Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1.

“ [360] condemn it, curse it, and trample it under foot, then I must smite. In God's name I will smite, and, as long as I have strength, I will do it. Oh! listen to me! listen to me! I know these men; I know their courage; I have been among them; I have been with them; I have been reared with them; they have courage; and do not you pretend to think they have not. I tell you what it is, it is no child's play you are entering upon. They will fight; and with a determination and a power which is irresistible. Make up your mind to it. Let every man put his life in his hand, and say: ‘There is the altar of my country; there I will sacrifice my life.’ I, for one, will lay my life down. It is not mine any longer. Lead me to the conflict. Place me where I can do my duty. There I am ready to go. I care not where it may lead me. I am ready to fight in the ranks or out of the ranks. Having been educated in the Academy; having been in the Army seven years; having served as commander of a voluntary company for ten years, and having served as an adjutant-general, I feel I am ready for something. I only ask to be permitted to act, and, in God's name, give me something to do!”

While the speakers at the great meeting illustrated the enthusiasm of the people of the Free-labor States, the resolutions there adopted indicated the calm judgment and unalterable determination that would govern them in the trial before them. In those resolutions, they averred that the Declaration of Independence, the war of the Revolution, and the Constitution of the United States had given origin to our Government, the most equal and beneficent hitherto known among men; that under its protection the wide expansion of our territory, the vast development of our wealth, our population, and our power, had built up a nation able to maintain and defend before the world the principles of liberty and justice upon which it was founded; that by every sentiment of interest, of honor, of affection, and of duty, they were engaged to preserve unbroken for their generation, and to transmit to their posterity, the great heritage they had received from heroic ancestors; that to the maintenance of this sacred trust they would devote whatever they possessed and whatever they could do; and in support of that Government under which they were happy and proud to live, they were prepared to shed their blood and lay down their lives. In view of future reconciliation, they added:--“That when the authority of the Federal Government shall have been re-established, and peaceful obedience to the Constitution and laws prevail, we shall be ready to confer and co-operate with all loyal citizens throughout the Union, in Congress or in convention, for the consideration of all supposed grievances, the redress of all wrongs, and the protection of every right, yielding ourselves, and expecting all others to yield, to the will of the whole people, as constitutionally and lawfully expressed.”

For many months after this great meeting, and others of its kind in the cities and villages of the land, the Government had few obstacles thrown in its way by political opponents; and the sword and the purse were placed at its disposal by the people, with a faith touching and sublime.