BOOKS.

]!RS. ROBINSON'S KANSAS.* TICE authoress of this American volume is the wife of Dr. Robin- son whose name is familiar to the reader of American news as a leader of the " Free-State " emigrants in Kansas and subse- quently the Abolitionist Governor of the State. In 'the form of a diary, it gives an account of what came directly under Mrs. Ro- binson's observation as well as of her hopes and fears, from the beginning of the troubles caused by the "invasion" of the " Border Ruffians " through the long period of her husband's detention as a "traitor," until his release on bail last September. -Various documents oonnected with the general subject of Kansas are printed, as well as some accounts that are furnished by corre- spondents, or extracted from newspapers ; and many of the facts are of necessity reported at second-hand. Still the great bulk of the matter is an original record; for although sbme of the stories concerning the outrages of the "Ruffians " or the miscon- duct of the leaders come under the head of hearsay, and want the• authority Mrs. Robinson's own knowledge would have given them, they have the freshness and character of original observa- tion.

The composition is feminine, with some of that outpouring in sentiment and efflorescence in description which distinguish the writer's countrywomen, and, Booth to say:, many of her country men. There is also a good deal of the minute and indeed of the trivial in the narrative. However, it conveys a very truthful picture of life in Kansas for two years past, as well as a tolerably connected story of the public proceedings, or at least enough to supply data for coming to general conclusions both moral and' political. There are many' glimpses of the inevitable hardships of a new settler's life, the necessary difficulties that must be en- countered, and and the risks that must be run from' climate and the unwholesomeness which seems generally to attend upon bringing large portions of wild land under cultivation. Mrs. Robinson is never tired of praising the beauty of the country ; its undulating fertile soil, its spirits-breathing air, its flowing streams' its nu- merous flowers and its gracefully scattered timber. Allthis, we dare say, is time ; but the climate is uncertain and subject to great variations, and a glance at the map will tell the reason why. The Territory of Kansas lies between the 38th and 40th degrees of North latitude, with no effectual shelter between it and the North Pole. The latitude would indicate a warm eh= Mate ; the position-with a Northernwind exposes Kansas to a blast sweeping over fifty degrees of frozen ocean, or for a-large part of the way equally frozen land, and untempered.either by salt- water or the genial influences of cultivation. The winters Mrs. Robinson describes as "usually very mild and open"; "two' Weeks of cold weather is called a severe winter." This was the 1St of June 1855.

"June lst.—Theweather is as cold as that of an October morning in New England. The stove having been removed into the kitchen as soon as the reef was on, we ate our breakfast in a cold diningroom, with large shawls and cloaks drawn around us. The wind was rising; and, as we attempted to accomplish ,

necessary work by the stove we found it almost impossible to keep any heat in it. We attempted to nail up buffalo robes to break the wind; but they came down as fast as we could put them up. Some gentle- men on the hill beyond us, new corners, looking upon, the beauty of the country, seeing our efforts, came to our assistance ; but their labours in suiting the wind were as futile as ours, and we only had the exercise and sport of seeing our plans fail. We were kept awake a long time last night by the barking of the wolves. They- make a shrill, quick bark; and when a number are together, the sound is deafening."

The winter before Mrs. Robinson's arrival, people sat with doors and windows open at Christmas. December 1855 was of a sharper nature—one of the cold winters which do occur in Kansas.

" 24th.—Still snowing, and the weather terribly severe. The thermome- ter seventeen degrees below zero ; wind is blowing, and the snow drifting into all imaginable shapes. To travel in it seems impossible, and many times today I am querying what will become of the party who left here last evening. To face a Missouri mob is nothing to facing these winds which sweep over the prairies. "Four young men—two from New England, one from England, and our Scotch friend—are stopping here. They try to write, but the ink can only be kept in a fluid state by keeping it on the stove, while it freezes in their Pe.81.. "25th.—Cold, bitter, stinging cold ; not so windy as yesterday, but the cold more intense. Thermometer ranging between twenty and thirty de- pees below zero. The water freezesin the tumblers at breakfast, and. every- thing eatable, or intended to be eaten, is frozen hard. The bread can only be cut as we thaw it by the fire, setting the loaf down and cutting one piece at a time. Potatoes, squashes, pumpkins, citrons, and apples, are as hard as rocks. Several glass pickle-jars filled with ketchup are broken open from. top to bottom.

"26th.—It is no warmer yet. What will the poor settlers do who have no floors in their cabins ?—and there are many such. Will their hopeful, cheerful spirit, which has borne them through the dark hours now scarcely passed, sustain them against physical suffering, it may be actual want? The sacking of their granaries and open houses will cause untold ills."

On the passing of the Nebraska and Kansas bill, (in May 1854,) the settlement of Kansas became a race between the two great parties in the States. The Pro-Slavery people had the advantage of proximity, or the indifference of such a State as Iowa. The Northern men were possessed of capital and industry, with busi- ne,ss-aetivity and organization. Their intention of settling was bone. fide ; nor, indeed, could a Southern man with many slaves jadioiously settle in Kansas until he knew whether the State.waik • Zanies; its Interior and Exterior Life, including a full View of Ha Settle- ment, Bolitieal History, Social Life, Climate, Soil, Prothictions, Scenery, ds, By Sara T. L. Robinson. Published by Crosby and Co., Boston. to- be Slave or-Free, on account of the expense of moving his pee_ ple and neglecting his old plantation. In actual settlement the Abolitionists must have carried the day : but they did not trust toepontaneons proceedings any more than the Southerners ; though their plans were quite legal, and wore an orderly and respectable not to say a pious air, which were altogether wanting even to the best of the Slavery men. The Northern men formed associations, and the "New England Emigrant Aid Company " was incor- porated by act. In March 1855, Dr. Robinson led a party of two hundred from Boston, and settled them at Lawrence, a place about fifty miles from Kansas city, which is not far from Leavenworth and Westport. From scattered indications some perhaps ludi- crous under the circumstances, we should infer that many of the settlers were persons of taste and education and that had the Free_ State settlers not been unfairly interfered with, Kansas would have furnished as good an example as any in modern times of classical colonization by an entire society. The position of Dr. Robinson and his medical profession, (for though he had retired from practice, he attended in cases of necessity,) brought under Mrs. Robinson's notice various things relating- to domestic eco- nomy, the struggles of emigrants with narrow or wrongly.. expended means; and many cases of sickness. The sickness oc- casionally arose, no doubt, from climate or weather, bad water, and the total change in the habits of life. Mrs. Robinson stoutly stands up for the climate, and puts everything upon the imprn. dent conduct of people, except in some eases of unavoidable exposure. The following, however, is not a favourable report of the litalth of her district for part of 1855.

"There has been a good deal of sickness in the country this fall—slow fever and chills. They prevail mostly in -the low grounds near the rivers. We hear from some settlements, especially from those South on the Neosho, that sickness has laid its heavy hand on the strongest, and scarcely any have escaped the paralyzing blow. So far as we can learn, exposures, either necessary or unavoidable, have been the cause. "The colony at Hampden have suffered most deplorably. The facts, as given me by one of the residents, are these. There were one hundred mem- bers of the colony, men, women, and children, when they arrived in the territory. When the town site was laid off, there were over sixty men to receive their apportionment of lots. They came in April ; and in order to provide for the winter store, they thought first of all it was necessary to get the seed into the ground, they living meanwhile in tents. All their ener- gies, forgetful of present necessities, seemed to be directed to their future good. Health and valuable lives were sacrificed thereby. There was no saw-mill, and whatever houses they made at last were of logs and shakes.' There were very few springs in the vicinity ; consequently they drank of the river water, which is slow and sluggish, and when the dry season came, was covered with a green substance fbrind upon all stagnant water, although good water could be obtained by digging twenty-five feet, as one or two wells proved.

"With sickness of body came heart-sickness and a yearning for pleasant New England homes ; and most of those who lived through such discourage. meats either went to other settlements or returned.

"At Osawattomie, situated near the junction of the Potawattomie and Osage, in a pleasant though rather low country, fever has burned up the blood of many, leaving wan cheeks and livid lips. Yet every one is fiee to acknowledge that no country has a purer atmosphere, or more healthful cli- mate. In cases of sickness in Lawrence, they have, so far as I know, been owing to some gross outrage of the physical laws of our being, some unwar- ranted over-exertion of energies either mental or physical; a knowledge of such undue effort being 'confessed to by the individual, with the expecta- tion that sickness would follow.

"The climate, or the country, should bear no part of the blame. It is a question, whether, in the necessary exposures of our new homes, the never- ceasing labours incident to such a situation, we are as guilty as those who court sickness in the Slates, by rash violation of the laws which govern us.

"The cholera raged for a time upon the Wakarusa ; for which drinking of the stagnant water in the river's bed, the result of an unprecedented droutli of ten menthe, and in many cases a sad want of personal cleanliness, was the prolific cause. About the same time, a gentleman near the same region walked into Lawrence in the heat of the day, with perspiration starting from every pore, and blood at fever-heat. He plunged into the river for a cool- ing bath, remaining some time. A pleaaant coolneas was induced ; but the blood was driven back from the extremities, to course madly about the in- ternal organs. Soon after eating a hearty supper, he retired : the awak- ing, after a short, restless sleep, came with bitter pains and life-crushing agonies : death in a few hours closed the scene."

The "Border Ruffians" proper consist of poor Whites—" a ragged regiment "—utterly ignorant, shameless, drunken, and debauched, whom the plunder of the settlers' houses put in pos- session of clothes and other articles such as they had never pos- sessed or even seen before. Mrs. Robinson's pictures of their leaders are not much more flattering : they are painted as equally unscrupulous immoral, and (in many eases) drunken, as their followers ; but they can read and write, though they cannot all spell, as witness a pass—" Let this man pas for i no hum to bee a law and abiding man. Samuel Salters." They are also charged with cowardice, not once or twice, but continually and as an entire body. They retreat before equal or inferior numbers, and fly before a demonstration if they fancy the force is superior. If Mrs. Robinson's account is to be implicitly received, they are mere bullies ; insolent, oppressive, cruel, and even bloody, when dominant, but shrinking from the slightest show of resistance with an appearance of power. There are many illustrations of this characteristic, and all pointing to one conclusion. We quote an instance, less for itself than as exhibiting the 'fact that the Free State men had some shots among them. "On the 6th 'October, a demand was made that a certain tent, standing within five rods of the house occupied by the original claimant, should be removed from its present location, and no more improvements should be made in that part of the town. Several Pro-Slavery men, mostly from Mis- souri, assembled in the vicinity of the tent, and kindly notified Dr. Robin- son, that if he did not remove the tent in thirty minutes, they should.' The following laconic reply was returned to them—' If you molest our pro- perty, you do it at your peril.' The citizens of the settlement came together to witness the removal, and with praiseworthy patience waited for the half- hat ts exiiire. The time at length passed by, and no rnoteMent was-Medd- toward removing the tent. Another half-hour was waning fast, and the thirty New Englanders were quietly waiting for the tent's removal. At last one of the citizens asked another if it be best to hit the first man who attempted to remove it, or fire over his head ? ' The decisive reply was, 'I would be ashamed for the rest of my life; to firear a man and not hit him.'

"There was a spy among them, and as soon as he heard this Conversation, so brief, yet pointed, he went over to the enemy's camp. The intelligence he impartedoif whatever nature it might be, had the effect to scatter the Missourians at once. They left with oaths and threats, that in one week they would return with twenty thousand men from 3fissouri, arid then the

tent shoula'be rearoved:

"The week came and went, and about the mine number of Missourians as before appeared, but not to remove the tent. For some reason, the people

aissoun, although urgently called upon, did not respond, and the belli- gerent parties concluded to postpone any warlike action."

There were exceptions to the brutality of the Pro-Slavery people; but these -were generally from the older States. Such personshrid come as.volunteers to aid the Missourians, with whom they' soon became disgusted ; of they were men who were Southerns in little more than blood and birth, without Slavery objects. The United States army seems to have aeted impartially so far as they could under the orders of the Pierce authorities ; with courtesy to Dr. Robinson and other" State" prisoners, and something of contempt towards the civil powers and self-conatitutedmilitia. The prompt- ness of the military proceedings was in striking contrast to the hesitation and delay of both parties. As long as violence and bloodshed were enacted by the Pro-Slavery men only, the coarse-, talking and whisky-drinking Governor Shannon refused all soli- citations to order out the troops. When the Free-State men had organized themselves, and forced a body of Border Ruffians to capitulate after the loss of one man, the Governor ordered the United States troops to act.

"On the 5th, Colonel Sumner broke in upon the Free-State camp, and releaied Captain Pate and fellow prisoners. Colonel Sumner ordered the Free-State men to return quietly to their homes, and then, turning to Pate, said, What business have you here ?' " I am here by orders of Governor Shannon.'

" ' I saw Governor Shannon yesterday ; your case was specially con- sidered-, and he asserted you Were not here by his orders.' He then added, 'You are Missourians all of you and when you crossed your State line you trampled on State sovereignty. 'Now go, sir, m the direction from whence you canie ' -' and as he closed his remarks, Colonel Sumner waved his hand for Pate and his party toleave. So the brave H. C. Pate returned to West- port and Kansas city. He acknowledged the bravery of Captain Brown ; for he said Captain Brown rode about them sword in hand; and conintanded a surrender, and-they were obliged to make it. Be spoke well of them- in their Merriment of him while a prisoner; but with Colonel Sumner's treating him with so little deference he felt quite outraged, and- talked of a chal- lenge."

Except at the election, when a large irruption of Missourians took place, the preponderance of effective force seems to have been on the side of the Free State people. The Southerners lacked means to maintain large bodies of men ; nor did they pay or otherwise satisfy some of the "poor Whites" they had de- hided into the undertaking. The Pro-Slavery party finally suc- ceeded, because, having one definite object, they pressed on with- out scruple to attain it, and were stopped by nothing but a dis- play of sufficient force, which cowed them instantly. The North- erns failed, because they tried passive resistance, and a formal obedience to the letter of the law, in a ease which must ulti- mately be settled by the strongest. Had they refused to acknow- ledge the Legislature of the Border Ruffians, and done at first what they did at last, elected their own Assembly and organized a force, they probably might have cleared the Territory ; it being always assumed that the Southerns were as feeble in fight, or rather as cautious in avoiding fight, as is represented. In such ease, the Free settlers would have had that possession which constitutes so many points in other matters besides lair. The same might have been done with greater prospects of success from their growing force at a later day but they aimed at incompatibilities. They -hoped to shame violence by good example, and allowed murder and ont- rage to be practised with comparative impunity ; they permitted the enemy to gather strength and make head, not to give their enemies an excuse by breaking the laws. They even allowed Lawrence to be plundered; and its principal building to be wan- Maly :destroyed, without sufficient legal warrant, though having, they say, force enatigh to have scattered the drunken Pro-Slavery mob. As their enemies had none of these scruples, of course the infirm of purpose were beaten. Yet they acted illegally enough after all. The election of an Assembly was undoubtedly, illegal if the existing Legislature was a legitimate body : when Captain Brown and his band set upon poor Pate or a larger force advanced Upon Lecoinpton, it was something very like a raising of war' if not treason. In a larger point of view, their course was perhaps the beat, and Certainly the safest. Their prudence has created a .wider sympathy than successful violence would have done ; and had the Federal-Government resented 'warlike proceedings they had certainly force enough at hand to put down the Free settlers.