Union meeting in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, Dec. 13.
--The grand Union meeting called by the Mayor, assembled to-day in Independence Square.
Bishop Potter, of Pa., opened the proceedings with prayer.
Mayor Henry presided, assisted by a large number of Vice Presidents and Secretaries, including some of the most wealthy and influential citizens.
Resolutions were read and adopted proclaiming attachment to, and reverence for, the Constitution, and an earnest and enduring love for the Union--a love not sectional, but national; deeply deploring the fact that some of the States have placed upon their statute books enactments leading to the defeat of the provisions of the Constitution, and pronouncing such acts a violation of the solemn compact; appealing for the repeal of the same, and pledging that the statute books of Pennsylvania shall be carefully searched, and every statute, if there are any such, evading the constitutional rights of sister States, be at once repealed; recognizing the obligations of the Fugitive Slave Law, and recommending the passage of State laws for compensating owners in cases where the slave shall be rescued from him; submitting obediently to the decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court as to the right of slave owners in the Territories, and recommending that the disputed question be forth with submitted to said Court; approving the suggestion of a Convention of delegates from the States contemplating secession, to suggest a remedy, with a firm conviction that the propositions of such a Convention will be received by the other States in a fraternal and conciliatory spirit; and appealing to our brethren in the States contemplating secession to forbear, reminding them of the innumerable ties which bind us together as one people.
One of the resolutions condemns the denunciation of slavery as it exists in the United States.
The city to-day was gay with flags, and one of them flying from one of the hotels bore the motto, "concession before secession."
The meeting was immense, and might be numbered by tens of thousands.
Mayor Henry, in his remarks, said we must restore harmony to the public sentiment, go back to the better days of the Republic, frown down misplaced appeals of the pulpit and press, and preserve the Union at all hazards. 