OATH-TAKING.

A demonstration of "returning loyalty" of a more positive character is the
taking of the oaths of allegiance and amnesty prescribed by the general
government. At first the number of persons who availed themselves of the
opportunities offered for abjuring their adhesion to the cause of the
rebellion was not very large, but it increased considerably when the
obtaining of a pardon and the right of voting were made dependent upon
the previous performance of that act. Persons falling under any of the
exceptions of the amnesty proclamation made haste to avert the impending
danger; and politicians used every means of persuasion to induce people to
swell the number of voters by clearing themselves of all disabilities. The
great argument that this was necessary to the end of reconstructing their
State governments, and of regaining the control of their home affairs and
their influence in the Union, was copiously enlarged upon in the letters
and speeches of prominent individuals, which are before the country and
need no further comment. In some cases the taking of the oath was publicly
recommended in newspapers and addresses with sneering remarks, and I have
listened to many private conversations in which it was treated with
contempt and ridicule. While it was not generally looked upon in the
State I visited as a very serious matter, except as to the benefits and
privileges it confers, I have no doubt that a great many persons took it
fully conscious of the obligations it imposes, and honestly intending to
fulfil them.

The aggregate number of those who thus had qualified themselves for voting
previous to the election for the State conventions was not as large as
might have been expected. The vote obtained at these elections was
generally reported as very light--in some localities surprisingly so. It