The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-02 00:00:00

AMERICA.

NEW YORIC, Dec. 19, Evening.
The following important proclamation, announcing the
abolition of slavery throughout the United States and ter-
ritories, has been promulgated :

To all to whom these presents may come, greeting :
Know ye, that whereas the Congress of the United States,
on the Ist of February last, passed a resolution which is in
the words following, namely :
A resolution submitting to the Legislatures of the seve-
ral States a proposition to amend the Constitution of the
United States.

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States in Congress assembled, two thirds of
both houses concurring, that the following article be pro-
posed to the Legislature of the several States as an amend-
ment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when
ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes as a part of said Consti-
tution, namely :

ARTICLE 13.

" Section I.—Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
"Section 2.—Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation."
And whereas, it appears from documents on file in this
department that the amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by
the Legislatures of the States of Illinois, Rhode Island,
Michigan, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Maine,
Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Mis-
souri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Vermont, Tennesee, Arkansas, Connecticut, N ew Hampshire,
South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia, in all
27 States. And whereas the whole nnmber of States in the
United States is 36. And whereas the before specially-
named States, whose Legislatures have ratified the said
amendment constitute three-fourths of the whole number
of States. Now, therefore, be it known that I, William H.
Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, by virtue
and in pursuance of the second section of the act of Con-
gress, approved the 20th of April, 1818, entitled, "An Act

- •
to provide for the publication of the laws of the United
States, and for that purpose," do hereby certify that the
amendment aforesaid has become valid to all intents and
purposes as a part of the Constitution of the United
States.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the Seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this 18th day of De•
cember, in the year of our Lord, 1865, and of the Indepen-
dence of the United States the 90th.

WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
The following despatches relating to the removal of the
Provisional Governor from Alabama have been pub-
lished :

" To his Excellency L. E. Parsons, Provisional Governor

of Alabama.

"Department of State, Washington,
Dec. 18, 1865.
"Sir,—The time has arrived, in the judgment of the
President, when the care and conduct of the proper affairs
of the State of Alabama may be remitted to the constitu-
tional authorities chosen by the people thereof, without
danger to the peace and safety of the United States. By
direction of the President, therefore, you are relieved from
the trust which was heretofore reposed in you as Provi-
sional Governor of Alabama. Whenever the Governor
elect shall have accepted and become qualified to discharge
the duties of the executive office, you will transfer the
papers and property of the State now in your custody to
his Excellency the Governor elect.
" It gives me especial pleasure to convey to you the Pre-
sident's acknowledgment of the fidelity, loyalty, and dis-
cretion which has marked your administration. You will
please give me a reply, specifying the day on which this
communication is received.—l have, &c.,

"Wm. H. SEWARD."

"To the Governor of Alabama.

"Department of State, Dec. 18, 1865.

" Sir,—By direction of the President I have the honour
herewith to transmit you a copy of a communication
which has been addressed to his Excellency Louis E. Par-
sons, late Provisional Governor of Alabama, whereby he
has been relieved of the trust heretofore reposed in him,
and directed to deliver into your Excellency's possession
the papers and property relating to that trust.
" I have the honour to tender to you the co-operation of
the Government of the United States whenever it may be
found necessary in effecting the early restoration and the
permanent prosperity and welfare of the State over which
you have been called to preside.—l have, &c.,
"WM. H. SEWARD."

In the Federal Senate, on tho 18th instant, a petition of
Vice-Admiral Farragut and 1,100 other officers of the navy
asking for an increase of compensation, was referred to the
Naval Committee.

A resolution of Mr. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, appropriat-
ing $500,000 for the support and encouragement of desti-
tute Indians, was adopted.
Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, offered the following re-
solution, which was adopted :—" Resolved: That the Com-
mittee on Commerce be instructed to inquire into and re-
port upon the manner in which American vessels trans-
ferred during the rebellion to British owners are now being
refurnished with American registers ; and, if the same be
not in accordance with law, what legislation, if any, is ne-
cessary to prevent such transactions."
A resolution of respect and sympathy for Mr. Lincoln
was adopted unanimously, the same providing that on the
anniversary of his birth, the 12th of February, an appro-
priate address on the subject of his life, services, and death
should be delivered before the members of both Houses.

The Senate, after a short executive session, adjourned.
In the House of Representatives on the 18th inst. the
credentials of Hon. James M. Johnson, member elect from
Arkansas, were presented and referred to the Select Com-
mato oil Mooonktruction. A motion to admit lAA