Orleans Independent Standard

The following is what all loyal hearts can readily and cheerfully acquiesce in. It is a declaration of principles, by far the most remarkable uttered by any deliberative body, since the publishing of the Declaration of Independence.

How tame, do the proceedings of the Johnson Doolittle affair appear, when compared with those of the Southern Loyalists. The following remarkable declaration of principles, which we regard an indication of something more than the ordinary resolves of political conventions, with the President's late pilgrimage through the land, would ordinarily have a tendency to make humble men, somewhat thoughtful of their political situation, and without doubt it will have such an effect upon Mr. Johnson.

Read the following and judge the temper of Southern men, who have been tried in the fire of secession.

Resolved, That the loyal people of the South cordially unite with the loyal people of the North in thanksgiving to Almighty God, through whose will a rebellion unparalleled for causelessness, its cruelty and its criminality, has been overruled to the vindication of the supremacy of the Federal Constitution over every state and territory of the Republic.

Resolved, That we demand now, as we have demanded at all times since the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of the states in which we live to their old relations with the Union, on the simplest and fairest conditions consistent with the protection of our lives, property and political rights, now in jeopardy from the unquenched enmity of rebels lately in arms.

Resolved, That the unhappy policy of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, is, in its effects upon the loyal people of the South, unjust, oppressive and intolerable, and, accordingly, however ardently we desire to see our respective states once more represented in the Congress of the nation we would deplore their restoration on the inadequate conditions had by the President, as tending not to abate but to magnify the perils and sorrows of our condition.

Resolved, That the welcome we have received from the loyal citizens of Philadelphia, under the roof of the time-honored hall in which the Declaration of Independence was adopted inspires us with an animating hope that the principles of just and equal government which were made the foundation of the Republic at its origin shall become the corner-stone of the Constitution.

Resolved, That, with pride in the patriotism of the Congress, with gratitude for the fearless and persistent support they have given to the cause of loyalty, and their efforts to restore all the states to their former condition as states in the American Union, we will stand by the positions taken by them, and use all means consistent with a peaceful and lawful course to secure the ratifications of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States as proposed by Congress at its recent session, and regret that the Congress in its wisdom did not provide by law for the greater security of the loyal people in the states not yet admitted to representation.

Resolved, That the political power of the Government of the United States Government, and the rights of the people of such states, are political questions, and are therefore clearly within the control of Congress, to the exclusion of and independent of any and every other department of the Government.

Resolved, That there is no right, political, legal or constitutional, in any state to secede or withdraw from the Union but they may by wicked and unauthorized revolution and force sever the relations which they have sustained to the Union, and when they do, they assume the attitude of public enemies at war with the United States; they subject themselves to all the rules and principles of international law, and the laws of war applicable to belligerents according to modern usage.

Resolved, That we are unalterably in favor of the union of states, and earnestly desire the legal and speedy restoration of all states to their proper places in the Union, and the establishment in each of them of influences of patriotism and justice, by which the whole nation shall be combined to carry forward triumphantly the principles of freedom and progress until all men of all races shall everywhere beneath the flag of our country have accorded to them freely all their virtues, industry, intelligence and energy may entitle them to attain.

Resolved, That the organization in the unrepresented states assuming to be state governments, not having been legally established, and not legitimate governments until recognized by Congress.

Resolved, That we cherish with tender hearts the memories of the virtues, patriotism, sublime faith, upright christian life and generous nature of the martyr President, Abraham Lincoln.

Resolved, That we are in favor of universal liberty the world over, and feel the deepest sympathy with the oppressed people of all countries in their struggle for freedom and the inherent right of all men to decide and control for themselves the character of the government under which they live.

Resolved, That the lasting gratitude of the nation is due to men who bore the battle, and in covering themselves with imperishable glory, have saved to the world its hope of free government, and relying on the "invincible soldiers and sailors" who made the grand army and navy of the Republic to be true to the principles for which they fought, we pledge them that we will stand by them in maintaining the honor due the soldiers of the nation, and in securing the fruits of their victories.

Resolved, That remembering with profound gratitude and love the precepts of Washington, we should accustom ourselves to consider the Union as the primary object of patriotic desires, which has heretofore sustained us with great power in our love of the Union. When so many of our neighbors in the South were waging war for its destruction, our deep and abiding love for the memory of the father of his countrymen and for the Union was more deeply engraven upon our hearts than ever.