“My first duty as a Christian is to thank God that he has restored you to the Senate with physical and mental vigor equal to the great debate in which you have just borne so noble a part. My first duty as a patriot is to thank you for a speech which meets fully, squarely, ably, eloquently, conclusively, the one issue upon which our national welfare now depends. My first duty as a friend is to express the high satisfaction with which I have read the speech throughout, every line and letter of it, and the peculiar pleasure with which I have observed your self-control and avoidance of personalities under provocation, and your fearless and searching exposure of the barbarism and criminality of Slavery under the very eye of its bullying champions and in the very place where you had suffered its deadly malice. I am ashamed of the timid comments, almost deprecating indeed, of the _Tribune_ and _Post_ upon the only speech in the Senate which has reached the core of the question. If the Republican party is to seek success by blinking the real issue of the right or wrong of Slavery, I am prepared to witness its defeat without regret.” Rev. Thomas T. Stone, the persuasive preacher, and student of Plato, wrote from Bolton, Massachusetts:-- “It is scarcely necessary that I should tell you how much I thank you for your public deeds. I was one who wished your seat in the Senate empty, till either you filled it, or the inevitable doom removed you from the possibility of doing it. May the words which have ennobled it go forth as thunders, arousing souls now deadened by the barbarisms of our country and our age! “‘Quo bruta tellus et vaga flumina, Quo Styx et invisi horrida Tænari Sedes, Atlanteusque finis Concutitur.’”[142] Rev. Caleb Stetson, the Liberal clergyman, and early foe of Slavery, wrote from Lexington, Massachusetts:-- “It is the best and completest word that has yet gone forth on the subject. If another as good can be made, it must be by yourself.” Rev. Rufus P. Stebbins, the Unitarian divine, wrote from Woburn, Massachusetts:-- “I have read your last speech in the Senate on ‘The Barbarism of Slavery’ with admiration and gratitude. As a citizen, a constituent, I thank you from my heart’s core. It was a glorious triumph, such as no Roman consul or general ever won, to stand in your place, after such a long absence, for such a cause, and through four long hours proclaim such holy truth in such distinct language as was never before heard on that floor. It is glory enough for one life.” Rev. William C. Whitcomb, an earnest clergyman and Abolitionist, wrote from Lynnfield Centre, Massachusetts:--