[583]
determination to uphold the honor of that flag under whose folds we have achieved all that has been great and prosperous in our history, the committee on Faneuil Hall be requested to cause the American Flag to be hoisted upon the staff over Faneuil Hall every day except Sunday until otherwise ordered.
On the same day a communication was received by the mayor from
Governor Andrew informing him that he expected from twelve to fifteen hundred
Massachusetts troops in the city, who might remain for a day or two previous to leaving the
State, and asking the use of Faneuil Hall or any other public rooms for their accommodation.
The communication was immediately considered, and the use of Faneuil Hall and any other buildings under the control of the city was freely tendered to the
Governor.
Alderman Wilson introduced and read the following preamble and resolutions:—
Whereas the city of Boston still retains amidst all vicissitudes its reverence for the Constitution and the laws now so seriously imperilled; and whereas at this momentous crisis the expression of our fidelity has become a part of our public duty; therefore—
Resolved, That in the dark days which are upon us the city of Boston hereby pledges to the Government of the United States all its power, strength and amity; and, true to its traditions and the Constitution to which it owes so much of its moral and material prosperity, that it will in the contest to come make common cause and stand in honest alliance with all loyal corporations, and will regard as public enemies of the happiness of mankind all disloyal communities, by whatever name they may be called or wherever they may be established.
Resolved, That as in times of public danger all other considerations than those of the public defence should be put in abeyance, so we do hereby recommend to the good people of the city of Boston an oblivion of party differences, and an alliance of each honest citizen with the other in vindication of our violated laws and in behalf of our liberties.
Resolved, That as no law can palliate parricide, and no injury, real or fancied, justify hostility to a Constitution containing within itself the elements of its own amendment, so do the revolted States of this Republic stand before the civilized world defenceless, and convicted of an assault upon the common polity of nations which are enlightened by Christianity and governed by just laws, of infidelity to the cause of civil order and of regulated liberty, of unnatural confederacy with those who find in the disorders of society an excuse for its subjugation, and of
