Page:Historical and biographical sketches.djvu/312

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308
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

community. In a few of the country towns, there was some little effort to raise men, and in Philadelphia, a meeting was held, the newspapers called on the citizens with glowing words to volunteer, but nobody appeared to he willing to shoulder the musket.

In the meantime the Governors of New York and New Jersey had offered their regiments of organized militia, and a number of them had already been sent to Harrisburg, which made the matter look still worse for the Pennsylvanians. Among the causes for this general sluggishness, I may mention the following: the idea impressed upon the minds of many Democrats that the report was gotten up for political purposes, and Gov. Curtin wanted to entice them into the service to keep them from the polls; the fact that during the preceding summer, the militia had been called out but were not made use of in any way; and the opinion of most persons that it was