LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE OF A YOUNG MEN’S CONVENTION AT FITCHBURG,
AUGUST 5, 1856.
CRESSON, ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, PA.,
August 5, 1856.
DEAR SIR,--I wish that I could be with the young men of
Massachusetts at their proposed Convention, but I am so feeble
still that I am constrained to turn away from all temptations and
opportunities of labor. In writing this letter I infringe a rule
prescribed by my physician.
We have been told that “the duties of life are more than life”;
and I assure you that the hardest part of my present lot is the
enforced absence from public duties, and especially from that
seat where, as a Senator from Massachusetts, it is my right,
and also my strong desire at this moment, to be heard. But in
the coolness of the mountain retreat where I now am, I begin
to gather hope of returning strength,--if too tardily for the
performance of any public duties during the session of Congress
now about to close, yet in season to take part in the rally of
the people for the protection of Liberty in Kansas, and for the
overthrow of the oligarchical Tyranny which now degrades our
Republic.
Meanwhile I commit the cause which we have at heart to the
generous sympathies of the people, who will surely rise to
smite the oppressor. Especially do I invoke the young. They are
the natural guardians of Liberty. Thus has it been throughout
all history; and never before in history did Liberty stand in
greater need of their irresistible aid. It is the young who
give spontaneous welcome to Truth, when she first appears an
unattended stranger. It is the young who open the soul with
instinctive hospitality to the noble cause. The young men of
Massachusetts act under natural impulses, when they step forward
as body-guard of the Republican party.
The great discoverer Harvey, on announcing the circulation of the
blood, was astonished to find that no person _upward of forty_
received this important truth. The young only embraced it. More
fortunate than this discovery, our cause rallies in its support
alike the experience of age and the ardor of youth; but it is
in the glowing embrace of the young that it finds assurance of
victory.
Were I able to make myself heard throughout the land, I would
say to the young men everywhere who truly love Liberty: “Your
candidate has been the renowned pioneer of civilization in
unsettled wastes: associate yourselves with him now as pioneers
of Liberty in the National Government; help him unfurl at
Washington the flag which he first unfurled on the peaks of the
Rocky Mountains; and be copartners with him in the glory of
redeeming our beloved country.”
Present to the young men of Massachusetts, whom you represent,
the assurance of my sincere interest in their happiness and
welfare, and believe me, my dear Sir, with much regard,
Faithfully yours,