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Charles Sumner, his complete works, volume 12 (of 20)

Volume 12 — JUBILEE OF LIBERTY.

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Letter to the Young Men’s Republican Union of New York, November 10, 1864.

Illustration from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 12 (of 20)

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,

Charles Sumner.

Frank W. Ballard, Esq., Corresponding Secretary of the Young Men’s Republican Union.

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