, 1863-10-10

Letter from the Hon. Jos.ah quincy.
OF Massachusetts, to the President.

The following letter from the Hon. Jost,h
Quincy, Of Massachusetts,, to the President
Of the United States, viii be read with par.
tcnlar Interest By all Who remember thu e4.
tteme age and eminent public services of the
"fassf' and his tllustrious Revolutionary an.
cestry. Mr. Quincy was born In l772. He
vas member Of Congress In 1905, and served
until 1878, and. throughout Ibis period Of life,
he did not cease to denounce the ambitious
projects Of the s1aveholding interest. he WAS
In the Massachusetts Senate from 1878 to 1881
He was then elected to the Rouse Of Repre-
sentatiges and choeen Speaker. In 1928 be
was Mayor Ct Boston, holding hlA place until
1928. He wss then. appointed President oI
Harvard University, and held office unftl
18a5, since which time he has lived In Private,
In 1856 he ras warm supporter Of the Re.
publican candidate for the Presidency max.
ing ore speech In Quincy. :,
We have reminded our readers Of tbese
events in the life Of Mr. Quincy, that tbey
ray know properly how to ynlue the senti.
ments and opirions Of the writer Of the let.
ter which follows:
"HoN. ABRAHAM LrScoLx-S;r: Ola npe
mas Its privileges, which Ihope this letter viii
Lot exceed But cannot refrain from ex.
tude for your letter to the Illinois Conyen-
ton; happy, timely, conclusive, and effectITe.
Hnat 3oQ cay concerning emancipation.
yonr proclamation, and yopr course ot nro.
ceeding In re1atlon to It, WAS due TO truth and
Jonr own character, shamefuliy assaiIed az Il
"a aas nsen, Ihe Development is an imperish.-
NEGRO slavery and the possibility of eman-
cipation hare been subjects Of my thought for
more than seventy years, being first intro
duced to It BY the debates In the Convention
Of Massachusetts for adopting the Constitu-
tion, u lbs, which attended. Ihad subse.
que1tlY opportunities Of knowing the YIens
On that SUBJECT not only Of such men IS Ham.
ntcn, Kiog, Jay, and Pickering, but also Of
diktinguiehed aveholders-ofbothf the PincFx
ntys, Of William Smith, Of South Caro]ina,
and Of nony Others. With the first OF thesa
had personal Intercourse and acquaintance
csn truly eay that never knew the indiyid.
not express detestation Of It. and the desire
an6 disposition to get rid Of It, The only
difficulty, In case Of emancipation, Was. What
ehau we GO for the master, aud what shall We
do with tue siaves 4 satisfactory answer to
both these questions has been, until no v. be.
Jono the reach and the grasp Of human wis-
dom and power.
"Tbrough the direct influence Of good
and Krncious God, the people Of the United
Stafes have been Invested with the power Of
answering Satisfactorily both these Questions.
and also Of providing for the difficulties incl.
de1t to both, Oft Whieh II they fail to avail them.
felses. thoroughly md conclusiyely, they will
entail shame on themselves and sQrcoW and
mise1y On many generations.
~ Impossible for me to regard the
Power thus granted to this people Otherwise
nau as proceeding from the direct influence
Of experimenting Providence whoever
makes those mad whom He intends to de-
:" The only poesib1e way In which slavery.
after 1t had grown to ar Cd height, could hnTe
been abolished, Is that 'Whlch heaven has
.Your fundamentally in the work il to
you . subject Of special glory, favor and
felicity; Tie madness Of secession and It's
Inevitable consequence, ciyl xas, VIII, In
their retult, give the. right and the power Of
unirerfal emancipation sooner or lster, II
the uLtted States do not understand and
fully appreciate the boon thus bestowed On
them, and fall to improve 1t to the utmost
extent Of the power granted, they will prove
Tec1eant to themselves and posterIty.
II write under the impression that the
victory Of the United States In this war 10 In
eyitabte-
Compromise IL impossible. Peace on apy.
othsr hasis would be the establlshmep. Of
tTo nations, each hating the other, both mill
ta1y, both necessarily hcstile. their t.r11t,-
ties inter1oeked, with tendency to never
ceasing ht stility. Can We leave to postet1ty
more cruel inheritance, or one more hope
less Of happiness and prosperity?
pardon the liberty hare taken In this
letter, md do not feel obliged In any way to
tske notice oft; ard believe me-, ever your
grateful and obliged servant,
.NOt,rScy. Rent. =. 1GGHN