Did they not have on their side the President
and his Cabinet? Was not Congress on their side? Was not Persifer F.
Smith, Commandant at Fort Leavenworth, at least indifferent to all
their deeds of violence? And more and better, Woodson had succeeded
Shannon as acting Governor, and it would be a bad day that should not
see the full fruition of their hopes.
But there was one thought to mar their otherwise perfect joy, just as
Providence always pours a drop of bitterness into every cup. A
Governor unfriendly to their purposes might be appointed, and it
became them, therefore, to make hay while the sun was shining. They,
therefore, addressed the following pathetic appeal to the people of
the South:
We have asked the appointment of a successor who was
acquainted with our condition; who, a citizen of our
Territory, identified with its interests, familiar with
its history, would not be prejudiced or misled by the
falsehoods which have been so systematically fabricated
against us.
In his stead we have one appointed who is ignorant of our
condition, a stranger to our people; who we have too much
cause to fear will, if no worse, prove no more efficient
to protect us than his predecessors.
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