Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

OLIJ4SERIES, VOL. LXXV. (tltromclc & fcnttncl mooki;, At • it. will a i it. Tlill.Urt -I ii-< HJITION. ' J. H. U . JOHNSTON , A j GT7«TA, <. A : wed.m;:- day aithst 29. FBITORI.U CORKKSFOMIEMK. The gathering here to-day is immense. weather ha been <Mijrhtf.il. Under the influence of the beautiful weather thou- Klllll- lif fir. [ ' ! ~,,.*..1 <n ,„-I.r four to the wigwam, and when wc readied plete!filk-d. Thounahds were standing in endeavoring to catch .something of what and outside wa- estimated at from 30,000 to 50,0.1'). f hardly think, however, that it r ae!i,' l the first number, Great anxi ety wa fel: to hear t.ho Platform, which was to )<e to-day presented from the com mittee appoin ted for that purpose. Al tboti rh Oki fir«t f«p : ifaV prokeifings'lia 1 , developed and exhibited a degree ofbar cxoeeled. there was a Vary "ericral an prelien-ion that upon the Platform ..{‘prin ciples there would be a division of senti ment which would mar the harmony of the Convention. No doubt this very fear of a ' ire in pro lucing th > cordiality of agreement which the after proceeding.-, developed. The true men from till sections exerted themselves to the utmost in arranging questions of disagree ment and softening expressions which might be offensive to either section. All seemed to be fully impressed with the con viction that upon the success of the move- 1 meat inaugurated hero depended, in a very large degree, the continued existerie -of free Government on this continent. The fooling was general and convincing, that unless the Convention should adopt a line 1 of policy and a platform of principles broad 1 and catholic enough for the conservative ; men of all sections to stand upon, that the j Radicals would sweep the entire North and ! West in the approaching Fall elections. ! I fence every member of the Convention . came prepared to make such coneos, ions and compromises as would secure the co- I operation of the good men everywhere in j the cause of the Constitution, against the j Radical disunionists. I have never seen i men w> mmcU in their desire for concilia tion und peace as the members of the Foil- | volition Iron, die Northern and Wc-tern ; States, nor ha-re f ever heard the Radicals so thoroughly deiKjunced, even in the South, j n- ; they are by these, men who live among j them. For the South mi,l Southern people | they express the kindest tilings and most j anxious solicitude: They recognize and ap- ! preeiate the great sacrifices which have i been made at the South, and fed keenly | the deep humiliations to which wo have j been subjected by the “Hump Congress.” With these feelings and considerations j moving and actuating them, it is not t i he j wondered at that the reading of the reso lutions and address in the Convention to day received the most enthusiastic and j deafening applause. All seemed to feel j that a great weight had been suddenly j lifted from them, and in the joy of the mo- ! merit sprang to their foot and made the air ring with wild shyujs ,yj‘ approval. For | some moments after the reading of the resolutions the immense and excited throng | stood with heads uncovered and hats and I handkerchiefs waving in the air, giving the i most extravagant exhibitions of delight j and approval. 1 have never seen anything ! like the enthusiasm which was here mani fested, and I have no doubt but that the L feelings aroused to-day will be kept alive in the breasts of the people until the Radi cal cohorts shall have surrendered to the party which has this day been organized. During t hese enthusiastic demonstrations of approval, I noticed that the Southern men very generally kept quiet and appa- : rently unmoved. This was in view of the ! fact that any other course would have been made the pretext, by the Radicals, ot assailing the proceedings,. by declaring j that all the enthusiasm was exhibited j by the South, and that the whole affair was but another Southern victory. 1 lie Southern men felt as much perhaps, as ! the Northern, but the schools of adversi j ty in which they have been for the last : live years taking sad and mournful les. sons, taught them that to repress, for the I moment at least, any exhibition of warm i approval would most contribute to the j main object in view. Before this reaches you, your readers i will have been placed in possession of tiro i platform, and can make up their own : judgment upon it. I will only say here j that as far as 1 have heard an expression ot’Southern sentiment, it meets tire miatti- j mous and cordial approval of the Southern delegates. They fed that it is the very Inst ' terms that can he got /ram any party at i the Xorth , and that if there should I- any ; opposition exhibited to it at the South, j Already it has been intimated that the South will spit upon the platform, or only j tolerate it that they may secure power in j the Congress of the nation. Tkeconserva- ; lives here desire that the Southern States ! shall take some action in approval of the 1 platform, either by State Convention or county meetings. They say that such a i vi t.rse would greatly strengthen them, and j that they need all the help they can get. j The address to the people of the United ; States as published, is not in the exact j phraseology which was reported by the ] Committee. There are a few phrases used j in describing parties to the late war. which | are offensive to a portion of our people, and I they were ordered to be stricken out of the j address, betore it was reported to the Con- I vent ion. By some oversight, this was not ! done, and hence the official copy of the ad- | dros- w iff be slightly modified in a few not J and comprehensive document, and will doubtless do much good in conveying to the j masses a correct view of the situation and I the perils which surround the Govern- j meet. L hope that its length will not pro- \ x out any ot your readers from perusing it I calmly and thoughtfully. After the reading of the address and the appointment of a few Standing Commit tees. the Convention adjourned. That its labors have been of tlie most conservative platform which it has established. That its action is in harmony with the great heart of the nation, cannot, I think, be reasonalily qiu stiotK and. The mail is about closing, and I must stop. You shall hear from me again to morrow. Vs. Military Arrest.—The first oasc of arrest under General Grant's order, di recting the military to ait where the civil authorities fail to do so. is reported by the Atlanta papers. Mr., Jallies M. Lacky, a highly respectable citizen of Bartow county, wr.s arrested at Cartorsville about a week a.o. Ly order of General Thomas, and taken under guard to Atlanta. Mr. Lacky, it appears had assaulted a gentlemen from Atlanta, who was at Cartersville, in busi ness, and the <iyil authorities there failed to arrest Mr,. lucky. The gentleman com. plained to Generst Thomas, who had Mr. * Lacky arrested, l'c has been turned over to the civil authorities. 4 .n Inside YRh of the enhvention. Our readers are already a'vre that the : > hia mitt..-o appointed by the P; ;ident of the . : two deleg jfrom .State and one from the T. rritoi sand Dis trict of Columbia. This C •amittee was ; compos.;d of about eighty lumbers, and ; in view in the short time wiiicl they "had A Sub-Commit me of tliirt -*i was ap ajipointe-l by tire General Committee, to whom was entrusted the task of framing a suitab! • platform and addro j. Several drafts of a platform had been introduced in the Convention, and by the rule iddpted by thn' hod;.-, refer) ed to the Uenuittee with mt <o Tht • were ail r and i the fir.-t meeting of the General as was 1 aho a lona address, sai l to have,been pre pared by Hon. If. J. Raymond, kdeleg from the city of New York. The first se ries of resolutions, aaid tp have keen from ■ the pen of Senator Cowan, from l'j.-rmsylva nia, who was Chairman of the’' General Committee, although somewhat- more ! lengthy, contained in substance all that is in Lite platform as adopted by the Conveu : tion. The second scries of resolutions'read 1 to the Co-ndhtfeo were tlrraphui'tb be the 1 prxlucii m of th,.-venerable Seiwtor from. : Maryland. Hon. Beverly Johnson.' These ! constitute the basis of the platfiW as fin ah : ly reported and adopted, with the exception of the 9th resolution. Another scries of wer: also read, which was j thought to be from the prolific brain of Mr. Raymond, of New York. All of, these reso 11turns were, in many resj sets, ntical as to the subject matter treated of, and in many instance.-, identical in the modes of expii --i'in. The o were all referrevl, tjs'ju.- 1 ! stated, to a Hub-Committee of thirteen, op . which Senator Cowan was made Chairman i Upon this Sub Committee, among others, were Senators Johnson and Hendricks, Hon. O. 11. Browning and Gen. McCook, from tin; Northern State.-, and Governor Graham, from North Carolina, ex-Gov. Marvin, of Florida, Judge Yerger, of Mis -i.-sippi, and F. W. Alexander, of Georgia. This Committee, after a session of over four hours, reported to the General Com mittee the draft of a platform and address at nine o’clock I’. M., on the I.oth. The platform reported by the Hub-Committee was adopted without a single alteration or amendment, and was substantially the one thought to be from the pen of the Senator from Maryland, except the resolution in relatic nto the soldiers, which was taken from the draft submitted by Senator Cowan. The address reported by the Sub-Com mittee was that submitted by Mr. Raymond; cut down and pruned of about one-fourth of its original contents. The long history of the slavery agitation and the action of the Government upon the question with a review of the results of emancipation were stricken out, and many objectionable words and phrases in reference to the South and the late war were also ordered to be stricken out, and otherwise less offensive epithets substituted in their place. This was con fided to Mr. Raymond as the original drafts man of the address, with the assurance *-iore than once given to the Southern mem iter. oftlie Convention, that he would in .Rood riitli comply with the instructions of the Committee. But as thc.su changeswcre numerous and some of them would require a little time to make suitable selections of words and phrases to replace them, he j asked for time to accomplish that object. | This was grafted, as 1 have jt*„j upon his roftcrittucr'plMgd' that he wrorcFj in good faith make the required alterations. \ A motion was made by a delegate from | one of the Eastern States to striko out ; the following clause in the address, because ! it might be construed into a declaration of ! opinion by the Convention that the indivi.d uids who were engaged in the late civil war j Against the authority oftlie United States : Government were guilty if there were guilt anywhere and not the States. “For whatever responsibility tlie South- j ern people may have incurred in resisting | tire authority of the national government and in taking up arms for its overthrow, they may bo held to answer, as individvals, before the judicial tribunals of the land, ■ and for that conduct, as societies and or- j ganized communities, they have already paid the most fearful penalities that can fall oil (offending States in the losses, the i sufferings and humiliations of unsuccessful j war.” Upon this motion to strike out —which j was I >st —strange to say a few of the South- | ern delegates voted no ! A motion wa s ! then made to strike out the words “for I whatever in the beginning oftlie sentence, ; and insert the words “if any.” It was I contend.-, I % by those in fovorof striking out and inserting that the word whatever j implied soi\u\ and the Convention should not pass upon questions which might pro- i bably be brought before tlie courts of the country in a few weeks, in the trial of those accused of treason for their acts during the war. This motion was carried, but the address as read to the Convention retained the objectionable words. The discussions which arose upon these questions of difference were conducted in the utmost harmony and good feeling. Some of the Northern and Western men advocating with great earnestness the pro priety of the change sought to be made, while a few Southern delegates resisted the proposed modifications. Finally the address and platform having been adopted about 19 o'clock, a motion was made to adjourn, when Mr. Hendricks begged that it might lie withdrawn, to enable him to submit a motion, which re- I quest was agreed to. He then moved to : reconsider the vine adopting the resolution ’ in the platform relating to the soldiers, to enable him to osier an amendment to it* : This was also agreed to. and he proceeded . to say that the resolution as it stood (sub ! stantialiy as reported by Senator Cowan) ; would not satisfy the demands of the \\ est- j ern people. The resolution, merely ex- : pressed admiration for the qualities of j the American soldier, commended him for his courage, energy and ohivalrie bearing in the field —bis magnanimity and | generous forbearance in sift-eess —and his frank and manly acceptance of the terms ' of defeat. It was said that the North and West demanded that a distinction should be made between the Northern and Southern soldiers—that the former were entitled to their gratitude and thanks for the part they took in the contest just closed. Hence he moved to strike out ‘ American"' and nsert “ Union' soldiers, and further to de clare they were entitled to and received their services in tlie field. To this s.of the Southern delegates in that shape they could not, without an entire disregard of their own self-respect. concur iu the report. They admitted that such an expression i of opinion and feeling was proper and right i 1 on the part of the Northern men, but that |no tr> , man at the South should It' re-; qutred to -av that he felt gr<’U/ul for hav i.ie been conquered and subjugated. They admitted that such sentiments were proper in one section, but were debasing and dis graceful to the other. A long debate en ; ' T e ‘i u P° n Gus [uestion. in which one man. j who said he was from the South, announced j that he approved and would support the | amendment. He was said to be from the I State ot Touuiss, . Finally the matter was ] disposed of by the adoption of the resoln '■ tion, which was reported to and adopted by the Convention, and which was drawn . up by Mr. Johnson of Maryland, and is number nine (9) ot the series iu the l’lat i form. 1 These statements of the inside workings of the Convention are made in justice to the Southern delegates. The Platform, as a whole, and the Address, c-xoept in regard to the words which were ordered to be , stricken out, it is thought receive their approval. W. EDITORIAL CORKESPOXDEXCE. Closing Scenes of the Convention—The Enthusiasm of the Audience upon the Reception and Reading of the Platform and Address—Deafening tpplause upon the Resolution Complimentary to Pres dent Johnson —lntense Excitement ami Tremendous Cheering upon the Close of the Reading of the Platform —The Immense Audience Rise to their Feet and Rive Prolonged Shouts of Approval which continue for some time —Order Restored Notion for Ad journment, <te., Ac. PIULADKLPHIA, Aug. 17, 1806. ; The readers of the Chronicle if- Sentinel I can hardly conceive the degree of enthusi : asm and excitement with which the Plat ! form and Address were received liy the | Convention yesterday. The spacious gal j leries on each side of the auditorium were i densely packed long before the hour desig | nated for the opening of the Convention. A larger number of ladies appearing than on either of the previous days, gave variety and beauty so the spectacle,' and font a charm to the assembly which was truly delightful and gratifying. Their presence I in such numbers showed the degree'of in terest which they felt in the success of the great objects of the Convention, and gave assurance that their powerful influence will be felt in securing the triumph of the iiKjjp.'inent over the Radical programme of proscription and continued persecution. Some fears had been entertained that the ! Committee on Platform and Address would I not be able to agree, and it had transpired that there had been a long debate in Con vention upon ouo or two leading subjects i contained in the Platform, in which some feeling had been exhibited. These idle rumors had produced a most 1 intense degree of anxiety to hear the re ! port, and all of that vast throng were as mute and quiet during the reading as a I country church yard on a summer eve, ex cept when broken by the loud shouts of applause, which followed the reading ot I each resolution oftlie scries reported. The j great feature of the day, as it had been on i the two previous, was the good feeling and fellowship exhibited by the delegates from the two extreme sections. All seemed to forget for the moment that they had ever ; cherished other than the most paternal re ; gard and esteem for each other, and the j plcasureable emotions of the present j buried in oblivion the memories of the i feuds and blows of the recent past. This ! was particularly true as to the Northern and Western men. The Southern dele i gates' were quiet and dignified in their I bearing, some exhibiting a degree of calm ness which might well have been taken for J indifference. They joined very rarely in the applause, and when they did, not with ! the heartiness and apparent frankness of the Northern men. This arose, not from any particular feeling of indifference or distrust, but. was the result of the pe ] peculiar position which they felt they occu j pied in the Convention and before the | country. It was the calm dignity of con | scious right in all that they had done, in | termiugied with the conviction of a disas trous defeat, from which they had not re | covered, and could never hope to recover, ; unless the movement now set in motion | -should ultimately succeed in destroying the 1 power of they Radical majority. Jkime of ; lUwte^f'e illd not meet" them With the open, frank and cordial spirit which they had extended to us, but were satisfied with the lioneat purposes, and assured integrity of the Southern men. We told them it would take a little more time —a little more con | ciliation and forbearance on their part to heal the wounds made upon us during the war. We said that in a very great degree our resentment was gone, and that the ex hibition of such feelings as wc had witness ; ed there towards us in the future would do ! much to secure our love. I had no idea of the strong hold the President had upon the great heart of the I people until the reading of the resolution i endorsing his course, and pledging him the support of the Convention. Every indi i vidual in that great concourse rose, as by j common impulse, and threw up their hands ] with loudest demonstrations of approval 1 and love. There could be no mistaking the | sentiment. It was one of entire, cordial ; and grateful approval of his efforts to re j store the Union of our bleeding country | upon the basis of the Constitution and the Laws. His name is a tower of strength to the new organization, and his hearty en dorsement of its action will strengthen the j hands of its friends and ult imately secure j its success. After the reading of the last resolution of the Platform it was put to the vote of tiie Convention and carried without a single dissenting voice. Then the vast throng for a moment were entirely | unmanageable, and gave vent to their feel , ings in a series of tremendous cheers which fairly shook the roof of the great wigwam. I noticed that the ladies testified their ap proval by rising, waving their handkerchiefs and even patting their hands. Members ; seemed to breathe freer, and all were dc i lighted that a Platform had been agreed ! upon which was broad enough to embrace all the good men of both sections. It was some time before quiet could be entirely restored. Delegates were congratulating | each other upon the results of their labors, j and the Northern and Southern men were : seen to grasp each other's hands with strongest emotions of fraternal regard. After many efforts on the part of the President, order was finally restored, when i Senator Cowan, from .Pennsylvania. Chair j man of the Committee on Resolutions, | arose and stated that an address had been prepared by the Committee, the draft of which being in the hand-writing of the Hon. Mr. Raymond of New Y ork, lie proposed that that geutleman should read the same to the Convention. As Air. Raymond rose, he was greeted with loud and general applause, which subsiding, he read in a clear, strong and impressive manner the address which lias doubtless already reached you. The frequent interruptions to the reading, produced by the cheering of differ ent paragraphs and expressions, induced the President to stop the reading, while he earnestly entreated the Convention to let tlie address be read without the interrup tions which would necessarily follow the continued applause of its different parts. After this the reading proceeded very qui etly, until that portion of the address was read w ieh declares: That there is no section of the country where the Constitution and laws of the I'r.it. and states find a more prompt and en tire obedience than in those States and among those people who were lately in arms against them ; or where there is* less purpose or danger of any future attempt to l overthrow their authority. I lere the applause could not be suppressed I for some minutes; but when the Secretary read with a strong and peculiar emphasis £he-following paragraph declaring : " Xo people has ever yet existed whose loyal tv and faith such treatment long con tinued would not alienate and impair. And the ten millions of Americans who live in the South would be unworthy citizens of a free country, degenerate sons of an. heroic ancestry, unfit ever to become guardians of the rigiits and liberties bequeathed to us by the fathers and founders of this repub lic, if they could a iwith uncomplain ing submissiyeness. the humiliations thus sought to be imposed upon them. Resent ment ofinjustiee is always and everywhere essentia! to freedom ; and the spirit which prompts Uie States and people lately in in surrection, bm insurgent now no longer, to ■ protest against the imposition of unjust and ' degrading con ml >ns. makes them all the more worthy to share in the jjoTeru ■ ment of a free commonwealth, and gives : still firmer assurance of the future power and freedom of the republic.” I The applause became unbounded. The j whole of that vast throng arose as by one AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 29, IS6G. impulse and gave cheer upon cheer to the sentiments so truthfully and graphically described by the draftsman. Hundreds of voices cried out, “ read it again,” “ read it again,” and the President was compelled to have the paragraph read a second time. This demonstration did not come from the Southern members, though they were grati fied and delighted at its exhibition. It was the spontaneous voice of the North, uttered in obedience to a sentiment which in their heart of hearts they believed to be true. It was an exhibition of American feeling, A merican sentiment and American appre ciation of enmity to oppression. When almost at the close of the address, a call is made for the organization of a par ty to put down the present Radical disu nionists, and the Secretary read the sen tence : “ We call upon you in every Congressional District of every State, to secure the election of members who , whatever other‘ differences may characterize their political action, will unife in recognizing the bight of every State of the Union to representation in Congress, and who will admit to scats, in either brunch, every loyal Representative from everg Slate in allegiance to (he govern ment, who may be found by each House, in the exercise of the power conferred upon it by )ke Constitution., to have been duly elect eel, returned and qualified for a scat there in.' ’ Tlie excited audience arose to their feet, and poured forth cheer after oheer in re sponse to the ideas embraced in that sen tence. 1 Imtr. n-rver seefffhore tfffiElniJtasni than that which was called fortli by the reading of this address, and particularly of the parts which I have noticed. But when tlie address was closed, there was a scene of wild excitement and gratification which I need not pitempt to describe. For many minutes the din was incessant and boister ous, giving to the spectator an idea of some vast Babel, where workmen had been sud denly stricken with a confusion of tongues. After order had been restored, and some formal motions made and carried, the President a-ose and returned his thanks to the body for the consideration and cour tesy with which they had conducted them selves towards him, and announced that as at the opening of their body the Divine aid had been invoked for tlie harmony and suocess of its deliberations, it was becom ing and proper before adjourning to call upon the Deity for His blessing and bene diction. Tliis was done by the chaplain in attendance, when the gavel sounded the adjournment sine die of tlio Philadelphia Convention. There was something exceedingly appro priate in the selection of this city for the assembling of the Convention. I do not know whether it was intentional or not, but it is non! the less striking and signifi cant. It was hero the original Declaration of Independence was passed in 1776; here that the first Congress of the Confederation assembled, which led to the union and in dependence of the colonies ; here that the Convention sat which gave form and birth to the Constitution of the United States, and -it was meet and appropriate that the Convention which assembled to inaugurate measures for the preservation of Jtliat Con stitution, should have sat here also. Let us take this accidental circumstance or for tunate coincidence as a favorable omen of future peace and prosperity for the whole land. I again reiterate what I stated in my let ter of yesterday, that while there are some things both in the'Platform'and Address which might have been omitted, without, in my opinion, impairing its hope of suc cess at the North, and which are in some degree obnoxious to Southern sentiment, yet, taken as a whole, it is much better than we of the South had hoped to have made it; There will he a few extreme men in the South who will condemn it, but I have no doubt hut that the great mass of the people will sustain and support it. I shall leave in a few moments for New York, from which place you will hear from me again. A great many, if not a large majority, of the Southern delegates •hU£S4®f* soma for fupaey hut ,tlio most of. them an l extending ffi'cTr trip farther North. W. National Bank Currency.—As there are at present so many counterfeit altered National Bank notes in circulation through out the country, we publish the following list of designs on the back of the genuine notes: SI,OOO notes, Washington resign ing his commission; SSOO notes, Surrender of General Burgoyne; SIOO notes, Decla ration of Independence ; S2O notes, Bap tism of Pocahontas; $lO notes, De Soto discovering the Mississippi; $5 notes, Landing of Columbus in 1492; $2 notes, Sir Walter Raleigh, 1585 ; $1 notes, Land ing of the Pilgrims. All National Bank notes, the backs of which do not correspond with the above, are bogus. Art at the “Hub.”— Boston takes a front rank among American cities for its public statues. The following is a list of them: Washington, at the State House; Franklin, at the City Hall; Webster, in Sthte House yard; Horace Mann, do.; Storey, Winthrop, John Adams, and Jas. Otis, at the Chapel, Mount Auburn; War ren at Bunker Hill; Alexander Hamilton, Commonwealth Avenue; Ceres, Pomona and Flora, on Tremont street, Horticultu ral Hall. To be erected: Edward Everett, Common; equestrian statue of Col. Sliaw, State House yard; Ether Monument, Pub lic Garden. A Monster of Hideus Mien. —“P. W. A.,” in his letter to the Macon Jour nal if Messenger, hints broadly at the dangers to the South, and to the whole country, that lie lurking, tiger-like, in the future, shouid the sway of fanatical radi calism not be broken—they are, the im peachment of the President, negro suffrage throughout the South, the confiscation of the property of Southerners, the banish ment or destruction of those in the South opposed to radical measures and princi ples, the complete alteration of the spirit and form of our Government, and, the inauguration of a reign of terror which would whelm the country and Government in general anarchy and ruin. Presbyterian Dissenters.— The Con ference of the Presbyterians at St. Louis nave received a letter from prominent Old- School Presbyterians in various parts of the country, sympathizing with their movements. The Conference has adjourn ed, after passing resolutions that it did not mean to set up anew church organization, but cannot sit with its General Assembly in its present attitude. It was suggested that a resolution be passed of confidence in President Johnston; but a reply was made that that would be running into the very measures they denounced the General As sembly for performing. Railways in the United States. — In September, 1865, there were in the United States five hundred and three rail road companies, with nearly 36.000 miles of road, and spending for annual expenses, $2,266,360,000. Pennsylvania has more miles of railway than any other State, re porting 3,350 miles : and during 1565 it constructed more miies of railroad than New York and New England combined. Ohio is the second State, with 3,210 miles, and Illinois the third, with 3.156. These returns do not include horee railroads. Stowers. Keyes and Byrum.—lt is stated in a dispatch from M ashington. re ceived by the Hon. A. Burt, one of the counsel of Messrs. Stowers, Keyes and By rum, that the recent removal of these prisoners from Charleston was made without the knowledge or sanction of the President. Upon the matter being brought t:. his attention, the President immediately directed that an order should be issued for their removal to Firt Delaware. The ThomasviUe Enterprke publishes an abstract of the tax statistics ot Tnorna countv, Geonria, from n Inch it appears that there arc 7sl white and 1, ~2 > Hack polls ; that the number of acres of land returned is 467,593. tbo value of wliich is $1.226,114— ab0ut $2 75 per acre; and that tlie total value of taxable property is 1 2,, 946,531 —being nearly six millions of dol lars less than former valuations. leitkii reni riiiniiij.riih. Address to the People of the United States. Philadelphia, August 16, l$G6. fh'r Chronicle : —A copy of the address, as retfl bjr the Hon. H. J. Raymond, has just r-ached my hands. I have had no timef.o read it carefully, but a glance sug gests ‘.be phought that it does not exaetly refleci the views determined on by vote in the night session of the Committee, and I am inciiued'to think this will appear when we come' to see the official proceedings. Prior to tie session of the Convention, many of thi Southern delegation— particu larly those from Kentucky and Georgia—- said, “We ueave the whole matter of or ganization, and address, to the North and West; we only ask that £he Platform will recognize our constitutional rights, and the resolutions and address will adopt that view of our past political status which must have unquestionably governed President Lincoln when lie recog nized us as belligerents, and not adopt that view which is,, sought to be mad% prevail, that the huge civil war through which we have passed was a rebellion or insurrection, as those terms are defined by the laws of nations.” ©use views were ably enforced and the military men present, both Federal and Confederate. My recollection is. that the Committee, by vote, decreed that all those terms —“rebellion” and “insurrec tion” —be stricken out, so far as tley affected this view, in the address, and the term “civil war” be substituted. My im pression is that Mr. Raymond, the author of the address, claimed that there was not sufficient time then to make the proper changes in the phraseology, but' would do so before the meeting of the Convention, l'our correspondent has nut read the ad dress with sufficient care to say whether or not this lias been done, but deems it im portant that this explanation should go with the address to itlie readers of the Chronicle, in order that they may properly appreciate the spirit which governed the Committee, and rightly understand what was understood to be their views. The following is the copy of the address, as it appears in the evening papers: M. To the People or the United States. Having met in Convention, at the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylva nia, this 16th day of August, 1866, as the representatives of tlie people in all sections, and all the States and Territories of the Union, to consult upon the condition and the wants of our common country, wo ad dress to you this declaration of our prin ciples, and of the political purposes we seek to promote. Since the meeting of the last Nat ional Convention, in the year 1860, events have occurred which have changed tluj*.diame ter of our internal politics, and given the United States anew place among the na tions of the earth. Our Government has passed through the vicissitudes and the perils of civil war —a war which, though mainly sectional in its character, has never theless decided political differences that from the very beginning of the Govern ment had threatened the unity of our national existence, and has left its impres sion deep and ineffaceable upon all tlie in terests, the sentiments, and the destiny of the republic. While it has inflicted upon the whole country severe losses in life and property, and has imposed burdens which must weigh on its resources for generations to come, it has developed a degree of na tional courage in the presence of national dangers—a capacity for military organiza tion and achievement, and a devotion on the part of the people to the form of gov ernment which they have ordained, and to the principles of liberty whiclv that Gov (TKiuaeut .dor.ign&l tp .. 1 must confirm the confideiice of the _ nation in the perpetuity of its republican institu tions, and command the respect of the civilized world. Like all great contests which rouse_ the passion and test the endurance of nations, this war has given new scope to the ambi tion of political parties, and fresh impulse to plans of innovation and reform. Amidst the chaos of conflicting sentiments insep erable from sue!i an era, while the public heart is keenly alive to all the passions that can sway the public judgment and affect the public action ; while tlie wounds of' war are still fresh and bleeding on either side, and fears for the future take unjust proportions from tlie memories and resent ments of the past, it is a difficult but an imperative duty which on your behalf we, who are here assembled, have undertaken to perform. For the first time after six long years ci alienation and conflict, we have come to gether fron every State and every section of our land, as citizens of a common coun try, under that flag, the symbol again of a common gbry, to consult- together how best to eeirent and perpetuate that Union which is again the object tof our common love, and thus secure the blessings of lib erty to ourselves and our posterity. In the fust place, we invoke you to re member, always and ever, that the war is ended, andthe nation is again at peace. The shock of contending arms no longer assails the shuddering heart of the repub lic. The insurrection against the supreme authority of the nation has been suppress ed, and that authority has been again ac knowledged, by word and act, in every State and by every citizen within its juris diction. We are no longer required or permitted to regard or treat each other as enemies. Not only have the acts of war been discontinred, and the weapons of war laid aside, but the state of war no longer exists, and the sentiments, the passions, the relations of war have no longer lawful or rightful place anywhere throughout our brotul domain. Wc are again people of the United States, fellow-citizens of one country, bound by the duties and obliga tions of a common patriotism, and having neither rights nor interests apart from a common destiny. The duties that devolve upon us now are again the duties of peace, and no longer the duties of war. We have assembled here to take counsel concerning the interests of peace ; to decide how we may most wisely and effectually heal the wounds the war his made, and perfect and perpetuate the beiefits it has secured, and the blessings which, under a wise and be nign Providence, have sprung up in its fiery track. This is the work, not of pas sion. but of calm and sober judgment; not of resentment for past offenses, prolonged beyond the limits which justice and reason prescribe, but of a liberal statesmanship which tolerates what it cannot prevent, and builds its plans and its hopes for the future rather upon a community of inter est and ambition than upon distrust and the weapons of force. In the next place, we call upon you to recognize in their full significance, and to accept, with all their legitimate conse quences. the political results of the war just closed. In two most important parti culars the victory achieved by the national government has been final and decisive. First, it has established beyond all further controversy, and by the highest of all hu man sanctions, the absolute supremacy of the national government, as defined and limited by the Constitution of the United States, and the permanent integrity and indissolubility of the Federal Union as a necessary consequence; and, second, it has put an end, finally and forever, to the ex istence of slavery upon the soil or within the jurisdiction of the United States. Both these points became directly involved in the contest, and controversy upon both was ended absolutely and finally by the re sult. In the third place, we deem it of the ut most importance that the real character of the war and the victory by which it was classed should be accurately understood, the war was carried on bv the government of the United States in maintenance of its own authority and in defense of its own ex istence. both of which were menaced by the insurrection which it sought to suppress, ihe suppression of that insurrection ac complished that result. The government of the United .States maintained by force ot arms the supreme authority over all the : territory, and over ali the States and peo - pie within its jurisdiction which the Con stitution confers upon it; but it acquired thereby no new power, no enlarged juris , diction, no rights either of territorial pos session or of civil authority which it -did not possess before the rebellion broke out. All the rightful power it can ever possess Is that which is conferred upon it, either in express terms or by fair and im plication. by the Constitution of the United States. It was that power and that au thority which the rebellion sought to over threw. and (he victory of the Federal arms was simply the defeat of that attempt. The government of the United States acted throu shout the war on the defensive. It , sought to hold possession of what was al 2 ready its own. Neither the war, nor the victory by which it was closed, chanced in : any way the Constitution of the United i .Stines. ’ The war was carried on by virtue j of its provisions, and under the limitations ■ which they prescribe, and the result of the 1 war did not either enlarge, abridge, or in any way change or affect the powers it eou ! fers upon the Federal government, or ro- I lease that government from the restrictions I which it has imposed. The Constitution of the United States is to-day precisely as it was before the_ war, the “supreme law of the land, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. ’ and to-day, al so, precisely as before the war, all the powers not conferred by the Constitution upon the general government, nor prohib ited by it to the States, are “reserved to the several States, or to the people there of.” This position is vindicated not only by the essential nature of our government, and the language apt? spirit of the Constitution, but by all the acts and the language of our government, in all its departments, and at all times from the outbreak of the rebellion to its final overthrow. In every message and proclamation of the Executive, it was explicitly declared that the sole object and purpose of the war was to maintain the authority of the Constitution and to pre serve the integrity of the Union ; and Con gress more than once reiterated tliis solemn declaration, and added the assurance that whenever this object should be attained,., ■theristatfe* should retain tlieir equal right rand dignity unim’paired. It is only since the war was closed that other rights have been asserted on behalf of one department of the gene ral government. It has been proclaimed by Congress that, in addition to tho powers conferred upon it by the Constitution, the Federal Government may now claim over the States, the territory and the people in volved in the insurrection, the rights of war, the right of conquest and of confisca tion, the right to abrogate all existing gov ernments, institutions and laws, and to sub ject the territory conquered and its inhabi tants to such laws, regulations and deprivations as the legislative depart ments of the government may sec fit to impose. Under this broad and sweeping claim, that clause of - the Constitution which provides that “ no State shall, with out its consent, be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate of the United States” has been annulled, and ten States have been refused, and are still refused, repre sentation altogether in both branches of tho Federal Congress. And the Congress in which only a part of the States and of the people of the nation are represented, has asserted the right thus to exclude the rest from representation, and from all share in making their own laws or chosing their own rulers until they shall comply with such conditions and perform such acts as this Congress thus composed may itself prescribe. That, right lias not only been asserted, but it has been exercised, and is practically enforced at the present time. Nor does it find any support in the theory that the States thus excluded are in rebellion against tho government, • and are therefore precluded from sharing its authority. They are not thus in rebellion. They are one and all in an attitude of loyalty towards the government, and of sworn allegiance to the constitution of the United States. In no one of them is there the slightest indication of resistance to this authority, or the slightest protest against its just and binding obligation. This con dition of renewed loyalty has been officially recognized by solemn proclamation of the Executive department. The laws of tlio United States have been extended by Con gress over all these States and the people thereof. Federal Courts have been re opened, and F#leral taxes imposed and levied, and in every respect, except that they are denied representation in Congress and the Electoral College, the States once in rebellion are recognized as holding the same position, as owing the same obliga tions, and subject to the same duties as the other States of our common Union. It seems to us in the exercise of the calmest and most candid judgment we can bring to the subject, that such a claim, so enforced, involves as fatal an overthrow of the authority of the Constitution, and as complete a destruction of the Government and Uniomasthat which was,sough l tyJjG in art^n insurrection agaiX ß ®’ them {both. It car.ao.Jt escape observation that the power thus assarted to exclude certain, States from representation, is made to /rest wholly in tltu will and dilution of the KJongress that asserts it. lit® oot toVlepend upon any specified pnditions nor to be Si&yrulos Hr regulations whatever. The vi#ht asserted and exer cised is absolute ,Without qualification or restriction, nor confined to States in 'rebel lion, nor to States that have rebelled; it is the right of any pongress in formal posses sion of legislative authority, to exclude any State or States, and any portion of the { people thereof, at any time, from represen tation in Congress and in the Electoral College, at its own discretion and until they shall perform such acts and comply with such conditions as it may dictate. Obviously, the reasons for such exclusion being wholly within the discretion nf Con gress, may change as the Congress itself shall change. One Congress may exclude a State from all share in the Government for one reason; and, that reason removed, the next Congress may exclude it for another. One State may be excluded on one ground to-day, and another may be excluded on the opposite ground to-morrow. Northern ascendancy may exclude South ern States from one Congress—the ascend ancy of Western or of Southern interests, or of both combined, may exclude the Northern or the Eastern States from the next. Improbable as such usurpations may seem, the establishment of the prin- j cipie now asserted and acted upon by Con- ' gross will render them by_ no means im possible. The character, indeed the very existence of Congress and the Union is thus made dependent solely and entirely upon the party and sectional exigencies or forbearances of the hour We need not stop to show that such ac tion not only finds no warrant in the Con stitution, but is at war with every princi ple of our government, and with the very existence of free institutions, it is, indeed, thp identical practice which has rendered fruitless all attempts hitherto to establish and maintain free governments in Mexico and the States of South America. Party necessities assert themselves as superior to the fundamental law, which is set aside in reckless obedience to tlieir behests. Stabil ity, whether in the exercise of power, in tlie administration of governments or in the enjoyment of rights, becomes impos sible ; and the conflicts of party, which, under constitutional governments, are the conditions and means of political progress, are merged in the conflicts of arms to which they directly and inevitably tend. It was against this peril so conspicuous and so fatal to all free governments that i our Constitution was intended especially to provide. Not only the stability but the very existence of the government is made i by its provisions to depend upon the right and the fact of representation. The Con gress, upon which is conferred all the i legislative power of the national govern- I ment, consists of two branches, tho Senate and House of Representatives, whose joint concurrence or assent is essential to the validity of any law. Os these the House of'Repressntatives, says the Constitution, (article 1, section 2,) “shall be composed : ofmembers chosen every second year by the people ol' the several States.” Not only is the right of representation thus re cognized as possessed by all the States and ; by every State without restriction, qualifica i tion, or condition of any kind, but the duty of choosing representatives is imposed upon the people of each and every State | alike, without distinction, or the authority to make distinctions among them, for any reason or upon any grounds whatever. And in the Senate, so careful is the Con stitution to secure to every State this right 1 of representation, it is expressly provided 1 that “no State shall, without its consent, be deprived of its equal suffrage” in that bodv even by an amendment of the Con stitution Hself. When, therefore, any iUnfc i 3 excluded from such representation, AflLlv is the right of a State denied, but the constitutional integrity of the Senate impaired, and the validity of the govern ment itself is brought m question. Lut ment u - , ,-, re cent moment thus ex- Congress at the P«£ tion in both eludes , ten States of the i branches of a n share in the en- Umon, denying whic h they are to be actment of law= J jonin the.elec f° Ve nf he mlersW which these laws are non of the otber words, a Con :to be enforced. twent r-six States are gross in which y represented,, di34;ret i on , all the absolute-? an compose the L nion tlitrty-sixSta . an( j choose their -to make their othor ten from ruler.-, and » government until it there to distinguish the power thu-assert ed and exercised from the most absolute and intolerable tyranns . • Nor do these extravagant and un,u=t claims on the part of Congress to powers and authority never conferred upon the government by the Constitution find any warrant in the arguments or excuses urged |on their behalf, it is alleged, 1 First. That these States, by the act of rebellion and by voluntarily withdrawing their members from Congress, forfeited their right of representation, and that they can only receive it again at the hands of the supreme legislative authority of the government, on its own terms and at its own discretion. If representation in Con j gress and participation in the government were simply privileges conferred and held by j favor, this statement might have the merit i of plausibility. But representation is under the Constitution not onlyexpressly recog* ' nized as a right, but it is imposed as a j duty : _ and it is essential in both aspects to the existence of the government and to the maintenance ofits authority. In free gov vernments fundamental and essential rights cannot be forfeited, except against individ uals by due process of law ; nor can con stitutional ditties and obligations be dis carded or laid aside. The enjoyment of rights may be for a time suspended by I the failure to claim them, and duties may | be evaded by the refusal to perform them. The withdrawal of their members from Congress by the States which resisted the general Government, was among their acts of insurrection —was one of the means and _ agencies by which they sought to impair the authority and defeat the action of the government; and that act wfeS annulled and render ed void whoa the insurrection sitself was suppressed. Neither the right of repre sentation* nor the. duty to be represented was.in .he least.impaired by the liret dr iff* 1 VdirWrlbn ; Mt’ it may have been that by reason oftlie insurrection the conditions on which the enjoyment of that right and the performance of that duty for the time de pended, could not be fulfilled. This was, in fact, the case. An insurgent power, in the exercise of usurped and unlawful au thority in the territory under its control, had prohibited that allegiance to the Con stitution and the laws of the United States which is made by that fundamental law the essential condition of representation in its Government. No man within the in surgent States was allowed to take the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and, as a necessary' consequence, no man could lawfully represent those States in the councils of the Union. But this was only an obstacle to the enjoyment of the right and to the discharge of a duty— it did not annul the one nor abrogate the other; and it ceased to exist when the usurpation by which it was created had been overthrown, and the States had again resumed their allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United States. Second. But it is asserted, in support of the authority claimed by the Congress now in possession of power, that it flows directly from the laws of war ; that it is among the rights which victorious war al ways confers upon the conquerors, and which the conqueror may exercise or waive in his own discretion. To this we reply, that the laws in question relate sole ly, so far as the rights they confer are con cerned, to wars waged between alien anil independent nations, and can have no place or force, in this regard, in a war waged by a government to suppress an in surrection ofits own people, upon its own soil, against its authority. If we had car carried on successful war against any for eign nation, we might thereby have ac quired possession and jurisdiction of their soil, with the right to enforce our laws upon their people, and to impose upon them such laws and such obligations as we might chose. But we had before the war complete jurisdiction over the soil of the Southern States, liftiitcd only by our own Constitution. Our laws were the only na tional laws in force upon it. The govern ment oftlie United States was the only government through which those States and the people had relations with for eign nations, and its flag was the only flag by which they were recognized or known anywhere on the face of the earth. In all these respects, and in all other respects involving national interests and rights, our possession was perfect and complete. It did not need to be acquired, but only to be maintained ; and victorious war against the rebellion could do nothing more than maintain it. It could only vindicate and re-establish the disputed supremacy of the Constitution. It could neither enlarge nor diminish the authority which that Consti tution confers upon the Government by jvhieh it-was ueLfoxed. Such, an enlarge ment or abridgement of constitutional pow er can be effected only by amendment ol the Constitution itself, and such amend ment can be made only in the modes which the Constitution itself prescribes. The claim that the .suppression of an insurrec tion against the Government gives addi tional authority and power to that Govern ment, especially that it enlarges the juris diction of Congress and gives that body the right to exclude States from representation in the national councils, without which tlie nation itself can have no authority and no existence, seems to us at variance alike with the principles oftlie Constitution and with the public safety. Third. But it is alleged that in certain particulars the Constitution of the United States fails to secure that absolute justice and impartial equality which the principles of our government require; that it was in these respects the result of compromises and concessions to which, however neces sary when the Constitution was formed, wo are no longer compelled to submit, and that now, having the power through suc cessful war, and just warrant for its exer cise in the hostile conduce of the insurgent section, the actual _ government of the United States may impose its own condi tions, and make the Constitution conform in all its provisions to its own ideas of equality avid the rights of man. Congress, at its last session, proposed amendments to the Constitution, enlarging in some very important particulars the authority of the general government over that of _ the several States, and reducing, by indirect disfranchisement, the representative power of the States in which slavery formerly existed; and it is claimed, that these amendments may he made valid as parts of the original Constitution, without the con currence of the States to be most seriously affected by them, or may he imposed upon those States by three-fourths of the re maining States, as conditions of their read mission to representation in Congress and the Electoral College. It is the unquestionable right of the i people oftlie United States to make such changes in the Constitution as they, upon due deliberation, may deem expedient.— But we insist that they shall he made in 1 the mode which the Constitution itself i points out —in conformity with the letter and the spirit of that instrument, and with the principles of self-government and of equal rights which lie at the basis of .our republican institutions. We deny tlie. right ; of Congress to make these changes in the fundamental law, without the concurrence of three-fourths of ail the States, including ; especially those to be most seriously affect- i ed by them; or to impose them upon States or people as conditions of represen i tation, or of admission to any of the rights, , duties, or obligations which belong under ; the Constitution, to all the States alike.— ! And with still greater emphasis do we deny ; the right of any portion of the Statesexclu ding the rest of the States from any share in their councils, to propose, or sanc | tion changes in the Constitution which are to aft'eet permanently their politi | cal relations and control or coerce | the legitimate action of the several mem ■ bers of the common Union. Such an. ex -1 ercise of power is simply a usurpation ; just as unwarrantable when exercised, by Northern States as it would be exercised 1 by Southern, and not. to be forfeited or palliated by anything in the past history either of those by whom it is attempted or j of those upon whose rights and liberties it |is to take effect. It finds no warrant m i the Constitution. It is at war with the fundamental principles of our form of gov ernment. If tolerated in one instance it becomes the precedent for future invasions i of liberty and constitutional right uepen dent solely upon the wjl oftlie party in possession of power, and thus leads, by : i direct and necessary sequence, to the most fatal and intolerable of. all tyrannies -the j tyranny of shifting and irresponsible poiiti- . cal factions. It is against this,, the most I formidable of all the dangers which menace ; the stability of free government, that the ; Constitution of the United States was in tended most carefully to provide. e demand a strict and steadfa.-t adherence to its provisions. In this, and in this alone, can we find a basis of permanent Union and peace. ... -r- • Fourth. But it is alleged m justification of the usurpation which we condemn, that the condition of the Southern States, and people is not such as renders safe their re admission to a share in the Government of the country; that they are stiff in sentiment and purpose, and that neitner the honor, the credit nor the interests of the nation would be safe if they were re admitted to a share in its councils. We might reply to this: 1. That we have no right, for such rea sors. to deny to any portion of the States or people, rights expressly conferred upon them by the Constitution of’ the United States. 9 , 2. That so long as their acts are those of loyalty—so long as they conform in all their public conduct to the requirements of the Constitution and laws—we have no. riglit to exact from them cons ormity in their sen timents and opinions to our own. 3. That we have no right to distrust the NEW SERIES, VOL. XXV. NO. 36. purpose or the ability of the people of the | Union to protect and defend, under all con- I tingeneies and by whatever means may be | required, its honor and its welfare. J These would, in our judgment, be full i and conclusive answers to the plea thus advanced for the exclusion of these States j from the Union. But we say further, that | this plea rests upon a complete misappre ; liension or an unjust perversion of existing | facts. We do not hesitate to affirm, that there is.no section of the country where the Con stitution and laws of the. United States find a more prompt and entire obedience than in those States and among those people . who were lately in arms against them ; or where there is less purpose or dauber of any future attempt to overthrow their authority. It would seem to be both natural and inevitable that, in States and sections so* recently swept by the whirl wind of war, where all the ordinary modes and methods of organized industry have been broken up, and the bonds and influen ces that guarantee social order have been. : destroyed—where thousands and tens of thousands of turbulent spirits have been suddenly loosed from the discipline of war, and thrown without resources or restraint j upon a disorganized and chaotic society, and where the keen sense of defeat is added . to* the overthrow of ambition and hoped, scenes of violence should defy for a.tiiJF the imperfect discipline of law, I tionably true that local disfiirbauee- onm kind, accompanied by more or les of- vio- ! lence, do still occur. But they are Con- I fined entirely to flic cities and larger towns ’ of the Southern States, where different races and interests are brought most closely in contact, and where passions and resentments are always most easily fed and ! fanned into outbreak; and even there they ; are quite as much the fruit of untimely and 1 hurtful political agitation as of any hostility I on the part of the people to the authority j of the national government. But the concurrent testimony of those best acquainted with the condition of so ciety and the state of public sentiment in the Soutfl—including that of its represen tatives in this Convention —establishes the fact that thegreat mass of the Southern people accept, with as full and sincere ad: mission as to tlie people of the other States, the re-established supremacy of the na tional authority, and are prepared, in the most loyal spirit, and with a zeal quickened alike by their interest and their pride, to co-operate with other States and sections in whatever may be necessary to defend the rights, maintain the honor and pro mote the welfare of our common country. History affords no instance where a people, so powerful in numbers, in resources ailfl in public spirit, after a war so long in its duration, so destructive in its progress, and so adverse in its issue, have accepted defeat and its consequences with so much of good faith as has marked the conduct of the people lately in insurrection against the United States. Beyond all question, this has becu largely due to the wise gen erosity with which their enforced surren der was accepted by the President of the United States and the generals in immediate command of their armies, and to the lib veral measures which were afterwards taken to restore order, tranquility and law <• the States where all had for the time been ‘ overthrown. No steps could have been better calculated to command the respect, win the confidence, revive the patriotism and secure the permanent and affectionate allegiance of the people of the South to the Constitution and laws of the Union than those which have been so I firmly taken so steadfastly pursued by the j President oftlie United States. And if \ that confidence and loyalty have been since I impaired; if the people of the South are I to-day less cordial in their allegiance than j they w'ere immediately upon the close of \ the war, we believe it is due to the changed i tone of the legislative department of the j general government towards them ; to the j action by which Congress lias endeavored to supplant and defeat the President’s wise and beninccnt policy of restoration : to their exclusion from all participation in our common government; to the withdraw al from them of rights conferred and guar anteed.by the Constitution, and to the evident purpose of Congress, in jjie exer cise of« usurped-aiid kivffltl 'UTtlTiOrify; id' reduce tlieni from the rank of free and equal members of a republic of States, with rights and dignities unimpaired, to the condition of conquered provinces and a conquered people, in all things subordi nate and subject to the will of their con- querors ; free only to obey laws in making which they arc not allowed to share. No people has ever yet existed who:« loyalty and faith such treatment long con tinued would not alienate and impair. And the ten millions of Americans who live in the South would he unworthy citizens of a free country, degenerate sous of an heroic ancestry, unfit ever to become guardians of the rights aud liberties bequeathed to u- : by the fathers and founders of this repair lie, if they could accept with uncomplain ing submissiveness, the humiliations thus sought to be imposed upon them. Resent ment of Injustice is always and everywhere essential to freedom; and the spirit which prompts the States and people lately in insurrection, but insurgent now no longer, to protest against tlie imposition of unjust and degrading conditions, makes them all the more worthy to share in the govern ment of a free commonwealth, and gives still firmer assurance of the future power and freedom of the republic. For what ever responsibility tlie Southern people may have incurred in resisting the author ity of the national government, and in taking up arms for its overthrow, they may be held to answer, as individuals,- before the judicial tribunals of the land, and. for that conduct, as societies anil organized communities, they have already paid thn mostfearfulpenaltiesthat can fail on offend ing States in the losses, the sufferings and humiliations of unsuccessful war. But whatever may be the guilt or the punish ment of the concious authors of the insur rection, candor and common justice de- ' mand the concession that the great mliss j of thosd who became involved in its re sponsibility acted upon what they believed to be their duty, in defence of what they had been taught to believe their rights, or under a compulsion, physical and moral, when they were powerless to resist. Nor cap it be a amiss to remember that, terri ble as have been the bereavements and the losses of the war, they have fallen ex clusively upon neither section and upon neither party—that they have fallen in deed, with far greater weight upon those with whom the war began ; that in the death of relatives and friends,. the disper ; sion of families, the disruption of social systems and social ties, the overthrow of j governments, of law and of order, the des • tj’uction of property and of forms and j modes and means of industry ; the loss of political, commercial, and moral ih fluence, in every shape and form which j great calamities can assume, the States | and people which engaged in the war I against the government of the United States, have suffered tenfold more than those who remained in allegiance to its j Constitution and laws. These considerations may not, as they certainly do not, justify .the action of tne j people of the insurgent States; but no just or genorous mind will refuse to them very considerable weight in determining the line i of conduct which the government of the United States should pursue towards them. . . ; They accept, if not with alacrity, tcer- I tainiy without sullen resentment, the de feat and overthrow they have sustained. They acknowledge and acquiesce in the ro i suits to themselves and tlie country whicn that defeat involves. They no longer claim j for any State the right to secede from t.ie Union ; they no longer assert for a?;/ State an allegiance paramount to that v, men re : due to the general government. 1 hoy have , j accepted the destruction of slavery, abol ished it by their State Constitutions, and i concurred'with the States and people of the i whole Union in prohibiting it-, exist re" ; | forever upon the soil or within the juri diction of the United States. Ihey lu : dicate and evince their purpose, justvso fast as may be possible and safe, to adapt their domestic laws to the changed .condi tion of their society, and to se sore, by the Jaw and its tribunals, equal and impartial justice to all classes of. their inhabitants, j They admit the invalidity of all acts of re : , gistance to the national authority, and of all debts incurred in attempting its over- . throw. They avow their willingness to j share the burdens and discharge all the ■ duties and obligations which rest upon j them common witli other States and other sections of the Union; and they renew, through their representatives in this Con- , vention, by all their public conduct, in every way and in the most solemn acts by which States and societies can pledge their ! faith, their engagement to bear true faith : and allegiance, through all time to come, j to the Constitution of the United States, ; and to all laws that may be m#de in pur suance thereof. Fellow-countrymen: We call upon you, ! in full reliance upon your intelligence and your patriotism, to accept, with generous \ and ungrudging confidence, this full sur- ! render on the part of those lately in arms against your authority, and to share with j them the honor and renown that await : those who bring back peace and concord to j jarring States, The war just closed, with j alldts sorrows and disasters, has opened a new career of glory to tho nation it has | saved. It has swept away the hostilities j of sentiment and of interest which were a standing menace to its peace. It has des troyed the institution of slavery, always a cause of sectional agitation and "strife, and has opened for our country the way to unity of interest, of principle and of action through all time to coiap.j It has devel oped in both :t limitary capacity— an aptitude for aclHcvemcnts of war, both by sea and land, before unknown even to ourselves, ana destined to exercise here after, under united councils, an important influence .upon the character and destine of the continent and the world. And while it lias thus.revealed, disciplined mid com pacted our power, it has proved tb us be yond controversy oy doubt, by the course pursued towards both contending sections by foreign powers, that, we .must be the guardians of our own independence, and that the principles of republican freedom we represent ean find among die nations of the earth no friends or defenders but our selves. j We called upon you, therefore, by every j consideration of your own dignity and safe : ty, and in the name of liberty throughout | the world, to complete the work of reslora tion and pease which the President of tho ft United States so well begun, and which 1 tlienolky adopted and she“principles as j serted by the present Congress alone ob ' strut*. Viie'TwweiS close at band when f members of n, new Congress aro fij.be j elected. If that Congress shall perpetuate , this pcdk\. and, by excluding ldval States ! and people from representation in its halls, | shall continue usurpation by which the ! legislative powers of the government are now exercised, common prudence compels i us to anticipate augmtgitcd discontent, a sullen withdrawal from the duties and ob ligations of the Federal government, inter- I mil dissentions and a general collision of | sentiments and pretensions, which may re ; new, in a still more fearful shape, the civil war from which we have just emerged. ! We call upon you to interpose your power j to prevent the recurrence of so transcen- I dant a calamnity. MV call upon you. in I every Congressional district of a ery Slate, to secure the election ofmembers, who what j ever other differences may characterize their i political action, will unite in recognizing j the right,.of every State of the Union to representation in Congress, and who will 1 admit to a seat in either branch every loyal ; representive from every State in allegiance j to the government, who may be found by \ each Hanse, in the exercise of the pmcer j conferred upon it by the Constitution, to I have been duly elected, returned and quali j fiedfor a seat therein. When this shall have been done the gov ! eminent will have been restored to its in i’ tegrity, the Constitution of the United I States will have been re-established in its ! full supremacy, and the American Union ! will have again become what it was design ! od to be by those who formed it, a sover | eign nation, composed of separate States, ! each like itself, moving in a distinct and independent sphere, exercising powers de fined and reserved by a common Constitu tion, and resting upon the assent, the con fidence and co-operation of all the States and all the people subject to its authority. Thus re-organized and restored to their constitutional relations, the States and the general government ean enter, in a frater nal spirit, with a common purpose and a common interest upon whatever reforms the security of personal rights, the en largement of popular libertyand the per fection of our republican institutions may demand. At the close of the reading of the fore going address, Governor Ferry, of South Carolina, rose and moved its adoption. The question was put by tho Chair, and the address was declared unanimously adopted. Mr. Samuel J. Tiklen, cf Now York, then rose and said : Mr. Chairman : The delegation from New York have instructed me to propose that the Convention give three cheers for the lion. Henry J. Raymond, who has prepared the address just read. General Patton, ot Pennsylvania, rose, and on behalf of the Pennsylvania delega tion, seconded the motion. The cheers were given accordingly, r- 'TV Vrdftmklßt t aft b■, AwrSrnl a' , xX \ From ;**xico—RenrganiaatToifWMSxS* intiliaa’s Army. Havana, August 9. The English mail steamer Elder arrived | here on Sunday with later Mexican dates. The expected change in the ministry was finally affected by the Emperor on the 20th of July, by a-lctter to Lr.zunza and the is surance of three decrees. The letter says : “My Dear President Lazunza : At tho moment when the ministry over which you have so worthily presided becomes in part dissolved, we are pleased to give you a public testimony of our profound grati tude for tne eminent scrvfi*ng you have ren dered us. We hope that the *>•,tion will continue to profit by the counsels or your patriotic and illustrious intelligence, lie. ceive the assurance of my regard. “Maximilian.” i The first decree appoints Gen. Osmont, ; c’rief of staff of the Expeditionary Corps, i Minister of War. i The second decree "appoints Gen. Friant, | the intendent general of tho same corps, Minister of Finance. The third decree orders the Ministry of j Protection to be added provisionally to I that of the Interior. It is said that llaro, Tamarcs and Lares | have been invited to form part of the new I cabinet. It. is also said that three new un ! der-secretaries will he appointed. _ 'The following; explanation of tlic mo tives that determined such a notable polit ical manoeuvre accompany the decrees: In order to obtain in the shortest time the complete and lasting pacification of the country, the actual circumstances appear to claim that unity of action and of ideas which in ajl the crisis recorded in history has always been the most efficient remedy. Convinced that the guarantees necessary to Mexican society to regain prosperity with peace, and to carry into effect important material improvements, exact this com plete unity, the Emperor lias conferred the portfolio of war to the chief of staff of the : Expeditionary Corps, and that of the treas ury to the intendant general of the same I corps. These measures, which will be found in harmony with the mission of her Majesty, ! the Empress, will demonstrate that the : government acts in accord with its glorious : allies, and that it makes all the efforts the nation has the right to demand of it to I speedily obtain the pacification of the 1 country. I if all good Mexicans will re-unite under the peaceful banner ‘raised by the Emper- I or, forgetting old and odious party dissca ; taons, which have done" so much damage, j the nation will reach to the height of pros | parity destined for it by Providence; and ! its geographical situation. . j The report of there having been late po ; litieal arrests at the capital of Mexico is j denied by tbe Pajaro Verde. The damage to the railroad from Vera Cruz, caused by the recent inundations, I was repaired in three uayg. An Illinois Postmaster’s “Report.” j — The following letter was received at the I Postoffice Department from the postmaster ! of the town of F., in Illinois. Artemus I Ward or Josh Billings might try their ' worst, and couldn’t equal it : F. co ills July 9 1857 Mr James Bu lanin president of tire United States Deer 1 sir Been required by the instructions of the post office to report quarterly i know here with foolfill that plcasin dooty by reporting as follows : The harvestin lias been goin On peerty and most of the nabors have got their euttin about dun wheat is hardly a average crop on rollin lands corn is yaller* ish and wont turn out more ten or fifteen booshels to the aker the helth of the com munity i- only toleroblc meesils and cholery hav brok out about 2 and a half miles from here than- is a powerful nwakenin on the subjec of religun in the potto naborhood miss nancy smith a necr nabor had twins day before yesterdry one of them is a poor scraggy thing and wont liv half its day this is all i have to report the present quarter give my respects to mrs Buckanin and subscribe myself yoors trooly Alijah Jenkins p. m. at F co. ilis. Studious inquiries in official circles fail to confirm the report that Gen. Howard intends to resign the Commissionership of the Freedmen’s Bureau,''nor is there any probable cause for believing that he will be relieved from the duties of said office. - The military correspondent of the Times , with the Austrian army, gives an account of Marshal Bencdek s retreat, describes the demoralizat ion of his troops, and says that every messenger from Vienna was charged to say, on his return, “make peace or the army will be annihilated. The Treasury Department is about to commence the erection of a large building on the grounds South of the President’s house, and fronting on Fifteenth street, for the accommodation of the printing division of the National Currency Bureau,