1 1- 685 B875 opy 1 \ "\ WORDS o F TRUTH TO THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND. BY GEO. W. BROWN, M. D., Founder^ Publisher and Editor of the Kansas Herald of Freedom, Vnd Numerous Publications, among whieh are Reminiscences of Old John Brown, of Gov. Walker, False Claims Corrected, Oriental Researches, etc., etc., etc. ROCKFORD, ILL. ED AND PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 1903. -<*k I^rice lO Oeiits. Fi% WORDS OF TRUTH By G. W BROWN, M D , ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS. CHAPTER I. To Those Who Will Understand. He who ascends to mountain tops shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow; He who surpasses or subdues mankind Must look down on the hate of those below, Though high above the suns of glory glow, And far beneath the earth and ocean spread, Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow Contending tempests on his naked head, And thus reward the toils which to those summits led. Byron. OE UNTO YOU when all men speak well of you," are words credited to Jesus, Luke 6: 26, and why? Because, "He who will be pleasing to all, must speak words which will be grate- ful to all." Always agree with others however gross or vile, if ambitious to be a general favorite with the people. Never attempt to correct their errors, or ex- pose their falsehoods, but by honeyed words tickle their vanity and magnify their importance. Said Paul: "All that shall live godly, [that is blameless] shall suffer persecution. " He and Jesus, if Bible authority can be trusted, are notable examples of that persecution, for they experienced in their own per- sons the truthfulness of the assertion. Our own George Washington was a modern ex- ample. No sooner was the war of the Revolution 6 closed, and the hero of our National independence was retired to civil life, than Calumny and Detraction raised their vile heads, and attempted to rob him of those honors he had attained on a hundred battle fields. He who seeks information along those lines will be astonished to see how base and vile were the traducers of him who "Was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." The critical student of history finds with the poet, quoted above, that the reward of noble achievements is vilification and abuse. The more lofty the position attained the more crushing are the assaults of the un- principled vulgar. The "milk and water men," they who have no opinions of their own ; who float along with the popu- lar current, antagonizing no one, pass quietly through life, and sink into unknown graves, to be forgotten ere the grass is green growing above them. They escape calumny, and the libeler has no occasion to rack his brains to invent scandals to cover him all over with reproachful epithets. He was in nobody's way; so when the vital spark fled he sank into a peaceful rest, his absence only noted by the small circle in which he lately moved. How very different such a life from one who has plunged into the thickest of the strife; who has shaped public opinion, and directed the movements of the people to attain some worthy end! He has been the observed of all observers. The ambitious who aspired to occupy his place ; they who fattened on his kindness, forgetful of the favors which came from his hands, have become his assailants; while the pro- fessional calumniators have concocted a multitude of falsehoods to his prejudice, and the libeler has pub- lished those falsehoods to the world. With no repu- tation to lose, or shame to blush, the more egregious the misrepresentation the more glorious the achieve- ment. "When Kansas was thrown open to settlement, and the issue was joined, a Free State, or a Slave State, the active friends of the former cast about for suit- able persons to lead in the conflict. Dr. Charles Robinson, who had passed through an exciting con- test in the pioneer settlement of California, and had come out victorious with distinguished honors, was selected by the friends of free Kansas in New Eng- land, to superintend the interests of freedom in the new Territory. He came with an untarnished repu- tation, and all men, save a few disunion Abolitionists, of the Garrison stripe, desirous of involving the North and South in civil war, indorsed, and recog- nized him as their leader. Faithful to every trust, Dr. Charles Eobinson was elected by nearly a unanimous vote, Governor of Kansas under the Topeka Constitution, and as such was the recognized head and front of the Free State party, until support of that Constitution was merged into the Wyandot Constitution, under which we were admitted a State into the Union. Then he was made Governor under that instrument, by the Suffrages of a Free People. Gov, Eobinson remained the honored leader of the party, though demagogues found he was in the way of their ambition; so they made war on him and his administration, and attempted to usurp the authority which both National and State Constitutions had placed in his charge. When he would not quietly submit to the intrigues and shameful dictations of his enemies, they attempted to crush him under the forms of law; but he came out of the trying ordeal 8 the victor and unscathed, the charges against him be- ing dismissed, to be revived near a decade after his death, shall we say, because his surviving widow de- clined to engage his detractor to write his biography? We have reasons for such inquiry. Another strong movement, having the same object in view with the New Englanders, went out from Western Pennsylvania, under the immediate super- vision of G. W. Brown. The latter had served an ap- prenticeship at cabinet making in Gonneautville, Pa. ; he had completed a thorough educational course at law, and was admitted to practioe at the Pennsyl- vania bar; he had been eight years connected with the press, the last seven years his own publisher; he had been an active member of the Free Soil party since its organization at Buffalo in 1848, and much of the time chairman of the Executive Committee of that party for Crawford county. His paper led in circulation and influence all others in the State West of the mountains outside of Pittsburg. The North- ern press universally conceded, by notices in their respective journals, that he was the person of all per- sons, because of his energy, ability and experience as a journalist and anti-slavery leader, to establish a Free State paper in Kansas. With the largest party that went to Kansas at any time in one body, this Brown, after issuing 21,000 copies of his Herald of Freedom, and scattering them broadcast over the country before taking down his steam power press to ship to Kansas, taking his wife, his seven printers, his parents, brother and sister, his wife's parents soon fol- lowing, located in Lawrence, and positively printed on Kansas soil the first Free State newspaper published in Kansas. His paper aroused the hate of the pro- slavery party, and was temporarily crushed by it dur_ 9 ing the second year of its publication, to be revived a few months later, at the end of the editor's four months' imprisonment, indicted for high treason for opposing the pro-slavery usurpation, the paper in a very short time quadrupling its former circulation. Soon after the revival of the Herald of .Freedom, a rival press, under the direction of an inexperienced journalist, made its appearance. Around that paper rallied the press correspondents and all new comers who wished to succeed as leaders of the Free State party, to the exclusion of those who had been such up to that time. The method they employed was to crush those already in their way. Mark Twain, in a somewhat lengthy published letter, detailed his experience several years ago in running as an independent candidate for Governor of New York. In giving his experience he illustrates what Gov. Eobinson, Hon. Eli Thayer, G. W. Brown and others have realized in their own persons, at the hands of the assassins of reputations. We copy: RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR.-Mark Twain Experiences a "Campaign of Defamation." A few months ago I was nominated for Governor of the great State of New York, to run against Stewart L. Woodford and John T. Hoffman, on an independent ticket. I somehow felt that I had one prominent advantage over these gentlemen, and that was good character. It was easy to see by the newspapers that if they had ever known what it was to bear a good name, that time had gone by. It was plain that in these latter years they had become familiar with all manner of shameful crimes. But at the very moment that I was exalting my advantage and joying in it in se- cret, there was a muddy undercurrent of discomfort "riling" the deeps of my happiness — and that was the having to hear my name bandied about in familiar connection with those of such people. I grew more and more disturbed. Finally I wrote my grandmother about it. Her answer came quick and sharp. She said: 10 "You have never done one single thing in all jour life to be ashamed of — not one. Look at the newspapers — look at them and comprehend what sort of characters Woodford and Hoffman are, and then see if you are willing to lower yourself to their level and enter a public canvass with them." It was my very thought! I did not sleep a single moment that night. But after all I could not recede. I was fully committed and must go on with the fight. As I was looking listlessly over the papers at breakfast I came across this paragraph, and I may truly say I never was so confounded before: "Perjury. — Perhaps, now that Mr. Mark Twain is before the people as a candidate for governor, he will condescend to explain how he came to be convicted of perjury by thirty-four witnesses, in Wakawak, Cochin China, in 1863, the intent of which perjury was to rob a poor native widow and her helpless family of a meagre plaintain patch, their only stay and support in their be- reavement and their desolation. Mr. Twain owes it to himself as well as to the great people whose suffrage he asks, to clear the matter up. ' Will he do it?" I thought I should burst with amazement! Such a cruel, heart- less charge — I never had seen Cochin China! I never had heard of Wakawak! I didn't know a plaintain patch from a kangaroo! I did not know what to do. I was crazed and helpless. I let the day slip away without doing anything at all. The next morning the same paper had this — nothing more: "Significant. — Mr. Twain, it will be observed, is suggestively silent about the Cochin China perjury." [Mem. — During the rest of the campaign this paper never re- ferred to me in any other way than as "the infamous perjurer Twain."] Next came The Gazette with this: "Wanted to Know. — Will the new candidate for governor deign to explain to certain of his fellow citizens (who are suffering to vote for him!) the little circumstance of his cabin-mates in Mon- tana losing small valuables from time to time, until at last, these things having been invariably found on Mr. Twain's person or in his 'trunk' (newspapers he rolled his traps in), they felt compelled to give him a friendly admonition for his own good, and so tarred and feathered him and rode him on a rail, and then advised him to leave a permanent vacuum in the place he usually occupied in the camp. Will he do this?" 11 Coiled anything be more deliberately malicious than that? For I never was in Montana in my life. [After this, this journal customarily spoke of me as "Twain, the Montana Thief."] I got to picking up papers apprehensively — much as one would lift a desired blanket which he had some idea might have a rattle- snake under it. One day this met my eye: "The Lie Nailed! — By the sworn affidavits of Michael O'Flanagan, Esq., of the Five Points, and Mr. Kit Burns and John Allen, of Water street, it is established that Mr. Mark Twain's vile sentiment that the lamented grandfather of our noble standard bearer, John T. Hoffman, was hanged for highway rob- bery, is a brutal and gratuitous lie, without a single shadow of foundation in fact. It is disheartening to virtuous men to see such shameful means resorted to, to achieve political success, as the attacking of the dead in their graves and defiling their honored names with slander. When we think of the anguish this miser- able falsehood must cause the innocent relatives and friends of the deceased, we are almost driven to incite an outraged and insulted public to summary and unlawful vengeance upon the traducer. But no, — let us leave him to the agony of a lacerated conscience — (though if passion should get the better of the public and in its blind fury they should do the traducer bodily injury, it is but too obvious that no jury could convict and no court punish the perpetrators of the deed)." The ingenious closing sentence had the effect of moving me out of bed with dispatch that night, and out at the back door also, while the "outraged and insulted public" surged in the front way, breaking furniture and windows in their righteous indignation as they came, and taking off such property as they could carry when they went. And yet I can lay my hand upon the book and say that I never slandered Gov. Hoffman's grandfather. More; I never even heard of him or mentioned him up to that day and date. [I will state, in passing, that the journal above quoted from always referred to me afterward as "Twain the Body-Snatcher."] The next newspaper article that attracted my attention was the following: "A Sweet Candidate. — Mark Twain, who was to make such a blighting speech at a mass meeting of the independents la6t night, didn't come to time! A telegram from his physician stated that he had been knocked down by a runaway team and his leg 12 broken in two places — sufferer lying in great agony, and so forth, and so forth, and a lot more bosh of the same sort. And the in- dependents tried hard to swallow the wretched subterfuge and pretend that they did not know what was the real reason of the absence of the abandoned creature whom they denominate their standard-bearer. A certain man wds seen to reel into Mr- Tivain's hotel last night in a beastly state of intoxication. It is the imperative duty of the independents to prove that this besotted brute was not Mark Twain himself. We have them at last! This is a case that admits of no shirking. The voice of the people de- mands in thunder tones: 'Who is that max?' " It was incredible, absolutely incredible, for a moment, that it was really my name that was coupled with this disgraceful sus- picion. Three long years had passed over my head since I had tasted ale, beer, wine or liquor of any kind. [It shows what effect the times were having on me when I say that I saw myself confidently dubbed "Mr. Delirium Tremens Twain" in the next issue of that journal without a pang — notwith- standing I knew that with monotonous fidelity the paper would go on calling me so to the very end.] By this time anonymous letters were getting to be an important part of my mail matter. This form was common: "How about that old woman you kiked of your premisers which was beging. Pol Pry." And this: "There is things which you have done which is unbeknowns to anybodv but me. You had better trot out a few dols. to yours truly or you'll hear thro' the papers from Handy Andy." This is about the idea. I could continue them until the reader was surfeited, if desirable. Shortly the principal Republican journals "convicted" me of wholesale bribery, and the leading Democratic paper "nailed" an aggravated case of blackmailing to me. [In this way I acquired two additional names: "Twain, the Filthv Corruptionist," and '"Twain, the Loathsome Embracer."] By this time there had grown to be such a clamor for an "answer' 'to all the dreadful charges that were laid to me, that the editors and leaders of my part}' said it would be political ruin for me to remain silent any longer. As if to make their appeal tha more imperative, the following appeared in one of the papers the very next day. "Behold the Man! — The Independent candidate still main- 13 tains silence. Because he dare not speak. Every accusation against him has been amply proved, and they have been indorsed and re-indorsed by his own eloquent silence, till at this day he stands forever convicted. Look upon your candidate, Indepen- dents! Look upon the 'Infamous Perjurer!' the 'Montana Thief!' the 'Body Snatcher!' Contemplate your incarnate 'Delirium Tremens!' your 'Filthy Corruptionist!' your 'Loathsome Em- bracer!' Gaze upon him — ponder him well — and then say if you can give your honest votes to a creature who has earned this dis- mal array of titles by his hideous crimes, and dares not open his mouth in denial of any one of them!" There was no possible way of getting out of it, and so, in deep humiliation, I set about preparing to "answer" a mass of baseless charges and mean and wicked falsehoods. But I never finished the task, for the very next morning a paper came out with a new horror, a fresh malignity, and seriously charged me with burning a lunatic asylum with all its inmates because it obstructed the view from my house. This threw me into a sort of panic. Then came the charge of poisoning my uncle to get his property, with an imperative demand that the grave should be opened. This drove me to the verge of distraction. On top of this I was ac- cused of employing toothless and incompetent old relatives to pre- pare the food for the foundling hospital when I was warden. I was wavering — wavering. And at last; as a due and fitting cli- max to the shameless persecution that party rancor had inflicted upon me, nine little toddling children of all shades of color and degrees of raggedness were taught to rush on to the platform at a public meeting and clasp me around the legs and call me "Pa." I gave it up. I hauled down my colors and surrendered. I was not equal to the requirements of a gubernatorial campaign in the state of New York, and so I sent in ray withdrawal from the candidacy, and in bitterness of spirit signed it, "Truly yours, once a decent man, but now MARK TWAIN, "I. P., M. T., B. S., D. T., F. C, and L. E." May we not suggest, in closing this chapter, that professed historians will find in the above, models for vituperative talent, when they wish to crush an op- ponent; though it will be an easier task to draw on the stale, effete, worn out and unprofitable libels of nearly fifty years ago, concocted by the predecessors, rival journalists and politicians of those they assail, u who, lacking merit of their own, labored to lower those in the way of their ambition to their own vulgar level. CHAPTER II. High Authority for Silence. E WHO TURNS aside to punish every snarling cur aud yelping whiffet that besets his path will find little else to do in life. These creatures make no distinction between true greatness, whose labors have achieved National and world-wide results — the real benefactors of the race — and the penny-a-liner, boasting of his poverty and begging aid to enable him to pursue his malicious calling, eulogizing a freebooter and a midnight assassin who struck down his political opponents by murdering and mutilating them in cold blood. No reply to such brutal assaults are needed. All the world knows that the person who becomes promi- nent because of ability, position and real worth, arouses the envy, the jealousy, and the hate of the iess fortunate. Thomas Jefferson, the chairman of the Committee that drafted the Declaration of Amerioan Indepen- dence, and who rose by his own merit to the honored distinction of being President of this great Republic, experienced in his own person the shafts of malice and calumny. How he met these libelous attacks is best told by himself, in letters to various friends, quoted on p. 122 of "The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia," late from the press. He says: 15 "I laid it down as a law to myself, to take no notice of the thousand calumnies issued against me, but to trust my character to my own conduct, and the good sense and candor of my fellow citizens. . . I have never even contradicted the thousands of calumnies so industriously propagated against myself. . . I have been too much the butt of falsehoods myself to do others the injustice of permitting them to make the lea6t impression on me [by their misrepresentations]. "Were I to undertake to answer the calumnies of the news- papers, it would be more than all my own time, and that of twenty aids could effect. For while I should be answering one twenty new ones would be invented. I have thought it better to trust to the justice of my countrymen, that they would judge me by what they see of my conduct on the stage where they have placed me, and what they knew of me before the epoch since which a particular party has supposed it might answer some view of theirs to vilify one in the public eye. Some, I know, will not reflect how apocryphal is the testimony of enemies so palpably betraying the views with which they give it. But this is an injury to which duty requires every one to submit whom the public think proper to call to its councils. "I suppose that in public life, a man whose political principles have any decided character, and who has energy enough to give them effect must always expect to encounter political and personal hostility from those of adverse principles." Thus President Jefferson. Gov. Crittenden, of Vermont, distinguished as the first executive of that State, and one of the worthiest of them, suffered the usual amount of malevolent, personal and partisan abuse. When approached by friends and told of the calumnious charges made against him, and asked: "What do you propose to do about them ?" Quoth the Governor: "Do, why I'll do as the moon does when the dogs bay at it" "How is that? What does it do?" "It goes right on. What more can I do?" When G rover Cleveland was first nominated for the 16 Presidency, in 1884, after having been indorsed by a majority of near 200,000 of the people of his native state for Governor, it was thought to defeat him in his higher aspirations, by setting on foot the most shameful scandals to his prejudice, such substantially, as Mark Twain, — quoted in the preceding chapter, — has so forcibly related in regard to himself. Henry Ward Beecher, who was a great admirer of Mr. Cleve- land, and well knew his moral worth, wrote him inquiring — "What answer shall we make to the terrible libels the opposing partisan press is publishing in regard to your past life?" Back came the laconic reply: "Tell the Truth." That is all the friends of the lamented Gov. Bobin- son, the Hon. Eli Thayer, or G. W. Brown for him- self, ask of assailants. To rehash falsehoods which have been adjusted by Courts, pronounced untenable by action of the State Legislature, repudiated by the voice of the people, and by the rehearsal of facts antagonizing lies, does not betray honesty or integrity on the part of the scandal-monger. Tell the Truth, ye libelers, and no other favor will be asked at your hands. To reply to all the inventions of envy and malice and falsehood, as Jefferson truthfully said, will be more than any man's time and that of twenty aids can effect. For while one lie is being answered twenty fresh ones will be invented and put in circulation. They who peddle scandals will do well to remember the old proverb — "Slander, like chickens, comes home to roost." The following Aphorisms are in harmony with the above : "If thou hast to do with a disputer while he is in 17 heat, act as one not to be moved. Thou hast the advantage over him, if only in keeping silent, when his speech is bad; for then thou art right in the opinion of the great." The foregoing is a French~rendering, Anglicised, of a papyrus manuscript found in the ruins of the Egyptian Thebes, written in Hieratic by Ptah-hotep, an officer under King Assa, during the fifth dynasty, believed to have been written 4,000 years before the commencement of the Christian era. Ptah-hotep, at the ripe old age of 110 years, full of wisdom, as the quotation attests, wrote for the instruction and guid- ance of his son, and of all who shall read. Sambo expressed the same idea in his own vernac- ular: "It don't pay to do much talkin' w'en vou'r mad enough to choke, Kase de words dat stings de deepes' am de ones dat's neber spoke; Let de oder feller wrangle till de storm am blown away, Den he'll do a pile o' thinkin' 'bout de t'ings you didn't say." Blame is safer than praise. I hate to be defended in a newspaper. So long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success; but so soon as the honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one who lies unprotected before his enemies. — Emerson. Some persons seem to think a man is better for being dead, and that he should not be blamed for his crimes, however atrocious. This idea has been immortalized in the proverb: "Speak no evil of the dead." That proverb should be amended to read: Speak and write only TEUTH of the dead, and of the living. "He who stops to kick a skunk, though he kills his antagonist, gets the worst of the fight." The puppy, barking and snapping at your heels, is immune from harm because of his insignificance. 18 If you wrestle with a chimney-sweep, whether you throw or be thrown, you get smirched. — Ltjthek. The well-poised man seeks Truth, and trusts it. He does not defend it; he knows it does not need defense: he knows it will vindicate itself. — Eev. J. E. Koberts. Great is the power of misrepresentation, but fortu- nately, this power does not long endure. A woman without character sees a strumpet in every member of her own sex; and every relator and copyist of lies suspicions that all with whom he comes in contact are as false to Truth as himself. Had Milton lived and wrote in our day, we should know to whom, and to what event he referred when he wrote: "The midnight ruffians seize their peaceful foes: They drag them forth from warm and quiet beds; They bleed, they die! Darkness involves the act. Shameless Falsehoods conceal the savage crime, And foul-mouthed Slander blackens their names; While Hate shouts and wings the wretches on to fame." A Lie when started, is so nimble-footed it can circumnavigate the globe, while tardy Truth is quest- ioning the propriety of pursuing the ignoble rascal. — Anonymous. Here's freedom to him that would read, Here's freedom to him that would write! There's none ever feared that the Truth should be heard, But they whom the Truth would indict. — Burns. A eulogizer of crime, and he who glorifies midnight assassination, and ransacks the partisan press of half a century ago to find calumnious material to malign the real heroes in the great Kansas contest for free- dom, will find he has mistaken his mission when a truthful record is made up. 19 CHAPTER III. Press Notices. \ I /HE Following notices by the press, and by part- <&\}S) ies who have read our publications, correcting the errors through ignorance or design of professed historians, will be read with interest by those in pursuit of Truth. The first is from the Lawrence, Kan., Journal, the oldest newspaper in Kansas, if its predecessors are taken into account. O. E. Learnard, Esq., its editor and publisher, was one of our earliest pioneers, and knows of himself whereof he writes. After reading our "Reminiscences of Gov. Robert J. Walker, with the True Story of the Rescue of Kansas from Slavery," he wrote : "To every Kansan of the early days the name of G. "W. Brown, — he was not then a doctor — is one of the familiar names and one not to be forgotten. Indeed Mr. Brown was not only a well known figure in early Kansas history, but an unique character as well. Unlike most of the men, and for that matter, most of the women, he was not identified with either of the factions into which the Free State party of thos3 days was divided, he was simply a feature quite apart and independent of each. Not that he was without a following, by any means, but that he submitted to no limitation, or restraint of his personal views and opinions. Nor was he at any time or under any circumstances distrustful of his own judgment or hesitant in word or deed about what ought to be said or done. It is apparent also that during his long absence from Kansas he has not lost interest in the events in which he participated so largely during the 20 "Kansas Conflict." Accordingly Dr. Brown comes to the work in hand well equipped for the service, and has produced a book that will take a permanent place in the literature of the times and events of which he writes. "We do not mean to imply that the work is inerrant^ but in the main and especially in its personal features he portrays the qualities and characteristics of men and affairs with strength and reasonable fairness. Tho' he was neither a partisan of Lane nor Robinson it is hardly necessary to say he entertains very little respect for the one and a good deal of respect for the other. While it is unfortunate that the differences which existed between those two men, greatly magni- fied, could not and seemingly cannot be laid to rest, perhaps it is not to be wondered at however, in view of the evident bias and prejudice of alleged histo- rians — alike ignorant and indifferent to the truths of history, that men personally familiar with the facts should repudiate and repel their absurd assumptions. Just now Gov. Robinson is the target and naturally Dr. Brown gives a good deal of space to his defence and the vindication of his well-earned reputation. "That Gov. Robinson was the trusted leader during the momentous struggles out of which was born the great Commonwealth in which we live is a fact beyond the reach of cavil or slander. It has been claimed that he was responsible for the hostilities which occurred, and in a sense this was true, for he was prompt to resent and resist the encroachments of the slave power, and for this he will ever be honored and respected so long as a true Kansan remains who shared with him the trials and perils of those trouble- some times. It is not, however, so much the perpetu- ation of the Lane and Robinson controversy that has 21 evoked the more recent outbursts of his critics as the fact of Gov. Robinson's changed attitude towards John Brown and his career in Kansas, in regard to which, for it is true that the change occurred; Mr. S. C. Smith in a recent publication has given the rational explanation. Up to a certain time well remembered, the champions of John Brown did not and would not believe he was responsible for, much less that he actually participated in the Potta- watomie massacre. John Brown himself had persis- tently denied the fact; but when incontrovertible testimony was adduced to substantiate the charge, men like Gov. Robinson, could no longer endorse him; he had been guilty of a horrible inhumanity, and he had lied about it to his friends. "The wise men of the east, however, having been overwhelmed in a controversy long and bitterly pro- tracted, now had no alternative but to confess or justify; they justified. The writer hereof does not care to enter upon the John Brown controversy, having nothing to add or subtract from the views expressed heretofore on the subject. While not at all points in sympathy with the letter or spirit of the work under consideration, we do not hesitate to say that Dr. Brown has made a valuable addition to the written history of early Kansas." Thus much by Col. Learnard, of the Lawrence Journal. The following is from the Emporia Republican, founded by the late Gov. Eskridge: "An Interesting Book. — The Emporia, Kan., Re- publican has received one of the most interesting books, relating to Kansas history, that has ever come to our notice. It is "The Rescue of Kansas from Slavery," by Dr. G. W. Brown, the founder of 22 Emporia. The good Doctor takes up the history from the year 1854, and carries in a clear, splendidly written and lucid manner through the perilous times known as the 'border war.' During this period he took, as many Kansas people will remember, no small part and was always found in the forefront of the struggle bravely waging battle for a free State and human liberty. That was in the hey-day of his early manhood. Now, in the sere and autumnal days of life, his mind travels backward to the time when his face was to the setting sun, and he was righting the savage forces for the reclaiming of the wilderness, and he paints with glowing pen the picture of those early days, of the place and the strife, of the joys and the sorrows of those who broke the virgin sod one day and were defending their homes the next. For the sake of human liberty the Doctor suffered impris- onment, and a heavy property loss without a murmur and when released was in the front rank again fight- ing, planning and watchiug as of yore. All hail to him and the band of loyal men, now but few, who with him laid the foundation of the great and glorious state of Kansas. May they, in their closing days, receive the richest of blessings, a compensation, in part, for their heroism. Along with the book the Doctor has sent a mem- bership certificate in the original town company. It was made out to John Tolles, and signed by G. "W. Brown as president, and G. W. Deitzler as secretary. The certificate is as follows: 'This certifies that John Tolles is the proprietor of one share of ten lots in the city of Emporia, Kansas territory, and shall receive a good and sufficient warranty deed, in fee-simp] e, for the several lots so soon as the shares are drawn, subject to the restriction which the members of the 23 Emporia Town Company have made against the allowing of gambling, and the storing or sale of spirituous liquors on said premises.' The certificate is dated August 25th, 1857, and is probably the oldest official document in the town which relates to the city of Emporia. "The Doctor states in his letter that the sale of intoxicating liquors was prohibited in the early deeds of the town, but the rule was rescinded at a later date by a majority of the members of the Town Company. "The following gem from the book — the concluding words of its author — will show the faultless style of the Doctor and gives an insight to his literary ability : " 'The resistless stream of time bears on its surging flood the wasting years. Soon the last actor in these memorable scenes will sink beneath its turbid waves, and others will occupy his place. As we now look back with pride and satisfaction to the pioneers of the Mayflower, bringing to America their puritanical habits and desire for religious liberty, so may the inheritors of the free institutions planted in Kansas by our worthy compeers look back with kindred gratification to those who witnessed her sufferings in her natal morn, and who sacrificed much that she might be free.' "The volume has more than 200 pages of the most valuable early historical data extant, and would be a most valuable addition to every library in the State. It is clearly printed and well and tastefully bound. Several half-tones of the early actors in the 'Kansas Drama' are in the volume. Of the multitude of notices by the Press and the People, and by the few survivors who were actors in the Kansas strife, to this date, not a single adverse criticism has come under our observation relating to our late books on Kansas, other than from the pen of 24 one "who was muling and puling in his mother's arms," (provided he ever had a human mother,) while those he denouncs with demoniac gall were toil- ing night and day, spending ease and wealth, to make Kansas free. The following private letter to the author, indors- ing most fully our False Claims Coekected, is by a New England gentleman of literary prominence, a well-known author, whose books are everywhere read with delight. He is familiar with every feature of the pioneer history of Kansas, and has made its men and measures a careful study. Conscious that they who seek to crush the real actors in the Kansas drama, because they are not willing to concede the freedom of the State was contingent on midnight assas- sination, and to avoid subjecting him to being smirch- ed and offensively stenched by their mal-odor. we have deemed it just to suppress his name. Those who wish can supply the omission designated to suit themselves. We quote: * * * , Mass., Jan. 25, 1903. "Dr. George W. Brown, My Dear Sir: — The copy of your book: "False Claims of Kansas Historians Truthfully Corrected,'' reached me last Monday morning, and, though I was very busy at the time, I sat down and read half of it before I put it by, and the remainder was finished before I went to bed that night. Never did title fit a book better. You have so clearly and concisely stated in your introduction the real condition which has produced the false assertions and claims of that class who have hoped to gain a reputation for themselves by throwing down the original and real workers in that great movement which established freedom instead of slavery as the 25 policy of this Nation, that if you had gone no further you could not have failed of impressing the average mind with the reasonableness of your position. But what follows in detail leaves no possible chance for evasion or escape to those who have traduced the true Kansas martyrs and heroes from the severe but just penalty you have administered. "The contents of the book did not, of course, surprise me as much as they will some others, for I was in a measure familiar with many of the facts you present; but I was impressed with the power, the directness, and the effectiveness of the composition as a whole; and it struck me that I had seldom seen anything so well adapted to the purpose for which it was produced. "You, of course, have a great advantage over the crop of young men and loose writers; for you know from personal observation and participation what they can get only through the medium of other minds. I notice a letter from * * * in which he regrets that he ever meddled with Kansas history. I do not believe that * * * will make any similar con- cession however he may feel, but it is really of little consequence so long as the facts are before the world. "I had a letter from Mrs. * * * this week. She is delighted with the book and she may well be. "I inclose a P. O. money order for 85.00, for which please send me copies, of the book to that amount. You can send by express at book rates, which will be cheaper and safer than by post. I propose to do a little missionary work with them on my own account, making use of your ability and knowledge for that purpose. Many believe in Old John Brown because they are ignorant of his real character, and they will repudiate him when they are informed of the facts. "It is a question if even his most extravagant eulogist would be in the plight you have placed him if he had known at the beginning all the facts con- cerning him; for few men are bad enough to defend such horrible butcheries as John Brown was guilty 26 of, though pride of opinion may cause them to do so. "I hope you will keep on writing, for there is still a great deal that you know, and which it is important should be preserved. Sincerely, * * * " A gentleman of prominence in Central Massachu- setts, when he learned "False Claims Corrected" 1 was in press, well knowing the opposition we should encounter from the enemies of Truth, wrote: "The defenders and admirers of John Brown, as well those of Garrison, have presented a fierce front to those who have ventured to differ with them. They have intimidated many who have been frightened by their sharp denunciations. The idea is prevalent that it is dangerous to oppose them. I have been cau- tioned to avoid a collision with . . . . ; for he would quietly use me up, as he had others ; but some- how I do not fear him, though it is probably true his method of extinguishing an opponent is more power- ful than mine. 1 know the facts are with me, and they cannot be extinguished. "And x think, Doctor Brown, there is no danger they will put you down. What you write from per- sonal knowledge, fortified by corroborative evidence, will stand against all the false sentiment and asser- tion they can bring to bear. You are doing good service in the interest of Truth, and you must not relax until the pen falls irom your nerveless hand." The kind reader will allow us to say, the difference between the writer and his maligner is this : In the interest of historical truth, in our "False Claims of Kansas Historians Truthfully Corrected," late from the press, we confirmed by incontestable evidence, that Old John Brown is not entitled to the credit of making Kansas free ; that the act of his, which his principal biographer says : "on which hinged the "freedom of Kansas," was an unjustifiable homi- cide, so terribly brutal and revolting that th« princi- pal historian of the times said: "It was one of those 27 stern and remorseless acts in civil war which make the delicate and sensitive shrink." See Phillip's Con- quest, p. 316. And on p. 317 he adds; " It was one of those cases at which enlightened humanity will shudder. . . A Mr. Sherman, [one of John Brown's five victims, ] who was killed at that time, was killed by the Camanches, he having gone out to the plains to hunt buffalo. The Indians not only killed him, but mutilated his body; and his friends, when they found the body, brought it home to Pottawotomie." That is the kind of lying that was resorted to 47 years ago, and a savage Indian tribe was shamefully malign- ed and charged with Brown's guilt on account of it. After 24 years of continuous, bare-faced lying in the same direction, 'deceiving everybody,' as A. A. Law- rence truthfully wrote, and the offence proved on him beyond the possibility of cavil, then it was an act of unparalelled bravery which culminated in « uiverting the midnight assassin into a great moral hero ; with making Kansas free, and the world free. The labors and the losses of those who took their lives in their hands, and encountered the aggressions of the slave power more than a year before Brown's coming, and two years after he left us ; whose nearly every act was prejudicial to freedom while he was in Kansas, yet his eulogists credit him with the result, and demand for him all the honors. They charge those who have exposed John Brown's revolting crimes with pecadil- loes which are false in fact, and propose to offset the murderer's guilt with these fictions. They admit the horrible crime of their hero; but attempt to blacken the reputation of those who exposed the damnable offence, we suppose as a justification for high- handed and cold-blooded MURDER ! They should know that in courts of human justice a mulitude of 28 crimes by one party does not justify retaliation on the part of the opposing party. And that they who expose guilt are frequently rewarded, but are never censured. Moltke, the distinguished Prussian, wrote in a lady's album: "Falsehoods fade, but Truth endures." Under this Bismarck, the founder of the German Empire, wrote: Believe I do that beyond the grave Truth always will her banners wave: But with the Falsehoods of this life, Even Moltke must wage bootless strife. VALUABLE BOOKS FOR KANSANS. Reminiscences of Gov. Robert J. Walker, with the True Story of the Rescue of Kansas from Slavery, i2mo. ; 204 pages, cloth, price by mail to any address, $1. False Claims of Kansas Historians Truthfully Corrected; a com- panion volume to the above, $1. The two volumes bound in one, $1. 50. Address G. W. Brown, M. D., 907 Kilburn Ave., Rockford, 111.