Hon. Thomas Russell, Judge of the Superior Court, and afterwards Collector of the port of Boston, wrote from Boston:--
“I only write to thank you heartily for your courage and fidelity. I would say, ‘Go on,’ but that is needless.”
Edward W. Kinsley, a merchant, who never forgot the claims of Human Rights or of personal friendship, wrote from Boston:--
“I know you are too busy to read any letter from me; but I cannot let the day pass without thanking you for the course you are taking in the Senate this session. Thank God, we have one man on the watch-tower who will not slumber or sleep.”
Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, the able lawyer and Abolitionist, wrote from Boston:--
“I do not know any man who is doing so much for the country, in the present crisis, as you are by your speeches and writings. We are all here watching the course of Congress with the deepest anxiety.”
Nathaniel Moody, always on the side of Humanity, wrote from Chelsea, Massachusetts:--
“Permit me, as one of your constituents, to thank you for the noble stand you have taken in regard to Reconstruction, which I regard of quite as much importance as was the persistent prosecution of the war just brought to a successful conclusion. I did expect no less from you, considering your former great efforts in the true cause of Humanity.”
Mrs. John Davis, widow of Mr. Sumner’s first colleague in the Senate, wrote from Worcester, Massachusetts:--
“We hope the whitewashing is over, and that common sense, to say nothing of justice, will resume the sway.”
Rev. George N. Richardson wrote from Westborough, Massachusetts:--
“You are bearing yourself so bravely and faithfully in behalf of a cause very dear to me, that it is the impulse of my heart to thank and bless you.”
Rev. Richard S. Storrs, the eminent Congregational clergyman, wrote from Braintree, Massachusetts:--
“It must be a great satisfaction to you to know that you have the unlimited confidence and sympathy of your constituents; and I am sure you have the approval of all loyal men and _angels_, while struggling against the devices of the arch enemy of God and man.”
Rev. J. R. W. Sloane, a pastor of the Presbyterian Church, wrote from New York:--
“To yourself and Thaddeus Stevens the nation is now looking as the defenders of Truth and Justice. Thanks for your just rebuke of the President’s ‘whitewashing’ message. The statements of this paper are directly in the face of what I know to be the state of things in the South. I rejoice that it did not pass unrebuked.”