[74] resolutions, which were adopted with hardly a dissenting voice: Events of commanding importance to the future safety and honor of Kentucky have occurred which call for action on the part of her citizens; and every consideration of self-interest, and every dictate of wisdom and patriotism must prompt our State to maintain most resolutely her position of loyalty. Situated on the border of the Slave States, with 700 miles of territory exposed to the hostile attack, should the Union be divided into two separate sovereignties, and with but one million of population to oppose the four or five millions of the States contiguous to her, which might become unfriendly, Kentucky owes it to herself to exercise a wise precaution before she precipitates any course of action which may involve her in an internecine war. She has no reason to distrust the present kindly feelings of the people who reside on the north bank of the Ohio River, long her friendly neighbors, and connected by a thousand ties of consanguinity; but she must realize the fact that if Kentucky separates from the Federal Union and assumes her sovereign powers as an independent State, that Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, remaining loyal to the Federal Union, must become her political antagonists. If Kentucky deserts the Stars and Stripes, and those States adhere to the flag of the Union, it seems impossible to imagine a continuance of our old friendly relations when constantly-recurring causes of irritation could not be avoided. It is from no fear that Kentucky would not always prove herself equal to the exigencies of any new position she might see proper to assume, and from no distrust of the bravery of her sons, that these suggestions are made; but as, “when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation,” so an equal necessity exists that we should not dissolve those bands with our friends and neighbors without calling to our aid every suggestion of prudence, and exhausting every effort to reconcile difficulties, before taking steps which cannot be retraced, and may lead to exasperation, collisions, and eventual war; therefore be it Resolved, 1. That, as the Confederate States have, by overt acts, commenced war against the United States, without consultation with Kentucky and their sister Southern States, Kentucky reserves to herself the right to choose her own position, and that while her natural sympathies are with those who have a common interest in the protection of Slavery, she still acknowledges her loyalty and fealty to the Government of the United States, which she will cheerfully render until that Government becomes aggressive, tyrannical, and regardless of our rights in slave property. 2. That the National Government should be tried by its acts, and that the several States, as its peers in their appropriate spheres, will hold it to a rigid accountability, and require that its acts should be fraternal in their efforts to bring back the seceding States, and not sanguinary or coercive. 3. That, as we oppose the call of the President for volunteers for the purpose of coercing the seceding States, so we oppose the raising of troops in this State to cooperate with the Southern Confederacy, when the acknowledged intention of the latter is to march upon the City of Washington and capture the,Capitol, and when, in its march thither, it must pass through States which have not yet renounced their allegiance to the Union. 4. That secession is a remedy for no evil, real or imaginary, but an aggravation and complication of existing difficulties. 5. That the memories of the past, the interests of the present, and the solemn convictions of future duty and usefulness in the hope of mediation, prevent Kentucky from taking part with the seceding States against the General Government. 6. That “the present duty of Kentucky is to maintain her present independent position, taking sides not with the Administration, nor with the seceding States, but with the Union against them both, declaring her soil to be sacred from the hostile tread of either, and if necessary, to make the declaration good with her strong right arm.” 7. That to the end Kentucky may be prepared for any contingency, “we would have her arm herself thoroughly at the earliest practicable moment,” by regular legal action. 8. That we look to the young men of the Kentucky State guard, as the bulwarks of the safety of our Commonwealth, and that we conjure them to remember that they are pledged equally to fidelity to the United States and Kentucky. 9. That the Union and the Constitution, being mainly the work of Southern soldiers and statesmen, in our opinion furnish a surer guaranty for “Southern rights” than can be found under any other system of government yet devised by men. The Hon. Archie Dixon then spoke as follows:
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[74] resolutions, which were adopted with hardly a dissenting voice: Events of commanding importance to the future safety and honor of Kentucky have occurred which call for action on the part of her citizens; and every consideration of self-interest, and every dictate of wisdom and patriotism must prompt our State to maintain most resolutely her position of loyalty. Situated on the border of the Slave States, with 700 miles of territory exposed to the hostile attack, should the Union be divided into two separate sovereignties, and with but one million of population to oppose the four or five millions of the States contiguous to her, which might become unfriendly, Kentucky owes it to herself to exercise a wise precaution before she precipitates any course of action which may involve her in an internecine war. She has no reason to distrust the present kindly feelings of the people who reside on the north bank of the Ohio River, long her friendly neighbors, and connected by a thousand ties of consanguinity; but she must realize the fact that if Kentucky separates from the Federal Union and assumes her sovereign powers as an independent State, that Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, remaining loyal to the Federal Union, must become her political antagonists. If Kentucky deserts the Stars and Stripes, and those States adhere to the flag of the Union, it seems impossible to imagine a continuance of our old friendly relations when constantly-recurring causes of irritation could not be avoided. It is from no fear that Kentucky would not always prove herself equal to the exigencies of any new position she might see proper to assume, and from no distrust of the bravery of her sons, that these suggestions are made; but as, “when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation,” so an equal necessity exists that we should not dissolve those bands with our friends and neighbors without calling to our aid every suggestion of prudence, and exhausting every effort to reconcile difficulties, before taking steps which cannot be retraced, and may lead to exasperation, collisions, and eventual war; therefore be it Resolved, 1. That, as the Confederate States have, by overt acts, commenced war against the United States, without consultation with Kentucky and their sister Southern States, Kentucky reserves to herself the right to choose her own position, and that while her natural sympathies are with those who have a common interest in the protection of Slavery, she still acknowledges her loyalty and fealty to the Government of the United States, which she will cheerfully render until that Government becomes aggressive, tyrannical, and regardless of our rights in slave property. 2. That the National Government should be tried by its acts, and that the several States, as its peers in their appropriate spheres, will hold it to a rigid accountability, and require that its acts should be fraternal in their efforts to bring back the seceding States, and not sanguinary or coercive. 3. That, as we oppose the call of the President for volunteers for the purpose of coercing the seceding States, so we oppose the raising of troops in this State to cooperate with the Southern Confederacy, when the acknowledged intention of the latter is to march upon the City of Washington and capture the,Capitol, and when, in its march thither, it must pass through States which have not yet renounced their allegiance to the Union. 4. That secession is a remedy for no evil, real or imaginary, but an aggravation and complication of existing difficulties. 5. That the memories of the past, the interests of the present, and the solemn convictions of future duty and usefulness in the hope of mediation, prevent Kentucky from taking part with the seceding States against the General Government. 6. That “the present duty of Kentucky is to maintain her present independent position, taking sides not with the Administration, nor with the seceding States, but with the Union against them both, declaring her soil to be sacred from the hostile tread of either, and if necessary, to make the declaration good with her strong right arm.” 7. That to the end Kentucky may be prepared for any contingency, “we would have her arm herself thoroughly at the earliest practicable moment,” by regular legal action. 8. That we look to the young men of the Kentucky State guard, as the bulwarks of the safety of our Commonwealth, and that we conjure them to remember that they are pledged equally to fidelity to the United States and Kentucky. 9. That the Union and the Constitution, being mainly the work of Southern soldiers and statesmen, in our opinion furnish a surer guaranty for “Southern rights” than can be found under any other system of government yet devised by men. The Hon. Archie Dixon then spoke as follows:
Van Nostrand. New York, New York. 1862.
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