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allegiance under penalty of the forfeitures and seizures provided by an Act "to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved on the seventeenth of July, 1862.

A DRAFT FOR THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN ORDERED.

On the fourth of August, 1862, the following order for a draft was issued:

"ORDERED: First, that a draft of three hundred thousand militia be immediately called into the service of the United States, to serve for nine months, unless sooner discharged. The Secre tary of War will assign the quotas to the States and establish regulations for the draft.

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Second, that if any State shall not, by the fifteenth of August, furnish its quota of the additional three hundred thousand volunteers authorized by law, the deficiency of volunteers in that State will also be made up by a special draft from the militia. The Secretary of War will establish regulations for this purpose.

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Third, regulations will be prepared by the War Department, und presented to the President, with the object of securing the promotion of officers of the army and volunteers for meritorious and distinguished services, and of preventing the nomination and appointment in the military service of incompetent or unworthy officers.

"The regulations will also provide for ridding the service of such incompetent persons as now hold commissions. "By order of the President.

"EDWIN M. STANTON,
"Secretary of War.'

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT A WAR

MEETING.

On the sixth of August, 1862, a large and enthusiastic Union meeting was held in Washington, at which a series of patriotic resolutions was adopted, and numerous eloquent speeches delivered, among others the following characteristic one by the Chief Magistrate of the nation:

"Fellow-citizens: I believe there is no precedent for my appearing before you on this occasion, [applause,] but it is also

true that there is no precedent for your being here yourselves, [applause and laughter,] and I offer, in justification of myself and of you, that, upon examination, I have found nothing in the Constitution against it. [Renewed applause.] I, however, have an impression that there are younger gentlemen who will entertain you better, [voices-No, no! none can do better than yourself. Go on !' and butter address your understanding than I will or could, and therefo e I propose but to detain you a moment longer. Cries-Gou! Tar and feather the rebels !'] "I am very little inclined on any occasion to say any thing unless I hope to produce some good by it. [A voice-' You do that; go on. The only thing I think of just now not likely to be better said by some one else is a matter in which we have heard some other persons blamed for what I did myself. [Voices What is it?'] There has been a very wide-spread attempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan and the Secretary of War. Now, I occupy a position that enables me to observe, at least these two gentlemen are not nearly so deep in the quarrel as some pretending to be their friends. [Cries of 'Good.] General McClellan's attitude is such that, in the very selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be successful, and I hope ne will-and the Secretary of War is in precisely the same situation. If the military commanders in the field cannot be successful, not only the Secretary of War, but myself, for the time being the master of them both, cannot be but failures. [Laughter and applause.] I know General McClellan wishes to be successful, and I know he does not wish it any more than the Secretary of War for him, and both of them together no more than I wish it. [Applause and cries of Good.'] Sometimes we have a dispute about how many men General McClellan has had, and those who would disparage him say that he has had a very large number, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War insist that General McClellan has had a very small number. The basis for this is, there is always a wide difference, and on this occasion perhaps a wider one, between the grand total on McClellan's rolls and the men actually fit for duty; and those who would disparage him talk of the grand total on paper, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War talk of those at present fit for duty. General McClellan has sometimes asked for things that the Secretary of War did not give him. General McClellan is not to blame for asking what he wanted and needed, and the Secretary of War is not to blame for not giving when he had none to give. [Applause, laughter, and cries of "Good, good.'] And I say here, as far as I know, the Secretary of War has withheld no one thing at any time in my power to give him. [Wild applause, and a voice-Give him enough now!] I have no accusation against him. I believe he is a brave and able man, [applause,] and I stand here, as justice requires me to do, to take upon myself what has been charged on the Secretary of War, as withholding from him.

"I have talked longer than I expected to, [cries of 'No, nogo on,'] and now I avail myself of my privilege of saying no more."

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS OF SEPTEMBER, 1862, AND JANUARY, 1863.

On the twenty-second of September, 1862, Mr. Lincoln issued one of the two most important proclamations ever penned by a President of the United States: that which innounced to the negroes held as slaves in the rebellious States that on and after the first day of the new year, they should be forever released from bondage. This great docu ment, which was read with joy by the loyal residents of the North, and which was a source of such infinite happiness to the unfortunate class of beings who were to be more particularly affected by its provisions, was as follows:

"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter as heretofore the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and the people thereof in those States in which that relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed; that it is my purpose upon the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the slave States, so-called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, the immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits, and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon the continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the government existing there, will be continued; 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 any 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 have not been in rebellion against the United States.

"That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled, 'An act to make an additional article of war,' approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be observed and obeyed as such.

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"Article All officers or persons of the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article, shall be dismissed from the service.

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'Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.'

Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled, 'An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes,' approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following:

"Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found on (or being within) any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the 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 of the States, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against.

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