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parts of states, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United State; 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 election 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.

The 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 obeyed and observed as such:

Article.-All officers or persons in 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.

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 16, 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

place occupied 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 such 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 or comfort thereto; and no person en

gaged 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 or 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 twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

SPEECH AT SERENADE IN HONOR OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, SEPTEMBER 24, 1862.

Fellow-citizens:-I appear before you to do little more than to acknowledge the courtesy you pay me,

and to thank you for it. I have not been distinctly informed why it is on this occasion you appear to do me this honor, though I suppose it is because of the proclamation. I was about to say, I suppose I understand it. What I did, I did after very full deliberation, and under a very heavy and solemn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I have made no mistake. I shall make no attempt on this oceasion to sustain what I have done or said by any comment. It is now for the country and the world to pass judgment upon it, and, may be, take action upon it. I will say no more upon this subject. In my position I am environed with difficulties. Yet they are scarcely so great as the difficulties of those who, upon the battle field, are endeavoring to purchase with their blood and their lives the future happiness and prosperity of the country. Let us never forget them. On the fourteenth and seventeenth days of the present month there have been battles bravely, skillfully, and successfully fought. We do not yet know the particulars. Let us be sure that in giving praise to particular individuals, we do no injustice to others. I only ask you at the conclusion of these few remarks to give three hearty cheers to all good and brave officers and men who fought these successful battles.

TO MAJOR JOHN J. KEY.

Executive Mansion, Washington, September 26, 1862. Sir-I am informed that in answer to the question, "Why was not the rebel army bagged immediately after the battle near Sharpsburg?" propounded

to you by Major Levi C. Turner, Judge Advocate, etc., you answered: "That is not the game. The object is, that neither army shall get much advantage of the other; that both shall be kept in the field till they are exhausted, when we will make a compromise and save slavery."

I shall be very happy if you will, within twentyfour hours from the receipt of this, prove to me by Major Turner that you did not, either literally or in substance, make the answer stated. Yours,

A. LINCOLN.

At about eleven o'clock A. M., September 27, 1862, Major Key and Major Turner appeared before me. Major Turner says, "As I remember it, the conversation was: I asked the question, why we did not bag them after the battle of Sharpsburg. Major Key's reply was, That was not the game: that we should tire the rebels out and ourselves; that that was the only way the Union could be preserved; we come together fraternally, and slavery be saved."

On cross-examination Major Turner says he has frequently heard Major Key converse in regard to the present, troubles, and never heard him utter a sentiment unfavorable to the maintenance of the Union. He has never uttered any thing which he, Major Turner, would call disloyalty. The particular conversation detailed was a private one.

INDORSED ON THE ABOVE.

A. LINCOLN.

In my view it is wholly inadmissible for any gentleman holding a military commission from the

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