DEAR SIR,—I wish that I could be with the young men of Massachusetts at their proposed Convention, but I am so feeble still that I am constrained to turn away from all temptations and opportunities of labor. In writing this letter I infringe a rule prescribed by my physician.
We have been told that “the duties of life are more than life”; and I assure you that the hardest part of my present lot is the enforced absence from public duties, and especially from that seat where, as a Senator from Massachusetts, it is my right, and also my strong desire at this moment, to be heard. But in the coolness of the mountain retreat where I now am, I begin to gather hope of returning strength,—if too tardily for the performance of any public duties during the session of Congress now about to close, yet in season to take part in the rally of the people for the protection of Liberty in Kansas, and for the overthrow of the oligarchical Tyranny which now degrades our Republic.
Meanwhile I commit the cause which we have at heart to the generous sympathies of the people, who will surely rise to smite the oppressor. Especially do I invoke the young. They are the natural guardians of Liberty. Thus has it been throughout all history; and never before in history did Liberty stand in greater need of their irresistible aid. It is the young who give spontaneous welcome to Truth, when she first appears an unattended stranger. It is the young who open the soul with instinctive hospitality to the noble cause. The young men of Massachusetts act under natural impulses, when they step forward as body-guard of the Republican party.
The great discoverer Harvey, on announcing the circulation of the blood, was astonished to find that no person upward of forty received this important truth. The young only embraced it. More fortunate than this discovery, our cause rallies in its support alike the experience of age and the ardor of youth; but it is in the glowing embrace of the young that it finds assurance of victory.
Were I able to make myself heard throughout the land, I would say to the young men everywhere who truly love Liberty: “Your candidate has been the renowned pioneer of civilization in unsettled wastes: associate yourselves with him now as pioneers of Liberty in the National Government; help him unfurl at Washington the flag which he first unfurled on the peaks of the Rocky Mountains; and be copartners with him in the glory of redeeming our beloved country.”
Present to the young men of Massachusetts, whom you represent, the assurance of my sincere interest in their happiness and welfare, and believe me, my dear Sir, with much regard,
Faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner.
George H. Hoyt, Esq., of the Committee, &c.