upon the necks of suffering peoples—will be a thing of the past to be looked back upon by a wiser generation with curious wonder at the sort of statesmanship which carried on and encouraged so wasteful and oppressive a policy, and at the patience of the peoples that so long tolerated it.
Let us hope that this Republic which, as its history proves, is so singularly blessed with entire exemption from danger of attack or hostile interference, and therefore peculiarly fitted for leadership in this movement toward a higher civilization, will never be unmindful of the duty imposed upon it by this glorious mission.
TO ROBERT ERSKINE ELY
Your letter of the 20th inst., inviting me to become a member of the advisory council of the New York Society of the Friends of Russian freedom is in my hands. I hardly need to assure you that all my sympathies are with the cause of Russian freedom. I also hold in the highest esteem the ladies and gentlemen you mention as being at the head of the Society. If now, before joining them in their work, which I should consider it an honor to do, I express the wish to be a little more minutely informed as to the persons or committees or associations with whom they are in correspondence, and upon whose advice they depend, and so on, it is because in my younger days I had a good deal of personal experience of such matters, which taught me that the efforts of such societies as yours, although inspired by the best intentions and the most laudable enthusiasms and the greatest conscientiousness, may occasionally do more harm than good, unless conducted with very great circumspection.
I should therefore be glad to have a conversation with
