l be the duty of the Clerk
of the House to transmit to the Secretary of State a copy thereof,
certified by him; and when the Secretary of State shall have received
said copy so certified, it shall be evidence that said preamble and
resolutions were duly adopted by this General Assembly.

ILLINOIS.

WHEREAS, resolutions of the State of Virginia have been communicated
to the General Assembly of this State, proposing the appointment of
Commissioners by the several States to meet in Convention, on the
fourth day of February, A.D. 1861, at Washington.

_Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring
herein_, That with the earnest desire for the return of harmony and
kind relations among all our sister States, and out of respect to the
Commonwealth of Virginia, the Governor of this State be requested to
appoint five Commissioners on the part of the State of Illinois, to
confer and consult with the Commissioners of other States who shall
meet at Washington: _Provided_, That said Commissioners shall at all
times be subject to the control of the General Assembly of the State
of Illinois.

_Resolved_, That the appointment of Commissioners by the State of
Illinois, in response to the invitation of the State of Virginia, is
_not_ an expression of opinion on the part of this State that any
amendment of the Federal Constitution is requisite to secure to the
people of the slaveholding States adequate guarantees for the security
of their rights, nor an approval of the basis of settlement of our
difficulties proposed by the State of Virginia, but it is an
expression of our willingness to unite with the State of Virginia in
an earnest effort to adjust the present unhappy controversies in the
spirit in which the Constitution was originally formed, and
consistently with its principles.

_Resolved_, That while we are willing to appoint Commissioners to meet
in convention with those of other States for consultation upon matters
which at present distract our harmony as a nation, we also insist that
the appropriate and constitutional method of considering and acting
upon the grievances complained of by our sister States, would be by
the call of a Convention for the amendment of the Constitution in the
manner contemplated by the fifth article of that instrument; and if
the States deeming themselves aggrieved, shall request Congress to
call such Convention, the Legislature of Illinois will and does concur
in such call.