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great proclamation of liberty will lift the ruler who uttered it, our nation, and our age, above all vulgar destiny.
The bell which rang out the Declaration of Independence has found at last a voice articulate to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
It has been heard across oceans, and has modified the sentiments of cabinets and kings.
The people of the Old World have heard it, and their hearts stopped to catch the last vespers of its echoes.
The waiting continent has heard it, and already foresees the fulfilled prophecy, when she will sit “redeemed, regenerated, and disinthralled by the irresistible genius of universal emancipation.”
Several special messages were sent in by the
Governor during the session of the Legislature, among which (Feb. 13) was the report of an informal commission concerning the military instruction and training of the people of
Massachusetts.
April 13.—A message, transmitting a printed copy of the annual report of the
Adjutant-General of the
Commonwealth, and the reports of the
Quartermaster-General,
Surgeon-General, and the
Master of Ordnance for the year ending Dec., 31, 1863, in which he says:—
I respectfully suggest to the General Court the importance of printing such a number of copies of these documents as will, to a reasonable degree, supply the demand of the people for the particulars of the military annals of the Commonwealth, and the record of our several volunteer military organizations in the Union army, during a year crowded with incidents, fruitful with valor, its rewards, and its casualties.
There can be few citizens of Massachusetts who have not a personal interest in this history.
The Legislature remained in session until Saturday, May 14, when, having finished all the business, it was prorogued by the
Governor.
The entire session was devoted almost exclusively to matters of a local character.
The ample provisions made by preceding legislatures for the care of our soldiers and their families, and the defences of our extended seacoast, left little more to be done in these directions.
We therefore omit giving an abstract of the proceedings of the two houses.
The acts and resolves which were passed at this session, which have a bearing upon
