And you saw reports of such meetings where?
I find it most curious that at this late date in 1859, Harper's editorials are most concerned with farmers' economic problems in the mid-west and most hopeful that good weather will result in rapid improvement there.
Harpers is also concerned that Washington DC is borrowing too much money but seems happy to report that President Buchanan's Treasury Secretary Cobb (DEM-GA) has borrowed less than feared.
I've seen no hint anywhere in Harpers of increasing sectional rivalries or political churning over questions related to slavery, abolition or even "money flows from Europe".
The Higginson correspondence in post #3 is interesting but doesn't hint at what is coming.
Not at all clear what Sanborn means by July 4 to "raise the mill".
I'm also curious about that. Surely it can't be the target date for the Harper's Ferry action. As far as I know Harriet Tubman was not involved in that. The Secret Six and other John Brown backers are in the dark about that plan. They know he has something in mind and it could involve violence but he is keeping the details to himself and a few other followers. That will change over the summer. Frederick Douglass will be let in on the plan and invited to participate. Perhaps Tubman was as well.