Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/752

 by a large and respectable committee appointed for that purpose, was sent to the marshal, in which it was affirmed "that no opposition will now, or at any future time, be offered to the execution of any legal process by yourself, or any person acting for you. We also pledge ourselves to assist you, if called upon, iu the execution of any legal process.

"We declare, ourselves to be order-loving and law-abiding citizens; and only await an opportunity to testify our fidelity to the laws of the country, the constitution, and the Union.

"We are informed, also, that those men collecting about Lawrence openly declare that it is their intention to destroy the town and drive off the citizens. Of course we do not believe you give any countenance to such threats; but, in view of the excited state of the public mind, we ask protection of the consti- tuted authorities of the government, declaring ourselves in readiness to coope- rate with them for the maintenance of the peace, order, and quiet of the com- munity in which we live."

In reply to this, the marshal sends a lengthy communication, which he closes with these words:

"You say you call upon the constituted authorities of the government for protection. This, indeed, sounds strange from a large body of men armed with Sharpe's rifles, and other implements of war, bouud together by oaths and pledges, to resist the laws of the government they call on for protection. All persons in Kansas territory, without regard to location, who honestly submit to the constituted authorities, will ever find me ready to aid in protecting them; and all who seek to resist the laws of the land, and turn traitors to their coun- try, will find me aiding and enforcing the laws, if not as an officer, as a citizen."

Whilst these documents were passing, the roads were blockaded by the mar- shal's posse of southern volunteers, upon which no man without a passport could safely venture. Captain Samuel Walker, who had carried one of the above-mentioned letters to Lecompton, was fired upon on his return to Law- rence. Mr. Miller, who with two others had gone up to negotiate with the governor for an amicable adjustment of the pending troubles, was taken pris- oner by a detachment of Buford's South Carolinians near Lecompton, who, knowing him to have been from their own state, tried him for treason and sen- tenced him to be hung. He contrived, somehow, to get away with the loss of his horse and purse. Mr. Weaver, a sergeant-at-arms of the congressional committee, was arrested while in the discharge of his duty, and carried across the Kansas river, to the South Carolinian camp, where, after a critical exami- nation of his papers, he was discovered to be in the service of the United States, and released, the officer in command giving him a pass, and kindly ad- vising him to answer promptly, if challenged, otherwise he might be shot. Outrages of this kind became so frequent that all travel was at last suspended.

On the 11th of May, the citizens of Lawrence, through a committee, again addressed the United States marshal in the words of the following letter:

"

"Dear Sir: We desire to call your attention, as citizens of Kansas, to the