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Show • 432 Letters from his Family & Relatives. and way. 'Vc may we1 1 ex·c laim w.i th. J cf"f crson, " I trcm blc for my . ·h n I remember that God IS JUSt. coYuonuti ym" y cd ear s1. r, may b c culled to die in thr c. au.s e of libert.y , as our be' loved sons 1l ave b ee n c•a u .· c<l to giv c up then h vr. ; bn t, 1f o, IY 1 •l'e c your an d t 11 e.n. blood " 'ill " cry unto the Lord from tho )C 1 roundv. " If you arc I.e n1 1 y a. child of God , you ·w.i ll .s .o ,o n. ' be wh. ere. tgh e wt. ckcd ('Case f1· om t·I oublinoo-• and where .., the. "C. tn) a.t e at 1cst, where all thm. gs ",o r· k tooo -ether for 0r rood. Chnst 1s saymg to you, 1 f .. ,. 'Vhat I do t 11. 0u k nowcs t 11ot now , but thou Rhalt know 1ercn. ter. 11 , , , I fully beli·e ve w 1u 1.t tl1 c 1w · u1 Qual"· cr woman *' w.r ote. yo, u, l'hou.sands 1'J ra !/for thee eve1 .! / d ay · Posterity 1cill do thee ;ust1ca. Shouldb thedy put you to d. ca th , the.y will not only have .t o wade through thbe lo1o of those w 11 0 11 ave bcc11 cruelly murdered m the same cau c, ut a ·o throu<T·h the prayers o f God's }Jeople' which will no.t be unheeded or . 0 dtsrco-ardcd b y t h c h carer of 1)raycr. I am cxcc. edmg thankful that . 0 the JUt- 1c r ·I S so k'm d to you' and that you nrc pcnmttcd to occupy yl3o'ubrl - self m· wn·t m· g and rca d'In oo-· I doubt not but you now vn. lue the 1 e far above a 11 oth cr rcad m. otT . May it do you orr ood ! It wtll be exceed. - inrrly gratifying to me to receive n letter from you before your e~tt. . ~ . I shall continue to pray for you so lontT as you may be a subJect of prayer, that the Lord mny comfort and support you nnd y~ur remaining mouming and afliictcd family. May we all b.c permttted .to meet m· 11 cuven, Wl't l1 all the blood-bouoo- ht throng, and With them um. thc m· pr., .· t 50 to the Uedeemer forever a•n d ever. M• ay1 thnt peace whlC passeth all understanding be yours m the trymg 10ur. Farewell ! Farewell ! L. II. I.JA CnofisE, 'VrscoNSIN, Nov. 20. Dear Cousin: Little did I think when I parted with you and other friends in Hudson twenty years ago that I Rhould ever ndd1.'css you n prisoner under sentence of death. But such nrc the mystenous ways of that inscrutable Providence that directs our steps, however we m~y devise our wuvs. I have for yenrs watched your strange, eve~ti~l history. I hnv· c wept for your gn·c 1 .s , am1 my sou1 ha' s burned w.1 tlu. n me when I have read the talc of wrongs endured b! your fmmly m Kansas. And when I now 1·ead, in a venial part1san press those heartless .landers, many of which, extending back to for~er years: I know to be as base as can be invented by the Father of. Lies, ~nd :sec you held up before the world in a character not only m:possthl~ to You but to nny one brought up and educated by the Rnmtcd. Oltver Brow' n, my m. dt. gnnt.w n can scar ce1 y b c 1. cprcss.c • d . It i :;· for tluo.; l fee 1 ~,, Tho letter referred to I do not republish lu tu,,l.B vo 1u wel n~ it 11 ~ uln•mly U'' '!)l'.lL'cil 1u "'!'he Public Life." Letters from his Fa1nily & Relatives. 433 that, ere you must undergo the sentence meted out to you hy n false and wicked, ystem, I must write n word, simply to express to you my confidence in your . incerity, and my belief thnt you hnve acted at'cording to your convictions of dnty. Looking nt the matter from my own stancl-poi.nt, I should not conceive it my duty to have done as you diu. I>Jacc me in your circttmstnnces, und I nm wholly unable to soy what I should have doue. I have but one son! \rerc I culled to ~;ce him wantonly sacrificcu to the extensiOn of a ystcm, founded, nurtured, and perpetuated only in wrong, I know not what it would make me. In a conver1:1ation with you nt your father's hou. c, twenty-two years since, when some of our friends imbibed the strange notion that they had become perfectly holy, you remarked: " We tu•vcr know Oltrselvcs till tltorougltly fried. As heating of old smoollt coin 1cill make tlw f'jfacrd stamp t·isible again, so the fire of temptation n!veals what is latent ct'<'lt to ow-.,eh•es." I will not at this distance, and under your circumstnnccs, even venture an opinion as to the right or wrong of your net. If your sentence is executed, you arc too ncar the bar of that God who will judge righteous judgment, who, as you have said, 1 ' is no respecter of persons," for me to pretend to sit in judgment. Hather would I commend you to that mercy that 01 will not breal· a hruised reed." But this I will say, that I would sooner take the place you mu t take before Him than that of the noblest in the world's esteem, who has robbed the least of God's poor of his right. I shnll cherish your memory while God spares you here, as one I formerly esteemed very highly, and whom I never can believe would have done a known wron~, cv<·n to snve your life. I know it will take £mother und a better generation to do ju tice to your memory. Yrt I feel nn earnest desire to do what I can to set you before the world in. the true light. I ~hall end('t\Yor to oprn correspondence with your family, and gather nil the fatt . .;, both for my own satisfaction nnd that of other friends. If this shnll rcn.ch you in time, may I beg of you n word, though it be but a ll'orrl, that I mny know that it was received. I shall ob -erve the cia~· that man hn.s fixed to terminate your earthly career as a day of fa;;ting and prayer, in which l shall endeavor in my imperfect way to l'Cilwmber not only yon and your derply-afllictc•d family, but also bear upon my heart before a eompns~-oionatc Raviour, the oppres:-;ctl and dowutrodden, 41 remembcring them that nrc in bonds as bound with them." And now, cousin John, farewell, till we meet in eternity. And may 'N"e then be permitted, with those venerable fathers who taught us in youth to love and serve a God of truth and righteousness, to join in tl:e new ~ong- to Him that loved us nucl hon~ht 111< with his own pre-ciou » blood. Your n{f'L·ctionatc cousin, k:.L>WA).W n i~OW~, 3i |
