New York, April 4, 1865.
What good news! These things seem to come as apples fall
when they are ripe; we pull at them in spring and summer and they hold on, but
at last drop of themselves so quietly that we hardly notice it. Abolition of
slavery, fall of Charleston, fall of Richmond, — when they arrive they are like
things foreordained from the foundation of the world. But there is a sad story
to follow of losses, — another great flood of grief to rush over the land,
giving its pathetic minor to the music of thanksgiving. But let us hope that
the end has come. . . . We heard of the
fall of Richmond, at Springfield. It startled Henry B. Rogers into such
unwonted enthusiasm that he clapped a hand on each of my shoulders, and half
embraced me. “Negro troops too,” said he, “think of that!” I did think of it,
with grateful tears, in my heart if not in my eyes, to that great Wisdom who
does all things well. . . .
I shall see Dr. Bellows this morning, — ride down Broadway
to Wall Street, and see how the city looks, then come and work on my sermon
till the last minute. Let us trust that whether it be good or bad, the Master
may make it good to the hearers in its influence and results.
SOURCE: Edwin Everett Hale, Editor, James Freeman
Clarke: Autobiography, Diary and Correspondence, p. 290-1
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