At nightfall I found myself beyond Gallatin, on the road to St. Joseph.
As there were no hotels I called at a private house and was hospitably
received. This man, on whom I had called, had come from the State of
Pennsylvania, and had grown to a prosperous farmer. There seemed to be
no books or newspapers about the house; but he was shrewd and sagacious
to a proverb, and was eager to hear from the land of his fathers, and of
what was the cause of all this din and clamor and excitement of the
people about him. What was the meaning of the Kansas-Nebraska bill? What
were the intentions of the Black Republicans? What was the _New York
Tribune_ doing, that it should raise such a tumult? And what were the
purposes of the Emigrant Aid Society that it should be such an offense
to the people in Missouri?
On my own part, I also had much to learn from this man, so shrewd and
well-informed, and yet so ignorant. What did it mean that citizens of
Missouri should go over in force and vote in the Territory of Kansas? We
had heard something of this in Illinois, but supposed it was something
done by that turbulent and somewhat lawless element that gathers along
the borders of civilization; but now it was apparent that this movement
was under control of leading citizens of Missouri, and had been
participated in by conscientious men, members of the various churches of
Missouri, who would in no wise knowingly do anything wrong.
Pages:
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61