MASSACHUSETTS. 



625 



the Southern States now in arms against the Consti- 

 tutional Government and in arms around the Capitol ; 

 that in the present emergency the Democratic party, 

 banishing all feelings o mere passion and resent- 

 ment, will recollect only its duty to the whole coun- 

 try ; that this war is not waged on their part in any 

 spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest 

 or subjugation, or for the purpose of overthrowing 

 or interfering with the rights or established institu- 

 tions of those States, but to defend and maintain the 

 supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the 

 Union in 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. 



The regular resolutions subsequently adopt- 

 ed declare, that it is the duty of every citizen 

 to sustain the National Government ; that the 

 democracy will meet armed rebellion with the 

 sword, and " unconstitutional acts of Congress 

 and startling usurpations of power by the ex- 

 ecutive" with the ballot; that the paramount 

 objects of the democracy are, to restore the 

 Union as it was, and to maintain the Federal 

 Constitution; that the party are opposed to 

 the doctrine of secession, to all interference on 

 the part of the National Government, or its 

 officers, with the local and domestic affairs of 

 the several States ; to all interference by the 

 citizens of one State with the domestic affairs 

 of any other State ; to the assumption of any 

 assumed powers by any department of the Gov- 

 ernment ; to any and all efforts on the part of 

 the Administration to continue the present de- 

 plorable civil war for the purposes of subjuga- 

 tion or emancipation ; to the extension of mar- 

 tial law over Stales not in rebellion ; to all in- 

 terference by the military authorities with 

 civil elections ; to all the enemies of the Con- 

 stitution and the Union, whether they be found 

 in open rebellion at the South or insidiously at 

 work at the North ; that obedience to the Con- 

 stitution is the only true test of loyalty to the 

 Government, and any wilful omission to com- 

 ply with, or departure from, its provisions 

 by any department or officer of the Gov- 

 ernment, whether in time of war or in time 

 of peace under the plea of military necessity, 

 moral duty, or any other modern name for 

 treason or revolution, is fraught with as much 

 danger to the Government and the rights and 

 liberties of the people as is armed resistance to 

 the laws, or open rebellion ; that the proposi- 

 tion to reduce a State to the condition of a ter- 

 ritory, under the pretence that by the rebel- 

 lious acts of her citizens she has ceased to form 

 an integral part of the Union, is calculated to 

 excite abhorrence; that the attempt of the 

 radicals to insist on their party platform as a 

 condition of peace, is revolutionary in its char- 

 acter, and tends, not merely to prolong the 

 war, but to produce anarchy and despotism. 



That whenever any State in arms against the laws 

 of the Government shall lay down its arms and submit 

 to the laws and the constituted authorities, the people 

 thereof will be entitled to resume and enjoy all the 

 rights and privileges given by the laws and the Con- 

 stitution to citizens of the several States. 



That we have entire confidence in the patriotism of 

 the people and in their determination, voluntarily, to 

 VOL. in. 40 A 



maintain in sufficient force the army of the United 

 States ; we therefore look upon the conscription act, 

 passed by the last Congress, as unwise and needless ; 

 we are opposed to its provisions as harsh, oppressive, 

 and unequal in their operation, and contrary, as we 

 believe, to the Constitution ; but ever mindful that our 

 Government cannot exist if individual opinion be sub- 

 stituted for judicial decisions, we feel compelled to obey 

 and counsel obedience to the act, and all acts of Con- 

 gress, until the competent judicial tribunals shall de- 

 clare them to be unconstitutional or until they have 

 been legally repealed. 



That the thanks of every liberty-loving, law-abiding, 

 and honest man throughout the land are due to the 

 Hon. Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New 

 York, who, amid all the storms of fanaticism and rage 

 that have swept over our nation, has stood up as the 

 firm and unflinching supporter of the Union, the Con- 

 stitution, and the laws, and the rights of the States 

 against Federal usurpations, and has so nobly vindi- 

 cated and defended the majesty and dignity of the peo- 

 ple and State of New York. 



That the doctrine of secession, and the doctrines of 

 its faithful ally of disunion, the Abolition party, have 

 produced this deplorable civil war, are each entirely 

 inconsistent with our frame of Government, tend in- 

 evitably to anarchy, and are alike destructive to the 

 Union. 



The remaining resolutions praised the sol- 

 diery and condemned the improvident manage- 

 ment of the Administration ; expressed sympathy 

 for those who had lost relatives by the casual- 

 ties of war; and urged a speedy peace on honor- 

 able terms. 



The Republican Convention assembled at 

 Worcester, on September 24th, and renominat- 

 ed, by acclamation, Gov. Andrew and his col- 

 leagues in office. A series of nine resolutions 

 was also adopted. The first pledged the con- 

 vention te " an unwavering and unconditional 

 support of the National Government in its ef- 

 forts to suppress the wicked rebellion against 

 its authority." The second declared that, in a 

 contest like the present " between slavery and 

 liberty," Massachusetts had no apprehension 

 that " any of the rights of the citizen would 

 be lost, or any of the old landmarks of per- 

 sonal freedom destroyed." The third express- 

 ed the thanks of the convention to the soldiers 

 and sailors of the nation. The fourth declared 

 that the President's Emancipation Proclama- 

 tion of January 1st, 1863, has the approbation 

 of the people of Massachusetts, and is justified 

 as a measure of military necessity, and as a 

 measure of security for the future peace and 

 tranquillity of the reunited nation, and as a 

 guaranty to the world that the contest is for 

 civilization and Christianity. The fifth depre- 

 cated the idea that a permanent peace can be 

 obtained by negotiating with rebels. The three 

 succeeding resolutions were in the following 

 terms : 



Resolved, That the secession of a State under our 

 political system has no legality and no legal meaning 

 whatever. It is but another name for rebellion ; and 

 rebels are not entitled to the privileges of the Union, 

 while they are still liable to its obligations and duties. 

 And, inasmuch as slavery was the sole cause of the 

 revolt, and as while slavery exists there can be no 

 permanent peace in the Union, it is the duty of Con- 

 gress and the Executive to insist that the practical ey- 

 tinguishment of slavery throughout the rebel Confed- 



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