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Title: James Speed to William H. Seward, 14 August 1865
Date: August 14, 1865
Whitman Archive ID: nar.00038
Source: National Archives and Records Administration. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Elizabeth Lorang, John Schwaninger, Nima Najafi Kianfar, and Kevin McMullen
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Attorney General's Office.
August 14, 1865.
To the
Secretary of State.
Sir:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 19th July, 1865, with a copy of the dispatch of Mr. Charles Francis Adams.
In regard to the inquiries of the Messrs. Lockwood, I can only answer them, as I do all others who apply to me. The Proclamation of the President is a part of the law of the land, and open to the construction of all. When the fact of any particular case or cases are presented, I can say whether I will recommend them to mercy or not. But I can not, & I think ought not, to say whether they are or not within the excepted classes.
I have the honor to be,
Respectfully yours, &c.
James Speed
Attorney General.