I am, truly, yours, W. T. SHERMAN, General. WASHINGTON, D. C., April 11, 1869.

*President Grant's Proclamation for the Election in Mississippi, issued July 13, 1869. In pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress approved April 10. 1869, I hereby designate Tuesday, the 30th day of November, as the time for submitting the constitution adopted on the 15th day of May, 1868, by the convention which met in Jackson, Mississippi, to the voters of said State registered at the date of such submission, viz, November 30, 1869. And I submit to a separate vote that part of section 3 of article VII of said constitution, which is in the following words:

the following words: "That I have never, as a member of any convention, voted for or signed any ordinance of secession; that I have never, as a member of any State legislature, voted for the call of any convention that passed any such ordinance.' The above oath shall also be taken by all the city and county officers before entering upon their duties, and by all other State officers not included in the above provision."

I direct the vote to be taken upon each of the above cited provisions alone, and upon the other portions of the said constitution in the following manner, viz:

Each voter favoring the ratification of the constitution, (excluding the provisions above quoted,) as adopted by the convention of May 15, 1868, shall express his judgment by voting

FOR THE CONSTITUTION.

Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution, (excluding the provisions above quoted,) shall express his judgment by voting

construction acts of the said 39th and 40th Congresses, (and the legislature of this State shall concur therein,) then so much of this oath, and so much only, as refers to the said reconstruction acts, shall not be required of such person so pardoned to entitle him to be registered. ' And I further submit to a separate vote section 5 of the same article of said constitution, which is in the following words: "No person shall be eligible to any office of profit or trust, civil or military, in this State, who, as a member of the legislature, voted for the call of the convention that passed the ordinance of secession, or who, as a delegate to any convention, voted for or signed any ordinance of secession, or who gave voluntary aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility to the United States, or who accepted or attempted to exercise the functions of any office, civil or military, under any authority or pretended government, authority, power, or constitution, within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto, except all persons who aided reconstruction by voting for this convention, or who have continuously advocated the assembling of this convention, and shall continuously and in good faith advocate the acts of the same; but the legislature may remove such disability: Provided, That nothing in this section, except voting for or signing the ordinance of secession, shall be so construed as to exclude from office the private soldier of the late so-called Confederate States army."

And I further submit to a separate vote section 5 of article XII of the said constitution, which is in the following words: "The credit of the State shall not be pledged or loaned in aid of any person, association, or corporation; nor shall the State hereafter become a stockholder in any corporation or association."

And I further submit to a separate vote part of the oath of office prescribed in section 26 of

Received too late for insertion in proper place with other proclamations.

AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION.

Each voter will be allowed to cast a separate for or against either or both of the provisions above quoted.

It is understood that sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, of article XIII, under the head of "Ordinance," are considered as forming no part of the said constitution.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington this thirteenth
day of July, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine, and of the independence of the
United States of America the ninety-
fourth.
U. S. GRANT.
By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,
Secretary of State.

"President Grant's Proclamation for the Election in Texas, issued July 15, 1869.

In pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress approved April 10, 1869, I hereby designate Tuesday, the 30th day of November, 1869, as the time for submitting the constitution adopted by the convention which met in Austin, Texas, on the 15th day of June, to the voters of said State, registered at the date of such submission, viz:

I direct the vote to be taken upon the said constitution in the following manner, viz:

Each voter favoring the ratification of the constitution, as adopted by the convention of the 15th of June, 1868, shall express his judgment by voting

FOR THE CONSTITUTION.

Each voter favoring the rejection of the constitution shall express his judgment by voting

AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION.

In testimony 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 fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty

Virginia-John W. Johnston, John F. Lewis. North Carolina-John C. Abbott, John Pool.

Qualified October 18, 1869, in place of John A. Rawlins, deceased September 6, 1869.

+ Qualified July 8, 1870, in place of E. R. Hoar, resigned. Qualified December 6, 1869, in place of William Pitt Fessenden, deceased.

? Mr. Lewis qualified January 27, 1870; Mr. Johnston, January 28.

South Carolina-Thomas J. Robertson, Frederick
A. Sawyer.

Georgia.-Not represented.
Alabama-Willard Warner, George E. Spencer.
Mississippi*-Hiram R. Revels, Adelbert Ames.
Louisiana-John S. Harris, William P. Kellogg.
Ohio-John Sherman, Allen G. Thurman.
Kentucky-Thomas C. McCreery, Garrett Davis.
Tennessee-Joseph S. Fowler, William G. Brown-
low.

Indiana-Oliver P. Morton, Daniel D. Pratt.
Illinois-Richard Yates, Lyman Trumbull.
Missouri-Charles D. Drake, Carl Schurz.
Arkansas-Alexander McDonald, Benjamin F.

Rice.

Michigan-Jacob M. Howard, Zachariah Chand

ler.

Florida-Thomas W. Osborn, Abijah Gilbert. Texas-Morgan C. Hamilton, James W. FlanaIowa-James B. Howell, James Harlan. gan. Wisconsin-Timothy O. Howe, Matthew H. Carpenter.

California-Cornelius Cole, Eugene Casserly. Minnesota-Daniel S. Norton, Alex'r Ramsey. Oregon-George H. Williams, Henry W. Corbett. Kansas-Edmund G. Ross, Samuel C. Pomeroy. West Virginia-Waitman T. Willey, Arthur I.

Boreman.

Nevada-James W. Nye, William M. Stewart. Nebraska-John M. Thayer, Thomas W. Tipton.

House of Representatives. JAMES G. BLAINE, of Maine, Speaker. Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania, Clerk. Maine-John Lynch, Samuel P. Morrill, James G. Blaine, John A. Peters, Eugene Hale. New Hampshire-Jacob H. Ela, Aaron F. Stevens, Jacob Benton.

Vermont-Charles W. Willard, Luke P. Poland, Worthington C. Smith.

Massachusetts-James Buffinton, Oakes Ames,

Mr. Revels qualified February 25, 1870; Mr. Ames, April 1, 1870.

Qualified March 31, 1870.

Qualified January 26, 1870, in place of James W Grimes, resigned.

Died July 14, 1870.

Ginery Twichell, Samuel Hooper, Benjamin F. Butler, Nathaniel P. Banks, George M. Brooks,* George F. Hoar, William B. Washburn, Henry L. Dawes.

Rhode Island-Thomas A. Jenckes, Nathan F. Dixon.

Connecticut-Julius L. Strong, Stephen W. Kellogg, Henry H. Starkweather, William H. Barnum.†

New York-Henry A. Reeves, John G. Schumaker, Henry W. Slocum, John Fox, John Morrissey, Samuel S. Cox,† Hervey C. Calkin, James Brooks, Fernando Wood, Člarkson N. Potter, Charles H. Van Wyck, John H. Ketcham, John A. Griswold, Stephen L. Mayham, Adolphus H. Tanner, Orange Ferriss, William A. Wheeler, Stephen Sanford, Charles Knapp, Addison H. Laflin, Alexander H. Bailey, John C. Churchill, Dennis McCarthy, George W. Cowles, William H. Kelsey, Giles W. Hotchkiss, Hamilton Ward, Noah Davis, John Fisher, David S. Bennett, Porter Sheldon.

New Jersey-William Moore, Charles Haight, John T. Bird, John Hill, Orestes Cleveland. Pennsylvanial-Samuel J. Randall, Charles O'Neill, Leonard Myers, William D. Kelley, Caleb N. Taylor, John D. Stiles, Washington Townsend, J. Lawrence Getz, Oliver J. Dickey, Henry L. Cake, Daniel M. Van Auken, George W. Woodward, Ulysses Mercur, John B. Packer, Richard J. Haldeman, John Cessna, Daniel J. Morrell, William H. Armstrong, Glenni W. Scofield, Calvin W. Gilfillan, John Covode, James S. Negley, Darwin Phelps, Joseph B. Donley. Delaware-Benjamin T. Biggs.

Maryland-Samuel Hambleton, Stevenson Archer, Thomas Swann, Patrick Hamill, Frederick Stone.

Virginia-Richard S. Ayer, James H. Platt, jr.,
Charles H. Porter, George W. Booker, Robert
Ridgway, William Milnes, jr., Lewis McKen-
zie, James K. Gibson.

North Carolina-Clinton L. Cobb, (vacancy,)
Oliver H. Dockery, (vacancy,) Israel G. Lash,
Francis E. Shober, Alexander H. Jones.
South Carolina**—(Vacancy,) C. C. Bowen, Solo-
mon L. Hoge, Alexander S. Wallace.
Georgia-Not represented.

Alabamatt-Alfred E. Buck, Charles W. Buck-
ley, Robert S. Heflin, Charles Hays, Peter M.
Dox, William C. Sherrod.
Mississippi-George E. Harris, J. L. Morphis,

* Qualified December 6, 1869, in place of George S. Boutwell. resigned.

Qualified December 6, 1869. Qualified February 17, 1870, in place of George W. Greene, unseated February 16-yeas 120, nays 59.

Mr. Covode qualified February 9, 1870. Mr. Taylor, April 13, 1870, in place of John R. Reading, unseatedveas 112, nays 46.

Messrs. Platt, Ridgway, Milnes, and Porter qualified January 27, 1870; Mr. Gibson, January 28; Messrs. Ayer and McKenzie, January 31; Mr. Booker, February 1.

John T. Deweese resigned February 28, 1870. Mr. Shober qualified April 13, 1870. David Heaton died June 25, 1870.

**B. F. Whittemore resigned February 24, 1870; reelected, and, June 21, refused admittance by a vote of 130 to 24. Mr. Wallace qualified May 27, 1870.

Messrs. Buck and Buckley qualified December 6, 1869. Messrs. Dox, Hays, Sherrod, and Heflin, December 7.

Messrs. Harris, Morphis, McKee, and Perce, qualified February 23, 1870. Mr. Barry, April 8.

Henry W. Barry, George C. McKee, Legrand W. Perce.

Louisiana * (Vacancy,) Lionel A. Sheldon, C. B. Darrall, Joseph P. Newsham (vacancy.) Ohio-Peter W. Strader, Job E. Stevenson, Robert C. Schenck, William Lawrence, William Mungen, John A. Smith, James J. Winans, John Beatty, Edward F. Dickinson, Erasmus D. Peck, John T. Wilson, Philadelph Van Trump, George W. Morgan, Martin Welker, Eliakim H. Moore, John A. Bingham, Jaceb A. Ambler, William H. Upson, James A. Garfield.

Kentucky-Lawrence S. Trimble, William N. Sweeney Joseph H. Lewis, J. Proctor Knott, Boyd Winchester, Thomas L. Jones, James B. Beck, George M. Adams, John M. Rice. Tennessee-Roderick R. Butler, Horace Maynard, William B. Stokes, Lewis Tillman, William F. Prosser, Samuel M. Arnell, Isaac R. Hawkins, William J. Smith.

Indiana-William E. Niblack, Michael C. Kerr, William S. Holman, George W. Julian, John Coburn, Daniel W. Voorhees, Godlove S. Orth, James N. Tyner, John P. C. Shanks, William Williams, Jasper Packard.

Illinois-Norman B. Judd, John F. Farnsworth, Horatio C. Burchard, John B. Hawley, Ebon C. Ingersoll, Burton C. Cook, Jesse H. Mcore, Shelby M. Cullom, Thompson W. M:Neely, Albert G. Burr, Samuel S. Marshall, John B. Hay, John M. Crebs, John A. Logar. Missouri-Erastus Wells, Gustavus A. Finkelaburg, James R. McCormick, Sempronius H. Boyd, Samuel S. Burdett, Robert T. Van Horn, Joel F. Asper, John F. Benjamin, David F. Dyer.

Arkansas-Logan H. Roots, Anthony A. C. Rəgers, Thomas Boles.

Michigan-Fernando C. Beaman, William L.
Stoughton, Austin Blair, Thomas W. Ferry,
Omar D. Conger, Randolph Strickland.
Florida-Charles M. Hamilton.
Texas-G. W. Whitmore, John C. Conner, W.
T. Clark, Edward Degener.
Iowa-George W. McCrary, William Smyth,
William B. Allison, William Loughridge,
Frank W. Palmer, Charles Pomeroy.
Wisconsin-Halbert E. Paine, David Atwood,¶
Amasa Cobb, Charles A. Eldridge, Philetas
Sawyer, Cadwalader C. Washburn.

California Samuel B. Axtell, Aaron A. Sargent,
James A. Johnson.

Minnesota-Morton S. Wilkinson, Eugene M.
Wilson.

Oregon-Joseph S. Smith.
Kansas-Sidney Clarke.

West Virginia-Isaac H. Duval, James C. Me-
Grew, John S. Witcher.
Nevada-Thomas Fitch.
Nebraska-John Taffe.

• Mr. Newsham admitted May 21, 1870-yeas 79, nays 71; qualified May 23. Mr. Darrall admitted July 6, 1870-yeas 96, nays 77; qualified same day.

+Qualified April 23, 1870, in place of Truman H. Hoag, deceased.

Mr. Golladay resigned February 28, 1870. Mr. Lewis qualified as his successor May 10, 1870. Qualified December 6, 1869, in place of E B. Washburne, resigned.

Qualified March 31, 1870.

Qualified February 23, 1870, in place of Benjamin F. Hopkins, deceased.

The questions before us upon this appeal are these:

(1.) Can a contract for the payment of Confederate notes, made during the late rebellion, between parties residing within the so-called Confederate States, be enforced at all in the courts of the United States?

tion. It was the actual government of all the insurgent States, except those portions of them protected from its control by the presence of the armed forces of the national Government.

What was the precise character of this government in contemplation of law?

It is difficult to define it with exactness. Any definition that may be given may not improbably be found to require limitation and qualification. But the general principles of law relating to de facto government will, we think, conduct us to a conclusion sufficiently accurate.

There are several degrees of what is called de facto government.

Such a government, in its highest degree, assumes a character very closely resembling that of a lawful government. This is when the usurp

Confederate notes?

The first question is by no means free from difficulty. It cannot be questioned that the Con

federate notes were issued in furtherance of an unlawful attempt to overthrow the Government of the United States by insurrectionary force. Nor is it a doubtful principle of law that no contracts made in aid of such an attempt can be enforced through the courts of the country whose government is thus assailed. But was the contract of the parties to this suit a contract of that character? Can it be fairly described as a contract in aid of the rebellion?

In examining this question, the state of that part of the country in which it was made must be considered. It is familiar history, that early in 1861 the authorities of seven States, supported, as was alleged, by popular majorities, combined for the overthrow of the national Union, and for the establishment within its boundaries of a separate and independent confederation. A governmental organization, representing these States, was established at Montgomery, in Alabama, first under a provisional constitution and after wards under a constitution intended to be permanent. In the course of a few months four other States acceded to this confederation, and the seat of the central authority was transferred to Richmond, in Virginia. It was by the central authority thus organized, and under its direction, that civil war was carried on upon a vast scale against the Government of the United States for more than four years. Its power was recognized as supreme in nearly the whole of the territory of the States confederated in insurrec

establishes itself in their place, and so becomes from their customary seats and functions, and the actual government of a country. The distinguishing characteristic of such a government is, that adherents to it in war against the government de jure do not incur the penalties of treason, and, under certain limitations, obligations assumed by it in behalf of the country, or otherwise, will, in general, be respected by the government de jure when restored."

de facto are found in English history. The statExamples of this description of government for treason all persons who, in defense of the king, ute 11 Henry VII, c. 1, relieves from penalties for the time being, wage war against those who endeavor to subvert his authority by force of ful monarch. But this is where the usurper arms, though warranted in so doing by the lawobtains actual possession of the royal authority of the kingdom, not when he has succeeded only ties. Being in possession, allegiance is due to in establishing his power over particular localihim as king de facto.

It

Another example may be found in the govfirst by Parliament, and afterwards by Cromwell ernment of England under the Commonwealth, as protector. It was not, in the contemplation of law, a government de jure, but it was a gov. ernment de facto in the most absolute sense. remained the obligations and conquests of Engincurred obligations and made conquests which land after the restoration. The better opinion doubtless is, that acts done in obedience to this sonable, though in hostility to the king de jure. government could not be justly regarded as treation by the spirit, if not by the letter, of the Such acts were protected from criminal prosecustatute of Henry VII. It was held otherwise by the judges by whom Sir Henry Vane was

*2 British Stats. at Large, 82. †4 Commentaries, 77