Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1859-11-01

The letter which connects Seward with the affair l. da
ed wasAins,sa, Nay :. lsss. apdis addressed 20 Dr. 5
w. nVse, ., boston: ~ rcsds as follows;
Vn naiaruaN list Nay L had an Interview with Senator
WIN. II. Seward, Of New YORK. having been introduces
to him through a letter nom a leading Aboltionist, DR.
Bailey, o. the bra l went fully into the whole matter
tod, and SAID nat ~ IA Ms position ought not 10 ksr.
ose" 'ricr~ed ~ the eirc,sasfasess In part l agree with
him and IN part | differ. I regre, that the miscondacI
OF the New kngianders should have forced me to address
myself to him; but being nov enlightened ON the sub
Ject he cannot well let this business continue m its pre-
sent crooked condition, instead of causing IL to be put
To senator Hale, In his interview at Washington
Forbes says he did not enter into the details of John
bro~ns projects, but did OF the other matters FORBES
says ne sent letters TO Gov. Chase, who found money, and
"ov. Fletcher, who contributed arms.
Inc heraiu, IN commenting on these documents says
Inee Is a curious history connected with this CORES
pohuense' ana suggestive of the truth Of the old maxim,
about the effect OF thieves falling out. A certain Hugh
foroes-iamtiarly known as Colonel forbes-an old com.
raae oil "aroaidis In lS4s, and since then a refugee in
tn's country, seems to have been hired, on the Duyaid
Daigetty principle, to 10 TO Kansas a couple Of wears
since, to cooperate with Ossawattomie. Brown. and to i'm.
part 10 ms raw iev'es a little instruction in the art Of war.
Forbes and Brown pulled together well enough for souie
months, until there came to be a Misunderstanding In re-
gard to the pay and provcnder. Forbes appealed from
broSn to the general Abolition commissariat In this re-
gion, out found that he was doomed to be cheated al
round. Greeley iIl back on the strict letter Of the law.
and pleaded that he was not bound by Forbes contract
win Brown. sanborn, who was the secretary Of the
nuAiSraIOn -Au Society, anu howe, a WE'LL
known Abohtonist Of Boston, kept paltering with Forbes
unth, IN the words of one of his own letters, his family,s
credit was stopped at the French or Italian restaurant
where they used to get their meals.
Forbes became indignant against Brown and the hu-
manitarians, as he styles them, and denounced them all
IN pretty round terms. But still the troubles of his fami.
y did not wean him altogether from the work TO which
ne had lent his hand. On the contrary, he devised a plan
which he submitted TO his Aboltonist friends, North. 10
perform etfeciually the "KansSs work" that Gerrit Smith
speaks of in his letters.
Forbes plan was Simplv an orcauized svStem of s,.r,
peding slaves along the border States, and thus gradually
driving the institution farther South. Browns project
was deciared-so long ago as Nav, lS5S-to be idcnti.
cAhy that which has had such a miserable failure at liar.
pers Perry. Forbes was too experienced a slAger not
TO see the inevitable result of such a ridiculous project
and much othis correspondence that has fallen into our
hands ~ taken up with denunciationS of Browns crazy
idea, and OF appeals to The leading Republicans TO stop
Brown or TO denounce him.
IL appears beyond all peradvcnture, by this cofrespon.
dcnce, that amoug the persons to whom he denounced
the Harper's Ferry project, a wear and a half AGO, was
senator VIM. III. Seward. lie had an interview with that
Senator in Washington city. in Nav. 1855: and, as an.
pears by one OF his letters, be went fully into the whole
matter. Again, he bad interviews with Sumner and
Hale, also IN Washington; and, in fact, Il appears that
all the leading Republicans and Abolitionis;s OF the coun.
try were fully cognizant of the plan of Brown. and. If
they did not actually identity themselves with him. they
did not denounce him to the authorities. on the con.
trary, they kept him furnished with money and arms, aud
carried on correspondence with him.
The main thing proved by this correspondence Is that
Tor the last year and a halt, at least, the project of the
Harpers Ferry outbreak was well known to Seward. Sum.
ner, Hale and others, and that they, in their intens. sci.
hshness, aud to forward their political or commercial
sPeculations, suffered the project 10 ripen and TO bear the
disastrous fruit that il has borne. They-not the crazy
not nc, who, If justice were fairly melted out, would have
TO grace the gallows.