"We consider these acts a crime against the liberty of mankind"

Kentucky State Peace Convention.

   A State Peace Convention was held at Frankfort, Ky., on the 10th inst, in which over fifty counties were represented by a numerous delegation, embracing some of the first men in the State. The following resolutions, reported by a committee of which the Hon. Wm. Preston was chairman, were adopted by a unanimous vote.

   Whereas, We, the delegates of the people from all parts of the State,in popular Convention assembled, without distinction of past party organization, have met together at a period of profound interest and public danger, to consider the best means of preserving the peace of the Commonwealth, and securing our own rights and liberties unimpaired; therefore,

   Resolved, That every material interest of Kentucky, as well as the highest dictates of patriotism, demand that peace should be maintained within her borders, and this Convention solemnly pledges the honor of its members to do all in their power to promote this end.

   2. That it is the deliberate sense of this Convention, and it is believed of an overwhelming majority of the people of Kentucky, that the best and perhaps the only mode of effecting this great object, is by adhering strictly, rigidly, and impartially to her chosen and often declared position of neutrality, during the existence of the deplorable war now raging between the sections; taking sides neither with the Government nor with the seceding States, and declaring her soil must be preserved inviolate from the armed occupation of either....

...7. That we should not consider ourselves faithful sentinels of liberty, if we failed to raise our voice in unqualified condemnation of the open and flagrant violation of the Constitution of the United States by the President in arrogating to himself powers vested by that compact of union exclusively in Congress; by increasing the regular army and navy, and calling out volunteers for three years; by regulating at his own will and pleasure commerce between the States; by blockading ports without any declaration of war by Congress; by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the bulwark of American liberty; and exercising powers which neither he or Congress possesses; by authorizing his military commanders to proclaim martial law, to arrest persons arbitrarily without a legal warrant, to imprison whomsoever they please without their conviction of any crime, to deny them a speedy public trial, and to dismiss the police officers of cities, and appoint others in their place; by fettering the freedom of commerce of a State within its own bounds; by suppressing newspapers and prostituting the mail of the United States, by refusing them transportation, thus destroying the freedom of the press, by infringing the people's right to bear arms; and lastly, by making unreasonable searches and seizures. We consider these acts a crime against the liberty of mankind....

- Nashville Union and American, Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, September 14, 1861. Vol. XXVI. Number 140. Pg. 2.