THE ATTACK UPON LAWRENCE. 
241 
aghast at the idea of brotherhood with such a ragged, fil hj,besot¬ 
ted set. But it is only tools the slave power wants, and these 
could steal, plunder and kill. What more does the administration 
ask of its supporters in crushing Kansas? If peace had been 
desired, the United States troops would still have been called into 
service, for in no instance had resistance been offered them. Col. 
Sumner was not the officer whom Gov. Shannon dared ask to bat¬ 
ter down a civilized town, and destroy presses; and his soldiers 
have the hearts of men in their bosoms, and, with too little alacrity 
to please government officials in Kansas, have they hunted down 
peaceable men. Hence the governor left them at Leavenworth, 
and relied upon his mongrel crew of Carolinians, Alabamians, and 
Missourians, as better instruments to do his bidding. This is why, 
on the last week of spring, the morning air freighted with perfume 
of flowers, and the carol of birds, on Mt. Oread, was mingled with 
oaths and ribald songs, as it ascended to heaven. Between 
the hours of eight and nine o’clock a part of this band moved 
down from Capitol Hill, above our house, nearer the town, upon the 
table land where the house stood. Runners were sent down to 
Massachusetts-street in the forenoon, and they reported, on their 
return to the hill, “ All quiet in Lawrence; the few men there 
busy about their usual employments.” The five hundred men on 
Mt. Oread had divided into two parties, one of which surrounded 
our house ; the other planted their cannon on the brow of the hill. 
About eleven o’clock, W. P. Fain, United States Deputy Marshal, 
with eight men, went into the town. They went directly to the 
hotel, and were respectfully received. The marshal summoned 
four prominent citizens of Lawrence to assist him in arresting 
others of our citizens. Without resistance, Judge G. W. Smith 
and G. W. Dietzler were arrested. Col. Eldridge had but just 
removed his family to Lawrence, and this was the first public din¬ 
ner given in the hotel. Marshal Fain, with his posse and prison¬ 
ers, partook of the hospitality of the house. Col. Eldridge then 
took the prisoners and a part of the posse to our house, which had 
been taken possession of, by the u legally authorized militia,” for 
their head-quarters. The United States Marshal then dismissed 
his monster posse of two hundred and fifty horsemen, and five 
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