GEOEGIA. 



397 



A resolution was also adopted to appoint a 

 committee of five to prepare a memorial to the 

 President for the release of Jefferson Davis and 

 others. This committee made the following 

 report, which was adopted by the Convention : 



MIIXEDOEVII.LE, GA., Oct. 30, 1865. 



To his Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the 

 United States : 



The delegates of the State of Georgia, in Conven- 

 tion assembled, do earnestly invoke the Executive 

 clemency in behalf of Jefferson Davis and Alexander 

 H. Stephens, and of James A. Seddon, of Virginia; 

 A. G. AlcGrath, of South Carolina; William Allison 

 and David L. Yulee, of Florida, and H. W. Mercer, 

 of Georgia, now confined as prisoners in Fort Pulas- 

 ki, and of all other prisoners similarly circumstanced. 

 Your Excellency has been pleased to restore Mr. 

 Stephens to his liberty. He returns to the grateful 

 people of his State as a solemn pledge of the mag- 

 nanimity which rules the public councils, and his 

 great name and influence will be pot?nt to revive the 

 amity of the past and to fructify the wise and gener- 

 ous policy which your Excellency has inaugurated. 

 Emboldened by this example, impelled by the purity 

 of our motives, and stimulated by the prayers of a 

 numerous people, we appeal for clemency in behalf 

 of the distinguished persons we have named. Re- 

 store them to liberty and to the embraces of their 

 families, translate them from captivity to the light of 

 freedom and of hope, and the gratitude of the pris- 

 oners will be mingled with the joyful acclamations 

 which shall ascend to Heaven from the hearts of this 

 people. 



Mr. Davis was elevated to his high position by our 

 suffrages and in response to our wishes. We imposed 

 upon mm a responsibility which he did not seek. 

 Originally opposed to the sectional policy to which 

 public opinion, with irresistible power, finally drove 

 him, he became the exponent of our principles and 

 the leader of our cause. He simply responded to the 

 united voice of his section. If he, then, is guilty, so 

 are we. We were the principals ; he was our agent. 

 Let not the retribution of a mighty nation be visited 

 upon his head ; while we, who urged him to his des- 

 tiny, are suffered to escape. The liberal clemency 

 of the Government has been extended over us. We 

 breathe the air and experience the blessings of free- 

 dom. We therefore ask that the leader, who, in re- 

 sponse to the democratic instincts of his nature, the 

 principles of his party, and the solicitations of his 

 section, became the head and front of our offending, 

 shall not now be bruised for our iniquities or pun- 

 ished for our transgressions. Mr. Davis was not the 

 leader of a feeble and temporary insurrection ; he 

 was the representative of great ideas and the expo- 

 nent of principles which stirred and consolidated a 

 numerous ana intelligent people. This people was 

 not his dupe. They pursued the course which they 

 adopted of their own free will, and he did not draw 

 them on, but followed after them. It is for these 

 reasons that we invoke the Executive clemency in 

 his behalf. His frame is feeble ; his health is delicate 

 all broken by the storms of state. He languishes 

 out in captivity a vicarious punishment for the acts 

 of his people. . Thousands of hearts are touched with 

 his distress. Thousands of prayers ascend to Heaven 

 for his relief. We invoke in his behalf the generous 

 exercise of the prerogative to pardon which the form 

 and principles of the Constitution offer as a beneficent 

 instrument to a merciful Executive. We ask the 

 continuance of that career of clemency which your 

 Excellency has begun, and which alone we earnestly 

 believe can secure the true unity and the lasting 

 greatness of the nation. Dispensing that mercy 

 which is inculcated by the example of our great Mas- 

 ter on high, your name will be transmitted to your 

 countrymen as one of the benefactors of mankind. 

 The Constitution of our country, renewed and forti- 

 fied by your measures, will once more extend its 



.protection over a contented and happy people, 

 founded, as it will be, upon consent and aflection, 

 and " resting, like the great arch of the heavens, 

 equally upon all." 



The memorial in favor of Mr. Davis truth- 

 fully reflected the sentiments of a very large 

 majority of the people of Georgia. A stronger 

 support was tendered to him in his adversity 

 than he had received in the height of his power. 



Similar petitions relative to Jefferson Davis 

 were prepared in several of the Southern States. 

 An ordinance was also adopted which made it 

 the duty of the Legislature to provide for tho 

 widows and orphans of the soldiers of Georgia 

 who had perished, and for those soldiers who 

 had been disabled. Another was passed, rati- 

 fying the acts of guardians, trustees, etc., during 

 the war. 



The State Constitution was entirely revised 

 and adapted to the changes in civil and social 

 affairs. In this instrument the emancipation 

 of the slaves was expressly recognized, and the 

 Legislature required to make regulations re- 

 specting tho altered relations of this class of 

 persons. The instrument in its revised form 

 was unanimously adopted by the Convention. 

 The number of slaves in the State in 1860 was 

 462,198. 



The Convention also adopted a resolution 

 requesting the Provisional Governor to order 

 the formation of one or inore militia companies, 

 to be organized in each county of the State, 

 to act as a police force, under the approval of 

 the President. On the subject the following 

 despatch was sent from Washington to the 

 Provisional Governor: 



S, Nov. 6, 1365. 

 To James Johnson, Provisional Governor of Georgia: 

 The organization of a police force in the several 

 counties, for the purpose of arresting marauders, 

 suppressing crime, and enforcing civil authority, as 

 indicated in your preamble and resolutions, meets 

 with approbation. It is hoped that your people will, 

 as soon as practicable, take upon themselves the re- 

 sponsibility of enforcing and sustaining all laws, 

 State and Federal, in conformity to the Constitution 

 of the United States. ANDREW JOHNSON, 



President of the United States. 



Subsequently the Governor issued the follow- 

 ing proclama'tion : 



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF > 

 GEORGIA, MILLEDGKTILLE, Nov. 21, 1S65. | 



Whereas, The late Convention did ordain, that the 

 Provisional Governor should provide for the forma- 

 tion of one or more volunteer companies in each of 

 the counties of the State, to act as a police force, to 

 suppress violence, to preserve order, and to aid the 

 civil officers in the enforcement of the laws, undei 

 such regulations as might be consistent with the 

 United States : Now, therefore, I, James Johnson, 

 Provisional Governor of the State, do hereby author- 

 ize and request the people of this State to organize, 

 according to law, in each of the counties of this State, 

 a volunteer company, for the purpose of aiding the 

 civil authorities in the execution of law and the sup- 

 pression of violence. 



And it is hereby further declared, that such com- 

 panies, when so formed and organized, shall be aux- 

 iliary ami subordinate to the civil officers; that thej 

 shall arrest no person, and search the house of no 

 person, without a legal warrant regularly issued by 



