qualified in their declarations, and were indorsed with absolute
unanimity. They declared that "the action of the present Congress in
passing the pending Constitutional amendment is wise, prudent and just.
That amendment clearly defines American citizenship and guarantees all
his rights to every citizen. It places on a just and equal basis the
right of representation, making the vote of a man in one State equally
potent with the vote of another man in any State. It righteously
excludes from places of honor and trust the chief conspirators and
guiltiest rebels, whose perjured crimes have drenched the land in
blood. It puts into the very frame of our Government the inviolability
of our National obligations, and nullifies forever the obligations
contracted in support of the Rebellion." The resolutions further
declared it to be "unfortunate for the country that the propositions
contained in the Fourteenth Amendment have not been received with the
spirit of conciliation, clemency and fraternal feeling in which they
were offered, as they are the mildest terms ever granted to subdued
rebels."

The members of the convention were in a tempest of anger against the
President. They declared "that his attempt to fasten his scheme of
Reconstruction upon the country is as dangerous as it is unwise; that
his acts in sustaining it have retarded the restoration of peace and
unity; that they have converted conquered rebels into impudent
claimants to rights which they have forfeited and to places which they
have desecrated. If the President's scheme be consummated it would
render the sacrifice of the Nation useless, the loss of her buried
comrades vain, and the war in which we have so gloriously triumphed a
failure, as it was declared to be by President Johnson's present
associates in the Democratic National Convention of 1864." Many other
propositions of an equally decisive character were announced by the
convention, and General John Cochrane declared that "a more complete,
just and righteous platform for a whole people to occupy has never
before been presented to the National sense."

Of the four conventions held, this, of the soldiers who had fought the
battles of the Union, was far the most influential upon public opinion.
In its membership could be found representatives of every great
battle-field of the war. Their testimony was invaluable. They spoke
for the million comrades with whom they had stood in the ranks, and
thei