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“‘ [92] the whiskey and the bacon, and a large portion of the others had gone under the compulsion of opinion and proscription, and because they feared being denounced as abolitionists if they refused? ’ ” The politicians 1 called John Brown an “impracticable man,” but their own subsequent history, and the history of Lawrence, afford an ample vindication of his conduct at this crisis. His predictions, in less than a year, were historical facts.
1 The following amusing paragraph occurs in a Life of John Brown, written by a Republican politician, and published in the New York Herald. To spare an old acquaintance from ridicule, I omit a few words only.
In December, 1855, during the “ Shannon war,” Brown first made his appearance among the Free State men at Lawrence. His entrance into the place at once attracted the attention of the people towards him. He brought a wagon load of cavalry sabres, and was accompanied by twelve men, seven of whom were his own sons. He first exhibited his qualities at the time the Free State and pro-slavery parties, under the lead of Governor Robinson on one side, and Governor Shannon on the other, met to make a treaty of peace. After Governor Robinson had stated to the people who were gathered around the hotel the terms of the peace, Brown took the stand uninvited, and opposed the terms of the treaty. He was in favor of ignoring all treaties, and such leading men as Robinson, Lane, &c., and, proceeding at once against the border ruffian invaders, drive them from the soil, or hang them if taken. The chairman of the Committee of Safety ordered Brown under arrest. The latter made no physical resistance, but it was soon discovered that he was altogether too combustible a person to retain as a prisoner, and a compromise was made with him by the Free State men, and he was released. He was informed by the leaders of that party that his remarks were intended to undo what they were trying to accomplish by means of the treaty; that he was a stranger in Lawrence and Kansas, and ought not, by his rash remarks, to compromise the people of Lawrence, until he had known them longer and knew them better.
Thayer and Eldridge, 1860.
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