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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 eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, [L. 8.] and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Whereas, by my proclamation of this date, the port of Key West, in the State of Florida, was inadvertently included among those which are not open to commerce,--Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known that the said port of Key West is and shall remain open to foreign and domestic commerce, upon the same conditions by which that commerce has heretofore been governed. 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 the eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of [L. s.] the independence of the United States of America the eighty ninth.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Whereas, for some time past, vessels of war of the United States have been refused in certain ports privileges and immunities to which they were entitled by treaty, public law, or the comity of nations, at the same time that vessels of war of the country wherein the said privileges and immunities have been withheld have enjoyed them fully and uninterruptedly in the ports of the United States, which condition of things has not always been forcibly resisted by the United States, although on the other hand they have not failed to protest against and declare their dissatisfaction with the same. In the view of the United States no condition any longer exists which can be claimed to justify the denial to them by any one of said nations of the customary naval rights such as has heretofore been so unnecessarily persisted in. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby make known that, if after a reasonable time shall have elapsed for the intelligence of this proclamation to have reached any foreign country in whose ports the said privileges and imraunities shall have been refused as aforesaid, they shall continue to be so refused as aforesaid, then and thenceforth the same privileges and immunities shall be refused to the vessels of war of the country in the ports of the United States, and this refusal shall continue until the war vessels of the United States shall have been placed upon an entire equality in the foreign ports aforesaid with similar vessels of other countries. The United States, whatever claim or pretence may have existed heretofore, are now

at least entitled to claim and concede an entire and friendly equality of rights and hospitalities with all maritime nations.

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 eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the independence of the United States of America the eightyninth.

[L. 8.]

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

A. LINCOLN.

Nor were these the only measures adopted which indicated that the war was over, the rebellion crushed, and the era of peace and good feeling about to be ushered in.

On the 13th, the Secretary of War announced that, "after mature consideration and consultation with the Lieutenant-General upon the results of the recent campaign," the Department determined upon the following measures, to be carried into immediate effect, viz. :

First.-To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States.

Second. To curtail purchases of arms, ammunition, quartermaster's and commissary's supplies, and reduce the expenses of the military establishment in its several branches.

Third.—To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the actual necessities of the service.

Fourth. To remove all military restrictions upon trade and commerce, so far as may be consistent with public safety.

This determination of the Government, announced in the newspapers of the 14th of April, afforded the country a substantial and most welcome assurance that the war was over. The heart of the nation beat high with gratitude to the illustrious Chief Magistrate, whose wisdom and patience had saved his country; but whose glory, not yet complete, was, before another sun should rise, destined to receive the seal of immortality.

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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1965, by DERBY & MILLER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States

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for the Southern District of New York.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN RICHMOND

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CHAPTER XXI.

THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION.

THE CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.-ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT.— MURDEROUS ASSAULT UPON SECRETARY SEWARD.-THE FUNERAL PROCESSION FROM WASHINGTON TO SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.-FATE OF THE ASSASSINS. ESTIMATE OF MR. LINCOLN'S CHARACTER.-CONCLUSION.

THE war was over. The great rebellion which, for four long years, had been assailing the nation's life, was quelled. Richmond, the rebel capital, was taken, Lee's army had surrendered, and the flag of the Union was floating, in reassured supremacy, over the whole of the National domain. Friday, the 14th of April, the anniversary of the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861, by Major Anderson to the rebel forces, had been designated by the Government as the day on which the same officer should again raise the American flag upon the fort, in presence of an assembled multitude, and with ceremonies befitting so auspicious an occasion. The whole land rejoiced at the return of peace and the prospect of renewed prosperity to the whole country. President Lincoln shared this common joy, but with a deep intensity of feeling which no other man in the whole land could ever know. He saw the full fruition of the great work which had rested so heavily on his hands and heart for four years past. He saw the great task-as momentous as had ever fallen to the lot of man-wh. h he had approached with such unfeigned diffidence, nea.ly at an end. The agonies of war had passed away-he haa won the imperishable renown which is the high reward of those who save their country, and he could devote himself now to the welcome task of healing the wounds which war had made, and consolidating, by a wise and mag

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