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[1] On the night of May 24-25, 1856, five pro-slavery men living on
Pottawatomie Creek, in Kansas, were mysteriously and brutally
assassinated.  The relatives and friends of the deceased charged John
Brown and his band with these murders, which the relatives and friends
of Brown persistently denied.  His latest biographer, however,
unreservedly admits his guilt:  “For some reason he [John Brown] chose
not to strike a blow himself; and this is what Salmon Brown meant when
he declared that his father ‘was not a participator in the deed.’  It
was a very narrow interpretation of the word ‘participator’ which
would permit such a denial; but it was no doubt honestly made,
although for the purpose of disguising what John Brown’s real agency
in the matter was.  He was, in fact, the originator and performer of
these executions, although the hands that dealt the wounds were those
of others.”—­Frank B. Sanborn, “Life and Letters of John Brown,” pp.
263-4.

[2] “He was exhibiting to a number of gentlemen, who happened to be collected together in a druggist’s store, some weapons which he claimed to have taken from Captain Pate in Kansas.  Among them was a two-edged dirk, with a blade about eight inches long, and he remarked that if he had a lot of those things to attach to poles about six feet long, they would be a capital weapon of defense for the settlers of Kansas....  When he came to make the contract, he wrote it to have malleable ferrules, cast solid, and a guard to be of malleable iron.  That was all the difference....  After seeing the sample he made a slight alteration.  One was, to have a screw to put in, as the one here has, so that they could be unshipped in case of necessity.”—­Blair, Testimony before Investigating Committee, Senate Report No. 278, 1st Sess. 36th Cong., pp. 121-2.

[3] “Meantime I had communicated his plans at his request to Theodore Parker, Wentworth Higginson, and Dr. Howe, and had given Mr. Stearns some general conception of them ...  No other person in New England except these four was informed by me of the affair, though there were many who knew or suspected Brown’s general purpose ...  Brown’s first request, in 1858, was for a fund of $1000 only; with this in hand he promised to take the field either in April or May.  Mr. Stearns acted as treasurer of this fund, and before the 1st of May nearly the whole amount had been paid in or subscribed.”—­Frank B. Sanborn, “Atlantic,” April, 1875, pp. 456-7.

CHAPTER XII

LINCOLN’S COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH

  [Sidenote] Lincoln to McNeill, April 6, 1860.  Lamon, “Life of
  Lincoln,” p. 441.

  [Sidenote] Jas. A. Briggs to Lincoln, November 1, 1859.  MS. Jas. A.
  Briggs in New York “Evening Post,” August 16, 1867.