[December 10, 1855.]
From letters which I have seen from the men who exert the
most influence in Kansas, and who represent the Free State party there (a party
comprising three fourths of the inhabitants), there has been no intention of
resisting the execution of the laws of the United States by the proper
officers; nor can any circumstances arise which will induce them to resist, or
even to question the authority of the United States Executive. They will not
recognize the late legislature, nor its enactments, nor its officers.
I believe you do not overrate the intensity of feeling on
this subject in the Territory and in the adjoining States; nor the magnitude of
the danger which now threatens the peace of the country from this cause.
Preparations are making, on the one side for attack, and on the other for
defence; and if the latter proves ineffectual, we shall, within a few months,
see what never has been seen in this country, and what never can be seen but
once — an internal civil and servile war. If future history should trace this
back to the repeal of the compromise of 1820, your administration, otherwise so
honorable, would receive the condemnation of posterity.
But though we have many national sins to be atoned for, I
trust that the same kind Providence which has averted previous dangers to our
Union will avert this, and save us from a great national calamity.
SOURCE: William Lawrence, Life of Amos A. Lawrence:
With Extracts from His Diary and Correspondence, p. 104-5
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