Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1845-07-09
Letter from Elihu Burritt TO the An.;-s.avcr,
Convention at Cincinnati.
WORCESTER. Mas 23i, 1915.
SAMUEL LEWIS. ESQ.

Ny Dear Slr:-l am almost ut n loss TO
language to express my sense of obligation
you. and the committee II whose behalf yo
speak. for those terms OF kindness and conf
dence with which invite me 10 be present n
Your great Convention II Cincinnati. on the 1t
of June. i I'D /. Is Will, profound sentiment o
regret that | compelled. by circumstance
winch cannot Lend to my wish. to forego a plea
suro which | should haze cherished during th
remainder of my life, one of tho choicest sou
vcnirs IN tho Iewcry of my remembrance. |
is with great difficulty That can SO arrange M
labors TO permit to be absent from Norce
s;or fortnight at tine. Still have longad t
sec your great and prosperous STATE; and when,
/ few weeks before | received your communion
ton lcttor came from corta in literary societies
| connected with the Oberin institute. inviting m,
20 deliver tltor next annual address. in August.
accepted the invitation, that | might associate
with my visit some otter object than that of MGR,
curiosity. To fulfil this cnga gemont Will OK
haus all tho time that force out of the dis
charge of my lahors n homo. which would pro
cludc tho possibility Ct making two journeys te
/ ONO in ono season. Although cannot BIO witt
YOU IN pcrson--cr rather III body shall DO pre-
sent with every earnest sympathy of my soul
will, every attribute of my humanity that car
pray and hope for man. and labor TO lift mp my
down-troidcn brother, the SIAvE-t,od's child, to
n now l;o aud tho lisht of rev heaven for his
downcast acnatcd heart q heaven SPAWNED with
God own handwriting IN tho fixed stars and ev-
cry rainbow OF hope. that his Ethiopian hue shall
40 longer impair the dignity o.. his humanity OF
his tito or access to all the privileges. progress
and prospects Of tho children of Il common Faith
or. either earth in heaven. The place, the
motives and the members OF your Convention.
will all conspiro to give It 4 moral might and
mn jostv. which viii he felt over the Union. and
carry prcmonition Of dcnth 10 an institution
which. like huge docp-rootcd up1s. has ditfasCd
It's subtle poison over the once grcanest portion of
liac
beneath its shade bears tho hectic of the soaring
curse.
Nc place in tho ilion ccr'9 have beer moro
appropriately selected than Cincinnati. Situated
on the heaven side of freedom. a magnificent il
lustraton of what it do for human nature and
human society. well might it say to those who
live in tho pale and sicky Wilderness of slavery,
Como and lot reason together. And it
should quicken tho pulse of great-hoarted patriot
ism. that this friendly call has been greeted by u
cordial response from the first homo of tho Anglo
Saxon race on this ccn,inent-fron unfortunate
Virginia, the primeyal Eden Of Nature in Amor
ica, now pining beneath tho breath of ar nstitu-
ton which has blasted the foliage and the fruit of
her tree of knowledge. and her tree of life; and
which. if It has not tanishcd her into tho wider
without. has brought the wilderness into her
paradise. Virginia. oldest patriarch in the ark
of Freedom which outrodc the universal dclugc
Of despotism-among tho fret affairs il erected in
its heritage, enc fer the sacrifice CT humanity
and tho mmolation of human liberty. First to
declare tho lnalienabe righteousness of freedom
to the world. 1t was the first TO become into&lca-
ted with the spirit Of It's domestic slavory, and
under lis influence. 10 curse rs pos!orlty with an
evil which has operated with unspcnt and unspar-
ing malignity upon Young and old, ricl ard POOR,
bond ana FREQ. through their successive genera
tons. Virginia. still venerable IN her misfor-
tunes and grand IN her decadenco, the dovout and
tilial memories which cluster about her uncien:
virtues. like the plous sons OF Noah, would APP
proach her behind 4 mantle of charity which
should hide from the subject and object OF the
sorrowfu vision. the sight of her unconsci ous
weakness and insensible prostration.
And old Virginia tho Virginia of the bos. days
of history, will be with YOU. represented by
few choice spirits who. with the sublime chiv-
airy of moral hcrostn, the offspring and origin
of better things in her condition. will 90 up to
your communion. tho cstranged and scattered
children of Israel wont up from their coasts to
worship with their Jewish brethren IN the temple
at Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah. And be-
tween the ancient jubilee and your Convention, !
pray that there may be features OF resemblance
10 which future generations shall revert CRATE
ful memory. If thero Is thing moro than
another. which would enhance my pleasure IN be-
ing present on the OCCASION it would be the priv
lego of meeting there those heroic spirits from
Virginia. Above all tho places on earth,
should prefer TO give them the warm hand Of fra
ternal fellowship on the green banks of tho Ohio.
There, IN view of the luxuriant fields ard all the
vordant life of your iliimited Eden, | would hold
with them brothcriy communion on the gospel
of nature and tho great principles of humanity.
While beautiful world of exuberant fertility ex-
banded to their view beneath the heaven-blessed
labor of free hands, and cities and villages, buoy
ant with the vigor of youthful activity, We'd with
vegetation in rapdty of growth would re-
mind them. with earnest tenderness, that the ram
the dow and tho sunligh. fell upon the fields OF
Virginia with the same richness of beneicence
as upon those of Ohio: that nature had lavished
upon the '.Old Dominion all that she could do
for her choicest vineyard, and never withheld a
gift that could make it the garden and glory of
America. would saw TO them, that if tho re-
ha- hoe rr,nio "a