REDOUBLED EFFORTS FOR A NEW INVASION. * 221 
adage, that “ an idle man’s brain is the devil’s workshop.” He 
closed his letter, however, by an appeal for present help, saying, 
“ I think I shall be able, in a few days, to give you something of 
an interesting and conclusive character.” 
In this way was every means used to create a war in the terri¬ 
tory. The St. Louis Intelligencer published the following letter, 
dated 
“ Parkville, Mo., May 16, 1856. 
“ Prepare for an awful shock! Hold a steady helm, or the 
old ship wiil be wrecked! Armed men are rushing into the 
territory. The destruction of Lawrence is meditated. Civil war 
is just before us. Couriers just from Lawrence say they have 
from one thousand to fifteen hundred men, while there are from 
eight hundred to one thousand around the place, but increasing 
fast. It is thought the destruction of the committee and evidence 
is the cause of the outbreak, or at the bottom. We pray the 
Almighty God to avert these dreadful evils. The secret border 
league is at the head of this affair. It is expected to result in 
disunion. The ultras on both sides are dangerous men. Strike 
boldly for the union of this great country, and may God bless 
you. It is said the ladies of Lawrence are arming. The Platte 
city cannon and many men have gone over. None have yet 
gone from Parkville. It is not advised by the masses ; most good 
citizens are against it.” 
While this shows the state of things in the Missouri border, 
outrage and pillage were already committed by the ruffians arrived 
in the territory. As a party of free-state men, on the fifteenth of 
May, were quietly at work in a field in Benicia, a little town 
about eight miles from Lawrence, unarmed, they were suddenly 
surrounded by twenty-five Missourians, -wholly armed, who, with¬ 
out any warrant or authority, took them prisoners. They carried 
them into a neighboring cabin, and, with many threats of instant 
death, ordered them to leave Kansas. “ G—-d d-n you, if you 
are ever caught here again you shall be strung up! Go to Ne¬ 
braska, d-n you! You have no right in Kansas! ” was the 
language of these ruffians. “We are coming to Lawrence in a 
19* 
