Chapter XXXIII: Appendix (4)

“And I further proclaim that nothing in this proclamation shall
interfere with existing orders, or with those which may be issued
for the present draft in the States where it is now in progress or
where it has not yet been commenced.

“The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by the
War Department, through the Provost-Marshal General’s office, due
regard being had for the men heretofore furnished, whether by
volunteering or drafting, and the recruiting will be conducted in
accordance with such instructions as have been or may be issued by
that department.

“In issuing this proclamation I address myself not only to the
Governors of the several States, but also to the good and loyal
people thereof, invoking them to lend their cheerful, willing
and effective aid to the measures thus adopted, with a view to
reinforce our victorious armies now in the field and bring our
needful military operations to a prosperous end, thus closing
forever the fountains of sedition and civil war.

“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 seventeenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

* * * * *

REV. DR. M’PHEETERS--THE PRESIDENT’S REPLY TO AN APPEAL FOR INTERFERENCE.

“_Executive Mansion_, Washington, December 23, 1863.

“I have just looked over a petition signed by some three dozen
citizens of St. Louis, and their accompanying letters, one by
yourself, one by a Mr. Nathan Ranney, and one by a Mr. John D.
Coalter, the whole relating to the Rev. Dr. McPheeters. The
petition prays, in the name of justice and mercy, that I will
restore Dr. McPheeters to all his ecclesiastical rights.

“This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical rights are
withdrawn. Your letter states that Provost Marshal Dick, about
a year ago, ordered the arrest of Dr. McPheeters, pastor of the
Vine-street Church, prohibited him from officiating, and placed
the management of affairs of the church out of the control of the
chosen trustees; and near the close you state that a certain course
‘would insure his release.’ Mr. Ranney’s letter says: ‘Dr. Samuel
McPheeters is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, but can not
preach the gospel!’ Mr. Coalter, in his letter, asks: ‘Is it not a
strange illustration of the condition of things, that the question
who shall be allowed to preach in a church in St. Louis shall be
decided by the President of the United States?’

“Now, all this sounds very strangely; and, withal, a little as if
you gentlemen making the application do not understand the case
alike--one affirming that this doctor is enjoying all the rights
of a civilian, and another pointing out to me what will secure his
_release_! On the second of January last, I wrote to Gen. Curtis
in relation to Mr. Dick’s order upon Dr. McPheeters; and, as I
suppose the Doctor is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, I
only quote that part of the letter which relates to the church. It
was as follows: ‘But I must add that the United States Government
must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When
an individual, in a church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the
public interest, he must be checked; but the churches, as such,
must take care of themselves. It will not do for the United States
to appoint trustees, supervisors, or other agents for the churches.’

“This letter going to Gen. Curtis, then in command, I supposed, of
course, it was obeyed, especially as I heard no further complaint
from Dr. Mc. or his friends for nearly an entire year. I have never
interfered, nor thought of interfering, as to who shall or shall
not preach in any church; nor have I knowingly or believingly
tolerated any one else to interfere by my authority. If any one is
so interfering by color of my authority, I would like to have it
specifically made known to me.

“If, after all, what is now sought is to have me put Dr. Mc. back
over the heads of a majority of his own congregation, that, too,
will be declined. I will not have control of any church on any side.”

“A. LINCOLN.”

* * * * *

AN ELECTION ORDERED IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.

“_Executive Mansion_, Washington, January 20, 1864.

“MAJ. GEN. STEELE: Sundry citizens of the State of Arkansas
petition me that an election may be held in that State, at
which to elect a Governor; that it be assumed at that election,
and henceforward, that the Constitution and laws of the State,
as before the rebellion, are in full force, except that the
Constitution is so modified as to declare that there shall be
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in the punishment
of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; that
the General assembly may make such provisions for the freed people
as shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, and provide
for their education, and which may yet be construed as a temporary
arrangement, suitable to their condition as a laboring, landless,
and homeless class; that said election shall be held on the 28th
of March, 1864, at all the usual places of the State, or all such
as voters may attend for that purpose; that the voters attending
at 8 o’clock in the morning of said day may choose judges and
clerks of election for such purpose; that all persons qualified
by said Constitution and laws, and taking the oath presented in
the President’s proclamation of December 8, 1863, either before
or at the election, and none others, may be voters; that each
set of judges and clerks may make returns directly to you on or
before the --th day of ---- next; that in all other respects said
election may be conducted according to said Constitution and laws;
that on receipt of said returns, when five thousand four hundred
and six votes shall have been cast, you can receive said votes
and ascertain all who shall thereby appear to have been elected;
that on the -- day of ---- next, all persons so appearing to have
been elected, who shall appear before you at Little Rock, and take
the oath, to be by you severally administered, to support the
Constitution of the United States, and said modified Constitution
of the State of Arkansas, may be declared by you qualified and
empowered to immediately enter upon the duties of the offices to
which they shall have been respectively elected.

“You will please order an election to take place on the 28th of
March, 1864, and returns to be made in fifteen days thereafter.

“A. LINCOLN.”

Later, the President wrote the following letter:

“WILLIAM FISHBACK, ESQ.: When I fixed a plan for an election in
Arkansas, I did it in ignorance that your Convention was at the
same work. Since I learned the latter fact, I have been constantly
trying to yield my plan to theirs. I have sent two letters to Gen.
Steele, and three or four dispatches to you and others, saying that
he (Gen. Steele) must be master, but that it will probably be best
for him to keep the Convention on its own plan. Some single mind
must be master, else there will be no agreement on anything; and
Gen. Steele, commanding the military, and being on the ground, is
the best man to be that master. Even now citizens are telegraphing
me to postpone the election to a later day than either fixed by the
Convention or me. This discord must be silenced.

“A. LINCOLN.”

* * * * *

CALL FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.

“WHEREAS, By the Act approved July 4, 1864, entitled ‘An Act
further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out
the National Forces, and for other purposes,’ it is provided that
the President of the United States may, at his discretion, at any
time hereafter, call for any number of men as volunteers, for the
respective terms of one, two, or three years, for military service,
and ‘that in case the quota, or any part thereof, of any town,
township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a
county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of
fifty days after such call, then the President shall immediately
order a draft for one year to fill such quota, or any part thereof,
which may be unfilled.’

“AND WHEREAS, The new enrollment heretofore ordered is so far
completed as that the aforementioned Act of Congress may now be
put in operation for recruiting and keeping up the strength of the
armies in the field, for garrisons, and such military operations
as may be required for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion
and restoring the authority of the United States Government in the
insurgent States.

“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, do issue this, my call, for five hundred thousand
volunteers for the military service; provided, nevertheless, that
all credits which may be established under Section Eight of the
aforesaid Act, on account of persons who have entered the naval
service during the present Rebellion, and by credits for men
furnished to the military service in excess of calls heretofore
made for volunteers, will be accepted under this call for one, two,
or three years, as they may elect, and will be entitled to the
bounty provided by the law for the period of service for which they
enlist.

“And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct, that immediately after
the fifth day of September, 1864, being fifty days from the date
of this call, a draft for troops to serve for one year, shall be
held in every town, township, ward of a city, precinct, election
district, or a county not so subdivided, to fill the quota which
shall be assigned to it under this call, or any part thereof which
may be unfilled by volunteers on the said fifth day of September,
1864.

“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 eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord,
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence
of the United States the eighty-ninth.

“By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

* * * * *

LETTER TO MRS. GURNEY.

This letter was written by the President prior to his re-election to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney, an American lady, the widow of the late well-known Friend and philanthropist, Joseph John Gurney, one of the wealthiest bankers of London.

“MY ESTEEMED FRIEND: I have not forgotten, probably never shall
forget, the very impressive occasion when yourself and friends
visited me on a Sabbath forenoon two years ago. Nor had your kind
letter, written nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all
it has been your purpose to strengthen my reliance in God. I am
much indebted to the good Christian people of the country for their
constant prayers and consolations, and to no one of them more than
to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty are perfect and must
prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accurately perceive
them in advance. We hoped for a happy termination of this terrible
war, long before this, but God knows best, and has ruled otherwise.
We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own errors therein;
meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best lights He gives us,
trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He
ordains. Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty
convulsion which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay.

“Your people--the Friends--have had, and are having very great
trials, on principles and faith opposed to both war and oppression.
They can only practically oppose oppression by war. In this hard
dilemma, some have chosen one horn and some the other.

“For those appealing to me on conscientious grounds I have done and
shall do the best I could, and can, in my own conscience under my
oath to the law. That you believe this, I doubt not, and believing
it, I shall still receive for our country and myself your earnest
prayers to our father in Heaven.

“Your sincere friend,
“A. LINCOLN.”

* * * * *

THE TENNESSEE TEST OATH.

“_Executive Mansion_, Washington, D. C.,
Saturday, October 22, 1864

“MESSRS. WM. B. CAMPBELL, THOMAS A. R. NELSON, JAMES T. P. CARTER,
JOHN WILLIAMS, A. BLIZZARD, HENRY COOPER, BAILIE PEYTON, JOHN
LILLYETT, EMERSON ETHERIDGE, AND JOHN D. PERRYMAN.

“GENTLEMEN: On the fifteenth day of this month, as I remember, a printed paper manuscript, with a few manuscript interlineations, called a protest, with your names appended thereto, and accompanied by another printed paper, purporting to be a proclamation by ANDREW JOHNSON, Military Governor of Tennessee, and also a manuscript paper purporting to be extracts from the code of Tennessee, were laid before me.”

[The protest is here recited, and also the proclamation of GOV. JOHNSON, dated September 30, to which it refers, together with a list of the counties in East, Middle, and West Tennessee; also extracts from the code of Tennessee in relation to electors of President and Vice President, qualifications of voters for members of the General Assembly, and places of holding elections and officers of popular elections.]

“At the time these papers were presented as before stated, I had
never seen either of them, nor heard of the subject to which they
relate, except in a general way, only one day previously.

“Up to the present moment, nothing whatever upon the subject has
passed between GOV. JOHNSON, or any one else connected with the
proclamation and myself.

“Since receiving the papers, as stated, I have given the subject
such brief consideration as I have been able to do, in the midst of
so many pressing duties.

“My conclusion is, that I can have nothing to do with the matter,
either to sustain the plan as the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON have
initiated it, or to modify it as you demand. By the Constitution
and laws the President is charged with no duty in the Presidential
election in any State. Nor do I, in this case, perceive any
military reason for his interference in the matter.

“The movement set a-foot by the Convention and GOV. JOHNSON does
not, as seems to be assumed by you, emanate from the National
Executive.

“In no proper sense can it be considered other than as an
independent movement of at least a portion of the loyal people of
Tennessee.

“I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or coercion
toward any one.

“GOV. JOHNSON, like any other loyal citizen of Tennessee has the
right to form any political plan he chooses, and as Military
Governor it is his duty to keep the peace among and for the loyal
people of the State.

“I cannot discern that by his plan he purposes any more--but you
object to the plan.

“Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it. It is
not proposed to force you into it.

“Do as you please on your own account peaceably and loyally, and
GOV. JOHNSON will not molest you, but will protect you against
violence so far as in his power.

“I presume that the conducting of a Presidential election in
Tennessee, in strict accordance with the old code of the State, is
not now a possibility.

“It is scarcely necessary to add, that if any election shall be
had, and any votes shall be cast in the State of Tennessee for
President and Vice-President of the United States, it will belong
not to the military agents nor yet to the Executive Department, but
exclusively to another department of the Government, to determine
whether they are entitled to be counted in conformity with the
Constitution and laws of the United States.

“Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline to
interfere in any way with any Presidential election.

“ABRAHAM LINCOLN.”

THE END.

Transcriber’s Notes:

The original book contained many unprinted characters. Those omissions are too numerous to enumerate here, and have been silently corrected unless more than one alternative existed. Those exceptions are noted below.

Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected.

Unbalanced and mismatched single- and double-quotation marks remedied only when the correction was unambiguous.

Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. Inconsistent hyphenation retained unless there was a predominant preference for one form.

Text mostly uses “any thing” but sometimes uses “anything”.

Text uses both “Chancelor” and “Chancellor”.

Page 44: “the tenth commandment” probably should be “amendment”.

Page 56: “rule of political action.” should end with a question mark, not with a period.

Page 195 does not have a “Second” order.

Page 244: “acknowledgment” in “as a grateful acknowledgment” was misprinted. It was spelled correctly in Lincoln’s original handwritten letter and that spelling is used here.

Page 376: “reportively replied” was incompletely printed with empty space before “portively”. Transcriber added “re” as it seemed to be the best fit.

Page 386: “homely often” was incompletely printed with empty space before “omely”. Transcriber added “h” as it seemed to be the best fit.

Page 409: “_wholly_ good; almost every” originally had a period after “good”. Changed here to a semi-colon, but perhaps the following word should have been capitalized instead, as “Almost”.

Page 413: “[Here Mr. Meade ... every improvement?]” was missing a closing square bracket. Added by Transcriber based on context.