Life of Abraham Lincoln, by J. G. Holland.

LIFE OF ABRAHAMI LINCOLN. 397
cupied 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 ftrther 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 said 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 and comfort thereto; and no person
engaged 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 and 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 tenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of
[L. S.] the Independence of the Uiited States the eighty-seventh.
"ABnRAHAM LINCOLN.
"By-the President:
WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."
In the cabinet meeting held previous to the issue of the
proclamation, Mr. Lincoln had concluded the reading of the
third paragraph, when Mr. Seward interrupted him by saying: "Mr. President, I think that you should insert after
the word,'recognize,' the words,'and maintain.'" The President replied that he had fully considered the import of the
expression, and that it was not his way to promise more than
he was sure he could perform; and he was not prepared to