USA > Massachusetts > History of Massachusetts in the Civil War > Part 2
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Mr. Goodwin, on taking the Speaker's chair, referred to national affairs in the following words : -
"The session before us may become second in importance to none that has been held in these halls, since, threescore years ago, our fathers consecrated them to popular legislation. For the second time in our history, we see a State of our Union setting at naught the common compact, and raising the hand of remorseless violence against a whole section of her sister States, and against the Union itself. But for
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
the first time in our history are unrebuked traitors seen in the high places of the nation, where, with undaunted front, they awe into trea- sonable inaction the hand the people have solemnly deputed to hold the scales of justice, and wield her imperial sword. To what points this ignominious crisis may compel our legislative attention, cannot now be stated ; nor is it for the Chair to allude to particular measures of legislation. But it is to be remembered, that Massachusetts sacrificed much to establish the Union, and to defend and perpetuate it. She is ready to sacrifice more, provided it touch not her honor or the princi- ples of free government, - principles interwoven with her whole his- tory, and never dearer to the hearts of her people of all classes and parties than they are to-day. Let us approach this portion of our du- ties with coolness and deliberation, and with a generous patriotism."
Not since the days of the Revolution had a legislature assem- bled at a time of more imminent peril, when wise counsels, firm resolution, and patriotic devotion to the Constitution and the Union, were imperatively demanded. James Buchanan was still President of the United States ; Floyd was Secretary of War; Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury ; Thompson, Secretary of the Interior ; and Toucey, who, although a New-England man, was believed to sympathize with the South, Secretary of the Navy. John C. Breckenridge was Vice-President of the United States, and presided over the deliberations of the Senate, of which Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, John Slidell, James M. Mason, and Robert Toombs were members ; all of whom proved traitors to the Government, were plotting daily and nightly to effect its overthrow, and to prevent the inaugura- tion of Abraham Lincoln on the fourth of March. South Caro- lina had already voted itself out of the Union, and had assumed a hostile front to the Union garrison in Fort Sumter, in Charles- ton harbor. Other Southern States had called conventions to consider what steps they should take in the emergency which had been precipitated upon them by the South-Carolina secession ordinance. Our navy was scattered over far-off seas, the United- States arsenals were stripped of arms by orders from the Secretary of War, and the treasury of the General Government was well-nigh depleted by the Secretary of the Treasury.
The debates in Congress were warm and exciting. The speeches of the disunionists were rank with treason. The power
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STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
of the North to prevent, by armed force, the South from seced- ing was sneered at and derided. Some of the Republicans in Congress replied with equal warmth and animation to the threats of the Southern men ; others counselled moderation, and expressed a hope that the difficulties which threatened our peace might yet be adjusted. Prominent among those who expressed these views were Mr. Adams, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Seward, of New York. To gain time was a great point, .- time to get Mr. Buchanan and his Cabinet out of power and out of Washington, and to get Mr. Lincoln and his new Cabinet into power and into Washington. I have good reason to believe, that neither of the distinguished statesmen whom I have named had a full belief that an appeal to arms could, for a great length of time, be avoided ; but they felt, that, when it did come, it was all important that the Government should be in the hands of its friends, and not of its enemies. They argued, that, if the clash of arms could be put off until the inauguration of the new President on the fourth of March, the advantage to the Union side would be incalculable. It was wise strategy, as well as able statesmanship, so to guide the debates as to accomplish this great purpose ; and to these two gentlemen acting in concert, one in the Senate and the other in the House, are we, in a great de- gree, indebted for the wise delay. Mr. Lincoln was inaugu- rated, and the Union ship of state was fairly launched, not indeed with fair winds and a clear sky, but with stout hands and wise heads to guide her course ; and after long years of terrible disaster, and amid obstacles which at times appeared insurmountable, finally weathered them all, and was brought safely to a peaceful haven.
Hon. Nathaniel P. Banks was Governor of Massachusetts the three years immediately preceding the election and inaugura- tion of John A. Andrew. His administration had been higlily successful and popular. He had met public expectation on every point. Many important measures had been passed during his term ; and, upon retiring from office, he deemed it proper " to present to the Legislature a statement of the condition of public affairs, with such considerations as his experience might suggest ; " and enforced this departure from the course pursued
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
by his predecessors in the gubernatorial office, with many cogent reasons. He delivered his valedictory address on the 3d of January, 1861, in which he gave a review of the legis- lation, and a statement of the finances of the State for the three years during which he had been the chief executive officer.
It is my purpose to speak upon but two of the topics dis- cussed in the address, which have a direct bearing on the war which was so soon to open, and in which Governor Banks was to take a prominent part, as a major-general in the Union army.
The Legislature of 1858 had passed what was known as an act for the protection of personal liberty. It was intended to mitigate the harsh and unjust provisions of the act of Congress passed in 1850, known as the Fugitive-slave Law. Several persons, held in the South as slaves, had made their way to Massachusetts ; and, being afterwards arrested, had been re- turned to their masters. The entire provisions of that act were abhorrent to our people, notwithstanding its friends and support- ers claimed for it an exact conformity to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States.
The opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, pronounced by Judge Story, himself a Massachusetts man, declared that the Constitution contemplated the existence of "a positive, unqualified right, on the part of the owner of the slave, which no State law or regulation can in any way qualify, regulate, control, or restrain." This opinion of the Supreme Court, Governor Banks said, " has been approved by the Legis- lature of this State, and confirmed by its Supreme Judicial Court." He then invited the attention of the Legislature to the sections of the State act relating to the writ of habeas corpus and the State act for the protection of personal liberty, which he thought conflicted with the act of Congress regarding fugitive slaves ; and said. "It is not my purpose to defend the constitu- tionality of the Fugitive-slave Act. The omission of a provision for jury trial, however harsh and cruel, cannot in any event be supplied by State legislation. While I am constrained to doubt the right of this State to enact such laws, I do not admit that, in any just sense, it is a violation of the national compact. It is
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GOVERNOR BANKS'S ADDRESS.
only when unconstitutional legislation is enforced by executive authority, that it assumes that character, and no such result has occurred in this State."
He then remarked, that Massachusetts had given unimpeach- able evidence of her devotion to law ; and it was because she had been faithful that he wished to see her legislation in harmony with her acts. "It is because I do not like to see her representa- tives in Congress, and her sons everywhere, put upon the defen- sive when they have just cause to be proud of her loyalty ; . . . it is because, in the face of her just claims to high honor, I do not love to hear unjust reproaches cast upon her fame, - that I say, as I do, in the presence of God, and with a heart filled with the responsibilities that must rest upon every American cit- izen in these distempered times, I cannot but regard the mainte- nance of a statute, although it may be within the extremest limits of constitutional power, which is so unnecessary to the public service and so detrimental to the public peace, as an inexcusable public wrong. I hope, by common consent, it may be removed from the statute-book, and such guaranties as indi- vidual freedom demands be sought in new legislation."
I have referred to these matters because they were prominent pretexts, made by the disunion party to justify a dissolution of the Union. The State acts named were condemned by many of our wisest men, who never had a thought unfriendly to the Union, nor would, by their acts or votes, sanction the existence of human slavery, or extend the area of its domain. The views of Governor Banks at this time are also important and inter- esting as in contrast to those expressed, a few days after, in the inaugural address of Governor Andrew.
Governor Banks, in concluding his address, referred in direct terms to the secession ordinance of South Carolina, and said, " While I would not withhold from the South what belongs to that section, I cannot consent that we should yield what belongs to us. The right to the Territories, so far as the people are concerned, must be a common right ; and their status should be determined upon the rights of men, and not upon privileges of property." IIe was opposed to founding government upon the right to hold slaves. "There is no species of property
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
entitled to such protection as will exclude men from Territories, aside from all considerations of property. Neither do I believe that a geographical line will give peace to the country. The lapse of time alone will heal all dissensions. There can be no peaceable secession of the States. The Government has pledged its faith to every land, and that pledge of faith cannot be broken." He drew encouragement from the thrill of joy which touched every true heart, when Major Anderson moved his little garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. "Cer- tainly, never an act, so slight in itself, touched the hearts of so many millions of people like fire from heaven, as the recent simple, soldier-like, and patriotic movement of Major Anderson at Fort Moultrie." He closed this part of his address with these grand words : "But no such result can follow as the de- struction of the American Government. The contest will be too terrible, the sacrifice too momentous, the difficulties in our path are too slight, the capacity of our people is too manifest, and the future too brilliant, to justify forebodings, or to excite permanent fears. The life of every man is lengthened by trial ; and the strength of every government must be tested by revolt and revolution. I doubt not that the providence of God, that has protected us hitherto, will preserve us now and hereafter."
Throughout the entire address a hopeful feeling prevailed. The Governor evidently did not believe that we were so nigh the verge of civil war. He made no recommendation for the increase of the military force of the State, or to prepare that already organized for active service. It may properly be said, however, in this connection, that Governor Banks, upon retiring from office, did not deem it in good taste or proper to recom- mend legislative action to a body with which he was so soon to sever all official connection.
Shortly after retiring from the gubernatorial chair, Governor Banks made arrangements to remove to Illinois, having accepted a responsible executive position in the Illinois Central Railroad ; but, in a few months, the country required his services as a mili- tary commander, which post he accepted, and continued in high command until the end of the war, when he returned to Massa-
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GOVERNOR ANDREW INAUGURATED.
chusetts, and was elected to Congress by the people of his old district.
John A. Andrew, Esq., of Boston, was inaugurated Gov- ernor of the Commonwealth, Jan. 5, 1861, and immediately delivered his address to the Legislature, in which he gave a statement of the financial condition of the Commonwealth, its liabilities, and its resources to meet them. The State was practically free of debt. The aggregate valuation of taxable property was within a fraction of nine hundred millions, a com- putation of which had been made by a special committee appointed for the purpose, whose labors had closed on the 1st of January, 1861, only five days before the address was deliv- ered. After asking the attention of the Legislature to matters of a purely local character, Governor Andrew devoted the remainder of his address to matters of more general interest. He discussed the right of the Legislature to pass the statutes concerning personal liberty and the habeas corpus, and con- tended that Massachusetts had a clear right to pass them ; and that, if properly understood and rightfully carried out, there could not be any conflict of jurisdiction between the State and Federal officers. The argument upon these questions extends through nine pages, and concludes as follows : -
" Supposing, however, that our legislation in this behalf is founded in mistake, the Legislature will only have endeavored to perform their duty towards the citizens whom they were bound to shield from un- lawful harm. The power to obtain the judgment of the court affords ample redress to all claimants. Should a critical examination disclose embarrassments in raising and reserving questions of law for the ap- propriate tribunals, the Legislature will readily repair the error.
" In dismissing this topic, I have only to add, that in regard, not only to one, but to every subject bearing on her Federal relations, Massachusetts has always conformed to her honest understanding of all constitutional obligations ; that she has always conformed to the judicial decisions ; has never threatened either to nullify or to dis- obey ; and that the decision of one suit, fully contested, constitutes a precedent for the future."
The concluding ten pages of the address give a graphic, con- densed, truthful, and eloquent review of the condition of the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
country, of the danger and wickedness of a civil war, and of the position which Massachusetts and her great statesmen have always held in regard to them. He said, -
" Inspired by the same ideas and emotions which commanded the fraternization of Jackson and Webster on another great occasion of public danger, the people of Massachusetts, confiding in the patri- otism of their brethren in other States, accept this issue, and respond, in the words of Jackson, ' The Federal Union : it must be preserved !'
" Until we complete the work of rolling back this wave of rebel- lion, which threatens to engulf the Government, overthrow demo- cratic institutions, subject the people to the rule of a minority, if not of mere military despotism, and, in some communities, to endanger the very existence of civilized society, we cannot turn aside, and we will not turn back. It is to those of our brethren in the disaffected States, whose mouths are closed by a temporary reign of terror, not less than to ourselves, that we owe this labor, which, with the help of Providence, it is our duty to perform.
"I need not add, that whatever rights pertain to any person under the Constitution of the Union are secure in Massachusetts while the Union shall endure; and whatever authority or function pertains to the Federal Government for the maintenance of any such right is an authority or function which neither the Government nor the people of this Commonwealth can or would usurp, evade, or overthrow ; and Massachusetts demands, and has a right to demand, that her sister States shall likewise respect the , constitutional rights of her citizens within their limits."
I have given these extracts from the addresses of Governors Banks and Andrew, that their official opinions in regard to important national questions, expressed on the eve of a great war, might be made fresh in the memories of men. Both gen- tlemen expressed the true sentiment of Massachusetts. I have taken their words as a base or starting-point to begin the long, grand story of Massachusetts in the Rebellion.
As Governor Andrew, was at the head of the State Gov- ernment during the entire period of the war, he of course was and ever will be the prominent, central figure in the galaxy of gentlemen, civil and military, who, by their services and sacri- fices, gave renown to the Commonwealth, and carried her with imperishable honor through the conflict.
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SKETCH OF GOVERNOR ANDREW.
John A. Andrew was the twenty-first Governor of Massa- chusetts since the adoption of the Constitution of the State in 1780. He was born at Windham, in the District of Maine, about fifteen miles from Portland, on the 31st of May, 1818. The family was of English origin, descending from Robert Andrew, of Rowley village, now Boxford, Essex County, Mass., who died there in 1668. He was connected with most of the ancient families of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The grandmother of Governor Andrew was the grand-daughter of the brave Captain William Pickering, who commanded the Province Galley, in 1707, for the protection of the fisheries against the French and Indians ; and the mother of her hus- band was Mary Higginson, a direct descendant of the Reverend Francis Higginson, the famous pastor of the first church in the colony. The grandfather of Governor Andrew was a silver- smith in Salem, who removed to .Windham, where he died. His son Jonathan was born in Salem, and lived there until manhood, when he also removed to Windham. There he married Miss Nancy G. Pierce, formerly preceptress of Frye- burg Academy, where Daniel Webster was once a teacher. , These were the parents of Governor Andrew.
At an early age, he entered Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in the class of 1837. He then removed to Bos- ton, and entered, as a law student, the office of Henry H. Fuller, Esq. Being admitted to the Suffolk Bar in 1840, he commenced the practice of his profession, and adhered to it without interruption until his election as Governor in 1860, establishing in later years a reputation as an advocate second to no lawyer at that distinguished bar since the death of Rufus Choate. Attractive in personal appearance and bearing, with an excellent flow of language and variety of expression, and possessed of that sympathetic disposition which identifies an advocate in feeling and in action with the cause of his client, his merits were eminent as an advocate before juries ; but the causes in connection with which his reputation as a lawyer had become chiefly known beyond legal circles, were those of arguments before Massachusetts courts, and the United-States courts for the district and circuit, on questions of political sig-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
nificance. He defended the parties indicted in 1854, for an attempt to rescue the fugitive slave Burns, and succeeded in quashing the indictments on which they were arraigned. The following year, he successfully defended the British consul at Boston against a charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States during the Crimean War. In 1856, co- operating with counsel from Ohio, he made a noted appli- cation to Judge Curtis, of the United-States Supreme Court, for a writ of habeas corpus, to test the authority by which the Free-State prisoners were held confined in Kansas by Federal officers. More lately, in 1859, he initiated and directed the measures to procure suitable counsel for the defence of John Brown in Virginia ; and, in 1860, was counsel for Hyatt and Sanborn, witnesses summoned before Senator Mason's commit- tee of investigation into the John-Brown affair. Upon his argu- ment, the latter was discharged by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts from the custody of the United-States marshal, by whose deputy he had been arrested under a warrant issued at the instigation of that committee. Being himself, about the same time, summoned before the committee, he appeared at Washington, and rendered his testimony. Nor had he hesi- tated, under his theory of his duties as a lawyer, to defend causes appealing less directly to his sympathies, or even posi- tively repugnant to them. Among others, besides the instance of the British consul before mentioned, may be named his advocacy, in 1860, of the right of Mr. Burnham, against the inquisition of a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature ; and also his defence, the same year, in the United-States Dis- triet and Circuit Courts, of the notorious slaver-yacht "Wan- derer " against forfeiture.
This brilliant legal career was a result of uninterrupted devo- tion to a profession which always demands constancy as a con- dition of success. Although warmly interested from an early age in the course of public affairs, and often taking part in political assemblies, - until 1848 as a Whig, in that year pass- ing into the Free-Soil party, and in 1854 uniting naturally with the Republicans, - it was not until 1858 that he consented to accept political office. In the autumn campaign of the pre-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION.
nificance. He defended the parties indicted in 1854, for an attempt to rescue the fugitive slave Burns, and succeeded in quashing the indictments on which they were arraigned. The following year, he successfully defended the British consul at Boston against a charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States during the Crimean War. In 1856, co- operating with counsel from Ohio, he made a noted appli- cation to Judge Curtis, of the United-States Supreme Court, for a writ of habeas corpus, to test the authority by which the Frec-State prisoners were held confined in Kansas by Federal officers. More lately, in 1859, he initiated and directed the measures to procure suitable counsel for the defence of John Brown in Virginia ; and, in 1860, was counsel for Hyatt and Sanborn, witnesses summoned before Senator Mason's commit- tee of investigation into the John-Brown affair. Upon his argu- ment, the latter was discharged by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts from the custody of the United-States marshal, by whose deputy he had been arrested under a warrant issued at the instigation of that committee. Being himself, about the same time, summoned before the committee, he appeared at Washington, and rendered his testimony. Nor had he hesi- tated, under his theory of his duties as a lawyer, to defend causes appealing less directly to his sympathies, or even posi- tively repugnant to them. Among others, besides the instance of the British consul before mentioned, may be named his advocacy, in 1860, of the right of Mr. Burnham, against the inquisition of a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature ; and also his defence, the same year, in the United-States Dis- trict and Circuit Courts, of the notorious slaver-yacht "Wan- derer " against forfeiture.
This brilliant legal career was a result of uninterrupted devo- tion to a profession which always demands constancy as a con- dition of success. Although warmly interested from an early age in the course of public affairs, and often taking part in political assemblies, - until 1848 as a Whig, in that year pass- ing into the Free-Soil party, and in 1854 uniting naturally with the Republicans, - it was not until 1858 that he consented to accept political office. In the autumn campaign of the pre-
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STATE OFFICERS. - CONGRESSMEN.
vious year, resulting in the overthrow of the Know-Nothing party, by which Massachusetts had been ruled since 1854, he had sustained an active part. The former political issues be- ing revived by the dissolution of that organization after its defeat, he consented to be chosen to the Legislature of 1858. Mr. Andrew was at once recognized as the leader of his party in the House. The leader of the opposition was Hon. Caleb Cushing, of Newburyport, formerly member of Congress, and the Attorney-General of the United States under President Pierce. At the close of the session, Mr. Andrew returned to his profession, refusing to permit his name to be used as a candidate for Governor, and declined also an election to the Legislature, and an appointment, tendered him by Governor Banks, of a seat on the bench of the Superior Court. In the spring of 1860, he was unanimously selected to head the delegation from Massachusetts to the. Republican National Con- vention at Chicago. As chairman of the delegation, he cast the vote of the State for Mr. Seward until the final ballot, when it was thrown for Mr. Lincoln. That fall he was nomi- nated by the Republican State Convention for Governor, and was elected by the majority we have already stated, in the largest popular vote ever cast in the State.
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