Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Jefferson Davis' Proclamation Appointing Alexander H. Stephens As Special Commissioner to Virginia, April 19, 1861

Jefferson Davis,
President Of The Confederate States Of America,

To All Whom These Presents Shall Concern, greeting.

Know ye, that for the purpose of establishing friendly relations between the Confederate States of America and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity, prudence, and ability of Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America, appointed special commissioner of the Confederate States to the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have invested him with full and all manner of power and authority, for and in the name of the Confederate States, to meet and confer with any person or persons authorized by the Government of Virginia, being furnished with like power and authority, and with him or them to agree, treat, consult, and negotiate of and concerning all matters and subjects interesting to both Republics; and to conclude and sign a treaty or treaties, convention or conventions, touching the premises, transmitting the same to the President of the Confederate States for his final ratification, by and with the advice and consent of the Congress of the Confederate States.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the Confederate States to be hereunto affixed.

Given under my hand at the city of Montgomery this 19th day of April, A.D. 1861.

{SEAL}
JEFFERSON DAVIS.

By the President: Robert Toombs, Secretary of State.

SOURCES:  Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Vol. 3, p. 98;  James D. Richardson, editor and publisher, A Compilation Of The Messages And Papers Of The Confederacy, Volume 1, p. 62;  Edward Mayes, Lucius Q.C. Lamar: His Life, Times, And Speeches, 1825-1893, p. 639

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