APPEAL FOR THE REPUBLICAN CAUSE.
Letter to a Committee of Hudson River Counties, Poughkeepsie, New York, October 3, 1856.
Philadelphia, October 3, 1856.
DEAR SIR,—Among valued opportunities, which, by the dictation of my physician and the admonitions of continued ill-health, I am constrained to forego, is that afforded by the invitation, with which I have been honored, to meet the Republicans of the Hudson River Counties at Poughkeepsie. They will, I trust, believe me not indifferent to their kindness, or to the cause in whose name they are to assemble.
Nothing but necessity could keep me thus aloof, a mere looker-on, while the great battle of Freedom is waged. The pleasure of the sight to a spectator secure in the distance has been declared by an ancient poet in a much admired passage, reproduced by a greater modern:—
“’Tis pleasant also to behold from far
The moving legions mingled in the war.”
Yet the impulse and ardor of my convictions do not allow me to be content in any such retirement. I wish to enter the strife, and give such powers as I can to the righteous cause. But I am forbidden.