gainst whom no charge could justly be brought. A few days previous
to this murder a man named Washburne was whipped to death by four
ruffians, of whom Cavins was one. His only crime was that he was a
Northern man. His body was thrown into the St. Francis river, after
the diabolical deed was consummated. I had heard these horrible
recitals until my blood curdled, and I saw there was no hope but in
leaving this hell upon earth.

The simple knowledge that I had ever lived in New York would, I
think, have hung me without fail that night.

The causes of this mad lawlessness I may not fully understand. Some
of them lie upon the surface. Reckless men settled there originally,
and, living beyond the control of calmly and justly administered
law, they gradually resolved themselves into a court, the most
daring and active-minded becoming the self-elected leaders.

Then the system of slavery gives them almost unlimited power over
the persons and lives of large numbers of human beings, and this
fosters a spirit of despotism so natural to all men, even the most
civilized, when invested with supreme power.

And, still further, some fanatical men from the North, determined
violently to break the bonds of the poor slave, had been found in
recent years spreading incendiary works among the poor white
population and the negroes who could read, thus endangering the
lives of the masters and their families. As a matter of
self-defence, Northern men were watched with unremitting and
eagle-eyed vigilance.

But whether all this explains the fact or not, no Northern man's
life was safe for an hour in that section of Arkansas at the time of
which I speak. Hence I concluded that their advice was good, though
I must lose what interest I had in my business partnership. Then,
how was I to travel thirty miles before daybreak, as it was now two
o'clock? I immediately took the road to Helena, on the Mississippi
river. I will not record all my thoughts during that ride--homeless,
friendless, and, though innocent of crime, hunted like a very
murderer, in free and enlightened America!

How long is this system of terrorism to continue? This utter
disregard of law and the sanctity of human life? Among the
questions to be settled by this war, are not these important? Shall
an American citizen be allowed in safety to travel or reside
anywhere in his own land? Shall there be any freedom of opinion and
speech upon the question of slavery?

If it be sai