Page:A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1865, Volume I.djvu/88

60 PROCLAMATIONS. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas, an extraordinary occasion has occurred, rendering it necessary and proper that the Congress of the Confederate States shall convene to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the Executive;

Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do issue this my proclamation, convoking the Congress of the Confederate States for the transaction of business at the capitol, in the city of Montgomery, on the 29th day of April, at twelve o'clock noon of that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required to take notice.

Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Montgomery, this 12th day of April, A.D. 1861. [L. S.] By the President: Secretary of State.

  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 