Doc. 103.--proclamation of Gov. Ellis, April, 1861.
Whereas, by proclamation of
Abraham Lincoln,
President of the
United States, followed by a requisition of
Simon Cameron,
Secretary of War, I am informed that the said
Abraham Lincoln has made a call for seventy-five thousand men, to be employed for the invasion of the peaceful homes of the
South, and for the violent subversion of the liberties of a free people, constituting a large part of the whole population of the late
United States; and,
whereas, this high-handed act of tyrannical outrage is not only in violation of all Constitutional law, utter disregard of every sentiment of humanity and Christian civilization, and conceived in a spirit of aggression unparalleled by any act of recorded history, but is a direct step toward the subjugation of the whole
South, and the conversion of a free republic, inherited from our fathers, into a military despotism, to be established by worse than foreign enemies on the ruins of our once glorious Constitution of equal rights:
Now, therefore, I,
John W. Ellis,
Governor of the
State of North Carolina, for these extraordinary causes, do hereby issue this, my Proclamation, notifying and requesting the
Senators and members of the House of Commons of the General Assembly of
North Carolina, to meet in special session at the
Capitol, in the
City of Raleigh, on Wednesday, the 1st day of May next.
And I furthermore exhort all good citizens throughout the
State to be mindful that their first allegiance is due to the sovereignty which protects their homes and dearest interests, as their first service is due for the sacred defence of their hearts, and of the soil which holds the graves of our glorious dead.
United action in defence of the sovereignty of
North Carolina, and of the rights of the
South, becomes now the duty of all.--
N. Y. Tribune, April 26.
