New-York tribune., 1878-03-23

were possible he considered it measure in every
way to be deprecated and avoided. He did. however,
propose TO forciby lberate the slaves of individual
Shareholders where in his opinion it could be done
most successfully. He considered that the noun
| tains and swamps of the South afforded places
where forcibly emancpated slaves could find refuge
and be defended: and he intended that from the nu-
sronghOlds there furnished by nature. small
bands of tho freed slaves, under competent leader
ship, should carry on persistent, self-supportng
guerilla warfare in which no more violence should
be used than should be found necessary in defence,
in effectng the liberation of slaves by such pred
atOry bands. 1t vas not intended by him to liberae
slaves in those regions aud convey them, as in the
of the Missouri slaves, to Canada but to free
them by force, and aid them TO maintain their freedom
| witin the sldre-h0lding States.
| This is brief outline of his general purpOse-a
| purpose entertained by him. to my certain knowl-
edge, since about the year 1897, when he first made
known his plan to his own family. To carry out
this purpose he labored under all sorts of discour-
agemcrts for many, many years. His operations in
Kansas all to be interpreted in the light of that
| long-chershcd purpose.
In the later years of his life he had succeeded in
accumulating considerable quantity of arms am
| muniion and other material for the carrying on OF
such war; and in the early part of 1853 these arms,
etc. ready for use, and safely secretcd in Ash
| tabua County. Ohio. He had also made known his
general plan and purpose as herein set forth, to sew
era reliable persons white and colOred both III the
| United States and i'm Canada. number of these
had joined him in the capacity of soldiers others,
who did not feel called to act in such capacity,
aided him in the promotion of his plans" as ADORE
| stated acting I" rs advisers and contributors of
money thereto" Among these was your lamented
| uncle Gerrh Smith.
| In conversations or in writing OF anything per-
tanning to these plans and purposes, it became
| necessary to use names and phrases which sh0nld
have to the initiated definite meaning not under
| stood by Others. Among these were the words
Ginning operations stock in trade" stock
| operations" g missionary work." etc. During sJs
and the greater part Of 1859 my especial duties in
| connection with the movement were:
u.) To take proper care of and to secrete the
| arms ammunition and supplies then on hand, and
| to forward the same when ordered so to do.
(2l To raise money to be used in the carrying out
of the general purpose. and to form the acquant-
ance of such as might render efficient aid by IN
formation and in other ways.
49, To find both in the States and in Canada. es-
pecially among fugitive slaves men who had dis
ingushed themselves for bravery and intelligence;
to enlist them in the work of emancipaiing their
kindred and the South and at the right
time furnish them the means OF travel to the place
of rendezvous
Ny home was at that time at West Andoyer. Ash
tabula Comfy Ohio In February, 1853, received
from my father letter dated at Rochester n. u,
February s, requesting Inc. In the carrying out of
my second class of duties above described, to pro-
cecd to bedford, Chambcrsburg Gettysburg and
l'niontown Penn" The same mail brought me an
other letter from him from the same place. dated
the 9Th suggesting that should continue my jour
ucv TO Washington ID. c., on the Same crrand: and
he gave me the of several men there, on whom
he desired should call, as most likely To render ell
iicent and. On the 9th of February. he again wrote
me from same place, III answer to letter from
me In that letter he referred to the suspicious
duct Of Colonel Hugh Forbes. one of his men, and
the proposed trip TO Pennsylvania and to Washing
ton was for the time, deferred. Later in the month
| received the following letter from him, which, as
il furnishes direct and complete evidence on the
point in question: transcribe H,rdlIy marking
the same words by underscoring which he has thus
marked in his. The original letter is in my posses
| sion. and from 1t send YOU the following:
| John BROWN WRITES FROM PETERBORO.
PErLRDoRo. y. Y. Feb. 20, 1853.
DEAR soN Jous: here With oar good ricnds. Ger
ri smith and WIFE, who am most hapIy 10 tell You.
rrady 10 go In for a share In the h2ie ade Will say
lin the language Of anotherl In regard TO tis most
cournging fact, my soul dotl magnify the Lord"
seem 10 be mayellously helped; dad 10 His name
be the praise. had to-day particular thing 10 write
| otler than to let you share in my encouragement
have been looking letter from you to he forwarded
| from Rochester. and may get one to-day When get
one will write you further. do not expect 10 remain
here long but shall be glad 10 have you wic me here
incosng TO Caleb Cakins. esq Peierboro. Madison Co..
| NY.
Jason and family well on the sh. Your ancctionatc
| father.
| FEBRUARY 22-P. =: have s: need OF all the help
can possibly get. but greatly encouraged In ask
ing for H. MIR Smith thinks you might operate 10 more
advantage IN New England about Boston, than by gong
| to washngtou-say. in tie large country towns.
think he mag right; do yon hini best Yours ever.
For prudential reasons he did NOT sign hs name to
this letter he did not to some others written by
him a, about that period. The handwriting, how
ever can youch for. and it can be further verified
| nj any time by those desiring 80 TO do.
From Petcrborp my father went to Boston. Mass,
whence he wrote me under date of March. q, 1858.
to meet hlm on the 18th of that month at the house
Of stephen Smith, Lombard-st Philadelphia, where
he expected 20 meet bis dorchester friend (tred-
erck Dougass) aud others. did so. From there L
accompanied him to Ncw-YorN and 10 Ncw-iIaven,
Conn., We were at the latter city on the 18th of
March From there we returned to New->ork,
thence 70 nv fathers home in North Elba, from
which he had been absent more than n year. We
arrived at North Elba on the 23d of March. Then
we went 10 Pelerboro ~ Y. arriving there the last
lays in March. While at Gerrit Smiths house at
that time, the aforementioned plans and purposes
were talked over with Mr.. Smith, not rs with one
who was ignorant Of those plans" but as with one
who had been fully initiated into all that could be
comprchcnded in those plans rs lave herein de-
clared them.
From there returned via Rochester, to my home
in Ashtabula County, and my father soon after
went TO Canada.
ia i'tot (ainupl IorbpS had