564 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



national emergency, banishing all feeling of mere pas- 

 sion and resentment, we will recollect only our duty 

 to the whole country ; that this war is not waged on 

 our part in any spirit of oppression, or for any pur- 

 pose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of over- 

 throwing or interfering with the rights or established 

 institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain 

 the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the 

 Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of 

 the several States unimpaired, and that as soon 

 as these objects are accomplished the war ought to 

 cease." 



Resolved, That the expenditure of nearly two thou- 

 sand millions of treasure, the loss of two hundred 

 thousand men of our armies in a war of eighteen 

 months against traitors, two thirds less in numbers and 

 inferior in resources for war of every description and 

 the traitors still not only unsubdued, but apparently 

 vigorous and threatening as at the beginning call 

 loudly upon the people, without distinction ot party 

 or opinion, to make inquiry as to the cause of disaster, 

 and to unite with all their heart, mind, and might in 

 urging on and sustaining the Executive in a more vigor- 

 ous and successful prosecution of the war, that it may 

 be a short war, and that its end may be a speedy and 

 honorable peace, with every State restored to the 

 Union and the Constitution. 



Resolved, That we recognize in Abraham Lincoln, 

 the chief executive magistrate of the nation, cpm- 

 mander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United 

 States, a responsible and constitutional head, whose 

 rightful authority and power ought always to be vigor- 

 ously and religiously guarded and preserved as the 

 condition on which our form of government and the 

 constitutional rights and liberties of the people can be 

 saved from the wreck of anarchy or the gulf of despot- 

 ism. Now, more than any other time in the history of the 

 republic, the President ought zealously to guard him- 

 self, lest in the assumption of war powers, as the com- 

 mander-in-chief of vast armies, he transcend the 

 limits and bounds set by the fathers to guard the lib- 

 erties of the people. 



Resolved, That we have read with pleasure the decla- 

 ration of the President, as commander-in-chief, in his 

 proclamation of Sept. 22, 1862, that the war hereafter, 

 as heretofore, " wul be prosecuted for the object of 

 practically restoring the constitutional relations be- 

 tween the United btates and the people thereof, in 

 which States that relation is or may be suspended or 

 disturbed." We know that in the mode and manner 

 of conducting this war to that issue, in the means and 



Eolicy to be adopted in its prosecution, a solemn and 

 sarful responsibility rests upon him. 

 Resolved,^ That freedom exists only under the Con- 

 stitution ; it confines and limits authority ; it defines 

 executive, legislative, and judicial power. Without a 

 strict and guarded observance of and adherence to it, 

 military power, which in time of war, within rebellious 

 districts, occupied by armed forces, arrests its citizen, 

 condemns and executes him by decree of court martial, 

 might become supreme and perpetual over the whole 

 land, and the Government be made a despotism. In 

 this time of war we want men in our Congress who 

 shall be vigilant, sleepless, and far-seeing watchmen 

 upon the towers of freedom shall guard against the 

 slightest encroachments upon the legislative and judi- 

 cial powers, and shall see to it that those great safe- 

 guards to liberty, exemption from arrest without legal 

 warrant, trial by iury, and the writ of habeas corpus, 

 are preserved in loyal and peaceful States. ( In times 

 like the present, passion is apt to overwhelm reason 

 and judgment. Now, and for years to come, during 

 the war, at the end of the war, after the war questions 

 are to be discussed and determined more tremendous 

 in their consequences than have been presented to the 

 nation since the founding of the government. We 

 need legislators who are patriots and statesmen. 

 Massachusetts no longer wants men to represent her 

 who see one thing so clearly that they can see nothing 

 else. 

 Resolved, That we offer the thanks of this convention 



to the loyal States of the border, for their devotion to 

 the Union, the Constitution, and the flag. We know 

 what they have suffered. We know against what they 

 contended. We know the strength of their patriotism. 

 It is firm and true when hostile armies encamp upon 

 their soil and devastate their homes. And we brand 

 as false and wicked the imputation of fanatics, and 

 partisans that their loyalty is doubtful, and, therefore, 

 their counsel should be spurned. God bless Mary- 

 land for the last proof of her fidelity. God help the 

 brave State of Kentucky, cursed to-day by the tread of 

 a rebel army. Her people are our people, her cause is 

 our cause, and it is our proud confidence that she will 

 pass through her present trial with her fair fame un- 

 tarnished, and while she routes those who have in- 

 vaded her, will confound those who have slandered her. 

 Resolved, That Massachusetts responds with full 

 heart to the acclaim with which the army of Virginia 

 greeted the .appointment to its command of Maj.-Gen. 

 George B. McClellan. We put trust in him whom 

 brave men desire to do battle for our cause. Let all 

 irregular and irresponsible intermeddling with his 

 command of the army, whether in high places or low, 

 by letter writers in camp or governors in 'convention, 

 anywhere and everywhere, henceforth cease. 



A complete party organization was also 

 made by the convention. 



On the next day, the 8th, a convention, 

 representing the democratic party, assembled 

 at Worcester, and declined to make any nom- 

 inations for State officers, but adopted the 

 following resolutions, as expressive of their 

 views on national affairs : 



Resolved, That the democracy of Massachusetts, 

 waiving the expression of their views on questions 

 not rendered imperative by the imperilled condition 

 of our country, will continue to render the National 

 Government their sincere and united support in the 

 use of all legitimate means to suppress the rebel- 

 lion, and maintain the Constitution and restore the 

 Union. 



Resolved, That we believe the Constitution of the 

 United States, formed in wisdom by our fathers, gives 

 to the constituted authorities ample power to suppress 

 rebellion, and we earnestly invoke the President to 

 stand by that sacred instrument, so that all loyal and 

 law-abiding people may with earnest, confiding hearts 

 stand by the President ; and while we yield a ready 

 and cheerful obedience to all the requirements of the 

 Constitution, we demand of the Government and gov- 

 erned alike an unwavering fidelity to and enforcement 

 of all its safeguards and provisions. 



Resolved, That in common with and adopting the 

 language of the President, our * paramount object in 

 this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to 

 save or destroy slavery ;" 



That the policy announced by Congress in the reso- 

 lution unanimously adopted in July, 1861, cannot be 

 departed from without a violation of the public faith. 



[See first resolution of people's convention.] 

 Resolved, That we are opposed to the doctrines of 

 secession and abolition, both of which tend directly and 

 surely to the destruction of the republic, and that there 

 can be no permanent union or confederacy of indepen- 

 dent States where the right of secession is admitted, or 

 where any State, by a claim of " higher law," usurps 

 the right to disregard the Constitution or bond of 

 Union by which such States are united. 



Resolved, That during this rebellion, which requires 

 the whole strength of the people to subdue, the intro- 

 duction and discussion of mere partisan questions or 

 higher law theories, are calculated to weaken the hands 

 and unnerve the heart of the soldier, to awaken dis- , 

 trust and jealousy among the people, to arouse the 

 slumbering animosities of party ; to beget^ strife and 

 dissension among ourselves, and thus deprive our ac- 

 tion of its great moral power and grandeur ; therefore, 



