PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



799 



our own observation, and from the reports of the ne- 

 groes who succeeded in escaping from the enemy, but 

 full confirmation is afforded by statements published 

 in the Northern journals by humane persons engaged 

 in making appeals to the charitable for aid in prevent- 

 ing the ravages of disease, exposure, and starvation 

 among the negro women and children who are crowd- 

 ed into encampments. 



The frontier of our country bears witness to the alac- 

 rity and efficiency with which the general orders of the 

 enemy have been executed in the devastation of the 

 farms, the destruction of the agricultural implements, 

 the burning of the houses, and the plunder of every- 

 thing movable. Its whole aspect is a comment on the 

 ethics of the general order issued by the United States 

 on the 24th of April, 1S63, comprising "instructions 

 for the government of armies of the United States in 

 the field," and of which the following is an example : 



"Military necessity admits of all direct destruction 

 of life or limb of armed enemies, and of other persons 

 whose destruction is incidentally unavoidable in the 

 armed contests of the war ; it allows of the capturing 

 of every armed enemy, and of every enemy of import- 

 ance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger 

 to the captor ; it allows of all destruction of property 

 and obstructions of the ways and channels of traffic, 

 travel, or communication, and of all withholding of 

 sustenance or means of life from the enemy ; of the 

 appropriation of whatever an enemy's country affords 

 necessary for the subsistence and safety of the army, 

 and of such deception as does not involve the breaking 

 of good faith, either positively pledged regarding agree- 

 ments entered into during the war, or supposed by the 

 modern law of war to exist. Men who take up arms 

 against one another in public war, do not cease on this 

 account to be moral beings, responsible to one another 

 and to God." 



The striking contrast to these teachings and prac- 

 tices, presented by our army when invading Pennsyl- 

 vania, illustrates the moral character of our. people. 

 Though their forbearance may have been unmerited 

 and unappreciated by the enemy, it was imposed by 

 their own self-respect, which forbade their degenerat- 

 ing from Christian warriors into plundering ruffians, 

 assailing the property, lives, and honor of helpless non- 

 combatants. If their conduct, when thus contrasted 

 with the inhuman practices of our foe, fail to command 

 the respect and sympathy of civilized nations in our 

 day, it cannot fail to be recognized by their less de- 

 ceived posterity. 



The hope last year entertained of an early termina- 

 tion of the war has not been realized. Could carnage 

 have satisfied the appetite of our enemy for the de- 

 struction of human life, or grief have appeased their 

 wanton desire to inflict human suffering, there has been 

 bloodshed enough on both sides, and two lands have 

 been sufficiently darkened by the weeds of mourning, 

 to induce a disposition for peace. 



If unanimity in a people could dispel delusion, it has 

 been displayed too unmistakably not to have silenced 

 the pretence that the Southern States were merely 

 disturbed by a factious insurrection, and it must long 

 since have been admitted that they were but exercis- 

 ing their reserved right to modify their own Govern- 

 ment in such manner as would best secure their own 

 happiness. But these considerations have been power- 

 less to allay the unchristian hate of those who, long 

 accustomed to draw large profits from a union with 

 us, cannot control the rage excited by the conviction 

 that they have, by their own folly, destroyed the rich- 

 est sources of their prosperity. They refuse even to 

 listen to proposals-for the only peace possible between 

 us a peace which, recognizing the impassable gulf 

 which divides us, may leave the two peoples separately 

 to recover from the injuries inflicted on both by the 

 causeless war now waged against us. Having begun 

 the war in direct violation of their Constitution, which 

 forbade the attempt to coerce a State, they have been 

 hardened by crime, until they no longer attempt to 

 veil their purpose to destroy the institutions and sub- 

 vert the sovereignty and independence of these State**. 



We now know that the only reliable hope for peace it 

 in ttiu vigor of our resistance, as the cessation of their 

 hostility is only to be expected from the pressure of 

 their necessities. 



The patriotism of the people has proved equal to 

 every sacrifice demanded by their country's need. We 

 have been united as a people never were united under 

 like circumstances before. God has blessed us with 

 success disproportionate to our means, and, under His 

 divine favor, our labors must at last be crowned with 

 the reward due to men who have given all they pos- 

 sessed to the righteous defence of their inalienable 

 rights, their homes, and their altars. 



JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



RICHMOND, December 1th, 1863. 



Correspondence of President LINCOLN. 



ALBANY, May 19<A, 1868. 

 To His Excellency the President of the United States : 



The undersigned, officers of a public meeting held 

 in the city of Albany the 16th day of May instant, 

 herewith transmit to your Excellency a copy of the 

 resolutions adopted at the said meeting, and respect- 

 fully request your earnest consideration of them. 

 They deem it proper on their personal responsibility 

 to state that the meeting was one of the most respect- 

 able as to numbers and character, and one of the most 

 earnest in support of the Union, ever held in this city. 

 Yours, with great regard, 



ERASTUS CORNING, President. 



Vice- Presidents Eli Perry, Peter Gansevoort, Peter 

 Monteath, Samuel W. Gibbs, John Niblock, H. W. 

 McClellan, Lemuel W. Rodgers, William Seymour, 

 Jeremiah Osborn, William S. Paddock, J. B. Sanders, 

 Edward Mulcahy, D. V. N. Radcliff. 



Secretaries William A. Rice, Edward Newcomb, R. 

 W. Peckham, jr., M. A. Nolan, John R. Nessle, and 

 others. 



The resolutions were as follows : 



Resolved, That the Democrats of New York point to 

 their uniform course of action during the two years of civil 

 war through which we Lave passed, to the alacrity which 

 they have evinced in filling the ranks of the army,, to their 

 contributions and sacrifices, as the evidence of their patriot- 

 ism and devotion to the cause of our imperilled country. 

 Never in the history of civil wars has a Government been 

 sustained with such ample resources of means and men. as 

 the people have voluntarily placed in the hands of this Ad- 

 ministration. 



Resolved, That as Democrats, we are determined to main- 

 tain this patriotic attitude, and, despite of adverse and dis- 

 heartening circumstances, to devote all our energies to sus- 

 tain the cause of the Union, to secure peace through victory, 

 and to bring about the restoration of all the States under the 

 safeguards of the Constitution. 



Resolved, That while we will not consent to be misrep- 

 resented upon these points, we are determined not to be 

 misui derstood in regard to others not less essential. We 

 demand that the Administration shall be true to the Consti- 

 tution, shall recognize and maintain the rights of the States 

 and the liberties of the citizen, shall everywhere outside of 

 the lines of necessary military occupation and the scenes of 

 insurrection, exert all its pow'crs to maintain the supremacy 

 of the civil over military law. 



Resolved, That in view of these principles we denounce 

 the recent assumption of a military commander to seize and. 

 try a citizen of Ohio, Clement L. Vallamligham, for no other 

 reason than words addressed to a public meeting, in criticism 

 of the course of the Administration, and in condemnation of 

 the military orders of that general. 



Resolved, That this assumption of power by a military 

 tribunal, if successfully asserted, not only abrogates the 

 right of the people to assemble and discus-a the affairs of 

 Government, the liberty of speech and of the press, the right 

 of tri:il by jury, the law of evidence, and the privilege of 

 habeas corpus, but it strikes a fatal blow at the supremacy 

 of law, and the authority of the State and Federal Consti- 

 tutions. 



Hi'Molved, That the Constitution of the United States the 

 supreme law of the land has defined the crime of treason 

 against the United States to consist "only in levying \\-.\r 

 atrainst them, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid 

 and comfort;" and has provided that "no per-on shall be 

 convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two wit- 



