Staunton Spectator

Whereas, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment and whereas, a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State government of several States have, for a long time, been subverted, and many persons have committed, and are guilty of treason against the United States; and whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by Congress declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions, and at such times, and on such conditions, as he may deem expedient for the public wellfare [sic]; and whereas, the Congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords with the well established judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and whereas, with reference to the said rebellion the President of the United States has issued several proclamations with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves; and whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to re-inaugurate loyal State governments within and for their respective States, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare and make known to all persons who have directly, or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property except as to slaves, and in property except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property except as to slaves, and in property cases where the rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward, keep and maintain said oath inviolate, and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:

I do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repeated, modified or held void by Congress or by the decision of the Supreme Court, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President, made during the existing rebellion, having rference [sic] to slaves, so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God.

The persons except from the benefits from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are or shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the socalled [sic] Confederate Government, all who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion, all who are or shall have been military or naval officers of said so called Confederate Government, above the rank of colonel in the army, of lieutenant in the navy; all who have left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion, all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States and afterwards aided the rebellion, and all who have engaged in any way in treating coloured persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen or in any other capacity. And I do further proclaim, declare and make known that whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, a number of persons not less than one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such States at the Presidential election of the year of our Lord 1863--each having taken the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the States existing immediately before the so called act of secession, and excluding all others--shall re-establish a State government, which shall be republican, and in nowise contraving said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government of the State, and the State shall receive there under the benefit of the constitutional provision which declares that "the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, on application of the Legislature, or of the Executive when the Legislature cannot be convened, and against domestic violence."

And I no further proclaim, declare and make known that any provision which may be adopted by such State government in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recognize and declared their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent as a temporary arrangement with their present condition as a laboring, landless and houseless class, will not be objected to by the national Executive. And it is engaged as not improper that, in constructing a loyal State, government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the sub divisions, the Constitution and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new State government.

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it relates to State governments, has no reference to State governments, has no reference to States wherein loyal State governments have all the while been maintained. And for the same reason it may be proper to further say that whether members sent to Congress from any State shall be admitted to seat constitutionally, rests exclusively with the respective house, and not to any extent with the Executive; and, still further, that this proclamation is intended to present to the people of the States wherein the national authority has been suspended, and loyal Sate [sic] governments have been subverted, a mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State governments may be re-establish within said States or in any of them; and, while the mode presented is the best the Excutive [sic] can suggest with his present impressions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode would be acceptable.

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the eighth day of December, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

We think it would be well if the citizens of Staunton would make some arrangement to have a series of Lectures delivered in this place, the proceeds to be appropriated for the benefit of the families of poor soldiers. We have no doubt that the services of able and eloquent Lecturers could be obtained, that the attendance would be good, and that the proceeds would amount during the Winter, to a very considerable sum, which, properly dispensed, would afford great relief to many deserving families. They might get Dr. Hoge to deliver the Lectures in this place which he is now delivering to crowded houses in Richmond for a similar object. The service of other Lecturers could be obtained, so that one or more lectures might be delivered each week during the Winter Season. Such lectures would afford innocent and instructive entertainment and would be well attended. Will not such an arrangement be made?

There is little doubt that the Congress will very soon pass a law conscripting all foreigners in the Confederacy. This ought to have been done long ago. It is a shame that these men should be permitted to enjoy all the privileges of the country, without bearing its full burdens. They have made fortunes out of the war, while the natives have fought the battles. This is manifestly wrong. Every one of this class should be made to select between leaving the country, or going into the army. The most of them will, of course, adopt the former alternative and leave us, but we cannot say that we either expect or desire them to do otherwise. They who are not willing to share with us the fortunes of the Confederacy should abandon the country.