“It was my pleasure to-night to be present at the meeting
of the German Republican Central Committee, and it was
truly refreshing to witness the enthusiasm manifested in
behalf of those lofty sentiments embraced in your Rebel
Territory Bill. A Memorial is now in course of preparation
for you on the subject.”
Hon. J. Y. Smith, of the _Wisconsin Argus_, wrote from
Madison:--
“Early in the Rebellion I took the same view of the effect
of Secession upon the Rebel States as is set forth in your
Resolutions,--suggested it to our Wisconsin Senators, and
wrote several articles in support of it, but could find
very few public journals or public men to agree with me.
When your resolutions on that subject appeared, I hailed
them with joy, and have been exerting the little influence
I have to instil the principle into the public mind. It is
the true theory, and I wonder why any friend of the country
can object to it. By their rebellion they have tumbled
Slavery right into our bag, and if we shake it out, our
life will go for its life.”
Thomas Garrett, a Quaker Abolitionist, wrote from Wilmington,
Delaware:--
“I yesterday read the resolutions thou offeredst on the
11th of this month, and think the view thou hast taken is
correct: that any vote of secession, or other act by which
a State may undertake to put an end to the supremacy of the
Constitution within its territory, is inoperative and void
against the Constitution, and, when sustained by force, is
practical abdication by the State of all rights under the
Constitution; and every such State ought to be expunged and
revert back into a Territory, and begin anew. I thought,
six months since, that ere this Slavery would have been
abolished by the War Power in all the seceded States, but
at present I have very little hope of it. It seems to me
incredible that the President and Cabinet should have so
much more sympathy for the Rebels than they have for the
loyal North.”
W. G. Snethen, lawyer, earnest against Slavery, wrote from
Baltimore:--
“Your admirable resolutions respecting the status of
the Rebel region, in which the Rebellion has killed
Slavery, did my heart good, especially as indicating an
Administration policy. I hope and pray that this doctrine
speaks the mind of Lincoln, and that he will not flinch
from its execution with the whole power of the Government.…
Oh that Congress may adopt your set just as they came from
your mighty pen, and then follow them up by legislation to
give them active life!”
Edward P. Brownson communicated the opinion of his father,
Orestes A. Brownson, in a letter from Elizabeth, New Jersey.
“I suppose my father has long since told you of his
delight, when you introduced your Resolutions into the
Senate. The joy with which he read them, and the attention
he has given them, you will find very clearly expressed
in the deep and careful study he has given the subject,
evident in his article on _State Rebellion, State Suicide_;
and he would much rather see them pass than win a victory
in the field.”
Mrs. Maria Weston Chapman, the devoted Abolitionist, and among
the earliest in the warfare, wrote from Boston:--
“Thanks a thousand-fold for the eleventh volume Pacific
Railroad Survey. Your Resolutions are _the great Pacific
Road to Freedom_,--made possible by the War Power though
they be. I thank you a million-fold. To say so is no
exaggeration, since all done in this behalf is done for all
men and all time; and from the hour that Garrison struck
the first blow, I have ever felt that the highest numbers
were needed fitly to express human gratitude for services
rendered to human nature.”