Weekly national intelligencer., 1850-03-16

safety and welfare of these States AZ
OBLIGATIONS As MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL UsIos.
Attest, CHARLES DENIsoN, Clerk.
Concurred in by the Upper House
Attest, THOMAS DAY. oecreary'
The CONVENTION, consisting Of Delegates ap.
pointed by the Legislatures Of Massachusetts, Con-
necticut, Rhode Island, and three or four county
Delegates from New Hampshire and Vermont, as
sembled at HARTFORD on the 18th December, 1914,
and sat about twenty days. Its proceedings con.
sisted Of protestatons against the measures OF the
General Government, and recommendations to the
several States TO endeavor to procure certain amend
ments to the Constitution, or, failing to procure
such amendments by such cooperation OF States,
to endeavor to procure the call OF National Con-
vention, in the mode authorized By the Constafu-
to,, for the same purpose.
Not to withhold from our readers any thing ne
cessary to enable them to acquire just and true
conception of the action, as well as Of the purposes
Of the Convention, we insert at large, from the
journal of its proceedings, the entire series of Re-
solutions which comprise the result of its session
Resolved That it be and hereby is recommended to the
of the States represented this Conven
on adopt all such may be necessary eecu-
ally to protect the citizens of said States from the operation
the Congress Of the United States which shall contain pro-
visions subecting the militia other citizens to orcible
drafts conscrpons mpressments, not authorized by the
Constitution of the United States
Resolved That be and hereby recommended to the
said Legislatures authorize immediate and earnest ap
pcaon be made to the Government of the United States
requesting their consent to some arrangement whereby the
said States may separately concert be empowered
assume upon themselves the defence of their Territory against
the enemy and reasonable portion Of the taxes collected
within said States be paid into the respective treasures
thereof and appropriated to the payment OF the balance due
said States and the future defence of the The
so paid into the said treasures to credited and
disbursements made aforesaid to be charged to the United
States
Resolved That it be and hereby is recommended to the
Legislatures of the aforesaid States pass laws (where has
not already been done) authorizing the Governors
manders-inchef of their militia TO make detachmens from
the same form voluntary corps, shall be most
venient and conomabe to their constitutions and to
the be well armed equipped and disciplined, and
held in readiness for services and upon the request Of the
Governor Of either Of the other Sates employ the whole Of
such detachment corps well the regular forces Of the
State, such part thereof may be required and can be
spared consistently with the safety of the State assisting
the State making such request epe any invasion thereof
which shall be made or attempted by the public enemy
Resolved, That the following amendments of the Con-
sution Of the United States be recommended to the States
represented aforesaid be proposed by them for adop
ton by the State Legislatures and in such cases may be
deemed expedent by Convention chosen by the people Of
each State. And is further recommended that the said
ments, until the same shall be effected
Here follow seven separate amendments which comprised
about the amount Of practical wisdom is to be found
in amendments proposed the Constitution of the United
States, generally in those proposed to the Constitutions
Of particular States ".~*
Resolced, That the application of these States to the
Government of the United States recommended in foregoing
resolution should be unsuccessful and peace should not be
concluded and the defence OF these States should be neglect
ed has been since the commencement Of the it
will the opinion Of this Convention, be expedent for the
Legislatures of the several States to appoint delegates to
another Convention, at Boston, in the State of Mas
sachusets the third Thursday Of June next with such
powers and instructions the exgency Of crisis momen
tous may require.
Resolved That the Hon. George Cabot the Hon. Chaun-
cey Goodrich and the Hon. Daniel LYMAN any two Of
them be authorized to call another meeting OF this Conven
ton be holden in Boston, any time before delegates
shall be chosen recommended in the above resolution, if
in their Judgment the situation Of the country shall urgently
| require It.
This is the history of the Hartford Convention
as it stands upon the public record; and, though
the sittings of the Convention were secret, these
proceedings were made public at the time. The
circumstance Of the secresy OF the sittings of this
Convention gave rise to suspicious that the Con-
vention had not published any more of its pro-
ceedings than suited its present purposes; and the
disgust to its proceedings South and West Of New
be concealed than to what was patent of the pur-
poses of the Convention. 1t was generally and
indeed almost universally, believed that it's real
object was to obstruct, by unconstitutional means,
the prosecution of the war; and people even went
SO far as to say that the Convention had con.em-
plated, if the war had continued, entering into an
alliance or treaty with Great Britain by which they
to separate the interests of New England from
those of the United States. We confess to having,
as Editors of this paper, been instrumental, al that
day believing them, in dffusing such imputations.
Time, however, the great revealer of all political
secrets, has long ago disclosed the error of those
impressions. The entire Journal of the Proceed
ings Of the Convention, which had been kept un-
der seal in the custody of its President, was FIVE
years afterwards placed by him in the Office of the
Secretary of State Of Massachusetts and publish
ed and it bore no trace of any such propositions.
On the occasion, moreover, of trial for libel in
Fairfield County (ConnecticuD in 1891, was brought
10 the wtness-stand, upon subpoena by the defend
ant ROGER M. SHERMAN, who was one of the mem
bers of that Convention-one of the purest and
most single-hearted of men--who gave in open
court the following (among other) testimony con-
cerning the Hartford Convention, which perhaps
our readers may not have seen, though it was
published many years ago:
"QuEsrIoS THE PR1sosEn.-Was it not an object Of
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