Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-06-19

which leave no grouno vi hiSt
dresses us in formal complaints, instinct
~Ah the Indignation of a people determined
to be free. and unimpeachable as the declar-
atoms of a murderer man on his dying bed
against his murdered. And let me ano'
that all this testimony finds an echo in the
very statute book OF The cOnsPlrators, ana
also in language dropped from the Presiden'
of the United States.
begin with an admission from the Pre-
sident himself. in whose sight the people oi
Kansas have little favor. And yet, aiter
arraipninp the innocent emigrants from the
Nor,h he Uss constrained to declare that
conduct vas "far from justify the tuegd' ana
,eBrehsnsibls counter r-movement which en-
sned.D Then, BY the reluctant ADMISSION
of the Chief Magistrate, there was counter
movement, at once illegal and rePrehe"St'ls'
thank thee, President, for teach'hs me
these words; and now put them ID the
front of this exposition, as in themselves a
confusion. Sir, this "illegal and reprehen-
s;ble commencement is none other than
the dreadful Crime-under an apoiogetlc
alias-by which, through successive In'a-
sious. Slavery has been forcibly planted IN
this Territory.
Next to this Presidential admission mus
be placed the details Of the in,asions, which
/ nov present as not only 'illegal and repre-
hensible.n - but also unquestionable evidence
off the resulting Crime.
The violence, for some time threatened
broke forth on the 29th November, 1854, al
the first election Of delegate to Congress-
when companies from Missouri, amounting
70 upwards of one Thousand crossed INTO
Kansas, and. with force aud arms, proceeded
10 vote for Mr.. Whitfield, the candidate oil
Slavery. An eyewitness, General Pomeroy
of superior intelligence and perfect intes
rity, thus describes this scene:
-'The first halIot-box that was opened upon ou
virgin soil was closed TO US by ovetpoW ts-s LII .a
be re and impending force. 80 bod nne ioeH f
were our invaders, that they cared not 10 ooncsal
,h.ir a.iuck. They came upon US not IN inc gus '
of voters TO steal away our tran chse' out UT! In!
and openly. TO snatch il with a .trohg hah9;
came directly from their own homes' anu ~ Ia
pact and orqa nized bands with arms IN hhud du
provisions for the expedition. marched oo"r pohs
and when the ir work done, returned shepoe
they came"
Here was an outrage at which the COO est
blood of patriotism boils. Thoush iof va
rious reasons unnecessary to develop e, The
busy settlers allowed the election TO pass
unContes:ed, still the means employed were
none the less "iiegal and reprehenslble. "
This infection was q significant prelude
to the grand invasion of the 3Oth March,
1855, at the election of the lrst Territorial
Legislature under the organic law, when an
armed multitude from Missouri entered the
Territory, in larger numbers than General
Tsvlor commanded at Buena Vista, or than
General Jackson had within his lines at
New Orleans-larger far than our fathers
rallied on Bunker Hill. On they came as
an rarmy with banners" organized IN COM
panies, with officers, munitions, tents, and
provisions, as though marching upon Tor
eign foe and breathing loud-mouthed threats
that they would cary their purpose, IT need
De, by the bowie knife and revolver
Among them, according to his own COMES
sion, was David R. Atchison, belted with
the vulgar arms of his vulgar comrades. Ar
rived at their several destinations on the
night before the election, the invaders
pitched their tents, placed their sen'rles'
and waited for the coming day. The same
Trustworthy eyewitness, whom | have al
ready quoted, says, cf on locality:
.R,ccaoe.v,pons were there. with arms and
ammunition enough for protracted hight. ana
among them two brass field-peces. ready charged.
They came with drums beating and flags Tying
and their leaders were OF the most prominent and
conspicuous men of their State "
5. OF another locality he says:
1.-THE invaders came together in one armed and
Organized body with trains OF fifty wngons, beside
hOrsemen, and, the light be :ore election, pltched
their camp in the vicinity of the polls, and having
nppojnted their own Judges in place of those who.
from iniim idn ZION or orherswise, fuiled To atteld
they voted without any proof OF residence"
+ With this force they were abe, on the
succeeding day, in some places,to intimidate
the Judges of elections; in others, to subsli-
tute judges of their own appointment: in
others, to wrest the ballo:-boxes from their
rightful possessors, and everywhere 20 exer-
else a complete control of The election, and
thus, by preternatural audacity of usurpa-
ion,impose Legislature upon the free peo-
pie of Kansas. Thus was conquered the
SeVdslOpOl "a Iudt 1eIIilois'
But it was not enough to secure the Le-
gislature. The election of member of
Congress REQUIRED on the I'd October, 1855.
and the same foreigners, who had learned
their strength, again manifested it. Another
invasion, in controlling numbers, came from
Missouri, and once more forcibly exercised
the electoral franchise in Kansas.
at last, in the latter DAYS of November,
1855, storm, long brewing burst upon the
heads of the devoted people. The ballot
bxeso had been violated, and a Legislature
installed, which had proceeded TO carry out
the conspiracy of the invaders; but the good
people of the Territory, born to Freedom.
and educated as American citizens, showed
no signs of submission. Slavery, though
recognised by pretended law, was in many
places practically an outlaw. To the law
less borderers, this was hard to bear; and
like the Heathens of old, they ragged, parti-
cularly against the town Of Lawrence, al
ready known, by the firmness of is princi,
pies and the character of its citizens, as the
citadel of the good cause. On this account
they threatened, in their peculiar language,
TO "wipe it OUT. Soon the hostile power
was gathered for this purpose. The wick
edness of this invasion was enhanced BY the
way in which it began. A citizen of Kan
sas, by the name of Dow. was murdered by
one of the partisans of Slavery, under the
name of .'law and order" Such an outrage
naturally aroused Indignation and provoked
threats. The professors of "law and order
allow the murder 20 escape and, still fur
,ber to illustrate the irony of the name they
asssmed, seized the friend of the murdered
man, whose few neighbors soon rallied for
his rescue. This transaction, though totally
disregarded in its chief front of wickedness,
became the excuse for unprecedented excite
ment. The weak Governor, with no faculty
higher than servility to Slavery-whom the
President, in his official delinq ,ency, had ap-
pointed to trust worthy only Of a we'll