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St. Louis May 14th
Dear Governor
Your kind letter
of yesterday ought to
have received my imme
diate attention, & would
have done so could
I have secured a mo
ments leisure either
during the day or evening
But I had a Brief to
make out for the Su
preme Court & had not
a moment spare time
I hope & anticipate that
you will make a "ten
strike" here next week,
for there will no doubt
be a tremendous gathering
from all parts of the West
My suggestions I fear will
be of little value to you
but I will give you one
or two thoughts which oc
cur to me for what they
are worth.
1st Contrast the present
fair with our former
"Derby Days." The vast crowd
& bright faces of men, women,
& children. The same dusty
& thronged streets, & multi
tudes as in former years. But
in one respect if no other a
marked difference. What
means this wildernefs
of bunting crimsoning the
air, & staining the sky from
every tower & dome & Cu
pola? This is an occasion
grander than any Fourth
of July. It all [speakes?] a
resolve deep & strong as
their life throb among the
people of the Great West,
to save the nation. The [play-
ing?] of martial music, the
shouting of the multitude,
silent elo
quence of thousands of
earnest faces, seem to mingle
in one grand anthem of
God Save the Nation!
Former fairs were convened
to encourage Art Science
& Agriculture. This one is
to minister comfort to the
mangled soldiers of the Legion
lying to-day scattered in the
red harvests of war
in countless thousands [thro?]
Hospital, Camp & field
from the Red River to the bank
of the Rapidan. With the
acclaim of thousands here
to day mingles the sob
of a Great Nation.
You might then speak
of the [illegible] contrasts
between the St. Louis of
to day & that of four
years since: the plotting
treason & open disloyalty
of the city at that time;
the dark days of Camp
Jackson
the constancy of our
loyalists in those days of
trial; the loyal Germans,
the heroic [Lincoln? Abbreviated?] (the
people here pretty much worship his memory.)
etc etc. 3d You might
allude to the vast revolution
which the people have under
gone on the subject of sla
very. In 60 secessionists
were going to take Missouri
out of the Union on Personal
Liberty Laws, & Crittenden
Compromises. It was then among
a strong party here complete
submisfion to slavery or
disunion. What is it now
The banners of our victorious
army wave over hundreds
of thousands of men once
slaves now slaves no longer
& for every Plymouth & [Mont-?]
[Place name?] the strong right
arm of the government of
the United States shall be
stretched forth in swift
& terrible retribution. The
close of this war will find our
Nation at length free no longer
in name but in very fact from
turret to foundation stone.
Please let me know
when you arrive, should I fail to see you at the hotel.
Yours in great haste. T.A.Post
You must par
don this hasty
scrawl.
It is written
late at night
& in a desperate
hurry
TAP