BY THE PRESIDENT OF
THE CONFEDERATE STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United
States, has, by proclamation, announced the
intention of invading this Confederacy with an armed force for the purpose
of capturing its fortresses, and thereby subverting its independence and
subjecting the free people thereof to the dominion of a foreign power; and,
whereas, it has thus become the duty of this government to repel the threatened
invasion, and to defend the rights and liberties of the people by all the means
which the laws of nations and the usages of civilized warfare place at its
disposal;
Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the
Confederate States of America, do issue this my proclamation, inviting all
those who may desire, by service in private armed vessels on the high seas, to
aid this government in resisting so wanton and wicked an aggression, to make application
for commissions or letters of marque and reprisal to be issued under the seal
of these Confederate States.
And I do further notify all persons applying for letters of
marque to make a statement in writing, giving the name and a suitable description
of the character, tonnage, and force of the vessel, and the name and place of
residence of each owner concerning therein, and the intended number of the
crew, and to sign said statement and deliver the same to the Secretary of
State, or to the collector of any port of entry of these Confederate States, to
be by him transmitted to the Secretary of State.
And I do further notify all applicants aforesaid that before
any commission or letter of marque is issued to any vessel, the owner or owners
thereof, and the commander for the time being, will be required to give bond to
the Confederate States, with at least two responsible sureties, not interested
in such vessel, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars; or if such vessel be
provided with more than one hundred and fifty men, then in the penal sum of ten
thousand dollars, with condition that the owners, officers, and crew who shall
be employed on board such commissioned vessel shall observe the laws of these
Confederate States and the instructions given to them for the regulation of
their conduct. That they shall satisfy all damages done contrary to the tenor
thereof by such vessel during her commission, and deliver up the same when
revoked by the President of the Confederate States.
And I do further specially enjoin on all persons holding
offices, civil and military, under the authority of the Confederate States,
that they be vigilant and zealous in discharging the duties incident thereto;
and I do, moreover, solemnly exhort the good people of these Confederate
States, as they love their country, as they prize the blessings of free government,
as they feel the wrongs of the past and these now threatened in aggravated form
by those whose enmity is more implacable because unprovoked, that they exert
themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, in maintaining the
authority and efficacy of the laws, and in supporting and invigorating all the
measures which may be adopted for the common defense, and by which, under the
blessings of Divine Providence, we may hope for a speedy, just, and honorable
peace.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the Confederate States to be affixed, this seventeenth day of
April, 1861.
[Signed]
Jefferson Dav1s.
By the President: R. Toombs, Secretary of State.
SOURCE: James D. Richardson, editor and publisher, A Compilation Of The Messages And Papers Of
The Confederacy, Volume 1, p. 60-2
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