The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1856-04-17
o.

From the New York Times.
Bibles aud Rifles.
Letter from Rev. Henry Ward Beecher to
c. B. Lines. Esq.
BRooKLYs. March 90, 1856
C. B. LINES, ESQ, New Haven, Conn
Dear Sir: Allow me to address you. and
through you. the gentlemen Of your compa
ny, on the eve Of your departure for Kansas.
hope and believe that you will find settle
ment there to be a means Of great personal
prosperity You are not, like the many set.
tiers of Nav Haven. going upon a doubt
ful enterprise to poor soil. IN severe
climate, the ocean on one side, aud the
wilderness of a continent on every other side.
You will not 90 far from US. In our day We
measure by time rather than by distance, by
hours, not miles You will not be as far
from your old homes as one Sabbath is from
another. And yet you go upon an errand
not one whit less Chris ian AMI less hero
ic than tha. Of our common ancestors who
founded New Haven. You are pioneers of
towns and cities You are the seed of Chris
tianity the germs of civilization. You will
put down your fee: in wilderness-ln year
il will be populous place. And where the
morning sun now rouses up herds OF Wild but
talo. crouched deep in grass, in your own life
time i. will bring forth the cry of mul:itudes,
and the noise Of city. Nevertheless. such
perils have been coled around the young State
Of Kansas. that it is an act OF courage TO set
tie there, if man goes with the true spirit Of
American institutions. To 50 there determin-
ed to transplant to its soil that Tree Of Liber-
ty, which, under God, as in older States bore
and shook down from its boughs all the fruits
of an unparalleled prosperity. requires heroic
courage. 1t is pleasure and an honor to US
to be in any way connected with such an en-
terprise. by furnishing to the emigrant ma'eri-
al or oral aid. have personally felt double
interest in your company. because it springs
from New Haven, my fathers birth place. and
home Of my ancestors. "A friend and parish
ioner A. Studweil. ESD desires me to pre-
sent to you twenty five copies of the Bible
This is the charter of all charters. the ConsH
tntion Of all Consti.utio ms, the source and
spring Of Christian man iness. This book
wi Il lie at the foundation Of your State. It
will teach you TO value your rights, and in
spire you to defend them. The donor has
caused to be inscribed upon them: . BE ye
sseddfa fas! and unnsopable."
1t is a shame that in America, amidst our
free institutions, any thing else should be need
ed but moral instrumeu tallties. But you do
need more You will be surrounded by men
who have already committed the wickedest
wrongs and the mos. atrocious crimes. They
will scruple al nothing BY which Slavery may
be fas,ened upon this young STATE. . send
forth companies OF men, with their families,
amid those who have been bred TO regard
Lelplessness as "a aa-;a prey to strength, would
be piece of unjus'iiable cruelty. | send to
YOU therefore, as I promised. the arms re-
quired for twenty five men. l have not the
least fear that a hundred men, bred under
New Eng land influences. will be 800 eager or
too was.ike. You have been taugt, TO create
wealth. and no. to rob il; 10 rely upon in,elli-
gence and recti.uie for defence. And You
will not be III any danger OF errins the
side of violence. But YOU are sen, for the de-
fense of great rights. You have no liberty to
betray them by cowardice. There times
when self defence is a religious duty. Ii that
duty was imperative, it is now. and in
Kansas. l do not say that you have barely
the right to defend Yourselves and your liber-
ties. l say that it is duty from which you
cannot shrink without leaving honor, your
manhood. your Christian fidelity behind you
You will not need to use arms when it is known
that you have them, and are determined to EN-
ploy them in extremities. 1t Is the very s.
>ence Of trat spirit W hich Slavery breeds to be
arrogant toward the weak and cowardly be-
fore the strong. II you willing to lose
your lives you will save them. Ii on the 9th
er hand you are found help pless the miscreants
of Slavery would sweep You from Kansas like
grass on the praries before Autumn fires
1t you are known to be fearless men, prepared
for emergencies. Slavery. Ike lion, will come
up. an gazing into The eyes Of courageous
men will stop, cover and creep away to am
bush. | trust that the perils which few
months aso hung like cloud over that fair
State. are lifting and passing away. May you
ind unobstruc;ed peace. Then let these
arms usn, above your doors, as he old Rev
olutiousry Enuskels do in many New Eng
land dwelling. May yoar children. in ano-
ther generation, look upon them with pride
and say, "Our fathers courage saved this
fair region from blood and Slavery. We will
not forget YOU" Every morning. byeez. shall
catch the blessings OF our prayers. and roll
them westward to your prairie homes Nav
your soas be large hearted as the heavens
above their heads. May your daughters fiji
the land as the flowers do the prsiries, only
wee.er aud sairer than they.
| an. in the bonds of the Gospel, aud in
the ir:n faith o; Liberty, truly yours.
H. ". BEECHER.
TIE Jag 'citbout a h2ttom.-On the bridge