* * * * *
PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, September 24, 1856.
MY DEAR SIR,--Your letter of the 9th of September, after
travelling to Boston, at last found me here, where I am still
detained under medical treatment, away from my home, which I have
not visited since I left it at the beginning of the late session
of Congress, now ten months ago.
With sorrow inexpressible, I am still constrained to all the
care and reserve of an invalid. More than four months have
passed since you clasped my hand as I lay bleeding at the Senate
Chamber, and my system is even now so far from the firmness of
health that any departure from the prescribed rule is sure to
occasion a relapse. I could not reach Ohio except by slow stages;
and were I there, I should not have the sanction of my physician
in exposing myself to the excitements of a public meeting, even
if I said nothing. This is hard, very hard, for me to bear; for I
long to do something at this critical moment for the cause. What
is life without action?
For a while, at least, I must leave to others the precious
satisfaction of laboring for Liberty and the redemption of our
country. But I have the comfort of knowing that never before was
I so little needed.
God bless Ohio for her glorious testimony already, and her more
glorious promises!
Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours,