The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-04-03
The Amnesty Proclamation.

President Lincoln, on Saturday last,
issued IN important proclamation de
filming the cases in which the rebels are
entitled to the benefits Of the amnesty
Proclamation of December Sth 1863,
and also describing the manner in
which they shall proceed to avail them
selves OF that benefit The prOclama-
ton applies " only to those persons who,
being at large and free from any arrest,
confinement or duress, shall volunta-
riiy come forward and take the oath
with the purpose Of restoring peace
and establishing the national authOri-
ty.' 1t does not apply to persons who,
when they seek to obtain its benefits,
are under bonds or parole, or are in
military or civil confinement rs pris-
oners OF war, or detained for offenses
of any kind Those persons eXclud-
ed from the amnesty offered in said
proclamation, may apply TO the Presi-
dent for clemency, like all other of
Tenders; and their application will re
ce+ye due consideration
The oath may be taken and sub
scribed before any commanding officer,
civil, military or naval, in the service of
the United States, or of any civil or
military officer Of State or Territory
not in instruction, who, by the laws
thereof, may be qualified for admins
tering oaths; and all officers receiving
such oaths are authorized to give certi-
ticates of the same to the persons tax
ing the same, and the officers are fur
ther required to transmit the original
records of such oaths TO the Department
Of State This Is an important procla-
nation, and clearly defines the status of
those who are entitled to claim the
benefits Of the amnesty oath. There
cannot hereafter be the shadow OF
doubt or even n mental reservation con
corning the duty Of persons who take
the oath 1t must be their own volun-
tary choice. free from all cOnstraint. and
the fact that a record of the oath is to
be kept in the State Department will
keep their names always before the
Government. in such manner that. if
their subsequent conduct does not fully
square with the requirements Of the
oath, they may be dealt with accord
ingly, either as periured traitors or self
convicted spies While there are thOus-
ands Ofreally repenting rebels taking the
oath at the earliest opportunity, it is not
the less true that there may be many in
dividuals who take it, not because they
are loyal at heart, but through interested
motives, and with mental reservation
to evade its plain and obvious loyal
meaning A case in point turns up out
Of the intercepted correspondence Of a
VIM C.. Woodruff, in Arkansas, who
states therein that he took the oath to
keep his property, and make purchases
at a store, which he could not do with
out producing evidence that he had
taken the oath He writes as follows
" l shall probably take the oath to-mor-
row If [ do, it will be a matter of ne
cessity, not of choice, and | shall be
quite as strong a rebel after taking itas
before Now here is the case of a man
stating his deliberate intention to com
NIT perjury for the purpose of obtaining
the benefits of a Union citizen and re
naming within the Union lines, while
at the same time avOwrng his determi-
nation of being quite as strong rebel
as before After taking the oath he
wrote as follows: Please put me right
with my friends South Tell them / am
not less q sympathizer with them than
heretofore, but feel mortified and cha
grined at the necessity that compelled
me TO do an act that my conscience re-
yolted at. Woodruff was promptly
seut beyond the lines, but there are no
doubt hundreds of just such men now
within the Union lines, who are secret
ly plotting against the Government
they have sworn to support. This pro
clamation Of the President viii throw
an additional safeguard around the
sanctity of the obligation, which viii
prevent the possibility of necessity
being pleaded as an excuse for break
ing the oath-PLA Har