FARMER CENTRE, OHIO, Nov. 14th.
MY DEAR MADAM:--In an hour like this the common words of
sympathy may seem like idle words, and yet I want to say
something to you, the noble wife of the hero of the nineteenth
century. Belonging to the race your dear husband reached forth
his hand to assist, I need not tell you that my sympathies are
with you. I thank you for the brave words you have spoken. A
republic that produces such a wife and mother may hope for
better days. Our heart may grow more hopeful for humanity when
it sees the sublime sacrifice it is about to receive from his
hands. Not in vain has your dear husband periled all, if the
martyrdom of one hero is worth more than the life of a million
cowards. From the prison comes forth a shout of triumph over
that power whose ethics are robbery of the feeble and oppression
of the weak, the trophies of whose chivalry are a plundered
cradle and a scourged and bleeding woman. Dear sister, I thank
you for the brave and noble words that you have spoken. Enclosed
I send you a few dollars as a token of my gratitude, reverence
and love.
Yours respectfully,