BOSTON, August 30, 1872.
DEAR SIR,--I have been honored by your communication of August 24th,
inviting me in the name of the Liberal Republicans of Massachusetts,
to speak in Faneuil Hall. It is with inexpressible pain and regret
that I feel constrained to decline this flattering opportunity.
I had confidently hoped, on returning home, to meet my
fellow-citizens in that venerable forum, so dear to us all, and
to speak once more on great questions involving the welfare of
our country; but recurring symptoms of a painful character warn
me against any such attempt. My physician advises that I must not
for the present make any public effort, and he prescribes rest.
Valued friends, familiar with my condition, unite with the excellent
physician.
In submitting most reluctantly to these admonitions, I cannot
renounce the privilege of communicating with my fellow-citizens, and
therefore hand you a copy of what, with the blessing of health, I
hoped to say. In the House of Representatives undelivered speeches
are sometimes ordered to be printed. You may follow this precedent
with mine, or do with it as you please. Meanwhile accept my best
wishes, and believe me, dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,