Proceedings at the Mass Meeting of Loyal Citizens

25 aim and purpose have been, and are now, to maintain the supremacy of that Constitution, over every foot of soil where it ever bore sway, with not a line interpolated, or a line erased. Resolved, That we are for the union of the States, the integrity of the Country, and the maintenance of this Government, without any condition or qualification whatever ; and we will stand by them and uphold them, under all circumstances, and at every necessary sacrifice of life or treasure. Resolved, That while we recognize, and will sedulously maintain, the rights of each State under the Constitution, we abhor and repudiate the doctrine fatal to national unity, and so prolific of treason in the army and navy, and among the people that allegiance is due to the State, and not to the United States ; holding it as a cardinal maxim, that to the United States, as a collective Government, is due the primary allegiance of all our people ; and that any State or confederation of States, which attempts to divert it, by force or otherwise, is guilty of the greatest of crimes against humanity and our National Union. Resolved, That we urge upon the Government the exercise of its utmost skill and vigor, in the prosecution of this war, unity of design, comprehensiveness of plan, a uniform policy and the stringent use of all the means within its reach, consistent with the usages of civilized warfare. Resolved. That we acknowledge but two divisions of the people of the United States in this crisis ; those who are loyal to its constitution and every inch of its soil, and are ready to make every sacrifice for the integrity of the Union, and the maintenance of civil liberty within it, and those who openly or covertly endeavor to sever our country, or to yield to the insolent demand of its enemies ; that we fraternize with the former, and detest the latter ; and that, forgetting all former party names and distinctions, we call upon all patriotic citizens to rally for one undivided country, one flag, one destiny. Resolved, That the Government of the United States, and its people, with an occasional exception among the reckless inhabitants where this rebellion was fostered, have wisely and studiously avoided all interference with the concerns of other nations, asking, and usually enjoying, a like non-interference with their own, and that such is, and should continue to be, its policy ; that the intimations of a contemplated departure from this sound rule of conduct on the part of some of the nations of Europe, by an intervention in our present struggle, is as unjust to them as it would be to us, and to the great principles for which we are contending ; but we assure them, with a solemnity of conviction which admits of no distrust or fear, and from a knowledge of, and a firm reliance upon the spirit and fortitude of twenty millions of freemen, that any attempt thus to intervene, will meet a resistance unparalleled in its force, unconquerable in its persistence, and fatal to those whom it is intended to aid ; and that it will tend only to strengthen and elevate the Republic. Resolved, That the skill, bravery and endurance exhibited by our army and navy, have elicited our admiration and gratitude ; that we behold in these qualities the assurances of sure and speedy success to our arms, and of rout and discomfiture to the rebels ; that we urge the Government to aid and strengthen them by all the means in its power, and carefully to provide for sick, wounded and disabled soldiers and their families ; to prosecute the war with increased vigor and energy, until the rebellion is utterly crushed, the integrity of the Union in all its borders restored, and every rebel reduced to submission, or driven from the land ; and that to accomplish these ends, we pledge to our rulers, our faith, our fortunes, and our lives. 4

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