of this and others as reported, in addition to the two Averys already there groaning in the prisons of I thought it advisable to have a portion of the ready to resist a Mob. A burnt child dreads the fire, and when my old friends, men women and children look to me in the hour of danger for protection, and the wives and children of kidnap<​ed​> men beg with tears for Justice and protection I am bound by my oath of office and by all laws human and divine to grant it. I have always said I should act constitutionally. I know I have no power to call out men to go to , or to take , the constable can take such a posse as he pleases, or the sheriff may, if necessary to effect the ends of Justice, call out the power of the . And I as mayor of the city of , have power when an armed mob has been organized for weeks, and carried off to another state innocent citizens, and flung them into prisons, and threaten to take more and if resisted, say they will slaughter the inhabitants of the , and swear [p. [2]]