The Civil War in America (Smith)/Report of the Final Meeting
REPORT OF THE FINAL MEETING
OF THE
UNION AND EMANCIPATION SOCIETY
(Published by desire of the Society).
REPORT
OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO THE MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE UNION AND EMANCIPATION SOCIETY, AT THEIR LAST MEETING.
The Executive of the Union and Emancipation Society, in presenting their final Report, congratulate the members and friends of the Association on the auspicious termination of their labours.
Five years ago a section of the United States of America, then known as the Slave States, sought by revolt and armed force the disruption of the Republic, and declared an intention to establish a Confederacy, whose corner stone should be Slavery.
To aid in the accomplishment of this gigantic crime societies were established in this country; and the press, the platform, and the pulpit became to a very large extent sympathetic with the wicked enterprise. The aristocracy, the gentry, and the commercial classes (with many noble individual exceptions), were dragging the nation into a partisanship with rebellion and slavery.
At this critical period the Union and Emancipation Society was organised; “to give expression, on behalf of the population of this district, to their earnest sympathy with the cause of Freedom, and fraternal regard towards their kinsmen of the United States; and to resist all recognition of the Slaveholding Confederacy.”
The inaugural address of the Society soon elicited an approving response, both in this country and in the colonies. Adhesions were enrolled of representative men, eminent in thought and action, from all parts of the kingdom, along with many thousands of the industrial classes.
The Executive disseminated, by means of the press and the platform, the most accurate information upon the political and social history of the United States; the powers of the individual states; the prerogatives of the Federal Government; and particularly as to the causes and objects of the Rebellion.
It was soon demonstrated that the people were emphatically true to their ancient love of freedom and constitutional government, and that the heart of England was sound on this great question.
Although the contest here, against the manifold agencies of the Slave Power, was severe and varying, ultimately the conscience and common sense of the people triumphed, in and out of Parliament, and the public mind became steadfast in favour of the policy of neutrality and non-recognition, and confirmed in the belief that slavery was doomed.
The progress of the conflict on the other side of the Atlantic, between the friends and foes of human liberty, was watched by the Executive with deepening interest, but with unwavering confidence in the final triumph of freedom and civilisation.
Early in the year 1865, came the collapse and downfall of the Slaveholders’ Confederacy.
In the first year of peace, ere the nation had ceased to mourn the loss of thousands of her bravest sons, and the death of her Martyr-President, Abraham Lincoln, the people of the United States amended the Federal Constitution—abolishing and for ever prohibiting Slavery throughout their great Republic.
By this act millions of our fellow creatures emerged from the condition of chattlehood into the higher region of manhood; the stain which had disfigured the national flag of the United States was removed; all her fruitful lands were opened to the civilising and ennobling influences of free labour; and the blessings of free schools, a free press, and free government were secured as an inheritance for ever.
The United States have thus proved to the world that “a government of the people, by the people, for the people,” is competent to organise and wield vast combinations of power; to administer resources of extraordinary magnitude; to carry out the highest purposes of statesmanship to their most successful issues; and in the hour of triumph can exhibit a moderation of spirit and clemency towards the vanquished unexampled in history.
The spectacle of hundreds of thousands of patriot soldiers returning to their peaceful callings and the duties of citizenship, is another suggestive lesson to the unenfranchised peoples, taxed to support the military monarchies of Europe.
We commend to the benevolent consideration of our countrymen the claims of the freedmen of the United States, whose sufferings, in their transition from bondage to liberty, appeal to the generous instincts of our common humanity. We also especially urge the claims of the still-oppressed freed people in some of our own colonies, for the wellbeing of whom we are more directly responsible; and whose wretched condition calls for a practical manifestation of our Christian sympathy.
In conclusion, we offer our congratulations to our transatlantic friends, on the restoration of peace, the preservation of the Union, and the emancipation of the slave; and whilst not unmindful of the difficulties that surround their President, we recognise his patriotism, moral courage, and practical statesmanship, and record our earnest hope that in the discharge of the functions of his high office, he will secure beyond compromise all the rights and privileges of citizenship to his countrymen, without distinction of colour.
APPENDIX TO THE REPORT.
PROCEEDINGS IN REFERENCE TO THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
At a meeting held in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, April 28th, 1865,
Francis Taylor, Esq., in the chair:
It was moved by the Rev. G. W. Conder, seconded by Jacob Bright, Esq., and passed unanimously:—
“That the address of sympathy and condolence with Mrs. Lincoln, now read, be adopted, and that the Chairman be authorised to sign it on behalf of this meeting.”
“To Mrs. Lincoln.
“Madam,—It is not for us to invade the privacy of domestic sorrow, nor fitting that we should add to the sharpness of your grief by characterising as it deserves the deed which has deprived you of a husband and your country of its chief magistrate. We desire, however, to express our deep sympathy with you in this mournful affliction, and our earnest hope that you may be supported through the trial by the consciousness that your husband, though called to the helm in the midst of tempest and storm, never failed to respond to the call of duty, and that throughout a period of unparalleled difficulty he has guided the affairs of the nation in a manner which will ever connect his name with all that is noble, magnanimous, and great in your country’s history. His name will be associated with the cause of human freedom throughout all time; and generations yet unborn will learn to lisp his name as synonymous with Liberty itself, and to connect the atrocious deed by which his career was closed with the expiring throes of that foul system of Slavery against which his life was a standing protest, and the fate of which he had sealed.
| | “For and on behalf of the Union and Emancipation Society, | ||
| “Thomas Bayley Potter, President. | |||
| “Francis Taylor (for self and other Vice-Presidents). | |||
| “Samuel Watts, Treasurer. | |||
| “J. H. Estcourt (Chairman of the Executive Committee). | |||
| “J. C. Edwards, |  |
Honorary Secretaries. | |
| “E. O. Greening, | 
| ||
| “51, Piccadilly, Manchester, 27th April, 1865.” | |||
“That the address to President Johnson, expressive of sympathy with the American people in the loss they have sustained by the lamented death of President Lincoln, be adopted, and that the Chairman be authorised to sign it on behalf of this meeting.”
“To His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States.
“Sir,—We have heard with profound regret that your late distinguished President, Abraham Lincoln, has fallen a victim to a vile conspiracy, and that he has been suddenly removed from your midst by the hands of a cowardly assassin.
“We have watched his career from the period of his election, in 1860, down to his lamented death, as well through all the darkest hours of the struggle in which your country has been engaged, as at the time when success seemed to be within his grasp, and we have ever recognised in him a self-denying patriotism, a devotion to the principles of right and justice, and a determination to surmount, by constitutional means, every obstacle which stood in the way of the final triumph of those principles. His unswerving faith never forsook him in the hour of depression and gloom, and he has left behind him a noble example of magnanimity and moderation in the hour of victory, which cannot fail to secure the admiration of the whole civilised world.
“Elected on the basis of a limitation of the area of Slavery in the United States, he gradually and cautiously developed an Anti-Slavery policy, which resulted in the issue of an Emancipation Proclamation, by which every slave in the rebel States is now free; and he lived to see adopted by Congress an amendment of the constitution abolishing for ever Slavery in the United States.
“He has not been permitted to witness the final achievement of this great work, but his name will ever be associated in history with the removal of this dark stain from your national escutcheon.
“It is not alone, or chiefly on grounds of philanthropy that we have sympathised in his objects and aims. From the period when we beheld a section of your community, when defeated at the ballot box, appealing to the arbitrament of the sword, without even the pretence of a grievance, excepting the alleged danger to the institution of Slavery, we regarded free constitutional government as on its trial, and we have viewed with unvarying satisfaction the uniform consistency with which he always upheld the maintenance of the Union as paramount to every other consideration.
“In the recollection of these things, we desire now, through you, to express our deep sympathy with your loyal fellow-citizens in the grievous loss you have sustained: a loss which, at this important crisis in your country’s history, cannot fail to produce serious and anxious concern.
“In the midst of gloom, however, we are consoled by the reflection that the world is ruled by principles—not by men; and that while the most distinguished statesmen are constantly passing away, the principles which they have propounded are immortal.
“Mr. Lincoln, it is true, has departed, but he has bequeathed to posterity an example which cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence on the future of your country.
“The constitution places you in the office of Chief Magistrate of the Union at a solemn crisis in your national affairs, which has no parallel in past history; but we cheerfully recognise the fact that the same ballot which secured the triumphant re-election of Mr. Lincoln, also placed you in the distinguished position to become his successor; and our faith in the instincts of a great people forbids us to doubt that the noble principles which animated him will ever find a response in your heart.
| | “For and on behalf of the Union and Emancipation Society, | ||
| “Thomas Bayley Potter, President. | |||
| “Francis Taylor (for self and other Vice-Presidents). | |||
| “Saml. Watts, Treasurer. | |||
| “J. H. Estcourt, Chairman of Executive. | |||
| “J. C. Edwards, | |
Honorary Secretaries. | |
| “E. O. Greening, |
| ||
| “51, Piccadilly, Manchester, 27th April, 1865.” | |||
It was further resolved:—
“That this meeting also desires to record an expression of profound sympathy with the Honourable W. H. Seward and the members of his family, in regard to the atrocious attempt to assassinate that distinguished and able statesman whilst lying in a helpless condition on a bed of sickness; and this meeting earnestly hopes that the foul attempt may not have proved successful, but that Mr. Seward may soon be restored to health and vigour to render efficient service in the government of his great nation, under a restored Union, based on the eternal principle of freedom, justice, and equal rights to men of all races.”Francis Taylor,
- Chairman.
“Department of State,
- “Washington, May 16, 1865.
“Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge with very sincere pleasure the receipt of your letter of the 28th ultimo, enclosing a copy of a resolution passed unanimously at a crowded meeting of the citizens of Manchester, held in the Free Trade Hall, relative to the late tragic occurrences in this capital.
“The sympathy so kindly and cordially expressed in this resolution will be gratefully appreciated by Mr. Seward, who, I am happy to state, is fast recovering from his injuries, as well as by the various members of his family.
“I am, Sir, very respectfully,
- “Your obedient Servant,
- “W. Hunter, Acting Secretary.
- “Your obedient Servant,
“To Mr. Francis Taylor, Manchester, England.”
“Department of State,
- “Washington, 11th November, 1865.
“To the Union and Emancipation Society of Manchester.
“Gentlemen,—I am directed by the President of the United States to return to you his very sincere acknowledgments and thanks for the liberal and kind address which you made to him on his accession to the Chief Magistracy in April last.
“It would be doing you a great injustice, however, to confine this acknowledgment to that address. Your enlightened, truthful, faithful advocacy of the cause of the American Republic and of humanity during the agitations of the past four years entitles your Society to an honourable place in American history, and the history of our age.
“It is a matter of constant regret on my part that, owing to a temporary derangement of business in this Department, which has existed during a portion of the year, the President’s directions in regard to this acknowledgment, and many others, justly due to the friends of our country abroad, as well as at home, have been performed dilatorily and imperfectly.
“I have the honour to inform you that your affecting address to Mrs. Mary Lincoln (which was received by me at the same time with your address to the President) was, without delay, placed in her hands.
“I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
- “Your obedient Servant,
- “William H. Seward.”
- “Your obedient Servant,
Note.—Your Committee have issued and circulated upwards of four hundred thousand books, pamphlets, and tracts, during the three years of its operations; and nearly five hundred official and public meetings have been held in the promotion of the objects of the Society.
Manchester,
- 22nd January, 1866.
Moved by Francis Taylor, Esq., seconded by Samuel Watts, Esq., and unanimously adopted:—
“That the Report now read be adopted; and that the thanks of the Union and Emancipation Society are now specially presented to the Executive Committee for their administration of the affairs of the society.”
Professor Goldwin Smith then delivered an address on the “Civil War in America.”
Moved by Geo. Shaw Lefevre, Esq., M. P., seconded by Dr. Sandwith, C. B. (of Kars):
“That the thanks of this meeting be given to Professor Goldwin Smith for his able and interesting address on the ‘Civil War in America,’ and that he be requested to allow the address to be published.”
Moved by J. H. Estcourt, Esq., seconded by Dr. J. Watts:
“That the following Address to the President be adopted:”—
“Sir,—The Executive and Members of the Union and Emancipation Society, in General Council assembled, present this expression of their grateful appreciation of the valuable services rendered by you as its President.
“When the friends of Freedom and good government in this country were too generally silent and inactive in regard to the Slaveholders’ Rebellion in the Southern States of America, you boldly allied yourself with the working men in forming this Association, which proclaimed as its cardinal points the maintenance of the Federal Union, and the Abolition of Negro Slavery in the United States.
“This movement, by embracing both the political and philanthropic elements of that great struggle, was in advance of the action of the then existing organisations, and events have shown that it was more in consonance with the spirit and necessities of the crisis.
“Sympathisers with the Slave Power had already established societies to excite the passions and mould the opinions of the people into an approval of the so-called Confederacy; but the labours of this society demonstrated to our American brethren that the majority of the people were as true as ever in their admiration of free institutions, and their hatred to Slavery.
“The General Council, at this, their last meeting, sincerely thank you for the munificent aid you have so cheerfully given to sustain their operations, and to accomplish the objects of the Society; and they trust that you may long live to continue your patriotic labours in the cause of progress, and to realise your earnest aspirations for the political enfranchisement of all nations.”
The following names are attached to the Address:—
Vice-Presidents.
Thomas Bazley, Esq., M. P.
E. A. Leatham, Esq.
P. A. Taylor, Esq., M. P.
Guildford J. H. Onslow, Esq., M. P., Winchester.
Thomas Hughes, Esq., M. P.
Duncan M‘Laren, M. P., Edinburgh.
John Stuart Mill, Esq., M. P., London.
Lieut.-General T. Perronet Thompson.
Professor J. E. Cairns, A. M., Dublin.
Professor Jno. Nichol, Glasgow.
Professor Goldwin Smith, Oxford.
Professor F. W. Newman, London.
Professor Beesly, London.
Professor J. E. Thorold Rogers, Oxford.
Professor Rolleston, Oxford.
Professor Henry J. Stephen Smith, Oxford.
Professor Fawcett, Cambridge.
Professor Rogers, Glasgow.
Professor N. M’Michael, D. D., Dunfermline.
Hon. and Rev. Baptist W. Noel, London.
Rev. Leslie Stephen, Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D. D., Edinburgh.
Rev. Newman Hall, Ll. B., London.
Rev. James W. Massie, D. D., Ll. D., London.
Rev. Henry W. Crosskey, Glasgow.
Rev. Samuel Davidson, Ll. D., London.
Rev. Francis Bishop, Chesterfield.
Rev. J. Parker, D. D., Manchester.
Rev. J. Robberds, B. A., Liverpool.
Rev. Marmaduke Miller, Darlington.
Rev. T. G. Lee, Salford.
Rev. Goodwyn Barmby, Wakefield.
Rev. C. M. Birrell, Liverpool.
Rev. Robert R. Drummond, B. A., Edinburgh.
Rev. Geo. Douglas Macgregor, Farnworth.
Rev. John Guttridge, Ex-President Methodist Free Church.
Rev. Henry Batchelor, Glasgow.
Rev. Henry Solly, London.
Rev. Robert Spears, London.
Rev. Edmond Kell, M. A., F. S. A., Southampton.
Rev. G. T. Fox, Durham.
W. Coningham, Esq., Brighton.
Charles Sturge, Esq., Birmingham.
G. L. Ashworth, Esq., Rochdale.
F. G. Haviland, Esq., Cambridge.
W. E. Adams, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
W. P. Paton, Esq., Glasgow.
George Wilson, Esq., Manchester.
Dr. John Watts, Manchester.
Mr. Edward Hooson, Manchester.
Alderman Abel Heywood, Manchester.
Alderman Henry Brown, Bradford.
Alderman William Harvey, J. P., Salford.
Alderman Joseph H. Moore, Rochdale.
Councillor Murray, Manchester.
Councillor T. Warburton, Manchester.
Councillor George Booth, Manchester.
Councillor Clegg, Manchester.
Councillor Butterworth, Manchester.
Councillor Ogden, Manchester.
Councillor Ryder, Manchester.
Councillor J. R. Jeffery, Liverpool.
Councillor Hampson, Manchester.
W. J. Williams, Esq., Salford.
Max Kyllman, Esq., Manchester.
S. P. Robinson, Esq., Manchester.
H. M. Steinthal, Esq., Manchester.
Francis Taylor, Esq., Manchester.
Thomas Thomasson, Esq., Bolton.
Joseph Leese, Esq., Bowdon.
John Epps, Esq., M. D., London.
J. A. Langford, Esq., Birmingham.
J. J. Colman, Esq., Norwich.
James M‘Clelland, Esq., Glasgow.
William Brown, Esq., Glasgow.
Edward Alexander, jun., Esq., Glasgow.
Councillor John Burt, Glasgow.
Charles Robertson, Esq., Glasgow.
Henry Lightbown, Esq., Pendleton.
Abraham Howarth, Esq., Manchester.
James M. Paton, Esq., Montrose.
Thos. R Arnott, Esq., Liverpool.
E. K. Muspratt, Esq., Liverpool.
J. B. Whitehead, Esq., Rawtenstall.
Isaac B. Cooke, Esq., Liverpool.
Thomas Crosfield, Esq., Liverpool.
Robertson Gladstone, Esq., Liverpool.
John Patterson, Esq., Liverpool.
C. E. Rawlins, jun., Esq., Liverpool.
Robert Trimble, Esq., Liverpool.
Charles Wilson, Esq., Liverpool.
William Shaen, Esq., London.
Handel Cossham, Esq., Bristol.
Robert Kell, Esq., Bradford.
S. C. Kell, Esq., Bradford.
Richard C. Rawlings, Esq., Ruabon.
J. S. Barratt, Esq., Southport.
Thomas C. Riley, Esq., Wigan.
R. S. Ashton, Esq., Darwen.
Eccles Shorrock, Esq., Darwen.
John Crosfield, Esq., Warrington.
Jacob Bright, Esq., Alderley.
John Petrie, Esq., Rochdale.
Oliver Ormerod, Esq., Rochdale.
J. C. Dyer, Esq., Burnage.
George Crosfield, Esq., Lymm.
F. Pennington, Esq., Alderley.
J. B. Forster, Esq., Manchester.
James Galloway, Esq., Manchester.
Charles Cheetham, Esq., Heywood.
Samuel Pope, Esq., Barrister-at-law.
Ernest Jones, Esq., Barrister-at-law.
Dr. Louis Borchardt, Manchester.
Charles H. Bracebridge, Esq., Atherstone Hall.
William Jeffery Etches, Esq., Derby.
Mr. Serjeant Parry, London.
William Biggs, Esq., Leicester.
Andrew Leighton, Esq., Liverpool.
Edward Dicey, Esq., London.
James Ross, Esq., Carlisle.
Robert Ferguson, Esq., Carlisle.
Richard Johnson, Esq., Manchester.
Joseph Spencer, Esq., Manchester.
Thomas Spence, Esq., Barrister-at-law.
Arthur Trevelyan, Esq., J. P., Teinholm.
James M‘Culloch, Esq., M. D., Dumfries.
Peter Retford Scott, Esq., Edinburgh.
W. E. Hodgkinson, Esq., Manchester.
Sir John Hesketh Lethbridge, Bart., Taunton.
J. Mackenzie, Esq., M. D, J. P., Inverness.
Thomas Nelson, Esq., Edinburgh.
John Ashworth, Esq., J. P., Turton, near Bolton.
Thomas Emmott, Esq., Oldham.
William C. Leng, Esq., Sheffield.
Robert Service, Esq., Glasgow.
E. W. Thomas, Esq., Oswestry.
James Aytoun, Esq., London.
Hon. George Brown, Toronto.
Dr. Alexander, Edinburgh.
R. Peek, Esq., J. P., Hazlewood.
Colonel Henry Salwey, Runnynriede Park, Egham.
James Taylor, jun., Esq., Birmingham.
Charles Henry Robarts, Esq., B. A., Christ Church, Oxford.
F. J. Furnivall, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, London.
E. Herbert Grundy, Esq., Manchester.
Frederick Harrison, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, London.
James Cropper, Esq., Kendal.
Thomas H. Bastard, Esq., Charlton, Blandford.
Samuel A. Goddard, Esq., Birmingham.
E. F. Flower, Esq., Stratford-on-Avon.
Robert Hyde Buckley, Esq., Mossley.
| Samuel Watts, Esq., Manchester, Treasurer. | ||
| John H, Estcourt, Esq., Chairman of Executive. | ||
| John C. Edwards, | |
Hon. Secretaries. |
| Edward Owen Greening, |
| |
Moved by the President, seconded by Mr. Councillor Murray:
“That the sincere and earnest thanks of the Union and Emancipation Society be given to Samuel Watts, Treasurer; John Hart Estcourt, Chairman; John C. Edwards, and Edward Owen Greening, Honorary Secretaries, for their able and most indefatigable services as officers of the Association.”
The society was then formally dissolved.
Moved by Mr. Councillor Rumney, seconded by T. R. Wilkinson, Esq., supported by Mr. Alderman Heywood, and unanimously adopted:
“That the thanks of the meeting be given to Mr. Thomas Bayley Potter, for his conduct in the chair.”
Manchester: A. Ireland & Co., Printers.