The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-04-26

aTtnS dCrUeS Ills DT6dSss CdHiO INV ar
counting room, and fell. exciaitning,
oh, God, am shot ! / am shot and
expired in q few moments. Following
this sad occurrence, the friends OF Mr..
Lovejoy, after two OF three were wound
ed, concluded to surrender the press,
which Was done. After being broken In
pieces by tke uob, it was thrown into the
river.
The storehsuse has been torn down
within coupis weeks, and the base
ment nlyremained onour arrival here,
to mark its former location. We visited
the spot, and was pointed out the posi-
tion Mr. L. occupied when he was siain.
The body was removed to hisresidence
on the following morning, and on the
9th of November, 1887, was committed
to the earth, just thirty-fv years to a
day, after his birth.
Since then. Alton has grown from
small town into city of twelve thousand
inhabitants. The few residents who
were connectea with the outrage, have
mostly removed to a distance, or to st.
Louis. The principal participants IN that
occurrence were from St. Louis, and res
idenfs isthas ely. Many of them have
met with violent deaths. Prosperity
has smiled upon none. Whilst censur-
| ing the "abolitionist, as they called Mr..
L., they were learning that 1.-The way of
the transgressor was hard
We said We visited his grove! Some
friends accompanied US to the spot, and
pointed out the location where rests all
that is mortal of Rev. ELIJAH PARISH
LovEJoY, the first martyr in America
who fell in defence of the freedom of the
press! The cemetry is about mile and
q quarter from the central and business
part of the city, lying between Upper
and Lower Alton We entered the en-
closures. and gazed upon the handsome
marble slabs, and the monuments erected
over the remains of departed worth. We
read the brief Inscriptions which affec-
tion had inscribed there crest, Loved
one, Rest" owe shall meet in Heaven" :"
"Our dear Children, ""Wemeet Again"
t'Dear Fanny" and numberless others
which we do not now reeollect but
where was the resting place OF him who
determined, if he died, to make his
grave in Alton 2" Passing down the
main effIFance to the cemetery, about
ten rods, near the center of the carriage
| path, two stones are observed about six
feet apart, placed little diagonally with
the road. Between and beneath those
stones repose tile remains of the lament
ed LovEJoY!!
s'No storea urn, or animated bust"
marks his grave, or tells that such a per-
son had ever lived. The large oaks, one
at his head and the other at his feet,
which stood there at the time of his bu-
rial, have been removed, and save 4
charred stump near the roadside, no in
dications were visible that any had ever
been there.
We sat down with our friends on a
grassy mound near by, and saw many
persons pass by, Immediately over his
remains, all unconscious of the moral
worth that lay entombed below. They
talked and laughed as gleefully as if moth
| ing was there but common earth.
The tear gathered in our eye, and we
found our voice tismbled as we inquired
'sIs this the treatment the defenders
of the press receive at the hands of the
people of Alton? Is this the fate am
to meet with if / fall in defence of Free.
dom in Kansas % The response:
81 presume there are not dozen men
in Alton who know where his bones re-
pose"
$50 much the worse" said l.
! "He has been neglected because his
widow refused to allow his body to be re-
moved. She h2s been broken down by
domestic troubles, and is partly dement,
ed"
''And shall a demented mind be an
apology for the people of Alton for al
lowing ineffable disgrace to rest upon
them aud their city Our mission to
Alton is to establish line of steamers
between this point and Kansas, and
while that body and the memory of that
man is thus desecrated, it is impossible
to think of succeeding in it. That curse
Sill rest on the good name of Alton un-
til proper respect is shown to his memo
ry. His body should be removed to a
favorable location. and a monument,
worth one thousand dollras, should be
erected over him, with suitable inscrip-
tions. contributed by the people of AL
ton, and no person should be allowed to
give more than one dollar"
Our friend gave US the assurance that
the requisite funds could be raised forth
with for the purpose, and measures
should be taken to bring the subject
home to the consideration of the people.
Men of Alton Lose no time in undo
ing a great wrong. Public opinion
throughout the Northern States endorses
the sentiments. to-day, which were pro-
mulgated by Loyejoy. Ignorance mis-
Erepresented bis position then, and fanai-
icism slew him. Your own Courier
speaks as boldly in defence of the right
as did the Observer. eighteen years ago,
and you all feel proud of its position and
the manliness of lis editor. Beneath
your own soil rests one no less worthy.
Place the monumental pile. " and tue
laurel wreath above him, and sing pans
TO his memory. but do not, as you cher
ish the good opinion Of the world, tread
upon his breast
Since writing the above. learn that a
committee was appointed ten years ago to
place monument over the grave OF Mr.