governing. They have made themselves so from inherent vigor and in obedience to an absolute necessity. Is it possible for European states to plunge them again into a colonial state and hold them there? Would it be desirable for them and for Europe, if it were possible? The balance of power among the nations of Europe is maintained not without numerous strong armies and frequent conflicts, while the sphere of political ambition there is bounded by the ocean which surrounds that continent. Would it be possible to maintain it at all if this vast continent, with all its populations, their resources, and their forces, should once again be brought within that sphere? If we, who rightfully dwell on this continent, with all the inducements to peace, harmony, and good order which so fortunate a position creates, cannot remain at peace among ourselves, even when free from foreign interference, does Europe expect that we will be reduced and kept in the harmony which her interests require when the jealousies and ambitions of all Europe are engrafted upon the stock of our native dissensions? Again: Spain undertook to plant and establish here a system of Indian slavery, with what success I need not answer. Portugal, Spain, and Great Britain, with more labor, wealth, and consummate skill, undertook to establish African slavery. It has perished from the whole continent except Brazil and the United States. Now, when the social system of the United States is convulsed with the agony of slavery here, is it desirable that slavery should be revived and perpetuated, and the Republic perish for refusing it unbounded expansion and duration? Is it wise for Europe to attempt to rescue slavery? Is it possible, if the attempt shall be made? On the contrary of all these suppositions, is it not manifest that these American nations were called into existence to be the home of freemen; that the states of Europe have been trusted by Providence with their tutelage, but that tutelage and all its responsibilities and powers are necessarily withdrawn to the relief and benefit of the parties and of mankind when these parties become able to choose their own system of government and to make and administer their own laws? If they err in this choice, or in the conduct of their affairs, it will be found wise to leave them, like all other states, the privilege and responsibility of detecting and correcting the error by which they are, of course, the principal sufferers.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Cameron.

August 13, 1862. The information you have given us concerning the antagonism to our cause and our institutions which you have discerned in Europe is confirmed by despatches and reports from nearly all our representatives abroad. We therefore accept it as a fact belonging to our case. But I trust that you as well as all our representatives abroad, are fully prepared, without special instructions, to meet and oppose it as circumstances require. So far as the hostility you have described results from a dislike of our republican institutions, I need only say that those institutions have been adopted by our choice for ourselves, not for any other nation or people. They are forced or thrust on no other people. If they are not perfectly adapted to the condition of society which exists here, they will perish without foreign intervention; if they are so adapted, they will not fall before any combination that may array itself against them. So far as that hostility grows out of commercial and maritime losses which European nations suffer in consequence of the war, I trust that you find no difficulty in showing them, first, that the civil war has resulted from no act, choice, or policy of the overnment, but from an unnecessary, unprincipled, and wanton rebellion; that to resist and suppress that insurrection is a necessity for the government, while that resistance becomes a duty in the interest of government everywhere, and even in the interest of society itself. If the causes of the war, or the probable results of it, are debated, I am sure that you will have no difficulty in defending the rights of man against the aggravation and perpetuation of human slavery. To all complaints against this as a protracted war, you can answer, first, that it is those European nations which make the complaint which have protracted the war by conceding belligerent rights to the insurgents, and by exhibitions of sympathy with them, encouraging them to expect recognition, aid or sympathy; and, secondly, that Europe can have the war end just so soon as the ruling classes on that continent shall be content to endure the existence of the United States hereafter, as heretofore, one united, sovereign, inoffensive people.

We certainly have all the desire to avoid controversies or contests with foreign powers which a constitutional predisposition towards peace, and a generous spirit of beneficent enterprise inspire, to say

nothing of the anxiety which, in view of our disturbed condition, alarms of foreign intervention must necessarily awaken. Under the influence of these and other motives, with which you are so well acquainted that I need not specially refer to them, we are doing all that lies in our power to prosecute the war with the vigor you so sagaciously recommend, and to win the victories you justly deem so important for foreign effect. I trust that under the energetic administration of our new commanding general1 these results will be attained. But after all I cannot forget, in a crisis like this, that there is a power higher than any human government that regulates the course of affairs as well in war as in peace, and that gives and withholds victories at His pleasure, while He tries the virtue of nations. I should not despair, therefore, if our present expectations, which seem to me so reliable, should be disappointed. If, in consequence of that disappointment, we are destined, as you seem to imagine, to a contest with foreign powers, I trust that even in that extreme case we shall be found not altogether unprepared for the issue. When that issue comes to trial the mere politicians will sink. in Europe, and the people will arise. Politicians see only interests and ambition in the conduct of human affairs. On the contrary, every people always seek to know and to do just what is right. There is, as it seems to us, nothing new in the antagonism of European sentiment which you describe. The world sees the same feeling reveal itself anew whenever a nation or people blessed above other nations divides and delivers itself over to civil strife. Probably it is a divine and therefore a wise appointment. But foreign nations may be reminded that there seldom is a national division. which foreign intervention fails to heal, and a nation once healed by that severe remedy is stronger than ever before. Moreover, it is not every national impulse or any mere national prejudice, however strong, that wise governments will accept as a sufficient justification for war. I cannot believe that any European state will cross the ocean to make war with us without examining the grounds of offence, calculating the results, and counting the cost. Whenever any government does this, it will find powerful impulses affecting it in favor of peace and friendship with the United States.

1 General Halleck.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.

September 22, 1862. You will receive by the post which coneys this despatch evidences that the aggressive movement of the hsurgents against the loyal states is arrested, and that the renewed and reinvigorated forces of the Union are again prepared for a new and comprehensive campaign. If you consult the public journals. you will easily learn that the financial strength of the insurrection is rapidly declining, and that its ability to bring soldiers into the field has been already taxed to its utmost. You will perceive, on the other hand, that the fiscal condition of the country is sound, and that the response to the calls for new levies is being made promptly, without drawing seriously upon the physical strength of the people.

I have heretofore indicated to our representatives abroad the approach of a change in the organization of society in the insurrectionary states. That change continues to reveal itself more distinctly every day. In the judgment of the President the time has come for setting forth the great fact distinctly for the serious. consideration of the people in those states, and for giving them to understand that if they will persist in forcing upon the country a choice between the dissolution of this necessary and beneficent government or a relinquishment of the protection of slavery, it is the Union, and not slavery, that must be maintained and preserved. With this view the President has issued a proclamation in which he gives notice that slavery will be no longer recognized in any state which shall be found in armed rebellion on the first of January next. While good and wise men of all nations will confess that this is just and proper as a military proceeding for the relief of the country from a desolating and exhausting civil war, they will at the same time acknowledge the moderation and magnanimity with which the government proceeds in a transaction of such great solemnity and importance.

By the President of the United States of America.

A PROCLAMATION.

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 each of the states and the people thereof, in which states that relation is or may be suspected or disturbed.

That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all 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, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the governments 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 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, are not then 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 figure 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