ederacy. It may well be doubted whether
at any time in history of the government there had been so large
a number of able men occupying the gubernatorial chairs of the
Northern States. They were not only eminent in an intellectual
point of view, but they had a special fitness for the arduous and
patriotic duties so unexpectedly devolved upon them. They became
popularly known as the "War Governors," and they exercised a
beneficent and decisive influence upon the fortunes of the Union.

The Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Andrew, added fervor to the
patriotism of the whole people, and nobly led his State in her
generous outpouring of aid and comfort to the loyal cause. The
vigor which Massachusetts had imparted to the Revolution against
the Crown was surpassed by the ardor with which she now threw
herself into the contest for the Union. She had been often reproached
for urging forward the anti-slavery agitation, which was the excuse
of the South for rebelling against the National authority. A
somewhat similar accusation had been lodged against her by the
Royal Governors and by the Tories a century before. But the men
who found this fault with Massachusetts--a fault wholly on virtue's
side--will not deny that when the hour of trial came, when convictions
of conscience were to be maintained by the strength of the right
arm, and faith in principle was to be attested by a costly sacrifice
of blood, her sons added imperishable honor to their ancestral
record of heroism in the cause of human Liberty and Constitutional
Government.

The other New-England States were not less ardent than Massachusetts.
Israel Washburn, the Governor of Maine, impulsive, energetic,
devoted to the cause of the Union, was sustained by the people of
the State without regard to party and with the noblest enthusiasm.
William A. Buckingham of Connecticut, of mature years and stainless
life, was a young man once more when his country demanded his best
energies. The young Governor of Rhode Island, William Sprague,
laid aside the civilian's dress for the uniform of a soldier, and
led the troops of his State to the National Capital. Ichabod
Goodwin of New Hampshire and Erastus Fairbanks of Vermont, two of
their most honored and useful men, filled out the list of New
England's worthy Executives. Throughout the six States there was
but one anxiety, one resolve,--anxiety for the safety of the
government, resolve to subdue the revolt against it.