ates, and in the Border-Slave States.
At a meeting of Governors of Loyal States, held at Altoona,
Pennsylvania, to take measures for the more active support of the
Government, an Address was adopted, on the very day that the
Proclamation was promulgated, which well expressed the general feeling
prevailing throughout the Northern States, at this time. It was in
these patriotic words:
"After nearly one year and a half spent in contest with an armed and
gigantic Rebellion against the National Government of the United States,
the duty and purpose of the Loyal States and people continue, and must
always remain as they were at its origin--namely to restore and
perpetuate the authority of this Government and the life of the Nation.
No matter what consequences are involved in our fidelity, this work of
restoring the Republic, preserving the institutions of democratic
Liberty, and justifying the hopes and toils of our Fathers, shall not
fail to be performed.
"And we pledge, without hesitation, to the President of the United
States, the most loyal and cordial support, hereto as heretofore, in
the exercise of the functions of his great office. We recognize in him
the chief Executive magistrate of the Nation, the Commander-in-Chief of
the Army and Navy of the United States, their responsible and
constitutional head, whose rightful authority and power, as well as the
Constitutional powers of Congress, must be rigorously and religiously
guarded and preserved, as the condition on which alone our form of
Government and the constitutional rights and liberties of the People
themselves can be saved from the wreck of anarchy or from the gulf
'despotism.
"In submission to the laws which may have been or which may be duly
enacted, and to the lawful orders of the President, cooperating always
in our own spheres with the National Government, we mean to continue in
the most rigorous exercise of all our lawful and proper powers,
contending against Treason, Rebellion, and the public Enemies, and,
whether in public life or in private station, supporting the arms of the
Union, until its Cause shall conquer, until final victory shall perch
upon its standard, or the Rebel foe will yield a dutiful, rightful, and
unconditional submission. And, impressed with the conviction that an
Army of reserve ought, until the War shall end, to be constantly kept on
foot, to be raised, armed, equipped, and trained at home, and ready for
emergencies, we r
|