Brown obtained these letters by dissimulation. He took advantage of the Governor's confidence in his statements and deeply imposed upon him. He concealed from him the plans which he had formed for working a colossal graft upon the Free-State sentiment in the East; and the fact that he intended to use these letters in pursuance of them. He was equivocal, too, as to his plans for leaving the Territory. If he had given Charles Robinson even a hint that he had been robbing the settlers in the Osawatomie district of their horses, cattle, and clothing; and had thus provoked Reid's descent upon the town, and the burning of it, as a retaliatory measure, and that he intended to use the letters he asked for in grafting operations, they would not have been written. Brown's latest biographer regards the foregoing letters of special interest, because of Governor Robinson's subsequent criticism of Brown's actions--assuming that the spirit of these letters in inconsistent with his later estimate of the rectitude of Brown's conduct.[217] The point is not well taken. The Governor's endorsement is, plainly, dependent upon the information which he had received relating to it. He said: Your course, _so far as I have been informed_, has been such as to merit the highest praise from every patriot, and he then proceeds to state what the heartfelt thanks are for: "For your prompt, efficient, and timely action against the _invaders_ of our right and the _murderers_ of our citizens." This plain language cannot be distorted into an approval, by the Governor, of Brown's crimes in murdering and plundering pro-slavery settlers; who came into the Territory to build homes for their families, as Brown and his sons originally came to do; and whose rights, as settlers, were equal to those of their Free-State neighbors. Equality of settlers' rights, was the basic principle of the Free-State contention. Robinson wrote it into the platform of the party and unalterably maintained it, to a victorious finish. The war that was being carried on by the Free-State men, was directed against the invasion of the Free-State settlers' rights by pro-slavery men who were non-residents of the Territory. John Brown remained at the Wattles farm until the 22d. Meanwhile plans were matured for his sons, John and Jason, and their families, to quit the Territory. During the first days of October they left Kansas for the East. Brown's farewell is recorded by Mr. Villard, as follows:[218] On departing from the Territory, Brown left the remainder of his Osawatomie volunteer-regular company under the command of James H. Holmes, with instructions to "carry the war into Africa." This Holmes did by raiding into Missouri and appropriating some horses and arms and other property, for which he was promptly and properly indicted and long pursued by the Kansas and Missouri authorities.