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cupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves.

"SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any state, territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other state, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offense against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service.'

"And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections above recited.

"And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective states and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the city of Washington, this tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of [L. S.] the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

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'By the President:

"WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

In the cabinet meeting held previous to the issue of the proclamation, Mr. Lincoln had concluded the reading of the third paragraph, when Mr. Seward interrupted him by saying: "Mr. President, I think that you should insert after the word, 'recognize,' the words, and maintain." The President replied that he had fully considered the import of the expression, and that it was not his way to promise more than he was sure he could perform; and he was not prepared to

say that he thought he was able to "maintain" this. Mr. Seward insisted that the ground should be taken, and the words finally went in.

The proclamation was received with profound interest by the whole country. The radical anti-slavery men were delighted, conservative politicians shrugged their shoulders doubtfully, and the lovers of the peculiar institution gnashed their teeth. It is very doubtful whether it affected the fall elections so much adversely to Mr. Lincoln, as the fact that he was ignorantly or maliciously held responsible for the blunders of McClellan's campaign. If it affected them at all unfavorably, its influence in that direction soon ceased; and the proclamation became his tower of strength in the sight of his own people and the peoples of the world.

Two days after the issue of the proclamation, a large body of men asssembled before the White House with music, and called for the President. He appeared, and addressed to them a few words of thanks for their courtesy, and, in alluding to the proclamation, said: "What I did, I did after a very full deliberation, and under a heavy and solemn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I have made no mistake." After two years of experience he was enabled to say: "As affairs have turned, it is the central act of my administration, and the great event of the nineteenth century.'

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It will be remembered that General McClellan had warned Mr. Lincoln against the effect of a general policy of emancipation upon his army. He thought that such a policy would cause its disintegration. It certainly became a theme of angry discussion;—so much so that, on the seventh of October, the General felt called upon to issue an order reminding officers and soldiers of their relations and their duties to the civil authorities. It was an admirable order, and evidently well intended. "Discussion by officers and soldiers concerning public measures, determined upon and declared by the government," said he, "when carried beyond the ordinary temperate and respectful expression of opinion, tends greatly to impair and destroy the discipline and efficiency of the troops, by

substituting the spirit of political faction, for the firm, steady, and earnest support of the authority of the government, which is the highest duty of the American soldier." If there was any fault to be found with the order, it was connected with the time of its promulgation. It was issued the day af ter Mr. Lincoln left the army, which, it will be remembered, he visited while it rested from the battle of Antietam. General McClellan had learned something during that visit. He had learned that, notwithstanding Mr. Lincoln's proclamation, he was held in strong and enthusiastic affection by the army. For nearly a week, he mingled with the weary officers and soldiers, meeting the heartiest reception everywhere. A general officer who was with the President on the trip, said: "I watched closely to see if, in any division, or regiment, I could find symptoms of dissatisfaction, or could hear an allusion to the proclamation. I found none. I heard only words of praise."

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It was undoubtedly the aim of traitors outside of the army, and of their sympathizers within, to alienate the army from the President and the government; but they failed. One Major Key came down from the army to Washington, with the story that our Generals did not push the advantages they had won, because it was not considered desirable to crush the rebellion at once, if, indeed, at all; but so to manage affairs as to secure a compromise as the result of a prolonged war. It is quite probable that he had heard this talk among the leading officers, as he declared he had. One thing was evident—that he agreed with their policy; and, telling Mr. Lincoln plainly so to his face, he was at once removed from the service. The example served an excellent purpose; and, with McClellan's order, and the effect of Mr. Lincoln's personal visit, brought the disloyal and factious elements of the army into their proper relations to the government and its policy.

On the 1st of January, 1863, the final proclamation of emancipation was issued, and the great act was complete. It was as follows:

"Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation

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was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the states and parts of states, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any state or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such state shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.'

"Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate, as the states and parts of states wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:

“Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemine, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Marie, St. Martin and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the fortyeight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkely, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

“And, by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated

States and parts of States, are, and henceforward shal pe free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

"And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to them, that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reason

able wages.

"And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

“And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of [L.S.] the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"By the President:

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

A single paragraph in this proclamation was written by Secretary Chase. He had himself prepared a proclamation, which embodied his views, and had submitted it to Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln selected from it this sentence: "And upon this act, believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution [upon military necessity,] I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God;" and adopted it, interpolating only the words between brackets. It is an illustration of Mr. Lincoln's freedom from: vanity, first that he adopted the words at all, notwithstanding their dignity and beauty; and, second, that he freely told. of the circumstance, so that it found publicity through his. own revelations.

On the twenty-fourth of September, two days after the issue of the preliminary proclamation, Mr. Lincoln gave utterance to a proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Proceeding from the fact that the ordinary processes

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