LETTER TO A PUBLIC BANQUET IN HONOR OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, AT TOLEDO,
OHIO, NOVEMBER 18, 1864.
BOSTON, November 18, 1864.
DEAR SIR,--It will not be in my power to unite in the banquet to
your most faithful Representative.
I know Mr. Ashley well, and honor him much. He has been firm
when others have hesitated, and from an early day saw the secret
of this war, and, I may add, the secret of victory also. In all
questions of statesmanship, which will soon supersede military
questions, he has already given assurance of practical wisdom.
His various indefatigable labors and his elaborate speech on
“Reconstruction” show that he sees well what is to be done in
order to place peace and liberty under impregnable safeguards.
For myself, I have no hesitation in saying, that, next to the
Rebellion itself, I most deprecate a premature State Government
in a Rebel State. Such a Government will be a source of sorrow
and weakness incalculable. But I am sure that your Representative
will fail in no effort to prevent such a calamity.
There is also the Amendment of the Constitution prohibiting
Slavery throughout the United States. Nobody has done more for
it, practically, than Mr. Ashley.
Accept my thanks for the invitation with which you have honored
me, and believe me, dear Sir,
Faithfully yours,