to bring two or three days' provisions. Every\nman to his post and do his duty. MANY CITIZENS.\n\nIn answer to the above appeal 1,500 men, mostly from Missouri, encamped\naround Lawrence, under such notabilities as Maj. Gens. Strickler and\nRichardson, Brig. _Gen_. Eastin, Col. Atchison, Col. Peter T. Abell,\nRobert S. Kelley, Stringfellow and Sheriff Jones. They had broken into\nthe United States Arsenal at Liberty, Clay County, Mo., and stolen guns,\ncutlasses and such munitions of war as they required.\n\nBut when this was known the free State men turned out from all the\nsettlements of Kansas with equal alacrity, to defend Lawrence. They came\nsingly, and in squads and in companies. They came by night and by day.\nSam Wood, Tappin and Smith, the rescuers of Branson, and who were\nresidents of Lawrence, left the city, and there were none there against\nwhom Sheriff Jones had any writs to execute. Dr. Robinson was appointed\nCommander-in-Chief for the defense of the city, and James H. Lane was\nappointed second in command. But Lane was the principal figure in the\nenterprise. He alone had military experience, and he alone had the\ndaring, the genius and the personal magnetism of a real leader.\n\nThe free State men, for the last year, had been passing through the\nfurnace-fires of a vigorous discipline, and they would have fought as\nthe Tennessee and Kentucky backwoodsmen of Andrew Jackson fought behind\ntheir cotton bales at the battle of New Orleans. They had seen their\nrights wrested out of their hands by a mob of ruffians, and now they\nwere proposing to settle the matter in that court of last resort that is\nthe final and ultimate appeal of the nations. Except Gen. Lane, they had\nsmall knowledge of military tactics, but they knew how to look along the\nbarrel of a rifle; moreover, they would fight behind breastworks, and\nthis to raw troops would have been an immense advantage.\n\nIt is probable that the first intimation that Gov. Shannon got of the\nreal state of affairs at Lawrence was conveyed to him in the following\nletter, written by Brig. Gen. Eastin:\n\nGOVERNOR SHANNON:--Information has been received direct\nfrom Lawrence, which I consider reliable, that the outlaws\nare well fortified with cannon and Sharpe' rifles, and\nnumber at least 1,000 men. It will, therefore, be\ndifficult to dispossess them.\n\nThe militia in this portion of the State are entirely\nunorganized, and mostly without arms. I suggest the\npropriety of calling upon the military of Fort\nLeavenworth. If you have the power to call out the\ngovernment troops, I think it would be best to do so at\nonce. It might overawe these outlaws and prevent\nbloodshed.\n\nS. J. EASTIN,\nBrig. Gen. Northern Brigade, K. M.\n\n\nGen. Eastin is mistaken in putting their number at 1,000, but whether\nmany or few they certainly would have fought a hard battle. They were\npicked men from all the Kansas settlements. Our old friend, Caleb May,\nwas there, as grim and as self-possessed as Andrew Jackson. So also Old\nJohn Brown was there with his four sons, though they did not arrive\nuntil Gov. Shannon had made overtures for peace.\n\nThe Governor telegraphed to Washington to obtain authority to call out\nCol. Sumner with the United States troops at Fort Leavenworth. He also\nwrote to Col. Sumner to hold himself ready to march at a moment's\nnotice. And now this simple-minded Gov. Shannon, Ex-Governor of Ohio,\nwho had come to Kansas to waste in a few short months the ripe honors he\nhad been so carefully hoarding up for a life-time, bethought himself\nthat it was time for him to go and look with his own eyes after this\nrebellion he had so foolishly and recklessly stirred up.\n\nWe have already remarked that Gen. James H. Lane was the most\nconspicuous figure in the defense of Lawrence. It is proper to pause and\nconsider the character of this man, who shone for a time like a\nbrilliant meteor, and then had his light quenched in the blackness of\ndarkness.\n\nHe had now been eight months in Kansas. He came out of the Mexican war\nwith a good reputation as a brilliant and dashing officer, and a man of\napproved courage. As a politician he had been highly favored by the\npeople of Indiana. He was in the convention that nominated President\nPierce. He was in Congress at the time of the passage of the\nKansas-Nebraska bill, and aided in its enactment. He was the friend of\nStephen A. Douglas. Yet he came to Kansas a man of broken fortunes. He\nwas bankrupt in reputation, bankrupt in property, and bankrupt in\nmorals, and he came away from unhappy family relations. Notwithstanding,\nhe brought with him boundless ambition, and a consciousness in his own\nheart that he possessed genius that might lift him up to the highest\npinnacle of honor. His first effort was to reorganize that political\nparty that was in control of the Government at Washington, and that he\nhad so faithfully served in Indiana. As respects slavery, he probably\nwould have said with Mr. Douglas that he did not care whether it was\nvoted up or voted down. But his effort fell stillborn and dead. Dr. John\nH. Stringfellow was an old Whig, and so also were many of the\nPro-slavery leaders, and they would not hear to it that there should be\nany parties known save the Pro-slavery and Free State parties. The Free\nState men were equally averse to making any division in their own ranks.\nMr. Lane was to choose, and he did choose _with a vengeance_.\n\nBad men usually pay this compliment to a righteous life, that they seek\nto conceal their wicked deeds and wear the outside seeming of virtue.\nBut this strange man never pretended to be anything else than just what\nhe was. He displayed such audacious boldness as gave an air of\nrespectability even to his wickedness.\n\nHis public speaking did not belong to any school of oratory known among\nmen; yet, if to sway the people as a tempest bends to its will a field\nof waving grain, be oratory, then was Mr. Lane, in the highest sense of\nthe word, an orator. He spoke once in Chicago when the people were most\nexcited over the Kansas troubles. A great crowd came to hear, and he\nswayed them to his will, as only such men as Henry Ward Beecher and\nPatrick Henry have been able to do. But this gospel was the gospel of\nhate. Implacable, unforgiving hate was his only gospel.\n\nAt last this man, at once both great and wicked, having attained the\nhighest honors the people had to bestow, died by his own hand. The\npeople believed that he had gone wrong and betrayed them, and they\nwithdrew from him their favor. Mr. Lane loved popularity more than he\nloved heaven, and he shot himself through the brain.\n\nThe writer, unwilling alone to take the responsibility of expressing\nsuch a judgment as the above, appealed to a gentlemen whose high\nposition in public life and kindly and conservative temper eminently\nqualify him to speak, and this is what he says:\n\nNo one can question the fact that Mr. Lane's career in Kansas exerted a\ngreat influence in shaping the affairs and controlling the destiny of\nthe young State. During his life I was alternately swayed by feelings of\nadmiration and distrust. I recognized fully the marvelous energy and\nequally marvelous influence of the man, but I distrusted his sincerity\nand lacked confidence in his integrity. When I met him, or listened to\none of his impassioned speeches, ne swept me away with the contagion of\nhis seeming enthusiasm, but when I went out from the influence of his\npersonal magnetism I felt that something was lacking in the man to\njustify a well-grounded confidence.\n\nThis man that had in him such a commingling of good and evil was now the\nleading spirit in the defense of Lawrence. [2]\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nWhen Sheriff Jones saw that the control of this business was being taken\nout of the hands of himself and his fellow-conspirators he wrote the\nfollowing letter to Gov. Shannon:\n\nCAMP AT WAKARUSA, Dec. 6, 1855.\nTo His EXCELLENCY, GOV. SHANNON:\n\n_Sir_: In reply to yours of yesterday I have to inform you\nthat the volunteer forces now at this place and Lecompton\nare getting weary of inaction. They will not, I presume,\nremain but a short time longer, unless a demand for the\nprisoner is made. I think I shall have sufficient force to\nprotect me by to-morrow morning. The force at Lawrence is\nnot half so strong as reported. If I am to wait for\nGovernment troops, more than two-thirds of the men that\nare here will _go away very much dissatisfied._ They are\nleaving hourly as it is.\n\nIt is reported that the people of Lawrence have run off\nthose offenders from town, and, indeed, it is said they\nare now all out of the way. I have writs for sixteen\npersons who were with the party that rescued my prisoner.\nS. N. Wood, P. R. Brooks and Samuel Tappan are of\nLawrence, the balance from the country around. Warrants\nwill be put into my hands to-day for the arrest of G. W.\nBrown, and probably others in Lecompton. They say that\nthey are willing to obey the laws, but no confidence can\nbe placed in any statements they may make. Most\nrespectfully yours,\n\nSAMUEL J. JONES,\nSheriff of Douglas County.\n\n\nFrom the above, three facts are apparent:\n\n1. Sheriff Jones is not willing that the militia shall go home, and Col.\nSumner and the United States troops take their places.\n\n2. He has writs against the sixteen rescuers of Branson. But of these he\nhas ascertained that thirteen live in the country, and he does not need\nto go to Lawrence to find them. The three that belong in Lawrence are\ngone to parts unknown, and he does not need to go to Lawrence to find\nthem. _At this writing Sheriff Jones has not a single writ against any\nperson in Lawrence._\n\n3. If he has such a warrant the Lawrence people profess themselves\nwilling that he should serve it, but he does not believe them. \"No\nconfidence can be placed in any statements that they may make.\"\n\nSo far as Sheriff Jones is concerned, it is now manifest that this was a\ndevilish conspiracy against the people of Lawrence, to cut their throats\nand burn up the town. How far the men that were with him were conscious\npartners in his guilt, or how far they were ignorant dupes of a man that\nhad murder in his heart, does not appear.\n\nThe people of Lawrence now thought it was time for them to open\ncommunication with Gov. Shannon, and Messrs. G. P. Lowery and C. W.\nBabcock, after running the gauntlet of the patrols, robbers and\nguerillas that infested the road to Shawnee Mission, succeeded in\nputting in the hands of the Governor the following letter:\n\nTo His EXCELLENCY, WILSON SHANNON, GOVERNOR KANSAS TERRITORY:\n\n_Sir_: As citizens of Kansas Territory, we desire to call\nyour attention to the fact that a large force of armed men\nfrom a foreign State have assembled in the vicinity of\nLawrence, are now committing depredations upon our\ncitizens, stopping them, opening and appropriating their\nloadings, arresting, detaining and threatening travelers\nupon the public road, and that they claim to do this by\nyour authority. We desire to know if they do appear by\nyour authority, and if you will secure the peace and quiet\nof the community by ordering their instant removal, or\ncompel us to resort to some other means or a higher\nauthority.\n\nSIGNED BY COMMITTEE.\n\n\nThe Governor began to think it was time for him to go to the camp of\nSheriff Jones' army on the Wakarusa; and when he came he was frightened\nat his own work, and became just as eager to get out of the scrape as he\nhad been forward to get into it. He wrote to Col. Sumner, frantically\nbegging him to come to the rescue; but he had got no orders, and would\nnot move without orders. Sheriff Jones and the rank and file of his camp\nwere furious that they were held back from pitching into the Lawrence\npeople; but the officers had become cognizant of the bloody job they\nwould have on hands, and were willing to be let off. And so the Governor\npatched up a peace, and sent his militia home again, with their curses\ndiverted from the Lawrence Abolitionists to Gov. Shannon. Cowardly,\nweak-minded and infirm in purpose as this unhappy man was, he was not\nwholly a fool; and we may justly believe that he had in his heart a\nforeboding of that awful day of reckoning that would surely come, when\ninquisition would be made for the blood of these citizens, and the\nGovernor himself would be called to answer, \"Why were these men slain?\"\n\nAnd now that peace--angelic peace--sat brooding over Lawrence with her\ndove-like pinions, they made a love-feast and invited the Governor to\npartake of it; and what with the ravishing music, and the blandishment\nof flattering tongues, and the intoxication of fair women's eyes and\nsweet voices, the Governor was made to forget, for the time being, that\nhe was the property, body, soul, and spirit, of the \"Law and Order\" party;\nand his soft and plastic nature was beguiled into signing a document\nconstituting the army of defense of Lawrence a part of the Territorial\nMilitia, and giving them authority, under his own hand and seal, to\nfight with teeth and toe-nails against the outside barbarians that he\nhimself had invoked to cut their throats. When, however, he had come to\nhimself, and had to front the frowns and ungrammatical curses of the\n\"Border Ruffians,\" he was fain to lay the blame on the sparkling wine of\nthe feast, and the more sparkling eyes and sparkling wit of beautiful\nwomen.\n\nThese felicitations of the people of Lawrence with Governor Shannon did,\nhowever, have a somber and awful background. While this had been going\non a boy had been murdered in the vicinity of Lawrence. Some young men\nrode out to see about it, and one of them was shot and killed. But a\nstill more ghastly crime threw its baleful shadow over the people. It\nwas perpetrated two days before the Governor concluded his treaty of\npeace.\n\nThomas W. Barber and Robert F. Barber were farmers, living about seven\nmiles from Lawrence; and on December 6th started with a Mr. Pierson to\ngo home to their families. These were two brothers and a brother-in-law.\nThey were intercepted on their way by J. N. Burns, of Weston, Mo., and\nMajor George W. Clarke, United States Agent for the Pottawatomie\nIndians. These two men shot Thomas W. Barber. It is hard to find an\nexplanation of their act, unless it were that they came to Lawrence to\nshoot down Abolitionists as they would have shot wolves on the prairie.\nThey had no provocation. They rode apart from their companions to\nintercept the Barbers, and called on them to halt. Thomas W. Barber was\nunarmed, and gave mild and truthful answers to their questions. After\nthe shooting the brothers started to ride away, when the murdered man\nsaid, \"That fellow hit me;\" began to sway in his saddle, was supported\nfor a little time by his brother, then fell to the ground dead. His\nhorse also had been shot, and died the same night. Familiar as Kansas\nhad become with cruel and devilish deeds, there were circumstances\nconnected with this act that made it exceptionally a blood-curdling\nhorror. Thomas W. Barber was a somewhat notable farmer, and had married\na young wife, that loved her husband with a love so passionate that she\nwas sometimes rallied about it by her sister-in-law. It had been with\nmisgivings and forebodings she had consented for Barber to go to\nLawrence. The news of her husband's death had been kept from her; they\ndared not tell her. A young man was sent to bring her into the city,\nwhither her husband's body had been already carried, and he blurted out,\n\"Thomas Barber is killed!\" and she shrieked, \"O, my husband! my\nhusband! Have they killed my husband?\" It has been said that so frantic\nwere her struggles, that it was with main force they had to hold her in\nthe carriage which conveyed her into the city. Much has been written of\nthe pathetic and voiceless woe of this wretched and sorrow-stricken\nwoman, but we will spare the reader the recital.\n\nThis question, however, we did often ask ourselves: \"What had we done\nthat we should be made to suffer thus?\"\n\nBut now there was peace, and Sheriff Jones, breathing out curses against\nthe Governor who had balked him of his anticipated revenge, disbanded\nhis army and went back to his post-office at Westport. It was past the\nmiddle of December, but some lingered on their way, robbing and\nstealing. The cold grew intense. A driving snow came down from the\nNorth. It was one of the coldest winters Kansas had ever known, and\nthere fell one of the deepest snows. And now, winding through the deep\nsnow, benumbed with cold, and all unprovided with clothing suitable for\nsuch inclement weather, the rear guard of the ring-streaked, speckled\nand spotted regiment of Kansas and Missouri Militia passed out of the\nTerritory.\n\nThirteen leaders of the \"Law and Order\" party had met with Lane and\nRobinson, acting on behalf of the people of Lawrence, and had agreed to\nthe terms of the treaty. But Sheriff Jones is reported to have said:\n\"Had not Shannon been a fool I would have wiped out Lawrence.\" It is\nreported that Stringfellow said that \"Shannon had sold himself and\ndisgraced himself and the whole Pro-slavery party.\" Atchison accepted\nthe terms, saying to his followers: \"Boys, we can not fight now. The\nposition that Lawrence has taken is such that it would not do to make an\nattack on them. But boys, we will fight some time!\"\n\nThe peace was to be broken at the earliest opportunity.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nThe winter of 1855-6 that I spent in Illinois was uneventful. My success\nwas not such as to discourage an evangelist that desires to be useful,\nneither was it such as to fill him with vanity. The weather was\nintensely cold, and the snow was deep.\n\nIt is said that before the coming of an earthquake, the sea gives forth\ndeep moanings, as if it felt the approaching convulsion; so at that time\nthere seemed premonitions in the hearts of the people that the whole\nnation, North, South, East and West, would be swept by a political\ncyclone that should leave behind it the desolation that is sometimes, in\nthe West India Islands, left in the track of a tropical hurricane. We\nhad heard of the murder of Dow, the rescue of Branson, and the invasion\nof Lawrence, and these certainly did not give promise that Kansas would\nbe a favorable field for evangelical work, at least for a time. The\nwriter had not hitherto spent much of his time in Adams county; he now\nspent a considerable part of the winter there, and visited the churches\nof Quincy, Chambersburg, Camp Point, and many others. The brethren at\nQuincy were making that experiment of monthly preaching that has been\nfound so hazardous, especially to city churches. They have since changed\nthe plan with wonderfully good results. It was at the church at\nChambersburg that Bro. Cottingham who has now won a national reputation,\nachieved some of his earliest successes.\n\nThe majority of the leading members of these churches had been men and\nwomen of full age when they left Kentucky. Some had tarried a little\ntime in Indiana. The memory of some went back to the time when the\nMississippi Valley was almost an unbroken wilderness, with here and\nthere a scattered settlement, made up of a frontier and uneducated\npeople. What are now its great cities were then insignificant hamlets,\nand its means of commerce were rude flat boats on its rivers, and\npack-horses, or clumsy, heavy lumber wagons on its rough and often\nimpassable roads. There were few schools, fewer churches and still fewer\neducated men. The country was perambulated by itinerant preachers. These\nwere guided by visions and revelations. Signs, omens and impressions\ndirected them to their field of labor and controlled their lives.\nEcstatic joy, vivid impressions, voices in the air, or seeing the Lord\nin the tree-tops, were their evidences of pardon.\n\nOnce every year the people came together to a great camp-meeting. There\nwas intense excitement and enthusiasm, and many got religion; and this\nwas followed by spiritual lethargy, coldness and apostasy. It was a\nshort, hot summer, followed by a long, cold winter of moral and\nspiritual death.\n\nAmong the Old Baptists there was preaching once a month. This was all.\nThere were no prayer-meetings, no meeting together every first day of\nthe week to break break and read the Holy Scriptures. Christian morality\nwas at a low ebb, and Christian liberality down to zero.\n\nAt length there came a change. The fountains of the great deep were\nbroken up, and men broke loose from the dominion of these old and\nman-made systems. John Smith took the lead, and was followed by old\nJacob Creath, Samuel Rogers, John Rogers, John Allen Gano, P. S. Fall,\nand many others. Alex. Campbell once said:\n\nIf any man can read the Acts of Apostles through three times, chapter by\nchapter, pondering each chapter as he reads, and then can remain an\nadvocate of these old systems of conversion, may the Lord have mercy on\nhim!\n\nBut the old Baptists fiercely resisted the Reformers, and cast them out\nas heathen men and publicans. And now the Bible was a new revelation to\nthe men that came into this movement. The veil was taken off their eyes,\nand they could read the Scriptures as they had never read them before.\nThey could now see that the Bible was a simple and intelligible volume,\nwritten to be understood by the common people, and they were only amazed\nat their former blindness. But they were made to know what persecution\nmeans. All the denominations combined against them, and they were\ncompelled to read the Scriptures to defend themselves; and thus pressed\nby their enemies on every hand, they were made to feel how near they\nwere to each other, and how much they loved each other, and it became an\neasy thing to meet together every first day of the week to sing, to pray,\nto exhort, and to commemorate the death of their risen Lord. But many of\nthem were poor, and had growing families, and they had heard that there\nwas a large and good land in the Military Tract in Illinois, and with\nmany a tearful adieu, and bidding farewell to the they loved so well,\nlike Abraham going out into the land that God had given him, into this\nland flowing with milk and honey they came--and prospered.\n\nAnd here the writer of these \"Personal Recollections\" found them,\ngrowing strong, and rich, and influential, and more prosperous than any\nother religious body in Adams county. It is now after the lapse of\nthirty years, to be mentioned to their honor--and to the honor of the\nchurches of the State--that they have made commendable progress in the\ndirection of a Christian liberality, and of moral, intellectual, and\nreligious growth; still they are not yet up to the mark.\n\nFor the purpose of the moral, intellectual and religious education of\nhis people, the Lord has given us one day in seven, and in one year he\nhas given us fifty such days. This in seven years is one whole year, and\nin seventy-five years it is ten years, leaving out five years as the\nperiod of babyhood; and this as fitting men for the highest style of\nreligious life, and of American citizenship is, if well employed, the\nbest school on the face of the earth. Needs it to be said, that to do\nthis work well, the teachers in this school of the prophets have need to\nbe well qualified? There are certain Scriptures bearing on this point we\nwill do well to ponder:\n\nMeditate on these things; give thyself _wholly_ to them, that thy\nprofitting may appear unto all.\n\nNo man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life,\nthat he may please him who hath called him to be a soldier. The Lord\ngive thee understanding in all things.\n\nWe have no churches in this nation to whom these admonitions apply with\ngreater weight of impressive authority than to the churches of Illinois.\nWhere much is given, there much is required, and to no State in the\nUnion has more been given in the way of worldly wealth than to the\nDisciples of that commonwealth. There is not such another body of rich\nland in this great nation, perhaps not in the world. Water is an element\nessential to the highest productiveness, even of fertile soil, and the\nvapors rising on the Gulf of Mexico have not a hillock three hundred\nfeet high to obstruct their flow up the Mississippi eastward and\nnorthward, until they reach the State of Illinois. And the men that do\nbusiness in the cities of this prosperous State, or till its fertile and\nalluvial soil, that was lifted up, not many geologic ages ago, from\nbeneath the bottom of the sea, are so rich they do not know how rich\nthey are. But it is a peril to be rich. Jesus, Paul and Solomon unite in\nsaying so, and it is especially a peril when wealth comes suddenly. When\na man starts poor, and has felt the sting of contempt because of his\npoverty, and then finds himself rich and prosperous and flattered, and\ntempted to indulge in every luxury, then this man is in great peril; and\nthere is no security against this danger like using the wealth that God\nhas given him for the glory of God and the good of men.\n\nBut there were brethren thirty years ago that needed no admonition as\ntouching the disposition they should make of their world goods. I could\ngive a goodly number of examples, but the reader will pardon me if,\nbecause of the narrow limits of these \"Recollections,\" I confine myself\nto one.\n\nPeter B. Garrett, of Camp Point, Adams county, had set himself, with\nhonest purpose, to bring his Kentucky brethren up to the level of the\ndemands of primitive and apostolic Christianity. Every man has his\nhobby, and Bro. G. had his hobby. When the writer first visited Camp\nPoint, he was demanded of to know if it was not a fixed part of the\napostolic order that each disciple should, on the first day of the week,\nlay by him in store, of money or goods, as the Lord had prospered him,\nputting it into the Lord's treasury? I could not quite affirm this, but\nBro. G. stuck to his hobby.\n\nBro. Garrett knew the value of a full treasury, and was ready to do his\npart towards settling a preacher in the church, and paying him. But he\ncould not bring his brethren up to the level of his own aspirations.\n\nBro. G. came from Kentucky a poor man, but he got hold of a considerable\nbody of good land, when it was cheap, and cultivated it skillfully. Then\nthe Quincy, Galesburg and Chicago Railroad was build in front of his\nfarm, and the town of Camp Point grew up adjoining his premises. He also\nbuilt a flouring mill, and this added to his gains; and thus he grew\nrich and influential, but he never thought of himself only as plain\nPeter Garrett. The writer in fifty years has known many excellent\nChristian families, but he has never known one family that, with saint\nand sinner, among persons outside and inside of the church, have had a\nmore honorable fame than this Christian family. His wife was a motherly\nwoman. She did not assume to know much, but what she did know she knew\nwell, and translated her little store of knowledge into an abundance of\ngood deeds. She knew how to guide the house, take good care of her\nchildren, live in peace with her neighbors, love the church and attend\nits meetings, fear God and entertain strangers; and so this house, like\nthe house of the Vicar of Wakefield, became a resort for\n\n    \"All the vagrant train,\"\n\nwhether of tramps or preachers. His children, from the time they were\nable to toddle, were taught to do something useful. His little boys were\nmade to bring in wood, and run on errands, and his girls to wash the\ndishes; and thus this house became a hive of industry, and it came to\npass that in process of time, when our beloved Bro. Garrison, of the\n_Christian-Evangelist,_ went out to seek a woman to take care of his\nhouse, he very properly sought this favor at the hands of Peter\nGarrett's daughter. It is a good thing to follow a good example, and our\ndevoted Bro. Smart, hitherto of the _Witness_, now co-editor of the\n_Evangelist_, went and did likewise. [3]\n\nBro. Garret loaned the writer a light spring wagon for the purpose of\nbringing his family back from Kansas, and thus equipped, he started a\nsecond time on the journey he had made one year before.\n\nOne thought filled his heart: Will this tumult pass away, and will the\nAmerican people go forward and fulfill that glorious destiny to which\nGod in his providence has called them?\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nThe news of the coming of the South Carolinians had not reached Illinois\nwhen I started for Kansas, but when I had reached Western Missouri the\ncountry was alive with excitement. Maj. Jefferson Buford had arrived\nwith 350 soldiers, and a part of them were quartered in Atchison. Some\npersons whose acquaintance I had made, and who were my friends, besought\nme not to go on.\n\nThe last night I stayed in Missouri was at De Kalb. A gentleman who\nhad come from St. Joseph stayed over night at the hotel where I put\nup. He was tall of stature, with a flowing beard sprinkled with gray,\nand was of a remarkably dignified and impressive presence. We\nconversed during the evening on general topics, but no allusion was\nmade to the one exciting topic, on which almost all seemed ready to\ntalk _instanter._\n\nThe next morning he overtook me. He was on horseback, and mentioned\nthat he was going to Atchison, and for some distance rode beside my\nbuggy, continuing the conversation. Then, as he could travel faster\nthan myself, he rode on.\n\nThe reader will recognize this gentleman again in Atchison. An account\nof my adventures [4] on the other side of the river will be found in a\nletter addressed by myself to the _Herald of Freedom_:\n\n\n\n[For the Herald of Freedom.]\n\nSTRANGER CREEK, Ocena P. O., May 6, 1856.\n\nMR. EDITOR--_Dear Sir_: The bar of public opinion seems to\nbe the only tribunal to which the free State men of Kansas\ncan appeal for redress. I must, therefore, ask your\nindulgence while I make a statement of facts.\n\nOne year ago I came to Kansas and bought a claim on\nStranger Creek, Atchison county. On the 17th of August,\nthe Border Ruffians of the town of Atchison sent me down\nthe Missouri River on a raft. We parted under a mutual\npledge: I pledged myself that if my life was spared I\nwould come back to Atchison, and they pledged themselves\nthat if I did come back they would hang me. Faithful to my\npromise, in November last I returned to Kansas, and\nvisited Atchison in open day, announced myself on hand,\nand returned without molestation. Kansas being sparsely\nsettled, without churches or meeting-houses, it was\ndetermined that Mrs. Butler should live on our claim with\nher brother and her brother's wife, while I should return\nto Illinois, and resume my labors as a preacher.\n\nApril 30th I returned to Kansas, crossing the Missouri\nRiver into Atchison. I spoke with no one in the town, save\nwith two merchants of the place, with whom I have had\nbusiness transactions since my first arrival in the\nTerritory. Having remained only a few moments, I went to\nmy buggy to resume my journey, when I was assaulted by\nRobert S. Kelley, co-editor of the _Squatter Sovereign_,\nand others, was dragged into a saloon, and there\nsurrounded by a company of South Carolinians, who are\nreported to have been sent out by a Southern Emigrant Aid\nSociety. In this last mob I recognized only two that were\ncitizens of Atchison or engaged in the former mob. It is\nnot reported that these emigrants from the Palmetto State\nseek out a claim, and make for themselves a home, neither\ndo they enter into any legitimate business. They very\nexpressively describe themselves as having _come out to\nsee Kansas through._ They yelled, \"Kill him! Kill him!\nHang the Abolitionist.\" One of their number bristled up to\nme and said, \"Have you got a revolver?\" I answered, \"No.\"\nHe handed me a pistol and said, \"There, take that, and\nstand off ten steps; and I will blow you through in an\ninstant.\" I replied, \"I have no use for your weapon.\" I\nafterwards heard them congratulating themselves in\nreference to this, that they had acted in an honorable\nmanner with me. The fellow was furious; but his companions\ndissuaded him from shooting me, saying they were going to\nhang me.\n\nThey pinioned my arms behind my back, obtained a rope, but\nwere interrupted by the entrance of a stranger--a\ngentleman from Missouri, since ascertained to be Judge\nTutt, a lawyer from St. Joseph. He said: \"My friends, hear\nme. I am an old man, and it is right you should hear me. I\nwas born in Virginia, and have lived many years in\nMissouri. I am a slaveholder, and desire Kansas to be made\na slave State, if it can be done by honorable means. But\nyou will destroy the cause you are seeking to build up.\nYou have taken this man, who was peaceably passing through\nyour streets and along the public highway, and doing no\nperson any harm. We profess to be 'Law and Order' men, and\nought to be the last to commit violence. If this man has\nbroken the law, let him be judged according to law; but\nfor the sake of Missouri, for the sake of Kansas, for the\nsake of the pro-slavery cause, do not act in this way.\"\nThey dragged me into another building, and appointed a\nmoderator, and got up a kind of lynch law trial. Kelley\ntold his story. I rose to my feet, and calmly and in\nrespectful language began to tell mine; but I was jerked\nto my seat and so roughly handled that I was compelled to\ndesist. My friend from Missouri again earnestly besought\nthem to set me at liberty. Kelley turned short on him and\nsaid: \"Do you belong to Kansas?\" Judge Tutt replied: \"No;\nbut I expect to live here in Atchison next fall, and in\nthis matter the interests of Kansas and Missouri are\nidentical.\" Chester Lamb, a lawyer in Atchison, and Samuel\nDickson, a merchant of the place, both pro slavery men,\nalso united with Judge Tutt in pleading that I might be\nset at liberty. While these gentlemen were speaking, I\nheard my keepers mutter, \"If you don't hush up, we will\ntar and feather you.\" But when Kelley saw how matters\nstood, he came forward and said he \"did not take Butler to\nhave him hung, but only tarred and feathered,\" Yet in the\nsaloon he had sad to the mob: \"_You shall do as you\nplease._\" He dared not take the responsibility of taking\nmy life, but when these unfortunate men, whose\none-idea-ism on the subject of slavery and Southern rights\nhas become insanity--when these irresponsible South\nCarolinians, sent out to be bull dogs and blood hounds for\nAtchison and Stringfellow--when they could be used as\ntools to take my life, he was ready to do it.\n\nOur gunpowder moderator cut the matter short by saying,\n\"It is moved that Butler be tarred and feathered and\nreceive thirty-nine lashes.\" A majority said \"Aye,\" though\na number of voices said \"No.\" The moderator said, \"The\naffirmative has it; Butler has to be tarred and feathered\nand whipped.\" I began to speculate how that sort of thing\nwould work as far north as the latitude of Kansas. There\nwas a good deal of whispering about the house. I saw dark,\nthreatening and ominous looks in the crowd. The moderator\nagain came forward, and, in an altered voice, said: \"_It\nis moved that the last part of the sentence be\nrescinded.\"_ It was rescinded, and I was given into the\nhands of my South Carolina overseers to be tarred and\nfeathered. They muttered and growled at this issue of the\nmatter. They said, \"If we had known it would come out in\nthis way, we would have let shoot Butler at the first. He\nwould have done it quicker than a flash.\" One little,\nsharp-visaged, dark-featured South Carolinian, who seemed\nto be the leader of the gang, was particularly displeased.\nWith bitter curses he said, \"I am not come all the way\nfrom South Carolina, spending so much money to do things\nup in such milk-and-water style as this.\"\n\nThey stripped me naked to my waist, covered my body with\ntar, and for the want of feathers applied cotton. Having\nappointed a committee of seven to certainly hang me the\nnext time I should come into Atchison, they tossed my\nclothes into my buggy, put me therein, accompanied me to\nthe outskirts of the town, and sent me naked out upon the\nprairie. It was a cold, bleak day. I adjusted my attire\nabout me as best I could, and hastened to rejoin my wife\nand little ones on the banks of the Stranger Creek. It was\na sorrowful meeting after so long a parting, still we were\nvery thankful that, under the favor of a good Providence,\nit had fared no worse with us all.\n\nMany will ask now, as they have asked already, what is the\ntrue and proper cause of all these troubles I have had in\nAtchison? I have told the world already; I can only repeat\nmy own words. I have said, The head and front of my\noffending hath this extent, no more: I had spoken among my\nneighbors favorably to making Kansas a free State, and\nsaid in the office of the _Squatter Sovereign_, \"I am a\nFree-soiler, and intend to vote for Kansas to be a free\nState.\"\n\nStill it will be regarded as incredible that a man should\nreceive such treatment for uttering such words as I report\nmyself to have uttered. The matter is plain enough when\nthe facts are understood.\n\nPrior to August 17, 1855, there was no Free-soil party\norganized in Atchison county--perhaps not in the whole\nTerritory of Kansas. Free-soilers did not know their own\nstrength, and were disposed to be prudent; some were\ntimid. Here in Atchison county we determined that if the\nBorder Ruffians were resolved to drive matters to a bloody\nissue, the responsibility of doing so should rest wholly\nwith themselves. There are many Free-soilers in this\ncounty--brave men--who have no conscientious scruples to\nhinder them from arming themselves, and preparing to repel\nforce with force. The Border Ruffians sought by a system\nof terrorism so to intimidate the Free-soilers as to\nprevent them from organizing a Free-soil party, or even\ndiscussing the subject of freedom and slavery in Kansas.\nThey carried this to such an extent of outrageous violence\nthat it came to be currently reported that it was as much\nas a man's life was worth to say in the town of Atchison,\n\"I am a Free-soiler.\" We deprecated violence, and wished a\npeaceful discussion of the subject. It was therefore most\nfitting that a man whose profession forbade him to go\narmed should put to the test of actual experiment whether\nan American citizen of blameless life could be permitted\nto enjoy the right of free speech--the privilege of\nexpressing views favorable to making Kansas a free\nState--such views being uttered without anything of angry,\nabusive or insulting language. It was for this purpose the\nabove words were spoken, and which have been the cause of\nall my troubles in Atchison.\n\nIf there is any class of men who stand behind the curtain\nand pull the wires, we would respectfully represent to\nthem that it will do no good to urge these understrappers\non to these deeds of violence and ruffianism. We are not a\nclass of men to utter childish complaints at any wrongs we\nmay suffer, _but we know our rights and intend to have\nthem._\n\nSubscribing myself the friend of all good and civil men,\nwhether North or South, I am very truly, PARDEE BUTLER.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nWe have already told how Sheriff Jones failed to wipe out Lawrence;\nhow Gov. Shannon patched up a peace, and how that, in no good temper,\nthe \"Law and Order\" party returned to the border. But immediately\nthe Free State party gave evidence that its spirit had not been\nbroken. A convention had been called to meet at Topeka, in November,\n1855, to frame a free State Constitution, and this was ratified at\nan election called December 15 following, 1,731 votes being cast in\nits favor, the election having been held only one week after the\ntreaty of peace had been made. Then in less than two weeks a second\nconvention was called to meet at Lawrence, at which a full board of\nState officers was nominated, the election having been set to be held\non the 15th of January.\n\nAt Leavenworth, the attempt to hold the election resulted in such mobs\nand tumult that it was forbidden to be held by a faint-hearted Free\nState mayor, and was consequently adjourned to Easton. The Free State\nprinting press of Mark Delahay was, during these troubles, destroyed.\nAt Easton, a mob undertook to break up the election, but was driven\noff, and in the affray one of the attacking party named Cook was\nmortally wounded. Then the _Kansas Pioneer_, published at Kickapoo,\nmade an inflammatory appeal to the \"Law and Order\" party to rally and\navenge Cook's death, and in an answer to this appeal the \"Kickapoo\nRangers\" and Captain Dunn's company, from Leavenworth, in all about\nfifty men, turned out to go to Easton on this errand. A number of\ngentlemen had gone from Leavenworth to Easton to attend the election,\nand had stayed over night, among whom were Captain R. P. Brown, a\nresident of Salt Creek Valley, near Leavenworth. Captain B. was a man\nwell esteemed in his neighborhood, and was a member-elect of the\nLegislature. Captain Dunn and his company met these men returning to\nLeavenworth, and took them prisoners, carrying them back to Easton.\nHere they got up a sort of Lynch-law trial for Captain Brown, but the\nrabble composing Dunn's company, having maddened themselves with\ndrink, broke into the room where the trial was going on, seized\nCaptain Brown, who was unarmed and helpless, and tortured him with\nbarbarity that has been supposed to be only possible among savages,\nand then threw the wounded and dying man into an open lumber wagon, in\nwhich they hauled him home to his wife, over the rough, frozen roads,\nin one of the coldest nights of that bitter cold January; stopping\nmeantime at the drinking-houses by the way, they consumed seven hours\nin making the journey. His wife became insane at the sight of her\nbutchered and dying husband, thrown into the door by these brutal\nwretches, and was, in that condition, taken to her brother in\nMichigan. All this was testified to, with every _minutia_ of detail,\nbefore the Investigating Committee.\n\nThe border papers were aflame with appeals to the \"Law and Order\"\nparty to go over into Kansas and wipe out the pestiferous Free State\nmen, who set at naught the Territorial Legislature. The following\nsample of these appeals we extract from a speech made by David R.\nAtchison, at Platte City:\n\nThey held an election on the 15th of last month, and they intend to\nput the machinery of a State in motion on the 4th of March, \"_I say,\nprepare yourselves; go over there_. And if they attempt to drive you\nout, then drive them out. Fifty of you with your shot-guns are worth\ntwo hundred and fifty of them with their Sharpe's rifles.\"\n\nMeanwhile a great cry of wrongs and outrages against the Free State\nmen had filled the whole North, and Congress could not choose, but had\nto pay attention to it. Ex-Governor Reeder came forward and contested\nthe seat of Mr. Whitfield as Territorial delegate to Congress,\nalleging that Mr. W. owed his election to the votes of men not\nresidents of the Territory. As a result, a Committee of Investigation\nwas appointed to go to Kansas to take testimony, this committee being\ncomposed of Sherman of Ohio, Howard, of Michigan, and Oliver, of\nMissouri. These took an immense number of depositions, which were\npublished in a volume of more than 1,200 octavo pages, and of which\n20,000 were ordered to be printed. This investigating committee made a\nmajority report signed by Howard and Sherman, in which they summed up\ntheir conclusions under eight heads. Of these we shall copy four:\n\nMAJORITY REPORT.\n\n1. That each election held in the Territory under the\norganic or Territorial law has been carried by organized\ninvasion from the State of Missouri, by which the people\nof the Territory have been prevented from exercising the\nrights secured to them by the organic law.\n\n2. That the alleged Territorial Legislature was an\nillegally constituted body, and had no power to pass valid\nlaws, and their enactments are therefore null and void.\n\n3. That Andrew H. Reeder received a greater number of\nvotes of resident citizens than John W. Whitfield for\ndelegate.\n\n4. That in the present condition of the Territory a fair\nelection can not be held without a new census, a stringent\nand well-guarded election law, the selection of impartial\njudges, and the presence of United States troops at every\nelection.\n\n_(Signed)_ WM. A. HOWARD,\n           JOHN SHERMAN.\n\n\nMr. Oliver made a minority report, summing up his conclusions under\nseven heads. From this we shall copy three:\n\nMINORITY REPORT.\n\n1. That the Territorial Legislature was a legally\nconstituted body, and had power to pass valid laws, and\ntheir enactments were therefore valid.\n\n2. That the election under which the sitting delegate,\nJohn W. Whitfield, holds his seat was held in pursuance of\nvalid law, and should be regarded as a valid election.\n\n3. That the election under which the contesting delegate,\nAndrew H. Reeder, claims his seat, was not held under any\nlaw, and should be wholly disregarded by the House.\n_(Signed)_ M. OLIVER.\n\n\nAs a result, Congress permanently unseated Mr. Whitfield, and ordered\na new election, thus affirming the conclusions of Howard and Sherman.\nThis committee began its work in April and ended in June.\n\nThe \"Law and Order\" party did not, however, wait for the conclusion\nof these proceedings at Washington. Col. Buford, as we have told in a\nformer chapter, arrived early in the spring with his company of South\nCarolinians, and Gen. David R. Atchison had gathered, along the\nborders, several hundred men to make a second raid on Lawrence. These\nall marched to Lecompton, where they held themselves in readiness to\nact, as soon as a pretext could be found invoking their help.\n\nAnd now the inevitable Samuel J. Jones, Sheriff of Douglas County,\nagain put in an appearance. This time it was to arrest Sam Wood for\nthe rescue of Branson. Jones arrested Wood on the streets of Lawrence.\nA crowd gathered around, and in the jostling and pushing Jones and\nWood were separated, and Wood walked away. No threats were made, and\nno violence used. The next day was Sunday, and Jones again appeared,\nbut Sam Wood was missing. He had stayed that night at the house of the\nwriter, in Atchison County, being then on his way to the free States.\nJones, however, had writs for the arrest of those who had been the\noccasion of Wood's escape, and the Sheriff called on some of the\nchurch-going people to act as his _posse_ in making his arrests. But\nthese were of \"the most straitest sect\" of the Puritans, and it was\ncontrary to their consciences to do any manner of carnal work on the\nSabbath day, and in their estimation this was exceedingly carnal work,\nand they kept their faces set as if they would go to the synagogue.\nSamuel F. Tappan was one of the Branson rescuers, and Jones seized\nTappan by the collar, and Tappan struck Jones in the face. This was\nenough; Jones had been resisted, and he went to the Governor and\ndemanded a _posse_ of United States soldiers to aid him in making his\narrest. Thus reinforced with a detachment of United States troops, our\nvalorous Sheriff Jones went a third time and arrested without\nresistance six respectable citizens of Lawrence, on a charge of\ncontempt of court, because they had declined to break the Sabbath in\naiding him to make arrests on the Lord's day. In due course of law, it\nshould have been his duty to take his prisoners before a magistrate,\nand allowed them to give bail to appear at a given time to answer for\nthis alleged contempt. But Jones elected to keep his prisoners without\nbail, and to act as his own jailer, and so he encamped in a tent on\nthe prairie, using these United States soldiers as his guard. This was\na manifest bait to the people of Lawrence to attempt a rescue, but\nthey did not walk into the trap, and so these prisoners slept on the\nprairie, and their wives slept at home bereaved of their husbands.\nSomebody shot Jones. It is presumed that somebody thought he ought to\nbe shot, but it was as great a calamity to Lawrence as was the rescue\nof Branson. The people of Lawrence removed Jones to the Free State\nhotel, showed every sympathy they could show, and offered a reward of\n$500 for the apprehension of the assassin. Notwithstanding, all\nWestern Missouri was immediately aflame with appeals to the people to\ncome to the rescue, and avenge the death of the murdered Jones. But\nthe papers making these appeals did not publish the proceedings of the\nindignation meeting held at Lawrence, nor did they tell that a reward\nhad been offered for the apprehension of the assassin, nor did they\ntell that Jones' wound was so slight that he was able to be removed\nthe next day to Franklin.\n\nMeanwhile a conspiracy was hatched at Lecompton, in which Chief\nJustice Lecompte was the chief conspirator, to arrest the leading Free\nState men on a charge of treason, and keep them prisoners without\nbail, and thus smother out the Free State movement. James F. Legati\nwas one of the United States grand jurors, and violated his oath of\nsecrecy and made a night journey to give warning to the men that were\nto be made victims to this conspiracy. Gov. Charles Robinson fled down\nthe Missouri River, but was detained at Lexington, was brought back\nunder charge of treason, and placed in confinement at Lecompton;\nothers fled the Territory, and Lawrence was left to fight its battles\nwith its old leaders gone. According to the purpose of this conspiracy\na large number of Free State men were indicted for high treason; and\nthe Free State hotel and the two printing presses were returned by the\nGrand Jury as _nuisances_, and as such were by Judge Lecompte ordered\nto be destroyed. Immediately following Legati's nocturnal visit,\nEx-Governor Reeder received a summons at the hands of Deputy Marshal\nFain to appear at Lecompton _as a witness_. Mr. Reeder declined to\nobey the summons. The next day a writ was served on him to appear on a\ncharge of \"contempt of court\" for not having appeared as a witness.\nMr. Reeder refused to submit to the arrest for two reasons--first,\nthat his life would be in danger; second, he plead his privilege of\nexemption from arrest because he was a member-elect of Congress. Then\nUnited States Marshal Donaldson issued the following\n\nPROCLAMATION.\n\nWHEREAS, Certain judicial arrests have been directed to me\nby the First District Court of the United States, etc., to\nbe executed within the county of Douglas, and\n\nWHEREAS, The attempt to execute them by the United States\nDeputy Marshal was evidently resisted by a large number of\npeople of Lawrence, and as there is every reason to\nbelieve that any attempt to execute these writs will be\nresisted by a large body of armed men; now, therefore, the\nlaw-abiding citizens of the Territory are commanded to be\nand appear at Lecompton as soon as practicable, and in\nnumbers sufficient to execute the law.\n\nGiven under my hand this 11th day of May, 1856.\n\nJ. B. DONALDSON,\nU. S. Marshal of the Territory of Kansas.\n\n\nOn receipt of this proclamation the citizens of Lawrence\ncalled a public meeting and adopted the following\npreamble and resolution:\n\nWHEREAS, By a proclamation to the people of Kansas\nTerritory, by T B. Donaldson, it is alleged that certain\njudicial writs of arrest have been directed to him by the\nFirst District Court of the United States, etc. to be\nexecuted within the county of Douglas, and that an attempt\nto execute them was evidently resisted by a large number\nof the citizens of Lawrence, and that there is every\nreason to believe that an attempt to execute said writs\nwill be resisted by a large body of armed men; therefore,\n\n_Resolved_, By this public meeting of the citizens of\nLawrence, that the allegations and charges against us,\ncontained in the aforesaid proclamation, are wholly untrue\nin fact and in the conclusion which is drawn from them.\nThe aforesaid Marshal was resisted in no manner whatever,\nnor by any person whatever, in the execution of said\nwrits, except by him whose arrest the Deputy Marshal was\nseeking to make. And that we now, as we have done\nheretofore, declare our willingness and determination,\nwithout resistance, to acquiesce in the service upon us of\nany judicial writs against us by the United States Deputy\nMarshal, _and will furnish him with a posse for that\npurpose_, if so requested; but that we are ready to\nresist, if need be, unto death, the ravages and desolation\nof an invading mob.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nBefore Marshal Donaldson had issued the proclamation copied in our\nlast chapter, the citizens of Lawrence had forwarded to Gov. Shannon\nthe following:\n\nWHEREAS, We have most reliable information of the\norganization of guerrilla bands, who threaten the\ndestruction of our town and its citizens; therefore\n\n_Resolved_, That Messrs. Topliff, Hutchingson and Roberts\nconstitute a committee to inform His Excellency of these\nfacts, and to call upon him, in the name of the people of\nLawrence, for protection against such bands by the United\nStates troops at his disposal.\n\n\nTo this the Governor made the following reply:\n\nEXECUTIVE OFFICE, May 12, 1856.\n\nGENTLEMEN: Your note of the 11th inst. is received, and in\nreply I have to state that there is no force around or\napproaching Lawrence, except the largely constituted\n_posse_ of the United States Marshal and Sheriff of\nDouglas county, each of whom, I am informed, has a number\nof writs in his hands for execution against persons in\nLawrence. I shall in no way interfere with these officers\nin the discharge of their official duties.\n\nIf the citizens of Lawrence submit themselves to the\nTerritorial laws, and aid and assist the Marshal and the\nSheriff in the execution of processes in their hands, as\nall good citizens are bound to do when called upon, they\nwill entitle themselves to the protection of the law. But\nso long as they keep up a military or armed organization\nto resist the Territorial laws and the officers charged\nwith their execution, I shall not interpose to save them\nfrom the legitimate consequences of their illegal acts.\n\n\nThe following is a list of the notabilities that were in command of\nthe army that was to serve as the _posse_ of Marshal Donaldson, David\nR. Atchison in command of the Platte county riflemen of Missouri;\nCapt. Dunn, of the Kickapoo Rangers; Gen. B. F. String fellow, Robert\nS. Kelley and Peter T. Abell having charge of the recruits from\nAtchison; Col. Wilkes, of South Carolina; Col. Titus, of Florida; Col.\nBoone, of Westport, Mo., and Col. Buford, of South Carolina. More than\nthree-fourths of this army was composed of non-residents of Kansas.\n\nA third time the citizens of Lawrence called a public meeting, and\nthis time they appeal to Marshal Donaldson. They say, \"We beg leave to\nask respectfully, what are the demands against us?\" They repeat their\noft-repeated assurance that they will submit to arrests, and demand\nprotection against the gathering mob from the men representing the\nauthority of the General Government. Marshal Donaldson only replied\nwith jeers and insults. The people of Lawrence were indeed in evil\ncase.\n\nThe beleagured citizens saw themselves shut in by armed bands, engaged\nin murder, robbery, and plunder; and this time they appealed to the\nInvestigating Committee, now gone to Leavenworth; but that committee\nhad no power to help them. Col. Sumner could not help them, unless the\nGovernor should speak the word; and Shannon was dumb.\n\nLane had gone East; Robinson was a prisoner; Ex-Gov. Reeder had fled,\ndisguised as a common laborer; and others were in hiding; and perforce\nthe management of affairs had to be given into the hands of new men. A\nCommittee of Public Safety was chosen, and this committee determined\non a policy of abject submission and non-resistance. A committee of\nvolunteers from Topeka offered their assistance, but were told: \"We\ndo not want you.\" Pusillanimous as Gov. Shannon was, he found he had a\nman to deal with more pusillanimous than himself, in the person of S.\nC. Pomeroy, chairman of the Committee of Public Safety. Citizens of\nLawrence left in unspeakable disgust. The people of the Territory\nlooked on in amazement. The boys jeeringly called the Committee of\nPublic Safety \"The Committee of the Public Safety Valve.\"\n\nThe writer had given his testimony before the Investigating Committee\nwhile they were yet in Lawrence. A number of South Carolinians had\nbeen present while this testimony was being given, and they had\nprotested in a towering rage, \"We will shoot Butler on sight.\" It was\nevident the town had to be given up to the tender mercies of this mob\nof ruffians. There was nothing to be gained by remaining, and the\nwriter, sick at heart, went back to Atchison county; but he afterwards\nreturned to see the blackened ruins of the desolated town.\n\nOn May 21st the monster _posse_, led on by Marshal Donaldson and\nDeputy Marshal Fain, gathered around the doomed city. The town was\nquiet--unusually so. Deputy Marshal Fain went into the city and\narrested G. W. Deitzler, G. W. Smith and Gains Jenkins, on the charge\nof treason. The Marshal went to the Free State hotel, that they were\nsoon to batter down, and got his dinner, _and went away without paying\nfor it._ And now the opportune moment had arrived for the final\n_denouement_. Sheriff Jones--the mourned and lost and murdered and\nmuch-lamented Sheriff Jones--whose tragic death had fired the hearts\nof all the Missouri border, now put in an appearance and showed\nhimself a mighty lively corpse, and led his _posse_ into the town. The\nflag of the lone star of South Carolina, blood-red, and on which was\ninscribed the motto, \"Southern Rights,\" floated beside the Stars and\nStripes. The monster _posse_, with loaded cannon, marched into the\ncity and in front of the Free State hotel, and the \"Committee of the\nPublic Safety Valve\" was called for. Mr. Pomeroy came forward and\nshook hands with Sheriff Jones--should not _gentlemen_ shake hands\nwhen they meet? Sheriff Jones demanded the arms of the people,\notherwise he would bombard the town. Mr. Pomeroy went and dug up the\ncannon that had been buried, and surrendered it to Jones. But further\nthan this he could not go: _the people had their arms, and intended to\nkeep them_. Then they tried to batter down the Free State hotel with\ncannon. Failing in this, they tried to blow it up with powder; and,\nfailing in that, they burned it down. They also destroyed the two\nprinting presses, burning the buildings, and then sacked the town.\n\nSheriff Jones was beside himself with joy. In frantic excitement he\nsaid, \"I have done it! I have done it! This is the happiest moment of\nmy life! I determined to make the fanatics bow before me in the dust\nand kiss the Territorial laws, and I have done it! The writs have been\nexecuted. Boys, you are dismissed.\" It will be doing Senator David R.\nAtchison, Ex-Vice-President of the United States, a kindness to\nconclude simply that he was drunk, otherwise he displayed utter\nsavagery and barbarism. He inculcated gallantry to ladies, but said:\n\"If you find any woman with arms in her hands, tread her under foot as\nyou would a snake.\" The Caucassian white woman of Lawrence had no more\nrights of self-protection than the slaves of a South Carolina rice\nplantation--they were wholly and absolutely at the mercy of their\nmasters!\n\nWe have no comments to make on the work of this drunken rabble; but\nthere is one man that must be held to a terrible responsibility before\nthe judgment-seat of posterity. Gov. Wilson Shannon was not drunk: and\nit is to be presumed he had read that Constitution of the United\nStates which he had so often sworn to support. He knew, therefore,\nthat this document stipulates:\n\n1. \"That the right of the people to _keep_ and bear arms shall not be\ninfringed;\" yet he showed a fixed purpose to deprive the Lawrence\npeople of their arms.\n\n2. The Governor knew that the Constitution guarantees \"freedom of\nspeech and of the press\" to the American people; yet the burning of\nthese printing presses was an attack on the freedom of the press.\n\n3. The Constitution guarantees that \"in all criminal prosecutions the\naccused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.\" Property\nof large value was destroyed because its owners were charged with high\ncrimes and misdemeanors; yet the owners of this property had never\nbeen given a trial.\n\n4. Gov. Shannon alleged that it was treasonable for the people of\nKansas Territory to frame a State Constitution without an enabling act\nfrom Congress; yet California had done this very thing, and under that\nConstitution had been admitted as a State.\n\n5. He treated the Free State men as traitors, because they would not\nadmit the legality of the Lecompton Territorial Legislature. But the\nmajority of the Investigating Committee held the same view with the\nLawrence people, and Congress affirmed the same judgment in\npermanently unseating Mr. Whitfield as Territorial delegate to\nCongress.\n\nWould that men could remember that there is a _hereafter_; that\n_to-morrow_ forever sits in judgment on _to-day._ There are three men\nmost conspicuous in the sacking of Lawrence. Let us look at them in\nthe electric light of the awful _to-morrow._ Since the Kansas struggle\nhad begun David R. Atchison had made himself the most conspicuous\nfigure. He was the representative of the John C. Calhoun school of\nSouthern politics, and from the hour of the destruction of Lawrence he\nwas to disappear from public view, as absolutely as that Free State\nhotel which was burned by his orders; yet he did not die--he was\nsimply _buried alive_ out of the public sight. He was done with the\nnation, and the nation was done with him. He went back and lived on\nhis plantation in Western Missouri, where he was forgotten. It is said\nhe loved his slaves so well, and petted them so much, that they became\nmasters on the plantation, and not himself. He lived to see Kansas a\nfree State, with almost a million of inhabitants, and fairly taking\nthe lead of Missouri in the elements of education, enterprise, and the\nhighest civilization.\n\nWe have seen the crawling servility with which Gov. Shannon served the\n\"Law and Order\" party; yet in less than three months he was to see\nhis office as Governor go up in smoke, as these burning buildings had\ngone up in smoke. Mr. S. became frantic when he saw the carnival of\nbloodshed and murder, of riot and robbery, that had been brought about\nby his means. Dr. Gihon, the incoming Gov. Geary's private secretary,\nreported that Mr. Shannon fled the Territory in fear of his life. When\nthe troubles were over he came to Kansas and sought the pity and\nforgiveness of that city he had turned over to the tender mercies of a\nmob of ruffians. It need not be said that he could have done no\nbetter, for his successor, Gov. Geary, had only to speak a word and\nthis tumult of disorder was instantly hushed.\n\nAs the years went by the people could not believe that a man that\ndisplayed so many good and amiable qualities could have been a party\nto such outrages as characterized his administration. He died in\nLawrence very much respected.\n\nSheriff Samuel J. Jones strutted his brief hour on this stage in which\nthe play had been both a bloodcurdling tragedy and a comedy; and now\nhe was to step down and out. In the last act he had said, \"_I have\ndone it!\" And he had done it_! He and his fellow conspirators, whether\nof high or low degree, had set in operation a train of causes that\nshould issue in abolishing throughout the United States that\ninstitution of slavery they had so frantically sought to establish in\nKansas.\n\nJoseph said to his brethren, \"You meant it for evil, but the Lord\nmeant it for good.\" _Sheriff Jones and his fellow conspirators were in\nthe Lord's hands, but they did not know it_.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nWhen the news came of the sacking of Lawrence, the great mass of the\nsquatters had not yet lost faith in the nation, nor had they lost hope\nthat justice would be done, tardy though it might be; but the utmost\nlimits of human endurance were fast being reached. There were,\nhowever, many that had already gone beyond this point, and they\nreturned an answer that made the hearts of the people stand still with\nhorror. It was the answer of a wild beast that had been hunted to its\nlair, and that turns with savage ferocity on its pursuers. It was an\nanswer framed not in words, but in deeds. It said, \"We have come to\nan end. We have been robbed of the rights guaranteed to us by the\nKansas-Nebraska bill. We have been robbed of the rights of American\ncitizens. We have been given the alternative of abject and degrading\nsubmission or of extermination. And now we make our answer. We will\nreturn blow for blow, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, and burning\nfor burning. Murder shall be paid back with murder, robbery with\nrobbery; and every act of aggression shall be paid back with swift and\nterrible retaliation.\" It must be remembered that at that time news\ntraveled slow, and that it was slow work to take men from their\nordinary farm life and organize them into bands of soldiers, and it\nwas some days before \"Old John Brown, of Osawatomie,\" appeared on the\nscene of conflict with a company of men. Of this company his son, John\nBrown, Jr., was captain. But the \"old man\" had come too late. He was\nterribly excited, and denounced as a set of cowards the \"Committee of\nthe Public Safety Valve\" that had dug up the hidden cannon and had\nsurrendered it to Sheriff Jones. Captain Brown and his company\ndetermined to return. Old John Brown selected a squad of six men to go\non a secret expedition. Of these, four were his own sons, and one was\nhis son-in-law. His son, Captain Brown, was unwilling that his father\nshould go, and when the old man would not be persuaded, he cautioned\nhim, \"Father, don't do anything rash.\" \"Old John Brown\" took old man\nDoyle and two sons and two other men in the dead hour of night and put\nthem to death. The facts of this awful deed have never been made\npublic--there has never been a judicial investigation. It is said that\nDoyle and his sons were desperate characters, and were in the act of\ndriving off Free State men; but nothing is certainly known.\n\nAnd now it appeared that the whole country south of the Kaw River was\nfull of armed Free State guerrilla bands. They rose up out of the\nearth as if they had been specters--their blows were swift, terrible\nand remorseless. They visited and robbed the houses of Pro-slavery\nmen, as the houses of the Free State men had been visited and robbed.\nThey stole the Pro-slavery men's horses, stopped them on the public\nhighways, and repeated in every detail and in every act of violence\nthe cruel atrocities that had been so long perpetrated on themselves.\nThey showed no partiality--if they stole the horses of Pro-slavery\nmen, they also stole Gov. Shannon's horses, and the Governor posted\nover the country with a squad of soldiers to find them. The town of\nFranklin, six miles from Lawrence, that had been a rendezvous for the\n\"Law and Order\" robbers, and out of which they issued to visit Free\nState settlers' houses, rob Free State men on the public highway and\nmake raids on Lawrence, was cleaned out. H. Clay Pate, leader of a\n\"Law and Order\" company of militia, went to hunt John Brown and put\nhim to death as he would go to hunt a wild beast. An African lion\nhunter, when questioned, \"Is it not fine sport to hunt lions?\"\nreplied, \"Yes, it is fine sport to hunt lions, but if the lion hunts\nyou it is not so fine.\" H. Clay Pate went to hunt the lion, and found\nthe lion was hunting him. John Brown attacked Pate with an inferior\nforce, dispersed his command, and took him prisoner, together with\ntwenty-eight of his men, and kept them in an inaccessible fastness\nwhich he made his hiding place. A number of Pro-slavery men fled from\nthe Territory, telling everywhere a blood-curdling story of hard and\ncruel treatment. The people of the State of Missouri were filled with\nrage and horror, and its presses groaned with frantic appeals to the\npeople to rise in their might and avenge the blood of their murdered\nbrethren. Hitherto they had witnessed with perfect composure the\nsavage butchery of the Free State men, and the outrage of Free State\nfamilies; but now the case was bravely altered. It was their ox that\nwas being gored.\n\nGov. Shannon passed as usual from the extreme of insolence to the\nextreme of helpless imbecility, and called on Col. Sumner to come\nforward and put a stop to this riot of confusion, blood-shedding and\nviolence. The Governor really wanted Col. S. to disarm only the Free\nState guerrillas; but Mr. S. made a more liberal interpretation of his\norders, and proceeded to disarm all armed bands in the Territory. He\nvisited Old John Brown's hiding place, told him he must consider\nhimself under arrest, and intimated to Deputy Marshal Fain that he was\nat liberty to arrest these men, who were under charge of murder. But\nthe Marshal replied _that he had no arrests to make_. Marshal Fain had\nno stomach for the business of lion hunting. It is said that Col. S.\ngave Marshal Fain a piece of his mind that was more explicit than\npolite.\n\nCol. Sumner ordered John Brown to give up his prisoners, and disband\nhis men. John Brown expostulated with him, that it was not right to\nrequire him to do this, while the country was full of armed bands of\nPro-slavery militia and guerrillas. Col. S. agreed to disband and\ndisarm all companies of persons armed, and then John Brown agreed to\ncomply with his requests. Gen. Whitfield was in the vicinity, and at\nthe request of Col. S. agreed to remove his men from the Territory;\nbut while doing this they continued the business of riot, robbery and\nmurder.\n\nThus wearily passed the month of June of 1856, on the south bank of\nthe Kaw River. The coming Fourth of July was looked forward to with\nintense interest by both parties, and on the north side of the Kaw\nRiver, as well as on its south side. The Fourth of July was the day on\nwhich the Legislature, elected under the Free State Constitution, was\nto meet at Topeka; and on that day, and at that place, a mass\nconvention of all the Free State men in Kansas had also been called to\nmeet and agree on their future policy. Col. Sumner had at least done\nthis good service, that the highways were clear, and traveling was\nsafe; but not knowing what might happen, the men generally carried\ntheir muskets hidden in their wagons. The writer of these\n\"Recollections\" went to Topeka with the Free State men of Atchison\ncounty. At this convention it appeared that there was the greatest\npossible divergence of judgment as to the best policy for the Free\nState party to pursue. There was nothing of the noise and bluster that\ncharacterizes a drunken mob; they were sober and quiet men;\nnevertheless, they evidently labored under an intense and burning\nexcitement. Some were for war, bloody, relentless and unforgiving war;\nothers advised a more pacific policy. If the reader can imagine the\nsavage determination with which the old Scotch Covenanters turned at\nbay when hunted into their mountain fastnesses by their bloody\npersecutors, then he will have some idea of the spirit that animated a\ngreat part of that assembly. Two companies of soldiers, handsomely\nequipped, armed and drilled, one from Topeka and one from Lawrence,\nwere drawn up in front of the Topeka House, where the Free State\nLegislature was to meet. It is probable that this crowd of men\nassembled at this convention could have laid their hands on five\nhundred muskets hidden away in their wagons, in ten minutes.\n\nMeanwhile Col. Sumner had quietly drawn up his company of dragoons\njust outside of the crowd. In front of the dragoons were two loaded\ncannon, and by them grimly stood soldiers with burning fuse. While the\nmembers of the convention were discussing among themselves their\nproper policy, United States Marshal Donaldson came forward,\naccompanied by Judge El-more, and taking possession of the stand from\nwhich the speakers were addressing the people, Judge El-more read a\nproclamation from the President and from acting Gov. Woodson,\ncommanding the Legislature to disperse.\n\nTo this Col. Sumner had appended the following note: \"The\nproclamation of the President and the orders under it require me to\nsustain the Executive of the Territory in executing the laws and\npreserving the peace. I therefore hereby announce that I shall\nmaintain the proclamation at all hazards.\"\n\nThis act of Marshal Donaldson was fiercely denounced as an impertinent\nintermedding with other men's business. The general drift of the\nreasoning was as follows: \"Our act in framing a constitution and in\nelecting a legislature is not treasonable nor revolutionary. There is\nno law against it: consequently we are breaking no law. It is,\nmoreover, something that has to be done at some time by the majority\nof the citizens of this Territory, and we hope to be able to convince\nCongress and the President that we are that majority. If we had\nundertaken to set in operation a government in contravention to the\none now recognized by the President, then might there have been some\napology for this interference; but we have done nothing of the kind.\"\n\nThe writer will say to the reader that Gov. Walker, an ex-Senator from\nMississippi, and the ablest Governor Kansas ever had, admitted\nafterwards that this reasoning of the Kansas squatters was perfectly\ncorrect. But however this might be, here was a patent fact. Here was\nCol. Sumner with his United States dragoons, and he was a man to obey\norders; and what were we going to do about it? Should we fight, or\nshould we not fight? The writer submitted the following resolution:\n\n_Resolved_, That this Convention expresses its\ndetermination not to resist the United States troops.\n\nThe resolution was carried, and a committee was sent to Col. Sumner to\ninform him of its adoption. His answer was one to draw the hearts of\nthe people to himself: \"I knew,\" said he, \"that you were loyal to the\nold flag.\"\n\nOur readers will be incredulous that such a resolution should be\nneeded, or that there should be any division of sentiment as touching\nits adoption. It is for this reason we call this incident up. It is\nthat the reader may understand how strained was the state of feeling\nof many of the Free State men. They had spent the past months\nfighting, and they, in their own minds, associated the United States\ntroops with the oppressors of Kansas Free State men.\n\nWhen Mr. Sumner went into the Legislative hall to disperse the\nLegislature, he spoke as tenderly as a woman. He said: \"Gentlemen,\nthis is the most painful act of my life But I must obey orders, and\nyou must disperse.\" When he wheeled his dragoons to march away the\nboys cheered Col. Sumner. They cheered the old flag and the United\nStates soldiers, but they gave such groans for the Lecompton\nLegislature as, it was said, frightened the dragoons' horses.\n\nThere was now no further cause that the writer should tarry longer,\nand he immediately mounted his horse and rode towards home, with a\nheart heavy with the thought of all the distempers that had come on\nunhappy Kansas.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nWe have already told how the campaign was opened, in the spring of\n1856, in Atchison county, in a letter which we at that time addressed\nto the editor of the _Herald of Freedom_. This paper was printed at\nLawrence, on the printing press destroyed by the \"Law and Order\" mob.\nThe weekly issue in which this letter was published was passing\nthrough the press on the day the town was sacked, one side having been\nprinted, the other side being yet blank. Then the Border Ruffians came\ninto the town, broke up the press and threw it into the river, and\ntumbled the half printed weekly issue into the street. The above-named\narticle was on the printed side, and was read by the whole crowd, and\nthey were terribly angry. If the writer had been in town he certainly\nwould not have escaped alive, if this mob could have found him. As it\nwas, their curses would not be edifying reading in a Christian\nnewspaper. Lecompton could not give its friends food or lodging. It\nhad been located in an out-of-the-way and inaccessible place; its\nproprietors were Sheriff Jones, Judge Lecompton, and men of that\n_ilk,_ and business men avoided the place as if it had been smitten\nwith a pestilence. The people of the surrounding country were\ngenerally Free State men, and the South Carolinians could not choose,\nbut were forced to return to Atchison. They had been angry and\nimpatient when their friends in Atchison had constrained them to do\nthings up in such \"milk and water\" style, and in Lawrence they had\nbeen held back in the same manner, and they returned in a savage\ntemper. Should a cowardly Yankee be allowed to defy them, and scoff at\nthem, and call them \"bull-dogs and blood-hounds,\" with impunity? and\nnow, with this man they had to have a settlement.\n\nWe have already seen how the contending factions spread murder and\nviolence south of the Kaw River; but from May till September\nLeavenworth county became a \"dark and bloody ground.\" Immediately\nafter the Fourth of July, Col. Sumner had been, because of his too\ngreat leniency to Free State men, superseded in command at Fort\nLeavenworth by Persifer F. Smith, a man whose heart was hard as\na rock of adamant toward the Free State people, and under his eyes\nLeavenworth city and county were given up to blood and robbery.\n\nIn Atchison county, from the beginning of these border troubles to the\nend of them, not one man's life was taken, and yet David R. Atchison,\nGen. B. F. Stringfellow, and his law partner, Peter T. Abell, were the\nleading members of the Atchison town company. Robert S. Kelley and Dr.\nJohn H. Stringfellow also maintained unchanged their bloody purposes.\nWe find in the _Squatter Sovereign_, under date of June 10th, the\nfollowing editorial, and this displays its uniform temper:\n\nThe Abolitionist: shoot down our men, without provocation,\nwherever they meet them; let us retaliate in the same\nmanner. A free fight is all we desire. If murder and\nassassination is the programme of the day, we are in favor\nof filling the bill. Let not the knives of the Pro-slavery\nmen be sheathed while there is one Abolitionist in the\nTerritory. As they have shown no quarters to our men, they\ndeserve none from us. Let our motto be written in blood on\nour flags, \"_Death to all Yankees and traitors in\nKansas_.\"\n\nWhy, then, were not these bloody counsels made good by deeds? Our\ncircumstances were peculiar. It will be seen above that it was only\nthe Yankees and Abolitionists in whose bodies the knives of the \"Law\nand Order\" party were to be sheathed; and the Yankees in the country\nwere only a handful of men, and were therefore powerless; but between\nthem and these bloody-minded chieftains was interposed a barrier that\nproved insurmountable. The great mass of the squatters were just from\nthe other side of the river. Sometimes a son had left a father, and\ncrossed the river to get a claim; or a brother had left his brother,\nor a girl had married a young man in the neighborhood, and as the\nyoung folks were poor, they had left the old folks and had gone to\nseek their fortune in the new Territory. Of course the old folks would\nstill have a care for the young couple. They were in easy reach of\neach other, and would still visit back and forth. Now who does not see\nthat to touch any one of these was to touch all? It was like touching\na nest of hornets. The reader will observe that these people had no\nquarrel with the people of the South: they were bone of their bone and\nflesh of their flesh. Neither had they any special quarrel with\nSouthern institutions; only this, that they would rather live in a\nfree State. They did feel that way, and they could not help it. But in\none thing they had been sorely wounded. In the invasion of Kansas, and\nin the carrying the elections by violence, their personal rights had\nbeen invaded, and they did resent that. And now here were some Yankee\nneighbors whom they knew to be kindly and peaceable people, and whose\nhelp they needed in building up their churches; and yet these were to\nbe murdered or driven out of the Territory _for nothing!_ and it\ntouched their Southern blood. It was neither just nor right, and they\nwould not allow it; and in such an issue there would be a common bond\nof sympathy on both sides of the river. Moreover, such men as Oliver\nSteele, Judge Tutt and the Irvings and Harts and Christophers had\ngrave misgivings what would be the final issue of this system of\nmurder and violence that had been adopted to make Kansas a slave\nState.\n\nAnd so it was that the leaders in this conspiracy, right here in this\ncity and county of Atchison, which was their headquarters, found\nthemselves strangely embarrassed and handicapped. Their will was good\nenough, but how to carry out their purpose?--that was the pinch. A\nprivate assassination was a thing that looked easy enough at the first\nsight, but it might turn out that they had undertaken an ugly job for\nthemselves.\n\nA meeting of the Disciples was held at the house of Archibald Elliott\nin the month of June. It was called quietly, and no noise made about\nit. There was a large attendance, and it was evident that if we could\nhold regular meetings great good would be done. But the neighborhood\nwas soon filled with alarming rumors. It was said that a company of\nSouth Carolinians were seen to go into a grove of bushes, about\nnightfall, where the writer would be expected to pass, and that they\nwere seen to emerge from the same place the next morning. One event,\nhowever, adjourned our meetings without date. There was a man living\nin the western part of the county named Barnett, who was a man of\nconsiderable attainment, and had been a member of the Christian\nChurch. But he was given to drink. His wife, however, who was an\nexcellent Christian woman, remained steadfast to the church, and\nBarnett, as he saw his hold on the church and his hope of heaven\nslipping away from him, clung the more loyally to his wife, as though\nher Christian excellencies would save them both. At her request he\ninvited me to preach a sermon at his house, and I consented. But when\nthe South Carolinians in Atchison heard of it, they sent an insulting\nmessage to Barnett that they would come and shoot me. Barnett's\nSouthern blood was all on fire. Who were these men that had come to\nAtchison county to ride rough-shod over him in his own house? He sent\na message equally defiant back to them, that if they did come he and\nhis neighbors would shoot them. But there was one man in the county\nthat needed to have no nervousness as touching his reputation for\npersonal bravery. That man was Caleb May; and he interposed and said:\n\"Let us wait patiently for more peaceful times. The Son of man did not\ncome to destroy men's lives, but to save them.\" But this adjourned\nwithout date our meetings.\n\nOne incident must illustrate the strained and peculiar condition of\naffairs in Atchison county. Archimedes Speck lived on the Stranger\nCreek, several miles below the residence of the writer. He was a man\nof magnificent physical development, and was a pronounced Free State\nman. His wife's people originally came from North Carolina, and she\nwas proud of her Southern blood; and the husband and wife did not come\nto Kansas to be run over by anybody. Yet they were eminently peaceable\npeople, if let alone. These gentlemen in Atchison had determined to\ndisarm the Free State people living in the country; and Mr. Speck,\nbeing a Free State man, open and avowed, they called on him, but he\nwas not at home. They therefore asked his wife: \"Has your husband a\nrifle, musket, or fire-arms of any kind?\" She brought out an old Queen\nAnne's musket, as rusty and worn as if it had been in service ever\nsince the Revolutionary war. But while they were inspecting the rusty\nold thing, whether it was worth carrying away, she took from a closet\na bran span new double-barrel fowling-piece, and, putting her finger\non the trigger, she said, \"Now, sir, if you do not lay down that\nmusket and leave the house, I will shoot you.\" If this gentleman had\nsuddenly roused up a female tiger, he would not have been more\nterror-stricken than when he found himself facing this woman, blazing\nwith scorn and irrepressible resentment, and he concluded he did not\nwant the rusty old musket, _and did not ask to examine the other one._\n\nMr. S. had threatened to flog one of his Pro-slavery neighbors who had\ninsulted him, as he alleged, and the man went to Atchison and made\noath that he was in fear of his life, and the Sheriff was sent out\nwith a warrant to arrest Mr. Speck. But at this time Leavenworth\ncounty was full of murder and bloodshed; guerrilla parties, both Free\nState and Pro-slavery, were fighting in many parts of the Territory,\nand Lane had returned, and was leading the Free State men in this\nwarfare, and had threatened with many oaths to wipe out Atchison, and\nthere were rumors that he was already near at hand. And so, to provide\nagainst all contingencies, the Sheriff was accompanied by a _posse_ of\nforty armed men, who took with them a cannon which had been loaned to\nAtchison by the people of Missouri.\n\nMrs. Speck received the Sheriff graciously, explained to him that her\nhusband was absent, but would soon return, but to all questions as\ntouching his present whereabouts, she shook her head mysteriously and\nrefused to explain. The thing looked suspicious. Was it possible that\nLane was even now in the neighborhood? and the Sheriff went back to\nhis _posse_ to hold a council of war. He had stationed them on a high\nbluff on the north bank of the Stranger Creek, and, looking across the\nwide timbered bottom to the opposite bluff, they could dimly see a\nlarge number of objects approaching through the brush-wood. What could\nit be? Was it Lane coming to attack him? And now two horsemen emerged\nfrom the brush and rode on a full gallop down the bluff.\n\n\"It is Lane! It is Lane!\" they cried. \"Let us ride back to Atchison\nand get ready to defend the town,\" and on a gallop they skedaddled\nback to Atchison.\n\nMr. Speck had been with some of his neighbors to bring home a herd of\ncattle. An old cow had broken from the herd, intending to get back to\nher former grazing ground, and Mr. Speck and his neighbors had ridden\nfull gallop to head her off. On reaching home, and learning of the\nvisit of the Sheriff, he went at once to Atchison to give bonds to\nkeep the peace; and to make all things square, he took with him the\nrusty old musket and proffered it to the gentleman that had been so\nsolicitous to get it. Mr. Speck assured him that Mrs. S. was now\nwilling he should have it, and _would not shoot him if he took it_.\n\nThese gentlemen had been making money out of pocket. They had been\nfrightened out of their wits by a spunky woman; and forty armed men,\nwith a loaded cannon, had been stampeded and made to run pell-mell\ninto Atchison by a herd of cattle and two or three men on horseback,\nriding at full gallop after an old cow.\n\nThese men had undertaken to do a wicked thing, and had been made\nridiculous in doing so; and this contributed largely to that\nrevolution in the public opinion of the county, which had been going\non for eighteen months, and which at the last compelled a radical\nchange in the policy of these \"Border Ruffian\" leaders. But this\nagain gave the chiefs of this conspiracy abundant experience that it\npays to do right, and that a good Providence had brought them\nprosperity and honor by defeating their original counsels and turning\nthem into foolishness.\n\nBut first we must tell of the carnival of riot, ruin, and robbing that\nhad been going on in other parts of the Territory.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nThe _Squatter Sovereign_, in its issue of July 1st, made the following\nannouncement:\n\nThe steamer, Star of the West, having on board\nseventy-eight Chicago Abolitionists, was overhauled at\nLexington, Mo., and the company disarmed. A large number\nof rifles and pistols were taken at Lexington, and a guard\nsent upon the boat, to prevent them from landing in the\nTerritory. After leaving Lexington, it was ascertained\nthat they had not given up all arms, but still held\npossession of a great number of bowie knives and pistols,\nwhich were probably secreted while the search was going on\nat Lexington. At Leavenworth City, Captain Clarkson, with\ntwenty-five men, went on board of the boat and demanded\nthe surrender of all the arms in the possession of the\nAbolitionists. Like whipped dogs they sneaked up to\nClarkson and laid down their weapons to him.\n\nThe men thus robbed of their arms give the following version of the\nmatter: They say that at Lexington they were taken by surprise; that\ntheir arms were not accessible to them, and that there was nothing to\ndo but to yield. But that a pledge was made to them, that if they\nwould give up their arms, they should be allowed to proceed peaceably\nto Kansas. They furthermore state that at Kansas City Col. Buford came\naboard the boat, accompanied by a company of soldiers; that David R.\nAtchison and Gen. B. F. Stringfellow came on board, and that after the\nboat had left the landing these gentlemen informed them that they\nwould in no wise be allowed to enter the Territory; that after the\nboat had stopped at Weston, they should be taken back to Alton; but\nthat if they would not accept this arrangement, \"they should be hung,\nevery mother's son of them.\"\n\nAt various times the _Squatter Sovereign_ and _Leavenworth Herald_\nreport similar outrages. The latter paper reports, July 5th, the\nsending back seventy-five emigrants that had come upon the steamer\nSultan. In reference to this occurrence, the _Squatter Sovereign_\nmakes the following remark:\n\nWe do not fully approve of sending these criminals back to\nthe East, to be reshipped to Kansas--if not through\nMissouri, through Iowa and Nebraska. We think they should\nmeet a traitor's death; and the world could not censure us\nif we, in self-protection, have to resort to such ultra\nmeasures. We are of the opinion that if the citizens of\nLeavenworth city, or Weston, would _hang_ one or two\nboatloads of Abolitionists, it would do more towards\nestablishing peace in Kansas than all the speeches that\nhave been delivered in Congress during the present\nsession. _Let the experiment be tried_.\n\nThe Missouri River was thus blockaded against the incoming of\nemigrants from the free States, and this created intense excitement\nthroughout the North. The result was, that the immigration to Kansas,\ninstead of being diminished, was largely increased; but it changed its\ndirection, and Iowa City became the _entrep\u0102\u00b4t_ for the incoming tide\nof free State settlers, which now sought an overland route through\nIowa and Nebraska, and began to reach Kansas about the 1st of August.\n\nThe leaders of the Pro-slavery party made a pathetic appeal to the\npeople of the South to send a corresponding class of emigrants; but\nthe appeal was feebly responded to. Slave-holders would not come,\nbecause their slaves would be insecure; and now slave-holders felt\nthat they had small cause to come to fight a battle that was not\ntheirs.\n\nGov. Shannon held the scepter of power with a more and more feeble\nhand. He was going to resign, and he was not going to resign. But\nwhether he did or did not resign, the substance of power had already\npassed into the hands of his secretary, Mr. Woodson, who was hand and\nglove with his fellows in this conspiracy to make Kansas a slave\nState.\n\nMeantime Col. Sumner had been superseded in command at Fort\nLeavenworth by Persifer F. Smith. Col. Sumner had obeyed orders like\nthe brave soldier that he was, but he had shown too much sympathy for\nthese victims of oppression in the discharge of his shameful duties. [5]\nHe did his appointed work, but he did not do it with an appetite, and\nhe had been succeeded by a man that felt no more pity toward the Free\nState people than the wolf feels for the lamb out of which he makes\nhis breakfast. The consequences of this state of affairs began soon to\nappear. The Missouri River had been blockaded. Trains sent to\nLeavenworth from Lawrence and Topeka were robbed on the public highway\nof the merchandise and provisions with which they were loaded, and\nthese interior Free State settlements began to feel the sharp pressure\nof hard necessities, while they a third time saw companies of\nso-called \"Law and Order\" militia occupying various points in the\nTerritory which these men proceeded to fortify, and from which they\ncould overawe the inhabitants and make raids on the citizens; and\nthus the old business of robbery, murder, spoliation and oppression\nwas again begun.\n\nAnd now this new immigration of a squatter soldiery, who came bearing\ntheir muskets in one hand and their implements of husbandry in the\nother, and were perfectly indifferent whether it should be work or\nfight, came pouring over the Nebraska line and into Kansas Territory.\nA feeble attempt was made to stop them, but it amounted to nothing.\nThey were not now on a Missouri River steamboat. Jim Lane came with\nthem. He remained _incognito_ a few days, and then threw off his\ndisguise, and Capt. Joe Cook was Jim Lane. And now the old, hard rule\nof the law of Moses, \"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,\"\nwas again the law of Kansas. It was, \"You have robbed us, and we will\nrob you; you have subsisted yourselves upon us, and we will subsist\nourselves on you; you have blockaded the Missouri River, and waylaid\nour freighting trains, and pillaged them of their freight, with intent\nto starve out the Free State people, and all that belongs to you and\nyours shall be free plunder to us.\"\n\nThe places that had been fortified by this \"Law and Order\" militia\nwere one by one stormed and the garrisons driven off. Franklin was a\nsecond time attacked and its occupants taken prisoners. Col. Titus had\nfortified his residence in the suburbs of Lecompton, and here he kept\na company of men that made raids on the surrounding Free State\ninhabitants. This fort was taken by assault, and Col. Titus and his\nmen were taken prisoners, while Major Sedjwick, with a company of\nUnited States troops, was encamped only two miles away. The citizens\nof Lecompton were frightened out of their wits, and Gov. Shannon was\nfound under the bank of the Kansas River, badly demoralized, and\ntrying to get across the river on an old scow, and thus escape the\ndanger. He came the next day to Lawrence, accompanied by Maj.\nSedjwick, to make peace and negotiate an exchange of prisoners, He\nannounced this as his last official act, and exhorted the people in a\nspeech he made to them, to live in peace with each other, while they\nshouted in angry retort, \"Give us back Barber and the men that have\nbeen murdered under your rule.\"\n\nBut in spite of all these reverses that had come upon the \"Law and\nOrder\" party, they still had faith that Providence is on the side of\nthe heaviest battalions, and that they would yet succeed in driving\nout these Free State rebels; and they proceeded to raise, along the\nMissouri border, a larger army than it would be possible for the Free\nState people to raise. Did they not have on their side the President\nand his Cabinet? Was not Congress on their side? Was not Persifer F.\nSmith, Commandant at Fort Leavenworth, at least indifferent to all\ntheir deeds of violence? And more and better, Woodson had succeeded\nShannon as acting Governor, and it would be a bad day that should not\nsee the full fruition of their hopes.\n\nBut there was one thought to mar their otherwise perfect joy, just as\nProvidence always pours a drop of bitterness into every cup. A\nGovernor unfriendly to their purposes might be appointed, and it\nbecame them, therefore, to make hay while the sun was shining. They,\ntherefore, addressed the following pathetic appeal to the people of\nthe South:\n\nWe have asked the appointment of a successor who was\nacquainted with our condition; who, a citizen of our\nTerritory, identified with its interests, familiar with\nits history, would not be prejudiced or misled by the\nfalsehoods which have been so systematically fabricated\nagainst us.\n\nIn his stead we have one appointed who is ignorant of our\ncondition, a stranger to our people; who we have too much\ncause to fear will, if no worse, prove no more efficient\nto protect us than his predecessors.\n\nWith, then, a government which has proved imbecile, has\nfailed to enforce the laws for our protection, with our\narmy of lawless banditti overturning our country--what\nshall we do?\n\nThough we have full confidence in the integrity and\nfidelity of Mr. Woodson, now acting as Governor, we know\nnot at what moment his authority will be suspended. We can\nnot await the convenience of the incoming of the newly\nappointed Governor. We can not hazard a second edition of\nimbecility or corruption.\n\nWe must act at once, and effectively. These traitors,\nassassins, and robbers must be punished; must now be\ntaught a lesson they will remember.\n\nIt is, then, not only the right, but the duty of all good\ncitizens of Missouri and every other State to come to our\nassistance, and enable us to expel these invaders.\n\nMr. Woodson, since the resignation of Governor Shannon,\nhas fearlessly met the responsibilities of the trust\nforced upon him, has proclaimed the existence of the\nrebellion, and called on the militia of the Territory to\nassemble for its suppression.\n\nWe call on you to come, to furnish us assistance in men,\nprovisions, and munitions, that we may drive out the army\nof the North, who would subvert our government and expel\nus from our homes.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nGov. Shannon left the Territory a disgraced and ruined man. He had\nproved himself, both to the Free State party and the Law and Order\nparty, a broken staff that pierces the hand of him that leans on it.\nMr. Woodson, who took his place as acting Governor, showed himself\nhale fellow well met with such spirits as Sheriff Jones and Judge\nLecompte; and this faction made piteous appeals to the Great Father at\nWashington to give them a man after their own heart, and this they\nfound in John Calhoun, Surveyor-General of Kansas and Nebraska, whose\nofficial patronage made him a man of considerable influence, and whose\nfreighting outfit, kept for his peculiar business, would have made him\neminently useful to this party in the transportation of military\nstores. But their appeal had been denied them, and instead of\nSurveyor-General Calhoun, Mr. Geary, of Pennsylvania, had been\nappointed.\n\nThat great party, of which the President was the official head, was\nconvulsed with such internal feuds and contentions, consequent on\nthese very Kansas troubles, as threatened its existence. A\nPresidential election was pending, and attention must be paid to this\nfact, rather than to the desperate schemes of this Kansas faction.\nJohn W. Geary was, therefore, announced as the appointee of the\nPresident. Mr. G. came with high claims to public favor. He had passed\nthrough the Mexican war with honor; he had discharged high public\ntrust in California with such fidelity and skill as won for him a\ndistinguished reputation. He was the friend, and almost the neighbor,\nof the incoming President, James Buchanan, and he enjoyed the\nconfidence of the outgoing President, Franklin Pierce; and was\ncloseted with him and with his Secretary of State, Mr. Marcy, before\nleaving Washington. That nothing might be wanting to his success, he\nspent a day at Jefferson City, Mo., with Gov. Sterling Price, and with\nhim arranged to have the blockade removed from the Missouri River.\n\nMr. Geary met at Glasgow, Mo., the retiring ex-Governor, and Dr. Gihon\nreports that he was fleeing in terror that his life would be taken by\nthe men for whom he had been such an abject tool.\n\nWhile these parting ceremonies were being performed a\nsteamboat bound down the river, and directly from Kansas,\ncame along side the Keystone. Ex-Governor Shannon was a\npassenger, who, upon learning the close proximity of Gov.\nGeary, sought an immediate interview with him. The\nex-Governor was greatly agitated. He had fled in haste and\nterror from the Territory, and still seemed laboring under\nan apprehension for his personal safety. His description\nof Kansas was suggestive of everything that is frightful\nand horrible. Its condition was deplorable in the extreme.\nThe whole Territory was in a state of insurrection, and a\ndestructive civil war was devastating the country. Murder\nran rampant, and the roads were everywhere strewn with the\nbodies of slaughtered men.\n\nDr. Gihon afterwards published a small volume of 348 pages, from which\nthe preceding extract has been taken. The work is entitled \"Governor\nGeary's Administration in Kansas.\" This work does not bear the sign\nmanual of Gov. Geary, but as it was written by the Governor's private\nsecretary, it must be taken as an authentic statement of what these\ngentlemen saw with their own eyes, and heard with their own ears, as\ntouching the condition of things in the Territory. Dr. Gihon gives the\nfollowing testimony concerning the troubles in and around Leavenworth\nand their cause:\n\nAfter the removal of Shannon on the 21st of August, when\nSecretary Woodson became acting Governor until the arrival\nof Gov. Geary in September, the belligerents had matters\npretty much their own way, and the ruffians improved the\ntime, under pretense of authority from Woodson, to\nperpetrate with impunity the most shocking barbarities.\n\nDuring this time Gen. Smith received much censure from the\nFree State people. Emory, Wilkes, Stringfellow and others\nwere driving these from their homes in Leavenworth, and\nmany of them fled in terror for protection within the\nenclosures of the fort; when the General caused hand-bills\nto be posted over the grounds commanding them to leave\nbefore a certain specified time, and gave orders to his\nsubordinates to enforce this command. These unfortunate\npeople, among whom were men of the highest respectability,\nand even women and children, were compelled, some of them\nwithout money or suitable clothing, to take to the\nprairies, exposed at every step to the danger of being\nmurdered by scouting or marauding parties, or at the risk\nof their lives effect their escape upon the downward-bound\nboats. Some of these were shot in the attempt upon the\nriver banks, whilst others were seized at Kansas City and\nother Missouri towns, brought back as prisoners, and\ndisposed of in such a manner as will only be made known at\nthat great day when all human mysteries will be revealed.\n\nCaptain Frederick Emory, a United States Mail Contractor,\nrendered himself conspicuous in Leavenworth at the head of\na band of ruffians mostly from Western Missouri. They\nentered houses, stores and dwellings of Free State people,\nand in the name of \"Law and Order\" abused and robbed the\noccupants, and drove them out into the roads, Irrespective\nof age, sex or condition. Under pretense of searching for\narms, they approached the house of William Phillips, the\nlawyer who had been previously tarred and feathered and\ncarried to Missouri. Phillips, supposing he was to be\nsubjected to a similar outrage, and resolved not to submit\nto the indignity, stood upon his defense. In repelling the\nassaults of the mob, he killed two of them, when the\nothers burst into the house, and poured a volley of balls\ninto his body, killing him instantly in the presence of\nhis wife and another lady. His brother, who was also\npresent, had an ana broken with bullets, and was compelled\nto submit to an amputation. Fifty of the Free State\nprisoners were then driven on board the Polar Star, bound\nfor St. Louis. On the next day a hundred more were\nembarked by Emory and his men on the steamboat Emma.\n\nAt this time civil war raged in all the populous\ndistricts. Womi n and children had fled from the\nTerritory. No man's life was safe, and every person, when\nhe lay down to rest at night, bolted and barred his doors,\nand fell asleep grasping firmly his pistol, gun or knife.\n\nEmory's company were all mounted on \"pressed\" horses, the\nowners of some of which were present to point out and\nclaim them; but as there existed no courts or judges from\nwhom the necessary legal process could be obtained, and as\nGen. Smith would not listen to their complaints, they had\nno means by which to recover their property.\n\nEmory and his company held their headquarters at\nLeavenworth City, whence they sallied into the surrounding\ncountry to \"press,\" _not steal,_ the horses, cattle,\nwagons and other property of Free State men. It was during\nthese excursions that Major Sackett, of the United States\nArmy, found in the road near Leavenworth City a number of\nthe bodies of men who had been seized, robbed, murdered\nand mutilated, and left unburied by the wayside.\n\nOn the 17th of August, 1856, a shocking affair occurred in\nthe neighborhood of Leavenworth. Two ruffians sat at a\ntable in a low groggery, imbibing potations of bad whisky.\nOne of them, named Fugert, bet his companion six dollars\nagainst a pair of boots that he would go out and in less\nthan two hours bring in the scalp of an Abolitionist. He\nwent into the road, and, meeting a Mr. Hoppe, who was in\nhis carriage just returning to Leavenworth from a visit to\nLawrence, where he had conveyed his wife, Fugert\ndeliberately shot him; then, taking out his bowie knife,\nwhilst his victim was still alive, he cut and tore off his\nscalp from his quivering head. Leaving the body of Hoppe\nlying in the road, he elevated his bloody trophy upon a\npole, and paraded it through the streets of Leavenworth.\nOn the same day a teamster, who was approaching\nLeavenworth, was murdered and scalped by another human\nmonster.\n\nA poor German, when the scalp of Hoppe was brought into\nLeavenworth, was impudent enough to express his horror of\nthe shocking deed, when he was ordered to run for his\nlife--in attempting which a number of bullets sped after\nhim, and he fell dead in the street.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nIn the month of August, 1856, a company of so-called Territorial\nMilitia established themselves at Hickory Point, Jefferson county,\nabout twenty miles north of Lawrence, and proceeded to make raids on\nthe Free State settlements. In one of these raids they pillaged the\nvillage of Grasshopper Falls, robbing the stores of their contents.\nGen. Lane and Captains Harvey and Bickerton determined to attack and\ndislodge these marauders. But on the 11th of September Gov. Geary,\nhaving arrived at Lecompton, issued a proclamation ordering all armed\nbands of men, whether known as Territorial Militia or Free State\nGuerrillas, to disperse and retire to their homes. Gen. Lane\ndetermined at once to leave the Territory, and sent a message to that\neffect to Capt. Harvey, who had arranged to unite his command with\nthat of Gen. Lane in an attack on Hickory Point; but the messenger\nfailed to meet Harvey, who made the attack alone and captured these\nrobbers. But Harvey's men were in their turn taken prisoners by a\ncompany of United States troops and were conveyed to Lecompton and\nkept during the winter as treason prisoners. But while the Free State\nforces were thus being scattered, disbanded and taken prisoners, by\nvirtue of Gov. Geary's proclamation, an army of 3,000 men had been\nenlisted in Missouri and along the border towns, and were marching\nto destroy Lawrence and wipe out the Free State settlements. Delilah\nbound Samson with cords, then said, \"The Philistines be upon thee,\nSamson\"; and so these \"Law and Order\" leaders saw the Free State\nforces dispersed by the Governor's proclamation, and then thought to\nbring on the helpless settlements the whole power of this Missouri\ninvasion. But we will let Mr. Geary's private secretary tell the story\nin his own way:\n\nBut the most reprehensible character in the drama being\nenacted was the Secretary of the Territory, then acting\nGovernor. More than three weeks after Gov. Geary had\nreceived his commission and Secretary Woodson had every\nreason to believe that he was on his way to the Territory,\nthat weak-minded, if not criminally defective, officer\nissued the following proclamation:\n\nWHEREAS, Satisfactory evidence exists that the Territory\nof Kansas is infested with large bodies of armed men:\n\nNow, therefore, I, Daniel Woodson, Acting Governor of the\nTerritory of Kansas, do issue my proclamation declaring\nthe said Territory to be in a state of open insurrection\nand rebellion, and I do hereby call upon all law-abiding\ncitizens of the Territory to rally to the support of the\ncountry and its laws.\n\nNot satisfied with the proclamation, which of itself was\nsufficiently mischievous, he wrote private letters to\nparties in Missouri calling for men, money and munitions\nof war. This proclamation and these letters called\ntogether thousands of men, mostly from Missouri, with\npassions inflamed to the highest degree, and whose only\nthought was wholesale slaughter and destruction.\n\nIt was the fixed purpose of Secretary Woodson to keep Gov.\nGeary in ignorance of the extensive preparations that were\nbeing made to attack and destroy the Free State\nsettlements. As yet the Governor had not seen Woodson's\nproclamation. Governor Geary issued the follow-orders:\n\nADJT. GEN. H. J. STRICKLER:--You will proceed without a\nmoment's delay to disarm and disband the present organized\nmilitia of the Territory.\n\nNotwithstanding the positive character of these orders\nthey were utterly disregarded. Suspecting that treachery\nwas somewhere at work he forthwith dispatched confidential\nmessengers on the road to Westport to ascertain, if\npossible, what operations were going forward in that\nvicinity.\n\nMessengers were constantly arriving from Lawrence bringing\nintelligence that a large army from Missouri was encamped\non the Wakarusa River and was hourly expected to attack\nthe town. As these men were styled Territorial Militia and\nwere called into service by the late acting Governor\nWoodson, Gov. Geary commanded that officer to take with\nhim Adjutant-General Strickler with an escort of United\nStates troops and disband, in accordance with the\nproclamation issued, the forces that had so unwisely been\nassembled. Woodson and Strickler left Lecompton in the\nafternoon, and reached the Missouri camp early in the\nevening.\n\nHere Woodson found it impossible to accomplish the object\nof his mission. No attention or respect was paid to him by\nthose having command of the forces. The army he had\ngathered refused to acknowledge his authority. He had\nraised a storm, the elements of which he was powerless to\ncontrol; neither could the officers be assembled to\nreceive the Governor's orders from the Adjutant-General.\nThe militia had resolved not to disband, the officers\nrefused to listen to the reading of the proclamation--they\nwere determined upon accomplishing the bloody work they\nhad entered the Territory to perform. Nothing but the\ndestruction of Lawrence and the other Free State towns,\nthe massacre of the Free State residents, and the\nappropriation of their lands and other property, could\nsatisfy them.\n\nMr. Adams, who accompanied Secretary Woodson to the\nMissouri camp, dispatched the following:\n\nLAWRENCE, 12 o'clock Midnight, Sept. 14, 1856. To His\nEXCELLENCY, GOV. GEARY:\n\nSIR:--_Secretary Woodson thought you had better come to\nthe camp of the militia as soon as you can_. THEODORE\nADAMS.\n\nBefore this dispatch reached Lecompton the Governor had\ndeparted with three hundred United States mounted troops\nand a battery of light artillery, and arrived in Lawrence\nearly in the morning, where he found matters precisely as\ndescribed. Skillfully stationing his troops outside the\ntown, in commanding positions, to prevent a collision\nbetween the invading forces from Missouri and the\ncitizens, he entered Lawrence alone, and there he beheld a\nsight which would have aroused the manhood of the most\nstolid mortal. About three hundred persons Were found in\narms, determined to sell their lives at the dearest price\nto their ruffian enemies. Among these were many women, and\nchildren of both sexes, armed with guns and otherwise\naccoutered for battle. They had been goaded to this by the\ncourage of despair.\n\nGov. Geary addressed the armed citizens of Lawrence, and\nwhen he assured them of his and the law's protection they\noffered to deposit their arms at his feet and return to\ntheir respective habitations. He bade them go to their\nhomes in confidence, and to carry their arms with them, as\nthe constitution guarantees that right, but to use them\nonly in the last resort to protect their lives and\nproperty and the chastity of their females.\n\nEarly in the morning of the 15th, having left the troops\nto protect the town, the Governor proceeded alone to the\ncamp of the invading forces, then within three miles and\ndrawn up in line of battle. Before reaching Franklin, he\nmet the advance guard, and upon inquiring who they were\nand what were their objects, received for answer that they\nwere the Territorial Militia, and called into service by\nthe Governor of Kansas, and that they were marching to\nwipe out Lawrence and every Abolitionist in the country.\n\nMr. Geary informed them that he was now Governor of\nKansas, and Commander-in-chief of the Territorial Militia,\nand ordered the officer in command to countermarch his\ntroops back to the main line, and conduct him to the\ncenter, which order, after some hesitation, was\nreluctantly obeyed.\n\nThe red face of the rising sun was just peering over the\ntop of Blue Mound, as the Governor, with his strange\nescort of three hundred mounted men, with red shirts and\nodd-shaped hats, descended upon the Wakarusa plain, where\nin battle array were ranged at least three thousand armed\nand desperate men. They were not dressed in the usual\nhabiliments of soldiers, but in every imaginable costume\nthat could be obtained in the western region. Most of them\nwere mounted, and manifested an unmistakable disposition\nto be at their bloody work. In the back-ground stood at\nleast three hundred army tents and as many wagons, while\nhere and there a cannon was planted ready to aid in the\nanticipated destruction. Among the banners floated black\nflags, to indicate the design that neither age, sex nor\ncondition would be spared in the slaughter that was to\nensue.\n\nIn passing along the lines murmurs of discontent and\nsavage threats of assassination fell upon the Governor's\nears, but heedless of these and regardless, in fact, of\neverything but a desire to avert the terrible calamity\nthat was impending, he fearlessly proceeded to the\nquarters of their leader.\n\nThis threatening army was under the command of John W.\nReed, then and now a member of the Missouri Legislature,\nassisted by ex-Senator Atchison, Gen. B. F. Stringfellow,\nGen. L. A. Maclean, Gen. J. W. Whitfield, Gen. George W.\nClarke, Gens. William A. Heiskell, Wm. H. Richardson and\nF. A. Marshal, Col. H. T. Titus, Capt. Frederick Emory and\nothers.\n\nGov. Geary at once summoned the officers together, and\naddressed them at length and with great feeling. He\ndepicted in a forcible manner the improper position they\noccupied and the untold horrors that would result from a\nconsummation of their cruel designs; that if they\npersisted in their mad career the entire Union would be\ninvolved in a civil war, and thousands and tens of\nthousands of innocent lives be sacrificed. To Atchison he\nparticularly addressed himself, telling him that when he\nlast saw him he was acting as Vice-President of the nation\nand President of the most dignified body of men in the\nworld, the Senate of the United States, but now with\nsorrow and pain he saw him leading on to a civil and\ndisastrous war an army of men with uncontrollable\npassions, and determined upon wholesale slaughter and\ndestruction. He concluded his remarks by directing\nattention to his proclamation, and ordered the army to be\ndisbanded and dispersed. Some of the more judicious of the\nofficers were not only willing but anxious to obey this\norder, while others, resolved upon mischief, yielded a\nreluctant assent.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nIt is now one-third of a century since Kansas began to be settled.\nGreat as has been the progress of the States of this Union within this\nperiod, the progress of Kansas has been exceptionally and peculiarly\nso. Its chief glory is not in its large agricultural and mineral\nresources; it is not in its railroads and lines of telegraph; it is\nnot in the rapidly increasing population of educated men and women,\nbut it is in this, that it was not only the first State in the nation,\nbut the first Commonwealth in the world, to solve the problem of the\ndrink evil, the giant curse of Christendom, by incorporating\nprohibition into its fundamental law.\n\nIn union there is strength. Jesus said so. He said, \"Every kingdom\ndivided against itself is brought to desolation.\" And so evidently\ndoes this principle commend itself to the common sense of men, that we\nhave engraved on our national ensign the motto, \"_E Pluribus Unum_\"\n--one out of many.\n\nHow did such growth in Kansas come to be? Not in division, but in\nunion. We have thought it would do us good to look squarely in the\nface that hard, cruel, and bloody period when it seemed the business\nof the people to cut each other's throats. But cutting each other's\nthroats does not create such growth as we have had in Kansas.\n\nTwo peoples came together in Kansas, one from the South and one from\nthe North. They were of one original stock, but circumstances had\nintervened and made them two peoples. For two years this bloody strife\nhad been going on. It is said that in revolutions men live fast. It\nwas two years, if we count the time by the revolutions of the earth\naround the sun, but if we count by the experience men had gained, it\nwas many years.\n\nDr. Gihon tells that when Gov. Geary disbanded this Missouri army on\nthe Wakarusa, there grew up a marked antagonism of sentiment among its\nleaders. He says: \"Some of the more judicious of the officers were not\nonly willing but anxious to obey this order, whilst others, resolved\nupon mischief, yielded a very reluctant assent.\" There was really a\nlarge majority that accepted the result with hearty good will, but\nthere was also a small and malcontent minority determined on mischief.\n\nGen. B. F. Stringfellow, because of the vehement zeal with which he\nhad addicted himself to the enterprise of making Kansas a slave State,\nhad won for himself a national notoriety. He had staked life and good\nfame and everything on the final issue of his work, yet himself and\nhis law partner, Peter T. Abell, went back from the Wakarusa never to\nlift a finger again in that business. Mr. S. is a high-spirited,\nhot-blooded, proud-spirited Virginian. His law partner, Col. Abell,\nhad a temper as unbending as Andrew Jackson, and did to the day of his\ndeath hold a faith in the institution of slavery as abiding as John C.\nCalhoun. But he was a wise and a just man, and both himself and Mr.\nStringfellow recognized the fact that, with such a population as had\ncome into Kansas, its becoming a free State was only a question of\ntime; and both these men were too sagacious to be found fighting\nagainst fate. Mr. S. had always relished a joke, and, when rallied by\nhis friends on his sudden abandonment of this enterprise, he\nfacetiously replied: \"Yes, I did try to make Kansas a slave State; but\nI could not do it without slaves, and the South would not send slaves,\nand so I had to give it up.\" From the time these gentlemen returned\nfrom the Wakarusa there was a general softening of the asperities of\nfeeling of the people of Atchison and vicinity, and one year after\nthey were prepared to announce to the Free State people, \"You deal\nfairly with us, and we will deal fairly with you\"--and they made their\nwords good by deeds, for they took Free State men into partnership\nwith themselves in the management of the Atchison Town Company.\n\nBut by this change Robert S. Kelley found \"Othello's occupation\ngone,\" and the control of the _Squatter Sovereign_ passed into the\nhands of John A. Martin, now Governor of Kansas, and \"Bob Kelley\"\nshook off the dust of his feet and walked away, respected for his\nbravery and for his outspoken honesty and sincerity, even by those\nthat did not love him.\n\nThe writer will tell of his last interview with the South Carolinians\nin a future chapter of these Recollections.\n\nPeter T. Abell and Gen. B. F. Stringfellow were State's rights men in\ntheir political opinions, and, therefore, according to the light that\nwas in them, owed their allegiance to the State of Kansas; and from\nthat allegiance they never swerved to the breadth of a hair. Still,\nthe people of the South were their brethren, and they gave to them\ntheir profoundest sympathy during that bloody struggle that was to\ndecide whether the South should be an independent nation. Let us admit\nthat this did put these gentlemen in a strait betwixt two, like Paul,\nthe Apostle, but they never swerved to the right hand nor to the left.\n\nWe have, with some particularity, drawn out the history of the two\nmost distinguished of the Southern leaders, because that, with slight\nchange, it would be the biography of a great number of citizens of\nKansas that came from the South. Now, who does not see that here is\nthe basis of hearty co-operation, whether in the church or in the\nworld, of men from the South or from the North? provided always we can\ntake into our hearts the law of love: \"All things whatsoever ye would\nthat men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law\nand the prophets.\"\n\nIn further illustration of this remark we will relate an incident\nconcerning a Disciple, who will come prominently before us in the\nformation of our first missionary society. Spartan Rhea was from\nMissouri, and belonged to a family intensely Southern in their\nconvictions. He was commissioned a justice of the peace by the\nTerritorial authorities. A horse had been stolen by the Kickapoo\nRangers from Gains Jenkins, of Lawrence. Gov. Geary requested Bro.\nRhea to recover the horse, and he did so with some peril to himself,\nand made a journey to Lawrence to restore the animal to its proper\nowner. He sought to make it evident that the men of his party wanted\njustice done.\n\nBut Dr. Gihon also tells us that there was at the Wakarusa a small\nfaction of irreconcilables, who, if they could do nothing else, could\nat least curse.\n\n\"Gen. Clarke said he was for pitching into the United\nStates troops rather than abandon the objects of the expedition. Gen.\nMaclean didn't see any use of going back until they had whipped the\nAbolitionists. Sheriff Jones was in favor, now that they had\nsufficient force, of wiping out Lawrence and all the Free State towns.\nAnd these and others cursed Gov. Geary for his interference in their\nwell-laid plans.\n\n\"The broad ground assumed by these rabid leaders of the Pro-slavery\nparty in Kansas was, that an equilibrium of the slave power must be\nmaintained at any sacrifice in the American Union, and this could only\nbe effected by increasing the slave States in proportion with the\nfree. Whilst, therefore, the South was willing to give Nebraska to the\nNorth, they demanded that Kansas should be ceded to the South. It was\nof little consequence what number of Northern men located in\nKansas--they had no right to come unless with the intention to make it\na slave State.\"\n\nThis malcontent minority did, therefore, become a dangerous and\nrevolutionary faction, entertaining criminal purposes, which they were\nready to carry out by desperate methods. They were also in possession\nof dangerous elements of power. They controlled the Territorial\nLegislature, and all the Territorial judges were parties in this\nconspiracy. Dr. Gihon testifies that \"every federal officer in the\nTerritory, and every Territorial officer from the supreme judges to\nthe deputy marshals, sheriffs and clerks, were wedded to the slave\npower, and pledged at all hazards to its extension.\"\n\nBut daylight had already begun to dawn. Some of the wisest Pro-slavery\nmen in the Territory were beginning to call a halt, and to say: \"We\nwill travel no further in this road in which we are being led by these\ndesperate and scheming adventurers.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nGov. Geary had won ripe and rich honors from the people of this nation\nin the official positions he had heretofore held, and which he had\ndischarged with such eminent ability. The position of the Governor of\nKansas, as seen from afar, and under the _glamour_ that surrounded it,\nwas a position of high honor.\n\nEvery child has heard the story of old \"Blue Beard,\" how that, having\nmarried a number of wives who had mysteriously disappeared, he courted\nand married a beautiful young lady, possessing every accomplishment\nthat can give grace and attractiveness to a woman, and had carried her\nto his castle, where she should have at her disposal an unlimited\namount of money and be served by obsequious servants, and stand on a\nlevel with all the fine ladies and gentlemen in the land. Old Blue\nBeard gave to her the keys unlocking all the rooms in his castle, but\nsaid to her, \"There is one key, unlocking one door, into one room, and\ninto that room you must in nowise enter.\" But, overcome by her woman's\ncuriosity, she did unlock that door and enter that room, and there she\nbeheld the horrid sight of all the murdered wives of the wicked old\nBlue Beard, hanging and rotting on its walls, and now this was also to\nbe her sad fate.\n\nKansas was becoming the graveyard of Territorial Governors.  Reeder\nand Shannon had already lost their official heads. Within six months\nGov. Geary's head was also to drop into the basket. Three more\ngovernors were to succeed him, each one of whom should in his turn\nlose his official head. Gov. Geary's position was indeed very like\nthat of the wife of the wicked Blue Beard, only that she had certainly\nsome advantages over the Governor. She had a great and fine castle,\nrich and costly dresses, many servants ready to come and go at her\nbeck and call, and the company of great lords and fine ladies; but\nwhen Gov. Geary came to his castle, his private Secretary shall tell\nus what he found:\n\nLecompton is situated on the south side of the Kansas\nRiver, upon as inconvenient and inappropriate a site for a\ntown as any in the Territory. It was chosen simply for\nspeculative purposes. It contained, at the time of Gov.\nGeary's arrival, some twenty or more houses, the majority\nof which were employed as groggeries of the lowest\ndescription. It was the residence of the celebrated\nSheriff Jones, who is one of the leading members of this\ntown association, and was the resort of horse-thieves and\nruffians of the most desperate character. Its drinking\nsaloons were infested by these characters, whose\ndrunkenness, gambling, fighting, and all sorts of crime,\nwere indulged in with impunity.\n\nHere was congregated, and here was the headquarters of, that band of\ndesperate men, who were in a conspiracy to make Kansas a slave State\nat whatever cost of blood, of fraud, or violence. Here the Territorial\nLegislature met to enact their bloody code of laws, and here the\nTerritorial Judges held their courts, which were a burlesque on the\nvery name of a civilized and Christian jurisprudence; and here, also,\nwere kept the treason prisoners, while atrocious murderers were not\nmolested, because they were \"sound on the goose question.\"\n\nWe have already told how Harvey's men, that had attacked and taken\nprisoners the \"Law and Order\" robbers that pillaged the defenseless\nvillage of Grasshopper Falls, were themselves taken prisoners by the\nUnited States troops. These were tried for treason in the Pro-slavery\ncourts, and were condemned to various terms of imprisonment, varying\nfrom six months to six years. They were kept in a wretched, old,\ntumbledown house, without doors or windows, during the bitter cold of\na Kansas winter, guarded by \"Law and Order\" militia, exposed to every\ninsult, wallowing in filth, and eaten up with lice. But there was one\ncircumstance to mitigate their hapless condition--their jailer was a\ngood-hearted, honest Kentuckian, who had humanity enough to pity them,\nand bravery enough to do what he could to mitigate the hardships of\ntheir lot. Their hard-hearted judges had condemned them to wear a ball\nand chain; but Gov. Geary refused to provide balls and chains for\nthem, and the honest Capt. Hampton refused to fasten these symbols of\ndegradation on the limbs of men he knew to be decent American\ncitizens; and thereat Sheriff Jones became furious. The facts of the\ncase were just these: All the people were, so to speak, fighting. The\nGovernor issued his proclamation. These Hickory Point \"Law and Order\"\nmilitia were simply robber banditti, and Captain Harvey and his\ncompany thought they ought to be \"cleaned out,\" and proceeded to do\nso, and this act, though intrinsically it was a righteous act, yet\ntechnically, laid them open to the law. This happened on the 12th of\nSeptember, but up to the 14th of September 3,000 \"Law and Order\"\nmilitia, coming into Kansas as outside invaders, refused to be\ndisbanded by the Governor's proclamation, and both before and after\ncontinued the business of murder and robbery. Yet this was nothing,\nbecause these were \"Law and Order\" men. The other was treason, for\nthese were Free State men fighting for their homes and firesides. But\nCapt. Hampton saw the matter just as it was, and acted accordingly.\nDr. Gihon testified of these treason prisoners, \"These prisoners were\nnot all rough and desperate adventurers. Some of them were gentlemen\nof polished education.\"\n\nThe sunlight may sparkle and shimmer on the surface of the foul and\nputrid marsh, noxious with offensive and poisonous exhalations--so Dr.\nGihon throws a kind of grim and ghastly humor over his narrative of\nthe repulsive and brutal surroundings of himself and Governor Geary\nduring the winter they were imprisoned at Lecompton. The Doctor tells\nthe following story at the expense of a Southern gentleman:\n\nA good anecdote is told by a gentleman from one of the\nSouthern States, in regard to these Free State prisoners,\nwhen under the charge of Captain Hampton. Having expressed\na desire to see these robbers and murderers, as he styled\nthem, the Governor directed him to the prison.\n\nHe immediately started, and looking in vain for anything\nthat resembled a prison, he approached two men who were\nenjoying themselves with a game of quoits.\n\n\"Can you tell me,\" he inquired, \"where the prison is where\nthese robbers and murderers are confined?\"\n\n\"That's it,\" said one of the men, pointing to a house near\nat hand.\n\n\"What! that old building, falling to pieces, without\neither doors or windows?\"\n\n\"That is the only prison we have here,\" replied the man,\ndeliberately pitching his quoit.\n\n\"Well,\" said the Southern gentleman, \"I want to see these\nprisoners.\"\n\n\"I am one of them,\" said the quoit-player, \"and that is\nanother,\" pointing to his companion.\n\n\"What! you convicted felons? You the terrible murderers\nabout whom I have heard so much?\"\n\n\"Yes, we are certainly two of them. The others are gone\nover to the House of Representatives, to hear the members\nabuse the Governor.\"\n\n\"But,\" says the old gentleman, \"they don't allow convicted\nmurderers to go about in this way, without a guard to\nwatch them?\"\n\n\"O! yes,\" says the man interrogated; \"they used to send a\nguard with us when we went over to the Legislative Halls,\nto protect us against violence from the members, but they\nfound that too troublesome, so they gave each of us a\nrevolver and bowie-knife, and told us we should hereafter\nbe required to protect ourselves.\"\n\n\"But why don't you run away? There is nothing to prevent\nyou.\"\n\n\"Why, to tell the truth, we have often been persuaded to\ndo that, but then these rascally legislators have been\nthreatening to assassinate the Governor, and we have\ndetermined to remain here to watch them and protect him.\"\n\nThe old gentleman had no desire to see any more of these\nthieves, murderers and assassins.\n\n\nThere are those who find a Spanish bull fight or a civilized American\nboxing match very enjoyable events. Such men would have found great\nenjoyment in one incident that served to enliven the monotony of the\nwinter's residence of the Governor at Lecompton. There was one\nSherrard who came from Virginia. He was of a good family, but strong\ndrink had been his ruin. He had been appointed by the Legislature\nSheriff of Douglas county in place of S. T. Jones, who for some reason\nwas to go out of office. The Governor refused to commission this\nSherrard because he was a drunkard, a brawler, and a cursing,\nswearing, gambling ruffian and bully. This made Sherrard furious, and\nSheriff Zones and all his crowd of bullies were furious with him. Then\nSherrard tried to raise a row by insulting individuals in the personal\nservice of the Governor. This failing, Sherrard spit in the Governor's\nface; but Mr. Geary, mindful of the dignity of his office, and that it\ndid not become the Governor of Kansas to get into a brawl with a\ncommon blackguard, walked straight on. Afterwards Sherrard, who kept\nhimself crazy drunk, provoked a general affray in a large company of\nmen, in which pistols were fired in every direction; when John A, W.\nJones, the young man on Gov. Geary's staff whom Sherrard had assaulted\na few days before, shot him in the forehead.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nOne circumstance at last brought to a sudden close Gov. Geary's term\nof office. When he had disbanded the three thousand \"Law and Order\"\nmilitia that were to attack Lawrence, that part of them known as the\nKickapoo Rangers were returning home by way of Lecompton. One of this\nnumber went into a field where \"a poor, inoffensive, lame young man\"\nnamed David C. Buffum was plowing, and demanded his horses. Buffum\nprotested against this robbery, but the wretch shot Buffum and took\nthe horses. The unhappy man gave the following account of the matter:\n\n\"They asked me for my horses. I told them I was a\ncripple--a poor lame man--that I had an aged father, a\ndeaf and dumb brother, and two sisters, all depending on\nme for a living, and my horses were all I had. One of them\nsaid I was a Abolitionist, and, taking me by the shoulder,\nhe shot me.\"\n\nGov. Geary was returning to Lecompton, and hearing of what had been\ndone, he called with Judge Cato at Buffum's house, and by the\nGovernor's direction Judge Cato took the dying man's deposition. Gov.\nGeary was terribly shocked, and said to himself, \"I never witnessed a\nscene that filled me with so much horror.\" Mr. Geary sent a detective\non the track of the Kickapoo Rangers, and found that the murderer was\none Charley Hayes, living in Atchison county. He had the horses still\nin his possession. The Governor ordered his arrest, and the Grand\nJury found a bill against him of murder in the first degree. Meantime\nthe Free State men came to the Governor making a bitter complaint of\nthe persecutions they were suffering. They said, \"Our relatives and\nfriends are arrested and confined for weeks and months in a filthy\nprison, not fit for dogs to live in, and are kept without proper food\nor clothing, and are not allowed to give bail even for bailable\noffenses; while murderers of the other party are allowed to go at\nlarge and no attention is paid to them.\" They said, \"The murderers of\nDow, Barber, Brown, Phillips, Hoppe and Buffum, have not even been\narrested or examined.\"\n\nThe Governor replied that he had already ordered the arrest of Hayes,\nand that a grand jury of Pro-slavery men had found a true bill against\nhim, and that Hayes should be tried for his life. But while he was yet\nspeaking a messenger brought word that Judge Lecompte had released\nHayes on bail, and that Sheriff Jones had gone on his bail bond, a man\nnotoriously not worth a dollar; and this when the crime of murder in\nthe first degree, for which Hayes had been indicted, was not a\nbailable offense. The Governor was terribly indignant, and ordered\nHayes to be re-arrested. But while he was absent at the land sales at\nFort Leavenworth, Judge Lecompte a second time set this wretch at\nliberty. Mr. Geary was provoked beyond endurance, and wrote to the\nPresident that he would not remain in office and allow such a\nscoundrel to be kept in a position to pervert the ways of justice.\nPresident Pierce nominated C. O. Harrison, of Kentucky, to take\nLecompte's place, but for some unexplained cause the appointment was\nnot confirmed in the Senate, and Judge Lecompte retained his place,\nand in unspeakable disgust Gov. Geary resigned, making his resignation\ntake effect on March 20, 1857. Thus he had spent a winter in the\nchamber of death of the wicked old Blue Beard, but did not lose his\nofficial head till spring.\n\nThe writer was acquainted with the family of this Charley Hayes. They\nwere decent sort of people; but when a young boy Charley went on the\nplains, where he became a brutal ruffian. A good many years ago there\nwas a story current in Atchison county, that when this Hayes was\nacting as wagon-boss on the plains, in a train owned by Russell,\nMajors & Waddell, that one of the teamsters having offended him he\ntied him up to a wheel of one of the train wagons, and, holding a\npistol in one hand, he cowhided him with his black-snake whip with the\nother. And this teamster was a white man.\n\nBut there are avenging furies that follow a man, even though the law\ndoes not reach him. There is a man now living in Atchison county whose\ntruthfulness has never been questioned, and he stated that he spent a\nwinter in the Missouri River bottoms, sleeping in the same cabin with\nCharley Hayes, and that it seemed as if the devil had a mortgage on\nthe ruffian's soul, and tormented him in his sleep with images of the\nhorrors that awaited him in the future world. That it seemed as if he\nwas wrestling in mortal struggle with the men he had maltreated and\nmurdered, and that they were choking him to death. Hayes afterwards\ndied of a consumption presumably brought on by his dissipated habits\nand by his debaucheries.\n\nMeantime the writer had started for Illinois the preceding summer,\nhad been prostrated for four weeks with a fever, and late in the\nautumn of 1856 had returned to Kansas, there to remain. The times were\nbecoming quiet, the peaceful counsels of such leaders as Stringfellow\nand Abell were beginning to take effect, and it evidently would be\nsafe for the writer to go to work on his claim. But he needed a supply\nof corn, and had to go over into the Missouri River bottoms to buy it.\nA heavy snow had fallen. I had a heavy, well-trained yoke of oxen, and\nmy faithful riding horse was obedient in every place. Myself and\nbrother-in-law had made a heavy Yankee sled that would hold all the\nload that was put on it. I borrowed from my neighbor, Caleb May, two\nadditional yoke of oxen, but they only knew how to pull in a big\nfreighting team, and were not leaders. But putting my own heavy oxen\nbehind, my wild steers in the middle, and my horse in the lead, I made\nout a good freighting team. But I had to pass through Atchison. The\nbusiness men of the place had already made this overture to me. They\nhad said: \"You can come to Atchison during the day time and we will\nguarantee that you shall not be molested, but we would rather you\nshould not be here in the night. The South Carolinians are here, and\nthere are other desperate characters here, and in the night we do not\nknow what might happen.\" And so, on the strength of such an agreement,\nI had done business in Atchison, and to get my corn across the river\nhad gone over one day and back the next.\n\nI had yet one more load of corn to haul. There had been a thaw, and\nthen the snow had frozen again, making it in many places slippery\ntraveling. The river bank, from the top of the bank down to the ice of\nthe river, was about twenty feet, and very steep; and this by much\ntraveling had become a perfect glare of ice, so that teams could not\nhold their footing at all. I had gone over for my last load one day,\nintending to return the next day, but I had found unexpected\nhindrances, and when I got to the east bank of the river opposite\nAtchison, it was sometime after dark. I got down as best I could and\ncrossed over on the ice to the Atchison side of the river, and I was\nnow to get up that bank of glare ice. [6] I placed my sled load of corn\nat the bottom of the bank, and taking my team up in an unfrequented\nplace, I stationed them on the top of the bank directly above my load\nof corn at the bottom. Before coming over I had cut a long, slender\npole in the timbered bottoms, and in view of this contingency had also\nbrought extra chains from home, and by means of the chains and this\nlong pole I hitched my team on the top of the hill to my load of corn\nat the bottom. The thing worked well, and I had my load well on the\ntop of the bank on the level ground; but here the road turned suddenly\nto the left close along the river bank, and my horse, too eager to get\nhome, turned too soon, and this brought my sled with a sudden crash\nagainst a rock, and down went my load to the bottom of the bank again.\nA chain had broken, and now my load of corn was left in such a\nposition that I evidently could not get it up again without help. In\nthe hindrances to which I had been subjected it had come to be 9\no'clock. I looked about and saw no light save in a saloon that had\nbeen built under the bluff to catch custom, for this was the ferry\nlanding. I do not usually visit saloons, but \"necessity knows no law,\"\nand I walked in; and whom should I find but Grafton Thomassen, the man\nthat made the raft on which they sent me down the river, sitting and\nplaying cards with a number of South Carolinians! They were\nthunderstruck, and I have to confess that I was almost as much taken\naback as they were. But I spoke to them and said, \"Gentlemen, good\nevening.\" Then I explained, as well as I could, what had befallen me,\nand that I had come in for assistance. But they were dumb--they never\nspoke a word. I waited till my position became embarrassing, then\nsaid, \"Well, gentlemen, you seem to be busy, and I don't want to\ninterrupt; I will go somewhere else.\" I had already opened the door\nwhen Grafton Thomassen found his voice and said, \"Boys, it is not\nright to leave Butler without help. Let us go and help him.\" \"Yes!\nyes! yes!\" they all cried at once, \"we will go and help him.\" And,\nspringing to their feet, and hastily putting on their overcoats, hats\nand gloves, they came rushing to the door, saying, \"Yes! yes! We will\nhelp you. What is it we can do for you?\"\n\nI went with them to the river bank, pointed out my sled loaded with\ncorn on the ice, and explained to them it had to be brought up the\nbank. They asked incredulously, \"An' kin ye haul that thar slide up\nthat slippery bank?\"\n\nI said, \"Yes, I have done it once,\" then I explained how the chain had\nbroken, and how my load of corn had gone down onto the ice again.\n\nThey exclaimed, \"O! Well now! We have come all the way from South\n_Carliny_ to see a Yankee trick an' haint we got it?\"\n\nThey were eager to help, so as to see the fun. When everything was\nready I gave my horse in charge of one of them, saying to him he must\nin nowise let the horse turn till the load of corn was well up and in\nthe traveled road, then gave the word to start. My team was eager to\npull, for they were getting impatient; and in fine style they brought\nthe load up on the level ground, and then immediately were in front of\nthe saloon, and I called a halt. When we got everything fixed I said\nto them, \"Gentlemen, I thank you. You have done me a real kindness.\nBut the night is cold.\"--and handing one of them a piece of silver, I\nsaid, \"Please take that and get something to warm you.\"\n\nHe took it and with something of hesitation said, \"Won't you come in\nand drink with us?\"\n\nI replied, \"Please excuse me. You know me; you know I don't drink. But\nall the same I want you to take it.\"\n\nHe said rather proudly, \"We did not work for you for pay. We did it to\noblige you.\"\n\nBut I insisted. I said, \"You did me a real kindness, and I want to do\nyou a kindness in return. I want you to take it.\" Then they bade me\ngood night and went into the saloon.\n\nThe wind had been rising, and the snow was drifting; and it was\nevident that in many places the road would be obliterated, and I had a\nlong stretch of prairie to travel over on which there was not a human\nhabitation. It was dangerous to undertake it, and I had to stay in\nAtchison. I found an empty corral, where my teams would be decently\nsheltered, and went to the only hotel in town. The sleeping room they\nassigned me was separated from the bar-room only by a thin board\npartition, and I could hear every word that was said. This hotel was\nthe boarding-place of the South Carolinians, and they soon began to\ndrop in from about town, and word was passed among them that Butler\nwas in the house. Then one fellow, who was decidedly drunk, got\nturbulent, and protested, with terrible oaths, that such a man should\nnot stay in the house, but that he would go in and drag him out of\nbed. Then another company came in and demanded: \"What's all this\nfussing about?\" These were my friends, the South Carolinians from\nunder the bluff They heard what this fellow had to say, then said:\n\"This thing has to be dried up.\" They then told what had happened down\nat the river, and concluded: \"Butler is a gentleman. He talks like a\ngentleman; _he treats like a gentleman_; he came into this house like\na gentleman, and we will show him that we are gentlemen.\" And when the\ndrunken fellow became uproarious they hustled him off to bed.\n\nI was evidently among friends, and slept soundly and without\napprehension till morning. I never saw my South Carolina friends\nagain. They returned home at an early day.\n\nThey had not made Kansas a slave state, but they had seen a Yankee\ntrick.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nGov. Geary, sick in body and sick at heart, had left the Territory in\nfear of private assassination, his best friends at Lecompton being the\ntreason prisoners. These, with something of bitterness, remarked that\nthe Governor went away in such haste that he had forgotten to pardon\nthem as he had promised; and thus while he got had out of prison, they\nstill stayed in.\n\nThe party in power at Lecompton had said to the President at\nWashington: \"We are sick of Northern Governors. They won't do to tie\nto. For pity's sake give us a man from the South.\" And so a Southern\nGovernor was given them in the person of Robert J. Walker. Rehoboam,\nthe son of Solomon, said to the Jews: \"My little finger shall be\nthicker than my father's loins.\" So this Lecompton _party_ found the\nlittle finger of this Southern Governor to be thicker than the loins\nof Gov. Geary.\n\nMr. W. stood so high in public position that no man stood higher\nthan himself, save alone the President. He had been a Senator from\nMississippi, and had been Secretary of the Treasury in Mr. Pierce's\nCabinet. The complications of this Kansas question had become such as\nto call for a man of the highest rank and ability. The main object of\nMr. Walker's mission to Kansas was to induce the Free State people to\nvote at the Territorial elections, which alone were appointed by the\ngovernment at Washington, and recognized by it. Until he could\naccomplish this, nothing was done toward the pacification of the\nTerritory. To induce them to do this, he pledged to the Free State men\na fair election. But he found that he was speaking to ears that could\nnot hear. He had said in his inaugural address with all apparent\nfairness:\n\nI can not doubt that the Convention, after having framed a\nState constitution, will submit it for ratification or\nrejection by a majority of the actual _bona fide_ resident\nsettlers of Kansas.\n\nWith these views well known to the President and Cabinet, and\napproved by them, I accepted the appointment of Governor of Kansas; my\ninstructions from the President, through the Secretary of State, under\ndate of the 30th of March last, sustain the regular Legislature of the\nTerritory in assembling a convention to form a constitution, and they\nexpress the opinion of the President that when such a constitution\nshall be submitted to the people of the Territory, they must be\nprotected in their right of voting for or against that instrument; and\nthe fair expression of the popular will must not be interrupted by\nfraud or violence.\n\nThis seemed very fair, but what did it amount to? The people knew that\nthe Governor must consent to be a mere cat's paw and convenience of\nthese conspirators, or else be unceremoniously thrust aside; and that\nthe authorities at Washington would sustain them and not him. This had\nbeen the fate of Reeder, of Shannon and of Geary, and this also would\nbe the fate of the present Governor. Dr. Gihon, on behalf of Mr.\nGeary, had bitterly complained that there was not a single officer in\nthe Territory responsible either to the people or to the Governor;\nthat all were the appointees of the Legislature, and responsible to it\nalone. The Lecompton Legislature had passed a bill calling a\nconvention to frame a State constitution; and Gov. Geary had vetoed\nthe bill because it made no provision for submitting the constitution,\nwhen framed, to a vote of the people; and the Legislature had passed\nthe bill over his veto, and now what power had Gov. Walker in the\nmatter more that Gov. Geary?\n\nAn event happened at that time that was a nine days' wonder, and a\nnine days' talk among the people; and yet it does not seem to have\nbeen put on record in any extant history of the period. The Governor\nhad sought the privilege of addressing the Free State people on this\nquestion of voting, which he made his hobby. It was at a meeting at\nBig Springs. Gen. Lane was present, as also were a large number of\nFree State men, and the Governor had pressed on them, as the only road\nout of their difficulties, the necessity of voting at those\nTerritorial elections, which alone were recognized by the government\nat Washington.\n\nGen. Lane arose to reply, and in a speech of terrible energy and power\nhe arraigned the Lecompton party for all their wrongs and outrages;\nthen, when he had reached the climax of his argument, he leaned\nforward, and, looking at Mr. Walker from beneath his shaggy eyebrows\nwith his deepset, piercing black eyes, and shaking at him his long\nbony finger, his whole frame quivering with passion, he said in his\ndeep guttural tones, which seemed more like the growl of a savage wild\nbeast than the voice of a human being: \"_Gov-er-nor Wal-ker, y-o-u\nc-a-n-'t con-t-r-ol your allies!_\"\n\nThe effect was prodigious; and the Free State men were swept away as\nwith a whirlwind. Even Gov. Walker felt the force of the appeal. But\nhe showed himself a brave man; and came back resolutely to the battle.\nHe said: \"_I am your Governor!_ You must admit that I have at least a\n_legal_ right to control my allies, so far as to give you a fair\nelection; and I pledge you my word and honor that I will do it. Now\ntry me! and see if I do not keep my word!\"\n\nThe Free State men began to falter and to ask each other, \"Is it not\nbest to try the Governor, and see if he will be as good as his word?\"\nAnd from this time forward there began to appear a division in the\nFree State ranks; which sometimes grew to be bitter and acrimonious.\nThis division had indeed begun to appear one year before, when on the\nFourth of July Col. Sumner had dispersed the Free State Legislature at\nTopeka. Gov. Robinson was at that time a prisoner, and was, therefore,\nnot present; but he said in his next annual message as Free State\nGovernor:\n\nWhen your bodies met, pursuant to adjournment, in July\nlast, your assembly was interfered with and broken up by a\nlarge force of United States troops in battle array, who\ndrove you hence, in gross violation of those\nconstitutional rights _which it was your duty to have\nprotected_.\n\nWm. A. Phillips, correspondent of the _New York Tribune,_ and\nafterwards a member of Congress, was a man terribly in earnest, and he\ndid, on the above-named Fourth of July, in a speech, take the position\nthat we ought to fight for our rights and defy Col. Sumner and his\ndragoons. The men that demanded that we should fight said: \"We can\ntake possession of the houses and fire out of the windows, and thus\navoid the onset of Col. Sumner's cavalry.\" But the majority said: \"We\nare loyal to the old flag, and in no case, and under no circumstances\nwill be found fighting against it.\" It was this more conservative\nmajority that began to demand that the Free State men should listen to\nGov. Walker's overtures and vote at the coming election.\n\nGen. Lane had been uncompromising in defying the Territorial laws. He\nhad said: \"Gov. Walker has said, 'Vote next week.' What for? Have we\nnot made our constitution? And do not the people of freedom like it?\nCan't we submit this to the people, and who wants another?\" But now\nhe had become at the first reticent, and finally said: \"Vote.\" This\nsingular man that constantly kept on exhibiting his desperate\ndetermination to resist the bogus laws, really kept in his heart the\none supreme purpose to make himself the oracle of the prevailing\nsentiment among the Free State men. When, therefore, Gen. Lane said,\n\"Let us vote,\" it was good evidence that this had become the\nprevailing sentiment among the Free State party.\n\nA convention was held at Grasshopper Falls, August 26, 1857, at which\nthis was the main question, and it was decided in favor of voting at\nthe coming election of Territorial officers. The Hon. Henry Wilson had\nrecently visited Kansas from Massachusetts, and he had earnestly\nentreated the Free State men to vote. Phillips, Conway and Redpath\nstill protested against it. Gov. Robinson, however, gave his voice in\nfavor of voting.\n\nAn election had already been-held June 15th to elect delegates to the\nLecompton Constitutional Convention, at which the Free State men had\ntaken no part. Fifteen Free State counties had in this election been\ndisfranchished, no election having been ordered in them.\n\nAt the election of Territorial officers, held October 6, 1857, both\nparties turned out The Free State men cast 7,887 votes for the\nTerritorial Legislature. The Lecompton party was reported to have cast\n6,466 votes. But though the Free State men had a numerical majority of\nvotes, yet the districts had been so arranged that the above returns\ngave a majority in the Legislature to the Lecompton party. Johnson\ncounty, bordering on Missouri, had been united in one district with\nDouglas county, in which Lawrence is situated, and this district had\nbeen given eight members. Oxford precinct, in Johnson county, was a\nplace of not over a dozen houses, and polled 124 votes for township\nofficers, yet it reported 1,628 votes for the Lecompton party. When,\nhowever, Gov. Walker and Mr. Stanton came to canvass the votes they\nthrew out this Oxford vote. They also set aside 1,200 fraudulent votes\nin McGee county. The vote at Kickapoo, equally fraudulent, was also\nset aside. This gave a majority to the Free State party in the\nLecompton Territorial Legislature, and thus Gov. Walker redeemed his\npledge that the people should have a fair election.\n\nJudge Cato felt that it was time to come to the rescue of his friends,\nand issued a writ directed to \"Robert J. Walker, Governor of Kansas\nTerritory, and Frederick P. Stanton, secretary of the same,\"\ncommanding these gentlemen to issue certificates of election to the\nmen who appeared to be elected according to the original returns. Gov.\nWalker good-naturedly refused to obey the order of the court, offering\nto submit to arrest for contempt of court, and tendering the judge _a.\nposse_ of United States troops to aid in making the arrest. The judge\nbegan to see that he had been making a fool of himself, and dropped\nthe subject. These Territorial judges had shown themselves capable of\nany excess of villainy, and had been a sure refuge in every time of\ntrouble to this Lecompton party; but even the courts had now failed\nthem, and these \"border ruffian\" judges were only laughed at by this\nSouthern Governor. One year before, these conspirators had assembled\nan army to drive out the Free State settlers, and to give the\nTerritory into the hands of the South; but Gov. Geary had interfered\nto thwart their purpose, and, what was worse, a majority of the\nleaders of that army, men of note along the Missouri border, had\ndeclared themselves in sympathy with Mr. Geary. Then they had asked\nfor a Southern Governor, for would not he be true to the South? And\nnow even this man had failed them, and had given the control of the\nTerritorial Legislature into the hands of the Philistines! They were\nindeed in evil case. It seemed as if heaven and earth had combined\nagainst them, and that only hell was on their side. One last chance\nremained. If this was a desperate chance, it must be remembered they\nwere playing a desperate game--they would make Kansas a slave State in\nspite of the Governor, in spite of the Territorial Legislature, and in\nspite of the people of Kansas.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nThe Convention that had been called to frame a State Constitution, and\nin which election the Free State men had taken no part, had met to do\nits work in September of 1857, and finished in November; but to the\nlast it refused to make provision to submit the Constitution, when\nframed, to a vote of the people, for acceptance or rejection. But in\nplace of this thing, had virtually said to them: \"You must accept\nthis Constitution whether you like it or not. We will allow you to\nvote _for_ the Constitution with slavery; or, _for_ the Constitution\nwithout slavery; but you must vote in every contingency _for_ the\nConstitution.\"\n\nBut admitting the people had voted for the Constitution _without_\nslavery, still a trap was set for them in the following proviso, which\nwould still remain an integral part of the Constitution.\n\n\"If, upon such examination of such poll-books it shall appear that a\nmajority of the legal votes cast at said election be in favor of the\n'Constitution with no slavery,' then the article providing for slavery\nshall be stricken from this Constitution, and slavery shall no longer\nexist in the State of Kansas; _except that the right of property in\nslaves now in this Territory shall in no manner be interfered with_.\"\n\nThus, which ever way they should vote, Kansas would still remain a\nslave State. Of course the Free State men did not walk into the trap,\nbut staid away from the election, which was ordered for December 21,\n1857; and the Constitution was adopted by a strictly one-sided vote.\nAnd now Gov. Walker began to realize in the bitterness of his heart\nthat \"uneasy lies the head of him that wears a crown.\" He had staked\nhis manhood, his veracity, his honor, his everything, that this\nConstitution, when framed, should be submitted to a vote of the people\nfor acceptance or rejection, and now he was to be put to shame in the\neyes of the whole world; and Gen. Lane was proved a true prophet when\nhe had said to the Governor with such withering power: \"Gov. Walker,\nyou can't control your allies.\" Mr. Walker was able to show a private\nletter from President Buchanan, assuring him in the most positive\nterms, that this Constitution, when framed, should be submitted to a\nvote of the people; but of what avail was such a promise? There was a\npower behind the throne at Washington stronger than the throne itself;\nand Gov. W. was able to see what a hollow mockery was that power which\nhe supposed himself to possess.\n\nThe Governor made known to the people that he would be absent on\nbusiness for three or four weeks; and he went away to Washington,\nnever more to return. There was neither pity nor justice for him\nthere; and in unspeakable disgust he resigned; and Mr. Stanton took\nthe oath of office and reigned as Governor _for one month_. Then he\nalso was removed, and Gov. Denver took his place. Thus, five Kansas\nGovernors had each in their turn been officially decapitated. Stanton\nhad been superseded by Denver because he had called a special session\nof the now Free State Legislature, and it had ordered an immediate\nelection to vote for or against the Lecompton Constitution, and at\nthis election 10,226 votes were polled against it.\n\nIt had been intended that under whip and spur Kansas should be\nadmitted by Congress as a slave State before the time should arrive\nfor the regular assembling of the Territorial Legislature, which had\nnow passed into the hands of the Free State men; but by calling a\nspecial session of the Legislature, he had enabled that body to order\nan immediate election, that should give official evidence that an\noverwhelming majority of the people were opposed to the Lecompton\nConstitution.\n\nAnd now Stephen A. Douglas, at Washington, came forward as State\nSenator from Illinois and made it impossible that Kansas should be\nadmitted as a State unless that document should first be submitted to\nthe people for acceptance or rejection. A bill to this effect was\nfinally passed by Congress. It was called the English bill. It\nproffered a magnificent bribe if the people would accept the Lecompton\nConstitution--five million five hundred thousand acres of public land\nshould be given to Kansas; besides other munificent donations. But the\nEnglish bill also contained a menace as well as a bribe. It threatened\nthat if the people rejected this offer they should be remanded back\nfor an indefinite period, to all the miseries of a Territorial life.\n\nIn the face of such a menace, and tempted by such a bribe, the whole\nvoting population of the Territory turned out at the election, which\nwas ordered to be held August 2, 1858. At this election, 1,788 votes\nwere cast for the Constitution, and 9,512 against it. From whence then\ncame this overwhelming majority? The majority of the Free State party\nwas about two to one. \"Wilder's Annals,\" the best extant Free State\nauthority, puts it at this. \"The Free State or Republican party has\ncarried every election in Kansas since this date (1857), usually by\ntwo to one.\" But here is a majority of six to one; and we must go\noutside of the Free State or Republican party to find it. Dr. John H.\nStringfellow wrote at this time to the Washington Union against the\nadmission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. He says: \"To do\nso will break down the Democratic party at the North, and seriously\nendanger the interests and peace of Missouri and Kansas, if not of the\nwhole Union.\"\n\nJudge Tutt, of St. Joseph, Mo., had said to the South Carolinians: \"I\nwas born in Virginia, and have lived forty years in Missouri. I am a\nslave-holder, and a Pro-slavery man; and I desire Kansas to be made a\nslave State, _if it can be done by honorable means_. But you will\nbreak down the cause you are seeking to build up.\" And Judge Tutt\nvoiced the sentiments of a large number of Pro-slavery men and\nslave-holders in Kansas.\n\nThe city of Atchison gave a majority of votes against the Lecompton\nConstitution; and Atchison county gave a majority of almost three to\none against it; and Leavenworth city, which two years before had been\nthe theater of such murders, riots and robberies, gave a majority\nagainst the proposition of the English bill of more than ten to one,\nnotwithstanding the huge bribe offered if the people would accept it.\n\nWe are writing these \"Recollections\" for posterity as well as for\nthe present generation. It is only the verdict of posterity that will\njustly estimate the men and the influences that went to make up the\nfinal result of the early Kansas struggle. Up to the present time the\nwriters that have written on this subject have been too near the\nbattle, and themselves too much a party in it, to write with perfect\nimpartiality. Southern and Pro-slavery writers and speakers have not\nbeen able to admit that Southern men were the original wrong-doers;\nwhile Northern and Free State writers have not been able to rise to\nthe level of such fair dealing, as to admit that when the decisive\nvote was cast that determined the question of freedom and slavery in\nKansas, as absolutely as it had already been determined in Ohio,\nIndiana and Illinois, the Free State people were indebted to the\nnobility of heart and elevation of mind, displayed by Southern and\nPro-slavery men in making the vote so overwhelming as to put the\nquestion beyond the possibility of controversy forever; yet this was\ndone in the unprecedented vote of six to one, cast in condemnation of\nthe Lecompton Constitution.\n\nFrom this time forward the two parties that had been struggling with\neach other for four years in such fierce antagonism were dead; and in\ntheir place have appeared the two political parties that are found\nthroughout the United States; and the lines of difference between the\nmen of the South and the men of the North have been as completely\nobliterated in thirty years, as they were obliterated in Old England,\nbetween Saxon and Norman, after 500 years of savage strife and\nturmoil.\n\nAnd now, if the superior races of the world have been formed by the\namalgamation of the kindred stocks, may we not believe that Providence\nhas been preparing in this central State a people that shall bear a\ndistinguished part in that mighty battle that is so swiftly coming to\nthe American nation, in which we will be called to fight against a\nChristian barbarism and a paganized Christianity, for all that is\nprecious in our Christian civilization, and for all that is true and\ngood in our American form of government?\n\nRome fell under an invasion by foreign barbarians; so an inundation of\nthe barbarians of the world is pouring in on us, and threatens to\nswallow us up; it is like the flood the dragon poured out of his\nmouth. Of our duties growing out of this catastrophe we shall write\nhereafter.\n\nThe writer of these \"Recollections\" is a fallible man, like other\nfallible man. He has shown at least this, that he is ready to stand by\nhis convictions, living and dying; and he holds this conviction fixed\nand immutable, that there is a crisis coming on us of overtopping and\noverwhelming magnitude, and demanding the American people should come\ntogether and look each other honestly in the face, that they may take\ninto their hearts this weight and extent of the reasons that call that\nthey should join in united effort for the salvation of the nation and\nthe conversion of the world; and that this does not allow that there\nshall be anything of flimsy, shallow, or hypocritical concealment of\nthe facts of our history.\n\nThe world has had abundant experience of these border feuds. Scotland\nhad her feuds between her Highlands and Lowlands. In Ireland there has\nbeen unceasing enmity for 250 years between her Protestant and\nCatholic populations. The French and English peoples of Canada are\nnever at peace with each other; and now there is a feud that can not\nbe healed between England and Ireland. In some of the mountain regions\nof the Southern States, where the people yet retain the clannish\ntemper of their Scotch and Irish ancestors, there are neighborhood\nenmities that go down from father to son, from generation to\ngeneration; and that issue in such fist fights, brawls, and mobs, as\nsometimes to tax the whole energy of the public authorities to\nsuppress them. And now, with such foundation laid for the indefinite\nperpetuation of similar feuds in Kansas, we do argue that it has\nmanifested on the part of our population no ordinary qualities of\nheart and soul, that they were so soon able to eliminate from among\nthemselves their turbulent and dangerous elements.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nThe men that had settled in Kansas were generally poor, and few had\nany reserved fund from which to draw their support, but were literally\ndependent for their daily bread on their labor day by day; and to take\naway the horses of such a man was literally to take the bread out of\nthe mouths of his children. Free State men and Pro-slavery men had\neach in turn been thus despoiled and compelled to flee the Territory;\nor if they remained they were paralyzed and unfitted for work.\n\nBut the spring and summer of 1857 had brought a new order of things.\nGov. Geary had put an end to these disorders, and the presence of S.\nC. Pomeroy and other Free State men in Atchison was an additional\nguarantee of peace and security. As a result the Kansas squatters had\ngone to work with a will. Old things had passed away, and all things\nhad become new. There did indeed remain a chronic state of disorder in\nSoutheastern Kansas; but this was local and exceptional.\n\nBut religious and thoughtful men looked far beyond this question of\nwhat shall we eat and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be\nclothed? Intemperate habits were growing fast on the people. Coarse\nprofanity and ribald speech were becoming so common as to be the rule\nand not the exception. Fathers and mothers began to tremble when they\nthought what their boys were coming to; and this turned their thoughts\nto the question of schools and churches. Then all the denominations\nsimultaneously began their work. A church was organized at Leavenworth\nby our brethren, in which S. A. Marshall and W. S. Yohe were the\nleading members. Dr. Marshall had formerly been a resident of\nPennsylvania, and W. S. Yohe was from the South, a slave-holder, a man\nof considerable wealth, and of eminent personal excellence.\n\nThe church that had been built up in 1855 at Mt. Pleasant had fallen\nto pieces in the troublous times, and was now reorganized at what has\ncome to be known as \"The Old Union School House,\" a place that has\nbeen hallowed to precious memories, because of the great revival that\ntook place under the labors of D. S. Burnett in the year 1858.\n\nThe brethren that lived along the valley of the Stranger Creek and its\ntributaries, and that had met to worship two years before under the\nspreading elms that lined its bottoms, now organized themselves into a\nchurch at a village called Pardee. This ambitious little town was\nlocated on the high prairie; but it shared the fate of many other\nKansas towns, equally aspiring and equally ill-fated. When the\nrailroads were built they followed the courses of the streams, and it\nwas left out in the cold; but for a time it was the center of social,\npolitical and religious influence in the county outside of Atchison.\n\nAmong the brethren that had been in Kansas from its first settlement,\nand whom we have not mentioned, were John and Jacob Graves, brothers\nfrom Tennessee, who have since grown rich in worldly goods, and richer\nstill in good works. There were also Brethren Landrum and Schell, and\nmany others whom we can not name. In the fall of 1857 came Lewis\nBrockman, who loved the church more than he loved his own life. He was\nbrother to that Col. Thomas Brockman conspicuous in the Mormon war in\nIllinois, which resulted in the exodus of the Mormons to Salt Lake,\nthere to build up a kingdom that cherishes a deadly and undying hatred\nto the United States, its people, and its institutions. Norman\nDunshee, now Professor in Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, also\ncame to Kansas from the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute at Hiram,\nO., in the fall of 1859, and settled at Pardee. Dr. S. G. Moore, of\nCamp Point, 111., who came in the spring of 1857, was brother-in-law\nto Peter Garrett; and these two men were of one heart and one soul in\ntheir aspirations for a larger liberality on the part of Disciples and\na better order of things in our churches; but they had to take up the\nsad refrain so oft repeated: \"We have found the Old Adam too strong\nfor the young Melancthon.\" Dr. Moore was a man that, when he knew he\nwas in the right, pushed his enterprises with such a rigorous purpose\nas sometimes to alienate from himself men who might have been won by a\nmore complaisant temper. His stay in Kansas was limited. The dwelling\nin which he lived was struck by lightning, and Bro. and Sister Moore\nwere seriously injured. From these injuries Sister Moore has never\nfully recovered. With broken health she became homesick, and pined to\nbe among her kindred. Moreover, a valuable farm that Dr. Moore had\nsold at Camp Point fell back into his hands, and he felt constrained\nto return to Illinois in 1861. With such elements of power the reader\nwill not think it strange that we should go to work with a will to\nrecover the ground we had lost in this social and political turmoil\nand religious inaction.\n\nThe writer did not travel much abroad this summer; he found too much\nto do at home. We had meetings every Lord's day, and had frequent\nadditions by letter and by baptism. One day, as my manner was, I gave\nan invitation to sinners to obey the gospel. There had been no\nindication, however remote, that any would desire baptism; but my\ndaughter, Rosetta, now thirteen years of age, came forward and\ndemanded to be baptized. Two years before I had brought her, then\neleven years of age, with her mother, to Kansas. Some part of this\ntime we had spent in the very presence of death; and Rosetta and her\nmother would not have thought it strange if a company of men had come\ninto the house at night with murderous intent. I have not told in\nthese \"Recollections\" how many times I felt it expedient to be away\nfrom home; and then Rosetta was her mother's only companion. Of young\ncompany such as girls usually have at her age, she had almost none. We\nhad talked of these daily occurring tragedies until they had lost both\ntheir terror and their novelty. These certainly were not fitting\nsurroundings for a little girl, intelligent and thoughtful beyond her\nyears, and of an unduly sensitive and nervous organization. But she\nwas her mother's only girl, this was our only home, and, coming out of\nthe furnace fires of such a life, we could not think it strange that\nshe should feel the need of a Heavenly Father in whom she could trust,\nof $ Savior's arm on which she could lean, and of a home in the church\nwhere she could find help and sympathy.\n\nOne thought was ever present in my heart, how far could brethren\nco-operate together who had been on opposite sides? To learn what\ncould be done I made the acquaintance of brethren everywhere. The\nbrilliant and erratic Dr. Cox, of Missouri, had sent an appointment to\n\"Old Union,\" and Oliver Steele came with him. I attended his meeting,\nand Bro. Steele, Cox and myself accepted the hospitality of Bro.\nHumber. Bro. Cox, being now in the presence of a man reported to be a\nlive Abolitionist, opened a discussion on the question of slavery.\n\nI had been brought up on the Western Reserve, Ohio, and inherited\nintense anti-slavery convictions. But I had learned from the writings\nof A. Campbell to judge slave-holders with a charitable judgment. They\nhad inherited the institution of slavery from their fathers, and like\nthe aristocratic institutions of the old world, it had come down to\nthem without any fault of their own. My experiences in Kansas\ncertainly had not made me love slavery any better; still, all this,\nhow bitter soever it might be to me, had revealed so much of real\nnobility in the hearts of many slave-holders that it had not impaired\nmy feeling of good will to them. If I were to grant that they had been\nassociated sometimes with men of desperate morals, had I not also been\nassociated with Jim Lane, and had I not been compelled to hide myself\nbehind the old maxims, that \"Politics, like poverty, makes us\nacquainted with strange bedfellows?\"\n\nAnd so I argued with Bro. Cox the views I held, stoutly asserting\nthem, when, for a wonder to him, Bro. Steele and Bro. Humber expressed\nthemselves as coinciding with my views much more than with the views\nof Bro. Cox, who held the ultra Southern, John C. Calhoun theory of\nslavery. It appeared that these brethren held that if Providence has\ngiven to the Caucasian descendants of Japheth, a fairer skin, a higher\nstyle of intellectual power, and greater force of will, that the same\ndivine Providence has given to the sons of Ham a darker color to their\nskin; but that all are alike the children of the love of one common\nFather; that Jesus died for all, and that he will not suffer with\nimpunity any indignity to be offered even to one of the least of these\nhis brethren. To the inquiry why these brethren did not give that\nfreedom to their colored servants which they asserted was their\nnatural right, they made reply, alleging the unfriendly legislation\nnot only of the slave States, but of the free States; and that had\ninterposed grave difficulties in the way of such a step. The Big\nSprings Convention had framed the first Free State platform for\nKansas, August 15, 1855, and this, with hard-hearted inhumanity, had\navowed the purpose to drive out of Kansas the free blacks as well as\nthe slaves. The same principle was also incorporated in the Topeka\nFree State Constitution.\n\nIt will throw additional light on this subject if I mention that, in\n1858, one year after this conversation with Bro. Cox, when the Free\nState men had obtained control of the Territorial Legislature, Bro.\nHumber went to Lawrence and laid before Judge Crosier, a leading\nmember of the Legislature, from Leavenworth, the following\nproposition. He said: \"I will emancipate my slaves, and will sell them\nland. I want them to remain where I can look after their welfare. I do\nnot want them to be driven out of Kansas.\" Judge Crosier, while\ngreatly sympathizing with Bro. Humber, had to tell him the thing was\nimpossible. It is comforting to know that \"The world do move;\" that\ncolored people do freely enjoy in Kansas now the rights Bro. Humber in\nvain sought of a Free State Legislature then on behalf of his slaves.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nThe reader has already heard of Big Springs as a locality where Free\nState Conventions were wont to be held. Lawrence and Topeka were\ntwenty-five miles apart, and both were on the south bank of the Kansas\nRiver. Big Springs is midway between these towns, and is situated on\nthe high divide, lying between the Kansas River and the Wakarusa.\n\nHere, at Big Springs, were located four brethren, L. R. Campbell, C.\nM. Mock, A. T. Byler and Jack Reeves. Bro. Campbell was a Disciple\nfrom Indiana, of much more than average attainments, and of great\nforce of character. In his immediate neighborhood, and as he had\nopportunity, he was a preacher, and when a church was organized he\nnaturally became its leader and elder. His early death seemed the\ngreatest calamity that ever befell the church, though he raised a\nfamily of boys that in process of time have taken his place, and make\nhis loss seem not irreparable.\n\nC. M. Mock was not a preacher, yet there is many a preacher that might\nwell be proud to make himself as widely and as favorable known as\n\"Charley Mock,\" and to be remembered with as much affection. He only\nremained in Kansas a few years, and then returned to his original home\nin Rushville, Rush county, Indiana. We may truthfully say, \"What was\nour loss was their gain.\"\n\nBro. Byler was simply a large-hearted and kind-natured farmer from\nMissouri, who was too full of brotherly love to have anything of\nsectional prejudice about him. George W. Hutchinson, whom we will\nhereafter introduce to our readers, used to call him his\n\"Big _Boiler_.\" His death after a few years was sad and pathetic; he\nhad been to Lecompton and driving a spirited horse; the horse took\nfright, and threw him from his buggy and killed him.\n\nJack Reeves was the son of B. F. Reeves, of Flat Rock, Ind., so long\nthe venerated elder of that church, and a sort of patriarch over all\nthe churches. And the above-named brethren, as well as a number of\nothers, hearing that I was preaching near the Missouri River, sent for\nme to come and make them a visit. I accordingly did so, and now, for\nthirty-one years I have not forgotten to visit them, and they have not\nforgotten me. From this time forward I preached for them as I had\nopportunity, and thus began to make the acquaintance of brethren south\nof the Kansas River. The church grew apace. At their organization they\nhad twenty-five members. Two years afterwards they were able to report\na membership of seventy-two persons.\n\nThe year 1857 passed rapidly away. My time was divided between working\non my claim on Stranger Creek, preaching for the churches that had\nbeen organized, and making the acquaintance of brethren wherever I was\nable to find them.\n\nAnd now the year 1858 was upon us, predestinated to bring with it\nconsequences far-reaching, as touching the future of Kansas. In this\nyear should be settled the question that had filled the Territory with\nagitation, tumult, and war for four years; and it was in this year\nthat our Kansas missionary work was begun, and in which was organized\nthe first missionary society. The time was the early spring of 1858.\nThe place was \"Old Union,\" a little, log school-house situated in a\nravine opening into Stranger Creek bottoms. The _personnel_ were,\nfirst, Numeris Humber, with his tender heart and quenchless love for\nmissionary work. Then there was his sister wife, that with saintly\npresence and sacred song made us feel that this was the very house of\nGod and gate of heaven. Judge William Young was also present, who had\nneither song nor sentimentality about him, but in his unpoetic way\nlooked at everything in the light of cold, hard fact. And yet Bro.\nYoung is neither cold nor hard, only on the outside. There also was\nSpartan Rhea (these brethren were all from Missouri), whose fine sense\nof honor and upright conduct we have already had occasion to commend\nwhile acting as justice of the peace during our former troubles.\nJoseph Potter was also there, and so, also, was Joseph McBride, a\nnotable preacher of Tennessee, that many years ago was one of the\npioneers that planted the Christian cause in Oregon. All told, we had\na crowd large enough to fill a little, log school-house. Brethren Yohe\nand Marshall, of Leavenworth City, also gave us assurances of their\nhearty help and sympathy. This Dr. S. A. Marshall was a brother-in-law\nto Isaac Errett, and always deeply interested himself in this work of\nbuilding up the churches. The church at Pardee was also represented.\nAnd this constituted the make-up of our first missionary society.\nThree churches represented, and enough persons decently to fill a\nlittle seven-by-nine log school-house. Let us learn not to despise the\nday of small things. As for the amount of money pledged--well, it\nwould not have frightened even one of those little ones, that are\nscared out of their wits at the thought of an over-paid, over-fed,\nproud, luxurious and domineering priesthood. As for the missionary\nchosen to go on this forlorn hope--to explore this Africa of spiritual\ndarkness, it was Hobson's choice; it was this or none. Except myself,\nthere was no man to be thought of that would or could go on this\nerrand, and so there was no contest over the choice of a missionary.\n\nConspicuous among these early churches were the churches that were\nformed in Doniphan county. This is the most northeastern county in the\nState, and is in a great bend of the Missouri River, having the river\non three sides of it. It is a body of the best land in Kansas, and no\ncounty had at its first settlement as many Disciples. Their first\nbeginning was unfortunate. A man named Winters, calling himself a\npreacher, came among them and made a great stir. But he brought with\nhim a woman that was not his wife. With a character unblemished this\nman would have won an honorable fame; but when questioned he\nequivocated, but was finally compelled to confess the shameful truth,\nand in their grief and shame the newly-organized church seemed broken\nup. Jacob I. Scott was a man of spotless life and dauntless purpose,\nand feeling that it would be an unspeakable humiliation to allow\neverything to go to wreck because of the frailty of one unfortunate\nman, and learning that I had taken the field in the counties further\nsouth, he besought me to come over and help them. In no counties in\nthis State have there been more churches than in Doniphan county, but\nin no county in the State have the churches been more evanescent and\nunstable, and yet it is not because these brethren have apostatized,\nbut it is that the men that have settled in Doniphan county are men\nthat keep on the borders of civilization, and the opening of a great\nempire for settlement to the west of them tempted them to move onward.\nIndeed, this has been the case in all the churches in Eastern Kansas.\nJust as soon as we would gather up a strong church it would\nstraightway melt out of our hands, and its members would be scattered\nfrom Montana to Florida, and from the Missouri River to Oregon.\n\nSome twenty-five miles to the northwest of my place of residence, in\nwhat is now Jackson county, on the waters of the Cedar Creek, was a\nsettlement mainly from Platte county, Mo. The best known of these was\nBro. John Gardiner, whose heart now for thirty years has held one\nsingle thought, the interest and prosperity of the Christian Church.\nHe has sacrificed much, has labored much, and has done a great deal of\npreaching without fee or reward. Bro. J. W. Williams, from\nSoutheastern Ohio, a man of saintly character and indefatigable\npurpose, was also of this settlement. There also we organized a\nchurch.\n\nThe places for holding meetings were of the most primitive kind. A log\nschool-house was a luxury; the squatter cabins were too small; but we\nhad to use them during the winter. The groves of timber along the\nstreams were always waiting; but, we only could use them in fair and\npleasant weather, and for six months in the year. As for hearers, we\nwere never lacking an audience, we were never lacking for a crowd that\nwere ready to listen with honest good-will to the message which we\nbrought them.\n\nIt was an eventful summer. More rain fell than in any season I have\nknown. The streams were always full, the bottoms were often flooded,\nand crossing was sometimes dangerous; but I had a good horse and was\nnot afraid.\n\nIn religious matters everything was broken up, and men were drifting.\nBut this good came of it, that they were ready to listen to this\nstrange and new thing that was brought to their ears, in which so much\nwas made of the Lord's authority, of apostolic teaching and apostolic\nexample, and so little of traditions, theories, and time-honored\nobservances, of which the Bible knows nothing, but which have been\nsanctified by universal acceptance.\n\nAs for myself, there had been romances enough about my life to make\nthe people wish to see me, and I was proud to know that the boys could\nremember my sermons and repeat them. The men with whom I was\nimmediately associated in this work, and who had sent me on this\nerrand, were of inestimable advantage to me. They were well and\nfavorably known as men of unblemished reputation in Eastern Kansas and\nWestern Missouri. \"Old Duke Young,\" as the father of Judge William\nYoung had been affectionately called in Western Missouri, had been an\neminently popular frontier and pioneer preacher, and Judge Young had\ninherited an honorable distinction as being the son of such a father;\nand when it was known that I was acting with the concurrence and under\nthe approval of such men, the arrangement was generally accepted as\nsatisfactory.\n\nAnd now I had my heart's best desire. I was in the field as an\nevangelist; the harvest was abundant and the grain was already ripe\nand waiting for the sickle. But above all, and beyond all these, was\npeace in the land. We all had had a lover's quarrel, but we had made\nit up and were the better friends. Everywhere they had their joke with\nme, as to my method of navigating the Missouri River, and to the\nattire I sometimes put on; but I had come out the upper dog in the\nfight, and could afford to stand their bantering. There is a warmth,\nfreshness, and enthusiasm in the friendships formed under such\nconditions that can never be transferred to associations of older and\nmore orderly communities. As a result of this summer's work, here were\nseven churches full of zeal and rapidly growing, and occupying a field\nthat had been almost absolutely fallow, for outside of the towns there\nwas no religious movement except our own.\n\nBut at one point we were put at a very great disadvantage. Older and\nbetter established denominations were able to plant missionaries in\nsuch cities as Atchison, Topeka and Lawrence, while we were not; and\nyet in each of these cities there were from the first a small number\nof brethren, who might have served as the nucleus of a church.\nSpeaking in general terms, monthly preaching never built up a church\nin any city, and the reader will see that in the very nature of things\nI could not set myself down to the care of a single congregation.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nThe same causes that have made me a preacher, have also made me an\nabundant contributor to our periodical literature. As I wish to\npresent a living picture of these early days, I will, from time to\ntime, furnish extracts from the contributions I have made to our\nreligious journals:\n\n[Written for the Christian Luminary.]\n\nOCENA P. O., Atchison Co.,\nKansas Ter., May, 1858.\n\nHaving myself had a very full experience of the advantages\nand disadvantages, the trials, pleasures and perils of a\npioneer life, I propose to write a series of essays on the\nmatter of emigrating to the West.\n\nWhile a grave necessity demands that many shall emigrate\nto the West, it is not to be denied that it is an\nenterprise fraught with many dangers to the moral and\nspiritual well-being of the emigrant. We have here men\nfrom the four quarters of the civilized world, and have\nthus congregated together all the vices found in Europe\nand America. The semi-barbarism of the Irish Catholicism\nof Tipperary and Clare is now fairly inaugurated in\nLeavenworth city. All the horses of the livery stables are\nhired to attend an Irish funeral, and as the mourners take\na \"_wee bit of a dhrap_\" before starting, they are lucky\nif they get the corpse well under ground without a fight.\nBy this time, having become over-joyful, they raise a\nshout, and with a whoop and hurrah they start for home,\nand the man that has the fastest horse gets into the city\nfirst. The unlucky traveler, whose horse gets mixed up\nwith theirs in this stampede, and who thus involuntarily\nbecomes one of the company at an Irish wake, has need to\nbe a good rider.\n\nGerman infidelity has been nurtured in Germany by a\nthousand years of priestly domination and oppression, and\nis now translated into our Kansas towns by Germans, who\nhave no Lord's day in their week. Corresponding with our\nLord's day, they have a holiday--a day to hunt, to fish,\nto do up odd jobs, to congregate together and listen to\nfine music, dance, sing, feast, drink lager beer, and have\na good time generally. Under the best _regimen_ it is hard\nfor men to keep their hearts from evil; but here, it is a\nfearful thing for young men, released from all the\nrestraints of their native land, to find the house of\nrevelry and dancing so near the house of God, and the\ngates of hell, alluring by all the fascinating and\nseductive attractions of harmonious sounds, so near the\ngate of heaven.\n\nI am appalled at the amount of drinking and gambling that\nhas existed in Kansas, especially in the Missouri River\ntowns, for the last three years, Under the shade of every\ngreen tree, on the streets, in every shop, store, grocery\nand hotel, it has seemed as if the chief business of the\npeople was to gamble and drink.\n\nThere are other causes full of evil, and fearfully potent\nto work apostasy and ruin in the West. Men come here, not\nto plead the cause of a suffering and dying Saviour; not\nto give to the people a more pure and self-denying\nmorality, and a higher civilization; but to get rich. They\nhave had a dream, and are come to realize that dream. They\nhave dreamed of one thousand acres of land, bought at one\ndollar and a quarter per acre, that by the magic growth of\nsome Western town becomes worth fifty thousand dollars.\nThey have dreamed of money invested in mythical towns,\nwhich towns are to rival in their growth Toledo, Chicago\nor St. Louis. The dream is to do nothing and get rich.\nLand sharks, speculators, usurers and politicians who\naspire to a notoriety they will never win--a station they\nwill never occupy--swarm over the West thicker than frogs\nin Egypt, and more intrusive than were these squatting,\ncrawling, jumping pests, when evoked from the river's\nslime by the rod of Moses.\n\nSome men are too old when they come to the West. They are\nlike a vine whose tendrils are rudely torn from a branch\naround which they have wound themselves, and are so\nhardened by time that they can not entwine themselves\naround another support. Such men forever worship, looking\nto the East. They form no new friendships; engage in no\nnew enterprises; they care for nobody, and nobody cares\nfor them. They live and die alone.\n\nBut there are more sad and gentle notes of sorrow that\nfall upon our ears. The children mourn for the peach tree\nand the apple tree, with their luscious fruit. The\nmother-wife asks who will watch the little grave, or tend\nthe rose tree growing at its head, or who will train the\nwoodbine, or care for the pinks and violets? Then sadly\nshe sings of home--\"Home, sweet home!\" The father, too,\nremembers his pasture for his pigs, his calves, and sheep,\nand cows. He remembers that on one poor forty acres of\nland he had a house, a barn, an orchard, woodland, maple\ntrees for making maple sugar, a meadow, room for corn,\nwheat, oats and potatoes, besides pasture for one horse,\ntwo oxen, three cows, together with a number of sheep and\npigs, Then there was the three months' school in winter,\nand four months in summer. There was the Sunday-school and\nthe church, where serious and honest men uttered manly and\nreligious counsel to sincere hearts, which nurtured good\nand holy purposes. All this he has bartered away for the\nprivilege of being rich--of having more land than he knows\nwhat to do with; more corn than he can tend, and pigs till\nthey are a pest to him.\n\nHaving glanced at some of the evils attendant on Western\nlife, I must hasten to indicate what class of men should\ncome to the West. The poor of our cities, whose poverty\nbecomes the more haggard by being placed in immediate\nproximity to measureless profusion, luxury and\nextravagance--respectable people, whose whole life is a\nlifelong struggle to keep up appearances, and in whom the\nsecuring of affluence is like putting on a corpse the\nfrippery and finery of the ball-room; young men with brave\nhearts and willing hands--these are the classes that may\ncome, and should come, to the West. And if Adam, realizing\nthat the world is all before him, where to choose, looks\nto the West to find his Eden, I would respectfully suggest\nthat he has an infirmity in his left side, and that his\nbest security against the perils of a pioneer life is to\ntake to himself the rib that is wanting.\n\nThe tenant, living on the farm of another man, should come\nto the West. He can not plant a tree and call it his own.\nGod gave the whole world to Adam and his sons, and the\ntrue dignity of every son of Adam requires that he should\nbe able to stand in the midst of his own Eden and say:\n\"This, under God, is mine.\"\n\nThere is yet another class of men that may always go to\nthe West, or to any other place. Whether young, or old, or\nmiddle-aged--whether rich or poor--they may go, and the\nblessings of God go with them. These are the men whose\nhearts are full of faith, and hope, and love--who\nsympathize with all, and who, consequently, will find\nfriends among all--who are willing to be missionaries of\nthe cross, and to be pillars in the churches they have\nhelped to nurture into life.\n\nKansas is full of men who were once members of our\nchurches, but who are stranded on the rocks of apostasy,\non whom the storms of life will beat yet a little while,\nand then they will sink down into ever-lasting ruin.\nStrong drink, the love of money, or, perhaps, the\ninadequacy of their former teaching, is the occasion of\ntheir fall. Others, scattered over this great wilderness\nof sin, remain faithful amidst abounding wickedness, and\nstretch out their hands and utter the Macedonian cry,\n\"Come over and help us.\"\n\nThe apostolic age was pre-eminently an age of missionary\neffort. What will the world say of us, and of our\nconfident, and, as some would say, arrogant, pretense to\nhave restored primitive and apostolic Christianity, when\nour Israel in so large a part of the great West is such a\nmoral wreck--such a spectacle of scattered, abandoned,\nand, too often, ruined church members, unknown, untaught\nand uncared for.\n\nThe peerless glory of our Lord Jesus Christ--his\nmeasureless, boundless and quenchless love--this is the\ngreat center of attraction around which the affections of\nthe Christian do continually gather. The Lord is the\ncenter of the moral universe, and all its light is but the\nemanation of his glory. He dwells in the human heart, and\nfills it with his love; he dwells in the family, and\nbecomes its ornament as when he dwelt in the house of\nLazarus; he dwells in the church, and makes it a fold in\nwhich he nurtures his lambs.\n\nChristians wandering over the earth like sheep having no\nshepherd, isolated from their brethren, dwelling\nalone--however frequent this spectacle now--is not often\nwitnessed in the New Testament. There they congregated in\nchurches. But this experiment of isolation is most\nperilous to the individual, and a prodigal expenditure of\nthe wealth of the church, which has souls for her hire. It\nis true that a few persons become centers of attraction to\nnew churches that grow up around them; but very many are\nlost in the great whirlpool of this world's strife.\n\nWhat, then, is the remedy? Evidently this: Jesus accepts\nno divided empire in the human heart. He will have all or\nnothing. The Church of Christ, the cause of Christ, the\npeople of Christ--these must be the centers of attraction\nto which the heart of the Christian turns with all the\nenthusiasm with which an Eastern idolater bows before the\nshrine of his idol. In return for such devotion Jesus\ngives to his people every imaginable blessing. Wealth,\npower, dominion, science, civilization, genius, learning,\npower over the elements of nature, and insight into its\nmagnitude, do now belong to the Lord's people in Europe\nand America as they never belonged to any people before.\nYet all these must be laid at Jesus' feet before he will\nmake the returning prodigal the recipient of his love.\nEverything must be subordinated to our religion.\n\nSince the almighty dollar has become the touch-stone by\nwhich everything is to be decided, I assert that this is a\ngood speculation: secure a neighborhood homogeneous and\nnot heterogeneous. Let its tendencies be favorable to\ntemperance, education and religion, and in doing so a man\nwill have added fifty per cent, to the selling value of\nhis property. The present thrift, wealth, genius,\nenterprise and intelligence of the people of the New\nEngland States is the legitimate outworking of the\ntraining bestowed on their sons by the stern, old Puritans\nthat first peopled these inhospitable shores.\n\nBut all temporal and earthly considerations disappear, as\nfade the stars at the approach of day, when we consider\nthat measureless ruin, that gulf of everlasting despair,\nthat voiceless woe, into which the emigrant may sink\nhimself and family by locating in a profligate, dissipated\nor irreligious neighborhood, or in a community wholly\nswallowed up in the love of money, or absorbed in the\nquestions, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or\nwherewithal shall we be clothed? What home on the\nbeautiful prairies, what treasures of fine water and good\ntimber, what corner lots, what property in town or\ncountry, can equal in value the guardianship of our Lord,\nthe indwelling of God's good Spirit, the approval of a\ngood conscience, the smiles of angels and the inheritance\nof a home in heaven? Let no man, therefore, fall into the\nfolly--the unspeakable folly--of subordinating his\nspiritual and eternal interests to his temporal welfare.\n\"Seek ye God and his righteousness, and all these things\nshall be added.\"\n\nTo teach, to discipline and perfect the churches we have\nalready organized; to gather into churches the lost sheep\nof the house of our Israel, scattered over this great\nwilderness of sin; to try and help those who are still\npurposing to tempt its dangers; and to lay broad and deep\nthe foundations of a future operation and co-operation\nthat shall ultimate in spreading the gospel from pole to\npole, and across the great sea to the farthest domicile of\nman--this is the purpose which we set before us, and which\nshould be pursued with the zeal and enthusiasm displayed\nby the followers of the false prophet of Mecca; and with\nthe patience of the coral workers, who build for ages and\ncycles of ages their marble battlements in the waters of\nthe Pacific Ocean.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nIn 1859 I only spent part of the year preaching in Kansas. At the\nearnest solicitation of Ovid Butler, the founder and munificent patron\nof Butler University, I spent six months preaching in the State of\nIndiana. A missionary society had been organized in Indianapolis, in\nwhich Ovid Butler was the leading spirit, and such men as Joseph\nBryant, and Matthew McKeever, brothers-in-law to Alexander Campbell,\ntogether with Jonas Hartzell, Cyrus McNeely, of Hopedale, Ohio, and\nEld. John Boggs, of Cincinnati, and many others, were associated with\nhim in the movement. By these brethren I was for some time partially\nsustained as a missionary in Kansas. The formation of this society had\ngrown out of a difference existing between these brethren and the\nGeneral Missionary Society, touching what had become the over-topping\nand absorbing question, both to the churches and the people of the\nUnited States. As this question has ceased to be of any practical\ninterest to the American people, I shall spend no time in its\ndiscussion, only to narrate, briefly, what happened to us in Kansas,\ngrowing out of the existence of these two societies.\n\nOvid Butler had set his heart on this, that the brethren in Indiana\nshould have personal knowledge of the man that himself and others were\nsustaining in Kansas. I found myself greatly misunderstood, and was\noften hurt at the slights that grew out of these misunderstandings;\nand I tried hard to make these brethren know just what was in my\nheart, and what were the objects I was seeking to accomplish.\n\nIn the early spring of 1860 I returned to Kansas and resumed my work.\nGeo. W. Hutchinson had been a preacher in what was known as the\n\"Christian Connection\" in the New England States, and had been\neminently successful in winning converts. But these churches were\npoor, and he having married a wife, his compensation did not meet his\nnecessities, and like many others he went to California with a hope of\nbettering his fortunes. Afterwards he came to Lawrence, in Kansas,\nunder the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society. But his freighting\nteams having been plundered of a stock of goods, which they were\nbringing for him from Leavenworth to Lawrence, he was left to fight\nhis battle as best he might. It was at this conjuncture that he made\nthe acquaintance of the brethren at Big Springs, and became impressed\nwith the simplicity and scriptural authority of our plea. It is well\nknown that there never was more than a paper wall between ourselves\nand \"The Old Christian Order,\" and there seemed nothing in the way of\nBro. Hutchison. He had in his heart no theory of a regeneration\nwrought by a miracle, and which gives to a convert a supernatural\nevidence of pardon before baptism, and that should, therefore, compel\nhim to reject the words of Jesus: \"He that believeth and is baptized\nshall be saved.\"\n\nThe Christian Brethren have been supposed to have some leaning to\nUnitarianism, but he betrayed no such leaning. But while he had no\nlove for the barbarous language in which Trinitarians have sometimes\nspoken of the divine relation subsisting between the Father, Son and\nHoly Spirit, yet he was willing to ascribe to our Lord all that is\nascribed to him in the Holy Scriptures. Thus joyfully he accepted this\nnew brotherhood he had found in Kansas, and our churches just as\njoyfully set him to preaching. We needed preachers, and here was one\nalready made to our hand.\n\nEarly in the spring of 1860 the weather came off exquisitely fine. It\nwas like a hectic flush--the deceptive seeming of health on the cheek\nof the consumptive. It was a spring without rain, in which the sun was\nshining beautiful and bright, in which the evenings were balmy and\npleasant, and the road good; but to be followed by a summer of\nscorching heat, of hot winds that burned the vegetation like the\nbreath of a furnace, leaving the people to starve. The inhabitants of\nKansas will never forget the year 1860, the drought and the famine.\n\nIt was in the springtime, in the midst of this beautiful weather, we\ncalled Bro. Hutchinson to come to Pardee and help us. This protracted\nmeeting resulted in a great ingathering. It was largely made up of\nyoung men, who, for the time being, were located on the eastern border\nof Kansas, but that in the stirring and stormy times that were to\nfollow were to be scattered over every part of the Great West. And now\nBro. Hutchinson's fame as a revivalist began to spread abroad, and\nmany neighborhoods where there were a few Disciples, and who were\nanxious to build themselves into a congregation, sent for him to come\nand help them; and thus our churches rapidly grew in number, and our\nacquaintance with the brethren was greatly extended. As a result,\nthere came to be a common feeling among them that we ought to come\ntogether in a State, or rather a Territorial, meeting. Pursuant to\nsuch a purpose, a general meeting was called at Big Springs, Aug. 9,\n1860, C. M. Mock having been called to the chair, and W. O. Ferguson,\nof Emporia, having been made secretary.\n\nThe following churches reported themselves as having been organized in\nthe Territory:\n\n                                    No. of  Members.\n\n    Pardee, Atchison Co                 92\n\n    Union Church, Atchison Co           60\n\n    Leavenworth City                    70\n\n    Big Springs, Douglas Co             72\n\n    Prairie City, Douglas Co            44\n\n    Peoria City, Lykins Co              23\n\n    Leroy, Coffey Co                   108\n\n    Emporia                             80\n\n    Stanton, Lykins Co                  91\n\n    Iola, Allen Co                      21\n\n    Humbolt, Allen Co.                  12\n\n    Burlington, Coffey Co                9\n\n    Wolf Creek, Doniphan Co             70\n\n    Rock Creek, Doniphan Co             30\n\n    Independence Creek, Doniphan Co     12\n\n    Cedar Creek, Doniphan Co            16\n\n    Olathe, Johnson Co                  10\n\n    McCarnish, Johnson Co               40\n\n    Oskaloosa, Jefferson Co             10\n\n    Cedar Creek, Jackson Co             30\n\nThus of organized churches there were reported 900 members, and of\nunorganized members it was ascertained there were enough to make the\nnumber more than one thousand.\n\nWe find on record, as having been adopted at this meeting, the\nfollowing resolutions:\n\n_Resolved_ That the thanks of this Convention be tendered\nto the Christian Missionary Society, at Indianapolis, for\nthe service of Bro. Butler as a missionary in Kansas, and\nthat the Society be requested to sustain him until the\nchurches in Kansas shall be able to sustain their\npreachers.\n\n_Resolved_, That Brethren G. W. Hutchinson, Pardee Butler,\nEphraim Philips, S. G. Brown, W. E. Evans, and N. Dunshee\nbe recommended to the confidence and support of the\nbrethren as able and faithful preachers of the gospel.\n\nWHEREAS, The brethren of Southern Kansas are in destitute\ncircumstances; and\n\nWHEREAS, Bro. E. Philips, having spent much of his time\npreaching, without fee, or reward, needs pecuniary\nsupport; and\n\nWHEREAS, Bro. Crocker is about to visit the East;\ntherefore,\n\n_Resolved_, That we commend Bro. Crocker as worthy to\nreceive contributions made on behalf of Bro. Philips.\n\n_Resolved_, That we will encourage and, so far as we have\nability, sustain by our prayers and means those who labor\nfor us in word and doctrine.\n\n_Resolved_, That we are in favor of Sunday-schools and\nBible classes, and that we will use our influence to\nsustain social meetings in all our churches.\n\n_Resolved_, That when we adjourn, we adjourn to meet at\nPrairie City, on Wednesday before the second Lord's day in\nSeptember, 1861.\n\n_Resolved_, That the thanks of this Convention be tendered\nto the brethren of Big Springs for their kindness and\nliberality during the sessions of this Convention.\n\nOn motion, the Convention adjourned to the time and place\nappointed.\n\nC. W. MOCK, Chairman.\n\nW. O. FERGUSON, Secretary.\n\n\nThe convention in its results was full of encouragement and joy.\nInsignificant as had been our beginning two years before, here were\ntwenty churches and more than one thousand members ready to cooperate\ntogether and plant the cause in this infant Territory. This meeting\nalso introduced us to many new acquaintances. Eld. S. G. Brown, of\nEmporia, had been diligently employed planting churches along the\nNeosho River from Emporia to Leroy. Bro. Ephraim Philips, at Leroy,\nalso at that time became known to us. Bro. Philips, after some years,\nreturned to Pennsylvania, and there went into the oil business with\nhis brother; the brothers were successful, and afterwards\ndistinguished themselves by a generous and Christian liberality. Bro.\nCrocker also, before his death, had won a large place in the hearts of\nhis brethren. Elder Wm, Gans, at that time of Lanesfield, but\nafterwards of Olathe, will long be remembered with earnest affection;\nand it was at this time that he became known to us.\n\nFor reasons that we have already mentioned, the General Missionary\nSociety had done nothing for us, but seeing that we were fighting a\nbrave battle, and that we were keeping the peace with each other, they\nfelt themselves moved to help us. Eld. D. S. Burnett was at this time\nemployed preaching in Western Missouri, and was deputed by the\nMissionary Board to visit G. W. Hutchinson at Lawrence, who was\nwinning golden opinions as an eminently successful evangelist. Bro. H.\nwas not at home, but was away holding a protracted meeting, and Bro.\nBurnett therefore called on his wife. Mrs. Hutchinson was a pious,\nrefined, and educated New England woman, who had married her husband\nafter he had become known as the most successful evangelist in the\n\"Old Christian Order\" in the New England States. She had with pain\nseen him turned aside from his chosen work by hard necessities, and\nwas now greatly rejoiced to see him once more a preacher. Bro. B. was\nan accomplished gentleman, whose polished and cultivated manners\nsometimes laid him open to the charge of a proud and aristocratic\nexclusiveness; but this Yankee lady herself knew how to queen it, and\nstood before him with no sense of inferiority. She frankly said to him\nthat herself and husband were abolitionists, but that they knew the\nvalue of peace, and would do what could be done, in good conscience,\nto make peace and keep it. Bro. Burnett evidently went away from\nLawrence with a good opinion of this family of Yankee abolitionists,\nand Bro. H. was immediately accepted as a missionary of the General\nMissionary Society. He used quietly to indicate to me that, as\ntouching this interview, his wife was a better general than himself,\nand that it was lucky for him that he was not at home.\n\nAnd so we two became missionaries, sustained by two different, and, in\none particular, antagonistic missionary societies. Of course we did\nnot quarrel; why should we? If I was sometimes charged with\nabolitionism, was not this man blacker than myself? We often traveled\ntogether, and held protracted meetings under the same tent. I had for\na lifetime studied this plea which we make for a return to primitive\nand apostolic Christianity, and it was, therefore, my business to\npress upon the people the duty to yield a loyal obedience to the Lord\nJesus Christ as our only Lawgiver and King, and thus to renounce all\nhuman leadership and the authority of all human opinions; and it\nbecame the business of Bro. Hutchinson to win the people by his\nmagnetic power, and fill them with his own enthusiasm, and thus induce\nthem to act on the convictions that had been already formed in their\nhearts.\n\nI take on myself to say there never have been two more diligent\nevangelists than were Bro. Hutchinson and myself in the year that\nfollowed the Big Springs Convention. Looking over the whole ground, I\nam able to see that in that year was laid the foundation for that\nabiding prosperity that has distinguished our effort down to the\npresent time.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nThere had come to the Big Springs Convention two brethren--Father\nGillespie and his son, William Gillespie, living at St. George, on the\nKansas River, fifty miles above Topeka and about eight miles below\nManhattan. These brethren came to tell us that here were two\nsettlements of brethren waiting to be organized into churches; and\nBro. Hutchinson and myself both visited them during the ensuing\nautumn. A military road ran up the Kansas River from Fort Leavenworth\nto Fort Riley, passing through the village of St. George, But if I\nwere to go to St. George by this route, I would lose thirty miles of\ntravel, and I therefore determined to start directly west from my\nplace of residence. But, in doing so, I would have to cross the\nPottawatomie Indian Reserve, on which for forty miles there was not\nthe habitation of a white man. Stopping over night with Bro. J. W.\nWilliams, on the eastern border of the Reserve, I started betimes to\nSt. George, traveling to the west. But night came on, and I had not\nreached the line of white settlements. I picketed my horse on the\nprairie, made a pillow of my saddle, and slept until morning. The\nnight was warm and pleasant, and I did not suffer with the cold, and\nin the morning I was ready betimes to ride on to the residence of Bro.\nGillespie. He was so glad to see me.  It was worth a journey of one\nhundred miles to get such a welcome. And then there was Sister\nGillespie, and a house full of young Gillespies, and they were all\nso glad to see me.\n\n\"Have you had your breakfast?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Well, where did you lodge?\"\n\nThis was a poser. I attempted to pass the question by; but nothing\nwould do, and I had to confess I slept under the canopy of heaven.\n\n\"O, dear! O, dear!\" And had it come to this that their preacher had to\nsleep on the prairie! This was a family of hospitable Kentuckians, who\nwere born to a love of music, and the old gentleman was a fiddler, and\nnext to his Bible he loved his fiddle. Of course, we had a grand, good\ntime, and were all filled with joy; and this was the beginning of the\nchurches on the upper waters of the Kansas River. Twelve miles above\nSt. George was Ashland, where we found Bro. N. B. White, father to A.\nJ. White, who has hitherto been pastor of the church at Leavenworth\nCity; but since has been acting as district evangelist. Bro. N. B.\nWhite came from Carthage, Ky., and long remained a faithful and\nindefatigable preacher. In my experience as an evangelist, I have\nknown many men of superior Christian excellence; but never one man of\nmore singleness and integrity of heart; never one man that had a\nclearer conception of the ultimate purposes and results of\nChristianity; never a man whose life was more unselfish and\nself-sacrificing. Being of an intensely nervous and high-strung\norganization, and doing his work in a mixed population that would have\ntaxed the patience of Job in its management, it is no wonder that Bro.\nWhite was sometimes misunderstood, and, like all reformers, was made\nto feel that he was living before his time.\n\nThus passed in abundant labors the year 1860, and the time drew on for\nour yearly meeting, which had been appointed to be held at Prairie\nCity in September, 1861. The brethren came together with real\nenthusiasm. During the past year the number of Disciples had been\nmultiplied, and the cause had been greatly strengthened. It had been a\nyear of constant ingathering. New churches reported themselves at this\nmeeting, and brethren whom we had never known before. As evidence of\nwhat was being accomplished I will copy a note which I find appended\nto the minutes of the Prairie City meeting:\n\nThe following letter was received from a church meeting in\nMonroe township, Anderson County, said church being of the\n\"Old Christian Order\":\n\n_To the Elders of the State Meeting at Prairie City_:\n\nWe, the Church of God meeting at North Pottawatomie, do\nrecommend to your honorable body, Bro. Samuel Anderson, as\nour pastor. We also represent our church as in good\nstanding and in full fellowship, numbering twenty-eight\nmembers.\n\n\nBro. Anderson, the bearer of the above letter, came before the\nConvention and said: \"It does yet appear to me that a man's sins are\nforgiven as soon as he believes; but I do not think that for this\ncause there ought to be a schism between us. I am willing to unite\nwith you in exhorting men to obey all the commands of the gospel, and\nin seeking to unite all Christians on the one foundation.\"\n\nBut there appeared one cloud in our horizon, one cause to hinder the\nperfect success of this, our second yearly meeting. The country was\nfull of rumors of war, and there seemed impending a great national\nconflict. Bro. Hutchinson had been for one year an eminently\nsuccessful evangelist; but now he went into the Union army as an army\nchaplain, and thus his work among us ceased. And now the war was upon\nus; we were predestined to see dark days, and the hearts of the people\nwere full of forebodings of evil. Many of our young men went into the\narmy, and for two years the produce raised by the farmers brought\nalmost nothing, and many of our preachers retired from their work. And\nthen there appeared in the land wolves in sheep's clothing--thieves\nwearing the disguise of loyalty to the \"old flag,\" and who held\nthemselves self-elected to punish \"rebel sympathizers,\" and in the\nestimation of this gentry the best evidence that could be had that a\nman was a rebel sympathizer was, that he owned a good span of horses.\nIt is said, \"There is no great loss without some small gain,\" and\nthese evil days gave opportunity to some of us who owed a debt of\ngratitude for kindness rendered to us when we were in sore straits, to\npay back this debt by demanding justice on behalf of loyal citizens of\nKansas, whose only offense was that they had been born in the South.\n\nIt is the purpose of this series of articles to tell how two peoples,\nthe one from the South and the other from the North--the one the sons\nof the Puritans, and the other the children of the younger sons of the\nold English cavaliers--came together and settled in one Territory; how\nthey were divided by the question of American slavery, and how they\nstrove in an antagonism as fierce as that which once subsisted between\nthe Saxon and Norman in Old England; how they peacefully settled their\ncontroversy, and in one-third of a century have grown into an\neminently peaceful, prosperous, enterprising and well-ordered\ncommonwealth, that stands conspicuous as an illustration and proof of\nthe excellence of our national institutions. We are also to tell how\nthat, out of the furnace fires of such a strife, a community of\nchurches grew up that have for their purpose a restoration of\nprimitive and apostolic Christianity, and the unity of all Christians\nunder a supreme loyalty, to the Lord Jesus Christ as our only Leader\nand Lawgiver, and as the great Author of our American civilization. We\nare also to tell how the discipline of such a strife has created a\npeople of such heroic temper, that this has been the first government\namong the nations to grapple with the saloon power in a final and\ndecisive battle, which has banished it beyond the boundaries of the\nState, and has branded it as an enemy to Christian homes, an enemy to\nour Christian civilization, and an enemy to the welfare of the whole\nhuman race. Other States have paltered with the evil by means of\nfeeble and frivolous legislation, but Kansas has grappled the monster\nby the throat by incorporating Prohibition into its fundamental law.\n\nBut, above all, we are to press upon the attention of the people the\nimminence of that danger that is threatening us, and that embodies\nwithin itself all other perils that hang over the nation. We are\nthreatened to be overwhelmed by a foreign and alien emigration that\nbrings with it the anarchy of atheism and the unAmerican and the\nanti-American traditions of a paganized Christianity. We have now\nfifteen millions of foreign-born citizens and of their children of the\nfirst generation in the United States. The Rev. Josiah Strong\nestimates that in twelve years their number will be forty-three\nmillions; and a great part of this population is now, and shall\nhereafter be, under the control of Jesuit priests, that seek to\nmaintain in the hearts of these millions loyalty to a foreign prince,\nresident in Rome, as superior to and more binding on their consciences\nthan is that allegiance which they owe to the United States.\n\nThe city of New York has eighty persons in every one hundred of its\npopulation that are either foreign born or else the children of\nforeign born parents. Boston has sixty-three; Chicago has\neighty-seven; St. Louis has seventy-eight; Cincinnati, sixty; San\nFrancisco, seventy-eight, and Detroit and Milwaukee have each\neighty-four citizens in every one hundred of their population that are\neither foreign born or else the children of foreign born parents. A\nnation is dominated by its cities, as England is dominated by London;\nas France is dominated by Paris, and Germany by Berlin; and our great\ncities have already become foreign cities, controlled by a foreign\nvote, and dominated by a foreign public opinion. Here in Kansas, in\ncities where there is a dominant element of foreign born citizens, we\nhave to invoke the power of the State to compel obedience to our\ntemperance laws on the part of this alien and un-American population;\notherwise they overawe the city government and rebel against the laws.\nSelf-evident it is that the presence of such a population is a threat\nagainst our social and domestic life, against our government, and\nagainst the Christian religion. But the presence of such an evil calls\nfor union among ourselves. Poland was dismembered and ceased to\nexist among the nations, because of intestine strifes and divisions\namong its nobility, who were its governing class; and in the presence\nof such a danger menacing the American people it would be a madness\nunspeakable in us to keep up among ourselves either our religious\nfeuds and bickerings, or the animosities heretofore existing between\nthe North and South.\n\nWe must be one people, or this nation will surely perish. And this\noneness is not to be brought about by the utterance of feeble\nplatitudes, nor by the hypocritical profession of a good-will we do\nnot feel; we must follow the guidance of that Book of all books that\nGod has given us, by exhibiting that robust and manly courage that\nlooks the truth and the whole truth squarely in the face. After making\nall necessary discount and rebate because of faults and infirmities,\nthere is enough yet remaining of solid and essential excellence in the\ncitizens of every State in this nation that they can afford to have\nthe honest truth told about themselves. Is the sun less glorious\nbecause there are spots on the sun? Is the moon less beautiful because\nthe man in the moon does not wear a handsome face?\n\nOn the late Fourth of July there was a rallying of the clans of the\nveterans--the men in blue and the men in gray--on the field of\nGettysburg, to commemorate the battle they fought twenty-five years\nbefore, and to do honor to the bravery displayed by each man in\nfighting for what he honestly thought to be the right. This was as it\nshould be. But there ought to be the celebration of another battle--it\nought to be, even though it may never occur--that should never be\nforgotten. In that battle there was no dreadful carnage as on the\nbattlefield of Gettysburg; there were no desperate charges made by\ncavalry and infantry; there was no heroic courage displayed under the\npitiless peltings of a deadly hail of shot and shell; there were no\ngreat generals of national reputation in command, but humble men unknown\nto fame, in the final result came together, and with honest speech said,\n\"We will shake hands and be friends. We will let bygones be by gones,\nand see what can be done by a united effort to promote the welfare of\nall.\"\n\nNow we insist that Kansas is worthy of more honor than Gettysburg. But\nas in this wicked world the best men do not get the highest honor, nor\nthe best deeds the highest praise, we will be content to bide our\ntime, knowing that the Lord does not forget, and that he will speak a\ngood word for us at the great judgment day.\n\nKansas led the nation in the abolition of American slavery; Kansas\nought a second time to lead the nation in a universal amnesty, so that\nthere shall be nothing to hinder that we shall preach the gospel to\nthe devotees of the mother of Babylon, and to the millions of godless,\nChristless heathen that are thrown upon our hands, thus making them\ngood Christians that they may be good American citizens.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nIn 1862 our yearly meeting was held at Emporia, and in 1863 at\nOttumwa. These meetings were little better than failures. Yearly\ndistrict meetings were kept up in Northeastern Kansas, in which more\nvigor was manifested.\n\nAnd now the writer began to feel the pressure of hard necessities. For\nfive years I had kept myself in the field on a salary utterly\ninadequate to my needs, and had been gradually running into debt, and\nthese debts had to be paid. In anticipation of the future wants of my\nchildren, I had invested my available means in land; but as this land\nwas not improved, it yielded me no return. In the distress that came\non the people in those days, one means of making money presented\nitself, and many availed themselves of it. Gold had been discovered at\nPike's Peak, and thitherward had flocked a great multitude of people.\nThere were no railroads, and all supplies had to be carried across the\nplains in freighting wagons. This business was carried on by the\nroughest class of a rough and frontier population; still, it was an\nhonest business, and honest men might lawfully engage in it, provided\nthey had the hardihood to face the dangers and exposures of such a\nlife.\n\nDuring the years 1862, 1863 and 1864, I went into this business with a\nsmall freighting outfit. This certainly was not just the thing for a\npreacher to do, but necessity knows no law. In the spring of 1862,\nBro. James Butcher was going to Denver with a freighting train, and he\nwith myself agreed to go in the same train for mutual convenience.\n\nThe President, Abraham Lincoln, had ordered a draft, and many young\nmen in Missouri had found themselves in a sore strait. In the South\nwere their kindred, and they felt that they could not and would not\nfight against their own flesh and blood; and to avoid this they\ndetermined to flee to the gold mines in the mountains, where every man\ndid what was right in his own eyes--and so they came to Atchison or\nLeavenworth and engaged to drive these freighting teams to Denver.\nMany of them were sons of rich fathers, well educated, and had never\nengaged in manual labor, much less in such menial work as this, and\nwhen these proud and high-spirited fellows felt what an ignoble life\nthey had been reduced to, the reader may well believe they did not\nfeel good-natured over it. And now, when these young gentlemen came to\nunderstand that they were to be associated with a man that was\nreported to be the representative of the hated Yankees, who had made\nwar on the people of the South, and set free their slaves, they\nbitterly attacked me in wordy warfare. Of course I defended myself.\nAnd so day after day, in the intervals while our cattle were grazing,\nwe debated every question relative to slavery that has been debated\nwithin the last fifty years. Their hearts were bitter; they were\npassionately excited, and would often end the talk, which they\nthemselves had begun, With noisy profanity. They seemed to think they\nhad this advantage of me, that they could swear and I could not.\n\nWe were now traveling up the valley of the Platte River. It was the\nmonth of June. The weather had become rainy and there were frequent\nshowers. One night we had corralled our train on an almost dead level\nbottom, and I was sure, from the appearance of the heavens, that we\nshould have a storm. Bro. Butcher had been taken sick and had returned\nhome, and, except myself, there were none to think or care what was\ncoming; and yet it was plain to be seen that the air was thick and\nsultry, and the heavens overcast with clouds, and that everything\nbetokened a tempest. Our canvas-covered wagons had been so crowded\nwith merchandise that we could not get into them, and we had slept on\nblankets on the ground; but here on this dead level bottom, in case of\na heavy rain, we would be drowned out by the flooding of the ground. I\ndragged under my wagon a number of ox-yokes, and with these and some\nstrips of boards I made a platform, and on this I laid a narrow\npallet, and crept under the wagon, where I would be sheltered from the\nrain by the wagon-bed above me. During the night there fell frequent\nshowers, and the boys were soon drowned out from their pallets on the\nground. They were tired and sleepy; they were homesick and in bad\ntemper at their mean and unaccustomed surroundings, and were inclined\nto hold the Yankees responsible for it all, and they began to curse\nand swear in rough and bitter speech. Then there came on the most\nawful thunder storm I ever witnessed. Vivid flashes of lightning kept\nthe whole heavens illuminated with a blaze of light, while a thousand\nelectric lights would not so have turned night into day around our\ncorral of train-wagons. Crashing peals of thunder were in the air, and\nthe bolts seemed to descend to the earth around us. Then there came\ndown a flood of rain that was as if a water spout had burst above our\nheads. I looked out from my narrow bed, and could see the boys\ngathered in groups, standing leaning against their wagons, soaked to\nthe skin, and their faces white with ghastly paleness; but not a word\nwas spoken. They had forgotten to swear. Then there was a lull in the\nstorm, which subsided into a drizzling cold rain, and I went to sleep.\n\nWhen morning came we were a sorry looking lot. The boys were soaked,\nand chilled, and _blue_, and dreadfully homesick. Words would not tell\nwhat these poor fellows would have given if they could have been where\nthey could have been coddled and petted by their mothers and sisters.\nI saw that a warm cup of coffee and a substantial breakfast would do\nthem good, and I hastened to have it provided. They came with alacrity\nat the call for breakfast, for they were hungry. When a good square\nmeal had somewhat thawed them out, I said, \"Boys, what made you quit\nswearing last night?\" The one who was usually their spokesman, and\nwho knew how to be a gentleman if he had a mind to be, said\nreverently, \"We were afraid.\" From this time forward our debates over\nslavery and the Southern Confederacy were at an end, or if we had them\nit was in a friendly way. Given a fair chance, these boys were not so\nbad as they seemed.\n\nIn the summer of 1864 we had reached the \"Cutoff,\" and were within\neighty miles of Denver. It was late on Saturday afternoon when we got\nto the Bijou Ranch. We were tired and our teams were tired, and we\ndebated for some time whether we should drive ten miles further, where\nwe would find better feed for our oxen. We did so, though it took us\ntill midnight; and there we rested on Sunday. This was providential;\nfor it was on this Sunday that the Cheyenne Indians made their\nmemorable raid and plundered the trains, burned the ranches and stole\nthe horses for three hundred miles along the Platte River. They\nattacked the Bijou Station that we had left on Saturday, but they did\nnot venture any nearer Denver; consequently we were safe. On our\nreturn we saw how the people had been murdered, the trains plundered\nand the ranches burned along our route; and it presented a terrible\nspectacle. A man named Butler was killed and scalped on the Little\nBlue River, and the people in Kansas got the word that it was myself.\nImmediately on my return home I rode up to the church at Wolf Creek,\nin Doniphan county, where we had a district meeting appointed. It was\nto them as if I had come from the dead. I went home for dinner with my\nold friend, Bro. John Beeler. I noticed his little boy peering\nattentively at me; he climbed upon a bedstead close behind me, then,\njumping down, he ran to his mother, and, pulling Sister Beeler by the\napron, said, \"Ma! Ma! The Indians did scalp Bro. Butler; I can see it\non the top of his head.\" The reader must know that, like \"Old Uncle\nNed,\" I have no hair on the top of my head.\n\nBut, in spite of disasters and hardships, and dark and stormy days,\nour churches continued to grow and prosper, and we kept up a vigorous\nand aggressive church organization. On Sept. 27, 1864, the churches of\nthe State came together at their fifth annual State meeting at\nTecumseh, Shawnee county. Here the brethren organized a missionary\nsociety, fashioned after the plan of our General Missionary Society,\nand in which life directorships, life memberships and annual\nmemberships were obtained by the payment of a sum of money.\n\nThe writer of these Recollections will explain that the formation of\nthis Society was not his work. He doubted whether the brethren were\nprepared for it. Nevertheless, he was willing to be governed by the\nmajority. By resolution of the State meeting, the writer was requested\nto prepare for publication with the minutes of the meeting an address,\nof which the following is a copy:\n\nADDRESS TO THE CHRISTIAN BRETHREN OF THE STATE OF KANSAS.\n\n_Beloved Brethren_: We present to you in these pages the\ndetails of the organization of the Christian Missionary\nSociety of the State of Kansas. We hope for your approval\nand ask for your contributions.\n\nThe warrior may fight for his country on the battle field;\nthe statesman may seek to develop its resources and\nimprove its laws; the husbandman may make its fields heavy\nwith their weight of golden grain; and those who love\ndomestic life may seek to create in that place they call\nhome a second paradise; but broader, deeper, more\ncomprehensive and sweeter far, is the work of\nChristianity. It underlies all good, and is the only sure\nbasis of progress.\n\nFor two thousand years China and Japan have been without\nthe Bible, and what they were then, that they are now. For\ntwo thousand years the millions of India have been left\nwithout God and without hope in the world, and they have\nonly progressed into infinite degradations. The aboriginal\ninhabitants of America, left without the Bible, have only\ngone down deeper and deeper into a night as black as that\nwhich brooded over old chaos.\n\nNo Herschel counts the stars, numbers the planets,\nmeasures the length of their years and computes the number\nof their days, unless his observatory is illuminated by\nthe rays of the Sun of Righteousness. No Luther thunders\nagainst priestcraft, shakes the thrones of tyrants, and\nwakes the nations to a new life and a new progress, save\nthat Luther that finds a Bible in his cell. No Franklin\ncalls down electricity from the clouds to carry messages\nacross a continent swift as the lightning flashes through\nthe sky, save that Franklin whose fathers brought the\nBible with them from their native land, and prized it more\nthan all the gold of Ophir. No mother country has had such\nreason to be proud of any colony that was ever planted on\nthe face of this green earth, as Great Britain has had\nreason to be proud of her colonies in North America, and\nno colonies ever so loved the Bible. Judson, Howard,\nWilberforce, and Florence Nightingale drew the inspiration\nof their benevolence from a dying Saviour's cross, and\nlearned of him who, \"though he was rich, yet for our sakes\nbecome poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.\"\n\nChristianity, as it was given by Jesus to the apostles,\nand by the apostles to mankind, was as perfect as the God\nwho gave it. Our whole duty then is this, that we should\nrestore primitive and apostolic Christianity again to the\nworld. Many reformers have sought to do this; but they\nhave only reformed in part. Though they fled from Babylon\nthey stopped short of Jerusalem.\n\nWe can not pause in this work which we have begun. We can\nnot allow ourselves to grow cold and our churches to die.\nWe must go forward in that path in which the rays of our\nglorious sun--the Sun of Righteousness--grow brighter and\nbrighter unto the perfect day.\n\nGod does not make Christians as he created Adam out of the\ndust of the earth. He works by _means_: \"How shall they\nbelieve in him of whom they have not heard?\" God works\nthrough the voice of the Bible scattered over the world.\nIf any doubt this, let them reflect that among all the\nmillions of men that inhabit the whole earth not one\nbecomes a Christian save him who either hears or reads of\na crucified Saviour.\n\nMoney is the sinews of this war. True, there is peril in\nmoney. It is not safe to be rich; and it is admitted that\nby wealth preachers may be corrupted. But this is not the\npresent danger. The present peril is, that haggard want,\nstalking in at the preacher's door, will paralyze his\ntongue, make his knees feeble and his hands heavy, and\nturn away his heart from his proper work to the question,\nWhat shall I eat? and what shall I drink? and wherewithal\nshall I be clothed? The preacher is told to put his trust\nin the Lord. But when, after long waiting, no ravens come\nto feed him, he sometimes loses his heart, and says, \"I go\na fishing.\" Surely the brethren will not have a\ncontroversy with the Lord. They will not deny that he has\nappointed that \"they that preach the gospel shall live of\nthe gospel.\"\n\nIt is by no weak, sickly, faint-hearted, lukewarm,\nlanguid, and spasmodic efforts that the cause is to be\nkept alive. God will have all or nothing. This is an age\nin which, if never before, both good men and bad men are\ntruly in earnest. The devil is fearfully and terribly in\nearnest \"Therefore rejoice you heavens, and you that dwell\nin them Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the\nsea! for the devil is come down to you, having great\nwrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time.\"\n\n_We must give till we feel it. The widow's mite was most\nprecious in the eyes of Jesus, because it was her all_.\n\nThe objects we aim at are unquestionably scriptural. \"Go disciple\nall nations.\" This was the Saviour's last command. To sustain our\nmissionaries by the free-will offering of our brethren--this is\nalso scriptural.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nIn the year 1865 the State meeting was held at Prairie City. Meantime,\nhowever, a vigorous local district organization had been maintained\nfrom the first in Northeastern Kansas. This year its annual meeting\nwas held at Leavenworth City, continuing from the first till the 4th\nof June. In addition to the ordinary purposes for which this meeting\nwas held, it undertook to perfect the Missionary Society that had been\norganized the preceding year at Tecumseh.\n\nAmong all the conventions held in Kansas, whether of State or\nDistrict, this must be regarded as the most notable:\n\n1. It offers devout thanksgiving to the Lord for the return of peace\nto the nation: \"_Resolved_, That with hearts full of gratitude to\nAlmighty God, we hail the return of peace to our long distracted\ncountry.\"\n\n2. After seven years of labor, beginning in 1858, and ending in 1865,\nnotwithstanding the disorders of the period, this Convention is able\nto give a tabulated report of seventy-nine churches organized in the\nState with their bishops, deacons and evangelists, and having an\naggregate of 3,020.\n\n3. It is able to report a missionary society, that in the eight months\nintervening between the Tecumseh State meeting and the present\nConvention, has collected and paid over to its four evangelists--J; H.\nBauserman, Pardee Butler, S. G. Brown and J. J. Trott--the sum of\n$827.\n\n4. The Convention was able to adjourn, full of hope and enthusiasm,\nand to promise itself that it would do a still better work in the time\nto come.\n\nThe names of the following persons appear as the accredited messengers\nof the churches: Leavenworth--J. C. Stone, G. H. Field, S. A.\nMarshal, H. Allen, J. T. Gardiner, Calvin Reasoner. Ottumwa--J. T.\nCox, Wm. Gans, J. Jenks, Peter Smith. Tecumseh--J. Driver, M. Driver,\nA. J. Alderman. Americus--W. C. Butler, S. S. Chapman. Le Roy--S. G.\nBrown, Allen Crocker. Little Stranger--J. H. Bauserman, S. A.\nLacefield, J. Adams, J. P. Bauserman. Iola--S. Brown. Nine Mile--N. D.\nTyler, J. T. Goode, H. Dickson. Garnett--J. Ramsey, H. Cavender.\nHolton--E. Cope, J. P. Nichols, T. G. Walters, A. B. Scholes.\nPardee--Pardee Butler, N. Dunshee. Belmont--J. J. Trott. Monrovia--J.\nN. Holliday, John Graves, Caleb May. Mt. Pleasant--Joseph Potter,\nThomas Miller, Joseph McBride, N. Humber. Olathe P. E. Henderson, John\nElston, Martin Davenport, Addison Bowen. Lanesfield--O. S. Laws, Wm.\nMaxwell, H. C. Maxwell. Prairie City--H. H. Johnson. Buck Creek--C. M.\nShort, Thomas Finch, Martin Stoddard. Grasshopper Falls--James Ritter,\nS. Smith. Winchester--Cyrus Taylor, A. R. Cantwell.\n\nBut we wait for a period of seventeen years, then Eld S. T. Dodd, of\nTopeka, is appointed by the Kansas Christian Missionary Society to\nwrite a history of the work of the Christian Church in Kansas, which\nhe does in a tract of thirty-eight pages; and Bro. D., writing under\ndate of 1882, makes the following summary of the work done:\n\nFrom 1856 to 1865 anything like church work was as good as\nthrown away, except as affording temporary privileges.\n\nFinally a time came when the clatter of arms and the\nclatter of raiders were ended; railroads were built, and\nemigration poured in from all States and nations, among\nwhich were many Disciples of Christ, who should have been\nbuilded into existing churches, or collected into new\nones; but many were permitted to drift along in\ncarelessness and irresponsibility until their identity as\nmembers has been lost.\n\nDuring the past five years there has been a general\nawakening among our brethren, which has resulted in very\nmany new organizations and the possession of Atchison,\nTopeka, Wichita, and several other strongholds.\n\n\nBro. Dodd makes report of the following State meetings as having been\nheld in Kansas:\n\nIn 1869, Grantville; in 1870, Le Roy; in 1871, St. George;\nin 1872, Emporia; in 1873, Topeka; in 1874, Olathe; in\n1875, Ottawa, in 1876, Manhattan; in 1877, Emporia; in\n1878, Gates Center; in 1879, Emporia; in 1880, Manhattan;\nin 1881, Salina; in 1832, Emporia.\n\n\nTo the above summary the writer will add the following list of the\nearlier Territorial and State meetings:\n\nIn 1860, Big Springs; in 1861, Prairie City; in 1862,\nEmporia; in 1863, Ottawa; in 1864, Tecumseh; in 1865,\nPrairie City; in 1866, Ottawa; in 1867, Olathe.\n\n\nTo the above statistics we will append the following reflections:\n\n1. Among the preachers that prominently appear in the first seven\nyears of our work, there are none remaining, save the writer of these\nRecollections, Some are fallen out by the way. Elders S. G. Brown, Wm.\nGans, N. B. White, S. A. Marshal and Allen Crocker have died in the\nfaith and hope of the gospel. The name of J. H. Bauserman does,\nindeed, appear, but he had only just begun his work; but having put\nthe armor on, he has never laid it off. The name of J. B. McCleery\ndoes not yet appear on the minutes of our yearly meetings, still he\nwas already an evangelist. He had been in Ohio the friend and\ncompanion of James A. Garfield, and soon came to be known as one of\nthe first pulpit orators of the State. The government, like death,\n\"loves a shining mark,\" and claimed Bro. McCleery for its service, and\nhe is now an army chaplain. The churches will never cease to regret\nhis choice, and yet he had a right to make it.\n\n2.  The facts do not bear out the remark of Bro. S. T. Dodd, that\n\"from 1856 to 1865 anything like church work was as good as thrown\naway.\" With seventy-nine churches organized, and with upwards of three\nthousand church members in the State, work could scarcely be said to\nbe \"as good as thrown away.\"\n\n3.  Notwithstanding, the facts bear witness that there were grave\nimperfections in our work. After a heroic battle, fought under\ninsuperable difficulties, and when there was every promise of still\nmore brilliant triumphs, the cause went into an eclipse, from which it\nemerged only after many years of disaster.\n\nFrom and after the year 1875, the churches spread themselves over a\nterritory of two hundred miles in width and four hundred miles in\nlength, and a great number of men became responsible for the good or\nthe evil that should come on the cause of primitive and apostolic\nChristianity. It is probable that since the period of which we are\nspeaking, 100,000 Disciples have located somewhere in these Western\nTerritories. If the church should now undertake to make inquisition\nfor these church members, and make inquiry into their present\ncondition, temporal and spiritual, the story of their wants and woes\nwould be full of pathetic eloquence.\n\nSince the days of the apostles an enthusiasm never has been known\ngreater than that which was felt by the men who, under God, are\nresponsible for this Reformation. In the beginning of the present\ncentury the missionary spirit among Christians was dead, and their\nzeal was wasted in disgraceful squabbles over inoperative and\nmetaphysical opinions, or over modes of church government of which the\nBible knows nothing.\n\nThe Protestant sects were divided into two hostile camps, known as\nCalvinists and Arminians. The Calvinist dogma was that Jesus died\nonly for the elect, who were chosen in a by-gone eternity; that all\nmen are spiritually as dead and helpless as was the cold dead dust of\nthe earth out of which Adam was created, but that God will quicken\ninto a new life dead sinners who are of the elect, and will give them\nevidence of their acceptance by the joyful emotions which he will\ncreate in their hearts. And so the supreme interest of men centered in\nthis, that they were to seek in their own hearts those raptures and\necstasies that were evidence that they had experienced this spiritual\nchange. The Arminians gloried in a free salvation. Christ died for\nall. But they demanded identically the same evidence of pardon\ndemanded by the Calvinists, and men found it just as hard to get this\nArminian evidence of pardon as to get the experience that assured them\nthat they were of the elect, according to the gospel of Calvinism; and\nso it game to pass that this lethargy of Christians over missionary\nwork, and these wranglings over human opinions, had, before the\nRevolutionary War, covered the American colonies like a blanket with\nthe spirit of infidelity. The corruption of Christianity by the Roman\nCatholic Church issued in the atheism of the French Revolution, and\nhas created the infidelity of modern European nations; so like causes\nhad precipitated a similar result in America. Men were groping as the\nblind grope in darkness, and then came, during the first half of the\npresent century, the proclamation of primitive and apostolic\nChristianity. Alexander Campbell, John Smith, Jacob Creath and Samuel\nRogers in Virginia and Kentucky, and Walter Scott, the Haydens and\nJohn Henry in Northeastern Ohio, made the people understand that the\nplan of salvation is as simple as the primer of our childhood; that it\nis all comprehended in this, that we must bow to the authority of\nJesus, that we must believe in him and keep his commandments, and that\nthe whole story is told in the four gospels and in the Acts of the\nApostles with such simplicity that he that runs may read, that he that\nreads may understand, and that he that understands may act.\n\nAlexander Campbell has said that a persecution made up of defamation,\nproscription and slander may be as hard to hear as that which issues\nin bonds and imprisonments; and this these early Disciples had to\nbear. But the world was ripe for reformation, and the cause spread\nlike fire on the prairies.\n\nThose who originally planted these churches in Kansas were, in large\npart, men and women who had drawn their inspiration directly from the\nfounders and leaders of this Reformation. To some of them it had been\ngiven to sit at the feet of Alexander Campbell. Others had listened to\nJohn Smith, and had been magnetized by the inimitable wit and wisdom\nof that marvelous man, and their hearts had drawn heroic courage from\nhis heart. Others still had been captivated by the boyish and\nunstudied drollery of Walter Scott, only to be swept away by a\nwhirlwind of passionate appeal and terrible invective, or to be melted\nwith the tenderness of his portrayal of the love of Jesus. And all\nthese came to Kansas bearing a great cause in their hearts, and\ndetermined to build up here such churches as they had left behind\nthem. But this was not all. Here were not only people among the most\nrefined, well informed, and pious in the nation, but here were those\nwho had been born in a storm of religious fanaticism, and could only\nlive in a whirlwind of excitement. These were the \"big-meeting\"\nChristians. There were also those whose truthfulness was doubtful,\nwhose business methods were questionable, who could, on occasion,\nindulge in coarse and vulgar jokes and smutty jests, and whose\nreligion scarce kept them outside the grog-shop. Added to all this,\nthere were many whose hearts were yet bleeding with wounds they had\nreceived in that terrible struggle out of which the nation had just\nemerged. And now, afflicted with poverty, drouth, grasshoppers and\nstarvation, we were left an agglomeration of heterogeneous materials,\nto fight our own battle as best we might. We might hope for help from\nthe Lord, but not from our brethren in the older States. They were too\nbusy debating the divine plan of missionary operations to help us.\n\nThe reader may well believe that the writer of these Recollections did\nnot find himself carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while\nthis was going on, nor did he find himself reposing on a couch soft as\ndowny pillows.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nWhatever may have been thought by a certain class of men, when the\nwriter began his work in Kansas, it is now universally admitted among\nthe Disciples that temperance work is legitimate church work--that the\nsaloon being an enemy to our homes and our families, and the greatest\nperil that confronts the church and nation, its extinction is a\nlegitimate object of Christian endeavor.\n\nThere was a young evangelist prominently engaged with us in our early\nwork whose history is so sad, and whose relations, who are of the\nexcellent of the earth, have already had their hearts so wounded\nbecause of him, that I have not been able to bring myself to write his\nname. He was of Irish descent, and before he became a preacher, or\neven a disciple, and while learning his trade, he had formed the\ndrinking habit. He was not a young man of brilliant gifts, but they\nwere solid. Moreover, he was humble, patient, industrious and\npersevering, and, having excellent health and a good physical\norganization, he gave promise of enduring usefulness. In short, he\nbelonged to that class of young men that, while the people do not\nspoil them with flattery, yet the church set a great store by them. I\ncan not write the history of his fall, for it was not made known even\nto his friends; only this, that the time came that he seemed\nhesitating whether he should continue a preacher, and finally he\nwholly abandoned the ministry. His wife, who was a most estimable and\nChristian lady, was paralyzed with grief. At length the shameful truth\ncame out--he was a drunkard! A brother undertook to admonish him of\nthe awful fate that awaited him in the future world, but this apostate\nand disgraced preacher turned fiercely around and said: \"_don't talk\nto me of hell! I am in hell now_!\"\n\nThere was living in the neighborhood of the writer a Christian\nfamily--though not of the Disciples--who had a boy that they regarded\nas of great promise, and they did what they could to give him a good\neducation. After he had been for a while a school teacher, he became a\nlawyer, resident in Atchison, and finally became a politician. He was\ntalented, social, companionable and ambitious, and soon made himself a\nman of mark, and was petted and courted by the people, and was the\nidol of his father and mother. All this brought him much into company.\nBut at that time the brewers and saloonkeepers exercised a despotism\nover the politicians and public men of the city as absolute as is the\ndespotism of the Czar over the Russians. But there was this\ndifference: instead of being slaves to a great monarch, these\npoliticians were tools and lick-spittles to a set of coarse, brutal,\nlow-bred liquor dealers, who were exceptionally ignorant, degraded and\nvile. These wretched and vicious corrupters of the public morals\ninsisted on controlling every caucus, and that the candidates, of\nwhatever party, should be men well pleasing in their sight. If not,\nthen the fat was in the fire, and the candidate was forthwith\nslaughtered. The writer of these Recollections has been a Republican\nas long as there has been a Republican party, and has probably loved\nthe party as well as it has deserved. This party, as is well known,\nhas assumed to be \"the party of moral and religious ideas.\" Now I have\nknown, in cases not a few, men to be nominated for office by this\nparty--men who were respectable and Christian men, and they have\ntold me, and they have made the confession with shame and\nhumiliation--that the party managers have come to them and said, \"You\nare assessed so much for campaign expenses.\" The pretext was, that\nthis was for legitimate campaign work; and yet they knew that the\npretext was a lie, and that it was to constitute a corruption fund, to\nbe put into the saloons. And these men were thus made candidates, to\ngive respectability to the saloonkeepers' party, and, though they did\nnot go into the saloons themselves, they must pay toll to the devil\nall the same.\n\nIt was under such circumstances that this boy, who had been raised in\nour neighborhood, but had grown to be a man, and had entered upon\npublic life, now became a center of attraction to the\nhale-fellows-well-met of the saloon and the caucus. The reader need\nnot be told that this gifted young lawyer was walking into the very\njaws of death. There were soon alarming rumors that he was becoming\ndangerously addicted to drink, and his friends entreated him to save\nhimself while he could, and he made promise to his mother and wife to\nreform. But, alas! it was too late!\n\nI was traveling home from Topeka, and on the railroad train I met a\ngentleman from Atchison--an intimate friend of this young lawyer--and\nI was congratulating him on the reformation of our mutual friend. He\nshook his head, and said: \"don't deceive yourself. He tells me that\nhe can remain sober two or three months, but that then he can held out\nno longer, and, not wishing to make a public spectacle of himself, he\nbuys a bottle of liquor, locks himself up in his room, and goes into a\nregular debauch. Then, after three or four days, he is able to appear\non the streets again.\"\n\nAfter a while the friends of this young man buried him. The doctors\ngave his sickness a respectable name, and reported that he had died of\nsuch a disease as decent people may die of, but his friends, with\nheart-breaking sorrow, knew they were burying a man who had died of a\ndrunken debauch.\n\nI have spoken freely of the evils wrought by our border troubles; but\nnow we had to realize that, taking all the men murdered in our early\nfeuds, and comparing them with the men murdered by strong drink in the\ncity of Atchison, counting man for man, there have been more men\nmurdered by strong drink than by all our border troubles. There have\nbeen more women that have had their hearts broken, more children\nturned into the streets, more fortunes squandered, in the single city\nof Atchison than in all the Kansas war. But there is another point of\ncomparison. The men who wrestled with each other in that early\nconflict verily thought they were right. They may have been mistaken,\nbut they thought they were in the right; they therefore maintained\ntheir own self-respect. But those who have died in this battle of the\nbottles and the beer glasses have lost everything--self-respect,\nreputation, honor, everything; and they went to the dogs and their\nsouls went to perdition.\n\nI have been a somewhat voluminous writer on many subjects now for forty\nyears, but all this would scarce exceed in amount what I have written in\nKansas newspapers, during a series of years, on the single subject of\ntemperance. Besides, I spent much time in lecturing, for the welfare of\nthe church and of the nation was at stake; and yet, what was done by\nmyself was only a drop in the bucket compared with what went to make up,\nyear after year, a great agitation. At length the people became so\naroused that the lawmakers at Topeka came to understand that something\nmust be done in the way of temperance legislation; and they gave us a\nlocal option law. But crafty politicians obtained that cities of the\nfirst and second class should be exempted. This was nothing but mockery.\nThe cities were the very places where the law was most needed, for men\nfrom the country went into the city and there they encountered their old\nenemy, the saloon. And so we kept up the agitation, and demanded that\nthe saloon should be prohibited throughout the State. At length the\npressure became so great that the politicians understood a second time\nthat something must be yielded to the popular demand, and they tried\nanother dodge. They said: \"We will give you the privilege to vote an\namendment to the constitution incorporating prohibition into the\nconstitution of the State.\" This would at least put off the evil day for\ntwo years, for it would take two years before such an amendment could go\ninto operation. But here again was seen the usual treachery. The\namendment to be voted on read as follows: \"The manufacture and sale of\nintoxicating liquors shall be forever prohibited in this State, except\nfor medical, scientific and mechanical purposes.\" This was a\nstumbling-block laid in the way of feeble-minded Christians, for was not\nthis an attack on their Christian liberty to use intoxicating wine at\nthe Lord's table, and would not this be awful? Moreover, it forbade a\nfarmer to manufacture _hard_ cider from his own orchard, and would not\nthis be a _hard_ and tyrannical law? This was vexatious, for we were\nfighting the saloon, and were not seeking to palter with such frivolous\nand intermeddling legislation. Nevertheless, in spite of these crafty\nattempts to excite popular odium against the amendment, it was adopted\nby a majority of more than eight thousand, and it became the duty of the\nnext Legislature to enact a law enforcing the amendment. Then some of us\nwaited on these \"conscript fathers\" at Topeka, and entreated them, and\nsupplicated them, and almost got down on our knees to them, beseeching-\nthem to use a little courage and common sense. The House of\nRepresentatives was largely made up of farmers and men from the country,\nand was overwhelmingly in favor of an honest temperance law; but the\nSenate was largely made up of lawyers and men from the city, and was\nfull of treachery and open and secret enmity. And so the Senate took the\nlead in making the law, and got up a bill that they purposely made as\nfull of imperfections as a sieve is full of holes, and sent it down to\nthe lower house. It was manifestly the duty of the House of\nRepresentatives to amend the bill, but now a great scare was got up. The\ncry was raised: \"There is treachery! treachery! You must adopt this\nSenate bill without amending it, to the extent of changing the dot of an\n_i_ or the crossing of a _t_; for if it goes back to the Senate it will\ncertainly be killed.\" _And yet the Senate had adopted it by an almost\nfour-fifths majority!_\n\nThe fact was, that these Senators, with all their bluster and bravado,\nwere trembling in their boots, and dared not face their constituents at\nhome while voting against any temperance law, however stringent, and\nthis gave the friends of the law good warrant to make just such a law as\nwas needed. And so the bill became a law; and then there followed such a\nfarce in the courts as might make us lose faith in our Christian\ncivilization and in our civilized jurisprudence. And it came to be\nunderstood that a coach-and-four could be driven through the loopholes\nthat had been left in the law, and saloonkeepers began to remark,\n\"Prohibition don't prohibit.\" But from this evil we had what must be\nregarded a providential deliverance. A judge was found who made up in\nhis own integrity and courage whatever was imperfect in the provisions\nof the law, and his good example was followed throughout the State.\n\nJohn Martin, a lawyer, resident in Topeka, is a solid, sensible and\nhonest man. His brethren of the Democratic persuasion wanted to make\nhim a candidate for Governor, but because they would not insert in\ntheir platform a plank affirming that the law--because it was the\nlaw--ought to be enforced, he declined to accept the nomination, and\nGeo. W. Glick was nominated and elected. Then Mr. Glick, to\nreciprocate this courtesy, appointed Martin to a vacant judgeship in\nthe Topeka judicial district; and a whisky case came before Judge\nMartin. The principal witness undertook to play the usual dodge of\nperjury and equivocation, but Judge Martin stopped the witness and\nsaid: \"Sir, you are to tell whether the liquor you bought was\nwhisky.\"\n\nThe witness again began to repeat his story of equivocation: \"Well, I\ncalled for _cold tea_, and I suppose I got what I called for.\"\n\n\"Stop!\" said the Judge in a voice of thunder. \"This witness is lying!\nSheriff, take the witness and lock him up in jail.\"\n\nThe Sheriff had got as far as the door when the witness called out:\n\"Judge, are you going to lock me up?\"\n\n\"Yes, and I will keep you there till you rot unless you tell the\ntruth.\"\n\n\"Well, I will tell.\"\n\nThe witness was placed again in the witness box. \"Now,\" said the\nJudge, \"was it whisky you bought of this saloonkeeper?\"\n\n\"_Yes, it was whisky_.\"\n\nThe example of Judge Martin was imitated by all the courts, and\nincredible sums of money have been collected as fines from the\nsaloonkeepers, who, with the brewers, fought the battle to the bitter\nend, and appealed their cases to the Supreme Court of the United\nStates. But it has ended in their absolute defeat, and even these\ngentlemen do now admit that prohibition does prohibit--in Kansas.\nSince that time the law has been greatly amended, and the saloons have\nbeen driven out of the State.\n\nOne evil yet remains. Just across the Missouri River from Atchison is\nEast Atchison, and here whisky and beer are as free as water. Of\ncourse, this is a great calamity to us, but we wait in expectation and\nhope that prohibition will yet be achieved in Missouri.\n\nJohn A. Brooks lives in Missouri; we live in Kansas. This man was once\na rebel; we were loyal men. Yet we pray the Father of Mercies to spare\nthe life of this man, to prosper him and keep him, until he shall\nachieve this great good, not only to Missouri, but to ourselves.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nThis reformation in the rapidity of its growth is without parallel in\nthe history of Protestant parties. Those acquainted with its history\nneed not be told that a large number of its members were at first\ndrawn from the Baptists. It is indeed a matter of wonder that a\nPresbyterian minister, but a short time identified with the Baptists,\nshould exert such an influence over them as to induce a great\nmultitude _of_ churches and church members to resolve that when he was\ndriven out of the Baptist Church they also would share his fortune,\nand accept loss of reputation and exclusion from their former\nbrotherhood for the sake of the principles they had learned from him.\nNow, when we reflect that this embraced not only young men, but old\nmen--men already arrived at that period of life at which it is most\ndifficult to change our habits of thinking and acting, it becomes a\nquestion of profoundest interest; were these men able to make a change\nso radical as to plant themselves completely on reformation\nprinciples, and to abandon everything in their old Baptist order\nincompatible therewith?\n\nWhen we remember that this movement embraced gray-haired Baptist\nministers, who all their lifetime had been accustomed to lead and not\nto follow, we curiously inquire, Did they do this, or did they locate\nthemselves on a sort of half-way ground which was a compromise between\nreformation principles and old Baptistism?\n\nLet us briefly notice wherein they changed, and wherein they did not\nchange.\n\n1. They laid aside the name Baptist and took the name Christian.\n\n2. They built upon the Bible alone, instead of the Philadelphia\nConfession of faith.\n\n3. They taught that the church began at Pentecost, rather than with\nthe preaching of John the Baptist.\n\n4. They baptized men into a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus,\nthat he is the Messiah, rather than into a Christian experience, made\nup of voices in the air, marvelous and strange sights, trances and\nrapturous feelings.\n\n5. They taught that in conversion and sanctification, the Holy Spirit\noperates through the truth.\n\nThus far the change was radical, but here a large minority paused\nand brought with them into the reformation their old Baptist Church\nusages. The Baptists in the Great West and South are known as\n\"Missionary Baptists,\" and \"Old Baptists,\" or \"Hardshell Baptists.\"\nAdoniram Judson and Luther Rice, who had been sent to Burmah by a\nCongregational Missionary Society, made known to the Baptists that\nthey themselves had become Baptists, and had been repudiated by their\nown society, and asked for help. The Missionary Baptists are by far\nthe most enterprising in all that pertains to the spread of\nChristianity. They are the most numerous, most wealthy, best educated,\nand most liberal. In translating the Bible into all languages, in\ncarrying it into all lands, and in sending the gospel to all nations,\nthey have made some amends for that unrelenting bitterness which they\nhave shown toward our brethren from the first day till now. We shall\nglance at what has hitherto been their order by making certain\nextracts from the _Central Baptist_, published in the year 1870. The\nreader must bear in mind that we are writing of those old days:\n\nIn Arkansas there are but four Missionary Baptist Churches\nthat sustain a regular pastor, or sustain preaching more\nthan once a month. In North Alabama, two; in the whole of\nAlabama, twelve; in Missouri, twenty-seven. Missouri has\nsix hundred white churches, with a membership of fifty\nthousand, which have preaching once a month. Once a month\npreaching by secularized ministry! Is it any wonder that\nthe cause does not go forward faster? Not more than two\ndozen out of seven hundred churches in Missouri have\nservice every Sunday.\n\n\nLet us pause a moment over this picture of Southern and Western\nBaptist Churches, drawn by themselves. In Arkansas but four churches\nhad at this time preaching every Lord's day; in Alabama, twelve, and\nin Missouri twenty-four out of seven hundred! Well may the writer\nask, \"Is it any wonder that the cause does not go forward faster?\"\n\nBut if this was the order of the Missionary Baptists in the year 1870,\nwhat must have been the order of the Old Baptists seventy years\nbefore, when \"Raccoon\" John Smith was groping his way out of darkness\ninto the light of the gospel, all unconscious of his utter blindness,\nthat the reading of the Scriptures would conduce, either directly or\nindirectly, to his regeneration or sanctification.\n\nThe people known as \"Hardshell\" Baptists do not wish to be called by\nthat name. They wish to be known as Old Baptists, or United Baptists,\nfor they allege that they are the lineal descendants of the United\nBaptists, and that the Missionary Baptists have apostatized, and gone\naway after strange gods. The Old Baptists had long been declaiming\nagainst college-bred preachers and a hireling ministry. They had\ncertain pet theories concerning man's inability and God's sovereignty\nconcerning a certain special, supernatural, immediate and efficacious\nwork of grace on the heart of the sinners. They said, \"If God wants a\nmissionary, he can send him, and maintain him, too. He needs no human\nhelp in the conversion of sinners, whether at home or abroad. We can\nfind no Scripture for Sunday-schools, Bible classes, prayer-meetings,\nweekly meetings, hireling preachers, missionaries or missionary\nsocieties.\" So they kept to their monthly meetings and monthly\npreaching.\n\nThey have no schools of learning, few educated men, no well-educated\nmen, no missionaries, no contributions for missionary purposes, no\nweekly meetings, no weekly preaching, no weekly breaking of the loaf,\nno Sunday-schools, no Bible classes, no prayer-meetings. But they have\nmonthly preaching, by a man who is reputed a pastor over four\nchurches, and who, in the nature of things, can not reside in three of\nthe four churches over which he professes to preside. He obtains but\nmeager pecuniary reward for his preaching. He therefore provides for\nhis own sustenance and that of his family by the labor of his own\nhands. For this reason he must needs go to his appointments on\nSaturday, and return on Monday morning, and is therefore comparatively\na stranger to the greater part of his four several flocks. He can not\nknow their daily life. A few preachers among the old Baptists\npreeminently godly, self-sacrificing, and devoted to the Lord's cause,\nhave left their families to suffer poverty and want, and have spent\ntheir lives in looking after the stray lambs of the flock; but this is\nnot the general rule. This Baptist bishop has no authority whatever in\nany matter of discipline, his function being that of a moderator in a\nSaturday business monthly meeting. The sitting in judgment on the\nalleged acts of disorderly members belongs to the whole church, men\nand women, boys and girls.\n\nWe are now prepared to take the measure of the means of spiritual\nculture enjoyed by this people. It is just one sermon a month; or, if\nthey are peculiarly favored, it is three sermons a month. The children\nare left at home. They run wild like so many young apes, and wander\nalong the streams or through the forests; or, if they are brought by\ntheir parents to the meeting, there is nothing especially for them.\n\nIt will be well for us to ponder well the inevitable consumption and\nslow decay that is surely wearing out these Old Baptist churches. Like\nthe house of Saul, they are growing weaker and weaker. What a contrast\nbetween their condition now and seventy years ago. Then the United\nBaptists were the most powerful religious body in the great West. Then\nJacob Creath and Jeremiah Vardeman could, if they had been so\ndisposed, have elected the Governor of Kentucky. Then the Baptists\nwere strong in the affections of the people, and strong in the memory\nof those men who had, through incredible toil, obloquy, poverty and\nloss of goods, planted the Baptist cause in the American wilderness.\nAlexander Campbell, with his eminent gifts of eloquence and learning,\nwas welcomed among the Baptists almost as an angel from heaven. But\nhis well-meant efforts to work a reformation in the Baptist churches\nwere despised, and he was thrust out as a heathen man and publican.\n\nWhat treasures untold reside in the Lord's house, the Lord's day, the\nLord's book, and the ordinances of the Lord? It is the glory of\nChristianity. Now let the members of a Christian Church fail to meet\nat the Lord's house for Christian worship on the Lord's day, and to\nwhat snares and temptations do they not subject themselves and their\nchildren? What temptations to idleness and to wasting the Lord's day\nin visiting and gossiping, or in drowsy lethargy!\n\nThe sanctification of the Lord's day by meeting in honor\nof the resurrection of the Saviour, and especially with a\nreference to the celebration of the Lord's supper, is\nessential to the edification, spirituality, holiness,\nusefulness and happiness of the Christian community. It is\nnot designed to throw into the shade any other duties of\nthe Christian Church while contending for those above\nstated; but because no society save the Disciples of\nChrist so regard, observe and celebrate the Lord's day. We\nendeavor to arrest the attention of our fellow professors\nto the great design of it and of the coming together of\nthe members of Christ's family on that day. When assembled\nfor this chief purpose, the reading of the Scriptures,\nteaching, exhortation, prayer, praise, contributions for\nthe poor, and discipline when called for, are all in order\nand necessary to the growth of the Christian Church in all\nthe graces of the Spirit, and in all the fruits of\nholiness.--ALEX. CAMPBELL, in _Millennial Harbinger,_\nVol. I., p. 534, New Series.\n\n\nAnd what an audacious wrong and unutterable blunder would it be for\nGod's chosen people to adopt an order that should defraud themselves,\ntheir children, their neighbors and their neighbor's children of such\na glorious privilege.\n\nIf we could imagine two communities, one of which should, with their\nchildren and their children's children, diligently devote the Lord's\nday to purposes of moral, religious and intellectual improvement,\nwhile the other community should waste the day in idle and frivolous\ndissipation, what unmeasured progress would ultimately be made by one\nbeyond that made by the other. And to which of these two classes will\nthat favored people belong to whom will be awarded the high privilege\nof introducing among jarring sects and parties the true millennial\nchurch?\n\nAnd do not these considerations go far to explain the contrast that is\neverywhere seen to exist between Protestant and Catholic countries?\nAmong Protestants the day is a day to be sanctified to purposes of\nreligious worship, among Catholics it is a holiday.\n\nThe peculiarity of our position creates an invincible necessity that\nwe shall make the largest possible provision for the moral,\nintellectual and religious training and development of our people.\nThis provision is largely found in keeping the ordinances of the\nLord's house and the Lord's day. We have made a vow, and that vow is\nrecorded in heaven, that we will meet together every first day of the\nweek to break bread. To do otherwise--to show a good-natured\nimbecility of purpose--to drift helplessly along in the usages of the\nOld Baptists, conscious in our own hearts that this is not the ancient\norder of things, and having sternly demanded conformity to the\napostolic order, at whatever sacrifice of peace, now to suffer our own\nbrethren to travel on in the old ruts, rather than hazard the pain and\ntrouble that will be the price of reform, would be a folly so\ninexcusable, a shame so unutterable, that the very stones might well\ncry out against us.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXV.\n\nProfessor William H. Whitsitt, of the Southern Baptist Theological\nSeminary, at Louisville, Ky., has written a book that has for its\nleading feature to make it appear that the Disciples are an \"offshoot\nfrom the Sandemanians.\"\n\nThe Sandemanians, like the Baptists, had both faults and virtues. They\nwere one of the earliest sects of the Scotch Presbyterians to protest\nagainst a union of Church and State; they practiced a weekly breaking\nof the loaf; held to a plurality of elders in every church, and were\nexceptionally helpful to the poor; and surely, even Dr. Whitsitt will\nnot call these damnable heresies. But they were also rigid\nseparatists. They were Calvinists of the straitest sect, and made all\ntheir opinions a bond of union. In this they were like the Baptists,\nbut essentially dissimilar to the Disciples. They exalted feet washing\nand the holy kiss into church ordinances, and excluded all who did not\nagree with them in these opinions, just as the Baptists exclude from\nthe Lord's table all who are not of \"our faith and order,\" though they\nadmit that those persons thus excluded are regenerated, accepted of\nthe Lord, and enjoy the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Differing from\nthe Sandemanians in the most essential element of our plea, we hold a\nvery remote relationship to them--that of fortieth cousin, perhaps.\nThe Disciples are just as evidently an offshoot from the Baptists, as\nchildren are an offshoot from the parental stock.\n\nTwenty years after the writer had begun his work in Kansas, he was\nable to count among fifty churches which had been organized within his\nknowledge, twenty-five that were dead; and there were six\nmeeting-houses that were left unoccupied or sold for debt. And the\nchurch members would say to me: \"We can neither preach, nor pray, nor\nread the Scriptures, nor break the loaf to edification, and we are too\npoor to hire a preacher. What shall we do?\" They had no training,\nsave that training they had obtained in the old Baptist churches, or\none similar in our own, and now that they were scattered over the\ngreat West, and were poor in this world's goods, they were indeed in a\npitiably helpless condition.\n\nI sometimes said, \"Get up a Sunday-school.\" But the old heads would\nget together and begin to debate where Cain got his wife, or who was\nthe father of Melchisedec, or what was the thorn in the flesh that\nafflicted Paul; or they would dispute over the mode of baptism, or the\noperation of the Holy Spirit, and the boys, verifying the old adage\nthat the devil always finds work for idle hands to do, and not\nappreciating this sort of thing, would shoot paper balls at each other\nand at the old folks, and the girls would do naughty things and grieve\ntheir mothers, and the whole thing would go up in smoke.\n\nNothing seemed to be left to these brethren, only the protracted\nmeeting and monthly preaching. To many of them \"pastorating\" was one\nof the sorceries which, with the mother of Babylon, had bewitched the\nworld. These brethren seemed to have forgotten that Paul gives highest\npraise to that elder that not only rules well, but so addicts himself\nto the ministry of the Word and teaching as to require that he shall\nbe sustained by the freewill offerings of the brethren. And when we\nsought an arrangement by which all should give--each man, according to\nhis ability--we were alarmed with fearful prognostications of evil:\n\"Beware! beware!\" These brethren said, \"You are making a veritable\nPopish bull, and he will gore you to death. Beware of missionary\nsocieties!\" And when we turned to these men and besought them, \"Tell\nus, dear brethren, how we shall obtain, without offense, the means to\nsend help to those perishing churches?\" they were silent. This was not\ntheir function. Their vocation was to warn the people against Popish\nbulls and human missionary societies, for which there can not be found\na thus saith the Lord, in express terms or by an approved precedent.\n\nMeantime the churches in the older States had contributed one hundred\nthousand Disciples--this has sometimes been the estimated number--as\nemigrants to the great West, and these were scattered over its wide\nextended Territories, and it was to be shown how far this\ncontribution, more precious than gold or silver or costliest gems,\nshould be as water spilled on the ground, or as treasure cast into the\nbottom of the sea, or how far it should be as precious seed bearing\nfruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some one hundred fold.\n\nWhen our first churches were organized in Kansas, Alexander Campbell\nhad become old and well-stricken in years. I have already written of\nthe missionary society that was created in 1864, and of the great\nconvention held in Leavenworth City in 1865, in which we sought to\nperfect the workings of that society. Within the following year Mr.\nCampbell died, and the always welcome _Millennial Harbinger_ ceased\nits monthly visits. The voice of Mr. C. had been a bugle blast calling\nmen to heroic deeds, and his overshadowing influence had restrained\nfrom that tendency to division, for opinion's sake, which is our\ninheritance from our common Protestantism. But now a great emigration\nhad come into Kansas from every part of the United States, and among\nthese were many who looked with no favor on any innovation on the\ntraditions of the fathers.\n\nMr. C. had said in his notable debate with the Rev. N. L. Rice, at\nLexington, Ky.: \"Men formerly of all persuasions, and of all\ndenominations and prejudices, have been baptized on this good\nconfession, and have united in one community. Among them are found\nthose who had been Romanists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians,\nMethodists, Baptists, Restorationists, Quakers, Arians, Unitarians,\netc., etc. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, but various\nopinions. All these persons, of so many and contradictory opinions,\nweekly meet around our Lord's table in hundreds of churches all over\nthe land. Our bond of union is faith in the slain Messiah, in his\ndeath for our sins and his resurrection for our justification.\"\n\nIt is perfectly apparent that to harmonize these elements--often\nopposite and conflicting--thus brought together in one body was no\neasy task, but we had more than this to do; we were also to harmonize\nthe fierce antagonisms growing out of our early contests, and then to\nmake those brethren who had been heretofore averse to any combination\nwhatever for religious work other than that of the single\ncongregation--to make them feel the absolute necessity of united\naction and cooperation. This was indeed a task most difficult. And if\nthe final good results have only slowly become apparent we are\nentitled to the judgment of charity.\n\nIt is admitted that every liberty that God has given to men may be\nabused, and has been abused. Marriage, religion, civil government, the\nrights of property, eating and drinking--in short, all liberty, of\nwhatever kind, may be and has been abused. Still we must use our\nliberty, our very existence depends upon it. I have said it already,\nand I say again, if sixty millions of the American people can unite\ntogether to promote the public tranquillity, and all citizens enjoy\nmore of personal liberty than they could enjoy if every county were an\nindependent principality, then our whole brotherhood, from the\nAtlantic to the Pacific, may be trusted to meet together, by their\nmessengers or in person, to promote necessary Christian work without\nendangering our Christian liberties. If all the churches of Macedonia\ncould unite together to send relief to the poor saints at Jerusalem,\nthen, surely, the brethren everywhere may combine together to send\nrelief to people perishing for want of the word of life.\n\nAnd so with much weariness and painfulness, and often with gratuitous\nand unrequited labor, with long rides by day and by night, and much\nexposure to heat and cold, to floods and storms, and to rough\ntreatment by wicked men--in short, with that relentless and persistent\ntoil which makes a man old before his time, and in which one man has\ncarried on the work of two men year after year, I have labored on,\nnever doubting, but always hoping for that good time coming, when\nchurches will be just, and give honest pay to honest men who do honest\nwork. My hope has been that if I can not live to profit by that better\norder of things, it will at least be better for the men that come\nafter me.\n\nThe wife of a traveling evangelist will always be the proper object of\npity and sympathy, if pity and sympathy are to be given. She is not\ncheered by the smiles of admiring crowds, nor does she feel the\nintoxication of flattering tongues. She dwells at home in the\ndesolation and loneliness of a practical widowhood, and often ekes out\na meager support from a stingy and starveling salary.\n\nBut somebody has to do this frontier and pioneer work; and might it\nnot as well be me and my wife as any other man and his wife?\n\nI have given a wide range to these \"Recollections.\" In doing so, I\nhave not followed the example of a cowardly, corrupted and\ncompromising Christianity, but rather have imitated the robust and\nmanly courage of the writers of the Old and New Testament, who tell of\nthe deeds of good men and bad men, and who also use the same freedom\nin speaking of the evil deeds of wicked rulers that they use in\nspeaking of the things that more immediately concern the spiritual and\neternal interests of men.\n\nI have made the briefest possible mention of the hapless condition our\nchurches were in twenty years ago. The picture is neither flattering\nnor cheering; but right royally are the churches now redeeming\nthemselves from the reproach they were under then. A pastor is now\nbeing settled in each church as fast as the pecuniary circumstances of\nthe congregation will permit, and a grand enthusiasm in Sunday-school\nwork, simplifying and illustrating all its details, has made it\npossible for the weakest and poorest church to keep itself alive.\nWherever there are children with their young enthusiasm--and the\nchildren, like the poor, are always with us--and wherever there are\nparents ready to lead their children in the way in which they should\ngo, there the permanency of a church is assured.\n\nAnd now, with many misgivings as touching our immediate future, but\nwith an abiding hope of triumph in the end, I bid the reader farewell.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\n\nREMINISCENCES.\n\nBY MRS. ROSETTA B. HASTINGS.\n\nWhen father went back to Illinois, after he was rafted, we visited for\nseveral weeks among the churches where he had preached. Then we\nreturned with him to Kansas, to visit my uncle, and to stay on our\nclaim awhile, lest some person should jump it. We left our goods at\nMt. Sterling, for father had promised to preach there that winter; but\nhe told us that he had determined to move to Kansas sooner than he had\nfirst expected. We ferried the Missouri River near Jefferson City, and\ncrossed the Kansas River in the woods, where Kansas City, Kansas, now\nstands. There was little of Kansas City then, except a few warehouses\nwhere freight was landed for Independence, which was the starting\npoint of the Santa Fe trail.\n\nClaims were being taken so rapidly that we remained to hold ours,\nwhile father returned to Illinois to preach. Two families in one room\nmade it rather crowded, but we had a comfortable cabin. It contained a\ntwelve-paned window--the only one in the settlement; cabins usually\nhad no windows, or very small ones. Mr. May's folks had oiled paper\nover a narrow opening, which they closed with a board shutter.\nI asked their little girl why they did not have a larger window, and\nshe said the Indians might get in. But no Indians troubled us.\n\nWhen father came home, April 30th, we all ran out to meet him. But\nmother's quick eye detected something wrong. \"Why, I look all right,\ndon't I?\" he asked, smiling. When we reached the house she again\nquestioned him, and he sat down, rolled up his sleeve, and showed us\nhis arm, brown with tar, and fuzzy with cotton. Then he told us his\nstory. They had not tarred his face, except a spot on his forehead,\nwhere, he said, they had stuck a bunch of cotton as large as his two\nfists. The road to Ocena, as our post-office was called, ran up the\nbluff now known to Atchison people as Sam Kingstown. On the top of\nthat ridge he had stopped, and pulled off his coat of tar and cotton,\nput on his clothes and come home.\n\nA few evenings after that, we heard that a company of South\nCarolinians had camped near Mr. May's house. Father said they had\nprobably come after either himself or Caleb May. So he went up to Mr.\nMay's, to see what to do about it. After he left, uncle nailed shakes\nover the window, and cleaned up his old flint-lock musket, and loaded\nit carefully. Aunt moulded bullets, while mother got the ax and\nbutcher knife, and then stuffed rags in the cracks, and brought in the\nhalf-bushel to turn over the light, so that they could not see where\nto shoot. Then we all took turns standing out in the darkness at the\ncorner of the house, to keep watch, and listen for the sound of guns\nfrom Mr. May's. Father came home at eleven. He said the South\nCarolinians had asked permission to sleep in an empty cabin. He and\nMr. May had followed them, and he had crept under the cabin floor and\nlistened, and they had seemed to be sleeping soundly. So we all went\nto bed, but father slept with a revolver under his head, which Mr. May\nhad insisted on lending him. The next morning the South Carolinians\nwent quietly on their journey. We learned afterwards that they were on\ntheir way to lay out the town of Marysville, in Marshall County, and\ndid not know that they were in the same neighborhood with Pardee\nButler and Caleb May.\n\nFather wrote an account of the Atchison mob, and took it to Lawrence\nto be published in the _Herald of Freedom._ The Congressional\nCommittee summoned him to give his testimony. While there, the\nLawrence people gave him a pistol, and insisted that he must carry it.\nFather told us how the Carolinians had sworn to kill him, when they\nheard his testimony before the Committee; and as soon as he heard they\nwere coming back, after the destruction of Lawrence, he knew that he\nwas in danger. Brave as he might be, he saw no good in allowing\nhimself to be butchered by those infuriated men, and resolved to keep\nout of their way. He kept his horse picketed on the grass near where\nhe was at work, with saddle and bridle close by. One day as I was\nhelping him drop sod corn on uncle's claim--two miles from our\nown--while uncle worked at his new cabin, we saw some horsemen coming\nover the hill.\n\n\"They are South Carolinians,\" said father, and saddling his horse, he\nrode in the opposite direction. In the afternoon he came back, saying\nthat they had followed him all day, and he had circled here and there\nover the hills, and he had happened to meet two of them, one at a\ntime, and recognized them as some of the men who had mobbed him; and\nthey knew him too, but they had not dared to attack him single-handed.\nHe thought they were trying to get together, to attack him the next\ntime they saw him.-He wanted uncle to change coats and hats with him,\nso that, if they saw him in the distance, they would not know him. He\nwore a black coat and hat, and uncle wore a white palmleaf hat, and\nhad with him, in case of rain, an old-fashioned, light gray overcoat.\nThese father put on, and throwing a white cloth over his horse, rode\naway, telling us that he would not be at home that night, and that we\nneed not look for him until we saw him. Day after day those men\nfollowed him, like hounds after a wolf. Through the day he rode here\nand there, spending the night with first one neighbor, then another.\nOne day, when uncle was working at his cabin, some South Carolinians\nrode up, and not seeing father, they searched the woods and ravine\nnear by, and rode away. Father spent one night with Mr. Duncan, and\nhad just gone out of sight in the morning, when the South. Carolinians\nrode up.\n\n\"Does Pardee Butler ride a bay horse?\" they asked.\n\n\"No, sir,\" replied Mr. Duncan.\n\n\"We saw a man ride into the woods just now,\" said they, \"that looked\nlike Pardee Butler, but he was riding a bay horse.\"\n\n\"Pardee Butler never rides a bay horse.\" And so they went the other\nway. Father rode a spirited young \"copper-bottom\" horse, named Copper,\nthat looked either bay or gray at a distance, as the light happened to\nshine.\n\nOne day, father went to the post-office after his mail, and two young\nneighbors riding up, and seeing his horse hitched there, thought to\nhave some fun. With loud shouts they galloped up, and hearing them, he\nstepped to the door, sprang on his horse, and dashed off over the\nhill, with them after him. But when they reached the top of the hill\nthey found that he was standing on the ground behind his horse, with\nhis pistol levelled at them across his saddle. They were glad to make\nthemselves known, and own up to the joke.\n\nFather slipped home a few minutes almost every day, to let us know\nthat he was yet alive, and to see if we were safe. Every night we\nfastened up the house, expecting that before morning the Ruffians\nwould try to burst in to search for father. Those were days of\nterrible anxiety for mother, for she thought every time father rode\naway that it was probably their last parting. Yet she was brave and\nquiet, and said little.\n\nBut father grew tired of being dogged, and told us that he was going\nto Lawrence. He was gone some time and we did not know where he was.\n\nMy little four year old brother George heard much talk of Border\nRuffians, and he went around flourishing a long thorn for a dagger,\nand boasting in childish accent: \"Bad Border 'uffians s'an't get my pa.\nI hit 'em in 'e eye wid my dagger.\" One day I was helping uncle drop\ncorn, when George came running to us, much excited. \"I foun' a Border\n'uffian! I foun' a Border 'uffian! I hit 'em in 'e eye! I hit 'em in\n'e eye!\" We ran to see what he had found, and he ran ahead, picking\nup pebbles as he ran, \"to fro at 'e bad Border 'uffian.\" What do you\nthink he had found? A mud turtle! And that was his idea of a Border\nRuffian. But he had a chance to see one. One day, while father was\naway, two men rode up to the house, whom we knew to be Border Ruffians\nby their red shirts and the revolvers in their belts. Mother told\nGeorge and me to hide behind the door, while she talked to them. They\nasked for a drink of water, but while they waited for it, one of them\nrode almost into the door, and looked around the room--we had only one\nroom--evidently looking for father. George became impatient, and kept\nwhispering \"Let me out, let me see a Border 'uffian. I _will see_ a\nBorder 'uffian.\" And he pulled loose from me and peeped around the\nedge of the door.\n\nWhen father came home he brought some type, and some half-printed\npapers, blackened with powder, that he had picked up in the sand on\nthe river bank at Lawrence, where the Border Ruffians had thrown the\n_Herald of Freedom_ press and papers into the river. On the printed\nside of the papers was the article he had written about his last mob.,\n\nYears afterwards I asked father what he was doing when he was gone\nfrom home in May and June, 1856. He replied: \"I was organizing the\nRepublican party in northern Kansas. I first went to Lawrence, and\nthere the leaders insisted that I ought to visit various points in the\nnorthern part of the State, and organize the new party, and I did so.\"\n\nSoon after father's return, in June, some of the neighbors announced a\nmeeting for him at Bro. Elliott's, four miles from our house, of which\nhe speaks in Chapter XVII. To that meeting the people came armed, for\nthe report of the appointment had reached Atchison. They left their\nguns in their wagons, or set them in convenient corners, while they\nlistened to the preaching; for they were determined to defend father\nin case of attack.\n\nMr. John Quiett, who is yet one of our neighbors, was one of three men\nwho stood guard at the fence, watching for approaching enemies, while\nfather preached. But no attack was made.\n\nUncle Milo had taken us to the meeting; and mother asked father to go\nhome with us, and he replied, \"Yes, I am going home once more.\"\n\nMother told him she would be glad to have him go with us, but she was\nafraid to have him stay all night.\n\n\"I am going to stay at home for one night, for I have some letters to\nwrite,\" was his reply.\n\nMother was very uneasy on the road home, for she said the Border\nRuffians would be watching for us in the woods. But we reached home\nwithout molestation. Father sat up until after midnight, writing\nletters, and then went to bed and slept safely. The next day one of\nour neighbors told us that just at dark that evening she saw a band of\nmen ride into the woods between her house and ours, but she was afraid\nto come over and tell us. Other neighbors saw them go out on Monday\nmorning, and ride toward town. A few days afterwards, a neighbor, who\nstood \"on both sides of the fence\" in regard to politics, went to\nAtchison, and he told us that nine South Carolinians hid in our woods\nto take father that night, but they had seen his light burning so late\nthat they were afraid, and went back and told that he had forty armed\nmen, who stood guard all night, and they could not take him.\n\nBut father was not by any means the only one whom the Border Ruffians\nmolested. They were continually riding around the country, frightening\nthe people, and \"pressing\" horses--which was another name for stealing\nthem. And the Free State man who made himself prominent was liable to\nbe shot any time they could catch him. The Free State men kept their\nhorses hidden in the brush, and often hid there themselves. Every time\nany of the neighbors saw several horsemen riding over the prairie,\nthey thought it was the Border Ruffians.\n\nOne day Caleb May saw quite a company of men riding toward his place.\nHe and his son and hired man stationed themselves under the bank,\nwhere both the house and the ford would be within range of their guns.\nMrs. May was to talk to the horsemen as they rode past the house, and,\nif they were Border Ruffians, she was to shut the door, as a signal to\nthe husband to be ready for attack. When they rode up, however,\nthey proved to be Mr. Speck, and about twenty other neighbors from the\nlower neighborhood, who had brought their horses up to Mr. May's to\nguard them from the Ruffians, who stood in great fear of Caleb May.\n\nWhen the Ruffians returned to Missouri, after one of their raids, some\nof them told in De Kalb, where Mr. May lived before coming to Kansas,\nthat they had killed him. One of his old neighbors, named Jones, rode\ninto De Kalb one day, and was accosted by on e of the returned Border\nRuffians with \"We've got Caleb May this time; got his head on a\nten-foot pole.\"\n\n\"Anybody killed?\" queried Mr. Jones.\n\n\"Oh, no.\"\n\n\"Anybody hurt?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Then it's a lie!\" responded Mr. Jones. \"I know Caleb May well enough\nto know that when you get him somebody 's going to get hurt.\"\n\nMr. May had for years been a temperance man, in the midst of a\ndrinking population of the frontiers of Arkansas and Missouri, and\nmade the first temperance speech ever made in De Kalb. His oldest son,\nwhen fifteen, had never tasted whisky. One day, when Mr. May had gone\non a journey, the boy was in town, and loafers, seeing him pass a\nsaloon, shouted, \"Cale May's gone; let's have some fun with his boy.\"\nSo they dragged him into the saloon, and poured whisky down his\nthroat, and sent him home drunk to his mother. When Mr. May returned\nhome they told him what had happened.\n\nAt that time there was a local option temperance law in Missouri,\nunder which a majority of the people in a township, by signing a\npetition to the court, could have the saloons abolished as public\nnuisances. De Kalb was full of saloons, and there was one on almost\nevery road corner in the county.\n\nYears afterwards I heard Mr. May tell the incident, and his eyes\nflashed, as he said with his slow, strong emphasis, \"When I came home\nand heard what had happened, _you bet I_ WAS _wrathy_! I just jumped\non my horse, and I rode that township up and down, and I never stopped\nuntil I had signers enough to my petition, and I cleaned every saloon\nout of that township.\"\n\nDoubtless many a man signed that petition because he dared not refuse;\nfor, although usually kind and quiet, few dared to face his anger.\n\nWhen Lawrence was besieged, in May, a company of Free State men was\nraised around here, and they sent John Quiett to Lawrence to offer\ntheir services for the defense of the town, but were refused by Mr.\nPomeroy. Soon after the return of the South Carolinians from Lawrence\nthey found Mr. Quiett in the Atchison postoffice. They at once seized\nhim as a Free State leader, and began to debate whether to shoot or\nhang him. But one of the Pro-slavery merchants of Atchison interfered,\nand begged them to let him go. He got out, mounted his horse, and\nstarted for home, twelve miles away. But the Carolinians, like Pharaoh\nof old, repented that they had let him go, and soon started in\npursuit. It was a hot race, for as Mr. Quiett reached the top of each\nhill he could see his pursuers coming behind him. But he reached home;\nand when they came to the creek near his home, they were afraid to\npass through the woods--probably fearing an ambush--and returned to\ntown. But parties were sent out to take him when he was unprepared;\nand, finding that he was hunted, he was afraid to stay at home nights.\nI have heard Mrs. Quiett say, that one day, when her husband had been\naway several days, he came home for a little while, and she gave him\nsomething to eat. After eating he lay down to sleep on a lounge that\nstood along the front side of the bed. She was rocking her baby in the\nmiddle of the cabin, when the Border Ruffians rode up to the house,\nand one of them, riding so close that his horse's head was inside of\nthe door, leaned forward and looked around the cabin. The door was at\nthe foot of the bed, and it so happened that the lounge on which Mr.\nQuiett lay was so close to the bed, and so low, that the edge of the\nbed just hid his body. The Ruffian said not a word, but looked until\nhe seemed satisfied that there was no one in the room but Mrs. Quiett,\nand then they both rode away. She said that she could not speak, but\nfelt as though she was frozen to her chair, for she was sure that, if\nthey had seen Mr. Quiett, they would have shot him before her eyes.\nNot until they were out of sight did she speak or stir.\n\nMr. Quiett and Mr. Ross went with father to Topeka, when the Free\nState Legislature and Convention met, July 4, 1856, of which\nfather speaks in chapter XVI. Mr. Quiett says that the Free State men\nwent there determined to defend the Legislature. There were several\nlarge companies of well-armed men stationed near, awaiting orders from\nthe Convention; and one company armed with Sharp's rifles lay behind\na board fence by the side of the road. Several speakers made excited\nspeeches, urging the members of the Convention to be men, and defend\ntheir lawful rights, even at the risk of their lives. The Free State\nmen were wrought up to the verge of desperation. The vote was about to\nbe taken, whether or not to resist the troops. There was much\nsuppressed excitement; and, had the vote been taken then, it would\nundoubtedly have been in favor of resistance. Father, in the\nmeanwhile, was on a committee, in a back room. Mr. Quiett began\ncalling for Pardee Butler. Others took up the call, and, hearing it in\nthe committee room, he came out. They demanded a speech on the\nquestion in debate. He begged them to bear their wrongs patiently, and\nto allow no provocation to cause them to resist the United States\nauthorities. He besought them to be loyal to their country, and never\nfire on the old stars and stripes. Mr. Quiett said it was a powerful\nspeech, timely and eloquent. When he sat down the tide had turned. The\nvote was taken, and it was decided not to resist the troops. Mr.\nQuiett says that without a doubt that speech not only saved them from\na bloody battle that day, but that it saved the Territory from a long,\nfierce war.\n\nAfter they disbanded, the members of the Convention went out and sat\ndown on the prairie grass to eat their dinner, which each took from\nhis pocket, or his wagon. Mr. Quiett and Mr. Ross took theirs from the\nwagon, in which they had ridden to Topeka; but father had gone on\nhorseback, as he usually did, and took his dinner from the capacious\npocket of his preacher's saddle-bags. Mr. Quiett said that in getting\nout his dinner, father took a pistol out of his saddlebags. This\ncreated much merriment for them, as they thought it would have been of\nlittle use to him in case of attack. They told him that if that was\nwhere he carried it, the South Carolinians would shoot him some day\nbefore he could unbuckle his saddle-bags.\n\nBut father disliked very much to carry arms, and I think he never did\nin his life, except for about two months during that dreadful summer.\n\nAbout two weeks afterwards we started to Illinois, in the buggy. We\ncrossed the River at Iowa Point. About nine miles northeast of\nSavannah, in Gentry county, Missouri, father was taken very sick, and\nwe were obliged to stop at the nearest house. The man at whose house\nwe happened to stop was a Mr. Brown, from Maine; and he and his family\nwere very kind to us. There, for four weeks, father lay sick of a\nfever. One day, while mother was in father's room, Mrs. Brown\nquestioned me about living in Kansas, and whether the Border Ruffians\never troubled us. So I told her how father had been treated. Father\ncalled me into the bed-room, and said that I ought not to have told\nthat, under the circumstances; that it would be a dreadful thing for\nus to be attacked, with him flat on his back, and we among strangers.\nI replied that I thought it would do no harm, because Mr. Brown's\nfolks were from the North, and our friends. But he said it might bring\ntrouble on Mr. Brown if his neighbors should learn that he had\nharbored Pardee Butler. When Mr. Brown came in at noon, his wife told\nhim the news. He went right in, and told father that Butler was such a\ncommon name, that he had no idea that he had the honor of sheltering\nPardee Butler. \"Now,\" said he, \"you need not be uneasy while you are\nhere. Yonder hang four good Sharp's rifles, and I and my boys know how\nto use them; and nobody shall touch you unless they walk over our dead\nbodies.\"\n\nAs soon as father was able to travel we finished our journey in\nsafety. We visited our old friends in Illinois, and father preached on\nSundays. While we were at Mt. Sterling, he lectured on temperance one\nnight, and the bad fellows made a little disturbance. The previous\nafternoon I had visited a little girl in the village, and we had found\nand thrown away a nest full of rotten eggs. The next time I saw her\nshe said that her big brother was mad at us, for he was saving those\neggs, and he and some other big boys had intended to throw them at\nPardee Butler while he was making that temperance speech; but when\nthey went to the barn, their eggs were gone. The truth was, that her\nbig brother was one of many boys who were fast being made drunkards by\nthe village saloons.\n\nMother went to Ohio on a visit, and father went to Iowa to attend to\nsome business. On his return he met one of the State Republican\nCommittee, who insisted on making arrangements for him to stay in\nIllinois until the presidential election, and speak for Fremont.\n\nIt was raw November weather when we started back to Kansas, with a\none-horse wagon, drawn by Copper, and a heavily loaded mule team,\ndriven by a boy named Henry Whitaker, who is now one of the merchants\nof Atchison. Mother was sick, and we had to stop a week. Then the mud\nbecame so deep that father had to buy a yoke of oxen and hitch on\nbehind the mules. Then it froze up, rough and hard, and we stopped for\na blacksmith to make shoes for the oxen, and were directed to stay\nwith a widow who had an empty house. She had built a new house of\nhewed logs, with a window in it, and we were allowed to stay in the\nold cabin. She could not keep from talking about that window.\n\n\"I've lived all my days without ary winder, an' got along mighty\nwell,\" said she. \"For my part, I don't like winders; they make a house\nlook so glarin', like. We uns never had ary one where I had my\nraisin'. But the childern is gettin' a heap o' stuck up notions these\ndays, an' they jes' set up that we had to have a winder in our new\nhouse.\"\n\nThe weather was very cold the rest of the way, and father suffered\nseverely from a felon on his hand. When we reached St. Joseph the\nMissouri River was frozen, and our teams were the first to cross on\nthe ice. Father took the teams to the top of the icy banks, and\nhitched them to the ends of the wagon-tongues by means of long chains.\nWe traveled all day over unsettled prairie, hoping to reach Mr.\nWymer's house, on Independence Creek. We reached the place at nine\no'clock, but no house; it had been burned. It was very dark, and\nbitter cold, but we traveled on. At eleven o'clock we found Mr.\nSnyder's cabin, where Lancaster is now built. A little later and we\nshould have seen no light. A party of belated surveyors had found the\nhouse before the family went to bed; and they were just lying down\nwhen we drove up. In those days no one thought of refusing a traveler\nlodging. The cabin was about fourteen feet square. The family had\ncrowded into one bed, part of the surveyors occupied the other, and\nthe rest were on the floor. We had not eaten a bite since morning. The\ncooking stove was in a little, cold, floorless shed, and there mother\nbaked some corn griddle-cakes for our supper. The surveyors gave their\nbed to mother and me, and the men all crowded down on the\nfloor--nineteen in one room. The next morning we drove on to our own\nhouse before getting breakfast, glad to find it had not been burned.\n\nOn Sunday, May 10, 1857, a meeting was held at our house, at which\nit was agreed that a Sunday-school should be organized the next\nSunday, in Mr. Cobb's grove, near Pardee. There we met nearly every\nSunday that summer, and father usually preached.\n\nMuch of his time that summer was spent in improving forty acres of his\nfarm, on which he raised some sod corn and vegetables, Our corn for\nbread was ground in Mr. Wigglesworth's treadmill, turned by-oxen. We\nhad no fruit for many years, but a few wild sorts, and the vegetables\nwere a welcome variation in our diet of meat and molasses.\n\nAugust, 29, 1857, the Pardee church was organized, at the house of\nBro. A. Elliott, with twenty-seven members. In October a frame\nschool-house was finished at Pardee, which was thereafter used for\nchurch purposes. During father's absence the meetings were led by our\nelders, Dr. Moore, Bro. Elliott, and Bro. Brockman. We often rode to\nmeeting in the ox-wagon, as did some of our neighbors.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVII.\n\nREMINISCENCES--CONTINUED.\n\nFather again preached in Illinois from October, 1857, until New\nYear. He preached in Pardee the rest of the winter; but in the spring\nhe began traveling and preaching in various parts of the Territory. It\nwas the wettest summer I ever knew, and he was continually swimming\nstreams. Mother often told him that a man who could not swim ought not\nto swim a horse. But he continued to do so until the streams were\nbridged, many years later. The last time he did so was in the spring\nof 1871. He was riding a little Indian pony, and carried some bundles.\nThe Stranger Creek was full, and very cold, and when his heavy\novercoat became water-soaked, he saw that the pony was about to be\nswept down the current. Sliding off from its back, he kept his arm\nabout its neck, thinking the water would hold part of his weight. But\nhe soon saw that he was pulling it down stream, so that it was likely\nto be tangled in some willows, and he reached back and caught hold of\nits tail, and it pulled him safely to shore. He reached home very wet,\nbut with bundles and overcoat all safe.\n\nHe then determined to have a bridge on the road along his boundary line.\nBut every man, up and down the creek, wanted a bridge on his own line,\nand so there was much opposition. But he at length succeeded in\nobtaining a bridge. This was the only one of father's many contests in\nwhich he contended for a personal benefit: his other contests were all\nfor the good of the public.\n\nFrom this deviation I will now return to the year 1858. Father was so\nbusy preaching in other places, that he only preached occasionally in\nPardee.\n\nHe has sometimes been accused of preaching politics. A good brother\nwho formerly lived in Missouri, said, not long before father's death:\n\"They used to tell me before I came to Kansas that Pardee Butler\npreached politics, and I said that if ever I heard him begin to preach\npolitics, I was going to get right up in meeting, and ask him to show\nhis Scripture for preaching politics. Now I've been hearing him\npreach, off and on, for twenty years, and I've never got up in\nmeeting yet, for I've never heard him preach any politics.\"\n\nThe only sermon that I can remember as containing any allusion to\npolitics, was one that he preached at Pardee that summer of 1858. It\nwas from the text, \"Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!\nfor ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the\nweightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought\nye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.\" After speaking in\na general manner of Christian duties that are left undone by those who\nare precise about certain theological points, he spoke plainly of the\ninjustice and unmercifulness of slavery, and besought Christians to be\ncareful how they upheld it in any manner, lest they be condemned by the\nwords of the text.\n\nAnother sermon that he preached at Pardee, August 1, 1858, was from I.\nKings xviii. 21: \"If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then\nfollow him.\" After delineating very graphically the terrible drouth,\nand the long contest of Elijah with Ahab and Jezebel, he told of the\nfinal triumph of religion, and the merited defeat and punishment of\nwickedness. He finished with an eloquent appeal from the text, \"If the\nLord be God, then serve him.\" At the close two boys confessed their\nSavior. One of them was an orphan boy, then making his home at my\nfather's house, and since known as Judge J. J. Locker, of Atchison,\nwho died last September.\n\nBut winter came, and the co-operation that had engaged father that\nsummer felt that they had paid all they could raise. It had not been\nenough to pay a hired man, and meet our frugal expenses. Yet that was\nthe first money he had made for three and a half years, except by his\ntwo trips to Illinois. He had appealed to the General Missionary\nSociety, and they had declined to support him, unless he would promise\nnot to say a word about slavery. But the people were calling to him\nfrom every direction to come and organize churches. He decided to\nappeal personally to the churches in the older States. From December,\n1858, until May, 1859, he preached constantly in Illinois, Indiana,\nMichigan and Ohio, collecting what money he could. He reported $365 as\nthe amount received, expenses $110, leaving a balance of $255. He\nreceived enough more during the summer to make his salary #297.42.\n\nThe next summer he preached in Kansas; but was not gone all the time,\nas when in other States. When preaching in distant counties he was\nsometimes gone four or five weeks, but he was sometimes at home a part\nof every week. When at home he worked very hard on the farm, to\naccomplish what he saw must be done, that he might go back to his\npreaching as soon as possible. Mother looked after the work in his\nabsence, and was a good manager, but there was much to which she could\nnot attend. Father was nervously energetic, always working and walking\nrapidly. Even after he was sixty years old, although he was a slender\nman, only five feet nine inches in height, with his right arm\ntrembling with palsy, I have known robust young men to complain that\nthey did not like to work for Pardee Butler, because he would work\nwith them, and they were ashamed to have such an old man do more than\nthey did, and he worked so hard that he wore them out. He scarcely\nspent an idle moment. Other men could be content to pass their time in\ncareless conversation, but he never could. Unless he had some subject\nthat he thought especially worthy of conversation, he said little. He\nseldom spoke of what he had done, and scarcely ever related any of the\nmany experiences of his trips away from home. In his backwoods boyhood\nexperiences he had learned to make or mend almost every article used\nby a farmer. He was full of projects, always improving something on\nthe place. Every spare moment was used, either in fixing something\nabout the farm, or in reading or writing. He sometimes complained that\nthe days were not half long enough to suit him. He once told his\nsister that the Border Ruffians never knew what a service they did him\nwhen they rafted him, for he had leisure to think while he was going\ndown the river. My brother Charley once said that father was so greedy\nof time he was afraid he might lose a minute. Often in the evening we\nhad to make room by the cooking stove for his shaving-horse, or his\nleather and harness tools, while he worked until ten or eleven o'clock\nmaking or mending some implement or harness. And often, after laboring\nall day, he read or wrote until eleven or twelve o'clock at night. He\nread a great variety of books and newspapers, but was particularly\nfond of church history and religious books of a doctrinal nature.\n\nHe wrote much for various papers, and was a painstaking writer. He\nusually wrote his articles two or three times, and the account of his\nsecond mob that was written for the _Herald of Freedom_ he re-wrote\nseven times. He could write best in the morning, and frequently read\nand wrote half of the forenoon; and then worked and chored until nine\nor ten at night, to make up lost time.\n\nFew ever knew the strong desire that he constantly felt for a life\ndevoted wholly to study and preaching. Living, as we did in those\ndays, in a log house with only one room, he had no private place for\nstudy, but read or wrote in the midst of the family. Yet neither\ncrying babies nor the noisy play of older children distracted him.\nOften he sat, with a look of abstraction, in the midst of our\nconversation; and we frequently had to speak to him several times\nbefore we could attract his attention.\n\nWe have several hundred of his newspaper articles saved in\nscrap-books. He preached altogether without notes, and never seemed to\nmake any especial preparation for preaching a sermon. I once asked him\nhow long it took him to prepare a sermon, and he replied, \"Sometimes\nlonger, sometimes shorter, generally two or three years. Of course I\ndo not think of it all that time, but I seldom preach on a subject\nwhen it first enters my mind, but let it mature. I always have several\nsubjects on hand at once, and when I am reading I retain whatever\nstrikes me as pertaining to anyone of my subjects.\" \"When do you do\nmost of your thinking?\" I asked. \"Whenever I can; mostly on\nhorseback.\"\n\nHis education was never finished; he was a student to the day of his\ndeath. Even during his last sickness he asked me to return a volume of\nMacaulay's \"History of England\" that I had borrowed, so that some\none could read to him from it.\n\nIn July, 1859, he was sick for some time; but in September reports\nthus: \"Since I recovered from my sickness I have held a series of\nmeetings,--one near Atchison, which resulted in eight additions; one\nat Big Springs, at which four were added by baptism; and one at\nPardee, where there was one baptized.\"\n\nNovember 1, 1859, the Northwestern Christian Missionary Society was\norganized at Indianapolis. Father attended it, and remained preaching\nand collecting money until February. He collected about the same\namount as the previous year.\n\nIn March, 1860, father and Bro. Hutchinson held the meeting at Pardee,\nof which he speaks in Chapter XXIX., at which there were forty-five\nadditions. Father preached on Sunday night. The school-house was\nclosely seated with planks, and crowded almost to suffocation, while a\ncrowd stood outside at doors and windows. Father preached on the life\nof Paul, although he did not mention Paul's name until near the close\nof the sermon. He spoke of him as a talented young nobleman, brought\nup in ease and luxury in a great city, to whom were open the highest\npositions in his nation. There were but few Christians in the land,\nand they were poor and despised. But at length he felt the power of\nGod, and learned to love the Savior. He told how he gave up wealth and\nposition, and became poor and despised, and went everywhere preaching\nChrist and his mighty power to save. He told of his wonderful zeal and\nenergy, as he traveled from country to country, preaching Christ to\neager thousands. He vividly depicted the courage with which he endured\ntrials, hardships, and persecutions. Then he told of his last days--a\nfeeble, gray-haired old man, ending his days in a prison, his few\nfaithful friends far away, enemies on every hand, and a painful,\nviolent death in store for him. Did he see the folly of his course?\nAnd then he quoted Paul's triumphant words: \"I count all things but\nloss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, for\nwhom I have suffered the loss of all things.... For I am now ready to\nbe offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a\ngood fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:\nhenceforth' there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which\nthe Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to\nme only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.\" After\nspeaking of the powerful effect of Paul's life and teachings, in\nhelping to transform the world, he eloquently appealed to the young\nmen and women to turn their ambition to life's highest object, to\nfollow the example of that grand old hero, and live a life of true\nheroism in this world, and win honor and immortality in the world to\ncome.\n\nThe house rang with that rousing old hymn, \"Come, you sinners, poor\nand needy,\" and eleven young men and women rose to their feet and\nconfessed their Savior.\n\nNo sermon to which I have ever listened has impressed itself so deeply\non my memory as that sermon twenty-nine years ago.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\nREMINISCENCES--CONTINUED.\n\nIn the spring of 1860 father rented his farm, so that he could devote\nhis whole time to preaching. He built a house in Pardee, that we might\nlive near school and meeting until George should be old enough to do\nthe work on the farm. There was plenty of open prairie to pasture the\ncows, and George and I tended them, while mother made cheese to help\nsupport the family.\n\nFather traveled and preached almost constantly that summer, sometimes\nalone, sometimes in company with Bro. Hutchinson.\n\nAt many of the points at which he organized churches, the old members\nare now either dead or scattered. But Bro. John A. Campbell, of Big\nSprings, where he built up a strong church, writes as follows of his\nwork there:\n\nHe told me that his first visit to Big Springs was in May,\n1858. My first recollection of him was that he preached\nthere on the 4th day of July, of that year, when he\norganized the church with twenty-eight members, my father\n(L. R. Campbell) and C. M. Mock being appointed elders.\nHis subject on that occasion was the \"Unity of all\nChristians,\" and he spoke with great power. He again\npreached there on the 29th day of August, 1858, and his\nsubject was \"Faith.\" On that day the first addition to the\nchurch was made by baptism. He continued to preach for the\nchurch about once each month through 1858-9, and a part of\n1860. During that time very many were added, but I have no\nmeans of knowing the number. In the fall of 1859 he held a\nsuccessful protracted meeting, and another in the winter\nwith Bro. G. W. Hutchinson. In 1860, he was at the State\nmeeting at Big Springs, at which the ground plan of our\npresent co-operative plan of missionary work was laid.\nThere was also raised at that meeting money to buy a large\ntent, with which Bro. Butler was to travel and preach as\nState evangelist. Again, in the year 1877 or 1878 he\npreached once per month at Big Springs and some adjacent\npoints--once on the Waukarusa, oft the subject of the\nSeventh-day Sabbath, out of which grew a correspondence\nfor a debate, but it was not; held, owing to a failure to\nget a suitable house.\n\nIn the forepart of December past our church held a\nmemorial service for him, and many pleasant things about\nhis relation to dear brethren and sisters were spoken of.\nThe relation between him and myself was always very\npleasant, and I delight to bear testimony to his great\nability and grand life and character. I regarded him as my\nfather in the gospel, and he was a source of great help\nand strength to me.\n\n\nThe tent of which Bro. Campbell speaks was made by the ladies in the\nPardee school-house. In size it was forty by sixty feet, the roof\nbeing shaped like the roof of a house. The second State meeting, and\nmany district meetings, were held in it; and father used it in his\nmeetings for nearly ten years, when it was finally torn up by a storm.\n\nIn the fall of 1860 the Missionary Society wished him to visit Indiana\nagain, to stir up an interest, and collect his salary. I find no\nreport of his work that winter, except this item from one of his\nletters: \"There have been seventeen additions at meetings which I have\nrecently attended--six at Brownsburg, Hendricks county, and eleven at\nSpringville, Lawrence county, Ind.\"\n\nI have found the note-book which he kept from November, 1860, to\nNovember, 1861, in which I find this account: He received #368.50;\ntraveling expenses, $72.55, leaving for his year's work, $295.95. That\nwas the year of the \"drouth,\" and he apprised the brethren where he\npreached of the destitution in Kansas. Dr. S. G. Moore and my uncle,\nProf. N. Dunshee, of Pardee, had been appointed to receive\ncontributions for destitute brethren; and they reported the receipt\nand distribution of $670.96, besides boxes of clothing.\n\nAfter father's return, in March, 1861, he traveled almost constantly.\nI have found, in the note-book mentioned above, the time and place,\nand either the subject or text of each sermon he preached that year,\none hundred and fifty-three in all. Here are some of the subjects\nnamed: \"The Gospel;\" \"Christian Union;\" \"Kings of Israel;\" \"Noah and\nthe Deluge;\" \"Types of the Law;\" \"For What Did Jesus Die?\" \"Baptism,\nits Authority and Design;\" \"From Whence Ami? and Whither Am I Going?\"\n\"The Material Results of Christianity;\" and \"The Kingdom of Heaven.\"\n\nFather had spent all of the money that was due him from property sold\nin Iowa, except a thousand dollars, with which he intended to pay his\ndebts, and finish paying for land in Kansas. While he was in Indiana\nthat spring that amount was forwarded in a draft to mother. The war\nwas just breaking out, and by the time she could write to father and\nreceive his instructions as to its disposal, the bank broke, and he\nlost a large part of it. He had already been running in debt for\nnecessary expenses, hoping each year that his support would be\nincreased, and the loss in the bank threw him so much in debt that he\nfelt it would be impossible for him to preach much longer.\n\nIn September, 1861, he attended the State meeting in Prairie City. On\nThursday the meeting was held in an empty store-room, for the poles\nhad not yet been cut to raise the tent. After some preliminary\nbusiness father made a short speech, telling them that he must soon\nquit preaching for them. He told them how necessary it was that\nchurches should be planted at once in this new State, and how he had\ntried in vain to arouse the brethren at the East to their\nresponsibility in the matter, but that he was at last obliged to give\nup and go to work, like an honest man, and pay his debts. He told them\nhow he had loved the work, and how willingly he had toiled and\nsuffered hardships, and begged them to hold out faithfully and do what\nthey could; and when his debts were paid, he would return again to the\nwork. When he closed his hearers were nearly all in tears.\n\nMany went long distances to that meeting, the brethren and sisters\nfrom Emporia going in a covered wagon, and camping out on the road.\n\nFather continued to preach, however, much of the time that winter.\nThat part of his farm that was improved was rented for five years, and\nhe had no money to improve the rest. The renter proved an indifferent\nfarmer, and the rent scarcely sufficed to pay the taxes and winter the\ncattle. So father entered the only paying business, that of\nfreighting, as he relates in Chap XXXI. Perhaps some may think from\nreading that chapter that he only took one trip, but he crossed the\nplains five times. He first went in the spring of 1862, in Bro.\nButcher's train, taking George, who was only ten years old, along to\ndrive one of his teams, because he could not afford to hire a driver.\nIt was a hard, monotonous life, driving all day and camping at night\nthrough all weather; but the hardest part of it was that men and boys\nall had to take their turn standing guard over their cattle at night.\nAfter Bro. Butcher was taken sick on that first trip, father acted as\nhis boss, and on all his later trips he went as wagon-boss of some\nlarge train owned by Atchison freighters, also taking along two teams\nof his own.\n\nThe wagon-bosses were frequently rough, overbearing men, who not only\nwent armed, but who often treated their drivers tyrannically. They not\nonly cowed the boys with abusive language, but with frequent threats\nof whipping, or shooting, which they sometimes fulfilled.\n\nFather never carried arms about his person in any of his trips across\nthe plains. But there was something in his quiet, determined manner\nthat enabled him to rule even the most headstrong of the wild young\nfellows who usually drove the freighting teams. He was once traveling\nalong, for a short time, in company with a train much larger than his\nown, whose wagon-boss was a big, burly, swaggering fellow, who was\ndrunk much of the time. Each train was driving along behind it such\noxen as were unfit for work, and some of the other cattle became\naccidentally mixed with father's drove. The boss, who was already\npartially drunk, had ridden on to a ranch to get more whisky. Father\ncalled on his own boys, and the boys of the other train--on the plains\nthe drivers were often called boys, even though they were middle aged\nmen--to help separate them. But those of the other train refused to\nhelp. They tried in vain to separate them, until they were tired out.\nAs they neared the ranch father walked up to the well to get a drink,\nand there sat the drunken boss on his horse. When he saw father, he\nexclaimed, with a great oath, \"---- ---- ----, what you driving my\ncattle off for?\"\n\n\"I asked your boys to help separate them,\" replied father, \"but they\nrefused, and I and my boys have worried ourselves out at it. If you\nwill order your boys to help we will try again.\"\n\n\"---- ---- you, go back and get them cattle out, or I'll send you\nto ---- !\"\n\nFather looked him steadily in the face, and said quietly, \"I would\nlike to see the irons you would do it with.\"\n\n\"---- ---- go back and get them cattle out, or I'll shoot you as\nsure as ---- !\" shouted the fellow, jerking out a revolver with\na great flourish.\n\nThe frightened boys stood back, expecting to see him shoot, but\nfather, without moving, coolly replied, \"If you want your cattle out,\nyou will get them out yourself; I will do nothing more about it.\"\n\nThe fellow, cowed by father's cool, determined gaze, put his revolver\nback in his belt, rode off, called his men, and they drove the cattle\nout themselves.\n\nIn October, 1862, father decided to make a winter trip, because he\ncould earn more money than in the summer. The owners of the train\nintended wintering their cattle on the buffalo grass in the Colorado\nvalleys, which they found cheaper than wintering them on corn in\nKansas. The drivers were mostly Ohio boys, who drove teams because\nthey wanted to reach the Pike's Peak gold mines. The oxen were a lot\nof wild Texas steers, and it took about half a day to get them yoked\nup the first time, so that they only traveled about eight miles out\nfrom Atchison the first day. George did not go that trip, but father\ntook him to town to help them start--because he said that if George\nwas only ten, he knew more about handling wild oxen than all those\ngreen Ohio boys--and sent him home the second day out. It had been a\nvery pleasant fall; but I never saw it turn cold so suddenly as it did\nthat day. I remember that I spent several hours gathering in squashes\nand covering up potatoes; and when I returned to the house at 3 p. M.\nevery leaf on the trees and every flower in the garden was frozen\nstiff, pointing straight out to the southeast. It was the only time I\never saw a frozen flower garden in full bloom. It sleeted nearly all\nnight, and the Texas cattle, frightened and chilled by wind and sleet,\nwere so wild that father and all the boys had to herd them all night\nto keep them from stampeding. Their clothes were wet and frozen, for\nthey were not very warmly dressed, and George said he never suffered\nso much with the cold in his life as he did that night.\n\nIt was a hard and stormy winter, and the Ohio boys, unused to such a\nlife, suffered badly, many of them freezing their hands and feet. When\nthey reached Denver the cattle were taken to the valleys, and father\ntraded his own cattle for mules. Loading his two wagons with hides, so\nas to make money both ways, he and the two boys who had driven his\nteams started for home. I have heard him say that he never saw weather\nso cold, but that he could keep from freezing by walking. So by dint\nof much walking he succeeded in reaching home without being frozen.\nTheir wagons were so full of hides that they had to sleep on the\nground, and he said that on waking in the morning he often found\nhimself buried in snow. Wood was scarce, and they sometimes had to\nhaul it quite a distance to build their camp fires at night, and it\nwas sometimes so stormy that they could scarcely cook.\n\nDuring the journey one wagon-load after another of returning Pike's\nPeak adventurers had fallen in with them, and kept together for the\nsake of company and protection against the Indians, until they made\nquite a train. By common consent--accordin' to the human nature of the\nthing, as they say on the plains--father came to be considered the\nboss of the train. There was a ranch near the road, kept by a\nFrenchman, who had an Indian wife. He had grown rich selling whisky\nand provisions, and wood and hay. When the half-frozen men, with their\nhungry teams, came by, he charged them extravagant prices; if they\nobjected he blustered and threatened until he usually scared them into\npaying what he asked. Father and his train camped there one cold\nnight, and some of the men went up to buy wood and hay; but he asked\nsuch high prices for them that they went back and asked father to go\nup. He was busy, and knowing the Frenchman's reputation, told them to\ngo back and tell him that the boss said he could not pay such\nexorbitant prices, but to let them have the wood and hay, and he would\ncome after awhile and pay a good round price for them. The men\nreturned, and told what he said, but the Frenchman ordered them to\nclear out, and threatened to shoot them if they came back again\nwithout the money he demanded. He would not even allow them to draw\nwater from the well. Again they begged father to go up, but he said he\nwas too busy, and told them to go right back and take the wood, hay\nand water, and if the Frenchman said anything, to tell him that Pardee\nButler told them to do it, and he would settle the bill. They went\nback, the one drawing water, the others getting wood and hay. Out ran\nthe Frenchman, very wrathy, leveling his gun at them. \"The boss told\nus to take them, and he'd settle,\" they said.\n\n\"Who's your boss?\" he asked in surprise.\n\n\"Pardee Butler.\"\n\n\"Pardee Butler! Oh! Oh! Pardee Butler? Take 'em! Take 'em!\" he\nexclaimed, dropping his gun and throwing up his hands. \"Oh! Pardee\nButler! Take 'em! Take 'em!\" he continued, fairly dancing around,\nwhite with fright, and gesticulating as only a Frenchman can.\n\n\"Why, what's the matter? He wont hurt you,\" said one of the boys.\n\n\"Oh! Pardee Butler! He bad man. Oh! Oh!\" he answered, still dancing\nand gesticulating.\n\n\"Oh, no; he is not a bad man; he never hurt anybody in his life.\"\n\n\"Oh, yees, Pardee Butler one veree bad man! He must be one bad man,\n'cause they put heem down the river on one raft, down in Kansas.\nPardee Butler must be one veree bad man!\"\n\nFather made no more winter trips, but spent his winters at lumbering.\nWhen he first came to Kansas he had bought eighty acres of timber land\nin the river bottoms, in Missouri, two miles below Atchison. Mills had\nbeen erected along the river, and lumber was at last in good demand.\nSo he found profitable use for his teams, and large freighting wagons,\nin working that timber into lumber.\n\nHe crossed the plains twice more in the springs of 1863 and 1864.\n\nThe Indians often visited their camps, begging for bread, or for sugar\nor tobacco. Father said that on his winter trip it made his heart ache\nto see the pitiable condition of the women and children, chilling\naround in the loose wigwams during the winter storms. He often saw the\nwomen out in the snow gathering up and carrying great loads of wood on\ntheir shoulders. But he said the most pitiable sight he ever saw was\nlittle half-starved, half-naked children, too small to walk, creeping\naround under his mule's heels, eagerly eating the grains of corn that\nthey had dropped.\n\nBut the Indians were every year growing more restless, and often\nattacked the trains, to obtain provisions, and cattle and mules.\nFather often saw them peering around the bluffs, or along the river\nbanks, watching his movements. But he was very careful, never allowing\nthe boys or stock to wander off alone, and keeping guards out at\nnight. Knowing that the Indians were growing dangerous, Bro. Butcher\nhad insisted on lending him a rifle for his later trips. One day they\nwere traveling along the Platte River bottoms, the river half a mile\nto one side, the bluffs a mile or two back on the other. It seemed\nimpossible for anything to hide in the low grass around them; but\nfather knew that here and there in the grass were wet-weather gullies,\ndeep enough for an Indian to lie in; and his watchful eye detected the\ngrass moving occasionally, here and there. He halted, telling the men\nthere were Indians in the grass. At first they made light of it,\nsaying they knew no Indian could hide in that low grass. But he told\nthem that he had been watching for some time, and thought the Indians\nwere creeping up on them from the river. He took Bro. Butcher's rifle\nout of the wagon, saying, \"I am going down there to see; who will go\nwith me?\" But none of them offered to go, except a boy of sixteen,\nwho, seeing the rest would not go, shouldered another gun, saying,\n\"For shame! I wont see the old man go alone!\" The two went down\nthrough the grass, and when they reached the river, they saw a number\nof Indians running away under shelter of the bank. The Indians seldom\nattack determined men, who are on their guard--unless they are on the\nwar-path with a large force--and they saw that father was such a man,\nand gave him no more trouble. It was on his last trip, in 1864, that\nthe Indian raid occurred, which he mentioned in Chapter XXXI. On their\nreturn they found that armed bands of Indians were still riding about\nthe country. One afternoon, when they were within a little over a\nday's drive of Fort Kearney, they saw a band of Indians prowling\nabout, first in one direction, then in another. The boys were badly\nfrightened, and wanted to run their teams all night, in order to reach\nthe fort. The weather was hot, and the oxen already tired, and father\nfeared that such a forced drive would kill them. So he ordered the\nboys to camp for the night. They kept out a strong guard, and were not\nattacked; but reached the fort in safety the next day.\n\nThe District Missionary Society of Northeastern Kansas had held two\nyearly meetings in the tent at Pardee, in August, 1862, and August,\n1863, just after father's return each year from his summer trips across\nthe plains. In August, 1864, soon after his return from his last trip,\nanother district meeting was held at Wolf Creek, Doniphan county, which\nwas the home of Bro. Beeler, and of Brethren Jonathan and Nathan\nSpringer. Father had held a number of good meetings there, and built up\nquite a church. But when the railroads went through there the town of\nSeverance was built up on one side; and Highland, seven or eight miles\non the other side, which was already a Presbyterian stronghold, received\na new impetus. So the church at Wolf Creek was broken up, and one was\norganized at Severance, and one has since been built up at Highland, of\nwhich Bro. Beeler is the leading member.\n\nBro. Jonathan Springer--who has moved to Goffs, where he still\nmaintains his old-time zeal--relates an incident which occurred a year\nor two before that district meeting. Father was holding a protracted\nmeeting, when there came into the neighborhood a young preaching\nbrother from one of the Southern States, running away from the Union\nsoldiers. Upon learning who he was, father invited him to preach, and\nthey continued preaching together for a week, holding an excellent\nmeeting, and father said not a word to him about the questions\ndividing North and South. Bro. Springer said, \"I always thought that\nBro. Butler was a peculiar, a wonderful, and a powerful preacher.\"\nSpeaking of his ability to attract and hold the attention of an\naudience, Bro. Springer said, \"I once heard him begin a sermon with\nthe question, 'Are we dogs, or are we men?'\" At the district meeting\nhis sermon was on his favorite theme, \"Christian Union;\" and it was\ntwo hours in length, yet he held the close attention of the audience\nto the end. Although he often preached on that subject, he always had\nsomething fresh to say. He could not crowd all that he had to say\nabout it into one sermon. He was constantly reading of the change of\nsentiment on Christian union among other denominations, and referring\nto it in his sermons.\n\nA few years ago he preached a series of discourses on that subject at\nPardee, closing as follows: \"The Protestant denominations will all\nbecome one yet, not by other churches coming to any one church, but\ntheir differences will almost imperceptibly disappear, and they will\nall melt into one, and no one will be able to tell how it was done.\"\n\nIn the spring of 1865 he moved back to the farm, and spent much of the\nsummer in preaching. For the next four years his winters were spent in\nlumbering, and his summers in preaching, and improving his farm. Even\nwhile lumbering he preached somewhere nearly every Sunday; sometimes\nat home, sometimes in the schoolhouse near his timber, and sometimes\nhe landed a raft at Port William on Saturday, and went across and\npreached for the church at Pleasant Ridge, Leavenworth county. And\nother Sundays he preached at various points easy to reach on Saturday\nevening, and return to his work on Monday morning.\n\nHe rafted many of his logs to Port William or Leavenworth, and usually\nhelped to take them down; and there was much joking about where he\nlearned the rafting business. It was dangerous, however, for rafts\nsometimes struck snags, or became unmanageable in the swift current,\nand went to pieces.\n\nWhen the Central Branch Railroad was built, the company took corn of\nsettlers in payment for lands, cribbing it by the road. Instead of\nshipping off the corn, they shipped Texas cattle to the cribs, to eat\nit up. They soon came to father in great perplexity. Their cattle\nbroke every fence they could build, and they did not know what to do\nwith them. So he told them how to build a fence the cattle could not\nbreak, and he had a quantity of extra strong lumber sawed for that\npurpose. When he called at the railroad office to receive pay for his\nlumber, the clerk paid him in rolls of bills sealed up in paper, with\nthe value marked on the outside. After leaving the office he counted\nhis money, and found that one of the rolls that was marked $100,\nreally contained $1,000. Returning, he told the clerk he had made a\nmistake. \"We correct no mistakes,\" was the gruff reply. \"Young man,\nyou are not doing business for yourself, but for the railroad company;\ncome here and help me count the money.\" The label had been misplaced.\n\nThe greater part of father's lumber was sawed at Winthrop, now called\nEast Atchison, and he did much hauling across the river on the ice.\nHis teams were usually the first to cross when the river froze up, and\nthe last to quit crossing in the spring; but as he was a good judge of\nthe condition of the ice, he never lost a team. I have heard my\nbrother George say that four or five times, when father or himself\nhad, by careful driving, crossed in safety with large double teams and\nheavy loads, others, trying to cross behind them with light wagons,\nhad broken through, and either lost their teams or been saved with\ndifficulty. One spring the ice was thawing rapidly, and had become\nquite rotten; but father wanted to take one more heavy load across,\nand he drove it himself. It was drawn by several yoke of oxen, and\ntheir weight sunk the ice so that the water spouted through the\nair-holes and frightened them. He knew that the beaten track,\nwhere the teams had trodden the ice solid, and the accumulated mud had\nshaded it, had not thawed as fast as the surrounding ice, and that to\nallow his wagon to swerve a foot, one way or the other, was to risk\nbreaking in. He ran along by the lead yoke, watching them so closely\nthat he did not notice where he was walking, and several times he\nstepped off, knee-deep in little air-holes; but he took his load\nsafely over. As he went up the bank some half-drunken Germans in a\nsleigh dashed down on the ice and broke through, but were so near the\nshore that they easily got out. But one of father's wagons ever broke\nthrough, and it was driven by a careless hired man. Father was ahead\nwith another team. He called back to the man to unhitch quickly and\nhitch on to the end of the tongue, for fear the team would break\nthrough, too, and running back, he put lumber under the wheels, and\nthey pulled the wagon out.\n\nFather gave away a great deal of wood over there. In those days coal\nwas scarce and high, and, consequently, wood was high also. Many\nfamilies were so glad to receive the wood as a gift, that they were\nwilling to haul it twelve or fourteen miles. And, winter after winter,\nhe also kept two or three poor families supplied with wood from his\ntimber at home, allowing them to come and help themselves.\n\nFather and mother were always very generous, giving freely of money,\nwood, fruits, vegetables, milk, or whatever they had to spare, to\nthose more needy than themselves. I can not remember of ever seeing\nthem charge any one for a night's lodging, or turn any one away.\n\nWhen father had anything to sell, he often refused to accept its\nmarket value, because he thought it was not really worth the price. A\nfriend once noticed him selling seed potatoes much below the market\nprice, and told him that his generous habit of selling to his\nneighbors so cheaply would keep him poor. He replied that the market\nprice was extortionate, and that his conscience would not allow him to\naccept it.\n\nIn his later years he gave freely to help build various churches; and\nto State and General Missionary Societies, and to the many calls for\nmoney.\n\nHe could never stand by and order men around, but always took hold and\ndid the hardest of the work himself; and the excessively heavy work of\nlogging injured his health. He had several severe spells of nervous\nrheumatism, and from that time his right arm was troubled with the\ntrembling palsy, which grew worse until his death. He had not been\nable to write with a pen for several years, and his \"Recollections\"\nwere all written by holding a pencil in his right hand, and steadying\nthat with the left hand.\n\nOnce, while he was lumbering, mother remonstrated with him for wearing\nhimself out so fast. He replied that he saw so much needing to be\ndone, and done at once, he felt compelled to push his work off his\nhands as fast as possible. If it shortened his life, he said it made\nno difference to him, provided he could accomplish more than in a long\nlife of easy work. I heard him say once that we ought to make our\nlife-work of so much importance, that neither cold, nor storm, nor any\nother hindrance should be allowed to interfere with the performance of\nduty. And I seldom knew him to stop for bad weather of any kind.\n\nIn December, 1865, I had concluded to go to school a term at\nManhattan, and asked father to take me there, for it was a hundred\nmiles, and there was not a railroad in the State. He sent an\nappointment to hold a meeting there at that time. The morning that we\nwere to start the thermometer was eighteen degrees below zero, and the\nwind blowing keenly from the northwest. But if we postponed our\njourney he would miss an appointment, and so we started. There was no\nsnow, the roads were rough, and we had to travel in a lumber wagon,\nand were three days on the way. I was well wrapped in blankets, and\ndid not suffer severely, but father, on account of driving, could not\nwrap up so much, and had to walk nearly half of the time to keep from\nfreezing. His nose and cheeks were slightly frozen the second day, for\nit did not begin to moderate until the third day.\n\nHe held a good meeting of eight or ten days. There were about a dozen\nbaptisms, the ice being cut in the river for that purpose.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIX.\n\nREMINISCENCES--CONTINUED.\n\nIn May, 1867, my two-year-old brother, Ernest, was accidentally\nscalded. He lingered a week, then death claimed the youngest of the\nflock.\n\nWhen the Central Branch Railroad was built the little town of\nFarmington was laid out, a mile to the northwest of father's\nhouse--Pardee being two miles to the southeast. Many of the original\nmembers of the Pardee Church had helped to organize the Pleasant Grove\nChurch, six miles west. Father thought it would be wise to break up at\nPardee., and move church and village to the railroad town, but some\nobjected. Thinking that the rest would soon follow, he left Pardee,\nand organized a church of twenty-three members at Farmington, October\n6, 1867. Bro. McCleery held a successful meeting here the next\nDecember, and preached once a month during the following year.\n\nFor several years much of father's time was given (gratuitously), in\ncaring for this church and Sunday-school, and the church soon numbered\na hundred members.\n\nAfter the war many colored people came to Kansas, and a number of them\nsettled in the neighborhood. They had heard of father, as a friend to\nthe colored people, and some of them wanted to work for him. He\nfrequently employed them, and usually found them faithful and\nefficient. They liked to work for him because he treated them as he\ntreated white men. As there were not enough of them in the country\nplaces to form churches of their own, they attended our Sunday-schools\nand meetings. We were much surprised to find that some of our brethren\nobjected to colored children being in the classes. One good old\ncolored man, who had been a member of the church in Missouri, was much\nrespected by the community. A white brother requested our deacon, W.\nJ. May, a son of Caleb May, to ask this colored brother to take a back\nseat, and to pass the bread and wine to him last. Bro. May replied: \"I\nshall do no such thing; as long as I am deacon in this church there\nshall be no respect of persons.\"\n\nA colored man, who had been a servant in the family of one of the\ngovernors of Virginia, presented himself for membership. He was a\nneat, good-looking man, with pleasant manners, and had been a member\nof Col. Shaw's colored regiment, when they so valiantly stormed Fort\nWagner. A white sister borrowed a pair of gloves, when she went up to\ngive him the hand of fellowship, so that she \"wouldn't have to touch a\nnigger's hand.\"\n\nFather wanted to teach them, without giving undue offense, their\nChristian duty to the colored people. He preached a sermon on the\nparable of the Good Samaritan, telling how the Jews and Samaritans\nhated each other, and how Jesus taught in that parable that even the\nmost despised of earth's races are our neighbors. He also told the\nstory of Peter's vision at the house of Simon, and how God taught him\nnot to call any man or nation of men common or unclean, but to carry\nthe gospel to all nations. The nearest that he came to modern times,\nin that sermon, was the remark that the Jews despised the Samaritans\nas much as the Americans despised the Africans. He left them to make\ntheir own applications of the Bible teachings.\n\nWhat an excitement it raised! Many said the colored people had to be\nturned out of the Sunday-school, or they would leave; and some did\nleave. In nearly all our churches father had to meet this prejudice,\nbut he remained firm in his position, that in church and Sunday-school\nthere should be neither white nor black, but all should have equal\nrights.\n\nIn the spring of 1869 father sold his timber land in Missouri, and\npaid the last of his debts. He had some money left, and the first\nthing he did was to go into a book store, and spend forty dollars for\n\"Barnes' Notes,\" and \"Motley's United Netherlands,\" and \"History of\nthe Dutch Republic.\" He remarked as he did so, \"I have felt the need\nof these books for years, and this is the first money I could spare\nfor them.\"\n\nMen who had seen father working with tireless energy on his farm, or\nthe plains, or \"logging\" in the timber, sometimes said: \"He is craving\nto get rich.\"\n\nHe has often been misunderstood, but in no point more than this. I\nnever knew a man who cared less for wealth than he. The one\nall-absorbing object of his life was to preach the gospel. But he had\nalso resolved to have the means to pay his debts, and to have a home\nfor his family.\n\nAbout that time he spoke to me, in substance, as follows: The one\ngreat anxiety of my life has been to preach. I had intended to go to\nBethany, and devote my life entirely to preaching. My sore throat\ncaused me to give that up, but going to Iowa improved my health, and I\nbegan to preach again. When I took my claim in Kansas it was with the\nintention of holding on to the land, while I preached in Illinois,\nuntil Kansas should be thickly enough settled to furnish me preaching\nhere. But you know how necessity has driven me, and how preaching for\na meager salary, and neglecting my farm, ran me in debt; and what a\nhard necessity has been laid on me to pay those debts, and to improve\nmy farm, so that you and your mother and the boys can make a living\nfrom it. You have no idea what a sore and bitter trial it has been to\nme the last six or eight years to see the old churches going to pieces\nbefore my eyes, and so many opportunities for planting new churches\nbeing lost to us. There is only one thing more I must do, and then I\nam determined to give myself wholly to preaching. As for myself, I\nwould live in a log house all my days before I would take from my\npreaching the time necessary to earn and build a better house. But\nSybil has been a good and faithful wife, and has borne with\ncommendable patience all the trials of the hard life through which I\nhave led her; and it worries her to entertain so much company as we\nhave in her log house. With the lumber and saleable stock I have on\nhand, I can build it without incurring any further debt. And then I\nwill be ready to preach without being dependent on any man.\n\nThe house was built; but before it was finished a series of\nmisfortunes befell him, that threw him in debt nearly as badly as\nbefore. From snake-bites, disease, and accidents, he lost four or five\nhorses, and several head of cattle, and the cholera killed nearly a\nthousand dollars' worth of his hogs.\n\nHe went to work again, but somewhat discouraged, for he saw that his\nlong-deferred hope of devoting his entire time to study and preaching,\ncould never be realized. He was nearly sixty, and had broken his\nconstitution by hard work, and could not much longer have endured the\nincessant riding and preaching of a traveling evangelist, even could\nhe have been supported. The boys were then old enough to do much of\nthe farm work, and from that time he preached more constantly, but\nspent more or less time at hard labor.\n\nFor several years he was employed, for a small salary, at monthly\npreaching, by churches at Big Springs, Valley Falls, Round Prairie,\nand other points.\n\nIn the fall of 1875 he concluded to visit once more the churches for\nwhich he had preached before coming to Kansas, and bid farewell to his\nold friends. He accordingly spent the following winter in a preaching\ntour throughout Iowa and Illinois.\n\nThe State Meeting at Emporia, in 1877, in his absence, elected him\nPresident of the Society. Unable to find a State evangelist who would\nundertake the difficult task of reviving the old churches that had\nperished--which he thought was the work most needed at that time--he\ntook the field himself. At the State meeting held at Yates Center the\nnext year, he made the following report: \"Time spent, five months;\nsermons preached, one hundred and fifty; churches organized, two;\ncompensation received, $186.36.\" He also revived many scattered\nchurches and Sunday-schools, and obtained regular preaching for some\nof them. He was greatly worried over the churches of this part of the\nState. They had been much weakened, and some of them nearly broken up\nby the tide of emigration that set into the southern and western\ncounties. Attempts at co-operative State and district work were\nimpeded by conservative papers, which prejudiced the brethren against\nmissionary societies, and hireling pastors. He spent much time, both\nwith tongue and pen, in answering these sophistries, and teaching the\nchurches their duties. Many of the churches were really too poor to\nsupport regular preaching, and many that were able, thought themselves\nunable to do so. Yet someone must care for them, or they would perish.\nHe resolved for the rest of his life to preach, without remuneration,\nwhere such preaching was most needed. And so the last eight or nine\nyears of his life were spent in preaching on Saturdays and Sundays for\nweak churches, and the remainder of the time in working and writing.\nIf a church was building a meeting house, and felt unable to support a\npreacher while doing so, he preached for it until it was built. If a\nchurch had already built, and felt oppressed with debt, he preached\nfor it until the debt was paid. If, from any cause, a church was weak\nor disorderly, he preached for it until it was again in good order.\nThen he said to the brethren: \"I have helped you on your feet, now\nraise the money and hire some one else to preach for you, and let me\ngo and help some other needy church.\"\n\nMr. Hastings and I were married in 1870, and had settled at\nFarmington. From that time Mr. Hastings had taken much of the care of\nthe Farmington church. The church at Pardee had revived, and had been\ndoing well under the care of Prof. N. Dunshee; and, later on, by the\nassistance of Prof. J. M. Reid, and of Mr. Hastings. But, about six\nyears ago, being left without a leader, they begged father to take\ncharge of them, although they were unable to offer him much\nremuneration. He told them that it would cost them nothing, so far as\nhe was concerned; but that, if he took charge of them, they must\npromise to support the Sunday-school liberally, and to build a church.\nHe, and his family, therefore, changed their membership from\nFarmington back to Pardee, where he was elected elder--for he believed\nthat every pastor of a church should be one of its elders--and he\npreached for them five years. He not only gave largely of his means to\nbuild the church, but spent the whole summer in collecting the money,\nand overseeing the building of the house. He looked after the buying\nof the materials, and sent his teams to do much of the hauling, and\nnever stopped until the building was furnished, the insurance paid,\nand his own hands had put the stoves in place.\n\nAbout a year before his death, however, owing to disagreements about\nthe manner of conducting the Sunday-school, father resigned his\neldership, and preached at other points until his death.\n\nBut his work for others was not confined to preaching, or church work.\nHe had never tried to make a large town of either Farmington or\nPardee. He knew too well the perils of the city. When he helped to lay\nout Pardee he made it a part of the charter that if liquor should ever\nbe sold on any lot of the town the deed to that lot should be\nforfeited. His idea was to have a small village, with a good church\nand school, as the center of a moral and intelligent farming\ncommunity. He took great interest in schools, Sunday-schools, literary\nsocieties, and temperance work; in everything, in fact, which tended\nto the moral and intellectual improvement of the young, or to the\nwell-being of society in general.\n\nHe spent much time in writing and lecturing on temperance, both before\nand after the passage of the Prohibitory Amendment. His articles in\nthe papers denouncing the violation of the prohibitory law as\nrebellion against the Constitution, and all the sympathizers with the\nlaw-breakers, as rebels, stirred up such an excitement that when he\nwent to Atchison he could scarcely walk the streets on account of the\npeople, both friends and opponents, who stopped him on every turn, to\ntalk of prohibition. The Germans all wanted to discuss the matter with\nhim; but one of the leading Germans said to him one day, \"You must not\nexpect us old Germans, who have brought our habits from the old\ncountry, to change; but go ahead, Mr. Butler! Go ahead! The young men\nare with you.\"\n\nFather was sometimes accused of \"dabbling in politics.\" If that means\nthat he was an office-seeker, the charge is false. Though often urged\nby his friends to run for office, he invariably refused, telling them\nthat he considered the office of a Christian preacher the highest\noffice on earth. But he did think it his duty to attend elections and\nprimary meetings, and work against the whisky ring. He often spent\nmuch time, in the fall, speaking and writing to secure the election of\ntemperance men for county officers. The final effort by which he\nsucceeded in arousing a public sentiment strong enough to compel the\ncounty officers to close the saloons, was a stirring speech he made at\na temperance meeting in Atchison, in the spring of 1885,\n\nSome have thought that father was hard-hearted. Plain-spoken he\ncertainly was, and sometimes harsh in dealing with those whom he\nthought to be doing wrong. He was so thoroughly in earnest that when\nhe thought a certain way right or wrong, it was hard for him to\nunderstand that some other way might be equally right or wrong.\n\nNaturally high-tempered, with a very excitable, nervous organization,\nit was often a matter of wonder to me to see how much self-control he\nexercised, under irritating circumstances. He sometimes lost his\nself-control, and said things that would better have been left unsaid;\nbut when he saw that he had done so he was ready to beg pardon for the\noffense. But he was kind-hearted and forgiving, and ready to forget\ninjuries done to him.\n\nNo matter how harshly he might speak of an opponent, or wrong-doer, he\nwould often turn right around and do him a kindness.\n\nOne of the men who helped to raft him wrote to him three or four years\nago, saying that he was writing an account of the Kansas troubles, and\nasking him for some information on points that he had forgotten.\nFather readily complied with his request, telling him that he freely\nforgave him, and all the rest of his old-time enemies.\n\nFather was always ready to help the poor, the oppressed, or\nunfortunate. It was that spirit of sympathy for the weaker party that\nled him to side with Horace Greely in 1872, because he thought the\nRepublicans were too hard on the conquered Southerners. But when he\nheard of the widespread Ku-Klux outrages, he concluded that he had\nbeen mistaken, and returned heartily to the Republican party.\n\nI heard a neighbor say a few years ago: \"If any one needs help,\njust go to Bro. Butler. I never heard of him refusing to help anybody\nthat was in trouble, no matter how much time or trouble it cost him.\"\n\nAnother neighbor had his house burned. He was old and feeble, and\nunable to rebuild. Other neighbors thought they had done their part\nwhen they raised a subscription to build him a new house. But cold\nweather was coming on, necessitating haste. Father, not content with\ngiving money, looked after buying materials, and putting up the\nbuilding; sent his teams to do the hauling; and, because the ground\nwas freezing up, worked until late at night, digging out sand to\nplaster it. And this was but one of the many instances of his\npractical kind-heartedness.\n\nHe attended the State Meeting at Hutchinson about a year before his\ndeath, where he had been invited to deliver a historical address,\nsketching his own life and work, and the history of our churches in\nKansas. He was urgently requested to publish it, and from that\ncircumstance came the publication, in the _Christian Standard_,\nof his \"Recollections.\"\n\nBro. F. M. Rains said of that address, \"That was the grandest speech\never delivered on Kansas soil.\"\n\nThe Hutchinson _Daily News_ spoke of it as follows:\n\n\"The address was a happy blending of church history, and\npersonal reminiscence, full of fact, humor and pathos,\nand, most of all, devotion to freedom, morality,\ntemperance, and godliness. Few people of today are able to\nappreciate the privations, and sacrifices, and dangers,\nwith which the pioneer was beset, and these dangers came\nwith special nearness to the man whose mission, courage\nand conscience made him the open and avowed foe of all\nsorts of wickedness. The house was packed with intense\nlisteners, and from beginning to end he held the great\naudience in close attention, and when he finished, the\nhope that grand old Pardee Butler might live a hundred\nyears was the unexpressed wish of all.\"\n\n\nFather was always fluent in prayer, and his petitions earnest and\ntimely; but in the last year or two of his life his prayers seemed to\ngrow more fervent and impressive. Mrs. Hendryx, of Wichita, writing to\nme since his death, speaks thus of a prayer offered by him at the\nHutchinson Convention: \"Never, while consciousness shall last, will I\nforget the ring of your father's voice in prayer, at Hutchinson. I\nasked, 'Who is that aged veteran? he seems almost inspired.' And they\ntold me it was Pardee Butler.\"\n\nThe earnestness and appropriateness of his prayers were most\nnoticeable on several funeral occasions, and numbers spoke of being\naffected by them, particularly at Bro. Locker's funeral.\n\nHe preached his last sermon at North Cedar, a week and a half before\nhis accident. The following Saturday, September 15, he attended Bro.\nLocker's funeral. The next day he attended Bro. Parker's meeting at\nPleasant Grove, where he presided at the Lord's table.\n\nHe had several appointments ahead at the time he was hurt. One of\nthese was to preach the funeral of his old friend, Caleb May, who had\ndied in Florida, August 27. His children in Florida had sent a request\nto his son, E. E. May, of Farmington, that father should preach a\nmemorial sermon at Pardee.\n\nFather had not done any heavy work for two years, but he still did\nmuch light work, and choring, although his health was gradually\nfailing, milking eight or ten cows a day, and driving a young team\nfrom ten to twenty miles to his appointments, almost every Sunday,\nseldom stopping for bad weather.\n\nIt was reported that he was thrown from a colt at the time he was\nhurt. My brothers wish that report corrected. They think he never was\nthrown from a horse in his life. They had seen him break many colts,\nand had never seen him thrown. He had been using the most spirited\ncolt on the place for his riding horse all summer; but that day,\nSeptember 19, it was in a distant pasture, and finding my brother\nCharley's colt in the stable, he thought he would ride it to the\npost-office. It would not stand for him to mount, and he put the\nhalter around a post, holding the end in his hand. As he mounted the\nsaddle the colt jerked both halter and bridle from his hand and\ntrotted off. Unable to reach the bridle he hastily dismounted. As he\nswung his right foot around to the ground the colt kicked it, crushing\nthe ankle joint. He quietly called mother; and Brother May, who\nhappened to be passing, helped him into the house, and sent for a\nsurgeon.\n\nWe feared no worse result at the first than a crippled ankle. He said\nto Bro. White, who visited him a _few_ days after he was hurt, \"Oh,\nI will get up all right; a Butler never was conquered, you know. My\nonly concern is that I shall not become a permanent cripple.\"\n\nThe first week he was hopeful, though suffering much pain. The second\nweek he was delirious, with high fever. Then he was prostrated with a\nsevere nervous chill--his already over-wrought nervous system was\nexhausted by pain. From that time he lay in an unconscious stupor the\ngreater part of the time. He passed quietly away at half-past three A.\nM., October 19, 1888, at the age of seventy-two.\n\nHis funeral took place the following day in the church at Pardee. The\nservices were conducted by Elders John Boggs, of Clyde, and J. B.\nMcCleery, of Fort Leavenworth. The house was full, notwithstanding it\nwas a stormy day, raining continuously from morning until night. Word\nhad been sent to all the churches in this and adjacent counties, and\nhundreds who were preparing to attend the funeral were disappointed by\nthe inclement weather.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XL.\n\nPRO-SLAVERY HINDRANCES.\n\nBY ELDER JOHN BOGGS.\n\nAlthough our dear departed brother, Elder Pardee Butler, was never\nclassed with the Garrisonian Abolitionists, he began his ministerial\nlife when the demands of the South were being felt in all the North,\nboth in church and State. If slavery could not be advocated by the\nNorthern conscience it must at least be ignored by all candidates for\npopular favor. It had divided some of the most popular religious\ndenominations; and was the most exciting subject of discussion known\nto the religious world at the middle of the present century. Among the\nDisciples of Christ the slavery question was peculiarly perplexing, as\nthere was a large per cent, of the membership who were actual\nslaveholders, and the leaders among us, although publicly committed\nagainst \"_slavery in the abstract_,\" were endeavoring to soften the\nhard features of slavery in the Southern States by arguing that the\nrelation of master and slave was not sinful _per se_, as it was\nrecognized and regulated both in the Jewish and Christian scriptures.\n\nBro. Butler was ordained as a minister of the gospel of Christ, among\nthe. Disciples, at Sullivan, Ohio, some time in the year 1844, by A.\nB. Green and J. H. Jones, at that time two of the most efficient\nevangelists in Northern Ohio He had a good conscience, which passed\njudgment upon his actions in accordance with the great law of love\ninculcated by the Lord himself and his apostles, and he did not allow\nthe application of any \"hot iron\" so as to sear it. Although he did not\ncome in direct antagonism with the pro-slavery power while he labored in\nthe gospel ministry east of the Missouri River, yet it is evident that\nthe slavery question was a most important factor in making up his\ndecision to leave his field of labor in the Military Tract in Illinois,\nwhere he gave up present usefulness and ministerial blessedness for a\nprospective missionary field and a humble home for his family. He had\nspent four years there in active ministerial labor; and in the second\nnumber of his \"Personal Recollections\" he calls them \"the golden days\nof my life!\"\n\nThat the hand of God directed the footsteps of Pardee Butler to Kansas\njust at the time he went there, and to the place where he took a\nhomestead and improved it, and lived on it with his family for a third\nof a century, no one who believes in an overruling providence can for\na moment doubt. At the risk of his life, and at the cost of great\nprivation in his own person, and that of his wife and children, he\nunfurled the blood-stained banner of the cross, and never allowed it\nto trail beneath his feet through the long years of \"border\nruffianism,\" and the dark days of detraction and misrepresentation. He\nwas the man for the hour; while on the one hand he was not forgetful\nof the obligations resting upon him to his family--he laid the\nfoundation for a happy home--on the other hand, he was always ready,\nboth in season and out of season, at home and abroad, to preach the\nunsearchable riches of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. To him\nmore than to any other human instrumentality is the brotherhood of\nChrist's disciples indebted for the early introduction of Christianity\nin the now grand State of Kansas; and his name will be honorably and\nlovingly remembered by all the good and the true, who shall learn of\nhis unselfish life and his untiring devotion to the cause of the\nMaster.\n\nIn the summer of 1858, after he had been in the new Territory over\nthree years, Bro. Butler, in the _Luminary_, writes as follows: \"To\nteach, discipline, and perfect the churches we have already organized;\nto gather into churches the lost sheep of the house of Israel,\nscattered over this great wilderness of sin; to watch over those who\nare still purposing to tempt its dangers, and to lay broad and deep\nthe foundations of a future operation and co-operation, that shall\nultimate in spreading the gospel from pole to pole, and across the\ngreat sea to the farthest domicile of man--this is the purpose which\nwe set before us.\" This brief quotation shows the broadness and\ncompleteness of the work, as contemplated by him, and which is now\ngoing forward to its accomplishment as never before; and to his almost\nalone labors at first the work in Kansas can be legitimately traced.\n\nDuring this year a Territorial Board was formed, and Bro. Butler was\nappointed as their evangelist; and a correspondence was had between\nhim and the corresponding secretary of the General Missionary Society\nin reference to affording aid to the Kansas Board to help sustain him\nin his evangelical labors. It was conducted in the most friendly\nmanner and in a true Christian spirit, until the slavery question came\nto the front and prevented the accomplishment of what was hoped for\non the one hand, and contemplated on the other. The following extract\nfrom Bro. Butler's third letter will present the issue in the briefest\nmanner possible:\n\nDEAR SIR:--You say in letter before me, \"It must,\ntherefore, be distinctly understood that if we embark in a\nmissionary enterprise in Kansas, this question of slavery\nand anti-slavery must be ignored.\" I respond: This\nreformation is pledged before heaven and earth, and under\ncovenants the most solemn and binding into which men can\nenter, to guarantee freedom of thought and speech to our\nbrotherhood-i--not indeed on subjects purely abstract,\nspeculative and inoperative, but on Bible\nquestions--questions which involve the well-being of\nhumanity. This matter of slavery is a Bible question--a\nquestion of justice between man and man--of mercy and\nhumanity. It is what Jesus would call one of the weightier\nmatters of the law, and demands, therefore, a large place\nin our investigations.\n\n        *       *       *\n\nThe brethren here in Kansas have made no such stipulations\nwith me They have left me to my own discretion in\npreaching the gospel to sinners, and teaching the saints\naccording to the Bible. They have shown themselves too\nmagnanimous to impose on my conscience a restriction which\ntheir own manhood would forbid, under similar\ncircumstances, that they should suffer to be imposed on\nthemselves.\n\nFor myself, I will be no party, now or hereafter, to such\nan arrangement as that contemplated in your letter now\nbefore me. I would not make this \"Reformation of the\nnineteenth century\" a withered and blasted trunk,\nscattered by the lightnings of heaven, because it took\npart with the rich and powerful against the poor and\noppressed, and because we have been recreant to those\nmaxims of free discussion which we have so ostentatiously\nheralded to the world as our cherished principles.\n\n\nIn explanation of the first letter received by Bro. Butler from the\ncorresponding secretary, a second one was sent, from which it is\nnecessary to make the following extracts:\n\nI reply, that nothing has been said against teaching a\nmaster his duties according to the Bible, nor (what is\njust as important) against teaching servants their duties\nto their masters, according to the Bible--according to the\ninstructions given to evangelists--I. Tim. vi. 1-4. My\nremarks, as the whole letter will show, had reference to\nthe question of slavery _in Kansas_. The forms it takes on\nthere are very different from the duties masters owe their\nservants according to the Bible. It is whether a\nslaveholder is necessarily a sinner, unfit for membership\nin the Christian Church--a blood-thirsty oppressor, whose\nmoney is the \"price of blood,\" and would \"pollute\" the\ntreasury of the Lord, etc. etc. And, on the other hand,\nwhether American slavery is a divine institution, the\nperfection of society for the African race, and essential\nto their happiness--while all Abolitionists are fit only\nfor the madhouse or the penitentiary. These and such like\nare the _forms_ the question of slavery assumes in Kansas,\nas well as in many of the free States, where there are no\n\"masters and servants\" in that sense to be taught their\nduties, in reference to which it was said the question\nmust be entirely ignored. And we can not consent that on\none side or the other such pleas shall be made under the\nsanction of the American Christian Missionary Society.\n\nI did not then, nor do I now, suppose that if you were\nemployed by the A. C. M. S. to preach the gospel in\nKansas, it would fall to your lot to furnish instructions\nto many masters and servants. If in any churches you may\nraise up in Kansas--evidently destined to be free--you\nfind masters and slaves, of course it will be your duty to\ninstruct them both \"according to the Bible.\" But to\nfurnish such instruction, and to go through Kansas\nlecturing on anti-slavery, or mixing up any pro-slavery or\nany anti-slavery theories and dogmas with the gospel, or\nto plant churches with the express understanding that no\n\"master\" shall be allowed to have membership in it, are\nvery different things. And I had this very matter in view\nwhen I wrote to you, for I had some-how heard that the\nchurch of which you were a member was about to take just\nsuch a stand, and I wanted to have it distinctly\nunderstood that so far as action under the direction of\nthe A. C. M. S. was concerned, all such ultraisms must be\nignored. . . . You felt anxious to have help to preach the\ngospel in Kansas. I felt anxious to assist you. I saw\ndanger in the way, growing out of the fact that I\nrepresent a society whose membership is in the South as\nwell as in the North, and that some factious ultraists are\nconstantly on the watch to sow the seeds of discord. I\nknew the state of things in Kansas as bearing on the\nslavery question. I knew something, too, of your treatment\nthere, and of your feelings. I saw that if you were\nemployed to preach there, an effort would be made to\nherald it, as in Bro. Beardslee's Case, as an anti-slavery\ntriumph. This would be unjust to us. And as the practical\nquestion of master and slave does not exist there to any\nextent, I spoke of ignoring the question altogether. If\nyou still insist on the right to urge that question, and\ntake part in the controversy raging in Kansas, _under the\npatronage of the A. C. M. S_., I have only to say it is\noutside the objects contemplated in our constitution. But\nif you wish simply to preach the gospel and instruct\nconverts in a knowledge of Christian duties, \"according to\nthe Scriptures,\" there was certainly no occasion for your\nsecond letter to be written.\n\n\nTo the foregoing a rejoinder was written by Bro. Butler, which closed\nthe correspondence with the A. C. M. S., and from which the following\nextracts are taken, that the readers may understand his position\ncorrectly:\n\nI reply, 1. In your former letter I find no reference to\nthe _forms _ the agitation of this question assumes in\nKansas. I presume you had not a copy of that letter before\nyou when you wrote this one. But you do allude to \"forms\"\nthe agitation of this question had assumed in Cincinnati,\nand in reference to Bro. Beardslee and the Jamaica\nmission. I was also instructed that \"our missionaries\"\nmust not be ensnared into such utterances as the\n_Luminary_ can publish to the world, to add fuel to the\nflame. The utterances against which I was guarded _seemed_\nto be in Cincinnati rather than in Kansas. I had already\npublished a piece indicative of my views in the\n_Northwestern Christian Magazine_, and that appeared to be\nthe obnoxious \"utterance.\" 2. You are misinformed relative\nto the \"forms\" the agitation of this question assumes in\nKansas. The question, Shall slaveholders be received as\nchurch members? has hardly been debated at all. 3. Neither\nmyself nor any person associated with me has at time\nproposed to organize a church to exclude slaveholders. 4.\nSlaveholders have been members of our churches from the\nfirst day until now. How, then, could I understand you as\nreferring to anything else than to my own published\nCincinnati utterances?\n\n        *       *       *\n\nAs respects slavery, the whole power of the master and the\nobligation of the servant is found in the proper meaning\nof the words of such precepts as these \"Masters, render\nunto your servants that which is just and equal;\"\n\"servants, obey your masters,\" etc. All within such limits\nis the doctrine which is according to godliness--all\nbeyond, whether on the part of the master or the slave,\nand which is attempted to be foisted into the church as a\npart of the apostolic doctrine, is schismatical, and\nessentially fills up the picture drawn by Paul: \"If any\nman teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words,\neven the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the\ndoctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud,\nknowing nothing'--from such withdraw thyself.\" In these\nprecepts no right is given to the masters to buy and sell,\nto traffic in slaves; no right to enslave the children,\nand the children's children of his servants; no right to\nhold them in a relentless bondage which knows no limit but\nthe grave, and in which the heritage transmitted by the\nslave to his children, is a heritage of bondage to all\ngenerations.\n\n\nOn the 26th of August, 1858, the same season that the foregoing\ncorrespondence took place, Bro. Butler wrote to the editor of the\n_Christian Luminary_ the following letter, which is given entire, as\nshowing the exact position which he occupied ministerially at that\ntime:\n\nOCENA, ATCHISON CO., KAN., Aug. 26, 1858.\n\nDEAR SIR:--Three churches--one meeting at Leavenworth\nCity, another at Mount Pleasant, Atchison county, and a\nthird at Pardee, same county--have formed an organization\nfor the purpose of propagating the gospel in Kansas. For\nfour months I have been in the employ of these churches.\nMy first business was to travel over the Territory and\nascertain where we have brethren in sufficient numbers to\nmake it expedient to organize churches. To that end I have\ntraveled over that portion of the Territory north of the\nKansas River, and embraced in the counties of Leavenworth,\nAtchison, Doniphan, Jefferson, and Calhoun; also, to some\nextent south of the Kansas River.\n\nI will not say that this has been the pleasantest labor of\nmy life. A long and wearisome ride across wide prairies,\nunder a burning sun, has often been followed by a\nfruitless effort to excite interest enough to justify\nestablished preaching. I would not convey the idea that\nthis region is not full of promise to the missionary,\nnotwithstanding I am fully persuaded that we are not to\nexpect such _immediate_ results as have followed my own\nlabors elsewhere. We must first sow, and then, in due\ntime, we shall reap, if we faint not.\n\nThe M. E. Church reports 120 preachers in Kansas and\nNebraska; the U. B. Church, 9, sustained in part by\ncontributions from abroad. The Missionary Baptists make\ngood their right to the name they have chosen, by\nsustaining four missionaries. I confess it is a matter of\nprofound humiliation to me that the demonstration that\nours is primitive apostolic Christianity, is found in the\nfact that we can afford but one missionary in Kansas, and\nthat to his support not one dime has been contributed from\nabroad. The brethren in the Territory, under an unexampled\npecuniary pressure, and out of their deep poverty, have\ndone all that has been done. Two new churches have been\norganized--one at Big Springs, Douglas county, numbering\ntwenty-eight members; the other at Cedar Creek, Jefferson\ncounty, of eleven members. We have also the nucleus of a\ncongregation at Atchison, and another at Elk City, Calhoun\ncounty. Thus we have in this part of Kansas the foundation\nlaid for eight churches, all of which are steadily\nincreasing in numbers; and the brethren composing them, in\nall the elements of future growth, and in moral and in\nreligious excellence, are at par value with the\nbrotherhood in any of our States or Territories.\n\nIf the older churches, blessed with such abundant means,\nwould aid us in this hour of our need, it is my opinion\nthey would be no poorer on earth and much richer in\nheaven. But whether they aid us or not, I trust we shall\nhold our own, and ultimately prove that the weapons of our\nwarfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the\npulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and\nevery high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge\nof God. We have a number of young preachers, who are\ngiving promise of future usefulness. Very truly, your\nbrother,\n\nPARDEE BUTLER.\n\nP. S.--Five persons in this congregation, and one at Big\nSprings have been recently added by baptism; also two from\nother denominations.\n\n\nOn the 1st day of July, 1859, Bro. Butler made a very interesting\nreport of his labors, and especially of his tour in several of the\nfree States--mostly where he had labored in the gospel before his\nremoval to Kansas. As the document is too long for publication entire\nin this volume, only the more important extracts can be given. The\nfirst two paragraphs being only a fuller statement of what is already\nwritten, the first extract will show the voluntary indorsement of Bro.\nButler by the churches for which he had been laboring, as follows:\n\nWHEREAS, Bro. Butler has faithfully and diligently\nperformed the labor assigned him as our evangelist;\ntherefore,\n\n_Resolved_, I. That we do most heartily approve of his\nlabors and general course of conduct during his term of\nservice. 2. That the officers of this Board be directed to\nprocure the services of Bro. Butler, or some other\nsuitable person, to solicit aid in the States for this\nsociety.\n\nBro. Humber, as president of the Board, did not call it\ntogether to complete the arrangement contemplated. On my\nown part, I felt unwilling to importune him. I went on my\ntour, therefore, simply under the indorsement and approval\nof my own congregation. I left home December 16, 1858, and\nreturned May 12, 1859. I visited the Military Tract of\nIllinois, Northeast Iowa, Southwest Michigan, Central and\nEastern Indiana, and Northern Ohio. The amount of money\nrealized was $365; expenses, $110, leaving a balance on\nhand of $255, as the first installment of the fund of our\nbegun mission.\n\nOf all the churches in which I sought a hearing only one,\nthe church at Bedford, Ohio, gave me the cold shoulder. In\nresponse to my request for the privilege of delivering a\nlecture before them, in development of our wants and\ncondition in Kansas, they responded that they considered\nit \"political,\" and they had resolved that their house\nshould not be used for political lectures!.... In all the\nlocalities visited by me, I found the masses of the people\nwith such convictions as will constrain them to treat\nslavery in the United States as a moral evil, and to\npatronize only such societies as assume toward it a\nsimilar position. It is asked: What have we to do with\nslavery? I reply: We, as Christians, should have nothing\nto do with it. But we in Kansas are placed under\ncompulsion to have something to do with it. We have\nslaveholders in our churches; and if the time should come\nwhen there will be no slaves in Kansas, still we have\nsomething to do with it, for within one day's ride of us\nin Platte county, Mo., is the largest body of slaveholders\nin that State. Discipline is special to each congregation,\nbut that sense of justice which always stands as the basis\nof discipline, is common to all the churches of one\ncommunion. This public opinion is created by a mutual\ninterchange of sentiment--the books we read and the\npreachers we hear. For years past slaveholders have ceased\nto hear those suspected of abolitionism or to read their\nwritings. I will bear very long with error where mutual\ndiscussion and free interchange of sentiment promise\nultimately to bring all to be of the same mind. Am I told\nthat the safety of slave property requires that\nAbolitionists should not be heard in the slave States? I\nreply: The more shame to those who perpetuate an\ninstitution that demands for its security the tyranny of\nsuch proscription; and that the human soul of the black\nman should be so cruelly dwarfed and robbed of his\nmanhood. . . . Such are the not very flattering\nimpressions made on my mind during a five months' tour in\nNorthern Ohio, after an absence of nine years. There must\nand will be a reform; it has become a public necessity.\nTemporizers are proverbially short-sighted. God gives only\nto the pure-hearted the divine privilege of foreseeing the\ncoming of those beneficent revolutions, which exalt and\ndignify humanity. Ambitious and selfish men are left to go\nblindly on and fall into their own pit. At present there\nwill be chaos I The people will not follow those who have\nbeen accustomed to lead, notwithstanding those leaders\nwill have power greatly to embarrass the action of those\nwho do not follow them. We have three pressing wants: 1. A\n_sustained_ paper that will not bow the knee to the image\nof this modern Baal. Such a paper we have, but it should\nnot be concealed, that it must pass through a fiery\nordeal, and can only be sustained by the timely efforts of\nits friends. 2. We need a convention made up of men who\nregard slavery as a moral evil, and are disposed to make\ntheir own consciences the rule of their action. 3. We need\na missionary fund, which shall be placed in such hands\nthat it shall not be prostituted to the vile purpose of\nbribing men into silence on the subject of slavery.\n\nI am not commissioned specially to speak for the\n_Luminary_, nor to prophesy concerning any convention\nwhich may hereafter assemble. I only speak for myself. Let\nit then be candidly admitted that the fund which I have\nbeen able to collect is a rather unpromising beginning,\nand that it does not augur that this mission will be well\nsustained. I remark, then, I never was adequately\nsustained. I have been a frontier and a pioneer preacher,\nand have shared the fortunes of such men. To keep myself\nin the field I have labored very hard, I have toiled by\nday, and have subjected my family to the necessity of such\nlabor, privation, and close economy as, perhaps, calls for\nrebuke instead of praise. The churches at Davenport, Long\nGrove, De Witt, Marion, and Highland Grove, in Iowa; and\nCamp Point, Mt. Sterling, and Rushville, in Illinois, can\nbe addressed as to my former manner of life. I would speak\nmodestly of myself; and have not obtruded these matters\nbefore the brethren until rudely assailed as though I\nnever made any sacrifices. I do not complain, and what I\nhave said is offered, as evidence, in some sort, that\nmoney appropriated to this mission will not be squandered.\n\n\nIn this connection it is thought proper to insert a single quotation\nfrom a letter which appeared in the _Review_, a paper which published\neditorially, the most unscrupulous slanders in reference to Bro.\nButler's work in Kansas, which letter was written by Bro. S. A.\nMarshall, of Leavenworth--both an M. D. and a preacher, and than whom\nno more honorable gentleman ever lived in that city. His testimony is\nincidental, and therefore so much the stronger:\n\nThe brethren of the four churches named have tried to\nco-operate together to sustain Bro. Pardee Butler as home\nmissionary for a little while. He is an able evangelist\nand generally beloved: and being on the ground and well\nacquainted with the country, and the manners and customs\nof the people, could be obtained at much less expense, and\nperhaps be as useful and acceptable to the people as any\nother available evangelist.\n\n\nIn harmony with the suggestion made by Bro. Butler in his report, for\na convention of our brethren who look upon slavery as a moral evil,\ncall was made for such a meeting to convene in the city of\nIndianapolis on the 1st day of November, 1859. About six hundred\nsignatures were attached to the call, including many of the most\nintelligent and influential members of our churches in the North.\nAfter much misrepresentation and denunciation, the convention was held\nin the Christian chapel in Indianapolis; a constitution for a\nmissionary society adopted and the necessary officers appointed. Many\nof the churches gave it a most hearty endorsement. It was deemed\nexpedient that Bro. Butler, before returning to Kansas, should visit\nas many churches as practicable. Accordingly, he wrote to the\n_Luminary_ under date of December 26, 1859, from Springville, Ind., as\nfollows:\n\nI have thought best, before returning to Kansas, to make a\nshort visit to this part of Indiana, where, according to\nreport, almost all the brethren are opposed to our recent\nmissionary movement. In twenty-three days I have preached\nthirty-two discourses. For the mission we raised, cash,\n$55; pledges, $43. Three have been added by baptism, and\none from the Presbyterians who had formerly been immersed.\nSome of our preaching brethren in this part of the State\nconclude to take the advice of Gamaliel: \"And now I say\nunto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone; for\nif this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to\nnaught; but if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it; lest\nhappily ye be found even to fight against God.\" In the\ncause of a common piety and a common humanity.\n\n\nBro. Butler returned to Kansas, and resumed his labors wherever a door\nof entrance was opened to him. Angry clouds thickened across the\npolitical and religious horizon, until, shortly, the storm broke forth\nin unwonted fury, and swept away from the national statute book every\nvestige of American slavery. For a quarter of a century longer he\ncontinued in the service of the Master, laboring successfully in every\ndepartment of the ministerial work--evangelical, pastoral, and in the\nadvocacy of all moral reforms, and especially as a leader in the\nwarfare waged against the saloon interest in Kansas. He lived to see\nhis adopted State take an advanced position in the legal prohibition\nmovement, slavery in the United States abolished, and the cause of\nBible Christianity flourishing as it had never done before. He\ncommanded the respect of all who knew him, and was regarded as one of\nthe chief founders of the church. His presence at all the Christian\nconventions in and out of the State was always hailed with tokens of\ngladness. Still he was aware that there were individual members, and\neven some churches that never forgave him for the active part he took\nagainst the extension of slavery, and his indictments against it as a\nmoral evil--a sin against God and man. Fifty years of his eventful\nlife were consecrated to the service of the Master and the good of\nhumanity. He died with the ministerial harness on. At the time of the\nsad casualty which proved to be fatal, he had arrangements for\ncontinued work in the churches, both at home and abroad. He finished\nhis course with joy, for he knew there was laid up for him in heaven a\ncrown of righteousness. He labored assiduously in life, and now enjoys\nthe sweet rest which remains for the people of God.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLI.\n\nTEMPERANCE AND CHURCH WORK,\n\nBY ELD. J. B. MCCLEERY.\n\nANALYSIS OF CHARACTER.\n\n 1. An indomitable will.\n\n 2. A sublime courage.\n\n 3. A never-satisfied hungering and thirst for knowledge.\n\n 4. An intense love for truth, and hatred of shams.\n\n 5. A tireless worker.\n\n 6. An advanced thinker.\n\nIn presenting this analysis it is by no means thought to be complete.\nThere are many phases of his well-known character left untouched,\nbecause this chapter would become a book, if all were presented in\ndetail. We touch upon these more salient ones, as presenting the\nwell-known outlines of his later life, and trust the picture will find\nfaithful recognition among his host of admirers.\n\nThose who have known him ever since the past Territorial days of\nKansas, will concede that, for the accomplishment of a purpose unto\nwhich he had once deliberately put his hand, no man ever breathed the\nfresh air of these broad prairies who followed the trail with more\ndetermination and keen, intelligent acquaintance with all bearings,\novercoming difficulties, meeting objections, accepting temporary\ndefeat (philosophically), but never relinquishing his purpose until\nvictory crowned his effort, or failure was absolutely inevitable,\nthan he.\n\nSuited to this was a courage as heroic as Leonidas' and sublime as\nPaul's. The stormy days of the fifties and sixties gave evidence of\nthe physical side of this quality, and his entire life, of the moral.\nHe \"feared no foe in shining armor,\" and rather courted than avoided a\npassage at arms dialectic. Eminently a man of peace, and loving the\npursuits that make for it, he would see no principle of right unjustly\nassailed without girding himself for the conflict, and standing where\nthe blows fell thickest.\n\nComing to this unknown country at an age when the ordinary mind takes\nfirmest grasp of all intellectual things, and being thus deprived of\nthat mental food necessary to satisfy and make strong, there was ever\nafter a hungering for the things he did not have, that would not be\nsatisfied. I remember talking with him once, while sitting on his\nlumber wagon, resting his team in the cotton-wood bottoms east of\nAtchison, and he bewailed as much as a man of his fiber could, the\nfate that compelled him to toil day and night while his soul was\nstarving for that intellectual food which lay all around him, but\nwhich he did not have time to gather and devour. This, however, was\nnot abnormal; for, even to the day of his death, he was a devoted\ndisciple, sitting at the feet of every true Gamaliel.\n\nAn intense lover of truth, and a like hater of shams, he analyzed\nmercilessly; not for the sake of opposing, but in search of kernels\nand the source of things. If he found the tree was bearing, or\ndestined to bear evil fruit, he would do his utmost that there should\nbe left of it neither root nor branch. Accepting good in every\npresented form, if he suspected evil in the garb of good, there was no\nwaiting for a more opportune time than the then present, for such\nstripping and exposure as his vigorous logic, sarcasm, wit, pathos,\nand personal presence could produce. Humble, and exceedingly retiring\nin ordinary, when the truth was assailed, or wolves in sheeps'\nclothing appeared, he became a lion, fierce and towering; and woe\nbetake the man or system that then became the object of his righteous\nwrath. Such torrents of invective as fell from his tongue; such\nflashes as gleamed from his gray eagle-eyes; such scorn as glowed in\nhis thin, pallid lips, made every one tremble--an avalanche that swept\nall before it.\n\nTo toil, of some character or other, he seemed to be destined. For no\nsooner did he find a little rest from the field or herd, than all his\nHurculean energy was thrown into some cherished and waiting mental\nproject. His life is an example of the statement that \"genius is the\nresult of labor.\" Neither did he travel in thought alone upon the\nsurface of things. There were subjects, the philosophy of which no\ncontemporary understood better; and upon the social and organic\nrelations of the religious reformation with which he always stood\nidentified, he was twenty years ahead of his confreres. He was a\nveritable Elijah in many things, but he was never known to flee from\nthe face of his enemies.\n\nHis was a mighty nature; the soul of honor and the embodiment of\ntruth.\n\nThere are two features of his Kansas life, which marked the man, that\nI wish to portray, viz: His _temperance_ work, and his _religious_\nwork. These were not in any sense divorced, as though they were not\nalways righteously allied; but, as all know, the prohibition question\nholds a prominent place in the history of this proud young queen, with\nher \"_ad astra per aspera_,\" and from the time she was admitted to a\nplace among the sisterhood of States, up to the date that the\ncomparatively little majority of 8,000 votes placed her squarely in\nopposition to the saloon, with all its interests and iniquities, he\nlabored, watched, and prayed, for such a consummation. In this, as in\nhis religious conceptions, he was always in the advance, running new\nlines and opening broad highways, and inviting fields for the less\nsturdy but oncoming multitude. As he had battled to prevent this, his\nadopted State, from being desecrated by the blot of human slavery,\nso now he voted, preached, lectured, wrote, that it might be delivered\nfrom the body and soul destroying curse of the rum power.\n\nI have before me his temperance scrap-book, beginning with the\nproposed amendment to the State Constitution, March 8, 1879, and\ncoming up to the time of his death, in which I find fifty-five\nnewspaper articles written by him, of from one to three columns in\nlength, presenting, in his own terse, humorous, glowing, vigorous,\nconvincing way, all sides of this chameleon-hued question; now\nanalyzing the amendment and the laws to enforce it, turning aside here\nto answer the cavil of some carping critic, then to demolish and bury\nsome blatant political defender of the whisky element; arraigning the\nGovernor, Senate and House of Representatives for their gingerly\ntreatment of the great question, and sending a trumpet-call to the\nhonest, brave, and sincere temperance workers, both men and women,\nurging them to greater vigilance and closer compact. These, with\nnumerous short and pithy articles, added to all his sermons and\nlectures on the subject, occupying a much larger space and far more\ntime, will give an idea of the labor of heart and brain bestowed upon\nthis one question, during this one decade. We have room in this\nchapter for only one short article from his pen, as an example of the\nmany, indicating how he felt, thought, and wrote during those stirring\nyears. The title of the article is, \"The Prohibition of the Liquor\nTraffic, The Constitutional Amendment in Kansas.\" He says:\n\nThis is, perhaps, the first case in which any government\nin the world has incorporated into its constitution a\nclause prohibiting forever the sale of intoxicating drinks\nas a beverage. This is a struggle in which the churches,\nthe preachers, and the Sunday-schools are arrayed in\nmortal antagonism to the saloons and saloon-keepers. Both\nparties are instinctively conscious that this is a contest\nin which the issue is to kill or be killed. No truce or\npeace is possible. 'I will put enmity between thy seed and\nher seed.' The people are drawn into one or the other of\nthese parties by a sort of elective affinity. One class\ngoes with the churches and the Sunday-schools; another\ngravitates to the drinking-house. The one class are swayed\nand controlled by the law of love--\"Thou shalt love thy\nneighbor as thyself;\" the other by the principle that\ngoverned Cain--\"Am I my brother's keeper?\" \"Who cares?\"\n\"Let every man look out for himself?\" \"If a man chooses to\nmake a beast of himself, it is none of my business.\"\n\nOne of the peculiar things connected with this movement is\nthe fact that by far the most determined and effective\nopposition to this law comes from foreign-born and\nnaturalized citizens. They have, so to speak, monopolized\nthe liquor traffic; they are bound together by a kind of\nfree masonry, and with small regard to whom they vote\nwith, Democrats or Republicans, they give the whole weight\nof their political influence in favor of free liquor.\n\nWith here and there a notable exception, the Roman\nCatholic Church throws its influence on the same side;\nhence its church fairs are carnivals of drunkenness.\n\nThe two extremes of our American society do also largely\njoin in this clamor for free liquor. \"The upper ten\nthousand,\" those that arrogate to themselves that they are\npar excellence, the _elite_ of the nation--albeit that\ntheir assumed gentility is sometimes but a shoddy or\nshabby gentility--make the road from the top of society to\nthe bottom, and from thence to hell, as short as possible,\nby assuming that it is aristocratic to tipple.\n\nWhen from these so-called upper circles, we go down to the\nbottom of society, what shall we say of that great\nmultitude of men and women, crushed into poverty,\nhelplessness and ignorance, groping as the blind grope in\ndarkness; and who find in the dram-shop a momentary\noblivion to their miseries?\n\nTo these elements of opposition to prohibition we must add\nanother class of men--the professional politicians. These,\nlike the chameleon, take the color of every object they\nlight on. To them the good Lord and the good devil are\nequally objects of respect, and possible worship; and,\nhaving all mental endowments accurately developed, except\nthe endowment of conscience, they hold that all things are\nlegitimate that bring grist to their mill. These will be\ngood prohibitionists when prohibition dances in silver\nslippers; but now they do duty on the other side.\n\nThe above picture contains a very fair analysis of the\nelements of the vote in opposition to the prohibitory\namendment, except that, perhaps, we ought to add the vote\nin opposition to a well-intended class of men who have no\nproclivity for liquor, and who, perhaps, could give no\nbetter reason for their vote but that they abhor\ninnovations, and are content to do as their fathers and\ngrandfathers did before them.\n\nNotwithstanding, prohibition carried in the State by eight\nthousand majority. It is noteworthy that six counties,\nlying along the Missouri River, and having in or near them\nthe cities of Atchison, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, White\nCloud and Kansas City, and which also contain the largest\nforeign-born population in the State, gave heavy\nmajorities against the amendment.\n\nIt is self-evident that if the execution of this law is\nleft to the municipal authorities of the above-named\ncities, or to the officers elected in the above-named\ncounties, then the saloon keepers and liquor dealers will,\nwithout let or hindrance, trample under foot both the\nconstitution and laws. The proof of this lies in the fact\nthat, in time past, the liquor dealers have ridden\nrough-shod over all laws enacted in the interest of\ntemperance. For example, the law provided that they should\nnot sell to boys under age; the law provided that they\nshould not sell on the Lord's day. The law forbids bribing\nat elections; but the bribery of strong drink at\nelections, in the cities, has been just as common as the\nelections; and church members, and even preachers, who\nwere candidates for office, have been blackmailed to get\nthe money to buy the liquor. It will be asked, What, then,\ndo we gain who live in these river counties, and in these\ncities, by the passage of this prohibitory law? We gain\nmuch.\n\n1. Thus far these law-breaking liquor dealers have acted,\nin carrying on their business, under the shadow and\nprotection of law. This protection is now withdrawn.\n\n2. The government has hitherto been in partnership with\nliquor dealers in the infamous business of making\ndrunkards. This partnership is now dissolved.\n\n3. The appetite for strong drink is not a natural\nappetite. It is an appetite artificially created in\nchildren, boys and young men. It is not for the public\nwelfare that it should be created at all. The scheme and\nplan of the popular saloon is to create this appetite, and\nto strengthen and foster it after it is created.\n\nThe whole business of the saloon looks in this direction.\nTo this end are its flashing lights, its glittering\ndecanters, its rainbow tints, its jolly good fellowship\nand boon companionship, and the _bonhomie_ of the portly\nsaloonkeeper. All these, in the purpose and intent for\nwhich they exist, mean the death of the body and the soul\nof the man that enters these gates that lead down to hell.\nThe saloon is a serpent, with the serpent's fascinating\nbeauty and power to charm, but with the serpent's deadly\nbite. \"At the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth\nlike an adder.\" Kansas has wisely ordained that it will\nnot maintain by the public authority and at the public\nexpense poisonous serpents to sting the people to death,\n\n4.  Men object: \"The selling of liquor will go on, but you\nwill drive the business into dark places and into the\nhands of disreputable men.\" To this temperance men reply:\n\"That is just what we want. We wish to take away every\nvestige of respectability from the man that sells liquor.\nWe intend that it shall be sold--if it must be sold at\nall--in dark cellars and in back alleys, and that the men\nthat sell liquor shall take rank among the law-breaking\nand dangerous classes of society,\"\n\n5. The one potent charm and omnipotent argument that has\nserved as a gift to blind the eyes and an opiate to lull\nto sleep the consciences of the municipal authorities of\nour cities has been the revenue they have derived from\nliquor license laws. For example, the city of Atchison has\nderived from this source a revenue of $10,000. This\nrevenue was paid not alone by her own citizens, but by all\nmen who were drawn to the city for purposes of business or\npleasure and who could be induced to patronize the\nsaloons. And this has been a perpetual menace to the\nsafety of families living in the country who did business\nin the city. This revenue is gone. It is hopelessly and\nirrecoverably dried up. The Missouri river will turn and\nflow backward towards its source before this revenue,\nwhich is the price of blood, like the thirty pieces of\nsilver for which Judas sold his Master, will ever come\nback again. After Jesus had cast a legion of demons out of\nthe demoniac that dwelt among the tombs, this man was far\nmore impressible with regard to motives addressed to his\nbetter nature than while he was possessed by these demons;\nso we may charitably hope that now, after ten thousand\nevil demons have been cast out of the hearts of the mayor\nand common council of the city of Atchison, these\ndignitaries will be more impressible with regard to\nmotives of morality, humanity, and of the public welfare.\n\nMeantime, temperance men look on the whole business of\nliquor license as an unspeakable madness. Regarded simply\nas a question of dollars and cents, they look on it as a\nhorrible nightmare--a hallucination fallen on men nearly\nallied to that form of mental abberration which carries\nmen to mad-houses and insane asylums, a strange and\nmysterious perversion of the human faculties. Regarded in\nits economical aspects, they hold that it would be just as\ngood economy and as much the dictate of common sense, to\nobtain a revenue by licensing murder, theft, burglary,\nrobbery, and harlotry, as it is to license the sale of\nintoxicating drinks as a beverage.\n\nIt will be seen, then, that prohibition incorporated into\nthe constitution of Kansas, does not, by any means, give\nus the victory; it only places us in a position to fight a\nfair and equal battle hereafter. We are, like Israel,\nshouting triumphantly, \"I will sing unto the Lord, for he\nhath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he\ndrowned in the Red Sea.\"\n\nBut beyond us are parched and desert sands, poisonous\nserpents, savage wild beasts and mortal enemies. All these\nmust be conquered before we finally rest in the happy\nCanaan.\n\nIt is now conceded by the best informed actors in this great drama or\ntragedy, that Pardee Butler, as much or more than any one man, made\nthe prohibition movement in Kansas the marvelous success it is. The\ngeneration is yet to come that will rise up to do him rightful honor.\n\nFrom '54 to '60 Pardee Butler was the Moses to the church in this\nwilderness, and for years following he was in some sense like Paul,\n\"having the care of all the churches.\" But from the beginning he was\nthe foremost man by virtue of natural and acquired ability, although a\nreluctant following was often given because of former habitudes and\nshibboleths, socially. There were other men in different localities\nwho battled grandly for the truth and sowed the seed of the kingdom\nwith firm and loyal hand: Brethren Yohe and Jackson, of Leavenworth,\nfollowed by the Bausermans, Joseph and Henry, Gans of Olathe, Brown of\nEmporia, White of Manhattan, and others equally worthy,--all pioneers\nin every good sense, and now all gone to their reward, with the\nexceptions of Brethren Yohe and the Bausermans. Without being formally\nchosen Pardee Butler was the recognized leader of these sanctified\nfew, and no home where they entered was too humble, or field where\nthey toiled too barren, for the light of his countenance to cheer, or\nthe strength of his arm to be felt. In the polity and development of\nthe church, as in other fields of moral and social struggle, he was\nfar in advance of the time; and up to the day of his death, this was\none of the great burdens that rested upon his heart.\n\nThe membership coming to the Territory, and which, of course, formed\nthe nuclei of churches, was a heterogenous compound. In many respects\nthere was no possible assimilation; but so far as the simple tenets of\nthe primitive faith were concerned, there was little or no difference.\nBut as to plurality of bishops in the congregation, their tenure and\njurisdiction of office, the relations of comity between sister\nchurches, the duties and powers of an evangelist, the laying on of\nhands in induction into authority, instrumental music in the\ncongregation, the Sunday-school and its organization, the order of\nsocial worship, the mid-week meeting for prayer, and numerous other\nmatters of scriptural life, there were as many shades of opinion as\nthere were of dialects; and the tenacity with which they were\nmaintained, those not familiar with the time and its environments can\nhardly hope to know. Yet upon all these and kindred questions, Bro.\nButler had singularly clear-cut and advanced opinions. He has often\nsaid to me, \"How very obtuse the churches seem to be on the plain\nteaching of Scripture. And the preachers are equally ignorant, or else\nthey are willing to go limping and halting, when they could as well\nand better be easily marching and leading their sanctified hosts to\nmarvelous victory.\"\n\nHe did not feel, or even make manifest, that he recognized his\ngreatness in these directions only as he labored to bring the\ncongregations and their officers up to his ideals.\n\nIn the first struggles to bring the scattered congregations into\nco-operative unity, he was the head and heart of the movement; and\nthrough all the varied successes and failures of those non-cohesive\ntimes and men, he never lost courage or intimated aught else than the\nsuccess which now crowns the work.\n\nI regarded him as the finest ecclesiastical historian among us, and\nbecause of his knowledge here, coupled with the philosophy that grew\nout of it, linked to the genius of Christianity itself, he was, by\neducational intuition, a missionary zealot.\n\nCarey and the Judsons, and Barclay and Livingstone, with all others of\nlike character, were what he termed \"ripe fruit\" from the Good Tree.\nHe was to the churches in Kansas what these men and women were to the\npeople among whom they labored. Visiting every outpost, gathering the\nstraggling sheep into folds and striving to secure shepherds for them,\nstripping the fleecy garments from the wolves, uncovering the\nsophistries of the various polytheisms, immersing the converts and\nexhorting the saints, the thirty-five years he spent in Kansas were\nyears of severest mental, moral and physical labor; and from which he\nasked no respite until God called him.\n\nTruthfully this Scripture may be written as his epitaph: \"Blessed are\nthe dead who die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit,\nfor they rest from their labors and their works do follow them.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLII.\n\nThe following tributes of friendship were published\nin the _Atchison Champion_, after father's death:\n\nTWO KANSAS PIONEERS.\n\nBY JOHN A. MARTIN, EX-GOVERNOR OF KANSAS.\n\nRev. Pardee Butler, who died at his old home, near\nFarmington, on Saturday last, was, for a full generation\npast, one of the most prominent figures in Kansas history.\nHe was a minister of the Christian Church, and located in\nthis county early in 1855. He came to Kansas to fight\nslavery. He was a sincere man. He was a brave man. He had\nin him the stuff of which martyrs are made. He\ndeliberately chose, on coming to the young Territory, the\ncounty in which the advocates of slavery seemed to be\nstrongest and most violent. He made no secret of his\nopinions on the question of slavery, nor of his purpose to\noppose the attempt to make Kansas, a slave State. He was\nnot a fighting man, in the worldly sense of that word; but\nin its broader and higher significance, he was an\naggressive, fearless, tireless fighter. He would not kill,\nbut he did not hesitate to brave death. He would not\nshoot, but he did not quail or cower before guns, for\nknives, or ropes.\n\nThe _Champion_ publishes, this morning, some extracts from\nits own columns, when it was a newspaper with another name\nand other principles, narrating some of the incidents of\nhis early life in Kansas. They are historic. During a\nmarvelous era they stirred the heart and aroused the\nconscience of the Nation. This humble preacher, coming to\nthe Territory for a cause, and bravely enduring the pangs\nof martyrdom for his opinions, became, at once, the\nrepresentative of millions of men. The story of his wrongs\nwas told in every newspaper of the land, and was discussed\naround the firesides of a million homes. The brutal\npro-slavery mob of Atchison saw in him only an impudent\nand absurd opponent of an institution that controlled\ncourts, legislatures and congress; the awakening Nation\nsaw that he stood for Free Speech, for Liberty, for Law,\nand for Humanity; and the indignities heaped upon him\ntouched and stirred the heart of the North in its\nprofoundest depths.\n\nPardee Butler, facing the drunken, ignorant, howling,\nbrutal pro-slavery mobs of Atchison, must have been, to\nthem, a unique figure. They could not understand him. The\nwriter has heard men who were present, but not\nparticipants, when the mob had him in charge, say that the\nmingled hatred and respect with which the ruffians\nregarded him, was singularly manifest. He bore himself\nwith quiet dignity and composure. He did not attempt to\nresist, nor, on the other hand, did he manifest the\nslightest evidence of fear. To their loud and violent\nthreatenings, he made answer with quiet, manly dignity. It\nwould have gratified the ruffians beyond measure if they\ncould have induced him to recant, or to make some pledge\nthat would compromise his frankly expressed opinions--some\npromise of silence concerning or acquiescence in, or\nnon-interference with, their cherished purpose to\nestablish slavery in Kansas. If he had yielded even so\nmuch as this, they would gladly have let him go. But never\nfor a moment did he falter, or waver, or equivocate. He\nrefused to make any promise. He stood upon his rights as\nan American citizen. He was opposed to slavery in Kansas,\nand intended to oppose it as long as he lived. He came to\nKansas to aid in making it a free State, and no fear of\npersonal injury would change his purpose, He was one man\namong hundreds, but he intended, then and at all times, in\nAtchison or elsewhere, to express his convictions, and\nwith voice and vote maintain his opinions. All this he\nsaid, quietly and without a trace of boasting, but with a\nfirmness that won from the mob a most unyielding respect.\n\nAnd this saved him from a worse fate. If he had quailed or\nequivocated, they would have triumphed; if he had boasted\nor threatened, they would have hanged him. He did neither.\nAnd so they first set him adrift on a raft, and again\ntarred and feathered him; and on both occasions manly\ncourage and sincere faith were victorious over brute force\nand mad passion.\n\nMr. Butler lived his life, during all the years of his\nresidence in this county, illustrating the same lofty\npurposes and sincere convictions. He was not always\ncorrect in his judgments, but he was always earnest. He\nwas interested in every good cause. During his whole life\nhe was an ardent temperance man. He was a practical, as\nwell as an ardent, advocate of temperance, and the\norganization of the so-called \"Third party\"\nprohibitionists, excited, at once, his indignation and\ncontempt. He was one of the first prohibitionists of\nKansas to distrust St. John, and to denounce him as a\nself-seeking, ambitious demagogue. He had no use for any\nman who was not entirely sincere, or who was not willing\nto subordinate his own personal interest for the sake of\nprinciple.\n\nAmong the free State pioneers, of Atchison County, Pardee\nButler and Caleb May were first in influence and\nusefulness. The latter died only a few weeks ago, in\nFlorida. The _Champion_ made notice of his death at the\ntime. The two men, in their personal characteristics, had\nnothing in common. Col. May was a man of very limited\neducation; Mr. Butler was schooled in books. Col. May had\nlived all his life on the frontier; Mr. Butler came from\none of the oldest communities in Ohio. Col. May believed\nin the weapons of carnal warfare; Mr. Butler put his faith\nin the power of reason. Both were men of approved and\nunquestionable courage, but if the pro-slavery mob had\nattempted to capture Col. May, a revolver, held with a\nsteady hand, would have blazed his defiance; Mr. Butler\nsubmitted, without resistance to the mob's will. The\nruffians did not understand this peaceful but resolute\nantagonist, but they were compelled to respect his\ndetermined purpose. When Col. May wrote to their leader a\nletter telling the pro-slavery rulers of Atchison that his\nhome was his castle, and if any man attacked it, he would\nmeet with a bloody reception, and that he (May) intended\nto come to Atchison whenever he pleased, and meant to come\narmed, they laughed at his rude chirography, and made\nmerry over his \"spelling by ear,\" but they understood his\nmeaning perfectly, and knew, also, that he would do\nexactly what he said. And they never disturbed him. In his\npersonal appearance Col. May was an ideal\n\"Leatherstockings.\" He might have sat for a portrait of\nCooper's famous frontier hero and Indian trailer. Over six\nfeet in height, angular, muscular, somewhat awkward in\nrepose, with cool, bright gray eyes, deep set under shaggy\neyebrows, and having immense reach of arm--his was an\nimposing figure. Mr. Butler was a born Puritan; Col. May\nwas a born frontiersman. [7] Mr. Butler opposed slavery on\nmoral grounds, and because he hated injustice or wrong in\nany form. Col. May hated slavery, and fought it, because\nhe believed the institution was detrimental to his own\nrace. Born in Kentucky and reared in Missouri, he had seen\nthe effects of slavery all about him, harming him and his,\nand so he hated it.\n\n\nKansas owes both of these pioneers a debt of respect and\ngratitude. The world was better that they lived in it.\nFreedom found in them devoted loyalty to her cause. They\nboth loved Kansas, and their lives were inseparably\nassociated with the stirring events of the most momentous\nyears of her history. They served her well. Brave and\nstrong and useful, they fought a good fight and kept the\nfaith. Honor to their memory.\n\n\n\nA WREATH OF TRIBUTE.\n\nBY REV. D. C. MILNER,\n\nFormerly Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Atchison, Kan.\n\nEDITOR OF THE CHAMPION:--Having read, with much interest,\nyour sketch of Pardee Butler, I am moved to lay a wreath\nof tribute upon the grave of the old hero. He was a man of\nmost invincible courage. Earl Morton, by the open grave of\nJohn Knox, said, \"Here lies one who never feared the face\nof man.\" Mr. Butler was a John Knox sort of man. Those who\nhave visited him at his home of late years will remember\nhow modestly, yet with some pride, he would tell the story\nof that day in Atchison when the mob started him down the\nriver on the frail raft, and how he would exhibit the\nbanner so carefully preserved. It would be of much\ninterest if we could have the full story, told by himself,\nof the raft journey; of the after \"tar and cotton\" affair;\nand also, of the night, some time after that, when some of\nthe very men who helped to mob him, assisted him across\nthe river with his loaded team when he was in some\ntrouble.\n\nHe lived to see the overthrow of the slave power, which he\nhated with all the intensity of his nature. He also\nwitnessed the revolution in Kansas as to the liquor power.\nThe files of the _Champion_ for the spring of 1885, have\nan account of a notable meeting in the court-house at\nAtchison of the friends of law and order. The friends of\nthe saloon, for nearly five years after prohibition was\nthe law of the State, had ignored the law, and challenged\nits enforcement. This convention was the first general\ngathering of the citizens of Atchison County to protest\nagainst this lawlessness, and demanded that the officers\nof the law close the saloons. Pardee Butler was one of the\nleading spirits in the convention. Many will recall his\nfiery speech of that day. He spoke of the thirty years of\nhis life in Kansas, and of the great events that had\nhappened. He then denounced the actual rebellion then in\nexistence, and called for its suppression. That convention\nwas the beginning of the end of the downfall of the\norganized saloon power in Atchison.\n\nPardee Butler was in sympathy with good men in every good\ncause. While a born controversialist, and strong in his\nconvictions, he was glad to work with Christians of any\nname in building up the kingdom of God in the world. He\nidentified himself heartily with the Sunday-school work,\nand was anxious that everything should be done for\nchildren and youth, not only to make them believers, but\ngood men and good citizens. I agree heartily with what\nNoble Prentis has recently said of him: \"We knew him well\nin his later years; a brave and earnest man; full of ideas\nfor making this world better, and confident that they\nwould succeed. He has gone to the company of those who, on\nevery field for these hundreds of years, where the battle\nfor the sacred rights of man was to be fought out, have\ncried, _'O Lord, make bare thine arm!'_ and have bared\ntheir own.\"\n\nMANHATTAN, KAN., October 26, 1888.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes:\n\n[1] When they were making the raft father noticed that one of the logs\nwas sound and the other rotten. They fastened them together by nailing\nshakes--shingles--from one to the other. Some one remarked that the\nnails would pull out the first time the raft struck a snag. Then they\nsaid they would drive in long wooden pins. But father noticed that the\nlong pins were driven into the sound log, while the ends on the rotten\nlog were only fastened by the nails.\n\nOne of the logs of which the raft was made was much longer than the\nother, and on the end of the longer log they put the flag. And over the\nrough swift current father walked the dizzy length of that single log\nand took down the flag. Mother still keeps that flag as a precious\nrelic. Several years ago one of the men engaged in that mob ran for\noffice in Northern Kansas. His opponent borrowed the flag, to use in the\ncampaign, and returned it in good order. But we have since learned that\nhe had several copies of it painted, and that one of them is now in the\nrooms of the Kansas Historical Society, in the showcase with John\nBrown's cap, and is shown as the veritable flag that was on Pardee\nButler's raft.\n\n\n[2] The Thirteenth Kansas Regiment, which was raised in 1862, was\ncomposed of Atchison County men. They voted to request father to\nbecome their chaplain, and they sent him word, requesting him to apply\nto Gen. Lane for the appointment. He did so, and received a letter\nfrom Gen. Lane, asking, \"How much will you pay for the place?\" Father\nreplied, \"If the position of chaplain is sold for a price, I do not\nwant it.\"\n\n\n[3] Bro. Garrett not only gave freely of his money to the church, but he\ngave freely of time, and trouble, and anxious watching. He also gave\nliberally and constantly of provisions and other necessaries to his\npoorer neighbors. His brother-in-law, Dr. Moore, complained that he was\nspoiling the church by taking such constant care of it. \"O well,\" said\nBro. Garrett one day, \"every church has to have a wheel-horse, and I\nmight as well be the wheel-horse as any body.\"\n\n\n[4] When father took this letter to Lawrence, he met Mr. Redpath, the\n_Tribune_ reporter, who requested permission to copy it for the _New\nYork Tribune_.\n\nBefore Mr. Redpath had completed his copy, the editor of the _Herald\nof Freedom_ demanded the manuscript to put in type. The edition of the\n_Herald of Freedom_ containing it was destroyed, and father only\nobtained a mutilated copy of it. But from that portion printed in the\n_Tribune_, and what was left of the _Herald of Freedom_, he secured a\ncomplete copy of the letter.\n\n\n\n[5] When Col. Sumner's soldiers were asked what they would do if they\nwere ordered to fire on the Free State men, they replied, \"We would\naim above their heads.\"\n\n\n[6] When father reached the east bank it was so slippery that the oxen\nwould not go down. So he hitched them to the back of the sled, and,\nwith a handspike, pried it to the edge of the bank, and started it\ndown. Of course it slid down the hill, and pulled the oxen with it.\n\n\n[7] Mr. May was not the blustering rough that many people suppose a\nfrontiersman to be. He was a quiet, hard-working farmer, kind and\nneighborly, but ready to defend his own rights, and those of his\nfriends, or of the poor and down-trodden. His proverbial phrase was,\n\"Whatever I do, I want to do it so well that the world will be none\nthe worse for my having lived in it.\" His son, E. E. May, says that he\nused to say that he learned from his Bible to hate slavery. He could\nlead a prayer-meeting as easily as he could lead a regiment, and he\ncould defend the Scriptures as readily as he could defend his home. I\nonce heard him say that he had never kept a hired man for any length\nof time, but that he succeeded in persuading him to join the church\nbefore he left him. MRS. R. B. H.","title":"Personal Recollections of Pardee Butler","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":98877}