■WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1866,
THo printing presses shall be free to every
person'who undertakes to examine the pro*
oeedlnge of the legislature, or any branch of
government; and no law shall ever be made
to restrain the right thereof, The free commu
nication of thought and opinions Is one of the
Invaluable rights of men: and every citizen
may freely speak, write and print on any sub
ject; being responsible for Che abuse or that
liberty. In proseoutlbas for the publication of
papers investigating the offloial conduct of ofli
-cers, or men in public capacities, or where the
matter published Is proper for public informa
tion, the truth thereof may. be given in evi
dence."
.FOR GOVERNOR:
Hon. HIESTEB ChYMEIt, of Berks Co.
CAMPAIGN INTELLIGENCES,
PRICE Oft'JLY THIRTY CENTS !!
In order to aid in the circulation of
political truth, we will furnish the
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCES until
after the election for Thirty Cents.
Let every one of our readers see to it
that his neighbor subscribes ior a copy.
There never was greater need for the
circulation of sound political reading.
The Intelligencer is just what you
and your neighbors need. Send for a
copy.
.Remember it is only 30 Cents. !
The money can be remitted by mail
i Cooper, Sanderson & Co.,
Lancaster, Pa.
The Campaign Intelligencer.
We have already received several
handsome lists of subscribers for the
Campaign Intelligencer, it is one
of the largest, handsomest audcheapest
newspapers in the State. We oiler it at
a price so low for the Campaign as to
put it within the reach of every voter
in Lancaster county. We expect our
friends to give it a wide circulation.
A single dollar will, pay for three
copies.
Let eacli one of our readers see that
liis neighbors all take it. Every Demo
crat in the county ougfit to have it. A
small subscription from active Demo
crats will put it into the hands of any
who arc too poor to aH'ord to pay for it.
Del the clubs in the different town
ships see to it thatitissupplied to every
man who will read it. Many votes can
be made by a comparatively insignifi
cant expenditure of money in this way.
J L will be one of the most effective elec
tioneering documents which can be pul
into the hands of candid readers.' We
expect our friends to give it a very wide
circulation.
-Let each one who reads this go to
work at once. Send the money and
the names of the subscribers by mail;
and be sure to write the name of the
'Post Ollice address in a plain hand.
Address of the Democratic State Commit
Pk.M'h-katic State < ’u mm tithe 1
RonMs, S-S WAIATT StUKIT, l
PIIITAIiKI.CIItA, Allg. gU, lSlj'i, j
T<> (he I'rojih: >,/ J’nutm/lennoi :
The issues of the canvass are made up.
The restoration of the I'niou and the
preservation of your form of government
are the vital questions tliaL now confront
yuL
Secession is dead, hut disunion sii 1
lives. Slavery is extinct, hut fanatirisni sur
vives.
Therights of the while man are submerg
ed in efforts to - lovate the negro, and the
black man is sought to lie made a control
ling element in the politics of the Kepub-
i Vntralizalion seeks to rear its despotic
power upon the ruins of the Constitution,
and foreshadows a war of m.-es for its ac
complishment.
Proscription ami disfranchisement usurp
the places of magnanimity and clemency,
ami discord ami hale combat Christian
ch:irity' and national concord.
Congress refuses to nourish, lie* resources
necessarv for payment ofthedcht ofthe Re
public,met loads with taxation die industrial
interests ofthe North. Congressional ex
travagance is thorn le ; economy in pub.ie
affairs, the exception.
A Convention of representative men from
each of the United Slates has met within
the past week ; they have forecast the
future, agreed m sentiment, and dispersed
to their homes.
Their work has passed into history ; to
the impartial mind thal woik is a perfect
answer to the charge thal the South is not
ready for restoration.
Compost'd of muu of every suction, hold
ing (*very slmde of political opinion, tliev
have re enunciated the eternal principles
that lie al (he hast' of our institutions, have
renewed their vows of fealty and of brother
hood, and have joined hands in an united
ellbrL to restore the Union and preserve the
government created by the Constitution.
No man need err in this contest:
Support Congress and you-sustain dis
union, allark your government, and elevate
tin* at tlit* expense oi‘ your own raec.
„ Support the President restore the
Union, preserve yourgovermnent, and pro
led tin. l white man
on the one side
agitation and disunion
On the other, the President, the Union
peace and order.
By order of the Uemoeratie State Com
mitieo. William A. Wallack,
Chairman
arc Stevens, Sumner,
A Persecuting Spirit,
Thaddeus Stevens appears to have an
insatiable appetite lor persecution. He
is happy only when he has somebody
to worry. He first made himself con
spicuous in Pennsylvania by persecuting
the Freemasons. An emigrant from
the frozen hills of Vermont, he had
hardly got warm in thenestof his adop
tion before he entered upon a crusade
against a benevolent order that was
distinguished for its charities and for
its favorable influence upon the cause
of morality. In this crusade he acted
as Provost Marshal General. He ordered
theoldestand best men of this common
wealth to be arrested and dragged be
fore bis Inquisition, and the order was
executed by his satraps. Insults that
must have made their blood boil were
heaped by this Yankee intermeddler
upon the heads of native citizens of
Pennsylvania, whose looks were whiten
ed with the snows of more than sixty
winters. To such an extent was this
persecution carried, that for many years
a large number of the Masonic Lodges
in the State were closed. His utterances
against the members of that order, very
many of whom were among the best
men in the whole country, were as
fiendishly malignant as his denuueia
tions of the Southern people at the
present time.
The attitude of unrelenting hostility
that lie lias assumed towards the South,
is but a fresh and more malignant man
ifestation of the Satanic spirit of perse
cution that animated him in the days
of anti-masonry. Growing more Cruel
as he has grown older, he delights more
than ever in the use of hishot pinchers.
He would torture the subdued and re
pentant people of the South merely to
enjoy their misery. He would goad them
into a new rebellion, if such a thing
were possible, in order to get an ex
cuse to massacre the whole of them.
Against this infernal spirit of perse
cution every honest-minded man in the
Union ought to set his face. The boast
ed enlightenment of the ■ nineteenth
century should not be disgraced, in
free and Christian America, by deeds
that would have shamed a darker age.
He who catches and shares the malig
nant temper of Thaddeus Stevens, in
effect burns his Bible and blots all its
precepts from his mind.
Removal of Postmasters,
correspond
ent, writing under date of Aug. 20, says
preparations are being made to remove
some thousands of postmasters from
small offices throughout the country.
He adds that “the appointments made
to succeed these opponents of the Ex
ecutive policy (thoseunder slooosalary)
do not have to pass the ordeal of ihe
Senate, and hence the sweep will be a
Clean one and without any fear for the
ponsequences.”
Tlio Work of the National Union Con-
ventlon.
The Great National Union Conven
tion, which assembled in Philadelphia,
closed its labors on Thursday, amid the
brightest auspices and the most unpar
alelled enthusiasm and good feeling.
'SYp lay before our readers the declara**
tion of principles adopted and the ad
dress presented to the people of the
United States. Could the whole people
of the United States have heard them
read, as we did, and have looked upon
the imposing scene presented by the
Convention, the great workproposed to
be accomplished would in truth be
done. Faction would be forever dis
armed, and the complete restoration of
the Union accomplished. The voice of
Radical politicians would be hushed,
and he who would dareto preach sectional
hate would be universally execrated as
the enemy of his country.
That Declaration of Principles and
that Address go to the people, and they
will be read and studied by them as no
political manifesto ever has been in this
country. In the quiet of their homes,
when the day’s work is over, every in
telligent citizen will read these high
toned and patriotic documents. They
will remember the source from, which
they come, will not forget that they are
the embodied sentiments of the loyal
and conservative citizens of every State
and Territory in the Union, and will
bear in mind the fact that they were
adopted and enthusiastically approved
by the largest andmostintelligent body
of representative men ever convened
since the world began.
Could every voter in the United States
have been present, thelaction of North
ern Radicals, who can only maintain
their political existence by keeping alive
a feeling of hate for the South, would
have been almost unanimously voted
unworthy the confidence or the respect
of any mail in the nation. The New
England people would have repudiated
Sumner and Wilson, and even Lancas
ter couuty would have turned from
Thaddeus Stevens with loathing and
contempt. The millions who could not
witness the grand spectacle will read
ami think for themselves. The Decla
ration of Principles will meet with their
cordial and hearty approval, and the
Address will appeal to their intellects
and to their sensibilities with a power
that must prove to be completely irre
sistible.
Radicalism is doomed by the action
of this great National Union Conven
tion to a speedy, inevitable and irrecov
erable overthrow. In the coming elec
tions the masses of the North will assert
their rights as intelligent freemen.
They will refuse any longer to be
dragged as slaves at the heels of such
traitors as Stevens and Sumrfer.
The great body of the voters of Penn
sylvania will decline to support any
man who endorses the policy of tlie
corrupt and revolutionary majority in
Congress. The State will be redeemed
from the elulches ofthe men who have
misrepresented and disgraced her, and
will once more take her proud position
as the Keystone of the Arch in a per
fectly restored Union of all the States.
The action of the National Union Con
vention renders that sure beyond a per
ad veil lu re.
Thatl. Stevens on Foreigners,
After having been nominated for
Congress Thud. Stevens made a speech
from which the following is an extract:
Wo have not yet done justice to the op
pressed race. \Ve have not gone as far as
liiu Kmperorof Russia, when he ordered the
freedom of thousands of his oppressed
people aiul endowed them with the right of
nti/.i'liship. \\ e have been Loo much gov
erned by our prejudices. Wu have listened
100 much to those whose cry is ‘‘Negro
Kqiulity" “Nigger" “Nigger" “Nig
ger?" lIV nre in/lu.c/tectl too much by (hose
/mesons /riott foreign hunts 'who, while in
search of freedom, <teny thal blessed boon to
(hem who 'ire, (heir equals.
There is a plain manifestation of the
real feeling of the Radicals toward the
foreign population of this country. If
they could they would deprive every
adopted citizen ofthe right to vote, and
confer that sacred franchise on the ne
gro instead. "While some men are try
ing to deceive a few simple-hearted
Irishmen into the belief that they are
the friends of green Erin, “ Old Thud ”
comes out at his own home and speaks
the honest sentiment of the Radical
wing of the.Republiean party. He bold
ly declares his preference for the negro
over the foreign-born white citizen, and
avows his belief that the negro is su
perior to the Irish or the German races.
Is that enough for naturalized citi
zens? Do they need more convincing
proofs that the infernal spirit of Know-
Xothingism still exists in the hearts of
Thaddeus Stevens and alibis followers?
I f they do, let them vote for Geary, him
self an original Know-Nothing, and
they will repent of their folly when it
shall be too late. No foreign-born citi
zen can vote for a radical candidate un
less lie is willing to be reduced to a con
dition below the negro. That is what
Stevens and all the Radicals wish to see
done.
Soldiers’ Friends.
Forney bawls loudly for the nomina
tion of soldiers by the Republican party,
but lie has uot yet brought forward a
soldier for the United States Senate. He
proposes to take that position himself.
He thinks soldiers good enough to till
the county offices, but iu all this great
Commonwealth, which sent from two
to three hundred thousand men to the
Held, he has not yet found one soldier as
well lilted for and as well entitled to a
seat in the Senate as himself! Modest
man! Great friend of soldiers!
Curtin is alllicted in the same' way.
His friendship for the soldiers is* un
bounded. There is nothing he would
not give them, except what he wants
himself. He would give them the right
to vole alongside of a negro ; to sit in
the jury-box with “ American citizens
of African descent,” or to send their
children to school with piccaninnies.
He would even allow them to be elected
lo the Legislature, if they would pledge
themselves in advance to vote for him
lor the Senate. But out of the thou
sands uf officers to whom he issued
commisMnns during the war, and out
of the hundreds of thousands of
privates whose names are enrol
led in the Adjutant General’s office
at Harrisburg, Curtin has not been able
to find a single man whom he prefers to
himself for Senator, Disinterested soul;
"With all liis bad health, he is willing
to take upon himself the labor of rep
resenting Pennsylvania in the United
states Senate, rather than see the posi
tion imposed upon some poor soldier!
If these Republican leaders were sin
cere iu their professions, would they not
propose some soldier of distinction for
the Senate, instead of struggling to se
cure their own election?
The Convention or Southern Radicals.
The Southern Radicals who propose
to hold a Convention in Philadelphia
on the 3d of September are reduced to
great straits iu their efforts to secure a
decent show of delegates. Finding that
the thing was about to fizzle out, the
managers sent an appeal to the Radical
State Convention of Marylaud, urging
them to nominate one hundred dele
gates, and an equal number of alter
nates. The thing looks now like it
would be little else than a gathering of
Baltimore rowdies, led by a few such
men as Jack Hamilton, of Texas. The
Convention will represent no constitu
ency, not even the more respectable
negroes of the South. Jack Hamilton
and Brownlow, and a few more scurvy
fellows of that class, will be there, but
they will represent nobody except them
selves. What they may say or do will
be of but little Importance to anybody.
GREAT IiKIOR CONVERTM!
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES!
ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OP THE
UNITED STATES!
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE!
ADJOTBMIENT, AC.
THIRD DAY.
Hon. J. R. Doolittle, the Chairman, at l 0
o’clock called the Convention to order, and
announced that Rev. J. B. iteimensnyder,
of Lewistown, Pa., would open the proceed
ings with prayer.
PRAYER BY REV. MR. REIMENSNYDER.
The prayer was in the following lan
guage :
O Lord God Jehovah! King of Kings!
We adore Thee as the first, the greatest and
the best of beings. Thou art the author of
creation, both physical and moral, and
hence the rightful sovereign of all things
that are in heaven above and in the earth
beneath, visible and invisible; whether they
be thrones or dominions, or principalities
or powers. Thou art from everlasting. Of
old, didst Thou lay the foundations of this
earth, and give the sea her depth, and
stretch over our heads this glorious firma
ment, rejoicing in its stars. Thou fillest the
Heaven of heavens with thy presence. Im
mensity is Thy dwelling place. The Uni
verse is Thy realm, ami the eternal years
are the duration of tby sceptre. How, then,
can we, creatures ofthe dust and of a day,
and so far cast from Thy presence by our
moral rebellion, come before Thy face? We
come trusting alone in that love and for
bearance, which knew no limit and which
were so surpassing that even to save the
chiefest of sinners, Thou didst freely give
the precious blood of ’lliine only and well
beloved Son. We come trusting and plead
ing, in virtue of this precious blood, that
Thoa wilt thus freely receive us. We were
Thy children, and Thou woukist not cast
us off forever. Nay, rather, instead of su
peradding terms as the penalties of our
moral treason. Thou didst make our path
way easier than before. Thou hast changed
the covenant of works to the covenant of
grace, so that we have gained far more in
Christ by his innocent and bitter sufferings
and death, than we have lost in Adam
through his rebellious fall. O! transcen
ding mercy and grace; may we thus learn
this to be the spirit of our groat Father, and
the spirit of our divine Lord and Master;
and may this bo the spirit of lbrgiveuess,
love and peace, that animates the great
heart of Christianity to-day, and that shall
be known in true Christuui deeds and vir
tues. Wo trust, our Father, that in such
spirit this great Convention has assembled
upon this momentous occasion; and there
fore, wo the more confidently invoke the
richest blessings of Heaven to rest upon it.
Thou art the God of nations, and Thou art
the author of that love of liberty that in
spires our hearts ; and tho greatest anthem
that has ever reached mortal ears from the
Heavenly Host was an anthem of love, of
peace, and good will to man. And as our
beloved land has been founded to promote
these great ends ol liberty and peace and
happiness, we believe Lhai Thou art especial
ly our country’s God, as Thou art her great
author.
And yet, our Heavenly Father, in the
weakness of human wisdom and in the folly
of humau guilt, we have been arrayed in a
great and fearful eonlliet against each other
—we, the citizens of this one common coun
try. Brother lias striven for the mastery
over brother, until theheavenshavesliaken
with the roar of our arms, fields are red
with brothers’ blood ; firesides darkened
with woe, and tho wails of our wounded
and dying, and of our widowsand orphans’
have gone up before Thy great throne. But
thanks be to Almighty God, praise to Thine
ever blessed mime, after six long years of
strife, of hardship and sutlering, in the tent,
upon the march, upon the field of battle,
and of pained and agonizing hearts at home
—at last, from tho remotest corners of this
great Republic, tho men ofthe East and the
West, of the North and the South, have
come up to meet beneath the :ogis of the
American eagle, to greet eacli other with
the true hands and loving hearts of breth
ren, and to inaugurate again the good feel
ing and the common purpose of the olden
times. We believe, our Heavenly Father,
that if there is upon the earth one scene
which Thou dosi regard with pleasure it is
tho forgiving embrace of brethren, once es
tranged, returning to their first and early
love. We adore Thee, then, for this great
spectacle winch w»* are at last permitted to
witness to-day ; and we confidently invoke
Thy presence and Thy sanction to rest upon
the great work which Thou hast imposed
upon this, the most august of American as
semblies. Crown its deliberations with wis
dom , sanctify them with love, harmonize
them with peace, and grant them the aid of
Thy {lower to reach the hearts of this great
people, and to rally them with one will
around our n<>M** Ibv.-.idcnt in his patriotic
efibrts to vindicate tile supremacy of tho
Constitution, and thereby to render this
great American Union of our fathers im
perishable through all future generations.
Grant, that in the advanced light ol civili
zation, and taught by our recent bitter les
son, that all our difficulties may be resolved
by the weapons of truth upon the fields of
intellect, but by tho arbitrament of the
sword amid the carnage of war no more for
ever. And now we commit, humbly and
yet trustingly, our great country, our great
people and our common destiny to the
keeping of the infinite and every adorable
Trinity of Heaven—Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, world without end. Amen.
THE COLORADO ELECTION
The Chairman rose and said
Before proceeding to any oilier business,
Ihe Chair begs leave lo announce as the first
response in political action to the call for
this Convention, the result of the Colorado
election.
The following dispatch has been receiy
Denver, Colorado Territory, Aug. 15.
Returns from HI parts of the Territory
render certain inc election of A. C. Hunt,
Administration eaudidalo for Delegate to
Congress,overChillieot, thbßadical. [Long
continued applause.]
UNION NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Mr. Crowell, of New Jersey, offered the
following resolution which wasagreed to:
Resolved , That a Union National Execu
tive Committee be appointed, to be coni posed
of two delegates from each State, Territory',
and the District of Columbia.
COMMITTEE TO WAIT ON THE PRESIDENT.
Hon. Reverdv Johnson, (who, on rising
was greeted with enthusiastic cheers) sub
mitted the following resolution which was
adopted:
Resolved, That a committee consisting/
of two delegates from each State, one from
each Territory’ and the District of Colum
bia, be appointed by the Chair to wait upon
the President of the United States, and pre
sent him wiith authentic copy of the pro
ceedings of this Convention. [Loud ap
plause.]
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
Mr. Chas. Knapp, oflheDistrictofColum
bia, presented a resolution, which wasagreed
to, as follows:
Resolved, That a Committee on Finance
be appointed, (oeonsistoftwodelegatesfrom
each State and Territory, and the District of
Columbia.
RESOLUTION REFERRED
Geu. Patton, of Pennsylvania, submitted
a resolution, which ho began, to read as fol
lows :
Resolved, That it is incompatible with the
interests
Several Delegates—Let it be read at the
desk.
Gen. Patton sent up his resolution.
The Chairman, after examining the reso
lution, said: This resolution, under the rule
adopted by r the Convention, goes to the Com
mittee on Resolutions.
Gen. Patton—l would like to have the
resolution read.
The Chairman—The resolution goes to
the Committee on Resolutions without de
bate.
THANKS TO MAYOR M’MICHAEL,
Hon. Edgar Cowan presented the follow
ing resolution, which was adopted unani
mously with loud applause.
Resolved, That the thanks ofthis Conven
tion, oe, and they are hereby, tendered to
Morton McMicbael, Esq., of the city of
Philadelphia, for his admirable police ar
rangementsforthe preservation ofpeace and
gooa order during the sittings of this Con
vention.
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES.
Hon. Edgar Cowan —Mr. Chairman, on
behalf of the committee who wereappointed
to prepare resolutions and an address, I de
sire to state that the committee, have given
very careful and elaborate consideration to
the subject during all of yesterday and a
good part of lust night, and I beg leave to
report a declaration of principles, adopted
unanimously by the committee, (which the
{Secretary of the Convention will read,) and
an address to the people of the country,
which will be read by the Hon. Henry J.
Raymond, of New York. [Applause.]
The Secretary then read the following:
declaration of principles.
tio f V al Union Convention, now as
sembied m the city of Philadelphia, com
posed ot delegates from everv State and
Territory in the Union, admo&hJd by“ e
solemn lessons which tor the last five years
it_ has pleased the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe to give to the American people
profoundly grateful for the return of peace’•
desirous as area large majority of their coun
trymen, tn all sincerity, to torget and to
forgive the past; revering the Constitution
as it comes to us from our ancestors* re
garding the Union in its restoration as more
sacred than ever; looking with deep anxiety
into the future as of instant and continuing
rial, hereby issues and proclaims the fol
lowing Declaration of Principles and Pur
ses, on which they have with perfect unan
imity, agreed:
First. We hail with gratitude to Almighty
God the end of war, and the return of peace
to an afflicted and beloved land.
Second, The war just closed hag main
tained the authority of the Constitution,
with ail the powers which it confers and all
the restrictions which it imposes upon the
general government, unabridged and
unaltered; and it has preserved the Union,
with the equal rights, dignity and authority
of the States, perfect and unimpaired. [Ap
plause.]
Third. Representation in the Congress of
the United States, and in the electoral col
lege, is a right recognized by the Constitu
tion as abiding in every State, and as a duty
imposed upon its people—fundamental in
its nature and essential to the existence of
our republican institutions; and neither
Congress, nor the general government, has
any authority or power to deny this right
to any State, or to withhold its enjoyment
under the Constitution trom the people
thereof. [Loud cheering.]
Fourth. We call upou the people of the
United States to elect to Cougress, as mem
bers thereof, none but men who admit this
fundamental right of representation, and
who will receive to seats therein, loyal rep
resentatives from every State in allegiance
to the United States subject to the constitu
tional right of each House to judge of the
elections, returns aud qualifications of its
own members. [Applause]
Fifth. The Constitution of the United
States and tho laws made in pursuance
thereof are “the supreme law of the land,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any
State to the con trary not withstand! ug.' ’ All
the powers not conferred by the Constitu
tion upon the general government nor pro
hibited by it to the States are “reserved to
the States or to the people thereof;" and
among the rights thus reserved totheStates
is the right to prescribe qualifications for the
elective franchise therein, with which right
Congress cannot interfere. [Long continued
cheering.] No Suite or combination of
States has tbe right to withdraw from the
Union, or to exclude, through their action
in Congress or otherwise, any other State
or Status from the Union, [(ireatappluu.se.]
The Union of these States is perpetual and
cannot be dissolved.
Sixth. Such amendments to theConstilu
tion of the United States may be made by
the people thereof as they may deem expe
dient, but only in the mode pointed out by
its provisions; and in proposing such
amendments, whether by Congress or by a
Convention, und in ratifying the same, all
the States of the Union have an equal and
an indefeasible right to a voice and a vote
thereon. [Enthusiastic cheers.]
Seventh. Slavery is abolished and forever
prohibited—and there is neither desire nor
purpose on the part of the Southern States
that it should ever bo re-established upon
the soil or within the jurisdiction ofthe
United States : and the enfranchised slaves
in all the Stales of theUmon should receive,
in common with all their inhabitants, equal
protection in every rightofperson and prop
erty. [Applause.]
Eighth. While wo regard as utterly inva
lid and never to be assumed, or made of
binding force, any obligation incurred or
undertaken in making war against the
United States we hold the debt ofthe nation
to be sacred and inviolable; and wo pro
claim our purpose, in discharging this as
in performing all oilier national obliga
tions, to maintain unimpaired and unini
peached the honor and the fuith ofthe Re
public.
Ninth. It is the duty of the national gov
ernment to recognize the services of the
Federal soldiers and sailors in the contest
just closed, by meeting promptly and fully
all their just and rightful claims for the
services they have rendered the nation,
and by extending to those of them who
have survived, and to the widows und or
phans of those who have fallen, the most
generous and considerate care. [Loud
cheers.]
Tenth. In Andrew Johnson, President of
the United States, who in his great office
has proved steadfast to his devotion to the
Constitution, the laws and interests of his
country, unmoved by persecution and un
deserved reproach—having faith unassaila
ble in the people and In the principleof free
government —we recognize a Chief Magis
trate worthy ofthe nation and equal to the
great crisis upon which his lot is cast; and
we tender to him, in the discharge of his
high and responsible duties, our proluud
respect and assurance of our cordial and
sincere support.
The reading of the various resolutions
was interrupted by frequent applause, and
they were unanimously adopted. The read
ing ofthe seventh resolution, which had
been unintentionally omitted, was subse
quently given by the Secretary amidst loud
applause, and tho article was adopted with
out opposition.
In response to a call by a delegate from
Pennsylvania, for three cheers for lion.
Edgar A. Cowan, that gentleman responded:
r claim to be the host of the Convention.
One of my guests will now address you, by
the unanimous consent of the committee.
The Hon. Mr. Raymond, from the Slate of
Now York, will now read the address which
has received the unanimous approval of the
committee.
Mr. llenry J. Raymond, in a loud, firm
voice, amidst a great stillness, began the
reading of the following document, which
lasted beyond an hour. He was frequently
interrupted by loud applause, until the
President, by earnestly soliciting silence,
for a time restrained the audience ; but sub
sequently the cheers again broke out, and
were allowed lo proceed unrebuked.
AID DRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED
Having met in Convention, at the city of
Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,
this 13th day of August, 1803, as the repre
sentatives o*f the people in all sections, and
all the States and Territories of the Union,
lo consult upon the condition and the wants
of our common country, we address to 3 r oti
this declaration of our principles, and of the
political purposes wo seek to promote.
Since the meeting of the last National
Convention, in the year isiio, events have
occurred "which have changed the character
of our internal politics, and given the Uni
ted Stiites a new place amongthe nations of
tlie earth. Our government has passed
through the vicissitudes and the perils of
civil war—a war which, though mainly sec
tional in its character, has nevertheless de
cided political differences, that from the
very beginning of tho government had
threatened the unity of our national exis
tence, and has left its impress deep and in
effaceable upon all the interests, the senti
ments, and the destiny of the Republic.
While it has inflicted upon the whole coun
try severe losses m life and in property, and
has imposed burdens which must weigh on
its resources for generations to crime, it has
developed a degree of national courage in
the presence of national dangers—a capa
eity for military organization and achieve
ment, and a devotion on the part of the
people to the form of government which
they have ordained, and to the principles
of liberty which that government was de
signed to promote, which must confirm the
confidence of the nation in the perpetuity
of its republican institutions, and command
the respect of the civilized world.
Like all great contests which rouse the
passions aud test the endurance of nations
this war lias given new scope to the ambi
tion of political parties, and fresh impulse to
plans of innovation and reform. Amidst
the chaosof conflictingsentimentsinseparu
ble from such an era, while the public heart
is keenly alive to all the passions that can
sway the public judgment and affect the
public action; while the wounds of war are
still fresh and bleeding on either side, and
fears lor the future take unjust proportions
from the memories and resentments of the
past, it is a difficult but an imperative duty
which on your behalf we, who are here as
sembled, have undertaken to perform.
For the first time after six long years of
alienation and of conllict, we have come to
gether from every State and every section
of our laud, as citizens of a common coun
try, under that flag, tho symbol again of a
common glory, to consult together how best
to cement and perpetuate that Union which
is again the object of our common love, and
thus secure the blessings of liberty to our
selves and our posterity.
In the first place, we Invoke you to re
member, always and everywhere, that the
war is ended, aud Lhe nation is again at
peace. The shock of contending arms no
longer assails the shuddering heart of the
republic. The insurrection against the su
preme authority of the natiou bus been
suppressed, and that authority has been
again acknowledged, by word and act, in
every State and by every citizen within its
jurisdiction. We are no longer required or
permitted to regard or treat each other
enemies. Not only have the acts of war
been discontinued, and the weapons of war
laid aside, but the state of War no longer
exists, and the sentiments, the passions, the
relations’of war have no longer lawful or
rightful place anywhere throughout our
broad domain. We are again people
of the United States, fellow-citizens of
one country, bound by the duties aud obli
gations of a common patriotism, and hav
ing neither rights nor interests apart from
a common destiny. The duties that devolve
upon us now are again the duties of peace,
and no longer the duties of war. We have
assembled here to take counsel concerning
the interests of peace; to decide how we
may most wisely and effectually heal the
wounds the war has made, and perfect and
perpetuate the benefits it has secured, and
the olessings which, under a wise and be
nign Providence, have sprung up in its
fiery track. This is the work, not of pas
sion, but of calm and sober judgment; not
of resentment for past offences, prolonged
beyond the limits which justice and reason
prescribe, but of a liberal statesmanship
which tolerates what it cannot prevent, and
builds its plans and its hopes for the future
ratber upon a community of interests and
ambition, than upon distrust and the
weapons of force.
In the next place, we call upon you to
recognize in their fall significance, and to
accept with all their legitimate conse
quences, the political results of the war
just closed. In two most" important par
ticulars the victory achieved by the national
government has been final and decisive.
First, it has established beyond all further
controversy, and by the highest of all
human sanctions, the absolute supremacy
of the national government, as denned and
limited by the Constitution of the United
States, and the permanent integrity and in-.,
dissolubility of the Federal U nion as a neces
sary consequence; and second, it has put
an end finally and forever to the existence
of slavery jipon the soil or within the juris
diction of the United States. Both these
points became directly involved in the con
test, and controversy upon both was ended
absolutely and finally by the result.
In the third place, we deem it of *the ut
most importance that the real character of
the war and the victory by which it was
closed should be accurately understood.
The war was carried on by the government
of the United States in maintenance of its
own authority and in defense of its own ex
istence, both of which were menaced by the
insurrection which it sought to suppress.
The suppression of that insurrection ac
complished that result. The government
of the United States maintained by force of
arms the supreme authority over all the
territory, and over ail the States and people
within its jurisdiction which the Constitu
tion confers upon it; but it acquired thereby
no new power, no enlarged jurisdiction, no
rights either of territorial possession or of
civil authority which it aid not possess
before the rebellion broke out. All the
rightful power it can ever possess is that
which is conferred upon it, either in express
terms or by luir and necessarv implication,
by the Constitution of the United States.
It was that power and that authority which
the rebellion sought to overthrow, and the
victory of the Federal arms was simply the
defeat of that attempt. The government of
the United States acted throughout the war
on the defensive. It sought only to hold
possession of what was already its own.
Neither the war, nor the victory by which
it was closed, changed in any way the Con
stitution of the United States. The war
was carried on by virtue of its provisions,
and under the limitations which they pre
scribe, and the result of the war did not
either enlarge, abridge, or in any way
change or effect the powers it confers upon
the Federal government, or release that
government from the restrictions which it
has imposed.
The Constitution ofthe United States is
to-day precisely as it was before the war,
the “supremo law of the land, anything in
the constitution or laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding," and to-day,
also, precisely as before the war, all the
powers not conferred by the Constitution
upon the general government, nor pro
hibited by it to the States, are “ reserved
to the several States, or to the people there
of."
This position is vindicated not only by
the essential nature of our government,
and the language and spirit of the Constitu
tion, but by all the acts and the language of
our government, in all its departments, and
at all times from the outbreak of the rebel
lion to its final overthrow. Hi every mes
sage and proclamation of the Executive it
was explicitly declared, that the sole object
and purpose of the war wusto maintain the
authority of the Constitution and to pre
serve the integrity ot the Union; and Con
gress more than once reiterated this solemn
declaration, and added the assurance that
whenever this object should beattained, the
war should cease, and all the States should
retain their equal rights and dignity unim
paired. It is only since the war was closed
that other rights have been asserted on be
half of one department of the general gov
ernment. It has been proclaimed by Con
gress that, in addition to the powers con
ferred upon it by the Constitution, the Fed
eral government may now claim over the
States, the territory, and thepeopleinvolved
in the insurrection, the rights of war, the
right of conquest and of confiscation, the
right to abrogate all existing governments,
institutions and laws, and to subject the
territory conquered and its inhabitants to
such laws, regulations and deprivations as
the legislative departments ofthe govern
ment may see tit to impose. Under this
broad and sweeping claim, that clause of
the Constitution which provides that “no
State shall without its consent be deprived
of its equal suffrage In the Senate of the
United Stales," has been annulled, and ten
Scales have been refused, and are still re
fused, representation altogether in both
brunches ofthe Federal Congress. And the
Congress in which only a part ot the States
and ofthe people of the Union are repre
sented, has asserted the right thus to ex
clude tlie rest from representation, and from
all share in making their own laws or
chosing their own rulers until they shall
comply with such conditions and perform
such acts as this Congress thus composed
may itself prescribe. ; That right has not
only been asserted, but it has been exer
cised, and is practically enforced at fhe pres
ent time. Nor does it find any support in
the theory, that the States thus excluded
are in rebellion against the government.
and are therefore precluded from sharing
its authority. They are not thus in rebel
lion. They are one and all in an attitude
of loyalty towards the government, and of
sworn allegiance to the Constitution of the
United States. In no one of them is there
the slightest indication of resistance to this
authority, nr the slightest protest against
its just and binding obligation. This con
dition of renewed loyalty has been ollicially
recognized by solemn proclamation of the
Kxecutive department. The laws of the
I'nited States have been extended by Con
gress over all these States and the people
thereof. Federal Courts have been reopen
ed, ami Federal taxes imposed and levied,
and in every respect, except that they are
denied representation in Congress and the
Klectoral College, the States once in rebel
lion are recognized as holding the same po
sition, as owing the same obligations, and
subject to the same duties as the other States
of our common Union.
It seems to us in the exercise of the calm
est and most candid judgment we can bring
to the subject, that suchaidaim,.so enforced,
involves as fatal an overthrowoftheauthor
ity of the Constitution, and as complete a
destruction of the government and Union,
as that which 'was sought to bo effected by
the States and people in armed insurrection
against them both. It cannot escape ob
servation that the power thus asserted to
exclude certain States and from representa
tion, is made to rest wholly in the will and
discretion ol the Congress'that asserts it. It
is not made to depend upon any specified
eonditions or circumstances, nor to bo sub
ject to any rules or regulations whatever.
The right asserted and exercised|isabsolute,
without qualilicrtion or restriction, not con
fined to States in rehellion, nor to States
that have rebelled; it is the right of any
Congress in formal possession of legislative
authority, to exclude any State or States,
and any portion of the” people thereof, at
any Lime, from representation in Congress
and in the Electoral College, at its own dis
cretion and until they shall perform such
acts and comply with such conditions as it
may dictate. Obviously, the reasons for
such exclusion being wholly within the dis
cretion of Congress, may change ustbe Con
gress itself shall change. One Congress
may exclude a State from all share in the
government for one reason ; and, that rea
son removed, the next Congress may ex
clude it for another. One State may be
excluded on oqp ground to day, and anoth
er may be excluded on the opposite ground
to-morrow. Northern ascendancy muy
exclude Southern States from one Congress
—the ascendancy of Western or of. Southern
interests, or of both combined, may exclude
the Northern or the Eastern States from the
next. Improbable as such usurpations
may seem, the establishment of the princi
ple now asserted and acted upon by Con
gress will render them by no means impos
sible. The character, indeed the very exist
ence, of Congress and the Union is thus
made dependent solely and entirely upon
the party a:..l sectional exigencies or ior
bearances of the hour.
We need not stop to show thatsuchaction
not only finds no warrant in the Constitu
tion, but at war with every principle of
our government, and with the very exist
ence of free institutions. It is, indeed, the
identical practice which has rendered fruit
less all attempts hitherto to establish and
maintain free governments in Mexico and
tiie States of South America. Party neces
sities assert themselves as superior to the
fundamental law, which is set aside in reck
less obedience to their behests. Stability,
whether in the exercise of power, in the ad
ministration of government, or in the enjoy
ment of rights, becomes impossible: and
the conflicts of party, which, under consti
tutional governments,are the conditions and
means of political progress, are merged in
the conflicts of arms to which they directly
and inevitably tend.
It was against this peril so conspicuous
and so fatal Lo all free governments that
our Constitution was intended especially to
provide. Not only the stability but "the
very existence of the government is made
by its provisions to depend upon the right
and the fact of representation. The Con
gress, upon which is conterred all the legis
lative power of the national government,
consists of two branches, tho Senate and
House of Representatives, whose joint con
currence or assent is essential to the validity
of any law. Ot these the House of Repre
sentatives, says the Lonstitutiou, (article 1,
section 2), “shall be composed of members
chosen every second year by the people of
the several States.” Not only is the right
of representation thus recognized as pos
sessed by all the States and by every State
without restriction, qualification, or con
dition of any kind, but the duty of choosing
representatives is imposed upon the people
of each and every State alike, without dis
tinction, or Lhe authority to make distinc
tions among them, for any reason or upon
any grounds whatever. And in the Senate
so careful is the Constitution to secure to
every State this right of representation, it is
expressh provided that “no State shall,
without its consent, be deprived of its equal
suffrage” in that body, even by an amend
ment of the Constitution itself. When,
therefore, any State is excluded from such
representation, not only is a right of the
State denied, but the constitutiomd integri
ty of the Senate is impaired, and the validity
of the government itself is brought in ques
tion. But Congress at the present moment
thus excludes from representation in both
branches of Congress, ten States of the
Union, denying them all share in the enact
ment of laws by which they are to be gov
erned, and all participation in the election
of the rulers by which those laws are to be
enforced. Tn other words, a Congress in
which only twenty-six States are repre
sented, asserts the right to govern, abso
lutely and in its own discretion, all the
thirty-six States which compose the Union
—to makft their laws and choose their rulers,
and to exclude the other ten from all share
in their own government until it sees fit to
admit them thereto. What is there to dis
tinguish the power thus Hsserted and exer
cised from the most absolute and intolera
ble tyranny ?
Nor do these. extravagant and nnju9t
claims on the part of Congress to powers
and authority never conferred upon the
government by the Constitution find any
warrant in the arguments or excuses urged
on their behalf It is alleged.
First. That these States, by the act of re
bellion and by voluntarily withdrawing
their members from Congress, forfeited their
right of representation, and that they can
only receive it again at the hands of the su
preme legislative authority of the govern
ment, on its own terms and at its own dis
cretion. If representation in Congress and
participation iu the government were sim
ply privileges conferred and held by favor,
this statement might have the merit of
plausibility, But representation is under
the Constitution not only expressly recog
nized as a right, but it is imposed as a duty;
and it is essential in both aspects to the ex
istence of the government and to the main
tenance of its authority. In free govern
ments fundamental and essential rights
cannot be forfeited, except against individ
uals by due process of law; nor can Con
stitutional duties and obligations be dis
carded or laid aside. The enjoyment of
rights may be for a time suspended by the
failure to* claim them, and duties*may
be evaded by the refusal to perforin
them. The withdrawal of all their
members from Congress by the States which
resisted the general government was among
their acts of insurrection —was one of the
means and agencies by which they sought
to impair the authority and defeat the ac
tion of the government; and that act was
annulled and renderedjvoid when the insur
rection itself was suppressed. Neither the
right of representation nor the duty to be
represented was in the least impaired by
the fact ol insurrection ; but it may have
been that by reason of the insurrection the
conditions on which the enjoyment of that
right and the performance of that duty for
the time depended could not be fulfilled.
This was, in fact, the case. An insurgent
power, in the exercise of usurped and
unlawful authority in the territory under
its control, had prohibited that allegiance
to the Constitution and the laws of the
United Slates which is made by that fun
damental law the essential condition of
representation in itsgovernment. No man
within the insurgent States was allowed to
take the oath to support the Constitution of
the United States, and as a necessary con
sequence, no man could lawfully represent
those States in the councils of the Union.
But this was only an obstacle to the enjoy
ment of the right ami to the discharge of a
duty—it did not annul the oce nor abrogate
, the other; and it ceased to exist when the
usurpation by which it was created had
been overthrown, and the States had again
resumed their allegiance to the Constitution
and laws of the United States.
Second. But it is asserted, in support of
the authority claimed by the Congress now
in possession of power, that it fiowsdiroctly
from the laws of war; that it is among the
rights which victorious war always confers
upou the conquerors, and which the con
queror may exercise or waive in his own
discretion. * To this we reply, that the laws
in question relate solely, so far as the rights
they confer are concerned, to wars waged
between alien and independent nations, and
can have no place or force, in this regard,
in n war waged by a government to sup
press an insurrection of its own people,
upon its own soil, against its authority. If
wo had carried on successful war against
any foreign nation, we might thereby have
acquired possession and jurisdiction of their
soil, with the right to enforce our laws upon
their people, and to impose upon them such
laws and such obligations as we might
choose. But we had before the war com
plete jurisdiction over the soil of the Sout
hern StHtes, limit*-'! only by our own Con
stitution bur fiws were the only national
laws in force upon it. The government of
the United States was the only government
through which those States and their peo
ple had relations with toreign nations, and
its flag was the only Mug bv which they
wen; recognized or known anywhere on
the face of the earth. In all these respects,
and in all other respects involving national
interests and rights, our possession was
perfect and complete. It did not need to be
acquired, but only to be maintained; and
victorious war against the rebellion could
do nothing more than maintain it. It could
ouly vindicate and re-establish the disputed
supremacy of the Constitution. It could
neither enlarge nor diminish the authority
which that Constitution confers upon the
government by which it wius achieved.
Such an enlargement or abridgment of con
stitutional power can be effected only by
amendment of the Constitution itself, and
such amendment can be made only in the
modes which the Constitution itself pre
scribes. The claim that the suppression of
an insurrection ugainst the government
gives additional authority and power to
that government, especially that itenlarges
the jurisdiction of Congress and gives that
body the right to exclude States from
representation in the national councils,
without which the nation itself can have no
authority and no existence, seems to us at
variance alike with the principles of the
Constitution and with the public saloty.
Third. But it is alleged that in cerium
particulars tho Constitution of the Cnited
States Jails to secure that absolute justice
and impartial equality which the principles
ot our government require ; that it was in
these respects the result of compromisesand
concessions to which, however necessary
when the Constitution was formed, we are
no longer compelled to submit, and that
now, having the power through successful
war and just warrant for its exercise in the
hostile conduct of the insurgent section, the
actual government of the United States may
impose its own conditions, and make the
Constitution conform in all its provisions to
its own ideas of equality and the rights of
man. Congress, atilslastsession, proposed
amendments to the Constitution, enlarging
in some very important particulars the au
thority of the gofieral government over that
ot the several States, and reducing, by in
direct disfranchisement, the representative
power of the States in which slavery
formerly existed; and it is claimed that
these amendments may lie made valid as
parts of the original Constitution, without
the concurrence of the States to be most
seriousl3 T affected by them, or may bo im
posed upon those States by throe-fourths of
the remaining States, as conditions of their
re-admission to representation in Congress
and in the Electoral College.
It is the unquestionable right of the peo
ple of the United States to make such
changes in the Constitution as they, upon
due deliberation, may deem expedient.
But we insist that they shall bo made in the
mode which the Constitution itself points
out—in conformity with the letter and the
spirit of that instrument, and with the
principles of self-government and of equal
rights which lie at the basis of our republi
can institutions. We deny the right of Con
gress to make these changes in the funda
mental law without the concurrence of three
fourths of all the States, including especial
ly those to be most seriously affected by
them ; or to impose them upon States or
people as conditions of representation, or of
admission to any of the rights, duties, or
obligations which belong under the Consti
tution to all the States alike. And with
still greater emphasis do we deny the right
of any portion of the Stales excluding the
rest of fhe states from any share in their
councils, to propose or sanction changes in
the Constitution which are to affect perma
nently their political relations, and control
or coerce the legitimate action of the several
members of the common Union. Such an
exercise of power is simply a usurpation;
just as unwarrantable when exercised by
Northern States as it would be if exercised
by Southern, and not to be fortified or pal
liated bj’anythiug in the past history either
of those by whom it is attempted, or of
those upon whose rights and liberties it is
to tuke effect. It finds no warrant in the
Constitution. It is at war with the funda
mental principles of our form of govern
ment. If tolerated in one instance it be
comes the precedent for future invasions of
liberty ami constitutional right dependent
solely upon the will of Lhe party in posses
sion of power, and thus leads, by direct and
necessary sequence, to the most fatal and
intolerable of all tyrannies—the tyranny of
shifting and irresponsible political factious.
It is against this, the most formidable of all
the daugers which menace the stability of
free government, that the Constitution of
the United States was intended most care
fully to provide. We demand a strict and
steadfast adherence to its provisions. In
this, and in this alone, can wo find a basis
of permanent Union and peace.
Fourth. But it is alleged in justification
of tlie usurpation which we condemn, that
tiie condtion of the Southern States and
people is not such as renders safe their re
admission to a share in the government of
the country , that they are still disloynl in
sentiment and purpose, and that neither
the honor, the credit nor the interests of the
nation would bo safe if they were readmit
ted to a share in its councils. We might re
ply to this:
1. That we have no right, for such reasons,
to deny to any portion of the States or peo
ple, rights expressly conferred upon them
by the Constitution of the United States.
2. That so long as their acts are those of
loyally—so long as they conform in ail their
public conduct to the requirements of the
Constitution and laws—we have no right to
exact from them conformity in their senti
ments and opinions to our own.
3. That we have no right to distrust the
purpose or the ability of the people of the
Union to protect and defend, under all con
tingencies and by whatever means may be
required, its honor and its welfare.
These would, in our judgment, be full
and conclusive answers to the plea thus ad
vanced for the exclusion of these States
from the Union. But we say further, that
this plea rests upon a complete misappre
hension or an unjust perversion of existing
facts.
We do not hesitate to affirm, that there is
no section of the country where the Consti
tution and laws of the United States find a
more prompt and entire obedience than in
those States, and among those people who
were lately In armsafcalnst them; or where
there is loss purpose of danger of any futu re
attempt to overthrow thoir authority. It
would seem to be both nattiral aud Inevit
able that, in States and sections so recently
swept by the whirlwind of war, where all
the ordinary modes and methods of organ
ized industry have been broken np, and the
bonds and influences that guarantees social
order have befch destroyed—where thous
ands and tens of thousands of turbulent
spirits have been suddenly loosed from the
discipline of war, and thrown without re
sources or restraint upon a disorganized and
chaotic society, and where the keen sense of
defeat is added to the overthrow of ambition
and hope, scenes of violence should defy
for a time the imperfect discipline of law,
and excite anew the fears and forebodings
of the patriotic and well disposed. It is un
questionably true that local disturbances of
this kind, accompanied by more or less of
violence, do still occur. But they are con
fined entirely to vhe cities and larger towns
of the Southern States, where different ra
ces and interests are brought moro closely
in contact, and where passions and resent
ments are always most easily fed and fan
ned into outbreak; and even there, they
are quite as much the fruit of untiinelv and
hurtlul political agitation, as of anv hostili
ity on the part of the people to the*authori
ty of the national government.
But the concurrent testimony ofthose best
acquainted with the condition of society and
the state of public sentiment in the South
including that of its representatives in this
Convention —establishes the fact that the
great mass of the Southern people accept,
with as full and sincere submission as do
the people of the other States, the re estab
lished supremacy of the national authority,
and are prepared, in the most loyal spirit,
and with a zeal quickened alike by their
interest and their pride, to co-operate with
other States and sections in whatever may
be necessary to detend the rights, maintain
the honor and promote the welfare of our
common couutry. History affords no in
stance where a people, so powerful in num
bers, in resources and in public spirit, after
a war so long in its duration, so destructive
in its progress, and so adverse in its issue,
have accepted defeat and its consequences
with so much of good faith as has marked
the conduct of the people Intel}’ in insurrec
tion against the United States. Beyond all
question, this has been largely duo to the
wise gencrosit}’ with which their enforced
surrender was accepted by the President of
the United States and the generals in imme
diate command of their armies, and to the
liberal measures which were afterwards
taken to restore order, tranquility and law
to the Suites where all had for the*timobeen
overthrown. No steps could have been
better calculated to command the respect,
win the confidence, revive the patriotism
and secure the permanent ami affectionate
allegiance of the people of the South to
the Constitution and laws of the Union,
than those which have been so firmly
taken aud so steadfastly pursued by the
President of the I'nited States. And
if that confidence and loyalty have
been since impaired ; if the people ot the
South are to-day less cordial in their alle
giance than they wore immediately upon
the close of the war, we believe it is due to
tbo changed tone of the legislative depart
ment of the general government towards
them; to the action by which Congress has
endeavored to supplant and defeat the
President's wise and beneficent policy of
restoration, to their exclusion from all par
ticipation in our common government; to
the withdrawal from them of rights confer
red and guaranteed by the Constitution ami
to the evident purpose of Congress, in the
exercise of a usurped and unlawful author
ity, to reduce them from the rank of free
and equal members of a republic of States,
with rights and dignities unimpaired, to the
condition of conquered provinces And a
conquered people, in all things subordinate
and subject to the will of their conquerors ;
free only to obey laws in making which
they are not allowed to share.
No people has ever yet existed whose
lovaltv and faith such treatment long con
tinued would not alienate and impair. And
the ten millions of Americans who live in
the South would be unworthy citizens of a
free country, degenerate sons of an heroic
ancestry, unfit ever to become guardians
of the rights and liberties bequeathed to us
by the fathers and foundersof this republic,
if they could accept, with uncomplaining
subrnissivoness, the humiliations thus
sought to he imposed upon them. Resent
ment of mjusliee is always and everywhere
essential to freedom ; and the spirit which
prompted the States and people lately in
insurrection, but insurgent now no longer,
to protest against the imposition of unjust
and degrading conditions, makes them all
the more worthy to share in the govern
ment of a free commonwealth, and gives
still firmer assurance of the future power
and freedom of the republic. For whatever
responsibility the Southern people may
have incurred in resisting the authority of
the national government and in taking up
arms for its overthrow, they may he held
to answer, as individuals, before the ju
dicial tribunals of the land, and for that
conduct, as societies and organized com
munities, they have already paid the most
fearful penalties that can fall on offend
ing States in the losses the sufferings and
humiliations of unsuccessful war. But
whatever may be the guilt or the punish
ment of the conscious authors of tin* insur
rection. candor andcommonjusticedemand
the concession that the great mass of those
who became involved in its responsibility
acted upon what they believed to be thofr
duly, in defense of what they had been
taught to believe their rights, or under a
compulsion, physical and moral, which
they were powerless to resist. Nor can it
bo amiss to remember that, terrible as have
been the bereavements and the losses of
this war, they have fallen exclusively upon
neither section and upon neither party—
that they have fallen, indeed, with fat
greater weight upon those with whom the
war began; that in the death of relatives
and friends, the dispersion of families, the
disruption of social systems and social ties,
the overthrow of governments, of law ami
of order, the destruction of propei t v and of
forms and modes and means of industry ;
the loss ot political, commercial, and moral
inffuenoe, in every shape and form which
great calamities can assume, the States ami
people which engaged in the war against
the (Government of the Unhid States, have
suffered tenfold more than those who re
mained in allegience to its Constitution ami
laws.
These considerations may not, as they
certainly do not justify the action of the
people of the insurgent States ; but no just
or generous mind will refuse to them very
considerable weight in determiningthe line
of conduct which the government of the
United Slates should pursue towards them.
They accept, if not with alacrity, certainly
without sullen resentment, thuMeleut and
overthrow they have sustained. Thev ac
knowledge and acquiesce in the results to
themselves and the country, which that
defeat involves. They no longer claim tor
any State the right to secede from the
Union ; they no lunger assert for any Stale
an allegianee paramount to that which is
dueto thegeneralgovernmetU. They have
accepted the destruction of slavery,' abol
ished it by their State Constitution and con
curred with the States and people of the
whole Union in prohibiting its existence
forever upon the soil or within the jurisdic
tion of the United States. They indicate
andevince their purpose just so fast as ma}-
be possible and safe to adapt their domestic
laws to the changed condition of their so
ciety, and to secure by the law and its tri
bunals equal and impartial justice to all
classes of their inhabitants. They admit
the invalidity of all acts of resistance to the
national authority, andof all debts incurred
in attempting its overthrow. They avow
their willingness to share the burdens and
discharge all -the duties and obligations
whielf rest upon them in common with
other States and other sections of the Union;
and they renew, through their representa
tives in this Convention, by all their public
conduct, in every way and bv the most
solemn acts by which States and societies
can pledge their faith, their engagement to
bear true faith and allegiance, through all
time to come, to the Constitution of the
United States, and to all laws that mav be
mado in pursuance thereof.
Fellow-countrymen: Wo call upoir you
in fuil reliance upon your intelligence and
your patriotism, to accept, with generous
and ungrudging confidence, this full sur
render on the part of those lately in arms
against your authority, and to share with
them the honor and reuownlhai awuitthose
who bring back peace and concord to jar
ring States. The war just closed, with all
its sorrows and disasters Ims opened a new
career of glory to the nation it has saved.
It has swept away the hostilities of senti
ment and of interest which were a standing
menace to its peace. It has destroved the
institution of slavery, always a cause of
sectional agitation and strife, and has
opened for our country the way to unity of
interest, of principle and of action through
all time to come. It has developed in both
sections a military eapucitv—an aptitude
for achievements of war, both by sea and
land, before unknown to ourselves, and
destined to exercise hereafter, under united
councils, and important influence upon the
character and destiny of the continent uud
the world. And while it has thus revealed,
disciplined and compacted our power, it
has proved to us beyond controversy or
doubt, by the course pursued towards'both
contending sections by foreign powers, that
wo must bo the guardians ot our own inde
pendence, and that the principles ot ivpub
tican freedom we represent can find among
the nations of the earth no friends or de
fenders but ourselves.
We call upon you, therefore, by every
consideration of your own dignity and
safety, and in the namoof liberty through
out the world, to complete the work of
restoration ana peace which the President
of the United States lias so well began, and
which the policy adopted and the principles
asserted by the present Congress alone ob
struct. The time is close at hand when
members of a new Congress shall perpetu
ate this and, by excluding loyal
States and people from representation iu its
halls, shall continue the usurpation by
which the legislative powers of the govern
ment are now exercised, common prudenco
compels fis to anticipate augmented discon
tent, a sullen withdrawal from the duties
and obligations of the Federal govern
ment internal dissension and a general
collision of sentiments and pretensions
which may renew, in a BtiU more fearful
shape, the civil war from which wo have
emerged. Wo call upon you to interposo
your power to provent the recurrence of a
lscendant culumity. Wc call upon you
m every Congressional district of every State ,
t> „ f S cu / )' e lf> ? c J: ec^on Of members, who, what
rJn/- ' i l ['^ ercnc es may characterize their
action, will unite in recognizing the
ppt»nT, oF KVKHY Statu of the Union to
, VIT IKs entation in Congress), und wiio
KVKHV DMITTO BKATS IN EITHER BRANCH
VVKIIV v!.'° YAL KEPKESENTATIVK ritOM
«•/,« l , AT f ,lna^c l/' nflc etothcgovcrnment,
P '. ,u ','' r mn S errnl upon bythc
rt ari /iuatJ“ T Ch,:cn <'“>!/clcelctl, return
' u « l ' tU therein.
When this shall have been done the gov
ermnen wffl have been restored to its in
tegnty, tho Constitution of the United States
will have been re-established in its full su
premacy, aud the American Union will
have again beoomo what it was designed to
bo by those who formed it, a sovereign na
tion, composed of separate States, each like
itself, moving in a distinct and independent
sphere, exercising powers defined and re
served by a common Constitution, and
resting upon the assent, tho confidence and
co-operation of all the States and all the
people subject to its authority. This re
organized and restored to their constitution
al relations, the States and tho general
government can enter in a fraternal spirit,
with a common purpose and a common in
terest upon whatever reforms tho security
of personal rights, the enlargement ot popu
lar liberty and the perfection of our repub
lican institutions may demand.
At the dost* of the reading of the forego
ing address, (.Governor Berry, of South Car
olina, rose and moved its adoption.
The question was put by the Chair, and
the address was declared unanimously
adopted.
Mr. Samuel J. Tilden, of New York then
rose ami said
Mr. Chairman: Tho delegation from New
York have instructed me'to propose that
the Convention give three (‘beers for the Hon
Ilenry.). Raymond, who has prepared the
address jimt read.
(General Batten, of Bennsvlvania, rose,
and on helialt of the Bcnnsvivuniu delega
tion, seconded the motion.
The cheers were accordinglv given.
i'll K COMM ITTKKS.
• The Chair then announced the following
Committees :
NATIONAL UNION (OMMirTKK.
John T. Crowell, ot New Jersey, I’lmlrumn,
Main. —James Mann amt A. A. Gould.
New Hampshire—Edmund Bailee amt K. s.
Cutter.
Yeimonl—R. B. Smallev ami Colonel H. N
Wort ham.
Massachusetts—Jo-iah Dunham and R. S.
Spoilbid. i
Knode Island—Alfred Ailthonv and James
li. Bn i son -.
James T. Babcock and H. C.
New York—Kobe: l 11. Bruy u and Satined J
Tilden.
New Jersey—Joseph T. Crowell and Theodore
T. Hamlall
Bennsvlvania—J. M. /ailiek und J. S. Black.
Delawan—J. H. (. omegys and Edward J.
Martin.
Maryland—(.Governor Swann ami T. (G. Brail,
Virginia—Jume- F. Johnson and Dr. K. C.
Kobiuson.
West Virginia—Daniel Lamb and John J.
Jackson.
North Ca.olihn—Thomas S. Aslieaml Joseph
11. Wilson.
South Carolina—James 1., urr and li. F.
Berry.
Georgia—J. 11. Christy and Thomas S. Hurde
man.
Florida—William Marvin and Wilkinson
Call.
Mississippi —W. L. Sliarkev and George L
Bolter.
Alabama—W. H. Crenshaw and C. C. Huel:a.
bee.
Louisiana—Randall Hunt and Alfred Urn
liing.
Arkansas—Lorenzo (Gibson and A. IL Kti"
lish.
it. H. Epperson and .John Hnncoek
Ten ness* e —l >. T. Tallusin and William D,
Campbell.
Kentuc.y —U. If. Stanton aud Hamilton
Dope,
Ohio— L. It. Campbell and George B. Smyth.
Indiana—D. 1). Gooding and Thomas bow
line.
Illinois—John A. McCleruaud aud Jesse o.
Norton.
Michigan —Alfred Russell ami By son's. Stout.
Missouri—lion. Barhm Abell and James S.
Rollins.
-Minnesota—Hon. 11. M. Rio-and I>. F. Nor
ton.
Wts :* iisin—J. A. Noonan ami '-C A. Peace.
lowa—(George A. Baraer and Wm. A. Chase
Kansas—Janie:. A. McDowell and W. A. Tip
ton.
California-
I\ Hoyt-.
Ni-va.la—John Canui. !uu-l and Jl-.n. ti. II
Hall.
Hon. Samuel I'urdy and Joseph
(irt^on—Jame- Nesmith mid ]J. W. lam
hitin. \
District ol Columbia -Jo-jah D. Hoover and
J. Hlake.
Dakolah'-• N. K. Armstmm; and N. W Wliwr.
Idaho—Win. 11. Wallace ami H. < Timmins.
Nebraska—General H. H. Heath and Hon. .1.
S. Morton.
KKMDKNT MX KCUTT YK < o>l M I Tl' K K AT WASH I NO.
Charles Knapp, District ot Cohimhm, Chair
man.
Hun. Montgomery lllalr, Maryland
Hon. Charles Mason, lowa.
Ward H. Lumon, John F. Coyle A. K, Perry
Samuel Fowler, Col. .lames It. n’Bnrue, Cor
tudius Wendell, District ul Columbia.
COMMITTEE TO WAIT ON THE I ‘ICKN M> .• N I'.
Chairman —Kuverdy Johnson.
Maine—W. G. Croshv and Calvin Kocnrd.
New Hampshire—John W. lleshw and .1. H
Smith.
Vermont—S. HohUison and ’l'. J. Cree.
Massachusetts—Edward Avery ami E (
Dailey.
Rhode Island—Amasa Sprague and Gideon
lira i ford.
Connecticut—Janus E. English and Gideon
H. Hollister.
New York - nwens W. Smil h and Hon. s. j-
Now Jersey—Hhii. Thomas 11. Herring ami
General Theodor.- ivunj an.
Pennsylvania—.l. k. Flanigan and Hon.
(ioorge W. ('as>.
I>elaw;ue —S. (i. Lewis ami (’. 11. H. Lay.
Maryland—.l. M. Harris and 1.8. Jones.
Virginia —Hon. James Humour mm George
W. Bowlin. *
West Virginia—Dr. John s. Thompson, Put
nam County, and Daniel Damn, Wheeling.
North Carolina-A. M. Barringer and Hon.
George Howard.
South Carolina
Fanow.
.1. L. Manning ami
Georgia—S. s. smith ami J. D Wlmb<*rlv.
I- lorida—John Friend and J. C. MeKihhln.
M ' ssissippi - '< Jr iiiel G. M. 11 el leer and Hon
H. F. simhali.
Louisiana—Thus. H. May ami 11. C. Kim'.
Arka- sas— John D. Luce ami E. C. bumf
not.
Texas— D. <L Bu rm-( t and M. 11. Epperson.
Tennessee—lion. C. A. Kyle and Hon. 1) B.
Thomas.
Alabama—Louis K. Larsons and John Gale
Shorter.
Kentucky—Hon. John W. Stepimn.son and
lion. A. Ila nl ing.
(diio—Henry Bayne and General A. M. D
Mrduok.
Indiana—General Sol. Meredith ami Jud<m
I). S. (Joodmg.
Illinois—Hon. George G. Bates and Hon. W.
R. Morrison.
Michigan—General C. It. Loomisand General
George A. Cusler.
Wisconsin—A. W. CmUsaml B. Ferguson.
lowa—Colonel Gyrus B. MarkJey and B. B.
Richards.
Kansas—General H. Sleeper and Oriin Thurs
ton.
California—T. A. Mcbougnll and Colonel
Jacob 1\ Lee.
Nevuda— Hon. Gideon J. Tucker and John
Carmichael.
Oregon—W. H. Faimraud K. M. Biunuin.
liisiricl of Columbia-Thomas B. Florence and
B. F. Swart.
Idaho—lion. A. W. Be Buy and William If
Wallace.
Nebrnsaa— Br. George L. Weller and L.
Iyourie.
Washington—George C. Cole and C. T. Ka-mn
Minnesota—B. S. Norton ami 11. N R re.
Missouri —K. A. Lewis and John M. Richard
son.
Arizona, Bakotah, New Mexico, Utah and
Colorado—No norm nations.
*'< »11. M I'ITEK ON i'ISANCK.
Charles Knapp, President.
->i ai tie —A. W. Johnson and John Burleigh
New Hampshire—Daniel Marry and W. M.
Blair.
Vermont —R. W. Chnsennd <\ L. Da\ import
Massachusetts—Hon. F. <). Prince nud Gen'
M. Bentley.
Rhode island—Amasu Sprague and .James
Wa:- r..mis.-.
Coe iieciic..!—J. H. Ashmeud and Freeman
H. Brown.
New York—Abraham Wakeman ami Kichd.
Schell.
New Jersey—John L. McKuight and Francis
H. Lalhrop.
Pennsylvania—U. S. Martin and W. C. Pat
terson.
Belaware—Charles Wright and Theodore K.
Crawiord.
Maryland—Hon. it. Fouler and W. I*.
Mauisby.
Virginia—Hon. Edmund W. Hubbard 4ml
George Blair, Jr.
West Virginia—Charles T. Boale, Warren
county; Tneodore Sweeney, Wheeling.
North Carolina—A. H. Arnmgton and A.
McLean.
South Carolina—F. G. Moses ami W. P.
Schuyler .
Georgia—Lewis Tomlin and William M.
Lowry.
Florida—George W. Scott and W. c. Mu*
1 >ney.
A labnma—Lewis Ownn and J. S. Kennedy.
Mississippi—Hon. K. IVgues and Colonel
John A. Bingford.
Loubiana—A. M. Holbrook ami —.
Arkansas—M. L. Bell and UL. Fellow.
Texas—M. B. Gchillree and John Hancock.
Tennessee—William D. Feignson and John
Williams. b
Keulucky—M. J. Durham ami W. W. Bald
win.
Ohio—J. E. Cun ninghati laud John 11. J nines*
I ml ian a—Hon. Levi Sparks and Moses (>1 uko„
Illinois—Hon. William B. Ogden and Isaac
Underhill.
Michigan—lion. George C'. Monroe aud Wil
liam B. M. Creery.
Missouri—Thomas L. Price aud Charles M.
Elihtrd.
Minnesota—Hon. C. F. Buck and Charles F.
Gilman
Wisconsin—J. B. Doe and C. L. Slides.
lowa—M. D. McHenry and S. u. Bulb r.
Kansas— F. P. Fiizwiiliamsaud G. A. - olton.
California—.Johu 11. Baird and Heury F.
Wll Hams.
■ Nevada—Frank Hereford and L. H. Newton.
District of Columbia—Charles Knapp and E.
Pickerel],
Dakotah—J. B. S. Todd and T. C. Dewitt.
Idaho— C. T. Powell ami T. \V. Betts.
Nebraska—James K. Porter and P. B. Becker.
Washington—Edward Lauder and E. Evans.
Arizona, Oregon, Montana. Utah, uud Colo
rado—No appointments.
COMPLIMENTARY RESOLUTIONS.
The lion. John M. Hogan, of Missouri,
then rose ami said: Mr. Chairman—This
Convention, so glorious in its character, has
now accomplished the results for which it
met, and I move, in view of its harmonious
action, that the Convention do now adjourn
The Chairman—Before putting that mo
tion the Chair desires to announce two or
three things connected with what has trans
pired.
Mr. W. P. Schell, of Pennsylvania offer
ed the iollowing resolution* which was
unanimously adopted.
Xetolved, That the thanks of this Convention
are now tendered to the President and officeiS
of the Convention, for the able and Impartial