On the late Fourth of July there was a rallying of the clans of the veterans—­the men in blue and the men in gray—­on the field of Gettysburg, to commemorate the battle they fought twenty-five years before, and to do honor to the bravery displayed by each man in fighting for what he honestly thought to be the right.  This was as it should be.  But there ought to be the celebration of another battle—­it ought to be, even though it may never occur—­that should never be forgotten.  In that battle there was no dreadful carnage as on the battlefield of Gettysburg; there were no desperate charges made by cavalry and infantry; there was no heroic courage displayed under the pitiless peltings of a deadly hail of shot and shell; there were no great generals of national reputation in command, but humble men unknown to fame, in the final result came together, and with honest speech said, “We will shake hands and be friends.  We will let bygones be by gones, and see what can be done by a united effort to promote the welfare of all.”

Now we insist that Kansas is worthy of more honor than Gettysburg.  But as in this wicked world the best men do not get the highest honor, nor the best deeds the highest praise, we will be content to bide our time, knowing that the Lord does not forget, and that he will speak a good word for us at the great judgment day.

Kansas led the nation in the abolition of American slavery; Kansas ought a second time to lead the nation in a universal amnesty, so that there shall be nothing to hinder that we shall preach the gospel to the devotees of the mother of Babylon, and to the millions of godless, Christless heathen that are thrown upon our hands, thus making them good Christians that they may be good American citizens.

CHAPTER XXXI.

In 1862 our yearly meeting was held at Emporia, and in 1863 at Ottumwa.  These meetings were little better than failures.  Yearly district meetings were kept up in Northeastern Kansas, in which more vigor was manifested.

And now the writer began to feel the pressure of hard necessities.  For five years I had kept myself in the field on a salary utterly inadequate to my needs, and had been gradually running into debt, and these debts had to be paid.  In anticipation of the future wants of my children, I had invested my available means in land; but as this land was not improved, it yielded me no return.  In the distress that came on the people in those days, one means of making money presented itself, and many availed themselves of it.  Gold had been discovered at Pike’s Peak, and thitherward had flocked a great multitude of people.  There were no railroads, and all supplies had to be carried across the plains in freighting wagons.  This business was carried on by the roughest class of a rough and frontier population; still, it was an honest business, and honest men might lawfully engage in it, provided they had the hardihood to face the dangers and exposures of such a life.