I immediately enclosed to the secretary of foreign affairs a copy of
despatch No. 49, and took occasion to cancel so much of my despatch to
the Marquis d’Abrantes, in relation to the President’s proclamation of
the 22d of September, as conflicted with the spirit of that
all-important document, and of which I most cordially and unreservedly
approve.
The copy of my despatch enclosed herewith will, I trust, prove
satisfactory, as it certainly is intended to demonstrate that all that
has been done in the way of manumission is in strict compliance with the
Constitution and the law.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, &c.
Mr. Webb to the Marquis d’Abrantes
Legation of the United
States, Petropolis,
March 7, 1863.
The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary
from the United States, has the honor to enclose to his Excellency
the Marquis d’Abrantes, counsellor to his Majesty the Emperor,
minister and secretary of state for foreign affairs, a copy of a
circular from the Secretary of State of the United States, bearing
date the 3d January, 1863, enclosing a proclamation, issued by the
President of the United States on the 1st of January, 1863, giving
freedom to the slaves held in bondage by the States, and parts of
States, in insurrection against the United States on that day. This
proclamation was issued in conformity to the pledge contained in the
proclamation from the same high source bearing date the 22d of
September last, and was resorted to by the Executive as a military
necessity. The Constitution gives the President of the United States
no right to abolish slavery in those States where it exists under
the local law; but both the Constitution and the law invest him with
extraordinary powers to put down insurrection, punish traitors, and
suppress rebellion; and it was in the legitimate exercise of this
necessary war power that the proclamations of the 22d of September
and 3d of January were issued, and will produce such mighty results
upon the future destinies of the United States. Slavery can only be abolished under the war power with
which the President is clothed, in those districts of the country in
open rebellion against the United States. Consequently, it is not
abolished in the more northern slave States of Delaware, Maryland,
Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and in certain portions of
Virginia and Louisiana. Therefore, the attention of the undersigned
has been called to the fact that he committed an error, or wrote
hastily, when he said, as he did in the copy sent to Washington, of
his note to your excellency of the 3d of November last, that the
proclamation of the 22d of September “manumits on
the first of January next all the slaves in the United
States.”
The phrase should have read, “virtually
manumits on the first day of January next all the slaves in the
United States;” and if the word “virtually”
is engrossed in the copy of the despatch sent to your excellency, it
is well; if not, it should be substituted; because the Executive of
the United States never claimed, and has never attempted to
exercise, the power of manumitting slaves, except where their
masters were in open insurrection, and their property thereby had,
under the law and the Constitution, become forfeited to the
government of the United States.
The slave population of the United States, by the census of 1860, was
3,953,760; and in round numbers may be put down at four millions. The circular from the State Department,
herewith enclosed, communicates the pleasing intelligence, that by
the proclamation of the 1st of January, 1863, “the number of slaves
thus restored to freedom is about three and one-half
[Page 1260]
millions,” or seven-eighths of the whole number. And thus, that
proclamation “virtual” gives freedom to all; because the moral
effect of thus confiscating, and, as a war measure, emancipating seven-eighths of our slave population,
secures the freedom of the remaining one-eighth by purchase from their owners.
I have, also, the honor to enclose a circular from the Postmaster
General of the United States, naming the 2d Monday in May next as a
convenient day for the meeting at Paris of
the International Postal Convention, and I am instructed to invite
the special attention of the Brazilian government to this
interesting subject.
The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to reiterate to your
excellency his sentiments of respect and most distinguished
consideration.
His Excellency the Marquis d’Abrantes,
Councillor to his Imperial Majesty,
&c., &c.
