im and declare, that if any person, under the
pretended authority of said States, or under any other pretense,
shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo
on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of
the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy.

_By the President_, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
WASHINGTON, April 19, 1861.

On the 27th of April the President issued a proclamation by which the
blockade of Southern ports was extended to the ports of North Carolina
and Virginia. And on the 16th of May, by another proclamation, the
President directed the commander of the United States forces in Florida
to "permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the
islands of Key West, Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, which may be inconsistent
with the laws and Constitution of the United States; authorizing him, at
the same time, if he shall find it necessary, to suspend the writ of
_habeas corpus_, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States
fortresses all dangerous and suspected persons."

The Virginia Convention which passed the ordinance of secession (April
17) having appointed a committee to wait upon the President and
"respectfully ask him to communicate to this Convention the policy which
the Federal Executive intends to pursue in regard to the Confederate
States," Lincoln in reply thus clearly outlined the policy and purposes
of the Government:

In answer I have to say, that having at the beginning of my
official term expressed my intended policy as plainly as I was
able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there is
great and injurious uncertainty in the public mind as to what that
policy is and what course I intend to pursue. Not having as yet
seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course
marked out in the Inaugural Address. I commend a careful
consideration of the whole document as the best expression I can
give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now repeat: "The
power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess
property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the
duties and imposts; but beyond what is necessary for these objects
there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the
people anywhere." By the words "property and pl