LETTER TO THE YOUNG MEN’S REPUBLICAN UNION OF NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 10,
1864.
A public meeting, called a Jubilee, was held at the Cooper
Institute, New York, to celebrate the recent victory at the
polls. Among the letters read was the following.
BOSTON, November 10, 1864.
DEAR SIR,--It will not be in my power to meet with the Union
citizens of New York at the “Jubilee” of Friday evening,
according to the invitation with which you honor me. But my joy
will mingle with theirs.
The occasion you celebrate is worthy of jubilee, which in the
Hebrew language is simply “the blast of a trumpet,” and now, in
all languages, signifies “rejoicing.”
The occasion is kindred to that famous jubilee in sacred history,
when the mandate went forth, “_Proclaim Liberty throughout
all the land_, unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be
a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his
possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.”
And now this same mandate has gone forth, assuring the return
of patriot Unionists to their possessions, and the return of
patriot soldiers to their families, and crowning all with
Universal Emancipation, sign and seal of union and peace. Such
is the mandate of the American people in the reëlection of
Abraham Lincoln. I pray that it may all be executed promptly and
triumphantly.
Thank God, the pettifoggers of compromise are answered by the
people, who demand peace on the everlasting foundations of Union
and Liberty. The political barbers, who undertake to prescribe,
when they can only shave, are warned that their quackery is at an
end.
Accept my thanks and best wishes, and believe me, dear Sir, very
faithfully yours,