Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,
Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St.
Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  Missis-
sippi, Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North
Carolina,  and  Virginia,  except  the  forty-eight  counties  desig-
nated as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley,
Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Ann,
and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,
and  which  excepted  parts  are,  for  the  present,  left  precisely  as
if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued.
And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I
do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said
designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and  henceforward
shall  be  free  ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United
States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will
recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons.
LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  419

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free,
to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense,
and  I  recommend  to  them,  that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they
hibor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages.
And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons  of
suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of
the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other
places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service.
And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I
invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious
favor  of  Almighty  God.
In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed.
