“I have the impression that there is no speech of any American statesman, that has ever been printed, that will secure such a lasting reputation, and be so often referred to in the future, as this.”
Hon. George R. Russell, of various experience, who had recently returned from Europe, wrote:—
“I have often thought of writing you about your speech on our Foreign Relations, which I read with much attention, and decided that it was the best that could be said. I met a friend of ours a few evenings since, and he told me that he had said to you that you made a great mistake in assailing England as you had done. I met him with the rejoinder, that you had hit the nail on the head, that the proofs of change we see daily are in consequence of your attacks, and that, instead of upbraiding you, we owed you our heartfelt thanks for the good you had done.”
Brigadier-General Saxton, of the United States army, wrote from his station at Beaufort, South Carolina:—
“I can hardly express to you the intense satisfaction and delight with which I read your great oration delivered in New York. In my humble opinion you have rendered a great service to our country and to humanity. The words of truth and wisdom which you have spoken cannot fail to command the attention and respect of the statesmen of England as well as of this country.”
Captain George Ward Nichols, of the United States army, wrote from his station at Milwaukee:—
“I hardly know what to say of this eloquent exposition, so full of righteous indignation, terrible denunciation, exhaustive research, unanswerable argument,—so abundant, so powerful, and so eloquent in the cause of humanity. It seems to me like a timepiece, which, with unfailing faith, I consult to mark the hour in a stormy day, unmindful of the wondrous art and wit which combine this perfect whole. I thank you more than I can say for this noble speech. It is already a part of the history of this momentous time. It is as much a fact as is Gettysburg or Vicksburg.”
George Baty Blake, Esq., a banker of Boston, wrote:—
“I have read attentively your speech made in New York, and, let me say, I think it exactly suited to the occasion; and if it finds circulation in Great Britain, it cannot fail to do us much good in our foreign relations. Plain speech with John Bull, and to the point frankly, is what always proves most effective with him, in my experience.”