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admit that, for many years, the matter was kept by the missionaries well among themselves, and Mrs. Walker's letters, above quoted, gives a very good reason— because it was feared that the doctor would bring disgrace on the missionary cause by leaving his post on business so foreign to the duties of a missionary—as such. Neither is it probable that they scattered many letters about, making mention of facts about which they hardly dared speak. With a full knowledge of these reasons for secrecy, Mr. Evans calls loudly for written proof in the shape of autograph letters, or editorials in Oregon journals, or the Missionary Herald. Because Mr. Eells does not produce the minutes of the meeting held at Dr. Whitman's station in 1842, at which the vote of approval of Dr. Whitman's plan for going East was cast, Mr. Evans argues that no such meeting was ever held. And he so writes, a year after the Rev. Cushing Eells had made and published his affidavit, an ex tract from which reads as follows:
"Record of the date and acts of the meeting was made. The book containing the same was in the keeping of the Whitman family. At the time of the massacre—November 29, 1847—it disappeared."
Here, the loss of a record has been accounted for and its contents proven. When did you learn that, under such circumstances, oral testimony could not be allowed to supply the place of a writing, Mr. Evans? He calls upon those setting up this claim for Dr. Whitman to produce an exemplification of the record that has been made up from their proceedings here and forwarded on to Boston. If such record should be brought forward it is not probable that a matter so utterly foreign to the object of the mission here would figure very conspicuously—as to that, however, I merely " speculate."
Mr. Evans denies that Dr. Whitman did, even in the most re mote degree, stimulate the great immigration of 1843; says the doctor's connection with the immigration commenced with the crossing of the North Platte river in June, where he overtook the train; "was escorted by the train to Oregon." When it comes to making a broad superstructure of assertion, on a narrow or no foundation of truth, the gentleman from New Tacoma is the "boss." When he wrote this, Mr. Evans knew that Rev. Myron Eells had written to all of the emigrants of 1843 that he could hear of, and had received and published the answers of fourteen persons. Out of this number four said they were influenced by Dr. Whitman to
