June, 1865.
Gerrit Smith, Esq.,
New York:
Dear Sir, — The events which, with increasing
emphasis are inscribing our national history, attract and impress the public
mind. We think that information is needed and counsel required. We know that
the interest which you have felt in the conflict which is passed, continues to
the stages of its pacification and close.
Understanding your willingness to communicate with your
fellow citizens on national topics, we would be pleased could you address a
public meeting in this city, at the Cooper Institute, on the evening of next
Thursday, the 8th instant, on the present attitude of the country.
Horace Greeley,
C. Godfrey Gunther,
E. H. Chapin,
Henry Ward Beecher,
Rich'd O'gorman,
David Dudley Field,
Sam'l L. M. Barlow,
Henry W. Bellows,
Hiram Ketchum.
SOURCES: Octavius Brooks Frothingham, Gerrit Smith:
A Biography, p. 293