Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1859-11-10
The Warning 10 Secretary Fioyd.
The following Is the synonymous letter
received by Gov. Floyd, Of which mention
has been made:
C!xcIyxlrI, Aug. 20, 1889.

has Decn nadc- r.
CsxcrSSlrr. Aug. 20. 1859.
SiR-I have lately received information
of movement of so GREAT IMPOR-
4 TANCE that feel it to be my duty to
impart il to you without delay. 1 have
discovered the existence Of secret aSsoci-
alton. having for It's object THE LlBER-
ALTON OF THE SLAVES AT THE
I SOUTH by A GEyER.MIN SURI.EC-
TION. The leader of the movement is
OLD JOHN BROWN, late Of Kansas
He has been in Canada during the winter.
drilling the negroes there. AMI they are
only waiting his word to start for the South
to assist the slaves. They have one of their
leading men. a white man, in an armory in
Maryland; where il is situated l have not
been able TO learn As soon as everything
| is really. those of their number who are in
the Northern States and Canadr are to
come in small companies to their rendcz-
vons. which is in the mountains in Vir-
ginia. They will pass dow n through Penn
sylvania and Maryland, AMI enter Virgin
ia at lIarper's Ferry. Brown left the
North abont three or fnnr weeks ago, and
will ARM THE NEGROES anil strike
the BLOW in few weeks, AMI so that what
ever is done must be lone at once They
have a large quantity of arms at their
rendezvous. anil probably distributing them
already. As am not fully in their con-
fidence, this is all the information can
give You. dare not sign my name to
this. hut l trust that you will not disre-
gard the warning ON this account"
Mur,ler will out The cherished hopes
of the Democratic leaders, that they would
'cross the river of their difficulties at
Harpcr's Ferry, is not likely to he real
ized. The public was not prepared to
learn, at first. what is now coming TO
light. Tho conviction is forcing itself
upon the people that the Administration
were perfectly coSnizant of old Browns
intentions, plans. AMI place Of operations
before he "opcned the ball" The Secre-
tary Of War. Gov. Floyd, it appears was
fully apprize,l by letter. two months in
advance. of the raid npon the Ferry; and
there can be little doubt that the President.
Cabinet. and high Democratic officials.
talked the matter all over. ami came to
the deliberate conclusion that they could
make more capital for the party. by al
lowing old Brown to ''play out his hand.
than to nip his game in the bud or pre-
maturely expose his scheme to the country.
The Democratic leaders--Floyd included.
knew the chara tier and ,leels of old John
Brown Of Ossawatomic, full we'll; they
were acquainted with his terrible hardi-
/ 4 fl,o, hot
his avowcd purpose was to RIM OF slaves;
they hal prosecuted him for Slavery's sake
almost unto Heath. AMI We're not strangers
to his feeling and designs.
The letter at the heal of this article
proses that the Administration was spcci-
tically informed AMI warncl that ''oli
John Brown of Kansas, twas at the head of
a secret association for the liberation OF
slaves; that his rendezvous was in the
neighborhood Of lIirper'S Ferry where
they would commence operations; that a
white man in the Armory. would assist
them to seize it, that Brown hal gone
down there four weeks previously; and
that they would strike blow i'll few
w.eks.-so that whatever is done 10 check
mate tnem must be done at ON &c. AMI
that this ",caruiRg must not be disregar-
dcd"
Was ever warning" more cmphati.
or specific? The time. place. names and
object, are all divulged. and laid before the
} Cabinet AMI President. weeks in advance
of the emute lIarpcr's Ferry is but a few
miles from Washington. Government
spies and officials so there and return. .lai
", AMI there can be no reasonable doubt
but old Brown. and his associates, were
all "spottcd;" their small number accu-
r ratcly counted and all their movements
carefully noted. The Administrations saw
that old Brown was too weak ia BELIEVERS
, to do any considerable harm, an.t that III
could he crushed anil capturesiin moment
So they chose to nurse the insurrertion
that it might he tunnel to PARTISAN advan
tase. One word from Floyd or Buchanan
or the Constitution, newspaper would hav,
| blowcJ old Brown sky high bet master
ly inactivity was the line-of policy resol
we'd upon thinking they could damaS'
the Republicans n ore by letting him an
r his % followers seize-t the Armory than Il
arrest the project in It's incipient stages.
When Brown struck his blow. tue ter
ror Of the 5000 virginians in Harper
Ferry. magni6ed his handful Of hacker
into 100 white abolitionis lists. anil 40'
armed slaves" Gov. Wise ca,lci Ol
| nearly all the volunteer companies Of tb
? State to- hasten to the scene Of hostiiiiies
and himself rushed to Washington to in,
$ plore- the aid of Federal troops. Why wa
ii that the Administration only sent mp
s ! ,,fofoon Of 40 marincs7 What could sucl
: Ia squad do against 100 fnrions abolition
lists and 400 desperate negroes? The Pre-,
IIlent hal real just the same tslcsraphic in
N formation that la been been sent to Wis
$ anil to tho public at large. There can onl
e Ebe one answer to all this, viz: tie 1dm;nis
: .f;ut;on k,sew beforehand he erart fore a
Brorn''s command, and that only aplatoo
[. of marines was required to quell the dis
/ turbancc AMI capture the filiibusters, Ha
the government derived its first inforna
l. ton on the outbreak, it would have de,
l. patched at least 900 soldiers and par
IS of artillery to route the formidable enem
} from his stronghold. Bat it sent hq!f
Com. ,aay. because il knew. weeks befor,
4 han |, the precise resistance il would
n Necessary to- ovcrcomt Can anything b
more apparent? Can the .Alministratio